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Cries of Protest Across Middle East After Targeted Killing by Israel

Aired March 22, 2004 - 14:00 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.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Cries of protest across the Middle East after a targeted killing by Israel. Did this assassination also kill prospects for peace?
Escaping the noose, top al Qaeda terrorists thought to be trapped may have escaped. This hour, how they might have gotten away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY DUDLEY HIIBEL, NEVADA RANCHER: This case isn't just about me. This is about all Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Your right to privacy versus the police's right to know, one cowboy's fight in a post 9/11 world.

O'BRIEN: And would you do what Martha did, a new survey about American investors and inside information.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN'S LIVE FROM starts right now.

Old, virtually blind, partially paralyzed, now dead, fiercely mourned, sure to be avenged, we begin this hour with the fallout from today's assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin by Israeli missiles outside a mosque in Gaza.

Almost immediately a tidal wave of grief and anger engulfed the Palestinian territories and political repercussions are being felt far beyond the Middle East.

We get the latest now on all this from CNN's Paula Hancocks in Jerusalem -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, there's certainly been a lot of diplomatic fallout from the assassination early on Monday morning of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Also there have been pockets of violence breaking out in Gaza and in the West Bank and in Israel as well.

The latest we have to tell you is Israel security forces telling CNN that there is incessant firing between the Lebanon and the Israeli border. This is the first time in five months there's been any trouble on this border.

The Lebanese guerilla group Hezbollah is shelling Israeli positions at the moment, according to those security forces and Israeli retaliation in the form of guns and military -- and artillery fire. So that's what's happening on that front at the moment.

Politically there has been a tremendous backlash to the assassination of Sheikh Yassin, international condemnation from the EU. Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief saying it is very bad news, also, the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw condemning the move.

But Israelis say that Sheikh Yassin was behind a tremendous amount of suicide attacks which have been affecting Israelis for the last three and a half years, nearly 1,000 Israelis being affected by that and losing their lives in attacks since this intifada started in September, 2000.

Now, the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met with his cabinet earlier on this Monday and he praised the forces that actually carried out the attack, those three missiles that hit Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and seven other people, two of those were his bodyguards, also injuring his sons.

He said that Israel will press ahead with its war against terror, suggesting that this isn't the last targeted killing, as they call them, or assassination that we could be seeing. He also said that it is a natural right of the Jewish people, like that of all nations in the world, to hunt down those who wish to destroy it.

Hamas, Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, though, other militant groups have vowed vengeance. They have vowed to avenge the death of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and they said that Israel has opened the gates of hell, very strong rhetoric from some of these Hamas groups and Hamas members.

Now, the funeral procession took a couple of hours earlier on this Monday to lay Sheikh Ahmed Yassin to rest in the cemetery just north of Gaza City (unintelligible) cemetery. Thousands and thousands of Palestinians were there chanting "Hamas is not dead. Hamas is not dead."

They were carrying the Palestinian flag. Sheikh Yassin's body was covered in the Hamas flag, so a great deal of tension, a great deal of emotion and there was anger on the streets as well -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Paula Hancocks live from Jerusalem thank you.

And the president of Syria calls Yassin's assassination "the climax of terror that Israel practices continuously. This is Damascus where Syrians by the thousand held a symbolic funeral today ridden with attacks against Israel, the U.S. and Arab states that are friendly with them. The latter group officially includes Egypt but that's much less clear at the moment.

Calling Yassin's death more brutal than anyone can imagine, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak today canceled Egypt's role in Friday's events marking 25 years since Camp David Peace Accords. Cairo was another city where Hamas members or sympathizers hit the streets today in protest.

O'BRIEN: Now to the other storm brewing, this one on U.S. soil. "Against All Enemies, Inside America's War on Terror" is Richard Clarke's new tell-all book. In it the former counterterrorism adviser to President Bush levels some serious charges. Clarke accuses the president of wrongly focusing on Iraq after the 9/11 attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD CLARKE: The president -- we were in the situation room complex. The president dragged me into a room with a couple of other people, shut the door and said I want you to find whether Iraq did this.

Now he never said make it up but the entire conversation left me in absolutely no doubt that George Bush wanted me to come back with a report that said Iraq did this.

I find it outrageous that the president is running for reelection on the grounds that he's done such great things about terrorism. He ignored it. He ignored terrorism for months when maybe we could have done something to stop 9/11 maybe. We'll never know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Now, the White House is lashing back refuting the allegations. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice appeared on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" today. She says that at that special meeting Clarke did not attend. The president weighed his military options against Afghanistan. Rice also explains why Iraq was mentioned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Iraq was discussed because the question was raised in a global war on terrorism should you also take care of the threat from Iraq? But not a single National Security Council principal at that meeting recommended to the president going after Iraq.

The president thought about it. The next day he told me Iraq is to the side. We're going after Afghanistan and we're going to eliminate the Taliban and the al Qaeda base in Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: So, could 9/11 have been prevented or is Richard Clarke just trying to sell his new book? We'll take up the debate with a former member of the Justice Department and an expert on national security a little later in our program. Stay with us for that.

PHILLIPS: Well, escaping the gauntlet using secret passages to Afghanistan, Pakistani troops who have been fighting militants and suspected al Qaeda terrorists along the Afghan border have made as astonishing find, a series of tunnels which may have allowed the fighters to flee.

The longest passage runs one mile and ends near the actual border. It could be the reason why a high value target Pakistan believed was in the area has not been found.

Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri may be hiding somewhere in this battle zone. Last week when the skirmishes started, Pakistani officials believed that al-Zawahiri was the man the fighters were protecting.

CNN National Security Analyst Ken Robinson has just returned from Pakistan. He joins us now live from Washington, hi Ken.

KEN ROBINSON, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Hey, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, first of all, let's talk about these tunnels. I mean have there actually -- I mean you've been to the area. Have you seen these tunnels? Have there been troops that have gone to these tunnels or is this a way that Pakistani troops are just trying to save face right now?

ROBINSON: No. In 2002, CNN participated in numerous raids. I participated in numerous raids in the Paktia and the Paktika area on the other side of the border in Afghanistan where we discovered many caves and tunnel complexes. It's very common in this area.

The average temperature in the summertime can be up to 120 degrees, 130 degrees in some places and they've been digging tunnels there as far back as Alexander the Great.

Now this tunnel in particular came out of the compound which was under attack where the ferocious fire came from and it led from two brothers' homes almost one mile in length all the way to the Afghanistan border.

The fear is, is that when they broke off contact, when the Pakistani forces broke off contact in the nighttime and were trying to get women and children out there's a possibility that maybe this high value target could have used one of these tunnels to slip away.

PHILLIPS: And when you were in Special Operations you told me these tunnels they're not like tunnels that we would think where like a spider hole where Saddam Hussein was found but these have been well preserved and are in very good condition and very comfortable to travel through, right?

ROBINSON: We found some remarkable tunnels in 2002 in May and June of 2002 in the mountainous area that had actually had improved walls that were painted white on the inside. One had been used as a hospital. Another was a living quarters and, on the inside, it was hard to distinguish these as being caves at all. They were quite well improved.

PHILLIPS: While you talk about the possibility of escape it's also possible this high value target could have been killed. There is still a lot of DNA testing to take place on the dead, correct? ROBINSON: Yes. They have -- several of the high value leadership, especially Ayman al-Zawahiri, has family members who are being held prisoner where they can get mitochondrial DNA from and as well they're receiving forensic support from the United States government to try to analyze that.

One of the problems is, is typically with these fighters when they have these contacts at night they take their dead with them and they bury them almost immediately in another location, so it will be a challenge to ensure that they're able to actually have a full accounting of how many people were actually killed during the contact, which has been going on since last Tuesday.

