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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Thousands Evacuate From Orange County; Bush Picks New Homeland Security Secretary-Designate

Aired January 11, 2005 - 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, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now. Fleeing the floods in Orange Country, California, 4,000 are told, ordered in fact, to evacuate.
Standby for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): California's desperate battle. Caught in a mudslide. A family's horror and heroism.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I was trying to yell at her, she was moving downstream, hold the baby up, hold the baby up.

BLITZER: Survivors swept away by the tsunami. He spent two weeks alone in the sea.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I managed to survive on the flesh of coconuts for 12 days.

BLITZER: "Security Watch."

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our nation is still at war. We're focused. We're taking decisive actions on the home front.

BLITZER: The president picks a homeland security chief as Washington gets ready for its first inauguration since 9/11.

As Iraq gets ready for its election, police pay an extraordinary price and everyone is on edge.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I feel it every single time I step out, Wolf. I'm on guard, edgy. The hair is standing up on the back of my neck every single day.

BLITZER: We hear from our correspondent, Jeff Koinange.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, January 11, 2005.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thanks for joining us. Relentless record-setting rain is finally tapering off in California, but the damage already has been done to lives and to property. Sporadic flooding is a problem in Southern California with rivers and creeks threatening to spill over their banks. Getting around is difficult if not impossible in some areas with mudslides and flooding making some roads impassable.

And to the north, more snow fell in the Sierra-Nevada today. The one ski resort -- at least one ski resort reports 20 feet, 20 feet of new snow since Christmas. The problem is getting there.

One of the most serious situations is still unfolding right now in a small coastal community literally devastated by a mudslide. We just received this picture showing the extent of the disaster. Four people are now confirmed dead with possibly more than two dozen still missing, that number likely to grow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: They have been searching nearly around the clock in La Conchita, California, for survivors of that deadly landslide, using highly sensitive listening devices, hoping to hear signs of life under the mud and debris.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here it comes. Get out of here!

BLITZER: A huge chunk of water-logged mountainside gave way yesterday, tumbling onto the small coastal community just north of Los Angeles, crushing and burying some 15 homes. Residents were in the process of evacuating when the slide hit. Many never made it out of their homes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he was over there helping the boy get his stuff out of there. They didn't make it. They didn't make it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey! Hey! We've got a kid down here!

BLITZER: Even before the emergency crews arrived, residents rushed to find missing neighbors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just started digging. I called for help and some other gentleman came and helped me, one of my neighbors here in La Conchita, and we just started bit by bit tearing boards out of the way, throwing pieces of broken glass.

BLITZER: The slide here was the biggest, but not the only emergency resulting from the worst series of storms to hit the region in recent years. Since December 26th, downtown Los Angeles has had its wettest two weeks ever, more than 17 inches of rain. At least one mountain location has had two feet of rain since just Thursday. All that water has turned Southern California's usually dry creeks and rivers into death traps. Swift water rescue teams have been making run after run, many to save drivers who tried to cross flooded roads.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought that the water level was not as deep. So I climbed out through the back. Luckily, there was a truck behind me. I climbed up through the window, I got on my roof.

BLITZER: Others were not so lucky. Nearby a woman and her children drove around a barricade and into the barge to try to cross a flooded road, but the vehicle was swept away. A helicopter plucked the two older children to safety and was airlifting the woman with her 2-year-old in her arms, but she lost her grip and the toddler plunged into the water and drowned.

Another baby survived a rescue that almost failed. The child and its mother were being evacuated because of flooding when the raft they were in capsized.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her and the baby were again taken under. And I was trying to yell at her as she was moving downstream, hold the baby up, hold the baby up. And every time I would say that she would actually listen and she would try to get the baby up, but it was quite hard for her.

BLITZER: This time, mother, child and the rescuers all made it to safety.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thank God for that.

It's a story with multiple angles. But the headline right now continues to be that landslide in La Conchita. CNN's Kimberly Osias is on the scene for us once again with the search for survivors.

Kimberly, first of all, earlier today we heard they were still perhaps hearing some sounds from under the mud and the debris. What's the latest on that?

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, earlier it was certainly a different feel. They believe that they had heard some signs of life from a mother and three of her children, some breathing or some kind of coughing. However, these devices are so, so sensitive, when they actually excavated and digged to about street level, some 30 feet of mud they had to sift through and clear through trees, they found that it was actually a false positive and it may have just been the wind.

BLITZER: Do they have any idea who they're looking for right now? Who do they think are among those missing?

OSIAS: Well, officials tell us there are between 20 and 27 people that are missing or unreported. However, the eyewitness accounts are far greater. They exceed that to the tune of about 30 or 40 people. Now who exactly they're looking for, we have been told there are some children in that mix and adults as well.

BLITZER: Give us a sense, Kimberly, of how deep the mud is.

OSIAS: Thirty feet is what I have been told, Wolf. And you know, they are certainly trying to keep the morale up here. And as you know, I mean, this has been a wicked pattern for six days straight and some of the crews have been working throughout in different areas on the coast here. And they are certainly exhausted. However, they say they will not give up until everybody is found. BLITZER: Kimberly Osias on the scene for us. Let's hope for the best. Thanks, Kimberly, very much. Staying in California, there is another story developing right now about 100 miles down the coast in Orange County. That's where a massive evacuation is now in effect because of the a levee threatening to give way along the flooding San Juan Creek. Sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino is joining us on the phone from San Juan Capistrano with more.

What exactly do we know at this point, Jim?

JIM AMORMINO, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT. SPOKESMAN: Our concern was that the levee stay intact. We've been pretty lucky the last few hours where the water level has decreased approximately three feet. The concern was if the levee broke that approximately 180 homes may be flooded. They are making a makeshift dam behind that levee in hopes to prevent any water damage to the homes.

BLITZER: So, you have evacuated, what, about 4,000 people so far?

AMORMINO: That's correct. We have evacuated approximately 4,000 residents. Most of them have been sent to an evacuation center where the Red Cross is assisting us. We are working very closely with the Orange County fire authorities.

BLITZER: How unusual is this situation in Orange County right now?

AMORMINO: It's very unusual. I think one resident, long-time resident here and the mayor of San Juan Capistrano said it's been at least 30 or 40 years since he has seen anything like this.

BLITZER: Is this all part of the same problem throughout the state, this horrible weather situation that has developed in California?

AMORMINO: Without question. The depth of this river usually is about one foot. It has risen to approximately 15 to 18 feet. It's near an area where the Tribucal (ph) Creek merges with the San Juan Creek. A little while ago there was another concern that the train bridge crossing the San Juan Creek was in somewhat danger, part of the concrete pillar adjacent to that bridge also was washed into the river. However, that bridge has been reopened to train traffic at reduced speeds.

BLITZER: What about highways and interstates and car traffic through the area? What's the latest on that?

AMORMINO: There are many road closures in the area only open to local traffic. As far as the interstate, no interstate has been affected. The 5 freeway, the Golden State Freeway is fully operational.

BLITZER: Jim Amormino, good luck to you. Thanks very much for joining us.

AMORMINO: Thank you.

BLITZER: Residents of a small Alaska village are living through their own weather nightmare right now. The town of Katovic (ph) inside the Artic Circle has been without electricity since Sunday when its power plant simply broke down. Since then, temperatures have hit 20 below zero with blizzard conditions and wind chills of 60 below. Repair crews have made two attempts to reach Katovic, but weather turned them back both times. Officials say about 100 people are holed up in a maintenance building which still has no power.

Other areas around the world are also reeling from some very bad weather. This is the scene, take a look at this, in Costa Rica, where flood waters have driven thousands of people driven from their homes, thousands more have been evacuated in Panama. At least one flood- related death is reported in Costa Rica.

Parts of northern Europe are also under water. Britain is especially hard hit. Some of the worst weather in 40 years slammed northeastern England over the weekend. The floods and hurricane force winds drove thousands of people from their homes. At least three deaths are reported.

And in southern Australia, it's not rain, but fire that's causing problems. A huge brushfire has scorched a quarter of a million acres, killing at least five people. In one coastal town, several people jumped into the sea to escape the flames.

