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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Terror On Tape: al Qaeda Trains to Make Bombs; President Weighs Options of Attacking Iraq

Aired August 22, 2002 - 17:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Now on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS: "Terror on Tape." CNN investigates a sophistication that shocks the experts. Images from al Qaeda's archive show a mastery at making high explosives from household materials.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY VILLA, COUNTERTERRORISM EXPERT: We may be at the threshold of a whole new wave of terror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: How do you value a life and a livelihood? The first claims are settled by the government's September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.

A wave of murders among military families at Ft. Bragg, is there a medical reason behind the mystery?

And Dame Judi Dench is drenched, a champagne shower for the Oscar-winning actress.

It's Thursday, August 22nd, 2002. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. In a moment, an alarming report involving the "Terror on Tape" we've been showing you. But first, top stories making news right now.

Georgia officials are waiting for the CDC to confirm what are believed to be West Nile virus infections in six people, two of whom have died. Another suspected case of the mosquito-born virus is reported in South Dakota. That person is in serious condition. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia now have 296 confirmed human West Nile cases, with 14 deaths reported.

A flood watch is still in effect in the Chicago area, which is getting more rain after being drenched by about four inches during the early morning hours. Flooded roads made the morning commute a mess. It's the worst in the northwest corner of the state, which saw almost a foot of rain overnight.

A gruesome discovery in the Philippines: the heads of two hostages, believed to be Jehovah's Witnesses, were found on the island of Jolo. They were among six hostages taken Tuesday by Abu Sayyaf terrorists. The Jehovah's Witnesses were reportedly warned not to venture into the area. Three battalions of Philippine soldiers are trying to locate the rest of the hostages. Newly-uncovered videotapes suggest that al Qaeda's ability to make weapons may be more sophisticated than many observers suspected. We continue our look inside al Qaeda, "Terror on Tape" today. We'll show you a tape made to train al Qaeda recruits how to make bombs. While the segments we are showing won't provide enough information to allow anyone to actually make an explosive, they offer a disturbing look at the scope of the threat.

Once again, here is CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When we first put this tape from the al Qaeda library in a VCR, this is what we saw: another grade-B action film. But fast forward, and this is what you see: at first glance, little more than a simple chemistry lesson. In fact, that's exactly what it is intended to be. But this is not some harmless high school laboratory project.

The first clue is a declaration at the beginning of the lesson quoting the Koran and urging Muslims to fight in the cause of god. This is a training video for select al Qaeda recruits, delivered by an instructor whose face we never see, with all the steps needed to make pure TNT and high-explosive bombs from scratch. What we are going to show is enough detail from the three-hour tape to illuminate what al Qaeda was up to, but nowhere near enough, say our experts, to allow anyone to make a bomb.

VILLA: You'll see how it burns down, and then you have a quick flash.

ROBERTSON: Tony villa is a consultant for the U.S. government on terror tactics and bomb making. Like most experts in that field, he knows terror groups already have a good knowledge of how to make a bomb. What he found shocking in this video was how far al Qaeda has refined the art.

VILLA: I did not think that they were able to - they would have that capability at this point. And it's not so much the fact that they've manufactured explosives, but the type of explosive they've manufactured and that they've manufactured their own detonators.

ROBERTSON: That's a detonator and fuse the instructor on the tape is inserting into the explosive. A detonator is used to set off the main explosive charge in a bomb. The experts say it's not just the major step that al Qaeda's can now make detonators, but that the whole bomb-making process utilizes easy-to-get chemicals. That means bomb makers don't draw attention to themselves, are harder to catch.

VILLA: They can pick a target venue or a target city, with nothing on them, arrive in that city, and, based on what we are seeing here, using common materials.

ROBERTSON: Have you seen this before?

VILLA: No.

ROBERTSON: Does it surprise you what they've developed?

VILLA: Yes, it does!

ROBERTSON: How?

VILLA: Historically, this has been very difficult to manufacture. To realize that they are able to manufacture this in a makeshift lab really speaks volumes to their studies and their commitment to this.

ROBERTSON: A commitment that CNN began to uncover last November with the discovery in an abandoned al Qaeda safe house of laboratory manuals detailing, step by step, the manufacture of high explosives, including TNT.

Among those documents, a shopping list of required chemical ingredients, a list so detailed it explains how key chemicals can easily be extracted from household products purchased in pharmacies and grocery stores.

For Villa, the training video confirms his fear the group's techniques are now so sophisticated, al Qaeda can cheat detection. Terrorists can move from country to country without explosives.

