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CNN Live Today
10 Former Members of 9/11 Commission Release Progress Report
Aired November 14, 2005 - 10:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: This hour in Washington, the 10 former members of the 9/11 Commission released their progress report on their panel's recommendations and whether they've been implemented. Though the commission was disbanded with the release of its report in the middle of last year, the members formed a campaign to educate the public, entitled the 9/11 Public Discourse Project.
CNN national security correspondent David Ensor joins us to talk about this. The big question, though, David, are these recommendation making a difference so far?
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATL. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, the commissioners say that only about half of their recommendations have in fact been enacted by government, and they are very, very unhappy with the level of effort that the U.S. government has given to try and make this nation safer post-9/11.
At the top of the list, here's Governor Kean. He talked at the beginning of the news conference, calling the effort to secure weapons-of-mass-destruction materials in the former Soviet Union and around the world unacceptable. He said that leaving it for 14 years before all of those materials will be secured is simply not good enough. It gives terrorists in al Qaeda and elsewhere time to get their hands on a nuclear weapon and put it in the United States.
The commissioners also complained that they don't think enough is being done to close extreme madrasas in Pakistan, to convince Saudi Arabia to change and liberalize itself, to improve the public diplomacy effort of the United States -- to answer the question, why do they hate us, in other words, and make it so that they don't.
And finally, and very, very strong statements here, on the treatment of detainees, the treatment of what the U.S. calls captured terrorists and all of the articles we've been hearing in the last week or two about the treatment of those detainees that were held by the CIA and politicians, saying -- Senator McCain and others saying, that there ought to be a codified set of rules about that. Again, the commissioners are very passionately agreeing with that approach, which has been countered by Vice President Cheney and others in the administration, who argued that those really hardened cases like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who are in CIA hands, should have a somewhat tougher treatment so they could be interrogated and perhaps save lives.
Betty.
NGUYEN: Let's go back to something that you first mentioned. It's been a year and a half since the commission released its report. And you said only half of those recommendations have been implemented. Did they say why only half? Why is it so slow in being implemented?
ENSOR: Well, they have complaints for all sides of the public discourse. They said that the Congress has not done enough. They said the executive branch has not been organized and focused on the real threats to the country. This is the way Governor Kean put it on the nuclear issue at the beginning of the news conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TOM KEAN, 9/11 COMMISSION CHAIRMAN: We have no greater fear than when a terrorist is inside of the United States with a nuclear weapon. The consequences of such an attack would be catastrophic for our people, for our economy, for our liberties and probably for our way of life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: And, Betty, there was criticism for the media, too, saying we should be focusing on this particular danger of weapons of mass destruction coming into the United States.
NGUYEN: Very interesting, David Ensor. Thank you for that.
Well, in news affecting your security, some New York City subway riders will undergo a new check beginning today. Police will swab the outside of random bags for possible explosives. The new technology is able to detect traces of TNT, and homemade fertilizer bombs and provide results in just a few seconds. Police began random subway searches in July after the London train bombings.
We want to warn you, the scenes that we are about to show you are very dramatic. They look real, but don't worry, they're simulated. Transit authorities in Atlanta staged a terror-response drill Sunday morning outside a midtown bus and train station. The explosions, gunfire and sirens were created by a production company to put first responders through a realistic drill. Here's a look at how it went down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETE MITCHELL, JPMPRODUCTIONS.COM: We are known as the masters of disasters.
The more realistic that you can get in for your training, the better the training will actually be.
The aspect as far as disasters is just what's happening in the real world and how the response may actually be. Everything becomes pretty much as we've seen it. I've been a paramedic for over 25 years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody, help us!
MITCHELL: You get a lot of analysis, and looking at how different types of trauma, to actually get the makeup looking the way we want it to look.
So we feel that we're fooling the doctors, nurses, EMTs and firefighters, and that's kind of our applause about the whole thing. Also if they kind of get a little bit queasy, and that's like a stand- up ovation.
