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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Video Surfaces of Srebrenica Massacre; State Department Issues Report on Human Trafficking; Dean Answers Critics; FBI Assists in Search for Vacationing Teen; North Korean Weapons; Iraqi Crackdown; Michael Jackson Trial

Aired June 03, 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, HOST: Happening now. These days they call it trafficking in humans, but it boils down to one word: slavery. And it involves hundreds of thousands of people. It's happening around the world, and it's also happening right here in the United States. A shocking new report has just been released.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Slaughter. One of the worst atrocities since World War II. A decade later, it turns out some of it was caught on tape. Can justice now be done?

New threat: while the U.S. worries that North Korea may mount a nuclear warhead on a missile, has the North found a way to hide its missiles from U.S. spy satellites?

With the president slipping in the polls, liberals see light at the end of the tunnel. Or is it just tunnel vision? I'll ask Democratic Party boss Howard Dean.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Friday, June 3, 2005.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thanks for joining us.

It was supposed to be a safe haven set up by the United Nations to shelter Muslims from the onslaught of Bosnian Serbs. But in a crime that shocked the world, Serbian forces broke into the enclave around the town of Srebrenica, brushed aside passive U.N. peacekeepers and massacred as many as 8,000 Muslim men and boys.

Now, 10 years later, a graphic video capturing part of that slaughter is, once again, shocking the world.

CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney has our report. Some of the images may be quite disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Nura Alispahic switched on her TV to watch the evening news, little did she think she would see the moment her son was executed by Serb forces almost 10 years ago.

NURA ALISPAHIC, MOTHER OF VICTIM (through translator): Someone said on the TV, "Now some mothers will recognize their sons and some sisters will recognize their brothers."

SWEENEY: Asmir (ph) was one of six Bosnian Muslim prisoners shown on the video being executed, apparently by the notorious Serb paramilitary unit the Scorpions.

ALISPAHIC (through translator): After two minutes I recognized my son. I saw him.

SWEENEY: Six men can be seen being taken out of the back of a truck, their hands tied behind their backs. Serb soldiers, their faces clearly visible, are seen taunting the men as they're forced to lie on the ground.

Surely thinking they must be drawing their final breaths, a shot is fired over their heads. The prisoners are still alive but mere moments away from death.

The video then shows the groups being led away to be killed. CNN will not show the actual executions, but Serbian television channels did.

ALISPAHIC (through translator): I saw him. He was in the second row. They were pushing him. He turns. And I see him, and it was my Asmir (ph). Seconds later, they shoot him. He falls.

SWEENEY: Nura, whose other son, Admir (ph), also died in the war, had known for some time Asmir (ph) was dead. His body was found in a mass grave six years ago.

But the television footage is the first video confirmation that a massacre of up to 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men took place in Srebrenica in July 1995. Serbia is in shock.

BORIS TADIC, SERBIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Those pictures are the evidence, proof of the monstrous crimes performed during the war in that region. Crimes committed in the Serbian name.

SWEENEY: The video was introduced as evidence against former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, whose trial at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague is reaching its climax.

Within 24 hours of the video being broadcast on TV, Serbian authorities said at least eight men shown in the tape have been arrested.

On a visit to the region, chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte again demanded the arrest of the two men prosecutors would most like to see at The Hague, General Ratko Mladic and his boss, Radovan Karadzic, the suspected ring leaders of Srebrenica. They haven't been seen for some time. For her part, Nura remembers all too well the last time she saw Asmir (ph) 10 years ago, as Bosnian Muslim men fled Srebrenica ahead of the advancing Serb forces.

ALISPAHIC (through translator): Everyone was going somewhere on the road. He came back to our house to give me a kiss before he fled. I had a feeling then I would never see him again.

SWEENEY: Fionnuala Sweeney, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Earlier today, I spoke with the NATO secretary-general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer of the Netherlands. I asked him why Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic are still at large.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAAP DE HOOP SCHEFFER, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: Because otherwise, it's impossible that one can't find him. Not that NATO is not in Serbia proper, of course. I mean, they seem to be able to travel from the Republic of Bosnia after Serbia proper. NATO is there, but the hunt goes on and I'm quite sure that they will not be able to run forever.

BLITZER: When you -- when you hear about this videotape and it brings back the memories of what happened 10 years ago, as the secretary-general of NATO right now what goes through your mind?

SCHEFFER: Well, it has a very personal element for me. Because I was in the Netherlands then as a member of parliament. I was spokesman for foreign affairs. And I have been, let's say, rather closely involved in this Srebrenica massacre, which we saw -- and we saw it on the video, the horror of war, of civil war, religious war, in Europe, in Europe...

BLITZER: There were Dutch troops on the scene at the time.

SCHEFFER: There were.

BLITZER: And I remember, very vividly, they didn't do anything, even as the reports of the massacres were coming in.

SCHEFFER: They did what they could do. But there's an important "but." They were not supported, and they should have been supported, by air strikes and the bombing of the Serb troops. It would have been possible. It didn't happen. For political reasons it did not happen. That's the shame of Srebrenica.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The NATO secretary-general speaking with me earlier today.

Other important news we're following: the State Department today added eight countries to a list of nations that could face sanctions for failing to crack down on human trafficking, the modern day version of slavery.

Get this, up to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year. About 15,000 of them right here to the United States. Our State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For this teenager, growing up in West Africa's Ivory Coast, the promise of studying in the United States and a part-time job convinced her in 1997 to leave her home and family.

The reality? "I felt like a slave," she says. "I felt like a complete prisoner."

For six years, Sara -- we've changed her name to protect her privacy -- says she was forced to work around the clock as a domestic servant for a couple employed by the International Monetary Fund. They had her passport. She couldn't leave.

"It was suffering," she says. "It was nightmares."

In return, Sara says her parents got $50 a month, or just $1.61 for every day she worked.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: Trafficking in human beings is nothing less than a modern form of slavery.

KOPPEL: For the fifth year in a row, the State Department rolled out its annual report on the buying and selling of mostly women and children around the world.

(on camera) The U.S. estimates that up to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year. Millions more trafficked domestically, the victims forced to work as servants, on farms, or in sweatshops.

(voice-over) But most trafficking involves sexual exploitation of women.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How old are you? Eight? Both 8 years old?

KOPPEL: As this undercover video shows, little girls, as young as 5, forced to work as prostitutes at this brothel in Cambodia, one of 14 countries singled out by the U.S. for not doing enough to end trafficking.

SHARON COHN, INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION: And they've got posters on the wall, like your teenager might of sort of a teen idol, while there are condoms on the floor.

KOPPEL: Sharon Cohn helped rescue dozens of victims in Cambodia and collected evidence used by Cambodian authorities to convict the brothel owners and other traffickers. COHN: That promotes a lot of conversation among criminals, among themselves, about what crimes can you get away with in Cambodia. And if it turns out that selling children is not something they can get away with, they're just going to go do something else.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: Back in the U.S., Sara's case against her employers has yet to be resolved. But two years ago, when she was 26, she finally was able to summon the courage and escape her employers. She's also been able to get a visa, thanks to a new U.S. law that allows her to work in the U.S. for the next three year, this time, Wolf, for an employer who plays by the rules -- Wolf.

BLITZER: This is truly -- all this is so shocking to our viewers, I'm sure, most of whom don't know what's going on as far as this human trafficking is concerned.

You're going to have more on this coming up on our program "ON THE STORY" Sunday morning here on CNN, Andrea, but you're also going to be dealing with other issues, as well. What else are you going to be talking about?

KOPPEL: That's right. Well, a name that had been in the news a lot until this week, at least, is John Bolton, the man who the Bush administration wants to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He'll come again before the U.S. Senate, not physically, but at least his nomination will.

We expect, Wolf, the U.S. Senate to again pick it up, but the Democrats are still saying that they are not going to allow a vote to go forward until they get certain documents, key documents, they say, on Syria and other transcripts on NSA intercepts that Bolton had requested -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Andrea Koppel, reporting for us. And to our viewers, you can see more of Andrea's report. Other reporters will be joining her. "ON THE STORY" airs every Sunday morning, 10 a.m. Eastern, 7 a.m. Pacific, only here on CNN.

Travelers abroad may be facing some new threats. The United States embassy in Indonesia today warned Americans of a plot to bomb lobbies of major hotels in Jakarta.

An embassy e-mail said only that the attacks were to occur around noon on an unspecified date. In 2003, a suicide car bombing at a Jakarta hotel killed 12 people.

At the same time, the State Department is urging American citizens to leave Uzbekistan, and both the U.S. and Israeli embassies there have ordered non-emergency personnel to pull out, citing a concern about terror attacks. A State Department officials says there's no word of a specific plot, but, rather, what they describe as an uptick in threats to U.S. interests.

