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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

New Effort Under Way to Establish New Iraqi Government; Can Schiavo's Parents Find Way to Prolong Terri's Life?

Aired March 25, 2005 - 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, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now here in Baghdad, a two- pronged effort under way to establish a new Iraqi government and to create a new Iraqi military.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Closer to death.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Terri is weakening. She's down to her last hours.

ANNOUNCER: Can Terri Schiavo's parents still find a way to prolong her life?

Political fallout.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I promise you, if she dies, there's going to be hell to pay.

ANNOUNCER: Could this case rip apart the Republican Party?

Blitzer in Baghdad. Wolf meets with troops and their top commander. And you'll hear from the leader of a destroyer squadron on guard in the Persian Gulf.

Cloak and dagger included:

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love figuring out codes and things like that.

ANNOUNCER: U.S. spy agencies hang out the "help wanted" sign. Do you qualify?

This is a special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS from the Persian Gulf.

Reporting from Baghdad, Wolf Blitzer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thanks very much for joining us. I'm here in Baghdad today, traveling with General John Abizaid, the head of the U.S. military's Central Command. We'll have a complete report of what's going on coming up this hour.

First though, let's go to the CNN Center in Atlanta. CNN's Miles O'Brien standing by with the latest on the Terri Schiavo case and the day's other news.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much, Wolf.

Her father says she's down to her last hours, but the battle over Terri Schiavo's life is escalating with a new front scheduled to open in just 30 minutes. That's when a state judge in Clearwater, Florida, will hold an emergency hearing on a new motion filed by Schiavo's parents.

They also have a new filing under consideration at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, which twice this week rejected their previous filings.

Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Florida Governor Jeb Bush to intervene. He says his hands are tied.

Let's begin at the epicenter of this life-and-death battle, the hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida, where Schiavo is in her seventh day now without food or water.

John Zarrella is there -- John?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, this has certainly been a very somber Good Friday here. This is the longest Terri Schiavo has ever been off the feeding tube. It was six days back in 2003, two days in 2001. And as her father has said, she is weakening quickly and may well be in her last hours of life, unless there is some intervention.

Now today, a group of protesters, nine in all, including three children -- two girls and one boy -- attempted, peacefully, to go into the hospice and deliver water to Terri Schiavo.

This has happened on several occasions over the past few days. All of these are prearranged with police so that there is no violence, no confrontation.

They were all arrested and by police policy here in Pinellas Park, even the children are handcuffed before they are taken away. That, again, very, very -- handled very calmly here.

And again, everything has remained calm here at the hospice throughout the last seven to eight days. No violent confrontations at all.

Now, the family of Terri Schiavo did go in and out of the hospice today to visit Terri. And again, they keep stating to us that her condition is weakening with every passing hour.

And you can certainly sense the mood amongst the family members. Bob Schindler, very haggard these last couple of days, very worn out. Mary Schindler, only when she has been here to see her daughter has she come out. She was home.

I talked to Bob Schindler a little while ago, and he told me that she is very, very depressed, very saddened, and she is in deep depression, basically, over what has befallen them the last few days that they have not been able to get any relief in the courts -- Miles?

O'BRIEN: John, I've got to say, as a parent, watching those kids being hauled away in handcuffs is a bit troubling. Have you had a chance to talk to the parents about their rationale for all this?

ZARRELLA: Well, in fact, one of the parents did say that -- it was the 10-year-old boy's parents saying that the son wanted to come down here from North Carolina, wanted to do this, and that's why they came and did it.

Now, there was another man in the crowd who expressed outrage that they would use children to do this, and said it's one thing for the adults to go in and do this, but that it was deplorable that these people would be allowing their children to be arrested and handcuffed, that it was just not right -- Miles?

O'BRIEN: I hope those records are expunged ultimately.

John Zarrella, thank you very much.

Meanwhile, a separate filing on different issues sits with the same federal court that twice this week refused to intervene in the Schiavo case.

CNN's Sara Dorsey is outside the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals here in Atlanta, waiting for a ruling from there -- Sara?

SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, I have in my hand the 50-page appeal filed by Bob and Mary Schindler, Terri Schiavo's parents, today. This is the second appeal -- the third, in fact -- that they have filed here.

The last two were turned down on Wednesday. This one came in this morning.

Now the Schindlers are now arguing three different points. They say that Terri Schiavo's right to due process, rather, has been violated, because there is a significant difference in the opinion regarding her physical state right now.

They also say that her religious rights have been violated because she is a Catholic, and the Catholic faith prohibits the termination of an incapacitated individual from having their feeding tube removed.

The Schindler's say if in fact Terri could talk, she would side with that of her religion and not have the tube taken out.

Also, they say, because of the Disabilities Act and the Rehab Act, her rights under that category have also been violated. So we will see exactly what the court is going to do. Michael Schiavo has until 5:00 tonight for his lawyers to come in and make a response to the court.

And then we hear, after that, we will be hearing some sort of answer from this court, but it is not likely they will change their mind following Wednesday's appeal -- Miles?

O'BRIEN: Sara Dorsey in Atlanta, thank you very much.

Yet another legal front we're watching this Good Friday evening on this case, Clearwater, Florida, where an emergency hearing is scheduled to begin at the bottom of the hour on yet another motion filed by Terri Schiavo's parents and their attorneys.

CNN's Randi Kaye just arrived on the scene.

Randi, what can you tell us?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, as you said, it is an emergency hearing. It's scheduled to start in about 20 minutes.

This is a motion filed by Bob and Mary Schindler. It was filed today. A hearing is going to take place here in the sixth judicial district here.

Judge George Greer from the Florida state court will be a part of that hearing. It will be held by teleconference.

Also a part of that hearing will be the attorneys for both sides, both the Schindlers and Michael Schiavo.

And you may remember that it is Judge George Greer who made the initial ruling to disconnect Terri Schiavo's feeding tube last Friday.

So I just had a first look at that motion that was filed today. It does not seem to be much -- much of it does not seem to be very new. It's a motion for relief from judgment based upon the incapacitated articulation of end-of-life wishes.

And we have seen quite a bit of this before. It mentions the court having received the affidavit from Dr. William Polk Cheshire from the Mayo Clinic, which had indicated that Terri Schiavo is much more cognitive than was previously determined. It also has the information from the Barbara Weller from the Gibbs law firm, who is representing the Schindlers, her attempt to get Terri Schiavo to articulate "I want to live." That is also in here as well.

The family trying to prove to this judge that Terri Schiavo has a will to live. Based on what Michael Schiavo has been saying was that if she has to live like this, she did not want to go on.

So that hearing, once again, starts in about 20 minutes. And it is a hearing held by teleconference here in Clearwater at the Sixth Judicial District Court.

We'll have the very latest for you right after -- Miles?

O'BRIEN: All right, CNN's Randi Kaye in Clearwater. Thank you much.

Meanwhile, Christian activists are increasing pressure on Florida Governor Jeb Bush to intervene to keep Schiavo alive.

CNN's Ed Henry outside the capitol in Tallahassee, scene of an ongoing prayer vigil.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Since Governor Bush is Catholic, protesters are using the fact that today is Good Friday to urge him to show mercy and save the life of Terri Schiavo.

There is also a strong religious theme as a small group of protesters spent the morning at the governor's mansion praying and holding signs like "Don't be a Pontius Pilate."

They were led by the Reverend Patrick Mahoney (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor Bush, please act.

Did you see that, brothers and sisters? They're watering the plants at the governor's mansion while Terri is being dehydrated.

Governor Bush, please act. We respect you, sir. Please act on behalf of Terri.

If you care enough for the plants in your yard, will you not please care for Terri Schiavo?

HENRY: The governor, who has suggested that he will not take drastic action, was not at home during this protest. Instead, he spent most of the day in his office behind me here at state capitol.

An aide said Mr. Bush was deeply disappointed by the latest judicial setbacks. But in the words of this aide, he's a man of deep and abiding faith who's described as hopeful that the appeals process will work.

