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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

G8 Summit Concludes, VIPs Pay Their Respects To Reagan

Aired June 10, 2004 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Summing up the summit.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I found a common spirit of wanting to help Iraq progress.

BLITZER: Solidarity or skepticism?

Return to terror? Word of a Libyan to assassinate a key American ally.

Reagan in the Rotunda. VIPs join the vigil as Americans line up in solemn tribute.

World leaders will bid farewell at a state funeral. A former prime minister previews his eulogy.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Thursday, June 10, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: They've just wrapped up the Sea Island summit seeing eye to eye on some issues but with no clear consensus on security in Iraq. Now world leaders take the stage spelling out their views in different rooms nearly at the same time.

The British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been President Bush's closest ally on Iraq. He's speaking right now.

The French President Jacques Chirac was their prime antagonist in the run-up to the war, and he's still skeptical of rebuilding efforts. We're standing by to hear from him live.

And another leading critic of the coalition policy in Iraq, the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. He's speaking to reporters in yet a different room at the summit in Sea Island, Georgia.

Despite the criticism from these key allies, President Bush has been pushing for greater NATO involvement in Iraq. But he wrapped up the Sea Island summit just a short while ago at a news conference by saying that ultimately the Iraqis will have to look after themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BUSH: There will be an Iraqi face on the security of Iraq. The Iraqis will secure their own country. And we're there to help them do so. And we had great discussions today about how to help Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: To sum up the summit, let's go live to White House correspondent Dana Bash. She's standing by in Savannah, Georgia -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. Well we just saw a really extraordinarily upbeat President Bush, downright playful, clearly buoyed by the past two and a half days of talks with the allies here.

When asked how the former foes deal with each other, he said, let's face it -- that means the U.S. and France. He joked even, saying they deal with each other by going into respective corners.

But the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) issue here, of course, Wolf, has been Iraq and the question of whether or not there will be actually tangible results from a U.N. resolution from this new spirit of unity, like troops on the ground to help with security.

And Mr. Bush tried to end on controversy that's been brewing between the United States and France over what kind of role NATO will have on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I don't expect more troops from NATO to be offered up. That's an unrealistic expectation. Nobody is suggesting that. What we are suggesting is for NATO perhaps to help train.

Now, that will come at the request of the Iraqi government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, giving Iraqis more control over their own government is a major theme for the president. He wanted to make very, very clear that they are now a sovereign government and that they do have control over what they do in the future and who comes in to help them.

Now, Wolf, one major issues that's been brewing outside the summit has been the whole question of the U.S. policy towards torture. But certainly it has a lot of effect. And questions here by European leaders, by Arab leaders. And the issue is whether or not the president had sanctioned anything that's outside the law. The question is whether or not he approved or saw memos that said it was OK to go outside the bounds of the law.

He said he did not remember seeing those memos. But he says it's important -- he insisted that he has instructed everybody to stay within the bounds of the law when dealing with any kind of prisoners -- Wolf.

BLITZER: CNN's Dana Bash reporting from the summit. Dana, thanks very much.

The president has a keepsake from Iraq, namely the personal gun of Saddam Hussein. He was asked today by an Iraqi journalist if he'd give it to Iraq's new interim president as a symbolic gift.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Our people were thrilled to have captured him. And in his lap was several weapons, one of them was a pistol. And they brought it to me. It's now the property of the U.S. government.

And I am -- I am I grateful for their bravery. I'm also grateful that that part of the mission was accomplished for the good of the Iraqi people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The president said he got that gun from representatives from the Delta Force that participated in the capture of Saddam Hussein.

Not to a surprising development. Late last year Libya vowed to give up its weapons of mass destruction programs. Earlier it agree to compensate families of Pan Am Flight 103 blown up over Scotland. Yet now Libya's Colonel Gadhafi is LINKED, linked to an alleged plot to kill an American ally. Let's get some details. Our justice correspondent Kelli Arena standing by -- Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, U.S. officials say that they are investigating allegations that the Libyan government plotted to kill Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah. Investigators say they're trying to determine if the allegations are true and whether Libya's leader Moammar Gadhafi was involved.

President Bush was asked about the allegation earlier. And here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDEL-RAHMAN SHALQAM, LIBYAN FOREIGN MINISTER: I am sure that they are just lies, not allegations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: Well, we did not hear from President Bush, but according to investigators the plot was first disclosed by Abdurahman Alamoudi. He's an American Muslim activist in U.S. custody. And then by a Libyan intelligent officer in Saudi custody.

Officials say that both men offered credible and similar accounts of a plan to kill the crown prince. Libya denies the charges.

SHALQAM: I am sure that they're just lies, not allegations. And let them to go forward in their investigations. The details will come and the truth will appear. I am confident, I am completely sure that these allegations have no roots, have no basis. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: The plot was allegedly hatched while the State Department was negotiating the lifting of some sanctions against Libya after Libya said that it would dismantle its weapons of mass destruction program.

State Department officials say that they were aware of the allegations at the time, confronted Libya and was offered assurances that Libya would not use violence to settle political differences.

And while the U.S. did move to improve economic relations with the country, Libya does remain on the State Department list of state sponsors of terror -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Kelli Arena reporting on this latest disturbing development. Kelli, thank you very much.

Libya among other subject, very important to all members of the U.S. Congress, including a key member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as well as the Intelligence Committee, Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska joining us right now.

What do you make of this allegation that Colonel Gadhafi personally ordered a hit on Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia?

SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R), NEBRASKA: Wolf, obviously, it's a serious charge. And we are investigating as was noted here in the report. We need to investigate and get the facts. Until we have those facts, I think we should withhold comment.

BLITZER: I want our viewers to listen to what President Bush said just a little while ago down at the summit when he was asked about this allegation. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: We're going to make sure we fully understand the voracity of the plot line and so we're looking into it. That's what I can tell you. And when we find out the facts, we will deal with them accordingly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: What about the president's notion today that what he wants NATO do is train troops that can be helpful in Iraq, not necessarily deploy NATO force in Iraq?

HAGEL: Well, I don't think it's a surprise, Wolf, to anyone who has been following this issue regarding NATO force in Iraq.

First of all, I don't know where we would get those forces from NATO countries that are not already there. And 16 of the 26 NATO countries already have some force structure there. Training would be helpful, Wolf, because if the definition of victory in Iraq is a free Iraq governing itself, what that means is a massive infusion of training and resources and help now over the next few months as we remove the U.S. brand name, hopefully, from Iraq as we widen the international effort there.

BLITZER: Do you understand why France and Germany, for example, two NATO allies, close friends of the United States, even in the aftermath of this unanimously-passed U.N. Security Council resolution, remain so adamantly opposed to deploying their forces to Iraq?

HAGEL: Well, again, Wolf, this is not new. They have made that quite clear long before the G8 Summit. You'd have to ask representatives of their government as to why they're so adamant about not putting their forces in there.

I suspect it's a political issue as much as anything else. They've got great percentages of their population absolutely opposed to any structure of involvement. And the fact is the United States has lost now over 830 killed, over 4,000 wounded. And I'm sure they are looking at those numbers and saying politically, if for no other reason, I'm not sure we want to interject our people there. Here's an important point and I think this came out at the G8 Summit. We have common threats. All the NATO countries, all countries of the world and it's going to require some commonality in the response. We have common interest. If we fail in Iraq we'll fail in the Middle East. That will affect France, Germany and all countries in the world. So we must bring resources together and apply those in some way.

BLITZER: Let's reflect on Ronald Reagan. He's about to be buried tomorrow. You worked for him. You were a great admirer of the former president. If he were around today where do you think he would come down on this debate on Iraq?

