Sports Illustrated Group Announces SI Swimsuit 24/7 - a First of Its Kind Launch Initiative for the Annual Swimsuit Issue. - Journal of Transportation

The Sports Illustrated Group announced details for 'SI Swimsuit 24/7, From New York to Las Vegas,' a groundbreaking experiential marketing initiative dedicated to the highly-anticipated 2009 Swimsuit Issue. 'SI Swimsuit 24/7, From New York to Las Vegas' features the organization's first Swimsuit launch event in Las Vegas and the first Swimsuit branded airplane.

'This is a signature moment for the Sports Illustrated Group as we embark on a new program to provide customers with opportunities to extend their message utilizing Sports Illustrated properties and events,' said Mark Ford, President of the Sports Illustrated Group. 'The Swimsuit franchise is the perfect launch vehicle for this program and demonstrates how SI can create customizable solutions for our clients through any combination of print, digital, event marketing and property sales.'

Club SI Swimsuit, presented by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor's Authority (LVCVA) is scheduled for February 12 at LAX, Las Vegas' hottest nightclub located in the Luxor Hotel and Casino. The party is the pinnacle event in a week of launch activities for the Swimsuit franchise. More than two dozen SI Swimsuit models featured in the acclaimed annual will be in Las Vegas for a day of autograph signings and events culminating with the launch party at LAX where guests will be treated to a live performance from six-time Grammy Award-winning recording artist John Legend.

'What better place to host the first ever consumer party for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition than fabulous Las Vegas,' said Terry Jicinsky, LVCVA's Senior Vice President of Marketing. 'Las Vegas is as vibrant as ever and the Sports Illustrated event will leverage the strength of both brands and provide a platform to showcase the destination's many amenities. Now more than ever, Las Vegas is the ideal destination to 'Take a Break.''

The models will journey to Las Vegas aboard 'SI One,' a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700, which will be wrapped in SI Swimsuit imagery. Southwest Airlines, will unveil SI One at LaGuardia Airport in New York City on Wednesday, February 11. On the evening of the 11th, Southwest will take the Swimsuit models and a traveling party from New York to Las Vegas for the launch. Beginning February 11, SI One will fly throughout the Southwest route system for a limited time. This marks the first time that Southwest has wrapped a plane virtually nose-to-tail in imagery.

'Southwest is always open to innovative projects that showcase our fun-loving personality,' said Linda Rutherford, Southwest Airlines' Vice President of Communications and Strategic Outreach. 'Partnering with Sports Illustrated to launch the 2009 Swimsuit Issue gives Southwest a larger-than-life opportunity to reach fans of the most well-known magazine issue in the world. It's also a clever way to remind travelers we intend to serve New York City from LaGuardia Airport in 2009.'

SI Swimsuit 24/7 is the first official production for the Sports Illustrated Group's new Experiential Marketing and Property Sales initiative. This enterprise will generate new Sports Illustrated, GOLF and SI Kids public and private events and properties. To support this vision, the SI Group has realigned internal resources and named Team Velocity AOR for property and experiential marketing asset development, production and sales. Additional programs and events will be announced later this year.

'SI Properties and Experiential Marketing will be focused on the development of franchise-wide, monetizeable property assets and work directly with clients to deliver a very customized solution,' said Andrew Judelson, Sports Illustrated Group CMO.

Keywords: Sports Illustrated.

Thanks to serendipity: Dolgin says he got to where he is by falling into things'. (The Fifth Estater).(Tracy Dolgin, Fox Sports Net)(Brief Article)(Interview) - Broadcasting & Cable

Tracy Dolgin's career has not gone according to plan. 'Every place I have gone in my career, I went having had no experience doing it,' says the president of Fox Sports Net. 'I have sort of made a career of falling into things.'

After graduating from Cornell University in 1981, he headed west to Stanford University's business school, thinking to get into the entertainment business. 'I had spent my entire life on the East Coast,' says Dolgin, who grew up in Miami and later in New York City 'I didn't know Stanford was, like, a thousand miles away from Hollywood.'

Having earned his M.B.A., he wound up about as far from the entertainment industry as possible: as an assistant product manager for General Foods' Jell-O in Westchester County, N.Y

Three years later, with newly acquired knowledge of branding, Dolgin got his first opportunity in the entertainment industry, becoming a marketing manager for start-up home-video company Thorne EMI-HBO Video. 'On the very day I started there,' he says, 'The Hollywood Reporter had a front-page story that read, 'Canon buys Thorne EMI and vows to shut down home video division.''

Dolgin and his colleagues persuaded Canon executives to keep the division open. Besides selling HBO original productions, it handled video sales for an array of independent studios and often helped market their theatrical releases.

When HBO bought Canon out in 1989, Dolgin stayed on as senior vice president of marketing at newly minted HBO Video. Three years later, he got the 'call that was too good to be true.'

Film director George Lucas wanted Dolgin to run his consumer-products company in northern California. He was to get an ownership stake, lots of money and a return to the San Francisco Bay Area. He persuaded his wife, Judy, to move and took the job.

On the day after he had moved to California, he was given some bad news. 'They called me in and told me basically that the job I was hired for no longer existed,' he says. 'They were getting rid of a lot of the divisions that I was going to run.'

The next day, he and his wife were on a plane back to New York. As luck would have it, start-up network Fox Broadcasting Co. needed a marketing chief. 'I figured,' he says, 'If these idiots were stupid enough to give me a job as the head of marketing for a TV network, never having worked in TV before, I had to take it.'

Dolgin returned to the West, to Los Angeles, and launched The X-Files, Meirose Place and other series at Fox. He also helped convince the NFL that Fox was the right place for the NEC broadcast contract and worked himself into the top marketing position at Fox Sports, where he spent three years getting Fox Sports' coverage of professional football, hockey and baseball off the ground-and revolutionizing sports marketing.

'Nobody had ever branded sports by the network,' he says. 'We basically came to sports and said we are going to do it this way We were going to make sports Fox-like.'

Dolgin helped Fox Sports move into cable and became chief operating officer at Fox Liberty Networks, overseeing EX, Fox Sports Net and several other new cable networks. In 2000, he was named president of Fox Sports Net, with responsibility for 21 regional cable networks.

Last month, Fox Sports canceled its nightly national sports-highlights program, created to take on ESPN's successful SportsCenter. The goal now is programming to entertain sports fans. 'We really tried to do a traditional sports business and put the Fox Sports name on it,' Dolgin says. 'Instead of doing what we did before, which was sort of reinventing the wheel, we copied the wheel. Now we are trying go hack to what works, and we are already seeing a lot of positive signs.'

Tracy Dolgin

Fund raising and sports. - Fund Raising Management

It's a Thursday afternoon in sunny Florida, yet my mind isn't on getting a tan. I'm coordinating a reception for 40 former football players, you see, followed by a golf outing, a charity dinner and a flag football game -- all in one weekend.

Between worrying about Roger Staubach, 'Too Tall' Jones and Harry Carson's plane reservations; making sure 64,000 square feet of sod arrives to create a natural grass field at the Florida Suncoast Dome; and locating the television production crew handling the game for ESPN; my job is to make sure it all gets done. Planning a sports fund-raising event is an all encompassing challenge, and although it is similar to planning a traditional fund raiser, there are certain details and specific pitfalls an event planner should be aware of

Sports are a proven asset in the nonprofit fund-raising industry as, over the past decade, athletes, teams and coaches have become major players in hundreds of charitable causes. Certain players become associated with one particular charity -- for example, New York Jets quarterback Boomer Esiason and his Heroes Foundation benefiting Cystic Fibrosis; former Yankee great Willie Randolph and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation; and former Mets star Gary Carter and the Leukemia Society. Charitable organizations have taken full advantage of athletes who support their cause, tying them into special events as speakers, 'honorees' and guests, as well as utilizing them into advertising and marketing campaigns.

The current history of sports/charity partnerships can be traced to the 1970's when the United Way joined forces with the National Football League. What sports fan could forget Roger Staubach on Super Bowl Sunday saying 'Thanks to you it works for all of us ... the United Way.' Sports promotions now cover a wide spectrum of events from local walk-a-thons to national cause-related marketing programs.

Why are sports and charities such a good fit? The American public has a love affair with sports. Professional sports teams pay their athletes millions of dollars a year in salaries, and there is only one reason they can afford to do that ... the fans. Sports fans spend billions of dollars a year on sports. Not only do they purchase tickets for the games, they also buy team hats, shirts, jackets and other souvenirs which generates money for the teams through licensing. Television and radio also generate revenue for the teams through sponsorship and advertising.

How does this relate to your fund-raising event? Well, fans become very attached to the teams and athletes they follow. Players in some cities are referred to by only their first name, and the entire city knows who they are talking about. On a Monday in Dallas, if someone says, 'Did you see Emmitt yesterday?' almost everyone will know you are speaking about the Cowboys all-pro running back Emmitt Smith.

Never underestimate the bond people feel with their heroes. It can be used to your advantage when you plan your fund-raising event. Fans generally do not get the chance to see their heroes 'up close and personal.' A hand shake and a hello from an athlete can be worth a great deal of money to a big sports fan. If your charitable event can offer personal access to the athlete, it becomes very appealing.

The New York Knicks 'Welcome Home' Dinner, which benefits the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, is an example of an event which has become a successful annual program. Nine years ago, I was flying to Seattle to meet with a basketball player named Clyde Drexler to discuss a cause-related marketing program. On that flight, I was sitting next to John Cirillo, who at the time was the public relations director for the Knicks, and I told him about my idea for a 'Welcome Home' Dinner. I explained that a charity dinner would be terrific public relations vehicle and an opportunity to raise money for a worthy cause.

The charity would handle all of the arrangements, including site location, menu selection, decorations, publicity and, most importantly, table sales; while the Knicks would provide players, coaches and team executives to sit at each table. The Knicks did assist in the table sales effort by having two players serve as committee chairmen. The chance to eat dinner with a Knicks' player proved to be a successful formula, and the dinner has raised more than $1 million since its inception in 1988.

Golf tournaments are another proven vehicle to raise money, especially if you can arrange for athletes to participate in your tournament. For example, your organization wants IBM to sponsor your outing or buy a few foursomes. It will entice them if you can offer the opportunity to play 18 holes with NBA great Larry Bird, and then join Larry and 20 other celebrities, such as baseball legends Yogi Berra and Sparky Lyle, at a cocktail reception and dinner after the tournament. These outings can raise upwards of $100,000.

Sports and/or celebrity auctions are another option. An event my firm, Legend Marketing, arranged at Lee Mazzilli's Sports Cafe in Manhattan proved successful because of the quality of sports memorabilia on hand, and the presence of athletes, such as Yankees second baseman Pat Kelly, former Mets star Lee Mazzilli and former 1969 World Champion Mets player Art Shamsky, among others, who greeted the guests and encouraged them to bid on the auction items.

