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Live From...
California Firefighters Battle Blaze in Ventura County; Washington Reacts to Call For U.S. Pullout From Iraq; Suicide Attacks Kill Dozens in Iraq; New Miniseries On Pope John Paul II Debuts At Vatican; Southerners Disagree On Past; High Energy Costs May Impact Holiday Sales
Aired November 18, 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: From the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips.
Here is what we are following for you right now, wildfires burning out of control, threatening homes. We're tracking them and the 1,000 firefighters working it.
Terrorists on tape -- new claims about who orchestrated the hotel bombings in Jordan.
And papal picture -- the life of Pope John Paul II gets a Hollywood treatment and a holy blessing -- all that and more straight ahead.
House to house with time to spare -- firefighters in Southern California are telling people living atop a Ventura County hillside that, now, it's time to get out. And a raging wildfire advances towards their homes. High winds are refueling those flames -- or fueling those flames, rather, making the job especially difficult for the 1,000 firefighters who are on the scene.
We're monitoring the live pictures now, as our meteorologist, Chad Myers, is keeping an eye on conditions in Ventura County, standing by at CNN Weather Center -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Kyra, winds are actually picking up now, 35-mile-per-hour gusts in Camarillo.
And we will take you here. Here's Long Beach. Here's Los Angeles, Glendale, up through Grapevine. Here's Oxnard up here. And we will get you a little bit closer to this fire. The fire area is still up here. But here are the winds now. Those are sustained winds. There you go, Camarillo -- Camarillo, if you will -- 29 miles per hour sustained, even down to the Point Mugu at 18 miles per hour.
The fire up here, just to the north of Ventura. We know where it is, because, in fact, we can even see it on the radar. We can see that some of the areas now east of the canyon road here, and as far south now, almost as Hall Canyon (ph) Road, seeing some of those flames very close to the town, and some of the -- obviously, the cities there of Ventura and the homes very close, everywhere that you actually see the radar. I took it off, so you can see the road -- the road there, and also even Ventura Freeway. And the areas here that you're seeing, why are we seeing it on radar? Actually, we're seeing it there because it doesn't even know -- the radar doesn't know that it's not raindrops in the air.
It just thinks that it is. But when it goes out and it hits the smoke, it's bouncing back. And that's what we're seeing here, seeing the smoke just coming off here. That's not all that far from Ventura High School. And then you get up into the Canyon Road. And we're even seeing some of the smoke up here to the north of Hall Canyon (ph) Road and such -- so, kind of interesting day out there.
Folks are now being evacuated in some spots. And, so, Kyra, we have been looking at these -- these pictures all day, Kyra. And some of them are getting very close to some of these very big homes.
PHILLIPS: Well, as you can imagine -- our Ted Rowlands actually right there, Chad. Stay with us, Chad.
Ted, are you joining us once again by cell phone? Are you still right -- he is live now.
Ted, you got a live -- oh, great.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, good.
PHILLIPS: You got a live signal. We could barely hear you via your cell phone because of the winds picking up. Tell us where you are and what you're observing at this point.
ROWLANDS: Well, I'm in the same spot in Ventura, California.
The winds have died down, for the most part, in the last half- hour, 45 minutes, or so. But, boy, about an hour ago, they really did kick up. And they forced evacuations of this neighborhood.
And you can see these homes, how close they are to where this ridgeline, if you can see behind there. It's a little difficult to see. But the fire came all the way up these ridgelines, into the backyards of a couple of these homes. All of these people had to be evacuated.
Most of them were on standby. This fire started about 3:30 this morning. So, most of them had a number of hours to gather their personal items. We talked to one woman who had her dogs ready to go and her pictures and what she thought she should take in this limited time that she had. And then the fire officials came up to her said, go. And she is gone hoping that her home can be saved.
Fire -- fire trucks are in position at each one of these homes in this neighborhood to protect against flames coming up. And they have been successful thus far. No homes have been lost. There are some people. You see across the street a guy sitting on his roof here. He's got his garden hose out. He's one street away. So, he's not been evacuated. But he's been out here all day, basically watering down his house just in case by some chance the fire could leap over the street, if it indeed comes here.
But, right now, firefighters are active. They're getting a lot of air support. The air drops are coming as needed. And the air drops are very precisioned. If they see a house that is in trouble, they come after it, and they will dump water to protect the house. And that's really their mission right now, is to try to protect these homes and make sure that nobody gets hurt and none of these homes are lost.
PHILLIPS: Now, Ted, the guy that is right...
ROWLANDS: Kyra.
PHILLIPS: The guy that's behind you there watering down his roof, how close is he, are you, is that house to where the flames are right now? Can you actually see the flames from where you are?
