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Plane Grounded for Bomb Threat; U.S. to Aid Russian Submarine Rescue Attempt; New CNN Show to Offer Insights on News Gathering; Pilot Who Dropped Atomic Bomb Recalls Mission

Aired August 05, 2005 - 15:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news, a race against time. Seven Russian sailors on a mini-submarine trapped 625 feet below the surface, their oxygen believed to be running out. A U.S. Navy team has joined the effort. More on that live, in just a minute.
A Southwest Airlines flight that left Dallas, Texas, about an hour and a half ago for Corpus Christi was diverted to Houston Hobby Airport where it landed safely. Live pictures now via our affiliate there. An airline spokeswoman says that a passenger on Flight 21 found a note suggesting some kind of threat. But all 136 passengers and five crewmembers are safe.

A small plane crashed today near Wheeling, Illinois. Affiliate reports say that two people were on board, there are no reports of serious injuries. The FAA says the pilot reported engine problems shortly after takeoff. The plane clipped the roof of a building when it went down in an industrial area.

Outsiders welcome, as long as you play by the rules. That word from British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who today warned that from now on, any foreign national preaching hatred or inciting terrorism in his country could be deported.

And the story we're continuing to follow, Southwest Airlines Flight 21 now on the ground in Houston after the crew received indications of a possible bomb threat.

More information now from CNN homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve. The good news, Jeanne, your sources say it don't look like it's significant.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. According to an FBI official in Houston, there does not appear to be a terrorist threat. And quote, "This does not appear to be significant."

But nonetheless scary. A Southwest Airline flight, Flight number 21 was flying from Dallas to Houston then on to Corpus Christi. On board, 136 passengers, five crew members. During that short hop from Dallas to Houston, we are told that a passenger found a note, on that note some threatening language indicating that a bomb was on board the aircraft.

They passed that note to the stewardess and, according to Southwest Airlines spokesman, the stewardess informed the pilot, who then made the decision to bring that flight down. According to a spokesperson for the airport in Houston, that plane was taken to a remote area of the airport. As you can see, they are deplaning the passengers one by one. They will be taken to an isolated area of the terminal. They will be questioned.

The Houston police and the TSA in the lead on this. The FBI assisting. Meanwhile they will bring in canine units. They will do a very thorough sweep of that plane to make absolutely certain that there is nothing dangerous on board.

But once again, the FBI in Houston, an official there, saying this does -- there does not appear to be a terrorist threat. This does not at this point in time appear to be significant -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, Jeanne, the individual that wrote that note talking about a possible bomb threat, what faces this individual?

MESERVE: A lot of trouble. This is not taken lightly by anyone at this point in time. There is -- there are signs at airports telling you this is not funny. This is not a laughing matter. You don't do this. There have been charges filed in the past. I would not be surprised, if they can get to the bottom of this and determine who might have left this note, that there will be charges filed again.

That's speculation but pretty good speculation, I think, given the current mood.

PHILLIPS: Jeanne Meserve, thank you so much. We'll continue to track it.

Well, you remember the Kursk? It was five years ago this month that dozens of Russian sailors were killed on board their disabled nuclear submarine while their government kept the world at arm's length.

Well, today the plea for help came fast, and the response just as fast as these live pictures. From Britain, Japan, and as you can see here U.S. Forces at naval air station North Island, just off San Diego.

Any time now this Air Force C-5 transport jet will rush 30 sailors and two unmanned vehicles to the site of a stranded Russian minisub with a seven-man crew and a dwindling air supply in the far western Pacific.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is watching everything -- Ted.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, every effort is being made not only in the U.S. but around the world to try to save these Russian sailors that have been trapped since yesterday, 600 plus feet below the surface.

Here on Coronado Island they are just getting ready now to finish loading up this C-5 transport plane. And on this plane will be a couple very large pieces of machinery, which will aid in the recovery effort and the rescue effort of these Russian sailors that are trapped.

It is unclear how much time is available. There are conflicting reports. First report says there's enough oxygen for the sailors to last through the day. And now we are hearing that they may have enough oxygen to last through Monday. The latter, of course, would be preference by everybody involved in this, but clearly time is of the essence.

And they're trying as quickly as possible to get this C-5 airborne to the Kamchatka Peninsula on the -- off the eastern coast of Russia so that they can help aid in this recovery effort.

