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CNN Live Today

Defending a Spouse; Missing Student

Aired June 29, 2005 - 10:30   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: This hour in New York City an unveiling of the redesigned Freedom Tower at New York's Ground Zero. The building was sent back to the drawing board after the New York Police Department raised security concerns. The new design will call for a smaller footprint of the building, which will stand where the World Trade Center once did. It is also intended to be more blast resistant.
If you're thinking about taking out a loan, you might want to do it today. The Federal Reserve begins a two-day meeting this afternoon. Experts predict the Fed will announce another boost to short-term interest rates tomorrow. That would be the ninth straight increase. The rates that banks charge consumers are tied to the Federal Funds Rate.

And there's now a whole new way to get your news on the Web, with free video at CNN.com. Just log on to our Web site and click on watch to check out the most popular stories. It's free video under your command now at CNN.com.

In today's CNN Security Watch, the White House is expected to endorse almost all of the recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission. That panel issued a scathing 600-page report on U.S. intelligence and its finding before the war in Iraq. Later today, the White House released a three-month study of the report, along with its plans.

Meanwhile, two U.S. citizens accused of plotting to help Al Qaeda, both pleaded not guilty in federal court yesterday. In fact, the attorney for one of the suspects called the charges ridiculous. A sentiment that is echoed by the suspect's wife.

Our Mary Snow talked to her in this CNN exclusive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are you married to an al Qaeda supporter?

ZAKKIYYA SHAH, WIFE OF TERROR SUSPECT: No.

SNOW: The FBI alleges that he was very interested in Osama bin Laden, had listened to his speeches and had pledged loyalty to the Jihad. What do you say to that?

SHAH: Never heard it. Never heard him say that. And that's an alleged count.

SNOW: Did he ever talk about Osama bin Laden?

SHAH: Who can't talk about Osama bin Laden? He's on the news. He's in the newspapers. He's in "Newsweek." He's in "TIME."

SNOW (voice-over): One month ago, Tarik Shah was arrested. The indictment says he was planning to train al Qaeda supporters in martial arts, which he practiced.

(on camera) What was your reaction to that?

SHAH: Surprised, startled . I couldn't believe it. I was confused, because I really did not understand what they were saying, and what evidence they could possibly have that could connect him to any of these things that they were alleging.

SNOW: Your husband is a jazz musician.

SHAH: Yes, he is.

SNOW: Law enforcement officials say he was using that as a cover.

SHAH: Not true. One thing about Tarik Shah, my husband, is that he is one that will show you one face all the time. Not two-faced. He does not have the ability to be two-faced.

SNOW (voice-over): Zakkiyya Shah married her husband 13 years ago and says he inspired her to convert to Islam.

SHAH: He had a tremendous light the first time I saw him. He was just glowing, and the first time I saw him, he was playing his bass.

SNOW: She currently has a job inspecting boilers, a trade she learned while serving four years in the Navy.

(on camera) You spent four years of your life devoting your life to the government, the very same government that's put your husband in jail. Are you angry about that?

SHAH: Very concerned about the amount of power that's being wielded. The government has a lot of power, and they are flexing, if you will.

SNOW (voice-over): She says a man posing as a music student turned out to be the government informant who betrayed her husband. She believes that Muslims have become a magnet for terror probes.

SHAH: We are all afflicted with trials and tribulations. And whatever is meant for us to happen here, we have to accept what's meant for us to happen.

SNOW (on camera): At federal court here in New York in an arraignment, Tarik Shah and his co-defendant and friend, Rafik Sabir, both pled not guilty to charges of conspiring to provide support for al Qaeda. Both men are being held without bail but have the right to apply for bail. They are next due in court on September 6.

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: As we approach the holiday weekend, Homeland Security officials say there is no indication of terrorists targeting Fourth of July celebrations. The FBI has assessed intelligence on gatherings in at least four major cities. One official described information to CNN as nothing inflammatory. The assessment was distributed to local law enforcement last week.

Be sure to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

A call goes out for another team of searchers to join those looking for Natalee Holloway in Aruba. Meanwhile, the missing 18- year-old's family is expressing frustration about the case.

Our Chris Lawrence joins us now from Palm Beach, Aruba with an update on the story.

Chris, hello.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, we've just learned that the Netherlands has approved sending more of the Dutch marines here to the island to help with that search. But Natalee Holloway's family feels the real keys to this case are already in custody. Three suspects are still being held, Joran Van Der Sloot, whose father Paul was in jail for about three days before he was released, and two brothers, Depak and Satish Kalpoe. They were all some of the last people to see Natalee on the night she disappeared, but the boys' stories have been changing. They started out saying they dropped Natalee off back here at the hotel, but one of their own attorneys says that's not true.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID KOCK, ATTY. FOR SATISH KALPOE: The story of Depak is that Joran just said, I'm walking home. I was on the beach with a girl, but she fell asleep, didn't want to get up. So I said forget it, I'm walking home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: Now all three of them will be in court early next week for a hearing, where prosecutors will have to prove why they should keep them for up to another 60 days. Their attorneys tell us that they are optimistic their clients could go free. And if we remember that when Judge Paul Van Der Sloot walked out this weekend, Natalee Holloway's family called that devastating, and said they felt that it moved the investigation all the way back to square one, so they will be watching very closely to see what happens with this next hearing -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And, Chris, it sounds like they're still determined to stay there on Aruba until there is information about what happened to their daughter.