Just when it seemed too much time had passed for any more amazing stories of tsunami survivors, we're hearing the most amazing of all, a man who was swept out to sea by the killer waves and rescued after two weeks. CNN's Andrew Brown has this amazing story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Many ships had passed him by during his ordeal. Finally, this one, the Al Yamamah (ph) spotted him, turned around and delivered him to safety. 21-year- old Ari Afrizal walked out the Liberian-registered vessel on to Malaysian soil after spending at least two weeks adrift in the Indian Ocean. On December 26, he was swept out to sea off Indonesia's Aceh province after trying to outrun the lethal waves that crashed ashore that morning.

ARI AFRIZAL, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR (through translator): The first day, I clung to a piece of wood. The second day, I made it to a small fishing vessel. I was in a small fishing boat for four days before I managed to get on a raft.

BROWN: Afrizal drifted on to the raft for more than a week. Although he found water and clothes on board, his spirits began to fade, because ship after ship failed to spot him, floating helplessly. Finally, the Al Yamamah came to the rescue.

AFRIZAL: I then waved to them, because I knew I was safe.

BROWN: Safe, but very, very hungry. AFRIZAL: I managed to survive on the flesh of coconuts for 12 days. For three days, I didn't get anything to eat.

BROWN: An ambulance was standing by when Afrizal arrived at Malaysia's port (UNINTELLIGIBLE). He sustained leg injuries but that may be the least of his worries. He doesn't know the fate of his own family. He has yet to find out whether they are safe or lost in the ruins of Aceh. Andrew Brown, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And to our viewers, here is your chance to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the day is this. Do you think the weather is becoming more extreme? You can vote right now. Go to CNN.com/wolf. We'll have the results for you later in this broadcast.

A new name in the fight against terrorism. President Bush picks a homeland security chief.

Inaugural security, a new plan to protect the president and his family as he gets sworn in for a second term.

On the front lines and paying the price, Iraqi police officers being murdered daily by enemy fighters.

And later, protecting your health. Why some doctors are opting not to perform certain procedures on patients who might benefit from them. There's a disturbing new study that's just been released. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Our top story, the weather, the wicked weather that's been unfolding out west in particular. Take a look at this. We're just getting these pictures in from southern Utah, a house simply collapsing, look at this, as these floods continue, not only in California but this is in Santa Clara, Utah. House simply destroyed as these flood waters get going. It's happening out west California, and now Utah. We're all over this story. We will continue to update our viewers and bring you the latest, bring you more as it becomes available. One family's house simply destroyed -- look at these pictures -- by this flood.

In our CNN security watch, his first high-pick profile selection didn't necessarily work out when the former New York City police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, was forced to back out. Now, the president has nominated U.S. appeals court judge Michael Chertoff as his homeland security secretary. Let's go live to New York. CNN's Allan Chernoff is standing by with details.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Michael Chertoff is a heavy hitter in legal circles. He has extensive experience as a prosecutor, but also has a good background in fighting terrorism.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) (voice-over): On 9/11, Michael Chertoff coordinated the country's legal response as head of the Justice Department's criminal division.

BUSH: In the days after September 11, Mike helped to trace the terrorist attacks to the al Qaeda network. He understood immediately that the strategy on the war on terror is to prevent attacks before they occur.

CHERNOFF: Chertoff had prosecutors working closely with the FBI, increasing authority for agents to conduct surveillance and using warrants to round up suspects.

CARRY FISHMAN, FMR. ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY: He clearly was at the forefront of trying to figure out how to gather intelligence and try to bring that to bear in preventing attacks on American soil even before there was a Department of Homeland Security.

CHERNOFF: As a prosecutor Chertoff's reputation is aggressive. In the '80s, he led the team that put Genovese mob boss Anthony "Fat Tony" Sarleno behind bars as well as other mafia leaders. He successfully prosecuted electronics tycoon Crazy Eddie Antar on racketeering and securities fraud and he oversaw the task force that prosecuted Enron's accountant Arthur Anderson which put the firm out of business.

LESLIE CALDWELL, FMR. ENRON TASK FORCE DIRECTOR: He is going to know everything there is to know about terrorism, he is going to know everything there is that's being done to prevent terrorism and he is the perfect kind of person to come up with new creative ideas and come up with better ways, faster ways, smoother ways, more effective ways to combat terrorism.

CHERNOFF: Chertoff has been a Bush supporter. He helped raise funds for the president during his first run for the White House. The Clintons remember him as a foe. Chertoff was special counsel to the Senate committee investigating Whitewater when he grilled White House aides about Bill and Hillary Clinton's involvement in the Arkansas land deal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: Rusty Harden, the opponent that Chertoff faced in the Anderson case says that if Chertoff is as tough on terrorists as he was on the Anderson case, he will be highly successful in the new position -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Allan Chernoff, thanks so much for that report.

Pomp and ceremony, next week's presidential inauguration here in Washington will be very public, but will it be very vulnerable? It's the first since the 9/11 attacks. And the outgoing Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge announced today some extraordinary protective measures. CNN's Sumi Das reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Next week's inauguration will signal four more years for the Bush administration, but beyond the pageantry will be an unprecedented security operation marrying multiple agencies and brand new technology. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge met law enforcement officials and toured mobile command centers before providing some details of security preparations. The United States' Secret Service will run the operational security plan, leading government agencies at every level, from federal air marshals to the Washington metropolitan police.

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Protective measures will be seen. There will be quite a few that are not seen. Our goal is that any attempt on the part of anyone or any group to disrupt the inaugural will be repelled by multiple layers of security.

DAS: Activities will be monitored from land, sea and air. U.S. parked police helicopters will use forward looking infrared cameras providing a bird's eye view of events in real time.

DWIGHT PETTIFORD, ACTING CHIEF, U.S. PARK POLICE: It gives us the capability of having a downlink to our command centers. That's one of the great features of us being airborne that day.

DAS: Combat air patrols will make sure planes abide by a no fly zone that will triple in size covering a 3,000 square mile area around the capital. While Ridge has said the current level of terror chatter is down and there is no specific threat toward the inaugural, the event has received the highest security designation. Officials will be on alert.

MAJOR. GEN. GALEN JACKMAN, U.S. ARMY: We have looked at the full range of threats, we have looked at aircraft flying into this area, we've looked at snipers, mortars, rockets. You name it we have looked at it. We have prepared contingencies not only to respond, but to deter and prevent those types of things from happening.

DAS: 9/11 and the war in Iraq have heightened the security concerns for the upcoming inaugural events. This year's inauguration will have the most expensive and the most extensive security ever. Sumi Das, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And having driven around Washington earlier today especially around this area I can personally testify I have never seen security preparations under way as they are right now for the January 20 inauguration. Stay with CNN all day on that day, of course, for complete coverage of the president's inauguration. Also, please stay with CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Intimidation and assassinations, Iraqi police forces facing new dangers as enemy fighters work to disrupt the upcoming election there.

Caught in the cross fire, seven children killed, all from the same extended family. The incident now under investigation. We'll have details. Later this hour...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't talk back to me, all right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Pitching a fit. The Yankees newest star pitcher, Randy Johnson, clashes in front of the cameras.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In the Middle East, a promising new development in the Israeli/Palestinian relationship. The Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, has phoned Mahmoud Abbas to congratulate him on winning the presidential election. Sharon says he hopes to meet personally with Abbas in the coming weeks. The Palestinian president elect says he is eager to meet with the Israeli prime minister as well to talk about renewing the peace process.

Peace talks can't resume soon enough for those civilians caught in the crossfire of the this Israeli/Palestinian conflict. As CNN's Ben Wedeman reports the victims often are children. Some of the pictures in this report may be disturbing to you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's time to change 13-year-old Isa Rabin's (ph) dressings on the bloody stumps that were once his legs. The pain, hard for his mother to bear.

There's nothing more dear to a mother than her child, she says. Isa and three other boys lost their legs early in the morning on January 4 when an Israeli tank round exploded near his home in northern Gaza. The blast killed seven other boys, ages 11 to 17, all from the same extended family.

