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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

U.S. Troops Continue Search for al Qaeda; New Audiotape Captures September 11 Attack on World Trade Center

Aired August 07, 2002 - 17:00   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, al Qaeda's relief, battle-hardened zealots who fight to the death for Osama bin Laden. You'll get an exclusive behind the scenes look at Force 055.

The sounds of terror, the newly-released audiotape captures forever the attack on the World Center. Friends aren't supposed to let friends drive drunk, but a tragedy leads to a groundbreaking trial. Plus, a mosquito bite and a brush with death, a West Nile Virus victims tells his story.

It is Wednesday, August 7, 2002. I'm Miles O'Brien at CNN Center in Atlanta, Wolf Blitzer once again off this evening. We begin with a bit of breaking news out of Bogota, Colombia where there have been a series of explosions just moments before the new president of Colombia was to be sworn in. Alvaro Uribe was to be sworn in in the Parliament Building in Bogota.

As that was just about to occur, several explosions occurred. According to wire service accounts we're getting in as many as 13 people dead. We'll have a report from the scene from our Harris Whitbeck momentarily. Stay with us for that.

We begin, however, with the war in Afghanistan where U.S. Special Forces continue the hunt for die-hard al Qaeda members, including Osama bin Laden's elite International Brigade, which helped keep the Taliban in power. Now CNN has some exclusive tape showing that group, known as Force 055. We get more on this exclusively from CNN's Mike Boettcher.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): August 1, 1999, two years before the al Qaeda attacks against New York and Washington, the Taliban and its al Qaeda allies are fighting for survival in an Afghan civil war. On that date, the Taliban takes Bagram Air Base and the surrounding area from the Northern Alliance, a crucial victory.

They do it with the aid of Osama bin Laden's elite fighters, a group known as Force 055. Here an al Qaeda commander celebrates the victory with some of the troops on the front line.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Thanks to God, we are participating in the jihad in Afghanistan and when the jihad is over in Afghanistan, we will move from Afghanistan to other countries that were Islamic before.

BOETTCHER: These tapes obtained by CNN provide a rare glimpse of the al Qaeda fighters who kept the Taliban in power and who are now challenging U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan. At the core, the so-called Afghan Arabs, in this tape there are Egyptians, Saudis, Yemenis and others, some of these men have fought alongside bin Laden in Afghanistan since the 1980s.

RUNAN GUNARATNA, AUTHOR "INSIDE AL QAEDA": Most 055 members are from the Gulf, North Africa caucuses, central Asian countries, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and from Southeast Asia.

BOETTCHER: Another tape shows 055 members getting live fire advance training with shoulder-mounted mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, anti-aircraft weapons. There is plenty of ammunition at their disposal. The instructor is Arab.

Some of the trainees appear to be from Central Asia. There is at least one African. While the tapes date from two or three years ago, the same Force 055 is now hiding out in and around Afghanistan.

GUNARATNA: 055 is the guiding arm of al Qaeda that is now preparing to fight the Americans. It's conducting probing attacks. It's mounting reconnaissance and it's engaging some clandestine training.

BOETTCHER: On this recent U.S. operation, we accompanied Bravo Company of the 101st Airborne when they launched an assault on a suspected al Qaeda hideout. In these caves, they had hoped to find members of Force 055, but they had disappeared.

Some of the people on these tapes may have already died fighting the U.S. and Northern Alliance; others could even be in custody. But members of Force 055 are also Osama bin Laden's closest bodyguards and wherever he is hiding out, they are at his side.

Mike Boettcher CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Followers of Osama bin Laden bombed the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania four years ago today. There was a somber ceremony at the scene today in Nairobi. Flags at U.S. diplomatic posts were lowered. The almost simultaneous truck bombings killed 224 people, a dozen of them Americans. Thousands were wounded. Four men with al Qaeda links were convicted for the bombings last year. Osama bin Laden was accused of masterminding that plot.

A newly-surfaced audiotape offers a chilling reminder of the terror and confusion that followed the September 11 World Trade Center attack in New York. It was recorded as part of an FBI investigation, ironically not of terrorism but of municipal corruption.

The tape was made by an uncover informant who was wearing a wire and meeting with a suspect in a probe of city tax assessors. The meeting took place at a restaurant in the World Trade Center complex on the morning of September 11th. The New York Daily News uncovered the tape. Reporter Greg Smith played it for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GREG SMITH, "NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": There's two parts to this; there's the audio where you listen to it and you can kind of figure out what's going on, and then I talked to someone who was familiar with what happened. And essentially, after the first plane hit the North Tower, he and this tax assessor who he was discussing bribery with, just bolted from the place and actually you can hear him running.

