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American Morning

9/11 Commission Hearings Resume

Aired April 14, 2004 - 09:00   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And there it is. They're getting back to work at the 9/11 Commission. Today, the man who is in charge of the CIA and the man in charge of the FBI will sit down and answer questions from some of the commissioners, including this man right there, Tom Kean, who is the chairman of the commission. That's happening this morning on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. A bit past 9:00 here in New York City. George Tenet, CIA director, about 28 minutes away, the first witness today for that 9/11 Commission. We will get you there live when the official swearing in begins. That's on videotape there for George Tenet.

When we go live, we'll get you there to Capitol Hill in a moment when that testimony starts. Also, family members, how they're reacting in a moment; what they have heard and not heard so far in a moment.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, we're taking a look at the president's news conference from last night. We're going to talk to one of the president's advisers about how she thinks he did, Mary Matalin. We'll also hear from some Marines who were listening in as well.

HEMMER: We'll get to that in a moment here.

O'BRIEN: And of course we're going to talk to Jack Cafferty in just a moment.

HEMMER: That we will.

O'BRIEN: He's been asking a very intriguing Question of the Day, getting lots of good responses.

HEMMER: As he always does.

O'BRIEN: We'll get right to that. But first, top stories this morning.

We begin in Iraq, where four bodies found near Baghdad have yet to be positively identified. The bodies were found yesterday in a shallow grave near the scene of a convoy attack last week. Two U.S. soldiers and seven U.S. contractors have been missing since that attack. Meanwhile, U.S.-led forces are building up outside the holy city of Najaf. They are said to be on the lookout for a wanted Muslim cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr.

Today, President Bush will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to discuss Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank. President Bush is backing the plan, but he wants it tied to the establishment of a Palestinian state by next year. Prime Minister Sharon, meanwhile, is hoping Mr. Bush will signal approval for Israel's plans to retain parts of the West Bank. Palestinian leaders Yasser Arafat says if the U.S. approves that plan, the peace process would be dead.

Vice President Dick Cheney is urging Chinese leaders to step up the pressure on North Korea. A senior U.S. official says, during a meeting with China's leaders today, Vice President Cheney presented new information on North Korea's nuclear program. China says it wants North Korea to disarm, but some Bush administration officials say the country is moving too slowly to achieve that objective.

And there are new claims of child abuse against pop star Michael Jackson. A statement from Los Angeles Police said they were contacted by the L.A. County district attorney's office to look into abuse claims from the 1980s. One of Jackson's lawyers says that he expects the claims will be proven false. A grand jury is currently hearing a separate child molestation case against Michael Jackson.

Also out of California, a remarkable tale of survival. Five- year-old Ruby Bustamante is now in stable condition after a deadly car crash that stranded her in a ravine for just about 10 days and left her mother dead. Yesterday, highway workers found the little girl who had been living off uncooked noodles and Gatorade. Police say she was hungry and dehydrated but actually otherwise unharmed.

HEMMER: Amazing story there. Five minutes past the hour here in New York.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: The 9/11 Commission hearings getting under way right now on Capitol Hill. CIA director, George Tenet, the first witness for today. Later this afternoon, Robert Mueller, director of the FBI, is on the stand there.

Back to his perch, David Ensor, live on Capitol Hill in that room in D.C.

Good morning, David. What do we expect today?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, right now we're hearing from the staff director of the commission, and he is offering what -- and it's just been released -- what is a fairly serious critique of the CIA's efforts and the U.S. intelligence community's efforts to try to get a handle on the al Qaeda problem prior to 9/11.

Basically, what the report says is that while George Tenet, the DCI, the director of Central Intelligence got it, he understood the problem, he was very worried about al Qaeda, they were dealing over there with the tactical things. They were dealing with the everyday threats. Do we need to close this embassy? One headline that they saw was "Extremist Learns to Fly," a report about Moussaoui.

There was so much coming in, and the CIA staff had been cut so much in the '90s between 1992 and 2001, that they didn't have the people to stand back and look at the problem and write something serious that said, we've got a big problem coming at us, in a kind of serious way that would have gotten analysts attention. So there is going to be some real criticism and sharp questions of Mr. Tenet and the intelligence community this morning.

Now, Mr. Mueller this afternoon, there is a report on the FBI. What it basically says is the FBI is undergoing the most dramatic changes, the most dramatic reorganization to try to fight terrorism in this country in the last 30 years. And the jury is out as to whether it will work or not.

Now, there are two possible reforms that the commission will be asking questions about today. One is to make George Tenet or his successor a lot more powerful, to give him real control of the budget, to put him in charge of the many intelligence agencies that are really now in control of Donald Rumsfeld of the Pentagon.

The other solution, the other possibility, is to create a sort of British style MI5 domestic intelligence service in the United States and cut it out of the FBI. Both controversial proposals -- Bill.

HEMMER: David Ensor, thanks from Capitol Hill.

Carie LeMack has been an advocate for families of 9/11 victims. She lost her mother in the attacks. Judy LeMack (ph) was on the plane that crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Carie is our guest today out in California, in Palo Alto.

Good morning. Welcome back here to AMERICAN MORNING.

I don't know how much you heard from yesterday. What was your reaction, though, based on the testimony there?

CARIE LEMACK, MOTHER KILLED IN 9/11 ATTACKS: Well, it was a little bit frustrating. We heard a lot of differing accounts from Mr. Pickard, and we also heard different things from Mr. Ashcroft. One, Mr. Pickard saying that Mr. Ashcroft had not wanted to hear anymore in the summer of 2001 about the terrorist warnings. Mr. Ashcroft obviously denying that, saying it was his top priority, even though on May 10, in a memo, it was not listed as his top priority.

So there are a lot of questions we have to ask. And hopefully we'll get more answers today when we hear from Mr. Mueller and Mr. Tenet.

HEMMER: The commissioner, Governor Kean, said yesterday on our screen -- our viewers can read it here -- referring to the FBI, "It failed and it failed and it failed and it failed. This is an agency that does not work. It makes you angry, and I don't know how to fix it."

When you heard that, what did you think?

LEMACK: Well, it's difficult to hear. I think one thing that we've seen that's been pretty consistent in this testimony both this week and last week and the weeks before, that no one seems to be taking responsibility for their jobs.

Now, I can understand that there were inadequate resources. We've heard that over and over again from Mr. Freeh, the previous director of the FBI, and from a lot of the witnesses. But the question then that I have to ask is, whose job was it to figure out that there were not enough resources and do something about it?

