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President Bush Reemphasizes 'Stay the Course' Strategy in Iraq; Iraq: Three Years Later; Cyclone Season in Full Swing in Australia

Aired March 20, 2006 - 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: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips.
For the first time in months, President Bush faces a crowd not filled with pre-screened supporters. The focus, Iraq. The questions, pointed. The president, determined.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we want to know who the bad guys are.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How can we help you promote the cause of freedom and liberty for all peoples throughout the world?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My son signed up after 9/11, and I didn't raise a terrorist. But let's face it, there's a continuum and a lack of clarity about who is violent and who is a terrorist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every chief needs an Indian on their side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Kathleen Koch is at the White House. Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. And Nic Robertson in Baghdad.

Kathleen, let's begin with you. It's been a while since we've seen this type of event where the questions are not screened.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But Kyra, you know, we've been seeing it happen pretty much ever since December, when the White House decided to go out and make a real concerted effort to make the case for continuing the war in Iraq to the American people.

What was different is this is a very unique forum. It's called Cleveland City Club, and they call themselves the oldest free speech forum in the U.S., America's citadel of free speech. And you certainly heard a lot of that there today.

The president's presentation was very different from others we've heard from him on the past, indeed from those back in December. And what senior administration officials had told CNN was he was going to really try to tell a story to help make this more personal, what was happening in Iraq, to help make Americans understand what citizens are going through there.

So he told the story of one town, Tal Afar, which is roughly 60 miles from the Syrian border. And the president did make it very personal.

You heard him use the word "you" over and over again, "you and your family," "you feel besieged," "you see no way out." He talked about some of the brutal acts of terror there, a young boy being kidnapped from the hospital, killed, his body booby-trapped, and then killing his father when the father finds his body beside the road.

And then the president talked about a new tactic, a new strategy that the U.S. military tried in Iraq called Clear, Hold and Build, and he described how finally it was working.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Those who offer nothing but destruction and death are becoming marginalized. The strategy that worked so well in Tal Afar did not emerge overnight. It came only after much trial and error.

It took time to understand and adjust to the brutality of the enemy in Iraq. Yet, the strategy is working. And we know it's working because the people of Tal Afar are showing their gratitude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: And the president said proof of that was the very high participation rate by the people of the city in October's referendum. More than 80 percent of them turning out and voting.

But the president admitted certainly what was happening in Tal Afar, the success story there does not apply across the entire country of Iraq, that a lot more progress, a lot of hard slogging lies ahead. But again, the effort on the part of the administration here was, yes, to partially turn around those very bad public opinion polls where 61 percent of Americans disapprove of the president's handling of the war in Iraq, but also to help them understand more and on a -- in a more personal way what's happening -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, approval, disapproval, the president keeps giving these speeches. He's doing the talking.

But let's take a listen to Senator Joseph Biden. He continues to say that the president just isn't listening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: All the president has to do -- I know he doesn't watch television -- but all he has to do on is turn on any one of the Sunday programs or any one of the morning shows. And he doesn't just see Biden. He sees Lugar. He sees Hagel. He sees McCain. He sees, you know, Republicans, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee. And they're all saying, Mr. President, help, help, help, help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: How does the Bush administration respond to that? KOCH: It's a very tough one to respond to. But the president in his speech today did say that the United States was not going to walk away from Iraq, was not going to leave it -- let it return to the terrorists who want to make it a haven. And the president pushed the line that the White House has been using for months and months and months, that if the United States does not take the terrorists on there, that then they will come here, the U.S. will have to fight them on its own turf.

And so it's certainly better. Again, the administration continues to argue to press the fight there in Iraq -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Kathleen Koch at the White House.

Thanks so much.

We continue to monitor these live pictures after the president's speech. Let's go to the Pentagon -- Pentagon now, Jamie McIntyre.

