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Iraq Constitution Delayed; Remembering Peter Jennings

Aired August 08, 2005 - 14:30   ET

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

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TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: An investigator says that passenger plane that skidded off a runway in Toronto last week was doomed from the moment it landed. He says the Air France pilot landed nearly halfway down the runway, leaving just 5,000 feet to stop the plane, not enough on slick pavement. Several people remain hospitalized, but no lives were lost.

Farmers in the path of a Washington state wildfire are plowing land to create fire breaks to try to save their crops. The fire grew yesterday while aerial tankers were grounded by heavy smoke. At last report, the fire had burned more than 30,000 acres of grassland and destroyed more than 30 structures.

And the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq says she'll stay in Crawford, Texas, for the rest of President Bush's vacation or until Mr. Bush agrees to see her. Cindy Sheehan has met with some of the president's aides. She is leading a group of protesters who want the troops brought home.

We are just a few minutes away from the debut of CNN's newest program, "THE SITUATION ROOM." Wolf Blitzer and his team have been getting it ready for weeks. We asked him to take time out from all of the last-minute fine-tuning to tell us all about it.

Wolf, good to see you. Talk to us about the program and if you can, show us around a little bit.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Thanks, Tony. We're very excited about our "SITUATION ROOM." I'm in "THE SITUATION ROOM" right now and you're in the "SITUATION ROOM," as well. We're going to be able to show our viewers what's happening here in Washington, around the United States, around the world. And we're going to take them almost simultaneously to some of the feeds that we can bring in. There you are on one of the feeds that we're showing our viewers right now.

Not only video feeds, satellite feeds, from all of our news- gathering bureaus around the world, but also data. We can bring in data from almost all of the Web sites, whether "The New York Times," "The Washington Post," Time.com, CNN.com. We have the capabilities to take full use of all of our CNN extraordinary news-gathering capabilities.

Today, for example, Kyra Phillips, and you know this -- Kyra is going to be joining us live from Cheyenne Mountain, the northern command -- the U.S. military's northern command. Some rare exclusive access that we're getting. We'll take our viewers inside there.

Later, we'll speak with the Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. We've got a full boat of news, no shortage of news today, including political news. We'll have lots ots on Peter Jennings and his sad, untimely death. We already miss him already.

So it's going to be a good, solid three hours, Tony, at a time of day when news is still breaking here in Washington and around the world. So we'll try to give our viewers the news when we get it. Sometimes it'll be smooth, sometimes it won't be so smooth. And when we screw up I'll tell our viewers, you know what, this is live television, get used to it.

HARRIS: Get used to it. Wow. It looks like you have some amazing capabilities there, Wolf. Can't wait to see the debut of "THE SITUATION ROOM" at the top of the hour. And you are the man at the helm, and we couldn't have found anyone better to do it. Wolf, thank you.

BLITZER: Thanks, Tony.

HARRIS: With one week left for Iraq to meet a deadline and approve a constitution, scheduled negotiations were canceled today. The political leaders who hold Iraq's future apparently couldn't venture outside because of the weather?

CNN's Aneesh Raman has the story from Baghdad.

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ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what Iraq awoke to Monday, a sandstorm so big it brought Baghdad to a standstill. Vacant streets, near zero visibility, suffocating air. In a country facing hugely consequential times, even the weather can paralyze politics.

The deadline for Iraq's constitution, now just days away with marathon negotiations planned for Monday, delayed. They were set to follow a two-hour meeting late Sunday at the home of Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, with heads of various political factions where no deal was reached.

PRES. JALAL TALIBANI, IRAQ (through translator): God willing, tomorrow we will have a bigger meeting and after tomorrow, another meeting.

RAMAN: But only a few tomorrows remain to answer some serious questions. How autonomous should regions like the Kurdish-controlled north be? And should there be a Shia equivalent in the south? How big a role will Islam play in the Iraqi constitution, acting as the only source of law or one of many? And should oil revenues go to regional governments in the north and south where the oil fields are, or be shared by the entire country? In recent days, pressure has been mounting, notably from the U.S. ambassador, pushing compromise, reminding the parties what is at stake. Which is why, on the Baghdad streets, a bitter surprise that some sand could be so powerful.

"Why postpone? asks Hider (ph). "Are they going to meet outside in the streets?"

"I'm here on duty," says policeman Mohammed. The bad weather didn't affect my work while they're sitting in rooms with air conditioning.