It also is beneficial to arrange for a third party to be involved in a fund-raising event to add corporate support and dollars. For example, I combined the assets of King Features (the company which licenses comic book/strip characters such as Popeye, Betty Boop, etc.), the New York Mets and the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation together to create 'Popeye Day at Shea Stadium.' In return for King Features' financial contribution to the charity, Popeye was allowed to throw out the first ball at a Mets game and lead the seventh inning stretch in the singing of 'Take Me Out To The Ball Game.' It was a great public relations vehicle for King Features, a fun atmosphere for kids at Shea Stadium and a successful fund raiser for the Crohn's an Colitis Foundation. This was a win-win-win situation for all involved.

Should you decide to embark on a charity/sports promotion, there are some potential pitfalls an event planner needs to watch for.

1. Athlete Participation -- Never promise an athlete will attend an event unless you have it in writing. Often athletes (or any celebrity for that matter) will offer his or her services with the best of intentions, then forget; or get a higher paying offer, and sign a contract for another function. Without the athlete, your event is headed for disaster -- so get it in writing!

2. Conflicting Dates -- Be aware of the dates of other similar functions in the area. Many annual sports events set their dates months before the actual dinner and, obviously, you should avoid having your event on that same date. This advice is worthwhile common sense, but event planners often fail to do their homework on this point. The result is both events find themselves in the uncomfortable position of competing with one another for the same people, athletes, corporate sponsors and media.

3. Committee Participation -- Talk to your board members before you commit to a sports event. They will play a crucial role in your planning developments, and they need to be excited about the program. If you schedule an event with no support, be prepared to run it alone.

4. Costs -- Don't skimp! If it costs you an extra five dollars a person for an open bar, pay it. There is nothing worse than going to an event where you have to buy an expensive ticket, and then find you must also pay for your drinks, coat check, etc. You want people to come back next year, so make it memorable.

A few things to keep in mind for

a successful sports event are:

1. The Ultimate Goal -- The biggest cop-out I hear is 'the event didn't make any money but we got great P.R.' Public relations value is important, but the bottom line is raising funds for your cause. Don't lose sight of your ultimate goal. Concentrate your efforts on sponsorship and sales, and the P.R. will come.

2. Advance Planning -- Think of every possible problem you might encounter and write it down! Then plan a solution to each of these potential disasters so that you will always be prepared. Always make a 'To Do' list and look at it every day, charting your progress.

3. Teams/Athletes -- Include your athlete(s) and team(s) early on in your event. If they feel a part of the group, they may put forth more of an effort. Invite them to a committee meeting over dinner and encourage them to use their contacts to achieve the best possible event.

4. Board/Committee Member -- A strong board is very important. You'll need doers, not talkers. Each board member should be given a task, and the chairman should stay on top of them to make sure that task is completed.

5. Quality -- When you put on a successful, enjoyable event, people will want to come back. If you short-change them once, they will remember it always and will spend their dollars elsewhere the following year.

Every event is a learning experience, and you should take what works and build upon that for your next event. Most importantly, remember the problems that occurred and develop strategies to avoid those pitfalls the next time. As is the case in sports, team work is the most important aspect of sports event preparation. We always work hand-in-hand with the organizations involved when planning fund-raising events. Specific jobs must be defined, but all involved need to be supportive and constructive. I've always liked the saying 'check your ego at the door,' because it doesn't matter who gets 'credit' -- just that the event is a success.

Later as I watched ESPN's national television coverage of those 40 football players in their flag football game on the 64,000 square feet of sod, I realized that all the work was worthwhile. Even more gratifying was handing the large check from the fund-raising dinner over to the charity, which is the ultimate goal of any sports fund-raising event.

'Wii Sports Resort': Slam dunk!(YourSaturday) - The Seattle Times (Seattle, WA)

Byline: Brier Dudley; Seattle Times technology columnist

I'm a little concerned about how much my wife and daughter enjoyed 'Wii Sports Resort,' the new Nintendo game going on sale in the U.S. Sunday for about $50.

Specifically the swordplay duel, a version of Japanese kendo.

My family was a little too excited about whacking me with a wooden sword, sending my Wii avatar plummeting into the sea in slow motion.

I had been thinking 'Wii Sports Resort' was a little on the expensive side, but perhaps it will avoid counseling fees down the road.

Swordplay is not only cathartic, it's one of the most fun new activities that 'Sports Resort' brings to the Wii.

The game includes a dozen sports that your Wii avatar plays on the fictional resort of Wuhu Island.

'Sports Resort' is an update of the 'Wii Sports' game that's included with the purchase of a Wii. The original sports games -- baseball, tennis, golf and bowling -- were intended to help people learn how to use the Wii's motion-sensitive controllers.

'Sports Resort' is also a demonstrator, showing off the capabilities of Motion Plus, a new accessory that snaps onto the end of the Wiimote to give it more precision.

The dongle comes in a longer protective rubber sheath that stretches over the Wiimote, a procedure that may prompt a few smirks.

The game comes with one Motion Plus, but you'll end up buying more -- at $20 apiece -- so multiple players can compete in swordplay, table tennis, airplane dogfighting and other activities.

Other air sports include sky diving onto Wuhu or flying planes. Watersports include canoeing, wakeboarding and Jetskiing.

They're all reasonably fun arcade-style games. But a few are outstanding, including swordplay and basketball, which you play by dribbling the remote up and down, slapping it sideways to steal a ball and arcing it upward to make a shot.

Basketball is one of those Wii games that captures some special essence of the real game, similar to the way bowling worked so well on the original 'Wii Sports.' It makes you want to drop the controller and pick up a real ball, but it's so fun it's hard to step away from the console.

Archery is another standout. You hold the remote upright in your left hand and pull back on the Nunchuk attachment as if it were a bowstring. You release a button to shoot the arrow at a series of progressively harder targets.

The one complaint about archery -- and perhaps the entire game -- is that it doesn't take long to work through all the mini-games. You're left wanting new levels and challenges after you've gotten used to the techniques.

Maybe that's the idea. Nintendo will no doubt give players a chance to apply their archery, swordplay and flying skills in upcoming Motion Plus games.

I can't wait for more. I just wish the training didn't cost quite so much.

Brier Dudley: 206-515-5687 or bdudley@seattletimes.com

Check it out

Nintendo is taking its 'Wii Sports Resort' show on the road to summer festivals around the country. You can test the game today and Sunday at the 6th Street Fair in Bellevue (www.bellevuedowntown.org/events/sixth_street), and July 31-Aug. 2 at the Chevrolet Cup at Seafair (www.seafair.com).

CAPTION(S):

Nintendo: Basketball is a standout on ''Wii Sports Resort.'' (0409383457)

Nintendo: Watersports include canoeing, wakeboarding and Jetskiing. (0409383395)

Fayetteville to get in the game with sports commission. - The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, NC)

Byline: Al Greenwood

Sep. 26--While other cities earned millions hosting sports events, Fayetteville watched on from the sidelines.

In the next six months, Fayetteville plans to play catch-up.

Fayetteville is the largest city in North Carolina without a sports commission. Such groups market a city's playing fields to attract sports tournaments.

But Fayetteville's convention and visitors bureau will receive $130,000 extra annually for the next five years to develop a sports tourism program.

Fayetteville is not entering an empty playing field. Moore County has had an active program for three years, and is studying whether it should expand the program.

Sports tourism could bring more lodgers to Cumberland County, something needed by its hotel industry.

The average occupancy rates among hotels in Cumberland County was 61.1 percent in July, the worst performance for that month in five years, according to Smith Travel Research of Hendersonville, Tenn. Occupancy percentage rates this year ranged from the upper 50s to the lower 60s.

Meanwhile, developers plan to open at least two hotels in Cumberland County.

Sports tourism could help fill the new rooms.

When Fayetteville's sports program is established, it will tap into a growing market.

The National Association of Sports Commissions, a trade group that represents sports planners, has grown from 14 members in 1992 to 430 today, said Don Schumacher, the association's executive director.

The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, actually caused sports tourism to increase, Schumacher said. Parents want to spend more time with their children, and many are doing so through sports.

For at least three years, the bureau has planned to create a sports commission in Fayetteville.

Those earlier plans were delayed by efforts to promote cultural tourism, said John Meroski, president and chief executive officer of the Fayetteville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Last year, Cumberland County started its own effort to market sports. It paid $90,000 to J.D. Daniel, a consultant who studied ways to boost sports tourism. Daniel proposed upgrading and expanding the Jordan Soccer Complex. The owner of the complex at the time, the Fayetteville Soccer Association, turned down the proposal. The association was concerned that courting outside out-of-town teams would leave little time for local teams to use the fields.

Sports tourism received another chance boost in August, when the Tourism Development Authority agreed to add $130,000 to the annual budget of the convention and visitors bureau.

With the extra money, the bureau will expand its sports marketing program, Meroski said, creating . The bureau will create a sports commission that will help organize and manage the tournaments.

The bureau also plans to join the National Association of Sports Commissions.

Joining the national association will give Fayetteville's program credibility, Meroski said.

While the bureau sets up its sports commission, its sales staff will continue selling Cumberland County's sports facilities to planners, Meroski said. This fall, the representatives of the bureau will attend two sports trade shows.

The visitors bureau is also trying to position Fayetteville to become the host city for a series of wrestling tournaments, scheduled for the next five years, Meroski said. Each event will could attract from 500 to 1,500 people. The tournaments and could add $1.5 million to the local economy each year, he said.

The tournaments aren't restricted to traditional sports.

In July, the Mid-Atlantic Skateboard Association held an amateur competition, the eS Game of Skate. The event attracted 72 skaters from the Southeast, said Terry Grimble, the association's president. In May, the Mid-Atlantic Skateboard Association held its first pro tournament at Crown Coliseum. The contest attracted 3,000 spectators and nearly 100 skaters from around the world.

One of those skaters was Rod James, a pro from San Marcos, Calif. James said he typically competes in eight out-of-town tournaments a year.

Hotels, planes and meals can cost from $500 to $1,000 for each trip. James didn't spend that much in Fayetteville -- he spent the night at the homes of family and friends, he said. But he still dined in Fayetteville.

Lots of competition When Fayetteville's sports program kicks off, it will enter a crowded field. The competition for events has become more competitive among cities, said Caleb Miles, president of The Convention and Visitors Bureau -- Village of Pinehurst, Southern Pines and Aberdeen Area.

Miles has experienced that competition firsthand as a vice president of the N.C. Youth Soccer Association. Cities hosting soccer tournaments regularly include maps and coupons in their packages, he said.

At the same time, Miles also has experienced the challenges of starting a sports tourism program.

The tournaments cannot conflict with local use of the facilities, he said. When Moore County's tourism season picks up in the spring and fall, it sometimes lacks the hotel rooms to lodge the athletes. It has turned down some events.

The tournament organizers also need help from the bureau, Miles said. Organizers use the copy machines and borrow the cell phones.

Tournaments also strain logistics, he said. Buses take the participants from the hotels to the sports centers. Police direct traffic.

Still, the sports program has helped Moore County fill hotel rooms during its off season, Miles said.

Moore County's golf courses and equestrian fields are of such quality, it they can compete for national events, he said. Last summer, Moore County hosted the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship. The event attracted nearly 4,000 children and their parents.

The county could even expand its sports venues.

A firm is studying the feasibility of an amateur sports complex that could have up to 18 fields, Miles said. The fields could bring more tournaments to Moore County.