PHILLIPS: Now, Ken, Pakistani troops said they believe that it was Ayman al-Zawahiri possibly that they had cornered there in that area because they heard chatter on the coms (ph) but you're suspicious about those reports, why?

ROBINSON: Well, what made me suspicious they reported that they heard communications that enabled, that led them to believe that the high value target was there and they also had interrogation reports.

The interrogation reports from Arab fighters who were captured, I could buy that. Communication on behalf of Ayman al-Zawahiri I'm skeptical of because both Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden have not been heard of in communications for many years now because they know that when you talk on the radio somebody can direction find you and very quickly a cruise missile may come down your throat.

PHILLIPS: Finally, when you talked with a number of the troops, you were there in country, it's sort of a double-edged sword you said for those in Pakistan and also Afghanistan because while leaders want to capture Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri and bring down al Qaeda, the Taliban, they are concerned about losing resources, a lot of resources that come from the U.S. Will this affect the capture do you think?

ROBINSON: I don't know that it will affect the capture but I know there's a law of unintended consequences in play and, in Afghanistan, the great sense that we got from both Afghani officers and American officers who we spoke with was a fear of resourcing being provided to finish the job that was done.

They cited 22 battalions in Iraq being funded at $1.2 billion and 15 battalions being cited to be raised for the Afghan National Army to the tune of about $560 million. There's a donors' conference going on this week in Berlin and hopefully the donor countries will come up with the material and equipment and infrastructure support required to allowed the coalition to finish the job.

PHILLIPS: Our Ken Robinson thanks again for your time, Ken.

ROBINSON: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Miles. O'BRIEN: The media and the murder, a judge rules on whether public statements made by Scott Peterson can be used against him in a court of law. That is straight ahead.

And when police ask you for ID do you have the right to refuse? The Supreme Court takes up that case and it's the case of the cowboy who didn't want to talk.

And these are no rock-em sock-ems but these robots are nevertheless in a death match for sure. We'll take you to the Robolympics (ph) later on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: News across America now. It begins in McAlester, Oklahoma, opening statements beginning in the state trial of Terry Nichols, already serving life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing Nichols now facing 161 counts of murder. If convicted he could be put to death.

In California, double murder suspect Scott Peterson's words may come back to haunt him. A judge has ruled statements he made to the media after his pregnant wife Laci Peterson disappeared can be used in court. The defense had argued some of those TV interviews were spliced and diced. The judge disagreed.

Taking the Fifth, Ohio sniper suspect Charles McCoy waived his right to appear at a preliminary hearing today. He's also invoked his constitutional right not to answer investigators' questions. McCoy is suspected in 24 highway shootings including the slaying of a 62-year- old woman.

PHILLIPS: As a law-abiding American citizen can you legally refuse to identify yourself to police? Well, the Supreme Court takes it up today weighing freedom and security in a post-9/11 world.

CNN's Elaine Quijano reports it all started when a Nevada cowboy just said no.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cowboy Larry Dudley Hiibel was standing outside his pickup truck parked along a Nevada road. His 17-year-old daughter inside when a sheriff's deputy investigating a call about a domestic disturbance started asking questions.

As shown in captioning providing by Hiibel supporters, 11 times the deputy told Hiibel to produce ID. Each time the rancher refused.

(CONVERSATION BETWEEN DEPUTY AND HIIBEL)

QUIJANO: The encounter ended with Hiibel handcuffed, taken to jail and fined $250 for causing a delay to a peace officer. Prosecutors eventually dropped domestic violence charges against him. DAVID ALLISON, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, HUMBOLDT COUNTY, NEVADA: This is a small intrusion upon an individual's rights balanced against the need of the state to know who is doing what.

HARRIET CUMMINGS, HIIBEL'S ATTORNEY: We believe that it runs contrary to core American values to make it a crime for someone not to identify themselves.

QUIJANO (on camera): Hiibold's case is one of six search and seizure cases before the Supreme Court this term. Already the high court has sided with police on two of those cases. Now with civil liberties taking the spotlight in this post-9/11 world, experts say what happens with Hiibold's case could have far reaching implications.

EDWARD LAZARUS, FORMER SUPREME COURT CLERK: We have this idealistic notion in this country that we can live in a kind of splendid anonymity. We can walk around and be left alone and this question really raises in the post-9/11 era the issue of whether that's really true anymore.

HIIBEL: This case isn't just about me. This is about all Americans. What happened on Grass Valley Road I think is alien to all Americans. I think we've enjoyed our freedoms and I don't think most Americans want them trampled on.

QUIJANO (voice-over): A delicate balance the high court must strike between an individual's rights and public safety.

Elaine Quijano, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: In the aftermath of September 11th, he led America through a dark hour but a new book by a former aide is raising some questions about his leadership in the war on terror. We'll debate it a little later on LIVE FROM.

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rhonda Schaffler live from the New York Stock Exchange. Coming up would you use inside information to make a quick buck in the stock market? You could be risking jail time but many investors aren't scared. I'll have that story when LIVE FROM continues right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER FORECAST)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Images of high-flying executives, once high-flying, being dragged away in handcuffs haven't convinced everyone that crime doesn't pay.

PHILLIPS: How many people would break the law to make a quick buck in the stock market? Well, Rhonda Schaffler joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange with that story, quite a few, hi Rhonda. O'BRIEN: A little larceny in all of us, Rhonda.

SCHAFFLER: Hi, Kyra.

O'BRIEN: Of course you wouldn't, Rhonda. We know you wouldn't.

PHILLIPS: Rhonda is straight and narrow.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

SCHAFFLER: No, none of us would but you'd be surprised how many people don't think this way. In fact, all those headlines we saw apparently have had no effect on the average investor. Despite all the insider trading scandals and the prosecutions, many investors would still cheat to win in the stock market according to a new poll.

In fact, 32 percent of investors would immediately buy or sell a company's shares if they learned important news about the company before it was made available to the public. That, by the way, is the definition of insider trading. It is absolutely illegal and it can lead to prison time.

Still the majority of the investors surveyed would not make any moves on inside info. The poll also found that investors are split on which presidential candidate would be the best steward of the economy and, despite the economic recovery, two-thirds believe their financial situation is either worse or about the same as a year ago -- Miles, Kyra.

O'BRIEN: Hum, they'll be watching that one closely in the campaigns.

All right, let's talk about another jittery Monday for the markets, huh?

SCHAFFLER: Yes. It's rough on Wall Street. Traders and investors are nervous and we're seeing across-the-board selling here, aerospace stocks among the biggest losers on the Dow. Shares of Honeywell down about 3.5 percent, Boeing is off three percent. Losses are accelerating too as the afternoon wears on.

Investors are bailing out following what's been, we know, a series of unsettling developments overseas. It's sending the Dow off 161 points and the NASDAQ is now sliding two percent. That is the very latest from Wall Street.

Coming up a patient's fight for the right to sue health insurers is set to take center stage in Washington. We'll tell you all about it when LIVE FROM continues right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back to CNN's LIVE FROM. I'm Miles O'Brien.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. Here's what's all new this half hour. A former Bush adviser says no one paid attention to his warnings about al Qaeda. The White House says he's flat out wrong. We're going to talk about it this half hour.

O'BRIEN: And these bots mean business. We'll take you to the ultimate techno geek showdown, the Robolympics. Kyra has a pay for view for this.

But first the top stories that we're watching for all of you this hour.

The Bush administration says it is troubled by Israel's killing of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin; however, it stopped short of condemning the attack. The State Department spokesman Richard Boucher says the U.S. had no advance warning.

A suspected high value al Qaeda target continues to elude capture along the Pakistan-Afghan border. The Pakistani military says it's possible he might have escaped through a network of tunnels discovered in the mountains.

