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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Will Hijazi Provide Connection Between al Qaeda, Iraq?; What Will Happen to Captured Iraqis?; Could Hussein Have Had Plastic Surgery?
Aired April 25, 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.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Is he the missing link?
JAMES WOOLSEY, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: ... the biggest catch so far, I would say of any of the people we've gotten.
BLITZER: A most wanted Iraqi, not even in the Pentagon's deck. Will this wild card connect Iraq to al Qaeda?
What's in store for thousands of captured Iraqis, including the public face of the regime?
What if Saddam Hussein changed his face? A tuck here, an implant there. A bit of Botox. Could plastic surgery give him a clean getaway?
It's still not over in Iraq, but they're starting to come home. We're with sailors back from two straight wars and nine months at sea.
And go inside the Laci Peterson case.
JOHN WALSH, HOST, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": I think they're going to be surprised when they see what a strong, strong case that this D.A. brings before that jury.
BLITZER: We'll hear from John Walsh, host of "America's Most Wanted."
ANNOUNCER: CNN live this hour, WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. Live form the nation;s capital with correspondents from around the world. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: It's Friday, April 25, 2003. Hello from Washington. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting.
Key developments we're tracking this hour in the effort to build a new Iraq. He's not in those most wanted card deck, at least not now, but he may be an ace in the hole. A top official in the dreaded Iraqi intelligence service is now in United States hands.
Electronic gear where the stretchers should be. This Iraqi so- called ambulance was not on a mission of mercy. The Pentagon shows off a captured spy mobile.
As the regime is rounded up, will Iraqis put their fear in the path past and start working toward the future? We'll take the pulse in Baghdad.
We have three live reports right now. Jim Clancy is our man in Baghdad. Jamie McIntyre is over at the Pentagon. But we begin with the capture of the former that Iraqi intelligence official. A huge breakthrough for American intelligence. Here's our national security correspondent, David Ensor -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, he wasn't in the Pentagon's deck of cards because he wasn't in Iraq. He was in Tunisia serving as the ambassador. But as you say, it's a big get for U.S. intelligence.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR (voice-over): Farouk Hijazi was Iraq's ambassador to Turkey and then to Tunisia, but before that, he was No. 3 in Iraqi intelligence, chief of espionage operations for Saddam Hussein.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: He is significant. We think he could be interesting.
ENSOR: Interesting may be an understatement. There is evidence, U.S. officials say, that Hijazi traveled to Afghanistan in 1998 and may have met there with Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders. There were also unconfirmed reports he may have met bin Laden in Sudan in the early '90s.
WOOLSEY: It's a big catch and this man was involved, we know, in a number of contacts with al Qaeda. So this would be a very, very interesting development, the biggest catch so far, I would say of any of the people that we've gotten.
ENSOR: In the unsuccessful plot to kill then-President George Bush, the 41st president during a visit to Kuwait in 1993, Farouk Hijazi is a suspect. In fact, U.S. officials say he may have directed that operation.
Hijazi will also know, officials say, whether the Iraqi embassies in Ankara and Tunis where he served were used by Iraqi intelligence as bases for operations to, for example, obtain items needed to construct weapons of mass destruction.
Hijazi was taken into U.S. custody Thursday in Iraq near the Syrian border after U.S. officials had complained to Damascus that they knew he'd flown there from Tunis and was being sheltered by the Syrians. Apparently Syria got the message.
U.S. officials are also pleased to be talking with Tariq Aziz, the regime's deputy prime minister who turned himself in Baghdad Thursday. They are hoping he might know where other senior officials may be and whether Saddam Hussein survived the air strikes. RUMSFELD: He clearly, is a very senior person and was in that regime and we intend to discuss with him whatever it is he's willing to discuss with us.
ENSOR: Rumsfeld said he does not favor sending Iraqi prisoners to Guantanamo where al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners already are.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: Will captured senior Iraqis be treated with prisoners of war rights under the Geneva Convention or possibly some of them as war criminals? That is something Rumsfeld said that U.S. lawyers are trying to work out right now. But he did make it clear that people like Hijazi and Aziz are being asked for much more than their name, rank and serial number -- Wolf.
BLITZER: David Ensor, I'm sure that's true. Thanks very much, David Ensor reporting.
And there's also new information on the surrender of the most high- profile regime official so far, the former deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz. His family tells CNN he had been hiding at a relative's house right in Baghdad. And listen to this, "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting he arranged his surrender through an American friend. CNN's Jim Clancy is joining us now live from Baghdad. He has more -- Jim.
JIM CLANCY, CNN BAGHDAD CORRESPONDENT: Good morning from Baghdad. Friday, a major sandstorm blew into Baghdad. It's still with us. Friday, of course, Muslims went to the mosques for prayers. Afterwards, predictably, anti-U.S. demonstrations. We traveled around the city this day talking about Tariq Aziz and other subjects.
Wolf, it's the end of the week. Let me give you a little report card.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY (voice-over): More than half of Baghdad shops are still close. Many of the city's 5 million residents still wait for electricity. And some Shi'a Muslims are refusing to even meet with the U.S. to discuss their political future.
"We believe in the full right of the Iraqi people to self- determination," said Saeed Abdul Hadi (ph). He demanded an end to occupation. lifting of U.N. economic sanctions, territorial integrity and the restoration of security and utilities.
Like the blowing dust of the sandstorm, word spread from person to person of the arrest of Tariq Aziz across a city without an effective media.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The arrest of the likes of Tariq Aziz and all of the senior figures will help lay the fears to rest and will help the Iraqi people to restore their life again. CLANCY: For Iraqis, he was a familiar face alongside Saddam Hussein. But he was also the odd man out around the table of the Revolutionary Command Counsel. Unlike most others, he wasn't from the president's home city of Tikrit. Moreover, he was a Christian. He dropped his Christian names, Michael John, decades ago.
Still, as he met with the pope or presidents, many misread that background as making him different from the others. At the Assyrian Cathedral in Baghdad it was said if Tariq Aziz had faith in Christ, he didn't let on. What was clear said Bishop Madi Shaba Matooka (ph), was his faith in the Ba'ath Party.
"He didn't come here often," said the bishop. "Many years ago when his mother died in 1984 he came and was present at her funeral. But that's the only time I've seen him here. He was a believer in the Ba'ath Party. On his religious beliefs, I don't know."
The security situation has improved in most areas, but not all. Iraq's cultural heritage looted from the national museum continues to show up. The returned exiles of the Iraqi National Congress displayed an array of looted artifacts they've collected and are returning to museum curators. Shops have been reopening. The lack of electricity in many areas keeps others closed. And residents remain concerned about looters.
Two women told us that by night, the streets here are a battlefield. "A child has a weapon and he shoots," said one. "Someone has to take away these weapons." That's precisely the kind of insecurity that undermines U.S. claims it is in charge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: The Iraqis are clearly measuring the U.S. They do not want to see a long-term occupation on one hand. On the other hand, they're demanding that the U.S. step in and get the electricity and utilities back up in operation -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jim Clancy in a windy Baghdad. Take care of yourself over there. Thanks very much.
The United States meanwhile today complained Iraq violated the rules of war, this time making military use of hospitals and ambulances. Let's go live to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as you said the Pentagon said it's just one more example of how Iraq violated the international law of armed conflict and compromised the safety of noncombatants.
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MCINTYRE (voice-over): About a week ago U.S. Marines were shown this ambulance by the staff of a hospital in Mosul. Though clearly marked with a red crescent, the emblem used by the Red Cross in some Muslim countries, the Pentagon says it was clearly not a medical vehicle.
GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS: When the Marines opened the ambulance doors there were no medical supplies or stretchers. What they discovered in the interior was electronic equipment. This ambulance was modified by the former Iraqi regime for use as a signals intelligence collection vehicle. The vehicle is capable of intercepting and direction finding different types of electronic radio signals.
MCINTYRE: This view shows a high-gain, direction-finding antenna concealed inside the van. The U.S. says it's not the first time adversaries have used the Red Crescent to hide military operations.
