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On the Story
Reporters Discuss the Stories Behind the Stories
Aired March 04, 2006 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR, ON THE STORY: Welcome, I'm John King. I'll be talking about the remarkable things I saw in a small town in Mississippi this week and with me here Lisa Sylvester and Jamie McIntyre. President Bush was in India and Pakistan, plus a surprise stop in Afghanistan. White House correspondent Elaine Quijano was on the story. Here's her reporter's notebook.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Like any trip, but especially an international trip, there's a lot of research that you have to do ahead of time, just to kind of familiarize yourself with what might be on the top of the agenda. We were en route to what we thought was going to be New Delhi. About 20 or 30 minutes or so into the flight, Scott McClellan comes to the back of the cabin and says guess what, guys. We are going to Afghanistan.
At that point you go OK, what do I need because as a travel pool reporter, it's an immense responsibility. You are funneling information, not just for your network, but for all the networks. Afghanistan was certainly not on the president's official schedule. But rumors about a possible visit there had been circulating for weeks. And up until the very end, White House officials were keeping it quiet.
There's a lot that's up in the air. And I think that's just part of the territory when you cover the president of the United States. Things change. You don't always have the benefit of a head's up or even 24-hour's notice. That's just part of the beat.
KING: Elaine Quijano joins us now from Pakistan. Elaine, I want to talk about India and Pakistan. We all do and the challenges facing the president. But first I understand that travel pool ride you were just talking about in your notebook, a helicopter ride in Afghanistan, was a bit colorful.
QUIJANO: It was. You know, I remember sitting there and I was looking at my Blackberry trying to get it to work. And that was my first concern because I couldn't get any information out. Cells were bad. So I'm sitting there looking at my blackberry and all of a sudden through my ear plugs I hear some kind of noise. And I look up and it's a guy was shooting test firing according to Scott McClellan. Because we all asked afterwards what was he doing? And sure enough you see him flicking off shells. And nobody else seemed to move. Nobody else flinched. They didn't think it was a big deal. I right away looked out the window. I didn't see anything. Like I say, according to the White House officials they say it was simply a test fire. But it really kind of brought home exactly where we were. You know, what we were doing.
And another thing I remember from the trip, too is seeing the guys that were traveling with us. They had on their arms on tape, their blood types. So really kind of drove home where we were and the seriousness of the situation.
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Elaine, the president -- it's Lisa Sylvester. The president also visited India. I want to just ask you, the question I've always wondered. Does the president's message change when he's overseas versus in the United States because he seems to give the thumbs up on outsourcing when he was in India. But yet when he's here in the United States he seems to really play up the theme of I'm for middle class and protecting jobs.
QUIJANO: Well, it's interesting. The president has actually been talking about outsourcing in a different way. I think obviously what you saw in India was an attempt by him to reach out to the Indian people, the Indian leaders to let them know that he feels this is the time when they can broaden their relationship, India and the United States. And so yes, the language perhaps slightly different. But the essential message is that President Bush is is one that he's delivered before. And that is he thinks that competition is not something to be feared. He thinks the global sort of marketplace is a good thing. He doesn't necessarily view it in the same terms as others.
And he did acknowledge during his trip to India that in fact, this is something that has affected the American people, that in fact these jobs that have been lost. Certainly something that has hurt Americans. But you know, at the same time, he says there's a bigger picture here. India really should not necessarily be viewed as just this threat. They should welcome the competition.
JAMIE McINTYRE, SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Elaine, I was in Afghanistan when I heard the rumors that President Bush might be making a stop there. By the time he stopped there, I had gotten to Brussels. I woke up and saw that he was there and then of course the big news about the nuclear deal. How much of that I'm curious did you know ahead of time but just couldn't say anything about? Did you know he was going to Afghanistan? Did you know that they were going to sign this agreement?
QUIJANO: Well, you know, as far as the Afghanistan trip goes, there were rumors sort of circulating for weeks because obviously he was headed to the region. It was a possibility. It was sort of in the back of everyone's mind. But when you pressed the White House on it, they wouldn't say anything. I mean they really were very tight lipped about the whole thing and even almost up until the very end, I remember being on the first leg of the trip to Shannon where the refueling stop was. They still were very, very coy and said nope. If there are any scheduled changes, we'll let you know. And of course then as soon as we were half on hour out of Shannon, Scott McClellan comes back and says guess what, we are headed off to Afghanistan.
But on the Indian nuclear deal, there had been quite a bit of buzz about that. It was interesting to note how much officials tried to down play the expectations going into the trip. Even before we left, you had the national security adviser Stephen Hadley coming out there saying, look, this is not going to be a past-fail kind of thing. If this agreement isn't necessarily reached by the time president leaves India, these discussions are going to continue. And that sort of lowering of expectations continued to take place. But then lo and behold, here was this agreement. The Indian press it's interesting to note was all abuzz about this. And their judgment seemed to be, even before the deal was officially announced, was that it was going to actually happen. So again you had your suspicions. But officials not wanting to confirm anything until the event actually happened.
