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Paula Zahn Now
Interview With Jessica Lynch; Fence Around Capitol?
Aired April 01, 2004 - 20:00 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.
PAULA ZAHN, HOST: Good evening. Thanks so much for joining us tonight, I'm Paula Zahn. It is Thursday, April 1, 2004.
One year after her dramatic rescue in Iraq, Jessica Lynch looks to the future. You'll hear our conversation. A new weapon in the war on terror. A fence around the nation's Capitol? Will it work? And guess who just turned 30? "People Magazine" looks back on three decades of celebrity, scandal, glitter, and glamour.
All that ahead tonight. But first, here's what you need to know right now. The top U.S. civilian official in Iraq is vowing to avenge the brutal killing and mutilation of four American contractors in Fallujah. Jim Clancy is in Iraq, he joins us tonight from Baghdad. Good evening, Jim.
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Paula. Just a day after the killing of those four contractors, U.S. officials vowing to stay the course in Iraq. There was a wide reaction to the scenes that were shown around the world. The brutal killing of those four contractors, how their bodies, their charred bodies were dragged out of the wreckage of their vehicles through the streets and hung on display on a bridge nearby. Outrage.
One member of the Iraqi governing council said it was a national shame. Other Iraqis reacted differently. Some said Fallujah was a longtime strong hold of Saddam Hussein supporters. It was to be expected. And still others excused the behavior of the mob on the streets of Fallujah saying it was a result of the U.S. occupation. Well, U.S. officials gave every indication that they are going to pursue those responsible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: The acts we have seen were despicable, and inexcusable. They violate the tenets of all religions, including Islam, as well as the foundations of civilized societies. Their deaths will not go unpunished.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: But the fight continues. It may have been on a much smaller scale as measured here in Iraq. But there was two bomb attacks on a U.S. convoy. One of them wounded an Iraqi civilian in his car. The second went off minutes, and about 200 yards away. It wounded one driver of a U.S. contractor's truck, taking fuel. But the precious cargo of petrol did not go up in flames, perhaps as the attackers had intended. The military police on the patrol evacuated the wounded to hospitals.
As the U.S. looks at the situation here, a lot of people are drawing comparisons between those scenes in the streets of Fallujah on Wednesday, and Somalia a decade ago. But it is vastly different, in both strategic and political terms. U.S. officials appear to know that. They're not talking about even stepping back, much less pulling out. Paula, back to you.
ZAHN: Jim Clancy, thanks so much for the update.
In focus tonight, the anniversary of an unforgettable moment in the war in Iraq. Exactly one year ago today millions of people were captivated by the rescue of a young army private from an Iraqi hospital.
Jessica Lynch was captured in an ambush on March 23 of last year. She was severely injured, and in rough shape when she was rescued April 1. Since then, she's had quite a recovery. She's published a book, appeared in parades, and met all kinds of celebrities, traveled all over the country. It's hard for her to go anywhere without being recognized.
And today I spoke with her, and began by asking how she would describe the past year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA LYNCH, FORMER POW: Amazing. It's been rough dealing with all of the physical therapy. But being -- meeting all the celebrities and getting to travel has been fun.
ZAHN: I have to say, it was very heartening to see you walk into the studio tonight on crutches. And I know that you have spent countless hours trying to get your strength back. Was there a time, after you got home, where you thought you might never walk again normally?
LYNCH: Yes, there was that time. Especially right after everything happened. And I couldn't feel my legs, and my feet were in bad shape. But, I take it day by day. And I've never gave up.
ZAHN: I know you didn't give up. Was there a point after the ambush -- and I know a lot of your memory isn't clear from that point on -- where you thought you might die?
LYNCH: No, it never really crossed my mind. I had thought maybe I might, but it never really sunk in. I was willing to survive.
ZAHN: You also had to deal with the trauma of confronting these very serious injuries, basically alone with no support around you.
(CROSSTALK)
LYNCH: Yes. And the pain. But I was determined to live.
ZAHN: But you're still living in pain, aren't you? LYNCH: A little. It's getting less and less every day, because I'm dealing with it with my own way. So it's getting better.
ZAHN: What goes through your mind, a year later? I remember being on the air when we got the first confirmation that you had in fact been rescued. And I don't think you have any idea the impact those pictures had on all of us. And then, of course, we later learned that your story had been spun by some military officials. Suggesting that perhaps you played a Rambo role that you had not. How have you reconciled all of that in your mind?
LYNCH: I really didn't know what was all happening at that time. But I knew that that wasn't the truth, and I knew that I had to come out and tell it. And now that Sergeant Walters, he's getting recognized for the role that they thought was me, so that was great that he's getting -- he's getting honored with the silver medal.
ZAHN: And he was the blond soldier. In fact, who pretty much saved the lives of those of you who survived, right? And he was mistaken for you because of the color of the hair?
(CROSSTALK)
LYNCH: Yes. Yes, they thought he was me in the beginning.
ZAHN: And then of course, there was Patrick Miller, who was also credited with helping save you all?
LYNCH: Yes. Yes. Tremendously. He shot down; I think there was like nine Iraqis at one time. He did a great job.
ZAHN: And one of your closest friends in the world who was your roommate at that time lost her life in this ambush. How hard is that for you to live with?
LYNCH: It's really hard. It was especially hard during the 23rd, the memorial. But I deal with emotions my own way. So I got through it. It's very hard, though, knowing that she's not here and I made it through. But I'm here and I'm trying to give credit to her kids, and let her kids know how wonderful she is.
ZAHN: Some members of the military have come home feeling a little disenfranchised, thinking that perhaps the American public had been lied to about the reasons for going to war in Iraq. Do you feel that way?
LYNCH: No. Because it's -- no, I don't. I don't feel that they lied.
ZAHN: Yesterday was a very rough day for Americans watching the news, or reading newspapers when they saw the brutality of the attacks in Fallujah. And another attack not to far by. As you look at the images of American civilians and American military personnel losing lives, what do you think? What do you internalize about that?
LYNCH: I think it was a tragic day. It was definitely a tragic day. And I feel sorry for the families of those -- of the civilians. But what really happened, I don't know. You've got to be there to find out how it is over there, and to live it. I still have a brother who's in the army. And I fear for him every day that he might get sent over there. Or Ruben. So I kind -- I'm still scared of the war. Hopefully one day it will end.
ZAHN: Ruben is your fiance?
LYNCH: Yes he is.
ZAHN: I see a sparkling ring on your hand. When is the big day?
LYNCH: We postponed it, as everybody knows. But hopefully sometime next year. When the time is right, we will know.
ZAHN: No matter how distorted the facts became surrounding your rescue, you still represented a lot of hope. To folks watching those riveting images of your rescue from that hospital. And I'm delighted to see you doing so well.
LYNCH: Thank you. I'm getting better each day.
ZAHN: Good luck to you. You probably have another book in you. And we would love to have you come back when you finish it.
LYNCH: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Coming up, a rising tide of violence in Iraq. How is the story being spun at home? A fiery pileup to talk about today in a fog-shrouded California Canyon. An expert tells us how those road conditions can play games with your mind.
And looking back at three decades of fame, fortune, and people in the American spotlight. "People Magazine's 30th anniversary.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: The Pentagon says it is planning a precise response to yesterday's gruesome attacks on American civilians in Fallujah, and Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins us with more. Hi, Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Paula, in response to the rising level of attacks, and this one in particular yesterday in Fallujah, the Pentagon's doing an about-face on its strategy in the Fallujah area.
U.S. marines who inherited the area from the army had inherited a policy where the U.S. forces were staying on the outskirts of the city, trying to get the Iraqis to be responsible for their own security. But after the murder and mutilation of four American contractors, that strategy is shifting. And now the marines have been told that in the next few days, they'll be ordered to essentially retake the city of Fallujah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: Quite simply, we will respond. We are not going to do a pell-mell rush into the city. It's going to be deliberate. It will be precise. And it will be overwhelming. We will not rush in to make things worse, we will plan our way through this, and we will reestablish control of that city, and we will pacify that city.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Now, what the marines will be doing when they get there, is putting a lot of pressure on local Iraqis, both local Iraqi leaders and others that they'll be questioning to provide intelligence to point the finger at those responsible for the attacks.
In particular, they'll be trying to round up some of the people who could be seen on videotape celebrating after the U.S. contractors were killed, and any of those who were seen mutilating some of the bodies. So they'll be trying to exert some pressure.
Also reestablishing security in the city. Again, taking a very strong stance. But at the same time they're going to try to continue their "Hearts and Minds" campaign, pumping up the amount of money that goes to schools and clinics to try to win over the local populous. Paula?
ZAHN: Jamie McIntyre thanks you so much. We move on to the question now of how the White House should deal with the potentially explosive impact of the images of the violence in Fallujah. Joining us from Washington, regular contributor, former Pentagon Spokeswoman Victoria Clarke, and Lawrence Korb, an Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Reagan, now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. Welcome both.
