Roof Collapse In Poland, Rescue Efforts Underway; President Bush Threatens To Cut Palestinian Aid Unless Hamas Renounces Violence; Profile Of Hamas, Fatah; President Bush Says Clinton A Formidable Presidential Candidate; Challenger Remembered
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Hopefully that Hamas, now that they are going to govern, will be motivated to renounce this commitment to the extinction of the State of Israel. Then we can do business again.</s>SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Straight talk for Hamas by U.S. Senator John McCain. But will the group that the U.S. considers a terrorist organization budge? Or will the already complex situation in the Middle East become even more complicated? Also remembering the Challenger disaster. Twenty years ago today the nation watched in horror at what happened to the space shuttle 73 seconds after takeoff. And he spent more than two decades behind bars before DNA evidence set him free. Now he's telling his story to CNN. Welcome to CNN SATURDAY LIVE. I'm Suzanne Malveaux in for Fredricka Whitfield. A busy hour ahead. Let's get started now with other headlines now in the news. Rescue efforts continue in Poland after a roof collapse at an exposition hall. At least 30 people were injured. Several hundred were inside. Reports quote police as saying they believe heavy snow is to blame for the collapse. A report from Poland straight ahead. As for the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, it suffers brutal cold with a limited natural gas supply. The country strikes an emergency gas deal with Iran. The first shipments could begin tomorrow. Last weekend an explosion destroyed a Russian pipeline that supplies gas to Georgia. President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush plan a big night out. They're scheduled to attend this evening's Alfalfa Club dinner in Washington. The guest list also includes some other political heavyweights. Including members of Congress, the Supreme Court and the president's Cabinet. The exclusive social club was founded 93 years ago. We begin with the developing story in southern Poland. A frantic rescue effort is under way at an exposition hall after the snow- covered roof of the complex collapsed. Hundreds of people were inside when the roof gave way. On the phone now from Warsaw, Polsat correspondent Hannah Smoktunowicz. Hanna, what can you tell us about what's going on? We know you're not at the specific scene there. But do we know if people are still trapped inside?</s>HANNAH SMOKTUNOWICZ, POLSAT CORRESPONDENT (on phone): Yes. Hello, Suzanne. Unfortunately yes, there are several hundred people trapped inside but we don't really know their exact number. There are some estimates, optimistic estimates saying about 100 people. But unfortunately, the more realistic number seems to be around 500. There was a pigeon exhibition being held inside this exhibition center when the roof collapsed. And so entire families with children came in to see it. It can now also to be confirmed that there are casualties. No word about their number. But unfortunately, yes, people have died there. And from what we know dozens have been taken to hospitals. More than 30 people taken to hospital now. And no word on their condition so far. There are ambulances coming in and out of the place all the time. Two-hundred thirty police officers on the scene and 70 firefighter brigades working all the time. So it's really a tough and painstaking rescue operation. And the rescue groups here say this is going to last at least until the early hours of the morning.</s>MALVEAUX: Can you give us more details about how it happened. Are officials talking about that or is it too early?</s>SMOKTUNOWICZ: Excuse me. Can you repeat that?</s>MALVEAUX: Hannah, can you give us any more details about how this actually happened? How did it unfold?</s>SMOKTUNOWICZ: Well, from what we know now, this happened around 5:30 p.m. local time. That's about two and a half hours ago. There were, unfortunately, in this whole horrible accident, there were unfortunately people in the early afternoon hours apparently -- we had a really harsh winter. These past two weeks were terrible with freezing temperatures and first of all massive snowfall. So the whole country is covered under snow. And from what they're telling us this roof just didn't -- couldn't take the weight of the snow on it. So it just collapsed. There were heavy metal brackets that just gave in. And there are people apparently under those brackets and there is heavy equipment coming in now. But it's really hard to make one's way inside. So what's happening now is that there are still people trapped under those metal steel brackets. And paramedics are trying to release them in some way, ease their pain and wait until the heavy equipment can actually come in. Because as far as I know, up until now, it has been really impossible to get in the heavy equipment needed to take away those brackets that are lying all over the place and having people trapped underneath.</s>MALVEAUX: Hannah Smoktunowicz, thanks for following that for us. We'll be getting more details, of course. Thanks for following that for us. And of course, shock waves also in the middle east. More fallout from the Palestinian election. Angry activists from the Palestinian Fatah Party stormed the parliamentary building in Ramallah. The party suffered stunning losses at the polls. Meanwhile, the victors, Hamas, stand firm. Leaders of that militant group say that the struggle against Israel goes on. CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Gaza with the very latest. We lost Ben Wedeman's report. We'll get back to that. In the meantime, in the United States, a warning for Hamas. President Bush threatens to cut off aid to the Palestinians if the militant group does not renounce violence. The United States has earmarked more than $340 million in aid for the Palestinian Authority this year. The State Department also says it will review all money give to the Palestinians, including funds going through the U.N. and non- governmental groups. Hamas leaders are calling the threats aid blackmail. Now back to that piece -- we're going to move on here now. Now a profile of the main parties in the Palestinian politics. Hamas is a party who some consider a radical extremist agenda. Of course, Fatah is an entrenched Palestinian party, an old boys club, if you will, seen by many as corrupt and ineffective. CNN's Zain Verjee takes a closer look.