Jamie, once again lots of talk about the sectarian violence, a lot of talk about is this a civil war in Iraq now or not. We've been talking about it, of course, as journalists, but the president still coming forward saying, whatever the situation is, we're making progress and we need to support troops.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, as the U.S. goes into the fourth year of the war in Iraq, what the American people want to hear, at least what the Pentagon and White House believe what they want to hear, is how the U.S. is going to get out. And as you heard Kathleen Koch say, the answer that President Bush gave today was Tal Afar, that town in northern Iraq.

He really said it was a microcosm for what's going on in Iraq. It was an insurgent stronghold, and he asserts that it's now been cleaned out, thanks to the efforts of the 3rd Armored Regiment and, more importantly, a large contingent of Iraqi troops.

Bush said that the strategy that's working there is one that will work on the country as a whole, and he pointed out that, among the troops in Iraq, the U.S. troops, morale remains high and they still think victory is within their grasp.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Well, we've got thousands of people signing up, volunteering for the United States military, many of them after September 11, knowing full well what they were signing up for. And what's amazing about our military is that retention rates are high, people are still signing up. They want to -- they want to defend the country. And for that, I am grateful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: As Bush made the argument today that the way the U.S. military worked with the the -- Iraq to clear out Tal Afar -- or Tal Afar, as it's sometimes pronounced -- is really the way forward. And Kyra, did you notice, by the way, the mention of Colonel H.R. McMaster?

PHILLIPS: He mentioned the colonel a number of times and I wanted to ask you why.

MCINTYRE: He is an up-and-coming -- I mean, I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that he will be General McMaster some time in the near future.

He wrote the seminal book "Dereliction of Duty." That was required reading in a lot of war colleges back in the '90s. He's given credit for overseeing this operation and getting the Iraqis out in front, clearing out Tal Afar.

You heard him mentioned in the president's speech today. He's an up and comer in the military. He's going to be going on to better things. It's a clear indication, by the way, when the president mentions you more than once and gives you credit for the winning strategy that you're probably going to get a promotion somewhere down the line.

PHILLIPS: All right. So my next question is, when are you going to have the exclusive sit-down interview with the colonel?

MCINTYRE: Well, we're -- we're actually attempting to interview him this afternoon. He's a very -- he's a very talkative, articulate guy. He's very enthusiastic.

He's the kind of commander that when you talk to him you think, gee, I'd like to serve in his unit, a real can-do kind of guy. We're going to get his take.

And also, it is interesting because he wrote the book about "Dereliction of Duty." It was really about the military's failure to speak out in Vietnam when things weren't going well. So it will be really interesting to hear his take on why he does think things are going on the right track in Iraq.

PHILLIPS: Jamie, I look forward to your interview with him. Thanks so much.

Let's take it now to Baghdad. Nic Robertson on the ground.

Nic, once again, the president touting all the progress. Give us a reality check of what's taking place there on the ground.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, after the Tal Afar operation, then the focus was on to Euphrates River Valley in the fall of last year, working their way down from the Syrian border all the way to Baghdad. And that method of surrounding the towns of telling the insurgents to get out, of providing safety for the families in those towns who wanted to get out before the fighting started, did appear to pay off, at least until the end of the year. The number of suicide car bombings was -- were down, the number of attacks were down overall towards the of last year. What has happened that has perhaps changed the dynamic more recently, brought to the whole discussion about civil war, center frame again, was the destruction of that holy shrine in the town of Samarra about a month ago and the ensuing sectarian tensions and killings that have gone on since then.

So as the president said, Tal Afar, it took some learning and understanding to get to understand what the insurgents were doing, how they were doing it, and learning how to fight it. And that is the big problem in Iraq, the dynamic changes.

And almost now, this much time after Tal Afar, late last summer, the dynamic has an insurgent component. When we look at a lot of the killings, a lot of the killings are happening in Baghdad -- 186 bodies turning up here the last week. Baghdad's not the kind of city you can put a sand berm around with about five million people in it, tell the people to get out, build a tent city or provide them with accommodation, and then perform a Tal Afar-type operation.

Now, the president said it's not just about security, it's about politics, it's about economics. The political situation is moving on here three years -- three years on after -- after the invasion. The economic situation is improving slightly and people have a little bit more money in their pockets at this time.

