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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Istanbul Bombing Kills at Least Three; Marines to Aid in Haitian Disarmament; Terrorist Dies in Custody; Tenet, Dems Fight it Out on Capitol Hill; Bush to Answer 9/11 Commission's Questions; Former Inmate: Club Fed is No Resort

Aired March 09, 2004 - 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, ANCHOR: Happening now: three breaking stories, the death of a terrorist in U.S. custody. Abu Abbas, the man responsible for an infamous cruise ship hijacking, dead in Iraq.
Also happening now: CNN has learned of a new role for U.S. Marines in Haiti that will put them face to face with armed citizens.

And happening in Turkey, an explosion in Istanbul. These pictures just coming into CNN. We're told the explosion, caused by a bomb.

Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): A blunt exchange on Capitol Hill on the march to war.

SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: What's your responsibility? I mean, when do you say no.

GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: I'm not going to sit here today and tell you what my interaction was and what I did or what I didn't do.

BLITZER: A senior senator and the CIA director square off.

The trial of Saddam Hussein: how should justice be served?

A Cold War spy story never told before. How the U.S. may have gotten even with the Soviets for buying forbidden technology.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blew a hole in the middle of Siberia.

BLITZER: And teens who made the chastity pledge. Why it's not protecting more of them from sexually transmitted diseases.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, March 09, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: This just coming into CNN. Three major stories developing right now.

The Palestinian militant, Abu Abbas, the leader of the notorious 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship, he's dead.

Also this. U.S. Marines taking a dangerous step in Haiti right now. Starting tomorrow, the Marines will help disarm Haitian rebels and all other armed groups.

And we have these pictures just coming into CNN. An explosion in Istanbul Turkey. There are fatalities.

We have several live reports coming up. But we begin with that explosion in Turkey. The blast occurred in Istanbul about 90 minutes ago.

CNN's Matthew Chance is joining us from Istanbul. He's on the phone, and he has details.

Matthew, tell our viewers what happened.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, thanks very much.

The explosion wrecked a building belonging to a Masonic lodge in Istanbul in the residential Kartel (ph) district, which is on the Asian side of the city, across the Bosphorus Straits.

The casualties figures we're hearing at the moment, at least three people dead, about seven others injured, though, according to hospital sources, some of them critical.

The Turkish media are quoting the police here in Istanbul saying that it is a bombing. Ambulances and firefighters have gone to the scene. Turkish television is showing pictures of the injured being evacuated from the building and being treated for their injuries in hospital.

All this, of course, comes just a few months after those very serious bombings in Istanbul last November, involving suicide bombers, striking at two synagogues and against the British Bank, as well as the British consulate, which left more than 60 people dead.

Those attacks leaving this city on a very heightened state of alert, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Matthew Chance, stand by. We'll get back to you as we get more information. Matthew Chance reporting from Istanbul. Looks like another terrorist operation there.

Let's move on, though, to this hemisphere. CNN's Harris Whitbeck is joining us on the Marines' surprise move to try to help disarm Haitian rebels and others who have taken up weapons, a move that could trigger some deadly results.

Harris Whitbeck is joining us now, live from Port-au-Prince.

Harris, tell our viewers the new orders, the new rules of the engagement that have been put down for the Marines?

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, multilateral interim force, the bulk of which is made up by U.S. Marines, will start disarming Haitian citizens as early as tonight.

Although the disarmament plan won't start officially until tomorrow morning, the commander of the U.S. Marine Corps that is operating here in Haiti did say that if he or his soldiers find people with weapons on the streets, they will start confiscating those weapons as early as tonight.

Now, he didn't specify how he was going to do that. He said that his soldiers would be both proactive and reactive. Meaning that if people come forward voluntarily and lay down their weapons, the Marines of course will take them. But he also implied that the Marines would go on missions to try to find these weapons.

The big problem, Wolf, is that there is a huge amount of weapons floating around. Not only in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince but around the rest of the country. So it's going to be a huge task -- Wolf.

BLITZER: A major operation for the U.S. Marines. We'll check back with you as well, Harris Whitbeck in Port-au-Prince. Thank you very much.

Our third developing story we're following right now, the death of Abu Abbas, the mastermind of the deadly hijacking of the Achille Lauro, the cruise ship.

He'd died now in U.S. custody.

Our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre, joining us now live from the Pentagon with details -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. A short time ago, Wolf, Pentagon officials confirmed that Abu Abbas, the convicted Palestinian terrorist, mastermind of the 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking, was -- has died in custody.

He was captured back in April of last year by U.S. Special Forces on the outskirts of Baghdad and had been held in Baghdad.

Of course, Achille -- Abu Abbas is notorious for the hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro in October of 1985.

During the hijacking, Leon Klinghoffer a 69-year-old wheelchair- bound American Jew was with his wife on the cruise with his wife for 36 years, on the cruise, was killed and dumped into the sea.

Before the war in Iraq, President Bush accused Saddam Hussein of harboring Abu Abbas.

Pentagon sources say that he died apparently of natural causes yesterday, March 8, that medical efforts to revive him were unsuccessful and that an autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death. But again, he has died.

When he was captured in Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said it just showed that terrorists can run but they can't hide -- Wolf. BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Jamie, thank you very much.

Staying in Washington, fireworks on Capitol Hill today, sparked by the controversy over intelligence claims on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The CIA director, George Tenet, going head-to-head with Senator Ted Kennedy and other Democrats.

Here to tell us about it our national security correspondent, David Ensor -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the committee has on it senators Kennedy, Levin, Clinton and others, and intelligence officials were expecting something of a grilling. That's just what they got.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): Under pointed questioning by Senate Democrats, George Tenet said he does not believe the Bush administration manipulated intelligence to justify the war in Iraq.

But he conceded some statements by the vice president and others went beyond what the intelligence showed.

KENNEDY: And when you see this intelligence you provide being misrepresented, misstated by the highest authorities, when do you say no? You can't have it both ways, can you Mr. Tenet?

TENET: Senator, I can tell you that I'm not going to sit here today and tell what you my interaction was and what I did or didn't do, except that you have to have the confidence to know, that when I believe that somebody was misconstruing evidence, I said something about it.

ENSOR: Michigan's Carl Levin pressed further, concerning a classified intelligence document on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, compiled by Pentagon officials working for undersecretary Douglas Feith, a document Tenet said went too far and that the CIA convinced the Pentagon to withdraw.

Then why, Levin asked, did Vice President Cheney recently cite it as the best source of information on the matter?

TENET: I was unaware that he had said that, and I will talk to him about it.

ENSOR: On the Republican side, Pat Roberts of Kansas complained that 14 probes into the use of intelligence are already underway, taking up CIA time answering question.

SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R), KANSAS: Is there anybody left out Langley doing their job?

TENET: Sir, I would say that we're spending a lot of time on it. I know it's important. This is a community that believes in oversight.

SEN WAYNE ALLARD (R), COLORADO: No doubt we're in a political year, presidential election. I can tell that from some of the rhetoric.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: The hearing underscored the sharp divisions on Iraq and intelligence, and they are likely only to deepen in this political year -- Wolf.

BLITZER: David Ensor in Washington. David, thank you very much.

Before the Iraq war, Hans Blix led the United Nations team searching for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Despite extensive searches, no banned weapons were found, but Blix increasingly ran into forceful opposition from both President Bush and the former British prime minister, Tony Blair.

Now Blix is telling his side of what happened in his new book. It's called "Disarming Iraq."

CNN's Brian Todd reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hans Blix does not bother to hide his bitterness at an alliance he implies may well have been bent on war with our without evidence that Iraq had the deadliest kind of weapons.

By March 2003, Blix writes, inspectors worked full strength and Iraq was determined to cooperate. But he writes, "the United States appeared as determined to replace our inspection force with an invasion army."

Throughout his new book, "Disarming Iraq," the former chief U.N. weapons inspector paints President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair as almost delusional in their convictions about Saddam Hussein's regime.

Quote, "Perhaps Blair and Bush, both religious men, felt strengthened in their political determination by the feeling they were fighting evil, not only proliferation."

And the White House, an unrepentant response.

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Maybe Mr. Blix felt that we could trust in the good intentions of Saddam Hussein. The president knows that we could not we could not afford to trust in the good intentions of a madman, given his history.