Ed Henry, CNN, Tallahassee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Seven days now without a feeding tube. Now an emergency hearing scheduled this hour in Florida on the Terri Schiavo case.

We'll return to Pinellas Park to hear from family members next as well.

Protests and politics, the fallout from this bitter fight over life and death. Plus more from Blitzer in Baghdad. Wolf traveling in Iraq with the head of the U.S. military Central Command, General John Abizaid. We'll join them on their tour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: More now on the Terri Schiavo case. Christopher and Jennifer Blake are cousins of Terri Schiavo. They join us from Pinellas Park, Florida, to talk about the general mood of the family the legal case that lies ahead.

Christopher, Jennifer, thanks for being with us.

CHRISTOPHER BLAKE, TERRI SCHIAVO'S COUSIN: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: I understand you spoke within the past few hours to Bob Schindler, the father of Terri. Tell me what the conversation was like and what the gentleman mood is?

C. BLAKE: We just talked about what's going on right now and the steps that they have left to save Terri. And then Bob was -- is exhausted. He went back to take a rest and be with our Aunt Mary Lee (ph).

O'BRIEN: I can imagine he must be exhausted. And yet he is, obviously, a very determined person -- based on how well you know your uncle.

C. BLAKE: Yes, very resilient.

O'BRIEN: And how well you know your uncle. Clearly he's going to keep pursuing every legal avenue until the bitter end?

JENNIFER BLAKE, TERRI SCHIAVO'S COUSIN: Yes.

C. BLAKE: Oh, yes. Yes, it's not over by any means for the family. They're going to keep going.

O'BRIEN: Jennifer, you have any insights on Bob Schindler and his approach to all this?

J. BLAKE: Yes. They're not going to give up. They have unbelievable will power and strength and determination and they will not give up on their daughter for one second. I don't know where they get all their energy from, but they're holding on strong and not giving up.

O'BRIEN: A lot of people watching it from outside see them going back to the same courthouses and the same judges time and again. They scratch their head and wonder what keeps them going?

J. BLAKE: Their faith and their love for their daughter.

C. BLAKE: Yes. I mean, this is -- their daughter is being starved to death. I think that would keep any parent strong and to keep them going to keep her alive. O'BRIEN: You have been there at the hospice fairly frequently over the past week or so?

J. BLAKE: Yes.

C. BLAKE: Yes, we've been back here on and off for the last two weeks.

O'BRIEN: What's that been like.

J. BLAKE: It's very hard to sit and watch and want to be in there with her, and we can't be in there with her right now. Michael has restrictions on who can go in and see her, and we're not allowed to go in and see her. So we stay outside with the family outside the hospice, so it's very hard.

C. BLAKE: He's playing games with, you know, Mary and Bob, and Bobby and Suzy (ph). They can't see Terri whenever they want. They have to go through his sort of gauntlet. He's calling the shots unfortunately.

O'BRIEN: And have you tried to get on that list of people who could see Terri?

C. BLAKE: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. I want to see her. This is wrong. I mean, it's wrong. I mean, we should be able to be with her.

J. BLAKE: She would want her whole family there with her.

O'BRIEN: You haven't seen her for eight years now, since the whole court battle started.

J. BLAKE: Correct.

O'BRIEN: I'm curious thought, in all this discussion, we don't often talk about what Terri was like as a person. What are your fond memories of Terri?

J. BLAKE: Great, fun loving person, always laughing. She was just always laughing, loved life. Just enjoyed...

C. BLAKE: Yes, she had a great laugh.

J. BLAKE And family person. She was very close with her family. They were a strong knit close family.

C. BLAKE: If anybody could just spend five minutes with Terri, they would be here trying to keep her alive. She was -- she is a wonderful person, and this is sad.

O'BRIEN: She has become the focus of global attention.

C. BLAKE: yes.

O'BRIEN: If she could say anything about that today, what do you think she'd say? J. BLAKE: She wouldn't like all of this attention around her, and would not understand why this is going on, and not letting her family be able to help her and be with her. This would make her sad.

C. BLAKE: It'd make her sad, but she'd also...

O'BRIEN: Are you convinced that she would want, knowing as you knew her, as such a fun loving, full of life person. Are you convinced she'd want to continue on as she is now?

C. BLAKE: Yes, with her family, definitely.

J. BLAKE: She would want to know that every action was taken to help her and that has not happened. She hasn't had the physical therapy and the care that she would wanted and need, and that her family has wanted her to problems, and she would want that.

C. BLAKE: Yes, she's a fighter, and she would want this to be fought to the end, but she'd want to be with her family fighting it. And she's in there fighting for her life right now. She's still alive, and she's going to be quite some time -- I hope.

O'BRIEN: Christopher, and Jennifer Blake, thank you for joining us in what is a very troubling time for your family. And we wish you well.

C. BLAKE: Well, thank you, sir. Thank you very much.

J. BLAKE: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: You're welcome.

An emergency hearing just minutes away. Can a state court stave off death for Terri Schiavo?

A crisis for conservatives, fallout from the Schiavo case.

And the future of the Republican Party.

And Blitzer in Baghdad, Wolf is with a top U.S. commander. He'll fill us in on the latest from Iraq.

Spies like you? America's intelligence agencies are looking for help. Do you have what it takes?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is a special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. Reporting from Baghdad, once again, Wolf Blitzer.

BLITZER: Welcome back. You know you're not on a normal flight when you hear the pilot say this, "we've just entered a combat zone. Please take your seats and fasten your seat belts."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BLITZER (voice-over): Maybe one day flights to Iraq will be routine events, but that's certainly not the case now. The continuing insurgency explains why. On this military transport plane, the head of the U.S. military Central Command, General John Abizaid. I'm traveling with him on this visit to Iraq.

Security is paramount.

(on camera): We're aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 military transport plane. It's huge, very sophisticated. Normally when General Abizaid flies, he flies at a much more comfortable executive kind of jet. But this isn't a normal kind of flight. We're flying into Baghdad, and you need all the air defense systems you can find.

(voice-over): The troops aboard the two-hour flight from Qatar represent all four branches of the U.S. military. Several of them use the flight to catch up on a little sleep or a little work.

They're prepared for combat, and despite the fact that many of them are combat veterans, and perhaps because of that, they seem a bit edgy.

I spot one big soldier offering a little prayer before our huge plane lands.

Baghdad is a large and jittery city.

(on camera): We're in the western part of Baghdad right now. This is an area where Saddam Hussein built some palaces, had some hunting facilities, all sorts of activities going on. If you didn't know there were insurgents out there, presumably all around us someplace, you'd think this is a lovely day in a beautiful city in this part of the world.

(voice-over): The spate of car bombings, rocket attacks and improvised explosive devices has created a constant sense of fear. But the January 30th election has inspired many to think of an emerging new Iraq, one that aspires to democracy and stability.

U.S. troops insist they're happy to be here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel good, I feel really good, I'm doing something for my country.

BLITZER: U.S. Army Major Joe Giblan is a lawyer from Staten island, New York. His decision to volunteer for active duty was personal.

MAJ. JOE GIBLAN, U.S. ARMY: It's not as dangerous as it would be in Manhattan on September 11th. I took it personally, as a New York resident, and I wanted to do everything I could to support the effort to keep this an away game.

BLITZER: During several conversation with troops, I hear repeatedly that things are getting better, even if they can't easily leave their bases to drive into Baghdad or around the country. It's simply too dangerous.

After arriving in Baghdad, it's clear the U.S. military has priority number one: Train the Iraqi military to take over.

More news from Baghdad coming up. First though, let's go back to CNN's Miles O'Brien.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Wolf. An emergency hearing scheduled in Clearwater, Florida, set to begin in just a few minutes on the motion filed by the parents of Terri Schiavo. We'll bring you the latest developments.

Plus, the politics surrounding the Schiavo case. Is the right to die issue causing a rift within the Republican Party?

And later, more from Wolf in Baghdad. Hear from some of the troops and a top commander.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back. I'm Miles O'Brien. We'll hear more from Wolf Blitzer in Iraq in a moment. Also ahead, an emergency hearing set to begin any moment now. New developments in the case that is capturing the country's attention.