My mother ran a company. If she knew she didn't have enough money for payroll because perhaps her VP of sales didn't make the numbers, that was her problem. It was her job to make sure she could take care of her employees. I believe it was these people's jobs to make sure they had adequate resources. And to hear that, that that was the only problem that they were facing, is really frustrating.

HEMMER: Also, what we're hearing in the Intel community, the commission also, in part of its report that it's gathering already, talks about the Intel community struggling to collect the right information and analyze it the appropriate way. Also a suggestion here it did not have a comprehensive review about what it knew and did not know.

We can't bring your mom back. But we can certainly change things within this country. Have you heard about recommendations that would satisfy you, Carie?

LEMACK: Well, one thing I have heard is people just continue to wait for recommendations. We heard that last night in the president's press conference. He continued to say -- well, I think it's great that he's open to suggestions. The fact remains, it's two-and-a-half years later. I hope that he's thought of some suggestions of his own as well, and has his advisers thinking of suggestions.

You're right, my mother can't come back. But the only thing that can possibly make her and 3,000 other murders not be in vain is to make sure that we prevent this from happening again.

Having the type of attitude of, "Well, we did our best, and this is good enough," I don't believe that's true. I do not believe that allowing 3,000 people to be murdered on our soil by 19 men with $500,000, I don't thing that that's good enough. And I want people in positions of power, my elected officials to not think that that's good enough and to be proactive to prevent it from happening again.

HEMMER: Thanks, Carie. Carie LeMack, good to talk to you again.

LEMACK: Thank you.

HEMMER: From Palo Alto. The hearing has started. We expect to hear from the CIA director, George Tenet, at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. On our watch, that's about 19 minutes from now. We'll keep an eye on it for you there in the room of the Hart Senate Office Building in D.C. -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: There are new accusations of sexual abuse against pop superstar Michael Jackson. The LAPD now investigating the new claims. And CNN's Miguel Marquez is live outside the L.A. Police Department with more this morning.

Good morning to you, Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you.

And the LAPD says that it started that investigation at the request of the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. In a statement, the Los Angeles Police Department says the victim claims that the acts took place during the 1980s. LAPD's Child Protection Services Division is now currently conducting the investigation.

LAPD says the request to start the investigation came in a month ago from the district attorney's office. It's not clear how the alleged victim came to the attention of the L.A. County district attorney's office, though.

Jackson's lawyer, Ben Brafman, in a statement said, "This story, like so many others, will eventually prove to be false. And in all likelihood, promoted by people who have their own selfish agendas... the right of Mr. Jackson to a fair hearing on the charges presently pending."

And Jackson's spokeswoman, Ramone Bain (ph), out of Washington, D.C., just released the following statement, saying, "We believe that this smear campaign is driven by money, hungry lawyers seeking to capitalize on Mr. Jackson's current legal situation."

The grand jury in Mr. Jackson's case is expected to resume its work, hearing testimony tomorrow. And the next hearing in the criminal charges already filed against Mr. Jackson will be the end of this month, the last Friday of this month -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Miguel Marquez for us this morning. Miguel, thanks for that update.

HEMMER: Still to come here, President Bush says the handover date is firm. June 30 it will go down. How did he do last night, though, in laying out his vision for Iraq? We'll talk to an adviser for the Bush camp. Mary Matalin our guest here live in New York in a moment.

O'BRIEN: Also, the 9/11 hearings have now resumed. We are keeping an eye on things ahead of CIA chief George Tenet's testimony, which is about to begin really in about 20 minutes or so. We're going to bring that to you live when it happens. That's ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: President Bush says he has conviction deep in his soul to stay the course in Iraq and in the war on terror. That pledge to stick with his current policies comes after a couple of what he called tough weeks in Iraq. During that time, dozens of Americans have been killed fighting insurgents. At his news conference last night, Mr. Bush predicted victory in November despite increasing public unease about the surge in the violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't plan on losing my job. I plan on telling the American people that I've got a plan to win the war on terror. And I believe they'll stay with me. They understand the stakes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: How did the president do in laying out his vision for Iraq? Joining us this morning, Mary Matalin, a senior adviser to the Bush campaign. Also the author of a new book which is called "Letters to My Daughters."

We're going to talk about that book, which is fantastic, by the way, in just a few moments. But I want to, if I can, ask you a couple of questions about the press conference last night. Because, really, that's what we're talking about this morning.

MARY MATALIN, AUTHOR, "LETTERS TO MY DAUGHTERS": Right.

O'BRIEN: We heard the president just say in that clip we played a moment ago, "I believe the American public will stay with me." When you look at some of poll numbers -- and I know everybody rolls their eyes when you talk about various poll numbers -- the number of people who approve of the U.S. military policy in Iraq has dropped, 59 percent in January, 48 percent now in April. So isn't that an indication that actually the American public really is not staying with him?

MATALIN: Well, it's an indication, as it should be -- and I don't roll my eyes at polls. That's the way in a democracy you understand where the public is. And clearly, the public wants to know more about how Iraq fits into the global war on terror.

And this is a global war on terror. Iraq is a critical part of it. And it's -- this is the first post-Cold War national security and foreign policy that this president is putting in place. So it needs to be explained.

And of course -- this is also the first war that's been covered like this in 24-7 increments. It's very disturbing and disconcerting to see what we're having to see. So if every other war was covered like this, we wouldn't have a union. You know, who knows what Europe would look like? So that is disturbing. People do need to understand it, and we as a nation need to be fully informed on what this policy is. And as the president said, what the stakes are.

This is not a war of choice. This is the only course to ensure our security for generations to come. To not just eradicate this threat today, but to put in place a free an stable region where these jihadists, these religious extremists will fade away. They will know -- they won't recreate, they won't rebreed.

O'BRIEN: It seems like several reporters were pushing for an apology for 9/11 from the president, which I think many people said, well, that was completely ridiculous, not only given the fact that it's an election year, but just sort of political suicide to some degree.

MATALIN: No. Soledad, I'm just -- as a citizen, OK, I'm a partisan, I'm an advocate, a conservative.

O'BRIEN: I always worry when you start saying, "As a citizen..."

MATALIN: Well, you know, I believe in this president. But every single -- and I talk to reporters all the time. It's the same question. It's, "Why won't you apologize?"

Why won't Osama bin Laden apologize? I mean, this government, this president, the previous president, the president before President Clinton, that is their moral and constitutional obligation to protect Americans.

I mean, of course we're all hideously sorry and grieving. But this blame that's going on now and finger pointing and all, it's really sad. It's really dispiriting. And what needs to be focused on in this election year, not for the purposes of politics, but for the purpose of having a national consensus on the direction of the country, is where do we go now, how do we eradicate this threat.

