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Live From...
'United 93'; Runoff in New Orleans Mayoral Race
Aired April 24, 2006 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, he hasn't been seen in 18 months nor heard from for three, but a new audio tape aired on Al Jazeera yesterday, appears to carry a new message from Osama bin Laden. The speaker slams the West for cutting off funds to the Palestinian Hamas- led government, and he calls for a boycott of Western goods in the wake of the Danish cartoon controversy. The voice says anyone who ridicules the Prophet Mohammed should be killed. The White House says the tape seems to be authentic.
More than four-and-a-half years since the September 11th attacks, bin Laden remains in hiding under constant threat of death. The tapes he occasionally issues are the way we know he's alive and what he's thinking.
Here's a fact check.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Fourteen times since the 9/11 attacks, tapes have emerged in the name of Osama bin Laden. Each has been confirmed as genuine, none the work of impostors.
Three times we've actually seen bin Laden. There's the chilling instance where he talks about 9/11 and how the attacks exceeded al Qaeda's expectations. It was found in a home in Afghanistan, and released by the Pentagon in December, 2001.
Bin Laden also was seen in a tape that emerged exactly two years after 9/11. And our last glimpse of bin Laden came October 29th, 2004.
Bin Laden was silent in 2005, leading some to surmise he was ailing, perhaps dead, but he re-emerged last January with a conditional truce offer to Washington, something the U.S. promptly rejected.
Security analysts say that whenever bin Laden issues a message, he is taking a calculated gamble, because it might reveal his location. But staying silent, they say, would put his leadership into question.
Many of the tapes are sent through a string of couriers to the Arab satellite network Al-Jazeera.
CNN's policy is to evaluate the tapes for authenticity, and to report on portions we determine to have news value.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And later on LIVE FROM, CNN's David Ensor takes us somewhere few outside the CIA have ever gone, the audio analysis room where all those Osama bin Laden tapes and others are scanned for clues.
NGUYEN: Tony, it is a movie a lot of people say America just isn't ready for yet. "United 93" covers from beginning to tragic end the flight bound from San Francisco to Newark, New Jersey on 9/11.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: There's an explosion at the Pentagon. I just -- that's all we know.
Hey, hey, there was an explosion at the Pentagon. An explosion at the Pentagon. Not a fire, an explosion.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: We have to do something. They are not gonna land this plane. They are not gonna take us back to the airport.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Is there any other option we have?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: We're gonna die. We're gonna die. They're flying us into a building. We're going to die.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: There's a lot of us. We gotta do something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Just chilling, isn't it?
As we all know, the passengers did the only thing they could to keep the hijackers from crashing their plane into another building, presumably the U.S. Capitol. And we all know how things ended. Captain Jason Dahl was the pilot on that plane. the person who played him in the movie is not an actor by trade. J.J. Johnson is a pilot for United Airlines, and he joins us now from New York.
Thanks for being with us here today.
J.J. JOHNSON, UNITED AIRLINES PILOT: Thanks for having me.
NGUYEN: All right, you're a pilot, not an actor. Why did you want to play this part?
JOHNSON: Well, it was kind of a fairy tale for me. I got a call, and they said they were looking for a real pilot to play this role. They wanted realism. And to make a long story short, I was offered the role and gladly accepted it. It's just a story that needs to be told.
NGUYEN: Well, let's move back just a minute. You had to audition for this role. Did you know captain Jason Dahl? Did you know him? JOHNSON: I didn't know him personally. I had many friends -- he worked in the training center in Denver, and I had many friends that knew him personally, and so I was able to speak to them and get a good idea of what he was like.
NGUYEN: This story is just so tragic, as all the stories of the passengers onboard. But in fact, he wasn't even supposed to be on that flight. He was working for someone else so he could take his wife on a vacation to London for their anniversary.
Have you spoken with his family? Did they give you some research for this part?
JOHNSON: Yes, I did speak to his wife, Sandy, who's a United flight attendant, and also his family member provided me with a DVD kind of a photo journal of his life and some of his time with his son and his other family members. So it was easy to see what he was like.
NGUYEN: In your mind, what kind of a guy was he?
JOHNSON: Tremendous. Very well respected, very professional, very popular.
