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Fight for Iraq; Base Closings; Mass Transit Security
Aired August 24, 2005 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: New York's high-cost, high-tech new transit security system, will it keep you safe from a terror attack like the ones we saw in London? We'll check it out.
New video from the scene as Iraqi police and U.S. military face insurgents in a Sunni neighborhood.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were falling down. We stand up. We're falling down. I lost my shoes. I lost my pants. I keep going.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: After their plane crashes, a father struggles to save his young family. His story in his own words straight ahead.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
Even for Baghdad, even for a volatile Sunni neighborhood, even for an enemy that's earned a reputation for resilience, ruthlessness, relentlessness, it's been a sobering day. Insurgents armed with RPGs, automatic rifles, maybe a bomb or two, hit a series of police checkpoints at mid afternoon and hung around for a grisly firefight. At last report, four police, nine civilians were known dead, with several times that many wounded.
We get the latest now from CNN's Aneesh Raman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A brazen attack, highly sophisticated, with deadly coordination. Upwards of 40 insurgents engaging Iraqi police and U.S. military in a near two-hour standoff, using an arsenal of weapons, say U.S. military, from car bombs to rocket-propelled grenades to machine guns. These, the scenes in western Baghdad, where urban warfare in broad daylight once again claimed the lives of police and the innocent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Civilians were hurt, no Americans, no coalition forces. Those were the ones who were hit, the Iraqi people.
RAMAN: Most disturbing in this attack, say Iraqi forces, the unnerving confidence shown by insurgents, underlying a vast security void, showcasing Iraq's continued reality, one the prime minister sees as having global significance.
(on camera): The insurgency clearly continues. Do you have a sense of when we will see a cut in the violence in Iraq?
IBRAHIM AL-JAAFARI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: The violence in Iraq is a part of something we are facing and fighting against terrorism and a state of all human beings all over the world. So they have to put in their minds they have to support us, because we are facing, instead of them.
RAMAN: The timing is noteworthy, amid a week of politics with enormous stakes. Intense negotiations between the Shia-Kurd coalition and the Sunnis continue, attempting compromise on a travel constitution. Hours left to do what could not be done in months.
And such is the bind for Iraqi leaders. Any delay in the political process, which they now seem intent on avoiding, gives, they fear, increased rationale for the insurgency. But alienating Sunni politicians, which is now at risk of taking place, does the same thing, isolating a community that, by most accounts, makes up a majority of Iraq's domestic insurgents.
(on camera): Thursday's being described as the final moment for any change to the proposed constitution. At day's end, so ends the drafting process and begins what promised to be a fierce public debate over how the new Iraq should live and how to best bring stability to the country.
Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: With the fierce fighting today in Baghdad, for the second time this week President Bush rejected growing demands to bring the troops home. Speaking to Idaho, to military personnel, the families of some of those killed in Iraq, Mr. Bush declared paying the ultimate sacrifice in this war is worth it, and a withdrawal of the troops now would dishonor those who died.
Prior to the president's speech if Idaho, a federal commission in Washington began finalizing decisions on whether to close or leave open hundreds of military installations across the country. The vote brought joy to some and bitter disappointment to others.
Our Congressional Correspondent Ed Henry is in our Washington studio with the latest.
Hi, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Kyra.
That's right, the Pentagon is trying to trim or outright close 837 military installations across the country. And Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld insists not an ounce of politics has gone into the decision-making of which bases to close, which to keep open. But when you take a close look at the winner and losers from today's developments -- in fact, you're looking live right now at the Base Closing Commission which is meeting right now -- the political dynamics there are very, very interesting in terms of which members of Congress are being spared and which ones are taking a hit.
One winner, Connecticut, the Navy submarine base in New London, will stay open. That saves over 15,000 jobs for the state, including maybe the job of Republican Congressman Rob Simmons. He lobbied hard to keep it open. Many analysts believe the question of whether or not his House seat stayed in Republican hands was hanging in the balance there.