But first, a quick check of other stories now in the news for you.

Bush administration has agreed to sell two dozen F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. CNN U.S. officials link the proposed sale to Pakistan's cooperation since the 9/11 terror attacks.

President Bush today broke the news to India's prime minister, and officials say the U.S. will also strengthen security ties with that nation.

An ailing pope John Paul II missed Good Friday services for the first time in his papacy today, but worshipers gathered for the Way of the Cross procession, saw the pope on video. The pontiff was shown sitting alone in a private chapel watching the ceremony on television. The pope was last seen in public on Wednesday, when he waved to pilgrims from a Vatican window.

Now, the latest on the Terri Schiavo legal case. A challenge getting under way right now. A state judge in Clearwater, Florida has scheduled an emergency hearing on a new motion filed by the Schiavo's parents. They also have a new filing under consideration at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, which twice this week rejected their previous filing.

Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Florida Governor Jeb Bush to intervene. He says his hands are tied.

The Schiavo case is a story about medicine, about courts, about religion, and about politics. The controversy has touched off considerable political debate, not just between Democrats and Republicans, but inside the Republican Party itself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDALL TERRY, SCHINDLER FAMILY SPOKESMAN: You can bet that there will be people that might just lose their job after this is over.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): It was a loud warning shot, fired by a longtime anti-abortion activist fighting to get Terri Schiavo reconnected to her feeding tube.

TERRY: I promise you, if she dies, there is going to be hell to pay with the pro-life, pro-family Republican people of various legislative levels, statewide and federal-wide, who have used pro- life, pro-family conservative rhetoric to get into power, and then when they have that power, they refuse to use it.

O'BRIEN: For years, the Republican Party has thrived as a coalition of free market conservatives who stress economic issues like tax cuts and other Republicans who are social conservatives, more interested in issues like outlawing abortion and allowing prayer in schools.

Sometimes, it's been a strained relationship. When anti-abortion activists hold their annual rally protesting the Roe vs. Wade decision, Republican presidents voice their support, but only by phone, never in person. Last year, however, social conservatives were widely credited with giving President Bush the edge he needed to win reelection. So, when Florida courts give Michael Schiavo permission to disconnect his wife's feeding tube, many social conservatives thought it was time to flex their political muscle. They called on Republican congressional leaders to intercede in the Schiavo case.

PAT ROBERTSON, AUTHOR, "COURTING DISASTER": Congress does have the right to look out for the lives of the citizens of this country.

O'BRIEN: GOP leaders took up the cause and Congress passed legislation letting federal courts intervene and in what up to that point had been a state matter.

REP. TOM DELAY (R-TX), MAJORITY LEADER: The legal and political issues may be complicated, but the moral ones are not.

O'BRIEN: Critics say the move violated a core conservative value, limited federal government.

DAVID BOAZ, CATO INSTITUTE: This is a classic example of something that should have been left in the state courts.

O'BRIEN: But if some free market conservatives were unhappy with Republican congressional leaders for passing the measure, some social conservatives were unhappy about the lack of follow-through.

Randall Terry hinted that the vote in Congress may have been mere political posturing designed to make social conservatives think their views were being respected. TERRY: The United States Congress issued subpoenas and then didn't enforce them.

O'BRIEN: White House spokesman Scott McClellan has defended Washington's response, saying, "There really are not other legal options available to us."

Is the Schiavo controversy the beginning of a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party or just a temporary disagreement among friends? As governor of Florida, President Bush's brother Jeb has played a prominent role in the Schiavo battle and he may seek the 2008 GOP presidential nomination. If that happens, Republicans may be debating the Schiavo case for a long time to come, some saying their party did too much, others arguing their party did too little.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

All right, it's that time.

Joining us now from Mountain View, California, with his take on the political impact of Schiavo case, CNN political analyst Carlos Watson.

Carlos, good to see you.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to see you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, what will the fallout be?

WATSON: Well, I think, in the short term, you'll see a couple things.

Clearly, you'll see more conversation about right-to-die cases. Remember, the Supreme Court has an assisted suicide case, which is different, but part of the same family, coming up. So, this area of conversation won't end. But I think two other pretty important short- term things will happen.

One, Congress will see it during the recess in their town hall meetings, and I think there will be a loss of credibility, even as it relates to other issues like Social Security. And that hurts the Republican agenda in the short term.

But, two, I think some individuals, whether it's Jeb Bush, as you mentioned, or, on the Democratic side, some of the members of Congress from Florida, like Robert Wexler and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, I think, actually, you'll see their individual standing rise to the extent that they're perceived as people who are authentic in their conviction on one side or another.

Remember, for Ronald Reagan, that always worked. Even when people disagreed with his stand, they thought that he meant what he said and that it came from a place of genuine feeling.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Things that are genuine in politics are kind of rare, unfortunately.

Let's talk about the long-term impacts.

WATSON: I think there are two tough questions that we're going to hear more of. One, Miles, you saw that what we began to hear in the Schiavo case was complex science.

You saw people like Bill Frist and others start to talk about vegetative state and other questions. We're going to see more of that in days and years to come in Congress. And the question is, how does Congress deal with this? Do they deal with it the way they dealt with civil rights questions in the '60s, meaning they were very hands-on and Congress dealt with it itself? Do they deal with it the way they dealt with base closures, which means, they actually use commissions?

Or do they farm it out to agencies, whether that is the FDA or others, to deal with that? I think that it is one. The other is, what happens to New England Republicans? This is the kind of lightning rod, tip-the-balance-of-the-scale issues that could made it difficult like Lincoln Chafee in Rhode Island, a very moderate Republican, to survive. He may see a very aggressive challenge by a Democrat in '06 who says, even if Chafee is not a bad guy, he's aligned with the Republican Party, a party that you disagree with as a whole, you very blue state Rhode Island. So, look to see what happens to New England Republicans after this.

O'BRIEN: What's the chance, Carlos, that, as the religious right presses these issues, that they might overreach and there will be some sort of backlash?

WATSON: You know, I think there's a chance that will happen. But, also, you're starting to see people back off. And, in political terms, they're fortunate that the recess is here, the congressional recess, and they have got time to step away from it and hear individually from their constituents.

O'BRIEN: Carlos Watson with "The Inside Edge," thank you very much, sir. Appreciate it.

An emergency hearing happening now in Clearwater, Florida, on a motion filed by the parents of Terri Schiavo. We'll bring you the latest, of course, live pictures of the courthouse there.

Plus sailing on guard in the Persian Gulf. Wolf speaks with the commander of a destroyer squadron there. Behind the scenes of Wolf's Middle East blitz. Hear from some of the troops he met.

And help wanted. The nation's top intelligence agency is looking for a few good men and women. Do you qualify for the job?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is a special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

Reporting from Baghdad once again, Wolf Blitzer. BLITZER: Before arriving here in Baghdad, I had a chance to go out in the Persian Gulf aboard the USS Carl Vinson, the aircraft carrier. While on board, I spoke with the commodore.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Joining us now, Captain Pete Gumataotao. He is the commodore of this ship.

What exactly is the commodore?

CAPT. PETE GUMATAOTAO, U.S. NAVY: The commodore, sir, is the person in charge of a bunch of ships, surface ships.

BLITZER: We hear some planes taking off.

GUMATAOTAO: You hear the airplanes coming around.

But the carrier goes, then we have air -- ships that go along with her. And so, you have to have somebody in charge of those ships, moving them around in the ocean. And that's basically what I do.

BLITZER: So, you're part of the strike group, the entire fleet, if you will, of the battle -- we used to call it the battle group, right?

GUMATAOTAO: Right. It was battle groups when we had six or seven surface ships. And now we call them strike groups, because they're more mobile, more flexible. And you're looking at three surface ships that go with the carrier, for example.

BLITZER: In the old days, you would have the aircraft carrier with the aviation, with the fighter jets and all of that. The other planes were basically designed to secure -- to make sure no one could get close to the aircraft carrier. Is that still the basic understanding, the basic mission?

