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Bomb Kills 10, Wounds Dozens Near Red Mosque; Report: NASA Astronauts Allowed to Fly Drunk; Bush Defends Embattled Supporters; Doping Scandals Again Mar Four de France
Aired July 27, 2007 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Houston, we have a problem. NASA hit with allegations of astronauts flying drunk.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: A suicide bombing near Pakistan's Red Mosque, where students clash with police again and call for the return of a pro-Taliban cleric.
CLANCY: Watching for signs of a further sell-off, Wall Street takes markets around the globe on a wild ride.
GORANI: And women behind the wheel. An Iranian cab company sees a growing demands for female drivers.
CLANCY: It's 7:30 p.m. in Tehran, 9:00 p.m. in Islamabad, high noon on Wall Street.
Hello and welcome to our report broadcast around the globe
I'm Jim Clancy.
I'm Hala Gorani.
From Dubai to Dublin, New York to New Delhi, wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
Welcome, everyone.
First, astronauts embarrassed the U.S. space agency with their amorous exploits on Earth.
CLANCY: Now, NASA reeling from a new revelation, some astronauts swaying out there in space weren't just feeling the effects of zero gravity.
GORANI: Now, a report releasing right now at noon Eastern is expected to find that at least twice astronauts blasted off when they were so drunk they posed a safety risk.
CLANCY: All right. We're standing by. Our space correspondent, John Zarrella, is at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Of course, he needs a few minutes. They're releasing this report straight away at high noon.
They're going to post it on the Web. We're going to get some of the basics of it as soon as he can read through it. We're going to bring him in here to talk with us live.
Now, we understand the astronauts' names not being released.
We'll get to that story as we can.
But we're going to turn to Pakistan now, where new violence has broken out at Pakistan's Red Mosque.
GORANI: All right. At least 10 people are dead, we understand, and about 40 wounded after a bomb went off at a restaurant near that mosque in Islamabad. It is believed to be a suicide blast and came as hundreds protested at the Mosque itself.
CLANCY: Students, they're clashing with security forces before they were then disbursed by military vehicles and tear gas. The protesters denounced the government, they demanded the return of their pro-Taliban cleric who is now in custody after this month's deadly siege.
GORANI: Now, today is the first time that worshippers are being allowed inside the mosque since the standoff between Islamic extremists and Pakistani troops.
CLANCY: Now, today's violence part of the ongoing conflict that has pitted the government against religious extremists. The government pressing the fight the extremists want to impose Taliban- style rule across Pakistan.
GORANI: The government had largely turned a blind eye to the movement until early July, when militants began a crime spree and called for a popular uprising. Hundreds of supporters, many of them students, then holed up inside the Red Mosque compound.
CLANCY: Then a week later, on July the 10th, government troops stormed into that complex. The violence killing more than 100 people. Among the dead, women and children.
GORANI: The militants vowed retaliation. Embattled Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf responded with the promise to crush religious extremism throughout the entire country.
CLANCY: Now, he has since sent troops into the volatile Waziristan region, along the border with Pakistan. That's where pro- Taliban militants are known to be active. Some say sheltered. Now, they, in turn, have launched a series of suicide attacks across parts of Pakistan.
GORANI: All right. There's the background for you.
Let's get more on the violence outside the Red Mosque.
We're joined by Simon Cameron Moore. He's the Reuters Islamabad bureau chief.
How could this have happened, Simon? Pretty much everyone was expecting this to be a flash point once again. Wasn't security around to prevent it? And if so, why not?
SIMON CAMERON-MOORE, REUTERS ISLAMABAD BUREAU CHIEF: Well, clearly, there was security around. But -- and we saw all the clashes with demonstrators earlier. But the suicide attack itself appears to have targeted policemen as they were sitting in a restaurant as -- towards the end of the demonstration, as things were dying down.
GORANI: Explain to us how this is an illustration of a wider issue that the Musharraf government is having with these pro-Taliban religious extremists.
CAMERON-MOORE: Well, this has been going on throughout Musharraf's time since -- really since he joined with the United States in this war on terrorism. But in the last few months, I mean, since earlier this year, there has been kind of more suicide attacks against -- specifically against the security forces.
In the last month, with the (INAUDIBLE) operation, we suffered another spate of these suicide attacks. We reckon there's probably close to around 180 people been killed mostly by suicide attacks, but there have been roadside bombs and shootings as well. This is the second blast in Islamabad right in the heart of the capital, which is usually a fairly sedate and secure city.
GORANI: All right.