And the only way to do that -- because the other way has been tried, before 9/11, treating it as individual law enforcement, track down one of these criminals at a time -- that doesn't work. We have to have a long-term strategy. ANd that's what we need to debate for this campaign.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about your book, which, I have to say, loved it. Fantastic book.

MATALIN: Mom. Mom.

O'BRIEN: I know. It's not just because I'm hormonal. It's a fantastic book.

MATALIN: Thanks.

O'BRIEN: I read that the way you decided to do this book was that some senior executive at your publisher twisted your arm into it. And it's such a personal book, that I have to say, I just don't believe that. Is that true?

MATALIN: Well David Rosenthal, god love him, wanted me to write a political book when I left the White House. And I've been doing this for 25 years. And I know why I believe what I believe, but that's my business.

I don't like writing books. I said it's like giving birth without an epidural.

O'BRIEN: Done that. Not that much fun.

MATALIN: Don't want to bring up that topic to you. But I said, and I only want -- I'm only interested and motivated and inspired enough to write about my girls. So he said, "Fine, you can do it."

O'BRIEN: It's not a political book. You weave a lot of politics in, though, even though I know every chapter you say I'm not supposed to talk about politics.

But let me say this, because it's advice for your girls. In addition to politics, you talk about advice on boys. What do you want your girls at the end of the day -- and they're little, nine and about to be six, right?

MATALIN: Five and nine.

O'BRIEN: What do you want them to take away from this? You don't expect them to read it now.

MATALIN: No. I want them to have, for all time, something I didn't have, which is my mother died when she was my age. And so I want them to have that wisdom when I'm not around about everything, from boys, to grooming, to loyalty, to character development, to grieving, to crying, to laughing, and those big life lessons. And to have some kind of perspective.

And to know my mother, it's really -- it's dedicated to my grandmothers. And it's channeling through my mother. So it's the continuity of mom wisdom through the generations.

O'BRIEN: And you write a little bit about politics, too. Mary Matalin, it's nice to have you. The book is wonderful. Thanks for your insight about the press conference.

MATALIN: Good luck keeping those vitamins.

O'BRIEN: Let eat talk about something else. Thank you, though. I appreciate that -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Soledad. A break here. In a moment, we'll get back to the issue of the president last night. Jack has that and your e-mails.

Also, watching the room there, the Hart Senate Office Building. George Tenet begins in about eight to 10 minutes from now. We'll be there live for that when it happens. Also, Andy in a moment. You can really stock up now on Domino's. A large pepperoni. Andy explains after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back. As promised, "Question of the Day" and Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Bill.

President Bush spent most of last night talking about Iraq, terrorism, and September 11 at his news conference. But when it comes to elections, history traditionally suggests people decide who to vote for based on their economic situation at the time. So the question this morning is, if the election were held today, what issue would be most important to you?

Jim in Cambridge, New York writes this: "It doesn't matter if the issue of the day is WMD, Medicare, unemployment or the benefits of silly putty. When a man is asked a direct question, it deserves a direct answer, with no hesitation or equivocation. Bush demonstrated once again he can't handle that simple concept."

"I hope he keeps his shoes well polished. That's normally where his eyes are focused when he verbally dances around."

Steve in Florida: "The vote could be today or next year. My vote would be the same. I would vote to continue the war on terror with President Bush leading the charge. As for paying a bit more taxes, I would rather pay the increasing financial cost of freedom and live in the United States than pay nothing and live elsewhere. I can't fight the war, so I'll help finance it."

Lorraine in Pittsburgh writes this: "The lousy state of our economy is certainly bringing us down. However, the money being spent in Iraq is one of the reasons for our economic mess. All that money could be put to good use, improving our own infrastructure and hiring American workers to do so."

And, finally, Jim writes: "Our president last night was like a child's toy. When the press pulled his string, he came out with one of six pre-programmed answers. I give up."

Thank you for your ideas and thoughts and stuff this morning.

O'BRIEN: Interesting responses today. Yes. Good for you, Jack.

Let's turn now and talk a little business, shall we? Looking for a piece of the pie, Domino's is about to make a big old offer. And with that, and a market preview, Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Let's actually start with something that's going to affect the market. Intel is going to make an announcement.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: Well, that's right. They did last night, as a matter of fact, Soledad.

They did their quarterly numbers. And they look pretty good on the face of it. But a little bit lighter than Wall Street anticipated. It looks like techs are going to be selling off.

Also, I talked about a lot of good news in the market, maybe too good in the sense that people think inflation is returning and the Fed may have to raise interest rates. More ammunition to that this morning.

We got an inflation number from March just crossing the tape. And it looks like prices are heating up. Raised .5 percent, a half of 1 percent, much more than analysts had anticipated. So I think we're going to be looking for a little bit of a sell-off to continue again this morning at the open.

O'BRIEN: And then there is news about Domino's. What are they pitching, offering?

SERWER: Yes. Domino's is going to go public. It's the second biggest pizza maker after Pizza Hut.

It started out 1960 in Ypsilanti -- I love to say that -- Ypsilanti, Michigan. Going all the way back.

You remember Tom Monaghan and his brother founded this. Tom Monaghan owned the Detroit Tigers for a long time.

Check out this picture. This goes all the way back to 1960. This is the original Domino's in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

The interesting thing about this picture is, Tom and James, the brothers, founded the pizza parlor, right? And then Tom bought out James' half for a VW Beetle. OK?

Now, James -- that was probably not a really good idea to take half of that company for a...

O'BRIEN: In retrospect.

SERWER: In retrospect, for a VW Beetle. Of course, they sold the company later on, a couple years ago, to Bain Capital for $1 billion. Now Bain is going to be taking it public. So that's the original Domino's.

HEMMER: That's a great story.

SERWER: Yes, it is an interesting story. They also -- Domino's got in a lawsuit with a sugar company, Domino's, over the name. Lot of interesting stuff with this company.

And not too often you get a company with a name like that going public these days. So watching that one.

HEMMER: Love a nice, hot, large pepperoni, huh?

SERWER: Yes. Right about now.

HEMMER: Hey, you mentioned these interest rates. That could affect the housing market dramatically.

SERWER: Absolutely. Well, it affects everything. You know, business, it affects the cost of borrowing. So, you know, not a real positive for the economy if the rates tick up.

And the big thing is, everyone is expecting an interest rate hike at some point. But will it happen before the election? That could be very, very interesting if the Fed does that, say, in August.

