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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Top al Qaeda Operative in U.S. Custody

Aired November 21, 2002 - 17:00   ET

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

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


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice over): Americans targeted for terror, soldiers shot in Kuwait, a nurse gunned down in Lebanon; mother and son, grandmother and grandson, among the victims in a horrific Jerusalem bombing; an urgent memo to agents from FBI headquarters. "LIVE FROM BAGHDAD," how CNN came of age. I'll speak with Michael Keaton, star of the new HBO movie. And, for the first time in hundreds of years, a high-ranking royal gets hauled into court.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (on camera): It's Thursday, November 21, 2002. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. An important arrest in the war on terror and the man described as al Qaeda's operation chief in the Persian Gulf has been captured and is now in U.S. custody, and in a frightening flash back to September 11th, we're learning he may have been planning to use planes to attack U.S. ships. Our Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre is standing by. He has details -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we've known for some time that the U.S. Government claimed that it had nabbed a senior al Qaeda operative. We didn't know who it was until today when government sources confirmed to CNN that that person is, in fact, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri who is said to be the key operational planner for al Qaeda for maritime or sea-based attacks in a large area, including the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.

Now, he's also believed to be the mastermind behind the attack on the USS Cole two years ago. The bombing of the Cole was just one of several al Qaeda attacks that Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is suspected of plotting. An explosives expert, he's believed by U.S. officials to have actually designed the powerful bomb that blew a 40-foot hole in the side of the guided missile destroyer and nearly sank it. Seventeen U.S. soldiers were killed.

He's also suspected of plotting a similar attack against another American warship, the USS The Sullivans (ph) nine months earlier. He is, in fact, described by some U.S. officials as HAYNES: key operational planner for al Qaeda who is essentially responsible for developing a concept of operations for maritime attacks from the Strait of Gibraltar, near Spain, all the way to the Straits of Malacca near Singapore in the Far East.

Also, linked to the 1998 East Africa Embassy bombings and some recent failed attempts to attack U.S. and British ships in the Strait of Gibraltar, and again, Wolf, as you alluded to, U.S. intelligence also had some credible but uncorroborated reports of possible al Qaeda plans to use planes to fly into U.S. or British warships in the Persian Gulf region. Nothing to confirm that but it was one of the peaces of intelligence that was floating around as al-Rahim al-Nashiri was taken into custody.

What we still don't know is where he's being held. We don't know exactly when he was captured. He was last known to be operating in Yemen but we don't know where he was captured and where he's being held -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie, originally federal government authorities said they didn't want his name released. They were trying to keep it secret. How did it come out?

MCINTYRE: Well, I think they knew it would come out eventually. I think part of the concern was that so long as other members of al Qaeda didn't know he was in custody, they may delay any possible future action waiting for word from him that would never come. Also, his arrest might also signal that it might be time for some people to change their location, especially if he's cooperating with the U.S. Government as some U.S. officials have indicated -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, an important story, thanks very much. Violence raged across the Middle East today. U.S. soldiers were targeted in Kuwait, an American missionary was shot dead in Lebanon, and Jerusalem was once again the scene of a catastrophic bus bombing.

We have several reports. We begin in Kuwait, the staging area for any eventual U.S. ground move against Iraq. It's been the scene of several attacks on U.S. personnel. Two Americans were wounded in the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN SITES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kevin Sites in Kuwait City. Some new information regarding those two U.S. soldiers that were shot as they drove from Camp Dohad (ph), the major U.S. military base to the town of Arbashan (ph) here in Kuwait. Now apparently, according to the Kuwaiti Ministry of the Interior, it was the Kuwaiti police sergeant that shot them. He pulled them over apparently with the excuse that they were speeding, and then used his duty weapon to shoot them both at close range, one of them in the face and one of them in the shoulder.

Now, the police sergeant then reportedly fled over the Saudi Arabian border. We don't know his motives at this time. We don't know where he is at but Kuwaiti and U.S. investigators are looking into the case. The U.S. Embassy confirms this information.

Now apparently during the incident, the soldiers didn't return fire but they had it together enough to actually finish their drive to Arbashan where they were choppered to a Kuwaiti military hospital here in the capitol. Their wounds are serious but they're expected to recovery.

BRENT SADLER, BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: The Lebanese authorities are in the preliminary stages of an investigation to try and establish a motive for the killing of a 30-year-old American missionary nurse, Bonnie Weatherall (ph).

SADLER (voice over): Now, she was attacked, shot at close quarters range by a lone gunman as she opened a clinic which is part of a church-run center in Sidon a southern port city close to the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) refugee camp where there are a number of hard line Palestinian groups and other Lebanese radical extremist organizations, notably as far as Palestinian rejectionist groups are concerned, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Now, there is no connection between suspicions of possible terror connections with this slaying but certainly the U.S. Embassy here in Beirut is taking it very seriously because they immediately dispatched a two-man team down to Sidon to work with the Lebanese authorities to try and establish whether or not there is any terror-related link to this killing.

SADLER (on camera): Now, at this stage it's too early to say, as I said, what the motive is but the husband of the dead nurse, Bonnie Weatherall, Gary Weatherall says that his wife died because he says she loved the church and because she loved the people of Sidon and Lebanon. Brent Sadler CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thank you very much Brent and Kevin Sites our man in Kuwait City. Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority is condemning the latest terror attacks against Israelis, but the U.N.'s Middle East envoy says that's not good enough. A suicide bomber today killed 11 people and wounded dozens of others aboard a crowded passenger bus. CNN's Jerrold Kessel reports from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anguish as dusk falls in Jerusalem. Thirteen-year-old Hodaya Ashraf (ph) is buried. She was among those killed in the early morning bus attack. Like her, many on board were youngsters heading for school and many were among the casualties. The aftermath inside Bus 20, among the bodies covered by blankets, school bags, school books, school lunches.

As people in the working class (UNINTELLIGIBLE) neighborhood rushed to the scene, this woman wailed. "My son, he went off the school, Avi (ph)." Anguish, anger, and anxieties, "I'm so afraid. I'm so scared. The whole bus, the whole bus" says this woman describing the horror over her cellular telephone. Shim Shon Balstein (ph) wounded in the attack says the violence can end if Palestinians change directions.

SHIM SHON BALSTEIN: Stop killing us so we will not kill them and we will be able to sit and negotiate. I don't see any solution by war. In war two people are losing. One side is losing more than the other. But both sides are losing. There are not any winners.

KESSEL: The militant Islamic group Hamas claims responsibility. The 26-year-old bomber is said to have come from Bethlehem in the West Bank. His father speaks out in praise of his actions. "God willing, he says, he shall be a martyr with God. Our Lord has chosen him during the Ramadan festival to be a martyr."

KESSEL (on camera): Despite the bloodletting between Palestinians and Israelis, the United States had hoped the conflict would not spin out of control, remain contained now that danger again just as Washington wants the Middle East focus on Iraq. Jerrold Kessel CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: That was the first suicide bombing in Jerusalem in some four months. When we come back, the FBI falling down on the fight against terror, tough criticism from inside the bureau, is it healthy self reflection or a serious red flag?

Plus, drunken driving deaths going up, are Americans forgetting some hard learned lessons, a national report card. And, behind the scenes right here at CNN. "LIVE FROM BAGHDAD" the movie, a sneak peak at the drama and comedy of covering the first Gulf War, but first a look at news making headlines around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice over): A series of explosions at a military ammunition depot in Southern Ecuador killed at least six people and injured 200. The shock waves were so powerful they shattered windows a mile away. A mysterious blast ripped through a cargo area at the airport in Lagos, Nigeria. Several people were injured, no word on the cause.

Two controversial U.S. military trials prompted more violent demonstrations in South Korea, two American soldiers were charged in the deaths of two teenagers who were struck and killed by their military vehicle. One soldier was acquitted.

Violent protests also in Colombia, where university students clashed with police. Demonstrations broke out when the school admitted it doesn't have the money to pay next month's wages.

