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Saddam Hussein Goes on Trial; Government Discusses Disaster Preparation Plans; Deaths in New Orleans Take Toll on Coroner

Aired October 19, 2005 - 10:32   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Keeping a close watch on happenings going on on Capitol Hill. Two hearings ongoing right now.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, you see on the left-hand side of your screen, testifying on a Senate Foreign Relations Committee, talking about Iraq and other more broad foreign policy issues.

And then on the right, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff talking about how this nation can better respond to natural disasters after seeing what took place after Katrina. He was recommending, in part, that perhaps acknowledging the FEMA system is antiquated, in terms of bringing supplies to much-needed areas. And now he's looking into or wants Capitol Hill to explore looking into ways to involve the military, in the case of emergency use.

Now Jeanne Meserve is keeping a close watch on all this, particularly about what Michael Chertoff is talking about. Let's bring her in in Washington -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, of course, Fredricka,there's been a lot of criticism of FEMA's performance and the Department of Homeland Security's performance in response to Katrina and Rita. One of the big areas of criticism was that officials just didn't seem to know what was going on. They didn't seem to know the extent of the flooding in New Orleans. They weren't aware of what was happening at the Superdome. They weren't aware of what was happening at the convention center. They've been criticized, even ridiculed for that lack of information.

So one of the things the secretary proposed this morning was that emergency reconnaissance teams be put together with existing resources in the department. He's saying that perhaps they would draw together someone from the Coast Guard, somebody from law enforcement, somebody from FEMA. And these small teams would go out in what he called ultradisasters and get an assessment of what was happening and bring it back to officials so they'd be better informed about a situation.

Now, I asked a department official, we've got a Category 5 hurricane perhaps bearing down on Florida, are these teams going to be ready to respond to Wilma? The answer was probably not. But FEMA and the department feel they have adequate resources in Florida, and enough experience, that they will probably be able to cope with whatever this storm has to deliver. But that's one of the proposals here. Another is a predesignated principle federal officer. We've learned what that is now. That was Michael Brown in the case of Katrina. The person on the ground who's coordinating the response effort and the eyes and ears of the administration. What Chertoff is saying is, let's pick some people who'd play that role ahead of time so they'd gain familiarity with the potential risks and the potential disasters in their community and they would begin to interface with some of the state and local officials. Those relationships, obviously so key when a disaster actually strikes -- Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Jeanne Meserve in Washington. Thanks so much.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: As an 11-year-old child, Zainab Salbi was taught to call Saddam Hussein uncle. Salbi's father was chosen to serve as Hussein's personal pilot. By the time she was a teen, Salbi's mother had sent her to the U.S. for an arranged marriage to save her from Saddam Hussein's growing advances. Today, Salbi is an advocate for women's rights and she is telling her story in a book, "Between Two Worlds."

Zainab Salbi joins us now from Seattle. Good to see you.

ZAINAB SALBI, PRES., WOMEN FOR WOMEN INT'L: Good seeing you, thank you.

WHITFIELD: Well, when you look at these images today of Saddam Hussein in court, in this caged in area with six other defendants, do you recognize this man to be the same man that you grew up knowing as a child?

SALBI: Definitely the same man. I grew up knowing that he is a man to be feared, that he is a dictator and that he has killed my best friend's father, that he almost deported my mother because of her Shia origins, as well as deporting 200,000 Shias. I grew up knowing that there were public executions because of that man, that there were many rapes of women because of that man and the orders that he had given, and his own rape of women. So I grew up knowing that he's a dictator, and it feels good to see him on trial. And it feels very good to see that there is a process and there is a court and to document his atrocities against Iraqis.

WHITFIELD: But did your feelings about him evolve over the years? When at 11 years old you're calling him uncle, were you calling him uncle out of duty -- that's what you were told to do -- or because you felt, you know, a real affinity for this man, a real sense of respect as an elder, as anyone would of an elder in their family?

SALBI: Well, every single Iraqi child was taught to call him uncle. That's how we were taught at schools, actually. We were taught to sing for him, to read poetry for him, to dance for him, to go out and demonstrating for -- in support of him. That's what every single Iraqi child =-- teachers at school would ask us, what does our parents think about Uncle Saddam? That's how he penetrated in every single household.

In my case, I called him Uncle Saddam because I was actually -- you know, I knew him and he was an elder that I had to call him uncle. That's the only proper way to call any older person in Iraq. But he -- you know, you always are aware of that fear. There's definitely that just the older man out of him. But you see your parents in a nervous position. They were very, very nervous. He talked about how he killed some of his friends, some of his colleagues, some of his own relatives.

And I saw my parents in a subservient position as they were in front of him. He divided and conquered a lot even between us kids. There was a lot of -- there -- we were all vulnerable to his moods. There were no rules to the rules. They were Saddam's moods. You could be executed at any moment. You could be saying the wrong thing. You could be saying a joke, and your life will be over with.

WHITFIELD: And right now Zainab, we're looking at a photograph of you as a teenager, it seems, as a teenager of him with his hands on your shoulders. You're smiling. When you're smiling, if you can recall what you were thinking and feeling at this time when this photograph was taken, as you are smiling, are you smiling, again, because you feel like you have to, that's what's expected? Or did you genuinely feel that you respected this man at this stage in your life?

SALBI: Not at all. I never respected him. But I was taught to smile when he smiled. This is how we survive, is that we have to be -- I was taught to not express any feelings but a polite and smiley feelings, and so you learn, you teach yourself how to, when you hear about stories of atrocities, public executions that my classmate would tell me, the massacre of the Kurds as my best friend would tell me, you know, the rape of aunts and friends, as I would overhear my mother talking, you learn not to express your feelings. You learn to be polite. Because anything could upset him.

