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Fighting Words; Who is Posada?; Wireless Alerts

Aired May 17, 2005 - 13:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Post-9/11 security gaffe: you get screened, your bags get screened, but the cargo on your flight usually doesn't. We're going to talk about why.
Thousands of people march in Havana, Cuba, against one man in Miami. Find out what he's in the U.S. and why Fidel Castro calls him a terrorist.

Also, soldiers send up a music video. It amuses the troops but manages to crash military computers.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. Miles worked the early shift today. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

"Newsweek" takes it back, but the widely-read, widely-respected news magazine continues to take it on the chin, chiefly from the Bush administration, over its retracted report of Quran desecration at Guantanamo Bay. We get the headlines now from CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, here at the Pentagon, officials are making it clear they are still very unhappy about this entire affair. But at a press conference earlier today, they did begin to walk through some of the details about what they are doing.

Now thousands of pages of documents and logs from Guantanamo Bay have been reviewed, according to Pentagon officials, to see if there are any substantiated allegations of abuse of the Quran. And what Pentagon officials say is they have found no specific allegations from detainees in those logs about the Quran being flushed down the toilet by guards, something "Newsweek" had mentioned. They do have reports, they say, of detainees ripping out pages and attempting to flush them themselves, but all of this is continuing to be looked at by U.S. military personnel to see what exactly they are able to corroborate.

Here's a bit of what the Pentagon spokesman, Larry DiRita, had to say just a while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE DIRITA, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: Allegations have not previously been -- there's not -- we've not previously included that in any kind of previous investigations into detainee operations because there haven't been credible allegations to that effect. And we've tried to pursue specific credible allegations carefully, and we think we've done that, but nonetheless, in the course of reviewing -- in the course of the -- in the wake of the "Newsweek" piece, we thought it useful to go back and review to be sure. And that's what's going on right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: So, in the wake of the "Newsweek" article, going back, looking at all the reports, all the logs to see what they can determine. Now, this is so serious to the Pentagon because of this unrest that broke out in eastern Afghanistan, leaving up to 15 people dead. In fact, Larry DiRita said that he believes, very much so, that people died as a direct result of the rioting and that that was tied to the "Newsweek" article, though many military officials say those riots might have taken place anyhow, that there was a good deal of unrest in eastern Afghanistan, the "Newsweek" article, the fuse, that just lit that unrest.

To be clear, Kyra, the Pentagon is saying that there are some matters of mishandling of the Quran that they have looked into over the past months and years. For example, one incident that they are looking into, that a Quran fell on the floor during an inspection of a detainee's cell. Another incident they are looking into, that a woman guard or an employee at Guantanamo Bay, a female, handled a detainee's Quran and these were matters that the detainees objected to.

That is something they are looking into. And as a result, back in January 2003, they established three pages of procedures, very specific procedures, about how the Quran, the Islamic hole book, should be handled by U.S. personnel at Guantanamo Bay.

So, at this point, the bottom line, they're continuing to look into it. They know that there are lawyers' allegations out there. But so far, they say they have not, here at the Pentagon, been able to substantiate any of it -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon. Thank you so much.

And in a CNN "Security Watch" now, an overseas flight makes an unscheduled stop, with the FBI and other agencies forming the welcoming committee. The Alitalia Boeing 767 bound from Milan, Italy, to Boston, landed just about an hour and a half ago in Bangor, Maine.

Flight 618 was diverted when it was discovered that a passenger on that plane was a match to someone on the no-fly list. Well, the Transportation Security Administration says that the man is believed to be traveling alone. The flight is carrying 127 passengers and 10 crew members.

Well, your bags are checked when you fly, but who knows what's in the plane's air cargo? New federal legislation to close that airline security loophole is in the hopper on Capitol Hill, and one amendment would require screening of all cargo on passenger flights by 2008. Another would order airlines to let you know when unscreened cargo is on board. The measure's sponsors say that they were alerted by the people who do the most flying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ED MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Let's be honest, the flight attendants and the pilots know best about where the loopholes are in the safety of passenger planes in America. And they're warning us right now that this is a loophole that al Qaeda can exploit. It must be shut down, and we will do that this week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, would the new legislation do the trick? At the bottom of the hour we're going to speak with CNN security analyst Clark Kent Ervin, a former inspector general for Homeland Security.

