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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Army Changes 'Weapons Lab' Story

Aired April 15, 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.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening from a very blustery Baghdad. I'm Christiane Amanpour.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Miles O'Brien at the CNN center in Atlanta. Wolf Blitzer is off today.

Yesterday, the Army said it was sure it had found a mobile chemical/biological weapons laboratory in Iraq. Now their story has changed dramatically.

Our Ryan Chilcote is at the site.

American promises were not good enough for thousands of Iraqis who came to protest the first planning meeting for their future government.

Our John Vause is there, and his is the face of innocent suffering. Now this boy, maimed by the war in Iraq, is getting some help from doctors. We'll tell you about his story.

Now back to Christiane in Baghdad.

AMANPOUR: Well, Miles, today was yet another example of how tense this situation still is.

The day began with the Marines, who were stationed around this hotel as well as in other parts of town. Coming into the Palestine Hotel and going room to room, they had their weapons drawn. They had masks on their face. In some cases, they knocked on the doors. In others, they bashed them down.

They were looking, they said, for people hostile to U.S. forces and perhaps for weapons caches. Well, they didn't find any in the hotel, but they did elsewhere -- quite near in another building.

And in the meantime, there still is no political authority here, and there is still a security vacuum.

The Marines in this part of town are stepping in to fill that void.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR (voice-over): From fighting force to restoring civil order, the U.S. Marines in Baghdad are trying to make that transition and help Iraq get back on its feet. Here, the Marines have brought together many engineers and administrators from the ministry of water. Restoring that basic amenity is a priority.

AMANPOUR (on camera): The U.S. Marine Corps wrote the book on restoring civil order after wars. It's called the "Small Wars Manual," and they've never done anything this big before. Baghdad alone is a city of five million people. It's going to be, they say, a gigantic task.

LT. COL. BRYAN MCCOY, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I have no idea. I've never done this before, but we're chipping away at it. We're making great progress today.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Colonel McCoy's Marines are also now stepping into some police work. Here, stopping a robbery at the Iraqi Central Bank.

LT. EDWARD LANGELLO, U.S. MARINE CORPS: The guys had brand new bills, dollars, whatever they call them -- dinar, I believe they call them. They had stacks of dinar in their pockets, which were brand new. And they came out of the vault, which was on fire and had recently been blown.

So -- two and two together. They're robbers.

Basically, we're sending the message that, hey, you can't do this anymorein Iraq. It's over.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): And that's certainly what most residents want to hear. Every day, from just about everyone we meet, we hear urgent demands for more security.

Meantime, the Baghdad police force is still trying to organize itself for the first foot patrols onto the streets of their newly liberated city.

Some have this message for the U.S.

CAPT. AHMED SALAH, IRAQI POLICE FORCE: Iraqi people don't want the Americans to stay here.

AMANPOUR (on camera): But why not?

SALAH: They came here to liberation. Okay? Not to stay here.

AMANPOUR (on camera): It's a message that's not lost on Colonel MCoy and his team.

MCCOY: One day we're a liberator. The next day we're an occupying force which nobody wants to be occupied. That could be six months, or it could be six days.

A lot of it has to do with whether we're perceived as ugly Americans, whether we try and present ourselves as authority figures. And the key to that is getting control back into the Iraqi peoples' hands.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Fresh from that robbery that continued after the Marines left, Lieutenant. Edward Langello has a blunter message for the Iraqis.

LANGELLO: You need to get up -- you, the Iraqi people need to get up -- and start taking charge of your own nation. I mean America did that a long time ago and look where we are today.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Perhaps reflecting the U.S. administration's vision of trying to recreate the Middle East in its own image.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Now the Marines have been in quite a few positions around this city and when they're not out on the streets, when they're not doing their work, they're trying to relax and catch up with eating and other such things.

And today, we caught up with some of them who are at one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces. In fact, it belonged to one of his former wives. They were relaxing there, but the tensions that exist are not lost on those Marines either because today, they did send out flyers -- thousands of them -- that were printed in both Arabic and in English, basically warning the people of Baghdad to stay indoors at times like this, at night and at dusk, because they said there are hostile forces here in Baghdad, and the Marines did not want to mistake innocent Iraqis for those who would do them harm.

They also said that any Iraqis trying to approach any military positions should do so in an open manner, announce themselves, and do not carry anything that could be mistaken for a weapon.

Now, weapons of mass destruction -- the motivation for this war -- the hunt for those is still on, but we have an update on a story we reported last night.

The 101st Airborne, a general told CNN, that they thought that they had found 11 mobile chemical and biological warfare labs -- mobile labs, they said, near Karbala south of Baghdad.

Well today, a senior Army officer is saying that those were not, in fact, weapons of mass destruction sites. CNN's Ryan Chilcote has an update. ( (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the aftermath of fighting near the city of Karbala, the 101st Airborne Division found at least 10 cargo containers of laboratory equipment buried in close proximity to a warehouse of artillery shells.

Their initial findings -- that they had found dual-use chemical and biological labs, possible elements of an Iraqi chemical and biological program. Their hunch, later discarded by a follow-on team of experts.

C.W.O. MONTE GONZALES, U.S. ARMY: Based on what we've seen here, all these containers are full of millions of dollars worth of very high-tech equipment, but it appears that everything inside of there, while it is possible that it has a dual use, it appears to be used for the future construction of additional conventional munitions production on this site.

CHILCOTE: This is not the first false alarm of the war. Another suspect site produced signs of nerve agent that turned out later to be a high-grade pesticide. Things in Iraq are rarely what they appear to be at first glance.

GONZALES: Figuring this out, it's like a Scooby Doo mystery and our best assessment is the stuff was covered up for either survivability in anticipation of a coalition attack or to prevent looting -- plain and simple.

CHILCOTE (on camera): The Mobile Exploitation Team Alpha, the U.S. Army's most senior experts in country, will now move on to other sites. They say they will eventually find what they're looking for.

Ryan Chilcote, CNN, with the 101st Airborne Division near Karbala, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Now the hunt is also on for a political framework -- a political framework to run and rule Iraq in the future. And today, a small exploratory step was taken -- again, in a town south of Baghdad.

There were Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, and other Iraqi exiles who turned up, and later the U.S. Central Command issued a statement saying that they had agreed to a democratic and federal future. But not everybody who was at that meeting -- indeed many who had boycotted that meeting -- are not cheering this first, small step towards trying to figure out the political future for Iraq.

CNN's John Vause has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the first of many meetings which the U.S. will hold around Iraq -- the meeting with Iraqi opposition groups as well as exile groups. And they describe it as, basically, an informal chat -- a chance to listen to their views as they work towards forming this interim Iraqi authority.

But already the deep divisions within this community are beginning to emerge. We know that the majority Shiites have banned or boycotted attending this meeting although a number of Shiites did, in fact, show up. But the majority did not.

We also know that Ahmed Chalabi, the leader of the Iraqi National Congress -- that exile group who many see as a possible future leader of Iraq -- he did not attend this, and he sent a delegate to this meeting in his place.

Now getting back to the Shiite Muslims -- we know that earlier today here in Nasiriya, thousands protested in the streets. They feel that, basically, they're already being left out.

This is not a good sign for the United States. This is the first meeting, and already we're seeing the first big demonstration. They believe that their voices are not being heard. That they're not -- they're basically protesting this meeting which is taking place just a few miles away from the city center of Nasiriya.

There are many, many issues for these opposition groups and Iraqi leaders to tackle in the coming months, mainly how long will the United States stay here. What kind of interim authority it will be, what kind of government it will ultimately take place -- will take over, basically, from Jay Garner, the retired U.S. Army general who is now in charge, according to the Pentagon, for rebuilding Iraq. Many issues as well. Many Iraqis do not want the coalition forces to stay.

