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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
New Audiotape of Saddam Released; Israel Declares War on Militant Palestinian Groups; Bush: Tax Cuts Will Work, Need More Time
Aired September 01, 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, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much. Three devastating car bombings in Iraq in three weeks and scores are killed. Now people are bracing for the worst, including a possible civil war with 140,000 U.S. military men and women right in the middle.
We're covering a tinder box in Iraq right now. Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Message to mourners, a surprising taped statement said to be from Saddam Hussein.
SADDAM HUSSEIN (through translator): They rushed to accuse before investigating.
BLITZER: All out war, Israel targets Hamas but who's caught in the middle?
Human bomb, what a man minutes from dying told police.
Labor pains on Labor Day, with nine million Americans still out of work does President Bush have the proper prescription?
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Tax relief was needed to stem the recession.
BLITZER: Teens and sex, we'll tell you about the shocking research and sex therapist Laura Berman will tell you what to do about it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: CNN live this hour, WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, live from the nation's capital with correspondents from around the world. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts now.
BLITZER: It's Monday, September 1, 2003. Hello from New York, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting.
An explosion of grief and outrage in Iraq and a perplexing statement said to be from the former leader. His regime slaughtered Shiite Muslims in the past but an audio, purportedly the voice of Saddam Hussein, says he was not responsible for Friday's bombing at a Shiite shrine which killed dozens of people including a prominent Iraqi ayatollah.
A symbolic funeral procession has been making its way from Baghdad to Najaf, the holy city, which was the scene of the bombing and where hundreds of thousands will gather to pay their last respects. The violence and tension in the city will have U.S. Marines staying longer than planned.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is standing by live in Najaf but first let's go over to the Pentagon. Barbara Starr is standing by there - Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, in the wake of last week's bombing in Najaf and the funeral procession that is continuing through Iraq today, there has been a tape broadcast by Arab television purported to be the voice of Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi leader.
Now, on this tape the former Iraqi leader says he was not responsible for the attack on one of the most holy places of the Shiite Muslims that left the Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim dead. Here is part of what was said on that tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUSSEIN (through translator): Many of you may have heard the snakes hissing, the servants of the invaders, occupiers, infidels, and how they have managed to accuse the followers of Saddam Hussein of responsibility for the attack on al-Hakim without any evidence. They rush to accuse before investigating. They did that to divert attention from the real culprits.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: And, Wolf, now the Central Intelligence Agency is comparing this latest audio tape to previous tapes to see if they can determine if it was Saddam Hussein - Wolf.
BLITZER: Any idea, Barbara, how long that might take?
STARR: It probably will take a few days as it has happened over the weekend but, as you know, they have a number of previous recordings said to be Saddam's voice so the match may come very quickly if they can easily do it.
BLITZER: Barbara Starr with the latest at the Pentagon thanks Barbara very much.
And, as mourners march to Najaf, Friday's mosque bombing, has sparked a new round of heightened tension in southern Iraq and fears of civil war.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is in the Shiite holy city. He's joining us now live - Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN: Yes, Wolf, this city is really bracing for the funeral, the symbolic funeral for that assassinated ayatollah here tomorrow. They expect hundreds of thousands of people to come here. Now, I spoke to a Marine commander in this area who said that they've brought in -- they've flown in more medical supplies in the event of any problems. He says they have two major worries, the possibility of clashes between Iraqis and the possibility of another car bomb.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (voice-over): The bombing and the sporadic violence that has followed mark the beginning of a new and volatile phase in post Saddam Iraq igniting fears of inter-Shiite fighting and clashes pitting the Shiite majority against the one dominant Arab Sunni minority that ruled this country for decades.
During the years of Ba'athist oppression, secular political parties among the Shiites were driven deep underground or into exile. The regime was far less successful, however, at crushing the centuries old religious hierarchy in the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala. Today, this often divided group of clerics are the Shiites' true power brokers.
(on camera): A handful of clerical leaders commands a huge following among Iraq's Shiites. A fatwah or religious ruling from one can send tens of thousands of followers into the streets.
(voice-over): The United States has never felt at ease dealing with the clerics due to their support for the establishment of an Islamic state and their close ties to Iran. From the beginning of the occupation, some clerical leaders denounced the U.S.-led coalition but most chose to cooperate.
Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, killed in Friday's bombing, initially refused to support the coalition-supported governing council of Iraq but then relented allowing his brother to join but other Shiite leaders are highly critical of the council seen as an American attempt to put an Iraqi face on the occupation.
"The council was born dead" says this clerical leader. "It doesn't represent the Iraqi people and only serves the occupation. History will damn all those who took part in it."
The death of Ayatollah al-Hakim has left a gaping vacuum and, while no one yet has come forward to take his place, cities like Najaf are bracing for a potentially violent power struggle.
Since Sunday, tens of thousands of Shiites have been marching from Baghdad to Najaf to attend the funeral Tuesday for Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim. The march is a wanted show of Shiite strength and, at the same time, a warning that the Shiites' attempt to emerge from decades of oppression could prove tumultuous.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: That was CNN's Ben Wedeman reporting live from Najaf, thanks Ben very much. U.S. troops, meanwhile, are already being targeted on a daily basis in Iraq even as they still hunt for Saddam Hussein. Will they now be caught in the crossfire between the would-be successors.
Joining me now from Washington the retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Dan Christman, he was an assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, an adviser to the secretary of state and a former superintendent at West Point.
General Christman thanks very much for joining us. Before we get to what's happening in Najaf right now, this latest purported audio tape from Saddam Hussein denying he or his supporters had anything to do with it, what do you make of that?
LT. GEN. DAN CHRISTMAN, U.S. ARMY (RET): In the first place, Wolf, I think the credibility obviously of that tape is extremely marginal at best but the point on this, I think, is that whether Saddam is alive or dead is much, much less important now than the new phase of the war that we're in.
We have turned a very, very important corner in this conflict and now we are engaged, it seems to me, the coalition is, not with the Ba'athist remnants that are loyal to Saddam but this new kind of warfare that combines those loyalists with international terrorism of the Ansar al-Islam variety, as well as the thousands of jihadists who are apparently coming across the border. This is very, very different now than trying to mop up a post campaign in March and April.
BLITZER: Well, this looks like a scenario the U.S. military did not envisage was not preparing for. Are U.S. troops prepared right now to deal with this huge threat, including the possibility of a civil war breaking out?
CHRISTMAN: Wolf, this is an extremely dangerous moment for us. It seems to me a couple of things are extremely important now for the U.S. military. Number one is to accelerate the turnover as rapidly as possible to indigenous Iraqi leaders.
There are already about 30,000 Iraqi police in uniform, about 10,000 or so Iraqi military. We need to expend as many dollars and time as we can to make sure this transformation occurs quickly.
Secondly is to make sure that we have in place an information campaign. Information is a component of the military power like firepower and maneuver. We need to make certain that our TV and radio stations, leaflets and newspapers put out the message that the coalition wants to put out, not be beholding to the kind of comments from Al-Jazeera that we hear constantly trumpeted from that particular source.
BLITZER: Some suggest that perhaps another division 20,000 U.S. troops, maybe two divisions 40,000, in addition to the 140,000 already there might be the answer. Is that the answer throwing more U.S. forces at this situation?
CHRISTMAN: Wolf, as much as that may seem tempting and tantalizing, my sense is it's not the answer. Again, I go back to the point, we need to spend the time and the dollars and the manpower to train quickly and vet as thoroughly as we can the Iraqi military.
One of the most important reasons, Wolf, why it seems to me we can't be sending a division or two more over to Iraq is we have to be careful now about what's happening in North Korea.
Events there over the last ten days, especially, with the summit in Beijing are disturbing indeed and the troops that might be sent over to Iraq from III Corps at Fort Hood are exactly the troops that would be used in Korea, so we have to give pause, it seems to me, to a rapid infusion of more troops in Iraq.
BLITZER: General Dan Christman thanks very much for joining us.
CHRISTMAN: Thank you very much, Wolf.
BLITZER: Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Middle East today, Israel launched another missile strike in Gaza, killing at least one Hamas operative and wounding some two dozen other people. The Israeli government also issued a statement declaring, and I'm quoting now, "all out war against militant groups."
CNN's Matthew Chance is joining us now live via videophone from Gaza with more - Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via videophone): Wolf, thank you.
The Israeli government is stepping up not just their action on the ground but their rhetoric as well that statement issued after a Monday cabinet meeting of the Israeli government.
The statement, as you mentioned, saying that the Israeli government has declared an all out war against Hamas and other terrorist organizations. They also said they would be increasing their military activities against the focuses of terror in the West Bank, also saying that they would freeze their diplomatic contacts with the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas until such time as the Palestinian Authority has shown that it will move against the militant groups, all this of course coming with further action on the ground.
Israeli again striking at the militant group Hamas as its members drove through the streets of the very crowded streets of Gaza City. Hospital officials here in Gaza saying that at least one person was killed another 25 though were injured, most of them bystanders.
The one person who has been killed has been identified though as a prominent Hamas member, a mid-ranking figure in the military wing of the organization the (unintelligible) brigade. As you may expect, Wolf, the militant organization saying it will take its revenge.