The government warns of a possible connection between some popular antidepressants and suicide. The Food and Drug Administration wants makers of ten drugs to highlight the caution on their labels. Among the drugs causing concern Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft and some others. Most affect the brain chemical serotonin.

Four new arrests today in the Madrid train bombings. Spanish state radio reporting the suspects are of Arab origin and bring to 14 the number of people now in custody.

PHILLIPS: A new wave of revenge and violence rakes the Israeli- Lebanese border. Palestinians boiling with resentment over the assassination of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

And while a cleric confined to a wheelchair might seem an unlikely target, CNN's Paula Hancocks explains how and why he became Israel's strategic enemy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS (voice-over): The founder and spiritual leader of Hamas, a group that has always sworn to destroy Israel, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was himself killed by an Israeli air strike as he left a mosque near his home in Gaza City early Monday.

The paraplegic, partial blind 67-year-old cleric had been confined to a wheelchair most of his life, paralyzed in an accident as a child. Parts of that wheelchair littered street at the site of the attack, Gaza residents holding up shreds of his bloodied clothing and calling for revenge.

Only Sunday Israel's cabinet vows a, quote, "war on Hamas," calling the organization a strategic enemy. Israel has long pursued a policy of so-called "targeted assassinations" of the Hamas leadership in reaction to the group's suicide bombing attacks on Israeli, civilian and military targets.

Confirming it had targeted Yassin, Israel said he was part of the Hamas terror framework actively supporting such attacks by his followers and was, thus, quote, "marked for death."

An Israeli court sentenced Sheikh Yassin to life in prison in 1989. But he was freed in 1997 under the terms of a deal brokered by King Hussein of Jordan.

He escaped a previous Israeli attack in September 2003 with a light injury. The most recent suicide bombings in the Israeli port city of Ashdod were carried out by Palestinians coming from Gaza. And Israel has made it clear that it will continue to hit back at those that dispatch or inspire the attacks that have left nearly 1,000 dead in the last few years.

Yassin founded Hamas in 1987 during the first Palestinian intifada. And he had always angrily warned Israel that the attacks on Israel would continue despite his policy of targeted killings. His comments late last year now echo with added meaning: "Jihad will continue, and the resistance will continue until we have victory, or we will be martyrs."

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Right now we're going to find out a little bit more about Yassin and the organization he founded. With us from Washington Yonah Alexander. He's a senior fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies and director of it's International Center for Terrorism Studies.

Yonah, let's talk about first of all how Yassin came to power? And how did he devise what Hamas should represent?

YONAH ALEXANDER, POTOMAC INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES: Well, Yassin came into power to fill a vacuum in Gaza and the West Bank when Arafat was actually was in Antonis driven from Beirut after the Israeli invasion.

So the point is that what Yassin basically tried to do is resort to religion indoctrination. That is to say, to use religious ideas, terms and concepts in order to justify his ideology, specifically to destroy the state Israel. And he wouldn't even accept the Palestinian states side by side by -- with Israel.

PHILLIPS: Now the belief behind Hamas was not only to carry on terror attacks, but also wasn't Hamas involved in a number of social programs, like building schools and hospitals?

ALEXANDER: Absolutely. That's very true, to actually fill the gap, because there was no Palestinian Authority between 1993, '94. So they became involved in trying to meet the needs of the people, educationally, from the social point of view, to deal with orphanages and so on.

This is the same way that the Hezbollah in Lebanon operated. So on the one end, obviously there is a positive, one can say services to the population. On the other end, it is a terrorist organization meaning to attack civilians, women and children. And their record, at least form the year from the year 2000, is 425 attacks in Israel, out of which 25 attacks were suicide bombings killing hundreds of people and wounding hundreds more.

PHILLIPS: So, Yonah, why would Israel want to target someone that they know would die a martyr?

ALEXANDER: Well, from their point of view, and the point of view of many countries around the world, the first responsibility of a government is to protect the citizens at home and abroad. And what the United States is doing for example, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And the point is that it provided the indoctrination for many of the operatives. But also, to do the planning and execution of some of the specific attacks.

So he certainly is going to be a martyr and you can kill a person but you cannot kill a vision. And those are going to be follow his foot steps for many years to come.

PHILLIPS: Yonah Alexander, thanks for your time today -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Palestinians are enraged by Israel's killing of the founder of the Islamic group Hamas. Sporadic attacks underway in Israel. Let's go to CNN military analyst Major General Don Shepperd, just back from the Middle East. General Shepperd, good to see you.

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good to see you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: What brought to you the Middle East and what did you learn while were you there?

SHEPPERD: Well, Miles, I was invited over by a group that allowed me to meet with Israeli citizens, with diplomats with the military, with government officials of all views.

As a matter of fact, one of the main things that I learned when I was over there was there was as many different views on what's going on and what should be done in Israel as there are here in the United States and the war on terrorism. It's a most difficult and intractable problem.

And one other very, very big impression I got was I expected to see a nation under siege, almost in panic. I did not feel that at all. Basically, the citizens have decided to accept a certain level of terrorism, a certain level of insecurity and deal with it and go on with their normal lives. I was surprised at that, Miles.

O'BRIEN: So day to day walking the streets, it was not what you expected?

SHEPPERD: I would imagine I was in Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, D.C. I expected to see all kinds of soldiers and security on the streets. Of course, there is increased security. There are guards at restaurants. But there are also guards at 7-Eleven's in the United States.

I saw life as normal, appearing as normal within Israel itself. They have learned to accept and deal with a certain level of terrorism while they're trying to come it a solution, Miles. Again, I was very surprised at this.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about Ariel Sharon's decision making in authorizing this assassination. To what extent is he trying to play to his right-wing base here? And to what extent is this part of a larger strategy which the Israelis feel will lead to some sort of reckoning, if will you -- I don't know what the term is -- peace is a term that seems to so distant I hesitate to even say it, but some sort of way of moving forward with the Palestinians?

SHEPPERD: Well, clearly -- I can't get inside Ariel Sharon's head. But clearly, the first responsibility of a government-to-is to protect its citizens. Ariel Sharon and other prime ministers before him have said that we are going to find and bring to justice people that kill Israeli citizens.

Since the second intifada since about 1998, almost 1,000 Israelis have been killed. By comparison, I'll give you a comparison, that would be like 40,000 Americans being killed in the United States. The citizens themselves demand that something be done.

The question is, what are you going to do to bring security? And will these targeted assassinations or targeted killings, as the Israelis say, bring that to the front?

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about Yasser Arafat for a little bit. I know you made an attempt to at least go and visit with him, were unable to do that. To what extent has he been so marginalized that it actually is counterproductive to the overall effort in the peace process?

SHEPPERD: Well, clearly it's counterproductive that there is no clear leadership of the Palestinian liberation organization that can control the militants within their own society.

Yasser Arafat has been sidelined by the policy of the United States. He has prime ministers. We've had Abu Mazen, we've had Mahmoud Abbas. We now had Ahmed Qureia.

And basically trying to deal with these people, they have to be able to control their society. There is no one with which to negotiate that can control what's going on in Palestine right now. So it's a problem that we pushed Arafat to the side who is the elected leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

Hamas has become a shadow government with actually veto power over what goes on within the PLO. So this is a real problem. Clearly you have to find a political solution, a political way out of what's going on in Israel past the targeted attacks that are going on over there.

And there isn't anyone clearly in control with whom you can negotiate. And the idea of these targets killings is to make it so difficult on the Hamas that you will be able to proceed toward negotiations. But it's really looking difficult right now, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, Don Shepperd, thanks for telling us a little bit about a Catch-22 inside a conundrum there. Good luck trying to figure that one out. Appreciate your time.

