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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Tornado Hits Southern U.S.; Blix Confirms Iraq's Declaration Incomplete
Aired December 19, 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.
WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We're following a breaking story right now in Mississippi. A tornado has ripped through a Wal-Mart causing dozens of injuries. We'll have that and much more. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Sins of omission? The U.N. finds shortcomings in Iraq's weapons report as the U.S. weighs what to do about it.
HANS BLIX, U.N. CHIEF WEAPONS INSPECTOR: I do have questions of arms, actually I have questions of munitions, et cetera. It's a long catalog.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Saddam Hussein has so far responded to this final opportunity with a new lie.
BLITZER: Iraq remains defiant.
GEN. AMIR AL-SAADI, ADVISER TO IRAQI PRES.: We're not worried. It's the other party that is worried because there is nothing that they can pin on us.
BLITZER: She can fly Air Force jets over Saudi Arabia but she can't drive a car off base, discrimination in the desert.
Locked up in L.A., are Middle Eastern immigrants being monitored or mistreated?
Don't lock your luggage, why airport screening may have travelers screaming.
And, too much law and order? Over budget, states open the gates of overcrowded prisons.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: It's Thursday, December 19, 2002. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting tonight from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We'll get to the showdown with Iraq and dramatic developments in just a few moments, but first we're following a breaking story in Mississippi where a tornado has ripped through a Wal-Mart. CNN's Kyra Phillips is standing by at the CNN Center in Atlanta with that and more -- Kyra. KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Wolf. Here's what we know right now. The twister tore through Newton this afternoon, hitting stores jammed with holiday shoppers, including a Wal-Mart shopping center, a La-Z-Boy chair factor and numerous homes. Officials there say they have unconfirmed reports of fatalities but about 40 people were injured. At least two are in critical condition. Most of the town is without power right now. We go to Ed Lavandera who's on the scene. He joins us by telephone. Ed, what can you tell us?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Kyra, we are driving toward the scene here. We are just several miles away from the town of Newton, which is about 60 miles east of Jackson, Mississippi, and about one o'clock this afternoon this tornado ripped through this town of about 37,000 people.
Witnesses inside the store have told CNN that what they reported seeing was the lights flickering on and off several times inside the stores as the storm rolled through the town and that all of a sudden the roof of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). That witness also describing that everyone dropped to the floor, taking cover, a very hectic situation as you might imagine.
We also understand that gas and electrical power has been -- is out in the town, so authorities still working on that scene as well. The mayor of Newton described it as a big mess that they have on their hands right now. We've also seen as we've approached several roadways that have been blocked off at this point. But as I mentioned, Kyra, we are just a short distance away from the town at this point.
PHILLIPS: I can imagine it's tough getting in there. Can you describe what it's like from your vantage point? Have they shut down the highways at all, Ed, because I know previously they were saying they didn't want anybody out on the road and they were closing off main roadways of transportation?
LAVANDERA: Well, we're driving along Interstate 20. We haven't come across anything like that. We've been able to drive rather freely. There's not a whole lot of traffic on the road at this point and the weather conditions at this point seem rather calm. In fact, the closer to Jackson, the sun was out in some places. It's clouded over as we've gotten closer to Newton but definitely a much calmer weather situation over the town at this point.
PHILLIPS: All right, our Ed Lavandera on the phone there getting closer to Newton, Mississippi. We'll check in with you again. Thank you so much.
Now we want to check in with Galen Crader, meteorologist. He's been following the system. What does it look like now, Galen?
GALEN CRADER, METEOROLOGIST: Well, Kyra, I tell you -- let me get rid of this.
The system right now is pushing out of Mississippi. I think the story there is coming to a close. But Alabama is in for a rough few hours here, as is North Georgia. Brand new -- our newest tornado warning is occurring right now in Monroe County. That is South Central Alabama. Right about here. This is where new funnel cloud activity has been sited.
We had all of that warm air in place this morning especially down in the Northern section of the Gulf and the Southern Gulf states. It was there all morning long. In fact we were seeing tornadic activity. We were seeing funnel cloud activity as early as 5:00 or 6:00 this morning. It's unusual for December, it truly is.
But it's no more unusual than having 60 or 70 degree temperatures in the Northern Gulf at this time of year. It's just as rare as that. And that is why we're seeing the tornadic activity right now, because of the warm air that was already in place.
This storm that's come in, if you remember this system it is vaguely the same system that came in from the Pacific Northwest that battered the shores of Oregon and in Washington state and Northern California earlier this week. This is the same storm system essentially and it is associated with the same low pressure. As it found a little bit of warm air down in the Gulf, that's where you get the tornado activity there.
We've got for the next couple of hours we do have tornado warnings in effect for Elmore County, that's East Central Alabama right here. We've got Washington County, Clark County, Baldwin County. These are all Southern counties of Alabama. So all along this area we have to watch very closely in the next couple of hours.
And if you hear that alarm going off on your community alert system, take to the lowest level of your home. Take to a basement if you have it. But stay away from windows and get to the lowest level. Keep your head down. That is the best advice to give. I hate telling people to tune us out, but if you live in this general area, you need to be paying attention to your local television and radio stations.
PHILLIPS: I'm noticing, Galen, as you're telling us to pay attention, I'm also seeing the storm box hit up close toward Atlanta. Are we here in Atlanta -- do we need to be preparing for this storm?
CRADER: Maybe a little bit too far north here to actually see the tornadic activity. Maybe too far to the north but it's not out of the question. We will be seeing warnings of that sort, especially severe storm warnings up into Northern Georgia by the end of the afternoon and evening. We sure will.
PHILLIIPS: Galen Crader, thank you so much. We appreciate the update in tracking this tornado. We will continue to follow this story and try and bring you as much information as possible about the tornado and also the effects on Newton, Mississippi.
And while we're gathering that information, we'll go back to our Wolf Blitzer in Riyadh -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Kyra. We'll continue to monitor that important story. But, now to the showdown with Iraq and dramatic developments, perhaps raising the possibility of an imminent war between the United States and Iraq. The chief U.N. weapons inspector today said the Iraqis have not come completely clean on their weapons of mass destruction. For that story, let's go live to our Senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth. He's standing by -- Richard.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. Hans Blix, the Chief United Nations Weapons Inspector on Iraq says Baghdad has missed an opportunity to come clean and to provide evidence that is badly needed, but he still left open the possibility of speaking again with the Iraqi government to get some answers on key questions involving chemical, biological, and nuclear affairs.
Blix after privately briefing the Security Council, told journalists just what questions hadn't been answered.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLIX: There were a lot of open questions at the end of 1998 which are registered by UNSCOM and also by the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) report as you say, and these have not been answered by evidence in the new declaration and this we are pointing out. We would need -- the absence of that evidence means of course that one can not have confidence that there do not remain weapons of mass destruction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: Iraq delivered seven volumes, Wolf, in those nearly 12,000 pages that were received here at the U.N. several days and weeks ago; however, a diplomat said six of those seven volumes are rehash of material given in 1998. For the U.S. this was all too much. The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., John Negroponte calls it another material breach while Iraq disagrees.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN NEGROPONTE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: It is truly unfortunate that Iraq has begun what was supposed to be a new chapter in compliance with council resolutions by falling back on the regime's practice of omissions, evasions, and untruths.
MOHAMMED SALMAN, IRAQI DEPUTY AMB. TO U.N.: Iraq is not in a material breach as the Ambassador of the United States of America has said right now. This is the interpretation of the U.S. and doesn't represent the interpretation of the whole international community and UNMOVIC and the IAEA.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: Russia inside the council told the U.S. where's your intelligence information? Where's your proof? And, this is going to be what the dispute here at the council will center on. Iraq backed up by Syria, the lone Arab member, who didn't boycott the session completely, Wolf, as it promised to do. It was still in there. France sort of noted the problems that Blix presented. One diplomat said the U.S. took it out on Iraq not the rest of the council, still looking for support here, the U.S. keeping all its options open -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Richard Roth of the U.N., we'll be checking back with you as news develops on that front. Richard thanks very much.
Let's go to Washington now where officials are angrily denouncing the Iraqi stance. Our State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel is standing by -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, legally under U.N. Resolution 1441, a material breach could justify a declaration of war, but while Secretary Powell made clear that won't be the case just yet, he did put the Iraqi regime on notice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: Iraq's non-compliance and defiance of the international community has brought it closer to the day when it will have to face these consequences.
KOPPEL (voice-over): Secretary Powell refused to put a deadline on Iraqi compliance but he did lay out a deliberate U.S. strategy for the coming weeks. He said the U.S. would continue to examine the Iraqi declaration, push for interviews with Iraqi scientists, and to intensify inspections, all the while consulting with its allies, preparing for the possibility of war.
POWELL: It is still up to Iraq to determine how its disarmament will happen. Unfortunately, this declaration fails totally to move us in the direction of a peaceful solution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: So, what would it take for the U.S. to declare war on Iraq? Well, Secretary Powell indicated that it would likely come soon and would be a body of evidence, Wolf, a number of examples of Iraqi non-compliance like the December 7 declaration -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you very much Andrea Koppel at the State Department.