HAGEL: Well, I can't speak for President Reagan but we do have eight years to go from and to be our guiding dynamic here. First, he understood threats. He understood that you could -- you cannot defer those threats. You have to face those threats. You have to deal with them. But he also understood the value of allies. He was very direct, very clear but he listened to allies. He didn't always agree with allies. He didn't always agree with us. But he understood the value of alliances, how critical they were, important they were to sustaining policy anywhere. So I think he would apply the judgment that he used in the eight years as president to -- a more complicated world today than when he served as president -- but I think he would use the same guidelines that he used during his eight years as president.

BLITZER: Senator Hagel, as usual, thank you for joining us. We appreciate it very much.

To our viewers, here's your chance to weigh in on this story. The web question of the day is this, "is Moammar Gadhafi trustworthy?" You can vote right now. Go to CNN.com/wolf. We'll have the results for you later in this broadcast.

An emotional day -- a very emotional day indeed over at the U.S. Capitol. Late this afternoon the former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev paid his respects to Ronald Reagan. We'll go live to the Capitol for details on who else is coming into the rotunda. Plus this...

Heartbreak over Ray Charles. The world of music, indeed all of the world is now in mourning.

And a dramatic turn of events in the Martha Stewart case as her lawyers get increasingly more aggressive with the court. We'll have details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Ray Charles, the blind singer who combined the blues, gospel and country in an extraordinary way died today. The spokesman says Charles died of acute liver disease in his Beverly Hills home surrounded by family and friends. He was 73 years old. During a long career Charles scored numerous hits including this one performed before President and Mrs. Reagan in 1985.

Like many blues singers, Charles, very early, in his very early years, those were tough years. He born in Albany. Georgia. He was blind by the age of 7, an orphan at 15. But through incredible drive and determination he refused to be held back by any physical limitations and went on to win 12 Grammy awards. Among his hits, "I Can't Stop Loving You," "Hit the Road, Jack" and one of his most popular, "Georgia on My Mind." Charles' last public appearance was in April in Los Angeles when he was designated -- his studios, they designated his studios as an historic landmark. Ray Charles unfortunately dead at 73.

Here in Washington, Capitol police say they're moving 5,000 people an hour through the Capitol Rotunda to view Ronald Reagan's casket. Among them are numerous present and former world leaders. Let's go live to Capitol Hill, our congressional correspondent Joe Johns standing by -- Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, that's right, Wolf. In fact, this commemorative card is being handed out to visitors to the Capitol Rotunda today. It says, "the final tribute of a grateful nation, as ordinary people and, indeed, the world pays its last respects."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): Waiting for three hours or more in a line that stretched for blocks, one man came in costume, some came in uniform, most in street clothes from all over the world. Frank Ola (ph) from Hungary drove down from Canada.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I came to pay homage to President Reagan who was my hero because he liberated my whole country so my nieces and nephews can live in freedom.

JOHNS: Joyce Okin (ph) lives here now but moved to the U.S. from Ghana.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He changed my life. I'm an American citizen today because of Ronald Reagan. And I'm a proud American. JOHNS: From last night to mid morning 30,000 people had passed through just to get a five-minute glimpse, perhaps longer if they were lucky enough to arrive at the changing of the guard. They walked up marble stairs into the carvenous rotunda which somehow, this day, seems small and intimate with all the people and the flag-draped casket. There were tears and a few last salutes for the former commander-in-chief. All in silence except for the footsteps or an occasional noisy baby.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Now, just to give you some idea of some of the luminaries visiting the Capitol today, within the hour former Soviet president, Mikhail Gorbachev came to the rotunda, a very, very brief visit. He reached out, touched the casket only for a few seconds and then walked away. Of course, he and Ronald Reagan, in many ways, changed the world. Among some of the others who have been here today, Sandra Day O'Connor, the Supreme Court justice appointed by Reagan, former Senate majority leader Bob Dole and the current majority leader Bill Frist, he, of course, appeared with the new Iraqi president. Back to you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Joe Johns reporting from Capitol Hill. Joe, thanks very much. Joining us now the Republican strategist, former key adviser to President Reagan, Ed Rollins. Spent a lot of time with him over at the White House. When you saw Mikhail Gorbachev coming to Washington to pay his respects, tell our viewers why this is so powerful.

ED ROLLINS, FMR. REAGAN ADVISER: Obviously, when Reagan came in, I had the same emotions you had just seen in that scene. Reagan came into office feeling that the Soviets had been on the move for three or four years prior to that, were very aggressive and at this point in time, the only thing that would stop them would be the build-up of our military. He repeatedly always wanted to have a one-on-one meeting in particularly when Gorbachev became the leader of Russia and everyone said, oh, no, you can't do that. We've got our keep our arms distance. Reagan said, no, if I could ever get one-on-one with them, I know I can convince him that their system is wrong and ours is right. They did. They ended up having this walk in the park in the first summit they had together.

BLITZER: He was constantly fighting, sort of, the bureaucrats or the career diplomats of the state department who kept saying, you can't do that.

ROLLINS: "He'll chew you up, he'll do this," and Reagan said, "listen, I've been dealing with people all my life." Reagan had a great confidence in his own ability to one-on-one talk, man to man, man to woman as the case may be, and, obviously, in this particular case they developed a great relationship, a little touch and go the first couple of times but they -- but Reagan said, I'm for real. You either basically come to terms with us or at the end of the day we're going to keep moving forward, we're going to build our arms up and why should the two of us sit here and waste all of the resources of our two nations, we both have more weapons than we need to destroy each other. Let's basically figure out a way to start finding a peaceful solution. And obviously very, very important...

BLITZER: A dramatic moment, indeed. Especially for those of us who remember those periods. I'll be at the funeral at the National Cathedral tomorrow. Let's talk a little bit about politics and Ronald Reagan. He was a natural politician. You were one of his top political advisers. Remember when he, sort of, disarmed Walter Mondale in his re-election campaign. I want to play a little sound bite that became so powerfully famous. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD REAGAN, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And with that, the whole issue of age was over.

ROLLINS: It was over. And Reagan did not have a good first debate. And the first guy who said he did not have a good debate, as he came off the stage, we're all behind the scenes, and everyone said we've got to go out and do a spin. And Reagan said, we're not doing a spin. I had a bad night. I wasn't ready for this thing. I don't know what happened to me. Just understand, I'll do better. Came back, from weeks, a week between them, the stories everywhere that Reagan's too old, he's stumbling. Tony Quello (ph), who was the Democrat leader at that point in time made some, you know, Reagan did everything but drool on the stage. At the end of the day Reagan went out, convinced everyone he was very fit, very able and the rest is history.

BLITZER: I want you to stick around, Ed, I want to take a quick break. We've got more to talk about. Ronald Reagan, the life and times. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We continue our conversation with Ed Rollins, who was a very close political adviser to Ronald Reagan. Nancy Reagan seems so frail. How is she doing?

ROLLINS: You know, I think she showed great strength yesterday. She is frail. I mean, she's 82 years old. She's had a very long decade of going through suffering with a man that she loved and adored. It has to be extremely hard now. And I think she went through this funeral and basically showed the country -- I think the stuff -- those of us who were close to her knew she had. But more important, I think she felt this was the close. This was the closing act and the president had -- and she wanted to do this. They planned this a long time ago. And I think that she -- I think the American public's last images of her, which is yesterday and tomorrow, are going to be what a great, great first lady she was.

BLITZER: And even those who didn't necessarily like her, the last ten years, the way she treated her husband who was suffering from Alzheimer's, I think has had a dramatic reversal on some of those negative feelings.

ROLLINS: You know, the people that had negative feelings about Nancy Reagan didn't understand her. She was terribly maligned early in the administration and the truth of the matter is she was a very close adviser. She had a great PR sense. She wasn't into the policy. She was into her man. And she adored this man. And I think you see that, you see that love, that affection.

BLITZER: You'll be there tomorrow morning?