ROWLANDS: Well, if you tilt -- I don't know if you could see the smoke coming up over these houses here. The flames are just sort of on the other side of the ridge now.
But, about an hour ago, the flames came shooting through this valley. And we were literally feet away. I mean, if we were just right over by this fire truck, the flames were coming right up into that area. So, this guy, at that point...
PHILLIPS: Yes. I actually remember seeing that fire truck. I remember seeing the shot, and the flames were right by that fire truck.
ROWLANDS: Yes. So, this guy, right now, he looks as though he's maybe a little bit -- playing it a little too safe, watering his roof.
But, about an hour ago, it looked like he was doing a good job, because he indeed was very close. And this is the problem. This -- this fire keeps coming up in certain spots and then going down again, because the wind has been very erratic this morning around this region. And the fire is very spread out. So, they're doing a good job, firefighters are, finding the potential threats of these homes, hitting them, and then moving on.
And, right now, the area where we're in, the fire -- the wind is down. Now that I say it, it's kicking up a bit. And these homes seem to be out of danger, at least for now, but these folks are still evacuating.
PHILLIPS: So, where you are, is that the only patch of homes that could be affected, Ted? Or is this blaze -- because Chad was saying something -- I don't know if we can get Chad back up -- about there was a certain area where the homes were and, so far, it looked OK.
Chad, you know what I'm...
MYERS: I do.
PHILLIPS: Remember what you were saying?
MYERS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Yes. Is that where Ted is? Is that the only batch of homes that -- that are in that area?
MYERS: No, not really.
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: Now that the storm, the fire itself, is now to the east of the Ojai Freeway, we have now moved it over here. The winds are blowing offshore. This is actually the smoke being picked up by radar. There's the Ojai Freeway.
And now it's blowing in this direction, but the fire has actually built back a little bit. And now also there's another little area there of smoke and fire to the north of the city itself. And the winds are blowing it towards the southwest. So, it's still not in the clear, by any stretch of the imagination.
And now sparks are flying farther off toward the southwest. There are many hot spots with this fire, Kyra. I have been looking at probably, I would say, maybe 15 or 20 different separate areas where now these sparks have engaged, obviously, this very, very tinder-dry area. The relative humidity is down to 10 percent here today, the winds almost 30 miles per hour.
Remember how wet of a season they had in their wet season?
PHILLIPS: Yes.
MYERS: A lot of things got a good chance to grow and that when they are growing now, they're drying out. And there's a lot of fuel there on the ground.
PHILLIPS: Well, Ted, do you know -- have firefighters or officials been able to tell you -- do they know how this fire got started yet? I know, when we talked last hour, we still didn't know.
ROWLANDS: No, they have not released a cause of the fire.
Obviously, they have most likely started that investigation and will begin it in earnest once they get this thing out. Most of the resources, as you can imagine, at this point, is making sure they protect these structures. So, we have not heard what caused this fire. It was odd that it started at 3:30 in the morning.
Fires typically don't start overnight, if there's not a lightning strike. But we have nothing, no -- no evidence as to what may have started the fire.
PHILLIPS: Now, Ted, we -- we look at these pictures. We look at how big this blaze looks to us. And I'm not sure what the acreage is. And then we hear there are 1,000 firefighters working this wildfire. Is that enough? ROWLANDS: Oh, I think, clearly, they have it under control, in terms of their resources.
And, if they need more, they will bring them in, for sure. They -- they do this for a living, and they do it well. And they have already gotten aid from not only this -- Ventura here, but this entire region. And because it started at 3:30 this morning, they were on it right away. And I think the intensity of it from the very beginning gave them cause for concern, and they have -- they have a lot of folks out here.
In fact, when you talk about fire engines, they have got fire engines from the CDF at each one of these houses that are in trouble. And this -- this house right here, where this fire engine is behind me, at one point, I was standing up there. And the flames came all the way up, right next to the house. And the firefighters had hoses and they were just beating back those flames.
And then a plane came in, and they -- and it put out that little portion of the fire to save this home. And they're doing that at all of these homes. So, I think they're well-staffed, at least in this region, in this little area, this pocket, where we are -- where we're standing.
PHILLIPS: Ted Rowlands, right there in Ventura County -- thanks so much, Ted.
And, also, Chad Myers, monitoring the conditions for us.
Guys, thanks so much.
ROWLANDS: Sure.
PHILLIPS: We will definitely stay on top of that story.
Now, you remember, we have talked so much in the past couple weeks about those three explosions in Amman, Jordan, and a number of people there protesting outside those hotels where the explosions took place, demanding for the head of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the man they believe is responsible for those attacks. Well, now there's an audiotape said to be from this man. Is it an apology, of sorts?