NGUYEN: Now you shot -- let's go into the movie. You shot the attack scene 14 times. That had to be so very difficult for you. Take us through that. I mean, did you really play this as if this was a fight for your life?
JOHNSON: Absolutely. It was fatiguing. It was stressful. It was a fight for your life. As, you know, the stunt coordinator and Paul Greengrass said, you know, you have to portray this that you're literally fighting for your life. Lewis, the terrorist, and I, we literally beat each other up multiple times. I was black, and blue, and sore, and I could barely stand up when it was done.
NGUYEN: Had you ever been in a hijacking? I know you had to have at least trained for it before, but what was it like when you have to play a situation where you go through it?
JOHNSON: It's very surreal. And we train for it all the time, and you think about what you would do. But to be actually playing that role on camera in a major motion picture was just something I never imagined that I would ever do.
NGUYEN: The thing that's so remarkable to me about this movie, you guys didn't have lines. There were no scripts. You just played it how you felt it, played out up in the air on that tragic day. How did you come up with your dialogue? How did you know what to say, when to say it and how to act it out.
JOHNSON: Well, as a pilot, I do this every day, so the flight planning, and talking to the copilot, and the radio calls and the flight attendants, that's all very normal, something that I do that comes very naturally, but being attacked, and defending myself, and screaming and fighting that, was just, almost a reaction. It was just -- you don't even realize the camera's there, and you just react and do what comes naturally.
NGUYEN: Did you listen to any of the black box recordings? Did you gather any information from that that you used?
JOHNSON: I did not.
NGUYEN: OK.
And tell us, what did Captain Dahl do to try to stop this attack from happening? What did he do?
JOHNSON: Well, it's only speculation, but I believe he probably maybe kicked the autopilot off, or did something to perhaps disable the airplane or make it harder to fly on his -- basically on his death bed. I mean, he was a hero.
NGUYEN: And this world premier is tomorrow night, and at the Tribeca Film Festival, which is still within views of what's left of the Twin Towers. A lot of people worry that the nation is not ready for it. A lot of victims' families are hurt by this, the fact that it's coming out now. Is it too soon for this movie to be out there?
JOHNSON: Well, I respect people's feelings. I know it's sensitive for many people, but I do believe this is a story that needs to be told. I mean, this is about heroism and fighting back, and I think even people that maybe are thinking about not seeing it, when to some of the reviews come out and they find out what a great story it is, I think that they'll want to see it.
NGUYEN: What did Captain Dahl's family say to you about the movie?
JOHNSON: They were all for it. They just wanted to make sure it was done accurately and correctly, and they thought it was a tremendous thing that he is being represented.
NGUYEN: J.J. Johnson, United Airlines pilot, also playing Captain Jason Dahl in the movie, "United 93." We thank you for your time and your insight today.
JOHNSON: Thank you for having me. It was a pleasure.
NGUYEN: Tony?
HARRIS: 9/11 isn't the only real-life topic on screen at Tribeca this week. It's the war in Iraq from a different perspective. Coming up, fighting battles in Iraq and at home. Two new films create a buzz.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: The war in Iraq comes home in the form of two new documentaries debuting at New York's Tribeca Film Festival. One is generating buzz because of its subject matter, the other because of the unlikely filmmakers.
CNN's Mary Snow filed this report from THE SITUATION ROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Iraq war from the front lines. "The War Tapes" documents the real life experiences of a New Hampshire National Guard unit. Members were given digital video cameras.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE) the oil, man. (EXPLETIVE) that. It's not worth it. I'll walk everywhere in the U.S. I'll recycle everything, dammit.
PETER SCARLET, TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL: Filmmakers have taken advantage of this incredible new digital equipment we now have, and have been able to go places and see things that filmmakers couldn't go before.
SNOW: Film critics say it tells the story of the restricted area where's media cameras can't go.
RICHARD SCHICKEL, "TIME" MAGAZINE FILM CRITIC: This kind of thing is the sort of answer to the military's attempts to kind of censor the imagery coming out of a current war zone.
SNOW: But the battlefield was not the only place dealing with the Iraq war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to see my home? Want to me my home? My home is right there. You understand, that's my home.