BLITZER: Matthew Chance be careful over there in Gaza. Thanks very much for that report.
Joblessness in America, the numbers don't look good and there's a real blame game being played. On this Labor Day, we'll debate who's responsible. That's just ahead.
Also, one storm in the Pacific loses steam but another one in the Atlantic is getting stronger. Is the U.S. mainland in its path? I'll speak with CNN's Jacqui Jeras in just a few moments.
And, you won't believe how bizarre this case is, the death of a pizza delivery man in Pennsylvania as police looked on. We'll get the latest on the investigation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Coming up, a family tragedy, now the sole survivor of a flash flood relives horrifying moments when he lost his wife and children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The force of that wall of water came so quickly, washed away many of the 12,000-pound, 20-feet-long concrete mediums. It took our minivan with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
Labor Day, of course, is the traditional start of the political campaign season. President Bush was on the road today pushing his economic policies but it may be a tough sell when so many are still out of work.
Let's go live to our White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux - Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, President Bush was in Richfield, Ohio earlier today speaking with union workers and really the point was to highlight his economic agenda but, also the administration's efforts to create more jobs.
Administration officials recognize that this is a critically important issue for the president for Election 2004, a top priority for voters. There are nine million Americans on this Labor Day who are out of work. That is a 6.2 unemployment rate.
And, President Bush using this holiday really to talk about the positive economic indicators, consumer spending up, worker productivity up, economic growth up, the president also asking for patience from the American people saying that his tax cuts, his benefits plan will work. It just needs to get more time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: When you got more money in your pocket it means you're going to spend or save and invest and when you spend or save or invest somebody is going to produce a product for you to be able to spend your money on. When somebody produces a product it's more likely somebody is going to be able to find a job. Tax relief was needed to stem the recession. They tell me it was a shallow recession. It was a shallow recession because of the tax relief.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: The president, part of his agenda as well not only calling for creation of more jobs but also to control lawsuits as well as to restrain government spending, establish free trade agreements with other countries and, finally, for Congress to pass a comprehensive energy bill - Wolf.
BLITZER: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House thanks Suzanne very much.
Public opinion polls show the economy and unemployment as the main concern of Americans, even more so than terrorism, at least right now. At 6.2 percent, the jobless rate is the highest in nine years.
Nine million Americans are out of work and a third of those have lost their jobs since President Bush took office. The president says his tax cuts will go a long way towards fixing that. His Democratic rivals disagree. Does the president have the right prescription?
Joining me now from Washington Kevin Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute, he's a former senior economist at the Federal Reserve Board and joining us from Boston Robert Reich the Labor Secretary during the Clinton administration. Thanks to both of you for joining us.
Mr. Hassett, let me begin with you by simply asking this fundamental question, will President Bush be able to run on the notion that he will ask the American people are they better off today than they were four years ago, something of course Ronald Reagan ran on in 1980?
KEVIN HASSETT, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INST.: You know I think that people will feel a lot better off a year from now than they feel right now. I think all economists are forecasting that the economy is finally starting to get going.
And you know, Wolf, we just heard the president claim that the economy is doing better because of his tax cuts and I think he's right about that and I think what he's doing now is he's going around and trying to spread that message ahead of the good economic data so that he'll be able to get credit in voters' minds.
BLITZER: Secretary Reich, the economy is seemingly on the up tick right now. Growth in the last quarter better than a lot of people thought. The stock markets are doing a lot better this year than last year. Perhaps creating jobs, unemployment, is the last leg of what could be a significant recovery in the coming year.
Well, let's hope so, Wolf. The problem is that this has been the most anemic recovery, in fact, the worst jobs recovery on record. We have seen a million jobs lost since the end of the recession in November of 2001.
And, not only that, but the length and duration of unemployment has been at record levels, 19 months or more we have people who are unemployed now. We haven't seen this duration for something like 20 years.
The Bush administration must be hoping that over the next year not only will jobs come back but this administration doesn't look like his father's administration.
BLITZER: All right.
REICH: Remember, the previous Bush administration was saying everything is good.
BLITZER: Kevin, we have an e-mail. I want you to respond to this if you can from Jaci in Virginia. "Please ask your guests if they can name one single company that has hired new workers because of Mr. Bush's tax cuts."
HASSETT: Because of the tax cuts explicitly, you know, I think the hiring decision is based on all sorts of things, you know, are you getting more market share? Are you out-competing your neighbors and so on? And so, a specific company is something that I can't do because...
BLITZER: But the president keeps saying that the tax cuts are going to create jobs.
HASSETT: Yes, well that's right and, you know, I think that most people believe that the tax cuts have done a good job of getting the economy going and of making people not fire as many workers as they thought they were going to when they looked at the really bad forecast that we saw right after the September 11 attacks. And so, I think we're doing OK.
BLITZER: Let me ask Robert Reich, the tax cuts, as an economist, take off your political hat for a moment, as an economist tax cuts, at least in the past, a lot of people thought would create jobs, certainly President Kennedy thought so.
REICH: Wolf, there's no doubt that cutting taxes can help in a recession just like big deficits can help in a recession but if the tax cuts go mainly to people who are already very rich, who spend as much as they already want, that's after all the definition of being rich, you spend as much as you already want to spend, those tax cuts are really not going to stimulate the economy. What you need are tax cuts that put a lot more money in average people's pockets so they go out and they buy more.
BLITZER: Kevin, you're shaking your head but go ahead.
HASSETT: Well, I don't think that's sound economics, Mr. Secretary. You know, the fact is that it's the marginal tax rate that determines whether people work harder or not and most economic models say that tax cuts, like the president's, will stimulate the economy and I think we've seen that they have stimulated the economy.
REICH: Well, remember the president promised in 2001, the 2001 tax cut that that would stimulate the economy. We've now had quite a lot of time to see whether that worked. It didn't.
We saw the Reagan tax cuts. They stimulated the economy but we ended up with a huge deficit that actually plunged the economy by the first years of the 1990s into a deep recession. So, I'm skeptical. I hope the jobs come back but there's no evidence yet. We'll know more on Friday.
BLITZER: Let's get to another e-mail for you Mr. Hassett. "No one is addressing the fact that large employers are getting rid of full-time workers and replacing them with part-time workers. This makes the number of Americans without a safety net grow even higher."
First of all, is Darlene right with that assumption?
HASSETT: Yes, that is correct. You know, there have been a lot of movements in corporate American towards outsourcing. I think a lot of times that happens though because tight union rules make it very difficult for employers to compete in the world marketplace and they're looking for cost savings any way they can get them and I think that the alternative isn't necessarily that the union job stays but rather the firm just goes out of business and everybody loses their job.
BLITZER: Go ahead, Secretary Reich.
REICH: Well, I think it's disingenuous to blame unions. Unions are less powerful today than they have been in 20, 30 years. A smaller proportion of the private sector is unionized.
HASSETT: Not, but outsourcing is more important in the sector, Mr. Secretary.
REICH: Let me just finish my point please.
HASSETT: Certainly.
REICH: The point is that many companies are seeing profits because they are cutting their wage costs. Wage costs are the largest costs in a company's cost structure and, as long as companies continue to seek profits but cutting payrolls and cutting wages, then we are not going to see an up tick in demand because who's going to have the money to turn around and buy all the goods and services the companies produce?
BLITZER: Kevin Hassett, a final thought from you. These huge deficits, $400 billion projected now from the surpluses that were the case in recent years, how much of a problem in terms of pocketbook economics for average Americans is this going to be down the road?
HASSETT: Well, I think long-term deficits are a really big problem but our experience is that in the short term in order to get out of a recession and then you'll be OK, and I think that the deficit right now is not really large by historical standards and that we could expect that it wouldn't harm the recovery.
BLITZER: I think on that point you're going to get the last word Secretary Reich.
REICH: Well the problem with...
BLITZER: I remember - let me just point out that during the Clinton administration you were among those not overly concerned about the deficits.
REICH: That's right, Wolf. When an economy has a lot of excess capacity, as we do right now, deficits are not a problem. The problem here is that the Bush deficits are structural. The president wants to have a drug benefit, for example.
It's going to cost a lot of money. We have a war in Iraq and a war against terrorism and we also have huge tax cuts and many of those tax cuts the Bush administration wants to extend indefinitely. That means huge deficits in the future when the economy is back in full production. That's very dangerous. It means inflation. It means that long-term interest rates are going up.
BLITZER: All right, we'll have to leave it on that note. Robert Reich, Kevin Hassett, a good debate. We'll continue it on another occasion, appropriate on this Labor Day.
REICH: Thanks, Wolf.
HASSETT: Thanks.
BLITZER: Here's your turn to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the day is this: "How would you rate President Bush's efforts to fight unemployment?" You can choose good, fair, or poor. We'll have the results later in this broadcast but you can vote right now. Go to cnn.com/wolf.
While you're there, I want to hear directly from you. Send me your comments. I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also, of course, where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.
A family swept away by floods.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
You start by saying that Donna's (ph) gone and I am not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: A heartbroken father tells his sad story. That's coming up next.
Also, the mysterious death of a pizza delivery man in Pennsylvania, police were watching when it happened but they're still not sure who's behind it. A very bizarre case, we'll update you on it just ahead. And, a warning for parents, disturbing new information about teenagers and sex, what you need to know that's coming up.