Simon Cameron-Moore in Islamabad.
Thanks very much -- Jim.
CLANCY: All right. Looped in orbit. Back to our lead story here.
John Zarrella is at Kennedy Space Center.
And John, there was an independent panel that looked into what was going on inside NASA, and really this is coming as a surprise to all of us.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, what had happened was, in the wake of the Lisa Nowak incident back in February, her arrest for attempted kidnapping of another woman involved with an astronaut that she was also involved in, this love triangle, NASA decided that it needed to form an independent panel, as well as an internal panel, to look into the screening process of astronauts, both their mental and their psychological health.
In that screening process, well, during this evaluation, some of these allegations came out. And we have just gotten that report.
NASA has posted the report on the Web site, the results of these panel investigating it. In fact, it is what we have been led to believe.
I can quote here that according to one paragraph in the report, it says, "Alcohol was freely" -- used the word "freely" -- "used in the crew quarters." And it also says, as we have been reporting, that on two occasions, flight surgeons and fellow astronauts said that two other astronauts, at least two astronauts, were so intoxicated that it jeopardized flight safety, and that local leadership was told, but that these astronauts were allowed to go ahead and fly.
So at this point, we're waiting for a NASA press conference in about an hour, hopefully to get a little bit more detail on this -- Jim.
CLANCY: John Zarrella there at the Kennedy Space Center.
John, thanks for keeping an eye on this. I'm sure we're going to hear more as the details of this report come out.
Thanks.
GORANI: Well, still talking of space, space tourism this time in the United States may have suffered a real setback. An explosion in the California desert killed three people and critically injured three others. And CNN has learned that the private company Scaled Composites, was testing a new rocket motor for SpaceShipTwo.
The craft is been created for Virgin Galactic to send tourists into space. The company sent the first privately manned rocket into space back in 2004.
CLANCY: Bad news for space programs all around. But let's check in with some of the other stories that are making headlines.
(NEWSBREAK)
CLANCY: U.S. President George W. Bush has his back against the wall with his ever-controversial policies on the war in Iraq.
GORANI: Now, also eroding his popularity in these months before the end of his final term, rumblings over the firing of nine federal attorneys that just won't go away.
CLANCY: And at the center of that mess, the attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, and whether he's been telling the truth.
GORANI: He testified to lawmakers again this week, and that ended with a call for even more investigation.
Suzanne Malveaux reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Bush and Pennsylvania Republican Congressman Arlen Specter, friends on the ground in Philadelphia. But aboard Air Force One, the respected member of his own party goes to the back of the president's plane to talk to the press and slam his attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, tells reporters the hearings focusing on Gonzales have been "devastating" and that Mr. Bush's basis for keeping him is out of loyalty. Back in Washington, Senate Democrats formally call for an investigation into whether Gonzales committed perjury.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: He tells the half-truth, the partial truth, and everything but the truth.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: Obfuscation, prevarication and untruths.
MALVEAUX: Despite Specter's complaints about Gonzales aboard Air Force One, later back in Washington, he threw him a lifeline.
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA), RANKING MEMBER, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: I think that Senator Schumer has obeyed a practice of politicizing this matter.
MALVEAUX: On the same day the president's top political strategist Karl Rove was subpoenaed by the Senate Judiciary Committee to provide testimony about his role in the controversial firings of nine U.S. attorneys. President Bush is standing by his men. Press Secretary Tony Snow...
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Members of the Senate, at each and every stage, seem to have been inclined toward confrontation.
MALVEAUX: With 18 months left in office and his approval ratings hovering in the low 30's, some political analysts believe the president needs to compromise.
DAVID GERGEN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: I understand why the White House may feel if we give in a little bit they'll open the flood gates, but you know the flood gates are already opened.
MALVEAUX (on camera): Republican strategists say look to September for everything to come to a head as members of Congress return from their August recess to focus on the next Iraq progress report and the attorney general.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: An update now on the bad girls.
First Paris, then Lindsay, now Nicole Richie being brought up on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol. Richie has just been arraigned in a California courtroom. She was arrested in December after police said she drove the wrong way down a California highway.
As we understand it now, we're getting word she has accepted a plea agreement under which she will serve 90 hours in jail. Just a little bit less than four full days. And she's going to pay a fine of more than $2,000.
GORANI: All right. We're going to take a short break on YOUR WORLD TODAY.
Fires sweep across southern Europe, causing damage worth billions of dollars.
CLANCY: Coming up, in the words of one survivor, "Everything is gone. Our life is gone." Locals describing the fires as the worst in their living memory.
