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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Bush: Democrats Want to Raise Taxes, Hurt Economy; Kerry Leads in Virginia, Tennessee Primary Polls; Al Qaeda Letter

Aired February 09, 2004 - 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.


JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening everyone. I'm Judy Woodruff in for Aaron Brown.
With less than half a day to go until another pair of Democratic primaries our focus tonight is split, not two ways as you might expect between Virginia and Tennessee where voters go to the polls tomorrow but three, to include wherever the president happens to be at the moment, because despite the word today from Republican Party Chairman Ed Gillespie that his political season has yet to begin, the pictures say otherwise.

President Bush has been on the air, on the stump and some would say on the defensive lately and today was no exception. So, the program and the whip begins with that tonight and CNN's Senior White House Correspondent John King starts us off with a headline -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Judy, a much more aggressive President Bush in the key battleground state of Missouri today directly confronting the Democrats and, without naming him, the Democratic front-runner John Kerry, the president of the United States says those Democrats want to raise taxes and hurt the economy -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Thanks, John.

And on to the primaries and the primary contender John Kerry who is looking pretty tough to stop. CNN's Kelly Wallace is in Memphis, Kelly the headline there tonight.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Judy, John Kerry has not spent much time here in Tennessee and in Virginia but he is currently leading in the polls in both states, ahead of his southern opponents, and with so much momentum he is not focusing on his rivals but on President Bush -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Thanks, Kelly.

And next to Baghdad and the letter that may shed light on al Qaeda efforts in Iraq. CNN's Jane Arraf with that and a headline -- Jane.

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: A 17-page memo with a single chilling theme from this suspected al Qaeda operative, an appeal to start civil war in Iraq -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: All right, Jane thank you. And finally the case of Carlie Brucia and the judge who was monitoring her accused killer's probation, CNN's Susan Candiotti is working the story and she has an exclusive tonight -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Judy, that judge is now getting death threats. The question could he have done more to keep a once suicidal probation violator behind bars or was he hamstrung by the system?

WOODRUFF: All right, Susan thank you. We'll be back to you and all the rest of you shortly.

Also coming up tonight on the program an American Airlines pilot in hot water after a bizarre call for his Christian passengers to raise their hands.

Later, the hot new group being sought by all politicians, the NASCAR Dads, who and what are they?

And in Segment 7 tonight behind the color line, author Henry Louis Gates and a fascinating look at what African Americans themselves say about how they're doing four decades after the civil rights movement.

Well all of that ahead in the program but we begin with what certainly looks like a reelection campaign even if the White House says it is not. Yesterday, President Bush gave a rare interview on "Meet the Press" where he defended his decision to invade Iraq.

Today, he was in the important swing state of Missouri where he defended his economic record, all this as a new CNN/USA Today Gallup poll shows John Kerry with a growing lead among registered Democrats and just one percentage point behind President Bush in a hypothetical match-up.

Here now, CNN's John King.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING (voice-over): On a factory floor in Missouri, more proof the president's campaign is kicking into higher gear and the Democratic front-runner is getting more attention.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now is not the time to raise taxes on the American people. This economy is getting better.

KING: Senator John Kerry wants to repeal some of the Bush tax cuts to pay for new health care initiatives and to shrink the federal budget deficit.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If George Bush wants to stand there and defend people who earn more than $200,000 a year getting a tax cut instead of giving health care to Americans and instead of investing in education and job training that is the debate I want to have. KING: The president says don't buy it.

BUSH: They're going to raise the taxes and increase the size of the federal government, which would be bad for the United States economy.

KING: The more aggressive campaigning came during Mr. Bush's 15th visit to Missouri as president. The state is a presidential campaign bellwether and Mr. Bush won last time with 51 percent of the vote. The economy is center stage this time and an urgent Bush focus.

The economy has lost 2.2 million jobs during the Bush presidency, including more than 73,000 in Missouri. In a new CNN/TIME poll just 43 percent say Mr. Bush is doing a good job on the economy, down from 49 percent just a month ago.

The president says things are getting better and in his annual economic report to Congress predicts four percent growth, declining unemployment and 2.6 million new jobs this year.

The election is nine months away but the president is picking up the pace and adding campaign style stops like this as early polls show him running even or just narrowly ahead of the leading Democrats.

MARY MATALIN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I'd characterize it as the president being the best advocate of what needs to be explained the American people in the wake of what has been not just (unintelligible) but a lot of erroneous characterizations of his policies.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: There are trips to Pennsylvania and to Florida, both key battlegrounds as well in the days ahead and, Judy, unless Senator Kerry stumbles over the next two weeks look for the Bush/Cheney campaign very soon to dip into its $100 million plus war chest and begin its first TV ad blitz of the reelection campaign.

WOODRUFF: So, John, it sounds like they're worried. Just how worried are they?

KING: Well, they're a bit defensive. They choose not to use the word worry. They say in terms of the horse race polls, Senator Kerry running about even with the president, Senator Edwards even just a little bit behind the president, they say they expected that with all of the coverage, all of the focus on the Democratic race.

The president's approval rating is hovering right about 50 percent, a little above it now in our latest poll. That is the number they worry about the most and they say it was simply time to get the president out on the road and they say they have to spend that money during the primary season.

Once the Democrats have a certain nominee, and they're betting it will be Senator Kerry, they're going to start spending. They think that will change the dynamics a bit.

WOODRUFF: All right, we'll be looking for all that. John King, thank you.

Well, after winning three more states over the weekend, John Kerry is heading into two more primaries tomorrow. Winning either Tennessee or Virginia would give the front-runner his first victory in the south and it would also be a big blow to his two southern opponents. On the campaign trail today, Mr. Kerry pretty much ignored his rivals and focused on President Bush.

Here's CNN's Kelly Wallace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice-over): The front-runner, so far out in front, sounds more and more like he's already in general election campaign mode.

KERRY: And this is the worst jobs record of any administration of all eleven presidents preceding this president put together.

WALLACE: Aides say John Kerry is taking nothing for granted but on the stump here in Virginia, and later in Tennessee, he never mentioned his Democratic rivals exuding the confidence of a candidate who appears virtually unstoppable now.

KERRY: We are going to reject the cynicism and the radical direction this administration is taking us.

WALLACE: Despite barely campaigning in Tennessee and Virginia, polls show the Senator from Massachusetts with a sizable lead over his southern opponents, some of the momentum stemming from his three additional victories this weekend.

Still there are some challenges, questions such as why the candidate who condemns special interests accepted more than $120,000 in speaking fees from 1985 to 1990, according to the Associated Press. The Senator told reporters he does not believe he ever took money from groups with interest before his Senate committees.

KERRY: In fact, I personally stopped accepting any honoraria because I came to think it was inappropriate and I stopped voluntarily before it became the law. I fought to help change the law and I think it was the right thing to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And if he is victorious in Tennessee and in Virginia on Tuesday, he could knock one of his opponents out of the race but aides say he could also do something else, prove he could win in the south and with a large number of military voters in the south possibly show he could be somewhat competitive with President Bush in the fall when it comes to the military vote -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Kelly, are they pretty much ignoring their Democratic opponents from here on out, Governor Dean, Senator Edwards and General Clark? WALLACE: Well, Senator Kerry got a little defensive when he was asked that, asked if this is a new strategy and he said, look, throughout the campaign he really only mentioned his opponents when someone asked questions or when there happened to be an issue where they disagreed.

But, clearly, if you listened to him over the past few days, especially his speech Saturday night in Virginia, he is focusing on the Bush administration, trying to draw distinct differences between his policies and those of the president saying it's a debate he welcomes. Clearly, they have a lot of momentum. They think if things keep going their way he certainly could be the Democratic nominee -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: And, as we heard from the White House, it looks like the Bush administration is focusing on him, so it's working in both directions right Kelly.

WALLACE: It's both ways yes, correct.

WOODRUFF: Thanks very much.

Well, John Kerry's five rivals all share an immediate goal and that is to make a dent in Mr. Kerry's momentum. Whether they can and how they might do that are two big questions though. Today they were on the trail plotting their next steps, planning to stay in the race.

CNN's Candy Crowley has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The primary season is like listening to a jam band. It can be hard to tell when it's over.

HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How am I going to resist all the people that are tugging at my sleeve or doing it electronically saying don't quit? You can't.

CROWLEY: O-12, Howard Dean is ignoring Tennessee and Virginia. He is camped out in Wisconsin his must win state, which has morphed into a wanna-win state. A lot of Democrats, Dean reasons don't like this rush to coronation.

DEAN: Let's take a look at Senator Edwards, for example. Let's see, give people a chance to see if they think he's a more viable candidate.

CROWLEY: Not as crazy as it sounds, Howard Dean has reason to vest himself in John Edwards right now.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The south is not George Bush's backyard. It's my backyard.

