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CNN Live Saturday

String Of Explosions In New Delhi; Gas Low And Power Out In Parts Of Florida; Naples Zoo Tries To Recover From Wilma; Why CIA Leak Is Important; Wal-Mart's Possible New Policy May Be Illegal; The White House Is Not Clear Yet; Nissan Unveils Concept Car; Residents Return To Lower Ninth Ward

Aired October 29, 2005 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Fear in India after a string of explosions rips through two markets only minutes apart. Dozens are dead, more wounded. This hour, a live report from the scene in New Delhi.
In the CIA leak investigation, what happens next? A top administration aide is indicted and the case is not over yet.

And animal instinct. How one Florida man is helping animals recover after his Florida zoo took a beating from Wilma.

Welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Those stories in a moment.

But first, other headlines "Now in the News."

A train trip in Southern India turns deadly. At least 90 people were killed earlier today when a passenger train derailed. Dozens of people were injured. Authorities say the train derailed while trying to cross some tracks washed away by a flood. Several of the cars landed in a reservoir.

The United States and Japan are stepping up their military cooperation. That decision today during talks in Washington involving Japanese officials, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The two countries also agreed to trim the number of American Marines in Okinawa. Under the deal, about 7,000 Marines will be shifted from the Japanese island to Guam.

It's another weekend of deadly violence in Iraq. Among today's attacks, a car bombing in a busy neighborhood north of Baquba. At least 18 people were killed and dozens more wounded.

We begin in India's capital with scenes of terror as the country prepares to celebrate a major holiday. A series of explosions just minutes apart ripped through New Delhi earlier today killing dozens of people. Among the targets, markets packed with holiday shoppers. CNN's Ram Ramgopal is covering the developments from New Delhi.

Ram.

RAM RAMGOPAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, there, Fredricka, the markets were packed with the shoppers making last-minute purchases before this festival. It's just days away right now. And within a space of minutes, in three different locations, powerful explosions which leveled many buildings around. Also set off small fires. And at the end of the day, (INAUDIBLE) apparent that this was a coordinated attack. Forty-two people at least have been killed and close to 60 wounded.

And according to officials, they believe that the numbers will go up in the coming hours. The hospitals in this area have been chock a block with people rushing in with obviously critical cases and a lot of people trying to find out what happened to their loved ones. So certainly, on this day, which is normally a joyous occasion, a sense of sadness and shock here in New Delhi -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And, Ram, the government says no claim of responsibility right now. But you have to wonder, these locations that were targeted, are they particularly vulnerable or is there something about these communities that would make them a target?

RAMGOPAL: Well, certainly the government has not commented on this. You're absolutely right. They have also said that they have that basically these were terrorist acts but they have been very carefully in choosing their words.

At the same time, you're right. I mean, these were marketplaces. Soft targets according to one security analyst who spoke to CNN earlier today. Certainly intended to send out a signal.

Now this festival that is coming up is a major Hindu festival and, of course, perhaps, there may be something to do with causing fear among people. The majority of India is indeed Hindu, so there may have been a message intended there.

But at this point, officials are not speculating as to who's behind the attacks. They believe that they will wait for the evidence, the forensic evidence, the explosives, before they make that call and basically inform the public. But at this point, at least, they're wanting people to be on their guard and watch out for anything suspicious.

WHITFIELD: Ram Ramgopal, thank you so much, from New Delhi.

Here in this country, Lewis Scooter Libby -- he resigned yesterday as the vice president's chief of staff -- could make his first court appearance within days. A federal indictment accuses Libby of lying during an investigation into who leaked the name of a CIA covert operative, Valerie Plame.

No one has been charged so far with intentionally exposing the operative's name, but President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, remains under scrutiny. CNN has learned from two sources, one simple Rove, that he is the person identified in the indictment as "official a" who discussed the CIA operative with Libby.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald warns the investigation isn't over and the White House is feeling the pressure after a week of troubling developments at home and in Iraq. CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us now from the White House.

Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Fredricka.

As you know, even before the indictment, this White House was already contending with a number of difficult issues. Among them, the withdrawal of Harriet Miers as the president's Supreme Court nominee. Also this week, saw a grim threshold pass in the Iraq war. More than 2,000 Americans dead.

