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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown
What Kind of Republican is Schwarzenegger?; Fight Over Redistricting in Texas; Interview With Wesley Clark
Aired August 13, 2003 - 22:00 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.
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again everyone.
Writer Linda Keenan had an interesting observation today. Our lead story is our lead story still the missile sting because of what was not intercepted yesterday. There's something like a half a million shoulder-launched fairly cheap easy to use missiles out there in the world tonight.
Dozens surely, maybe hundreds are in the hands of one sort of bad guy or another. It is not news to say that the world is awash in weapons. It becomes news when those weapons fall into the wrong hands which seems to happen all too often.
It is that story that begins the whip tonight. David Ensor has been looking into the black market for shoulder-launched missiles, David a headline from you tonight.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, talking to intelligence officials and arms dealers there is, as you say, quite a market for these missiles and there may be hundreds in terrorist hands but they may not be quite as dangerous to airliners as many people think.
BROWN: David, thank you, we'll get to you at the top tonight.
On to California and the question Dan Lothian has been looking at today just what kind of a Republican is Arnold Schwarzenegger, so Dan your headline.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, Arnold Schwarzenegger and the conservatives in his own party aren't always on the same page apparently, at least not according to the little that we do know about Schwarzenegger. The big question now is how will all of this impact the actor's campaign -- Aaron.
BROWN: Dan, thank you.
Now, to the partisan fight, a very nasty fight over redistricting in Texas and the role that some of the powers in Washington have played in this state dispute, Ed Lavandera on that, Ed a headline.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, Democrats have been saying for several months that the fingerprints of high-powered Republican leader Tom DeLay are all over the efforts to pass a redistricting bill in Texas. Now those Democrats say they have the proof that shows just how far Republicans will go to win more seats in Congress -- Aaron.
BROWN: Ed, thank you.
And, finally, remarkable pictures out of Liberia today, thousands of looters in the port area of Monrovia, Jeff Koinange on the story again, Jeff a headline.
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN AFRICAN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Aaron. On the eve of the deployment of U.S. troops in Liberia, scenes of chaos and confusion as Liberians plundered and pillaged anything and everything they could get their hands on right under the watchful eyes of LURD rebels -- Aaron.
BROWN: Jeff, thank you, back to you and the rest shortly.
Also coming up tonight on NEWSNIGHT, a lot of speculation about whether a good friend of this program, General Wesley Clark, will run for president. We've asked him before three times I think. We'll ask him again tonight and more.
Someone we know is running for sure, Senator John Kerry said to be a big fan of a sport that's on the rise called kite boarding and it's the focus of our latest look at what's up and coming.
And talk about what's up and coming we'll look at what's coming to your doorstep tomorrow morning, our nightly look through morning papers from around the country and maybe even around the world, all that and more in the hour ahead.
We begin with the sting, the suspect, and the dimensions of a story that broke so dramatically last night. To be fair it hasn't stopped evolving and tomorrow's lead might be 180 degrees different from tonight or not .
There are questions tonight about just how much there actually is to the story, questions too about the timing of the operation, many chapters here yet to be written but on to the one tonight.
Here's CNN's Deborah Feyerick.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The missile smuggled into the United States was to be one of many, prosecutors say. The suspected arms dealer Hemant Lakhani accused of planning to secretly ship in 50 others by the end of August.
But before it could happen, Lakhani was arrested at this hotel near Newark Airport Tuesday. He had flown in from London where he lives to meet with a man buying the weapons. Authorities say Lakhani thought those men were Somali terrorists waging a holy war to shoot down American planes. In reality they were FBI agents and a government informant.
CHRISTOPHER CHRISTIE, U.S. ATTORNEY: He believed he was coming to the meeting for two purposes; first, to see that the missile had actually arrived here in New Jersey and to present it to the cooperating witness, secondly, to finalize the deal for the next 50 of these missiles and to arrange for down payment of $500,000.
FEYERICK: Lakhani's wife waved to him as he entered court to face the charges. In an exclusive interview, Lakhani's brother-in-law tells CNN that Lakhani is not an arms dealer but that he's an Oxford educated businessman who sells planes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not in a war in anything I can guarantee on that.
FEYERICK: OK, but...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can swear about it. He's a man with character.
FEYERICK: Yet the government says they have him on tape.
CHRISTIE: He on many occasions in recorded conversations referred to Americans as bastards, Osama bin Laden as a hero who had done something right and set the Americans straight.
FEYERICK: Two alleged accomplices were arrested and charged with money laundering.
(on camera): None of the men entered pleas and Lakhani's lawyer declined comment. A government source says the cooperating witness who helped FBI agents carry out the sting was a drug informant seeking leniency.
Deborah Feyerick CNN, Newark, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: On now to the dimensions of the black market. We can only guess, if you want transparency try Wall Street, but to put it in perspective American retailers, Target, Wal-Mart, the corner store, they lose about one and a half percent of sales to shrinkage, stuff that's stolen or falls off the back of a truck.
If armies around the world were that sloppy or corrupt there would be about 7,500 missiles floating around out there somewhere. Fortunately, things are not believed to be that bad, just bad enough to keep a lot of security experts up at night.
Here again, CNN's David Ensor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR (voice-over): As this training video shows the Russian- made SA-18 shoulder-launched missile with its improved infrared tracking device and 17,000 foot range could be a deadly weapon in the hands of terrorist.
Shoulder-launched missiles were used in 29 attacks on civilian aircraft between 1978 and 1998 according to the Defense Intelligence Agency killing over 400, mostly in Africa.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's an awesome missile.
ENSOR: U.S. forces taking control in Iraq found a whole warehouse filled with SA-7 missiles and American officials estimate there are more than half a million shoulder-launched missiles in existence worldwide.
Most are in safe hands but others are not including these crates of SA-18s in a secret warehouse somewhere in the former Soviet Union, the photos obtained by CNN from an international arms dealer.
STEVEN SIMON, RAND: American intelligence officials have said that the number available on the black market is in the hundreds. No one really knows for sure.
ENSOR: But the shoulder-launched missiles are designed to attack small planes and helicopters like this Russian chopper shot down over Chechnya. With only two kilograms, about four and a half pounds of high explosives in a heat-seeking warhead the weapon has limited punch. When fired at a large multi engine airliner, experts say, a single missile would likely take out only one of the engines if the missile even hits its target.
JAMES CARAFANO, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Even with an SA-18, I mean you've got about a 50/50 shot at hitting a plane and if you're an untrained firer, I mean the odds of missing the plane are actually pretty good.
ENSOR: In fact, using the much less reliable SA-7 missile, U.S. officials say, al Qaeda did try but failed to bring down an Israeli airliner over Kenya last year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: Still multiple shoulder-launched missiles could take down an airliner and a weapon small enough to fit inside a golf club bag is now considered a threat to U.S. national security -- Aaron.
BROWN: Do we know who's dealing them?
ENSOR: Well, they're out there. There are some warehouses in the former Soviet Union.
BROWN: Right.
ENSOR: That have these in them and there are middle men, individuals, like the person who has been indicted we assume who are buying and selling these things around the world. So, names I don't have except for the one who's been charged.
BROWN: No, I understand you don't have names. And, if one of us wanted to go buy one of these missiles what would it set us back?
ENSOR: There are a lot of different versions of that. If it's an SA-18, which is the better version of the Russian, the more reliable version, I'm hearing prices ranging from about $35,000 to $100,000.
BROWN: Per missile?
ENSOR: Per missile, right.
BROWN: David, thank you, welcome back by the way, David Ensor in Washington tonight.
We turn next to "Newsweek" magazine's Michael Isikoff. He's done some reporting on this sting operation suggesting that the feds have bigger fish to fry and would have preferred something other than the story breaking yesterday. We're always pleased to see Michael. Welcome back to the program.
Actually, I have a lot of questions surrounding this guy but basically let's talk about the government is upset here. The story first broke, was broken by the BBC and, at that point, the cat was out of the bag, right?
MICHAEL ISIKOFF, SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT, "NEWSWEEK": Right. Their hope was really to flip the guy. Remember this was a sting operation in which all the players, other than the arms dealer, were government informants, government agents playing terrorists, playing arms dealers, playing bad guys. There were no terrorists involved in this case.
Their goal obviously was to meet some and what they had hoped was having ensnared the guy in this trap, got him on tape arranging to supply this phony missile from Russia, they would then confront him with the charges that he was going to face and the likelihood of a prison term and then flip him, use him as an informant who then might be able to lead them to some real life terrorists and some real life al Qaeda guys.
BROWN: Okay, is there...
ISIKOFF: But because of the premature news leak they weren't able to do that.
BROWN: I'm sorry. Is there any evidence at all that he knows any al Qaeda guys?
ISIKOFF: Actually, none or none that we can see from the complaint. Clearly, I say clearly, he seems to have al Qaeda sympathies and as you showed the U.S. attorney in Newark talking about some of the highly incriminating statements he makes on the tapes about his praise of bin Laden, referring to Americans as bastards.
