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A Look Back at Iran; Large Tree Limb Falls at PGA Championship

Aired August 12, 2005 - 14:28   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, in other news, CNN has learned a CIA report concludes with relative certainty that Iran's new president was not involved with taking hostages at the U.S. Embassy 26 years ago. Several former hostages had claimed that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was one of their captors, but he denies that. Two U.S. government officials tell CNN most of the former hostages have told State Department that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was not present during the hostage taking.
Well we have heard the president call Iran part of the access of evil. But we have to remember that there was and is an Iran that many of us have never seen or even experienced. A country that at one time did not have an evil image. That is why my colleague Asieh Namdar is with us today, she grew up in Iran. And is currently an anchor and writer here at CNN. We have been talking so much about this story. You came up to us one day and said, if people could just understand what life was like.

ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN ANCHOR, WRITER: Which was very different from what life is like today for many people. And that is why I felt the story needs to be told.

PHILLIPS: If it's one thing as you hear about all of the political implications involving Iran from nuclear threats to access of evil, women's rights, all of that, do you get frustrated, do you feel passionate?

NAMDAR: I think a combination of all of those Kyra. Because being from Iran, you want Iranian people to have certain freedoms, and it breaks my heart when I don't see that. I see women covered up. Why does it matter what you wear? It should not make a difference. The Iran I lived it, it certainly wasn't perfect. It had its share of problems. But at least you could wear what you wanted and do the things you wanted to do.

PHILLIPS: All right. Lets talk some more about that. But first here is a look at Asieh's story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAMDAR (voice over): Say the word Iran and you think Axis of Evil, a nuclear threat, and the hostage crisis of 1979 -- 52 Americans held captive by Iranian militants for 444 days. This was the turning point in the Islamic revolution.

Iranian families like mine, who lived in relative comfort, had to leave the country, fearing retribution from the mullahs and concern they would take away, including our freedom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything. I missed the place that I grew up. I miss my friends. I miss the ambience of my country. I practically -- everything, you know, that I was used to, I miss it.

NAMDAR: I lived in Iran until I was 12. It was one of the most modern and secular countries in the Middle East, a monarchy led by the shah. His Western-backed government was not without critics, but Islamic rules and dress codes were not imposed on the Iranian people like they are today.

I had a normal childhood in a strict but loving middle-class family of four. My older sister Mimi (ph) and I went to a Catholic school filled with kids of all religions and backgrounds. We learned to ski at an early age. The mountains were only one hour away. We spent our summers at our tiny pool or at the beach along the Caspian Sea with aunts, uncles and cousins. Nowadays, public beaches, pools, and schools are segregated by gender.

But what I remember most, the aroma from the rose bushes around our house and that crisp mountain air. My grandmother Mestin (ph) Namdar was mayor of Tehran in the '50s, a well-known and respected academic. A street was named after him. It has since been changed.

My father and mother, both Western-educated, met at a garden party and married a few years later. Mom became a social worker, Dad worked for the World Bank and was an executive at a mining company.

Life seemed so perfect. And then it all changed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We left everything behind and came out to -- have my kids to have the best opportunities in every field that they wanted really to develop themselves, mentally and emotionally and everything. And that was a difficult decision to make, but I had to take it for their sake and our sake.

NAMDAR: We moved to California and became a working immigrant family. Dad opened his own business, Mom worked at a department store, while my sister and I struggled with English. It was not easy, but there are no regrets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would do exactly the same thing.

UNIDENTFIED FEMALE: We are really happy in this country. I love this -- to live here. My children got used to it. This is -- we consider this our home. But deep down, you always miss your homeland.

NAMDAR: I went back to my homeland last year, my first trip since we fled 26 years ago. I traveled with a humanitarian group to the ancient city of Bam. Tens of thousands of people died there in a powerful earthquake in December of 2003. It was an emotional journey. I will never forget the faces of the orphans or the victims who were trapped beneath the rubble, like this woman.

My dad has never gone back. My mom has, but says it's not the Iran she knew. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I never thought I would be staying here so long and almost have a feeling I have lost my country.