And after yesterday's announcement, the CIA leak investigation, undoubtedly the biggest source of anxiety for aides here, yesterday they expressed a mixture of sadness and relief. Sadness, of course, that the president that the vice president's rather former chief of staff, Scooter Libby, and former national security adviser had been indicted. At the same time, though, there was relief about Karl Rove, President Bush's own top political adviser, that he was not indicted. Nevertheless, he remains under investigation his lawyer says. But President Bush is eager to show that his administration is focused on moving ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Special Counsel Fitzgerald's investigation and ongoing legal proceedings are serious. And now the proceedings the process moves into a new phase. In our system, each individual is presumed innocent and entitled to due process and a fair trial. While we're all saddened by today's news, we remain wholly focused on the many issues and opportunities facing this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now the president also says that he will be looking to name a Supreme Court nominee soon. And on that front, it was interesting to note that it was Harriet Miers, the president's White House counsel and failed Supreme Court nominee, who accompanied the president, along with the chief of staff, Andy Card, to Camp David for the weekend. Harriet Miers, of course, withdrew her name from consideration amid that intense opposition from conservatives, people from within the president's own party.

Now, the White House is very eager to put this all behind them and pivot to other issues. Today in his weekly radio address, for example, the president focused on Iraq, made no mention of Scooter Libby or the failed Harriet Miers nomination. Mr. Bush will return to the White House tomorrow and aides are saying that he could make his announcement as to who he wants for another Supreme Court nomination within just a few days -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Elaine Quijano at the White House, thank you so much.

Well, right now we want to step back a bit. We're going to show you what's behind the indictment of the vice president's chief of staff and how the thread leads all the way back to the administration's argument for going to war in Iraq. CNN's Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley puts it all in perspective.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Before anyone had heard of Joe Wilson or Valerie Plame, before Karl Rove talked to Scooter Libby and both of them talked to reporters, there was the war.

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We now know that Saddam has resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons.

CROWLEY: It was August of 2002, eight months before the beginning of war in Iraq. The vice president was a chief proponent of the war in public, and private. His contacts with the CIA were a subject of chatter among current and retired officers.

ROBERT BAER, RETIRED CIA OFFICER: I think Cheney, as far as I can reconstruct this, said everybody knows, you know, that Saddam's got weapons of mass destruction. The French do. The British do. Even the Russians thought he did. Tell us what you got. What's your best stuff?

CROWLEY: Critics say Cheney dismissed info that ran against his central belief that Saddam was building a nuclear weapons program. The White House denies putting political pressure on the agency to reach a specific conclusion. But the CIA had missed Saddam's quest for nuclear weapons in the runup to the first Gulf War when Cheney was defense secretary.

So at a minimum, the vice president was skeptical that the CIA knew everything it could about Saddam. Two months before war began, in his State of the Union address, the president set in motion a series of events that would end in the special prosecutor's office.

BUSH: The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.

CROWLEY: True enough, but U.S. intelligence analysts thought the British government was wrong. March, 2003, the war begins.

In July, "The New York Times" ran a column. In it, former Ambassador Joe Wilson recounts a CIA requested trip he took to Niger a year and a half earlier. He says the trip was inspired by an inquiry from the vice president's office.

Wilson reports back to the CIA that he found no evidence Iraq purchased any uranium from Niger. Within days of the Wilson article, administration officials are cited as sources of information aimed at denigrating Wilson's report and his credentials. Columnist Bob Novak writes he's been told Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, is a CIA operative and she suggested sending Wilson to Niger."

The CIA denies Wilson was sent at his wife's urging. The vice president's office denied knowing anything about Wilson's trip or his findings. Wilson, an international business consultant, is wrapping up a speaking tour. The world, now knows Valerie Plame was a CIA spy. Scooter Libby, the vice president's top aide, is under indictment on charges of perjury and obstruction in the investigation of the leak. And Karl Rove, the president's top aide, has not been indicted. And no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq.

Legal or not is a court call. The rest will be judged by history.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And former Ambassador Joe Wilson says his outed wife, Valerie Plame, is now the target of threats. Wilson revealed the threats in an interview due to air tomorrow on CBS' "60 Minutes." However, Wilson refused to elaborate or be specific about the type of threats or who might be making them. Wilson says he and Plame have discussed security for her with several unnamed agencies.