CAFFERTY: One more robust jobs report, it will happen this summer.

SERWER: I think you're right, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

HEMMER: Let's get a break. Watching Capitol Hill. Watching for George Tenet. Minutes away from that testimony when we roll on right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: And welcome back, everybody. It is just about half- past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. We are awaiting the testimony of CIA Director George Tenet. He is expected to start really any minute now before the members of the 9/11 Commission. You see some of them sitting there.

We're carrying those pictures live. We're going to carry his testimony live for you as soon as it happens.

HEMMER: Later today this afternoon, FBI Director Robert Mueller following up from the testimony from yesterday. Also today, officials from the Homeland Security Department and the government's Terrorist Threat Integration Center. So the hearings continue, day two for this week, from Capitol Hill.

O'BRIEN: While we are awaiting word from George Tenet, we are going to begin with the top stories this morning.

We start in Iraq, where four bodies found near Baghdad have yet to be positively identified. The bodies were found yesterday in a shallow grave near the scene of a convoy attack last week. Two U.S. soldiers and seven U.S. contractors have been missing since that attack.

Meanwhile, U.S.-led forces are building up outside the holy city of Najaf. They are said to be on the lookout for the wanted Muslim cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr.

Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry is taking his campaign to New York City today, home of the summer's Republican National Convention. Yesterday, in Rhode Island, Senator Kerry took more shots at President Bush. Senator Kerry says the president has offered no specific plan to stabilize Iraq, and the senator says he wants Iraq's political power to be transferred to the U.N.

Senator John McCain says that his wife is fine and that she's showing excellent progress after she suffered a small stroke. Cindy McCain was taken to a Phoenix hospital earlier this week after minor bleeding in the brain. She is listed in stable condition. Doctors say the 49-year-old McCain will not need surgery and should be home by the weekend.

And baseball's Barry Bonds has surpassed Willie Mays on the career homerun list. Bonds hit his 661st home run last night.

Thank you for the sound effects, Bill Hemmer. Only Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron have hit more in their careers. Yes, that was not on tape. That was bill Hemmer. Bonds is on pace now to surpass Ruth by early next year, and is 94 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron's record.

HEMMER: That's guy's on fire already. Years ago, I used to work with a guy named Jerry Springer, who is a newscaster back home.

O'BRIEN: That Jerry Springer?

HEMMER: And he would do that every time there was a home run. He'd go...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: ... because we thought it was on the tape.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Back to the hearings right now, already under way. There is a statement being read on behalf of the commission. Any moment now we do anticipate the CIA director, George Tenet, to enter that room, room 216 on Capitol Hill, in the Senate Hart Office Building. When that gets under way, we'll certainly bring up the microphone in full for George Tenet.

In the meantime, here is David Ensor again back at his perch.

What do we expect today, David? Give us a quick run-through about what you've been led to believe we'll hear from George Tenet today.

ENSOR: Well, he will obviously, as he has in the past, give a strong defense of the intelligence community's efforts prior to 9/11. But there are some questions he needs to answer.

This staff report that's being read to us now is quite critical of the CIA's intelligence analysis efforts prior to 9/11 in some ways. It says they were covering the tactical things like, you know, do we need to close this embassy because there has been a threat against it. But they weren't looking at the big picture, they weren't standing back and saying, why are terrorists training to fly airplanes, the kinds of big questions, mainly because they didn't have the staff to do it because of staff cuts during the '90s.

So he has some defenses for why intelligence was imperfect. But there are some serious questions about it.

Now, commission members say they think George Tenet himself got it, that in the summer of 2001 he was trying to raise the roof, he was trying to get attention to his great fear that al Qaeda would attack U.S. targets. But the management of the intelligence community is a real question. And the commission is trying to decide whether or not to favor some serious changes in the way the intelligence community is structured.

So there is a lot to talk about today. And, of course, then after that, the FBI director will be in here. He's got a lot of questions to answer, too -- Bill.

HEMMER: Let me keep you here for a minute, David. What is the defense for some of the commission's conclusions already about struggling to collect the information and analyze it properly? It continues talking about it did not have a comprehensive review for what it knew and did not know at the time. Defense of that is what at this point?

ENSOR: Well, on the FBI, a number of witnesses have said the problem with the FBI is they didn't know what they knew because they didn't have a well organized information system. They didn't have a good management structure.

There were people out in those field office who knew -- remember the Phoenix memo -- who knew that there were terrorists interested in aircraft. That information wasn't getting up to the top.

So the FBI, according to the staff, is undergoing the most dramatic reorganization and change in 30 years, and the jury is really out on whether that's going to work or not. If it doesn't work, there may be the need for a separate domestic intelligence gathering agency, much as most European nations already have, along the MI5 model that the British have.

But there are real questions about that kind of a proposal. It would be a kind of threat, some would say, to civil liberties in this country of a kind that many Americans would probably oppose -- Bill.

HEMMER: A question on that same issue. Do you anticipate Robert Mueller to support that idea or go against it today?

ENSOR: He'll be strongly against it. For one thing, just turf. It would mean cutting a large piece of the FBI out and moving it over and turning it into a new agency, something that directors are seldom in favor of.

But he's also going to argue -- and other FBI officials have -- that all this changing the chart doesn't solve the problem. The problem is, the way to solve it is to get a new kind of culture and to get the kinds of tools into the right hands.

They have good FBI counterterrorism people, very good. What they need to do is give them better tools, get more of them, get more translators, get all the things they need. A new computer system, for one thing.

HEMMER: David, thank you. As we wait for the CIA director, George Tenet, to come into that room there, let's continue our discussion here.

Some of the testimony from yesterday revealed that the FBI, now giving testimony, at the time of the attacks, two-thirds of the analysts for the FBI were not qualified to analyze certain intelligence information. In addition to that, the field agents were not aware and not made aware of the amount of chatter that was going within the intelligence community, not just overseas but also in this country as well.

So all these matters, again, to be clarified and to be questioned again today as we move forward. And all these questions, too, about what the FBI and the CIA has done since the attacks of 9/11.

There is a lot of talk about the FBI being progressive and initiating a number of changes. And later on this afternoon, Robert Mueller, we anticipate, will address a number of those issues.

George Tenet is in the room here. We have heard him testify under numerous occasions over the past several months. But clearly, this is an opportunity for him to explain what was happening in the days and years prior to 9/11 and how since that time he recommends going forward.

There is George Tenet and now Governor Kean, the commissioner of the 9/11 committee.