TODD: Recounting a phone call with Tony Blair, Blix reveals his own nagging doubts about Iraq's weapons and Blair's certainty.

"I tended to think that Iraq still concealed weapons of mass destruction, but I needed evidence. Perhaps there were not such many weapons in Iraq at all. Blair responded that the intelligence was clear that Saddam had reconstituted his weapons of mass destruction program."

In the buildup to war, tension on all sides. Blix sees attacks on his credibility and intelligence getting personal.

The U.S. administration's weekend information drive during the first days of March had the expected desired echo, at least in the conservative media.

"I learned that I had been vilified, crucified and made to look like an imbecile."

Frustration, disillusionment, and this conclusion from Hans Blix. "Despite new security threats after September 11th, the Iraq war," he writes, "did not strengthen the case for a right to preemptive action."

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Stay with us. We're getting updates right now on the explosions in Istanbul, Turkey. We'll give you those details.

And he was one of the most wanted. Now, how to try Saddam Hussein in a court of law.

Also the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. What's the answer to finding the al Qaeda leader? I'll ask the former defense secretary, William Cohen.

Martha Stewart's potential life in a federal prison. What might she encounter? One woman who's been there will fill us in.

Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blew a hole in the middle of Siberia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A Cold War memory has resurfaced. Details of a Reagan administration plan that may have sabotaged the Soviets.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: When President Bush meets with the commission investigating the 9/11 terrorist attacks, there will be specific rules in place. But now it appears the administration is willing to loosen some of those rules. We'll have a live report from the White House.

That's coming up, right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Updating our viewers now on what appears to be a terrorist attack, appears to be a terrorist attack in Istanbul, Turkey.

We now are told three people are dead, six injured in an attack, in an explosion in a Masonic temple in Istanbul. We'll have some more details on that. That's coming up. Stay with us for that.

Let's move onto, though, to the race for the White House.

Even though it's pretty clear who will be running in November, more Democratic presidential primaries are still being held today. Voters are casting ballots in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

John Kerry campaigned in Illinois, which holds its primary a week from today.

Although Kerry does not yet have a mathematical lock on the Democratic presidential nomination, he's getting very, very close. His current delegate count: 1,626, which is 536 delegates short of the majority that is required. A total of 465 delegates up for stake in today's four primaries.

Even though the November election remains months away, the Bush campaign is trying to stay on the offensive. Our senior White House correspondent John King standing by over at the White House with more.

John, what's happening today?

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a controversy today over the president's planned appearance before the 9/11 commission. The president has told the commission he would meet with the chairman and the vice chairman and take their questions for one hour.

That prompted criticism, including from the Democratic front- runner, John Kerry, who said just yesterday, look, Mr. Bush is attending a rodeo in Texas. If he has so much time for events like that, certainly he can find more than an hour to meet with the commission.

The White House today saying that they believe an hour is appropriate. However, Scott McClellan also saying that, quote, "No one will be looking at clock" and that the president very much wants to answer all those questions.

McClellan generally passes off any questions about Senator Kerry to the campaign, saying he does not want to be too political from the White House podium, at least not yet.

But as to Senator Kerry's charge that the president is, quote, "stonewalling the commission," McClellan says no way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCLELLAN: I don't think he lets the facts get in the way of his campaign. I think I've made it very clear the type of unprecedented cooperation this commission -- this administration is providing to the commission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now to back up that point, McClellan says the administration has given the commission more than two million documents; 60 discs containing radar, flight and other information to help with its investigation; dozens of interviews with senior administration officials and more than 100 briefings.

So the White House trying to make the case that it is cooperating with the commission. And again, Wolf, the president is scheduled to meet for one hour, perhaps a little more, the White House saying today, with the chairman and the vice chairman of that commission.

That meeting, however, still not scheduled. Most senior administration officials believe it will be at least several more weeks -- Wolf.

BLITZER: John King at the White House. Thanks, John, very much.

John Allen Muhammad is sentenced to the ultimate punishment. We'll tell you what the D.C. area sniper had to say to the judge before he was sentenced.

The U.S. military releases five British detainees from the U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. We'll tell you what's likely to happen to them now that they're back on home soil.

And a new study about teens and condom use could heat up the debate over abstinence only programs. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A convicted sniper is sentenced to death. That tops our "Justice Report."

A Virginia judge accepted the jury recommendation, sentencing John Allen Muhammad to die October 14, a date likely to be postponed by appeals.

Mohammad was convicted of one of the ten deadly sniper shootings that terrorized the Washington, D.C. area in 2002. He maintained his innocence to the judge saying, and I'm quoting now, "I had nothing to do with this."

Martha Stewart's future with her namesake company is uncertain, following her felony conviction stemming from a stock sale. The government is likely to push to have her removed from the board of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

Board members met yesterday to discuss the issue but wouldn't comment. Stewart's stepped down as CEO and chairman last summer after being indicted.

Stewart has vowed to appeal her conviction, but analysts say it's likely she will wind up serving time in a federal prison.

For more on that we're joined now by Karen Bond. She's an attorney, a director with the Federal Prison Policy Project, and a former prisoner herself. She served 38 months for securities fraud.

Karen, thanks very much for joining us. When Martha Stewart walks into a federal prison, what will it be like? You experienced that.

KAREN BOND, DIRECTORY, FEDERAL PRISON POLICY PROJECT: It will be very traumatic. It's very much of a culture shock. It will be like nothing in the world she's ever been exposed to before.

The shame, the whole terrible experience is just a trauma I really wish that no first time non-violent defender would have to go through.

BLITZER: There's the speculation, and there's a lot of thought out there. She'll go to some minimum security prison that's called a Club Fed, if you will. There's no such thing, is there?

BOND: No, there's no such thing as Club Fed. That's a media myth. There are no golf courses, no -- There's just no luxuries in prison.

Prison is prison. It doesn't matter if it's a camp or a federal correctional institute. Prison is prison. And much of the psychological barriers. The razor wire is the least of it.

BLITZER: Based on your experience, will she have any privacy at all? Will she have her own room? Will she be able to shower by herself? When she goes to the facilities, what's it like?

BOND: She will have a room. It won't be private. She'll probably share it with one to three other prisoners. The showers have shower stalls, much like in a gym. It's not an open area where everybody just showers together.

Same for the rest rooms. That's the only place you have any privacy. It's not a place where you're going to do much in private; that's for sure.

BLITZER: There's a sense out there she'll be serving with other white crime prisoners, that it's probably not going to be a dangerous environment. But you had a very dangerous experience.

BOND: Well, that's true. The white-collar criminals only make up about six, seven percent of a whole federal prison population. So the other 90-some percent of the prisoners in the federal prison camps would be probably drug crimes for the most part.

So there is no white-collar prison anymore. There might have been 50 years ago, but it doesn't exist now. And yes, I had a very bad experience. I was assaulted. I was beaten, shoulder was fractured. Had a concussion. I looked, you know, pretty nasty. I had a rough time recovering from it.

BLITZER: Who did this to you? One individual or a group?

BOND: It started with one individual, and then she had a couple helpers.

BLITZER: Why did they go after you?

BOND: They don't like white-collar criminals in prisons. They resent their position in society. They resent their education, and they just in general know that they will never rise to that level.

And you know, they want to bring the white-collar person down and make them understand that they are just a prison number. They wanted me to understand that I was just 65078061. I was nothing special. That's just the way they are.

BLITZER: What about the guards? Where were they?

BOND: There was only one guard in the building. And that's very typical in a prison camp, because the custody level is low.

This is a three-story building and had approximately 300 prisoners in it. And the guard was either on the first floor or in the basement of the building. And there are no electronic surveillances among the floors.

So he or she would have had no way to know what was going on on the third floor, where my room was.

BLITZER: Karen Bond, it's a chilling experience. Thanks for sharing some thoughts with us.

BOND: You're welcome, Wolf.

BLITZER: Five Guantanamo detainees get discharged and handed over to another government. But why these detainees, and why now? And could more be released soon?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do know there was a major disaster. At that time no one suspected there was foul play.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: It's a spy story. An incredible spy story. A tale of revenge, a tale of the times, a tale that's never been told before.

