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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Dick Cheney Speaks Out on Gay Marriage Amendment

Aired August 24, 2004 - 17:00   ET

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

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


WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Happening now, criticism rising up the military and civilian chain of command. The blame for what's being called sadism on the night shift at Abu Ghraib.
Also happening now...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have a gay daughter, so it's an issue that our family is very familiar with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The vice president on the campaign trail talking about his family and gay marriage. Standby for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Fear and smear. Kerry says the Bush campaign is waging a campaign of deception.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You can't lead America by misleading the American people.

CHENEY: America face as choice between our president and a man calling for us to fight a more sensitive war on terror.

BLITZER: Surrender or die. A rebel cleric gets a last warning. Will his gunmen give in before U.S. tanks close in?

Bin Laden's bodyguard. An alleged al Qaeda aide goes before the first U.S. military tribunal since World War II.

California mystery. Camp counselors slain in their sleeping bags. Police have no motive and no weapon. But do they have a suspect?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

It's a scandal that shocked the world. American soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib Prison outside Baghdad, abuses that were captured in photographs by the very soldiers who were mistreating the soldiers. A report released today by an independent panel says blame goes all the way up the chain of command to the highest offices of the Pentagon. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joining us now live with more -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, indeed, Wolf. The panel members said today that the responsibility, some of the problems do go right to the top of the Pentagon, military and civilian leadership, but they did not call for any resignations of top leaders. Still one of their most interesting conclusions is that this entire scandal has had a so-called chilling effect on current interrogations of terrorism suspects.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): It is a devastating indictment of what the former defense secretary, James Schlessinger, calls the chaos that raged at Abu Ghraib Prison.

JAMES SCHLESINGER, PANEL CHAIRMAN: There was sadism on the night shift at Abu Ghraib, sadism that was certainly not authorized. It was kind of "Animal House" on the night shift.

STARR: The pictures that stunned the world were not part of any effort to interrogate prisoners. At the end of the day, undisciplined soldiers with commanders not paying attention. But the problems, perhaps, could have been avoided and the report does aim responsibility right at the top.

The panel said top military and civilian leaders failed to anticipate the insurgency and the thousands of prisoners they would take into custody.

TILLIE FOWLER, PANEL MEMBER: The Pentagon failed to properly adapt to the situation on the ground and to provide sufficient number of adequately organized and trained personnel needed to conduct detention operations in Iraq.

STARR: At Abu Ghraib, a disaster brewing. The military police didn't have all their equipment, were poorly trained. At one point, each soldier was responsible for controlling 75 prisoners as opposed to the prison at Guantanamo Bay where the ratio was one to one.

In Baghdad as Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez struggled to fight the insurgency, the report notes that senior leaders should have moved to meet the need for additional military police forces. Sanchez and other top leaders criticized for not making clear who was running the prison and for allowing confusing interrogation policies to emerge.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: But Wolf, the panel said what happened at the top was mistakes, not legal culpabillty, and they gave no indication. In fact, they said they didn't think that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld or General Richard Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs, should resign -- Wolf.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, Barbara, thank you very much. Meanwhile, they were more explosions that rocked Najaf today. U.S. tanks have moved toward the Imam Ali Mosque and Iraq's defense minister says his troops are ready to move in. He warns that if Shiite gunmen don't move out, they will be wiped out. Is it too late to talk? Let's go live to CNN's Matthew Chance. He's on the ground for us in Najaf -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, thanks. And more reports of fierce fighting in the streets of Najaf as darkness falls here around the holy city. The military pressure is being ratcheted up and so is the political pressure as well.

As you mentioned, Iraq's interim defense minister saying that a deadline is approaching for those militants holed up inside the Imam Ali Mosque to leave or be eliminated, saying that by the break of day Wednesday morning if there is still people inside that mosque, he will order Iraqi security forces in to clear it out himself.

We've had ultimatums like this in the past. And in the past they've come to nothing so far. So we're watching very carefully to see if there is any movement.

In the hours, though, since that announcement was made, a close aide to Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shia cleric who heads the Mehdi Army, has come out saying that the Mehdi Army is now ready to negotiate as well, perhaps a sign of cracks appearing in this militia that has been holed up, confronting U.S. forces on the streets of Najaf for nearly three weeks now -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Matthew Chance on the scene for us in Najaf. Thanks, Matthew, very much.

While the militiamen have turned the Najaf mosque into a stronghold, much of the surrounding area has been destroyed, and many residents have sought sanctuary in other holy places.

CNN's Diana Muriel reports from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is one of the mosques you have not heard about, the mosque of Umm Abathiat (ph) in a Najaf suburb about five miles from holy shrine of Imam Ali. This mosque is now home to around 50 families who have fled the fighting between U.S.-backed Iraqi forces and Mehdi militant loyal to the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Living conditions here couldn't be more basic.

AMAL KAREEM, NAJAF REFUGEE (through translator): We had to leave our houses, all of our belongings. Here we are one on top of the other, men sleeping beside women. It is not acceptable. This is a holy mosque and all sacred mosques should be respected.

MURIEL: The very young and the very old, like this elderly blind woman, bewildered at their fate. To get by, the refugees rely on aid from religious bodies, this food paid for by donations from other mosques, a benevolent gesture served up with more than a taste of bitterness.

KARIM HAMMADI, AID PROVIDER (through translator): We came to feed our brothers. It is a simple thing that we do for them. America came to liberate Iraq, but where is the democracy? The democracy is that these people were forced to flee and their homes were looted.

MURIEL: Some, like this baker, lost their businesses in the bombing around the old city of Najaf. Homes, too, destroyed in the fighting that has engulfed the city for more than two weeks.

The Najaf police chief, echoing a statement by the Iraqi minister of defense, says it's time to end the conflict over the other mosque, Shia Islam's holiest site.

GHALIB AL-JAZAARI, NAJAF POLICE CHIEF (through translator): We are going to break into the Imam Ali shrine in the coming hours, but because this is a holy place, we're just taking special measures, including telling the few that remain in the shrine to leave. Many of the followers and friends of the Mehdi Army have already left and returned to their cities. We haven't arrested any of them. We've even provided transport for them, but we told them to go home.

MURIEL: But within the Imam Ali shrine compound, evidence fighters remain, including this young man, an Iraqi educated in Britain. Styling himself Abutarab, the nickname of Imam Ali, he says he came to Najaf a month ago to join al-Sadr's Mehdi Army.

"ABUTARAB," MEHDI MILITIAMAN: I'm very confident and I'm happy what I'm doing and I feel that I'm doing the right -- because I just can't keep watching what they're doing. I have to fight to defend my people and my country.

MURIEL: While he and the others fight on, Najaf refugees huddle and wait.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I just want to go home. We are the people who bear the brunt of the fighting. What did we do to deserve this?

MURIEL: The fighting for control in Najaf has intensified, with night bombardments and daylight skirmishes involving tanks and machine gunfire. The next few hours may bring an end to the conflict, but it's unlikely to bring much relief to the citizens there.

Diana Muriel, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: In the U.S. presidential campaign the GOP is getting ready to grab the spotlight in the Big Apple. But the Democratic nominee slipped in ahead of the crowd and launched a preemptive strike.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BLITZER (voice-over): Only days before the start of the Republican National Convention in New York, John Kerry came to the city and leveled this charge.

KERRY: The Bush campaign and its allies have turned to the tactics of fear and smear because they can't talk about jobs, healthcare, energy independence, and rebuilding our alliances.

(APPLAUSE)

KERRY: They can't, or they refuse, to talk about the real issues that matter to the American people.

BLITZER: He made no direct reference to the controversial anti- Kerry attack ads put out by the group Swift Boat Veterans For Truth. But the senator's aides say those ads were very much on his mind.

KERRY: The world will listen to what the Republicans say when they come here, but words, slogans, and personal attacks cannot disguise what they have done and left undone.

BLITZER: Kerry spoke at New York's historic Cooper Union, the same location where Abraham Lincoln spoke out against the spread of slavery in 1860, a speech credited with propelling him on the way to the White House. As he often does, the Democratic candidate reminded the audience about his Vietnam experience.