Transportation security officials have eased one of their rules, banning all lighters from airlines flights. They now say that lighters without fuel can be packed into checked bags.

The change came after Zippo complained that sales of their lighters would fall as much as 30 percent. Zippo sells millions of them to collectors who often travel to conventions and swap meets.

CNN an is committed to providing most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information day and night.

Well, a massive demonstration today in Cuba. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans answered President Fidel Castro's call to take part in what was billed as a march against terrorism. They're demanding the U.S. arrest Cuban exile Luis Posada Carriles. He's wanted in the deadly 1976 airliner bombing.

Well, Posada is living underground in Miami, and he has asked for political asylum in the U.S. But he tells CNN that he may withdraw his request because of the furor over his presence in Florida.

National Correspondent Susan Candiotti takes a closer look at the man called a freedom fighter by some and a terrorist by others.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): To some Cuban exiles, Luis Posada Carriles is a legend for making a career of crisscrossing Central America since the 1960s, devoted to bringing down Cuba's communist President Fidel Castro.

SANTIAGO ALVAREZ, POSADA SUPPORTER: He has been such a guiding light for everybody that is fighting Castro.

CANDIOTTI: But Posada's critics, including Castro himself, call Posada a terrorist. Posada, now in his late 70s, is a former CIA operative hiding in Miami after sneaking across the Mexican border. Why is he in hiding? Posada and his supporters say he has to worry about Cuban spies in Miami who might kill him. These pictures were taken three years ago in Panama.

After helping to organize the failed Bay of Pigs operation to oust Castro in 1961, Posada received explosives and sabotage training from the CIA. He says he stopped working for the CIA in 1968, but in the 1980s helped the U.S. back secret Contra supply network in Central America. A senior official familiar with Posada's career says the CIA considers him "radioactive," and that he is no longer linked to the agency.

And now, after four decades of his self-styled crusade against Castro, Posada has asked for political asylum to live amongst supporters in Miami, rather than be forced back to Cuba.

EDUARDO SOTO, ATTORNEY FOR POSADA: It is my utmost and absolute belief that should Mr. Posada Carriles be extradited from the United States, that he would be found dead.

CANDIOTTI: "Miami Herald" columnist Jim Defede opposes asylum for Posada.

JIM DEFEDE, COLUMNIST, "MIAMI HERALD": If Posada were be granted asylum, it would portray a double standard that the United States would be ridiculed for around the world.

CANDIOTTI: Why a double standard? Critics point to Posada's past. He was accused of but always denied committing multiple terrorist attacks.

Venezuela, 1976: charged with blowing up a Cuban airliner. The attack killed 73 people. Posada denied involvement and was never convicted, but was jailed for nine years in a Venezuelan prison until he escaped. Now that Posada is in Miami, the Venezuelans want him back, call him a terrorist, and plan to seek his extradition for a retrial.

Then there's Cuba, 1997. Havana hotels are bombed, one Italian tourist killed. Posada later claimed responsibility in interviews with two American newspapers.

Still, later, he put on a disguise to declare that confession a lie, and denied he was involved. Panama, 2000: Posada and three Cuban exiles are accused of plotting to assassinate Castro during a visit to that country. Posada was convicted in Panama but later received a presidential pardon.

Regardless of the consequences, Posada defends his ongoing battle against Castro.

"Never," Posada says, "have we taken terrorist actions against civilians." But his statements have not convinced his critics.

DEFEDE: No matter who you're trying to unseat, no matter what your end result is, the tactics do have to matter.

CANDIOTTI: Cuba's communist leader also wants the United States to hand over Posada.

"The monster is there," says Fidel Castro. A terrorist he says should be turned over to the Cuban authorities to pay for his crimes. ALVAREZ: Posada really is not a terrorist. Posada really is a freedom fighter, and he's been singled out by the Castro regime.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And in today's interview with CNN, Posada again denied being a terrorist, although he says he isn't renouncing violence. And to reiterate, Posada told CNN that he is reconsidering his request for asylum here.

