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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Terrorism Strikes Americans Again; Terry Nichols Could Face Death Penalty
Aired May 13, 2003 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Terrorism strikes Americans again. They had warning. They had protection and terrorist still got through.
How could it happen?
Could it happening again?
Also a breaking development following -- were following right now involving Terry Nichols. He's serving a life sentence for the Oklahoma city bombing, but now he could face the death penalty. We'll have details.
WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Americans once again the target of terrorists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even at our distance the shockwave popped in windows and burst in doors of houses.
BLITZER: Deadly suicide bombing attacks on western housing complexes in Saudi Arabia.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: It certainly has all of the fingerprints of an al Qaeda operation.
BLITZER: What does it mean for the war on terror?
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States will find the killers and they will learn the meaning of American justice.
BLITZER: A mother accused of beating her children to death. The official who pronounced them dead talks about this family tragedy.
And surprising details about JFK, his presidency, his affairs and his health.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had Addison's Disease, the malfunctioning of the adrenal gland, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) with back problems. He was on massive amounts of medication.
BLITZER: We'll hear from the author of a new biography.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: CNN live this hour. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS
BLITZER: It's Tuesday, May 13, 2003. Hello from the CNN center in Atlanta. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting.
After months of victories in the war on terror, the United States took a hard loss on what's supposed to be friendly turf. Deadly and near simultaneous terror attacks on western housing complexes in Saudi Arabia.
It's a story you saw first here yesterday on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
They came hours after secretary of state Colin Powell arrived in Saudi Arabia on a previously-scheduled visit. The death toll as of right now at least 29 including seven Americans and nine suicide bombers. It's not the first time Americans have been attacked on Saudi territory, but this time Saudi leaders are denouncing it in unusually harsh terms calling the killers monsters and butchers and saying their deeds cannot be justified by the Koran.
We have a team of CNN reporters on the story including our national security correspondent David Ensor and our State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel.
Let's begin in Washington with Andrea -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the warn his been out there for weeks since before the war in Iraq began for American citizens to be on alert to terrorist attacks and to defer all travel to the Middle East region. Then last night at exactly 11:20 p.m. local time, the first of three huge explosions echoed throughout the Saudi capital.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL (voice-over): Frozen in time, the blasts were so powerful they stopped clocks and gutted homes and apartment buildings.
HELEN: We lost power immediately on my side of the compound and windows and doors were blown out instantly.
KOPPEL: The suicide car bombings of three upscale housing complexes favored by expatriates came on the eve of Secretary of State Powell's arrival in Riyadh. And dominated an agenda which was to have focused on post-Saddam Iraq and jump starting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Instead, Powell toured the wreckage where at least seven Americans and other citizens died and pointed the finger of blame.
POWELL: So I have not received any additional information, but it certainly has the fingerprints of an al Qaeda operation.
KOPPEL: Just last week Saudi authorities seized a huge cache of weapons and claimed they'd foiled a plot by 19 suspected terrorists to attack U.S. and British interests, but none of the 19 suspects was detained. In an unusual move, the kingdom's de facto ruler Crown Prince Abdullah took to the airwaves and lashed out at the attackers.
CROWN PRINCE ABDULLAH, SAUDI ARABIA (through translator): If they believe that their bloody criminal acts will shake even one hair of the body of our nation and its unity then they are deceiving themselves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL: Seven Saudi citizens were also killed. One State Department official noted that in the quickest approval process he had ever seen within hours after the attacks, the Saudi Kingdom had given the green light to a team of FBI agents to travel over to the scene of the attacks to help with the investigation -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Andrea Koppel at the State Department. Andrea thanks very much. And we are hoping to speak with a high-ranking Saudi Official this hour.
In the meantime, Secretary of State Powell isn't the only one saying this looks like the work of al Qaeda.
Our national security correspondent David Ensor is joining us now from Washington with more -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, White House, State Department and U.S. intelligence officials are all saying while they are not sure yet, it certainly looks like al Qaeda.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: Senior administration officials say al Qaeda is suspect No. 1 because the multiple suicide attacks were nearly simultaneous and al Qaeda hallmark.
POWELL: This is a well-planned terrorist attack, obviously, the facility had been cased, as had the others.
PETER BERGEN, TERRORISM ANALYST: There is just no other group that carries out these kinds of coordinated attacks, multiple targets, suicidal.
ENSOR: Furthermore, a week earlier Saudi authorities captured 800 pounds of explosives, RDX and weapons in a house just a quarter of a mile from one of the bomb sites and launched a manhunt for 19 suspects. A Saudi newspaper said Tuesday it had received an e-mail from a man calling himself Abu Mohammed al-Ablaj, also known as Abu Bakr, who says the execution of this plan was not hampered by the recent announcement by the Saudi authorities of the seizure of large quantities of arms and explosives in the kingdom and the hunt for 19 people. The e-mail says al Qaeda's strategy now will be operations in the heart of the United States, Gulf countries, Egypt and Jordan. U.S. intelligence officials say the message appears credible.
ALI AL-AHMED, SAUDI DISSIDENT: The bombing in Riyadh is an announcement of the second version of al Qaeda, al Qaeda 2.
ENSOR: Saudi dissident Ali al-Ahmed says his information is that the Riyadh suicide bombers were part of a new offshoot from al Qaeda that is home-grown Saudi, not taking orders from Osama bin Laden, but adopting his ideology and tactics and that these killers were young.
AL-AHMED: Our guy who spoke to one of the guards there, he said most of them didn't have beards. Very young, very young. Most of them under 25.
BERGEN: We are seeing more local, homegrown kinds of things but obviously at a minimum inspired by al Qaeda and in some cases directed by al Qaeda.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: Now that al Qaeda has directly attacked the kingdom, U.S. by going after expatriates Officials are hoping the Saudis will finally go all out to stop its recruiting and fund-raising in their country. This attack was all about them as well as us said one U.S. official and they know it -- Wolf.
BLITZER: David Ensor in Washington. David, thanks very much.
Just before the top of the newscast we received this word from President Bush on the latest attacks in Saudi Arabia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: It doesn't take much money to put a car bomb together it, takes hatred. It takes hatred in your heart and an absolute disregard for life. And that's the nature of al Qaeda. I can't say for certain it was al Qaeda yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Attack pitting Saudi citizens against innocent Americans is renewing questions about why this official ally seems to be such a dangerous friend, at least at times.
Our senior international correspondent Sheila MacVicar has a report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): For weeks intelligence agencies feared something like this might happen. Monday night's coordinated attacks powerful bombs ripped through apartment buildings, and twisting steel beams, came after very public warnings and in spite of increased security. Just one week ago Saudi authorities permitted publication of the news they had uncovered a large cache of weapons and explosives. In an unusual move, 19 men were publicly named as wanted and then the Saudi government linked to al Qaeda and said were planning attacks on U.S. and British interests.
In London, the Saudi ambassador, a form intelligence chief said the Riyadh attacks were the work of at least some of the 19.
PRINCE TURKI AL-FAISAL, SAUDI AMB. TO U.K.: The only information we have is that some of them were members of the group that was sought a few days ago. The 19 fellows whose pictures and names came out in the press.
MACVICAR: Saudi Arabia is a tightly-controlled nation. Saudi officials have not yet explained why they were unable to find the wanted men.
M.J. GOHEL, ASIA-PACIFIC FOUNDATION: I think more pressure does need to be brought on Saudi Arabia because it's quite obvious that the terror network is moving along quite freely in Saudi Arabia it is a police state.
MACVICAR: Jonathan Stevenson is a specialist in counterterrorism. The Saudis, he says, faced difficult owe cracking down on radicals and even terrorists because of the widespread support for their causes.
JONATHAN STEVENSON, INTL. INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES: The government itself is often impugned by the same element and therefore there's popular support that mitigate against the House of Saud, inflaming radical passions.
MACVICAR: But Saudi citizens have again been implicated against terror attacks against the West and Westerners. That means there will be more pressure from Washington and London to this time finally put an end to all support for terrorism, which the Saudi government has so far failed to do.
Sheila MacVicar, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: There are about 30,000 Americans working in Saudi Arabia right now including 12,000 in the capital, Riyadh. The largest number worked for the Saudi oil company, Aramco.
Here's your turn to weigh in on the story. Our "Web Question of the Day" is this: "Do you think the war in Iraq increased or decreased the threat of terrorism?" We'll have the results later in this 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 them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also, of course, where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.