Minutes beforehand, just up the road, Palestinian militants had fired mortar rounds at a nearby Jewish settlement. One person was injured in that attack. The people here, caught between militant attacks and Israeli retaliation, feel helpless.

Showing me where her 10-year-old son, Raji (ph), was killed, this woman says they knew the mortars were fired from around their houses, but could do nothing to stop it. The group that claims it fired the mortars makes no apologies.

We're saddened by what happened says this spokesman from the Aqsa Martyrs Brigade but we won't stop the attacks.

In a statement to CNN, the Israeli army says it's investigating the incident. In part, the army's statement said, quote, "this group of terrorists purposely fired the mortars from amid innocent civilians who were working and living in the area." The shattered families of the wounded aren't interested in placing the blame. Tempers flare as they try to convince hospital staff to send their sons to Israel for treatment, but they claim corrupt Palestinian Authority officials won't authorize a transfer until bribed.

Isa's father, Ramadan (ph), is beyond despair. Let them put him out of his misery, he says. It's better than watching him die every day. Three of Mariam Rabin's (ph) sons were killed, a fourth son, 18- year-old Mohammed (ph), lies semiconscious in the intensive care unit, his spine severed, right leg amputated, left eye gone. We need to stop this bloodshed. This is enough, she says.

Enough and then some for 13-year-old Isa. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Gaza.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Our heart goes out to that family. We can only hope these peace talks do get under way so these children on both sides can live.

Insurgents are taking aim, this time at Iraqi police. Could the attacks be coming from within the force itself? Our Brian Todd has been investigating. Just days until Iraq's election. Will the country be ready? I'll ask Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations. I'll speak to him live.

Plus, a very disturbing new study that reveals why some doctors may be avoiding performing a life-saving heart procedure.

And we're getting a statement now from Dan Rather of CBS News. He didn't appear last night on his newscast. We'll tell you now what he says now about that CBS News report that was so critical of his performance.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Iraq's interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, conceded today that some parts of the country won't be safe enough to participate in the scheduled January 30 election.

As insurgents step up their campaign of violence, Iraq's police and security forces are bearing the brunt of it, suffering extraordinarily high casualties.

CNN's Brian Todd has been looking into this story. He is joining us now live -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the numbers are staggering and those figures and some of the patterns that we have looked at, up to an attack today, paint the picture of an Iraqi police force under siege.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TODD (voice-over): The weapon, a powerful car bomb, the target, a police station. The toll, at least half a dozen policemen blown up. This scene and the refrain from Iraq's current leader strike a familiar chord.

IYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI INTERIM PRIME MINISTER (through translator): These evil forces will not continue to inflict harm on the Iraqi people.

TODD: But the increased targeting of Iraqi security forces, especially police, paints an ominous picture. According to the Interior Ministry and figures compiled from news reports, more than 1,300 Iraqi police officers have been killed since the late June handover, more than two dozen just since January 1, an overall figure on par with the total number of American servicemen killed since the war began.

KENNETH POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: These are numbers that the United States needs to concentrate on far more intensely.

TODD: Experts we spoke to, including current and former coalition military and CARVILLE: officials say look at the patterns. Early November, 21 people, many of them policemen, massacred execution style in the town of Hadithah. Early this week, Baghdad's deputy police chief and his son gunned down in broad daylight.

The insurgents, they say, are getting more brazen, have developed a coherent strategy and are sending a clear message to potential officers and the citizens they are supposed to protect.

POLLACK: It sends them the message that, if you try to help the Americans rebuild the country, no good will come of it, only bad. Obviously, any would-be Iraqi police officer or other participant in the security forces has got to consider the possibility that he will be killed.

TODD: An especially dangerous problem cited by experts, elements of the force have been infiltrated. Insurgents know where and when police are gathering. One observer says U.S. and Iraqi officials place too much emphasis on sheer numbers, getting officers on the street and not enough on recruiting trustworthy officers.

Many believe ethnic loyalties are affecting morale and cooperation. Sunnis on the force, many who served during Saddam's regime, feel increasingly threatened with the integration of Shia and Kurdish officers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: A former coalition official believes we're already caught in a low-level civil war, with U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces on the front lines.

Despite all this, every indication is that there has been no drop-off in police recruiting. The economic situation is too desperate, Wolf. BLITZER: These people simply need a job, too.

TODD: That's right.

BLITZER: Brian Todd, thanks so much.

As elections approach and the violence mounts, everyone in Iraq is on edge.

CNN's Jeff Koinange has covered bloody conflicts all over Africa. Earlier today, he spoke with me about the violence right now in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Jeff, you're normally based in Nairobi, and you do a lot of reporting from Africa for us. I assume this is your first time in Baghdad, the past 2 1/2 weeks or so that you've been there.

What's it been like for you? Take us a little bit behind the scenes. How have you reacted to what you've actually seen on the ground?

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I'll tell you it's like nothing I've never seen before. Every day a suicide bombing here, an assassination there, a kidnapping somewhere else. It's so dangerous when we venture out.

We have to go under heavy security every day. You have to wear your flak jacket almost 24 hours a day.

The buzz, you talk about an election buzz, the only buzz we hear here is -- we hear on the ground helicopters, Apache helicopters buzzing in the air. Machine-gun fire ricocheting in the background. Mortar fire being fired here and there. It's every single day, nonstop, 24 hours.

And you know, the crew here they keep telling me I'm going to get used to it after awhile. But every time I hear a gunshot, mortar round go off, Wolf, and you see I've covered a lot of conflicts in Africa, nothing like this. I'm always jumpy, Wolf, every single time.

BLITZER: So in other words, even though you've covered guerrilla wars, civil wars, disasters in Africa, horrendous situations there that have been life-threatening, what you're saying these past two and a half weeks have been the most fearful, the most frightening two and a half weeks of your journalistic career?

KOINANGE: Without a doubt, Wolf. And I can say that every single day I wake up, we don't know what's going to happen.

When we hear suicide bombers ramming police checkpoints, when you hear them meters away from the heavily fortified Green Zone. Despite how many U.S. troops are on the ground, despite how optimistic the people here are on the ground, I feel it every single time I step out, Wolf. I'm on guard, edgy. The hair is standing on the back of my neck every single day, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jeff Koinange. You tell a chilling tale. But it's not an unusual tale, I have to tell you. Every time I debrief our reporters, other reporters on the scene, and other State Department personnel, people who are going in to Baghdad, I hear a similar account.

Jeff Koinange doing an excellent job for us, as usual. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

So, is it too dangerous for Iraqis to vote? Even at this late date, should Iraq consider postponing the election?

Joining us now from the United Nations is Samir al-Sumaidaie, Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations -- Sumaidaie.

Mr. Ambassador, thanks very much. I apologize for mispronouncing your last name.

SAMIR AL-SUMAIDAIE, IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS: Thank you.

BLITZER: You heard this account from Jeff Koinange. It seems incredibly dangerous right now. Is it too dangerous for there to be a free and fair election in Iraq?

AL-SUMAIDAIE: Well, Wolf, this is a test of wills.

You can imagine as if the entire eventual of the world has been concentrated through terrorism to make sure that Iraq does not succeed. This is on one side. On the other side, the collective will of the Iraqi people, the great majority of them, to succeed, that's what's going on. It's the sharpest end of the conflict.

We understand there are threats. When people come up and blow up themselves, it is very hard to stop them. The security -- you know that I was, for a brief period, minister of interior last year. I know the situation with the police force. Those men, most of them, were recruited in a hurry, not fully trained, not sufficiently trained, not sufficiently protected in many cases.

BLITZER: Let me interrupt, Mr. Ambassador, because I just want to get to this point. You will acknowledge, since you were interior minister, the situation in Baghdad and the so-called Sunni Triangle, in these four provinces out of 18 -- approximately half of the population of Iraq is concentrated in those four provinces -- the situation has clearly deteriorated over the past year?

AL-SUMAIDAIE: Yes, there has been some worsening of the security situation in some areas.

Against that, we have found we have achieved consolidation and improvement in security in other areas. I believe that the majority of the population centers in terms of bulk in Iraq geographically will be sufficiently secure to allow people to go to the polls. And I predict a large turnout.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Will Sunni -- will Iraqi Sunnis go out and risk their lives and vote?