Wilson will have more to say about this and the whole CIA leak investigation Monday when he joins Wolf Blitzer on THE SITUATION ROOM live at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

In his weekly radio address today, President Bush attempted to refocus attention overseas on what he called another important milestone in Iraq, the approval of that country's constitution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: The new Iraqi constitution received support from Iraqis of all ethnic and religious backgrounds. Iraq's largest Sunni political party endorsed the constitution and urged his followers to approve the draft. Many more Sunnis participated in this vote than in January's historic elections and the level of violence was also dramatically lower. Even those who voted against the constitution are now organizing and preparing for elections in December.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The president's comments come at the end of a week that saw American military deaths in Iraq climb above 2,000. Mr. Bush called the deaths heartbreaking and he acknowledged that so far progress has involved great sacrifices on the part of the U.S. military.

Now that White House Aide Scooter Libby has been indicted, could he actually serve time in prison? Our legal eagles take on this case.

Plus, recovering from Wilma. Long lines for gas, just one of the inconveniences for Floridians. A live update next.

And another hurricane is brewing. What Beta did and where this storm is going.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In flood-ravaged New Orleans, it's still a grim sight in the heavily damaged Lower Ninth Ward. Flood waters from breached leaves swept through that neighborhood destroying thousands of homes. Now people who fled the neighborhoods are getting a chance to ride through the area on a so called look and leave tour. For the last few days, city officials have been taking residents back into the area on buses.

As New Orleans looks to its future, there's a lot of concern about the city's levees. Right now experts are trying to determine the best way to repair the levees and keep the city from drowning again. The issue is stirring some anger among hurricane victims who have returned home. This story from CNN Technology Correspondent Daniel Sieberg.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE BOWLES, HOMEOWNER: As the ground moved, it lifted.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Artist Joe Bowles is on the front lines of the fight over the levee breaks. Bordering the 17th Street Canal where water rushed in, his entire back yard was pushed up like a rug.

BOWLES: I was very angry, right. You pay your tax money and you figure the government knows what they're doing when they build levees. And obviously they don't or they take the cheap part.

SIEBERG: Bowles is not alone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This gentleman is not going to address the levee situation.

SIEBERG: At a recent meeting in Bowles Lakeview neighborhood, outraged residents wanted some straight answers on how the Army Corps of Engineers will solve the levee problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get somebody who will!

SIEBERG: At that gathering, the Corps only wanted to address debris removal but Lakeview is one of many neighborhoods near the three locations in New Orleans where a major levee breached. Experts say before the levees can be upgraded, they must know why they failed and the reasons differ.

At the Industrial Canal, the water flowed over the levee wall, then flooded down the other side, eroding the soil at the base. At the 17th Street and London Avenue locations, a different problem has emerged. The rising water apparently did not top the levee walls, but the type of soil at the base may have contributed to its collapse.

Here at the 17th Street Canal, about 12 feet down is a five-foot layer of peat. It's soaking wet from the groundwater and it looks like this. Engineers say it would act as a poor anchor for a levee support wall. GORDON BOUTWELL, ENGINEER: Water will throw through the peat a lot faster than it will through the clay. And so that would allow water to go through and help weaken the soil.

SIEBERG: Boutwell is one of the lead investigators of a report being prepared by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

BOUTWELL: Water is pushing, but if the soil here is relatively weak, it slides out like that, and it slides and then the whole wall kicks over.

SIEBERG: While engineers look at what happened and how to prepare for the future, residents like Joe Bowles have to figure out what to do now. He lived in this house for 58 years.

What's it like to see all this stuff?

BOWLES: It hurts. It really does. I mean, especially because it was unnecessary. There's no reason for this. I mean, to live in an area like this where you know things like this could happen, you should have the very best protection you can.

SIEBERG: The question is, will it be in time for the next disaster?

Daniel Sieberg, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, two months after Hurricane Katrina flooded much of New Orleans, dozens of police department employees will have to find new jobs. The department has fired 45 officers and six civilian employee. They're accused of leaving their posts either before or after the hurricane struck.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUPT. WARREN RILEY, NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMENT: It was obvious that, during the crisis, during the time when we needed police officers the most, when our citizens counted on us and when we counted on our fellow officers to be there during the most challenging time in the history of New Orleans, in modern time anyway, those officers were not there. And not only were they not there, they have not returned since that time. So it would be very difficult for them to function in our current operation. We need to be able to count on them, and they weren't there, so they were terminated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: More than a dozen other officers who were under investigation for abandonment have resigned and other cases are still being reviewed.

