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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Former Attorney General Calls Iraq Policy "Inexcusable"; Eminem Expected to Collect Awards at MTV Ceremony; Fans Disgusted with Baseball Business

Aired August 29, 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, target Saddam, Vice President Cheney takes aim.
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will take whatever action is necessary to defend our freedom and our security.

BLITZER (on camera): But the Baghdad regime has its defenders. And you're allowing yourself to be used by Saddam Hussein as a propaganda tool?

RAMSEY CLARK, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL: You can still say what you believe in this world. You can still stand for what you think is right and you can speak out and people can condemn you any way they want to, but if you don't do that, who are you and what do you stand for?

BLITZER (voice over): Baseball in the strike zone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hearts will never be wiser. Heads and smarter people this time that will prevail and there won't be a work stoppage.

BLITZER: It's a full count, bottom of the ninth, and the game is on the line. Skakel sentenced, a Kennedy cousin pays the price for the long ago murder of a neighbor. And who really fired the first shot at Pearl Harbor? Six decades later, the evidence is in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (on camera): It's Thursday, August 29, 2002. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We're following two developing stories right now, the final push to avert a strike by Major League Baseball players tomorrow. Commissioner Bud Selig joined talks last night in New York between players and team owners. If there is no deal in the coming hours, tonight's games could be the last of the season. We'll have much more on this coming up.

But first more tough talk on Iraq from the Bush administration. For now it's a war of words but the Bush administration is stepping up its rhetoric as it makes its case for military action against Iraq, and it may be moving beyond the point of saber rattling.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BLITZER (voice over): Vice President Dick Cheney raised the stakes in warning against any delay in dealing with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in his quest to amass chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.

CHENEY: Armed with an arsenal of these weapons of terror, sitting atop ten percent of the world's oil reserves, Saddam Hussein could then be expected to seek domination of the entire Middle East, to take control of a great portion of the world's energy supplies, and to directly threaten America's friends throughout the region and subject the United States or any other nation to nuclear blackmail.

BLITZER: Speaking in San Antonio before Korean War veterans, Cheney suggested resuming U.N. weapons inspections in Iraq, suspended for nearly four years, would probably be a waste of time, and he warned Saddam Hussein would use that time to develop more weapons of mass destruction.

CHENEY: These are not weapons designed for the purpose of defending Iraq. These are offensive weapons for the purpose of inflicting death on a massive scale, developed so that Saddam Hussein can hold the threat over the head of anyone he chooses in his own region or beyond.

BLITZER: It was the second time this week the vice president has made the case for war against Iraq. Earlier in the day, President Bush didn't go into details about Iraq, but he did issue this thinly- veiled threat.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We must not allow the world's worst leaders to develop and harbor the world's worst weapons.

BLITZER: He also said he was working on his own timetable.

BUSH: I got a lot of tools at my disposal and I'm a patient man and I'm a patient man but I understand that history gives us an opportunity to make the world more peaceful.

BLITZER: A senior White House official says President Bush will seek congressional approval before striking Iraq, but administration officials could not say what form that approval would take. "Democracies don't go to war lightly" an official says. "Only if the public supports the cause will Congress follow."

U.S. allies also will have to be convinced. French President Jacques Chirac has joined the chorus of international critics in opposing any unilateral U.S. strike against Iraq.

JACQUES CHIRAC, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): This development is worrying, contrary to France's collection vision of security, a vision that rests upon the cooperation of states, the respective law, and the authority of the Security Council.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BLITZER (voice over): Another strong voice of opposition to a possible U.S. war with Iraq is the former United States Attorney General Ramsey Clark. Clark right now is in Iraq discussing the issue with the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and other Iraqi officials.

This afternoon, I spoke with Clark from Baghdad. I began by pointing out that the United Nations Security Council representative on Weapons Inspections Hans Blix says Iraq must allow inspectors back into the country for unfettered inspections. Otherwise, who knows what the consequences will be. And I asked Clark why Iraq will not let those inspectors back in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARK: After 12 years of brutalization with sanctions and bombing, they'd like to be a country again. They'd like to have sovereignty. They'd like to be let alone. They were inspected for eight and a half years and the chief inspectors, all of them, including our own members of the team, said no problems.

BLITZER (voice over): If there are no problems, why don't they let them back in?

CLARK: Is this the only country in the world or are we going to begin to attack other countries? Can we choose who we want?

BLITZER (on camera): But if they have nothing to hide, why not let Hans Blix go back in with those weapons inspectors and give them a clean bill of health?