AL-SUMAIDAIE: Well, those who will be prevented by threats will unfortunately not be able to.

But I can assure you of one thing, that even if the entire National Assembly will be composed of non-Sunnis, which it's not going to be, there is nobody in Iraq interested in excluding or marginalizing the Sunnis. Iraqis are cutely aware, all of them, of the need to have everybody have a role.

BLITZER: What's the most important thing, do you believe, that the United States can do to guarantee that this election will be relatively free?

AL-SUMAIDAIE: Well, the United States is doing -- your question is about the United States, right?

BLITZER: Could you repeat that? I didn't hear what you said.

AL-SUMAIDAIE: Sorry. You are asking me about the United States or the United Nations?

BLITZER: Yes, the United States. What do you want the United States to do between now and the elections and immediately after to do? Is there anything that the U.S. should be doing, for example, that it's not doing?

AL-SUMAIDAIE: Well, not much. In fact, apply maximum pressure on outside powers who might be thinking of interfering in the local elections.

BLITZER: Like who?

AL-SUMAIDAIE: I wouldn't like to name names right now in this interview, but I think it's very clear those powers which have an interest in influencing events in Iraq and making sure, perhaps, not -- for the Iraqi project not to succeed.

BLITZER: Are you referring to Syria and Iran?

AL-SUMAIDAIE: Well, maybe some elements in these countries, but the official policy in these countries is to help. And we have had some increased -- or increasing understanding with them, but we believe that there is more that can be done in this field.

BLITZER: Samir al-Sumaidaie is the Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations.

Mr. Ambassador, good luck to you. Good luck to all the Iraqi people.

AL-SUMAIDAIE: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: A disturbing new medical study that could put patients at risk. Find out why some doctors are electing not, not, to perform potentially life-saving procedures.

And this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDY JOHNSON, NEW YORK YANKEES: I don't care who you are. Don't get in my face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: New York's newest star, the Big Unit, as he's called, has a big blow-up. His clash with the paparazzi, that's coming up.

And we're just getting this in to CNN, a statement from CBS News anchor Dan Rather as he reacts for the first time publicly to yesterday's report. We'll read you his statement. We'll bring you all the details right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Just a little while ago, Dan Rather sent a memo to the entire CBS News staff, his first official public comments since that report was released yesterday critical of his "60 Minutes Wednesday" performance.

Let me read to you what Dan Rather is now saying: "The panel report is part of a process, a necessary process, to deal with a difficult issue at the end of which four good people have lost their jobs. My strongest reaction is one of sadness and concern for those individuals whom I know and with whom I have worked. It would be a shame if we let this matter, troubling as it is, obscure their dedication and good work over the years."

Dan Rather goes on to say this: "CBS News is a great institution with a distinct and precious legacy. I have been here through good times and not-so-good times. I have seen us overcome adversity before. I am convinced we can do so again. That must be our focus and priority. And we can fulfill that objective by getting back to business and doing our jobs better than ever."

He ends his statement to the staff with this: "Lest anyone have any doubt, I have read the report. I take it seriously and I shall keep its lessons well in mind," signed Dan Rather. He didn't anchor his newscast last night. He is expected to anchor his newscast tonight.

Let's move on now, other news we are following.

On the medical front, a troubling new survey in New York state. It shows some patients who might benefit from a heart procedure may not be getting it. And the state physician score cards could be to blame. CNN's Mary Snow is following the story for us. She's joining us live from New York -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, New York state is one of the handful of states that publishes mortality data for both doctors and hospitals. But a new survey suggests that some cardiologists might be avoiding a life-saving procedure for fear of how it will affect their so-called report card.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SAMIN SHARMA, MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL: One of the stents has blocked up a little bit. That is causing your pain.

SNOW: Dr. Samin Sharma is inserting a stent in the artery of Petra Serano (ph), who has already had two angioplasties. He estimates he has performed 1,200 of these procedures last year, but a new survey conducted by the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Rochester in New York indicates that other cardiologists in the state might not be so willing to perform the procedure on at- risk patients.

DR. CRAIG NARINS, UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: The main reason that doctors indicated that they were reluctant to perform angioplasty on sicker patients is that, if the patient doesn't do well, if they die, it is going to negatively effect their mortality score.

SNOW: That score comes in the form of a so-called report card for doctors in New York that publishes the mortality rate for consumers.

The study found that, of the 120 cardiologists surveyed in New York, 83 percent agree that patients who might benefit from angioplasty may not receive the procedure because of the public reporting of physician specific mortality rates. And another 79 percent agree that mortality data influenced their decision to operate in some cases.

NARINS: The question of ethics does come up. And to be honest, I was struck with the magnitude of the dislike, I guess you could say, for the survey among physicians.

SNOW: Doctors say, if the patients didn't have angioplasty, they were treated with medicine or bypass surgery. The goal of the study was to see if the public statistics influenced their decision-making.

SHARMA: My -- will be on the side that is -- that strongly disagree the statement that the report card makes you decline the patient's medical care which otherwise you would have given to the patient.

SNOW: Dr. Sharma, who is the head of interventional cardiology, says he understands the concern.

SHARMA: Concern is justified, but, at the same time, in my opinion, the report card makes you a better person, better interventionalist.

SNOW: One of the survey's authors says that patients should know that a doctor's mortality rate is not a perfect indicator of the doctor's skills level.

NARINS: If a physician has a particularly low mortality rate, in the back of your mind, you have to think, is this a really great doctor? Is he doing a great job taking care of his patients or is he avoiding taking care of sicker patients and that's the reason that his mortality statistics looks so good?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: Now, a bioethicist we spoke to points out that, if a doctor refused to perform a procedure that would be beneficial to a patient, that would be unethical.

He points out, however, there's a big difference between a doctor's actions and attitudes expressed in a survey. The New York State Department of Health also points out that, over a five-year period, angioplasties performed in the state were up some 62 percent, while mortality rate had decreased -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Mary Snow with that story -- Mary, thank you very much. A part of that report card I had not thought of earlier. Very interesting.

A crash course on media relations in New York. The newest New York Yankee, Randy Johnson, has a run-in with the paparazzi. I think you'll want to stick around and see this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: It didn't take long for Major League Baseball pitcher Randy Johnson to run head on into the media spotlight of the Big Apple.

CNN's Michelle Bonner reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE BONNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As far as first impressions go, this one was a dud. Randy Johnson, welcome to New York.

JOHNSON: Don't get in my face. I don't care who you are. Don't get in my face.

QUESTION: I'm just taking pictures.

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNSON: Don't get in my face and don't talk back to me, all right?

BONNER: The newest member of the Yankees pitching staff was on his way to take a physical, but apparently didn't appreciate being photographed. The incident made local and national headlines.

JOHNSON: Come in to one of the biggest media markets, one of the most winningest franchises in the history of any sport and that's the way I enter? I'm sorry.

BONNER: Johnson's reputation as a prickly personality precedes him. But with stints in smaller markets like Seattle and Phoenix, he has never had to deal with the type of spotlight he will receive in New York.

JOHNSON: I'm not used to having photographers pop out from behind the bushes and taking my picture or things like that. So, do I have to get used to that? Without a doubt.

JON HEYMAN, "NEWSDAY": This is one incident. If it doesn't continue, I think, eventually, it will be forgotten. Everybody can have a bad day. But I have seen a lot of these bad days from Randy Johnson.

DR. JOEL FISH, CENTER FOR SPORT PSYCHOLOGY: There's New York and there's the rest of the world. And no matter how much professional sports experience you have, New York challenges you in two ways. You have to be able to deal with pressure and you have to develop a certain kind of thick skin.

BONNER: Players who found the heat too hot in New York's kitchen include former Yankees pitchers Kenny Rogers and Ed Whitson, whose play suffered, as well as former Mets player Bobby Bonilla, who left less than a year after having a locker room confrontation with a reporter.

The Yankees are hoping their latest acquisition doesn't add his name to that dubious list.