SNOW: "When I Came Home" is a documentary that looks at Iraq war veterans who've return to find themselves homeless.
DAN LOHAUS, DIRECTOR: I hope people walk out angry. You know, when I tell people I'm working on a film about homeless Iraq war vets, they go, what, from this war? You mean the last one, not this one. Yes, this war.
SNOW: Director Dan Lohaus hopes his film will shed light on what he says is a growing problem.
LOHAUS: I think this is just one more piece of this war that we're finding out about.
SNOW: Critics say mass appeal is difficult.
SCHICKEL: I think these are very tough sells to the general movie-going public.
SNOW: It may be a tough sell, but organizers of the Tribeca Film Festival say they expect the trend to continue.
Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And join Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM this afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, and don't forget the primetime edition at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
NGUYEN: Here are the stories that just kind of really make you scratch your head. Search crews have finally found the body of a man who was swallowed by a sinkhole under his own house. It happened near Lake Alta, California. The victim plummeted 10 feet when the concrete foundation gave way Friday night. Now authorities say the house may have been built on top of an old mine. The man's widow is pregnant with the couple's first child.
And a New York man discovered a cesspool -- that's right, a cesspool -- in his front yard the hard way. He ventured out to pick up the Sunday paper when the ground outside his Long Island home sank. Things went from bad to worse when the man's son and neighbor were also sucked in as they tried to rescue him. The neighbor was able to crawl out, but firefighters had to lasso the others and drag them to safety.
Coming up, the race to be mayor of New Orleans. And you'd better believe it takes a certain kind of person for this job. Now it is down to two people. We'll look at both of them. That's next.
The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: He is one of the country's most notorious serial killers, so you may be surprised to know Dennis Rader is earning perks in prison for good behavior. BTK, the man who bound, tortured and killed, is able to watch TV, listen to the radio, read and draw in his prison cell. That is upsetting prosecutors and some relatives of his ten victims. They say images of women and children could rekindle his violent sexual fantasies.
Beware, a batch of bad smack. Police in Philadelphia warn a lethal type of heroin is being sold on the street. They're investigating at least eight overdoses. Two of the victims died. The heroin has the marking "Fefe" on it. Warnings are also out in nearby Camden, New Jersey, where 40 users are hospitalized. Six others are dead.
Controversy and Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. The two seem to go hand in hand. Her recent run-in with a Capitol police officer came up, of course in a television interview in Atlanta over the weekend. McKinney objected to the questions and was overheard making a disparaging remark about a staff member who set up the interview.
Here's Renee Starzyk from affiliate WGCL.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. CYNTHIA MCKINNEY (D), GEORGIA: Hello!
RENEE STARZYK, WGCL REPORTER (voice-over): Cynthia McKinney had a warm welcome for the people in her congressional district. This monthly Q & A, her first since she's accused of punching a Capitol police officer...
MCKINNEY: Now, what can we do for you?
STARZYK: McKinney's accused of hitting the officer who stopped her at a security checkpoint. She was not wearing the special pin that identifies her as a member of Congress. The Congresswoman first accused the officer of racial profiling, then backed down and apologized, calling the whole thing a misunderstanding.
So, what did she tell her constituents about the incident?
(on camera): Has anyone asked you about your confrontation with the Capitol police officer?
MCKINNEY: Actually, you media people are the only ones who are asking about that.
STARZYK (voice-over): McKinney still refuses to answer questions about the scuffle, saying she wants to focus on what's important to voters.
(on camera): You're talking about issues. Has the confrontation made it harder for you to focus on the issues? Has it been a distraction?
MCKINNEY: Well, you're a distraction, because that seems to be all you want to talk about. But people here understand that my representation is much larger than any discrete incident.
STARZYK: Mckinney then got out and walked out, her microphone still on.
MCKINNEY: The crap, you know what? They lied to Coz and Coz is a fool.
STARZYK: Coz is Coz Carson, one of the congresswoman's aides. At some point, McKinney realized her microphone was on. She returned and tried to tell us what video and sound CBS 46 is allowed to use.
MCKINNEY: Anything that is captured by your audio that is captured while I'm not seated in this chair is off the record and is not permissible to be used. Is that understood?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Well, it was obviously not understood. That was Renee Starzyk from Atlanta affiliate WGCL reporting.