At one point he's told by the government informant playing a Somali terrorist that he wants his backers, want the missile for jihad to use against an airplane in the United States.
So, he clearly knows or has every reason to believe he's supplying the missiles for a bad purpose but, again, he's trying to make a business deal. He could well have been saying it though...
BROWN: Right.
ISIKOFF: ...just because that's what he thought his presumed business partner wanted to hear.
BROWN: I mean I don't know what his deal is but one, that it strikes me is one interpretation that he's trying to act like a big shot in a sense.
ISIKOFF: Sure.
BROWN: Because he's trying to get to a missile. Is it, I mean one of the arguments I think that's going to be made here is essentially that he was entrapped that the government created this whole thing.
ISIKOFF: Right.
BROWN: Do you have any reporting that will either shoot that down, no pun intended here, or give it some credibility?
ISIKOFF: Well, there's been a lot of cases in this area over the years and government sting operations are kosher. You can do them. There are -- if it is -- if the government can show that this guy was inclined to commit this crime on his own anyway, then even though the government created all the circumstances that allowed the crime to flourish and mature and blossom he can still be prosecuted for the commission of that crime.
So, it may pass the test and this is, you know, you go back to Abscam and lots of famous sting operations, if may pass that test but it doesn't answer the question of whether or not this guy really had any dealings with al Qaeda at all or al Qaeda arms buyers or whether he would have been able to lead them to any real live terrorists had the operation been allowed to proceed.
BROWN: Michael, as always, thank you very much, Michael Isikoff of "Newsweek" magazine tonight.
ISIKOFF: Thank you.
BROWN: Thank you.
Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, we'll look at concerns that Iraq could turn into another Afghanistan of the 1980s.
We'll have the latest from Liberia where looters have filled the vacuum between the rebels and the peacekeepers.
Later tonight, we'll talk with General Wesley Clark about, well maybe his interest in politics. We'll also talk Iraq with him.
A very cool "On the Rise" tonight, a look at the sport called kite boarding and the company that's on the cutting edge there, a long way to go tonight.
This is NEWSNIGHT. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: By now it's a familiar story. A government falls. People who had nothing take to the streets, first to celebrate, then to take what they can where they can. It's human nature, the nature of things, in Baghdad, in Basra, and now in Monrovia, the report from CNN's Jeff Koinange.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I kill a lot of enemy.
KOINANGE (voice-over): He calls himself General Come Down to my Level. He's only 16 but says he's been fighting for more than half his life. Why do they call you that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, because when I see my enemy they always come down to my level. I make sure they come down to my level.
KOINANGE: They are easy to recruit, easy to train, and easy to pump full of ideology. This one calls himself Colonel Bad Blood. He's only 14 years old. The more flamboyant the name it seems the more respect they feel they'll get. This is 13-year-old Captain Bush Shaking, while this is 11-year-old Lieutenant Snake in the Grass.
(on camera): Nobody really knows how many child soldiers have fought in this Liberian conflict, thousands, maybe even tens of thousands.
(voice-over): On both sides, child soldiers fought in former Liberian President Charles Taylor's army while these fought on the side of LURD rebels. Most of these child soldiers know little about peace, their young lives spent serving the violence that has plagued their country for years. During this hesitant cease-fire they dance the time away, most saying they would rather be elsewhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to go to school.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to go back to school to learn.
KOINANGE: Liberia's defense minister thinks the nation's future depends on education.
DANIEL CHEA, LIBERIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: Unless we demilitarize the brains of our people the peace that we are looking for is going to be short lived.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOINANGE: Now, Aaron, child soldiers aren't the only problem in Liberia right now, Wednesday looters, tens of thousands of Liberians invaded the free port area of Monrovia taking everything they could rice, beans, wheat flour, just anything and everything under the watchful eye of LURD rebels. We asked the LURD rebels why they were allowing this. They said we no longer have control of the port area -- Aaron.
BROWN: And tonight does anyone have control of the port area?
KOINANGE: Not tonight, Aaron, not for another 15 hours but, what's good news is, U.S. troops will finally be on the ground. Their primary role will be to secure the country's airport thereby freeing up the West African peacekeepers.
Once the West African peacekeepers leave the airport they will have the necessary numbers to roll over the key bridge linking the capital and the port area and that way secure the port. But the hope here, Aaron, is that there will be still enough to secure in the port area -- Aaron.
BROWN: Jeff, thank you, Jeff Koinange in Liberia tonight.
On now to Iraq, an American soldier killed there today, another wounded, when their armored personnel carrier ran over a bomb. It happened north of Baghdad.
And today, residents in Baghdad's largest Shia neighborhood staged a large anti-American protest. In the south, British forces are expecting more trouble because the heat has not let up. The electricity isn't coming back on.
As troublesome as these items are, and they are by no means the total picture, there is something else going on in Iraq tonight that suggests the country may become the battleground in a hugely important, potentially dangerous fight between fundamentalist Islam, its most violent supporters, and the west.
Fawaz Gerges is the Middle Eastern professor of international studies at Sarah Lawrence University and he is back with us tonight. Fawaz, the story that was laid out in "The Times" today is that Islamic fundamentalists see an almost titanic struggle centered on the Americans who are in Iraq today and they are funneling into the country and we know some of that is, in fact, happening.
FAWAZ GERGES, PROF. OF MIDDLE EASTERN AND INTL. STUDIES, SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: Well, and some of us who know a little about Iraq and the Middle East argued before and during the war that Iraq has the potential to become a symbol of Islamist resistance against the United States in the same manner that Afghanistan became for the Soviets.
And, I think as you know the conventional wisdom until recently was that elements of the old regime were the main ones attacking American forces. I think this does not take into account the complexity of the Iraqi situation.
Other groups are playing a bigger and a more vital role in the attacks against the United States, including Iraqi Islamists, Arab fighters who have entered the country before the war, during the war, and still entering the country and, of course, dissatisfied elements with the American occupation.
Two points here, the first point is that so far, Aaron, the attacks are loosely coordinated and the danger lies in the fact if they were to be coordinated you're going to have a major, major (unintelligible).
And secondly, the fear lies in the fact the attacks might spread into the Shiite areas and with the exit of Saddam Hussein and his two boys out of the scene some Shiite elements could find themselves joining the fray against the United States.
BROWN: OK, I want to break some of that down. Set aside for a second the disgruntled Iraqis. Let's talk about organized groups. What groups are we talking about? Is this al Qaeda? Are these others? Who are we talking about?
GERGES: First of all we're talking about indigenous Iraqi Islamists ironically who were suppressed by Saddam, by the secular regime of Saddam Hussein. We're talking about Islamist Arab fighters who are basically highly ideologically predisposed and mobilized against American foreign policy and who are, of course, socialized into a culture of jihad and martyrdom and believe that they are fighting.
They are the vanguard, the revolutionary vanguard in the same way that the secularists and socialists were in the 1950s and they believe they're defending the ummah, the nation and the faith.
So, you're talking about here really a complex, a broad spectrum of ideological and political orientation including Iraqi Islamists, Arab Islamists and, of course, dissatisfied Iraqis with the American occupation.
BROWN: Is there evidence to date that they have joined forces, that they have united?
GERGES: And this is the point I tried to make earlier. So far, the attacks appear to be loosely coordinated rather than fully coordinated. Danger lies in the fact what if the attacks were to become coordinated; and secondly, a more important point what if the attacks spread into the Shiite areas.
In the last few days, we have seen some major, major uprising and riots in Basra, the second largest city in Iraq and I would argue that with the exit of Saddam Hussein from the scene, the Shiites could find themselves joining the fray against the American military forces in Iraq.
BROWN: Was this an unavoidable consequence of in a sense stirring the hornet's nest? You go into this country, you remove this oppressive though secular government and this is what happens or could it have been avoided and can it be avoided?
GERGES: Absolutely. I think the armed resistance could and if the United States, if we in the United States take what they call the effective steps. First, reduce American military presence throughout Iraq. Bring in the international community in a substantive manner.
Why not let the international community shoulder the burden of economic and social reconstruction and security and then handing power to Iraqis as soon as possible? That is hold elections. After all, let's take risks on people's choices. We live in a democracy.
BROWN: The administration would argue that's exactly -- well, setting aside the international force that it intends to stay no longer than necessary and that it wants to hold elections as soon as possible but as soon as possible may be five years from now.
GERGES: Absolutely and the danger lies in the fact what if the situation spins out of control? What if the situation deteriorates further? This is why it's essential that we internationalize the Iraqi project. We hand power to Iraqis as soon as possible.
BROWN: Good to see you, professor thank you very much.
GERGES: Thank you.
BROWN: A few more items from around the world before we go to break here.
The Libyan government today, this is hard to believe when you think about it, finally reached an agreement with the families of Pam Am Flight 103. It provides for a $2.7 billion compensation fund. This is a key step in lifting the U.N. sanctions against Libya.
Next, Switzerland where remnants of the Ice Age are melting in a heat wave melting quickly enough to cause landslides.
