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Aired April 08, 2004 - 14:30 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.
Let me take a minute and describe to you what we're doing in support of our families back here. Let me emphasize three things. The first is the ongoing care that's being done on a daily basis by our great family readiness and family support groups, who are groups of caring and trained professionals, spouses, volunteers, who are doing the daily work of providing child care where it's needed, just sitting up with a grieving family or A grieving friend, providing meals and bringing it over.
All that ongoing care is ongoing at this time and that will continue. The second point I'd like to emphasize to you is the caring professionals across the Fort Hood installation, the chaplains, the health care providers, the counselors who are providing the grief counseling who are truly embracing the families who have suffered this past week. We've just gotten outstanding support from the Fort Hood installation.
And then the third point I'd like to bring out is the extended First Team family. This great Central Texas community that on a daily basis provides us outstanding support has really stepped up. This event has galvanized their support. And it has reinforced everything we know about the love and the close feeling and the ties that the Central Texas family has for the 1st Cavalry Division.
Please.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) on the ground in Iraq, how big of a morale (OFF-MIKE)
FORRESTER: I can tell you that morale remains high. I can tell you that I talked to commanders on the ground and I just got off the phone with Major General Corelli (ph). Morale in Baghdad remains high. And the morale of the families back here remains very high.
QUESTION: How do you counsel folks in the time of war because there are such great highs and lows? Just a few months ago, people from this base were celebrating the capture of Saddam Hussein, now such a terrible day. How do you counsel folks to know that this is part of war? How do you...
FORRESTER: You know, that's a great question. What it speaks to is the preparation that we've undergone over the last six months or so to really get the entire division, not only the soldiers who fight the war, but the families who are left back here to support those soldiers.
And we've undergone an extensive preparation program both in terms of tactical training, but also in terms of family readiness training. And so I'm not sure you ever can prepare anybody for an event like this when it happens. And what you've got to fall back on is the training that you have received over the years and especially in the last six months that we've accomplished here.
And I think we've -- based upon the actions that I've observed as the rear detachment commander over the past week, we've done a good job of training those support troops and having the support structure in place to deal with a situation like this.
QUESTION: Colonel, there appears to be an escalation in the fighting overseas. Do we prepare and how do you brace for the possibility that these type news conferences might become on the increase?
FORRESTER: Well, you never want to -- I never want to speculate about operational issues. I'm not there. So I can only comment on what we're doing back here. And I guess the point I would leave you with is, the training that we've done over the past six months that I just alluded to, that's ongoing. It is something you never stop doing. It is something we'll go back and revisit.
We'll modify it as necessary, but we'll continue training, developing the leadership back here to deal with these sorts of situations.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) one or two, but eight at one time at this particular post, what strain does that put on the counselors that you mentioned earlier? Are they prepared to deal with -- my goodness, they've got to go out to eight families now, as opposed to one or two scattered.
(CROSSTALK)
FORRESTER: It's a excellent point. And it does put a strain on the counselors.
And, again, when we've needed help, we've gone to the Fort Hood installation and they've provided us tremendous support in terms of additional resources, additional chaplains and additional counselors. And we've gotten all the support we've needed for this particular instance.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: Could you tell us a little bit about the families (OFF-MIKE)
FORRESTER: We've notified all the families of the 49 wounded. They're being -- we're putting our arms around and embracing those families, just the same as we are with our KIAs. They're getting the same level of support and counseling that we're trying to give to everyone. And we're reaching out to them on an individual basis, but we are reaching out to them the same way as for the KIAs.
QUESTION: How do you prepare future troops with the increase insurgents? How do you prepare troops when they're deployed?
FORRESTER: We like to think the First Team is trained and ready. And we like to think that the training plan that we put in place that again has been ongoing for six months has done a good job of getting the division ready to go.
And the soldiers that we receive will continue that training. They'll continue that training here. They'll continue that training even when they deploy forward to the division in Baghdad. And there's an entire certification process, if you will, before we allow new soldiers to go out on patrol in the streets of Baghdad. So, again, our training is ongoing. It continues even while we're at war. The Army never stops training.
And it will continue to serve us well.
QUESTION: Is it crystal clear to these troops that this mission could cost them their lives?
