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Southern California Seeing More Mudslides; Israel Releases Hundreds of Palestinian Prisoners; Hunter S. Thompson Dead at 67; New York Firefighter Returns from Iraq; Neither Oil Nor Ships Can Deter Hong Kong Seniors from Daily Swims
Aired February 21, 2005 - 14:57 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.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: "Now in the News." Breaking bread and mending fences. President Bush and Jacques Chirac are dining together in Brussels this hour. The French president was a leading European opponent of the war in Iraq. Mr. Bush is trying to bridge that divide. We'll have highlights of his day in Brussels -- that's coming up this half hour.
Back home now. The White House calls them casual conversations with somebody the president, quote, considered a friend. That friend, author Doug Wead, has released audiotapes of conversations he says he had with the then-Governor Bush in the late 1990s. In them, Mr. Bush appears to admit that he smoked marijuana in the past. Now, CNN did not independently confirm the authenticity of those tapes.
Police in Texas, they are trying to find a pregnant woman and her 7-year-old son, who have been missing since Saturday. A pool of blood was found in their Fort Worth home. Now there's word the woman's SUV has been found outside Dallas. We'll have more on this story straight ahead.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the rain keeps coming, the mud keeps sliding, or threatening to in Southern California. Three people are known dead. In the latest big storm, three more had a close call when a wall of mud overran their condo complex. East of Los Angeles, we've got the latest from CNN's Miguel Marquez in the L.A. suburb of Glendale. Hello, Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you there, Tony? It's a lot of mud, it's a lot of water out here. I want to give you an idea of sort of what the typical situation out there. This is in Glendale, a little suburb here up in the hills. This mud has been coming down all night.
You can see it sort of sponge-like, you can see how that just sort of oozes down that mountain once it gets too heavy. This is where all this mud -- this is a cul-de-sac or what was a cul-de-sac, and this is where it's all coming from, off this hillside. There's sort of two areas that are sliding into this cul-de-sac here.
We talked to one homeowner who had to evacuate last night, and this is what he heard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LEO SARAGUETA, MUDSLIDE SURVIVOR: The noise was just deafening, sounded like thunder, trees cracking, boulders coming down. And the scariest part was that we couldn't see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: Now, I just talked to a representative from the city of Glendale, and he says that two more homes have been evacuated in this area. In all, about 12 homes, some of them mandatory, some of them voluntary evacuations.
This home here was a voluntary evacuation. Engineers also think this hillside will slide -- will stay and won't slide anymore, but there are other hillsides around here that there is growing concern about. And if this rain keeps coming down there's going to be more of this to come -- Tony.
HARRIS: And Miguel, you're still talking about major power outages out there as well, aren't you?
MARQUEZ: There are some power outages overnight. There were scattered power outages throughout the southland area. Nothing major. Sunset Strip was out for a little while last night as well, at least flickering on and off. So it's hitting just about everywhere, Tony.
HARRIS: OK. Miguel Marquez in Glendale, California, for us. Miguel, thank you.
Texas police have converged on an undeveloped area near Dallas where an SUV was found nose down in the creek. They say it belongs to a woman who, along with her young son, has been missing for three days now.
Reporter Mary Ann Razzuk with CNN affiliate WFAA is on the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY ANN RAZZUK, WFAA REPORTER (voice-over): Fort Worth crime scene detectives spent the day combing through Lisa Underwood's home in search of clues that might tell them what happened to her, her 7- year-old son, Jayden, and unborn child. Underwood is seven months pregnant.
LT. GENE JONES, FORT WORTH, TEXAS, POLICE: There's evidence inside the missing woman's home that gives us strong suspicion that foul play was involved.
RAZZUK: The discovery led police to issue an Amber Alert just after 10 p.m. Saturday night.
Family and friends reported the 34-year-old local business owner missing after she didn't show up for her Saturday afternoon baby shower, held at the bagel shop Holly Pills says they co-own together.
HOLLY PILS, FRIEND: I'm just shocked and stunned and want to know where she is. RAZZUK: Pils says Underwood also missed a birthday party she planned to attend with her son Saturday morning.
PILS: No one reports seeing her. They have asked all the neighbors. They've talked to everybody. We've called everybody.
RAZZUK: According to Pils, Underwood lived alone with her son and stayed busy with work and her son's activities.
PILS: He and his mom, I mean, they're -- they're everything to each other.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Again, that was reporter Mary Ann Razzuk with WFAA. We may learn more in two hours. That's when police in Fort Worth have scheduled a news conference.
NGUYEN: Nearly two years since the height of disagreement over how to deal with Iraq, President Bush is reaching out to some of America's oldest friends on their home turf today.