And let's go live to Saudi Arabia. Almost all of the expatriates in Saudi Arabia live in one of those complexes like the ones that were attacked.
On the phone right now is a man whose own compound was among the targets. His name is Michael and he says -- he's asked that his last name not be released for obvious safety reasons. Michael, tell us where you were when this attack occurred?
MICHAEL, WITNESS: Actually, Wolf, I'd just gone to bed about 10, 15 minutes prior to that. So I wasn't quite asleep yet, but most of the people here were either in bed or getting ready to go to bed.
BLITZER: What -- what went through your mind? What did you hear? What did you see?
MICHAEL: Well, you know, this area has severe thunderstorms during the summer and there are times when there are claps of thunder that usually wake you. But right away this was something different.
I immediately went downstairs and could see that my windows downstairs were blown in. They weren't broken, they just had fallen in out of the frames. I turned off all the lights. I could see there were some people from the, you know, villas next to me that were outside, you know, trying to see what had happened. I'd gone over to a co-worker's villa, and it was a lot closer to the detonation point and they had more or less the same damage as I had. However, my supervisor lives very close to the rear gate of the compound and all of his windows in his villa were shattered, his front door was blown in, his rear door was blown out. You know, so the closer you got to the area, was there a lot more damage.
BLITZER: How far away were you from the, let's say, ground zero, in this incident?
MICHAEL: Well, the compound is -- I would say maybe a quarter mile, by a little less, rectangular. There's about 400 villas on the compound. I live approximately maybe 400,500 meters away from ground zero. My supervisor lives maybe 100, 150 meter away. So the closer you got, the more the damage was.
BLITZER: And now with 24 hours later, approximately, what are they telling you about those responsible, if anything?
MICHAEL: You know, well, Wolf, it's pretty confused right now. We are waiting to really hear official word from the embassy, of course. There's a lot of rumors going around. People are talking to other people on other compounds.
We've heard, you know, the things that have been put out in the news, but no official word has been given to us yet other than to, you know, to remain in our villas and of course, they're not going to let us go out into the general populous now. The whole area around us has been cordoned off. So we're waiting to hear something more official.
BLITZER: Michael, had you heard last week, Michael, about a possible terror plot, a terror threat against Americans in Saudi Arabia?
MICHAEL: Of course, Wolf. You know, being in the region, we do follow the war messages from the embassy. Other than our daily activities, which we are pretty careful, you know, in what we do and where we go and how we travel, there isn't really much you can do once you're on the compound.
You did have a sense of safety once you got in here. But other than that, maybe you wouldn't go downtown. You wouldn't go shopping in the, you know -- in the local areas. Maybe you would just go to a food store and then come back.
BLITZER: I have to wrap it up. But Michael, are you going to stay there or come home?
MICHAEL: Well, officially I don't know really what's going to happen, vacation in the next week anyway, so I'll be on my way home.
BLITZER: All right, Michael. Thanks for joining us. Good luck to you. Good luck to all your friends out there, as well.
We're going to continue to follow this important story. Obviously, Americans and others killed in this latest terror attack.
When we come back, though, an American administrator versus a Shiite cleric. Who holds the power in Iraq? A CNN exclusive when we return.
Plus, mom accused of killing her kids. The grizzly murders rocking a small town in Texas. We'll talk to one of the men who arrived on the scene immediately after the murder.
And presidential follies. Painkillers, love affairs and high stress. JFK, a look at the man behind the legend. I'll speak with the author of a new biography.
But first, today's "News Quiz."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): According to a recent survey of Americans, who was the country's greatest president? Abraham Lincoln? John Kennedy, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush? The answer coming up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Coming up, she's behind bars accused of killing her kids with rocks. He went to the horrific scene. I'll speak live with the judge about what he saw. What's coming up on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Words of warning today from a Shiite Muslim leader who's back in Iraq after more than two decades in exile.
In an exclusive interview with CNN's Baghdad bureau chief, Jane Arraf, Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim said American forces should leave Iraq. Jane is joining us now live from Baghdad with more -- Jane. JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Well, wolf, in his first address yesterday just shortly after arriving, his first address in 23 years, in fact, to Iraqis on Iraqi soil, al-Hakim told them -- led them in a chant, "No to Saddam, no to America, yes to Islam."
But today in this interview he was a little bit more conciliatory.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARRAF (voice-over): Iraq has always been a spiritual center for Shia Muslims. But with the fall of Saddam Hussein, they've become a powerful political force. A major player, Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim has returned to Najaf, the city of his birth after 23 years in exile in Iran. His return greeted with joy by tens of thousands of followers who turned out to welcome him, and apprehension by those who fear he wants an Iranian-style Islamic state.
In his first television interview after arriving in Najaf, al- Hakim talked about the role of Islamic law in the new Iraq.
MOHAMMAD BAQIR AL-HAKIM, SHI'ITE MUSLIM LEADER (through translator): The ballot box must be the foundation for the government in the nation, but we believe because the Iraqi people are a Muslim people, they will choose to implement Sharia law in at least some areas of daily life.
ARRAF: What aspect of life al-Hakim doesn't say. Nor will he be specific about his own political plans, except that his supreme counsel for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq would take part in the interim government.
In our interview he doesn't call for the immediate expulsion of U.S. and British troops from Iraq, but he does warn there would be problems if they stay.
AL-HAKIM (through translator): I believe that it is in the best interest of the U.S. and the Iraqi people, especially concerning the relationship between the two, for the troops to leave.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARRAF: Now he's obviously treading a very fine line, Wolf, and he's being incredibly diplomatic, in fact. It is very hard to get him to specify exactly what vision of Iraq he has and how much that would incorporate Islamic law. At the same time he's being very careful about a wide range of subject. But at end of the day, he's not just a spiritual figure, he is a potentially a very potent political force -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Jane Arraf in Baghdad. Jane, thanks very much for that report.
And a former bitter enemy of Iraq is offering a helping hand. President Mohammad Khatami of Iran says his country is ready to help its neighbor turn the corner and develop a new government. That pledge came during a visit by Mr. Khatami to Lebanon. But the Iranian leader condemned the occupation of Iraq and he said he hopes the United States will not start a new crisis in the region.
Grizzly murder in smalltown Texas. Authorities say a mother tells them she killed her kids because God told her to do it. Find out what police found on the scene of the crime.
Plus, in your mouth. Big Brother gets in on the weight loss act.
And a new way to worship, the inflatable church. Watch this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: As we told you at the top of this newscast, an Oklahoma judge has ruled that Terry Nichols will indeed stand trial in that state court on 160 counts of first-degree murder. The Oklahoma City bombing conspirator is already serving a life term in federal prison. State proceedings could bring the death penalty if Nichols is convicted. A trial date was not immediately set by the judge whose decision came as prosecutors were still presenting evidence.
A Texas woman is in jail this evening accused of an unthinkable crime, killing her two sons and severely beating another the day before Mother's Day. Yesterday a silent Deanna Laney listened as the judge read the charges against her, capital murder and aggravated assault.
Joining me now is one of the first people to arrive at the crime scene, Judge James Meredith. Judge, thanks very much for joining us. Why were you there so quickly?
JUDGE JAMES MEREDITH, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, SMITH COUNTY, TEXAS: Well, I wasn't really there that quickly. I actually responded a few hours after the sheriff's department did.
BLITZER: The reason you went was?
MEREDITH: Well, being the justice of the peace we are the ones that hold the inquest on the death and they were required to call us to the scene.
BLITZER: What did you see when you got there?
MEREDITH: Well, to be honest with you, I saw a pretty gruesome sight. And I think it's been talked about quite a bit the last few days and if anybody didn't have to be there to see it, they were lucky not to have to be there.
BLITZER: It was just a horrific sight and you don't have to go into details, obviously. We can only imagine how bad it might have been. It probably was, indeed, based on your eyewitness accounts.
But what happened? They were collecting evidence as you were there, the law enforcement authorities?
MEREDITH: Well they had been collecting their evidence and, of course, when I got there they showed me the location. And, of course, then having to do the inquest I had to see the bodies so that I can get the information that I needed.
BLITZER: What was your immediate assessment as to how this could have happened?
MEREDITH: To be honest with you, I just don't know how a mother could do that to her children and I still don't know.
BLITZER: Did she say anything? Was she still there when you were there?