NGUYEN: It keeps getting more interesting by the minute. I tell you. Let's go on to something else that's very interesting, 22 candidates Saturday, just two today. Incumbent Ray Nagin topped the crowded field in Saturday's election for New Orleans mayor, but now faces a runoff against Louisiana's lieutenant governor Mitch Landrieu. CNN's Susan Roesgen looks at the fight to lead that beleaguered city.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the last mayor's election four years ago, Ray Nagin got 85 percent of the white vote. In the primary on Saturday, he got less than 10 percent, and what's worse, political analysts say the mayor's opponent, Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu, is equally popular with both black and white voters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mitch Landrieu has the ability to pull sizable block of black voters, and I suspect that's going to continue to be the case. Mitch Landrieu is no slouch as far as politics goes. He's smooth, unflappable, experienced, the Landrieu name in Louisiana politics is practically magic. In New Orleans politics, it's golden.
ROESGEN (voice-over): On the other hand, political analysts say don't count Mayor Nagin out. He could be the Houdini of local politics. Back in January with his chocolate city comments, many said his campaign was over, but the mayor did lead the primary election on Saturday.
This week the mayor is going to be in friendly territory in Memphis at a conference of black mayors. While today, Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu is meeting here in New Orleans with former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. He's in town for an economic forum and a big golf tournament this weekend.
(on camera): Susan Roesgen, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: In the next hour of LIVE FROM, he is the new sheriff in town. What lies ahead for Iraq's new prime minister? We'll hear from him in an interview only on CNN. The news keeps on coming, we'll keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Thirty days. That's the time Iraq's prime minister designate has to form a new government. Thirty days for Jawad al Maliki to persuade Shia, Sunnis and Kurds to work together while deadly violence continues to rock the country. CNN's Jim Clancy is the first western journalist to talk to al Maliki at length. Jim, good to talk to you.
Wow! first of all, in this interview, what did this man set out as his biggest challenge moving forward and trying to form this new government? JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, to bring all the Iraqis together. You know, that's the thing, and that's the political front. And he's going to say that and make it sound as well as he can, but at the same time, he knows the challenge that's on the horizon is going to really put that to the test. What is the challenge? Try to reign in the militia, specifically those Shia militias, like Muqtada al Sadr's that has its own courts, has its own jails and poses a real challenge to the interior ministry to other groups that are trying to work together as Iraqis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAWAD AL-MALIKI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER DESIGNATE(through translator): I'm confident that the militias, and there are more than 11 militias, must be disarmed. There is no difference between one militia and another.
Mr. Muqtada Sadr is a part of the political process. He has representation in the parliament. He is a part of this government. He is ready to participate in the political process and share its responsibilities and we will reject the argument that militias are necessary to protect themself and so on.
When the government is able to exercise its control and provide security, then we will be able to work out the mechanism of how we can dissolve these militias. They already have a strategy and a vision for this process. And everyone must comply with dissolving the militias and end them. Because the presence of these militias will add to the tension and to the danger of the civil war in Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: They will add to the tension, they will add to the risks of a civil war. The question is weather this new prime minister is really going to be able to put it together.
HARRIS: Jim, that is tough talk, but I have to ask you how is he going to be more successful than al-Jaafari was? What about this man's personality lends itself to the belief that perhaps he can be more successful?
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, first of all, you've got to realize he's also, like Ibrahim al-Jaafari, his predecessor, a member of the Dawa Party. He's also a part of that wider umbrella group the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. As such, he's not very different, but he does seem to be bringing more determination, more recognition. Here lies the problem in not only will I, but I must do something about it.
HARRIS: The interior ministry is seen as a problem. He has, what, 30 days to form a cabinet and to bring these -- and to bring that online? How daunting a task is that going to be?
CLANCY: A huge task. And, you know, I asked him specifically about that...
HARRIS: Yes.
CLANCY: ... saying, "Look, the interior ministry, who are you putting in that post?" And he says, "Well, I'm going to talk with all the parties and let them put forward some names."