Here's what Mr. Bush, about an hour ago with French President Jacques Chirac, one of the war's most vocal critics. The two met in Brussels as the president launched his fence-mending trip across the heart of Europe. And in the speech Mr. Bush said the transatlantic bond is far too strong and too important to be impaired by any -- any longer by Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In a new century the alliance of Europe and North America is the main pillar of our security. Our robust trade is one of the engines of the world's economy. Our example of economic and political freedom gives hope to millions who are weary of poverty and oppression.
In all these ways our strong friendship is essential to peace and prosperity across the globe. And no temporary debate, no passing disagreement of governments, no power on earth will ever divide us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Mr. Bush stays in Brussels for one more day before a brief trip to Mainz on the Rhine River in Germany. Now, he travels from there to the Slovak Republic, where his appointments include a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In the Mideast today, a joyous welcome for hundreds of newly freed Palestinian prisoners. Israel released 50 prisoners as part of a cease-fire agreement, and that could produce momentum in the peace process.
Our Guy Raz reports some of the former prisoners may actually become ambassadors of goodwill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sounds echoing across the West Bank today. As they kiss their sons and brothers, gunfire salutes to welcome them home.
And they paid their respects at the tomb of the late Yasser Arafat.
Sakher Hanatshen's wife and five children held vigil here, waiting to greet Daddy. Sakher's been in and out of Israeli jails seven times since 1985. His first stop on this day, the tomb of a comrade killed by Israeli forces.
SAKHER HANATSHEN, FREED PRISONER (through translator): Salem Yakoub (ph) was a friend. We became very close in prison. He was a good man, a respected man.
RAZ: Sakher calls him a martyr.
Back at home, wives and mothers wail in joy. Sakher is reminded of the comforts of home life. But even with Daddy home, "Tom and Jerry" still win out with the kids.
Though Sakher wasn't involved in violence, he had to sign a form renouncing militant activity.
HANATSHEN (through translator): The paper doesn't mean much to me. I signed it. But it doesn't mean much.
RAZ: Israel wants men like Sakher to serve as advocates for peace and promises to release 400 more in the coming months.
(on camera) Are you prepared now to be an ambassador for peace?
HANATSHEN (through translator): Once we feel that our rights are restored, we can definitely be ambassadors for peace.
RAZ (voice-over): There is still bitterness. Sakher was an administrative detainee. He only served five months this time, but he was never charged, never told why he was arrested. Sakher's lawyer was told the evidence was classified.
(on camera) The released prisoners are home now, back with their families, but not without mixed feelings. They left behind thousands of others still incarcerated in prisons like this one, waiting for their moment to finally be free, as well.
Guy Raz, CNN, outside Ofer (ph) prison in the West Bank.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Cries of anger in Lebanon today. Thousands of protesters took their outrage over last week's assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri to the streets. They're demanding Syrian troops leave. Many believe Syria's government played a role in Hariri's death, something Syria has strongly denied. President Bush and French President Jacques Chirac echoed the protesters' sentiments. They issued a joint statement today, calling for Syria to pull its troops out of Lebanon.
NGUYEN: There is another video appearance of Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's right-hand man. Now, a snippet airing yesterday on Al Jazeera warns U.S. efforts to spread democracy throughout the world will end in disaster for the west. Western security, al-Zawahiri says, depends on due respect from Muslims and an end to foreign occupation.
HARRIS: Is the U.S. speaking privately while carrying a big stick in Iraq? "TIME" magazine reports U.S. officials or envoys are reaching out to insurgents, whom the U.S. and Iraqi militaries have been unable to pacify. "TIME" correspondent Michael Ware says the dialogue is in its early stages and the goal for Americans is huge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL WARE, "TIME" MAGAZINE: The U.S. embassy has explained the strategy to me by saying that the point is to try to split the insurgency, to -- to cleave away the insurgents, the home grown guerrillas, from the foreign fighters, the terrorists, the Islamic militants.
Remember, these two groups want entirely different things. The terrorists or the militants, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, want to fight the infidel west, and they want to create an Islamic state. That's not what the Ba'athists and guerrillas want. They want a secular democracy.
And, as senior embassy officials say, this is a marriage of convenience, and they're hoping to bring about a divorce.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, a U.S. diplomat in Iraq tells CNN it's Iraqi officials who are undertaking talks and he's unaware of any direct U.S. involvement.
NGUYEN: Some of the same people who brought you those swift boat ads during the presidential campaign, remember those? Well, they are reportedly taking up a new cause. Find out what it is ahead on LIVE FROM.
And the iconic writer and pioneer of gonzo journalism, Hunter S. Thompson, dies. We'll look back at his amazing life.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: There's a summer place where we'll always remember actress Sandra Dee. The legendary screen star of the 1950s and '60s died in a California hospital yesterday of complications of kidney disease and pneumonia. Now, Dee was known for roles like "Gidget," "Tammy," and the teen heroine of "A Summer Place." She was married to singer Bobby Darrin for seven years.