But the solution that is -- that was applied to Tal Afar, that's been applied to other places, does work. It has been seen to work. But the key thing is, is holding that ground afterwards.

And what do you do about the big urban centers like Baghdad, where insurgents can hide? And perhaps out in some other areas like Ramadi, a big town like Falluja? Nobody wants to have another operation the size of Falluja on the city of Ramadi.

So there are still some thorny issues where insurgents can still run and hide that will need to be dealt with.

PHILLIPS: Nic Robertson, live from Baghdad.

Thanks, Nic.

Well, the battles are flaring, the troops, insurgents and others still fighting and dying. But it's not the same war that was being fought three years ago. The mission, the tactics, the enemy, they've all changed. And so have the troops.

CNN's Arwa Damon has one soldier's story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At 26, Staff Sergeant Jesse Sample is on his second tour of duty in Iraq, and reflects on his first tour back in 2003.

SGT. JESSE SAMPLE, U.S. ARMY: We didn't think that we'd be in the country for more than maybe six months. And I don't think that we would have thought how complex this was going to be.

DAMON: Now he's fighting an even more complicated battle, on an increasingly delicate battlefield; and fighting to break old habits from his first tour, when Humvees weren't armored.

SAMPLE: If I get hit by an IED, I'll still throw my weight -- throw my body weight forward so shrapnel won't hit me. But these guys are all nice and calm, and know that their armor's going protect them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a little bit farther down.

DAMON: Lieutenant Colonel John Gentile commands Sample's squadron. Here, revisiting the site of an attack that killed a child.

LT. JOHN GENTILE, U.S. ARMY: I think this IED was probably -- was placed by insurgents who were attacking governmental forces. I think this is the case of that.

You saw a car?

DAMON: He's trying to gather information about the insurgents, a process much more complex than it may seem.

GENTILE: People are still afraid to come out and tell who's doing it. Because they're worried about getting killed.

DAMON: These men know that this is no longer a battle that is going to be won by force.

GENTILE: The challenge right now is for the Iraqi people to establish trust with the Iraqi security forces. By doing a combined patrol, the Iraqi people here, especially Sunnis at this mosque, can see us together, that it's a team effort.

DAMON: They're implementing lessons learned and realize that a simple action can have significant consequences.

GENTILE: We don't haul ass anymore. We don't shoot at people that are verging into traffic. And I think that's actually made us look better in the long run and it's made the Iraqi people trust us more.

DAMON: In a battlefield where there is little room for error, U.S. troops had to adjust fast.

SAMPLE: It was the hardest thing we had to do, was coming from a very aggressive posture into more of a peaceful posture. It's hard -- the two different situations from 2003 to here are completely different.

(on camera): For the veterans of OIF-1, it's a completely different battlefield. Back then, they were fighting an identifiable enemy and focusing their efforts on driving a wedge between the insurgents and the Iraqi people. Now they're fighting an unseen enemy and focusing their efforts on building up Iraq's security forces to drive that wedge. (voice-over): The question for these troops is, will they be back again?

Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, three years into the Iraq war we know plenty about the politics, the strategies, the timelines. But the real story belongs to the people who are there, by chance or by choice. People such as combat medic Richard Jadick.

He's on the cover of "Newsweek" holding the Bronze Star he earned for saving 30 lives. He was pushing 40 and a brand new dad, besides, but he volunteered for the front lines anyway.

Dr. Jadick is home now. He joins me from New York, along with his wife, Melissa.

Great to see you both.

DR. RICHARD JADICK, BRONZE STAR RECIPIENT: Well, thank you for having us.

MELISSA JADICK, WIFE: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, the first question has got to go to Melissa.

Melissa, you must be one happy woman to have your husband home.

M. JADICK: We are. Both my daughter and I were thrilled when he came back.

PHILLIPS: Is it pretty overwhelming for you just from the moment he had to leave to now looking at him on the cover of "Newsweek"?

M. JADICK: It's been -- it's been an exciting ride. He left when our daughter was five days old and came home when she was 7 months. And right now everybody is doing great.

