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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Egyptian Man Arrested in London Bombings; Rove Claims He Heard CIA Agent's Name from Reporter; Crime or Cover-Up? Delving Into CIA Leak Investigation Tactics; Israeli-Hamas Fighting
Aired July 15, 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: we're watching and awaiting a news conference this hour from NASA. When will the shuttle launch? Will the shuttle launch?
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): London terror probe. Police detain an Egyptian scientist as new details are revealed about the suspected suicide bombers.
Terror for sale? How easy is it for extremists to buy or steal explosives? We'll investigate.
Looking for the leak. We'll examine the growing controversy over the president's top advisor through the eyes of a former independent counsel.
ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Friday, July 15, 2005.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Thanks very much for joining us. We'll get to new developments in the CIA leak investigation shortly, but first, there are new developments in the London terror attacks. Fresh evidence emerging that indicates the suspected suicide bombers had links far beyond Britain and possibly used homemade instead of military explosives.
Our senior international correspondent Matthew chance standing by in our London bureau with all the latest developments -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, thanks very much.
And details are emerging of the shifting focus of this probe into the London bombings. Already police have identified the main suspects, the actual bombers who carried out the attacks on three underground subway trains and on a London bus, appealing to the British public for more information about their movements.
Now Egyptian officials have announced that they've detained a biochemistry expert who's been sought by the police as their investigation establishes something of an international reach. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE (voice-over): He could be a living link to the London bombings. Magdy Mahmoud El-Nashar, age 33, an Egyptian chemistry expert arrested in Cairo on Britain's request. British agents are believed to be with Egyptian officials as he's questioned.
In Leeds, where he earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry earlier this year, police have been continuing their forensic search of properties linked to the suspected bombers, including one rented by el-Nashar. Sources say home made explosive material has been found in one of the properties, the same kind British shoe bomber Richard Reid had in his shoes when he tried to blow up a transatlantic flight in 2001.
COMMISSIONER IAN BLAIR, METROPOLITAN POLICE: Because one day we hope to put people on trial, I'm not in a position to discuss the explosives. But I have said before this explosion has the hallmarks of al Qaeda: the simultaneous explosions, the fact that the dead appear to be sort of foot soldiers. And what we've got to find is the people who trained them, the people who made the bombs, the people who financed it.
CHANCE: And this is the face of the man police say was one such foot soldier, responsible for the London bus bombing. It's one of the explosions that shocked the British capital. Identified as Hasib Hussain, he's just 18, photographed by security cameras at Luton Train Station on the day of the attacks. He's wearing a backpack which police believe concealed his bomb.
They're also confirming the identity of another suspect, Shahzad Tanweer, 22 years old from Leeds, pictured here as a schoolboy back in 1995. He's believed to be responsible for the Aldgate bombing which killed seven.
The third suspect, Mohammed Sadique Khan, who's 30, has been linked to the Edgware Road explosion. These are his wedding pictures. He was a primary school teacher and a father of an 8-month-old son.
As Londoners continue to grieve their loss, a fourth suspected bomber has been named by U.S. officials to CNN as Jamaican born Germain Morris Lindsay, a convert to Islam, most likely killed, say police, in the explosion between Russell Square and King's Cross.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE: Well, Wolf, this is an investigation that police say is extremely complex, looking not just at who carried out the attacks, of course, but as we've seen in this arrest in Egypt, looking around the world to see who financed it, who supported the bombers and who encouraged them to strike. It could takes months for the case, say police, to reach some kind of conclusion.
Wolf, back to you.
CHANCE: All right. Matthew Chance in London with the latest. Thanks, Matthew. U.S. officials tell CNN the Egyptian biochemist arrested in Cairo in connection with the London attacks studied in this country. They say the FBI had begun to investigate the man, Magdy el-Nashar, before his arrest today. School records show he that el-Nashar studied chemical engineering in North Carolina State University in Raleigh in the spring of 2000.
Yet another delay for Space Shuttle Discovery. NASA officials are now saying it won't launch before late next week at the earliest. Liftoff was scheduled to take place two days ago but was postponed because of a faulty fuel sensor. We're expecting a news conference later this hour from NASA. We'll go there live when it happens.
There's a new update just out on Hurricane Emily, a major storm churning right now in the Caribbean. But Emily has been weakening just a little bit and is now a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 105 miles an hour. Emily continues to move west, and it's expected past -- it's expected to pass south of Jamaica in the next 24 hours, right now on a course that could take it early next week toward the Mexican-Texas border.