Next, the insider's book that has the Bush administration on the defensive. A former White House counterterrorism chief says warnings about 9/11 were ignored inside White House. We'll talk about the book and its merits with former Bush and Clinton administration officials up next on our program. So stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Did the Bush administration do enough to prevent the 9/11 terrorist attacks? A new book has the White House doing a little bit of damage control on all this. Richard Clarke, a former Bush counterterrorism official, is raising serious questions in the book "Against All Enemies."

Here to talk about it, Robert Boorstin. And he is the senior vice president for National Security and International Policy at the Center for American Progress. How is that for a title? And he was a member of the Clinton administration for seven years. Barely fits on the business card.

And Barbara Comstock was the chief spokesperson for Attorney General John Ashcroft over at the Justice Department, until recently. Good to have you both with us.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: All right, Barbara, I want to go into one thing which wasn't come out yet. There is a lot said about this already. In his book, Mr. Clarke details some failures of multiple administrations. Let's go through it briefly. He talks in the preface about how President Reagan did not retaliate for Marine deaths in Beirut. President George H.W. Bush didn't act after Pan Am 103 and left Saddam Hussein in power. President Clinton could not get the CIA, the Pentagon, the FBI to deal with the terror threat.

We've been focusing a lot about events leading up prior to 9/11. But this is an indictment of several administrations in some respects. So in that sense, does this sort of raise his credibility as a critic in your mind?

BARBARA COMSTOCK, FRM. CHIEF SPOKESPERSON, JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: Well, sure. I mean he is somebody who did serve for eight years in the Clinton administration and the Bush administration had only been in place eight months. Many of the people hadn't been in there yet.

But I think he's been really irresponsible and wrong in attacking the Bush administration. I think you have to look at some of the things that really just do not ring true at all. One of the first things that just was glaring to me was to attack Dr. Rice, Condi Rice, who everyone agrees is brilliant. And he claims that she acted as if she didn't know what al Qaeda was. Now "The Washington Post" in the fall of 2000, that the administration was already warning terrorists like Osama bin Laden.

And certainly after the USS Cole in October 2000, Condi Rice knew about Osama bin Laden and knew about al Qaeda threat. That's just an outrageously wrong thing for him to say.

Then he makes claims such as that the White House had something to do with the millennium bombing, short-circuiting that, when in fact that was an agent on the border up near Canada who thwarted that.

So he has credibility problems himself. And I think the fact that he wanted the No. 2 job in the Homeland Security Department that he's now criticizing shouldn't even have existed really calls into question why...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: ... this in individual segments, bite-sized for the viewers.

Robert Boorstin, let's first talk about the allegation that Condi Rice didn't know what al Qaeda was. That on the face of it is a stupid statement. Of course she knew what al Qaeda was. So in some sense, does that undermine his credibility?

ROBERT BOORSTIN, SENIOR V.P., NAT'L. SECURITY, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: No, I don't think his credibility is undermined. I think the important thing here is that Dick Clarke spent 30 years in government service. Under four different presidents, both Republicans and Democrats.

And the worst thing you could ever accuse Dick of doing is working too hard to catch terrorists. Dick is a patriot, above all. And the fact that the Bush administration has launched attacks on his character is typical of them.

When Joe Wilson went after the administration because they didn't tell the truth about Iraq what did they do? Well, they unveiled the fact that his wife worked for the CIA.

When Larry Lindsey said there would be a $200 billion cost for the Iraq war, what did they do? They fired him. This is typical of this administration.

The important points here are very simple. No. 1, this is an administration that ignored warnings about al Qaeda. No. 2, they were obsessed with Iraq. Obsessed to the point where they disregarded the key threat to the people of this country. And that's where George Bush has left us today, less safe than where we were before.

O'BRIEN: Barbara, let's talk about this whole notion of personal attacks against a 30-year public servant. Do you see it that way? And is this in a sense justifiable given the allegation?

COMSTOCK: Well, they aren't personal attacks at all. It's looking at facts. And what Condi Race asked when she came in, clearly understanding al Qaeda was a threat, she asked for a plan of action.

Richard Clarke is saying there weren't meetings. Well, there were meetings. The president was meeting, unlike President Clinton who didn't meet with the CIA...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: ... the question I had for you though is is the attack that's coming is from the White House right now, is it personal?

COMSTOCK: No, it's not at all personal. We're pointing out that Dr. Rice asked for a plan of action. And that's what Richard Clarke was tasked with. This was somebody who was there to develop the plan of action throughout the '90s and the only thing they came up with was bombing an aspirin factory.

So when they came in they asked for a new plan, they wanted a much more aggressive plan to get rid of al Qaeda, not just to contain it. And that's what Dr. Rice asked for.

And Dr. Rice was meeting with the president as was George Tenet. And Richard Clarke seems to be slighted that he was not included in those meetings because he had met with President Clinton. Well, this president...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the whole notion of him being demoted and whether there was some sour grapes involved in all of this. And as a result, 30 years in service, he goes public and kind of goes out in a blaze of glory.

BOORSTIN: No, look. Dick was not demoted. That's not the point of the story.

The point of the story is was the Bush administration paying attention to the warnings that were there? Was it doing everything possible to protect the people of the United States. And the answer is no.

(CROSSTALK)

BOORSTIN: ... people like Barbara's old boss, John Ashcroft, were trying actually to cut, cut budgets for counterterrorism...

(CROSSTALK)

BOORSTIN: ... people in the Clinton administration had raised them 22 percent in 2001. This is an administration that simply can't deal with the truth.

(CROSSTALK) BOORSTIN: ... Dick Clarke was working every minute of every day for 30 years to protect the people of the United States. And to try and undermine his conclusions by attacking his character is typical, absolutely typical, of what this administration...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Final thought, then we're out of time.

COMSTOCK: OK. Well Bob is part of a group, the American Center for Progress (sic), that George Soros, a virulent opponent of the president is funding. And this is all part of a big coordinated, partisan attack. You saw them come out with -- the center came out with a big attack against the president. They're doing it every day. This is part of the Democratic machine. And Dick Clarke is also very friendly in teaching a class at Harvard with Rand Beers who's a Kerry adviser.

So this is all part of the political season. It's unfortunate that we can't have a serious debate about 9/11. The president and Dr. Rice and the serious people that he's put in charge of the war on terrorism are working very hard on making America safe and they've done so.

O'BRIEN: All right, Robert, quick final thought.

(CROSSTALK)

BOORSTIN: We look forward to that debate. And to hear Barbara talk about some kind of a vast progressive conspiracy is just hilarious at this point.

This is about the people of the United States. Are they safer? The answer is, no. And that's because of the Bush administration.

O'BRIEN: All right. Have to leave it there. Robert Boorstin and Barbara Comstock, thank you very much. Appreciate you joining us today on LIVE FROM...

Ahead, no humans allowed. Brain cells, not muscles will help you bring home the gold here.

PHILLIPS: If you can't live without your cell phone, like Miles, you'll want to stick around for the big wireless show. Our Daniel Sieberg bringing all the new gadgets to us. One more for you, Miles.

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PHILLIPS: Remember "Rock 'em, Sock 'em Robots?" Of course you would, Geek.

O'BRIEN: Hey, that's Mr. Geek to you.

PHILLIPS: More than 400 metallic marvels competed at this year's Robolympics in San Francisco. Among the events, soccer, wrestling, firefighting and, yes, boxing. O'BRIEN: We should be worried when anchoring is part of the activities because then we know we can be replaced.

(MARKET UPDATE)

PHILLIPS: Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now? You may not have that problem much longer as cell phones advance. We're going to show you the latest and greatest live from the annual wireless show.

O'BRIEN: Fido, the allergy fighter? Surprising news about kids who grow up with pets like Annie (ph) in their house.