I'll speak to the author of a new book with an insider's look at the Cold War that you've never seen before.

And training for the Olympics in Greece. Why U.S. soldiers, yes soldiers, not athletes are in the field getting ready for the games right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: From a sabotaged Russian pipeline to the alleged murder of Joseph Stalin, a former U.S. Air Force secretary spilling Cold War secrets in a brand-new book. I'll speak with the author of the book. It's entitled "At the Abyss."

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN.

Trying Saddam Hussein. The former Iraqi leader is now a war criminal. How should justice be served? We'll get to that. First, though, a quick check of the latest headlines.

The Palestinian mastermind of the notorious hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship has died in U.S. custody in Iraq. American forces captured Abul Abbas last April during the war. In 1985, he and his Palestine Liberation Front hijacked the cruise ship, throwing Dr. Leon Klinghoffer, a wheelchair-bound American Jew overboard. U.S. officials say Abbas died of natural causes.

U.S. Marines are about to take on a new role in Haiti. A military spokesman says starting tomorrow they'll be helping Haitian police disarm groups. More than 1,000 Marines are in Haiti, 1,600 to be exact, protecting key sites from the violence that forced the resignation of the former president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

The attorney general of the United States, John Ashcroft, is in guarded condition at a Washington hospital, George Washington University Hospital, where doctors remove his gallbladder in a 90- minute operation. Ashcroft was suffering from a severe and very painful case of gallstone pancreatitis. He's expected to stay hospitalized for about four more days.

Now let's get back to the deadly explosion that rocked Istanbul, Turkey, about two hours ago.

CNN's Matthew Chance on again on the phone from Istanbul.

Matthew, give our viewers an update.

CHANCE: Wolf, the latest casualty figures, still confirmed dead, at least seven others injured, some of them critically.

Political, though, say that one of the men among the wounded has been named as Abdullah Islam and may have been the bomber in this apparent attack on a building in Istanbul. The explosion was heard two hours ago, shortly after two men shot and wounded a security guard outside what seems to be a Masonic lodge in east of the city. There was talk of a number of attackers inside the building. The area was evacuated. Police have surrounded it. But now forensic teams have arrived there to gather whatever evidence they can to see whether this explosion was related to the very serious bombings in November that killed more than 60 in this city -- Wolf.

BLITZER: At those synagogues in Istanbul. Thanks, Matthew Chance. We'll get back to you when we get some more information -- Matthew Chance reporting from Istanbul.

He was the most wanted and feared man in Iraq. Now Saddam Hussein is a United States prisoner of war. He's awaiting trial. And while there's broad agreement justice must be served, there is some disagreement over how it should be served.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): The wheels of justice may turn slowly, but they are turning for Saddam Hussein. A Justice Department official confirms to CNN the first part of a team of some 50 prosecutors, investigators and other staff left this weekend for Iraq.

Their mission, help the Iraqis sort through evidence and the legal thicket in preparation for war crimes trials against former regime officials, including Saddam Hussein.

PAUL BREMER, U.S. ADMINISTRATOR IN IRAQ: The statute says that they can use international assistance for looking into and doing the prosecutions. They can also use international judges as judges.

BLITZER: But this U.S. adviser to the Iraqis adds:

NEIL KRITZ, U.S. INSTITUTE OF PEACE: This will all be very much in a supporting role, with Iraqis taking the lead.

BLITZER: Human rights groups are concerned at what they see as a lack of international participation. They're concerned the U.N. has not yet been consulted and that rules were developed behind closed doors. They say even the appearance the U.S. is pulling the strings through the Iraqi Governing Council will undermine the credibility of the process.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our concern is that those who suffered most directly feel some closure and satisfaction from the trials. Our concern is that, if the trials are not fair, if the trials are not open, if the trials are seen to be politically manipulated, then that satisfaction and closure will not result.

BLITZER: Separately, there are concerns the trials of former regime members may be timed for political gain in an election year. The U.S. administrator in Iraq dismisses the notion.

BREMER: There's a certain distortion that gets into the American political debate every four years, where we begin to think that everything that happens everywhere in the world is, in fact, dedicated to our elections.

BLITZER: But critics from the left say the perception is there.

WESLEY CLARK (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know that from his perspective it doesn't look political. It certainly looks political from back here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: As for the timetable, Ambassador Bremer says we could see the first trials of former Iraqi regime members by early fall.

Five British men held in U.S. military detention in Cuba are returned home today. Four were immediately arrested on terrorism charges and the other was detained by immigration officials. The United States had held all five without charges for more than two years at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The move eases a simmering dispute between Washington and London. But the fate of four other Britons held at Guantanamo still must be worked out.

Now to someone well versed on international hot spots. Just a short while ago, I spoke to the former U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen.

I began by asking him about the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Secretary Cohen, I keep getting e-mail from a lot of our viewers saying they want Osama bin Laden found. Why not simply send in thousands of more troops into that area along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan and find this guy?

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Well, No. 1, there may be some constraints on the amount of troops that we could successfully deploy to the region without compromising security in other areas that also tend to be quite contentious.

But, No. 2, putting that many troops into an area that large and that rough geographically wouldn't mean you'd necessarily find him. We don't know exactly where he is. And so the notion that you would put thousands more troops into that region, looking at every cave and hole throughout the Pakistani/Afghanistan border would be, I think, almost impossible to do.

BLITZER: It raises a good question, though. Is the U.S. military stretched too thin right now? As you know, there are Republicans and Democrats suggesting that there be another 30,000 or 40,000 active-duty troops authorized, because there simply aren't enough forces to get the job done. What's your sense?

COHEN: Well, our troops are, in fact, stretched. And I think Secretary Rumsfeld would indicate that. They were stretched when I was in office. They're certainly stretched even more so now.

But Secretary Rumsfeld also has a very valid point to make. It's not so much the numbers that we have, but the composition of those forces, that we have what we call an imbalance between the tooth-to- tail ratio. We have got a big tail and fewer teeth. And we have to get more in the tooth category in order to effectively utilize our military. So he's in the process of trying to reshape the military now.

There is authority that the Defense Department has or the president as commander in chief to have these temporary increases in the numbers of troops that we asked to serve. But it's very expensive, and it's not necessarily a great utilization of the troops themselves. So it's getting more of the right types of combat elements into the right spots. And that's a tough process to manage, but I think that they're undertaking that right now and doing a good job.

BLITZER: As you know, there are some 1,600 U.S. Marines on the ground in Haiti right now. I was there a decade ago when there were 20,000 U.S. troops in Haiti. And clearly they didn't succeed getting the job done as clearly as they thoroughly wanted to. Do you think the U.S. has enough troops in Haiti right now?

COHEN: Well, I'm not sure that the United States wasn't successful in getting -- quote -- "the job done."

The job remains for Haiti to have a democracy, an effective, functioning democracy. And that is the difficulty we saw with President Aristide, at least according to the allegations, that, while he was elected democratically, he was not governing in that fashion. There were allegations of fraudulent activities during the parliamentary elections.

And so there are serious questions about whether those seeds of democracy were well-planted and nourished. I think the longer-term commitment on the part of the United States and the international community is to make a long-term commitment, not only in making sure it is stabilized for the short term, but to stress economic development and economic opportunity, so that we don't see this kind of oscillation between forces going in, receding, and then having the state on the verge of crumbling again.

I think it takes a long-term commitment on the part of the international community, from a humanitarian point of view, but also from a national security point of view. If you have a country like Haiti that becomes a failed state, you have a breeding ground for terrorism. That's something that all of us have to be concerned about.

BLITZER: Secretary Cohen, thanks for joining us.

COHEN: My pleasure, Wolf.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: It was one of the largest fires mankind has ever seen, a pipeline explosion stretching from Siberia to Western Europe. Now word the Reagan administration's CIA was responsible. Up next, I'll speak to the author of a new book with an inside look at Cold War.

A new study with a shocking conclusion about teens who vow to stay virgins.

Looking back in time as well. Dramatic new images from the Hubble telescope reveal galaxies formed billions of years ago. We'll get to all of that.

First, though, a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Here's a different kind of Olympics training; 400 U.S. troops are joining Greek forces in a two-week series of security exercises centering on responding to potential Olympic terrorist scenarios like dirty bombs, hijackings or mass casualties. The Athens Olympics begin August 13.