There's also a new development in the heated controversy involving President Bush's top political advisor and the leak of the name of a CIA operative.
Our White House correspondent, Dana Bash, is standing by with more information -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf.
Well, we do now know that Karl Rove was a source for CNN contributor and columnist Bob Novak's column, where he revealed the identity of a CIA agent. And Bush allies are hoping that the benign picture that they paint of Rove's involvement will help diffuse the intense political controversy surrounding him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): He's not talking now, but Karl Rove told a federal grand jury he indirectly confirmed to columnist Robert Novak the identity of a covert CIA agent, a lawyer familiar with the testimony told CNN.
The source says Rove did not initiate the conversation and did not use the name of the agent, Valerie Plame.
Rove has repeatedly refused to discuss his testimony, though the White House until this past week had said Rove had no role in the leak. The source account now, first reported by the "New York Times," comes amid growing Democratic calls for Rove to be fired.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karl Rove has got to go. Hey-hey, ho-ho.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karl Rove has got to go. Hey-hey, ho-ho.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karl Rove has got to go. Hey-hey, ho-ho. BASH: It also comes days after "TIME" magazine's Matt Cooper testified he, too, talked generally to Rove about the story.
Bush allies hope putting out more details about Rove's role will quiet the controversy. But there are still conflicting accounts.
Novak declined to comment, but the source familiar with Rove's testimony says on July 9, 2003, Novak volunteered he had been told Ambassador Joe Wilson's wife worked at the CIA and had a role in Wilson being sent to Africa to explore possible uranium sales to Iraq.
Rove's recollection and testimony, the source tells us CNN, is that he responded casually, "I heard that, too."
But in an October 2003 column, explaining his earlier decision to reveal Plame's identity, Novak recalled his second administration source, who we now know is Rove, saying, "Oh, you know about that," suggesting a more affirmative nomination.
Rove's attorney says he is confident his client broke no laws and that he has been told Rove is not a target of the investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.
BASH: That he talked to reporters at all about such a sensitive issue surprises some secrecy experts.
JEFFREY SMITH, FORMER CIA GENERAL COUNSEL: Any senior government official who talks with a member of the press and the identity of a CIA officer emerges in the course of that conversation, a red flag ought to go up. And the government official ought to pause and think before he or she says anything to confirm the identity.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: And even with Rove's account, there is still a huge unanswered question and that is who is the initial source of the leak?
And Wolf, remember, we did get a hint from Robert Novak in a column that he wrote in October of 19 -- excuse me, October 2003, where he said it was an offhand revelation from a senior administration official, whom he described not as a partisan gun slinger -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Dana Bash at the White House. Thank you, Dana, very much.
Karl Rove, of course, is not the first presidential advisor to find himself in hot water over a scandal. And like many before him, this case ultimately may not turn on whether an actual law was broken but if a cover-up was committed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Martha Stewart went to prison not because she was convicted of insider trading, the original suspicion against her, but because of perjury, lying to federal authorities about her stock trades.
RICHARD NIXON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I shall resign the presidency, effective at noon tomorrow.
BLITZER: President Richard Nixon was forced to leave the White House, not because he was involved in the original Watergate break in of Democratic Party headquarters, but because he was engaged in a cover-up to try to conceal his aides' involvement.
Former Clinton Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros was forced out of office and has been the subject of a special prosecutor's criminal investigation because he admitted lying to the FBI about how much he paid a former mistress. That investigation continues to this very day, with more than $21 million federal taxpayer dollars pent.
In the world of federal investigations, the cover-up, the conspiracy or the lie is often the source of enormous criminal problems, sometimes even more so than any original action or wrongdoing.
And according to several close observers of the current investigation into the leaking of CIA officer Valerie Plame's name to the press, that could be where the special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, is now focusing his attention.
The original suspicion was that there may have been a violation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982. But that law requires clearing a very high bar for prosecution.
The disclosure must reveal the identity of a covert agent. It must be intentional. It must be made by someone with authorized access to classified information. The person disclosing the information must be aware that the information disclosed will reveal the identity of the covert agent. And he or she must know that the U.S. government was taking active steps to protect the identity of that agent.
Because of that high burden of proof, the question some are asking is whether Fitzgerald and his team may be moving beyond that to a possible perjury, obstruction of justice or conspiracy case.
Did, for example, someone lie to FBI investigators or to the federal grand jury? Did individuals conspire to come up with cover stories? There's no publicly known evidence that that occurred, but the extent of the current probe by the special prosecutor suggests those paths of inquiry are certainly possible.