He's under fire from Republicans for what they say were outrageous remarks. Will he take them back? Democrat in chief Howard Dean standing by live. He'll be my guest. That's coming up.

Also, Michael Jackson's fate is now in the jury's hands. We'll talk to our senior legal analyst, Jeff Toobin, who was in the courtroom for today's closing arguments.

Plus, a stealth missile. Why there's concern North Korea may already have one, and what that could mean for the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Howard Dean isn't running for president anymore, but he's still making Republicans angry. This week, the Democratic National Committee chairman spoke to liberal activists, used some choice words to describe the other party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD DEAN, DNC CHAIR: Well, Republicans, I guess, can do that, because a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The Republican National Committee was quick to respond. It said "Dean's speech shows that the Democratic Party not only lacks leadership but is overflowing with anger."

Joining us now from Kansas City, the Democratic National Committee chairman, Howard Dean.

Governor, thanks very much for joining us. Those were strong words. I'll give you a chance to explain what you meant.

DEAN: Sure. I guess my job is to outrage the Republicans these days. Harry Truman, as you well know, was once told by a campaign supporter, "Give them hell, Harry."

And he replied, "I don't give them hell. I just give them the truth and the Republicans think it's hell."

Here's a group of Republican leaders who think that they're appealing to working people. They don't want a minimum wage increase. They're cutting police people off the beat. They're attacking Social Security. Now comes out that people's private pensions are in trouble under this administration.

Tell me what the Republican leadership has in common with ordinary working people. It is as if the Republican leadership never had to work a day in their life. What possible understanding could they have of what a working person in this country has to go through, if they're against everything that's good for working people?

BLITZER: But there are millions and millions of Republicans, more than 50 million of them, voted for President Bush's re-election. Are you saying all these Republicans, they don't have to work for a living?

DEAN: No, no, no. Look, we don't go after voters. Voters are the ones that pay our salaries. No matter whether they agree with us or not. But we do go after bad leadership.

And the Republicans, they have run up the largest deficit in the history of the country. They're attacking Social Security. They've got us mired down in a mess in Iraq, of their own making. We need some real leadership in this country.

And they've got to have some understanding of what ordinary Americans are going through. It is hard to make ends meet. It is hard to raise a child in a morally ambiguous environment. And Democrats need to speak to those issues. We are going to speak to those issues.

But we ought to go after the Republicans when they are once again hypocritical about what they're going to do for working people. They do nothing for working people.

BLITZER: This -- this comment comes only a few days, or a few weeks after some other comments the Republicans and others are saying were outrageous. Republicans, you said, on April 4, are "mean, they are not nice people." That was a pretty strong comment right there.

DEAN: Do you think Rush Limbaugh is a nice person? I don't think so. I didn't think John Ashcroft was very nice, the way he treated American immigrants, either.

I don't -- you know, I think a lot of these folks aren't very nice. I didn't think it was very nice to put gay marriage on the ballot of a -- of 11 states where gay marriage was already against the law.

These folks are telling people things about the Democratic Party that aren't true. We believe in equal rights. Gay marriage doesn't appear in our platform. Nobody's pro-abortion in this country. The abortion rate was lower than Democrat -- when Democrats were in charge, than they are when the Republicans are in charge.

I'm tired of being told what to do by the Republican Party. Democrats are now going to speak for ourselves. We're going to tell the Americans what our message is. It's clean government, no more corruption in Washington. It's a Social Security system that works for people. It's a health care system that works for people like all these other countries have. That's what the Democratic Party's going to stand for.

BLITZER: So -- so when you said back in January, and I'll put it up on the screen, "I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for, but I admire their discipline and their organization." This -- I guess what I'm suggesting is that -- you're talk about Republican leaders, political leaders.

DEAN: Yes. BLITZER: But the impression you're giving is that you're talking about these millions, tens of million, of Republican people, average people, across the country that seem to be -- a lot of people are taking your words very personally.

DEAN: Well, you know, in part that's fueled by the Republican spin machine. I'm sure you must have gotten press releases about this, because as soon as I say things like this, the Republicans put out a cascade of paper.

My parents were Republicans. I don't hate Republicans. But I sure hate what this Republican Party is doing to America.

BLITZER: Well, maybe you should be more precise with the words, Governor. Instead of simply saying, as you say, "I hate the Republicans," you should say, "I hate the Republican political leadership."

DEAN: Well, that's -- you know, you've got a good point there. A little more precision in words is always a good thing.

But I think what the Republicans are doing to America is awful. We need a balanced budget. We haven't had a Republican balanced budget in almost 40 years. We need some kind of decent health care system.

We need a strong defense that's going to do more than wink and nod at Iran and North Korea. This president's been in office for four and a half years. Tell me what he has done to defend us against Iran and North Korea.

I'll tell you what he's done. He's sent 135,000 troops to Iraq, which was never a threat, as documented by the 9/11 Commission, to the United States. We need somebody who knows what they're doing in defending America. We don't have that in this leadership and we need it now.

BLITZER: Why -- why have the Democrats been so spectacularly unsuccessful in recent elections, losing not only the White House, but the House of Representatives, the Senate, state houses throughout the country?

Your party seems to be doing, you know, very, very badly. Republicans seem to be doing very, very well. They must be resonating, the Republican political leadership, with lots of people out there.

DEAN: Well, actually, that's not entirely true. We're actually picking up ground. In the last election, we picked up five legislative bodies around the country. We have more Democratic governors.

BLITZER: But you lost seats in the Senate and the House.

DEAN: That's right, we did. We need a national message. We cannot ever again run a campaign that's confined to 18 states. We have to be in all 50 states.

I'm actually out in Kansas City, Missouri, right now. And tonight I'll be in Kansas City, Kansas. Last night I was in Atlanta. We're going to take these places back. And it's going to take us some time. We need to build an on the ground infrastructure.

Part of the quote when I said, "I hate what the Republicans are doing to America," the part that you didn't read is, "but I admire their business model for winning elections."

BLITZER: I did read -- I said, "I admire their discipline and their organization."

DEAN: OK. Right.

BLITZER: I did read that. Let me get back to the latest statement that you made. Because when you suggested Republicans don't really have to work for a living or anything like that, it was in the context of the win that they had in Ohio, and that was, of course, the decisive factor in President Bush getting re-elected.

Are you suggesting, as you seem to be implying, that that race in Ohio was not fair, that there was something untoward in what happened in Ohio?

DEAN: Well, the only thing that we know was untoward is that -- is that African-American voters voted -- waited three times as long to Vote as white voters did. And in Democratic districts, there were some problems with voting machines.

What I believe, and what I said the other day was, if they think that people can wait sometimes up to eight hours to vote, they must have no idea, these Republican secretaries of states and legislatures, they must have no idea what people's time is worth.

On a Tuesday, you've got to take off work, then -- or you've got to figure out how you're going to pick your kids up after school or after you work. Where do Republicans think that people can afford to wait for four or five or eight hours or whatever it is?

That's not right. We want as many people to vote in America as possible. Look, if we're going to lose, we're going to lose, but let's lose with 100 percent turnout...

BLITZER: So -- so are you saying that it was unfair what happened in Ohio, that President Bush should not have been re-elected, that John Kerry should be in the White House?

DEAN: No, I didn't -- you're a -- that's a wonderful reporting technique, but of course, as you well know, I didn't say anything like that.

BLITZER: Well, tell us what you meant.

DEAN: I meant just exactly what I said. I think the Republican leadership in this country is completely out of touch with what ordinary Americans have to deal with in their daily lives.

And the idea that you ought to have to wait for hours and hours in order to cast your ballot is wrong, and those things are easily fixable. We simply need the right amount of voting machines in every precinct so you can wait for shorter periods of time to cast your ballot. We need things like same-day registration. And frankly, it wouldn't be such a bad thing to have a holiday so people who voted could get there and vote.

You know, this is the most important thing we do in America to maintain our government. We should make voting more easy, instead of less easy. And I don't think Republicans have any idea how hard it is for ordinary Americans to get to the polls.

BLITZER: One -- one other quote you made that's been -- you've been asked about this -- you don't have to respond, but I'll just read it. You said that the House majority leader, Tom DeLay, and I'm quoting now, "ought to go back to Houston, where he can serve his jail sentence."

He hasn't been charged with any crimes at all right now. But I guess the fundamental...

DEAN: That's not entirely true. It's true that he hasn't been charged with any crimes. But he has three ethic violations. He's working on a fourth. He's being investigated by the district attorney in Austin.

And three of his buddies have been already found guilty of diverting corporate money, which -- through a group that he was very closely tied into. So you know, this is corruption at the highest levels of the House.

BLITZER: I guess the question is, are you just trying to get your base really excited and to try to motivate them? Is there a strategy behind some of these more controversial comments that you've made?