GUMATAOTAO: It's still the basic premise, sir.

In fact, you quantified it in a perfect way. You have aircraft here that can reach out hundreds of miles and then you also still have to worry about the area around the carrier, which we refer to fondly as the high-value unit. And so you have to have aircraft that go around within the vicinity to see what's around you. And that's the aircraft that I control, with -- along with the ships, to establish a maritime picture around the carrier.

BLITZER: So, what is the maritime picture right now, where we are, the threat environment, shall we say? What's going on?

GUMATAOTAO: The maritime picture is very busy, first of all. And then the threat, the threat is limited to the terrorist threat, because, as you know, the regional nations around here have been extremely cooperative.

And so, what we do is, we monitor it and we just look at the patterns of the ships and who's out here. There's a lot of countries with their navies out here. So, the threat is not those countries or their militaries. The threat is more the asymmetric threat, which is, you don't see a military ship coming over there. It could be anything as innocent and as the dhow that came across the USS Cole, which wasn't innocent, of course. So, that's the type of things that we're looking that come around a little bubble around the carrier.

BLITZER: And that incident with the USS Cole is certainly very high on your mind.

GUMATAOTAO: Absolutely.

And, in fact, I remind my sailors a lot that this isn't just a regular day working out in Southern California, where you're cutting circles in the water, and this is a place where there's a potential, obviously, where things like what happened to the Cole might happen. So, we must always keep our guard. And that's the focus with the watch when we do that, is to maintain the guard.

BLITZER: You're from Guam.

GUMATAOTAO: Where America's day begins, I might add.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Well, we all remember that. How did you make this decision to make a career in the U.S. Navy?

GUMATAOTAO: It was fairly spontaneous.

And what it was is that I had an offer to go to the United States Naval Academy. And being in Guam, saying I don't know if I will ever have a chance to go to the East Coast, I jumped on it. I jumped on it for the pure pleasure of going to the mainland and to go and see what the United States was like on the other side. And it was great. It was a great trip.

BLITZER: And so your family is still in Guam?

GUMATAOTAO: Most of my immediate family are in Guam. But my wife and my two kids are in Hawaii. So, it's just like Guam, just as beautiful as Guam. So, we're enjoying the duty station in Hawaii.

BLITZER: Well, good luck to you.

GUMATAOTAO: Thanks a lot. Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks, Captain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The commodore, Captain Pete Gumataotao, aboard the USS Carl Vinson. More from Miles O'Brien. He's standing by in Atlanta.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Wolf.

An emergency hearing happening now in Clearwater on behalf of Terri Schiavo, we'll bring you the latest on that.

And then recruiting spies, it's a job fair like no other when the CIA hangs out the help wanted sign.

And inside access, new images from Wolf's travels in the Persian Gulf. We'll hear from him in Baghdad again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: In our "Security Watch" now, do you speak several languages? Are really good at puzzles? Well, U.S. spy agencies are hanging out help wanted sign us and you just might qualify.

Our national security correspondent David Ensor reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies are on the biggest hiring binge in 50 years with an appeal to patriotism and a touch of Hollywood glamour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)

JENNIFER GARNER, ACTRESS: It's a lifelong opportunity to make a difference by protecting America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: They're dipping into the American melting pot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I analyze and decipher security threats. I am an intelligence analyst with today's FBI.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: At a National Security Agency job fair in Georgia, the nation's eavesdropper and codemaker is looking for a few good linguists, computer scientists, mathematicians to spy on foreigners and crack codes.

COL. ROB CARR, NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY: See the world and make a difference.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I speak six languages, and I was hoping -- I love figuring out codes and things like that.

ENSOR: Professional translator Rosy Martin (ph) of Michigan says she speaks French, German, Spanish, Russian and Arabic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it's the biggest intelligence agency, and I like the field it has to offer and the benefits it has for my languages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NARRATOR: The challenge has never been greater. The stakes have never been higher.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: She likes the appeal to patriotism and she's not put off by the polygraph she'll have to take or the secrecy vows.

CARR: You will certainly receive the appropriate training as you come in, so that you're very comfortable and very clear on what you can tell your family and what you can't tell your family.

ENSOR: The NSA wants to hire 1,500 people per year for the next five years. The CIA is trying to increase its number of spies and analysts by 50 percent, and staff speaking mission critical languages by 50 percent as well. Their current staff numbers are classified.

The other intelligence agencies at this Washington job fair are all looking to grow in the post-9/11 world, all competing for the best talent. But they can afford to be picky.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We get basically almost 1,000 applications every day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my goodness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh. There's like 50,000.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll bet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For every 50,000 applicants, there's one hiree.

ENSOR: And while the agencies want diversity in languages, they're extremely cautious. Iranian-American student Sanaz Sayfi might seem an perfect candidate with her perfect Farsi.

SANAZ SAYFI, STUDENT: Most of the intelligence jobs want you to be only American. And I'm a dual citizen. So...

ENSOR (on camera): What's your other citizenship?

SAYFI: I'm Iranian.

ENSOR: So do you speak Farsi?

SAYFI: Fluently.

ENSOR: They're looking for that.

SAYFI: Yes, I thought that they would, but I guess that you should only be -- you should be an American who speaks Farsi and not an Iranian who speaks Farsi.

ENSOR: And you wouldn't want to give that second citizenship? SAYFI: No.

ENSOR: No.

(voice-over): As for Rosy Martin of Michigan, will she get a job at the NSA? It's looking good.

JOHN TAFLAN, NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY: Speaks six languages now, wants to learn more languages, says she learns languages easily.

ENSOR: And that's exactly what they want.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Behind the scenes of Wolf's Mideast blitz. More from Baghdad next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED")

JOHN WALSH, HOST: Welcome to "America's Most Wanted."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): He's best known as the driven host of America's most wanted. John Walsh began his mission to track down criminals after being a victim himself. Walsh's 6-year-old son, Adam, disappeared from a Florida shopping mall in 1981.

WALSH: He's our only child. He's a beautiful little boy. And we just want him back.

How many of our children are missing?

HEMMER: John Walsh turned the grief over the abduction and murder of his son into a purpose.

WALSH: With 1.8 million children missing, it's damn time somebody did something about it besides me.

HEMMER: Walsh's congressional testimony and public pressure helped establish the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children. "America's Most Wanted," the fifth longest running TV show in history, has helped capture hundreds of fugitives around the world.

WALSH: I didn't want to be on television, didn't want to hunt men down. But you know what? My wife always said, said it to me. Let's make sure Adam didn't die in vain.

HEMMER: Walsh has two children now in college and he's currently pushing for a crime victims rights amendment to the Constitution and still clutching for justice on behalf of his lost son.

WALSH: I don't have any closure. My son was murdered. I say that I have a deep wound that scabs sometime and something will break it open and it will bleed. But it never heals.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is (INAUDIBLE) Martinez. I'm from Whittier, California. And I just want to say hi to my baby girls back home. I miss you and my husband.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mom, as you can, I'm well. I'm safe. I'll be home sometime in August.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is William Nelson. I'm on board the Bonhomme Richard. I'm from San Diego. And I just want to say hi to my wife, Vicky (ph), and my three children, Ryan (ph), Robby (ph) and Sarah (ph), that are there in San Diego. See you all soon. Love you and miss you much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, my name is Denise Cohen (ph). I'm from Rock Springs (INAUDIBLE) I want to say hello to my family back home and also to my husband, Travis and my daughter (INAUDIBLE) Hi. I love you guys. And I'll be home soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We've been on the road now here in the Persian Gulf for about a week. During this time, we've looked into the faces of a lot of U.S. men and women in the military, both on land and at sea.

Our Washington bureau chief, David Bohrman, he is traveling with us. He took this photographic "Reporter's Notebook."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We'll have much more coverage coming up Sunday on "LATE EDITION," the last word in Sunday talk. Among my guests, the head of the U.S. military Central Command, General John Abizaid. That's Sunday, noon Eastern.

