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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Dangerous Storms Continue to Attack South, Midwest; Nuclear Site in Iraq Looted

Aired May 08, 2003 - 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.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Deadly flooding spreads over the southeast. More tornadoes today. More than 100 so far this week. We're chasing the storms.

A casualty of combat.

(on camera): Did you ever feel you were going to die?

(voice-over): A young Marine, wounded in Iraq, talks about the day he was almost killed.

CPL. CHAD TAYLOR, U.S. MARINE CORPS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) said a little bit lower and I wouldn't be here.

BLITZER: Reports of looting at an Iraqi nuclear site. We're live in Baghdad.

And a nuclear attack forces a U.S. president from office. Hollywood's version of the White House. How far from reality? We'll talk with the man who plays President Palmer.

ANNOUNCER: CNN live this hour, WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, live from the nation's capital. With correspondents from around the world. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: It's Thursday, May 8, 2003. Hello from Washington. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting.

If you're just joining us, we have a dramatic story just unfolding within the past hour. It's a story of personal courage and triumph, one that has touched all of us.

Aron Ralston, the 27-year-old hiker who saved his life by cutting off his own arm in Colorado, speaks out for the first time. Right now, we're going to bring you some details -- what he had to say about his extraordinary ordeal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARON RALSTON, HIKER WHO AMPUTATED OWN ARM: I took my pocket knife, after preparing myself, which entailed getting all of my belongings ready so that once I was free, I could I leave the situation.

I went through the motions of applying a tourniquet. I had my biking shorts still with me, so I had those out to use as absorbent padding. Essentially, I got my surgical tape ready and applied the knife to my arm. Started sawing back and forth. And didn't even break the skin. I couldn't even cut the hair off my arm, the knife was so dull at that point.

That was Tuesday morning. I drank the last of my water, settled back in, spent another day.

There were other attempts that I made -- again, getting myself fully prepared to cut my arm. And I got so far as to puncture the skin, and then found that I couldn't cut the bone -- essentially knowing that you can't cut the bone without a bone saw.

By Thursday, I figured out an option around that. And it took me most of Thursday morning to get myself out, pursuing that option. And then I made the rappel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: He'd been trapped for five days by a boulder. He eventually got free, walked five miles, is alive right now. We'll bring you more of his amazing story coming up throughout this newscast. Stay with us for that.

But let's check in on another developing story right now. When will it ever end?

More dangerous potentially deadly weather is slamming vast sections of The United States. And get this. The worst isn't over by any means.

From the midwest to Virginia and the deep south, tornados and heavy rain are showing absolutely no mercy. All this after similar fierce storms battered these areas earlier in the week, leaving death and destruction in their wake.

You're looking right now at a live picture of West Point, Georgia. Flooding triggered by heavy rain has forced scores of people from their homes in parts of the metropolitan Atlanta area and other areas of Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee.

It's the largest outbreak of severe weather in some time, according to a spokesman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. More now on today's terrible weather from CNN's Miles O'Brien.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Funnels and floodings. Spring's severe weather won't let up this week. In Colorado, a sight air traffic controllers won't soon forget.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we see there is a funnel cloud ...

O'BRIEN: It appears just one mile from the airport grounds but dies out quickly before doing damage. Flights continue their approach.

To the southeastern United States, a tri-state tragedy. Up to ten inches of rain falls on parts of Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. In Troupe County, southwest of Atlanta, cars and homes flooded.

In this footage taken today from a TV helicopter, people in a boat outside a home, desperate to save their mattress and other belongings. Some wade in the flood waters. One person dies in a car accident this morning.

To Alabama. This is what's left of a town called Brookside. The police department is under water. Roger McCondity (ph) is the mayor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hard. You see what you worked for all your life washed away.

O'BRIEN: Some try to save what the waters touched. A basement. A kitchen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grandkids here.

O'BRIEN: And treasured pictures. In Chattanooga, Tennessee, trucks plow through the floods. Other sections of roads are impassable. Damage estimates so far in Chattanooga alone, $7 million.

Miles O'Brien, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And the worst is by no means over. Look at these live pictures of flooding unfolding in Georgia, not far from Atlanta, the capital of Georgia.

And elsewhere throughout the south and neighboring states -- bad flooding unfolding. Let's get more detail on what's going on. CNN meteorologist Orelon Sidney is joining us from the CNN center in Atlanta. How much worse can it get, Orelon?

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, I kind of hate to think about it because we have two very dangerous tornado watches in effect. We have five tornado watches in effect across the nation. It's going to be a very, stormy night.

We have a tornado warning there -- Concordia County, Kansas, reporting a tornado on the ground six miles northwest of Concordiia. That warning is in effect until the bottom of the hour.

I wanted to show you two tornado watches. This one in Kansas and on into Nebraska. The other one stretching down into Oklahoma. Both of those watches are particularly dangerous situations. That's issued from the Storm Prediction Center when they think very damaging tornados are possible -- stretching from just west of Kansas City all the way down on into Texas.

We could see it from F-3 to F-5 damage. It looks like the F-4s are even possible in this area. Look for sturdy houses to be leveled, large missiles can be generated. We're not seeing much tornado activity on the ground, and I hope that continues. The potential is there for very severe weather -- Wolf.

BLITZER: The next few hours could be very, very damaging.

SIDNEY: That's right. In fact, we're going to do this throughout much of the evening. About 6:00, 7:00, 8:00 central time is when the activity is expected to get going and will continue overnight.

BLITZER: Orelon Sidney, we'll check back with you.

Look at this. More live pictures from Georgia, where extensive flooding is underway right now. A lot of people clearly in trouble as a result of this heavy rain and flooding developing throughout Georgia.

These live pictures from Atlanta -- the suburbs of atlanta, not far from the Georgia capital. We'll continue to update you on this as well. But joining us now to talk about the dangerous weather, especially the tornados, is Dan Mccarthy, the warning coordination meteorologist for the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. He is joining us live.

Dan, thanks very much. Give us perspective historically. How bad is what we're seeing now compared to earlier episodes of this?

DAN MCCARTHY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: First of all, we've had 225 tornado reports just in the first seven days of May. That blitzes what we've had previously on record in May of 1999 when we had 159 tornados. So this has been the most dangerous stretch that we've seen of tornadic activity in a long time.

BLITZER: What about the flooding? How serious is this? I know you're just getting the preliminary reports on the flooding in Georgia and some of the neighboring states.

MCCARTHY: Well, the flooding doesn't help. We've had these thunderstorm activities since Sunday right into today that move over the same areas time and time and time again. And there's only so much the ground and also creeks can hold. That causes this flash flooding.

BLITZER: First, tornados. Now, floods. What else can we expect?

MCCARTHY: Well, unfortunately, we're in a very dangerous situation -- especially if you live in parts of central and eastern Kansas for tonight. Possibly even into north central, northeastern Oklahoma.

We have a very strong storm system coming out of the southwest. It's triggering thunderstorm activity. Once this activity diminishes, possibly early tomorrow, we can actually see more storms possibly in the Ohio and Tennessee Valley tomorrow.

Then Saturday, another storm system will come out of the southwest and we'll be going through this again, possibly in the central and southern plains into the Mississippi Valley.

BLITZER: So the death and destruction -- God forbid -- we saw Sunday with those initial tornados, can we anticipate more of that?

MCCARTHY: I think we're going to anticipate more of this through the weekend. Then it looks like we're going to quiet down by mid-week next week.

BLITZER: One final question, Dan, before I let you go. How good are we, not necessarily we, I mean you and your colleagues, in predicting these kinds of weather disasters?

