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Concerns Raised About New Florida Voting System; Doctors Separate Filipino Conjoined Twins, Age 2; Two Suspected Terrorists Arrested in Albany
Aired August 05, 2004 - 11:30 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.
JUDY WOODRUFF, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS: Senator Kerry gave a speech and took questions at a conference of minority journalists.
This afternoon he and his running mate, John Edwards, reunite in Missouri, and they began a whistle stop train tour.
A group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has purchased television ad time in three battleground states to run a hard-hitting commercial featuring Vietnam veterans who question John Kerry's war record.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I served with John Kerry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I served with John Kerry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Kerry has not been honest about what happened in Vietnam.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is lying about his record.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know John Kerry is lying about his first Purple Heart because I treated him for that injury.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Kerry lied to get the Bronze Star. I know. I was there; I saw what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOODRUFF: The Kerry campaign says none of these men in the ads served on the boats that Kerry commanded.
Meanwhile, Republican Senator John McCain, who is a Vietnam veteran and a friend of John Kerry, calls the ad, quote, "dishonest and dishonorable." McCain tells the Associated Press the Bush campaign should condemn the spot.
A short time ago a Bush spokesman said that the Bush campaign, quote, "has never and will never question John Kerry's service in Vietnam," end quote.
We'll have one of the men featured in the ad as well as a swift boat crewman who served on Kerry's boat on today's edition of "INSIDE POLITICS." Former presidential hopeful Alan Keyes says he needs a few days to decide whether he will accept an offer to be the Republican Senate candidate in Illinois in November.
Keyes would replace Jack Ryan, who pulled out of the race earlier. He would face Democratic convention star Barack Obama, setting up the first Senate election featuring two African-American candidates representing the two major parties.
A new movie is turning a lot of heads in the political world, and it's not "Fahrenheit 9/11." This afternoon our Bill Schneider will compare the political climate in which the movie "The Manchurian Candidate" is coming out to the climate in which the original version was released more than 40 years ago.
Please join me when I go "INSIDE POLITICS" at 3:30 p.m. Eastern. But for right now, back to Daryn in Atlanta.
DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: Judy, thank you. We look forward to seeing you later this afternoon.
The world will be watching Florida when the votes are cast and counted in this November's presidential election.
The state bought touch-screen voting machines after all those hanging chads popped up in 2000. Already, though, problems with touch screens have come to light.
Computer crashes erased data on the 2002 gubernatorial primary, and touch screens used in some Florida counties had a bug that would make a manual recount impossible.
Tom Fielder is executive editor of the "Miami Herald." He is joining us from our Washington bureau.
Tom, good morning.
TOM FIELDER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "MIAMI HERALD": Good morning.
KAGAN: Say it's not so. Not more problems for Florida.
FIELDER: I wish we could say it's not so. The people who have devised these new systems which were, perhaps, ironically put into place so we wouldn't go through another one of those hanging chad, pregnant chad, dimpled chad sort of debacles.
The people who put this new system in place assured everyone, assured the legislature when it was approved that this would be about as fool-proof as you could have. But I think it's the old saying about you build something that's foolproof and along comes a better fool.
KAGAN: Yes.
FIELDER: Maybe the part of it is that. But, no, there really have been some problems in -- in the early runs that we've seen with these new touch-screen, similar to an ATM machine is what the problem is.
KAGAN: We've used them here in Georgia, so I'm familiar with them. Is there -- is there time in between now and the election to fix the problems? And is Florida committed to using these voting machines?
FIELDER: There's a fix that's electronic only and that is really part of the problem and part of the concern. The problem that you mentioned earlier where there -- apparently the data that was recorded in some of the 2002 election results was lost, at least for a time so that there would be no possibility of doing a recount on the electronic backup systems.
That is a problem that we are being told will be fixed by one of those computer patches, and so we'll cross our fingers and hope that's true.
One of the major concerns right now that doesn't appear to be addressable is having some kind of a paper trail. In other words, just like when you go to the ATM, if you want the receipt you can walk away with some sense that the machine understood what you asked this it to do. That's impossible with the touch screens that -- the touch screen machines that are in place for Florida now and that's creating a great bit of concern.
And it's driving a lot of people to go toward absentee balloting and...
KAGAN: But there's a problem with that or some questions about how the absentee ballots will be handled in Florida.
FIELDER: Absolutely. Tin fact, those may be even a bigger problem than the touch screens in that right now the legislature, in its wisdom or perhaps not and for political reasons, took away one of the more stringent requirements for absentee balloting, and that was that you had to have your ballot witnessed by someone else.