CLARK: Wolf, it's as simple as this, I think. They let them in here for eight and a half years. They found nothing, but they kept saying wait a minute. There may be something under that stone. There may be something behind that. It's like the search for a white crow. Civilization has been looking for that white crow for generations, for centuries, for millenniums.

They haven't found it but people still think it's out there. You can't, in a big country like this, end an investigation and say we investigated that six months ago, but they may have changed there. We got to go back. There can be no end to it and there ought to be an end to the sanctions.

BLITZER: You know as well as anyone...

CLARK: And people are still dying. The death rate unbelievably is still going up.

BLITZER: You know as well as anyone...

CLARK: Iraq shouldn't have to turn back the clock and go through this once again.

BLITZER: The Iraqis have used poison gas against their own people at Palubja (ph), the Kurds in the north. They have a track record. That's why the Bush administration says they have to go in there and find out if the Iraqis have these weapons of mass destruction.

CLARK: Wolf, that's pretty tired, you know. People have worked that for years and years, and let me tell you, what did they do in 1991? They had a huge army in 1991. How much gas did they use? How much biological warfare did they use? They didn't hit us. There were no casualties on the U.S. side, 157. We killed a couple hundred thousand. They are absolutely no threat and the Pentagon knows it and Dick Cheney knows it. It's an excuse to attack and it's inexcusable.

BLITZER: There's a lot of your critics said -- there's no shortage of your critics back here in the United States who charge right now, and I'll give you a chance to respond to that charge, that you're allowing yourself to be used by Saddam Hussein as a propaganda tool to try to prevent a U.S. military strike.

CLARK: Yes, we've heard that before in many places. You can still say what you believe in this world. You can still stand for what you think is right. You can speak out and people can condemn me any way they want to, but if you don't do that who are you and what do you stand for and what's going to happen to the world? The idea that I'm being used by Saddam Hussein is absurd, and people who repeat it are not very serious about the truth.

BLITZER: Ramsey Clark, thanks for joining us from Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (on camera): Turning now to the war on terrorism, there have been several major developments and we have two reports. We begin with Germany's case against a key suspect in the September 11 attacks. Here's CNN's Stephanie Halasz.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE HALASZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Accomplice in more than 3,000 cases of murder, membership in a terrorist organization, those are the crimes the top German federal prosecutor says were committed by Mounir El Motassadeq, the first person in German custody to be charged in connection with the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Federal prosecutor Kay Nehm outlined the charges in Karlsrohe (ph) on Thursday. Nehm also laid out the complex structure of the Hamburg al Qaeda cell and Motassadeq's part in it.

KAY NEHM, GERMAN FEDERAL PROSECUTOR (through translator): The main task of the accused was to insure the financial dealings.

HALASZ: In an interview CNN conducted with Motassadeq last October, the Moroccan admitted he had power of attorney over hijacker number one, Al-Shahi's (ph) Hamburg bank account. This was normal he said among the circle of friends and what officials now say was a terrorist organization. Nehm said the group had turned to a more radical Islam after 1998 and that Motassadeq had been seen in an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan.

HALASZ (on camera): When asked what the accused had told investigators so far, the prosecutor said Motassadeq had revealed very little but the prosecutor added more interesting that what he said were his surroundings, the company he kept. Stephanie Halasz CNN, Karlsrohe, Germany.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kelli Arena in Washington, watching the terror trail in the United States. Let's start with Seattle. An American named James Ujaama stands accused of trying to set up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon and was providing support and resources to al Qaeda. Officials say those resources include safe houses and weapons. Ujaama denies any terrorist involvement.

Over in Detroit, four men are in custody. They are accused of providing support to a terrorist organization that's linked to al Qaeda. Three of them, according to the indictment, are part of a terrorist sleeper cell and are accused of plotting terrorist acts in Jordan, Turkey, and the United States. One other man whose complete name is not known was also indicted and remains at large.

Sources admit the men under indictment are not major players, but say the action against them is important. Investigators say that's because they're part of the infrastructure that exists in the United States, which supports terrorists and helps make it possible for them to pull off their attacks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Kelli Arena thank you very much and Stephanie Halasz for those reports. From northern Afghanistan, we have exclusive video of a new mass grave which has been uncovered allegedly containing the bodies of Taliban fighters captured last year.