Long lines and short tempers. Five days later, how the recovery effort is going in Florida. We'll go live to Miami.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In other news "Across America."

The mother of teenage murder suspect Scott Dyleski has been released from jail in Contra Costa County, California. She had been charged as an accessory to murder in the death of Pamela Vitale, the wife of Defense Attorney Daniel Horowitz. The charge was dropped when Esther Fielding agreed to testify truthfully at her son's trial.

D.C. councilman and former mayor, Marion Barry, apparently didn't file a proper tax return. Barry has pleaded guilty to charges that he failed to pay taxes on more than $500,000. He could be sentenced to up to a year and a half in prison.

And it may be a seriously bad marketing approach to holiday spirits. Seriously Bad Elf is a British imported beer with a holiday appeal. But liquor control officials in Connecticut don't like the label. One shows a grouchy looking elf with a sling shot firing Christmas ornaments at Santa's sleigh.

The Colombian island of San Andreas and Providencia are getting hammered by Hurricane Beta. The category one storm hit the islands today with torrential rains and damaging winds. Beta is intensifying and heading toward the mainland of Central America with an expected landfall in Nicaragua tomorrow.

Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider keeping an eye on that and everything else that's taking place in this area -- Bonnie.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: The leak investigation and protecting covert CIA officials. Why it matters that Valerie Plame was outed.

And saving the animals. The task one Naples, Florida, man faces after his zoo was badly damaged by Wilma.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Here's what's making news now.

India officials say at least 42 people are dead and dozens more wounded following a series of bombings today in New Delhi. India's prime minister blamed terrorists for the blasts but he did not name a specific group. So far no one has claimed responsibility.

Another horrifying scene in Southern India. Officials say at least 90 people were killed today when a passenger train derailed as it tried to cross tracks washed away by floodwaters. At least 92 people were hurt. Rescue crews are working to lift the seven cars that remain under water. It's unclear how many people are stuck inside.

Sources tell CNN the person identified only as "official a" in the federal indictment of Lewis Scooter Libby is the president's top political advisor, Karl Rove. Libby resigned yesterday as the vice president's chief of staff, after his indictment on charges of lying and obstruction of justice in connection to the leaking of the identity of a CIA operative. According to the indictment, official A advised Libby in July of 2003 about a conversation he had earlier with a journalist in which the CIA operative was discussed.

Turning now to south Florida, five days after Hurricane Wilma slammed ashore, the storm's effects still linger. Among the major headaches, long lines at gas stations or no gas at all. CNN's JJ Ramberg is keeping track of the situation in Miami. JJ?

JJ RAMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka. No gas at all is exactly the case at this gas station here. You can look, it's pretty empty here. There are a few cars here but they're just parked for a football game going on about two blocks down. We got here this morning at about 6:00 in the morning and there were lines.

There were people pretty organized. The tempers were not the same kind of flared tempers that we've seen in other places but there were definitely lines to get here and get gas and then at 9:30 this morning they ran out of gas. The owner of this gas station said he's got a hard predicament because he's got four gas stations.

Two of them have power but they don't have any gas and then two of them have gas but they don't have any power. So this has become a big problem for a lot of people here in south Florida. They've had to do a lot to rearrange their lives, to deal with living without gas. I spoke to one woman earlier today who is a nurse in an ICU and she said she pretty much hasn't driven to anywhere except for work because she's worried about running out of gas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been trying to use my car for, you know, just to go to work and that's it. Saving the gas, as much as I can.

(END VIDEO CLIP

RAMBERG: So again, this is still a problem that's been going on since Wilma hit here on Monday. They expect it to continue for a few more days, at least. Again the problem here is power. There's gas here. It's just that in so many gas stations you can't get it out because the power is not up for about 50 percent for the Florida Power & Light customers -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And, JJ, what's the expectation of getting power restored in so many of those neighborhoods?

RAMBERG: According to Florida Power & Light, they expect most of the power to be restored by November 8th, 95 percent to be restored by November 15th, but November 8th seems like a long way to go for people who have been living in the dark for all this time.