He ran outside on to West Street and when he came outside, when you can tell that he doesn't really understand what's going on. I mean no one knew what was going unless they happened to see this, and he was inside a building. He comes out on the street and you can tell that he's looking up and seeing this thing for the first time.

(VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: And then he kind of wandered around down there and he spent, I don't know, 15 minutes there until - at least until the second plane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was an explosion. That was an explosion.

(VOICES UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my God. Oh my God. Let's get out of here.

(VOICES UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go! Go! Come on, Go!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: He must have been pretty close and you know I was down there that morning and I just know that if you were anywhere near any of this stuff it was too hard for your brain to comprehend. You didn't quite understand what exactly it was you were seeing and the sound; you can hear what's going on in their voice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out.

(VOICES UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A second plane hit. Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED). UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody out of here. Everybody out. Go!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: You always have this. It's not edited. It's just what it is and it's something that you, you know if you choose to want to understand what people were going through that morning, you can listen to this and it will essentially put you there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like a missile. Don't get upset. Please don't.

(VOICES UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's my husband inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's gonna be OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Neither the informant nor the suspect heard on the tape were hurt. In February, the U.S. Attorney announced the arrest of 18 current and former city tax assessors as a result of that FBI investigation.

A key ally in the Persian Gulf War sending clear signals it won't be as helpful if the United States again goes to war with Iraq. Can U.S. defense planners get around this problem? Let's go live to our CNN Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre for more on this latest installment of what's going on with Saudi Arabia. Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, in 1991, Saudi Arabia hosted nearly half a million U.S. troops but the kingdom is making it pretty clear this time around Washington needs to make other plans. Today, the Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud said in a statement that was clearly meant both for internal and international consumption, that his government doesn't want "the U.S. to use Saudi grounds for any attack." Now, the Pentagon insists that when the time comes, there won't be any problem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: If they're helping us in ways that are different from that and they prefer not to discuss it, that's their choice and we can live with that too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE (voice over): Pentagon sources say the war planning for Iraq contains a number of options for different levels of access to Saudi bases, including no access at all. But what the U.S. does hope to get from Saudi Arabia is overflight permission. Any attack on Iraq would be vastly complicated without the ability to fly through Saudi air space, also, the use of its air operations command center at the Prince Sultan Air Base. Now a backup facility is being readied in Qatar just in case, but sources say it's not as good as the one in Saudi Arabia.

Also, they'd like logistical support for refueling jets and spy planes that could be operating out of Saudi Arabia monitoring the situation or helping out without actually participating in the attacks.

MCINTYRE (on camera): Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is dismissing newspaper accounts in recent weeks that have suggested that there's some friction between the uniformed military leaders here at the Pentagon who are said to be, have some misgivings about moving against Iraq, and the senior civilians who were said to be more gung ho.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: And so I don't know where these things get started. I don't know who - I mean like I said, it is not consistent. Those articles are not consistent with what I see and what I observe and what I hear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Now Myers did say in the last week, Iraq has been firing on U.S. war planes in the northern and southern no-fly zones on almost a daily basis, and Iraq has stepped up its efforts to smuggle oil out of the country to get past that U.S. blockade in the Persian Gulf using smaller boats. About three dozen of them have been intercepted in the last week.

Still, Myers insists that there is not an upward trend there and today Defense Secretary Rumsfeld described what he called the media frenzy about Iraq, which by the way he predicted would subside in a few days. Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, thank you very much.

Two laptop computers are missing from the U.S. Central Command Headquarters in Tampa, Florida, which is responsible for the war in Afghanistan and any future military action against Iraq. The loss was discovered as investigators looked into recent leaks of possible war plans. Officials say the computers were new, probably not linked to any Iraq secrets, but they did contain possibly some other classified information.

The man accused of killing seven-year-old Danielle Van Dam goes on the offense. The suspect's lawyer attacks the little girl's parents in closing arguments. We'll go live to the courthouse and tell you about that strategy when we return. Plus, friends shouldn't let friends drink and drive, but should they get jail time if they do? Also, the real Erin Brockovich with a new reality television shown, no it's not actually Julia Roberts. She'll join us to talk about "Final Justice."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Now to the Danielle Van Dam murder case, the fate of the defendant, David Westerfield, could soon be in the hands of the jury. For the latest, we check in with CNN's Rusty Dornin. She joins us from the site of the trial, San Diego. Rusty, what's the latest on the defense tactics in all of this?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, as you said you know the closing arguments are underway and it really is fascinating to watch the different styles of these attorneys as they try to convince the jury of their arguments.

