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CNN Live Today

Fate of Two Bulgarians Hostages Being Threatened With Beheading Still Unknown; Wildfires in the West

Aired July 15, 2004 - 10:00   ET

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

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


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, we'll get started from CNN headquarters in Atlanta. Good morning, I'm Daryn Kagan.
First in the news, a Filipino truck driver held hostage by militants in Iraq has been seen in a new videotape. It was aired just a short time ago on al Jazeera television. The news anchor said that Angelo de la Cruz told his family he'll be coming home soon, and he thanked his government for meeting his kidnappers demands, and withdrawing troops from Iraq.

The prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq resonates this hour on Capitol Hill. The Senate Arms Services Committee holding a closed-door hearing on the U.S. military's mistreatment of detainees. Today's classified debriefing will include progress reports on several Pentagon investigations now under way, and reports by The International Red Cross.

Presidential candidate John Kerry is expected at any moment before the NAACP. The civil rights group is meeting in Boston, Kerry's home base and the site of the Democratic National Convention later this month. Kerry will take jabs at President Bush, who declined the group's invitation to speak. And when Senator Kennedy -- Senator Kerry does speak, we will bring that to you live.

Former NFL coach and player Mike Ditka will be sitting on the sidelines this political season. He has decided not to run for the U.S. Senate seat in his home State of Illinois. Republicans believe Ditka offered their best chance at quickly gaining on the Democratic front-runner.

Live this hour, President Bush looks to tighten the nation's security. He'll sign into law a bill setting a five-year sentence for anyone using a fake I.D. in a terrorist related crime.

We are seeing a new video of a Filipino truck driver this morning abducted by militants in Iraq last week. And in this video the hostage is giving thanks.

Let's go live now to our Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf with more on the story.

Jane, hello.

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Hi, Daryn! Well, good news according to this video. We haven't seen physical proof yet that he has actually already been released, but this is being taken by diplomats as a sign that indeed he will be. Now, this is kind of a long and tangled saga, you'll remember. And his expected release follows an announcement by the Philippines government that, yes, it will withdraw troops here. It only has 51 of them but it is withdrawing, after his captors demanded the Philippines withdraw the troops or they would behead the truck driver, father of eight children.

Bulgarian hostages, their fate is a little murkier. A lot murkier, actually. Their government in contrast, has made clear that they will not comply with demands to leave the country. They are insisting on keeping more than 400 troops here. And the fate of two Bulgarians being held threatened with beheading still unknown. But hopes are fading that they will be released it seems -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Jane Arraf with the latest from Baghdad. We'll have more from you in the next hour.

More developments out of Iraq today. Police prevented a car bombing attack in Karbala. After getting a tip, police set up checkpoints at all the entrances to the city. A car approached the checkpoints, turned away and headed outside the city. A bomb detonated killing two people in the car.

Hundreds of people marched through Baghdad in an anti-Saddam demonstration. Some protesters carried posters of relatives killed during Saddam's regime. The march ended at Central Square, where effigies of the former dictator were burned.

And an oil pipeline in northern Iraq was heavily damaged in an attack by insurgents. An Iraqi official says the bomb was detonated under the refinery-feeding pipeline.

The U.S. Marine who disappeared for more than two weeks in Iraq is scheduled to arrive at Dover Air Force Base. And that's in Delaware, taking place this hour. Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun said that he was abducted from his base outside of Fallujah. He turned up last week in Lebanon where he has relatives. He's been undergoing medical exams and debriefing at a U.S. military facility in Germany this week. His repatriation will continue at the U.S. Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia.

U.S. officials are still fearful that terrorists may strike in the run up to the election. CIA acting director John McLaughlin spoke of his concerns in an exclusive interview with our Wolf Blitzer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, INTERIM CIA DIRECTOR: This is a very serious threat we're facing.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: How serious?

MCLAUGHLIN: It's serious in the following sense that I think the quality of the information we have is very good. We have a lot of experience now in terrorism. You ask... BLITZER: McLaughlin, who succeeded George Tenet only days ago, declined to provide specific details of the intelligence that scares him. Noting that those details could provide useful information to the terrorists.

MCLAUGHLIN: One of the important things terrorists do, I'll tell you, is very simple. Very simple; they know how to keep a secret. Their work is highly compartmented to a small group of people, probably living in a cave somewhere. And our country doesn't keep secrets very well. So we have to watch what we release about the details. This is a serious threat period.

BLITZER: He says Osama bin Laden is still very much a player against the United States.