MEREDITH: No.
BLITZER: She had already been taken away?
MEREDITH: She'd been taken away.
BLITZER: And this notion that God supposedly told her to do this, was that her story?
MEREDITH: As far as I know. I haven't talked to her and the only thing is what I've read.
BLITZER: Walk us through the process right now. What's happening?
MEREDITH: Well, as of right now she has been arraigned and has been given her bond. And as we're waiting right now, I guess we'll be waiting on the trial.
BLITZER: Do you know anything about the condition of the third son?
MEREDITH: I haven't heard. The last I heard was critical.
BLITZER: Judge James Meredith, thanks for joining us for obviously what is a horrific, horrific story and an unthinkable murder in this particular case. Appreciate it very much.
Let's go back to our top story now. The terrorist strikes in Saudi Arabia. CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel is getting word of a major development. Andrea, tell our viewers what's happening.
KOPPEL: Well, Wolf, in another sign in how the Bush administration is reacting to Monday night's terrorist attacks the State Department is about to -- it's expected in a short period of time to order the departure of all non-essential American personnel at not only the U.S. embassy in Riyadh, but also two U.S. consulates in Jeddah and in Dhahran.
Now, this covers we don't know exactly how many people because they won't tell us, but it presumably covers dozens of people. That means they are forced to leave. Presumably, the ambassador and key staff would stay at these facility. But everyone else, family members, dependents is being ordered to leave.
Before the war in Iraq they went to authorized departure which means that if they wanted to, the government would pay for them to leave. Now they are ordering them out -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Is this strictly on the basis of the incident, the terror strikes last night, Andrea? Or is there more intelligence out there that could be more of this in the works?
KOPPEL: We don't know the answer to that question, Wolf. What we've been told is that it's in response to the attacks last night. Certainly, this often takes time to work its way through the system. They're still dotting the "I"s and crossing the "T"s right now, but it is an in the pipeline. So, again, presumably, it's based on the attacks Monday evening and not necessarily on new threat information, but that's something that we're obviously looking into -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Andrea Koppel at the State Department. Thanks again, Andrea, for that information.
Much more news coming up including terror attack against Americans. More on that. Will the Saudis help or hurt the investigation? We'll take a much closer look.
And Texas lawmakers on the lam. Find out why the state speaker of the House of Representatives wants them arrested.
And JFK's secret life, painkillers and love affairs. The author of a major new biography joins me live with revealing details. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer. In a moment, the latest on the terror attacks against Americans in Saudi Arabia. I'll speak live with Adel Al-Jubeir, he's in Riyadh, the foreign policy adviser to the crown prince. He has new details. But first, let's get the latest headlines. For that, we turn to CNN's Arthel Neville. She's here in the CNN newsroom here in Atlanta.
(NEWSBREAK)
BLITZER: Let's get back to some hard news, though. Right now, the attacks on Saudi Arabia forced the president to do double duty while out promoting this tax plan. The president shifted his focus, albeit briefly, to Riyadh, vowing to bring those responsible for the bombings to justice. Our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is following these important developments. She's live on the North Lawn of the White House -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, President Bush today said that he would not be surprised if this was the work of al Qaeda, but he hasn't come up with any conclusions. He did say upon his return to Washington that he debriefed by the head of the CIA, George Tenet, also White House officials do believe that al Qaeda's fingerprints are all over this. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): The White House reaction to the Saudi bombing was swift and strong.
BUSH: These despicable acts were committed by killers whose only faith is hate. And the United States will find the killers, and they will learn the meaning of American justice.
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The only way to deal with this threat, ultimately, is to destroy it.
MALVEAUX: President Bush was in Indianapolis to promote his tax cut plan, and later in Pierce City, Missouri to see the tornado damage there firsthand. But the Saudi bombing prompted him to reassure Americans that fighting terrorism is still a top priority for the White House.
BUSH: The people that killed the Americans and others (UNINTELLIGIBLE) will be tracked down and they will be brought to justice. It doesn't matter how long it takes. The war on terror goes on.
MALVEAUX: The Bush administration has been frustrated with the Saudi leadership, that it has not gone after terrorists, particularly al Qaeda, more aggressively. But some critics question whether the Bush administration's focus on Iraq and toppling Saddam Hussein has limited its own ability to go after al Qaeda. The whereabouts of its leader, Osama bin Laden, is still unknown. The White House argues it is successfully fighting the war on terror on two fronts.
BUSH: A free Iraq will make the war more peaceful, because, you see, when people are free they're less likely to promote terrorism.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Now, the White House argues, just look at the fall of the Taliban. They say that since the war on terror, Wolf, that al Qaeda, the ability of al Qaeda has been seriously disrupted, that they could not carry out the type of attack that we saw on September 11, but they do say that the war on terror is far from over -- Wolf.
BLITZER: It clearly is far from over. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks very much.
The Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah addressed his nation and condemned the attacks, calling the people behind them, and I'm quoting now, "monsters and deviants." For more on the Saudi reaction I am joined now one the phone by the Saudi foreign policy adviser, Adel Al- Jubeir. Adel, thanks as usual for joining us.
There's widespread anger, obviously, over what happened and there's widespread concern here in the United States that Saudi Arabia might not be doing enough to fight terrorism. What do you say about that concern? ADEL AL-JUBEIR, SAUDI FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER: I say that the concern is misplaced. Saudi Arabia has been fighting terrorism very vigorously and we've been very merciless in dealing with terrorists. I think where we have been remiss is in explaining the steps that we've done, and we intend to fix that. In the next three days we'll come out with -- outline some of the actions that were taken in the past to combat terrorism, and I think people will be very, very surprised.
With regard to what happened in Riyadh yesterday, it was a horrific act. It was a heinous act. It was an attack against civilians who were neighbors. It was an international community. Many people died, many more were injured and wounded, and this was a declaration of war against Saudi Arabia and against our society and we will take on the terrorists and we will rid our society of them. There should be no doubt in the mind of anyone that this is what we will do.
BLITZER: But, Adel, you know there were warnings only last week, intelligence warnings that there was an act potentially in the works, that was not very far away from this attack. Explosives were found, people were arrested. Why wasn't more done?
AL-JUBEIR: Well, Wolf, the warnings have been in place now for over six weeks. The country has been on a heightened level of alert. We expected multiple attacks by al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia. We expected them against American targets. We expected them against Saudi targets.
We have succeeded in unraveling a number of attempts. Some of them we have publicized, some of them we have not publicized. The most recent one was the discovery of this arms cache, which was not too far from one of the compounds. We have arrested people trying to infiltrate into Saudi Arabia with explosives. We have broken up cells in Saudi Arabia; all of this in the last six weeks.
Unfortunately, in this case, yesterday, we failed. And innocent people died. It was -- it was our hope and our wish that we could have also stopped this attack from happening, but they chose a soft target, and they struck, and they succeeded.
But this will not diminish our steadfastness or our determination in pursuing them vigorously and in making sure that justice is served.
BLITZER: Adel, as you well know, after the Khobar Towers attacks, 19 U.S. service members killed in 1996, the FBI sent agents there. At the time, many of them returned to Washington, I know this firsthand, very frustrated by what they say was the lack of full cooperation from the Saudi government. Will it be better this time?
AL-JUBEIR: Well, Wolf, of course, it will, and with what happened after the Khobar bombing, it was the first time that we had to deal with other foreign -- other law enforcement agencies from other countries and there's a procedure that countries go through when they cooperate internationally. Those procedures, unfortunately, are bureaucratic and time consuming, and that gives the impression that people are not being cooperative.
I believe and I know that our two countries, since that time, have made great strides in working together much more closely, and they certainly have done this since the late 1990s. We have had a joint counterterrorism committee. We have jointly been pursuing al Qaeda and bin Laden since the late 1990s, and certainly since September 11, our two services have worked hand in hand, very closely, on a lot of issues.
The information that is flowing back and forth is flowing at a very open rate. The joint operations that are being conducted are leading to the apprehension and incarceration of many of al Qaeda's leaders.
One of the things, Wolf, that people may not be aware of is almost every arrest of every major al Qaeda leader could not have happened without active Saudi involvement. We have not spoken about it before, and that has created the impression that nothing was being done. We intend to change that, and just like we spoke about the steps we took in the area to combat the financing of terrorism, we will begin to speak about what we've done in the area of -- in the law enforcement area to apprehend terrorists and bring them to justice.