We are going to take that question -- talk about that question, rather -- when CNN LIVE FROM continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Politics, policy and patriotism, a fiery combination on Capitol Hill one day after one lawmaker said that -- what many consider unthinkable: Leave Iraq now.
The speaker, no left-wing backbencher, but John Murtha, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, retired Marine colonel, true-blue supporter of a strong defense. Right now, we're into third-level fallout, lawmakers and others reacting to what others said about what others said about Murtha. Here's a livid John Kerry on the Senate floor at midday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I don't intend to stand for, nor should any of us in the United States Congress, stand for another swift boat attack on the character of Jack Murtha. It, frankly, disgusts me that a bunch of guys who never chose to put on the uniform of their country now choose, in the most personal way, in the most venomous way, to question the character of a man who did wear the uniform of his country and who bled doing it. It's wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Same place a little while later, an equally indignant Republican, Jeff Sessions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), ALABAMA: We heard the uncertainties and certainty levels expressed by the authorities that came before us. And then we came in to this body and we voted to send our soldiers to execute our policy in harm's way. And we owe those soldiers our support. We don't need to be undermining the president or even ourselves and our system.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, over in the House, we're hearing, Republicans plan a floor vote on Murtha's idea, just to force Democrats to take a stand.
CNN's Ed Henry weighs in with that.
There's been a lot of talk about calling the bluff, right, Ed?
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
In fact, we're now learning that that vote is expected at about 7:00 p.m. tonight. We're also learning from Democrats. Normally, in a situation like this, when there's a debate, you would have many speakers on both sides of the aisle weighing in before the vote.
We are being told by Democratic aides they will only have John Murtha be the sole Democratic speaker. You can read that two ways. Democrats are saying that it's because Murtha was such a compelling figure yesterday in what he had to say, how he was choking back tears, wrestling with this decision to come forward, also the fact that he has these strong military credentials, decorated former Marine veteran in the Vietnam War. Of course, we have all heard about that.
But you can also read it the other way, which is that Democratic -- other Democratic leaders don't want to come forward and support this, number one. And, also, the Democratic Party doesn't want more liberal lawmakers, like Nancy Pelosi, perhaps, on the floor speaking out on this. We had heard yesterday that Nancy Pelosi was expected to endorse the Murtha plan. She ended up not doing that. And that's one of the reasons why Republicans feel like Democrats had their day yesterday, and they want to fire back. They feel like they want to call the Democrats' bluff -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: But just -- all right. I have -- I have a question about John Murtha. But I'm being told we just got some sound in from Dennis Hastert.
Let's listen to this. I will get you to respond.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R-IL), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: One of the questions that are out there is, a lot of people say, well, look it, this is a tough time. We just ought to pull out and leave.
We pull out and leave, we strand an effort to make sure that we can tamp down terrorism, to tamp down a dictatorship, that we can stabilize an area in the Middle East. And I -- I would think that folks -- folks ought to just take a look at the news and see what has happened in European countries in the last week or so.
Look at what's happening in -- in France, in Paris. When they have an attitude of malaise and, well, we can't do it, and, you know, we will placate and placate, all of a sudden, the terrorism is in their backyard.
We don't want to be fighting terrorism on the streets of Washington, D.C., or Chicago or Minneapolis or anywhere else. We need to face terrorism. We need to reach out. I will remember that day on September 11, 2001, when I looked out my window and saw smoke coming across the Mall from the Pentagon building.
We lost over 3,000 -- or almost 3,000 people in 45 minutes. We don't want to have that happen again. Our men and women who fight for this country, that wear their uniforms, have made a great sacrifice. We want to honor that sacrifice. We want to make sure there is freedom and liberty in those countries that they have worked and fought. And we will -- will not retreat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Ed, do you know where Dennis Hastert was and who -- with whom he was speaking?
HENRY: Yes.
That was a press conference. As you know, Congress is about to recess for the Thanksgiving break. Republicans, the leadership traditionally holds some sort of a kind of pep rally to tout what they see as their accomplishments before they leave town. That was Dennis Hastert just a few moments ago in the Capitol with other Republican leaders, talking about how they, for example, passed the spending cuts last night that they were having such a difficult time doing. So, they're just touting their accomplishments, and, along the way, were talking -- they were talking about the Iraq situation. It's almost tamer talk than we heard from Hastert yesterday, where he accused Murtha and other Democrats of, in his words, waving the white flag of surrender to terrorists around the world.
That's tough talk. And that's why you heard Kerry and others really firing back, because, also, overnight, the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, basically compared Jack Murtha to Michael Moore, the liberal filmmaker. That -- that's obviously extremely tough talk here.