And we want to get the latest now from Baghdad as well. CNN's Rym Brahimi is in Baghdad.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, while they were in there discussing that declaration at the United Nations Security Council in New York, we were being briefed here in Baghdad by President Saddam Hussein's top scientific adviser. Now he said that he fully expected Hans Blix to say that there was nothing new in that declaration and there are two reasons for that.
He said one, they had been asked by that resolution to actually also come forward with old information, with all of Iraq's past weapons programs, not only until '91 which is when the Gulf War started, but also during the seven years of inspections when the previous team of U.N. inspectors were in Iraq.
Now, he said the other reason that Hans Blix was going to say there was nothing new was that there were 500 to 600 pages that had been submitted with new information but that was in Arabic and from what he knew he said those pages hadn't been translated yet, so he had fully expected that reaction from Hans Blix.
What he did say also regarding noises coming from Washington that the U.S. thought that the declaration was full of gaps was he said the U.S. had no ground to stand on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AL-SAADI: We are not worried. It's the other party that is worried because there is nothing that they can pin on us. All their statements were mere allegations not supported by evidence. Whatever evidence they dared to submit was checked out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRAHIMI: Now, earlier on in the day, Wolf, I spoke to Iraqi officials and I asked them how they would react if indeed the U.N. and the U.S. were to say that the declaration was missing a lot of information and they said well, if they have any questions whatsoever then we're fully prepared to answer them -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you very much Rym Brahimi reporting from Baghdad.
Meanwhile, most Americans say they still favor sending U.S. troops to Iraq in order to topple Saddam Hussein, but the same CNN- "USA Today" Gallup poll shows Americans may not know why they feel that way. Just 25 percent of those surveyed say they completely understand President Bush's Iraq policy, 54 percent understand it somewhat, 12 percent say not much, and eight percent don't get it at all.
New airport security regulations are raising some eyebrows. Now locks on checked baggage? And get ready to have your stuff searched without your knowledge.
Plus felons set free. Two states open the prison doors to save a little money.
And, a top al Qaeda terror planner trained at a North Carolina University. We'll have a CNN exclusive. That's still to come.
And, American women behind the veil in Saudi Arabia, another CNN exclusive, a day in the life around the Prince Sultan Air Base here in Saudi Arabia, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Thousands of Iranian-Americans are expressing outrage over a new immigration policy they say is simply a trap. Protests yesterday outside federal buildings in Los Angeles snarled traffic but there were no arrests. Many demonstrators say that relatives were forced to register with the Immigration and Naturalization Service and then were arrested for not having their papers in order.
An INS spokesman says the detentions were justified. The registration system is part of the agency's plan to monitor all visitors since the September 11 terror attacks.
Another key part of the Bush administration's stepped up security measures involves possible hand searches at airports involving luggage, luggage that is not even in the possession at that moment of passengers. What might trigger this new search policy? Let's get the latest. CNN's Miami Bureau Chief John Zarrella has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): On average 10,000 bags a day are checked at Jacksonville International Airport. By the end of December every checked bag here before it's taken to the plane will wind its way on a conveyor belt to one of these five state of the art explosive detection systems deep inside the airport and away from passengers.
ADM. JAMES LOY, UNDER SECRETARY OF TRANSP.: The law says my challenge is to mandate that nothing gets on that airplane that has even a whisk of breath of security concern about it.
ZARRELLA: Not all of the nation's 429 airports will have this high tech equipment installed by month's end, but all will have some method to electronically screen all bags for explosives. As they move to this next level of aviation security, airport officials admit there may be some initial problems.
JOHN CLARK, JACKSONVILLE INTL. AIRPORT: We have new technology. We have a brand new system and there is the opportunity for a misread of a piece of luggage to go to the wrong aircraft.
ZARRELLA: Luggage that fails the electronic screening procedures might have to be opened and searched out of sight of the bag's owner. The Transportation Security Administration believes the public is willing to accept that.
LOY: They're more than willing to give up an inch of privacy, if you will. This is always the security versus privacy balance and they're willing to give up an inch of that for, you know, ten yards of more security.
ZARRELLA: To make the process easier, the TSA is asking passengers not to lock their luggage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like my privacy. I have stuff in my bags I don't want anybody to see.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never been one to travel with expensive things in my bags and I never locked my bags. I was always afraid I'd lose the key actually.
ZARRELLA: To reduce the chance your luggage will be opened, TSA officials say don't pack food. It can cause the machines to read a false positive.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Now, the Transportation Security Administration is also giving a couple of other tips. If you're traveling for the holidays, don't wrap your presents ahead of time because if, in fact, it has to be opened, your bag, there's a good chance that package will have to be ripped apart. You're going to have to repack it and, you know, re-wrap it at the end of the line.
And also, do not from now on carry film in your checked luggage because any film, whether it's in the camera or in the container is going to be adversely affected by these new machines. They don't handle film well at all.
Now, one thing that's going to make things a little easier, because they don't want you to lock your luggage, what they would like for you to, the Transportation Security Administration is to get this tag when you get to the airport.
It's a lock, a plastic lock. Put this on your luggage. If by some chance your luggage does have to be opened and checked, this notice will then be placed on top of your luggage. When you pick it up you will see this notice in your luggage and you will see a different colored baggage tag that will be on that luggage denoting that, in fact, your bag has been opened.
So, they say that they may face some problems initially as this whole system gets up and running by the end of December but the Transportation Security Administration, Wolf, says that in fact at every one of the nation's airports by December 31, there will be some form of electronic checking for explosive devices -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Sounds like there's going to be a lot of problems, at least in the short term. Let's hope they finish it well. John Zarrella thanks very much for that important report.
Here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the day is this: Are you willing to have your bags searched out of your sight at the airport? We'll have the results later in this broadcast. Vote at cnn.com/wolf.
While you're there, I'd like to hear from you. Send me your comments. I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also, of course, where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf. Hundreds of prison inmates about to be set free, to balance a state budget.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I ask you to please to keep him in there and make him pay for what he done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Should money come before public safety? A closer look at the pros and cons when we return.
Plus is El Nino roaring its ugly little head again? We'll go live to San Francisco.
And, ice rescue, firefighters rush to action to save a boy, but first a look at news making headlines around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): South Korea has elected a new president. Roh Moo-Hyun advocates a more conciliatory approach for North Korea. He also says that while he is not anti-American, he won't cow-tow to the United States.
Hello, President Putin. Russia's leader went on television and took phone calls from the public. Topics range from the recent Moscow theater hostage crisis to why Putin wears his watch on his right hand, the answer to that one, when he wears it on the left hand the winding stem chafes his wrist.
Face the music and dance. It's not normally what comes to mind when you think of prison recreation programs but inmates of a tiny prison are learning dance. After winning a prison dance competition, one inmate had his sentence reduced ten months.
Taking top billing. A new Paul McCartney album includes 19 classic Beatles' songs but instead of the traditional Lennon-McCartney songwriting credit, the credit reads "McCartney and Lennon." Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono is not amused. Her spokesman calls the switch an attempted act of Beatle revisionism.
Heart-stopping action. A new British medical study says heart attacks spiked 25 percent after England lost a gripping penalty shootout in the 1998 World Cup competition. The researchers suggest that in the interest of public health, penalty shootouts should be abandoned. Among die-hard soccer fans that suggestion itself may cause a few heart attacks, and that's our look around the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back, it's a dilemma faced by most state governments, raise taxes or be forced to release prisoners from state prisons. More than 500 Kentucky inmates began walking out of state prison yesterday and now about 1,000 are expected in the coming days to walk out of prisons in Oklahoma. Misty Dent of our affiliate KOKH reports from Oklahoma City.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I ask you to please keep him in there and make him pay for what he's done.
MISTY DENT, KOKH CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Today victims speak out against an early parole. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's gotten in trouble many times before and gotten out.
DENT: District attorneys from across the state make a case why some should stay in jail.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This inmate continues to pose a threat to the victim.
DENT: But soon, more than 1,000 inmates will get an early release and it's the Pardon and Parole Board that will decide which inmates should make the list.
STEPHANIE CHAPPELLE, OKLAHOMA PAROLE BOARD: Anyone that can commit the crime, obviously, you have some concern for your community. You never know what the situation is going to be.
DENT: And that's why board members are keeping a close eye on public safety. Only non-violent inmates serving five years or less will be considered. It's a case-by-case process and sorting through each one is a tough task.
CHAPPELLE: A person could originally be charged with a Burglary I, which is considered a violent offense but yet through the plea process it's now brokered to a non-violent offense. There's still a victim there.
DENT (on camera): Once released and outside these prison walls, it's considered time served, no probation and no supervision.
DENT (voice-over): The goal is to reduce the prison population and hopefully generate more money for the state. Oklahoma is facing a serious budget shortfall. Officials hope this plan will save jobs and delay future furloughs. Now board members must decide which inmates will not pose a threat to public safety.
CHAPPELLE: These are individuals that we can feel comfortable about releasing back into the community that will not re-offend.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: That report from Misty Dent of our affiliate KOKH in Oklahoma City.