NAMDAR: Maybe not lost, but starkly different than the country we left behind 26 years ago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Now, of course, you're covering this political story. Looking at life then, life now. What are your relatives, what are your friends, what do journalists tell you inside Iran about the political situation and the new president and the future?

NAMDAR: Well, it depends who you talk to, Kyra. There were people in Iran, including my relatives, who were -- who suffered under the shah, who were not happy. And they say, you know what, the same problems we had before, we still have.

But the roles have reversed. The people who had no power back then now have all the power, and the people who did have all the power back then have pretty much no power. They also say there's a huge gap between the wealthy and those who do not have. And there was that gap before, but a lot of people say that gap has actually gotten wider.

PHILLIPS: Well, we look forward to more of your reporting.

NAMDAR: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Thanks for the personal touch, really.

NAMDAR: Thanks for letting me do it.

PHILLIPS: Well, it means a lot to us, too.

NAMDAR: Thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Asieh.

I'm getting word now we're going to have to take you out to New Jersey, where the PGA Championship is taking place. I'm being told that the tournament has actually been put on hold because of a tree limb that fell from a large oak tree. Live -- actually, not live pictures. It looks like this is video just in from TNT Sports. It has actually injured and possibly trapped some of the spectators there at the tournament.

We're getting sort of a feel now, a wider picture. There it is. There's the part of the tree where that branch came off. I'm not sure how it happened and what caused the branch to be severed from the tree there. But you can get a sense for how many people -- here we go. There's some tight shots here of one of the individuals that was injured when that limb fell. And you can see the hundreds and hundreds of people that are gathered around this area.

And if you've been to a golf tournament, you know how these courses are. You know it's full of beautiful large trees and a lot of foliage, and of course, people are gathered there along the holes and in the stands, underneath the trees.

I'm being told now that Tiger was on the tee when this happened. And, of course, that's why, as you can image, there are so many spectators there around this hole. I'm not sure what number it is. I'm going to try and recognize it as I look at these various pictures. But you can just see the amounts of spectators that were gathered when this branch fell from this oak tree.

And it looks like, too, some of the lights. That actually looks like a jib(ph) camera. It's the fourth hole, I'm being told. Thank you. That was actually a jib(ph) camera that is also underneath that tree. You can see some of the trucks, and then even some of the spectators there right on back, on the other side of that tree, that EMT first responders are working. Don't know how serious these injuries are. We have seen that a couple of those spectators have been taken away on stretchers.

Our Larry Smith, of course, has been covering the tournament for us. And now we're seeing another -- you saw a shot there, actually, how things have come to a standstill on the fourth hole.

Larry, I'm just seeing these pictures from TNT Sports. Tell me what you know about this branch that came off this tree. Do we know how it happened? It looks like there's actually a jib(ph) camera that's around the tree. Shots now of Tiger Woods we're seeing, Larry, you know, confused, obviously. Probably not happy that the game or the tournament got stalled there. But what do you know, as we look at these pictures?

LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, I think with Tiger, his concern more is about is that he just hit the ball in the water. He's looking at a third straight bogey and another shot he's going to have to make up to try to make the cut here from a golf standpoint. I was walking over from the clubhouse area to do our live report here in a few minutes, anyway.

They are continuing play now -- we do know that much -- after a brief pause in the action there, as we saw on TNT. We do know that just one spectator -- our friends at TNT, they have said that his name is Frank Choi (ph), is what they said on their telecast. But again, one spectator.

It's a very heavily wooded -- it's a gorgeous course here at Baltusrol, located here in New Jersey, in the central part of New Jersey. The one branch did fall -- and again, the details right now very sketchy. We don't know much more in terms of how severe his injuries are, but we do know play has continued here. And again, it was on the fourth hole, which is where Tiger Woods is about ready to set up and make his bogey putt -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: You know, Larry, you've covered a lot of tournaments. We've been to a lot of golf tournaments. I've never seen something like this happen before.