CROWLEY: One for twelve, sporting his southern roots and his modest upbringing, John Edwards is playing hard in Tennessee and Virginia. If he wins one of them that means John Kerry does not win, slowing Kerry down and giving Howard Dean, not to mention John Edwards, some running room in Wisconsin. But if Edwards does not win, Dean will have to rough Kerry up on his own and maybe because he's seen the polls, Edwards says he doesn't need to win anyway.

EDWARDS: What I want to do is finish in the top two here in Virginia, the top two in Tennessee. Then we go on to Wisconsin.

CROWLEY: Also 1-12, Wesley Clark has invested heavily on the air in Tennessee and Virginia. A win or even a second for Edwards could doom the general's mission. It is unlikely that two sons of the south can survive tandem southern primaries on seconds and thirds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator John Kerry.

CROWLEY: Ten for twelve already, if Kerry sweeps Tuesday he is poised to crush whoever shows up in Wisconsin. The game may be over by poll closing tomorrow but there will still be players on the field.

(on camera): Wednesday, John Edwards, Wesley Clark and Howard Dean plan to campaign in Wisconsin. John Edwards is taking the day off, enough said.

Candy Crowley CNN, Fairfax, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: When they take a day off that does say something.

Well still ahead tonight on this program al Qaeda and Iraq and a letter that may be the first look we've gotten into a terrorist strategy there.

And later, the pilot who preached and the uproar from the passengers.

From Washington, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOODRUFF: A letter found on a computer disk is raising many questions tonight about the role that al Qaeda may be playing in the insurgency in Iraq. The document appears to outline a new strategy to keep the insurgency going, inciting a civil war in the country with the help of al Qaeda.

Here now CNN's Jane Arraf.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARRAF (voice-over): Military officials say it was written by suspected al Qaeda operative in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan. The message and its suspected courier were seized in a raid on a safe house in January.

BRIG. GENERAL MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: First of all it is clearly a plan on the part of outsiders to come in this country and spark civil war, create sectarian violence, try to expose fissures in the society.

ARRAF: Military officials say the 17-page document voices frustration. It says: "The insurgency is having trouble recruiting Iraqis." It says: "The operation would have to be conducted before the June 30 target for the U.S. to hand power back to Iraq."

It says: "The biggest threat to the plan was the buildup of new Iraqi security forces and the resolve of the U.S. troops" and it "claims responsibility for 25 attacks in Iraq, including suicide bombs." The document calls for "attacks to foster violence between Iraq's Sunni and Shia Muslims and Kurds." Civil was has been one of the great unrealized fears for this country.

ADNAN PACHACHI, GOVERNING COUNCIL MEMBER: I think they would shame because Iraq has never had a communal strife between people who belong to various communities or sects.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ARRAF: Now, U.S. officials here describe this as possibly evidence of an attempt to set up what they describe as sort of an al Qaeda franchise in Iraq. Now there's no hard evidence that the claims in this letter are true but, if they are, it could be the first known link between an operative here and al Qaeda -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Jane, that's exactly what I wanted to ask you. What is the sense that you get of how much this document has actually been followed up on that there actually is an active al Qaeda presence in Iraq now?

ARRAF: If there is we haven't known about it until now because military officials and intelligence officials have been quite insistent that although they suspect that al Qaeda may have been trying to get a foothold that there is ever reason to believe that some of the operations that have been launched, particularly the big suicide bombs, carry the hallmarks of al Qaeda, they have not been able to get evidence and that is very key.

Through all these months of suspicions that al Qaeda has been here there has not been solid evidence. Now they do have evidence there have been foreign fighters but they have not been able to link them directly to al Qaeda, which we have to remember is a very loosely linked organization -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: All right, Jane Arraf terrific reporting there, thank you very much Jane.

Well lost for the moment in the fuss over intelligence failures regarding Iraq has been the question of intelligence failures leading to 9/11. For months now a bipartisan commission has been looking into the matter and some members would say running into a stone wall where the White House is concerned. The administration believes otherwise but regardless the investigation has been slower and more contentious than expected. Michael Isikoff writes about the difficulties in this week's "Newsweek" magazine. We spoke with him earlier this evening.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: The commission investigating September 11\ and what went wrong in terms of the lack of intelligence before that, they were just given two extra months to get their work done by President Bush but they're still not happy with the cooperation. What's going on?

MICHAEL ISIKOFF, SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER "NEWSWEEK": Well, there's been a whole battle sort of behind the scenes that the public has not been made aware of about access to key documents.

The documents in dispute are called the president's daily brief, which is the daily intelligence brief given usually by the CIA director or his deputy to the president every day. These go back not just from George W. Bush's days but back into the Clinton administration, which is under the purview of the commission.

The commission asked to see 360 of these PDBs dating back four years to 1998. They wanted to know what both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were told about the threat of al Qaeda during that period. The White House has been very resistant to turning this stuff over.

WOODRUFF: Why?

ISIKOFF: Well, they consider this the crown jewels of executive privilege. These are documents that they say the president needs to see in confidence in order to conduct his job as president. No president before him has provided these or made public similar PDBs.

Last year after the 9/11 commission made an issue of this, the White House and the commission reached a complex arrangement where they would let a four member team look at some of the PDBs.

WOODRUFF: Four of the ten, right?

ISIKOFF: Twenty-four out of the -- four out of ten commissioners could look at 24 out of the 360 PDBs that were requested. Even when they did so, the four member team were not allowed to share the contents with the rest of the commission.

WOODRUFF: Is this because they don't trust the members with the information?

ISIKOFF: They think if they allow these PDBs to be released it will set a precedent that will undercut the ability of this president and future presidents to conduct business.

WOODRUFF: But what is the commission arguing here? And they are threatening, as I understand, to subpoena this information.

ISIKOFF: Yes. Well, they have threatened to subpoena. There is a meeting tomorrow, although there are a lot of negotiations going on to try to work something out at this late date. But the commission says, look, we can't do our job if we don't see these documents. These are key documents that are central to our mandate to find out what the Executive Branch and in particular the presidents knew, both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush about the likelihood of an attack, about where the attack might come and about the nature of the threat of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda.

WOODRUFF: Is it a fear of leaking that's involved here (unintelligible)?

ISIKOFF: Well, that's certainly been a part of this from the beginning. If you remember, the president and the White House opposed the creation of this commission. They feared that matters would be selectively leaked by Democrats on the panel to damage the president and they wanted to make sure and restrict that as much as possible.

WOODRUFF: But you have a Republican chairman of this commission, former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean.

ISIKOFF: Right.

WOODRUFF: Is he not someone who the White House feels it can trust?

ISIKOFF: Clearly, a respected figure, somebody -- he wasn't the White House's first choice you'll remember.

WOODRUFF: It was Henry Kissinger.

ISIKOFF: It was Henry Kissinger. That didn't fly so they came up with Tom Kean who is a moderate Republican who is respected by both sides but he has, you know, been very persistent in pushing for these documents and that's one of the things the White House fears is that if they do resist too much there's going to be political fallout.

WOODRUFF: And if there's a subpoena?

ISIKOFF: Oh, that would be tantamount to a declaration of war between the commission and the White House. The White House continues to say we're cooperating. We've provided unprecedented cooperation. If you had a subpoena of the White House by the commission, that would be a shot across the bow. That's why I don't think the White House is anxious for this to happen.

WOODRUFF: But it could happen. We don't know. We'll find out.

ISIKOFF: It could happen and it will be -- there will be a lot of political repercussions if it does.

WOODRUFF: Michael Isikoff, "Newsweek" magazine, it's fascinating. Thank you very much.

ISIKOFF: Thank you.

WOODRUFF: And coming up on NEWSNIGHT, uproar in the skies as an American Airlines pilot asks Christian passengers to raise their hands, the story when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOODRUFF: After this program is over, you can go on to the pilotwear.com Web site and for $1.79, marked down from $1.95, you can buy a bumper sticker that says "God is my co-pilot." It is both a title of a popular World War II memoir and safe to say a harmless enough sentiment in the cockpit.

Well, safe to say also in a post 9/11 world where airline travel is unnerving enough as it is, it wasn't exactly the sort of thing many passengers aboard American Airlines Flight 34 wanted to hear, the story now from CNN's Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN DALLAS BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): As passengers settled into their seats for a four and a half hour flight from Los Angeles to New York last Friday, they expected to hear a typical greeting from the pilot. What they heard was anything but normal.

AMANDA NELLIGAN, PASSENGER: He asked all the members, passengers, all the passengers to raise their hand if they were Christian, which I thought was very bizarre and then he said look around and everyone who doesn't have their hand raised is crazy.

LAVANDERA: Passengers say the speech left them wondering if something sinister was about to happen and that flight attendants spent most of the flight calming passengers down.

KARLA AUSTIN, PASSENGER: We weren't sure if something was going to happen at takeoff, if he was going to wait until JFK to do something but there was definitely an implication there that we felt something was going to happen.