LAWRENCE: Yes, we understand that perhaps Natalee's father may have to go home for a few days. He does have other children and things to deal with, and then he expects to come right back within a few days. Natalee Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty, says she expects to be here until she gets answers about what happened to her daughter.

KAGAN: Chris Lawrence live from Aruba, thank you.

And we have a new development for a search for a teenager in a rain-swollen creek Maryland. There are reports of a body believed to be that of the teen has been found. Police helicopters and divers began searching the Gwinns (ph) Fall area Tuesday afternoon. The 17- year-old went into the fast-moving water to save three younger children. Those three were recovered by rescuers. Friends say the 17-year-old did not know how to swim.

Other news coast to coast, a dead shark can still attract a crowd. Oh, my goodness. My goodness. The six-footer discovered yesterday at Rockaway Beach in Queens with a fish hook in its mouth. A marine expert said it was a species normally found deep in the open ocean.

A funeral is expected to begin at Noon Eastern for Jamie Daigle. She is a 14-year-old Louisiana girl, who was killed by a shark over the weekend, while swimming near Destin, Florida. Another shark attack on Monday, about 100 miles away, left a 17-year-old boy in critical condition.

To Camden, New Jersey, funerals set tomorrow for two young boys who suffocated inside a car trunk last week. The third victim will be buried in Puerto Rico. The three friends disappeared Wednesday evening. Their bodies discovered locked in the trunk two days later. Autopsies concluded their deaths were accidental.

And in Fredericksburg, Virginia, a mother faces felony child abuse charges for putting her two 5-year-olds in the trunk of her car at a store parking lot on Saturday. An off-duty policeman from New Hampshire was alerted to the children's plight by another customer. The woman later told police the children were being punished for misbehaving in the store, and that she did not intend to leave them in the trunk.

Can the thrill and excitement of science fiction the ticket to end the summertime doldrums at the movie theater? Still to come Tom Cruise tries to bring happiness to a box office that has had a tough one.

Plus, good news for car buyers. Chrysler could soon match GM's big discount program. We're going to have that story and a check of the financial markets coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We often remind you that if you're away from your TV, the latest news is only a mouse click away at CNN.com. In fact, the Internet is now a dimension of life that was virtually, shoot, unthinkable a decade ago. CNN's Christina Park at the dot-com desk with a closer look at the Internet's humble beginnings.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINA PARK, CNN.COM CORRESPONDENT: Can you even imagine life without the Internet? Well, the next time you shoot off an e-mail at Google or log on to CNN.com, here's who you should thank. Before former vice president Al Gore called himself the father of the Internet, there was J.R.R. Licklider, a psychologist who was the driving force behind the Defense Department's investigation of computers as communication devices.

While you're online, check out the folks who dreamed this impossible dream. We'll also take you through the glory days of the dot-com boom and the history of the dot-com bust. See the carnage as we remember fallen dot-com companies like pets.com, Cosmo and web Van. We also look at how the Internet changed the world on a global scale, from Europe to Asia, and gave birth to technologies like instant- messaging, MP3s, file-swapping, wifi, and yes, broadband.

CNN.com/online shows you what it was like before a period became the dot in dot-com, before you had to lick a stamp to send a note and when spam was just a canned pink pork product instead of that junk e- mail that hits your inbox. CNN.com welcomes you to a brave new world -- wide web, that is.

I'm Christina Park reporting from the dot-com desk. See you online.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: So Tom Cruise. He's been in the news a little bit recently. A little bit of controversy around him. Today, it's actually his new movie that opens nationwide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never seen anything like this before. That many of strikes of lightning in one spot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this the only place?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put that down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: We're bringing Mr. Moviefone in a couple days early to weigh in on "The War of the Worlds." He'll be with us when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Just a little glimpse of the intense action filmgoers will get to see today. The sci-fi thriller "War of the Worlds" returns to the big screen, the latest incarnation of the H.G. Wells classic. Gene Barry had the starring role in the original back in 1953 and, of course, before that, Orson Welles made history with his 1938 broadcast. And then there was the book itself. Oh, yes, it was book, published originally in 1898. That kind of legacy could almost intimidate most filmmakers, but not if you're Steven Spielberg.

Russ Leatherman, a.k.a. Mr. Moviefone, here to explain how it stacks up against the previous versions. Hi, Russ. Good to see you on Wednesday.

RUSS LEATHERMAN, MR. MOVIEFONE: Hey, Daryn. How are you?