MCLAUGHLIN: Is he sitting there behind some large console pulling wires and switches? I wouldn't say that. But to be sure, he remains the leader of al Qaeda. It's his guidance to his followers that certainly inspires them to proceed with the attacks that we have seen, in places like Istanbul and Morocco and Spain and so forth.

BLITZER: Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, fresh from an inspection tour of preparations for the Democratic convention in Boston, agrees with the assessment.

TOM RIDGE, DIRECTOR, DEPT. HOMELAND SECURITY: And credible trustworthy sources, not terribly specific in terms of who, what, when and where; but targeting an opportunity, targeting an attempt to undermine the democratic process.

BLITZER: Still he insists the overall situation is under control.

RIDGE: The community is done everything they can to put people and technology and all the right places.

BLITZER: That's the mixed message of the federal government that has become part of the so-called new normal in this post 9/11 era.

Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: The government is apparently scrapping an airline security plan. "USA Today" reports the Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, or CAPPS 2 is now dead. The paper quotes Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge as saying concerns over privacy and effectiveness killed CAPPS 2. The program would have required airline passengers to provide personal information and then would be assigned a color-coding, according to their potential terror threat risk.

Wild weather to tell you on both sides of the nation. Let's go to the map. First severe storms in the northeast. Authorities are trying to figure out if a tornado hit Campbelltown, Pennsylvania; that's near Hershey. Thunderstorms and high winds damaged or destroyed at least 50 homes in one development. Two-dozen people were hurt, one critically.

And wildfires in the West. A trio of fires in Southern California. An erratic fast moving fire in the Angeles National Forest has forced the evacuation of 580 homes. More than a thousand firefighters are making a stand at one highway in an effort to stop the advance.

Karen Carson (ph), our affiliate at KABC reports on how rushed some of the evacuations have actually been.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREN CARSON, KABC CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Did they give you an order?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, we're leaving because we've got have brains. Look across at the top of the hill there. We are surrounded, guys!

CARSON (voice-over): No time to talk, barely enough time to escape.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get up, Marty! The hill across the street is on fire. Got to go.

CARSON. A frantic Three Points man leaves his home behind, as the fire closes in. The flames color the night sky red. Firefighters working around the clock to stop the fire from its destructive path, but with nightfall they lose a valuable weapon. Air support to douse the flames from above.

CAPT. GREG CLEVELAND, L.A. COUNTY FIRE DEPT.: They are anticipating our humidity being in the teens tonight, too. So with the low humidity, the fire just burns that much more intensely. I can't say it's good news, but we're optimistic.

CARSON: The embers multiplied, burning into the yards of home. The smoke so thick it could have been day. It could have been night. But it would probably look much the same.

RANDALL WELLS, HOMEOWNER: Today we thought we were clear, and we're not. So it is coming over the mountain. It's going to probably get our house.

CARSON: At this point, Randall Wells has pretty much said good- bye to his ranch, his home of 20 years. He waits by the side of the road with a saddle and plan; though the fire may take his home it will not beat him.

WELLS: I'll rebuild. I'm a carpenter. I'll rebuild another ranch.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Just one personal story from California. You can get your hometown weather on the home page, cnn.com/weather has forecasts for the U.S. and around the world. And if you are headed for the beach, click on to see if you will have sun or if you will have storms.

More tools to punish thieves who steal identities. The president signs the Identity Theft Act today. We'll break down the details of the legislation.

Later a devastating mix-up for two families after one family realizes it's not their son that they were about to bury.

Also ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY, they are gone but have they been forgotten? Do the women of "Sex in the City" have a shot at winning any more Emmys? We'll take a look at the nominations out within the last two hours.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: What do you say, we take a look at what is on the docket today in our "Legal Brief?" This could be the last full day of freedom for a while for domestic diva Martha Stewart. She faces sentencing tomorrow, in fact, in this exact hour, sentencing for lying to the government in her stock fraud case. Both Stewart and her former stockbroker are to be sentenced separately. They're expected to get about a year in prison.

The judge in the Kobe Bryant case has ruled that prosecutors can use a secretly recorded statement that the NBA star made to police shortly after a woman accused him of rape. The judge will also allow evidence from Bryant's hotel room, the site of the alleged attack, to be presented at trial.

To Redwood City, jurors today in the murder trial of Scott Peterson will hear from a police detective. But the judge will be focusing on what Peterson himself had to say in a locally televised interview.

CNN's national correspondent Rusty Dornin is with us from Redwood City with the latest.

Rusty, good morning.