GORANI: And the finish line of the Tour de France gets closer day by day. But for some fans, the end can't come soon enough.
CLANCY: And as the old song goes, "There's got to be a morning after." For investors, it's not as bad as many feared. We're going to be checking in and seeing how the markets are doing up in New York.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: Hello, everyone. And welcome back.
You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.
GORANI: All right. Coming to 200 countries around the globe.
Welcome, everyone.
Now we take you to another part of the world, Indonesia.
Nearly 8,000 people in Indonesia's Sulawesi Island are now displaced after days of heavy rain. Authorities say about 85 people have died so far. This is Asia's monsoon season, and thousands are being displaced as heavy rains continues in several countries, including China, where more than 500 across the country have been killed in very severe floods.
Now, Europe is also being hit by extreme weather, as we've been saying in the last few days. Eight people killed across Britain's worst flooding in 60 years, while hundreds of thousands remain without electricity -- Jim.
CLANCY: And across the continent of Europe, well, officials in Italy declaring the central and southern regions disaster zones. That after a week of devastating fires. The area has been sweltering in extreme heat, but as Alessio Vinci tells us, that's not the main culprit behind these blazes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It used to be your ideal beach if you believe the signpost. Now the camping in Baia San Nicola no longer exists, devastated by one of the many fires that ravaged southern Italy in recent days.
"All the green areas are gone," says the owner. "The camping is gone. The apartments, the restaurants are all gone. Everything is gone," she says. "Our life is gone."
Authorities say it will take a year to clean up the damage and rebuild, but a decade to restore the natural habitat.
Locals describe the fires as the worst in living memory. Countrywide, the damage to the farming and tourism industries is estimated at more than $5 billion. Three thousand tourists have been evacuated from this area alone. Most have returned home, but some are still here despite the scare.
"We just managed to pack the most important documents and some money," he says. "Then we jumped in the water while the firestorm was passing over our heads."
It's still hot. After all, it's summer. But temperatures have now fallen below critical levels. Earlier this week, much of Italy was baking in temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, 104 degrees fahrenheit.
The intense heat does not necessarily start a fire, but certainly makes it harder to put out. And the parched countryside provides the perfect conditions, emergency officials say, for arsonists who they say are responsible for 90 percent of the fires.
GUIDO BERTOLASO, HEAD OF ITALIAN CIVIL PROTECTION: They know that the combination of heat and wind and very low humidity is the best situation, and they exploit that kind of days in order start forest fires all over.
VINCI (on camera): So, why would anyone want to start a fire? The reasons are many -- to clear the land for pasture, criminal vendettas, or even business rivalries.
In the past, people would start them to provide land for construction, but then a law was adopted banning any building up to 20 years in burned-out areas.
(voice over): The blame game has already started. Residents say emergency services were slow to intervene. Local newspapers suggest nothing has worked. Civil protection officials reject the accusation.
BERTOLASO: We have been able to be there in 40 minutes after we have got the first appeal (ph). Forty minutes for an airplane or for a helicopter are nothing.
VINCI: Other resorts in the area escaped major damage, and families quickly returned to the beach. It was frightening, many vacationers said. But after all, they also said, vacation is vacation.
Alessio Vinci, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, the filmmaker Michael Moore has no made secret of his dislike for the American president, George Bush. Now Moore says the Bush administration is swinging back. Moore revealed on a late- night talk show that he's facing legal trouble for a trip to Cuba while filming his latest movie "Sicko". (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL MOORE, FILMMAKER: I was just informed when I was back there with Jay that the Bush administration has now issued a subpoena for me, going after me for helping these 9/11 rescue workers.
JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Well, no. For going to Cuba. It wasn't for helping them.
MOORE: Well, that's why I went there.
LENO: I know. I know.
MOORE: I didn't go there like Cameron Diaz to get a tan. I mean...
(LAUGHTER)
MOORE: No offense. I'm all four her tan. I'm just -- you know, sailing around on a pontoon in Cuba. But that's not why I was there. I was there to help them.
LENO: Right.
MOORE: And now I'm going to face this further harassment from the Bush people. Aren't they busy with something else, you know?
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: On the late night talk show, Jay Leno.
Well, Moore, in his documentary, filmed himself taking a group of sick Ground Zero workers to the communist country to highlight the difference in medical care with the United States.
CLANCY: All right.
We're going to be taking a break here. But we're also -- when we come back, we'll be taking a look at the markets. Let's see how it's doing up on Wall Street.