LAVANDERA (on camera): American Airline officials say they have interviewed the pilot and that he denies calling the non-Christian passengers crazy; however, if he is reprimanded the public will never know about it. American Airlines says it will handle this issue as a private personnel matter.

(voice-over): Witnesses say the pilot did apologize to the flight crew for causing such a stir but the apology was not made to the passengers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And at the end of the flight you spoke with the pilot. What did you say?

AUSTIN: I told him he should be ashamed of himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And his response?

AUSTIN: He just nodded and looked to the ground and that was it.

LAVANDERA: The pilot has not spoken publicly and is only described as a senior airline employee who recently returned from a weeklong mission trip to Costa Rica.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: A few other stories making news around the country, in Arizona the former Catholic archbishop of Phoenix testified in his hit-and-run trial saying it never occurred to him that he had hit a person with his car. Thomas O'Brien also said that he heard a loud crash on the night he struck and killed a pedestrian but said he never saw anyone on the road.

Videotaped confessions of the notorious Green River killer were released today. In the interviews, Gary Ridgway described in chilling detail how he strangled dozens of prostitutes over 20 years. His confessions were part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty.

And, in Ohio, two shootings yesterday along Interstate 270 have been linked to 21 others. This time there were witnesses who described the shooter as a white male, 30 to 40 years old in a small to midsize dark sedan. Today, police urged the shooter to call them.

Still to come on the program, death threats for a judge and his connection to the man accused in the murder of a young girl that story from Florida when NEWSNIGHT continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOODRUFF: It was a week ago today that police in Sarasota, Florida, issued an Amber Alert, with the hope of finding 11-year-old Carlie Brucia alive. The search for the sixth-grader ended on Friday in the worst way. Now people in Florida and beyond asking why the young girl's accused murderer, a man with a long criminal history, was out on the street. They're angry and they found a target, a Florida judge.

Here now, CNN's Susan Candiotti.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His mail is blunt and stinging.

JUDGE HARRY RAPKIN, 12TH CIRCUIT COURT OF FLORIDA: This one says, Carlie's blood is on the Judge Rapkin's hands. I just don't understand that. Carlie's blood is on that killer's hands.

CANDIOTTI: Judge Harry Rapkin oversaw probation last year of the man now accused in the kidnapping and murder of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia.

RAPKIN: I know I didn't do anything wrong. I followed the law and it's ruined my life. I'm getting threats, hate mail.

CANDIOTTI: Suspect Joseph Smith never been in Judge Rapkin's courtroom, just a name on a piece of paper for various probation drug violations, in and out of treatment, even committed to a hospital after an attempted suicide last August, prescribed antidepressants. Last October, probation suspected another technical violation and referred him to more treatment.

RAPKIN: And I said, yes, it's OK. The alternative would be to put him in jail, if he violated and sentence him to maybe 60 days in jail and revoke and terminate his probation. And he would still be a drug addict out on the street.

CANDIOTTI: In December, a probation officer asked the judge to sign a warrant for Smith's arrest, this time for failing to pay $170 in court costs. The judge sent back a note.

RAPKIN: I need evidence that this was willful. Did he have the ability to pay? You can't put the -- you can't put people in jail for being poor.

CANDIOTTI: A spokesman for the Department of Corrections insists, it, too, did the right thing, working within the system, leaving things up to the judge.

(on camera): Did anyone from the Department of Corrections probation get back to you to say whether he completed his drug treatment program?

RAPKIN: No, ma'am. They've never gotten back to me about anything. The next thing that happened in this case is this terrible tragic event.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: The Florida attorney general is researching a possible solution, a new law. And it would go something like this: If you have even one conviction for a violent crime in your background and you violate probation, it's back to jail. That would have applied to suspect Joseph Smith, who was convicted in 1993 of aggravated assault.

And, Judy, the Florida legislature might be taking up this matter in just a few weeks -- back to you.

WOODRUFF: So, Susan, when this judge, Rapkin, was making these decisions, did he know about the violent acts in the accused murderer's past?

CANDIOTTI: He told us that he didn't research the entire record beforehand, that he only took on the case just within the last year and only dealt with the paperwork of these probation violations. And he only had just one conviction for a violent crime, that aggravated assault back in 1993. The rest were mostly drug violations.

WOODRUFF: So it sounds like quite a trail of paperwork there. All right.

CANDIOTTI: It does, indeed.

WOODRUFF: Susan, thank you very much. What a terrible, terrible story.

Well, our "Moneyline Roundup" begins tonight with the Martha Stewart trial, Ms. Stewart's lawyer today trying to dent the credibility of the government's star witness, assistant broker Douglas Faneuil. He suggested Mr. Faneuil cut a deal with the government only to avoid charges against himself.

Lawyers defending former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski may roll the dice and call no witnesses on his behalf, his lead counsel today telling the court that he may rest his case as early as tomorrow.

The parent company of Tower Records has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Tower has been battered by competition from Wal-Mart on one end and Internet music downloads on the other.

Gasoline prices are on the rise, averaging $1.64 nationwide, higher on the West Coast. These are the highest prices since September. And the experts say they expect more of the same this spring.

Well, on Wall Street, markets drifted lower to start the week.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, we'll preview those primaries tomorrow and we'll look at one voter bloc that all the politicians want the attract, NASCAR dads.

From Washington, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOODRUFF: More now on the political landscape, with John Kerry riding high in the polls and President Bush getting into political gear.

We're joined now by my colleague, senior analyst Jeff Greenfield, and Chris Suellentrop of Slate.com.

Gentlemen, welcome to you both.

Chris, I'm going to start with you because you're in Nashville. You've seen, I guess, some of these candidates today. We keep being told that John Kerry has all but wrapped it up. So what are Wesley Clark and these other guys saying to voters out there?

CHRIS SUELLENTROP, SLATE.COM: Well, I actually missed Clark today, because I'm here speaking to you, instead of at the Sheraton, where he is.

(LAUGHTER)

SUELLENTROP: But, you know, the message really hasn't changed. I mean, they're not really going after Kerry.

To the extent that Clark's going after anyone, he's going after John Edwards and trying to clear him from the field, saying he hasn't supported veterans. He voted to cut veterans' benefits on one vote. And they're bringing up the tax cut a lot, that Clark wants to eliminate federal income taxes for families of four that make less than $50,000 a year. So those are the two things that they're bringing up. But they're really going after Edwards, not Kerry.

WOODRUFF: So, Jeff, if John Kerry really has this all but wrapped up, what is it that Howard Dean and John Edwards and Wes Clark have to say to voters right now?

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: Well, it's like an old Sid Caesar sketch where he plays a guy who explains that, if you're falling off the mountain, you flap your wings and try to fly. And when the questioner says, but man can't fly, he says, look, if you're falling off a mountain, what you got to lose?

There's always the chance. And you can look at past presidential campaigns and see cases where people who were given up for politically dead have suddenly made a sharp turnaround. It happened to Reagan in '76, to Ted Kennedy in '80. There were latecomers against Jimmy Carter in '76 who did well.

I have never seen a case where a late turnaround has actually derailed a front-runner. But I guess it's like the lottery slogan. You've got to be in it to win it. Chris has an interesting piece in Slate today -- or on Slate today -- that suggested they may be running for vice president. But I guess there's still the notion that John Kerry has gotten where he is without having been hit with a punch, which is the first time I can think of once a primary started where a guy has just glided through.

And maybe they're figuring, as long as I can make the case, maybe it will stick. Maybe something will happen. Maybe they will find out he shot Botox in his forehead and I might as well take a shot.

(CROSSTALK)

GREENFIELD: That's the best I can figure out.

WOODRUFF: Speaking of people who were all but assumed dead, but rose back up to fight again, John Kerry comes immediately to mind.

Chris, what about John Edwards? We have heard the word, at least I think, coming out of the Clark campaign is that, if he doesn't win one of these states tomorrow, he may not stay in. Edwards is sounding like he will stay in. Is this just an exercise in futility at this point, if he doesn't win a state tomorrow?

SUELLENTROP: From my perspective, if John Edwards can't beat John Kerry in his own backyard, the whole rational for the candidacy is shredded. He says he's going to beat George Bush in his own backyard. If he loses by 20 points in Virginia and Tennessee, as some of the polls are suggesting, I don't see how the rationale for his candidacy holds up anymore.

WOODRUFF: On the other hand, Jeff Greenfield, isn't John Kerry strengthened by having some semblance of an opposition still out there? GREENFIELD: Yes.

In fact, a couple of good things have happened to John Kerry. One is that is Wes Clark's win in Oklahoma by 1,220 votes kept him alive and split the Southern vote in Tennessee and Virginia, giving him at least the potential tomorrow of winning two Southern states. The other thing that I think happened is that the very fact that there's been a presidential nomination contest in which, as you pointed out, John Kerry and John Edwards sort of rose up in Iowa and became the two leading candidates, really gave a shot of adrenaline to the whole process.