And a hurricane possibly heading towards the United States.
First, though, our news quiz.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER (voice-over): Which U.S. state has been hit by the most hurricanes, Florida, Texas, Hawaii, North Carolina," the answer coming up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER (voice-over): Earlier we asked which U.S. state has been hit by the most hurricanes, the answer Florida.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Big storms are making for a nervous Labor Day for islanders in the Atlantic and the Pacific. Let's check in with CNN Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. She's at the weather center for updates on Hurricane Fabian and Tropical Storm Jimena. What's going on?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Wolf, we've got a major hurricane, the first one of the season in the Atlantic basin. This is Fabian and it has been strengthening just over the last six hours so our wind speeds have increased to 145 miles per hour.
It is still several hundred miles away from land and at this time not anticipating it to make landfall or be too much of a problem outside of some rough surf and high tides expected across as it heads towards the Leeward Islands.
It is moving to the west northwest at 12 miles per hour and so that is going to keep it up to the north of this entire region and we are going to be watching it taking a different turn, a little bit more northerly later in the forecast period.
Now, this is our five-day forecast so the margin of error is still pretty good here, especially the farther out that we get into the forecast but everybody who lives along the eastern coast of the United States really needs to pay attention to this storm system as we will see some fluctuations in strength as we approach the weekend. This is something that we're going to be needing to keep an eye on and, of course, we'll keep you up to date.
Out into the Pacific, we have Tropical Storm Jimena and that is still about 155 miles away from the southernmost point of the big island of Hawaii. Tropical storm warnings have been expired now but still going to see some heavy rain on the southern and eastern shores of six to ten inches.
And we have a little wave developing here into the northwestern Caribbean, something that has the potential for development over the next two days and, of course, we'll be watching that one as well and we'll keep you up to date. But right now, everybody's doing OK. But things may be changing pretty dramatically in the next couple of days -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Jacqui. We'll take all right for now. Thanks very much, Jacqui Jeras.
In eastern Kansas, dozens of people are searching for two people whose cars were slept pie floodwaters off an interstate Saturday. In all, seven vehicles were washed away.
One was a minivan with a Missouri family of six inside. The bodies of all four children were found yesterday. Their mother is among those still missing. The father was sucked out of the driver's side window and survived. Just about an hour ago, he spoke to reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT ROGERS, FATHER: Our minivan became trapped on the freeway between semis and cars and the 12,000-pound concrete median. The raging water was too strong to attempt to carry four children safely away. We thought we were safely pinned against the median. And the water quickly rose out to the height of the steering wheel.
My wife Melissa and I agreed that our only chance of escape at that point was through the driver's side window, which we had already cracked open in the event that we might submerge. I kicked out the window and was instantly sucked into the raging water.
My wife Melissa and daughter McKenna were unbuckled. It's not clear if they, too, were sucked out or if they tried to escape. My three youngest children were still buckled into their car seats when the van was inundated with water.
We ask for everyone's prayers in the hope that we still may find my wife Melissa alive and well. If there's anything positive that can come from this tragedy, it's to treasure the importance of family and to savor every single precious minute with your spouses and children.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Tragedy for Mister Rogers. In addition to his wife, a Texas man is still missing, as well, and the flooding killed a Kansas City teenager who drowned swimming in a swollen creek.
A new audiotape possibly of Saddam Hussein. But can U.S. forces tighten the noose on the elusive former Iraqi leader? The latest from Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. That's just ahead.
And Arnold Schwarzenegger, look at this. He's sticking up for CNN. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Don't push the lady. She's from CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: We'll bring in a surprising exchange today between the GOP heavyweight and our own Rusty Dornin.
And a new school year and a new movie and a new school year spark concern among parents about teenagers and sex.
We'll get to all of that. First, though, our weekend snapshot.
A deadly weekend along the Florida panhandle. Four people are believed to have drowned in separate incidents. The dangerous conditions prompted officials at one beach to warn against going in the water at all.
Charles Bronson died in a Los Angeles hospital after battling pneumonia for a month. The actor was known for his tough-guy roles, including the "Death Wish" series. He was 81.
The San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds' played his first game since the death of his father. Bonds hit his 40th home run of the season, but he came out in the eighth inning and yesterday he was hospitalized for exhaustion.
The funeral for his father, Bobby Bonds, was Thursday.
And history on the gridiron. Katie Hnida kicked an extra point for the University of New Mexico, becoming the first woman ever to score in an NCAA Division I football game.
And that's our weekend snapshot.
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BLITZER: Welcome back.
Authorities in Erie, Pennsylvania, are trying to unravel a mystery. All they know for certain is that two pizza deliverymen are dead, one of them killed, possibly murdered by a bomb while police looked on.
CNN'S Mike Brooks has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a bizarre crime that has baffled police since Thursday, when a man said he was forced to rob a western Pennsylvania bank by someone who strapped explosives to his body.
This is what Brian Douglas Wells said minutes before he died. "Why is nobody trying to get this thing off me? I don't have a lot of time." As the camera is rolling, Wells continues to describe the encounter with a man he says strapped the bomb to his body. "He pulled a key out and started a timer. I heard the thing ticking when he did it. It's going to go off. I'm not lying. Did you call my boss?"
As police waited for bomb technicians to arrive, the bomb went off, killing Wells.
Earlier, he had delivered a pizza to a remote area, according to his boss, and an hour later he showed up at the bank strapped with a bomb and carrying a note.
KEN MCCABE, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: It gave instructions to the bank employees on what they were supposed to do, and the bank employees complied with that. That note also contained instructions for what Mr. Wells was supposed to do. And he was in the process of following those instructions when the Pennsylvania state police stopped him and placed him under arrest.
BROOKS: Now authorities are investigating the second death. A co-worker at the same pizza delivery place found dead yesterday in his parent's home. Police sent in a bomb team because of the connection, but nothing suspicious was found, and police now think the deaths are a coincidence.
Could they have saved the man with the bomb? In this case, not if it was armed with a timing mechanism.
MCCABE: They protected innocent lives. Police and agents are not trained to go and diffuse a bomb. It's not like TV shows, where we go up and try to guess, do we cut the red wire or the green wire? It's too dangerous.
And this bomb that was wrapped around the -- Mr. Well's neck is the most dangerous type of bomb that a bomb tech has to respond to, because it entails actually approaching and doing a hand entry into the device to render it safe.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKS: The Pennsylvania state police and district attorney's office will hold a press conference on Tuesday at 11, hopefully to shed more light on this bizarre case -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Very bizarre indeed. Mike Brooks, thanks very much.
Let's get a little bit more information on the case now. I'm joined now on the phone by Renee DeCamillo. She's a reporter for CNN affiliate WJET. She saw the bomb go off.
Renee, tell us what you saw at that horrific moment?
RENEE DECAMILLO, WJET CORRESPONDENT: Well, there was just a flash from the bomb, and a second later you saw Brian Wells laying on the ground. The -- it awed everyone. I was across the street when I saw the bomb go off. There was debris that came just a few feet from me on the ground. We were in a parking lot across the street. And there were many people there who had been evacuated from stores near where the bomb was let off.
People were just in shock. For myself, even arriving on the scene, I just didn't think this was actually going to happen, that this bomb could actually go off and then you see it. And it's very surreal.
BLITZER: Did -- Was there a huge noise? Was there a huge explosion or was it relatively muted?
DECAMILLO: Well, it was just kind of a bang. Even maybe amplified car exhaust going off. It wasn't that loud, but you knew that it was forceful.
BLITZER: Renee, you've been covering this story from the beginning. Does it look now like this was a homicide, murder or does it look like it was suicide, as there is some suggestion that it might have been?
DECAMILLO: Well, police say they haven't discounted any situation. So I can only go by what they tell me.
But I can tell you that we have reviewed the tapes. He's pleading with police as he's sitting there handcuffed with this bomb on him. "Why aren't you taking this bomb off me? Help me. I don't have a lot of time." And he's just restating that information.
At one point -- I think his last words were, "Please call my boss." About two minutes and 46 seconds later, the bomb goes off.
BLITZER: And then yesterday they found another pizza deliveryman dead at his home. What do we know about that?
DECAMILLO: Well, he is a co-worker of Brian Wells. He lives with his parents. He's 43-year-old Robert Pinetti.
And police aren't saying too much about him either. What happened was paramedics were called to his house at 5 a.m. because his family was concerned about his welfare. AT 9 a.m. the paramedics were called back and he was unresponsive and at 10 he was pronounced dead at the scene.
BLITZER: And we'll watch that news conference tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. Eastern. Renee DeCamillo doing some excellent reporting for us, thanks very much. Renee's from our affiliate, WJET.
Let's go back to Iraq now and the hunt for Saddam Hussein and his henchman. The search is centered in Tikrit, the ancestral home of the Saddam Hussein clan.
CNN's Jason Bellini is there. He's joining us now live via videophone.
Jason, tell us how this search is coming along.
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the soldiers and the officers that we talked to say that they still hope with every door that they knock down as they're doing searches that Saddam might be behind one of them. More likely they're going to find someone who has more information on this trail.