And, at a racetrack in northern England a brave racer hits 144 miles an hour, big deal? Yes, actually. The brave racer is blind. He kept it straight with directions radioed in from track side. That is something.
Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, the latest on the California recall and the man California conservatives are most worried about.
And, politics Texas style and questions of just how involved Tom DeLay is in the controversial redistricting plan.
A break first, from New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Recently, a New York investor paid a quarter of a million dollars at a charity auction just to have lunch with Warren Buffett so when you think about it Arnold Schwarzenegger is getting some sort of bargain.
He signed up the famed investor as his top financial adviser for the California campaign free of charge. Mr. Buffett has been known to give to Democratic causes also and he has very sharply criticized the Bush tax cuts but is generally thought of an independent thinker on politics, not quite bound to a rigid party line, sort of like the candidate he's going to advise.
More on what kind of Republican Mr. Schwarzenegger really is from CNN's Dan Lothian.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN (voice-over): As Arnold Schwarzenegger continues to recruit high profile people onto his campaign roster some say his own party stands divided.
MIKE SPENCE, CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN ASSEMBLY: I think there's a lot of concern and question marks among conservatives and some of the things that he's said, you know, really put him outside the mainstream of the Republican Party.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What kind of a Republican did I write up there? Conservative.
LOTHIAN: At Marshall High School in Los Angeles, Gail (unintelligible) 12th grade government class tackling the recall and trying to get a handle on just what conservatives want in a candidate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, a conservative Republican would want what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Less taxes on business, there you go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Less taxes on business, good.
LOTHIAN: While Schwarzenegger has been connected to some conservative themes, like eliminating the car tax and voting for the anti-illegal immigrant measure Prop 187, his support of gay rights, abortion rights, and some gun control turning off the far right.
LOU SHELDON, TRADITIONAL VALUES COALITION: We're not going to allow this person to redefine what it means to be conservative, to redefine what it means to be a Republican.
LOTHIAN: For now, many conservatives are embracing Bill Simon who had impressive numbers but lost to Gray Davis last year, and state Senator Tom McClintock who has picked up the endorsement of the Conservative California Republican Assembly.
The big question does Schwarzenegger even need the far right to win? University of Southern California Professor Martin Kaplan doesn't think so.
MARTIN KAPLAN, POLITICAL ANALYST: To the degree that Arnold Schwarzenegger tries to appeal to that far right vote, he will alienate the very moderate Republicans, independents, and moderate Democrats that he needs to put together a coalition.
LOTHIAN: But in this unprecedented recall campaign, with well over 100 candidates, political strategists say no group can be dismissed.
ARNOLD STEINBERG, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Things may change. And you -- even in a turbulent, volatile campaign like this, which is only eight weeks, you don't know what the future holds. LOTHIAN: If the future were in the hands of Gail Platt's (ph) 12th graders, none of this would matter. Here, a popular movie star's screen credits...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who do you think everybody would vote for?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Arnold!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Arnold!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Arnold!
LOTHIAN: ... far outweigh political leanings.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: Perhaps by next week, we should be learning a little bit more about the campaign strategy of Schwarzenegger. His campaign is confirming that they're in the final stages of producing a series of TV ads that could be rolling out as early as next Tuesday.
They won't talk about the content or the tone of those ads, but an aide is confirming that some of them will focus on his biographies, such as coming here from Austria as an immigrant, and others may focus on Governor Davis and his leadership on the budget, Aaron.
BROWN: Thank you. Notably absent in that description is anything focusing on the issues facing the state of California. Dan, thank you very much. Dan Lothian in Los Angeles tonight.
California isn't the only scene of political circus these days. Texas has one too, been going on for months, a bid by the state's Republicans to pass a redistricting plan, efforts by the Democrats to stop it by fleeing the state.
Today, the focus was squarely on one very powerful Republican in Washington and his brass-knuckled attempt to get the plan through. That meant the circus had all the colorful characters, including the House majority leader known as The Hammer, a bunch of furious Democrats, and one giant inflatable rat.
The story from CNN's Ed Lavandera.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go away, Tom DeLay!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go away, Tom DeLay!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go away, Tom DeLay!
ED LAVANDERA, CNN DALLAS BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): When Texas Democrats look at congressional Republican leader Tom DeLay. they see Public Enemy Number One. Outside a Dallas-area hotel where DeLay was giving a speech Wednesday, a small group of protesters brought a 15- foot inflatable rat, naming it after the man they say is unfairly using his political force to push a Congressional redistricting bill through the Texas legislature.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go away, Tom DeLay!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go away, Tom DeLay!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go away, Tom DeLay!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... congressman from Houston, Tom DeLay.
LAVANDERA: Democrats say the House majority leader will do virtually anything to redraw congressional lines in Texas, giving Republicans another five to seven seats in the U.S. House. So when some 50 Texas Democrats fled to Oklahoma in May to block the passage of a redistricting bill, DeLay's people called on federal authorities to help arrest the AWOL lawmakers.
An inspector general report says the Department of Justice received a total of nine requests for information in connection with the absent Texas legislators. At least two of those requests came from DeLay's office. Justice officials are quoted in the report as saying that the idea of FBI agents arresting Texas lawmakers was "wacko."
The Justice Department refused to help. But DeLay's spokesman says there was no harm in asking. DeLay himself does not want to talk about the report.
His security detail rushed him through the hotel lobby, where he was speaking, and away from reporters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you please address this, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have no comment at all, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. DeLay, would you please talk with us, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, you go on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. DeLay would you please talk with us, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Democrats are blaming you for this (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Step back, now.
LT. GOV. DAVID DEWHURST (R), TEXAS: ... down from Washington.
LAVANDERA: The Texas lieutenant governor, David Dewhurst, says the idea that Tom DeLay is forcing a congressional redistricting bill on Texas lawmakers is just Democratic spin.
DEWHURST: I have no contact with him. This is the Texas Senate and the Texas house, trying to do what we believe is fair.
REP. MARTIN FROST (D), TEXAS: Governor Dewhurst can't believe that.
LAVANDERA: This is Democratic Representative Martin Frost, who could lose his seat in Congress under the proposed redistricting bill.
FROST: This is a blatant power grab by Tom DeLay in a way that is contrary to the traditions of this country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: So starting Thursday, the 11 state senators that are still in New Mexico will be fined for each day they don't show up at the state capitol. So if they're not there by August 26, which is the last day of the special session, that fine will reach a total of $57,000.
They say they won't pay that, so Texas Governor Rick Perry is already hinting at a third special session. And with no end in sight, it seems that the party that will win this political battle will be the party that has the most money in its public relations bank account, Aaron.
BROWN: Ed, thank you very much. Ed Lavandera in Texas.
Tonight still to come on NEWSNIGHT, perhaps a little bit more politics. We'll talk with General Wesley Clark about things on his mind today, Iraq, the presidency, who knows.
Break first. Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: The political stars seem quite a mess tonight. The hot Democrat remains Howard Dean, the former governor of a small state who many thought would be an asterisk in the Democratic primaries. Then there is that actor-turned-politician out in California we were talking about a few moments ago.
If this is the year of the unexpected candidate, General Wesley Clark may become the most intriguing of them all. May. It's not at all clear the general is going to run for the White House. But we're about to try our darnedest to get him to say up or down in the next four and a half minutes or so.
General Clark, who, in fairness, we should say, we consider a friend, joins us tonight from Little Rock.
General, what say we make news here? Going to run?
GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME COMMANDER: I haven't made a decision. It's not time to make a decision yet.
BROWN: There are those, general, who, in fact, would say that it is too late to make a decision. Assuming, and I do, that you really haven't made up your mind yet, are you concerned that if you decide you want to do this, it is too late to put organization and money together? CLARK: No.
BROWN: Not at all?
CLARK: No, I'm not concerned about that.
BROWN: Why?
CLARK: There's a tremendous groundswell of support out there in America for candidates who can offer the promise of leadership. And I see it every day in the mail and phone calls that are coming to me. And it's reflected, really, in the groundswell of support for Howard Dean, it's reflected in the concern of mainstream Democratic Party politicians for John Kerry. It's even reflected in California.
This country is in significant difficulties at home and abroad, and Americans are looking for leadership.
BROWN: I want to talk about Iraq before we're done with you tonight. But I -- let me go a bit farther down here. There are, as you know, there is a group of people that very much are pushing the idea that you ought to run. They're going to put an ad up soon in a couple of key primary states. We got our hands on it. We cut it down a bit.
Let me show you what's going to go up on the air.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, POLITICAL AD, DRAFTWESLEYCLARK.COM)
ANNOUNCER: The president's oath of office, "to preserve, protect, and defend."
It also describes what General Wesley Clark has already done for more than 30 years. Unafraid to speak his mind, unwilling to put politics ahead of duty, he has never failed to answer our country's call.
Now we call on him one more time -- to preserve, protect, and defend our nation and all for which it stands.
Draft Wesley Clark for president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: General, did you have anything to do with that ad?
CLARK: No, I didn't, Aaron. First time I've seen any part of it.
BROWN: Are you in contact with the draft-Clark people?