Human rights groups accuse Afghan forces close to U.S. allies of suffocating hundreds of Taliban prisoners by locking them in steel shipping containers. Afghan warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum (ph) won't say how much the United States knew of his treatment of prisoners. Meantime, a U.N. official says this grave is only the tip of a iceberg.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSS WICKWAKE, WTP SECURITY ADVISER: Information indicates that this is quite common. There are sites like this all around the area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Surviving Taliban prisoners tell CNN's Matthew Chance they don't know how many died in the desert after their surrender last November.

And this footnote to the war on terrorism, in CNN's "TERROR ON TAPE" exclusive coverage all of last week, you might remember CNN's Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson brought you exclusive video from al Qaeda's archives. The tapes detail some of the terror group's practices. Today, Vice President Dick Cheney weighed in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHENEY: We found evidence of their effort in the caves and tunnels and al Qaeda hideouts in Afghanistan and we've seen in recent days additional confirmation and tapes played on CNN, pictures of al Qaeda members training to commit acts of terror and testing chemical weapons on dogs. Those terrorists who remain at large are determined to use these capabilities against the United States and against our friends and allies around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Stay with CNN for complete coverage of the war on terror and the possibility of war with Iraq. When we come back, the fans say shut up and play ball but the owners and the players are still talking it out. Will it be the picket line or the batting cage? We'll go live to the negotiations when we come back.

Plus, hard time for Michael Skakel, big relief for the Moxley family, find out how long this Kennedy cousin will now have to spend in prison. Also, rewriting history, who really fired the first shot at Pearl Harbor?

First, today's news quiz. MTV started its award show in 1984. Who won the most awards in the first annual MTV Video Music Awards, Herbie Hancock, Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna? The answer coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOSIE KARP, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're trying to deal with that and also a termination date for when this four-year agreement will expire, either on October 31st or December 31st. They have some very strident reasons, both sides, for wanting one date or the other. The owners want it October 31st.

The players want it December 31st. We have every reason to believe that they're going to keep on talking and that they're going to talk late into the night. Last night, the owners' representatives were here in this building behind me until at least one o'clock in the morning. There's every reason to believe they will go just as late, maybe longer tonight; Wolf back to you.

BLITZER: Josie Karp looks like your day is just beginning. Thanks for joining us for that update. A strike obviously would anger many fans and have a huge economic impact on those vendors who make their living at ballparks across the United States and Canada. CNN's Jeff Flock has been talking with vendors at Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers. I guess a lot of nervous people over there, Jeff.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well in some ways, Wolf, yes. You know it's 13-4, Cubs over the Brewers so the local fans not too thrilled anyway, but just listen to Bob Eucre (ph) which has been piped over the P.A. He's the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers, perhaps you know. Just quoting some sources which indicated that to him that the talks were not going well and perhaps there wouldn't be a successful conclusion. One guy with a sing in there that says: "If you strike, we strike forever.

Talk about those vendors, this is a guy here who's got a smile on his face although I don't know why. This is a company called Stick- by-Stan. This is Stan. He'll put your people's name on a bat. You rely on selling these bats at games like this yes?

STAN OLIVER, STICK-BY-STAN: Sure do and we have Little League and pro bats and the fans before the game will get them and take them to their seats.

FLOCK: But if there's no game?

OLIVER: If there's no game, that's 90 percent of my business is here at the stadiums. I've geared my business toward the ballparks and it's very successful. So, it would impact me greatly, but you know I'm very hopeful that these guys will all come together.

FLOCK: I hear you, and Stan maybe you can go and show you've got a lot of inventory here. You sell these bats also at Atlanta Stadium, Turner Field, and also the Arizona ballpark.

OLIVER: Yes.

FLOCK: Both teams going to the playoffs. You tend to make a lot of money when teams go to the playoffs.

OLIVER: Oh yes.

FLOCK: If they cancel this season, how much money are you going to lose?

OLIVER: It could be upwards to $300,000, and for a mom and pop that's a lot of money. But you know I'm not going to worry about it. I want the sport to stay healthy. It is a good sport and there will always be another day.

FLOCK: OK. We hope you're right about that. Stan, I'm going to let you go back to selling bats there, appreciate it. As you can see, Wolf, just one guy thinks he'll lose $300,000 if they cancel the season. High stakes out here all around, back to you.

BLITZER: That's a lot of money for anyone. Jeff Flock thanks for that report. And joining us now to talk a little bit more about baseball's looming strike, Keith Olbermannn, he's host of ABC radio programs speaking of sports and speaking of everything. Keith thanks for joining us. Well what's your take? You want to venture a prediction what these players and owners are going to do?