RUSTY DORNIN, NATIONAL CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, the intense cross-examination of detective Dodge Hendee will continue. Defense attorney Mark Geragos questioned him extensively about all those searches in San Francisco Bay. Applying that if they used all this high technology and sonar devices and found several things in the bay, but couldn't find anything resembling homemade anchors that the prosecutors claim Scott Peterson made, then perhaps they weren't there.

Now, they did come out that in April during jury selection, police investigators did go back out on the bay and took a look at some images that they had actually had last July, but never got a chance to take a look at. Turned up just more garbage, a pipe, and a stick in the bay. Also Hendee is the one that discovered the hair and cement, and cement residue in Scott Peterson's warehouse that prosecutors are claiming were the leavings of these anchors they claim that he did make.

Some of the most interesting testimony though, came when the jury was out of earshot. Defense attorney Mark Geragos is arguing for a dismissal of charges against his client. That will be not heard for another two weeks. But he is claiming that a lead detective Al Brocchini lied on the stand about a tipster, who talked about Scott Peterson's story about how he allegedly would dispose of a body. He told that story some nine years ago.

Also the judge watched the nationally televised interviews with Diane Sawyer and Scott Peterson, where Scott Peterson talked about telling police that he did have an affair. Lead investigators have testified that that is not true. That he did not say anything like that. Also, Peterson talked about his wife in the past tense and then quickly corrected himself.

Up on the stand this morning again will be detective Dodge Hendee. And then later this afternoon, the jury will be dismissed again. And the judge is going to watch a couple of other locally televised interviews. One of them with CNN's own Ted Rowland, the interviews he did with Scott Peterson. He's trying to decide what and any part of these interviews will be admissible in court -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Rusty Dornin from Redwood City. Rusty, thank you.

Watch what you say, it could cost you your job. Just ask Whoopi Goldberg. She is no longer working for Slim Fast. We'll tell you why.

And who's in? Who's out? Straight ahead, we have the answer on which shows and actors will seek Emmy nominations. This is CNN LIVE TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We'll get to the Emmy nominations just a moment. First though, let's take a look at the stories making news "Coast to Coast."

An up date on the tiger story from Loxahatchee, Florida. Animal Welfare officials plan to cite the woman who offered her big as bait. They say it was dangerously hot inside the trunk where she carried the pig. She thought that its squeals would attract the tiger that escaped from a nearby home. Sheriff's officials will help determine the actual charges.

In Munster, Indiana, a bittersweet bedside ceremony. Two sisters deciding to hold a double wedding in the hospital hallway, so that their terminally ill parents could both attend. Both their mom and dad are fighting cancer and share a hospital room. Nurses made it possible, helping to expedite their marriage licenses, the required blood tests, and even crafting hospital sheets into decorations.

And while love is said to be blind, some surfers say that a lack of sight should not deprive people of their passion; even if it's a passion that they've just started to experience. In Corpus Christi, Texas this group of surfers led some blind folks into the water for a chance to enjoy the thrill.

More details for you now and the story behind a fiery Fourth of July crash, in which three state troopers pulled the motorist from certain death. You're watching the video at the scene shot by a dashboard camera inside a patrol car. It happened in Granville, Ohio. The troopers who found the woman unconscious described what happened next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We both got our fire extinguishers out and attempted to put the fire out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you know somebody was in there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, we had no idea. Got the driver's side door open. When the smoke cleared at a couple points we were able to see the driver inside. Which point, we removed her from the car and got her to safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was probably the scariest thing I have ever done. And it's not something you expect to see. But I'm just glad we reacted and the outcome was the way it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: The woman was rushed to the hospital where she was treated for her burns.

If you know of an Everyday Hero, we would like to hear a story, send us an e-mail at livetoday@cnn.com.

Whoopi Goldberg will not be losing weight for Slim Fast anymore. The company is dumping her as its spokesperson, after some sexually explicit comments that Whoopi made about President Bush during a Democratic fund-raiser. Some conservative groups had threatened to boycott the product. Goldberg says she hopes everything will be better digested now that she no longer represents the company.

Rumors of a Dick Cheney departure from the Bush ticket. The source for the rumor? Apparently the Democrats. That story ahead.

And giving prosecutors the muscle they need to punish terrorists that steal identity. We'll bring you live coverage of the president signing the Identity Theft Act.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER ANISTON, ACTRESS: I want to be -- I don't want to mess this up again.

MARK SCHWIMMER, ACTOR: No. Me neither, OK. We're done being stupid.

ANISTON: OK. It's you and me, all right? This is it.

