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Pickard, Black Up Next for 9/11 Panel; Sharon Solicits Bush Support for Gaza Plan; Phil Mickelson Discusses Golf, Life

Aired April 13, 2004 - 13:30   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A French journalist has been kidnapped in Baghdad according to the French foreign ministry. The ministry has been advising French citizens in Iraq to leave the country because of the escalating dangers there.
Fallujah flairs up once again. Three U.S. troops wounded when their helicopter made an emergency landing after taking ground fire. Troops destroyed the chopper before the enemy could get to it. Meanwhile, a coalition spokesperson says an al Qaeda linked militant, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is believed to be in Fallujah or nearby.

Cindy McCain, wife of Senator John McCain, is hospitalized in Phoenix. She's reported in stable condition after suffering a small stroke which has mildly affected her speech. In a statement Senator McCain quotes his wife's doctors as saying her prognosis is cautiously optimistic.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: This afternoon the first man on the 9/11 Commission's hot seat is Thomas Pickard, acting FBI director after Louis Freeh resigned in the summer of 2001.

CNN's Bob Franken has a look at what to expect from Mr. Pickard. Hello, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, and what we're going to expect from him at some point, as well as a staff report that's going to precede his testimony, is criticism of Attorney General John Ashcroft.

The criticism being that he did not take seriously enough the terrorist threats in the summer of the year 2001 when Pickard was the acting FBI director. He, by the way, is going to be joined by Cofer Black, who was the head of the CIA's counter-terrorism operation.

Later in the day we're going to be hearing from John Ashcroft. He and his staff are saying that Ashcroft was plenty concerned, took specific actions that were aimed at preventing something like 9/11 from happening. Of course, they were not successful.

Now, this morning it was the Clinton administration that was really the focus, and the FBI director during that administration, Louis Freeh. Criticism of the FBI had been that because of the way it operated, because of its deficiencies, because of its unwillingness to share information, a lot of information that might have prevented September 11 did not get used properly.

Freeh said that was just second-guessing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOUIS FREEH, FMR. FBI DIRECTOR: September 11, had we had the right sources overseas or in the United States, could have been prevented. We did not have those sources. We did not have that telephone call. We didn't have that e-mail intercept that could have done the job. You get that by having sources, and you get sources by good investigations. You also prevent terrorism in that regard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: But now come the actions right before September 11, and the Bush administration. And the person who will be the focus is the one who will appear last this afternoon, the attorney general, John Ashcroft -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Bob Franken on Capitol Hill -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: With the ongoing 9/11 probe, increasing complications in Iraq, the economy, and an upcoming election, you might think the president already has enough on his plate. But add a side order of Mideast diplomacy as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon arrives in the U.S.

CNN's John Vause has more on Sharon's mission and the thorny issues it raises.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just hours before leaving for Washington, the Israeli prime minister celebrated the end of Passover. And Ariel Sharon may well have more reason to celebrate on Wednesday when he meets with President Bush, a meeting in which Sharon hopes to win American support for his so-called "disengagement plan."

ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): It is hard for me personally. I know each and every settlement in Gushka Tif (ph) in the Gaza Strip, as in Judea and Samaria. There were days I knew every family there. Believe me, this breaks my heart.

VAUSE: In return for withdrawing from Gaza, Israel is looking for two major concessions from the U.S.

RA'ANAN GISSIN, SENIOR SHARON ADVISER: This is the one that has the greatest potential of really being a visit that could be marked as providing an historical breakthrough in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

VAUSE: Ariel Sharon wants a U.S. assurance that a final peace deal will not force Israel to withdraw behind the pre-1967 border, the so-called Green Line. The Israelis see that as crucial to keeping major Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The Palestinians, backed by the U.N., say all settlements are illegal.

Ariel Sharon is also pushing the White House to deny hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and their descendants, who fled Israel during the 1948 war, their claim of right of return, a demand the Palestinians are unlikely to ever give up.

Any statement from the White House, even in general terms, would be a huge boost for Sharon and his bid to win party support for his disengagement plan. But Palestinians are already angered that the U.S. could make such concessions to Israel.

AHMED QOREI, PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): These issues should be the subject for discussions and should not be promised by the Americans.

VAUSE (on camera): For the Bush administration, it could be a difficult choice. Any show of support for Israel is likely to play badly in the Arab world, complicating the war in Iraq. But too little support for Israel could mean trouble at home, especially during an election year.