Ridge in Asia. Visiting Singapore, U.S. Homeland Security Tom Ridge thanked Southeast Asian governments for their role in fighting terrorists. He asked for even more cooperation, saying the world must use every tool available to -- quote -- "repel these shadow soldiers."

Mystery flight. Controversy surrounds the U.S.-registered plane seized by officials in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe suspects 64 people found aboard the jetliner are military mercenaries, but the operator of the plane says they were heading to the Democratic Republic of Congo to work as security guards.

Korean impeachment? Opposition party members are pushing for the impeachment of South Korea's president. They're angry about his refusal of to apologize after the South Korean election commission cited him for making illegal partisan comments.

Virtual baby-sitter. Mary Poppins, she's not, but a South Korean company is marketing this $3,000 computer on wheels as a children's companion. It can read stories, play music, even remind children to eat their vegetables. And it displays 40 facial expressions, including hopefully the special glance parents have always used to tell their kids, I mean business.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In 1982, there was a huge unexplained explosion in Siberia. A new book by a form of White House staff member purports to provide the explanation and other revelations about the Cold War.

Here once again, our national security correspondent David Ensor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the early '80s, the Soviet Union was building a massive pipeline to supply Western Europe with natural gas and to make money for Moscow. According to a new book by then White House staffer Thomas Reed, when French President Mitterand gave the U.S. intelligence from a spy in Moscow about how the Soviets were secretly buying forbidden Western technology to make the pipeline and other high-tech projects work, a little known White House official, Gus Weiss, suggested a way to use it. Weiss' top-secret plan was enthusiastically endorsed by President Reagan and CIA Director Bill Casey, with dramatic results.

THOMAS REED, AUTHOR, "AT THE ABYSS": And they blew a hole in the middle of Siberia.

ENSOR: Reed says Weiss told him a massive explosion in the summer of 1982 was caused by faulty software to control pumps and compressors on pipelines which the CIA had arranged for the Soviets to buy. Seen from space by spy satellite, the huge fire at first set off alarm bells among officials not in the know.

REED: We were concerned and really worried about this for most of the day, until Gus Weiss came down the hall and told us, don't worry about it. He didn't say why, but you don't ask those questions at the NSC. And 20 years later, he told me why.

ENSOR: At that time, Oleg Kalugin was a senior officer in the Soviet KGB.

OLEG KALUGIN, FORMER KGB OFFICER: I do know there was a major disaster on the pipeline. At that time, no one suspected there was foul play.

ENSOR: Historian Timothy Naftali credits Reed's book with new insight on the pipeline blast. But the book also says Soviet dictator Stalin was murdered by Beria, his secret police chief, not proven, says Naftali. And the book says that during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviet commander in Cuba had authorization to use tactical nuclear weapons if the U.S. attacked. Not true, he says.

TIMOTHY NAFTALI, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: This is a complicated, contradictory, annoying book. But it does add to the memoir literature of the Reagan years.

ENSOR (on camera): Still, if it is true, Reed's story of the Russian spying for the French who helped the CIA fool the Kremlin adds a dramatic moment to the history of the Cold War, what may have been the largest fire mankind has ever seen.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And joining us now from Washington is Thomas Reed, the author of the book David was just talking about, "At the Abyss: An Insider's History of the Cold War." Mr. Reed is a former Air Force secretary as well.

I wonder if you care to respond to that criticism we just heard in David's report. REED: Well, the one criticism was the death of Stalin, what I believe to be the murder of Stalin, is not proven. That's right. You can't do that from this far away outside the Soviet Union.

But there is every indication from reports by people who were there at the dasha (ph) outside town, to recent scholarly work by a gentleman for Yale, a Russian, finding the initial autopsy to my conclusions that Beria was fearful his own life, that it's quite indisputable to me. But, of course, you can't prove these sort of things from this far away and this long ago.

BLITZER: Mr. Reed, let's get to the most spectacular, literally, revelation. You write in the book -- and I'll put it up on the screen -- your write: "The most monumental non-nuclear explosion and fire ever seen from space. AT the White House, we received warning of our infrared satellites of some bizarre event out in the middle of Soviet nowhere."

You were working at the NSC, at National Security Council, at that time. Did you have any idea what was going on, you personally at time?

REED: No, we did not.

We were very concerned. Here is this explosion. The Air Force intelligence rated it at about three kilotons, and yet the electromagnetic sensors and the satellites had picked up any signal. The people that looked for rocket launchers were fearful there of some sort of launch from a place that was not known to have missiles. We spent several hours trying to figure out what was going on, until Gus Weiss came and told us, don't worry about it.

BLITZER: And was this a William Casey kind of operation that he was doing? He was, of course, the late director of the CIA at that time, very controversial, as many of our viewers will remember.

REED: He was very controversial, but he was also very smart. This was a Casey creation, that he was provided the information that came from President Mitterand. He concluded and got the president's concurrence that, rather than roll up the network and arrest or deport the agents, let's assist the Soviets with their technological espionage, because they were stealing technology.

They had stolen enormous amounts, such that the Pentagon was in an arms race with itself, that some of the early observers have talked about how we blew up the pipeline. We did not blow up the pipeline. The Soviets sought an exports permit for this software. It was denied. They then went through a Canadian firm to penetrate the buyers of software. They illicitly acquired the software. We knew they were doing it. And we put a trapdoor in there that would deal with the pipeline when they started to run the software.

BLITZER: A very sophisticated operation. Was it a one-of-a-kind operation or were there other operations along these lines?

REED: Well, I think the whole Cold War, both the superpowers kept thousands of cards close to their chest, and only now, as the old hands begin to retire and die off, do the cards fall to the table. In some cases, you see the face cards, that there was a lot of things that happened that we never knew about then.

And, on the other hand, we remember things that in fact never happened. So, yes, there was a lot. Whether it's specifically CIA activity, I would say it's much broader than that. There were things going on in the Soviet Union we did not understand. There were activities in the U.S. that are quite amazing to come to understand now.

BLITZER: Thomas Reed, former secretary of the Air Force, has written an explosive book. It's entitled "At the Abyss: An Insider's History of the Cold War."

Mr. Secretary, thanks for joining us.

REED: Thank you, sir.

BLITZER: Amazing pictures from the past, a new image from the Hubble space telescope.

And do chastity pledges really work? There's some surprising scientific research that's coming out today. We'll tell you what it says.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Parents of teenagers, grandparents, for that matter as well, this is for you. A new study is out with some surprising findings on the so-called chastity pledge.

CNN's Michael Schulder reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL SCHULDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is one of those stories where we try to avoid showing faces, for reasons that will be obvious. It's about teenagers who promised not to have sex and what became of their promise.

In case you're out of touch with teen culture, publicly promising to remain a virgin until marriage, the chastity pledge, became a trend in the 90s. Some teens wear their pledges on their fingers. Purity rings, they're called.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see a lot of moms and dads, especially dads, come out with their daughters and buy them and present them to their daughters in some type of ceremony, oftentimes associated with the church.

SCHULDER: Among the pop culture champions of chastity, a younger Britney Spears, who pledged to remain a virgin until she married, no matter how little clothing she wore.

And Jessica Simpson, now in her post-chastity phase, starring in the MTV reality series "Newlyweds." Today, the latest results from an ongoing study examining the sex lives of 12,000 ordinary adolescents, it finds that, at least in this sample, nearly nine out of 10 teens who took the chastity pledge say they have broken the chastity pledge. The study finds that pledgers do tend to have fewer sex partners before marriage than nonpledgers, but the pledgers and nonpledgers had about the same rate of sexually transmitted diseases.

That's because the pledgers, when they have had sex, were less likely to use condoms, which, again, raises the sensitive question, should our children get more lessons about safe sex, more lessons about abstinence, or more lessons about both?

Michael Schulder, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Good questions. Thank you, Michael, very much.