And I think one of the reasons why President Bush is having some troubles in the polls is that there's been a kind of an attention to this contest that took on a different shape than a lot of us thought it would. So, yes, you know, they can go right through to Super Tuesday, I guess, if anybody can figure out a rationale to stay in and let New York and California and Ohio and seven other states play as well.

So, yes, it certainly doesn't hurt them to keep going for a couple of weeks, I don't think.

WOODRUFF: Quickly to both of you. Chris, first.

What about the president's interview yesterday on "Meet the Press"? Does this change the dynamic here, do you think?

SUELLENTROP: I don't think it changes anything.

I noticed a couple things. Superficially, I noticed that the smirk is back. In 2000, people complained about Bush smirking. And he worked hard on stopping it, if you remember. And in both the State of the Union and in this interview, the smirk was back. And people don't like it.

Substantively, I thought it was interesting he said he has no idea whether they're going to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, this after he was saying he was going to catch him dead or alive. I think that's fodder for the Democrats.

WOODRUFF: Jeff, what's your take on this interview?

GREENFIELD: The number of conservatives on blogs and online who expressed disappointment with the interview was the eyebrow-raiser for me.

I've always believed that the way you judge whether a candidate or if a president is in trouble is what his own side says. And there was some dissatisfaction on the right with that interview, which I thought was the most interesting fallout from it.

WOODRUFF: We saw some Peggy Noonan comment, I know, on "The Wall Street Journal," among others. All right.

GREENFIELD: And "The National Review" blogs, yes. WOODRUFF: All right. Jeff Greenfield, with us from Atlanta, where we're going to be covering those primaries tomorrow night. Chris Suellentrop, joining us tonight from Nashville, he's with Slate.

Thank you both. Good to see you.

SUELLENTROP: Thank you.

WOODRUFF: We appreciate you staying up late.

Well, more now on the voter who, this November, might just hold the key to the White House. In 1992, you could find her on the soccer field. Today, you can find him at the track.

Here's CNN's Bruce Burkhardt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUCE BURKHARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's one of NASCAR's holy shrines, Daytona International Speedway, a logical place to try and hunt down NASCAR dad.

(on camera): Do you all know where I could find a NASCAR dad?

(voice-over): NASCAR dad might not know it, but he's a target, right there in the crosshairs of the fierce statistical predator, the political pollster.

Even when there is not a race going on here at Daytona, you can sharpen your pit stop skills. NASCAR dad is the descendant of a long line of political targets, soccer moms, even Nixon's silent majority.

(on camera): They're saying, whoever is going to be president has to get the NASCAR dads.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Has to get -- right.

BURKHARDT (voice-over): But who is NASCAR dad?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would think it's dad that attends the NASCAR races with his son.

BURKHARDT (on camera): And? I can figure that much out.

(voice-over): This business of trying to nail down NASCAR dad is not as simple as it looks, though it might be to the pollsters, though, who figure NASCAR dad is working class, conservative values and deeply patriotic. That doesn't mean he's in anybody's pocket, though.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like Kerry.

BURKHARDT (on camera): You like Kerry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bush.

BURKHARDT: Bush?

(voice-over): And what happens when NASCAR dad is married to soccer mom?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know who I'd like to be the next president, but, unfortunately, she's not running this year.

BURKHARDT: You can tell a lot about NASCAR by who's paying for all those names on the cars. It's no longer just STP or Quaker State. There are other ways to rev your engine now, from tobacco to telecommunications, out with the Winston Cup, in with the new sponsor, Nextel.

According to NASCAR, 60 percent of those who follow the sport live outside the Southeast, 40 percent are women, and one in five are people of color. We have met NASCAR dad, and he is us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's the common man. We all could see something in him.

BURKHARDT: Dale Earnhardt, who lost his here life at Daytona, is kind of a patron saint to NASCAR dads. He'd get a lot more votes than the politicians.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe they're all telling what the people want to hear, but the one that makes his lies more believable.

BURKHARDT: Another insight into NASCAR dad. Still, we are left with the question:

(on camera): What is a NASCAR dad?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The NASCAR dad? I suppose he's one of those...

BURKHARDT (voice-over): See? Pretty simple after all.

Bruce Burkhardt, CNN, Daytona Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: I heard, but none of you did. We'll tell you tomorrow night.

All right, ahead on NEWSNIGHT, behind the color line. We'll talk with Henry Louis Gates about his new book when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOODRUFF: It has been said that the story of race, in all its pain, progress, and richness is the essential story of the American experience.

Writer and scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. has been tapping that vein for much of his distinguished history. His latest effort, an oral history of African-Americans today, the book and PBS documentary is called "America Behind the Color Line."

Professor Henry Louis Gates joins us now. He's in New York.

And we're pleased to have you on the program tonight.

HENRY LOUIS GATES, AUTHOR, "AMERICA BEHIND THE COLOR LINE": Hey, thanks, Judy.

WOODRUFF: Professor Gates, a lot has been written about the African-American experience. You yourself have written about it. What was different here? What were you trying to accomplish?

GATES: Well, in 1900, WEB DuBois, of course, the greatest black intellectual of all time, predicted, famously, that the problem of the 20th century would be the problem of the color line.

So, at the beginning of the 21st century, I wanted to travel around the country asking African-Americans, average African- Americans, famous African-Americans, the rich and powerful, the powerless and the infamous, what were would the problem of the 21st century be? Where are our people 35 years after the brutal assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.?

WOODRUFF: And in what way do you think ordinary people, ordinary African-American relate are going to relate to the experiences of some of these very famous and successful African-Americans? You have talked to everybody from Colin Powell to Vernon Jordan to actors and on down the list.

GATES: Well, for the African-American community, it's the best of times, it's the worst of times.

Do you know that the black middle class has almost quadrupled since 1968? But, at the same time, the percentage of black children living at or beneath the poverty line is almost 40 percent, four out of 10, which is what it was, Judy, the day Dr. King was killed. And so this is a wakeup call both to black America and to America that the successful black people have to reach back and help serve as role models for those of our people who are left behind.

And it's a wakeup call to America that the most pressing social problem that we face is the continuing problem of the black impoverished.

WOODRUFF: Are successful African-Americans doing what you describe?

GATES: Well, I have -- in the film series, I feature Colin Powell and Vernon Jordan. And they talk about ways that the black middle class has to serve as role models for the black people left behind.

I think we have to start after-school programs at the same time that we insist on a federal jobs program as well. When we were growing up in the '50s, education was the blackest thing that you could do. It was another front in the civil rights movement. And too many of our people have lost that passion for learning. Many of our people think that getting an education is -- quote, unquote -- "being white," is being a nerd.

That's a nightmare and it's not part of the tradition, so that we need to bridge the gap between the black haves and the black have- nots.

WOODRUFF: Why do you think that passion was lost?

GATES: I think in part because of integration. The black middle class moved out into the suburbs. They left their neighborhood. This is a thesis of a great sociologist William Julius Wilson my colleague at Harvard.

The role models disappeared. So, as Eric (ph), a prisoner in the Cook County jail that I interviewed, said, rather than seeing even policemen or firemen going to work every day, he saw drug dealers. He saw prostitutes. And so he imitated those forms of life.

WOODRUFF: It's a remarkable series of interviews, this book. And, as you were saying, the PBS program aired last week. It will be airing again.

Is it a message of hope in this book, Dr. Gates?

GATES: Oh, absolutely.

That's why I wrote the book, that we have come this far by faith, as the spiritual goes, but we have not come far enough. And working together, we can bridge the class divide within the African-American community. We have two nations within the African community itself and will always have classes. But we need a better class distribution.

As Franklin Raines, the CEO of Fannie Mae, puts it in the book, we need the same percentage of black poor as white poor, black rich as white rich, and black people in the working and middle class as white people in the working and middle class. And we can only do that through federal programs and through a revolution of attitudes and behavior within the African-American community.

WOODRUFF: It's powerful message. The author is Henry Louis Gates Jr. The book is "America Behind the Color Line: Dialogues with African Americans."

Good to see you again.

GATES: Nice to see you.

WOODRUFF: Thank you.

Coming up next on NEWSNIGHT, we'll check our top story and we'll preview tomorrow.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOODRUFF: Before we go tonight, a quick recap of our top story: President Bush in campaign mode in Missouri, touting the economy and tax cuts in a state he barely won the last time around.

And tomorrow on NEWSNIGHT, two more primary contests. We'll have the latest returns. That's tomorrow at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

So that's NEWSNIGHT for tonight. Aaron is back tomorrow.

I'm Judy Woodruff. Please join me tomorrow at 3:00 Eastern for a special 90-minute edition of "INSIDE POLITICS."

Thanks for watching. Good night.