John Vause, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And we want to remind you that President Bush holds a rare formal news conference tonight at the White House. That speech, CNN will have complete live coverage, and he'll take questions from White House reporters, 8:00 is when our coverage starts, 8:30 Eastern time is when President Bush is expected to begin.

And the president remains under political pressure from the 9/11 hearings and the escalating violence in Iraq. What he says in tonight's primetime news conference that could lighten the load, well, CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider now has some thoughts on that - Miles.

O'BRIEN: OK. That was kind of odd.

Hello, Bill Schneider. I guess we're doing a joint introduction here today. It's nice to see you. Thanks for dropping by. Let us talk about presidential news conferences, formal news conferences. Generally they occur when either times are very good or times are very bad. I guess it's obvious the situation Mr. Bush is in right now.

Why is that, though?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Bad on three fronts, really. He's facing deteriorating conditions in Iraq. He's facing a very tough investigation by the 9/11 Commission that has thrown him and his administration on the defensive politically for the first time about 9/11, and what they did or did not do to try to help prevent terrorist attacks on the United States. And, third, the economy.

Now you might think on the economy the news has been pretty good. The reports were that 308,000 jobs were created in March, which was the sign the administration has been waiting for of an economic turnaround. The jobs are being created at a very rapid clip. But what we're seeing is that the president's economic ratings have not gotten much of a boost, that's because Americans are also looking at another set of figures, and that's gasoline prices. Those are skyrocketing and Americans keep a very close watch on those prices. And they're very unhappy on that front.

O'BRIEN: You know, we called the White House earlier. We could barely get -- hear anything on the line because they had the grindstone going, sharpening the knives there. Obviously the press is lying in wait for this particular event, getting their most important questions together. What's the president doing today to get ready for this?

SCHNEIDER: He is practicing, trying to sit down with his aides, I'm certain. Of course, he has meetings with the prime minister of Israel, so that's obviously taking priority. But his preparation consists of sitting down with his aides and having them ask the questions that they anticipate reporters are going to ask, the toughest questions that they can think of to try to rehearse the president, make sure he has answers, because he has got to reassure the country, particularly on Iraq, that he's on top of things.

The most dangerous figure I've seen in any public opinion poll recently was the one that said most Americans no longer think that the Bush administration has a clear, well-thought-out plan for what to do in Iraq. That's very dangerous. Americans think we're doing the right things in Iraq. It wasn't a mistake to go there, but we're not doing it right. And they want some assurance that the situation is under control. And that's what the president has to do tonight at this press conference.

O'BRIEN: So bill, are there specific words the American public is looking for, or is there a general sense of tone and reaction, sort of a "we are in control" feel about it that will be enough to suffice for the Bush administration here?

SCHNEIDER: I think they're looking for confidence, for leadership from this president, because he has not been much in evidence for the past week. He's been in Crawford, Texas. He's been criticized for being out of the spotlight. Americans are being killed. Hostages are being taken. And they want to hear the president say, we know who the culprits are. We have the situation under control.

He said in passing on a couple of occasions, this is a band of thugs trying to disrupt the scene in Iraq before the turnover of power. Everything is on schedule for June 30 transfer of power. We know what we're doing there and you shouldn't have any doubts about that. That sense of confidence, of control, really is what Americans are waiting to hear from their president.

O'BRIEN: If you had one question you could give the president tonight, what would it be?

SCHNEIDER: Yes. Who are we going to turn over power to in Iraq? Is there a political authority that is capable of running the country starting June 30, because at this point I don't see who it is or who can take that kind of power? Is there some preparation being made to turn over power to somebody that we think is capable of running that country? That's what I'd like to know.

O'BRIEN: It's not an easy question to answer, is it?

SCHNEIDER: No, of course, it is not. But there has just been no evidence that there is a political authority capable of running the country. And what makes people nervous is, are we just going to let the situation deteriorate there? And wouldn't it become more dangerous, because a lot of the criticism of the president is that America is not safer as a result of this war? Yes, it was a good idea to get rid of Saddam Hussein. But if Iraq is becoming a nest of terrorists, particularly operatives from outside of Iraq, foreign terrorists who are coming to Baghdad and becoming involved in this Iraqi revolt, then the situation is far more dangerous. I think Americans want some reassurance that whatever we do in Iraq, it's going to be safer for the United States.

O'BRIEN: Bill Schneider, our political analyst, so good, so important, he needs two anchors to introduce him. Thank you very much, always a pleasure.

SCHNEIDER: My pleasure.

O'BRIEN: Kyra.

PHILLIPS: We like to add to the credibility of Bill.

