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CNN Live Sunday

Clinton Releases Memoir; Elephants Play Soccer

Aired June 20, 2004 - 16:00   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: Bill Clinton's back in the news with a thick book about his life, his presidency, his mistakes.
And where are they now? No need to read all about it. Our Bill Schneider catches us up.

Ted Turner makes an amazing men list. Guess who else is on it?

And just when you thought you were safe from silly animal stories, elephants start playing soccer.

Hello, and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All that and more after this check of the headlines.

9/11 Commission Chairman Thomas Kean says if Vice President Dick Cheney has more evidence of ties between Iraq and al Qaeda, the panel would like to see it. Cheney's office said it has received no requests for additional data and has cooperated fully with the commission.

A coalition spokesman says sabotaged Iraqi oil pipelines still are not operating, and there's no word on when they will be. Iraqi insurgent attacks damaged the pipelines Tuesday and Wednesday, cutting off all crude oil exports from Iraq.

Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi is appealing for international help as his beleaguered troops face mounting rebel attacks. Allawi told reporters today Iraq still needs friends from other nations to help train and equip its armed forces until they are fully capable.

Time after time, coalition leaders in Iraq have said they expect militants to intensify their attacks as the sovereignty handover date draws closer. This weekend is offering more evidence their predictions are right on the mark.

An official with the interior ministry says two women and a male guard were injured when a roadside bomb blew up outside the central bank offices in Baghdad. Also, a member of Tikrit city council was assassinated this morning. Iraq's police chief says the country's health minister survived an assassination attempt last night.

Elsewhere, the U.S. military says a Marine was killed west of Baghdad yesterday. They say he was assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Unit, but no other details were announced. Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, the group that kidnapped and killed American engineer Paul Johnson says it had help from sympathetic security forces in Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom's foreign policy adviser says the claim was, quote, "in the realm of fiction."

Saudi forces managed to kill the group's leader and three others after Johnson was beheaded. Today, the group said on its Web site that Saleh al-Oufi has ascended to the cell's top position. He's a former prison guard and is number five on the Kingdom's list of most wanted terrorists.

Last week, we got a preview of what we'll see when the 9/11 commission unveils its final report next month. Well, before preparing the final draft, the panel's chairman says full disclosure would be helpful when it comes to anything the White House might know about possible ties between Iraq and al Qaeda.

CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us with a live report from the White House now -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Fredricka. Well, the White House continues to maintain that there was a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda, and that that position, they say, does not contradict the findings of the September 11th Commission's interim staff report.

Now, last week, that interim report found that there was no credible evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime was involved in the September 11th attacks. For its part, the White House continues to insist that it never stated that Iraq cooperated with al Qaeda to carry out the attack. Instead, the administration has emphasized there were numerous contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda.

Now, the commission, which has yet to come out with its final report, found that there was no collaborative relationship between Iraq and Osama bin Laden's network.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD BEN-VENISTE, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: Take it to the bank: there was no Iraqi involvement in 9/11. Let's put that to bed. That's what our commission found. That's what our staff, which included former high-ranking CIA officials, who know what to look for, who to question, where to look, we looked at everything available. No connection between Iraq and the 9/11 catastrophe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, it was in a television interview on Thursday Vice President Dick Cheney was asked if there were things that he knew that the commission, the September 11th Commission, did not. The Vice President answered, "Probably." Now, that, of course, raised questions.

And today, in response to some of those questions, the vice president's spokesman, Kevin Kellems, said this, quote, "The administration has cooperated fully with the commission and given them unprecedented access to highly classified information. To my knowledge, we have not received a request for additional information of any kind."

Now, commission chairman Tom Kean today said that he did not know whether or not the commission would need to interview the vice president, but he said that if there was information that Mr. Cheney had that had to do with this report, he said that they would need to get it pretty fast -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Elaine, it sounds like each side is waiting for the other to volunteer, but did any members of the commission reveal in any way that they just might press on this formal invitation to get Cheney to reveal any more information if he does know it?

QUIJANO: Well, at this point, difficult to say. I can tell you that I spoke to a spokesperson for the 9/11 commission who would only say that there have been requests that have been made -- follow-up questions, if you will -- that need to be answered. As he said, it was not unusual for those follow-up questions to be asked.

Now, the important thing to remember, he says, is that they simply want to get the information, whether that happens in a sit- down, face-to-face, person-to-person meeting is not necessarily so important. What he said they're focused on is getting their hands on that information, as the spokesperson put it, the drawbridge is not up yet. They are still working on that final report -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Elaine Quijano in Washington. Thanks very much.

Well, former President Bill Clinton says he believes President Bush's decision to go war in Iraq came out of serious concern over terrorism.

In an interview for "Time" magazine, Clinton says he has repeatedly defended President Bush on Iraq, but Clinton says he thinks the decision to go to war should have been on hold until the United Nations finished looking for weapons of mass destruction.

Clinton gave the interview in advance of Tuesday's release of his new memoir, entitled "My Life." The 957-page autobiography is a much anticipated look at his improbable life story. It chronicles his precocious achievements from Arkansas to the White House, his self- inflicted slip-ups and comebacks. Clinton goes into detail about what he calls his two biggest battles: the public one with the Republican Congress, and the private one, which led to his relations with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

In his book, Clinton calls the affair the darkest part of his inner life and says it led to his two month banishment from the White House bedroom to a couch. Dan Rather interviewed Clinton about his new book and talked with our Howard Kurtz about the former president's legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAN RATHER, CBS NEWS: My guess is that he said to himself, people are going to talk about my legacy. I'm interested in my legacy. Every president -- former president is very interested in their legacy, and Bill Clinton is.

He said," You know, I need to get down on paper what I did, plus and minus, why I did it. I want people to have the whole story. That will give me, Bill Clinton -- if nothing else, will give me the best chance to speak for myself in the years ahead."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Clinton is making the talk show rounds publicizing his new book. He sits down with our own Larry King Thursday for his first live prime-time interview, and he'll be answering your questions, as well, when you call in. That special edition of "LARRY KING LIVE" begins at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on Thursday.

The headlines and scandals that haunted Clinton's political career made minor celebrities out of a number of people; Ken Starr, Linda Tripp, and Paula Jones all found themselves under media scrutiny. Well, where are they now? Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider does a little digging.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): As Bill Clinton steps back into the spotlight, we couldn't help wondering, what happened to all those people who got tangled up in the Clinton scandals? We know where Clinton is, but where are they now?

David Brock, the reporter who first wrote about then-Governor Bill Clinton's encounter with Paula Jones in a Little Rock hotel room and sparked the whole Monica Lewinsky scandal -- where is Brock now?

He's publicly apologized to Bill Clinton and has a new book, "The Republican Noise Machine: Right-wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy."

And Paula Jones?

PAULA JONES: I believe that what Mr. Clinton did to me was wrong and that the law protects women who are subjected to that kind of abuse of power.

SCHNEIDER: Mr. Clinton agreed to an $850,000 settlement with Jones that included no apology or admission of guilt. She has posed for "Playboy" and "Penthouse" and appeared on FOX TV's "Celebrity Boxing" with Tonya Harding. Ms. Harding won the match.

What about Monica Lewinsky? Still designing handbags, hosted a FOX reality show, "Mr. Personality," and an HBO cable special, "Monica in Black and White."

And her one-time friend and confidante, Linda Tripp?

LINDA TRIPP: I'm you. I'm just like you.

SCHNEIDER: Ms. Tripp was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer. She and her German born fiance opened a Christmas shop in Virginia. They're also leading tours of Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic.

What about Clinton's biggest nemesis? Independent counsel Kenneth Starr spent five years and $52 million investigating President Clinton. Still a high-powered attorney. In fact, Starr represented the mother of the young girl whose father brought case objecting to the phrase "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.

This summer, Starr becomes the dean of Pepperdine Law School in Malibu, California. And finally, Bill Clinton --

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.