SCHWIMMER: This is it. Unless we're on a break.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Oh, the old break. Well it looks like "Friends" is on a little break from Emmys this year. Jennifer Aniston will get a nod for best actress fro comedy, for nomination at least; Matt LeBlanc, as well.

The Emmy nominations, if you can't tell, are out. Lots of sex, "Sopranos" and a dose of reality television.

Here with the lowdown on the showbiz and the -- the award watcher.

Tom O'Neill of goldderby.com.

Tom, good morning

TOM O'NEILL, GOLDDERBY.COM: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: What an exciting morning. Let's start with "Friends", two acting nomination yet nothing for the series.

O'NEILL: Yes, those Emmy voters weren't too friendly to the show. They just won best comedy series two years ago. But there were a lot of noticeable snubs. Matthew Perry wasn't nominated for "Friends," but he was nominated for "West Wing." It was a big shock.

KAGAN: OK. I want to go on the sentimental list. "Friends" on the top of the list there. "Frazier," Kelsey Grammer did receive a nomination. But again, as this series says good-bye, that series did not receive a nom either.

O'NEILL: Right. There were I think there were too many comedies competing this year, Daryn, is what the issue was. There may not be too many comedy show this is fall in prime time, because it seems to be a dying genre. But there was a glut of them at the Emmy eligibility list for the nominations this year. The nice surprise in this category is that "Arrested development" did get in there. This is a...

KAGAN: You were pushing for this.

(LAUGHTER)

KAGAN: Most people haven't watched but the critics love it.

O'NEILL: But the critics love it. And that's the big test here. If the critics are saying this is a worthy show, we knew that they are watching it. The question is was the TV industry watching it. They're the voters at the Emmy's and it's their job to recognize excellence. And hallelujah, Daryn, they did. They got the show in there.

KAGAN: Because this is a high holy day for television critics. Let's just say that.

Now, there was a rule change this year about the way the nomination voting took place that was supposed to shake things up. But it didn't really seem to do that too much, to me.

O'NEILL: Not too much, yes. They allowed voters to list 10 shows for the five nominee slots for best comedy and drama series, hoping that would force them to put other names on the list. But we only saw one new show squeak in on the drama side. That was "Joan of Arcadia," and that was a big surprise because we thought that that fifth slot, because "Six Feet Under" was down and out this year. It wasn't eligible, we thought it might go to "Without a Trace" or "Deadwood" or "Nip Tuck." But "Joan of Arcadia" came through, probably by divine intervention.

(LAUGHTER)

KAGAN: Not just "Joan of Arcadia," but also the young actress Amber Tamblyn. So there's a new fresh face to see for a nomination.

Another sentimental favorite John Ritter receiving a nomination for his "8 Rules."

O'NEILL: Yes. And John is an old friend of the academy, by the way. We might look back at his of days of "Three's Company," and say that was a silly, slapstick role. But he won best actor for that and it shows how seriously the TV actors take comedy. That they realize how hard it is to do a role like that. He's been nominated consistently throughout his career too. He just got in here by a squeaker. He was only in four episodes of "8 Simple Rules," and the eligibility cutoff is three.

KAGAN: Hmm. All right. So you have already given your divine intervention nomination. Signs there is a God is that "Arrested Development" received a nomination in your world. But what about the biggest crime? What is the biggest crime that a certain person or certain show did not receive?

O'NEILL: Probably the fact that "Friends" wasn't nominated. Come on, that was one of the great milestones of television this past year. And I think that some people would say that some of the newer shows like "Deadwood," "Nip-Tuck" should have gotten these series bids. But you know, the Emmys are like the Oscars. We all have our favorites and Meryl Streep gets nominated every year at the Oscars. And the same old shows come back at the Emmys.

KAGAN: And there you go. Actually she received an Emmy nomination too for "Angels in America."

O'NEILL: Yes. By the way keep an eye out for "Angels in America, Daryn. This could set a record at the Emmys. It's probably going to win best series, best mini-series, directing, writing, some musical scores and some acting. It could top the record set by Roots.

And speaking of these movies/mini-series categories, did you see that "The Reagans" got nominated?

KAGAN: I did and one of the most controversial shows of the year. And not just that, but I think at least two or three acting nominations as well.

We're going to be bring you back in September when the Emmys are actually on, and we can talk about who's actually home with the awards.

O'NEILL: OK, great. Thanks.

KAGAN: Tom O'Neill, goldderby.com. You can read a lot more about who's in and who's out. Also you can -- thank you, Tom. You can also keep you're eye on entertainment 24/7 by pointing your Internet browser to CNN.com/entertainment. You're going to find out more about why Emmy might have ignored some of your favorites.