PHILLIPS: Ed, let -- let me ask you a question, because you said that -- that Murtha -- and we -- and we heard from when he came out and spoke, also, that we -- we heard the emotion and we saw the emotion. You were saying that he really struggled about coming forward and saying this.
Is there something that he knows or something that he discovered that we don't know about that is pushing him to -- to come forward like this?
HENRY: That's a very good question, because, in fact, there are some Democrats whispering that they believe Jack Murtha is so close to some of top military officials in the country, being in such a senior position on defense issues in the Congress for so long, not just in the last couple years, but for a couple of decades now.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
HENRY: They believe that military officials maybe privately have been saying a much different story than they have been saying public about their concerns in Iraq, that they are towing the line with the administration, stay the course. But, privately, maybe Murtha is picking up other information.
The other reason why he was specifically in -- in terms of choking back tears, he was talking about wanting to give one of his Purple Hearts to an Iraqi war veteran who was not getting a Purple Heart because it was a friendly-fire incident. And he was so moved by that person's personal story -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: It would be interesting to know who Murtha talks to on a regular basis within the military and -- and what are some of the other things going on in his head.
I'm going to leave that up to you, Ed, to find that out.
HENRY: OK. We will get to work.
PHILLIPS: OK?
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: All right.
Ed Henry, there on the Hill...
HENRY: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: ... thank you so much.
Well, in Iraq, the real war goes on in the cities and in the countryside. And, today, there was no exception. Suicide attacks, including one outside a Baghdad hotel, killed dozens of civilians, including women and many children.
CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is in Baghdad now with the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): A security camera records in chilling silence, as a suicide bomber in a white van pulls up next to a concrete security barrier surrounding the Hamra Hotel, then detonates. As debris is hurled in all directions, a second suicide bomber drives into the dust cloud and, hidden from the camera, tries to get through the damaged concrete wall, closer to the hotel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a wall placed across here and a truck bomb hit this wall, blew up part of the wall. And then another smaller truck tried to penetrate and blow up these buildings behind you here.
ROBERTSON: When the dust settled, nearby apartments had collapsed, the Hamra Hotel, housing Western contract workers and journalists, damaged, but not destroyed.
Rescuers tried frantically to get a family out from under the rubble of their home. Six people, including two children and one woman, died in the attack. It is the same tactic used by al Qaeda three weeks ago at the nearby Palestine Hotel, three suicide bombers in a complex attack -- the first car bomber trying to blast through the concrete security barrier to make a way for the other bombers, the third vehicle managing to get a little closer to the hotel, which is also used by Westerners.
In the Hamra Hotel attack, all the casualties were Iraqis. It's not clear if the foreign media were the target. But, by picking high- profile locations, like the Hamra and Palestine hotels, the insurgents were able to ensure widespread coverage for their attacks.
Less easily covered by cameras, the attack by two suicide bombers on noon prayer-goers at two mosques in the more remote eastern town of Khanaqin. It took more than half a day before pictures of the bombings that killed more than 90 people were available.
(on camera): According to local officials, many of the dead and injured in that attack were children accompanying their fathers to the mosque -- possibly the reason that town was chosen for attack, because it's been relatively peaceful recently, making it a potentially soft target. Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead, a peek at the new Xbox and the buzz on the new "Harry Potter" movie. That's coming up next -- LIVE FROM and "The Goblet of Fire" right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, you know, our technology correspondent, Daniel Sieberg, always tells us about the latest gadgets, all the cool stuff, right? Well, here's something that he's got a preview on that might be -- well, it might be something you might want to put on your holiday list.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: We're just researching Microsoft's new video game machine, the Xbox 360. It hits store shelves Tuesday, just in time for the holiday shopping season.
And, sure, it plays video games, but could it also become your home entertainment center as well? We will explore that idea and give you a sneak preview on Monday.
A penalty? How can that be?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Oh, Daniel.
Well, just in case you're a little deficient in pop culture knowledge, if you happen to overhear someone talking about "The Goblet Of Fire," well, it's not a trendy new cocktail, although it could be, but it is poised to lob a Molotov into the box office this weekend. It's the fourth "Harry Potter" movie.
And faithful fans are all fired up. Those with a serious case of Hogwarts stayed up late for midnight showings. And for people with employment and education issue, well, there's plenty of other screenings, more than 3,800 theaters across the country. Can you believe that?
Well, Tinseltown pundits expect to see a huge opening this weekend. But be forewarned. This is the first installment with a PG- 13 rating, as Potter and his pals achieve puberty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE")
DANIEL RADCLIFFE, ACTOR: I just wondered if -- I just wondered if maybe you wanted to go to the ball with me.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Sorry? I didn't catch that. RADCLIFFE: I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to go to the ball with me.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Oh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, so, "Harry Potter" can fly through the air and cast all these spells, right?