Michelle Bonner, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And we'll have the results of our Web question of the day. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in our Web question of the day. Take a look at this. Remember, it's not a scientific poll.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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


Aired January 11, 2005 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now. Fleeing the floods in Orange Country, California, 4,000 are told, ordered in fact, to evacuate.
Standby for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): California's desperate battle. Caught in a mudslide. A family's horror and heroism.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I was trying to yell at her, she was moving downstream, hold the baby up, hold the baby up.

BLITZER: Survivors swept away by the tsunami. He spent two weeks alone in the sea.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I managed to survive on the flesh of coconuts for 12 days.

BLITZER: "Security Watch."

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our nation is still at war. We're focused. We're taking decisive actions on the home front.

BLITZER: The president picks a homeland security chief as Washington gets ready for its first inauguration since 9/11.

As Iraq gets ready for its election, police pay an extraordinary price and everyone is on edge.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I feel it every single time I step out, Wolf. I'm on guard, edgy. The hair is standing up on the back of my neck every single day.

BLITZER: We hear from our correspondent, Jeff Koinange.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, January 11, 2005.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thanks for joining us. Relentless record-setting rain is finally tapering off in California, but the damage already has been done to lives and to property. Sporadic flooding is a problem in Southern California with rivers and creeks threatening to spill over their banks. Getting around is difficult if not impossible in some areas with mudslides and flooding making some roads impassable.

And to the north, more snow fell in the Sierra-Nevada today. The one ski resort -- at least one ski resort reports 20 feet, 20 feet of new snow since Christmas. The problem is getting there.

One of the most serious situations is still unfolding right now in a small coastal community literally devastated by a mudslide. We just received this picture showing the extent of the disaster. Four people are now confirmed dead with possibly more than two dozen still missing, that number likely to grow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: They have been searching nearly around the clock in La Conchita, California, for survivors of that deadly landslide, using highly sensitive listening devices, hoping to hear signs of life under the mud and debris.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here it comes. Get out of here!

BLITZER: A huge chunk of water-logged mountainside gave way yesterday, tumbling onto the small coastal community just north of Los Angeles, crushing and burying some 15 homes. Residents were in the process of evacuating when the slide hit. Many never made it out of their homes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he was over there helping the boy get his stuff out of there. They didn't make it. They didn't make it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey! Hey! We've got a kid down here!

BLITZER: Even before the emergency crews arrived, residents rushed to find missing neighbors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just started digging. I called for help and some other gentleman came and helped me, one of my neighbors here in La Conchita, and we just started bit by bit tearing boards out of the way, throwing pieces of broken glass.

BLITZER: The slide here was the biggest, but not the only emergency resulting from the worst series of storms to hit the region in recent years. Since December 26th, downtown Los Angeles has had its wettest two weeks ever, more than 17 inches of rain. At least one mountain location has had two feet of rain since just Thursday. All that water has turned Southern California's usually dry creeks and rivers into death traps. Swift water rescue teams have been making run after run, many to save drivers who tried to cross flooded roads.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought that the water level was not as deep. So I climbed out through the back. Luckily, there was a truck behind me. I climbed up through the window, I got on my roof.

BLITZER: Others were not so lucky. Nearby a woman and her children drove around a barricade and into the barge to try to cross a flooded road, but the vehicle was swept away. A helicopter plucked the two older children to safety and was airlifting the woman with her 2-year-old in her arms, but she lost her grip and the toddler plunged into the water and drowned.

Another baby survived a rescue that almost failed. The child and its mother were being evacuated because of flooding when the raft they were in capsized.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her and the baby were again taken under. And I was trying to yell at her as she was moving downstream, hold the baby up, hold the baby up. And every time I would say that she would actually listen and she would try to get the baby up, but it was quite hard for her.

BLITZER: This time, mother, child and the rescuers all made it to safety.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thank God for that.

It's a story with multiple angles. But the headline right now continues to be that landslide in La Conchita. CNN's Kimberly Osias is on the scene for us once again with the search for survivors.

Kimberly, first of all, earlier today we heard they were still perhaps hearing some sounds from under the mud and the debris. What's the latest on that?

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, earlier it was certainly a different feel. They believe that they had heard some signs of life from a mother and three of her children, some breathing or some kind of coughing. However, these devices are so, so sensitive, when they actually excavated and digged to about street level, some 30 feet of mud they had to sift through and clear through trees, they found that it was actually a false positive and it may have just been the wind.

BLITZER: Do they have any idea who they're looking for right now? Who do they think are among those missing?

OSIAS: Well, officials tell us there are between 20 and 27 people that are missing or unreported. However, the eyewitness accounts are far greater. They exceed that to the tune of about 30 or 40 people. Now who exactly they're looking for, we have been told there are some children in that mix and adults as well.

BLITZER: Give us a sense, Kimberly, of how deep the mud is.

OSIAS: Thirty feet is what I have been told, Wolf. And you know, they are certainly trying to keep the morale up here. And as you know, I mean, this has been a wicked pattern for six days straight and some of the crews have been working throughout in different areas on the coast here. And they are certainly exhausted. However, they say they will not give up until everybody is found. BLITZER: Kimberly Osias on the scene for us. Let's hope for the best. Thanks, Kimberly, very much. Staying in California, there is another story developing right now about 100 miles down the coast in Orange County. That's where a massive evacuation is now in effect because of the a levee threatening to give way along the flooding San Juan Creek. Sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino is joining us on the phone from San Juan Capistrano with more.

What exactly do we know at this point, Jim?

JIM AMORMINO, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT. SPOKESMAN: Our concern was that the levee stay intact. We've been pretty lucky the last few hours where the water level has decreased approximately three feet. The concern was if the levee broke that approximately 180 homes may be flooded. They are making a makeshift dam behind that levee in hopes to prevent any water damage to the homes.

BLITZER: So, you have evacuated, what, about 4,000 people so far?

AMORMINO: That's correct. We have evacuated approximately 4,000 residents. Most of them have been sent to an evacuation center where the Red Cross is assisting us. We are working very closely with the Orange County fire authorities.

BLITZER: How unusual is this situation in Orange County right now?

AMORMINO: It's very unusual. I think one resident, long-time resident here and the mayor of San Juan Capistrano said it's been at least 30 or 40 years since he has seen anything like this.

BLITZER: Is this all part of the same problem throughout the state, this horrible weather situation that has developed in California?

AMORMINO: Without question. The depth of this river usually is about one foot. It has risen to approximately 15 to 18 feet. It's near an area where the Tribucal (ph) Creek merges with the San Juan Creek. A little while ago there was another concern that the train bridge crossing the San Juan Creek was in somewhat danger, part of the concrete pillar adjacent to that bridge also was washed into the river. However, that bridge has been reopened to train traffic at reduced speeds.

BLITZER: What about highways and interstates and car traffic through the area? What's the latest on that?

AMORMINO: There are many road closures in the area only open to local traffic. As far as the interstate, no interstate has been affected. The 5 freeway, the Golden State Freeway is fully operational.

BLITZER: Jim Amormino, good luck to you. Thanks very much for joining us.

AMORMINO: Thank you.

BLITZER: Residents of a small Alaska village are living through their own weather nightmare right now. The town of Katovic (ph) inside the Artic Circle has been without electricity since Sunday when its power plant simply broke down. Since then, temperatures have hit 20 below zero with blizzard conditions and wind chills of 60 below. Repair crews have made two attempts to reach Katovic, but weather turned them back both times. Officials say about 100 people are holed up in a maintenance building which still has no power.

Other areas around the world are also reeling from some very bad weather. This is the scene, take a look at this, in Costa Rica, where flood waters have driven thousands of people driven from their homes, thousands more have been evacuated in Panama. At least one flood- related death is reported in Costa Rica.

Parts of northern Europe are also under water. Britain is especially hard hit. Some of the worst weather in 40 years slammed northeastern England over the weekend. The floods and hurricane force winds drove thousands of people from their homes. At least three deaths are reported.

And in southern Australia, it's not rain, but fire that's causing problems. A huge brushfire has scorched a quarter of a million acres, killing at least five people. In one coastal town, several people jumped into the sea to escape the flames.