Prosecutor Jeff Dusek yesterday spent much of the time, very methodical, in a chronological order, outlining the evidence, outlining the DNA evidence, and then putting forth his theory that he believes that David Westerfield came home from a bar after he'd been dancing with Brenda Van Dam that night and drunk, went into the Van Dam house, hid in a closet and then kidnapped the little girl.

Now, the defense attorney Steven Feldman says that's absolutely impossible. He's telling the jury today that there's just no way David Westerfield could have gone into the Van Dam house because he left absolutely no evidence behind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN FELDMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Does he gag her; there's no gags? Does he tie her up, there's no rope? Does he kill her, there's no evidence of that?

There's too many holes. There's no smoking gun. There's too many explanations. They can't put it together. That's the problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: And that's what Feldman is doing most of the morning is just trying to cast doubt on each and every witness, each and every step of the prosecution's case.

He jumps around a lot. He's very emotional and really examines each thing and just trying to cast that little bit of doubt in the jurors' minds because, once again, if there are two explanations, reasonable explanations for something, the law says that the jury must pick in favor of the defendant and must acquit, must rule in favor of his innocence.

And what Feldman is saying is all of this evidence is circumstantial and, therefore, the jury should rule in the defendant's favor. Now, he should be finishing up this afternoon. Then it will be time for the prosecution's rebuttal and then it goes to the jury. Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Rusty Dornin in San Diego. We'll be watching that trial closely. Thank you very much, Rusty. Police in Los Angeles just north of where Rusty is are looking for a suspect in a post office shooting. They've surrounded an apartment building where he is believed to have fled. One man was wounded in today's shooting at the San Pedro Post Office.

Neither the victim nor the suspect is postal employees, however. Police say the two men probably had a prior dispute, happened to enter the post office at the same time. An argument broke out and the shooting followed.

Health officials are calling it the worst ever outbreak of West Nile Virus in this country. Now it is spreading. We'll talk to a man who survived a potentially fatal bug bite. Also, a little girl caught between mom and dad in the fight over the Pledge of Allegiance, who should they claim is on her behalf?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: As we told you at the top of our program, in Colombia explosions rocked the capitol just as the troubled country's new president was being sworn in. At least ten people were killed. CNN's Harris Whitbeck is in Bogota. He joins us now with the latest. Harris.

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Miles. We're not being told that the number of dead has increased to 17, at least 20 people injured, that according to Colombian police. The incident occurred just as President Alvaro Uribe and his wife were walking up the steps to the Palace of Congress where the swearing-in ceremony was to take place.

As that happened, as they were walking up the stairs, four very loud explosions were heard. They happened just three or four blocks from the Palace of Congress, which is behind me, and the preliminary reports coming out is that they could have been gas cylinders, which have been used by the leftist FARC revolutionary movement, FARC guerrillas as explosive devices in the past.

We are being told that there is still a question as to whether some of the people who were killed were innocent bystanders or were, in fact, FARC terrorists who were preparing these devices to be launched closer to the Palace of Congress. The fact is that the inauguration of Alvaro Uribe continued as planned.

He gave a very, very strong speech in which he said that he was committed to fighting drug trafficking and terrorism here in Colombia. He said that he can only do that with the help of friendly nations such as the United States. He mentioned Plan Colombia, which is financed by the United States, and which was recently expanded by Congress in Washington to allow for U.S. money to be used not only in drug (UNINTELLIGIBLE) efforts, but also in direct combat, direct efforts against insurgency and terrorism.

With Uribe arriving to power here, Miles, there will be a much harder stance by the government against Latin America's largest guerrilla the FARC, and everything seems to indicate that the United States and the U.S. money will certainly play a much larger role. Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Harris Whitbeck in Bogota. We'll check in with him as this breaking story, as details become evident to us. Turning to health news now, there's another confirmed case of West Nile Virus, this time in Alabama. Despite stepped-up efforts to fight the virus, Alabama's governor says a 72-year-old man is the first person in the state to come down with the disease this year.

As we reported yesterday, a 76-year-old woman became the fifth person to die from the virus in Louisiana. There are also confirmed human cases in Mississippi, in Illinois, and officials say they expect the disease to spread eventually from coast to coast. Joining us to talk about what it's like to have West Nile Virus is Richard Holekamp. He was infected with the virus early this summer. Mr. Holekamp, good to have you with us.

