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CNN Live Sunday

Mideast on Brink of New Wave of Violence; Fighting War on Terror With High Tech Weapons

Aired April 18, 2004 - 11:00   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Ahead, assassination and retaliation. Live with the latest. The Mideast on the brink after new wave of violence.

Also, fighting the war on terror with some new high tech weapons. And later.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We took about five to six RPG hits before one came up underneath the hatch and blasted me in the face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Unbelievable, a war hero's story of survival and how his family is helping him through the toughest times. But first, here's a look at the top stories.

The U.S. military says at least eight more military personnel have died in Iraq. Three soldiers were killed when their convoy was ambushed in southern Iraq. In the north, near Syria, three Marines were killed in a fire fight as insurgents tried to cut supply lines. A marine was killed just west of Baghdad and a soldier died of wounds from a roadside bomb attack.

In the war on terror, a tribal militia of 2000 men have set out to hunt Al Qaeda along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The home of one man accused of harboring terrorists was burned by the militia. Tribes in the region face a Tuesday government deadline to hand over suspected Al Qaeda terrorists.

And in this country, 9/11 Commissioner Jamie Gorelick denies allegations from Attorney General John Ashcroft that her actions helped leave the U.S. defenseless on September 11. In a "Washington Post" editorial, she denies separating criminal and intelligence agents in the FBI. Gorelick was deputy attorney general in the mid 1990s.

For the second time in a month, thousands of angry Palestinians are protesting in Gaza burying another assassinated leader of Hamas. In secret a new leader has been chosen. The latest now from John Vause in Gaza. JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, the Hamas leader has now been buried at a cemetery near his home in Gaza. His body was carried through the streets. His face left uncovered to expose the shrapnel wounds from the missile strike that claimed his life.

Tens of thousands of mourners turned out for that funeral procession. Many of them vowing revenge against Israel. Hamas, too, is calling or has promised 100 retaliations for the death of Rantisi. He was the leader of Hamas for less than one month. He took over from Sheikh Yassin. He, too, was killed in a missile strike. Rantisi's death brought out tens of thousands across the West Bank. An outpouring of anger and grief in protest in Nablas and in Bethlehem. In Nablas they burned effigies is of the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as well as of U.S. President George W. Bush, a sign that many in this region believe that the United States was somehow involved in this targeted killing of the Hamas leader.

There was also protest across the region in Jordan as well as Lebanon; there in a Palestinian refugee camp hundreds turned out carrying pictures of Rantisi as well as Sheikh Yassin. Israel is now on high alert. Security forces there say there have been 50 terrorist alerts in the last 24 hours. At his weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Ariel Sharon praised the Israeli security forces for carrying out, quote, "a successful operation." Hamas, in the meantime, has named a new leader, or rather, has appointed a new leader, but they're not saying who it is. That job now comes with the very real threat of an Israeli death sentence.

Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. John Vause, thanks for that report.

Well, Suzanne Malveaux is at her White House post this morning with some reaction from the Bush administration. Suzanne, is the White House supportive, but kind of wincing at the timing so far?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, as you know this is a very difficult situation for the Bush administration. The White House publicly is saying that Israel has a right to defend herself, that Hamas is a terrorist organization, that Rantisi is a terrorist leader. However, privately, senior administration officials say they are quite concerned, even dismayed, over the timing of this attack. This is the second Hamas leader that has been killed in the last four weeks. There's also a lot of concern about the potential of violence erupting in that area.

It was yesterday that the White House took its sweet time in actually trying to come up with some appropriate way to respond. We heard from Spokesman Scott McClellan from the White House saying late in the day, "The United States is gravely concerned for regional peace and stability. The United States strongly urges Israel to consider carefully the consequences of its actions, and we again urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint at this time."

What complicates the matter even further is those pictures we saw three days before the attack. That was President Bush meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the White House, President Bush endorsing Sharon's plan to pull out of Gaza but keep a good part of those West bank settlements in place. This is something that was roundly criticized and rejected by the Palestinians and other Arab leaders.