Well, alas, there's no potion that anyone has found that cures adolescence. So we're told. So, what's a teenage wizard to do?
Well, as Joan Rivers might say, ah, grow up. And that's what "Harry Potter" is doing in "The Goblet of Fire." But is his core audience and their parents ready for a heavier Harry?
CNN's Brooke Anderson takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: People die in this tournament.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Death, destruction, and a little sexual tension. By all accounts, this Harry is heavy. Harry Potter and "The Goblet of Fire" is the fourth movie in the magical series and it's the first film to receive a PG-13 rating. The previous three were PG.
RADCLIFFE: It's supposed to be scaring (INAUDIBLE) with this one. I mean the book is terrifying. At the end, the book is really dark and scary. And, you know, a 16-year-old kid dies. You can't do that and make it light and fluffy.
ANDERSON: Some parents worry it's too dark for their kids to see.
TRUDY RIACH, CONCERNED PARENT: I'm concerned sometimes about the amount of violence or the scariness for young kids.
MICHELLE BRAMM, CONCERNED PARENT: I think it's a little too dark for their age group. So, yes, it does concerns me.
ANDERSON: But will "The Goblet of Fire" set the box office aflame? The first three movies have made more than $2.5 billion worldwide. Mike Speier, managing editor of "Daily Variety," believes Warner Brothers is banking on the fact that Potter fans have grown up along side the maturing themes of the books and the films.
MIKE SPEIER, "DAILY VARIETY": Warner Brothers knows that its audience of the first one is now of a certain age and they're going to just keep, of course, aging. And they're capturing this audience as it ages so it doesn't lose anybody.
ANDERSON: The film's director, Mike Newell, believes the stricter rating is appropriate.
MIKE NEWELL, DIRECTOR: Most of these people would of read the book many times and they will know that the biggest, baddest villain in the world is going to hit Harry in this. And if that doesn't get a PG-13, then they'll say there's something wrong. And they're right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: End of story. Goodbye. The end. Any questions?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: So, in the spirit of the big opening, we thought we would check out a little bit more about "Harry Potter." Here's the facts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE")
MICHAEL GAMBON, ACTOR: I would like to make an announcement. Hogwarts Castle will not only be your home this year, but home to some very special guests as well. Please welcome our friends from the north, the proud sons of Drumsfed (ph), and now the lovely ladies of Gobattons (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to go to the ball with me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Weasley, place your right hand on my waist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, we had a few fun facts put together for you, but we rolled the wrong tape. We apologize. But, hey, you got a little sneak peek. You got a bit of the trailer there. So, check it out. Let us know what you think.
All right, on a much more serious note, straight ahead we're going to be talking about terror on tape. Is this an apology from al Qaeda's top man in Iraq? We're going to look into that question when CNN LIVE FROM continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: It's not an apology exactly, but a new statement said to be from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi appears to express some regret about last week's Jordan hotel bombings.
Al-Zarqawi is the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, believed to be responsible for the bombings, which killed 57 people, most of them Jordanian civilians.
And there's a new audio statement on a web site frequently used by al-Zarqawi's group, and the site identifies al-Zarqawi as the speaker.
The speaker says, two months of intelligence gathering showed the hotels were used by U.S., Israeli and Iraqi intelligence agents and that his group never intended to target Muslims.
Joining us now to discuss the new statement, CNN's senior editor for Arab affairs, Octavia Nasr. Are we sure that this is definitely his voice?
OCTAVIA NASR, SR. EDITOR ARAB AFFAIRS: Well, CNN can never confirm for sure if it is in voice, his voice. So, we know that U.S. officials are telling us CIA is checking with old audiotapes that they have of Zarqawi to determine if it is him. Of course, we will tell our viewers when we find that out.
Interesting how you led to it, Kyra. Because not only does he say that he didn't intend to kill Muslims. He tells Jordanians look I love you more than I love myself.
I don't know if you want to believe this man, but basically that's the gist of the message, saying the intention was not to target civilians. The intention was not to kill Muslims, but the intention was to kill the infidels, meaning by that the U.S., Israelis, and Iraqi, what he calls intelligence agents.
PHILLIPS: And Zarqawi makes the point that the hotels that were attacked were specifically targeted not random. Let's listen to that part.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three lions left their dens in Baghdad and headed to the heart of Amman to carry out the blessed attacks against three targets known to be headquarters of Jews, crusaders and other enemies of God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: So, this just proves that there are active terror cells working in Jordan? The kingdom would probably never admit to that, right?