PHILLIPS: Plus, the latest from Gaza live at the top of the hour. The Middle East in turmoil after the killing of the founder of Hamas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Cries of protest across the Middle East after a targeted killing by Israel. Did this assassination also kill prospects for peace?
Escaping the noose, top al Qaeda terrorists thought to be trapped may have escaped. This hour, how they might have gotten away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY DUDLEY HIIBEL, NEVADA RANCHER: This case isn't just about me. This is about all Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Your right to privacy versus the police's right to know, one cowboy's fight in a post 9/11 world.

O'BRIEN: And would you do what Martha did, a new survey about American investors and inside information.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN'S LIVE FROM starts right now.

Old, virtually blind, partially paralyzed, now dead, fiercely mourned, sure to be avenged, we begin this hour with the fallout from today's assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin by Israeli missiles outside a mosque in Gaza.

Almost immediately a tidal wave of grief and anger engulfed the Palestinian territories and political repercussions are being felt far beyond the Middle East.

We get the latest now on all this from CNN's Paula Hancocks in Jerusalem -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, there's certainly been a lot of diplomatic fallout from the assassination early on Monday morning of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Also there have been pockets of violence breaking out in Gaza and in the West Bank and in Israel as well.

The latest we have to tell you is Israel security forces telling CNN that there is incessant firing between the Lebanon and the Israeli border. This is the first time in five months there's been any trouble on this border.

The Lebanese guerilla group Hezbollah is shelling Israeli positions at the moment, according to those security forces and Israeli retaliation in the form of guns and military -- and artillery fire. So that's what's happening on that front at the moment.

Politically there has been a tremendous backlash to the assassination of Sheikh Yassin, international condemnation from the EU. Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief saying it is very bad news, also, the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw condemning the move.

But Israelis say that Sheikh Yassin was behind a tremendous amount of suicide attacks which have been affecting Israelis for the last three and a half years, nearly 1,000 Israelis being affected by that and losing their lives in attacks since this intifada started in September, 2000.

Now, the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met with his cabinet earlier on this Monday and he praised the forces that actually carried out the attack, those three missiles that hit Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and seven other people, two of those were his bodyguards, also injuring his sons.

He said that Israel will press ahead with its war against terror, suggesting that this isn't the last targeted killing, as they call them, or assassination that we could be seeing. He also said that it is a natural right of the Jewish people, like that of all nations in the world, to hunt down those who wish to destroy it.

Hamas, Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, though, other militant groups have vowed vengeance. They have vowed to avenge the death of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and they said that Israel has opened the gates of hell, very strong rhetoric from some of these Hamas groups and Hamas members.

Now, the funeral procession took a couple of hours earlier on this Monday to lay Sheikh Ahmed Yassin to rest in the cemetery just north of Gaza City (unintelligible) cemetery. Thousands and thousands of Palestinians were there chanting "Hamas is not dead. Hamas is not dead."

They were carrying the Palestinian flag. Sheikh Yassin's body was covered in the Hamas flag, so a great deal of tension, a great deal of emotion and there was anger on the streets as well -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Paula Hancocks live from Jerusalem thank you.

And the president of Syria calls Yassin's assassination "the climax of terror that Israel practices continuously. This is Damascus where Syrians by the thousand held a symbolic funeral today ridden with attacks against Israel, the U.S. and Arab states that are friendly with them. The latter group officially includes Egypt but that's much less clear at the moment.

Calling Yassin's death more brutal than anyone can imagine, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak today canceled Egypt's role in Friday's events marking 25 years since Camp David Peace Accords. Cairo was another city where Hamas members or sympathizers hit the streets today in protest.

O'BRIEN: Now to the other storm brewing, this one on U.S. soil. "Against All Enemies, Inside America's War on Terror" is Richard Clarke's new tell-all book. In it the former counterterrorism adviser to President Bush levels some serious charges. Clarke accuses the president of wrongly focusing on Iraq after the 9/11 attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD CLARKE: The president -- we were in the situation room complex. The president dragged me into a room with a couple of other people, shut the door and said I want you to find whether Iraq did this.

Now he never said make it up but the entire conversation left me in absolutely no doubt that George Bush wanted me to come back with a report that said Iraq did this.

I find it outrageous that the president is running for reelection on the grounds that he's done such great things about terrorism. He ignored it. He ignored terrorism for months when maybe we could have done something to stop 9/11 maybe. We'll never know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Now, the White House is lashing back refuting the allegations. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice appeared on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" today. She says that at that special meeting Clarke did not attend. The president weighed his military options against Afghanistan. Rice also explains why Iraq was mentioned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Iraq was discussed because the question was raised in a global war on terrorism should you also take care of the threat from Iraq? But not a single National Security Council principal at that meeting recommended to the president going after Iraq.

The president thought about it. The next day he told me Iraq is to the side. We're going after Afghanistan and we're going to eliminate the Taliban and the al Qaeda base in Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: So, could 9/11 have been prevented or is Richard Clarke just trying to sell his new book? We'll take up the debate with a former member of the Justice Department and an expert on national security a little later in our program. Stay with us for that.

PHILLIPS: Well, escaping the gauntlet using secret passages to Afghanistan, Pakistani troops who have been fighting militants and suspected al Qaeda terrorists along the Afghan border have made as astonishing find, a series of tunnels which may have allowed the fighters to flee.

The longest passage runs one mile and ends near the actual border. It could be the reason why a high value target Pakistan believed was in the area has not been found.

Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri may be hiding somewhere in this battle zone. Last week when the skirmishes started, Pakistani officials believed that al-Zawahiri was the man the fighters were protecting.

CNN National Security Analyst Ken Robinson has just returned from Pakistan. He joins us now live from Washington, hi Ken.

KEN ROBINSON, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Hey, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, first of all, let's talk about these tunnels. I mean have there actually -- I mean you've been to the area. Have you seen these tunnels? Have there been troops that have gone to these tunnels or is this a way that Pakistani troops are just trying to save face right now?

ROBINSON: No. In 2002, CNN participated in numerous raids. I participated in numerous raids in the Paktia and the Paktika area on the other side of the border in Afghanistan where we discovered many caves and tunnel complexes. It's very common in this area.

The average temperature in the summertime can be up to 120 degrees, 130 degrees in some places and they've been digging tunnels there as far back as Alexander the Great.

Now this tunnel in particular came out of the compound which was under attack where the ferocious fire came from and it led from two brothers' homes almost one mile in length all the way to the Afghanistan border.

The fear is, is that when they broke off contact, when the Pakistani forces broke off contact in the nighttime and were trying to get women and children out there's a possibility that maybe this high value target could have used one of these tunnels to slip away.

PHILLIPS: And when you were in Special Operations you told me these tunnels they're not like tunnels that we would think where like a spider hole where Saddam Hussein was found but these have been well preserved and are in very good condition and very comfortable to travel through, right?

ROBINSON: We found some remarkable tunnels in 2002 in May and June of 2002 in the mountainous area that had actually had improved walls that were painted white on the inside. One had been used as a hospital. Another was a living quarters and, on the inside, it was hard to distinguish these as being caves at all. They were quite well improved.

PHILLIPS: While you talk about the possibility of escape it's also possible this high value target could have been killed. There is still a lot of DNA testing to take place on the dead, correct? ROBINSON: Yes. They have -- several of the high value leadership, especially Ayman al-Zawahiri, has family members who are being held prisoner where they can get mitochondrial DNA from and as well they're receiving forensic support from the United States government to try to analyze that.

One of the problems is, is typically with these fighters when they have these contacts at night they take their dead with them and they bury them almost immediately in another location, so it will be a challenge to ensure that they're able to actually have a full accounting of how many people were actually killed during the contact, which has been going on since last Tuesday.