This has fueled the speculation that the White House gave the green light for this attack. Yesterday State Department officials said it was absolutely not true. They didn't get any heads up on this attack. They still stand by their policy against targeted assassinations. As you know, Fred, this makes it very difficult for the White House to try to win support of some of the Arab nations in looking at the situation with Iraq. Fred?

WHITFIELD: In the meantime, Suzanne, is the White House commenting on what kind of dialogue or any potential trips involving Bush administration officials to Israel to have a heart to heart meeting with Ariel Sharon again? Or other leaders within the Israeli government?

MALVEAUX: Well there, are certainly going to be high-level talks that are taking place just within days. We know Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage is traveling to the region, priority number one, of course, the Middle East, as well as Iraq, but also what has happened with this Hamas leader. It is going to be top of the agenda. President Bush is also going to be meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah on Wednesday. All these issues are really going to take center stage.

WHITFIELD: All right, Suzanne Malveaux from the White House, thanks so much.

Officials in Jordan say the Al Qaeda terrorist network was behind an attempted chemical attack. Trucks packed with the makings for a chemical bomb were seized on April 1. Jordanian security believes the suspected terrorists were planning attacks on government buildings, the U.S. Embassy, and several luxury hotels. Official sources say members of the terrorist cell confessed to the plot and were led by a Jordanian with ties to Osama Bin Laden.

A word today, at least eight U.S. troops have been killed in attacks in Fallujah. Sporadic gunfire could be heard, but overall, relatively calm, and there were no new talks for surrender by militants fighting coalition forces.

In Najaf, U.S. troops are on patrol and there was little fighting reported there. But militant cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr retained control of part of that city.

And the new Iraq defense minister said today security in the country will be controlled by the new Iraqi army that will eventually have 200,000 members.

A new book from "Washington Post" editor Bob Woodward says the bush administration was planning the war in Iraq as early as 2001. The book, "Plan of Attack," says Secretary of State Colin Powell disagreed with other members of the Bush administration, particularly Vice President Dick Cheney, in the push toward war. Quote, "The secretary of state saw this in Cheney to such an extent that he, Powell, told colleagues that Cheney has a fever. It's an absolute fever, it's almost as if nothing else exists." That quote from the book. The press secretary for the Bush-Cheney campaign defended the meeting, saying it was the administration's way of preparing for any eventuality.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERRY HOLT, PRESS SECRETARY, BUSH-CHENEY CAMPAIGN 2004: If you're going to go to the international community with Saddam Hussein and the threat he challenges around the world, then you better have a detailed and very winnable strategy to win a war in Iraq. You can't just make it up overnight. The book lays out very complex details of how a president shifts to war footing. And then executes that war in a very deliberate and patient way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Excerpts of the book were published in the "Washington Post" today. The book goes on sale tomorrow.

There will be much more on the new Woodward work on Monday night. He's a guest on "LARRY KING LIVE," and that airs at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time. The Woodward book is grist for the campaign. Today, Senator John Kerry is taking his campaign to the critical state of Florida, lost so narrowly by democrats in 2000. Today he appeared on "Meet the Press" criticizing President Bush on the war in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We now know it from Bob Woodward's book. You can go through the series of events in August when the president was at the ranch taking the longest vacation in presidential history. During that time the president was talking about Iraq more than he was talking about Al Qaeda. Andy card came back and made an announcement, they didn't introduce a new product in august because that's not what you do in August, they introduced it in September. They came back and started down the Iraq road. They kept looking for a connection.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Kerry plans to spend part of the next four days campaigning in Florida.

Now some stories making news across America.

The spring thaw brings sad news to the family and friends of Dru Sjodin. The body of the missing University of North Dakota student was found yesterday, the first day of the official search resuming after a winter break. Sjodin's body was found near Crookston, Minnesota. A convicted sex offender from that town was charged with kidnapping Sjodin in December. He has pleaded not guilty.