VILLA: The significance of it is that they're very hard to trace; that they are able to maintain their autonomy and elusiveness. More importantly, they can arrive in a target venue or city, if you will, and get all the material. Virtually all the materials appear to be something that are off the shelf.

ROBERTSON: Listen to the instructor as he shares one of the many steps in the complicated manufacture of mercury fulminate, one component in detonators:

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Let me mention that this nitric is locally made. Put it in a glass bowl. Add the mercury to the nitric acid. Mix the whole thing together until the liquidation process is over. Watch out for the smoke that's coming out of the mixture. Avoid it.

ROBERTSON: It is the combination of this detailed training video and the written manuals that concerns counterterrorism expert, Magnus Ranstorp.

MAGNUS RANSTORP, COUNTERTERRORISM EXPERT: It gives them a great operational advantage. They can acquire these chemicals in the open market. They - there is both the written manuals on how to put it together, but more importantly, perhaps even the best guide you can ever have is the visual imagery of how you mix these things together.

ROBERTSON: So why was the instructional video embedded inside a grade-B movie? Experts say it was to disseminate their explosive knowledge without getting caught. RANSTORP: It is like a virus that they can then militarize the space which they require. They don't need the mountains of Afghanistan. They can train them in the basement. They can use basements to do training.

ROBERTSON: For al Qaeda, a new level of invisibility and the possibility the information can be, or already has been, passed to other terror groups. It is not clear how long this video has been in existence.

VILLA: We may be at the threshold of a whole new wave of terror, potentially. This information getting in the wrong hands, obviously, would cause quite a bit of havoc to our society and to our country and to our allies. It makes the detection of terrorists that much more difficult.

ROBERTSON: And al Qaeda has had plenty of successes with its bomb-making technology. In 1998, the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania destroyed by truck bombs. Two years later, the terror group's bomb makers attacked the USS Cole at the harbor in Yemen.

And one foiled attack gives insight into how al Qaeda uses the technology it's disseminating. In December 2000, four suspected al Qaeda members were arrested in Germany on suspicion of plotting to blow up Strasbourg's ancient cathedral. When investigators dug more deeply into their possessions, they discovered a collection of chemicals the experts say the terrorists were planning to turn into a bomb.

In the other al Qaeda documents recovered by CNN last November, details of how TNT - similar to that manufactured on the training video - is key to al Qaeda's efforts to build a radioactive, or so- called dirty, bomb.

RANSTORP: Pure TNT is extraordinarily dangerous and may be linked towards trying to circumvent the process of making a nuclear device.

ROBERTSON: In what way?

RANSTORP: In dispersing the material radioactively.

ROBERTSON: There is nothing in any of the 64 videos CNN has obtained to show al Qaeda has acquired the components necessary to manufacture a dirty bomb, no lessons, for example, in handling radioactive material. But, experts say, the videos, combined with the documents, raise plenty of concern about al Qaeda capability for dirty bombs and other kinds of explosive applications.

VILLA: We can't rule anything out, in terms of what their capabilities are and where they're - where they're going with this. I would have to think it's more of a suicide bomber.

ROBERTSON: Whatever that process - dirty bomb, suicide bomb or high-explosive bomb - it seems al Qaeda has already ignited the fuse on a chain of events that, for now, may be undetectable. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Tomorrow at this time, we'll take a look at Nic Robertson's final report on the "Tapes of Terror." What do they reveal about Osama bin Laden, the man, and his group's future?

As the Bush administration considers going to war against Iraq's Saddam Hussein, the United States military is trying to figure out how to go to war more quickly, without necessarily assembling hundreds of thousands of troops, hundreds of airplanes and dozens of warships like it did in the Persian Gulf War 11 years ago.

More from CNN senior - CNN Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: In Operation Desert Storm, it took six months to get ready to attack Iraq. The military will never have that luxury again. It is now essential to move with lightening speed, something the military cannot do today. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's vision for the future: strike any target, any time, anywhere, within one hour of receiving an order, even launching preemptive attacks. The new threat: quick-moving terrorists, nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, all targets that must be destroyed before they can hit the U.S. Missiles and communications bunkers would also be targets.

DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: If it's an Army or a navy or an air force, you have the advantage of a little time, generally. It's a target that, conceivably, could move in the next three hours, obviously, your task is a more difficult.

STARR: Here is why: Army ground troops are expensive to deploy, and there aren't enough. Air Force fighters depend on access to overseas bases, a growing problem. And a strike can take 48 hours to prepare. Navy ships launching tomahawk missiles must be within range of a target. There are not enough aircraft carriers; they can take up to 96 hours to get to the scene.