Case closed in the case of the Central Park jogger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're human beings. This should have never, never happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Men cleared after spending years in prison for a crime they did not commit. Also, another CNN exclusive, one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants taught and trained in North Carolina. We'll have that and much more when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting tonight from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We'll get to my exclusive report on American military women serving here at the Prince Sultan Air Base, the problems that they're facing.
But first let's go back to CNN's Kyra Phillips in Atlanta. She's got the latest developments on that tornado that ripped through part of Mississippi.
PHILLIPS: Wolf, thank you. We are continuing to track the tornado, tell you where it's going. Also in Newton, just east of Jackson, Mississippi, we can tell you we're still trying to confirm if indeed there were fatalities.
We can tell you there were 40 injuries, two people in critical condition. The twister tore through Newton this afternoon hitting stores jammed with holiday shoppers, including a Wal-Mart shopping center, a Lazy Boy chair factory and numerous homes.
We are continuing to follow the storm. Also, on the phone with us though, Amy Carruth from the Emergency Management Agency in Mississippi. I've been talking to her throughout the afternoon.
Amy, what's the latest with regard to keeping this all contained? And can you confirm whether there are deaths?
AMY CARRUTH, MISSISSIPPI EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (via phone): We have no deaths reported at this time, no fatalities. We have about 50 people reported injured. We are working with the Emergency Management director there, the mayor, the supervisors. Our governor, Musgrove, has just landed with FEMA director, Robert Latham, to tour the damaged area, to meet with local officials and make sure that all of their local needs are being met by the state.
We've also asked the Red Cross to join in and help with feeding and taking care of some basic first aid with the people that have been affected there in Wal-Mart and Lazy Boy areas.
PHILLIPS: Amy, can you tell how many people are out of their homes or not able to go back home at this point?
CARRUTH: Right now, we've got some damage assessment teams that are headed into the residential areas. Right now, we've not been given update on the residential structures that have been damaged. We know there were some houses destroyed, some with major damage. But right now, I can't give you a number. We're waiting on some information from some of the people that we've sent in.
PHILLIPS: Is the power back on? CARRUTH: No, the power is not back on. There's widespread power loss of about 6,000 customers. They also have minimal communication. Phone lines are down. We've deployed a mobile operations unit to Newton to assist in communications through high-band, low-band, radio and satellite communications.
PHILLIPS: Amy Carruth with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, thanks again for your time. I know you're extremely busy. Let's check in once again with Galen Crader, our meteorologist who's been following the storm system.
Where's it headed next, Galen?
CRADER: Well, we have a couple of ideas about that, Kyra. I tell you what -- the general direction of the storm is, of course, Northeast. Now, where the more -- where more of the tornado activity is happening right now is down to central and southwest and central eastern Alabama. There are essentially two different veins of the storm coming through. And there are tornadoes still reported down to the southwest and tornadoes that we're getting right now in the central Eastern portions of Alabama.
In fact, in Talladega County, which is east central Alabama, we have a tornado that was spotted around Lake Martin of about 15 miles southwest of Alexander City. It's moving northeast at 40 miles per hour. Now, 80 miles ahead in that direction, the city of Atlanta. But in fact, Le Grange and Carrollton, Georgia are in the direct line of that storm as well. So that's the best thing I can tell you, short-term, about where the storm is going -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Galen, thank you very much. We'll continue to track the tornado, tell you where it is going of course and try to update you on the damage that hit Newton, Mississippi, a couple hours ago.
Now we're going to go back to Wolf Blitzer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Kyra.
We want to move on and talk about the war on terror. An amazing exclusive story that our Susan Candiotti has been developing. One of Osama bin Laden's top commanders has a close tie to the United States. Susan Candiotti is joining us now live with details -- Susan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A picturesque college campus Greensboro, North Carolina's A&T University. Monuments honor famous alumni, including four students who made civil rights history in 1960. Astronaut, Ronald McNair, who died in the Challenger explosion, is a physics alum with a building named after him. One 1986 graduate is not celebrated. Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, one of Osama bin Laden's top commanders.
PROF. DAVID KLETT, NORTH CAROLINA A&T UNIVERSITY: Very surprised and dismayed.
CANDIOTTI: Mechanical engineering professor, David Klett, taught him and he's trouble.
KLETT: I may have helped given him some background that would help him accomplish the World Trade Center catastrophe.
CANDIOTTI: That catastrophe helped put Khalid Sheikh Muhammad on the FBI's most wanted terror list, the self-described head of al Qaeda's military operations. So close to Osama bin Laden, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad was there when bin Laden learned the outcome of the September 11 attacks.
KLETT: To think that I sat across the desk from him probably multiple times advising him on what courses to take and so forth, that, you know, bothers me.
CANDIOTTI: Professor Klett cannot remember Khalid Sheikh Muhammad's face.
KLETT: This is the turbo fan engine used on commercial airliners.
CANDIOTTI: But the professor vividly remembers the mandatory courses records show he taught him in the mid 80s, including thermodynamics.
KLETT: How much energy is contained in a certain amount of fuel and those things would have been necessary for them to at least consider when they planned the World Trade Center attack with the airplanes.
CANDIOTTI: About eight years after graduating, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad have used that theoretical knowledge planning terror attacks in Southeast Asia. In 1995, he escaped capture after a fire in a Manila apartment where bomb-making materials were found. He was indicted in the U.S. for plotting to blow up U.S. commercial airliners. There are suspected links to the first World Trade Center attack in 1993, the African embassy bombings in 1998, the terror attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000.
SAMMY ZITAWI, FORMER CLASSMATE: That's his name, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CANDIOTTI: Mechanical engineering graduate, Sammy Zitawi, was a classmate but says there was never anti-American talk.
ZITAWI: These two pictures remind me of him very well. That's the one he used to look like with this beard.
CANDIOTTI: Zitawi says Khalid Sheikh Muhammad was one of 30 Muslim students who lived off campus and rented an apartment to use as a mosque.
ZITAWI: There was an apartment in this building, and this apartment for sure. CANDIOTTI: Khalid Sheikh Muhammad's classmate remembers him as deeply religious and quiet, and now...
ZITAWI: We don't know what to believe but I think anything is possible in this life. Years go by and people change.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: School records indicate a variation of his name but law enforcement sources tell CNN there's no doubt it's the man they're looking for. Now, when Khalid Sheikh Muhammad completed his studies at A&T in 1986, his forwarding address was a local post office box. At the time, little to indicate what he was to become, one of the world's most wanted men -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Susan, how badly do U.S. authorities want to get their hands on this guy?
CANDIOTTI: Wolf, he's right up there with Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri. They say that he is a mastermind of September 11 attacks, that he was one of the few people who knew all of the details and was with Osama bin Laden when he learned about the outcome of the attacks. And the U.S. almost had its hands on Khalid Sheikh Muhammad last September when they arrested Ramzi Binalshibh in Pakistan. They still think that Khalid Sheikh Muhammad is in Pakistan and had intelligence reports to that effect but they didn't get him.
Now, also Khalid Sheikh Muhammad is connected to the very first al Qaeda attack after September 11. It was the truck bombing of a synagogue in Tunisia. And according to German investigators, the suspected truck bomber called someone just a few hours before the attack. Who was it? None other than Khalid Sheikh Muhammad -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Susan Candiotti, thanks for that excellent reporting, reporting you'll only see here on CNN. Very good work. When we come back, another exclusive report right here in Saudi Arabia on the front lines -- American women fighting for the United States, but living a contradictory life behind the veil. U.S. military women serving at a base here in Saudi Arabia, a day in their life when we come back. And El Nino out west. The Golden State braces for another wild winter.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: CNN's Kyra Phillips is standing by at the CNN Center in Atlanta. She's getting some additional information on that breaking news story we've been following all afternoon, that tornado that hit Mississippi.
Kyra, what's the latest?
PHILLIPS: Wolf, now a first look at that devastation in Newton, Mississippi. We're going to take it straight to our CNN affiliate, WJTV. Jeff Brent from Jackson, Mississippi, standing by. He's in Newton.
What can you tell us, Jeff? JEFF BRENT, WJTV CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, I'll tell you, as we were driving in here things looked pretty calm until we took the Newton exit off of Interstate 20. We're about hour to the east of Jackson, Mississippi, the capital. And immediately, it was devastation. You could see trees everywhere. Right behind me an 80-foot pine tree ripped from the ground. This all happened around 1:00 as the squall line moved through this small community of just several thousand people.
Newton, Mississippi mainly known for some of their industry. They have a Lazy Boy factory here. And it's a very, quiet, close-knit community.
Right now, we're hearing reports of about 40 people injured. The Wal-Mart was heavily damaged and the number of other businesses completely destroyed. As we understand, emergency crews not letting us into the immediate area right now until they can clear the live power lines.
We have heard, at least from people in the community, that there are some reports of fatalities, though officials are not confirming those right now. We are continuing to gather news. Again, we've only just rolled into town and at every glance you can see that this tornado has hit this very small Mississippi community extremely hard -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jeff Brent, WJTV, Jackson, Mississippi there in Newton, thank you so much.
