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The Situation Room

Desperate Rush to Aid South Asian Earthquake Survivors; Interview with Pakistani Information Minister; Hundreds Buried in Guatemalan Mudslide; Interview with General Craddock; Interview with U.N. Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team Officer; New Orleans Police Officers Charged with Battery; NY Subway Alert Examined

Aired October 10, 2005 - 15:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer. And you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where news and information arrive all at the same time. Standing by, CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you the day's top stories.
Happening now, it's almost midnight in South Asia in that disaster zone, where a desperate race is on to rush aid to millions left homeless by a massive earthquake. Entire towns are destroyed. Tens of thousands of people are dead.

Can al Qaeda take advantage of the quake's chaos? Will U.S. relief efforts draw troops away from the war on terrorism?

And it's now 1:00 p.m. in Guatemala, where hundreds are buried in a mudslide. An entire village may be abandoned, left as a graveyard.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Along a political fault line that has often been the scene of violent conflict, a catastrophic natural disaster. The massive 7.6 magnitude earthquake was centered near Kashmir. That's the disputed province between Pakistan and India. Hardest-hit -- Pakistan, and the area it controls. Pakistani officials estimate the death toll so far to be at least 30,000 people. India reports close to 1,000 dead.

We're just getting these pictures into THE SITUATION ROOM, a child pulled from the rubble of an apartment building in Pakistan. Rescue teams desperately searching for survivors. They found the child. They're now looking for the mother of that child.

Aid, meanwhile, is being rushed to Pakistan from around the world. The U.S. has already sent in eight military helicopters from Afghanistan into Pakistan and has announced an initial contribution -- the emphasis on the word initial contribution -- of $50 million. Cities and towns have been reduced to rubble, literally. And as many as five million people may now be homeless.

In the rugged mountainous terrain, survivors huddle in the open in the freezing temperatures, with little to eat or drink.

Let's go straight to the disaster zone right now.

Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Becky Anderson. She's joining us by -- via videophone from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. Becky, what's the latest?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. There's some hope in the despair here in South Asia. You're looking at pictures at present of a woman being pulled from the rubble here at an apartment complex alive. An hour ago, her baby, a small child, was pulled out from the rubble of this 10-story building that collapsed on Saturday alive.

The search-and-rescue team from Britain, which is helping the Pakistani army here, says this is two people today, three yesterday they pulled from this rubble alive. It is quite extraordinary, when you see the devastation, not just in this region, Wolf, of course, but elsewhere into the north of Islamabad here and into Pakistani- controlled Kashmir.

This is, by no means, the worst of the devastation. But it is amazing to see just how hard these guys have worked. They're some 60 hours into this search-and-rescue effort, and some good news for those who are involved.

As I say, you're watching pictures now just as this team very carefully, very carefully, pulled a woman from the rubble. And what they're telling us, Wolf, is this, that behind where you see those search-and-rescuers, just there in that rubble, there is a void, a chasm. What they believe is that there may be some 55 to 60 people alive still in that void. And that would be some 60 to 65 hours after this 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck, quite an incredible story. They're telling us that you could easily survive if you were in this sort of void that they believe is there for some five to seven days, depending on whether there's any water to be had down there.

Now, it is extremely hot here in Islamabad, a lot colder up to the north. And that is their problem. They're saying that there are issues of dehydration, of course, for those that they believe are still in the rubble of that building.

Wolf.

BLITZER: Becky, do they have the sophisticated equipment to go into that rubble and lift that rubble out of the way? I have seen these kinds of operations elsewhere in the world. Do the Pakistanis have it? Or are they getting that kind of technical assistance from Britain and other sources?

ANDERSON: What we're being told is this, that this equipment is here. They've got JCBs. They have got bulldozers. They've got equipment that cuts (ph) through metal and wire. But, effectively, Wolf, what they've been doing, certainly since we have been here over the past 10 or 12 hours, is working with spades and with their hands.

There's a certain amount of equipment here, not anything like enough, the Pakistanis are saying, and certainly not enough to go towards the north. Just 95 kilometers away from here, at Balakot, there is a disaster zone. Effectively some 80 percent of the structures to the north of here and into Pakistani-controlled Kashmir are devastated, estimates of up towards 2.5 million people displaced, 30,000 people or more dead. And tens of thousands of more are injured.

So, yes, there is equipment here, but nothing like as much as they need.

And, as we're talking now, I believe they are now bringing a lady out alive. They were talking to this woman about 24 hours ago, I was told by the head of the search-and-rescue efforts here. He's British. And he said they heard her voice. She was asking after her child. That was yesterday, 24 hours ago. Tonight, they're bringing her out alive. They brought her baby, her child, out about an hour ago.

Wolf.