The solutions could be years away, not in time for possible action against Iraq. The technologies, revolutionary and uncertain: a vehicle launched from space carrying weapons to attack buried targets, buildings or weapons formations. It could also launch unmanned drones to spy on terrorist movements. A hypersonic missile, flying five times the speed of sound, perhaps launched from submarines, and a new air-launched nuclear bomb, a type of global deterrent.

Twelve years ago, Iraq completed its conquest of Kuwait in hours. Nobody could get there fast enough to help. It's a lesson that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is not forgetting.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: A cluster of domestic killings at Ft. Bragg. Now, a malaria drug is being looked at as a possible trigger. A closer look when we return.

Also, airport screeners made a woman drink her own breast milk. Now, the head of the security agency says use some common sense.

Plus, an experiment in human emotion: a top psychologist is asking for a female volunteer to fall in love him and write a book about it. We'll ask the Berman sisters about the ethics of playing with the heart, still to come.

We want to also hear from you. Do you think people can learn to fall in love with someone? Log on to cnn.com/Wolf to cast your vote.

First, our news quiz.

In which state, other than Idaho, can you get a kind of potato on your license plate? Montana, California, Colorado, Rhode Island, the answer coming up

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Investigators are puzzled by a series of slayings at a military base, which is home to some of America's most elite fighters. Now, there is a new development in the investigation. The Army wants to learn if there's a possible medical link.

Four murders in a span of six weeks. All the victims: wives of Army troops stationed at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. Investigators are trying to find out if they are connected, by looking for patterns. One possibility: an anti-malaria drug. Three of the four suspects were special operations soldiers, who had been deployed to Afghanistan, where there is a risk of malaria.

The Army is now sending a team of medical experts to Ft. Bragg to determine if any of the suspects ever took the drug, Lariam. Known generically as Mefloquine, Lariam is commonly prescribed to prevent and treat malaria. But, the side effects include symptoms ranging from paranoia and depression, to hallucinations and psychotic behavior.

Roche Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Lariam, acknowledges this on its company web site and also says those symptoms have been known to continue, even after people stop taking the drug. But the company also says: "No relationship to drug administration has been confirmed."

Army officials tell CNN they are also aware of the reported side effects of the drug, but they say they have no specific knowledge if the drug played a role in the Ft. Bragg murders.

To help us learn more about Lariam and the possibility of a connection to the Ft. Bragg slayings, let's turn to CNN medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, at the CNN center in Atlanta.

Sanjay - what's your take? Is this remotely possible?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Lariam is a wildly popular drug, no question. It is the drug of choice to prevent malaria among the military. Twenty-five million people take it and the adverse effects that you mentioned, Wolf, one in ten thousand people have some sort of psychiatric effects when they take the drug for prophylactics. And when they take this drug for treatment, that number increases to one in 250 people.

So, yes, it is something that people, including the drug makers, have known about, in terms of possible psychiatric effects. In fact, they warn that there are people who should not take the medication. We have a list of some of those people. In fact, people who have had a history of severe mental illness, if they've ever had allergic reactions, epilepsy, or have been treated for an irregular heartbeat. But certainly, that history of severe mental illness, Wolf, got our attention. I'm sure it got yours, as well, because that sort of fits in to what we're seeing here.

BLITZER: OK - Dr. Sanjay Gupta, as usual, thank you for a little bit of perspective on Lariam.

GUPTA: Thank you.

BLITZER: Appreciate it very much. We'll continue to follow this story as warrants.

Airport security asked to use plain, old common sense: new changes that may make life a little less annoying at the airport. Plus, a Florida professor fires back as his brother-in-law gets deported from the United States. Are they being unfairly targeted?

Also, she is all soaked up. Judi Dench gets a sobering bath.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Common sense will be the new mantra of the Transportation Safety Authority, the agency which will soon oversee all airport screeners. Today, officials announced what they called a "sensible policy," under which passengers will be allowed to carry liquids in paper or foam cups through metal detectors, and screeners will be banned from making passengers taste them. A few months ago, as many of our viewers recall, a woman was forced to drink from bottles of her own breast milk to prove it was safe.

Almost a year after the September 11th attacks, the Justice Department has settled the first nine claims from its Victim Compensation Fund. The nine are among 25 cases, which now have been processed. Six hundred sixty-two claims have been filed with the government. The average payment offered so far: almost $1.4 million. Some families will get much more, some much less.