(INTERRUPTED BY LIVE EVENT)

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Aired April 14, 2004 - 09:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And there it is. They're getting back to work at the 9/11 Commission. Today, the man who is in charge of the CIA and the man in charge of the FBI will sit down and answer questions from some of the commissioners, including this man right there, Tom Kean, who is the chairman of the commission. That's happening this morning on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. A bit past 9:00 here in New York City. George Tenet, CIA director, about 28 minutes away, the first witness today for that 9/11 Commission. We will get you there live when the official swearing in begins. That's on videotape there for George Tenet.

When we go live, we'll get you there to Capitol Hill in a moment when that testimony starts. Also, family members, how they're reacting in a moment; what they have heard and not heard so far in a moment.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, we're taking a look at the president's news conference from last night. We're going to talk to one of the president's advisers about how she thinks he did, Mary Matalin. We'll also hear from some Marines who were listening in as well.

HEMMER: We'll get to that in a moment here.

O'BRIEN: And of course we're going to talk to Jack Cafferty in just a moment.

HEMMER: That we will.

O'BRIEN: He's been asking a very intriguing Question of the Day, getting lots of good responses.

HEMMER: As he always does.

O'BRIEN: We'll get right to that. But first, top stories this morning.

We begin in Iraq, where four bodies found near Baghdad have yet to be positively identified. The bodies were found yesterday in a shallow grave near the scene of a convoy attack last week. Two U.S. soldiers and seven U.S. contractors have been missing since that attack. Meanwhile, U.S.-led forces are building up outside the holy city of Najaf. They are said to be on the lookout for a wanted Muslim cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr.

Today, President Bush will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to discuss Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank. President Bush is backing the plan, but he wants it tied to the establishment of a Palestinian state by next year. Prime Minister Sharon, meanwhile, is hoping Mr. Bush will signal approval for Israel's plans to retain parts of the West Bank. Palestinian leaders Yasser Arafat says if the U.S. approves that plan, the peace process would be dead.

Vice President Dick Cheney is urging Chinese leaders to step up the pressure on North Korea. A senior U.S. official says, during a meeting with China's leaders today, Vice President Cheney presented new information on North Korea's nuclear program. China says it wants North Korea to disarm, but some Bush administration officials say the country is moving too slowly to achieve that objective.

And there are new claims of child abuse against pop star Michael Jackson. A statement from Los Angeles Police said they were contacted by the L.A. County district attorney's office to look into abuse claims from the 1980s. One of Jackson's lawyers says that he expects the claims will be proven false. A grand jury is currently hearing a separate child molestation case against Michael Jackson.

Also out of California, a remarkable tale of survival. Five- year-old Ruby Bustamante is now in stable condition after a deadly car crash that stranded her in a ravine for just about 10 days and left her mother dead. Yesterday, highway workers found the little girl who had been living off uncooked noodles and Gatorade. Police say she was hungry and dehydrated but actually otherwise unharmed.

HEMMER: Amazing story there. Five minutes past the hour here in New York.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: The 9/11 Commission hearings getting under way right now on Capitol Hill. CIA director, George Tenet, the first witness for today. Later this afternoon, Robert Mueller, director of the FBI, is on the stand there.

Back to his perch, David Ensor, live on Capitol Hill in that room in D.C.

Good morning, David. What do we expect today?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, right now we're hearing from the staff director of the commission, and he is offering what -- and it's just been released -- what is a fairly serious critique of the CIA's efforts and the U.S. intelligence community's efforts to try to get a handle on the al Qaeda problem prior to 9/11.

Basically, what the report says is that while George Tenet, the DCI, the director of Central Intelligence got it, he understood the problem, he was very worried about al Qaeda, they were dealing over there with the tactical things. They were dealing with the everyday threats. Do we need to close this embassy? One headline that they saw was "Extremist Learns to Fly," a report about Moussaoui.

There was so much coming in, and the CIA staff had been cut so much in the '90s between 1992 and 2001, that they didn't have the people to stand back and look at the problem and write something serious that said, we've got a big problem coming at us, in a kind of serious way that would have gotten analysts attention. So there is going to be some real criticism and sharp questions of Mr. Tenet and the intelligence community this morning.

Now, Mr. Mueller this afternoon, there is a report on the FBI. What it basically says is the FBI is undergoing the most dramatic changes, the most dramatic reorganization to try to fight terrorism in this country in the last 30 years. And the jury is out as to whether it will work or not.

Now, there are two possible reforms that the commission will be asking questions about today. One is to make George Tenet or his successor a lot more powerful, to give him real control of the budget, to put him in charge of the many intelligence agencies that are really now in control of Donald Rumsfeld of the Pentagon.

The other solution, the other possibility, is to create a sort of British style MI5 domestic intelligence service in the United States and cut it out of the FBI. Both controversial proposals -- Bill.

HEMMER: David Ensor, thanks from Capitol Hill.

Carie LeMack has been an advocate for families of 9/11 victims. She lost her mother in the attacks. Judy LeMack (ph) was on the plane that crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Carie is our guest today out in California, in Palo Alto.

Good morning. Welcome back here to AMERICAN MORNING.

I don't know how much you heard from yesterday. What was your reaction, though, based on the testimony there?

CARIE LEMACK, MOTHER KILLED IN 9/11 ATTACKS: Well, it was a little bit frustrating. We heard a lot of differing accounts from Mr. Pickard, and we also heard different things from Mr. Ashcroft. One, Mr. Pickard saying that Mr. Ashcroft had not wanted to hear anymore in the summer of 2001 about the terrorist warnings. Mr. Ashcroft obviously denying that, saying it was his top priority, even though on May 10, in a memo, it was not listed as his top priority.

So there are a lot of questions we have to ask. And hopefully we'll get more answers today when we hear from Mr. Mueller and Mr. Tenet.

HEMMER: The commissioner, Governor Kean, said yesterday on our screen -- our viewers can read it here -- referring to the FBI, "It failed and it failed and it failed and it failed. This is an agency that does not work. It makes you angry, and I don't know how to fix it."

When you heard that, what did you think?

LEMACK: Well, it's difficult to hear. I think one thing that we've seen that's been pretty consistent in this testimony both this week and last week and the weeks before, that no one seems to be taking responsibility for their jobs.

Now, I can understand that there were inadequate resources. We've heard that over and over again from Mr. Freeh, the previous director of the FBI, and from a lot of the witnesses. But the question then that I have to ask is, whose job was it to figure out that there were not enough resources and do something about it?