ROLLINS: I'll be there tomorrow. One quick thing on the Ray Charles thing which is very touching. Ray Charles closed our 1984 convention and he followed Ronald Reagan and he sang "America the Beautiful." There was a lot of dispute to hire him, paid $20,000 or whatever it was. He said, "I'll waive my fee, pay my musicians." Then he did -- closed down the house. Reagan came off and he said, "thank goodness you had him follow me and me not follow him." It's touching that the two of them going at the same time.

BLITZER: Ray Charles and Ronald Reagan. Two great Americans. Thanks very much, Ed Rollins.

ROLLINS: Thank you.

BLITZER: Now a rare interview on Iraq. One of the key topics of the G8 summit was President Bush's plan plans to transfer sovereignty to the Iraqi people on June 30. Just earlier today I spoke with one of the key players in all of this, the United Nations special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Are you confident this June 30 handover of sovereignty to the Iraqis will work?

LAKHDAR BRAHIMI, U.N. ENVOY: It should work. I think we have a government. They are ready to take over. The Americans are ready to hand over. I think Ambassador Paul Bremer has already booked his seat away from Iraq on the 30 at the end of the day. So it should work, yes, sure.

BLITZER: And your understanding of work, as far as full sovereignty is concerned. What does that mean, full sovereignty?

BRAHIMI: I think, you know, the Americans and these governments should be working at explaining to the Iraqi people what that means. I think that the Iraqi people are, in fact, not absolutely certain what it is going to mean. 135,000 soldiers would still be on the ground. The only physical thing they would see is that Mr. Bremer would leave.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And my complete interview with Lakhdar Brahimi will air Sunday on "LATE EDITION," the last word in Sunday talk. That begins at noon Eastern, 9:00 a.m. Pacific. Dr. Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser, will also join me Sunday on "LATE EDITION."

Washington's National Cathedral preparing for tomorrow's state funeral honoring Ronald Reagan. Coming up, who will be at the world's gathering place and who won't? We'll reminisce with President Reagan's former Canadian counterpart and good friend Brian Mulroney.

And later, a rare look at the Reagan most of us never saw through the lens of a camera and the memory of a trusted companion.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Pomp, circumstance and security. Some very important people will be attending the state funeral for Ronald Reagan tomorrow. We will take you behind the scenes to see what's going on. We'll get to all of that.

First, though, a quick check of the latest headlines.

The top U.S. general in Iraq wants somebody else to oversee the Abu Ghraib prison abuse probe. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez was supposed to oversee the investigation himself, but Pentagon sources say he's recommending a more senior officer take over that task. Likely, Sanchez will himself be interviewed in connection with the investigation.

An Australian citizen detained at the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba has been ordered to stand trial before a U.S. military tribunal. The Pentagon has charged David Hicks with conspiracy to commit war crimes, attempted murder and aiding al Qaeda. His attorney says he's innocent. Hicks was captured in Afghanistan in late 2001.

As members of the public continue to visit the U.S. Capitol to pay their final respects to the former President Ronald Reagan, preparations are now being made for tomorrow's state funeral.

Our Brian Todd is over at the Washington National Cathedral with a preview -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, on a given weekday here at Washington National Cathedral, there are two types of people here, for the most part, worshipers and tourists. That whole equation is changing very rapidly as we speak.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): At a normally quiet, reflective spot overlooking most of Washington, the invasion has begun, security sweeps, lockdowns, networks scrambling to coordinate logistics and camera positions.

Friday morning, dozens of dignitaries converge on Washington's National Cathedral for Ronald Reagan's state funeral. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder are among the current heads of state expected to be there, along with the presidents of two countries in turmoil, Nigeria and Afghanistan. French President Jacques Chirac will not be there. He's sending his foreign minister and a former French president instead.

President Bush will deliver a tribute, as will his father.

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I'm afraid the tears will flow. But I'm going to try to find something to dry them up.

TODD: All eulogizing the late president, his old conservative allies on the world stage, former Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher of Great Britain, Brian Mulroney of Canada. Reagan's adversary-turned- partner Mikhail Gorbachev will be there in the same room with Prince Charles.

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will do a reading. It adds up to a spectacle of pageantry and a sometimes overwhelming challenge for those protecting and covering the event. Up to 18 network pool cameras will be in position inside and outside the cathedral. The Secret Service is coordinating protection with other security organizations, local police and the U.S. military.

They'll begin cordoning off whole blocks around this place Friday morning. The cathedral has hosted events like this, a state funeral for former President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1969, a national prayer and remembrance service just days after September 11. But for local residents, anticipation of this event is somehow different.

I haven't seen anything of this magnitude, so it will be very interesting to see. But we're expecting a lot of traffic, a lot of disruptions in the off-street traffic here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: As for traffic, you can see it all here, as far as the cameras are concerned, a lot of camera crews, reporters, cables, wires being set up.

And, as quickly as this all got set up, it will all begin to vanish tomorrow afternoon. This cathedral will go back to being a very open, docile place for tourists and worshipers -- Wolf.

BLITZER: CNN's Brian Todd over at the National Cathedral -- thanks, Brian, very much.

The Right Honorable Brian Mulroney will be offering one of those eulogies at tomorrow's state funeral, the former Canadian prime minister joining us now live to talk about his good friend Ronald Reagan.

Mr. Prime Minister, can you give us a little flavor of what you want to say tomorrow?

BRIAN MULRONEY, FORMER CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm going to try and explain, Wolf, in human terms the reasons why Ronald Reagan became a grand, transformational president of the United States of America.

You know, there are transactional presidents and transformational presidents. And he was the epitome of the transformational agent in American politics.

BLITZER: And in the sense that what?

MULRONEY: In the sense that he transcended the political system and that he made decisions and provided the vision that fundamentally altered the nature of the world in which he lived.

And this is a tremendously major accomplishment. And I'm going to try, in the brief time that we have tomorrow, to underline some of the human qualities that gave rise to this remarkable capacity to do what he did.

BLITZER: Is this the kind of eulogy, speech, if you will, that simply flows out of you, or is it hard writing this?

MULRONEY: It was -- it flowed out in the sense there was so much I wanted to say. And it was hard to compress it into the timeframes required, for obvious reasons, and not lose sight of this remarkable and genuine character, one of the great leaders in the modern history of the United States of America.

BLITZER: You heard former President Bush say he may break down and start crying. Do you think that could happen to you?

MULRONEY: Well, President Bush is such, himself, a genuine, sentimental, human man. And he served with him for eight years as his vice president. He was loyal and devoted. And they formed together a remarkable team.

So I'm sure it's going to be extremely difficult for him. And I suspect it will be for me as well.

BLITZER: You spent some time over at Blair House, the official guest residence across the street from the White House, where Mrs. Reagan is staying. You met with her today. How is she doing?

MULRONEY: Well, you talk about indomitable spirit. She's remarkable. I would have wilted long ago under both the physical demands and the heat and the psychological burden that she's bearing and has borne for over a decade.

She was of course deeply sad, but courageous and thoughtful, very gracious. She's a remarkable woman.

BLITZER: Health-wise, how's she doing?

MULRONEY: I found her better today than the last time that I had been with her in California.

BLITZER: It's almost as if these last 10 years have been, I'm sure, so painful for her to see the deterioration. Did you get a chance to see that deterioration of your old friend as well? MULRONEY: Well, only in -- you know, that was private, as you know. Nancy made certain of that, as she should have.

But, of course, I saw him fairly regularly until he decided to stand down from public appearances. And Nancy, after that, quite properly preferred that those of us who were his friends remember him the way he was, as opposed to witnessing an ongoing deterioration. And so, the last recollection that I have of him was the Ronald Reagan that you and I knew, a little bit obviously starting to feel the effects of this, but still the gracious and thoughtful and generous man that we all knew.