KEITH OLBERMANNN, ABC RADIO HOST "SPEAKING OF SPORTS": Well, it's a real question, Wolf, right now what the owners are going to do. They walked into those meetings this morning, according to a source of mine who is in constant contact with both sides, he's one of the middle men, one of the back channel guys, and the owners walked in and essentially hard-lined it, essentially said "we're not moving any further on the luxury tax."

They did not say take it or leave it but that was the message. They did try to spread it, this idea that the players somehow wouldn't really go on strike. The last time the owners thought the players wouldn't go on strike was 1981 and they went on strike and went on strike for 50 days.

So right now, although this would be a player strike, it would be caused by the owners because the players have come up again on this luxury tax issue. They've accepted the luxury tax in all four years of an agreement, which was a major change for them, and they have really not been doctrinaire. .

So, I think this is all dependent on what the owners do and how much of a deal they are willing to accept, and I think probably it will go all night, which is also pretty much unprecedented against the deadline.

BLITZER: And what happens if there is a strike and there's no World Series this year? We've heard about the death of Major League Baseball before. Would that be premature?

OLBERMANN: It's premature because if indeed a lot of the owners really believe that the players won't strike, boy oh boy if they don't show up for the games tomorrow, are those owners going to be surprised, and it's factual. It's a simple matter of mathematics. If the rest of the season were to be cancelled, the players would lose $415 million or so in income and in post season revenue, but the owners would lose $1.2 billion, $1.2 billion.

And for an industry that's claiming to be in financial shape, to be able to just blow off $1.2 billion makes no sense whatsoever. The owners can not let that happen. More importantly, the banks that have a lot of paper out on the owners and basically are bankrolling baseball's finances right now will not let that happen. It can not occur because the owners are not in financial health by their own claim to be able to sustain that.

Also, the second part of it is more back towards what I was saying at the beginning of that answer, the assumption that a strike would necessarily, as it did in 1994, cancel the rest of the season, is premature. We did have a strike in 1985 that literally lasted 48 hours.

It's possible this could go as long as ten days, but I think if the players walk out, and we won't know until at the earliest one o'clock Eastern time Friday morning, maybe at the latest Noon tomorrow Eastern time, if the players walk out, it's very possible that the owners will be sort of shocked into reality, take what's on the table and get it done by the beginning of next week or at the latest the 9th or so of September.

BLITZER: Are NFL and NBA teams, players, and owners sort of licking their chops, looking at what's happening at Major League Baseball right now?

OLBERMANN: I don't know that they're necessarily licking their chops because their structures, their financial systems are so entirely different from baseball that the only thing that might be seen in this scenario is the NFL owners who, of course, share all their revenues to begin with and have for 40 years, which is why they've never had a strike based on revenue sharing, which is what this is all about, the baseball negotiations currently.

Football has never had that in 40 years. The Green Bay Packers make as much money from the television contracts as the New York Giants to. You might wonder maybe in the front office of the New York Giants, they're sitting there going, how come we're supporting the Green Bay Packers? So in fact, it may work to the opposite. This may be the sort of thing where the other leagues that have revenue sharing might say, why are we supporting the small market teams? It seems to be against the basic economic model for any business, let alone any sport.

BLITZER: Keith Olbermann, always offering some good insight, thanks for joining us.

OLBERMANN: Sure, Wolf.

BLITZER: Let's hope these players and these owners show some common sense. Here's your chance to weigh in on the story. Our web question of the day is this: Does baseball deserve to be America's pastime? 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. 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 online column, cnn.com/wolf.

Hard justice, hard time after so many years, a judge hands down the final sentence for a Kennedy cousin. We'll go live outside the courthouse for reaction. Plus, did you pack your bags yourself? The airlines ask for a little common sense when it comes to security. And, take a deep breath, summer smog is only getting worse. What a surprise. Find out just how bad it's getting; but first, a look at news making headlines around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Large waves rip the coast of southern Japan, a typhoon with winds nearing 80 miles an hour flattened homes and knocked out power. This was the 15th storm since Japan's typhoon season began in June.

Israel's defense minister is expressing regret over a tank attack in Gaza that killed four Palestinian civilians and sent others to the hospital, among the dead a mother and two sons.

Chile's landmines are going up in smoke. Experts are destroying thousands of mines along Chile's borders to comply with an international treaty. Every country in the Western Hemisphere has signed the mine treaty except the United States and Cuba. Reports say a tell-all book by Princess Diana's former bodyguard has upset several members of the British Royal Family, including Diana's sons. One report says the author could face legal penalties for revealing secrets about royal security procedures.