We'll continue to check in with you and bring you more pictures from the devastated area of Newton, Mississippi. And we're continuing to follow the storm system. We'll keep you updated minute-by-minute on where it's going next and also try to confirm for you if indeed there are confirmed fatalities in Newton, Mississippi.
We're going to go back to Wolf Blitzer now in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Kyra. Here in Saudi Arabia, American military women who serve at the Prince Sultan Air Base have a dual life. They serve their country at the U.S. facilities at the base, live a normal all American life but when they go off base, life is quite different.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): It's a little sliver of America in the middle of the Arabian Peninsula. This is the U.S. section of the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. For the American military women serving here, life is no different than it is back home.
BRIG. GEN. DALE WATERS, U.S. AIR FORCE: We have women assigned to the wing and they do their job just like the men. We don't have any particular problems.
BLITZER: But that's only when they're on base. When they're off base, all bets are off. That's because of the strict Saudi religious traditions that guide the way women must dress and behave in public.
PROF. ABDULLAH AL-LHEEDAN, KIND SAUD UNIVERSITY: If a woman goes without a veil at all, it would be noticeable and it would be -- I mean people will feel very offended. That's why, here, the government instructed the young Muslim women to wear the minimum requirements of her job -- to cover the whole body except the face and hands.
(on camera): Here, at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, the war against Iraq for all practical purposes has already begun. U.S. pilots based here are dodging Iraqi fire on an almost daily basis.
(voice-over): Those F-15 and F-16 pilots often wouldn't be in the air over Southern Iraq if it weren't for U.S. Air Force captain, Laura Lenderman. A graduate of Duke University and a nine-year Air Force pilot, she flies KC-135 tankers, which refuel warplanes in midair, a most delicate and dangerous mission.
CAPT. LAURA LENDERMAN, U.S. AIR FORCE: We're ready. And this is what we trained to do and we're here to do it.
BLITZER: Here's the irony, Captain Lenderman can fly these sophisticated aircraft over Saudi Arabia, but off base, she's not allowed to drive a car or even sit in the front seat of a car. That's why the American women serving at Prince Sultan, for all practical purposes, hardly ever leave the base.
(on camera): Have you had any special problems here because you're a woman in Saudi Arabia?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, not really. I mean we have to stay on base.
BLITZER (voice-over): They don't have to stay on base, but they do. We heard that repeatedly. The few who leave the base adhere to local restrictions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If we do have people that go down town, we wear the burkas or the abayas (ph) and just try to respect their traditions.
BLITZER: A lawsuit filed by U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Martha McSally (ph) earlier this year forced the Pentagon to drop the requirement that women in the military serving in Saudi Arabia wear those traditional Muslim garments when off base. But it doesn't appear to have made a significant practical difference. For nearly all American women visiting or working in Saudi Arabia, it's hard to go against local restrictions as my CNN producers, Linda Roth, Carrie Connor and Alex Quaid (ph) quickly discovered.
LINDA ROTH, CNN PRODUCER: Well, I feel we should respect the customs of the country that we're in. And I feel, by respecting the customs that are here in this country, I feel more comfortable when I'm dressed like everybody else that lives here.
CARRIE CONNOR, CNN PRODUCER: In a way it's almost like you feel that you kind of don't exist. No one's looking at you and it's very different than in America where you find that people are looking at you to see what you're wearing or just to recognize you.
BLITZER: Regardless, the American women serving at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia have a job to do, and they do it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And all of them we spoke with at the base insist they wouldn't want to be any place else right now. Indeed they say especially right now. We have much more news coming up including a powerful storm hitting Northern California. CNN's Rusty Dornin is standing by -- Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, more wacky wild weather out west. We even have snow at sea level. We'll show you where right after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Another powerful storm has moved into Northern California. CNN's Rusty Dornin is standing by near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco with details -- Rusty.
DORNIN: Well, Wolf, the rain has backed off just in the last few minutes but there is still a flash flood warning in effect for the entire bay area as well as gale force wind warnings all along the coast. Now, I say it's backed off. We may be in the middle of squalls here. As you can see, there's a slight clearing on the horizon. But it was raining very hard this afternoon.
And we just -- we can show you some tape we shot just about an hour ago just ago just across the Golden Gate Bridge, in Merriam (ph) County, in an area that I'm very familiar with. I drive home on this road every day. I know about this flooding. This happens when the high tide coincides with the kind of rain -- intense rain we've been getting. We get this very severe flooding in some areas along Highway 101. And that's happening in a lot of the places in the bay area.
Now, there's snow level, of course, in Tahoe is rising at this point but there's another point at sea level where it's happening. It's very cool temperatures. And up in the wine country, in St. Helena, snow -- Christmas came early this year. We've heard reports of snow all up in that area near Santa Rosa, Petaluma and the wine country area. Of course, it didn't last too long. I think it's turning to slush to the dismay of a lot of the residents there.
But this storm is going to continue to produce squalls, produce rain showers through the night. The National Weather Service says at this point there is no point of the rivers, the Napa or Russian Rivers, flooding. But they say that these storms are going to continue probably through the first of the year, Wolf.
BLITZER: Rusty Dornin with the crazy weather going on in Northern California. Thanks very much. Bad weather in Mississippi as well. Let's go back to CNN Kyra Phillips at the CNN Center. She has more on that tornado that hit a part of Mississippi -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: That's right, quite a violent tornado, Wolf. We've been talking about this for a number of hours now. We're finally getting pictures in. We're going to try and bring those to you as soon as we can turn them around.
If you are just tuning in, that twister tore through -- here we go. I'm told we got the pictures fired up for you. You're getting a first hand look. These are the first pictures into CNN of the devastation in Newton, Mississippi. If you don't know where that is, it's just east of Jackson, Mississippi.
We can tell you that this tornado -- this is courtesy of our CNN affiliate WJTV out of Jackson, Mississippi. This tornado tearing through the area hitting stores jammed with holiday shoppers, including a Wal-Mart shopping center and a Lazy Boy chair factory and several homes.
As you look at these pictures that we're just getting in, I am told my phone we have Governor Ronnie Musgrove with us. The governor of Mississippi just arrived in the area.
Governor, can you tell us what your first plan of action is?
GOV. RONNIE MUSGROVE (D), MISSISSIPPI: Kyra, the first thing we did was enter an emergency declaration. That allowed me to pull a lot of agencies in to help Newton. We've got the highway patrols here, FEMA, the Department of Human Services for shelter. And in addition, we will have highway patrols and provide security tonight to work with the police.
The biggest positive news is that there have been no deaths in spite of the devastation to the business area, and most of the homes were spared. And we're very, very fortunate.
PHILLIPS: Well, for the people that have been affected, the 40 people injured, two in critical condition, can you tell us how you're tending to the injured? Do you have enough resources? How are you helping those that are good able to go back home or are unable to even get out of the area that was hit?
MUSGROVE: Well, because of the emergency declaration, we were able to pull in emergency directors from other counties. Certainly, we've had ambulance assistance in other counties and the local hospitals have been able to handle along with the surrounding towns and communities. So that's the way that we're able to help those who have been injured. And thank goodness all of those who have been injured have been able to receive healthcare.
PHILLIPS: So Governor, are you pretty positive that no one was killed in this tornado?
MUSGROVE: At this time, we have had no one confirmed, no confirmed deaths, only confirmation of the two critical injuries and the 40 or so injuries. Again, we feel very fortunate. That's one of the reasons we acted so quickly and we're here to make sure that we bring some stability and normalcy back to Newton, Mississippi. And our most important job is to make sure that our people are safe and continue to get back to normal.
PHILLIPS: And Governor, will you be spending the night there?
MUSGROVE: We -- it's very close to Jackson. I probably will not, but the director of FEMA will get here. I will be here as long as needed. We'll be working with the mayor and the police and the firefighters and the other first responders to make sure that we provide the necessary help.
PHILLIPS: Well, I'm sure your presence is comforting to many people there. Governor Ronnie Musgrove, governor of Mississippi. Thank you, sir, for your time.
We'll continue to track the tornado, what had happened there in Newton, Mississippi. Also, we'll be letting you know where that storm system is headed.
Now back to Wolf in Riyadh.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Kyra. Time's running out for you to weigh in on our "Web Question of The Day." Our Web question is this -- are you willing to have your bag searched out of your sight at the airport? Log on to cnn.com/wolf. That's where you can vote. We'll have the results immediately when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of The Day." Remember we asked you this question -- are you willing to have your bag searched out of your sight at the airport? Look at this, 25 percent of you say yes, 75 percent say no. This is not a scientific poll.
We got some good e-mails based on my reporting here in Saudi Arabia.
Rachel writes this -- "I appreciate your coverage of Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. I've finally seen where my husband has been and will be for a little while longer. It is wonderful to hear military personnel say hello for the holidays." It is a good feeling.
This from Andrea -- "I wanted to write a brief thank you for the piece you did on the Prince Sultan Air Base. Brief, though the segment was, it was a comfort and source of pride to be able to point to the television, tell my son, "Look, that's where my daddy is." The work my husband and his comrades are doing is very important. While they may be just as happy to remain invisible, I cheer the acknowledgement of their service."
