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Could West Nile Become Problematic This Summer?; Wildfires Could Devastate Western U.S.; Hurricane Season Starts Today

Aired June 01, 2003 - 17:00   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.


SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to NEXT@CNN for Thursday this Sunday, June 1.
And coming up in this hour, fire, water and mosquitoes, with all the rain in the eastern United States, we could have an especially bad season for mosquitoes and West Nile disease.

The Western U.S. hasn't had enough rain and that could mean devastating wildfires in the months ahead.

And today is the start of hurricane season. We'll you what could be in store for the nation's coastlines.

But first, the latest on the capture of Eric Robert Rudolph. The bombing suspect is now talking to authorities and police say they have a lot of work ahead of them to find out what Rudolph was doing during that five-year long multimillion dollar manhunt.

Gary Tuchman joins us from Murphy, North Caroline with the latest -- Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sophia, it takes a very big story for a local newspaper to come out with a special edition the same day it came out with the original edition. But it's a big story here, as you might imagine. And this is what the "Cherokee County Scout" came out with last night, the headlines saying "Manhunt Over." And the man they were hunting for is right now about 150 yards behind us in that brick building. That is the Cherokee County jail. Eric Rudolph will be taken out of that building anytime between this very moment and tomorrow morning. We are not being told by federal authorities.

They want to keep it very quiet for security reasons, but he is being taken about a two-hour drive east of here to Asheville, North Carolina for his first appearance in a federal court tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time. Security outside this jail is very tight. Local authorities with rifles and guns making sure there is no funny business or a better word might be unfunny business taking place anywhere around that jail. They're not letting anyone even walk by that jail unless you have a police uniform on.

In the woods surrounding this area, in the mountains, federal authorities, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms searching for any possible evidence to find where Eric Rudolph has been for the last five years. Many people find it very ironic that millions were spent to use high technology to find him, aerial surveillance, night visions scopes were used for five years. And the way they ended up capturing Eric Rudolph was the most mundane, routine way. He was found outside a grocery store yesterday, about a mile from where we are standing about to search through a dumpster. And now this long manhunt, one of the men on the FBI's most wanted list is in this jail behind me getting ready for his first appearance in court Tomorrow.

Sophia, back to you.

CHOI: All right, Gary Tuchman, thanks for that update.

Across the country, spring showers signal the return of mosquito season and the emerging threat of West Nile. The virus first detected in the Northeastern U.S. in 1999 has spread to 44 states as experts look for effective ways to control this natural born killer.

Joe Conlon is the technical adviser for the American Mosquito Control Association. And he joins us now. Mr. Conlon, thanks for joining us.

JOSEPH CONLON, AM. MOSQUITO CONTROL ASSN.: Thank you. Good afternoon.

CHOI: Can you give us a couple of examples of what experts feel are the most effective tools to control mosquitoes and the spread of West Nile? The homeowner is one of our most effective tools. If homeowners can get rid of trash, debris, keep the lawns cut, the bushes trim, gutters kept up properly, they can do quite a bit actually to reduce the mosquito burden around their house. We base our mosquito control in the United States on surveillance and an integrated approach to actually capturing and killing the mosquitoes.

By integrated, I mean we take a number of diverse type of control operations and meld them into one so that we effectively target the mosquito stages. They're vulnerable at certain stages. And that's the way we do it. So in order to do it effectively, safely for the environment, we need to target certain stages in the mosquito, and that's how we do it.

CHOI: All right, you know, in some cities, they went ahead and sprayed Malathion and some other toxins to ward off the mosquitoes. Some environmentalists say that's pretty dangerous to humans and to animals. So I'm wondering, is there a more, less toxic way to control mosquitoes?

CONLON: Actually, all of the pesticides, the public health insecticides that the EPA has registered for use in these types of sprays have undergone anywhere from eight to 10 years of testing at about $50 million a piece in order to determine whether they are, indeed, too toxic to use, whether there are any carcinogenic properties to them, any reproductive problems with them. And when they are registered by the EPA, Malathion is registered by the EPA, by the way. They have determined that when used according to the label that they don't pose an unreasonable risk to consumers or the environment. That being said, we have a number of different options available, including malathion. The new pyrethroid formulations that are out now are considerably less toxic and allow us to utilize them with a far smaller dosage per acre, often about half an ounce actually per acre is what we use.

CHOI: Well, I heard that dark clothing attracts mosquitoes. Is there anything that people can do while they are out and about to protect themselves?

CONLON: You heard right. Actually, reds and dark blues are very attractive to mosquitoes. One that thing you can do is wear light clothing when you're out. Another thing is to avoid wearing perfumes and or hairsprays. They seem to be attracted to that. Wear very loose fitting clothing. Mosquitoes can and will actually bite through clothing. And actually one of the best things to do is to avoid being outside when the mosquitoes are active, if at all possible.

CHOI: What about spraying yourself, if at all possible, with products that contain DEET?

CONLON: DEET has been used, I think they've sold about seven billion bottles of DEET throughout its history, and we've had 13 adverse reactions to it. So, it's very, very safe to use. Please ensure you cover all of your exposed areas of your body with it, avoid, obviously, the eyes, noise, mouth and any type of mucous membranes. But it is the gold standard by which all other repellents are judged and it is quite effective.

CHOI: All right, Joe Conlon, thanks so much for your advice.

CONLON: Your very welcome.

CHOI: Take care.

Mosquitoes and West Nile are not the only worries of summer forecasters. Expect a busier than average wild fire season this year. Last summer was one of the worst fire season in half a century with millions of acres of lost, more than a billion dollars in damage.

Joining us now with a look what might be ahead this summer is Marc Rounsaville. And he's the director of fire and aviation for the southern region of the U.S. Forest Service. Thanks for joining us.

MARC ROUNSAVILLE, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: Glad to be here.

CHOI: Can you quickly give us a thumbnail sketch, an overview of what we're looking at here? How many fires do you see a year and at what cost?

ROUNSAVILLE: Well, a normal year sees us have 50 to 60,000 wildfires across the United States, that's not just our service, but all agencies combined. This year, we're way behind that pace due to the wet weather this spring in the southeast, and we've not had near the fires we normally have. We're looking for possibly a season that will be fairly active, but nothing like last year, which was quite historical.

CHOI: How do drought and bug infestations affect the wildfire season?

ROUNSAVILLE: Well, the drought and bugs work in conjunction with each other. Oftentimes, trees, vegetation is more stressed from drought, which makes it more susceptible to insect and disease infestations which kills the vegetation and it becomes more available for consumption by a wildfire than it would be if it was green.

CHOI: What kind of tools do you use to forecast or predict wildfire seasons?

ROUNSAVILLE: We look at a lot of different things. We monitor drought. We look at a number of factors on a daily basis to give us more real-time weather. We look at historical trends. We try to match-up an individual season with another season that's similar to the one that, you know, has the same kind of weather patterns. We look at things like El Nino and La Nina, the Pacific Ocean temperatures. All these kinds of things are in the crystal ball, try to figure out what kind of fire season we may have.

CHOI: Yes, I was going to ask you, how accurate are those predictions?

ROUNSAVILLE: Well, you know, they're getting better all the time as technology improves and our historical database improves, but it's still a forecast. It's much like the weather forecast. Oftentimes, the forecasters miss that. We oftentimes miss the forecasts for fire season because it is so weather dependent.

CHOI: Let's talk a bit about the tools you use now to fight fires. We've seen those water-dropping planes and we've seen some of them crash.

ROUNSAVILLE: Right. We have a number of air tankers in our fleet that drop fire retardant like the ones that are quite prevalent when things are going on. We also use a number of helicopters. We've scaled back -- we grounded or parked all the air tankers over the winter so we could check all of them for safety and maintenance and make sure they were all air worthy and able to fly. We're in the process of putting them all back that are air worthy back in the air to take that mission up again. And we're not going to having quite as many of them as we've had in the past, because some of them are not going to pass air worthiness standards.

CHOI: What about your fire fighting tactics? Some people say you should just let these fires burn themselves out.

ROUNSAVILLE: Well, They would burn themselves out eventually, and that's pretty obvious, but in the meantime, they may take out some towns or displace quite a number of folks. And we do allow some fires to follow the natural processes. And we use those fire in areas where we have room to let them grow and get big. That's not the case of every fire. And, oftentimes, communities, cities are threatened and we have to take action to prevent, as best we can, those from being impacted by the fires.