(on camera): Tuesday will be another day to try and jumpstart this process, fraught with complications and facing a rapidly dwindling time frame; that is, unless this sandstorm continues to blanket the capital.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.

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HARRIS: And news around the world now. Iran says it has restarted a nuclear facility, but it says it has not resumed uranium enrichment yet. While Iran claims its nuclear program is peaceful, the United States and Europe worry that the program is aimed at producing weapons.

Japan's prime minister has dissolved his nation's parliament and scheduled new elections next month. The move comes after lawmakers rejected his plan to privatize Japan's postal system. Officials say hope is dimming for 102 workers trapped in a flooded coal mine in southern China. An explosion at another Chinese mine has killed at least 14 people. The Chinese mine industry is very dangerous. Some 2,700 Chinese miners have died in accidents this year alone.

He brought world events into the homes of Americans for decades. Now news leaders and newsmakers mourn Peter Jennings. I'll speak with one of his colleagues and friends. ABC news correspondent Dan Harris joins me live.

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HARRIS: We are remembering Peter Jennings today. He was the last of a generation of long-serving lead anchors on the big three networks. In that role, he was welcomed into American living rooms for decades, so millions felt like they knew him. At least a little.

Dan Harris knew him well. He's an ABC news correspondent in New York. And, Dan, thanks for taking the time to talk to us.

DAN HARRIS, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Pleasure. Thanks for having me on.

T. HARRIS: When did you receive this news?

D. HARRIS: Last night along with everybody else. I had a sense a couple of hours earlier that it was imminent. You know, we've known he's been very sick for a long time. Somehow, however, the fact -- when you get the news that he's actually gone, it's surprising nonetheless.

T. HARRIS: You'd known he'd been sick for awhile, and -- but is it still -- is it still shocking? Is it still surprising? And did you have any additional information as to his condition and how well or how poorly he was doing, being a colleague inside the news operation?

D. HARRIS: No, I mean, there were -- the family was, I think, appropriately private about his condition. So those of us at ABC, at least in my position, didn't have any extra information. Certainly you heard things once in a while, but as you know, lung cancer is very tough to beat. So I think people were realistic about it. Having said that, just speaking for myself personally, as I said a moment ago, you know intellectually that it's impossible, nearly impossible to beat this thing, but when you get the news, it's a huge shock.

T. HARRIS: Yes.

D. HARRIS: And this was my boss and my mentor for five years, and we're not a sentimental bunch in journalism, but when something like this happens, I can tell you around ABC today there were a lot of red eyes.

T. HARRIS: You mentioned your boss and your mentor. Speak to the mentor part of Peter Jennings and what he meant to you personally.

D. HARRIS: There's a generation, a young generation of reporters at ABC that peter really embraced. And he was -- let's be honest, he was tough. He was very tough. But he also changed our careers and changed our lives and taught us a ton. I remember arriving at ABC as a rookie reporter, scared out of my mind, 28 years old and sitting across the desk from Peter Jennings, this American icon, and having him go over my stories with me.

And people at home might not know when you watch our broadcast -- and hope people do -- is that he is deeply involved in the guts of every single story that goes on the air. He goes over every script for every story, so when you're a young reporter, you write your scripts and you hand it into him. He goes over it with a red pen.

One of my proudest memories from ABC -- and I'll end the story on this one -- btu one of proudest memories is handing him a script one day and he handed it back to me with no marks on it.

T. HARRIS: No marks on it, wow.

D. HARRIS: I should have framed it.

T. HARRIS: Yes. So I'm wondering -- maybe it's a little too early to think about this, but when you cut as large a figure throughout the network as Peter Jennings obviously did for ABC News, it's going to take a while, isn't it, for the news organization to ramp up, to move forward to -- you never get beyond this, but to move forward and press ahead.

D. HARRIS: I think you're exactly right. It will take a while. I think there's a process people have to go through. As we're saying before, everybody knew this was a possibility, but it's a profound shock. It's surprising that it is so shocking, but it is. And it's caused a lot of pain. He was our anchorman. He was the face of the network. He set the standards. Those standards, however, will stay with us. So he may be gone, but those standards are not and they live on with the people who he's embraced, so many of us through the years.

And let me just give you one little...

T. HARRIS: Please.

D. HARRIS: Last little anecdote. You know, I said he was tough, but he's also incredibly kind at times. The first time I went into a war zone was in Afghanistan 2002 and I was -- or 2001 -- and I was terrified and these -- as so many people at CNN know, it's a terrifying experience, not only for the reporter, but also for the reporter's family.