WHITFIELD: It does. Somehow mow a couple of weeks away sounds like a really long way away for a lot of those people. Thanks so much, JJ Ramberg in Miami. Well, this week has been a tough one for tens of thousands of Floridians whose lives may have been impacted by Hurricane Wilma. CNN's Rusty Dornin takes a look now at how the region has been coping.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT CAMPBELL, FLORIDA RESTAURANT MANAGER: Come on, guys. Let's go.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While waiting for gas in Hollywood, Florida, Matt Campbell is nearly running on empty. There's about 30 cars ahead of him and he's been here since 7:30 this morning.

CAMPBELL: About five-and-a-half hours now.

DORNIN (on camera): And what are you trying to get?

CAMPBELL: Gas for our restaurant.

DORNIN (voice-over): Campbell manages this restaurant across town where owner Thomas Franco (ph) is struggling to keep the doors open.

(on camera): How tough has this been, to try to get your business up and running with no power?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't. We try our best. Right now all we're doing is pizza. We have a generator out back, one refrigerator and a pizza oven.

DORNIN: But, it's one day at a time, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One day at a time.

DORNIN (voice-over): Across town, Crystal Carlton cooks with propane, is out of ice and now has to throw all her food out. But, she has plenty of time to figure out what to do for her family's next meal.

(on camera): You're not working, right?

CRYSTAL CARLTON, COOK: Right. I mean, I work at a local hotel and we've closed down the hotel because we don't have any power, we can't take guests in. So, there's nothing to do. We ran out of gas, we had generators. But we can't get gas anywhere. So, it's kind of a desperate time right now.

DORNIN (voice-over): Two blocks away, Princess Sacasa (ph) is also out of a job until the lights come back on. Besides the power, the water here is not safe to drink.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is ridiculous. You have to go outside to go get something, you know, just to boil some water.

DORNIN: So, the family bought a new device in the backyard to heat food and boil water.

(on camera): It's not just that the power is out. It's affecting a lot more of your life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly. Like yesterday, my mom got into an accident due to the street lights being out.

DORNIN: Carlton is looking for a signal that normalcy will soon return. If not, she has a plan.

CARLTON: Probably consider, you know, going on the plane and living with my mom in New York for a little while until we can get back to a real life, because this isn't a real life.

DORNIN: But it is life for her and more than a million others like here in south Florida who are still powerless.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That was Rusty Dornin.

Preparing for a hurricane is never easy but it's uniquely challenging for the people in charge of protecting very large, very wild animals. Staff members of a family-run zoo in Naples, Florida, tried to do just that before Hurricane Wilma hit, and for the most part they were successful. Here's CNN's Rob Marciano.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Naples Zoo, home to more than 200 animals, 70 species, and own by the Tetzlaff family since 1969.

DAVID TETZLAFF, DIRECTOR, NAPLES ZOO: The animals were brought in by my parents. So we've just been living here, growing this for 36 years and Mother Nature decided to ungrow it for us, but we're doing our best to put it back together.

MARCIANO: The zoo was ripped apart when Wilma tore through here on Monday. Lions, zebras, kangaroos, tigers, most of the animals had to brave the storm in emergency containment shelters.

TETZLAFF: My dad designed these buildings, concrete walls, solid concrete roof. So, this is basically as hurricane proof as you can get.

MARCIANO: Even still, one of the animals did not make it.

CONRAD SCHMITT, CURATOR, NAPLES ZOO: The only loss that we incurred on this whole adventure was a parma wallaby, which is a small marsupial from Australia. And she had a joey in her pouch that we weren't able to get out or do anything with.

MARCIANO: But the biggest lost for Naples Zoo is financial. The place was hammered by Wilma and will be closed indefinitely as work crews tackle a big clean up job: clearing debris from paths and attractions.

But at least the animals, like these White Hanna Gibbons from Southeast Asia, are back home in their habitats. Kelley Juarequi has been releasing primates all day. She's had some help and comfort from her dad.

KELLEY JUAREQUI, NAPLES ZOO: My husband had to fly out of town before the storm hit. And he came to help me at my house a little bit, help out here at the zoo, emotional support, all that good stuff that dad's do.

By the way, Dad. I lost your knife.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you serious?

MARCIANO: Most of the animals fared well. Kenya the lioness got scraped up in her protective cage and has a few scars from Wilma. But now she's back with her partner Sabo (ph) and is jumping around like a cat that is very much alive.

