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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Kurdish Leader Offers Use of Bases Inside Iraq; Korean Airliner Signalled Hijacking on 9/11; Should Doctors Tell on Teens Seeking Birth Control?

Aired August 13, 2002 - 17:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Now on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, a CNN exclusive. Could the U.S. strike Saddam Hussein from inside his own country? A Kurdish leader says yes. Meet a man who has been face-to- face with Saddam Hussein deep in an underground bunker.
As bad as September 11th was, it could have been even worse. Did the U.S. come close to shooting down a Korean airliner that day? Hundreds of Los Angeles officers search for another missing girl. Did a police mistake waste precious time?

It's Tuesday, August 13, 2002. Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We begin with an exclusive report on what could dramatically change the way the United States fights any war against Saddam Hussein. One of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's enemies has made an enticing offer to the Bush administration that it might not be able to refuse.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Following several meetings in Washington with high-ranking Bush administration officials, a top Iraqi opposition leader says for the first time he's offered the United States use of airstrips and other military bases his fellow Kurds control in northern Iraq. Those bases, Jalal Talabani tells CNN, could be used to launch air and ground strikes against Saddam Hussein's regime in Baghdad.

JALAL TALABANI, PATRIOTIC UNION OF KURDISTAN: As I told once our friends, the American army will be very warmly welcome in Iraq and Kurdistan, in contrary to the rumors.

BLITZER (on camera): Just to be precise on this point, the United States, U.S. military forces will be welcomed to use areas in northern Iraq?

TALABANI: Very much welcomed. It will be welcomed, and believe me, the United States is very popular now in Iraqi Kurdistan.

BLITZER (voice-over): Talabani says he understands the weight his public statements carry. Saddam Hussein's forces have attacked his people before, gassing Kurdish towns in 1988, and according to the State Department killing thousands.

TALABANI: We are asking protection for our people from chemical weapons, from biological weapons, which we are expecting because the regime will be in danger to fall. I think they will try to use it unless if they're not able to do it, because this strike will be very strong, that they can not reach their arms and use it against the people.

BLITZER (on camera): So are you asking the United States for gear, for equipment to protect your people?

TALABANI: Yes.

BLITZER: For the potential use of chemical weapons?

TALABANI: Yes.

BLITZER (voice-over): What did they say to you?

TALABANI: I think their response was positive.

BLITZER: They will help you?

TALABANI: I hope so, and they promise to help us and to protect us. Even Mr. Dick Cheney was clear when we asked him about the protection of the Kurdish people. He said we will do it.

BLITZER (voice-over): After the Persian Gulf War in 1991, Kurdish forces in northern Iraq and Shiite opposition forces in the south rose up against Saddam Hussein. The U.S. promised support but none came, and the revolt was brutally crushed. Talabani says that was then and this is now. He says he trusts this Bush administration.

TALABANI: I think this administration is very clear. Their speech and their promises is very serious and we think that the interest of the United States also is lying on supporting and not betraying us.

BLITZER: Bush Administration officials say they were impressed by their discussions with the Iraqi opposition leaders.

COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: This is one of a series of meetings we'll be holding to measure the effectiveness of the opposition elements, to get to measure how each of them interacts with the others and to see what possibilities exist if and when regime change takes place.

BLITZER: But Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld refused to say publicly whether the U.S. would accept Talabani's offer of airstrips and bases in the north.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: If I said, "My goodness, that's a big help," it would suggest that we plan to go use them, and that is a decision the president's not made.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Now something you don't see very often, an interview with a Westerner who's just been face-to-face with Saddam Hussein and has some remarkable things to tell us. George Galloway is a Labor Party member of the British Parliament. He spent an hour-and-a-half with the Iraqi leader at a secret underground bunker near Baghdad. Mr. Galloway joins us now live from London. Thank you very much, Mr. Galloway, for joining us. I assume you're happy to be back in London from Baghdad.

GEORGE GALLOWAY, MEMBER, BRITISH PARLIAMENT: You're welcome.

BLITZER: But let me, before we talk about your meeting with Saddam Hussein, get your very quick reaction to what Mr. Talabani said to me about using Kurdish bases in the north for the U.S. to strike out at Saddam Hussein. What do you make of that?

GALLOWAY: Well, if the American administration keeps its promises to the Kurdish people, it will be the first American administration to do so. The Kurds have been routinely betrayed by the big powers for 100 years.

The British were the first people to introduce chemical weapons into the Middle East when they bombed with chemical bombs the very Kurdish people that Mr. Talabani now represents. So Winston Churchill, I'm sorry to say, as the Colonial Secretary, was the man who first gassed the Kurds.

So I think they should beware. They should sup with a very long spoon because the Kurds have been put down and put up back on the shelf again many, times before.

BLITZER: All right, tell us about the circumstances surrounding your meeting with Saddam Hussein. First of all, when precisely did it happen?

GALLOWAY: Last Thursday.

BLITZER: How were you brought to the Iraqi leader's location?