RUMSFELD: We also had instances of this in Afghanistan where the Taliban and the al Qaeda were using Red Crescent buildings and facilities as well as vehicles to attempt to provide them cover so that they could go out and kill innocent men, women and children.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: Now, the International Committee of the Red Cross here in Washington said they could not comment on this particular case, because it had not independently confirmed the facts, but the spokesperson said that generally speaking, the use of the Red Cross or the Red Crescent to conceal military operations is a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions because it puts genuine, legitimate medical personnel at risk on the battlefield -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre with the latest at the Pentagon. Jamie, thanks very much.
And there are rising tensions on another front. Yesterday, administration sources said North Korea had declared itself to be a nuclear power. Today the White House insists it could still settle the standoff diplomatically, but are warning of growing dangers. Our White House correspondent Chris Burns is joining us now live with more -- Chris.
CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, those talks in Beijing over the last three days were aimed at calming some of those tensions and concerns, but revelations out of those talks leads, according to U.S. officials, raised the possibility of greater tensions and perhaps even greater dangers on the Korean peninsula.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BURNS (voice-over): It has three-stage missiles with the potential to reach the West Coast of the United States, and in renewed talks with the U.S. and China, U.S. officials say North Korea now claims it has a nuclear arsenal, and the potential to produce more from reprocessed nuclear fuel rods. That worries some observers.
JAMES WOOLSEY, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: If they're producing enough plutonium for several months, they have a product that they can sell for substantial amounts of money to terrorist groups and no one doubts that they would do that. BURNS: The White House, however, questions whether North Korea is bluffing on its nuclear capability. The Stalinist state of Kim Jong Il is struggling to fight off mass starvation and economic collapse. It has secured aid from Washington in the past and is seen as simply trying to raise the stakes.
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The North Korean way of dialogue is often to engage in as bad a behavior as it can possibly engage in with the expectation that the world will reward them for ceasing their bad behavior.
BURNS: But a word of caution from the military machine that just crushed the Iraqi regime.
RUMSFELD: Clearly, the recent discussions have not moved the ball forward, but Secretary Powell and the president are working on the matter, and the hope is that it can ultimately be resolved through diplomatic means.
BURNS: Washington sees the next step as consultations with allies in the region and will continue to try to pull Japan and South Korea into future talks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNS: Although President Bush rejects what he calls blackmail, the key leverage in any talks in trying to get Pyongyang to accept nuclear nonproliferation will be more aid, and what the Bush administration says that its key ally or its key partner, anyway, in these negotiations is North Korea's biggest benefactor, China -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Chris Burns at the White House, thanks, Chris, very much. And here's your chance to weigh in on the war in Iraq. Our Web question of the day is this -- this is not necessarily involving Iraq -- it's involving North Korea. "Should the United States consider launching a preemptive strike against North Korea?" We'll have the results later in the broadcast. Please vote at cnn.com/wolf. While you're there, I'd like to hear from you. Send me your comments, I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. This is also, of course, where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.
Is Saddam Hussein sporting a new look? We'll consult a laser surgeon on how an extreme makeover could have made him harder to spot.
Also, home again. Two of the cruisers that fired the opening shots against Iraq returned to home port. We'll go there live.
And the real face of war from the Devil Docs. Our medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks about one of the war's toughest jobs. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: America's warriors return home. U.S. Army Rangers seen here arrived in Ft. Benning, Georgia this morning following a seven- week tour in Iraq. Six F-16 fighters, that is, and their crews came home to Utah earlier today. The fighter crews are part of the Air Force's 419th Fighter Wing, which enforced Iraq's southern no-fly zone and flew combat missions during the war. Reservists from the 419th are due home tonight.
Meanwhile, two U.S. warships have returned home to San Diego. The USS Shiloh and the USS Mobile Bay seen here fired Tomahawk cruise missiles into Iraq during the opening stages of the war. They are part of the USS Lincoln, USS Abraham Lincoln carrier battle group. That will be home next week, the carrier, that is, next Friday.
Joining us now live from San Diego, CNN's Frank Buckley. He was there for this emotional, very emotional reunion -- Frank.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was an emotional day here, on pier 2 at naval station San Diego, Wolf. Hundreds of families here on the pier to greet their family members, the sailors who they'd expected to see three months ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BUCKLEY (voice-over): The USS Mobile Bay and the USS Shiloh steamed into San Diego and a heroes' homecoming. Heroes to family and friends who waited nine long months to see them return from war.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are very proud of our daughter. We are very proud of everybody on that ship and everything that they've done to protect our freedom here.
BUCKLEY: In January, the guided missile cruisers were halfway home from a six-month deployment when they were recalled to the Persian Gulf. It meant babies were born while their sailor dads were still at sea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's a lot heavier, and I guess she walks now. Before she was just barely the length of my forearm, and now she's huge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did our job. We're back. We're back to this, our family. My lovely wife, my kid, my newborn kid.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BUCKLEY: And these newborn kids are just getting to learn their father's faces. They were apart for nine months and a day, 286 days deployed, 255 of those days at sea -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And we're about to see a lot more of these emotional homecomings. They're just beginning right now. Frank Buckley, thanks for joining us from San Diego. Good work throughout the day.
He worked side by side with the Devil Docs. Now our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, shares the most memorable moments from the assignment.
Also... (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the worst jobs you have to do as a cameramen is take pictures of dead bodies. So they were reverently carrying this guy, and...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Emotion from the front lines. The hardship covering Iraq.
And also, what are police not telling us about the evidence in the Laci Peterson case? "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh will tell us why we can expect some bomb shells. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Whether they've covered a war before or not, the war in Iraq has made a very deep impression on the journalists that were there. CNN correspondent Alessio Vinci and photographer David Alberton (ph) were embedded with a Marine unit that took very heavy losses in the southern city of Nasiriya. This is how they remember it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We arrived there several hours later and -- and it was clear that something horrible had happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had my camera and I looked down and I see them carrying a body past me. You know, and one of the worst jobs that you have to do as a cameraman is take pictures of dead bodies. So they were reverently carrying this guy -- and -- it was somebody's husband, somebody's brother, somebody's son was not with us anymore.
VINCI: When you lose 18 colleagues in the firefight of that magnitude, I think it has to have an impact. And the following day, the commander of our battalion made it top priority to go back and recover those bodies. And this is a very, very important thing, especially in the Marine Corps. You don't leave anybody behind. Nor dead or alive. And so they wanted to get those bodies back. And that's when I saw one of the most incredible scenes of that entire experience, and this was U.S. officers digging with their bare hands, the ground, digging up body parts of their fallen comrades.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And you're going to want to see more of this gripping program, more memories from our journalists who covered this war when "CNN PRESENTS" "War Stories From the Frontlines." That airs Saturday 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Please make a note. You definitely will want to watch this program.
CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta brought us some gripping moments of his own. He was with the Navy medical unit known as the Devil Docs and his reporting took a dramatic turn when he became involved in some of the very stories he was covering. We'll hear directly from Sanjay in just a moment, but first some highlights of his coverage of the war in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We had a missile fly over our heads. We had bomb -- we had bomb shelter holes. We had bunker calls, gas alarm calls. We had to put on these gas masks 16 times in 12 hours, having to do that, sometimes sitting there for an hour at a time. Those were all new things, clearly, to me and something that I saw the troops actually going through.
You have to be scared if you're here. We are seeing (UNINTELLIGIBLE) killed in action. We are hearing about possible chemical and biological stuff. Absolutely we're scared.
Just a few hours ago, they came up to me and said a 2-year-old child has a gunshot wound or a shrapnel wound of great significance to the head, would I be willing to come take a look at the patient and take the patient to the operating room? Medically and morally, I thought that was the right thing to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: You were the only neurosurgeon there. Sanjay Gupta is joining us now live from Atlanta. How tough of an assignment, Sanjay, was this?
GUPTA: Well, I'll tell you, Wolf, I don't think anybody probably knew what to expect. But certainly on all the different levels, whether it was the weather itself, the various images and sights that Alessio and Dave were just talking about. These doctors, they couldn't turn their eyes from any of that. All those horrible, horrific things that people associate with war, they ended up in those medical units, and these doctors took good care of those patients, both Iraqi and coalition force members, but it was an extremely tough assignment, I think, both emotionally and physically, but just such -- so much admiration for those doctors out there and all the other force members who are still out there today.
BLITZER: What about for you? Did you have any idea what you were getting yourself involved in when you went out to Iraq?