It may not be the perfect pet for everyone, but a man in Thailand likes his crocodile so much, he lets the reptile sleep with him. This crocodile has the run of the house and gets along well with the two family dogs, which is good to hear considering the alternative.

And you've heard the story of the glass slipper; now let's talk about the glass bra. A Japanese company that appears to cherish publicity over practicality designed a brassiere made of glass then had a contest to find the woman who would fit into it. The motive may have been as transparent as the bra, but this contestant was the clear winner and that's today's look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In Norwalk, Connecticut Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel has learned his punishment for a 27-year-old killing. He was sentenced today to 20 years to life for the 1975 beating death of then 15-year-old Martha Moxley. Deborah Feyerick is in Norwalk and joins us once again live; Deborah an emotional day for a lot of people in Norwalk, Connecticut.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very emotional day, Wolf, and friends and family of Michael Skakel said that there are really two Michael Skakels, the one who's portrayed in the media and then the one they know, the one who is funny, kind, loyal, someone who at least in court today showed himself to be a religious man.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK (voice-over): His voice choked with tears, Michael Skakel appealed to the judge. Referring often to God and religion, Skakel said: "I've been accused of a crime and I'd love to be able to say I did it so it would give the Moxley's some rest. But I can't do that. I can't bear false witness against myself." He then told the judge: "Whatever sentence you impose on me, I accept in God's name." That sentence is 20 years to life.

FEYERICK (on camera): Was there some sense of relief?

HOPE SEELEY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think the relief for Michael was the fact that he finally got to be able to speak and I certainly saw in his face a sense of relief for him being able to say that I am innocent.

FEYERICK (voice over): Skakel waived his right to testify at trial and his lawyers are aggressively preparing an appeal. While the victim's family called the sentence reasonable, Martha Moxley's brother called Skakel's word "too little too late." JOHN MOXLEY, MARTHA MOXLEY'S BROTHER: Everybody in jail and foxholes has religion and you know I think part of, you know, being a good Catholic is confessing to your sins, not running from them.

FEYERICK: Prosecutors say they're satisfied with the sentence.

SUSANN GILL, CONN. ASST. STATE'S ATTY.: I think it was a fair sentence. The state felt confident asking for the maximum due to the brutality of the crime and the length of time that Mr. Skakel has escaped justice. However, we understand the difficult factors that Judge Kavenuski (ph) had to weigh and I think he did a good job with them.

FEYERICK: Skakel was facing a maximum sentence of 25 years to life.

STAN TWARDY, FMR. U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT: I think there may be a signal that's being sent here by the judge that you don't need to keep him in prison forever. There are some mitigating circumstances.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK (on camera): If Michael Skakel behaves, he will be eligible for parole on April 27, 2013.

If he is rejected he can apply every year after that. His lawyers hoping to get him out much sooner once they appeal -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Deborah Feyerick, thank you very much for that report.

And the brother of Martha Moxley had said he hoped Skakel would receive the maximum sentence. John Moxley's wife, Cara, joins us now live from New York with her views on what happened today. Well, what do you think? Was this a good sentence?

CARA MOXLEY, FAMILY MEMBER: Hi, Wolf. It's a tragedy for both families, I would say, certainly. And nothing really is fair. Nothing is going to bring back Martha. However, we think that the sentence was reasonable. The judge had to weigh the fact that he was a youthful offender with how savage the crime was.

BLITZER: The fact that he was only 15 years old at the time, so many years have gone by, were you surprised by the judge's decision?

MOXLEY: No. In fact I sort of considered it from -- he could have been more lenient and he could have been harsher. So I think it was somewhere in the middle, and it did show that he gave it quite a bit of thought.

BLITZER: The defense suggestions that he may have been abused by his father. There were other motivations involved in what he was convicted of doing, murdering this young 15-year-old girl. Was that a factor at all in your view?

MOXLEY: They did point out today that he had had a tough upbringing, but I still don't think that anybody is because of that going to do the things that did happen, without having some kind of emotional issues very deep-seeded. And I think that it's obvious that somebody that could do a crime like that will need some rehabilitation.

The disappointment today was that he did not admit any remorse or -- he's denying the fact that he is guilty at this point still.

BLITZER: Cara Moxley, I know a difficult day for you, for your entire family. Thanks so much for joining us, though.