You see the Dow Jones down there more than 100 points.
GORANI: Right. After 300 points down yesterday.
All right. We'll follow that.
Plus, women behind the wheel and in the back seat. It's a completely man-free zone. It's how one business is making a business difference in Iran.
CLANCY: Plus, we're going to talk with three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond about the troubles at this year's race.
That's all coming up.
Stay with CNN.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Welcome back, everyone. All of our viewers joining us from more than 200 countries around the globe, including this hour on CNN International YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Hala Gorani.
CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. These are some of the stories making headlines on YOUR WORLD TODAY.
New violence erupting as Pakistan's Red Mosque reopened. A bomb at a nearby restaurant killed 10 people, wounded dozens more. In the meantime, at the Islamabad mosque itself, hundreds of anti-government protesters clashed with Pakistani forces. The mosque had been closed since an army raid on Islamic militants who were hold up inside.
GORANI: Also in the headlines, new troubles for NASA. A report just released finds that twice astronauts were allowed to fly, after doctors warned they were so drunk that they posed a flight safety risk.
The report also says that, quote, "Alcohol was used freely in crew quarters", unquote. NASA is expected to address these concerns about a half hour from now, at 1 p.m. Eastern. We will bring you, on CNN, the news conference live.
CLANCY: Well, the eyes of the financial world stay right there, on Wall Street. Looking at the Big Board, the U.S. stock market trying to rebound from a Thursday nose dive that investors around the globe, really, scrambled for a sell off. You see the Dow down 137 points, or more. It was the second worst day of trading for the year yesterday. Thus far today, things have not really improved that much.
GORANI: Let's turn our attention to the Tour de France. It's been called so many things in the last few days. Tour de Farce, Tour de Scandal, you name it. Anyway, it's almost the final stages. And this year, it appears much worse for the wear. Doping scandals, cheating, allegations, all of those have tarnished the reputation of cycling's biggest and mightiest event. And some doubt at that race will even survive.
The French press have already printed a tongue in cheek obituary of the Tour de France. Diana Magnay is in Paris, not far from the finish line on the Champs-Elysees with more on what's being said in France, about the Tour -- Diana.
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Hala. Well, the contestants have arrived into the southwestern town of Aungulem (ph). They have two more days, one of which is en route to Paris and on Sunday they arrive in Paris.
But it really has been an incredibly difficult week for them on this third and final week of the tour. Here's a look at why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAGNAY (voice over): The contestants look as fit as can be, and maybe that's the problem. As the stalls go up for Sunday's finish in Paris, the amateur cyclists say they won't be lining the Champs- Elysees to cheer on the winner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now Tour de France is not beautiful like in the past because all the cyclists take dope.
MAGNAY: The French press are calling it the death of the Tour de France, after a week in which two teams, and race leader Michael Rasmussen, were forced to pull out of the race in a series of dope test scandals.
(On camera): This map should give you some idea of how grueling this exercise is. Here's where our riders started, in London, almost three weeks there. From there down through northern France, towards the Alps, down from the Alps, into the Pyrenees, another big mountain range on the Spanish border.
And finally back up towards Paris, where they arrive on Sunday. It's a challenge physically, and also the commercial stakes are very high.
(Voice over): And that's the big problem. Stephane Mandard covers the Tour de France for the French broadsheet "Le Monde".
STEPHANE MANDARD, "LE MONDE": It's the result of --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we're going to the White House Spokesperson Tony Snow talks about Alberto Gonzales right now.
(BEGIN LIVE FEED, IN PROGRESS)
TONY SNOW, PRESS SECRETARY, WHITE HOUSE: Now when you talk about the terrorist surveillance program, there are many intelligence activities in the American government. We're talking about a very thin slice, limited to exactly what I was telling you about, which is monitoring communications between Al Qaeda or suspected Al Qaeda affiliate, one in the United States, and one overseas. And that's so -- when the attorney general talks about TSP, that's precisely what he's discussing.
QUESTION: So, OK, what you're saying is when the attorney general and Mueller were talking about -- the consideration on of the administration said they were talking about two different things, because one is before it was disclosed and one was after?
SNOW: No. Let me just say, this is where, look, there are a broad range of intelligence activities that the government is involved in. From time to time, there are going to be disputes about some of those intelligence activities. Again, with the terrorist surveillance program, defined very narrowly and carefully, there have been no disputes about that.
QUESTION: And the briefing in 2004, was about that program or about something else?
SNOW: Again, I don't want to go too much into the briefing. It was a -- the answer to your question is, yes.