KERRY: I defended this country as a young man, and I will defend it as president of the United States.

BLITZER: A day earlier, President Bush had called for an end to all those tens of millions of dollars of third-party independent attack ads known as 527s, including the Swift Vote Veterans For Truth ads. That was not good enough for the Kerry/Edwards campaign which has been pressing for a specific Bush condemnation of those ads.

Today on CNN, Bush/Cheney deputy communications director Jennifer Millerwise was pressed by Kerry campaign senior adviser Chad Clanton on that.

CHAD CLANTON, KERRY-EDWARDS CAMPAIGN: Why is it difficult?

JENNIFER MILLERWISE, BUSH-CHENEY CAMPAIGN: He condemned the ad not only yesterday but he has condemned all 527 ads. Now let's be honest, Chad, let's be honest, Chad -- we do condemn this it. We do condemn this ad.

BLITZER: Meanwhile, on the campaign trail, Vice President Dick Cheney continued to hit Kerry hard.

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What we're hearing from the other side is the failed thinking of the past, and we're not going back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Harsh name calling, critical comments hurled at President Bush by officials in a communist country.

Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHENEY: Lynn and I have a gay daughter. So it is an issue that our family is very familiar with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Rare remarks by the vice president about his own daughter's sexual preference and gay marriage.

Security concerns. What's being done to prevent a Madrid-style attack on New York City's rail system.

And Gitmo hearings. An alleged bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, the first detainee to stand trial. We're live from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. The vice president Dick Cheney did something today he rarely does. He spoke out about gay relationships and his own lesbian daughter. His support of comments came during a campaign stop in Davenport, Iowa, where he was asked by a voter about his personal stand on the issue of same-sex marriage. His lesbian daughter, Mary, was in the audience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHENEY: Well, the question has come up, obviously, in the past with respect to the question of gay marriage. Lynn and I have a gay daughter. So it's an issue that our family is very familiar with. We have two daughters. We have enormous pride in both of them. They are both fine young women. They do a superb job, frankly, of supporting us. We were blessed with both of our daughters.

With respect to the question of relationships, my general view is that freedom means freedom for everyone. People ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to. The question that comes up with respect to the issue of marriage is what kind of official sanction or approval is going to be granted by government, if you will, to particular relationships.

Historically, that's been a relationship that's been handled by the states. The states have made that basic fundamental decision in terms of defining what constitutes a marriage. I made it clear four years ago when I ran and this question came up in a debate I had with Joe Lieberman that my view was that that's appropriately a matter for the states to decide. That's how it ought to be best be handled.

The president has, as a result of the decisions that have been made in Massachusetts this year by judges, felt that he wanted to support a constitutional amendment to define at the federal level what constitutes a marriage. I think his perception was that the courts, in effect, were beginning to change without allowing the people to be involved, without them being part of the political process. The courts in that particular case, the state court in Massachusetts, were making the judgment or the decision for the entire country. And he disagreed with that.

So the -- where we're at at this point is, he has come out in support of a federal constitutional amendment, and I don't think -- well, so far, it hasn't had the votes to pass. Most states have addressed this. There is on the books the federal statute, Defensive Marriage Act passed in 1996. To date, it has not been successfully challenged in the courts and it may be sufficient to resolve the issue. But at this point my own preference is as I've stated but...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We missed the end of what the vice president just said. Very important. He said, "at this point my own preference is, as I've stated, but the president makes basic policy for this administration, and he's made it clear that he does, in fact, support a constitutional amendment on this issue."

Let's bring in our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley. First of all, Candy, he went out of his way and he volunteered, he openly spoke about the fact that Mary, his lesbian daughter was there. He doesn't do that that often, does he?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Not that I know of. This is certainly not in 2000 when the issue first came up. Mary, first of all, was part of the campaign, as she is now. And I remember very distinctly Mrs. Cheney being asked, about, well, your daughter has openly declared she was a lesbian and Mrs. Cheney took great offense at that and said, not to my knowledge she hasn't. It is a very private thing for them. It's not a denial thing for them. It's a private thing that Mary's life is Mary's life.

On the other hand, it is pretty tough to talk about this subject if everybody in the world knows you have a gay daughter without at least bringing up the fact that you do.

BLITZER: Especially since she was there herself.

CROWLEY: Absolutely. And I think it's also interesting, because Cheney's poll numbers have gone down so much. People see him as harsh, as sort of a by the numbers kind of guy and mean. This kind of thing is always good, oh, this is a guy with a family. This is a guy with a family perhaps like mine. I don't think that ever hurts. But I think it is something the Cheney's have not done with any frequency.

BLITZER: He did seem to distance themselves, though, from what the president's position is. The president wants a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. I did not hear the vice president say, I support what the president is doing.

CROWLEY: No. In fact, he said, here's what I support. The president feels that we do need this constitutional amendment, and I support my president. What does the vice president say but that? But it's very clear this is one of their differences of opinion. And it would have been very hard and has been very hard because, as you can imagine, the gay and lesbian community has pointed to the debate with Joe Lieberman and said, listen here. You said it would be left up to the states and now you've got this president that's saying there ought to be a constitutional amendment.

I think what's interesting here too is, that Mary has become quite a focal point for the gay and lesbian community in the sense that there's been a whole Web site up, write her, tell her to get her dad to change his mind and go in to talk to the president. So, this has been walking a very fine line for the Cheney's, between the private and personal. What can you do policy wise other than salute and say, I don't agree with him but this is the way it's going.

BLITZER: That's what the vice presidents -- all vice presidents have to do. Although, he certainly made clear he supports that position he enunciated in that debate with Joe Lieberman in 2000. Candy, thanks very much.

CROWLEY: Sure, thank you.

BLITZER: Protecting Penn Station ahead of the Republican National Convention. Major steps being taken right now to prevent a terror attack on New York's rail system.

And who's calling President Bush a political idiot and human trash?

One clue, it is not one of his Democratic Party critics.

Also ahead...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What seems to be universally true is that everybody who met them liked them, had a natural affinity towards them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Two, young camp counselors killed in their sleep. Police release a photo of a man they want to question.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: When the Republicans gather in New York City, they'll be sitting right on top of a vital hub in the rail system. That gives terrorists a double target. Let's go live to New York, our homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve standing by -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, that place of concern is Penn Station that sees 600,000 travelers each day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MESERVE (voice-over): More people travel through Penn Station in one day than live in the city of Boston. A terrorist strike here would be deadly and disruptive, especially while the Republican National Convention is overhead in Madison Square Garden.

COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE: It's a complex environment. There's no question about it. There are five levels at Penn Station. There are multiple agencies involved. There are communications challenges.

MESERVE: During the Democratic National Convention, North Station under the FleetCenter was shut down. But most agree that isn't an option here.

CHRIS KOZUB, NATIONAL TRANSIT INSTITUTE: You cannot shut down a station like Penn Station, which is the busiest rail terminal in this country, and expect anybody to be able to get to work, to the convention or anyplace.

MESERVE: Instead, security throughout the New York rail system is escalating during convention week. Three hundred explosives detection dogs will be used to search each and every train car before it starts the trip and again before it enters the city. To prevent the placement of bombs on trains, trash receptacles are being sealed and most restrooms shut. No luggage will be allowed in overhead racks. Amtrak will require luggage tags. The New Jersey Transit System will be testing suspicious bags with new rapid time explosive detection machines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep your eyes open for anyone or anything that is out of place or suspicious.

MESERVE: Railroad employees have been given instruction on how to spot and deal with suspicious activity. Surveillance camera's will scan the crowd, sensor will sniff the air. And every where in the system will be law enforcement, state troopers, national guardsman, local and transit police, some under cover, some very obvious.

CHIEF JOSEPH BOBER, N.J. TRANSIT POLICE: All of my officers are on seven-day call working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, around the clock. I've canceled all vacations, all personal days.

MESERVE: To control access, six of the eight entrances at Penn Station will be closed. To further limit traffic New jersey Transit will reroute 40 percent of its trains.