GALLOWAY: Well, I've deliberately disguised the location of the meeting insofar as I know its exact location, because the United States administration has signed an illegal (UNINTELLIGIBLE), gangsterish presidential order allowing them to assassinate a foreign head of state, and of course I don't want to be any part of helping them do that.

So I have deliberately disguised the situation where we met and I don't intend to expound upon that now.

BLITZER: But you said you were driven around for a long time in Baghdad in a darkened car so you wouldn't know precisely where you were going.

GALLOWAY: That's right, and my car is normally darkened as most visitors are driven around in cars with curtains on the back windows, and this was no exception. So I don't actually know the exact location, and other details that I would have been able to convey I've deliberately disguised.

BLITZER: And when you finally did get there, you were taken subterranean into a very, very deep bunker below the surface of the earth. Any sense how low you actually had to go?

GALLOWAY: Well, I really don't want to help the bombers if they intend to bomb a foreign head of state, because I don't agree or approve with killing foreign heads of state. I think it causes more trouble than it solves. So, you'll have to forgive me. I'm going to have to pass on this line of questioning.

BLITZER: But you did say publicly that it was so deep that your ears were popping.

GALLOWAY: Well, as I say I have been disguising so far as I'm able to the situation where the meeting took place and I really can't expand on that.

BLITZER: All right, well, let's talk about his mood. How did he appear to you? Was he cocky? Was he concerned? As you know, the U.S. is targeting Saddam Hussein.

GALLOWAY: Well, this is the more important part of our conversation. He was extremely calm. He was very determined, determined to press home the sincerity of Iraq's diplomatic moves, which over the last few weeks have been showering like confetti from Baghdad, alas falling on stony ground so far.

And he was determined also to make it clear that if the quarter of a million man Western crusader army invades this Arab Muslim country, which Iraq is predominately an Arab country in an Arab region, I'll remind you, not a Kurdish country -- if it comes, it will be fiercely resisted from street to street, from house to house, from rooftop to rooftop.

I think he was keen that both sides of that message should be heard and I'm certainly keen to press both and especially the former because that's what's occupying the minds of Europeans. British public opinion has swung decisively against the war in Iraq.

You must know that. Two out of three British voters are against war with Iraq, according to the latest opinion poll, a very big poll, in the most right-wing newspaper in the country, and Mr. Blair is under enormous, I think irresistible pressure, not to join the war.

So Americans should listen to that. If their closest ally, Mr. Blair, can't join the war, then they're only going to have Mr. Talabani and General Ariel Sharon behind them if it comes.

BLITZER: Mr. Galloway, just to be very precise, you were invited to meet with Saddam Hussein for this rare meeting because of your outspoken condemnation, criticism, not only of the Bush administration but of Tony Blair as well.

GALLOWAY: Well, I'm a strong supporter of peace in the Middle East and peace with justice in Palestine. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration hasn't been doing much for either cause in the Middle East, and that's why America's very best friends in the Middle East, people like King Abdullah, the kings of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, President Mubarak of Egypt, are beseeching President Bush not to do this.

BLITZER: All right.

GALLOWAY: Because it will plunge the Middle East into chaos and bloodshed at a time when it's not short of either chaos or bloodshed, and it's a very bad idea to try to take us all over a cliff when we're all saying we think it's a bad idea.

BLITZER: All right, Mr. Galloway unfortunately we have to leave it there. Welcome back to London from Baghdad. I hope you'll be joining us again sometime down the road. Thanks for joining us.

GALLOWAY: Thank you. Anytime.

BLITZER: Thank you, and for a crystal ball look, perhaps at the problems of life in Iraq after Saddam Hussein. Afghanistan might be the place to look. Afghan President Hamid Karzai today held talks with his Iranian counterpart Mohammed Khatami, who arrived in Kabul with a promise of some $500 million in aid.

The new Afghan leader is struggling to restore order and peace to his country after a U.S. invasion toppled the Taliban regime and their al Qaeda terrorist allies. Some analysts say Washington would face a much tougher job in Iraq.

Turning now to the September 11th tragedy and an airline incident that was narrowly avoided, a remarkable string of miscommunications just about resulted in a commercial jetliner being shot down by a U.S. warplane. CNN's Patty Davis has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two planes apparently crashed into each tower.

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was September 11th, a few hours after the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Korean Air Flight 85 was headed to New York from Seoul with a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska, when the pilot transmitted the letters "HJK" to Korean Airlines operations. "HJK" stands for hijack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a reference made to a hijack so we alerted the FAA to the fact that that was the case.

DAVIS: When U.S. Air traffic control asked the pilot to verify a hijacking was underway, the pilot squawks the hijack code on the plane's transponder. Worried the plane was in hostile hands, the North American Defense Command, NORAD, scrambled jets to investigate and if necessary shoot down the Boeing 747 with nearly 200 passengers on board.

The scramble in the sky caused a frenzy on the ground. Alaska's governor ordered the Valdez Pipeline Terminal and state office buildings evacuated. Korean Air Flight 85 was still squawking the hijack code when the military jets made visual contact with the pilots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The plane's on its way in.