BLITZER: Becky, stand by for a moment. I want to get back to you. But I want to bring in Pakistan's information minister right now. Pakistan has suffered a devastating blow. Officials say the earthquake, as we have been pointing out, has killed at least 30,000 people, left millions more homeless.

Joining us on the phone from Islamabad is Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, who is the Pakistani information minister. Minister, thank you very much for joining us.

What are the latest numbers, the official numbers that your government has collected in Pakistan, how many dead, injured and homeless?

SHEIKH RASHID AHMED, PAKISTANI INFORMATION MINISTER: You know, the Interior Ministry has just said there are over 20,000. But because we are doing our all efforts to take these injured to the hospital, and after, today, we got the link. Before there was no link, lower link, between the affected -- earthquake affected area. Now we got the link. And all the country getting their -- all good reliefs is going to reach them.

And we received the American aid helicopter. And German helicopters are also coming, because this area, we cannot reach without the helicopters. And now from tomorrow, these things will move toward the right direction. And almost, we are giving preference to the injured to take them to hospital. The -- all country hospital, total there, they are full with the -- you know, the injured. And I believe, from the morning, the all transport will -- going to work. And the armed forces is going to touch all that area, which is not touched before this.

BLITZER: So, are you getting the kind of international assistance that you need? Or are there things that you still need? We heard from your president, Pervez Musharraf, yesterday that there were still vital requests pending before the international community.

AHMED: Yes, that's right. We need the tents and the blankets, because that -- that area is going to be cool. And maybe there can be bad weather also. But luckily, we -- our armed forces has managed to open the road, the road link. No, now we can move to where -- by the roads through that area. But still, we need -- badly need blankets and the tents and the medicine and the medical assistance, the mobile hospitals, because the area is so wide. So, this death number can be increased in a large scale. So, we need the mobile -- you know, mobile hospitals and we need the helicopters, tents, and the blankets. That is the, you know, most top, important of this area, need of that area.

BLITZER: Minister, the United States government, so far, has provided $50 million, eight military helicopters with its assistance. What else, if anything, are you asking from Washington, from the U.S. government, to deal with this humanitarian crisis?

AHMED: Of course these helicopters are very useful, because, due to these transport problem will be solved by these eight helicopter. But we need more helicopters, because that's a very long area, hilly area.

If we can get more helicopter, so that can be very useful, and the mobile, you know, hospitals, because taking these patients from that area to the Islamabad and Rawalpindi then going back, it takes a lot of time. And there -- still, there are many injured waiting for their time, because they don't have a space in the helicopter.

So, we have given the numbers to the patients, the serious patients. We are taking them quickly to the hospital.

BLITZER: What...

AHMED: And that is the -- I think the top, urgent requirement of this area.

BLITZER: Minister, one final question before I let you get back to work over there. There's been some concern expressed here in the United States that the use of the Pakistani military to deal, understandably, with this earthquake and the fallout from this earthquake may have taken away resources from the war on terror along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the hunt for Osama bin Laden, the Taliban, al Qaeda. Can you talk about that, if you will?

AHMED: There is no question, because that armed forces, they are, oh, about 80,000, 90,000 people out on a long, distant area.

This, we are using our Rawalpindi base, you know, the Chaklala Cantonment (ph) and which we call 10 Corps; 10 Corps is handling with this Jammu (ph) - Kashmir (INAUDIBLE) area. So, not even (INAUDIBLE) unit is moving from that area. They are doing that duty that area.

(CROSSTALK)

AHMED: Even there, the one attack on our one army unit in that area today. But as for -- as the -- our commitment against the terrorism, that the commitment of the nation and commitment of the president, we stand for that. That has nothing do with this...

(CROSSTALK) BLITZER: All right, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the minister of information of Pakistan, thank you very much. Good luck to you. Good luck to everyone in Pakistan in dealing with this human tragedy.

Let's go back to Islamabad. Our Becky Anderson is still there, joining us via videophone.

You're looking behind you, Becky. Tell our viewers who are just tuning in the scene -- describe that awful scene behind you. I take it this was an upscale apartment building in a nice area of the Pakistani capital only a couple days ago. And look at it now.

ANDERSON: Yes, that's right. Let me move way from the camera, so that you can get a real sense of what's going on.

I will get Scott (ph) to zoom in for you. We are just hearing more cheers, Wolf, possibly as a result of the rescue just minutes ago of that lady who they had been hearing from for 24 hours. And let me just describe the situation. She has just, let me say, been taken off to hospital. She is alive, as is her child, who has been pulled out of this rubble about an hour ago.

Let me describe the situation for you. This is an apartment complex of about eight to 10 towers. It was started in 1992 and finished in about 1997. It is in an affluent area, so, about 10 years old or just less. These apartments go for about $300,000 U.S. we're told, which is a lot more than most Islamabadans would be paying for an apartment. It's where foreigners live, effectively, and diplomats and various others.