CHOI: We are short on time, but I have to ask you, what about the president's proposed healthy first initiative? Opponents say it's nothing more than allowing more logging. Do you think that this plan will actually help you fight fires?

ROUNSAVILLE: It will help reduce the amount of fuel that's available to fires, and anything that does that improves our position in terms of being able to fight fires. It improves our decision space so that we're better able to make a decision or have an opportunity to make a decision or how we react or how we attack a fire.

CHOI: All right, Marc Rounsaville with the U.S. Forest Service, thanks so much.

ROUNSAVILLE: Thank you.

Coming up NEXT@CNN, the first of three missions to Mars is set to go, in search of an answer to the question, does life exist on the red planet. And NASA may be closing in on a reason for the shuttle Columbia disaster. Those stories and much more still ahead, so please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHOI: Taking a look at some of the stories making science and environment news this week. Ralph Nader says the Green Party may not field the presidential candidate in 2004. Nader told CNN that party members around the country are considering the idea but, in his words, it's still a minority position. Recent news reports have said the Green Party may support the Democratic candidate in hopes of getting President Bush out of the White House.

Some excitement at New York's JFK Airport on Friday, a cargo jet overran the runway as it landed but was saved from plunging into the water by technology called an arrester bed. Airport officials described the arrester bed as concrete pumped with air, and say it's designed to stop a vehicle of any size with minimal damage. Obviously, in this case, it worked.

The panel investigating the shuttle Columbia disaster reports a possible breakthrough from its tests into what destroyed the orbiter. The investigation board has been firing chunks of foam at different sections of a shuttle mockup to see how much damage they can do. Thursday a hit on the leading edge of a wing knocked a seal lose and opened up a 22-inch gash. Video from Columbia's launch seems to show foam insulation hitting the orbiter. If that damaged the wing, it could explain the shuttle's breakup shortly before it was supposed to land on February 1. The tests will continue.

And you may not have felt the effects, but solar flares caused a severe geomagnetic storm here on the earth in the wee hours on Friday. Three major eruptions from a sunspot region near the center of the sun ejected billions of tons of plasma and charged particles into space. When this kind of material reaches earth's magnetic field it can disrupt satellite operations and even power grids on the ground. These images were taken by the orbiting solar observatory, Soho.

Coming up this month, not one, not two but three separate rockets take off from Mars. NASA will launch two Rovers later in June. But the European Space Agency will launch its first mission to Mars tomorrow.

For more, we turn to CNN's Ryan Chilcote in the Moscow bureau -- Ryan.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sophia, the European Space Agency has taken part in several Martian probes before several missions to send probes up to Mars, including a Russian mission called Mars 1996, a failed Russian mission, I should say, that was very unsuccessful for them. They sent up their equipment only to have it come crashing back to earth on board the rocket that carried that Russian probe up there. So, a lot of attention being paid to detail that the European probe has already been strapped on top of the rocket that's going to carry it up there. And it is now scheduled to leave the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1:45 p.m. Eastern time tomorrow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHILCOTE (voice-over): In sterile laboratories around the globe, white-cloaked scientists are quietly but intensively competing to answer a crucial question -- is there life on Mars? European Space Agency's Mars Express leading the pack, edging out a Martian probe NASA hopes to launch later this month. These, the first of several probes expected to land on the red planet's surface over the next decade. In the search for extraterrestrial life, Mars remains the destination of choice.

(on camera): On Earth, life is inextricably linked with water in all its forms. That's why looking for water will be the central mission of Mars Express. It may just lead to the discovery of life on the red planet.

ALAIN FOORINER-SICRE, EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY: We believe that there is still water embedded in the planet and maybe some, you know, creatures which might be at a certain level of life. Of course, we didn't discover yet, but there is a big question mark.

CHILCOTE (voice-over): Mars Express hopes to answer that question with two spacecraft that will work in tandem. It's land roving Beagle II will parachute into the planet's atmosphere equipped with cameras to collect Martian samples with a drill souped up for space and a radar system that allows it to look well beneath the surface. Overhead, the Mars Express main body will orbit the planet taking pictures and relaying data to scientists back at planet earth. The Express won't make it if it makes it at all to the red planet until late in December. And the Beagle can only move about ten human steps an hour, but many scientists still believe we will soon know if life exists beyond this world.

FOORINER-SICRE: I think we're very close in 10, 15 years, it will be you know, quite evident there are forms of life. CHILCOTE: Once the Express gets there, it will roam for nearly two years, but right now the focus is on getting the project off the ground.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHILCOTE: And there will be a lot of hurdles in getting the project off the ground. First of all, it takes just six months. It will take this probe six months to get to Mars. Then it has to enter into the Martian atmosphere and land on the planet without being damaged. That's going to be no small issue. History says that this stuff is very difficult. In fact, the science director for the European Space Agency today asked at Baikonur what he thought about the mission ahead of him, he said, look, if we were sailors I think we should be very superstitious about going to Mars -- Sophia.

CHOI: Yes, Ryan, I understand that two-thirds of these missions end in failure. So we will hope for the best. Thanks so much.

When we come back, some important historic landmarks may not be around much longer. We'll visit one list of the most threatened places.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHOI: A park outside Boston where the American revolution began and the TWA terminal at New York's Kennedy Airport may be among the nation's most endangered historic sites. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a Washington-based non-profit compiles a list each year of historic landmarks the Trust considers neglected.

Joining us now is Peter Brink, senior vice president of the National Trust to talk about some of these places. Thanks for being here.

PETER BRINK, NATIONAL TRUST: Thank you, Sophia.

CHOI; Headlining this year's list are historic houses of worship in America's major cities. What threats are they facing?

BRINK: The threat are, first of all, declining congregations, people moving to the suburbs. And then it becomes a financial question to keep these facilities in good condition. And they are extremely important not only because they're anchors for their neighborhoods, but they have become centers for services, tutoring of children, homeless shelters, all the things that help people outside the congregation as well as inside.

CHOI: Now, also on this list is the Ocmulgee burial grounds in Macon, Georgia. There's a multilane highway that's kind of planned there.

BRINK: Yes, this is one of the largest and most important archaeological sites in the whole country. And you have the Muskogee Creek Nation which was driven out of the site in the 1800s. You have burial mounds, ceremonial mounds, artifacts. And all of these are at risk because the Georgia DOT wants to drive a major highway through the middle of these archaeological sites.

CHOI: And turning now to Minute Man National Historic Park, outside Boston where the American Revolution began, you say a nearby airport is threatening that park.

BRINK: Right on edge of Minute Man National Park, and this is the heart of the park is a road where the red coats and the Minute Men had a running battle in 1775, really the beginning of the Revolutionary War. The traffic has to go through this road to get to Hanscom Airport. It is becoming congested. They are adding flights. And more and more, there's going to be pressure to change this historic site in a way that really will lose this historic place for us.

CHOI: And this next site is pretty interesting, the TWA terminal at New York's Kennedy Airport. This seems like kind of an unlikely landmark. It looks more like something out of the future.

BRINK: This is a magnificent modern icon built in 1963 by Eero Saarinen. It was designed to look like an airport, like it was going to take off. The Port Authority says they won't actually tear it down, but they want to encircle it with a large building. They're not putting it in any of their plans for the future and, in fact, they are making it a useless building. We want to see it actively used and preserved.

CHOI: Now that we've looked at some of the sites on this list, what is the purpose of compiling this list? Do you raise money for preservation? Is it a national awareness kind of thing?

BRINK: It's really bringing to the attention of the American people the richness and diversity of our historic sites and also the range of threats that are attacking them, everything from outright demolition to neglect and vacancy. So we are making this a wakeup call to save those things that let us tell our stories as Americans.

CHOI: Peter Brink of the National Trust, thank you so much.

BRINK: Thank you, Sophia.

CHOI: Lots more to come in our next half hour. Big changes are expected tomorrow in the rules about medial ownership. We'll tell you how this could affect you.

And later in the show, find out why these sea lions' human neighbors wish the critters would take a long walk off a short pier.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHOI: NEXT@CNN continues in just a minute after a check of what's going on at this hour.

(NEWSBREAK)

NEXT@CNN resumes right now. The Federal Communications Commission is set to vote tomorrow on a set of rules -- changes that will likely transform the TV ownership landscape. So is this a good thing or a bad thing, and what does it mean to you?