PHILLIPS: When you first found out that your husband was leaving, I'm imagining you had a mixture of emotions. You are thinking, OK, I just had a baby, she's only 5 days old, but I know he loves his job and I totally support what he does, because you're a pediatrician as well.

M. JADICK: Definitely. I had tons of emotions.

I was frightened. But then on the other hand, I was excited for him because he was excited about the opportunity he was given. And every -- you know, but again, I'm not the only military wife out there that goes through this.

It's so common. And I had a lot of support from family and friends. And, you know, people do it every day. And I was just lucky that Rich and I did have those five days with McKenzie (ph) before he left.

PHILLIPS: All right, Rich, tell me why you did it. You didn't have to.

R. JADICK: No, you're right, I didn't have to. It kind of came on my doorstep as the division surgeon was asking what I thought about how we could make it work out so somebody would go. I knew I was going to be there another year, and I really wasn't filling a job I liked a whole lot.

So I told him, "If you need to send somebody, I'll go." And he said -- I think about 24 hours later he called me back and said, "OK, pack up and get over to 18." So I did.

PHILLIPS: So it was a long plane ride. And then there you were in Falluja. Was there a point where you thought, what the hell did I just do?

R. JADICK: Yes. In the article there was a gunnery sergeant, Gunny Shane (ph), who kind of leaned over the seat...

PHILLIPS: Oh, Sergeant Ryan Shane (ph), right?

R. JADICK: That's correct. That's correct.

PHILLIPS: OK.

R. JADICK: And he said to me -- he said, "You know, you've got a tough job. I'm glad I'm not in your shoes."

And, you know, he did say to me as well that 18 was a well- trained unit and that those Marines are great Marines. And that's what I found. And he said that the sailors that he had worked with were fantastic.

So getting over there and getting into that swing of things was very easy.

PHILLIPS: Well, I'm going to get back to Sergeant Ryan Shane (ph) in a minute, because there is a pretty amazing story that exists there. But I want to ask you about the minute you touched down and you got going. It didn't take long before you heard the call over the radio and you were responding to a SEAL that was down, sucking chest wounds.

Tell me what happened.

R. JADICK: Yes, the call came over the radio, and at that point we didn't -- our armored -- our armored ambulances had been pushed forward at the line of departure. So I got in with a CAT (ph) team or one of the weapons company gun truck teams, and we drove into the city.

I found -- we got to the edge of the city and got off on foot, and at that point I -- Lieutenant Kulick (ph) was leading the way. And he looked at me and said, "Well, doc, I got the coordinates. We'll find this guy." And he got me there and we got the guy out. And I was able to call in the ambulances and start to make our way back -- back to the ambulance exchange point when we got the second call to go back in.

PHILLIPS: It didn't stop there. Take me to the second call.

R. JADICK: The second call was we had some Marines down in an ambush from Bravo Company, and we made the decision then that it was time to go and see if we can get some of them out. And we had gotten the word we had two critically wounded and urgent evacs.

So we went in and got off the back of that track. At that point, scared was probably the only thing I can say.

Got off and moved to do what we had to do. And, you know, they talk about 30 lives saved. None of that is done by yourself.

You know, great, great people around you, great Marines and great sailors who are -- who really are the salt of the earth, well trained, dedicated, loyal and would give their lives for each other. That's the part -- that's the team I was with and that's what we did.

I mean, that's what they did. I didn't...

PHILLIPS: I know this was so much of a team effort. But Rich, you were there with so many eyes on you, even men in your arms dying, looking at you, you know, looking to you for help. And you had to make some split-second decisions.

Put me into the mindset of where you were in a position -- you had men above you, around you, bleeding on you, and had you to decide, who can I save and who can I probably not save? I mean, how did you make those decisions on who you would work on first or second or immediately?

R. JADICK: There is protocol, and you run it through your mind before you get out there so you hopefully make the right decisions when you are there. They are not easy decisions, and those are things you got to live with for the rest of your life. I can't -- I can only say I ran through some trauma protocol in my head and made some quick decisions that I'll think about for a while.