They could also help Cumberland County, Miles said.

Some cities and counties are combining their fields to compete for large tournaments, he said. Raleigh and Wilson successfully bid for a soccer tournament. Cumberland and Moore County could do the same, Miles said.

Such teamwork could give both counties an advantage in winning bids for sports events.

To see more of The Fayetteville Observer or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.fayettevillenc.com.

Copyright (c) 2006, The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business

News.

The skin trade ; High-profile investigations into paedophilia are headline news in the UK. But just by jumping on a plane paedophiles can, almost with impunity, buy girls and boys by the hour or week. KATHY MARKS reports from Phnom Penh on the depraved world of Cambodian sex tourism - The Independent (London, England)

It is late afternoon and the tourists are drifting into Svay Pak,a squalid shantytown surrounded by rice paddies on the fringes ofthe Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. They congregate outsideramshackle cafes, swigging Angkor beer and surveying the wares: thepint-sized prostitutes spilling out of the brothels that line thepotholed main street.

There is sex for sale all over Phnom Penh: in nightclubs, poolhalls and karaoke bars, even in the cluster of hairdressing shopsnear the art deco central market. No need to make the 30-minute treknorth to Svay Pak along a congested highway, weaving through ajumble of bicycles, dogs and tractors. But Svay Pak offers somethingspecial: young girls. Girls barely older than children - and somethat are simply children.

Cambodia, once best known for the horrors of the Khmer Rougeregime, has acquired a new kind of infamy as the latest haunt ofglobetrotting paedophiles. Gary Glitter, the 1970s glam-rock star,who was jailed for four months in November 1999 for downloadingchild pornography from the internet, was deported from Phnom Penhlast month, but less prominent offenders have little to fear in anation where poverty is rife and corruption rampant. Glitter, whosereal name is Paul Gadd, served two months. He moved to Cambodia ayear ago and set up home with a young Khmer girl and her mother.After a public outcry stirred up by the British tabloids, he movedto neighbouring Vietnam, but slipped back into the country beforeChristmas.

His reappearance underscored the international dimensions of theproblem. Crackdowns in the West, with the establishment of sex-offender registers and stricter monitoring of people working withchildren, are driving abusers abroad.

Cambodia, despite being a signatory to international conventionsagainst the trafficking and exploitation of children, allows thetrade to operate quite brazenly. In Svay Pak, where hens pick in thedirt and ragamuffins play in puddles, child prostitution is athriving industry. Twenty brothels, each sealed by a padlocked irongrille, line the narrow, rutted track that runs through the village.Step into any of the brick and concrete buildings, and the papasan -pimp - will produce a girl or boy to suit every whim. Oral sex inone of the sweaty plywood cubicles costs $5 (pounds 3.20); $500 buysa six-year-old for a week.

Across the road, in a cafe set up by enterprising locals, theEnglish menu offers fish and chips and baked beans on toast. Thetourists seated around the battered Formica tables greet each otherlike kindred spirits; they range from pale-faced backpackers to menin their sixties. The air is full of American drawls and Australiantwangs - and the unmistakable sound of a Geordie accent can beheard.

Several girls in skin-tight trousers and spaghetti-strap tops aredancing around a group of Japanese men, giggling and flirting,sitting on their knees. A waif in a pyjama-like outfit whispers inthe ear of a prospective punter, suggesting 'boom-boom'(intercourse) or 'yum-yum' (oral sex). 'Very good, very nice,' shepromises, massaging his shoulders, then leans over and kisses himfirmly on the mouth.

The prostitutes look no older than 12 or 13, but there areyounger models inside the brothels, where the girls are instructedto lift up their tops and skirts to show off their childish bodiesto customers. 'That's why foreigners like Svay Pak,' says Om ChamRoeun, who makes a living from whisking tourists around Phnom Penhon the back of his motorbike. 'Very young girls, very small girls,and no one cares. Why should they? It's good money.'

A moped draws up and two Englishmen alight. They are plainlyregulars; the adolescent waiter brings their drinks without beingasked. One sports a greasy ponytail and floral shirt; the other hasa beer gut spilling over safari shorts and a sunburnt neck. Ponytailis planning to visit Angkor Wat, Cambodia's famed ancient templecomplex. Sunburnt Neck snorts with derision. 'That's just a load ofold stones,' he says. 'I'm telling you, this is the place to be.'

After draining their Cokes, the men disappear inside a dimly-litdoorway, through which candles can be glimpsed flickering in aBuddhist shrine. A few minutes later, a uniformed police officersaunters up to the metal grille and is given an envelope by theVietnamese pimp slouching outside. The bribe changes hands in broaddaylight. The policeman swaggers off.

The girls are, in effect, sex slaves; they receive no money, onlyfood, and armed guards stop them running away. Yet the tradeoperates with virtual impunity, thanks to high-level politicalprotection and the connivance of corrupt police and judges. Withmuch of the lucrative industry controlled by senior police andmilitary officers, successful prosecutions are rare. Evidence ismysteriously lost, brothels are tipped off before raids, and pimpsslip their handcuffs on the way to court.

Only three foreigners have been convicted of paedophile offencesover the years, including a British former headteacher, John Keeler,who threw a chair across court, shouting that he had been promisedan acquittal after paying the judge $3,000 (pounds 2,000). Keeler,who spent a year behind bars in Phnom Penh after being convicted inNovember 2000, was caught making pornographic videos with younggirls in a park.

However, most offenders manage to buy their way out of trouble,according to Pierre Legros, the director of AFESIP, a French charitythat rescues child prostitutes. 'It's anarchy, total anarchy,' hesays. 'If the police did their job properly, they could arrest 50paedophiles a day. As it is, a perpetrator gets to court and theevidence has been burnt. Of those that are jailed, most are releasedafter a few months.'

AFESIP and other agencies working in the field are frustrated bythe flagrant failure of law enforcement. 'Sometimes we have all theevidence, but no one will pursue the case because the brothels arerun by powerful people,' says Sun Sothy, the director of theCambodian Women's Crisis Centre. 'Or the police have someone incustody, then they get a call from high up telling them to releasehim or else.'

In one incident last year, 14 Vietnamese girls aged from 10 to 13were removed from the Svay Pak brothels after an undercoverinvestigation by AFESIP. When the matter came before a judge, heordered the girls to be arrested and deported as illegal immigrants.One of the brothel owners, meanwhile, was handcuffed and put in apolice car. By the time the car arrived at the police station, shehad vanished.

Legros claims that a senior cabinet minister is involved in thetrade. 'If I give you the name, I'm dead,' he says. It is no emptyboast. He and his wife, Somaly Mam, receive regular death threatsand their house was firebombed in 1998 by a vengeful pimp. His wifehas been followed and threatened by armed men on three occasions. Atone stage, she was forced to seek refuge in neighbouring Laos.

The AFESIP centre in Tuol Kok, a suburb of Phnom Penh, issurrounded by a high metal barrier crowned with barbed wire.Security guards patrol the entrance. Just inside, in a shadycourtyard, two young girls play on a swing under a mango tree. In adownstairs room, a dozen girls are bent industriously over sewingmachines. A literacy class is in progress next door.

The centre is a place of sanctuary for former child sex workers,who are given medical and psychological help and taught vocationalskills. AFESIP has a second base in Kompong Chang, on the MekongRiver, and has just opened a third in the tourist town of Siem Reap,near the Angkor temples. A recent survey found that 70 per cent ofchildren in Siem Reap had been approached by foreigners asking forsex, or knew someone who had been approached.

Chantala is not sure how old she is; possibly 14. She has thelook of a frightened animal and is unable to meet a stranger's gaze,staring at the floor and kicking her bare feet. A few years ago, awoman approached her aunt and offered to employ the little girl as alive-in cleaner at a shop in Phnom Penh. Her impoverished familyquickly agreed. The shop turned out to be a brothel. Her firstclient was a Chinese man. 'He wanted sex with me. I said no,' shesays in a barely audible whisper. 'He beat me until I was nearlyunconscious, then he tore my clothes off and raped me. Afterwardsthe boss of the brothel ordered me to have sex with many men. When Isaid no, I don't want to, he screamed at me and put a gun to myhead.

'I worked most days from 9am until 3am. Sometimes I was sick andthe boss cursed me and said I'd be a prostitute until I died becauseI owed him so much money. One day a man came and took me to avillage outside Phnom Penh. When we got there, there were 10 menwaiting for me. I had to have sex with all of them. I was taken tothe same place many times again.'

There are worse stories. Avy, an eight-year-old girl living inAFESIP's Kompong Chang centre, was sold into the sex trade afterbeing raped by her stepfather and nine other men. She was hit acrossthe face and given electric shocks when she refused to have sex withclients. When she grew sleepy after working long hours, the pimpthrust chillies in her eyes.

A Unicef survey concluded that 35 per cent of Cambodia's 55,000prostitutes are under 16. 'We believe the figure is even higher,'says Sao Chhoeurth, AFESIP's technical co-ordinator. 'We find thegirls are getting younger. There used to be people in their twentiesworking in the industry. Now the oldest girls are teenagers.'

The trend is fuelled by a growing demand for virgins, who -according to a widely-held belief in Cambodia - bring good luck andlong life to the men who deflower them as well as eliminating thedanger of HIV infection. Sex workers are not allowed to insist thatclients use condoms. Not surprisingly, up to half of them arebelieved to be HIV-positive. Some of the younger girls are stitchedup in hospital and sold on to other brothels so they can once againbe presented as virgins.

Many of the girls working in Svay Pak and other centres of childprostitution are trafficked from rural villages. Some of them - likeChantala - are lured by false promises of jobs. Most are illiterate,and easy prey for the networks of recruiters set up in ruralcommunities. Others are sold to brothels by parents so poor thatthey are willing to sacrifice an older girl in order to feed therest of their children.

Cambodia is the hub of a people-trafficking racket with tentaclesstretching across South-east Asia and links with several Asianmafias. Many of the country's underage prostitutes are from Vietnam,while Cambodia supplies girls to countries in the region as well asto Japan and Europe.

Poverty, corruption and lack of education have created theperfect environment for the trade to flourish. Some believe thatCambodia's turbulent past is another factor; 30 years of civil warhave left a fractured nation with a weak institutionalinfrastructure and confused notions of right and wrong. 'We are abrutalised, damaged society,' says Sun Sothy. 'Why else do we treatour children like this?'

The industry is not fed by tourists alone. Visiting brothels isan acceptable practice in a country where women are expected to bevirgins when they get married. Sex with young girls is regarded as aperk of power and privilege; those girls, of course, will never getmarried. 'A virgin is very stimulating, you know?' explains Brasil,an agriculture student in the southern town of Kampot. 'But after agirl loses her virginity, she's finished, no one will love her. Aboy, on the other hand, is always 100 per cent golden.'

This is the muddled morality that Western paedophiles areexploiting with glee. Svay Pak, once just an anonymous village, isnow extolled in the darker recesses of the internet. Websites set upby regulars give directions, as well as offering stomach-churningreviews of children in the various brothels. Svay Pak's pimps evendeliver to central hotels. One Italian man had 11 girls dropped offat his room in three batches.