CNN financial correspondent Greg Clarkin joins s from our New York studio to help get to the bottom of it.

GREG CLARKIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Sophia.

This is certainly a controversial and emotional issue for a lost folks. Some people say these rules at the FCC really guarantee a diversity of voices in the media marketplace. Others are saying they are simply outdated and it's time to get rid of them.

Now joining us to explore this topic, we have Jeffrey Chester, he is at the Center for Digital Democracy. And he is also joined by Randolph May. He is with the Progress and Freedom Foundation. Both of these gentlemen joining us from our Washington, D.C. studios. Gentlemen, welcome. And Jeff, let's start with you. I suspect you believe this is a lousy idea.

JEFF CHESTER, CENTER FOR DIGITAL DEMOCRACY: Well, I don't think this country can afford to have a handful of giant companies control the nation's television stations, radio stations, newspapers, cable systems, even access to the Internet. If you care about diversity of viewpoints, if you care what kind of kids' programming your kid can see on TV, how much you're paying for cable rates, more importantly, whether or not there's a good journalistic watchdog covering your local city hall or telling you about the latest threat from al-Qaeda, we need to have safeguards to protect the public's right to a diverse media system. And tomorrow because the biggest media companies have been lobbying the Bush administration the FCC will sweep away these critical safeguards.

CLARKIN: And Randolph, let me ask you, is what we are likely to see, just a handful of major, major media companies controlling pretty much everything we read, see and hear?

RANDOLPH MAY, PROGRESS & FREEDOM FOUNDATION: No, of course, not. There really is an air of unreality in terms of the type of marketplace that Jeff tries to paint. The fact of the matter is, that since these rules were put in place 30 or 40 years ago, there have been revolutionary changes in the media marketplace. When they were adopted, there was no cable television with three or 400 channels. There was no satellite television. There was no Internet, of course, one of the most revolutionary mediums of all times. The fact of the matter is, that the marketplace has changed so much, that without these types of ownership restrictions, consumers will be able to get the information that they want from a diversity of sources.

CHESTER: Greg, there's two things wrong with that, if I might. I mean, the FCC and the media companies point to cable and point to the Internet, but they never once tell you, by the way, we only have two or three giant companies that control most of cable television, including the parent company of this network, and we've made changes. These same big companies have lobbied the FCC to change the way the Internet works, as well, as it evolves to broadband. So, you're going to have fewer owners of the most powerful media outlets in your town and across the nation, one company being able to own three TV stations, the newspaper, several radio stations, perhaps the cable system, and the principal way to access the Internet. That's too much power in the hands of a few.

CLARKIN: Jeff, for the record, the parent company of this network is AOL- Time Warner. Randolph, what about that point? Let's face it. you do have all these other outlets for broadcast media, but the are controlled by some fairly big companies?

MAY: But the idea that there are two or three companies controlling these outlets is just nonsense. There are 25, 30, 40 companies, major media companies that have significant media properties. Look, when these rules were put in place, channel surfing had not even entered our lexicon at that point. Web surfing was not even a dream in someone's mind at that point. I think the American people should be given credit for understanding that they can find the information sources that they want, that in this type of environment, media owners will deliver a diversity of information sources that the American public demands. There's simply not really a threat that they'll be any of the type of consolidation that the opponents of the relaxation of these rules suggest. And furthermore, it's important to understand that the FCC here is not off on a lark all its own. The Congress in 1996 directed the FCC to review these rules and actually repeal or modify any rules that were no longer in the public interest as a result of competition.

CHESTER: And since then, you've had tremendous deregulation.

MAY: If I could just finish.

CHESTER: Since that time you have two companies controlling the radio market.

MAY: If I could just finish, since the time of the 1996 act, no less than four times, the court of appeals here in D.C. has reviews these, and each time, the court has held the rules are no longer rationale in light of the changes that have taken place.

CHESTER: That's not true, Randolph, you're misleading the American public. What the courts have said many times is please prove these rules. And the problem is that the FCC has been under the influence of the very same media companies that will give a giant handout tomorrow. We need rules in this country. There are five major media companies that now control almost all the channels on broadcasting and cable television. And it's not just me saying it. It's Ted Turner. It's Barry Diller. It's Norman Lear, everyone inside the media industry from moguls like Ted Turner, to people that work in newspapers say we already have a problem with concentration. What the FCC, under Michael Powell, is going to do tomorrow is going to make it worse. It threatens the very fabric of our democracy and we have to come back and get Congress to do something soon.

CLARKIN: Jeff, let me just bring it back to you for a quick second. The American public, they wake up a couple years from now, assuming these rule changes go through tomorrow. What is the danger? What are they likely to see? How is it going to affect them.

CHESTER: Well, the first place, journalism as we know it is going to be severely weakened. There's very little investigative reporting already going on.

CLARKIN: Whey is that?

CHESTER: Because the minute these companies merge -- this has been the history over 20 years -- the minutes these companies merge, they take on lots of debt, and the first things they slash are news budgets. Look, there's been very little overseas -- very few overseas bureaus from the commercial networks, very little investigative reporting. It's, frankly, become a national security risk, because we really weren't aware, the press really wasn't able to do its job in advance and warn us about al-Qaeda, inform us about what's going. It's because these conglomerates are involved in cost cutting. They're not giving the resources to journalism. We're going to having fewer voices in a community that will have an impact on the community. You can have one owner being able to own a community and the nation's major media outlets. That is not healthy for democracy.

CLARKIN: Now, Randolph, I've got to tell you having worked for a major media conglomerate and presently so, consolidation, I haven't seen it bring about bigger news rooms. Is that a valid point?

MAY: Well, here's the fact of the matter. There have been studies that have been submitted to the FCC over and over again in the past few years which have documented that commonly owned newspapers and television stations produce a greater quantity of local news, they win more awards for the quality of their local news, and furthermore, and importantly, that those commonly owned properties take a different slant as often as not in their presentation of the news.

CHESTER: Those studies have been widely criticized.

MAY: Jeff.

CHESTER: The fact of the matter is ...

CLARKIN: Let me jump in here. Hang on a second. Randolph could it be that they're winning more awards because there's less competition?

MAY: No, I don't think so. In fact, there's more competition. The reason why they're winning more awards is because, as you know, it takes significant cost to go out and gather and produce the news. The networks' market share has been diminishing rapidly. They now have less than 50 percent of the prime-time audience. I think it's likely that if we don't allow this type of relaxation of the rules so the marketplace itself can rationalize these properties, that we'll see less and less news produced rather than more and more news. Look. Throughout ...

CLARKIN: Guys, I tell you right now, in the world of big media, we are out of time.

CHESTER: ... in charge of U.S. media television today.

CLARKIN: Guys, in the world of big media, we are out of time. I've to leave you with the last world. As Jeffrey Chester with the Center for Digital Democracy and Randolph May, Progress and Freedom Foundation.

And, Sophia, certainly a hot button topic as you can see. Big changes in store, it looks that way at least tomorrow. Back to you.

CHOI: All right, we'll see what happens. Thank you.

Coming up on NEXT@CNN, during the war in Iraq, CNN got an exclusive look inside the war room at ground force's headquarters in Kuwait. When we come back, we'll show you some moments of high drama and talk to one of the people who was there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHOI: Now a CNN exclusive, the story told here on CNN for the first time of how an Iraqi missile came close to striking coalition ground forces headquarters during the war with Iraq. A CNN crew was embedded at the operation center in Kuwait and captured what happened. Their access was unprecedented and because of that, because CNN was allowed into secret and classified locations, some of the video did have a prior security review. A CNN documentary team received the access after agreeing to hold the material until the conflict was over.

Here's Mike Boettcher.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready, General?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just received a report that they are shooting civilians trying to flee al-Najaf.

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A report from the front lines during the morning BUA. The battlefield update assessment. Suddenly, the headquarters in the rear is on the frontlines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missile launch from Iraq. Area at risk, Kuwait. Lightning, lightning, lightning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scud bomb.

BOETTCHER: In a war that began with a strike aimed at killing Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi high command, the Iraqis are launching a counterattack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief look out.

KEN ROBINSON, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It was Saddam's decapitation attempt.

BOETTCHER: Inside the operation center, General McKiernan and his crew keep going with their update, gas masks and all. The Patriots on their way to intercept the Iraqi missile, a dull roar overhead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) statement there at -- lots of time. Airfield, preparation for further attack.