DEAN: What I need to do is make sure the American people are aware of the corruption that's going on in Washington, the abuse of power that's going on in Washington, how difficult it is for ordinary Americans to live, how out of touch Washington politicians are with what ordinary Americans have to go through.

The president seems to want freedom in Iraq, but he's busy taking away the freedom to make the most personal kind of medical decisions in your family here at home. Those kind of decisions don't belong in politicians' hands; they belong in ordinary peoples' hands.

Our platform, oddly enough, may end up being like the Republicans of the '70s. We want fiscal responsibility back in this country again. We want personal freedom. We want individual responsibilities here.

We can have that kind of a country again. But we can't have it with a group of people that comes in and says they're going to have less government. In fact, they give us more government in the most personal decisions we have.

We need real freedom. We need individual and personal responsibility, and we need a safety net so that seniors can continue to live in dignity after a long period of hard work. Those are -- that's not too much to ask from an American government.

BLITZER: Howard Dean, the always outspoken chairman of the Democratic Party. Governor, as usual, thanks very much for spending a few moments with us.

DEAN: Thanks for having me on, Wolf.

BLITZER: And to our viewers, we did call Ken Mehlman, the chairman of the Republican Party, invited him to join us, as well. We hope that can be arranged in the coming days, as well.

When we come back, trouble in paradise, an Alabama teenager goes missing in Aruba. Why police fear foul play.

Also, jury deliberations now under way in the Michael Jackson case. We're live at the courthouse.

And new concern about North Korea, and a possible major milestone in its weapons program. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

We're following developments on the Caribbean island of Aruba, where a search is now under way for a missing Alabama teenager who hasn't been seen since Monday.

CNN's Brian Todd is here. He's joining us. He's been looking into this story.

What have you got, Brian?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, right now we have some new pictures coming in from Aruba. We have some images now coming to us from Telearuba TV. This is of search and rescue teams looking for 18- year-old Natalee Holloway.

As Wolf mentioned, she went missing Monday morning. There are still many, many unanswered questions about her disappearance, not only over her fate, but about who bears responsibility in this case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): As police, military and rescue teams comb every inch of a small Caribbean island looking for a missing American teenager, her mother appeals directly to the girl.

BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, MOTHER: Natalee, you can reach me on your cell phone. I have it, and it's set up for international use now. And I also have my cell phone, and it's set up for international use. So please call me.

TODD: FBI and Aruban officials tell CNN the FBI is helping investigate the disappearance of 18-year-old Natalee Holloway. She was on a trip to Aruba with more than 100 other seniors from Mountain Brook High School near Birmingham, Alabama, celebrating graduation. The celebration took them to a local bar late Sunday into Monday.

TWITTY: She was seen leaving Carlos & Charlie's at approximately 1:30 a.m. Monday morning.

TODD: Police and family members tell CNN at least 20 other students were with Holloway at the bar. Police say some of her classmates asked her to leave with them, but she chose to get in a car with three young men, all locals.

JAN VAN DER STRAATEN, POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: We find them and we talked with them, as witnesses, three young boys that went to school, too. And we talked with them. And we proceed with the investigation, around them, too.

TODD: Police tell CNN the boys claimed to have dropped Holloway off at her hotel between 1:30 and 2:00 AM on Monday. That's the last time she was seen. Police have released the young men for now and are reluctant to characterize how they view them in the investigation. They say they hope to make an arrest soon.

Back home, friends and family are looking for any break in the case.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just want everybody to keep praying for Natalie because we know she's going to come home. She's a strong girl. And she'll get through this. And she knows that we're all praying for her. And we're here for her, waiting for her to come back.

TODD: Police say there's a slight chance Holloway could have left the island. But her passport was found in her hotel room.

And there's a key question about supervision. Family members say about 150 kids were on the trip with at least 10 chaperones. Holloway's stepfather tells CNN the chaperones bear no responsibility for what happened. But the bar owner tells CNN there were no chaperones at the establishment in the early hours of Monday morning, when Holloway and some 20 other kids were partying there. A friend who was at the bar that night has only a slightly different account.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a chaperone there.

TODD: Holloway's parents are offering a $10,000 reward for her safe return.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: We've tried repeatedly to get officials from the high school and the school system to answer questions about the chaperones. Mountain Brook High School principal Dicky Barlow did not return our phone calls. The superintendent of Mountain Brook Schools also did not return our calls, Wolf.

BLITZER: Brian Todd. We'll keep watching this story for any developments. Thanks for updating us.

When we come back, Operation Lightning -- we'll take a close look at what's going on right now in Iraq as the counterinsurgency supposedly makes some progress.

Also, scores dead and missing, thousands of homes destroyed as floodwaters inundate parts China.

Plus, while Hillary Clinton ponders a White House run, a European counterpart may beat her to the punch. Our Carlos Watson standing by with the "Inside Edge."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The bombs are still going off in Baghdad, but is a massive security crackdown beginning to turn the tide in the Iraqi capital? CNN's Jennifer Eccleston is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER ECCLESTON CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Two days of violence demonstrated the insurgents' ability to keep up attacks, despite a week-old security operation in Baghdad called Operation Lightning, billed as the most aggressive. And according to an official, the most successful operation by Iraq's new government and its military.

Now, according to Iraqi officials, the checkpoints and raids brought all roads in and out of the capital under their control. The action meant to expose the insurgents' hideout and capture those involved in reeking havoc across this country.

(voice-over): Now, the interior ministry saying that the security in Baghdad has improved 60 percent since the beginning of the offensive. And a senior U.S. military official tells CNN that Operation Lightning's No. 1 objective is to stem the tide of vehicle- borne improvised explosive devices -- or VBIDS -- and said Lightning is making headway there. And that it is also a small-scale operation, a series of small-scale operations that will go on for a period of time, one that is sustained and not a single show of force.

(on camera): Still, the violence continues in the capital city. A car bomb exploded as a U.S. military convoy passed by in Western Baghdad.

(voice-over): Missing the convoy, but wounding four Iraqis.

And near Balad, north of Baghdad late yesterday, a suicide bomber attacked a residents, killing 10 Iraqis and wounding 12 other Iraqis.

And we are beginning to see a clearer picture of the frequencies of such attacks in this country. According to a senior military -- U.S. military source, the weekly average hovers around 60 attacks. (on camera): And from the end of April to end of May, there were 143 vehicle-borne explosive, IEDS, and suicide bombings.

Jennifer Eccleston, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: While the United States worries that North Korea may be preparing to test a nuclear weapon and may soon be able to put such a warhead on a missile, there's a new worry right now. Has North Korea mastered a technology that may keep its missiles hidden from U.S. spy satellites? Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): North Korea's firing up a Russian-designed SS-21 surface to surface missile like this last month was likely its first successful test of a missile totally reliant on solid fuel U.S. officials tell CNN.

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: If the North Koreans have mastered solid fuel rockets, that would be an important development.

STARR: North Korea's current liquid fueled missiles use a combination of gasoline and kerosene. Satellites can watch for days as they are set up on launch pads, with fuel trucks and hoses. With new solid fueled missiles, there are no trucks and hoses. The solid fuel has a consistency like cookie dough. The fuel can stay inside the missile for years. U.S. satellites have much less ability to watch for a launch.

MCLAUGHLIN: They're much harder to detect. They can be moved more readily. And they're more portable of course. And they can be launched with much less notice and less time than a liquid fueled rocket.

STARR: Another urgent U.S. intelligence concern, Syria's missile program. U.S. intelligence officials confirm Syria took the highly unusual step of test-firing three scud missiles last week.

The test of so many missiles at once is seen as defiance of U.S. criticism of Syria's role in Lebanon and its support of the Iraq insurgency.

And U.S. intelligence believes North Korea aided the Syrian test. One official points out, one of the missiles was a North Korean design.

(on camera): There is more. Iran now says it's adding solid fuel to one of its missiles that is capable of hitting Israel. All part of the concern that a new round of missile threats is emerging.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BLITZER: Let's take a quick look at some other stories making headlines around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Israeli officials say the scheduled June 21 meeting between Prime Minister Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will be held in Jerusalem. Both the Israeli and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital. And a summit there would be an historic first. A previous Sharon/Abbas meeting was held in Egypt.

Flood update: flood waters continue to plague South China. State radio says at least 88 people are dead and 73 are missing. Thousands of homes have been destroyed.

Shocking discovery: Austrian police have found the bodies of four infants. And they have arrested a 32-year-old women believed to be their mother. Police say the woman apparently was afraid her partner would leave her if he found out about the babies.

Relics recovered: following a month-long investigation, police in Peru have uncovered an Incan mummy along with more than 100 other artifacts. They believe smugglers stole the relics from churches and museums.

And that's our look around the world.

A California jury deliberating Michael Jackson's fate. We'll go live to the courthouse in Santa Maria.

Our Jeff Toobin standing by.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Michael Jackson's child molestation trial is now in a final critical phase -- the case has gone to the jury. Deliberations have finished for this day.