DAVIS: Under military jet escort, the pilots cooperated with orders to land at an airport in nearby Whitehorse, Canada. Still unsure if there was a hijacking in progress, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police boarded the plane with guns drawn. It was a false alarm. Korean air and the FAA says it was a miscommunication between the pilot and an air traffic control center made jumpy by the events earlier that day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DAVIS (on camera): A spokesman for the Alaskan governor says that no one was going to take anything like that lightly on September 11th. It was, he said, it just goes to show you that we were all terrorized by what was going on back East -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Patty Davis, thank you very much for that story. And more troubling news for the airline industry in the United States. American Airlines says it's cutting 7,000 jobs, or six percent of its workforce, by March, in a bid to ensure its long-term survival.

The world's largest carrier also is reducing peak-hour flights at its hub airports. American's move follows bankruptcy filing by U.S. Airways on Sunday.

And another airline story coming to light today as well, Mesa Airlines has fired a pilot who tested positive for alcohol before a scheduled flight. The copilot who tested negative before that Friday flight has been suspended and a flight attendant who tested negative has resigned.

Authorities say the pilot had a blood alcohol level of .06. That's below the level at which most states consider someone drunk but above the federal limit for pilots. The pilot was tested after screeners at Little Rock Airport smelled alcohol on him.

Missing girl, missed opportunity, did the Los Angeles Police botch the search for a four-year-old girl? Devastating floods wiping out historic European cities; a live report from Prague where tens of thousands of residents are being evacuated.

Also, does getting mom and dad involved drive kids away from the doctor? The latest on teens' birth control and parental consent, but first our news quiz. One million teenage girls each year in the United States have done which of the following: Been in an alcohol- related car accident, tried cocaine, gotten pregnant, had unprotected sex? The answer coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Los Angeles police are intensifying their search for a missing four-year-old girl. Some fear indecision at the beginning of the investigation may have wasted some valuable time. CNN's James Hattori is covering the story and he joins us now live. James.

JAMES HATTORI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this is more than 40 hours into the disappearance of Jessica Cortez. Police are still looking in two different tracks, one being played out live here at Echo Park, the lake being searched by police divers. They're using sonar gear to search the bottom for the possibility that she may have been a drowning victim. That's one scenario they're looking at. So far they found nothing.

The other scenario would be that she was kidnapped and they do -- they have identified a suspect, at least have a composite sketch of a man who was seen here Saturday with Jessica, walking away. He was also a man who residents here say was spotted in the park over the past week approaching other young people in the park.

So he is apparently the focus of their intensified efforts right now, as well as the searching of the lake that goes on, but so far no concrete leads in terms of finding either anything in the lake or the suspect that they're so desperately looking for. But that seems to be the direction they're headed right now -- Wolf.

BLITZER: OK, James Hattori, thanks for that update, and just a short time ago I discussed this latest missing girl with the Los Angeles Mayor, James Hahn.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Mayor Hahn, thanks for joining us. Unfortunately the circumstances are not very encouraging. First of all, was there a screw-up in issuing the Amber Alert?

MAYOR JAMES HAHN, LOS ANGELES: Not at all. The Amber Alert right now, under California law, the state looks to the local jurisdiction for guidance, and in the last 24 hours we have developed information that indicates there might be a possible suspect and then it does qualify as an abduction. So that Amber Alert is on. It is statewide, and I just spoke to the governor of California, Governor Gray Davis, who confirmed that.

BLITZER: But it's a little late. It might be, God forbid, a little bit late. Shouldn't have that Amber Alert have been issued right away?

HAHN: Well, it was issued right away. There was a little confusion the first day when it was recalled, when they had information that the little girl, Jessica Cortez, may have fallen in the lake. That's why we're doing a search in the lake behind me with divers from not only LAPD but LA Sheriffs.

So at that point in time, they decided maybe this isn't an Amber Alert situation, which is supposed to be confined to abductions. With this new information that we have received, the Amber Alert is back on so it really was never off. It's been on.

There was a little hesitation and a little confusion the first night when they thought it might have been a drowning. We're not ruling out any possibility. We're still searching the lake but we have some new information that causes us to classify this as a possible abduction.

BLITZER: A possible abduction, but you're not saying it's firmly an abduction?

HAHN: We still don't know, that's why we're still not ruling out any possibility. That's why we're going to continue to search this lake with the latest sonar equipment that's been brought in a boat today. We waited for the lake to be still, because sonar and the underwater cameras are going to work best when the lake is still and there's no disturbance of the sediment on the bottom of the lake, and that's the process that's going on right now.

BLITZER: And this suspect that's been described, tell us about this individual. What do you know about him?

HAHN: Not much. It was described as an individual that had been seen in the area for the past week or so frequenting the park area. It appeared to have a small dog, a Chihuahua, and approached some children in the park and there had been some concern that this is the same individual that has been described as being in the vicinity of Jessica and may have been seen, according to some witnesses, actually walking away from the park with Jessica. It didn't appear she was struggling but obviously a little dog is very attractive to a young child.

BLITZER: Well, let's hope, Mr. Mayor, that you find her very, very quickly, appreciate your joining us with that update.