The largest student run alcohol free celebration in the U.S. turned into a riot overnight, according to a police dispatcher. It took police several hours and tear gas to contain the disturbance near the Iowa State University campus in Ames. It's unclear what started the trouble.

And in Baltimore, 26 Navel Reservists have been honored with medals or commendations signed by the president and the secretary of the Navy. They rescued passengers from a capsized water taxi in Baltimore Harbor last month. Five people died in that accident.

Technological advances could soon be changing the way Uncle Sam protects the nation's airports. Up next we'll show you what you may face before boarding your next flight.

Plus...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I put my hand up on my neck and I realized my finger went into my neck and there was a lot of blood on my hands. So I knew I was hit. Then I tried to yell and I couldn't yell because my jaw got pretty much blown off my face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The U.S. Marine defies the medical odds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The worldwide fight against terror takes many forms, including the expanding use of high technology. But high-tech is hardly the magic solution, as Adaora Udoji reports from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No one knows if or when or how a terrorist might attack the U.S. again. But for the many possibilities, today the number of high-tech defenses are rapidly growing. Hardly flashy like a James Bond gadget, this electronic sensor, barely an inch long, can instantly sniff out 16 chemical weapons. And detecting explosives there's a sentinel now being tested in airports.

BILL MAWRER, SMITHS TECHNOLOGY: It certainly finds the next Richard Reid, whether he had the bomb in his shoes or some other way concealed about his person.

UDOJI: Jets of air aimed to dislodge particles so explosives can be detected. At Smiths Detection, a leading security company, executives say demand for cutting edge anti-terrorism devices has never been so great.

MAWRER: I think since 9/11 people have been looking at different types of terrorist threats.

UDOJI: People refers to the Department of Homeland Security, set up in the aftermath of the tragedy. UDOJI (on camera): Today the agency is providing huge incentives by pumping $1.2 billion into research and development grants to companies creating high tech tools.

PENROSE ALBRIGHT, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: You only have to look at the way technology has had an impact on our ability to defend the nation. The way -- the impact it's had on our military forces to appreciate how important that small investment is.

UDOJI (voice-over): The response has been swift to the new market, with entrepreneurs packing trade shows like this one in Las Vegas or expanding research, like those at Cepheid Technology outside San Francisco. Formerly dedicated to medical diagnostic equipment, it also now produces biological weapon detectors to ferret out, say, anthrax in a letter.

BILL MCMILLAN, CEPHEID: The technology was perfectly poised for this hands off detection system for the post office.

UDOJI: But some analysts question whether Homeland Security set its priorities wisely.

CHRISTOPHER PREBLE, CATO INSTITUTE: I think that it is wrong to expect that any technological solution is a silver bullet, will make us 100 percent secure. If that's the message that is being sent, then it's the wrong message.

UDOJI: Federal officials say it's one tool among many. Overall, experts say right now no one has all the answers in this new era of fighting terrorism.

Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A former secretary of the Navy and adviser to eight presidents received a singular honor this weekend. A Navy destroyer named for Paul Nitze, chief arms control adviser for President Reagan was christened yesterday in Bath, Maine. The 97-year-old Nitze was on hand for the ceremony, smiling as his wife broke a champagne bottle over the ships bow. Nitze was Navy secretary during the Lyndon Johnson administration, as well.

Well, if you live in the northeast, time to take the shorts out of storage. A weather update is coming up next.

Plus, details on a shift change that requires a launch pad, Russian rocket, and two-day journey in space.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well news around the world this Sunday. One teenager was killed and several other passengers injured seriously in a tour bus crash outside Paris. The U.S. tour group was en route to the airport for a flight home. Rescue workers say the bus overturned in a ditch. But it's not clear what caused the crash. Women singers have been banned on state-run TV in eastern Afghanistan. Local authorities imposed the ban demanded by religious conservatives. No such restrictions exist in the capitol city, though, of Kabul.