An inner look in outer space. It's our picture of the day. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Scientists are praising the latest image from the Hubble space telescope as history-making. You're seeing the deepest ever view of the visible universe. This image reveals galaxies that were formed when the universe was still young.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Haitian Disarmament; Terrorist Dies in Custody; Tenet, Dems Fight it Out on Capitol Hill; Bush to Answer 9/11 Commission's Questions; Former Inmate: Club Fed is No Resort>


Aired March 9, 2004 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR: Happening now: three breaking stories, the death of a terrorist in U.S. custody. Abu Abbas, the man responsible for an infamous cruise ship hijacking, dead in Iraq.
Also happening now: CNN has learned of a new role for U.S. Marines in Haiti that will put them face to face with armed citizens.

And happening in Turkey, an explosion in Istanbul. These pictures just coming into CNN. We're told the explosion, caused by a bomb.

Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): A blunt exchange on Capitol Hill on the march to war.

SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: What's your responsibility? I mean, when do you say no.

GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: I'm not going to sit here today and tell you what my interaction was and what I did or what I didn't do.

BLITZER: A senior senator and the CIA director square off.

The trial of Saddam Hussein: how should justice be served?

A Cold War spy story never told before. How the U.S. may have gotten even with the Soviets for buying forbidden technology.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blew a hole in the middle of Siberia.

BLITZER: And teens who made the chastity pledge. Why it's not protecting more of them from sexually transmitted diseases.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, March 09, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: This just coming into CNN. Three major stories developing right now.

The Palestinian militant, Abu Abbas, the leader of the notorious 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship, he's dead.

Also this. U.S. Marines taking a dangerous step in Haiti right now. Starting tomorrow, the Marines will help disarm Haitian rebels and all other armed groups.

And we have these pictures just coming into CNN. An explosion in Istanbul Turkey. There are fatalities.

We have several live reports coming up. But we begin with that explosion in Turkey. The blast occurred in Istanbul about 90 minutes ago.

CNN's Matthew Chance is joining us from Istanbul. He's on the phone, and he has details.

Matthew, tell our viewers what happened.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, thanks very much.

The explosion wrecked a building belonging to a Masonic lodge in Istanbul in the residential Kartel (ph) district, which is on the Asian side of the city, across the Bosphorus Straits.

The casualties figures we're hearing at the moment, at least three people dead, about seven others injured, though, according to hospital sources, some of them critical.

The Turkish media are quoting the police here in Istanbul saying that it is a bombing. Ambulances and firefighters have gone to the scene. Turkish television is showing pictures of the injured being evacuated from the building and being treated for their injuries in hospital.

All this, of course, comes just a few months after those very serious bombings in Istanbul last November, involving suicide bombers, striking at two synagogues and against the British Bank, as well as the British consulate, which left more than 60 people dead.

Those attacks leaving this city on a very heightened state of alert, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Matthew Chance, stand by. We'll get back to you as we get more information. Matthew Chance reporting from Istanbul. Looks like another terrorist operation there.

Let's move on, though, to this hemisphere. CNN's Harris Whitbeck is joining us on the Marines' surprise move to try to help disarm Haitian rebels and others who have taken up weapons, a move that could trigger some deadly results.

Harris Whitbeck is joining us now, live from Port-au-Prince.

Harris, tell our viewers the new orders, the new rules of the engagement that have been put down for the Marines?

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, multilateral interim force, the bulk of which is made up by U.S. Marines, will start disarming Haitian citizens as early as tonight.

Although the disarmament plan won't start officially until tomorrow morning, the commander of the U.S. Marine Corps that is operating here in Haiti did say that if he or his soldiers find people with weapons on the streets, they will start confiscating those weapons as early as tonight.

Now, he didn't specify how he was going to do that. He said that his soldiers would be both proactive and reactive. Meaning that if people come forward voluntarily and lay down their weapons, the Marines of course will take them. But he also implied that the Marines would go on missions to try to find these weapons.

The big problem, Wolf, is that there is a huge amount of weapons floating around. Not only in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince but around the rest of the country. So it's going to be a huge task -- Wolf.

BLITZER: A major operation for the U.S. Marines. We'll check back with you as well, Harris Whitbeck in Port-au-Prince. Thank you very much.

Our third developing story we're following right now, the death of Abu Abbas, the mastermind of the deadly hijacking of the Achille Lauro, the cruise ship.

He'd died now in U.S. custody.

Our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre, joining us now live from the Pentagon with details -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. A short time ago, Wolf, Pentagon officials confirmed that Abu Abbas, the convicted Palestinian terrorist, mastermind of the 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking, was -- has died in custody.

He was captured back in April of last year by U.S. Special Forces on the outskirts of Baghdad and had been held in Baghdad.

Of course, Achille -- Abu Abbas is notorious for the hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro in October of 1985.

During the hijacking, Leon Klinghoffer a 69-year-old wheelchair- bound American Jew was with his wife on the cruise with his wife for 36 years, on the cruise, was killed and dumped into the sea.

Before the war in Iraq, President Bush accused Saddam Hussein of harboring Abu Abbas.

Pentagon sources say that he died apparently of natural causes yesterday, March 8, that medical efforts to revive him were unsuccessful and that an autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death. But again, he has died.

When he was captured in Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said it just showed that terrorists can run but they can't hide -- Wolf. BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Jamie, thank you very much.

Staying in Washington, fireworks on Capitol Hill today, sparked by the controversy over intelligence claims on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The CIA director, George Tenet, going head-to-head with Senator Ted Kennedy and other Democrats.

Here to tell us about it our national security correspondent, David Ensor -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the committee has on it senators Kennedy, Levin, Clinton and others, and intelligence officials were expecting something of a grilling. That's just what they got.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): Under pointed questioning by Senate Democrats, George Tenet said he does not believe the Bush administration manipulated intelligence to justify the war in Iraq.

But he conceded some statements by the vice president and others went beyond what the intelligence showed.

KENNEDY: And when you see this intelligence you provide being misrepresented, misstated by the highest authorities, when do you say no? You can't have it both ways, can you Mr. Tenet?

TENET: Senator, I can tell you that I'm not going to sit here today and tell what you my interaction was and what I did or didn't do, except that you have to have the confidence to know, that when I believe that somebody was misconstruing evidence, I said something about it.

ENSOR: Michigan's Carl Levin pressed further, concerning a classified intelligence document on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, compiled by Pentagon officials working for undersecretary Douglas Feith, a document Tenet said went too far and that the CIA convinced the Pentagon to withdraw.

Then why, Levin asked, did Vice President Cheney recently cite it as the best source of information on the matter?

TENET: I was unaware that he had said that, and I will talk to him about it.

ENSOR: On the Republican side, Pat Roberts of Kansas complained that 14 probes into the use of intelligence are already underway, taking up CIA time answering question.

SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R), KANSAS: Is there anybody left out Langley doing their job?

TENET: Sir, I would say that we're spending a lot of time on it. I know it's important. This is a community that believes in oversight.

SEN WAYNE ALLARD (R), COLORADO: No doubt we're in a political year, presidential election. I can tell that from some of the rhetoric.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: The hearing underscored the sharp divisions on Iraq and intelligence, and they are likely only to deepen in this political year -- Wolf.

BLITZER: David Ensor in Washington. David, thank you very much.

Before the Iraq war, Hans Blix led the United Nations team searching for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Despite extensive searches, no banned weapons were found, but Blix increasingly ran into forceful opposition from both President Bush and the former British prime minister, Tony Blair.

Now Blix is telling his side of what happened in his new book. It's called "Disarming Iraq."

CNN's Brian Todd reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hans Blix does not bother to hide his bitterness at an alliance he implies may well have been bent on war with our without evidence that Iraq had the deadliest kind of weapons.

By March 2003, Blix writes, inspectors worked full strength and Iraq was determined to cooperate. But he writes, "the United States appeared as determined to replace our inspection force with an invasion army."

Throughout his new book, "Disarming Iraq," the former chief U.N. weapons inspector paints President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair as almost delusional in their convictions about Saddam Hussein's regime.

Quote, "Perhaps Blair and Bush, both religious men, felt strengthened in their political determination by the feeling they were fighting evil, not only proliferation."

And the White House, an unrepentant response.

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Maybe Mr. Blix felt that we could trust in the good intentions of Saddam Hussein. The president knows that we could not we could not afford to trust in the good intentions of a madman, given his history.

TODD: Recounting a phone call with Tony Blair, Blix reveals his own nagging doubts about Iraq's weapons and Blair's certainty.