LT. COLONEL DAVID MCKIERNAN, GROUND FORCES COMMANDER: The idea is just to, first of all, try to maintain a little calmness and continue on. And by God, that patriot knocked the missile down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All missiles are down. All missiles are down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. We'll continue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had it actually (ph) fall on this building. It's awesome.

BOETTCHER: At the air missile defense command in the building next to the operation center, they plot the trajectory of the Iraqi missile and realize it came within seconds of wiping out the war room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This right here is the building you're standing in where the arrow is. That was headquarters.

BOETTCHER: General Webster believes the Iraqis have chosen their target and time carefully and had very good intelligence.

MAJ. GENERAL WILLIAM WEBSTER, DEPUTY COMMANDING GENERAL: We've been operating out of these two buildings for ten years. And so there's been a long time for that information to get back from agents to Saddam, and for him to lay that grid into his weapons systems and to prepare to shoot it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 37.7 East.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, it's the coalition's turn to hunt for the Iraqi missile crew.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHOI: And joining us now is CNN national security analyst Ken Robinson with more on this exclusive look inside the war room. Thanks for joining us.

KEN ROBINSON, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Hi, Sophia.

CHOI: Ken, looking at those pictures, what are your thoughts on this behind the scenes look at the war room?

ROBINSON: Well, for us, it was incredible access. This is the first time that cameras have been involved in the top secret war planning, and especially here in the 21st century to see the making of modern war. The ability to see these commanding officers struggling with real frictions, seeing them having to make decisions at a minutes notice, and then execute them, and to be able to capture that from a behind-the-scenes look very candidly is really remarkable. We're very fortunate to have had the access.

CHOI: We know the Patriot missile system has really improved, but clearly the Iraqi scud system has never been that accurate. I mean, in '91, they logged what 40 missiles into Israel and only one person died. How are you so sure that this scud would have actually struck the operation center?

ROBINSON: That, if you saw in the piece you see the people who track the missiles through missile telemetry. They're able to determine the exact launch location, the exact launch altitude and pinpoint precisely where the missile trajectory would land. That's how those conclusions were came to. Yes, those missiles generally are area-type weapons, but this specific missile as it was launched was projected through the computer telemetry to land precisely on top of that headquarters.

CHOI: And I understand even nearby buildings felt it.

ROBINSON: That's correct. Everyone felt it on Camp Doha when the explosion occurred, when the missiles were intercepted, the shrapnel actually fell on the building that we were in.

CHOI: CNN national security analyst Ken Robinson, thanks so much for joining us.

ROBINSON: Thanks, Sophia.

CHOI: And if we've whetted your appetite for the story and you'd like to see more of this extraordinary look inside the war room as the war was being fought, watch "CNN PRESENTS" tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

And don't go away, because coming up right here, with hurricane season 2003 now underway, we'll tell you what it might hold in store. Pretty scary.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHOI: Taking a look now at some NEXT news headlines.

China today began filling the reservoir behind the controversial Three Gorges dam, the dam is the world's largest hydroelectric project. It will start producing power later this year. Now, critics complain this project has forced the relocation of more than 1 million people. They also say it will cause an ecological disaster as pollution seeps out of industrial facilities that are covered with water.

A new study says authorities need to better regulate the practice known as mountaintop mining in which the tops of ridges are sheered off to reach coal beneath. The report by one state and four federal agencies says the various entities that oversee mountaintop mining need to work on coordinating their efforts. Environmentalists are upset that the report doesn't address their main concern, the dumping of rock dirt into valleys and into streams.

It was 50 years ago this past Thursday that a New Zealand beekeeper and his sherpa guide conquered Mount Everest. And this week, Nepal celebrated, awarding Sir Edmund Hillary with honorary citizenship. Hillary's Tenzing Norgay died 17 years ago. Since the pair became the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest, more than 1,000 people have followed in their footsteps, and nearly 200 people have died trying.

And Monterey, California, is suffering an invasion of sea lions. Hundreds of mammals have taken over a boat launch ramp. Some of them are even climbing into boats. Boat owners and fishermen are upset but are barred from doing anything that would harm the sea lions, which are federally protected. Authorities say if no one starts feeding the critters, they'll probably soon move on.

Well, today is the official start of Atlantic hurricane season, and while it's quiet right now, it may not stay that way through the summer and through the fall.

CNN's Miami bureau chief John Zarrella has covered hurricanes for a quarter of a century. And he is here in CNN's world headquarters for a visit. Thanks so much for being here.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Sophia, thank you. It's a pleasure.

CHOI: So I understand that it's going to be a pretty busy season.

ZARRELLA: It could be, you're right. It usually starts off slowly, June and July, kind of slow, but you can bet by August, September, things are likely to heat up in the tropics. This year, NOAH, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is already forecasting between 11 and 15 names storms, eight of those to become hurricanes, two to four to become intense. Bill Gray who is a noted meteorologist himself from Colorado State, has been doing forecasts for years and years, he says that there will be up to 14 named storms, also saying eight hurricanes and three of those to be intense. That's winds of 111 miles an hour or greater.

Now, compared to last year, there were a total of eight storms. And only one was a hurricane that hit the United states, and that was Lilly, but Lilly was a category four hurricane. You can see it there on that satellite imagery. It got to 145-mile-an-hour winds as it approached the Louisiana coast. Then it suddenly fell part. But in talks with the National Hurricane Center folks, their biggest concern was that people didn't really take it all that seriously. A lot of people who should have evacuated the Louisiana coastline didn't. And Max Mayfield, the director of the National Hurricane Center was telling me that hundreds of people could have died if that storm made landfall as a category 4 hurricane. And his concern that most people who live on the coast of the United States don't really understand the power of a hurricane. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAX MAYFIELD, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CTR.: There's no doubt in my mind that there's some hurricane amnesia out there. People don't remember what a major hurricane can do. Now, the people that went through hurricane Andrew, we're not worried about them. They're going to respond next time. But the people who have not had that direct experience of a core of a major hurricane, I have great concern that they're not going to take it seriously and not be prepared as they should.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: And you know, how long does it take to rebuild? Max was mentioning hurricane Andrew. And just a couple of weeks ago at the Miami's Metro Zoo, which was ravaged by Hurricane Andrew 11 years ago, the zoo portion actually reopened one year after Andrew, but the aviary, which lost some 300 birds during Andrew, some beautiful, exotic birds, was totally destroyed. They have just now within the last couple of weeks after fund-raisers, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) gotten around to finally reopening the aviary.

CHOI: That's wonderful.

ZARRELLA: But that's how long it can take to recover from a major hurricane.

CHOI: And I understand we're going to get a better heads up kind of from the National Hurricane Center, because they're going to give five-day forecasts instead of three days.

ZARRELLA: Right.

CHOI: That can help and kind of hinder too, though, right, because you can fudge a little more in five days.

ZARRELLA: Well, the cone is going to be wider so you're not going to know exactly where within that cone the storm is going to hit certainly, but the feeling is that they can give people a better idea, five says out now, than 15 years ago at three days out. And it's going to help to get people to start thinking, they hope, a little sooner about what they need to do in case a hurricane approaches.

CHOI: All right. And, John, I know you grew up in Miami Beach, so what kind of sticks out in your mind about the hurricanes.

ZARRELLA: The one story I always tell, it has nothing to do with Miami Beach, but it has to do with covering one of my first hurricanes back in 1979, Hurricane Frederick in Mobile, Alabama. And when I covered Hurricane Frederick, we ended up having to spend the night in the tunnel under Mobile Bay as Frederick, the eye of the storm came up over the bay. We tried to get off the exit ramp at Water Street. Everything was underwater. Had to turn around in the off ramp and drive back into the tunnel and ride out the storm in the tunnel under Mobile Bay.

CHOI: Well, we're glad you made it through in one piece.

ZARRELLA: Thanks, Sophia.

CHOI: John, you're terrific.

And that's all the time we have for now, but before we go, here's a peek at what's coming up next week.

We'll talk with the people who designed the Rovers NASA is preparing to send to Mars after the Columbia disaster and two failed Mars missions, a lot is riding on these robotic explorers. That story and much more coming up next week. Hope you'll join us.

Coming up next, get all the days news on "CNN LIVE SUNDAY" with Anderson Cooper.

That's followed by "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" profiling Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

And that at 8:00 p.m. "CNN PRESENTS" "Inside the War Room."

CNN continues right after a quick break.