BLITZER: And I'm sure that will all come across in your eulogy tomorrow.

MULRONEY: I hope so. I hope so.

BLITZER: Mr. Prime Minister, it will be a difficult speech for you, a difficult eulogy, but I'm sure you will deliver it with taste, as you always do. Thanks very much.

MULRONEY: Thank you, Wolf, for having me.

BLITZER: Thank you.

Testimony over at the Scott Peterson trial focusing in on Peterson's behavior, some witnesses saying he wasn't acting like you would expect a grief-stricken husband to behave. Coming up, we'll tell you how defense lawyers right now are trying to counter that.

Also, the latest legal move in the Martha Stewart case. Can the domestic diva stay out of prison? New efforts under way to make that happen.

And what was Ronald Reagan really like inside the White House? We'll look at rare photos with one of his closest aides.

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): A top Pakistani army commander narrowly escaped assassination today when gunmen ambushed his convoy on a main road in Karachi. At least nine other people were killed when the attackers sprayed the vehicles with gunfire.

Five people, including two Iraqi police officers, are dead in fresh violence in the troubled city of Najaf. Fighting with Mahdi Army militia fighters flared overnight and continued into today. This is the first serious clash since a deal was struck for Mahdi fighters to withdraw from Najaf and for U.S. forces to limit patrols.

Eleven Chinese workers are dead, victims of an attack at a construction site in northern Afghanistan. An official with the Chinese Embassy in Kabul tells CNN, gunmen stormed the camp of sleeping men at the site early today. It was the deadliest attack on foreign civilians since the fall of the Taliban.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

You're looking at live pictures of the Rotunda, where Ronald Reagan's casket lies in state, thousands, tens of thousands of people simply walking by to pay their respects, people including some very, very famous people. We saw Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader, there just a little while ago. We understand Senator Ted Kennedy is there right now paying his respects as well.

We'll continue our coverage of Ronald Reagan, the life and times.

But let's check some other highlights right now, some other news we're following our "Justice Report."

Testimony now under way once again in the murder trial of Scott Peterson. He's accused of killing his wife and unborn son. Jurors have heard so far from a letter carrier, a neighbor and a police officer. Defense attorneys have been trying to deflect discrepancies in Peterson's behavior as symptoms of his efforts to focus in on finding his wife, Laci.

The jury in the state trial of Terry Nichols still deliberating for a second day as it weighs life in prison or death for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing. The same six-man, six-woman jury last month convicted Nichols on 161 counts of first-degree murder.

Attorneys for Martha Stewart have filed a motion for a new trial. Stewart and her ex-broker are to be sentenced in about a month for lying about an ImClone stock sale in 2001.

CNN Financial News correspondent Allan Chernoff has some details on today's legal developments -- Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Martha Stewart's lawyer are saying she simply did not get a fair trial because one of the government's witnesses actually lied on the stand and unfairly influenced the jury.

The lawyers write, that fatally undermined Martha Stewart's right to a fair trial. About two and a half weeks ago, government prosecutors charged one of their own witnesses, Larry Stewart, an ink expert, not related to Martha, with perjury for having exaggerated his role in analyzing notes written by Martha Stewart's stockbroker.

The government said at the time that should not affect the outcome of the trial. The judge, Miriam Cedarbaum, delayed the sentencing. And now she is going to determine whether or not to grant a new trial or to go ahead -- Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: Allan Chernoff, following the Martha Stewart case -- thanks, Allan, very, very much.

A man who was at Ronald Reagan's side throughout much of his presidency about to share some personal thoughts, as well as some personal photos. Coming up, a rare look at Ronald Reagan when the world wasn't necessarily watching.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Few people had the kind of intimate access to the late President Ronald Reagan's daily life as our next guest. Jim Kuhn served as President Reagan's executive assistant from 1985 to 1989.

Mr. Kuhn joins me now -- joins us now to share some thoughts on Ronald Reagan and some photos that you will remember.

And I want to show our viewers some of these photos. This is one of you and the president. It looks like he's about to do a radio address.

JIM KUHN, FORMER EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT REAGAN: Yes, we were in Bonn, West Germany, then for the economic summit that President Bush is just coming back from, then the G-7.

And that's late in the day in Germany with the time change. And President Reagan almost always insisted on doing the radio addresses live. So we were doing that much later in the day, which was 12:06 back here in the afternoon.

BLITZER: Given his background, doing a live radio address was not necessarily a big deal.

KUHN: Not a big deal, but...

BLITZER: For him.

KUHN: ... important not to have it pretaped, though. He liked to do it live.

BLITZER: Here's another picture that you -- you seem to be having a private moment discussing something with the president in the White House.

KUHN: Yes.

BLITZER: Do you remember what it was?

KUHN: I don't remember it in particular.

But I had his attention. It may look like he's distracted or looking out the window. But he's listening to me. He's thinking about something else. And we just kept rolling on.

BLITZER: In this photo, this next one, he's clearly working on some sort of, I guess, script or article or speech. What's he doing? KUHN: That's a radio address again, but at the ranch out in California. And we're about to go live on the air and he's making some last-minute changes.

BLITZER: As he always did.

KUHN: Yes, in all of his speeches.

BLITZER: As we're speaking, Jim, we're seeing Air Force One bringing President Bush back to Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington from the G-8 Summit down in Georgia.

Let's continue to talk about Air Force One, but this is a different Air Force One. You were aboard Air Force One with President Reagan in this picture.

KUHN: Used to spend many moments up front when we needed to talk. We gave him private time for most of the flight. But when we had to talk, we always had access to the state room to brief him up.

BLITZER: To speak privately with the president.

KUHN: Yes.

BLITZER: One of the jobs that you had was to make sure he was ready almost for any contingency. This next photo shows that you're clearly doing your job as a personal aide to the president.

KUHN: Yes. He's telling me how to protect myself. I always said my job was to protect him. He's telling me how to protect myself in that picture.

BLITZER: And he's giving you a little structure. Look at Air Force One.

You can never see enough of this, can you, Jim, this plane touching down at Andrews Air Force Base, knowing the history, knowing who's on board? This is the president of the United States, this 747 bringing him back. He'll be eulogizing the former President Ronald Reagan.

As you see this, Jim, what goes through your mind?

KUHN: Well, you think about all the times that Ronald Reagan landed out at Andrews Air Force Base and airports around the world. And I also think of President Bush and what he has done and how he has embraced President Reagan since he's been in office. And he's been very, very close to Mrs. Reagan. Throughout his presidency, he's been very good to the Reagans.

BLITZER: You will be there tomorrow over at the National Cathedral.

KUHN: Yes, I will be.

BLITZER: But you also either already have done or are about to do a last job for the president.

KUHN: That was at the Capitol last night.

It was determined that we would have Reagan staff, two Reagan staff, former staff, in the Rotunda at all times. As we were always with him before, we didn't want him to be alone while he was in the Rotunda, so that is staffed around the clock.

BLITZER: So what did you do exactly?

KUHN: Was there just to be there in case there were any contingencies, if there were any questions or any problems or any situations that we could resolve, but, basically, just there to be next to him.

BLITZER: How many hours did you spend in the Rotunda?

KUHN: Was there from about 11:30 to 4:15 this morning.

BLITZER: What an emotional moment that must have been.

KUHN: Very much so.

BLITZER: Jim, let's talk again tomorrow. Thanks very much.

KUHN: Thank you, Wolf. Good to be here.

BLITZER: A master of the blues and much more has died. Coming up, Ray Charles and one of his many hits.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: All right, take a look at this. Here's how your weighing in on our Web question of the day. Take a look at these numbers, remembering it's not a scientific poll.

Our picture of the day, a tribute to Ray Charles. As we mentioned, he died today of acute liver disease at his Beverly Hills home.

We leave you now with his performance for President Reagan and Mrs. Reagan in 1985.