Cambodia is a relatively new travel destination, only deemed safesince Pol Pot died in 1998, prompting the remaining Khmer Rougeguerrillas to lay down their arms. The tourism industry has grownrapidly since then, with 400,000 people - including 18,000 Britons -visiting last year. The child sex trade, once tiny, is now booming.The Tourism Ministry estimates that one-quarter of visitors are sextourists. 'More and more foreigners are coming for this reason,'says Somaly Mam, adding bitterly: 'Cute temples, cute children.'

Ecpat, an international network that campaigns against childprostitution, says that Cambodia's sex tourists are seasonedtravellers. 'They've been to Thailand, they've been to thePhilippines and they're looking for new frontiers,' says BernadetteMcMenamin, the director of Ecpat's Australian branch. 'These are menwho see children as a commodity. To them, they're fresh meat.'

Mary Robinson, the former United Nations High Commissioner forHuman Rights, criticised the exploitation of children when she wentto Cambodia last year. Lord Puttnam, who produced the 1984 filmabout the civil war, The Killing Fields, also highlighted theproblem while visiting the country this month in his new role as thepresident of Unicef UK. Western aid workers, however, say there isno political will to crack down. 'It's clear that the Cambodiangovernment doesn't care about its own citizens,' says Legros.

Honda hit new high; Skies the limit as Honda turn their skills air plane engines, says BILL CAVEN.(News) - Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland)

THERE is a growing belief that Honda have taken charge of the Midas touch.

Everything they handle seems to turn to gold and, not content with enjoying record worldwide sales, the Japanese giant are now toying with moving into the aircraft business as well. Last week, they completed test flights of an experimental six-seater business jet with Honda's own engine.

They are already well established as makers of motorbikes and agricultural vehicles, as well as generators, outboard engines and lawnmowers.

Honda, however, remain committed to the automotive industry, where they are the second biggest player.

Earlier this year, Honda achieved a remarkable milestone when they built their 50 millionth vehicle. Having started production in Japan just four decades ago with the S500 sports car and a mini-truck, Honda have steadily expanded operations.

The mainstay of their success the Civic and the Accord has remained the same down the years, with sales of both still buoyant.

The shape of both models may have changed, but it hasn't dampened their appeal both at home and abroad.

Both ranges have recently undergone a facelift to keep them ahead of the field as Honda bosses are in no mood to give up any ground.

Honda have worked hard to get to where they are and are determined to stay out front.

The Civic, in particular, has undergone a remarkable transformation to achieve cult status in some quarters.

Previously, it only really attracted old fuddy duddies with dodgy flat caps who had never seen traffic jams as they were always at the front.

Younger motorists were often put off the hatchback simply because the Civic lacked any street cred.

Along came the 198 bhp Type R, which has more attitude and lip than a snotty teenager.

One of the strengths of the hatchback remains its incredible reliability record.

Honda engines remain the best around, offering outstanding fuel economy with the added bonus of decent performance when permitted.

The choice ranges from 89 bhp 1.4-litre, 108 bhp 1.6 litre VTEC, 158 bhp two-litre VTEC and the 198 two-litre I-VTEC, all in petrol guise.

Increasingly, more motorists are switching on to diesel power and Honda offer a 99 bhp 1.7-litre CDTi common rail that achieves 42 miles from a gallon.

It is easy to understand the appeal of the Civic across the whole age spectrum. It has style, incredible interior space and a cavernous boot.

EQUALLY, the Accord fits the bill for fleet and private buyers thanks to its residual value and reliability.

Going head to head with the Ford Mondeo and Vauxhall Vectra, Honda have equipped their luxury saloon and hatchback well for the battle.

More recently, the company introduced a new 2.2-litre diesel version to the ranks to strengthen its growing appeal.

With the new model out in February, Honda believe they have played a masterstroke with its introduction, as it will broaden the range to mix it with the Big Boys.

CAPTION(S):

Just say no! To concessions, that is! As with hotel rooms, plane tickets and laundry soap, residents shop for bargains in apartments. Many onsite sales people sell their community's special rather than the special qualities of the apartment home. Gwyn reminds onsite staff of the importance of maximizing income by minimizing concessions and suggests how it can be accomplished. - Units

What's your special? It is one of the first questions the prospect asks. What's your answer? Consumers are conditioned to look for 'deals' in every aspect of life. They can go online and get discounted airline tickets, vacation rentals and hotel deals. Cars are notoriously negotiated--so much so that some people car shop for sport, with buyers walking away if the deal they receive is not sweet enough. And, by the time this article prints, summer clothes will have been discounted several times in department stores and perhaps some fall items will be on sale already. From grocery store coupons to free cell phone minutes to the standard pitch of 'buy one, get one free' the consumer rules!

Not surprisingly, 'deals' are what prospects ask about first. Unfortunately, the unpleasant surprise is that many onsite sales people begin the leasing presentation by selling the special rather than selling the apartment homes.

With markets being soft over much of the country, prospects are pushing for concessions. Pressure from owners has property managers focused on occupancy percentages to the point that discounts and free rents appear to be the solution.

Softer markets create plenty of options for prospects. They have many available apartment residences from which to choose and low interest rates are making single-family homes an attractive alternative. As a result, prospects are looking a lot longer and at a lot more communities during the decision-making process. The days of closing on the first visit are long gone.

Rather than changing selling habits to meet the change in buying habits, the apartment industry has turned to marketing free rent in order to close. This not only devalues the product, it creates a bad cycle. Often there are no more leases being signed than there would have been otherwise, and certainly the discounts do not result in a greater number of renewals. In fact, higher concessions have a correlation with higher turnover--the person looking for the best deal often moves on to the next deal.

Instead of falling into the trap of giving free rent to stay competitive--change your methods!

Free Rent Is Anything But Cheap

Property Managers must keep in mind that the key is not just occupancy, but that it is all about income. Years ago I worked with a team of Regional Property Managers who compared traffic and occupancy statistics on a weekly basis. Over time, one regional manager always came out on top, regardless of seasonality, regardless of shifts in the economy.

Unfortunately, even though he always had the highest occupancy, his region's income fell from quarter to quarter and year to year. His focus was so occupancy-driven that he would do whatever it took to stay full, including giving greater discounts than the rest of the market.

He was always above market occupancy, but boy, did he drop the ball on income. As a fiduciary to the owners of the asset, he was focusing on the wrong thing and penalizing both the income and the value of the property.

It Gets Worse

The bad effect on income does not stop with new rentals. When concessions are offered to the public, consider that existing residents are aware of the free rent being offered to the folks who walk in off the street. They, too, are becoming more savvy about negotiating free rent and other concessions into their renewals.

If the management company forces the old line of not offering specials to existing customers, the good, reliable, rent-paying 'old' customers will be frustrated and the risk of turnover increased. So, if free rent is given to prospects, further damage is caused to the income stream by having to give concessions to current residents at renewal.

In a recent study performed for a client, occupancy is higher than the same level a year ago, but income is lower due to concession loss.

Can We Stop the Madness?

Some very successful firms do not offer concessions and do not appear to be threatened by new competition, even a copy-cat competitor. For example, when was the last time Starbucks offered a Buy-One-Get-One-Free mocha? When was the last time Disney reduced rates at their theme park gates? What about a discount on Microsoft XP software? Schwinn bicycles? Have those firms issued any apologies?

1. Well-Trained Staff. Starbucks and Disney have excellent training programs for staff at every level and their employees do not ever interact with a customer until they achieve a level of competency with the product and its uniqueness. The result: Enough confidence on the staff's part that they don't spend a second apologizing for price. So train until every leasing person on a team totally believes in the value of the product being marketed.

2. Teach Value. Sell what IS special rather than selling THE special. Train leasing teams on selling what is distinctive about the apartment homes, community and services, rather than concessions. It may seem easier to sell the special, but that results in a price war in which no one really comes out the winner. No two apartment communities are alike, and marketing the special takes away from what truly is special about a community.

All leasing team members should focus on what is unique about the community and apartment homes they manage, and should sell what sets them apart. At times, the community's distinction may be how clean an apartment is and how crisp the grounds are. But that is enough.

Jennifer Nevitt, an esteemed industry colleague, once positioned an apartment as 'So Clean You Could Eat a Jelly Donut Off The Floor!'

If a property is vanilla and nondescript, get creative. Differentiate it. Be distinctive. Every asset has its unique selling proposition. Take the leasing team and find it--it may actually be the wonderful team itself. Whatever it is, identify it and then capitalize on it. Create value by positioning the community where it needs to be. Make sure the unique qualities are presented in every prospect encounter, every ad and every marketing piece.

3. Teach Tools. Give leasing professionals tools. When someone walks in the door and says, 'What's Your Special,' again, what response is given? When the phone conversation starts, make sure team members are ready to respond with a definite answer that gives them confidence. Try something like:

* 'We've worked hard to make sure our rates are fair and in line so we don't have to confuse you with specials that make it hard to tell what you're really paying. So what size apartment home are you looking for? I'm sure we can find something within your budget!'

* 'Our rates and specials for our apartment homes vary based on availability. Can you tell me what size you're looking for and when you plan to move? (Once they identify floor plan size and date, SELL!) So you're looking for a -- bedroom home around the end of the month. I can help you with that ... (Begin asking relationship building questions!)'

* 'Do you have a budgeted figure in mind that you're trying to stay within?'

* 'Our rate on the -- floor plan starts at $--, and is a great deal, and includes -- and --. If you compare our prices with what you might find on special, we come out ahead when you consider all we offer.'

Team members might come up with even better responses once they get thinking. At a staff meeting have the entire team work together to come up with definitive answers that they can firmly and confidently give to prospects. One suggestion is to use a wipe erase board or the Post-It Flip Chart paper stuck on a wall that serves as a big visual of what their answers are as they brainstorm solutions. Then, give them a written reminder of the 'standard' responses till they become automatic.

4. Rehearse! Help staff work through these 'lines' with effective and fun role-playing. Call it a 'special' dress rehearsal where weekly (or daily in this competitive time) the team rehearses the phone conversations and site visit scenarios. Give a visual cue to reinforce the responses that are most effective in overcoming the requests for specials. It can be as simple as a typed version of the 'standard response' taped under the phone receiver. And after rehearsing, listen to the leasing team during actual phone conversations and showings and reinforce their successes and coach them a little more if necessary.

5. Reward Good Behavior. The regional manager referred to earlier in this article with the high occupancies paid bonuses based on each lease in order to achieve high occupancy while his owner's income declined day by day. The owner's interests would have been served better by a bonus program that rewarded leases that did not have concessions. Or, what about a bonus system that was based on income improvements rather than occupancy improvements? Make sure the bonus structure looks out for the best interests of the owners.

6. Concessions. What can you do besides give away rent? What can we sell instead of concessions? What can we give instead? At Sales & Marketing Magic's Brainstorming Conference last fall, apartment professionals from all over the country worked to solve problems such as how to avoid the concession pitfall. One of the many creative solutions developed at the conference was to offer upgrades (yes, we've all heard that), but with a unique marketing motif that positions the asset to appeal to the renters' individuality. The program gives the leasing team a way of adding value to the apartment home, rather than discounting its value.

