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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Bush Gives What May Be Final Warning to Iraq
Aired February 06, 2003 - 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, HOST: Just moments ago, as we all saw here on CNN, the president came out swinging. The White House says Saddam Hussein has given the go-ahead to field commanders to let them use chemical weapons if it comes down to a war with the U.S.
Will there now be a countdown to war?
Also, just moments ago, the State Department warned all Americans all around the world be on the guard for terrorist attacks.
WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Colin Powell puts Iraq in notice.
COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I think we are reaching an endgame in a matter of week, not a matter of months.
BLITZER: And from Baghdad, a surprise move. Worse case scenario: what might happen to America's war dead in the Persian Gulf?
A CNN exclusive, a chilling look at where terrorists are at work.
A tough new warning from North Korea. What may trigger total war?
The shuttle tragedy's latest twist. Are those hoarding debris coming forward?
And the Great Communicator turns 92. President Reagan's son on how his father and family are coping.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
It's Thursday February 6, 2003. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
We are following many breaking developments right now, including a worldwide terror alert for Americans, but first, Iraq watch.
President Bush presses ahead with a possible war against Iraq. The president spoke just moments ago after a meeting with the Secretary of State Colin Powell, and for the first time Iraq says weapons inspectors meet privately with an Iraqi scientist. And despite all the latest evidence, the French president, Jacques Chirac, says France refuses to think war with Iraq is inevitable.
We have reports from around the world. Our senior White House correspondent, John King, is standing by at the White House. In Baghdad, CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson, and over at the Pentagons, our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.
Let's begin with all the last minute developments, John King at the White House -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the president delivering a very blunt message to the United Nations Security Council this afternoon, appearing with Secretary of State Colin Powell just moments ago in the Roosevelt Room.
The president saying Secretary Powell's presentation to the United Nations yesterday left absolutely no doubt that Iraq is in open defiance of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441. The president saying the council must now meet its obligation in confronting Iraq. That resolution, of course, calls for serious consequences, meaning military confrontation.
The president saying the game is over, Saddam Hussein must be stopped.
Let's listen to a little bit of what the president had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The game is over. All the world can rise to this moment.
The community of free nations can show that it is strong and confident and determined to keep the peace.
The United Nations can renew its purpose and be a source of stability and security in the world.
The Security Council can affirm that it is able and prepared to meet future challenges and other dangers, and we can give the Iraqi people their chance to live in freedom and choose their own government.
Saddam Hussein has made Iraq into a prison, a poison factory and a torture chamber for patriots and dissidents. Saddam Hussein has the motive and the means and the recklessness and the hatred to threaten the American people. Saddam Hussein will be stopped.
On November 8, by demanding the immediate disarmament of Iraq, the United Nations Security Council spoke with clarity and authority. Now, the Security Council will show whether its words have any meaning. Having made its demands, the Security Council must not back down when those demands are defied and mocked by a dictator. The United States would welcome and support a new resolution which makes clear that the Security Council stands behind its previous demands, yet resolutions mean little without resolve. And the United States, along with a growing coalition of nations is resolved to take whatever action is necessary to defend ourselves and disarm the Iraqi regime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: And Wolf, in that toughly-worded statement, the president also repeating some of the major headlines of Secretary Powell's presentation.
The president saying there is now no doubt Iraq still has weapons of mass destruction. No doubt it is actively hiding and concealing them from the weapons inspectors on the ground. The president says there's also no doubt that there's an al Qaeda cell operating within Iraq and that that cell is responsible for the recent killing of a U.S. diplomat in Jordan.
The president's message, Wolf, essentially, to the Security Council is, what more evidence do you need?
BLITZER: And the president seemed to go further than the Secretary of State yesterday, John, especially on this notion that he says the U.S. has intelligence that Saddam Hussein personally has given authority to field commanders, to use chemical weapons against U.S. troops. I don't remember if the secretary specifically said that.
KING: The secretary did touch on that; the president repeating it in more detail today. Two major points in doing so -- behind the strategy in doing so, Wolf.
One, of course, to put U.S. troops on alert and to make clear to Iraq that the United States is closely monitoring any orders, but the president also repeating that bit of U.S. intelligence to make the case to the Security Council.
How can you believe a dictator who says he has no weapons of mass destruction when we now have intelligence, the United States does, showing that he is giving orders to use those weapons?
So the president, again, trying to put stiff pressure on the Security Council here. And you noted at the top of the show, the French once again saying today they think the inspectors deserve more time. This White House believes it has laid out the case and if the Security Council wants to be involved it needs to step up to the plate.
BLITZER: But how much concern is there, John, at the White House, that the Iraqi government of President Saddam Hussein right now may go further and may accept some of the demands made by Hans Blix and Mohammed ElBaradei in the coming days to show, perhaps, some of the more reluctant U.S. allies that they are indeed cooperating? KING: It is a major concern here at the White House and one of the reasons the president said, in his strongly-worded statement, that he expected Iraq to play games and to make some last-minute concessions.
The White House believes Iraq will trickle out episodes of apparent cooperation in an effort to try to sway public opinion. In an effort to feed off of what France, Russia and China and others have said in terms of giving the inspectors more time.
The president making the case, in this statement, that one or two gestures of cooperation is not enough. That the resolution, passed unanimously by the council, says Iraq must fully, accurately, proactively, completely disarm. The president making clear he will accept nothing less.
BLITZER: John King, with the very latest at the White House. John, thanks very much.
But the way, here's the position on Iraq as far, as five major countries are concerned, following the secretary's address to the U.N. Security Council.
France, Germany, China and Russia, three of them permanent members of the Security Council, the exception of Germany, all say more time should be given to the weapons inspectors.
Only Britain agrees with the United States that unless there's a significant change of heart, a significant change in the position of the Iraqi government, time has almost run out for Saddam Hussein.
And after a day to mull over what the Secretary of State told the U.N. Security Council, Iraq remains defiant. But officials did spring a surprise regarding meetings between Iraqi scientists and U.N. weapons inspectors.
Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is standing by in Baghdad with the latest -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, that's right. A few hours ago Iraqi officials announced that one of their scientists was holding a private interview with the U.N. inspectors here. Those talks lasted about three hours.
The scientist, Dr. Salami, a biologist, we understand, apparently, according to Iraqi officials, volunteered to go through with a private interview because Iraqi officials said that he felt Iraq was under a lot of pressure and it was time to do it.
Now, according to the Iraqi officials there are more scientists that have also now come forward and said that they would go through with these private interviews. According to U.N. officials here, this particular scientist, the Iraqis had called the U.N. inspectors up and offered this scientist. This is a scientist who had previously turned down the inspectors' request for an interview. The scientist, by the way, according to the U.N. Works for Iraq national monitoring directive, that is the group of Iraqi officials that deal with the U.N. Inspectors here. U.N. officials telling us that this is significant, because it implies that Iraq apparently going along with one of Hans Blix's demands -- Wolf.
BLITZER: What else could we expect over the weekend when Hans Blix and Dr. Mohammed ElBaradei, Nic, arrive in Baghdad? Any additional surprises the Iraqis might have up their sleeves? As you know, the White House somewhat concerned that the Iraqis may give in a little bit in order to undermine the strong U.S. stance.
ROBERTSON: Well, a top Iraqi official we spoke with a little while ago. We asked them the key issue, U2 surveillance aircraft. Now, he indicated, again, that there was no apparent movement on that issue. This has been a sticking point for some time now.
The other issue that's also a sticking point, that Iraq needs to pass legislation outlawing weapons of mass destruction. On that issue he talked about it quite extensively, indicated Iraq is thinking about it. There was an indication for the potential for some movement, not an immediate change of position, per se, but some movement there.
So maybe Hans Blix may be coming away from Baghdad this weekend with two of the three items or two promises toward the three items he needs movement on -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Nic Robertson, to put it bluntly, is going to be very, very busy over the next several days, indeed, the next several weeks.
Nic, thanks very much for that report.
There's another breaking story we're following right now.
Americans around the world are being warned very bluntly to watch their backs. The State Department says U.S. citizens overseas need to be on the lookout for the possible use of chemical and biological terror attacks against them.
Our State Department correspondent, Andrea Koppel, is joining us now live from the State Department with this latest advisory from the U.S. government -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, that's right. It's known as a worldwide caution. The last one was issued in November.
This one is focused on potential terrorist attacks. The State Department wanting to warn Americans of the possibility that there could be and that they could be targeted in coming weeks.
The statement goes on to say that the Department of State reminds Americans that U.S. citizens and interests are at a heightened risk of terrorist attacks including by groups with links to al Qaeda.