GUPTA: No. I really didn't, Wolf. And it's kind of like that old joke where a guy jumps off a ship to save somebody and when he gets back on, everyone says, wow, you jumped off the ship, he says, I want to know who pushed me. I kind of felt like that as well in some ways. I had no idea -- and I remember the Gulf War, just seeing a green screen with a bunch of white lights coming down. Wars aren't that sterile, and I think that's the thing I sort of learned and understood and realized more than anything else out there. Just seeing all those things firsthand. I don't think anybody really knew what to expect, even a lot of the Marines that I was actually with, the Navy doctors. I think a lot of people just looked at each other often saying, oh, my gosh, I can't believe that this is really happening. BLITZER: This was your first assignment covering a war. Was there a defining moment for you that will always stay in your mind?
GUPTA: Well, I think that the most incredible moment, I think the image that I still can't get out of my mind really has to do with some of the patients that were brought in. When you think about patients, you typically think of soldiers. Well, this wasn't a soldier, this wasn't even an adult. It was a child. I think when children come in, civilian children who clearly had nothing to do with this, innocent bystanders, if you will, and this child had horrible injuries, shrapnel injuries that essentially removed the child's entire face, but the child was still alive and crying, and his father was seeing this for the first time, seeing his child in this condition for the first time, as the Marines were actually -- the Navy doctors were starting to take care of him.
I think that that was a defining moment, because I think you just sort of realize that people at times think we're turning the corner and things are coming to an end. Well, for so many of the people out there, it isn't over and it's not going to come to an end, and it's just these sorts of injuries, both emotional and physical, they're not going to recover from those.
BLITZER: Sanjay, you did a brilliant job. You made us all proud.
GUPTA: Thanks very much.
BLITZER: Thank you for all your work. It took great guts and courage on your part, but you came through, and we're thrilled that you did. Appreciate it very much.
GUPTA: Thank you very much, Wolf.
BLITZER: Could Iraq become another Iran? Coming up, what the Pentagon has to say about the shaping of a democratic future of Iraq.
Also, an extreme makeover? A dermatologist and laser surgeon shows us what Saddam might look like now if he did have a little bit of surgery.
And is there any chance of a plea deal for Scott Peterson? I'll talk to John Walsh about the case.
All that coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN's up-to-the minute coverage of the new Iraq.
Coming up, could Saddam Hussein be hiding behind a new face? We'll take a look at that.
First, for the latest headlines, we go to CNN's Sophia Choi in the CNN Newsroom in Atlanta. (NEWSBREAK)
BLITZER: Another family waits for a loved one to return home. But, this time, it's the family of Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. Aziz, as all of us know by now, of course, turned himself in to U.S. authorities only yesterday.
Let's get a live report now. Our Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson is joining us from Baghdad -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I went to meet with some of Tariq Aziz's family -- his eldest, eldest son, Ziad, a couple of his other children, some of his grandchildren.
Now they told me that the reason -- that they didn't know exactly why Tariq Aziz had handed himself into U.S. forces. They did say that it had been done with dignity. That seemed to be important to them. They said the way that it had been managed was to ensure Tariq Aziz's safety.
And I asked -- I asked them why, if Tariq Aziz had said over so many years I will not hand myself over to the United States, I do not want to end up in jail, I'd rather die. They said they didn't know the reason but that he had arrived at the decision very quickly.
You know, it may have had something to do, they say, with the fact that he had had two heart attacks recently. Perhaps he felt that his safety on the streets of Baghdad, being a well-known face, couldn't be assured. Perhaps all those things combining to make him decide that he wanted to hand himself over.
But the family at this stage glad that he's safe, but they have absolutely no idea when they'll see him, Wolf.
BLITZER: Any fallout on the streets, as far as you can tell, Nic, of this high-profile surrender?
ROBERTSON: On -- in his neighborhood, right around his family's house, know him. People around there seem to like him as a man. They say he was a nice guy. A lot of people in that particular neighborhood -- and it is an up-market neighborhood -- say he wasn't one of the regime, he was just a politician, he was just doing his job, you know.
But, if you move a few miles away across town, it's a completely different picture. People say absolutely he was part of the regime. Absolutely he should be tried as a war criminal. Some people even calling for the death penalty -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. We'll see what the U.S. government decides to do.
Nic Robertson, our man in Baghdad.
Nic, thanks very much. Meanwhile, it's unclear exactly what Iraq's new government will look line, but, today, the U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made clear what the United States will not allow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUMSFELD: This much is certain. A vocal minority clamoring to transform Iraq in Iran's image will not be permitted to do so. We will not allow the Iraqi people's democratic transition to be hijacked for -- by those who wish to install another form of dictatorship.
Our policy in Iraq is simple. It is to stay as long as necessary to finish our work and then to leave Iraq to the Iraqi people as soon as that work is done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: And joining me now to talk about the future of Iraq and Iran's influence in this entire situation is Rob Sobhani. He's the adjunct professor of government and international studies at Georgetown University here in Washington.
Rob, thanks very much.
The defense secretary says they're not going to allow an Iranian- style theocracy to be democratically elected, if you will, in Iraq. Is that, though, a realistic scenario?
ROB SOBHANI, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Well, I think, Wolf, to the extent that the Shia comprise 60 percent of the majority, there needs to be a mechanism where they feel in power. The Iraqi Shia need to feel empowered within the democratic context.
But if the outcome is that the Iranian government is going to influence the Shia to create an Islamic Republic of Iraq, then that would probably be detrimental.
BLITZER: But are the Shia basically united 60 percent of Iraq? Do they speak with one voice, or are they pretty much divided?
SOBHANI: I think there is definitely divisions amongst them. There's no doubt that there's the group that's very independent minded. They do not want Iranian influence.
And then, of course, there's the Ayatollah Hakim and his supporters who are in Iran and who are very much beholden to the Iranian government.
BLITZER: The secretary said at that briefing he had today at the Pentagon he has no doubt that Iranian agents are moving across the border into Iraq, and their purpose is not useful, not good. How serious is this problem?
SOBHANI: The Iranian government has two main goals.
Number one is to ensure that the world of Shiaism's center of gravity does not shift to Najaf and Karbala because it would take away from Iran.
Number two, they would very much like to make sure that the United States does not succeed in Iraq because the success of America in Iraq could bode not well for the government of Iran, which is very unpopular, of course.
BLITZER: Well, how has that already affected this dramatic U.S. victory, the destruction of Saddam Hussein's regime? Is there a sense you're getting right now how it's playing in Iran, which, of course, the president has referred to as one of the members of -- the three members of the axis of evil?
SOBHANI: It's interesting, a conversation with the Iranian people. Inside the country, you feel a sense of giddiness, but the fundamental question they're asking is when are they coming, when are the Americans coming? Not militarily, but when -- when is it going to be our turn to be liberated? And that's really the crux of the problem that the Iranian government faces. The success of American Iraq could mean regime change in Iran.
BLITZER: But the U.S. attitude is that this regime change in Iran is coming, and it really doesn't need a U.S. military component.
SOBHANI: It doesn't need a military component. It could need and should need a moral support, financial isolation of the government, definitely.
BLITZER: Rob Sobhani, as usual, thanks very much for your insight.
SOBHANI: Thanks a lot.
BLITZER: Thanks very much.
Husband accused of killing his pregnant wife. Will Scott Peterson face the death penalty? "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh. He joins me next. He'll share some of his exclusive information on the case.
And did Saddam Hussein go Hollywood to avoid capture? If he's still alive, what may have helped him escape? Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES BRAZELTON, STANISLAUS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I think in this case, I owe it to Laci, Connor, the community, and especially the family -- they're the most important people here -- to seek the ultimate penalty in this case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Laci Peterson's family has begun the task of making plans for her funeral, while her husband, Scott, remains behind bars charged with murder -- and not only her murder, but that of their unborn child as well.
John Walsh sat down with the district attorney of the syndicated show -- the district attorney on his syndicated show, "The John Walsh Show," for an interview. I went one-on-one with John Walsh yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Hey, John Walsh, as usual, thanks very much for joining us. I know you just came back from Modesto. There's a headline in "USA Today," says "This Is No Slam Dunk," this case against Scott Peterson. What do you think?
JOHN WALSH, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": Well, I'll tell you I've had a very emotional town hall meeting yesterday. Hundreds of people showed up. Four of Laci Peterson's best friends -- her bridesmaid, the girl that was with her the night before she went missing -- a very emotional talk for them.