</s>ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Yellow for the Fatah Party, founded as the Palestinian Liberation Movement nearly half a century ago by Yasser Arafat. It became the ruling party when the Palestinian Authority was founded in 1994 and wasn't seriously challenged in the last parliamentary election a decade ago. A year ago after Arafat's death, Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas was elected Palestinian president by a landslide. Fatah won popularity during what Palestinians call the armed struggle against Israel. But over the past decade it's participated in peace talks. Fatah's one party rule has now won it a reputation for corruption and mismanagement. The green flags fly for Hamas. The Islamic Resistance Movement founded in 1987. Its covenant calls for the destruction of Israel. And it seeks a fundamentalist state. Its weapon of choice, the suicide bomber. Dozens of attacks have taken a heavy toll. And Israel has struck back against Hamas leaders. But while Hamas is labeled a terrorist group by the United States, it has long had a political wing, winning a reputation among Palestinians for its social welfare activities. Hamas campaigned on a clean government platform and won favor among many just by providing an alternative. Zain Verjee, CNN.</s>MALVEAUX: We're going to try once more for Ben Wedeman in Gaza with the very latest out of the region, of course, on those developments. Ben?</s>BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Suzanne. We've seen demonstrations throughout the West Bank and here in Gaza today. In Ramallah, Fatah gunmen ascended to the roof of the Palestinian parliament after taking over the buildings, fired shots in the air and, of course, voiced again the demand of many of these Fatah rank and file for the resignation of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Similar demonstrations also going on here in Gaza, as well, throughout the day. What this really is about, among other things, is who's going to control the Palestinian security services, which until now, of course, are dominated by Fatah. And really the problem dates back to several years ago when the United States put pressure on the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to relinquish his control over those security forces to the Palestinian prime minister. And of course now that the Palestinian prime minister could be a Hamas leader, they want to transfer, they want to make sure that the authority over these security forces remains in the hands or goes back to the hands of the Palestinian president who of course, is Mahmoud Abbas, a Fatah leader. So a complicated situation. A real power struggle already emerging between Hamas and Fatah. Suzanne?</s>MALVEAUX: Ben Wedeman, thank you so much for joining us from Gaza. Former President Jimmy Carter was among the international observers of the Palestinian elections. He'll join CNN's Wolf Blitzer on LATE EDITION to talk about this radical change in Middle East politics. That is tomorrow morning at 11:00 Eastern. Now, turning briefly to politics now, President Bush called Senator Hillary Clinton formidable when asked about her potential as the Democratic presidential nominee in 2008. Mr. Bush commented last night during an interview on "CBS Evening News" but he refused to speculate about which Republicans might run for the White House.</s>BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS NEWS ANCHOR: Looks like Senator Clinton's running pretty hard right now for the Democratic nomination.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT: She's formidable.</s>SCHIEFFER: Who would you say at this point the leading Republican candidates for president would be?</s>BUSH: It's hard to tell. And the minute I started speculating you'd make all kinds of news with it. And it would interject me in the race. I'm trying to figure out how to play this coming down the pike. For a political observer like yourself and political participant like me, this is an unusual year, because it's the first time there hasn't been a kind of natural successor in either party. It's two wide open primaries with no sitting vice president running in either primary. And so I can't remember a time when it's been this open.</s>MALVEAUX: And President Bush said he might be interested in establishing a think tank on freedom and liberty once he leaves office and he said he doesn't think he would have become president if he hadn't been married to Laura Bush. It's a day of remembrance at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Twenty years ago today NASA's teacher in space mission ended in disaster when the space shuttle Challenger blew up just 73 seconds into its flight. Where were you when you heard the news? Our own John Zarrella was right there covering the Challenger mission for CNN. He's covering today's events at the space center -- John.</s>JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here at the Kennedy Space Center visitor's complex, completion of a memorial that lasted about an hour and a half of the Challenger crew. The Challenger 7. (voice-over): The culmination of this memorial event, the laying of a wreath by June Scobee Rogers at the base of the astronaut memorial on which 24 names of astronauts are inscribed. Of course, it was 20 years ago today that the crew of Challenger headed out to the launch pad on a glorious morning, cold, 36 degrees. Challenger lifting off at 11:38 a.m. on a mission cut so drastically short. Just 73 seconds before the explosion of the shuttle Challenger. Today during this ceremony, June Scobee Rogers talked about the risks that she and her husband often talked about.</s>JUNE SCOBEE ROGERS, HUSBAND OF DEAD ASTRONAUT: Without risk, there's no discovery, there's no new knowledge, there's no bold adventure. All of which help the human soul to soar. And the greatest risk is to take no risk. For the progress of our nation depends on the growth, fueling the engine of the economy for our nation. Moving forward as pioneers into the next frontier.</s>ZARRELLA (on camera): The Challenger mission was, of course, supposed to be one of NASA's crowning jewels. It was the teacher in space mission. Christa McAuliffe was going to teach two lessons in space. Of course, that never happened. Today we mark the anniversary of the Challenger accident. Next week it will be three years since the Columbia crew perished in that accident. John Zarrella reporting from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.</s>MALVEAUX: And this program note. This weekend CNN PRESENTS the real story of Challenger astronaut and teacher Christa McAuliffe. For the first time her family reveals the private pain behind the public tragedy. Tune in tonight at 8:00 Eastern for</s>CNN PRESENTS: "Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars." And coming up, as Saddam Hussein is tried for alleged crimes against the people of Iraq, what's being done about those statues of Saddam that were once very visible across the country? And how could these women be jeopardizing some babies by breast feeding? That story still ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.