MCCARTHY: Well, I think we've become very good in forecasting the conditions that are favorable to produce severe storms and tornadoes. We've been doing very well in indicating areas of where these storms can develop and can continue.

Where we're not good enough is to pinpoint exactly where a tornado's going to strike at a certain time. But we are very good in identifying situations like these in the springtime that can produce tornado outbreaks.

BLITZER: Dan McCarthy, thanks very much.

I want to remind our viewers of these live pictures that we've been showing. The floods, the floods continuing to unfold. Look at this right now thanks to our affiliate WAGA outside of Atlanta. Counties near Atlanta, bad flooding unfolding. We're going to continue to watch this severe weather throughout this hour. And of course, as we heard form Orelon Sydney, more, more damaging weather on the way right now.

Much more news coming up, including the blame game that's beginning now after that high school hazing incident outside of Chicago. Who should take responsibility for the brutal beatings that were caught on videotape?

And he cut off his own arm with a pocket knife and made the long trek to safety. Now the heroic hiker is speaking out for the first time about his harrowing ordeal. You'll hear from him directly. He'll tell his story. That's coming up.

Plus, killer epidemic. Is it worse than we thought? A new alert about SARS.

And TV presidents pushed to the edge. Is it blurring the public's perception of politics? The star of the hit show "24" will be among my guests.

First, today's "New Quiz."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER (voice-over): Who was the first president to appear on television? Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower? The answer coming up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Coming up, we'll get more on the severe weather that's unfolding. You're looking at these live pictures from Georgia about an hour and a half outside of Atlanta. Severe flooding under way right now. We're watching this flooding elsewhere in neighboring states. Tornadoes on the way as well. Tornado watches in several Midwestern states, indeed, from Colorado to the East Coast, get ready for some more bad weather.

And, was it only the kids who went overboard? What role did parents play in the high school hazing brawl? An investigation by the police that's now under way.

And look who's talking. The survivor who had to cut off his own arm to live another day. He's speaking out today for the first time. We'll hear his incredible story. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Police in suburban Chicago say charges are very likely at a high school hazing incident that sent five girls to the hospital. CNN's Whitney Casey is joining us now from Glenview, Illinois where police and school officials held a news conference just a little while ago with more details. Tell us what's happening, Whitney.

WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, that's right, charges may not only be for the children here, but now also for the parents as police just recently said in this press conference that they're looking into an anonymous tip that parents were responsible for bringing the keg and providing the keg for this powderpuff game. And it is that keg that the principal has said exacerbated some of this.

And what we're looking at right now, this is also some incendiary video that police have said may really sort of exacerbate these charges. In terms of you saw there quickly at the top, a girl with a bat. And what they are saying, some legal analysts say some of these charges could span all the way from simple battery to aggravated assault, and aggravated assault is because of that bat.

Now they say that that is premeditated. And then if this video goes any further, it shows a big stockpile full of I guess you could call it just disgusting concoctions like human waste and paint thinner. Those were the things used to be thrown on them, meaning that these girls planned this ahead of time.

Now where the school is involved, the school says that they have issued disciplinary actions but they cannot go any further punitively in terms of suspending the kids because it is not in their jurisdiction. They point to the police and their investigation. As of right now, they say that they've identified all of the children on the tape. And they have actually already taken some of them out of extracurricular activities.

They've also said that to quell some of these questions that a lot of parents are asking right now, in terms of -- see those jerseys that those girls have on? Apparently, some of the kids say that on the day or the weekend of the powderpuff game, Friday, those girls wear those jerseys to school. And so that all school officials know this powderpuff game is coming up.

Now school officials say they wear them randomly. Kids say they wear them the day of the weekend. But let's hear what the principal had to say just earlier to this question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL RIGGLE, PRINCIPAL, GLENBROOK NORTH HIGH SCHOOL: ... we've learned by talking to students that there were many people who participated in the activity, for a significant number of people who did not know the time or location until as late as one hour before the event. So that information was circulated on the weekend and that was at a time when they were not in our care and the questions could no longer be asked, nor could they be answered...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASEY: As you said, the blame game has certainly begun. But we're waiting to hear from police. They say they may have issued charges as early as tomorrow -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Whitney, this has been going on, this so-called powderpuff game, for, what, 20 years or so. They do it every year. The junior girls, senior girls. People can't say they were surprised by this, can they?

CASEY: No, but the were surprised, they say, by the extent, at where it got, at this point. They say that they have been seeing this game -- and actually I talked with some kids who said that it got pretty bad about eight years ago. Where officials had to be called in because one woman brought a -- a young girl brought a knife.

Last year, one young woman was hurt extensively -- this is according to some of the kids that were there last year. So it has been escalating in the past years. And -- but it's never gotten to this point what is we've heard from most parents and kids.

BLITZER: It's still shocking. Whitney Casey in Chicago with this story for us. Whitney, thanks very much.

And here's your turn to weigh in on this story. "Our Web Question of the Day is this: should the high school be held liable for the girls' hazing incident even though it happened off campus? We'll have the results later in this broadcast. Vote at cnn.com/wolf.

Let's go to Capitol Hill right now, General Tommy Franks, the commander of Operation Iraqi Freedom, has been briefing members of Congress. Let's listen in.

(INTERRUPTED BY LIVE EVENT)

BLITZER: We have much more news coming up, including this dramatic story -- wounded in action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYLOR: An RPG penetrated through the top of the vehicle and blew up on my engine and sent shrapnel all into my legs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: See what combat was really like in Iraq from a marine who lived through it. But narrowly lived through it.

Plus, nuclear lootings in Iraq. Thieves make off with some very dangerous cargo. We're watching all of these developments and more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Coming up, we're going to hear directly from this man, Aron Ralston, the 27-year-old hiker in Colorado who had to amputate his own arm in order to survive. His dramatic story in his words. That's coming up.

But first, another dramatic story. A month ago, Corporal Chad Taylor was on a thrilling but still extremely dangerous adventure. On patrol with the 1st Marines in Iraq. But things could have changed dramatically for hi -- they couldn't have changed much more dramatically in less than a month.

If you want to see the real price of war, do what I did -- spend some time at the Bethesda Naval Hospital outside Washington, D.C.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): For a 22-year-old, Chad Taylor doesn't take much for granted.

TAYLOR: I don't know. I learned to appreciate things a lot more.

BLITZER: Being wounded in combat will do that to you.

April 12, a lot happened that day, including a well-publicized army raid on a mosque in southern Baghdad.

On the other side of the city, Taylor's Marine unit was ordered to secure a bridge. Then, some ominous signs that have become familiar when U.S. military units were about to be ambushed.

TAYLOR: Within a couple of minutes, all of the civilian traffic had disappeared. And all of the ones that were walking around were scattering to get out of there so we knew something was going to happen. And within a couple of minutes after that happening, we started taking fire from the south with machine guns and other small arms.

BLITZER: Then, a Marine's worst nightmare.

TAYLOR: All of a sudden we got hit. There was a RPG penetrated through the top of the vehicle and blew up on my engine and sent shrapnel all into my legs. Took a lot of the skin and tissue off my left leg, exposing the muscles.

BLITZER: When the shooting died down, his fellow Marines were able to pull Taylor from the turret of his amphibious assault vehicle.

TAYLOR: The corpsman told me -- he was pretty reassuring. He says, you're not going to die. So...

BLITZER (on camera): At least you knew that.

TAYLOR: Yes.

BLITZER: So you were happy. Did you ever feel you were going to die?

TAYLOR: No.

BLITZER: You were never...

TAYLOR: No. I just -- it didn't even really hurt at the time.