"Terrorist actions may include, but are not limited to suicide operations, assassinations or kidnappings. While conventional weapons such as explosive devices pose a more immediate threat in many areas overseas," it says, "terrorists' use of non-conventional weapons, including chemical or biological agents must be considered a growing threat."
These individuals and groups have proved that they do not distinguish between official and civilian targets.
Now I spoke with a senior State Department official, Wolf, who said that this specific worldwide caution is not necessarily directly related to Iraq, but rather to a multiplicity of different threats in different places around the world -- Wolf.
BLITZER: But, Andrea, just to be precise on this point, it wasn't specifically noted that only Americans in the Middle East or the Persian Gulf or Europe, for that matter, but Americans anywhere, whether in the Western Hemisphere and the Far East, anywhere around the world, should be on guard.
KOPPEL: That's absolutely correct. In previous worldwide cautions or in previous cautions there had been -- they had been regionally specific. This one is a worldwide caution, putting all Americans overseas on alert.
BLITZER: All right. Andrea Koppel with the latest. Andrea, stand by; we're going to be talking to you shortly about the very tense situation with North Korea, as well.
Andrea Koppel our State Department correspondent.
Let's get back to the showdown with Iraq. The army's famed 101st Airborne Division, the so-called Screaming Eagles, today received deployment orders. It's not clear just where they're headed, but the assumption, of course, is the central command region, which includes the Persian Gulf.
The U.S. Army statement says the division will take part in possible future operations in the global war on terrorism. The Screaming Eagles played a major role in American combat action in Afghanistan.
If the United States does go to war against Iraq, the Pentagon is considering special measures to deal with any U.S. troops who might be killed by Iraqi chemical or biological weapons.
CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): America traditionally honors its war dead in solemn ritual. Flag-draped caskets being brought home from far away conflicts.
But as the U.S. goes to war in Iraq, how the dead are returned to their families may disturb some Americans. For the first time, the Pentagon is considering cremating the bodies of U.S. troops who may die in an Iraqi chemical or biological attack. Cremation has never been an authorized means of dealing with the dead on the battlefield.
The concern is that if Saddam Hussein unleashes smallpox or anthrax, and there are large numbers of U.S. troops killed, their contaminated bodies may pose an immediate health risk to those left alive. And they will have to be handled in a manner never before seen.
But putting the military in charge of cremation operations raises extraordinarily sensitive issues. How to make sure all lethal agents are burned off, cultural and religious objections, sorting out ashes in a mass attack.
A spokesman for the American legion: "The field commander would have to make a decision that protects the living and respects the dead and their families."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Now, Pentagon officials emphasize all of this is still under consideration. The cremation would be a last resort by a battlefield commander in dire circumstances -- Wolf.
BLITZER: What a horrible, horrible contingency they have to worry about.
Let me switch gears for a moment Barbara.
There is a report of a possible suicide attempt by one of those al Qaeda detainees at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
STARR: Right, Wolf. We haven't heard a lot about this in recent weeks, but it turns out that since January 16, four detainees have attempted suicide now. That's four in the last three weeks.
One of them is still in serious condition, in the hospital in Guantanamo Bay. Procedures are being reviewed, we are told, to see what has happened and if future suicide attempts can be prevented.
BLITZER: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Barbara, thanks very much.
What does the Iraqi president make of the current showdown between his country and the United States? My next guest says that Mr. Hussein believes the West does not have the stomach for a war and that by inflicting heavy U.S. casualties, he can emerge victorious.
Con Coughlin is the author of "Saddam, King of Terror." He joins me now, live from London.
Con, thanks very much for joining us.
What do you make, is going through Saddam Hussein's mind right now as he gets reports of what the president of the United States said today and what the secretary of state said yesterday?
CON COUGHLIN, AUTHOR, "SADDAM: KING OF TERROR:" Well, I think Saddam will take the positive out of everything. And I think the main thing that Saddam will be thinking about is how split the Security Council is.
I mean, Colin Powell made that quite extraordinary presentation to the Security Council yesterday, but then, of course, a lot of other countries said, well, we're not convinced. The inspectors need more time.
This is playing into Saddam's hands. That's that Saddam wants. Play the long game, string this out to the point where America can't take military action. That's been his game.
And I think, from what your correspondent was saying earlier, that this whole thing about Iraqi scientists, a few of them offering themselves up for interview, will again, that plays to the antiwar movement. It plays to the fainthearted, the people that say, let's string this out. Let's give the inspectors more time.
That will make Saddam very, very happy.
BLITZER: You know, Con, there have been many reports, many suggestions over the years that his aides, so terrified of Saddam Hussein, refuse to tell him the complete truth. They're almost sycophantic and they only tell him what he wants to hear.
Does he really know how serious President Bush is right now?
COUGHLIN: Yes, but you have to remember, Wolf, that Saddam is a tough guy. We saw this during the Gulf War.
Throughout the Gulf War, even when his army was being decimated, Saddam was still in there. He still thought he'd come out victorious. In his mind, he won the Gulf War. I know it sounds ludicrous to us in the West, but that's how he thinks.
He thinks that again, he's got the U.N. Security Council divided and people like Tariq Aziz and his other advisers, they do give him advice, they're not completely terrified. They do give him advice, but he's his own man. He makes the decision. He calls all of the shots. And, you know, he's not going to give this one up.
BLITZER: Before I let you go, Con, what about this report? The president of the United States saying that they now have intelligence Saddam Hussein has given authority, authorization to his field commanders to use chemical weapons against U.S. troops if it comes down to a war.
Does he not appreciate the warning given by the U.S. over these many months that could result in perhaps even a U.S. nuclear response?
COUGHLIN: Well, first of all, Wolf, this is entirely consistent with everything I've heard about Saddam's preparations for the war, including having thoughts of kamikaze rocket pilots to attack American positions, filled with -- their planes filled with chemical weapons.
But you have to remember that Saddam is just not phased by these things. Saddam is there to win.
And the other big consideration is Saddam does not care about the Iraqi people. If America nukes Iraq and kills lots of innocent civilians, you know, Saddam would be quite pleased with that, because so long as he's still there, that's what counts for Saddam.
BLITZER: Con Coughlin, thanks very much for joining us. The author of "Saddam: King of Terror" joining us tonight live from London.
And you're going to hear from a unique voice on the showdown with Iraq and other stories tonight. The former President Bill Clinton will be the special guest of Larry King on "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight. That's at 9 p.m. Eastern, 6 Pacific for the hour, Larry King and Bill Clinton.
We have much more news coming up on the showdown with Iraq and other news as well, including threats of an all-out war with North Korea. The nuclear nation delivers a stiff warning to the United States.
Plus, stealing debris from the Space Shuttle Columbia. Yes, it's happening, despite the warnings. Now a last chance for thieves, come clean or go to jail right away.
And a bittersweet birthday for the nation's longest living president. Michael Reagan will join us to talk about his father's legacy and how he's holding up today on his 92nd birthday.
First, today's news quiz: "What gift did Ronald Reagan give Saddam Hussein? Jelly beans, golden spurs, cowboy hat, shotgun?" The answer coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: In a moment, more on the showdown with Iraq, including the possibility of deadly payback following Secretary Powell's U.N. presentation.
First the shuttle tragedy.
There was another memorial today for the Columbia astronauts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER (voice-over): It took place at Washington's National Cathedral. The vice president, Dick Cheney, led the mourners, praising the astronauts for advancing human understanding by showing human courage.
Meanwhile, steady rain slowed the search for shuttle debris in east Texas. Some of the national guard troops participating in the effort were told to suspend their efforts until the weather improves. Among today's discoveries, a coffee container used by one crew member.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Despite official warnings, some individuals still are believed to be hoarding shuttle debris. In an effort to get that debris turned in, authorities have announced a temporary amnesty.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has details from Nacogdoches, Texas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Since the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated, one message has been clear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: NASA is pretty much interested in any and all debris locations. They do need to leave this debris in place and not tamper with it.
LAVANDERA: Federal authorities say at least two people have ignored the warnings. Forty-three-year-old Merrie Hipp has been arrested for picking up a circuit board from the shuttle; and ROTC student Brad Gaudet is accused of collecting some thermal barrier fabric. Both have been charged with theft of government property.
SHERIFF THOMAS KERESS, NACOGDOCHES COUNTY, TEXAS: No one, no one knows which piece of that shuttle will ultimately be the clue that unravels the mystery of what happened to those seven people that day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know how they that found out.
LAVANDERA: His roommates say the 23-year-old college student did not intend to hurt investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just thought he wanted, like, a souvenir to show his kids 30, 40 years down the road, just that it was part of history and he was here to see it.