(MUSIC)

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Aired June 10, 2004 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Summing up the summit.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I found a common spirit of wanting to help Iraq progress.

BLITZER: Solidarity or skepticism?

Return to terror? Word of a Libyan to assassinate a key American ally.

Reagan in the Rotunda. VIPs join the vigil as Americans line up in solemn tribute.

World leaders will bid farewell at a state funeral. A former prime minister previews his eulogy.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Thursday, June 10, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: They've just wrapped up the Sea Island summit seeing eye to eye on some issues but with no clear consensus on security in Iraq. Now world leaders take the stage spelling out their views in different rooms nearly at the same time.

The British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been President Bush's closest ally on Iraq. He's speaking right now.

The French President Jacques Chirac was their prime antagonist in the run-up to the war, and he's still skeptical of rebuilding efforts. We're standing by to hear from him live.

And another leading critic of the coalition policy in Iraq, the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. He's speaking to reporters in yet a different room at the summit in Sea Island, Georgia.

Despite the criticism from these key allies, President Bush has been pushing for greater NATO involvement in Iraq. But he wrapped up the Sea Island summit just a short while ago at a news conference by saying that ultimately the Iraqis will have to look after themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BUSH: There will be an Iraqi face on the security of Iraq. The Iraqis will secure their own country. And we're there to help them do so. And we had great discussions today about how to help Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: To sum up the summit, let's go live to White House correspondent Dana Bash. She's standing by in Savannah, Georgia -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. Well we just saw a really extraordinarily upbeat President Bush, downright playful, clearly buoyed by the past two and a half days of talks with the allies here.

When asked how the former foes deal with each other, he said, let's face it -- that means the U.S. and France. He joked even, saying they deal with each other by going into respective corners.

But the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) issue here, of course, Wolf, has been Iraq and the question of whether or not there will be actually tangible results from a U.N. resolution from this new spirit of unity, like troops on the ground to help with security.

And Mr. Bush tried to end on controversy that's been brewing between the United States and France over what kind of role NATO will have on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I don't expect more troops from NATO to be offered up. That's an unrealistic expectation. Nobody is suggesting that. What we are suggesting is for NATO perhaps to help train.

Now, that will come at the request of the Iraqi government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, giving Iraqis more control over their own government is a major theme for the president. He wanted to make very, very clear that they are now a sovereign government and that they do have control over what they do in the future and who comes in to help them.

Now, Wolf, one major issues that's been brewing outside the summit has been the whole question of the U.S. policy towards torture. But certainly it has a lot of effect. And questions here by European leaders, by Arab leaders. And the issue is whether or not the president had sanctioned anything that's outside the law. The question is whether or not he approved or saw memos that said it was OK to go outside the bounds of the law.

He said he did not remember seeing those memos. But he says it's important -- he insisted that he has instructed everybody to stay within the bounds of the law when dealing with any kind of prisoners -- Wolf.

BLITZER: CNN's Dana Bash reporting from the summit. Dana, thanks very much.

The president has a keepsake from Iraq, namely the personal gun of Saddam Hussein. He was asked today by an Iraqi journalist if he'd give it to Iraq's new interim president as a symbolic gift.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Our people were thrilled to have captured him. And in his lap was several weapons, one of them was a pistol. And they brought it to me. It's now the property of the U.S. government.

And I am -- I am I grateful for their bravery. I'm also grateful that that part of the mission was accomplished for the good of the Iraqi people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The president said he got that gun from representatives from the Delta Force that participated in the capture of Saddam Hussein.

Not to a surprising development. Late last year Libya vowed to give up its weapons of mass destruction programs. Earlier it agree to compensate families of Pan Am Flight 103 blown up over Scotland. Yet now Libya's Colonel Gadhafi is LINKED, linked to an alleged plot to kill an American ally. Let's get some details. Our justice correspondent Kelli Arena standing by -- Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, U.S. officials say that they are investigating allegations that the Libyan government plotted to kill Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah. Investigators say they're trying to determine if the allegations are true and whether Libya's leader Moammar Gadhafi was involved.

President Bush was asked about the allegation earlier. And here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDEL-RAHMAN SHALQAM, LIBYAN FOREIGN MINISTER: I am sure that they are just lies, not allegations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: Well, we did not hear from President Bush, but according to investigators the plot was first disclosed by Abdurahman Alamoudi. He's an American Muslim activist in U.S. custody. And then by a Libyan intelligent officer in Saudi custody.

Officials say that both men offered credible and similar accounts of a plan to kill the crown prince. Libya denies the charges.

SHALQAM: I am sure that they're just lies, not allegations. And let them to go forward in their investigations. The details will come and the truth will appear. I am confident, I am completely sure that these allegations have no roots, have no basis. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: The plot was allegedly hatched while the State Department was negotiating the lifting of some sanctions against Libya after Libya said that it would dismantle its weapons of mass destruction program.

State Department officials say that they were aware of the allegations at the time, confronted Libya and was offered assurances that Libya would not use violence to settle political differences.

And while the U.S. did move to improve economic relations with the country, Libya does remain on the State Department list of state sponsors of terror -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Kelli Arena reporting on this latest disturbing development. Kelli, thank you very much.

Libya among other subject, very important to all members of the U.S. Congress, including a key member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as well as the Intelligence Committee, Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska joining us right now.

What do you make of this allegation that Colonel Gadhafi personally ordered a hit on Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia?

SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R), NEBRASKA: Wolf, obviously, it's a serious charge. And we are investigating as was noted here in the report. We need to investigate and get the facts. Until we have those facts, I think we should withhold comment.

BLITZER: I want our viewers to listen to what President Bush said just a little while ago down at the summit when he was asked about this allegation. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: We're going to make sure we fully understand the voracity of the plot line and so we're looking into it. That's what I can tell you. And when we find out the facts, we will deal with them accordingly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: What about the president's notion today that what he wants NATO do is train troops that can be helpful in Iraq, not necessarily deploy NATO force in Iraq?

HAGEL: Well, I don't think it's a surprise, Wolf, to anyone who has been following this issue regarding NATO force in Iraq.

First of all, I don't know where we would get those forces from NATO countries that are not already there. And 16 of the 26 NATO countries already have some force structure there. Training would be helpful, Wolf, because if the definition of victory in Iraq is a free Iraq governing itself, what that means is a massive infusion of training and resources and help now over the next few months as we remove the U.S. brand name, hopefully, from Iraq as we widen the international effort there.

BLITZER: Do you understand why France and Germany, for example, two NATO allies, close friends of the United States, even in the aftermath of this unanimously-passed U.N. Security Council resolution, remain so adamantly opposed to deploying their forces to Iraq?

HAGEL: Well, again, Wolf, this is not new. They have made that quite clear long before the G8 Summit. You'd have to ask representatives of their government as to why they're so adamant about not putting their forces in there.

I suspect it's a political issue as much as anything else. They've got great percentages of their population absolutely opposed to any structure of involvement. And the fact is the United States has lost now over 830 killed, over 4,000 wounded. And I'm sure they are looking at those numbers and saying politically, if for no other reason, I'm not sure we want to interject our people there. Here's an important point and I think this came out at the G8 Summit. We have common threats. All the NATO countries, all countries of the world and it's going to require some commonality in the response. We have common interest. If we fail in Iraq we'll fail in the Middle East. That will affect France, Germany and all countries in the world. So we must bring resources together and apply those in some way.

BLITZER: Let's reflect on Ronald Reagan. He's about to be buried tomorrow. You worked for him. You were a great admirer of the former president. If he were around today where do you think he would come down on this debate on Iraq?