QUESTION: About that program in a different generation?
SNOW: No, you asked a different question that I said yes to.
QUESTION: I'm going to try this and ask a broader question. My understanding is, this is a disagreement about the how and not the what. How you arrived at some of the targets that you were going to monitor, and that ultimately it had to do with this program?
SNOW: Again, David, when you talk about "this" program, monitoring those Al Qaeda conversations -- trying to find out what Al Qaeda is communicating.
QUESTION: That's not what I was referring to --
SNOW: Well, what he referred to was a National Security Agency program. I'm giving you a very narrow slice, which is -- because there are lots of programs, lots of activities that are used to try to protect American citizens. This narrow slice, this bit of surveillance on Al Qaeda was not itself, at any point, a subject of controversy, legal or otherwise.
QUESTIONS: But the gathering of names, the people you that were going to suveil which was part of that effort, was something --
SNOW: Well, again. You're asking me to get into areas that I can't (ph).
QUESTIONS: But isn't the issue here that -- at the most charitable explanation is that the attorney general is trying to parse this discussion, and come to the conclusion that there was not a disagreement about this? And there was?
SNOW: No I think the attorney general had in mind exactly what I was talking about. Which is this particular program, which was not -- I mean, I've described it as a narrow program, but it was a significant program. There are many other efforts on the part of the federal government to protect the American people.
I cannot get into operational discussions such as the one that you have raised. Again, the question of the propriety of this program; where there concerns about the legality of a program that allowed U.S. authorities, the president, to go out and approve attempts to intercept communications between these folks, that simply was not a matter of concern.
QUESTION: But you had the threat of mass resignations in the Justice Department, from the head of the FBI? How can you say there was not in disagreement about the program? SNOW: No, this is where you get into the fact that there's a possibility that there are broader discussions and I'm not going to get into any of the context of those. What is worth noting, is that whatever concerns that may have been raised, as have been testified by the former acting head of the Justice Department, were in fact resolved. And whatever concerns they had were addressed and addressed appropriately to their satisfaction.
QUESTION: Mueller did not contact the attorney general?
SNOW: No, we do not think he has.
QUESTION: The attorney general has told the truth to the American people and the Congress about this program?
SNOW: Here's -- I'd rather call it "activities" and the problem again is -- you're applying retroactively a label to a program that didn't even have the label at the time this conversation was taking place.
So I cannot -- I don't want to stand here as the judge to try to interpret for you to what everybody mean when is they use that term, when they use "terrorist surveillance program" because it may have different significations to different people. I've told you the narrow construction that the attorney general has used. This gets us back into -- the situation that I understand is unsatisfactory, because there are lots of questions raised and the vast majority of those, we're not going to be in a position to answer simply because they do involve matters of classification that we cannot and will not discuss publicly.
QUESTION: Why does the president believe at that attorney general does not reflect badly on the Justice Department and on this White House with the way he's handled questions related to this and other matters?
SNOW: Well, again, when -- because he has testified truthfully and tried to be very accurate. And what also happens is, you've got an interesting situation, when members of Congress knowing that somebody's constrained by matters of classification, they can ask very broad questions. Those are questions they know the person sitting on the other side cannot answer thoroughly, in an open session.
You can create any kind of perception you want. By saying, look, can't you finish the answer? Why don't you tell us this? Or why don't you tell us that? Knowing perfectly well that there are very real constraints there. There's no way that is not going to create uncomfortable moments for the person sitting in the chair. But you simply cannot give a full and complete answer, because to do so would compromise American security.
QUESTION: So the president believes that Alberto Gonzales' credibility is intact?
SNOW: Yes. QUESTION: Are we -- in terms of trying to understand this. Is what you're telling us is that director Mueller and Attorney General Gonzales have differing definitions of the term "terrorist surveillance program"?
SNOW: This is one where I don't want to climb into their heads. All I want to say because -- notice yesterday the director of the FBI never once used "terrorist surveillance program." It was used in questions to him and he always said, "National Security Agency programs".
QUESTION: He was asked directly --
QUESTION: One that's been widely discussed, yes.
QUESTION: Do you have an understanding that the discussion was on TSP?
(CROSS TALK)
QUESTION: I had an understanding the discussion was on an NSA program, yes. We used TSP, we use warrantless wiretapping. So, would I be comfortable saying those are the items that were part of the discussion. The discussion was on a national NSA program that has been much discussed -- yes.
