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Morning News

Russian Submarine Accident: Rescue Operation Draws to a Close; Residents of Seaport Angry Over Handling of Disaster

Aired August 21, 2000 - 11:08 a.m. ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In Russia's capital, government leaders continue to face intense criticism over their handling of the submarine rescue operation.

CNN's Jill Dougherty joins us now from Moscow with reaction to the latest developments.

Jill, let's begin by establishing those latest developments and the issue of the criticism.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, the latest developments are that, essentially, both Russians and the international rescue teams say that everyone aboard that submarine, 118 men, everyone is dead. And of course, they had been moving in that direction, almost saying it, but today they said it for real. And that's where the sad truth a lot of the families have to accept is coming.

Why they said this was they went down, Norwegian divers, went down to the submarine, they were able finally to open that hatch toward the aft part, the back part of the submarine. And if there had been any hope, it was on that hatch that, perhaps, there was air still down in that area.

What they found when they opened it was water, and that leads them to believe that the entire submarine is flooded, therefore, nobody survived.

So now the question is, they have to move to the next phase, which is recovering bodies, salvaging this submarine and also perhaps lifting it so that they can salvage those two atomic reactors that powered it.

PHILLIPS: Jill, how will the recovery mission being? what will be the first step, will it be raising the submarine?

DOUGHERTY: Well, they say that this report from Russian television is that they actually have found a body in that section. So the immediate concern would be, when they look down and they are using cameras at this point, video cameras, to look inside of the submarine, if they find bodies, then they have to decide: Do they try to bring those remains out immediately? is it too dangerous to go in? what are the circumstances? But the first priority would obviously be to try to bring out whatever remains they can. And then the salvaging, technically, the idea has been to lift it to the surface. But the concern, of course, has always been, with the atomic reactors aboard, everything seems to be safe at this point, there is no indication of any radiation leakage. But if you started moving it, perhaps something might be twisted or turned, and that could be dangerous. So there are a lot of technical things that they have to go over. It is a very big operation, and Russia can't do it by itself.

PHILLIPS: Jill, is there any concern, with regard to the torpedoes and coming across those, lifting those out?

DOUGHERTY: They haven't specifically spoken about that. In fact, the implication, at this point, or what they believe happened, was that the torpedoes exploded. Now, they don't know how many of them, but that is what they feel was the original, the cause of destroying essentially the first section of that submarine.

So it's not known, or at least I have not seen any information, about what torpedoes might be left. The concern was more for the integrity of the protective area, where the atomic reactors are.

DOUGHERTY: Jill, any more developments about the explosion? how it happened?

DOUGHERTY: The Russians are still saying that they believe that there was some type of collision close to the surface, and that that collision forced the submarine down to the bottom very, very quickly, it simply plummeted to the bottom of the ocean. And upon impact, there was a gigantic explosion, which destroyed, as I said, the first, and all the way up to the canning (ph) tower of that submarine. At that point, it flooded and that's when most of the people died.

But it is controversial because the international, other countries, the U.S. and Norway, have picked up two explosions. So it is unclear what caused that very first explosion, or whether it was some type of gigantic impact. And that will be left for the inspectors and investigators to figure out.

PHILLIPS: And of course we will continue to follow it. CNN's Jill Dougherty, live from Moscow, thank you -- Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we are going to pick up -- continue now with this -- near the Barents Sea anyway. The center of criticism at the point has come from a number of family members who have gathered there; family members of the navy sailors on board and CNN's Walter Rodgers now live from Murmansk in northern Russia with the latest from there.

Walter, what are they saying today?

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, we are expecting a plane load of over 100 family members of the crew of the Kursk to arrive here in Murmansk any minute. And what we can tell you is that, it depends on who you ask. Some members of the family are quietly blaming the government in Moscow, the Kremlin, for its handling of this; others say, Russian President Vladimir Putin can't be blamed because he's not a submariner, he is not a diver, he's only the president. It really depends, as I say, on who you ask.

Everyone, however, seems united in one thing that the Russian navy has gotten badly shortchanged in the past five or more years. Its budget has been cut from 15 percent of the total defense budget to below 12 percent now. And almost everyone realizes that some of those sailors were going to sea for no more than $54 a month. They lacked training, and there was a lot of corner cutting in the navy. So the government policy is being blamed.

One other complaint we heard from family members arriving here in Murmansk was that they did not think there had been proper solemnity on Russian television. That is to say there were entertainment shows, athletic events and so forth. And they thought there should be much more somber programming in this time of national tragedy.

I think we are beginning just now to see the -- an ocean of recriminations about to go -- Bill.

HEMMER: Walter, you just may have heard the report from Jill Dougherty also, before we came to you out of Moscow, what are they saying right now about recovering the bodies inside, and also the possibility of what happens to that sub? do you bring it to the surface, a very daunting task? or do you leave it there and secure it underwater?

RODGERS: First, I just came from a briefing with a captain in the Russian navy who began to broach the subject of recovering the bodies. He said it is going to be a difficult task. They are not sure when they are going to begin or how they are going to embark on it. We believe they have asked the Norwegians for at least advice and counsel, although they said ultimately it will be Russian divers who have the difficult responsibilities of retrieving the bodies.

As for floating the submarine itself, we are talking about a 14,000, 15,000 ton nuclear submarine, with two nuclear reactors onboard; that is not going to be a hasty process. Remember, we are only about 30 to 45 days from the onset of winter in these latitudes. It is going to be an extremely difficult task to raise that submarine. It is going to take study, and a good deal of caution. I think that is something months in the future, if not perhaps even next year, assuming they attempt to do it -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Walter, Walter Rodgers live in Murmansk, northern Russia, with that report there. Thank you, sir.

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