The prosecutor has gone to extraordinary lengths to pursue his leads, including going all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to get journalists to testify before the grand jury.
Judith Miller of "The New York Times" is currently in a northern Virginia jail for refusing to name her source or sources for an article she was researching but never published.
It's likely none of this will come clear until Fitzgerald announces his conclusions, either leading towards indictments or a big never mind. He was appointed December 30, 2003.
In the end, many close observers say, don't be surprised if there are indictments but no charge of violating that original 1982 disclosure law. If that happens, it will again prove an old Washington maxim: the cover-up is always worse than the crime.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: So where's the investigation heading? Coming up, we have two top attorneys with direct experience in these kinds of federal prosecutions standing by to talk about that.
Also ahead, we're expecting a news conference this hour from NASA about the space shuttle. We'll bring it to you live when it happens.
In the wake of the London bombings, we'll look into just how tough it would be for terrorists to acquire explosives in this country.
And countdown to the worldwide release of the new Harry Potter book. We're live with some of Harry's biggest fans. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Joining me now to talk a little bit more about President Bush's top political advisor, Karl Rove, and the criminal investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's name, two guests: the former deputy independent counsel, Solomon Wisenberg, and the former federal prosecutor, Larry Barcella.
Thanks to both of you for joining us.
And Mr. Wisenberg, let's remind our viewers why this 1982 law, revealing the identity of a clandestine officer of the CIA, someone undercover is a serious matter.
SOLOMON WISENBERG, FORMER DEPUTY INDEPENDENT COUNSEL: Because if you reveal the covert nature of a CIA agent, you can end up getting him or her or their contacts killed. And that's what happened to the CIA station chief in Athens.
BLITZER: And as a result, it's not only that operative, that individual who works for the CIA as a spy who could be in danger, but if that person's name is disclosed, the cover, where he or she worked as a cover for the CIA, all those people with whom that individual had contacts could be in danger.
WISENBERG: Absolutely, or even if you reveal the name of that company.
BLITZER: So this was a serious matter, Larry, that you've looked into.
LARRY BARCELLA, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: It's a very serious matter, as you just heard. I mean, it started with the station chief of the CIA getting killed. And this was a reaction to that.
And the ripple effect from a disclosure is something that's very, very hard to predict, because especially if you have someone that's been a covert agent for a number of years, the people they've had contact with, the companies they've had contact with, just ripple outward. So you're really not sure of the full effect of what could happen with a disclosure.
BLITZER: But the bar is very, very high to prove that someone did this. Is that right?
WISENBERG: Yes, it is. It's one of the most difficult federal criminal statutes to prove. The intent required is very, very high. It took almost 10 years to pass this statute, Wolf, even in the wake of a murder of an agent. And so it is extremely difficult. A lot of the rules that normally apply in criminal prosecutions, such as aiding and abetting and conspiracy, don't apply fully with this statute.
BLITZER: Do you agree with that, Larry?
BARCELLA: Yes, there was an effort, certainly, to make sure that, for instance, you only prosecuted the government official, if you will, that was disclosing the information to the extent you could. And try to carve out, certainly, prosecuting the press directly for a violation of the statute, with certain limited exceptions.
BLITZER: So based, Larry, on the information that we publicly know, the information that's been widely reported in the press, does it look like someone may have violated that 1982 law?
BARCELLA: Well, it looks like someone may have violated that. The question is who. And the question, until you know all the facts, until everyone knows what Pat Fitzgerald knows, is, it's really hard to tell because of the number of steps, the number of different elements and tough elements to make the charge stick.
BLITZER: But is it -- is it a federal probe worth engaging in, worth conducting?
WISENBERG: Absolutely. It's a very serious matter. I can think of very few probes more worthy of conducting.
BLITZER: Is it your sense that the -- the prosecutor right now, Patrick Fitzgerald, would be engaging in all the extraordinary things he's doing, including jailing a "New York Times" reporter, if he didn't have enough evidence right now, quiet evidence, evidence that we don't know about, that would justify some sort of potential indictments? WISENBERG: He's one of the finest prosecutors in the country. He's going to be doing this kind of a job, whether he's got the kind of information you're talking about or whether he just wants to be able to say at the end of the day, "I have conducted the most thorough investigation I can, even though I was appointed by a Republican and this is a Republican administration."