Wind and rain are complicating efforts to contain what could become one of the world's worst oil spills. More fuel is washing up on Spain's Atlantic Coast from a tanker that broke apart and sank.

And, in London 500 people paid $19 each to see a very different kind of show. They watched a German doctor perform an autopsy in an art gallery. Authorities warned the show was probably illegal but didn't try to stop it, and that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Here in Washington, the FBI headquarters is worried about a lack of focus in the war on terror. The deputy director recently sent an e-mail to field offices saying he was amazed that some are still not giving their all. The e-mail, which first was made public in The New York Times, is the latest blow to the image of the bureau, which has been undergoing a massive reorganization. We get the story now from CNN Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The number two man at the FBI says there needs to be more of a sense of urgency among field agents, more of an effort to get out on the street and develop sources to fight the war on terror. The private e-mail sent to special agents across the country by Deputy Director Bruce Gebhardt (ph) seems to fly in the face of public statements made by the FBI's director.

ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: I think there isn't an FBI agent or support staff individual now that does not understand the principal mission of the FBI today is to prevent another repeat of September 11th.

ARENA: FBI sources say the e-mail was in response to a specific incident but would not elaborate. Some FBI officials who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity say the message is long overdue. They are frustrated with some of their colleagues' unwillingness to be more aggressive on the counterterrorism front. It's a concern that is shared on Capitol Hill.

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), INTELLIGENCE CMTE.: I do not believe at this point in time that the FBI has done enough to change its focus but let's give them a few more months but we do not have the luxury of years and years. They're going to have to continue to move at an accelerated pace.

ARENA: The constant threat of another terror attack on U.S. soil has forced the FBI to reinvent itself while under intense public scrutiny.

JOHN RIZZO, CIA DEP. GEN. COUNSEL: We have currently 30 CIA analysts down at FBI on detail for a year to assist the FBI in building this capability. This will not be easy and it will not be quick.

ARENA: While there seems to be a clear understanding of the new mandate, some agents contacted by CNN do admit being somewhat resistant to change. They say they face a daily struggle in balancing resources.

SKIP BRANDON, FORMER FBI OFFICIAL: Throughout the country when there are criminal problems of a different nature, people turn to the FBI. The agents live in those communities. They also feel very strongly that there are lots of problems of a criminal nature that need to be addressed, and when people turn to the FBI they want to be able to react. ARENA: FBI leaders have told Congress the bureau can meet both the needs of the communities they serve and the nation as a whole.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA (on camera): And to prove they mean business, several special agents tell CNN they expect headquarters may do some housecleaning this year and predict that they may serve as "sacrificial lambs" -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Kelli Arena thanks very much for that report. Is the FBI up to the task of fighting terror? Joining me now is Ron Kessler. He's the author of the book, "The Bureau, the Secret History of the FBI."- Ron thanks, as usual, for joining us. Is the FBI up to this task to fight terrorism, because it is different than the regular cops and robbers kind of work they've done for so many decades?

RONALD KESSLER, AUTHOR "THE BUREAU": Well, the FBI always did a good job in areas like espionage, for example, and it's not just cops and robbers. It needed more focus and it is going to have focus under Mueller. There has been a sea change in terms of going after terrorists but what this memo addressed was pockets of resistance, pockets of agents who simply didn't want to change.

And the incident that Kelli alluded to that was not in The New York Times story this morning was that an SAC wrote headquarters that he only has six agents assigned to counterterrorism and he has 125 agents all together and he doesn't have enough to monitor a wiretap of a terrorist.

BLITZER: Because of lack of manpower; SAC, a special agent-in- charge.

KESSLER: Right and actually then said in parenthesis I'm not using the real figures but that's an approximation because I didn't want to pinpoint anything.

BLITZER: But this is such a change in the culture of the FBI that some are saying what they really need her is an MI-5 kind of British law enforcement, intelligence gathering operation as opposed to the regular work of the FBI.

KESSLER: I think that would be a big mistake, very dangerous, because that would get the FBI away from going after violations of criminal law and when you start getting away from that, you start getting into some political beliefs and the type of investigations that went on under J. Edgar Hoover. You need that focus of criminal investigation.

BLITZER: Why hasn't 9/11 created that focus, at least in part of the FBI? It's been 14, almost 15 months since 9/11 and there's still this resistance to doing what is now clearly probably the most important role for the FBI, fighting terrorism.

KESSLER: Well, you know, it is a big bureaucracy. What this memo shows is that Mueller and his deputies are, in fact, making sure that these pockets of resistance are gotten rid of. And, one example of that is that Van Harp, the head of the Washington Field Office recently ordered all agents to do counterterrorism until January 1. They'll probably still follow some other leads as well, but the whole office, which is almost 700 agents, is just going to do counterterrorism. So overall, the bureau is doing the right thing and has gotten the message.

BLITZER: Let me ask you this. Should the bureau have been brought into this new Department of Homeland Security?

KESSLER: No. Again, it's important for the FBI to focus on criminal investigations. The Homeland Security Department has a separate function, which is to protect the infrastructure and so there is a division of roles. I think it's just right to have this separate.

BLITZER: Some people think there's going to be a conflict there down the road between the FBI and homeland security. It's just sort of a crisis waiting to happen. We'll cover that on another occasion.

KESSLER: Right.

BLITZER: Ron Kessler, the book "The Bureau, the Secret History of the FBI." Good read, thanks very much.

KESSLER: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the day is this: Are you satisfied with the FBI's job on terrorism? We'll have the results later in this broadcast. Vote at cnn.com/wolf. While you're there, I'd of course love to hear from you. 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, of course, where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.

Friends apparently are letting friends drink and drive. DUI deaths are on the rise. What is your state doing to stop bloodshed on the roadways? The head of Mothers Against Drunk Driving joins us live with a national report card. Also, escaped inmates captured but police say a victim of their crime spree vanished without a trace. We'll go live to North Carolina for the latest on the desperate race against time.

And, 'LIVE FROM BAGHDAD" the movie, a front row seat inside CNN during the first Gulf War. Actor Michael Keaton will join us live, but first today's news quiz. Whose picture do you first see as you're walking into the Al Rashid Hotel in Baghdad where most international journalists stayed during the Persian Gulf War, Saddam Hussein, George H.W. Bush, King Hussein of Jordan, Frank Sinatra, the answer coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Mothers Against Drunk Driving is out with a new report card and American may have to do some remedial work. CNN's Julie Vallese has more now on a scathing report which scolds the government for letting law enforcement drop while alcohol-related deaths continue to rise.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Five-year-old Clifford, 15-year-old Liketia (ph) and their grandparents Royal (ph) and Arthrene (ph), all killed by a drunk driver Thanksgiving Day two years ago. The children's mother watched from the car behind.

SANDRA LOVE, FAMILY KILLED BY DRUNK DRIVER: After what seemed like an eternity of crashing metal and screeching tires, everything finally came to a halt. When I looked up I was looking directly into the face of the man who shattered our lives.

VALLESE: He was dead. In the two years that included that Thanksgiving Day, almost 35,000 Americans have been killed by a drunk driver.

WENDY HAMILTON, MADD PRESIDENT: In the year 2000, the United States experienced the single largest percentage point increase in alcohol-related traffic deaths on record.

VALLESE: And while the death toll has risen, they say the nation's effort to combat drunk driving has fallen.

HAMILTON: The nation's grade is a "C" and "C" is for complacency. The nation's grade was lowered to a "C" in part because of the recent rise in alcohol-related traffic deaths.

VALLESE (on camera): During the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, an estimated 575 people will be killed by drunk drivers. In fact, about 40 percent of those killed by drunk drivers will die between Thanksgiving and New Year's.

VALLESE (voice over): In the release of their report card, Mothers Against Drunk Driving called on the public and government to get mad about drunk driving.

HAMILTON: We want everyone to understand and accept the fact that drunk driving is not an accident. It is a crime.

VALLESE: A crime Sandra Love is reminded of on the day Americans gather to (AUDIO GAP).

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: That was CNN's Julie Vallese reporting. Let's find out why MADD has issued such an underwhelming report card. Joining us, the woman you saw in that piece Wendy Hamilton, the president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Wendy thanks for joining us.