It depends upon what the meaning of the word "is", is.

I misled people, including even my wife.

SCHNEIDER (on camera): For former President Clinton, the wages of sin are a book deal worth over $10 million. And the knowledge that every future schoolchild in America will come to know him as one of two American presidents who got impeached.

Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: You dads out there, you think have you have it tough being a father? Bruce Morton looks at job of being a president and father.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Theodore Roosevelt who had six kids under 17 when he took office, said he could either be president or handle the kids, but couldn't do both.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: First fathers and their kids later on in the show. And what did your mother tell but white bread? Was she right?

And this strange looking plane right there is headed into space. And there's not a single astronaut on it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Will Bill Clinton's new memoir be a distraction from the upcoming presidential election, and how will it impact the campaigns of John Kerry and President Bush. Perry Bacon covers the Washington political scene for "Time" magazine and he joins us now.

Good to see you, Perry.

PERRY BACON, POLITICAL REPORTER, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good to be here, thank you.

WHITFIELD: How impactful of a distraction do you see Clinton this week or the next couple of weeks being for Ralph Nader, President Bush, as well as John Kerry?

BACON: I think Clinton becomes the big news for this week, he's on television, he sucks the oxygen out of everything else involved. I think Clinton plays a big role becomes the story this week. That's bad for Kerry in one way, because right now there's a lot of Iraq news. And a lot of it is not positive for the president.

And any time there's a week where like the Reagan death or a few weeks ago, and Clinton this week, anything that takes away from the news being played in Iraq reminds people of the struggles there, it helps President Bush and hurts Kerry in some ways.

WHITFIELD: There are analysts who see Kerry might be able to use the charisma of Bill Clinton to his advantage, something Al Gore did not do in 2000, and many analysts look back and say maybe he should have?

BACON: I think you're right that it reminds Democrats of the fact that Clinton was a president they liked and reinforces the good economic years people felt they had under Clinton. The problem is the book is so sharp in attacking Ken Starr, that Clinton also fires up the partisans of the Republican side who were also angry during his administration.

And he has the effect to reengaging the polarized divides that happened when he was president. It has a strong effect for the Democrats and a positive way and a negative effect with Republicans and independents concerned about the Lewinsky scandal, and reminds them of that again.

WHITFIELD: John Kerry, leading up to the Democratic convention in Boston, no clear cut vice presidential or no running mate. Are you seeing that it's going to be like a John Edwards or maybe a Dick Gephardt since those are the names tossed around in the last week?

BACON: Those are the two that everyone is hearing about. Edwards has the advantage of being charismatic and a lot of the Democrats in the party like him. The word we hear is Gephardt is the person Kerry personally likes better. Those are the two people who are the top names, but every year it's a surprise, Joe Lieberman and Dick Cheney were picked last time, and I don't think anyone thought of those two names. It could be a surprise again. Edwards and Gephardt are favorites but we never know until they pick them to some extend.

WHITFIELD: There's been expressed, I guess, thoughts about whether John Kerry should worry about being overshadowed by his potential running mate. That could really happen? And if so, how damaging that could potentially be? BACON: I don't think that the candidate is ever going to be overshadowed by the vice presidential selection. I think it would, you pick Edwards you have the advantage of him being charismatic and voters like that. You would have stories in the paper comparing Edwards and Kerry's charisma and suggesting Kerry was lacking in the area. If the Kerry folks think Edwards will deliver votes for them and help the win, they'll pick, it it's a question of whether to have someone from the South or the Midwest like Gephardt or the Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack who is another person on the list.

WHITFIELD: How do you see Bill Clinton playing a role in the Democratic convention?

BACON: He'll speak and he'll be out there. He has to get out of the way. He'll speak early that week, after that he'll get out of way, because any time he is around he takes attention from Kerry, and the Democratic convention is big time where Kerry needs the attention. Clinton will try to play his role down as much as possible. And that is something Kerry would like to see, I think.

WHITFIELD: Michael Moore's movie, "Fahrenheit 9/11" coming out next week. The handover in Iraq also in 10 days, it appears the attention will be focused on President Bush than after President Clinton and his memoir gets out of the way. Might this be to the advantage of John Kerry, ultimately, since these are not very complimentary type of attention getting events that are taking place anyway for a book?

BACON: That's true. Once the Clinton news is sort of people have heard enough from Clinton, the news to the June 30 deadline, and Michael Moore book, both things, which are not going to reflect well on President Bush. At the same time, I think Kerry is in a holding pattern. He had a lot of events in the last couple of weeks and not getting a lot of attention for those. Because people are breathless waiting for the vice presidential pick. That's the big thing going forward for Kerry who he picks and towards the convention, I think that's going to be a huge factor how the next two weeks play out for him.

WHITFIELD: Perry Bacon, thank you very much from "TIME" magazine.

BACON: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: Rescuers at Mt. Ranier in Washington are looking for missing climber. They believe he died in the avalanche that killed his partner. Yesterday a helicopter crew rescued two other stranded climbers unhurt.

In New York, the Olympic flame has burned in the U.S. for the last time this year, on its way to Athens, Greece for the Summer Games. Crowds cheer torchbearers, including rapper P. Diddy, along a 34 mile journey through the city's five boroughs yesterday.

And researchers warn that white bread may be especially fattening for the waistline. A new study shows calories from white bread and other refined grains seem to settle in the abdomen more than whole grains do.

And tomorrow morning, a rocket plane will take off from the Mojave Desert on the mission to be the first privately funded manned spacecraft. CNN Space Correspondent Miles O'Brien reports on a team of entrepreneurs with eyes on a $10 million prize.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Aviation legend Burt Rutan has always aimed high and most often reached his lofty goals.

BURT RUTAN, AVIATION LEGEND: Our goal is to show that you can develop a robust, safe, manned space program, and to do it at extremely low costs.

O'BRIEN: So far, Rutan's team has given no reason to doubt they can pull it off.

RUTAN: I think it is time that the commercial guys get aggressive on manned space flight, rather than waiting for NASA.

O'BRIEN: So for the past three years, he has been designing, building, test flying and tweaking a spacecraft he calls Spaceship One. Carried off the ground by an odd, seagull like jet called White Knight, Spaceship One is released 11 miles up and four miles higher than an airline's highest altitudes.

MIKE MELVILL, TEST PILOT: Quicker than most fighters and nervous little airplane. .

O'BRIEN: Pilot Mike Melvill has now logged eight Spaceship One flights. Straight up for a wild blistering fast ride, getting closer and closer to the official gateway of space, 100 kilometers or 62 1/2 miles.

MELVILL: Two and one half times the speed of sound; mach 2.5 and then it comes to a stop up there, and you're weightless.

O'BRIEN: After three minutes or so in weightlessness, what goes up will succumb to the grip of gravity. Plummeting to earth almost as fast and entering the atmosphere at twice the speed of sound.

Spaceship One is designed to drop like a shuttlecock and when speed permits, transform into a glider for a 100-mile an hour touchdown on the Mojave runway. Rutan's group is the clear leader in the quest for the X-prize, a $10 million dollar privately funded purse that will go to the first civilian team to fly to space in the vehicle capable of carrying three people, then repeat the feat within two weeks.

RUTAN: We are interested in winning that -- it's money, we want to win it.

O'BRIEN: Burt says high time entrepreneurs like him made it to space, he means it. He's already grabbed the first passenger seat, on Spaceship One, for himself. Miles O'Brien, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A winner at the U.S. Open is a few hours away. Who's doing what right now? Josie Burke joins us with a live report when we come back.

And what is this? You never heard of elephant soccer, have you? We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Right now, birdies are hard to come by, double bogeys are everywhere, and par is considered a great score at Shinnecock Hills. Gusty winds are teaming up with treacherous greens to make things miserable for golfers competing in today's final round of the U.S. Open.