Clearly, he's going to pick a Shia Muslim. But that's part and parcel of the problem here because the Sunnis don't trust them. They say the Muqtada al-Sadr group, other groups right within that ministry have their own little bands of death squads that have been going out targeting Sunnis. Now, a lot of the Shia say, "We're just defending ourselves."
Here's the way the prime minister put it to me. He said, "I will annihilate anyone or any force that doesn't work to the good of all Iraqis."
HARRIS: He wants to -- he wants to melt these militias into the security forces.
CLANCY: Well, that's part of the law, that's part of the constitution...
HARRIS: Yes.
CLANCY: ... to bring them all in. He says he's also going to work at employment, because he thinks that part of the problem is that people don't have jobs.
HARRIS: Right.
CLANCY: They go to the militias to earn a living, however small.
HARRIS: I've got to ask you one more question before we leave here, Jim. You k now, people at home will hear you talking about this, will have gotten word of the developments over the weekend and wonder why this time. OK, here we go again. Three, four months since the last election, everybody said everything was going to be rosy and things were going to move forward.
Why is it going to work this time?
CLANCY: It is not only one man, it is not only this prime minister. It's the team that he is going to put together. And I think all Iraqi politicians are on notice that this whole political process is going to lose credibility and the support of the people unless it can deliver on all of the promises that have been made.
HARRIS: Yes.
CLANCY: Number one is security. But there's also promises of electricity, health care, and other things.
It is true, and he says it. Terrorism has thwarted this. You know, they've got to solve that problem, too. They've got a full plate. But he believes they're moving in the right direction, and they're going to be put to the test. You can expect this very quickly.
HARRIS: Yes.
Jim Clancy, "YOUR WORLD TODAY," noon Eastern here on CNN.
Jim, good to see you.
CLANCY: Good to see you, too.
HARRIS: Betty.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: We've got some breaking news that we want to tell you about right now.
Three explosions have taken place in the Red Sea resort town of Dahab today. We understand that there are reports of casualties. There's a map of where this is. Don't know how many casualties as of yet, but here's what we know: witnesses reported hearing a blast and said they saw smoke coming from a market in the middle of this peninsula town.
Now, it is Easter holiday that they're celebrating there. There is no immediate word on how many injured, how many dead at this point. But as mentioned, there are reports at this time of casualties as a result of these three explosions that took place in the Red Sea resort town of Dahab.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is going to be joining us shortly with the latest on this breaking news, but as of now, that's what we know. Three explosions, not known exactly how many people were killed or wounded in these explosions. Not known who is responsible for the explosions, but we're working the story and we will bring you the latest when it becomes available to us.
In other news, echoes of Columbine. A small town in Kansas is wondering just how close it came to a deadly high school rampage on the Columbine anniversary. In about an hour, five teenagers from Riverton head to court.
And CNN's Keith Oppenheim joins us from the courthouse in nearby Columbus, Kansas.
Keith, what's expected to take place in court today?
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's going to be about an hour hearing, Betty. And right now, as you can see, we're getting a little bit of bad weather just before that hearing should start in just about an hour from now.
During the hearing we expect that five students will be formally charged. One is an adult. He's 18 years old, so legally he is. And the other four are between the ages of 15 and 17. Legally minors, but during the hearing we could find out if they are to be charged as adults.
Now, keep in mind Riverton High School, Riverton, Kansas, is a very small town of about 600 people. And last week, authorities found out that there was a posting on a Web site, MySpace.com, and in the posting it alleged that five students were going to come to the high school on Thursday wearing black trench coats and was to disable the security camera system and to pull off an attack on the school on the seventh anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings.
Obviously, authorities are trying to assess the seriousness of all that, but they taken it quite seriously.
During the weekend, Betty, there was a prom. This was prom weekend for Riverton High School. It went on as planned. And while that certainly is a sign that this community is trying to cope, people still are quite shook up about it.
And we talked to Scott Nelson, who is a general store owner, as well as a school board member.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT NELSON, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER: I don't understand all of this. When I was growing up and you were growing up, that was the least bit of trouble. I think the worst thing I remember happening even before I got in school was they put a cow on top of the -- you know, the high school just as a prank. You know? And that's totally different than what you see in today's world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OPPENHEIM: So, there's obviously a sense of things that people hear about happening in other places is happening here in Cherokee County. Or that's the reaction we've had so far.