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Could Devastate Western U.S.; Hurricane Season Starts Today>


Aired June 1, 2003 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to NEXT@CNN for Thursday this Sunday, June 1.
And coming up in this hour, fire, water and mosquitoes, with all the rain in the eastern United States, we could have an especially bad season for mosquitoes and West Nile disease.

The Western U.S. hasn't had enough rain and that could mean devastating wildfires in the months ahead.

And today is the start of hurricane season. We'll you what could be in store for the nation's coastlines.

But first, the latest on the capture of Eric Robert Rudolph. The bombing suspect is now talking to authorities and police say they have a lot of work ahead of them to find out what Rudolph was doing during that five-year long multimillion dollar manhunt.

Gary Tuchman joins us from Murphy, North Caroline with the latest -- Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sophia, it takes a very big story for a local newspaper to come out with a special edition the same day it came out with the original edition. But it's a big story here, as you might imagine. And this is what the "Cherokee County Scout" came out with last night, the headlines saying "Manhunt Over." And the man they were hunting for is right now about 150 yards behind us in that brick building. That is the Cherokee County jail. Eric Rudolph will be taken out of that building anytime between this very moment and tomorrow morning. We are not being told by federal authorities.

They want to keep it very quiet for security reasons, but he is being taken about a two-hour drive east of here to Asheville, North Carolina for his first appearance in a federal court tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time. Security outside this jail is very tight. Local authorities with rifles and guns making sure there is no funny business or a better word might be unfunny business taking place anywhere around that jail. They're not letting anyone even walk by that jail unless you have a police uniform on.

In the woods surrounding this area, in the mountains, federal authorities, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms searching for any possible evidence to find where Eric Rudolph has been for the last five years. Many people find it very ironic that millions were spent to use high technology to find him, aerial surveillance, night visions scopes were used for five years. And the way they ended up capturing Eric Rudolph was the most mundane, routine way. He was found outside a grocery store yesterday, about a mile from where we are standing about to search through a dumpster. And now this long manhunt, one of the men on the FBI's most wanted list is in this jail behind me getting ready for his first appearance in court Tomorrow.

Sophia, back to you.

CHOI: All right, Gary Tuchman, thanks for that update.

Across the country, spring showers signal the return of mosquito season and the emerging threat of West Nile. The virus first detected in the Northeastern U.S. in 1999 has spread to 44 states as experts look for effective ways to control this natural born killer.

Joe Conlon is the technical adviser for the American Mosquito Control Association. And he joins us now. Mr. Conlon, thanks for joining us.

JOSEPH CONLON, AM. MOSQUITO CONTROL ASSN.: Thank you. Good afternoon.

CHOI: Can you give us a couple of examples of what experts feel are the most effective tools to control mosquitoes and the spread of West Nile? The homeowner is one of our most effective tools. If homeowners can get rid of trash, debris, keep the lawns cut, the bushes trim, gutters kept up properly, they can do quite a bit actually to reduce the mosquito burden around their house. We base our mosquito control in the United States on surveillance and an integrated approach to actually capturing and killing the mosquitoes.

By integrated, I mean we take a number of diverse type of control operations and meld them into one so that we effectively target the mosquito stages. They're vulnerable at certain stages. And that's the way we do it. So in order to do it effectively, safely for the environment, we need to target certain stages in the mosquito, and that's how we do it.

CHOI: All right, you know, in some cities, they went ahead and sprayed Malathion and some other toxins to ward off the mosquitoes. Some environmentalists say that's pretty dangerous to humans and to animals. So I'm wondering, is there a more, less toxic way to control mosquitoes?

CONLON: Actually, all of the pesticides, the public health insecticides that the EPA has registered for use in these types of sprays have undergone anywhere from eight to 10 years of testing at about $50 million a piece in order to determine whether they are, indeed, too toxic to use, whether there are any carcinogenic properties to them, any reproductive problems with them. And when they are registered by the EPA, Malathion is registered by the EPA, by the way. They have determined that when used according to the label that they don't pose an unreasonable risk to consumers or the environment. That being said, we have a number of different options available, including malathion. The new pyrethroid formulations that are out now are considerably less toxic and allow us to utilize them with a far smaller dosage per acre, often about half an ounce actually per acre is what we use.

CHOI: Well, I heard that dark clothing attracts mosquitoes. Is there anything that people can do while they are out and about to protect themselves?

CONLON: You heard right. Actually, reds and dark blues are very attractive to mosquitoes. One that thing you can do is wear light clothing when you're out. Another thing is to avoid wearing perfumes and or hairsprays. They seem to be attracted to that. Wear very loose fitting clothing. Mosquitoes can and will actually bite through clothing. And actually one of the best things to do is to avoid being outside when the mosquitoes are active, if at all possible.

CHOI: What about spraying yourself, if at all possible, with products that contain DEET?

CONLON: DEET has been used, I think they've sold about seven billion bottles of DEET throughout its history, and we've had 13 adverse reactions to it. So, it's very, very safe to use. Please ensure you cover all of your exposed areas of your body with it, avoid, obviously, the eyes, noise, mouth and any type of mucous membranes. But it is the gold standard by which all other repellents are judged and it is quite effective.

CHOI: All right, Joe Conlon, thanks so much for your advice.

CONLON: Your very welcome.

CHOI: Take care.

Mosquitoes and West Nile are not the only worries of summer forecasters. Expect a busier than average wild fire season this year. Last summer was one of the worst fire season in half a century with millions of acres of lost, more than a billion dollars in damage.

Joining us now with a look what might be ahead this summer is Marc Rounsaville. And he's the director of fire and aviation for the southern region of the U.S. Forest Service. Thanks for joining us.

MARC ROUNSAVILLE, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: Glad to be here.

CHOI: Can you quickly give us a thumbnail sketch, an overview of what we're looking at here? How many fires do you see a year and at what cost?

ROUNSAVILLE: Well, a normal year sees us have 50 to 60,000 wildfires across the United States, that's not just our service, but all agencies combined. This year, we're way behind that pace due to the wet weather this spring in the southeast, and we've not had near the fires we normally have. We're looking for possibly a season that will be fairly active, but nothing like last year, which was quite historical.

CHOI: How do drought and bug infestations affect the wildfire season?

ROUNSAVILLE: Well, the drought and bugs work in conjunction with each other. Oftentimes, trees, vegetation is more stressed from drought, which makes it more susceptible to insect and disease infestations which kills the vegetation and it becomes more available for consumption by a wildfire than it would be if it was green.

CHOI: What kind of tools do you use to forecast or predict wildfire seasons?

ROUNSAVILLE: We look at a lot of different things. We monitor drought. We look at a number of factors on a daily basis to give us more real-time weather. We look at historical trends. We try to match-up an individual season with another season that's similar to the one that, you know, has the same kind of weather patterns. We look at things like El Nino and La Nina, the Pacific Ocean temperatures. All these kinds of things are in the crystal ball, try to figure out what kind of fire season we may have.

CHOI: Yes, I was going to ask you, how accurate are those predictions?

ROUNSAVILLE: Well, you know, they're getting better all the time as technology improves and our historical database improves, but it's still a forecast. It's much like the weather forecast. Oftentimes, the forecasters miss that. We oftentimes miss the forecasts for fire season because it is so weather dependent.

CHOI: Let's talk a bit about the tools you use now to fight fires. We've seen those water-dropping planes and we've seen some of them crash.

ROUNSAVILLE: Right. We have a number of air tankers in our fleet that drop fire retardant like the ones that are quite prevalent when things are going on. We also use a number of helicopters. We've scaled back -- we grounded or parked all the air tankers over the winter so we could check all of them for safety and maintenance and make sure they were all air worthy and able to fly. We're in the process of putting them all back that are air worthy back in the air to take that mission up again. And we're not going to having quite as many of them as we've had in the past, because some of them are not going to pass air worthiness standards.

CHOI: What about your fire fighting tactics? Some people say you should just let these fires burn themselves out.

ROUNSAVILLE: Well, They would burn themselves out eventually, and that's pretty obvious, but in the meantime, they may take out some towns or displace quite a number of folks. And we do allow some fires to follow the natural processes. And we use those fire in areas where we have room to let them grow and get big. That's not the case of every fire. And, oftentimes, communities, cities are threatened and we have to take action to prevent, as best we can, those from being impacted by the fires.