My mother ran a company. If she knew she didn't have enough money for payroll because perhaps her VP of sales didn't make the numbers, that was her problem. It was her job to make sure she could take care of her employees. I believe it was these people's jobs to make sure they had adequate resources. And to hear that, that that was the only problem that they were facing, is really frustrating.

HEMMER: Also, what we're hearing in the Intel community, the commission also, in part of its report that it's gathering already, talks about the Intel community struggling to collect the right information and analyze it the appropriate way. Also a suggestion here it did not have a comprehensive review about what it knew and did not know.

We can't bring your mom back. But we can certainly change things within this country. Have you heard about recommendations that would satisfy you, Carie?

LEMACK: Well, one thing I have heard is people just continue to wait for recommendations. We heard that last night in the president's press conference. He continued to say -- well, I think it's great that he's open to suggestions. The fact remains, it's two-and-a-half years later. I hope that he's thought of some suggestions of his own as well, and has his advisers thinking of suggestions.

You're right, my mother can't come back. But the only thing that can possibly make her and 3,000 other murders not be in vain is to make sure that we prevent this from happening again.

Having the type of attitude of, "Well, we did our best, and this is good enough," I don't believe that's true. I do not believe that allowing 3,000 people to be murdered on our soil by 19 men with $500,000, I don't thing that that's good enough. And I want people in positions of power, my elected officials to not think that that's good enough and to be proactive to prevent it from happening again.

HEMMER: Thanks, Carie. Carie LeMack, good to talk to you again.

LEMACK: Thank you.

HEMMER: From Palo Alto. The hearing has started. We expect to hear from the CIA director, George Tenet, at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. On our watch, that's about 19 minutes from now. We'll keep an eye on it for you there in the room of the Hart Senate Office Building in D.C. -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: There are new accusations of sexual abuse against pop superstar Michael Jackson. The LAPD now investigating the new claims. And CNN's Miguel Marquez is live outside the L.A. Police Department with more this morning.

Good morning to you, Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you.

And the LAPD says that it started that investigation at the request of the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. In a statement, the Los Angeles Police Department says the victim claims that the acts took place during the 1980s. LAPD's Child Protection Services Division is now currently conducting the investigation.

LAPD says the request to start the investigation came in a month ago from the district attorney's office. It's not clear how the alleged victim came to the attention of the L.A. County district attorney's office, though.

Jackson's lawyer, Ben Brafman, in a statement said, "This story, like so many others, will eventually prove to be false. And in all likelihood, promoted by people who have their own selfish agendas... the right of Mr. Jackson to a fair hearing on the charges presently pending."

And Jackson's spokeswoman, Ramone Bain (ph), out of Washington, D.C., just released the following statement, saying, "We believe that this smear campaign is driven by money, hungry lawyers seeking to capitalize on Mr. Jackson's current legal situation."

The grand jury in Mr. Jackson's case is expected to resume its work, hearing testimony tomorrow. And the next hearing in the criminal charges already filed against Mr. Jackson will be the end of this month, the last Friday of this month -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Miguel Marquez for us this morning. Miguel, thanks for that update.

HEMMER: Still to come here, President Bush says the handover date is firm. June 30 it will go down. How did he do last night, though, in laying out his vision for Iraq? We'll talk to an adviser for the Bush camp. Mary Matalin our guest here live in New York in a moment.

O'BRIEN: Also, the 9/11 hearings have now resumed. We are keeping an eye on things ahead of CIA chief George Tenet's testimony, which is about to begin really in about 20 minutes or so. We're going to bring that to you live when it happens. That's ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: President Bush says he has conviction deep in his soul to stay the course in Iraq and in the war on terror. That pledge to stick with his current policies comes after a couple of what he called tough weeks in Iraq. During that time, dozens of Americans have been killed fighting insurgents. At his news conference last night, Mr. Bush predicted victory in November despite increasing public unease about the surge in the violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't plan on losing my job. I plan on telling the American people that I've got a plan to win the war on terror. And I believe they'll stay with me. They understand the stakes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: How did the president do in laying out his vision for Iraq? Joining us this morning, Mary Matalin, a senior adviser to the Bush campaign. Also the author of a new book which is called "Letters to My Daughters."

We're going to talk about that book, which is fantastic, by the way, in just a few moments. But I want to, if I can, ask you a couple of questions about the press conference last night. Because, really, that's what we're talking about this morning.

MARY MATALIN, AUTHOR, "LETTERS TO MY DAUGHTERS": Right.

O'BRIEN: We heard the president just say in that clip we played a moment ago, "I believe the American public will stay with me." When you look at some of poll numbers -- and I know everybody rolls their eyes when you talk about various poll numbers -- the number of people who approve of the U.S. military policy in Iraq has dropped, 59 percent in January, 48 percent now in April. So isn't that an indication that actually the American public really is not staying with him?

MATALIN: Well, it's an indication, as it should be -- and I don't roll my eyes at polls. That's the way in a democracy you understand where the public is. And clearly, the public wants to know more about how Iraq fits into the global war on terror.

And this is a global war on terror. Iraq is a critical part of it. And it's -- this is the first post-Cold War national security and foreign policy that this president is putting in place. So it needs to be explained.

And of course -- this is also the first war that's been covered like this in 24-7 increments. It's very disturbing and disconcerting to see what we're having to see. So if every other war was covered like this, we wouldn't have a union. You know, who knows what Europe would look like? So that is disturbing. People do need to understand it, and we as a nation need to be fully informed on what this policy is. And as the president said, what the stakes are.

This is not a war of choice. This is the only course to ensure our security for generations to come. To not just eradicate this threat today, but to put in place a free an stable region where these jihadists, these religious extremists will fade away. They will know -- they won't recreate, they won't rebreed.

O'BRIEN: It seems like several reporters were pushing for an apology for 9/11 from the president, which I think many people said, well, that was completely ridiculous, not only given the fact that it's an election year, but just sort of political suicide to some degree.

MATALIN: No. Soledad, I'm just -- as a citizen, OK, I'm a partisan, I'm an advocate, a conservative.

O'BRIEN: I always worry when you start saying, "As a citizen..."

MATALIN: Well, you know, I believe in this president. But every single -- and I talk to reporters all the time. It's the same question. It's, "Why won't you apologize?"

Why won't Osama bin Laden apologize? I mean, this government, this president, the previous president, the president before President Clinton, that is their moral and constitutional obligation to protect Americans.

I mean, of course we're all hideously sorry and grieving. But this blame that's going on now and finger pointing and all, it's really sad. It's really dispiriting. And what needs to be focused on in this election year, not for the purposes of politics, but for the purpose of having a national consensus on the direction of the country, is where do we go now, how do we eradicate this threat.