BLITZER: Is it your sense that he could come out of this realistically and simply say, as I just did in my report, "Never mind. I looked at this for two years, spent X millions of dollars and there is no violation of any law that I can find"?
BARCELLA: Sure, that's conceivable.
BLITZER: Has that happened in Washington?
BARCELLA: It's happened with some independent counsel investigations over the years. They take an inordinate length of time. They usually end up going someplace, with all due respect to my friend over here -- they sometimes go places that were never intended at the beginning. And they take a long time.
We've still got one that's hanging on, as you pointed out.
BLITZER: Cisneros.
BARCELLA: Henry Cisneros. Still hanging on.
BLITZER: We're going to pick that up in a moment and talk about the cover-up, allegations of a cover-up or perjury, obstruction of justice, if this case is going to move in that direction or perhaps already has. I want both of you to stay with us. Much more with Solomon Wisenberg, Larry Barcella, that's coming up.
Also ahead, how easy would it be for terrorists to get their hands on military or commercial explosives in this country? Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, standing by with her report.
Bankrupt, but stuck with the bill. Enron agrees to pay some big bucks. Find out who's getting the cash.
And remember this: we're also standing by for a news conference from NASA to get the latest on launch plans. We'll go there live when it happens. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. And we're back with the controversy involving President Bush's top political advisor, Karl Rove, and the leak of a CIA operative's name.
We're joined once again by former federal prosecutor Larry Barcella, former deputy independent counsel, Solomon Wisenberg.
Larry, a lot of people will say if there was no crime in the original law, why bother with all these other allegations? Why not just leave it alone.
BARCELLA: Well, first of all, you don't know until you investigate it. And he's still investigating whether there, in fact, was a violation of the original statute.
Along the way, and this is common in any thorough investigation, along the way, you come upon a lot of other things. And in this case, the question is going to be, did people tell the truth during the course of the investigation? Did they tell the truth to the FBI? Did they tell the truth to grand jury? Did they try to basically for whatever reason, whatever motivation, to obstruct what he was doing?
BLITZER: So if someone lied to the grand jury or to an FBI agent, Sol, that's a big deal?
WISENBERG: That's a crime, either one of them. And I think it's particularly important in these political investigations -- I say political in the sense that they become big political issues and they involve high leaders in the parties -- it's very important for the prosecutor to come in and make it very clear that he or she is not going to tolerate people who obstruct justice. Because it means the next time that somebody does an investigation, people will be more careful about that kind of activity.
BLITZER: We have a statement from Robert Luskin, the attorney representing Karl Rove. He issued it on July 13. He said, "Rove has cooperated completely with the special prosecutor, and he has been repeatedly assured he is not a target of the investigation."
What does that mean to you, Larry?
BARCELLA: Well, there are three status positions you can have in an investigation: a witness, a subject and the target. Target is the worst. It's somebody that the government at the time, the prosecution at the time thinks they have enough evidence to indict.
However, any prosecutor and especially an experienced one like Pat will say, "You're not a target at this time." In other words, based on the evidence at that particular moment, your status is what it is.
BLITZER: I'm told, Sol, that this statement was given to the attorney Robert Luskin representing Karl Rove right after the last time Rove testified before the grand jury, which was last October, but since then, no subsequent statement has been made.
Does that mean that there has been no change, there could be a change in his status as a target or a non-target? What does it mean to you?
WISENBERG: It really doesn't mean much of anything. A prosecutor's statement that your client is not a target is good -- it's like a ticket good for this day and this train only. And everybody knows it could change in a day or so.
BLITZER: So there's no obligation that the prosecutor has that he has to inform the attorney representing someone that their status has been changed from not being a target to being a target?
WISENBERG: Generally not. Now, a fair prosecutor would do that, and I assume that Fitzgerald would do it.
BLITZER: Any idea how long this is going to last?
BARCELLA: I think probably another couple of months. But I think he'd like to have this over with before the fall.
BLITZER: We'll leave it there. Larry Barcella, thanks very much. Solomon Wisenberg, thanks to both of you for helping us better understand what's going on. We'll have both of you back.
When we come back, terror after shock. Why many Americans are feeling vulnerable in the wake of the London terrorist attacks. We'll get the latest on the investigation from former deputy director of the CIA, John McLaughlin. He's standing by.
Showdown in Gaza. Palestinians gun it out on crowded streets, and innocent bystanders are caught in the crossfire. Palestinian versus Palestinian. We'll have a full report on the violence. That's coming up.