Larry, I'm going to start with you this evening. How do you think the White House should be managing the images by now most Americans have seen?
LAWRENCE KORB, FMR. SECY. OF DEFENSE: I think the President needs to come clean. And tell us that he didn't anticipate how bad things would be after major combat ended. We're going to be there a long time. We're going to lose a lot of lives. We're going to spend a lot of money.
And he also at the same time should tell us he was mistaken about the fact that they had weapons of mass destruction. And that there were ties to al-Qaeda. I think only by doing that will he be able to get the support of the American people for the long, long occupation that we're going to have to ensure there to make sure that it comes out right.
ZAHN: Larry, people listening tonight are saying, we hear what you are saying Sir. But can you remember any president in recent history that would admit to the potency of what you're talking about here tonight?
KORB: Well, I worked for President Reagan who did after we had the horrible events in Lebanon in 1983. Within two months we had a commission come with a report that wanted to blame some military officials. The President took that report, walked out into the White House pressroom, and said, I was wrong. I was mistaken. I didn't anticipate how bad things were going to be.
It's time for the Administration to admit, as General Zinni said, they had no plan for the post-war phase. They ignored the General Shinseki, the Army Chief of Staff who had been through Vietnam, and who headed peacekeeping in Bosnia to say you would need several hundred thousand people. Had we done that, we would have the security situation under much better control now.
ZAHN: Tori, if you were in your current Pentagon post, could you advocate the kind of admission that Larry's talking about crafting?
VICTORIA CLARKE, FMR. PENTAGON SPOKESWOMAN: First of all, there were so many things wrong with what he said; I wouldn't know where to start. And I have to tell you, at a time like this, what's really important is to express extraordinary sorrow and -- for the families and friends of those poor people and outrage at what was done to them and -- now let me finish.
ZAHN: If the administration had been more forthright about the dangers, then maybe we wouldn't have witnessed the kind of brutality we saw yesterday.
CLARKE: The Administration has been very very forthright about it. The President, and Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of State, and others have been out repeatedly saying there will be good things that happen in Iraq, and there are good things happening, as that country moves to a democratic system, and there will be bad things that happen.
But what's most important, the single most important thing to be doing right now is making sure that no one thinks that this horrible thing that happened will set us back or deter us from the goal of helping the Iraqi people get back up on their feet again. And the Administration has expressed the appropriate outrage and sorrow.
There was a plan in place, as we saw General Kimmitt talking about; to make sure we get those who are accountable. And then most importantly, people need to know that we'll be forward leaning in this war on terror.
ZAHN: You heard what Tori just said Larry. She thinks that the Administration has been forthright about the ongoing dangers Americans face in the region.
KORB: They have never apologized to General Shinseki, the Army Chief of Staff, who before the war said you'd need several hundred thousand people to secure the area. Both the civilian leaders in the Pentagon said he didn't know what he was talking about. There's a man who was wounded in Vietnam, who had led peacekeeping in Bosnia. They just cut the number of American troops in there during this rotation from about 130,000 down to 105,000. Senator McCain this morning, I heard him say, we need more troops in there. I think we need to see it through. Yes, we should express the outrage to the families and let people know that this is not going to deter us. We have no choice. We have to see it through.
But if you want to see it through, you're going to have to do it right. And we're not doing it right. You look at the situation that was talked about by Jamie McIntyre. The army had one strategy in Fallujah. They lead; the marines come in with another strategy. Which is the right strategy? Who's in charge? This inconsistency is not helping us with those Iraqis who just don't know which way to go.
ZAHN: Tori, would you even acknowledge this evening that there has been inconsistency in the strategy? Jamie McIntyre pointedly telling us tonight that there were two different strategies.
CLARKE: I would say a smart military strategy is one that adapts to the circumstances and the situation on the ground. And a smart military like General Abizaid and his team over there know what's best, and what needs to be done on the ground.
You could spend hours talking to General Shinseki, but with all due respect to him, what's important is people like General Abizaid and Sanchez and Petraeus and the others have exactly what they need to get the job done. And working with 30 some other countries.
So I put a lot of stock in the people on the ground being the ones to give us the best advice of how to handle these sort of situations. And I certainly hope and respect the heck out of them. To be willing to change the tactics and adapt to changing circumstances.
To come in a brute fashion with one strategy and then say, well, we're worried about being criticized back in Washington so we're not going to change that strategy is just stupid. I think they're doing absolutely what they ought to be doing.
ZAHN: Victoria Clarke, Lawrence Korb, thank you for both of you for your perspectives. You give us an excellent idea of where the debate goes from here.
CLARKE: Thanks, Paula.
KORB: Thank you.
ZAHN: The Kerry campaign scrambles to regain it's lead in the polls. Are attack ads to blame for the slump? Or is there a problem with the candidate himself?
A 60-car pileup paralyzes a major interstate. There's something you can do to avoid a similar fate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ZAHN: All cars have headlights to illuminate the road ahead. But Lexus has developed a headlight that actually rotates up to 15 to reveal what's around the bend, before you get to the bend. What kind of a difference can 15 make? A very noticeable one.
In southern California today more than 60 cars and trucks were caught in a chain reaction. Fog was to blame for the wrecks on interstate 15. That's the main road that runs between Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. About two dozen people were hurt. None with major injuries. But the wrecks point to the danger of driving in fog. Joining us now for some hints on how to get through pea soup safely, Robert Sinclair of the Automobile Club of New York. Good to see you.
Look at these pictures. It's hard to believe that no one lost their lives.
ROBERT SINCLAIR, AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF NEW YORK: It is. You see some pretty horrific scenes, cars going up under trucks and that sort of thing. For good reason. Fog is the most dangerous weather condition people will face. In 1975 until 2002, there were 36 different fatal pileups involving ten or more vehicles.
ZAHN: This does not give you an idea, because you're in a pocket of an area that you can see. But you were talking about people who literally cannot see the cars in front of them.
SINCLAIR: Exactly.
ZAHN: My question to you is, if speed is the reason why these cars pile up, what are these people thinking when they're speeding through this stuff?
SINCLAIR: They can't help it. Fog is a low contrast situation. There's nothing in the background by which you can judge your speed. Immediately upon hitting fog, you should check your speedometer. You should look down and maintain that contact between the road and the speedometer to see what your speed is, and drop your speed drastically. You should leave -- the average two-second rule for following distance should be increased to five, six, or seven seconds.
ZAHN: People forget the two-second rule, let alone the five- second rule.
SINCLAIR: Yes.
ZAHN: And what are the other reasons for ending up in this kind of situation?
SINCLAIR: A lot of people think that they should follow the lights of the vehicle in front of them. Which is -- it's crazy because the guy in front might not know where he's going. And believe it or not, a lot of people think if they speed up, that extra speed will blow the fog away from them. They need to have their heads examined if they're thinking something like that.
So there are a lot of misconceptions that exist about driving in fog. Really, the best thing to do, if you can't see more than 100 feet ahead of you, pull over. Sometimes that isn't always practical. You might be on a mountain road with no pull-off or a shoulder or something like that.
In those situations, it's best to slow down, keep your speed down. A lot of people will put their bright lights on, and that's a bad thing to do. Because that light goes up, it hits the fog and bounces right back at you.
ZAHN: Almost has a blinding effect on you.
SINCLAIR: Absolutely. You'll see people in the city driving with fog lights on. Those are the lights down below the headlights when it's perfectly clear. You should be using them in the fog. The lower the lights are the better in the fog.
ZAHN: Finally, any advance technology that would help people navigate these kind of awful situations?
SINCLAIR: Yes, without a doubt. GM has a system called Night Driver. It's an infrared camera. Infrared has been around since the '50s for the military. Now it's being applied to automobiles. It's available in the in the Cadillac Deville, and the Hummer H2 which is a vehicle that probably needs it.
ZAHN: We should make it clear that you're not getting any payoffs for mentioning that tonight, that any technology exists.
SINCLAIR: No. The technology exists. And certainly. But it's expensive. And it's available in more expensive vehicles. But certainly, as it gets cheaper and hits more vehicles, it will be a good safety device to have on a lot of cars.
ZAHN: Thank you for trying to keep us safe. Robert Sinclair. Drive home safely.
SINCLAIR: Thank you very much.
ZAHN: Time now for surgery. Another lapses (ph) have wounded John Kerry in the polls. We're going to take a look at his planned comeback.
Not just glitz and glamour, but the tragic side of celebrity too. We're going to look back on 30 years of "people" magazine.
And tomorrow, marines just back from patrolling Fallujah. A first-hand account about the dangers there. Also tomorrow, "The Passion of the Christ." Director Mel Gibson and a special screening with a heart-warming surprise.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Welcome back. Here's what you need to know right now. More violence in the Fallujah area today. The military says a roadside bomb injured three U.S. troops in a convoy near the Iraqi city. It comes as the U.S. responds to yesterday's brutal killing of four American citizens there.