BLITZER (voice-over): The pain set in later, along with a frightening realization.

TAYLOR: If I'd been sitting a little bit lower in the turret, I wouldn't be here.

BLITZER: And the thought of what that would have done to his family, one person in particular.

TAYLOR: Yes, I have an identical twin brother.

BLITZER (on camera): And what's his name?

TAYLOR: His name is Bobby.

BLITZER: And where is he?

TAYLOR: He's still over in Iraq.

BLITZER: He's a Marine?

TAYLOR: Yes.

BLITZER: So did both of you enlist at the same time?

TAYLOR: I talked him into it, actually.

BLITZER (voice-over): From that day, when he and his brother enlisted, to winning a Purple Heart, one 22-year-old Marine comes away with a sober maturity.

TAYLOR: There's some things I probably could have done to prevent it. But no, I wouldn't have changed anything. It's been worth it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: This note, Corporal Taylor is expected to make a full recovery, thank God. The doctors tell him it will take four to six months. He wants to remain in the Marine Corps.

Nuclear looting in Iraq. Are weapons of mass destruction even more likely now to end up in the wrong hands?

Also, will to live, the ultimate survival story, a hiker who cut off his own arm tells his harrowing tale for the first time. You'll hear his tale here in his own words.

And politics on television. Is it changing the way we see the president and the presidency? The star of TV's "24" and a former producer of "The West Wing" will join me live.

And look at this. We're still following a breaking story, wicked weather floods the South. You're looking at live pictures. We're continuing to monitor the weather and everything else. Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's on our side, right here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Flooding and funnel clouds. These are pictures coming in right now from West Point, Georgia. We'll keep you updated throughout the hour on the floods now developing in much of the South.

But first, more on those twisters spotted near the Denver airport. Joining us now is Casey Curry of our affiliate KWGN.

Casey, how bad was it over there?

CASEY CURRY, KWGN REPORTER: You know, Wolf, it came in very quickly and left very quickly. That's the good news. And here in Colorado, most of our tornadoes aren't that very strong F-5 range of tornadoes that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) seen throughout much of the Midwest and down into the Southeast. That's the good news for us. We tend to see a lot of quick funnel clouds that drop out of the sky, maybe cause a little bit of damage in open areas.

But for the most part, we don't experience the deadly tornadoes. That was the case again today. We do have home video to show you from one of those funnel clouds near Bennett, Colorado. Bennett is just east of Denver, out along I-70 as you head out toward the Kansas border. This funnel cloud did not actually touch the ground, we don't think. It was captured by Paul Dougherty, he's the man who shot the video. And here he is describing what he saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL DOUGHERTY: I already passed DIA. I was just east of Watkins (ph) when in my rearview mirror, there was a funnel cloud. And I just pulled over, got the camera out, set it up, and collected as much footage as I possibly could.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURRY: Much of the Denver area has been under tornado warnings at various parts through the midmorning up until early this afternoon. Video from Denver International Airport, where the biggest problem there has been hail, at times the hail so thick that it actually looked like snow. And they actually brought out the snowplows this afternoon to clear the roadways.

We haven't heard any significant reports of damage from either the hail, the gusty winds, or those funnel clouds, and even the few brief touchdowns of tornadoes that we did see this afternoon. We have heard reports of some rollover accidents that we think were caused by weather.

The problem now, as we take a look live here in Denver, is that we've got the sun shining again. Of course, that means the atmosphere is going to heat up for us. That means we've got the potential for more storms to brew again this afternoon.

We do remain under a tornado watch that stays in effect until 6:00 local time here in Denver.

Reporting live in Denver, Casey Curry. Back to you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Casey, thanks very much. We'll continue to monitor what's going on. Six p.m. Denver, that's 8:00 p.m. here on the East Coast.

Let's move on now to a very serious threat in Iraq. Iraqi scientists fear contamination from a looted nuclear facility.

Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, once again is joining us now live from Baghdad with this dramatic development -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this site is the Altuata (ph) Atomic Research Institute on the outskirts of Baghdad. Iraqi scientists took us to the site where Iraq -- where Iraqi scientists store all their nuclear material.

Now at that site, they have drums of low-enriched uranium, drums of naturally occurring uranium, and a shed that was full of highly radioactive sources, sources that are often used in X-ray machines or have other industrial applications. And what the scientists there showed us was that many of the barrels had been looted by local villagers. They say the villagers had taken these barrels away to use them for water storage, for drinking, for cooking. They also showed us some of the metal containers, the lead containers that some of the highly radioactive sources had been encased in. They said that they believe the villagers had looted these sources as well.

We talked to the villagers there. They told us that they'd been in before U.S. troops came to control the site, they'd taken away some of these items. And the villagers told us that some of the items might be in Baghdad, they might have gone further away.

The International Atomic Energy Agency that used to monitor this particular storage site, which is Iraq's primary nuclear material storage site, said that they are now very concerned not just about the possibilities of health implications for the people in neighboring villages, but about a whole host of issues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK GWOZDECKY, IAEA SPOKESMAN: We're concerned on four levels. We're concerned about the potential for environmental contamination, we're concerned about the effects of radiation on the civilian population, we're concerned about the possibility of nuclear terrorism. This is a material that can be used for dirty bombs.

And ultimately, we are responsible for preventing the proliferation of material that might be used in a nuclear weapons program.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Big concern for the troops still guarding that site, looters getting in now and destroying very valuable and possibly highly secret documents at the massive Altuata complex, Wolf.

BLITZER: An important story. Nic Robertson in Baghdad, thanks very much for that.

He was forced to decide whether to die with his arm, or live without it. Coming up, we'll hear for the first time from the outdoorsman who survived by amputating his own arm.

Plus, Hollywood's Washington versus the real thing. I'll speak with live with Dennis Hayesbert. He plays the president on the hit drama "24." Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

We've told you, of course, about the incredible story of Aron Ralston, the 27-year-old Colorado man who cut off part of his right arm with a pocket knife after he was pinned by a boulder.

This afternoon, he talked about his ordeal for the first time since the accident last month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARON RALSTON, SURVIVOR: On Tuesday morning, there was -- my first attempt when I pursued the first option -- the first time I pursued the option of actually severing my arm. I took my pocket knife, and after preparing myself, which entailed getting all of my belongings ready so that once I was free, that I could leave the situation, I went through the motions of applying the tourniquet.

I had my biking shorts still with me, so I had those out to use as absorbent padding. Essentially, I got my surgical table ready and applied the knife to my arm and start sawing back and forth. And it didn't even break the skin. I couldn't even cut the hair off of my arm, the knife was so dull at that point. So it -- that was Tuesday morning.

I drank the last of my water, I settled back in, spent another day. There were other attempts that I made, again, getting myself fully prepared to cut my arm. And I got so far as to puncture the skin, and then found that I couldn't cut the bone, essentially knowing that you can't cut the bone without a bone saw.

By Thursday, I figured out an option around that. And it took me most of Thursday morning to get myself out, pursuing that option.

And then I made the rappel, as you've all heard. It was kind of interesting. Having crawled through another 150 linear feet of canyon, fourth class terrain in some parts, very restricted, narrower than I could fit with my backpack on in some places. And uncoiled and unkinked the rope, set that rappel, and got down to a pool of water that was at the bottom of the rappel.

And that was the first water that I had been able to have since Tuesday morning, so over 48 hours. And the first substantial amount of water that I'd been able to have for days.

That, though, my body reacted well to. I was able to stock up with the water canisters that I had. And then set out on what I was facing, approximately, an eight-mile hike. I think I hiked about six miles of that, maybe six and a half. I came upon some hikers. And I just passed the pictograph panels known as the Great Gallery in Horseshoe Canyon.