And I got into Afghanistan and I did a taped interview with Peter Jennings from Kandahar, Afghanistan, with the Taliban all around us. And peter, who had a broadcast to do to 10 million people that night, instead of going back downstairs and working on his broadcast, went back downstairs and called my parents to tell them their kid was OK.

T. HARRIS: Wow, that's wonderful. Dan Harris, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. Very good.

Take a break and come back with more LIVE FROM, right after this.

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HARRIS: Very dramatic pictures we want to show you. Look at this. That's not an amusement park. That's not a water park. That is a water main break on a street in South Fulton County, Georgia. And our thanks to our affiliate here, WAGA, for providing these pictures.

Look at this. This is a huge water spout. It looks that way, but it is actually a water main break, and it is firing water all over that street, all over the power lines, all over the trees nearby. Once again, a water main break, huge, in South Fulton County, Georgia.

Taking pot shots at the paparazzi, literally. Find out why a photographer hoping to get the perfect shot of Britney Spears is nursing his wounds today.

And in sports, reports that hockey legend Wayne Gretzky will soon try his hand at coaching. Details ahead on LIVE FROM.

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HARRIS: Daisy Duke, paparazzi run-ins and the passing of a Cuban music great. With such sizzling topic, it must be time to get our fix of entertainment news. Sibila Vargas in Los Angeles with all the headlines.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I love it. Thanks. You never disappoint. Sibila Vargas.

HARRIS: Hello, lady. Good to see you.

VARGAS: Nice to see you. Well, let me ask you a question: Can you say yee-haw?

HARRIS: Yee-haw. Boy, if I was counting those bucks, I sure could say yee-haw.

VARGAS: Well, that's what a lot of folks were saying at the box office this weekend, Tony.

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JOHNNY KNOXVILLE, ACTOR: You're going to get us shot someday.

SEANN WILLIAM SCOTT, ACTOR: Not today. Not with you driving the getaway car.

KNOXVILLE: What the hell is he using?

SCOTT: You don't want to know.

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VARGAS: The theater-goers did want to go. "Dukes of Hazzard" reigned supreme, debuting at number one despite the lack of support from critics. Good-old-boys Johnny Knoxville and Sean William Scott along with Daisy-Duke wearing Jessica Simpson, pulled in a whopping $30.6 million dollars during the film's first weekend out. The "Wedding Crashers" fell to second place, while "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" finished third.

Moving on to Malibu, California, where one photographer learned that trying to get a shot of Britney Spears could be dangerous business.

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(SINGING)

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VARGAS: Photographer Brad Diaz was shot in the leg with a BB gun while standing in the street 150-200 feet from a home where Spears was believed to be attending a baby shower in her honor. Diaz was one of about 10 photographers who were staking out the house, waiting to catch a glimpse of the singer. Diaz was bandaged and taken to the hospital and authorities were not certain as to where the shot came from, but they're investigating. And finally, he was one of Cuban music's greats. So much so that they made a movie about him and his bandmates. Buena Vista Social Club singer Ibrahim Ferrer passed away this weekend. Ferrer was known for his trademark cap and graying mustache and his wonderful voice. He performed on the Buena Vista Social Club album that won a Grammy in 1999 and was among those appearing in the film of the same name. He was 78 years old, Tony, and he will definitely be missed. That's the news from Hollywood.

HARRIS: That's for sure. Sibila, thank you.

VARGAS: Thanks.

HARRIS: The wrong kind of steal: A little league team overcomes a major setback to win a critical game. The story when LIVE FROM returns.

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HARRIS: Some excitement today in the hockey world. Haven't been able to say that much lately. The NHL's Phoenix Coyotes have scheduled a news conference and their expected to confirm that hockey great Wayne Gretzky will be their next coach. Gretzky retired as a player in 1999 after setting all-time records for goals, assists and points. He's been the managing partner of the team for several years.

A Little League team from Bryant, Arkansas, suffered an off-the- field loss. Listen to this story. The team is in Texas to play in Little League baseball's Southwest Regional Tournament, but somebody stole their trailer from outside their hotel taking all of their equipment, uniforms, gloves, everything.

Well, it was a heartbreaking moment for the 11 and 12-year-old baseball players, but there's a happy ending. Supporters back in Arkansas sprang into action and rushed replacement equipment to the team and Bryant won its game today 12-3.

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HARRIS: And that wraps up this Monday edition of LIVE FROM. I'm Tony Harris at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Now, Wolf Blitzer is live in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

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