RICHARD HOLEKAMP, WEST NILE VICTIM: Well, thank you for having me.

O'BRIEN: How are you feeling, sir?

HOLEKAMP: I'm feeling quite well now. Like any heavy duty disease where you spend a lot of time in the hospital, I'm weak and recovering slowly but I feel good.

O'BRIEN: You've had some impairment to your vision, correct?

HOLEKAMP: Yes, I have.

O'BRIEN: Tell us about that.

HOLEKAMP: Well, I'm a diabetic and I don't know whether that contributed or not, but the combination of the diabetes, the encephalitis, which is high pressures and high temperatures in the brain and I have lost all detailed vision. I can not read. I can not drive. I'm not blind. I can see shapes and colors, but I have to listen to daytime television.

O'BRIEN: I'm told you have a collection of 10,000 books, and not being able to read is a serious issue. Let me ask you this. Take us back to the onset of the symptoms, and if you could walk us through it and give us a sense of when you realized you had something so exotic as West Nile Virus, and for that matter, when the medical community realized it.

HOLEKAMP: OK. Back in mid to late June, I woke up one Monday morning, a normal get-together to get ready to go to work, only I said I feel too bad and called in, said I just don't feel good. I'm going to stay home. Well that stayed on all week. By Friday, I said I better go see a doctor.

Well, I had waited a little late. You get an appointment by Monday, which is normal. I mean we're not dealing with any what you might call emergency we thought. I got a little worse over the weekend. My wife tells me I fell out of bed. I know I found myself wandering around the house and got lost in my house. O'BRIEN: And did you have quite a fever at this point?

HOLEKAMP: No, I really didn't seem to have a fever. I just felt bad, bones ached, that kind of thing.

O'BRIEN: But when you got lost in your house that must have been quite troubling.

HOLEKAMP: Well, the problem is I don't think my brain was working right and it didn't sink in. So on Monday we go to the doctor as scheduled. He takes one look at me, says to my wife, get him to the hospital. I'll have them waiting for him.

O'BRIEN: So they realized there was something serious going on right away?

HOLEKAMP: At that point, Dr. Dufore (ph) who is my personal physician did a wonderful job of getting on it right then. I remember driving into the hospital parking lot, my wife driving, not me, and I don't remember anything until after I got out of intensive care about ten days later.

O'BRIEN: Wow, do you consider yourself a lucky person to have survived this or just rather unlucky to have gotten it in the first place?

HOLEKAMP: Well, the nurses tell me I should have bought a lottery ticket. I'll agree with them there. But statistics say, even though very few are going to get it, some are going to get it. I got it. I'm old. I'm 62 years of age, not as old as some, which means I'm in the band that gets hit worst. But, I survived. I'm upright. I'm breathing. I haven't read my obituary and we're working on getting some sight back, and if we get that back, I'm back to business.

O'BRIEN: A quick word to the wise for others out there, what would you tell them to do?

HOLEKAMP: Don't hesitate to go see the doctor, much better to have the doctor tell you, oh you've got a little whatever than to wait too long and say oh God, do we have troubles treating this one.

O'BRIEN: Mr. Holekamp, it's a great pleasure to talk with you and I wish you well as you continue your recovery.

HOLEKAMP: I certainly hope we make it all the way and thank you very much for having me.

O'BRIEN: All right, you certainly have the right attitude. All right good to see you, sir. A man could face 15 years in prison for the crimes of his friend, but have police perhaps gone too far in their crackdown on drunk driving? The debate over New Jersey's new liability law in just a moment; stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) O'BRIEN: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Miles O'Brien. Wolf Blitzer has the day off. Here's a look at some stories making news as we speak.

Shouting protesters interrupted Vice President Cheney's speech to a San Francisco group today, calling him a corporate crook. Mr. Cheney was talking about the need to crack down on illegal business practices. Later, he was asked about his old firm, Halliburton, which is now under investigation. Cheney called it "a fine company" and said he was pleased to have been associated with it, but that's all he would say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There currently is an inquiry underway by the SEC with respect to Halliburton's accounting practices. I am of necessity restrained in terms of what I can say about that matter because there are editorial writers all over America poised to put pen to paper and condemn me for exercising undue improper influence if I say too much about it since this is a matter pending before an independent regulatory agency, the SEC.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: A grand jury has indicted former ImClone CEO, Sam Waksal, on insider trading charges after efforts to strike a plea bargain apparently failed. He is accused of telling relatives to sell ImClone stock after learning one of its drugs was about to be rejected by the Food and Drug Administration. Waksal's friend, Martha Stewart, also sold ImClone stock right before that rejection was announced. She and her broker are under investigation. They deny doing anything wrong.