HAGEL: Well, I can't speak for President Reagan but we do have eight years to go from and to be our guiding dynamic here. First, he understood threats. He understood that you could -- you cannot defer those threats. You have to face those threats. You have to deal with them. But he also understood the value of allies. He was very direct, very clear but he listened to allies. He didn't always agree with allies. He didn't always agree with us. But he understood the value of alliances, how critical they were, important they were to sustaining policy anywhere. So I think he would apply the judgment that he used in the eight years as president to -- a more complicated world today than when he served as president -- but I think he would use the same guidelines that he used during his eight years as president.

BLITZER: Senator Hagel, as usual, thank you for joining us. We appreciate it very much.

To our viewers, here's your chance to weigh in on this story. The web question of the day is this, "is Moammar Gadhafi trustworthy?" You can vote right now. Go to CNN.com/wolf. We'll have the results for you later in this broadcast.

An emotional day -- a very emotional day indeed over at the U.S. Capitol. Late this afternoon the former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev paid his respects to Ronald Reagan. We'll go live to the Capitol for details on who else is coming into the rotunda. Plus this...

Heartbreak over Ray Charles. The world of music, indeed all of the world is now in mourning.

And a dramatic turn of events in the Martha Stewart case as her lawyers get increasingly more aggressive with the court. We'll have details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Ray Charles, the blind singer who combined the blues, gospel and country in an extraordinary way died today. The spokesman says Charles died of acute liver disease in his Beverly Hills home surrounded by family and friends. He was 73 years old. During a long career Charles scored numerous hits including this one performed before President and Mrs. Reagan in 1985.

Like many blues singers, Charles, very early, in his very early years, those were tough years. He born in Albany. Georgia. He was blind by the age of 7, an orphan at 15. But through incredible drive and determination he refused to be held back by any physical limitations and went on to win 12 Grammy awards. Among his hits, "I Can't Stop Loving You," "Hit the Road, Jack" and one of his most popular, "Georgia on My Mind." Charles' last public appearance was in April in Los Angeles when he was designated -- his studios, they designated his studios as an historic landmark. Ray Charles unfortunately dead at 73.

Here in Washington, Capitol police say they're moving 5,000 people an hour through the Capitol Rotunda to view Ronald Reagan's casket. Among them are numerous present and former world leaders. Let's go live to Capitol Hill, our congressional correspondent Joe Johns standing by -- Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, that's right, Wolf. In fact, this commemorative card is being handed out to visitors to the Capitol Rotunda today. It says, "the final tribute of a grateful nation, as ordinary people and, indeed, the world pays its last respects."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): Waiting for three hours or more in a line that stretched for blocks, one man came in costume, some came in uniform, most in street clothes from all over the world. Frank Ola (ph) from Hungary drove down from Canada.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I came to pay homage to President Reagan who was my hero because he liberated my whole country so my nieces and nephews can live in freedom.

JOHNS: Joyce Okin (ph) lives here now but moved to the U.S. from Ghana.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He changed my life. I'm an American citizen today because of Ronald Reagan. And I'm a proud American. JOHNS: From last night to mid morning 30,000 people had passed through just to get a five-minute glimpse, perhaps longer if they were lucky enough to arrive at the changing of the guard. They walked up marble stairs into the carvenous rotunda which somehow, this day, seems small and intimate with all the people and the flag-draped casket. There were tears and a few last salutes for the former commander-in-chief. All in silence except for the footsteps or an occasional noisy baby.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Now, just to give you some idea of some of the luminaries visiting the Capitol today, within the hour former Soviet president, Mikhail Gorbachev came to the rotunda, a very, very brief visit. He reached out, touched the casket only for a few seconds and then walked away. Of course, he and Ronald Reagan, in many ways, changed the world. Among some of the others who have been here today, Sandra Day O'Connor, the Supreme Court justice appointed by Reagan, former Senate majority leader Bob Dole and the current majority leader Bill Frist, he, of course, appeared with the new Iraqi president. Back to you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Joe Johns reporting from Capitol Hill. Joe, thanks very much. Joining us now the Republican strategist, former key adviser to President Reagan, Ed Rollins. Spent a lot of time with him over at the White House. When you saw Mikhail Gorbachev coming to Washington to pay his respects, tell our viewers why this is so powerful.

ED ROLLINS, FMR. REAGAN ADVISER: Obviously, when Reagan came in, I had the same emotions you had just seen in that scene. Reagan came into office feeling that the Soviets had been on the move for three or four years prior to that, were very aggressive and at this point in time, the only thing that would stop them would be the build-up of our military. He repeatedly always wanted to have a one-on-one meeting in particularly when Gorbachev became the leader of Russia and everyone said, oh, no, you can't do that. We've got our keep our arms distance. Reagan said, no, if I could ever get one-on-one with them, I know I can convince him that their system is wrong and ours is right. They did. They ended up having this walk in the park in the first summit they had together.

BLITZER: He was constantly fighting, sort of, the bureaucrats or the career diplomats of the state department who kept saying, you can't do that.

ROLLINS: "He'll chew you up, he'll do this," and Reagan said, "listen, I've been dealing with people all my life." Reagan had a great confidence in his own ability to one-on-one talk, man to man, man to woman as the case may be, and, obviously, in this particular case they developed a great relationship, a little touch and go the first couple of times but they -- but Reagan said, I'm for real. You either basically come to terms with us or at the end of the day we're going to keep moving forward, we're going to build our arms up and why should the two of us sit here and waste all of the resources of our two nations, we both have more weapons than we need to destroy each other. Let's basically figure out a way to start finding a peaceful solution. And obviously very, very important...

BLITZER: A dramatic moment, indeed. Especially for those of us who remember those periods. I'll be at the funeral at the National Cathedral tomorrow. Let's talk a little bit about politics and Ronald Reagan. He was a natural politician. You were one of his top political advisers. Remember when he, sort of, disarmed Walter Mondale in his re-election campaign. I want to play a little sound bite that became so powerfully famous. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD REAGAN, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And with that, the whole issue of age was over.

ROLLINS: It was over. And Reagan did not have a good first debate. And the first guy who said he did not have a good debate, as he came off the stage, we're all behind the scenes, and everyone said we've got to go out and do a spin. And Reagan said, we're not doing a spin. I had a bad night. I wasn't ready for this thing. I don't know what happened to me. Just understand, I'll do better. Came back, from weeks, a week between them, the stories everywhere that Reagan's too old, he's stumbling. Tony Quello (ph), who was the Democrat leader at that point in time made some, you know, Reagan did everything but drool on the stage. At the end of the day Reagan went out, convinced everyone he was very fit, very able and the rest is history.

BLITZER: I want you to stick around, Ed, I want to take a quick break. We've got more to talk about. Ronald Reagan, the life and times. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We continue our conversation with Ed Rollins, who was a very close political adviser to Ronald Reagan. Nancy Reagan seems so frail. How is she doing?

ROLLINS: You know, I think she showed great strength yesterday. She is frail. I mean, she's 82 years old. She's had a very long decade of going through suffering with a man that she loved and adored. It has to be extremely hard now. And I think she went through this funeral and basically showed the country -- I think the stuff -- those of us who were close to her knew she had. But more important, I think she felt this was the close. This was the closing act and the president had -- and she wanted to do this. They planned this a long time ago. And I think that she -- I think the American public's last images of her, which is yesterday and tomorrow, are going to be what a great, great first lady she was.

BLITZER: And even those who didn't necessarily like her, the last ten years, the way she treated her husband who was suffering from Alzheimer's, I think has had a dramatic reversal on some of those negative feelings.

ROLLINS: You know, the people that had negative feelings about Nancy Reagan didn't understand her. She was terribly maligned early in the administration and the truth of the matter is she was a very close adviser. She had a great PR sense. She wasn't into the policy. She was into her man. And she adored this man. And I think you see that, you see that love, that affection.

BLITZER: You'll be there tomorrow morning?