MOXLEY: Thank you for having us.

BLITZER: Thank you very much, Cara.

MOXLEY: I would like to say that I don't think we would be here today without Dorothy and John working as tirelessly as they have with so many, and we're grateful to all those people.

BLITZER: Thank you. Good point, and we should point out that both Dorothy and John Moxley will be special guests tonight on LARRY KING LIVE. That's at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, 6:00 p.m. Pacific. Much more on the Skakel case.

A 9-year-old boy stolen from his bed, dad beaten in the scuffle. The search now focuses on the mother. She's missing, too. Find out why they want to track her down. Plus, summer smog getting worse by the day. What is turning America's big cities into toxic soup? A closer look when we return.

And a Japanese sub sunk before the aerial attack on pearl harbor. A first look at this little-known piece of American history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer.

Coming up: Why has the mom of a missing 9-year-old boy gone missing? The latest in the investigation, but first a look at other stories making news right now.

Airlines will no longer be required to pose those security questions about passengers keeping an eye on their bags. Transportation Security Chief James Loy says they are being phased out because they don't prevent bombings or hijackings and they do create a hassle. He says the airlines are, in a word, delighted.

The Bush Administration appears to be backing off a plan to restrict international carriers on September 11. Some regulators wanted to stop nine U.S. carriers from flying to or from New York, Washington or Somerset County, Pennsylvania on the anniversary of September 11 crashes at those locations. Quoting an unnamed senior administration official, the Associated Press says the administration has decided to drop the idea, concluding it's probably illegal.

Officials at Boeing say the company will not participate in contract talks next week. Federal mediators called for a 30-day contract extension so that the giant aircraft maker and its machinists to resume -- calling on them to resume negotiations in Washington next week. The current contract covering 25,000 Boeing machinists expires Sunday.

A new report says summer smog settling on U.S. states may double this year, after rising 10 percent last year. The U.S. public interest research group points to preliminary data showing ozone levels in 21 states already up 23 percent over the last year. It says the smoggiest states in 2001 were California, Pennsylvania and Texas.

And new NASA pictures generated with the help of a satellite named Terra show all the fires that have burned on earth over the past year. The brilliant images include nearly a million fires detected by Terra's instruments between August 2001 and August 2002.

The maps document this year's extreme U.S. fire season, as well as dramatic fires in Siberia, Australia, Brazil and Africa. Scientists hope a long-term record of Earth's fire activity will help them better understand how it impacts the planet's climate.

There are new indications a custody battle may have been behind yesterday's abduction of a Riverside County, California boy. Nine- year-old Nicholas Farber is still missing more than a day after he was kidnapped from his father's house. Today, the father appealed for the boy's return and made a specific reference to his former wife.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL FARBER, FATHER: Whoever is out there that may know the whereabouts of my son or the people that we are looking for, including my ex-wife, I would really, really appreciate if you picked up the phone and dialed the number that the sheriff just gave you, or 911, and any information that may lead to bringing him home as soon as possible. I'd really, really appreciate it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Joining us now to discuss the Nicholas Farber kidnapping is the Riverside County Sheriff-elect Bob Doyle. Sheriff, thanks for joining us, although I think we lost the sheriff in a satellite hook up. We are going to try to fix that and get back to that once we come back.

Meanwhile ghosts from the past resurface from underwater. A luxury steamship that sunk in 1898 is found off Massachusetts. Plus, a Japanese sub sunk before the attack on Pearl Harbor at the bottom of the ocean in Hawaii. We will deep dive into the past when we return.

Plus: Britney, Eminem, Shakira and more. The tops of pop go head-to-head at the video music awards. Tonight we will have details. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. I want to go back out to Riverside, California, where the Sheriff-elect Bob Doyle is standing by to update us on that sad case, the abduction of little Nicholas Farber. Sheriff, thanks for joining us. What exactly is the focus of the investigation right now? Is it the mother.

SHERIFF-ELECT BOB DOYLE, RIVERSIDE COUNTY: Well, that is our strongest lead, Wolf. We are focusing on the mother and her roommate, Carla Bender (ph).

BLITZER: And why are you looking specifically at the mother and her roommate?

DOYLE: Well, we need to talk to Deborah Rose (ph). We still have not been able to make contact with her. We feel that she may have some pertinent information, as it relates to Nicholas' whereabouts, and we believe that she may be traveling with Carla Bender.

BLITZER: Why Carla Bender? What's her connection to the mother?