That's all the time we have. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" is up next.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Declaration Incomplete>
Aired December 19, 2002 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We're following a breaking story right now in Mississippi. A tornado has ripped through a Wal-Mart causing dozens of injuries. We'll have that and much more. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Sins of omission? The U.N. finds shortcomings in Iraq's weapons report as the U.S. weighs what to do about it.
HANS BLIX, U.N. CHIEF WEAPONS INSPECTOR: I do have questions of arms, actually I have questions of munitions, et cetera. It's a long catalog.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Saddam Hussein has so far responded to this final opportunity with a new lie.
BLITZER: Iraq remains defiant.
GEN. AMIR AL-SAADI, ADVISER TO IRAQI PRES.: We're not worried. It's the other party that is worried because there is nothing that they can pin on us.
BLITZER: She can fly Air Force jets over Saudi Arabia but she can't drive a car off base, discrimination in the desert.
Locked up in L.A., are Middle Eastern immigrants being monitored or mistreated?
Don't lock your luggage, why airport screening may have travelers screaming.
And, too much law and order? Over budget, states open the gates of overcrowded prisons.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: It's Thursday, December 19, 2002. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting tonight from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We'll get to the showdown with Iraq and dramatic developments in just a few moments, but first we're following a breaking story in Mississippi where a tornado has ripped through a Wal-Mart. CNN's Kyra Phillips is standing by at the CNN Center in Atlanta with that and more -- Kyra. KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Wolf. Here's what we know right now. The twister tore through Newton this afternoon, hitting stores jammed with holiday shoppers, including a Wal-Mart shopping center, a La-Z-Boy chair factor and numerous homes. Officials there say they have unconfirmed reports of fatalities but about 40 people were injured. At least two are in critical condition. Most of the town is without power right now. We go to Ed Lavandera who's on the scene. He joins us by telephone. Ed, what can you tell us?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Kyra, we are driving toward the scene here. We are just several miles away from the town of Newton, which is about 60 miles east of Jackson, Mississippi, and about one o'clock this afternoon this tornado ripped through this town of about 37,000 people.
Witnesses inside the store have told CNN that what they reported seeing was the lights flickering on and off several times inside the stores as the storm rolled through the town and that all of a sudden the roof of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). That witness also describing that everyone dropped to the floor, taking cover, a very hectic situation as you might imagine.
We also understand that gas and electrical power has been -- is out in the town, so authorities still working on that scene as well. The mayor of Newton described it as a big mess that they have on their hands right now. We've also seen as we've approached several roadways that have been blocked off at this point. But as I mentioned, Kyra, we are just a short distance away from the town at this point.
PHILLIPS: I can imagine it's tough getting in there. Can you describe what it's like from your vantage point? Have they shut down the highways at all, Ed, because I know previously they were saying they didn't want anybody out on the road and they were closing off main roadways of transportation?
LAVANDERA: Well, we're driving along Interstate 20. We haven't come across anything like that. We've been able to drive rather freely. There's not a whole lot of traffic on the road at this point and the weather conditions at this point seem rather calm. In fact, the closer to Jackson, the sun was out in some places. It's clouded over as we've gotten closer to Newton but definitely a much calmer weather situation over the town at this point.
PHILLIPS: All right, our Ed Lavandera on the phone there getting closer to Newton, Mississippi. We'll check in with you again. Thank you so much.
Now we want to check in with Galen Crader, meteorologist. He's been following the system. What does it look like now, Galen?
GALEN CRADER, METEOROLOGIST: Well, Kyra, I tell you -- let me get rid of this.
The system right now is pushing out of Mississippi. I think the story there is coming to a close. But Alabama is in for a rough few hours here, as is North Georgia. Brand new -- our newest tornado warning is occurring right now in Monroe County. That is South Central Alabama. Right about here. This is where new funnel cloud activity has been sited.
We had all of that warm air in place this morning especially down in the Northern section of the Gulf and the Southern Gulf states. It was there all morning long. In fact we were seeing tornadic activity. We were seeing funnel cloud activity as early as 5:00 or 6:00 this morning. It's unusual for December, it truly is.
But it's no more unusual than having 60 or 70 degree temperatures in the Northern Gulf at this time of year. It's just as rare as that. And that is why we're seeing the tornadic activity right now, because of the warm air that was already in place.
This storm that's come in, if you remember this system it is vaguely the same system that came in from the Pacific Northwest that battered the shores of Oregon and in Washington state and Northern California earlier this week. This is the same storm system essentially and it is associated with the same low pressure. As it found a little bit of warm air down in the Gulf, that's where you get the tornado activity there.
We've got for the next couple of hours we do have tornado warnings in effect for Elmore County, that's East Central Alabama right here. We've got Washington County, Clark County, Baldwin County. These are all Southern counties of Alabama. So all along this area we have to watch very closely in the next couple of hours.
And if you hear that alarm going off on your community alert system, take to the lowest level of your home. Take to a basement if you have it. But stay away from windows and get to the lowest level. Keep your head down. That is the best advice to give. I hate telling people to tune us out, but if you live in this general area, you need to be paying attention to your local television and radio stations.
PHILLIPS: I'm noticing, Galen, as you're telling us to pay attention, I'm also seeing the storm box hit up close toward Atlanta. Are we here in Atlanta -- do we need to be preparing for this storm?
CRADER: Maybe a little bit too far north here to actually see the tornadic activity. Maybe too far to the north but it's not out of the question. We will be seeing warnings of that sort, especially severe storm warnings up into Northern Georgia by the end of the afternoon and evening. We sure will.
PHILLIIPS: Galen Crader, thank you so much. We appreciate the update in tracking this tornado. We will continue to follow this story and try and bring you as much information as possible about the tornado and also the effects on Newton, Mississippi.
And while we're gathering that information, we'll go back to our Wolf Blitzer in Riyadh -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Kyra. We'll continue to monitor that important story. But, now to the showdown with Iraq and dramatic developments, perhaps raising the possibility of an imminent war between the United States and Iraq. The chief U.N. weapons inspector today said the Iraqis have not come completely clean on their weapons of mass destruction. For that story, let's go live to our Senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth. He's standing by -- Richard.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. Hans Blix, the Chief United Nations Weapons Inspector on Iraq says Baghdad has missed an opportunity to come clean and to provide evidence that is badly needed, but he still left open the possibility of speaking again with the Iraqi government to get some answers on key questions involving chemical, biological, and nuclear affairs.
Blix after privately briefing the Security Council, told journalists just what questions hadn't been answered.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLIX: There were a lot of open questions at the end of 1998 which are registered by UNSCOM and also by the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) report as you say, and these have not been answered by evidence in the new declaration and this we are pointing out. We would need -- the absence of that evidence means of course that one can not have confidence that there do not remain weapons of mass destruction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: Iraq delivered seven volumes, Wolf, in those nearly 12,000 pages that were received here at the U.N. several days and weeks ago; however, a diplomat said six of those seven volumes are rehash of material given in 1998. For the U.S. this was all too much. The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., John Negroponte calls it another material breach while Iraq disagrees.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN NEGROPONTE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: It is truly unfortunate that Iraq has begun what was supposed to be a new chapter in compliance with council resolutions by falling back on the regime's practice of omissions, evasions, and untruths.
MOHAMMED SALMAN, IRAQI DEPUTY AMB. TO U.N.: Iraq is not in a material breach as the Ambassador of the United States of America has said right now. This is the interpretation of the U.S. and doesn't represent the interpretation of the whole international community and UNMOVIC and the IAEA.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: Russia inside the council told the U.S. where's your intelligence information? Where's your proof? And, this is going to be what the dispute here at the council will center on. Iraq backed up by Syria, the lone Arab member, who didn't boycott the session completely, Wolf, as it promised to do. It was still in there. France sort of noted the problems that Blix presented. One diplomat said the U.S. took it out on Iraq not the rest of the council, still looking for support here, the U.S. keeping all its options open -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Richard Roth of the U.N., we'll be checking back with you as news develops on that front. Richard thanks very much.
Let's go to Washington now where officials are angrily denouncing the Iraqi stance. Our State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel is standing by -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, legally under U.N. Resolution 1441, a material breach could justify a declaration of war, but while Secretary Powell made clear that won't be the case just yet, he did put the Iraqi regime on notice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: Iraq's non-compliance and defiance of the international community has brought it closer to the day when it will have to face these consequences.
KOPPEL (voice-over): Secretary Powell refused to put a deadline on Iraqi compliance but he did lay out a deliberate U.S. strategy for the coming weeks. He said the U.S. would continue to examine the Iraqi declaration, push for interviews with Iraqi scientists, and to intensify inspections, all the while consulting with its allies, preparing for the possibility of war.
POWELL: It is still up to Iraq to determine how its disarmament will happen. Unfortunately, this declaration fails totally to move us in the direction of a peaceful solution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: So, what would it take for the U.S. to declare war on Iraq? Well, Secretary Powell indicated that it would likely come soon and would be a body of evidence, Wolf, a number of examples of Iraqi non-compliance like the December 7 declaration -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you very much Andrea Koppel at the State Department.