We have some video to show you, shot by CNN photographer Neil Hallsworth (ph) over the weekend. It's of a raid in the northern Tikrit area.
Now this is an example of the types of raids they are doing every day. In this case they were tracking down number 146 on their list, the black list, as they call it.
The group conducting this raid calls themselves Task Force 21. They're regular troops who have been assigned to this duty. They call themselves Task Force 21 because they say that they're doing what Task Force 20 is doing. Their ultimate goal is to capture Saddam Hussein -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jason, but do they get a sense that they're making any progress? Is there any indication that they're getting close?
BELLINI: Well, you know, they say the one thing to their advantage very recently is that they're working with Iraqi police. In fact, they did one raid yesterday where Iraqi police came to them and said, "We have this raid we want to do. Come help us; come show us what we need to do to do this."
When you have the Iraqi police coming to them and organizing these things, getting more involved in the process, they have more contact on the ground. On the way home from work, they're stopping in the market. They're hearing rumors. They're talking to more people.
And they think that with each door they knock on and as they meet more and more people, and there are a lot of people who have connections to Saddam Hussein, they might get lucky one of these days -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. We'll see. Jason Bellini, on the scene for us in Tikrit. Thanks, Jason, very much.
For the California recall candidates, not much time left until the critical vote. Who are the governor and the main challengers? What are they doing right now as they go down to the wire? Five weeks approximately and counting. We'll have the latest when we come back.
Also, we'll tell you about some new alarming research about teenagers and sex. We'll talk to the renowned sex expert, Laura Berman, about what parents can do about all of this.
First, though, let's take a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.
Heavy flooding is causing havoc in northwest China, where 100,000 residents have had to evacuate. So far, no reports of injuries.
The French government says the families of 170 people killed in the bombing of a French airliner in 1989 must decide for themselves whether to accept the new compensation offer from Libya.
A spokesman for the families says negotiations with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's government are continuing.
Russia's defense minister says a national trait (ph) of carelessness sent this derelict Russian submarine to the bottom of the Barents Sea Saturday with nine sailors aboard. It sank in a storm while in tow to an arctic shipyard. The government has ordered a temporary halt to the towing of decommissioned subs.
The widow of former U.N. weapons inspector David Kelly says in the days before he killed himself, he was distressed over being caught up in a controversy over the British government's case for war in Iraq.
Kelly was identified as the BBC's possible source for a report alleging Prime Minister Tony Blair's office exaggerated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's weapons program.
Janice Kelly told a judicial inquiry today her husband had felt betrayed.
Vincent Van Gogh, he isn't. American illusionist David Blaine only appeared to cut his ear off at a news conference in London. It shocked and grossed out the reporters in attendance. Blaine was publicizing his next major feet, suspension in Plexiglass by the River Thames for 44 days without food beginning Friday.
Bewildered Colombian authorities are wondering why guerrillas holding a former presidential candidate captive allowed her to videotape a statement pleading for a military rescue attempt to free her. The revolutionary group, known as FARC, kidnapped former Colombian Senator Ingrid Bettancourt early last year.
And that's our look around the world.
No holiday for California's governor or the top Republican rival. Both Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger on the campaign trail today.
CNN's Rusty Dornin caught up with Schwarzenegger at the California state fair.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Reporters always have a lot of questions for Arnold Schwarzenegger. The answers always seem to be given on the run.
When we caught up with him here at the California state fair in Sacramento, we asked him about the reason why he was going to miss the debate this week with the other major recall candidates. Schwarzenegger says he's saving himself for just one. SCHWARZENEGGER: I'm looking forward to the debate. It's going to be great with the California broadcasters, yes. It's going to be fantastic.
DORNIN: Are you not going to do any of the other debates, sir?
SCHWARZENEGGER: We're going to do one great debate. You all can bring out all the different issues, OK?
DORNIN: Schwarzenegger is already receiving some criticism from the other candidates about not attending the other debates.
Later in his tour inside the fair he said the press and the public is going to get sick of hearing him talk, talk, talk about the issues.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Sacramento, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Governor Gray Davis, meanwhile, is also using the holiday to appeal to voters.
This morning he was in Los Angeles at a rally against the recall election. He took a swipe at Schwarzenegger, noting that the former Governor Pete Wilson is co-chairman of the actor's campaign. Davis said of Wilsons' terms, and I'm quoting now, "Those eight years were not good years for working people."
He also promised changes if he's allowed to keep his job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GRAY DAVIS (D), CALIFORNIA: This recall is a humbling experience. I would not wish it on my worst enemy. But if the good people of this state decide that they are going to allow me to finish the term to which they elected me, I promise you I will do some things differently.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: The recall election is scheduled five weeks from tomorrow. This Friday, by the way, I'll be in Los Angeles, reporting live on the California recall.
Teens and sex and some new research that may surprise you. The sex therapist Dr. Laura Berman will tell you what to do about it. She's joining us next live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: It's fall and the kids are back in school. But you may not be pleased about what one study says they are learning after school.
Recent research shows one in five teens in the United States has had sex before turning, get this, 15 years old.
The noted sex therapist Dr. Laura Berman says that should be a wakeup call for parents. She's the co-host of "Berman and Berman," which airs weekly on the Discovery Health Channel. She's joining us now live from our bureau in Chicago.
Laura, this is pretty shocking. Were you surprised by this latest survey?
DR. LAURA BERMAN, SEX THERAPIST: Working with teens as much as I do, I wasn't exactly surprised. But I think a lot of parents are surprised. Really, in that study only a third of the parents knew that those kids who were being sexually active were indeed having sex. So that's a little bit concerning, because the parents have no idea.
And one in 10 of those sexual encounters that the under 15's were having was involuntary. So that's a big issue of concern, as well.
BLITZER: When you say involuntary, that makes it sound like rape or sexual assault?
BERMAN: Rape, sexual assault. There's a continuum, especially with young teenage girls, from rape and date rape all the way down to what is commonly caused unwanted, where she's feeling pressure from her boyfriend or from her peers to have sex. She's kind of told that if she doesn't have sex that he'll leave her for another girl.
And so a lot of these kids, 80 percent of girls, are saying once they have sex that they wished that they hadn't. And 80 percent of girls and 60 percent of boys are saying that those first sexual experiences were negative ones.
BLITZER: Well, what should parents who might be watching this program do about all of this and grandparents who might be watching, as well?
BERMAN: Right. Well, the main thing, and the most important thing, is to talk. And the misconception is that the talk should happen once when the kid reaches puberty. It should start way before there, and there really isn't any one talk a parent should have.
I tell parents to take advantage of what's called educational opportunities in the media. Sit down and watch MTV with them for 15 minutes or look in the supermarket aisle the next time you're in the checkout line. There's grist for the mill in terms of these conversations all around you if you just take advantage of them.
And speak to your kids in a nonjudgmental fashion. Give them a chance to tell you what's going on in their life and what their fears and what their concerns are. Because studies have shown that the more prepared kids are, not only about pregnancy and STDs and about abstinence, very important, but the more informed they are about safer sex, as well, the better informed decisions they're going to make later on.
BLITZER: STDs, sexually transmitted diseases. But how do you talk to your kids 13, 14, 15 years old? What do you say? Do you just assume they're going to be having sex, and as a result they should be taking precautions? Or do you try to talk them out of having sex at that kind of young age?
BERMAN: Well, it's really up to -- the one thing I don't try to do is impart my values onto others. What I try to do is help parents find the words to impart their own values onto their children.
But the main thing to remember is that information does not mean permission. And have those conversations and let your kids know what you think. Because they do care.
BLITZER: If the kids see all the stuff that's going on on television and the movies, they're obviously going to be influenced by that. But I get back to one of the points you're making, the involuntary nature of this, especially the peer pressure.
How do you deal with the pressure when your boyfriend says to you, "You know what? I'm going to dump you if you don't have sex with me."
BERMAN: Well, it's a very, very tough situation, especially for girls, but also for boys, who have their own brand of pressure.
The education of kids really should start at birth in terms of helping them feel good about their bodies, have high self-esteem and high sense of empowerment. If they have those characteristics, they're much less likely to submit to the peer pressure.
If they have a parent who is going to be nonjudgmental of them and they can talk through these issues with, who can help them negotiate through them, they're much less likely to get into those risky situations where they might be date raped or pushed into doing something they don't really want to do.
And I unfortunately, you know, with the 43 percent of American women, adult women who have sexual dysfunction, I'm seeing the after effects when I treat these adult women. Very often, it's connected to these early negative sexual experiences that are imprinted on their sexual lives.
BLITZER: Dr. Laura Berman, as usual, thanks for joining us.
BERMAN: Sure. My pleasure.
BLITZER: A very serious subject, indeed. A nightmare for a lot of people.
BERMAN: Talk to your kids out there.
BLITZER: All right. Good advice from Laura Berman. Thanks very much.
Let's move on. Our hot Web question of the day is this: how would you rate President Bush's efforts to fight unemployment? Is it good, fair or poor? Vote right now 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: How would you rate President Bush's efforts to fight unemployment? Look at this, 1 percent of you said good, 1 percent of you said fair; 98 percent of you said poor. As always, we remind you, this is not a scientific poll. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" with John King filling in starts right now.
