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CNN Live Today
Arab Television Airing Video of Man Said to be New American Hostage in Iraq; 30-Year Anniversary of Lebanon's Civil War
Aired April 13, 2005 - 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Former President Clinton is due to speak at the United Nations about an hour from now. He's expected to brief the international community on his recent trips to areas devastated by the December tsunamis and lay out the scope of ongoing relief needs.
And an ambitious project will be unveiled today to make a genetic map of how the human race spread across the globe. The Genograpic Project is being undertaken by the National Geographic Society and IBM. The five-year study will analyze DNA samples from people all over the world in an attempt to chart how humans migrated and settled across the earth in prehistoric times.
Arab television is today airing video of a man said to be a new American hostage in Iraq.
CNN's Aneesh Raman is live from Baghdad.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, good morning.
The Arabic-language station Al Jazeera broadcasting today a video purportedly of an American hostage taken on Monday in broad daylight while working on a reconstruction project here in Baghdad. The U.S. embassy here in the capital city say his name is Jeffrey Aches. He's from Indiana. We don't know what company he's working for. But we do know that in South Bend, there's a company called Equipment Express that is doing projects here in Iraq.
Now on the tape, Al Jazeera says the man calls on the U.S. to engage the insurgency in dialogue, also calls on the U.S. to withdraw all troops. No claim of responsibility in terms of what group is behind this as of now, Daryn.
Now this comes on a very violent day in Iraq. North of the capital city in the town of Kirkuk, some 12 Iraqi soldiers killed as they tried to diffuse a roadside bomb that they had come upon.
Also today, three bombs exploding, all targeting American military convoys. The first taking place around 9:00 a.m. local time in eastern Baghdad. A convoy went by. No U.S. casualties reported there, but a fuel truck did catch on fire, causing for some dramatic video.
Also in western Baghdad, about an hour later, a suicide car bomb hitting a convoy. Five Iraqi civilians wounded there, and then another bomb taking place in eastern Baghdad. Also as an American military convoy was passing by, three Iraqi civilians wounded in that incident -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Aneesh Raman, live from Baghdad. Thank you.
We turn now this morning's world wrap. It begins at the Vatican. The tomb of Pope John Paul II was opened to visitors today. Some three million pilgrims jammed into Rome during the pope's funeral. Vatican officials chose to wait -- there's our picture for us -- chose to wait until the throngs were gone before reopening the papal crypt to tourists.
Political tension between Japan and China is likely to worsen this time over oil and gas exploration. Japan says it will begin processing applications for exploratory drilling in the East China Sea, which lies between the two nations. Both countries lay claim to the potential energy reserve. China has already begun exploratory drilling in an area Japan claims is within its territorial waters.
And in Milan, Italians soccer fans are known to get a bit rowdy and out of hand, but this one exceptional. This time, they tossed lit flares onto the field, even striking an opponent's goalie. The game obviously had to stop.
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War. After recent violence in Lebanon, we're going to look at the country's future, as well as its past, through eyes of two veteran reporters.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: We're just getting in pictures of Fulton County Deputy Cynthia Hall. She was the woman that was allegedly injured by suspect Brian Nichols, the first one to be tacked by him. This is her leaving an Atlanta hospital. She has been undergoing treatment for severe head injuries. This of course, she was on duty with Brian Nichols about a month ago when he allegedly overpowered her, hit her over the head and stole her gun, then went on to kill a judge, a court reporter, and another sheriff's deputy and a federal immigration agent as well. Now, what was unclear up to this point, how much she remembers about the day the courthouse shootings took place. Here's her doctor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. GERALD BILSKY, SHEPHERD CENTER: Well, she has talked a little bit about it. She was most anxious to get out of the hospital. She sort of felt it was time to leave the hospital. She knows she has some work to do still. She does want to get back to work in some capacity, whatever that may be. She's still sorting out what her role is and will be in the workforce, but she wants to go back to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Brian Nichols has been in custody since mid March. More on that story in a little bit.