KING: Elaine I want to ask you a question from a viewer. From Malina from Bangladesh, relevant to where you are today in Pakistan, she asks quote, what can the United States do to regain the friendship of the Pakistani public which has deteriorated since the Clinton years? Obviously a major challenge for the president.
QUIJANO: It is a major challenge. Part of that challenge though, Bush administration officials would say has been met by the response and the help that's been given to the Pakistani people after the earthquake here. That is certainly a point that the United States is quite proud of. They understand that there is a lot of anti-American, anti-western sentiment in this country. And yet, they also understand that this different face of the United States military and coming in to provide aid and coming in to provide the military equipment to help rescue people and to get supplies to people. That's perhaps a face that people here are not used to seeing.
Now there's also the question of how much of that good will that has been built up can be easily undone when there are also reports of attacks, U.S. attacks in the efforts to fight terrorism, where civilians perhaps might be killed. It's a difficult balancing act for the United States for the Bush administration, but that's part of the reason why he's here. He wants to ensure that Pakistan continues to be an ally that the White House can count on in the terrorism fight.
McINTYRE: Elaine, I couldn't help but note as soon as President Bush arrived in the region, another outbreak of violence, a bombing in Karachi. How tense was everybody about this security? I mean was it -- what was the feeling about the safety of the president moving around the area?
QUIJANO: Well, certainly there was a lot of concern about it. Because the idea of coming to Pakistan so soon after the suicide bombing is really something that even the national security adviser acknowledged look, there are risks involved in a trip like this. But at the same time, we heard President Bush say that he wasn't going to be deterred and again, this attempt to really show solidarity with President Musharraf, who himself has faced such intense opposition, intense pressure. He's had attempts on his life. This was really a time where President Bush was not going to back down.
And there was even some sort of speculation before the travel pool actually was told, yes we are in Islamabad, that perhaps they had landed in Karachi. And there was a lot of kind of talk that maybe that was a possibility. But in the end the president arriving here on Air Force one under the cover of darkness though, deciding to spend the night. That was a detail we didn't really even really learn about until just about a day or so ago. The White House didn't let us know that he was going to be spending the night here. So security certainly is a major concern.
KING: Elaine Quijano on an interesting and fascinating trip. Stay safe. We'll see you back in the states and back on the story soon. Jamie McIintyre as he noted was in Afghanistan just before the president stopped there. Jamie, back on the story with his travels with General James Jones.
McINTYRE: You gave CNN some incredible access. We got into meetings and behind closed doors. Most generals aren't going to do that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: CNN is on the story. Our Jamie McIntyre was in Afghanistan this week touring the country with the U.S. general who is also NATO's top officer. Let's check out Jamie's reporter's notebook.
McINTYRE: This is about the third time I've been back to Kabala and I've noticed some changes, but it's hard to see exactly how it's going to work out. Everywhere you look, something has to be done. There's a project that needs to be done.
We on the way to (INAUDIBLE) and one thing about Afghanistan, anywhere you go, the roads are pretty bad. General James Jones, the U.S. European commander and supreme allied commander, very impressive person. You can see the respect he begets from the troops. He doesn't paper over the problems that they are facing in Afghanistan. He recognizes that there are some really serious challenges here.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: I expect to see more IEDs and maybe even more suicide bombers.
McINTYRE: The NATO troops are here talking about the future Afghanistan. They believe that it could all work out very well. But they recognize that there's just a lot of work to be done.
KING: Jamie McIntyre here in the studio now. You mentioned this general doesn't paper over the problems, recognizing the problems. But here in Washington, this is a country the president holds out as the great example. When he talks about problems in Iraq, he says look at Afghanistan. But it's not as pretty as people in Washington sometimes say.
McINTYRE: A lot of people going before the war in Iraq, they thought Iraq would be the easy one. It's a country with a lot of resources. The population is well educated. You just had to sort of topple Saddam and everything would be OK. Afghanistan was looked to be the much-greater challenge. I mean 80 percent of the people are illiterate. It doesn't have a lot of resources, a lot of tribal feuding. But in some ways, Jones argues that Afghanistan actually has a better chance over the long term. It doesn't have the same ethnic divide. But boy, I tell you, as I said, looking around the country, it is a very poor country. It's difficult to say -- put a police force together when most of the people there can't even write a police report. How do you get an effective -- and they don't have an effective judiciary. And the big problem in Afghanistan is drug trade. That's really driving a lot of stuff there. And it's fascinating though to travel around the country. I'd have to say as a reporter, you know, just parachuting in, you are never quite sure you're getting the real picture of what's going on.