At 8:50 in the morning on Saturday, one of the towers, the Margalla Tower that you're looking at now, completely collapsed. It caved in like a pancake, is how I have had it described to me. Now, everybody evacuated from the buildings around, but those, of course, who were in that building weren't able to do so.

Now, the British search-and-rescue teams were on the scene within 24 hours. And they, let me tell you, are just a sponsor team. They work for nothing. They're volunteers. They were on the scene and in about 24 hours. They tell me that they have pulled out about 25 people alive from this scene.

I'm told by the emergency services here in the area that about 100 people have walked away from the scene. I can't confirm that, though, Wolf. We haven't been able to get specific things. It's extremely difficult, not only here, but in the north of Pakistan, where the devastation is so much worse.

We do know that 35 bodies have been pulled from this scene. Just in the past 24 hours, three people (AUDIO GAP).

BLITZER: I think we have just lost the videophone connection with Becky Anderson in Islamabad. She was wrapping up her report. But we will stay in touch with her. We will get back there for additional information. Pakistan is a key U.S. ally in the war on terror. It's been devastated, as we now see, by this earthquake. So, could al Qaeda take advantage of the chaos?

Let's get some more information on this. We will turn to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre. What are you hearing, Jamie McIntyre?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, first of all, any speculation about bin Laden, Osama bin Laden, and al Qaeda has to start with the admission that the U.S. government really has no idea exactly where bin Laden is in -- although he's believed to be in Pakistan.

Second, the earthquake was centered along the eastern border, the Line of Control with Kashmir, not along the Afghan-Pakistan border to the west, where it's believed that bin Laden has been given sanctuary by sympathetic tribal leaders. That said, the U.S. government is watching very carefully to see if, in the turmoil of this disaster, bin Laden might make a move that could give himself away.

At this point, a senior defense official says that they have no indication that bin Laden or, for that matter, his number two, Ayman al-Zawahri, or even Taliban leader Mullah Omar have been even inconvenienced by the disaster. But they're watching for it. They're watching for any opportunity to take advantage. And they're looking for them to make a move.

But what they emphasize is that right now, all of the emphasis is on humanitarian relief, not a manhunt.

BLITZER: All right, Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, thank you very much.

Our Zain Verjee is joining us now from the CNN Center in Atlanta with a closer look at some of the international assistance coming into this disaster zone. Zain?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Wolf. Afghanistan is rushing aid to its neighbor Pakistan in the wake of Saturday's catastrophic earthquake. Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, is offering relief teams to hard-hit areas in Pakistan. Afghanistan's health and defense ministries are sending in medical supplies and teams of doctors and nurses. Afghanistan's military is also providing helicopters to assist in rescue and recovery efforts.

China is helping out as well, Wolf. Rescue teams have headed to Pakistan. And Beijing shipped a second batch of relief supplies there today. Chinese officials say the shipment includes 840 tents, more than 7,000 quilts, hundreds of wool carpets, and nearly 9,000 towels. It's all part of China's $6.2 million humanitarian aid package for Pakistan.

A team of Japanese rescue workers is already in a remote section of northwestern Pakistan that was devastated by the earthquake. They met with military and local officials today. Almost every single house in the area was destroyed. Eighty people there were killed. The rescue team will search the rubble for any survivors.

Tiny but oil-rich Kuwait is pledging $100 million to help earthquake victims. Now, half of the money is going to go to relief supplies and the other half is going to go to reconstruction. Malaysia is donating $1 million for relief efforts. It's also sending a search- and-rescue team to Pakistan. And Australia has increased its aid pledge to $4.2 million.

Wolf, back to you and our Jack in THE SITUATION ROOM.

BLITZER: Thank you very much.

And we are going to have much more coming up on what has happened in Pakistan as a result of this huge earthquake throughout THE SITUATION ROOM.

But let's make the turn now to New York and Jack Cafferty. Hi, Jack. Hope you had a good weekend.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I did. This is a little discouraging. I mean, do you suppose somebody is trying to tell us something here, Wolf? We had the hurricanes, Katrina and Rita. We had the wildfires in Southern California, the mudslides in Guatemala. We have got this horrendous earthquake situation in South Asia, a possible bird flu pandemic on the way. I mean, is there a message here somewhere, do you suppose?

BLITZER: You know, funny -- funny you mention that, because, later in THE SITUATION ROOM, we are going to hear from Pat Robertson, the Reverend Pat Robertson. He surmises there may be some -- something bigger than we understand ourselves right now. But we will get to that. I spoke with him yesterday on LATE EDITION. You probably were watching.

CAFFERTY: I missed that. Were you on at the same time the football games were on?

BLITZER: No, we stop just before kickoff.