LAVANDERA: At Millford's Barbershop in Nacogdoches, you won't find sympathy for anyone caught stealing shuttle fragments. Folks here found souvenir collectors as weird.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous. I can't imagine anybody trying to save something like that for a souvenir.
LAVANDERA: Federal authorities don't deny they're making an example out of Merrie Hipp and Grad Gaudet. And for Gaudet's roommates, the message about not touching shuttle debris is now crystal clear.
MIKE BENTON, BRAD GAUDET'S ROOMMATE: I think we understand that now, that it's for real and you need to turn it in.
(END VIDEOTAPE) LAVANDERA: Federal prosecutors say that they have almost 20 cases that they're looking into of people who have tried to claim or sell shuttle debris on eBay. So those cases are still pending.
Now, there is a way to avoid legal trouble. Authorities here have announced that there will be an amnesty period in place until 5 p.m. Central time tomorrow. That's on Friday. You have until then to turn over any and all shuttle debris that you might have, turn that over to federal authorities, and you can escape prosecution.
If you are found with shuttle debris after 5 p.m. tomorrow, you could face a federal court judge and who could sentence down a penalty of up to $250,000 fine and up to ten years in prison -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Ed Lavandera in East Texas, in Nacogdoches. Thanks very much for that report.
We have much more coming up ,including more on the showdown with Iraq and other news, including this. A war of words and a possible nuclear standoff. North Korea has issued a stern warning to the United States. Is that nation now a bigger threat than Iraq? We'll take a closer look.
And is Europe facing an imminent chemical attack by al Qaeda? We have a CNN exclusive on what the terrorist network may be up to next.
And Ronald Reagan turns 92. Find out how the longest living president is doing. His son Michael will join us.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer.
Coming up, a CNN exclusive: find out where al Qaeda may be picking up chemicals for its next attack.
Also, the showdown with Iraq. Could there be payback following Secretary of State Colin Powell's comments yesterday?
(NEWS ALERT)
BLITZER: The White House is facing another crucial problem in North Korea. Tensions over North Korea's nuclear program are reaching a hostile pitch, threatening war if the United States attacks. Democrats are sounding the alarm.
For more on what all this means once again, here's CNN's State Department correspondent, Andrea Koppel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D-DE), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE MEMBER: I also think that North Korea is equally, equally as urgent a problem as Saddam Hussein at the moment. SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), MINORITY LEADER: North Korea is a grave threat. It seems to grow each day that passes without high level U.S. engagement.
KOPPEL: For the second time this week, the Bush Administration came under congressional fire for not doing more to diffuse a growing crisis on the Korean Peninsula.
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: I see a doctrine that appears to be one of designed neglect.
POWELL: Designed neglect. Well, I don't like that characterization.
KOPPEL: U.S. lawmakers were responding to the latest threats from North Korea.
If the U.S. Launches a surprise attack on our peaceful nuclear facilities, warned North Korea's leaders in their state-run press that will be the cause of all-out war. The White House called this talk of war a real cause for concern. Just last week U.S. officials said satellite images like these appeared to show trucks moving some of North Korea's 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods, indicating another step towards building a nuclear arsenal. But with U.S. and South Korean militaries involved in a live fire exercise, one senior administration official said North Korea may think it's acting in self-defense.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL: As further proof that North Korea may be reacting rather than trying to provoke, Wolf, one senior U.S. official singled out comments made by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday in which he called North Korea, a terrorist regime. This is new, said this official, he said from the North Korean perspective, it appears as if the U.S. is going after them -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Andrea Koppel, once again at the State Department. Andrea, thanks very much.
More news coming up including more on the showdown with Iraq and this, al Qaeda finds a new home to cook up chemical weapons and it's not Iraq. Find out where the terrorist network is setting up shop right now, and where it may be planning to hit next. We'll have the "CNN Exclusive" when we return.
And facing execution, find out who may be put to death after Secretary Powell's address to the United Nations, but first, a look at other news making headlines around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Two trains, one track. A head-on collision between a passenger train and a freight train killed at least five people in Thailand. Forty five others were hurt. Authorities suspect a brake failure on the freight train. Cash control, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, is oppose opposing new international currency controls and price controls. He's battling a two-month general strike aimed at his ouster.
And a seat for caution. With the situation in the Ivory Coast unstable. U.S. military personnel are assessing security at the U.S. Embassy there. There have been large protests, some of them violent against a French brokered plan to end the country's civil war.
A rocker's regrets. They say love means never strong say you're sorry, but singer Courtney Love says she's sorry for the way she behaved. Love was arrested for disruptive behavior after a Virgin Airlines flight from the United States to Britain. She offered her a policy to Virgin boss Richard Branson at a London charity concert.
No laughing matter, comedian John Cleese has won more than $20,000 from a London newspaper that suggested he isn't funny anymore. A British judge called the article a spiteful piece that went beyond the bonds of normal criticism.
The GameBoy is now a "GameMan." Japan's Nintendo company has unveiled a new version of the popular handheld GameBoy console. Its display is brighter, but for some, the main appeal say it looks more like an executive organizer than a toy. One enthusiast says he won't feel embarrassed about playing games on the train.
That's our look around the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: While the world's focus is on Iraq, there are now signs al Qaeda has found new training grounds and is eying new targets including Europe for a possible chemical attack. And one of the organizers is believed to be a man Colin Powell talked about only yesterday at the United Nations.
Our CNN senior international correspondent Sheila MacVicar has this exclusive report from Paris.
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Vapor rising from the floor. These images are from Afghanistan obtained by CNN last summer from the al Qaeda's video library. They prove that al Qaeda was experimenting with chemical weapons.
Now European police and judicial sources tell CNN they believe the man behind these experiments can be connected to what officials in several governments complain thwarted attacks in a series in arrests in December in Britain, France and Spain.
Gilles Leclair, coordinates anti-terrorist efforts for the French Ministry of Interior. He says investigators have found a number of common threads connecting the alleged plot. GILLES LECLAIR, FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTRY: We are coming from the same region, most of them are Algerian. Trained in the same place in some camps in Afghanistan or sometimes in Georgia and the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). They are the same trainers.
MACVICAR: First, the trainers. Coalition intelligence sources say this is the voice of one of those trainers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
MACVICAR: His name is Abu Khabab, identified by intelligence sources as the al Qaeda chemist who ran the gas experiments that have destroyed a camp in Afghanistan.
Until now, these officials say, where he has gone and what he was doing is unknown. Now European judicial sources have learned during their investigation that Abu Khabab has been active in a new location, a camp in the Pankisi Gorge, that is the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, near the border with Chechnya.
We asked Gilles Leclair about Abu Khabab.
LECLAIR: Each time the same name is on the table, you know? I cannot say officially that, of course. We do some people (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
MACVICAR: A second thread identified by investigators is this man, Abu Musad Zarqawi.
POWELL: One of his specialties and one of the specialties of this camp is poisons.
MACVICAR: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell singled him out as the, quote, sinister nexus between Iraq and al Qaeda. And Powell said he has established an operational base in Iraq.
(on camera): The European intelligence sources say they have no evidence to support any operational link between al Qaeda's Zarqawi and the Iraqis. But they do agree with the Americans that Zarqawi has been involve in the production of chemical and biological weapons.
(voice-over): Zarqawi, say investigators, is believed to have been working in the same camp in the Pankisi Gorge as Abu Khabab. Their investigation uncovered evidence Zarqawi also trained some of those arrested in Europe.
The third thread, investigators say, is the nature of the alleged plots uncovered in the last two months. British police say they found traces of ricin in this apartment in London in December. A thwarted attack that Powell and Western intelligence agencies say was tied to training provided by Zarqawi.
Near Barcelona, Spain, investigators arrested 15 and found barrels of chemicals, preparations, said Spanish government officials, for a chemical attack somewhere in Europe. And in a series of raids and arrests near Paris, French police say they found a military chemical and biological protection suit. And in this apartment complex, CNN has learned, French authorities discovered cyanide compounds.
But the chemical formula found in Spain and France are different from those recipes found in al Qaeda's operating manuals. An important difference suggesting new expertise.
(on camera): European investigative sources tell CNN they now believe that former specialists in the Russian military are also now working in those camps in the PacifiCare Gorge, passing on their deadly expertise to Islamist extremists.
(voice-over): It is not clear that they are working voluntarily or are being coerced. The Pankisi Gorge is just over the mountains from Chechnya and the Chechen war for independence from Russia. That war, say intelligence sources, is increasingly hijacked by non-Chechen Islamist extremists, searching for a new Afghanistan.
And the Pankisi Gorge, intelligence and investigative sources say, is the hiding place for a chemical and biological weapons program. Judge Jean-Louis Brugiere is France's leading anti-terrorist magistrate.