Many, though, do want coalition forces to stay to try and prevent looting and to try and provide some kind of security. A lot of looting, a lot of crimes committed since the fall of the Baath Party and Saddam Hussein, so many people hoping that the United States and Britain will stay here in the short term, but it seems that nobody wants the United States here for any period of time. In fact, they say an Iraqi government which is not led by Iraqis is nothing more than colonization.

AMANPOUR: And even here in Baghdad, perhaps especially here in Baghdad, the capital, we've heard many, many people expressing concerns, worries, eagerness about a new political future. We've seen banners out here in the street on a quite regular basis saying we want a new government as soon as possible -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Sounds like a breath of fresh air, Christiane. We'll talk a little bit more about that later. Thanks very much.

So what's the next step for the Middle East? Will the U.S. turn its sights on Iraq's neighbor? We'll ask former U.N. ambassador Bill Richardson all about that, live picture of him there.

Also, POW Jessica Lynch rescued in part -- with help by the CIA. Find out how the secret spy agency helped set her free.

Plus, the bodes of a mother and infant found. Could it be a grim clue in the Laci Peterson case in Northern California?

And a glimmer of hope: a poster boy of Iraqi casualties gets a second chance on life, but first these other images from the war zone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: So. What next in Iraq? What next in the region? There are many people in the Bush administration who foresee nothing less than a transformation of the Middle East. To talk about that possibility, we turn now to former U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson, now the governor of New Mexico. Governor Richardson, good to have you with us.

GOV. BILL RICHARDSON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR: Thank you, Miles. Nice to be with you.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's start at the beginning. There are 22 Arab nations. Not a one of them is a democracy. What do you think the likelihood is that the U.S. can forge a nation-building program that leaves a democracy in Iraq?

RICHARDSON: Well, we start almost with a clean slate. There's enormous opportunity, getting Iraqi local leaders together to talk about religious freedom, democratic institutions, compensation to families harmed by the past Iraqi regime. Some type of elections. I think this has to be the next step. If we can make Iraq a great example of democracy in a non-democratic Arab world after a military effort, I think it would be a very good signal to democratize -- and for other Arab governments, as Saudi Arabia's trying to do, to continue a democratic process that has been absent there.

O'BRIEN: So you see nothing less than the possibility of an uprising of freedom all throughout the Arab world? Is that really possible?

RICHARDSON: Well, Miles, I don't think it's an uprising of freedom. I think we start with Iraq. I think Saudi Arabia is a key country in the region, then democratizing, as Prince Abdullah is trying to do on a gradual basis, I think is important. We have enormous bridges to build in the Arab world. We have got to reach out -- the Egypts, to the Arab populations which are -- a majority are under 20 years old, a part of the world that is alienated, but is important to our interests.

I think we have to take a number of diplomatic steps, now that we have won the military effort, I think we can win the Arab world with diplomacy, with sensitivity, and with pushes for democracy throughout the region.

O'BRIEN: So you would contend, then, that the U.S. does now have more leverage in the Middle East?

RICHARDSON: We do have more leverage. We have leverage to tell Syria that they've got to stop harboring Iraqi terrorists or else. We'll use economic sanctions. I think with -- we've got energy leverage, the fact that we now control the Iraqi oilfields. It should be the Iraqis that run it, but the fact that Iraq is a major oil supplier, I think gives us more flexibility in dealing with OPEC countries on issues like oil prices, but I think what is really needed, Miles, is a diplomatic effort. I would reach out to Iran. I would say, All right. Let's talk about weapons of mass destruction and nuclear proliferation.

It's a new region. You don't have Iraq as a hostile neighbor. Let's talk about our differences. Let's find ways to have the International Atomic Energy Agency look at weapons of mass destruction in Iran and North Korea. I think now we can use diplomatic tools instead of military tools, but the fact that our military was so successful gives us that leverage that I believe we need to make a difference, and move the region more democratic, stabilize it more, and basically turn these Arab countries into looking favorably towards the United States, because right now they're not.

O'BRIEN: How much does the ongoing issue, the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians just gnaw away at what you just laid out there, and what can the U.S. do? Does it have any additional leverage on that front, post-Iraq?

RICHARDSON: We do have additional leverage, and we can show our commitment to a Middle East peace by getting the Israelis and Palestinians together under U.S. auspices. I would send an American envoy, Secretary Powell, to immediately try to bridge differences and try to set up a framework for over five years, some kind of a Middle East peace.

This would show Arab countries that we are not just locked in in a relationship with our great ally Israel, and we will always stand behind Israel, but I think now is the time, with the fluid situation in the Middle East, with our leverage to move forward aggressively and rapidly to try to keep that momentum, and get a Middle East peace process going. Only us can do it. It can't be the U.N. It can't be European envoys. I think it has to be the United States, and I would move immediately in that.

O'BRIEN: All right. Those are big themes. Lots to do there, not just nation building, we are talking region building. Governor Bill Richardson, thanks very much for being with us -- we appreciate it.

RICHARDSON: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: All right. We'll have up-to-the-minute war coverage all throughout the hour, including live reports from Baghdad with Christiane Amanpour. Plus, a woman and an infant found dead in San Francisco Bay. Is it related to the Laci Peterson case? We'll have the latest on the investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back. I'm Miles O'Brien. Coming up we'll go live to Baghdad for the latest, but first this story making headlines right here in the United States. The loved ones of Laci Peterson, missing since Christmas Eve, may have an excruciatingly long wait to learn whether a coroner confirms their worst fears. CNN's Paul Vercammen standing by in Martinez with the latest. Hello, Paul.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, here's what's happening. The coroner here has performed a four-hour autopsy, and as of yet cannot ID the skeletal remains of a female and the skeletal remains of a baby boy that turned up in the San Francisco Bay. They are still working on that right now. Too early to call. Of course, the obvious link is could this be the body of Laci Peterson and her to be had baby boy?

We should also note, there's another development here. Oakland resident walking near the Berkeley Marina yesterday found a bone. It is not yet known if this is a human bone, and now that is in the hands of the Contra Costa coroner, and they are now examining what link this may have to the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY LEE, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT. SPOKESMAN: This person came across the bone at the shore. He brought it home and contacted the authorities and we took possession of it.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

LEE: Well, what we're trying to find out whether it's a human bone and whether or not it is related to the others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And how this possibly could be related, as there have been reports that the female skeleton was missing its legs and its head, and it could be possibly that this bone belonged to that skeleton. All of this, of course, has to be looked into by the authorities.

We should note that all of these skeletal remains were found in or around the Berkeley Marina. All of it in San Francisco Bay, all of it very close, all of it governed by the same tide.

Scott Peterson, Laci's husband, was said to have been fishing on Christmas Eve in the Berkeley Marina on the day that she disappeared. They're going to call into this case a special forensic pathologist who specializes in what's called alluviating decay or decomposition. And this person, it is believed, will be able to tell how long the body had been there and whether or not there was any trauma endured by the skeletal remains.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: It's a specialist in what's called alluviating damage, and essentially that person will analyze the body and should be able to tell us roughly how long that body has been in the water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And if there was some sort of separation, let's say, by the skull from the rest of the body, this person would also be able to determine that, and if that separation was just sort of a natural cause or if there had been some sort of a willful decapitation. All of these elements will come out hopefully within the next few days. We should note that the coroner here says he will make no more statements today.