SYLVESTER: I followed some of your reports as they've talked about this increase, this up take in violence especially in 2005, I think they've increased by something like 20 percent. The concerns that we hear about Iraq sort of disintegrating into a civil war, is it the same concerns in Afghanistan or different?
McINTYRE: That's the huge question and everywhere I went I've tried to get a feel for that from some of the people. We've met with a lot of the Afghan officials and some of the NATO commanders, the U.S. commanders. They all publicly say they don't think what's happening in Iraq now with this explosive violence every day is going to be the same thing in Afghanistan. But yet you are seeing a lot of the same tactics. You are seeing al Qaeda and the Taliban move to suicide bombings. Suicide bombing is not something that was in Afghanistan's culture at all. And so you are really seeing an imitation of those tactics. And whether the result is the same as General Jones said at one point in the interview, time will tell. They don't think so.
KING: You mentioned parachuting in. It's very much the same on White House trips I've taken over the years. How do you, is there tension if you will, do you get to a place early enough at night to say, have time to go out and check things out on your own. Or do they keep you moving all the time, to keep you in their cocoon, saying you can't leave?
McINTYRE: We were traveling with Jones and his plan was to go there and find out what was going on. But one of the things you find is, you get there. You don't know that much about what's going on and you have sort of a superficial knowledge. So you seek out the people who have been there a long time. But then we find out that some people who had been there a while, they haven't gotten out that much either because of the security situation. I talked to some officers in various militaries, not just U.S. who basically hadn't left their bases. So how do you know if they really have a feel for what's happening? And it's hard to tell. Most of the elite class in Afghanistan, the educated class is so small, how do you know that represents the people? It's a -- it's going to be a long term problem in Afghanistan. And we'll just have to see how it turns out.
SYLVESTER: Jamie, there's two things we really want to know. One you mentioned this in your "reporter's notebook." Why did the gentleman invite you along and give you so much access? And the other question I want to ask is just about personal safety in light of everything that happened with Bob Woodruff the ABC anchor. Is that something that was on your mind? McINTYRE: It was. Everywhere we went we wore a flak jacket and often wore helmets. I've known General Jones for a while. I met him when he was the senior military assistant to Defense Secretary Cohen. Anything else you develop a relationship with people. Jones is kind of unique though in that he felt, he really feels it's important that reporters get a firsthand look at stuff. And he actually took us into some meetings that -- they were off the record. So I can't really tell you what they were about. But they were places where reporters don't usually get to go and some of the policy people and the staff people came up to me afterwards and they said, well, what were you doing in that meeting? How did you get in there?
SYLVESTER: They like you. That's really what it is.
McINTYRE: And well, it's not because I think - and General Jones said this to me. He said, he basically feels like if you really can see what's going on, you'll do a better job. And I got to tell you, most military officers, they're not like that. They are afraid to take you into those meetings.
KING: And what do they think about the image of the United States? Again as the United States goes through these difficult missions in Afghanistan, difficult mission in Iraq, the cartoon controversy, the image in that part of the world is miserable, at best maybe right now. Is it getting better as Afghanistan builds up its government or you can't tell.
McINTYRE: It's impossible to tell. If anything it's getting better. Of course one of the missions and we went to visit these NATO teams that they have out around the country and that's what they are expanding into the southern part of the country as well. Their mission is to try to win the hearts and minds, try to win people over, build projects, help with schools. But particularly in the south now, there's so much intimidation going on. The Taliban is threatening teachers, telling people not to send their children to school because Christianity is being taught there, the same sort of intimidation tactics that we are seeing in Iraq. That's why I really think it's an open question whether or not we might see the -- maybe not on the scale of Iraq, but an increase in the violence, particularly as the government in Afghanistan tries to attack the drug trade which is 50 to 55 percent of the economy of Afghanistan fueled by the opium trade.
SYLVESTER: I went to get back to that question about the personal safety, because I think a lot of people wonder, you know I don't do a lot of international traveling. But I know my family members have said look, Iraq, Afghanistan, very dangerous places. I'm sure your family's got to be concerned and how do you weigh that knowing what happened to Bob Woodruff?
McINTYRE: It was a big point of discussion and basically, I was traveling in the most secure area with the general. We took all precautions. We went to the safest areas. We didn't go to the south where there's the most violence. And as I told my wife, you could die in a traffic accident on the way to work. In fact, when I got back, as I was traveling back, big accident in Washington on the beltway and somebody got killed just driving to work. So it can happen to you anywhere. Obviously you try to make sure you take reasonable precautions and don't take unnecessary risks.