The sailors are trapped in an AS-28 minisub. And the Russian government believes it's trapped, is this sub, on a piece of cable or possibly fishing net. This Scorpio as it is called, this piece of machinery that is going over there, a Super Scorpio, is able to, according to one of the personnel on board here, go down and pick up something as small as a dime on the bottom of the ocean. It's also powerful enough to cut through a one-inch cable.

The plan is get this piece of apparatus there, cut loose the sub and bring it to safety in some fashion. There are contingency plans going on at the moment in Russia. They're trying to drag the sub to shallow water in an effort to allow the sailors to save themselves, if need be. Get to a point where they can swim to the surface.

Clearly, this is an international effort to try to save the sailors and a much different scenario than we saw in 2000 with the Kursk -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ted Rowlands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COMMANDER KENT VAN HORN, U.S. NAVY: ... relatively shallow mission, so it shouldn't be very difficult.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A walk in the park?

VAN HORN: Not a walk in the park. Never a walk in the park, but, you know, 600 feet is not a long way to go down with the remotely operated vehicle. Remotely operated vehicles routinely operate in the thousands of feet range.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: Talking there about the Super Scorpio and the fact that 625 feet is a long way but not a long way for this operation and specifically this piece of equipment. They do feel confident if they're able to get there in time they will be able to make a difference in this recovery effort and hopefully bring these sailors up alive. They've been trapped since Thursday -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ted, I'm told about 10 hours to get there. Are you able or have you been able to confirm how much oxygen they have left? There's been so many different reports. We heard they could probably make it until Monday. We've been told possibly just the end of the day. What are they telling you there?

ROWLANDS: well, here on the ground they don't know. And they're going under the assumption that these sailors only have about a day left in the oxygen. And that's the way they're maneuvering. They're hoping that, indeed, the reports that they have enough oxygen to last through Monday are accurate.

But they say it's going to take them nine to ten hours in the air once they leave the Air Force base here. They're saying they may have a window as small as six hours to offload once they're on the eastern coast of Russia and then get to the site. They're going to have to load onto a vessel there. The Japanese government is providing help and vessels on site.

They're going to offload, get it onto that ship and then get to the site as soon as possible, but clearly they are working against the clock and going as quickly as possible.

PHILLIPS: We'll follow every minute of that flight. Ted Rowlands, thank you so much.

Well, it's packing day on Space Shuttle Discovery. Garbage day for the ISS. The first shuttle to dock with the space station in more than two years is leaving it a cleaner place as the two crafts prepare to disengage. Removing trash and stowing gear are vitally important jobs. But all the more mundane for the drama the Discovery underwent on Wednesday.

Today on CNN, the husband of shuttle commander Eileen Collins reflected on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT YOUNGS, HUSBAND OF EILEEN COLLINS: Like everyone else, a little surprised with all the work that's been done. However, I think the NASA people got right on it. You know, did all the analysis. I think the new cameras and photography that came along with this SDS- 114 worked exceptionally well and, you know, I think that was a great aid in solving the different issues that have popped up.

(END VIDEO CLIP0

PHILLIPS: Discovery will part ways with the space station tomorrow and land two days later. CNN's coverage of the return to Earth begins at 4 a.m. Eastern on Monday.

It was a horrifying moment in human history. A blinding flash and a nuclear bomb goes off in Hiroshima, Japan. The American commander who flew that bombing mission shares his thoughts, just ahead on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: I know it's the moment that all of you have been waiting for. Right after LIVE FROM starting Monday afternoon, 3 Eastern, CNN debuts a brand new weekday show. The program is called "THE SITUATION ROOM," hosted of course, by our Wolf Blitzer.

Wolf, are you ready?

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": It's going to be very exciting. We're very ready. We've been doing some rehearsals, making sure everything's in place. But I think, Kyra, it's going to be an exciting new adventure for all of us.

Here's some video of some of our rehearsals. You see some of the images that we're going to try to project, some of those video screens behind us.

We're going to get back to old fashioned serious journalism, what we do best, what we've always done best here at CNN, show people our news gathering capabilities in a new kind of way, a way that's really going to take full advantage of what we can do not only here in Washington but around the United States and around the world.

We have the best news gathering capabilities of any television network. I've not always been convinced we've used those as fully as we should. We're going to try to take full advantage, Kyra. And we're going to take full advantage of you, as well.

PHILLIPS: I know. We've already talked about that. And I'm ready for you. I'm ready to give you a little bit of that on Monday. That's for sure.