CLARK: No, I'm not.
BROWN: OK.
CLARK: Recently opened a headquarters in Little Rock, I guess to make it come closer to home and put more pressure.
BROWN: Did you or anybody that you like a lot say to them, Hang in there, I'll make a decision by Labor Day?
BROWN: I certainly didn't say it, and nobody that I know of did. I've said all along that it would some time -- a couple of months or so from the middle of June. And so people have pegged Labor Day as a logical time. But I haven't made a specific hard date.
BROWN: Are you close?
CLARK: Well, I think as we've seen the issues evolve over the summer, the situation's a little more clear. But yes, my family and I have talked about it. And I think we're getting closer to determining what we should be doing.
BROWN: OK.
(UNINTELLIGIBLE), let's talk about a couple of issues here. Do you believe that a Democratic candidate, yourself or someone else, can use the situation in Iraq, both before, during, and after the war, to his or her political advantage?
CLARK: Well, I'm not thinking in those terms, Aaron. I'm thinking in terms of what's right for the United States. And one of the principles that we operate on in this country is that leaders are held accountable. The simple truth is that we went into Iraq on the basis of some intuition, some fear, and some exaggerated rhetoric and some very, very scanty evidence.
We found a situation that wasn't at all what was predicted. We're in there now, we're committed, we need to do our best. But that's a classic presidential-level misjudgment. And I think the voters have to be aware of that. And they have to appreciate it.
And if democracy means something, then that will be reflected in the ballot box.
BROWN: What was the misjudgment? If there was an exaggeration of the threat, what was the misjudgment?
CLARK: Well, I think, first of all, the idea that this was going to solve the war on terror. The president said this is the centerpiece of the war on terror. Seems to me that the only terrorists we're finding there are the ones who have come back in to attack us since we arrived.
There was a misjudgment about what would happen afterwards. The idea that we would go in, be welcomed as liberators. They'd quickly move to the ballot boxes, we'd bring our troops home, out before the heat wave hit.
That didn't happen either. There have been a whole series of issues associated with this campaign, starting from why we went into Iraq, to how we dealt with our allies, to how we prepared for the aftermath, that are very, very troublesome. BROWN: And (UNINTELLIGIBLE) two other things. But just briefly, if you were a candidate, you would not walk away from those issues?
CLARK: I think those issues are at the very center of what America stands for, and what America's future will be.
BROWN: Back to the politics of this. As you debate it in your mind, as you talk to your family, what are your concerns? What is it about making this race that gives you pause?
CLARK: Well, I haven't speculated publicly on this, Aaron. But just to put it in perspective, I've been a career military officer. I've worn U.S. on my collars throughout my entire professional life, from the time I went to West Point at the age of 17, until I retired three years ago.
And I've served both with Republicans and Democrats. I've got friends on both sides of the aisle.
For me, it's not about partisan politics. I don't have a political team. I didn't climb up a partisan political career ladder. This is a huge transition. And it's a transition that I'll be making if I should go into this, right after I've just been through another transition...
BROWN: Yes.
CLARK: ... to go from military to civilian life. So it's a huge change of direction.
BROWN: Is your family supportive of the idea?
CLARK: Well, we've talked about it. And in general, my family's been very supportive of all the things I've done in public service throughout my career.
BROWN: Labor Day seem like a pretty good guess for a decision right around there?
CLARK: You are tough, Aaron.
BROWN: I'm -- hey, I'm working for a living, man.
CLARK: I was just having -- we haven't, we haven't picked this, we haven't nailed this down. And it depends on a number of factors and discussions and phone calls with people. And just some more heart-to-heart talk and really sitting down and putting pencil to paper and looking at what the future could hold, and what the best way is to make a further contribution to the country.
BROWN: Yes. Will you call me and let me know?
CLARK: I will.
BROWN: Thank you, general, very much. General Wesley Clark.
And we'll see how it plays out.
Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, on the rise. Haven't had one in a while, good to have it back. New sport called kiteboarding.
We take a break first. This is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: We call the segment "on the rise." And mostly we mean that in the figurative sense, companies that are up and coming, doing something new and interesting.
Tonight, a company that's on the rise in the literal sense too. It's called Slingshot Kiteboarding. And it's getting people to rise far above the water or the snow in a new sport for the intrepid among us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's so much fun. So much lift.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The kites are absolutely insane.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kiteboarding is pretty innovative. It's such a diverse sport.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can either do in the water and in the snow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slingshot is a company that produces kiteboard accessories, kites, kiteboards, and everything to do with kiting.
TONY LOGOSZ, CHIEF DESIGNER/CO-FOUNDER: First, you wear a harness around your waist. The kites generate so much power that you can't hold onto all that power without actually being attached to it. You have your board, and you have your control bar, which steers the kite. Goes from your bar, four lines up to the kite, and you have your kite in the sky. And the kite is big. Average kite is 13 to 15 meters. That's pretty much kiteboarding in a nutshell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Want to launch me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Which one are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Way out there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slingshot is four brothers that came together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And started this company because we love the sport. And we thought we could build a better product than anyone else out there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have four in-house R&D people. It's a team record on designing. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tony...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of them will run all the way down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... he does all the kites.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to have the good bottom and the new graphics.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I do a lot of the foot straps and pads and handles and the fins. When I get ideas, I draw the templates and shape them out of foam. If things aren't constantly being invented and upgraded and evolving, then I get bored.
LOGOSZ: We started this business in the bedroom in my house for the first two months because we didn't have an office space available.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chris, you're going to Fiji on Friday?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're talking four of the top team guys and finishing up on the video and the rest of the photos.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Part of our strategy was, because we're the new kids on the block, was going to be first in our own backyard. We consider our own backyard the U.S.
CHRIS WYMAN, MARKETING/CO-FOUNDER: At first it was, OK, can we establish a brand, can we make a brand? We're -- we have this different image and this quality product that's like no one else out there.
We started out at 300 percent growth. And then we went down to 200 percent growth a year. And this year, it's finally getting nice, because we're down into double-digit growth, which is 50 percent growth. And that's where it's getting more manageable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all went through that athletic stage. And now that we're getting older, this is a great venue to give opportunity back to kids, and through the sport especially, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had the entire team in town and we're shooting off for the next year's 2004 product. Everybody on our (UNINTELLIGIBLE) team is the new, upcoming, most badass kid in the future. They've got a little attitude about themselves, they've got a good look, and they have their own riding style.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's fun being at the beginning level of a sport. That way you can evolve with it. Here, you've got something brand new that's just in constant evolution.
WYMAN: I'm sure our next mission statement is, OK, how much money can we make doing this? But we still got to have fun. The bottom line is, we got to have fun what we're doing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And, of course, it's perfectly safe, which is more than we can say about morning papers, which is coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Okey-dokey, time to check morning papers from around the country. Lots of new papers tonight. So we'll try and get some of them in.
We'll start with the "Winston's" -- this also a day, it seems to me, where everybody led local. You know, sort of dominant international or national stories.
So "The Winston-Salem Journal," big issue down there, textile industry, used to be a lot of textile plants down there. "Textile Industry Braces for End of Import Quotas, Phase-Out Schedule That Ends in 2004 Could Devastate Sector." Not good news if you work in one of those factories, is it?
"The Herald Journal," this is Logan, Utah. Bless them, that's the early deadline for them. We appreciate this a lot. "Unforgettable Thespian." OK? "Floyd Morgan Brought Much and Gave Much to Local Theater." Clearly local story. A nice picture of Mr. Morgan. And that's "The Herald Journal" of Logan, Utah. Logan's a great city, too.
"The Oregonian," OK? The usual stuff, OK? But down at the bottom, I love this story. "New Goobers Are Really Good for You." I just did that because I've always wanted to say "goober" on the air. I've been called a goober many times, but this is the first time I've had a chance to say it. That's the lead in "The Oregonian."
OK, it's time to get serious now. The "Boston Herald." "Is This Fake?" This is the will of Ted Williams. This story has gotten so crazy. And now there's a question about whether the note that he signed saying that he wanted to be frozen for eternity was actually fake or not fake. Anyway, that's "The Boston Herald."
They also have a thing on jeans, on denim. And (UNINTELLIGIBLE), they're getting kind of -- they're kind of low-cut, aren't they, these days? You can tell I'm the father of a teenage daughter, can't you?
"Chicago Sun Times," always get that in, "200 Marines Poised to Help a Nation in Chaos," Liberia. The weather in Chicago, by the way, tomorrow, is "Hottie." Man, that's too much.
"135 Qualify for Recall Ballot." That's the "San Francisco Chronicle." But that's not what I noted in the paper.
Thirty? Really? Oh, my goodness.
Arianna Huffington gets her picture in everything, with everyone. She is really good at that, OK? We like her, but she's got that down to a science.
And finally, from "The Washington Times," "Denver Grinds Teeth on Initiative for Less Stress." There's an initiative there to make Denver a more peaceful city. Bless them. Have a great night. We'll see you tomorrow, 10:00 Eastern. Good night for all of us at NEWSNIGHT.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Redistricting in Texas; Interview With Wesley Clark>
Aired August 13, 2003 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again everyone.