HAMILTON: Happy to be here.

BLITZER: Are there certain states that are so much worse than other states?

HAMILTON: There are. We gave our first "F" this year for Montana and you know it's really disappointing to see that kind of thing going on. Massachusetts and Alaska both got "D-." There were a number of states that got "Ds" and nobody got an "A" this year at all.

BLITZER: Why are they so bad these states? What are they doing wrong?

HAMILTON: A lot of it has to do with fatality trends. We see the alcohol positive drivers involved in fatal crashes going up and that's alarming to us. We've seen a five percent increase in alcohol- related fatalities in the last three years and we've got to turn that trend around. We're fighting a war here and we've got to win it.

BLITZER: Nobody got an "A," but which states are the best?

HAMILTON: California received a "B+," and Georgia, New York, North Carolina and Oregon all received "Bs" because they're doing good work but more needs to be done.

BLITZER: What specifically needs to be done so that the whole country will get an "A+?"

HAMILTON: Everybody needs to pass a .08 per se blood alcohol level per se. Everybody needs to pass a primary seat belt law because that's going to save 5,000 lives every single year. Every single state has to pass an automated license revocation law. Everybody's got to get busy and do sobriety checkpoints in their states to make sure that we're arresting drunk drivers. They've got to pass legislation that's going to impact specifically those high-risk drinking drivers, the repeat offenders, the high blood alcohol concentration.

BLITZER: Now all these decisions are left to the states. Should the federal government step in and make these decisions for the states?

HAMILTON: We believe that there's a point where the states have got to accept the criticism of MADD and that the federal government needs to step up and impose sanctions on them if they're not going to. These are all researched-based laws that we know are going to save lives.

BLITZER: All right, Wendy Hamilton thanks for joining us.

HAMILTON: Thank you.

BLITZER: Good luck to you.

HAMILTON: Thank you.

BLITZER: You do very important work. How mad at you in this whole war against drunk driving? Find out. Just go to our Web site cnn.com/wolf. Is McDonald's making your kids fat and should the restaurant chain be sued? We'll tell you how one court is weighing in on this fast food fight. Plus, police say she was carjacked by escaped inmates on a crime spree, the race against time to find the woman kidnapped from a Wal-Mart parking lot. And royally guilty, Princess Anne gets dogged in court.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS ALERT)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Coming up, police try to beat the clock and save a woman they say was car jacked by inmates on the run. We'll go live to the search.

Let's get back to our top story right now, a major arrest in the war on terror and a terror threat to U.S warships. Once again our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre is joining us live with details -- Jamie.

MCINTYRE: The arrest was earlier this month, Wolf, in an undisclosed foreign country, but today we learned who it was. It is Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is described as a key operational player for al Qaeda, who is essentially responsible for developing a concept of operations for a maritime terrorist attack for a large area that stretched all the way from the Strait of Gibraltar near Spain to the Strait of Malacca near Singapore.

He's also believed to be the mastermind who came up with the idea of how to pack a small boat with explosives and attack the USS Cole in October of 2000. He's also believed to be behind other failed attacks -- attempts to attack U.S. and British warships. And U.S. intelligence is citing as credible but uncorroborated threats by terrorists to attempt to fly planes into U.S. warships, sometime in the recent weeks. That's something that al-Nashiri may have had a hand in planning. His capture, of course, is a major coup for the United States, especially if he is providing information as Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge indicated just a few days ago --Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre, once again at the Pentagon. Thanks, Jamie McIntyre, very much.

Two escaped prison inmates are back in custody, but the woman they're suspected of abducting is still missing. CNN's Charles Molineaux joins us now from Bolivia, North Carolina, where police are intensifying their search.

Charles, what's the latest on this one?

CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, she's missing still and missing after more than a week, although there is still new hope this evening. Police here in Brunswick County say that after they publicly asked for help, they got tips last night that Alice Donovan and the two men accused of kidnapping her were seen in this area the afternoon she disappeared.

We are in Winnabow, North Carolina, about 28 miles from the South Carolina state line. Those tips prompted another new intense search today. The search also covered the Savannah Bluff area of Conway County, South Carolina, but investigators say the leads there have been exhausted. Now, remember, 44-year-old Alice Donovan was carjacked and abducted last Thursday from a Wal-Mart parking lot in Conway, South Carolina. Her blue BMW was found in Indiana yesterday after police arrested one of the two jailed escapees accused of kidnapping her, 25- year-old, Chadrick Fulks. He made his first appearance in federal court this afternoon. The complaints against him were read. Federal charges of carjacking and kidnapping for the abduction of Alice Donovan, as well as carjacking for a similar case in Indiana in which a man and left tied to a tree.

Federal prosecutors in Indiana and South Carolina have agreed that the charges in the Alice Donovan case will take priority and Fulks will probably be brought back to South Carolina to stand trial. Police say Fulks and another man, 21-year-old, Brandon Basham broke out of a jail in Kentucky two weeks ago and went on a crime spree across five states.

Now, with us right now is the Brunswick County's sheriff, Ronald Hewett.

Sheriff, it has been a week. How are you holding on to hope at this point?

SHERIFF RONALD HEWETT, BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C.: Well, we feel that there's always hope and we have hope tonight. We feel confident that with hard work, lots of prayers and all the help that we're now receiving, that we will find Miss Alice Donovan.

MALVEAUX: You have gotten what you wanted, help from the public. Someone actually did see the three of them along 17, here in this area. What do you do with that?

HEWETT: It's absolutely one of the best feelings when the phone rings at midnight and you hear that, yes, we were in the area during that time. We did see the vehicle and Miss Donovan was -- appeared to be OK inside the vehicle that afternoon of the abduction here in North Carolina. So that intensifies our search and we're going to continue the hard work until we bring her home.

MALVEAUX: On the other hand, we are close to the two-week point just about to the hour that she was last seen -- or one-week point rather. What do you say to her family, people concerned about her?

HEWETT: We tell the family that we feel their pain and we tell the family that we're going to do everything in our power to bring Alice Donovan home to her family.

MALVEAUX: OK, thank you very much. Ronald Hewett, the sheriff here in Brunswick County.

Wolf, a situation that is getting dire as every hour goes on. But the sheriff says there is new hope as they've gotten these tips and the search does continue.

BLITZER: All right, Charles. Our prayers are with her as well. Thanks very much for that report. Thanks to the sheriff as well. The Gulf War caught on tape by CNN but what was it really like behind the scenes? A sneak preview of "Live From Baghdad," the movie. Michael Keaton and former CNN producer, Robert Weiner, they'll join me live when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Nineteen ninety-one, CNN's coverage of the bombs over Baghdad, now you're going to meet the man who helped bring you the story and the famous man who plays in a new HBO movie, Robert Weiner and Michael Keaton. They're coming up on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Earlier we asked, who's picture do you first see as you're walking into the Al Rashid Hotel in Baghdad where most international journalists stayed during the Persian Gulf War? The answer, the first President Bush. A large mosaic covers the floor of the entrance with the words, Bush is Criminal.

One of the highlights of CNN's two decades on the air has to be our award winning coverage of the Persian Gulf War. Now HBO, which is owned by our parent company, AOL Time Warner, has made a new movie about the story behind our coverage. Here's a look at the story that you didn't see before.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want you to know what you're up against.

BLITZER (voice-over): "Live From Baghdad" isn't so much about the Gulf War. In fact, the actual war doesn't even begin until near the end of the movie. This new HBO film was all about a young news network that came of age at a critical time, broadcasting these live images to the world.

MICHAEL KEATON, ACTOR: If there is a war and we're there reporting live behind enemy lines, this is a journalistic equivalent of walking on the moon.

BLITZER: The story is told through the eyes of veteran CNN field producers Robert Weiner and Ingrid Formnick (ph).

KEATON: You're didn't make me feel any better.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, not after cheap emotion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it's Hollywood.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not a documentary. It's a film. It's very strange watching the screen and hearing your name.