JEAN-LOUIS BRUGIERE, ANTI-TERRORIST MAGISTRATE: What we see at the present time is more and more connections between Islamic movements which link to al Qaeda. Not only al Qaeda itself, all the movements which share the jihad -- war, have more and more connections with Chechnya. And use this area as a new base to continue as an aircraft carrier -- you know -- to continue the fight against the West.
MACVICAR: European police sources say they still do not know what those arrests over the last two months had allegedly plan to target with their poisonous weapons. What they say they are certain of is a continued and dangerous determination of Islamist extremists to wage war.
Sheila MacVicar, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Solid reporting from Sheila MacVicar.
Iraqi soldiers caught on tape. You heard them during Colin Powell's address to the United Nations yesterday. You heard their voices. Find out why they may be facing execution right now.
And surviving with Alzheimer's, Ronald Reagan hits 92. His son Michael joins us to talk about the president's health and legacy.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: U.S. intelligence officials are warning of potential fallout from Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation to the United nations yesterday. They say it could include the execution of some of the people whose intercepted conversations were used by Powell to show Iraq is thwarting weapons inspectors. Our National Security Correspondent David Ensor is joining us now with details -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, there will be fallout U.S. intelligence officials say including the possible loss of some intelligence sources and maybe some punishment for certain Iraqis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR (voice-over): Take the tape of the colonel and Captain Ibrahim, talking about how they must remove all references to nerve agents in their wireless instruction. As Secretary Powell noted they feared somebody might be listening and somebody was.
U.S. officials say such junior officers revealed more than they should have on relatively unsecured communications channels and could face punishment which in Iraq, one official said, could even include execution. And, of course, such communications channels may be harder to monitor from now on.
The U.S. also tipped its hand about surveillance photos. For instance, when Secretary Powell said in this photo the decontamination truck was a signature item showing the chemical weapons were present. Officials say such trucks could soon be disguised to look like something else, as the U.S. says Iraqi mobile biological labs already are.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: Powell also referred a lot to human intelligence, information from spies inside Iraq. But U.S. officials say they're confident he revealed nothing that could be traced to any specific agent.
After hearing so much about spies, though, Iraqi security could turn up the heat, generally, one officials said. But he said, "They're much more likely to kill their own loyalists than to get," as he put it, "our guys" -- Wolf.
BLITZER: I take it that, David, the secretary of state knew that there could be execution of these Iraqi troops, these sort of mid- level soldiers out there for getting caught saying stupid things. But what? They decided they didn't care?
ENSOR: These are not American agents. These are Iraqi Republican Guard officers and there's not a whole lot of sympathy for them.
BLITZER: So there's not going be a whole lot of tears shed for these guys?
ENSOR: If they're executed that doesn't bother the United States government very much.
BLITZER: David Ensor, with solid reporting as usual. Thanks very much.
Dealing with Alzheimer's and celebrating a 92nd birthday, Ronald Reagan's son Michael joins us to talk about both. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER (voice-over): Earlier we asked: "What gift did Ronald Reagan give Saddam Hussein?" The answer: golden spurs. They were hand delivered by his then special envoy Donald Rumsfeld in 1983 when he met with the Iraqi leader.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: There was then a very different relationship between the United States and Iraq, obviously.
America's oldest living former president, Ronald Reagan, is marking a milestone today. It's his 92nd birthday. President Reagan is celebrating with a quiet gathering of family and friends at his home in California. He's suffering, of course, from Alzheimer's.
Just a short while ago, I spoke with President Reagan's oldest son about how his father was doing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Michael Reagan, as usual, thank you very much for joining us. Your dad's 92-years-old today. A lot of our viewers love him, want to know how is he doing?
MICHAEL REAGAN, RONALD REAGAN'S OLDEST SON: Well, he's got a terrible disease, you know, Wolf, and we talked about it before. Alzheimer's, which affects 6 to 7, 8 million people in this country. It's a disease where you don't get better and there's no cure for it at this time and so as I saw him on Saturday and -- you know, in bed, and just sitting there holding his hand and really, literally just praying over him. I just prayed that he is comfortable and Nancy has kept him that way.
BLITZER: Does he know Nancy? Does he know you? Does he recognize you?
REAGAN: If he does, he can't communicate it. I really don't think he does anymore. And, I mean, that is a sad thing, but my relationship with my father was so great and so wonderful when he got into this position that I feel somehow, you know, comforted that our relationship was so good.
BLITZER: What about physically, as opposed to the Alzheimer's, the rest of his body? Is it increasingly, obviously, getting very weak? REAGAN: Wolf, he still has dark, black hair. You know, I look at him and if you were to look at him, you'd swear he was the picture of health at 92 years of age. He just can't communicate, and that's the sad thing.
So, on one hand you look and say, you know, Let's go out and throw the ball. On the other hand, you know that he can't throw the ball. He can't really even walk today. So it's -- you look at him and say, Gosh, what's going on here? And you wonder, is it a good thing that he's so physically healthy because that's what's also keeping him alive, which is good, but then some people feel maybe it's time for him to go home.
BLITZER: And I was reminded of him this week, unfortunately reminded of the 1986 reaction that he had to the Challenger given what's happened to the Columbia. Talk a little bit how your dad might have reacted now in the aftermath of this second space shuttle disaster?
REAGAN: I think my dad would have said that George W. Bush just did a super job, really in having been there himself, I think he would have been very proud of George W. Bush, as he would have been so proud of his dear friend Colin Powell yesterday in the United Nations laying out all of the information you have about Iraq. I think he would have felt proud that, in fact, George W. Bush was there at the White House with he was president of the United States and, of course, Colin Powell was there when he was president of the United States, that these people carry on really my dad's legacy, but at the same time build their legacy for the future.
He would have felt a lot of pride in the way George Bush would have handled it, and sadness that we would have lost seven more members of a crew that went into outer space.
BLITZER: All right. But he would still support continued space exploration by men and women.
REAGAN: Oh, absolutely, he would have supported it, as he said back in 1986, he would have been right with the president of the United States, George W. Bush, today and said Yes, we need to keep going forward, not to stop it. We need to go forward.
BLITZER:: Before I let you go, Michael, there's some speculation you're thinking of running for the Senate against Barbara Boxer in 2004.
REAGAN: Oh, some people have brought it up, Wolf, but I don't know if I want to give up the pay decrease that it would take to run for the Senate of the United States.
I love doing radio. It's something probably I was born to, mainly because that's where my father started. If I run for office in the future, that's in the future. But right now, I just am going to stick with the radio program and talking about Barbara Boxer.
BLITZER: All right. So 2004 against Barbara Boxer, that's a no, is that right?
REAGAN: That's a no.
BLITZER: All right. Michael Reagan. Give our best to your mom and your dad on this special day.
REAGAN: I certainly will, Wolf. Thank you very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And time to hear for directly from you, some of our e- mail. Let's get right to it.
Kevin writes this: "If the U.S. is going to be dropping bombs in Iraq but is unsure of where any chemical and biological weapons facilities may be, isn't highly likely that we will contaminate our own troops, not to mention the general population of Iraq? I am for war, but I am not for a Holocaust."
Jody writes: "The reporting on what may happen to the remains of our troops, should they encounter chemical or biological weapons, is unbelievably cruel to those of us whose sons, daughters and husbands are stationed in the Middle East. It's difficult enough for us to deal with the possibility of losing our loved ones without the media bringing up this time of gruesome scenario." That is a picture I need to visualize -- "that is not a picture," excuse me,"I need to visualize when thinking of my son."
That's a good point.
Mary asked this: "I notice on your list of presidents to be admired that Jimmy Carter was not listed. Why? Because he is a peacemaker or because he is too decent a human being?"
We thought that we would ask only the opinions of the four most recent presidents. But you make a good point as well, Mary.
Speaking of that poll that we have, here's how you're weighing in so far in the "Web Question of the Day." Which president do you admire most? Ronald Reagan, George Herbert Walker Bush, Bill Clinton or George W. Bush? Look at these results so far: 18 percent of you say Ronald Reagan, 2 percent the first president, 63 percent of you say Bill Clinton, 17 percent of you say the current President Bush.
Remember, you can find the exact vote tally. Continue to vote, by the way. Go on to my Web page, cnn.com/wolf. Remember, this is not a scientific poll. We'll leave the question up there for the time being.
That's all of the time we have, though, today. Please join me again tomorrow 5:00 p.m. Eastern. And don't forget, "SHOWDOWN IRAQ," weekdays, noon Eastern.
Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" is up next. We turn it over to Lou now in New York -- Lou.