And now all you have to do, you get the ballot, you mark the ballot and you sign your name. And if it happens to be spot checked, which is all it would be against the way you sign the voter roll, it would be OK.
But we have had some significant problems with absentee ballot fraud in Florida. And all of the protections that had been put in place as a result of those scandals have been removed. And so there's, I think, reason to be concerned about absentee balloting opening up an even more serious area of concern.
KAGAN: Right, but just one point, if you were going to try to do some absentee ballot fraud, how much more difficult is it to have somebody else witness that, if you can stuff the absentee ballot box. You could still do it if somebody was witnessing it.
FIELDER: Right. Yes. That's really a good point. And in fact, one of the problems that arose after the presidential election in 2000, which as you know was settled by 537 votes, was that there had been ballots, absentee ballots witnessed after the fact.
In fact in one of the county, a Republican Party official sat in a room, authorized by the local county election supervisor and went through and witnessed those ballots that had come in on Republican Party voting roles that hadn't been properly witnessed.
So there really has been a problem with it all along. Absentee balloting, we should be dismayed to know, is very insecure.
KAGAN: Well, one thing is for sure. You and your paper, the "Miami Herald," have your work cut out for you for the next 90 days or so.
FIELDER: It seems like we do and perhaps beyond if those problems come back.
KAGAN: Absolutely. Four years if it was like the last go around.
Tom, thank you.
FIELDER: You're welcome.
KAGAN: We have for you a first-hand account now of the capture of Saddam Hussein.
The former Iraqi dictator was pulled from what's killed a spider hole last December. One of those who fished him out was Samir, a translator for U.S. Special Forces. He's a U.S. citizen who wants only his first name used for security reasons.
Samir talked with our special contributor, Ron Young.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAMIR, TRANSLATOR FOR U.S. SPECIAL FORCES: On December 13 we knew we had Saddam there in that farm, hidden somewhere in his farm. We had his bodyguard is the one we went looking for because we knew he was Saddam. I was the translator for this guy.
And he started crying and he said, "Don't kill me. I'll show you where Saddam is."
And we got in that farm about 8 p.m. on Saturday night. Forces went inside, and they searched the whole farm. And there was no sign of Saddam. The guy showed us exactly where the bunker is.
RON YOUNG, CNN SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR: The bodyguard showed you where the bunker was?
SAMIR: He said -- he pointed with his finger and he said, "He's in there."
It's really hard to see it was the bunker. It was covered with dirt, and what they do when Saddam went in they take leaves from trees and they throw it on top of that and make it look like it's been there for a long time.
We dug in there and found a hole. Little bitty hole. It can't be, especially when you think about looking for Saddam Hussein, the dictator, the one who had the power over his people. It just -- it doesn't cross your mind, but he was there. He was there.
We heard a shout and he started yelling inside. And they said, "Samir, talk to him. Tell him to come out."
And he starts saying, "Don't shoot, don't kill me. Don't shoot."
They asked me to tell him to ask him, "Put your hands up. We want to see your hands." I told him, "Put your hands up," and it was, like, one hand. I said, "Let me see your other hand," and he did this. I said, "No! Both hands up!"
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Well, Samir said that translating for Saddam Hussein got physical at one point. The former Iraqi president called him a traitor and a spy. Samir said that's when he punched him in the face.
All right. Well, more tales from the translator Samir on "LIVE FROM." You can join Miles O'Brien and Kyra Phillips 2:30 Eastern right here on CNN.
We're expecting a news conference to come out of Albany, New York, on the raid on a mosque. That's just ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: In your "Daily Dose" of health news this morning, a new antidepressant for adults should be on pharmacy shelves this month.
The FDA has approved the sale of is Cymbalta. Eli Lilly is hoping to be a successor to Prozac. Cymbalta is the first antidepressant to hit the market since the government started looking into whether such drugs boost the risk of suicide.
Two-year-old Filipino twins who were joined at the head were separated during a marathon operation that ended this morning. Senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here with an update on their condition.
Actually, this is just one of many operations for these little boys.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: A very novel way of doing this. Dr. Goodrich, a pediatric neurosurgeon, has been -- has known the Aguirre twins, Carl and Clarence Aguirre, for some time now. For a year he's been planning this operation.