During the hearing, Betty, we'll find out what the charges could be. One possibility is conspiracy to commit murder. And another thing we expect to find out is whether some or all of these five male students will be charged as adults or not.
Back to you.
NGUYEN: Yes, because just one is 18 years old.
Keith Oppenheim, we're waiting for that. And, of course, we will bring our viewers the latest when it happening.
Keith Oppenheim, thank you for that report.
Well, thousands of miles away in Alaska, police are patrolling North Pole Middle School after the weekend arrest of a half-dozen seventh-graders. The kids, all boys, are suspected of plotting to attack classmates and teachers with guns and knives because they felt picked on. They allegedly planned to cut off the school's power and phone lines.
Nine other students are suspended in connection with this case. Police say there is no link to the alleged plot in Kansas.
HARRIS: And as Betty told you just a couple of moments ago, we are following breaking news into CNN. Three explosions taking place today in the Red Sea -- the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Dahab. Witnesses reporting hearing blasts and said that they saw smoke coming from a market in the middle of the Sinai Peninsula town.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is with us now.
And Ben, what have you learned so for?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I've spoken with senior officials, Tony, who tell me that they confirm that there have been three blasts in Dahab, which is a popular resort town on the Sinai Peninsula on the Red Sea. Now, they are trying to clarify what the cause of this blast was. They've already dispatched an investigation team to Dahab.
We are seeing reports of as many 100 dead and injured in this blast, but, of course, oftentimes when this sort of thing happens in Egypt, the information is very accurate information, but it's very slow in getting out. If this is a terrorist attack, as many fear, it would be the most significant attack in Egypt since last July, when, if you recall in Sharm El Sheikh, which is also a resort on the Sinai Peninsula, more than 80 people were killed in a variety of explosions that happened there during the summer -- Tony.
HARRIS: Ben, who claimed responsibility for that attack in Sharm El Sheikh?
WEDEMAN: Well, in that case, it was a group of people who it is believed had some sort of either direct or indirect ties with Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda network. Most of them were veterans from the Sinai, many of them disaffected, unhappy with the way the Egyptian government has treated them over the years, and they became sympathetic to the cause of al Qaeda.
They are, of course, festering on a good deal of dissatisfaction of many Egyptians with the government here. But, by and large, the Egyptian government has kept the results of its investigation very close to its chest -- Tony.
HARRIS: OK. And when we get back to talking about this most recent attack today, no immediate word yet of any casualties, is that correct?
WEDEMAN: Well, what we are hearing is as many as 100 people either dead were wounded...
HARRIS: That's right. You did mention that.
WEDEMAN: ... in the attack. But as I said, at this point it's very early in the -- the blast, in fact, took place less than an hour ago. So that information, real accurate information, is going to take several hours to get through.
HARRIS: OK. We appreciate it.
Ben Wedeman reporting for us on this attack. At least three explosions in the Red Sea resort town of Dahab. We will continue to follow the story and bring you the latest developments.
The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you.
More LIVE FROM in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: President Bush takes his plan to fix illegal immigration to the state with the most immigrants and non-immigrants, for that matter. The California Congress is split over whether to expel illegal immigrants or give them a path towards citizenship. The president says it's important to guard the borders, noting six million people have been caught and turned back since 2001, but Mr. Bush says a guest worker program is a more secure way to keep people from trying to sneak in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It says to a person, here is a tamper-proof card that says you can come and do a job an American won't do, fill a need. A tamper-proof card all of a sudden makes interior enforcement work because we now know who is getting the cards, and we know they can't be tampered with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The president headed to a Las Vegas fund-raiser after his speech in Orange County. He's due back in Washington tonight.
NGUYEN: Well, you might think women who've had breast cancer would be the first in line to get mammograms. A new study shows just the opposite.
It finds more than a third of breast cancer survivors gradually stop getting screenings. Experts say some women appear to grow complacent, thinking they've had it once, they can't possibly get it again, while other women may fear the test will show the disease has returned.
HARRIS: Looking to boost your libido? Well...
NGUYEN: Well -- oh, my. Go ahead.