Just when it seemed too much time had passed for any more amazing stories of tsunami survivors, we're hearing the most amazing of all, a man who was swept out to sea by the killer waves and rescued after two weeks. CNN's Andrew Brown has this amazing story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Many ships had passed him by during his ordeal. Finally, this one, the Al Yamamah (ph) spotted him, turned around and delivered him to safety. 21-year- old Ari Afrizal walked out the Liberian-registered vessel on to Malaysian soil after spending at least two weeks adrift in the Indian Ocean. On December 26, he was swept out to sea off Indonesia's Aceh province after trying to outrun the lethal waves that crashed ashore that morning.

ARI AFRIZAL, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR (through translator): The first day, I clung to a piece of wood. The second day, I made it to a small fishing vessel. I was in a small fishing boat for four days before I managed to get on a raft.

BROWN: Afrizal drifted on to the raft for more than a week. Although he found water and clothes on board, his spirits began to fade, because ship after ship failed to spot him, floating helplessly. Finally, the Al Yamamah came to the rescue.

AFRIZAL: I then waved to them, because I knew I was safe.

BROWN: Safe, but very, very hungry. AFRIZAL: I managed to survive on the flesh of coconuts for 12 days. For three days, I didn't get anything to eat.

BROWN: An ambulance was standing by when Afrizal arrived at Malaysia's port (UNINTELLIGIBLE). He sustained leg injuries but that may be the least of his worries. He doesn't know the fate of his own family. He has yet to find out whether they are safe or lost in the ruins of Aceh. Andrew Brown, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And to our viewers, here is your chance to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the day is this. Do you think the weather is becoming more extreme? You can vote right now. Go to CNN.com/wolf. We'll have the results for you later in this broadcast.

A new name in the fight against terrorism. President Bush picks a homeland security chief.

Inaugural security, a new plan to protect the president and his family as he gets sworn in for a second term.

On the front lines and paying the price, Iraqi police officers being murdered daily by enemy fighters.

And later, protecting your health. Why some doctors are opting not to perform certain procedures on patients who might benefit from them. There's a disturbing new study that's just been released. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Our top story, the weather, the wicked weather that's been unfolding out west in particular. Take a look at this. We're just getting these pictures in from southern Utah, a house simply collapsing, look at this, as these floods continue, not only in California but this is in Santa Clara, Utah. House simply destroyed as these flood waters get going. It's happening out west California, and now Utah. We're all over this story. We will continue to update our viewers and bring you the latest, bring you more as it becomes available. One family's house simply destroyed -- look at these pictures -- by this flood.

In our CNN security watch, his first high-pick profile selection didn't necessarily work out when the former New York City police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, was forced to back out. Now, the president has nominated U.S. appeals court judge Michael Chertoff as his homeland security secretary. Let's go live to New York. CNN's Allan Chernoff is standing by with details.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Michael Chertoff is a heavy hitter in legal circles. He has extensive experience as a prosecutor, but also has a good background in fighting terrorism.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) (voice-over): On 9/11, Michael Chertoff coordinated the country's legal response as head of the Justice Department's criminal division.

BUSH: In the days after September 11, Mike helped to trace the terrorist attacks to the al Qaeda network. He understood immediately that the strategy on the war on terror is to prevent attacks before they occur.

CHERNOFF: Chertoff had prosecutors working closely with the FBI, increasing authority for agents to conduct surveillance and using warrants to round up suspects.

CARRY FISHMAN, FMR. ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY: He clearly was at the forefront of trying to figure out how to gather intelligence and try to bring that to bear in preventing attacks on American soil even before there was a Department of Homeland Security.

CHERNOFF: As a prosecutor Chertoff's reputation is aggressive. In the '80s, he led the team that put Genovese mob boss Anthony "Fat Tony" Sarleno behind bars as well as other mafia leaders. He successfully prosecuted electronics tycoon Crazy Eddie Antar on racketeering and securities fraud and he oversaw the task force that prosecuted Enron's accountant Arthur Anderson which put the firm out of business.

LESLIE CALDWELL, FMR. ENRON TASK FORCE DIRECTOR: He is going to know everything there is to know about terrorism, he is going to know everything there is that's being done to prevent terrorism and he is the perfect kind of person to come up with new creative ideas and come up with better ways, faster ways, smoother ways, more effective ways to combat terrorism.

CHERNOFF: Chertoff has been a Bush supporter. He helped raise funds for the president during his first run for the White House. The Clintons remember him as a foe. Chertoff was special counsel to the Senate committee investigating Whitewater when he grilled White House aides about Bill and Hillary Clinton's involvement in the Arkansas land deal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: Rusty Harden, the opponent that Chertoff faced in the Anderson case says that if Chertoff is as tough on terrorists as he was on the Anderson case, he will be highly successful in the new position -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Allan Chernoff, thanks so much for that report.

Pomp and ceremony, next week's presidential inauguration here in Washington will be very public, but will it be very vulnerable? It's the first since the 9/11 attacks. And the outgoing Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge announced today some extraordinary protective measures. CNN's Sumi Das reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Next week's inauguration will signal four more years for the Bush administration, but beyond the pageantry will be an unprecedented security operation marrying multiple agencies and brand new technology. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge met law enforcement officials and toured mobile command centers before providing some details of security preparations. The United States' Secret Service will run the operational security plan, leading government agencies at every level, from federal air marshals to the Washington metropolitan police.

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Protective measures will be seen. There will be quite a few that are not seen. Our goal is that any attempt on the part of anyone or any group to disrupt the inaugural will be repelled by multiple layers of security.

DAS: Activities will be monitored from land, sea and air. U.S. parked police helicopters will use forward looking infrared cameras providing a bird's eye view of events in real time.

DWIGHT PETTIFORD, ACTING CHIEF, U.S. PARK POLICE: It gives us the capability of having a downlink to our command centers. That's one of the great features of us being airborne that day.

DAS: Combat air patrols will make sure planes abide by a no fly zone that will triple in size covering a 3,000 square mile area around the capital. While Ridge has said the current level of terror chatter is down and there is no specific threat toward the inaugural, the event has received the highest security designation. Officials will be on alert.

MAJOR. GEN. GALEN JACKMAN, U.S. ARMY: We have looked at the full range of threats, we have looked at aircraft flying into this area, we've looked at snipers, mortars, rockets. You name it we have looked at it. We have prepared contingencies not only to respond, but to deter and prevent those types of things from happening.

DAS: 9/11 and the war in Iraq have heightened the security concerns for the upcoming inaugural events. This year's inauguration will have the most expensive and the most extensive security ever. Sumi Das, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And having driven around Washington earlier today especially around this area I can personally testify I have never seen security preparations under way as they are right now for the January 20 inauguration. Stay with CNN all day on that day, of course, for complete coverage of the president's inauguration. Also, please stay with CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Intimidation and assassinations, Iraqi police forces facing new dangers as enemy fighters work to disrupt the upcoming election there.

Caught in the cross fire, seven children killed, all from the same extended family. The incident now under investigation. We'll have details. Later this hour...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't talk back to me, all right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Pitching a fit. The Yankees newest star pitcher, Randy Johnson, clashes in front of the cameras.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In the Middle East, a promising new development in the Israeli/Palestinian relationship. The Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, has phoned Mahmoud Abbas to congratulate him on winning the presidential election. Sharon says he hopes to meet personally with Abbas in the coming weeks. The Palestinian president elect says he is eager to meet with the Israeli prime minister as well to talk about renewing the peace process.

Peace talks can't resume soon enough for those civilians caught in the crossfire of the this Israeli/Palestinian conflict. As CNN's Ben Wedeman reports the victims often are children. Some of the pictures in this report may be disturbing to you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's time to change 13-year-old Isa Rabin's (ph) dressings on the bloody stumps that were once his legs. The pain, hard for his mother to bear.

There's nothing more dear to a mother than her child, she says. Isa and three other boys lost their legs early in the morning on January 4 when an Israeli tank round exploded near his home in northern Gaza. The blast killed seven other boys, ages 11 to 17, all from the same extended family.

Minutes beforehand, just up the road, Palestinian militants had fired mortar rounds at a nearby Jewish settlement. One person was injured in that attack. The people here, caught between militant attacks and Israeli retaliation, feel helpless.