Regrets, yes; apology, no. A spokesman for Mexican President Vicente Fox says that Fox's comment that Mexicans workers will take jobs that black Americans won't was not racist. Fox made the remark during a Sunday speech, and yesterday he told civil rights leaders in the U.S. that he regretted any hurt feelings that it may have caused. Fox says his words were misinterpreted. A spokesperson says the matter is closed.

Straight ahead, forget the tailgaters and the heavy traffic. In Utah -- or tailgate, rather, that is. In Utah, it was the 80-mile-an- hour wind that made for a tough commute. We'll have more on that ahead.

Plus, take a closer look at these photos. A little boy and little girl, police in Idaho want your help to find them.

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And helping to find those missing children is now as close as your cell phone away. I'm Kimberly Osias, live in Washington. I'll explain when LIVE FROM rolls on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: News "Across America" right now.

High winds toppled a tractor trailer in north central Utah yesterday, along with snarling traffic. The windstorm downed trees and power lines, leaving thousands of people in the dark. Most of the power has now been restored.

Water running off the mountain looks lovely, but just below it's a different story in Yosemite National Park. Heavy flooding from the mountain's melting snow pack forced the closure of the Yosemite Valley to traffic. Several park campgrounds are also closed. Park officials are worried that the melting of the remaining snow pack could lead to more flooding.

In Arizona, the problem is fire on the mountain. Firefighters battling a big blaze near Bartlett Lake, and they're getting a little cooperation from nature. The heavy winds have died down, and it's not expected to be quite as hot today.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: A suspected triple homicide and two missing children in northern Idaho today. Authorities issued an Amber Alert after three bodies were found east of Coeur d'Alene. They're searching for 9-year-old Dillon Groene and his 8-year-old sister, Shasta. There's a number to call on your screen if you have any information.

Authorities say that the bodies found are the children's mother, older brother and an unidentified man. Officials with the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department have talked to the children's father. He's divorced from their mother and not considered a suspect.

Amber Alerts are going high-tech now. The wireless industry announced today that the lookout for missing children is expanding all the way to your cell phones.

Kimberly Osias is in Washington with the details.

OSIAS: Well, Kyra, hopefully this next gen of Amber Alerts will help find Dillon and Shasta and other children as well. Now anybody anywhere can sign up to be an extra set of eyes or a sleuth in stopping crime.

Those highway banners and milk cartons aren't going by the wayside or being replaced. They're just being augmented with wireless technology.

The way it works is pretty simple. You sign up by logging on to www.wireless.amberalerts.org. Then you'll enter a secure Web site, give the cell numbers where you want to receive the alerts, and also enter the zip codes where you spend the most amount of time. You can do up to five.

So, for example, if you travel from New York to Pennsylvania, well, then you can enter the zip codes along your route. Information about the abductor and the victim will be relayed in real time. And, of course, that's what's critical in missing children cases.

Statistics show those first three hours key in finding a missing child. Experts say the information will be targeting only the most serious cases to avoid information overload.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN WALSH, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": They won't see the Amber Alerts from North Carolina if they live in Washington, D.C. They will see the Amber Alerts that they can make a difference on. They will see the Amber Alerts that will mean something to them in their area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: You can also register for the program through your wireless cell phone carrier's own Web site. So far, about a dozen are involved in the program. More are expected to sign up.

For example, you can log on to Sprint, Vernon or Nextel and get registered to be on the lookout. Then those alerts will appear on your own screen, on your phone. For example, you'll actually see -- like this one here, you'll see a text message with vital information like license plate number, automobile description, and any other pertinent information about the abductor and child.

So hopefully more children will get back home safely -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Kimberly Osias, thank you so much.

And a desperate mother's call for help.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One, two, three, four, five. He's starting to cry.

OPERATOR: All right, good.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come see mommy. Yes, there we go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Ahead on LIVE FROM, the 911 call that made the difference between life and death for this little baby.

And securing the skies. Concerns about a potential gap in screening on commercial airliners.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. Coming up, I'll tell you why your wallet might be a lot lighter after taking a summer vacation this year.