And today Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States visited the White House to deliver a message about oil to President Bush. OPEC has threatened to cut oil production, but Saudi Arabia, its most influential member, says it will not follow suit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE BANDAR BIN SULTAN, SAUDI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: We will not allow shortages in the market because that will hurt the world economy. And Saudi Arabia does not live in the moon. When the world economy gets hurt, we get hurt also.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Meanwhile, the 9/11 commission says national security adviser Condoleezza Rice will give public testimony a week from today. A news release says Rice will appear before the full commission for two-and-a-half hours next Thursday morning.
And authorities are investigating the four-day disappearance of University of Wisconsin student Audrey Seiler. She was found yesterday, and her kidnapping story has now come under question. Madison police say they won't draw any conclusions just yet. They are still looking for an alleged kidnapper. They have interviewed Seiler in their search for clues.
CNN has learned that the 14-year-old boy accusing pop star Michael Jackson of molestation has testified before a grand jury. Sources familiar with the case did not disclose exactly what the teenager told the jurors. The accuser has said Jackson molested him when he was 12 years old. Jackson has pleaded not guilty.
Turning now to the presidential campaign. Some Democrats are very concerned about Senator John Kerry, despite polls which put him in a dead heat with President Bush. Well, the Democrats tell "The New York Times" if Kerry loses the race, it would be because he's undermining his campaign right now. Kelly Wallace explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As John Kerry recovers from shoulder surgery, he has plenty of time to scan the latest headlines, which reveal how some supporters are concerned he is slipping out of the picture after a tough month on the campaign trail. There were those statements that made Kerry's aides cringe...
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.
WALLACE: ... the week of R&R in Idaho just as President Bush was launching his campaign and the multi-million-dollar ad blitz painting Kerry as a tax raiser.
BUSH-CHENEY CAMPAIGN COMMERCIAL: Raising taxes is a habit of Kerry's. He supported higher gasoline taxes 11 times. WALLACE: The damage, according to a recent CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, Kerry's unfavorable rating has gone up 10 points since February, an even large increase among those who think he's too liberal. But Kerry's advisers say they are not seeing slippage in the senator's support. They point to the latest national poll in Thursday's "Los Angeles Times" showing Kerry ahead of the president by 3 points.
And the campaign announced it raised more than $40 million in the first three months of the year.
(on camera): Aides say that's a three-month record for a Democratic presidential candidate and shows that Senator Kerry will be able to compete with President Bush and his more than $100 million war chest.
Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: And we're going to take stock of what's happening with the Kerry campaign right now with "CROSSFIRE" hosts Tucker Carlson, Paul Begala. They're back. Hello!
TUCKER CARLSON, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": Hey, Paula.
PAUL BEGALA, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": Hey, Paula.
ZAHN: So Tucker, is John Kerry in trouble?
CARLSON: I don't think he's in trouble. I mean, I still think it's -- even though this campaign has been compressed more than any other campaign in American history, it's still too early to call him in trouble. Look, John Kerry's really liberal, and I think a lot of people didn't know that. That's good for some voters. Some voters like the fact he's real liberal. Other voters are turned off by it. But I think a lot of voters just didn't know about it because they didn't know a lot about John Kerry. They've learned that, or some of them have learned it. More will learn it soon. But I -- no, I don't think he's in -- I don't think he's in trouble. It's too early.
ZAHN: So Paul, is it the defining of John Kerry that has caused his poll numbers to go on down, or is it something else?
BEGALA: You know, the latest CNN poll had the president up by 4 points, with about a 3-to-5-point margin of error. The "LA Times" poll out today has Kerry up by 3. So it's a tied race. The more interesting thing to look at is do people think we're going in the right direction? In the "LA Times" poll today, only 36 percent of us think we're going in the right direction, 55 percent think we're going in the wrong direction. So when the country -- most people in the country think you're going in the wrong direction, that's very good for the challenger. So actually, the strategic terrain for Kerry is actually better than it is for Bush.
ZAHN: Oh, you are such a spinner tonight on these poll numbers! BEGALA: I actually used to...
ZAHN: You don't think John Kerry...
BEGALA: I had to that for a living, once upon a time.
ZAHN: ... has had a good couple of weeks here, do you, Paul?
BEGALA: No, but it doesn't matter, is the point, Paula. Seven eighths of this election will be, How is Bush doing. Kerry won't even enter into the equation until after his convention and then maybe after the debates. It's all about the incumbent, Is he doing a good job? And I watched Ronald Reagan cruise to reelection and Clinton cruise to reelection, while Bush, Sr., lost, and the difference was when Bush ran, people thought we were going in the wrong direction. And sadly for the president, the same thing is happening now.
CARLSON: Yes, and -- and but the difference was, in neither of those elections were we at war. During war, the threshold for change is a lot higher. In other words, people are going to be a lot more skittish about tossing the guy we have out when we're under attack than they would be when we're not under attack.
ZAHN: The Bush campaign is filing a complaint against the FEC for some of the organizations running ads against the president right now. Is this sour grapes, Paul?
BEGALA: I think -- I don't know if it's sour grapes. Maybe it's kind of guerrilla warfare. I don't like bringing politics into lawsuits. I don't like dragging political differences into the courtroom. I've criticized Democrats when they sued Tom DeLay, the right-wing leader of the Republicans, so I don't say this just as a partisan. So I think it's wrong for the president to try to silence his critics by using a lawsuit to shut down their advertising.
CARLSON: Just as it was wrong for Democrats to try and silence people's political opinions with campaign finance reform. That is the essence of campaign finance reform.
BEGALA: Bush signed it! It's a Republican bill!
CARLSON: You -- I know he did, and it was a huge mistake. You are not allowed to express your political views under this McCain- Feingold law, and it's wrong!
ZAHN: Let's move on to these devastating images that viewers of television are seeing over and over again of the brutality of the attacks on the American civilians yesterday in Fallujah. The administration, of course, Tucker, trying to figure out how to manage these images. How deeply does this hurt the credibility of the Bush administration's effort in Iraq?
CARLSON: I have no idea what the political effect of it is. But I think it's horrifying, A. And B, I don't think it's going away as a story because here are the fact in one sentence: Four Americans, all former military, murdered in downtown Fallujah, their bodies allowed to stay there from 10:00 in the morning until after nightfall. Meanwhile, there are 4,000 U.S. Marines bivouacked not far away. There are Iraqi policemen all through the area. And nobody did anything. These bodies were desecrated all day long. We knew this was happening. The U.S. military knew it was happening. And nobody did anything. This is the worst sort of abandonment of U.S. citizens. It's disgusting. And I think somebody ought to pay for it. It's a tragedy, and it's a huge scandal, in my view.
ZAHN: Does it have political resonance, Paul?
BEGALA: It can. I think Tucker's right, first, on the military, and that is that we should be there defending Americans, no matter what. And nobody -- no sensible person wants to pull out, even in view of these images. This makes it very different from Somalia, where we were there to feed starving people. And so when they turned on us, we figured, Well, let them starve. This is very different. Nobody wants to pull out.
But there is a political angle, and that is the vice president, to a lesser extent the president, promised us we would be greeted as liberators. That's a direct quote from Vice President Cheney when he was on "Meet the Press." I hardly think over a year later, any sensible person would say that Iraqis are greeting us as liberators, and people are going to wonder why.
CARLSON: And I think the third question you have to ask is, Is this a country ready for self-government? It doesn't look like one to me.
ZAHN: That June 30 deadline doesn't look too promising, does it. Thanks, gentlemen. Tucker, Paul, got to leave it there.
BEGALA: Thanks, Paula.
CARLSON: Thanks, Paula.
ZAHN: The latest anti-terror idea for Washington is fencing in the Capitol. Going too far? And a very different kind of spring break, the Amish tradition of a sun-and-fun vacation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: More than one million people visit the U.S. Capitol every year. It has traditionally been open for Americans to see up close and their laws being made, but since 9/11, visitors have had to deal with rising levels of security restrictions. Well, now Jeanne Meserve reports on what could be the next security increase in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A golf course around the U.S. Capitol? That was the April Fool's joke 11 years ago in the "Roll Call" newspaper. This year, a different proposal involving the Capitol, and no one is laughing.
CHIEF TERRANCE GAINER, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE: The one way to guarantee that we can keep suicide bombers from walking up to this building is to have a fence.
MESERVE: A fence enclosing the Capitol building and grounds. Visitors who pass through magnetometers would have access to parts of the Capitol now closed.
GAINER: In some respects, I really think it would open it up a little bit more.
DEL. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON (D), DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Not going to happen, if I have anything to do with it.
MESERVE: In fact, D.C. delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton says over her dead body.
NORTON: It makes a mockery of the notion of "the people's house." Whose house will we become then? I think then we become the terrorists' house because they have fenced us in.