Joining me now is the special master of the compensation fund, the man in charge of all of this, Kenneth Feinberg, in his first television interview since you started giving out the money.

Ken - thanks for joining us. All right. You've got nine families, now some are going to get $300,000 minimum, others $3 million. Why do one - why does one family get $300,000, another family get $3 million?

KENNETH FEINBERG, SPECIAL MASTER, SEPT. 11TH VICTIM COMPENSATION FUND: Look to the salary of the victim. This is what the statute says. Look to the age of victim. Look to the offsetting income, like life insurance that has to be deducted. Make a computation, and the awards are what they are.

BLITZER: I know the people who are receiving this money don't want to be identified for obvious reasons, but what can you tell us? The $3 million award, what justified that, without getting into names or anything like that?

FEINBERG: What justified that was a computation involving a young worker, a young employee who was killed.

BLITZER: At the World Trade Center.

FEINBERG: Who was killed on September 11th, who had a substantial income - or she had a substantial income. There weren't that many collateral offsets, like life insurance. We made the computation, and that was the award.

BLITZER: When you say life insurance, what does that mean? You had to deduct what they received from life insurance?

FEINBERG: That's right. The statute that set up this program that Congress enacted requires me to compute an award based on economic loss plus non-economic loss - pain and suffering, emotional distress - and then I must subtract collateral sources of income, like life insurance that was left to the survivors. I have no choice in that regard. In the case of the $3 million award versus, say, the $300,000 award, or awards like that. That's the problem.

BLITZER: All right. So these -- these people, these first nine families that have received this money, how is it going? There are hundreds of others who are waiting in line.

FEINBERG: That's right. We have 662 filed to date, about 20 percent of the total number of eligible claimants, and we are now in the process, having issued these first awards, of accelerating subsequent awards, which will be announced in the next few weeks and months.

BLITZER: So you're going to start going now. What is the down side? They have to forfeit a right to sue the airlines?

FEINBERG: That's right.

BLITZER: Is that the only down side?

FEINBERG: That's really the only down side. And since the likelihood that they would be successful in suing the airlines or the World Trade Center is so minimal, this program, I am convinced, remains the best alternative. And it's proven by the fact, Wolf, that, to date, there have only been 10 lawsuits filed against the airlines. And I do not believe there will be many more.

BLITZER: And they don't have to forfeit their right to sue terrorists or other organizations or individuals who support terrorists - you know about this big so-called Saudi lawsuit that's out there right now?

FEINBERG: I understand. I haven't seen the Saudi lawsuit, but our program, our law says that if they want to sue terrorists who knowingly engaged in terrorist activities on September 11th, et cetera, they may do both.

BLITZER: So they could presumably get some more money. Finally, the whole issue of future income, what an individual killed on 9/11 might have been able to make down the road. That was a factor that contributed to your decision how much should be awarded to them.

FEINBERG: Absolutely. It's a very time consuming, careful process. We must try and determine, in each case, what the victim would have earned in the future, had he or she lived. And that is a time consuming process, and it is an emotional wrenching undertaking.

BLITZER: It's almost a Solomon-like decision you're forced to make. I know you had some problems in the beginning, but things are moving along. Ken Feinberg, thanks for joining us. We'll have you back, as you continue to distribute this money. It's going to take a while, though, right?

FEINBERG: Yes, they have until December of 2003.

BLITZER: To make up their mind whether to file this claim?

FEINBERG: That is right.

BLITZER: All right. We'll be talking to you periodically. Ken Feinberg - thanks for the good work.

FEINBERG: Thank you.

BLITZER: And in a moment, President Bush makes a stop in Oregon, but not everyone is so happy to see him over there. And there's more trouble - legal news trouble, that is, for the former NBA star, Jayson Williams.

Then, why is the United States deporting a man who's never been charged with a crime?

And later, the love experiment, is there a new way to fall head over heels? We'll weigh the pros and cons with the relationship gurus, Berman and Berman. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer.

Time now for a check of some of the stories making news right now. President Bush is surveying some of this summer's wildfire damage out West. He announced a new "healthy forests initiative" as he toured the Biscuit fire in Oregon. It's charred almost half a million acres. Environmentalists are protesting the president's plan. It eases restrictions on loggers so they can thin out more of the forests. Protesters say the initiative puts the logging industry in charge of protecting the country's wilderness.

A line of tractors and one old mule converged on Washington today, as angry African-American farmers demanded compensation for decades of discrimination. The farmers accuse the Agriculture Department of not honoring a 1999 agreement. Under the plan, black farmers left out of federal subsidies would get $50,000. Protesters say after three years of waiting, very few farmers have seen any money.