And Broadway theaters will dim their lights tomorrow night to remember actor and singer John Raitt. Raitt died yesterday at the age of 88. Raitt debuted on Broadway in Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel" back in 1945. He went on to star in numerous stage and screen musicals.
HARRIS: He gave the world "Songs of the Doomed" and "Generation of Swine." He made fear and loathing something not to be feared and loathed but savored. He called himself a journalist in the gonzo mold, which didn't even exist until he invented it.
Hunter S. Thompson lived his own way, wrote his own way and died his own way, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at 67.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS (voice-over): Thompson and guns went together like Thompson and, well, pretty much any mind altering compound, if you believe the legend. The legend himself once said he couldn't have reached middle age if all the stories were true.
But exaggeration, alteration, inebriation, perhaps here and there some fabrication, served Thompson well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sky was full of what looked like huge bats.
HARRIS: That's from the C.D. released on the 25th anniversary of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," first seen in the pages of "Rolling Stone" under the authorship of Raoul Duke.
HUNTER S. THOMPSON, WRITER: Well, it was like stepping on a bar of soap, in a way, that that part of this book shot out.
HARRIS: For the record, Thompson was the model for Doonesbury's "Uncle Duke." And yes, he hated it for years. Eventually though, uncharacteristically, he made his peace with it.
Not so what Thompson considered invaders to his beloved Aspen, Colorado. In the early '90s, from his so-called fortified compound in Woody Creek, Thompson unloaded on posters symbolizing the rich and famous who were crowding his mountains.
THOMPSON: That's the way it works. That is good. That really is pleasing.
Subtlety is really the hallmark of my art.
HARRIS: Sure enough, Thompson's art sold in a local gallery for $20,000-plus a pop. Still, he was no Ralph Steadman. And the man who provided the graphic interpretations of four decades of gonzo journalism says Thompson wouldn't have been Thompson without him. RALPH STEADMAN, ARTIST: You know, that book would never have happened if it had not for my illustrations. Believe me. Because nobody reads a filthy word. Do they?
PETER WHITMER, THOMPSON BIOGRAPHER: Oscar Wilde said, "I saved my talent for my writing. I saved my genius for my lifestyle." And that's Hunter.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Thompson announced his literary presence with the book "Hell's Angels" in 1965. He called himself an avid reader, a relentless drinker and a fine hand with a .44 magnum.
NGUYEN: Well, news across America, from aiming torpedoes at the Kerry campaign, trying to sink Social Security supporters. "The New York Times" said the conservative lobbying group is hiring swift boat advisers to help sink opposition to the president's planned overhaul. The "Times" reports the group is spending $10 million on ads and other methods countering the AARP.
If you think there's a better place than New York City for the 2012 Olympics, forget about it. The Big Apple is actively lobbying the IOC for the honors, rolling out the red carpet from the Plaza Hotel to Tiffany's. Four other cities are in the running.
And as long as we're talking about New York and the Olympics, if passive/aggressive tactics were a sport, we have got some gold medalists, folks. Tired of rampant blabbermouths who don't care when, where or how loudly they talk on their cell phones? Many New Yorkers are taking the law into their own hands.
"The New York Post" said cell phone jamming devices are all the rage with enraged New Yorkers. The gadgets zap cell phone signals, and they're actually illegal. But no one has stopped them yet.
HARRIS: No.
NGUYEN: No.
HARRIS: However joyous it might be, returning home from Iraq takes some adjustments for U.S. troops. CNN's Alina Cho reports on one New York firefighter back from the front lines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHAWN GOODRIDGE, NEW YORK FIREFIGHTER: Oh, man, it's good to see you.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shawn Goodridge is getting up close and personal with his fellow New York City firefighters for the first time in 15 months. At a Valentine's Day banquet, he's doing double duty: reconnecting with old coworkers...
GOODRIDGE: Heard you got married. CHO: ... and taking his wife Millie out on a date. She hasn't seen him much lately either, because Goodridge has spent the past year in Iraq.
As a member of the 108th Infantry Division, a unit of the New York National Guard, Sergeant Goodridge was stationed in the Sunni Triangle and saw some of the worst of the worst while he was there.
GOODRIDGE: We saw our fair share. I would say we saw our fair share.
CHO: Goodridge and his unit returned home last month. Today, the 36-year-old father of four is still getting used to being out of a war zone.
GOODRIDGE: Great seeing the block. Getting off and it's kind of dusk when I got here, and the lights were on. And it's like...
CHO (on camera): But it looked different?
GOODRIDGE: Yes, it looked different. It looked very much different.
CHO (voice-over): So is he. Everything from his phone conversations...
GOODRIDGE: Negative.