MESERVE: The shooting of two Capitol Hill police officers in 1998 made it clear the Capitol and its occupants are vulnerable, and many believe the building was an intended target on September 11. A fence wouldn't prevent an attack with a plane or a missile, and fences can be jumped, and are, even at the White House, although they do slow down intruders. Washington is already chockablock with barricades and bulwarks, some esthetically pleasing, some not, plenty of them surrounding the Capitol. And a Capitol welcome center now under construction will screen visitors. Critics say, Enough.
JUDY SCOTT FELDMAN, NATIONAL COALITION TO SAVE OUR MALL: The question is, how far do we go? Do we then fortify the entire city? Do we put a wall around the entire nation's capital because of the threat?
MESERVE (on camera): Capitol police chief Gainer says he welcomes debate about how to balance security and symbolism, but he wants to have that debate before there's another incident, not afterwards.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: So what is the best way to keep the Capitol and other government buildings in Washington safe from a terror attack? Let's ask CNN security analyst Kelly McCann. He joins us now from Washington. Welcome.
KELLY MCCANN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Hi, Paula.
ZAHN: Hi. So how effective do you think a fence would be?
MCCANN: It depends on what the fence is designed to do, Paula. If it's meant to keep people from getting too close, in order to gain a reaction force some time, then it could be helpful. In other words, there's usually a reaction force nearby. They just don't want people who are unauthorized getting too close to the building. If it's meant to prevent a bomb-bearing vehicle from getting inside, it wouldn't be that effective at all.
ZAHN: Lots of very important buildings in Washington. What do you see as the most valuable terror target?
MCCANN: Probably not structure-driven. It's probably driven by the terrorists' targeting. In other words, where would the most, the highest density of people be that could be attacked with something easy like a firearm, or where is something that they could do like they did in New York, which tumble a building down and have mass casualties. It's not necessarily something that could be nationalistic.
ZAHN: Let's talk about the vulnerability of the White House. Do you really think you can make it terror-proof?
MCCANN: No, I don't think that you can make any place terror- proof. I think, in fact, that terror will happen again. And I think that, to the best of the country's ability, they're trying to mitigate the effect of that terror. In other words, there will be incidents, but we might be able to contain the scope.
ZAHN: A lot has been made of our intelligence-gathering capability. And in spite of some of the shortcomings we've seen, do you still believe that is our best shot, our best weapon in the war on terror?
MCCANN: It absolutely is, Paula. And there have been great strides made in human intelligence, signals intelligence, communications intelligence. I mean, really, that is the essence of proactivity, is to be able to get that information so you can intervene, or better, preempt.
ZAHN: What do you think continues to be our greatest challenge?
MCCANN: Weapons of mass destruction and the way that they can be delivered, whether they actually become a true weapon of mass destruction, like a dirty bomb, or whether it's just that it produces so much terror. A dirty bomb might not be that effective in respect to casualties, but it certainly would be terrifying. And I think that's going to be a very large challenge.
ZAHN: We've had a lot of wake-up calls over the last couple of years. Do you think America really is prepared for the impact of a potential future attack?
MCCANN: I don't think America yet understands, Paula. I don't think they understand that this is truly a 100-year war to the people who are targeting us, that this isn't going to go away on Monday, that this is the way going forward. A lot of people think, for instance, when the Pakistani government was close to Zawahiri, that the minute you capture him and bin laden, it's all over. In fact, they're regenerating. So this is the way it will be to come. The thing is, we can do it much better than we've in the past.
ZAHN: Kelly McCann, thank you for your insights.
MCCANN: Thanks, Paula.
ZAHN: Families shed their shoes, but their modesty remains intact during spring break in an Amish community in Florida. And 30 years of covering America's favorites, from Audrey to Britney. A celebration of "People" coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: It may be April 1 for many Americans. Warm weather, though, still not happening for a lot of us. With that in mind, here's John Zarrella with proof that everybody needs to get away from the cold sometimes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sun radiates down on a beach cluttered with college kids. It's spring break in Sarasota, Florida. You expect to see the kids here. You don't expect to see the Amish. In traditional dresses, they wade with their youngsters in the placid waters. Every year, thousands of Amish from the north come here, for the same reason everyone else does.
IDA MAE YODER, AMISH VISITOR: It's because of the warmer weather.
ZARRELLA: Ida May Yoder and her husband, David, preferred we not show their faces out of respect for their religious beliefs. They spend six months a year here.
DAVID YODER, AMISH VISITOR: We like it here, and we feel real good with the people here, so we enjoy every bit of it.
ZARRELLA: And every winter, they have a job waiting for them at Yoder's Restaurant. They like staying active.
IDA MAE YODER: Oh, yes. We can't sit back and rust out, you know?
ZARRELLA: Yoder's prepares traditional Amish food. Any night of the week, it's packed.
(on camera): When the Amish come here for their winter vacation, whether it's for one week or six months, they don't stay in hotels or motels, they live here, in these quaint little houses in a one-square- mile neighborhood called Pinecraft (ph).
(voice-over): Some rent, others own their homes. There are no horses and buggies, the traditional Amish means of transportation. But there are bicycles everywhere in Pinecraft. It is a community of and for the Amish, where they can vacation with others who share like beliefs and customs.
ABE KNEPP, POSTMASTER: Sign here and we'll do the rest.
ZARRELLA: Abe Knepp has been local postmaster since 1987.
KNEPP: We can have electricity, telephone and -- can't have a car, but have them bicycles. And that's all we need around here.
ZARRELLA: Nathan's Overholt's family owns the farmer's market across the street.
NATHAN OVERHOLT, OVERHOLT'S MARKET: Hey, blessings to you. Have a safe trip home.
ZARRELLA: Nathan says the Amish who vacation here are more open than they might be at home.
OVERHOLT: There's more at stake maybe back home around other people who are going to be watching them. Down here, they can kind of relax a little more.
ZARRELLA: Which is, after all, what vacations are supposed to be about.
John Zarrella, CNN, Sarasota, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Pretty women and so much more over the last 30 years. We're going to take a fascinating look at the beginnings of "People" magazine.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: "People" magazine is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Before we get to that, though, we're going to talk to you a little bit about April Fool's Day. Across the country, the weather's getting warmer. That means violent storms and those dreaded tornadoes will likely strike in the coming months. It's a nightmare for some people, but CNN's Femi Oke has found one man who thrives off it.
You know what we're doing? We're playing a little April Fool's Day joke on you. I don't think we ever had that package. So we're going to move on to now to talk a little bit more about the 30th anniversary of "People" magazine that's now hitting the stands, that magazine. The first issue debuted on March 4, 1974, with Mia Farrow on the cover and a bargain price of 35 cents. Well, today, some 36 million readers pick up a copy every week to get their fix of the world's most fascinating people. And we're proud to say that "People" magazine is part of Time Warner, the parent company of CNN. And today I spoke a little bit earlier with managing editor Martha Nelson.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: All right. We're back. We think we have this now. Across the country, as we told you, the weather, of course, is getting warmer. That means violent storms, those dreaded tornadoes will likely strike in the coming months. It's a nightmare for some people, but CNN's Femi Oke has found one man who actually thrives off of it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEMI OKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tim Samares (ph) is being chased by a tornado. He's just 80 seconds away from the vortex, all in the name of research. Usually, he's the one doing the chasing, a passion that began many years ago.
TIM SAMARES, STORM CHASER: When I was 6 or 7 years old, I watched "The Wizard of Oz," of all things, and was really fascinated by that big, black, mysterious tornado.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's twister! It's a twister!
SAMARES: I love going out and chasing storms. Have been doing so for the last 15 to 20 years.
OKE: What started off as fun has turned into pioneering research. Very little is known about what actually happens inside a tornado. Samares and his storm-chasing partners are determined to find out. Using specially designed probes, they can collect weather information, monitor and even photograph the inside of a twister. But to get all the data, you have to intersect a tornado.
SAMARES: Getting in the path of the tornado when it's moving 20- plus miles an hour and closing in when it's only half a mile away is incredibly dangerous. Lots of things can go wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dan, we don't have time!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't have time. We don't have time. Seriously.
OKE: In the tiny hamlet of Manchester, South Dakota, telephone poles have been torn out of the ground and houses blown to pieces. The tornado chasers are in their element. But the real excitement is still to come.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's amazing! It's amazing!
OKE: Amongst the debris, the weather probes are intact. In his arms, Samares is carrying the most up-to-date knowledge of how twisters are made. The camera probe was battered and broken. The tornado chewed it up and spat it out. But seconds before it died, it took a couple of shots. Years of hard work and a little luck resulted in a sight never witnessed before, the closest ever pictures taken of a tornado in action. But Samares wants to get even closer. He's already working on a new camera probe.
SAMARES: I'm going to put...
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Well, we're going to watch his adventures from here. Good thing he's brave (ph).