But Wolf, explain to our viewers "THE SITUATION ROOM" and the concept here, because you and I and other reporters have had to report from the situation rooms a number of different kinds -- a number of different situation rooms, from the Pentagon to the White House and elsewhere as we've covered the world, whether it be a war or it's a situation involving, you know, NORAD and U.S. Northcom in Colorado Springs.

Let's explain to our viewers what this means with regard to showing them what this means for them politically, militarily, national security.

BLITZER: Well, our concept was relatively simple. I had spent almost eight years as our senior White House correspondent. Whenever the president, any president, has a crisis, he goes into the situation room in the West Wing of the White House. That's where he can communicate with all his top commanders, with all of his senior advisers. They get the incoming teleconferences, the video, whatever they need. The latest intelligence is brought into the situation room.

At the Pentagon -- I used to cover the Pentagon -- they have the national military command center, so called war room.

At the CIA, they have operation centers, the State Department, all over Washington, all over the world.

Our thought was, "Well, we have incredible news gathering capabilities around the world. Let's bring all those capabilities together, bring them into our 'SITUATION ROOM,' show our viewers in a very transparent way what's going on, how we find out what's going on and get it on the air at a time of day between 3 and 6 p.m. on the East Coast where news is still developing, news is still influx. It hasn't yet gelled. It isn't pretty, necessarily.

And we're going to show our viewers multiple -- multiple stories that are developing during that time slot. And it's -- I think it's going to be an exciting new way to get the news.

PHILLIPS: And Wolf, of course, we should tell our viewers we're going to bring in a lot of exclusive insight to various real situation rooms, not just ours but outside of that from the Pentagon to the White House.

You and I have been working our sources and who we know. We're of course going to go inside Northcom and NORAD, exclusive access, and meet the commander, Admiral Timothy Keating, and others who are working these command centers that not only protect our airspace, but all of us on the ground. There are maritime operations. And we are going to cover all of that. And show how there is one mission that takes place here, and that is to protect all of us. It's all about our national security.

BLITZER: That's going to be you, Kyra. You're going out there to Cheyenne Mountain. You're going inside, and you're going to be reporting live for us both Monday and Tuesday in "THE SITUATION ROOM." And we're looking forward to that, Kyra. I know you are, as well.

PHILLIPS: I can't wait, Wolf, to be quite honest with you. Thank you so much.

BLITZER: See you Monday.

PHILLIPS: "THE SITUATION ROOM." That's right, 3 p.m. Eastern Monday. I'll see you then, Wolf.

BLITZER: Before Monday don't forget today, 5 p.m. Eastern, "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS."

PHILLIPS: We never miss it. Thanks, Wolf.

All right. We're going to take a quick break. But first, a somber anniversary that we want to tell you about. Tomorrow marks the 60 years since the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing an estimated 140,000 people. And the commander of the plane that dropped the bomb says he was just doing his job.

He actually shared his story with CNN's Miles O'Brien earlier this year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR (voice-over): He's known as the man who ended the war, and he is now nearing the end of the line.

PAUL TIBBETS, PILOT, ENOLA GAY: There it is. Liberty bell.

O'BRIEN: And as he turns 90 Paul Tibbets is speaking out, trying to second the record straight about the brutal dawn of the nuclear age 60 years ago this year.

TIBBETS: No, no, we didn't figure we were out making history. That was the old guys to do make the history.

O'BRIEN: Of course it was history, August 6, 1945. Tibbets commanding the B-29 bomber he named after his mother, Enola Gay, cast its shadow over Hiroshima, Japan, at 8:15 in the morning there. The bomb known as Little Boy fell on an unsuspected city.

TIBBETS: When the bomb exploded, I was just bringing my nose up on the horizon, and the whole thing up, lit up in pinks and blues, white, oh, God, you never saw anything like it. It was instantaneous.

O'BRIEN: Dutch Van Kirk was the navigator on that fateful mission.

THEODORE "DUTCH" VAN KIRK, NAVIGATOR, ENOLA GAY: You didn't see anything except the bright flash. You saw the white cloud hanging over the city. You saw the -- underneath the cloud the entire city was just entirely covered with smoke and dust, and it looked like a pot of boiling oil down there.

O'BRIEN (on camera): What did you say at that moment?

TIBBETS: To myself, I said that was a hell of a big bang. Nobody could stand up to that. And we'll all get to go home.

O'BRIEN: Do you remember your thoughts at that moment?