CHO: ... to the way he carries himself are extensions of his tour of duty.
GOODRIDGE: You don't know who is who, and you to keep an eye out so you're constantly -- your head is constantly moving around, and looking, checking rooftops, checking everything.
CHO (on camera): So now that you're back, you find yourself doing that?
GOODRIDGE: I still find myself doing it.
CHO (voice-over): Goodridge will take time off before going back to fire fighting. He worked at Ground Zero on September 11 and says being a soldier in Iraq has been an honor.
GOODRIDGE: In a way, it was sort of brought me, like, full circle. That was an event that actually started this entire war on terrorism and everything, so I felt that me going over there, it's kind of given me a little bit of peace inside.
CHO: Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And still to come, new census numbers are showing a big shift, and it could have a big impact on the next presidential election. NGUYEN: Judy Woodruff has that story. That's ahead on "INSIDE POLITICS."
And just ahead right here on LIVE FROM, determined dippers. These swimmers are not going to let a few ocean liners, oil slicks or even floating trash sink their tradition.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Here's a question for you. How do you earn military honors using a spoon? Well, the answer, use it to perform emergency surgery aboard a submarine 120 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
That's what naval pharmacist Wheeler Lipes did more than 60 years ago performing a successful appendectomy with only makeshift instruments and no medical training. Now the 84-year-old World War II veteran has finally been awarded a naval commendation medal for the feat.
NGUYEN: The person who underwent that should have an achievement award, as well. My goodness, sounds painful.
HARRIS: Well, you know, it's not the Caribbean.
NGUYEN: Not at all. But for one group of Hong Kong seniors the cold and murky waters of a busy shipping channel are just great for a relaxing swim. Here's CNN's Andrew Brown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These exercises are part of a daily routine for some of Hong Kong's hardiest seniors. After a warm up, they take a dip in the ocean, which in winter means braving the chilly currents of the South China Sea.
The youngest swimmers, in their 50s, are outnumbered by others in their 60s and 70s and veterans like Kong Seck, who's turned 82. You can't keep him out of the water.
KONG SECK, SWIMMER (through translator): It's so beautiful. Why not swim here?
BROWN: Why not? Well, for a start, this stretch of water is called Sulfur Channel, named after the chemicals locals say were once stored nearby.
The channel is also near the world's busiest container port. And in this working harbor, you'll find vessels so large they can't fit through the Panama Canal.
Fortunately, the swimmers are unphased by the swells generated by all the ocean traffic.
LUK MEI YONG, SWIMMER (through translator): These waves, when they wash over you, it's very relaxing. We're used to riding them up and down.
BROWN: The swimmers claim the water's quite clean, although they still have to dodge different kinds of trash, and they're affected by more stubborn forms of pollution, especially fuel spills.
TAM FUNG KWAN, SWIMMER (through translator): We are used to it, and jumping in the water is something we just have to do.
BROWN (on camera): The swimmers say about half the time they come here, they get covered in oil. I don't see any oil, but just the smell of diesel.
(voice-over) Despite the environmental hazards and often choppy conditions, the seniors keep coming. As for a trip to the swimming pool, well, apparently, that's not even worth contemplating.
SECK (through translator): Swimming in this ocean water is healthier than swimming in fresh water.
BROWN: Many people would disagree the sea here is actually healthy. But that's what makes this such a singular salute to Mother Nature.
Andrew Brown, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Andrew jumping right into that one.
HARRIS: I was fine until that moment. I was with the piece, totally with it.
NGUYEN: Seen it all.
HARRIS: That's all of our time for LIVE FROM. Let's send it to Washington for a preview of "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS."
Hi, Judy.
JUDY WOODRUFF, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Hi, Tony. Thanks to you and Betty.
Ahead on "INSIDE POLITICS," the tale of the tapes. He may be in Europe, but the president's making news here at home. Secretly recorded conversations offer a new look at Mr. Bush off the record. But what more do they tell us about the man?
Plus, he was the father of gonzo journalism, the political writer with a style all his own. To so many, off the cuff and on the mark. We'll remember Hunter S. Thompson with our own Bruce Morton.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: I'm Tony Harris in the CNN Center. "INSIDE POLITICS" is next after a look at stories now in the news. Police in Texas are searching an SUV sought in the disappearance of a pregnant woman and her son. The vehicle, belonging to 34-year- old Lisa Underwood, was found hours ago in a Dallas area creek. Police say there's still no sign of Underwood or her 7-year-old son.
Wild weather causes more danger in California. Just over an hour ago, rescue workers freed a third person trapped in about 10 feet of mud that crashed into a town home in Hacienda Heights. The mudslide was triggered by days of heavy rain.
A long-time friend of author Hunter S. Thompson is reacting with shock to his suicide. Thompson, who was known for his concept of gonzo journalism, was found shot to death in his home in Colorado yesterday. CNN's "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS" will have more on his legacy at 5 p.m. Eastern.