Right now, we want to turn to a significant international date. It began 30 years ago today, in 1975, Christians, rioting Christians attacked a bus filled with Palestinians, setting of Lebanon's bloody civil war; 150,000 people died over the next 15 years. Beirut lay in ruins. Today the city is revitalized. Syrian troops are on their way home and elections are on their way. The people of Lebanon are holding a day of national reconciliation.
Our senior Arab affairs editor Octavia Nasr is here with me today, to talk about not just this day, but you were sharing the way that Lebanese used to deal with this day is totally different than how they've choose to do it today.
OCTAVIA NASR, SR. ARAB AFFAIRS: For the first time since the end of the war, the Lebanese today, the Lebanese are remembering that war. They forgot and may sure, and not to mention the war. First of all, they never admitted that it was a civil war. Some people say it was out of shame, because basically, the Lebanese killed each other. Muslims killed Christians. And Jews killed Christians. And Christians killed Christians.
That war had so many different ramifications. It changed so much over the years, and basically the Lebanese for many years were ashamed to talk about it. And also, some experts say that they were afraid to talk about the war, lest it comes back.
So today, for the first time -- of course, the events in Lebanon are very different this year from the previous 15 years. There was a prime minister that was assassinated. There was an outpouring of emotions. People taking to the streets, screaming, shouting, holding banners asking Syria to leave Lebanon. And, of course, the mood is different. So for the first time, experts are calling it the Lebanese facing their demons for the first time in 15 years. It's a very interesting day.
KAGAN: Some people might have tried to forget, others that's not possible. Both for you, who grew up there, as well as our veteran correspondent Brent Sadler. He covered the Lebanese civil war for many years. He talked about his harrowing days in Beirut, and he did that with our Anderson Cooper. Let's look back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF (on camera): Although sporadic fighting is continuing, the area...
(voice-over): That was back in 1983...
All told, I covered the war here for more than 20 years.
(on camera): There was no more dangerous place a journalist could be during those years. This location is where I nearly bought it.
Yeah, OK, there's the hill there. So we would have been about here.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Could you actually see who was shooting at you?
SADLER: No. We just heard very heavy-caliber machine gunfire. And then it was like Roman candles, like fireworks pouring down on us, bright orange balls of fire, sparks falling, and the flak as bullets hit concrete and metal. You knew you were about to die.
COOPER: And after you were shot over here, you ran into this area.
SADLER: That's right. After the cannon fire came down, I hit the deck, saw the rounds coming backwards and forwards going both sides of my body. And then I heard shouting, Brent, Brent, move, move, move!
So, I looked and all my colleagues were in there. So I just -- my cameraman was hit in the wrist, and nearly died here.
COOPER (voice-over): During the war years, whole sections of Beirut were reduced to rubble. Last month, when the former prime minister was blown up and an entire city block was destroyed in the blast, the scene looked all too familiar.
SADLER: The Rafik Hariri assassination is just a mile down there. So you've got Rafik Hariri's massive bomb blast, a turning point of Lebanese history just down there. And just here in front of us, an awful reminder of what happened in that massive car bomb against the U.S. here.
COOPER: So this was the site of the U.S. Embassy.
SADLER: The images of that day were -- I remember vividly, the collapsed floors of the building, body parts hanging out of some of the floors. It came down like a deck of cards.
The car bomb is a weapon of choice by terrorists really was developed in this country. The car bomb and the truck bomb had a devastating impact, claimed more than 240 American Marine lives at the airport. Who could not forget those horrendous images that day.
All of the buildings downtown used to look like this, millions of bullet holes everywhere. This would be around about here, you can see the archway here, this is what it was like throughout the city. This was the Green Line area dividing Christian east from Muslim west. This is where some of the worst battles took place.
COOPER: I mean, is change possible here?
SADLER: It has changed, Anderson. Don't forget, these people, the sectarian divide here, were tearing each other's throats out. They hated each other. They murdered each other.
I guess I've learned more than anything else the durability of mankind to withstand some of the most incredible horrors and bloodshed, and also learned that deep divisions between societies, political groups, religious divides cannot be just brought together like that with some neat, magic formula. For policies to expect to change people's mindsets and traditions and culture and history is no overnight job.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Brent Sadler covered the Lebanese Civil War for British television. He's been with us as Beirut Bureau Chief since 1997.