Let's get some analysis.

For that, we're joined from the scene, our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin outside the courthouse in Santa Maria, California.

What were the final -- the thrust of the final words from the prosecution to the jury?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, they ended with their strongest evidence in the case, which was the videotape of the young accuser telling his story for the first time to the police officers from Santa Barbara County -- halting, difficult, painful recitation of how this boy said Michael Jackson abused him. And it was dramatic.

This was something the jury had just heard for the first time last week. And it was something that they wanted the jury to have ringing in their ears when they began to deliberate. BLITZER: And the final words from the defense? They knew that in the rebuttal the prosecution would do precisely what you said.

What was their final message, the defense attorneys to the jury?

TOOBIN: You know, this was a surprise to me, Wolf.

You know, after spending virtually all of his summation attacking the government witnesses, Tom Mesereau took 35 minutes to play excerpts from Michael Jackson's interview with Martin Bashir from his documentary that ran in February 2003. And, you know, Jackson explained why he felt he had not had a childhood -- he was working until 3:00 in the morning -- and how he has tried to recapture his childhood in his adult life.

But frankly, I thought Michael Jackson's weirdness came through as much as anything in this videotape. And I thought it was perhaps not the most effective note to end on, in what I thought was generally a very effective summation by Thomas Mesereau, the defense attorney.

BLITZER: And you saw Michael Jackson in that courtroom. What was his demeanor like? We had heard reports that overnight he was dehydrated, made a quick stop at a hospital. What was he like today?

TOOBIN: You know, Wolf, I hadn't been here for a few weeks, and I've just seen him for the first time, you know, this week.

Michael Jackson looks awful. He looks deathly ill, frankly. He is emaciated. His skin has a gray pallor. He's covered in makeup. You know, he doesn't interact with his lawyers in a way that he used to earlier in the trial.

You know, it's not surprising he was hospitalized. I can't imagine how he is going to tolerate even more time in court, much less a possible prison sentence.

BLITZER: Any prediction, any way of assuming how long this jury will be out?

TOOBIN: You know, Wolf, there's an old trial lawyer's rule of thumb which says a day of deliberation for each week of trial, which would mean 16 days. That sounds awfully long to me.

I don't think we'll hear anything from this jury until late next week at the earliest.

BLITZER: We'll watch it together with you.

Jeff Toobin, thanks very much for your excellent analysis as usual.

Coming up at the top of the hour, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT."

In today for Lou, Kitty Pilgrim. She's standing by live in New York with a little preview -- Kitty?

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Wolf. Thanks.

Well, tonight at 6:00 p.m. Eastern, we're going to be reporting on the rush by three of this country's most dangerous enemies to develop new missile technologies, and those missiles could be virtually impossible to find.

Also, genocide on tape -- never-before-seen video of the worst massacre in Europe since World War II.

And also, student numbers have surged to their highest level ever, and many of our elementary and high schools are on the brink.

All that and more in just a few minutes, but for now, back to Wolf -- Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Kitty. We'll be watching. Thanks very much.

When we come back, women in charge -- Hillary Clinton won't say yet whether she'll run for the White House in 2008. But another woman is poised right now to become her country's first female leader.

And what are the big issues in 2006?

CNN's Carlos Watson has "The Inside Edge" on those stories. He joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

There were some disappointing numbers about the U.S. economy today. Even though the unemployment rate fell a tenth of a point to 5.1 percent, only 78,000 jobs were created last month.

In an interview earlier today here on CNN, the Treasury secretary, John Snow, told me that although the economy remains strong, the rising price of energy is a concern.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN SNOW, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: It's a drag.

It's hard to quantify it precisely, but there's no doubt that it's hurting GDP growth and if you hurt GDP growth, you're hurting job creation.

But even in the face of these head winds -- and they're real head winds from these energy prices, they're way too high and unwelcome -- even in the face of those head winds, the remarkable thing is this American economy continues to plow right through and continue to turn in good results.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: With both the Senate and the House idle this week here in Washington, Capitol Hill has been quiet. So quiet, in fact, that if you listen carefully, you can hear the 2006 election campaigns revving up in the distance.

CNN political analyst Carlos Watson joining us now, as he does every Friday, with "The Inside Edge."

This 2006 campaign heating up already, is that fair?

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: No two ways about it, Wolf, this week the president raised $1.5 million. That's right, $1.5 million for a Senate candidate in Missouri.

So, people are getting very serious.

A couple of interesting things to note, we're seeing unusual candidates start to emerge. On one hand we're seeing a number of pro- life Democrats running for either Senate or governor in both Iowa and Pennsylvania.

Interestingly enough, we're also seeing a number of ministers running for office. In Michigan, for example, Keith Butler, former Detroit city councilman, is doing that.

And then, finally, we're seeing a number of candidates of color. It looks very likely that not only Harold Ford and Kweisi Mfume will both run for the Senate, but it looks like Michael Steele will run for the Senate for Maryland, possibly.

And maybe, maybe Henry Bonilla in Texas. So lots of unusual candidates and I maybe -- Wolf, if I had to point you toward something, I think there's still a big room out there for, if you will, a Howard Dean on the right, meaning someone who grabs a hold of an individual issue and really rallies a lot of energy, almost running against Washington.

Two issues perhaps where that could emerge, one, you think about a number of life issues, following on the Terri Schiavo and other things.

But the second one to actually look a little about is immigration. Don't be surprised to see a Minuteman-candidate start to emerge in some of these competitive Republican primaries over the next several months.

BLITZER: You've been taking a close look also, Carlos, at the elections going on -- the voting in Europe against the new European Union constitution, first in France last Sunday, then in the Netherlands.

What implications are you drawing from all of that?

WATSON: Well, a couple.

Of course, we care about what happens in Europe because they're one of our biggest trading partners. Our economy relies on them. We care about it because we try and partner with them on things like the war on terror, but what's also interesting is maybe some new trends.

In Germany, believe it or not, before either Condi Rice or Hillary Clinton gets a chance to run for president here in the U.S., a woman there, Angela Merkel, may be running as soon as this summer to become the next chancellor of Germany.

Now, that's interesting for a number of reasons: one, because she would be the only woman, if she ultimately were elected, to run one of the major powers in the world.

It would also be significant because she might end up becoming a conservative friend for President Bush and what Don Rumsfeld called "old Europe."

Interesting personal story, she grew up in East Germany, so she's not a West German, East German. A Ph.d. by training and so she's one to watch. You may hear the name Angela Merkel as much as right now you hear Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac.

BLITZER: We used to hear the name Margaret Thatcher in England, too.

So that was -- we may have a trend here underway.

"Vanity Fair," Carlos, breaks the story of Deep Throat.

I could have understood "The New York Times," "The Wall Street Journal," here at CNN. If we would have broken that news, but "Vanity Fair," what's going on?

Because this is something you've pointed to in the past.

WATSON: Well, Wolf, you remember just a couple months ago, you and I talked about the fact that arts and culture magazines -- whether that meant "Vanity Fair," whether that meant "The New Yorker," whether that even meant arts and culture columnists, like Frank Rich, who since has become a regular op-ed columnist for "The New York Times" -- were starting to play a more central role in American politics.

You see this again here.

The next one to watch out for, liberal talk radio. They're already on 100 stations, in 18 of the top 20 markets, and I think people like Ed Shultz of South Dakota, as well as groups like Air America Radio.

Watch closely for that. We talked about "Vanity Fair" two months ago; watch in the next two months for liberal talk radio to impact the debate.

BLITZER: We watch everything you tell us to watch.

Carlos with "The Inside Edge." That's why it's called "The Inside Edge."

Thanks for joining us.

WATSON: Have a good one.

Have a great weekend.

BLITZER: All right, thanks, Carlos.

A very big day for all of us here at CNN, I'll share some personal thoughts when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Finally, this personal note.

Today ends an era in CNN's history. We said goodbye to "CROSSFIRE." We also said goodbye to Judy Woodruff.

The "CROSSFIRE" hosts and Judy may have signed off the air, but they are not going to be strangers to CNN and certainly not strangers to my programs here on CNN.

Bob Novak, Paul Begala and James Carville will be regular contributors. They know national politics as well as anyone and we'll continue to benefit greatly from their insight.

And what can I say about Judy?

She's been such a solid professional, a role model for all of us in this business. And as all of our viewers certainly know and appreciate, this is a reporter who really knows news.

Beyond that, she's truly a wonderful person.

Judy, we will miss you on a daily basis, but you will always have a home here at CNN. We wish you only, only the very best. Thanks so much for your excellence in journalism.

Remember, you can always catch us on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. We air weekdays 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

I'll be back Sunday on "LATE EDITION," the last word in Sunday talk.

Among my guests, Iraq's foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari.

