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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Rumsfeld Denies Administration is Split Over Iraq Attack; Does U.S. Policy Create Terrorism?; Brothers on Trial for Murder of Their Father
Aired September 03, 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 (voice-over): Now on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, target Saddam. The defense secretary denies there's an administration split over Iraq.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: That's baloney.
BLITZER: Sudden warrior, when the U.S. military struck back at al Qaeda, he became a hero. We'll get the inside story. Why terrorism works. Is this a nightmare of our own making? I'll ask noted attorney and author Alan Dershowitz.
Brothers on trial, legal twists and turns in the gruesome killing of a Florida father. And taking bad fat out of French fries, is McDonald's taking your arteries to heart?
(on-camera): It's Tuesday, September 3, 2002. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. When it comes to targeting Saddam Hussein, many on Capitol Hill are counseling caution saying they need more answers from the Bush administration. Tomorrow, after weeks of delay, that formal process gets underway.
That process will begin with a meeting at the White House.
Tomorrow the president inviting the bipartisan congressional leadership from the House of Representatives as well as from the U.S. Senate to come to the White House and he'll be joined by some of his top aides ready to answer questions about Iraq.
Let's get a little bit more information now on what the Pentagon thinks about all of this, what Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld may have in mind. Let's go straight to our Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre who's standing by.
At the Pentagon briefing today, Jamie, as you well know the secretary of defense hinted there was more intelligence information about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction than he might be prepared to release at some point. What was he hinting at?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're not sure. We were trying to pin him down on that. The administration has said in broad terms that Iraq is getting closer to developing nuclear weapons, is continuing its program to develop weapons of mass destruction. The administration also recognizes that they haven't done a good enough job in making the case, both to the Congress, the American people, and to the world. Now some of that work is going to be done tomorrow in that meeting you mentioned with some senior congressional leaders at the White House.
Also, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld will be going back up to the hill for another top secret briefing behind closed doors with members of Congress. We're told that he will probably be presenting the administration's weapons of mass destruction brief, which looks at the nature of the scope of the threat of weapons of mass destruction, not just in Iraq, but in all of the world, but also including some top secret information about Iraq. So, it looks like they are beginning to make that case.
BLITZER: Just beginning, Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, stand by because over at the White House once that meeting begins, that's just the beginning of a lengthy process.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice over): President Bush has invited the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives to the White House Wednesday. Congressional sources say a possible war with Iraq will be on the agenda.
At a Pentagon briefing, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld came out swinging, denying reports of serious divisions over Iraq within the Bush administration.
RUMSFELD: That's baloney.
BLITZER: He also minced no words in warning that the Iraqis had been a lot closer to building a nuclear bomb just before the Persian Gulf War than anyone had suspected and that the same could be true right now.
RUMSFELD: To the extent that they have kept their nuclear scientists together and working on these efforts, one has to assume they've not been playing tiddlywinks, that they've been focusing on nuclear weapons.
BLITZER: Rumsfeld's latest blast followed the meeting at Johannesburg, South Africa between U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz.
Aziz said his government was ready to consider the return of U.N. weapons inspectors but he attached several conditions, including an end to international sanctions, an end to the U.S. and British manned no-fly zones in the northern and southern parts of Iraq, and an end to the talk of war coming from Washington.
TARIQ AZIZ, IRAQI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: So if you want to find a solution, you have to find a solution for all these matters.
BLITZER: Kofi Annan was cautious in assessing the meeting. KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: At this stage, I can not say they've taken a decision to allow the inspectors. I mean they have questions.
BLITZER: But U.S. officials suggest those Iraqi conditions effectively kill the possibility of resuming weapons inspections.
RUMSFELD: And I haven't seen any inclination on their part to agree to anything except as a ploy from time to time to use over the possibility we might do this or we might do that and kind of play the international community and the U.N. process like a guitar, plucking the right string at the right moment to delay something.
BLITZER: After days of being pounded around the world, the Bush administration did receive some badly needed international backing from a staunch ally.
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: And if the 11th of September teaches us anything, it teaches us the importance of not waiting for the threat to materialize.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Let's go back to our Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre. He's still standing by over at the Pentagon. Jamie when the secretary of defense meets with these Senators tomorrow, briefs them behind closed doors, what does that mean? Does that mean that the U.S. is indeed getting ready for some action against the Iraqis?
MCINTYRE: Well, I have to say, Wolf, is we've checked all of our sources. There's no indication that there's any military action imminent but the administration does recognize that it needs to do a better job of communicating with members of Congress.
Now it has provided a number of top secret briefings in recent weeks about weapons of mass destruction and this briefing by Rumsfeld is said to be another in that series, a recognition that the administration needs to do some groundwork, lay some groundwork, before they'll be able to make the convincing case they want to make or possible action against Iraq.
BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon thanks very much. We'll be covering those meetings tomorrow at the White House. In the morning, the president's meeting with the bipartisan congressional leadership later in the day when the defense secretary goes to Capitol Hill to brief Senators on the situation involving Iraq.
Also on Capitol Hill, the Senate was debating not so much whether but how the homeland security agency should be elevated to a cabinet level department. The White House wants the president to have broad powers to hire and fire the 170,000 workers who would make up the potential department. Some Democrats balk at that saying it undermines protections for federal employees. Republicans say the president must have that kind of discretion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. PHIL GRAMM (R) TEXAS: It is incomprehensible and absolutely unacceptable that we should be setting up a Department of Homeland Security and at the same time take away power the president has under existing law to take action based on national security concerns.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Meanwhile, "The Washington Post" is reporting that al Qaeda and Taliban officials have been shipping large amounts of gold from Pakistan to Sudan. The paper quotes U.S. and international investigators as saying the secret transfers are going through Iran or the United Arab Emirates. Officials tell "The Post" it's a sign the groups still have access to large financial reserves and that Sudan may be reemerging as the financial center for terrorism.
Despite all the intelligence that's being gathered about al Qaeda, at least one persistent question remains unanswered, is Osama bin Laden dead or alive? CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr reports there are many theories.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Just six days after the 9/11 attacks, the president is unequivocal about Osama bin Laden.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want justice and there's an old poster out West, as I recall, that said "Wanted Dead or Alive."
STARR: But over the last year, that vow was unfulfilled. No one in the Bush administration knows what has happened to the world's most wanted man.
BUSH: Osama bin Laden, he may be alive. If he is, we'll get him. If he's not alive, we got him.
STARR: There are compelling reasons for the experts to argue either way.
DALE WATSON, FBI EXEC. ASST. DIR. FOR COUNTERTERRORISM: I'm not real sure of the answer is he alive or dead? I personally think he's probably not with us anymore.
STARR: Dale Watson, the FBI's counterterrorism chief, believes one reason bin Laden is dead is that his former bodyguards are now in custody and they would not have been captured away from their boss unless he was already dead.
Another potential piece of evidence bin Laden is dead, there has been no verified sighting, videotape, or audio recording of him in nine months. But some intelligence analysts say bin Laden might simply be lying low, that if he was dead, intercepts would have picked up chatter from his many followers, so, why no videotapes taunting the U.S.? RUMSFELD: One might be he's not physically able because he's injured in some way. Another might be because he's afraid if he does it he'll get caught.
STARR: Intelligence experts are now combing the Internet, believing some recent e-mail messages may contain markers, code words used specifically by bin Laden, a possibly indication he remains alive. If he is alive, how does he keep getting away and where is he?
This videotape made in Kandahar late last year shows bin Laden had already moved from his longtime hideouts near the border with Pakistan. Rumors have continued that by December he was in the mountains of Tora Bora but then escaped again. What is clear finding bin Laden may not bring much comfort as the al Qaeda is rumored to be planning more attacks.
RUMSFELD: But wherever he is, if he is, you can be certain he is having one dickens of a time operating his apparatus. Now, is he critical? Well, he's important but there are plenty of people who, six, eight, ten, 12 people probably who could take over the al Qaeda.
STARR: One year after the Pentagon went to war, the hunt for Osama bin Laden goes on. Recent U.S. intelligence assessments indicate if he is alive, he may be somewhere on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and there is no indication that U.S. troops are going to be taken off the job. Barbara Starr, CNN reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Now to Wall Street where it's been a terrible day for many investors. The Dow Jones Industrial average recorded its second biggest point drop this year. CNN's Lou Dobbs, the anchor and managing editor of Lou Dobbs "MONEYLINE" is standing by to tell us what happened today. Lou.
LOU DOBBS, HOST, "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE": Wolf, two downgrades and manufacturing activity weaker than investors had wanted to see and we had another sell off. The Dow Jones Industrials falling just about four percent on the day as did the other major indexes, that is the NASDAQ and the S&P 500, so not much good news. I should point out, Wolf, though that there is at least this one positive. Trading today extremely light, unlike you and me, a lot of people aren't back to work yet.
BLITZER: Lou Dobbs reporting. Thanks very much. And, of course, Lou will have much more at the top of the hour on Lou Dobbs "MONEYLINE" for all those details.
We have a story worthy of "Hawaii Five-0," trouble in paradise with some teenage girls. Also, two brothers who look like angels, so why are they in court? Their story will shock you. And Congress moves to give the green light to an AMBER Alert System for the entire country. Is this a good idea or just good politics? Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Welcome back. A bipartisan group of Senators is backing legislation to establish a nationwide AMBER Alert System. AMBER Alerts use radio and television announcements, highway signs, and other methods to spread the word about child abductions in the critical hours after the abductions occur.