We thank you all for being with us tonight. Sorry about the -- all the bad April Fool's Day's jokes that we played on you tonight. "LARRY KING LIVE" is next. Hope you join us tomorrow night. We'll be back the same time, same place.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 1, 2004 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, HOST: Good evening. Thanks so much for joining us tonight, I'm Paula Zahn. It is Thursday, April 1, 2004.
One year after her dramatic rescue in Iraq, Jessica Lynch looks to the future. You'll hear our conversation. A new weapon in the war on terror. A fence around the nation's Capitol? Will it work? And guess who just turned 30? "People Magazine" looks back on three decades of celebrity, scandal, glitter, and glamour.
All that ahead tonight. But first, here's what you need to know right now. The top U.S. civilian official in Iraq is vowing to avenge the brutal killing and mutilation of four American contractors in Fallujah. Jim Clancy is in Iraq, he joins us tonight from Baghdad. Good evening, Jim.
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Paula. Just a day after the killing of those four contractors, U.S. officials vowing to stay the course in Iraq. There was a wide reaction to the scenes that were shown around the world. The brutal killing of those four contractors, how their bodies, their charred bodies were dragged out of the wreckage of their vehicles through the streets and hung on display on a bridge nearby. Outrage.
One member of the Iraqi governing council said it was a national shame. Other Iraqis reacted differently. Some said Fallujah was a longtime strong hold of Saddam Hussein supporters. It was to be expected. And still others excused the behavior of the mob on the streets of Fallujah saying it was a result of the U.S. occupation. Well, U.S. officials gave every indication that they are going to pursue those responsible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: The acts we have seen were despicable, and inexcusable. They violate the tenets of all religions, including Islam, as well as the foundations of civilized societies. Their deaths will not go unpunished.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: But the fight continues. It may have been on a much smaller scale as measured here in Iraq. But there was two bomb attacks on a U.S. convoy. One of them wounded an Iraqi civilian in his car. The second went off minutes, and about 200 yards away. It wounded one driver of a U.S. contractor's truck, taking fuel. But the precious cargo of petrol did not go up in flames, perhaps as the attackers had intended. The military police on the patrol evacuated the wounded to hospitals.
As the U.S. looks at the situation here, a lot of people are drawing comparisons between those scenes in the streets of Fallujah on Wednesday, and Somalia a decade ago. But it is vastly different, in both strategic and political terms. U.S. officials appear to know that. They're not talking about even stepping back, much less pulling out. Paula, back to you.
ZAHN: Jim Clancy, thanks so much for the update.
In focus tonight, the anniversary of an unforgettable moment in the war in Iraq. Exactly one year ago today millions of people were captivated by the rescue of a young army private from an Iraqi hospital.
Jessica Lynch was captured in an ambush on March 23 of last year. She was severely injured, and in rough shape when she was rescued April 1. Since then, she's had quite a recovery. She's published a book, appeared in parades, and met all kinds of celebrities, traveled all over the country. It's hard for her to go anywhere without being recognized.
And today I spoke with her, and began by asking how she would describe the past year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA LYNCH, FORMER POW: Amazing. It's been rough dealing with all of the physical therapy. But being -- meeting all the celebrities and getting to travel has been fun.
ZAHN: I have to say, it was very heartening to see you walk into the studio tonight on crutches. And I know that you have spent countless hours trying to get your strength back. Was there a time, after you got home, where you thought you might never walk again normally?
LYNCH: Yes, there was that time. Especially right after everything happened. And I couldn't feel my legs, and my feet were in bad shape. But, I take it day by day. And I've never gave up.
ZAHN: I know you didn't give up. Was there a point after the ambush -- and I know a lot of your memory isn't clear from that point on -- where you thought you might die?
LYNCH: No, it never really crossed my mind. I had thought maybe I might, but it never really sunk in. I was willing to survive.
ZAHN: You also had to deal with the trauma of confronting these very serious injuries, basically alone with no support around you.
(CROSSTALK)
LYNCH: Yes. And the pain. But I was determined to live.
ZAHN: But you're still living in pain, aren't you? LYNCH: A little. It's getting less and less every day, because I'm dealing with it with my own way. So it's getting better.
ZAHN: What goes through your mind, a year later? I remember being on the air when we got the first confirmation that you had in fact been rescued. And I don't think you have any idea the impact those pictures had on all of us. And then, of course, we later learned that your story had been spun by some military officials. Suggesting that perhaps you played a Rambo role that you had not. How have you reconciled all of that in your mind?
LYNCH: I really didn't know what was all happening at that time. But I knew that that wasn't the truth, and I knew that I had to come out and tell it. And now that Sergeant Walters, he's getting recognized for the role that they thought was me, so that was great that he's getting -- he's getting honored with the silver medal.
ZAHN: And he was the blond soldier. In fact, who pretty much saved the lives of those of you who survived, right? And he was mistaken for you because of the color of the hair?
(CROSSTALK)
LYNCH: Yes. Yes, they thought he was me in the beginning.
ZAHN: And then of course, there was Patrick Miller, who was also credited with helping save you all?
LYNCH: Yes. Yes. Tremendously. He shot down; I think there was like nine Iraqis at one time. He did a great job.
ZAHN: And one of your closest friends in the world who was your roommate at that time lost her life in this ambush. How hard is that for you to live with?
LYNCH: It's really hard. It was especially hard during the 23rd, the memorial. But I deal with emotions my own way. So I got through it. It's very hard, though, knowing that she's not here and I made it through. But I'm here and I'm trying to give credit to her kids, and let her kids know how wonderful she is.
ZAHN: Some members of the military have come home feeling a little disenfranchised, thinking that perhaps the American public had been lied to about the reasons for going to war in Iraq. Do you feel that way?
LYNCH: No. Because it's -- no, I don't. I don't feel that they lied.
ZAHN: Yesterday was a very rough day for Americans watching the news, or reading newspapers when they saw the brutality of the attacks in Fallujah. And another attack not to far by. As you look at the images of American civilians and American military personnel losing lives, what do you think? What do you internalize about that?
LYNCH: I think it was a tragic day. It was definitely a tragic day. And I feel sorry for the families of those -- of the civilians. But what really happened, I don't know. You've got to be there to find out how it is over there, and to live it. I still have a brother who's in the army. And I fear for him every day that he might get sent over there. Or Ruben. So I kind -- I'm still scared of the war. Hopefully one day it will end.
ZAHN: Ruben is your fiance?
LYNCH: Yes he is.
ZAHN: I see a sparkling ring on your hand. When is the big day?
LYNCH: We postponed it, as everybody knows. But hopefully sometime next year. When the time is right, we will know.
ZAHN: No matter how distorted the facts became surrounding your rescue, you still represented a lot of hope. To folks watching those riveting images of your rescue from that hospital. And I'm delighted to see you doing so well.
LYNCH: Thank you. I'm getting better each day.
ZAHN: Good luck to you. You probably have another book in you. And we would love to have you come back when you finish it.
LYNCH: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Coming up, a rising tide of violence in Iraq. How is the story being spun at home? A fiery pileup to talk about today in a fog-shrouded California Canyon. An expert tells us how those road conditions can play games with your mind.
And looking back at three decades of fame, fortune, and people in the American spotlight. "People Magazine's 30th anniversary.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: The Pentagon says it is planning a precise response to yesterday's gruesome attacks on American civilians in Fallujah, and Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins us with more. Hi, Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Paula, in response to the rising level of attacks, and this one in particular yesterday in Fallujah, the Pentagon's doing an about-face on its strategy in the Fallujah area.
U.S. marines who inherited the area from the army had inherited a policy where the U.S. forces were staying on the outskirts of the city, trying to get the Iraqis to be responsible for their own security. But after the murder and mutilation of four American contractors, that strategy is shifting. And now the marines have been told that in the next few days, they'll be ordered to essentially retake the city of Fallujah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: Quite simply, we will respond. We are not going to do a pell-mell rush into the city. It's going to be deliberate. It will be precise. And it will be overwhelming. We will not rush in to make things worse, we will plan our way through this, and we will reestablish control of that city, and we will pacify that city.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Now, what the marines will be doing when they get there, is putting a lot of pressure on local Iraqis, both local Iraqi leaders and others that they'll be questioning to provide intelligence to point the finger at those responsible for the attacks.
In particular, they'll be trying to round up some of the people who could be seen on videotape celebrating after the U.S. contractors were killed, and any of those who were seen mutilating some of the bodies. So they'll be trying to exert some pressure.
Also reestablishing security in the city. Again, taking a very strong stance. But at the same time they're going to try to continue their "Hearts and Minds" campaign, pumping up the amount of money that goes to schools and clinics to try to win over the local populous. Paula?
ZAHN: Jamie McIntyre thanks you so much. We move on to the question now of how the White House should deal with the potentially explosive impact of the images of the violence in Fallujah. Joining us from Washington, regular contributor, former Pentagon Spokeswoman Victoria Clarke, and Lawrence Korb, an Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Reagan, now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. Welcome both.