Now "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS."
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Aired February 21, 2005 - 14:57 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: "Now in the News." Breaking bread and mending fences. President Bush and Jacques Chirac are dining together in Brussels this hour. The French president was a leading European opponent of the war in Iraq. Mr. Bush is trying to bridge that divide. We'll have highlights of his day in Brussels -- that's coming up this half hour.
Back home now. The White House calls them casual conversations with somebody the president, quote, considered a friend. That friend, author Doug Wead, has released audiotapes of conversations he says he had with the then-Governor Bush in the late 1990s. In them, Mr. Bush appears to admit that he smoked marijuana in the past. Now, CNN did not independently confirm the authenticity of those tapes.
Police in Texas, they are trying to find a pregnant woman and her 7-year-old son, who have been missing since Saturday. A pool of blood was found in their Fort Worth home. Now there's word the woman's SUV has been found outside Dallas. We'll have more on this story straight ahead.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the rain keeps coming, the mud keeps sliding, or threatening to in Southern California. Three people are known dead. In the latest big storm, three more had a close call when a wall of mud overran their condo complex. East of Los Angeles, we've got the latest from CNN's Miguel Marquez in the L.A. suburb of Glendale. Hello, Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you there, Tony? It's a lot of mud, it's a lot of water out here. I want to give you an idea of sort of what the typical situation out there. This is in Glendale, a little suburb here up in the hills. This mud has been coming down all night.
You can see it sort of sponge-like, you can see how that just sort of oozes down that mountain once it gets too heavy. This is where all this mud -- this is a cul-de-sac or what was a cul-de-sac, and this is where it's all coming from, off this hillside. There's sort of two areas that are sliding into this cul-de-sac here.
We talked to one homeowner who had to evacuate last night, and this is what he heard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LEO SARAGUETA, MUDSLIDE SURVIVOR: The noise was just deafening, sounded like thunder, trees cracking, boulders coming down. And the scariest part was that we couldn't see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: Now, I just talked to a representative from the city of Glendale, and he says that two more homes have been evacuated in this area. In all, about 12 homes, some of them mandatory, some of them voluntary evacuations.
This home here was a voluntary evacuation. Engineers also think this hillside will slide -- will stay and won't slide anymore, but there are other hillsides around here that there is growing concern about. And if this rain keeps coming down there's going to be more of this to come -- Tony.
HARRIS: And Miguel, you're still talking about major power outages out there as well, aren't you?
MARQUEZ: There are some power outages overnight. There were scattered power outages throughout the southland area. Nothing major. Sunset Strip was out for a little while last night as well, at least flickering on and off. So it's hitting just about everywhere, Tony.
HARRIS: OK. Miguel Marquez in Glendale, California, for us. Miguel, thank you.
Texas police have converged on an undeveloped area near Dallas where an SUV was found nose down in the creek. They say it belongs to a woman who, along with her young son, has been missing for three days now.
Reporter Mary Ann Razzuk with CNN affiliate WFAA is on the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY ANN RAZZUK, WFAA REPORTER (voice-over): Fort Worth crime scene detectives spent the day combing through Lisa Underwood's home in search of clues that might tell them what happened to her, her 7- year-old son, Jayden, and unborn child. Underwood is seven months pregnant.
LT. GENE JONES, FORT WORTH, TEXAS, POLICE: There's evidence inside the missing woman's home that gives us strong suspicion that foul play was involved.
RAZZUK: The discovery led police to issue an Amber Alert just after 10 p.m. Saturday night.
Family and friends reported the 34-year-old local business owner missing after she didn't show up for her Saturday afternoon baby shower, held at the bagel shop Holly Pills says they co-own together.
HOLLY PILS, FRIEND: I'm just shocked and stunned and want to know where she is. RAZZUK: Pils says Underwood also missed a birthday party she planned to attend with her son Saturday morning.
PILS: No one reports seeing her. They have asked all the neighbors. They've talked to everybody. We've called everybody.
RAZZUK: According to Pils, Underwood lived alone with her son and stayed busy with work and her son's activities.
PILS: He and his mom, I mean, they're -- they're everything to each other.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Again, that was reporter Mary Ann Razzuk with WFAA. We may learn more in two hours. That's when police in Fort Worth have scheduled a news conference.
NGUYEN: Nearly two years since the height of disagreement over how to deal with Iraq, President Bush is reaching out to some of America's oldest friends on their home turf today.
Here's what Mr. Bush, about an hour ago with French President Jacques Chirac, one of the war's most vocal critics. The two met in Brussels as the president launched his fence-mending trip across the heart of Europe. And in the speech Mr. Bush said the transatlantic bond is far too strong and too important to be impaired by any -- any longer by Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In a new century the alliance of Europe and North America is the main pillar of our security. Our robust trade is one of the engines of the world's economy. Our example of economic and political freedom gives hope to millions who are weary of poverty and oppression.