HAHN: Thank you. You know our hearts go out to the Cortez family and the whole community here. We're doing everything we can to find her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (on camera): Joining us now with perhaps some additional information on the Cortez case is Martin Pomeroy. He's the LAPD Interim Chief of Police. Chief, thanks for joining us. Are there, first of all, any new developments you could share with us and our viewers?

MARTIN POMEROY, INTERIM CHIEF, LAPD: I'm not sure we have any dramatic new news. We continue to locate people who have seen the suspect previously in the park and we have found one additional person who may have seen the supposed suspect and the victim together but we are still continuing don't he parallel investigation of both looking at the lake and checking into whether or not this is a confirmed stranger abduction.

BLITZER: Well, what's your sense right now? Is most of the evidence pointing towards an abduction or the little girl falling in to the lake perhaps?

POMEROY: Well we were concerned when we arrived here the first evening. Our concern that night was that she might have drowned. Now as information has developed and time has gone by, our concern is heightened and unfortunately now our concern is that there has, indeed, been an abduction.

BLITZER: So is that now official that you believe it is an abduction?

POMEROY: Well, I don't think we're quite to the point where I can say unequivocally it is. It's just that my personal fears and the fears of all of our detectives for little Jessica are such that we're afraid it might be that, yes.

BLITZER: Was there a delay? I asked the mayor this question but I'd like to get your sense as well, Chief. That little delay in going forward, continuing the Amber Alert, which has become so well known, the California Amber Alert of notifying everyone immediately about a missing child, did that delay hurt the investigation?

POMEROY: I don't think it did. Keep in mind the Amber Alert requires a confirmed abduction before it's triggered. We had 50 officers here the first evening investigating both possible abduction and possible drowning and that grew to over 200 officers the next morning, and as the mayor points, early that first morning, an Amber Alert was issued, although it was temporarily withdraw.

And then as information developed and more officers were added to the investigation, the Amber Alert was re-instituted and it was because of that alert, because of our canvassing, we're at the point where we have now, where we've located some people who may have seen something which would indicate an abduction.

And as a matter of fact, we have over 300 officers working this case today, although some of them as has been pointed out are still in the lake looking for a body or looking for young Jessica in the lake.

BLITZER: Do you have a name that could be associated with this sketch that you've released of this suspect?

POMEROY: Unfortunately we do not, and one of the reasons we are admitting that it might be an abduction and alerting the public to that fact and talking about this particular sketch is that we understand this person has been in the park, and if he's been in the park, people are seeing him.

It would be a tremendous help if anybody who has seen this person could come forward now and contact us. We've canvassed. We've talked to everybody we can find and now someone has to step forward, particularly someone who may have seen this gentleman here in the past with a vehicle. That would be key to the Amber Alert and to our continuing investigation if you've seen a vehicle.

BLITZER: And, Chief, if anyone does have information, who should they contact precisely?

POMEROY: We have a 24-hour number set up for this. It would be (213) 485-4061, 485-4061. BLITZER: Well, let's hope some people respond with some good useful tips, appreciate it very much, Chief, for joining us. Good luck to you in this search for this little girl.

POMEROY: Thank you very much, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you. And let's turn now to our "Justice Files." The jury in the David Westerfield trial is in its fourth day of deliberations. Westerfield is accused of kidnapping seven-year-old Danielle van Dam from her San Diego home and killing her. Today jurors asked to hear an interview Westerfield did with the police about a trip he took the day after the girl disappeared.

And a tentative trial date of October 15th has been sent for two Inglewood, California police officers charged in connection with a controversial videotaped arrest of a teenager. Officer Jeremy Morse is charged with assault. Another officer is charged with filing a false report. Complying with requests from both the defense and the prosecution, the trial will be moved out of Inglewood to nearby Torrance.

A June deposition by Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law was released to the public today. Law testified about his 1985 decision to promote the Reverend Paul Shanley to Parish Pastor despite sexual abuse complaints dating back to 1966. Law said he was unaware of the complaints against Shanley and never looked at the personnel file that contained them.

Rising waters, blackouts, and evacuations, European floods are forcing thousands out of their homes and causing millions of dollars in damage. We'll have a report from one of the worst hit cities when we return.

Plus, big bang and boom, a hard lesson learned about turning off the gas before you fumigate. And does drinking beer help your heart? The beer industry sure hopes so. We'll get to the bottom of this when we come back. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Some of Europe's most historic areas are under siege from raging floodwaters. Authorities say the worst is yet to come. Right now, torrential rains are sending the floodwaters higher across a broad swath of eastern and central Europe. In Salzburg, Austria, for example, more than 1,000 buildings are said to be under water. Thousands of soldiers have been called out to battle the floods.

In Russia, the flooding has claimed dozens of lives. Along the Black Sea as many as 4,000 tourists are trapped in a resort village destroyed by the flooding. It's a similar scene in Germany, where thousands of people are fleeing to higher ground. This is the scene in Dresden today. Several dams along the Danube River are in danger of breaking.