And we want to get the latest now from Baghdad as well. CNN's Rym Brahimi is in Baghdad.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, while they were in there discussing that declaration at the United Nations Security Council in New York, we were being briefed here in Baghdad by President Saddam Hussein's top scientific adviser. Now he said that he fully expected Hans Blix to say that there was nothing new in that declaration and there are two reasons for that.
He said one, they had been asked by that resolution to actually also come forward with old information, with all of Iraq's past weapons programs, not only until '91 which is when the Gulf War started, but also during the seven years of inspections when the previous team of U.N. inspectors were in Iraq.
Now, he said the other reason that Hans Blix was going to say there was nothing new was that there were 500 to 600 pages that had been submitted with new information but that was in Arabic and from what he knew he said those pages hadn't been translated yet, so he had fully expected that reaction from Hans Blix.
What he did say also regarding noises coming from Washington that the U.S. thought that the declaration was full of gaps was he said the U.S. had no ground to stand on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AL-SAADI: We are not worried. It's the other party that is worried because there is nothing that they can pin on us. All their statements were mere allegations not supported by evidence. Whatever evidence they dared to submit was checked out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRAHIMI: Now, earlier on in the day, Wolf, I spoke to Iraqi officials and I asked them how they would react if indeed the U.N. and the U.S. were to say that the declaration was missing a lot of information and they said well, if they have any questions whatsoever then we're fully prepared to answer them -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you very much Rym Brahimi reporting from Baghdad.
Meanwhile, most Americans say they still favor sending U.S. troops to Iraq in order to topple Saddam Hussein, but the same CNN- "USA Today" Gallup poll shows Americans may not know why they feel that way. Just 25 percent of those surveyed say they completely understand President Bush's Iraq policy, 54 percent understand it somewhat, 12 percent say not much, and eight percent don't get it at all.
New airport security regulations are raising some eyebrows. Now locks on checked baggage? And get ready to have your stuff searched without your knowledge.
Plus felons set free. Two states open the prison doors to save a little money.
And, a top al Qaeda terror planner trained at a North Carolina University. We'll have a CNN exclusive. That's still to come.
And, American women behind the veil in Saudi Arabia, another CNN exclusive, a day in the life around the Prince Sultan Air Base here in Saudi Arabia, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Thousands of Iranian-Americans are expressing outrage over a new immigration policy they say is simply a trap. Protests yesterday outside federal buildings in Los Angeles snarled traffic but there were no arrests. Many demonstrators say that relatives were forced to register with the Immigration and Naturalization Service and then were arrested for not having their papers in order.
An INS spokesman says the detentions were justified. The registration system is part of the agency's plan to monitor all visitors since the September 11 terror attacks.
Another key part of the Bush administration's stepped up security measures involves possible hand searches at airports involving luggage, luggage that is not even in the possession at that moment of passengers. What might trigger this new search policy? Let's get the latest. CNN's Miami Bureau Chief John Zarrella has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): On average 10,000 bags a day are checked at Jacksonville International Airport. By the end of December every checked bag here before it's taken to the plane will wind its way on a conveyor belt to one of these five state of the art explosive detection systems deep inside the airport and away from passengers.
ADM. JAMES LOY, UNDER SECRETARY OF TRANSP.: The law says my challenge is to mandate that nothing gets on that airplane that has even a whisk of breath of security concern about it.
ZARRELLA: Not all of the nation's 429 airports will have this high tech equipment installed by month's end, but all will have some method to electronically screen all bags for explosives. As they move to this next level of aviation security, airport officials admit there may be some initial problems.
JOHN CLARK, JACKSONVILLE INTL. AIRPORT: We have new technology. We have a brand new system and there is the opportunity for a misread of a piece of luggage to go to the wrong aircraft.
ZARRELLA: Luggage that fails the electronic screening procedures might have to be opened and searched out of sight of the bag's owner. The Transportation Security Administration believes the public is willing to accept that.
LOY: They're more than willing to give up an inch of privacy, if you will. This is always the security versus privacy balance and they're willing to give up an inch of that for, you know, ten yards of more security.
ZARRELLA: To make the process easier, the TSA is asking passengers not to lock their luggage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like my privacy. I have stuff in my bags I don't want anybody to see.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never been one to travel with expensive things in my bags and I never locked my bags. I was always afraid I'd lose the key actually.
ZARRELLA: To reduce the chance your luggage will be opened, TSA officials say don't pack food. It can cause the machines to read a false positive.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Now, the Transportation Security Administration is also giving a couple of other tips. If you're traveling for the holidays, don't wrap your presents ahead of time because if, in fact, it has to be opened, your bag, there's a good chance that package will have to be ripped apart. You're going to have to repack it and, you know, re-wrap it at the end of the line.
And also, do not from now on carry film in your checked luggage because any film, whether it's in the camera or in the container is going to be adversely affected by these new machines. They don't handle film well at all.
Now, one thing that's going to make things a little easier, because they don't want you to lock your luggage, what they would like for you to, the Transportation Security Administration is to get this tag when you get to the airport.
It's a lock, a plastic lock. Put this on your luggage. If by some chance your luggage does have to be opened and checked, this notice will then be placed on top of your luggage. When you pick it up you will see this notice in your luggage and you will see a different colored baggage tag that will be on that luggage denoting that, in fact, your bag has been opened.
So, they say that they may face some problems initially as this whole system gets up and running by the end of December but the Transportation Security Administration, Wolf, says that in fact at every one of the nation's airports by December 31, there will be some form of electronic checking for explosive devices -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Sounds like there's going to be a lot of problems, at least in the short term. Let's hope they finish it well. John Zarrella thanks very much for that important report.
Here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the day is this: Are you willing to have your bags searched out of your sight at the airport? We'll have the results later in this broadcast. Vote at cnn.com/wolf.
While you're there, I'd like to hear from you. Send me your comments. I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also, of course, where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf. Hundreds of prison inmates about to be set free, to balance a state budget.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I ask you to please to keep him in there and make him pay for what he done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Should money come before public safety? A closer look at the pros and cons when we return.
Plus is El Nino roaring its ugly little head again? We'll go live to San Francisco.
And, ice rescue, firefighters rush to action to save a boy, but first a look at news making headlines around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): South Korea has elected a new president. Roh Moo-Hyun advocates a more conciliatory approach for North Korea. He also says that while he is not anti-American, he won't cow-tow to the United States.
Hello, President Putin. Russia's leader went on television and took phone calls from the public. Topics range from the recent Moscow theater hostage crisis to why Putin wears his watch on his right hand, the answer to that one, when he wears it on the left hand the winding stem chafes his wrist.
Face the music and dance. It's not normally what comes to mind when you think of prison recreation programs but inmates of a tiny prison are learning dance. After winning a prison dance competition, one inmate had his sentence reduced ten months.
Taking top billing. A new Paul McCartney album includes 19 classic Beatles' songs but instead of the traditional Lennon-McCartney songwriting credit, the credit reads "McCartney and Lennon." Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono is not amused. Her spokesman calls the switch an attempted act of Beatle revisionism.
Heart-stopping action. A new British medical study says heart attacks spiked 25 percent after England lost a gripping penalty shootout in the 1998 World Cup competition. The researchers suggest that in the interest of public health, penalty shootouts should be abandoned. Among die-hard soccer fans that suggestion itself may cause a few heart attacks, and that's our look around the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back, it's a dilemma faced by most state governments, raise taxes or be forced to release prisoners from state prisons. More than 500 Kentucky inmates began walking out of state prison yesterday and now about 1,000 are expected in the coming days to walk out of prisons in Oklahoma. Misty Dent of our affiliate KOKH reports from Oklahoma City.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I ask you to please keep him in there and make him pay for what he's done.
MISTY DENT, KOKH CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Today victims speak out against an early parole. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's gotten in trouble many times before and gotten out.
DENT: District attorneys from across the state make a case why some should stay in jail.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This inmate continues to pose a threat to the victim.
DENT: But soon, more than 1,000 inmates will get an early release and it's the Pardon and Parole Board that will decide which inmates should make the list.
STEPHANIE CHAPPELLE, OKLAHOMA PAROLE BOARD: Anyone that can commit the crime, obviously, you have some concern for your community. You never know what the situation is going to be.
DENT: And that's why board members are keeping a close eye on public safety. Only non-violent inmates serving five years or less will be considered. It's a case-by-case process and sorting through each one is a tough task.
CHAPPELLE: A person could originally be charged with a Burglary I, which is considered a violent offense but yet through the plea process it's now brokered to a non-violent offense. There's still a victim there.
DENT (on camera): Once released and outside these prison walls, it's considered time served, no probation and no supervision.
DENT (voice-over): The goal is to reduce the prison population and hopefully generate more money for the state. Oklahoma is facing a serious budget shortfall. Officials hope this plan will save jobs and delay future furloughs. Now board members must decide which inmates will not pose a threat to public safety.
CHAPPELLE: These are individuals that we can feel comfortable about releasing back into the community that will not re-offend.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: That report from Misty Dent of our affiliate KOKH in Oklahoma City.
Case closed in the case of the Central Park jogger.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're human beings. This should have never, never happened.