In all these ways our strong friendship is essential to peace and prosperity across the globe. And no temporary debate, no passing disagreement of governments, no power on earth will ever divide us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Mr. Bush stays in Brussels for one more day before a brief trip to Mainz on the Rhine River in Germany. Now, he travels from there to the Slovak Republic, where his appointments include a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In the Mideast today, a joyous welcome for hundreds of newly freed Palestinian prisoners. Israel released 50 prisoners as part of a cease-fire agreement, and that could produce momentum in the peace process.
Our Guy Raz reports some of the former prisoners may actually become ambassadors of goodwill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sounds echoing across the West Bank today. As they kiss their sons and brothers, gunfire salutes to welcome them home.
And they paid their respects at the tomb of the late Yasser Arafat.
Sakher Hanatshen's wife and five children held vigil here, waiting to greet Daddy. Sakher's been in and out of Israeli jails seven times since 1985. His first stop on this day, the tomb of a comrade killed by Israeli forces.
SAKHER HANATSHEN, FREED PRISONER (through translator): Salem Yakoub (ph) was a friend. We became very close in prison. He was a good man, a respected man.
RAZ: Sakher calls him a martyr.
Back at home, wives and mothers wail in joy. Sakher is reminded of the comforts of home life. But even with Daddy home, "Tom and Jerry" still win out with the kids.
Though Sakher wasn't involved in violence, he had to sign a form renouncing militant activity.
HANATSHEN (through translator): The paper doesn't mean much to me. I signed it. But it doesn't mean much.
RAZ: Israel wants men like Sakher to serve as advocates for peace and promises to release 400 more in the coming months.
(on camera) Are you prepared now to be an ambassador for peace?
HANATSHEN (through translator): Once we feel that our rights are restored, we can definitely be ambassadors for peace.
RAZ (voice-over): There is still bitterness. Sakher was an administrative detainee. He only served five months this time, but he was never charged, never told why he was arrested. Sakher's lawyer was told the evidence was classified.
(on camera) The released prisoners are home now, back with their families, but not without mixed feelings. They left behind thousands of others still incarcerated in prisons like this one, waiting for their moment to finally be free, as well.
Guy Raz, CNN, outside Ofer (ph) prison in the West Bank.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Cries of anger in Lebanon today. Thousands of protesters took their outrage over last week's assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri to the streets. They're demanding Syrian troops leave. Many believe Syria's government played a role in Hariri's death, something Syria has strongly denied. President Bush and French President Jacques Chirac echoed the protesters' sentiments. They issued a joint statement today, calling for Syria to pull its troops out of Lebanon.
NGUYEN: There is another video appearance of Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's right-hand man. Now, a snippet airing yesterday on Al Jazeera warns U.S. efforts to spread democracy throughout the world will end in disaster for the west. Western security, al-Zawahiri says, depends on due respect from Muslims and an end to foreign occupation.
HARRIS: Is the U.S. speaking privately while carrying a big stick in Iraq? "TIME" magazine reports U.S. officials or envoys are reaching out to insurgents, whom the U.S. and Iraqi militaries have been unable to pacify. "TIME" correspondent Michael Ware says the dialogue is in its early stages and the goal for Americans is huge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL WARE, "TIME" MAGAZINE: The U.S. embassy has explained the strategy to me by saying that the point is to try to split the insurgency, to -- to cleave away the insurgents, the home grown guerrillas, from the foreign fighters, the terrorists, the Islamic militants.
Remember, these two groups want entirely different things. The terrorists or the militants, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, want to fight the infidel west, and they want to create an Islamic state. That's not what the Ba'athists and guerrillas want. They want a secular democracy.
And, as senior embassy officials say, this is a marriage of convenience, and they're hoping to bring about a divorce.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, a U.S. diplomat in Iraq tells CNN it's Iraqi officials who are undertaking talks and he's unaware of any direct U.S. involvement.
NGUYEN: Some of the same people who brought you those swift boat ads during the presidential campaign, remember those? Well, they are reportedly taking up a new cause. Find out what it is ahead on LIVE FROM.
And the iconic writer and pioneer of gonzo journalism, Hunter S. Thompson, dies. We'll look back at his amazing life.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: There's a summer place where we'll always remember actress Sandra Dee. The legendary screen star of the 1950s and '60s died in a California hospital yesterday of complications of kidney disease and pneumonia. Now, Dee was known for roles like "Gidget," "Tammy," and the teen heroine of "A Summer Place." She was married to singer Bobby Darrin for seven years.