Showing me where her 10-year-old son, Raji (ph), was killed, this woman says they knew the mortars were fired from around their houses, but could do nothing to stop it. The group that claims it fired the mortars makes no apologies.

We're saddened by what happened says this spokesman from the Aqsa Martyrs Brigade but we won't stop the attacks.

In a statement to CNN, the Israeli army says it's investigating the incident. In part, the army's statement said, quote, "this group of terrorists purposely fired the mortars from amid innocent civilians who were working and living in the area." The shattered families of the wounded aren't interested in placing the blame. Tempers flare as they try to convince hospital staff to send their sons to Israel for treatment, but they claim corrupt Palestinian Authority officials won't authorize a transfer until bribed.

Isa's father, Ramadan (ph), is beyond despair. Let them put him out of his misery, he says. It's better than watching him die every day. Three of Mariam Rabin's (ph) sons were killed, a fourth son, 18- year-old Mohammed (ph), lies semiconscious in the intensive care unit, his spine severed, right leg amputated, left eye gone. We need to stop this bloodshed. This is enough, she says.

Enough and then some for 13-year-old Isa. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Gaza.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Our heart goes out to that family. We can only hope these peace talks do get under way so these children on both sides can live.

Insurgents are taking aim, this time at Iraqi police. Could the attacks be coming from within the force itself? Our Brian Todd has been investigating. Just days until Iraq's election. Will the country be ready? I'll ask Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations. I'll speak to him live.

Plus, a very disturbing new study that reveals why some doctors may be avoiding performing a life-saving heart procedure.

And we're getting a statement now from Dan Rather of CBS News. He didn't appear last night on his newscast. We'll tell you now what he says now about that CBS News report that was so critical of his performance.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Iraq's interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, conceded today that some parts of the country won't be safe enough to participate in the scheduled January 30 election.

As insurgents step up their campaign of violence, Iraq's police and security forces are bearing the brunt of it, suffering extraordinarily high casualties.

CNN's Brian Todd has been looking into this story. He is joining us now live -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the numbers are staggering and those figures and some of the patterns that we have looked at, up to an attack today, paint the picture of an Iraqi police force under siege.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TODD (voice-over): The weapon, a powerful car bomb, the target, a police station. The toll, at least half a dozen policemen blown up. This scene and the refrain from Iraq's current leader strike a familiar chord.

IYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI INTERIM PRIME MINISTER (through translator): These evil forces will not continue to inflict harm on the Iraqi people.

TODD: But the increased targeting of Iraqi security forces, especially police, paints an ominous picture. According to the Interior Ministry and figures compiled from news reports, more than 1,300 Iraqi police officers have been killed since the late June handover, more than two dozen just since January 1, an overall figure on par with the total number of American servicemen killed since the war began.

KENNETH POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: These are numbers that the United States needs to concentrate on far more intensely.

TODD: Experts we spoke to, including current and former coalition military and CARVILLE: officials say look at the patterns. Early November, 21 people, many of them policemen, massacred execution style in the town of Hadithah. Early this week, Baghdad's deputy police chief and his son gunned down in broad daylight.

The insurgents, they say, are getting more brazen, have developed a coherent strategy and are sending a clear message to potential officers and the citizens they are supposed to protect.

POLLACK: It sends them the message that, if you try to help the Americans rebuild the country, no good will come of it, only bad. Obviously, any would-be Iraqi police officer or other participant in the security forces has got to consider the possibility that he will be killed.

TODD: An especially dangerous problem cited by experts, elements of the force have been infiltrated. Insurgents know where and when police are gathering. One observer says U.S. and Iraqi officials place too much emphasis on sheer numbers, getting officers on the street and not enough on recruiting trustworthy officers.

Many believe ethnic loyalties are affecting morale and cooperation. Sunnis on the force, many who served during Saddam's regime, feel increasingly threatened with the integration of Shia and Kurdish officers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: A former coalition official believes we're already caught in a low-level civil war, with U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces on the front lines.

Despite all this, every indication is that there has been no drop-off in police recruiting. The economic situation is too desperate, Wolf. BLITZER: These people simply need a job, too.

TODD: That's right.

BLITZER: Brian Todd, thanks so much.

As elections approach and the violence mounts, everyone in Iraq is on edge.

CNN's Jeff Koinange has covered bloody conflicts all over Africa. Earlier today, he spoke with me about the violence right now in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Jeff, you're normally based in Nairobi, and you do a lot of reporting from Africa for us. I assume this is your first time in Baghdad, the past 2 1/2 weeks or so that you've been there.

What's it been like for you? Take us a little bit behind the scenes. How have you reacted to what you've actually seen on the ground?

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I'll tell you it's like nothing I've never seen before. Every day a suicide bombing here, an assassination there, a kidnapping somewhere else. It's so dangerous when we venture out.

We have to go under heavy security every day. You have to wear your flak jacket almost 24 hours a day.

The buzz, you talk about an election buzz, the only buzz we hear here is -- we hear on the ground helicopters, Apache helicopters buzzing in the air. Machine-gun fire ricocheting in the background. Mortar fire being fired here and there. It's every single day, nonstop, 24 hours.

And you know, the crew here they keep telling me I'm going to get used to it after awhile. But every time I hear a gunshot, mortar round go off, Wolf, and you see I've covered a lot of conflicts in Africa, nothing like this. I'm always jumpy, Wolf, every single time.

BLITZER: So in other words, even though you've covered guerrilla wars, civil wars, disasters in Africa, horrendous situations there that have been life-threatening, what you're saying these past two and a half weeks have been the most fearful, the most frightening two and a half weeks of your journalistic career?

KOINANGE: Without a doubt, Wolf. And I can say that every single day I wake up, we don't know what's going to happen.

When we hear suicide bombers ramming police checkpoints, when you hear them meters away from the heavily fortified Green Zone. Despite how many U.S. troops are on the ground, despite how optimistic the people here are on the ground, I feel it every single time I step out, Wolf. I'm on guard, edgy. The hair is standing on the back of my neck every single day, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jeff Koinange. You tell a chilling tale. But it's not an unusual tale, I have to tell you. Every time I debrief our reporters, other reporters on the scene, and other State Department personnel, people who are going in to Baghdad, I hear a similar account.

Jeff Koinange doing an excellent job for us, as usual. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

So, is it too dangerous for Iraqis to vote? Even at this late date, should Iraq consider postponing the election?

Joining us now from the United Nations is Samir al-Sumaidaie, Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations -- Sumaidaie.

Mr. Ambassador, thanks very much. I apologize for mispronouncing your last name.

SAMIR AL-SUMAIDAIE, IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS: Thank you.

BLITZER: You heard this account from Jeff Koinange. It seems incredibly dangerous right now. Is it too dangerous for there to be a free and fair election in Iraq?

AL-SUMAIDAIE: Well, Wolf, this is a test of wills.

You can imagine as if the entire eventual of the world has been concentrated through terrorism to make sure that Iraq does not succeed. This is on one side. On the other side, the collective will of the Iraqi people, the great majority of them, to succeed, that's what's going on. It's the sharpest end of the conflict.

We understand there are threats. When people come up and blow up themselves, it is very hard to stop them. The security -- you know that I was, for a brief period, minister of interior last year. I know the situation with the police force. Those men, most of them, were recruited in a hurry, not fully trained, not sufficiently trained, not sufficiently protected in many cases.

BLITZER: Let me interrupt, Mr. Ambassador, because I just want to get to this point. You will acknowledge, since you were interior minister, the situation in Baghdad and the so-called Sunni Triangle, in these four provinces out of 18 -- approximately half of the population of Iraq is concentrated in those four provinces -- the situation has clearly deteriorated over the past year?

AL-SUMAIDAIE: Yes, there has been some worsening of the security situation in some areas.

Against that, we have found we have achieved consolidation and improvement in security in other areas. I believe that the majority of the population centers in terms of bulk in Iraq geographically will be sufficiently secure to allow people to go to the polls. And I predict a large turnout.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Will Sunni -- will Iraqi Sunnis go out and risk their lives and vote?