That airs Sunday, noon Eastern.

Until then, thanks very much for joining us, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now and Kitty Pilgrim is standing by -- Kitty?

END

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


Aired June 3, 2005 - 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. These days they call it trafficking in humans, but it boils down to one word: slavery. And it involves hundreds of thousands of people. It's happening around the world, and it's also happening right here in the United States. A shocking new report has just been released.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Slaughter. One of the worst atrocities since World War II. A decade later, it turns out some of it was caught on tape. Can justice now be done?

New threat: while the U.S. worries that North Korea may mount a nuclear warhead on a missile, has the North found a way to hide its missiles from U.S. spy satellites?

With the president slipping in the polls, liberals see light at the end of the tunnel. Or is it just tunnel vision? I'll ask Democratic Party boss Howard Dean.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Friday, June 3, 2005.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thanks for joining us.

It was supposed to be a safe haven set up by the United Nations to shelter Muslims from the onslaught of Bosnian Serbs. But in a crime that shocked the world, Serbian forces broke into the enclave around the town of Srebrenica, brushed aside passive U.N. peacekeepers and massacred as many as 8,000 Muslim men and boys.

Now, 10 years later, a graphic video capturing part of that slaughter is, once again, shocking the world.

CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney has our report. Some of the images may be quite disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Nura Alispahic switched on her TV to watch the evening news, little did she think she would see the moment her son was executed by Serb forces almost 10 years ago.

NURA ALISPAHIC, MOTHER OF VICTIM (through translator): Someone said on the TV, "Now some mothers will recognize their sons and some sisters will recognize their brothers."

SWEENEY: Asmir (ph) was one of six Bosnian Muslim prisoners shown on the video being executed, apparently by the notorious Serb paramilitary unit the Scorpions.

ALISPAHIC (through translator): After two minutes I recognized my son. I saw him.

SWEENEY: Six men can be seen being taken out of the back of a truck, their hands tied behind their backs. Serb soldiers, their faces clearly visible, are seen taunting the men as they're forced to lie on the ground.

Surely thinking they must be drawing their final breaths, a shot is fired over their heads. The prisoners are still alive but mere moments away from death.

The video then shows the groups being led away to be killed. CNN will not show the actual executions, but Serbian television channels did.

ALISPAHIC (through translator): I saw him. He was in the second row. They were pushing him. He turns. And I see him, and it was my Asmir (ph). Seconds later, they shoot him. He falls.

SWEENEY: Nura, whose other son, Admir (ph), also died in the war, had known for some time Asmir (ph) was dead. His body was found in a mass grave six years ago.

But the television footage is the first video confirmation that a massacre of up to 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men took place in Srebrenica in July 1995. Serbia is in shock.

BORIS TADIC, SERBIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Those pictures are the evidence, proof of the monstrous crimes performed during the war in that region. Crimes committed in the Serbian name.

SWEENEY: The video was introduced as evidence against former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, whose trial at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague is reaching its climax.

Within 24 hours of the video being broadcast on TV, Serbian authorities said at least eight men shown in the tape have been arrested.

On a visit to the region, chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte again demanded the arrest of the two men prosecutors would most like to see at The Hague, General Ratko Mladic and his boss, Radovan Karadzic, the suspected ring leaders of Srebrenica. They haven't been seen for some time. For her part, Nura remembers all too well the last time she saw Asmir (ph) 10 years ago, as Bosnian Muslim men fled Srebrenica ahead of the advancing Serb forces.

ALISPAHIC (through translator): Everyone was going somewhere on the road. He came back to our house to give me a kiss before he fled. I had a feeling then I would never see him again.

SWEENEY: Fionnuala Sweeney, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Earlier today, I spoke with the NATO secretary-general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer of the Netherlands. I asked him why Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic are still at large.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAAP DE HOOP SCHEFFER, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: Because otherwise, it's impossible that one can't find him. Not that NATO is not in Serbia proper, of course. I mean, they seem to be able to travel from the Republic of Bosnia after Serbia proper. NATO is there, but the hunt goes on and I'm quite sure that they will not be able to run forever.

BLITZER: When you -- when you hear about this videotape and it brings back the memories of what happened 10 years ago, as the secretary-general of NATO right now what goes through your mind?

SCHEFFER: Well, it has a very personal element for me. Because I was in the Netherlands then as a member of parliament. I was spokesman for foreign affairs. And I have been, let's say, rather closely involved in this Srebrenica massacre, which we saw -- and we saw it on the video, the horror of war, of civil war, religious war, in Europe, in Europe...

BLITZER: There were Dutch troops on the scene at the time.

SCHEFFER: There were.

BLITZER: And I remember, very vividly, they didn't do anything, even as the reports of the massacres were coming in.

SCHEFFER: They did what they could do. But there's an important "but." They were not supported, and they should have been supported, by air strikes and the bombing of the Serb troops. It would have been possible. It didn't happen. For political reasons it did not happen. That's the shame of Srebrenica.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The NATO secretary-general speaking with me earlier today.

Other important news we're following: the State Department today added eight countries to a list of nations that could face sanctions for failing to crack down on human trafficking, the modern day version of slavery.

Get this, up to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year. About 15,000 of them right here to the United States. Our State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For this teenager, growing up in West Africa's Ivory Coast, the promise of studying in the United States and a part-time job convinced her in 1997 to leave her home and family.

The reality? "I felt like a slave," she says. "I felt like a complete prisoner."

For six years, Sara -- we've changed her name to protect her privacy -- says she was forced to work around the clock as a domestic servant for a couple employed by the International Monetary Fund. They had her passport. She couldn't leave.

"It was suffering," she says. "It was nightmares."

In return, Sara says her parents got $50 a month, or just $1.61 for every day she worked.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: Trafficking in human beings is nothing less than a modern form of slavery.

KOPPEL: For the fifth year in a row, the State Department rolled out its annual report on the buying and selling of mostly women and children around the world.

(on camera) The U.S. estimates that up to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year. Millions more trafficked domestically, the victims forced to work as servants, on farms, or in sweatshops.

(voice-over) But most trafficking involves sexual exploitation of women.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How old are you? Eight? Both 8 years old?

KOPPEL: As this undercover video shows, little girls, as young as 5, forced to work as prostitutes at this brothel in Cambodia, one of 14 countries singled out by the U.S. for not doing enough to end trafficking.

SHARON COHN, INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION: And they've got posters on the wall, like your teenager might of sort of a teen idol, while there are condoms on the floor.

KOPPEL: Sharon Cohn helped rescue dozens of victims in Cambodia and collected evidence used by Cambodian authorities to convict the brothel owners and other traffickers. COHN: That promotes a lot of conversation among criminals, among themselves, about what crimes can you get away with in Cambodia. And if it turns out that selling children is not something they can get away with, they're just going to go do something else.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: Back in the U.S., Sara's case against her employers has yet to be resolved. But two years ago, when she was 26, she finally was able to summon the courage and escape her employers. She's also been able to get a visa, thanks to a new U.S. law that allows her to work in the U.S. for the next three year, this time, Wolf, for an employer who plays by the rules -- Wolf.

BLITZER: This is truly -- all this is so shocking to our viewers, I'm sure, most of whom don't know what's going on as far as this human trafficking is concerned.

You're going to have more on this coming up on our program "ON THE STORY" Sunday morning here on CNN, Andrea, but you're also going to be dealing with other issues, as well. What else are you going to be talking about?

KOPPEL: That's right. Well, a name that had been in the news a lot until this week, at least, is John Bolton, the man who the Bush administration wants to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He'll come again before the U.S. Senate, not physically, but at least his nomination will.

We expect, Wolf, the U.S. Senate to again pick it up, but the Democrats are still saying that they are not going to allow a vote to go forward until they get certain documents, key documents, they say, on Syria and other transcripts on NSA intercepts that Bolton had requested -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Andrea Koppel, reporting for us. And to our viewers, you can see more of Andrea's report. Other reporters will be joining her. "ON THE STORY" airs every Sunday morning, 10 a.m. Eastern, 7 a.m. Pacific, only here on CNN.

Travelers abroad may be facing some new threats. The United States embassy in Indonesia today warned Americans of a plot to bomb lobbies of major hotels in Jakarta.

An embassy e-mail said only that the attacks were to occur around noon on an unspecified date. In 2003, a suicide car bombing at a Jakarta hotel killed 12 people.

At the same time, the State Department is urging American citizens to leave Uzbekistan, and both the U.S. and Israeli embassies there have ordered non-emergency personnel to pull out, citing a concern about terror attacks. A State Department officials says there's no word of a specific plot, but, rather, what they describe as an uptick in threats to U.S. interests.

He's under fire from Republicans for what they say were outrageous remarks. Will he take them back? Democrat in chief Howard Dean standing by live. He'll be my guest. That's coming up.