And later, focus on SCOTUS. That would be the U.S. Supreme Court. We'll get the inside edge on whether or not President Bush will have one or two seats to fill on the Supreme Court of the United States. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
The terror attacks in London raise new questions about how easy it is for terrorists to acquire explosives. That's coming up.
First, though, let's get a quick check of some other stories now in the news.
A deadly accident in Philadelphia between a fire truck and a car. They collided as the engine was responding to a call this afternoon. The car and its driver were crushed under the truck. Eight other people were treated for injuries.
The bankrupt energy company Enron has agreed to settle claims of price gouging for $1.5 billion. California is among several states alleging Enron manipulated energy prices higher in 2000 and 2001. Federal regulators still have to approve the settlement.
A reported plea bargain in a closely watched case. The Associated Press says Victor Conti is pleading guilty to steroid distribution and money laundering. He's the founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative near San Francisco. Baseball players Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and track star Marian Jones were among athletes linked to his to Conti and his company.
In our CNN "Security Watch," the London terror attacks are renewing concern over how easily terrorists seem to be getting explosives. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr talked to experts about the worldwide explosives market. She's joining us now live from the Pentagon -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, nobody knows, really how much is out there in illegal explosives. How much terrorists can get their hands on.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): In the wake of the July 7 attacks in London, questions about the availability of explosives powerful enough to cause so much death and destruction. Two days after the bombings, just a brief statement from British authorities.
BRIAN PADDICK, METROPOLITAN POLICE: All we are saying is that it is high explosive.
STARR: High explosives burn fast causing maximum damage. British investigators aren't saying if attackers used a commercially available explosive, a military grade explosive or something homemade.
Investigators reportedly have found the highly volatile explosive known an TATP. Several Internet sites show how TATP can be made. But making it is a violation of U.S. law.
There are millions of tons of high explosives around the world. More than 2 million tons of explosives are manufactured every year in the U.S., much of it used for commercial mining.
Experts say, in the U.S., Canada and Europe, it would be difficult for terrorists to steal either commercial or military explosives. It's all under lock and key. But military explosives are readily available in Iran, Syria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
MALCOLM BRADY, RETIRED ATF ASST. DIRECTOR: It's a black-market world that they live in. And they know where to go to find it.
STARR: Al Qaeda training camps may have taught bomb making to countless operatives combing supply and expertise.
CHRISTOPHER RONAY, INST. OF MAKERS OF EXPLOSIVES: I don't know that the terrorists will ever run out of explosives in certain parts of the world.
STARR: Iraq remains a major source. Last year, 380 tons of explosives were reported missing at just one site. Insurgents regularly strip artillery shells and other munitions of explosives and reuse the material in their attacks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Wolf, military and intelligence experts say the threat from high explosives is very difficult to stop. There are huge stockpiles around the world, and chemicals readily available to make more -- Wolf. BLITZER: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Barbara, solid report. Thanks very much for that.
Also in our CNN "Security Watch," a new poll suggests that most Americans expect terrorists to attack the United States public transit network. The survey was conducted for the Associated Press after the London transit bombings. 57 percent of those questioned said they think a terrorist attack on a U.S. train, bus, or subway line is inevitable. Only 36 percent said an attack can be prevented.
Joining us now to discuss the London attack, it's implications for the United States, our national security adviser John McLaughlin, the former deputy director at the CIA. John, Thanks very much for joining us.
You've been trying to piece together what may have happened in London, connections to al Qaeda, was this a sophisticated operation or a not so sophisticated operation, what are your tentative conclusions?
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well Wolf, data is coming in all the time. And everything we sale is subject to revision. But what it looks like at this point to me is a classic al Qaeda operation.
It's classic in a number of senses. For example, take the group that carried out the attack. It consists of a number of young people, three in this case, who are between the ages of 18 and 22. And if the reports we have are correct, a couple people who are older. The fourth bomber of 30-year-old primary school teacher. And the gentleman arrested in Egypt yesterday.
BLITZER: The so-called chemist.
MCLAUGHLIN: The so-called chemist, al Nashar, about 33-years- old.
BLITZER: So what does that mean? If there are a couple older, but a lot -- some other guys younger.
MCLAUGHLIN: What I would theorize here is that within the group of bombers themselves, the three younger people, the two Pakistani Brits and the person of Jamaica origin, were probably influenced and led to this conviction and this action by someone else, quite possibly the oldest of the four -- Muhammed Sadique Khan.
Neighbors report that young men were congregating at his house. One of them, even before we knew a Jamaican bomber had been involved, said there was a Jamaican there in Islamic robes. And this is kind of the classic thing you see.