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 February 6, 2003 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Just moments ago, as we all saw here on CNN, the president came out swinging. The White House says Saddam Hussein has given the go-ahead to field commanders to let them use chemical weapons if it comes down to a war with the U.S.
Will there now be a countdown to war?
Also, just moments ago, the State Department warned all Americans all around the world be on the guard for terrorist attacks.
WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Colin Powell puts Iraq in notice.
COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I think we are reaching an endgame in a matter of week, not a matter of months.
BLITZER: And from Baghdad, a surprise move. Worse case scenario: what might happen to America's war dead in the Persian Gulf?
A CNN exclusive, a chilling look at where terrorists are at work.
A tough new warning from North Korea. What may trigger total war?
The shuttle tragedy's latest twist. Are those hoarding debris coming forward?
And the Great Communicator turns 92. President Reagan's son on how his father and family are coping.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
It's Thursday February 6, 2003. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
We are following many breaking developments right now, including a worldwide terror alert for Americans, but first, Iraq watch.
President Bush presses ahead with a possible war against Iraq. The president spoke just moments ago after a meeting with the Secretary of State Colin Powell, and for the first time Iraq says weapons inspectors meet privately with an Iraqi scientist. And despite all the latest evidence, the French president, Jacques Chirac, says France refuses to think war with Iraq is inevitable.
We have reports from around the world. Our senior White House correspondent, John King, is standing by at the White House. In Baghdad, CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson, and over at the Pentagons, our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.
Let's begin with all the last minute developments, John King at the White House -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the president delivering a very blunt message to the United Nations Security Council this afternoon, appearing with Secretary of State Colin Powell just moments ago in the Roosevelt Room.
The president saying Secretary Powell's presentation to the United Nations yesterday left absolutely no doubt that Iraq is in open defiance of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441. The president saying the council must now meet its obligation in confronting Iraq. That resolution, of course, calls for serious consequences, meaning military confrontation.
The president saying the game is over, Saddam Hussein must be stopped.
Let's listen to a little bit of what the president had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The game is over. All the world can rise to this moment.
The community of free nations can show that it is strong and confident and determined to keep the peace.
The United Nations can renew its purpose and be a source of stability and security in the world.
The Security Council can affirm that it is able and prepared to meet future challenges and other dangers, and we can give the Iraqi people their chance to live in freedom and choose their own government.
Saddam Hussein has made Iraq into a prison, a poison factory and a torture chamber for patriots and dissidents. Saddam Hussein has the motive and the means and the recklessness and the hatred to threaten the American people. Saddam Hussein will be stopped.
On November 8, by demanding the immediate disarmament of Iraq, the United Nations Security Council spoke with clarity and authority. Now, the Security Council will show whether its words have any meaning. Having made its demands, the Security Council must not back down when those demands are defied and mocked by a dictator. The United States would welcome and support a new resolution which makes clear that the Security Council stands behind its previous demands, yet resolutions mean little without resolve. And the United States, along with a growing coalition of nations is resolved to take whatever action is necessary to defend ourselves and disarm the Iraqi regime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: And Wolf, in that toughly-worded statement, the president also repeating some of the major headlines of Secretary Powell's presentation.
The president saying there is now no doubt Iraq still has weapons of mass destruction. No doubt it is actively hiding and concealing them from the weapons inspectors on the ground. The president says there's also no doubt that there's an al Qaeda cell operating within Iraq and that that cell is responsible for the recent killing of a U.S. diplomat in Jordan.
The president's message, Wolf, essentially, to the Security Council is, what more evidence do you need?
BLITZER: And the president seemed to go further than the Secretary of State yesterday, John, especially on this notion that he says the U.S. has intelligence that Saddam Hussein personally has given authority to field commanders, to use chemical weapons against U.S. troops. I don't remember if the secretary specifically said that.
KING: The secretary did touch on that; the president repeating it in more detail today. Two major points in doing so -- behind the strategy in doing so, Wolf.
One, of course, to put U.S. troops on alert and to make clear to Iraq that the United States is closely monitoring any orders, but the president also repeating that bit of U.S. intelligence to make the case to the Security Council.
How can you believe a dictator who says he has no weapons of mass destruction when we now have intelligence, the United States does, showing that he is giving orders to use those weapons?
So the president, again, trying to put stiff pressure on the Security Council here. And you noted at the top of the show, the French once again saying today they think the inspectors deserve more time. This White House believes it has laid out the case and if the Security Council wants to be involved it needs to step up to the plate.
BLITZER: But how much concern is there, John, at the White House, that the Iraqi government of President Saddam Hussein right now may go further and may accept some of the demands made by Hans Blix and Mohammed ElBaradei in the coming days to show, perhaps, some of the more reluctant U.S. allies that they are indeed cooperating? KING: It is a major concern here at the White House and one of the reasons the president said, in his strongly-worded statement, that he expected Iraq to play games and to make some last-minute concessions.
The White House believes Iraq will trickle out episodes of apparent cooperation in an effort to try to sway public opinion. In an effort to feed off of what France, Russia and China and others have said in terms of giving the inspectors more time.
The president making the case, in this statement, that one or two gestures of cooperation is not enough. That the resolution, passed unanimously by the council, says Iraq must fully, accurately, proactively, completely disarm. The president making clear he will accept nothing less.
BLITZER: John King, with the very latest at the White House. John, thanks very much.
But the way, here's the position on Iraq as far, as five major countries are concerned, following the secretary's address to the U.N. Security Council.
France, Germany, China and Russia, three of them permanent members of the Security Council, the exception of Germany, all say more time should be given to the weapons inspectors.
Only Britain agrees with the United States that unless there's a significant change of heart, a significant change in the position of the Iraqi government, time has almost run out for Saddam Hussein.
And after a day to mull over what the Secretary of State told the U.N. Security Council, Iraq remains defiant. But officials did spring a surprise regarding meetings between Iraqi scientists and U.N. weapons inspectors.
Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is standing by in Baghdad with the latest -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, that's right. A few hours ago Iraqi officials announced that one of their scientists was holding a private interview with the U.N. inspectors here. Those talks lasted about three hours.
The scientist, Dr. Salami, a biologist, we understand, apparently, according to Iraqi officials, volunteered to go through with a private interview because Iraqi officials said that he felt Iraq was under a lot of pressure and it was time to do it.
Now, according to the Iraqi officials there are more scientists that have also now come forward and said that they would go through with these private interviews. According to U.N. officials here, this particular scientist, the Iraqis had called the U.N. inspectors up and offered this scientist. This is a scientist who had previously turned down the inspectors' request for an interview. The scientist, by the way, according to the U.N. Works for Iraq national monitoring directive, that is the group of Iraqi officials that deal with the U.N. Inspectors here. U.N. officials telling us that this is significant, because it implies that Iraq apparently going along with one of Hans Blix's demands -- Wolf.
BLITZER: What else could we expect over the weekend when Hans Blix and Dr. Mohammed ElBaradei, Nic, arrive in Baghdad? Any additional surprises the Iraqis might have up their sleeves? As you know, the White House somewhat concerned that the Iraqis may give in a little bit in order to undermine the strong U.S. stance.
ROBERTSON: Well, a top Iraqi official we spoke with a little while ago. We asked them the key issue, U2 surveillance aircraft. Now, he indicated, again, that there was no apparent movement on that issue. This has been a sticking point for some time now.
The other issue that's also a sticking point, that Iraq needs to pass legislation outlawing weapons of mass destruction. On that issue he talked about it quite extensively, indicated Iraq is thinking about it. There was an indication for the potential for some movement, not an immediate change of position, per se, but some movement there.
So maybe Hans Blix may be coming away from Baghdad this weekend with two of the three items or two promises toward the three items he needs movement on -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Nic Robertson, to put it bluntly, is going to be very, very busy over the next several days, indeed, the next several weeks.
Nic, thanks very much for that report.
There's another breaking story we're following right now.
Americans around the world are being warned very bluntly to watch their backs. The State Department says U.S. citizens overseas need to be on the lookout for the possible use of chemical and biological terror attacks against them.
Our State Department correspondent, Andrea Koppel, is joining us now live from the State Department with this latest advisory from the U.S. government -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, that's right. It's known as a worldwide caution. The last one was issued in November.
This one is focused on potential terrorist attacks. The State Department wanting to warn Americans of the possibility that there could be and that they could be targeted in coming weeks.
The statement goes on to say that the Department of State reminds Americans that U.S. citizens and interests are at a heightened risk of terrorist attacks including by groups with links to al Qaeda.