Also, Michael Jackson's fate is now in the jury's hands. We'll talk to our senior legal analyst, Jeff Toobin, who was in the courtroom for today's closing arguments.

Plus, a stealth missile. Why there's concern North Korea may already have one, and what that could mean for the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Howard Dean isn't running for president anymore, but he's still making Republicans angry. This week, the Democratic National Committee chairman spoke to liberal activists, used some choice words to describe the other party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD DEAN, DNC CHAIR: Well, Republicans, I guess, can do that, because a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The Republican National Committee was quick to respond. It said "Dean's speech shows that the Democratic Party not only lacks leadership but is overflowing with anger."

Joining us now from Kansas City, the Democratic National Committee chairman, Howard Dean.

Governor, thanks very much for joining us. Those were strong words. I'll give you a chance to explain what you meant.

DEAN: Sure. I guess my job is to outrage the Republicans these days. Harry Truman, as you well know, was once told by a campaign supporter, "Give them hell, Harry."

And he replied, "I don't give them hell. I just give them the truth and the Republicans think it's hell."

Here's a group of Republican leaders who think that they're appealing to working people. They don't want a minimum wage increase. They're cutting police people off the beat. They're attacking Social Security. Now comes out that people's private pensions are in trouble under this administration.

Tell me what the Republican leadership has in common with ordinary working people. It is as if the Republican leadership never had to work a day in their life. What possible understanding could they have of what a working person in this country has to go through, if they're against everything that's good for working people?

BLITZER: But there are millions and millions of Republicans, more than 50 million of them, voted for President Bush's re-election. Are you saying all these Republicans, they don't have to work for a living?

DEAN: No, no, no. Look, we don't go after voters. Voters are the ones that pay our salaries. No matter whether they agree with us or not. But we do go after bad leadership.

And the Republicans, they have run up the largest deficit in the history of the country. They're attacking Social Security. They've got us mired down in a mess in Iraq, of their own making. We need some real leadership in this country.

And they've got to have some understanding of what ordinary Americans are going through. It is hard to make ends meet. It is hard to raise a child in a morally ambiguous environment. And Democrats need to speak to those issues. We are going to speak to those issues.

But we ought to go after the Republicans when they are once again hypocritical about what they're going to do for working people. They do nothing for working people.

BLITZER: This -- this comment comes only a few days, or a few weeks after some other comments the Republicans and others are saying were outrageous. Republicans, you said, on April 4, are "mean, they are not nice people." That was a pretty strong comment right there.

DEAN: Do you think Rush Limbaugh is a nice person? I don't think so. I didn't think John Ashcroft was very nice, the way he treated American immigrants, either.

I don't -- you know, I think a lot of these folks aren't very nice. I didn't think it was very nice to put gay marriage on the ballot of a -- of 11 states where gay marriage was already against the law.

These folks are telling people things about the Democratic Party that aren't true. We believe in equal rights. Gay marriage doesn't appear in our platform. Nobody's pro-abortion in this country. The abortion rate was lower than Democrat -- when Democrats were in charge, than they are when the Republicans are in charge.

I'm tired of being told what to do by the Republican Party. Democrats are now going to speak for ourselves. We're going to tell the Americans what our message is. It's clean government, no more corruption in Washington. It's a Social Security system that works for people. It's a health care system that works for people like all these other countries have. That's what the Democratic Party's going to stand for.

BLITZER: So -- so when you said back in January, and I'll put it up on the screen, "I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for, but I admire their discipline and their organization." This -- I guess what I'm suggesting is that -- you're talk about Republican leaders, political leaders.

DEAN: Yes. BLITZER: But the impression you're giving is that you're talking about these millions, tens of million, of Republican people, average people, across the country that seem to be -- a lot of people are taking your words very personally.

DEAN: Well, you know, in part that's fueled by the Republican spin machine. I'm sure you must have gotten press releases about this, because as soon as I say things like this, the Republicans put out a cascade of paper.

My parents were Republicans. I don't hate Republicans. But I sure hate what this Republican Party is doing to America.

BLITZER: Well, maybe you should be more precise with the words, Governor. Instead of simply saying, as you say, "I hate the Republicans," you should say, "I hate the Republican political leadership."

DEAN: Well, that's -- you know, you've got a good point there. A little more precision in words is always a good thing.

But I think what the Republicans are doing to America is awful. We need a balanced budget. We haven't had a Republican balanced budget in almost 40 years. We need some kind of decent health care system.

We need a strong defense that's going to do more than wink and nod at Iran and North Korea. This president's been in office for four and a half years. Tell me what he has done to defend us against Iran and North Korea.

I'll tell you what he's done. He's sent 135,000 troops to Iraq, which was never a threat, as documented by the 9/11 Commission, to the United States. We need somebody who knows what they're doing in defending America. We don't have that in this leadership and we need it now.

BLITZER: Why -- why have the Democrats been so spectacularly unsuccessful in recent elections, losing not only the White House, but the House of Representatives, the Senate, state houses throughout the country?

Your party seems to be doing, you know, very, very badly. Republicans seem to be doing very, very well. They must be resonating, the Republican political leadership, with lots of people out there.

DEAN: Well, actually, that's not entirely true. We're actually picking up ground. In the last election, we picked up five legislative bodies around the country. We have more Democratic governors.

BLITZER: But you lost seats in the Senate and the House.

DEAN: That's right, we did. We need a national message. We cannot ever again run a campaign that's confined to 18 states. We have to be in all 50 states.

I'm actually out in Kansas City, Missouri, right now. And tonight I'll be in Kansas City, Kansas. Last night I was in Atlanta. We're going to take these places back. And it's going to take us some time. We need to build an on the ground infrastructure.

Part of the quote when I said, "I hate what the Republicans are doing to America," the part that you didn't read is, "but I admire their business model for winning elections."

BLITZER: I did read -- I said, "I admire their discipline and their organization."

DEAN: OK. Right.

BLITZER: I did read that. Let me get back to the latest statement that you made. Because when you suggested Republicans don't really have to work for a living or anything like that, it was in the context of the win that they had in Ohio, and that was, of course, the decisive factor in President Bush getting re-elected.

Are you suggesting, as you seem to be implying, that that race in Ohio was not fair, that there was something untoward in what happened in Ohio?

DEAN: Well, the only thing that we know was untoward is that -- is that African-American voters voted -- waited three times as long to Vote as white voters did. And in Democratic districts, there were some problems with voting machines.

What I believe, and what I said the other day was, if they think that people can wait sometimes up to eight hours to vote, they must have no idea, these Republican secretaries of states and legislatures, they must have no idea what people's time is worth.

On a Tuesday, you've got to take off work, then -- or you've got to figure out how you're going to pick your kids up after school or after you work. Where do Republicans think that people can afford to wait for four or five or eight hours or whatever it is?

That's not right. We want as many people to vote in America as possible. Look, if we're going to lose, we're going to lose, but let's lose with 100 percent turnout...

BLITZER: So -- so are you saying that it was unfair what happened in Ohio, that President Bush should not have been re-elected, that John Kerry should be in the White House?

DEAN: No, I didn't -- you're a -- that's a wonderful reporting technique, but of course, as you well know, I didn't say anything like that.

BLITZER: Well, tell us what you meant.

DEAN: I meant just exactly what I said. I think the Republican leadership in this country is completely out of touch with what ordinary Americans have to deal with in their daily lives.

And the idea that you ought to have to wait for hours and hours in order to cast your ballot is wrong, and those things are easily fixable. We simply need the right amount of voting machines in every precinct so you can wait for shorter periods of time to cast your ballot. We need things like same-day registration. And frankly, it wouldn't be such a bad thing to have a holiday so people who voted could get there and vote.

You know, this is the most important thing we do in America to maintain our government. We should make voting more easy, instead of less easy. And I don't think Republicans have any idea how hard it is for ordinary Americans to get to the polls.

BLITZER: One -- one other quote you made that's been -- you've been asked about this -- you don't have to respond, but I'll just read it. You said that the House majority leader, Tom DeLay, and I'm quoting now, "ought to go back to Houston, where he can serve his jail sentence."

He hasn't been charged with any crimes at all right now. But I guess the fundamental...

DEAN: That's not entirely true. It's true that he hasn't been charged with any crimes. But he has three ethic violations. He's working on a fourth. He's being investigated by the district attorney in Austin.

And three of his buddies have been already found guilty of diverting corporate money, which -- through a group that he was very closely tied into. So you know, this is corruption at the highest levels of the House.

BLITZER: I guess the question is, are you just trying to get your base really excited and to try to motivate them? Is there a strategy behind some of these more controversial comments that you've made?

DEAN: What I need to do is make sure the American people are aware of the corruption that's going on in Washington, the abuse of power that's going on in Washington, how difficult it is for ordinary Americans to live, how out of touch Washington politicians are with what ordinary Americans have to go through.