FORRESTER: I don't think there's a soldier that doubts that right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, everyone.
PHILLIPS: You were watching a news conference out of Fort Hood there, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Forrester offering condolences to the families of the seven soldiers that were killed in Iraq over the weekend from Fort Hood's 1st Cavalry Division. They were killed when a rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire hit their convoy in Baghdad.
We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: There were some pretty testy moments this morning when the 9/11 Commission questioned National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Under oath and in public, she defended the administration's decisions in the months before the September attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD BEN-VENISTE, 9/11 COMMISSION: Did you tell the president at any time prior to August 6 of the existence of al Qaeda cells in the United States?
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: First, let me just make certain...
BEN-VENISTE: If you could just answer that question, because I only have a very limited...
RICE: I understand, Commissioner, but it's important...
BEN-VENISTE: Did you tell the president...
RICE: ... that I also address...
(APPLAUSE)
RICE: It's also important that, Commissioner, that I address the other issues that you have raised. So I will do it quickly, but if you'll just give me a moment.
BEN-VENISTE: Well, my only question to you is whether you...
RICE: I understand, Commissioner, but I will...
BEN-VENISTE: ... told the president.
RICE: If you'll just give me a moment, I will address fully the questions that you've asked.
First of all, yes, the August 6th PDB was in response to questions of the president -- and that since he asked that this be done. It was not a particular threat report. And there was historical information in there about various aspects of Al Qaeda's operations.
Dick Clarke had told me, I think in a memorandum -- I remember it as being only a line or two -- that there were Al Qaeda cells in the United States.
Now, the question is, what did we need to do about that?
And I also understood that that was what the FBI was doing, that the FBI was pursuing these Al Qaeda cells. I believe in the August 6th memorandum it says that there were 70 full field investigations under way of these cells. And so there was no recommendation that we do something about this; the FBI was pursuing it. I really don't remember, Commissioner, whether I discussed this with the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, applause broke out several times during the questioning this morning.
Carie Lemack is among members of 9/11 families attending the hearings. She's co-founder of the group Families of September 11. Her mother was on board American Airlines Flight 11 that crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
Carie, it's good to see you again.
CARIE LEMACK, FAMILIES OF SEPTEMBER 11: Good to see you, too.
PHILLIPS: Well, I'm curious, were you involved in the applause, and, if so, did you clap for Condoleezza Rice or commission members?
LEMACK: I think we clapped for the truth, quite honestly.
I think one of the most frustrating things that we've seen as family members is this commission being made partisan. Safety is not a partisan issue. Both Democrats and Republicans were killed alike on September 11. And both Democrats and Republicans are clearly concerned about the safety of Americans.
I think one of the interesting things today was, we learned more from the questions than we did from the answers. In one of the questions, we finally heard that the title of that PDB, that presidential daily briefing, of August 6, "Was bin Laden Determined to Attack in the United States?" Earlier in her testimony, Dr. Rice said that she thought bin Laden was focused on international attacks.
Well, it turns out that clearly wasn't true. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had the title be focused on attacks in the United States. So we're glad that she came forward and spoke. We're glad that it was in public under oath and we were able to get that information. But there's a lot more truth to be told.
PHILLIPS: Well, Carie, you mention that August 6 memo. And now commission members are saying they're going to work to get that memo released. Do you think it should be released? Do you want to see what that memo had to say?
LEMACK: Most definitely. That's something I would clap for. I think every family member would.
It is obvious that there's some information in there that we need to know in order to find out what this administration knew ahead of time, what they were doing and to make sure that whatever they did that led to not preventing 9/11 doesn't happen again. It is clear that there were mistakes made; 3,000 people were murdered by 19 men. They beat the U.S. defense, intelligence and security systems.
We have to change that. And if we're going to have stonewalling or, as Senator Kerrey said, filibustering in this commission, we are not going to be able to do it. So I think that we definitely need to declassify those important documents.
PHILLIPS: Well, do you feel safer now than pre-9/11?