We're doing it all on our nickel today. And we're doing everything we can conceivably do to make sure that people are safe and secure. But as is the case in life, there are no guarantees at all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: Federal officials say there are no specific credible pieces of intelligence that indicate terrorists plan to attack the rail system in New York during the convention. But the memory of the Madrid train bombing and the run up to the Spanish election is still very strong and spurred new security measures here -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jeanne Meserve reporting from New York. Jeanne, thanks very much.

MESERVE: Insulting the president, literally unbelievable comments spoken today against President Bush by another country. We'll have details.

And detainees on trial. Osama bin Laden's alleged bodyguard in military court. We've live from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Professing his innocence in phone calls with his former lover. Recordings released in the Scott Peterson case. We'll have that. Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only thing I remember is my mom telling me to smile at Josh, when I saw him, because he liked my smile so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Amazing recovery after a honeymoon tragedy almost took the life of this young bride. A story of love and survival -- you don't want to miss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Abusive comments, very abusive comments. A communist adversary calls President Bush -- and I'm quoting now -- "human trash and a political idiot." We'll get to that.

First, though, a quick check of some stories now in the news.

Santa Barbara County, California. Sheriff Jim Anderson says a new report about Michael Jackson's arrest vindicates his department. California's attorney general has concluded the entertainer was not mistreated when he was arrested for alleged child molestation. The entertainer said he was roughed up, but the attorney general reports he found no evidence to support that claim.

"TIME" magazine reporter Matt Cooper is no longer in contempt of court after giving a deposition to investigators. The investigators are trying to track down the source of the government leak last year that blew the cover of CIA operative Valerie Plame. "TIME" magazine says Cooper's source agreed to wave confidentiality. "TIME" and CNN are both units of Time Warner.

A U.S. military policeman charged in the Abu Ghraib sandal says there was abuse at the prison virtually from the beginning. Attorney Gary Meyer is representing Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick. Meyer says Frederick will plead guilty to some charges, but Meyer says international law was being violated at the Baghdad prison well before Frederick got there.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

Nuclear talks with North Korea may be on hold after some extraordinary verbal barrage. The trash talking aimed at President Bush is remarkable even by North Korean standards. But who started it?

Let's turn to our State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel -- Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this tit-for-tat exchange actually began several years ago, with the latest volley coming this week.

And, boy, was it a doozy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL (voice-over): North Korea stepped up its rhetoric and for the second day in a row directed its verbal venom at President Bush. In a statement released by its official news agency, North Korea said -- quote -- "It is the greatest tragedy for the U.S. that Bush, a political idiot and human trash, still remains in the presidential office of the world's only superpower, styling himself an emperor of the world."

J. ADAM ERELI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: Obviously, we take issue with those statements. We do not believe they're appropriate to diplomatic discourse.

KOPPEL: But experts say Pyongyang's latest round of insults was likely prompted, at least in part, by comments made last week by President Bush, who dressed down the North Korean dictator.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So there's now five countries saying to the tyrant in North Korea, disarm, disarm.

KOPPEL: It was President Bush who lobbed the first volley in what has become an escalating exchange of insults, lumping North Korea with Iran and Iraq in his 2002 State of the Union address.

BUSH: States like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil.

KOPPEL: Although North Korea is well known for its colorful rhetoric, experts say Pyongyang only began to personalize its verbal assaults after the Bush administration took aim at its revered leader, Kim Jong Il, who President Bush reportedly called a pygmy.

Mr. Bush also told journalist Bob Woodward that he loathed Mr. Kim, saying, "I have got a visceral reaction to this guy because he is starving his people."

CHARLES PRITCHARD, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Those were very harsh and very hard from a North Korean perspective. They were very personal in terms of their leader. And so those around Kim Jong Il didn't know how to react. And their reaction has been one to strike back and to personalize.

KOPPEL: Among those targeted, Undersecretary of State For Arms Control John Bolton, who North Korea called "human scum" and a "bloodthirsty, fiendish bloodsucker." Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was also singled out by Pyongyang as a psychopath and a stupid man.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: And experts say another reason for the personal attacks targeting President Bush could be to delay the start of the next round of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, which, Wolf, are supposed to begin at the end of next month -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Andrea Koppel, thanks for that good report. Appreciate it very much. Very interesting.

An alleged former driver for Osama bin Laden today became the first detainee to appear before a military commission at the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti is joining us from the scene at Guantanamo Bay -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Wolf.

Yes, initially, there may have been some tension in the courtroom, but for much of the day, the defendant, before these historic proceedings, appeared relax. Yemen national Salim Ahmed Hamdan was smiling broadly as he was escorted into the courtroom and gave his attorney appointed by the military a warm handshake.

He then put on headphones to hear an interpreter. He appears a lot thinner now. Not surprisingly, he has probably lost a lot of weight since he arrived at Gitmo. He appeared a lot thinner than he does in photographs provided by his attorney. Now, Hamdan smiled again after the presiding officer read charges against him. He is accused of various acts of terrorism, conspiracy to murder civilians, destroy property.

So far, he has not been asked to enter a formal plea. However, in the past, he has denied that he is a terrorist. The Pentagon accuses him of being a former bodyguard and driver for Osama bin Laden.

Now, the family of another detainee, Australian David Hicks, also arrived in Guantanamo today. He is scheduled to appear before the commission tomorrow. Hicks is accused of fighting coalition forces. And among the observers here, various human rights organizations, who are very critical of these proceedings that the Pentagon insists will be fair -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Susan Candiotti reporting for us from Gitmo, the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Some human rights groups are raising objections to the Guantanamo tribunals.

CNN's Zain Verjee has been looking into that part of the story. She is joining us now live from the CNN Center in Atlanta -- Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, as Susan was just saying, the Bush administration says each of the defendants at the military tribunals will be given a fair trial in a way that also protects U.S. national security.

But human rights group say the government has gone about it the wrong way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE (voice-over): If American citizens were being tried like this in a foreign country, would it be acceptable to the American public? No, say international rights group, arguing, why should foreign nationals be subjected to military tribunals in Guantanamo Bay?

JUMANA MUSA, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: U.S. nationals who may have been picked up in the same circumstance in the same place doing the same things are subject to a different system of justice. And that violates principles in the international covenant.

VERJEE: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other groups say these trials are unfair, they have nothing to do with justice and have been set up only to convict defendants.

MICHAEL RATNER, CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: The president wrote the rules. The president selected the defendants. The president chose the prosecutors. The president or the Department of Justice chose the judges. And the only appeal is to the president.

VERJEE: The U.S. military says the trials are fair and it reminds critics why these men are there in the first place.

COL. DAVID MCWILLIAMS, U.S. ARMY: We still have an ongoing war and we still have a necessity to keep enemy combatants from returning to the battlefield to fight against the United States and its allies.

VERJEE: Moreover, the U.S. military says because these men are classified as enemy combatants, they have limited rights. Rights groups are skeptical of the enemy combatants designation, saying just because the U.S. military says they are doesn't mean they are. And the groups argue the U.S. military tribunals send the wrong message to countries around the world.

ERIC BIEL, HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST: We've told a number of countries over the years, friends and foes alike, countries like Turkey and Egypt and Peru, that it is important, even in the worst circumstances, not to depart from the rule of law.

VERJEE: Rights groups also say the way evidence in the trial has been obtained is unacceptable.

SAMAN ZARIFI, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: The introduction of evidence that has come out of torture has been barred under American law and under international law very clearly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: Now, in response to that, Wolf, the Pentagon says its policy is to treat all detainees in a humane manner. It also adds that those on trial can present their own evidence, call their own witnesses and they can appeal to a review panel if they want to -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Zain, as you know, these are the first such military trials of enemy combatants in 60 years, since World War II. Do these human rights groups who are critical of the way the U.S. government is dealing with this situation, do they have access to these actual tribunals?

VERJEE: Yes, they do. The U.S. military has asked the rights groups to come and monitor the tribunals. But the rights group say that they're concerned about the level of access that they're getting. They say, look, they can't get to key people like prosecution and defense attorneys, translators, military officials, the presiding officer there. So they say it makes monitoring a lot less meaningful if that kind of access isn't there -- Wolf.

BLITZER: CNN's Zain Verjee reporting on the story for us -- thank you, Zain, very much.