Yesterday, New York became the latest state to create an AMBER Alert System and Senators, including Dianne Feinstein of California, say it's time for a national system.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D) CALIFORNIA: We've had 13 AMBER Alerts in California in one month. One was a misstep. All other 12 have resulted in the return of the child. Eight were abductions from strangers and four involve family members. Now that's an unparalleled record.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Police have praised the AMBER Alert System but there are some fears it could be overused. CNN's Anne McDermott reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNE MCDERMOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Samantha Runnion was playing outside her home in California this summer when she was abducted and killed. A few days later, Governor Gray Davis announced a voluntary statewide AMBER Alert Program that six days later was credited with rescuing two other adducted girls.
GOV. GRAY DAVIS, CALIFORNIA: The girls are unhurt. According to the Curran (ph) County Sheriff, the girls are unhurt.
MCDERMOTT: The alerts are named for Amber Hagerman, a little girl who was abducted and killed in Texas six years ago. Since then, many states have adopted the system of getting the word out when a child has disappeared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are activating the AMBER Plan.
MCDERMOTT: In California, they now get the word out by radio, TV and freeway signs.
DAVIS: When it comes to an abducted child, minutes matter.
MCDERMOTT: They do and quick AMBER Alert action led to the recovery of Nicholas Farber and Nichole Timmons. Since late July, the California system has issued 11 AMBER Alerts involving 14 kids and all 14 were safely recovered. But the system still needs some tweaking. Jessica Cortez was also rescued but not before some confusion on whether she'd actually been abducted or not.
But some worry if there are too many AMBER Alerts, it will be like that car alarm you learn not to hear and that's why the system will generally be activated if it involves young people abducted by strangers who are in immediate danger and there is information that needs to get to the public, which is not always the case.
DEP. DARREN HARRIS, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Maybe a kidnapping for ransom or a child abduction for ransom where the person has left a note or something or told the abductees' parents if you contact law enforcement we're going to do this, that, or the other.
MCDERMOTT: The string of high-profile child abductions this summer are considered something of an aberration and few expect the AMBER Alert System will be overworked but it's there now when it's needed. Anne McDermott, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Jurors heard more testimony today that will help them decide whether David Westerfield should be put to death for kidnapping and killing his 7-year-old neighbor Danielle van Dam.
CNN national correspondent Frank Buckley is covering this phase of the trial. He joins us now live from San Diego.
Frank.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf.
Friends and family members of David Westerfield continued to testify as the defense continued to try to present a portrait of David Westerfield as a middle-class suburban design engineer whose life should be spared.
Right now in the courtroom on the third floor here at the San Diego County Courthouse, the attorneys on both sides are haggling over the jury instructions. These are the instructions that will be presented to the jurors when they begin their deliberations.
Earlier, a number of long-time friends of Westerfield and family members, coworkers, all testified about the David Westerfield that they know who is not in their view a child killer. Perhaps the most emotional testimony came from a high school sweetheart of David Westerfield who sends him a letter sometime after his arrest in the Danielle van Dam case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARGARET HENNON, WESTERFIELD'S HIGH SCHOOL GIRLFRIEND: "Dear David: You once told me that if I ever needed anything I should call you. I carried that gift of love and care with me to various points on the globe. It's a wonderful thing to feel loved. Now if there is anything that I can do for you, please let me know."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: That emotional testimony following last week's emotional testimony from the van Dams who talked about the devastation caused by the loss of their daughter. Tomorrow, a couple of witnesses are expected. We believe that the son and daughter of David Westerfield will be testifying in the morning. By tomorrow afternoon, we expect the jurors to receive their instructions from Judge William Mudd and then they should begin deliberating.
Wolf.
BLITZER: Frank Buckley covering this phase of the trial for us, thank you very much in San Diego.
Meanwhile, another gruesome trial is underway in Pensacola, Florida where two brothers, now just 13 and 14 years old, are accused of beating their father to death with a baseball bat but the story is much more complicated than that.
CNN's David Mattingly explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): From the beginning it was a crime almost impossible to believe, two young brothers, 13-year-old Derek King and 12-year-old Alex in November confessing to murdering their father with a baseball bat, then setting their house on fire in Ascambia County, Florida.
DEREK KING: I was afraid that he might wake up and see us, so I just kept on hitting him.
ALEX KING: Made contact with the forehead, knocked a hole in the forehead. You could see his brains.
MATTINGLY: The boys claimed they killed 40-year-old Terry King a single father and strict disciplinarian fearing punishment after they had recently run away. Their casual, seemingly remorseless behavior at the time seemed unusual to investigators.