CAPT. BYRON KENNEDY, ATLANTA FIRE DEPT.: First responders can get a tremendous amount of information. It's actual practical hands-on experience that's irreplaceable.
JOSELYN BUTLER BAKER, MARTA SPOKESWOMAN: It's part of our preparedness. It helps us ensure that we have resources in place, and the capacity we need to respond quickly and as safely as possible should an incident like this occur.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It went very well. It was a full-scale event. There were no major kinds that I noticed from my area at all.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Real-looking indeed. Officials will be evaluating the drill's effectiveness in the days ahead.
And be sure to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
Operation Steel Curtain rolling through western Iraq and rounding up dozens of insurgents, but amid the excitement of each capture comes this -- the devastation and deaths left behind. The civilian casualties, ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY.
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NGUYEN: In the fight for Iraq, the U.S. military says Operation Steel Curtain is meeting with significant resistance as it moves through the western town of Ubeydi, which is in Iraq's Anbar province. A battle has been raging since before dawn in an effort to uproot insurgents entrenched in the border town. A military commander says at least 45 insurgents have been killed in the fighting so far. Now the U.S. has set up a camp for fleeing residents, providing them with shelter, medical attention and basic necessities.
Waging war isn't the only job of U.S. troops in Iraq. In Husayba, U.S. Marines are on the ground, trying to restore Iraqi confidence after a U.S. air strike ripped through civilian homes.
Be warned, some of the images in CNN's Arwa Damon's -- in the report may be difficult to watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His was body number 17 to be to be pulled from the rubble. Seven-year-old Abdullah Saddam Rakam (ph).
SHAHIR ABDULLAH MOHAMMAD, UNCLE (through translator): There was a family in the house and there was firing. A fight was in the area and the air strike happened and hit the house.
DAMON: It's the face of collateral damage, civilians caught in the crossfire. Now with the fighting over, the citizens and the armed forces must face each other and build trust to rebuild the city. It's perhaps the toughest part of the fight.
About 500 of Husayba's men demonstrate in front of the U.S. marine base. Their demands: the restoration of basic services, the release of detainees, and help in burying their dead. It's the second part of the battle, the reconstruction that follows the fighting.
CAPT. RICHARD PITCHFORD, U.S. MARINE CORPS: We're praying for this, and it becomes a different problem and it's changing gears for us. But it's really a much -- potentially more rewarding, because we can start to see the positive effects.
DAMON: But it may be some time in coming. Many are still raw with emotion and anger.
KARIM AYAJ, HUSAYBA RESIDENT (through translator): If there were a couple of terrorists in this city, is it right to bring down the roofs on innocent people's heads? On women and children? Is this democracy? Is this freedom?
DAMON: Some slightly more optimistic.
TAMIL EL-KUNAYSI, HUSAYBA RESIDENT: If water and power came back, the city would be better. If the bulldozers came and cars could move, then it would get better. The city will improve. People will have the impression that the marines are here to help the city and not against the city.
DAMON: A makeshift city council puts forward their demands to the marine commander.
SHEIK MAHMOUD AL THAIR, COUNCIL SPOKESMAN (through translator): Now we're going break up the demo, because they promised us that we would be able to get in food rations and doctors, and they would open the streets.
DAMON: And the Marines asked for something in return.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I asked for two things. One was your patience and I understand that it will take a while to get things back to normal in the city. It could take a long time. The other thing I asked from them is that they can help us with the security environment. I told them that couldn't help them unless the bad people stayed out of the city.
DAMON: Lines of communication now open. The opportunity to rebuild Husayba brick by brick, a challenge, but not an impossibility -- a small window of chance to turn this city around.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Husayba, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE) NGUYEN: Coming up, we're going take a look at Wall Street, how the numbers are faring today. And if you want to watch some of your old television shows, you know, those favorite ones that you always loved to watch, you can do it now for free over the Internet. We're going to tell you how.