LEMACK: Well, to hear Dr. Rice say that we're not safe doesn't make me feel any safer. To hear some of the facts, things like the FAA red team, which is the group of individuals who legally tries to breach airport security just to test it, the fact that 95 percent of weapons still get through today 2 1/2 years after my mother was murdered on a plane, it doesn't make me feel safer in that sense.
I think that it is very obvious that there are some real problems in the way we gather and communicate intelligence. And until we're willing to own up to that and be accountable to those problems, we're not going to fix them. And I think that's the most important thing to focus on right now.
PHILLIPS: Well, earlier, I spoke with Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, Republican from California. He was in a nutshell blaming the Clinton administration for the gaps and the loopholes. Do you agree with that?
LEMACK: Well, I think it is very unfair and inconsiderate of what has happened to make this a partisan issue.
My mother was murdered. I know Republicans, I know Democrats who were murdered. It is not a partisan issue. Clearly, there were issues with the Clinton administration, but the Bush administration was also in office for nine months, as Dr. Rice would say, 233 days. They could have made changes. So I don't blame one party or the other. I blame them all. And I really hope that people will step up and take accountability. A lot of people might not believe what Mr. Clarke had to say, but the fact that he was willing to come forward and say, I made a mistake, adds some credibility to him.
We did not hear that today. I'm hoping we're going to hear that, because it is clear 3,000 people don't just get murdered. There were mistakes made. And we need to fix them to make sure that Americans are safer.
PHILLIPS: You said when you were in these hearings today, you clapped for the truth. What was a moment of truth for you that you did clap for and that you felt a moment of peace, maybe justice?
LEMACK: I don't think I felt any peace, that's for sure. It was a little bit contentious in there. But as I said earlier, finding out the name of that August 6 presidential daily briefing, for 2 1/2 years, we had been told by Dr. Rice that she was focused on bin Laden attacks being international, not domestic.
Well, now we find out that's just not true. I hope that she comes forward with more of the truth. She said that she was blind. She said, we are blind and we were blind to this threat. Well, we heard that Mr. Clarke on July 5 had a meeting about this threat. I'll tell you something. My mother was the CEO of a company. Whether she made a mistake or her direct reports made a mistake, she was accountable because she ran that organization.
I would like to see accountability in this administration or any administration, whatever party they may be. And until we see that, I don't feel safe.
PHILLIPS: Wow. So, looking ahead, even in light of these hearings and some of this information coming forward, some you don't really have a lot of faith in, do you think, if anything, we'll become safer, maybe just a little bit?
LEMACK: Well, I didn't say I don't have faith. I believe in this commission. I believe in their mandate.
And when I see those commissioners, I know that they're trying their best to get down to figure out what happened and what went wrong so they can make great recommendations. I have every faith in them. And I'm very excited to see the full report when it comes out on July 26. I'm just hopeful that it doesn't take a long time to clear through the White House. I want that report to come out, be made public, so that we can see those recommendations that they're going to make and we can ensure that they're going to be implemented. As a family member, that's one of my top priorities.
PHILLIPS: Carie, before I let you go, real quickly, one thing you want us to remember about your mom, Judy.
LEMACK: My mom was sassy. She was smart. She was the founder of her own company. And she was a believer in all the opportunities that this country has to offer.
PHILLIPS: Well, she no doubt would be very proud of you.
LEMACK: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Carie Lemack, thank you so much.
LEMACK: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Hear more of today's 9/11 testimony. Up next, Condoleezza Rice pressed for details about her work with counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Former Bush adviser turned critic Richard Clarke has accused the president of dropping the ball on terrorism. His testimony before the 9/11 Commission pressured the administration into allowing National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to be questioned in public.
So questions about Clarke created some intense moments this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIMOTHY ROEMER, PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR NATIONAL POLICY: Why don't you get Dick Clarke to brief the president before 9/11? Here is one of the consummate experts that never has the opportunity to brief the president of the United States on one of the most lethal, dynamic and agile threats to the United States of America.
Why don't you use this asset? Why doesn't the president ask to meet with Dick Clarke?
RICE: Well, the president was meeting with his director of central intelligence. And Dick Clarke is a very, very fine counterterrorism expert -- and that's why I kept him on.