BLITZER: Weiner, played by Michael Keaton, is at the film's epicenter taking us through the buildup to the Gulf War as CNN establishes foothold, builds a relationship with the Iraqi government, and at a crucial moment is granted permission to bring in a piece of equipment called a "four wire," which gave CNN the exclusive ability to transmit live from Iraq even when the power grids were knocked out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And nobody else has it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're the only ones.

BLITZER: Critics may conclude that HBO is giving CNN, its sister network, too much of a pat on the back but the film does broach accusations when CNN broadcast images like this at the time of being Saddam Hussein's propaganda tool.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yesterday, the nation ministry officials took me on a two-hour visit to a powdered milk factory.

BLITZER: As war breaks out and the world is drawn in, the characters come to the realization they were not in fact the story but part of a much larger one.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And joining us now from New York are the actor, Michael Keaton and the man he portrays in "Live From Baghdad," the writer and the former CNN producer, Robert Weiner.

Thanks, guys for joining us. I saw the movie last night. It's really well done. But Robert, talk about some of the criticism that you felt personally that CNN, during the Gulf War, had become, in effect, a propaganda arm of the Iraqi regime.

ROBERT WEINER, AUTHOR, "LIVE FROM BAGHDAD": Well, I didn't feel that we had become a propaganda arm of the Iraqi regime. I related last night that the trip to Kuwait to investigate the allegations, which turned out to be false, that Iraqis were throwing Kuwaiti babies out of incubators, that we were -- used in retrospect by the Iraqis, even though in the end that story turned out to be false because those accusations were made by the daughter of the Kuwaiti minister of information and were never proven. That was my regret in one instance. But I don't think we were used by the Iraqi government per se. More than you are using me right now or I am using you to...

BLITZER: All right.

WEINER: ... to promote the movie.

BLITZER: Let's talk to Michael for a second and get your sense. Michael, when you were involved in, obviously, playing Robert, you saw a different side of journalism that you probably never saw before. As the U.S. potentially now goes into a new war with Iraq, what do you think about all of this stuff that we have do, those of us who are real journalists?

KEATON: I think the world has changed. I know the world has changed. I love this arena anyway. I find it interesting. I thought the book was great. I was reading -- I saved some to read purposely during the making of the movie. So I have an interest anyway going in.

And I think that now -- and I think I've learned this -- you were there, I think, for the panel discussion last night -- that was a prime example of learning something that I -- learning a lot of things that I didn't know, including during the time which we were making the movie and the world is totally different. And I think you all deserve an enormous amount of credit.

And I'm not saying this because he's sitting here, but, you know, he's a -- he was in an unbelievable position. You know when you're the producer of something like this and you're behind-the-scenes and maneuvering and if you're a person with passion and opinion and you say, "I'll take the ball and run, and you can get on my shoulders," you will always set yourself up to be disliked, loved, and hated. And that's the risk you take. No one else takes that risk except the producer and very often the people on the air, or the people that have that personality.

So to do that now, I think, is very different because I think from a corporate sense, the world is different just in that sense alone in terms of what you're going to report, how you're going to report it, what time are you going to report, to keep people watching because if you don't have people watching, you don't stay on the air.

BLITZER: All right. Robert, one of the central characters in the movie is Naji Sabri, who was then in charge of the information ministry. He's now the foreign minister of Iraq, a key player obviously in Saddam Hussein's regime. You had developed an extraordinary relationship with him. This movie portrays him to a certain degree in a rather sympathetic light. Are you concerned about what the reaction might be in Baghdad?

WEINER: Well, I am, Wolf. I think the relationship between Naji and the Robert character is spot on and accurate. And I think David Suchet playing Naji makes a very effective case for the Iraqi government's position, certainly, about dignity and pride and the American concerns about oil.

On the other hand, you're absolutely right. It casts a big light on Naji in a regime where the spotlight really shines on one person, President Saddam Hussein. And I sincerely hope that there are no repercussions for Naji because, basically, he kept his word to us in Baghdad and we've maintained a relationship for the past dozen years.

BLITZER: We only have a few seconds. Michael, what's your favorite part of the movie?

KEATON: I -- it's rare that you read a script, imagine it in your head how it would be played in a perfect world. You show up on the set. You run through it and you discuss it a little bit. Actually, we discussed this particular scene before we showed up that day. And then, you shoot it and they show up and you see it and you say, "That's what I thought." And he really nailed it. Mick Jackson did a wonderful job and that's the scene... BLITZER: All right.

KEATON: ... where I think it tells you about the person who I'm waiting to have my interview in the hallway with Naji.

BLITZER: Michael Keaton and Robert Weiner are both excellent in their various roles. Do they look alike? I'll let our viewers come to that their own conclusions.

KEATON: There's a poll out, I think.

BLITZER: Thank you both for joining us. Thank you very much, Robert Weiner and Michael Keaton. It really is a good movie and I think those of you who watch it on HBO will enjoy it. You'll learn something about CNN as well. All of us who work here, I think enjoyed it.

A princess and her pups and criminal charges, a royal pleads guilty over doggy dangers when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Princess Ann now has the dubious distinction of being the first royal in modern times convicted of a criminal offense. Her crime, letting her dog run loose and attack two children. CNN's Richard Quest has details of her day in court.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was modern royal history in the making, the most senior British royal to be convicted in court for several hundred years. Princess Ann is no stranger to legal proceedings, having been fined for speeding on several occasions. She admitted that her dog had, indeed, bitten the two children after it escaped from her in Windsor Great Park.

The dog called Dorothy or Dotty had jumped at the children and nipped them when they panicked. Neither child was seriously hurt and can't be identified for legal reasons. But, claim the princess's lawyers, the dog was neither dangerous nor bad tempered. Instead Dotty was called a big puppy, utterly placid and playful. And a top dog psychologist was called as a witness that Dotty could be retrained.

In the end, the princess was fined a total of around $1,800. The children's family called that a travesty of justice and said the dog was a menace to society. Princess Ann left court with her family with the same grim face in which she had arrived. Dotty was more lucky.

(on camera): Now, this case was an embarrassment for Princess Ann and the royal family, there is no doubt. But in the end, the case turned into a discussion about dangerous Dotty the dog. A dog who's been saved from destruction and who's now on warning. If there's any repeat, it'll be the end.

Richard Quest, CNN, Southern England. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thank you very much, Richard.

Time's running out for your turn to weigh in on our "Web Question of The Day." Are you satisfied with the FBI's job on terrorism? Log on to CNN.com/Wolf. That's where you can vote. We'll have the results immediately when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Our "Picture of The Day" focuses on one of the strangest and most celebrated men in show business. Michael Jackson has been called a lunatic, among other things, for holding his infant son out of that hotel balcony. We all saw that picture. But today, there's at least some redemption for him. In Berlin, the Bambi (ph) Entertainment Awards honored the gloved one. That's Germany's biggest media award. One Bambi (ph) promoter downplays the dangling incident saying it just shows that Michael, quote -- "loves children."

Now here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Questions of The Day." Earlier we asked you this -- Are you satisfied with the FBI's job on terrorism? Twenty-nine percent of you say yes, 71 percent say no. Remember, this is not a scientific poll.

Let's get to your e-mail. Jennifer is writing this -- "Your report on autism was very alarming to me. My four-year-old daughter is about to be tested for autism. It has been very hard for me to accept the fact she may have a disability, especially since she was healthy the first two years of her life. If these vaccines are the cause of this disease, then something must be done. We can't sit on our hands. These kids are our future."

This from Dr. Lopez-Leon -- "I believe that autism is a congenital disorder not something that you can develop from environmental factors. There seems to be a genetic predisposition. I believe that some of the comments on the news are misleading in respect to these childhood problems."

And finally, Cindy sends this -- "Thank you for your report on autism. While the vaccination debate is an important topic regarding autism. What I find even more important is the awareness that programs like yours bring to this critical issue of rising autism rates." Thanks, Cindy for that note.