CNN Sports Reporter Josie Burke joins us from South Hampton, New York, where fan favorite Phil Mickelson is still in the hunt, not in the lead, but in the hunt.

Right, Josie?

JOSIE BURKE, CNN SPORTS REPORTER: He's pretty much the only one still in the hunt. You gave such a great description what this course has been like today. Retief Goosen still has the two shot lead over Phil Mickelson. But pretty much everyone else with a chance has fallen back so it looks like it is going to come down to those two.

Just to give you an idea about how tough things have been out here for all the golfers today. At this point in time, the scoring averages are around 80, and that's 10 shots over par.

WHITFIELD: You can tell me a little more about the 35-year-old Retief Goosen, we've seen and heard of him before, why is he just surprised by leading this U.S. Open this go-around?

BURKE: It's interesting, because he is one of the top players in the world, he's ranked number nine in the world right now. Because he doesn't play full time on the PGA tour, not everybody knows everything about him.

He broke through in 2001, got his first PGA tour win, and it was the U.S. Open. And a lot of people felt like he had a great shot today. He came in as the leader because he's got a great temperament. He's known as being very steady, very even tempered and nobody thought he'd be rattled by the pressure situation.

WHITFIELD: With one U.S. Open win under his belt in 2001, I imagine the fans really are rooting for Phil Mickelson?

BURKE: They are, everywhere Phil Mickelson has gone on the golf course this week, it seems like every single person has had something to say to him. You don't hear chants on golf courses like you do at a baseball stadium or hockey arena, you hear let's go Phil. All these people trying to offer encouragement to Phil Mickelson, it's been a very, very interesting scene out here.

WHITFIELD: I understand the seventh hole is a little controversial, why?

BURKE: Yes, it has been very controversial. All the golfers practically coming off the course saying it was almost like miniature golf out there. It was so difficult. After the round yesterday, the USGA admitted that they had done something to firm up the green, before the round that they weren't supposed to.

So, today they actually took a very unusual step and they have been watering that green. Syringing, they call it on the golf course, trying to get it to play a little softer, and make it a little more fair.

Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right, Josie Burke with the update from the U.S. Open. Just a few hours away, maybe a few strokes away finding out who the winner will be.

Engineer students from Clinton University are this year's winners of the coveted "Concrete Canoe competition". Hundreds of college students raced along Lake Fairfax in Reston, Virginia today. In canoes they had built entirely out of, guess what? Concrete.

The American Society of Civil Engineers sponsored the 17th annual event. Kids don't try this at home. Pretty amazing that it floats.

Well imagine playing soccer against four-legged opponents that each weigh a ton. It sounds scary, but it was a reward for prison inmates in Thailand today. The government organize the event to make the point that that soccer is for fun not gambling. The tied up game, at five each, was one to remember for the inmates and one, of course, the elephants will never forget.

Security in Iraq is obviously a major issue, and not just in the cities. This is just one piece of an oil field in Iraq where, there are rivers and lakes, not of water, but of oil. Brent Sadler reports on the hemorrhage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Here's a look at the top stories at this hour. In Tikrit, Iraq, a leading city council member was assassinated today in an ambush by insurgents. His driver and bodyguard suffered wounds in the attack.

And west of Baghdad in the Al Anbar Province, a Marine assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Unit was killed in action today. The details of his death are not known.

Violence also struck in the Iraqi capital today. A massive roadside bomb exploded outside the offices of the central bank in Baghdad, wounding three Iraqis.

Obviously, a huge key to Iraq's economic recovery is its ability to export oil. But insurgents continue their attacks on vulnerable pipelines, turning the flow of black gold into an environmental headache. CNN senior international correspondent Brent Sadler has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, CNN SNR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iraq's Basra oil terminal at the northern end of the Persian Gulf. It's been a gigantic filling station for international tankers, topping out with crude oil. But now, this precious flow has ground to a halt. Tankers stranded. Shipments delayed. And this is why. A river of Iraqi crude oil drains into the desert sand near Basra in southern Iraq, escaping from a ruptured pipeline, targeted by saboteurs in a wave of attacks against Iraq's precious oil industry. Exports have completely ground to a halt in the south, crippling this vital distribution network.

KEVIN THOMAS, COALITION AUTHORITY: We're absolutely destroying it, to be honest. If we don't grip this and make sure the export of crude continues, there's no way that Iraq can stay back on its feet.

SADLER: These surface ripples from an underground hemorrhage mean Iraq is bleeding money. Hundreds of millions of dollars in wasted revenue. With similar attacks in the north of the country, Iraq is now struggling to export any oil at all. Repair teams are working as fast as they can, but with a shortage of pumps, run down equipment, and security fears, it's a struggle.

(On camera): This is the front line of Iraq's war on oil. The stench of crude so strong here that it stings my eyes and my nose, creating an unstable cocktail of vapors that could explode at any time.

(voice-over): Ignited by just one spark.

RABAH ABBAS, PRODUCTION MANAGER, SOUTH OIL CO: All this area is polluted by natural gas. So the work here is very dangerous.

SADLER: The ripple effects are hitting oil supplies worldwide, and production is dropping to zero in the vast southern oil fields with nowhere for the product to go. An offshore threat to the oil terminals led to a radical shake-up in naval protection following attempted suicide attacks that came close to succeeding just two months ago. Now, a small armada of warships led by the United States imposes shoot to kill exclusion zones amid a web of layered defense. U.S. forces guard the terminals with weapons locked and loaded.

CAPT. KURT TIDD, US NAVY: We are prepared to use deadly force, destructive fire on vessels that are not authorized to be in here that do not respond to warnings to move away.

SADLER: On land, though, a 15,000-strong oil protection force of Iraqis guards this vulnerable business with limited resources. JABBAR AL-LEABY, DIRECTOR GENERATION, SOUTH OIL CO.: I stress that there should be more resources allocated for this particular point that is the security of oil installations.

SADLER: At least half a billion dollars could be lost in the time it may take to restore the flow of oil to these waiting tankers. Money Iraq can ill-afford. Brent Sadler, CNN, Basra.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, now from the flow of oil to the flow of funds used to finance terror. Part of the Patriot Act involves intense scrutiny of money sent to various charities overseas. But an organization that helps children in Cambodia may be proof that the crackdown is simply too broad. CNN's Mike Chinoy has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's five dollars.

MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For more than a decade, American Philanthropist Bernard Krisher has been doing good deeds in Cambodia. Funded largely by private donations, his charity, American Assistance for Cambodia, has built over 200 schools, equipped remote villages with computers and the Internet and helped young girls stay out of the sex trade. Krisher has been assisted by Global Giving, a Washington-based information clearing house that puts would- be donors in touch with deserving charities. But now, Global Giving has told Krisher they can't list his project on their Web site anymore.

"In the aftermath of 9/11," Global Giving told Krisher in an e- mail, "U.S. Treasury guidelines and the Patriot Act have made it very difficult to give money overseas." The U.S. rule designed to keep U.S. money out of the hands of terrorists have made life difficult for charities with international connections.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Patriot Act and associated regulations do pose challenges for donors, and it has raised concerns in many quarters.

CHINOY: In the case of Krisher, whose charity is small and based in Tokyo, although all its projects are in Cambodia, Global Giving says it simply lacks the resources to do the extensive background checks the post 9/11 regulations require.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cost of complying with the guidelines for individual donors is extremely high.

CHINOY: But Krisher contends Global Giving has bowed to a climate of fear.

BERNARD KRISHER, AMERICAN ASSISTANCE FOR CAMBODIA: I blame Global Giving for giving in to the pressure, but they want to play it safe. CHINOY: Playing it safe or just complying with the regulations, Krisher says either way it could likely mean the end of crucial financial support for charities like his.

KRISHER: If the government is afraid this money may be going to terrorism, just the opposite, it's going to anti-terrorism. We're creating situations which will prevent people from becoming terrorists.