Reporting live from Martinez, California, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Paula. Modesto police will hold a news conference, this evening, 7:00 Eastern time, 4:00 Pacific. CNN will bring it to you live.

President Bush changes focus. With the war winding down, the White House decides it's the economy again.

Also, glimmer of hope. Find out what's happening now to the boy who has captured the world's attention.

And that CIA rescue. Find out how the agency used an Iraqi spy to help free Private Jessica Lynch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back. I'm Miles O'Brien. Welcome to our up- to-the-minute coverage of the war in Iraq. In a moment President Bush changes gear from the war to the economy. We'll bring you that, but first some breaking news for you. CNN's David Ensor in Washington, our national security correspondent, reporting the arrest of a rather notorious terrorist figure -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Miles. CNN can now report that Abu Abbas, that's the nom de guerre of Mohammed Abbas, the notorious Palestinian terrorist who was convicted of murder in the case of the Achille Lauro hijacking and the murder of Leon Klinghoffer in 1985 has been captured by U.S. forces in or near Baghdad. This was the Italian ship that was taken -- was captured by Palestinian terrorists back in 1985 and some may remember the story of Leon Klinghoffer. He was -- he was in a wheelchair and the terrorists shot him and then pushed him over the side of the ship into the Mediterranean where he -- where he obviously died.

This man, Abu Abbas, has lived an itinerant life. He's been in Tunis. He's been in Libya and most recently he's been living under the protection of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad but he is wanted for murder in Italy. There are charges, U.S. charges, which have expired but could I'm told possibly be re-started for piracy, hostage taking and conspiracy. So this is one of the oldest cases of terrorism, that is one of the oldest cases that has not been closed to date but now looks as if this man, Abu Abbas, is in U.S. hands.

Miles...

O'BRIEN: David, pretty big fish there. Do you have any sense from your sources as to whether this was an accidental type find or was there some sense of this might be discovered upon entry into Baghdad?

ENSOR: You know, it was known that he was living in Baghdad and in fact last year he gave an interview to a reporter from the New York Times. He was -- he was hidden in plain sight you might say in Baghdad and he had said that he was not going to try and run away and in fact he claimed that he would help the Iraqis fight the Americans if it came to that. So it doesn't seem that he was trying to get away and he has been -- has been captured at this point I'm reliably told by U.S. officials.

O'BRIEN: Interesting and the jurisdictional issues, any prediction as to where this will wind up?

ENSOR: Very good question and I haven't been able to talk to Italian authorities who obviously want him for murder on an Italian ship and how the justice department is going to deal with it. That's all up in the air at this point. So far it's just the people on the ground in Iraq who are doing their job and they have taken this man in. The jurisdictional questions will now have to be settled.

Miles ...

O'BRIEN: David Ensor at our bureau in Washington, thank you very much. Just to reiterate, Abu Abbas, the alleged mastermind of the Achille Lauro hijacking and the murder -- alleged murder of Leon Klinghoffer captured by U.S. military personnel in Baghdad.

(NEWS ALERT)

O'BRIEN: With the war in Iraq winding down, the Bush Administration is beginning to shift gears. One result, a renewed focus on the economy. Let's go live to CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux with the latest on all this.

Hello, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi. Well, President Bush today said that victory in Iraq is certain but it is not complete. The focus now is to help the Iraqis establish their own interim government at the same time to find and destroy those alleged weapons of mass destruction inside of Iraq and despite the war's successes there is a sense of caution here at the White House not to repeat the fate of Bush, Sr. who won Gulf War number one in 1991 but lost his re-election bid amid a sluggish economy.

With the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime, President Bush is looking forward in Iraq and at home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The regime of Saddam Hussein is no more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Today Mr. Bush and French President Jacques Chirac took steps towards reconciliation speaking by phone for the first time since the beginning of the war. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Germany leader Gerhard Schroeder also agreed to make an effort to put their differences aside. While Mr. Bush acknowledges there is unfinished business in Iraq, he turned his focus on America's tax day to fixing the sagging economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: The nation needs quick action by our Congress on a pro- growth economic package. We need tax relief totaling at least $550 billion to make sure our economy grows. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The President initially proposed a $726 billion tax cut package and acknowledged for the first time it was dead. The Bush Administration argues a bigger tax cut will create more jobs and strengthen the economy but the House approved only 550 billion, the Senate even less, 350. Moderate republicans and most democrats say Bush's tax cut would only benefit the wealthiest Americans and increase the federal deficit. The White House hopes the President's success with Iraq and his high popularity will influence Congress to move closer to his figure but as expected, his opponents aren't budging.

Democratic Senator John Breaux said the President is wisely moving on this but political popularity can only carry a bad idea so far and a spokesman for Senator Olympia Snowe said she believes 350 billion reflects what may be the highest number in tax cuts a majority of the Senate will support.

While the White House acknowledges that the military battle may be subsiding, the President's focus on the tax cut battle will only intensify.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a good fight ahead when it comes to how to provide growth for the economy and the President's going to engage in it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Well, tomorrow President Bush takes his economic stimulus package on the road. He'll be traveling to Saint Louis to a Boeing factory where he'll be selling his tax cut plan. We're also told that cabinet members and other White House officials will be fanning across America, some 46 states in the next couple of weeks to do the same. The President is also going to be signing that war supplemental clearing the way for $80 billion to supply the cost of the war.

Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thank you very much.

Here's your turn to weigh in on the war in Iraq. Our web question of the day is what should President Bush's top priority be now; rebuilding Iraq, the economy, domestic security? We'll have the results later in this broadcast. We invite you to vote at cnn.com/wolf.

And while you're there, we'd like to hear from you. Send us your comments. Time permitting we might read some of them at the end of the program. That's also of course where you'll find Wolf's daily online column, All That, at cnn.com/wolf.

Now to Christiane Amanpour in Baghdad.

AMANPOUR: Miles, just a note on Mohammed Abu Abbas, we're hearing now that an Arabic web site that provides Middle Eastern news reported a couple of days ago that in fact Abu Abbas had tried apparently according to Palestinian sources to flee Iraq towards Syria. According to these same sources, Syria had refused him entry.

And just another note, there were two notorious terrorists here. There was Abu Abbas and Abu Nidal. Abu Nidal, as we know, is dead. He died either by suicide or he was murdered by the Iraqi forces here back last summer.

Now on another note, we have been reporting a couple of times now the plight of a young 12 year old boy, a little Baghdad boy named Ali Abbas whose plight seemed to symbolize the suffering of the civilian population here during the bombing. Ali was badly, badly wounded and CNN received hundreds of calls and hundreds of e-mails offering the boy help. Well, now he's getting some help and CNN's Rula Amin has an update on his condition.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He lies in a hospital in pain, too much pain he says. He whole torso is burnt and he lost both arms. It happened, says his family, when a missile hit his home in the middle of the night at the beginning of the war. He is surrounded by his uncles and aunts but not his mother or father or his two sisters and brother. They were all killed in the same attack.

His uncle tells him it's God's will. His aunt tells him not to cry but she herself is in tears even before she finishes her sentence. She was in the house next door.

We could hear the plane flying over our homes for more than 10 minutes but I didn't think they will hit us.

An uncle who was pulled out of the same rubble says that there is nothing military around their area and so they felt safe.

It's all farmland around us and we didn't even think that we could be hit. We just stayed in our beds.

When we asked Ali what he wanted now, he said I want new arms.

Many have offered to help to take him out of Iraq. He says he will go anywhere, but not to the U.S. They did this to me he said. They killed my whole family.

Late in the afternoon after three weeks since he suffered these terrible wounds Ali was evacuated from the hospital in a Red Crescent ambulance on his way to Kuwait under heavy protection from the U.S. Marines.