But I also had the chief of police on, Roy Wasden, that I've known for years, the Modesto chief, and the lead detective involved in the case, and I had district attorney Jim Brazelton on who is going to prosecute this case and is fighting for no change of venue.
He believes that he can get 12 honest men and women, that Scott Peterson should be tried right there in Modesto by a jury of his peers, that they have played this case close to the vest, they have not given out many details, they feel that the media does not need to know anything about this case, and that they are going to surprise people when they show the body of evidence they have and that...
He is meeting with the Peter -- Laci Peterson's family in the next few days because Sharon Rocha, the -- Laci's mother and -- who I got to know, and Laci's stepfather, Ron Grantski are in seclusion. They are really having a tough time with this, but he's going to meet with them because he wants to go for the ultimate. He wants to go for the death penalty. He wants to get justice for Laci Peterson and her unborn son.
And I think the media is wrong. I think they're going to be surprised when they see what a strong, strong case that this D.A. brings before that jury.
BLITZER: Because, so far, we've virtually -- seen virtually no evidence against Scott Peterson. There's a lot of speculation, obviously. You heard from Brazelton that he's going to seek what he calls the ultimate penalty. Does that mean he's going to definitely seek the death penalty?
WALSH: Well, when he speaks to the family -- he's a tough D.A. He's put seven people on death row from Stanislaus County, from Modesto, where he is there. He knows how to prosecute death-penalty cases.
But he's also a victim's advocate. He's going to talk to Sharon Rocha and to Ron Grantski, Laci's parents, and he's going to ask them do you want me to go for first-degree murder without possibility of parole.
He's also going to try to convince them that, if he does get the death penalty and a conviction, still, Scott Peterson will spend 15 years on death row to have lots of time to think about what he did.
It will cost millions of dollars to the taxpayers, but he believes that Scott Peterson, for the heinous nature of this crime, should pay the ultimate penalty.
BLITZER: So you don't think it's likely, it's possible that he might seek some sort of plea bargain if he's got really strong evidence, try to convince Scott Peterson to accept a guilty plea, get life without the possibility of parole, for example, without necessarily going for the death penalty?
WALSH: I asked him that question point-blank, and he said to me, John, I think I have a strong enough case, depending on what Laci's family wants me to go for, whether it's death penalty, which he wants to go for, or life without possibility of parole -- he said, no matter what, I am not going to take a plea bargain. I'm going to go for the ultimate or I'm going to go for life without. I am not going to accept a plea bargain from Scott Peterson.
BLITZER: Is there a motive in this case, as far as you can tell?
WALSH: Well, I think that Scott Peterson -- this is just my personal opinion. He's alleged and he hasn't been proven guilty, but I think the affair had something to do with it.
This was a wonderful woman, once you get to know all her friends in the community. She was a vivacious, loving wife who was looking forward to having this beautiful child.
It appears that Scott Peterson wanted to end the marriage or was sick of the marriage, didn't want to be a father, whatever the reason is that, you know, he decided that this was the way he was going to get out of being married.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: My thanks to John Walsh, and congratulations are in order as well. This Saturday night, Walsh's other program, "America's Most Wanted," will celebrate its 750th capture since going on the air in 1988. Good work for John Walsh and his entire team.
It's still a mystery. Where is Saddam Hussein? His is one of the most notorious faces, of course, in the world, but, if he changed it, would you know him?
Coming up, we'll ask a noted laser surgeon what she would do to help create a new identity for Saddam Hussein. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. If Saddam Hussein is still alive -- and that's a huge if -- he's most certainly trying to elude those who are looking desperately for him. One scenario that has been raised is the possibility he resorted to some sort of plastic surgery to change his appearance.
CNN's Martin Savidge reported some two weeks ago on the capture of a man who says he was Saddam Hussein's plastic surgeon, and he also says he had, indeed, performed some surgery on him over the years as well as on all of his family members.
I spoke to with Dr. Tina Alster, a surgeon here in Washington at the Washington Institute of Dermatologic Laser Surgery. She gave us her take on how Saddam Hussein might look if he took such a drastic step or perhaps some less drastic steps.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Dr. Alster, thanks so much for joining us.
We know he could really get a total new look with major plastic surgery, but, even without all that equipment and all the grief and agony plastic surgery entails, he can immediately start to look different with some simple procedures, and you've brought us some examples of what he could do.
For example, let's talk about this first picture, what he -- you've slightly colored his hair.
DR. TINA ALSTER, DERMATOLOGIC LASTER SURGEON: Right. Some of the easy things you can do just in your own bathroom is to take a dye -- a bottle of dye and pour it in your hair and bleach your eyebrows. Also, a mustache.
You can also just put powder or your face to lighten the look. And I think we'll show some pictures later on where some other easy things can be done as well.
BLITZER: But those would still -- he would still look like Saddam Hussein as we can see from the picture.
In this next picture, though, you've done certain procedures, some laser surgery, some botox...
ALSTER: Right.
BLITZER: ... or whatever to alter certain characteristics of his face. Talk a little bit about that.
ALSTER: Well, if he did have a plastic surgeon on board and he had at least a week of recovery, you can go through a rhinoplasty, which is a nose job. You can do a limited little facelift or you can inject collagen or other substances that may be widely available, like saline, just to plump out the cheek.
Botox will take effect in a few days with no recovery, and that really helps for crow's feet. One can do a very easy temple lift to lift the upper eyelids, and he does have a tendency to have sagging eyelids. These are all things that usually...
BLITZER: But he's still going -- he's still going to look like Saddam Hussein. I think a dramatic change would be -- and we've done this in this picture, what you've done, but we've removed his mustache. Now that might make him look a little bit different, right?
ALSTER: Absolutely. I think removing a man's mustache does alter the way a man looks, particularly with Saddam Hussein. We all know him being dark complected, dark hair, and you remove the mustache, he looks like a different individual. No -- none of us really knows what his upper lip looks like. I don't think any of us have ever seen it.
BLITZER: It's a symbol in the Arab world, in the Muslim world, if you will, to have that kind of a mustache, and it would take a lot for him to go ahead and shave it. But if he really wants to look different -- because even if he removes the mustache, some people would know it's him -- he would have to go under the knife and do what?
ALSTER: Well, I mean there are a lot of simple things, as we just described, like botox or collagen or other fillers, but you can do a facelift where you can hide the incision behind the ear. You can do a chin implant or cheek implants, which can alter dramatically the structure and shape of the face.
Doing hair transplants to fill in in the temporal area where he has a little bit of receding, and, obviously, if you do those things in conjunction with just changing your eye or hair color, he'd look like a totally different individual, and I think in one of the photographs that we saw, he looks a little bit like Walter Matthau at a younger age.
BLITZER: Without the mustache.
Tina -- Tina Alster, thanks for your expertise.
ALSTER: Thank you.
BLITZER: We'll see if Saddam Hussein does any of that, if he wants to make himself look like someone else.
ALSTER: Absolutely.
BLITZER: Tina Alster, thank you very much.
ALSTER: Thank you very much, Wolf.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Who knows what he might do to save himself? Thanks to Dr. Tina Alster for that useful information.
Our hot question of the day -- this reminder -- should the United States consider launching a preemptive strike against North Korea? Please vote at cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results immediately when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Should the U.S. consider launching a preemptive strike against North Korea? Look at this. Thirty-four percent of you say yes. Sixty-six percent of you say no. Remember this is not a scientific poll.
Time to hear directly from you. Here are some of your e-mails.
Conrad asked this, "What if Saddam Hussein turns up alive and the people of Iraq choose him to lead their new democratically elected government? Will the U.S. permit that?"
This from Greg, "If the Iraqi spy chief was captured while headed for Syria, then the U.S. should declare war on Syria as well, and we should take out North Korea, too, while we're at it."
Tough e-mails.
A reminder: You can always see us 5:00 p.m. Eastern Monday through Friday. Please join me next Monday -- this coming Monday, and we'll have an exclusive look inside the Pentagon during the war on Iraq.
Join me Sunday on "LATE EDITION." Among my guests, Mohammed Elbaradei, a former chief U.N. weapons inspector, Sunday noon Eastern.