CHOI: We are short on time, but I have to ask you, what about the president's proposed healthy first initiative? Opponents say it's nothing more than allowing more logging. Do you think that this plan will actually help you fight fires?

ROUNSAVILLE: It will help reduce the amount of fuel that's available to fires, and anything that does that improves our position in terms of being able to fight fires. It improves our decision space so that we're better able to make a decision or have an opportunity to make a decision or how we react or how we attack a fire.

CHOI: All right, Marc Rounsaville with the U.S. Forest Service, thanks so much.

ROUNSAVILLE: Thank you.

Coming up NEXT@CNN, the first of three missions to Mars is set to go, in search of an answer to the question, does life exist on the red planet. And NASA may be closing in on a reason for the shuttle Columbia disaster. Those stories and much more still ahead, so please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHOI: Taking a look at some of the stories making science and environment news this week. Ralph Nader says the Green Party may not field the presidential candidate in 2004. Nader told CNN that party members around the country are considering the idea but, in his words, it's still a minority position. Recent news reports have said the Green Party may support the Democratic candidate in hopes of getting President Bush out of the White House.

Some excitement at New York's JFK Airport on Friday, a cargo jet overran the runway as it landed but was saved from plunging into the water by technology called an arrester bed. Airport officials described the arrester bed as concrete pumped with air, and say it's designed to stop a vehicle of any size with minimal damage. Obviously, in this case, it worked.

The panel investigating the shuttle Columbia disaster reports a possible breakthrough from its tests into what destroyed the orbiter. The investigation board has been firing chunks of foam at different sections of a shuttle mockup to see how much damage they can do. Thursday a hit on the leading edge of a wing knocked a seal lose and opened up a 22-inch gash. Video from Columbia's launch seems to show foam insulation hitting the orbiter. If that damaged the wing, it could explain the shuttle's breakup shortly before it was supposed to land on February 1. The tests will continue.

And you may not have felt the effects, but solar flares caused a severe geomagnetic storm here on the earth in the wee hours on Friday. Three major eruptions from a sunspot region near the center of the sun ejected billions of tons of plasma and charged particles into space. When this kind of material reaches earth's magnetic field it can disrupt satellite operations and even power grids on the ground. These images were taken by the orbiting solar observatory, Soho.

Coming up this month, not one, not two but three separate rockets take off from Mars. NASA will launch two Rovers later in June. But the European Space Agency will launch its first mission to Mars tomorrow.

For more, we turn to CNN's Ryan Chilcote in the Moscow bureau -- Ryan.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sophia, the European Space Agency has taken part in several Martian probes before several missions to send probes up to Mars, including a Russian mission called Mars 1996, a failed Russian mission, I should say, that was very unsuccessful for them. They sent up their equipment only to have it come crashing back to earth on board the rocket that carried that Russian probe up there. So, a lot of attention being paid to detail that the European probe has already been strapped on top of the rocket that's going to carry it up there. And it is now scheduled to leave the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1:45 p.m. Eastern time tomorrow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHILCOTE (voice-over): In sterile laboratories around the globe, white-cloaked scientists are quietly but intensively competing to answer a crucial question -- is there life on Mars? European Space Agency's Mars Express leading the pack, edging out a Martian probe NASA hopes to launch later this month. These, the first of several probes expected to land on the red planet's surface over the next decade. In the search for extraterrestrial life, Mars remains the destination of choice.

(on camera): On Earth, life is inextricably linked with water in all its forms. That's why looking for water will be the central mission of Mars Express. It may just lead to the discovery of life on the red planet.

ALAIN FOORINER-SICRE, EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY: We believe that there is still water embedded in the planet and maybe some, you know, creatures which might be at a certain level of life. Of course, we didn't discover yet, but there is a big question mark.

CHILCOTE (voice-over): Mars Express hopes to answer that question with two spacecraft that will work in tandem. It's land roving Beagle II will parachute into the planet's atmosphere equipped with cameras to collect Martian samples with a drill souped up for space and a radar system that allows it to look well beneath the surface. Overhead, the Mars Express main body will orbit the planet taking pictures and relaying data to scientists back at planet earth. The Express won't make it if it makes it at all to the red planet until late in December. And the Beagle can only move about ten human steps an hour, but many scientists still believe we will soon know if life exists beyond this world.

FOORINER-SICRE: I think we're very close in 10, 15 years, it will be you know, quite evident there are forms of life. CHILCOTE: Once the Express gets there, it will roam for nearly two years, but right now the focus is on getting the project off the ground.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHILCOTE: And there will be a lot of hurdles in getting the project off the ground. First of all, it takes just six months. It will take this probe six months to get to Mars. Then it has to enter into the Martian atmosphere and land on the planet without being damaged. That's going to be no small issue. History says that this stuff is very difficult. In fact, the science director for the European Space Agency today asked at Baikonur what he thought about the mission ahead of him, he said, look, if we were sailors I think we should be very superstitious about going to Mars -- Sophia.

CHOI: Yes, Ryan, I understand that two-thirds of these missions end in failure. So we will hope for the best. Thanks so much.

When we come back, some important historic landmarks may not be around much longer. We'll visit one list of the most threatened places.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHOI: A park outside Boston where the American revolution began and the TWA terminal at New York's Kennedy Airport may be among the nation's most endangered historic sites. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a Washington-based non-profit compiles a list each year of historic landmarks the Trust considers neglected.

Joining us now is Peter Brink, senior vice president of the National Trust to talk about some of these places. Thanks for being here.

PETER BRINK, NATIONAL TRUST: Thank you, Sophia.

CHOI; Headlining this year's list are historic houses of worship in America's major cities. What threats are they facing?

BRINK: The threat are, first of all, declining congregations, people moving to the suburbs. And then it becomes a financial question to keep these facilities in good condition. And they are extremely important not only because they're anchors for their neighborhoods, but they have become centers for services, tutoring of children, homeless shelters, all the things that help people outside the congregation as well as inside.

CHOI: Now, also on this list is the Ocmulgee burial grounds in Macon, Georgia. There's a multilane highway that's kind of planned there.

BRINK: Yes, this is one of the largest and most important archaeological sites in the whole country. And you have the Muskogee Creek Nation which was driven out of the site in the 1800s. You have burial mounds, ceremonial mounds, artifacts. And all of these are at risk because the Georgia DOT wants to drive a major highway through the middle of these archaeological sites.

CHOI: And turning now to Minute Man National Historic Park, outside Boston where the American Revolution began, you say a nearby airport is threatening that park.

BRINK: Right on edge of Minute Man National Park, and this is the heart of the park is a road where the red coats and the Minute Men had a running battle in 1775, really the beginning of the Revolutionary War. The traffic has to go through this road to get to Hanscom Airport. It is becoming congested. They are adding flights. And more and more, there's going to be pressure to change this historic site in a way that really will lose this historic place for us.

CHOI: And this next site is pretty interesting, the TWA terminal at New York's Kennedy Airport. This seems like kind of an unlikely landmark. It looks more like something out of the future.

BRINK: This is a magnificent modern icon built in 1963 by Eero Saarinen. It was designed to look like an airport, like it was going to take off. The Port Authority says they won't actually tear it down, but they want to encircle it with a large building. They're not putting it in any of their plans for the future and, in fact, they are making it a useless building. We want to see it actively used and preserved.

CHOI: Now that we've looked at some of the sites on this list, what is the purpose of compiling this list? Do you raise money for preservation? Is it a national awareness kind of thing?

BRINK: It's really bringing to the attention of the American people the richness and diversity of our historic sites and also the range of threats that are attacking them, everything from outright demolition to neglect and vacancy. So we are making this a wakeup call to save those things that let us tell our stories as Americans.

CHOI: Peter Brink of the National Trust, thank you so much.

BRINK: Thank you, Sophia.

CHOI: Lots more to come in our next half hour. Big changes are expected tomorrow in the rules about medial ownership. We'll tell you how this could affect you.

And later in the show, find out why these sea lions' human neighbors wish the critters would take a long walk off a short pier.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHOI: NEXT@CNN continues in just a minute after a check of what's going on at this hour.

(NEWSBREAK)

NEXT@CNN resumes right now. The Federal Communications Commission is set to vote tomorrow on a set of rules -- changes that will likely transform the TV ownership landscape. So is this a good thing or a bad thing, and what does it mean to you?

CNN financial correspondent Greg Clarkin joins s from our New York studio to help get to the bottom of it.