Larry, I'm going to start with you this evening. How do you think the White House should be managing the images by now most Americans have seen?
LAWRENCE KORB, FMR. SECY. OF DEFENSE: I think the President needs to come clean. And tell us that he didn't anticipate how bad things would be after major combat ended. We're going to be there a long time. We're going to lose a lot of lives. We're going to spend a lot of money.
And he also at the same time should tell us he was mistaken about the fact that they had weapons of mass destruction. And that there were ties to al-Qaeda. I think only by doing that will he be able to get the support of the American people for the long, long occupation that we're going to have to ensure there to make sure that it comes out right.
ZAHN: Larry, people listening tonight are saying, we hear what you are saying Sir. But can you remember any president in recent history that would admit to the potency of what you're talking about here tonight?
KORB: Well, I worked for President Reagan who did after we had the horrible events in Lebanon in 1983. Within two months we had a commission come with a report that wanted to blame some military officials. The President took that report, walked out into the White House pressroom, and said, I was wrong. I was mistaken. I didn't anticipate how bad things were going to be.
It's time for the Administration to admit, as General Zinni said, they had no plan for the post-war phase. They ignored the General Shinseki, the Army Chief of Staff who had been through Vietnam, and who headed peacekeeping in Bosnia to say you would need several hundred thousand people. Had we done that, we would have the security situation under much better control now.
ZAHN: Tori, if you were in your current Pentagon post, could you advocate the kind of admission that Larry's talking about crafting?
VICTORIA CLARKE, FMR. PENTAGON SPOKESWOMAN: First of all, there were so many things wrong with what he said; I wouldn't know where to start. And I have to tell you, at a time like this, what's really important is to express extraordinary sorrow and -- for the families and friends of those poor people and outrage at what was done to them and -- now let me finish.
ZAHN: If the administration had been more forthright about the dangers, then maybe we wouldn't have witnessed the kind of brutality we saw yesterday.
CLARKE: The Administration has been very very forthright about it. The President, and Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of State, and others have been out repeatedly saying there will be good things that happen in Iraq, and there are good things happening, as that country moves to a democratic system, and there will be bad things that happen.
But what's most important, the single most important thing to be doing right now is making sure that no one thinks that this horrible thing that happened will set us back or deter us from the goal of helping the Iraqi people get back up on their feet again. And the Administration has expressed the appropriate outrage and sorrow.
There was a plan in place, as we saw General Kimmitt talking about; to make sure we get those who are accountable. And then most importantly, people need to know that we'll be forward leaning in this war on terror.
ZAHN: You heard what Tori just said Larry. She thinks that the Administration has been forthright about the ongoing dangers Americans face in the region.
KORB: They have never apologized to General Shinseki, the Army Chief of Staff, who before the war said you'd need several hundred thousand people to secure the area. Both the civilian leaders in the Pentagon said he didn't know what he was talking about. There's a man who was wounded in Vietnam, who had led peacekeeping in Bosnia. They just cut the number of American troops in there during this rotation from about 130,000 down to 105,000. Senator McCain this morning, I heard him say, we need more troops in there. I think we need to see it through. Yes, we should express the outrage to the families and let people know that this is not going to deter us. We have no choice. We have to see it through.
But if you want to see it through, you're going to have to do it right. And we're not doing it right. You look at the situation that was talked about by Jamie McIntyre. The army had one strategy in Fallujah. They lead; the marines come in with another strategy. Which is the right strategy? Who's in charge? This inconsistency is not helping us with those Iraqis who just don't know which way to go.
ZAHN: Tori, would you even acknowledge this evening that there has been inconsistency in the strategy? Jamie McIntyre pointedly telling us tonight that there were two different strategies.
CLARKE: I would say a smart military strategy is one that adapts to the circumstances and the situation on the ground. And a smart military like General Abizaid and his team over there know what's best, and what needs to be done on the ground.
You could spend hours talking to General Shinseki, but with all due respect to him, what's important is people like General Abizaid and Sanchez and Petraeus and the others have exactly what they need to get the job done. And working with 30 some other countries.
So I put a lot of stock in the people on the ground being the ones to give us the best advice of how to handle these sort of situations. And I certainly hope and respect the heck out of them. To be willing to change the tactics and adapt to changing circumstances.
To come in a brute fashion with one strategy and then say, well, we're worried about being criticized back in Washington so we're not going to change that strategy is just stupid. I think they're doing absolutely what they ought to be doing.
ZAHN: Victoria Clarke, Lawrence Korb, thank you for both of you for your perspectives. You give us an excellent idea of where the debate goes from here.
CLARKE: Thanks, Paula.
KORB: Thank you.
ZAHN: The Kerry campaign scrambles to regain it's lead in the polls. Are attack ads to blame for the slump? Or is there a problem with the candidate himself?
A 60-car pileup paralyzes a major interstate. There's something you can do to avoid a similar fate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ZAHN: All cars have headlights to illuminate the road ahead. But Lexus has developed a headlight that actually rotates up to 15 to reveal what's around the bend, before you get to the bend. What kind of a difference can 15 make? A very noticeable one.
In southern California today more than 60 cars and trucks were caught in a chain reaction. Fog was to blame for the wrecks on interstate 15. That's the main road that runs between Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. About two dozen people were hurt. None with major injuries. But the wrecks point to the danger of driving in fog. Joining us now for some hints on how to get through pea soup safely, Robert Sinclair of the Automobile Club of New York. Good to see you.
Look at these pictures. It's hard to believe that no one lost their lives.
ROBERT SINCLAIR, AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF NEW YORK: It is. You see some pretty horrific scenes, cars going up under trucks and that sort of thing. For good reason. Fog is the most dangerous weather condition people will face. In 1975 until 2002, there were 36 different fatal pileups involving ten or more vehicles.
ZAHN: This does not give you an idea, because you're in a pocket of an area that you can see. But you were talking about people who literally cannot see the cars in front of them.
SINCLAIR: Exactly.
ZAHN: My question to you is, if speed is the reason why these cars pile up, what are these people thinking when they're speeding through this stuff?
SINCLAIR: They can't help it. Fog is a low contrast situation. There's nothing in the background by which you can judge your speed. Immediately upon hitting fog, you should check your speedometer. You should look down and maintain that contact between the road and the speedometer to see what your speed is, and drop your speed drastically. You should leave -- the average two-second rule for following distance should be increased to five, six, or seven seconds.
ZAHN: People forget the two-second rule, let alone the five- second rule.
SINCLAIR: Yes.
ZAHN: And what are the other reasons for ending up in this kind of situation?
SINCLAIR: A lot of people think that they should follow the lights of the vehicle in front of them. Which is -- it's crazy because the guy in front might not know where he's going. And believe it or not, a lot of people think if they speed up, that extra speed will blow the fog away from them. They need to have their heads examined if they're thinking something like that.
So there are a lot of misconceptions that exist about driving in fog. Really, the best thing to do, if you can't see more than 100 feet ahead of you, pull over. Sometimes that isn't always practical. You might be on a mountain road with no pull-off or a shoulder or something like that.
In those situations, it's best to slow down, keep your speed down. A lot of people will put their bright lights on, and that's a bad thing to do. Because that light goes up, it hits the fog and bounces right back at you.
ZAHN: Almost has a blinding effect on you.
SINCLAIR: Absolutely. You'll see people in the city driving with fog lights on. Those are the lights down below the headlights when it's perfectly clear. You should be using them in the fog. The lower the lights are the better in the fog.
ZAHN: Finally, any advance technology that would help people navigate these kind of awful situations?
SINCLAIR: Yes, without a doubt. GM has a system called Night Driver. It's an infrared camera. Infrared has been around since the '50s for the military. Now it's being applied to automobiles. It's available in the in the Cadillac Deville, and the Hummer H2 which is a vehicle that probably needs it.
ZAHN: We should make it clear that you're not getting any payoffs for mentioning that tonight, that any technology exists.
SINCLAIR: No. The technology exists. And certainly. But it's expensive. And it's available in more expensive vehicles. But certainly, as it gets cheaper and hits more vehicles, it will be a good safety device to have on a lot of cars.
ZAHN: Thank you for trying to keep us safe. Robert Sinclair. Drive home safely.
SINCLAIR: Thank you very much.
ZAHN: Time now for surgery. Another lapses (ph) have wounded John Kerry in the polls. We're going to take a look at his planned comeback.
Not just glitz and glamour, but the tragic side of celebrity too. We're going to look back on 30 years of "people" magazine.
And tomorrow, marines just back from patrolling Fallujah. A first-hand account about the dangers there. Also tomorrow, "The Passion of the Christ." Director Mel Gibson and a special screening with a heart-warming surprise.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Welcome back. Here's what you need to know right now. More violence in the Fallujah area today. The military says a roadside bomb injured three U.S. troops in a convoy near the Iraqi city. It comes as the U.S. responds to yesterday's brutal killing of four American citizens there.