Let's turn it over to Lou Dobbs. He's standing by live in New York
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
What Will Happen to Captured Iraqis?; Could Hussein Have Had Plastic Surgery?>
Aired April 25, 2003 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Is he the missing link?
JAMES WOOLSEY, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: ... the biggest catch so far, I would say of any of the people we've gotten.
BLITZER: A most wanted Iraqi, not even in the Pentagon's deck. Will this wild card connect Iraq to al Qaeda?
What's in store for thousands of captured Iraqis, including the public face of the regime?
What if Saddam Hussein changed his face? A tuck here, an implant there. A bit of Botox. Could plastic surgery give him a clean getaway?
It's still not over in Iraq, but they're starting to come home. We're with sailors back from two straight wars and nine months at sea.
And go inside the Laci Peterson case.
JOHN WALSH, HOST, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": I think they're going to be surprised when they see what a strong, strong case that this D.A. brings before that jury.
BLITZER: We'll hear from John Walsh, host of "America's Most Wanted."
ANNOUNCER: CNN live this hour, WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. Live form the nation;s capital with correspondents from around the world. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: It's Friday, April 25, 2003. Hello from Washington. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting.
Key developments we're tracking this hour in the effort to build a new Iraq. He's not in those most wanted card deck, at least not now, but he may be an ace in the hole. A top official in the dreaded Iraqi intelligence service is now in United States hands.
Electronic gear where the stretchers should be. This Iraqi so- called ambulance was not on a mission of mercy. The Pentagon shows off a captured spy mobile.
As the regime is rounded up, will Iraqis put their fear in the path past and start working toward the future? We'll take the pulse in Baghdad.
We have three live reports right now. Jim Clancy is our man in Baghdad. Jamie McIntyre is over at the Pentagon. But we begin with the capture of the former that Iraqi intelligence official. A huge breakthrough for American intelligence. Here's our national security correspondent, David Ensor -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, he wasn't in the Pentagon's deck of cards because he wasn't in Iraq. He was in Tunisia serving as the ambassador. But as you say, it's a big get for U.S. intelligence.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR (voice-over): Farouk Hijazi was Iraq's ambassador to Turkey and then to Tunisia, but before that, he was No. 3 in Iraqi intelligence, chief of espionage operations for Saddam Hussein.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: He is significant. We think he could be interesting.
ENSOR: Interesting may be an understatement. There is evidence, U.S. officials say, that Hijazi traveled to Afghanistan in 1998 and may have met there with Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders. There were also unconfirmed reports he may have met bin Laden in Sudan in the early '90s.
WOOLSEY: It's a big catch and this man was involved, we know, in a number of contacts with al Qaeda. So this would be a very, very interesting development, the biggest catch so far, I would say of any of the people that we've gotten.
ENSOR: In the unsuccessful plot to kill then-President George Bush, the 41st president during a visit to Kuwait in 1993, Farouk Hijazi is a suspect. In fact, U.S. officials say he may have directed that operation.
Hijazi will also know, officials say, whether the Iraqi embassies in Ankara and Tunis where he served were used by Iraqi intelligence as bases for operations to, for example, obtain items needed to construct weapons of mass destruction.
Hijazi was taken into U.S. custody Thursday in Iraq near the Syrian border after U.S. officials had complained to Damascus that they knew he'd flown there from Tunis and was being sheltered by the Syrians. Apparently Syria got the message.
U.S. officials are also pleased to be talking with Tariq Aziz, the regime's deputy prime minister who turned himself in Baghdad Thursday. They are hoping he might know where other senior officials may be and whether Saddam Hussein survived the air strikes. RUMSFELD: He clearly, is a very senior person and was in that regime and we intend to discuss with him whatever it is he's willing to discuss with us.
ENSOR: Rumsfeld said he does not favor sending Iraqi prisoners to Guantanamo where al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners already are.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: Will captured senior Iraqis be treated with prisoners of war rights under the Geneva Convention or possibly some of them as war criminals? That is something Rumsfeld said that U.S. lawyers are trying to work out right now. But he did make it clear that people like Hijazi and Aziz are being asked for much more than their name, rank and serial number -- Wolf.
BLITZER: David Ensor, I'm sure that's true. Thanks very much, David Ensor reporting.
And there's also new information on the surrender of the most high- profile regime official so far, the former deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz. His family tells CNN he had been hiding at a relative's house right in Baghdad. And listen to this, "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting he arranged his surrender through an American friend. CNN's Jim Clancy is joining us now live from Baghdad. He has more -- Jim.
JIM CLANCY, CNN BAGHDAD CORRESPONDENT: Good morning from Baghdad. Friday, a major sandstorm blew into Baghdad. It's still with us. Friday, of course, Muslims went to the mosques for prayers. Afterwards, predictably, anti-U.S. demonstrations. We traveled around the city this day talking about Tariq Aziz and other subjects.
Wolf, it's the end of the week. Let me give you a little report card.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY (voice-over): More than half of Baghdad shops are still close. Many of the city's 5 million residents still wait for electricity. And some Shi'a Muslims are refusing to even meet with the U.S. to discuss their political future.
"We believe in the full right of the Iraqi people to self- determination," said Saeed Abdul Hadi (ph). He demanded an end to occupation. lifting of U.N. economic sanctions, territorial integrity and the restoration of security and utilities.
Like the blowing dust of the sandstorm, word spread from person to person of the arrest of Tariq Aziz across a city without an effective media.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The arrest of the likes of Tariq Aziz and all of the senior figures will help lay the fears to rest and will help the Iraqi people to restore their life again. CLANCY: For Iraqis, he was a familiar face alongside Saddam Hussein. But he was also the odd man out around the table of the Revolutionary Command Counsel. Unlike most others, he wasn't from the president's home city of Tikrit. Moreover, he was a Christian. He dropped his Christian names, Michael John, decades ago.
Still, as he met with the pope or presidents, many misread that background as making him different from the others. At the Assyrian Cathedral in Baghdad it was said if Tariq Aziz had faith in Christ, he didn't let on. What was clear said Bishop Madi Shaba Matooka (ph), was his faith in the Ba'ath Party.
"He didn't come here often," said the bishop. "Many years ago when his mother died in 1984 he came and was present at her funeral. But that's the only time I've seen him here. He was a believer in the Ba'ath Party. On his religious beliefs, I don't know."
The security situation has improved in most areas, but not all. Iraq's cultural heritage looted from the national museum continues to show up. The returned exiles of the Iraqi National Congress displayed an array of looted artifacts they've collected and are returning to museum curators. Shops have been reopening. The lack of electricity in many areas keeps others closed. And residents remain concerned about looters.
Two women told us that by night, the streets here are a battlefield. "A child has a weapon and he shoots," said one. "Someone has to take away these weapons." That's precisely the kind of insecurity that undermines U.S. claims it is in charge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: The Iraqis are clearly measuring the U.S. They do not want to see a long-term occupation on one hand. On the other hand, they're demanding that the U.S. step in and get the electricity and utilities back up in operation -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jim Clancy in a windy Baghdad. Take care of yourself over there. Thanks very much.
The United States meanwhile today complained Iraq violated the rules of war, this time making military use of hospitals and ambulances. Let's go live to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as you said the Pentagon said it's just one more example of how Iraq violated the international law of armed conflict and compromised the safety of noncombatants.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE (voice-over): About a week ago U.S. Marines were shown this ambulance by the staff of a hospital in Mosul. Though clearly marked with a red crescent, the emblem used by the Red Cross in some Muslim countries, the Pentagon says it was clearly not a medical vehicle.
GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS: When the Marines opened the ambulance doors there were no medical supplies or stretchers. What they discovered in the interior was electronic equipment. This ambulance was modified by the former Iraqi regime for use as a signals intelligence collection vehicle. The vehicle is capable of intercepting and direction finding different types of electronic radio signals.
MCINTYRE: This view shows a high-gain, direction-finding antenna concealed inside the van. The U.S. says it's not the first time adversaries have used the Red Crescent to hide military operations.
RUMSFELD: We also had instances of this in Afghanistan where the Taliban and the al Qaeda were using Red Crescent buildings and facilities as well as vehicles to attempt to provide them cover so that they could go out and kill innocent men, women and children.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: Now, the International Committee of the Red Cross here in Washington said they could not comment on this particular case, because it had not independently confirmed the facts, but the spokesperson said that generally speaking, the use of the Red Cross or the Red Crescent to conceal military operations is a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions because it puts genuine, legitimate medical personnel at risk on the battlefield -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre with the latest at the Pentagon. Jamie, thanks very much.