"Terrorist actions may include, but are not limited to suicide operations, assassinations or kidnappings. While conventional weapons such as explosive devices pose a more immediate threat in many areas overseas," it says, "terrorists' use of non-conventional weapons, including chemical or biological agents must be considered a growing threat."
These individuals and groups have proved that they do not distinguish between official and civilian targets.
Now I spoke with a senior State Department official, Wolf, who said that this specific worldwide caution is not necessarily directly related to Iraq, but rather to a multiplicity of different threats in different places around the world -- Wolf.
BLITZER: But, Andrea, just to be precise on this point, it wasn't specifically noted that only Americans in the Middle East or the Persian Gulf or Europe, for that matter, but Americans anywhere, whether in the Western Hemisphere and the Far East, anywhere around the world, should be on guard.
KOPPEL: That's absolutely correct. In previous worldwide cautions or in previous cautions there had been -- they had been regionally specific. This one is a worldwide caution, putting all Americans overseas on alert.
BLITZER: All right. Andrea Koppel with the latest. Andrea, stand by; we're going to be talking to you shortly about the very tense situation with North Korea, as well.
Andrea Koppel our State Department correspondent.
Let's get back to the showdown with Iraq. The army's famed 101st Airborne Division, the so-called Screaming Eagles, today received deployment orders. It's not clear just where they're headed, but the assumption, of course, is the central command region, which includes the Persian Gulf.
The U.S. Army statement says the division will take part in possible future operations in the global war on terrorism. The Screaming Eagles played a major role in American combat action in Afghanistan.
If the United States does go to war against Iraq, the Pentagon is considering special measures to deal with any U.S. troops who might be killed by Iraqi chemical or biological weapons.
CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): America traditionally honors its war dead in solemn ritual. Flag-draped caskets being brought home from far away conflicts.
But as the U.S. goes to war in Iraq, how the dead are returned to their families may disturb some Americans. For the first time, the Pentagon is considering cremating the bodies of U.S. troops who may die in an Iraqi chemical or biological attack. Cremation has never been an authorized means of dealing with the dead on the battlefield.
The concern is that if Saddam Hussein unleashes smallpox or anthrax, and there are large numbers of U.S. troops killed, their contaminated bodies may pose an immediate health risk to those left alive. And they will have to be handled in a manner never before seen.
But putting the military in charge of cremation operations raises extraordinarily sensitive issues. How to make sure all lethal agents are burned off, cultural and religious objections, sorting out ashes in a mass attack.
A spokesman for the American legion: "The field commander would have to make a decision that protects the living and respects the dead and their families."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Now, Pentagon officials emphasize all of this is still under consideration. The cremation would be a last resort by a battlefield commander in dire circumstances -- Wolf.
BLITZER: What a horrible, horrible contingency they have to worry about.
Let me switch gears for a moment Barbara.
There is a report of a possible suicide attempt by one of those al Qaeda detainees at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
STARR: Right, Wolf. We haven't heard a lot about this in recent weeks, but it turns out that since January 16, four detainees have attempted suicide now. That's four in the last three weeks.
One of them is still in serious condition, in the hospital in Guantanamo Bay. Procedures are being reviewed, we are told, to see what has happened and if future suicide attempts can be prevented.
BLITZER: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Barbara, thanks very much.
What does the Iraqi president make of the current showdown between his country and the United States? My next guest says that Mr. Hussein believes the West does not have the stomach for a war and that by inflicting heavy U.S. casualties, he can emerge victorious.
Con Coughlin is the author of "Saddam, King of Terror." He joins me now, live from London.
Con, thanks very much for joining us.
What do you make, is going through Saddam Hussein's mind right now as he gets reports of what the president of the United States said today and what the secretary of state said yesterday?
CON COUGHLIN, AUTHOR, "SADDAM: KING OF TERROR:" Well, I think Saddam will take the positive out of everything. And I think the main thing that Saddam will be thinking about is how split the Security Council is.
I mean, Colin Powell made that quite extraordinary presentation to the Security Council yesterday, but then, of course, a lot of other countries said, well, we're not convinced. The inspectors need more time.
This is playing into Saddam's hands. That's that Saddam wants. Play the long game, string this out to the point where America can't take military action. That's been his game.
And I think, from what your correspondent was saying earlier, that this whole thing about Iraqi scientists, a few of them offering themselves up for interview, will again, that plays to the antiwar movement. It plays to the fainthearted, the people that say, let's string this out. Let's give the inspectors more time.
That will make Saddam very, very happy.
BLITZER: You know, Con, there have been many reports, many suggestions over the years that his aides, so terrified of Saddam Hussein, refuse to tell him the complete truth. They're almost sycophantic and they only tell him what he wants to hear.
Does he really know how serious President Bush is right now?
COUGHLIN: Yes, but you have to remember, Wolf, that Saddam is a tough guy. We saw this during the Gulf War.
Throughout the Gulf War, even when his army was being decimated, Saddam was still in there. He still thought he'd come out victorious. In his mind, he won the Gulf War. I know it sounds ludicrous to us in the West, but that's how he thinks.
He thinks that again, he's got the U.N. Security Council divided and people like Tariq Aziz and his other advisers, they do give him advice, they're not completely terrified. They do give him advice, but he's his own man. He makes the decision. He calls all of the shots. And, you know, he's not going to give this one up.
BLITZER: Before I let you go, Con, what about this report? The president of the United States saying that they now have intelligence Saddam Hussein has given authority, authorization to his field commanders to use chemical weapons against U.S. troops if it comes down to a war.
Does he not appreciate the warning given by the U.S. over these many months that could result in perhaps even a U.S. nuclear response?
COUGHLIN: Well, first of all, Wolf, this is entirely consistent with everything I've heard about Saddam's preparations for the war, including having thoughts of kamikaze rocket pilots to attack American positions, filled with -- their planes filled with chemical weapons.
But you have to remember that Saddam is just not phased by these things. Saddam is there to win.
And the other big consideration is Saddam does not care about the Iraqi people. If America nukes Iraq and kills lots of innocent civilians, you know, Saddam would be quite pleased with that, because so long as he's still there, that's what counts for Saddam.
BLITZER: Con Coughlin, thanks very much for joining us. The author of "Saddam: King of Terror" joining us tonight live from London.
And you're going to hear from a unique voice on the showdown with Iraq and other stories tonight. The former President Bill Clinton will be the special guest of Larry King on "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight. That's at 9 p.m. Eastern, 6 Pacific for the hour, Larry King and Bill Clinton.
We have much more news coming up on the showdown with Iraq and other news as well, including threats of an all-out war with North Korea. The nuclear nation delivers a stiff warning to the United States.
Plus, stealing debris from the Space Shuttle Columbia. Yes, it's happening, despite the warnings. Now a last chance for thieves, come clean or go to jail right away.
And a bittersweet birthday for the nation's longest living president. Michael Reagan will join us to talk about his father's legacy and how he's holding up today on his 92nd birthday.
First, today's news quiz: "What gift did Ronald Reagan give Saddam Hussein? Jelly beans, golden spurs, cowboy hat, shotgun?" The answer coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: In a moment, more on the showdown with Iraq, including the possibility of deadly payback following Secretary Powell's U.N. presentation.
First the shuttle tragedy.
There was another memorial today for the Columbia astronauts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER (voice-over): It took place at Washington's National Cathedral. The vice president, Dick Cheney, led the mourners, praising the astronauts for advancing human understanding by showing human courage.
Meanwhile, steady rain slowed the search for shuttle debris in east Texas. Some of the national guard troops participating in the effort were told to suspend their efforts until the weather improves. Among today's discoveries, a coffee container used by one crew member.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Despite official warnings, some individuals still are believed to be hoarding shuttle debris. In an effort to get that debris turned in, authorities have announced a temporary amnesty.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has details from Nacogdoches, Texas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Since the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated, one message has been clear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: NASA is pretty much interested in any and all debris locations. They do need to leave this debris in place and not tamper with it.
LAVANDERA: Federal authorities say at least two people have ignored the warnings. Forty-three-year-old Merrie Hipp has been arrested for picking up a circuit board from the shuttle; and ROTC student Brad Gaudet is accused of collecting some thermal barrier fabric. Both have been charged with theft of government property.
SHERIFF THOMAS KERESS, NACOGDOCHES COUNTY, TEXAS: No one, no one knows which piece of that shuttle will ultimately be the clue that unravels the mystery of what happened to those seven people that day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know how they that found out.
LAVANDERA: His roommates say the 23-year-old college student did not intend to hurt investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just thought he wanted, like, a souvenir to show his kids 30, 40 years down the road, just that it was part of history and he was here to see it.