Writer Linda Keenan had an interesting observation today. Our lead story is our lead story still the missile sting because of what was not intercepted yesterday. There's something like a half a million shoulder-launched fairly cheap easy to use missiles out there in the world tonight.
Dozens surely, maybe hundreds are in the hands of one sort of bad guy or another. It is not news to say that the world is awash in weapons. It becomes news when those weapons fall into the wrong hands which seems to happen all too often.
It is that story that begins the whip tonight. David Ensor has been looking into the black market for shoulder-launched missiles, David a headline from you tonight.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, talking to intelligence officials and arms dealers there is, as you say, quite a market for these missiles and there may be hundreds in terrorist hands but they may not be quite as dangerous to airliners as many people think.
BROWN: David, thank you, we'll get to you at the top tonight.
On to California and the question Dan Lothian has been looking at today just what kind of a Republican is Arnold Schwarzenegger, so Dan your headline.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, Arnold Schwarzenegger and the conservatives in his own party aren't always on the same page apparently, at least not according to the little that we do know about Schwarzenegger. The big question now is how will all of this impact the actor's campaign -- Aaron.
BROWN: Dan, thank you.
Now, to the partisan fight, a very nasty fight over redistricting in Texas and the role that some of the powers in Washington have played in this state dispute, Ed Lavandera on that, Ed a headline.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, Democrats have been saying for several months that the fingerprints of high-powered Republican leader Tom DeLay are all over the efforts to pass a redistricting bill in Texas. Now those Democrats say they have the proof that shows just how far Republicans will go to win more seats in Congress -- Aaron.
BROWN: Ed, thank you.
And, finally, remarkable pictures out of Liberia today, thousands of looters in the port area of Monrovia, Jeff Koinange on the story again, Jeff a headline.
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN AFRICAN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Aaron. On the eve of the deployment of U.S. troops in Liberia, scenes of chaos and confusion as Liberians plundered and pillaged anything and everything they could get their hands on right under the watchful eyes of LURD rebels -- Aaron.
BROWN: Jeff, thank you, back to you and the rest shortly.
Also coming up tonight on NEWSNIGHT, a lot of speculation about whether a good friend of this program, General Wesley Clark, will run for president. We've asked him before three times I think. We'll ask him again tonight and more.
Someone we know is running for sure, Senator John Kerry said to be a big fan of a sport that's on the rise called kite boarding and it's the focus of our latest look at what's up and coming.
And talk about what's up and coming we'll look at what's coming to your doorstep tomorrow morning, our nightly look through morning papers from around the country and maybe even around the world, all that and more in the hour ahead.
We begin with the sting, the suspect, and the dimensions of a story that broke so dramatically last night. To be fair it hasn't stopped evolving and tomorrow's lead might be 180 degrees different from tonight or not .
There are questions tonight about just how much there actually is to the story, questions too about the timing of the operation, many chapters here yet to be written but on to the one tonight.
Here's CNN's Deborah Feyerick.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The missile smuggled into the United States was to be one of many, prosecutors say. The suspected arms dealer Hemant Lakhani accused of planning to secretly ship in 50 others by the end of August.
But before it could happen, Lakhani was arrested at this hotel near Newark Airport Tuesday. He had flown in from London where he lives to meet with a man buying the weapons. Authorities say Lakhani thought those men were Somali terrorists waging a holy war to shoot down American planes. In reality they were FBI agents and a government informant.
CHRISTOPHER CHRISTIE, U.S. ATTORNEY: He believed he was coming to the meeting for two purposes; first, to see that the missile had actually arrived here in New Jersey and to present it to the cooperating witness, secondly, to finalize the deal for the next 50 of these missiles and to arrange for down payment of $500,000.
FEYERICK: Lakhani's wife waved to him as he entered court to face the charges. In an exclusive interview, Lakhani's brother-in-law tells CNN that Lakhani is not an arms dealer but that he's an Oxford educated businessman who sells planes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not in a war in anything I can guarantee on that.
FEYERICK: OK, but...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can swear about it. He's a man with character.
FEYERICK: Yet the government says they have him on tape.
CHRISTIE: He on many occasions in recorded conversations referred to Americans as bastards, Osama bin Laden as a hero who had done something right and set the Americans straight.
FEYERICK: Two alleged accomplices were arrested and charged with money laundering.
(on camera): None of the men entered pleas and Lakhani's lawyer declined comment. A government source says the cooperating witness who helped FBI agents carry out the sting was a drug informant seeking leniency.
Deborah Feyerick CNN, Newark, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: On now to the dimensions of the black market. We can only guess, if you want transparency try Wall Street, but to put it in perspective American retailers, Target, Wal-Mart, the corner store, they lose about one and a half percent of sales to shrinkage, stuff that's stolen or falls off the back of a truck.
If armies around the world were that sloppy or corrupt there would be about 7,500 missiles floating around out there somewhere. Fortunately, things are not believed to be that bad, just bad enough to keep a lot of security experts up at night.
Here again, CNN's David Ensor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR (voice-over): As this training video shows the Russian- made SA-18 shoulder-launched missile with its improved infrared tracking device and 17,000 foot range could be a deadly weapon in the hands of terrorist.
Shoulder-launched missiles were used in 29 attacks on civilian aircraft between 1978 and 1998 according to the Defense Intelligence Agency killing over 400, mostly in Africa.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's an awesome missile.
ENSOR: U.S. forces taking control in Iraq found a whole warehouse filled with SA-7 missiles and American officials estimate there are more than half a million shoulder-launched missiles in existence worldwide.
Most are in safe hands but others are not including these crates of SA-18s in a secret warehouse somewhere in the former Soviet Union, the photos obtained by CNN from an international arms dealer.
STEVEN SIMON, RAND: American intelligence officials have said that the number available on the black market is in the hundreds. No one really knows for sure.
ENSOR: But the shoulder-launched missiles are designed to attack small planes and helicopters like this Russian chopper shot down over Chechnya. With only two kilograms, about four and a half pounds of high explosives in a heat-seeking warhead the weapon has limited punch. When fired at a large multi engine airliner, experts say, a single missile would likely take out only one of the engines if the missile even hits its target.
JAMES CARAFANO, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Even with an SA-18, I mean you've got about a 50/50 shot at hitting a plane and if you're an untrained firer, I mean the odds of missing the plane are actually pretty good.
ENSOR: In fact, using the much less reliable SA-7 missile, U.S. officials say, al Qaeda did try but failed to bring down an Israeli airliner over Kenya last year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: Still multiple shoulder-launched missiles could take down an airliner and a weapon small enough to fit inside a golf club bag is now considered a threat to U.S. national security -- Aaron.
BROWN: Do we know who's dealing them?
ENSOR: Well, they're out there. There are some warehouses in the former Soviet Union.
BROWN: Right.
ENSOR: That have these in them and there are middle men, individuals, like the person who has been indicted we assume who are buying and selling these things around the world. So, names I don't have except for the one who's been charged.
BROWN: No, I understand you don't have names. And, if one of us wanted to go buy one of these missiles what would it set us back?
ENSOR: There are a lot of different versions of that. If it's an SA-18, which is the better version of the Russian, the more reliable version, I'm hearing prices ranging from about $35,000 to $100,000.
BROWN: Per missile?
ENSOR: Per missile, right.
BROWN: David, thank you, welcome back by the way, David Ensor in Washington tonight.
We turn next to "Newsweek" magazine's Michael Isikoff. He's done some reporting on this sting operation suggesting that the feds have bigger fish to fry and would have preferred something other than the story breaking yesterday. We're always pleased to see Michael. Welcome back to the program.
Actually, I have a lot of questions surrounding this guy but basically let's talk about the government is upset here. The story first broke, was broken by the BBC and, at that point, the cat was out of the bag, right?
MICHAEL ISIKOFF, SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT, "NEWSWEEK": Right. Their hope was really to flip the guy. Remember this was a sting operation in which all the players, other than the arms dealer, were government informants, government agents playing terrorists, playing arms dealers, playing bad guys. There were no terrorists involved in this case.
Their goal obviously was to meet some and what they had hoped was having ensnared the guy in this trap, got him on tape arranging to supply this phony missile from Russia, they would then confront him with the charges that he was going to face and the likelihood of a prison term and then flip him, use him as an informant who then might be able to lead them to some real life terrorists and some real life al Qaeda guys.
BROWN: Okay, is there...
ISIKOFF: But because of the premature news leak they weren't able to do that.
BROWN: I'm sorry. Is there any evidence at all that he knows any al Qaeda guys?
ISIKOFF: Actually, none or none that we can see from the complaint. Clearly, I say clearly, he seems to have al Qaeda sympathies and as you showed the U.S. attorney in Newark talking about some of the highly incriminating statements he makes on the tapes about his praise of bin Laden, referring to Americans as bastards.
At one point he's told by the government informant playing a Somali terrorist that he wants his backers, want the missile for jihad to use against an airplane in the United States.