Rula Amin, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE) O'BRIEN: So how did the CIA help in the rescue of Private Jessica Lynch? We'll have exclusive details and you don't need a security clearance to hear them.

Also, the father of another accused or excuse me, rescued POW speaks. We'll hear from Shoshana Johnson's father when our coverage continues. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: One of the most daring events, excuse me, of the Iraq war was the rescue of Army Private Jessica Lynch. Sources tell CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr that a key reason the mission was successful was due to the role of a CIA operative. Barbara joins us now live at the Pentagon with the real life spy story.

Barbara ...

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Indeed Miles, CNN has learned today that it was a CIA operative that the agency sent into that hospital in Iraq, a trusted operative, an Iraqi already on the CIA payroll. He was sent in with a hidden video camera provided by the defense intelligence agency to tape the interior of the building. Now this would become the final piece of critical information for the commandos who were sent to Private First Class Jessica Lynch. Let's be clear.

The video we're seeing here of course is that night scope video taken by the Special Forces team as the rescue unfolded but what we have learned today is that in the 72 hours before her rescue, before this mission, the U.S. Intelligence Community was getting whispers about her location. Two enemy prisoners of war had offered information that she was initially being held somewhere else. Then of course there was a local friendly Iraqi now well known he informed Marines that she was at this hospital but it turns out it was the CIA operative that provided the key verification taking a hidden video camera into the hospital, taping the interior so the Special Forces team could see the whole layout, know exactly where they were going, know exactly what types of opposition they would face and they even had the blueprints of the hospital we've learned.

Now once this rescue unfolded of course it was done by Navy Seals, Army Rangers, Air Force Special Operations and Marines and in fact just oddly enough by the time they got to the hospital most of the Iraqi fighters has disappeared and run away but it wasn't until today that we learned the CIA played a pivotal role and just how well planned out this mission was underscoring that when you look at Special Forces missions they really aren't James Bond. They really aren't Hollywood. These are very carefully planned out missions by very careful men who like to know exactly what they're facing before they go into a situation.

Miles.

O'BRIEN: Well, it may not be Hollywood but it seems like this story definitely is destined for Hollywood. Thank you very much Barbara Starr. I appreciate it.

With the war winding down, the world is certainly entering a new phase in geopolitical relations. Wolf Blitzer who's done a marathon of reporting since the fighting started leaves us with some final thoughts. That and more when we return. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Well, here's a story. CNN's Wolf Blitzer is not on the air today. He's heading back to Washington after more than a month in the Persian Gulf never taking a day off on the air some nine hours a day. He is definitely our energizer bunny here. Before leaving Doha, Qatar home of the U.S. military's headquarters during the Iraq war, he had some final thoughts on how the world has changed over the past month.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: At least in the short term, U.S. clout around the world has clearly increased. Many of President Bush's critics in Europe and the Arab world doubted he had the political guts to defy their opposition and go to war against Saddam Hussein's regime. They thought incorrectly. The public concerns raised by the leaders of Germany, France and Russia as well as U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan and Chief U.N. Weapons Inspectors Hans Blix and Mohammed ElBaradei would give the President pause. They also thought the world wide demonstrations against a war would bolster their stance. They were wrong and they've now learned to take President Bush's warnings more seriously. As several European and Arab officials and journalists have told me in recent weeks, this is a president who apparently means what he says.

As a result, leaders of the other so-called access of evil nations, Iran and North Korea, have clearly perked up. They and Syria, Libya, Sudan, Cuba and other nations the State Department brands as sponsors of terrorism have good reason to be alarmed. The Syrians in particular should be concerned. It's not just the intelligence cited by the Bush Administration suggesting Syria is harboring Saddam Hussein's former cronies or perhaps even some of his weapons of mass destruction. It's also not just the U.S.'s suspicion that Syria allowed so called Arab and Muslim volunteers to cross into Iraq in recent weeks with suicide vests to attack U.S. troops.

There's more to U.S. anger. For many top Bush Administration officials, Syria's support for Hezbollah, which the State Department calls a terrorist organization, and other militant Palestinian groups is not all that different than the former Taliban regime support for al Qaeda in Afghanistan. I've heard them say that.

So President Bush now has a unique opportunity to use his newly found respect, grudging as it may be, to advance his international agenda. Already we're seeing the North Korean regime begin to backtrack from its refusal to enter into multi-lateral discussions on its nuclear weapons program. Earlier the regime of Kim Jung Il had insisted on only direct talks with the United States but with this heightened respect comes an enormous challenge, namely to try to help create a new democratic and stable society, one that could serve as an example for the rest of the region. No easy task.

Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Doha, Qatar.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Well, last we saw Christiane Amanpour she was on the phone working her sources. She has a little more information for us about the capture of Abu Abbas.

Christiane.

AMANPOUR: Yes. I'm sorry about that Miles but what we were hearing was that a PLO source and this again is to comment more on what David Ensor told you a little bit earlier tonight. A PLO source is saying that their preliminary information says that in the last day or two, either today or yesterday, Mohammed Abu Abbas tried to drive towards Syria and there he was turned back. It's not clear why, whether it was because of who he was or whether there was some irregularity with the driver's papers. We're not sure why but we're told he was sent back and he was on his way back to Baghdad and apparently there was stopped and picked up by U.S. forces in Romadi (ph) which is about 50 miles west of Baghdad on the road towards Jordan and indeed Syria as well. Again these are very preliminary information from a source on the PLO executive committee.

O'BRIEN: Christiane, I'm interested in a final thought from you if you have a moment. This is going to be hard to squeeze in but you've had a lot of experience on another story in recent memory, the downfall of the Milosevic regime. I'm curious what parallels you see between what happened in Serbia and what's going on right now in Baghdad.

AMANPOUR: Well, I think in Baghdad it's very profound just as it was in Serbia. I mean Serbia was slightly less tyrannical. It was authoritarian but not such a dictatorship and such a tyranny and hadn't existed for as long as the Saddam regime had. I think what's been very interesting is there has been these celebrations. They are thankful for having been liberated. It's still not as overwhelming and dancing and chanting in the streets that people had hoped but I think they have very serious concerns for their future. They're very happy to have been freed from this tyranny and they now want to make sure that the U.S. and the rest of the world helps them map out a good decent future.

O'BRIEN: That's a tough course you just put out there though, for the U.S. to walk that tightrope. I guess I've got to leave it there. We're out of time unfortunately.

Christiane Amanpour, thank you very much.

What should President Bush's top priority be now? Rebuilding Iraq, the economy, domestic security? You still have a chance to vote. The results of our web question of the day will be revealed in just a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The son of an Iraqi diplomat in New York faces charges that he illegally aided Iraqi intelligence officers inside the U.S. Rahib Rokan Al Abookay (ph) appeared in a New York court today. A plea was not entered but the attorney for the 28 year old denies the charges. The defense attorney said his client may have been pressured to gain information from his father about Iraq's program of weapons of mass destruction. Al Abookay (ph) is formerly accused of failing to register with the Justice Department as an agent for a foreign government.

Now, here's how you're weighing in on our web question of the day. Remember we've been asking you this question. What should President Bush's top priority be now? Twenty-four percent of you say rebuilding Iraq, 63 percent say the economy, 14 percent domestic security. You can find the exact vote tally and continue to vote by the way on our web site cnn.com/wolf and remember this is not a scientific poll.

That's all the time we have. I'm Miles O'Brien at the CNN Center in for Wolf Blitzer. A reminder, you can watch Wolf Blitzer reports each weekday 5 p.m. Eastern Time.