And the only way to do that -- because the other way has been tried, before 9/11, treating it as individual law enforcement, track down one of these criminals at a time -- that doesn't work. We have to have a long-term strategy. ANd that's what we need to debate for this campaign.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about your book, which, I have to say, loved it. Fantastic book.

MATALIN: Mom. Mom.

O'BRIEN: I know. It's not just because I'm hormonal. It's a fantastic book.

MATALIN: Thanks.

O'BRIEN: I read that the way you decided to do this book was that some senior executive at your publisher twisted your arm into it. And it's such a personal book, that I have to say, I just don't believe that. Is that true?

MATALIN: Well David Rosenthal, god love him, wanted me to write a political book when I left the White House. And I've been doing this for 25 years. And I know why I believe what I believe, but that's my business.

I don't like writing books. I said it's like giving birth without an epidural.

O'BRIEN: Done that. Not that much fun.

MATALIN: Don't want to bring up that topic to you. But I said, and I only want -- I'm only interested and motivated and inspired enough to write about my girls. So he said, "Fine, you can do it."

O'BRIEN: It's not a political book. You weave a lot of politics in, though, even though I know every chapter you say I'm not supposed to talk about politics.

But let me say this, because it's advice for your girls. In addition to politics, you talk about advice on boys. What do you want your girls at the end of the day -- and they're little, nine and about to be six, right?

MATALIN: Five and nine.

O'BRIEN: What do you want them to take away from this? You don't expect them to read it now.

MATALIN: No. I want them to have, for all time, something I didn't have, which is my mother died when she was my age. And so I want them to have that wisdom when I'm not around about everything, from boys, to grooming, to loyalty, to character development, to grieving, to crying, to laughing, and those big life lessons. And to have some kind of perspective.

And to know my mother, it's really -- it's dedicated to my grandmothers. And it's channeling through my mother. So it's the continuity of mom wisdom through the generations.

O'BRIEN: And you write a little bit about politics, too. Mary Matalin, it's nice to have you. The book is wonderful. Thanks for your insight about the press conference.

MATALIN: Good luck keeping those vitamins.

O'BRIEN: Let eat talk about something else. Thank you, though. I appreciate that -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Soledad. A break here. In a moment, we'll get back to the issue of the president last night. Jack has that and your e-mails.

Also, watching the room there, the Hart Senate Office Building. George Tenet begins in about eight to 10 minutes from now. We'll be there live for that when it happens. Also, Andy in a moment. You can really stock up now on Domino's. A large pepperoni. Andy explains after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back. As promised, "Question of the Day" and Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Bill.

President Bush spent most of last night talking about Iraq, terrorism, and September 11 at his news conference. But when it comes to elections, history traditionally suggests people decide who to vote for based on their economic situation at the time. So the question this morning is, if the election were held today, what issue would be most important to you?

Jim in Cambridge, New York writes this: "It doesn't matter if the issue of the day is WMD, Medicare, unemployment or the benefits of silly putty. When a man is asked a direct question, it deserves a direct answer, with no hesitation or equivocation. Bush demonstrated once again he can't handle that simple concept."

"I hope he keeps his shoes well polished. That's normally where his eyes are focused when he verbally dances around."

Steve in Florida: "The vote could be today or next year. My vote would be the same. I would vote to continue the war on terror with President Bush leading the charge. As for paying a bit more taxes, I would rather pay the increasing financial cost of freedom and live in the United States than pay nothing and live elsewhere. I can't fight the war, so I'll help finance it."

Lorraine in Pittsburgh writes this: "The lousy state of our economy is certainly bringing us down. However, the money being spent in Iraq is one of the reasons for our economic mess. All that money could be put to good use, improving our own infrastructure and hiring American workers to do so."

And, finally, Jim writes: "Our president last night was like a child's toy. When the press pulled his string, he came out with one of six pre-programmed answers. I give up."

Thank you for your ideas and thoughts and stuff this morning.

O'BRIEN: Interesting responses today. Yes. Good for you, Jack.

Let's turn now and talk a little business, shall we? Looking for a piece of the pie, Domino's is about to make a big old offer. And with that, and a market preview, Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Let's actually start with something that's going to affect the market. Intel is going to make an announcement.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: Well, that's right. They did last night, as a matter of fact, Soledad.

They did their quarterly numbers. And they look pretty good on the face of it. But a little bit lighter than Wall Street anticipated. It looks like techs are going to be selling off.

Also, I talked about a lot of good news in the market, maybe too good in the sense that people think inflation is returning and the Fed may have to raise interest rates. More ammunition to that this morning.

We got an inflation number from March just crossing the tape. And it looks like prices are heating up. Raised .5 percent, a half of 1 percent, much more than analysts had anticipated. So I think we're going to be looking for a little bit of a sell-off to continue again this morning at the open.

O'BRIEN: And then there is news about Domino's. What are they pitching, offering?

SERWER: Yes. Domino's is going to go public. It's the second biggest pizza maker after Pizza Hut.

It started out 1960 in Ypsilanti -- I love to say that -- Ypsilanti, Michigan. Going all the way back.

You remember Tom Monaghan and his brother founded this. Tom Monaghan owned the Detroit Tigers for a long time.

Check out this picture. This goes all the way back to 1960. This is the original Domino's in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

The interesting thing about this picture is, Tom and James, the brothers, founded the pizza parlor, right? And then Tom bought out James' half for a VW Beetle. OK?

Now, James -- that was probably not a really good idea to take half of that company for a...

O'BRIEN: In retrospect.

SERWER: In retrospect, for a VW Beetle. Of course, they sold the company later on, a couple years ago, to Bain Capital for $1 billion. Now Bain is going to be taking it public. So that's the original Domino's.

HEMMER: That's a great story.

SERWER: Yes, it is an interesting story. They also -- Domino's got in a lawsuit with a sugar company, Domino's, over the name. Lot of interesting stuff with this company.

And not too often you get a company with a name like that going public these days. So watching that one.

HEMMER: Love a nice, hot, large pepperoni, huh?

SERWER: Yes. Right about now.

HEMMER: Hey, you mentioned these interest rates. That could affect the housing market dramatically.

SERWER: Absolutely. Well, it affects everything. You know, business, it affects the cost of borrowing. So, you know, not a real positive for the economy if the rates tick up.

And the big thing is, everyone is expecting an interest rate hike at some point. But will it happen before the election? That could be very, very interesting if the Fed does that, say, in August.