A three-man crew, American, Dutch, and Russian is set to blast off toward the international space station. The American and Russian will stay there for he more than six months. The Dutchman will return a few days later with the station's current crew.

Forget spring, it feels like summer in parts of the U.S. this weekend. Well, how about for the start of the workweek, where in Boston on Monday, Patriot's day, it is also marathon day. Let's turn to Rob Marciano in the weather center. I hear it's going to be hot in Boston.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Are you a runner, by chance?

WHITFIELD: On a treadmill.

MARCIANO: 26 miles?

WHITFIELD: No, no. I so admire people that can do that.

MARCIANO: I hate to even drive 26 miles let alone try to run it.

WHITFIELD: Come on!

MARCIANO: It's going to be a lot warmer tomorrow, Fredricka, that's for sure. If they had today's weather they would be doing all right. They have the east wind off the ocean, which in Boston this time of year makes things real cool. Temperatures will be in the 50s. Another big sporting event, Red Sox and Yankees, although they'll meet something like 19 times this entire summer. 50s for today's game. Here's tomorrow's forecast for the Boston marathon. 70 to 80. I'm told marathon runners like temperatures to be more in the 50s that would be today. 81 tomorrow. Here are the numbers. 85 degrees expected in D.C.. Feeling like summer. 81 in Atlanta and 81 as well in Miami. Good looking days. Thunderstorms tonight and cooler tomorrow, and St. Louis once again in the upper 80s today. Windy in Denver. 63 tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

WHITFIELD: Not bad. I will as long as we have weather like that.

MARCIANO: Good stuff.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot, Rob.

So much more ahead at the bottom of the hour on "RELIABLE SOURCES." Let's turn now to Howard Kurtz for a look ahead.

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Coming up, George Bush in prime time. Should reporters be trying to push the president into apologizing?

Plus, that big fine against Howard Stern. Is an FCC crackdown cleaning up the air waives or undermining free speech?

And the magazine that performed electronic surgery on Demi Moore.

All that and more ahead, on "RELIABLE SOURCES."

WHITFIELD: Coming up, a Marine on the mend. We'll introduce you to a 23-year-old father who is getting his life back after almost losing it in Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The war in Iraq has brought its share of heroism out of young soldiers sent halfway around the world. That includes the quiet bravery of a young man recovering from his near-fatal injuries. All of this while trying to get to know the newest member of his family. Bill Tucker explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sergeant Chad Shevlin first met his daughter Michaela a year ago. She was two months old. Born while he was in Kuwait getting ready for war in Iraq. The meeting almost didn't happen. In Baghdad, Sergeant Shevlin came within inches of losing his life.

CHAD SHEVLIN, SERGEANT, U.S. MARINE CORPS: We took about five to six RPG hits in the track itself before one came up underneath the Hatch and blasted me in the face. I put my hand up on my neck and realized my finger went into my neck. There was a lot of blood on my hands. I knew I was hit. Then I tried to yell. I couldn't yell because my jaw got pretty much blown off my face. Some people said they seen me -- I was just a pile of mush, basically.

TUCKER: Shevlin lost his jaw, his esophagus badly damaged. Just 23 years old, he worried about the future.

SHEVLIN: I started thinking about what could I do if they tell me that I can't be a cop or continue being a Marine.

TUCKER: Throughout the past year he's undergone a series of reconstructive surgeries with remarkable results. He credits the support of his family

SHEVLIN: They have been great. It's probably why I healed so fast. The doctors are very impressed on my heal rate. Something that would take an average person years to do I'm doing within half the time.

TUCKER: Shevlin is scheduled for more surgeries before his face is completely restored. With job offers to be a cop back home in New Hampshire, he's anxious to get through with them and get on with a new life.

Bill Tucker, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: There are more than 3,000 very similar stories like that across the country.

Still more head on CNN SUNDAY. "RELIABLE SOURCES" is coming up next. Then "LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER." Among the guests, the chairman of the joint chief of Staff General Richard Myers. At 2:00 p.m. Eastern, "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS."