We are back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired July 15, 2004 - 10:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, we'll get started from CNN headquarters in Atlanta. Good morning, I'm Daryn Kagan.
First in the news, a Filipino truck driver held hostage by militants in Iraq has been seen in a new videotape. It was aired just a short time ago on al Jazeera television. The news anchor said that Angelo de la Cruz told his family he'll be coming home soon, and he thanked his government for meeting his kidnappers demands, and withdrawing troops from Iraq.

The prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq resonates this hour on Capitol Hill. The Senate Arms Services Committee holding a closed-door hearing on the U.S. military's mistreatment of detainees. Today's classified debriefing will include progress reports on several Pentagon investigations now under way, and reports by The International Red Cross.

Presidential candidate John Kerry is expected at any moment before the NAACP. The civil rights group is meeting in Boston, Kerry's home base and the site of the Democratic National Convention later this month. Kerry will take jabs at President Bush, who declined the group's invitation to speak. And when Senator Kennedy -- Senator Kerry does speak, we will bring that to you live.

Former NFL coach and player Mike Ditka will be sitting on the sidelines this political season. He has decided not to run for the U.S. Senate seat in his home State of Illinois. Republicans believe Ditka offered their best chance at quickly gaining on the Democratic front-runner.

Live this hour, President Bush looks to tighten the nation's security. He'll sign into law a bill setting a five-year sentence for anyone using a fake I.D. in a terrorist related crime.

We are seeing a new video of a Filipino truck driver this morning abducted by militants in Iraq last week. And in this video the hostage is giving thanks.

Let's go live now to our Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf with more on the story.

Jane, hello.

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Hi, Daryn! Well, good news according to this video. We haven't seen physical proof yet that he has actually already been released, but this is being taken by diplomats as a sign that indeed he will be. Now, this is kind of a long and tangled saga, you'll remember. And his expected release follows an announcement by the Philippines government that, yes, it will withdraw troops here. It only has 51 of them but it is withdrawing, after his captors demanded the Philippines withdraw the troops or they would behead the truck driver, father of eight children.

Bulgarian hostages, their fate is a little murkier. A lot murkier, actually. Their government in contrast, has made clear that they will not comply with demands to leave the country. They are insisting on keeping more than 400 troops here. And the fate of two Bulgarians being held threatened with beheading still unknown. But hopes are fading that they will be released it seems -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Jane Arraf with the latest from Baghdad. We'll have more from you in the next hour.

More developments out of Iraq today. Police prevented a car bombing attack in Karbala. After getting a tip, police set up checkpoints at all the entrances to the city. A car approached the checkpoints, turned away and headed outside the city. A bomb detonated killing two people in the car.

Hundreds of people marched through Baghdad in an anti-Saddam demonstration. Some protesters carried posters of relatives killed during Saddam's regime. The march ended at Central Square, where effigies of the former dictator were burned.

And an oil pipeline in northern Iraq was heavily damaged in an attack by insurgents. An Iraqi official says the bomb was detonated under the refinery-feeding pipeline.

The U.S. Marine who disappeared for more than two weeks in Iraq is scheduled to arrive at Dover Air Force Base. And that's in Delaware, taking place this hour. Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun said that he was abducted from his base outside of Fallujah. He turned up last week in Lebanon where he has relatives. He's been undergoing medical exams and debriefing at a U.S. military facility in Germany this week. His repatriation will continue at the U.S. Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia.

U.S. officials are still fearful that terrorists may strike in the run up to the election. CIA acting director John McLaughlin spoke of his concerns in an exclusive interview with our Wolf Blitzer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, INTERIM CIA DIRECTOR: This is a very serious threat we're facing.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: How serious?

MCLAUGHLIN: It's serious in the following sense that I think the quality of the information we have is very good. We have a lot of experience now in terrorism. You ask... BLITZER: McLaughlin, who succeeded George Tenet only days ago, declined to provide specific details of the intelligence that scares him. Noting that those details could provide useful information to the terrorists.

MCLAUGHLIN: One of the important things terrorists do, I'll tell you, is very simple. Very simple; they know how to keep a secret. Their work is highly compartmented to a small group of people, probably living in a cave somewhere. And our country doesn't keep secrets very well. So we have to watch what we release about the details. This is a serious threat period.

BLITZER: He says Osama bin Laden is still very much a player against the United States.

MCLAUGHLIN: Is he sitting there behind some large console pulling wires and switches? I wouldn't say that. But to be sure, he remains the leader of al Qaeda. It's his guidance to his followers that certainly inspires them to proceed with the attacks that we have seen, in places like Istanbul and Morocco and Spain and so forth.