That's all the time we have today. I'll be back tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. I'll be live from Los Angeles. Please join us as well weekdays noon Eastern for "SHOWDOWN IRAQ." Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" is up next.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


>



Aired November 21, 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: WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice over): Americans targeted for terror, soldiers shot in Kuwait, a nurse gunned down in Lebanon; mother and son, grandmother and grandson, among the victims in a horrific Jerusalem bombing; an urgent memo to agents from FBI headquarters. "LIVE FROM BAGHDAD," how CNN came of age. I'll speak with Michael Keaton, star of the new HBO movie. And, for the first time in hundreds of years, a high-ranking royal gets hauled into court.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (on camera): It's Thursday, November 21, 2002. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. An important arrest in the war on terror and the man described as al Qaeda's operation chief in the Persian Gulf has been captured and is now in U.S. custody, and in a frightening flash back to September 11th, we're learning he may have been planning to use planes to attack U.S. ships. Our Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre is standing by. He has details -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we've known for some time that the U.S. Government claimed that it had nabbed a senior al Qaeda operative. We didn't know who it was until today when government sources confirmed to CNN that that person is, in fact, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri who is said to be the key operational planner for al Qaeda for maritime or sea-based attacks in a large area, including the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.

Now, he's also believed to be the mastermind behind the attack on the USS Cole two years ago. The bombing of the Cole was just one of several al Qaeda attacks that Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is suspected of plotting. An explosives expert, he's believed by U.S. officials to have actually designed the powerful bomb that blew a 40-foot hole in the side of the guided missile destroyer and nearly sank it. Seventeen U.S. soldiers were killed.

He's also suspected of plotting a similar attack against another American warship, the USS The Sullivans (ph) nine months earlier. He is, in fact, described by some U.S. officials as HAYNES: key operational planner for al Qaeda who is essentially responsible for developing a concept of operations for maritime attacks from the Strait of Gibraltar, near Spain, all the way to the Straits of Malacca near Singapore in the Far East.

Also, linked to the 1998 East Africa Embassy bombings and some recent failed attempts to attack U.S. and British ships in the Strait of Gibraltar, and again, Wolf, as you alluded to, U.S. intelligence also had some credible but uncorroborated reports of possible al Qaeda plans to use planes to fly into U.S. or British warships in the Persian Gulf region. Nothing to confirm that but it was one of the peaces of intelligence that was floating around as al-Rahim al-Nashiri was taken into custody.

What we still don't know is where he's being held. We don't know exactly when he was captured. He was last known to be operating in Yemen but we don't know where he was captured and where he's being held -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie, originally federal government authorities said they didn't want his name released. They were trying to keep it secret. How did it come out?

MCINTYRE: Well, I think they knew it would come out eventually. I think part of the concern was that so long as other members of al Qaeda didn't know he was in custody, they may delay any possible future action waiting for word from him that would never come. Also, his arrest might also signal that it might be time for some people to change their location, especially if he's cooperating with the U.S. Government as some U.S. officials have indicated -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, an important story, thanks very much. Violence raged across the Middle East today. U.S. soldiers were targeted in Kuwait, an American missionary was shot dead in Lebanon, and Jerusalem was once again the scene of a catastrophic bus bombing.

We have several reports. We begin in Kuwait, the staging area for any eventual U.S. ground move against Iraq. It's been the scene of several attacks on U.S. personnel. Two Americans were wounded in the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN SITES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kevin Sites in Kuwait City. Some new information regarding those two U.S. soldiers that were shot as they drove from Camp Dohad (ph), the major U.S. military base to the town of Arbashan (ph) here in Kuwait. Now apparently, according to the Kuwaiti Ministry of the Interior, it was the Kuwaiti police sergeant that shot them. He pulled them over apparently with the excuse that they were speeding, and then used his duty weapon to shoot them both at close range, one of them in the face and one of them in the shoulder.

Now, the police sergeant then reportedly fled over the Saudi Arabian border. We don't know his motives at this time. We don't know where he is at but Kuwaiti and U.S. investigators are looking into the case. The U.S. Embassy confirms this information.

Now apparently during the incident, the soldiers didn't return fire but they had it together enough to actually finish their drive to Arbashan where they were choppered to a Kuwaiti military hospital here in the capitol. Their wounds are serious but they're expected to recovery.

BRENT SADLER, BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: The Lebanese authorities are in the preliminary stages of an investigation to try and establish a motive for the killing of a 30-year-old American missionary nurse, Bonnie Weatherall (ph).

SADLER (voice over): Now, she was attacked, shot at close quarters range by a lone gunman as she opened a clinic which is part of a church-run center in Sidon a southern port city close to the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) refugee camp where there are a number of hard line Palestinian groups and other Lebanese radical extremist organizations, notably as far as Palestinian rejectionist groups are concerned, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Now, there is no connection between suspicions of possible terror connections with this slaying but certainly the U.S. Embassy here in Beirut is taking it very seriously because they immediately dispatched a two-man team down to Sidon to work with the Lebanese authorities to try and establish whether or not there is any terror-related link to this killing.

SADLER (on camera): Now, at this stage it's too early to say, as I said, what the motive is but the husband of the dead nurse, Bonnie Weatherall, Gary Weatherall says that his wife died because he says she loved the church and because she loved the people of Sidon and Lebanon. Brent Sadler CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thank you very much Brent and Kevin Sites our man in Kuwait City. Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority is condemning the latest terror attacks against Israelis, but the U.N.'s Middle East envoy says that's not good enough. A suicide bomber today killed 11 people and wounded dozens of others aboard a crowded passenger bus. CNN's Jerrold Kessel reports from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anguish as dusk falls in Jerusalem. Thirteen-year-old Hodaya Ashraf (ph) is buried. She was among those killed in the early morning bus attack. Like her, many on board were youngsters heading for school and many were among the casualties. The aftermath inside Bus 20, among the bodies covered by blankets, school bags, school books, school lunches.

As people in the working class (UNINTELLIGIBLE) neighborhood rushed to the scene, this woman wailed. "My son, he went off the school, Avi (ph)." Anguish, anger, and anxieties, "I'm so afraid. I'm so scared. The whole bus, the whole bus" says this woman describing the horror over her cellular telephone. Shim Shon Balstein (ph) wounded in the attack says the violence can end if Palestinians change directions.

SHIM SHON BALSTEIN: Stop killing us so we will not kill them and we will be able to sit and negotiate. I don't see any solution by war. In war two people are losing. One side is losing more than the other. But both sides are losing. There are not any winners.

KESSEL: The militant Islamic group Hamas claims responsibility. The 26-year-old bomber is said to have come from Bethlehem in the West Bank. His father speaks out in praise of his actions. "God willing, he says, he shall be a martyr with God. Our Lord has chosen him during the Ramadan festival to be a martyr."

KESSEL (on camera): Despite the bloodletting between Palestinians and Israelis, the United States had hoped the conflict would not spin out of control, remain contained now that danger again just as Washington wants the Middle East focus on Iraq. Jerrold Kessel CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: That was the first suicide bombing in Jerusalem in some four months. When we come back, the FBI falling down on the fight against terror, tough criticism from inside the bureau, is it healthy self reflection or a serious red flag?

Plus, drunken driving deaths going up, are Americans forgetting some hard learned lessons, a national report card. And, behind the scenes right here at CNN. "LIVE FROM BAGHDAD" the movie, a sneak peak at the drama and comedy of covering the first Gulf War, but first a look at news making headlines around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice over): A series of explosions at a military ammunition depot in Southern Ecuador killed at least six people and injured 200. The shock waves were so powerful they shattered windows a mile away. A mysterious blast ripped through a cargo area at the airport in Lagos, Nigeria. Several people were injured, no word on the cause.

Two controversial U.S. military trials prompted more violent demonstrations in South Korea, two American soldiers were charged in the deaths of two teenagers who were struck and killed by their military vehicle. One soldier was acquitted.

Violent protests also in Colombia, where university students clashed with police. Demonstrations broke out when the school admitted it doesn't have the money to pay next month's wages.

Wind and rain are complicating efforts to contain what could become one of the world's worst oil spills. More fuel is washing up on Spain's Atlantic Coast from a tanker that broke apart and sank.