And what I wanted Dick Clarke to do was to manage the crisis for us and help us develop a new strategy. And I can guarantee you, when we had that new strategy in place, the president -- who was asking for it and wondering what was happening to it -- was going to be in a position to engage it fully.
The fact is that what Dick Clarke recommended to us, as he has said, would not have prevented 9/11. I actually would say that not only would it have not prevented 9/11, but if we had done everything on that list, we would have actually been off in the wrong direction about the importance that we needed to attach to a new policy for Afghanistan and a new policy for Pakistan.
Because even though Dick is a very fine counterterrorism expert, he was not a specialist on Afghanistan. That's why I brought somebody in who really understood Afghanistan. He was not a specialist on Pakistan. That's why I brought somebody in to deal with Pakistan. He had some very good ideas. We acted on them.
RICE: Dick Clarke -- let me just step back for a second and say we had a very -- we had a very good relationship.
ROEMER: Yes. I'd appreciate it if you could be very concise here, so I can get to some more issues.
RICE: But all that he needed -- all that he needed to do was to say, I need time to brief the president on something. But...
ROEMER: I think he did say that. Dr. Rice, in a private interview to us he said he asked to brief the president...
RICE: Well, I have to say -- I have to say, Mr. Roemer, to my recollection...
ROEMER: You say he didn't.
RICE: ... Dick Clarke never asked me to brief the president on counterterrorism. He did brief the president later on cybersecurity, in July, but he, to my recollection, never asked.
And my senior directors have an open door to come and say, I think the president needs to do this. I think the president needs to do that. He needs to make this phone call. He needs to hear this briefing. It's not hard to get done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: More fireworks ahead on LIVE FROM. Democratic Senator Bob Graham joins me with his thoughts about Rice's testimony. You'll want to stick around for that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: More coverage of the day's big stories when LIVE FROM continues. U.S. troops try to put the lid back on, as Iraq boils over with violence. We're live from the Pentagon.
We'll also talk about Condoleezza Rice's testimony with Democrat Bob Graham.
And the national security adviser is only one of the influential women inside the Bush camp. Meet the others in a LIVE FROM interview.
We'll be back right after this.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 8, 2004 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
Let me take a minute and describe to you what we're doing in support of our families back here. Let me emphasize three things. The first is the ongoing care that's being done on a daily basis by our great family readiness and family support groups, who are groups of caring and trained professionals, spouses, volunteers, who are doing the daily work of providing child care where it's needed, just sitting up with a grieving family or A grieving friend, providing meals and bringing it over.
All that ongoing care is ongoing at this time and that will continue. The second point I'd like to emphasize to you is the caring professionals across the Fort Hood installation, the chaplains, the health care providers, the counselors who are providing the grief counseling who are truly embracing the families who have suffered this past week. We've just gotten outstanding support from the Fort Hood installation.
And then the third point I'd like to bring out is the extended First Team family. This great Central Texas community that on a daily basis provides us outstanding support has really stepped up. This event has galvanized their support. And it has reinforced everything we know about the love and the close feeling and the ties that the Central Texas family has for the 1st Cavalry Division.
Please.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) on the ground in Iraq, how big of a morale (OFF-MIKE)
FORRESTER: I can tell you that morale remains high. I can tell you that I talked to commanders on the ground and I just got off the phone with Major General Corelli (ph). Morale in Baghdad remains high. And the morale of the families back here remains very high.
QUESTION: How do you counsel folks in the time of war because there are such great highs and lows? Just a few months ago, people from this base were celebrating the capture of Saddam Hussein, now such a terrible day. How do you counsel folks to know that this is part of war? How do you...
FORRESTER: You know, that's a great question. What it speaks to is the preparation that we've undergone over the last six months or so to really get the entire division, not only the soldiers who fight the war, but the families who are left back here to support those soldiers.
And we've undergone an extensive preparation program both in terms of tactical training, but also in terms of family readiness training. And so I'm not sure you ever can prepare anybody for an event like this when it happens. And what you've got to fall back on is the training that you have received over the years and especially in the last six months that we've accomplished here.
And I think we've -- based upon the actions that I've observed as the rear detachment commander over the past week, we've done a good job of training those support troops and having the support structure in place to deal with a situation like this.