The president seems to want freedom in Iraq, but he's busy taking away the freedom to make the most personal kind of medical decisions in your family here at home. Those kind of decisions don't belong in politicians' hands; they belong in ordinary peoples' hands.

Our platform, oddly enough, may end up being like the Republicans of the '70s. We want fiscal responsibility back in this country again. We want personal freedom. We want individual responsibilities here.

We can have that kind of a country again. But we can't have it with a group of people that comes in and says they're going to have less government. In fact, they give us more government in the most personal decisions we have.

We need real freedom. We need individual and personal responsibility, and we need a safety net so that seniors can continue to live in dignity after a long period of hard work. Those are -- that's not too much to ask from an American government.

BLITZER: Howard Dean, the always outspoken chairman of the Democratic Party. Governor, as usual, thanks very much for spending a few moments with us.

DEAN: Thanks for having me on, Wolf.

BLITZER: And to our viewers, we did call Ken Mehlman, the chairman of the Republican Party, invited him to join us, as well. We hope that can be arranged in the coming days, as well.

When we come back, trouble in paradise, an Alabama teenager goes missing in Aruba. Why police fear foul play.

Also, jury deliberations now under way in the Michael Jackson case. We're live at the courthouse.

And new concern about North Korea, and a possible major milestone in its weapons program. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

We're following developments on the Caribbean island of Aruba, where a search is now under way for a missing Alabama teenager who hasn't been seen since Monday.

CNN's Brian Todd is here. He's joining us. He's been looking into this story.

What have you got, Brian?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, right now we have some new pictures coming in from Aruba. We have some images now coming to us from Telearuba TV. This is of search and rescue teams looking for 18- year-old Natalee Holloway.

As Wolf mentioned, she went missing Monday morning. There are still many, many unanswered questions about her disappearance, not only over her fate, but about who bears responsibility in this case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): As police, military and rescue teams comb every inch of a small Caribbean island looking for a missing American teenager, her mother appeals directly to the girl.

BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, MOTHER: Natalee, you can reach me on your cell phone. I have it, and it's set up for international use now. And I also have my cell phone, and it's set up for international use. So please call me.

TODD: FBI and Aruban officials tell CNN the FBI is helping investigate the disappearance of 18-year-old Natalee Holloway. She was on a trip to Aruba with more than 100 other seniors from Mountain Brook High School near Birmingham, Alabama, celebrating graduation. The celebration took them to a local bar late Sunday into Monday.

TWITTY: She was seen leaving Carlos & Charlie's at approximately 1:30 a.m. Monday morning.

TODD: Police and family members tell CNN at least 20 other students were with Holloway at the bar. Police say some of her classmates asked her to leave with them, but she chose to get in a car with three young men, all locals.

JAN VAN DER STRAATEN, POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: We find them and we talked with them, as witnesses, three young boys that went to school, too. And we talked with them. And we proceed with the investigation, around them, too.

TODD: Police tell CNN the boys claimed to have dropped Holloway off at her hotel between 1:30 and 2:00 AM on Monday. That's the last time she was seen. Police have released the young men for now and are reluctant to characterize how they view them in the investigation. They say they hope to make an arrest soon.

Back home, friends and family are looking for any break in the case.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just want everybody to keep praying for Natalie because we know she's going to come home. She's a strong girl. And she'll get through this. And she knows that we're all praying for her. And we're here for her, waiting for her to come back.

TODD: Police say there's a slight chance Holloway could have left the island. But her passport was found in her hotel room.

And there's a key question about supervision. Family members say about 150 kids were on the trip with at least 10 chaperones. Holloway's stepfather tells CNN the chaperones bear no responsibility for what happened. But the bar owner tells CNN there were no chaperones at the establishment in the early hours of Monday morning, when Holloway and some 20 other kids were partying there. A friend who was at the bar that night has only a slightly different account.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a chaperone there.

TODD: Holloway's parents are offering a $10,000 reward for her safe return.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: We've tried repeatedly to get officials from the high school and the school system to answer questions about the chaperones. Mountain Brook High School principal Dicky Barlow did not return our phone calls. The superintendent of Mountain Brook Schools also did not return our calls, Wolf.

BLITZER: Brian Todd. We'll keep watching this story for any developments. Thanks for updating us.

When we come back, Operation Lightning -- we'll take a close look at what's going on right now in Iraq as the counterinsurgency supposedly makes some progress.

Also, scores dead and missing, thousands of homes destroyed as floodwaters inundate parts China.

Plus, while Hillary Clinton ponders a White House run, a European counterpart may beat her to the punch. Our Carlos Watson standing by with the "Inside Edge."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The bombs are still going off in Baghdad, but is a massive security crackdown beginning to turn the tide in the Iraqi capital? CNN's Jennifer Eccleston is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER ECCLESTON CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Two days of violence demonstrated the insurgents' ability to keep up attacks, despite a week-old security operation in Baghdad called Operation Lightning, billed as the most aggressive. And according to an official, the most successful operation by Iraq's new government and its military.

Now, according to Iraqi officials, the checkpoints and raids brought all roads in and out of the capital under their control. The action meant to expose the insurgents' hideout and capture those involved in reeking havoc across this country.

(voice-over): Now, the interior ministry saying that the security in Baghdad has improved 60 percent since the beginning of the offensive. And a senior U.S. military official tells CNN that Operation Lightning's No. 1 objective is to stem the tide of vehicle- borne improvised explosive devices -- or VBIDS -- and said Lightning is making headway there. And that it is also a small-scale operation, a series of small-scale operations that will go on for a period of time, one that is sustained and not a single show of force.

(on camera): Still, the violence continues in the capital city. A car bomb exploded as a U.S. military convoy passed by in Western Baghdad.

(voice-over): Missing the convoy, but wounding four Iraqis.

And near Balad, north of Baghdad late yesterday, a suicide bomber attacked a residents, killing 10 Iraqis and wounding 12 other Iraqis.

And we are beginning to see a clearer picture of the frequencies of such attacks in this country. According to a senior military -- U.S. military source, the weekly average hovers around 60 attacks. (on camera): And from the end of April to end of May, there were 143 vehicle-borne explosive, IEDS, and suicide bombings.

Jennifer Eccleston, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: While the United States worries that North Korea may be preparing to test a nuclear weapon and may soon be able to put such a warhead on a missile, there's a new worry right now. Has North Korea mastered a technology that may keep its missiles hidden from U.S. spy satellites? Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): North Korea's firing up a Russian-designed SS-21 surface to surface missile like this last month was likely its first successful test of a missile totally reliant on solid fuel U.S. officials tell CNN.

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: If the North Koreans have mastered solid fuel rockets, that would be an important development.

STARR: North Korea's current liquid fueled missiles use a combination of gasoline and kerosene. Satellites can watch for days as they are set up on launch pads, with fuel trucks and hoses. With new solid fueled missiles, there are no trucks and hoses. The solid fuel has a consistency like cookie dough. The fuel can stay inside the missile for years. U.S. satellites have much less ability to watch for a launch.

MCLAUGHLIN: They're much harder to detect. They can be moved more readily. And they're more portable of course. And they can be launched with much less notice and less time than a liquid fueled rocket.

STARR: Another urgent U.S. intelligence concern, Syria's missile program. U.S. intelligence officials confirm Syria took the highly unusual step of test-firing three scud missiles last week.

The test of so many missiles at once is seen as defiance of U.S. criticism of Syria's role in Lebanon and its support of the Iraq insurgency.

And U.S. intelligence believes North Korea aided the Syrian test. One official points out, one of the missiles was a North Korean design.

(on camera): There is more. Iran now says it's adding solid fuel to one of its missiles that is capable of hitting Israel. All part of the concern that a new round of missile threats is emerging.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BLITZER: Let's take a quick look at some other stories making headlines around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Israeli officials say the scheduled June 21 meeting between Prime Minister Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will be held in Jerusalem. Both the Israeli and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital. And a summit there would be an historic first. A previous Sharon/Abbas meeting was held in Egypt.

Flood update: flood waters continue to plague South China. State radio says at least 88 people are dead and 73 are missing. Thousands of homes have been destroyed.

Shocking discovery: Austrian police have found the bodies of four infants. And they have arrested a 32-year-old women believed to be their mother. Police say the woman apparently was afraid her partner would leave her if he found out about the babies.

Relics recovered: following a month-long investigation, police in Peru have uncovered an Incan mummy along with more than 100 other artifacts. They believe smugglers stole the relics from churches and museums.

And that's our look around the world.

A California jury deliberating Michael Jackson's fate. We'll go live to the courthouse in Santa Maria.

Our Jeff Toobin standing by.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Michael Jackson's child molestation trial is now in a final critical phase -- the case has gone to the jury. Deliberations have finished for this day.

Let's get some analysis.