BLITZER: Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, fresh from an inspection tour of preparations for the Democratic convention in Boston, agrees with the assessment.

TOM RIDGE, DIRECTOR, DEPT. HOMELAND SECURITY: And credible trustworthy sources, not terribly specific in terms of who, what, when and where; but targeting an opportunity, targeting an attempt to undermine the democratic process.

BLITZER: Still he insists the overall situation is under control.

RIDGE: The community is done everything they can to put people and technology and all the right places.

BLITZER: That's the mixed message of the federal government that has become part of the so-called new normal in this post 9/11 era.

Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: The government is apparently scrapping an airline security plan. "USA Today" reports the Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, or CAPPS 2 is now dead. The paper quotes Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge as saying concerns over privacy and effectiveness killed CAPPS 2. The program would have required airline passengers to provide personal information and then would be assigned a color-coding, according to their potential terror threat risk.

Wild weather to tell you on both sides of the nation. Let's go to the map. First severe storms in the northeast. Authorities are trying to figure out if a tornado hit Campbelltown, Pennsylvania; that's near Hershey. Thunderstorms and high winds damaged or destroyed at least 50 homes in one development. Two-dozen people were hurt, one critically.

And wildfires in the West. A trio of fires in Southern California. An erratic fast moving fire in the Angeles National Forest has forced the evacuation of 580 homes. More than a thousand firefighters are making a stand at one highway in an effort to stop the advance.

Karen Carson (ph), our affiliate at KABC reports on how rushed some of the evacuations have actually been.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREN CARSON, KABC CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Did they give you an order?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, we're leaving because we've got have brains. Look across at the top of the hill there. We are surrounded, guys!

CARSON (voice-over): No time to talk, barely enough time to escape.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get up, Marty! The hill across the street is on fire. Got to go.

CARSON. A frantic Three Points man leaves his home behind, as the fire closes in. The flames color the night sky red. Firefighters working around the clock to stop the fire from its destructive path, but with nightfall they lose a valuable weapon. Air support to douse the flames from above.

CAPT. GREG CLEVELAND, L.A. COUNTY FIRE DEPT.: They are anticipating our humidity being in the teens tonight, too. So with the low humidity, the fire just burns that much more intensely. I can't say it's good news, but we're optimistic.

CARSON: The embers multiplied, burning into the yards of home. The smoke so thick it could have been day. It could have been night. But it would probably look much the same.

RANDALL WELLS, HOMEOWNER: Today we thought we were clear, and we're not. So it is coming over the mountain. It's going to probably get our house.

CARSON: At this point, Randall Wells has pretty much said good- bye to his ranch, his home of 20 years. He waits by the side of the road with a saddle and plan; though the fire may take his home it will not beat him.

WELLS: I'll rebuild. I'm a carpenter. I'll rebuild another ranch.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Just one personal story from California. You can get your hometown weather on the home page, cnn.com/weather has forecasts for the U.S. and around the world. And if you are headed for the beach, click on to see if you will have sun or if you will have storms.

More tools to punish thieves who steal identities. The president signs the Identity Theft Act today. We'll break down the details of the legislation.

Later a devastating mix-up for two families after one family realizes it's not their son that they were about to bury.

Also ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY, they are gone but have they been forgotten? Do the women of "Sex in the City" have a shot at winning any more Emmys? We'll take a look at the nominations out within the last two hours.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: What do you say, we take a look at what is on the docket today in our "Legal Brief?" This could be the last full day of freedom for a while for domestic diva Martha Stewart. She faces sentencing tomorrow, in fact, in this exact hour, sentencing for lying to the government in her stock fraud case. Both Stewart and her former stockbroker are to be sentenced separately. They're expected to get about a year in prison.

The judge in the Kobe Bryant case has ruled that prosecutors can use a secretly recorded statement that the NBA star made to police shortly after a woman accused him of rape. The judge will also allow evidence from Bryant's hotel room, the site of the alleged attack, to be presented at trial.

To Redwood City, jurors today in the murder trial of Scott Peterson will hear from a police detective. But the judge will be focusing on what Peterson himself had to say in a locally televised interview.

CNN's national correspondent Rusty Dornin is with us from Redwood City with the latest.

Rusty, good morning.

RUSTY DORNIN, NATIONAL CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, the intense cross-examination of detective Dodge Hendee will continue. Defense attorney Mark Geragos questioned him extensively about all those searches in San Francisco Bay. Applying that if they used all this high technology and sonar devices and found several things in the bay, but couldn't find anything resembling homemade anchors that the prosecutors claim Scott Peterson made, then perhaps they weren't there.