More LIVE FROM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's still two weeks until Memorial Day, but a lot of us are already thinking about summer vacation, that's for sure. But that week or two of sun and fun might come with a pretty hefty price tag this year. Susan Lisovicz live from the New York Stock Exchange to tell us why.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: An Alitalia flight from Milan, Italy, to Boston is back on track after an unexpected stop in Bangor, Maine. The Boeing 767 with 137 people on board was diverted there when transportation officials found a match between one of them and a name on a no-fly list. Federal agents met that plane.

A stinging response today from the British parliament member accused of involvement in the oil-for-food scandal. George Galloway appeared today before a Senate committee investigating the charges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE GALLOWAY, BRITISH LAWMAKER: I am not now, nor have I ever been, an oil trader. And neither has anyone on my behalf. I have never seen a barrel of oil, owned one, bought one, sold one, and neither has anybody on my behalf.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CNN senior United Nations Correspondent Richard Roth will have a live report on today's testimony at the top of the hour.

And three bodies found at a home in northern Idaho, and an Amber Alert issued for two missing children. Dillon and Shasta Groene, ages 9 and 8, reportedly lived at the home outside Coeur d'Alene. The case is being treated as a triple homicide with no I.D. on the bodies and no solid leads on the two missing children.

Brian Nichols today pleaded not guilty to dozens of counts, including murder and kidnapping. Nichols is accused of the March shooting rampage that killed three people at the Atlanta courthouse and another person at his home.

Taking another look at our security, some members of Congress want inspection of all cargo shipped on passenger planes by 2008. And until then, they want you to know whenever you're flying with unchecked cargo. Lawmakers today introduced measures to that effect in two proposed amendments to the Homeland Security Authorization Bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. EDWARD MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Twenty-two percent of all of the air cargo that is transported in the United States is loaded aboard passenger planes. So while you and I empty our pockets, remove our shoes, walk through the metal detector, and as our baggage is being screened, tons and tons of mail and cargo packages are loaded under our seats without ever being physically screened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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


Aired May 17, 2005 - 13:59   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Post-9/11 security gaffe: you get screened, your bags get screened, but the cargo on your flight usually doesn't. We're going to talk about why.
Thousands of people march in Havana, Cuba, against one man in Miami. Find out what he's in the U.S. and why Fidel Castro calls him a terrorist.

Also, soldiers send up a music video. It amuses the troops but manages to crash military computers.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. Miles worked the early shift today. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

"Newsweek" takes it back, but the widely-read, widely-respected news magazine continues to take it on the chin, chiefly from the Bush administration, over its retracted report of Quran desecration at Guantanamo Bay. We get the headlines now from CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, here at the Pentagon, officials are making it clear they are still very unhappy about this entire affair. But at a press conference earlier today, they did begin to walk through some of the details about what they are doing.

Now thousands of pages of documents and logs from Guantanamo Bay have been reviewed, according to Pentagon officials, to see if there are any substantiated allegations of abuse of the Quran. And what Pentagon officials say is they have found no specific allegations from detainees in those logs about the Quran being flushed down the toilet by guards, something "Newsweek" had mentioned. They do have reports, they say, of detainees ripping out pages and attempting to flush them themselves, but all of this is continuing to be looked at by U.S. military personnel to see what exactly they are able to corroborate.

Here's a bit of what the Pentagon spokesman, Larry DiRita, had to say just a while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE DIRITA, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: Allegations have not previously been -- there's not -- we've not previously included that in any kind of previous investigations into detainee operations because there haven't been credible allegations to that effect. And we've tried to pursue specific credible allegations carefully, and we think we've done that, but nonetheless, in the course of reviewing -- in the course of the -- in the wake of the "Newsweek" piece, we thought it useful to go back and review to be sure. And that's what's going on right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: So, in the wake of the "Newsweek" article, going back, looking at all the reports, all the logs to see what they can determine. Now, this is so serious to the Pentagon because of this unrest that broke out in eastern Afghanistan, leaving up to 15 people dead. In fact, Larry DiRita said that he believes, very much so, that people died as a direct result of the rioting and that that was tied to the "Newsweek" article, though many military officials say those riots might have taken place anyhow, that there was a good deal of unrest in eastern Afghanistan, the "Newsweek" article, the fuse, that just lit that unrest.