GREG CLARKIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Sophia.

This is certainly a controversial and emotional issue for a lost folks. Some people say these rules at the FCC really guarantee a diversity of voices in the media marketplace. Others are saying they are simply outdated and it's time to get rid of them.

Now joining us to explore this topic, we have Jeffrey Chester, he is at the Center for Digital Democracy. And he is also joined by Randolph May. He is with the Progress and Freedom Foundation. Both of these gentlemen joining us from our Washington, D.C. studios. Gentlemen, welcome. And Jeff, let's start with you. I suspect you believe this is a lousy idea.

JEFF CHESTER, CENTER FOR DIGITAL DEMOCRACY: Well, I don't think this country can afford to have a handful of giant companies control the nation's television stations, radio stations, newspapers, cable systems, even access to the Internet. If you care about diversity of viewpoints, if you care what kind of kids' programming your kid can see on TV, how much you're paying for cable rates, more importantly, whether or not there's a good journalistic watchdog covering your local city hall or telling you about the latest threat from al-Qaeda, we need to have safeguards to protect the public's right to a diverse media system. And tomorrow because the biggest media companies have been lobbying the Bush administration the FCC will sweep away these critical safeguards.

CLARKIN: And Randolph, let me ask you, is what we are likely to see, just a handful of major, major media companies controlling pretty much everything we read, see and hear?

RANDOLPH MAY, PROGRESS & FREEDOM FOUNDATION: No, of course, not. There really is an air of unreality in terms of the type of marketplace that Jeff tries to paint. The fact of the matter is, that since these rules were put in place 30 or 40 years ago, there have been revolutionary changes in the media marketplace. When they were adopted, there was no cable television with three or 400 channels. There was no satellite television. There was no Internet, of course, one of the most revolutionary mediums of all times. The fact of the matter is, that the marketplace has changed so much, that without these types of ownership restrictions, consumers will be able to get the information that they want from a diversity of sources.

CHESTER: Greg, there's two things wrong with that, if I might. I mean, the FCC and the media companies point to cable and point to the Internet, but they never once tell you, by the way, we only have two or three giant companies that control most of cable television, including the parent company of this network, and we've made changes. These same big companies have lobbied the FCC to change the way the Internet works, as well, as it evolves to broadband. So, you're going to have fewer owners of the most powerful media outlets in your town and across the nation, one company being able to own three TV stations, the newspaper, several radio stations, perhaps the cable system, and the principal way to access the Internet. That's too much power in the hands of a few.

CLARKIN: Jeff, for the record, the parent company of this network is AOL- Time Warner. Randolph, what about that point? Let's face it. you do have all these other outlets for broadcast media, but the are controlled by some fairly big companies?

MAY: But the idea that there are two or three companies controlling these outlets is just nonsense. There are 25, 30, 40 companies, major media companies that have significant media properties. Look, when these rules were put in place, channel surfing had not even entered our lexicon at that point. Web surfing was not even a dream in someone's mind at that point. I think the American people should be given credit for understanding that they can find the information sources that they want, that in this type of environment, media owners will deliver a diversity of information sources that the American public demands. There's simply not really a threat that they'll be any of the type of consolidation that the opponents of the relaxation of these rules suggest. And furthermore, it's important to understand that the FCC here is not off on a lark all its own. The Congress in 1996 directed the FCC to review these rules and actually repeal or modify any rules that were no longer in the public interest as a result of competition.

CHESTER: And since then, you've had tremendous deregulation.

MAY: If I could just finish.

CHESTER: Since that time you have two companies controlling the radio market.

MAY: If I could just finish, since the time of the 1996 act, no less than four times, the court of appeals here in D.C. has reviews these, and each time, the court has held the rules are no longer rationale in light of the changes that have taken place.

CHESTER: That's not true, Randolph, you're misleading the American public. What the courts have said many times is please prove these rules. And the problem is that the FCC has been under the influence of the very same media companies that will give a giant handout tomorrow. We need rules in this country. There are five major media companies that now control almost all the channels on broadcasting and cable television. And it's not just me saying it. It's Ted Turner. It's Barry Diller. It's Norman Lear, everyone inside the media industry from moguls like Ted Turner, to people that work in newspapers say we already have a problem with concentration. What the FCC, under Michael Powell, is going to do tomorrow is going to make it worse. It threatens the very fabric of our democracy and we have to come back and get Congress to do something soon.

CLARKIN: Jeff, let me just bring it back to you for a quick second. The American public, they wake up a couple years from now, assuming these rule changes go through tomorrow. What is the danger? What are they likely to see? How is it going to affect them.

CHESTER: Well, the first place, journalism as we know it is going to be severely weakened. There's very little investigative reporting already going on.

CLARKIN: Whey is that?

CHESTER: Because the minute these companies merge -- this has been the history over 20 years -- the minutes these companies merge, they take on lots of debt, and the first things they slash are news budgets. Look, there's been very little overseas -- very few overseas bureaus from the commercial networks, very little investigative reporting. It's, frankly, become a national security risk, because we really weren't aware, the press really wasn't able to do its job in advance and warn us about al-Qaeda, inform us about what's going. It's because these conglomerates are involved in cost cutting. They're not giving the resources to journalism. We're going to having fewer voices in a community that will have an impact on the community. You can have one owner being able to own a community and the nation's major media outlets. That is not healthy for democracy.

CLARKIN: Now, Randolph, I've got to tell you having worked for a major media conglomerate and presently so, consolidation, I haven't seen it bring about bigger news rooms. Is that a valid point?

MAY: Well, here's the fact of the matter. There have been studies that have been submitted to the FCC over and over again in the past few years which have documented that commonly owned newspapers and television stations produce a greater quantity of local news, they win more awards for the quality of their local news, and furthermore, and importantly, that those commonly owned properties take a different slant as often as not in their presentation of the news.

CHESTER: Those studies have been widely criticized.

MAY: Jeff.

CHESTER: The fact of the matter is ...

CLARKIN: Let me jump in here. Hang on a second. Randolph could it be that they're winning more awards because there's less competition?

MAY: No, I don't think so. In fact, there's more competition. The reason why they're winning more awards is because, as you know, it takes significant cost to go out and gather and produce the news. The networks' market share has been diminishing rapidly. They now have less than 50 percent of the prime-time audience. I think it's likely that if we don't allow this type of relaxation of the rules so the marketplace itself can rationalize these properties, that we'll see less and less news produced rather than more and more news. Look. Throughout ...

CLARKIN: Guys, I tell you right now, in the world of big media, we are out of time.

CHESTER: ... in charge of U.S. media television today.

CLARKIN: Guys, in the world of big media, we are out of time. I've to leave you with the last world. As Jeffrey Chester with the Center for Digital Democracy and Randolph May, Progress and Freedom Foundation.

And, Sophia, certainly a hot button topic as you can see. Big changes in store, it looks that way at least tomorrow. Back to you.

CHOI: All right, we'll see what happens. Thank you.

Coming up on NEXT@CNN, during the war in Iraq, CNN got an exclusive look inside the war room at ground force's headquarters in Kuwait. When we come back, we'll show you some moments of high drama and talk to one of the people who was there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHOI: Now a CNN exclusive, the story told here on CNN for the first time of how an Iraqi missile came close to striking coalition ground forces headquarters during the war with Iraq. A CNN crew was embedded at the operation center in Kuwait and captured what happened. Their access was unprecedented and because of that, because CNN was allowed into secret and classified locations, some of the video did have a prior security review. A CNN documentary team received the access after agreeing to hold the material until the conflict was over.

Here's Mike Boettcher.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready, General?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just received a report that they are shooting civilians trying to flee al-Najaf.

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A report from the front lines during the morning BUA. The battlefield update assessment. Suddenly, the headquarters in the rear is on the frontlines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missile launch from Iraq. Area at risk, Kuwait. Lightning, lightning, lightning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scud bomb.

BOETTCHER: In a war that began with a strike aimed at killing Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi high command, the Iraqis are launching a counterattack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief look out.

KEN ROBINSON, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It was Saddam's decapitation attempt.

BOETTCHER: Inside the operation center, General McKiernan and his crew keep going with their update, gas masks and all. The Patriots on their way to intercept the Iraqi missile, a dull roar overhead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) statement there at -- lots of time. Airfield, preparation for further attack.