SMITH: I haven't either. That's really unusual. I mean, when you hear of a golf accident, it's usually somebody hit by a ball; God forbid, someone maybe getting hit by a golf cart of someone moving from place to place. There are lot of activities going on that you don't see on camera at a tournament like this.

Or, of course, with the -- in situations when there is weather, lightning strike or lightning hitting a tree or some kind of tree damage because of that. But rarely do just -- there are just clear skies today. It's very warm, humid. Temperatures in the 90s. Very slight breeze, but really nothing that would bring on this kind of incident, this kind of accident, to happen.

PHILLIPS: I know, Larry, when you look at the video, actually where that branch came apart from the tree, it actually looks like, you know, it was struck by lightning. But what's interesting is it looks like there's a jib camera. I'm wondering if this jib camera might have knocked the branch, might have knocked the tree.

I don't know if you've been able to get close to this -- to this scene where it happened. I know your buddies there at TNT Sports have been giving you the information. But that might be something to pursue, to find out if, indeed, it was that jib camera that knocked that branch right off the tree.

SMITH: Right. We'll be checking that out. Again, we were on our way over here to walking away from that location when we came to this way. You know, TNT has been set up, you know, all week. So I'm sure they're investigating themselves, ask, hey, in terms of setting things up for this, did someone happen to hit a branch?

I would like to think that possibly that jib was already in place. Did it move to get a shot of Tiger and his ball? If you watched earlier before that, there were some shots, some aerial shots. It looked like it could have been from a jib camera. A crane high up in the sky, looking down on that hole when Tiger hit his tee shot into the water on that fourth hole. Could that have been a cause of it? We don't know. And certainly, as soon as we do find out an investigation, we'll bring that to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Larry Smith, thank you so much. Once again, if you're just tuning in, you're actually seeing videotape just in of a pretty frustrated Tiger Woods right now, because actually there on the four hole, he hit his ball right into the drink. So he's not a happy camper right now.

But at the same time, an investigation is going forward to what knocked down a tree branch right here off this oak tree near the fourth hole, actually injuring one spectator, a man names Frank Choi (ph), we're being told, taken off onto a stretcher. Don't know if there are any other injuries at this time.

Jib camera there right underneath that tree possibly could be the cause of what knocked that branch off. We'll keep you updated. We're working more information. We'll bring it to you as soon as we have it.

We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM right after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Two developing stories we're working for you now right now. First, live pictures out of Long Beach, California. Firefighters working a ship fire there down on the harbor. These pictures coming to us via our CNN -- or ABC affiliate, KABC -- CNN affiliate KABC there in Los Angeles. Long Beach Harbor, very popular place for various ships and cruise ships to come back and forth.

Right now, just beneath the graphic there -- I don't know if we can drop that just for a second, Scott, just to see if we got a shot that doesn't look like a -- it looks like you just see the water from the tips there. Right underneath that crane -- not sure what they're lifting or what they're working; possibly -- what does it look like? Not quite sure, but it looks like there right underneath that is actually the ship that has caught fire. And if this helicopter pulls out and you get a wider shot, you'll be able to see actually the water and some of the flames from that ship fire that they're working in Long Beach, California.

All right, we're going to go from the lives shot to the tape. There you go. Get a little bit better of a shot there along the harbor in Long Beach, California. We'll continue to work that. Don't have very many details. Don't know how the fire started, if indeed there's anybody on board that ship. But we're working information.

The other story, the other developing story is from the PGA tournament. This video coming to us from our friends there at TNT Sports. You're actually seeing the first responders taking care of a spectator that was actually hit. Larry Smith, our reporter there, sports reporter, said his name is Frank Choi (ph), and he should be okay, according to early reports.

But right here, you see where that branch came off that oak tree on the fourth hole. And the reason why there were so many spectators around the fourth hole is because Tiger was actually coming down to the fourth hole. Actually hit his ball in the water. Not too happy. And then of course everything was put on hold once this branch fell. And a spectator was injured.