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Militant Palestinian Groups; Bush: Tax Cuts Will Work, Need More Time>
Aired September 1, 2003 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much. Three devastating car bombings in Iraq in three weeks and scores are killed. Now people are bracing for the worst, including a possible civil war with 140,000 U.S. military men and women right in the middle.
We're covering a tinder box in Iraq right now. Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Message to mourners, a surprising taped statement said to be from Saddam Hussein.
SADDAM HUSSEIN (through translator): They rushed to accuse before investigating.
BLITZER: All out war, Israel targets Hamas but who's caught in the middle?
Human bomb, what a man minutes from dying told police.
Labor pains on Labor Day, with nine million Americans still out of work does President Bush have the proper prescription?
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Tax relief was needed to stem the recession.
BLITZER: Teens and sex, we'll tell you about the shocking research and sex therapist Laura Berman will tell you what to do about it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: CNN live this hour, WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, live from the nation's capital with correspondents from around the world. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts now.
BLITZER: It's Monday, September 1, 2003. Hello from New York, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting.
An explosion of grief and outrage in Iraq and a perplexing statement said to be from the former leader. His regime slaughtered Shiite Muslims in the past but an audio, purportedly the voice of Saddam Hussein, says he was not responsible for Friday's bombing at a Shiite shrine which killed dozens of people including a prominent Iraqi ayatollah.
A symbolic funeral procession has been making its way from Baghdad to Najaf, the holy city, which was the scene of the bombing and where hundreds of thousands will gather to pay their last respects. The violence and tension in the city will have U.S. Marines staying longer than planned.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is standing by live in Najaf but first let's go over to the Pentagon. Barbara Starr is standing by there - Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, in the wake of last week's bombing in Najaf and the funeral procession that is continuing through Iraq today, there has been a tape broadcast by Arab television purported to be the voice of Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi leader.
Now, on this tape the former Iraqi leader says he was not responsible for the attack on one of the most holy places of the Shiite Muslims that left the Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim dead. Here is part of what was said on that tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUSSEIN (through translator): Many of you may have heard the snakes hissing, the servants of the invaders, occupiers, infidels, and how they have managed to accuse the followers of Saddam Hussein of responsibility for the attack on al-Hakim without any evidence. They rush to accuse before investigating. They did that to divert attention from the real culprits.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: And, Wolf, now the Central Intelligence Agency is comparing this latest audio tape to previous tapes to see if they can determine if it was Saddam Hussein - Wolf.
BLITZER: Any idea, Barbara, how long that might take?
STARR: It probably will take a few days as it has happened over the weekend but, as you know, they have a number of previous recordings said to be Saddam's voice so the match may come very quickly if they can easily do it.
BLITZER: Barbara Starr with the latest at the Pentagon thanks Barbara very much.
And, as mourners march to Najaf, Friday's mosque bombing, has sparked a new round of heightened tension in southern Iraq and fears of civil war.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is in the Shiite holy city. He's joining us now live - Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN: Yes, Wolf, this city is really bracing for the funeral, the symbolic funeral for that assassinated ayatollah here tomorrow. They expect hundreds of thousands of people to come here. Now, I spoke to a Marine commander in this area who said that they've brought in -- they've flown in more medical supplies in the event of any problems. He says they have two major worries, the possibility of clashes between Iraqis and the possibility of another car bomb.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (voice-over): The bombing and the sporadic violence that has followed mark the beginning of a new and volatile phase in post Saddam Iraq igniting fears of inter-Shiite fighting and clashes pitting the Shiite majority against the one dominant Arab Sunni minority that ruled this country for decades.
During the years of Ba'athist oppression, secular political parties among the Shiites were driven deep underground or into exile. The regime was far less successful, however, at crushing the centuries old religious hierarchy in the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala. Today, this often divided group of clerics are the Shiites' true power brokers.
(on camera): A handful of clerical leaders commands a huge following among Iraq's Shiites. A fatwah or religious ruling from one can send tens of thousands of followers into the streets.
(voice-over): The United States has never felt at ease dealing with the clerics due to their support for the establishment of an Islamic state and their close ties to Iran. From the beginning of the occupation, some clerical leaders denounced the U.S.-led coalition but most chose to cooperate.
Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, killed in Friday's bombing, initially refused to support the coalition-supported governing council of Iraq but then relented allowing his brother to join but other Shiite leaders are highly critical of the council seen as an American attempt to put an Iraqi face on the occupation.
"The council was born dead" says this clerical leader. "It doesn't represent the Iraqi people and only serves the occupation. History will damn all those who took part in it."
The death of Ayatollah al-Hakim has left a gaping vacuum and, while no one yet has come forward to take his place, cities like Najaf are bracing for a potentially violent power struggle.
Since Sunday, tens of thousands of Shiites have been marching from Baghdad to Najaf to attend the funeral Tuesday for Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim. The march is a wanted show of Shiite strength and, at the same time, a warning that the Shiites' attempt to emerge from decades of oppression could prove tumultuous.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: That was CNN's Ben Wedeman reporting live from Najaf, thanks Ben very much. U.S. troops, meanwhile, are already being targeted on a daily basis in Iraq even as they still hunt for Saddam Hussein. Will they now be caught in the crossfire between the would-be successors.
Joining me now from Washington the retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Dan Christman, he was an assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, an adviser to the secretary of state and a former superintendent at West Point.
General Christman thanks very much for joining us. Before we get to what's happening in Najaf right now, this latest purported audio tape from Saddam Hussein denying he or his supporters had anything to do with it, what do you make of that?
LT. GEN. DAN CHRISTMAN, U.S. ARMY (RET): In the first place, Wolf, I think the credibility obviously of that tape is extremely marginal at best but the point on this, I think, is that whether Saddam is alive or dead is much, much less important now than the new phase of the war that we're in.
We have turned a very, very important corner in this conflict and now we are engaged, it seems to me, the coalition is, not with the Ba'athist remnants that are loyal to Saddam but this new kind of warfare that combines those loyalists with international terrorism of the Ansar al-Islam variety, as well as the thousands of jihadists who are apparently coming across the border. This is very, very different now than trying to mop up a post campaign in March and April.
BLITZER: Well, this looks like a scenario the U.S. military did not envisage was not preparing for. Are U.S. troops prepared right now to deal with this huge threat, including the possibility of a civil war breaking out?
CHRISTMAN: Wolf, this is an extremely dangerous moment for us. It seems to me a couple of things are extremely important now for the U.S. military. Number one is to accelerate the turnover as rapidly as possible to indigenous Iraqi leaders.
There are already about 30,000 Iraqi police in uniform, about 10,000 or so Iraqi military. We need to expend as many dollars and time as we can to make sure this transformation occurs quickly.
Secondly is to make sure that we have in place an information campaign. Information is a component of the military power like firepower and maneuver. We need to make certain that our TV and radio stations, leaflets and newspapers put out the message that the coalition wants to put out, not be beholding to the kind of comments from Al-Jazeera that we hear constantly trumpeted from that particular source.
BLITZER: Some suggest that perhaps another division 20,000 U.S. troops, maybe two divisions 40,000, in addition to the 140,000 already there might be the answer. Is that the answer throwing more U.S. forces at this situation?
CHRISTMAN: Wolf, as much as that may seem tempting and tantalizing, my sense is it's not the answer. Again, I go back to the point, we need to spend the time and the dollars and the manpower to train quickly and vet as thoroughly as we can the Iraqi military.
One of the most important reasons, Wolf, why it seems to me we can't be sending a division or two more over to Iraq is we have to be careful now about what's happening in North Korea.
Events there over the last ten days, especially, with the summit in Beijing are disturbing indeed and the troops that might be sent over to Iraq from III Corps at Fort Hood are exactly the troops that would be used in Korea, so we have to give pause, it seems to me, to a rapid infusion of more troops in Iraq.
BLITZER: General Dan Christman thanks very much for joining us.
CHRISTMAN: Thank you very much, Wolf.
BLITZER: Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Middle East today, Israel launched another missile strike in Gaza, killing at least one Hamas operative and wounding some two dozen other people. The Israeli government also issued a statement declaring, and I'm quoting now, "all out war against militant groups."
CNN's Matthew Chance is joining us now live via videophone from Gaza with more - Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via videophone): Wolf, thank you.
The Israeli government is stepping up not just their action on the ground but their rhetoric as well that statement issued after a Monday cabinet meeting of the Israeli government.
The statement, as you mentioned, saying that the Israeli government has declared an all out war against Hamas and other terrorist organizations. They also said they would be increasing their military activities against the focuses of terror in the West Bank, also saying that they would freeze their diplomatic contacts with the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas until such time as the Palestinian Authority has shown that it will move against the militant groups, all this of course coming with further action on the ground.
Israeli again striking at the militant group Hamas as its members drove through the streets of the very crowded streets of Gaza City. Hospital officials here in Gaza saying that at least one person was killed another 25 though were injured, most of them bystanders.
The one person who has been killed has been identified though as a prominent Hamas member, a mid-ranking figure in the military wing of the organization the (unintelligible) brigade. As you may expect, Wolf, the militant organization saying it will take its revenge.
BLITZER: Matthew Chance be careful over there in Gaza. Thanks very much for that report.