BLITZER: Adel Al-Jubeir, good luck to you, and we'll be talking. Thanks very much for joining us from Riyadh.
AL-JUBEIR: Thank you.
BLITZER: CNN's Mike Brooks knows firsthand what challenges FBI agents in Saudi Arabia will face. He was part of that team that investigated the 1996 Khobar Tower bombings. He is joining us now live with some perspective. You know, Mike, when I looked at the pictures of what happened in Riyadh last night, the pictures of what happened in Khobar Towers, and for that matter, the pictures in Oklahoma City, the buildings look remarkably similar. Talk a little bit about the explosives that might have been involved in each?
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's first talk about Khobar Towers, Wolf. When you look at the Khobar Towers, this middle picture here, the truck that pulled up there was a truck that is usually used to clean out porto johns, but it was stuffed with a minimum, a minimum of 5,000 pounds of C-4 high explosive.
Now, C-4 detonates at a 25,000 feet per second, Wolf. That's a very, very high explosive. Then we looked at Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City, the explosive used at this scene by Timothy McVeigh was actually ammonium nitrate and fuel oil mix.
Now, ammonium nitrate could be used as a fertilizer, but can also be used as a blasting agent. What he did it was a 4,500 pounds of this that he put in drums, and he used a (UNINTELLIGIBLE), which is a gel explosive, water-based explosive to kind of kick it off, if you will.
Now, that kind of explosive anfo (ph) is what they call a heaver, or a pushing type explosive, and you can see this by the kind of pushing effect that it had up as the explosive went up and out, and that is the detonating force of anfo (ph) is somewhere between 15,000 and 18,000 feet per second.
Then we look at the new attack here. Very similar to the Khobar Towers. Could be C-4, could be TNT, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), which is a very common explosive that we've seen used in other attacks such as the Cole attack. We've seen it also at the Opian Sang (ph), the Saudi Arabian National Guard in Riyadh in 1995.
But some of the other pictures I saw of this, you can see kind of dark on some of the buildings, which would mean there was more of a thermal effect, more fire, and TNT is a little more fuel-rich, if you will, but it also has a detonating force of 22,000 feet per second. So again, a very high explosive used here also, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Mike Brooks, as usual, thanks very much for that analysis. Those pictures are chilling, eerily similar, although the explosives in each may indeed have been different.
Much more coverage coming up, including an explosive new biography of John F. Kennedy, shedding new light on the late president. Coming up, we'll hear live from the author who wrote the book, "An Unfinished Life." We'll ask him about his claim, the research that he discovered that John F. Kennedy indeed had a fling with an intern over two summers. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Earlier we asked a cording to a recent survey of Americans, who was the country's greatest president? The answer, according to the "USA Today"-CNN Gallup poll, Abraham Lincoln. Kennedy ranked second. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush tied for third.
We told you yesterday about a new biography that says President John F. Kennedy had an affair with a White House intern.
Today the author, Robert Dallek, is joining me live to talk about his new book, an explosive, but very important book, "An Unfinished Life." Professor, thanks so much for joining us.
Let's get this issue of the intern out of the way right away. One of the quotes you have from the late president, he says in your book, "the point is you've got to live every day like it's your last day on earth. That's what I'm doing." Was that what he was doing when he was allegedly having an affair with an intern?
ROBERT DALLEK, AUTHOR, "AN UNFINISHED LIFE": I guess so, Wolf, but you know, there was a long history of womanizing by President Kennedy, and I think he learned this sort of behavior at his father's knee, who of course, was quite a philanderer himself, but I think also there was a kind of concern about how short his life might be. His older brother had been killed in the war, Joe Jr, and his youngest sister, Kathleen, had been killed in an aircraft, and he had, of course, so many illnesses and medical problems, and I think he felt he wasn't going to live very long. And also he modeled himself on the British aristocracy, which, of course, there were quite a few philanderers among those folks, and he knew the British aristocrats, and so I think that all came together to make him quite a womanizer himself.
BLITZER: You don't know the identity of the intern, but she probably is in her 60s right now. Is it your assessment, based on what you do know, she might go public and talk about it, or write about it?
DALLEK: Well, I tend to doubt that. My source for this, of course, was Barbara Gamrickian (ph), who had been at the Kennedy White House in the press office along with P.F. Salinger (ph). She had 17 blacked-out pages in the oral history in the Kennedy library. I asked her, and she gave me access to them, I guess, almost 40 years later she felt there was no harm in doing them. But you're quite right, that's my estimate that the woman is in her 60s. Barbara uses the name Mimi. I don't know if that's her real name or a pseudonym, but Barbara doesn't want to tell who it is and I've not been very aggressive in trying to find out, because why embarrass this woman.
BLITZER: Did his wife, Jackie, know about the infidelity?
DALLEK: I think Jacqueline Kennedy did know about the infidelities, but I don't know that she had any specific knowledge of this intern.
BLITZER: One of the items, incredibly important item, the pain killers he was taking, the drugs he was taking. The critical meeting he had in 1962 with Khrushchev of Russia, did the pain killer, the medication he was on, based on your research, professor, have an impact on his thinking then?
DALLEK: You know, Wolf, I looked very closely at his medical history, because I was the first biographer to get into the Janet Trevel (ph) records, which were at the Kennedy library, and they had something called an MAR, a medical administration record, and I was able to set that down alongside of Kennedy's dealings with various crises including the Cuban missile crisis. And this medicine administration record showed us how many medications he was on to deal with his very many difficult and enduring medical problems. But I saw no evidence that he was incapacitated by taking these medicines.
In fact, to the contrary, I think he couldn't have functioned all that well without them. So I saw him as lucid, as competent and really as quite heroic and stoic in dealing with his medical issues.
BLITZER: It's an incredibly powerful read especially those of us who lived through that era. Robert Dallek, the professor, has written an incredibly important book, "An Unfinished Life."
Good luck to you with the book, professor. Thanks so much for joining us.
DALLEK: Thank you.
BLITZER: We'll continue this conversation on another occasion.
DALLEK: Thank you very much, Wolf.
BLITZER: Americans eating themselves right out of their pants? Now the government's stepping in to try to tighten the belt on fast food. See what it may mean for your waistline immediately when we return.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: The restaurant industry in the United States is under new pressure to help fight obesity.
Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fast food restaurants -- some people say they're part of America's obesity problem. The government wants them to be part of the solution.
TOMMY THOMPSON, HHS SECRETARY: We are asking the fast food industry and all of the restaurants to start looking at their menus and see if they can diversify and see if they can put healthier foods on there and help to promote them.
COHEN: So is the government going to make french fries illegal? Burgers criminal? That's not the idea.
Thompson's is a more of bully pulpit plan, publicly compliment restaurants that offer and promote healthy alternatives.
THOMPSON: It's really trying to put pressure on them to do what is right for America.
COHEN (on camera): Fast food restaurants say they're already offering alternatives such as salads.
Let's take McDonald's as an example. According to their nutritional information, this salad has 380 calories and 23 grams of fat if you use all the dressing. Compare that to a Big Mac, which has 590 calories and 34 grams of fat.
(voice-over): The restaurant industry says consumers, not the restaurants ultimately decide what's on the menu.
STEVEN ANDERSON, PRES., NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION: There are numerous options and people vote every day in the marketplace with their dollars.
COHEN: On the other hand, consumer advocates say Thompson should take a stronger hand with the restaurant industry.
For example, some want the government to put nutrition information on the menu boards to let people know right there and then just how many calories they're buying. (END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: Another criticism of the fat food industry is they discount the food that's less healthy.
For example, take a look at this Big Mac and the Supersized fries. This costs less than a salad and a yogurt parfait, which has fewer calories and less fat -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Elizabeth Cohen with useful information, as usual. Thanks very much.
Our hot "Web Question of the Day" is this: "Do you think the war in Iraq increased or decreased the threat of terrorism?" You can still vote. Go to cnn.com/wolf, and we'll have the results when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of the Day." Remember, we've been asking you this question: "Do you think the war in Iraq increase or decreased the threat of terrorism?" Look at this: 88 percent of you said increased; 12 percent of you said decreased. Remember, this is not a scientific poll.
A reminder, you can always watch WOLF BLITZER REPORTS weekdays 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Tomorrow, Senator Pat Roberts, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, will join me live.
Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer at the CNN Center in Atlanta.
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WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Terrorism strikes Americans again. They had warning. They had protection and terrorist still got through.
How could it happen?
Could it happening again?
Also a breaking development following -- were following right now involving Terry Nichols. He's serving a life sentence for the Oklahoma city bombing, but now he could face the death penalty. We'll have details.
WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Americans once again the target of terrorists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even at our distance the shockwave popped in windows and burst in doors of houses.
BLITZER: Deadly suicide bombing attacks on western housing complexes in Saudi Arabia.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: It certainly has all of the fingerprints of an al Qaeda operation.
BLITZER: What does it mean for the war on terror?
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States will find the killers and they will learn the meaning of American justice.
BLITZER: A mother accused of beating her children to death. The official who pronounced them dead talks about this family tragedy.
And surprising details about JFK, his presidency, his affairs and his health.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had Addison's Disease, the malfunctioning of the adrenal gland, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) with back problems. He was on massive amounts of medication.
BLITZER: We'll hear from the author of a new biography.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: CNN live this hour. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS
BLITZER: It's Tuesday, May 13, 2003. Hello from the CNN center in Atlanta. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting.
After months of victories in the war on terror, the United States took a hard loss on what's supposed to be friendly turf. Deadly and near simultaneous terror attacks on western housing complexes in Saudi Arabia.
It's a story you saw first here yesterday on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
They came hours after secretary of state Colin Powell arrived in Saudi Arabia on a previously-scheduled visit. The death toll as of right now at least 29 including seven Americans and nine suicide bombers. It's not the first time Americans have been attacked on Saudi territory, but this time Saudi leaders are denouncing it in unusually harsh terms calling the killers monsters and butchers and saying their deeds cannot be justified by the Koran.
We have a team of CNN reporters on the story including our national security correspondent David Ensor and our State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel.
Let's begin in Washington with Andrea -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the warn his been out there for weeks since before the war in Iraq began for American citizens to be on alert to terrorist attacks and to defer all travel to the Middle East region. Then last night at exactly 11:20 p.m. local time, the first of three huge explosions echoed throughout the Saudi capital.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL (voice-over): Frozen in time, the blasts were so powerful they stopped clocks and gutted homes and apartment buildings.
HELEN: We lost power immediately on my side of the compound and windows and doors were blown out instantly.
KOPPEL: The suicide car bombings of three upscale housing complexes favored by expatriates came on the eve of Secretary of State Powell's arrival in Riyadh. And dominated an agenda which was to have focused on post-Saddam Iraq and jump starting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Instead, Powell toured the wreckage where at least seven Americans and other citizens died and pointed the finger of blame.
POWELL: So I have not received any additional information, but it certainly has the fingerprints of an al Qaeda operation.
KOPPEL: Just last week Saudi authorities seized a huge cache of weapons and claimed they'd foiled a plot by 19 suspected terrorists to attack U.S. and British interests, but none of the 19 suspects was detained. In an unusual move, the kingdom's de facto ruler Crown Prince Abdullah took to the airwaves and lashed out at the attackers.
CROWN PRINCE ABDULLAH, SAUDI ARABIA (through translator): If they believe that their bloody criminal acts will shake even one hair of the body of our nation and its unity then they are deceiving themselves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL: Seven Saudi citizens were also killed. One State Department official noted that in the quickest approval process he had ever seen within hours after the attacks, the Saudi Kingdom had given the green light to a team of FBI agents to travel over to the scene of the attacks to help with the investigation -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Andrea Koppel at the State Department. Andrea thanks very much. And we are hoping to speak with a high-ranking Saudi Official this hour.
In the meantime, Secretary of State Powell isn't the only one saying this looks like the work of al Qaeda.
Our national security correspondent David Ensor is joining us now from Washington with more -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, White House, State Department and U.S. intelligence officials are all saying while they are not sure yet, it certainly looks like al Qaeda.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: Senior administration officials say al Qaeda is suspect No. 1 because the multiple suicide attacks were nearly simultaneous and al Qaeda hallmark.
POWELL: This is a well-planned terrorist attack, obviously, the facility had been cased, as had the others.
PETER BERGEN, TERRORISM ANALYST: There is just no other group that carries out these kinds of coordinated attacks, multiple targets, suicidal.
ENSOR: Furthermore, a week earlier Saudi authorities captured 800 pounds of explosives, RDX and weapons in a house just a quarter of a mile from one of the bomb sites and launched a manhunt for 19 suspects. A Saudi newspaper said Tuesday it had received an e-mail from a man calling himself Abu Mohammed al-Ablaj, also known as Abu Bakr, who says the execution of this plan was not hampered by the recent announcement by the Saudi authorities of the seizure of large quantities of arms and explosives in the kingdom and the hunt for 19 people. The e-mail says al Qaeda's strategy now will be operations in the heart of the United States, Gulf countries, Egypt and Jordan. U.S. intelligence officials say the message appears credible.
ALI AL-AHMED, SAUDI DISSIDENT: The bombing in Riyadh is an announcement of the second version of al Qaeda, al Qaeda 2.
ENSOR: Saudi dissident Ali al-Ahmed says his information is that the Riyadh suicide bombers were part of a new offshoot from al Qaeda that is home-grown Saudi, not taking orders from Osama bin Laden, but adopting his ideology and tactics and that these killers were young.
AL-AHMED: Our guy who spoke to one of the guards there, he said most of them didn't have beards. Very young, very young. Most of them under 25.
BERGEN: We are seeing more local, homegrown kinds of things but obviously at a minimum inspired by al Qaeda and in some cases directed by al Qaeda.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: Now that al Qaeda has directly attacked the kingdom, U.S. by going after expatriates Officials are hoping the Saudis will finally go all out to stop its recruiting and fund-raising in their country. This attack was all about them as well as us said one U.S. official and they know it -- Wolf.
BLITZER: David Ensor in Washington. David, thanks very much.
Just before the top of the newscast we received this word from President Bush on the latest attacks in Saudi Arabia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: It doesn't take much money to put a car bomb together it, takes hatred. It takes hatred in your heart and an absolute disregard for life. And that's the nature of al Qaeda. I can't say for certain it was al Qaeda yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Attack pitting Saudi citizens against innocent Americans is renewing questions about why this official ally seems to be such a dangerous friend, at least at times.
Our senior international correspondent Sheila MacVicar has a report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): For weeks intelligence agencies feared something like this might happen. Monday night's coordinated attacks powerful bombs ripped through apartment buildings, and twisting steel beams, came after very public warnings and in spite of increased security. Just one week ago Saudi authorities permitted publication of the news they had uncovered a large cache of weapons and explosives. In an unusual move, 19 men were publicly named as wanted and then the Saudi government linked to al Qaeda and said were planning attacks on U.S. and British interests.
In London, the Saudi ambassador, a form intelligence chief said the Riyadh attacks were the work of at least some of the 19.
PRINCE TURKI AL-FAISAL, SAUDI AMB. TO U.K.: The only information we have is that some of them were members of the group that was sought a few days ago. The 19 fellows whose pictures and names came out in the press.
MACVICAR: Saudi Arabia is a tightly-controlled nation. Saudi officials have not yet explained why they were unable to find the wanted men.
M.J. GOHEL, ASIA-PACIFIC FOUNDATION: I think more pressure does need to be brought on Saudi Arabia because it's quite obvious that the terror network is moving along quite freely in Saudi Arabia it is a police state.
MACVICAR: Jonathan Stevenson is a specialist in counterterrorism. The Saudis, he says, faced difficult owe cracking down on radicals and even terrorists because of the widespread support for their causes.
JONATHAN STEVENSON, INTL. INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES: The government itself is often impugned by the same element and therefore there's popular support that mitigate against the House of Saud, inflaming radical passions.
MACVICAR: But Saudi citizens have again been implicated against terror attacks against the West and Westerners. That means there will be more pressure from Washington and London to this time finally put an end to all support for terrorism, which the Saudi government has so far failed to do.
Sheila MacVicar, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: There are about 30,000 Americans working in Saudi Arabia right now including 12,000 in the capital, Riyadh. The largest number worked for the Saudi oil company, Aramco.
Here's your turn to weigh in on the story. Our "Web Question of the Day" is this: "Do you think the war in Iraq increased or decreased the threat of terrorism?" We'll have the results later in this 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 them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also, of course, where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.