And, in London 500 people paid $19 each to see a very different kind of show. They watched a German doctor perform an autopsy in an art gallery. Authorities warned the show was probably illegal but didn't try to stop it, and that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Here in Washington, the FBI headquarters is worried about a lack of focus in the war on terror. The deputy director recently sent an e-mail to field offices saying he was amazed that some are still not giving their all. The e-mail, which first was made public in The New York Times, is the latest blow to the image of the bureau, which has been undergoing a massive reorganization. We get the story now from CNN Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The number two man at the FBI says there needs to be more of a sense of urgency among field agents, more of an effort to get out on the street and develop sources to fight the war on terror. The private e-mail sent to special agents across the country by Deputy Director Bruce Gebhardt (ph) seems to fly in the face of public statements made by the FBI's director.

ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: I think there isn't an FBI agent or support staff individual now that does not understand the principal mission of the FBI today is to prevent another repeat of September 11th.

ARENA: FBI sources say the e-mail was in response to a specific incident but would not elaborate. Some FBI officials who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity say the message is long overdue. They are frustrated with some of their colleagues' unwillingness to be more aggressive on the counterterrorism front. It's a concern that is shared on Capitol Hill.

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), INTELLIGENCE CMTE.: I do not believe at this point in time that the FBI has done enough to change its focus but let's give them a few more months but we do not have the luxury of years and years. They're going to have to continue to move at an accelerated pace.

ARENA: The constant threat of another terror attack on U.S. soil has forced the FBI to reinvent itself while under intense public scrutiny.

JOHN RIZZO, CIA DEP. GEN. COUNSEL: We have currently 30 CIA analysts down at FBI on detail for a year to assist the FBI in building this capability. This will not be easy and it will not be quick.

ARENA: While there seems to be a clear understanding of the new mandate, some agents contacted by CNN do admit being somewhat resistant to change. They say they face a daily struggle in balancing resources.

SKIP BRANDON, FORMER FBI OFFICIAL: Throughout the country when there are criminal problems of a different nature, people turn to the FBI. The agents live in those communities. They also feel very strongly that there are lots of problems of a criminal nature that need to be addressed, and when people turn to the FBI they want to be able to react. ARENA: FBI leaders have told Congress the bureau can meet both the needs of the communities they serve and the nation as a whole.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA (on camera): And to prove they mean business, several special agents tell CNN they expect headquarters may do some housecleaning this year and predict that they may serve as "sacrificial lambs" -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Kelli Arena thanks very much for that report. Is the FBI up to the task of fighting terror? Joining me now is Ron Kessler. He's the author of the book, "The Bureau, the Secret History of the FBI."- Ron thanks, as usual, for joining us. Is the FBI up to this task to fight terrorism, because it is different than the regular cops and robbers kind of work they've done for so many decades?

RONALD KESSLER, AUTHOR "THE BUREAU": Well, the FBI always did a good job in areas like espionage, for example, and it's not just cops and robbers. It needed more focus and it is going to have focus under Mueller. There has been a sea change in terms of going after terrorists but what this memo addressed was pockets of resistance, pockets of agents who simply didn't want to change.

And the incident that Kelli alluded to that was not in The New York Times story this morning was that an SAC wrote headquarters that he only has six agents assigned to counterterrorism and he has 125 agents all together and he doesn't have enough to monitor a wiretap of a terrorist.

BLITZER: Because of lack of manpower; SAC, a special agent-in- charge.

KESSLER: Right and actually then said in parenthesis I'm not using the real figures but that's an approximation because I didn't want to pinpoint anything.

BLITZER: But this is such a change in the culture of the FBI that some are saying what they really need her is an MI-5 kind of British law enforcement, intelligence gathering operation as opposed to the regular work of the FBI.

KESSLER: I think that would be a big mistake, very dangerous, because that would get the FBI away from going after violations of criminal law and when you start getting away from that, you start getting into some political beliefs and the type of investigations that went on under J. Edgar Hoover. You need that focus of criminal investigation.

BLITZER: Why hasn't 9/11 created that focus, at least in part of the FBI? It's been 14, almost 15 months since 9/11 and there's still this resistance to doing what is now clearly probably the most important role for the FBI, fighting terrorism.

KESSLER: Well, you know, it is a big bureaucracy. What this memo shows is that Mueller and his deputies are, in fact, making sure that these pockets of resistance are gotten rid of. And, one example of that is that Van Harp, the head of the Washington Field Office recently ordered all agents to do counterterrorism until January 1. They'll probably still follow some other leads as well, but the whole office, which is almost 700 agents, is just going to do counterterrorism. So overall, the bureau is doing the right thing and has gotten the message.

BLITZER: Let me ask you this. Should the bureau have been brought into this new Department of Homeland Security?

KESSLER: No. Again, it's important for the FBI to focus on criminal investigations. The Homeland Security Department has a separate function, which is to protect the infrastructure and so there is a division of roles. I think it's just right to have this separate.

BLITZER: Some people think there's going to be a conflict there down the road between the FBI and homeland security. It's just sort of a crisis waiting to happen. We'll cover that on another occasion.

KESSLER: Right.

BLITZER: Ron Kessler, the book "The Bureau, the Secret History of the FBI." Good read, thanks very much.

KESSLER: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the day is this: Are you satisfied with the FBI's job on terrorism? We'll have the results later in this broadcast. Vote at cnn.com/wolf. While you're there, I'd of course love to hear from you. 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, of course, where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.

Friends apparently are letting friends drink and drive. DUI deaths are on the rise. What is your state doing to stop bloodshed on the roadways? The head of Mothers Against Drunk Driving joins us live with a national report card. Also, escaped inmates captured but police say a victim of their crime spree vanished without a trace. We'll go live to North Carolina for the latest on the desperate race against time.

And, 'LIVE FROM BAGHDAD" the movie, a front row seat inside CNN during the first Gulf War. Actor Michael Keaton will join us live, but first today's news quiz. Whose picture do you first see as you're walking into the Al Rashid Hotel in Baghdad where most international journalists stayed during the Persian Gulf War, Saddam Hussein, George H.W. Bush, King Hussein of Jordan, Frank Sinatra, the answer coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Mothers Against Drunk Driving is out with a new report card and American may have to do some remedial work. CNN's Julie Vallese has more now on a scathing report which scolds the government for letting law enforcement drop while alcohol-related deaths continue to rise.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Five-year-old Clifford, 15-year-old Liketia (ph) and their grandparents Royal (ph) and Arthrene (ph), all killed by a drunk driver Thanksgiving Day two years ago. The children's mother watched from the car behind.

SANDRA LOVE, FAMILY KILLED BY DRUNK DRIVER: After what seemed like an eternity of crashing metal and screeching tires, everything finally came to a halt. When I looked up I was looking directly into the face of the man who shattered our lives.

VALLESE: He was dead. In the two years that included that Thanksgiving Day, almost 35,000 Americans have been killed by a drunk driver.

WENDY HAMILTON, MADD PRESIDENT: In the year 2000, the United States experienced the single largest percentage point increase in alcohol-related traffic deaths on record.

VALLESE: And while the death toll has risen, they say the nation's effort to combat drunk driving has fallen.

HAMILTON: The nation's grade is a "C" and "C" is for complacency. The nation's grade was lowered to a "C" in part because of the recent rise in alcohol-related traffic deaths.

VALLESE (on camera): During the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, an estimated 575 people will be killed by drunk drivers. In fact, about 40 percent of those killed by drunk drivers will die between Thanksgiving and New Year's.

VALLESE (voice over): In the release of their report card, Mothers Against Drunk Driving called on the public and government to get mad about drunk driving.

HAMILTON: We want everyone to understand and accept the fact that drunk driving is not an accident. It is a crime.

VALLESE: A crime Sandra Love is reminded of on the day Americans gather to (AUDIO GAP).

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: That was CNN's Julie Vallese reporting. Let's find out why MADD has issued such an underwhelming report card. Joining us, the woman you saw in that piece Wendy Hamilton, the president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Wendy thanks for joining us.