And today Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States visited the White House to deliver a message about oil to President Bush. OPEC has threatened to cut oil production, but Saudi Arabia, its most influential member, says it will not follow suit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE BANDAR BIN SULTAN, SAUDI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: We will not allow shortages in the market because that will hurt the world economy. And Saudi Arabia does not live in the moon. When the world economy gets hurt, we get hurt also.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Meanwhile, the 9/11 commission says national security adviser Condoleezza Rice will give public testimony a week from today. A news release says Rice will appear before the full commission for two-and-a-half hours next Thursday morning.
And authorities are investigating the four-day disappearance of University of Wisconsin student Audrey Seiler. She was found yesterday, and her kidnapping story has now come under question. Madison police say they won't draw any conclusions just yet. They are still looking for an alleged kidnapper. They have interviewed Seiler in their search for clues.
CNN has learned that the 14-year-old boy accusing pop star Michael Jackson of molestation has testified before a grand jury. Sources familiar with the case did not disclose exactly what the teenager told the jurors. The accuser has said Jackson molested him when he was 12 years old. Jackson has pleaded not guilty.
Turning now to the presidential campaign. Some Democrats are very concerned about Senator John Kerry, despite polls which put him in a dead heat with President Bush. Well, the Democrats tell "The New York Times" if Kerry loses the race, it would be because he's undermining his campaign right now. Kelly Wallace explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As John Kerry recovers from shoulder surgery, he has plenty of time to scan the latest headlines, which reveal how some supporters are concerned he is slipping out of the picture after a tough month on the campaign trail. There were those statements that made Kerry's aides cringe...
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.
WALLACE: ... the week of R&R in Idaho just as President Bush was launching his campaign and the multi-million-dollar ad blitz painting Kerry as a tax raiser.
BUSH-CHENEY CAMPAIGN COMMERCIAL: Raising taxes is a habit of Kerry's. He supported higher gasoline taxes 11 times. WALLACE: The damage, according to a recent CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, Kerry's unfavorable rating has gone up 10 points since February, an even large increase among those who think he's too liberal. But Kerry's advisers say they are not seeing slippage in the senator's support. They point to the latest national poll in Thursday's "Los Angeles Times" showing Kerry ahead of the president by 3 points.
And the campaign announced it raised more than $40 million in the first three months of the year.
(on camera): Aides say that's a three-month record for a Democratic presidential candidate and shows that Senator Kerry will be able to compete with President Bush and his more than $100 million war chest.
Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: And we're going to take stock of what's happening with the Kerry campaign right now with "CROSSFIRE" hosts Tucker Carlson, Paul Begala. They're back. Hello!
TUCKER CARLSON, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": Hey, Paula.
PAUL BEGALA, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": Hey, Paula.
ZAHN: So Tucker, is John Kerry in trouble?
CARLSON: I don't think he's in trouble. I mean, I still think it's -- even though this campaign has been compressed more than any other campaign in American history, it's still too early to call him in trouble. Look, John Kerry's really liberal, and I think a lot of people didn't know that. That's good for some voters. Some voters like the fact he's real liberal. Other voters are turned off by it. But I think a lot of voters just didn't know about it because they didn't know a lot about John Kerry. They've learned that, or some of them have learned it. More will learn it soon. But I -- no, I don't think he's in -- I don't think he's in trouble. It's too early.
ZAHN: So Paul, is it the defining of John Kerry that has caused his poll numbers to go on down, or is it something else?
BEGALA: You know, the latest CNN poll had the president up by 4 points, with about a 3-to-5-point margin of error. The "LA Times" poll out today has Kerry up by 3. So it's a tied race. The more interesting thing to look at is do people think we're going in the right direction? In the "LA Times" poll today, only 36 percent of us think we're going in the right direction, 55 percent think we're going in the wrong direction. So when the country -- most people in the country think you're going in the wrong direction, that's very good for the challenger. So actually, the strategic terrain for Kerry is actually better than it is for Bush.
ZAHN: Oh, you are such a spinner tonight on these poll numbers! BEGALA: I actually used to...
ZAHN: You don't think John Kerry...
BEGALA: I had to that for a living, once upon a time.
ZAHN: ... has had a good couple of weeks here, do you, Paul?
BEGALA: No, but it doesn't matter, is the point, Paula. Seven eighths of this election will be, How is Bush doing. Kerry won't even enter into the equation until after his convention and then maybe after the debates. It's all about the incumbent, Is he doing a good job? And I watched Ronald Reagan cruise to reelection and Clinton cruise to reelection, while Bush, Sr., lost, and the difference was when Bush ran, people thought we were going in the wrong direction. And sadly for the president, the same thing is happening now.
CARLSON: Yes, and -- and but the difference was, in neither of those elections were we at war. During war, the threshold for change is a lot higher. In other words, people are going to be a lot more skittish about tossing the guy we have out when we're under attack than they would be when we're not under attack.
ZAHN: The Bush campaign is filing a complaint against the FEC for some of the organizations running ads against the president right now. Is this sour grapes, Paul?
BEGALA: I think -- I don't know if it's sour grapes. Maybe it's kind of guerrilla warfare. I don't like bringing politics into lawsuits. I don't like dragging political differences into the courtroom. I've criticized Democrats when they sued Tom DeLay, the right-wing leader of the Republicans, so I don't say this just as a partisan. So I think it's wrong for the president to try to silence his critics by using a lawsuit to shut down their advertising.
CARLSON: Just as it was wrong for Democrats to try and silence people's political opinions with campaign finance reform. That is the essence of campaign finance reform.
BEGALA: Bush signed it! It's a Republican bill!
CARLSON: You -- I know he did, and it was a huge mistake. You are not allowed to express your political views under this McCain- Feingold law, and it's wrong!
ZAHN: Let's move on to these devastating images that viewers of television are seeing over and over again of the brutality of the attacks on the American civilians yesterday in Fallujah. The administration, of course, Tucker, trying to figure out how to manage these images. How deeply does this hurt the credibility of the Bush administration's effort in Iraq?
CARLSON: I have no idea what the political effect of it is. But I think it's horrifying, A. And B, I don't think it's going away as a story because here are the fact in one sentence: Four Americans, all former military, murdered in downtown Fallujah, their bodies allowed to stay there from 10:00 in the morning until after nightfall. Meanwhile, there are 4,000 U.S. Marines bivouacked not far away. There are Iraqi policemen all through the area. And nobody did anything. These bodies were desecrated all day long. We knew this was happening. The U.S. military knew it was happening. And nobody did anything. This is the worst sort of abandonment of U.S. citizens. It's disgusting. And I think somebody ought to pay for it. It's a tragedy, and it's a huge scandal, in my view.
ZAHN: Does it have political resonance, Paul?
BEGALA: It can. I think Tucker's right, first, on the military, and that is that we should be there defending Americans, no matter what. And nobody -- no sensible person wants to pull out, even in view of these images. This makes it very different from Somalia, where we were there to feed starving people. And so when they turned on us, we figured, Well, let them starve. This is very different. Nobody wants to pull out.
But there is a political angle, and that is the vice president, to a lesser extent the president, promised us we would be greeted as liberators. That's a direct quote from Vice President Cheney when he was on "Meet the Press." I hardly think over a year later, any sensible person would say that Iraqis are greeting us as liberators, and people are going to wonder why.
CARLSON: And I think the third question you have to ask is, Is this a country ready for self-government? It doesn't look like one to me.
ZAHN: That June 30 deadline doesn't look too promising, does it. Thanks, gentlemen. Tucker, Paul, got to leave it there.
BEGALA: Thanks, Paula.
CARLSON: Thanks, Paula.
ZAHN: The latest anti-terror idea for Washington is fencing in the Capitol. Going too far? And a very different kind of spring break, the Amish tradition of a sun-and-fun vacation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: More than one million people visit the U.S. Capitol every year. It has traditionally been open for Americans to see up close and their laws being made, but since 9/11, visitors have had to deal with rising levels of security restrictions. Well, now Jeanne Meserve reports on what could be the next security increase in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A golf course around the U.S. Capitol? That was the April Fool's joke 11 years ago in the "Roll Call" newspaper. This year, a different proposal involving the Capitol, and no one is laughing.
CHIEF TERRANCE GAINER, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE: The one way to guarantee that we can keep suicide bombers from walking up to this building is to have a fence.
MESERVE: A fence enclosing the Capitol building and grounds. Visitors who pass through magnetometers would have access to parts of the Capitol now closed.
GAINER: In some respects, I really think it would open it up a little bit more.
DEL. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON (D), DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Not going to happen, if I have anything to do with it.
MESERVE: In fact, D.C. delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton says over her dead body.
NORTON: It makes a mockery of the notion of "the people's house." Whose house will we become then? I think then we become the terrorists' house because they have fenced us in.