So we also have this fantastic resource of Octavia Nasr. This is a two-part story for you, first personal. You grew up amidst all this.
NASR: Right. I was nine when the war started. I remember the first day of the war, it was amazing how everything creeped up so quickly. We couldn't believe it. Schools stopped for a while. You started hearing bombings and clashes. You know, it was a street war for all these 15 years. Here, you're looking at me much later. I was much older than nine then, but...
KAGAN: So then you grew up into a reporter and you ended up covering the war?
NASR: Right. Absolutely. I was a war correspondent. And you know, you look at these pictures now -- we're talking about 1988 and 1989 -- you see me there getting in a tank, in an armored tank. And you know, now when we talk about imbedding and we talk about -- the only ways to cover a story sometimes is to be imbedded with the soldiers. Back then, that was improvised. You know, I was a local reporter. We didn't have any way to get to the front. So we figured just, you know, bullet-proof jacket and helmet and...
KAGAN: And hop a ride?
NASR: Right. Hop a ride. And now when I look back, it was so dangerous back then. Of course, working for a local station is nothing like working for a big network, so if I'm covering the story for CNN now, it would be different. But these are good days because I lived to talk about them.
KAGAN: Absolutely.
NASR: Good days for us to have you here with us. Octavia Nasr, thank you for that.
We're going to have a look at the nation's weather and business outlook coming up. We'll be back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
KAGAN: Is it hunting season? A new target in the hunter's site, cats?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: There is a cat fight going on in Wisconsin. Animal lovers are baring claws over a plan that would allow hunters to kill will and free-roaming cats. We're going to hear from Wolf in a moment.
First, a look at this story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is where I can speak. Let me speak.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So much love. He's so fluffy that a collar -- the collar can't be seen on him.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's enough to drive cat lovers crazy. In Madison, Wisconsin, a public hearing with more than 1,300 people. For many, the thought of shooting cats, wild or not, was intolerable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't have to kill them, no. That's terrible.
BLITZER: More than a million feral, or wild cats, are believed to live in Wisconsin, and some say the population is out of control. They're proposing that feral cats be removed from the state's protected species list, which could make it legal to shoot them, like skunks or possums.
The Wisconsin Conservation Congress, a neutral group which sponsored the meetings, took a non-binding vote on the issue which will be passed on to the State Department of Natural Resources.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people that are here voting against it aren't realizing the whole question. We're not shooting cats in the city. We're shooting cats out in the wild.
BLITZER: Proponents say feral cats are wiping out some bird populations, while competing with owls and hawks for food. They also say feral cats can spread disease to other animals and even humans.
Opponents of the proposal don't buy it, and say it puts people's pets in danger.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Although there are inherent risks to being outdoors for any pet, being legally shot should not be one of them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's almost impossible, for somebody, especially at a distance, to determine if a cat is somebody's beloved companion or a feral cat.
BLITZER: Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
I don't know how Wolf is going to top the cat story, but let's see what he has coming up at noon -- Wolf.
BLITZER: A lot of interest in that cat story. We're following up as well, Daryn. We're going to find out how that vote in Wisconsin went. We're also following other news, concerns and lots of questions after thousands of samples of the deadly Asian flu virus were mistakenly shipped to laboratories around the world. How did it happen? And what are the potential health risks? We'll address those questions with our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. Also unfolding this hour, an American held hostage in Iraq. There are new developments. We'll update on viewers on what we know at the top of the hour.
And searching for solutions, how do you stop criminals from stealing your identity? That question now before the U.S. Congress. We'll get all of those stories, much more, on NEWS FROM CNN.
Daryn, in the meantime, back to you.
KAGAN: The good news is, can you imagine if someone tried to say they were Wolf Blitzer? I think they'd get a big question mark.
BLITZER: It's happened, believe me.
KAGAN: OK, Wolf. Thank you.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: And that's going to do it for me, Daryn Kagan.