Awards programs are another alternative to concessions. Giving vacations and other rewards requires a cash outlay, but can be an incentive to attract residents. Cornerstone recently offered a drawing for use of a Jeep for a year, and is currently offering a contest to win $100,000 from a drawing as a rental incentive.

If All Else Fails ...

Unfortunately, in a market that is giving two to six months free rent, a concession of some sort might be the only recourse. If offering discounts is absolutely necessary, do not be the leader. Train people to sell the apartment home and community first, and offer an incentive (consistently, keeping in mind fair housing) at the end of the transaction, not in the beginning.

An incentive is different from a concession or discount, which devalues the asset. An incentive (not just semantics) is defined as something that 'induces action, motivates and incites the passions.' Now that's what we want when someone comes in to lease.

Remember: an incentive can be something other than free rent. Perhaps it is maid service for the length of the lease, cable and Internet services at no additional charge or some other added value.

This spring, a very skilled property manager lobbied me heavily for concessions where literally every property in the submarket was giving something away--everything from one month free to a big discount off the monthly rate for the length of the lease. We decided to stick to our rents, hold fast to our qualifying criteria and show off our product. Some of the comparables are newer, but having recently shopped them all, we knew ours was the only one with all the details being 'white glove' perfect.

The property manager (Martha) met with the next prospect, who was very interested and began the 'what's your special' process. Martha surprised even herself by selling the fact that no other apartment they looked at would be as well cared for, and that was a sample of how we'd take care of them after they moved in. Guess what? That person leased on the spot. And that success was a confidence-builder for the whole team.

Consumers may be on the look for deals, but please remember to look out for the interests of the property and its owners. Maximizing income by minimizing concessions is a critical component of how that is done. The behavior of the customer cannot be changed, but our own behavior can.

From airport to auction: Passenger items prohibited from planes in Pennsylvania and elsewhere may wind up in a state agency's warehouse, and then be sold over the Internet. - Reading Eagle (Reading, PA)

Byline: Dan Kelly

Jun. 22--If what happens in Pennsylvania stays in Pennsylvania, it may be because it was surrendered at an airport.

And, unlike in Las Vegas, whose tourism slogan is 'What happens here, stays here,' if you try to take your secret on the flight home from Pennsylvania, it might end up posted on eBay, the Internet auction site, for the whole world to see.

Everything from fur-lined handcuffs and a cat-o'-nine-tails to machetes and switchblades has been surrendered by people caught trying to take the items onto airplanes as carry-on luggage, said Edward L. Myslewicz, a spokesman for the state Department of General Services.

'There certainly is an element of surprise at what folks think they can get onto an airplane,' he said.

Myslewicz said most of the items are not considered confiscated in the legal sense because their owners typically surrendered them voluntarily, although under threat of arrest, which might make some people challenge the notion of volunteerism being involved.

Whether dangerous or just kinky, the abandoned materials have brought in more than $250,000 to the state's general fund since the state started selling them on eBay in June 2004, Myslewicz said.

That year, the federal Transportation Security Administration began offering surrendered items at airports to the states in which they were taken.

If those states didn't want the materials they were offered to other states or were kept and auctioned by TSA.

Pennsylvania accepts surrendered items from airports in Harrisburg, Allentown and Philadelphia, as well as from airports in New York City; Syracuse, N.Y.; Newark, N.J.; and Cleveland.

Oddly enough, Pittsburgh's airport sends its abandoned items to the state of Maryland, Myslewicz said. He said it is unclear how Maryland trumped Pennsylvania for Pittsburgh's business, but added that General Services still hopes to win over the Steel City.

Additionally, the department is working with other airports in Pennsylvania to begin accepting surrendered items at those locations.

Every month truckloads of surrendered, found or abandoned materials are trucked to a warehouse in suburban Harrisburg to be sorted and prepared for sale on the Internet, Myslewicz said.

'I think the machete was the biggest surprise, but then there also are the fur-lined handcuffs and other personal items,' he said. 'There are cap guns and nunchucks.

'There was a 6-foot artificial palm tree, but that was sold on eBay. You really have to see this stuff for yourself.'

General Services has conducted auctions at its warehouse on occasion, but the department has found it is more profitable to offer items such as toenail clippers, scissors, Swiss Army knives and Leatherman tools in large lots over the Internet, he said.

'We might be able to get 50 cents for a toenail clipper sold individually but $30 to $50 for a large batch of them,' Myslewicz said.

General Services employees also have begun creating packages of hunting, gardening and sports gear by sorting through 55-gallon drums of surrendered goods and grouping similar items together.

Another plus of the state's Internet business venture: It's staffed by state employees who had been injured on other state jobs and would otherwise be at home collecting workers' compensation.

'Every day we have three to six people working in the warehouse sorting, packaging and photographing these items for sale on eBay,' Myslewicz said. He credited Gov. Ed Rendell for coming up with the program and with using injured workers to staff it.

'Gov. Rendell wants us to look at all ways within our

means to save taxpayers money,' Myslewicz said.

Copyright (c) 2006, Reading Eagle, Pa.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business

News.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

Mailbag.(Greg Hanoosh eulogizes Bob Hayes killed in World Trade Center plane crash)(Brief Article) - Plastics News

Remembering Netstal's Bob Hayes

I knew Bob Hayes. I didn't know him that well, although I worked on occasional projects with him over the past five years. But now, I realize I knew him better than I thought.

Bob, who was director of sales and marketing for data products at Netstal Machinery Inc., was killed on American Airlines Flight 11 on Sept. 11. He was traveling from Boston to Los Angeles on a routine business trip. He was 37.

Like everyone else in this country and around the world, I watched with horror as terrorists crashed two commercial jets into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon, and a fourth into a field in Pennsylvania. That night I prayed that I didn't know any family members, friends or acquaintances that were killed in this tragedy. Then I got the call Wednesday morning.

A friend from Netstal told me of Bob's death. The grief and shock at Netstal was unbearable, and they asked for my help in making an announcement. Over the next day, after getting information from Netstal, I wrote a press release, got a photo of Bob, and distributed it to the press. After an almost 20 year career in marketing and public relations, I can say nothing has ever been so difficult.

Bob and I had a lot in common. We both grew up in suburban Boston. We both married, had children and moved to the Newburyport, Mass., area. We both worked out of home offices. We both loved spending time with our families.

Bob most recently visited me at my office on a picture-perfect day in July. We worked together on a promotion for Netstal's Discjet molding machines. We talked business, but we spent more time talking about our families and our lives. He told me how happy he was with his life, how he had a great family - his wife Deb, son Robbie and newborn Ryan.

On Saturday night, Sept. 15, my wife and I attended Bob's memorial service. It was held outdoors at a public park along the Merrimack River in Amesbury, just a few blocks from Bob's house. The minister allowed anyone wanting to speak to come up to give their recollections of Bob. The stories I heard made me realize I knew Bob better than I thought.

His childhood friends spoke of growing up with Bob and the fun they had. A contingent of surfers spoke of Bob's passion for the sport. Co-workers spoke of Bob's endless enthusiasm, positive outlook, work ethic and, above all, honesty. Neighbors and relatives spoke of Bob's devotion to his family.

And as I listened, I thought to myself, I knew all that. I knew Bob Hayes better than I thought.

Netstal has set up a fund to help Bob's family. Please consider sending a donation to the fund: Debora L. Hayes, in trust for Robert J. Hayes, beneficiary; Netstal Memorial Trust. Sovereign Bank, 11 Park Street, Leominster, MA 01453.

Donations may be sent either in care of the bank or to Netstal Machinery Inc. at 75 Lake George St., Devens, MA 01432.

Greg Hanoosh

Next Step Communications Inc.

States Vs. SUVs; Dick Cheney's Clout; Plane With at Least One Blown Tire Prepares to Land - Finance Wire

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And to our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time.

Standing by, CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you tonight's top stories.

Happening now, it's 7:00 p.m. in Washington. As gas prices soar, the Bush administration faces a lawsuit from states and cities demanding a get-tough policy on gas-guzzlers. Should SUVs be singled out? Would tougher mileage rules really make a difference?

They move from cemetery to cemetery, where their noisy protests for funerals of fallen troops are seen as shocking developments, but now followers of a controversial church get a powerful ally.

And it may soon be legal to hold small amounts of heroin, cocaine and marijuana in Mexico. What will that do to America's war on drugs?

I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Tonight, gas prices are soaring and tempers are flaring from Capitol Hill to state capitols across the country. The top House Republican says his party's plan to give tax payers a $100 rebate is insulting. Republican sources tell CNN the plan is dead. That has Democrats smiling and pouncing.

In the midst of it all, the House speaker, Dennis Hastert, met with the new chairman of ExxonMobil. The oil industry boss told CNN politics isn't the solution, conservation is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REX TILLERSON, CEO, EXXONMOBIL: There is not anything that can be done that's going to change this situation overnight. It's all about supply and demand fundamentals. And the only thing that can be done is people need to try to use the energy efficiently. Work on the demand side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Outside of Washington tonight, states are banding together to try to take on one of the nation's most popular gas- guzzlers. That would be SUVs.

CNN's Mary Snow is covering the high-stakes showdown. She's joining us from New York -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, California's leading a group of states that went to court today to push for better mileage for SUVs and large vehicles, saying the government's standards are not good enough.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW (voice over): They are the bane of environmentalists. Now sports utility vehicles, or SUVs, are the main target of a legal showdown. Representatives for 10 states and two cities are suing the Bush administration, accusing it of not being tough enough on automakers when it comes to mileage standards for SUVs.

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, CONNECTICUT ATTORNEY GENERAL: These regulations are really a gift to the automobile industry. They're a sham.

SNOW: In Charlotte, North Carolina, today, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta touted the new standards that are the subject of the suit.

NORMAN MINETA, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: In March, I announced the president's tough new mileage requirements for light trucks, minivans and SUV, and that was the second in just three years.

SNOW: Last year, the president announced new fuel economy standards.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When these reasonable increases in mileage standards take full effect, they will save American drivers about 340,000 barrels of gasoline a day.

SNOW: Some of those new standards, for example, for the largest SUVs, by the year 2011, they must, on average, get 24 miles to the gallon. Critics say it's not good enough and blame the administration for not pushing automakers to use better technology.

BRENDAN BELL, SIERRA CLUB: The technology exists to make all vehicles, from cars, to SUVs, to light trucks, average 40 miles per gallon within 10 years. And taking that step would save the average driver about $500 per year at the gas pump and it would save four million barrels of oil per day.

SNOW: Automakers say hundreds of factors, including safety, are taken into account when determining mileage standards.

A spokesman for General Motors took aim at the claims that the auto industry persuaded the Bush administration to go easy on automakers, saying, 'The idea that these were a gift is clearly coming from people who don't have a full grasp of the complexity of the dynamics involved here.'

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: Now, as it stands today, some of the least efficient SUVs can run about 12 miles to the gallon. Some of the most efficient, 20- plus miles to the gallon. Now, automakers just reported today that sales of SUVs and trucks are slipping as drivers look for more fuel- efficient vehicles -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Mary, thank you for that.

