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CNN Saturday Morning News

9-11 Rescue Tapes Released; Settlers To Leave Gaza

Aired August 13, 2005 - 9:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, HOST: History is at hand in Gaza as a disengagement deadline draws near. About 9,000 Jewish settlers are being ordered to move out in the coming days. Those promising to stay in their homes are stocking up with supplies for an expected standoff with Israel's army.
Two people are dead, two more missing and 13 hurt after tornado hits a Wyoming trailer park Friday. Roughly 45 mobile homes in the community were destroyed. Another 50 took moderate damage in the town of Right. A nearby school and houses were also damaged.

And forecasters are expecting the winds swirls around tropical storm Irene to reach hurricane status sometime today. It is the ninth named storm of the hurricane season. Would be the third hurricane so far. Irene is currently about 500 miles from the North Carolina coast.

Hello from the CNN Center in Atlanta. I'm Betty Nguyen. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

TONY HARRIS, HOST: Good morning everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Thank you for starting your day with us.

Our top story this morning, it is an historic day in the Middle East after nearly four decades of occupation. Israel is poised to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.

Palestinians are celebrating, but many Jewish settlers who have to pull up stakes and move out voice resentment. Live now to CNN's John Vause in northern Gaza. John good morning.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony. Yes that withdrawal is now underway especially here in the small settlement called Dugit. In the northern part of the Gaza strip. A small settlement, only about 100 or so people live here.

The last few weeks they've been packing up. When these people back, Tony, boy, do they pack. These houses have been stripped bear. If you look over here you can see. Even the windows have been taken out. Inside those homes they're taking everything that isn't nailed down, the light fixtures, and some things that are nailed down as well. They're taking everything they can because these homes will be destroyed by the Israeli army.

Now, that's an agreement, which was reached between the Israeli government and the Palestinian authority. It may seem strange but the Palestinian authority wants these homes to be destroyed because, it says, they're not suitable for Palestinians to live in. These are built for western style families, where Palestinians live together in generations and they need high rise structures because there is, after all, almost 1.4 million Palestinian whose live in the Gaza strip.

Now one of the problems that the settlers have been complaining about is compensation. Take a look at this house here. I was talking to the owner a short time ago. They said they spent almost a million U.S. dollars building this house. Now as far as the compensation goes, they'll only get about half that back from the Israeli government. On average, about $450,000 U.S., per family for the evacuation. Now, while the people here in Dugit are making plans to leave there are many others around Gaza who are planning to stay. They're digging in and they are buying up food and supplies that deadline comes midnight Sunday night and that's about 5:00 p.m. Sunday Eastern.

Now, after that it will be illegal for the settlers to be here in Gaza but they will still be a 48-hour grace period. After that 48-hour grace period, though, the Israeli army and the Israeli police take over -- Tony?

HARRIS: OK, John. Let's take a big step back, if we could, in the week since the final vote was passed on this move, Ariel Sharon, any second thoughts, after all? We learned last Sunday that the government was losing its finance minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, over this very decision.

VAUSE: Well, when it comes to Benjamin Netanyahu and Ariel Sharon you can almost see Ariel Sharon doing a bit of a happy dance around his ranch in southern Israel with the departure of Benjamin Netanyahu because those two have been rivals for years. And Ariel Sharon has been doing a number of interviews in the local Israeli press.

In one of those interviews he said if he had to do it all again he would do it exactly the same. He has no regrets. He's committed to this disengagement. He believes he's doing the right thing.

Now, of course, how this all plays out in the weeks and months ahead, is important for the Israeli government but it's also important for the Palestinian authority. Important for the president of the Palestinian authority Mahmoud Abbas.

The Palestinians want an orderly handover. They want to maintain law and order in the Gaza strip. In many ways to show the world that they can run the Gaza strip and they are ready for an independent Palestinian state -- Tony?

HARRIS: And on some level, controlling Hamas has got to be at the center of that. John Vause. John, appreciate it. Thank you.

Now time to catch up on some of the other big stories making headlines around the world.

NGUYEN: A state of emergency is in force in Sri Lanka following the assassination of the countries foreign minister. Joining us with more on that story from our sister network CNN International is Femi Oke. Good morning. FEMI OKE, CNN INTERNATIONAL: Good morning to you both. Good morning to our viewers. Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lanka's foreign minister had one of the largest security details in his country, but it couldn't save him. On Friday, the 73-year-old politician was shot dead by snipers. Kadirgamar was assassinated by sniper fire just outside of his home.