CAFFERTY: One more robust jobs report, it will happen this summer.

SERWER: I think you're right, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

HEMMER: Let's get a break. Watching Capitol Hill. Watching for George Tenet. Minutes away from that testimony when we roll on right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: And welcome back, everybody. It is just about half- past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. We are awaiting the testimony of CIA Director George Tenet. He is expected to start really any minute now before the members of the 9/11 Commission. You see some of them sitting there.

We're carrying those pictures live. We're going to carry his testimony live for you as soon as it happens.

HEMMER: Later today this afternoon, FBI Director Robert Mueller following up from the testimony from yesterday. Also today, officials from the Homeland Security Department and the government's Terrorist Threat Integration Center. So the hearings continue, day two for this week, from Capitol Hill.

O'BRIEN: While we are awaiting word from George Tenet, we are going to begin with the top stories this morning.

We start in Iraq, where four bodies found near Baghdad have yet to be positively identified. The bodies were found yesterday in a shallow grave near the scene of a convoy attack last week. Two U.S. soldiers and seven U.S. contractors have been missing since that attack.

Meanwhile, U.S.-led forces are building up outside the holy city of Najaf. They are said to be on the lookout for the wanted Muslim cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr.

Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry is taking his campaign to New York City today, home of the summer's Republican National Convention. Yesterday, in Rhode Island, Senator Kerry took more shots at President Bush. Senator Kerry says the president has offered no specific plan to stabilize Iraq, and the senator says he wants Iraq's political power to be transferred to the U.N.

Senator John McCain says that his wife is fine and that she's showing excellent progress after she suffered a small stroke. Cindy McCain was taken to a Phoenix hospital earlier this week after minor bleeding in the brain. She is listed in stable condition. Doctors say the 49-year-old McCain will not need surgery and should be home by the weekend.

And baseball's Barry Bonds has surpassed Willie Mays on the career homerun list. Bonds hit his 661st home run last night.

Thank you for the sound effects, Bill Hemmer. Only Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron have hit more in their careers. Yes, that was not on tape. That was bill Hemmer. Bonds is on pace now to surpass Ruth by early next year, and is 94 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron's record.

HEMMER: That's guy's on fire already. Years ago, I used to work with a guy named Jerry Springer, who is a newscaster back home.

O'BRIEN: That Jerry Springer?

HEMMER: And he would do that every time there was a home run. He'd go...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: ... because we thought it was on the tape.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Back to the hearings right now, already under way. There is a statement being read on behalf of the commission. Any moment now we do anticipate the CIA director, George Tenet, to enter that room, room 216 on Capitol Hill, in the Senate Hart Office Building. When that gets under way, we'll certainly bring up the microphone in full for George Tenet.

In the meantime, here is David Ensor again back at his perch.

What do we expect today, David? Give us a quick run-through about what you've been led to believe we'll hear from George Tenet today.

ENSOR: Well, he will obviously, as he has in the past, give a strong defense of the intelligence community's efforts prior to 9/11. But there are some questions he needs to answer.

This staff report that's being read to us now is quite critical of the CIA's intelligence analysis efforts prior to 9/11 in some ways. It says they were covering the tactical things like, you know, do we need to close this embassy because there has been a threat against it. But they weren't looking at the big picture, they weren't standing back and saying, why are terrorists training to fly airplanes, the kinds of big questions, mainly because they didn't have the staff to do it because of staff cuts during the '90s.

So he has some defenses for why intelligence was imperfect. But there are some serious questions about it.

Now, commission members say they think George Tenet himself got it, that in the summer of 2001 he was trying to raise the roof, he was trying to get attention to his great fear that al Qaeda would attack U.S. targets. But the management of the intelligence community is a real question. And the commission is trying to decide whether or not to favor some serious changes in the way the intelligence community is structured.

So there is a lot to talk about today. And, of course, then after that, the FBI director will be in here. He's got a lot of questions to answer, too -- Bill.

HEMMER: Let me keep you here for a minute, David. What is the defense for some of the commission's conclusions already about struggling to collect the information and analyze it properly? It continues talking about it did not have a comprehensive review for what it knew and did not know at the time. Defense of that is what at this point?

ENSOR: Well, on the FBI, a number of witnesses have said the problem with the FBI is they didn't know what they knew because they didn't have a well organized information system. They didn't have a good management structure.

There were people out in those field office who knew -- remember the Phoenix memo -- who knew that there were terrorists interested in aircraft. That information wasn't getting up to the top.

So the FBI, according to the staff, is undergoing the most dramatic reorganization and change in 30 years, and the jury is really out on whether that's going to work or not. If it doesn't work, there may be the need for a separate domestic intelligence gathering agency, much as most European nations already have, along the MI5 model that the British have.

But there are real questions about that kind of a proposal. It would be a kind of threat, some would say, to civil liberties in this country of a kind that many Americans would probably oppose -- Bill.

HEMMER: A question on that same issue. Do you anticipate Robert Mueller to support that idea or go against it today?

ENSOR: He'll be strongly against it. For one thing, just turf. It would mean cutting a large piece of the FBI out and moving it over and turning it into a new agency, something that directors are seldom in favor of.

But he's also going to argue -- and other FBI officials have -- that all this changing the chart doesn't solve the problem. The problem is, the way to solve it is to get a new kind of culture and to get the kinds of tools into the right hands.

They have good FBI counterterrorism people, very good. What they need to do is give them better tools, get more of them, get more translators, get all the things they need. A new computer system, for one thing.

HEMMER: David, thank you. As we wait for the CIA director, George Tenet, to come into that room there, let's continue our discussion here.

Some of the testimony from yesterday revealed that the FBI, now giving testimony, at the time of the attacks, two-thirds of the analysts for the FBI were not qualified to analyze certain intelligence information. In addition to that, the field agents were not aware and not made aware of the amount of chatter that was going within the intelligence community, not just overseas but also in this country as well.

So all these matters, again, to be clarified and to be questioned again today as we move forward. And all these questions, too, about what the FBI and the CIA has done since the attacks of 9/11.

There is a lot of talk about the FBI being progressive and initiating a number of changes. And later on this afternoon, Robert Mueller, we anticipate, will address a number of those issues.

George Tenet is in the room here. We have heard him testify under numerous occasions over the past several months. But clearly, this is an opportunity for him to explain what was happening in the days and years prior to 9/11 and how since that time he recommends going forward.

There is George Tenet and now Governor Kean, the commissioner of the 9/11 committee.

(INTERRUPTED BY LIVE EVENT)

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