For that, we're joined from the scene, our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin outside the courthouse in Santa Maria, California.

What were the final -- the thrust of the final words from the prosecution to the jury?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, they ended with their strongest evidence in the case, which was the videotape of the young accuser telling his story for the first time to the police officers from Santa Barbara County -- halting, difficult, painful recitation of how this boy said Michael Jackson abused him. And it was dramatic.

This was something the jury had just heard for the first time last week. And it was something that they wanted the jury to have ringing in their ears when they began to deliberate. BLITZER: And the final words from the defense? They knew that in the rebuttal the prosecution would do precisely what you said.

What was their final message, the defense attorneys to the jury?

TOOBIN: You know, this was a surprise to me, Wolf.

You know, after spending virtually all of his summation attacking the government witnesses, Tom Mesereau took 35 minutes to play excerpts from Michael Jackson's interview with Martin Bashir from his documentary that ran in February 2003. And, you know, Jackson explained why he felt he had not had a childhood -- he was working until 3:00 in the morning -- and how he has tried to recapture his childhood in his adult life.

But frankly, I thought Michael Jackson's weirdness came through as much as anything in this videotape. And I thought it was perhaps not the most effective note to end on, in what I thought was generally a very effective summation by Thomas Mesereau, the defense attorney.

BLITZER: And you saw Michael Jackson in that courtroom. What was his demeanor like? We had heard reports that overnight he was dehydrated, made a quick stop at a hospital. What was he like today?

TOOBIN: You know, Wolf, I hadn't been here for a few weeks, and I've just seen him for the first time, you know, this week.

Michael Jackson looks awful. He looks deathly ill, frankly. He is emaciated. His skin has a gray pallor. He's covered in makeup. You know, he doesn't interact with his lawyers in a way that he used to earlier in the trial.

You know, it's not surprising he was hospitalized. I can't imagine how he is going to tolerate even more time in court, much less a possible prison sentence.

BLITZER: Any prediction, any way of assuming how long this jury will be out?

TOOBIN: You know, Wolf, there's an old trial lawyer's rule of thumb which says a day of deliberation for each week of trial, which would mean 16 days. That sounds awfully long to me.

I don't think we'll hear anything from this jury until late next week at the earliest.

BLITZER: We'll watch it together with you.

Jeff Toobin, thanks very much for your excellent analysis as usual.

Coming up at the top of the hour, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT."

In today for Lou, Kitty Pilgrim. She's standing by live in New York with a little preview -- Kitty?

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Wolf. Thanks.

Well, tonight at 6:00 p.m. Eastern, we're going to be reporting on the rush by three of this country's most dangerous enemies to develop new missile technologies, and those missiles could be virtually impossible to find.

Also, genocide on tape -- never-before-seen video of the worst massacre in Europe since World War II.

And also, student numbers have surged to their highest level ever, and many of our elementary and high schools are on the brink.

All that and more in just a few minutes, but for now, back to Wolf -- Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Kitty. We'll be watching. Thanks very much.

When we come back, women in charge -- Hillary Clinton won't say yet whether she'll run for the White House in 2008. But another woman is poised right now to become her country's first female leader.

And what are the big issues in 2006?

CNN's Carlos Watson has "The Inside Edge" on those stories. He joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

There were some disappointing numbers about the U.S. economy today. Even though the unemployment rate fell a tenth of a point to 5.1 percent, only 78,000 jobs were created last month.

In an interview earlier today here on CNN, the Treasury secretary, John Snow, told me that although the economy remains strong, the rising price of energy is a concern.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN SNOW, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: It's a drag.

It's hard to quantify it precisely, but there's no doubt that it's hurting GDP growth and if you hurt GDP growth, you're hurting job creation.

But even in the face of these head winds -- and they're real head winds from these energy prices, they're way too high and unwelcome -- even in the face of those head winds, the remarkable thing is this American economy continues to plow right through and continue to turn in good results.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: With both the Senate and the House idle this week here in Washington, Capitol Hill has been quiet. So quiet, in fact, that if you listen carefully, you can hear the 2006 election campaigns revving up in the distance.

CNN political analyst Carlos Watson joining us now, as he does every Friday, with "The Inside Edge."

This 2006 campaign heating up already, is that fair?

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: No two ways about it, Wolf, this week the president raised $1.5 million. That's right, $1.5 million for a Senate candidate in Missouri.

So, people are getting very serious.

A couple of interesting things to note, we're seeing unusual candidates start to emerge. On one hand we're seeing a number of pro- life Democrats running for either Senate or governor in both Iowa and Pennsylvania.

Interestingly enough, we're also seeing a number of ministers running for office. In Michigan, for example, Keith Butler, former Detroit city councilman, is doing that.

And then, finally, we're seeing a number of candidates of color. It looks very likely that not only Harold Ford and Kweisi Mfume will both run for the Senate, but it looks like Michael Steele will run for the Senate for Maryland, possibly.

And maybe, maybe Henry Bonilla in Texas. So lots of unusual candidates and I maybe -- Wolf, if I had to point you toward something, I think there's still a big room out there for, if you will, a Howard Dean on the right, meaning someone who grabs a hold of an individual issue and really rallies a lot of energy, almost running against Washington.

Two issues perhaps where that could emerge, one, you think about a number of life issues, following on the Terri Schiavo and other things.

But the second one to actually look a little about is immigration. Don't be surprised to see a Minuteman-candidate start to emerge in some of these competitive Republican primaries over the next several months.

BLITZER: You've been taking a close look also, Carlos, at the elections going on -- the voting in Europe against the new European Union constitution, first in France last Sunday, then in the Netherlands.

What implications are you drawing from all of that?

WATSON: Well, a couple.

Of course, we care about what happens in Europe because they're one of our biggest trading partners. Our economy relies on them. We care about it because we try and partner with them on things like the war on terror, but what's also interesting is maybe some new trends.

In Germany, believe it or not, before either Condi Rice or Hillary Clinton gets a chance to run for president here in the U.S., a woman there, Angela Merkel, may be running as soon as this summer to become the next chancellor of Germany.

Now, that's interesting for a number of reasons: one, because she would be the only woman, if she ultimately were elected, to run one of the major powers in the world.

It would also be significant because she might end up becoming a conservative friend for President Bush and what Don Rumsfeld called "old Europe."

Interesting personal story, she grew up in East Germany, so she's not a West German, East German. A Ph.d. by training and so she's one to watch. You may hear the name Angela Merkel as much as right now you hear Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac.

BLITZER: We used to hear the name Margaret Thatcher in England, too.

So that was -- we may have a trend here underway.

"Vanity Fair," Carlos, breaks the story of Deep Throat.

I could have understood "The New York Times," "The Wall Street Journal," here at CNN. If we would have broken that news, but "Vanity Fair," what's going on?

Because this is something you've pointed to in the past.

WATSON: Well, Wolf, you remember just a couple months ago, you and I talked about the fact that arts and culture magazines -- whether that meant "Vanity Fair," whether that meant "The New Yorker," whether that even meant arts and culture columnists, like Frank Rich, who since has become a regular op-ed columnist for "The New York Times" -- were starting to play a more central role in American politics.

You see this again here.

The next one to watch out for, liberal talk radio. They're already on 100 stations, in 18 of the top 20 markets, and I think people like Ed Shultz of South Dakota, as well as groups like Air America Radio.

Watch closely for that. We talked about "Vanity Fair" two months ago; watch in the next two months for liberal talk radio to impact the debate.

BLITZER: We watch everything you tell us to watch.

Carlos with "The Inside Edge." That's why it's called "The Inside Edge."

Thanks for joining us.

WATSON: Have a good one.

Have a great weekend.

BLITZER: All right, thanks, Carlos.

A very big day for all of us here at CNN, I'll share some personal thoughts when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Finally, this personal note.

Today ends an era in CNN's history. We said goodbye to "CROSSFIRE." We also said goodbye to Judy Woodruff.

The "CROSSFIRE" hosts and Judy may have signed off the air, but they are not going to be strangers to CNN and certainly not strangers to my programs here on CNN.

Bob Novak, Paul Begala and James Carville will be regular contributors. They know national politics as well as anyone and we'll continue to benefit greatly from their insight.

And what can I say about Judy?

She's been such a solid professional, a role model for all of us in this business. And as all of our viewers certainly know and appreciate, this is a reporter who really knows news.

Beyond that, she's truly a wonderful person.

Judy, we will miss you on a daily basis, but you will always have a home here at CNN. We wish you only, only the very best. Thanks so much for your excellence in journalism.

Remember, you can always catch us on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. We air weekdays 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

I'll be back Sunday on "LATE EDITION," the last word in Sunday talk.

Among my guests, Iraq's foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari.

That airs Sunday, noon Eastern.

Until then, thanks very much for joining us, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now and Kitty Pilgrim is standing by -- Kitty?

END

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