A group of environmental organizations is suing the Navy to block deployment of a new type of sonar. It uses low-frequency sound waves to detect otherwise stealthy submarines. The environmental group says -- groups say the system could hurt or confuse whales, dolphins and other sea mammals. Government experts say that's unlikely.

And the father of formerly conjoined twins says now, the future looks bright for his daughters. The 1-year-old Guatemalan girls were joined at the head until doctors separated them in a marathon 22-hour surgery that ended yesterday. At a news conference about an hour ago, the doctors said the girls still are in critical condition and on ventilators, but all that is expected.

Jury deliberations under way in a landmark case that raises tough questions about drunk driving and accountability. A New Jersey man is accused of manslaughter for letting his best friend get back behind the wheel, after the friend had been arrested and released on drunken driving charges. Moments later, the friend caused an accident that killed him and another man. CNN national correspondent Bob Franken is in Salem, New Jersey, where all of this is unfolding.

Hello, Bob. BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. And the jurors told the judge late today that they're deadlocked, but he said, "Come back tomorrow and keep trying." It will be the third day that they've deliberated the fate of 40-year-old Kenneth Powell. Powell was charged with manslaughter, vehicular homicide, aggravated assault in connection with a drunken driving death where he was nowhere near the scene of the crime. What he was was the friend of Michael Pangle, who was the drunk driver who was killed in the crash when his car swerved and hit another vehicle being driven by a Navy ensign, Johnny Elliott. He -- Elliott was killed. The girlfriend of his was left in critical condition. Powell had been at home when Pangle was first arrested July 22 a little over two years ago.

The tape shows that he was very, very drunk. Pangle was taken to the police barracks where he called his friend, Powell. Powell came and got him, took the keys from the state trooper and then drove Pangle, still showing very high blood alcohol levels, drove him back to his car, gave him the keys. Pangle drove away, apparently drank some more, then got drunk, swerved in killing the other occupants of the car. The police have now charged -- prosecutors charged Powell with being so careless that he was criminally negligent. So now, he's facing the charges that could result in 15 years in prison.

The family of one of the victims, Johnny Elliott -- Ensign Johnny Elliott, have been spending the last two years campaigning for changes. There is now a law in New Jersey called John's Law, which requires that state police have the opportunity if they want to impound the car of somebody who is driving drunkenly. But that has not a direct connection with this case. This is a case in which the defendant was guilty of mainly being a friend and prosecutors argue a careless friend of somebody who was too drunk to be drive -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Bob Franken in Salem, New Jersey. We should tell you that the state police in New Jersey have said all along they were very explicit in what they told Mr. Powell. They said that as he arrived at the police barracks there to pick up his friend, he produced his license and he signed a document saying he would return Mr. Pangle to his home. And that is really the crux of the case. Joining us to talk a little bit more about it are the defense attorneys representing Mr. Powell, Christopher Manganello and Carl Roeder.

Good to have you both with us, gentlemen.

CHRISTOPHER MANGANELLO, POWELL'S ATTORNEY: Thank you. Good afternoon, Miles.

O'BRIEN: If your client, Mr. Manganello, signed a document saying he would take Mr. Pangle home, it's pretty cut and dry, isn't it?

MANGANELLO: Well, you know, Miles, unfortunately because of Judge Forester's gag order -- it's a substantive gag order -- that some of the legal issues or factual issues, I'm simply unable to comment to your precise question. What I can say is that Ken Powell has been on trial now for over three weeks, since July 15. The case had their closing arguments yesterday morning and it's now in the hands of the jury.

O'BRIEN: Well, what are we to talk about then if we can't talk about the substantive issues?

MAGANELLO: Well, again, if you wanted to ask me about the process, the witnesses who have testified, if you want to ask me about what's occurred in the trial, procedurally speaking, I can certainly answer any of those questions but unfortunately, because of Judge Forester's orders...

O'BRIEN: All right, gentlemen, as we try to iron out the procedural matters with the attorneys as to what we'll be discussing, we lost them. We'll try to get them back and we'll bring them to you in just a moment as soon as get our technical glitches worked out.