And let's go live to Saudi Arabia. Almost all of the expatriates in Saudi Arabia live in one of those complexes like the ones that were attacked.
On the phone right now is a man whose own compound was among the targets. His name is Michael and he says -- he's asked that his last name not be released for obvious safety reasons. Michael, tell us where you were when this attack occurred?
MICHAEL, WITNESS: Actually, Wolf, I'd just gone to bed about 10, 15 minutes prior to that. So I wasn't quite asleep yet, but most of the people here were either in bed or getting ready to go to bed.
BLITZER: What -- what went through your mind? What did you hear? What did you see?
MICHAEL: Well, you know, this area has severe thunderstorms during the summer and there are times when there are claps of thunder that usually wake you. But right away this was something different.
I immediately went downstairs and could see that my windows downstairs were blown in. They weren't broken, they just had fallen in out of the frames. I turned off all the lights. I could see there were some people from the, you know, villas next to me that were outside, you know, trying to see what had happened. I'd gone over to a co-worker's villa, and it was a lot closer to the detonation point and they had more or less the same damage as I had. However, my supervisor lives very close to the rear gate of the compound and all of his windows in his villa were shattered, his front door was blown in, his rear door was blown out. You know, so the closer you got to the area, was there a lot more damage.
BLITZER: How far away were you from the, let's say, ground zero, in this incident?
MICHAEL: Well, the compound is -- I would say maybe a quarter mile, by a little less, rectangular. There's about 400 villas on the compound. I live approximately maybe 400,500 meters away from ground zero. My supervisor lives maybe 100, 150 meter away. So the closer you got, the more the damage was.
BLITZER: And now with 24 hours later, approximately, what are they telling you about those responsible, if anything?
MICHAEL: You know, well, Wolf, it's pretty confused right now. We are waiting to really hear official word from the embassy, of course. There's a lot of rumors going around. People are talking to other people on other compounds.
We've heard, you know, the things that have been put out in the news, but no official word has been given to us yet other than to, you know, to remain in our villas and of course, they're not going to let us go out into the general populous now. The whole area around us has been cordoned off. So we're waiting to hear something more official.
BLITZER: Michael, had you heard last week, Michael, about a possible terror plot, a terror threat against Americans in Saudi Arabia?
MICHAEL: Of course, Wolf. You know, being in the region, we do follow the war messages from the embassy. Other than our daily activities, which we are pretty careful, you know, in what we do and where we go and how we travel, there isn't really much you can do once you're on the compound.
You did have a sense of safety once you got in here. But other than that, maybe you wouldn't go downtown. You wouldn't go shopping in the, you know -- in the local areas. Maybe you would just go to a food store and then come back.
BLITZER: I have to wrap it up. But Michael, are you going to stay there or come home?
MICHAEL: Well, officially I don't know really what's going to happen, vacation in the next week anyway, so I'll be on my way home.
BLITZER: All right, Michael. Thanks for joining us. Good luck to you. Good luck to all your friends out there, as well.
We're going to continue to follow this important story. Obviously, Americans and others killed in this latest terror attack.
When we come back, though, an American administrator versus a Shiite cleric. Who holds the power in Iraq? A CNN exclusive when we return.
Plus, mom accused of killing her kids. The grizzly murders rocking a small town in Texas. We'll talk to one of the men who arrived on the scene immediately after the murder.
And presidential follies. Painkillers, love affairs and high stress. JFK, a look at the man behind the legend. I'll speak with the author of a new biography.
But first, today's "News Quiz."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): According to a recent survey of Americans, who was the country's greatest president? Abraham Lincoln? John Kennedy, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush? The answer coming up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Coming up, she's behind bars accused of killing her kids with rocks. He went to the horrific scene. I'll speak live with the judge about what he saw. What's coming up on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Words of warning today from a Shiite Muslim leader who's back in Iraq after more than two decades in exile.
In an exclusive interview with CNN's Baghdad bureau chief, Jane Arraf, Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim said American forces should leave Iraq. Jane is joining us now live from Baghdad with more -- Jane. JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Well, wolf, in his first address yesterday just shortly after arriving, his first address in 23 years, in fact, to Iraqis on Iraqi soil, al-Hakim told them -- led them in a chant, "No to Saddam, no to America, yes to Islam."
But today in this interview he was a little bit more conciliatory.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARRAF (voice-over): Iraq has always been a spiritual center for Shia Muslims. But with the fall of Saddam Hussein, they've become a powerful political force. A major player, Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim has returned to Najaf, the city of his birth after 23 years in exile in Iran. His return greeted with joy by tens of thousands of followers who turned out to welcome him, and apprehension by those who fear he wants an Iranian-style Islamic state.
In his first television interview after arriving in Najaf, al- Hakim talked about the role of Islamic law in the new Iraq.
MOHAMMAD BAQIR AL-HAKIM, SHI'ITE MUSLIM LEADER (through translator): The ballot box must be the foundation for the government in the nation, but we believe because the Iraqi people are a Muslim people, they will choose to implement Sharia law in at least some areas of daily life.
ARRAF: What aspect of life al-Hakim doesn't say. Nor will he be specific about his own political plans, except that his supreme counsel for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq would take part in the interim government.
In our interview he doesn't call for the immediate expulsion of U.S. and British troops from Iraq, but he does warn there would be problems if they stay.
AL-HAKIM (through translator): I believe that it is in the best interest of the U.S. and the Iraqi people, especially concerning the relationship between the two, for the troops to leave.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARRAF: Now he's obviously treading a very fine line, Wolf, and he's being incredibly diplomatic, in fact. It is very hard to get him to specify exactly what vision of Iraq he has and how much that would incorporate Islamic law. At the same time he's being very careful about a wide range of subject. But at end of the day, he's not just a spiritual figure, he is a potentially a very potent political force -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Jane Arraf in Baghdad. Jane, thanks very much for that report.
And a former bitter enemy of Iraq is offering a helping hand. President Mohammad Khatami of Iran says his country is ready to help its neighbor turn the corner and develop a new government. That pledge came during a visit by Mr. Khatami to Lebanon. But the Iranian leader condemned the occupation of Iraq and he said he hopes the United States will not start a new crisis in the region.
Grizzly murder in smalltown Texas. Authorities say a mother tells them she killed her kids because God told her to do it. Find out what police found on the scene of the crime.
Plus, in your mouth. Big Brother gets in on the weight loss act.
And a new way to worship, the inflatable church. Watch this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: As we told you at the top of this newscast, an Oklahoma judge has ruled that Terry Nichols will indeed stand trial in that state court on 160 counts of first-degree murder. The Oklahoma City bombing conspirator is already serving a life term in federal prison. State proceedings could bring the death penalty if Nichols is convicted. A trial date was not immediately set by the judge whose decision came as prosecutors were still presenting evidence.
A Texas woman is in jail this evening accused of an unthinkable crime, killing her two sons and severely beating another the day before Mother's Day. Yesterday a silent Deanna Laney listened as the judge read the charges against her, capital murder and aggravated assault.
Joining me now is one of the first people to arrive at the crime scene, Judge James Meredith. Judge, thanks very much for joining us. Why were you there so quickly?
JUDGE JAMES MEREDITH, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, SMITH COUNTY, TEXAS: Well, I wasn't really there that quickly. I actually responded a few hours after the sheriff's department did.
BLITZER: The reason you went was?
MEREDITH: Well, being the justice of the peace we are the ones that hold the inquest on the death and they were required to call us to the scene.
BLITZER: What did you see when you got there?
MEREDITH: Well, to be honest with you, I saw a pretty gruesome sight. And I think it's been talked about quite a bit the last few days and if anybody didn't have to be there to see it, they were lucky not to have to be there.
BLITZER: It was just a horrific sight and you don't have to go into details, obviously. We can only imagine how bad it might have been. It probably was, indeed, based on your eyewitness accounts.
But what happened? They were collecting evidence as you were there, the law enforcement authorities?
MEREDITH: Well they had been collecting their evidence and, of course, when I got there they showed me the location. And, of course, then having to do the inquest I had to see the bodies so that I can get the information that I needed.
BLITZER: What was your immediate assessment as to how this could have happened?
MEREDITH: To be honest with you, I just don't know how a mother could do that to her children and I still don't know.
BLITZER: Did she say anything? Was she still there when you were there?
MEREDITH: No.