And they were the folks from Holland, who I think some folks in the media have already been in touch with, that they helped me carry my pack, gave me additional water, they gave me two Oreo cookies, the first food that I'd had in several days as well.

And from there, it was just kind of a trudge through the soft sand and the heat to get to the spot where then the helicopter spotted us and plucked me out of the canyon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: This footnote to that amazing story. In February of this year, Aron Ralston narrowly escaped death on a skiing trip when he was caught in an avalanche. What an amazing young man.

We're following a breaking story out of Los Angeles, a real-life spy story. CNN's Charles Feldman is joining us live with the details -- Charles.

CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the woman known as a double agent, Katrina Leung, has now been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of copying unauthorized -- and unauthorized possession of documents relating to the national defense. As expected, the indictment is not an espionage indictment.

You see there a picture of her long-time FBI handler, James Smith. He was indicted only yesterday on charges of gross negligence. Both Smith and Leung carried on an affair for some 20 years, during which the government says while she was recruited to spy on China for the U.S., she actually, according to the government, spied on the U.S. for China, Wolf.

BLITZER: Charles Feldman is going to be continuing to follow this story, a dramatic development on that development, dramatic development in Los Angeles. Thanks, Charles, very much.

When we come back, Washington, Hollywood style. How realistic is television's take on the White House? We'll talk to some of the people behind some of the top-rated programs. That's coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Earlier we asked, Who was the first president to appear on television? The answer, Franklin Roosevelt, back in 1939, for the opening of New York's World Fair. In 1927, Herbert Hoover appeared on the nation's first TV broadcast, but he was commerce secretary then.

The job of president of the United States has to be among the most stressful in the world. But it's apparently not dramatic enough for Hollywood, where producers take it over the top, oftentimes with extreme plots.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Who could forget this historic landing? President Bush awed us with the spectacle and angered his critics.

SEN. ROBERT BYRD (D), WEST VIRGINIA: I am loath to think of an aircraft carrier being used as an advertising backdrop for a presidential political slogan.

BLITZER: But if the drama in the news wasn't dramatic enough, leave it to Hollywood to up the ante.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "24")

DENNIS HAYESBERT, ACTOR: What do you think, Aaron? You think I'm unfit to fulfill my duties as president?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Meet President David Palmer on the hit series "24." In one day, he watched a nuclear bomb go off on U.S. soil. Now he's being removed from power for failing to respond to that attack.

Engineering his ouster, his own vice president and chief of staff. Engineering that nuclear attack, well, the series hints it's leaders in his own government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE WEST WING," NBC)

MARTIN SHEEN, ACTOR: If we're going to do this, we've got to start tonight, now. And I need you...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: On NBC's "The West Wing," it's bad to be the VP. The character, John Hoines (ph), a frequent fixture throughout the series, commits political suicide by having an affair with a woman who publishes a tell-all book.

And just last night, while Martin Sheen's character. President Bartlet is in the White House, his TV daughter gets kidnapped while under Secret Service protection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE WEST WING," NBC)

TAYLOR: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Bartlet is missing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Extreme plots aimed at getting you to watch. After all, it's what they call sweeps month, a ratings period.

But how far of a stretch is it from the real West Wing?

HOWARD KURTZ, "THE WASHINGTON POST": They need to hype, and sometimes oversimplify these issues, so they can fit a 60-minute plot line. So that's the tradeoff you have when Hollywood does Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And tonight, Howard Kurtz of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" and "The Washington Post" will delve further into this story at a forum here in Washington.

We have two featured guests, Dennis Hayesbert, he plays President Palmer in "24." And Lawrence O'Donnell, he's the creator and executive producer of "Mister Sterling" and a former writer and producer for "The West Wing." Thanks to both of you for joining us.

Dennis, let me begin with you. Are you worried at all that the impression a lot of people -- apparently a lot of young people have of Washington is what they see on your show?

HAYESBERT: Well, no, because, I have to say, that it is, you know, beyond anything else, an entertainment. I'd like to think that our show puts out an ideal of what we'd like the White House to be, what we'd like our representatives to be, and how we like our representatives to act like.

BLITZER: Do you try to stay relatively authentic in terms of the White House, the president, the government?

HAYESBERT: We try, yes, very much so.

BLITZER: Even though the plot sometimes get a little carried away?

HAYESBERT: Well, yes. Well, you know, a lot happens in 24 hours, so...

BLITZER: Lawrence, you've been involved in this, now, "Mister Sterling," "The West Wing." How realistic is the Hollywood version of Washington from the real version? You used to work for Senator Moynihan, you know Washington, you know politics quite well.

LAWRENCE O'DONNELL, FORMER WRITER, PRODUCER FOR "THE WEST WING": I think it depends on the show. I think if you look at -- I think it's now 88 episodes of "The West Wing," you know, there's been gunfire in about three of them, maybe. And the rest of them are people in neckties in a room arguing. Which is just all that Washington ever is.

And by the way, I just think one of the amazing achievements of "24" and what Dennis achieves there is, you have basically, everyone agrees, unrealistic stories. But the performances, this president is extremely presidential within the scenes that he's being delivered into. He carries himself through these scenes as presidents. And that's what you're asking these actors to do.

BLITZER: How do you prepare to play the president of the United States?

HAYESBERT: Well, I think of two things, integrity and dignity. And I just perform the words as they're written. And I have -- I'm blessed with really great writers. And I think they're blessed with someone that can interpret them.

BLITZER: Did you come to Washington? Did you go to the White House? Did you speak to former presidents? How did you -- how do you -- how does an actor get into the head, the mind, of a president?

HAYESBERT: Well, actually, I didn't really have a lot of time, because from the first season, I was a senator running for president. The second season, I had no idea when I was or if I was coming back. And when they finally told me, I had, what, a couple of weeks.

BLITZER: Well, there's something unrealistic, a senator becoming president of the United States. That doesn't happen very often.

What do you do to tell the actors out there how to portray senators, politicians, the people of Washington? O'DONNELL: You don't tell actors how to portray anything. They are professionals. They bring themselves to a role. In the Senate show that I've had this year, "Mister Sterling," we stayed very well within the bounds of reality. And I was doing that with actors who had no idea what a Finance Committee markup was. But they certainly acted their way through it as if they did.

I mean, the -- all the people who played senators on my show, I did not give one word to them about how to do that.

BLITZER: How surprised are you, Dennis, that your show, "24" has been such a huge hit?

HAYESBERT: I think because of the concept, you know, the split screens, the writing, what Kiefer brings to his character, the espionage factor. And also the way that our -- my cabinet and I operate. We operate on a very serious level. And like we -- Lawrence says, we, you know, we act our way through it. We try to be as serious and as truthful as we can.

BLITZER: Dennis Hayesbert, most of our viewers know you as President Palmer of "24." Thanks for joining us, Mr. President.

HAYESBERT: Thank you.

BLITZER: Do a lot of people say that to you?

HAYESBERT: Very much. A lot.

BLITZER: Lawrence O'Donnell, a familiar fixture here in Washington for many years, thanks to you as well. Good luck with your program.

O'DONNELL: Thanks.

BLITZER: And our Web question of the day is this. Should the high school be held liable for the girls' hazing incident, even though it happened off campus? That incident just outside Chicago. Vote now at cnn.com/wolf. 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've been asking you this question, Should the high school be held liable for the girls' hazing incident, even though it happened off campus? Look at this, 36 percent of you say yes, 64 percent say no.

And as Lou Dobbs always reminds me, this is not a scientific poll.