Tonight there is new evidence that sky-high gas prices are having a very serious drag on the Bush White House. The CBS News poll shows the president's approval rating is down to 33 percent. That's a record low for that survey. And just 17 percent say they approve of the way Mr. Bush is handling the soaring gas prices.

The Bush-Cheney team has been trying to regroup and recover from a host of political problems. But is the vice president's clout what it used to be?

Our chief national correspondent, John King, has been looking at this story and he's joining us now live -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, think back to the very beginning of this administration, all those late-night jokes that maybe it was the vice president pulling the strings, calling the shots behind the scenes at the White House. You don't hear those jokes from Leno or Letterman anymore. But listen closely, you might hear something close from the vice president himself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING (voice over): In Philadelphia Monday, reading Henry Kissinger and reminiscing...

RICHARD CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As I mentioned, he and I go back a long ways to the Ford administration, when he was secretary of state and I was White House chief of staff. The old days, when I had real power.

KING: Anyone who thinks the vice president doesn't have real power isn't paying attention. New budget director Rob Portman and new press secretary Tony Snow are both long-time Cheney favorites. Yet there also are West Wing rumblings.

Some Bush aides and advisers say an always-independent Cheney operation is more detached now. Something they trace back to friction over how he handled his hunting accident back in February.

'He and the president are fine,' one senior official put it. 'It's just a lot of disconnect and disengagement at the staff level.'

A White House adviser close to Mr. Cheney described his current staff as 'second team,' but also said, 'He has lowered his profile because he feels it serves the president.'

It's not as if the vice president has disappeared. He's off to Europe for a six-day diplomatic mission. Military bases are a Cheney favorite.

CHENEY: It's good to be back in Texas.

KING: It is Texas (INAUDIBLE) one of 23 midterm election fund- raisers just this year.

Adviser Mary Matalin chalks up any West Wing grumbling to jitters stemming from the White House staff shake-up.

MARY MATALIN, CHENEY ADVISER: The relationship that matters most would be the one between the president and the vice president. And whatever other staff issues, mattress mice gaggle that's going on, needs to reflect more about what that relationship is.

KING: But many Republicans see a lower Washington profile and a political calculation. For all the president's struggles, many see Mr. Cheney as a more flawed spokesman on the major issues of the day: Iraq and gas prices.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: In our latest CNN polling, the vice president's approval rating just 35 percent. That's down 16 points from polling conducted just after the start of the second Bush term a little more than a year ago, Wolf.

In the upcoming issue of 'Vanity Fair,' the vice president gives an extensive interview. He says perhaps if he worked at it harder, he could improve his image with the American people. But he says that's not his job. His job is to help the president, whatever it takes -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, John. Thanks for that report.

And thanks to John, Mary Snow, part of the best political team on television.

CNN, America's campaign headquarters.

And we have some news that's coming -- coming into CNN right now. These are live pictures you are seeing from Houston airport, where crews are standing by for an emergency landing.

Authorities believe a Continental Express jet blew a tire on takeoff. It's been circling the airport to burn off fuel before it lands. Forty-five passengers and three crew members are on board Flight 3161 that was heading for Minneapolis.

Former U.S. Airways pilot Jon Regas is on the phone with us. He is watching this story unfold, together with all of us.

These are live pictures we are seeing from Houston. Presumably, very soon, we are going to see some live pictures of this plane, Continental Express Flight 3161, coming in -- attempting a landing.

Jon, give us a little sense of what we can expect.

JON REGAS, FMR. U.S. AIRWAYS PILOT: This is a very interesting situation. The information that I've been able to determine so far is that perhaps one or two of the tires on the left main landing gear blew on takeoff. This will cause the pilot to have some difficulty maintaining directional control as the aircraft touches down on the runway.

Some of the procedures he'll be using to maintain directional control will be more aggressive use of nose wheel steering, perhaps asymmetric reverse thrust, using more reverse thrust with the right hand engine, and additional braking on the right hand landing gear.

The conditions are quite good at the Houston airport. And the wind is from the south at 12 knots. Visibility 10 miles. A few clouds at 4,500 feet above the surface. And the temperature is pretty hot, 29 degrees Celsius.

BLITZER: You know, a little while ago, about an hour and a half or so ago, we did see the plane attempt a landing. I want to roll some videotape of when this -- this Continental Express flight attempted to land.

Take a look at this, Jon. And explain to our viewers. You know, you see those tires. They seem to be OK, at least the pictures there. But as this plane gets closer to the ground, it's going to start going back up, I presume, because they didn't want to attempt an emergency landing with a plane that's full of gas.

REGAS: Those are amazing photos. And if you look on the right hand side, the landing gear is intact. On the left hand side, the wheels look much smaller, which means the rubber tires have been completely obliterated, it seems.

Reducing the fuel would be the right thing to do. It will enable a slightly slower touchdown speed. And this will aid the pilot. It also gives a chance for the good crash, fire rescue teams at Houston airport a chance to better situate themselves.

BLITZER: And we're getting these live pictures courtesy of our affiliate KTRK. If we could roll that tape one more time of this Continental Express plane as it attempted to go down about an hour, hour and 15 minutes or so ago, we can focus in on the landing gear on those tires.

And you're absolutely right, they are clearly a lot smaller in the back there, in the middle of your screen, than they are in the front.

REGAS: Yes. And there's a very good chance there will be quite a bit of sparking as the metal wheels roll on the ground, the runway. And the airplane may want to pull to the left, and the pilot may aggressively have to use all the controls to maintain the runway's center line.

One of the things we have to be very careful here is the aggressive use of braking on the right hand side may -- and I just say may -- cause tire failure on that side as well. So, things will have to go very well, and the pilots will be working very difficult conditions to keep the airplane right on the center of the runway.

Now, they have a very good, long runway there. And I anticipate that this will be something interesting to watch, but without a great deal of danger.

BLITZER: Let's hope these pilots, the two pilots on board, do exactly as the textbooks tell us.

I just want to welcome our CNN International viewers who are watching us here in THE SITUATION ROOM as well. And I just want to update our viewers as we take a look at these live pictures.

A Continental Express jet with 48 people on board has been circling Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport for at least the last hour and a half or so. At least one of the tires has been blown, apparently on takeoff. They are trying to burn more fuel before this plane comes in for a landing to touch down.

All this according to a Continental Airlines spokeswoman.

Forty-five passengers, three crew members, a pilot, a co-pilot, one flight attendant on board this Flight 3161. It was heading toward Minneapolis, but right now it's heading back to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. And we are going to presumably, courtesy of our affiliate, KTRK, get a live picture of this plane coming in momentarily.

Ali Velshi is watching this as well.

Ali, you know something about this aircraft.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's the ERJ 145 XR. It's made by Embraer Air of Brazil. It has got a range of about 2,000 nautical miles. And Continental Express jet really like these planes because it gives them a great deal of flexibility.

This plane, the XR stands for extra long range. It seats about 50 people. It competes with the CRJ planes, which you've also probably been on, Wolf.

This is a very, very popular plane. It's also a very new plane.

Just trying to get the exact service date of this plane, but it looks like it was at no earlier than the end of 2002 or beginning of 2003 that this plane was taken over by Continental Express at the time. So that's what we are looking at right now. This is a new plane that you are looking at coming in.

BLITZER: It looks like two of the tires. It looks, at least, like two of the tires. It has six were blown off on takeoff.

VELSHI: That's right.

BLITZER: Jacki Schechner is monitoring this situation online.

What are you picking up, Jacki? JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Wolf, well this is the plane that Ali's talking about from the company's Web site. You can see right there.

But more interesting, online, we want to take you to a Web site called Flight Aware that uses FAA data to track commercial and private flights. You can see the flight pattern.

This is the plane right here. Now, you can see how it's flying around again right here. Look at the squiggly patterns. You can see how much it's been doing.

Again, it's flightaware.com, online, based in Houston. And they are tracking this flight in real time -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jacki.

I want to bring back Jon Regas, the former U.S. Airways pilot who is helping us watch this emergency landing at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

If you are a passenger -- and there are 45 passengers on this plane that was heading toward Minneapolis from Houston -- the pilots presumably are explaining what's going on. How nervous, though, should they be? I assume if I were on that plane, Jon, I'd be pretty nervous.

REGAS: I would want them not to be too nervous. This is an important situation. It's non-routine. But it is very much within the realm of control.

I also want to point out something very interesting that your viewers might find interesting. As the airplane rolls for takeoff, if the tires blow after a certain speed, it is safer for the airplane to take off, burn the fuel down, and come back and make a landing rather than to immediately try to stop on the runway.

The -- you lose a good portion of the wheel braking effect without the tires. So if you have passed a certain speed, let's say about 80 knots during the takeoff roll, and the pilots perceive that the tires have blown, it's actually bettor to take off, burn the fuel down just as they are doing, and then return for a landing. If the tires blow prior to some pre-determined speed, generally speaking somewhere around 80 knots, then the attempt should be made to stop on the runway right away.

BLITZER: I remember years ago, Jon, I was on a plane that had to make an emergency landing here in Washington at Dulles Airport. It was a similar kind of situation, the landing gear.

They had a problem. They weren't sure how serious it was. But they did put some foam on the runways.

Do you assume that they are doing that? And if they are, explain to our viewers what that would do.

REGAS: Foaming of the runway has largely been discontinued in almost all circumstances. There are a couple reasons for this.

One, in order to generate the foam, it has to be timed just about perfectly. Because after the foam is generated on the runway, if 15 minutes goes past, the foam loses its effectiveness.

They've also determined that it only reduces the amount of friction on the runway by some three percent, which is almost insignificant. And perhaps most importantly, all the fire-fighting mechanisms and machines, if they expend all the foam, they have to wait a while to regenerate foam to fight a post-crash fire.

So, it is now generally regarded that it is better to save the foam and let the airplane land on just the runway. And then fight the fire afterwards.

BLITZER: And this is a small jet. When this incident happened, the plane I was on, it was, I'm guessing, 20 years or so ago. They did tell us to get into a certain position to brace for an emergency landing, get our knees up.

Walk us through what you assume the pilots are now telling those 45 passengers aboard this Continental Express jet, how they should brace for this landing which we are told should happen in the next few moments.

REGAS: I think it's very important to acknowledge that it's not just the pilots, but the flight attendant that is on board will actually be demonstrating to the passengers the proper brace position. And depending upon the seats and where you are sitting in the aircraft, one may just fold their arms on the seat back ahead of them. If there is no seat back ahead of them, you might grab beneath your knees and hold your head down in that position.

They will be warned in advance by the pilots. And perhaps there will be a special signal to the flight attendant to actually command brace.

It's a crew up there. And while the pilots are very concerned about flying, they have communicated a plan not only to the flight attendant, but to all the passengers. And I'm sure they've said something to reassure them.

I think this will be something to talk about, but I am highly confident that the pilots will pull this off.

BLITZER: Jon, we're getting this information from The Associated Press that a similar incident, the same kind of plane flying for American Eagles Airlines veered off the runway last Tuesday at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. And authorities believe a blown tire may have been the cause. There were no injuries reported in that incident.

I don't know if you were familiar with that incident. But a blown tire and two tires -- two of those tires looked to be stripped bare right now in the front. But veering off the runway, that could be a significant development. Fortunately, in Chicago last week there were no injuries.