BLITZER: But would this suggest this was these five guys, or maybe a few others? Or there was some orders coming in from a major headquarters and Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al Zarqawi, a key al Qaeda operative trying to orchestrate this?
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, what I would theorize here is that the older and more experienced and more mature people in this plot to include the fourth bomber, and this person, the chemist arrested in Egypt, assuming he is involved, probably had ties to al Qaeda central of some sort.
This is complicated, but one of the ways this works is, I think as this investigation will unfold, we'll see that these bombers, particularly the older person, the oldest of the four bombers will probably have ties into previous operations that the British police have thwarted. And those operations in turn had a reach back to Pakistan through operatives there to al Qaeda leaders.
So I think we're going to find in the case of this bombing, that there will at the end of the day, be a more direct al Qaeda senior tie than there was, for example, in the case of the Madrid bombings for a whole host of reasons.
BLITZER: What does this mean for the United States?
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, for the United States, I think it means a number of things. First, this is a very serious al Qaeda operation. And if it is connected, as I think it is, to earlier operations in the UK, we have to remember that those operations in the spring of '04 and in August of '04 had connections into the United States.
BLITZER: The ones that were thwarted, you're talking about.
MCLAUGHLIN: The ones that were thwarted. You recall that Isa al Hindi who was arrested in August of '04 was the one who did casings in the United States. Prior to that, a group that was arrested trying to carry out a truck bombing in the UK had connections in the following sense that a man was arrested in New York, a fellow named Ahmed Babar (ph), who clearly had some kind of connection with that earlier plot. I would assume the FBI is talking to him at this point. And also in Canada, a fellow named Kuaja (ph) who was a computer expert at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
BLITZER: The bottom line, what you're suggesting is this could be a lot more widespread than a few isolated guys.
MCLAUGHLIN: The bottom line is it's more widespread than a few isolated guys. It will turn out to be a larger network in Pakistan than we might see at this moment -- and in the UK. And it will probably, in the end, turn out to have some linkages into the United States that we'll have to run down.
BLITZER: Our national security adviser, John McLaughlin, former deputy CIA director, thanks very much. We'll continue this conversation.
And stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
The rumors have been flying for weeks: Will Chief Justice Rehnquist retain his position with the supreme court or step down? We'll get the "Inside Edge" from Carlos Watson. He's standing by.
Plus, report cards are out for American students, their grades, that's coming up.
And the countdown has begun. Our Mary Snow investigating how the boy wizard is working magic for his publishing house and bookstores around the world.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We're just getting in reports of an Israeli air strike in Gaza. Palestinian sources telling CNN, Israeli aircraft fired missiles into Gaza City and southern Gaza. We're working to get some more information. We'll bring it to you once it becomes available. Stay with us.
As you can tell, there's been an upsurge in violence in the Middle East. Not only are Palestinians battling Israelis, but Palestinians are also battling other Palestinians. We want to tell you up front our report includes graphic images that many viewers may find disturbing. Here is CNN's Guy Raz.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The smoldering ruins of a targeted van, its inhabitants assassinate. Israeli gunships launched near simultaneous attacks on Palestinian militants in Gaza and the West Bank. Palestinian security officials say all the dead were members of Hamas.
Israel appears to have resumed its policy of targeting suspected militants for death. Just hours before, more blood in Gaza and gun battles in its densely streets, but no Israeli soldiers anywhere to be found. This is a showdown between Palestinian security forces and Palestinian militant groups battling for supremacy in Gaza. The gunfire left two young bystanders dead, both caught in the crossfire.
Palestinian police are poorly equipped to confront militants, but they do have a few armored transport vehicles, for example, were torched. Other cars blown apart.
Palestinian leaders trying to stamp their authority on this patch of land, just weeks before Israel withdraws its settlers, now declared a state of emergency in Gaza and ordered police to patrol the streets.
NABIL ABU RUDEINAH, PALESTINIAN GOVT. ADVISER: Unfortunately what's going on is a real conspiracy against the Palestinian Authority and its leadership.
DORE GOLD, ISRAELI GOVT. ADVISER: There is an internal Palestinian struggle underway. And Israel has nothing to do with that.
RAZ: The Palestinian leaders are under intense Israeli and international pressure to crack down on militant groups, especially after Tuesday night's suicide bombing in Israel claimed by Islamic Jihad.