NASR: They don't admit to that. And last week they made it very clear. They repeated it over and over again, saying that the suicide bombers had no contact with anybody in Jordan.
Well, you know, there were a lot of skeptics out there last week that said, well, that's impossible. They entered the country, four of them. They lived somewhere. They talked to people.
And now with this man on the audio saying that they got intelligence. They gathered intelligence for over two months. You have to think that they have.
Now, it is known that there are al Qaeda cells in Jordan that the Jordanian officials are trying to tell us that they have control over. But, you know, an audio like this really puts to question those claims that the Jordanian officials made last week.
PHILLIPS: Now, does Zarqawi say anything about the fact that these were innocent Jordanians that were killed?
NASR: Not really. He didn't really get into that much. Basically he kept talking about -- he stayed on target if you will. He kept talking about the targets themselves, that they are headquarters for intelligence meetings.
He gave some specific examples, and he said that the wedding itself--he said how about all of those agents that they talked about, the Palestinian intelligence agent, Chinese, and so forth. He said, what were they? Were they invited to the wedding?
Basically, he didn't talk about the innocent civilians that died. He said, he will never target them. He also said, look if I am targeting civilians I would go and attack a marketplace.
He even gave examples of a square, of a Safeway in Jordan. He said this is where we would go and attack if we wanted to kill civilians.
Not so much about those who died. He didn't, you know, show any sympathy or any remorse for that. He tried to stay away from that. He obviously knows that this is a sensitive subject. So, he kept them out of the picture.
PHILLIPS: Octavia Nasr, thank you.
Now back here at home the ongoing story with this wildfire in Ventura County.
Chad Myers following the severe weather conditions, has some updated information for us--Chad.
MYERS: Looking at the fire danger here. Still seeing the smoke on radar, blowing across the Ojai Freeway here also into Ventura County.
But, just in right now, Tropical Storm Gamma, the third letter of the Greek alphabet, alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and so on and so on.
It is now a 40 mile per hour storm. It is right there. One hundred and ninety miles from Belize City. The forecast for the storm is to get into the Yucatan Peninsula. Make a right hand turn and then possibly up toward the Florida Peninsula. But, it was tropical depression number 27, way out here in the Caribbean earlier this week. It died, turned into nothing. Then it regenerated into this very warm water.
And if you remember, Katrina. You remember Wilma. Remember all of these storms that got into this, what we call loop current water, this warm water that's in the southern part of the Caribbean, these storms, do all of the same things. They got into the warm water and they generated.
And this is doing the same thing. Slow, strengthening its forecast in the next 24 hours. The movement is to the west-northwest at 5. And if you're keeping track, the number is 16.4 north, 85.6 west. Just what the weather office didn't want to hear.
We're all really hoping for December rather quickly -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: I'll say, you've got your hands full. I mean, I was thinking you were going to talk about the wildfires. I didn't realize there was all of this other severe weather taking place, as well.
MYERS: It's getting a little-- I can zoom in a little bit better here for you.
The storm really has intensified in the other night hours. You can see, much brighter colors now. There's Cancun. There's Cuba. There's Miami and Key West.
The forecast is for it to slowly move to the west, and maybe make a turn. And really the forecast, I guess, for it to get into the Florida Peninsula, but there's so much sheer.
There's so much wind and really cold air out there, that don't know how big it's going to get yet. But, we'll keep you up to date.
PHILLIPS: All right. Chad, thanks.
MYERS: Thanks.
PHILLIPS: Well, when LIVE FROM continues, last night was movie night for the pope and of 6,000 of his closest friends. We're going to talk about what they watched and the Vatican's foray onto the big screen.
Stay tuned for that. Delia Gallagher straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A different kind of movie premiere last night, where the Vatican's Swiss Guard were the ushers and the guest of honor was Pope Benedict XVI. The pope was there to see a TV movie on the life of Pope John Paul II, made with Vatican cooperation, of course. Jennifer Eccleston has the story of Hollywood and his holiness.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): High drama, intrigue, humor, and love. The television miniseries "Pope John Paul II," with actor Jon Voight as the late pontiff and a papal stamp of approval.
John Paul's successor watched the film during its world premiere at the Vatican, thanking the film's actors and producers for honoring the memory of his dear friend. It's not often the Catholic Church gives such approval. It's not often TV executives seek out such an endorsement.
LUCA BERNABEI, PRODUCER: It was giving us the dimension that the Vatican was with us, was supporting this movie.
ECCLESTON: The Rome-based producer's close contacts with senior Vatican officials, and the film's scant mention of the more controversial aspects of John Paul's papacy, like the sexual abuse scandal in the U.S., may have hastened the holy sea's warm embrace.