All right. Coming up, we ask the tough questions of the non- left-handed, left-handed golfer. Would Masters champ Phil Mickelson give up golf for baseball? I have got the exclusive interview coming up next.

Also ahead, he is a bargain at any price. Now "The Donald" gets a raise. We'll tell you why. By the way, "you're fired" on LIVE FROM...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it his time? Yes!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: From the eternal bridesmaid to the bride in one birdie, Phil Mickelson mastering the Masters and winning his first major tournament. And the man who is probably still grinning about the green jacket joins me now from La Jolla, California, to talk about golf, a good cause, and the day he almost became a Mudhen.

Phil, great to see you.

PHIL MICKELSON, MASTERS CHAMPION: Kyra, thank you, it has been a fun couple of days. They tried to pry jacket off as I was leaving, but I would have none of it. I brought it with me.

PHILLIPS: Well, I wanted to say, I'm impressed with the T-shirt underneath. It is very hip.

MICKELSON: Well, I had to tone the color down. It might not be the most fashionable. They came up with it back in the '30s, but it sure feels good.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, speaking of the '30s, we're not going to go that far back, but I started going through your archives of a number of pictures. And, of course, this one. You know it's on your Web site, when you were two years old. It has got to be one of the cutest pictures I've ever seen. I'm digging the red socks. Take me back and tell me how it all started, the game of golf for you.

MICKELSON: Well, we have a pretty big backyard and my dad loved the game and he would hit shots. And before I could walk he would put me in front of him so he could keep an eye on me. And as he would hit shots right-handed, I picked it up left-handed. So in that picture there I was about two years old. And you could see that he cut down a club for me. And it was originally a right-handed club, but I started hitting it with the back of the club, eventually he turned it around and made it a left-handed club. And I would just hit balls in the back yard. And finally when I was five years old he took me to a big course.

PHILLIPS: That's amazing. Do you think you have an advantage by being a lefty?

MICKELSON: I don't know if it's an advantage or not. I don't think it matters what side of the ball you stand on, but there are certain shots I feel more comfortable on than say a right-hander. And really on the 12th hole at Augusta, it is a pin that I feel as a left- hander I can attack and be aggressive, and I ended up making a 2 there that led to the final round charge.

PHILLIPS: Wow, that's amazing. All right, maybe I have to start turning my clubs around and swinging the other way, maybe. Maybe I just need your help. But anyway, let's move on to baseball. We have got to talk about this. You actually tried out for triple-A. We're actually going to throw in a few pictures from when you played Little League, but tell me about this day, tried to make the Mudhens. And if you would have made the team would you have given up golf?

MICKELSON: Well, Kyra, what it was was just a couple of days to spend with the team. I wanted to try to fulfill a dream and just throw some pitches in a game. And that was kind of the gist of it. It's not as though I wanted to change careers by any means. But it was just fun. The Majors last year had ended and I didn't have a very good year last year. And it was a fun distraction for me to get my mind off of golf and give me some time to kind of refocus on my goals and have fun. And who would not love to spend three days in the dugout of a professional team? I had a lot of fun doing it. I was able to take batting practice, field fly balls, throw to some hitters. It was just a great couple of days.

PHILLIPS: So the golf swing didn't mess up the swing of the bat?

MICKELSON: I'm not much of a hitter, especially against Major League pitching, but batting practice I was OK.

PHILLIPS: All right, very good. All right. So you can actually see the pictures there on the screen that we're bringing up, right?

MICKELSON: Yes.

PHILLIPS: OK. So this next picture, you want to tell me what's up with the Superman costume?

MICKELSON: You had to pull that one up, huh, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Yes I am. I was digging. I was looking. You're pretty studly there. It's kind of cute. Who talked you into that?

MICKELSON: I don't know what to say. You have me speechless on that one. I just -- I wish that you had chosen another picture.

PHILLIPS: Well, actually, I did choose another one, funny that you should mention that. Tell me about your little debut as the Village People.

MICKELSON: Oh, you brought up another cute one. That's great. We did a charity auction or charity deal in Phoenix to help raise some money for some of the tour wives. And we had a few players dress up. Paul Azinger, Mark Calcavecchia, Jesper Parnevik dressed up, Billy Mayfair dressed up. And we put on a little rendition there. It was actually a lot of fun. I'm not as embarrassed about that as I am about that Superman picture.

PHILLIPS: Well, you know, when you think of Parnevik and his dressing, there's just no comparison. But well, you mentioned some special people. We have got to talk about Amy. I love this picture of when she caddied for you. This is actually your honeymoon picture. We had to bring that up. She's absolutely beautiful, and also an amazing mother. Let's talk about her as a caddie, though, what was that like?