Right now, only reports of one spectator. You see that jib camera right there underneath the tree. Don't know if that has anything to do with why that branch came off the tree. But we are working that story as well. We are told now that play has been resumed. The golfers are going forward. The one injury, of course, to a spectator. He is being treated. And we'll bring you more information as we get it.

Now, "THE SITUATION ROOM" is coming up at the top of the hour. Let's get right to Wolf Blitzer in Washington to find out what he's working on today.

Wolf, already, a number of developing stories, as you see, from Long Beach to the PGA. What else do you have going on?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We'll fill in the blanks, Kyra, on all those stories. We'll continue to watch those for our viewers. We're also going to be speaking with two mothers who lost sons in Iraq. One of those mothers, camped out near the presidential home in Crawford, Texas. They have very different perspectives on this war and on the president.

We'll also check in with the Reverend Jerry Falwell. He got into some hot water in recent weeks telling his supporters, vote Christian. We'll ask him what he means by that.

And we have reporters standing around the world. An exclusive, Mike Chinoy, a rare inside look in North Korea. We'll go there live.

Lucia Newman is in Cuba. We're going to go there as well. Guess what. It's Fidel Castro's birthday tomorrow. He's the longest- serving political leader in the world.

Plus, all of our own reporters -- Zain Verjee; Jack Cafferty; Ali Velshi; Mary Snow, she's getting ready -- all of our reporters will be in "THE SITUATION ROOM" Kyra. And we hope you're going to be in "THE SITUATION ROOM" as well.

PHILLIPS: I'm working all kinds of stories for you, Wolf. Thanks so much.

Well, from slang to fame, a few good words are finally getting their day in the dictionary. Pass the syrah, because it's time to celebrate on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Wedgie, your time has come. Ditto, slacker and cargo pants, but hold the phone on ringtone, TiVo and netizen. It's a new day for Webster's New World Dictionary, once again making room for certain breakout words and phrases that have supposedly have acquired a certain street cred, including breakout and street cred.

Civil union, and faith-based both get the Websters editors blessing. We said it was a new day. But they declined to greenlight amber alert, and Asiago, a trendy cheese, will stay under wraps at least another year. But Scrabble fans will surely be toasting Syrah, a trendy red wine.

Deciding what to put in and to what leave out could definitely give anyone lexitographer irritable bowel syndrome, another phrase that passed the Websters smell test.

And Will Shortz can only sit back and chuckle. He's a legendary wordsmith who currently edits the "New York Times" crossword puzzle. And whose model we're paraphrasing as "dictionary smictionary." He's joins us live from New York.

Will, great to see you.

WILL SHORTZ, NEW YORK TIMES: Hi, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. First of all, your first puzzle, you sold it at 14-years-old.

SHORTZ: That's right. Yeah, I have been making puzzles since I was 8 or 9.

PHILLIPS: And where did the interest come from? How did you know you had a gift for this?

SHORTZ: I think it was a way to procrastinate in school.

PHILLIPS: And of course you went on to be the only person in the world to have a degree in enigmatology.

SHORTZ: That's right. The study of puzzles. I graduated from Indiana University with a self-designed major.

PHILLIPS: So you -- oh, you did self-design this major. And nobody has followed your footsteps?

SHORTZ: Well, you know, when you graduate from school, it's not like there are a lot of jobs waiting for you.

PHILLIPS: So, OK, let's talk about putting these puzzles together. What inspires them? What gives you the idea? How do you do it?

SHORTZ: Well, in the "New York Times," the crosswords come from all over the country, regular puzzle makers. And they come up with original theme ideas and just pack the grid with interesting lively vocabulary.

PHILLIPS: Do you ever do anybody else's crossword puzzles?

SHORTZ: I sure do. I'm a regular solver, you know. Yeah, there are lots of great crosswords. This is a terrific time to be a crossword solver.

PHILLIPS: Why is that?

SHORTZ: Because in the last 10 to 15 years, the crosswords have gotten so good in so many newspapers. I think the "New York Times" crossword has gotten better. But you'll see the same in publications all around the country.

It's partly because of the Internet community of crossword constructors. You know, the world of computers has made puzzling better.