AL-SUMAIDAIE: Well, those who will be prevented by threats will unfortunately not be able to.

But I can assure you of one thing, that even if the entire National Assembly will be composed of non-Sunnis, which it's not going to be, there is nobody in Iraq interested in excluding or marginalizing the Sunnis. Iraqis are cutely aware, all of them, of the need to have everybody have a role.

BLITZER: What's the most important thing, do you believe, that the United States can do to guarantee that this election will be relatively free?

AL-SUMAIDAIE: Well, the United States is doing -- your question is about the United States, right?

BLITZER: Could you repeat that? I didn't hear what you said.

AL-SUMAIDAIE: Sorry. You are asking me about the United States or the United Nations?

BLITZER: Yes, the United States. What do you want the United States to do between now and the elections and immediately after to do? Is there anything that the U.S. should be doing, for example, that it's not doing?

AL-SUMAIDAIE: Well, not much. In fact, apply maximum pressure on outside powers who might be thinking of interfering in the local elections.

BLITZER: Like who?

AL-SUMAIDAIE: I wouldn't like to name names right now in this interview, but I think it's very clear those powers which have an interest in influencing events in Iraq and making sure, perhaps, not -- for the Iraqi project not to succeed.

BLITZER: Are you referring to Syria and Iran?

AL-SUMAIDAIE: Well, maybe some elements in these countries, but the official policy in these countries is to help. And we have had some increased -- or increasing understanding with them, but we believe that there is more that can be done in this field.

BLITZER: Samir al-Sumaidaie is the Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations.

Mr. Ambassador, good luck to you. Good luck to all the Iraqi people.

AL-SUMAIDAIE: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: A disturbing new medical study that could put patients at risk. Find out why some doctors are electing not, not, to perform potentially life-saving procedures.

And this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDY JOHNSON, NEW YORK YANKEES: I don't care who you are. Don't get in my face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: New York's newest star, the Big Unit, as he's called, has a big blow-up. His clash with the paparazzi, that's coming up.

And we're just getting this in to CNN, a statement from CBS News anchor Dan Rather as he reacts for the first time publicly to yesterday's report. We'll read you his statement. We'll bring you all the details right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Just a little while ago, Dan Rather sent a memo to the entire CBS News staff, his first official public comments since that report was released yesterday critical of his "60 Minutes Wednesday" performance.

Let me read to you what Dan Rather is now saying: "The panel report is part of a process, a necessary process, to deal with a difficult issue at the end of which four good people have lost their jobs. My strongest reaction is one of sadness and concern for those individuals whom I know and with whom I have worked. It would be a shame if we let this matter, troubling as it is, obscure their dedication and good work over the years."

Dan Rather goes on to say this: "CBS News is a great institution with a distinct and precious legacy. I have been here through good times and not-so-good times. I have seen us overcome adversity before. I am convinced we can do so again. That must be our focus and priority. And we can fulfill that objective by getting back to business and doing our jobs better than ever."

He ends his statement to the staff with this: "Lest anyone have any doubt, I have read the report. I take it seriously and I shall keep its lessons well in mind," signed Dan Rather. He didn't anchor his newscast last night. He is expected to anchor his newscast tonight.

Let's move on now, other news we are following.

On the medical front, a troubling new survey in New York state. It shows some patients who might benefit from a heart procedure may not be getting it. And the state physician score cards could be to blame. CNN's Mary Snow is following the story for us. She's joining us live from New York -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, New York state is one of the handful of states that publishes mortality data for both doctors and hospitals. But a new survey suggests that some cardiologists might be avoiding a life-saving procedure for fear of how it will affect their so-called report card.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SAMIN SHARMA, MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL: One of the stents has blocked up a little bit. That is causing your pain.

SNOW: Dr. Samin Sharma is inserting a stent in the artery of Petra Serano (ph), who has already had two angioplasties. He estimates he has performed 1,200 of these procedures last year, but a new survey conducted by the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Rochester in New York indicates that other cardiologists in the state might not be so willing to perform the procedure on at- risk patients.

DR. CRAIG NARINS, UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: The main reason that doctors indicated that they were reluctant to perform angioplasty on sicker patients is that, if the patient doesn't do well, if they die, it is going to negatively effect their mortality score.

SNOW: That score comes in the form of a so-called report card for doctors in New York that publishes the mortality rate for consumers.

The study found that, of the 120 cardiologists surveyed in New York, 83 percent agree that patients who might benefit from angioplasty may not receive the procedure because of the public reporting of physician specific mortality rates. And another 79 percent agree that mortality data influenced their decision to operate in some cases.

NARINS: The question of ethics does come up. And to be honest, I was struck with the magnitude of the dislike, I guess you could say, for the survey among physicians.

SNOW: Doctors say, if the patients didn't have angioplasty, they were treated with medicine or bypass surgery. The goal of the study was to see if the public statistics influenced their decision-making.

SHARMA: My -- will be on the side that is -- that strongly disagree the statement that the report card makes you decline the patient's medical care which otherwise you would have given to the patient.

SNOW: Dr. Sharma, who is the head of interventional cardiology, says he understands the concern.

SHARMA: Concern is justified, but, at the same time, in my opinion, the report card makes you a better person, better interventionalist.

SNOW: One of the survey's authors says that patients should know that a doctor's mortality rate is not a perfect indicator of the doctor's skills level.

NARINS: If a physician has a particularly low mortality rate, in the back of your mind, you have to think, is this a really great doctor? Is he doing a great job taking care of his patients or is he avoiding taking care of sicker patients and that's the reason that his mortality statistics looks so good?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: Now, a bioethicist we spoke to points out that, if a doctor refused to perform a procedure that would be beneficial to a patient, that would be unethical.

He points out, however, there's a big difference between a doctor's actions and attitudes expressed in a survey. The New York State Department of Health also points out that, over a five-year period, angioplasties performed in the state were up some 62 percent, while mortality rate had decreased -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Mary Snow with that story -- Mary, thank you very much. A part of that report card I had not thought of earlier. Very interesting.

A crash course on media relations in New York. The newest New York Yankee, Randy Johnson, has a run-in with the paparazzi. I think you'll want to stick around and see this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: It didn't take long for Major League Baseball pitcher Randy Johnson to run head on into the media spotlight of the Big Apple.

CNN's Michelle Bonner reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE BONNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As far as first impressions go, this one was a dud. Randy Johnson, welcome to New York.

JOHNSON: Don't get in my face. I don't care who you are. Don't get in my face.

QUESTION: I'm just taking pictures.

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNSON: Don't get in my face and don't talk back to me, all right?

BONNER: The newest member of the Yankees pitching staff was on his way to take a physical, but apparently didn't appreciate being photographed. The incident made local and national headlines.

JOHNSON: Come in to one of the biggest media markets, one of the most winningest franchises in the history of any sport and that's the way I enter? I'm sorry.

BONNER: Johnson's reputation as a prickly personality precedes him. But with stints in smaller markets like Seattle and Phoenix, he has never had to deal with the type of spotlight he will receive in New York.

JOHNSON: I'm not used to having photographers pop out from behind the bushes and taking my picture or things like that. So, do I have to get used to that? Without a doubt.

JON HEYMAN, "NEWSDAY": This is one incident. If it doesn't continue, I think, eventually, it will be forgotten. Everybody can have a bad day. But I have seen a lot of these bad days from Randy Johnson.

DR. JOEL FISH, CENTER FOR SPORT PSYCHOLOGY: There's New York and there's the rest of the world. And no matter how much professional sports experience you have, New York challenges you in two ways. You have to be able to deal with pressure and you have to develop a certain kind of thick skin.

BONNER: Players who found the heat too hot in New York's kitchen include former Yankees pitchers Kenny Rogers and Ed Whitson, whose play suffered, as well as former Mets player Bobby Bonilla, who left less than a year after having a locker room confrontation with a reporter.

The Yankees are hoping their latest acquisition doesn't add his name to that dubious list.

Michelle Bonner, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And we'll have the results of our Web question of the day. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in our Web question of the day. Take a look at this. Remember, it's not a scientific poll.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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