Until then, thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Baghdad. "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 March 25, 2005 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now here in Baghdad, a two- pronged effort under way to establish a new Iraqi government and to create a new Iraqi military.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Closer to death.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Terri is weakening. She's down to her last hours.

ANNOUNCER: Can Terri Schiavo's parents still find a way to prolong her life?

Political fallout.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I promise you, if she dies, there's going to be hell to pay.

ANNOUNCER: Could this case rip apart the Republican Party?

Blitzer in Baghdad. Wolf meets with troops and their top commander. And you'll hear from the leader of a destroyer squadron on guard in the Persian Gulf.

Cloak and dagger included:

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love figuring out codes and things like that.

ANNOUNCER: U.S. spy agencies hang out the "help wanted" sign. Do you qualify?

This is a special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS from the Persian Gulf.

Reporting from Baghdad, Wolf Blitzer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thanks very much for joining us. I'm here in Baghdad today, traveling with General John Abizaid, the head of the U.S. military's Central Command. We'll have a complete report of what's going on coming up this hour.

First though, let's go to the CNN Center in Atlanta. CNN's Miles O'Brien standing by with the latest on the Terri Schiavo case and the day's other news.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much, Wolf.

Her father says she's down to her last hours, but the battle over Terri Schiavo's life is escalating with a new front scheduled to open in just 30 minutes. That's when a state judge in Clearwater, Florida, will hold an emergency hearing on a new motion filed by Schiavo's parents.

They also have a new filing under consideration at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, which twice this week rejected their previous filings.

Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Florida Governor Jeb Bush to intervene. He says his hands are tied.

Let's begin at the epicenter of this life-and-death battle, the hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida, where Schiavo is in her seventh day now without food or water.

John Zarrella is there -- John?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, this has certainly been a very somber Good Friday here. This is the longest Terri Schiavo has ever been off the feeding tube. It was six days back in 2003, two days in 2001. And as her father has said, she is weakening quickly and may well be in her last hours of life, unless there is some intervention.

Now today, a group of protesters, nine in all, including three children -- two girls and one boy -- attempted, peacefully, to go into the hospice and deliver water to Terri Schiavo.

This has happened on several occasions over the past few days. All of these are prearranged with police so that there is no violence, no confrontation.

They were all arrested and by police policy here in Pinellas Park, even the children are handcuffed before they are taken away. That, again, very, very -- handled very calmly here.

And again, everything has remained calm here at the hospice throughout the last seven to eight days. No violent confrontations at all.

Now, the family of Terri Schiavo did go in and out of the hospice today to visit Terri. And again, they keep stating to us that her condition is weakening with every passing hour.

And you can certainly sense the mood amongst the family members. Bob Schindler, very haggard these last couple of days, very worn out. Mary Schindler, only when she has been here to see her daughter has she come out. She was home.

I talked to Bob Schindler a little while ago, and he told me that she is very, very depressed, very saddened, and she is in deep depression, basically, over what has befallen them the last few days that they have not been able to get any relief in the courts -- Miles?

O'BRIEN: John, I've got to say, as a parent, watching those kids being hauled away in handcuffs is a bit troubling. Have you had a chance to talk to the parents about their rationale for all this?

ZARRELLA: Well, in fact, one of the parents did say that -- it was the 10-year-old boy's parents saying that the son wanted to come down here from North Carolina, wanted to do this, and that's why they came and did it.

Now, there was another man in the crowd who expressed outrage that they would use children to do this, and said it's one thing for the adults to go in and do this, but that it was deplorable that these people would be allowing their children to be arrested and handcuffed, that it was just not right -- Miles?

O'BRIEN: I hope those records are expunged ultimately.

John Zarrella, thank you very much.

Meanwhile, a separate filing on different issues sits with the same federal court that twice this week refused to intervene in the Schiavo case.

CNN's Sara Dorsey is outside the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals here in Atlanta, waiting for a ruling from there -- Sara?

SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, I have in my hand the 50-page appeal filed by Bob and Mary Schindler, Terri Schiavo's parents, today. This is the second appeal -- the third, in fact -- that they have filed here.

The last two were turned down on Wednesday. This one came in this morning.

Now the Schindlers are now arguing three different points. They say that Terri Schiavo's right to due process, rather, has been violated, because there is a significant difference in the opinion regarding her physical state right now.

They also say that her religious rights have been violated because she is a Catholic, and the Catholic faith prohibits the termination of an incapacitated individual from having their feeding tube removed.

The Schindler's say if in fact Terri could talk, she would side with that of her religion and not have the tube taken out.

Also, they say, because of the Disabilities Act and the Rehab Act, her rights under that category have also been violated. So we will see exactly what the court is going to do. Michael Schiavo has until 5:00 tonight for his lawyers to come in and make a response to the court.

And then we hear, after that, we will be hearing some sort of answer from this court, but it is not likely they will change their mind following Wednesday's appeal -- Miles?

O'BRIEN: Sara Dorsey in Atlanta, thank you very much.

Yet another legal front we're watching this Good Friday evening on this case, Clearwater, Florida, where an emergency hearing is scheduled to begin at the bottom of the hour on yet another motion filed by Terri Schiavo's parents and their attorneys.

CNN's Randi Kaye just arrived on the scene.

Randi, what can you tell us?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, as you said, it is an emergency hearing. It's scheduled to start in about 20 minutes.

This is a motion filed by Bob and Mary Schindler. It was filed today. A hearing is going to take place here in the sixth judicial district here.

Judge George Greer from the Florida state court will be a part of that hearing. It will be held by teleconference.

Also a part of that hearing will be the attorneys for both sides, both the Schindlers and Michael Schiavo.

And you may remember that it is Judge George Greer who made the initial ruling to disconnect Terri Schiavo's feeding tube last Friday.

So I just had a first look at that motion that was filed today. It does not seem to be much -- much of it does not seem to be very new. It's a motion for relief from judgment based upon the incapacitated articulation of end-of-life wishes.

And we have seen quite a bit of this before. It mentions the court having received the affidavit from Dr. William Polk Cheshire from the Mayo Clinic, which had indicated that Terri Schiavo is much more cognitive than was previously determined. It also has the information from the Barbara Weller from the Gibbs law firm, who is representing the Schindlers, her attempt to get Terri Schiavo to articulate "I want to live." That is also in here as well.

The family trying to prove to this judge that Terri Schiavo has a will to live. Based on what Michael Schiavo has been saying was that if she has to live like this, she did not want to go on.

So that hearing, once again, starts in about 20 minutes. And it is a hearing held by teleconference here in Clearwater at the Sixth Judicial District Court.

We'll have the very latest for you right after -- Miles?

O'BRIEN: All right, CNN's Randi Kaye in Clearwater. Thank you much.

Meanwhile, Christian activists are increasing pressure on Florida Governor Jeb Bush to intervene to keep Schiavo alive.

CNN's Ed Henry outside the capitol in Tallahassee, scene of an ongoing prayer vigil.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Since Governor Bush is Catholic, protesters are using the fact that today is Good Friday to urge him to show mercy and save the life of Terri Schiavo.

There is also a strong religious theme as a small group of protesters spent the morning at the governor's mansion praying and holding signs like "Don't be a Pontius Pilate."

They were led by the Reverend Patrick Mahoney (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor Bush, please act.

Did you see that, brothers and sisters? They're watering the plants at the governor's mansion while Terri is being dehydrated.

Governor Bush, please act. We respect you, sir. Please act on behalf of Terri.

If you care enough for the plants in your yard, will you not please care for Terri Schiavo?

HENRY: The governor, who has suggested that he will not take drastic action, was not at home during this protest. Instead, he spent most of the day in his office behind me here at state capitol.

An aide said Mr. Bush was deeply disappointed by the latest judicial setbacks. But in the words of this aide, he's a man of deep and abiding faith who's described as hopeful that the appeals process will work.

Ed Henry, CNN, Tallahassee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Seven days now without a feeding tube. Now an emergency hearing scheduled this hour in Florida on the Terri Schiavo case.