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BLITZER: Men cleared after spending years in prison for a crime they did not commit. Also, another CNN exclusive, one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants taught and trained in North Carolina. We'll have that and much more when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting tonight from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We'll get to my exclusive report on American military women serving here at the Prince Sultan Air Base, the problems that they're facing.
But first let's go back to CNN's Kyra Phillips in Atlanta. She's got the latest developments on that tornado that ripped through part of Mississippi.
PHILLIPS: Wolf, thank you. We are continuing to track the tornado, tell you where it's going. Also in Newton, just east of Jackson, Mississippi, we can tell you we're still trying to confirm if indeed there were fatalities.
We can tell you there were 40 injuries, two people in critical condition. The twister tore through Newton this afternoon hitting stores jammed with holiday shoppers, including a Wal-Mart shopping center, a Lazy Boy chair factory and numerous homes.
We are continuing to follow the storm. Also, on the phone with us though, Amy Carruth from the Emergency Management Agency in Mississippi. I've been talking to her throughout the afternoon.
Amy, what's the latest with regard to keeping this all contained? And can you confirm whether there are deaths?
AMY CARRUTH, MISSISSIPPI EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (via phone): We have no deaths reported at this time, no fatalities. We have about 50 people reported injured. We are working with the Emergency Management director there, the mayor, the supervisors. Our governor, Musgrove, has just landed with FEMA director, Robert Latham, to tour the damaged area, to meet with local officials and make sure that all of their local needs are being met by the state.
We've also asked the Red Cross to join in and help with feeding and taking care of some basic first aid with the people that have been affected there in Wal-Mart and Lazy Boy areas.
PHILLIPS: Amy, can you tell how many people are out of their homes or not able to go back home at this point?
CARRUTH: Right now, we've got some damage assessment teams that are headed into the residential areas. Right now, we've not been given update on the residential structures that have been damaged. We know there were some houses destroyed, some with major damage. But right now, I can't give you a number. We're waiting on some information from some of the people that we've sent in.
PHILLIPS: Is the power back on? CARRUTH: No, the power is not back on. There's widespread power loss of about 6,000 customers. They also have minimal communication. Phone lines are down. We've deployed a mobile operations unit to Newton to assist in communications through high-band, low-band, radio and satellite communications.
PHILLIPS: Amy Carruth with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, thanks again for your time. I know you're extremely busy. Let's check in once again with Galen Crader, our meteorologist who's been following the storm system.
Where's it headed next, Galen?
CRADER: Well, we have a couple of ideas about that, Kyra. I tell you what -- the general direction of the storm is, of course, Northeast. Now, where the more -- where more of the tornado activity is happening right now is down to central and southwest and central eastern Alabama. There are essentially two different veins of the storm coming through. And there are tornadoes still reported down to the southwest and tornadoes that we're getting right now in the central Eastern portions of Alabama.
In fact, in Talladega County, which is east central Alabama, we have a tornado that was spotted around Lake Martin of about 15 miles southwest of Alexander City. It's moving northeast at 40 miles per hour. Now, 80 miles ahead in that direction, the city of Atlanta. But in fact, Le Grange and Carrollton, Georgia are in the direct line of that storm as well. So that's the best thing I can tell you, short-term, about where the storm is going -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Galen, thank you very much. We'll continue to track the tornado, tell you where it is going of course and try to update you on the damage that hit Newton, Mississippi, a couple hours ago.
Now we're going to go back to Wolf Blitzer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Kyra.
We want to move on and talk about the war on terror. An amazing exclusive story that our Susan Candiotti has been developing. One of Osama bin Laden's top commanders has a close tie to the United States. Susan Candiotti is joining us now live with details -- Susan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A picturesque college campus Greensboro, North Carolina's A&T University. Monuments honor famous alumni, including four students who made civil rights history in 1960. Astronaut, Ronald McNair, who died in the Challenger explosion, is a physics alum with a building named after him. One 1986 graduate is not celebrated. Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, one of Osama bin Laden's top commanders.
PROF. DAVID KLETT, NORTH CAROLINA A&T UNIVERSITY: Very surprised and dismayed.
CANDIOTTI: Mechanical engineering professor, David Klett, taught him and he's trouble.
KLETT: I may have helped given him some background that would help him accomplish the World Trade Center catastrophe.
CANDIOTTI: That catastrophe helped put Khalid Sheikh Muhammad on the FBI's most wanted terror list, the self-described head of al Qaeda's military operations. So close to Osama bin Laden, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad was there when bin Laden learned the outcome of the September 11 attacks.
KLETT: To think that I sat across the desk from him probably multiple times advising him on what courses to take and so forth, that, you know, bothers me.
CANDIOTTI: Professor Klett cannot remember Khalid Sheikh Muhammad's face.
KLETT: This is the turbo fan engine used on commercial airliners.
CANDIOTTI: But the professor vividly remembers the mandatory courses records show he taught him in the mid 80s, including thermodynamics.
KLETT: How much energy is contained in a certain amount of fuel and those things would have been necessary for them to at least consider when they planned the World Trade Center attack with the airplanes.
CANDIOTTI: About eight years after graduating, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad have used that theoretical knowledge planning terror attacks in Southeast Asia. In 1995, he escaped capture after a fire in a Manila apartment where bomb-making materials were found. He was indicted in the U.S. for plotting to blow up U.S. commercial airliners. There are suspected links to the first World Trade Center attack in 1993, the African embassy bombings in 1998, the terror attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000.
SAMMY ZITAWI, FORMER CLASSMATE: That's his name, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CANDIOTTI: Mechanical engineering graduate, Sammy Zitawi, was a classmate but says there was never anti-American talk.
ZITAWI: These two pictures remind me of him very well. That's the one he used to look like with this beard.
CANDIOTTI: Zitawi says Khalid Sheikh Muhammad was one of 30 Muslim students who lived off campus and rented an apartment to use as a mosque.
ZITAWI: There was an apartment in this building, and this apartment for sure. CANDIOTTI: Khalid Sheikh Muhammad's classmate remembers him as deeply religious and quiet, and now...
ZITAWI: We don't know what to believe but I think anything is possible in this life. Years go by and people change.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: School records indicate a variation of his name but law enforcement sources tell CNN there's no doubt it's the man they're looking for. Now, when Khalid Sheikh Muhammad completed his studies at A&T in 1986, his forwarding address was a local post office box. At the time, little to indicate what he was to become, one of the world's most wanted men -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Susan, how badly do U.S. authorities want to get their hands on this guy?
CANDIOTTI: Wolf, he's right up there with Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri. They say that he is a mastermind of September 11 attacks, that he was one of the few people who knew all of the details and was with Osama bin Laden when he learned about the outcome of the attacks. And the U.S. almost had its hands on Khalid Sheikh Muhammad last September when they arrested Ramzi Binalshibh in Pakistan. They still think that Khalid Sheikh Muhammad is in Pakistan and had intelligence reports to that effect but they didn't get him.
Now, also Khalid Sheikh Muhammad is connected to the very first al Qaeda attack after September 11. It was the truck bombing of a synagogue in Tunisia. And according to German investigators, the suspected truck bomber called someone just a few hours before the attack. Who was it? None other than Khalid Sheikh Muhammad -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Susan Candiotti, thanks for that excellent reporting, reporting you'll only see here on CNN. Very good work. When we come back, another exclusive report right here in Saudi Arabia on the front lines -- American women fighting for the United States, but living a contradictory life behind the veil. U.S. military women serving at a base here in Saudi Arabia, a day in their life when we come back. And El Nino out west. The Golden State braces for another wild winter.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: CNN's Kyra Phillips is standing by at the CNN Center in Atlanta. She's getting some additional information on that breaking news story we've been following all afternoon, that tornado that hit Mississippi.
Kyra, what's the latest?
PHILLIPS: Wolf, now a first look at that devastation in Newton, Mississippi. We're going to take it straight to our CNN affiliate, WJTV. Jeff Brent from Jackson, Mississippi, standing by. He's in Newton.
What can you tell us, Jeff? JEFF BRENT, WJTV CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, I'll tell you, as we were driving in here things looked pretty calm until we took the Newton exit off of Interstate 20. We're about hour to the east of Jackson, Mississippi, the capital. And immediately, it was devastation. You could see trees everywhere. Right behind me an 80-foot pine tree ripped from the ground. This all happened around 1:00 as the squall line moved through this small community of just several thousand people.
Newton, Mississippi mainly known for some of their industry. They have a Lazy Boy factory here. And it's a very, quiet, close-knit community.
Right now, we're hearing reports of about 40 people injured. The Wal-Mart was heavily damaged and the number of other businesses completely destroyed. As we understand, emergency crews not letting us into the immediate area right now until they can clear the live power lines.
We have heard, at least from people in the community, that there are some reports of fatalities, though officials are not confirming those right now. We are continuing to gather news. Again, we've only just rolled into town and at every glance you can see that this tornado has hit this very small Mississippi community extremely hard -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jeff Brent, WJTV, Jackson, Mississippi there in Newton, thank you so much.