Four operations over the last 10 months and then there most recently, 16 hours of surgery by the pediatric neurosurgeons to actually separate these two boys. We've talked about these conjoined twin operations in the past. The hardest part of these operations, really separating one of the major blood vessels across the top of the brain. That's why they actually did that in stages, and that was the first time it's been done.
They say it was a good way to do it. It's going to be a little bit hard to tell right now and very soon after the operation, but they seem to think it was a favorable way to get this done.
KAGAN: So the challenge here, what are they learning as -- actually you know what? Hold that thought. We'll get back to you. We have to go to Albany...
GUPTA: All right.
KAGAN: ... for this news conference. We do want to hear more about the conjoined twins.
GUPTA: OK. I'll stick around.
KAGAN: An important news conference from Albany, New York. Here is Governor George Pataki.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: ... related to terrorist support and terrorist activities.
First, I want to reassure the public that this was not a surprise to any of us. This is the result of months of ongoing investigation, and represents our government, at all levels -- the federal government, the state government, the local government -- being proactive in the war against terror.
This was led by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is composed of federal, state and local representatives. And since September 11th, we have established new JTTFs, not just in New York City, where they previously existed, but here in Albany, in Buffalo, and satellite offices in other communities as well.
The fact is, there are terrorists among us who want to engage in acts to attack us again and to take away our freedom. I just want to reassure the public here in Albany and in New York and across America that our government, our administration in Washington, this state government and local officials are taking this threat to our freedom very seriously. And we'll continue to be aggressive and proactive in going after those who would look to do us harm.
I want to thank everyone involved, certainly the U.S. attorney for the Northern District, Glenn Suddaby, who has been the lead on this. He is in Washington and will be speaking to the people, I'm sure, this afternoon.
Bill Chase, the head of the FBI office here in the capital region. Mayor Jennings, whose team has been an integral part of this since the beginning of the investigation and certainly in the carrying out of the raids and arrests early this morning.
Jim McMahon, the head of our office of homeland security, who was our superintendent of state police, who has done just an outstanding job in making our office of homeland security, we think, if not the, certainly one of the finest in America.
And Chief Turley of the Albany Police Department, which has played a critical role, as I said.
PATAKI: But ultimately this war against terror, particularly against those who are among us today and want to do us further harm, depends on the eyes and ears of the people of America and the people of New York. And we've received some helpful tips over the past, and I just want to encourage people that we have a 24-hour hotline, 1-866- SAFE-NYS.
We've seen in Lackawanna, with the arrest of the Lackawanna Six, terrorists supporters living among us. We saw with the arrest in Syracuse of money-laundering efforts to help terrorist organizations. And today we see here, again, in the capital region those among us who seek to help terrorists to conduct horrible acts against the people of America and against our freedom.
So the people are our eyes and ears. We have the finest law enforcement professionals in the world. Give them any suspicious information you might have through this hotline or directly contacting them.
And I guarantee it, we will continue to take this effort to defend our freedom and to get rid of those who are among us who want to engage in further attacks.
PATAKI: We take this very seriously, and we will not stop until our freedom is completely protected.
Let me now introduce and turn the microphone over to Mayor Gerry Jennings of the city of Albany. As I said, his police department and his team has been involved since the beginning of this investigation many months ago.
And, Mayor, thank you again for your leadership, not just on this issue, but in doing everything to make this great capital city even better.
Mayor Jennings.
MYR. GERALD JENNINGS, ALBANY, NEW YORK: Thank you, Governor.
I want to thank the governor for his, obviously, focus when it comes to attacking the issues that are attacking us in our communities. And there's no doubt that a coordinated effort reaps benefits. And this is a prime example of good cooperation of the federal, state and local law enforcement agencies working together with one common purpose: to make our community safer.
I do want to thank the public -- and they know who they are -- that have cooperated with my police department in giving us information and helped us throughout this lengthy investigation. We're going to continue to work together.
And we want people to feel good about what happened today, because we were on top of it. We are being proactive. We take the information and we utilize all of our resources in the best possible way to make sure that our communities are safe.
So, once again, I want to thank my police department, the state police, the FBI, all of the governor's staff and the governor himself for working very closely with us to make sure we do the right thing for all of our people in the state of New York.
So, Governor, thank you.
PATAKI: Thank you, Mayor.
Questions?
QUESTION: Governor, this raid coming four days after (OFF-MIKE)
PATAKI: This investigation has been going on for months, as I've said, more than a year. And it's been based on a great deal of detailed information. And the actions that are being taken were taken this morning because it was the appropriate and necessary time to do so.