WHITFIELD: So quickly, before I let you go, do you feel a sense of relief, or even victory today, to be able to be an eyewitness to this court proceeding now getting under way?

SALBI: The day he was captured, and today were both very happy days in my life. This is a very important process. His trial presents historical opportunities for Iraqis over all, and for history's sake in particular. And I think it's very important that we prosecute him not only about the crimes that he's been indicted for, but about his crimes against women. It is very important to document that.

WHITFIELD: Zainab Salbi, thank you so much. Sorry to cut you off. We're running out of time. Appreciate it.

SALBI: It's a pleasure. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: When the United States first wrestled control of Iraq, you'll recall the Bush administration released a deck of cards with the wanted Iraqi official on each one. Has that house of cards fallen? Here are the facts. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): Forty-three of Iraq's 55 most wanted are reportedly in custody now. Two of the 55 were killed, Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay. Ten people are still believed to be at large. Most notable among them the king of clubs, former military commander Ibrahim Al Douri. He's believed to be working with the insurgency. There is a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture.

Now which ones are facing trial? One of the seven officials standing trial right now with Saddam Hussein, two are from the deck. The five of clubs, Saddam's half brother Barazan Ibrahim Al Hassan. And the 10 of diamonds, former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadi.

Representatives of the tribunal have said they're looking into filing other charges against Saddam Hussein, and four others from the deck who are in custody. The king of spades, Saddam cousin, Ali Hassan Al Majid, also known as "Chemical Ali." The queen of spades, former Prime Minister Muhammad Hamza Al Zubaydi. The eight of hearts, former defense minister Sultan Hashim Aness (ph). And the eight of spades, former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz.

Meantime, all eyes are on the ace of spades, Saddam Hussein.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Sweet smells are replacing sour ones in New Orleans this morning. A landmark is back in business. You're looking at a live shot right now, and this -- the sounds of New Orleans. It helps Dr. Frank Minyard escape from reality. The reality of processing more than 1,000 victims of Hurricane Katrina.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Look at that. They are serving up beignets and chicory-laced cafe au lait back at the Cafe Du Monde again. The New Orleans landmark reopened today for the first time since Hurricane Katrina hit. Cafe Du Monde sustained only minor damage. There was no flooding there, but it will be a while before business is completely back to normal and all of the tables are filled. A curfew still remains in effect in New Orleans, and only about a third of the employees there have been able to make it back to work.

The post-Katrina weeks have taken their toll on the New Orleans coroner, as well. Dr. Frank Minyard has processed hundreds of death, some of them friends, and he's used music to calm himself in these stressful times. For those who know Minyard, that's no surprise.

CNN's Gary Tuchman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He loves his hometown.

DR. FRANK MINYARD, NEW ORLEANS CORONER (singing): Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? I miss it each night and day.

TUCHMAN: Singing helps Frank Minyard stay calm and focused in a very stressful job. He's the coroner of New Orleans, in charge of the autopsies of more than 1,000 victims who have been brought to this heavily secured temporary morgue in Saint Gabriel, Louisiana. Dr. Minyard has had the job this elected job for 31 years and knows many of these victims.

MINYARD: One friend of mine went back to the city, saw the total destruction of his house and his neighborhood and he committed suicide.

TUCHMAN (on camera): And you saw him inside the morgue here?

MINYARD: I saw him and it was very, very difficult.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): It's also been difficult processing the victims because many morgue workers were missing and there was no telephone service. But that situation has now improved. Frank Minyard is not only known as the city's longtime coroner...

(on camera): What is your nickname?

MINYARD: "Dr. Jazz."

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Dr. Jazz plays the trumpet, the 76-year- old is part of a group that performs regularly at one of New Orleans' famous venues, Preservation Hall. He gained musical fame playing this song on a New Orleans radio show in the late '60s.

MINYARD: And all of a sudden, all of my friends, Pete Fountain called up and asked what that was. Al Hirt called up and said he was going to kill himself. He didn't want to be associated with trumpets. Fats Domino called up. All the biggies called the radio station.

TUCHMAN: Dr. Minyard now spends 24 hours a day at the morgue. After seven weeks, he decided the timing was right to play "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans" to his staff at a morning meeting.

MINYARD: I felt good about it. I didn't cry. And the people applauded.

TUCHMAN: As he played, he thought about how New Orleans was before Katrina.

MINYARD: We have a spirit that is different from everybody else. We will rebuild. We'll make it better. It might even be the city of the future with a past.

TUCHMAN: He may not have cried in the meeting, but he had tears this time.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Saint Gabriel, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: You'll remember this, right? That dramatic video of a JetBlue passenger jet, making an emergency landing last month? Well, as you can see its front landing gear is a bit cockeyed there. Well, now you can hear the audio tapes between air traffic controllers and the amazingly calm pilots -- listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: JetBlue 292 has got a problem here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're declaring an emergency in Palmdale.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gear is not retracting. We have 145 on board. We do request emergency equipment to be standing by at this time. This is an inbound emergency aircraft.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: L.A. 2-5 (INAUDIBLE), then land.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE), JetBlue 292.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, those cool and collected pilots did land the plane safely at Los Angeles International Airport. One hundred and 45 people were on board, and no one got hurt.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, it's one of the biggest lottery drawings to date. And as the excitement grows, we bring you the latest on Powerball fever, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is my dream. I dream last night, a lot of money. So the money's in my pocket right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go for the money, baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, lottery fever is sweeping parts of the country. People are lining up to buy Powerball tickets, hoping for a shot at a record $340 million jackpot. Twenty-seven states, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands will all take part in Powerball.

But before you plan that dream vacation or perhaps buying a new car or house, remember, the chances of winning are one in more than $146 million. The second prize is worth $200,000. Your odds of winning are better there. And a third prize, $10,000. The drawing will be held tonight.

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