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 April 15, 2003 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening from a very blustery Baghdad. I'm Christiane Amanpour.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Miles O'Brien at the CNN center in Atlanta. Wolf Blitzer is off today.

Yesterday, the Army said it was sure it had found a mobile chemical/biological weapons laboratory in Iraq. Now their story has changed dramatically.

Our Ryan Chilcote is at the site.

American promises were not good enough for thousands of Iraqis who came to protest the first planning meeting for their future government.

Our John Vause is there, and his is the face of innocent suffering. Now this boy, maimed by the war in Iraq, is getting some help from doctors. We'll tell you about his story.

Now back to Christiane in Baghdad.

AMANPOUR: Well, Miles, today was yet another example of how tense this situation still is.

The day began with the Marines, who were stationed around this hotel as well as in other parts of town. Coming into the Palestine Hotel and going room to room, they had their weapons drawn. They had masks on their face. In some cases, they knocked on the doors. In others, they bashed them down.

They were looking, they said, for people hostile to U.S. forces and perhaps for weapons caches. Well, they didn't find any in the hotel, but they did elsewhere -- quite near in another building.

And in the meantime, there still is no political authority here, and there is still a security vacuum.

The Marines in this part of town are stepping in to fill that void.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR (voice-over): From fighting force to restoring civil order, the U.S. Marines in Baghdad are trying to make that transition and help Iraq get back on its feet. Here, the Marines have brought together many engineers and administrators from the ministry of water. Restoring that basic amenity is a priority.

AMANPOUR (on camera): The U.S. Marine Corps wrote the book on restoring civil order after wars. It's called the "Small Wars Manual," and they've never done anything this big before. Baghdad alone is a city of five million people. It's going to be, they say, a gigantic task.

LT. COL. BRYAN MCCOY, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I have no idea. I've never done this before, but we're chipping away at it. We're making great progress today.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Colonel McCoy's Marines are also now stepping into some police work. Here, stopping a robbery at the Iraqi Central Bank.

LT. EDWARD LANGELLO, U.S. MARINE CORPS: The guys had brand new bills, dollars, whatever they call them -- dinar, I believe they call them. They had stacks of dinar in their pockets, which were brand new. And they came out of the vault, which was on fire and had recently been blown.

So -- two and two together. They're robbers.

Basically, we're sending the message that, hey, you can't do this anymorein Iraq. It's over.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): And that's certainly what most residents want to hear. Every day, from just about everyone we meet, we hear urgent demands for more security.

Meantime, the Baghdad police force is still trying to organize itself for the first foot patrols onto the streets of their newly liberated city.

Some have this message for the U.S.

CAPT. AHMED SALAH, IRAQI POLICE FORCE: Iraqi people don't want the Americans to stay here.

AMANPOUR (on camera): But why not?

SALAH: They came here to liberation. Okay? Not to stay here.

AMANPOUR (on camera): It's a message that's not lost on Colonel MCoy and his team.

MCCOY: One day we're a liberator. The next day we're an occupying force which nobody wants to be occupied. That could be six months, or it could be six days.

A lot of it has to do with whether we're perceived as ugly Americans, whether we try and present ourselves as authority figures. And the key to that is getting control back into the Iraqi peoples' hands.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Fresh from that robbery that continued after the Marines left, Lieutenant. Edward Langello has a blunter message for the Iraqis.

LANGELLO: You need to get up -- you, the Iraqi people need to get up -- and start taking charge of your own nation. I mean America did that a long time ago and look where we are today.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Perhaps reflecting the U.S. administration's vision of trying to recreate the Middle East in its own image.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Now the Marines have been in quite a few positions around this city and when they're not out on the streets, when they're not doing their work, they're trying to relax and catch up with eating and other such things.

And today, we caught up with some of them who are at one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces. In fact, it belonged to one of his former wives. They were relaxing there, but the tensions that exist are not lost on those Marines either because today, they did send out flyers -- thousands of them -- that were printed in both Arabic and in English, basically warning the people of Baghdad to stay indoors at times like this, at night and at dusk, because they said there are hostile forces here in Baghdad, and the Marines did not want to mistake innocent Iraqis for those who would do them harm.

They also said that any Iraqis trying to approach any military positions should do so in an open manner, announce themselves, and do not carry anything that could be mistaken for a weapon.

Now, weapons of mass destruction -- the motivation for this war -- the hunt for those is still on, but we have an update on a story we reported last night.

The 101st Airborne, a general told CNN, that they thought that they had found 11 mobile chemical and biological warfare labs -- mobile labs, they said, near Karbala south of Baghdad.

Well today, a senior Army officer is saying that those were not, in fact, weapons of mass destruction sites. CNN's Ryan Chilcote has an update. ( (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the aftermath of fighting near the city of Karbala, the 101st Airborne Division found at least 10 cargo containers of laboratory equipment buried in close proximity to a warehouse of artillery shells.

Their initial findings -- that they had found dual-use chemical and biological labs, possible elements of an Iraqi chemical and biological program. Their hunch, later discarded by a follow-on team of experts.

C.W.O. MONTE GONZALES, U.S. ARMY: Based on what we've seen here, all these containers are full of millions of dollars worth of very high-tech equipment, but it appears that everything inside of there, while it is possible that it has a dual use, it appears to be used for the future construction of additional conventional munitions production on this site.

CHILCOTE: This is not the first false alarm of the war. Another suspect site produced signs of nerve agent that turned out later to be a high-grade pesticide. Things in Iraq are rarely what they appear to be at first glance.

GONZALES: Figuring this out, it's like a Scooby Doo mystery and our best assessment is the stuff was covered up for either survivability in anticipation of a coalition attack or to prevent looting -- plain and simple.

CHILCOTE (on camera): The Mobile Exploitation Team Alpha, the U.S. Army's most senior experts in country, will now move on to other sites. They say they will eventually find what they're looking for.

Ryan Chilcote, CNN, with the 101st Airborne Division near Karbala, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Now the hunt is also on for a political framework -- a political framework to run and rule Iraq in the future. And today, a small exploratory step was taken -- again, in a town south of Baghdad.

There were Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, and other Iraqi exiles who turned up, and later the U.S. Central Command issued a statement saying that they had agreed to a democratic and federal future. But not everybody who was at that meeting -- indeed many who had boycotted that meeting -- are not cheering this first, small step towards trying to figure out the political future for Iraq.

CNN's John Vause has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the first of many meetings which the U.S. will hold around Iraq -- the meeting with Iraqi opposition groups as well as exile groups. And they describe it as, basically, an informal chat -- a chance to listen to their views as they work towards forming this interim Iraqi authority.

But already the deep divisions within this community are beginning to emerge. We know that the majority Shiites have banned or boycotted attending this meeting although a number of Shiites did, in fact, show up. But the majority did not.

We also know that Ahmed Chalabi, the leader of the Iraqi National Congress -- that exile group who many see as a possible future leader of Iraq -- he did not attend this, and he sent a delegate to this meeting in his place.

Now getting back to the Shiite Muslims -- we know that earlier today here in Nasiriya, thousands protested in the streets. They feel that, basically, they're already being left out.

This is not a good sign for the United States. This is the first meeting, and already we're seeing the first big demonstration. They believe that their voices are not being heard. That they're not -- they're basically protesting this meeting which is taking place just a few miles away from the city center of Nasiriya.

There are many, many issues for these opposition groups and Iraqi leaders to tackle in the coming months, mainly how long will the United States stay here. What kind of interim authority it will be, what kind of government it will ultimately take place -- will take over, basically, from Jay Garner, the retired U.S. Army general who is now in charge, according to the Pentagon, for rebuilding Iraq. Many issues as well. Many Iraqis do not want the coalition forces to stay.