Stay tuned for more LIVE TODAY.
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NGUYEN: This just in. We are learning which cases the Supreme Court will and will not decide on.
One involving a Florida law which bans convicted felons from ever voting. The Supreme Court says it will not rule on this case. A group of lawyers for some former felons argued that by not allowing them to vote, it disenfranchises about 800,000 ex-cons and unfairly punishes African-Americans. But again, the Supreme Court says it will not rule on that case.
But it will take up this case -- one dealing with a Pennsylvania law which could reinstate rules that keep newspapers and magazines out of the hands of disruptive Pennsylvania inmates. I do have to tell you, though, a side note here, Samuel Alito, who is up for the Supreme Court, did rule in one of these lower court rulings on this case. So if he is confirmed, he'd likely have to recuse himself from ruling on this. But the Supreme Court will take up this case that will determine if newspapers and magazines should be kept out of the hands of disruptive Pennsylvania inmates.
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NGUYEN: It is the end of an era of sort. The last active duty enlisted Marine to have served in Vietnam is hanging up his hat.
CNN's Gary Nuremberg has more on a serviceman who endured a public disdain while enjoying a passion for the Corps.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They played the Marine Corps Hymn when Master Sergeant Randall Arnold retired. They gave him awards...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Signed George Bush, commander-in-chief.
NURENBERG: ...gave him a lump in his throat, and the flag he has served since he enlisted at the height of the Vietnam War.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You stepped up to the plate when it wasn't popular.
NURENBERG: Stepped up after a friend tried to stop him from walking into a Marine Corps recruiting station in 1969.
SGT. RANDALL ARNOLD, U.S. MARINE CORPS (RET.): And I said, yes, I am. And he said, no, you're not. So we started tussling right there on the street.
NURENBERG: He won, enlisted, went to boot camp.
ARNOLD: I know of at least three of them that are dead.
NURENBERG: And went to Vietnam in 1970, couldn't understand the anger when he came home.
ARNOLD: I had on my uniform. And, you know, people looked at me like I was an alien. And I'm thinking, what did I do?
NURENBERG: He did his time, got his honorable discharge, joined the reserve, but when he saw Marines in jeopardy in Beirut...
ARNOLD: I missed it. So I called a friend of mine and I said, hey, what's the chances of me getting back on active duty?
NURENBERG: The chances were good. He re-upped.
ARNOLD: I never really left the Corps, because the Corps never really left me.
NURENBERG: A 33-year-old who wanted in on the action.
ARNOLD: I'm the thing that stands between communism and the rest of the world. It wasn't that. It was purely selfish. It was for -- it was for the adventure of it. This is where it stops. This is where reality hits home.
NURENBERG: Cleaning out his desk this summer, finally leaving was tough. And watching images of Marines in Iraq is tough.
ARNOLD: I know what the boys are up against. You know, I understand. And I still kind of wish I was there with them on occasion.
NURENBERG: He's in college now at age 55, working on a double major and runs uniformed security at a federal office. The last enlisted Marine on active duty to have served in Vietnam is learning how to be a civilian with time for family.
ARNOLD: All those years that I was deployed overseas, I really missed them terribly. You know, although I still had my bicycle with me, it wasn't the same as not having my daughter with me. Her -- and her my son, my wife, they are the cornerstone of my life.
NURENBERG: But when that Marine Corps Hymn plays...
ARNOLD: I'll still get that old familiar lump in my throat and get that little sting in the eye. That just doesn't go away.
NURENBERG: Gary Nurenberg, CNN in Stafford, Virginia. (END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, coming up at the top of the hour, a massive manhunt, under way this morning in Pennsylvania. A teenager is accused of killing his girlfriend's parents, then fleeing with her. We have those details next.
Plus, an act difficult to understand, yet feared worldwide. We will look at suicide bombers in two new films that portray them. The second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins after a quick break.
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