Any details will be given by the Justice Department officials in Washington. We don't intend to talk about any of the details.
Although I can say I don't believe there's any connection between the arrests this morning and the heightened alert in New York City.
QUESTION: Is there any connection with a cell, Governor? Is this...
PATAKI: I'm not going to talk about any of the details of this, other than just to say that this is something where we proactively have been out there for months and have known that this investigation was under way and at the appropriate time knew that this action would be taken.
So, as the mayor said, we want to reassure the people that they should feel positive about this, because it shows that government is doing its job and being proactive in going after those among us who would want to attack us again.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
PATAKI: I think it is -- I don't want to comment on any specifics. But it is clear from what we've seen just in upstate New York with the Lackawanna Six, with the money-laundering charge in Syracuse, and now with the arrests here, that there are those among us who want to engage in further terrorist acts or support those who would engage in terrorist a acts, which is why government at all levels has to continue to be proactive to protect our freedom and protect our people.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
PATAKI: We've been proactive and vigilant for years, and we will continue to be, not just in this capital but across this state. We have to be.
We can't simply -- the administration, I think is doing an outstanding job in the war against terror. They understand its importance in Washington. But they can't do it alone. They need the help of state government. They need the help of local officials. They need the help of the people of our state and of America.
And in this instance, they have gotten that help. And I'm confident they will continue to have that support from Americans across this country who are going to intelligently make sure they are the eyes and ears of law enforcement.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
PATAKI: Lackawanna, yes.
QUESTION: Lackawanna. Can you tell us if there is any connection between this (OFF-MIKE) in Albany and those events?
PATAKI: I'm not going to talk about any of the specifics involving this. You know, the Justice Department will give you the details.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE). How important is it to this state (OFF- MIKE)?
PATAKI: Well, obviously we're very proud to have the 10th Mountain Division in New York, but their primary role is overseas, as we've seen in Afghanistan and in Iraq. And we're very proud of them.
QUESTION: Governor, some of the members of the mosque have been telling reporters that it's repugnant to them that a mosque was targeted, and they feel that this was (OFF-MIKE).
PATAKI: We have to go after terrorists, or those who would support terrorism, wherever it takes us.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
JENNINGS: Well, obviously we're part of the Joint Terrorist Task Force. And, you know, local officials, law enforcement officials receive a lot of information that then works its way up the ladder, and that's what we're doing statewide. You know, this task force has been proven to be very effective. My people hear things, they get information from the community. They share it with the task force, and then we act appropriately.
And this is not a knee-jerk reaction. This has been an ongoing investigation. It's something we've been looking at for quite a while. And we're going to continue to work collectively.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
JENNINGS: Well, you know, I can't get into the definites, but we're not going to stop at a building if we feel it's a threat to anyone in our communities.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
PATAKI: I think we will leave it to the federal officials to discuss those specifics.
KAGAN: Excuse me, we've been listening in to the mayor of Albany, New York, also to New York Governor George Pataki as they talk about a situation, a story unfolding in that city.
Two men arrested in connection with alleged plot -- an alleged plot to buy some shoulder-fired missiles. As part of it there was a raid on a mosque there in Albany.
You heard the governor mention we should get a lot more details on exactly what is unfolding and what the government believes that it knows. One thirty, about an hour and a half from right now, the Department of Justice will be holding a news conference. You'll see that live right here on CNN.
Right now we're going to put in a quick break. I'm back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: That's actually going to wrap it up for me, Daryn Kagan. Wolf Blitzer is up next. Carol Lin is filling in for him today as Wolf continues his vacation. I will be see you right here in the chair tomorrow morning. Have a great day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAROL LIN, HOST: Hello, I'm Carol Lin at the CNN Center in Atlanta, in today for Wolf Blitzer. We've got a busy hour ahead, but first here are some headlines that are now in the news.
Two men tied to a mosque in northern New York are now in custody and suspected of links to al Qaeda. The Justice Department is holding a news conference this afternoon on the federal operation that hauled those men in. Details of that case coming up.
Also, the war flares again in the Iraqi city of Najaf. An American soldier died today in fighting with Shiite insurgents, and two troops were wounded when their helicopter was gunned down. We're going to have a live report from Baghdad.
And the rocker Bruce Springsteen is thundering out today against the Bush administration. He's joining other rockers. And later today we're going to look at the rock 'n' roll factor. How many voters are likely to follow The Boss?