Lou Dobbs is standing by to pick up our coverage right now -- Lou.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

Nuclear Site in Iraq Looted>

Aired May 8, 2003 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Deadly flooding spreads over the southeast. More tornadoes today. More than 100 so far this week. We're chasing the storms.

A casualty of combat.

(on camera): Did you ever feel you were going to die?

(voice-over): A young Marine, wounded in Iraq, talks about the day he was almost killed.

CPL. CHAD TAYLOR, U.S. MARINE CORPS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) said a little bit lower and I wouldn't be here.

BLITZER: Reports of looting at an Iraqi nuclear site. We're live in Baghdad.

And a nuclear attack forces a U.S. president from office. Hollywood's version of the White House. How far from reality? We'll talk with the man who plays President Palmer.

ANNOUNCER: CNN live this hour, WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, live from the nation's capital. With correspondents from around the world. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: It's Thursday, May 8, 2003. Hello from Washington. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting.

If you're just joining us, we have a dramatic story just unfolding within the past hour. It's a story of personal courage and triumph, one that has touched all of us.

Aron Ralston, the 27-year-old hiker who saved his life by cutting off his own arm in Colorado, speaks out for the first time. Right now, we're going to bring you some details -- what he had to say about his extraordinary ordeal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARON RALSTON, HIKER WHO AMPUTATED OWN ARM: I took my pocket knife, after preparing myself, which entailed getting all of my belongings ready so that once I was free, I could I leave the situation.

I went through the motions of applying a tourniquet. I had my biking shorts still with me, so I had those out to use as absorbent padding. Essentially, I got my surgical tape ready and applied the knife to my arm. Started sawing back and forth. And didn't even break the skin. I couldn't even cut the hair off my arm, the knife was so dull at that point.

That was Tuesday morning. I drank the last of my water, settled back in, spent another day.

There were other attempts that I made -- again, getting myself fully prepared to cut my arm. And I got so far as to puncture the skin, and then found that I couldn't cut the bone -- essentially knowing that you can't cut the bone without a bone saw.

By Thursday, I figured out an option around that. And it took me most of Thursday morning to get myself out, pursuing that option. And then I made the rappel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: He'd been trapped for five days by a boulder. He eventually got free, walked five miles, is alive right now. We'll bring you more of his amazing story coming up throughout this newscast. Stay with us for that.

But let's check in on another developing story right now. When will it ever end?

More dangerous potentially deadly weather is slamming vast sections of The United States. And get this. The worst isn't over by any means.

From the midwest to Virginia and the deep south, tornados and heavy rain are showing absolutely no mercy. All this after similar fierce storms battered these areas earlier in the week, leaving death and destruction in their wake.

You're looking right now at a live picture of West Point, Georgia. Flooding triggered by heavy rain has forced scores of people from their homes in parts of the metropolitan Atlanta area and other areas of Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee.

It's the largest outbreak of severe weather in some time, according to a spokesman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. More now on today's terrible weather from CNN's Miles O'Brien.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Funnels and floodings. Spring's severe weather won't let up this week. In Colorado, a sight air traffic controllers won't soon forget.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we see there is a funnel cloud ...

O'BRIEN: It appears just one mile from the airport grounds but dies out quickly before doing damage. Flights continue their approach.

To the southeastern United States, a tri-state tragedy. Up to ten inches of rain falls on parts of Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. In Troupe County, southwest of Atlanta, cars and homes flooded.

In this footage taken today from a TV helicopter, people in a boat outside a home, desperate to save their mattress and other belongings. Some wade in the flood waters. One person dies in a car accident this morning.

To Alabama. This is what's left of a town called Brookside. The police department is under water. Roger McCondity (ph) is the mayor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hard. You see what you worked for all your life washed away.

O'BRIEN: Some try to save what the waters touched. A basement. A kitchen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grandkids here.

O'BRIEN: And treasured pictures. In Chattanooga, Tennessee, trucks plow through the floods. Other sections of roads are impassable. Damage estimates so far in Chattanooga alone, $7 million.

Miles O'Brien, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And the worst is by no means over. Look at these live pictures of flooding unfolding in Georgia, not far from Atlanta, the capital of Georgia.

And elsewhere throughout the south and neighboring states -- bad flooding unfolding. Let's get more detail on what's going on. CNN meteorologist Orelon Sidney is joining us from the CNN center in Atlanta. How much worse can it get, Orelon?

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, I kind of hate to think about it because we have two very dangerous tornado watches in effect. We have five tornado watches in effect across the nation. It's going to be a very, stormy night.

We have a tornado warning there -- Concordia County, Kansas, reporting a tornado on the ground six miles northwest of Concordiia. That warning is in effect until the bottom of the hour.

I wanted to show you two tornado watches. This one in Kansas and on into Nebraska. The other one stretching down into Oklahoma. Both of those watches are particularly dangerous situations. That's issued from the Storm Prediction Center when they think very damaging tornados are possible -- stretching from just west of Kansas City all the way down on into Texas.

We could see it from F-3 to F-5 damage. It looks like the F-4s are even possible in this area. Look for sturdy houses to be leveled, large missiles can be generated. We're not seeing much tornado activity on the ground, and I hope that continues. The potential is there for very severe weather -- Wolf.

BLITZER: The next few hours could be very, very damaging.

SIDNEY: That's right. In fact, we're going to do this throughout much of the evening. About 6:00, 7:00, 8:00 central time is when the activity is expected to get going and will continue overnight.

BLITZER: Orelon Sidney, we'll check back with you.

Look at this. More live pictures from Georgia, where extensive flooding is underway right now. A lot of people clearly in trouble as a result of this heavy rain and flooding developing throughout Georgia.

These live pictures from Atlanta -- the suburbs of atlanta, not far from the Georgia capital. We'll continue to update you on this as well. But joining us now to talk about the dangerous weather, especially the tornados, is Dan Mccarthy, the warning coordination meteorologist for the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. He is joining us live.

Dan, thanks very much. Give us perspective historically. How bad is what we're seeing now compared to earlier episodes of this?

DAN MCCARTHY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: First of all, we've had 225 tornado reports just in the first seven days of May. That blitzes what we've had previously on record in May of 1999 when we had 159 tornados. So this has been the most dangerous stretch that we've seen of tornadic activity in a long time.

BLITZER: What about the flooding? How serious is this? I know you're just getting the preliminary reports on the flooding in Georgia and some of the neighboring states.

MCCARTHY: Well, the flooding doesn't help. We've had these thunderstorm activities since Sunday right into today that move over the same areas time and time and time again. And there's only so much the ground and also creeks can hold. That causes this flash flooding.

BLITZER: First, tornados. Now, floods. What else can we expect?

MCCARTHY: Well, unfortunately, we're in a very dangerous situation -- especially if you live in parts of central and eastern Kansas for tonight. Possibly even into north central, northeastern Oklahoma.

We have a very strong storm system coming out of the southwest. It's triggering thunderstorm activity. Once this activity diminishes, possibly early tomorrow, we can actually see more storms possibly in the Ohio and Tennessee Valley tomorrow.

Then Saturday, another storm system will come out of the southwest and we'll be going through this again, possibly in the central and southern plains into the Mississippi Valley.

BLITZER: So the death and destruction -- God forbid -- we saw Sunday with those initial tornados, can we anticipate more of that?

MCCARTHY: I think we're going to anticipate more of this through the weekend. Then it looks like we're going to quiet down by mid-week next week.

BLITZER: One final question, Dan, before I let you go. How good are we, not necessarily we, I mean you and your colleagues, in predicting these kinds of weather disasters?