And Broadway theaters will dim their lights tomorrow night to remember actor and singer John Raitt. Raitt died yesterday at the age of 88. Raitt debuted on Broadway in Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel" back in 1945. He went on to star in numerous stage and screen musicals.
HARRIS: He gave the world "Songs of the Doomed" and "Generation of Swine." He made fear and loathing something not to be feared and loathed but savored. He called himself a journalist in the gonzo mold, which didn't even exist until he invented it.
Hunter S. Thompson lived his own way, wrote his own way and died his own way, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at 67.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS (voice-over): Thompson and guns went together like Thompson and, well, pretty much any mind altering compound, if you believe the legend. The legend himself once said he couldn't have reached middle age if all the stories were true.
But exaggeration, alteration, inebriation, perhaps here and there some fabrication, served Thompson well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sky was full of what looked like huge bats.
HARRIS: That's from the C.D. released on the 25th anniversary of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," first seen in the pages of "Rolling Stone" under the authorship of Raoul Duke.
HUNTER S. THOMPSON, WRITER: Well, it was like stepping on a bar of soap, in a way, that that part of this book shot out.
HARRIS: For the record, Thompson was the model for Doonesbury's "Uncle Duke." And yes, he hated it for years. Eventually though, uncharacteristically, he made his peace with it.
Not so what Thompson considered invaders to his beloved Aspen, Colorado. In the early '90s, from his so-called fortified compound in Woody Creek, Thompson unloaded on posters symbolizing the rich and famous who were crowding his mountains.
THOMPSON: That's the way it works. That is good. That really is pleasing.
Subtlety is really the hallmark of my art.
HARRIS: Sure enough, Thompson's art sold in a local gallery for $20,000-plus a pop. Still, he was no Ralph Steadman. And the man who provided the graphic interpretations of four decades of gonzo journalism says Thompson wouldn't have been Thompson without him. RALPH STEADMAN, ARTIST: You know, that book would never have happened if it had not for my illustrations. Believe me. Because nobody reads a filthy word. Do they?
PETER WHITMER, THOMPSON BIOGRAPHER: Oscar Wilde said, "I saved my talent for my writing. I saved my genius for my lifestyle." And that's Hunter.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Thompson announced his literary presence with the book "Hell's Angels" in 1965. He called himself an avid reader, a relentless drinker and a fine hand with a .44 magnum.
NGUYEN: Well, news across America, from aiming torpedoes at the Kerry campaign, trying to sink Social Security supporters. "The New York Times" said the conservative lobbying group is hiring swift boat advisers to help sink opposition to the president's planned overhaul. The "Times" reports the group is spending $10 million on ads and other methods countering the AARP.
If you think there's a better place than New York City for the 2012 Olympics, forget about it. The Big Apple is actively lobbying the IOC for the honors, rolling out the red carpet from the Plaza Hotel to Tiffany's. Four other cities are in the running.
And as long as we're talking about New York and the Olympics, if passive/aggressive tactics were a sport, we have got some gold medalists, folks. Tired of rampant blabbermouths who don't care when, where or how loudly they talk on their cell phones? Many New Yorkers are taking the law into their own hands.
"The New York Post" said cell phone jamming devices are all the rage with enraged New Yorkers. The gadgets zap cell phone signals, and they're actually illegal. But no one has stopped them yet.
HARRIS: No.
NGUYEN: No.
HARRIS: However joyous it might be, returning home from Iraq takes some adjustments for U.S. troops. CNN's Alina Cho reports on one New York firefighter back from the front lines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHAWN GOODRIDGE, NEW YORK FIREFIGHTER: Oh, man, it's good to see you.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shawn Goodridge is getting up close and personal with his fellow New York City firefighters for the first time in 15 months. At a Valentine's Day banquet, he's doing double duty: reconnecting with old coworkers...
GOODRIDGE: Heard you got married. CHO: ... and taking his wife Millie out on a date. She hasn't seen him much lately either, because Goodridge has spent the past year in Iraq.
As a member of the 108th Infantry Division, a unit of the New York National Guard, Sergeant Goodridge was stationed in the Sunni Triangle and saw some of the worst of the worst while he was there.
GOODRIDGE: We saw our fair share. I would say we saw our fair share.
CHO: Goodridge and his unit returned home last month. Today, the 36-year-old father of four is still getting used to being out of a war zone.
GOODRIDGE: Great seeing the block. Getting off and it's kind of dusk when I got here, and the lights were on. And it's like...
CHO (on camera): But it looked different?
GOODRIDGE: Yes, it looked different. It looked very much different.
CHO (voice-over): So is he. Everything from his phone conversations...
GOODRIDGE: Negative.
CHO: ... to the way he carries himself are extensions of his tour of duty.
GOODRIDGE: You don't know who is who, and you to keep an eye out so you're constantly -- your head is constantly moving around, and looking, checking rooftops, checking everything.