But first this hour, the terror-related arrests in Albany, New York. The mayor of that city has just briefed reporters, along with New York Governor George Pataki.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 5, 2004 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS: Senator Kerry gave a speech and took questions at a conference of minority journalists.
This afternoon he and his running mate, John Edwards, reunite in Missouri, and they began a whistle stop train tour.
A group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has purchased television ad time in three battleground states to run a hard-hitting commercial featuring Vietnam veterans who question John Kerry's war record.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I served with John Kerry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I served with John Kerry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Kerry has not been honest about what happened in Vietnam.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is lying about his record.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know John Kerry is lying about his first Purple Heart because I treated him for that injury.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Kerry lied to get the Bronze Star. I know. I was there; I saw what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOODRUFF: The Kerry campaign says none of these men in the ads served on the boats that Kerry commanded.
Meanwhile, Republican Senator John McCain, who is a Vietnam veteran and a friend of John Kerry, calls the ad, quote, "dishonest and dishonorable." McCain tells the Associated Press the Bush campaign should condemn the spot.
A short time ago a Bush spokesman said that the Bush campaign, quote, "has never and will never question John Kerry's service in Vietnam," end quote.
We'll have one of the men featured in the ad as well as a swift boat crewman who served on Kerry's boat on today's edition of "INSIDE POLITICS." Former presidential hopeful Alan Keyes says he needs a few days to decide whether he will accept an offer to be the Republican Senate candidate in Illinois in November.
Keyes would replace Jack Ryan, who pulled out of the race earlier. He would face Democratic convention star Barack Obama, setting up the first Senate election featuring two African-American candidates representing the two major parties.
A new movie is turning a lot of heads in the political world, and it's not "Fahrenheit 9/11." This afternoon our Bill Schneider will compare the political climate in which the movie "The Manchurian Candidate" is coming out to the climate in which the original version was released more than 40 years ago.
Please join me when I go "INSIDE POLITICS" at 3:30 p.m. Eastern. But for right now, back to Daryn in Atlanta.
DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: Judy, thank you. We look forward to seeing you later this afternoon.
The world will be watching Florida when the votes are cast and counted in this November's presidential election.
The state bought touch-screen voting machines after all those hanging chads popped up in 2000. Already, though, problems with touch screens have come to light.
Computer crashes erased data on the 2002 gubernatorial primary, and touch screens used in some Florida counties had a bug that would make a manual recount impossible.
Tom Fielder is executive editor of the "Miami Herald." He is joining us from our Washington bureau.
Tom, good morning.
TOM FIELDER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "MIAMI HERALD": Good morning.
KAGAN: Say it's not so. Not more problems for Florida.
FIELDER: I wish we could say it's not so. The people who have devised these new systems which were, perhaps, ironically put into place so we wouldn't go through another one of those hanging chad, pregnant chad, dimpled chad sort of debacles.
The people who put this new system in place assured everyone, assured the legislature when it was approved that this would be about as fool-proof as you could have. But I think it's the old saying about you build something that's foolproof and along comes a better fool.
KAGAN: Yes.
FIELDER: Maybe the part of it is that. But, no, there really have been some problems in -- in the early runs that we've seen with these new touch-screen, similar to an ATM machine is what the problem is.
KAGAN: We've used them here in Georgia, so I'm familiar with them. Is there -- is there time in between now and the election to fix the problems? And is Florida committed to using these voting machines?
FIELDER: There's a fix that's electronic only and that is really part of the problem and part of the concern. The problem that you mentioned earlier where there -- apparently the data that was recorded in some of the 2002 election results was lost, at least for a time so that there would be no possibility of doing a recount on the electronic backup systems.
That is a problem that we are being told will be fixed by one of those computer patches, and so we'll cross our fingers and hope that's true.
One of the major concerns right now that doesn't appear to be addressable is having some kind of a paper trail. In other words, just like when you go to the ATM, if you want the receipt you can walk away with some sense that the machine understood what you asked this it to do. That's impossible with the touch screens that -- the touch screen machines that are in place for Florida now and that's creating a great bit of concern.
And it's driving a lot of people to go toward absentee balloting and...
KAGAN: But there's a problem with that or some questions about how the absentee ballots will be handled in Florida.
FIELDER: Absolutely. Tin fact, those may be even a bigger problem than the touch screens in that right now the legislature, in its wisdom or perhaps not and for political reasons, took away one of the more stringent requirements for absentee balloting, and that was that you had to have your ballot witnessed by someone else.