KING: Fascinating trip (ph) and great access, Jamie McIntrye and something to take your mind off this political and military drama playing out in Afghanistan and here in Washington. What about the drama of the academy awards in Hollywood? Our entertainment reporter Sibila Vargas is back on the story after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: CNN is on the story and our Sibila Vargas is our eyes and ears on the entertainment beat. She has get this - watched the movies, looked at the stars and look and sound fabulous along the red carpet at the academy awards. Let's open up Sibila's "reporter's notebook."
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The academy awards are definitely the mack daddy of all the awards shows. I prepare for this at least seven months in advance. As soon as we start getting that Oscar buzz. What movies are creating controversy, see what movies are getting critical praise. We talk to so many people during this time. You know we want to make sure that we talk to industry experts to see what everyone's talking about. The interesting thing about Oscars this year is that a lot of people are saying that there's a Hollywood disconnect with the United States.
These are films, the ones that have been nominated at least have been films that really a lot of people haven't gone to see. They are not blockbusters. It will be interesting to see how many people tune in to go see the academy awards this year because I would venture to say that a lot of people that are going to be watching the awards show will not have seen some of the movies.
KING: And Sibila joins us now from the red carpet on the story. Sibilia, it's the glamour beat, but it also is highly competitive. I want to start with a question from one of our viewers. Aiden Russell from Salem, Ohio says what's it like being on the red carpet and how difficult is it to get the big celebrities? How difficult to get the interview?
VARGAS: It is extremely difficult. This place will be bustling with wall to wall celebrities and just to give you a quick lay of the land, if my cameraman could just start to pan to his right. This is where the celebrities will be making their way in. If you can imagine, this place will be wall to wall celebrities, publicists, media. There's going to be fans, people screaming. And there's about 100 media outlets that are going to be out here. And let me tell you. If you've got some lungs on you, that's certainly going to help. But let me tell you, I may be a little person. Or at least a little, but I have some lungs on me. And if I want to talk to Heath Ledger, the only way that I'm going to do it is I'm going to have to compete with all the other outlets that are out here. And I'm going to have to scream his name at the top of my lungs and hope that he gets to see me. And if he does, then I can probably score an interview with him. Sometimes that's what we have to do. SYLVESTER: Sibila, it's Lisa Sylvester. A quick question, you mentioned that there's not really any blockbusters. So are you expecting -- are we going to see some new faces, some new names, perhaps new really big stars coming out of this process?
VARGAS: I think we certainly have. I mean Terrence Howard is definitely a person that he's been in the business. But you know you may have seen his face. But you don't necessarily know his name. But he was nominated for his work in "Hustle and Flow," best actor nominee. I recently got a chance to talk to him. I was so impressed with this guy. First of all, I knew he made very little money for doing "Hustle and Flow." In fact I was almost afraid to ask him. I caught up him with at the Palm Springs festival. And I was afraid to say I think you made something like $12,000 for this film? And he actually, you know I didn't even ask him that.
I said I heard you made little money for this film. He said, actually I made $9,000. This is a guy who made $9,000 on this film, didn't even really want to do it and now he's an Oscar nominee and potentially he will become a household name. And that's the beauty of a show like this or an award show like this, that one day you can be in virtual obscurity and the next day you can become a household name, a star.
And you know, last year it was Virginia Madsen for "Sideways." And the entire cast, Paul Giamatti (ph). People didn't really know who he was. But that film did so well with people and it got, you know, it got tons of Oscar buzz and lots of other awards that these people became household names and now they've gone on to lucrative careers.
MCINTYRE: Sibila, drawing on my experience as a Pentagon correspondent, I wanted to ask you, so is this like the coolest assignment or what?
VARGAS: It is pretty cool.
MCINTYRE: Here's an important question. Do you have a dress, a dress especially for the night?
VARGAS: I do. I have actually two dresses I have not revealed. I don't know what's going to happen. You have to be prepared for these things though because you might gain a little weight in a week.
MCINTYRE: All right, too much information.
VARGAS: I know, I know, too much information. But --
MCINTYRE: OK so what's your pick for the big picture?
VARGAS: Big picture, you know what, what I've been hearing certainly "Brokeback Mountain" has been a critical gem. It's done, it's swept numerous critical awards, got the golden globe awards. But during the SAG awards, it was "Crash" who got the best ensemble cast. And a lot of people were surprised. So "Crash" is kind of making a comeback. I spoke to Roger Ebert just today and we got to speaking and he thinks that "Crash" may be, you know, the dark horse in this race. But you just never know with the Oscars, a prediction deal. A lot of people have predictions. But if I were to put money down, it would either be "Crash" or "Brokeback Mountain." but with all the momentum that "Crash" is getting right now, I think I'd probably be safer bet with "Crash."
MCINTYRE: Is one of the occupational hazards that your ear piece could come loose while you're talking?