To our viewers, here is your chance to weigh in on this story. Our Web question of the day is this: Do you think trying Guantanamo Bay detainees before a military commission is just? You can vote right now. Go to CNN.com/Wolf. We'll have the results a little bit later.

Could the prosecution's star witness now take the stand for the defense? New developments in the Scott Peterson trial involving his former mistress Amber Frey.

California mystery. A new person of interest is named in the killings of two Christian camp counselors.

Plus, just a few weeks ago, she was brought home in a coma. Now this newlywed is awake and walking. Her remarkable, truly remarkable story, that's coming up.

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): A powerful typhoon packing wind gusts of more than 100 miles an hour pounded Taiwan. Schools, financial markets and businesses were closed and the domestic airport at the capital was shut down. The storm has killed five fishermen and two children in Japan.

Protests. An anti-government strike has shut down shops and schools and disrupted traffic across Bangladesh. Opposition parties called the strike after a weekend grenade attack at an opposition party rally killed 20 people. No one has claimed responsibility for that attack.

War remains. The bodies of three Austrian soldiers kill in World War I have been found frozen in an Italian alpine glacier. Their remains were discovered at an altitude of 12,000 feet. Historians studying the bodies believe the men were killed in a battle in September 1918.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're getting some breaking news about an airliner crash in Russia. A state-run news agency says a passenger jet carrying eight crew members, 34 passengers has crashed about 100 miles south of Moscow. The report says the plane took off from Moscow, was en route to Volgograd in southern Russia when it disappeared from radar.

Stay with CNN. We'll have more details of this as we get them.

Back in this country, Scott Peterson's former mistress Amber Frey was back on the stand today in Peterson's double murder trial. After the second straight day, the prosecution's star witness faced some tough questions from the defense attorney, Mark Geragos.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is live in Redwood City, California. He has more -- Ted.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Amber Frey is finished for now.

This morning, she was combative at times with Geragos, as he pressed her to answer certain questions. She would reply "I don't recall" to Geragos many times throughout the day. Geragos did get her to admit that Scott Peterson never actually aid "I love you" to her. Frey admitted that she was surprised that when she called Scott Peterson to end their relationship, he took it and said, that's a good idea. She said she was surprised by his lack of response to it.

She was hostile at times. All in all, many courtroom observers believe that she has been the strongest witness to date for the prosecution. After court today, Scott Peterson's sister said she testified to an affair and that is it. The defense has reserved the right to call Amber Frey back as a defense witness when they put on their case. But, for now, Wolf, she is done.

BLITZER: All right, Ted Rowlands with the latest on that case -- thanks very much, Ted, for that. Another mysterious case also in California involves the killing of two young Christian camp counselors. One man is being sought for questioning.

CNN's Brian Todd has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This beach, less than an hour's drive north of San Francisco, the starting point of a murder trail. Two young people engaged to be married, described by officials as Christian missionaries of a sort, killed in their sleeping bags, shot in the head at close range, their bodies discovered last Wednesday.

Authorities will not say if a weapon has been recovered. Nothing of value was disturbed at the scene, no sign of struggle or any kind of assault. And police say they don't believe 23-year-old Lindsay Cutshall or 26-year-old Jason Allen had enemies.

LT. DAVE EDMONDS, SONOMA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: What seems to be universally true is that everybody who met them liked them, had a natural affinity towards them.

TODD: But could this have been a hate crime? Sonoma County Sheriff's say they can't characterize it as that right now and are cagey over what could be their best lead.

EDMONDS: The suspect question keeps coming up. And it depends how you're defining suspect.

TODD: Among those sought for questioning, 21-year-old Nicholas Scarseth. Sonoma County sheriff's officials say they received information that a man with a similar appearance to Scarseth's was in the area of the beach in Jenner, California, during the time frame of the killings, Scarseth, a drifter with a history of alcohol problems, whose own mother gives conflicting accounts of his behavior.

KAREN SCARSETH, MOTHER: He doesn't have money. He doesn't have a gun. He's not violent. No, he's not like that. He gets along with everybody.

TODD: But she's quoted in "The Santa Rosa Press Democrat" newspaper saying Nicholas has anger towards those with religious conviction and -- quote -- "wouldn't be hanging out with Christian people. He brings up religion and politics to irritate people. He likes to stir people up."

Police in Scarseth's home town of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, tell CNN he is currently being sought on charges of disorderly conduct and retail theft. Our search of police records turned up an extensive history of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and underage drinking over the past four years. But police there tell CNN Scarseth has no record involving hate crimes.

Sonoma County sheriff's officials say they have more than two dozen investigators working this case to get what they call an insane, cold-blooded killer off the beaches and streets.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Newlyweds tested, a happy ending after a honeymoon tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH BERENDES, HUSBAND OF TARA BERENDES: I'm overjoyed just to see that smile again. And I just remember -- I didn't realize how wonderful it was until I got to see it again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A young bride awakes after several weeks in a coma. Her truly amazing recovery, that is coming up ahead.

Plus, Cinderella story, Iraq's dream team and its quest for gold.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Now the story of a California woman left in a coma after a head-on car crash during her honeymoon this summer. Doctors thought she might never regain consciousness. But, yesterday, she walked out of the hospital with her husband.

Stacey Hendler of our affiliate KGO picks up the story in San Jose.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STACEY HENDLER, KGO REPORTER (voice-over): No one knew quite how Tara Berendes would feel getting into a car for the first time after the horrific crash that put her in a coma for six weeks.

TARA BERENDES, CRASH VICTIM: The only thing I remember when I was getting better is my mom telling me to smile at Josh when I saw him, because he liked my smile so much and that would make his day.

HENDLER: Josh is Tara's husband. At the time of the accident, June 1, in Salt Lake City, the young couple was returning from their honeymoon. They had been married only 10 days.

JOHN EICHINGER, TARA'S FATHER: She had a torn diagram, lacerated spleen, lacerated kidney.

HENDLER: That was just a partial list of Tara's injuries. Still in a coma after one month, she was flown home to the Bay area where she began treatment at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center's renowned Brain Injury Rehabilitation Center. And then what everyone was hoping for, Tara began to wake up.

J. BERENDES: I'm overjoyed just to see that smile again. And I just remember -- I didn't realize how wonderful it was until I got to see it again.

HENDLER: When she left Utah, doctors thought she only had a 50 percent chance of any recovery.

DR. JEFFREY ENGLANDER, TARA'S DOCTOR: It's very hard to predict if it is going to be quick or a slow recovery. And sometimes you're lucky and things fall into place and sometimes it has to do with the amount of family support you have and what kind of person you are underneath.

HENDLER: In Tara's case, it was a combination of all of those things as she relearned how to walk and talk and remember, though she doesn't remember the accident or even her wedding day.

T. BERENDES: It's frustrating. But I can't really do anything about it. I'm just lucky to be alive right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: That was Stacey Hendler of our affiliate KGO.

We're getting some more information on a series of plane crashes, apparently two plane crashes now in Russia. We had reported one just a short time ago. But we're now getting word that there has been a second plane crash in Russia as well. The first plane crash we reported had 34 passengers, eight crew members in the Tula region. But now I'm just checking here. A second plane went down about 100 miles further south in southern Russia near Rostov-on-Don. No word yet on how many passengers or crew members on that plane.

We'll continue to monitor these plane crashes in Russia for our viewers. Very disturbing development.

We'll take a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Take a look at this. Remember, though, it is not a scientific poll.

If you plan to watch tonight's tape-delayed broadcast of the Olympics, you may want to mute the TV button for about a minute. That's because it is time for our look at today's highlights from Athens. American teams took a pair of medals in beach volleyball. Misty May and Kerri Walsh capped a dominant run, beating the Brazilian team for gold. The two didn't drop a single set in Athens. Earlier, Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs also won for the U.S., winning a bronze.

A miscue by the world record holder led to a surprising result at the women's 100-meter hurdles. American Joanna Hayes took gold in Olympic record time, this after a pre-race favorite, a Canadian, tripped and fell into a Russian runner one lane over, knocking both out of the race.

Iraqi soccer team's unlikely bid for gold came to an abrupt end today. They lost their semifinal match against Paraguay 3-1.