PHILLIPS: Well, I know you can't forget Lance Corporal Demarkus Brown. Why not? Tell us about him.

R. JADICK: He was a kid who came in about two days before I left the downtown of Falluja with -- and he had a little injury, a little shrapnel injury to his lip. He came in, and my chief sewed him up and said, hey -- you know, he asked me -- he said, "Doc, do I get a Purple Heart for this?"

Of course we laughed. We said, "Yes, you get one. For this, for sure."

So he was a hard charging one, and all he wanted to do was get back out to the lines with his guys. So we sent him out. And he came back two days later and he passed away.

He came in on a -- with a chest wound, and that was a -- that was a hard one because he bled there on the table. We did everything we could, but this one I won't -- I'll never forget that.

PHILLIPS: Was it what he said to you? Was it his passion? Was it a connection you had with him, Rich?

R. JADICK: It was -- there's a point where people give you probably undue credit for things that you can't control. I remember when he -- when his corpsman brought him in to me, he was -- he was breathing and his eyes were open.

And his corpsman had said, "Don't worry, you made it here. Doc's got you. You're OK. You're going to make it."

And, you know, that was probably the closest point to feeling as though I failed was right there.

PHILLIPS: But you know what? You didn't fail, because you did everything you did.

And Melissa, you're a doctor, too. How do you look at your husband in his eyes and say, I love you, you didn't fail, listen to me right now?

M. JADICK: Oh, definitely. I mean, I support him 100 percent. I could never have done what he did. You know, I don't know how he left, you know, at the time, especially with a newborn baby. So he's -- you know, he's my hero as well.

PHILLIPS: Well, Gunnery Staff Sergeant Ryan Shane (ph), the man that you talked to on that airplane, you probably would have never imagined that the two of you would come in contact again. We saw these amazing photos of Shane (ph) going in there to rescue, try and save one of his comrades.

Tell us what happened, Rich.

R. JADICK: Well, at the time I didn't know anything more than I got off the back of the track and there were seven Marines lying there. And Gunny -- Gunny Shane (ph) was one of them.

After he had -- we'd gotten him back over to this little three- foot wall. And he's a big guy. I couldn't get him into the track.

And what wound up happening was I had to --I had to yell at him to get up, to start crawling, because I had seven casualties and I have room for four. So we packed it as tight as we could, and he had to lie underneath one of the stretchers on the actual floor of the track to get him out of there.

And I remember looking at him and saying, "Brother, I got you over the wall. I can't get you any further. We've got to get you crawling." And he did. And he did what he had to do. And we packed that ambulance -- even at that point, we had to leave one behind who had been shot in the foot.

PHILLIPS: Well, there were a number of them that came home alive.

Thanks to you, Dr. Richard Jadick and your amazing wife, Melissa, for being such a strong counterpart. What an honor to talk to you both. Thank you so much for your time.

R. JADICK: Well, thank you very much.

M. JADICK: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: One war, two vastly different ways of looking at it. Three years after the U.S. invaded Iraq, two American families share a bitter loss but not much else. Their stories are coming up on LIVE FROM.

And as we mark the third anniversary of the war in Iraq, we're also taking on a new challenge here on LIVE FROM, trying to avoid the numbers and bring you the names. We want to salute our fallen heroes in a more personal and passionate way.

And we begin today with the Marine lance corporal whom Richard Jadick tried to desperately save. We just talked about him a minute ago.

Demarkus Brown, he was 22 when he died in war in November of 2004. Though he died heroically, he was known in his hometown of Martinsville, Virginia, by the nickname "Chicken."

His 9th grade wrestling coach said that Brown flopped around like a chicken and then he later won a prestigious wrestling tournament. You get the picture.

And in Iraq he was a machine gunner with the 1st Battalion 8th Marine Regiment.

We also salute Army Sergeant 1st Class Brent A. Adams, who was killed last December by an improvised explosive device in Ramadi. He is survived by his wife and his young son Daniel.