And there are rising tensions on another front. Yesterday, administration sources said North Korea had declared itself to be a nuclear power. Today the White House insists it could still settle the standoff diplomatically, but are warning of growing dangers. Our White House correspondent Chris Burns is joining us now live with more -- Chris.
CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, those talks in Beijing over the last three days were aimed at calming some of those tensions and concerns, but revelations out of those talks leads, according to U.S. officials, raised the possibility of greater tensions and perhaps even greater dangers on the Korean peninsula.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BURNS (voice-over): It has three-stage missiles with the potential to reach the West Coast of the United States, and in renewed talks with the U.S. and China, U.S. officials say North Korea now claims it has a nuclear arsenal, and the potential to produce more from reprocessed nuclear fuel rods. That worries some observers.
JAMES WOOLSEY, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: If they're producing enough plutonium for several months, they have a product that they can sell for substantial amounts of money to terrorist groups and no one doubts that they would do that. BURNS: The White House, however, questions whether North Korea is bluffing on its nuclear capability. The Stalinist state of Kim Jong Il is struggling to fight off mass starvation and economic collapse. It has secured aid from Washington in the past and is seen as simply trying to raise the stakes.
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The North Korean way of dialogue is often to engage in as bad a behavior as it can possibly engage in with the expectation that the world will reward them for ceasing their bad behavior.
BURNS: But a word of caution from the military machine that just crushed the Iraqi regime.
RUMSFELD: Clearly, the recent discussions have not moved the ball forward, but Secretary Powell and the president are working on the matter, and the hope is that it can ultimately be resolved through diplomatic means.
BURNS: Washington sees the next step as consultations with allies in the region and will continue to try to pull Japan and South Korea into future talks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNS: Although President Bush rejects what he calls blackmail, the key leverage in any talks in trying to get Pyongyang to accept nuclear nonproliferation will be more aid, and what the Bush administration says that its key ally or its key partner, anyway, in these negotiations is North Korea's biggest benefactor, China -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Chris Burns at the White House, thanks, Chris, very much. And here's your chance to weigh in on the war in Iraq. Our Web question of the day is this -- this is not necessarily involving Iraq -- it's involving North Korea. "Should the United States consider launching a preemptive strike against North Korea?" We'll have the results later in the broadcast. Please vote at cnn.com/wolf. While you're there, I'd like to hear from you. Send me your comments, I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. This is also, of course, where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.
Is Saddam Hussein sporting a new look? We'll consult a laser surgeon on how an extreme makeover could have made him harder to spot.
Also, home again. Two of the cruisers that fired the opening shots against Iraq returned to home port. We'll go there live.
And the real face of war from the Devil Docs. Our medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks about one of the war's toughest jobs. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: America's warriors return home. U.S. Army Rangers seen here arrived in Ft. Benning, Georgia this morning following a seven- week tour in Iraq. Six F-16 fighters, that is, and their crews came home to Utah earlier today. The fighter crews are part of the Air Force's 419th Fighter Wing, which enforced Iraq's southern no-fly zone and flew combat missions during the war. Reservists from the 419th are due home tonight.
Meanwhile, two U.S. warships have returned home to San Diego. The USS Shiloh and the USS Mobile Bay seen here fired Tomahawk cruise missiles into Iraq during the opening stages of the war. They are part of the USS Lincoln, USS Abraham Lincoln carrier battle group. That will be home next week, the carrier, that is, next Friday.
Joining us now live from San Diego, CNN's Frank Buckley. He was there for this emotional, very emotional reunion -- Frank.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was an emotional day here, on pier 2 at naval station San Diego, Wolf. Hundreds of families here on the pier to greet their family members, the sailors who they'd expected to see three months ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BUCKLEY (voice-over): The USS Mobile Bay and the USS Shiloh steamed into San Diego and a heroes' homecoming. Heroes to family and friends who waited nine long months to see them return from war.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are very proud of our daughter. We are very proud of everybody on that ship and everything that they've done to protect our freedom here.
BUCKLEY: In January, the guided missile cruisers were halfway home from a six-month deployment when they were recalled to the Persian Gulf. It meant babies were born while their sailor dads were still at sea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's a lot heavier, and I guess she walks now. Before she was just barely the length of my forearm, and now she's huge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did our job. We're back. We're back to this, our family. My lovely wife, my kid, my newborn kid.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BUCKLEY: And these newborn kids are just getting to learn their father's faces. They were apart for nine months and a day, 286 days deployed, 255 of those days at sea -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And we're about to see a lot more of these emotional homecomings. They're just beginning right now. Frank Buckley, thanks for joining us from San Diego. Good work throughout the day.
He worked side by side with the Devil Docs. Now our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, shares the most memorable moments from the assignment.
Also... (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the worst jobs you have to do as a cameramen is take pictures of dead bodies. So they were reverently carrying this guy, and...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Emotion from the front lines. The hardship covering Iraq.
And also, what are police not telling us about the evidence in the Laci Peterson case? "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh will tell us why we can expect some bomb shells. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Whether they've covered a war before or not, the war in Iraq has made a very deep impression on the journalists that were there. CNN correspondent Alessio Vinci and photographer David Alberton (ph) were embedded with a Marine unit that took very heavy losses in the southern city of Nasiriya. This is how they remember it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We arrived there several hours later and -- and it was clear that something horrible had happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had my camera and I looked down and I see them carrying a body past me. You know, and one of the worst jobs that you have to do as a cameraman is take pictures of dead bodies. So they were reverently carrying this guy -- and -- it was somebody's husband, somebody's brother, somebody's son was not with us anymore.
VINCI: When you lose 18 colleagues in the firefight of that magnitude, I think it has to have an impact. And the following day, the commander of our battalion made it top priority to go back and recover those bodies. And this is a very, very important thing, especially in the Marine Corps. You don't leave anybody behind. Nor dead or alive. And so they wanted to get those bodies back. And that's when I saw one of the most incredible scenes of that entire experience, and this was U.S. officers digging with their bare hands, the ground, digging up body parts of their fallen comrades.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And you're going to want to see more of this gripping program, more memories from our journalists who covered this war when "CNN PRESENTS" "War Stories From the Frontlines." That airs Saturday 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Please make a note. You definitely will want to watch this program.
CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta brought us some gripping moments of his own. He was with the Navy medical unit known as the Devil Docs and his reporting took a dramatic turn when he became involved in some of the very stories he was covering. We'll hear directly from Sanjay in just a moment, but first some highlights of his coverage of the war in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We had a missile fly over our heads. We had bomb -- we had bomb shelter holes. We had bunker calls, gas alarm calls. We had to put on these gas masks 16 times in 12 hours, having to do that, sometimes sitting there for an hour at a time. Those were all new things, clearly, to me and something that I saw the troops actually going through.
You have to be scared if you're here. We are seeing (UNINTELLIGIBLE) killed in action. We are hearing about possible chemical and biological stuff. Absolutely we're scared.
Just a few hours ago, they came up to me and said a 2-year-old child has a gunshot wound or a shrapnel wound of great significance to the head, would I be willing to come take a look at the patient and take the patient to the operating room? Medically and morally, I thought that was the right thing to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: You were the only neurosurgeon there. Sanjay Gupta is joining us now live from Atlanta. How tough of an assignment, Sanjay, was this?
GUPTA: Well, I'll tell you, Wolf, I don't think anybody probably knew what to expect. But certainly on all the different levels, whether it was the weather itself, the various images and sights that Alessio and Dave were just talking about. These doctors, they couldn't turn their eyes from any of that. All those horrible, horrific things that people associate with war, they ended up in those medical units, and these doctors took good care of those patients, both Iraqi and coalition force members, but it was an extremely tough assignment, I think, both emotionally and physically, but just such -- so much admiration for those doctors out there and all the other force members who are still out there today.
BLITZER: What about for you? Did you have any idea what you were getting yourself involved in when you went out to Iraq?