Wolf Blitzer takes over from here.
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 April 13, 2005 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Former President Clinton is due to speak at the United Nations about an hour from now. He's expected to brief the international community on his recent trips to areas devastated by the December tsunamis and lay out the scope of ongoing relief needs.
And an ambitious project will be unveiled today to make a genetic map of how the human race spread across the globe. The Genograpic Project is being undertaken by the National Geographic Society and IBM. The five-year study will analyze DNA samples from people all over the world in an attempt to chart how humans migrated and settled across the earth in prehistoric times.
Arab television is today airing video of a man said to be a new American hostage in Iraq.
CNN's Aneesh Raman is live from Baghdad.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, good morning.
The Arabic-language station Al Jazeera broadcasting today a video purportedly of an American hostage taken on Monday in broad daylight while working on a reconstruction project here in Baghdad. The U.S. embassy here in the capital city say his name is Jeffrey Aches. He's from Indiana. We don't know what company he's working for. But we do know that in South Bend, there's a company called Equipment Express that is doing projects here in Iraq.
Now on the tape, Al Jazeera says the man calls on the U.S. to engage the insurgency in dialogue, also calls on the U.S. to withdraw all troops. No claim of responsibility in terms of what group is behind this as of now, Daryn.
Now this comes on a very violent day in Iraq. North of the capital city in the town of Kirkuk, some 12 Iraqi soldiers killed as they tried to diffuse a roadside bomb that they had come upon.
Also today, three bombs exploding, all targeting American military convoys. The first taking place around 9:00 a.m. local time in eastern Baghdad. A convoy went by. No U.S. casualties reported there, but a fuel truck did catch on fire, causing for some dramatic video.
Also in western Baghdad, about an hour later, a suicide car bomb hitting a convoy. Five Iraqi civilians wounded there, and then another bomb taking place in eastern Baghdad. Also as an American military convoy was passing by, three Iraqi civilians wounded in that incident -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Aneesh Raman, live from Baghdad. Thank you.
We turn now this morning's world wrap. It begins at the Vatican. The tomb of Pope John Paul II was opened to visitors today. Some three million pilgrims jammed into Rome during the pope's funeral. Vatican officials chose to wait -- there's our picture for us -- chose to wait until the throngs were gone before reopening the papal crypt to tourists.
Political tension between Japan and China is likely to worsen this time over oil and gas exploration. Japan says it will begin processing applications for exploratory drilling in the East China Sea, which lies between the two nations. Both countries lay claim to the potential energy reserve. China has already begun exploratory drilling in an area Japan claims is within its territorial waters.
And in Milan, Italians soccer fans are known to get a bit rowdy and out of hand, but this one exceptional. This time, they tossed lit flares onto the field, even striking an opponent's goalie. The game obviously had to stop.
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War. After recent violence in Lebanon, we're going to look at the country's future, as well as its past, through eyes of two veteran reporters.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: We're just getting in pictures of Fulton County Deputy Cynthia Hall. She was the woman that was allegedly injured by suspect Brian Nichols, the first one to be tacked by him. This is her leaving an Atlanta hospital. She has been undergoing treatment for severe head injuries. This of course, she was on duty with Brian Nichols about a month ago when he allegedly overpowered her, hit her over the head and stole her gun, then went on to kill a judge, a court reporter, and another sheriff's deputy and a federal immigration agent as well. Now, what was unclear up to this point, how much she remembers about the day the courthouse shootings took place. Here's her doctor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. GERALD BILSKY, SHEPHERD CENTER: Well, she has talked a little bit about it. She was most anxious to get out of the hospital. She sort of felt it was time to leave the hospital. She knows she has some work to do still. She does want to get back to work in some capacity, whatever that may be. She's still sorting out what her role is and will be in the workforce, but she wants to go back to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Brian Nichols has been in custody since mid March. More on that story in a little bit.