PHILLIPS: Now, Ken, Pakistani troops said they believe that it was Ayman al-Zawahiri possibly that they had cornered there in that area because they heard chatter on the coms (ph) but you're suspicious about those reports, why?

ROBINSON: Well, what made me suspicious they reported that they heard communications that enabled, that led them to believe that the high value target was there and they also had interrogation reports.

The interrogation reports from Arab fighters who were captured, I could buy that. Communication on behalf of Ayman al-Zawahiri I'm skeptical of because both Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden have not been heard of in communications for many years now because they know that when you talk on the radio somebody can direction find you and very quickly a cruise missile may come down your throat.

PHILLIPS: Finally, when you talked with a number of the troops, you were there in country, it's sort of a double-edged sword you said for those in Pakistan and also Afghanistan because while leaders want to capture Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri and bring down al Qaeda, the Taliban, they are concerned about losing resources, a lot of resources that come from the U.S. Will this affect the capture do you think?

ROBINSON: I don't know that it will affect the capture but I know there's a law of unintended consequences in play and, in Afghanistan, the great sense that we got from both Afghani officers and American officers who we spoke with was a fear of resourcing being provided to finish the job that was done.

They cited 22 battalions in Iraq being funded at $1.2 billion and 15 battalions being cited to be raised for the Afghan National Army to the tune of about $560 million. There's a donors' conference going on this week in Berlin and hopefully the donor countries will come up with the material and equipment and infrastructure support required to allowed the coalition to finish the job.

PHILLIPS: Our Ken Robinson thanks again for your time, Ken.

ROBINSON: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Miles. O'BRIEN: The media and the murder, a judge rules on whether public statements made by Scott Peterson can be used against him in a court of law. That is straight ahead.

And when police ask you for ID do you have the right to refuse? The Supreme Court takes up that case and it's the case of the cowboy who didn't want to talk.

And these are no rock-em sock-ems but these robots are nevertheless in a death match for sure. We'll take you to the Robolympics (ph) later on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: News across America now. It begins in McAlester, Oklahoma, opening statements beginning in the state trial of Terry Nichols, already serving life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing Nichols now facing 161 counts of murder. If convicted he could be put to death.

In California, double murder suspect Scott Peterson's words may come back to haunt him. A judge has ruled statements he made to the media after his pregnant wife Laci Peterson disappeared can be used in court. The defense had argued some of those TV interviews were spliced and diced. The judge disagreed.

Taking the Fifth, Ohio sniper suspect Charles McCoy waived his right to appear at a preliminary hearing today. He's also invoked his constitutional right not to answer investigators' questions. McCoy is suspected in 24 highway shootings including the slaying of a 62-year- old woman.

PHILLIPS: As a law-abiding American citizen can you legally refuse to identify yourself to police? Well, the Supreme Court takes it up today weighing freedom and security in a post-9/11 world.

CNN's Elaine Quijano reports it all started when a Nevada cowboy just said no.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cowboy Larry Dudley Hiibel was standing outside his pickup truck parked along a Nevada road. His 17-year-old daughter inside when a sheriff's deputy investigating a call about a domestic disturbance started asking questions.

As shown in captioning providing by Hiibel supporters, 11 times the deputy told Hiibel to produce ID. Each time the rancher refused.

(CONVERSATION BETWEEN DEPUTY AND HIIBEL)

QUIJANO: The encounter ended with Hiibel handcuffed, taken to jail and fined $250 for causing a delay to a peace officer. Prosecutors eventually dropped domestic violence charges against him. DAVID ALLISON, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, HUMBOLDT COUNTY, NEVADA: This is a small intrusion upon an individual's rights balanced against the need of the state to know who is doing what.

HARRIET CUMMINGS, HIIBEL'S ATTORNEY: We believe that it runs contrary to core American values to make it a crime for someone not to identify themselves.

QUIJANO (on camera): Hiibold's case is one of six search and seizure cases before the Supreme Court this term. Already the high court has sided with police on two of those cases. Now with civil liberties taking the spotlight in this post-9/11 world, experts say what happens with Hiibold's case could have far reaching implications.

EDWARD LAZARUS, FORMER SUPREME COURT CLERK: We have this idealistic notion in this country that we can live in a kind of splendid anonymity. We can walk around and be left alone and this question really raises in the post-9/11 era the issue of whether that's really true anymore.

HIIBEL: This case isn't just about me. This is about all Americans. What happened on Grass Valley Road I think is alien to all Americans. I think we've enjoyed our freedoms and I don't think most Americans want them trampled on.

QUIJANO (voice-over): A delicate balance the high court must strike between an individual's rights and public safety.

Elaine Quijano, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: In the aftermath of September 11th, he led America through a dark hour but a new book by a former aide is raising some questions about his leadership in the war on terror. We'll debate it a little later on LIVE FROM.

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rhonda Schaffler live from the New York Stock Exchange. Coming up would you use inside information to make a quick buck in the stock market? You could be risking jail time but many investors aren't scared. I'll have that story when LIVE FROM continues right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER FORECAST)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Images of high-flying executives, once high-flying, being dragged away in handcuffs haven't convinced everyone that crime doesn't pay.

PHILLIPS: How many people would break the law to make a quick buck in the stock market? Well, Rhonda Schaffler joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange with that story, quite a few, hi Rhonda. O'BRIEN: A little larceny in all of us, Rhonda.

SCHAFFLER: Hi, Kyra.

O'BRIEN: Of course you wouldn't, Rhonda. We know you wouldn't.

PHILLIPS: Rhonda is straight and narrow.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

SCHAFFLER: No, none of us would but you'd be surprised how many people don't think this way. In fact, all those headlines we saw apparently have had no effect on the average investor. Despite all the insider trading scandals and the prosecutions, many investors would still cheat to win in the stock market according to a new poll.

In fact, 32 percent of investors would immediately buy or sell a company's shares if they learned important news about the company before it was made available to the public. That, by the way, is the definition of insider trading. It is absolutely illegal and it can lead to prison time.

Still the majority of the investors surveyed would not make any moves on inside info. The poll also found that investors are split on which presidential candidate would be the best steward of the economy and, despite the economic recovery, two-thirds believe their financial situation is either worse or about the same as a year ago -- Miles, Kyra.

O'BRIEN: Hum, they'll be watching that one closely in the campaigns.

All right, let's talk about another jittery Monday for the markets, huh?

SCHAFFLER: Yes. It's rough on Wall Street. Traders and investors are nervous and we're seeing across-the-board selling here, aerospace stocks among the biggest losers on the Dow. Shares of Honeywell down about 3.5 percent, Boeing is off three percent. Losses are accelerating too as the afternoon wears on.

Investors are bailing out following what's been, we know, a series of unsettling developments overseas. It's sending the Dow off 161 points and the NASDAQ is now sliding two percent. That is the very latest from Wall Street.

Coming up a patient's fight for the right to sue health insurers is set to take center stage in Washington. We'll tell you all about it when LIVE FROM continues right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back to CNN's LIVE FROM. I'm Miles O'Brien.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. Here's what's all new this half hour. A former Bush adviser says no one paid attention to his warnings about al Qaeda. The White House says he's flat out wrong. We're going to talk about it this half hour.

O'BRIEN: And these bots mean business. We'll take you to the ultimate techno geek showdown, the Robolympics. Kyra has a pay for view for this.

But first the top stories that we're watching for all of you this hour.

The Bush administration says it is troubled by Israel's killing of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin; however, it stopped short of condemning the attack. The State Department spokesman Richard Boucher says the U.S. had no advance warning.

A suspected high value al Qaeda target continues to elude capture along the Pakistan-Afghan border. The Pakistani military says it's possible he might have escaped through a network of tunnels discovered in the mountains.