VARGAS: OK, didn't really want to address that. Nobody's noticing.
MCINTYRE: OK, just checking.
KING: Sibila, one more question from a viewer. This is a big question. This is a big question. I hope your ear piece is working. Let's see. We'll figure this out. Now we're showing people really what it's like to be on the story. Another question from a viewer, I think a lot of people are asking this question. What's the inside buzz on Jon Stewart as host? Do people think he'll bomb?
VARGAS: I don't think he'll bomb. I think he's a good pick because as you know, the lay of the land when it comes to these pictures, they are controversial. They've got political themes. He does very well with the political, you know, what's going on in the world these days. And of course he's got a great sense of humor. So I don't think he'll bomb. How many people will actually tune in whether it's going to be an incredible ratings success, I'm not sure about that. Jon Stewart has about 1.4 million viewers on his cable show on Comedy Central. But that's not huge compared to what network usually does. If he could bring that audience and also bring a younger audience, it will be a coup. We'll just have to see. Chris Rock of course was brought in last year and the ratings were not that great. He dropped a little bit in the ratings. And I don't -- I think that's probably why they haven't asked him back.
KING: Sibila Vargas for us on the red carpet on the story. Thank you for joining us. Our vote of course was for Jamie McIntyre to host. Maybe he'll get it next year. Sibila, thank you. Here in Washington, the award for continuing political drama goes to the debate over the control of U.S. ports. Business correspondent Lisa Sylvester is back on the story after this. And we are on the story this week from Washington, Pakistan, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the German Baltic island where bird flu first officially hit the European Union, cats like Petalah (ph) are now suspect, for it was here on Luergen (ph) where the first mammal in Europe, a feline, was found dead with the h5n1 virus. Despite some alarming headlines, authorities are saying not to panic. It's OK to play with your cat, just wash your hands afterwards.
JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just days after Britain's biggest cash robbery ever, three suspects have appeared in this courthouse, miles from the bank depot where $92 million was taken. The police say it could take many more months, if not years, before they track down all those involved and indeed all the money.
ALPHONSO VON MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Patricia Houilannie (ph) has been waiting more than a decade for the government to fix her tin shack home. Patricia says the African National Congress has been promising to improve her living conditions here since it came to power in 1994. But as South Africans vote in municipal elections, this one time ANC supporter says she's tired of the lip service.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: More of ON THE STORY in just a moment.
But this is the news right now.
A new videotape of al Qaeda deputy leader Ayman el-Zawahiri is airing on the Arabic network, Al Jazeera. And in it, al-Zawahiri criticizes the West for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad and he calls on Hamas not to compromise with Israel. There is no way to know exactly when that videotape was made.
Now, the Pentagon has released the names and nationalities of some of the detainees being held at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A lawsuit filed under the Freedom of Information Act forced the government to reveal the names. Some of the detainees have been held for four years.
The Army is launching a criminal investigation to determine whether Pat Tillman died as the result of negligent homicide. Tillman was a former NFL player. He was killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire back in 2004.
President Bush is on his way back to Washington after ending his first visit to Pakistan. Following talks with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Mr. Bush reaffirmed what he called a lasting strategic partnership between Washington and Islamabad.
The U.S. agriculture secretary says the United States is getting ready for a likely outbreak of avian flu. He warned we could see bird flu in domestic flocks as well as wild birds. But the government assures consumers that U.S. poultry will remain safe to eat.
The Navy will ground all of its aircraft for a half day next week for an internal safety review. That's after a series of Navy air crashes, including one in northeast Oregon on Friday. Now, since last October, 10 Naval aviators have been killed.
And how about a break from the wet weather in Hawaii? Flooded homes, landslides and nearly a foot of rain on Oahu in the past two days. The governor is preparing the National Guard to activate and provide disaster relief.
Now, coming up on "CNN PRESENTS," Kathleen Koch returns to her hometown of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi to see what's being done to save a town devastated by Hurricane Katrina. That's later, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
And at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, it's "LARRY KING LIVE." Tonight, Oscar host Jon Stewart. He gets candid with Larry about what to expect on tomorrow's big show.
I'm Carol Lin.
I'll see you at 10:00 p.m.
Now, back to ON THE STORY.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: CNN is on the story and this town is at the center of a national debate and an international controversy over control of U.S. ports.
Should a Dubai state-owned company take over operations at six U.S. ports?
Business correspondent Lisa Sylvester is ON THE STORY.
Let's open her Reporter's Notebook.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You have so many pieces of this story. I mean you've got the congressional action. You've got lawsuits pending in New Jersey. You've got another lawsuit pending in London. And it's a difficult story to try to keep tabs on.
(voice-over): The Bush administration have Dubai Ports World have agreed to a 45-day review, but many on Capitol Hill believe the outcome of that investigation has been pre-determined.