LAVANDERA: At Millford's Barbershop in Nacogdoches, you won't find sympathy for anyone caught stealing shuttle fragments. Folks here found souvenir collectors as weird.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous. I can't imagine anybody trying to save something like that for a souvenir.
LAVANDERA: Federal authorities don't deny they're making an example out of Merrie Hipp and Grad Gaudet. And for Gaudet's roommates, the message about not touching shuttle debris is now crystal clear.
MIKE BENTON, BRAD GAUDET'S ROOMMATE: I think we understand that now, that it's for real and you need to turn it in.
(END VIDEOTAPE) LAVANDERA: Federal prosecutors say that they have almost 20 cases that they're looking into of people who have tried to claim or sell shuttle debris on eBay. So those cases are still pending.
Now, there is a way to avoid legal trouble. Authorities here have announced that there will be an amnesty period in place until 5 p.m. Central time tomorrow. That's on Friday. You have until then to turn over any and all shuttle debris that you might have, turn that over to federal authorities, and you can escape prosecution.
If you are found with shuttle debris after 5 p.m. tomorrow, you could face a federal court judge and who could sentence down a penalty of up to $250,000 fine and up to ten years in prison -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Ed Lavandera in East Texas, in Nacogdoches. Thanks very much for that report.
We have much more coming up ,including more on the showdown with Iraq and other news, including this. A war of words and a possible nuclear standoff. North Korea has issued a stern warning to the United States. Is that nation now a bigger threat than Iraq? We'll take a closer look.
And is Europe facing an imminent chemical attack by al Qaeda? We have a CNN exclusive on what the terrorist network may be up to next.
And Ronald Reagan turns 92. Find out how the longest living president is doing. His son Michael will join us.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer.
Coming up, a CNN exclusive: find out where al Qaeda may be picking up chemicals for its next attack.
Also, the showdown with Iraq. Could there be payback following Secretary of State Colin Powell's comments yesterday?
(NEWS ALERT)
BLITZER: The White House is facing another crucial problem in North Korea. Tensions over North Korea's nuclear program are reaching a hostile pitch, threatening war if the United States attacks. Democrats are sounding the alarm.
For more on what all this means once again, here's CNN's State Department correspondent, Andrea Koppel.
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SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D-DE), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE MEMBER: I also think that North Korea is equally, equally as urgent a problem as Saddam Hussein at the moment. SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), MINORITY LEADER: North Korea is a grave threat. It seems to grow each day that passes without high level U.S. engagement.
KOPPEL: For the second time this week, the Bush Administration came under congressional fire for not doing more to diffuse a growing crisis on the Korean Peninsula.
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: I see a doctrine that appears to be one of designed neglect.
POWELL: Designed neglect. Well, I don't like that characterization.
KOPPEL: U.S. lawmakers were responding to the latest threats from North Korea.
If the U.S. Launches a surprise attack on our peaceful nuclear facilities, warned North Korea's leaders in their state-run press that will be the cause of all-out war. The White House called this talk of war a real cause for concern. Just last week U.S. officials said satellite images like these appeared to show trucks moving some of North Korea's 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods, indicating another step towards building a nuclear arsenal. But with U.S. and South Korean militaries involved in a live fire exercise, one senior administration official said North Korea may think it's acting in self-defense.
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KOPPEL: As further proof that North Korea may be reacting rather than trying to provoke, Wolf, one senior U.S. official singled out comments made by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday in which he called North Korea, a terrorist regime. This is new, said this official, he said from the North Korean perspective, it appears as if the U.S. is going after them -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Andrea Koppel, once again at the State Department. Andrea, thanks very much.
More news coming up including more on the showdown with Iraq and this, al Qaeda finds a new home to cook up chemical weapons and it's not Iraq. Find out where the terrorist network is setting up shop right now, and where it may be planning to hit next. We'll have the "CNN Exclusive" when we return.
And facing execution, find out who may be put to death after Secretary Powell's address to the United Nations, but first, a look at other news making headlines around the world.
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BLITZER (voice-over): Two trains, one track. A head-on collision between a passenger train and a freight train killed at least five people in Thailand. Forty five others were hurt. Authorities suspect a brake failure on the freight train. Cash control, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, is oppose opposing new international currency controls and price controls. He's battling a two-month general strike aimed at his ouster.
And a seat for caution. With the situation in the Ivory Coast unstable. U.S. military personnel are assessing security at the U.S. Embassy there. There have been large protests, some of them violent against a French brokered plan to end the country's civil war.
A rocker's regrets. They say love means never strong say you're sorry, but singer Courtney Love says she's sorry for the way she behaved. Love was arrested for disruptive behavior after a Virgin Airlines flight from the United States to Britain. She offered her a policy to Virgin boss Richard Branson at a London charity concert.
No laughing matter, comedian John Cleese has won more than $20,000 from a London newspaper that suggested he isn't funny anymore. A British judge called the article a spiteful piece that went beyond the bonds of normal criticism.
The GameBoy is now a "GameMan." Japan's Nintendo company has unveiled a new version of the popular handheld GameBoy console. Its display is brighter, but for some, the main appeal say it looks more like an executive organizer than a toy. One enthusiast says he won't feel embarrassed about playing games on the train.
That's our look around the world.
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BLITZER: While the world's focus is on Iraq, there are now signs al Qaeda has found new training grounds and is eying new targets including Europe for a possible chemical attack. And one of the organizers is believed to be a man Colin Powell talked about only yesterday at the United Nations.
Our CNN senior international correspondent Sheila MacVicar has this exclusive report from Paris.
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Vapor rising from the floor. These images are from Afghanistan obtained by CNN last summer from the al Qaeda's video library. They prove that al Qaeda was experimenting with chemical weapons.
Now European police and judicial sources tell CNN they believe the man behind these experiments can be connected to what officials in several governments complain thwarted attacks in a series in arrests in December in Britain, France and Spain.
Gilles Leclair, coordinates anti-terrorist efforts for the French Ministry of Interior. He says investigators have found a number of common threads connecting the alleged plot. GILLES LECLAIR, FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTRY: We are coming from the same region, most of them are Algerian. Trained in the same place in some camps in Afghanistan or sometimes in Georgia and the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). They are the same trainers.
MACVICAR: First, the trainers. Coalition intelligence sources say this is the voice of one of those trainers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
MACVICAR: His name is Abu Khabab, identified by intelligence sources as the al Qaeda chemist who ran the gas experiments that have destroyed a camp in Afghanistan.
Until now, these officials say, where he has gone and what he was doing is unknown. Now European judicial sources have learned during their investigation that Abu Khabab has been active in a new location, a camp in the Pankisi Gorge, that is the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, near the border with Chechnya.
We asked Gilles Leclair about Abu Khabab.
LECLAIR: Each time the same name is on the table, you know? I cannot say officially that, of course. We do some people (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
MACVICAR: A second thread identified by investigators is this man, Abu Musad Zarqawi.
POWELL: One of his specialties and one of the specialties of this camp is poisons.
MACVICAR: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell singled him out as the, quote, sinister nexus between Iraq and al Qaeda. And Powell said he has established an operational base in Iraq.
(on camera): The European intelligence sources say they have no evidence to support any operational link between al Qaeda's Zarqawi and the Iraqis. But they do agree with the Americans that Zarqawi has been involve in the production of chemical and biological weapons.
(voice-over): Zarqawi, say investigators, is believed to have been working in the same camp in the Pankisi Gorge as Abu Khabab. Their investigation uncovered evidence Zarqawi also trained some of those arrested in Europe.
The third thread, investigators say, is the nature of the alleged plots uncovered in the last two months. British police say they found traces of ricin in this apartment in London in December. A thwarted attack that Powell and Western intelligence agencies say was tied to training provided by Zarqawi.
Near Barcelona, Spain, investigators arrested 15 and found barrels of chemicals, preparations, said Spanish government officials, for a chemical attack somewhere in Europe. And in a series of raids and arrests near Paris, French police say they found a military chemical and biological protection suit. And in this apartment complex, CNN has learned, French authorities discovered cyanide compounds.
But the chemical formula found in Spain and France are different from those recipes found in al Qaeda's operating manuals. An important difference suggesting new expertise.
(on camera): European investigative sources tell CNN they now believe that former specialists in the Russian military are also now working in those camps in the PacifiCare Gorge, passing on their deadly expertise to Islamist extremists.
(voice-over): It is not clear that they are working voluntarily or are being coerced. The Pankisi Gorge is just over the mountains from Chechnya and the Chechen war for independence from Russia. That war, say intelligence sources, is increasingly hijacked by non-Chechen Islamist extremists, searching for a new Afghanistan.
And the Pankisi Gorge, intelligence and investigative sources say, is the hiding place for a chemical and biological weapons program. Judge Jean-Louis Brugiere is France's leading anti-terrorist magistrate.