To be clear, Kyra, the Pentagon is saying that there are some matters of mishandling of the Quran that they have looked into over the past months and years. For example, one incident that they are looking into, that a Quran fell on the floor during an inspection of a detainee's cell. Another incident they are looking into, that a woman guard or an employee at Guantanamo Bay, a female, handled a detainee's Quran and these were matters that the detainees objected to.

That is something they are looking into. And as a result, back in January 2003, they established three pages of procedures, very specific procedures, about how the Quran, the Islamic hole book, should be handled by U.S. personnel at Guantanamo Bay.

So, at this point, the bottom line, they're continuing to look into it. They know that there are lawyers' allegations out there. But so far, they say they have not, here at the Pentagon, been able to substantiate any of it -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon. Thank you so much.

And in a CNN "Security Watch" now, an overseas flight makes an unscheduled stop, with the FBI and other agencies forming the welcoming committee. The Alitalia Boeing 767 bound from Milan, Italy, to Boston, landed just about an hour and a half ago in Bangor, Maine.

Flight 618 was diverted when it was discovered that a passenger on that plane was a match to someone on the no-fly list. Well, the Transportation Security Administration says that the man is believed to be traveling alone. The flight is carrying 127 passengers and 10 crew members.

Well, your bags are checked when you fly, but who knows what's in the plane's air cargo? New federal legislation to close that airline security loophole is in the hopper on Capitol Hill, and one amendment would require screening of all cargo on passenger flights by 2008. Another would order airlines to let you know when unscreened cargo is on board. The measure's sponsors say that they were alerted by the people who do the most flying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ED MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Let's be honest, the flight attendants and the pilots know best about where the loopholes are in the safety of passenger planes in America. And they're warning us right now that this is a loophole that al Qaeda can exploit. It must be shut down, and we will do that this week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, would the new legislation do the trick? At the bottom of the hour we're going to speak with CNN security analyst Clark Kent Ervin, a former inspector general for Homeland Security.

Transportation security officials have eased one of their rules, banning all lighters from airlines flights. They now say that lighters without fuel can be packed into checked bags.

The change came after Zippo complained that sales of their lighters would fall as much as 30 percent. Zippo sells millions of them to collectors who often travel to conventions and swap meets.

CNN an is committed to providing most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information day and night.

Well, a massive demonstration today in Cuba. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans answered President Fidel Castro's call to take part in what was billed as a march against terrorism. They're demanding the U.S. arrest Cuban exile Luis Posada Carriles. He's wanted in the deadly 1976 airliner bombing.

Well, Posada is living underground in Miami, and he has asked for political asylum in the U.S. But he tells CNN that he may withdraw his request because of the furor over his presence in Florida.

National Correspondent Susan Candiotti takes a closer look at the man called a freedom fighter by some and a terrorist by others.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): To some Cuban exiles, Luis Posada Carriles is a legend for making a career of crisscrossing Central America since the 1960s, devoted to bringing down Cuba's communist President Fidel Castro.

SANTIAGO ALVAREZ, POSADA SUPPORTER: He has been such a guiding light for everybody that is fighting Castro.

CANDIOTTI: But Posada's critics, including Castro himself, call Posada a terrorist. Posada, now in his late 70s, is a former CIA operative hiding in Miami after sneaking across the Mexican border. Why is he in hiding? Posada and his supporters say he has to worry about Cuban spies in Miami who might kill him. These pictures were taken three years ago in Panama.

After helping to organize the failed Bay of Pigs operation to oust Castro in 1961, Posada received explosives and sabotage training from the CIA. He says he stopped working for the CIA in 1968, but in the 1980s helped the U.S. back secret Contra supply network in Central America. A senior official familiar with Posada's career says the CIA considers him "radioactive," and that he is no longer linked to the agency.

And now, after four decades of his self-styled crusade against Castro, Posada has asked for political asylum to live amongst supporters in Miami, rather than be forced back to Cuba.