JOHN SANDERSON, POLICE INVESTIGATOR, ASCAMBIA COUNTY, FLA.: For the most part they were pretty calm and then after the interviews they were horsing around a little bit and playing.
MATTINGLY: But what investigators didn't know was that even stranger twists would follow. Months later before a Grand Jury, the boys changed their story and implicated 40-year-old Ricky Chavis, a convicted child molester and friend of the family. Chavis, according to prosecutors, was romantically obsessed with young Alex. Defense attorneys for the boys claimed Chavis gained their confidence and manipulated them, convincing them to run away and take the blame after he was the one who allegedly wielded the bat.
MIKE ROLLO, ATTORNEY FOR THE DEFENDANTS: Ricky told them that you are juveniles and you will remain juveniles and you will be tried as juveniles. And when they -- everything seems to go as planned until something happens that Ricky Chavis didn't think would happen. The State of Florida indicts a 12 and 13-year-old boy as adults.
MATTINGLY: But which story is true? Who sit he real killer when all now claim to be innocent? Prosecutors decided to present evidence against both the boys and Chavis, then let the jury sort it out. On Friday, it took just seven hours to reach a verdict in the case against Chavis but that verdict has been sealed and will remain unknown until the outcome in the murder and arson trials of brothers Derek and Alex. The boys are being tried as adults. They were key witnesses against Chavis but Chavis will not testify against them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're called by the state to testify in this murder trial, do you intend to invoke your Fifth Amendment right to remain silent?
RICKY CHAVIS, DEFENDANT: Yes, sir.
MATTINGLY: Deciding in court Tuesday to invoke the Fifth Amendment, Chavis will remain silent as a Florida jury looks into the faces of two young boys in search of a brutal killer.
David Mattingly CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And in Louisiana's capitol authorities searching for a serial killer have released a partial profile of the suspect. The man is blamed for the deaths of three women in the Baton Rouge area over the last year. Police say they believe he's between 25 and 35 years old but they're not ruling out any age. He's described as impulsive and determined and appears to be non-threatening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY ANNE GODOWA, BATON ROUGE POLICE: We feel, as we've said in the past, that there's someone listening to this briefing today who has information or who knows this offender but has not come forward yet because it is so hard to believe that it could be a loved on such as a son, a brother, a husband, or even a boyfriend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Behavioral experts with the FBI helped the police in Baton Rouge come up with this profile.
In Hawaii, eight teenage inmates are still on the run after their daring escape from prison over the weekend. Ten girls, ages 14 to 17 years old, escaped from a youth correctional center Saturday by overpowering a guard and stealing a van. They also cut power lines so prison workers couldn't call for help.
One of the girls was captured after the breakout and another on Sunday. The escapees were being held on a variety of offenses. The breakout came just two weeks after the girls' section of the prison was put under the control of a private firm.
One of the most popular items at the world's most popular fast food chains is about to change. What's McDonald's doing to its French fries and will your taste buds notice the difference?
And, a vicious rip through America's heartland. We'll take you to an entire town devastated by a tornado.
But first, a look at news making headlines around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice over): Israel's Supreme Court says relatives of Palestinian terrorists can be expelled from the West Bank and relocated in Gaza if they endanger security. The court rejected arguments that the expulsions violate international law, saying the West Bank and Gaza are both parts of the same territory.
China is having more problems with North Koreans seeking asylum at diplomatic compounds in Beijing. The latest attempt involves about 15 people who apparently scaled a wall to get into a school operated by the German Embassy. The asylum attempts are straining China's relations with North Korea and other countries.
The Russian Space Agency says Lance Bass won't be going on an October space mission after all. The N'Sync singer failed to come up with the $20 million fare. The Russians say Bass will be replaced aboard the mission by a cargo container.
Potential bidders are urged not to sit on their wallets as celebrity chairs go on the block at a charity auction in London. The sought after seats range from a chair J.K. Rowling used while writing "Harry Potter" to chairs used by actors Robert Redford and Brad Pitt, to Elton John's piano stool. It's a chance for people who can't get close to a celebrity to get close to something that did get close to a celebrity.
And that's our look around the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN, I'm Wolf Blitzer.
Coming up a move to make one of the country's most popular foods more heart healthy, but first a look at other stories making news right now.
People in the small Wisconsin town of Ladysmith are struggling to recover from a devastating tornado. The Labor Day twister struck with little warning injuring dozens of people and damaging 100 buildings. The storm left behind a swamp of destruction about 15 blocks long by four blocks wide. The governor has declared a state of emergency. Fortunately no one was killed.