MCCARTHY: Well, I think we've become very good in forecasting the conditions that are favorable to produce severe storms and tornadoes. We've been doing very well in indicating areas of where these storms can develop and can continue.

Where we're not good enough is to pinpoint exactly where a tornado's going to strike at a certain time. But we are very good in identifying situations like these in the springtime that can produce tornado outbreaks.

BLITZER: Dan McCarthy, thanks very much.

I want to remind our viewers of these live pictures that we've been showing. The floods, the floods continuing to unfold. Look at this right now thanks to our affiliate WAGA outside of Atlanta. Counties near Atlanta, bad flooding unfolding. We're going to continue to watch this severe weather throughout this hour. And of course, as we heard form Orelon Sydney, more, more damaging weather on the way right now.

Much more news coming up, including the blame game that's beginning now after that high school hazing incident outside of Chicago. Who should take responsibility for the brutal beatings that were caught on videotape?

And he cut off his own arm with a pocket knife and made the long trek to safety. Now the heroic hiker is speaking out for the first time about his harrowing ordeal. You'll hear from him directly. He'll tell his story. That's coming up.

Plus, killer epidemic. Is it worse than we thought? A new alert about SARS.

And TV presidents pushed to the edge. Is it blurring the public's perception of politics? The star of the hit show "24" will be among my guests.

First, today's "New Quiz."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER (voice-over): Who was the first president to appear on television? Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower? The answer coming up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Coming up, we'll get more on the severe weather that's unfolding. You're looking at these live pictures from Georgia about an hour and a half outside of Atlanta. Severe flooding under way right now. We're watching this flooding elsewhere in neighboring states. Tornadoes on the way as well. Tornado watches in several Midwestern states, indeed, from Colorado to the East Coast, get ready for some more bad weather.

And, was it only the kids who went overboard? What role did parents play in the high school hazing brawl? An investigation by the police that's now under way.

And look who's talking. The survivor who had to cut off his own arm to live another day. He's speaking out today for the first time. We'll hear his incredible story. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Police in suburban Chicago say charges are very likely at a high school hazing incident that sent five girls to the hospital. CNN's Whitney Casey is joining us now from Glenview, Illinois where police and school officials held a news conference just a little while ago with more details. Tell us what's happening, Whitney.

WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, that's right, charges may not only be for the children here, but now also for the parents as police just recently said in this press conference that they're looking into an anonymous tip that parents were responsible for bringing the keg and providing the keg for this powderpuff game. And it is that keg that the principal has said exacerbated some of this.

And what we're looking at right now, this is also some incendiary video that police have said may really sort of exacerbate these charges. In terms of you saw there quickly at the top, a girl with a bat. And what they are saying, some legal analysts say some of these charges could span all the way from simple battery to aggravated assault, and aggravated assault is because of that bat.

Now they say that that is premeditated. And then if this video goes any further, it shows a big stockpile full of I guess you could call it just disgusting concoctions like human waste and paint thinner. Those were the things used to be thrown on them, meaning that these girls planned this ahead of time.

Now where the school is involved, the school says that they have issued disciplinary actions but they cannot go any further punitively in terms of suspending the kids because it is not in their jurisdiction. They point to the police and their investigation. As of right now, they say that they've identified all of the children on the tape. And they have actually already taken some of them out of extracurricular activities.

They've also said that to quell some of these questions that a lot of parents are asking right now, in terms of -- see those jerseys that those girls have on? Apparently, some of the kids say that on the day or the weekend of the powderpuff game, Friday, those girls wear those jerseys to school. And so that all school officials know this powderpuff game is coming up.

Now school officials say they wear them randomly. Kids say they wear them the day of the weekend. But let's hear what the principal had to say just earlier to this question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL RIGGLE, PRINCIPAL, GLENBROOK NORTH HIGH SCHOOL: ... we've learned by talking to students that there were many people who participated in the activity, for a significant number of people who did not know the time or location until as late as one hour before the event. So that information was circulated on the weekend and that was at a time when they were not in our care and the questions could no longer be asked, nor could they be answered...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASEY: As you said, the blame game has certainly begun. But we're waiting to hear from police. They say they may have issued charges as early as tomorrow -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Whitney, this has been going on, this so-called powderpuff game, for, what, 20 years or so. They do it every year. The junior girls, senior girls. People can't say they were surprised by this, can they?

CASEY: No, but the were surprised, they say, by the extent, at where it got, at this point. They say that they have been seeing this game -- and actually I talked with some kids who said that it got pretty bad about eight years ago. Where officials had to be called in because one woman brought a -- a young girl brought a knife.

Last year, one young woman was hurt extensively -- this is according to some of the kids that were there last year. So it has been escalating in the past years. And -- but it's never gotten to this point what is we've heard from most parents and kids.

BLITZER: It's still shocking. Whitney Casey in Chicago with this story for us. Whitney, thanks very much.

And here's your turn to weigh in on this story. "Our Web Question of the Day is this: should the high school be held liable for the girls' hazing incident even though it happened off campus? We'll have the results later in this broadcast. Vote at cnn.com/wolf.

Let's go to Capitol Hill right now, General Tommy Franks, the commander of Operation Iraqi Freedom, has been briefing members of Congress. Let's listen in.

(INTERRUPTED BY LIVE EVENT)

BLITZER: We have much more news coming up, including this dramatic story -- wounded in action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYLOR: An RPG penetrated through the top of the vehicle and blew up on my engine and sent shrapnel all into my legs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: See what combat was really like in Iraq from a marine who lived through it. But narrowly lived through it.

Plus, nuclear lootings in Iraq. Thieves make off with some very dangerous cargo. We're watching all of these developments and more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Coming up, we're going to hear directly from this man, Aron Ralston, the 27-year-old hiker in Colorado who had to amputate his own arm in order to survive. His dramatic story in his words. That's coming up.

But first, another dramatic story. A month ago, Corporal Chad Taylor was on a thrilling but still extremely dangerous adventure. On patrol with the 1st Marines in Iraq. But things could have changed dramatically for hi -- they couldn't have changed much more dramatically in less than a month.

If you want to see the real price of war, do what I did -- spend some time at the Bethesda Naval Hospital outside Washington, D.C.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): For a 22-year-old, Chad Taylor doesn't take much for granted.

TAYLOR: I don't know. I learned to appreciate things a lot more.

BLITZER: Being wounded in combat will do that to you.

April 12, a lot happened that day, including a well-publicized army raid on a mosque in southern Baghdad.

On the other side of the city, Taylor's Marine unit was ordered to secure a bridge. Then, some ominous signs that have become familiar when U.S. military units were about to be ambushed.

TAYLOR: Within a couple of minutes, all of the civilian traffic had disappeared. And all of the ones that were walking around were scattering to get out of there so we knew something was going to happen. And within a couple of minutes after that happening, we started taking fire from the south with machine guns and other small arms.

BLITZER: Then, a Marine's worst nightmare.

TAYLOR: All of a sudden we got hit. There was a RPG penetrated through the top of the vehicle and blew up on my engine and sent shrapnel all into my legs. Took a lot of the skin and tissue off my left leg, exposing the muscles.

BLITZER: When the shooting died down, his fellow Marines were able to pull Taylor from the turret of his amphibious assault vehicle.

TAYLOR: The corpsman told me -- he was pretty reassuring. He says, you're not going to die. So...

BLITZER (on camera): At least you knew that.

TAYLOR: Yes.

BLITZER: So you were happy. Did you ever feel you were going to die?

TAYLOR: No.

BLITZER: You were never...

TAYLOR: No. I just -- it didn't even really hurt at the time.

BLITZER (voice-over): The pain set in later, along with a frightening realization.