DOYLE: They were roommates in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

BLITZER: But we were told that men entered the home and abducted the little boy. Who might they be?

DOYLE: We still have not identified who the suspects were that violently entered that house and took Nicholas out.

BLITZER: But there's an assumption that they may have been working together with the mother and this Carla Bender, is that the working assumption?

DOYLE: No, it's not an assumption. That's why it's very important -- at this point Deborah Rose is not a suspect. There could be an enormous amount of different scenarios that have occurred in this case, so we are chasing down a lot of leads at this time, and we are trying not to make any assumptions at this point.

BLITZER: So the notion that this is a custody battle that's simply being played out in a brutal manner affecting this little boy, is that a fair assumption?

DOYLE: It certainly is a possibility, but it's certainly not the only possibility.

BLITZER: And if you take a look right now, have there been any ransom notes or any communication whatsoever with those who may be holding this little boy?

DOYLE: No. We have had no communication whatsoever from anyone as it relates to his safety or his whereabouts.

BLITZER: Good luck, Sheriff, in finding little Nicholas Farber. We hope you find him very, very soon and that he's OK. Appreciate it very much, your joining us.

DOYLE: Thank you. BLITZER: Want to thank our affiliate KCBS in Los Angeles for helping us bring Sheriff Doyle to our viewers. Appreciate it very much, Sheriff.

DOYLE: Thank you.

BLITZER: Thank you. Whenever you step onto a passenger ship, your name is on a list that's called a manifest. Manifests became law more than 100 years ago after a disastrous three days at sea when 140 ships were lost in a violent storm. One of those ships has been found now off Massachusetts and videotaped.

Here's CNN's Boston Bureau Chief Bill Delaney on the fate of the Steamship Portland.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL DELANEY, CNN BOSTON BUREAU CHIEF: No one knows just how many drowned, entombed now since November 1898 in the Atlantic off Massachusetts, when the gold-trimmed velvet-carpeted 291-foot paddle wheeler, S.S. Portland sank in a vicious near-hurricane-strength snowstorm. Probably about 200 lost their lives, but the ship's only passenger list went down with it.

Only now, using remotely operated vehicles and sonar, the wreck site finally confirmed by federal researchers.

BENJAMIN COWIE-HASKELL, NOAA: We were really awestruck, coming upon the hull for the first time.

DELANEY: Pride in the technological feat mingling with awareness of the horrors of that wintry night 104 years ago.

COWIE-HASKELL: Throughout the investigation, there were times when it would just strike you that so many people lost their lives on this, on this ship that we were, that was right in front of us. It was fairly sobering, and it's somewhat of a bittersweet discovery because of that. We can't forget how many people lost their lives.

The exact location of the so-called Titanic of New England being kept a secret to frustrate bounty hunters.

These days, it usually takes about two hours to drive from Boston up to Portland, Maine. In 1898, steamship passengers could expect a journey of about 12 hours overnight from 7:00 p.m. in the evening to 7:00 a.m. the next morning, leaving from Boston Harbor up past the peninsula of Cape Anne, and then the straight shot up to Portland, Maine.

Routine, had the ship's captain, Hollis Blanchard (ph), not thought he could outrun the storm, let alone in a tall, narrow, unstable vessel built for good looks, not good seaworthiness. Paddle steamers work well in waters that are calm, but in New England storms can blow up, particularly in the wintertime, that can be very destructive to only everything but the strongest hull. A storm, only about half the strength of the infamous Perfect Storm of October 1991, but more than enough to bring down the ultimately terrible beauty of the S.S. Portland. Bill Delaney, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Nice report. Pop, rock and hip hop. The biggest stars are hitting the red carpet in New York City.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I'm (UNINTELLIGIBLE) live in New York City where the stars are starting to arrive here, Wolf, and where thousands of people have been gathering for several hours. We will have a live preview coming up when WOLF BLITZER REPORTS continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Herbie Hancock is great. New York City is tuning up for tonight's MTV video music awards. CNN's Kendis Gibson standing by right outside Radio City Music Hall in New York. He's got a little preview for us. Kendis, what's going on?

KENDIS GIBSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Wolf, I just had a bad image in my mind of you doing "Little Rocket" break dancing. Was that just imagination?

BLITZER: It's a weird thought, but go ahead.

GIBSON: Well, the excitement is building towards this evening's big award show. You can probably see some of the thousands of people who have been here for several hours to see the stars, and they are expected to begin walking the red carpet within the next few minutes.