That's all the time we have today. Thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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


Aired August 24, 2004 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Happening now, criticism rising up the military and civilian chain of command. The blame for what's being called sadism on the night shift at Abu Ghraib.
Also happening now...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have a gay daughter, so it's an issue that our family is very familiar with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The vice president on the campaign trail talking about his family and gay marriage. Standby for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Fear and smear. Kerry says the Bush campaign is waging a campaign of deception.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You can't lead America by misleading the American people.

CHENEY: America face as choice between our president and a man calling for us to fight a more sensitive war on terror.

BLITZER: Surrender or die. A rebel cleric gets a last warning. Will his gunmen give in before U.S. tanks close in?

Bin Laden's bodyguard. An alleged al Qaeda aide goes before the first U.S. military tribunal since World War II.

California mystery. Camp counselors slain in their sleeping bags. Police have no motive and no weapon. But do they have a suspect?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

It's a scandal that shocked the world. American soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib Prison outside Baghdad, abuses that were captured in photographs by the very soldiers who were mistreating the soldiers. A report released today by an independent panel says blame goes all the way up the chain of command to the highest offices of the Pentagon. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joining us now live with more -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, indeed, Wolf. The panel members said today that the responsibility, some of the problems do go right to the top of the Pentagon, military and civilian leadership, but they did not call for any resignations of top leaders. Still one of their most interesting conclusions is that this entire scandal has had a so-called chilling effect on current interrogations of terrorism suspects.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): It is a devastating indictment of what the former defense secretary, James Schlessinger, calls the chaos that raged at Abu Ghraib Prison.

JAMES SCHLESINGER, PANEL CHAIRMAN: There was sadism on the night shift at Abu Ghraib, sadism that was certainly not authorized. It was kind of "Animal House" on the night shift.

STARR: The pictures that stunned the world were not part of any effort to interrogate prisoners. At the end of the day, undisciplined soldiers with commanders not paying attention. But the problems, perhaps, could have been avoided and the report does aim responsibility right at the top.

The panel said top military and civilian leaders failed to anticipate the insurgency and the thousands of prisoners they would take into custody.

TILLIE FOWLER, PANEL MEMBER: The Pentagon failed to properly adapt to the situation on the ground and to provide sufficient number of adequately organized and trained personnel needed to conduct detention operations in Iraq.

STARR: At Abu Ghraib, a disaster brewing. The military police didn't have all their equipment, were poorly trained. At one point, each soldier was responsible for controlling 75 prisoners as opposed to the prison at Guantanamo Bay where the ratio was one to one.

In Baghdad as Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez struggled to fight the insurgency, the report notes that senior leaders should have moved to meet the need for additional military police forces. Sanchez and other top leaders criticized for not making clear who was running the prison and for allowing confusing interrogation policies to emerge.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: But Wolf, the panel said what happened at the top was mistakes, not legal culpabillty, and they gave no indication. In fact, they said they didn't think that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld or General Richard Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs, should resign -- Wolf.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, Barbara, thank you very much. Meanwhile, they were more explosions that rocked Najaf today. U.S. tanks have moved toward the Imam Ali Mosque and Iraq's defense minister says his troops are ready to move in. He warns that if Shiite gunmen don't move out, they will be wiped out. Is it too late to talk? Let's go live to CNN's Matthew Chance. He's on the ground for us in Najaf -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, thanks. And more reports of fierce fighting in the streets of Najaf as darkness falls here around the holy city. The military pressure is being ratcheted up and so is the political pressure as well.

As you mentioned, Iraq's interim defense minister saying that a deadline is approaching for those militants holed up inside the Imam Ali Mosque to leave or be eliminated, saying that by the break of day Wednesday morning if there is still people inside that mosque, he will order Iraqi security forces in to clear it out himself.

We've had ultimatums like this in the past. And in the past they've come to nothing so far. So we're watching very carefully to see if there is any movement.

In the hours, though, since that announcement was made, a close aide to Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shia cleric who heads the Mehdi Army, has come out saying that the Mehdi Army is now ready to negotiate as well, perhaps a sign of cracks appearing in this militia that has been holed up, confronting U.S. forces on the streets of Najaf for nearly three weeks now -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Matthew Chance on the scene for us in Najaf. Thanks, Matthew, very much.

While the militiamen have turned the Najaf mosque into a stronghold, much of the surrounding area has been destroyed, and many residents have sought sanctuary in other holy places.

CNN's Diana Muriel reports from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is one of the mosques you have not heard about, the mosque of Umm Abathiat (ph) in a Najaf suburb about five miles from holy shrine of Imam Ali. This mosque is now home to around 50 families who have fled the fighting between U.S.-backed Iraqi forces and Mehdi militant loyal to the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Living conditions here couldn't be more basic.

AMAL KAREEM, NAJAF REFUGEE (through translator): We had to leave our houses, all of our belongings. Here we are one on top of the other, men sleeping beside women. It is not acceptable. This is a holy mosque and all sacred mosques should be respected.

MURIEL: The very young and the very old, like this elderly blind woman, bewildered at their fate. To get by, the refugees rely on aid from religious bodies, this food paid for by donations from other mosques, a benevolent gesture served up with more than a taste of bitterness.

KARIM HAMMADI, AID PROVIDER (through translator): We came to feed our brothers. It is a simple thing that we do for them. America came to liberate Iraq, but where is the democracy? The democracy is that these people were forced to flee and their homes were looted.

MURIEL: Some, like this baker, lost their businesses in the bombing around the old city of Najaf. Homes, too, destroyed in the fighting that has engulfed the city for more than two weeks.

The Najaf police chief, echoing a statement by the Iraqi minister of defense, says it's time to end the conflict over the other mosque, Shia Islam's holiest site.

GHALIB AL-JAZAARI, NAJAF POLICE CHIEF (through translator): We are going to break into the Imam Ali shrine in the coming hours, but because this is a holy place, we're just taking special measures, including telling the few that remain in the shrine to leave. Many of the followers and friends of the Mehdi Army have already left and returned to their cities. We haven't arrested any of them. We've even provided transport for them, but we told them to go home.

MURIEL: But within the Imam Ali shrine compound, evidence fighters remain, including this young man, an Iraqi educated in Britain. Styling himself Abutarab, the nickname of Imam Ali, he says he came to Najaf a month ago to join al-Sadr's Mehdi Army.

"ABUTARAB," MEHDI MILITIAMAN: I'm very confident and I'm happy what I'm doing and I feel that I'm doing the right -- because I just can't keep watching what they're doing. I have to fight to defend my people and my country.

MURIEL: While he and the others fight on, Najaf refugees huddle and wait.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I just want to go home. We are the people who bear the brunt of the fighting. What did we do to deserve this?

MURIEL: The fighting for control in Najaf has intensified, with night bombardments and daylight skirmishes involving tanks and machine gunfire. The next few hours may bring an end to the conflict, but it's unlikely to bring much relief to the citizens there.

Diana Muriel, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: In the U.S. presidential campaign the GOP is getting ready to grab the spotlight in the Big Apple. But the Democratic nominee slipped in ahead of the crowd and launched a preemptive strike.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BLITZER (voice-over): Only days before the start of the Republican National Convention in New York, John Kerry came to the city and leveled this charge.

KERRY: The Bush campaign and its allies have turned to the tactics of fear and smear because they can't talk about jobs, healthcare, energy independence, and rebuilding our alliances.

(APPLAUSE)

KERRY: They can't, or they refuse, to talk about the real issues that matter to the American people.

BLITZER: He made no direct reference to the controversial anti- Kerry attack ads put out by the group Swift Boat Veterans For Truth. But the senator's aides say those ads were very much on his mind.

KERRY: The world will listen to what the Republicans say when they come here, but words, slogans, and personal attacks cannot disguise what they have done and left undone.

BLITZER: Kerry spoke at New York's historic Cooper Union, the same location where Abraham Lincoln spoke out against the spread of slavery in 1860, a speech credited with propelling him on the way to the White House. As he often does, the Democratic candidate reminded the audience about his Vietnam experience.

KERRY: I defended this country as a young man, and I will defend it as president of the United States.