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


Aired April 18, 2004 - 11:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Ahead, assassination and retaliation. Live with the latest. The Mideast on the brink after new wave of violence.

Also, fighting the war on terror with some new high tech weapons. And later.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We took about five to six RPG hits before one came up underneath the hatch and blasted me in the face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Unbelievable, a war hero's story of survival and how his family is helping him through the toughest times. But first, here's a look at the top stories.

The U.S. military says at least eight more military personnel have died in Iraq. Three soldiers were killed when their convoy was ambushed in southern Iraq. In the north, near Syria, three Marines were killed in a fire fight as insurgents tried to cut supply lines. A marine was killed just west of Baghdad and a soldier died of wounds from a roadside bomb attack.

In the war on terror, a tribal militia of 2000 men have set out to hunt Al Qaeda along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The home of one man accused of harboring terrorists was burned by the militia. Tribes in the region face a Tuesday government deadline to hand over suspected Al Qaeda terrorists.

And in this country, 9/11 Commissioner Jamie Gorelick denies allegations from Attorney General John Ashcroft that her actions helped leave the U.S. defenseless on September 11. In a "Washington Post" editorial, she denies separating criminal and intelligence agents in the FBI. Gorelick was deputy attorney general in the mid 1990s.

For the second time in a month, thousands of angry Palestinians are protesting in Gaza burying another assassinated leader of Hamas. In secret a new leader has been chosen. The latest now from John Vause in Gaza. JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, the Hamas leader has now been buried at a cemetery near his home in Gaza. His body was carried through the streets. His face left uncovered to expose the shrapnel wounds from the missile strike that claimed his life.

Tens of thousands of mourners turned out for that funeral procession. Many of them vowing revenge against Israel. Hamas, too, is calling or has promised 100 retaliations for the death of Rantisi. He was the leader of Hamas for less than one month. He took over from Sheikh Yassin. He, too, was killed in a missile strike. Rantisi's death brought out tens of thousands across the West Bank. An outpouring of anger and grief in protest in Nablas and in Bethlehem. In Nablas they burned effigies is of the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as well as of U.S. President George W. Bush, a sign that many in this region believe that the United States was somehow involved in this targeted killing of the Hamas leader.

There was also protest across the region in Jordan as well as Lebanon; there in a Palestinian refugee camp hundreds turned out carrying pictures of Rantisi as well as Sheikh Yassin. Israel is now on high alert. Security forces there say there have been 50 terrorist alerts in the last 24 hours. At his weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Ariel Sharon praised the Israeli security forces for carrying out, quote, "a successful operation." Hamas, in the meantime, has named a new leader, or rather, has appointed a new leader, but they're not saying who it is. That job now comes with the very real threat of an Israeli death sentence.

Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. John Vause, thanks for that report.

Well, Suzanne Malveaux is at her White House post this morning with some reaction from the Bush administration. Suzanne, is the White House supportive, but kind of wincing at the timing so far?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, as you know this is a very difficult situation for the Bush administration. The White House publicly is saying that Israel has a right to defend herself, that Hamas is a terrorist organization, that Rantisi is a terrorist leader. However, privately, senior administration officials say they are quite concerned, even dismayed, over the timing of this attack. This is the second Hamas leader that has been killed in the last four weeks. There's also a lot of concern about the potential of violence erupting in that area.

It was yesterday that the White House took its sweet time in actually trying to come up with some appropriate way to respond. We heard from Spokesman Scott McClellan from the White House saying late in the day, "The United States is gravely concerned for regional peace and stability. The United States strongly urges Israel to consider carefully the consequences of its actions, and we again urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint at this time."

What complicates the matter even further is those pictures we saw three days before the attack. That was President Bush meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the White House, President Bush endorsing Sharon's plan to pull out of Gaza but keep a good part of those West bank settlements in place. This is something that was roundly criticized and rejected by the Palestinians and other Arab leaders.