CHINOY: For now, though, Krisher's project is in danger of becoming collateral damage for the U.S. war on terror. Mike Chinoy, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Fathers and sons, fathers and daughters. No, it's not a D.H. Lawrence book, it's a Bruce Morton report on American presidents and their children on this father's day.

And we've always thought Ted Turner was an amazing man, but now, so does New York photographer Joyce Tenneson. Her collection of amazing men over 60 when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Father's Day is a way to thanks to dad for his love and support. After all, being a parent is not easy, especially when you are the president of the United States. CNN national correspondent Bruce Morton takes a look at first fathers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Presidents as fathers? Well, you have to love Harry Truman. His daughter Margaret sang professionally. The Washington Post's music critic panned her: "a voice of little size and fair quality," and Truman wrote threatening to punch him out.

The president with the most politically influential kids? That would be George Herbert Walker Bush, who just turned 80. One son president, another governor of Florida.

G.W. BUSH: We are awed by his energy, his zest for life. If ever there was a guy who could say his dance card was completely full, it is our dad.

MORTON: This president's two daughters graduated from college this spring and will work in his re-election campaign. They made a little news as underage beer drinkers, but that's nothing.

George Washington's step-grandson, Little Wash, was expelled from Princeton for meanness and irregularity.

Chester Alan Arthur's son got caught skinny-dipping in a White House fountain, but the police let him off when they learned who he was. Theodore Roosevelt, who had six kids under 17 when he took office, says you could either be president or handle the kids, but couldn't do both.

Maybe it's easier nowadays. Chelsea Clinton survived eight years in the White House, as President Bush noted when her parents' portraits were unveiled there the other day.

G. W. BUSH: It's great to see Chelsea. The fact that you survived your teenage years in the White House speaks to the fact had you a great mom and dad.

MORTON: Ronald and Nancy Reagan's children felt estranged, but those wounds seemed to be healed as they comforted their mother after their father's death.

John and Jacqueline Kennedy may have had the cutest kids and certainly had the best home movies. Just look.

And despite the tragedy which interrupted her childhood, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg has had a successful grown-up life.

Presidents as fathers? Like the rest of us, they probably do the best they can.

Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, Dads famous and not so famous are all amazing. Men aged 60 and over are the subject of a new picture book called "Amazing Men: Courage, Insight Endurance." Joyce Tenneson is the photographer behind the book and she joins us from Bangor, Maine. Good to see you.

JOYCE TENNESON, PHOTOGRAPHER: Nice to see you.

WHITFIELD: Well, this if familiar territory for you. You have already sought out amazing women and you profiled them in wise women, your book that did so well, profiling women 65 and older. What inspired you to look for amazing men and profile them?

TENNESON: Women have e-mailed me from all over the world thanking me for doing wise women and saying it had changed their lives, and asked me when I was going to photograph and interview men over 60. They wanted to know more about that subject, too.

WHITFIELD: And so you really traveled across the country from Maine to Montana in search of the famous and the not so famous. Did you find that perhaps portraying the not so famous may have been equally or maybe even more so intriguing than the famous faces?

TENNESON: Yes, I felt that the diversity of men I found around the country was really stunning, and that the -- often the men who were not so famous had perhaps even grown more because they weren't so protected by being a celebrity. WHITFIELD: And let's look at some of them, this being a not very familiar face that we're looking at right now, this gentleman. And then we saw earlier, Ted Turner is a famous face that you profiled on the cover of your book. Ben Kingsley. You can pick it up from there?

TENNESON: These are the silver fox dancers from Maine. They enjoy dancing and performing at fairs, and they're just great. The picture before was Doc from Las Vegas, and he is amazing in many ways.

WHITFIELD: So how did you find them?

TENNESON: I traveled around the country. I sent out press releases. And it was a lot of word of mouth, and I went to Miami to do the Cuban and Haitian community. I wanted a lot of diversity, not just in terms of locale, but in terms of ethnicity and lifestyle, and it was just - it was a lot of fun doing this book. And people have told me, especially with father's day, that they've gotten great response giving it as a gift. There's BB King, and I went to his club on 42nd Street, New York, and got him at the end of his performance at 11:00. And he's just so dynamic, and gracious, he was just great to photograph.

WHITFIELD: And Willie Nelson there. Did you find that any of these famous faces were reluctant, given that they sometimes are so protective of their image, was it difficult trying to talk them into doing this?

TENNESON: Well, look at Vernon Jordan. A lot of men loved being a part of this project, which was "Amazing Men," and I really didn't encounter anything but really kind of a positive attitude from all these guys. And a lot of them told me their life stories, and how they had, you know, come to be who they were. And here's Al Hirschfeld who passed away a month after I took this photograph. He was 99. And an amazing man. There's Patrick Stewart and David Jones, who have been friends for over 30 years, and have worked together as actor and director. I love this family portrait. This is your traditional family from Florida -- Gene Arrant (ph) and his three grandchildren.

But men are very different now in their fathering. A lot of men are enjoying the nurturing role that their fathers never had a chance to enjoy. This is Robert Indiana, David Lieman (ph) and his son. David Lieman was a first time dad after he reached 60. And, of course, the famous artist, Andrew Wyeth here. I photographed him getting off of his boat. Just beautiful. Here's Ken Carlson, who is a wonderful mentor to younger men, and does a lot of service to the community. I love, this is Billy -- the poet laureate, Billy Collins and two young poets surrounding him.

WHITFIELD: And perhaps equally poignant was that you were actually able to grab hold of a couple of quotes from some of those that you have photographed to accompany the photos. And Ted Turner has a very funny little quote saying, "If only I were humble, I'd be perfect."

TENNESON: I'd be perfect. He's a great guy and so much fun to be with. Yes.

WHITFIELD: And your next project, I understand you're still not done?

TENNESON: No, no, no. Well, the "Wise Women" book was a best- seller, and this will be a traveling show now, starting in the Naples Museum of Art, opening there this November, and traveling around the country. So we'll be seeing more of the women from "Wise Women," and from this new book too, celebrating men over 60.

WHITFIELD: Beautiful. Beautiful images, and so inspiring on so many levels. And, of course, for folks who haven't gotten their father's day gifts as of yet. Got a few more hours before it's all over. This would be a great one, "Amazing Men.'

TENNESON: And there is Ben Kingsley on the front cover. He is divine looking.

WHITFIELD: Yes, he is divine. Well, thanks so much, Joyce Tenneson for joining us. I appreciate it, from Bangor, Maine, and continued success on your endeavors. Seven books and counting.

TENNESON: Thank you for having me, Fredricka, I loved it, thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks very much.

Well, the week would not be complete without late night laughs. We'll be right back with those.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The late night comedians have been at it again, adding a bit of comic relief to the world of politics. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAY LENO: The 9/11 Commission said today they have found no ties between al Qaeda and Iraq. There are no ties between al Qaeda and Iraq, to which President Bush said, yes, what about the fact they're both in the Middle East?

JON STEWART, THE DAILY SHOW: Well, I think we all know the real reason why Saddam and al Qaeda's collaboration failed.

LENO: Rumors have restarted the Republican ticket might not be Bush and Cheney, did you hear that? Today those rumors were put to rest when Dick Cheney said no, I'm keeping him on the ticket.

DAVID LETTERMAN: The State Department releases a memo saying that terrorism has gone down. The memo was released because of a mathematical error. Well, I thought, my God, mathematical error, isn't that how Bush became president?

LENO: Bill Clinton said he had the affair with Monica Lewinsky because he could. Ironically, that is the same reason Bush gave for invading Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And that's our latest. "NEXT@CNN" is coming up, followed by "CNN LIVE SUNDAY" at 6:00 Eastern, and at 7:00 Eastern "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS." Thank you for joining us for this hour. I'll be back with the headlines after this break.