BLITZER: A day earlier, President Bush had called for an end to all those tens of millions of dollars of third-party independent attack ads known as 527s, including the Swift Vote Veterans For Truth ads. That was not good enough for the Kerry/Edwards campaign which has been pressing for a specific Bush condemnation of those ads.

Today on CNN, Bush/Cheney deputy communications director Jennifer Millerwise was pressed by Kerry campaign senior adviser Chad Clanton on that.

CHAD CLANTON, KERRY-EDWARDS CAMPAIGN: Why is it difficult?

JENNIFER MILLERWISE, BUSH-CHENEY CAMPAIGN: He condemned the ad not only yesterday but he has condemned all 527 ads. Now let's be honest, Chad, let's be honest, Chad -- we do condemn this it. We do condemn this ad.

BLITZER: Meanwhile, on the campaign trail, Vice President Dick Cheney continued to hit Kerry hard.

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What we're hearing from the other side is the failed thinking of the past, and we're not going back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Harsh name calling, critical comments hurled at President Bush by officials in a communist country.

Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHENEY: Lynn and I have a gay daughter. So it is an issue that our family is very familiar with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Rare remarks by the vice president about his own daughter's sexual preference and gay marriage.

Security concerns. What's being done to prevent a Madrid-style attack on New York City's rail system.

And Gitmo hearings. An alleged bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, the first detainee to stand trial. We're live from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. The vice president Dick Cheney did something today he rarely does. He spoke out about gay relationships and his own lesbian daughter. His support of comments came during a campaign stop in Davenport, Iowa, where he was asked by a voter about his personal stand on the issue of same-sex marriage. His lesbian daughter, Mary, was in the audience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHENEY: Well, the question has come up, obviously, in the past with respect to the question of gay marriage. Lynn and I have a gay daughter. So it's an issue that our family is very familiar with. We have two daughters. We have enormous pride in both of them. They are both fine young women. They do a superb job, frankly, of supporting us. We were blessed with both of our daughters.

With respect to the question of relationships, my general view is that freedom means freedom for everyone. People ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to. The question that comes up with respect to the issue of marriage is what kind of official sanction or approval is going to be granted by government, if you will, to particular relationships.

Historically, that's been a relationship that's been handled by the states. The states have made that basic fundamental decision in terms of defining what constitutes a marriage. I made it clear four years ago when I ran and this question came up in a debate I had with Joe Lieberman that my view was that that's appropriately a matter for the states to decide. That's how it ought to be best be handled.

The president has, as a result of the decisions that have been made in Massachusetts this year by judges, felt that he wanted to support a constitutional amendment to define at the federal level what constitutes a marriage. I think his perception was that the courts, in effect, were beginning to change without allowing the people to be involved, without them being part of the political process. The courts in that particular case, the state court in Massachusetts, were making the judgment or the decision for the entire country. And he disagreed with that.

So the -- where we're at at this point is, he has come out in support of a federal constitutional amendment, and I don't think -- well, so far, it hasn't had the votes to pass. Most states have addressed this. There is on the books the federal statute, Defensive Marriage Act passed in 1996. To date, it has not been successfully challenged in the courts and it may be sufficient to resolve the issue. But at this point my own preference is as I've stated but...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We missed the end of what the vice president just said. Very important. He said, "at this point my own preference is, as I've stated, but the president makes basic policy for this administration, and he's made it clear that he does, in fact, support a constitutional amendment on this issue."

Let's bring in our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley. First of all, Candy, he went out of his way and he volunteered, he openly spoke about the fact that Mary, his lesbian daughter was there. He doesn't do that that often, does he?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Not that I know of. This is certainly not in 2000 when the issue first came up. Mary, first of all, was part of the campaign, as she is now. And I remember very distinctly Mrs. Cheney being asked, about, well, your daughter has openly declared she was a lesbian and Mrs. Cheney took great offense at that and said, not to my knowledge she hasn't. It is a very private thing for them. It's not a denial thing for them. It's a private thing that Mary's life is Mary's life.

On the other hand, it is pretty tough to talk about this subject if everybody in the world knows you have a gay daughter without at least bringing up the fact that you do.

BLITZER: Especially since she was there herself.

CROWLEY: Absolutely. And I think it's also interesting, because Cheney's poll numbers have gone down so much. People see him as harsh, as sort of a by the numbers kind of guy and mean. This kind of thing is always good, oh, this is a guy with a family. This is a guy with a family perhaps like mine. I don't think that ever hurts. But I think it is something the Cheney's have not done with any frequency.

BLITZER: He did seem to distance themselves, though, from what the president's position is. The president wants a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. I did not hear the vice president say, I support what the president is doing.

CROWLEY: No. In fact, he said, here's what I support. The president feels that we do need this constitutional amendment, and I support my president. What does the vice president say but that? But it's very clear this is one of their differences of opinion. And it would have been very hard and has been very hard because, as you can imagine, the gay and lesbian community has pointed to the debate with Joe Lieberman and said, listen here. You said it would be left up to the states and now you've got this president that's saying there ought to be a constitutional amendment.

I think what's interesting here too is, that Mary has become quite a focal point for the gay and lesbian community in the sense that there's been a whole Web site up, write her, tell her to get her dad to change his mind and go in to talk to the president. So, this has been walking a very fine line for the Cheney's, between the private and personal. What can you do policy wise other than salute and say, I don't agree with him but this is the way it's going.

BLITZER: That's what the vice presidents -- all vice presidents have to do. Although, he certainly made clear he supports that position he enunciated in that debate with Joe Lieberman in 2000. Candy, thanks very much.

CROWLEY: Sure, thank you.

BLITZER: Protecting Penn Station ahead of the Republican National Convention. Major steps being taken right now to prevent a terror attack on New York's rail system.

And who's calling President Bush a political idiot and human trash?

One clue, it is not one of his Democratic Party critics.

Also ahead...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What seems to be universally true is that everybody who met them liked them, had a natural affinity towards them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Two, young camp counselors killed in their sleep. Police release a photo of a man they want to question.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: When the Republicans gather in New York City, they'll be sitting right on top of a vital hub in the rail system. That gives terrorists a double target. Let's go live to New York, our homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve standing by -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, that place of concern is Penn Station that sees 600,000 travelers each day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MESERVE (voice-over): More people travel through Penn Station in one day than live in the city of Boston. A terrorist strike here would be deadly and disruptive, especially while the Republican National Convention is overhead in Madison Square Garden.

COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE: It's a complex environment. There's no question about it. There are five levels at Penn Station. There are multiple agencies involved. There are communications challenges.

MESERVE: During the Democratic National Convention, North Station under the FleetCenter was shut down. But most agree that isn't an option here.

CHRIS KOZUB, NATIONAL TRANSIT INSTITUTE: You cannot shut down a station like Penn Station, which is the busiest rail terminal in this country, and expect anybody to be able to get to work, to the convention or anyplace.

MESERVE: Instead, security throughout the New York rail system is escalating during convention week. Three hundred explosives detection dogs will be used to search each and every train car before it starts the trip and again before it enters the city. To prevent the placement of bombs on trains, trash receptacles are being sealed and most restrooms shut. No luggage will be allowed in overhead racks. Amtrak will require luggage tags. The New Jersey Transit System will be testing suspicious bags with new rapid time explosive detection machines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep your eyes open for anyone or anything that is out of place or suspicious.

MESERVE: Railroad employees have been given instruction on how to spot and deal with suspicious activity. Surveillance camera's will scan the crowd, sensor will sniff the air. And every where in the system will be law enforcement, state troopers, national guardsman, local and transit police, some under cover, some very obvious.

CHIEF JOSEPH BOBER, N.J. TRANSIT POLICE: All of my officers are on seven-day call working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, around the clock. I've canceled all vacations, all personal days.

MESERVE: To control access, six of the eight entrances at Penn Station will be closed. To further limit traffic New jersey Transit will reroute 40 percent of its trains.