EDUARDO SOTO, ATTORNEY FOR POSADA: It is my utmost and absolute belief that should Mr. Posada Carriles be extradited from the United States, that he would be found dead.

CANDIOTTI: "Miami Herald" columnist Jim Defede opposes asylum for Posada.

JIM DEFEDE, COLUMNIST, "MIAMI HERALD": If Posada were be granted asylum, it would portray a double standard that the United States would be ridiculed for around the world.

CANDIOTTI: Why a double standard? Critics point to Posada's past. He was accused of but always denied committing multiple terrorist attacks.

Venezuela, 1976: charged with blowing up a Cuban airliner. The attack killed 73 people. Posada denied involvement and was never convicted, but was jailed for nine years in a Venezuelan prison until he escaped. Now that Posada is in Miami, the Venezuelans want him back, call him a terrorist, and plan to seek his extradition for a retrial.

Then there's Cuba, 1997. Havana hotels are bombed, one Italian tourist killed. Posada later claimed responsibility in interviews with two American newspapers.

Still, later, he put on a disguise to declare that confession a lie, and denied he was involved. Panama, 2000: Posada and three Cuban exiles are accused of plotting to assassinate Castro during a visit to that country. Posada was convicted in Panama but later received a presidential pardon.

Regardless of the consequences, Posada defends his ongoing battle against Castro.

"Never," Posada says, "have we taken terrorist actions against civilians." But his statements have not convinced his critics.

DEFEDE: No matter who you're trying to unseat, no matter what your end result is, the tactics do have to matter.

CANDIOTTI: Cuba's communist leader also wants the United States to hand over Posada.

"The monster is there," says Fidel Castro. A terrorist he says should be turned over to the Cuban authorities to pay for his crimes. ALVAREZ: Posada really is not a terrorist. Posada really is a freedom fighter, and he's been singled out by the Castro regime.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And in today's interview with CNN, Posada again denied being a terrorist, although he says he isn't renouncing violence. And to reiterate, Posada told CNN that he is reconsidering his request for asylum here.

Regrets, yes; apology, no. A spokesman for Mexican President Vicente Fox says that Fox's comment that Mexicans workers will take jobs that black Americans won't was not racist. Fox made the remark during a Sunday speech, and yesterday he told civil rights leaders in the U.S. that he regretted any hurt feelings that it may have caused. Fox says his words were misinterpreted. A spokesperson says the matter is closed.

Straight ahead, forget the tailgaters and the heavy traffic. In Utah -- or tailgate, rather, that is. In Utah, it was the 80-mile-an- hour wind that made for a tough commute. We'll have more on that ahead.

Plus, take a closer look at these photos. A little boy and little girl, police in Idaho want your help to find them.

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And helping to find those missing children is now as close as your cell phone away. I'm Kimberly Osias, live in Washington. I'll explain when LIVE FROM rolls on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: News "Across America" right now.

High winds toppled a tractor trailer in north central Utah yesterday, along with snarling traffic. The windstorm downed trees and power lines, leaving thousands of people in the dark. Most of the power has now been restored.

Water running off the mountain looks lovely, but just below it's a different story in Yosemite National Park. Heavy flooding from the mountain's melting snow pack forced the closure of the Yosemite Valley to traffic. Several park campgrounds are also closed. Park officials are worried that the melting of the remaining snow pack could lead to more flooding.

In Arizona, the problem is fire on the mountain. Firefighters battling a big blaze near Bartlett Lake, and they're getting a little cooperation from nature. The heavy winds have died down, and it's not expected to be quite as hot today.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: A suspected triple homicide and two missing children in northern Idaho today. Authorities issued an Amber Alert after three bodies were found east of Coeur d'Alene. They're searching for 9-year-old Dillon Groene and his 8-year-old sister, Shasta. There's a number to call on your screen if you have any information.

Authorities say that the bodies found are the children's mother, older brother and an unidentified man. Officials with the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department have talked to the children's father. He's divorced from their mother and not considered a suspect.

Amber Alerts are going high-tech now. The wireless industry announced today that the lookout for missing children is expanding all the way to your cell phones.