A huge manhunt is under way for suspects. Police have sealed off the capital Colombo and are carrying out house-to-house searches in some areas. The rebel group known as the Tamal Tigers is believed to be behind the shooting.

Police investigators report they found evidence that the rebels have been watching the politician from a nearby home. The Tigers have put out a statement on their Web site denying involvement in the assassination. World leaders today express their condolences. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described the murder as, and I quote, "A vicious act of terror, which the United States strongly condemns" end of quote.

To Iraq now, where it's been a bloody morning in Baghdad. In just 90 minutes, the city has seen three attacks. The first strike was at 10:30 local time when a suicide car bomb killed one civilian and wounded another. Police say the target was a U.S. military convoy.

An hour later, another bomb explode in eastern Baghdad, wounding five Iraqi soldiers and then just 30 minutes later, gunmen opened fire shooting an oil ministry employee and critically wounding another in a section of Baghdad. All of these attacks come as Iraqi leaders are finalizing details for the new Iraq constitution.

And finally, Tony, Betty, he's a Leo, August the 13th is his birthday: What would you get Fidel Castro as a present?

NGUYEN: Oh.

HARRIS: That's right, he's a Leo.

OKE: The man who has everything.

HARRIS: He's got his own country, right?

NGUYEN: What does he need, then?

OKE: Absolutely. See, Fidel Castro is the world's longest serving head of government. He is celebrating his 79th birthday today. He's had quite a party already. Not exactly "happy birthday to you," but this was the greeting Fidel Castro got from a crowd of well wishers.

On Friday, Castro supporters marked the Cuban leader's 79th birthday by gathering outside dissident houses and shouting "down with the rats and the United States." Today is Fidel Castro's actual birthday, which he'll be celebrating privately at home.

That's a wrap for me. Betty, Tony, back to you. HARRIS: Thank you.

NGUYEN: The chilling sounds of 9-11. The city of New York has released 15 hours of recorded communications by firefighters as they responded to the World Trade Center attack. The recordings were released after a court battle between the city and victim's family members. Our Mary Snow has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): September 11th from the voices of firefighters: 8:46 a.m., tower one of the World Trade Center is hit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The World Trade Center, tower number one, is on fire.

SNOW: A radio call from Battalion One, two blocks from the twin towers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looked like it was intentional. Tell all units; it could be a terrorist attack.

SNOW: At times bursts of activity on the radio. At other times, lapses of silence. There were calls for every available ambulance and every off-duty firefighter to come to the scene. Other times, there is chaos and desperate pleas for help, like this man whose identity is unknown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can anybody hear me? I'm a civilian. I'm trapped inside one of your fire trucks underneath the collapse that just happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand by. There are people close to you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't breathe much longer. Save me. I'm in a cab of your truck.

SNOW: Victims' families and others who pushed to make the transmissions public say while the tapes are painful; they are necessary to find out exactly what happened that day.

CAPT. AL FUENTES, RETIRED NEW YORK FIREFIGHTER: I just listened to a couple of audiotapes and probably it was the hardest time since 9-11. I listened to my men. I listened to my friends. But I have to tell you, and I've always felt, that was our finest day as firefighters.

SNOW: But 343 firefighters died that day. And questions remain about whether more would have survived if they were warned the towers might fall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The north tower is leaning north. All operations are being moved north of the tower. They are afraid of another collapse.

SNOW: But that message didn't get to everyone due to problems with radio transmissions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Urgent! Urgent! Everybody get out! We had a collapse of the second tower. Everybody's running from there!

SNOW: Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Well the leaders of the 9-11 Commission are going on the defensive. A former defense department official says a covert intelligence program called Able Danger identified Muhammad Atta and three other hijackers as likely Al Qaeda members more than a year before the attacks. But he says the information never made it into the commission's final report. Commission leaders say the information was not reliable enough to be included.

HARRIS: New Mexico's governor has declared a state of emergency. Governor Bill Richardson says there's an urgent need to deal with criminals crossing the Mexico border. Richardson says he declared a state of emergency to protect the people he represents he notes he's the nation's only Hispanic governor and says New Mexico is a state that has been very good to legal migrants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BILL RICHARDSON, (D) NEW MEXICO: The federal government and the Congress are doing nothing and in New Mexico we've got border smuggling of people. We've got smuggling of drugs. We've got kidnappings, murders. We've got cattle destruction. And there's very little response from the border patrol. They're doing a good job but they don't have the resources.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: In reaction, Mexico has released a statement saying, "It is important to point out that the Government of Mexico has been working consistently along the entire border, together with the governments of the federal border entities, in dealing with various problems linked to criminal activities."