We're doing it all on our nickel today. And we're doing everything we can conceivably do to make sure that people are safe and secure. But as is the case in life, there are no guarantees at all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: Federal officials say there are no specific credible pieces of intelligence that indicate terrorists plan to attack the rail system in New York during the convention. But the memory of the Madrid train bombing and the run up to the Spanish election is still very strong and spurred new security measures here -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jeanne Meserve reporting from New York. Jeanne, thanks very much.

MESERVE: Insulting the president, literally unbelievable comments spoken today against President Bush by another country. We'll have details.

And detainees on trial. Osama bin Laden's alleged bodyguard in military court. We've live from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Professing his innocence in phone calls with his former lover. Recordings released in the Scott Peterson case. We'll have that. Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only thing I remember is my mom telling me to smile at Josh, when I saw him, because he liked my smile so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Amazing recovery after a honeymoon tragedy almost took the life of this young bride. A story of love and survival -- you don't want to miss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Abusive comments, very abusive comments. A communist adversary calls President Bush -- and I'm quoting now -- "human trash and a political idiot." We'll get to that.

First, though, a quick check of some stories now in the news.

Santa Barbara County, California. Sheriff Jim Anderson says a new report about Michael Jackson's arrest vindicates his department. California's attorney general has concluded the entertainer was not mistreated when he was arrested for alleged child molestation. The entertainer said he was roughed up, but the attorney general reports he found no evidence to support that claim.

"TIME" magazine reporter Matt Cooper is no longer in contempt of court after giving a deposition to investigators. The investigators are trying to track down the source of the government leak last year that blew the cover of CIA operative Valerie Plame. "TIME" magazine says Cooper's source agreed to wave confidentiality. "TIME" and CNN are both units of Time Warner.

A U.S. military policeman charged in the Abu Ghraib sandal says there was abuse at the prison virtually from the beginning. Attorney Gary Meyer is representing Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick. Meyer says Frederick will plead guilty to some charges, but Meyer says international law was being violated at the Baghdad prison well before Frederick got there.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

Nuclear talks with North Korea may be on hold after some extraordinary verbal barrage. The trash talking aimed at President Bush is remarkable even by North Korean standards. But who started it?

Let's turn to our State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel -- Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this tit-for-tat exchange actually began several years ago, with the latest volley coming this week.

And, boy, was it a doozy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL (voice-over): North Korea stepped up its rhetoric and for the second day in a row directed its verbal venom at President Bush. In a statement released by its official news agency, North Korea said -- quote -- "It is the greatest tragedy for the U.S. that Bush, a political idiot and human trash, still remains in the presidential office of the world's only superpower, styling himself an emperor of the world."

J. ADAM ERELI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: Obviously, we take issue with those statements. We do not believe they're appropriate to diplomatic discourse.

KOPPEL: But experts say Pyongyang's latest round of insults was likely prompted, at least in part, by comments made last week by President Bush, who dressed down the North Korean dictator.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So there's now five countries saying to the tyrant in North Korea, disarm, disarm.

KOPPEL: It was President Bush who lobbed the first volley in what has become an escalating exchange of insults, lumping North Korea with Iran and Iraq in his 2002 State of the Union address.

BUSH: States like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil.

KOPPEL: Although North Korea is well known for its colorful rhetoric, experts say Pyongyang only began to personalize its verbal assaults after the Bush administration took aim at its revered leader, Kim Jong Il, who President Bush reportedly called a pygmy.

Mr. Bush also told journalist Bob Woodward that he loathed Mr. Kim, saying, "I have got a visceral reaction to this guy because he is starving his people."

CHARLES PRITCHARD, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Those were very harsh and very hard from a North Korean perspective. They were very personal in terms of their leader. And so those around Kim Jong Il didn't know how to react. And their reaction has been one to strike back and to personalize.

KOPPEL: Among those targeted, Undersecretary of State For Arms Control John Bolton, who North Korea called "human scum" and a "bloodthirsty, fiendish bloodsucker." Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was also singled out by Pyongyang as a psychopath and a stupid man.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: And experts say another reason for the personal attacks targeting President Bush could be to delay the start of the next round of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, which, Wolf, are supposed to begin at the end of next month -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Andrea Koppel, thanks for that good report. Appreciate it very much. Very interesting.

An alleged former driver for Osama bin Laden today became the first detainee to appear before a military commission at the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti is joining us from the scene at Guantanamo Bay -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Wolf.

Yes, initially, there may have been some tension in the courtroom, but for much of the day, the defendant, before these historic proceedings, appeared relax. Yemen national Salim Ahmed Hamdan was smiling broadly as he was escorted into the courtroom and gave his attorney appointed by the military a warm handshake.

He then put on headphones to hear an interpreter. He appears a lot thinner now. Not surprisingly, he has probably lost a lot of weight since he arrived at Gitmo. He appeared a lot thinner than he does in photographs provided by his attorney. Now, Hamdan smiled again after the presiding officer read charges against him. He is accused of various acts of terrorism, conspiracy to murder civilians, destroy property.

So far, he has not been asked to enter a formal plea. However, in the past, he has denied that he is a terrorist. The Pentagon accuses him of being a former bodyguard and driver for Osama bin Laden.

Now, the family of another detainee, Australian David Hicks, also arrived in Guantanamo today. He is scheduled to appear before the commission tomorrow. Hicks is accused of fighting coalition forces. And among the observers here, various human rights organizations, who are very critical of these proceedings that the Pentagon insists will be fair -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Susan Candiotti reporting for us from Gitmo, the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Some human rights groups are raising objections to the Guantanamo tribunals.

CNN's Zain Verjee has been looking into that part of the story. She is joining us now live from the CNN Center in Atlanta -- Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, as Susan was just saying, the Bush administration says each of the defendants at the military tribunals will be given a fair trial in a way that also protects U.S. national security.

But human rights group say the government has gone about it the wrong way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE (voice-over): If American citizens were being tried like this in a foreign country, would it be acceptable to the American public? No, say international rights group, arguing, why should foreign nationals be subjected to military tribunals in Guantanamo Bay?

JUMANA MUSA, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: U.S. nationals who may have been picked up in the same circumstance in the same place doing the same things are subject to a different system of justice. And that violates principles in the international covenant.

VERJEE: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other groups say these trials are unfair, they have nothing to do with justice and have been set up only to convict defendants.

MICHAEL RATNER, CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: The president wrote the rules. The president selected the defendants. The president chose the prosecutors. The president or the Department of Justice chose the judges. And the only appeal is to the president.

VERJEE: The U.S. military says the trials are fair and it reminds critics why these men are there in the first place.

COL. DAVID MCWILLIAMS, U.S. ARMY: We still have an ongoing war and we still have a necessity to keep enemy combatants from returning to the battlefield to fight against the United States and its allies.

VERJEE: Moreover, the U.S. military says because these men are classified as enemy combatants, they have limited rights. Rights groups are skeptical of the enemy combatants designation, saying just because the U.S. military says they are doesn't mean they are. And the groups argue the U.S. military tribunals send the wrong message to countries around the world.

ERIC BIEL, HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST: We've told a number of countries over the years, friends and foes alike, countries like Turkey and Egypt and Peru, that it is important, even in the worst circumstances, not to depart from the rule of law.

VERJEE: Rights groups also say the way evidence in the trial has been obtained is unacceptable.

SAMAN ZARIFI, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: The introduction of evidence that has come out of torture has been barred under American law and under international law very clearly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: Now, in response to that, Wolf, the Pentagon says its policy is to treat all detainees in a humane manner. It also adds that those on trial can present their own evidence, call their own witnesses and they can appeal to a review panel if they want to -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Zain, as you know, these are the first such military trials of enemy combatants in 60 years, since World War II. Do these human rights groups who are critical of the way the U.S. government is dealing with this situation, do they have access to these actual tribunals?

VERJEE: Yes, they do. The U.S. military has asked the rights groups to come and monitor the tribunals. But the rights group say that they're concerned about the level of access that they're getting. They say, look, they can't get to key people like prosecution and defense attorneys, translators, military officials, the presiding officer there. So they say it makes monitoring a lot less meaningful if that kind of access isn't there -- Wolf.

BLITZER: CNN's Zain Verjee reporting on the story for us -- thank you, Zain, very much.