BLITZER: She had already been taken away?
MEREDITH: She'd been taken away.
BLITZER: And this notion that God supposedly told her to do this, was that her story?
MEREDITH: As far as I know. I haven't talked to her and the only thing is what I've read.
BLITZER: Walk us through the process right now. What's happening?
MEREDITH: Well, as of right now she has been arraigned and has been given her bond. And as we're waiting right now, I guess we'll be waiting on the trial.
BLITZER: Do you know anything about the condition of the third son?
MEREDITH: I haven't heard. The last I heard was critical.
BLITZER: Judge James Meredith, thanks for joining us for obviously what is a horrific, horrific story and an unthinkable murder in this particular case. Appreciate it very much.
Let's go back to our top story now. The terrorist strikes in Saudi Arabia. CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel is getting word of a major development. Andrea, tell our viewers what's happening.
KOPPEL: Well, Wolf, in another sign in how the Bush administration is reacting to Monday night's terrorist attacks the State Department is about to -- it's expected in a short period of time to order the departure of all non-essential American personnel at not only the U.S. embassy in Riyadh, but also two U.S. consulates in Jeddah and in Dhahran.
Now, this covers we don't know exactly how many people because they won't tell us, but it presumably covers dozens of people. That means they are forced to leave. Presumably, the ambassador and key staff would stay at these facility. But everyone else, family members, dependents is being ordered to leave.
Before the war in Iraq they went to authorized departure which means that if they wanted to, the government would pay for them to leave. Now they are ordering them out -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Is this strictly on the basis of the incident, the terror strikes last night, Andrea? Or is there more intelligence out there that could be more of this in the works?
KOPPEL: We don't know the answer to that question, Wolf. What we've been told is that it's in response to the attacks last night. Certainly, this often takes time to work its way through the system. They're still dotting the "I"s and crossing the "T"s right now, but it is an in the pipeline. So, again, presumably, it's based on the attacks Monday evening and not necessarily on new threat information, but that's something that we're obviously looking into -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Andrea Koppel at the State Department. Thanks again, Andrea, for that information.
Much more news coming up including terror attack against Americans. More on that. Will the Saudis help or hurt the investigation? We'll take a much closer look.
And Texas lawmakers on the lam. Find out why the state speaker of the House of Representatives wants them arrested.
And JFK's secret life, painkillers and love affairs. The author of a major new biography joins me live with revealing details. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer. In a moment, the latest on the terror attacks against Americans in Saudi Arabia. I'll speak live with Adel Al-Jubeir, he's in Riyadh, the foreign policy adviser to the crown prince. He has new details. But first, let's get the latest headlines. For that, we turn to CNN's Arthel Neville. She's here in the CNN newsroom here in Atlanta.
(NEWSBREAK)
BLITZER: Let's get back to some hard news, though. Right now, the attacks on Saudi Arabia forced the president to do double duty while out promoting this tax plan. The president shifted his focus, albeit briefly, to Riyadh, vowing to bring those responsible for the bombings to justice. Our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is following these important developments. She's live on the North Lawn of the White House -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, President Bush today said that he would not be surprised if this was the work of al Qaeda, but he hasn't come up with any conclusions. He did say upon his return to Washington that he debriefed by the head of the CIA, George Tenet, also White House officials do believe that al Qaeda's fingerprints are all over this. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): The White House reaction to the Saudi bombing was swift and strong.
BUSH: These despicable acts were committed by killers whose only faith is hate. And the United States will find the killers, and they will learn the meaning of American justice.
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The only way to deal with this threat, ultimately, is to destroy it.
MALVEAUX: President Bush was in Indianapolis to promote his tax cut plan, and later in Pierce City, Missouri to see the tornado damage there firsthand. But the Saudi bombing prompted him to reassure Americans that fighting terrorism is still a top priority for the White House.
BUSH: The people that killed the Americans and others (UNINTELLIGIBLE) will be tracked down and they will be brought to justice. It doesn't matter how long it takes. The war on terror goes on.
MALVEAUX: The Bush administration has been frustrated with the Saudi leadership, that it has not gone after terrorists, particularly al Qaeda, more aggressively. But some critics question whether the Bush administration's focus on Iraq and toppling Saddam Hussein has limited its own ability to go after al Qaeda. The whereabouts of its leader, Osama bin Laden, is still unknown. The White House argues it is successfully fighting the war on terror on two fronts.
BUSH: A free Iraq will make the war more peaceful, because, you see, when people are free they're less likely to promote terrorism.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Now, the White House argues, just look at the fall of the Taliban. They say that since the war on terror, Wolf, that al Qaeda, the ability of al Qaeda has been seriously disrupted, that they could not carry out the type of attack that we saw on September 11, but they do say that the war on terror is far from over -- Wolf.
BLITZER: It clearly is far from over. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks very much.
The Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah addressed his nation and condemned the attacks, calling the people behind them, and I'm quoting now, "monsters and deviants." For more on the Saudi reaction I am joined now one the phone by the Saudi foreign policy adviser, Adel Al- Jubeir. Adel, thanks as usual for joining us.
There's widespread anger, obviously, over what happened and there's widespread concern here in the United States that Saudi Arabia might not be doing enough to fight terrorism. What do you say about that concern? ADEL AL-JUBEIR, SAUDI FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER: I say that the concern is misplaced. Saudi Arabia has been fighting terrorism very vigorously and we've been very merciless in dealing with terrorists. I think where we have been remiss is in explaining the steps that we've done, and we intend to fix that. In the next three days we'll come out with -- outline some of the actions that were taken in the past to combat terrorism, and I think people will be very, very surprised.
With regard to what happened in Riyadh yesterday, it was a horrific act. It was a heinous act. It was an attack against civilians who were neighbors. It was an international community. Many people died, many more were injured and wounded, and this was a declaration of war against Saudi Arabia and against our society and we will take on the terrorists and we will rid our society of them. There should be no doubt in the mind of anyone that this is what we will do.
BLITZER: But, Adel, you know there were warnings only last week, intelligence warnings that there was an act potentially in the works, that was not very far away from this attack. Explosives were found, people were arrested. Why wasn't more done?
AL-JUBEIR: Well, Wolf, the warnings have been in place now for over six weeks. The country has been on a heightened level of alert. We expected multiple attacks by al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia. We expected them against American targets. We expected them against Saudi targets.
We have succeeded in unraveling a number of attempts. Some of them we have publicized, some of them we have not publicized. The most recent one was the discovery of this arms cache, which was not too far from one of the compounds. We have arrested people trying to infiltrate into Saudi Arabia with explosives. We have broken up cells in Saudi Arabia; all of this in the last six weeks.
Unfortunately, in this case, yesterday, we failed. And innocent people died. It was -- it was our hope and our wish that we could have also stopped this attack from happening, but they chose a soft target, and they struck, and they succeeded.
But this will not diminish our steadfastness or our determination in pursuing them vigorously and in making sure that justice is served.
BLITZER: Adel, as you well know, after the Khobar Towers attacks, 19 U.S. service members killed in 1996, the FBI sent agents there. At the time, many of them returned to Washington, I know this firsthand, very frustrated by what they say was the lack of full cooperation from the Saudi government. Will it be better this time?
AL-JUBEIR: Well, Wolf, of course, it will, and with what happened after the Khobar bombing, it was the first time that we had to deal with other foreign -- other law enforcement agencies from other countries and there's a procedure that countries go through when they cooperate internationally. Those procedures, unfortunately, are bureaucratic and time consuming, and that gives the impression that people are not being cooperative.
I believe and I know that our two countries, since that time, have made great strides in working together much more closely, and they certainly have done this since the late 1990s. We have had a joint counterterrorism committee. We have jointly been pursuing al Qaeda and bin Laden since the late 1990s, and certainly since September 11, our two services have worked hand in hand, very closely, on a lot of issues.
The information that is flowing back and forth is flowing at a very open rate. The joint operations that are being conducted are leading to the apprehension and incarceration of many of al Qaeda's leaders.
One of the things, Wolf, that people may not be aware of is almost every arrest of every major al Qaeda leader could not have happened without active Saudi involvement. We have not spoken about it before, and that has created the impression that nothing was being done. We intend to change that, and just like we spoke about the steps we took in the area to combat the financing of terrorism, we will begin to speak about what we've done in the area of -- in the law enforcement area to apprehend terrorists and bring them to justice.