Now, here's your chance to weigh in on this story. You got the basic gist of it. You'll hear a little more from the attorneys in a moment. The "Web Question" is -- should a person be held legally responsible for letting a friend drive drunk? We invite you to vote at CNN.com/Wolf. And while you're there, send us your comments. We'll try to read some of them on the air each day. Also, read our daily on-line column at CNN.com/Wolf.

And I'm told we have the attorneys back. Gentlemen, are you back?

CARL ROEDER, POWELL'S ATTORNEY: Yes, we are.

MANGANELLO: See the gag order has amazing repercussions.

O'BRIEN: And just like that, everything went black, yes. Why don't you -- do you want to amplify this, Mr. Roeder, because it's an interesting subject and the whole issue of accountability, I guess, in the broadest sense is something that comes to mind here. Your client wasn't there as Mr. Pangle engaged in his binge and yet I'm sure when he saw Mr. Pangle; it was quite evident that he was drunk.

ROEDER: We can't discuss any of these issues until once the verdict is in. Once the verdict is in, we will be able to discuss all the questions, all the issues that you and your viewers may have...

O'BRIEN: Well, all right, I -- let's not...

ROEDER: ... at the time.

O'BRIEN: ... delay this because we're wasting everybody's time here if we can't discuss this. What about this issue of accountability? Let me ask you Mr. Manganello. If you got a call in the middle of the night and saw your friend drunk on the road, would you have given him the keys to his car and tell him to get in and drive home?

MANGANELLO: I can tell you, Miles, again as much as I'd like to answer your question, the case that we're here about is the State of New Jersey versus Powell. When the verdict is in... O'BRIEN: All right, gentleman, let's call it quits. We're going nowhere with this. Thank you very much. I'm very sorry that we've wasted everybody's time in this. Good luck in your case and we wish you well as attorneys honoring that gag order right to the last bit.

A tug-of-war over the Pledge of Allegiance -- who gets to decide if the government has gone too far? We'll talk to a mom caught in the fight over religious freedom. No gag order on that issue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: As we have reported, the mother of the California school girl at the center of the Pledge of Allegiance case has asked a court to keep the words "under God" in the pledge. Sandra Banning says she and her daughter believe in God. The child's father, an atheist, sued to have "under God" removed from the pledge. And in June, an appeals court did rule in his favor. Sandra Banning now with us from Sacramento. Joining us also is her lawyer, Paul Sullivan, in San Francisco.

Ms. Banning, good to have you with us.

SANDRA BANNING, GIRL'S MOTHER: Thank you for having me.

O'BRIEN: All right, were you a little bit upset about this lawsuit, to say the least, when the estranged father of your daughter engaged in it?

BANNING: Only the part where he states that our child has been harmed and that she's been coerced. As far as Mr. Newdow, you know, asserting his civil right to bring this case, that certainly...

O'BRIEN: Well, but...

BANNING: ... doesn't bother me.

O'BRIEN: But there isn't a case if there isn't a harmed party, correct?

BANNING: Well, it's a less -- much less of a case if there isn't a harmed party. That's correct.

O'BRIEN: Is your daughter being used by your -- the...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

O'BRIEN: ... or legal custody, I should say of this child. Can it be undone, if you will, if that person says that's what they want to have done?

PAUL SULLIVAN, SANDRA BANNING'S ATTORNEY: That's exactly what we've asked the Ninth Circuit Court to accomplish here with the papers that we filed on Monday. We've asked them that since Miss Banning has sole, legal custody, only she is now able legally to make decisions related to her daughter's interest. And in their interest, this case should be dismissed. They do not want to proceed any further with it.

O'BRIEN: All right, but let me ask you this -- just if you could speculate -- how strong would that case be if, in fact, the court ruled that the 8-year-old child is not a part of it one way or another?

SULLIVAN: Well, without the daughter in it, there is a slight case for Mr. Newdow to continue. That case being whether his interest as a parent has been injured in attempting to raise his child with the religious beliefs that he wants to teach her. However, there's been past cases and a number of them that show that that's probably not a successful argument. And that's probably the reason that Mr. Newdow wanted to plead his daughter's injury in this particular case.

O'BRIEN: Ms. Banning, before we get away, how much does your daughter know about this? Has she been harmed? Has she been taunted by her friends? I guess school is just the starting now, so she's probably just getting into that mesh of people. What's been going on in her life?