We'll return to Pinellas Park to hear from family members next as well.

Protests and politics, the fallout from this bitter fight over life and death. Plus more from Blitzer in Baghdad. Wolf traveling in Iraq with the head of the U.S. military Central Command, General John Abizaid. We'll join them on their tour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: More now on the Terri Schiavo case. Christopher and Jennifer Blake are cousins of Terri Schiavo. They join us from Pinellas Park, Florida, to talk about the general mood of the family the legal case that lies ahead.

Christopher, Jennifer, thanks for being with us.

CHRISTOPHER BLAKE, TERRI SCHIAVO'S COUSIN: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: I understand you spoke within the past few hours to Bob Schindler, the father of Terri. Tell me what the conversation was like and what the gentleman mood is?

C. BLAKE: We just talked about what's going on right now and the steps that they have left to save Terri. And then Bob was -- is exhausted. He went back to take a rest and be with our Aunt Mary Lee (ph).

O'BRIEN: I can imagine he must be exhausted. And yet he is, obviously, a very determined person -- based on how well you know your uncle.

C. BLAKE: Yes, very resilient.

O'BRIEN: And how well you know your uncle. Clearly he's going to keep pursuing every legal avenue until the bitter end?

JENNIFER BLAKE, TERRI SCHIAVO'S COUSIN: Yes.

C. BLAKE: Oh, yes. Yes, it's not over by any means for the family. They're going to keep going.

O'BRIEN: Jennifer, you have any insights on Bob Schindler and his approach to all this?

J. BLAKE: Yes. They're not going to give up. They have unbelievable will power and strength and determination and they will not give up on their daughter for one second. I don't know where they get all their energy from, but they're holding on strong and not giving up.

O'BRIEN: A lot of people watching it from outside see them going back to the same courthouses and the same judges time and again. They scratch their head and wonder what keeps them going?

J. BLAKE: Their faith and their love for their daughter.

C. BLAKE: Yes. I mean, this is -- their daughter is being starved to death. I think that would keep any parent strong and to keep them going to keep her alive. O'BRIEN: You have been there at the hospice fairly frequently over the past week or so?

J. BLAKE: Yes.

C. BLAKE: Yes, we've been back here on and off for the last two weeks.

O'BRIEN: What's that been like.

J. BLAKE: It's very hard to sit and watch and want to be in there with her, and we can't be in there with her right now. Michael has restrictions on who can go in and see her, and we're not allowed to go in and see her. So we stay outside with the family outside the hospice, so it's very hard.

C. BLAKE: He's playing games with, you know, Mary and Bob, and Bobby and Suzy (ph). They can't see Terri whenever they want. They have to go through his sort of gauntlet. He's calling the shots unfortunately.

O'BRIEN: And have you tried to get on that list of people who could see Terri?

C. BLAKE: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. I want to see her. This is wrong. I mean, it's wrong. I mean, we should be able to be with her.

J. BLAKE: She would want her whole family there with her.

O'BRIEN: You haven't seen her for eight years now, since the whole court battle started.

J. BLAKE: Correct.

O'BRIEN: I'm curious thought, in all this discussion, we don't often talk about what Terri was like as a person. What are your fond memories of Terri?

J. BLAKE: Great, fun loving person, always laughing. She was just always laughing, loved life. Just enjoyed...

C. BLAKE: Yes, she had a great laugh.

J. BLAKE And family person. She was very close with her family. They were a strong knit close family.

C. BLAKE: If anybody could just spend five minutes with Terri, they would be here trying to keep her alive. She was -- she is a wonderful person, and this is sad.

O'BRIEN: She has become the focus of global attention.

C. BLAKE: yes.

O'BRIEN: If she could say anything about that today, what do you think she'd say? J. BLAKE: She wouldn't like all of this attention around her, and would not understand why this is going on, and not letting her family be able to help her and be with her. This would make her sad.

C. BLAKE: It'd make her sad, but she'd also...

O'BRIEN: Are you convinced that she would want, knowing as you knew her, as such a fun loving, full of life person. Are you convinced she'd want to continue on as she is now?

C. BLAKE: Yes, with her family, definitely.

J. BLAKE: She would want to know that every action was taken to help her and that has not happened. She hasn't had the physical therapy and the care that she would wanted and need, and that her family has wanted her to problems, and she would want that.

C. BLAKE: Yes, she's a fighter, and she would want this to be fought to the end, but she'd want to be with her family fighting it. And she's in there fighting for her life right now. She's still alive, and she's going to be quite some time -- I hope.

O'BRIEN: Christopher, and Jennifer Blake, thank you for joining us in what is a very troubling time for your family. And we wish you well.

C. BLAKE: Well, thank you, sir. Thank you very much.

J. BLAKE: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: You're welcome.

An emergency hearing just minutes away. Can a state court stave off death for Terri Schiavo?

A crisis for conservatives, fallout from the Schiavo case.

And the future of the Republican Party.

And Blitzer in Baghdad, Wolf is with a top U.S. commander. He'll fill us in on the latest from Iraq.

Spies like you? America's intelligence agencies are looking for help. Do you have what it takes?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is a special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. Reporting from Baghdad, once again, Wolf Blitzer.

BLITZER: Welcome back. You know you're not on a normal flight when you hear the pilot say this, "we've just entered a combat zone. Please take your seats and fasten your seat belts."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BLITZER (voice-over): Maybe one day flights to Iraq will be routine events, but that's certainly not the case now. The continuing insurgency explains why. On this military transport plane, the head of the U.S. military Central Command, General John Abizaid. I'm traveling with him on this visit to Iraq.

Security is paramount.

(on camera): We're aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 military transport plane. It's huge, very sophisticated. Normally when General Abizaid flies, he flies at a much more comfortable executive kind of jet. But this isn't a normal kind of flight. We're flying into Baghdad, and you need all the air defense systems you can find.

(voice-over): The troops aboard the two-hour flight from Qatar represent all four branches of the U.S. military. Several of them use the flight to catch up on a little sleep or a little work.

They're prepared for combat, and despite the fact that many of them are combat veterans, and perhaps because of that, they seem a bit edgy.

I spot one big soldier offering a little prayer before our huge plane lands.

Baghdad is a large and jittery city.

(on camera): We're in the western part of Baghdad right now. This is an area where Saddam Hussein built some palaces, had some hunting facilities, all sorts of activities going on. If you didn't know there were insurgents out there, presumably all around us someplace, you'd think this is a lovely day in a beautiful city in this part of the world.

(voice-over): The spate of car bombings, rocket attacks and improvised explosive devices has created a constant sense of fear. But the January 30th election has inspired many to think of an emerging new Iraq, one that aspires to democracy and stability.

U.S. troops insist they're happy to be here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel good, I feel really good, I'm doing something for my country.

BLITZER: U.S. Army Major Joe Giblan is a lawyer from Staten island, New York. His decision to volunteer for active duty was personal.

MAJ. JOE GIBLAN, U.S. ARMY: It's not as dangerous as it would be in Manhattan on September 11th. I took it personally, as a New York resident, and I wanted to do everything I could to support the effort to keep this an away game.

BLITZER: During several conversation with troops, I hear repeatedly that things are getting better, even if they can't easily leave their bases to drive into Baghdad or around the country. It's simply too dangerous.

After arriving in Baghdad, it's clear the U.S. military has priority number one: Train the Iraqi military to take over.

More news from Baghdad coming up. First though, let's go back to CNN's Miles O'Brien.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Wolf. An emergency hearing scheduled in Clearwater, Florida, set to begin in just a few minutes on the motion filed by the parents of Terri Schiavo. We'll bring you the latest developments.

Plus, the politics surrounding the Schiavo case. Is the right to die issue causing a rift within the Republican Party?

And later, more from Wolf in Baghdad. Hear from some of the troops and a top commander.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back. I'm Miles O'Brien. We'll hear more from Wolf Blitzer in Iraq in a moment. Also ahead, an emergency hearing set to begin any moment now. New developments in the case that is capturing the country's attention.

But first, a quick check of other stories now in the news for you.