Joblessness in America, the numbers don't look good and there's a real blame game being played. On this Labor Day, we'll debate who's responsible. That's just ahead.
Also, one storm in the Pacific loses steam but another one in the Atlantic is getting stronger. Is the U.S. mainland in its path? I'll speak with CNN's Jacqui Jeras in just a few moments.
And, you won't believe how bizarre this case is, the death of a pizza delivery man in Pennsylvania as police looked on. We'll get the latest on the investigation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Coming up, a family tragedy, now the sole survivor of a flash flood relives horrifying moments when he lost his wife and children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The force of that wall of water came so quickly, washed away many of the 12,000-pound, 20-feet-long concrete mediums. It took our minivan with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
Labor Day, of course, is the traditional start of the political campaign season. President Bush was on the road today pushing his economic policies but it may be a tough sell when so many are still out of work.
Let's go live to our White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux - Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, President Bush was in Richfield, Ohio earlier today speaking with union workers and really the point was to highlight his economic agenda but, also the administration's efforts to create more jobs.
Administration officials recognize that this is a critically important issue for the president for Election 2004, a top priority for voters. There are nine million Americans on this Labor Day who are out of work. That is a 6.2 unemployment rate.
And, President Bush using this holiday really to talk about the positive economic indicators, consumer spending up, worker productivity up, economic growth up, the president also asking for patience from the American people saying that his tax cuts, his benefits plan will work. It just needs to get more time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: When you got more money in your pocket it means you're going to spend or save and invest and when you spend or save or invest somebody is going to produce a product for you to be able to spend your money on. When somebody produces a product it's more likely somebody is going to be able to find a job. Tax relief was needed to stem the recession. They tell me it was a shallow recession. It was a shallow recession because of the tax relief.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: The president, part of his agenda as well not only calling for creation of more jobs but also to control lawsuits as well as to restrain government spending, establish free trade agreements with other countries and, finally, for Congress to pass a comprehensive energy bill - Wolf.
BLITZER: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House thanks Suzanne very much.
Public opinion polls show the economy and unemployment as the main concern of Americans, even more so than terrorism, at least right now. At 6.2 percent, the jobless rate is the highest in nine years.
Nine million Americans are out of work and a third of those have lost their jobs since President Bush took office. The president says his tax cuts will go a long way towards fixing that. His Democratic rivals disagree. Does the president have the right prescription?
Joining me now from Washington Kevin Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute, he's a former senior economist at the Federal Reserve Board and joining us from Boston Robert Reich the Labor Secretary during the Clinton administration. Thanks to both of you for joining us.
Mr. Hassett, let me begin with you by simply asking this fundamental question, will President Bush be able to run on the notion that he will ask the American people are they better off today than they were four years ago, something of course Ronald Reagan ran on in 1980?
KEVIN HASSETT, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INST.: You know I think that people will feel a lot better off a year from now than they feel right now. I think all economists are forecasting that the economy is finally starting to get going.
And you know, Wolf, we just heard the president claim that the economy is doing better because of his tax cuts and I think he's right about that and I think what he's doing now is he's going around and trying to spread that message ahead of the good economic data so that he'll be able to get credit in voters' minds.
BLITZER: Secretary Reich, the economy is seemingly on the up tick right now. Growth in the last quarter better than a lot of people thought. The stock markets are doing a lot better this year than last year. Perhaps creating jobs, unemployment, is the last leg of what could be a significant recovery in the coming year.
Well, let's hope so, Wolf. The problem is that this has been the most anemic recovery, in fact, the worst jobs recovery on record. We have seen a million jobs lost since the end of the recession in November of 2001.
And, not only that, but the length and duration of unemployment has been at record levels, 19 months or more we have people who are unemployed now. We haven't seen this duration for something like 20 years.
The Bush administration must be hoping that over the next year not only will jobs come back but this administration doesn't look like his father's administration.
BLITZER: All right.
REICH: Remember, the previous Bush administration was saying everything is good.
BLITZER: Kevin, we have an e-mail. I want you to respond to this if you can from Jaci in Virginia. "Please ask your guests if they can name one single company that has hired new workers because of Mr. Bush's tax cuts."
HASSETT: Because of the tax cuts explicitly, you know, I think the hiring decision is based on all sorts of things, you know, are you getting more market share? Are you out-competing your neighbors and so on? And so, a specific company is something that I can't do because...
BLITZER: But the president keeps saying that the tax cuts are going to create jobs.
HASSETT: Yes, well that's right and, you know, I think that most people believe that the tax cuts have done a good job of getting the economy going and of making people not fire as many workers as they thought they were going to when they looked at the really bad forecast that we saw right after the September 11 attacks. And so, I think we're doing OK.
BLITZER: Let me ask Robert Reich, the tax cuts, as an economist, take off your political hat for a moment, as an economist tax cuts, at least in the past, a lot of people thought would create jobs, certainly President Kennedy thought so.
REICH: Wolf, there's no doubt that cutting taxes can help in a recession just like big deficits can help in a recession but if the tax cuts go mainly to people who are already very rich, who spend as much as they already want, that's after all the definition of being rich, you spend as much as you already want to spend, those tax cuts are really not going to stimulate the economy. What you need are tax cuts that put a lot more money in average people's pockets so they go out and they buy more.
BLITZER: Kevin, you're shaking your head but go ahead.
HASSETT: Well, I don't think that's sound economics, Mr. Secretary. You know, the fact is that it's the marginal tax rate that determines whether people work harder or not and most economic models say that tax cuts, like the president's, will stimulate the economy and I think we've seen that they have stimulated the economy.
REICH: Well, remember the president promised in 2001, the 2001 tax cut that that would stimulate the economy. We've now had quite a lot of time to see whether that worked. It didn't.
We saw the Reagan tax cuts. They stimulated the economy but we ended up with a huge deficit that actually plunged the economy by the first years of the 1990s into a deep recession. So, I'm skeptical. I hope the jobs come back but there's no evidence yet. We'll know more on Friday.
BLITZER: Let's get to another e-mail for you Mr. Hassett. "No one is addressing the fact that large employers are getting rid of full-time workers and replacing them with part-time workers. This makes the number of Americans without a safety net grow even higher."
First of all, is Darlene right with that assumption?
HASSETT: Yes, that is correct. You know, there have been a lot of movements in corporate American towards outsourcing. I think a lot of times that happens though because tight union rules make it very difficult for employers to compete in the world marketplace and they're looking for cost savings any way they can get them and I think that the alternative isn't necessarily that the union job stays but rather the firm just goes out of business and everybody loses their job.
BLITZER: Go ahead, Secretary Reich.
REICH: Well, I think it's disingenuous to blame unions. Unions are less powerful today than they have been in 20, 30 years. A smaller proportion of the private sector is unionized.
HASSETT: Not, but outsourcing is more important in the sector, Mr. Secretary.
REICH: Let me just finish my point please.
HASSETT: Certainly.
REICH: The point is that many companies are seeing profits because they are cutting their wage costs. Wage costs are the largest costs in a company's cost structure and, as long as companies continue to seek profits but cutting payrolls and cutting wages, then we are not going to see an up tick in demand because who's going to have the money to turn around and buy all the goods and services the companies produce?
BLITZER: Kevin Hassett, a final thought from you. These huge deficits, $400 billion projected now from the surpluses that were the case in recent years, how much of a problem in terms of pocketbook economics for average Americans is this going to be down the road?
HASSETT: Well, I think long-term deficits are a really big problem but our experience is that in the short term in order to get out of a recession and then you'll be OK, and I think that the deficit right now is not really large by historical standards and that we could expect that it wouldn't harm the recovery.
BLITZER: I think on that point you're going to get the last word Secretary Reich.
REICH: Well the problem with...
BLITZER: I remember - let me just point out that during the Clinton administration you were among those not overly concerned about the deficits.
REICH: That's right, Wolf. When an economy has a lot of excess capacity, as we do right now, deficits are not a problem. The problem here is that the Bush deficits are structural. The president wants to have a drug benefit, for example.
It's going to cost a lot of money. We have a war in Iraq and a war against terrorism and we also have huge tax cuts and many of those tax cuts the Bush administration wants to extend indefinitely. That means huge deficits in the future when the economy is back in full production. That's very dangerous. It means inflation. It means that long-term interest rates are going up.
BLITZER: All right, we'll have to leave it on that note. Robert Reich, Kevin Hassett, a good debate. We'll continue it on another occasion, appropriate on this Labor Day.
REICH: Thanks, Wolf.
HASSETT: Thanks.
BLITZER: Here's your turn to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the day is this: "How would you rate President Bush's efforts to fight unemployment?" You can choose good, fair, or poor. We'll have the results later in this broadcast but you can vote right now. Go to cnn.com/wolf.
While you're there, I want to hear directly from you. Send me your comments. I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also, of course, where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.
A family swept away by floods.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
You start by saying that Donna's (ph) gone and I am not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: A heartbroken father tells his sad story. That's coming up next.
Also, the mysterious death of a pizza delivery man in Pennsylvania, police were watching when it happened but they're still not sure who's behind it. A very bizarre case, we'll update you on it just ahead. And, a warning for parents, disturbing new information about teenagers and sex, what you need to know that's coming up.