BANNING: Well, unfortunately, as I stated before, the press has been very respectful of our home and we haven't had any press at our door and very limited amount of press at her school, which I'm very grateful for. And you know, what's the great part about being 8 years old is that, yes, they've seen her dad on TV, but, you know, the next -- you know, the next thing that comes -- passes their way, they're distracted very quick, so they go on to other things.

O'BRIEN: Yes, can we watch "Sponge Bob," Mom or something like that.

BANNING: Yes, yes, exactly. So that's really been great. But it -- she certainly hasn't been harmed by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and fortunately, her classmates have not caused her any harm at all.

O'BRIEN: All right, Sandra Banning, Paul Sullivan, thank you very much for bringing us -- giving us this update on the Pledge of Allegiance controversy from California. Thank you very much.

BANNING: Thank you for having us.

SULLIVAN: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: There was discouraging news today about efforts to upgrade U.S. airport security. A spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration acknowledged the government may not meet its December 31 deadline to screen all baggage checked at every U.S. airport. The admission came during a congressional field hearing in Atlanta. The manager of the Atlanta airport says the deadline was never very realistic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN DECOSTA, GENERAL MANAGER, HARTSFIELD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: Well, the deadline was one that was chosen a year ago without having as much information about what it takes in order to do a 100 percent bag screening. Our position is is that we ought to do it right. Security is the most important thing that we have to worry about in airports today. And so, we want it to be done right. And we fear that the rush towards an arbitrary deadline will not permit us the approach to do it right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Now, despite the problems, federal officials still say they're hopeful they can meet the baggage-screening deadline in Atlanta. That's one of the world's busiest airports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN MCHALE, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: Really, the only disagreement here is that we've -- that we have a plan that we are talking to them about, how to implement it, but our plan is designed to meet the statutory deadline.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Now, as for other airports, the Transportation Security Administration says delays largely are due to inadequate Congressional funding. A little bit of finger pointing there.

Well, here's -- as for -- let's see, we're going to -- they're assigned to save your life in an accident, but a consumer advocacy group says one type of air bag may blind you in the process. It is demanding a recall. CNN's Patty Davis reports from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Norma Brainerd is legally blind in one eye, has partial eyesight in the another, the result of a 1995 accident in her brand new Nissan Altima. A friend was driving that day. She was in the front passenger seat.

NORMA BRAINERD, CRASH VICTIM: My whole world is black and it was from the Nissan Altima air bag.

DAVIS: She says the impact felt like a shot from a boxing glove.

BRAINERD: The air bag had actually connected with my eyes and so, I was immediate blind in...

DAVIS: Brainerd and the group, Public Citizen, are demanding a recall of the 1994 and early 1995 Nissan Altima passenger side air bags. The company changed the design later in 1995.

JOAN CLAYBROOK, PUBLIC CITIZEN: The air bag comes out like this, not fully inflated. And so, when it opens up at a 160 miles an hour, it's opening up in your face and in your eyes and that should never happen. The air bag should be fully inflated before you come in contact with it.

DAVIS: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating, citing 32 eye injuries, including 15 hospitalizations or at least partial loss of vision. Nissan says air bag related eye injuries are not unusual or unique to the Altima.

MALCOLM WHEELER, NISSAN ATTORNEY: Air bags, including these air bags, are life-saving devices that have saved, literally, hundreds of lives, prevented catastrophic injuries such as quadriplegia and brain injuries. But like any safety device or like any medicine, they have side effects.

DAVIS: The company, which reached a confidential settlement with Brainerd and 28 others, says she was injured because she was just a half-inch away from the dashboard when the air bag deployed, too close to be safe.

(on-camera): Nissan recommends passengers sit up right and buckle up. With 200,000 of the Altimas still on the road, Public Citizen is urging passengers to sit in the back seat until the problem is fixed.

Patty Davis, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: An ordinary woman facing extraordinary circumstances. That's how Erin Brockovich became famous. And in her new reality TV series, she's profiling other women whose stories are inspiring. There she is. She'll be talking to us very shortly. We look forward to that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Julia Roberts -- be still my beating heart -- Julia Roberts portrayed Erin Brockovich in the movie about her work as a legal activist. Brockovich soon will be a star in her own right, as the host of a new reality TV series on Lifetime. She joins us from Los Angeles to tell us about that and what else she is up to.

Good to see you, Erin.

ERIN BROCKOVICH, HOST, "FINAL JUSTICE": Hey, it's nice to see you. How are you?

O'BRIEN: I'm well. I'm well.

BROCKOVICH: Good.