Clearly, Tetzlaff has long days ahead to get his zoo, his father's legacy, back in business. He is sad, but optimistic about the zoo's future.

TETZLAFF: I've grown up here. This is my life. It's the only place I've known, the only place I've worked. So, it is heart wrenching, honestly, but at the same time, I can't sit and mope around. This is the worst that has happened to us, but it is not insurmountable. This will happen. We will reopen.

MARCIANO: At the Caribbean Gardens Zoo, Rob Marciano, CNN, Naples, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Burden of proof, what do prosecutors have to do to prove that Scooter Libby lied in the connection to the investigation into who revealed the covert CIA operative's identity. That's on the docket for our legal eagles coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The indictment yesterday of Lewis Scooter Libby, the vice president's chief of staff, is connected to the investigation into who leaked the identity of an undercover CIA operative. The special counsel, Patrick Fitzgerald, contends a CIA officer's identity must be protected not just for the officer, but for the nation's security. CNN's national security correspondent David Ensor explains why outing Valerie Plame matters.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Forty-two-year-old Valerie Plame Wilson, whose husband has referred to her as "Jane Bond," is clearly now the most famous female spy in America. Exposing her as a CIA undercover officer did damage to U.S. intelligence, U.S. officials say. They refuse to be more specific.

MICHAEL SCHEUER, FMR. CIA ANALYST: To have someone exposed deliberately and on top of that for a political reason, I think, yes, it probably sent a chill throughout the clandestine service.

ENSOR: What made it worse is that she was not just an undercover officer, she spent part of her 20-year career as a NOC, a spy with nonofficial cover, that is, without the protection of diplomatic status. She was working, officials say, to recruit foreigners who knew about murky international deals involving weapons of mass destruction, but potential foreign agents, potential spies, have now seen a CIA officer apparently betrayed by officials in her own government.

JAMES MARCINKOWSKI, FMR. CIA OFFICER: The issue here is, how are you going to tell that agent that their identity is going to be protected when this government can't even protect the home team?

ENSOR: And if any other CIA officers used the same cover as Plame, their work is in jeopardy, too. That cover was Brewster Jennings Associates an energy consultant firm, a front company that apparently had no real address. NOCs are harder to train, can remain undercover longer than conventional spies and can go places and meet people that other CIA officers cannot.

Some of them, like Plame, use loose cover, a false job. Others, under deep cover, use false names as well. Complete fictional identities with forged documents, even disguises. But NOCs are also much more vulnerable than regular spies. Intelligence sources developed by a CIA undercover officer are immediately in question if that officer is exposed.

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: The consequences for the U.S. government can range from embarrassment to having to pull a source out of an area because they've become jeopardized by this knowledge.

ENSOR: After her name appeared in Robert Novak's column, at lease two foreign governments reportedly assigned their spy catchers to figure out whether Plame had ever worked on their soil and if so, what she'd done there.

(on camera): And that is where the most damage was likely done, other agents tracking down Valerie Plame Wilson's contact and sources and shutting them down.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The indictment of the vice president's chief of staff in the CIA leak investigation tops our "Legal Briefs" this hour. Our favorite attorneys are back. Avery Friedman is in Cleveland, Ohio. Good to see you, Avery.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, LAW PROFESSOR: Nice to see you. WHITFIELD: And Richard Herman joins us from New York. Nice to see you as well. Well, finally back together again after so many weeks.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We missed you.

FRIEDMAN: Yes, nice to see you.

WHITFIELD: I missed you all, too. All right, let's talk straight away about the CIA probe. We're talking about five indictments against Scooter Libby. None of the charges, however, actually delve into the crime that was initially being investigated or even if it was a crime of revealing the identity of the operative, but instead, about discussions under oath about them. Is it safe to believe, Avery, that another grand jury will be seated, that this investigation is far from over?

FRIEDMAN: The investigation indeed, Fredricka, is far from over. In fact, Patrick Fitzgerald made that very clear that while he has the indictments, these five indictments involving the former chief of staff of Dick Cheney, this case has a long way to go.

The issue, in my judgment, after hearing David Ensor's report, is there still isn't evidence enough to indict on the more serious Espionage and Agent Protection Acts, which really go to the heart of that report, and so again, we've got a long way to go in this investigation.