This has fueled the speculation that the White House gave the green light for this attack. Yesterday State Department officials said it was absolutely not true. They didn't get any heads up on this attack. They still stand by their policy against targeted assassinations. As you know, Fred, this makes it very difficult for the White House to try to win support of some of the Arab nations in looking at the situation with Iraq. Fred?

WHITFIELD: In the meantime, Suzanne, is the White House commenting on what kind of dialogue or any potential trips involving Bush administration officials to Israel to have a heart to heart meeting with Ariel Sharon again? Or other leaders within the Israeli government?

MALVEAUX: Well there, are certainly going to be high-level talks that are taking place just within days. We know Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage is traveling to the region, priority number one, of course, the Middle East, as well as Iraq, but also what has happened with this Hamas leader. It is going to be top of the agenda. President Bush is also going to be meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah on Wednesday. All these issues are really going to take center stage.

WHITFIELD: All right, Suzanne Malveaux from the White House, thanks so much.

Officials in Jordan say the Al Qaeda terrorist network was behind an attempted chemical attack. Trucks packed with the makings for a chemical bomb were seized on April 1. Jordanian security believes the suspected terrorists were planning attacks on government buildings, the U.S. Embassy, and several luxury hotels. Official sources say members of the terrorist cell confessed to the plot and were led by a Jordanian with ties to Osama Bin Laden.

A word today, at least eight U.S. troops have been killed in attacks in Fallujah. Sporadic gunfire could be heard, but overall, relatively calm, and there were no new talks for surrender by militants fighting coalition forces.

In Najaf, U.S. troops are on patrol and there was little fighting reported there. But militant cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr retained control of part of that city.

And the new Iraq defense minister said today security in the country will be controlled by the new Iraqi army that will eventually have 200,000 members.

A new book from "Washington Post" editor Bob Woodward says the bush administration was planning the war in Iraq as early as 2001. The book, "Plan of Attack," says Secretary of State Colin Powell disagreed with other members of the Bush administration, particularly Vice President Dick Cheney, in the push toward war. Quote, "The secretary of state saw this in Cheney to such an extent that he, Powell, told colleagues that Cheney has a fever. It's an absolute fever, it's almost as if nothing else exists." That quote from the book. The press secretary for the Bush-Cheney campaign defended the meeting, saying it was the administration's way of preparing for any eventuality.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERRY HOLT, PRESS SECRETARY, BUSH-CHENEY CAMPAIGN 2004: If you're going to go to the international community with Saddam Hussein and the threat he challenges around the world, then you better have a detailed and very winnable strategy to win a war in Iraq. You can't just make it up overnight. The book lays out very complex details of how a president shifts to war footing. And then executes that war in a very deliberate and patient way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Excerpts of the book were published in the "Washington Post" today. The book goes on sale tomorrow.

There will be much more on the new Woodward work on Monday night. He's a guest on "LARRY KING LIVE," and that airs at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time. The Woodward book is grist for the campaign. Today, Senator John Kerry is taking his campaign to the critical state of Florida, lost so narrowly by democrats in 2000. Today he appeared on "Meet the Press" criticizing President Bush on the war in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We now know it from Bob Woodward's book. You can go through the series of events in August when the president was at the ranch taking the longest vacation in presidential history. During that time the president was talking about Iraq more than he was talking about Al Qaeda. Andy card came back and made an announcement, they didn't introduce a new product in august because that's not what you do in August, they introduced it in September. They came back and started down the Iraq road. They kept looking for a connection.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Kerry plans to spend part of the next four days campaigning in Florida.

Now some stories making news across America.

The spring thaw brings sad news to the family and friends of Dru Sjodin. The body of the missing University of North Dakota student was found yesterday, the first day of the official search resuming after a winter break. Sjodin's body was found near Crookston, Minnesota. A convicted sex offender from that town was charged with kidnapping Sjodin in December. He has pleaded not guilty.