LT. COLONEL DAVID MCKIERNAN, GROUND FORCES COMMANDER: The idea is just to, first of all, try to maintain a little calmness and continue on. And by God, that patriot knocked the missile down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All missiles are down. All missiles are down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. We'll continue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had it actually (ph) fall on this building. It's awesome.

BOETTCHER: At the air missile defense command in the building next to the operation center, they plot the trajectory of the Iraqi missile and realize it came within seconds of wiping out the war room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This right here is the building you're standing in where the arrow is. That was headquarters.

BOETTCHER: General Webster believes the Iraqis have chosen their target and time carefully and had very good intelligence.

MAJ. GENERAL WILLIAM WEBSTER, DEPUTY COMMANDING GENERAL: We've been operating out of these two buildings for ten years. And so there's been a long time for that information to get back from agents to Saddam, and for him to lay that grid into his weapons systems and to prepare to shoot it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 37.7 East.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, it's the coalition's turn to hunt for the Iraqi missile crew.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHOI: And joining us now is CNN national security analyst Ken Robinson with more on this exclusive look inside the war room. Thanks for joining us.

KEN ROBINSON, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Hi, Sophia.

CHOI: Ken, looking at those pictures, what are your thoughts on this behind the scenes look at the war room?

ROBINSON: Well, for us, it was incredible access. This is the first time that cameras have been involved in the top secret war planning, and especially here in the 21st century to see the making of modern war. The ability to see these commanding officers struggling with real frictions, seeing them having to make decisions at a minutes notice, and then execute them, and to be able to capture that from a behind-the-scenes look very candidly is really remarkable. We're very fortunate to have had the access.

CHOI: We know the Patriot missile system has really improved, but clearly the Iraqi scud system has never been that accurate. I mean, in '91, they logged what 40 missiles into Israel and only one person died. How are you so sure that this scud would have actually struck the operation center?

ROBINSON: That, if you saw in the piece you see the people who track the missiles through missile telemetry. They're able to determine the exact launch location, the exact launch altitude and pinpoint precisely where the missile trajectory would land. That's how those conclusions were came to. Yes, those missiles generally are area-type weapons, but this specific missile as it was launched was projected through the computer telemetry to land precisely on top of that headquarters.

CHOI: And I understand even nearby buildings felt it.

ROBINSON: That's correct. Everyone felt it on Camp Doha when the explosion occurred, when the missiles were intercepted, the shrapnel actually fell on the building that we were in.

CHOI: CNN national security analyst Ken Robinson, thanks so much for joining us.

ROBINSON: Thanks, Sophia.

CHOI: And if we've whetted your appetite for the story and you'd like to see more of this extraordinary look inside the war room as the war was being fought, watch "CNN PRESENTS" tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

And don't go away, because coming up right here, with hurricane season 2003 now underway, we'll tell you what it might hold in store. Pretty scary.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHOI: Taking a look now at some NEXT news headlines.

China today began filling the reservoir behind the controversial Three Gorges dam, the dam is the world's largest hydroelectric project. It will start producing power later this year. Now, critics complain this project has forced the relocation of more than 1 million people. They also say it will cause an ecological disaster as pollution seeps out of industrial facilities that are covered with water.

A new study says authorities need to better regulate the practice known as mountaintop mining in which the tops of ridges are sheered off to reach coal beneath. The report by one state and four federal agencies says the various entities that oversee mountaintop mining need to work on coordinating their efforts. Environmentalists are upset that the report doesn't address their main concern, the dumping of rock dirt into valleys and into streams.

It was 50 years ago this past Thursday that a New Zealand beekeeper and his sherpa guide conquered Mount Everest. And this week, Nepal celebrated, awarding Sir Edmund Hillary with honorary citizenship. Hillary's Tenzing Norgay died 17 years ago. Since the pair became the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest, more than 1,000 people have followed in their footsteps, and nearly 200 people have died trying.

And Monterey, California, is suffering an invasion of sea lions. Hundreds of mammals have taken over a boat launch ramp. Some of them are even climbing into boats. Boat owners and fishermen are upset but are barred from doing anything that would harm the sea lions, which are federally protected. Authorities say if no one starts feeding the critters, they'll probably soon move on.

Well, today is the official start of Atlantic hurricane season, and while it's quiet right now, it may not stay that way through the summer and through the fall.

CNN's Miami bureau chief John Zarrella has covered hurricanes for a quarter of a century. And he is here in CNN's world headquarters for a visit. Thanks so much for being here.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Sophia, thank you. It's a pleasure.

CHOI: So I understand that it's going to be a pretty busy season.

ZARRELLA: It could be, you're right. It usually starts off slowly, June and July, kind of slow, but you can bet by August, September, things are likely to heat up in the tropics. This year, NOAH, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is already forecasting between 11 and 15 names storms, eight of those to become hurricanes, two to four to become intense. Bill Gray who is a noted meteorologist himself from Colorado State, has been doing forecasts for years and years, he says that there will be up to 14 named storms, also saying eight hurricanes and three of those to be intense. That's winds of 111 miles an hour or greater.

Now, compared to last year, there were a total of eight storms. And only one was a hurricane that hit the United states, and that was Lilly, but Lilly was a category four hurricane. You can see it there on that satellite imagery. It got to 145-mile-an-hour winds as it approached the Louisiana coast. Then it suddenly fell part. But in talks with the National Hurricane Center folks, their biggest concern was that people didn't really take it all that seriously. A lot of people who should have evacuated the Louisiana coastline didn't. And Max Mayfield, the director of the National Hurricane Center was telling me that hundreds of people could have died if that storm made landfall as a category 4 hurricane. And his concern that most people who live on the coast of the United States don't really understand the power of a hurricane. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAX MAYFIELD, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CTR.: There's no doubt in my mind that there's some hurricane amnesia out there. People don't remember what a major hurricane can do. Now, the people that went through hurricane Andrew, we're not worried about them. They're going to respond next time. But the people who have not had that direct experience of a core of a major hurricane, I have great concern that they're not going to take it seriously and not be prepared as they should.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: And you know, how long does it take to rebuild? Max was mentioning hurricane Andrew. And just a couple of weeks ago at the Miami's Metro Zoo, which was ravaged by Hurricane Andrew 11 years ago, the zoo portion actually reopened one year after Andrew, but the aviary, which lost some 300 birds during Andrew, some beautiful, exotic birds, was totally destroyed. They have just now within the last couple of weeks after fund-raisers, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) gotten around to finally reopening the aviary.

CHOI: That's wonderful.

ZARRELLA: But that's how long it can take to recover from a major hurricane.

CHOI: And I understand we're going to get a better heads up kind of from the National Hurricane Center, because they're going to give five-day forecasts instead of three days.

ZARRELLA: Right.

CHOI: That can help and kind of hinder too, though, right, because you can fudge a little more in five days.

ZARRELLA: Well, the cone is going to be wider so you're not going to know exactly where within that cone the storm is going to hit certainly, but the feeling is that they can give people a better idea, five says out now, than 15 years ago at three days out. And it's going to help to get people to start thinking, they hope, a little sooner about what they need to do in case a hurricane approaches.

CHOI: All right. And, John, I know you grew up in Miami Beach, so what kind of sticks out in your mind about the hurricanes.

ZARRELLA: The one story I always tell, it has nothing to do with Miami Beach, but it has to do with covering one of my first hurricanes back in 1979, Hurricane Frederick in Mobile, Alabama. And when I covered Hurricane Frederick, we ended up having to spend the night in the tunnel under Mobile Bay as Frederick, the eye of the storm came up over the bay. We tried to get off the exit ramp at Water Street. Everything was underwater. Had to turn around in the off ramp and drive back into the tunnel and ride out the storm in the tunnel under Mobile Bay.

CHOI: Well, we're glad you made it through in one piece.

ZARRELLA: Thanks, Sophia.

CHOI: John, you're terrific.

And that's all the time we have for now, but before we go, here's a peek at what's coming up next week.

We'll talk with the people who designed the Rovers NASA is preparing to send to Mars after the Columbia disaster and two failed Mars missions, a lot is riding on these robotic explorers. That story and much more coming up next week. Hope you'll join us.

Coming up next, get all the days news on "CNN LIVE SUNDAY" with Anderson Cooper.

That's followed by "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" profiling Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

And that at 8:00 p.m. "CNN PRESENTS" "Inside the War Room."

CNN continues right after a quick break.

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Could Devastate Western U.S.; Hurricane Season Starts Today>