Tropical Storm Edouard is gaining strength as it drifts off Florida's Atlantic Coast. Forecasters say the storm could begin to weaken. Packing sustained winds of 65 miles an hour, the storm is centered about 180 miles east of Jacksonville, Florida. A tropical storm watch is in effect from Florida's Flagler Beach to the Florida- Georgia border. And facing low poll numbers and rejecting the option of going negative, Democrat Andrew Cuomo today dropped out of the race for governor of New York. The move comes one week before the September 10th Democratic Primary. Once the favorite for the seat formerly held by his father, Cuomo threw his support behind his main Democratic rival the State Controller Carl McCall. McCall will face incumbent Republican Governor George Pataki in November.
Fast food giant McDonald's is launching a new offensive against fat. The company says it will use a new cooking oil for its French fries and other fried food. McDonald's says the new oil will cut trans-fatty acids by nearly half while increasing the more beneficial polyunsaturated fat.
Joining us now with more on this story Chicago Bureau Chief Jeff Flock who knows a lot about this late development. Tell us all about it, Jeff.
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CHICAGO BUREAU CHIEF: I don't know if that's a good thing or not, Wolf. Indeed, I have spent though all of this day at the -- what used to be the world's busiest McDonald's, the Rock 'n' Roll McDonald's here in Chicago and we, all day, have been looking for somebody who came for health food, haven't found anybody. In fact, what we have found is people more concerned that this new oil is going to screw up the taste of their food.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FLOCK (voice-over): It's the oil used to cook those golden French fries as well as the McNuggets and Filet O' Fish and Crispy Chicken Sandwiches.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love their fries.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As long as the price doesn't go up and the taste is just as good, I'm happy.
FLOCK: According to McDonald's, the new oil will be 48 percent lower in the troubling transfatty acids, 16 percent lower in dreaded saturated fat, the heart health polyunsaturated fat content will increase 167 percent.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I would order French fries either way, but it would make me feel better to think that they're not as fattening.
FLOCK: Is this all a big deal? On the one hand, yes, anything McDonald's does is big. It's opened 30,000 restaurants worldwide, 46 million people a day served. Even a small change in nutrition content has far reaching impact. But the reality is the total amount of fat in this super sized fries, 29 grams, remains the same, so do the calories, 610.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Still beware this does not change anything. It's not a health food. You've got to watch yourself and everything in moderation. FLOCK: McDonald's was the first fast-food retailer to provide comprehensive nutrition information in 1973. The company already has lower saturated fat levels than its fast-food competitors, though many of its patrons don't seem to care.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not too health conscientious.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FLOCK: And no word, Wolf, on whether or not this is in part driven by that lawsuit filed a few weeks ago by the 272-pound man who claims that McDonald's and other fast-food made him obese. He's essentially using the same argument that they've used against tobacco companies. That's the latest from here, back to you.
BLITZER: Jeff Flock, he's always for us on the scene of important stories. Thanks for joining us on this one, Jeff.
And let's get some more information now on the health benefit of this fat-attack move by McDonald's. For that, we'll check in with our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen.
Elizabeth, what -- from a nutritional standpoint, what does all of this mean?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what this means is that you'll be getting less bad fat. Bad fat is transfatty acid. It's also saturated fat and that's the kind that clogs your arteries. The good fat that Jeff referred to, polyunsaturated fat, that's the good kind. It can actually lower your cholesterol, so nutritionists are very happy about this. They say that, "Look, this is a good thing. They've got less of this bad stuff in there."
Let's take a look at the specific numbers. The old fries, the kind you can buy now, have nine grams of artery clogging fat in a large fries. The new fries, the kind that unrolls starting next month, six grams of artery clogging fat. That's obviously -- that's a pretty big decrease. That's one-third down.
Let's compare that to some other restaurant's fries. We have up there for reference; the new fries have six grams. At Arby's, they have seven grams of artery clogging fat. At Wendy's, 11 grams of artery clogging fat. Burger King, 13 grams of artery clogging fat. So among those four, this is obviously from a health point-of-view, the best choice. However, nutritionists have said to me today, "Let's put this into perspective -- it's better, but this is still not a health food." Plus, people don't usually eat just fries. So you're going to be eating other stuff with that.
So if we take a look -- what we have here is a large fries and a Quarter Pounder With Cheese. If you eat this as a meal, you are getting an entire day's worth of artery clogging fat in one meal. Almost an entire day's worth of artery clogging fat in one meal. That is a lot and the fries contribute greatly to that. It's not just the sandwich. So that's something that people need to keep in mind. It's better but it is still a food that is pretty high in artery clogging fat.
Wolf.
BLITZER: Elizabeth Cohen with some very useful information. A lot of people love McDonald's of course, and fast food to begin with. They'll be interested in all these developments. We're going to watch and wait and see, Elizabeth, as I'm sure you will to see what they taste like, these new McDonald's french fries.