MASHIR AL-MASRI, HAMAS SPOKESMAN (though translator): What the Palestinian Authority is doing is a very dangerous escalation. It hurts our national unity.
RAZ: Hamas and Islamic Jihad have launched dozens of rockets at Israeli targets in the past months, the groups say in retaliation for Israeli arrests of their members. One of those Hamas rockets landed inside Israel Thursday night killing a 22-year-old Israeli woman.
Not long after, Israeli helicopters fired missiles at three buildings inside Gaza. There were no injuries.
(on camera): The embattled Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, wants to avoid civil war at all costs. Six months since his election, the president now finds himself in a tight vice grip, Israeli on the one side demanding he forcefully confront militants. Islamic Jihad and Hamas on the other side using weapons to make a mockery of his authority.
Guy Raz, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And coming up at the top of the hour, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT." Lou is standing by in New York with a preview -- Lou?
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, thank you.
At 6:00 p.m. Eastern, we'll be reporting on what are significant new developments in the global investigation into the suicide bombings in London. That special report coming up.
Also, the Senate's promises to secure our borders against radical Islamist terrorists and illegal aliens are now apparently inoperative. We'll have a special report for you tonight on the talking points and other propaganda now emanating from the U.S. Senate.
One of my guests tonight is the man who kicked over the Karl Rove controversy a week ago. Lawrence O'Donnell, his disclosure that produced this week's political fire storm over Karl Rove and the CIA leak.
And a Chinese general has threatened the United States with nuclear war. The United States government has responded. You won't like the response. We'll have that for you as well and a great deal more at the top of the hour here on CNN. Please join us.
Now back to Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.
BLITZER: You always do. Thanks very much, Lou. We'll be watching at the top of the hour.
When we come back, how many Supreme Court nominations will be in the hands of President Bush? Sandra Day O'Connor has resigned. Is there another resignation that could come forward? When we return, our Carlos Watson will weigh in with the "Inside Edge."
Plus, the latest edition of the Harry Potter series is just hours from release. Our Mary Snow is standing by in New York with some of Harry's biggest fans. We'll go there live.
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BLITZER: (In progress)...says he has no plans to retire from the Supreme Court. While, that's put a damper on discussions about a possible replacement for Rehnquist, it's added a new dimension to the discussions about a replacement for Justice Sandra Day O'connor Who is retiring. Let's get the "Inside Edge" from CNN political analyst, Carlos Watson who is joining us from Miami today.
One vacancy as opposed to do two, Carlos. How does that change the equation?
CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Wolf, it intensifies the likely confirmation battle. When there were potentially two vacancies, there was this thought that President Bush would be able to balance his choices. Maybe satisfy conservatives by choosing someone like Michael Luddig, a clear conservative, and maybe satisfy some moderates, both the Republican and the Democrat side, by choosing someone like Alberto Gonzalez.
But now that there is clearly one choice, or seems to be likely only one choice, there will be a clear referendum, the right especially will expect the president to choose a clear conservative. And one of the things to watch for is an increased role for Arlen Specter, the Senator from Pennsylvania who's chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He now will be a key moderate to watch. If he does as he did during Judge Bork's confirmation hearing some 18 years ago and move against Judge Bork, that'll be a key signal. If he does what he did during Clarence Thomas's hearing, and move towards the nominee, that'll be an important signal as well. So less flexibility for the president and a greater level of importance for Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.
BLITZER: If there's a new nominee that's named anytime soon, what does that do to the whole uproar over Karl Rove and the CIA leak?
WATSON: Well at best, from the perspective of Karl Rove, it will do for him what the recent focus on the Supreme Court has done for Tom DeLay. You recall that just some 60 days ago, Wolf, we were talking constantly about Tom DeLay, the majority leader from Texas, and whether or not he'd be indicted and if so what would happen there. Now we don't hear a lot about that. In fact, you see Tom DeLay on TV defending Karl Rove.
Similarly, if there is a hot fight on the Supreme Court, all the attention may get focused there and away from Karl Rove. But that story still has a lot to unfold there. In fact, on the White House side, one thing maybe we should add, is that while this is a significant historical issue, there could be political import, as well.
BLITZER: Carlos Watson always has the inside edge for us. Carlos, thanks very much. Let's go to NASA, there's a news conference underway. Let's get word when that launch of Discovery will take place. (JOINED IN PROGRESS)
WAYNE HALE, SHUTTLE PROGRAM DEP. MGR.: ...recommendation, we decided that we were keeping the launch countdown team occupied more than they needed to be. We have certain elements of the team, obviously they're involved in the trouble shooting, and they will remain involved in the trouble shooting, but there's a large number of folks around the Kennedy Space Center that were not involved with the trouble shooting, and we were keeping them tied up. So to allow them to have the weekend off, we have backed out of the countdown configuration, released those folks that are not involved in the trouble shooting from support around the clock in the firing room for the weekend.