CHO (on camera): So now that you're back, you find yourself doing that?
GOODRIDGE: I still find myself doing it.
CHO (voice-over): Goodridge will take time off before going back to fire fighting. He worked at Ground Zero on September 11 and says being a soldier in Iraq has been an honor.
GOODRIDGE: In a way, it was sort of brought me, like, full circle. That was an event that actually started this entire war on terrorism and everything, so I felt that me going over there, it's kind of given me a little bit of peace inside.
CHO: Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And still to come, new census numbers are showing a big shift, and it could have a big impact on the next presidential election. NGUYEN: Judy Woodruff has that story. That's ahead on "INSIDE POLITICS."
And just ahead right here on LIVE FROM, determined dippers. These swimmers are not going to let a few ocean liners, oil slicks or even floating trash sink their tradition.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Here's a question for you. How do you earn military honors using a spoon? Well, the answer, use it to perform emergency surgery aboard a submarine 120 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
That's what naval pharmacist Wheeler Lipes did more than 60 years ago performing a successful appendectomy with only makeshift instruments and no medical training. Now the 84-year-old World War II veteran has finally been awarded a naval commendation medal for the feat.
NGUYEN: The person who underwent that should have an achievement award, as well. My goodness, sounds painful.
HARRIS: Well, you know, it's not the Caribbean.
NGUYEN: Not at all. But for one group of Hong Kong seniors the cold and murky waters of a busy shipping channel are just great for a relaxing swim. Here's CNN's Andrew Brown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These exercises are part of a daily routine for some of Hong Kong's hardiest seniors. After a warm up, they take a dip in the ocean, which in winter means braving the chilly currents of the South China Sea.
The youngest swimmers, in their 50s, are outnumbered by others in their 60s and 70s and veterans like Kong Seck, who's turned 82. You can't keep him out of the water.
KONG SECK, SWIMMER (through translator): It's so beautiful. Why not swim here?
BROWN: Why not? Well, for a start, this stretch of water is called Sulfur Channel, named after the chemicals locals say were once stored nearby.
The channel is also near the world's busiest container port. And in this working harbor, you'll find vessels so large they can't fit through the Panama Canal.
Fortunately, the swimmers are unphased by the swells generated by all the ocean traffic.
LUK MEI YONG, SWIMMER (through translator): These waves, when they wash over you, it's very relaxing. We're used to riding them up and down.
BROWN: The swimmers claim the water's quite clean, although they still have to dodge different kinds of trash, and they're affected by more stubborn forms of pollution, especially fuel spills.
TAM FUNG KWAN, SWIMMER (through translator): We are used to it, and jumping in the water is something we just have to do.
BROWN (on camera): The swimmers say about half the time they come here, they get covered in oil. I don't see any oil, but just the smell of diesel.
(voice-over) Despite the environmental hazards and often choppy conditions, the seniors keep coming. As for a trip to the swimming pool, well, apparently, that's not even worth contemplating.
SECK (through translator): Swimming in this ocean water is healthier than swimming in fresh water.
BROWN: Many people would disagree the sea here is actually healthy. But that's what makes this such a singular salute to Mother Nature.
Andrew Brown, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Andrew jumping right into that one.
HARRIS: I was fine until that moment. I was with the piece, totally with it.
NGUYEN: Seen it all.
HARRIS: That's all of our time for LIVE FROM. Let's send it to Washington for a preview of "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS."
Hi, Judy.
JUDY WOODRUFF, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Hi, Tony. Thanks to you and Betty.
Ahead on "INSIDE POLITICS," the tale of the tapes. He may be in Europe, but the president's making news here at home. Secretly recorded conversations offer a new look at Mr. Bush off the record. But what more do they tell us about the man?
Plus, he was the father of gonzo journalism, the political writer with a style all his own. To so many, off the cuff and on the mark. We'll remember Hunter S. Thompson with our own Bruce Morton.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: I'm Tony Harris in the CNN Center. "INSIDE POLITICS" is next after a look at stories now in the news. Police in Texas are searching an SUV sought in the disappearance of a pregnant woman and her son. The vehicle, belonging to 34-year- old Lisa Underwood, was found hours ago in a Dallas area creek. Police say there's still no sign of Underwood or her 7-year-old son.
Wild weather causes more danger in California. Just over an hour ago, rescue workers freed a third person trapped in about 10 feet of mud that crashed into a town home in Hacienda Heights. The mudslide was triggered by days of heavy rain.
A long-time friend of author Hunter S. Thompson is reacting with shock to his suicide. Thompson, who was known for his concept of gonzo journalism, was found shot to death in his home in Colorado yesterday. CNN's "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS" will have more on his legacy at 5 p.m. Eastern.
Now "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS."
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