CAFFERTY: Well, depending on what Mr. Robertson has to say later, I may ask to leave early. If the U.S. ever has to deal with an avian flu outbreak, here's a look at the government's point man. This will -- this will raise the hair on the back of your neck. Stewart Simonson, he's the assistant secretary for Public Health Emergency Preparedness at the Department of Health and Human Services. He is ranked as the seventh biggest Bush administration hack by this week's "New Republic" magazine.

Now, before being in charge of emergency preparation at HHS, he was a top official at Amtrak, America's delay-plagued, money- hemorrhaging passenger rail company. And before that, he was an adviser to then-Governor Tommy Thompson in Wisconsin on the subject of crime and prison policy, obviously well-qualified to handle this bird flu situation.

The government says charges that he's not qualified are ridiculous. At least this time, unlike the case with Michael Brown over there at FEMA, we are going to find out about the guy in charge before the bird flu hits.

Here's the question. Should the Department of Health and Human Services' Stewart Simonson be replaced by someone more qualified? Maybe we shouldn't even take -- maybe we should take out the word more. Be replaced by someone qualified? CaffertyFile - one word -- @CNN.com.

I -- I -- to me, it's just an insult to the public and to the taxpayers that they put people in these sensitive positions, Wolf, in government agencies that may be called upon to deal with calamitous events in our lives who have absolutely no qualifications to be in charge of what they're in charge of. Why do they do that?

BLITZER: The answer is, I don't know.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: But I do know that this avian flu potentially...

CAFFERTY: Oh, yes.

BLITZER: Yesterday, I spoke with the U.N. envoy in dealing with this. It potentially, God forbid, could kill five to 150 million people. That's what we're talking about.

CAFFERTY: Yes. It's just -- it's mind-boggling, the potential dimensions of something like this. And the guy who is in charge of emergency preparedness used to work at Amtrak. I mean, I -- I just don't get it.

BLITZER: All right. We will -- we will hear what our viewers think, Jack.

CAFFERTY: All right.

BLITZER: Thanks very much.

CAFFERTY: You're welcome.

BLITZER: Still to come here in THE SITUATION ROOM, more on that tragic earthquake in Pakistan.

Plus, a police beating on tape. Three New Orleans officers charged with battery. Is the stress from Katrina driving police to the edge, or is it business as usual in what used to be called the Big Easy? We will take a closer look.

Plus, landslides in Guatemala, more than 1,000 people feared dead. We will take you there for the very latest.

And hurricane religion. Some say all the recent natural disasters are a sign of bigger things. So, does God have a hand in what's happening? I will ask the Reverend Jerry Falwell.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In Guatemala, hundreds of people feared dead, buried under massive mudslides. Entire villages may be abandoned, left as graveyards.

The United States military has deployed a number of helicopters to Guatemala to aid in search-and-rescue operations. More aid is being offered.

Joining us now on the phone from Guatemala City is General John Craddock. He's the commander of the U.S. military's Southern Command. General, thanks very much for joining us.

How -- how bad is the situation there?

GEN. JOHN CRADDOCK, COMMANDER, U.S. SOUTHERN COMMAND: Well, what we know is bad. Probably what is just as bad is what we don't know.

The Guatemalan government has done an excellent job so far in trying to reach out into the afflicted area and assess the damage and provide relief to its citizens. There's still quite a few areas where the weather has been bad and they've been unable to get to. That's why we're here with our helicopters.

BLITZER: What exactly happened, General?

CRADDOCK: Well, it was the -- Tropical Storm Stan came through and just dumped a lot of water in the highlands to the west of Guatemala City, which ran off both north into a basin and south towards the Pacific Coast. And it deluged the area, caused, obviously, the mudslides, the flooding. Roads and bridges have been washed out. So, there's significant devastation in the area.

BLITZER: How many U.S. troops have you deployed to try to help?

CRADDOCK: We got the call last week. We initially deployed eight helicopters and about 60 soldiers, flight crews and some command-and- control personnel. Based upon my assessment here today, we will be deploying additional folks in from our Joint Task Force Bravo that is in Honduras. So, we will augment this -- this effort to begin -- provide this capability and support to the Guatemalans.

BLITZER: Is -- is it clear that 1,000 people may have died in this -- in this mudslide?

CRADDOCK: Recent estimates -- I just left a meeting with President Berger. They believe they have confirmed about 500. And they have, they believe, confirmed missing another 300 to 500. That's of what they know. There are many parts of the area that's been devastated they have not gotten to yet.

BLITZER: Is there anything, General, that they would like us to provide to them, any U.S. assistance that we're not providing? CRADDOCK: No, not at this time. Again, I just had some lengthy meetings with both the minister of defense and the president. We are coordinated in this effort. And we are providing the support that they need at this time and assessing their needs for the future. So I think that, again, they were well-prepared and they have done a very good job.