Some of the celebrities expected to have big nights here, Eminem, of course. Now he called his new CD the "Eminem Show," but really Radio City and MTV music awards will look more like the Eminem show tonight. He is up for six awards in all, and is expected to perform as well, on stage. Now he is also expected to take home several awards from many of the music critics are saying that he will, but Eminem is probably one of the bright spots this year for a music industry that has been struggling.

His CD the "Eminem Show" has sold more than 5 million in just the last two months. One of the bad parts for the music industry, Britney Spears. Disappointing, really. She is going to be here as a presenter only tonight, we're told, but her CD, the latest one that has the song "I'm (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for You," has sold only about 3 million CD's, a representation, the music industry says, of the sort of stuff that is going on, as it comes to piracy and the reduction in CD sales.

So they are saying that -- and they're hoping that something like this will help to boost sales for not only Eminem but Britney Spears but also the many artists who will be coming on stage, Michael Jackson as well as Pink and many of the other top artists in pop music will be here all tonight. It really is an awards show, Wolf, that rivals the Grammys. Let's go back to you.

BLITZER: And Kendis, you're bearing the lead Shakira, teaching you some moves, some dance moves recently. What about that?

GIBSON: I told you, yes, a couple weeks ago she was in Atlanta, showed me some moves I dare not try to do it right now.

BLITZER: Go ahead. Let's see a few of those moves.

(DANCING)

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: That's a good move. Kendis Gibson from Radio City Music Hall. We will be watching tonight the MTV video music awards.

When we come back, a sunken Japanese ship at Pearl Harbor hours before the aerial attack against U.S. forces. Now take an underwater walk through history -- that and more when we come back.

BLITZER: Let's go back to New York and get a preview of LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE, which begins at the top of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Let's go right back to New York, get a preview of "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE," which of course begins right at the top of the hour -- Lou.

LOU DOBBS, HOST, "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE": Wolf, thank you very much. Vice President Dick Cheney today said he has who doubt that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Cheney says the United States must take whatever action is necessary. We will have a report for you. We'll also be talking with one of the most influential conservative thinkers about U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, Daniel Pipes, the author of "Militant Islam Reaches America," will be my guest.

His book joins the "Dobbs List" tonight. And advertisers are spending again. We will tell you if the advertising recession is finally over. All of that and a great deal more ahead on MONEYLINE at the top of the hour. Please join us. Now back to Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you very much, Lou. We always will join you. Right now our picture of the day: a remarkable find on the ocean floor off Hawaii, a Japanese submarine sunk by an American warship just before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

Before dawn on December 7, 1941, the Navy Destroyer U.S.S. Ward was patrolling the entrance to Pearl Harbor when the crew spotted a Japanese Midget submarine. General quarters sounded and crew members rushed to battle stations. As the 300-foot long, 1,200 Ward raced past the enemy mini-sub at 25 nauts (ph), its guns blazed away with rounds hitting the sub's small conning tower. The Ward followed that up with four depth charges which finished off the 78-foot sub.

Immediately following the sinking, the Ward's commander sent a terse message to military officials: cited and fired upon an unidentified submarine in the defensive sea area. As the Ward entered Pearl Harbor the crew saw Japanese fighter planes and heard explosions. For the United States, the war in the Pacific was underway.

Almost 61 years later, Terry Kerby of the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory, operating in the deep-diving submersible Pisces fore (ph), discovered the sunken sub in an area described as a military junkyard about 1,200 feet below the surface.

TERRY KERBY, LEAD RESEARCHER: To actually come across it was a kind of sobering moment, realizing that that was the shot that started the Pacific warm, and that crew that were so determined to try and get in there, that was just to think about their last moments.

BLITZER: This footnote. Three years to the day after the Ward sank that Japanese sub off Pearl Harbor, it in turn went down off the Philippines after being hit by a Japanese kamikaze suicide plane.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And one additional item of note: officials involved in the effort to find the Japanese sub say they believe the remains of two Japanese crewmen and two live torpedoes are still inside the vessel.

Here's how you're weighing in our Web question of the day. Earlier we asked, does baseball deserve to be America's pastime? Sixteen percent of you say yes, 84 percent say no. Remember, this is not a scientific poll. Let's get some e-mails.

Chris writes, "I believe a war in Iraq would not succeed but instead would fan a fire of hatred, not only from Iraq itself but from other Muslim countries, resulting in a wider conflict than even U.S. forces could not conclude."

That is all the time we have. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" begins right now.

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