BLITZER: Adel Al-Jubeir, good luck to you, and we'll be talking. Thanks very much for joining us from Riyadh.
AL-JUBEIR: Thank you.
BLITZER: CNN's Mike Brooks knows firsthand what challenges FBI agents in Saudi Arabia will face. He was part of that team that investigated the 1996 Khobar Tower bombings. He is joining us now live with some perspective. You know, Mike, when I looked at the pictures of what happened in Riyadh last night, the pictures of what happened in Khobar Towers, and for that matter, the pictures in Oklahoma City, the buildings look remarkably similar. Talk a little bit about the explosives that might have been involved in each?
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's first talk about Khobar Towers, Wolf. When you look at the Khobar Towers, this middle picture here, the truck that pulled up there was a truck that is usually used to clean out porto johns, but it was stuffed with a minimum, a minimum of 5,000 pounds of C-4 high explosive.
Now, C-4 detonates at a 25,000 feet per second, Wolf. That's a very, very high explosive. Then we looked at Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City, the explosive used at this scene by Timothy McVeigh was actually ammonium nitrate and fuel oil mix.
Now, ammonium nitrate could be used as a fertilizer, but can also be used as a blasting agent. What he did it was a 4,500 pounds of this that he put in drums, and he used a (UNINTELLIGIBLE), which is a gel explosive, water-based explosive to kind of kick it off, if you will.
Now, that kind of explosive anfo (ph) is what they call a heaver, or a pushing type explosive, and you can see this by the kind of pushing effect that it had up as the explosive went up and out, and that is the detonating force of anfo (ph) is somewhere between 15,000 and 18,000 feet per second.
Then we look at the new attack here. Very similar to the Khobar Towers. Could be C-4, could be TNT, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), which is a very common explosive that we've seen used in other attacks such as the Cole attack. We've seen it also at the Opian Sang (ph), the Saudi Arabian National Guard in Riyadh in 1995.
But some of the other pictures I saw of this, you can see kind of dark on some of the buildings, which would mean there was more of a thermal effect, more fire, and TNT is a little more fuel-rich, if you will, but it also has a detonating force of 22,000 feet per second. So again, a very high explosive used here also, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Mike Brooks, as usual, thanks very much for that analysis. Those pictures are chilling, eerily similar, although the explosives in each may indeed have been different.
Much more coverage coming up, including an explosive new biography of John F. Kennedy, shedding new light on the late president. Coming up, we'll hear live from the author who wrote the book, "An Unfinished Life." We'll ask him about his claim, the research that he discovered that John F. Kennedy indeed had a fling with an intern over two summers. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Earlier we asked a cording to a recent survey of Americans, who was the country's greatest president? The answer, according to the "USA Today"-CNN Gallup poll, Abraham Lincoln. Kennedy ranked second. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush tied for third.
We told you yesterday about a new biography that says President John F. Kennedy had an affair with a White House intern.
Today the author, Robert Dallek, is joining me live to talk about his new book, an explosive, but very important book, "An Unfinished Life." Professor, thanks so much for joining us.
Let's get this issue of the intern out of the way right away. One of the quotes you have from the late president, he says in your book, "the point is you've got to live every day like it's your last day on earth. That's what I'm doing." Was that what he was doing when he was allegedly having an affair with an intern?
ROBERT DALLEK, AUTHOR, "AN UNFINISHED LIFE": I guess so, Wolf, but you know, there was a long history of womanizing by President Kennedy, and I think he learned this sort of behavior at his father's knee, who of course, was quite a philanderer himself, but I think also there was a kind of concern about how short his life might be. His older brother had been killed in the war, Joe Jr, and his youngest sister, Kathleen, had been killed in an aircraft, and he had, of course, so many illnesses and medical problems, and I think he felt he wasn't going to live very long. And also he modeled himself on the British aristocracy, which, of course, there were quite a few philanderers among those folks, and he knew the British aristocrats, and so I think that all came together to make him quite a womanizer himself.
BLITZER: You don't know the identity of the intern, but she probably is in her 60s right now. Is it your assessment, based on what you do know, she might go public and talk about it, or write about it?
DALLEK: Well, I tend to doubt that. My source for this, of course, was Barbara Gamrickian (ph), who had been at the Kennedy White House in the press office along with P.F. Salinger (ph). She had 17 blacked-out pages in the oral history in the Kennedy library. I asked her, and she gave me access to them, I guess, almost 40 years later she felt there was no harm in doing them. But you're quite right, that's my estimate that the woman is in her 60s. Barbara uses the name Mimi. I don't know if that's her real name or a pseudonym, but Barbara doesn't want to tell who it is and I've not been very aggressive in trying to find out, because why embarrass this woman.
BLITZER: Did his wife, Jackie, know about the infidelity?
DALLEK: I think Jacqueline Kennedy did know about the infidelities, but I don't know that she had any specific knowledge of this intern.
BLITZER: One of the items, incredibly important item, the pain killers he was taking, the drugs he was taking. The critical meeting he had in 1962 with Khrushchev of Russia, did the pain killer, the medication he was on, based on your research, professor, have an impact on his thinking then?
DALLEK: You know, Wolf, I looked very closely at his medical history, because I was the first biographer to get into the Janet Trevel (ph) records, which were at the Kennedy library, and they had something called an MAR, a medical administration record, and I was able to set that down alongside of Kennedy's dealings with various crises including the Cuban missile crisis. And this medicine administration record showed us how many medications he was on to deal with his very many difficult and enduring medical problems. But I saw no evidence that he was incapacitated by taking these medicines.
In fact, to the contrary, I think he couldn't have functioned all that well without them. So I saw him as lucid, as competent and really as quite heroic and stoic in dealing with his medical issues.
BLITZER: It's an incredibly powerful read especially those of us who lived through that era. Robert Dallek, the professor, has written an incredibly important book, "An Unfinished Life."
Good luck to you with the book, professor. Thanks so much for joining us.
DALLEK: Thank you.
BLITZER: We'll continue this conversation on another occasion.
DALLEK: Thank you very much, Wolf.
BLITZER: Americans eating themselves right out of their pants? Now the government's stepping in to try to tighten the belt on fast food. See what it may mean for your waistline immediately when we return.
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BLITZER: The restaurant industry in the United States is under new pressure to help fight obesity.
Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fast food restaurants -- some people say they're part of America's obesity problem. The government wants them to be part of the solution.
TOMMY THOMPSON, HHS SECRETARY: We are asking the fast food industry and all of the restaurants to start looking at their menus and see if they can diversify and see if they can put healthier foods on there and help to promote them.
COHEN: So is the government going to make french fries illegal? Burgers criminal? That's not the idea.
Thompson's is a more of bully pulpit plan, publicly compliment restaurants that offer and promote healthy alternatives.
THOMPSON: It's really trying to put pressure on them to do what is right for America.
COHEN (on camera): Fast food restaurants say they're already offering alternatives such as salads.
Let's take McDonald's as an example. According to their nutritional information, this salad has 380 calories and 23 grams of fat if you use all the dressing. Compare that to a Big Mac, which has 590 calories and 34 grams of fat.
(voice-over): The restaurant industry says consumers, not the restaurants ultimately decide what's on the menu.
STEVEN ANDERSON, PRES., NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION: There are numerous options and people vote every day in the marketplace with their dollars.
COHEN: On the other hand, consumer advocates say Thompson should take a stronger hand with the restaurant industry.
For example, some want the government to put nutrition information on the menu boards to let people know right there and then just how many calories they're buying. (END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: Another criticism of the fat food industry is they discount the food that's less healthy.
For example, take a look at this Big Mac and the Supersized fries. This costs less than a salad and a yogurt parfait, which has fewer calories and less fat -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Elizabeth Cohen with useful information, as usual. Thanks very much.
Our hot "Web Question of the Day" is this: "Do you think the war in Iraq increased or decreased the threat of terrorism?" You can still vote. Go to cnn.com/wolf, and we'll have the results when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of the Day." Remember, we've been asking you this question: "Do you think the war in Iraq increase or decreased the threat of terrorism?" Look at this: 88 percent of you said increased; 12 percent of you said decreased. Remember, this is not a scientific poll.
A reminder, you can always watch WOLF BLITZER REPORTS weekdays 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Tomorrow, Senator Pat Roberts, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, will join me live.
Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer at the CNN Center in Atlanta.
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