WHITFIELD: So, Richard, how come you disagree? You're shaking your head. The prosecutor, Fitzgerald, did say that there were still other matters that they needed to resolve and look into.

HERMAN: I watched the special prosecutor yesterday, Fredricka, and I read the indictment, and after two years of this investigation, all he could come up with was this obstruction of justice and these perjury counts against Mr. Libby here. I tell you, I believe this case is over. I believe that Libby, no way, is going to go to trial on this particular case, because if he goes trial ...

WHITFIELD: You think there's going to be a plea?

HERMAN: If he goes to trial, in order to win the case -- the only way he can win is if he testifies. And if he gets up there and testifies on cross-examination, he may tie himself into the vice president, to the president. He'll open up a wealth of knowledge. He's going to take a plea like a Martha Stewart case and I predict that President Bush will give him a pardon before he leaves office.

WHITFIELD: But wouldn't it be a remarkable plea? Because we're talking about -- if found guilty on the five charges, we're talking about 30 years in prison, more than $1 million in fines. What kind of plea would sound attractive to anyone who is up for these charges?

HERMAN: Fredricka, that is the maximums on this five-count indictment. Those are the maximums. If he takes a plea -- we ran guidelines yesterday. I think right now, he's about a level 14 and with three points for acceptance of responsibility. He's down to about 11. If he gets that, he could get a type of Martha Stewart-type of arrangement, maybe six months in prison, six months at home and he'll jump on that.

WHITFIELD: Richard.

FRIEDMAN: Wait. Wait. We're missing the point here. We're missing the point. The point is whether he's convicted of one, whether he's convicted of five, whether he enters a plea, he will be guilty of federal crimes and that has a profound effect on the administration.

The only thing I would agree with is that I think there's a great deal of dissatisfaction on zeroing in on the question of whether or not a covert agent has been outed and that's the question really, why there's a necessity of having a grand jury continue to continue to investigate this case.

WHITFIELD: So, Avery, even if there were a plea, would you see that part of the bargain would be that he would have to reveal a little bit more that these prosecutors have been trying to delve into about conversations taking place at higher level White House officials, would that plea have to involve revealing some names?

FRIEDMAN: Oh, I don't think there's any question about it. And it seems to me, if I'm Scooter Libby, I've got to get myself out of this mess and I think, even though he obviously -- they call him Dick Cheney's Dick Cheney. He is going to have to come clean if he's going to get himself out of this mess.

But here is what I think is really important, Fredricka. We have a clash of policy, that is the White House saying, you know, waive any kind of limitation you placed on reporters and he did that. Well, I don't know where his individual rights lawyer was saying, because as soon as there was a disclosure or a freedom of the reporters to talk about what Libby said, that was the only reason he was indicted.

There was an inconsistency in what he purportedly told different people. If he would have not waived that -- in other words, if he wouldn't have given the reporters the freedom to testify -- this would have never happened.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, let's shift gears. Another big hurdle for the White House this week, the withdrawal of Harriet Miers from Supreme Court justice nominee. And Richard, the president said that she was the most qualified person. That's how he introduced her, and of course, Republicans and other conservatives have said she is far from qualified.

So what would be the next step here? Do you see that there is a large pool of potential candidates out there that the president could easily say are just as qualified if he already introduced her as being the most qualified candidate out there?

HERMAN: That was absolutely rubbish that she was the most qualified person out there. She was his personal attorney and this was a favor to her. I mean, this is the Supreme Court of the United States, and she was clearly an improper candidate for that role.

WHITFIELD: So what would be the criteria for the next nominee?

HERMAN: You need -- I believe you need a nominee who has appellate court experience, someone -- not necessarily a judge, but someone who has argued appellate court cases, who has been before the Supreme Court, who knows constitutional issues, and clearly, Harriet Miers fell way short of that.

FRIEDMAN: You know, that's, that is absolutely right. I mean, the fact is, if you want the best on our Supreme Court, this is a holy position in our democracy, and you want someone who is familiar with Supreme Court practices, has addressed complicated constitutional issues.

When Harriet Miers met with Arlen Specter, perhaps the most expert of any member in the Senate on the American constitution, she really wasn't prepared, and in fact, both Republicans and Democrats recognized that she just really wasn't ready to go.