Now, they did come out that in April during jury selection, police investigators did go back out on the bay and took a look at some images that they had actually had last July, but never got a chance to take a look at. Turned up just more garbage, a pipe, and a stick in the bay. Also Hendee is the one that discovered the hair and cement, and cement residue in Scott Peterson's warehouse that prosecutors are claiming were the leavings of these anchors they claim that he did make.

Some of the most interesting testimony though, came when the jury was out of earshot. Defense attorney Mark Geragos is arguing for a dismissal of charges against his client. That will be not heard for another two weeks. But he is claiming that a lead detective Al Brocchini lied on the stand about a tipster, who talked about Scott Peterson's story about how he allegedly would dispose of a body. He told that story some nine years ago.

Also the judge watched the nationally televised interviews with Diane Sawyer and Scott Peterson, where Scott Peterson talked about telling police that he did have an affair. Lead investigators have testified that that is not true. That he did not say anything like that. Also, Peterson talked about his wife in the past tense and then quickly corrected himself.

Up on the stand this morning again will be detective Dodge Hendee. And then later this afternoon, the jury will be dismissed again. And the judge is going to watch a couple of other locally televised interviews. One of them with CNN's own Ted Rowland, the interviews he did with Scott Peterson. He's trying to decide what and any part of these interviews will be admissible in court -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Rusty Dornin from Redwood City. Rusty, thank you.

Watch what you say, it could cost you your job. Just ask Whoopi Goldberg. She is no longer working for Slim Fast. We'll tell you why.

And who's in? Who's out? Straight ahead, we have the answer on which shows and actors will seek Emmy nominations. This is CNN LIVE TODAY.

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KAGAN: We'll get to the Emmy nominations just a moment. First though, let's take a look at the stories making news "Coast to Coast."

An up date on the tiger story from Loxahatchee, Florida. Animal Welfare officials plan to cite the woman who offered her big as bait. They say it was dangerously hot inside the trunk where she carried the pig. She thought that its squeals would attract the tiger that escaped from a nearby home. Sheriff's officials will help determine the actual charges.

In Munster, Indiana, a bittersweet bedside ceremony. Two sisters deciding to hold a double wedding in the hospital hallway, so that their terminally ill parents could both attend. Both their mom and dad are fighting cancer and share a hospital room. Nurses made it possible, helping to expedite their marriage licenses, the required blood tests, and even crafting hospital sheets into decorations.

And while love is said to be blind, some surfers say that a lack of sight should not deprive people of their passion; even if it's a passion that they've just started to experience. In Corpus Christi, Texas this group of surfers led some blind folks into the water for a chance to enjoy the thrill.

More details for you now and the story behind a fiery Fourth of July crash, in which three state troopers pulled the motorist from certain death. You're watching the video at the scene shot by a dashboard camera inside a patrol car. It happened in Granville, Ohio. The troopers who found the woman unconscious described what happened next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We both got our fire extinguishers out and attempted to put the fire out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you know somebody was in there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, we had no idea. Got the driver's side door open. When the smoke cleared at a couple points we were able to see the driver inside. Which point, we removed her from the car and got her to safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was probably the scariest thing I have ever done. And it's not something you expect to see. But I'm just glad we reacted and the outcome was the way it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: The woman was rushed to the hospital where she was treated for her burns.

If you know of an Everyday Hero, we would like to hear a story, send us an e-mail at livetoday@cnn.com.

Whoopi Goldberg will not be losing weight for Slim Fast anymore. The company is dumping her as its spokesperson, after some sexually explicit comments that Whoopi made about President Bush during a Democratic fund-raiser. Some conservative groups had threatened to boycott the product. Goldberg says she hopes everything will be better digested now that she no longer represents the company.

Rumors of a Dick Cheney departure from the Bush ticket. The source for the rumor? Apparently the Democrats. That story ahead.

And giving prosecutors the muscle they need to punish terrorists that steal identity. We'll bring you live coverage of the president signing the Identity Theft Act.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER ANISTON, ACTRESS: I want to be -- I don't want to mess this up again.

MARK SCHWIMMER, ACTOR: No. Me neither, OK. We're done being stupid.

ANISTON: OK. It's you and me, all right? This is it.

SCHWIMMER: This is it. Unless we're on a break.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Oh, the old break. Well it looks like "Friends" is on a little break from Emmys this year. Jennifer Aniston will get a nod for best actress fro comedy, for nomination at least; Matt LeBlanc, as well.