BLITZER: General John Craddock is the commander of the U.S. military's Southern Command. He's on the scene in Guatemala City for this disaster.

General, good luck to you. Good luck to everyone in Guatemala. Thanks for joining us.

CRADDOCK: Thank you.

BLITZER: Still to come here in THE SITUATION ROOM, we will go back to our top story, that earthquake in South Asia. We will go back to the scene of that apartment building in Islamabad, its collapse, rescuers trying to desperately right now to rescue a young mother. They just rescued the child. We will see what's happening with the mother.

And we will also talk to a top United Nations official on the ground about the difficult task.

Also, taking heat from conservatives -- that would be Harriet Miers. Is she the right person for the job? We will talk to one man who didn't get the job, Judge Robert Bork. He'll join us live.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Want to go back to Islamabad and Pakistan, and we will show you these live pictures. This is the scene right now. This once was an upscale apartment building in the Pakistani capital. It's been literally destroyed as a result of the earthquake that rattled the entire region over the weekend. They have been searching desperately for survivors. We will go back there shortly and update you on what's happening. They just rescued a 2-year-old child. They're looking desperately for that child's mother. We will see what's happening on that front.

But there's other news we're following here on this side of the ocean, including a giant auto parts maker that has just filed for bankruptcy. It's a move that could have a major impact on at least one car company.

Let's bring in CNN's Ali Velshi. He's joining us with the "Bottom Line." Ali, this is a big story.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. There's a -- you know, it's one of those days, Wolf, where there's a lot of sort of bad stuff coming to the fore. Delphi -- do you remember -- I remember this, when I was a kid in a GM car of my family's, looking at radio, and it said Delphi on it. Delphi was the auto parts maker of General Motors. They all had their own parts supplier.

Well, in 1999, GM spun Delphi off, so that they could do business with other people. And what ended up happening is, these companies became the way that the automakers outsource. Well, we all know that the automakers are in big, big trouble. And it's beginning to look a bit like the airline industry.

What happens is, the big companies get into bankruptcy protection to shed a lot of workers, particularly a lot of unionized workers. Delphi, the auto parts maker, now the biggest in the country, has about 45,000 workers in the United States. They filed for bankruptcy.

The trick here is that GM, which wasn't doing well in the last several months to start with, there are now analysts who are saying that they have upped the chances of General Motors declaring bankruptcy, perhaps, as a result of this.

The question here, Wolf, is the pensions that Delphi owed. GM was responsible for some of those pensions before they spun this company off. General Motors saying today that the impact of this bankruptcy on them is between no material effect and $11 billion. It's quite a range, wouldn't you say?

BLITZER: But the notion of GM going bankrupt, that seeps to ridiculous.

VELSHI: And the company's got a lot of cash on hand, so it may not be imminent, but there are some analysts, Bank of America in fact saying, they're upping their chances to 30 percent of GM going bankrupt as a result of this. So, something to keep an eye on.

BLITZER: All right. We'll keep an eye on it. Ali, thank you very much. We'll get back to you very soon.

Just ahead, getting aid to the earthquake zone. We'll talk live with a top United Nations official on the scene about this difficult task.

Plus, his were some of the most contentious confirmation hearings in a generation. The former Supreme Court nominee Judge Robert Bork, he will weigh in on the Harriet Miers nomination. He'll join us right here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The estimate now, at least 30,000 people died in that massive earthquake over the weekend in Pakistan and some of the neighboring region. Take a look at this. This is a live picture coming in from Islamabad right now. Just a little while ago they rescued a 2- year-old child. They're desperately searching for the mother of that child right now.

Workers -- this is just one building in Islamabad, but scenes like this going on throughout the region. We're going to have much more on this situation coming up. But let me show you a picture of when they rescued that little girl and this occurred about a half an hour or so ago.

The workers bringing out that little child just a little while ago. But now they're desperately searching for others who may still be trapped in the rubble, including that child's mother.

Let's bring in Andrew MacLeod. He's a humanitarian affairs officer with the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team. He's joining us now on the phone from Islamabad. Give us your assessment. Have you seen anything like this before, Andrew?

ANDREW MACLEOD, UNITED NATIONS DISASTER ASSESSMENT AND COORDINATION TEAM: Well, Wolf, you see things like this in earthquake disasters around the world, particularly when concrete buildings collapse like that. There are a lot of air pockets that exist. You need a very good experienced and dedicated search team to be able to find people. And it's good to see this is happening in Islamabad.

Also, on the good news front, Wolf, we've had 11 people recovered out of collapsed schools up in the northern areas of Pakistan today. So within this tragedy, we've had 11 examples of very, very good news today.