Authorities say the flooding could turn out to be the worst ever in the capital of the Czech Republic. Tens of thousands of people have been ordered to leave their homes in Prague. We find out more about the situation from CNN's Jim Bolden.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BOLDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Czech capitol of Prague was plunged into darkness Tuesday night as electricity was cut, as the River (UNINTELLIGIBLE) continues to rise. It may be many more hours until the river stops rising. It's now 30 times as much water going under Prague's historic bridges as usual.

The city is very concerned that many of the historic buildings might be damaged. They're checking the bridges very carefully to make sure they aren't damaged. Some of the bridges come from the 14th Century. Many people were evacuated earlier in the day.

The police said that people needed to get out of their homes much quicker than they thought. The level of the river rose quicker than people thought even though the south of this country had already seen much of the flooding. The Prague is now under darkness and tomorrow, the president will be here to see what he can do to help. But for now, it's darkness and rising water.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Jim Bolden, reporting live from the very sad situation in Prague.

In southern Asia, meanwhile, the so-called brown cloud is raising concern. The United Nations says a two-mile thick cloud of pollution stretching across that region is damaging crops and altering weather patterns. And there is concern it could be putting the lives of tens of thousands of people at risk. Experts studying the cloud say it's too early to draw conclusions, but they say there is a possibility its impact could be felt around the world.

Above Asia and other parts of the Northern Hemisphere last night, the heavens put on a dazzling display. An annual meteor shower has reached its peak. This is what it looked like in China. The event takes place this year, every year, when the Earth passes through the tail of the Swift-Tuttle Comet.

Louisiana is getting tough in the war against mosquitoes. Find out why the Air Force is being recruited to stop the spread of West Nile Virus. Plus, the president puts on a good show in Texas, but, is it enough to help turn around the economy? Also, should doctors tell on teens who seek birth control? A new study says that's bad medicine and will drive up teen pregnancies. We'll hear from both sides of the debate. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. Coming up, the president pulls out the big guns on the economy, but first, a look at some stories making news right now. The woman in charge of Florida's Department of Children and Families has resigned after months of criticism. Kathleen Kearney has been under fire since word leaked that her agency lost track of Rilya Wilson. The girl has been missing since January 2001, and no caseworker had checked on her for 15 months. Kearney was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush, who immediately accepted her resignation.

Louisiana's United States senators are asking the Air Force to help fight the spread of the mosquito-borne West Nile Virus. Mary Landrieu and John Breaux want to rig C-130's with pesticide sprayers. Air Force officials are considering the plan. Eight-five people have contracted West Nile in Louisiana this year and seven of them have died.

Investigators suspect an open natural gas valve may be the cause of a house explosion early this morning in Torrance, California, near L.A. The house was empty. It was undergoing fumigation and had been covered with a tent. The explosion damaged about 20 nearby homes and 10 people were hurt.

Amtrak passengers face longer trips to the Northeast corridor. The railroad has pulled its Acela high-speed trains from service after finding cracks in the mounting point for the shock absorbers. This month Amtrak cut back on Acela service because of frequent breakdowns.

And no change in interest rates for now. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and his Open Market Committee decided today to keep the federal funds rate at one-and-three-quarter percent, excuse me, the lowest level in four decades. They also indicated they're prepared to cut rates if economic conditions worsen.

President Bush interrupted his Texas vacation today to host an important economic forum in Waco, Texas. Members of Congress were excluded, but a diverse group of blue-collar workers and corporate CEOs were invited to take part in eight seminars led by top administration officials. Critics dismissed the forum as nothing more than a public relations stunt, but the president said it was about finding ways to get the economy moving again.

Earlier, we talked about the economy with one of the president's key advisers. We also talked about the economic forum in Texas. Joining us was the White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (on-camera): Mr. Card, thanks as usual for joining us. You know what the critics are saying, a lot of Democrats but even some Republicans, that this is too little too late in terms of dealing with the core issue of corporate corruption.

ANDREW CARD, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Well, first of all, the president held this forum today on the economy and it included a broad range of topics, some of it being around corporate responsibility. And you know, the president signed into law brand new responsibilities that corporations will have to live with and CEOs will have to comply with. We have tomorrow, the first of the responsibilities with the CEOs with the Securities and Exchange Commission will be due and the CEOs will have to sign documents certifying and verifying the information that they've provided.

So the corporate responsibility aspect of restoring confidence in our economy is very important, something the president takes very seriously. And this forum on the economy did include a discussion about ethics and the role that corporate leaders have in making sure that they create a climate of credibility for investors and for those who work at corporations. And it is very important that we restore confidence in the marketplace, especially with regard to the corporate shareholders that are looking to put their money in safe investments.

BLITZER: Let me read to you what Congressman John Spratt, a Democrat of South Carolina -- the ranking member of the House Budget Committee said, in a statement he released -- he said, "By limiting this meeting largely to like-minded participants and special interests, the administration protects its policies from serious scrutiny." What's your reaction...

CARD: That was an -- that's an irresponsible statement because anyone who was here and even watching this on TV would have seen that the participants came from all across America. They represented great diversity. They didn't represent one uniform, political thought or even philosophical view on the economy. These represented corporate leaders, small business leaders, labor leaders, so-called real Americans that are out there working hard every day. Anyone who claims that it was reflective of narrow views just wasn't paying attention to the reality of this outstanding presidential forum on the economy.