HARRIS: Spray it, don't say it.
NGUYEN: Stop it. No, you didn't just say that. Oh.
HARRIS: The inhaler here. Check it out. It's filled with a chemical designed to jump-start your sex drive with a simple sniff.
NGUYEN: Lovely. HARRIS: New Jersey-based Palatin Technologies -- or is that Palatin Technologies -- is looking for government approval and hopes to have the stuff on the market in, oh, about three years. Palatin tested it on rats, Betty.
NGUYEN: Nice.
HARRIS: We won't give you the details, but to say that...
NGUYEN: The visuals are bad enough, but go ahead.
HARRIS: Frisky. Frisky is the word.
NGUYEN: Yes, to say the least.
All right. Moving right along, if you're on Medicare, you're three weeks away from a big deadline. You have until May 15th to sign up for a prescription drug plan or face higher rates.
Tomorrow, the man in charge of Medicare, Dr. Mark McClellan, will join us live. And he is going to take your questions, so fire up the e-mail, send us those questions. Here's the address: livefrom@cnn.com.
We want to hear from you. Again, that is livefrom@cnn.com. Tune in tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. Eastern for Dr. McClellan.
Well, he is the one we have all been waiting to hear from. Ken Lay on the stand at the Enron trial. We're going to hear what he has to say in Houston.
The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you.
More LIVE FROM next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Well, the business trial of the century continues today with Enron founder Kenneth Lay taking the stand.
Jennifer Westhoven joins us from the New York Stock Exchange with the latest on his testimony.
Hi, Jennifer.
JENNIFER WESTHOVEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, we're only six years into the century.
HARRIS: Yes. It's early, isn't it?
WESTHOVEN: Yes, but...
HARRIS: Good statement. So early in the century -- you're right.
WESTHOVEN: I know. All right. But huge trial, though. No doubt about that, right?
And this is the first chance that we're getting to listen to the Enron founder tell his side of the story. You know, he says he's innocent. He's seen as a really likable kind of witness, as a person in general, too.
On the stand this morning, he says he was distraught by the hurt and the destruction that followed Enron's collapse, especially when so many workers lost their jobs and their savings. He blamed Andy Fastow, the former CFO. He said hiring him was the biggest mistake that he made.
And Lay said he's seen his life turn from being somebody who was a hard worker to someone charged in a courtroom. He said that's an American nightmare.
HARRIS: Well, if convicted, how many years behind bars do these defendants face, Jennifer?
WESTHOVEN: Well, you know, it's really hard to tell. In Skilling, Jeff Skilling, who used to be the CEO, he's facing a lot more charges. But the estimates are, like, 20 to 30 years at worst. So, it's a long time in jail.
HARRIS: OK. Jennifer, you play the game of -- the board game Monopoly.
WESTHOVEN: When I was a kid. Did you?
HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes. Love it. Love it. Love it.
Tried to get my kids into it. They're just not into it. A new generation, it's all thumbs for them.
What about this Monopoly game makeover?
WESTHOVEN: Maybe they will like this new one, because, you know, they made this in 1935. They had never changed it. You've seen the streets, right?
HARRIS: Right.
WESTHOVEN: They're from Atlantic City. Nobody even knows what they are, like Marvin Gardens and Ventnor Place.
All right. So, now, the real estate is going to cost a lot more. It's supposed to look a lot more like the real world. They're going to have bigger bills, the questions that are in chance and community chest are going to be a lot more new.
And also, they're going to change all of those streets. So, instead of these old Atlantic City places, they're going to have new places like Times Square here in New York, Wrigley Field in Chicago. And the best part is, you can actually go to the Web site and vote for these if you want to. If there's a favorite that you have, you go in there and you click it. And that will help determine the placement, meaning who gets, like, the really good spots, like, Boardwalk and Park Place.
Oh, you know what else?
HARRIS: What?
WESTHOVEN: We were talking about the tokens.
HARRIS: Yes.
WESTHOVEN: They're going to update those too, so no more Scotty dog -- we were laughing about this here -- the battleship, the hat and the thimble. They're not telling me, though.
HARRIS: Well, this is a total makeover, huh?