NGUYEN: So what's everyone watching on the Web? We will check out one tough house and that is just ahead.

HARRIS: And we're going live to the best of the best on the PGA Tour. Good morning, Rob Marciano.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Tony.

It was a steamy day out there yesterday and now we're going to have the forecast for the tournament, talk about Irene behind me and your weekend forecast as well. Boston is going to be steamy today. You can just see that humidity. Light winds. It's going to be sticky: Temps in the 90s. Right now, a comfortable 72. We'll be right back. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: And we want you to talk back to CNN this morning.

NGUYEN: Veteran Washington correspondent Bob Franken will take your questions about the week at the White House. As President Bush tackles the issues of war in Iraq and the economy. The Supreme Court nominee as well is on the table. See your questions or send them to WEENDEND@CNN.com. Bob joins us to answer all of your questions at the 10:00 a.m. hour. So send those in.

And some are calling it an open invitation to terrorists. Unattended cargo containers and open gates at one of America's busiest airports. Plus containers set to be loaded on to passenger planes. Tomorrow morning, CNN investigation, airport cargo security.

And outrage over the highest gasoline prices ever in America. Some paying more than $3 a gallon. How hard or how high gas prices hit you in the pocket book?

HARRIS: Pretty tough.

NGUYEN: Yes, you'll get a chance to sound off tomorrow on "CNN Sunday Morning."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And in case you're just waking up with us, here's a run down of our top stories this morning.

Jewish settlers in Gaza are preparing their final exit Monday, is the deadline for leaving occupied settlements in Gaza. Some settlers are hunkering down for a fight while others are preparing to move.

In Wyoming, a rare tornado killed two people in a small mining town of Right. Two others are still missing. The surprise strike hit a mobile home park yesterday afternoon. More than 40 home were destroyed, 13 people were injured.

Tropical storm Irene could become a hurricane today. It's churning through the Atlantic with winds topping 70 mile an hour. Irene is expected to steer clear of the U.S. east coast. That's good news.

NGUYEN: Yes that is good news. You have some good information there. But we have Rob here to tell us a little bit more. Hi there Rob.

MARCIANO: Hey guys. See across the northeast for sure and lets quick look at that track. Tony mentioned it's going to be curving out to sea. This is the forecast track from the National Hurricane Center. So we're happy that's going to happen. If you're in the northeast, you will be happy to know that cool air is on the way. But not for a couple days. So the next two days look rather steamy. These highlighted yellow and orange counties under heat advisers and excessive heat warnings. It's going to be one of those days, you got to take it easy and hopefully you don't have to work outside. Some showers and storms firing up south of Chicago towards Gary, Indiana, over toward South Bend, Lowell, Indiana as well. Seeing a little bit of action. Much needed rain although for some of the farmers a little too little and too late. North of Kansas City, over towards Leavenworth, Kansas some showers and storms as well. And these are all slowly heading off towards the northeast with this cool front that's just so stubborn to move. 73 it is cool in Minneapolis today but it will be into the lower to mid 90s across the northeast today and it looks like tomorrow as well.

Much of the eastern third, southeastern third of the country will remain hot and humid. This is where the comfortably cool area is. West coast residents waking up this morning. A little heat but dry across the Pacific-Northwest. Tomorrow's highs, 73 in Chicago. 81 in St. Louis. That will feel good but the Northeast will not feel that likely until Monday or Tuesday.

I said we would talk about the PGA forecast, steamy the next two days. So they are going to be sweating out there.

HARRIS: That sums it up.

NGUYEN: All right. Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: See you, guys.

HARRIS: It's perhaps one of the most famous kisses of the last century. And it's still remains popular today. We've got the proof now with CNN.com's Veronica De La Cruz. Good morning.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN.COM: Good morning to you. We all remember that photo right, kiss?

HARRIS: The Times Square photo?

DE LA CRUZ: The black and white kiss in 1945.

HARRIS: Yes.

DE LA CRUZ: It is one of the most popular pieces of video right now. That story actually. I'm going to tell you all about it. First, I'm going to tell you how to find these most popular pieces of video. You are going to log on to CNN.com and look for the green watch box. Click on browse and search and select the tab that says "most popular."

Tony, before we get to the kiss, I'm going to tell you what else is popular at CNN.com. Not even a huff or puff would blow this house down. CNN's Susan Candiotti speaks with Hurricane Charlie survivors who are rebuilding their home and hurricane proofing it.