REGAS: That's very significant. I hadn't heard about that. One of the things the pilot may elect to do is put the aircraft on the ground on the...

BLITZER: I want to interrupt you for a second. That picture we are seeing in the left-hand corner of the screen, that's when the plane earlier, about an hour or so ago, came down and was going to land. At least we got the impression it was going to land. But then it took -- it continued back up.

I assume that was because they wanted to let authorities on the ground get a closer look at the landing gear to see what it was like because they still had a full tank of gas.

REGAS: Yes, I think that's exactly right, Wolf. And I understand that they may have done two fly-bys to allow air traffic control personnel in the control tower to be able to look at the aircraft with binoculars and provide a description to the pilots.

Now, the pilot may elect to land the aircraft farther to the right of the center line of the runway in anticipation that the airplane will veer to the left. This will give him more maneuvering room to stay on the runway.

BLITZER: And Jon, you can see now these live pictures coming in courtesy of our affiliate KTRK in Houston. This is the plane. This is Continental Express coming in for a landing at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.

And those tires in the front, the landing gear, that's the problem right underneath the nose. Is that right?

REGAS: No. It's the left -- under the left wing. The nose appears to be intact. It's only under the left wing.

And as we watch the aircraft approach the runway, we can see that the flaps are down for landing. That appears to be a good stabilized approach. And as I mentioned, the pilot may elect to land a little bit to the right. It's vital that the airplane remain on the runway because it's a constant friction surface.

BLITZER: Here it comes. Take a look.

Let's just watch this for a second.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's coming in fairly slowly. It's going to be hitting the ground here in just a couple of seconds.

Almost on touchdown. And it's holding. Not really the shower of sparks we expected, either. So some very good news now.

The pilot very happy, along with the passengers on this aircraft. Down safely after some very dramatic and intense moments.

BLITZER: Well, Jon Regas, just as you thought, this would be a picture-perfect landing. And frankly, if we didn't know those left tires underneath the left wing were deflated and had blown out, it would have looked almost completely normal. I didn't see anything different from that landing as opposed to any other excellent landing.

REGAS: There is just a minor amount of smoke. Just a few sparks from the left main landing gear.

You can see that the pilot elected not to use thrust reverse. The thrust reversers did not deploy. Probably intentionally.

And the airplane maintained good center line. They did a fine job.

Here comes the crash fire rescue team. And they are not spraying foam or anything just yet. It looks like a very well-handled situation.

BLITZER: It looks indeed like they are going to be a bunch of happy people, 45 passengers, three crew members, two pilots, one flight attendant. They're on board this Continental Express plane that was going to Minneapolis, but now it's still in Houston. And fortunately, everything worked out just fine.

Jon, thanks very much for that.

Thanks to Ali and Jacki as well.

We'll continue to watch this story. But there's other important news we are watching here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Coming up, funeral protest outrage, the war over free speech. The ACLU is now defending an extremist group's right to demonstrate at the burials of fallen American soldiers. We have the story.

Also, small amounts of cocaine and heroin amount to become legal in Mexico. Will Americans run to the boarder to get high? We are taking you to Tijuana. Our Chris Lawrence is there.

Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Let's check in with Jack Cafferty. He's joining us from New York with 'The Cafferty File' -- Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The next time your community wants to raise property taxes to pay for your public schools, think about this. A lot of them aren't working very well.

Three years after the start of the war in Iraq, 63 percent of Americans between the age of 18 and 24 can't find it on a map. A study by 'National Geographic' found young Americans are sorely lacking when it comes to geography.

Sixty-three percent can't find Iraq or Saudi Arabia, 75 percent can't locate Iran or Israel. And 88 percent don't know where Afghanistan is.

All right. Those are foreign countries.

What about here in the states? Well, it's not much better.

Thirty-three percent can't find Louisiana, despite the months of coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Forty-eight percent couldn't locate Mississippi, and 50 percent can't find New York on a map. Fifty-seven percent don't know where Ohio is.

However, maybe it doesn't matter. Twenty-one percent of those polled said it's not too important to know where countries in the news are located. And that's the question.

What does it mean when many young Americans can't find Iraq or Louisiana on a map? E-mail your thoughts to caffertyfile@cnn.com or go to cnn.com/caffertyfile.

BLITZER: Jack, thanks for that.

Who wouldn't be outraged right now? Get this, there are groups going to funerals of service members, American service members killed in Iraq, to cheer their deaths and to wave signs like 'Thank god for 9/11.' But get this, the group staging these acts is now finding support.

Let's bring in our Brian Todd. He's looking at this story -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, with signs and slogans like the one you just mentioned, you would think this group would be isolated. But the Westborough Baptist Church does now have a powerful ally as it tests the bounds of free speech.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice over): They show up and shock.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every dead soldier coming home is a punishment from the lord, your god.

TODD: At the funerals of service members killed in Iraq, these folks condemn the dead and their families.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are a hell-bound minister of Satan.

TODD: Followers of the Kansas-based Westborough Baptist Church have been crisscrossing the U.S., protesting at more than 150 funerals of service members. They believe god is killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq to punish America for tolerating homosexuality.

They've caused such a disruption that more than two dozen states are either trying to pass laws restricting the movement of the protesters or have already passed them. There's a proposal in Congress for a federal law restricting their movement in national cemeteries. But the Westborough Baptist Church now has a powerful ally. The American Civil Liberties Union is filing suit to challenge Kentucky's new law.

LILI LUTGENS, ACLU: What is important here is that the First Amendment protects the free speech rights of everyone, and that includes those whose message we dislike, that we find offensive.

TODD: The father of one U.S. soldier killed in Iraq whose funeral was picketed by the church, as well as veterans group leaders, say their friends and loved ones died to protect freedom of speech. But this lawsuit...

JOE DAVIS, VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS: It infuriates us. When you have some people that are out there just spreading this hate and prejudice and hiding behind the First Amendment to do so, it's something that's just not right. It doesn't sit well with, I would pretty much bet, most of Americans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Like it or not, Westborough won't stop. One church leader told me they are heading to Michigan this weekend to protest at two soldiers' funerals. Michigan lawmakers are trying to pass one of those restriction laws, but it hasn't passed yet -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Brian, thanks for that report.

And Iraq tops the short list of global hotspots and flash points creating anxiety for the Bush administration. The former secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, is a vocal critic of the president's Iraq policy and his overall world view. Her new book looks at the connection between faith and foreign policy. It's titled 'The Mighty and the Almighty.'

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Madame Secretary, thanks very much.

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: Great to be with you, Wolf. Thank you.

BLITZER: This is what the president said yesterday on Iraq. Listen to the optimism conveyed in his words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: This nation of ours and our coalition partners are going to work with a new leadership to strengthen our mutual efforts to achieve success, a victory in this war on terror. This is a -- we believe this is a turning point for the Iraqi citizens. And it's a new chapter in our partnership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And this in contrast is what you write in your book, 'The Mighty & The Almighty.' 'Although we must fervently hope otherwise, the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath may eventually rank among the worst foreign policy disasters in U.S. history.' What if the president is right, that this is a turning point, and a stable democracy emerges and U.S. troops can eventually come home?

ALBRIGHT: Well, I would love to be proven wrong, Wolf. I really -- nobody wants us to fail, but the president has indicated turning points before. I don't think his body language indicated a lot of optimism.

I am slightly more optimistic this week than I was 10 days ago with the naming of the new Iraqi prime minister, but you have reported more deaths again, and there's not an indication that the insurgency is under control.

I hope very much that there is a change, but the effect of Iraq and the mistaken implementation of the policy, I think, is going to plague the United States for a long time. And it concerns me incredibly about the overall effects of a very bad Iraqi policy.

BLITZER: What do you make of Senator Biden's recommendation to divide Iraq up into three separate autonomous areas, a Sunni, a Kurdish, and a Shia zone?

ALBRIGHT: Well, I think that already the Constitution recognizes that there are differences among the areas in Iraq, and recognizes a certain amount of autonomy with continued control by the central government, a foreign and defense policy.

I think the different areas need to be recognized. I would be very concerned in the long run about a split-up of Iraq totally, because I think that would have very deep repercussions in an area that is already highly destabilized. And one of the results, I think, of the Iraq war is the increasing influence of Iran. And if Iraq were to split up, that would increase Iran's influence.

But I think that Senator Biden has presented a very interesting idea that is worth exploring with a kind of a system that is more federal with a central government that continues to have a variety of different authorities.

BLITZER: In your book, you're critical of this passage from the president's second inaugural address. And I'm going to play it for our viewers. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: It's the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of Democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Now what's -- explain what is wrong with that ultimate goal? ALBRIGHT: Well, I think there's nothing wrong with having a goal of ending tyranny in the world, but it is basically not something that can just be accomplished with rhetoric.

And I have been critical of speeches made by the president in which he says that the United States will deliver freedom to the inhabitants of the world, in fact, says that it is our destiny to do so, which is very much the same words that the president -- that God told Moses to do.

So I think it is overreaching, and I'm very concerned about having rhetorical statements like that which put the United States in a position of acting as if we're on a mission from God.

BLITZER: Today the Iranians said that if the U.S. were to launch any military strike against Iran and its nuclear facilities, the first thing they would do would be to attack Israel. Shimon Peres, elder statesman of Israel, immediately said Israel can defend itself.

What do you make of this rhetorical flourish coming from Tehran now, and what would you do differently than the current administration is doing?

ALBRIGHT: Well, I am very troubled by what is going on with Iran, and the statements that have been made and obviously some of the things that President Ahmadinejad has said are perfectly ridiculous. What is important is for the international community to act together and take action in the Security Council.

But I have also come to the realization that it is very important for us to have direct talks with Iran. They are not a reward. It is not negotiating. It is delivering very tough messages to Iran, and I think that we are in a very bad situation with Iran.

And one of the points that I make in terms of the failure of our Iraq policy, as I've said, is the increasing influence of Iran in the region, something that is an unintended consequence of a mistaken Bush policy.

BLITZER: Would you have direct talks with the Iranians, U.S.- Iranian talks, on the nuclear issue?

ALBRIGHT: I would. You know, I know that the president has OK'd that there be talks on Iraq, and I personally think that those talks should be widened. It doesn't mean that the Iranians will talk, but I do think it is worth trying here because we are in a very bad situation.

I agree, as a former policy maker, that you never take a military option off the table, but I think we have to pursue all diplomatic ends because we are in a very serious situation and the combination of what is happening at the United Nations with the idea that we also look at direct talks, not negotiation. Direct talks is something that I think worth trying.

BLITZER: Here's a quote from the book, on religion and foreign policy. 'The difficulty, of course, is not that the Bush administration has sought to exercise leadership on moral grounds, the problem is that its rhetoric has come close to justifying U.S. policy in explicitly religious terms and that is like waving a red flag in front of a bull.' Explain that to our viewers.

ALBRIGHT: Well, I think that the problem is that the way the policy has been presented, if you disagree with the United States, you're picking a fight with God. Now, what happened is that after 9/11 I thought President Bush acted really well and unified the country and unified the world in terms of supporting us, because it was us versus people that believed that you could kill people by flying airplanes into buildings.