And a hurricane possibly heading towards the United States.
First, though, our news quiz.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER (voice-over): Which U.S. state has been hit by the most hurricanes, Florida, Texas, Hawaii, North Carolina," the answer coming up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER (voice-over): Earlier we asked which U.S. state has been hit by the most hurricanes, the answer Florida.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Big storms are making for a nervous Labor Day for islanders in the Atlantic and the Pacific. Let's check in with CNN Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. She's at the weather center for updates on Hurricane Fabian and Tropical Storm Jimena. What's going on?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Wolf, we've got a major hurricane, the first one of the season in the Atlantic basin. This is Fabian and it has been strengthening just over the last six hours so our wind speeds have increased to 145 miles per hour.
It is still several hundred miles away from land and at this time not anticipating it to make landfall or be too much of a problem outside of some rough surf and high tides expected across as it heads towards the Leeward Islands.
It is moving to the west northwest at 12 miles per hour and so that is going to keep it up to the north of this entire region and we are going to be watching it taking a different turn, a little bit more northerly later in the forecast period.
Now, this is our five-day forecast so the margin of error is still pretty good here, especially the farther out that we get into the forecast but everybody who lives along the eastern coast of the United States really needs to pay attention to this storm system as we will see some fluctuations in strength as we approach the weekend. This is something that we're going to be needing to keep an eye on and, of course, we'll keep you up to date.
Out into the Pacific, we have Tropical Storm Jimena and that is still about 155 miles away from the southernmost point of the big island of Hawaii. Tropical storm warnings have been expired now but still going to see some heavy rain on the southern and eastern shores of six to ten inches.
And we have a little wave developing here into the northwestern Caribbean, something that has the potential for development over the next two days and, of course, we'll be watching that one as well and we'll keep you up to date. But right now, everybody's doing OK. But things may be changing pretty dramatically in the next couple of days -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Jacqui. We'll take all right for now. Thanks very much, Jacqui Jeras.
In eastern Kansas, dozens of people are searching for two people whose cars were slept pie floodwaters off an interstate Saturday. In all, seven vehicles were washed away.
One was a minivan with a Missouri family of six inside. The bodies of all four children were found yesterday. Their mother is among those still missing. The father was sucked out of the driver's side window and survived. Just about an hour ago, he spoke to reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT ROGERS, FATHER: Our minivan became trapped on the freeway between semis and cars and the 12,000-pound concrete median. The raging water was too strong to attempt to carry four children safely away. We thought we were safely pinned against the median. And the water quickly rose out to the height of the steering wheel.
My wife Melissa and I agreed that our only chance of escape at that point was through the driver's side window, which we had already cracked open in the event that we might submerge. I kicked out the window and was instantly sucked into the raging water.
My wife Melissa and daughter McKenna were unbuckled. It's not clear if they, too, were sucked out or if they tried to escape. My three youngest children were still buckled into their car seats when the van was inundated with water.
We ask for everyone's prayers in the hope that we still may find my wife Melissa alive and well. If there's anything positive that can come from this tragedy, it's to treasure the importance of family and to savor every single precious minute with your spouses and children.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Tragedy for Mister Rogers. In addition to his wife, a Texas man is still missing, as well, and the flooding killed a Kansas City teenager who drowned swimming in a swollen creek.
A new audiotape possibly of Saddam Hussein. But can U.S. forces tighten the noose on the elusive former Iraqi leader? The latest from Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. That's just ahead.
And Arnold Schwarzenegger, look at this. He's sticking up for CNN. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Don't push the lady. She's from CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: We'll bring in a surprising exchange today between the GOP heavyweight and our own Rusty Dornin.
And a new school year and a new movie and a new school year spark concern among parents about teenagers and sex.
We'll get to all of that. First, though, our weekend snapshot.
A deadly weekend along the Florida panhandle. Four people are believed to have drowned in separate incidents. The dangerous conditions prompted officials at one beach to warn against going in the water at all.
Charles Bronson died in a Los Angeles hospital after battling pneumonia for a month. The actor was known for his tough-guy roles, including the "Death Wish" series. He was 81.
The San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds' played his first game since the death of his father. Bonds hit his 40th home run of the season, but he came out in the eighth inning and yesterday he was hospitalized for exhaustion.
The funeral for his father, Bobby Bonds, was Thursday.
And history on the gridiron. Katie Hnida kicked an extra point for the University of New Mexico, becoming the first woman ever to score in an NCAA Division I football game.
And that's our weekend snapshot.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
Authorities in Erie, Pennsylvania, are trying to unravel a mystery. All they know for certain is that two pizza deliverymen are dead, one of them killed, possibly murdered by a bomb while police looked on.
CNN'S Mike Brooks has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a bizarre crime that has baffled police since Thursday, when a man said he was forced to rob a western Pennsylvania bank by someone who strapped explosives to his body.
This is what Brian Douglas Wells said minutes before he died. "Why is nobody trying to get this thing off me? I don't have a lot of time." As the camera is rolling, Wells continues to describe the encounter with a man he says strapped the bomb to his body. "He pulled a key out and started a timer. I heard the thing ticking when he did it. It's going to go off. I'm not lying. Did you call my boss?"
As police waited for bomb technicians to arrive, the bomb went off, killing Wells.
Earlier, he had delivered a pizza to a remote area, according to his boss, and an hour later he showed up at the bank strapped with a bomb and carrying a note.
KEN MCCABE, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: It gave instructions to the bank employees on what they were supposed to do, and the bank employees complied with that. That note also contained instructions for what Mr. Wells was supposed to do. And he was in the process of following those instructions when the Pennsylvania state police stopped him and placed him under arrest.
BROOKS: Now authorities are investigating the second death. A co-worker at the same pizza delivery place found dead yesterday in his parent's home. Police sent in a bomb team because of the connection, but nothing suspicious was found, and police now think the deaths are a coincidence.
Could they have saved the man with the bomb? In this case, not if it was armed with a timing mechanism.
MCCABE: They protected innocent lives. Police and agents are not trained to go and diffuse a bomb. It's not like TV shows, where we go up and try to guess, do we cut the red wire or the green wire? It's too dangerous.
And this bomb that was wrapped around the -- Mr. Well's neck is the most dangerous type of bomb that a bomb tech has to respond to, because it entails actually approaching and doing a hand entry into the device to render it safe.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKS: The Pennsylvania state police and district attorney's office will hold a press conference on Tuesday at 11, hopefully to shed more light on this bizarre case -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Very bizarre indeed. Mike Brooks, thanks very much.
Let's get a little bit more information on the case now. I'm joined now on the phone by Renee DeCamillo. She's a reporter for CNN affiliate WJET. She saw the bomb go off.
Renee, tell us what you saw at that horrific moment?
RENEE DECAMILLO, WJET CORRESPONDENT: Well, there was just a flash from the bomb, and a second later you saw Brian Wells laying on the ground. The -- it awed everyone. I was across the street when I saw the bomb go off. There was debris that came just a few feet from me on the ground. We were in a parking lot across the street. And there were many people there who had been evacuated from stores near where the bomb was let off.
People were just in shock. For myself, even arriving on the scene, I just didn't think this was actually going to happen, that this bomb could actually go off and then you see it. And it's very surreal.
BLITZER: Did -- Was there a huge noise? Was there a huge explosion or was it relatively muted?
DECAMILLO: Well, it was just kind of a bang. Even maybe amplified car exhaust going off. It wasn't that loud, but you knew that it was forceful.
BLITZER: Renee, you've been covering this story from the beginning. Does it look now like this was a homicide, murder or does it look like it was suicide, as there is some suggestion that it might have been?
DECAMILLO: Well, police say they haven't discounted any situation. So I can only go by what they tell me.
But I can tell you that we have reviewed the tapes. He's pleading with police as he's sitting there handcuffed with this bomb on him. "Why aren't you taking this bomb off me? Help me. I don't have a lot of time." And he's just restating that information.
At one point -- I think his last words were, "Please call my boss." About two minutes and 46 seconds later, the bomb goes off.
BLITZER: And then yesterday they found another pizza deliveryman dead at his home. What do we know about that?
DECAMILLO: Well, he is a co-worker of Brian Wells. He lives with his parents. He's 43-year-old Robert Pinetti.
And police aren't saying too much about him either. What happened was paramedics were called to his house at 5 a.m. because his family was concerned about his welfare. AT 9 a.m. the paramedics were called back and he was unresponsive and at 10 he was pronounced dead at the scene.
BLITZER: And we'll watch that news conference tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. Eastern. Renee DeCamillo doing some excellent reporting for us, thanks very much. Renee's from our affiliate, WJET.
Let's go back to Iraq now and the hunt for Saddam Hussein and his henchman. The search is centered in Tikrit, the ancestral home of the Saddam Hussein clan.
CNN's Jason Bellini is there. He's joining us now live via videophone.
Jason, tell us how this search is coming along.
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the soldiers and the officers that we talked to say that they still hope with every door that they knock down as they're doing searches that Saddam might be behind one of them. More likely they're going to find someone who has more information on this trail.
We have some video to show you, shot by CNN photographer Neil Hallsworth (ph) over the weekend. It's of a raid in the northern Tikrit area.