Bush administration has agreed to sell two dozen F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. CNN U.S. officials link the proposed sale to Pakistan's cooperation since the 9/11 terror attacks.

President Bush today broke the news to India's prime minister, and officials say the U.S. will also strengthen security ties with that nation.

An ailing pope John Paul II missed Good Friday services for the first time in his papacy today, but worshipers gathered for the Way of the Cross procession, saw the pope on video. The pontiff was shown sitting alone in a private chapel watching the ceremony on television. The pope was last seen in public on Wednesday, when he waved to pilgrims from a Vatican window.

Now, the latest on the Terri Schiavo legal case. A challenge getting under way right now. A state judge in Clearwater, Florida has scheduled an emergency hearing on a new motion filed by the Schiavo's parents. They also have a new filing under consideration at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, which twice this week rejected their previous filing.

Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Florida Governor Jeb Bush to intervene. He says his hands are tied.

The Schiavo case is a story about medicine, about courts, about religion, and about politics. The controversy has touched off considerable political debate, not just between Democrats and Republicans, but inside the Republican Party itself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDALL TERRY, SCHINDLER FAMILY SPOKESMAN: You can bet that there will be people that might just lose their job after this is over.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): It was a loud warning shot, fired by a longtime anti-abortion activist fighting to get Terri Schiavo reconnected to her feeding tube.

TERRY: I promise you, if she dies, there is going to be hell to pay with the pro-life, pro-family Republican people of various legislative levels, statewide and federal-wide, who have used pro- life, pro-family conservative rhetoric to get into power, and then when they have that power, they refuse to use it.

O'BRIEN: For years, the Republican Party has thrived as a coalition of free market conservatives who stress economic issues like tax cuts and other Republicans who are social conservatives, more interested in issues like outlawing abortion and allowing prayer in schools.

Sometimes, it's been a strained relationship. When anti-abortion activists hold their annual rally protesting the Roe vs. Wade decision, Republican presidents voice their support, but only by phone, never in person. Last year, however, social conservatives were widely credited with giving President Bush the edge he needed to win reelection. So, when Florida courts give Michael Schiavo permission to disconnect his wife's feeding tube, many social conservatives thought it was time to flex their political muscle. They called on Republican congressional leaders to intercede in the Schiavo case.

PAT ROBERTSON, AUTHOR, "COURTING DISASTER": Congress does have the right to look out for the lives of the citizens of this country.

O'BRIEN: GOP leaders took up the cause and Congress passed legislation letting federal courts intervene and in what up to that point had been a state matter.

REP. TOM DELAY (R-TX), MAJORITY LEADER: The legal and political issues may be complicated, but the moral ones are not.

O'BRIEN: Critics say the move violated a core conservative value, limited federal government.

DAVID BOAZ, CATO INSTITUTE: This is a classic example of something that should have been left in the state courts.

O'BRIEN: But if some free market conservatives were unhappy with Republican congressional leaders for passing the measure, some social conservatives were unhappy about the lack of follow-through.

Randall Terry hinted that the vote in Congress may have been mere political posturing designed to make social conservatives think their views were being respected. TERRY: The United States Congress issued subpoenas and then didn't enforce them.

O'BRIEN: White House spokesman Scott McClellan has defended Washington's response, saying, "There really are not other legal options available to us."

Is the Schiavo controversy the beginning of a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party or just a temporary disagreement among friends? As governor of Florida, President Bush's brother Jeb has played a prominent role in the Schiavo battle and he may seek the 2008 GOP presidential nomination. If that happens, Republicans may be debating the Schiavo case for a long time to come, some saying their party did too much, others arguing their party did too little.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

All right, it's that time.

Joining us now from Mountain View, California, with his take on the political impact of Schiavo case, CNN political analyst Carlos Watson.

Carlos, good to see you.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to see you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, what will the fallout be?

WATSON: Well, I think, in the short term, you'll see a couple things.

Clearly, you'll see more conversation about right-to-die cases. Remember, the Supreme Court has an assisted suicide case, which is different, but part of the same family, coming up. So, this area of conversation won't end. But I think two other pretty important short- term things will happen.

One, Congress will see it during the recess in their town hall meetings, and I think there will be a loss of credibility, even as it relates to other issues like Social Security. And that hurts the Republican agenda in the short term.

But, two, I think some individuals, whether it's Jeb Bush, as you mentioned, or, on the Democratic side, some of the members of Congress from Florida, like Robert Wexler and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, I think, actually, you'll see their individual standing rise to the extent that they're perceived as people who are authentic in their conviction on one side or another.

Remember, for Ronald Reagan, that always worked. Even when people disagreed with his stand, they thought that he meant what he said and that it came from a place of genuine feeling.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Things that are genuine in politics are kind of rare, unfortunately.

Let's talk about the long-term impacts.

WATSON: I think there are two tough questions that we're going to hear more of. One, Miles, you saw that what we began to hear in the Schiavo case was complex science.

You saw people like Bill Frist and others start to talk about vegetative state and other questions. We're going to see more of that in days and years to come in Congress. And the question is, how does Congress deal with this? Do they deal with it the way they dealt with civil rights questions in the '60s, meaning they were very hands-on and Congress dealt with it itself? Do they deal with it the way they dealt with base closures, which means, they actually use commissions?

Or do they farm it out to agencies, whether that is the FDA or others, to deal with that? I think that it is one. The other is, what happens to New England Republicans? This is the kind of lightning rod, tip-the-balance-of-the-scale issues that could made it difficult like Lincoln Chafee in Rhode Island, a very moderate Republican, to survive. He may see a very aggressive challenge by a Democrat in '06 who says, even if Chafee is not a bad guy, he's aligned with the Republican Party, a party that you disagree with as a whole, you very blue state Rhode Island. So, look to see what happens to New England Republicans after this.

O'BRIEN: What's the chance, Carlos, that, as the religious right presses these issues, that they might overreach and there will be some sort of backlash?

WATSON: You know, I think there's a chance that will happen. But, also, you're starting to see people back off. And, in political terms, they're fortunate that the recess is here, the congressional recess, and they have got time to step away from it and hear individually from their constituents.

O'BRIEN: Carlos Watson with "The Inside Edge," thank you very much, sir. Appreciate it.

An emergency hearing happening now in Clearwater, Florida, on a motion filed by the parents of Terri Schiavo. We'll bring you the latest, of course, live pictures of the courthouse there.

Plus sailing on guard in the Persian Gulf. Wolf speaks with the commander of a destroyer squadron there. Behind the scenes of Wolf's Middle East blitz. Hear from some of the troops he met.

And help wanted. The nation's top intelligence agency is looking for a few good men and women. Do you qualify for the job?

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ANNOUNCER: This is a special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

Reporting from Baghdad once again, Wolf Blitzer. BLITZER: Before arriving here in Baghdad, I had a chance to go out in the Persian Gulf aboard the USS Carl Vinson, the aircraft carrier. While on board, I spoke with the commodore.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Joining us now, Captain Pete Gumataotao. He is the commodore of this ship.

What exactly is the commodore?

CAPT. PETE GUMATAOTAO, U.S. NAVY: The commodore, sir, is the person in charge of a bunch of ships, surface ships.

BLITZER: We hear some planes taking off.

GUMATAOTAO: You hear the airplanes coming around.

But the carrier goes, then we have air -- ships that go along with her. And so, you have to have somebody in charge of those ships, moving them around in the ocean. And that's basically what I do.

BLITZER: So, you're part of the strike group, the entire fleet, if you will, of the battle -- we used to call it the battle group, right?

GUMATAOTAO: Right. It was battle groups when we had six or seven surface ships. And now we call them strike groups, because they're more mobile, more flexible. And you're looking at three surface ships that go with the carrier, for example.

BLITZER: In the old days, you would have the aircraft carrier with the aviation, with the fighter jets and all of that. The other planes were basically designed to secure -- to make sure no one could get close to the aircraft carrier. Is that still the basic understanding, the basic mission?

GUMATAOTAO: It's still the basic premise, sir.