Kimberly Osias is in Washington with the details.

OSIAS: Well, Kyra, hopefully this next gen of Amber Alerts will help find Dillon and Shasta and other children as well. Now anybody anywhere can sign up to be an extra set of eyes or a sleuth in stopping crime.

Those highway banners and milk cartons aren't going by the wayside or being replaced. They're just being augmented with wireless technology.

The way it works is pretty simple. You sign up by logging on to www.wireless.amberalerts.org. Then you'll enter a secure Web site, give the cell numbers where you want to receive the alerts, and also enter the zip codes where you spend the most amount of time. You can do up to five.

So, for example, if you travel from New York to Pennsylvania, well, then you can enter the zip codes along your route. Information about the abductor and the victim will be relayed in real time. And, of course, that's what's critical in missing children cases.

Statistics show those first three hours key in finding a missing child. Experts say the information will be targeting only the most serious cases to avoid information overload.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN WALSH, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": They won't see the Amber Alerts from North Carolina if they live in Washington, D.C. They will see the Amber Alerts that they can make a difference on. They will see the Amber Alerts that will mean something to them in their area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: You can also register for the program through your wireless cell phone carrier's own Web site. So far, about a dozen are involved in the program. More are expected to sign up.

For example, you can log on to Sprint, Vernon or Nextel and get registered to be on the lookout. Then those alerts will appear on your own screen, on your phone. For example, you'll actually see -- like this one here, you'll see a text message with vital information like license plate number, automobile description, and any other pertinent information about the abductor and child.

So hopefully more children will get back home safely -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Kimberly Osias, thank you so much.

And a desperate mother's call for help.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One, two, three, four, five. He's starting to cry.

OPERATOR: All right, good.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come see mommy. Yes, there we go.

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PHILLIPS: Ahead on LIVE FROM, the 911 call that made the difference between life and death for this little baby.

And securing the skies. Concerns about a potential gap in screening on commercial airliners.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. Coming up, I'll tell you why your wallet might be a lot lighter after taking a summer vacation this year.

More LIVE FROM right after this.

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PHILLIPS: Well, it's still two weeks until Memorial Day, but a lot of us are already thinking about summer vacation, that's for sure. But that week or two of sun and fun might come with a pretty hefty price tag this year. Susan Lisovicz live from the New York Stock Exchange to tell us why.

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PHILLIPS: An Alitalia flight from Milan, Italy, to Boston is back on track after an unexpected stop in Bangor, Maine. The Boeing 767 with 137 people on board was diverted there when transportation officials found a match between one of them and a name on a no-fly list. Federal agents met that plane.

A stinging response today from the British parliament member accused of involvement in the oil-for-food scandal. George Galloway appeared today before a Senate committee investigating the charges.

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GEORGE GALLOWAY, BRITISH LAWMAKER: I am not now, nor have I ever been, an oil trader. And neither has anyone on my behalf. I have never seen a barrel of oil, owned one, bought one, sold one, and neither has anybody on my behalf.

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PHILLIPS: CNN senior United Nations Correspondent Richard Roth will have a live report on today's testimony at the top of the hour.

And three bodies found at a home in northern Idaho, and an Amber Alert issued for two missing children. Dillon and Shasta Groene, ages 9 and 8, reportedly lived at the home outside Coeur d'Alene. The case is being treated as a triple homicide with no I.D. on the bodies and no solid leads on the two missing children.

Brian Nichols today pleaded not guilty to dozens of counts, including murder and kidnapping. Nichols is accused of the March shooting rampage that killed three people at the Atlanta courthouse and another person at his home.

Taking another look at our security, some members of Congress want inspection of all cargo shipped on passenger planes by 2008. And until then, they want you to know whenever you're flying with unchecked cargo. Lawmakers today introduced measures to that effect in two proposed amendments to the Homeland Security Authorization Bill.

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REP. EDWARD MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Twenty-two percent of all of the air cargo that is transported in the United States is loaded aboard passenger planes. So while you and I empty our pockets, remove our shoes, walk through the metal detector, and as our baggage is being screened, tons and tons of mail and cargo packages are loaded under our seats without ever being physically screened.

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