BLITZER: Over the weekend, Senator Carl Levin, another Democrat from Michigan, urged the president to go ahead and support what he said would be a vital measure in terms of making sure that those CEOs who cashed in for tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of dollars in stocks before their stocks simply collapsed, bankrupting a lot of people with their 401(k)s and their retirement funds, should go ahead and return that money to the stockholders. Is that a good idea?

CARD: Well, first of all, Congress would have to pass a law that would make that the rule of the land. It couldn't be done by executive fiat, but more importantly, this is about looking forward. The president wants to get our economy moving again and some good economic news came out today. We find that consumer confidence is up a little bit and consumer activity has grown a little bit more than what the market expected. So many of the aspects of our economy show that we have a solid foundation.

Unemployment has remained relatively stable. It's still too high, 5.9 percent. Interest rates are low. Inflation is very low. We know that we can do a lot to restore confidence in the economy by having CEOs meet their responsibilities and that's something the president has called for. And the new law that he signed will do that.

The president also did something today that is very, very important. He showed fiscal discipline and he imposed it on Congress. Congress had passed a supplemental budget that said if you spend a dollar, you have to spend $5.1 billion. In for a buck, in for $5.1 billion and the president said, "I am not going to be held hostage that way. We're not going to spend $4 billion of the taxpayer's money for programs like worm farm and a place to store our bugs in the Smithsonian." So the president said fiscal responsibility has to be practiced in Washington, D.C. and he was going to start to practice it and impose some discipline on Congress.

BLITZER: Unfortunately, we have to leave it right there. Andy Card, as usual, thanks for joining us.

CARD: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our "Web Question of The Day" is this -- Do you feel President Bush is doing enough to turn around the economy? Go to my Web page, CNN.com/Wolf. That's where you can vote. While you're there, send me your comments. I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also, by the way, where you can read my daily on-line column, CNN.com/Wolf.

Time is running out for Washington to replace private screeners with federal ones at the nation's commercial airports. Today, the first wave took up positions at Newark International Airport. That's where one of the four hijacked jetliners took off on September 11. But there is a serious question about the type of people being hired for this very serious job. CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us now from Houston with the story of one screener who apparently slipped through a background check.

Ed, tell us all about it.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the story of a weekend shooting in Houston might not seem like a story that has national implications, but take a closer look at this story and you realize why this particular story could make a lot of people nervous.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Airport security screeners have become one of the first lines of defense in air travel safety. For better or worse, they're essentially the gatekeepers to the sky. But who screens the screeners? Who screened 22-year-old Nathaniel Lee Kewanyama (ph) and made him a gatekeeper?

CHARLIE LEBLANC, AIR SECURITY INTERNATIONAL: It's disconcerting here that an individual being tasked with such an important position had a background like this gentleman had.

LAVANDERA: In the dark hours of Sunday morning, police say, Kewanyama (ph) got caught up in an argument at a Houston apartment complex. The altercation heightened to the point where police say Kewanyama (ph) pulled out a rifle and started firing dozens of rounds through the complex. He then barricaded himself in an apartment and set a fire to keep police away. No one was injured, but that's not the point, say neighbors. UNIDENTIFIED NEIGHBOR: What if he would have went off in the airport, like shooting all kinds of people? What if he would have just said, "OK, well, this is my day today. I'm going to shoot up everybody?"

LAVANDERA: Kewanyama (ph) had been working as an airport security screener at Houston Hobby Airport. Maxero Security is the company contracted to handle Hobby's airport security screeners. But state prosecutors say a background check would have quickly discovered this -- a simple Internet search shows that Kewanyama (ph) (ph) is a registered sex offender in Texas.

LEBLANC: There are numerous checks and balances for these types of things not to happen. If nothing else, there should have been some questioning on what this individual was doing for the last five years.

LAVANDERA: Kewanyama (ph) has been charged with three counts of burglary with attempt to commit aggravated assault and one count of arson. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: Now, airport officials in Houston say that Kewanyama (ph) only had the white badge, which means he had the lowest level of security clearance needed to work at the airport. Also, FAA guidelines show that before February 17 of this year -- anyone hired as a security screener before February 17 of this year, that the security companies had until about December to finish all of the background checks. We're told by airport officials that Kewanyama (ph) was hired at Hobby Airport to start working in February of this year. So an exact date, we don't have at this point.

Meanwhile, we have put in our calls to Maxero Security several times today, and they've refused to answer any of questions -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Ed Lavandera, thanks for that good reporting.

Does a little bit of privacy go a long way to prevent teen pregnancies? When we return, the debate over parental notification. We'll hear from both sides. Plus, is a beer a day good for your heart? We'll help set you straight on what's being called the Brew Factor. Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Low interest rates and high demand in the housing market may have economists scratching their heads, but the trend has proved profitable for homebuilder, Lennar Corporation. After record- breaking earnings last year, the Miami based company is now building on increased second quarter profits and revenues for 2002.