You almost left me nothing to talk about. We got the plot of the movie, we know the history, we know everything about it.

KAGAN: You always have something to say. How about this: Is it any good?

LEATHERMAN: Well, that's ultimately the question. And I can say, this is an amazing movie. This is Steven Spielberg doing what he does absolutely best. If remember back to "The Jurassic Park" movie and some of his other great works, this is unrelenting terror. The first hour and 20 minutes of this movie will jangle every nerve that you have. He stars as a deadbeat dad. The kids show up one weekend, guess what else shows up, the martians, and they're...

KAGAN: I hate it when that happens!

LEATHERMAN: It is a bummer. And they're incinerating everybody on the planet. And it's -- this is a dark movie. This is a -- really, it's a horror film, is what it is, and they spend two hours running away from the aliens. The effects are spectacular, the C.G.I. mixed with the real-life scenes are unbelievable.

It is Spielberg doing his best work. Tom Cruise is good in the movie. Dakota Fanning is fantastic. Really, the only negative thing I have to say about the movie is the last ten minutes, the movie just collapses. It really follows the source material pretty closely, which doesn't really make for a good ending for the movie. The people in the screening I was with were sort of giving it the Scooby Do "huh?", like what happened there?

I will say, though, I took my family to see this movie and I was sitting with my 14-year-old son. And we pretty much held hands the entire movie. And not in a Michael Jackson...

KAGAN: You're warming my heart.

LEATHERMAN: Thank you, Daryn. You know what, he was terrified, as were the people in the theater. You will not believe how intense this movie is. It's rated PG-13. I would not take a kid under the age of 13 to see this movie if you're a parent. Really think about that before you go see this thing. But man, Spielberg knows how to do a movie like this. And for the most part, it's fantastic. Except for the last ten minutes, it's a spectacular movie.

KAGAN: And don't take the kids. So good -- kudos to Steven Spielberg. Tom Cruise, you say, is good. Are you able to leave behind kind of all the wack-a-doodle stuff that Tom Cruise has been doing lately, between his personal life and making statements about all sorts of stuff that people think he doesn't have any business talking about?

LEATHERMAN: Well, you know what, we spent the morning trying to find the right word for what Tom Cruise is right now, and I believe you've hit it on the head with wack-a-doodle.

KAGAN: Wack-a-doodle. It's in the dictionary.

LEATHERMAN: It's really unbelievable. You know, I've talked to a lot of people who've said you know what, I can't get past the fact this guy is an idiot and I do not want to give him my money. Now, he and both Spielberg stand to make a ton of money on the back end of this movie and you will -- you buy a ticket, you will literally be supporting him and Katie and their new chateau. So if you're OK -- if you can get past that, which a lot of people cannot, by the way. They're saying, I'm not going to go see this movie. That's their prerogative, right? But for everybody...

KAGAN: But I just mean as a movie viewer. When you're sitting in the theater, can you look up on the screen and believe that he's playing this divorced dad character who's being pursued by aliens and forget all the other stuff?

LEATHERMAN: He's a great actor. There's no doubt about it. He's a good actor. But if you happened to see the Matt Lauer interview, no, you can't get past it. You look up there and you think this guy is out of his mind and I got a problem with that. But you know, the majority of the movie-going public, they don't care about that. They're not as in tune to this stuff as we are and they're going to go see this movie and I'm sure it will have a huge opening weekend.

KAGAN: So there you go. If you're looking for a good movie, excellent special effects, you're a Spielberg fan, just don't bring the kids, have a great time at the movies.

LEATHERMAN: You did it again, Daryn.

KAGAN: No, I'm just summarizing what -- all your great points. That's all.

LEATHERMAN: Thank you so much.

KAGAN: I listen very carefully when you talk, Russ.

LEATHERMAN: You really do. Thank you for paying attention.

KAGAN: Because I care.

LEATHERMAN: I know you do.

KAGAN: Thank you, Russ.

LEATHERMAN: Bye, Daryn.

KAGAN: Mr. Moviefone. And Mr. Leatherman, depending what part of his life you're dealing with him.

OK, let's check the time. Good idea. 9:52 in the Lone Star state. That is where Tropical Storm Brett has people looking south. It is 8:52 in Camp Birdie (ph), Arizona, where one of the biggest wildfires in the state's history is burning. Stay with us. We'll be back with a quick check of your morning forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: An unexpected and disturbing trend among soldiers returning from war. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look at this new type of trauma, what causes it and whether it can be treated. We'll take a look at that as the second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.

We'd like to kick off the hour by taking a look at what's happening "Now in the News." New information about the crash of the U.S. helicopter in Afghanistan. The military now says the chopper did come under hostile fire before it went down. Still no word on the fate of the 17 service members who were onboard. A live update from the Pentagon is just ahead.

A Senate Committee is holding confirmation hearings on General Peter Pace. A live picture from Capitol Hill for you. He is President Bush's nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Pace would replace General Richard Myers, who is retiring at the end of September.

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