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 June 20, 2004 - 16:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Bill Clinton's back in the news with a thick book about his life, his presidency, his mistakes.
And where are they now? No need to read all about it. Our Bill Schneider catches us up.

Ted Turner makes an amazing men list. Guess who else is on it?

And just when you thought you were safe from silly animal stories, elephants start playing soccer.

Hello, and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All that and more after this check of the headlines.

9/11 Commission Chairman Thomas Kean says if Vice President Dick Cheney has more evidence of ties between Iraq and al Qaeda, the panel would like to see it. Cheney's office said it has received no requests for additional data and has cooperated fully with the commission.

A coalition spokesman says sabotaged Iraqi oil pipelines still are not operating, and there's no word on when they will be. Iraqi insurgent attacks damaged the pipelines Tuesday and Wednesday, cutting off all crude oil exports from Iraq.

Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi is appealing for international help as his beleaguered troops face mounting rebel attacks. Allawi told reporters today Iraq still needs friends from other nations to help train and equip its armed forces until they are fully capable.

Time after time, coalition leaders in Iraq have said they expect militants to intensify their attacks as the sovereignty handover date draws closer. This weekend is offering more evidence their predictions are right on the mark.

An official with the interior ministry says two women and a male guard were injured when a roadside bomb blew up outside the central bank offices in Baghdad. Also, a member of Tikrit city council was assassinated this morning. Iraq's police chief says the country's health minister survived an assassination attempt last night.

Elsewhere, the U.S. military says a Marine was killed west of Baghdad yesterday. They say he was assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Unit, but no other details were announced. Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, the group that kidnapped and killed American engineer Paul Johnson says it had help from sympathetic security forces in Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom's foreign policy adviser says the claim was, quote, "in the realm of fiction."

Saudi forces managed to kill the group's leader and three others after Johnson was beheaded. Today, the group said on its Web site that Saleh al-Oufi has ascended to the cell's top position. He's a former prison guard and is number five on the Kingdom's list of most wanted terrorists.

Last week, we got a preview of what we'll see when the 9/11 commission unveils its final report next month. Well, before preparing the final draft, the panel's chairman says full disclosure would be helpful when it comes to anything the White House might know about possible ties between Iraq and al Qaeda.

CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us with a live report from the White House now -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Fredricka. Well, the White House continues to maintain that there was a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda, and that that position, they say, does not contradict the findings of the September 11th Commission's interim staff report.

Now, last week, that interim report found that there was no credible evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime was involved in the September 11th attacks. For its part, the White House continues to insist that it never stated that Iraq cooperated with al Qaeda to carry out the attack. Instead, the administration has emphasized there were numerous contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda.

Now, the commission, which has yet to come out with its final report, found that there was no collaborative relationship between Iraq and Osama bin Laden's network.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD BEN-VENISTE, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: Take it to the bank: there was no Iraqi involvement in 9/11. Let's put that to bed. That's what our commission found. That's what our staff, which included former high-ranking CIA officials, who know what to look for, who to question, where to look, we looked at everything available. No connection between Iraq and the 9/11 catastrophe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, it was in a television interview on Thursday Vice President Dick Cheney was asked if there were things that he knew that the commission, the September 11th Commission, did not. The Vice President answered, "Probably." Now, that, of course, raised questions.

And today, in response to some of those questions, the vice president's spokesman, Kevin Kellems, said this, quote, "The administration has cooperated fully with the commission and given them unprecedented access to highly classified information. To my knowledge, we have not received a request for additional information of any kind."

Now, commission chairman Tom Kean today said that he did not know whether or not the commission would need to interview the vice president, but he said that if there was information that Mr. Cheney had that had to do with this report, he said that they would need to get it pretty fast -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Elaine, it sounds like each side is waiting for the other to volunteer, but did any members of the commission reveal in any way that they just might press on this formal invitation to get Cheney to reveal any more information if he does know it?

QUIJANO: Well, at this point, difficult to say. I can tell you that I spoke to a spokesperson for the 9/11 commission who would only say that there have been requests that have been made -- follow-up questions, if you will -- that need to be answered. As he said, it was not unusual for those follow-up questions to be asked.

Now, the important thing to remember, he says, is that they simply want to get the information, whether that happens in a sit- down, face-to-face, person-to-person meeting is not necessarily so important. What he said they're focused on is getting their hands on that information, as the spokesperson put it, the drawbridge is not up yet. They are still working on that final report -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Elaine Quijano in Washington. Thanks very much.

Well, former President Bill Clinton says he believes President Bush's decision to go war in Iraq came out of serious concern over terrorism.

In an interview for "Time" magazine, Clinton says he has repeatedly defended President Bush on Iraq, but Clinton says he thinks the decision to go to war should have been on hold until the United Nations finished looking for weapons of mass destruction.

Clinton gave the interview in advance of Tuesday's release of his new memoir, entitled "My Life." The 957-page autobiography is a much anticipated look at his improbable life story. It chronicles his precocious achievements from Arkansas to the White House, his self- inflicted slip-ups and comebacks. Clinton goes into detail about what he calls his two biggest battles: the public one with the Republican Congress, and the private one, which led to his relations with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

In his book, Clinton calls the affair the darkest part of his inner life and says it led to his two month banishment from the White House bedroom to a couch. Dan Rather interviewed Clinton about his new book and talked with our Howard Kurtz about the former president's legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAN RATHER, CBS NEWS: My guess is that he said to himself, people are going to talk about my legacy. I'm interested in my legacy. Every president -- former president is very interested in their legacy, and Bill Clinton is.

He said," You know, I need to get down on paper what I did, plus and minus, why I did it. I want people to have the whole story. That will give me, Bill Clinton -- if nothing else, will give me the best chance to speak for myself in the years ahead."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Clinton is making the talk show rounds publicizing his new book. He sits down with our own Larry King Thursday for his first live prime-time interview, and he'll be answering your questions, as well, when you call in. That special edition of "LARRY KING LIVE" begins at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on Thursday.

The headlines and scandals that haunted Clinton's political career made minor celebrities out of a number of people; Ken Starr, Linda Tripp, and Paula Jones all found themselves under media scrutiny. Well, where are they now? Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider does a little digging.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): As Bill Clinton steps back into the spotlight, we couldn't help wondering, what happened to all those people who got tangled up in the Clinton scandals? We know where Clinton is, but where are they now?

David Brock, the reporter who first wrote about then-Governor Bill Clinton's encounter with Paula Jones in a Little Rock hotel room and sparked the whole Monica Lewinsky scandal -- where is Brock now?

He's publicly apologized to Bill Clinton and has a new book, "The Republican Noise Machine: Right-wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy."

And Paula Jones?

PAULA JONES: I believe that what Mr. Clinton did to me was wrong and that the law protects women who are subjected to that kind of abuse of power.

SCHNEIDER: Mr. Clinton agreed to an $850,000 settlement with Jones that included no apology or admission of guilt. She has posed for "Playboy" and "Penthouse" and appeared on FOX TV's "Celebrity Boxing" with Tonya Harding. Ms. Harding won the match.

What about Monica Lewinsky? Still designing handbags, hosted a FOX reality show, "Mr. Personality," and an HBO cable special, "Monica in Black and White."

And her one-time friend and confidante, Linda Tripp?

LINDA TRIPP: I'm you. I'm just like you.

SCHNEIDER: Ms. Tripp was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer. She and her German born fiance opened a Christmas shop in Virginia. They're also leading tours of Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic.

What about Clinton's biggest nemesis? Independent counsel Kenneth Starr spent five years and $52 million investigating President Clinton. Still a high-powered attorney. In fact, Starr represented the mother of the young girl whose father brought case objecting to the phrase "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.

This summer, Starr becomes the dean of Pepperdine Law School in Malibu, California. And finally, Bill Clinton --

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.

It depends upon what the meaning of the word "is", is.