MICKELSON: She carried it one hole, and she's five-three, and the rear part of the bag kept dragging. She had to kind of hold it up a little bit. It was fun doing it. It was one of those things that let's just do it a hole. I have got such a great caddie in Bones that I don't want to trade him in by any means. But Amy and I have such a fun relationship. We've been able to do a lot of fun things together, Kyra, outside of golf. She doesn't really play much golf. And so when I take time off we have a lot of other interests we do together. And actually we're looking forward to doing a couple of things in the next few weeks.

PHILLIPS: Really. What are those couple of things, any secrets here?

MICKELSON: Well, she's an excellent skier and so we might try to do a little spring skiing here in the next week or two. We love to go down to Mexico and vacation on the beach, spend a few days because it is so quiet down there, and there's some great resorts. So we're looking into that. We also love to go to Hawaii and spend a few days there. Our family just really enjoys a couple of places over there.

PHILLIPS: I've got to tell you, you have got the all-American family. And we have to talk about grandpa, someone who has been a tremendous influence in your life and he actually predicted this win, didn't he?

MICKELSON: He did. He was near the end over the holidays, and he ended up passing away in January at 97. But over the holidays he said that this was going to be the year that I was going to end up winning this Masters. And I had been kind of working towards it and so forth, but I really believe that he had some influence there. You saw that putt on the last hole, how it just caught the left lip and swirled around in. I believe he had something to do with that ball hanging in there.

PHILLIPS: You know what, I cannot disagree with that. Grandpas' spirits are pretty strong and pretty amazing. Phil, as we wind up, of course, I did a little more digging and had to bring up this final picture of how creative you are when it comes to putting. I think it's you and Ben Crenshaw there on the pool table. I'm just curious, what keeps you so down to earth and just -- you really do keep things in perspective. And things haven't gotten to you, as successful as you've been. How do you keep the humor, how do you keep that big smile on your face?

MICKELSON: Kyra, I live in almost a fantasy land. And I just -- I have so much fun with life. And that picture there was from the '96 PGA. I had a lead after 36 holes, but I wasn't putting well. And we were staying with the Crenshaws. And he helped me with my stroke a little bit.

But Kyra, we -- Amy and I have so much fun together. We've had so much fun with our kids. I've been very fortunate to play golf for a living. It's what people do for vacation and I get to do it as my vocation. It's just -- it's an incredible life and I just have so much fun every day that to be able to do things like play baseball for a couple of days or go skiing or whatever it is, I'm just so very lucky.

PHILLIPS: Well, you're a true role model. It has been a pleasure interviewing you. And not only are you a great American, I know you raise money for special operations with your Special Warrior Fund, we salute you for that. And congratulations on the win. And thanks so much for your time, Phil. We'll be watching you. We're a big fan of yours.

MICKELSON: Thank you, Kyra. That was very nice.

PHILLIPS: All right, take care.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: News across America now. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He hits it hard! He hits it deep! 660!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Into the bay it goes, hitting a milestone, Barry Bonds finally hilts his 660th home run. He does it at home, in 'Frisco, tying Willie Mays for third on baseball's all-time list. Now, afterwards Bonds was congratulated by Mays who just so happens to be his godfather.

In the hot seat, suspended coach Gary Barnett is being grilled today about whether the University of Colorado used sex parties to entice football recruits. Several women say they were raped by players.

The Show-Me State has a new crown jewel, 25-year-old Shandi Finnessey of Missouri is the new Miss USA. Finnessey holds two master's degrees and has published a children's book.

And one of the owners of the Miss USA Pageant, Donald Trump, has something of his own to celebrate, a raise. "The L.A. Times" reports Trump's salary will double for the second and third installments of "The Apprentice." That means he'll make a million dollars an episode. A million bucks.

PHILLIPS: Coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM... -- Miles, you get paid a million bucks, right?

O'BRIEN: Oh yes, sure.

PHILLIPS: We're LIVE FROM... the 9/11 Commission hearings and we expect things to heat up with the former acting director of the FBI's criticism of Attorney General John Ashcroft. That testimony and more when LIVE FROM... returns right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired April 13, 2004 - 13:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A French journalist has been kidnapped in Baghdad according to the French foreign ministry. The ministry has been advising French citizens in Iraq to leave the country because of the escalating dangers there.
Fallujah flairs up once again. Three U.S. troops wounded when their helicopter made an emergency landing after taking ground fire. Troops destroyed the chopper before the enemy could get to it. Meanwhile, a coalition spokesperson says an al Qaeda linked militant, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is believed to be in Fallujah or nearby.