The government warns of a possible connection between some popular antidepressants and suicide. The Food and Drug Administration wants makers of ten drugs to highlight the caution on their labels. Among the drugs causing concern Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft and some others. Most affect the brain chemical serotonin.

Four new arrests today in the Madrid train bombings. Spanish state radio reporting the suspects are of Arab origin and bring to 14 the number of people now in custody.

PHILLIPS: A new wave of revenge and violence rakes the Israeli- Lebanese border. Palestinians boiling with resentment over the assassination of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

And while a cleric confined to a wheelchair might seem an unlikely target, CNN's Paula Hancocks explains how and why he became Israel's strategic enemy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS (voice-over): The founder and spiritual leader of Hamas, a group that has always sworn to destroy Israel, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was himself killed by an Israeli air strike as he left a mosque near his home in Gaza City early Monday.

The paraplegic, partial blind 67-year-old cleric had been confined to a wheelchair most of his life, paralyzed in an accident as a child. Parts of that wheelchair littered street at the site of the attack, Gaza residents holding up shreds of his bloodied clothing and calling for revenge.

Only Sunday Israel's cabinet vows a, quote, "war on Hamas," calling the organization a strategic enemy. Israel has long pursued a policy of so-called "targeted assassinations" of the Hamas leadership in reaction to the group's suicide bombing attacks on Israeli, civilian and military targets.

Confirming it had targeted Yassin, Israel said he was part of the Hamas terror framework actively supporting such attacks by his followers and was, thus, quote, "marked for death."

An Israeli court sentenced Sheikh Yassin to life in prison in 1989. But he was freed in 1997 under the terms of a deal brokered by King Hussein of Jordan.

He escaped a previous Israeli attack in September 2003 with a light injury. The most recent suicide bombings in the Israeli port city of Ashdod were carried out by Palestinians coming from Gaza. And Israel has made it clear that it will continue to hit back at those that dispatch or inspire the attacks that have left nearly 1,000 dead in the last few years.

Yassin founded Hamas in 1987 during the first Palestinian intifada. And he had always angrily warned Israel that the attacks on Israel would continue despite his policy of targeted killings. His comments late last year now echo with added meaning: "Jihad will continue, and the resistance will continue until we have victory, or we will be martyrs."

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Right now we're going to find out a little bit more about Yassin and the organization he founded. With us from Washington Yonah Alexander. He's a senior fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies and director of it's International Center for Terrorism Studies.

Yonah, let's talk about first of all how Yassin came to power? And how did he devise what Hamas should represent?

YONAH ALEXANDER, POTOMAC INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES: Well, Yassin came into power to fill a vacuum in Gaza and the West Bank when Arafat was actually was in Antonis driven from Beirut after the Israeli invasion.

So the point is that what Yassin basically tried to do is resort to religion indoctrination. That is to say, to use religious ideas, terms and concepts in order to justify his ideology, specifically to destroy the state Israel. And he wouldn't even accept the Palestinian states side by side by -- with Israel.

PHILLIPS: Now the belief behind Hamas was not only to carry on terror attacks, but also wasn't Hamas involved in a number of social programs, like building schools and hospitals?

ALEXANDER: Absolutely. That's very true, to actually fill the gap, because there was no Palestinian Authority between 1993, '94. So they became involved in trying to meet the needs of the people, educationally, from the social point of view, to deal with orphanages and so on.

This is the same way that the Hezbollah in Lebanon operated. So on the one end, obviously there is a positive, one can say services to the population. On the other end, it is a terrorist organization meaning to attack civilians, women and children. And their record, at least form the year from the year 2000, is 425 attacks in Israel, out of which 25 attacks were suicide bombings killing hundreds of people and wounding hundreds more.

PHILLIPS: So, Yonah, why would Israel want to target someone that they know would die a martyr?

ALEXANDER: Well, from their point of view, and the point of view of many countries around the world, the first responsibility of a government is to protect the citizens at home and abroad. And what the United States is doing for example, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And the point is that it provided the indoctrination for many of the operatives. But also, to do the planning and execution of some of the specific attacks.

So he certainly is going to be a martyr and you can kill a person but you cannot kill a vision. And those are going to be follow his foot steps for many years to come.

PHILLIPS: Yonah Alexander, thanks for your time today -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Palestinians are enraged by Israel's killing of the founder of the Islamic group Hamas. Sporadic attacks underway in Israel. Let's go to CNN military analyst Major General Don Shepperd, just back from the Middle East. General Shepperd, good to see you.

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good to see you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: What brought to you the Middle East and what did you learn while were you there?

SHEPPERD: Well, Miles, I was invited over by a group that allowed me to meet with Israeli citizens, with diplomats with the military, with government officials of all views.

As a matter of fact, one of the main things that I learned when I was over there was there was as many different views on what's going on and what should be done in Israel as there are here in the United States and the war on terrorism. It's a most difficult and intractable problem.

And one other very, very big impression I got was I expected to see a nation under siege, almost in panic. I did not feel that at all. Basically, the citizens have decided to accept a certain level of terrorism, a certain level of insecurity and deal with it and go on with their normal lives. I was surprised at that, Miles.

O'BRIEN: So day to day walking the streets, it was not what you expected?

SHEPPERD: I would imagine I was in Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, D.C. I expected to see all kinds of soldiers and security on the streets. Of course, there is increased security. There are guards at restaurants. But there are also guards at 7-Eleven's in the United States.

I saw life as normal, appearing as normal within Israel itself. They have learned to accept and deal with a certain level of terrorism while they're trying to come it a solution, Miles. Again, I was very surprised at this.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about Ariel Sharon's decision making in authorizing this assassination. To what extent is he trying to play to his right-wing base here? And to what extent is this part of a larger strategy which the Israelis feel will lead to some sort of reckoning, if will you -- I don't know what the term is -- peace is a term that seems to so distant I hesitate to even say it, but some sort of way of moving forward with the Palestinians?

SHEPPERD: Well, clearly -- I can't get inside Ariel Sharon's head. But clearly, the first responsibility of a government-to-is to protect its citizens. Ariel Sharon and other prime ministers before him have said that we are going to find and bring to justice people that kill Israeli citizens.

Since the second intifada since about 1998, almost 1,000 Israelis have been killed. By comparison, I'll give you a comparison, that would be like 40,000 Americans being killed in the United States. The citizens themselves demand that something be done.

The question is, what are you going to do to bring security? And will these targeted assassinations or targeted killings, as the Israelis say, bring that to the front?

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about Yasser Arafat for a little bit. I know you made an attempt to at least go and visit with him, were unable to do that. To what extent has he been so marginalized that it actually is counterproductive to the overall effort in the peace process?

SHEPPERD: Well, clearly it's counterproductive that there is no clear leadership of the Palestinian liberation organization that can control the militants within their own society.

Yasser Arafat has been sidelined by the policy of the United States. He has prime ministers. We've had Abu Mazen, we've had Mahmoud Abbas. We now had Ahmed Qureia.

And basically trying to deal with these people, they have to be able to control their society. There is no one with which to negotiate that can control what's going on in Palestine right now. So it's a problem that we pushed Arafat to the side who is the elected leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

Hamas has become a shadow government with actually veto power over what goes on within the PLO. So this is a real problem. Clearly you have to find a political solution, a political way out of what's going on in Israel past the targeted attacks that are going on over there.

And there isn't anyone clearly in control with whom you can negotiate. And the idea of these targets killings is to make it so difficult on the Hamas that you will be able to proceed toward negotiations. But it's really looking difficult right now, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, Don Shepperd, thanks for telling us a little bit about a Catch-22 inside a conundrum there. Good luck trying to figure that one out. Appreciate your time.

Next, the insider's book that has the Bush administration on the defensive. A former White House counterterrorism chief says warnings about 9/11 were ignored inside White House. We'll talk about the book and its merits with former Bush and Clinton administration officials up next on our program. So stay with us.