(on camera): An embrace that included script guidance, insight from Vatican historians, rare filming privileges within the secretive city-state and access to behind the scene footage.
(voice-over): John Paul's varied traveled and private conversations including rare moments with the ailing pontiff just days before his death.
BERNABEI: The Sunday before he died, so he appeared basically for last time trying to talk with them. But because he was so emotional he couldn't talk. And it was just one week before dying. So we will tell to the audience what happened in the room when they closed the window.
JON VOIGHT, ACTOR: He blessed up.
ECCLESTON: Extraordinary insight for the actor who portrays John Paul.
VOIGHT: He certainly healed a lot of wounds and brought people together. Very impressive fellow. So for me, it was an honor to be asked to do it. And it was a joy to work on it.
ECCLESTON: The former pope's message, he says, is universal, one that transcends the film's religious context.
VOIGHT: Share and appreciate each other, you know, and encourage each other, sincerely. This was a marvelous thing that he did, brought us all together.
ECCLESTON: The producers hope "John Paul II" the movie will also bring people together, a miniseries for the masses, and not just for the faithful.
Jennifer Eccleston, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: Delia Gallagher, CNN's faith and values correspondent, joins us live from New York. Delia, what do you think? What's the fascination?
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH & VALUES CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the fascination with John Paul II is clear. I mean, he just had an outstanding life. He was a poor, Polish boy, suffered under Nazism and Communism in Poland and then became pope.
I mean, you know, the thought that a -- he could have never dreamed that he would become pope. He was the first non-Italian pope in almost 500 years. So, of course, the assassination attempt and everything that happened once he was pope, so it's an extraordinary life. And it was one that we lived along with him for 26 years. I think it's no surprise that a lot of people now are interested in retelling the story.
PHILLIPS: And, of course, it's never happened before. You've never seen the pope in a biopic, and the Vatican letting these producers into places that we don't even get to see. And, of course, there had to be script approval, right? Why do you think the Vatican allowed this?
GALLAGHER: Well, I don't think there was script approval in the sense that we think of it sort of, you know, line by line. But the family that produced this film, an Italian family, who also worked on "The Passion," you know, they've got some good ties there at Vatican. And so, obviously it's about who you know.
And the Vatican was quite happy to sort of help them out, as it were, and probably advise them on some of the things, and maybe let them into some areas that we don't normally get to see, although I know a lot of it was filmed outside of the Vatican because they generally do not allow filming at the Vatican.
PHILLIPS: And it's pretty amazing. John Voight looks exactly like pope John Paul II. Is that eerie?
GALLAGHER: That really struck me. That really struck me. An amazing likeness. Yes, I'm interested to see this miniseries, actually.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, another interesting thing you brought up, the comic book that is out of the pope. I mean, OK, we've got a miniseries, now a comic book.
GALLAGHER: Well, you know what, Kyra? Italians love comic books. I mean, I don't know if this is going to work in the United States. It was just published Thursday in Italian. And I don't know if they're going to do it in English or not. But Italians are quite a comic book culture. They have this thing about comic books.
So, once again, it's the life of John Paul II, but in a comic book. And goes through the whole thing from beginning to end. So we really are seeing the kind of boom of John Paul II biographies in all forms. PHILLIPS: Delia Gallagher, used to be analyst with us. Now she's our faith and values correspondent. It's so great to have you with us. We're going to talk more. Unfortunately, we've got to go to break. But I promise you, we're going to talk more about this new role, OK? That means you have to come back.
GALLAGHER: That's fine. I'll be here.
PHILLIPS: All right Delia, thank you so much.
GALLAGHER: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead, you don't usually think of the movie "Gone With the Wind" and the late Rosa Parks in the same breath, right? But you will after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Forty-one years after the end of the Civil War, another battle is raging in the deep south. This one pits southerners against southerners over conflicting visions of the past. It's a fight that's been going on for years, and the latest skirmish involves a road.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARK GABLE, ACTOR: Dear Scarlett!
PHILLIPS (voice-over): What do you think of when you think of the American South? Many people around the world think of a book and a movie. The focal point for "Gone with the Wind" was a fictional plantation named Tara, located in Clayton County, Georgia.
Today, Clayton County is a sprawling suburb of Atlanta. There's not much that would remind you of the Old South, except for the name of one of its major streets, Tara Boulevard.
In recent years, Clayton County has gone from a predominantly white population to a largely black population. Instead of looking to the Old South for heroes and heroines, many African-Americans look to a more recent era. Now there's a move to rename Tara Boulevard for the late Rosa Parks, who helped spark the civil rights movement by refusing to give a white man her seat on a bus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE; I think it's a good idea. I mean, Rosa Parks has done a lot for the country, and I for, I guess, peace in general.