More West Nile reports are coming in. This afternoon, Texas health officials reported three new human cases of the mosquito-borne virus, for a total of 28 in that state. Test results are pending on two suspected victims, one of whom died last week.

Another witness has agreed to testify against former NBA star Jayson Williams. Williams is charged with aggravated manslaughter in the death of limo driver Costas Christofi (ph). Prosecutors say John Gordnick (ph) tried to help Williams make the death look like a suicide. Gordnick pleaded guilty today to evidence tampering. He'll get a lighter sentence for testifying against Williams.

David Hudak waived a federal hearing in El Paso, Texas, today. He is's Canadian arrested for possessing thousands of illegal missiles. The move means Hudak will be transferred to Las Cruces, New Mexico, for a preliminary hearing. FBI agents combed through his anti-terrorism school in Roswell, New Mexico, Monday. They're cataloging hundreds of explosives and other weapons seized at the school.

Flood waters in southeastern China are threatening 10 million people, 800,000 soldiers and volunteers are using sandbags to reinforce crumbling levees. More than a week of rain has swollen lakes and rivers, forcing authorities to declare a state of emergency. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated. No deaths have been reported from the current flooding, but more than 900 people have died from flooding since the monsoon season began three months ago.

We have an update on a story we brought you yesterday about the computer engineering professor at the University of South Florida fighting to keep his job. School officials want to fire Sami al- Arian, who's lived in the United States since 1975. They say his outspoken support for Palestinian causes is drawing negative attention to the university, disrupting the academic climate. Al-Arian has been accused of supporting a Palestinian charity allegedly linked to terrorists, although he is never been charged with any crime. Today, he spoke out, saying the issue is academic freedom is the top issue on the agenda, and the right to voice unpopular views.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PROF. SAMI AL-ARIAN, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA: I'm a minority. I'm an Arab and Palestinian and a Muslim. That's not a popular thing to be these days. Do I have rights, or don't I have rights? Right now, it seems like the majority of the people think, "No, you don't have rights because you don't agree with us." And I think that's wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Meanwhile, al-Arian's brother-in-law was deported from the United States this morning, ending an ordeal that included more than three years in federal custody, even though he was never charged with a crime. CNN's Mark Potter has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mazen al-Najjar, a Palestinian immigrant, always claimed he was an innocent man, not the terrorist supporter and national security threat alleged by the U.S. government.

MAZEN AL-NAJJAR, PALESTINIAN IMMIGRANT (JANUARY, 2001): I have never been a threat to national security in this country or to any other country. I mean, I have never been a member of any Palestinian organization or any militant organization. I have never practiced violence.

POTTER: Al-Najjar came to the U.S. in 1981 as a student and overstayed his visa. He settled in Tampa, Florida, raised a family, taught at a university and served as a Muslim cleric. In 1997, after applying for asylum, he was arrested for deportation. The government claimed al-Najjar, through his associations with an Islamic charity and think tank, helped raise money for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a U.S.-designated terrorist group.

Federal agents raided the offices another after another member of the think tank returned to the Middle East to become a terrorist leader. No charges against al-Najjar were ever filed. The government said it had secret evidence and only showed to it a court, never revealing the source or the details to al-Najjar or the public.

For three-and-a-half years, al-Najjar remained in jail, until an immigration judge wrote, "The record before the court is devoid of any direct or indirect evidence to support the conclusion that respondent was meaningfully associated with the Palestinian Islamic jihad."

On the ground his due process rights had been violated, al-Najjar was released in December of 2000 in Bradenton, Florida.

AL-NAJJAR: It looks like -- I hope this is the end of the nightmare. It feels like waking up from a nightmare.

POTTER: But two months after the September 11th attacks, al- Najjar was rearrested for an alleged visa violation. He was held in solitary confinement for nine months and was put into deportation proceedings. His family was recently given a last jailhouse visit before his removal from the country.

NAHLA AL-ARIAN, SISTER: He held our hands, and we started praying. And we were all crying. He was crying a lot.

POTTER (on camera): Al-Najjar's case drew national attention and sparked an argument over the ethics and constitutionality of secret evidence. Civil libertarians condemned it. Others argued it was necessary to protect U.S. intelligence-gathering.

(voice-over): At the center, Mazen al-Najjar, a man who claimed he was innocent of charges never filed.

Mark Potter, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: She's been called the darling of the Nazis. The master filmmaker of Hitler propaganda turns 100 years old today. Now she receives some bad news on her birthday.