And now all you have to do, you get the ballot, you mark the ballot and you sign your name. And if it happens to be spot checked, which is all it would be against the way you sign the voter roll, it would be OK.
But we have had some significant problems with absentee ballot fraud in Florida. And all of the protections that had been put in place as a result of those scandals have been removed. And so there's, I think, reason to be concerned about absentee balloting opening up an even more serious area of concern.
KAGAN: Right, but just one point, if you were going to try to do some absentee ballot fraud, how much more difficult is it to have somebody else witness that, if you can stuff the absentee ballot box. You could still do it if somebody was witnessing it.
FIELDER: Right. Yes. That's really a good point. And in fact, one of the problems that arose after the presidential election in 2000, which as you know was settled by 537 votes, was that there had been ballots, absentee ballots witnessed after the fact.
In fact in one of the county, a Republican Party official sat in a room, authorized by the local county election supervisor and went through and witnessed those ballots that had come in on Republican Party voting roles that hadn't been properly witnessed.
So there really has been a problem with it all along. Absentee balloting, we should be dismayed to know, is very insecure.
KAGAN: Well, one thing is for sure. You and your paper, the "Miami Herald," have your work cut out for you for the next 90 days or so.
FIELDER: It seems like we do and perhaps beyond if those problems come back.
KAGAN: Absolutely. Four years if it was like the last go around.
Tom, thank you.
FIELDER: You're welcome.
KAGAN: We have for you a first-hand account now of the capture of Saddam Hussein.
The former Iraqi dictator was pulled from what's killed a spider hole last December. One of those who fished him out was Samir, a translator for U.S. Special Forces. He's a U.S. citizen who wants only his first name used for security reasons.
Samir talked with our special contributor, Ron Young.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAMIR, TRANSLATOR FOR U.S. SPECIAL FORCES: On December 13 we knew we had Saddam there in that farm, hidden somewhere in his farm. We had his bodyguard is the one we went looking for because we knew he was Saddam. I was the translator for this guy.
And he started crying and he said, "Don't kill me. I'll show you where Saddam is."
And we got in that farm about 8 p.m. on Saturday night. Forces went inside, and they searched the whole farm. And there was no sign of Saddam. The guy showed us exactly where the bunker is.
RON YOUNG, CNN SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR: The bodyguard showed you where the bunker was?
SAMIR: He said -- he pointed with his finger and he said, "He's in there."
It's really hard to see it was the bunker. It was covered with dirt, and what they do when Saddam went in they take leaves from trees and they throw it on top of that and make it look like it's been there for a long time.
We dug in there and found a hole. Little bitty hole. It can't be, especially when you think about looking for Saddam Hussein, the dictator, the one who had the power over his people. It just -- it doesn't cross your mind, but he was there. He was there.
We heard a shout and he started yelling inside. And they said, "Samir, talk to him. Tell him to come out."
And he starts saying, "Don't shoot, don't kill me. Don't shoot."
They asked me to tell him to ask him, "Put your hands up. We want to see your hands." I told him, "Put your hands up," and it was, like, one hand. I said, "Let me see your other hand," and he did this. I said, "No! Both hands up!"
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Well, Samir said that translating for Saddam Hussein got physical at one point. The former Iraqi president called him a traitor and a spy. Samir said that's when he punched him in the face.
All right. Well, more tales from the translator Samir on "LIVE FROM." You can join Miles O'Brien and Kyra Phillips 2:30 Eastern right here on CNN.
We're expecting a news conference to come out of Albany, New York, on the raid on a mosque. That's just ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: In your "Daily Dose" of health news this morning, a new antidepressant for adults should be on pharmacy shelves this month.
The FDA has approved the sale of is Cymbalta. Eli Lilly is hoping to be a successor to Prozac. Cymbalta is the first antidepressant to hit the market since the government started looking into whether such drugs boost the risk of suicide.
Two-year-old Filipino twins who were joined at the head were separated during a marathon operation that ended this morning. Senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here with an update on their condition.
Actually, this is just one of many operations for these little boys.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: A very novel way of doing this. Dr. Goodrich, a pediatric neurosurgeon, has been -- has known the Aguirre twins, Carl and Clarence Aguirre, for some time now. For a year he's been planning this operation.
Four operations over the last 10 months and then there most recently, 16 hours of surgery by the pediatric neurosurgeons to actually separate these two boys. We've talked about these conjoined twin operations in the past. The hardest part of these operations, really separating one of the major blood vessels across the top of the brain. That's why they actually did that in stages, and that was the first time it's been done.