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





Leads in Virginia, Tennessee Primary Polls; Al Qaeda Letter>


Aired February 9, 2004 - 22:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening everyone. I'm Judy Woodruff in for Aaron Brown.
With less than half a day to go until another pair of Democratic primaries our focus tonight is split, not two ways as you might expect between Virginia and Tennessee where voters go to the polls tomorrow but three, to include wherever the president happens to be at the moment, because despite the word today from Republican Party Chairman Ed Gillespie that his political season has yet to begin, the pictures say otherwise.

President Bush has been on the air, on the stump and some would say on the defensive lately and today was no exception. So, the program and the whip begins with that tonight and CNN's Senior White House Correspondent John King starts us off with a headline -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Judy, a much more aggressive President Bush in the key battleground state of Missouri today directly confronting the Democrats and, without naming him, the Democratic front-runner John Kerry, the president of the United States says those Democrats want to raise taxes and hurt the economy -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Thanks, John.

And on to the primaries and the primary contender John Kerry who is looking pretty tough to stop. CNN's Kelly Wallace is in Memphis, Kelly the headline there tonight.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Judy, John Kerry has not spent much time here in Tennessee and in Virginia but he is currently leading in the polls in both states, ahead of his southern opponents, and with so much momentum he is not focusing on his rivals but on President Bush -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Thanks, Kelly.

And next to Baghdad and the letter that may shed light on al Qaeda efforts in Iraq. CNN's Jane Arraf with that and a headline -- Jane.

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: A 17-page memo with a single chilling theme from this suspected al Qaeda operative, an appeal to start civil war in Iraq -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: All right, Jane thank you. And finally the case of Carlie Brucia and the judge who was monitoring her accused killer's probation, CNN's Susan Candiotti is working the story and she has an exclusive tonight -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Judy, that judge is now getting death threats. The question could he have done more to keep a once suicidal probation violator behind bars or was he hamstrung by the system?

WOODRUFF: All right, Susan thank you. We'll be back to you and all the rest of you shortly.

Also coming up tonight on the program an American Airlines pilot in hot water after a bizarre call for his Christian passengers to raise their hands.

Later, the hot new group being sought by all politicians, the NASCAR Dads, who and what are they?

And in Segment 7 tonight behind the color line, author Henry Louis Gates and a fascinating look at what African Americans themselves say about how they're doing four decades after the civil rights movement.

Well all of that ahead in the program but we begin with what certainly looks like a reelection campaign even if the White House says it is not. Yesterday, President Bush gave a rare interview on "Meet the Press" where he defended his decision to invade Iraq.

Today, he was in the important swing state of Missouri where he defended his economic record, all this as a new CNN/USA Today Gallup poll shows John Kerry with a growing lead among registered Democrats and just one percentage point behind President Bush in a hypothetical match-up.

Here now, CNN's John King.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING (voice-over): On a factory floor in Missouri, more proof the president's campaign is kicking into higher gear and the Democratic front-runner is getting more attention.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now is not the time to raise taxes on the American people. This economy is getting better.

KING: Senator John Kerry wants to repeal some of the Bush tax cuts to pay for new health care initiatives and to shrink the federal budget deficit.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If George Bush wants to stand there and defend people who earn more than $200,000 a year getting a tax cut instead of giving health care to Americans and instead of investing in education and job training that is the debate I want to have. KING: The president says don't buy it.

BUSH: They're going to raise the taxes and increase the size of the federal government, which would be bad for the United States economy.

KING: The more aggressive campaigning came during Mr. Bush's 15th visit to Missouri as president. The state is a presidential campaign bellwether and Mr. Bush won last time with 51 percent of the vote. The economy is center stage this time and an urgent Bush focus.

The economy has lost 2.2 million jobs during the Bush presidency, including more than 73,000 in Missouri. In a new CNN/TIME poll just 43 percent say Mr. Bush is doing a good job on the economy, down from 49 percent just a month ago.

The president says things are getting better and in his annual economic report to Congress predicts four percent growth, declining unemployment and 2.6 million new jobs this year.

The election is nine months away but the president is picking up the pace and adding campaign style stops like this as early polls show him running even or just narrowly ahead of the leading Democrats.

MARY MATALIN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I'd characterize it as the president being the best advocate of what needs to be explained the American people in the wake of what has been not just (unintelligible) but a lot of erroneous characterizations of his policies.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: There are trips to Pennsylvania and to Florida, both key battlegrounds as well in the days ahead and, Judy, unless Senator Kerry stumbles over the next two weeks look for the Bush/Cheney campaign very soon to dip into its $100 million plus war chest and begin its first TV ad blitz of the reelection campaign.

WOODRUFF: So, John, it sounds like they're worried. Just how worried are they?

KING: Well, they're a bit defensive. They choose not to use the word worry. They say in terms of the horse race polls, Senator Kerry running about even with the president, Senator Edwards even just a little bit behind the president, they say they expected that with all of the coverage, all of the focus on the Democratic race.

The president's approval rating is hovering right about 50 percent, a little above it now in our latest poll. That is the number they worry about the most and they say it was simply time to get the president out on the road and they say they have to spend that money during the primary season.

Once the Democrats have a certain nominee, and they're betting it will be Senator Kerry, they're going to start spending. They think that will change the dynamics a bit.

WOODRUFF: All right, we'll be looking for all that. John King, thank you.

Well, after winning three more states over the weekend, John Kerry is heading into two more primaries tomorrow. Winning either Tennessee or Virginia would give the front-runner his first victory in the south and it would also be a big blow to his two southern opponents. On the campaign trail today, Mr. Kerry pretty much ignored his rivals and focused on President Bush.

Here's CNN's Kelly Wallace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice-over): The front-runner, so far out in front, sounds more and more like he's already in general election campaign mode.

KERRY: And this is the worst jobs record of any administration of all eleven presidents preceding this president put together.

WALLACE: Aides say John Kerry is taking nothing for granted but on the stump here in Virginia, and later in Tennessee, he never mentioned his Democratic rivals exuding the confidence of a candidate who appears virtually unstoppable now.

KERRY: We are going to reject the cynicism and the radical direction this administration is taking us.

WALLACE: Despite barely campaigning in Tennessee and Virginia, polls show the Senator from Massachusetts with a sizable lead over his southern opponents, some of the momentum stemming from his three additional victories this weekend.

Still there are some challenges, questions such as why the candidate who condemns special interests accepted more than $120,000 in speaking fees from 1985 to 1990, according to the Associated Press. The Senator told reporters he does not believe he ever took money from groups with interest before his Senate committees.

KERRY: In fact, I personally stopped accepting any honoraria because I came to think it was inappropriate and I stopped voluntarily before it became the law. I fought to help change the law and I think it was the right thing to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And if he is victorious in Tennessee and in Virginia on Tuesday, he could knock one of his opponents out of the race but aides say he could also do something else, prove he could win in the south and with a large number of military voters in the south possibly show he could be somewhat competitive with President Bush in the fall when it comes to the military vote -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Kelly, are they pretty much ignoring their Democratic opponents from here on out, Governor Dean, Senator Edwards and General Clark? WALLACE: Well, Senator Kerry got a little defensive when he was asked that, asked if this is a new strategy and he said, look, throughout the campaign he really only mentioned his opponents when someone asked questions or when there happened to be an issue where they disagreed.

But, clearly, if you listened to him over the past few days, especially his speech Saturday night in Virginia, he is focusing on the Bush administration, trying to draw distinct differences between his policies and those of the president saying it's a debate he welcomes. Clearly, they have a lot of momentum. They think if things keep going their way he certainly could be the Democratic nominee -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: And, as we heard from the White House, it looks like the Bush administration is focusing on him, so it's working in both directions right Kelly.

WALLACE: It's both ways yes, correct.

WOODRUFF: Thanks very much.

Well, John Kerry's five rivals all share an immediate goal and that is to make a dent in Mr. Kerry's momentum. Whether they can and how they might do that are two big questions though. Today they were on the trail plotting their next steps, planning to stay in the race.

CNN's Candy Crowley has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The primary season is like listening to a jam band. It can be hard to tell when it's over.

HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How am I going to resist all the people that are tugging at my sleeve or doing it electronically saying don't quit? You can't.

CROWLEY: O-12, Howard Dean is ignoring Tennessee and Virginia. He is camped out in Wisconsin his must win state, which has morphed into a wanna-win state. A lot of Democrats, Dean reasons don't like this rush to coronation.

DEAN: Let's take a look at Senator Edwards, for example. Let's see, give people a chance to see if they think he's a more viable candidate.

CROWLEY: Not as crazy as it sounds, Howard Dean has reason to vest himself in John Edwards right now.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The south is not George Bush's backyard. It's my backyard.