We also remember Airman 1st Class Elizabeth N. Jacobson of Riviera Beach, Florida. She died in September 2005 when an IED went off near Camp Buca (ph) in Iraq.

These are just three of the 2,316 U.S. military men and women who have died in the war in Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the Atlantic hurricane season doesn't begin until June, but things are different down under, where the tropical cyclone season is in full swing and a storm named Larry will long be remembered for its destructive force.

Jamie Rule from Australia's Network 10 joins me now by phone from Cairns.

Give us a feel for what it's like right now, Jamie.

JAMIE RULE, REPORTER, NETWORK 10, AUSTRALIA: Well, Kyra, it's a vastly different sign (ph) in Queensland weather-wise than it was at this time yesterday. It's a little bit breezy outside, but that's about all.

Of course, in the past 24 hours, we've seen hundreds of homes across the township of Innisfail and surrounding areas south of Cairns badly damaged and/or flattened after winds clocked at up to 300 kilometers an hour pounded the coastline and left many homeless, cutting power and, of course, closed the highways.

PHILLIPS: What about shelters? Those that had to evacuate or those that lost their homes, are there enough places for them to go?

RULE: yes. It's been a situation where they've had to be moved. Obviously, a lot of their houses you can't live in anymore. There's just not much left. Thousands of people, while they remain homeless, they're bunkered down in community centers and halls in and around the affected areas. Many of those, of course, still don't know what condition their homes are in. No doubt, at some stage through the day, they'll be returning to see what pieces they can pick up.

PHILLIPS: So tell us about the next few days, weather-wise. What can you expect? And also the clean-up, how fast can it happen?

RULE: Weather-wise, we, at the moment, are looking at fairly fine conditions, which is a stark contrast to what we've seen over the past couple of days. Prime Minister John Howard will tour the devastation tomorrow to get his own firsthand look at the damage. The clean-up across the region is expected to be in full swing throughout the day, while many are keeping an eye on another cyclone, Wati, which is still some distance away in the Coral Sea. But unfortunately, it's tracking on similar path to that of Cyclone Larry.

PHILLIPS: Does this affect tourism at all? Give me a feel, Jamie. Is this an area where a lot of people like to go this time of year, or will this give them time to rebuild?

RULE: Well, Cairns is a massive tourist area, one of the biggest tourist areas in Australia, and it has a massive tourism economy. There's a lot of people, obviously, that fly in. It's an international airport into Cairns. And one of the major concerns was to get that airport reopened. That did happen yesterday afternoon. The airport has reopened. But as I mentioned before, they'll keep a close eye on this other Cyclone, a Category 2 cyclone called Cyclone Wati. And as this cyclone moves its way further west towards the coast, they may have to look at closing the airport down, as they do as a normal precaution.

PHILLIPS: Jamie Rule. He's Network 10 Australia there, live on the phone with us from Cairns. Jamie, thanks so much. Keep us updated.

RULE: Will do.

PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, severe weather here. Schools closed, streets flooded and people across the U.S. mopping up, digging out or bracing for more nasty weather. We're going to fill you in on these stormy times. LIVE FROM is back in a moment.

But first, CNN's Miles O'Brien with our weekly series, "Welcome to the Future."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do get to work from home, but then I wind up having to leave for days at a time. I work in a virtual company. Sure, it's cool that I'm always talking to my co-workers on the computer and being able to just shoot instant messages out, but, at the same, there's something lacking about that.

To be able to effectively communicate, you need to be able to see people's reactions. So it would be wonderful if I could just spin my chair around and suddenly be seeing everybody that I'm trying to communicate with. And so if I could do that without traveling, then that would be fantastic.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): So what if Phillip (ph) could beam himself to a meeting instead of having to travel to it? Is this the future, or has Phillip seen one too many movies?

(voice-over): Hollywood has taken the hologram out of this word, like this scene from "Star Wars Episode III." But how close is this to reality?

MICHAEL KLUG, COFOUNDER, ZEBRA IMAGING: The vision of "Star Wars" is something that can be achieved, but the means by which to achieve it will be -- will not be what's represented in the movies.