Plus: Judi Dench gets drenched. How a simple gesture of good will got her soaked.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Some call her one of the greatest directors in film history. Some call her a Nazi propagandist. Some say she's both. Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl celebrated her 100th birthday in Germany today, even as a 70-year-long debate over her work raged on.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): This 1934 film was the source of Leni Riefenstahl's greatest fame and her greatest notoriety. Scholars say "Triumph of the Will" established documentary techniques still studied to this day. It was a called a technical masterpiece, but it was also called destructive propaganda, dedicated to the glorification of Adolf Hitler.

Riefenstahl began her film career in front of the camera, a dancer-turned-actress-turned-director. Her talent for directing was soon noticed by Hitler, who became her patron.

LENI RIEFENSTAHL, FILMMAKER: Hitler ordered me to do it, even I was not a member of the party.

BLITZER: "Triumph of the Will" depicted Nazi Party rallies in Nuremberg with a tone of grandeur and pageantry. Riefenstahl denies rumors that she and Hitler were lovers.

RIEFENSTAHL: Maybe he was a man and maybe sometimes he have had a beautiful woman, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Maybe. But it was not really that he desired me. I have had the feeling that he wouldn't be sorry if I would give him a kiss or so., but I'd never give him a kiss. It never happened.

BLITZER: Riefenstahl was jailed after the war but cleared of criminal charges. She moved to Africa, and at age 72, she took up scuba diving so she could make nature films.

RIEFENSTAHL: The most beautiful in my life now is the time I am diving, I go underwater, because it's a fantastic world, underwater. And if I am there, naturally, I see everything with my filming eyes. I want to make a film to show it other people.

BLITZER: Still, the vivid black-and-white shadows of decades gone by continue to haunt her. Today, as she looks back over the century of her life, celebrating her 100th birthday in Munich with 200 friends, she is once again reminded of her days in Nazi Germany, facing a new lawsuit charging that she used slave labor while making a film there in the early 1940s.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Prosecutors have announced they'll start a criminal investigation into the slave labor allegations against Riefenstahl.

Rabbi Marvin Hier is the founder and the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. He joins us now live.

Rabbi Hier, thanks for joining us. So was Leni Riefenstahl a willing accomplice or forced to become an ally, if you will, of Adolf Hitler?

RABBI MARVIN HIER, SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER: Oh, she was definitely a willing accomplice. I believe she recruited more people to the S.S. and to the other divisions of Nazi Germany than almost any leading Nazi. In addition...

BLITZER: Why do you say that?

HIER: Well...

BLITZER: Why do you say that?

HIER: First of all, that film was a remarkable success. And after that film, where -- you know it played all over Germany. After that film, many thousands, tens of thousands of people signed up for the various Nazi organizations including the SD and the SS, greatly attributed to the masterpiece quality of that film, selling Hitler in a way that the German people have never seen before.

In addition to that, she was -- she knew every major Nazi. For example, her lawyer was Julius Streicher (ph), the most infamous anti- Semite, who was the editor of "The Sturma (ph)" and who wrote every day on his newspaper -- he had a banner tagline "Die Juden sind unser Ungluck" -- "The Jews are our misfortune." Leni Riefenstahl hired Julius Streicher to be her lawyer. And in 19 -- when Hitler attacked France and was victorious, she wrote to him, "Your deeds are without equal in the history of mankind." BLITZER: But Rabbi Hier, you have to acknowledge she was a fabulous -- an incredible filmmaker, despite the motive, despite what she tried to promote.

HIER: Absolutely. But I just say the idea that she's postulating now, that she didn't know anything, she was hoodwinked -- that's impossible. To be in Streicher's company for five minutes you would know all about what -- his anti-Semitism and his total agenda with the Jews. So what she's saying now is a complete lie. It's simply revisionism.

BLITZER: Rabbi Hier, always good to have you on the program. Thanks for joining us.

He's a leading psychologist. Now he's soliciting women to fall in love with him and write a book about it. Is this human experiment in romance crossing the lines of professional ethics? The always insightful Berman sisters join us live to talk about it next.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Earlier we asked: In which state, other than Idaho, can you get a kind of potato on your license plate? The answer, Rhode island. The plates honor the 50th birthday of Mr. Potato Head.

And proceeds from the sales of those tater tags go to a Rhode Island food bank. Toy maker Hasbro is based in Pawtucket, just north of Providence. Mr. Potato Head, with his movable and whimsical facial features, has been inspiring children's imaginations for five decades. Use to inspire me, as well.