Right now, we want to turn to a significant international date. It began 30 years ago today, in 1975, Christians, rioting Christians attacked a bus filled with Palestinians, setting of Lebanon's bloody civil war; 150,000 people died over the next 15 years. Beirut lay in ruins. Today the city is revitalized. Syrian troops are on their way home and elections are on their way. The people of Lebanon are holding a day of national reconciliation.
Our senior Arab affairs editor Octavia Nasr is here with me today, to talk about not just this day, but you were sharing the way that Lebanese used to deal with this day is totally different than how they've choose to do it today.
OCTAVIA NASR, SR. ARAB AFFAIRS: For the first time since the end of the war, the Lebanese today, the Lebanese are remembering that war. They forgot and may sure, and not to mention the war. First of all, they never admitted that it was a civil war. Some people say it was out of shame, because basically, the Lebanese killed each other. Muslims killed Christians. And Jews killed Christians. And Christians killed Christians.
That war had so many different ramifications. It changed so much over the years, and basically the Lebanese for many years were ashamed to talk about it. And also, some experts say that they were afraid to talk about the war, lest it comes back.
So today, for the first time -- of course, the events in Lebanon are very different this year from the previous 15 years. There was a prime minister that was assassinated. There was an outpouring of emotions. People taking to the streets, screaming, shouting, holding banners asking Syria to leave Lebanon. And, of course, the mood is different. So for the first time, experts are calling it the Lebanese facing their demons for the first time in 15 years. It's a very interesting day.
KAGAN: Some people might have tried to forget, others that's not possible. Both for you, who grew up there, as well as our veteran correspondent Brent Sadler. He covered the Lebanese civil war for many years. He talked about his harrowing days in Beirut, and he did that with our Anderson Cooper. Let's look back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF (on camera): Although sporadic fighting is continuing, the area...
(voice-over): That was back in 1983...
All told, I covered the war here for more than 20 years.
(on camera): There was no more dangerous place a journalist could be during those years. This location is where I nearly bought it.
Yeah, OK, there's the hill there. So we would have been about here.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Could you actually see who was shooting at you?
SADLER: No. We just heard very heavy-caliber machine gunfire. And then it was like Roman candles, like fireworks pouring down on us, bright orange balls of fire, sparks falling, and the flak as bullets hit concrete and metal. You knew you were about to die.
COOPER: And after you were shot over here, you ran into this area.
SADLER: That's right. After the cannon fire came down, I hit the deck, saw the rounds coming backwards and forwards going both sides of my body. And then I heard shouting, Brent, Brent, move, move, move!
So, I looked and all my colleagues were in there. So I just -- my cameraman was hit in the wrist, and nearly died here.
COOPER (voice-over): During the war years, whole sections of Beirut were reduced to rubble. Last month, when the former prime minister was blown up and an entire city block was destroyed in the blast, the scene looked all too familiar.
SADLER: The Rafik Hariri assassination is just a mile down there. So you've got Rafik Hariri's massive bomb blast, a turning point of Lebanese history just down there. And just here in front of us, an awful reminder of what happened in that massive car bomb against the U.S. here.
COOPER: So this was the site of the U.S. Embassy.
SADLER: The images of that day were -- I remember vividly, the collapsed floors of the building, body parts hanging out of some of the floors. It came down like a deck of cards.
The car bomb is a weapon of choice by terrorists really was developed in this country. The car bomb and the truck bomb had a devastating impact, claimed more than 240 American Marine lives at the airport. Who could not forget those horrendous images that day.
All of the buildings downtown used to look like this, millions of bullet holes everywhere. This would be around about here, you can see the archway here, this is what it was like throughout the city. This was the Green Line area dividing Christian east from Muslim west. This is where some of the worst battles took place.
COOPER: I mean, is change possible here?
SADLER: It has changed, Anderson. Don't forget, these people, the sectarian divide here, were tearing each other's throats out. They hated each other. They murdered each other.
I guess I've learned more than anything else the durability of mankind to withstand some of the most incredible horrors and bloodshed, and also learned that deep divisions between societies, political groups, religious divides cannot be just brought together like that with some neat, magic formula. For policies to expect to change people's mindsets and traditions and culture and history is no overnight job.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Brent Sadler covered the Lebanese Civil War for British television. He's been with us as Beirut Bureau Chief since 1997.