CROWLEY: One for twelve, sporting his southern roots and his modest upbringing, John Edwards is playing hard in Tennessee and Virginia. If he wins one of them that means John Kerry does not win, slowing Kerry down and giving Howard Dean, not to mention John Edwards, some running room in Wisconsin. But if Edwards does not win, Dean will have to rough Kerry up on his own and maybe because he's seen the polls, Edwards says he doesn't need to win anyway.

EDWARDS: What I want to do is finish in the top two here in Virginia, the top two in Tennessee. Then we go on to Wisconsin.

CROWLEY: Also 1-12, Wesley Clark has invested heavily on the air in Tennessee and Virginia. A win or even a second for Edwards could doom the general's mission. It is unlikely that two sons of the south can survive tandem southern primaries on seconds and thirds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator John Kerry.

CROWLEY: Ten for twelve already, if Kerry sweeps Tuesday he is poised to crush whoever shows up in Wisconsin. The game may be over by poll closing tomorrow but there will still be players on the field.

(on camera): Wednesday, John Edwards, Wesley Clark and Howard Dean plan to campaign in Wisconsin. John Edwards is taking the day off, enough said.

Candy Crowley CNN, Fairfax, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: When they take a day off that does say something.

Well still ahead tonight on this program al Qaeda and Iraq and a letter that may be the first look we've gotten into a terrorist strategy there.

And later, the pilot who preached and the uproar from the passengers.

From Washington, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOODRUFF: A letter found on a computer disk is raising many questions tonight about the role that al Qaeda may be playing in the insurgency in Iraq. The document appears to outline a new strategy to keep the insurgency going, inciting a civil war in the country with the help of al Qaeda.

Here now CNN's Jane Arraf.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARRAF (voice-over): Military officials say it was written by suspected al Qaeda operative in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan. The message and its suspected courier were seized in a raid on a safe house in January.

BRIG. GENERAL MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: First of all it is clearly a plan on the part of outsiders to come in this country and spark civil war, create sectarian violence, try to expose fissures in the society.

ARRAF: Military officials say the 17-page document voices frustration. It says: "The insurgency is having trouble recruiting Iraqis." It says: "The operation would have to be conducted before the June 30 target for the U.S. to hand power back to Iraq."

It says: "The biggest threat to the plan was the buildup of new Iraqi security forces and the resolve of the U.S. troops" and it "claims responsibility for 25 attacks in Iraq, including suicide bombs." The document calls for "attacks to foster violence between Iraq's Sunni and Shia Muslims and Kurds." Civil was has been one of the great unrealized fears for this country.

ADNAN PACHACHI, GOVERNING COUNCIL MEMBER: I think they would shame because Iraq has never had a communal strife between people who belong to various communities or sects.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ARRAF: Now, U.S. officials here describe this as possibly evidence of an attempt to set up what they describe as sort of an al Qaeda franchise in Iraq. Now there's no hard evidence that the claims in this letter are true but, if they are, it could be the first known link between an operative here and al Qaeda -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Jane, that's exactly what I wanted to ask you. What is the sense that you get of how much this document has actually been followed up on that there actually is an active al Qaeda presence in Iraq now?

ARRAF: If there is we haven't known about it until now because military officials and intelligence officials have been quite insistent that although they suspect that al Qaeda may have been trying to get a foothold that there is ever reason to believe that some of the operations that have been launched, particularly the big suicide bombs, carry the hallmarks of al Qaeda, they have not been able to get evidence and that is very key.

Through all these months of suspicions that al Qaeda has been here there has not been solid evidence. Now they do have evidence there have been foreign fighters but they have not been able to link them directly to al Qaeda, which we have to remember is a very loosely linked organization -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: All right, Jane Arraf terrific reporting there, thank you very much Jane.

Well lost for the moment in the fuss over intelligence failures regarding Iraq has been the question of intelligence failures leading to 9/11. For months now a bipartisan commission has been looking into the matter and some members would say running into a stone wall where the White House is concerned. The administration believes otherwise but regardless the investigation has been slower and more contentious than expected. Michael Isikoff writes about the difficulties in this week's "Newsweek" magazine. We spoke with him earlier this evening.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: The commission investigating September 11\ and what went wrong in terms of the lack of intelligence before that, they were just given two extra months to get their work done by President Bush but they're still not happy with the cooperation. What's going on?

MICHAEL ISIKOFF, SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER "NEWSWEEK": Well, there's been a whole battle sort of behind the scenes that the public has not been made aware of about access to key documents.

The documents in dispute are called the president's daily brief, which is the daily intelligence brief given usually by the CIA director or his deputy to the president every day. These go back not just from George W. Bush's days but back into the Clinton administration, which is under the purview of the commission.

The commission asked to see 360 of these PDBs dating back four years to 1998. They wanted to know what both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were told about the threat of al Qaeda during that period. The White House has been very resistant to turning this stuff over.

WOODRUFF: Why?

ISIKOFF: Well, they consider this the crown jewels of executive privilege. These are documents that they say the president needs to see in confidence in order to conduct his job as president. No president before him has provided these or made public similar PDBs.

Last year after the 9/11 commission made an issue of this, the White House and the commission reached a complex arrangement where they would let a four member team look at some of the PDBs.

WOODRUFF: Four of the ten, right?

ISIKOFF: Twenty-four out of the -- four out of ten commissioners could look at 24 out of the 360 PDBs that were requested. Even when they did so, the four member team were not allowed to share the contents with the rest of the commission.

WOODRUFF: Is this because they don't trust the members with the information?

ISIKOFF: They think if they allow these PDBs to be released it will set a precedent that will undercut the ability of this president and future presidents to conduct business.

WOODRUFF: But what is the commission arguing here? And they are threatening, as I understand, to subpoena this information.

ISIKOFF: Yes. Well, they have threatened to subpoena. There is a meeting tomorrow, although there are a lot of negotiations going on to try to work something out at this late date. But the commission says, look, we can't do our job if we don't see these documents. These are key documents that are central to our mandate to find out what the Executive Branch and in particular the presidents knew, both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush about the likelihood of an attack, about where the attack might come and about the nature of the threat of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda.

WOODRUFF: Is it a fear of leaking that's involved here (unintelligible)?

ISIKOFF: Well, that's certainly been a part of this from the beginning. If you remember, the president and the White House opposed the creation of this commission. They feared that matters would be selectively leaked by Democrats on the panel to damage the president and they wanted to make sure and restrict that as much as possible.

WOODRUFF: But you have a Republican chairman of this commission, former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean.

ISIKOFF: Right.

WOODRUFF: Is he not someone who the White House feels it can trust?

ISIKOFF: Clearly, a respected figure, somebody -- he wasn't the White House's first choice you'll remember.

WOODRUFF: It was Henry Kissinger.

ISIKOFF: It was Henry Kissinger. That didn't fly so they came up with Tom Kean who is a moderate Republican who is respected by both sides but he has, you know, been very persistent in pushing for these documents and that's one of the things the White House fears is that if they do resist too much there's going to be political fallout.

WOODRUFF: And if there's a subpoena?

ISIKOFF: Oh, that would be tantamount to a declaration of war between the commission and the White House. The White House continues to say we're cooperating. We've provided unprecedented cooperation. If you had a subpoena of the White House by the commission, that would be a shot across the bow. That's why I don't think the White House is anxious for this to happen.

WOODRUFF: But it could happen. We don't know. We'll find out.

ISIKOFF: It could happen and it will be -- there will be a lot of political repercussions if it does.

WOODRUFF: Michael Isikoff, "Newsweek" magazine, it's fascinating. Thank you very much.

ISIKOFF: Thank you.

WOODRUFF: And coming up on NEWSNIGHT, uproar in the skies as an American Airlines pilot asks Christian passengers to raise their hands, the story when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOODRUFF: After this program is over, you can go on to the pilotwear.com Web site and for $1.79, marked down from $1.95, you can buy a bumper sticker that says "God is my co-pilot." It is both a title of a popular World War II memoir and safe to say a harmless enough sentiment in the cockpit.

Well, safe to say also in a post 9/11 world where airline travel is unnerving enough as it is, it wasn't exactly the sort of thing many passengers aboard American Airlines Flight 34 wanted to hear, the story now from CNN's Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN DALLAS BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): As passengers settled into their seats for a four and a half hour flight from Los Angeles to New York last Friday, they expected to hear a typical greeting from the pilot. What they heard was anything but normal.

AMANDA NELLIGAN, PASSENGER: He asked all the members, passengers, all the passengers to raise their hand if they were Christian, which I thought was very bizarre and then he said look around and everyone who doesn't have their hand raised is crazy.

LAVANDERA: Passengers say the speech left them wondering if something sinister was about to happen and that flight attendants spent most of the flight calming passengers down.

KARLA AUSTIN, PASSENGER: We weren't sure if something was going to happen at takeoff, if he was going to wait until JFK to do something but there was definitely an implication there that we felt something was going to happen.