O'BRIEN: Tell us about the program and how it came to be.

BROCKOVICH: It's a great program with Lifetime. And each week, it features two to three women in America who threw their own adversity and trauma and challenges, found their passion and determination and came forward, made a difference not only for themselves and their family but in the interim, for all of us. So it's a great empowerment piece about other heroes in America.

O'BRIEN: Now, I'm going to take a wild guess that you have been flooded with offers and requests since the movie came out. Why did you pick this one?

BROCKOVICH: I really like Lifetime Television and they do great quality program on behalf of women. And it just seemed to be a really good fit. I am truly about people. I believe in the power of people. And to be able to feature these women every week is a great process for me with a great television network.

O'BRIEN: Tell me...

BROCKOVICH: I'm delighted.

O'BRIEN: What's it like to be such a well-known role model for women? Is that -- is there a lot of pressure wrapped up in all that?

BROCKOVICH: Yes, I do -- I feel the pressure sometimes, but what a wonderful place for me to be, in a great position. And as I've said, I'm truly about people and believing in people. And if I can be a spokesperson for that, it's a great job for me to have, but sometimes it's a little nerve-racking.

O'BRIEN: Could you ever have predicted how this would have all turned out when you first started looking into Chromium 6 way back when?

BROCKOVICH: Never in a million years could I have thought up, tooling down the road in Hinckley, California, that the case would settle for $333 million, that they'd make a movie about it and Julia Roberts would star me and then, they'd name it after me. I mean, go figure. I never thought that this was going to happen. But what was happening during the time of the case, was there was truly a wrong and people needed to stand up and make it right. And I became a part of that process.

O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk about what you're up to otherwise, besides Lifetime. You're still with the firm and still doing what you do, right?

BROCKOVICH: Yes, I am. I'm still at the Law Offices of Masry and Vititoe. I've been there 11 years.

O'BRIEN: Good to see you. Good luck with the program and all your other endeavors.

BROCKOVICH: Nice to see you. Thank you.

O'BRIEN: All right, it was a pleasure.

You still have a couple of minutes to weigh in on our "Web Question of The Day." It is -- "Should a person be held legally responsible for letting a friend drive drunk?" We invite you to vote at CNN.com/Wolf where there is never a gag order.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: All right, here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of The Day." Should a person be legally responsible for letting a friend drive drunk? Nineteen percent of you said, "yes," while 81 percent said, "no." Let's see what the jury says in New Jersey. Remember, this is not a scientific poll.

Sixty years ago today, American forces began fighting the Japanese for Guadal Canal. Eight months after Pearl Harbor, the 90- mile long island covered in jungle and marked by rugged mountains was unknown to most Americans at the time, but it didn't take long for the canal to become a household word.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN (voice-over): By the summer of 1942, the Pacific campaign was not going very well for the U.S. and its allies. Japanese air and naval forces were beginning to roll across the Pacific, taking most of Southeast Asia and several key islands, showing no signs of slowing down. When allied reconnaissance showed the Japanese building an airfield on Guadal Canal in the Solomon Islands, the U.S. command knew something had to be done. The Solomons were a crucial link for both sides -- for the Japanese, a potential launching point to capture nearby Australia or New Zealand, for the allies, a place to stem the tide and roll back the empire's advance.

On the morning of August 7, 1942, the allies launched their first major offensive in the Pacific. Six thousand U.S. Marines stormed the beach at Guadal Canal, catching the 2,000 Japanese defenders completely by surprise. Capturing the airfield was easy for the Americans. But then, both sides began pouring reinforcement on the Guadal Canal and the surrounding islands. Bitter fighting ensued in the jungles. Six separate naval battles were fought in the area. For six months, two resolute enemies, each determined to keep the island, each with forces that grew into the tens and thousands slugged it out.

But eventually, the U.S. Navy was able to land reinforcements faster than the Japanese. By February of 1943, the Japanese were badly outnumbered and evacuated their forces from Guadal Canal. Nearly 24,000 Japanese servicemen were dead. The American toll was much lower. Less than 1,600 Marines and sailors perished. Among them, the Sullivans, five brothers from Waterloo, Iowa, all serving together aboard the USS Juno, all killed when a Japanese torpedo split that warship in half.

(END VIDEOTAPE) O'BRIEN: Guadal Canal, an important anniversary. That's all the time we have today. I'll be back tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. On behalf of Wolf Blitzer, who is off, I'm Miles O'Brien at the CNN Center. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" begins right this moment.

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