BLITZER: But in Islamabad, which is a relatively modern city, a relatively affluent part of Pakistan, it's a lot different elsewhere, especially in the Pakistani part of Kashmir, where the economic conditions are so much worse and the destruction is so much worse.

MACLEOD: Spot on, Wolf. I mean, it's an absolute tragedy for the families that are in the two buildings that collapsed in Islamabad. And I hate to say this, but that's small scale compared to what's happening up in the north. We've got a population in the affected region of around about 4 million, and a population in the severely affected region of about 1 million. So, we are seeing in the severely affected region up to 80 to 90 percent of buildings have been collapsed or destroyed. So, this is a very large number of very vulnerable survivors and a very large number of casualties.

BLITZER: What is the world doing right now to try to help the Pakistanis, specifically, the United Nations, which are you represent there?

MACLEOD: Well, I have to say the international community is performing very, very well. And we at the United Nations are doing two things. Firstly, we have our assessment and coordination teams on the ground to ensure or help ensure that the international teams that are coming with their particular skills and ability are channeled into the right place for their skills and ability.

Also, the United Nations teams that have already been on the ground before this disaster, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization are swinging their teams into action to as best as they can, release emergency supplies they have in various stockpiles to free them up to support the Pakistan government in dealing with this disaster. BLITZER: Andrew MacLeod is the humanitarian affairs officer for the United Nations' Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team on the ground. Andrew, thank you very much. Good luck to you and your entire team.

And once again, these are live pictures we are seeing. The rubble of what once was an upscale apartment building in Islamabad in an affluent part of the Pakistani capital. They're searching for survivors under that rubble right now.

The earthquake struck a part of the world that is politically very fragile, very dangerous. It was centered in the divided Kashmir region that's bitterly contested areas by nuclear neighbors India and Pakistan. The latter has been absolutely devastated.

CNN's Tom Foreman is here in THE SITUATION ROOM to bring us a closer look. What are you seeing, Tom?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is also a seismically fragile part of the world. I want you to think about how the world comes together. We'll explain why this happened there.

Take a look at the globe right now. These are the plates of the Earth. And I mean above and below the ground. And for simplicity's sake, think about plates in your kitchen sink. You pile up a bunch with a little bit of water in there, they'll settle down, they'll be resting against each other, but there's tension between all of these plates in various ways. So when we move in a little bit closer here...

BLITZER: Hold on a second. Now, when you say plates, explain to our viewers what that means.

FOREMAN: Great land masses, huge amount -- not like continents, because as I said, these run underneath the water. They're all resting against each other against the molten core of the Earth, very much, way, way down, like plates in a sink. And there's pressure between them all. And what that creates is fault lines. And this one of the big ones here.

A fault line is where one plate is against another one. Not always even, some are going underneath other ones, sometimes they're running at angles to each other.

BLITZER: So, that red line there?

FOREMAN: There's pressure along that line as this plate pushes against that plate and vice versa.

And when they give way, just as they would in your sink if you move one dish a little bit, you can't help but move them all. They all start trembling, particularly nearby, you have problems. So, the reality is, when you move into the particular area that is Pakistan which is right here, all of the areas that we saw, the fault line was right through here, and this is where all of those big hits have come. This is the big one. And this is all of the little ones that have occurred since the big one. And they'll keep happening there... BLITZER: The smaller ones were the aftershocks?

FOREMAN: Exactly. Until that plate settles down and quits rubbing against its neighbor, that's what they have to deal with. And that's what's happened there.

BLITZER: We're going to get back to you shortly, Tom. Thank you very much for that explanation.

The live picture we've been showing you in Pakistan is of that collapsed apartment building. This is the live picture you are seeing right now.

Our Internet reporter Abbi Tatton is joining us. She has more on this very dramatic story. Abbi?

ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we've got firsthand accounts and pictures from bloggers in that region in Islamabad looking at that exact same apartment building, Margalla Tower.

This is on the blog, Ramadan Kareem. This is run by a 24-year-old telecommunications worker who has got these photos of that collapsed section. If you look at it, it's not the whole building. But, if you go in closely you can see, over the weekend, all the people across the rubble, searching for survivors there. As you can see, not the whole -- only one section of that building is collapsed.

And another blogger is telling of their family's escape from another section of that building. This is Life ETC, saying that everyone was extremely scared as they felt part of this building collapsing, "as we were running down we were sure that we were going to die, all of us."

Not just felt in Islamabad, not just in Pakistan. This is Saleem India Blog, who asks people to e-mail in their experiences all across the region, all across South Asia. From Kabul to New Delhi, people are describing feeling the tremors over the weekend.

Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Abbi, thank you very much.

Still ahead here in THE SITUATION ROOM, New York City officials making an important announcement about the status of the subway system there after last week's terror alert. Our Mary Snow is standing by live in New York. She has details.