A Harvard-trained psychologist is looking for a woman who will intentionally fall in love with him and then help write a book about the process. Robert Epstein is a respected researcher and author. He is also editor-in-chief of "Psychology Today," where he made his unusual appeal. Epstein says he's trying to prove there's more than just one person out there for each of us, adding, "This isn't a publicity stunt. It's a serious albeit small-scale challenge to a vexing myth."

Joining us now to talk about Epstein's unusual experiment are the Berman sisters. Laura Berman is a psychologist and sex therapist, and Dr. Jennifer Berman is a urologist. They're hosts of "For Women Only" on the Discovery Health channel. Thanks to both of you for joining us, as usual.

Laura, what do you think about this notion of having these arranged marriages coming from an eminent psychologist like this?

LAURA BERMAN, HOST, "BERMAN & BERMAN: FOR WOMEN ONLY": Right. Well, in the -- in many cultures, as well as religions, we see arranged marriages with great deal of success, not so much in Western culture. But if you think about it, here's a successful, attractive insightful man who wants to get married, who's looking for a woman to share his life with, who wants to go to counseling before they even get married. I mean, so I can see how a lot of women would find that to be a pretty interesting proposal.

BLITZER: Jennifer...

DR. JENNIFER BERMAN, HOST, "BERMAN & BERMAN: FOR WOMEN ONLY": And he's not a bad-looking guy.

BLITZER: Well, Jennifer, this whole notion of teaching or forcing -- creating this love, if you will, when none had originally existed, no initial spark or whatever, over six months, which he's suggesting -- is that really doable?

JENNIFER BERMAN: Well, I think what's realistic in what he says is that there's many people that we can potentially fall in love with, and trying to create that with somebody that is a potential match isn't necessarily unrealistic. What has to be, you know, explained is that if they -- if they don't click -- there does have to be chemistry. And if it doesn't click on either end, then he needs to move on to candidate number two.

LAURA BERMAN: There's got to be some sort of -- even though he's -- he's framing it from the standpoint of two people coming together and creating a love, there's got to be a basis on which he's making these choices, whether it be level of introspective abilities, level of intelligence, looks, chemistry. There's still going to be some criteria that he's using to choose the woman that he's going to...

JENNIFER BERMAN: And vice versa. The women might not be so attracted to him. And he's got the four kids, too, which play a great deal into the equation.

BLITZER: Well, that's another issue he's going to have to deal with. Laura, in these arranged marriages, that are, of course, so prevalent around the world in various cultures and religion, people barely know each other, if at all, when they get married, but they do fall in love over a lengthy period of time. Do you have any statistics how many of these people are really in love or and how many just sort of stay together because of the cultural or religious pressure?

LAURA BERMAN: I'm not aware of any longitudinal studies or statistics that compare, you know, the "falling in love" type marriages versus the arranged marriages that grow into love. But I think that people that come from cultures that support arranged marriages take the commitment very seriously. And it's ironic, in a way, because from the beginning, from the moment they meet, they speak very candidly and very openly.

You know, you have the -- the classic shidach (ph), you know, meeting between Orthodox Jews, where they sit down and they meet together. They go over all of their goals, how many children they want, all their criteria in a mate, and they put it all on the table up front. So instead of just going with the initial chemistry and hoping for the best and hoping that person shares your same goals and dreams and expectations, you can know from the get-go if you're compatible and if there's some chemistry. And then you build on that. So it's actually not outlandish idea.

BLITZER: Jennifer...

LAURA BERMAN: Just doesn't fit our norm.

BLITZER: Jennifer, this -- this idea that's now being raised by Robert Epstein -- does it have legs? Are people all over the country, indeed, all over the world going to follow this experiment that's he's personally going through right now?

JENNIFER BERMAN: Well, I mean he's -- I think it is very difficult to meet people in this era. And you know, with all the dating services and Internet dating and things that people are resorting to, here is an option that is -- you know, that is viable. It depends on -- you know, it's going to depend on the woman or the type of women that are going to want to pursue that. But again, as Laura said, he's a successful guy. He's not a bad-looking guy. And you know, he's willing to go to therapy even before he has a problem, so...

BLITZER: Well, what about that idea -- what about that idea, Laura, of going to therapy, even before you get married, to try to work things out? Obviously, after there are problems, therapy usually doesn't work...

JENNIFER BERMAN: Right.

BLITZER: ... marital therapy.