VAN KIRK: My thoughts, God I'm glad it worked. That was No. 1 it was a real possibility it wouldn't work. I'm glad it worked. No. 2, the thoughts were this war is over. And that was good. That was good.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Of course, it was not quite the end yet. Three days later another bomb fell on Nagasaki. With just two bombs dropped, over 100,000 people were dead and the war was over. The planned invasion of Japan would not happen. And who knows how many lives were saved.

(on camera) How do you square it? How do you square the lives you saved with the lives that were lost that day?

TIBBETS: Based on personal experience I seldom go anywhere over the years that somebody doesn't come up to me and say, "I was scheduled for that invasion. You saved my neck."

I said, "That's good news. I'm glad I could." No use talking about it any further.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): While Tibbets celebrated his birthday surrounded by family and former crew mates, complete with a World War II vintage air show, veterans of the Iwo Jima invasion remembered the bloody hell they endured 60 years ago. Seven thousand American Marines died, just to seize that single volcanic island from the Japanese.

LEWIS B. THOMPSON, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: We were scheduled to go to Japan in November. I would have had to go on it if it hadn't been for Paul Tibbets and his bomb or our bomb, I'll put it that way.

O'BRIEN: But these veterans do not consider Tibbets a hero.

FRANK CALDWELL, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: I'm not taking anything away from him. I wouldn't dare do that. It took a lot of courage to do what he did. And I admire him, but he was flying his -- he was doing his job.

O'BRIEN (on camera): Would you consider yourself a hero?

TIBBETS: No.

O'BRIEN: Why not?

TIBBETS: Because I didn't go out there to do something to show off, you know, that sort of thing. I was put in a place to get the job done. And I did it. And I don't think it took a hero to do that. It took somebody that knew what the hell they were doing and that was me.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Paul Tibbets IV has followed in his grandfather's footsteps. An Air Force officer, he flies B-2 stealth bombers.

PAUL TIBBETS IV, GRANDSON: He's a hero. And you're exactly right. You know why? My grandfather says he's not a hero, because he was a soldier serving his country just like every other soldier that was serving with him. They were all serving their country, trying to take care of one another to make sure they made it through. That's what it was about. Make it through and survive.

TIBBETS: I just want to be remembered as a man who was given a job and he did it. No explanation, no nothing. I was given the job and I did it.

O'BRIEN (on camera): Simple as that.

TIBBETS: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Are you proud of that statement?

TIBBETS: Nobody did it before. Nobody done it since.

O'BRIEN: And no one, including his grandson, may ever have to face that awful moral dilemma again, because Paul Tibbets did his duty and helped distill the awful cruelty of human beings into a moment that cannot and should not be forgotten.

Miles O'Brien, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Companies stepped up hiring and gave workers bigger raises in July. That's good news. For more on that jobs report Kathleen Hays live from the New York Stock Exchange -- Kathleen.

(STOCK REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Thank you so much, Kathleen. That wraps up this Friday edition of LIVE FROM. Now here is Candy Crowley with a preview of what's ahead on "INSIDE POLITICS."

Hi, Candy.

CANDY CROWLEY, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Hi, Kyra. Thanks.

It's been a very deadly week in Iraq. How is the violence over there affecting politics back here?

Plus, the Iowa caucuses may still be two and a half years away, but make no mistake about it, the next race for the White House is underway.

All this and much more when I go "INSIDE POLITICS" in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Now in the news, an international effort underway to rescue a Russian crew trapped in a mini submarine 625 feet under water off Russia's Pacific coast. Live pictures right now of the transport plane that's going to take those special underwater vehicles straight to the scene. It's possible the crew may have only 24 hours of oxygen left. The minisub got stuck on fishing net or cable yesterday.

A U.S. Navy crew is being deployed to that site, along with two robotic submersibles, as I told you. You can see one right there getting loaded into that transport plane. Britain is also sending an unmanned vehicle.

A Southwest Airlines jet that took off from Dallas for Corpus Christi landed instead at Houston Hobby Airport just about two hours ago. Live pictures from the scene there. A federal transportation spokeswoman says a passenger on Flight 21 found a note suggesting a possible bomb threat. Well, the plane landed safely, as you can see here, and everyone on board was evacuated. The FBI says there was no apparent terrorist threat and adds that this incident was not significant.

Firefighters in Montana scrambling right now. About 20 fires broke out at the same time yesterday just west of Missoula. The flames forced officials to close a major interstate and threatened the town of Alberton. Officials say an arsonist may be to blame for these fires.

Thanks for joining us. We'll see you back here on Monday. Now stay tuned for "INSIDE POLITICS."

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