So inevitably, whether it was political reasons -- that's not our department, but I think from a legal perspective, the right thing was it was time for her to leave. Now they're going to probably look to an appellate judge, I would expect, will probably have a very clear bent in terms of a judicial philosophy.

WHITFIELD: All right. And one other item I want to get in before we're out of time on this is Wal-Mart and a memo that went out talking about how it wants to hire healthier employees, and perhaps ...

FRIEDMAN: No, didn't even say healthier, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Younger.

FRIEDMAN: It said healthy, just healthy people.

WHITFIELD: Healthy, and younger. Well, what's the matter with that? All right, what's the matter with that? Doesn't every large corporation want to be sure they have, you know, the best pool of candidates of employees out there who are healthy? What's the matter with them having a memo that says this is what we're looking for, Avery?

FRIEDMAN: Well, to me, the message is real clear. You have 43 million Americans documented who are mentally and physically disabled. They are not healthy in terms of the general perspective. Is Wal-Mart now going to bar these people, who, but for their limitation, will not be able to -- one of the things that Wal-Mart is saying is look at, we want cashiers to go out and move carts. People who are handicapped are going to be affected by this policy. I think it violates federal law.

WHITFIELD: And so, Richard, does this mean that when apply for a job at Wal-Mart that it means you better bring your health records with you too, because you have got to prove that you're healthy? HERMAN: That may very well be. This definition of healthy, I don't know what's going to be with that. Courts are probably going to decide that. But all I can tell you is Wal-Mart's looking at the bottom line and fiscal and financially, the ability to continue in this economy and you know, they're looking to cut costs and health costs are one of the costs they're looking to cut here.

FRIEDMAN: So what? So what? I mean, what does that have to do with handicapped people? Get good people who have work ethics -- a good work ethic and that's what you have to look to. Don't look at handicapped. Don't look at whether or not somebody has high blood pressure. Get them on the job. A lot of people are going to get hurt by this policy, and I think it's against the law.

HERMAN: They may get hurt but their health expenses I think doubled last year and, you know, this company may not be in business and so what are these people going to do.

WHITFIELD: All right. Richard Herman, you get the last word, Richard.

FRIEDMAN: Oh, Wal-Mart not being in business? I don't think so.

WHITFIELD: Avery, you got the first. Avery Friedman ...

FRIEDMAN: All right. All right.

WHITFIELD: ... Richard Herman, thanks so much, gentlemen. See you next weekend hopefully.

HERMAN: Nice to see you.

WHITFIELD: And we'll be right back.

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WHITFIELD: A reminder now, for most Americans. Before you go to bed tonight turn your clock back one hour. Daylight saving time ends at 2:00 a.m. Sunday, not to be seen until April 2nd, 2006. The time change doesn't apply to Arizona, Hawaii or portions of Indiana which don't observe daylight saving time.

Well, the latest in transportation is also on display in Japan. The auto industry is testing reaction to its newest technology at the Tokyo Motor Show. Atika Shubert takes a looks at one of the more interesting cars.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Nissan's newest concept car called the Pivo. It's aimed squarely at young career women living in crowded cities. Now, part of the appeal obviously is its compact size. There's plenty of leg room for two passengers and a driver, but the main feature is something entirely different, something called xbiwire (ph) technology. Now that's what allows the car to pivot 180 degrees around. It's pretty impressive, because it allows to you get out of some of those tight parking spaces but there's also some other technology at work here. It's an electric car running on a lithium ion battery and also, it has little tiny cameras installed to eliminate some of the blind spots driving and even allow to you see through some of the pillars inside of the car.

Now keep in mind that this technology is still several years away. It's a concept car that's in development. Nonetheless, it's pretty exciting stuff. You could see this coming out in the roads maybe in the next ten years or so, and it's certainly the first time we're seeing it here, at the Tokyo Motor Show. For CNN, I'm Atika Shubert in Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: I think I like that concept. Looks like fun.

So much more ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY. At the top of the hour, "CNN PRESENTS IRAQ WAR: VOICES FROM THE HOME FRONT." John King asks Americans why public opinion is so divided over the war in Iraq.

At 4:00, on CNN LIVE SATURDAY a record hurricane season has led to sky-high building costs that will affect all of the United States. We'll explain.

And at 5:00, a new controversy is brewing over Wal-Mart hiring practices. More on that. We'll be right back.

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