GUPTA: No. I really didn't, Wolf. And it's kind of like that old joke where a guy jumps off a ship to save somebody and when he gets back on, everyone says, wow, you jumped off the ship, he says, I want to know who pushed me. I kind of felt like that as well in some ways. I had no idea -- and I remember the Gulf War, just seeing a green screen with a bunch of white lights coming down. Wars aren't that sterile, and I think that's the thing I sort of learned and understood and realized more than anything else out there. Just seeing all those things firsthand. I don't think anybody really knew what to expect, even a lot of the Marines that I was actually with, the Navy doctors. I think a lot of people just looked at each other often saying, oh, my gosh, I can't believe that this is really happening. BLITZER: This was your first assignment covering a war. Was there a defining moment for you that will always stay in your mind?
GUPTA: Well, I think that the most incredible moment, I think the image that I still can't get out of my mind really has to do with some of the patients that were brought in. When you think about patients, you typically think of soldiers. Well, this wasn't a soldier, this wasn't even an adult. It was a child. I think when children come in, civilian children who clearly had nothing to do with this, innocent bystanders, if you will, and this child had horrible injuries, shrapnel injuries that essentially removed the child's entire face, but the child was still alive and crying, and his father was seeing this for the first time, seeing his child in this condition for the first time, as the Marines were actually -- the Navy doctors were starting to take care of him.
I think that that was a defining moment, because I think you just sort of realize that people at times think we're turning the corner and things are coming to an end. Well, for so many of the people out there, it isn't over and it's not going to come to an end, and it's just these sorts of injuries, both emotional and physical, they're not going to recover from those.
BLITZER: Sanjay, you did a brilliant job. You made us all proud.
GUPTA: Thanks very much.
BLITZER: Thank you for all your work. It took great guts and courage on your part, but you came through, and we're thrilled that you did. Appreciate it very much.
GUPTA: Thank you very much, Wolf.
BLITZER: Could Iraq become another Iran? Coming up, what the Pentagon has to say about the shaping of a democratic future of Iraq.
Also, an extreme makeover? A dermatologist and laser surgeon shows us what Saddam might look like now if he did have a little bit of surgery.
And is there any chance of a plea deal for Scott Peterson? I'll talk to John Walsh about the case.
All that coming up.
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BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN's up-to-the minute coverage of the new Iraq.
Coming up, could Saddam Hussein be hiding behind a new face? We'll take a look at that.
First, for the latest headlines, we go to CNN's Sophia Choi in the CNN Newsroom in Atlanta. (NEWSBREAK)
BLITZER: Another family waits for a loved one to return home. But, this time, it's the family of Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. Aziz, as all of us know by now, of course, turned himself in to U.S. authorities only yesterday.
Let's get a live report now. Our Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson is joining us from Baghdad -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I went to meet with some of Tariq Aziz's family -- his eldest, eldest son, Ziad, a couple of his other children, some of his grandchildren.
Now they told me that the reason -- that they didn't know exactly why Tariq Aziz had handed himself into U.S. forces. They did say that it had been done with dignity. That seemed to be important to them. They said the way that it had been managed was to ensure Tariq Aziz's safety.
And I asked -- I asked them why, if Tariq Aziz had said over so many years I will not hand myself over to the United States, I do not want to end up in jail, I'd rather die. They said they didn't know the reason but that he had arrived at the decision very quickly.
You know, it may have had something to do, they say, with the fact that he had had two heart attacks recently. Perhaps he felt that his safety on the streets of Baghdad, being a well-known face, couldn't be assured. Perhaps all those things combining to make him decide that he wanted to hand himself over.
But the family at this stage glad that he's safe, but they have absolutely no idea when they'll see him, Wolf.
BLITZER: Any fallout on the streets, as far as you can tell, Nic, of this high-profile surrender?
ROBERTSON: On -- in his neighborhood, right around his family's house, know him. People around there seem to like him as a man. They say he was a nice guy. A lot of people in that particular neighborhood -- and it is an up-market neighborhood -- say he wasn't one of the regime, he was just a politician, he was just doing his job, you know.
But, if you move a few miles away across town, it's a completely different picture. People say absolutely he was part of the regime. Absolutely he should be tried as a war criminal. Some people even calling for the death penalty -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. We'll see what the U.S. government decides to do.
Nic Robertson, our man in Baghdad.
Nic, thanks very much. Meanwhile, it's unclear exactly what Iraq's new government will look line, but, today, the U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made clear what the United States will not allow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUMSFELD: This much is certain. A vocal minority clamoring to transform Iraq in Iran's image will not be permitted to do so. We will not allow the Iraqi people's democratic transition to be hijacked for -- by those who wish to install another form of dictatorship.
Our policy in Iraq is simple. It is to stay as long as necessary to finish our work and then to leave Iraq to the Iraqi people as soon as that work is done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: And joining me now to talk about the future of Iraq and Iran's influence in this entire situation is Rob Sobhani. He's the adjunct professor of government and international studies at Georgetown University here in Washington.
Rob, thanks very much.
The defense secretary says they're not going to allow an Iranian- style theocracy to be democratically elected, if you will, in Iraq. Is that, though, a realistic scenario?
ROB SOBHANI, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Well, I think, Wolf, to the extent that the Shia comprise 60 percent of the majority, there needs to be a mechanism where they feel in power. The Iraqi Shia need to feel empowered within the democratic context.
But if the outcome is that the Iranian government is going to influence the Shia to create an Islamic Republic of Iraq, then that would probably be detrimental.
BLITZER: But are the Shia basically united 60 percent of Iraq? Do they speak with one voice, or are they pretty much divided?
SOBHANI: I think there is definitely divisions amongst them. There's no doubt that there's the group that's very independent minded. They do not want Iranian influence.
And then, of course, there's the Ayatollah Hakim and his supporters who are in Iran and who are very much beholden to the Iranian government.
BLITZER: The secretary said at that briefing he had today at the Pentagon he has no doubt that Iranian agents are moving across the border into Iraq, and their purpose is not useful, not good. How serious is this problem?
SOBHANI: The Iranian government has two main goals.
Number one is to ensure that the world of Shiaism's center of gravity does not shift to Najaf and Karbala because it would take away from Iran.
Number two, they would very much like to make sure that the United States does not succeed in Iraq because the success of America in Iraq could bode not well for the government of Iran, which is very unpopular, of course.
BLITZER: Well, how has that already affected this dramatic U.S. victory, the destruction of Saddam Hussein's regime? Is there a sense you're getting right now how it's playing in Iran, which, of course, the president has referred to as one of the members of -- the three members of the axis of evil?
SOBHANI: It's interesting, a conversation with the Iranian people. Inside the country, you feel a sense of giddiness, but the fundamental question they're asking is when are they coming, when are the Americans coming? Not militarily, but when -- when is it going to be our turn to be liberated? And that's really the crux of the problem that the Iranian government faces. The success of American Iraq could mean regime change in Iran.
BLITZER: But the U.S. attitude is that this regime change in Iran is coming, and it really doesn't need a U.S. military component.
SOBHANI: It doesn't need a military component. It could need and should need a moral support, financial isolation of the government, definitely.
BLITZER: Rob Sobhani, as usual, thanks very much for your insight.
SOBHANI: Thanks a lot.
BLITZER: Thanks very much.
Husband accused of killing his pregnant wife. Will Scott Peterson face the death penalty? "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh. He joins me next. He'll share some of his exclusive information on the case.
And did Saddam Hussein go Hollywood to avoid capture? If he's still alive, what may have helped him escape? Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES BRAZELTON, STANISLAUS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I think in this case, I owe it to Laci, Connor, the community, and especially the family -- they're the most important people here -- to seek the ultimate penalty in this case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Laci Peterson's family has begun the task of making plans for her funeral, while her husband, Scott, remains behind bars charged with murder -- and not only her murder, but that of their unborn child as well.
John Walsh sat down with the district attorney of the syndicated show -- the district attorney on his syndicated show, "The John Walsh Show," for an interview. I went one-on-one with John Walsh yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Hey, John Walsh, as usual, thanks very much for joining us. I know you just came back from Modesto. There's a headline in "USA Today," says "This Is No Slam Dunk," this case against Scott Peterson. What do you think?
JOHN WALSH, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": Well, I'll tell you I've had a very emotional town hall meeting yesterday. Hundreds of people showed up. Four of Laci Peterson's best friends -- her bridesmaid, the girl that was with her the night before she went missing -- a very emotional talk for them.