(on camera): It really becomes less of a political football in terms of Democrat versus Republican. What we're seeing more of is it's more Congress versus the White House.
When you talk about the business angle of it, it's hard to not talk about that in the context of the lobbying. They are expecting D.P. World will be spending millions of dollars. You know, they signed up another -- a number of prominent lawmakers who -- former lawmakers who are now lobbyists -- to really press this case for them.
Legislation introduced would give Congress the authority to veto the deal and force the sale to be dissolved if necessary.
If Congress steps in and passes any legislation that restricts them, I think they're going to be very quick to sue the American government.
I think we're going to be on this for a while.
(END VIDEO TAPE) KING: Lisa, in your reporting, does the company understand that I think it sort of hit a tsunami, if you will? This is a national security issue, but it's also a terrorism issue at a time when terrorism is a big issue in this country, national security, and you have this, wham, you have the politics of this.
Does the company get that?
SYLVESTER: I think they understand that. But I think they were sort of late in the game. I think that they were working with the administration on this and that they were going through the process with CFIUS, the committee on foreign investment in the United States, which is led by Treasury, and I think they were getting all these green lights, green lights, green lights and then suddenly they got a red light once Congress got wind of this, because Congress was not brought into this process.
And then suddenly they realized oh, wait a minute. We need to go back and do a major push here because we're losing this battle with the public and with Congress.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, this really struck me as the kind of story that really required reporting. I mean a lot or reporting the news is something happened, here's what happened today. But this happened and then it was really a question of what do you think?
I mean there was so much outrage around this.
How do you try to get to the bottom of whether the outrage is justified, whether the company has a point? I mean how do you -- do you need to come to a judgment, at the end of the day, about how bad this really was?
SYLVESTER: Well, one of the things that -- you know, I always believe the truth is somewhere in the middle.
But in this case what you were hearing is you were hearing both Republicans and Democrats. And I think that that's a very key thing, because there's so many of these issues that will come up, bubble to the surface, and members of Congress will sort of line up on one side of the aisle or the other.
In this case, the fact that you had so many Bush loyalists coming out and saying hey, wait a minute, we have a real problem with this, suggests there's a story here.
MCINTYRE: But, as the facts came out, did the outrage diminish or did it get hot...
SYLVESTER: Oh, no. I think...
MCINTYRE: ... get more?
SYLVESTER: I think that the outrage is still very much present and I think it will continue to be present. You know, the White House is trying to do this thing where they say well, as the facts come out, you know, I'm sure we'll get more people, more members of Congress behind this. But what people are hearing is they're hearing from their constituents and the constituents are saying hey, wait a minute. Isn't there a point where we have critical infrastructure that should be maintained in the hands of the United States and not sent or outsourced to any foreign government?
MCINTYRE: But you just mentioned the word outsourcing. As you know, an anchor on this network, Lou Dobbs, is among those who has championed against outsourcing. And he has, to a degree, become a part of this story and that argument, not just Lou, but that whole argument against outsourcing has become part of this story.
SYLVESTER: Very much so. I mean you have to look at this in the context of globalization. What has happened over the last few years is this effort of globalization thanks to the way technology is right now. It's very easy to move capital, for instance. And so because of that, foreign investment is increasing in the United States.
So we've got to take a look at where is this foreign investment, where -- what exactly are they buying?
And this is where Lou Dobbs has been sort of out in front because of his background in business, but also because of this issue, exporting America is something that he's been very keen on. And the company itself has, you know, they've taken a look at the coverage. They've not necessarily always agreed with our coverage, but Lou Dobbs is out there every day on this front.
KING: And we're going to stay on this story straight ahead.
Internet reporter Abbi Tatton will be ON THE STORY online with the reaction from a blogger about the news coverage swirling around this whole issue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: You, too, are ON THE STORY.
Tell us what topics grab your attention.
E-mail ON THE STORY at cnn.com.
We've been talking at the ports deal, whether the Dubai-based company should be allowed to operate six ports here in the United States. All of this, of course, playing out in the business world, in politics and on the Internet.
Keeping watch on the story online is our Internet reporter, Abbi Tatton -- Abbi, what are you seeing?
ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: We're seeing a huge amount of attention to this story continuing online, John, on the left and the right.
First of all, there was outrage and still a lot of discussion about the ports deal. One person who's been following it closely is Judd Legum.
He's with Thinkprogress.org, a liberal group blog here in Washington.
And Judd joins us here via our Web cam.
Judd, thanks for joining us.
JUDD LEGUM, THINKPROGRESS.ORG: Thanks for having me, Abbi.
TATTON: Now, Thinkprogress is a site that has an entire section devoted to "brain dead media," so I think I might know the answer to this one.
How has the media done on this story?