COHEN: Right, that's the big question, the big question.
BLITZER: That's the big question and we won't know for a while. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks for joining us.
And here is your chance to weigh in on this story. Our "Web Question of The Day" is this -- do you want McDonald's to change its fries? We'll have the results later in this program. Vote at CNN.com/wolf.
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 where you can read my daily on-line column, CNN.com/wolf.
I want to go now to some live pictures we're getting just in right now from our affiliate, KTLA, in California. A fire -- that's the wildfire that's blazing near Santa Clarita, California in a place called Bouquet Canon. Now, we're told this wildfire is now threatening homes. It's already burned some 50 acres of land. We're going to continue to monitor this western wildfire in California and get some more information, bring you that information, of course, as soon as it becomes available. Once again, a wildfire from Santa Clarita, California in Bouquet Canon. Our affiliate, KTLA -- thanks to KTLA for bringing us these pictures. We'll continue to watch.
Next, why does terrorism work? The Harvard Law professor, Alan Derschowitz, tries to answer that question in his new book. He'll join me live when we come back, but first, today's "News Quiz."
How did the man who started the McDonald's franchise get his start? Entertaining as a clown, flipping burgers, inventing the French fryer, selling milkshake mixers?
The answer, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Earlier we asked -- how did the man who started the McDonald's franchise get his start? Before turning McDonald's into a mega franchise, Ray Crock was the exclusive distributor of the multi- mixer milkshake makers. Crock persuaded Dick and Mack McDonald to let him franchise their San Bernardino, California restaurant, knowing that each new McDonald's would need multiple multi-mixers.
Welcome back. He's a noted defense attorney, a civil libertarian who says we need to strike a balance between liberty and security to get tough on terrorism. He says it's a problem that just won't go away. His latest book is called "Why Terrorism Works." Joining me now, the Harvard law professor, Alan Dershowitz.
Alan, thanks for joining us. Well, answer the question. Does -- first of all, why do you say terrorism does work?
ALAN DERSHOWITZ, ATTORNEY: It works. Everybody in the world knows about the Palestinian cause because the Palestinians developed international terrorism between 1968 and modern times. They shot down airplanes, hijacked airplanes, put themselves on the map. Who's ever hear of the Kurds, the Armenians, the Basques, the people in various other parts of the world? Palestinians brought it to the attention of the world, got...
BLITZER: The support there, are engaged in terrorism too, you know.
DERSHOWITZ: I know, but look what happened. The Spanish got very smart. They said, "You engage in terrorism. We're throwing out a parliament." And believe me, it's going to stop when they do that. If the cause is setback, terrorism, rational terrorism, stops. If the causes leapfrog over other causes the way the Palestinian cause was by the United Nations, by the Vatican, by liberal churches, by Western European countries, then it works.
BLITZER: You could argue though that al Qaeda and the Taliban; they're going to pay a huge price. They already have. They're going to be destroyed as a result of their terrorism. So for them, one could say it hasn't worked.
DERSHOWITZ: They may have miscalculated. As the result of the success of the Palestinians attacking the United States, and seeing that the United States did not respond the way the wimpy Europeans, it may have actually backfired. We'll have to wait and see. The story has not been told yet about the success or failure of al Qaeda terrorism. It's different by the way.
Al Qaeda terrorism is apocalyptic. It's other worldly. It's not ration in some respects. Palestinian terrorism is the epitome of rational, calculated terrorism and it has been the paradigm of success.
BLITZER: One thing you write on the book, a provocative statement, and I'll put it up on the screen. You write this, "The international community, primarily the European governments and the United Nations, but also, at times, our own government, made it all but inevitable that we would experience a horrendous day like September 11, 2001. We are reaping what we sowed."
DERSHOWITZ: That doesn't, in any way, diminish the moral and legal culpability of the killers, of course. But what it says is that when you send a message, for 30 years that terrorism will succeed, that the terrorists in Europe will all be freed, that all the international community will recognize causes that ferment and encourage terror -- it's inevitable that somebody like Osama bin Laden will say if it worked for them, it's going to work for us.
BLITZER: Another thing you write in the book, "Why Terrorism Works" -- you write this, "We could easily wipe out international terrorism if we were not constrained by legal, moral and humanitarian considerations." Among other things, you make the case for what some call "targeted assassinations" or "torture," even stuff that Alan Dershowitz, the eminent Harvard professor, the civil libertarian, would not necessarily want to be associated with.