TAYLOR: If I'd been sitting a little bit lower in the turret, I wouldn't be here.

BLITZER: And the thought of what that would have done to his family, one person in particular.

TAYLOR: Yes, I have an identical twin brother.

BLITZER (on camera): And what's his name?

TAYLOR: His name is Bobby.

BLITZER: And where is he?

TAYLOR: He's still over in Iraq.

BLITZER: He's a Marine?

TAYLOR: Yes.

BLITZER: So did both of you enlist at the same time?

TAYLOR: I talked him into it, actually.

BLITZER (voice-over): From that day, when he and his brother enlisted, to winning a Purple Heart, one 22-year-old Marine comes away with a sober maturity.

TAYLOR: There's some things I probably could have done to prevent it. But no, I wouldn't have changed anything. It's been worth it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: This note, Corporal Taylor is expected to make a full recovery, thank God. The doctors tell him it will take four to six months. He wants to remain in the Marine Corps.

Nuclear looting in Iraq. Are weapons of mass destruction even more likely now to end up in the wrong hands?

Also, will to live, the ultimate survival story, a hiker who cut off his own arm tells his harrowing tale for the first time. You'll hear his tale here in his own words.

And politics on television. Is it changing the way we see the president and the presidency? The star of TV's "24" and a former producer of "The West Wing" will join me live.

And look at this. We're still following a breaking story, wicked weather floods the South. You're looking at live pictures. We're continuing to monitor the weather and everything else. Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's on our side, right here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Flooding and funnel clouds. These are pictures coming in right now from West Point, Georgia. We'll keep you updated throughout the hour on the floods now developing in much of the South.

But first, more on those twisters spotted near the Denver airport. Joining us now is Casey Curry of our affiliate KWGN.

Casey, how bad was it over there?

CASEY CURRY, KWGN REPORTER: You know, Wolf, it came in very quickly and left very quickly. That's the good news. And here in Colorado, most of our tornadoes aren't that very strong F-5 range of tornadoes that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) seen throughout much of the Midwest and down into the Southeast. That's the good news for us. We tend to see a lot of quick funnel clouds that drop out of the sky, maybe cause a little bit of damage in open areas.

But for the most part, we don't experience the deadly tornadoes. That was the case again today. We do have home video to show you from one of those funnel clouds near Bennett, Colorado. Bennett is just east of Denver, out along I-70 as you head out toward the Kansas border. This funnel cloud did not actually touch the ground, we don't think. It was captured by Paul Dougherty, he's the man who shot the video. And here he is describing what he saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL DOUGHERTY: I already passed DIA. I was just east of Watkins (ph) when in my rearview mirror, there was a funnel cloud. And I just pulled over, got the camera out, set it up, and collected as much footage as I possibly could.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURRY: Much of the Denver area has been under tornado warnings at various parts through the midmorning up until early this afternoon. Video from Denver International Airport, where the biggest problem there has been hail, at times the hail so thick that it actually looked like snow. And they actually brought out the snowplows this afternoon to clear the roadways.

We haven't heard any significant reports of damage from either the hail, the gusty winds, or those funnel clouds, and even the few brief touchdowns of tornadoes that we did see this afternoon. We have heard reports of some rollover accidents that we think were caused by weather.

The problem now, as we take a look live here in Denver, is that we've got the sun shining again. Of course, that means the atmosphere is going to heat up for us. That means we've got the potential for more storms to brew again this afternoon.

We do remain under a tornado watch that stays in effect until 6:00 local time here in Denver.

Reporting live in Denver, Casey Curry. Back to you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Casey, thanks very much. We'll continue to monitor what's going on. Six p.m. Denver, that's 8:00 p.m. here on the East Coast.

Let's move on now to a very serious threat in Iraq. Iraqi scientists fear contamination from a looted nuclear facility.

Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, once again is joining us now live from Baghdad with this dramatic development -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this site is the Altuata (ph) Atomic Research Institute on the outskirts of Baghdad. Iraqi scientists took us to the site where Iraq -- where Iraqi scientists store all their nuclear material.

Now at that site, they have drums of low-enriched uranium, drums of naturally occurring uranium, and a shed that was full of highly radioactive sources, sources that are often used in X-ray machines or have other industrial applications. And what the scientists there showed us was that many of the barrels had been looted by local villagers. They say the villagers had taken these barrels away to use them for water storage, for drinking, for cooking. They also showed us some of the metal containers, the lead containers that some of the highly radioactive sources had been encased in. They said that they believe the villagers had looted these sources as well.

We talked to the villagers there. They told us that they'd been in before U.S. troops came to control the site, they'd taken away some of these items. And the villagers told us that some of the items might be in Baghdad, they might have gone further away.

The International Atomic Energy Agency that used to monitor this particular storage site, which is Iraq's primary nuclear material storage site, said that they are now very concerned not just about the possibilities of health implications for the people in neighboring villages, but about a whole host of issues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK GWOZDECKY, IAEA SPOKESMAN: We're concerned on four levels. We're concerned about the potential for environmental contamination, we're concerned about the effects of radiation on the civilian population, we're concerned about the possibility of nuclear terrorism. This is a material that can be used for dirty bombs.

And ultimately, we are responsible for preventing the proliferation of material that might be used in a nuclear weapons program.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Big concern for the troops still guarding that site, looters getting in now and destroying very valuable and possibly highly secret documents at the massive Altuata complex, Wolf.

BLITZER: An important story. Nic Robertson in Baghdad, thanks very much for that.

He was forced to decide whether to die with his arm, or live without it. Coming up, we'll hear for the first time from the outdoorsman who survived by amputating his own arm.

Plus, Hollywood's Washington versus the real thing. I'll speak with live with Dennis Hayesbert. He plays the president on the hit drama "24." Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

We've told you, of course, about the incredible story of Aron Ralston, the 27-year-old Colorado man who cut off part of his right arm with a pocket knife after he was pinned by a boulder.

This afternoon, he talked about his ordeal for the first time since the accident last month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARON RALSTON, SURVIVOR: On Tuesday morning, there was -- my first attempt when I pursued the first option -- the first time I pursued the option of actually severing my arm. I took my pocket knife, and after preparing myself, which entailed getting all of my belongings ready so that once I was free, that I could leave the situation, I went through the motions of applying the tourniquet.

I had my biking shorts still with me, so I had those out to use as absorbent padding. Essentially, I got my surgical table ready and applied the knife to my arm and start sawing back and forth. And it didn't even break the skin. I couldn't even cut the hair off of my arm, the knife was so dull at that point. So it -- that was Tuesday morning.

I drank the last of my water, I settled back in, spent another day. There were other attempts that I made, again, getting myself fully prepared to cut my arm. And I got so far as to puncture the skin, and then found that I couldn't cut the bone, essentially knowing that you can't cut the bone without a bone saw.

By Thursday, I figured out an option around that. And it took me most of Thursday morning to get myself out, pursuing that option.

And then I made the rappel, as you've all heard. It was kind of interesting. Having crawled through another 150 linear feet of canyon, fourth class terrain in some parts, very restricted, narrower than I could fit with my backpack on in some places. And uncoiled and unkinked the rope, set that rappel, and got down to a pool of water that was at the bottom of the rappel.

And that was the first water that I had been able to have since Tuesday morning, so over 48 hours. And the first substantial amount of water that I'd been able to have for days.

That, though, my body reacted well to. I was able to stock up with the water canisters that I had. And then set out on what I was facing, approximately, an eight-mile hike. I think I hiked about six miles of that, maybe six and a half. I came upon some hikers. And I just passed the pictograph panels known as the Great Gallery in Horseshoe Canyon.