HAMILTON: Happy to be here.

BLITZER: Are there certain states that are so much worse than other states?

HAMILTON: There are. We gave our first "F" this year for Montana and you know it's really disappointing to see that kind of thing going on. Massachusetts and Alaska both got "D-." There were a number of states that got "Ds" and nobody got an "A" this year at all.

BLITZER: Why are they so bad these states? What are they doing wrong?

HAMILTON: A lot of it has to do with fatality trends. We see the alcohol positive drivers involved in fatal crashes going up and that's alarming to us. We've seen a five percent increase in alcohol- related fatalities in the last three years and we've got to turn that trend around. We're fighting a war here and we've got to win it.

BLITZER: Nobody got an "A," but which states are the best?

HAMILTON: California received a "B+," and Georgia, New York, North Carolina and Oregon all received "Bs" because they're doing good work but more needs to be done.

BLITZER: What specifically needs to be done so that the whole country will get an "A+?"

HAMILTON: Everybody needs to pass a .08 per se blood alcohol level per se. Everybody needs to pass a primary seat belt law because that's going to save 5,000 lives every single year. Every single state has to pass an automated license revocation law. Everybody's got to get busy and do sobriety checkpoints in their states to make sure that we're arresting drunk drivers. They've got to pass legislation that's going to impact specifically those high-risk drinking drivers, the repeat offenders, the high blood alcohol concentration.

BLITZER: Now all these decisions are left to the states. Should the federal government step in and make these decisions for the states?

HAMILTON: We believe that there's a point where the states have got to accept the criticism of MADD and that the federal government needs to step up and impose sanctions on them if they're not going to. These are all researched-based laws that we know are going to save lives.

BLITZER: All right, Wendy Hamilton thanks for joining us.

HAMILTON: Thank you.

BLITZER: Good luck to you.

HAMILTON: Thank you.

BLITZER: You do very important work. How mad at you in this whole war against drunk driving? Find out. Just go to our Web site cnn.com/wolf. Is McDonald's making your kids fat and should the restaurant chain be sued? We'll tell you how one court is weighing in on this fast food fight. Plus, police say she was carjacked by escaped inmates on a crime spree, the race against time to find the woman kidnapped from a Wal-Mart parking lot. And royally guilty, Princess Anne gets dogged in court.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS ALERT)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Coming up, police try to beat the clock and save a woman they say was car jacked by inmates on the run. We'll go live to the search.

Let's get back to our top story right now, a major arrest in the war on terror and a terror threat to U.S warships. Once again our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre is joining us live with details -- Jamie.

MCINTYRE: The arrest was earlier this month, Wolf, in an undisclosed foreign country, but today we learned who it was. It is Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is described as a key operational player for al Qaeda, who is essentially responsible for developing a concept of operations for a maritime terrorist attack for a large area that stretched all the way from the Strait of Gibraltar near Spain to the Strait of Malacca near Singapore.

He's also believed to be the mastermind who came up with the idea of how to pack a small boat with explosives and attack the USS Cole in October of 2000. He's also believed to be behind other failed attacks -- attempts to attack U.S. and British warships. And U.S. intelligence is citing as credible but uncorroborated threats by terrorists to attempt to fly planes into U.S. warships, sometime in the recent weeks. That's something that al-Nashiri may have had a hand in planning. His capture, of course, is a major coup for the United States, especially if he is providing information as Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge indicated just a few days ago --Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre, once again at the Pentagon. Thanks, Jamie McIntyre, very much.

Two escaped prison inmates are back in custody, but the woman they're suspected of abducting is still missing. CNN's Charles Molineaux joins us now from Bolivia, North Carolina, where police are intensifying their search.

Charles, what's the latest on this one?

CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, she's missing still and missing after more than a week, although there is still new hope this evening. Police here in Brunswick County say that after they publicly asked for help, they got tips last night that Alice Donovan and the two men accused of kidnapping her were seen in this area the afternoon she disappeared.

We are in Winnabow, North Carolina, about 28 miles from the South Carolina state line. Those tips prompted another new intense search today. The search also covered the Savannah Bluff area of Conway County, South Carolina, but investigators say the leads there have been exhausted. Now, remember, 44-year-old Alice Donovan was carjacked and abducted last Thursday from a Wal-Mart parking lot in Conway, South Carolina. Her blue BMW was found in Indiana yesterday after police arrested one of the two jailed escapees accused of kidnapping her, 25- year-old, Chadrick Fulks. He made his first appearance in federal court this afternoon. The complaints against him were read. Federal charges of carjacking and kidnapping for the abduction of Alice Donovan, as well as carjacking for a similar case in Indiana in which a man and left tied to a tree.

Federal prosecutors in Indiana and South Carolina have agreed that the charges in the Alice Donovan case will take priority and Fulks will probably be brought back to South Carolina to stand trial. Police say Fulks and another man, 21-year-old, Brandon Basham broke out of a jail in Kentucky two weeks ago and went on a crime spree across five states.

Now, with us right now is the Brunswick County's sheriff, Ronald Hewett.

Sheriff, it has been a week. How are you holding on to hope at this point?

SHERIFF RONALD HEWETT, BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C.: Well, we feel that there's always hope and we have hope tonight. We feel confident that with hard work, lots of prayers and all the help that we're now receiving, that we will find Miss Alice Donovan.

MALVEAUX: You have gotten what you wanted, help from the public. Someone actually did see the three of them along 17, here in this area. What do you do with that?

HEWETT: It's absolutely one of the best feelings when the phone rings at midnight and you hear that, yes, we were in the area during that time. We did see the vehicle and Miss Donovan was -- appeared to be OK inside the vehicle that afternoon of the abduction here in North Carolina. So that intensifies our search and we're going to continue the hard work until we bring her home.

MALVEAUX: On the other hand, we are close to the two-week point just about to the hour that she was last seen -- or one-week point rather. What do you say to her family, people concerned about her?

HEWETT: We tell the family that we feel their pain and we tell the family that we're going to do everything in our power to bring Alice Donovan home to her family.

MALVEAUX: OK, thank you very much. Ronald Hewett, the sheriff here in Brunswick County.

Wolf, a situation that is getting dire as every hour goes on. But the sheriff says there is new hope as they've gotten these tips and the search does continue.

BLITZER: All right, Charles. Our prayers are with her as well. Thanks very much for that report. Thanks to the sheriff as well. The Gulf War caught on tape by CNN but what was it really like behind the scenes? A sneak preview of "Live From Baghdad," the movie. Michael Keaton and former CNN producer, Robert Weiner, they'll join me live when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Nineteen ninety-one, CNN's coverage of the bombs over Baghdad, now you're going to meet the man who helped bring you the story and the famous man who plays in a new HBO movie, Robert Weiner and Michael Keaton. They're coming up on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Earlier we asked, who's picture do you first see as you're walking into the Al Rashid Hotel in Baghdad where most international journalists stayed during the Persian Gulf War? The answer, the first President Bush. A large mosaic covers the floor of the entrance with the words, Bush is Criminal.

One of the highlights of CNN's two decades on the air has to be our award winning coverage of the Persian Gulf War. Now HBO, which is owned by our parent company, AOL Time Warner, has made a new movie about the story behind our coverage. Here's a look at the story that you didn't see before.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want you to know what you're up against.

BLITZER (voice-over): "Live From Baghdad" isn't so much about the Gulf War. In fact, the actual war doesn't even begin until near the end of the movie. This new HBO film was all about a young news network that came of age at a critical time, broadcasting these live images to the world.

MICHAEL KEATON, ACTOR: If there is a war and we're there reporting live behind enemy lines, this is a journalistic equivalent of walking on the moon.

BLITZER: The story is told through the eyes of veteran CNN field producers Robert Weiner and Ingrid Formnick (ph).

KEATON: You're didn't make me feel any better.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, not after cheap emotion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it's Hollywood.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not a documentary. It's a film. It's very strange watching the screen and hearing your name.