DERSHOWITZ: Well, I'm very much against torture and that's why I make the case for a torture warrant. I don't want torture to be used beneath the radar screen, off the books and without accountability. If we ever had a ticking bomb terrorist case, a true case, where someone came to this country with a bomb to be planted in a major city, and we caught his accomplice and the accomplice could prevent it, there would be torture.
The question is, do we do it overtly or do we do it like the French did it -- pretend it didn't happen in Algeria and then, prosecute people not for torturing but for revealing the state's secret that torturing was done. In a democracy, you need accountability to reduce the amount of torture.
BLITZER: So if there's a so-called ticking bomb, you say it's OK to torture someone, to make sure more people don't get killed?
DERSHOWITZ: I'm saying if you're going to do it, do it openly. Let's have a debate about it. Don't give it to the Philippines, the Jordanians and the Egyptians, who are our designated torturers these days. We've done it on several occasions, given our people over to these people to torture because they do it and we don't. We'll do it too if we have to and if we do, let's do it openly. Let's have a debate about. Let's not hide it.
BLITZER: What's the most important thing that President Bush could do right now to end terrorism?
DERSHOWITZ: First of all, never under any circumstance reward it. Never push the cause of terrorism forward. Terrorism must always suffer. The cause must always suffer if terrorism is used as a tactic.
As far as al Qaeda terrorism, he has to get tough. You can't reason with al Qaeda. You have to preemptively attack them. You have to protect our interests first -- military, financial, all the things that the administration is doing, but perhaps a little bit more and a little -- greater balance to civil liberties.
BLITZER: As usual, a provocative book. Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard law professor, joining us now. Good luck with the book, "Why Terrorism Works." Thanks for coming into our studio.
DERSHOWITZ: Thank you so much, Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you.
I want to bring in our justice correspondent, Kelli Arena. She's standing by. She has some new information on a man who's described by the attorney general as person of interest in the anthrax letter investigation.
Kelli.
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf.
Steven Hatfill is the scientist who formally worked at the Fort Detrick bioweapons lab. He is now out of a job. Louisiana State University, which had placed Dr. Hatfill on administrative leave, has decided to terminate its relationship. The university saying that the decision was not reached quickly or easily, saying that the university is making no judgment as to Dr. Hatfill's guilt or innocence regarding the FBI investigation, and also saying that it's not the university's policy or practice to discuss specifics of personnel actions.
Dr. Hatfill, through his spokesman, provided CNN with this response. He says that, "My life has been completely and utterly destroyed by the attorney general and the FBI. I do not have a job. I'm now unemployed. Twenty years worth of training is down the tubes. My professional reputation is in tatters." He went on to say that he was not given the decency of a phone call, that he was notified through his lawyer.
Wolf, if you recall, there were several searches done, two searches done of Dr. Hatfill's residence. One was consensual, one was by search warrant. His photo was passed around in Princeton, New Jersey by FBI agents trying to place him near a mailbox that had tested positive for anthrax contamination. His name has been discussed by the attorney general. He, as you said, was called a person of interest.
We must point out here, that Dr. Hatfill is not a suspect in the anthrax investigation. He has been described as a person of interest among at least 20 other people that investigators are looking at, but this, the latest in this saga that continues.
Wolf.
BLITZER: Kelli Arena, thanks so much. And Kelli, of course, reporting that Dr. Steven Hatfill now losing his job at LSU, Louisiana State University, despite his adamant and vigorous denials, repeated denials that he had anything whatsoever to do with those anthrax letter attacks. We'll continue to cover this story and bring you more information, of course, as it becomes available.
When we come back, battle ready and combat tested -- coming up, what was it like to come under fire as a platoon leader in Operation Anaconda? We'll hear from a platoon leader, in his own words. Stay with us.
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BLITZER: Welcome back. The current issue of "TIME" magazine profiles 11 Americans whose lives have changed significantly since last September 11.
Staff Sergeant Randel Perez of the Army's 10th Mountain Division is one of them. Not long after the terror attacks, he was sent to Afghanistan. Suddenly, he became a warrior and a hero. Randel Perez is joining us now from Fort Drum in upstate New York, not far from Syracuse.
Randel, thanks for joining us.
What happened -- at Operation Anaconda, you eventually received a bronze metal for valor. Your superior officer was wounded. You became, in effect, the platoon leader. Walk us through those days.
STAFF SGT. RANDEL PEREZ, U.S. ARMY: Sir, we landed on March 2, and, you know, as soon as we dropped down, we came into enemy contact from all directions. As we were proceeding forward to conduct our operation, people from the platoon, soldiers from my platoon took some serious hits from martyr rounds and the platoon leader came wounded, so I assumed the leader of -- platoon leader, a role...
BLITZER: And that said; you just took charge because no one else was ready to do it, so you did it. Later, you eventually found yourself at Mazar-e Sharif at that prison uprising where John Walker Lindh, the so-called American Taliban, was discovered.