They say it was a good way to do it. It's going to be a little bit hard to tell right now and very soon after the operation, but they seem to think it was a favorable way to get this done.
KAGAN: So the challenge here, what are they learning as -- actually you know what? Hold that thought. We'll get back to you. We have to go to Albany...
GUPTA: All right.
KAGAN: ... for this news conference. We do want to hear more about the conjoined twins.
GUPTA: OK. I'll stick around.
KAGAN: An important news conference from Albany, New York. Here is Governor George Pataki.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: ... related to terrorist support and terrorist activities.
First, I want to reassure the public that this was not a surprise to any of us. This is the result of months of ongoing investigation, and represents our government, at all levels -- the federal government, the state government, the local government -- being proactive in the war against terror.
This was led by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is composed of federal, state and local representatives. And since September 11th, we have established new JTTFs, not just in New York City, where they previously existed, but here in Albany, in Buffalo, and satellite offices in other communities as well.
The fact is, there are terrorists among us who want to engage in acts to attack us again and to take away our freedom. I just want to reassure the public here in Albany and in New York and across America that our government, our administration in Washington, this state government and local officials are taking this threat to our freedom very seriously. And we'll continue to be aggressive and proactive in going after those who would look to do us harm.
I want to thank everyone involved, certainly the U.S. attorney for the Northern District, Glenn Suddaby, who has been the lead on this. He is in Washington and will be speaking to the people, I'm sure, this afternoon.
Bill Chase, the head of the FBI office here in the capital region. Mayor Jennings, whose team has been an integral part of this since the beginning of the investigation and certainly in the carrying out of the raids and arrests early this morning.
Jim McMahon, the head of our office of homeland security, who was our superintendent of state police, who has done just an outstanding job in making our office of homeland security, we think, if not the, certainly one of the finest in America.
And Chief Turley of the Albany Police Department, which has played a critical role, as I said.
PATAKI: But ultimately this war against terror, particularly against those who are among us today and want to do us further harm, depends on the eyes and ears of the people of America and the people of New York. And we've received some helpful tips over the past, and I just want to encourage people that we have a 24-hour hotline, 1-866- SAFE-NYS.
We've seen in Lackawanna, with the arrest of the Lackawanna Six, terrorists supporters living among us. We saw with the arrest in Syracuse of money-laundering efforts to help terrorist organizations. And today we see here, again, in the capital region those among us who seek to help terrorists to conduct horrible acts against the people of America and against our freedom.
So the people are our eyes and ears. We have the finest law enforcement professionals in the world. Give them any suspicious information you might have through this hotline or directly contacting them.
And I guarantee it, we will continue to take this effort to defend our freedom and to get rid of those who are among us who want to engage in further attacks.
PATAKI: We take this very seriously, and we will not stop until our freedom is completely protected.
Let me now introduce and turn the microphone over to Mayor Gerry Jennings of the city of Albany. As I said, his police department and his team has been involved since the beginning of this investigation many months ago.
And, Mayor, thank you again for your leadership, not just on this issue, but in doing everything to make this great capital city even better.
Mayor Jennings.
MYR. GERALD JENNINGS, ALBANY, NEW YORK: Thank you, Governor.
I want to thank the governor for his, obviously, focus when it comes to attacking the issues that are attacking us in our communities. And there's no doubt that a coordinated effort reaps benefits. And this is a prime example of good cooperation of the federal, state and local law enforcement agencies working together with one common purpose: to make our community safer.
I do want to thank the public -- and they know who they are -- that have cooperated with my police department in giving us information and helped us throughout this lengthy investigation. We're going to continue to work together.
And we want people to feel good about what happened today, because we were on top of it. We are being proactive. We take the information and we utilize all of our resources in the best possible way to make sure that our communities are safe.
So, once again, I want to thank my police department, the state police, the FBI, all of the governor's staff and the governor himself for working very closely with us to make sure we do the right thing for all of our people in the state of New York.
So, Governor, thank you.
PATAKI: Thank you, Mayor.
Questions?
QUESTION: Governor, this raid coming four days after (OFF-MIKE)
PATAKI: This investigation has been going on for months, as I've said, more than a year. And it's been based on a great deal of detailed information. And the actions that are being taken were taken this morning because it was the appropriate and necessary time to do so.
Any details will be given by the Justice Department officials in Washington. We don't intend to talk about any of the details.