Many, though, do want coalition forces to stay to try and prevent looting and to try and provide some kind of security. A lot of looting, a lot of crimes committed since the fall of the Baath Party and Saddam Hussein, so many people hoping that the United States and Britain will stay here in the short term, but it seems that nobody wants the United States here for any period of time. In fact, they say an Iraqi government which is not led by Iraqis is nothing more than colonization.

AMANPOUR: And even here in Baghdad, perhaps especially here in Baghdad, the capital, we've heard many, many people expressing concerns, worries, eagerness about a new political future. We've seen banners out here in the street on a quite regular basis saying we want a new government as soon as possible -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Sounds like a breath of fresh air, Christiane. We'll talk a little bit more about that later. Thanks very much.

So what's the next step for the Middle East? Will the U.S. turn its sights on Iraq's neighbor? We'll ask former U.N. ambassador Bill Richardson all about that, live picture of him there.

Also, POW Jessica Lynch rescued in part -- with help by the CIA. Find out how the secret spy agency helped set her free.

Plus, the bodes of a mother and infant found. Could it be a grim clue in the Laci Peterson case in Northern California?

And a glimmer of hope: a poster boy of Iraqi casualties gets a second chance on life, but first these other images from the war zone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: So. What next in Iraq? What next in the region? There are many people in the Bush administration who foresee nothing less than a transformation of the Middle East. To talk about that possibility, we turn now to former U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson, now the governor of New Mexico. Governor Richardson, good to have you with us.

GOV. BILL RICHARDSON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR: Thank you, Miles. Nice to be with you.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's start at the beginning. There are 22 Arab nations. Not a one of them is a democracy. What do you think the likelihood is that the U.S. can forge a nation-building program that leaves a democracy in Iraq?

RICHARDSON: Well, we start almost with a clean slate. There's enormous opportunity, getting Iraqi local leaders together to talk about religious freedom, democratic institutions, compensation to families harmed by the past Iraqi regime. Some type of elections. I think this has to be the next step. If we can make Iraq a great example of democracy in a non-democratic Arab world after a military effort, I think it would be a very good signal to democratize -- and for other Arab governments, as Saudi Arabia's trying to do, to continue a democratic process that has been absent there.

O'BRIEN: So you see nothing less than the possibility of an uprising of freedom all throughout the Arab world? Is that really possible?

RICHARDSON: Well, Miles, I don't think it's an uprising of freedom. I think we start with Iraq. I think Saudi Arabia is a key country in the region, then democratizing, as Prince Abdullah is trying to do on a gradual basis, I think is important. We have enormous bridges to build in the Arab world. We have got to reach out -- the Egypts, to the Arab populations which are -- a majority are under 20 years old, a part of the world that is alienated, but is important to our interests.

I think we have to take a number of diplomatic steps, now that we have won the military effort, I think we can win the Arab world with diplomacy, with sensitivity, and with pushes for democracy throughout the region.

O'BRIEN: So you would contend, then, that the U.S. does now have more leverage in the Middle East?

RICHARDSON: We do have more leverage. We have leverage to tell Syria that they've got to stop harboring Iraqi terrorists or else. We'll use economic sanctions. I think with -- we've got energy leverage, the fact that we now control the Iraqi oilfields. It should be the Iraqis that run it, but the fact that Iraq is a major oil supplier, I think gives us more flexibility in dealing with OPEC countries on issues like oil prices, but I think what is really needed, Miles, is a diplomatic effort. I would reach out to Iran. I would say, All right. Let's talk about weapons of mass destruction and nuclear proliferation.

It's a new region. You don't have Iraq as a hostile neighbor. Let's talk about our differences. Let's find ways to have the International Atomic Energy Agency look at weapons of mass destruction in Iran and North Korea. I think now we can use diplomatic tools instead of military tools, but the fact that our military was so successful gives us that leverage that I believe we need to make a difference, and move the region more democratic, stabilize it more, and basically turn these Arab countries into looking favorably towards the United States, because right now they're not.

O'BRIEN: How much does the ongoing issue, the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians just gnaw away at what you just laid out there, and what can the U.S. do? Does it have any additional leverage on that front, post-Iraq?

RICHARDSON: We do have additional leverage, and we can show our commitment to a Middle East peace by getting the Israelis and Palestinians together under U.S. auspices. I would send an American envoy, Secretary Powell, to immediately try to bridge differences and try to set up a framework for over five years, some kind of a Middle East peace.

This would show Arab countries that we are not just locked in in a relationship with our great ally Israel, and we will always stand behind Israel, but I think now is the time, with the fluid situation in the Middle East, with our leverage to move forward aggressively and rapidly to try to keep that momentum, and get a Middle East peace process going. Only us can do it. It can't be the U.N. It can't be European envoys. I think it has to be the United States, and I would move immediately in that.

O'BRIEN: All right. Those are big themes. Lots to do there, not just nation building, we are talking region building. Governor Bill Richardson, thanks very much for being with us -- we appreciate it.

RICHARDSON: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: All right. We'll have up-to-the-minute war coverage all throughout the hour, including live reports from Baghdad with Christiane Amanpour. Plus, a woman and an infant found dead in San Francisco Bay. Is it related to the Laci Peterson case? We'll have the latest on the investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back. I'm Miles O'Brien. Coming up we'll go live to Baghdad for the latest, but first this story making headlines right here in the United States. The loved ones of Laci Peterson, missing since Christmas Eve, may have an excruciatingly long wait to learn whether a coroner confirms their worst fears. CNN's Paul Vercammen standing by in Martinez with the latest. Hello, Paul.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, here's what's happening. The coroner here has performed a four-hour autopsy, and as of yet cannot ID the skeletal remains of a female and the skeletal remains of a baby boy that turned up in the San Francisco Bay. They are still working on that right now. Too early to call. Of course, the obvious link is could this be the body of Laci Peterson and her to be had baby boy?

We should also note, there's another development here. Oakland resident walking near the Berkeley Marina yesterday found a bone. It is not yet known if this is a human bone, and now that is in the hands of the Contra Costa coroner, and they are now examining what link this may have to the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY LEE, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT. SPOKESMAN: This person came across the bone at the shore. He brought it home and contacted the authorities and we took possession of it.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

LEE: Well, what we're trying to find out whether it's a human bone and whether or not it is related to the others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And how this possibly could be related, as there have been reports that the female skeleton was missing its legs and its head, and it could be possibly that this bone belonged to that skeleton. All of this, of course, has to be looked into by the authorities.

We should note that all of these skeletal remains were found in or around the Berkeley Marina. All of it in San Francisco Bay, all of it very close, all of it governed by the same tide.

Scott Peterson, Laci's husband, was said to have been fishing on Christmas Eve in the Berkeley Marina on the day that she disappeared. They're going to call into this case a special forensic pathologist who specializes in what's called alluviating decay or decomposition. And this person, it is believed, will be able to tell how long the body had been there and whether or not there was any trauma endured by the skeletal remains.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: It's a specialist in what's called alluviating damage, and essentially that person will analyze the body and should be able to tell us roughly how long that body has been in the water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And if there was some sort of separation, let's say, by the skull from the rest of the body, this person would also be able to determine that, and if that separation was just sort of a natural cause or if there had been some sort of a willful decapitation. All of these elements will come out hopefully within the next few days. We should note that the coroner here says he will make no more statements today.

Reporting live from Martinez, California, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Paula. Modesto police will hold a news conference, this evening, 7:00 Eastern time, 4:00 Pacific. CNN will bring it to you live.