I misled people, including even my wife.

SCHNEIDER (on camera): For former President Clinton, the wages of sin are a book deal worth over $10 million. And the knowledge that every future schoolchild in America will come to know him as one of two American presidents who got impeached.

Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: You dads out there, you think have you have it tough being a father? Bruce Morton looks at job of being a president and father.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Theodore Roosevelt who had six kids under 17 when he took office, said he could either be president or handle the kids, but couldn't do both.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: First fathers and their kids later on in the show. And what did your mother tell but white bread? Was she right?

And this strange looking plane right there is headed into space. And there's not a single astronaut on it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Will Bill Clinton's new memoir be a distraction from the upcoming presidential election, and how will it impact the campaigns of John Kerry and President Bush. Perry Bacon covers the Washington political scene for "Time" magazine and he joins us now.

Good to see you, Perry.

PERRY BACON, POLITICAL REPORTER, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good to be here, thank you.

WHITFIELD: How impactful of a distraction do you see Clinton this week or the next couple of weeks being for Ralph Nader, President Bush, as well as John Kerry?

BACON: I think Clinton becomes the big news for this week, he's on television, he sucks the oxygen out of everything else involved. I think Clinton plays a big role becomes the story this week. That's bad for Kerry in one way, because right now there's a lot of Iraq news. And a lot of it is not positive for the president.

And any time there's a week where like the Reagan death or a few weeks ago, and Clinton this week, anything that takes away from the news being played in Iraq reminds people of the struggles there, it helps President Bush and hurts Kerry in some ways.

WHITFIELD: There are analysts who see Kerry might be able to use the charisma of Bill Clinton to his advantage, something Al Gore did not do in 2000, and many analysts look back and say maybe he should have?

BACON: I think you're right that it reminds Democrats of the fact that Clinton was a president they liked and reinforces the good economic years people felt they had under Clinton. The problem is the book is so sharp in attacking Ken Starr, that Clinton also fires up the partisans of the Republican side who were also angry during his administration.

And he has the effect to reengaging the polarized divides that happened when he was president. It has a strong effect for the Democrats and a positive way and a negative effect with Republicans and independents concerned about the Lewinsky scandal, and reminds them of that again.

WHITFIELD: John Kerry, leading up to the Democratic convention in Boston, no clear cut vice presidential or no running mate. Are you seeing that it's going to be like a John Edwards or maybe a Dick Gephardt since those are the names tossed around in the last week?

BACON: Those are the two that everyone is hearing about. Edwards has the advantage of being charismatic and a lot of the Democrats in the party like him. The word we hear is Gephardt is the person Kerry personally likes better. Those are the two people who are the top names, but every year it's a surprise, Joe Lieberman and Dick Cheney were picked last time, and I don't think anyone thought of those two names. It could be a surprise again. Edwards and Gephardt are favorites but we never know until they pick them to some extend.

WHITFIELD: There's been expressed, I guess, thoughts about whether John Kerry should worry about being overshadowed by his potential running mate. That could really happen? And if so, how damaging that could potentially be? BACON: I don't think that the candidate is ever going to be overshadowed by the vice presidential selection. I think it would, you pick Edwards you have the advantage of him being charismatic and voters like that. You would have stories in the paper comparing Edwards and Kerry's charisma and suggesting Kerry was lacking in the area. If the Kerry folks think Edwards will deliver votes for them and help the win, they'll pick, it it's a question of whether to have someone from the South or the Midwest like Gephardt or the Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack who is another person on the list.

WHITFIELD: How do you see Bill Clinton playing a role in the Democratic convention?

BACON: He'll speak and he'll be out there. He has to get out of the way. He'll speak early that week, after that he'll get out of way, because any time he is around he takes attention from Kerry, and the Democratic convention is big time where Kerry needs the attention. Clinton will try to play his role down as much as possible. And that is something Kerry would like to see, I think.

WHITFIELD: Michael Moore's movie, "Fahrenheit 9/11" coming out next week. The handover in Iraq also in 10 days, it appears the attention will be focused on President Bush than after President Clinton and his memoir gets out of the way. Might this be to the advantage of John Kerry, ultimately, since these are not very complimentary type of attention getting events that are taking place anyway for a book?

BACON: That's true. Once the Clinton news is sort of people have heard enough from Clinton, the news to the June 30 deadline, and Michael Moore book, both things, which are not going to reflect well on President Bush. At the same time, I think Kerry is in a holding pattern. He had a lot of events in the last couple of weeks and not getting a lot of attention for those. Because people are breathless waiting for the vice presidential pick. That's the big thing going forward for Kerry who he picks and towards the convention, I think that's going to be a huge factor how the next two weeks play out for him.

WHITFIELD: Perry Bacon, thank you very much from "TIME" magazine.

BACON: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: Rescuers at Mt. Ranier in Washington are looking for missing climber. They believe he died in the avalanche that killed his partner. Yesterday a helicopter crew rescued two other stranded climbers unhurt.

In New York, the Olympic flame has burned in the U.S. for the last time this year, on its way to Athens, Greece for the Summer Games. Crowds cheer torchbearers, including rapper P. Diddy, along a 34 mile journey through the city's five boroughs yesterday.

And researchers warn that white bread may be especially fattening for the waistline. A new study shows calories from white bread and other refined grains seem to settle in the abdomen more than whole grains do.

And tomorrow morning, a rocket plane will take off from the Mojave Desert on the mission to be the first privately funded manned spacecraft. CNN Space Correspondent Miles O'Brien reports on a team of entrepreneurs with eyes on a $10 million prize.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Aviation legend Burt Rutan has always aimed high and most often reached his lofty goals.

BURT RUTAN, AVIATION LEGEND: Our goal is to show that you can develop a robust, safe, manned space program, and to do it at extremely low costs.

O'BRIEN: So far, Rutan's team has given no reason to doubt they can pull it off.

RUTAN: I think it is time that the commercial guys get aggressive on manned space flight, rather than waiting for NASA.

O'BRIEN: So for the past three years, he has been designing, building, test flying and tweaking a spacecraft he calls Spaceship One. Carried off the ground by an odd, seagull like jet called White Knight, Spaceship One is released 11 miles up and four miles higher than an airline's highest altitudes.

MIKE MELVILL, TEST PILOT: Quicker than most fighters and nervous little airplane. .

O'BRIEN: Pilot Mike Melvill has now logged eight Spaceship One flights. Straight up for a wild blistering fast ride, getting closer and closer to the official gateway of space, 100 kilometers or 62 1/2 miles.

MELVILL: Two and one half times the speed of sound; mach 2.5 and then it comes to a stop up there, and you're weightless.

O'BRIEN: After three minutes or so in weightlessness, what goes up will succumb to the grip of gravity. Plummeting to earth almost as fast and entering the atmosphere at twice the speed of sound.

Spaceship One is designed to drop like a shuttlecock and when speed permits, transform into a glider for a 100-mile an hour touchdown on the Mojave runway. Rutan's group is the clear leader in the quest for the X-prize, a $10 million dollar privately funded purse that will go to the first civilian team to fly to space in the vehicle capable of carrying three people, then repeat the feat within two weeks.

RUTAN: We are interested in winning that -- it's money, we want to win it.

O'BRIEN: Burt says high time entrepreneurs like him made it to space, he means it. He's already grabbed the first passenger seat, on Spaceship One, for himself. Miles O'Brien, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A winner at the U.S. Open is a few hours away. Who's doing what right now? Josie Burke joins us with a live report when we come back.

And what is this? You never heard of elephant soccer, have you? We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Right now, birdies are hard to come by, double bogeys are everywhere, and par is considered a great score at Shinnecock Hills. Gusty winds are teaming up with treacherous greens to make things miserable for golfers competing in today's final round of the U.S. Open.