"I tended to think that Iraq still concealed weapons of mass destruction, but I needed evidence. Perhaps there were not such many weapons in Iraq at all. Blair responded that the intelligence was clear that Saddam had reconstituted his weapons of mass destruction program."

In the buildup to war, tension on all sides. Blix sees attacks on his credibility and intelligence getting personal.

The U.S. administration's weekend information drive during the first days of March had the expected desired echo, at least in the conservative media.

"I learned that I had been vilified, crucified and made to look like an imbecile."

Frustration, disillusionment, and this conclusion from Hans Blix. "Despite new security threats after September 11th, the Iraq war," he writes, "did not strengthen the case for a right to preemptive action."

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Stay with us. We're getting updates right now on the explosions in Istanbul, Turkey. We'll give you those details.

And he was one of the most wanted. Now, how to try Saddam Hussein in a court of law.

Also the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. What's the answer to finding the al Qaeda leader? I'll ask the former defense secretary, William Cohen.

Martha Stewart's potential life in a federal prison. What might she encounter? One woman who's been there will fill us in.

Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blew a hole in the middle of Siberia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A Cold War memory has resurfaced. Details of a Reagan administration plan that may have sabotaged the Soviets.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: When President Bush meets with the commission investigating the 9/11 terrorist attacks, there will be specific rules in place. But now it appears the administration is willing to loosen some of those rules. We'll have a live report from the White House.

That's coming up, right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Updating our viewers now on what appears to be a terrorist attack, appears to be a terrorist attack in Istanbul, Turkey.

We now are told three people are dead, six injured in an attack, in an explosion in a Masonic temple in Istanbul. We'll have some more details on that. That's coming up. Stay with us for that.

Let's move onto, though, to the race for the White House.

Even though it's pretty clear who will be running in November, more Democratic presidential primaries are still being held today. Voters are casting ballots in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

John Kerry campaigned in Illinois, which holds its primary a week from today.

Although Kerry does not yet have a mathematical lock on the Democratic presidential nomination, he's getting very, very close. His current delegate count: 1,626, which is 536 delegates short of the majority that is required. A total of 465 delegates up for stake in today's four primaries.

Even though the November election remains months away, the Bush campaign is trying to stay on the offensive. Our senior White House correspondent John King standing by over at the White House with more.

John, what's happening today?

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a controversy today over the president's planned appearance before the 9/11 commission. The president has told the commission he would meet with the chairman and the vice chairman and take their questions for one hour.

That prompted criticism, including from the Democratic front- runner, John Kerry, who said just yesterday, look, Mr. Bush is attending a rodeo in Texas. If he has so much time for events like that, certainly he can find more than an hour to meet with the commission.

The White House today saying that they believe an hour is appropriate. However, Scott McClellan also saying that, quote, "No one will be looking at clock" and that the president very much wants to answer all those questions.

McClellan generally passes off any questions about Senator Kerry to the campaign, saying he does not want to be too political from the White House podium, at least not yet.

But as to Senator Kerry's charge that the president is, quote, "stonewalling the commission," McClellan says no way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCLELLAN: I don't think he lets the facts get in the way of his campaign. I think I've made it very clear the type of unprecedented cooperation this commission -- this administration is providing to the commission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now to back up that point, McClellan says the administration has given the commission more than two million documents; 60 discs containing radar, flight and other information to help with its investigation; dozens of interviews with senior administration officials and more than 100 briefings.

So the White House trying to make the case that it is cooperating with the commission. And again, Wolf, the president is scheduled to meet for one hour, perhaps a little more, the White House saying today, with the chairman and the vice chairman of that commission.

That meeting, however, still not scheduled. Most senior administration officials believe it will be at least several more weeks -- Wolf.

BLITZER: John King at the White House. Thanks, John, very much.

John Allen Muhammad is sentenced to the ultimate punishment. We'll tell you what the D.C. area sniper had to say to the judge before he was sentenced.

The U.S. military releases five British detainees from the U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. We'll tell you what's likely to happen to them now that they're back on home soil.

And a new study about teens and condom use could heat up the debate over abstinence only programs. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A convicted sniper is sentenced to death. That tops our "Justice Report."

A Virginia judge accepted the jury recommendation, sentencing John Allen Muhammad to die October 14, a date likely to be postponed by appeals.

Mohammad was convicted of one of the ten deadly sniper shootings that terrorized the Washington, D.C. area in 2002. He maintained his innocence to the judge saying, and I'm quoting now, "I had nothing to do with this."

Martha Stewart's future with her namesake company is uncertain, following her felony conviction stemming from a stock sale. The government is likely to push to have her removed from the board of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

Board members met yesterday to discuss the issue but wouldn't comment. Stewart's stepped down as CEO and chairman last summer after being indicted.

Stewart has vowed to appeal her conviction, but analysts say it's likely she will wind up serving time in a federal prison.

For more on that we're joined now by Karen Bond. She's an attorney, a director with the Federal Prison Policy Project, and a former prisoner herself. She served 38 months for securities fraud.

Karen, thanks very much for joining us. When Martha Stewart walks into a federal prison, what will it be like? You experienced that.

KAREN BOND, DIRECTORY, FEDERAL PRISON POLICY PROJECT: It will be very traumatic. It's very much of a culture shock. It will be like nothing in the world she's ever been exposed to before.

The shame, the whole terrible experience is just a trauma I really wish that no first time non-violent defender would have to go through.

BLITZER: There's the speculation, and there's a lot of thought out there. She'll go to some minimum security prison that's called a Club Fed, if you will. There's no such thing, is there?

BOND: No, there's no such thing as Club Fed. That's a media myth. There are no golf courses, no -- There's just no luxuries in prison.

Prison is prison. It doesn't matter if it's a camp or a federal correctional institute. Prison is prison. And much of the psychological barriers. The razor wire is the least of it.

BLITZER: Based on your experience, will she have any privacy at all? Will she have her own room? Will she be able to shower by herself? When she goes to the facilities, what's it like?

BOND: She will have a room. It won't be private. She'll probably share it with one to three other prisoners. The showers have shower stalls, much like in a gym. It's not an open area where everybody just showers together.

Same for the rest rooms. That's the only place you have any privacy. It's not a place where you're going to do much in private; that's for sure.

BLITZER: There's a sense out there she'll be serving with other white crime prisoners, that it's probably not going to be a dangerous environment. But you had a very dangerous experience.

BOND: Well, that's true. The white-collar criminals only make up about six, seven percent of a whole federal prison population. So the other 90-some percent of the prisoners in the federal prison camps would be probably drug crimes for the most part.

So there is no white-collar prison anymore. There might have been 50 years ago, but it doesn't exist now. And yes, I had a very bad experience. I was assaulted. I was beaten, shoulder was fractured. Had a concussion. I looked, you know, pretty nasty. I had a rough time recovering from it.

BLITZER: Who did this to you? One individual or a group?

BOND: It started with one individual, and then she had a couple helpers.

BLITZER: Why did they go after you?

BOND: They don't like white-collar criminals in prisons. They resent their position in society. They resent their education, and they just in general know that they will never rise to that level.

And you know, they want to bring the white-collar person down and make them understand that they are just a prison number. They wanted me to understand that I was just 65078061. I was nothing special. That's just the way they are.

BLITZER: What about the guards? Where were they?

BOND: There was only one guard in the building. And that's very typical in a prison camp, because the custody level is low.

This is a three-story building and had approximately 300 prisoners in it. And the guard was either on the first floor or in the basement of the building. And there are no electronic surveillances among the floors.

So he or she would have had no way to know what was going on on the third floor, where my room was.

BLITZER: Karen Bond, it's a chilling experience. Thanks for sharing some thoughts with us.

BOND: You're welcome, Wolf.

BLITZER: Five Guantanamo detainees get discharged and handed over to another government. But why these detainees, and why now? And could more be released soon?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do know there was a major disaster. At that time no one suspected there was foul play.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: It's a spy story. An incredible spy story. A tale of revenge, a tale of the times, a tale that's never been told before.

I'll speak to the author of a new book with an insider's look at the Cold War that you've never seen before.