SNOW: As I said, he was very careful about his words. And I'm not going to try to read his mind on this. Again, we have been using a very clear and specific definition of TSP. I just -- I can't go any further than that.
QUESTION: But in terms of the American people trying to understand what's going on here, it seems as though the answer that's coming from the podium is, we had differing definitions of the term TSP --
SNOW: Let me put it this way. There is no question that the legal basis and the activity of providing surveillance of Al Qaeda members, overseas or Al Qaeda affiliates, people in the United States who are communicating with them, having the federal government go after them, that was not a matter of controversy for the director of the FBI.
QUESTION: Does the administration give any consideration to declassifying any of these materials? To try to clear up the controversy and clear Gonzales' name?
SNOW: Not if it involves compromising national security.
QUESTION: But are you considering --
SNOW: I'm not going to get into conversations that we may or may not be having. We understand how frustrating it is. Again, what we're talking about, this is what happens when one turns into a political football, highly classified programs, knowing that you have free rein to say whatever you want, knowing that others cannot respond without violating the law.
QUESTION: Are you saying it was not about the wiretapping --
SNOW: I'm saying that acknowledged program, the program that the president disclosed to the American people, was not something that was legally controversial?
(CROSS TALK)
QUESTION: You also said that whatever controversy there was, was resolved. Can you say which it is?
SNOW: Well, what I'm saying is, there was the discussion of the controversy. The controversy did not hinge upon this program that I've discussed --
QUESTION: Which was what?
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: Controversy over what?
SNOW: OK. I thought I was pretty clear, but maybe I'm just being too.
QUESTION: You're not speaking English, really.
SNOW: OK. Let me try again.
The terrorist surveillance program as it's been labeled, it was not so labeled at the time. It was a program of doing surveillance on communications of Al Qaeda or suspected Al Qaeda members internationally -- internationally, into the United States.
The legal basis of that was accepted by the Department of Justice, it was not a matter of controversy. To the extent there are controversies on -- there are many different things that involve the gathering or use of intelligence, some of those may in fact themselves had been subject of controversies. There were controversies about those. It is also the case that whatever controversy had been raised by the then-acting attorney general, had been resolved. And that is something that he's said publicly.
I know you're going to say, well, what are you talking about? I can't tell you.
QUESTION: Actually, what I'm going to say, you're saying there were no disagreement, and then you say but there were disagreements and they were resolved?
SNOW: That's right.
QUESTION: That's two separate things.
SNOW: That's right.
(CROSS TALK)
SNOW: No, I'm not contradicting myself? I'm saying that -- because you're assuming that -- again, the terrorist surveillance program, the controversy about that, many intelligence activities could be some controversies about other intelligence activities.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
SNOW: Again, this is -- now, we're getting into one of these things where linguistically it becomes a total muddle. I'm simply telling you, I have defined very narrowly what the terror surveillance program is. And that has never -- the legal basis and the authority of that were never a matter of controversy.
QUESTION: In February of 2006, when the Attorney General Gonzales was asked, are there any serious disagreements about NSA, wiretapping? And he says, no. He's only answering --
SNOW: He's referring to the TSP. He's referring to the program that the president made public.
QUESTION: When you refer to a political football, would you include some perspective on that? How do you feel about his remarks on Air Force One, you think he's going be critical to the attorney general, he should not be speaking in that venue.
SNOW: Well, I'll let you refer that to Senator Specter. But. you know, Senator Specter is a guy who has his own opinions. Among other things one of the things he also said yesterday, calls for a special prosecutor that he thought were wholly political and unwarranted. You know, I mean, that's Senator Specter.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
SNOW: I'm just not going to get into that.
QUESTION: With the Congress trying to use -- exercise it's oversight responsibility to try to get to the bottom of this, how does that constitute what the White House said today was a Democratic-led crusade to try to destroy Gonzales?
SNOW: Well, take a look at what's been on. There have been a whole series of attempts to go after Alberto Gonzales on U.S. attorneys and a number of other things from the beginning the year. Each one begins with insinuation rather than a fact. That's what we have here, a series of insinuations.
It is worth going through -- look, Congress has an absolute right and obligation to do oversight. And they're free to do so. As a matter of fact, the Department of Justice has been very accommodating in terms of making all of its personnel available, thousands of pages of documents available.
And it does seem that what happens is, some story comes up, you've got -- it's very easy to understand with the ambiguities in the language here, how people can get worked up. You but the fact is to start out trying to create a benefit of ill behavior on the attorney general strikes me as not the attitude to strike when you're trying to do due diligence. It's something where you have your mind made up at the beginning.