And we'll also have the latest for the series of devastating natural disasters. Why do prominent preachers, at least some of them, say it signals the end of days? We'll tell you what they say and what they mean.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Back to the Gulf Coast for President Bush. He's about to make his eighth trip to the region since Hurricane Katrina struck last month. He's having dinner tonight with state and local officials in New Orleans. Tomorrow he and the first lady will take part in a Habitat for Humanity project nearby. Then they are off to Pass Christian, Mississippi for a school reopening.

Three New Orleans Police officers are pleading innocence in connection with a violent incident captured on camera.

CNN's Lisa Sylvester is joining us now live from New Orleans. She has details on what happened. Hi, Lisa.

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Wolf. Well, this happened over the weekend in the French Quarter. And we want to take you straight to take a look at these very graphic pictures. They show New Orleans Police officers repeatedly punching 64-year-old Robert Davis. At the time the patrolmen were trying to arrest him for public intoxication.

It's not clear how much he resisted officers before the cameras started rolling. But there happened to be a APTN crew that was out in the same neighborhood and they caught all of this on tape. Then you see another officer, a third officer, walks over to the APTN producer and pushes him over the side of the hood of a car, screaming profanities at him.

Those three officers appeared in court today. And as you mentioned they pleaded not guilty and they are now released on bond.

Wolf?

BLITZER: So what is the reaction from local authorities, from the acting police superintendent?

SYLVESTER: The acting police superintendent said today that he was not going to tolerate having troublemakers on his force. But he wants to hold off from judging these particular three officers until the investigation has concluded. And he also recognizes that his officers have been under a tremendous amount of stress over these last few weeks.

BLITZER: There has been some suggestion, Lisa, that there could be some racial overtones in this incident. What are they saying there?

SYLVESTER: Well, just judging from the pictures, you can see the officers involved were all white. The victim, in this case, actually he was a suspect, but he was the person who is now the target of this investigation, but one of the things that they're looking at is whether or not this played a role but it does not appear to be the case.

BLITZER: All right, Lisa, we're going to get back to you. Thank you very much. Lisa Sylvester is on the scene for us in New Orleans.

Coming up, we'll go back live to Pakistan, where the earthquake recovery efforts are continuing.

There's also new questions about New York City's subway terror alert. Was it really necessary? Our CNN "Security Watch" is coming up next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Now, to our CNN "Security Watch" and the state of alert on New York City's subways.

Let's go right to CNN's Mary Snow, she's on the scene for us at one subway station in Manhattan. Hi, Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Wolf. We're at Columbus Circle. And New York City is saying today that it is going to be ending its high alert for the subway system over the next couple of days.

The police department says it will begin scaling back this afternoon on extra police personnel, extra police searches. These, of course, were put in place on Thursday when the city said that there had been a specific threat against the subway system.

Now, the federal officials and city officials did not see eye to eye on this threat, but this morning the mayor, according to his office, decided that he was going to be scaling back. But the city is still on orange alert, and it has been since September 11.

Asked why he is scaling this back, he said that the threat hadn't been corroborated, and also that the timing was passing. Yesterday had been designated as a particular date in this alleged threat. So now the mayor is saying that this is going to be scaled back. And so what that will mean, then, is those extra police personnel put on the subway system and those extra bag searches will be scaling down.

Wolf.

BLITZER: I hope there's a lot of relief, people in New York City, Mary. Let's hope it's over with. Thank you very much.

And stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news your security.

Let's turn to CNN's Zain Verjee once again. She's at the CNN Center with some other stories we're following. Zain?

VERJEE: Wolf, defiant words from North Korea. The leader Kim Jong-Il reviewed a huge military parade in Pyongyang today. The communist state throwing parties, marking its 60th anniversary in power. The country's defense minister vowed to - quote -- "crush U.S. and Japanese imperialists if they invade North Korea." That's something's Washington's repeatedly said it has no intention of doing.

Multi-millionaire Gregory Olsen's space adventure's wrapping up. A Russian Soyuz capsule will undock from the International Space Station in about two hours. We're going to bring it to you live if it happens during THE SITUATION ROOM. Also aboard the Soyuz capsule, an American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut who have been on those space stations since April. Now, the capsule will land in Kazakhstan tomorrow. Olsen paid $20 million to spend a week at the space station.

A devastating development for the masterminds behind this weekend's number one film in the U.S., "Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit." A pre-dawn fire in Bristol in England gutted a warehouse belonging to Aardman Animations. The company says the fire pretty much destroyed priceless props and sets, but the material that was used in the latest "Wallace and Gromit" film were not in the warehouse. That's a little bit of good news.

Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Dramatic pictures. Thank you very much, Zain. We'll get back to you soon.

Let's head up to New York. Jack Cafferty's been going through your e-mail. He's joining us once again. Jack?