LAURA BERMAN: I think it's great idea. In fact, I encourage couples all the time to get what's called pre-marital counseling or therapy when they decide that they want -- it's usually when they get engaged before they get married, but where they can really nip the issues in the bud and get a sense of what the criteria are going to be, what their expectations are going to be and what the potential downfall or troubleshooting issues are going to be. And they can address those ahead of time. It also allows for a greater sense of intimacy and connection, you know, that -- that you can build on throughout the married life.

JENNIFER BERMAN: You know, and one other thing that he is offering these women is a full up-front commitment. And I think, you know, as a woman that wants to settle down, that's great, to be offered that right up front. You don't have to wait or wonder, "Is he interested? Is he going to call? Does he really want to continue dating me?" Here it is, he's promising you, however it was, six months and -- you know, of fidelity.

LAURA BERMAN: Of undivided attention.

BLITZER: Right. Jennifer Berman and Laura Berman, maybe we'll see what happens, a six-month commitment.

LAURA BERMAN: We'll see.

BLITZER: If they hate each other on the first date, they're in deep, deep trouble.

LAURA BERMAN: Right.

BLITZER: Thanks to both of you.

LAURA BERMAN: It'll make for good television.

BLITZER: Yeah, it might be a television series, we're hearing. Thanks to both of you. We'll try to talk to Robert Epstein and see how he's coming along with all of this. The Berman sisters, as usual, thank you.

And here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our Web question of the day: Do you think people can learn to fall in love with someone? We'll have the results later in this program. Go to my Web page, cnn.com/wolf. That's where you can vote. While you're there, send me your comments. We'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also where you can read my daily on-line column, cnn.com/wolf.

Let's go to New York now and get a preview of LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE. That, of course, begins right at the top of the hour. Jan Hopkins once again sitting in for Lou tonight.

Jan?

JAN HOPKINS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Wolf. Coming up on MONEYLINE: The West Nile virus is spreading fast. State officials say it's examining -- they are examining six new cases of the disease in Georgia. Doctor Sanjay Gupta will bring us the latest. President Bush surveys wildfire damage in Oregon and calls for plans to save the forest, but critics say it allows loggers to cause even more damage. We'll have a debate, and Representative Jay Inslee, ranking member of the House Forest Subcommittee,. will be our guest. The latest installment in CNN's exclusive series "Terror on Tape." Today we'll look at al Qaeda's bomb-making capabilities and ways that it distributes that knowledge.

All that and lot more ahead. Please join us.

Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: Thank you very much, Jan.

Time is running out to weigh in on our Web question of the day. The results when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The third time is not necessarily a charm, as we see in our "Picture of the Day." Owen Thomas reports on the difficult christening of a cruise ship, with actress Judi Dench doing the honors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) OWEN THOMAS, ITV NEWS (voice-over): It was all going so well. You'd got a brand-new 270-million-pound cruise ship. You've got Dame Judi Dench to launch it. And you've even got the Royal Marines Marching Band. So in front of VIP guests, assembled media and various onlookers, Dame Judi mounted the platform to name the ship the Carnival Legend.

Up went the bottle of champagne. Dame Judi cut the ribbon, and the bounce was greeted by less than spectacular burst of tickertape. Undeterred, Dame Judi went for unconventional yet usually effective side-smash technique. Despite Captain Claudio's (ph) help, it was less than successful effort.

Not to worry. Third time lucky. Here we go. Well, it worked. But unfortunately, the contents seemed to go everywhere but the side of the ship. Dame Judi Dench was duly drenched. But like the true professional, she kept on smiling.

Owen Thomas, ITV News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Tasted good.

Now here's your chance -- here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Earlier we asked, "Do you think people can learn to fall in love with someone?" Look at this -- 65 percent of you say yes, 35 percent of you say no. You can find the exact vote tally on my Web site, cnn.com/wolf. We'll keep up there, if you want to continue voting. Remember, this is not a scientific poll.

Time to hear now directly from you. Many of you wrote on the guilty verdict handed down yesterday in the David Westerfield trial. Sandy writes this. "For all of my adult life, I have been against capital punishment. I believed that vengeance was in God's hands. However, the sexual predators in the news recently seem to think that the law should protect them from the same fate they inflicted on their victims. Count me as one who changed her mind about the death penalty as a result of the murder of Danielle van Dam."

And Fran adds this. "Westerfield should be put in prison in the general population, and we should let the other inmates take care of him for us."

That's all the time we have today. Tomorrow, 5:00 PM Eastern, same time here, we'll continue our look at the "Tapes of Terror." What do they reveal about Osama bin Laden, the man, and his group's future plans?

Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" begins right now.

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