So, he clearly knows or has every reason to believe he's supplying the missiles for a bad purpose but, again, he's trying to make a business deal. He could well have been saying it though...
BROWN: Right.
ISIKOFF: ...just because that's what he thought his presumed business partner wanted to hear.
BROWN: I mean I don't know what his deal is but one, that it strikes me is one interpretation that he's trying to act like a big shot in a sense.
ISIKOFF: Sure.
BROWN: Because he's trying to get to a missile. Is it, I mean one of the arguments I think that's going to be made here is essentially that he was entrapped that the government created this whole thing.
ISIKOFF: Right.
BROWN: Do you have any reporting that will either shoot that down, no pun intended here, or give it some credibility?
ISIKOFF: Well, there's been a lot of cases in this area over the years and government sting operations are kosher. You can do them. There are -- if it is -- if the government can show that this guy was inclined to commit this crime on his own anyway, then even though the government created all the circumstances that allowed the crime to flourish and mature and blossom he can still be prosecuted for the commission of that crime.
So, it may pass the test and this is, you know, you go back to Abscam and lots of famous sting operations, if may pass that test but it doesn't answer the question of whether or not this guy really had any dealings with al Qaeda at all or al Qaeda arms buyers or whether he would have been able to lead them to any real live terrorists had the operation been allowed to proceed.
BROWN: Michael, as always, thank you very much, Michael Isikoff of "Newsweek" magazine tonight.
ISIKOFF: Thank you.
BROWN: Thank you.
Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, we'll look at concerns that Iraq could turn into another Afghanistan of the 1980s.
We'll have the latest from Liberia where looters have filled the vacuum between the rebels and the peacekeepers.
Later tonight, we'll talk with General Wesley Clark about, well maybe his interest in politics. We'll also talk Iraq with him.
A very cool "On the Rise" tonight, a look at the sport called kite boarding and the company that's on the cutting edge there, a long way to go tonight.
This is NEWSNIGHT. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: By now it's a familiar story. A government falls. People who had nothing take to the streets, first to celebrate, then to take what they can where they can. It's human nature, the nature of things, in Baghdad, in Basra, and now in Monrovia, the report from CNN's Jeff Koinange.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I kill a lot of enemy.
KOINANGE (voice-over): He calls himself General Come Down to my Level. He's only 16 but says he's been fighting for more than half his life. Why do they call you that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, because when I see my enemy they always come down to my level. I make sure they come down to my level.
KOINANGE: They are easy to recruit, easy to train, and easy to pump full of ideology. This one calls himself Colonel Bad Blood. He's only 14 years old. The more flamboyant the name it seems the more respect they feel they'll get. This is 13-year-old Captain Bush Shaking, while this is 11-year-old Lieutenant Snake in the Grass.
(on camera): Nobody really knows how many child soldiers have fought in this Liberian conflict, thousands, maybe even tens of thousands.
(voice-over): On both sides, child soldiers fought in former Liberian President Charles Taylor's army while these fought on the side of LURD rebels. Most of these child soldiers know little about peace, their young lives spent serving the violence that has plagued their country for years. During this hesitant cease-fire they dance the time away, most saying they would rather be elsewhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to go to school.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to go back to school to learn.
KOINANGE: Liberia's defense minister thinks the nation's future depends on education.
DANIEL CHEA, LIBERIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: Unless we demilitarize the brains of our people the peace that we are looking for is going to be short lived.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOINANGE: Now, Aaron, child soldiers aren't the only problem in Liberia right now, Wednesday looters, tens of thousands of Liberians invaded the free port area of Monrovia taking everything they could rice, beans, wheat flour, just anything and everything under the watchful eye of LURD rebels. We asked the LURD rebels why they were allowing this. They said we no longer have control of the port area -- Aaron.
BROWN: And tonight does anyone have control of the port area?
KOINANGE: Not tonight, Aaron, not for another 15 hours but, what's good news is, U.S. troops will finally be on the ground. Their primary role will be to secure the country's airport thereby freeing up the West African peacekeepers.
Once the West African peacekeepers leave the airport they will have the necessary numbers to roll over the key bridge linking the capital and the port area and that way secure the port. But the hope here, Aaron, is that there will be still enough to secure in the port area -- Aaron.
BROWN: Jeff, thank you, Jeff Koinange in Liberia tonight.
On now to Iraq, an American soldier killed there today, another wounded, when their armored personnel carrier ran over a bomb. It happened north of Baghdad.
And today, residents in Baghdad's largest Shia neighborhood staged a large anti-American protest. In the south, British forces are expecting more trouble because the heat has not let up. The electricity isn't coming back on.
As troublesome as these items are, and they are by no means the total picture, there is something else going on in Iraq tonight that suggests the country may become the battleground in a hugely important, potentially dangerous fight between fundamentalist Islam, its most violent supporters, and the west.
Fawaz Gerges is the Middle Eastern professor of international studies at Sarah Lawrence University and he is back with us tonight. Fawaz, the story that was laid out in "The Times" today is that Islamic fundamentalists see an almost titanic struggle centered on the Americans who are in Iraq today and they are funneling into the country and we know some of that is, in fact, happening.
FAWAZ GERGES, PROF. OF MIDDLE EASTERN AND INTL. STUDIES, SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: Well, and some of us who know a little about Iraq and the Middle East argued before and during the war that Iraq has the potential to become a symbol of Islamist resistance against the United States in the same manner that Afghanistan became for the Soviets.
And, I think as you know the conventional wisdom until recently was that elements of the old regime were the main ones attacking American forces. I think this does not take into account the complexity of the Iraqi situation.
Other groups are playing a bigger and a more vital role in the attacks against the United States, including Iraqi Islamists, Arab fighters who have entered the country before the war, during the war, and still entering the country and, of course, dissatisfied elements with the American occupation.
Two points here, the first point is that so far, Aaron, the attacks are loosely coordinated and the danger lies in the fact if they were to be coordinated you're going to have a major, major (unintelligible).
And secondly, the fear lies in the fact the attacks might spread into the Shiite areas and with the exit of Saddam Hussein and his two boys out of the scene some Shiite elements could find themselves joining the fray against the United States.
BROWN: OK, I want to break some of that down. Set aside for a second the disgruntled Iraqis. Let's talk about organized groups. What groups are we talking about? Is this al Qaeda? Are these others? Who are we talking about?
GERGES: First of all we're talking about indigenous Iraqi Islamists ironically who were suppressed by Saddam, by the secular regime of Saddam Hussein. We're talking about Islamist Arab fighters who are basically highly ideologically predisposed and mobilized against American foreign policy and who are, of course, socialized into a culture of jihad and martyrdom and believe that they are fighting.
They are the vanguard, the revolutionary vanguard in the same way that the secularists and socialists were in the 1950s and they believe they're defending the ummah, the nation and the faith.
So, you're talking about here really a complex, a broad spectrum of ideological and political orientation including Iraqi Islamists, Arab Islamists and, of course, dissatisfied Iraqis with the American occupation.
BROWN: Is there evidence to date that they have joined forces, that they have united?
GERGES: And this is the point I tried to make earlier. So far, the attacks appear to be loosely coordinated rather than fully coordinated. Danger lies in the fact what if the attacks were to become coordinated; and secondly, a more important point what if the attacks spread into the Shiite areas.
In the last few days, we have seen some major, major uprising and riots in Basra, the second largest city in Iraq and I would argue that with the exit of Saddam Hussein from the scene, the Shiites could find themselves joining the fray against the American military forces in Iraq.
BROWN: Was this an unavoidable consequence of in a sense stirring the hornet's nest? You go into this country, you remove this oppressive though secular government and this is what happens or could it have been avoided and can it be avoided?
GERGES: Absolutely. I think the armed resistance could and if the United States, if we in the United States take what they call the effective steps. First, reduce American military presence throughout Iraq. Bring in the international community in a substantive manner.
Why not let the international community shoulder the burden of economic and social reconstruction and security and then handing power to Iraqis as soon as possible? That is hold elections. After all, let's take risks on people's choices. We live in a democracy.
BROWN: The administration would argue that's exactly -- well, setting aside the international force that it intends to stay no longer than necessary and that it wants to hold elections as soon as possible but as soon as possible may be five years from now.
GERGES: Absolutely and the danger lies in the fact what if the situation spins out of control? What if the situation deteriorates further? This is why it's essential that we internationalize the Iraqi project. We hand power to Iraqis as soon as possible.
BROWN: Good to see you, professor thank you very much.
GERGES: Thank you.
BROWN: A few more items from around the world before we go to break here.
The Libyan government today, this is hard to believe when you think about it, finally reached an agreement with the families of Pam Am Flight 103. It provides for a $2.7 billion compensation fund. This is a key step in lifting the U.N. sanctions against Libya.
Next, Switzerland where remnants of the Ice Age are melting in a heat wave melting quickly enough to cause landslides.
And, at a racetrack in northern England a brave racer hits 144 miles an hour, big deal? Yes, actually. The brave racer is blind. He kept it straight with directions radioed in from track side. That is something.
Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, the latest on the California recall and the man California conservatives are most worried about.
And, politics Texas style and questions of just how involved Tom DeLay is in the controversial redistricting plan.
A break first, from New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Recently, a New York investor paid a quarter of a million dollars at a charity auction just to have lunch with Warren Buffett so when you think about it Arnold Schwarzenegger is getting some sort of bargain.
He signed up the famed investor as his top financial adviser for the California campaign free of charge. Mr. Buffett has been known to give to Democratic causes also and he has very sharply criticized the Bush tax cuts but is generally thought of an independent thinker on politics, not quite bound to a rigid party line, sort of like the candidate he's going to advise.
More on what kind of Republican Mr. Schwarzenegger really is from CNN's Dan Lothian.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN (voice-over): As Arnold Schwarzenegger continues to recruit high profile people onto his campaign roster some say his own party stands divided.
MIKE SPENCE, CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN ASSEMBLY: I think there's a lot of concern and question marks among conservatives and some of the things that he's said, you know, really put him outside the mainstream of the Republican Party.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What kind of a Republican did I write up there? Conservative.
LOTHIAN: At Marshall High School in Los Angeles, Gail (unintelligible) 12th grade government class tackling the recall and trying to get a handle on just what conservatives want in a candidate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, a conservative Republican would want what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Less taxes on business, there you go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Less taxes on business, good.
LOTHIAN: While Schwarzenegger has been connected to some conservative themes, like eliminating the car tax and voting for the anti-illegal immigrant measure Prop 187, his support of gay rights, abortion rights, and some gun control turning off the far right.
LOU SHELDON, TRADITIONAL VALUES COALITION: We're not going to allow this person to redefine what it means to be conservative, to redefine what it means to be a Republican.
LOTHIAN: For now, many conservatives are embracing Bill Simon who had impressive numbers but lost to Gray Davis last year, and state Senator Tom McClintock who has picked up the endorsement of the Conservative California Republican Assembly.
The big question does Schwarzenegger even need the far right to win? University of Southern California Professor Martin Kaplan doesn't think so.
MARTIN KAPLAN, POLITICAL ANALYST: To the degree that Arnold Schwarzenegger tries to appeal to that far right vote, he will alienate the very moderate Republicans, independents, and moderate Democrats that he needs to put together a coalition.
LOTHIAN: But in this unprecedented recall campaign, with well over 100 candidates, political strategists say no group can be dismissed.
ARNOLD STEINBERG, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Things may change. And you -- even in a turbulent, volatile campaign like this, which is only eight weeks, you don't know what the future holds. LOTHIAN: If the future were in the hands of Gail Platt's (ph) 12th graders, none of this would matter. Here, a popular movie star's screen credits...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who do you think everybody would vote for?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Arnold!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Arnold!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Arnold!
LOTHIAN: ... far outweigh political leanings.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: Perhaps by next week, we should be learning a little bit more about the campaign strategy of Schwarzenegger. His campaign is confirming that they're in the final stages of producing a series of TV ads that could be rolling out as early as next Tuesday.
They won't talk about the content or the tone of those ads, but an aide is confirming that some of them will focus on his biographies, such as coming here from Austria as an immigrant, and others may focus on Governor Davis and his leadership on the budget, Aaron.
BROWN: Thank you. Notably absent in that description is anything focusing on the issues facing the state of California. Dan, thank you very much. Dan Lothian in Los Angeles tonight.
California isn't the only scene of political circus these days. Texas has one too, been going on for months, a bid by the state's Republicans to pass a redistricting plan, efforts by the Democrats to stop it by fleeing the state.
Today, the focus was squarely on one very powerful Republican in Washington and his brass-knuckled attempt to get the plan through. That meant the circus had all the colorful characters, including the House majority leader known as The Hammer, a bunch of furious Democrats, and one giant inflatable rat.
The story from CNN's Ed Lavandera.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go away, Tom DeLay!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go away, Tom DeLay!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go away, Tom DeLay!
ED LAVANDERA, CNN DALLAS BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): When Texas Democrats look at congressional Republican leader Tom DeLay. they see Public Enemy Number One. Outside a Dallas-area hotel where DeLay was giving a speech Wednesday, a small group of protesters brought a 15- foot inflatable rat, naming it after the man they say is unfairly using his political force to push a Congressional redistricting bill through the Texas legislature.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go away, Tom DeLay!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go away, Tom DeLay!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go away, Tom DeLay!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... congressman from Houston, Tom DeLay.
LAVANDERA: Democrats say the House majority leader will do virtually anything to redraw congressional lines in Texas, giving Republicans another five to seven seats in the U.S. House. So when some 50 Texas Democrats fled to Oklahoma in May to block the passage of a redistricting bill, DeLay's people called on federal authorities to help arrest the AWOL lawmakers.
An inspector general report says the Department of Justice received a total of nine requests for information in connection with the absent Texas legislators. At least two of those requests came from DeLay's office. Justice officials are quoted in the report as saying that the idea of FBI agents arresting Texas lawmakers was "wacko."
The Justice Department refused to help. But DeLay's spokesman says there was no harm in asking. DeLay himself does not want to talk about the report.
His security detail rushed him through the hotel lobby, where he was speaking, and away from reporters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you please address this, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have no comment at all, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. DeLay, would you please talk with us, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, you go on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. DeLay would you please talk with us, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Democrats are blaming you for this (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Step back, now.
LT. GOV. DAVID DEWHURST (R), TEXAS: ... down from Washington.
LAVANDERA: The Texas lieutenant governor, David Dewhurst, says the idea that Tom DeLay is forcing a congressional redistricting bill on Texas lawmakers is just Democratic spin.
DEWHURST: I have no contact with him. This is the Texas Senate and the Texas house, trying to do what we believe is fair.
REP. MARTIN FROST (D), TEXAS: Governor Dewhurst can't believe that.
LAVANDERA: This is Democratic Representative Martin Frost, who could lose his seat in Congress under the proposed redistricting bill.
FROST: This is a blatant power grab by Tom DeLay in a way that is contrary to the traditions of this country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: So starting Thursday, the 11 state senators that are still in New Mexico will be fined for each day they don't show up at the state capitol. So if they're not there by August 26, which is the last day of the special session, that fine will reach a total of $57,000.
They say they won't pay that, so Texas Governor Rick Perry is already hinting at a third special session. And with no end in sight, it seems that the party that will win this political battle will be the party that has the most money in its public relations bank account, Aaron.
BROWN: Ed, thank you very much. Ed Lavandera in Texas.
Tonight still to come on NEWSNIGHT, perhaps a little bit more politics. We'll talk with General Wesley Clark about things on his mind today, Iraq, the presidency, who knows.
Break first. Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: The political stars seem quite a mess tonight. The hot Democrat remains Howard Dean, the former governor of a small state who many thought would be an asterisk in the Democratic primaries. Then there is that actor-turned-politician out in California we were talking about a few moments ago.
If this is the year of the unexpected candidate, General Wesley Clark may become the most intriguing of them all. May. It's not at all clear the general is going to run for the White House. But we're about to try our darnedest to get him to say up or down in the next four and a half minutes or so.
General Clark, who, in fairness, we should say, we consider a friend, joins us tonight from Little Rock.
General, what say we make news here? Going to run?
GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME COMMANDER: I haven't made a decision. It's not time to make a decision yet.
BROWN: There are those, general, who, in fact, would say that it is too late to make a decision. Assuming, and I do, that you really haven't made up your mind yet, are you concerned that if you decide you want to do this, it is too late to put organization and money together? CLARK: No.
BROWN: Not at all?
CLARK: No, I'm not concerned about that.
BROWN: Why?
CLARK: There's a tremendous groundswell of support out there in America for candidates who can offer the promise of leadership. And I see it every day in the mail and phone calls that are coming to me. And it's reflected, really, in the groundswell of support for Howard Dean, it's reflected in the concern of mainstream Democratic Party politicians for John Kerry. It's even reflected in California.
This country is in significant difficulties at home and abroad, and Americans are looking for leadership.
BROWN: I want to talk about Iraq before we're done with you tonight. But I -- let me go a bit farther down here. There are, as you know, there is a group of people that very much are pushing the idea that you ought to run. They're going to put an ad up soon in a couple of key primary states. We got our hands on it. We cut it down a bit.
Let me show you what's going to go up on the air.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, POLITICAL AD, DRAFTWESLEYCLARK.COM)
ANNOUNCER: The president's oath of office, "to preserve, protect, and defend."
It also describes what General Wesley Clark has already done for more than 30 years. Unafraid to speak his mind, unwilling to put politics ahead of duty, he has never failed to answer our country's call.
Now we call on him one more time -- to preserve, protect, and defend our nation and all for which it stands.
Draft Wesley Clark for president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: General, did you have anything to do with that ad?
CLARK: No, I didn't, Aaron. First time I've seen any part of it.
BROWN: Are you in contact with the draft-Clark people?
CLARK: No, I'm not.
BROWN: OK.