QUESTION: You mentioned that Senator Specter, he also said at his news conference, yesterday, that one of the most important things for him to come out of the hearings Tuesday was Attorney General Gonzales, was the question, what's going on in intelligence? Is there another program? I just want to make sure I'm clear, you're saying the TSP is one slice, essentially?
SNOW: Look, there are lots of programs in intelligence. I'm will not talk about any others. Of course, look, you don't simply have one intelligence program, when you're trying fight a war on terror. There are lots of them.
QUESTION: He's expressing dissatisfaction about not being brought in on whatever other programs may be?
SNOW: Well, just -- you know, I understand his concerns.
(CROSS TALK)
QUESTION: Why didn't the attorney general just say this would be better handled behind closed doors, during the hearing?
SNOW: Well, I don't want -- it might be worth taking up with members and ask them what they think of the idea.
QUESTION: Without jumping in too deeply. Again, so Mueller is saying, that yes, it was the program that was widely discussed, yes. So, widely discussed, that is the surveillance program that was acknowledged. There were other aspects of that program --that are still classified, that you can't talk about -- that created disagreements such that Mueller and other Justice Department officials were going to resign.
That got resolved. We don't know -- and you guys aren't going to tell us, because it's classified. That, we know.
But there seems to be an effort by you and others to say that you have to disaggregate all of this. These are all individual pieces, when in fact it sounds like it was one meal, and you're arguing over the ingredients here.
There was a disagreement about the meal, and Gonzales is saying, no, no, no, we disagreed about the ingredients, not the meal. That's preposterous.
SNOW: No, it's not preposterous. But it's a great analogy. I can't even come back with a countervailing analogy.
(CROSS TALK)
I'm deeply embarrassed.
QUESTION: You know what I'm getting at? In other words --
SNOW: I know what you're getting and the is, again, I'm in a position here where I can acknowledge the peas, I can't acknowledge whether there are other things on the dish.
QUESTION: Thank you for using my meal analogy.
SNOW: Then, good. I did succeed.
QUESTION: (OFF MIC)
SNOW: Yeah, just mash them all together.
Let me try to deal with David's question as best as I can. I'll guarantee you, right up front, it's going to be a satisfactory because to give a satisfactory answer, means telling far more than we're simply in a position to be able to tell. I'm sorry about that, but that's the way it is.
When it comes to matter of classification, these are simply not things that you can discuss in great detail, out in public. Therefore, it does lead to conversations like this where it looks like we're chasing each other around tree.
QUESTION: You're saying, unequivocally, that the attorney general is not the parsing with the specific intent of try to obfuscate?
SNOW: No, I think what to the extent that -- what he's trying to do is be precise. You also understand that if one is construed as being too loose with language in a situation like this, all of a sudden people can impart all sorts of other meanings in things and you're deep trouble, too.
It's a really, really difficult situation. You've got people trying to talk in open session, about things the vast majority of which you can't talk about in open session. So you have to be very, very careful in the way you do it. You certainly are going to be stand accused of parsing, probably better that than spilling the beans.
QUESTION: The other day from the podium you said, no one has laid a glove on Attorney General Gonzales, do you still feel that way?
SNOW: Yeah. I mean, he's -- what's happened is -- look, it is clear that there are a lot of members of Congress who don't like his performance. The president supports him, the president supports his performance.
QUESTION: And among those members, we're some Democratic senators who are privy to intelligence briefings, who are pushing for a special prosecutor, in part, in terms of trying to get to the bottom of this discrepancy.
Do you think that senators who are aware of the intelligence do understand all the different ingredients of the meal, and still say something's not right here, are they playing politics with the intelligence? Or aren't they in a position to say --
SNOW: I don't want to get into that because I think you've seen a number of people who have had access to this, having themselves, differing memories. I don't want to get into being the referee of that.
(END LIVE FEED, IN PROGRESS)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM You've been listening to White House Spokesperson Tony Snow trying to clarify the comments that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said before a Senate Judiciary Committee. Comments that were contradicted by former head of the FBI Robert Mueller.
Of course, we'll continue to follow this. All of this regarding the terror surveillance program, as soon as we get more information we will bring it straight you to you.
In the meantime, I want to take you straight to CNN International.
CLANCY: Hello, everyone. And welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.
Well, keepers at Indonesia's safari park are making a new arrival feel welcomed. This baby orangutan was born four days ago at Indonesia's safari park. Keepers are feeding baby Elmo -- that's his name, Hala -- by bottle because his mother hasn't shown any interest in feeding him.