And training for the Olympics in Greece. Why U.S. soldiers, yes soldiers, not athletes are in the field getting ready for the games right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: From a sabotaged Russian pipeline to the alleged murder of Joseph Stalin, a former U.S. Air Force secretary spilling Cold War secrets in a brand-new book. I'll speak with the author of the book. It's entitled "At the Abyss."

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN.

Trying Saddam Hussein. The former Iraqi leader is now a war criminal. How should justice be served? We'll get to that. First, though, a quick check of the latest headlines.

The Palestinian mastermind of the notorious hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship has died in U.S. custody in Iraq. American forces captured Abul Abbas last April during the war. In 1985, he and his Palestine Liberation Front hijacked the cruise ship, throwing Dr. Leon Klinghoffer, a wheelchair-bound American Jew overboard. U.S. officials say Abbas died of natural causes.

U.S. Marines are about to take on a new role in Haiti. A military spokesman says starting tomorrow they'll be helping Haitian police disarm groups. More than 1,000 Marines are in Haiti, 1,600 to be exact, protecting key sites from the violence that forced the resignation of the former president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

The attorney general of the United States, John Ashcroft, is in guarded condition at a Washington hospital, George Washington University Hospital, where doctors remove his gallbladder in a 90- minute operation. Ashcroft was suffering from a severe and very painful case of gallstone pancreatitis. He's expected to stay hospitalized for about four more days.

Now let's get back to the deadly explosion that rocked Istanbul, Turkey, about two hours ago.

CNN's Matthew Chance on again on the phone from Istanbul.

Matthew, give our viewers an update.

CHANCE: Wolf, the latest casualty figures, still confirmed dead, at least seven others injured, some of them critically.

Political, though, say that one of the men among the wounded has been named as Abdullah Islam and may have been the bomber in this apparent attack on a building in Istanbul. The explosion was heard two hours ago, shortly after two men shot and wounded a security guard outside what seems to be a Masonic lodge in east of the city. There was talk of a number of attackers inside the building. The area was evacuated. Police have surrounded it. But now forensic teams have arrived there to gather whatever evidence they can to see whether this explosion was related to the very serious bombings in November that killed more than 60 in this city -- Wolf.

BLITZER: At those synagogues in Istanbul. Thanks, Matthew Chance. We'll get back to you when we get some more information -- Matthew Chance reporting from Istanbul.

He was the most wanted and feared man in Iraq. Now Saddam Hussein is a United States prisoner of war. He's awaiting trial. And while there's broad agreement justice must be served, there is some disagreement over how it should be served.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): The wheels of justice may turn slowly, but they are turning for Saddam Hussein. A Justice Department official confirms to CNN the first part of a team of some 50 prosecutors, investigators and other staff left this weekend for Iraq.

Their mission, help the Iraqis sort through evidence and the legal thicket in preparation for war crimes trials against former regime officials, including Saddam Hussein.

PAUL BREMER, U.S. ADMINISTRATOR IN IRAQ: The statute says that they can use international assistance for looking into and doing the prosecutions. They can also use international judges as judges.

BLITZER: But this U.S. adviser to the Iraqis adds:

NEIL KRITZ, U.S. INSTITUTE OF PEACE: This will all be very much in a supporting role, with Iraqis taking the lead.

BLITZER: Human rights groups are concerned at what they see as a lack of international participation. They're concerned the U.N. has not yet been consulted and that rules were developed behind closed doors. They say even the appearance the U.S. is pulling the strings through the Iraqi Governing Council will undermine the credibility of the process.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our concern is that those who suffered most directly feel some closure and satisfaction from the trials. Our concern is that, if the trials are not fair, if the trials are not open, if the trials are seen to be politically manipulated, then that satisfaction and closure will not result.

BLITZER: Separately, there are concerns the trials of former regime members may be timed for political gain in an election year. The U.S. administrator in Iraq dismisses the notion.

BREMER: There's a certain distortion that gets into the American political debate every four years, where we begin to think that everything that happens everywhere in the world is, in fact, dedicated to our elections.

BLITZER: But critics from the left say the perception is there.

WESLEY CLARK (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know that from his perspective it doesn't look political. It certainly looks political from back here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: As for the timetable, Ambassador Bremer says we could see the first trials of former Iraqi regime members by early fall.

Five British men held in U.S. military detention in Cuba are returned home today. Four were immediately arrested on terrorism charges and the other was detained by immigration officials. The United States had held all five without charges for more than two years at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The move eases a simmering dispute between Washington and London. But the fate of four other Britons held at Guantanamo still must be worked out.

Now to someone well versed on international hot spots. Just a short while ago, I spoke to the former U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen.

I began by asking him about the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Secretary Cohen, I keep getting e-mail from a lot of our viewers saying they want Osama bin Laden found. Why not simply send in thousands of more troops into that area along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan and find this guy?

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Well, No. 1, there may be some constraints on the amount of troops that we could successfully deploy to the region without compromising security in other areas that also tend to be quite contentious.

But, No. 2, putting that many troops into an area that large and that rough geographically wouldn't mean you'd necessarily find him. We don't know exactly where he is. And so the notion that you would put thousands more troops into that region, looking at every cave and hole throughout the Pakistani/Afghanistan border would be, I think, almost impossible to do.

BLITZER: It raises a good question, though. Is the U.S. military stretched too thin right now? As you know, there are Republicans and Democrats suggesting that there be another 30,000 or 40,000 active-duty troops authorized, because there simply aren't enough forces to get the job done. What's your sense?

COHEN: Well, our troops are, in fact, stretched. And I think Secretary Rumsfeld would indicate that. They were stretched when I was in office. They're certainly stretched even more so now.

But Secretary Rumsfeld also has a very valid point to make. It's not so much the numbers that we have, but the composition of those forces, that we have what we call an imbalance between the tooth-to- tail ratio. We have got a big tail and fewer teeth. And we have to get more in the tooth category in order to effectively utilize our military. So he's in the process of trying to reshape the military now.

There is authority that the Defense Department has or the president as commander in chief to have these temporary increases in the numbers of troops that we asked to serve. But it's very expensive, and it's not necessarily a great utilization of the troops themselves. So it's getting more of the right types of combat elements into the right spots. And that's a tough process to manage, but I think that they're undertaking that right now and doing a good job.

BLITZER: As you know, there are some 1,600 U.S. Marines on the ground in Haiti right now. I was there a decade ago when there were 20,000 U.S. troops in Haiti. And clearly they didn't succeed getting the job done as clearly as they thoroughly wanted to. Do you think the U.S. has enough troops in Haiti right now?

COHEN: Well, I'm not sure that the United States wasn't successful in getting -- quote -- "the job done."

The job remains for Haiti to have a democracy, an effective, functioning democracy. And that is the difficulty we saw with President Aristide, at least according to the allegations, that, while he was elected democratically, he was not governing in that fashion. There were allegations of fraudulent activities during the parliamentary elections.

And so there are serious questions about whether those seeds of democracy were well-planted and nourished. I think the longer-term commitment on the part of the United States and the international community is to make a long-term commitment, not only in making sure it is stabilized for the short term, but to stress economic development and economic opportunity, so that we don't see this kind of oscillation between forces going in, receding, and then having the state on the verge of crumbling again.

I think it takes a long-term commitment on the part of the international community, from a humanitarian point of view, but also from a national security point of view. If you have a country like Haiti that becomes a failed state, you have a breeding ground for terrorism. That's something that all of us have to be concerned about.

BLITZER: Secretary Cohen, thanks for joining us.

COHEN: My pleasure, Wolf.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: It was one of the largest fires mankind has ever seen, a pipeline explosion stretching from Siberia to Western Europe. Now word the Reagan administration's CIA was responsible. Up next, I'll speak to the author of a new book with an inside look at Cold War.

A new study with a shocking conclusion about teens who vow to stay virgins.

Looking back in time as well. Dramatic new images from the Hubble telescope reveal galaxies formed billions of years ago. We'll get to all of that.

First, though, a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Here's a different kind of Olympics training; 400 U.S. troops are joining Greek forces in a two-week series of security exercises centering on responding to potential Olympic terrorist scenarios like dirty bombs, hijackings or mass casualties. The Athens Olympics begin August 13.