JEAN-LOUIS BRUGIERE, ANTI-TERRORIST MAGISTRATE: What we see at the present time is more and more connections between Islamic movements which link to al Qaeda. Not only al Qaeda itself, all the movements which share the jihad -- war, have more and more connections with Chechnya. And use this area as a new base to continue as an aircraft carrier -- you know -- to continue the fight against the West.
MACVICAR: European police sources say they still do not know what those arrests over the last two months had allegedly plan to target with their poisonous weapons. What they say they are certain of is a continued and dangerous determination of Islamist extremists to wage war.
Sheila MacVicar, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Solid reporting from Sheila MacVicar.
Iraqi soldiers caught on tape. You heard them during Colin Powell's address to the United Nations yesterday. You heard their voices. Find out why they may be facing execution right now.
And surviving with Alzheimer's, Ronald Reagan hits 92. His son Michael joins us to talk about the president's health and legacy.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: U.S. intelligence officials are warning of potential fallout from Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation to the United nations yesterday. They say it could include the execution of some of the people whose intercepted conversations were used by Powell to show Iraq is thwarting weapons inspectors. Our National Security Correspondent David Ensor is joining us now with details -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, there will be fallout U.S. intelligence officials say including the possible loss of some intelligence sources and maybe some punishment for certain Iraqis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR (voice-over): Take the tape of the colonel and Captain Ibrahim, talking about how they must remove all references to nerve agents in their wireless instruction. As Secretary Powell noted they feared somebody might be listening and somebody was.
U.S. officials say such junior officers revealed more than they should have on relatively unsecured communications channels and could face punishment which in Iraq, one official said, could even include execution. And, of course, such communications channels may be harder to monitor from now on.
The U.S. also tipped its hand about surveillance photos. For instance, when Secretary Powell said in this photo the decontamination truck was a signature item showing the chemical weapons were present. Officials say such trucks could soon be disguised to look like something else, as the U.S. says Iraqi mobile biological labs already are.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: Powell also referred a lot to human intelligence, information from spies inside Iraq. But U.S. officials say they're confident he revealed nothing that could be traced to any specific agent.
After hearing so much about spies, though, Iraqi security could turn up the heat, generally, one officials said. But he said, "They're much more likely to kill their own loyalists than to get," as he put it, "our guys" -- Wolf.
BLITZER: I take it that, David, the secretary of state knew that there could be execution of these Iraqi troops, these sort of mid- level soldiers out there for getting caught saying stupid things. But what? They decided they didn't care?
ENSOR: These are not American agents. These are Iraqi Republican Guard officers and there's not a whole lot of sympathy for them.
BLITZER: So there's not going be a whole lot of tears shed for these guys?
ENSOR: If they're executed that doesn't bother the United States government very much.
BLITZER: David Ensor, with solid reporting as usual. Thanks very much.
Dealing with Alzheimer's and celebrating a 92nd birthday, Ronald Reagan's son Michael joins us to talk about both. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER (voice-over): Earlier we asked: "What gift did Ronald Reagan give Saddam Hussein?" The answer: golden spurs. They were hand delivered by his then special envoy Donald Rumsfeld in 1983 when he met with the Iraqi leader.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: There was then a very different relationship between the United States and Iraq, obviously.
America's oldest living former president, Ronald Reagan, is marking a milestone today. It's his 92nd birthday. President Reagan is celebrating with a quiet gathering of family and friends at his home in California. He's suffering, of course, from Alzheimer's.
Just a short while ago, I spoke with President Reagan's oldest son about how his father was doing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Michael Reagan, as usual, thank you very much for joining us. Your dad's 92-years-old today. A lot of our viewers love him, want to know how is he doing?
MICHAEL REAGAN, RONALD REAGAN'S OLDEST SON: Well, he's got a terrible disease, you know, Wolf, and we talked about it before. Alzheimer's, which affects 6 to 7, 8 million people in this country. It's a disease where you don't get better and there's no cure for it at this time and so as I saw him on Saturday and -- you know, in bed, and just sitting there holding his hand and really, literally just praying over him. I just prayed that he is comfortable and Nancy has kept him that way.
BLITZER: Does he know Nancy? Does he know you? Does he recognize you?
REAGAN: If he does, he can't communicate it. I really don't think he does anymore. And, I mean, that is a sad thing, but my relationship with my father was so great and so wonderful when he got into this position that I feel somehow, you know, comforted that our relationship was so good.
BLITZER: What about physically, as opposed to the Alzheimer's, the rest of his body? Is it increasingly, obviously, getting very weak? REAGAN: Wolf, he still has dark, black hair. You know, I look at him and if you were to look at him, you'd swear he was the picture of health at 92 years of age. He just can't communicate, and that's the sad thing.
So, on one hand you look and say, you know, Let's go out and throw the ball. On the other hand, you know that he can't throw the ball. He can't really even walk today. So it's -- you look at him and say, Gosh, what's going on here? And you wonder, is it a good thing that he's so physically healthy because that's what's also keeping him alive, which is good, but then some people feel maybe it's time for him to go home.
BLITZER: And I was reminded of him this week, unfortunately reminded of the 1986 reaction that he had to the Challenger given what's happened to the Columbia. Talk a little bit how your dad might have reacted now in the aftermath of this second space shuttle disaster?
REAGAN: I think my dad would have said that George W. Bush just did a super job, really in having been there himself, I think he would have been very proud of George W. Bush, as he would have been so proud of his dear friend Colin Powell yesterday in the United Nations laying out all of the information you have about Iraq. I think he would have felt proud that, in fact, George W. Bush was there at the White House with he was president of the United States and, of course, Colin Powell was there when he was president of the United States, that these people carry on really my dad's legacy, but at the same time build their legacy for the future.
He would have felt a lot of pride in the way George Bush would have handled it, and sadness that we would have lost seven more members of a crew that went into outer space.
BLITZER: All right. But he would still support continued space exploration by men and women.
REAGAN: Oh, absolutely, he would have supported it, as he said back in 1986, he would have been right with the president of the United States, George W. Bush, today and said Yes, we need to keep going forward, not to stop it. We need to go forward.
BLITZER:: Before I let you go, Michael, there's some speculation you're thinking of running for the Senate against Barbara Boxer in 2004.
REAGAN: Oh, some people have brought it up, Wolf, but I don't know if I want to give up the pay decrease that it would take to run for the Senate of the United States.
I love doing radio. It's something probably I was born to, mainly because that's where my father started. If I run for office in the future, that's in the future. But right now, I just am going to stick with the radio program and talking about Barbara Boxer.
BLITZER: All right. So 2004 against Barbara Boxer, that's a no, is that right?
REAGAN: That's a no.
BLITZER: All right. Michael Reagan. Give our best to your mom and your dad on this special day.
REAGAN: I certainly will, Wolf. Thank you very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And time to hear for directly from you, some of our e- mail. Let's get right to it.
Kevin writes this: "If the U.S. is going to be dropping bombs in Iraq but is unsure of where any chemical and biological weapons facilities may be, isn't highly likely that we will contaminate our own troops, not to mention the general population of Iraq? I am for war, but I am not for a Holocaust."
Jody writes: "The reporting on what may happen to the remains of our troops, should they encounter chemical or biological weapons, is unbelievably cruel to those of us whose sons, daughters and husbands are stationed in the Middle East. It's difficult enough for us to deal with the possibility of losing our loved ones without the media bringing up this time of gruesome scenario." That is a picture I need to visualize -- "that is not a picture," excuse me,"I need to visualize when thinking of my son."
That's a good point.
Mary asked this: "I notice on your list of presidents to be admired that Jimmy Carter was not listed. Why? Because he is a peacemaker or because he is too decent a human being?"
We thought that we would ask only the opinions of the four most recent presidents. But you make a good point as well, Mary.
Speaking of that poll that we have, here's how you're weighing in so far in the "Web Question of the Day." Which president do you admire most? Ronald Reagan, George Herbert Walker Bush, Bill Clinton or George W. Bush? Look at these results so far: 18 percent of you say Ronald Reagan, 2 percent the first president, 63 percent of you say Bill Clinton, 17 percent of you say the current President Bush.
Remember, you can find the exact vote tally. Continue to vote, by the way. Go on to my Web page, cnn.com/wolf. Remember, this is not a scientific poll. We'll leave the question up there for the time being.
That's all of the time we have, though, today. Please join me again tomorrow 5:00 p.m. Eastern. And don't forget, "SHOWDOWN IRAQ," weekdays, noon Eastern.
Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" is up next. We turn it over to Lou now in New York -- Lou.
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