But I also had the chief of police on, Roy Wasden, that I've known for years, the Modesto chief, and the lead detective involved in the case, and I had district attorney Jim Brazelton on who is going to prosecute this case and is fighting for no change of venue.
He believes that he can get 12 honest men and women, that Scott Peterson should be tried right there in Modesto by a jury of his peers, that they have played this case close to the vest, they have not given out many details, they feel that the media does not need to know anything about this case, and that they are going to surprise people when they show the body of evidence they have and that...
He is meeting with the Peter -- Laci Peterson's family in the next few days because Sharon Rocha, the -- Laci's mother and -- who I got to know, and Laci's stepfather, Ron Grantski are in seclusion. They are really having a tough time with this, but he's going to meet with them because he wants to go for the ultimate. He wants to go for the death penalty. He wants to get justice for Laci Peterson and her unborn son.
And I think the media is wrong. I think they're going to be surprised when they see what a strong, strong case that this D.A. brings before that jury.
BLITZER: Because, so far, we've virtually -- seen virtually no evidence against Scott Peterson. There's a lot of speculation, obviously. You heard from Brazelton that he's going to seek what he calls the ultimate penalty. Does that mean he's going to definitely seek the death penalty?
WALSH: Well, when he speaks to the family -- he's a tough D.A. He's put seven people on death row from Stanislaus County, from Modesto, where he is there. He knows how to prosecute death-penalty cases.
But he's also a victim's advocate. He's going to talk to Sharon Rocha and to Ron Grantski, Laci's parents, and he's going to ask them do you want me to go for first-degree murder without possibility of parole.
He's also going to try to convince them that, if he does get the death penalty and a conviction, still, Scott Peterson will spend 15 years on death row to have lots of time to think about what he did.
It will cost millions of dollars to the taxpayers, but he believes that Scott Peterson, for the heinous nature of this crime, should pay the ultimate penalty.
BLITZER: So you don't think it's likely, it's possible that he might seek some sort of plea bargain if he's got really strong evidence, try to convince Scott Peterson to accept a guilty plea, get life without the possibility of parole, for example, without necessarily going for the death penalty?
WALSH: I asked him that question point-blank, and he said to me, John, I think I have a strong enough case, depending on what Laci's family wants me to go for, whether it's death penalty, which he wants to go for, or life without possibility of parole -- he said, no matter what, I am not going to take a plea bargain. I'm going to go for the ultimate or I'm going to go for life without. I am not going to accept a plea bargain from Scott Peterson.
BLITZER: Is there a motive in this case, as far as you can tell?
WALSH: Well, I think that Scott Peterson -- this is just my personal opinion. He's alleged and he hasn't been proven guilty, but I think the affair had something to do with it.
This was a wonderful woman, once you get to know all her friends in the community. She was a vivacious, loving wife who was looking forward to having this beautiful child.
It appears that Scott Peterson wanted to end the marriage or was sick of the marriage, didn't want to be a father, whatever the reason is that, you know, he decided that this was the way he was going to get out of being married.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: My thanks to John Walsh, and congratulations are in order as well. This Saturday night, Walsh's other program, "America's Most Wanted," will celebrate its 750th capture since going on the air in 1988. Good work for John Walsh and his entire team.
It's still a mystery. Where is Saddam Hussein? His is one of the most notorious faces, of course, in the world, but, if he changed it, would you know him?
Coming up, we'll ask a noted laser surgeon what she would do to help create a new identity for Saddam Hussein. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. If Saddam Hussein is still alive -- and that's a huge if -- he's most certainly trying to elude those who are looking desperately for him. One scenario that has been raised is the possibility he resorted to some sort of plastic surgery to change his appearance.
CNN's Martin Savidge reported some two weeks ago on the capture of a man who says he was Saddam Hussein's plastic surgeon, and he also says he had, indeed, performed some surgery on him over the years as well as on all of his family members.
I spoke to with Dr. Tina Alster, a surgeon here in Washington at the Washington Institute of Dermatologic Laser Surgery. She gave us her take on how Saddam Hussein might look if he took such a drastic step or perhaps some less drastic steps.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Dr. Alster, thanks so much for joining us.
We know he could really get a total new look with major plastic surgery, but, even without all that equipment and all the grief and agony plastic surgery entails, he can immediately start to look different with some simple procedures, and you've brought us some examples of what he could do.
For example, let's talk about this first picture, what he -- you've slightly colored his hair.
DR. TINA ALSTER, DERMATOLOGIC LASTER SURGEON: Right. Some of the easy things you can do just in your own bathroom is to take a dye -- a bottle of dye and pour it in your hair and bleach your eyebrows. Also, a mustache.
You can also just put powder or your face to lighten the look. And I think we'll show some pictures later on where some other easy things can be done as well.
BLITZER: But those would still -- he would still look like Saddam Hussein as we can see from the picture.
In this next picture, though, you've done certain procedures, some laser surgery, some botox...
ALSTER: Right.
BLITZER: ... or whatever to alter certain characteristics of his face. Talk a little bit about that.
ALSTER: Well, if he did have a plastic surgeon on board and he had at least a week of recovery, you can go through a rhinoplasty, which is a nose job. You can do a limited little facelift or you can inject collagen or other substances that may be widely available, like saline, just to plump out the cheek.
Botox will take effect in a few days with no recovery, and that really helps for crow's feet. One can do a very easy temple lift to lift the upper eyelids, and he does have a tendency to have sagging eyelids. These are all things that usually...
BLITZER: But he's still going -- he's still going to look like Saddam Hussein. I think a dramatic change would be -- and we've done this in this picture, what you've done, but we've removed his mustache. Now that might make him look a little bit different, right?
ALSTER: Absolutely. I think removing a man's mustache does alter the way a man looks, particularly with Saddam Hussein. We all know him being dark complected, dark hair, and you remove the mustache, he looks like a different individual. No -- none of us really knows what his upper lip looks like. I don't think any of us have ever seen it.
BLITZER: It's a symbol in the Arab world, in the Muslim world, if you will, to have that kind of a mustache, and it would take a lot for him to go ahead and shave it. But if he really wants to look different -- because even if he removes the mustache, some people would know it's him -- he would have to go under the knife and do what?
ALSTER: Well, I mean there are a lot of simple things, as we just described, like botox or collagen or other fillers, but you can do a facelift where you can hide the incision behind the ear. You can do a chin implant or cheek implants, which can alter dramatically the structure and shape of the face.
Doing hair transplants to fill in in the temporal area where he has a little bit of receding, and, obviously, if you do those things in conjunction with just changing your eye or hair color, he'd look like a totally different individual, and I think in one of the photographs that we saw, he looks a little bit like Walter Matthau at a younger age.
BLITZER: Without the mustache.
Tina -- Tina Alster, thanks for your expertise.
ALSTER: Thank you.
BLITZER: We'll see if Saddam Hussein does any of that, if he wants to make himself look like someone else.
ALSTER: Absolutely.
BLITZER: Tina Alster, thank you very much.
ALSTER: Thank you very much, Wolf.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Who knows what he might do to save himself? Thanks to Dr. Tina Alster for that useful information.
Our hot question of the day -- this reminder -- should the United States consider launching a preemptive strike against North Korea? Please vote at cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results immediately when we come back.
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BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Should the U.S. consider launching a preemptive strike against North Korea? Look at this. Thirty-four percent of you say yes. Sixty-six percent of you say no. Remember this is not a scientific poll.
Time to hear directly from you. Here are some of your e-mails.
Conrad asked this, "What if Saddam Hussein turns up alive and the people of Iraq choose him to lead their new democratically elected government? Will the U.S. permit that?"
This from Greg, "If the Iraqi spy chief was captured while headed for Syria, then the U.S. should declare war on Syria as well, and we should take out North Korea, too, while we're at it."
Tough e-mails.
A reminder: You can always see us 5:00 p.m. Eastern Monday through Friday. Please join me next Monday -- this coming Monday, and we'll have an exclusive look inside the Pentagon during the war on Iraq.
Join me Sunday on "LATE EDITION." Among my guests, Mohammed Elbaradei, a former chief U.N. weapons inspector, Sunday noon Eastern.
Let's turn it over to Lou Dobbs. He's standing by live in New York
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What Will Happen to Captured Iraqis?; Could Hussein Have Had Plastic Surgery?>