QUESTION: Colonel, there appears to be an escalation in the fighting overseas. Do we prepare and how do you brace for the possibility that these type news conferences might become on the increase?
FORRESTER: Well, you never want to -- I never want to speculate about operational issues. I'm not there. So I can only comment on what we're doing back here. And I guess the point I would leave you with is, the training that we've done over the past six months that I just alluded to, that's ongoing. It is something you never stop doing. It is something we'll go back and revisit.
We'll modify it as necessary, but we'll continue training, developing the leadership back here to deal with these sorts of situations.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) one or two, but eight at one time at this particular post, what strain does that put on the counselors that you mentioned earlier? Are they prepared to deal with -- my goodness, they've got to go out to eight families now, as opposed to one or two scattered.
(CROSSTALK)
FORRESTER: It's a excellent point. And it does put a strain on the counselors.
And, again, when we've needed help, we've gone to the Fort Hood installation and they've provided us tremendous support in terms of additional resources, additional chaplains and additional counselors. And we've gotten all the support we've needed for this particular instance.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: Could you tell us a little bit about the families (OFF-MIKE)
FORRESTER: We've notified all the families of the 49 wounded. They're being -- we're putting our arms around and embracing those families, just the same as we are with our KIAs. They're getting the same level of support and counseling that we're trying to give to everyone. And we're reaching out to them on an individual basis, but we are reaching out to them the same way as for the KIAs.
QUESTION: How do you prepare future troops with the increase insurgents? How do you prepare troops when they're deployed?
FORRESTER: We like to think the First Team is trained and ready. And we like to think that the training plan that we put in place that again has been ongoing for six months has done a good job of getting the division ready to go.
And the soldiers that we receive will continue that training. They'll continue that training here. They'll continue that training even when they deploy forward to the division in Baghdad. And there's an entire certification process, if you will, before we allow new soldiers to go out on patrol in the streets of Baghdad. So, again, our training is ongoing. It continues even while we're at war. The Army never stops training.
And it will continue to serve us well.
QUESTION: Is it crystal clear to these troops that this mission could cost them their lives?
FORRESTER: I don't think there's a soldier that doubts that right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, everyone.
PHILLIPS: You were watching a news conference out of Fort Hood there, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Forrester offering condolences to the families of the seven soldiers that were killed in Iraq over the weekend from Fort Hood's 1st Cavalry Division. They were killed when a rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire hit their convoy in Baghdad.
We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: There were some pretty testy moments this morning when the 9/11 Commission questioned National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Under oath and in public, she defended the administration's decisions in the months before the September attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD BEN-VENISTE, 9/11 COMMISSION: Did you tell the president at any time prior to August 6 of the existence of al Qaeda cells in the United States?
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: First, let me just make certain...
BEN-VENISTE: If you could just answer that question, because I only have a very limited...
RICE: I understand, Commissioner, but it's important...
BEN-VENISTE: Did you tell the president...
RICE: ... that I also address...
(APPLAUSE)
RICE: It's also important that, Commissioner, that I address the other issues that you have raised. So I will do it quickly, but if you'll just give me a moment.
BEN-VENISTE: Well, my only question to you is whether you...
RICE: I understand, Commissioner, but I will...
BEN-VENISTE: ... told the president.
RICE: If you'll just give me a moment, I will address fully the questions that you've asked.
First of all, yes, the August 6th PDB was in response to questions of the president -- and that since he asked that this be done. It was not a particular threat report. And there was historical information in there about various aspects of Al Qaeda's operations.
Dick Clarke had told me, I think in a memorandum -- I remember it as being only a line or two -- that there were Al Qaeda cells in the United States.
Now, the question is, what did we need to do about that?
And I also understood that that was what the FBI was doing, that the FBI was pursuing these Al Qaeda cells. I believe in the August 6th memorandum it says that there were 70 full field investigations under way of these cells. And so there was no recommendation that we do something about this; the FBI was pursuing it. I really don't remember, Commissioner, whether I discussed this with the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, applause broke out several times during the questioning this morning.
Carie Lemack is among members of 9/11 families attending the hearings. She's co-founder of the group Families of September 11. Her mother was on board American Airlines Flight 11 that crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
Carie, it's good to see you again.