Meanwhile, Lennar continues its westward expansion, recently acquiring two reputable California builders. However, the surprising boom in the housing market have some experts wondering if there will be homebuyers left to support future growth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. There's some breaking news in the anthrax investigation. Let's go straight to CNN's Jeanne Meserve. She's standing by with these details.

Jeanne, tell us what's happening.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, two federal law enforcement forces tell CNN that a photograph resembling Steven Hatfill is being circulated around the Princeton, New Jersey area. The sources would not confirm that the photo is actually of Hatfill, who is the bioweapons expert, who sources have said is one person of interest in the anthrax investigation.

On Sunday, Hatfill gave an impassioned declaration, saying he is not in any way involved in those anthrax attacks.

A Princeton police captain confirms that CNN has been circulating an image of a man related to anthrax investigation around Princeton. The photo is being shown around a couple of block area in downtown Princeton where a mailbox preliminary tested positive for anthrax on Thursday night. Investigators believe that mailbox may have been the one where at least some of the anthrax-laced letters were mailed last fall.

The canvassing, we're told, began Friday, according to a source. A law enforcement source says to CNN, he is not aware of whether anybody who has seen the picture has made any recognition of it. FBI Special Agent Bill Evaninna (ph) said the bureau would not comment about the photo being shown around. He said -- quote -- "We are not going to comment on investigative techniques" -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Very interesting. Thank you very much, Jeanne Meserve. We'll be back to you as more information, more developments become available. Jeanne Meserve reporting live from here in Washington.

When we come back, a beer a day may get you buzzed, but will it help your heart? Our Elizabeth Cohen with some very sobering facts, when we return. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: One million teenage girls will do what each year in the United States? The answer, according to Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, each year, one million teen girls in the United States get pregnant.

Almost a dozen states in Congress have taken up the issue of mandatory parental notification for girls seeking prescription birth control. Now, a new study appearing in the "Journal of The American Medical Association" says notification laws would make a majority of those girls less likely to get tested and treated for sexually transmitted disease. Joining me now to discuss this issue, Genevieve Wood -- she's vice president of the Family Research Counsel -- and Kim Gandy. She's president of the National Organization For Women.

Thanks so much for joining us. Genevieve what do you say about that? You don't want these girls to get these kinds of sexually transmitted diseases?

GENEVIEVE WOOD, VICE PRESIDENT, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: Well, of course not. But two things here, Wolf -- there's a lot of things teenagers wouldn't do if they had to run it by their parents. But we also need to point out the legitimacy of this study. It was paid for in part by Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, where the study actually took place.

As you well know, Planned Parenthood promotes giving contraception to teens, also providing abortion for them. That's a lot of their business. The fact is, teenagers need to be getting advice from the people who know them the best, who take care of them, and that's their parents, not an abortion counselor and let me point out, not their 21-year-old boyfriend, who -- if he is out having sex with a 15-year-old girl, that's statutory rape. So you can understand why he would encourage her to go to these clinics and get birth control.

BLITZER: Kim Gandy, what do you say?

KIM GANDY, PRESIDENT, NOW: Well, it's certainly obvious that the reason that Planned Parenthood wants teens who are sexually active and don't want to get pregnant, to use birth control, is to prevent abortion. I have two little girls, and I trust that one day, if they become sexually active that they'll talk to me about it, but not every girl can do that. And what we need to do is make sure that those girls who can't talk to their parents are nonetheless protected against more unwanted pregnancies. We've had 10 years in a row now -- we've had a decrease in the teen pregnancy rate, 10 years running.

WOOD: And a lot of that...

GANDY: It changes. Its' going to go in the other direction.

WOOD: But a lot of that, I would argue, is because we've had an increase in abstinence awareness as well. If we're really concerned about girls not getting sexually transmitted diseases, which condoms don't 100 percent prevent, then they shouldn't be having sex. And that ought to be the message we should be giving them. And in addition to that, Wolf, look, these are girls who are seeking advice in many cases. They ought to be getting it from their parents, not from an abortion counselor who may have another agenda. They ought to be getting it from their parents.

BLITZER: Well, you agree that they should get advice from parents?

GANDY: And in fact, the vast majority of teens do consult their parents about all of these issues. But for those teens who can't consult their parents...

WOOD: There's no reason they can't. GANDY: ... they need to be able to protect themselves. And the fact is, there...

WOOD: There's no reason they can't.

GANDY: ... is a study showing that the reduction in the teen pregnancy rate is 75 percent attributable to an increased use in birth control and 25 percent...

BLITZER: Hold on one second.

GANDY: ... delayed sexual activity. So abstinence works, birth control works. You need both.

WOOD: Birth control only works some of the times. Abstinence works all of the time. And the fact is, look...

BLITZER: But most girls are -- a lot of girls are not going to be, you know, going without...

WOOD: Well, they may not be. They certainly won't be if they go to a clinic and get birth control pills and get that advice. And secondly, Wolf, look, it's hard enough...

GANDY: ... that they're already sexually active...