President Bush changes focus. With the war winding down, the White House decides it's the economy again.

Also, glimmer of hope. Find out what's happening now to the boy who has captured the world's attention.

And that CIA rescue. Find out how the agency used an Iraqi spy to help free Private Jessica Lynch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back. I'm Miles O'Brien. Welcome to our up- to-the-minute coverage of the war in Iraq. In a moment President Bush changes gear from the war to the economy. We'll bring you that, but first some breaking news for you. CNN's David Ensor in Washington, our national security correspondent, reporting the arrest of a rather notorious terrorist figure -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Miles. CNN can now report that Abu Abbas, that's the nom de guerre of Mohammed Abbas, the notorious Palestinian terrorist who was convicted of murder in the case of the Achille Lauro hijacking and the murder of Leon Klinghoffer in 1985 has been captured by U.S. forces in or near Baghdad. This was the Italian ship that was taken -- was captured by Palestinian terrorists back in 1985 and some may remember the story of Leon Klinghoffer. He was -- he was in a wheelchair and the terrorists shot him and then pushed him over the side of the ship into the Mediterranean where he -- where he obviously died.

This man, Abu Abbas, has lived an itinerant life. He's been in Tunis. He's been in Libya and most recently he's been living under the protection of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad but he is wanted for murder in Italy. There are charges, U.S. charges, which have expired but could I'm told possibly be re-started for piracy, hostage taking and conspiracy. So this is one of the oldest cases of terrorism, that is one of the oldest cases that has not been closed to date but now looks as if this man, Abu Abbas, is in U.S. hands.

Miles...

O'BRIEN: David, pretty big fish there. Do you have any sense from your sources as to whether this was an accidental type find or was there some sense of this might be discovered upon entry into Baghdad?

ENSOR: You know, it was known that he was living in Baghdad and in fact last year he gave an interview to a reporter from the New York Times. He was -- he was hidden in plain sight you might say in Baghdad and he had said that he was not going to try and run away and in fact he claimed that he would help the Iraqis fight the Americans if it came to that. So it doesn't seem that he was trying to get away and he has been -- has been captured at this point I'm reliably told by U.S. officials.

O'BRIEN: Interesting and the jurisdictional issues, any prediction as to where this will wind up?

ENSOR: Very good question and I haven't been able to talk to Italian authorities who obviously want him for murder on an Italian ship and how the justice department is going to deal with it. That's all up in the air at this point. So far it's just the people on the ground in Iraq who are doing their job and they have taken this man in. The jurisdictional questions will now have to be settled.

Miles ...

O'BRIEN: David Ensor at our bureau in Washington, thank you very much. Just to reiterate, Abu Abbas, the alleged mastermind of the Achille Lauro hijacking and the murder -- alleged murder of Leon Klinghoffer captured by U.S. military personnel in Baghdad.

(NEWS ALERT)

O'BRIEN: With the war in Iraq winding down, the Bush Administration is beginning to shift gears. One result, a renewed focus on the economy. Let's go live to CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux with the latest on all this.

Hello, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi. Well, President Bush today said that victory in Iraq is certain but it is not complete. The focus now is to help the Iraqis establish their own interim government at the same time to find and destroy those alleged weapons of mass destruction inside of Iraq and despite the war's successes there is a sense of caution here at the White House not to repeat the fate of Bush, Sr. who won Gulf War number one in 1991 but lost his re-election bid amid a sluggish economy.

With the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime, President Bush is looking forward in Iraq and at home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The regime of Saddam Hussein is no more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Today Mr. Bush and French President Jacques Chirac took steps towards reconciliation speaking by phone for the first time since the beginning of the war. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Germany leader Gerhard Schroeder also agreed to make an effort to put their differences aside. While Mr. Bush acknowledges there is unfinished business in Iraq, he turned his focus on America's tax day to fixing the sagging economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: The nation needs quick action by our Congress on a pro- growth economic package. We need tax relief totaling at least $550 billion to make sure our economy grows. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The President initially proposed a $726 billion tax cut package and acknowledged for the first time it was dead. The Bush Administration argues a bigger tax cut will create more jobs and strengthen the economy but the House approved only 550 billion, the Senate even less, 350. Moderate republicans and most democrats say Bush's tax cut would only benefit the wealthiest Americans and increase the federal deficit. The White House hopes the President's success with Iraq and his high popularity will influence Congress to move closer to his figure but as expected, his opponents aren't budging.

Democratic Senator John Breaux said the President is wisely moving on this but political popularity can only carry a bad idea so far and a spokesman for Senator Olympia Snowe said she believes 350 billion reflects what may be the highest number in tax cuts a majority of the Senate will support.

While the White House acknowledges that the military battle may be subsiding, the President's focus on the tax cut battle will only intensify.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a good fight ahead when it comes to how to provide growth for the economy and the President's going to engage in it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Well, tomorrow President Bush takes his economic stimulus package on the road. He'll be traveling to Saint Louis to a Boeing factory where he'll be selling his tax cut plan. We're also told that cabinet members and other White House officials will be fanning across America, some 46 states in the next couple of weeks to do the same. The President is also going to be signing that war supplemental clearing the way for $80 billion to supply the cost of the war.

Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thank you very much.

Here's your turn to weigh in on the war in Iraq. Our web question of the day is what should President Bush's top priority be now; rebuilding Iraq, the economy, domestic security? We'll have the results later in this broadcast. We invite you to vote at cnn.com/wolf.

And while you're there, we'd like to hear from you. Send us your comments. Time permitting we might read some of them at the end of the program. That's also of course where you'll find Wolf's daily online column, All That, at cnn.com/wolf.

Now to Christiane Amanpour in Baghdad.

AMANPOUR: Miles, just a note on Mohammed Abu Abbas, we're hearing now that an Arabic web site that provides Middle Eastern news reported a couple of days ago that in fact Abu Abbas had tried apparently according to Palestinian sources to flee Iraq towards Syria. According to these same sources, Syria had refused him entry.

And just another note, there were two notorious terrorists here. There was Abu Abbas and Abu Nidal. Abu Nidal, as we know, is dead. He died either by suicide or he was murdered by the Iraqi forces here back last summer.

Now on another note, we have been reporting a couple of times now the plight of a young 12 year old boy, a little Baghdad boy named Ali Abbas whose plight seemed to symbolize the suffering of the civilian population here during the bombing. Ali was badly, badly wounded and CNN received hundreds of calls and hundreds of e-mails offering the boy help. Well, now he's getting some help and CNN's Rula Amin has an update on his condition.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He lies in a hospital in pain, too much pain he says. He whole torso is burnt and he lost both arms. It happened, says his family, when a missile hit his home in the middle of the night at the beginning of the war. He is surrounded by his uncles and aunts but not his mother or father or his two sisters and brother. They were all killed in the same attack.

His uncle tells him it's God's will. His aunt tells him not to cry but she herself is in tears even before she finishes her sentence. She was in the house next door.

We could hear the plane flying over our homes for more than 10 minutes but I didn't think they will hit us.

An uncle who was pulled out of the same rubble says that there is nothing military around their area and so they felt safe.

It's all farmland around us and we didn't even think that we could be hit. We just stayed in our beds.

When we asked Ali what he wanted now, he said I want new arms.

Many have offered to help to take him out of Iraq. He says he will go anywhere, but not to the U.S. They did this to me he said. They killed my whole family.

Late in the afternoon after three weeks since he suffered these terrible wounds Ali was evacuated from the hospital in a Red Crescent ambulance on his way to Kuwait under heavy protection from the U.S. Marines.