CAFFERTY: I like the way Zain says capsule.

BLITZER: What was that?

CAFFERTY: She was talking about the space capsule.

BLITZER: Capsule. She says schedule, too.

VERJEE: And I say tomatoes.

CAFFERTY: Zain...

VERJEE: Jack.

CAFFERTY: Were you aware that THE SITUATION ROOM is on five days a week? It's Monday through Friday.

VERJEE: I was, but I was unfortunately made to work more than three hours a week, and so I had to recover by awarding myself a day off.

CAFFERTY: Well, your presence was duly noted on Friday. And we missed you.

VERJEE: Thank you, Jack.

CAFFERTY: And let's don't make a habit of that.

VERJEE: I was at home watching THE SITUATION ROOM.

CAFFERTY: Yes, sure you were.

If the U.S. has to deal with an avian flu outbreak, here's a look at the government's point man -- this will make you sleep well tonight -- a guy named Stewart Simonson. He's the assistant secretary for Public Health Emergency Preparedness. That means he's in charge if this thing happens.

Now, before getting this job, he worked at Amtrak. And before that, he was an adviser to the then-governor of Wisconsin, Tommy Thompson. He advised on things like crime and prison policy. Now he's in charge of emergency preparedness in the event -- anyway, the government says charges that Simonson's not qualified are ridiculous. Anybody who worked at Amtrak can run this HHS program.

Here's the question. Should the Department of Health and Human Services' Stewart Simonson be replaced by somebody more qualified? Duh!

Chris in Osterville, Massachusetts: "The people who put Simonson in charge should be put in jail. Placing somebody so unqualified in a position that puts all of our lives at risk is or should be a criminal offense. When the bird flu hits, is it my fault I didn't appoint somebody more qualified to keep me alive?"

Ron in Halifax, Canada: "When will the politicians wake up and realize that patronage does not trump public safety? How many botched responses to disasters will it take to break the buddy system?"

Dan in Florida: "Of course someone qualified needs to be in charge of this bird flu thing, preferably someone with a medical background. This cronyism has to stop."

Carol in Texas: "Why are we picking on Mr. Simonson? Asking whether he should be replaced just because he isn't qualified is not fair. Perhaps we should start a little higher up to see who's promoting this culture of incompetence and replace that person."

And finally, Richard in Greenlawn, New York, writes: "Jack, is this a trick question?"

No, it's not Richard.

BLITZER: And if Richard's really interested, Brian Todd's going to have much more on this story, coming up during our 5:00 p.m. Eastern hour, Jack.

CAFFERTY: OK, good. We'll look forward to that.

BLITZER: Thank you.

Still ahead here in THE SITUATION ROOM, Ali Velshi takes a closer look at the aid that's on its way to the earthquake zone.

Before Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers was such a lightening rod, there was Robert Bork. The conservative icon who was blocked from joining the court sounds off about Miers' qualifications. He'll join us live here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: It's almost time for the markets to close. The closing bell. Let's check in with our Ali Velshi for that and more. Hi, Ali. VELSHI: Hey, Wolf. I'm also keeping a close eye on the stuff that's going on in Pakistan. Today in the U.S. markets, by the way, we've got the Delphi situation, bankruptcy filing. We've got Alcoa about to kick off earnings season.

But looking at Pakistan, Pakistan is a very big recipient of U.S. aid. Right now it's about the seventh. I guess in 2004 terms, it's about the seventh largest recipient of U.S. aid. And as you know, Wolf, U.S. aid is often tied to other things, including building relationships in the region. And Pakistan has been one of the countries with which the U.S. has decided, particularly after September 11, 2001, to build very strong ties.

So the U.S. very is quick to send support over to Pakistan. It's important to the United States to retain those kind of relations. But this quake is of such a magnitude that it's breaking down a whole lot of barriers. As you know, Pakistan has agreed to receive aid from India. These are bitter rivals, formal rivals for more than 50 years. And that aid is coming in.

I want to give you a sense of how big, how influential, Pakistan is. Never mind its strategic location. It's 162 million people in Pakistan. They've got a GDP of about $350 billion of everything that's produced there. That makes it about 28th largest economy in the world -- the United States, of course, being the biggest one at about $11 trillion.

So a lot of people depend on Pakistan being in good shape, both in terms of its support of the United States and in terms of its importance as trading partner and a regional lynchpin, Wolf. And that's what's kind of happening right now. That's the why the world is paying such close attention to it.

BLITZER: Ali, I'm going to interrupt you for a second. I just want to show our viewers the pictures that they've been seeing -- rescue operations in that upscale apartment building in Islamabad.

But go ahead, tell our viewers what...

VELSHI: Becky was telling you about the kind of...

BLITZER: Yes, tell us what's happening with the markets.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: ... amount that people pay for those things.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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