CARIE LEMACK, FAMILIES OF SEPTEMBER 11: Good to see you, too.
PHILLIPS: Well, I'm curious, were you involved in the applause, and, if so, did you clap for Condoleezza Rice or commission members?
LEMACK: I think we clapped for the truth, quite honestly.
I think one of the most frustrating things that we've seen as family members is this commission being made partisan. Safety is not a partisan issue. Both Democrats and Republicans were killed alike on September 11. And both Democrats and Republicans are clearly concerned about the safety of Americans.
I think one of the interesting things today was, we learned more from the questions than we did from the answers. In one of the questions, we finally heard that the title of that PDB, that presidential daily briefing, of August 6, "Was bin Laden Determined to Attack in the United States?" Earlier in her testimony, Dr. Rice said that she thought bin Laden was focused on international attacks.
Well, it turns out that clearly wasn't true. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had the title be focused on attacks in the United States. So we're glad that she came forward and spoke. We're glad that it was in public under oath and we were able to get that information. But there's a lot more truth to be told.
PHILLIPS: Well, Carie, you mention that August 6 memo. And now commission members are saying they're going to work to get that memo released. Do you think it should be released? Do you want to see what that memo had to say?
LEMACK: Most definitely. That's something I would clap for. I think every family member would.
It is obvious that there's some information in there that we need to know in order to find out what this administration knew ahead of time, what they were doing and to make sure that whatever they did that led to not preventing 9/11 doesn't happen again. It is clear that there were mistakes made; 3,000 people were murdered by 19 men. They beat the U.S. defense, intelligence and security systems.
We have to change that. And if we're going to have stonewalling or, as Senator Kerrey said, filibustering in this commission, we are not going to be able to do it. So I think that we definitely need to declassify those important documents.
PHILLIPS: Well, do you feel safer now than pre-9/11?
LEMACK: Well, to hear Dr. Rice say that we're not safe doesn't make me feel any safer. To hear some of the facts, things like the FAA red team, which is the group of individuals who legally tries to breach airport security just to test it, the fact that 95 percent of weapons still get through today 2 1/2 years after my mother was murdered on a plane, it doesn't make me feel safer in that sense.
I think that it is very obvious that there are some real problems in the way we gather and communicate intelligence. And until we're willing to own up to that and be accountable to those problems, we're not going to fix them. And I think that's the most important thing to focus on right now.
PHILLIPS: Well, earlier, I spoke with Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, Republican from California. He was in a nutshell blaming the Clinton administration for the gaps and the loopholes. Do you agree with that?
LEMACK: Well, I think it is very unfair and inconsiderate of what has happened to make this a partisan issue.
My mother was murdered. I know Republicans, I know Democrats who were murdered. It is not a partisan issue. Clearly, there were issues with the Clinton administration, but the Bush administration was also in office for nine months, as Dr. Rice would say, 233 days. They could have made changes. So I don't blame one party or the other. I blame them all. And I really hope that people will step up and take accountability. A lot of people might not believe what Mr. Clarke had to say, but the fact that he was willing to come forward and say, I made a mistake, adds some credibility to him.
We did not hear that today. I'm hoping we're going to hear that, because it is clear 3,000 people don't just get murdered. There were mistakes made. And we need to fix them to make sure that Americans are safer.
PHILLIPS: You said when you were in these hearings today, you clapped for the truth. What was a moment of truth for you that you did clap for and that you felt a moment of peace, maybe justice?
LEMACK: I don't think I felt any peace, that's for sure. It was a little bit contentious in there. But as I said earlier, finding out the name of that August 6 presidential daily briefing, for 2 1/2 years, we had been told by Dr. Rice that she was focused on bin Laden attacks being international, not domestic.
Well, now we find out that's just not true. I hope that she comes forward with more of the truth. She said that she was blind. She said, we are blind and we were blind to this threat. Well, we heard that Mr. Clarke on July 5 had a meeting about this threat. I'll tell you something. My mother was the CEO of a company. Whether she made a mistake or her direct reports made a mistake, she was accountable because she ran that organization.
I would like to see accountability in this administration or any administration, whatever party they may be. And until we see that, I don't feel safe.