Ridge in Asia. Visiting Singapore, U.S. Homeland Security Tom Ridge thanked Southeast Asian governments for their role in fighting terrorists. He asked for even more cooperation, saying the world must use every tool available to -- quote -- "repel these shadow soldiers."

Mystery flight. Controversy surrounds the U.S.-registered plane seized by officials in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe suspects 64 people found aboard the jetliner are military mercenaries, but the operator of the plane says they were heading to the Democratic Republic of Congo to work as security guards.

Korean impeachment? Opposition party members are pushing for the impeachment of South Korea's president. They're angry about his refusal of to apologize after the South Korean election commission cited him for making illegal partisan comments.

Virtual baby-sitter. Mary Poppins, she's not, but a South Korean company is marketing this $3,000 computer on wheels as a children's companion. It can read stories, play music, even remind children to eat their vegetables. And it displays 40 facial expressions, including hopefully the special glance parents have always used to tell their kids, I mean business.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In 1982, there was a huge unexplained explosion in Siberia. A new book by a form of White House staff member purports to provide the explanation and other revelations about the Cold War.

Here once again, our national security correspondent David Ensor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the early '80s, the Soviet Union was building a massive pipeline to supply Western Europe with natural gas and to make money for Moscow. According to a new book by then White House staffer Thomas Reed, when French President Mitterand gave the U.S. intelligence from a spy in Moscow about how the Soviets were secretly buying forbidden Western technology to make the pipeline and other high-tech projects work, a little known White House official, Gus Weiss, suggested a way to use it. Weiss' top-secret plan was enthusiastically endorsed by President Reagan and CIA Director Bill Casey, with dramatic results.

THOMAS REED, AUTHOR, "AT THE ABYSS": And they blew a hole in the middle of Siberia.

ENSOR: Reed says Weiss told him a massive explosion in the summer of 1982 was caused by faulty software to control pumps and compressors on pipelines which the CIA had arranged for the Soviets to buy. Seen from space by spy satellite, the huge fire at first set off alarm bells among officials not in the know.

REED: We were concerned and really worried about this for most of the day, until Gus Weiss came down the hall and told us, don't worry about it. He didn't say why, but you don't ask those questions at the NSC. And 20 years later, he told me why.

ENSOR: At that time, Oleg Kalugin was a senior officer in the Soviet KGB.

OLEG KALUGIN, FORMER KGB OFFICER: I do know there was a major disaster on the pipeline. At that time, no one suspected there was foul play.

ENSOR: Historian Timothy Naftali credits Reed's book with new insight on the pipeline blast. But the book also says Soviet dictator Stalin was murdered by Beria, his secret police chief, not proven, says Naftali. And the book says that during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviet commander in Cuba had authorization to use tactical nuclear weapons if the U.S. attacked. Not true, he says.

TIMOTHY NAFTALI, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: This is a complicated, contradictory, annoying book. But it does add to the memoir literature of the Reagan years.

ENSOR (on camera): Still, if it is true, Reed's story of the Russian spying for the French who helped the CIA fool the Kremlin adds a dramatic moment to the history of the Cold War, what may have been the largest fire mankind has ever seen.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And joining us now from Washington is Thomas Reed, the author of the book David was just talking about, "At the Abyss: An Insider's History of the Cold War." Mr. Reed is a former Air Force secretary as well.

I wonder if you care to respond to that criticism we just heard in David's report. REED: Well, the one criticism was the death of Stalin, what I believe to be the murder of Stalin, is not proven. That's right. You can't do that from this far away outside the Soviet Union.

But there is every indication from reports by people who were there at the dasha (ph) outside town, to recent scholarly work by a gentleman for Yale, a Russian, finding the initial autopsy to my conclusions that Beria was fearful his own life, that it's quite indisputable to me. But, of course, you can't prove these sort of things from this far away and this long ago.

BLITZER: Mr. Reed, let's get to the most spectacular, literally, revelation. You write in the book -- and I'll put it up on the screen -- your write: "The most monumental non-nuclear explosion and fire ever seen from space. AT the White House, we received warning of our infrared satellites of some bizarre event out in the middle of Soviet nowhere."

You were working at the NSC, at National Security Council, at that time. Did you have any idea what was going on, you personally at time?

REED: No, we did not.

We were very concerned. Here is this explosion. The Air Force intelligence rated it at about three kilotons, and yet the electromagnetic sensors and the satellites had picked up any signal. The people that looked for rocket launchers were fearful there of some sort of launch from a place that was not known to have missiles. We spent several hours trying to figure out what was going on, until Gus Weiss came and told us, don't worry about it.

BLITZER: And was this a William Casey kind of operation that he was doing? He was, of course, the late director of the CIA at that time, very controversial, as many of our viewers will remember.

REED: He was very controversial, but he was also very smart. This was a Casey creation, that he was provided the information that came from President Mitterand. He concluded and got the president's concurrence that, rather than roll up the network and arrest or deport the agents, let's assist the Soviets with their technological espionage, because they were stealing technology.

They had stolen enormous amounts, such that the Pentagon was in an arms race with itself, that some of the early observers have talked about how we blew up the pipeline. We did not blow up the pipeline. The Soviets sought an exports permit for this software. It was denied. They then went through a Canadian firm to penetrate the buyers of software. They illicitly acquired the software. We knew they were doing it. And we put a trapdoor in there that would deal with the pipeline when they started to run the software.

BLITZER: A very sophisticated operation. Was it a one-of-a-kind operation or were there other operations along these lines?

REED: Well, I think the whole Cold War, both the superpowers kept thousands of cards close to their chest, and only now, as the old hands begin to retire and die off, do the cards fall to the table. In some cases, you see the face cards, that there was a lot of things that happened that we never knew about then.

And, on the other hand, we remember things that in fact never happened. So, yes, there was a lot. Whether it's specifically CIA activity, I would say it's much broader than that. There were things going on in the Soviet Union we did not understand. There were activities in the U.S. that are quite amazing to come to understand now.

BLITZER: Thomas Reed, former secretary of the Air Force, has written an explosive book. It's entitled "At the Abyss: An Insider's History of the Cold War."

Mr. Secretary, thanks for joining us.

REED: Thank you, sir.

BLITZER: Amazing pictures from the past, a new image from the Hubble space telescope.

And do chastity pledges really work? There's some surprising scientific research that's coming out today. We'll tell you what it says.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Parents of teenagers, grandparents, for that matter as well, this is for you. A new study is out with some surprising findings on the so-called chastity pledge.

CNN's Michael Schulder reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL SCHULDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is one of those stories where we try to avoid showing faces, for reasons that will be obvious. It's about teenagers who promised not to have sex and what became of their promise.

In case you're out of touch with teen culture, publicly promising to remain a virgin until marriage, the chastity pledge, became a trend in the 90s. Some teens wear their pledges on their fingers. Purity rings, they're called.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see a lot of moms and dads, especially dads, come out with their daughters and buy them and present them to their daughters in some type of ceremony, oftentimes associated with the church.

SCHULDER: Among the pop culture champions of chastity, a younger Britney Spears, who pledged to remain a virgin until she married, no matter how little clothing she wore.

And Jessica Simpson, now in her post-chastity phase, starring in the MTV reality series "Newlyweds." Today, the latest results from an ongoing study examining the sex lives of 12,000 ordinary adolescents, it finds that, at least in this sample, nearly nine out of 10 teens who took the chastity pledge say they have broken the chastity pledge. The study finds that pledgers do tend to have fewer sex partners before marriage than nonpledgers, but the pledgers and nonpledgers had about the same rate of sexually transmitted diseases.

That's because the pledgers, when they have had sex, were less likely to use condoms, which, again, raises the sensitive question, should our children get more lessons about safe sex, more lessons about abstinence, or more lessons about both?

Michael Schulder, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Good questions. Thank you, Michael, very much.

An inner look in outer space. It's our picture of the day. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Scientists are praising the latest image from the Hubble space telescope as history-making. You're seeing the deepest ever view of the visible universe. This image reveals galaxies that were formed when the universe was still young.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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Haitian Disarmament; Terrorist Dies in Custody; Tenet, Dems Fight it Out on Capitol Hill; Bush to Answer 9/11 Commission's Questions; Former Inmate: Club Fed is No Resort>