To our viewers, here is your chance to weigh in on this story. Our Web question of the day is this: Do you think trying Guantanamo Bay detainees before a military commission is just? You can vote right now. Go to CNN.com/Wolf. We'll have the results a little bit later.

Could the prosecution's star witness now take the stand for the defense? New developments in the Scott Peterson trial involving his former mistress Amber Frey.

California mystery. A new person of interest is named in the killings of two Christian camp counselors.

Plus, just a few weeks ago, she was brought home in a coma. Now this newlywed is awake and walking. Her remarkable, truly remarkable story, that's coming up.

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): A powerful typhoon packing wind gusts of more than 100 miles an hour pounded Taiwan. Schools, financial markets and businesses were closed and the domestic airport at the capital was shut down. The storm has killed five fishermen and two children in Japan.

Protests. An anti-government strike has shut down shops and schools and disrupted traffic across Bangladesh. Opposition parties called the strike after a weekend grenade attack at an opposition party rally killed 20 people. No one has claimed responsibility for that attack.

War remains. The bodies of three Austrian soldiers kill in World War I have been found frozen in an Italian alpine glacier. Their remains were discovered at an altitude of 12,000 feet. Historians studying the bodies believe the men were killed in a battle in September 1918.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're getting some breaking news about an airliner crash in Russia. A state-run news agency says a passenger jet carrying eight crew members, 34 passengers has crashed about 100 miles south of Moscow. The report says the plane took off from Moscow, was en route to Volgograd in southern Russia when it disappeared from radar.

Stay with CNN. We'll have more details of this as we get them.

Back in this country, Scott Peterson's former mistress Amber Frey was back on the stand today in Peterson's double murder trial. After the second straight day, the prosecution's star witness faced some tough questions from the defense attorney, Mark Geragos.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is live in Redwood City, California. He has more -- Ted.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Amber Frey is finished for now.

This morning, she was combative at times with Geragos, as he pressed her to answer certain questions. She would reply "I don't recall" to Geragos many times throughout the day. Geragos did get her to admit that Scott Peterson never actually aid "I love you" to her. Frey admitted that she was surprised that when she called Scott Peterson to end their relationship, he took it and said, that's a good idea. She said she was surprised by his lack of response to it.

She was hostile at times. All in all, many courtroom observers believe that she has been the strongest witness to date for the prosecution. After court today, Scott Peterson's sister said she testified to an affair and that is it. The defense has reserved the right to call Amber Frey back as a defense witness when they put on their case. But, for now, Wolf, she is done.

BLITZER: All right, Ted Rowlands with the latest on that case -- thanks very much, Ted, for that. Another mysterious case also in California involves the killing of two young Christian camp counselors. One man is being sought for questioning.

CNN's Brian Todd has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This beach, less than an hour's drive north of San Francisco, the starting point of a murder trail. Two young people engaged to be married, described by officials as Christian missionaries of a sort, killed in their sleeping bags, shot in the head at close range, their bodies discovered last Wednesday.

Authorities will not say if a weapon has been recovered. Nothing of value was disturbed at the scene, no sign of struggle or any kind of assault. And police say they don't believe 23-year-old Lindsay Cutshall or 26-year-old Jason Allen had enemies.

LT. DAVE EDMONDS, SONOMA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: What seems to be universally true is that everybody who met them liked them, had a natural affinity towards them.

TODD: But could this have been a hate crime? Sonoma County Sheriff's say they can't characterize it as that right now and are cagey over what could be their best lead.

EDMONDS: The suspect question keeps coming up. And it depends how you're defining suspect.

TODD: Among those sought for questioning, 21-year-old Nicholas Scarseth. Sonoma County sheriff's officials say they received information that a man with a similar appearance to Scarseth's was in the area of the beach in Jenner, California, during the time frame of the killings, Scarseth, a drifter with a history of alcohol problems, whose own mother gives conflicting accounts of his behavior.

KAREN SCARSETH, MOTHER: He doesn't have money. He doesn't have a gun. He's not violent. No, he's not like that. He gets along with everybody.

TODD: But she's quoted in "The Santa Rosa Press Democrat" newspaper saying Nicholas has anger towards those with religious conviction and -- quote -- "wouldn't be hanging out with Christian people. He brings up religion and politics to irritate people. He likes to stir people up."

Police in Scarseth's home town of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, tell CNN he is currently being sought on charges of disorderly conduct and retail theft. Our search of police records turned up an extensive history of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and underage drinking over the past four years. But police there tell CNN Scarseth has no record involving hate crimes.

Sonoma County sheriff's officials say they have more than two dozen investigators working this case to get what they call an insane, cold-blooded killer off the beaches and streets.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Newlyweds tested, a happy ending after a honeymoon tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH BERENDES, HUSBAND OF TARA BERENDES: I'm overjoyed just to see that smile again. And I just remember -- I didn't realize how wonderful it was until I got to see it again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A young bride awakes after several weeks in a coma. Her truly amazing recovery, that is coming up ahead.

Plus, Cinderella story, Iraq's dream team and its quest for gold.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Now the story of a California woman left in a coma after a head-on car crash during her honeymoon this summer. Doctors thought she might never regain consciousness. But, yesterday, she walked out of the hospital with her husband.

Stacey Hendler of our affiliate KGO picks up the story in San Jose.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STACEY HENDLER, KGO REPORTER (voice-over): No one knew quite how Tara Berendes would feel getting into a car for the first time after the horrific crash that put her in a coma for six weeks.

TARA BERENDES, CRASH VICTIM: The only thing I remember when I was getting better is my mom telling me to smile at Josh when I saw him, because he liked my smile so much and that would make his day.

HENDLER: Josh is Tara's husband. At the time of the accident, June 1, in Salt Lake City, the young couple was returning from their honeymoon. They had been married only 10 days.

JOHN EICHINGER, TARA'S FATHER: She had a torn diagram, lacerated spleen, lacerated kidney.

HENDLER: That was just a partial list of Tara's injuries. Still in a coma after one month, she was flown home to the Bay area where she began treatment at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center's renowned Brain Injury Rehabilitation Center. And then what everyone was hoping for, Tara began to wake up.

J. BERENDES: I'm overjoyed just to see that smile again. And I just remember -- I didn't realize how wonderful it was until I got to see it again.

HENDLER: When she left Utah, doctors thought she only had a 50 percent chance of any recovery.

DR. JEFFREY ENGLANDER, TARA'S DOCTOR: It's very hard to predict if it is going to be quick or a slow recovery. And sometimes you're lucky and things fall into place and sometimes it has to do with the amount of family support you have and what kind of person you are underneath.

HENDLER: In Tara's case, it was a combination of all of those things as she relearned how to walk and talk and remember, though she doesn't remember the accident or even her wedding day.

T. BERENDES: It's frustrating. But I can't really do anything about it. I'm just lucky to be alive right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: That was Stacey Hendler of our affiliate KGO.

We're getting some more information on a series of plane crashes, apparently two plane crashes now in Russia. We had reported one just a short time ago. But we're now getting word that there has been a second plane crash in Russia as well. The first plane crash we reported had 34 passengers, eight crew members in the Tula region. But now I'm just checking here. A second plane went down about 100 miles further south in southern Russia near Rostov-on-Don. No word yet on how many passengers or crew members on that plane.

We'll continue to monitor these plane crashes in Russia for our viewers. Very disturbing development.

We'll take a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Take a look at this. Remember, though, it is not a scientific poll.

If you plan to watch tonight's tape-delayed broadcast of the Olympics, you may want to mute the TV button for about a minute. That's because it is time for our look at today's highlights from Athens. American teams took a pair of medals in beach volleyball. Misty May and Kerri Walsh capped a dominant run, beating the Brazilian team for gold. The two didn't drop a single set in Athens. Earlier, Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs also won for the U.S., winning a bronze.

A miscue by the world record holder led to a surprising result at the women's 100-meter hurdles. American Joanna Hayes took gold in Olympic record time, this after a pre-race favorite, a Canadian, tripped and fell into a Russian runner one lane over, knocking both out of the race.

Iraqi soccer team's unlikely bid for gold came to an abrupt end today. They lost their semifinal match against Paraguay 3-1.

That's all the time we have today. Thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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