MESERVE: The shooting of two Capitol Hill police officers in 1998 made it clear the Capitol and its occupants are vulnerable, and many believe the building was an intended target on September 11. A fence wouldn't prevent an attack with a plane or a missile, and fences can be jumped, and are, even at the White House, although they do slow down intruders. Washington is already chockablock with barricades and bulwarks, some esthetically pleasing, some not, plenty of them surrounding the Capitol. And a Capitol welcome center now under construction will screen visitors. Critics say, Enough.
JUDY SCOTT FELDMAN, NATIONAL COALITION TO SAVE OUR MALL: The question is, how far do we go? Do we then fortify the entire city? Do we put a wall around the entire nation's capital because of the threat?
MESERVE (on camera): Capitol police chief Gainer says he welcomes debate about how to balance security and symbolism, but he wants to have that debate before there's another incident, not afterwards.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: So what is the best way to keep the Capitol and other government buildings in Washington safe from a terror attack? Let's ask CNN security analyst Kelly McCann. He joins us now from Washington. Welcome.
KELLY MCCANN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Hi, Paula.
ZAHN: Hi. So how effective do you think a fence would be?
MCCANN: It depends on what the fence is designed to do, Paula. If it's meant to keep people from getting too close, in order to gain a reaction force some time, then it could be helpful. In other words, there's usually a reaction force nearby. They just don't want people who are unauthorized getting too close to the building. If it's meant to prevent a bomb-bearing vehicle from getting inside, it wouldn't be that effective at all.
ZAHN: Lots of very important buildings in Washington. What do you see as the most valuable terror target?
MCCANN: Probably not structure-driven. It's probably driven by the terrorists' targeting. In other words, where would the most, the highest density of people be that could be attacked with something easy like a firearm, or where is something that they could do like they did in New York, which tumble a building down and have mass casualties. It's not necessarily something that could be nationalistic.
ZAHN: Let's talk about the vulnerability of the White House. Do you really think you can make it terror-proof?
MCCANN: No, I don't think that you can make any place terror- proof. I think, in fact, that terror will happen again. And I think that, to the best of the country's ability, they're trying to mitigate the effect of that terror. In other words, there will be incidents, but we might be able to contain the scope.
ZAHN: A lot has been made of our intelligence-gathering capability. And in spite of some of the shortcomings we've seen, do you still believe that is our best shot, our best weapon in the war on terror?
MCCANN: It absolutely is, Paula. And there have been great strides made in human intelligence, signals intelligence, communications intelligence. I mean, really, that is the essence of proactivity, is to be able to get that information so you can intervene, or better, preempt.
ZAHN: What do you think continues to be our greatest challenge?
MCCANN: Weapons of mass destruction and the way that they can be delivered, whether they actually become a true weapon of mass destruction, like a dirty bomb, or whether it's just that it produces so much terror. A dirty bomb might not be that effective in respect to casualties, but it certainly would be terrifying. And I think that's going to be a very large challenge.
ZAHN: We've had a lot of wake-up calls over the last couple of years. Do you think America really is prepared for the impact of a potential future attack?
MCCANN: I don't think America yet understands, Paula. I don't think they understand that this is truly a 100-year war to the people who are targeting us, that this isn't going to go away on Monday, that this is the way going forward. A lot of people think, for instance, when the Pakistani government was close to Zawahiri, that the minute you capture him and bin laden, it's all over. In fact, they're regenerating. So this is the way it will be to come. The thing is, we can do it much better than we've in the past.
ZAHN: Kelly McCann, thank you for your insights.
MCCANN: Thanks, Paula.
ZAHN: Families shed their shoes, but their modesty remains intact during spring break in an Amish community in Florida. And 30 years of covering America's favorites, from Audrey to Britney. A celebration of "People" coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: It may be April 1 for many Americans. Warm weather, though, still not happening for a lot of us. With that in mind, here's John Zarrella with proof that everybody needs to get away from the cold sometimes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sun radiates down on a beach cluttered with college kids. It's spring break in Sarasota, Florida. You expect to see the kids here. You don't expect to see the Amish. In traditional dresses, they wade with their youngsters in the placid waters. Every year, thousands of Amish from the north come here, for the same reason everyone else does.
IDA MAE YODER, AMISH VISITOR: It's because of the warmer weather.
ZARRELLA: Ida May Yoder and her husband, David, preferred we not show their faces out of respect for their religious beliefs. They spend six months a year here.
DAVID YODER, AMISH VISITOR: We like it here, and we feel real good with the people here, so we enjoy every bit of it.
ZARRELLA: And every winter, they have a job waiting for them at Yoder's Restaurant. They like staying active.
IDA MAE YODER: Oh, yes. We can't sit back and rust out, you know?
ZARRELLA: Yoder's prepares traditional Amish food. Any night of the week, it's packed.
(on camera): When the Amish come here for their winter vacation, whether it's for one week or six months, they don't stay in hotels or motels, they live here, in these quaint little houses in a one-square- mile neighborhood called Pinecraft (ph).
(voice-over): Some rent, others own their homes. There are no horses and buggies, the traditional Amish means of transportation. But there are bicycles everywhere in Pinecraft. It is a community of and for the Amish, where they can vacation with others who share like beliefs and customs.
ABE KNEPP, POSTMASTER: Sign here and we'll do the rest.
ZARRELLA: Abe Knepp has been local postmaster since 1987.
KNEPP: We can have electricity, telephone and -- can't have a car, but have them bicycles. And that's all we need around here.
ZARRELLA: Nathan's Overholt's family owns the farmer's market across the street.
NATHAN OVERHOLT, OVERHOLT'S MARKET: Hey, blessings to you. Have a safe trip home.
ZARRELLA: Nathan says the Amish who vacation here are more open than they might be at home.
OVERHOLT: There's more at stake maybe back home around other people who are going to be watching them. Down here, they can kind of relax a little more.
ZARRELLA: Which is, after all, what vacations are supposed to be about.
John Zarrella, CNN, Sarasota, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Pretty women and so much more over the last 30 years. We're going to take a fascinating look at the beginnings of "People" magazine.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: "People" magazine is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Before we get to that, though, we're going to talk to you a little bit about April Fool's Day. Across the country, the weather's getting warmer. That means violent storms and those dreaded tornadoes will likely strike in the coming months. It's a nightmare for some people, but CNN's Femi Oke has found one man who thrives off it.
You know what we're doing? We're playing a little April Fool's Day joke on you. I don't think we ever had that package. So we're going to move on to now to talk a little bit more about the 30th anniversary of "People" magazine that's now hitting the stands, that magazine. The first issue debuted on March 4, 1974, with Mia Farrow on the cover and a bargain price of 35 cents. Well, today, some 36 million readers pick up a copy every week to get their fix of the world's most fascinating people. And we're proud to say that "People" magazine is part of Time Warner, the parent company of CNN. And today I spoke a little bit earlier with managing editor Martha Nelson.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: All right. We're back. We think we have this now. Across the country, as we told you, the weather, of course, is getting warmer. That means violent storms, those dreaded tornadoes will likely strike in the coming months. It's a nightmare for some people, but CNN's Femi Oke has found one man who actually thrives off of it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEMI OKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tim Samares (ph) is being chased by a tornado. He's just 80 seconds away from the vortex, all in the name of research. Usually, he's the one doing the chasing, a passion that began many years ago.
TIM SAMARES, STORM CHASER: When I was 6 or 7 years old, I watched "The Wizard of Oz," of all things, and was really fascinated by that big, black, mysterious tornado.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's twister! It's a twister!
SAMARES: I love going out and chasing storms. Have been doing so for the last 15 to 20 years.
OKE: What started off as fun has turned into pioneering research. Very little is known about what actually happens inside a tornado. Samares and his storm-chasing partners are determined to find out. Using specially designed probes, they can collect weather information, monitor and even photograph the inside of a twister. But to get all the data, you have to intersect a tornado.
SAMARES: Getting in the path of the tornado when it's moving 20- plus miles an hour and closing in when it's only half a mile away is incredibly dangerous. Lots of things can go wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dan, we don't have time!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't have time. We don't have time. Seriously.
OKE: In the tiny hamlet of Manchester, South Dakota, telephone poles have been torn out of the ground and houses blown to pieces. The tornado chasers are in their element. But the real excitement is still to come.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's amazing! It's amazing!
OKE: Amongst the debris, the weather probes are intact. In his arms, Samares is carrying the most up-to-date knowledge of how twisters are made. The camera probe was battered and broken. The tornado chewed it up and spat it out. But seconds before it died, it took a couple of shots. Years of hard work and a little luck resulted in a sight never witnessed before, the closest ever pictures taken of a tornado in action. But Samares wants to get even closer. He's already working on a new camera probe.
SAMARES: I'm going to put...
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Well, we're going to watch his adventures from here. Good thing he's brave (ph).
We thank you all for being with us tonight. Sorry about the -- all the bad April Fool's Day's jokes that we played on you tonight. "LARRY KING LIVE" is next. Hope you join us tomorrow night. We'll be back the same time, same place.
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