M. O'BRIEN: MIT grad and cofounder of Zebra Imaging, Michael Klug has mastered art of creating these larger-than-life holographic images. Boiled down, they are three-dimensional pictures projected with a pair of lasers. But Klug says interacting with these 3-D figures still presents a challenge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The hologram is not something that can occupy space without having some piece of film somewhere between your eye and the holographic image.

M. O'BRIEN: However, Klug believes we could still see a version of holographic virtual meetings come to life within the next decade.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once we get those basic technologies out and demonstrated, the sky is the limit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Straight to Tony Harris, working a developing story for us. A plane crash in Missouri -- Tony.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, that's right, Kyra. Still early in the reporting on this, but let me tell you what we have so far. This is coming out of Branson, Missouri. Police are racing right now, even as we speak, to respond to a plane crash in Branson. This is very near the Branson strip and very near the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum.

Police say the plane took off from the M. Graham Clark Airport at the College of the Ozarks in Point Loookout, Missouri. No information right now, Kyra, about where the plane was headed or who, in fact, is on board. And back to this Branson strip. As you know, Kyra, this is about a seven-mile stretch of theaters, restaurants, hotels and motels. A very popular tourist strip.

And we'll continue to follow this and get you more information. We expect to have some new details very shortly -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Tony, thanks so much.

Well, first fire, now rain. And too much of it. Parts of Texas are under water after a weekend of storms that followed a week of devastating wildfires. As much as seven inches of rain drenched Dallas, forcing people out of their homes and washing at least one car off a city street. That driver drowned. The storms, some severe, are moving east and bringing with them the threat of tornadoes. More on that in just a moment.

Hawaii is getting a break for now after another soggy weekend. Those rains have moved offshore, leaving a huge mess to mop up. On Kauai, the search goes on for four of the seven people washed away in last week's dam break, one of them a little boy. Expecting more storms, Hawaii's governor has extended a state of emergency through Sunday.

About an hour ago, spring officially sprung. But try telling that to these folks in Omaha, or Denver for that matter. They're busy digging out from one more winter storm. Sand truck crews are working overtime, trying to keep the streets somewhat driveable. Hundreds of schools are closed from Nebraska to Kansas. A lot of happy kids today.

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PHILLIPS: Straight ahead it's a murder case that had the whole country asking how could a mother drown her own children? Now Andrea Yates is preparing for another trial, but not quite as soon as she expected. Details on the delay coming up on LIVE FROM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Tony, you are working a story in my old hometown of Lubbock, Texas. KLBK Television. Can you believe that?

HARRIS: Did not know that. I know you traveled quite a bit, Kyra, but didn't know you were in Lubbock. Let me take you there now, these pictures just in to CNN.

A pretty frantic rescue underway right now. Firefighters are trying to get to people who are trapped in the Little Panda restaurant in Lubbock. There was a roof collapse there. The roof just caved in on folks. We know of ten injuries right now. But the concern, obviously, is that this happened at about lunch time there in Texas, so there were a lot of people in the restaurant at the time. There is certainly concern there are more injuries in that building right now.

Once again, this is a rescue effort underway right now. This is a better picture of some of the activity going on right now at that restaurant, The Little Panda. Ten injuries right now as a result of a roof collapse there. We will keep our eyes on this and bring you more information as soon as we get it.

PHILLIPS: A long delay in the second trial of the Texas woman who drowned her five children. Jury selection was supposed to be going on now in Andrea Yates' capital murder trial in Houston. But the defense claims scheduling conflicts with two key witnesses. The new start date is June 22nd.

Yates was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2002. A state appeals court overturned the conviction over incorrect testimony from a psychiatrist called by the state. Yates again is pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. Her ex-husband, meanwhile, is moving on. Rusty Yates remarried on Saturday.

Straight ahead, entertainment news with A.J. Hammer of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." Where you been, we missed you?

A.J. HAMMER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I've been hiding out. I'm sorry. We at least have today together.

PHILLIPS: All right, good.