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O'BRIEN: Did the Bush administration do enough to prevent the 9/11 terrorist attacks? A new book has the White House doing a little bit of damage control on all this. Richard Clarke, a former Bush counterterrorism official, is raising serious questions in the book "Against All Enemies."

Here to talk about it, Robert Boorstin. And he is the senior vice president for National Security and International Policy at the Center for American Progress. How is that for a title? And he was a member of the Clinton administration for seven years. Barely fits on the business card.

And Barbara Comstock was the chief spokesperson for Attorney General John Ashcroft over at the Justice Department, until recently. Good to have you both with us.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: All right, Barbara, I want to go into one thing which wasn't come out yet. There is a lot said about this already. In his book, Mr. Clarke details some failures of multiple administrations. Let's go through it briefly. He talks in the preface about how President Reagan did not retaliate for Marine deaths in Beirut. President George H.W. Bush didn't act after Pan Am 103 and left Saddam Hussein in power. President Clinton could not get the CIA, the Pentagon, the FBI to deal with the terror threat.

We've been focusing a lot about events leading up prior to 9/11. But this is an indictment of several administrations in some respects. So in that sense, does this sort of raise his credibility as a critic in your mind?

BARBARA COMSTOCK, FRM. CHIEF SPOKESPERSON, JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: Well, sure. I mean he is somebody who did serve for eight years in the Clinton administration and the Bush administration had only been in place eight months. Many of the people hadn't been in there yet.

But I think he's been really irresponsible and wrong in attacking the Bush administration. I think you have to look at some of the things that really just do not ring true at all. One of the first things that just was glaring to me was to attack Dr. Rice, Condi Rice, who everyone agrees is brilliant. And he claims that she acted as if she didn't know what al Qaeda was. Now "The Washington Post" in the fall of 2000, that the administration was already warning terrorists like Osama bin Laden.

And certainly after the USS Cole in October 2000, Condi Rice knew about Osama bin Laden and knew about al Qaeda threat. That's just an outrageously wrong thing for him to say.

Then he makes claims such as that the White House had something to do with the millennium bombing, short-circuiting that, when in fact that was an agent on the border up near Canada who thwarted that.

So he has credibility problems himself. And I think the fact that he wanted the No. 2 job in the Homeland Security Department that he's now criticizing shouldn't even have existed really calls into question why...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: ... this in individual segments, bite-sized for the viewers.

Robert Boorstin, let's first talk about the allegation that Condi Rice didn't know what al Qaeda was. That on the face of it is a stupid statement. Of course she knew what al Qaeda was. So in some sense, does that undermine his credibility?

ROBERT BOORSTIN, SENIOR V.P., NAT'L. SECURITY, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: No, I don't think his credibility is undermined. I think the important thing here is that Dick Clarke spent 30 years in government service. Under four different presidents, both Republicans and Democrats.

And the worst thing you could ever accuse Dick of doing is working too hard to catch terrorists. Dick is a patriot, above all. And the fact that the Bush administration has launched attacks on his character is typical of them.

When Joe Wilson went after the administration because they didn't tell the truth about Iraq what did they do? Well, they unveiled the fact that his wife worked for the CIA.

When Larry Lindsey said there would be a $200 billion cost for the Iraq war, what did they do? They fired him. This is typical of this administration.

The important points here are very simple. No. 1, this is an administration that ignored warnings about al Qaeda. No. 2, they were obsessed with Iraq. Obsessed to the point where they disregarded the key threat to the people of this country. And that's where George Bush has left us today, less safe than where we were before.

O'BRIEN: Barbara, let's talk about this whole notion of personal attacks against a 30-year public servant. Do you see it that way? And is this in a sense justifiable given the allegation?

COMSTOCK: Well, they aren't personal attacks at all. It's looking at facts. And what Condi Race asked when she came in, clearly understanding al Qaeda was a threat, she asked for a plan of action.

Richard Clarke is saying there weren't meetings. Well, there were meetings. The president was meeting, unlike President Clinton who didn't meet with the CIA...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: ... the question I had for you though is is the attack that's coming is from the White House right now, is it personal?

COMSTOCK: No, it's not at all personal. We're pointing out that Dr. Rice asked for a plan of action. And that's what Richard Clarke was tasked with. This was somebody who was there to develop the plan of action throughout the '90s and the only thing they came up with was bombing an aspirin factory.

So when they came in they asked for a new plan, they wanted a much more aggressive plan to get rid of al Qaeda, not just to contain it. And that's what Dr. Rice asked for.

And Dr. Rice was meeting with the president as was George Tenet. And Richard Clarke seems to be slighted that he was not included in those meetings because he had met with President Clinton. Well, this president...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the whole notion of him being demoted and whether there was some sour grapes involved in all of this. And as a result, 30 years in service, he goes public and kind of goes out in a blaze of glory.

BOORSTIN: No, look. Dick was not demoted. That's not the point of the story.

The point of the story is was the Bush administration paying attention to the warnings that were there? Was it doing everything possible to protect the people of the United States. And the answer is no.

(CROSSTALK)

BOORSTIN: ... people like Barbara's old boss, John Ashcroft, were trying actually to cut, cut budgets for counterterrorism...

(CROSSTALK)

BOORSTIN: ... people in the Clinton administration had raised them 22 percent in 2001. This is an administration that simply can't deal with the truth.

(CROSSTALK) BOORSTIN: ... Dick Clarke was working every minute of every day for 30 years to protect the people of the United States. And to try and undermine his conclusions by attacking his character is typical, absolutely typical, of what this administration...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Final thought, then we're out of time.

COMSTOCK: OK. Well Bob is part of a group, the American Center for Progress (sic), that George Soros, a virulent opponent of the president is funding. And this is all part of a big coordinated, partisan attack. You saw them come out with -- the center came out with a big attack against the president. They're doing it every day. This is part of the Democratic machine. And Dick Clarke is also very friendly in teaching a class at Harvard with Rand Beers who's a Kerry adviser.

So this is all part of the political season. It's unfortunate that we can't have a serious debate about 9/11. The president and Dr. Rice and the serious people that he's put in charge of the war on terrorism are working very hard on making America safe and they've done so.

O'BRIEN: All right, Robert, quick final thought.

(CROSSTALK)

BOORSTIN: We look forward to that debate. And to hear Barbara talk about some kind of a vast progressive conspiracy is just hilarious at this point.

This is about the people of the United States. Are they safer? The answer is, no. And that's because of the Bush administration.

O'BRIEN: All right. Have to leave it there. Robert Boorstin and Barbara Comstock, thank you very much. Appreciate you joining us today on LIVE FROM...

Ahead, no humans allowed. Brain cells, not muscles will help you bring home the gold here.

PHILLIPS: If you can't live without your cell phone, like Miles, you'll want to stick around for the big wireless show. Our Daniel Sieberg bringing all the new gadgets to us. One more for you, Miles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Remember "Rock 'em, Sock 'em Robots?" Of course you would, Geek.

O'BRIEN: Hey, that's Mr. Geek to you.

PHILLIPS: More than 400 metallic marvels competed at this year's Robolympics in San Francisco. Among the events, soccer, wrestling, firefighting and, yes, boxing. O'BRIEN: We should be worried when anchoring is part of the activities because then we know we can be replaced.

(MARKET UPDATE)

PHILLIPS: Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now? You may not have that problem much longer as cell phones advance. We're going to show you the latest and greatest live from the annual wireless show.

O'BRIEN: Fido, the allergy fighter? Surprising news about kids who grow up with pets like Annie (ph) in their house.

PHILLIPS: Plus, the latest from Gaza live at the top of the hour. The Middle East in turmoil after the killing of the founder of Hamas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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