LAVANDERA (on camera): American Airline officials say they have interviewed the pilot and that he denies calling the non-Christian passengers crazy; however, if he is reprimanded the public will never know about it. American Airlines says it will handle this issue as a private personnel matter.

(voice-over): Witnesses say the pilot did apologize to the flight crew for causing such a stir but the apology was not made to the passengers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And at the end of the flight you spoke with the pilot. What did you say?

AUSTIN: I told him he should be ashamed of himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And his response?

AUSTIN: He just nodded and looked to the ground and that was it.

LAVANDERA: The pilot has not spoken publicly and is only described as a senior airline employee who recently returned from a weeklong mission trip to Costa Rica.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: A few other stories making news around the country, in Arizona the former Catholic archbishop of Phoenix testified in his hit-and-run trial saying it never occurred to him that he had hit a person with his car. Thomas O'Brien also said that he heard a loud crash on the night he struck and killed a pedestrian but said he never saw anyone on the road.

Videotaped confessions of the notorious Green River killer were released today. In the interviews, Gary Ridgway described in chilling detail how he strangled dozens of prostitutes over 20 years. His confessions were part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty.

And, in Ohio, two shootings yesterday along Interstate 270 have been linked to 21 others. This time there were witnesses who described the shooter as a white male, 30 to 40 years old in a small to midsize dark sedan. Today, police urged the shooter to call them.

Still to come on the program, death threats for a judge and his connection to the man accused in the murder of a young girl that story from Florida when NEWSNIGHT continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOODRUFF: It was a week ago today that police in Sarasota, Florida, issued an Amber Alert, with the hope of finding 11-year-old Carlie Brucia alive. The search for the sixth-grader ended on Friday in the worst way. Now people in Florida and beyond asking why the young girl's accused murderer, a man with a long criminal history, was out on the street. They're angry and they found a target, a Florida judge.

Here now, CNN's Susan Candiotti.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His mail is blunt and stinging.

JUDGE HARRY RAPKIN, 12TH CIRCUIT COURT OF FLORIDA: This one says, Carlie's blood is on the Judge Rapkin's hands. I just don't understand that. Carlie's blood is on that killer's hands.

CANDIOTTI: Judge Harry Rapkin oversaw probation last year of the man now accused in the kidnapping and murder of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia.

RAPKIN: I know I didn't do anything wrong. I followed the law and it's ruined my life. I'm getting threats, hate mail.

CANDIOTTI: Suspect Joseph Smith never been in Judge Rapkin's courtroom, just a name on a piece of paper for various probation drug violations, in and out of treatment, even committed to a hospital after an attempted suicide last August, prescribed antidepressants. Last October, probation suspected another technical violation and referred him to more treatment.

RAPKIN: And I said, yes, it's OK. The alternative would be to put him in jail, if he violated and sentence him to maybe 60 days in jail and revoke and terminate his probation. And he would still be a drug addict out on the street.

CANDIOTTI: In December, a probation officer asked the judge to sign a warrant for Smith's arrest, this time for failing to pay $170 in court costs. The judge sent back a note.

RAPKIN: I need evidence that this was willful. Did he have the ability to pay? You can't put the -- you can't put people in jail for being poor.

CANDIOTTI: A spokesman for the Department of Corrections insists, it, too, did the right thing, working within the system, leaving things up to the judge.

(on camera): Did anyone from the Department of Corrections probation get back to you to say whether he completed his drug treatment program?

RAPKIN: No, ma'am. They've never gotten back to me about anything. The next thing that happened in this case is this terrible tragic event.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: The Florida attorney general is researching a possible solution, a new law. And it would go something like this: If you have even one conviction for a violent crime in your background and you violate probation, it's back to jail. That would have applied to suspect Joseph Smith, who was convicted in 1993 of aggravated assault.

And, Judy, the Florida legislature might be taking up this matter in just a few weeks -- back to you.

WOODRUFF: So, Susan, when this judge, Rapkin, was making these decisions, did he know about the violent acts in the accused murderer's past?

CANDIOTTI: He told us that he didn't research the entire record beforehand, that he only took on the case just within the last year and only dealt with the paperwork of these probation violations. And he only had just one conviction for a violent crime, that aggravated assault back in 1993. The rest were mostly drug violations.

WOODRUFF: So it sounds like quite a trail of paperwork there. All right.

CANDIOTTI: It does, indeed.

WOODRUFF: Susan, thank you very much. What a terrible, terrible story.

Well, our "Moneyline Roundup" begins tonight with the Martha Stewart trial, Ms. Stewart's lawyer today trying to dent the credibility of the government's star witness, assistant broker Douglas Faneuil. He suggested Mr. Faneuil cut a deal with the government only to avoid charges against himself.

Lawyers defending former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski may roll the dice and call no witnesses on his behalf, his lead counsel today telling the court that he may rest his case as early as tomorrow.

The parent company of Tower Records has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Tower has been battered by competition from Wal-Mart on one end and Internet music downloads on the other.

Gasoline prices are on the rise, averaging $1.64 nationwide, higher on the West Coast. These are the highest prices since September. And the experts say they expect more of the same this spring.

Well, on Wall Street, markets drifted lower to start the week.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, we'll preview those primaries tomorrow and we'll look at one voter bloc that all the politicians want the attract, NASCAR dads.

From Washington, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOODRUFF: More now on the political landscape, with John Kerry riding high in the polls and President Bush getting into political gear.

We're joined now by my colleague, senior analyst Jeff Greenfield, and Chris Suellentrop of Slate.com.

Gentlemen, welcome to you both.

Chris, I'm going to start with you because you're in Nashville. You've seen, I guess, some of these candidates today. We keep being told that John Kerry has all but wrapped it up. So what are Wesley Clark and these other guys saying to voters out there?

CHRIS SUELLENTROP, SLATE.COM: Well, I actually missed Clark today, because I'm here speaking to you, instead of at the Sheraton, where he is.

(LAUGHTER)

SUELLENTROP: But, you know, the message really hasn't changed. I mean, they're not really going after Kerry.

To the extent that Clark's going after anyone, he's going after John Edwards and trying to clear him from the field, saying he hasn't supported veterans. He voted to cut veterans' benefits on one vote. And they're bringing up the tax cut a lot, that Clark wants to eliminate federal income taxes for families of four that make less than $50,000 a year. So those are the two things that they're bringing up. But they're really going after Edwards, not Kerry.

WOODRUFF: So, Jeff, if John Kerry really has this all but wrapped up, what is it that Howard Dean and John Edwards and Wes Clark have to say to voters right now?

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: Well, it's like an old Sid Caesar sketch where he plays a guy who explains that, if you're falling off the mountain, you flap your wings and try to fly. And when the questioner says, but man can't fly, he says, look, if you're falling off a mountain, what you got to lose?

There's always the chance. And you can look at past presidential campaigns and see cases where people who were given up for politically dead have suddenly made a sharp turnaround. It happened to Reagan in '76, to Ted Kennedy in '80. There were latecomers against Jimmy Carter in '76 who did well.

I have never seen a case where a late turnaround has actually derailed a front-runner. But I guess it's like the lottery slogan. You've got to be in it to win it. Chris has an interesting piece in Slate today -- or on Slate today -- that suggested they may be running for vice president. But I guess there's still the notion that John Kerry has gotten where he is without having been hit with a punch, which is the first time I can think of once a primary started where a guy has just glided through.

And maybe they're figuring, as long as I can make the case, maybe it will stick. Maybe something will happen. Maybe they will find out he shot Botox in his forehead and I might as well take a shot.

(CROSSTALK)

GREENFIELD: That's the best I can figure out.

WOODRUFF: Speaking of people who were all but assumed dead, but rose back up to fight again, John Kerry comes immediately to mind.

Chris, what about John Edwards? We have heard the word, at least I think, coming out of the Clark campaign is that, if he doesn't win one of these states tomorrow, he may not stay in. Edwards is sounding like he will stay in. Is this just an exercise in futility at this point, if he doesn't win a state tomorrow?

SUELLENTROP: From my perspective, if John Edwards can't beat John Kerry in his own backyard, the whole rational for the candidacy is shredded. He says he's going to beat George Bush in his own backyard. If he loses by 20 points in Virginia and Tennessee, as some of the polls are suggesting, I don't see how the rationale for his candidacy holds up anymore.

WOODRUFF: On the other hand, Jeff Greenfield, isn't John Kerry strengthened by having some semblance of an opposition still out there? GREENFIELD: Yes.

In fact, a couple of good things have happened to John Kerry. One is that is Wes Clark's win in Oklahoma by 1,220 votes kept him alive and split the Southern vote in Tennessee and Virginia, giving him at least the potential tomorrow of winning two Southern states. The other thing that I think happened is that the very fact that there's been a presidential nomination contest in which, as you pointed out, John Kerry and John Edwards sort of rose up in Iowa and became the two leading candidates, really gave a shot of adrenaline to the whole process.