PHILLIPS: Now Will, how many times do people say to you, Will, that's not in the dictionary?

SHORTZ: Yes, that comes up quite a bit. I had amber alert in the crossword a week ago in the "New York Times." And here it is, just was -- still not made the Websters New World Dictionary. I think this week or last week, we had podcasting, you know, which is broadcasting through iPods. And it's something that's very big. I think a lot of people know this word now. So, to me, that makes it eligible for a crossword.

PHILLIPS: Now, how many dictionaries do you own?

SHORTZ: I have hundreds of feet of reference books. You name a dictionary, a reference book, subject, and I have it.

PHILLIPS: So, is that what you do in your spare time? Do you come home and hang out and go through your reference books?

SHORTZ: Well, you know, I go through my reference books just for my work. You know, because every word that's in the "New York Times" crossword, I have to verify that its accurate. And I'll use a dictionary as my first source, but I'll use the Internet and just from what I know.

PHILLIPS: Have you ever been wrong?

SHORTZ: Oh, that's so nice of you to ask. But, there are maybe 12 to 15 errors a year in the "New York Times" crossword.

PHILLIPS: What was the last one, do you remember?

SHORTZ: Oh, man. You know, I try to put my -- block my errors out of my mind.

PHILLIPS: Oh, you really do. All right. Let's see. How about a favorite word. Do you have a favorite word?

SHORTZ: Yes. My favorite word is ucalegon, U-C-A-L-E-G-O-N. It means a neighbor whose house is on fire.

PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh. And how did you come -- where did you find this word?

SHORTZ: That's in Webster's New International Dictionary Second Edition. It's an old -- it comes from ancient Greek where someone went out whose -- and it's someone whose neighbor had a house that was on fire. And so there's a word for that.

PHILLIPS: Were you a spelling champ, too?

SHORTZ: I was always the champion in the spelling bee.

PHILLIPS: Were you really?

SHORTZ: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh. Oh, Will. All right, will you incorporate maybe in the next week or two, maybe something to do with CNN?

SHORTZ: You know, you guys are in all it the time. Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: Oh, great. Very good. All right. We're going to look forward to it. I'll tell you what, you stump me all the time, so this is going to be a challenge, Will. It was an honor to actually see you and interview you. And I don't even want to play Scrabble with you. That's probably not the last time someone said that, right?

SHORTZ: Yeah. That would be a pleasure to play.

PHILLIPS: OK, Will. Thanks so much. Have a great weekend.

Well as you know, at this hour, golf's PGA Championship has taken a bit of a twist. It was on hold because of a tree that was severed and actually causing an injury to a spectator. We're going to have more right after a quick break. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. We have been telling you about that accident -- that tree accident at golf's PGA Championship in New Jersey. We want to get right to our Larry Smith who, of course, is going to update us on the scores and how everybody is doing, especially Phil Mickelson. But maybe you can update our viewers on -- if you know anything more about the injured spectator, Larry.

SMITH: Well, Kyra, we do. What we know is that there actually were two different medical carts treated two people. One man -- TNT, during its live telecast, identified his name as Frank Choi. We believe he is the person who was then carted off on one cart. We don't know the identity of the other person.

But again, a tree -- a large branch falling from a tree near the 4th hole. Tiger Woods was playing that hole at that moment. And play was stopped briefly for a few moments while they tended to the two injured spectators. And we'll continue to follow the story as the day progresses here at the PGA Championship.

Speaking of on the leaderboard, it is Phil Mickelson who is the man. Eight under par. He has a four shot lead after shooting a 65 today. Well in front of everyone on the course.

Ben Curtis right now is at three under par. He's the only player still playing right now who is anywhere close to Mickelson, and he is five shots off the pace.

Tiger Woods, a birdie and then three bogies. He currently is at 7 over par. The project cut right now would be three over par. So, Tiger still has quite a bit to go if he is to just make the cut and get to the weekend -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Larry Smith, thank you so much. That wraps up this Friday edition of LIVE FROM. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN center in Atlanta. Now Wolf Blitzer live in the Situation Room.

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