CLARK: Recently opened a headquarters in Little Rock, I guess to make it come closer to home and put more pressure.
BROWN: Did you or anybody that you like a lot say to them, Hang in there, I'll make a decision by Labor Day?
BROWN: I certainly didn't say it, and nobody that I know of did. I've said all along that it would some time -- a couple of months or so from the middle of June. And so people have pegged Labor Day as a logical time. But I haven't made a specific hard date.
BROWN: Are you close?
CLARK: Well, I think as we've seen the issues evolve over the summer, the situation's a little more clear. But yes, my family and I have talked about it. And I think we're getting closer to determining what we should be doing.
BROWN: OK.
(UNINTELLIGIBLE), let's talk about a couple of issues here. Do you believe that a Democratic candidate, yourself or someone else, can use the situation in Iraq, both before, during, and after the war, to his or her political advantage?
CLARK: Well, I'm not thinking in those terms, Aaron. I'm thinking in terms of what's right for the United States. And one of the principles that we operate on in this country is that leaders are held accountable. The simple truth is that we went into Iraq on the basis of some intuition, some fear, and some exaggerated rhetoric and some very, very scanty evidence.
We found a situation that wasn't at all what was predicted. We're in there now, we're committed, we need to do our best. But that's a classic presidential-level misjudgment. And I think the voters have to be aware of that. And they have to appreciate it.
And if democracy means something, then that will be reflected in the ballot box.
BROWN: What was the misjudgment? If there was an exaggeration of the threat, what was the misjudgment?
CLARK: Well, I think, first of all, the idea that this was going to solve the war on terror. The president said this is the centerpiece of the war on terror. Seems to me that the only terrorists we're finding there are the ones who have come back in to attack us since we arrived.
There was a misjudgment about what would happen afterwards. The idea that we would go in, be welcomed as liberators. They'd quickly move to the ballot boxes, we'd bring our troops home, out before the heat wave hit.
That didn't happen either. There have been a whole series of issues associated with this campaign, starting from why we went into Iraq, to how we dealt with our allies, to how we prepared for the aftermath, that are very, very troublesome. BROWN: And (UNINTELLIGIBLE) two other things. But just briefly, if you were a candidate, you would not walk away from those issues?
CLARK: I think those issues are at the very center of what America stands for, and what America's future will be.
BROWN: Back to the politics of this. As you debate it in your mind, as you talk to your family, what are your concerns? What is it about making this race that gives you pause?
CLARK: Well, I haven't speculated publicly on this, Aaron. But just to put it in perspective, I've been a career military officer. I've worn U.S. on my collars throughout my entire professional life, from the time I went to West Point at the age of 17, until I retired three years ago.
And I've served both with Republicans and Democrats. I've got friends on both sides of the aisle.
For me, it's not about partisan politics. I don't have a political team. I didn't climb up a partisan political career ladder. This is a huge transition. And it's a transition that I'll be making if I should go into this, right after I've just been through another transition...
BROWN: Yes.
CLARK: ... to go from military to civilian life. So it's a huge change of direction.
BROWN: Is your family supportive of the idea?
CLARK: Well, we've talked about it. And in general, my family's been very supportive of all the things I've done in public service throughout my career.
BROWN: Labor Day seem like a pretty good guess for a decision right around there?
CLARK: You are tough, Aaron.
BROWN: I'm -- hey, I'm working for a living, man.
CLARK: I was just having -- we haven't, we haven't picked this, we haven't nailed this down. And it depends on a number of factors and discussions and phone calls with people. And just some more heart-to-heart talk and really sitting down and putting pencil to paper and looking at what the future could hold, and what the best way is to make a further contribution to the country.
BROWN: Yes. Will you call me and let me know?
CLARK: I will.
BROWN: Thank you, general, very much. General Wesley Clark.
And we'll see how it plays out.
Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, on the rise. Haven't had one in a while, good to have it back. New sport called kiteboarding.
We take a break first. This is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: We call the segment "on the rise." And mostly we mean that in the figurative sense, companies that are up and coming, doing something new and interesting.
Tonight, a company that's on the rise in the literal sense too. It's called Slingshot Kiteboarding. And it's getting people to rise far above the water or the snow in a new sport for the intrepid among us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's so much fun. So much lift.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The kites are absolutely insane.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kiteboarding is pretty innovative. It's such a diverse sport.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can either do in the water and in the snow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slingshot is a company that produces kiteboard accessories, kites, kiteboards, and everything to do with kiting.
TONY LOGOSZ, CHIEF DESIGNER/CO-FOUNDER: First, you wear a harness around your waist. The kites generate so much power that you can't hold onto all that power without actually being attached to it. You have your board, and you have your control bar, which steers the kite. Goes from your bar, four lines up to the kite, and you have your kite in the sky. And the kite is big. Average kite is 13 to 15 meters. That's pretty much kiteboarding in a nutshell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Want to launch me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Which one are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Way out there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slingshot is four brothers that came together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And started this company because we love the sport. And we thought we could build a better product than anyone else out there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have four in-house R&D people. It's a team record on designing. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tony...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of them will run all the way down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... he does all the kites.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to have the good bottom and the new graphics.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I do a lot of the foot straps and pads and handles and the fins. When I get ideas, I draw the templates and shape them out of foam. If things aren't constantly being invented and upgraded and evolving, then I get bored.
LOGOSZ: We started this business in the bedroom in my house for the first two months because we didn't have an office space available.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chris, you're going to Fiji on Friday?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're talking four of the top team guys and finishing up on the video and the rest of the photos.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Part of our strategy was, because we're the new kids on the block, was going to be first in our own backyard. We consider our own backyard the U.S.
CHRIS WYMAN, MARKETING/CO-FOUNDER: At first it was, OK, can we establish a brand, can we make a brand? We're -- we have this different image and this quality product that's like no one else out there.
We started out at 300 percent growth. And then we went down to 200 percent growth a year. And this year, it's finally getting nice, because we're down into double-digit growth, which is 50 percent growth. And that's where it's getting more manageable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all went through that athletic stage. And now that we're getting older, this is a great venue to give opportunity back to kids, and through the sport especially, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had the entire team in town and we're shooting off for the next year's 2004 product. Everybody on our (UNINTELLIGIBLE) team is the new, upcoming, most badass kid in the future. They've got a little attitude about themselves, they've got a good look, and they have their own riding style.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's fun being at the beginning level of a sport. That way you can evolve with it. Here, you've got something brand new that's just in constant evolution.
WYMAN: I'm sure our next mission statement is, OK, how much money can we make doing this? But we still got to have fun. The bottom line is, we got to have fun what we're doing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And, of course, it's perfectly safe, which is more than we can say about morning papers, which is coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Okey-dokey, time to check morning papers from around the country. Lots of new papers tonight. So we'll try and get some of them in.
We'll start with the "Winston's" -- this also a day, it seems to me, where everybody led local. You know, sort of dominant international or national stories.
So "The Winston-Salem Journal," big issue down there, textile industry, used to be a lot of textile plants down there. "Textile Industry Braces for End of Import Quotas, Phase-Out Schedule That Ends in 2004 Could Devastate Sector." Not good news if you work in one of those factories, is it?
"The Herald Journal," this is Logan, Utah. Bless them, that's the early deadline for them. We appreciate this a lot. "Unforgettable Thespian." OK? "Floyd Morgan Brought Much and Gave Much to Local Theater." Clearly local story. A nice picture of Mr. Morgan. And that's "The Herald Journal" of Logan, Utah. Logan's a great city, too.
"The Oregonian," OK? The usual stuff, OK? But down at the bottom, I love this story. "New Goobers Are Really Good for You." I just did that because I've always wanted to say "goober" on the air. I've been called a goober many times, but this is the first time I've had a chance to say it. That's the lead in "The Oregonian."
OK, it's time to get serious now. The "Boston Herald." "Is This Fake?" This is the will of Ted Williams. This story has gotten so crazy. And now there's a question about whether the note that he signed saying that he wanted to be frozen for eternity was actually fake or not fake. Anyway, that's "The Boston Herald."
They also have a thing on jeans, on denim. And (UNINTELLIGIBLE), they're getting kind of -- they're kind of low-cut, aren't they, these days? You can tell I'm the father of a teenage daughter, can't you?
"Chicago Sun Times," always get that in, "200 Marines Poised to Help a Nation in Chaos," Liberia. The weather in Chicago, by the way, tomorrow, is "Hottie." Man, that's too much.
"135 Qualify for Recall Ballot." That's the "San Francisco Chronicle." But that's not what I noted in the paper.
Thirty? Really? Oh, my goodness.
Arianna Huffington gets her picture in everything, with everyone. She is really good at that, OK? We like her, but she's got that down to a science.
And finally, from "The Washington Times," "Denver Grinds Teeth on Initiative for Less Stress." There's an initiative there to make Denver a more peaceful city. Bless them. Have a great night. We'll see you tomorrow, 10:00 Eastern. Good night for all of us at NEWSNIGHT.
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Redistricting in Texas; Interview With Wesley Clark>