ROLLINS: I'll be there tomorrow. One quick thing on the Ray Charles thing which is very touching. Ray Charles closed our 1984 convention and he followed Ronald Reagan and he sang "America the Beautiful." There was a lot of dispute to hire him, paid $20,000 or whatever it was. He said, "I'll waive my fee, pay my musicians." Then he did -- closed down the house. Reagan came off and he said, "thank goodness you had him follow me and me not follow him." It's touching that the two of them going at the same time.

BLITZER: Ray Charles and Ronald Reagan. Two great Americans. Thanks very much, Ed Rollins.

ROLLINS: Thank you.

BLITZER: Now a rare interview on Iraq. One of the key topics of the G8 summit was President Bush's plan plans to transfer sovereignty to the Iraqi people on June 30. Just earlier today I spoke with one of the key players in all of this, the United Nations special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Are you confident this June 30 handover of sovereignty to the Iraqis will work?

LAKHDAR BRAHIMI, U.N. ENVOY: It should work. I think we have a government. They are ready to take over. The Americans are ready to hand over. I think Ambassador Paul Bremer has already booked his seat away from Iraq on the 30 at the end of the day. So it should work, yes, sure.

BLITZER: And your understanding of work, as far as full sovereignty is concerned. What does that mean, full sovereignty?

BRAHIMI: I think, you know, the Americans and these governments should be working at explaining to the Iraqi people what that means. I think that the Iraqi people are, in fact, not absolutely certain what it is going to mean. 135,000 soldiers would still be on the ground. The only physical thing they would see is that Mr. Bremer would leave.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And my complete interview with Lakhdar Brahimi will air Sunday on "LATE EDITION," the last word in Sunday talk. That begins at noon Eastern, 9:00 a.m. Pacific. Dr. Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser, will also join me Sunday on "LATE EDITION."

Washington's National Cathedral preparing for tomorrow's state funeral honoring Ronald Reagan. Coming up, who will be at the world's gathering place and who won't? We'll reminisce with President Reagan's former Canadian counterpart and good friend Brian Mulroney.

And later, a rare look at the Reagan most of us never saw through the lens of a camera and the memory of a trusted companion.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Pomp, circumstance and security. Some very important people will be attending the state funeral for Ronald Reagan tomorrow. We will take you behind the scenes to see what's going on. We'll get to all of that.

First, though, a quick check of the latest headlines.

The top U.S. general in Iraq wants somebody else to oversee the Abu Ghraib prison abuse probe. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez was supposed to oversee the investigation himself, but Pentagon sources say he's recommending a more senior officer take over that task. Likely, Sanchez will himself be interviewed in connection with the investigation.

An Australian citizen detained at the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba has been ordered to stand trial before a U.S. military tribunal. The Pentagon has charged David Hicks with conspiracy to commit war crimes, attempted murder and aiding al Qaeda. His attorney says he's innocent. Hicks was captured in Afghanistan in late 2001.

As members of the public continue to visit the U.S. Capitol to pay their final respects to the former President Ronald Reagan, preparations are now being made for tomorrow's state funeral.

Our Brian Todd is over at the Washington National Cathedral with a preview -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, on a given weekday here at Washington National Cathedral, there are two types of people here, for the most part, worshipers and tourists. That whole equation is changing very rapidly as we speak.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): At a normally quiet, reflective spot overlooking most of Washington, the invasion has begun, security sweeps, lockdowns, networks scrambling to coordinate logistics and camera positions.

Friday morning, dozens of dignitaries converge on Washington's National Cathedral for Ronald Reagan's state funeral. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder are among the current heads of state expected to be there, along with the presidents of two countries in turmoil, Nigeria and Afghanistan. French President Jacques Chirac will not be there. He's sending his foreign minister and a former French president instead.

President Bush will deliver a tribute, as will his father.

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I'm afraid the tears will flow. But I'm going to try to find something to dry them up.

TODD: All eulogizing the late president, his old conservative allies on the world stage, former Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher of Great Britain, Brian Mulroney of Canada. Reagan's adversary-turned- partner Mikhail Gorbachev will be there in the same room with Prince Charles.

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will do a reading. It adds up to a spectacle of pageantry and a sometimes overwhelming challenge for those protecting and covering the event. Up to 18 network pool cameras will be in position inside and outside the cathedral. The Secret Service is coordinating protection with other security organizations, local police and the U.S. military.

They'll begin cordoning off whole blocks around this place Friday morning. The cathedral has hosted events like this, a state funeral for former President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1969, a national prayer and remembrance service just days after September 11. But for local residents, anticipation of this event is somehow different.

I haven't seen anything of this magnitude, so it will be very interesting to see. But we're expecting a lot of traffic, a lot of disruptions in the off-street traffic here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: As for traffic, you can see it all here, as far as the cameras are concerned, a lot of camera crews, reporters, cables, wires being set up.

And, as quickly as this all got set up, it will all begin to vanish tomorrow afternoon. This cathedral will go back to being a very open, docile place for tourists and worshipers -- Wolf.

BLITZER: CNN's Brian Todd over at the National Cathedral -- thanks, Brian, very much.

The Right Honorable Brian Mulroney will be offering one of those eulogies at tomorrow's state funeral, the former Canadian prime minister joining us now live to talk about his good friend Ronald Reagan.

Mr. Prime Minister, can you give us a little flavor of what you want to say tomorrow?

BRIAN MULRONEY, FORMER CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm going to try and explain, Wolf, in human terms the reasons why Ronald Reagan became a grand, transformational president of the United States of America.

You know, there are transactional presidents and transformational presidents. And he was the epitome of the transformational agent in American politics.

BLITZER: And in the sense that what?

MULRONEY: In the sense that he transcended the political system and that he made decisions and provided the vision that fundamentally altered the nature of the world in which he lived.

And this is a tremendously major accomplishment. And I'm going to try, in the brief time that we have tomorrow, to underline some of the human qualities that gave rise to this remarkable capacity to do what he did.

BLITZER: Is this the kind of eulogy, speech, if you will, that simply flows out of you, or is it hard writing this?

MULRONEY: It was -- it flowed out in the sense there was so much I wanted to say. And it was hard to compress it into the timeframes required, for obvious reasons, and not lose sight of this remarkable and genuine character, one of the great leaders in the modern history of the United States of America.

BLITZER: You heard former President Bush say he may break down and start crying. Do you think that could happen to you?

MULRONEY: Well, President Bush is such, himself, a genuine, sentimental, human man. And he served with him for eight years as his vice president. He was loyal and devoted. And they formed together a remarkable team.

So I'm sure it's going to be extremely difficult for him. And I suspect it will be for me as well.

BLITZER: You spent some time over at Blair House, the official guest residence across the street from the White House, where Mrs. Reagan is staying. You met with her today. How is she doing?

MULRONEY: Well, you talk about indomitable spirit. She's remarkable. I would have wilted long ago under both the physical demands and the heat and the psychological burden that she's bearing and has borne for over a decade.

She was of course deeply sad, but courageous and thoughtful, very gracious. She's a remarkable woman.

BLITZER: Health-wise, how's she doing?

MULRONEY: I found her better today than the last time that I had been with her in California.

BLITZER: It's almost as if these last 10 years have been, I'm sure, so painful for her to see the deterioration. Did you get a chance to see that deterioration of your old friend as well? MULRONEY: Well, only in -- you know, that was private, as you know. Nancy made certain of that, as she should have.

But, of course, I saw him fairly regularly until he decided to stand down from public appearances. And Nancy, after that, quite properly preferred that those of us who were his friends remember him the way he was, as opposed to witnessing an ongoing deterioration. And so, the last recollection that I have of him was the Ronald Reagan that you and I knew, a little bit obviously starting to feel the effects of this, but still the gracious and thoughtful and generous man that we all knew.

BLITZER: And I'm sure that will all come across in your eulogy tomorrow.