CNN Sports Reporter Josie Burke joins us from South Hampton, New York, where fan favorite Phil Mickelson is still in the hunt, not in the lead, but in the hunt.

Right, Josie?

JOSIE BURKE, CNN SPORTS REPORTER: He's pretty much the only one still in the hunt. You gave such a great description what this course has been like today. Retief Goosen still has the two shot lead over Phil Mickelson. But pretty much everyone else with a chance has fallen back so it looks like it is going to come down to those two.

Just to give you an idea about how tough things have been out here for all the golfers today. At this point in time, the scoring averages are around 80, and that's 10 shots over par.

WHITFIELD: You can tell me a little more about the 35-year-old Retief Goosen, we've seen and heard of him before, why is he just surprised by leading this U.S. Open this go-around?

BURKE: It's interesting, because he is one of the top players in the world, he's ranked number nine in the world right now. Because he doesn't play full time on the PGA tour, not everybody knows everything about him.

He broke through in 2001, got his first PGA tour win, and it was the U.S. Open. And a lot of people felt like he had a great shot today. He came in as the leader because he's got a great temperament. He's known as being very steady, very even tempered and nobody thought he'd be rattled by the pressure situation.

WHITFIELD: With one U.S. Open win under his belt in 2001, I imagine the fans really are rooting for Phil Mickelson?

BURKE: They are, everywhere Phil Mickelson has gone on the golf course this week, it seems like every single person has had something to say to him. You don't hear chants on golf courses like you do at a baseball stadium or hockey arena, you hear let's go Phil. All these people trying to offer encouragement to Phil Mickelson, it's been a very, very interesting scene out here.

WHITFIELD: I understand the seventh hole is a little controversial, why?

BURKE: Yes, it has been very controversial. All the golfers practically coming off the course saying it was almost like miniature golf out there. It was so difficult. After the round yesterday, the USGA admitted that they had done something to firm up the green, before the round that they weren't supposed to.

So, today they actually took a very unusual step and they have been watering that green. Syringing, they call it on the golf course, trying to get it to play a little softer, and make it a little more fair.

Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right, Josie Burke with the update from the U.S. Open. Just a few hours away, maybe a few strokes away finding out who the winner will be.

Engineer students from Clinton University are this year's winners of the coveted "Concrete Canoe competition". Hundreds of college students raced along Lake Fairfax in Reston, Virginia today. In canoes they had built entirely out of, guess what? Concrete.

The American Society of Civil Engineers sponsored the 17th annual event. Kids don't try this at home. Pretty amazing that it floats.

Well imagine playing soccer against four-legged opponents that each weigh a ton. It sounds scary, but it was a reward for prison inmates in Thailand today. The government organize the event to make the point that that soccer is for fun not gambling. The tied up game, at five each, was one to remember for the inmates and one, of course, the elephants will never forget.

Security in Iraq is obviously a major issue, and not just in the cities. This is just one piece of an oil field in Iraq where, there are rivers and lakes, not of water, but of oil. Brent Sadler reports on the hemorrhage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Here's a look at the top stories at this hour. In Tikrit, Iraq, a leading city council member was assassinated today in an ambush by insurgents. His driver and bodyguard suffered wounds in the attack.

And west of Baghdad in the Al Anbar Province, a Marine assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Unit was killed in action today. The details of his death are not known.

Violence also struck in the Iraqi capital today. A massive roadside bomb exploded outside the offices of the central bank in Baghdad, wounding three Iraqis.

Obviously, a huge key to Iraq's economic recovery is its ability to export oil. But insurgents continue their attacks on vulnerable pipelines, turning the flow of black gold into an environmental headache. CNN senior international correspondent Brent Sadler has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, CNN SNR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iraq's Basra oil terminal at the northern end of the Persian Gulf. It's been a gigantic filling station for international tankers, topping out with crude oil. But now, this precious flow has ground to a halt. Tankers stranded. Shipments delayed. And this is why. A river of Iraqi crude oil drains into the desert sand near Basra in southern Iraq, escaping from a ruptured pipeline, targeted by saboteurs in a wave of attacks against Iraq's precious oil industry. Exports have completely ground to a halt in the south, crippling this vital distribution network.

KEVIN THOMAS, COALITION AUTHORITY: We're absolutely destroying it, to be honest. If we don't grip this and make sure the export of crude continues, there's no way that Iraq can stay back on its feet.

SADLER: These surface ripples from an underground hemorrhage mean Iraq is bleeding money. Hundreds of millions of dollars in wasted revenue. With similar attacks in the north of the country, Iraq is now struggling to export any oil at all. Repair teams are working as fast as they can, but with a shortage of pumps, run down equipment, and security fears, it's a struggle.

(On camera): This is the front line of Iraq's war on oil. The stench of crude so strong here that it stings my eyes and my nose, creating an unstable cocktail of vapors that could explode at any time.

(voice-over): Ignited by just one spark.

RABAH ABBAS, PRODUCTION MANAGER, SOUTH OIL CO: All this area is polluted by natural gas. So the work here is very dangerous.

SADLER: The ripple effects are hitting oil supplies worldwide, and production is dropping to zero in the vast southern oil fields with nowhere for the product to go. An offshore threat to the oil terminals led to a radical shake-up in naval protection following attempted suicide attacks that came close to succeeding just two months ago. Now, a small armada of warships led by the United States imposes shoot to kill exclusion zones amid a web of layered defense. U.S. forces guard the terminals with weapons locked and loaded.

CAPT. KURT TIDD, US NAVY: We are prepared to use deadly force, destructive fire on vessels that are not authorized to be in here that do not respond to warnings to move away.

SADLER: On land, though, a 15,000-strong oil protection force of Iraqis guards this vulnerable business with limited resources. JABBAR AL-LEABY, DIRECTOR GENERATION, SOUTH OIL CO.: I stress that there should be more resources allocated for this particular point that is the security of oil installations.

SADLER: At least half a billion dollars could be lost in the time it may take to restore the flow of oil to these waiting tankers. Money Iraq can ill-afford. Brent Sadler, CNN, Basra.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, now from the flow of oil to the flow of funds used to finance terror. Part of the Patriot Act involves intense scrutiny of money sent to various charities overseas. But an organization that helps children in Cambodia may be proof that the crackdown is simply too broad. CNN's Mike Chinoy has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's five dollars.

MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For more than a decade, American Philanthropist Bernard Krisher has been doing good deeds in Cambodia. Funded largely by private donations, his charity, American Assistance for Cambodia, has built over 200 schools, equipped remote villages with computers and the Internet and helped young girls stay out of the sex trade. Krisher has been assisted by Global Giving, a Washington-based information clearing house that puts would- be donors in touch with deserving charities. But now, Global Giving has told Krisher they can't list his project on their Web site anymore.

"In the aftermath of 9/11," Global Giving told Krisher in an e- mail, "U.S. Treasury guidelines and the Patriot Act have made it very difficult to give money overseas." The U.S. rule designed to keep U.S. money out of the hands of terrorists have made life difficult for charities with international connections.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Patriot Act and associated regulations do pose challenges for donors, and it has raised concerns in many quarters.

CHINOY: In the case of Krisher, whose charity is small and based in Tokyo, although all its projects are in Cambodia, Global Giving says it simply lacks the resources to do the extensive background checks the post 9/11 regulations require.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cost of complying with the guidelines for individual donors is extremely high.

CHINOY: But Krisher contends Global Giving has bowed to a climate of fear.

BERNARD KRISHER, AMERICAN ASSISTANCE FOR CAMBODIA: I blame Global Giving for giving in to the pressure, but they want to play it safe. CHINOY: Playing it safe or just complying with the regulations, Krisher says either way it could likely mean the end of crucial financial support for charities like his.

KRISHER: If the government is afraid this money may be going to terrorism, just the opposite, it's going to anti-terrorism. We're creating situations which will prevent people from becoming terrorists.