That doesn't mean that we don't have a lot of people working. John Mirtor (ph) is going to talk a little bit about all the folks that are working here and around the country, all throughout the weekend, to resolve this problem. We're going into a more extensive set of tests. So we've already started those this afternoon, they'll go on overnight. We will come back tomorrow, and engineering reviews and review the data. Then at tomorrow afternoon at 3:30, we'll have one of the Mission Management Team review to review the outcome of that testing. We have another round of testing planned to go on through Sunday. We'll follow the same routine Sunday. And so forth until we discover the problem and fix it.
Right now, rather than give you a launch date, I'm going to tell you what our real status is. We are going forward on a day by day basis. We have got the entire resources, the agency, behind us to trouble shoot this problem. As soon as we find the problem, we will immediately move out to fix the problem, and as soon as we have fixed the problem we will be four days from launch. Everybody's going to know --
BLITZER: And so there you have it. No word yet, no official word. It's a day by day situation when Discovery will be launched. We will be watching every step of the way.
When we come back, the next book in the Harry Potter series hitting bookstores in just a few hours. And some comparing it to a blockbuster movie opening. Our Mary Snow will take us into the magical and lucrative world of Harry Potter.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: The release of the new Harry Potter book is only hours away. And CNN's Mary Snow is live in New York with the look at the extremely profitable world of Harry Potter, Inc. Mary?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, the witches, the wizards are all gathering here at Barnes & Noble in Manhattan. This is one of thousands of bookstores that'll be staying open till midnight tonight. You might be able to see behind me the crowds gathering. This, as store managers have to sign an affidavit to keep the book from hitting out early. The plot is being guarded like a state secret. This is not just a book about magic, it's about making millions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice over): A countdown that some compare to New Year's Eve for kids. Fourteen-year-old Laura Collins is watching the clock.
LAURA COLLINS, HARRY POTTER FAN: I can't wait to read it.
SNOW: Matthew Kaplan is ten.
MATTHEW KAPLAN, HARRY POTTER FAN: It just gets me to read it on and on.
SNOW: In Manhattan an armored car delivers the city's first autographed copy of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." At bookstores, there are costumes, parties and pageantry for an unprecedented book debut.
BARBARA MARCUS, SCHOLASTIC PUBLISHING: It's just a day we've been waiting for.
SNOW: And that day has come for Scholastic Publishing, which to date has sold 103 million Harry Potter books, volumes one through five in the U.S. This time around, it expects to smash its own records. It's initially printed 10.8 million copies. The company says it should top the last Potter U.S. book sales record of five million books in 24 hours.
MARCUS: We know that the reservations and the pre-orders are above last time. So we're keeping our fingers crossed that it will be more than 5 million.
SNOW: Unprecedented in the publishing world, it's being compared to a blockbuster movie opening, like "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith", which took in $108 million in its opening weekend in May and tops the year's box office sales. This book could put it in the same league if the sixth installment of Harry Potter lives up to expectations. But there's more than books to the empire of Harry Potter. Movies, memorabilia and marketing deals.
STEVE ZEITCHIK, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: This has just become a full on merchandising blitz. I mean the amount of money generated on the ancillary products, again, rivals anything a Hollywood studio merchandising tie-in is able to do.
SNOW: But parents Like Linda Hammill(ph) say it's getting their kids to read more, so she doesn't mind shelling out the money to fund Harry Potter, Inc.
LINDA HAMMILL, MOTHER: Absolutely not. I love Harry Potter. I think most of the stuff that they have out there, the kids, it just gets them to go back to the book, think about the different things that -- the events.
(END VIDEOTAPE) SNOW (on camera): The families gathering here, just about six hours to go now, before the release of the book, a lot of families here saying they're going to try to stay awake for that release. Wolf?
BLITZER: Are you going to stay weak, Mary?
SNOW: I think some of these kids are going to have a lot better chance at staying awake than I will. They're very excited.
BLITZER: Mary Snow in New York. It's a phenomenon. Thanks very much, Mary, for that report. Remember, we're on weekdays five p.m. Eastern. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starting right now. Lou's standing by in New York. Lou?
END
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