We'll continue to check in with you and bring you more pictures from the devastated area of Newton, Mississippi. And we're continuing to follow the storm system. We'll keep you updated minute-by-minute on where it's going next and also try to confirm for you if indeed there are confirmed fatalities in Newton, Mississippi.
We're going to go back to Wolf Blitzer now in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Kyra. Here in Saudi Arabia, American military women who serve at the Prince Sultan Air Base have a dual life. They serve their country at the U.S. facilities at the base, live a normal all American life but when they go off base, life is quite different.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): It's a little sliver of America in the middle of the Arabian Peninsula. This is the U.S. section of the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. For the American military women serving here, life is no different than it is back home.
BRIG. GEN. DALE WATERS, U.S. AIR FORCE: We have women assigned to the wing and they do their job just like the men. We don't have any particular problems.
BLITZER: But that's only when they're on base. When they're off base, all bets are off. That's because of the strict Saudi religious traditions that guide the way women must dress and behave in public.
PROF. ABDULLAH AL-LHEEDAN, KIND SAUD UNIVERSITY: If a woman goes without a veil at all, it would be noticeable and it would be -- I mean people will feel very offended. That's why, here, the government instructed the young Muslim women to wear the minimum requirements of her job -- to cover the whole body except the face and hands.
(on camera): Here, at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, the war against Iraq for all practical purposes has already begun. U.S. pilots based here are dodging Iraqi fire on an almost daily basis.
(voice-over): Those F-15 and F-16 pilots often wouldn't be in the air over Southern Iraq if it weren't for U.S. Air Force captain, Laura Lenderman. A graduate of Duke University and a nine-year Air Force pilot, she flies KC-135 tankers, which refuel warplanes in midair, a most delicate and dangerous mission.
CAPT. LAURA LENDERMAN, U.S. AIR FORCE: We're ready. And this is what we trained to do and we're here to do it.
BLITZER: Here's the irony, Captain Lenderman can fly these sophisticated aircraft over Saudi Arabia, but off base, she's not allowed to drive a car or even sit in the front seat of a car. That's why the American women serving at Prince Sultan, for all practical purposes, hardly ever leave the base.
(on camera): Have you had any special problems here because you're a woman in Saudi Arabia?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, not really. I mean we have to stay on base.
BLITZER (voice-over): They don't have to stay on base, but they do. We heard that repeatedly. The few who leave the base adhere to local restrictions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If we do have people that go down town, we wear the burkas or the abayas (ph) and just try to respect their traditions.
BLITZER: A lawsuit filed by U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Martha McSally (ph) earlier this year forced the Pentagon to drop the requirement that women in the military serving in Saudi Arabia wear those traditional Muslim garments when off base. But it doesn't appear to have made a significant practical difference. For nearly all American women visiting or working in Saudi Arabia, it's hard to go against local restrictions as my CNN producers, Linda Roth, Carrie Connor and Alex Quaid (ph) quickly discovered.
LINDA ROTH, CNN PRODUCER: Well, I feel we should respect the customs of the country that we're in. And I feel, by respecting the customs that are here in this country, I feel more comfortable when I'm dressed like everybody else that lives here.
CARRIE CONNOR, CNN PRODUCER: In a way it's almost like you feel that you kind of don't exist. No one's looking at you and it's very different than in America where you find that people are looking at you to see what you're wearing or just to recognize you.
BLITZER: Regardless, the American women serving at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia have a job to do, and they do it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And all of them we spoke with at the base insist they wouldn't want to be any place else right now. Indeed they say especially right now. We have much more news coming up including a powerful storm hitting Northern California. CNN's Rusty Dornin is standing by -- Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, more wacky wild weather out west. We even have snow at sea level. We'll show you where right after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Another powerful storm has moved into Northern California. CNN's Rusty Dornin is standing by near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco with details -- Rusty.
DORNIN: Well, Wolf, the rain has backed off just in the last few minutes but there is still a flash flood warning in effect for the entire bay area as well as gale force wind warnings all along the coast. Now, I say it's backed off. We may be in the middle of squalls here. As you can see, there's a slight clearing on the horizon. But it was raining very hard this afternoon.
And we just -- we can show you some tape we shot just about an hour ago just ago just across the Golden Gate Bridge, in Merriam (ph) County, in an area that I'm very familiar with. I drive home on this road every day. I know about this flooding. This happens when the high tide coincides with the kind of rain -- intense rain we've been getting. We get this very severe flooding in some areas along Highway 101. And that's happening in a lot of the places in the bay area.
Now, there's snow level, of course, in Tahoe is rising at this point but there's another point at sea level where it's happening. It's very cool temperatures. And up in the wine country, in St. Helena, snow -- Christmas came early this year. We've heard reports of snow all up in that area near Santa Rosa, Petaluma and the wine country area. Of course, it didn't last too long. I think it's turning to slush to the dismay of a lot of the residents there.
But this storm is going to continue to produce squalls, produce rain showers through the night. The National Weather Service says at this point there is no point of the rivers, the Napa or Russian Rivers, flooding. But they say that these storms are going to continue probably through the first of the year, Wolf.
BLITZER: Rusty Dornin with the crazy weather going on in Northern California. Thanks very much. Bad weather in Mississippi as well. Let's go back to CNN Kyra Phillips at the CNN Center. She has more on that tornado that hit a part of Mississippi -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: That's right, quite a violent tornado, Wolf. We've been talking about this for a number of hours now. We're finally getting pictures in. We're going to try and bring those to you as soon as we can turn them around.
If you are just tuning in, that twister tore through -- here we go. I'm told we got the pictures fired up for you. You're getting a first hand look. These are the first pictures into CNN of the devastation in Newton, Mississippi. If you don't know where that is, it's just east of Jackson, Mississippi.
We can tell you that this tornado -- this is courtesy of our CNN affiliate WJTV out of Jackson, Mississippi. This tornado tearing through the area hitting stores jammed with holiday shoppers, including a Wal-Mart shopping center and a Lazy Boy chair factory and several homes.
As you look at these pictures that we're just getting in, I am told my phone we have Governor Ronnie Musgrove with us. The governor of Mississippi just arrived in the area.
Governor, can you tell us what your first plan of action is?
GOV. RONNIE MUSGROVE (D), MISSISSIPPI: Kyra, the first thing we did was enter an emergency declaration. That allowed me to pull a lot of agencies in to help Newton. We've got the highway patrols here, FEMA, the Department of Human Services for shelter. And in addition, we will have highway patrols and provide security tonight to work with the police.
The biggest positive news is that there have been no deaths in spite of the devastation to the business area, and most of the homes were spared. And we're very, very fortunate.
PHILLIPS: Well, for the people that have been affected, the 40 people injured, two in critical condition, can you tell us how you're tending to the injured? Do you have enough resources? How are you helping those that are good able to go back home or are unable to even get out of the area that was hit?
MUSGROVE: Well, because of the emergency declaration, we were able to pull in emergency directors from other counties. Certainly, we've had ambulance assistance in other counties and the local hospitals have been able to handle along with the surrounding towns and communities. So that's the way that we're able to help those who have been injured. And thank goodness all of those who have been injured have been able to receive healthcare.
PHILLIPS: So Governor, are you pretty positive that no one was killed in this tornado?
MUSGROVE: At this time, we have had no one confirmed, no confirmed deaths, only confirmation of the two critical injuries and the 40 or so injuries. Again, we feel very fortunate. That's one of the reasons we acted so quickly and we're here to make sure that we bring some stability and normalcy back to Newton, Mississippi. And our most important job is to make sure that our people are safe and continue to get back to normal.
PHILLIPS: And Governor, will you be spending the night there?
MUSGROVE: We -- it's very close to Jackson. I probably will not, but the director of FEMA will get here. I will be here as long as needed. We'll be working with the mayor and the police and the firefighters and the other first responders to make sure that we provide the necessary help.
PHILLIPS: Well, I'm sure your presence is comforting to many people there. Governor Ronnie Musgrove, governor of Mississippi. Thank you, sir, for your time.
We'll continue to track the tornado, what had happened there in Newton, Mississippi. Also, we'll be letting you know where that storm system is headed.
Now back to Wolf in Riyadh.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Kyra. Time's running out for you to weigh in on our "Web Question of The Day." Our Web question is this -- are you willing to have your bag searched out of your sight at the airport? Log on to cnn.com/wolf. That's where you can vote. We'll have the results immediately when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of The Day." Remember we asked you this question -- are you willing to have your bag searched out of your sight at the airport? Look at this, 25 percent of you say yes, 75 percent say no. This is not a scientific poll.
We got some good e-mails based on my reporting here in Saudi Arabia.
Rachel writes this -- "I appreciate your coverage of Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. I've finally seen where my husband has been and will be for a little while longer. It is wonderful to hear military personnel say hello for the holidays." It is a good feeling.
This from Andrea -- "I wanted to write a brief thank you for the piece you did on the Prince Sultan Air Base. Brief, though the segment was, it was a comfort and source of pride to be able to point to the television, tell my son, "Look, that's where my daddy is." The work my husband and his comrades are doing is very important. While they may be just as happy to remain invisible, I cheer the acknowledgement of their service."
That's all the time we have. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" is up next.
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