Although I can say I don't believe there's any connection between the arrests this morning and the heightened alert in New York City.
QUESTION: Is there any connection with a cell, Governor? Is this...
PATAKI: I'm not going to talk about any of the details of this, other than just to say that this is something where we proactively have been out there for months and have known that this investigation was under way and at the appropriate time knew that this action would be taken.
So, as the mayor said, we want to reassure the people that they should feel positive about this, because it shows that government is doing its job and being proactive in going after those among us who would want to attack us again.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
PATAKI: I think it is -- I don't want to comment on any specifics. But it is clear from what we've seen just in upstate New York with the Lackawanna Six, with the money-laundering charge in Syracuse, and now with the arrests here, that there are those among us who want to engage in further terrorist acts or support those who would engage in terrorist a acts, which is why government at all levels has to continue to be proactive to protect our freedom and protect our people.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
PATAKI: We've been proactive and vigilant for years, and we will continue to be, not just in this capital but across this state. We have to be.
We can't simply -- the administration, I think is doing an outstanding job in the war against terror. They understand its importance in Washington. But they can't do it alone. They need the help of state government. They need the help of local officials. They need the help of the people of our state and of America.
And in this instance, they have gotten that help. And I'm confident they will continue to have that support from Americans across this country who are going to intelligently make sure they are the eyes and ears of law enforcement.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
PATAKI: Lackawanna, yes.
QUESTION: Lackawanna. Can you tell us if there is any connection between this (OFF-MIKE) in Albany and those events?
PATAKI: I'm not going to talk about any of the specifics involving this. You know, the Justice Department will give you the details.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE). How important is it to this state (OFF- MIKE)?
PATAKI: Well, obviously we're very proud to have the 10th Mountain Division in New York, but their primary role is overseas, as we've seen in Afghanistan and in Iraq. And we're very proud of them.
QUESTION: Governor, some of the members of the mosque have been telling reporters that it's repugnant to them that a mosque was targeted, and they feel that this was (OFF-MIKE).
PATAKI: We have to go after terrorists, or those who would support terrorism, wherever it takes us.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
JENNINGS: Well, obviously we're part of the Joint Terrorist Task Force. And, you know, local officials, law enforcement officials receive a lot of information that then works its way up the ladder, and that's what we're doing statewide. You know, this task force has been proven to be very effective. My people hear things, they get information from the community. They share it with the task force, and then we act appropriately.
And this is not a knee-jerk reaction. This has been an ongoing investigation. It's something we've been looking at for quite a while. And we're going to continue to work collectively.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
JENNINGS: Well, you know, I can't get into the definites, but we're not going to stop at a building if we feel it's a threat to anyone in our communities.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
PATAKI: I think we will leave it to the federal officials to discuss those specifics.
KAGAN: Excuse me, we've been listening in to the mayor of Albany, New York, also to New York Governor George Pataki as they talk about a situation, a story unfolding in that city.
Two men arrested in connection with alleged plot -- an alleged plot to buy some shoulder-fired missiles. As part of it there was a raid on a mosque there in Albany.
You heard the governor mention we should get a lot more details on exactly what is unfolding and what the government believes that it knows. One thirty, about an hour and a half from right now, the Department of Justice will be holding a news conference. You'll see that live right here on CNN.
Right now we're going to put in a quick break. I'm back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: That's actually going to wrap it up for me, Daryn Kagan. Wolf Blitzer is up next. Carol Lin is filling in for him today as Wolf continues his vacation. I will be see you right here in the chair tomorrow morning. Have a great day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAROL LIN, HOST: Hello, I'm Carol Lin at the CNN Center in Atlanta, in today for Wolf Blitzer. We've got a busy hour ahead, but first here are some headlines that are now in the news.
Two men tied to a mosque in northern New York are now in custody and suspected of links to al Qaeda. The Justice Department is holding a news conference this afternoon on the federal operation that hauled those men in. Details of that case coming up.
Also, the war flares again in the Iraqi city of Najaf. An American soldier died today in fighting with Shiite insurgents, and two troops were wounded when their helicopter was gunned down. We're going to have a live report from Baghdad.
And the rocker Bruce Springsteen is thundering out today against the Bush administration. He's joining other rockers. And later today we're going to look at the rock 'n' roll factor. How many voters are likely to follow The Boss?
But first this hour, the terror-related arrests in Albany, New York. The mayor of that city has just briefed reporters, along with New York Governor George Pataki.
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