Cindy McCain, wife of Senator John McCain, is hospitalized in Phoenix. She's reported in stable condition after suffering a small stroke which has mildly affected her speech. In a statement Senator McCain quotes his wife's doctors as saying her prognosis is cautiously optimistic.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: This afternoon the first man on the 9/11 Commission's hot seat is Thomas Pickard, acting FBI director after Louis Freeh resigned in the summer of 2001.

CNN's Bob Franken has a look at what to expect from Mr. Pickard. Hello, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, and what we're going to expect from him at some point, as well as a staff report that's going to precede his testimony, is criticism of Attorney General John Ashcroft.

The criticism being that he did not take seriously enough the terrorist threats in the summer of the year 2001 when Pickard was the acting FBI director. He, by the way, is going to be joined by Cofer Black, who was the head of the CIA's counter-terrorism operation.

Later in the day we're going to be hearing from John Ashcroft. He and his staff are saying that Ashcroft was plenty concerned, took specific actions that were aimed at preventing something like 9/11 from happening. Of course, they were not successful.

Now, this morning it was the Clinton administration that was really the focus, and the FBI director during that administration, Louis Freeh. Criticism of the FBI had been that because of the way it operated, because of its deficiencies, because of its unwillingness to share information, a lot of information that might have prevented September 11 did not get used properly.

Freeh said that was just second-guessing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOUIS FREEH, FMR. FBI DIRECTOR: September 11, had we had the right sources overseas or in the United States, could have been prevented. We did not have those sources. We did not have that telephone call. We didn't have that e-mail intercept that could have done the job. You get that by having sources, and you get sources by good investigations. You also prevent terrorism in that regard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: But now come the actions right before September 11, and the Bush administration. And the person who will be the focus is the one who will appear last this afternoon, the attorney general, John Ashcroft -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Bob Franken on Capitol Hill -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: With the ongoing 9/11 probe, increasing complications in Iraq, the economy, and an upcoming election, you might think the president already has enough on his plate. But add a side order of Mideast diplomacy as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon arrives in the U.S.

CNN's John Vause has more on Sharon's mission and the thorny issues it raises.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just hours before leaving for Washington, the Israeli prime minister celebrated the end of Passover. And Ariel Sharon may well have more reason to celebrate on Wednesday when he meets with President Bush, a meeting in which Sharon hopes to win American support for his so-called "disengagement plan."

ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): It is hard for me personally. I know each and every settlement in Gushka Tif (ph) in the Gaza Strip, as in Judea and Samaria. There were days I knew every family there. Believe me, this breaks my heart.

VAUSE: In return for withdrawing from Gaza, Israel is looking for two major concessions from the U.S.

RA'ANAN GISSIN, SENIOR SHARON ADVISER: This is the one that has the greatest potential of really being a visit that could be marked as providing an historical breakthrough in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

VAUSE: Ariel Sharon wants a U.S. assurance that a final peace deal will not force Israel to withdraw behind the pre-1967 border, the so-called Green Line. The Israelis see that as crucial to keeping major Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The Palestinians, backed by the U.N., say all settlements are illegal.

Ariel Sharon is also pushing the White House to deny hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and their descendants, who fled Israel during the 1948 war, their claim of right of return, a demand the Palestinians are unlikely to ever give up.

Any statement from the White House, even in general terms, would be a huge boost for Sharon and his bid to win party support for his disengagement plan. But Palestinians are already angered that the U.S. could make such concessions to Israel.

AHMED QOREI, PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): These issues should be the subject for discussions and should not be promised by the Americans.

VAUSE (on camera): For the Bush administration, it could be a difficult choice. Any show of support for Israel is likely to play badly in the Arab world, complicating the war in Iraq. But too little support for Israel could mean trouble at home, especially during an election year.

John Vause, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And we want to remind you that President Bush holds a rare formal news conference tonight at the White House. That speech, CNN will have complete live coverage, and he'll take questions from White House reporters, 8:00 is when our coverage starts, 8:30 Eastern time is when President Bush is expected to begin.

And the president remains under political pressure from the 9/11 hearings and the escalating violence in Iraq. What he says in tonight's primetime news conference that could lighten the load, well, CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider now has some thoughts on that - Miles.

O'BRIEN: OK. That was kind of odd.