LEGUM: Well, I think they've really screwed this story up from the beginning. You know, the first thing you would have heard about when you first started learning about this story is that the UAE was taking over the U.S. ports. We know that's not really true. It's just the stevedoring operations, essentially, the loading and the offloading of the cargo.
But then later you might have heard that, well, this deal is being held up. But now we know that's not true. It's not being held up. There's just a management structure while this extra review takes place.
So I think you can get a lot of misinformation from traditional media on this story.
TATTON: But you've been critical of the deal all along. But you're a paid blogger from a liberal organization.
Shouldn't we expect you to be critical of every deal the administration puts forward anyway at your site?
LEGUM: Well, I think you can expect whatever you want to expect from us. But one of the great things about blogs is we don't have to be balanced, that we can tell the story as we see it and at CNN you guys have got to worry about making every story sound balanced. And I think what we can bring to the table is we can just call them how we see them. And if we think one side is right, we can do that.
KING: Well, John, I want to jump in on that place.
This is John King.
Because you say you do get to call them as you see them. You do get to pick sides.
It is our job to try to stay in the middle of the road. We are far from perfect, but Lisa has covered this story extensively.
I want you to come in and respond, if you will.
It's a complicated issue, but Judd obviously takes issue with our coverage of it.
What do you think?
SYLVESTER: Well, Judd, I've got to agree with a couple of things that Judd said, is because, first of all, I think you're right in the sense that people just sort of did the shorthand version of that this UAE company was trying to buy these ports, which, in actuality what they're doing is it was the port facilities. And that you do have to make a -- and the port terminals. You do have to make that distinction.
I also think that he's right in raising concern because this company is scheduled to close. I think you're absolutely right. They're -- they are planning on closing this deal with P&O. And what they have said is that they want to create the separate -- this separate entity, essentially, to single out the American operations here and to not have it go forward the same way it would with the complete rest of the deal.
And I think that that's where the media -- and I think both bloggers and mainstream media -- we have to get the clarification and the details. Exactly how is this going to look if you're planning on closing? Because a number of members of Congress have pointed out that this is backward -- how can you close and then have the review? And I think that's important.
But, you know, I work for the "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" show and we've been all over this story and tried to, as much as possible, clear up and clarify these details, Judd.
KING: Judd, do you have a question for Lisa?
LEGUM: Well, I think that, you know, really what happened here was that the 45-day review that's going on now should have been taking place from the beginning. I think any fair reading of the law is look, this is a situation where you need the 45-day review.
So I think that's really been the big problem with the way this process has gone forward.
SYLVESTER: He's -- again, you know, Judd, I don't mean to give you such glowing praise here, but I've got to just, you know...
LEGUM: That's OK.
SYLVESTER: I'm sure you're loving it right now.
But I mean I actually have the law in front of me and it's very clear. It says that they shall make an investigation. It's very clear the way the law was written that they were supposed to do this 45-day review. They didn't. So now you've got this situation where they've given this -- their approval to this company, even though they didn't do the 45-day review. They're now trying to go back and pick it back up, which gets really messy, and potentially could open up for some kind of legal challenge down the road.
TATTON: Judd Legum, thanks so much for joining us.
Judd blogs at Thinkprogress.org -- John.
KING: Judd and Abbi both, thank you very much.
And I'm back ON THE STORY in just a minute of what I found -- and it's remarkable -- in a small town in Mississippi right in the path of Katrina several months ago and still very much struggling.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MCINTYRE: CNN is ON THE STORY.
Mardi Gras parades rolled through New Orleans. We marked six months since Hurricane Katrina and we watched a new round of who knew what and when.
John King took a different road, to a place called Pearlington, Mississippi.
Let's click back to part of his report.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
KING (voice-over): Eight hours clinging to a tree and praying your grandson doesn't lose his grip, is a memory that doesn't fade with time.
REV. SAMUEL BURTON, KATRINA SURVIVOR: I said now, son, still hold my hand. I said, don't fight the water. I said that water is going to rise.
KING: Over the years, many hurricanes, and Reverend Samuel Burton had stayed for all. But as Katrina approached, it felt different, dangerous. He left his house, made for the safety of the trees.
BURTON: And you're running and that water is jumping. (UNINTELLIGIBLE). The lord heard my prayer.
KING: Rebuilding remains a distant dream. Just 40 percent of the debris cleared, compared to 90 percent statewide. Electricity and other basics only now coming back on line.
So, like so many around here, he relies on volunteers, like these high school seniors from New Jersey. Their work is grimy, with occasional breaks to enjoy the puppies...
BURTON: Amazing grace...
KING: ... and the stories and songs of a man who lost nearly everything he owned, but not his faith or his voice.
BURTON: ... my griefs and woes.