In fact, you quantified it in a perfect way. You have aircraft here that can reach out hundreds of miles and then you also still have to worry about the area around the carrier, which we refer to fondly as the high-value unit. And so you have to have aircraft that go around within the vicinity to see what's around you. And that's the aircraft that I control, with -- along with the ships, to establish a maritime picture around the carrier.

BLITZER: So, what is the maritime picture right now, where we are, the threat environment, shall we say? What's going on?

GUMATAOTAO: The maritime picture is very busy, first of all. And then the threat, the threat is limited to the terrorist threat, because, as you know, the regional nations around here have been extremely cooperative.

And so, what we do is, we monitor it and we just look at the patterns of the ships and who's out here. There's a lot of countries with their navies out here. So, the threat is not those countries or their militaries. The threat is more the asymmetric threat, which is, you don't see a military ship coming over there. It could be anything as innocent and as the dhow that came across the USS Cole, which wasn't innocent, of course. So, that's the type of things that we're looking that come around a little bubble around the carrier.

BLITZER: And that incident with the USS Cole is certainly very high on your mind.

GUMATAOTAO: Absolutely.

And, in fact, I remind my sailors a lot that this isn't just a regular day working out in Southern California, where you're cutting circles in the water, and this is a place where there's a potential, obviously, where things like what happened to the Cole might happen. So, we must always keep our guard. And that's the focus with the watch when we do that, is to maintain the guard.

BLITZER: You're from Guam.

GUMATAOTAO: Where America's day begins, I might add.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Well, we all remember that. How did you make this decision to make a career in the U.S. Navy?

GUMATAOTAO: It was fairly spontaneous.

And what it was is that I had an offer to go to the United States Naval Academy. And being in Guam, saying I don't know if I will ever have a chance to go to the East Coast, I jumped on it. I jumped on it for the pure pleasure of going to the mainland and to go and see what the United States was like on the other side. And it was great. It was a great trip.

BLITZER: And so your family is still in Guam?

GUMATAOTAO: Most of my immediate family are in Guam. But my wife and my two kids are in Hawaii. So, it's just like Guam, just as beautiful as Guam. So, we're enjoying the duty station in Hawaii.

BLITZER: Well, good luck to you.

GUMATAOTAO: Thanks a lot. Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks, Captain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The commodore, Captain Pete Gumataotao, aboard the USS Carl Vinson. More from Miles O'Brien. He's standing by in Atlanta.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Wolf.

An emergency hearing happening now in Clearwater on behalf of Terri Schiavo, we'll bring you the latest on that.

And then recruiting spies, it's a job fair like no other when the CIA hangs out the help wanted sign.

And inside access, new images from Wolf's travels in the Persian Gulf. We'll hear from him in Baghdad again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: In our "Security Watch" now, do you speak several languages? Are really good at puzzles? Well, U.S. spy agencies are hanging out help wanted sign us and you just might qualify.

Our national security correspondent David Ensor reports.

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DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies are on the biggest hiring binge in 50 years with an appeal to patriotism and a touch of Hollywood glamour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)

JENNIFER GARNER, ACTRESS: It's a lifelong opportunity to make a difference by protecting America.

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ENSOR: They're dipping into the American melting pot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I analyze and decipher security threats. I am an intelligence analyst with today's FBI.

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ENSOR: At a National Security Agency job fair in Georgia, the nation's eavesdropper and codemaker is looking for a few good linguists, computer scientists, mathematicians to spy on foreigners and crack codes.

COL. ROB CARR, NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY: See the world and make a difference.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I speak six languages, and I was hoping -- I love figuring out codes and things like that.

ENSOR: Professional translator Rosy Martin (ph) of Michigan says she speaks French, German, Spanish, Russian and Arabic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it's the biggest intelligence agency, and I like the field it has to offer and the benefits it has for my languages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NARRATOR: The challenge has never been greater. The stakes have never been higher.

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ENSOR: She likes the appeal to patriotism and she's not put off by the polygraph she'll have to take or the secrecy vows.

CARR: You will certainly receive the appropriate training as you come in, so that you're very comfortable and very clear on what you can tell your family and what you can't tell your family.

ENSOR: The NSA wants to hire 1,500 people per year for the next five years. The CIA is trying to increase its number of spies and analysts by 50 percent, and staff speaking mission critical languages by 50 percent as well. Their current staff numbers are classified.

The other intelligence agencies at this Washington job fair are all looking to grow in the post-9/11 world, all competing for the best talent. But they can afford to be picky.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We get basically almost 1,000 applications every day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my goodness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh. There's like 50,000.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll bet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For every 50,000 applicants, there's one hiree.

ENSOR: And while the agencies want diversity in languages, they're extremely cautious. Iranian-American student Sanaz Sayfi might seem an perfect candidate with her perfect Farsi.

SANAZ SAYFI, STUDENT: Most of the intelligence jobs want you to be only American. And I'm a dual citizen. So...

ENSOR (on camera): What's your other citizenship?

SAYFI: I'm Iranian.

ENSOR: So do you speak Farsi?

SAYFI: Fluently.

ENSOR: They're looking for that.

SAYFI: Yes, I thought that they would, but I guess that you should only be -- you should be an American who speaks Farsi and not an Iranian who speaks Farsi.

ENSOR: And you wouldn't want to give that second citizenship? SAYFI: No.

ENSOR: No.

(voice-over): As for Rosy Martin of Michigan, will she get a job at the NSA? It's looking good.

JOHN TAFLAN, NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY: Speaks six languages now, wants to learn more languages, says she learns languages easily.

ENSOR: And that's exactly what they want.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Behind the scenes of Wolf's Mideast blitz. More from Baghdad next.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED")

JOHN WALSH, HOST: Welcome to "America's Most Wanted."

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BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): He's best known as the driven host of America's most wanted. John Walsh began his mission to track down criminals after being a victim himself. Walsh's 6-year-old son, Adam, disappeared from a Florida shopping mall in 1981.

WALSH: He's our only child. He's a beautiful little boy. And we just want him back.

How many of our children are missing?

HEMMER: John Walsh turned the grief over the abduction and murder of his son into a purpose.

WALSH: With 1.8 million children missing, it's damn time somebody did something about it besides me.

HEMMER: Walsh's congressional testimony and public pressure helped establish the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children. "America's Most Wanted," the fifth longest running TV show in history, has helped capture hundreds of fugitives around the world.

WALSH: I didn't want to be on television, didn't want to hunt men down. But you know what? My wife always said, said it to me. Let's make sure Adam didn't die in vain.

HEMMER: Walsh has two children now in college and he's currently pushing for a crime victims rights amendment to the Constitution and still clutching for justice on behalf of his lost son.

WALSH: I don't have any closure. My son was murdered. I say that I have a deep wound that scabs sometime and something will break it open and it will bleed. But it never heals.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is (INAUDIBLE) Martinez. I'm from Whittier, California. And I just want to say hi to my baby girls back home. I miss you and my husband.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mom, as you can, I'm well. I'm safe. I'll be home sometime in August.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is William Nelson. I'm on board the Bonhomme Richard. I'm from San Diego. And I just want to say hi to my wife, Vicky (ph), and my three children, Ryan (ph), Robby (ph) and Sarah (ph), that are there in San Diego. See you all soon. Love you and miss you much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, my name is Denise Cohen (ph). I'm from Rock Springs (INAUDIBLE) I want to say hello to my family back home and also to my husband, Travis and my daughter (INAUDIBLE) Hi. I love you guys. And I'll be home soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We've been on the road now here in the Persian Gulf for about a week. During this time, we've looked into the faces of a lot of U.S. men and women in the military, both on land and at sea.

Our Washington bureau chief, David Bohrman, he is traveling with us. He took this photographic "Reporter's Notebook."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We'll have much more coverage coming up Sunday on "LATE EDITION," the last word in Sunday talk. Among my guests, the head of the U.S. military Central Command, General John Abizaid. That's Sunday, noon Eastern.

Until then, thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Baghdad. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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