And I think one of the reasons why President Bush is having some troubles in the polls is that there's been a kind of an attention to this contest that took on a different shape than a lot of us thought it would. So, yes, you know, they can go right through to Super Tuesday, I guess, if anybody can figure out a rationale to stay in and let New York and California and Ohio and seven other states play as well.

So, yes, it certainly doesn't hurt them to keep going for a couple of weeks, I don't think.

WOODRUFF: Quickly to both of you. Chris, first.

What about the president's interview yesterday on "Meet the Press"? Does this change the dynamic here, do you think?

SUELLENTROP: I don't think it changes anything.

I noticed a couple things. Superficially, I noticed that the smirk is back. In 2000, people complained about Bush smirking. And he worked hard on stopping it, if you remember. And in both the State of the Union and in this interview, the smirk was back. And people don't like it.

Substantively, I thought it was interesting he said he has no idea whether they're going to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, this after he was saying he was going to catch him dead or alive. I think that's fodder for the Democrats.

WOODRUFF: Jeff, what's your take on this interview?

GREENFIELD: The number of conservatives on blogs and online who expressed disappointment with the interview was the eyebrow-raiser for me.

I've always believed that the way you judge whether a candidate or if a president is in trouble is what his own side says. And there was some dissatisfaction on the right with that interview, which I thought was the most interesting fallout from it.

WOODRUFF: We saw some Peggy Noonan comment, I know, on "The Wall Street Journal," among others. All right.

GREENFIELD: And "The National Review" blogs, yes. WOODRUFF: All right. Jeff Greenfield, with us from Atlanta, where we're going to be covering those primaries tomorrow night. Chris Suellentrop, joining us tonight from Nashville, he's with Slate.

Thank you both. Good to see you.

SUELLENTROP: Thank you.

WOODRUFF: We appreciate you staying up late.

Well, more now on the voter who, this November, might just hold the key to the White House. In 1992, you could find her on the soccer field. Today, you can find him at the track.

Here's CNN's Bruce Burkhardt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUCE BURKHARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's one of NASCAR's holy shrines, Daytona International Speedway, a logical place to try and hunt down NASCAR dad.

(on camera): Do you all know where I could find a NASCAR dad?

(voice-over): NASCAR dad might not know it, but he's a target, right there in the crosshairs of the fierce statistical predator, the political pollster.

Even when there is not a race going on here at Daytona, you can sharpen your pit stop skills. NASCAR dad is the descendant of a long line of political targets, soccer moms, even Nixon's silent majority.

(on camera): They're saying, whoever is going to be president has to get the NASCAR dads.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Has to get -- right.

BURKHARDT (voice-over): But who is NASCAR dad?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would think it's dad that attends the NASCAR races with his son.

BURKHARDT (on camera): And? I can figure that much out.

(voice-over): This business of trying to nail down NASCAR dad is not as simple as it looks, though it might be to the pollsters, though, who figure NASCAR dad is working class, conservative values and deeply patriotic. That doesn't mean he's in anybody's pocket, though.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like Kerry.

BURKHARDT (on camera): You like Kerry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bush.

BURKHARDT: Bush?

(voice-over): And what happens when NASCAR dad is married to soccer mom?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know who I'd like to be the next president, but, unfortunately, she's not running this year.

BURKHARDT: You can tell a lot about NASCAR by who's paying for all those names on the cars. It's no longer just STP or Quaker State. There are other ways to rev your engine now, from tobacco to telecommunications, out with the Winston Cup, in with the new sponsor, Nextel.

According to NASCAR, 60 percent of those who follow the sport live outside the Southeast, 40 percent are women, and one in five are people of color. We have met NASCAR dad, and he is us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's the common man. We all could see something in him.

BURKHARDT: Dale Earnhardt, who lost his here life at Daytona, is kind of a patron saint to NASCAR dads. He'd get a lot more votes than the politicians.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe they're all telling what the people want to hear, but the one that makes his lies more believable.

BURKHARDT: Another insight into NASCAR dad. Still, we are left with the question:

(on camera): What is a NASCAR dad?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The NASCAR dad? I suppose he's one of those...

BURKHARDT (voice-over): See? Pretty simple after all.

Bruce Burkhardt, CNN, Daytona Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: I heard, but none of you did. We'll tell you tomorrow night.

All right, ahead on NEWSNIGHT, behind the color line. We'll talk with Henry Louis Gates about his new book when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOODRUFF: It has been said that the story of race, in all its pain, progress, and richness is the essential story of the American experience.

Writer and scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. has been tapping that vein for much of his distinguished history. His latest effort, an oral history of African-Americans today, the book and PBS documentary is called "America Behind the Color Line."

Professor Henry Louis Gates joins us now. He's in New York.

And we're pleased to have you on the program tonight.

HENRY LOUIS GATES, AUTHOR, "AMERICA BEHIND THE COLOR LINE": Hey, thanks, Judy.

WOODRUFF: Professor Gates, a lot has been written about the African-American experience. You yourself have written about it. What was different here? What were you trying to accomplish?

GATES: Well, in 1900, WEB DuBois, of course, the greatest black intellectual of all time, predicted, famously, that the problem of the 20th century would be the problem of the color line.

So, at the beginning of the 21st century, I wanted to travel around the country asking African-Americans, average African- Americans, famous African-Americans, the rich and powerful, the powerless and the infamous, what were would the problem of the 21st century be? Where are our people 35 years after the brutal assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.?

WOODRUFF: And in what way do you think ordinary people, ordinary African-American relate are going to relate to the experiences of some of these very famous and successful African-Americans? You have talked to everybody from Colin Powell to Vernon Jordan to actors and on down the list.

GATES: Well, for the African-American community, it's the best of times, it's the worst of times.

Do you know that the black middle class has almost quadrupled since 1968? But, at the same time, the percentage of black children living at or beneath the poverty line is almost 40 percent, four out of 10, which is what it was, Judy, the day Dr. King was killed. And so this is a wakeup call both to black America and to America that the successful black people have to reach back and help serve as role models for those of our people who are left behind.

And it's a wakeup call to America that the most pressing social problem that we face is the continuing problem of the black impoverished.

WOODRUFF: Are successful African-Americans doing what you describe?

GATES: Well, I have -- in the film series, I feature Colin Powell and Vernon Jordan. And they talk about ways that the black middle class has to serve as role models for the black people left behind.

I think we have to start after-school programs at the same time that we insist on a federal jobs program as well. When we were growing up in the '50s, education was the blackest thing that you could do. It was another front in the civil rights movement. And too many of our people have lost that passion for learning. Many of our people think that getting an education is -- quote, unquote -- "being white," is being a nerd.

That's a nightmare and it's not part of the tradition, so that we need to bridge the gap between the black haves and the black have- nots.

WOODRUFF: Why do you think that passion was lost?

GATES: I think in part because of integration. The black middle class moved out into the suburbs. They left their neighborhood. This is a thesis of a great sociologist William Julius Wilson my colleague at Harvard.

The role models disappeared. So, as Eric (ph), a prisoner in the Cook County jail that I interviewed, said, rather than seeing even policemen or firemen going to work every day, he saw drug dealers. He saw prostitutes. And so he imitated those forms of life.

WOODRUFF: It's a remarkable series of interviews, this book. And, as you were saying, the PBS program aired last week. It will be airing again.

Is it a message of hope in this book, Dr. Gates?

GATES: Oh, absolutely.

That's why I wrote the book, that we have come this far by faith, as the spiritual goes, but we have not come far enough. And working together, we can bridge the class divide within the African-American community. We have two nations within the African community itself and will always have classes. But we need a better class distribution.

As Franklin Raines, the CEO of Fannie Mae, puts it in the book, we need the same percentage of black poor as white poor, black rich as white rich, and black people in the working and middle class as white people in the working and middle class. And we can only do that through federal programs and through a revolution of attitudes and behavior within the African-American community.

WOODRUFF: It's powerful message. The author is Henry Louis Gates Jr. The book is "America Behind the Color Line: Dialogues with African Americans."

Good to see you again.

GATES: Nice to see you.

WOODRUFF: Thank you.

Coming up next on NEWSNIGHT, we'll check our top story and we'll preview tomorrow.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOODRUFF: Before we go tonight, a quick recap of our top story: President Bush in campaign mode in Missouri, touting the economy and tax cuts in a state he barely won the last time around.

And tomorrow on NEWSNIGHT, two more primary contests. We'll have the latest returns. That's tomorrow at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

So that's NEWSNIGHT for tonight. Aaron is back tomorrow.

I'm Judy Woodruff. Please join me tomorrow at 3:00 Eastern for a special 90-minute edition of "INSIDE POLITICS."

Thanks for watching. Good night.

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Leads in Virginia, Tennessee Primary Polls; Al Qaeda Letter>