MULRONEY: I hope so. I hope so.

BLITZER: Mr. Prime Minister, it will be a difficult speech for you, a difficult eulogy, but I'm sure you will deliver it with taste, as you always do. Thanks very much.

MULRONEY: Thank you, Wolf, for having me.

BLITZER: Thank you.

Testimony over at the Scott Peterson trial focusing in on Peterson's behavior, some witnesses saying he wasn't acting like you would expect a grief-stricken husband to behave. Coming up, we'll tell you how defense lawyers right now are trying to counter that.

Also, the latest legal move in the Martha Stewart case. Can the domestic diva stay out of prison? New efforts under way to make that happen.

And what was Ronald Reagan really like inside the White House? We'll look at rare photos with one of his closest aides.

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): A top Pakistani army commander narrowly escaped assassination today when gunmen ambushed his convoy on a main road in Karachi. At least nine other people were killed when the attackers sprayed the vehicles with gunfire.

Five people, including two Iraqi police officers, are dead in fresh violence in the troubled city of Najaf. Fighting with Mahdi Army militia fighters flared overnight and continued into today. This is the first serious clash since a deal was struck for Mahdi fighters to withdraw from Najaf and for U.S. forces to limit patrols.

Eleven Chinese workers are dead, victims of an attack at a construction site in northern Afghanistan. An official with the Chinese Embassy in Kabul tells CNN, gunmen stormed the camp of sleeping men at the site early today. It was the deadliest attack on foreign civilians since the fall of the Taliban.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

You're looking at live pictures of the Rotunda, where Ronald Reagan's casket lies in state, thousands, tens of thousands of people simply walking by to pay their respects, people including some very, very famous people. We saw Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader, there just a little while ago. We understand Senator Ted Kennedy is there right now paying his respects as well.

We'll continue our coverage of Ronald Reagan, the life and times.

But let's check some other highlights right now, some other news we're following our "Justice Report."

Testimony now under way once again in the murder trial of Scott Peterson. He's accused of killing his wife and unborn son. Jurors have heard so far from a letter carrier, a neighbor and a police officer. Defense attorneys have been trying to deflect discrepancies in Peterson's behavior as symptoms of his efforts to focus in on finding his wife, Laci.

The jury in the state trial of Terry Nichols still deliberating for a second day as it weighs life in prison or death for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing. The same six-man, six-woman jury last month convicted Nichols on 161 counts of first-degree murder.

Attorneys for Martha Stewart have filed a motion for a new trial. Stewart and her ex-broker are to be sentenced in about a month for lying about an ImClone stock sale in 2001.

CNN Financial News correspondent Allan Chernoff has some details on today's legal developments -- Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Martha Stewart's lawyer are saying she simply did not get a fair trial because one of the government's witnesses actually lied on the stand and unfairly influenced the jury.

The lawyers write, that fatally undermined Martha Stewart's right to a fair trial. About two and a half weeks ago, government prosecutors charged one of their own witnesses, Larry Stewart, an ink expert, not related to Martha, with perjury for having exaggerated his role in analyzing notes written by Martha Stewart's stockbroker.

The government said at the time that should not affect the outcome of the trial. The judge, Miriam Cedarbaum, delayed the sentencing. And now she is going to determine whether or not to grant a new trial or to go ahead -- Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: Allan Chernoff, following the Martha Stewart case -- thanks, Allan, very, very much.

A man who was at Ronald Reagan's side throughout much of his presidency about to share some personal thoughts, as well as some personal photos. Coming up, a rare look at Ronald Reagan when the world wasn't necessarily watching.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Few people had the kind of intimate access to the late President Ronald Reagan's daily life as our next guest. Jim Kuhn served as President Reagan's executive assistant from 1985 to 1989.

Mr. Kuhn joins me now -- joins us now to share some thoughts on Ronald Reagan and some photos that you will remember.

And I want to show our viewers some of these photos. This is one of you and the president. It looks like he's about to do a radio address.

JIM KUHN, FORMER EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT REAGAN: Yes, we were in Bonn, West Germany, then for the economic summit that President Bush is just coming back from, then the G-7.

And that's late in the day in Germany with the time change. And President Reagan almost always insisted on doing the radio addresses live. So we were doing that much later in the day, which was 12:06 back here in the afternoon.

BLITZER: Given his background, doing a live radio address was not necessarily a big deal.

KUHN: Not a big deal, but...

BLITZER: For him.

KUHN: ... important not to have it pretaped, though. He liked to do it live.

BLITZER: Here's another picture that you -- you seem to be having a private moment discussing something with the president in the White House.

KUHN: Yes.

BLITZER: Do you remember what it was?

KUHN: I don't remember it in particular.

But I had his attention. It may look like he's distracted or looking out the window. But he's listening to me. He's thinking about something else. And we just kept rolling on.

BLITZER: In this photo, this next one, he's clearly working on some sort of, I guess, script or article or speech. What's he doing? KUHN: That's a radio address again, but at the ranch out in California. And we're about to go live on the air and he's making some last-minute changes.

BLITZER: As he always did.

KUHN: Yes, in all of his speeches.

BLITZER: As we're speaking, Jim, we're seeing Air Force One bringing President Bush back to Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington from the G-8 Summit down in Georgia.

Let's continue to talk about Air Force One, but this is a different Air Force One. You were aboard Air Force One with President Reagan in this picture.

KUHN: Used to spend many moments up front when we needed to talk. We gave him private time for most of the flight. But when we had to talk, we always had access to the state room to brief him up.

BLITZER: To speak privately with the president.

KUHN: Yes.

BLITZER: One of the jobs that you had was to make sure he was ready almost for any contingency. This next photo shows that you're clearly doing your job as a personal aide to the president.

KUHN: Yes. He's telling me how to protect myself. I always said my job was to protect him. He's telling me how to protect myself in that picture.

BLITZER: And he's giving you a little structure. Look at Air Force One.

You can never see enough of this, can you, Jim, this plane touching down at Andrews Air Force Base, knowing the history, knowing who's on board? This is the president of the United States, this 747 bringing him back. He'll be eulogizing the former President Ronald Reagan.

As you see this, Jim, what goes through your mind?

KUHN: Well, you think about all the times that Ronald Reagan landed out at Andrews Air Force Base and airports around the world. And I also think of President Bush and what he has done and how he has embraced President Reagan since he's been in office. And he's been very, very close to Mrs. Reagan. Throughout his presidency, he's been very good to the Reagans.

BLITZER: You will be there tomorrow over at the National Cathedral.

KUHN: Yes, I will be.

BLITZER: But you also either already have done or are about to do a last job for the president.

KUHN: That was at the Capitol last night.

It was determined that we would have Reagan staff, two Reagan staff, former staff, in the Rotunda at all times. As we were always with him before, we didn't want him to be alone while he was in the Rotunda, so that is staffed around the clock.

BLITZER: So what did you do exactly?

KUHN: Was there just to be there in case there were any contingencies, if there were any questions or any problems or any situations that we could resolve, but, basically, just there to be next to him.

BLITZER: How many hours did you spend in the Rotunda?

KUHN: Was there from about 11:30 to 4:15 this morning.

BLITZER: What an emotional moment that must have been.

KUHN: Very much so.

BLITZER: Jim, let's talk again tomorrow. Thanks very much.

KUHN: Thank you, Wolf. Good to be here.

BLITZER: A master of the blues and much more has died. Coming up, Ray Charles and one of his many hits.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: All right, take a look at this. Here's how your weighing in on our Web question of the day. Take a look at these numbers, remembering it's not a scientific poll.

Our picture of the day, a tribute to Ray Charles. As we mentioned, he died today of acute liver disease at his Beverly Hills home.

We leave you now with his performance for President Reagan and Mrs. Reagan in 1985.

(MUSIC)

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