PHILLIPS: Wow. So, looking ahead, even in light of these hearings and some of this information coming forward, some you don't really have a lot of faith in, do you think, if anything, we'll become safer, maybe just a little bit?
LEMACK: Well, I didn't say I don't have faith. I believe in this commission. I believe in their mandate.
And when I see those commissioners, I know that they're trying their best to get down to figure out what happened and what went wrong so they can make great recommendations. I have every faith in them. And I'm very excited to see the full report when it comes out on July 26. I'm just hopeful that it doesn't take a long time to clear through the White House. I want that report to come out, be made public, so that we can see those recommendations that they're going to make and we can ensure that they're going to be implemented. As a family member, that's one of my top priorities.
PHILLIPS: Carie, before I let you go, real quickly, one thing you want us to remember about your mom, Judy.
LEMACK: My mom was sassy. She was smart. She was the founder of her own company. And she was a believer in all the opportunities that this country has to offer.
PHILLIPS: Well, she no doubt would be very proud of you.
LEMACK: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Carie Lemack, thank you so much.
LEMACK: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Hear more of today's 9/11 testimony. Up next, Condoleezza Rice pressed for details about her work with counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke.
Stay with us.
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PHILLIPS: Former Bush adviser turned critic Richard Clarke has accused the president of dropping the ball on terrorism. His testimony before the 9/11 Commission pressured the administration into allowing National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to be questioned in public.
So questions about Clarke created some intense moments this morning.
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TIMOTHY ROEMER, PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR NATIONAL POLICY: Why don't you get Dick Clarke to brief the president before 9/11? Here is one of the consummate experts that never has the opportunity to brief the president of the United States on one of the most lethal, dynamic and agile threats to the United States of America.
Why don't you use this asset? Why doesn't the president ask to meet with Dick Clarke?
RICE: Well, the president was meeting with his director of central intelligence. And Dick Clarke is a very, very fine counterterrorism expert -- and that's why I kept him on.
And what I wanted Dick Clarke to do was to manage the crisis for us and help us develop a new strategy. And I can guarantee you, when we had that new strategy in place, the president -- who was asking for it and wondering what was happening to it -- was going to be in a position to engage it fully.
The fact is that what Dick Clarke recommended to us, as he has said, would not have prevented 9/11. I actually would say that not only would it have not prevented 9/11, but if we had done everything on that list, we would have actually been off in the wrong direction about the importance that we needed to attach to a new policy for Afghanistan and a new policy for Pakistan.
Because even though Dick is a very fine counterterrorism expert, he was not a specialist on Afghanistan. That's why I brought somebody in who really understood Afghanistan. He was not a specialist on Pakistan. That's why I brought somebody in to deal with Pakistan. He had some very good ideas. We acted on them.
RICE: Dick Clarke -- let me just step back for a second and say we had a very -- we had a very good relationship.
ROEMER: Yes. I'd appreciate it if you could be very concise here, so I can get to some more issues.
RICE: But all that he needed -- all that he needed to do was to say, I need time to brief the president on something. But...
ROEMER: I think he did say that. Dr. Rice, in a private interview to us he said he asked to brief the president...
RICE: Well, I have to say -- I have to say, Mr. Roemer, to my recollection...
ROEMER: You say he didn't.
RICE: ... Dick Clarke never asked me to brief the president on counterterrorism. He did brief the president later on cybersecurity, in July, but he, to my recollection, never asked.
And my senior directors have an open door to come and say, I think the president needs to do this. I think the president needs to do that. He needs to make this phone call. He needs to hear this briefing. It's not hard to get done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: More fireworks ahead on LIVE FROM. Democratic Senator Bob Graham joins me with his thoughts about Rice's testimony. You'll want to stick around for that.
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PHILLIPS: More coverage of the day's big stories when LIVE FROM continues. U.S. troops try to put the lid back on, as Iraq boils over with violence. We're live from the Pentagon.
We'll also talk about Condoleezza Rice's testimony with Democrat Bob Graham.
And the national security adviser is only one of the influential women inside the Bush camp. Meet the others in a LIVE FROM interview.
We'll be back right after this.
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