The Emmy nominations, if you can't tell, are out. Lots of sex, "Sopranos" and a dose of reality television.

Here with the lowdown on the showbiz and the -- the award watcher.

Tom O'Neill of goldderby.com.

Tom, good morning

TOM O'NEILL, GOLDDERBY.COM: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: What an exciting morning. Let's start with "Friends", two acting nomination yet nothing for the series.

O'NEILL: Yes, those Emmy voters weren't too friendly to the show. They just won best comedy series two years ago. But there were a lot of noticeable snubs. Matthew Perry wasn't nominated for "Friends," but he was nominated for "West Wing." It was a big shock.

KAGAN: OK. I want to go on the sentimental list. "Friends" on the top of the list there. "Frazier," Kelsey Grammer did receive a nomination. But again, as this series says good-bye, that series did not receive a nom either.

O'NEILL: Right. There were I think there were too many comedies competing this year, Daryn, is what the issue was. There may not be too many comedy show this is fall in prime time, because it seems to be a dying genre. But there was a glut of them at the Emmy eligibility list for the nominations this year. The nice surprise in this category is that "Arrested development" did get in there. This is a...

KAGAN: You were pushing for this.

(LAUGHTER)

KAGAN: Most people haven't watched but the critics love it.

O'NEILL: But the critics love it. And that's the big test here. If the critics are saying this is a worthy show, we knew that they are watching it. The question is was the TV industry watching it. They're the voters at the Emmy's and it's their job to recognize excellence. And hallelujah, Daryn, they did. They got the show in there.

KAGAN: Because this is a high holy day for television critics. Let's just say that.

Now, there was a rule change this year about the way the nomination voting took place that was supposed to shake things up. But it didn't really seem to do that too much, to me.

O'NEILL: Not too much, yes. They allowed voters to list 10 shows for the five nominee slots for best comedy and drama series, hoping that would force them to put other names on the list. But we only saw one new show squeak in on the drama side. That was "Joan of Arcadia," and that was a big surprise because we thought that that fifth slot, because "Six Feet Under" was down and out this year. It wasn't eligible, we thought it might go to "Without a Trace" or "Deadwood" or "Nip Tuck." But "Joan of Arcadia" came through, probably by divine intervention.

(LAUGHTER)

KAGAN: Not just "Joan of Arcadia," but also the young actress Amber Tamblyn. So there's a new fresh face to see for a nomination.

Another sentimental favorite John Ritter receiving a nomination for his "8 Rules."

O'NEILL: Yes. And John is an old friend of the academy, by the way. We might look back at his of days of "Three's Company," and say that was a silly, slapstick role. But he won best actor for that and it shows how seriously the TV actors take comedy. That they realize how hard it is to do a role like that. He's been nominated consistently throughout his career too. He just got in here by a squeaker. He was only in four episodes of "8 Simple Rules," and the eligibility cutoff is three.

KAGAN: Hmm. All right. So you have already given your divine intervention nomination. Signs there is a God is that "Arrested Development" received a nomination in your world. But what about the biggest crime? What is the biggest crime that a certain person or certain show did not receive?

O'NEILL: Probably the fact that "Friends" wasn't nominated. Come on, that was one of the great milestones of television this past year. And I think that some people would say that some of the newer shows like "Deadwood," "Nip-Tuck" should have gotten these series bids. But you know, the Emmys are like the Oscars. We all have our favorites and Meryl Streep gets nominated every year at the Oscars. And the same old shows come back at the Emmys.

KAGAN: And there you go. Actually she received an Emmy nomination too for "Angels in America."

O'NEILL: Yes. By the way keep an eye out for "Angels in America, Daryn. This could set a record at the Emmys. It's probably going to win best series, best mini-series, directing, writing, some musical scores and some acting. It could top the record set by Roots.

And speaking of these movies/mini-series categories, did you see that "The Reagans" got nominated?

KAGAN: I did and one of the most controversial shows of the year. And not just that, but I think at least two or three acting nominations as well.

We're going to be bring you back in September when the Emmys are actually on, and we can talk about who's actually home with the awards.

O'NEILL: OK, great. Thanks.

KAGAN: Tom O'Neill, goldderby.com. You can read a lot more about who's in and who's out. Also you can -- thank you, Tom. You can also keep you're eye on entertainment 24/7 by pointing your Internet browser to CNN.com/entertainment. You're going to find out more about why Emmy might have ignored some of your favorites.

We are back in a moment.

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