CHINOY: For now, though, Krisher's project is in danger of becoming collateral damage for the U.S. war on terror. Mike Chinoy, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Fathers and sons, fathers and daughters. No, it's not a D.H. Lawrence book, it's a Bruce Morton report on American presidents and their children on this father's day.

And we've always thought Ted Turner was an amazing man, but now, so does New York photographer Joyce Tenneson. Her collection of amazing men over 60 when we come right back.

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WHITFIELD: Father's Day is a way to thanks to dad for his love and support. After all, being a parent is not easy, especially when you are the president of the United States. CNN national correspondent Bruce Morton takes a look at first fathers.

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BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Presidents as fathers? Well, you have to love Harry Truman. His daughter Margaret sang professionally. The Washington Post's music critic panned her: "a voice of little size and fair quality," and Truman wrote threatening to punch him out.

The president with the most politically influential kids? That would be George Herbert Walker Bush, who just turned 80. One son president, another governor of Florida.

G.W. BUSH: We are awed by his energy, his zest for life. If ever there was a guy who could say his dance card was completely full, it is our dad.

MORTON: This president's two daughters graduated from college this spring and will work in his re-election campaign. They made a little news as underage beer drinkers, but that's nothing.

George Washington's step-grandson, Little Wash, was expelled from Princeton for meanness and irregularity.

Chester Alan Arthur's son got caught skinny-dipping in a White House fountain, but the police let him off when they learned who he was. Theodore Roosevelt, who had six kids under 17 when he took office, says you could either be president or handle the kids, but couldn't do both.

Maybe it's easier nowadays. Chelsea Clinton survived eight years in the White House, as President Bush noted when her parents' portraits were unveiled there the other day.

G. W. BUSH: It's great to see Chelsea. The fact that you survived your teenage years in the White House speaks to the fact had you a great mom and dad.

MORTON: Ronald and Nancy Reagan's children felt estranged, but those wounds seemed to be healed as they comforted their mother after their father's death.

John and Jacqueline Kennedy may have had the cutest kids and certainly had the best home movies. Just look.

And despite the tragedy which interrupted her childhood, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg has had a successful grown-up life.

Presidents as fathers? Like the rest of us, they probably do the best they can.

Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, Dads famous and not so famous are all amazing. Men aged 60 and over are the subject of a new picture book called "Amazing Men: Courage, Insight Endurance." Joyce Tenneson is the photographer behind the book and she joins us from Bangor, Maine. Good to see you.

JOYCE TENNESON, PHOTOGRAPHER: Nice to see you.

WHITFIELD: Well, this if familiar territory for you. You have already sought out amazing women and you profiled them in wise women, your book that did so well, profiling women 65 and older. What inspired you to look for amazing men and profile them?

TENNESON: Women have e-mailed me from all over the world thanking me for doing wise women and saying it had changed their lives, and asked me when I was going to photograph and interview men over 60. They wanted to know more about that subject, too.

WHITFIELD: And so you really traveled across the country from Maine to Montana in search of the famous and the not so famous. Did you find that perhaps portraying the not so famous may have been equally or maybe even more so intriguing than the famous faces?

TENNESON: Yes, I felt that the diversity of men I found around the country was really stunning, and that the -- often the men who were not so famous had perhaps even grown more because they weren't so protected by being a celebrity. WHITFIELD: And let's look at some of them, this being a not very familiar face that we're looking at right now, this gentleman. And then we saw earlier, Ted Turner is a famous face that you profiled on the cover of your book. Ben Kingsley. You can pick it up from there?

TENNESON: These are the silver fox dancers from Maine. They enjoy dancing and performing at fairs, and they're just great. The picture before was Doc from Las Vegas, and he is amazing in many ways.

WHITFIELD: So how did you find them?

TENNESON: I traveled around the country. I sent out press releases. And it was a lot of word of mouth, and I went to Miami to do the Cuban and Haitian community. I wanted a lot of diversity, not just in terms of locale, but in terms of ethnicity and lifestyle, and it was just - it was a lot of fun doing this book. And people have told me, especially with father's day, that they've gotten great response giving it as a gift. There's BB King, and I went to his club on 42nd Street, New York, and got him at the end of his performance at 11:00. And he's just so dynamic, and gracious, he was just great to photograph.

WHITFIELD: And Willie Nelson there. Did you find that any of these famous faces were reluctant, given that they sometimes are so protective of their image, was it difficult trying to talk them into doing this?

TENNESON: Well, look at Vernon Jordan. A lot of men loved being a part of this project, which was "Amazing Men," and I really didn't encounter anything but really kind of a positive attitude from all these guys. And a lot of them told me their life stories, and how they had, you know, come to be who they were. And here's Al Hirschfeld who passed away a month after I took this photograph. He was 99. And an amazing man. There's Patrick Stewart and David Jones, who have been friends for over 30 years, and have worked together as actor and director. I love this family portrait. This is your traditional family from Florida -- Gene Arrant (ph) and his three grandchildren.

But men are very different now in their fathering. A lot of men are enjoying the nurturing role that their fathers never had a chance to enjoy. This is Robert Indiana, David Lieman (ph) and his son. David Lieman was a first time dad after he reached 60. And, of course, the famous artist, Andrew Wyeth here. I photographed him getting off of his boat. Just beautiful. Here's Ken Carlson, who is a wonderful mentor to younger men, and does a lot of service to the community. I love, this is Billy -- the poet laureate, Billy Collins and two young poets surrounding him.

WHITFIELD: And perhaps equally poignant was that you were actually able to grab hold of a couple of quotes from some of those that you have photographed to accompany the photos. And Ted Turner has a very funny little quote saying, "If only I were humble, I'd be perfect."

TENNESON: I'd be perfect. He's a great guy and so much fun to be with. Yes.

WHITFIELD: And your next project, I understand you're still not done?

TENNESON: No, no, no. Well, the "Wise Women" book was a best- seller, and this will be a traveling show now, starting in the Naples Museum of Art, opening there this November, and traveling around the country. So we'll be seeing more of the women from "Wise Women," and from this new book too, celebrating men over 60.

WHITFIELD: Beautiful. Beautiful images, and so inspiring on so many levels. And, of course, for folks who haven't gotten their father's day gifts as of yet. Got a few more hours before it's all over. This would be a great one, "Amazing Men.'

TENNESON: And there is Ben Kingsley on the front cover. He is divine looking.

WHITFIELD: Yes, he is divine. Well, thanks so much, Joyce Tenneson for joining us. I appreciate it, from Bangor, Maine, and continued success on your endeavors. Seven books and counting.

TENNESON: Thank you for having me, Fredricka, I loved it, thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks very much.

Well, the week would not be complete without late night laughs. We'll be right back with those.

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WHITFIELD: The late night comedians have been at it again, adding a bit of comic relief to the world of politics. Listen.

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JAY LENO: The 9/11 Commission said today they have found no ties between al Qaeda and Iraq. There are no ties between al Qaeda and Iraq, to which President Bush said, yes, what about the fact they're both in the Middle East?

JON STEWART, THE DAILY SHOW: Well, I think we all know the real reason why Saddam and al Qaeda's collaboration failed.

LENO: Rumors have restarted the Republican ticket might not be Bush and Cheney, did you hear that? Today those rumors were put to rest when Dick Cheney said no, I'm keeping him on the ticket.

DAVID LETTERMAN: The State Department releases a memo saying that terrorism has gone down. The memo was released because of a mathematical error. Well, I thought, my God, mathematical error, isn't that how Bush became president?

LENO: Bill Clinton said he had the affair with Monica Lewinsky because he could. Ironically, that is the same reason Bush gave for invading Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And that's our latest. "NEXT@CNN" is coming up, followed by "CNN LIVE SUNDAY" at 6:00 Eastern, and at 7:00 Eastern "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS." Thank you for joining us for this hour. I'll be back with the headlines after this break.

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