The largest student run alcohol free celebration in the U.S. turned into a riot overnight, according to a police dispatcher. It took police several hours and tear gas to contain the disturbance near the Iowa State University campus in Ames. It's unclear what started the trouble.

And in Baltimore, 26 Navel Reservists have been honored with medals or commendations signed by the president and the secretary of the Navy. They rescued passengers from a capsized water taxi in Baltimore Harbor last month. Five people died in that accident.

Technological advances could soon be changing the way Uncle Sam protects the nation's airports. Up next we'll show you what you may face before boarding your next flight.

Plus...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I put my hand up on my neck and I realized my finger went into my neck and there was a lot of blood on my hands. So I knew I was hit. Then I tried to yell and I couldn't yell because my jaw got pretty much blown off my face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The U.S. Marine defies the medical odds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The worldwide fight against terror takes many forms, including the expanding use of high technology. But high-tech is hardly the magic solution, as Adaora Udoji reports from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No one knows if or when or how a terrorist might attack the U.S. again. But for the many possibilities, today the number of high-tech defenses are rapidly growing. Hardly flashy like a James Bond gadget, this electronic sensor, barely an inch long, can instantly sniff out 16 chemical weapons. And detecting explosives there's a sentinel now being tested in airports.

BILL MAWRER, SMITHS TECHNOLOGY: It certainly finds the next Richard Reid, whether he had the bomb in his shoes or some other way concealed about his person.

UDOJI: Jets of air aimed to dislodge particles so explosives can be detected. At Smiths Detection, a leading security company, executives say demand for cutting edge anti-terrorism devices has never been so great.

MAWRER: I think since 9/11 people have been looking at different types of terrorist threats.

UDOJI: People refers to the Department of Homeland Security, set up in the aftermath of the tragedy. UDOJI (on camera): Today the agency is providing huge incentives by pumping $1.2 billion into research and development grants to companies creating high tech tools.

PENROSE ALBRIGHT, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: You only have to look at the way technology has had an impact on our ability to defend the nation. The way -- the impact it's had on our military forces to appreciate how important that small investment is.

UDOJI (voice-over): The response has been swift to the new market, with entrepreneurs packing trade shows like this one in Las Vegas or expanding research, like those at Cepheid Technology outside San Francisco. Formerly dedicated to medical diagnostic equipment, it also now produces biological weapon detectors to ferret out, say, anthrax in a letter.

BILL MCMILLAN, CEPHEID: The technology was perfectly poised for this hands off detection system for the post office.

UDOJI: But some analysts question whether Homeland Security set its priorities wisely.

CHRISTOPHER PREBLE, CATO INSTITUTE: I think that it is wrong to expect that any technological solution is a silver bullet, will make us 100 percent secure. If that's the message that is being sent, then it's the wrong message.

UDOJI: Federal officials say it's one tool among many. Overall, experts say right now no one has all the answers in this new era of fighting terrorism.

Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A former secretary of the Navy and adviser to eight presidents received a singular honor this weekend. A Navy destroyer named for Paul Nitze, chief arms control adviser for President Reagan was christened yesterday in Bath, Maine. The 97-year-old Nitze was on hand for the ceremony, smiling as his wife broke a champagne bottle over the ships bow. Nitze was Navy secretary during the Lyndon Johnson administration, as well.

Well, if you live in the northeast, time to take the shorts out of storage. A weather update is coming up next.

Plus, details on a shift change that requires a launch pad, Russian rocket, and two-day journey in space.

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WHITFIELD: Well news around the world this Sunday. One teenager was killed and several other passengers injured seriously in a tour bus crash outside Paris. The U.S. tour group was en route to the airport for a flight home. Rescue workers say the bus overturned in a ditch. But it's not clear what caused the crash. Women singers have been banned on state-run TV in eastern Afghanistan. Local authorities imposed the ban demanded by religious conservatives. No such restrictions exist in the capitol city, though, of Kabul.

A three-man crew, American, Dutch, and Russian is set to blast off toward the international space station. The American and Russian will stay there for he more than six months. The Dutchman will return a few days later with the station's current crew.