When the president -- because it looked as though he thought that God -- we were doing God's work -- said, in fact, that people had to approve of our policies in Iraq or what we were doing in Abu Ghraib or extending the limits of American power, then he narrowed the number of people that would support us. And I don't think we want to be in a position where we are telling people that arguing with us is arguing with God.

BLITZER: The book is entitled, 'The Mighty and the Almighty, Reflection on America, God and World Affairs.' An introduction by her former boss, President Bill Clinton.

Madeleine Albright, thanks for joining us. Congratulations on the new book.

ALBRIGHT: Thank you very much, Wolf.

BLITZER: We want to button up that story we were reporting a little while ago. That Continental Express plane with 48 people on board landed safely at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. These are live pictures you are seeing. The passengers, 45 of them, three crew members, they are getting off this plane now safe and sound. A very, very smooth landing. Two of those tires were blown out on take-off.

As we saw live here on CNN, all's well that ends well. This was Continental Express Flight 3161 that was supposed to go from Houston to Minneapolis. It's still on the ground right now in Houston.

Still to come tonight in THE SITUATION ROOM, the president's message on Iraq. Does he have trouble selling it? Or are Americans just simply not buying it? Our Jeff Greenfield weighs in.

Also, getting high on the border. Mexico legalized possession of small quantities of cocaine and heroine. We'll take you to Tijuana for the story. Chris Lawrence is there. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: More now on the president and the his problems. How low can he go? Two more polls are out today, and both show less than one-third of Americans approve of the way the president is handling the situation in Iraq.

For more on the president's fall, let's turn to CNN's senior analyst Jeff Greenfield -- Jeff.

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: Wolf, there's been much comment about the three years since the president gave his 'Mission Accomplished' speech aboard that aircraft carrier, but there's a striking political lesson that I think has been overlooked.

It's not that the president hasn't been taking his case to the public. Indeed, he has done that repeatedly. What's happened, apparently, is that the public has stopped buying the message.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GREENFIELD (voice-over): All through his second term, Mr. Bush has been using the bully pulpit of the presidency to argue his case for the war in Iraq...

BUSH: We will stay on the offense.

GREENFIELD: ... and for the broader war on terror. All the power of the White House has been brought to bear. The speeches have been carried live on cable news, have received major coverage in the press. And what has happened?

April 12, 2005, a speech to military families on terror. His job approval rating just before that speech is at 50 percent.

BUSH: Thanks for being on the front line.

GREENFIELD: June of 2005, a visit to the National Counterterrorism Center, a speech to the nation from Ft. Bragg. By month's end, his job approval is at 45 percent.

Last November, the president visits Annapolis...

BUSH: On September the 11, 2001...

GREENFIELD: ... then Elmendorf Air Force Base to talk about terror and the war in Iraq. By year's end, his job approval is at 41 percent.

BUSH: Their aim is to seize power in Iraq.

GREENFIELD: So far this year, he's given six speeches on terror and Iraq, not counting the State of the Union. What has happened? He began the year at 43 percent job approval. In the latest CNN poll, he's at 32 percent. And his ratings on the war in Iraq and on terror in general are now sharply negative.

What has happened? Put simply, it is that the power of the president, with all the attention that office commands, is no match for a steady stream of unsettling news. Every piece of good news, a referendum, an election, has been overshadowed by violence that has taken both Iraqi and American lives. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We should not just...

GREENFIELD: Moreover, much of the current wave of negative news has come not from traditional political foes but from retired generals, most recently from former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who said, yes, he had wanted more troops to secure Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GREENFIELD: Every White House loves to argue that its best weapon is the president, connecting directly with the people. But all of the fanfare, the backdrops, the media attention, may wind up having less and less power the more the news from offstage appears to remain grim -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jeff Greenfield, with that, thank you, Jeff.

There's a developing story we're following right now. The American Civil Liberties Union has released a document it obtained from the Pentagon which it claims shows that Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez ordered interrogators to go to the outer limits to obtain intelligence from prisoners in Iraq during the time of the prison abuse scandal of the Abu Ghraib facility.

Let's get some more specific details from our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the American Civil Liberties Union has gone through 100,000 government documents. They say they found one that shows a senior general push the limits of interrogation. But Pentagon officials say it's anything but a smoking gun.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LT. GEN. RICARDO SANCHEZ, U.S. ARMY: Abu Ghraib was a defeat.

MCINTYRE (voice-over): Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez was the top commander in Iraq during the time Iraqi detainees were abused at the Abu Ghraib prison. And while he approved the interrogation tactics for prisoners in Iraq, he insists he never approved any technique that constituted abuse.

The ACLU, which has been sifting through thousands of documents obtained from the Pentagon under from Freedom of Information Act, claims one suggests Sanchez was pushing interrogators to break detainees to get information.

In the May 19, 2004 document, a Defense Intelligence Agency employee who was leading a small group of interrogators says, quote, 'People were encouraged to go to the outer limits to get information from the detainees by people who wanted the information.' When asked who that referred to, the answer was, 'Lieutenant General Sanchez said there was a desperate need to get information from detainees.'

While the ACLU claims the document implicates Sanchez in potentially abusive interrogation techniques, the reference appears to be to the approved techniques, which the Pentagon argues do not constitute torture or mistreatment. They include such things as sensory deprivation, isolation for up to 30 days, stress positions, and the presence of muzzled military dogs.

The Army says the more than 600 investigations of detainee abuse shows it involves only a small fraction of the more than 50,000 prisoners handled by the U.S. military.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: Well, Wolf, we asked the Army for a statement. It said that the case shows that the abuse of detainees is not systemic, and done by just a small fraction of Army troops and most of them serve with honor, dignity and respect.

Lieutenant General Sanchez has consistently refused any more comment on the prison scandal. He remains on active duty in Germany where he has been denied a fourth star because of Congressional opposition to his promotion -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks for that update, Jamie. Appreciate it.

Just ahead tonight, Mexico may be on the verge of legalizing small amounts of cocaine and even heroine. Is that a danger to this country's war on drugs? We have new information. Our Chris Lawrence is in Mexico.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The new hurricane season is only a few weeks away, about four. And in New Orleans, a new evacuation plan was unveiled today. Our Gulf Coast correspondent Susan Roesgen is live in New Orleans. She's joining us with the latest -- Susan.

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this is the ladder that the people who lived in this house used to get up on the roof in Hurricane Katrina. They stayed up on this roof for days waiting to be rescued because before the hurricane hit, the city did not have a plan to get people out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROESGEN (voice-over): Before Katrina, there was no evacuation plan for people who didn't have transportation out of the city. This year, Mayor Ray Nagin says the city will use buses and possibly Amtrak trains to move people out.

MAYOR RAY NAGIN (D), NEW ORLEANS: And a mandatory evacuation will be called in the future. As we know the threats that are coming, we have direct lines into the Hurricane Center, as well as coordination with the state and federal levels to make sure that we give our citizens enough time to reach safety.

ROESGEN: What's not part of the new plan is the Superdome. It will not be opened again as a shelter. Instead, evacuees will be bussed to a shelter outside the city. New Orleans Police plan to work with the National Guard, staying behind to save lives if necessary during the storm, while protecting property against looters afterward.

The bottom line is city leaders want everyone out 36 hours before a hurricane hits. And the mayor says those who choose to stay will stay at their own risk.

MAYOR RAY NAGIN (D), NEW ORLEANS: They are on their own. Mandatory, I mean we are dealing with adults. So if you decide to disobey a mandatory evacuation and leave, you are confining yourself to your home during an emergency. And if you come outside and violate the curfew, you will be arrested.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROESGEN: Now the mayor says his plan has the full support of both state and federal officials. And Wolf, they are going to test it with an actual hurricane drill later this month.

BLITZER: Susan, thanks for that. Just ahead, cocaine and heroine almost legal in Mexico, at least in small amounts. Will it help solve their drug problem or just will it be worse for Americans who want to get high? Stay with us. We'll go to Mexico.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: It's the bottom line, markets up across the board.

Mexico may be taking a bold step to legalize cocaine and heroine. CNN's Chris Lawrence is in Tijuana. Chris?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, here in Mexico, officials say they're not just legalizing drugs. They say they're going to spend less time going after the users and the addicts and more time targeting the drug gangs and the dealers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): Mexico's decision has shocked people on both sides of the border. The new law makes it legal to possess five grams of marijuana, about four joints. And 500 milligrams of cocaine, enough for four lines. Also legal, small amounts of heroin, ecstasy and other drugs.

JOHN WALTERS, ONDCP: Legalizing drugs is never a good idea.

LAWRENCE: U.S. drug czar John Walters says his deputy and the attorney general have been on the phone with their Mexican counterpart pressing them for details on how this works.

WALTERS: And also to express our concerns that you can't make progress against the drug problem which is already ravaging Mexico and spilling over into the United States, if you don't stop demand.

(on camera): Under Mexico's current law, if someone gets caught with a small amount of drugs, it's up to local judges and police to decide whether they should be prosecuted on a case-by-case basis. There are a lot of loopholes if you could prove that you were an addict. And it led to a lot of bribes.

(voice-over): Supporters say because the law set strict limits on possession, it could be easier to convict dealers. And it empowers local police to make arrests that previously only federal agents could do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could essentially allow any of your children, young adults to walk around with enough lines of cocaine to snort for one to three days.

LAWRENCE: Some American doctors, parents, and politicians are worried about the spill over into border cities like San Diego.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One has to ask the question are the drug lords running the show?

LAWRENCE: They say there's no way to separate what happens on one side of the border from the other.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: American teenagers are already attracted to Mexico because they can drink alcohol here. A lot of people are worried about how enticing legalized drugs could be for them. Wolf?

BLITZER: Chris Lawrence, thanks very much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Let's go right to Jack in New York. Jack?

CAFFERTY: The question is, why can't so many young people find Iraq or Louisiana on a map?

Janet in New Freedom, Pennsylvania: No real surprise that many Americans can't find Iraq, Louisiana on a map. What it's going to take to convince people that the threat of nuclear war and global warming are more important than 'American Idol' and Dr. Phil's psycho babble. Forget looking in maps. Maybe we just need a good long look in the mirror.

Chris in Colonial Heights, Virginia: Our schools are handling the children of more than 12 million illegal aliens who often speak little or no English. It's made teaching the normal subjects very difficult. Often our students get very little real education.

Lottie in Nashville, Tennessee: I think it's an embarrassment. I'm a 20-year-old college student, I can find Iraq on a map. I wasn't asked to participate in the survey. I don't think that a few stupid 18-to-24 year olds should represent the whole population.

Theresa in Petal, Mississippi: Jack, I guess it answers Mr. Bush's infamous question, 'Is our children learning?' Let's give the kids a break. After all, it took the president several days to find Louisiana after Katrina, and it's right next door to his home state.

BLITZER: Jack, I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks very much. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. Remember, we're in THE SITUATION ROOM weekdays 4:00-to-6:00 p.m. Eastern, back at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Let's go up to New York right now. 'PAULA ZAHN NOW,' Paula's standing by. Hi, Paula.

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