And they were the folks from Holland, who I think some folks in the media have already been in touch with, that they helped me carry my pack, gave me additional water, they gave me two Oreo cookies, the first food that I'd had in several days as well.

And from there, it was just kind of a trudge through the soft sand and the heat to get to the spot where then the helicopter spotted us and plucked me out of the canyon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: This footnote to that amazing story. In February of this year, Aron Ralston narrowly escaped death on a skiing trip when he was caught in an avalanche. What an amazing young man.

We're following a breaking story out of Los Angeles, a real-life spy story. CNN's Charles Feldman is joining us live with the details -- Charles.

CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the woman known as a double agent, Katrina Leung, has now been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of copying unauthorized -- and unauthorized possession of documents relating to the national defense. As expected, the indictment is not an espionage indictment.

You see there a picture of her long-time FBI handler, James Smith. He was indicted only yesterday on charges of gross negligence. Both Smith and Leung carried on an affair for some 20 years, during which the government says while she was recruited to spy on China for the U.S., she actually, according to the government, spied on the U.S. for China, Wolf.

BLITZER: Charles Feldman is going to be continuing to follow this story, a dramatic development on that development, dramatic development in Los Angeles. Thanks, Charles, very much.

When we come back, Washington, Hollywood style. How realistic is television's take on the White House? We'll talk to some of the people behind some of the top-rated programs. That's coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Earlier we asked, Who was the first president to appear on television? The answer, Franklin Roosevelt, back in 1939, for the opening of New York's World Fair. In 1927, Herbert Hoover appeared on the nation's first TV broadcast, but he was commerce secretary then.

The job of president of the United States has to be among the most stressful in the world. But it's apparently not dramatic enough for Hollywood, where producers take it over the top, oftentimes with extreme plots.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Who could forget this historic landing? President Bush awed us with the spectacle and angered his critics.

SEN. ROBERT BYRD (D), WEST VIRGINIA: I am loath to think of an aircraft carrier being used as an advertising backdrop for a presidential political slogan.

BLITZER: But if the drama in the news wasn't dramatic enough, leave it to Hollywood to up the ante.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "24")

DENNIS HAYESBERT, ACTOR: What do you think, Aaron? You think I'm unfit to fulfill my duties as president?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Meet President David Palmer on the hit series "24." In one day, he watched a nuclear bomb go off on U.S. soil. Now he's being removed from power for failing to respond to that attack.

Engineering his ouster, his own vice president and chief of staff. Engineering that nuclear attack, well, the series hints it's leaders in his own government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE WEST WING," NBC)

MARTIN SHEEN, ACTOR: If we're going to do this, we've got to start tonight, now. And I need you...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: On NBC's "The West Wing," it's bad to be the VP. The character, John Hoines (ph), a frequent fixture throughout the series, commits political suicide by having an affair with a woman who publishes a tell-all book.

And just last night, while Martin Sheen's character. President Bartlet is in the White House, his TV daughter gets kidnapped while under Secret Service protection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE WEST WING," NBC)

TAYLOR: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Bartlet is missing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Extreme plots aimed at getting you to watch. After all, it's what they call sweeps month, a ratings period.

But how far of a stretch is it from the real West Wing?

HOWARD KURTZ, "THE WASHINGTON POST": They need to hype, and sometimes oversimplify these issues, so they can fit a 60-minute plot line. So that's the tradeoff you have when Hollywood does Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And tonight, Howard Kurtz of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" and "The Washington Post" will delve further into this story at a forum here in Washington.

We have two featured guests, Dennis Hayesbert, he plays President Palmer in "24." And Lawrence O'Donnell, he's the creator and executive producer of "Mister Sterling" and a former writer and producer for "The West Wing." Thanks to both of you for joining us.

Dennis, let me begin with you. Are you worried at all that the impression a lot of people -- apparently a lot of young people have of Washington is what they see on your show?

HAYESBERT: Well, no, because, I have to say, that it is, you know, beyond anything else, an entertainment. I'd like to think that our show puts out an ideal of what we'd like the White House to be, what we'd like our representatives to be, and how we like our representatives to act like.

BLITZER: Do you try to stay relatively authentic in terms of the White House, the president, the government?

HAYESBERT: We try, yes, very much so.

BLITZER: Even though the plot sometimes get a little carried away?

HAYESBERT: Well, yes. Well, you know, a lot happens in 24 hours, so...

BLITZER: Lawrence, you've been involved in this, now, "Mister Sterling," "The West Wing." How realistic is the Hollywood version of Washington from the real version? You used to work for Senator Moynihan, you know Washington, you know politics quite well.

LAWRENCE O'DONNELL, FORMER WRITER, PRODUCER FOR "THE WEST WING": I think it depends on the show. I think if you look at -- I think it's now 88 episodes of "The West Wing," you know, there's been gunfire in about three of them, maybe. And the rest of them are people in neckties in a room arguing. Which is just all that Washington ever is.

And by the way, I just think one of the amazing achievements of "24" and what Dennis achieves there is, you have basically, everyone agrees, unrealistic stories. But the performances, this president is extremely presidential within the scenes that he's being delivered into. He carries himself through these scenes as presidents. And that's what you're asking these actors to do.

BLITZER: How do you prepare to play the president of the United States?

HAYESBERT: Well, I think of two things, integrity and dignity. And I just perform the words as they're written. And I have -- I'm blessed with really great writers. And I think they're blessed with someone that can interpret them.

BLITZER: Did you come to Washington? Did you go to the White House? Did you speak to former presidents? How did you -- how do you -- how does an actor get into the head, the mind, of a president?

HAYESBERT: Well, actually, I didn't really have a lot of time, because from the first season, I was a senator running for president. The second season, I had no idea when I was or if I was coming back. And when they finally told me, I had, what, a couple of weeks.

BLITZER: Well, there's something unrealistic, a senator becoming president of the United States. That doesn't happen very often.

What do you do to tell the actors out there how to portray senators, politicians, the people of Washington? O'DONNELL: You don't tell actors how to portray anything. They are professionals. They bring themselves to a role. In the Senate show that I've had this year, "Mister Sterling," we stayed very well within the bounds of reality. And I was doing that with actors who had no idea what a Finance Committee markup was. But they certainly acted their way through it as if they did.

I mean, the -- all the people who played senators on my show, I did not give one word to them about how to do that.

BLITZER: How surprised are you, Dennis, that your show, "24" has been such a huge hit?

HAYESBERT: I think because of the concept, you know, the split screens, the writing, what Kiefer brings to his character, the espionage factor. And also the way that our -- my cabinet and I operate. We operate on a very serious level. And like we -- Lawrence says, we, you know, we act our way through it. We try to be as serious and as truthful as we can.

BLITZER: Dennis Hayesbert, most of our viewers know you as President Palmer of "24." Thanks for joining us, Mr. President.

HAYESBERT: Thank you.

BLITZER: Do a lot of people say that to you?

HAYESBERT: Very much. A lot.

BLITZER: Lawrence O'Donnell, a familiar fixture here in Washington for many years, thanks to you as well. Good luck with your program.

O'DONNELL: Thanks.

BLITZER: And our Web question of the day is this. Should the high school be held liable for the girls' hazing incident, even though it happened off campus? That incident just outside Chicago. Vote now at cnn.com/wolf. 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've been asking you this question, Should the high school be held liable for the girls' hazing incident, even though it happened off campus? Look at this, 36 percent of you say yes, 64 percent say no.

And as Lou Dobbs always reminds me, this is not a scientific poll.

Lou Dobbs is standing by to pick up our coverage right now -- Lou.

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