This base also had a strong ally in Senator Joe Lieberman, a democrat who is actually also a stalwart ally of President Bush on many issues, including the war in Iraq. Senator Lieberman was jubilant today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: Oh, great for the state. I mean, great for America. But, you know, this would have been a terrible blow to our state economically, and thousands of jobs all around the southeast of the state. So we're home. Thank God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, another winner is the state of Maine. The Naval Air Station at Brunswick will close. That's a loss of about 4,000 jobs. But the Portsmouth Shipyard will stay open. That spares much more, 9,000, jobs.
Great news for two moderate Republican senators, Susan Collins, and Olympia Snowe, both of whom were swing votes on President Bush's entire legislative agenda.
Another winner, the Texas delegation, which learned today the Red River Army Depot will stay open. Four thousand jobs spared there. Texas, of course, happens to be the home state of the president of the United States.
A loser, Mississippi. They lose the Pascagoula Shipyard. Bad news for Republican Senator Trent Lott. He's currently on a tour promoting his new book in which he takes some shots at Bush for helping to get Lott thrown out as majority leader a couple years ago.
Was shutting this base down a little bit of political payback? Impossible to prove, but there's no love lost between this White House and this senator. And he didn't get any help here at all.
Important to note that these revisions today are not final. The commission will now, at the end of this week, send a blueprint to President Bush by September 8. The president then can accept the whole package or send it back once for changes. Then Congress gets a look at the whole thing, has to accept it or reject it in whole -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, you bring up a good point, that the president still has an opportunity to change this. So I guess nothing is for sure. But Ed, let me ask you a question.
I've talked to a number of admirals and generals that have had to testify, some saying, "This will kill us. We've got to have our bases open. We've got to have the facilities and the resources."
Others say, "No, we can still have strong wartime capabilities."
Do you get a sense that there's maybe a stronger opinion one way or the other?
HENRY: Well, I think that's the political problem that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has been wrestling with, clearly. He has made it his mission to come up with a leaner, meaner, if you will, military, a better, tougher force. And he wants to cut out some of the fat.
The problem, as you pointed out, a lot of the admirals and general say, sure, but not in my backyard. A lot of senators in both party, sure, we need to cut things down, we need to cut back, we need to save money, not in my backyard.
Tough political decisions that have to be made. But the president, the defense secretary, have to make those tough decisions. They need to save this money -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Ed Henry. Thank you.
HENRY: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Rescue workers in Peru removing bodies from the world's fifth major airline accident this month. The Boeing 737 went down yesterday while trying to land in bad weather in a remote town in northeast Peru. Airline officials say that 57 of the 98 people on board survived that crash, 31 were killed, 10 are still missing. An American who survived the crash describes getting his family to safety.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSE VIVAS, SURVIVOR: I don't see any -- I see my girls in the front of me. I've got three girls (INAUDIBLE).
I just push my girls, you know, out of the plane and keep going out, and moving from -- from the plane. And, you know, we were falling down. We stand up. We're falling down.
I lost my shoes. I lost my pants. I keep going, keep talking to my girls.
You know, there was -- my girls are 10, 12 and 15. So I keep pushing them out, plus my -- everything falls down. My brother was behind me, always to help me. And we get to the safe place, and thank God that like half an hour later, or an hour later -- I don't have time to check -- we was rescued.
(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Five Americans on the flight are still unaccounted for.
Terrorists attacking commuters. Since last month's deadly bomb attacks against London's mass transit system, the question on the minds of many Americans, could it happen here? Now New York officials are on the verge of spending millions of dollars on improving security for the nation's biggest commuter system.
In our "Security Watch," CNN's Deborah Feyerick is in New York with a look at how the new system is supposed to work and its potential problems.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It moves more people underground, over water, and through the streets of New York than any other transit system in the country. It's the largest and the most vulnerable.
Half a billion dollars set aside after 9/11 just waiting to be spent. Now the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or MTA, is unveiling a sweeping security upgrade.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I have here is a subterranean view of this particular station. The more information is available to me, the more that I zoom into the systems.