WESTHOVEN: Yes.
HARRIS: OK. How about the numbers today?
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
WESTHOVEN: Back to you.
HARRIS: OK. Jennifer, appreciate it.
Well, the world's most wanted man appears to have surfaced, sort of -- Osama bin Laden. And we'll have more on that story and more after this quick break.
More LIVE FROM when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Just want to recap the breaking news into CNN. In the last 20 minutes or so, three explosions reported today in Egypt in the Red Sea town, the resort town of Dahab.
Witnesses reported hearing blasts and seeing smoke coming from a market in the middle of the Sinai Peninsula town. Now, this is -- folks there are celebrating the Coptic Easter holiday, so the resort town, as you can imagine, just crowded with tourists.
No immediate word of any casualties, but CNN's Ben Wedeman reports that there are casualties, many casualties. But we're still gathering that official information.
So, once again, explosions rocking the Red Sea resort town of Dahab. We will be talking to Ben Wedeman and getting an update from him in just a couple of minutes. We will bring you the latest developments shortly.
NGUYEN: In other news, three babies, two homes, and a legal snarl over custody. A surrogate mother says she will appeal a Pennsylvania court ruling that awarded custody of triplets to the biological father.
OK. Here's how this plays out. James Flynn (ph), who is 64, paid Danielle Bimber (Ph) $20,000 to carry the babies for him and his girlfriend. There you see him and his girlfriend.
Well, the three children, all boys, were born in November 2003. Bimber (ph) kept them and a county judge awarded her primary custody, giving Flynn (ph) visitation rights. The triplets, now two and a half years old, were visiting their biological father last week in Ohio when the appeals court overturned the previous ruling giving him custody.
HARRIS: Babies behind bars. A California prison warden believes that's exactly where some newborns belong, with their incarcerated mothers.
CNN's Kareen Wynter reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): She's six months pregnant, due in July.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We know that the heart rate is at 145...
WYNTER: California inmate Lucinda Hernandez is counting down another date, when she gets out of prison in August. Until that happens, she won't be seeing much of her new baby.
LUCINDA HERNANDEZ, INMATE: Just because we're in here doesn't mean we're bad mothers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Forty-four pounds.
HERNANDEZ: Oh, 44?
WYNTER: Hernandez has been in and out of prison all her life. She is 33, has seven children. The oldest 18. She's serving an eight-month sentence for theft.
She had her youngest child two years ago while facing another prison term. That infant ended up in state custody because there were no family members available.
HERNANDEZ: It was very hard because I -- she was with me my whole time, just like this pregnancy is. This baby's with me my whole term, you know. And then to be separated...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. I got two, she got two.
WYNTER: Oleta Simmons is another mother who has lost custody of her children born while she was behind bars.
OLETA SIMMONS, INMATE: I built resentments, heavy resentments with myself. DAWN DAVISON, WARDEN: It just broke my heart that when a woman, a pregnant woman went out, went to the hospital, that she had to give her baby up.
WYNTER: That's why warden Dawn Davison proposed building the region's first newborn unit here at the California Institution for Women, the state's oldest prison for female felons. Inmates will be able to care for their babies instead of being separated from them after just three days, like they are now.
DAVISON: They will be able to stay there with their child up to 18 months and have full wrap-around services. So this is really going to give them an excellent base to be able to have that relationship with their child.
WYNTER: There are two babies born from this prison each week. Not all inmates will qualify for the program, which begin in January. Only those with at least a year left in their sentence so they can complete parenting and drug treatment classes.
(on camera): What kind of hope does it give to other women who are in your position?
HERNANDEZ: I think it's good for other women as far as -- because it's hard to depart from a child. So there can be a bond, and that they can't just take your child away.
WYNTER (voice over): Kareen Wynter, CNN, Corona, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And the prison partnered with the Center for Children and Incarcerated Parents and Homeland Inland Empire, a nonprofit organization that builds homeless structures. Construction on this 20-bed facility begins this summer.
Let's get to a developing story out of Nepal now. We understand that there are celebrations going on in the streets of the capital, Kathmandu, and possibly throughout the country.
We understand the king has announced the formation of a multiparty alliance. Is this democracy taking hold in Nepal?
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