PHILLIPS: So is Tara Boulevard gone with the wind, or will the Old South rise again?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Tara, that land doesn't mean anything to you? My land is the only thing in the world worth working for, worth fighting for.
PHILLIPS: During the civil rights era, Atlanta managed to avoid much of the racial strife that plagued other cities with quiet compromise. It's a tradition that has continued in recent years.
When African-American groups objected to the Confederate battle flag dine on Georgia's state flag, the flag was changed to resemble another Confederate flag that was less controversial. Then there was a move to rename Atlanta's Hartsfield International airport, named after a white former mayor, to Jackson International Airport in honor of Atlanta's first black mayor. Atlanta politicians split the difference, changing the name to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Confronted by the latest request, Atlanta politicians seem to be looking for a way to finesse this issue, also. The chairman of the county commission suggests there are better ways to honor Rosa Parks.
ELDRIN BELL, CLAYTON COUNTY CHAIRMAN: I think we ought to think beyond just a street. We ought to think monumental, something significant that would leave a legacy to her memory.
PHILLIPS: Old South versus New South. There is a way to honor both traditions?
VIVIAN LEE, ACTRESS: I'll think about it tomorrow.
PHILLIPS: Time will tell.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Time now to check in with Wolf Blitzer, standing by in Washington to tell us what's coming up at the top of the hour in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Hi, Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Kyra. Thanks very much.
Coming up, Robert Blake. A verdict expected right at the top of the hour. He was found not guilty of murder, as you'll recall, but will a jury hold him liable for wrongful death? We're going to find out in just a few minutes.
Plus, fires raging, million dollar homes threatened. We'll take you live to California. These are live pictures you're seeing right now.
Also, the war of words continuing and escalating. A former CIA director now calling Dick Cheney a vice president for torture. Stansfield Turner will join us live, here in THE SITUATION ROOM. All that, lots more, coming up right at top of the hour -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Wolf, thanks so much.
Well, coming up right after a quick break, Ali Velshi talking oil, gas and the closing bell. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right. Ali Velshi, it's almost time for the closing bell. It wraps it up for here -- or wraps it up for us here. I'm a little pooped, sorry. It's the end of the week.
ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a stretch, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: That's right. Time for the weekend. You going to do anything fun?
VELSHI: I'm going to be working here. I'm in D.C., actually, for the weekend.
PHILLIPS: "ON THE STORY"?
VELSHI: I'm doing "ON THE STORY," this is a great show.
PHILLIPS: Is this your new gig?
VELSHI: I don't know if it's my new gig. You think I look OK doing it?
PHILLIPS: Yes, you do a great job.
VELSHI: You know what was really interesting, is...
PHILLIPS: What's that?
VELSHI: ... our producer, Jennifer Bernstein (ph), was saying that she had frost on her car this morning.
PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh. It was so cold this morning as I was driving in. Twenty degrees.
VELSHI: That is unbelievable.
PHILLIPS: I know. Isn't that amazing?
VELSHI: It's interesting, because the week before Thanksgiving is the week when typically you'd like it being a little bit cold. Particularly retailers like that, because that kind of signals that winter is here, it's the Christmas shopping season, the holiday shopping season.
PHILLIPS: I thought you were moving us into those high heating bills.
VELSHI: Well, yes.
PHILLIPS: Is that where we're going with this?
VELSHI: This is the one year where the retailers are not loving the idea that it's as crisp in the air as it is, because that means your heating bills -- it means your heating is going on around now. And heating bills are more expensive than they were last year.
The problem here, of course, is that your heating bill money, the extra money that you have to pay to heat your house -- if you use natural gas, usually in the Midwest of the United States, or you use oil, heating oil, in the Northeast -- all that money is money that they would really rather you spend at their stores.
Typically, the cold weather gets you in the mood for shopping and it gets you into that position to buy sweaters and gloves and hats. And it's not happening this year.
PHILLIPS: Well you -- what's the temperature in New York?
VELSHI: I don't think it's cold as 20. I left early and it was -- but it's crisp. It's pretty crisp.
PHILLIPS: All right, well, heating bills obviously going to be very expensive. But gas prices coming down.
VELSHI: They're down to about $2.25 a gallon across the country. But people have been paying those heavy gas prices for a while. But Kyra, that's what we have to look forward to. I'll be back with you again next week.
PHILLIPS: Look forward to it.
VELSHI: You have a fantastic weekend. And markets are closing. The Dow is up 45 points, to 10,764. The NASDAQ is up seven points, to 2,227 points. Strong day for the Dow. A few more points, and the Dow will be up for the year.
Let's take it to Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
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