FEYERICK: The plan? Install 1,00 closed-circuit surveillance cameras and 3,000 motion sensors in subways, bus stops, and commuter rails. The question is: Can it really prevent an attack or just detect when something's not quite right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This object has been left. And it's flashing red. That's what issued our alert.
FEYERICK: Here is how it works. If someone leave packages or enters a restricted zone, alarms are triggered right away.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The system is designed to find the closest officer to that particular incident and dispatch them immediately.
FEYERICK: There are drawbacks. The cameras cannot detect anything out of frame or hidden in garbage cans.
MARK BONATUCCI, LOCKHEED MARTIN PROGRAM DIRECTOR: It has to be pixels that are visible to the camera. So once that object goes into the garbage it's occluded by what's already in the background.
FEYERICK: Also, it will take up to three years to build and install. No cameras would be located inside subway cars or buses, the very areas where terrorists detonated bombings in London and Madrid. Still the head of the transit agency feels it's the right way to go.
KATHERINE LAPP, MTA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: We were working very hard. Very expeditiously. We wanted to make sure that we did it right.
FEYERICK: Lockheed Martin, a defense contractor known for building planes, will be building the $212 million system.
LAPP: It's one that doesn't exist anywhere else in the world in any other transit agency in the world. And we will be on the cutting edge of this technology in order to protect our system against terrorist attack.
FEYERICK: Protect. Though it's any one's guess as to just how well.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
Straight ahead, dramatic rescues and tragic losses as floodwaters and fires rage through Europe. See it all next.
There's at least one gas station where the price of petrol won't go above $2.99 a gallon. Fine out where it is, straight ahead.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. What's the connection between discount giant Wal-Mart and the fashion magazine "Vogue"? I'll tell you coming up on LIVE FROM.
Stay tuned.
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PHILLIPS: Cutting back. High gas prices are causing many Americans to change their buying habits. They're still buying gas, though, but cutting back on other purchases. That's beginning to put a squeeze on retailers, especially deep discounters.
CNN Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Beth Cioffi spent $64 to fill up her SUV this week.
BETH CIOFFI, DISCOUNT SHOPPER: It's killing me. Killing me and my family. I don't know what we're going to do.
CHERNOFF: What Cioffi is doing is economizing elsewhere, buying only necessities, and telling her 6-year-old twins no.
CIOFFI: No more toys. You know, thank god my kids don't need toys so much. But, you know, when they used to get things that they didn't need, they're not -- you know, they used to get it, but now they'll have to do without it. CHERNOFF: That's why Cioffi is shopping alone.
CIOFFI: Because if I brought them to the store, they'd be asking for every -- you know, every three seconds, "Can I get this? Can I get that?"
And usually I'd say, "Sure. Sure. Sure." But, you know, that's why I come here alone, because I just can't afford to say yes anymore.
CHERNOFF (on camera): Retailers that cater to value-conscious consumers are feeling their customers pain. Even here at Dollar Tree, where everything's a dollar, shoppers are cutting back.
(voice over): Americans with moderate incomes are taking fewer trips to the store, and buying less.
MARIE PHAYER, DISCOUNT SHOPPER: Not buying so many things for my grandchildren that's worth things and things and things just to give them.
CHERNOFF: Retailing experts say prices at the pump are squeezing the country's deepest discounters: Dollar Tree, Family Dollar and Dollar General. Not only are their core customers tightening up, but they also have to pay more to get their products delivered.
ERIC BEDER, RETAIL ANALYST: If you're a dollar store, you pretty much have to be a dollar. You can't really raise your prices to pick up for these higher gas prices. So they're being hurt the most.
CHERNOFF: Wal-Mart, the world's number one retailer, says gas prices are slowing its sales growth. Shoppers still buying plenty of food there, but fewer high-profit items.
GINO BRANDONISIO, DISCOUNT SHOPPER: I have to buy the things that I need, but as far as things that I want, I have to cut down on that because of gas prices.