Ah, the poor guy. Look at that.
GORANI: He's clutching on to something.
CLANCY: She already has one baby, maybe she's ignoring him. But orangutans usually stay with their mothers for the first -- get this, eight years. That's a long time.
GORANI: Wow, almost like humans. I want one just like it!
It's a novel idea for Germany's burliest celebrity Knut has nabbed himself a book deal. A book deal for Knut. The story of the Berlin Zoo's polar bear who captivated the parks' visitors since his days as a cub, is a 44 page children's book. But there's a greater cause. The book will teach kids how climate change is endangering polar bears worldwide.
CLANCY: You know, he was so cute when he was a cub, but he is getting big.
GORANI: I don't know if Knut is still cute. The jury's out on the cuteness of Knut.
CLANCY: After a long and bitter legal battle British authorities have killed a Hindu temple's sacred bull, causing controversy. GORANI: It has. The trouble began when Shambo tested positive for tuberculosis, meaning, he'd have to be put down, under British. Now, a Hindu monastery launched a campaign to save him. They said the bull was protected under their religious rights.
CLANCY: Police had to cut through chains and drag away protesters to take custody of the bull. Reports out of London say Shambo was killed by lethal injection late last night.
GORANI: All right. That's your animal round up.
But now we turn to something different. Still in the UK, after six decades of marriage, your wedding day can become a bit of a blur, or even six hours, depending on how much champagne --
CLANCY: It depends on how well documented it was. We're going to talk about one that is very well documented indeed. Queen Elizabeth's wedding day. The memories all coming back to life in an exhibit that honors her 60th wedding anniversary with her husband Prince Philip.
GORANI: Well, the elaborate display, offers an intimate glimpse, inside the life of a royal bride. Chris Rodgers gives us a peek.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS RODGERS, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): There are millions of people who will remember the 1947 royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Lt. Phillip Mount Batan (ph). There are millions more who weren't even born then.
This exhibition provides a fascinating insight into a very different Britain than the one we know today. The queen has put on display just a handful of the 2,500 gifts sent from leaders and politicians from across the globe. Including this porcelain dinner service from the president of the Chinese Republic and an HMB radio gram. Stunning pieces of jewelry were also presented to the couple from the world's elite.
But it's perhaps the gifts from normal folks they appreciate the most. Rations were still in place. Yet, the princess received coupons, nylon stockings and carpets and even ingredients for the official cake.
(On camera): The bride-to-be decided there were others that needed the food more. Here's a letter that she sent, handwritten, to one of the recipients. It says, many kind friends overseas sent the gifts of food at the time of my wedding. I want to distribute it as best I can and share my good fortune with others. I therefore ask you to accept this parcel with my best wishes. Elizabeth.
CAROLINE DE GUITAUT, CURATOR: Immediately after the wedding, the dress went on display at St. James' Palace, along with the 2,500 wedding gifts that the couple received. Shortly after that, it went on tour in the country. Such was the popular demand for the people to see it in the flesh. RODGERS (on camera): Do think there's going to be just as much popular demand this time?
GUITAUT: Oh, I think so.
RODGERS (voice over): And let's face it, it's not often that you hear of a couple who want to share the memories of their big day 60 years ago. Chris Rodgers, ITV News, Buckingham Palace.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Sixty years. These days you're lucky if you last 60 days these days.
Listen, we have, as well as the queen's wedding dress and many of the jewels she wore. This is one of our producers Roger Clarke in London who is very interested in all affairs royal. Apparently the display at Buckingham Palace, there are gifts from world leaders. A glass bowl from president and Mrs. Truman, and hand-spun lace from Mahatma Gandhi.
CLANCY: There's a lot to see. I mean, she already had so many museums out at Windsor Castle, and everywhere else. This is just one more for the British royal family. She's never though, given up the -- where did that hand come from?
She's never given up the throne for her son, you know?
GORANI: Sixty years later, we managed to still run the piece of video with the hand in front of the lens. That's quite a feat. All right.
CLANCY: Congratulations. Is this quite a mark for anybody to make.
CLANCY: But wait, Jim, I need to say this, Pope Pius XII, also gifts from, Kind Farouq, of Egypt. This shows you how long the queen has been on her throne. President Chang Kai Shek (ph) from the Republic of China as well. With presents from all of those historic figures.
CLANCY: Happy anniversary.
GORANI: Yes. That is it for this hour. I'm Hala Gorani.
CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. Stay with CNN.
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