(END VIDEO TAPE) MCINTYRE: John, of all the places you could have gone to see post-Katrina recovery, why Pearlington, Mississippi?
KING: A tiny, forgotten place. A town, 1,400 people before Katrina, about half, they say, now, probably closer to 600. I wanted to get away from the beaten track. Of course, we want to cover New Orleans. Of course, we want to cover other places on the Gulf Coast. But what about the little places that were blips on the map to begin with? What is happening there?
And it is -- I work in this town. As you know, we get cynical sometimes and we cover politicians who aren't always direct with us and everything. This is -- it is remarkable. It is recharging to me and wonderful to meet both that gentleman, the retired reverend who has lost everything but is just the most optimistic guy you could meet. And those people helping him out, it's really gratifying.
MCINTYRE: You know, as reporters, we often know that telling a big story that's hard to understand is often best done by focusing on a very small detail.
Do you really think that the story of this town says a lot about the whole post-Katrina disaster?
KING: It tells you something about what people do when they're not getting everything they might expect in some places. You hear a lot of complaints in New Orleans that the government is not doing enough.
In this town, they say sure, if the government wants to come in and do more, we'll take it. But we're not going to wait for it. And it is incredible. There are -- those kids were from New Jersey. There were church volunteers from New York, from Kentucky, from everywhere else. These church groups are flooding into these areas and they are saving these communities. This little community would be wiped out. Those people would be forced to leave. There's no grocery store. You have to go 30 miles for gas.
But there were these church volunteers who came down with a group on an organized trip and they keep coming back on their own because they've invested in this community. And you see these people that have lost everything and they bring a little piece of chocolate, they bring something when they come to get food, when they come to get clothes, when they come to get bug spray. It is a devastated place and yet you leave there hopeful and optimistic. And that makes no sense, but the people were just remarkable.
SYLVESTER: John, it looked like a really beautiful story. It looked like it was very well written.
But I've got to say, I just don't -- I don't get it. Six months later, why do they still have all this debris? I mean, you know, this is -- you can expect that in a Third World country, where it might take six months to clean up the debris. This is the United States, for crying out loud.
KING: That is one find out the questions, and just that point, isn't this the United States of America?
One of the interesting ironies, if you will, Reverend Burton sits outside his house every day. The Army Corps of Engineers is supposed to be doing the debris cleaning. They're spotty. Everyone says it's spotty.
Now, they're in bigger communities. They have a big task ahead of them. The one time they did come through recently, they came to tear down his house. He's lost his wife a little more than a year ago. He does not want to give up that house. And the volunteers who were there at the time, they essentially -- they had what they called a non-Christian discussion with the Army Corps of Engineers. And they convinced them not to tear down the house.
What the church groups are going to do is they are going to take the house down. It's devastated. They're going to take it apart board by board and use as much of the existing lumber to rebuild this gentleman's house. It is amazing.
SYLVESTER: John, I just want to ask really, really quickly.
How much does this have to do with this -- it looked like a fairly poor area.
How much do you think poverty and sort of class might have played a role in determining how fast the area was cleaned?
KING: Well, I talked to the deputy manager of the state emergency management agency and asked him just that point. And he said, look, it's -- it's its size. And it's also because it was at ground zero. The devastation there is the worst, so, of course, there is more.
But he conceded a bigger city will get help faster because there are more people there. Those people have been told if you want to go somewhere else for temporary housing, this might take a while. But the ones who are there now say no, this is home. I'm going to stay. I'll tough it out.
And it's inspiring, it really is. We're not -- we don't take sides in our business, but you can't meet people like this and not come away incredibly inspired.
It was -- it was really a great trip.
SYLVESTER: It sounds like it, yes.
KING: Yes.
And we're going to go to a break now.
But straight ahead, a look at what my colleagues will be looking for next week ON THE STORY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Let's take a quick look ahead ON THE STORY.
Lisa Sylvester, what will you be working on in the week ahead?
SYLVESTER: I'm going to be working on Dubai Ports. It's going to be another week of that. We're going to take a look at what Congress is doing and also to see -- look very closely to see if the company actually closes, as they are scheduled to, this week.
KING: Secretary Rumsfeld probably not so thrilled you're back from Afghanistan -- Jamie, what's ahead?
MCINTYRE: Well, General Jones, the guy I covered in Afghanistan, will be briefing here this week.
But the big story is going to be the violence in Iraq and whether it's going to ever get under control.
KING: Our Wolf Blitzer is off to Dubai to help cover this ports controversy.
Because of that, I'll be filling in a bit in "THE SITUATION ROOM" in the days ahead.
Thanks to my colleagues here and thank you for watching ON THE STORY.
We'll be back each week, Saturday night, Sunday afternoon.
Straight ahead, a check on what's making news right now.
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