WOOD: ... it hard enough for parents to be parents in a society where we have casual sex promoted from Hollywood, on TV every day. All we need is society and another organization going behind parent's backs and encouraging their daughters to do things they don't want them to do. We ought to be putting the message out -- don't be having sex. That's best way to prevent yourself from getting a disease and from getting pregnant not saying if you're going to do it anyway, here's the safest way to do it.

BLITZER: All right. We're going to let you respond to that.

GANDY: Clearly, all of us want our daughters to delay sexual activity. It doesn't always happen. And if my daughters were to engage in sexual activity, I would want them to be protected against pregnancy.

BLITZER: And -- but some girls, some young girls, who are sexually active, are going to be afraid that if they go to their parents and get that kind of permission to use birth control pills, then their parents or their father, in some cases, might be abusive.

WOOD: Well, that could -- Wolf, look, the fact is, we have government agencies that deal with abuse cases and the like. What's much more likely is that you have a 21-year-old or 20-year-old boyfriend who is above the age of consent or who is in the age of consent, who is pressuring his minor girlfriend to go and get birth control pills because he doesn't want to get caught and put in prison for statutory rape.

(CROSSTALK) BLITZER: We got 10 seconds.

GANDY: Well, the fact is, what the result is -- if she's sexually active, she doesn't use birth control; she's going to be pregnant. So we're going to have unwanted pregnancies. We're going to have abortions. We're going to have miscarriages and we're going to have some maternal deaths. And we don't want any of that.

BLITZER: All right. We have to leave it right there, unfortunately. Thank you very much. Important subject of debate. We'll continue this debate.

Beer drinkers across America might want to raise a toast to a story in today's issue of the "Wall Street Journal." The paper says beer is gaining clout as a beverage that can help ward off -- get this -- heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and other ailments. We turn now to our CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen in Atlanta.

Elizabeth, I'm laughing a little bit because it sounds too good to be true. Let's have a little bit of a reality check. What is going on?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: And Wolf, what did your mother always tell you -- if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The story in the "Wall Street Journal" cites two studies that they say -- show that drinking beer might be better for your health than drinking wine or spirits because in fact, any kind of alcohol in moderate consumption is indeed good for you. But you know what? We checked into these studies. They don't really show that. As one of the researchers said, "You know, alcohol is alcohol is alcohol, red wine, white wine, beer, it doesn't matter." For example, what you could tell is that alcohol -- there we go. Alcohol is alcohol is alcohol. It's all the same thing.

Now -- so what these experts say is you ought to be drinking alcohol in moderate amounts. And what that means is just one drink a day for a woman, two drinks a day for a man. That's not very much -- Wolf.

BLITZER: OK, Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much for that reality check. Good information for our viewers as always.

Let's go to Waco, Texas, now and get a preview of "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE," which begins right at the top of the hour -- Lou.

LOU DOBBS, HOST, "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE": Here's to you, Wolf. Coming up at the top of the hour, we'll be live from Waco, Texas, the site of the president's economic forum. President Bush, today, trying to reassure investors and consumers that the economy and markets on the mend. We'll be talking with two members of the president's cabinet, Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and also, we'll be talking with White House Economic Adviser Lawrence Lindsey.

Also in attendance, at the forum today, a number of well-known CEOs, Cisco's Systems' John Chambers. And a thick cloud of smog hanging over southern Asia, damaging crops, sickening hundreds of people. We'll have a special report for you and a great deal more. Please join us at the top of the hour. Now, back to Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Another important "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" at the top of the hour. We'll be watching.

Just one minute left to weigh in on our "Web Question of The Day." Do you feel President Bush is doing enough to turn around the economy? Go to my Web page, CNN.com/Wolf. That's where you can cast your vote. The results, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Elvis is toast, literally, in our "Picture of The Day." Look at this. The New Zealand artist, Maurice Bennett, is marking this week's 25th anniversary of the king's death with a larger-than- life portrait made entirely of toast. Bennett cooked 4,000 slices to varying degrees, from burnt for Elvis' hair, to lightly warmed for his skin. The final work covers 62 square feet. Pretty good art.

Now, here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of The Day." Do you feel President Bush is doing enough to turn around the economy? Twenty-eight percent of you so far say, "yes," 72 percent say, "no." Remember, not a scientific poll.

Time now to hear directly from you. Keith writes this about the bioterror expert Steven Hatfill, who's been questioned about the anthrax letter attacks -- "We have a tradition in the U.S. of assuming innocence until guilt is proven. We must remember that and stop attacking people and ruining their lives based on unfounded suspicion alone. Otherwise, we risk destroying the very institutions that made this country so great."

Also on the anthrax investigation, Michael writes -- "How did the FBI adopt the term "person of interest"? A person is either a suspect or not. I don't understand how the ambiguous term can be legally justified."

And on the recent missing child cases, Sylvia writes -- "Since child abductions now seem to be a weekly occurrence, we should start implanting tracking devices in our children like the ones used to keep track of animals. Being able to track the abducted child immediately would greatly enhance the chances of rescuing them alive."

That's all the time we have today. I'll be back tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" begins right now.

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