Forget spring, it feels like summer in parts of the U.S. this weekend. Well, how about for the start of the workweek, where in Boston on Monday, Patriot's day, it is also marathon day. Let's turn to Rob Marciano in the weather center. I hear it's going to be hot in Boston.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Are you a runner, by chance?

WHITFIELD: On a treadmill.

MARCIANO: 26 miles?

WHITFIELD: No, no. I so admire people that can do that.

MARCIANO: I hate to even drive 26 miles let alone try to run it.

WHITFIELD: Come on!

MARCIANO: It's going to be a lot warmer tomorrow, Fredricka, that's for sure. If they had today's weather they would be doing all right. They have the east wind off the ocean, which in Boston this time of year makes things real cool. Temperatures will be in the 50s. Another big sporting event, Red Sox and Yankees, although they'll meet something like 19 times this entire summer. 50s for today's game. Here's tomorrow's forecast for the Boston marathon. 70 to 80. I'm told marathon runners like temperatures to be more in the 50s that would be today. 81 tomorrow. Here are the numbers. 85 degrees expected in D.C.. Feeling like summer. 81 in Atlanta and 81 as well in Miami. Good looking days. Thunderstorms tonight and cooler tomorrow, and St. Louis once again in the upper 80s today. Windy in Denver. 63 tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

WHITFIELD: Not bad. I will as long as we have weather like that.

MARCIANO: Good stuff.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot, Rob.

So much more ahead at the bottom of the hour on "RELIABLE SOURCES." Let's turn now to Howard Kurtz for a look ahead.

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Coming up, George Bush in prime time. Should reporters be trying to push the president into apologizing?

Plus, that big fine against Howard Stern. Is an FCC crackdown cleaning up the air waives or undermining free speech?

And the magazine that performed electronic surgery on Demi Moore.

All that and more ahead, on "RELIABLE SOURCES."

WHITFIELD: Coming up, a Marine on the mend. We'll introduce you to a 23-year-old father who is getting his life back after almost losing it in Iraq.

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WHITFIELD: The war in Iraq has brought its share of heroism out of young soldiers sent halfway around the world. That includes the quiet bravery of a young man recovering from his near-fatal injuries. All of this while trying to get to know the newest member of his family. Bill Tucker explains.

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BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sergeant Chad Shevlin first met his daughter Michaela a year ago. She was two months old. Born while he was in Kuwait getting ready for war in Iraq. The meeting almost didn't happen. In Baghdad, Sergeant Shevlin came within inches of losing his life.

CHAD SHEVLIN, SERGEANT, U.S. MARINE CORPS: We took about five to six RPG hits in the track itself before one came up underneath the Hatch and blasted me in the face. I put my hand up on my neck and realized my finger went into my neck. There was a lot of blood on my hands. I knew I was hit. Then I tried to yell. I couldn't yell because my jaw got pretty much blown off my face. Some people said they seen me -- I was just a pile of mush, basically.

TUCKER: Shevlin lost his jaw, his esophagus badly damaged. Just 23 years old, he worried about the future.

SHEVLIN: I started thinking about what could I do if they tell me that I can't be a cop or continue being a Marine.

TUCKER: Throughout the past year he's undergone a series of reconstructive surgeries with remarkable results. He credits the support of his family

SHEVLIN: They have been great. It's probably why I healed so fast. The doctors are very impressed on my heal rate. Something that would take an average person years to do I'm doing within half the time.

TUCKER: Shevlin is scheduled for more surgeries before his face is completely restored. With job offers to be a cop back home in New Hampshire, he's anxious to get through with them and get on with a new life.

Bill Tucker, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: There are more than 3,000 very similar stories like that across the country.

Still more head on CNN SUNDAY. "RELIABLE SOURCES" is coming up next. Then "LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER." Among the guests, the chairman of the joint chief of Staff General Richard Myers. At 2:00 p.m. Eastern, "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS."

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