CHERNOFF: If gas prices keep rising, American economizing may have only just begun. While Beth Cioffi is still buying less at the store, she's still spending plenty at the gas pump to keep driving her 2005 GMC Denali.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, Garden City, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Rising gasoline prices are having a peculiar impact on a gas station in Hickory, North Carolina. The prices on the pumps installed in the 1970s don't go any high than $2.99 a gallon, not even for full service. So the manager says if the price of gas goes above that, he's going to have to stop selling gas.
When you think of fashion magazine "Vogue," you probably think of Gucci and Channel, right? Well, Wal-Mart could soon join that list.
Susan Lisovicz joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange. (STOCK MARKET REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Live from B Control, we're talking about Europe. It has water problems, too much and too little. A drought in Portugal is helping to fuel huge fires now. Heavy rain in central Europe is causing major floods.
CNN's Andrew Carey has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW CAREY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Forest fires illuminate the night sky over Tama (ph) in central Portugal. Outside the town, people using whatever they can find to beat back the blaze.
Help from the sky, too. Three helicopters from Germany joining fire-fighting aircraft from four other European countries.
The number of fires still raging is down to five, from more than 20 earlier in the week. Cooler temperatures playing a part. But hundreds of homes have been destroyed. And almost 200,000 hectares scorched as the country suffers its worst drought for 60 years.
Authorities criticized for a lack of resources.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There is a lack of water and also a lack of support. The fire is going in several directions. When they are fighting one on one front, there are already other fires happening on other fronts.
CAREY: In central Europe, too much water after days of to residential rains. Rescue workers in the Swiss city of Bern airlifting people to safety. Inside the covered stretcher, a mother and her baby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was a bit scared to go with him. Not for me, but for him. He's two months, and that's a very little baby.
CAREY: In neighboring Germany, flooding across the southern state of Bavaria. Roads washed away, last-minute efforts to protect homes and businesses from a similar fate.
Thousands of firefighters and army personnel have been mobilized ahead of a major cleanup operation. Germany's chancellor, in the midst of a general election campaign, has been quick to promise help.
GERHARD SCHROEDER, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): In these types of situation, one should not concentrate on wrangling amongst political parties, but rather on helping the effected region and people.
CAREY: But it's in the east of the continent, in Romania, that the storms and the floods have hit hardest. At least 25 people are reported killed, and thousands of homes destroyed. Uprooted trees speak to the force that swept through here. Water marks on this house showing how high the waters rose.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Water rushed into the houses. It took away the outbuildings, cars, livestock. Even an old woman was carried away by the water.
CAREY: With many parts of Romania still cut off, it could be some time yet before the true extent of the damage here is known.
Andrew Carey, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: On this side the Atlantic, forecasters are watch a brand-new tropical storm. It's named Katrina. CNN Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras has details in the CNN weather center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Well, Hurricane Andrew, which made landfall near Miami 13 years ago today, has long been considered the costliest hurricane to hit the United States. But with a couple of devastating storms last year, we were wondering, does it still hold the record? Let's check the facts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Hurricane Andrew cost the United States more than $43 billion when the cost is adjusted for inflation. That continues to be the nation's costliest hurricane.
Last year's hurricanes are the next most expensive, but they cost far less. You'll recall Hurricane Charley swept across the state of Florida in August, leaving about $15 billion of damage in its wake. And shortly thereafter, Hurricane Ivan came ashore on the Alabama coast in September as a Category 3 storm, doing more than $14 billion worth of damage itself.
Also adjusted for inflation, the fourth and fifth costliest hurricanes were Hurricane Hugo in 1989, with the equivalent of about $12 in damages, and Hurricane Agnes in 1972. That storm cost about $11 billion in 2004 dollars.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, attractive, young Australians on the wrong side of some of the toughest drug laws in the world. Why are so many people from down under suddenly doing time in Bali?
The separation of mosque and state. How will Iraq define it as they vote on a constitution with a heavy emphasis on the Quran?
We'll talk about it next after a check of the headlines.
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