Yes, it is the kiss revisited. There have been many memorable kisses in our time. Tony tell me if your remember any of these. Allen Tipper, Madonna and Brittany.

HARRIS: Sure, sure, sure. DE LA CRUZ: And a Lady and the Tramp, just to name a few. Well, Jeanne Moos talks to the women in the photo, the kiss, as they unveil a statue in the Times Square commemorating that day back in 1945 V.J. Day. And there is the statue.

That is the unveiling of the statue. And let me say this, the woman was not shy when asked to kiss and tell.

HARRIS: Really?

DE LA CRUZ: She was not shy. The woman is 87 years old and she has three boyfriends.

HARRIS: What?

NGUYEN: Way to go.

DE LA CRUZ: Eighty-seven and she has three boyfriends.

NGUYEN: Good for her.

I'm just a little concerned that Tony was more interested in the Madonna-Brittany kiss. We'll tackle that a little bit later, but we do want you to stick around because we are going to go live to the PGA Championship where Tiger Woods instead of leading, is chasing the leader.

And whatever happened to schools starting in September? I remember those days. Next hour, debating the merits of a longer summer vacation or a longer school year.

HARRIS: But first in "CNN Extra:" In a recent survey almost nine-out of-10 students say they would work harder if their school expected more out of them. More than 90 percent would favor internships and college-level courses in high school. More than one- third said having good grades is more important; more important than having a car or being involved in sports when it comes to fitting in with friends.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: A freak accident at the PGA Championship in New Jersey leaves a television production worker with a broken leg. A huge limb came crashing down from a red oak tree near the fourth green. There it is. It hit 51-year-old TNT employee Frank Choi. Two other people were treated for minor injuries.

HARRIS: Not only that, the heat sizzled at the 87th PGA Championship and so did Phil Mickelson.

NGUYEN: Boy, did he. He pulled into the lead going into the third round. Meanwhile, Tiger Woods is struggling in the backfield. He is way behind. CNN's Larry Smith is there live for us this morning. Larry, no falling tree limbs so far? LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No.

Well, no. Let's hope it doesn't happen again. That was a horrible situation on Friday. Could have been a lot worse than what it was. Thankfully they got that taken care of. That tree has now been removed, we are happy to report.

Twenty-one times, by the way, Phil Mickelson has finished in the top ten in a major and has that one master's victory to show for it back in 2004. But he has a chance to make that one a two here in the next couple days. Mickelson wearing the targets of the leader as he had an outstanding 8 under par score over the first two days of the PGA Championship as he enters the third round. His goal today though simply just keeps his focus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL MICKELSON, 2ND ROUND LEADER: You have to take what the course gives you. There are holes you can be aggressive on. If that's the case, I will be and I'll try to make birdies. And if there are some holes that you can't, where the pins are tucked or the greens are firm, or what have you I'll just play for par. I can't really set a score and it's not as though I'm trying to play conservative or run away. I'm just trying to take what the course gives me.

TIGER WOODS: I'm 12 back. I'll be setting the pins for Phil the rest of the boys. And make sure the dew is swept off and everything is nice and neat. So, yes, I'll be out here early.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: And he is already out on the course, all ready 1 over par through his first four holes. This course can be a psychological minefield. Holes one, three and seven all measure 500 yards are more and they're all par fours.

It's no surprise they are the toughest three holes here on the course. And Tiger Woods found out again he bogeyed number one as he got going. Let's see if Phil Mickelson can avoid a slow start and keep the momentum going as he gets into his round when he tees off at 3:00 this afternoon here Eastern time.

Tony and Betty, lets go back to you.

HARRIS: Five hundred yards you have to golf your ball? Larry Smith. Larry, thanks.

Well, you know you've heard of cats having nine lives? Well, here's a dog who has at least two. We'll introduce you to the lucky pooch next hour.

NGUYEN: Also, we want to get those e-mails cranking to Bob Franken this morning, as Tony likes to say. Send your questions to WEEKENDS@CNN.com. Bob joins us for all the answers. That's in the next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) . NGUYEN: "Now in the News:" In the eastern Wyoming town of Wright, the search is on for two people who are missing after a tornado hit a trailer park yesterday afternoon. Two other people died and another 13 were injured. More than 40 mobile homes were destroyed.

Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank have just days to leave their homes or be forced out by Israel's army. Some Gaza settlers say they will make their stand against the Israeli pullout. Some 9,000 settler also affected.

"OPEN HOUSE" starts right now.

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