You blame him directly, don't you, for the death of the CIA agent, John -- Mike Spann?
PEREZ: To blame him directly would not be my choice of words. The thing was that he was -- he was at the prison when the uprising was happening and you know, unfortunately, Mike Spann, a great American, was the first KIA And you can assume -- I assume he was just guilty by association. I mean he was there and so was Mike Spann. It's an unfortunate thing, what happened to him.
BLITZER: Yes, what about your -- I was going to say, over this past year, your life, your personal life has changed, your outlook of life, as far as you -- you're a new father now. Coming back from Afghanistan, dealing with your day-to-day life now, the aftermath of Mazar-e Sharif, Operation Anaconda, how has that affected you?
PEREZ: Well, it makes me value my family a lot. Going into the Operation Anaconda, in the back of my mind was my son was already born, but I kind of blocked him out for that time frame. I knew my first obligation was to the operation and we had a good platoon. We had an awesome company. We were trained up and we knew what we were going to do.
And I had to credit that to a lot of my senior leaders, Lieutenant Moreca (ph) and Sergeant Abbott (ph). You know, they trained us and they had us ready for the mission, and in all operations that we conducted in Afghanistan. I credit them, too, for being what I am right now and that's -- I mean I feel I'm a good overall soldier. And I have -- I credit a lot of them for where I'm at right now.
BLITZER: Staff Sergeant Randel Perez joining us from Fort Drum. Welcome home. Thanks for joining us. Good luck to you. Good luck to your whole family in the aftermath of what you've gone through over this past year.
PEREZ: All right, thank you, sir.
BLITZER: Thank you very much.
And when we come back, the Oakland Athletics are hoping to do something no other American League team has ever done before. Does 20 come after 19? We'll tell you why it may or may not. Stay with us.
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BLITZER: Now, checking these stories on this evening's "Newswire."
Fifteen thousand truckers are out of work after Consolidated Freightways shut down operations and announced it's filing for bankruptcy. Ironically, employees were notified on Labor Day. A union official says that's like telling your wife you're getting divorced on Valentine's Day.
Baseball's Oakland Athletics will have a chance to set an American League record tomorrow night. They tied the record yesterday, when a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the A's their 19th straight win. Congratulations to them. Let's see if they can go on.
Let's go to New York now and get a preview of "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE." That begins right at the top of the hour.
I know what the headlines are going to be, Lou.
LOU DOBBS, HOST, "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE": And you're right. An ugly start to September on Wall Street, Wolf.
Stock prices tumbled across the board. We'll tell you why the markets fell. Stock market strategist, Dick McCabe, will be here.
Iraq may consider the return of U.N. weapons inspectors now. The White House says the return of the inspectors will not resolve problems with Iraq. We'll have reports for you from the White House and the Pentagon. I'll be joined by former defense secretary, William Cohen.
The president and the Senate back to work in Washington. The Senate, today, picked up where it left off, debating a Homeland Security Department. We'll have the latest from Capitol Hill as well. All of that and great deal more coming up at the top of the hour. Please join us.
Now back to Wolf Blitzer. Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you very much, Lou. Lou Dobbs, the best in the business.
Time is running out to weigh in on our "Web Question of The Day." Do you want McDonald's to change its fries? Log onto CNN.com/wolf. That's where you can vote. We'll have the results when we come back.
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BLITZER: In our "Picture of The Day," Keiko the killer whale making a splash in Norway. He's turned up in a fjord, instead of staying with a group of other killer whales in the open sea. Keiko was the star of the "Free Willy" film. He was captured off Iceland as a young calf and spent almost 20 years performing in Marine amusement parks in Canada and Mexico. He was returned to Iceland in 1998. Since July, Keiko's trainers have been trying to get him to stay with a group of wild killer whales. Let's hope for the best.
Here's you're chance to weigh in our "Web Question of The Day." Earlier we asked -- do you want McDonald's to change its fries. Look at these numbers. Fifty-five percent of you say, "yes." Forty-five percent say, "no." You can find the exact vote tally on my Web site, CNN.com/wolf. We'll continue the vote there. This is a scientific poll.
Let's get some e-mails. Jojo writes --"There is really something in what you're saying about a drug connection with terrorism. I suspect internationally that this is the case as well. The drug cartels have acquired massive amounts of money and the Middle East has been notorious for drug production. This is the true revenue of the Arab Middle East and not oil."
From Judy -- "Your report is one of the few I have ever seen that is not going to say something to fill the airwaves, but something that is really news and something the viewer should hear about." Thank you very much, Judy, for that nice e-mail.
That's all the time we have today. I'll be back tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. I'll be in New York.
Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" begins right now.
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