Now this is an example of the types of raids they are doing every day. In this case they were tracking down number 146 on their list, the black list, as they call it.
The group conducting this raid calls themselves Task Force 21. They're regular troops who have been assigned to this duty. They call themselves Task Force 21 because they say that they're doing what Task Force 20 is doing. Their ultimate goal is to capture Saddam Hussein -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jason, but do they get a sense that they're making any progress? Is there any indication that they're getting close?
BELLINI: Well, you know, they say the one thing to their advantage very recently is that they're working with Iraqi police. In fact, they did one raid yesterday where Iraqi police came to them and said, "We have this raid we want to do. Come help us; come show us what we need to do to do this."
When you have the Iraqi police coming to them and organizing these things, getting more involved in the process, they have more contact on the ground. On the way home from work, they're stopping in the market. They're hearing rumors. They're talking to more people.
And they think that with each door they knock on and as they meet more and more people, and there are a lot of people who have connections to Saddam Hussein, they might get lucky one of these days -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. We'll see. Jason Bellini, on the scene for us in Tikrit. Thanks, Jason, very much.
For the California recall candidates, not much time left until the critical vote. Who are the governor and the main challengers? What are they doing right now as they go down to the wire? Five weeks approximately and counting. We'll have the latest when we come back.
Also, we'll tell you about some new alarming research about teenagers and sex. We'll talk to the renowned sex expert, Laura Berman, about what parents can do about all of this.
First, though, let's take a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.
Heavy flooding is causing havoc in northwest China, where 100,000 residents have had to evacuate. So far, no reports of injuries.
The French government says the families of 170 people killed in the bombing of a French airliner in 1989 must decide for themselves whether to accept the new compensation offer from Libya.
A spokesman for the families says negotiations with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's government are continuing.
Russia's defense minister says a national trait (ph) of carelessness sent this derelict Russian submarine to the bottom of the Barents Sea Saturday with nine sailors aboard. It sank in a storm while in tow to an arctic shipyard. The government has ordered a temporary halt to the towing of decommissioned subs.
The widow of former U.N. weapons inspector David Kelly says in the days before he killed himself, he was distressed over being caught up in a controversy over the British government's case for war in Iraq.
Kelly was identified as the BBC's possible source for a report alleging Prime Minister Tony Blair's office exaggerated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's weapons program.
Janice Kelly told a judicial inquiry today her husband had felt betrayed.
Vincent Van Gogh, he isn't. American illusionist David Blaine only appeared to cut his ear off at a news conference in London. It shocked and grossed out the reporters in attendance. Blaine was publicizing his next major feet, suspension in Plexiglass by the River Thames for 44 days without food beginning Friday.
Bewildered Colombian authorities are wondering why guerrillas holding a former presidential candidate captive allowed her to videotape a statement pleading for a military rescue attempt to free her. The revolutionary group, known as FARC, kidnapped former Colombian Senator Ingrid Bettancourt early last year.
And that's our look around the world.
No holiday for California's governor or the top Republican rival. Both Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger on the campaign trail today.
CNN's Rusty Dornin caught up with Schwarzenegger at the California state fair.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Reporters always have a lot of questions for Arnold Schwarzenegger. The answers always seem to be given on the run.
When we caught up with him here at the California state fair in Sacramento, we asked him about the reason why he was going to miss the debate this week with the other major recall candidates. Schwarzenegger says he's saving himself for just one. SCHWARZENEGGER: I'm looking forward to the debate. It's going to be great with the California broadcasters, yes. It's going to be fantastic.
DORNIN: Are you not going to do any of the other debates, sir?
SCHWARZENEGGER: We're going to do one great debate. You all can bring out all the different issues, OK?
DORNIN: Schwarzenegger is already receiving some criticism from the other candidates about not attending the other debates.
Later in his tour inside the fair he said the press and the public is going to get sick of hearing him talk, talk, talk about the issues.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Sacramento, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Governor Gray Davis, meanwhile, is also using the holiday to appeal to voters.
This morning he was in Los Angeles at a rally against the recall election. He took a swipe at Schwarzenegger, noting that the former Governor Pete Wilson is co-chairman of the actor's campaign. Davis said of Wilsons' terms, and I'm quoting now, "Those eight years were not good years for working people."
He also promised changes if he's allowed to keep his job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GRAY DAVIS (D), CALIFORNIA: This recall is a humbling experience. I would not wish it on my worst enemy. But if the good people of this state decide that they are going to allow me to finish the term to which they elected me, I promise you I will do some things differently.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: The recall election is scheduled five weeks from tomorrow. This Friday, by the way, I'll be in Los Angeles, reporting live on the California recall.
Teens and sex and some new research that may surprise you. The sex therapist Dr. Laura Berman will tell you what to do about it. She's joining us next live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: It's fall and the kids are back in school. But you may not be pleased about what one study says they are learning after school.
Recent research shows one in five teens in the United States has had sex before turning, get this, 15 years old.
The noted sex therapist Dr. Laura Berman says that should be a wakeup call for parents. She's the co-host of "Berman and Berman," which airs weekly on the Discovery Health Channel. She's joining us now live from our bureau in Chicago.
Laura, this is pretty shocking. Were you surprised by this latest survey?
DR. LAURA BERMAN, SEX THERAPIST: Working with teens as much as I do, I wasn't exactly surprised. But I think a lot of parents are surprised. Really, in that study only a third of the parents knew that those kids who were being sexually active were indeed having sex. So that's a little bit concerning, because the parents have no idea.
And one in 10 of those sexual encounters that the under 15's were having was involuntary. So that's a big issue of concern, as well.
BLITZER: When you say involuntary, that makes it sound like rape or sexual assault?
BERMAN: Rape, sexual assault. There's a continuum, especially with young teenage girls, from rape and date rape all the way down to what is commonly caused unwanted, where she's feeling pressure from her boyfriend or from her peers to have sex. She's kind of told that if she doesn't have sex that he'll leave her for another girl.
And so a lot of these kids, 80 percent of girls, are saying once they have sex that they wished that they hadn't. And 80 percent of girls and 60 percent of boys are saying that those first sexual experiences were negative ones.
BLITZER: Well, what should parents who might be watching this program do about all of this and grandparents who might be watching, as well?
BERMAN: Right. Well, the main thing, and the most important thing, is to talk. And the misconception is that the talk should happen once when the kid reaches puberty. It should start way before there, and there really isn't any one talk a parent should have.
I tell parents to take advantage of what's called educational opportunities in the media. Sit down and watch MTV with them for 15 minutes or look in the supermarket aisle the next time you're in the checkout line. There's grist for the mill in terms of these conversations all around you if you just take advantage of them.
And speak to your kids in a nonjudgmental fashion. Give them a chance to tell you what's going on in their life and what their fears and what their concerns are. Because studies have shown that the more prepared kids are, not only about pregnancy and STDs and about abstinence, very important, but the more informed they are about safer sex, as well, the better informed decisions they're going to make later on.
BLITZER: STDs, sexually transmitted diseases. But how do you talk to your kids 13, 14, 15 years old? What do you say? Do you just assume they're going to be having sex, and as a result they should be taking precautions? Or do you try to talk them out of having sex at that kind of young age?
BERMAN: Well, it's really up to -- the one thing I don't try to do is impart my values onto others. What I try to do is help parents find the words to impart their own values onto their children.
But the main thing to remember is that information does not mean permission. And have those conversations and let your kids know what you think. Because they do care.
BLITZER: If the kids see all the stuff that's going on on television and the movies, they're obviously going to be influenced by that. But I get back to one of the points you're making, the involuntary nature of this, especially the peer pressure.
How do you deal with the pressure when your boyfriend says to you, "You know what? I'm going to dump you if you don't have sex with me."
BERMAN: Well, it's a very, very tough situation, especially for girls, but also for boys, who have their own brand of pressure.
The education of kids really should start at birth in terms of helping them feel good about their bodies, have high self-esteem and high sense of empowerment. If they have those characteristics, they're much less likely to submit to the peer pressure.
If they have a parent who is going to be nonjudgmental of them and they can talk through these issues with, who can help them negotiate through them, they're much less likely to get into those risky situations where they might be date raped or pushed into doing something they don't really want to do.
And I unfortunately, you know, with the 43 percent of American women, adult women who have sexual dysfunction, I'm seeing the after effects when I treat these adult women. Very often, it's connected to these early negative sexual experiences that are imprinted on their sexual lives.
BLITZER: Dr. Laura Berman, as usual, thanks for joining us.
BERMAN: Sure. My pleasure.
BLITZER: A very serious subject, indeed. A nightmare for a lot of people.
BERMAN: Talk to your kids out there.
BLITZER: All right. Good advice from Laura Berman. Thanks very much.
Let's move on. Our hot Web question of the day is this: how would you rate President Bush's efforts to fight unemployment? Is it good, fair or poor? Vote right now 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: How would you rate President Bush's efforts to fight unemployment? Look at this, 1 percent of you said good, 1 percent of you said fair; 98 percent of you said poor. As always, we remind you, this is not a scientific poll. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" with John King filling in starts right now.
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Militant Palestinian Groups; Bush: Tax Cuts Will Work, Need More Time>