BLITZER: Weiner, played by Michael Keaton, is at the film's epicenter taking us through the buildup to the Gulf War as CNN establishes foothold, builds a relationship with the Iraqi government, and at a crucial moment is granted permission to bring in a piece of equipment called a "four wire," which gave CNN the exclusive ability to transmit live from Iraq even when the power grids were knocked out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And nobody else has it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're the only ones.

BLITZER: Critics may conclude that HBO is giving CNN, its sister network, too much of a pat on the back but the film does broach accusations when CNN broadcast images like this at the time of being Saddam Hussein's propaganda tool.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yesterday, the nation ministry officials took me on a two-hour visit to a powdered milk factory.

BLITZER: As war breaks out and the world is drawn in, the characters come to the realization they were not in fact the story but part of a much larger one.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And joining us now from New York are the actor, Michael Keaton and the man he portrays in "Live From Baghdad," the writer and the former CNN producer, Robert Weiner.

Thanks, guys for joining us. I saw the movie last night. It's really well done. But Robert, talk about some of the criticism that you felt personally that CNN, during the Gulf War, had become, in effect, a propaganda arm of the Iraqi regime.

ROBERT WEINER, AUTHOR, "LIVE FROM BAGHDAD": Well, I didn't feel that we had become a propaganda arm of the Iraqi regime. I related last night that the trip to Kuwait to investigate the allegations, which turned out to be false, that Iraqis were throwing Kuwaiti babies out of incubators, that we were -- used in retrospect by the Iraqis, even though in the end that story turned out to be false because those accusations were made by the daughter of the Kuwaiti minister of information and were never proven. That was my regret in one instance. But I don't think we were used by the Iraqi government per se. More than you are using me right now or I am using you to...

BLITZER: All right.

WEINER: ... to promote the movie.

BLITZER: Let's talk to Michael for a second and get your sense. Michael, when you were involved in, obviously, playing Robert, you saw a different side of journalism that you probably never saw before. As the U.S. potentially now goes into a new war with Iraq, what do you think about all of this stuff that we have do, those of us who are real journalists?

KEATON: I think the world has changed. I know the world has changed. I love this arena anyway. I find it interesting. I thought the book was great. I was reading -- I saved some to read purposely during the making of the movie. So I have an interest anyway going in.

And I think that now -- and I think I've learned this -- you were there, I think, for the panel discussion last night -- that was a prime example of learning something that I -- learning a lot of things that I didn't know, including during the time which we were making the movie and the world is totally different. And I think you all deserve an enormous amount of credit.

And I'm not saying this because he's sitting here, but, you know, he's a -- he was in an unbelievable position. You know when you're the producer of something like this and you're behind-the-scenes and maneuvering and if you're a person with passion and opinion and you say, "I'll take the ball and run, and you can get on my shoulders," you will always set yourself up to be disliked, loved, and hated. And that's the risk you take. No one else takes that risk except the producer and very often the people on the air, or the people that have that personality.

So to do that now, I think, is very different because I think from a corporate sense, the world is different just in that sense alone in terms of what you're going to report, how you're going to report it, what time are you going to report, to keep people watching because if you don't have people watching, you don't stay on the air.

BLITZER: All right. Robert, one of the central characters in the movie is Naji Sabri, who was then in charge of the information ministry. He's now the foreign minister of Iraq, a key player obviously in Saddam Hussein's regime. You had developed an extraordinary relationship with him. This movie portrays him to a certain degree in a rather sympathetic light. Are you concerned about what the reaction might be in Baghdad?

WEINER: Well, I am, Wolf. I think the relationship between Naji and the Robert character is spot on and accurate. And I think David Suchet playing Naji makes a very effective case for the Iraqi government's position, certainly, about dignity and pride and the American concerns about oil.

On the other hand, you're absolutely right. It casts a big light on Naji in a regime where the spotlight really shines on one person, President Saddam Hussein. And I sincerely hope that there are no repercussions for Naji because, basically, he kept his word to us in Baghdad and we've maintained a relationship for the past dozen years.

BLITZER: We only have a few seconds. Michael, what's your favorite part of the movie?

KEATON: I -- it's rare that you read a script, imagine it in your head how it would be played in a perfect world. You show up on the set. You run through it and you discuss it a little bit. Actually, we discussed this particular scene before we showed up that day. And then, you shoot it and they show up and you see it and you say, "That's what I thought." And he really nailed it. Mick Jackson did a wonderful job and that's the scene... BLITZER: All right.

KEATON: ... where I think it tells you about the person who I'm waiting to have my interview in the hallway with Naji.

BLITZER: Michael Keaton and Robert Weiner are both excellent in their various roles. Do they look alike? I'll let our viewers come to that their own conclusions.

KEATON: There's a poll out, I think.

BLITZER: Thank you both for joining us. Thank you very much, Robert Weiner and Michael Keaton. It really is a good movie and I think those of you who watch it on HBO will enjoy it. You'll learn something about CNN as well. All of us who work here, I think enjoyed it.

A princess and her pups and criminal charges, a royal pleads guilty over doggy dangers when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Princess Ann now has the dubious distinction of being the first royal in modern times convicted of a criminal offense. Her crime, letting her dog run loose and attack two children. CNN's Richard Quest has details of her day in court.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was modern royal history in the making, the most senior British royal to be convicted in court for several hundred years. Princess Ann is no stranger to legal proceedings, having been fined for speeding on several occasions. She admitted that her dog had, indeed, bitten the two children after it escaped from her in Windsor Great Park.

The dog called Dorothy or Dotty had jumped at the children and nipped them when they panicked. Neither child was seriously hurt and can't be identified for legal reasons. But, claim the princess's lawyers, the dog was neither dangerous nor bad tempered. Instead Dotty was called a big puppy, utterly placid and playful. And a top dog psychologist was called as a witness that Dotty could be retrained.

In the end, the princess was fined a total of around $1,800. The children's family called that a travesty of justice and said the dog was a menace to society. Princess Ann left court with her family with the same grim face in which she had arrived. Dotty was more lucky.

(on camera): Now, this case was an embarrassment for Princess Ann and the royal family, there is no doubt. But in the end, the case turned into a discussion about dangerous Dotty the dog. A dog who's been saved from destruction and who's now on warning. If there's any repeat, it'll be the end.

Richard Quest, CNN, Southern England. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thank you very much, Richard.

Time's running out for your turn to weigh in on our "Web Question of The Day." Are you satisfied with the FBI's job on terrorism? Log on to CNN.com/Wolf. That's where you can vote. We'll have the results immediately when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Our "Picture of The Day" focuses on one of the strangest and most celebrated men in show business. Michael Jackson has been called a lunatic, among other things, for holding his infant son out of that hotel balcony. We all saw that picture. But today, there's at least some redemption for him. In Berlin, the Bambi (ph) Entertainment Awards honored the gloved one. That's Germany's biggest media award. One Bambi (ph) promoter downplays the dangling incident saying it just shows that Michael, quote -- "loves children."

Now here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Questions of The Day." Earlier we asked you this -- Are you satisfied with the FBI's job on terrorism? Twenty-nine percent of you say yes, 71 percent say no. Remember, this is not a scientific poll.

Let's get to your e-mail. Jennifer is writing this -- "Your report on autism was very alarming to me. My four-year-old daughter is about to be tested for autism. It has been very hard for me to accept the fact she may have a disability, especially since she was healthy the first two years of her life. If these vaccines are the cause of this disease, then something must be done. We can't sit on our hands. These kids are our future."

This from Dr. Lopez-Leon -- "I believe that autism is a congenital disorder not something that you can develop from environmental factors. There seems to be a genetic predisposition. I believe that some of the comments on the news are misleading in respect to these childhood problems."

And finally, Cindy sends this -- "Thank you for your report on autism. While the vaccination debate is an important topic regarding autism. What I find even more important is the awareness that programs like yours bring to this critical issue of rising autism rates." Thanks, Cindy for that note.

That's all the time we have today. I'll be back tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. I'll be live from Los Angeles. Please join us as well weekdays noon Eastern for "SHOWDOWN IRAQ." Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" is up next.

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