HAMMER: There is a big reason for Donald trump to be celebrating today, and you can now add businessman to actor Russell Crowe's resume. I'll explain all that when LIVE FROM continues.

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PHILLIPS: Results from the Donald's latest merger, presidential power brokers head back to high school and a new outlet for Russell Crowe. Hopefully he's not throwing phones. All that in a look ahead at Headline's Prime "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," A.J. Hammer in New York -- A.J.

HAMMER: Hello and Kyra, yes, it's a boy. Donald Trump's wife Melania has given birth to a baby boy. The baby was named Barrow William Trump. You've got to love the name Barron. It is the couple's first child together. Thirty-five year old Melania announced Trump was reportedly in labor for eight hours, 59-year-old Donald Trump says his new baby makes him feel younger. And Kyra, there is no word on the hair of the baby. We don't know if it's got the big Donald Trump hair.

PHILLIPS: Does it comb over to the side or is it combed down the middle?

HAMMER: Yes, we'll be investigating.

PHILLIPS: Very good, thank you, what else is ahead?

HAMMER: Well, we're used to seeing this next couple bicker and bicker and bicker with each other on television. But now we're going to get the opportunity to watch them help others learn the art of argument.

You're about to see married political strategists James Carville, who we all know from CNN and Mary Matalin, in their own reality T.V. show. They're going to be arguing and training people. They're of course diametrically opposed in their political realms and they're going to counsel, are you ready for this? High school candidates who are running for class president. This is the guy who got Bill Clinton elected.

The reality show is going to follow them around as they help these candidates prepare for the show. It is titled "Election" and it will be airing on the Lifetime television network. Should be fascinating.

All right, well besides acting, what do you think another major passion of Russell Crowe is? Rugby, one of his favorites. And Crowe actually bought a substantial interest in the South Sydney rugby league in Australia.

The organization voted to approve his acquisition yesterday. Now, the New Zealand born and Australian-raised Crowe already has a home in Sydney. And Kyra, there is no understanding yet of exactly what Russell's role is going to be in all of this, if he's going to be fetching water for people, answering the phone.

PHILLIPS: I highly doubt that. All right, well tonight, what's on tap?

HAMMER: Oh, we have a big night. Going to get into it on the war in Iraq, the war on terror and the hottest movie in America. What do they all have in common? And does the movie actually endorse terrorism. It's hot topics and hot issues all on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." We get into it at 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Eastern on Headline Prime. Kyra, we hope to see you there.

PHILLIPS: Hey, was that a new picture?

HAMMER: I'd have to see it again.

PHILLIPS: Is that new?

HAMMER: Yes, we're going to have to change that one, too.

PHILLIPS: A.J., I'm sorry, we need a smile. We need an A.J. smile on there.

HAMMER: Take a freeze frame right there.

PHILLIPS: Scott (ph) got it, perfect, A.J. we love you, see you soon.

HAMMER: All right, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Straight ahead, three years after the invasion of Iraq, we're going to put the politics aside and take you into the streets and into the homes of the Iraqi people, the war through their eyes, coming up on LIVE FROM.

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PHILLIPS: News just coming across the wires. An appeals court has overturned the conviction of a former high-flying investment banker from the dot com boom. Susan Lisovicz has the latest now -- Susan?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, Kyra, it's a bombshell all right. Frank Quattrone will be headed back to the courtroom, this after a federal appeals court today just overturned his conviction. The court ruling that instructions given to the jury in Quattrone's trial were erroneous.

Quattrone had been sentenced last year to 18 months in prison after he was convicted of obstruction of justice charges. He has been allowed to remain free while he appeals his conviction. A jury had found him guilty of obstructing a federal probe into initial public offerings of stock.

And while Frank Quattrone's name may not be something that everyone immediately recognizes, he was responsible for bringing some of the best-known tech companies public, including Cisco Systems, Amazon and Netscape. And he made an awful lot of money doing so.

He was -- the first case brought against him ended in a mistrial. The second one was a conviction. And now there will be a third trial. The date yet to be announced.

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LISOVICZ: CNN's LIVE FROM continues right after a quick break.

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