Rula Amin, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE) O'BRIEN: So how did the CIA help in the rescue of Private Jessica Lynch? We'll have exclusive details and you don't need a security clearance to hear them.

Also, the father of another accused or excuse me, rescued POW speaks. We'll hear from Shoshana Johnson's father when our coverage continues. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: One of the most daring events, excuse me, of the Iraq war was the rescue of Army Private Jessica Lynch. Sources tell CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr that a key reason the mission was successful was due to the role of a CIA operative. Barbara joins us now live at the Pentagon with the real life spy story.

Barbara ...

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Indeed Miles, CNN has learned today that it was a CIA operative that the agency sent into that hospital in Iraq, a trusted operative, an Iraqi already on the CIA payroll. He was sent in with a hidden video camera provided by the defense intelligence agency to tape the interior of the building. Now this would become the final piece of critical information for the commandos who were sent to Private First Class Jessica Lynch. Let's be clear.

The video we're seeing here of course is that night scope video taken by the Special Forces team as the rescue unfolded but what we have learned today is that in the 72 hours before her rescue, before this mission, the U.S. Intelligence Community was getting whispers about her location. Two enemy prisoners of war had offered information that she was initially being held somewhere else. Then of course there was a local friendly Iraqi now well known he informed Marines that she was at this hospital but it turns out it was the CIA operative that provided the key verification taking a hidden video camera into the hospital, taping the interior so the Special Forces team could see the whole layout, know exactly where they were going, know exactly what types of opposition they would face and they even had the blueprints of the hospital we've learned.

Now once this rescue unfolded of course it was done by Navy Seals, Army Rangers, Air Force Special Operations and Marines and in fact just oddly enough by the time they got to the hospital most of the Iraqi fighters has disappeared and run away but it wasn't until today that we learned the CIA played a pivotal role and just how well planned out this mission was underscoring that when you look at Special Forces missions they really aren't James Bond. They really aren't Hollywood. These are very carefully planned out missions by very careful men who like to know exactly what they're facing before they go into a situation.

Miles.

O'BRIEN: Well, it may not be Hollywood but it seems like this story definitely is destined for Hollywood. Thank you very much Barbara Starr. I appreciate it.

With the war winding down, the world is certainly entering a new phase in geopolitical relations. Wolf Blitzer who's done a marathon of reporting since the fighting started leaves us with some final thoughts. That and more when we return. Stay with us.

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O'BRIEN: Well, here's a story. CNN's Wolf Blitzer is not on the air today. He's heading back to Washington after more than a month in the Persian Gulf never taking a day off on the air some nine hours a day. He is definitely our energizer bunny here. Before leaving Doha, Qatar home of the U.S. military's headquarters during the Iraq war, he had some final thoughts on how the world has changed over the past month.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: At least in the short term, U.S. clout around the world has clearly increased. Many of President Bush's critics in Europe and the Arab world doubted he had the political guts to defy their opposition and go to war against Saddam Hussein's regime. They thought incorrectly. The public concerns raised by the leaders of Germany, France and Russia as well as U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan and Chief U.N. Weapons Inspectors Hans Blix and Mohammed ElBaradei would give the President pause. They also thought the world wide demonstrations against a war would bolster their stance. They were wrong and they've now learned to take President Bush's warnings more seriously. As several European and Arab officials and journalists have told me in recent weeks, this is a president who apparently means what he says.

As a result, leaders of the other so-called access of evil nations, Iran and North Korea, have clearly perked up. They and Syria, Libya, Sudan, Cuba and other nations the State Department brands as sponsors of terrorism have good reason to be alarmed. The Syrians in particular should be concerned. It's not just the intelligence cited by the Bush Administration suggesting Syria is harboring Saddam Hussein's former cronies or perhaps even some of his weapons of mass destruction. It's also not just the U.S.'s suspicion that Syria allowed so called Arab and Muslim volunteers to cross into Iraq in recent weeks with suicide vests to attack U.S. troops.

There's more to U.S. anger. For many top Bush Administration officials, Syria's support for Hezbollah, which the State Department calls a terrorist organization, and other militant Palestinian groups is not all that different than the former Taliban regime support for al Qaeda in Afghanistan. I've heard them say that.

So President Bush now has a unique opportunity to use his newly found respect, grudging as it may be, to advance his international agenda. Already we're seeing the North Korean regime begin to backtrack from its refusal to enter into multi-lateral discussions on its nuclear weapons program. Earlier the regime of Kim Jung Il had insisted on only direct talks with the United States but with this heightened respect comes an enormous challenge, namely to try to help create a new democratic and stable society, one that could serve as an example for the rest of the region. No easy task.

Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Doha, Qatar.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Well, last we saw Christiane Amanpour she was on the phone working her sources. She has a little more information for us about the capture of Abu Abbas.

Christiane.

AMANPOUR: Yes. I'm sorry about that Miles but what we were hearing was that a PLO source and this again is to comment more on what David Ensor told you a little bit earlier tonight. A PLO source is saying that their preliminary information says that in the last day or two, either today or yesterday, Mohammed Abu Abbas tried to drive towards Syria and there he was turned back. It's not clear why, whether it was because of who he was or whether there was some irregularity with the driver's papers. We're not sure why but we're told he was sent back and he was on his way back to Baghdad and apparently there was stopped and picked up by U.S. forces in Romadi (ph) which is about 50 miles west of Baghdad on the road towards Jordan and indeed Syria as well. Again these are very preliminary information from a source on the PLO executive committee.

O'BRIEN: Christiane, I'm interested in a final thought from you if you have a moment. This is going to be hard to squeeze in but you've had a lot of experience on another story in recent memory, the downfall of the Milosevic regime. I'm curious what parallels you see between what happened in Serbia and what's going on right now in Baghdad.

AMANPOUR: Well, I think in Baghdad it's very profound just as it was in Serbia. I mean Serbia was slightly less tyrannical. It was authoritarian but not such a dictatorship and such a tyranny and hadn't existed for as long as the Saddam regime had. I think what's been very interesting is there has been these celebrations. They are thankful for having been liberated. It's still not as overwhelming and dancing and chanting in the streets that people had hoped but I think they have very serious concerns for their future. They're very happy to have been freed from this tyranny and they now want to make sure that the U.S. and the rest of the world helps them map out a good decent future.

O'BRIEN: That's a tough course you just put out there though, for the U.S. to walk that tightrope. I guess I've got to leave it there. We're out of time unfortunately.

Christiane Amanpour, thank you very much.

What should President Bush's top priority be now? Rebuilding Iraq, the economy, domestic security? You still have a chance to vote. The results of our web question of the day will be revealed in just a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The son of an Iraqi diplomat in New York faces charges that he illegally aided Iraqi intelligence officers inside the U.S. Rahib Rokan Al Abookay (ph) appeared in a New York court today. A plea was not entered but the attorney for the 28 year old denies the charges. The defense attorney said his client may have been pressured to gain information from his father about Iraq's program of weapons of mass destruction. Al Abookay (ph) is formerly accused of failing to register with the Justice Department as an agent for a foreign government.

Now, here's how you're weighing in on our web question of the day. Remember we've been asking you this question. What should President Bush's top priority be now? Twenty-four percent of you say rebuilding Iraq, 63 percent say the economy, 14 percent domestic security. You can find the exact vote tally and continue to vote by the way on our web site cnn.com/wolf and remember this is not a scientific poll.

That's all the time we have. I'm Miles O'Brien at the CNN Center in for Wolf Blitzer. A reminder, you can watch Wolf Blitzer reports each weekday 5 p.m. Eastern Time.

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