So we also have this fantastic resource of Octavia Nasr. This is a two-part story for you, first personal. You grew up amidst all this.
NASR: Right. I was nine when the war started. I remember the first day of the war, it was amazing how everything creeped up so quickly. We couldn't believe it. Schools stopped for a while. You started hearing bombings and clashes. You know, it was a street war for all these 15 years. Here, you're looking at me much later. I was much older than nine then, but...
KAGAN: So then you grew up into a reporter and you ended up covering the war?
NASR: Right. Absolutely. I was a war correspondent. And you know, you look at these pictures now -- we're talking about 1988 and 1989 -- you see me there getting in a tank, in an armored tank. And you know, now when we talk about imbedding and we talk about -- the only ways to cover a story sometimes is to be imbedded with the soldiers. Back then, that was improvised. You know, I was a local reporter. We didn't have any way to get to the front. So we figured just, you know, bullet-proof jacket and helmet and...
KAGAN: And hop a ride?
NASR: Right. Hop a ride. And now when I look back, it was so dangerous back then. Of course, working for a local station is nothing like working for a big network, so if I'm covering the story for CNN now, it would be different. But these are good days because I lived to talk about them.
KAGAN: Absolutely.
NASR: Good days for us to have you here with us. Octavia Nasr, thank you for that.
We're going to have a look at the nation's weather and business outlook coming up. We'll be back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
KAGAN: Is it hunting season? A new target in the hunter's site, cats?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: There is a cat fight going on in Wisconsin. Animal lovers are baring claws over a plan that would allow hunters to kill will and free-roaming cats. We're going to hear from Wolf in a moment.
First, a look at this story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is where I can speak. Let me speak.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So much love. He's so fluffy that a collar -- the collar can't be seen on him.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's enough to drive cat lovers crazy. In Madison, Wisconsin, a public hearing with more than 1,300 people. For many, the thought of shooting cats, wild or not, was intolerable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't have to kill them, no. That's terrible.
BLITZER: More than a million feral, or wild cats, are believed to live in Wisconsin, and some say the population is out of control. They're proposing that feral cats be removed from the state's protected species list, which could make it legal to shoot them, like skunks or possums.
The Wisconsin Conservation Congress, a neutral group which sponsored the meetings, took a non-binding vote on the issue which will be passed on to the State Department of Natural Resources.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people that are here voting against it aren't realizing the whole question. We're not shooting cats in the city. We're shooting cats out in the wild.
BLITZER: Proponents say feral cats are wiping out some bird populations, while competing with owls and hawks for food. They also say feral cats can spread disease to other animals and even humans.
Opponents of the proposal don't buy it, and say it puts people's pets in danger.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Although there are inherent risks to being outdoors for any pet, being legally shot should not be one of them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's almost impossible, for somebody, especially at a distance, to determine if a cat is somebody's beloved companion or a feral cat.
BLITZER: Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
I don't know how Wolf is going to top the cat story, but let's see what he has coming up at noon -- Wolf.
BLITZER: A lot of interest in that cat story. We're following up as well, Daryn. We're going to find out how that vote in Wisconsin went. We're also following other news, concerns and lots of questions after thousands of samples of the deadly Asian flu virus were mistakenly shipped to laboratories around the world. How did it happen? And what are the potential health risks? We'll address those questions with our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. Also unfolding this hour, an American held hostage in Iraq. There are new developments. We'll update on viewers on what we know at the top of the hour.
And searching for solutions, how do you stop criminals from stealing your identity? That question now before the U.S. Congress. We'll get all of those stories, much more, on NEWS FROM CNN.
Daryn, in the meantime, back to you.
KAGAN: The good news is, can you imagine if someone tried to say they were Wolf Blitzer? I think they'd get a big question mark.
BLITZER: It's happened, believe me.
KAGAN: OK, Wolf. Thank you.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: And that's going to do it for me, Daryn Kagan.
Wolf Blitzer takes over from here.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
