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CNN Live Sunday

A Look at Other News of the Week

Aired October 14, 2001 - 16:56   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.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: We have been trying to keep you up- to-date on all the stories, but did you know that a surgeon was able to operate recently on a patient who was not at his fingertips but was instead thousands of miles away?

You probably didn't know, because the dust cloud from September 11th has cast a shadow around the world that eclipses many other stories.

Here's CNN's Garrick Utley now to show us what we have missed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARRICK UTLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In any other month, the nation's attention would have been riveted on the tragedy in Texas September 15th when a tug pushing four barges brought down the Queen Isabella Causeway. Eight people died when their cars plunged into the water.

In any other month, the explosion of a petrochemical plant in Toulouse, France would have dominated television screens. 29 people died, 3,000 were injured, and thousands of homes surrounding this ground zero were destroyed. Officials say it was probably an accident.

And in any other month, the raising of the Kursk and the recovery of the Russians who died in it would have touched our emotions even more deeply.

But then this has not been any other month. Still, much has happened in our world that's had nothing to do with terrorism or new wars. Perhaps we've noted some events in passing, while other events have merely passed.

What is news at a time like this?

Did you hear the news announced on September 19th of the first operation performed totally by remote control? The surgeons in New York City successfully removed the gall bladder of a patient in Strassburg, France. In the future, patients anywhere may have access to the world's top surgeons.

If our attention this past month has been on this man with a gun, and a beard, and a dislike of American power, he's not the first. Fidel Castro has grown from your revolutionary to old revolutionary and this past month it was discovered that one of his top spies was working for the Defense Department as its top intelligence analyst on Cuba.

At any other time, Castro's spy would have been a major story. But this month, the Pentagon and the nation had other concerns.

In China, the world changed this past month, not with a bang, but with one goal.

China, for the first time qualified for soccer's World Cup. There was great joy in China.

And then there is the story of 62-year-old Ninad Bailage (ph), a cardiologist from Chicago with a wife and children. His dream was to row across the Atlantic Ocean alone. On Sunday, his emergency beacon was activated 230 miles short of the Irish Coast. A search has found no sign of Ninad Bailage (ph).

Since September 11th, of course, just about everyone has been searching for ways to cope with the tragedy and honor its victims, including the U.S. Postal Service. It will soon issue this new commemorative first class stamp with the American flag and the words "United We Stand." The Postal Service also announced that it would request a three cent increase in the price of first class postage to 37 cents. You didn't hear about that? That's because the announcement was made on September 11th.

Garrick Utley, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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