Hello, Bill Schneider. I guess we're doing a joint introduction here today. It's nice to see you. Thanks for dropping by. Let us talk about presidential news conferences, formal news conferences. Generally they occur when either times are very good or times are very bad. I guess it's obvious the situation Mr. Bush is in right now.

Why is that, though?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Bad on three fronts, really. He's facing deteriorating conditions in Iraq. He's facing a very tough investigation by the 9/11 Commission that has thrown him and his administration on the defensive politically for the first time about 9/11, and what they did or did not do to try to help prevent terrorist attacks on the United States. And, third, the economy.

Now you might think on the economy the news has been pretty good. The reports were that 308,000 jobs were created in March, which was the sign the administration has been waiting for of an economic turnaround. The jobs are being created at a very rapid clip. But what we're seeing is that the president's economic ratings have not gotten much of a boost, that's because Americans are also looking at another set of figures, and that's gasoline prices. Those are skyrocketing and Americans keep a very close watch on those prices. And they're very unhappy on that front.

O'BRIEN: You know, we called the White House earlier. We could barely get -- hear anything on the line because they had the grindstone going, sharpening the knives there. Obviously the press is lying in wait for this particular event, getting their most important questions together. What's the president doing today to get ready for this?

SCHNEIDER: He is practicing, trying to sit down with his aides, I'm certain. Of course, he has meetings with the prime minister of Israel, so that's obviously taking priority. But his preparation consists of sitting down with his aides and having them ask the questions that they anticipate reporters are going to ask, the toughest questions that they can think of to try to rehearse the president, make sure he has answers, because he has got to reassure the country, particularly on Iraq, that he's on top of things.

The most dangerous figure I've seen in any public opinion poll recently was the one that said most Americans no longer think that the Bush administration has a clear, well-thought-out plan for what to do in Iraq. That's very dangerous. Americans think we're doing the right things in Iraq. It wasn't a mistake to go there, but we're not doing it right. And they want some assurance that the situation is under control. And that's what the president has to do tonight at this press conference.

O'BRIEN: So bill, are there specific words the American public is looking for, or is there a general sense of tone and reaction, sort of a "we are in control" feel about it that will be enough to suffice for the Bush administration here?

SCHNEIDER: I think they're looking for confidence, for leadership from this president, because he has not been much in evidence for the past week. He's been in Crawford, Texas. He's been criticized for being out of the spotlight. Americans are being killed. Hostages are being taken. And they want to hear the president say, we know who the culprits are. We have the situation under control.

He said in passing on a couple of occasions, this is a band of thugs trying to disrupt the scene in Iraq before the turnover of power. Everything is on schedule for June 30 transfer of power. We know what we're doing there and you shouldn't have any doubts about that. That sense of confidence, of control, really is what Americans are waiting to hear from their president.

O'BRIEN: If you had one question you could give the president tonight, what would it be?

SCHNEIDER: Yes. Who are we going to turn over power to in Iraq? Is there a political authority that is capable of running the country starting June 30, because at this point I don't see who it is or who can take that kind of power? Is there some preparation being made to turn over power to somebody that we think is capable of running that country? That's what I'd like to know.

O'BRIEN: It's not an easy question to answer, is it?

SCHNEIDER: No, of course, it is not. But there has just been no evidence that there is a political authority capable of running the country. And what makes people nervous is, are we just going to let the situation deteriorate there? And wouldn't it become more dangerous, because a lot of the criticism of the president is that America is not safer as a result of this war? Yes, it was a good idea to get rid of Saddam Hussein. But if Iraq is becoming a nest of terrorists, particularly operatives from outside of Iraq, foreign terrorists who are coming to Baghdad and becoming involved in this Iraqi revolt, then the situation is far more dangerous. I think Americans want some reassurance that whatever we do in Iraq, it's going to be safer for the United States.

O'BRIEN: Bill Schneider, our political analyst, so good, so important, he needs two anchors to introduce him. Thank you very much, always a pleasure.

SCHNEIDER: My pleasure.

O'BRIEN: Kyra.

PHILLIPS: We like to add to the credibility of Bill.

All right. Coming up, we ask the tough questions of the non- left-handed, left-handed golfer. Would Masters champ Phil Mickelson give up golf for baseball? I have got the exclusive interview coming up next.

Also ahead, he is a bargain at any price. Now "The Donald" gets a raise. We'll tell you why. By the way, "you're fired" on LIVE FROM...

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it his time? Yes!

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PHILLIPS: From the eternal bridesmaid to the bride in one birdie, Phil Mickelson mastering the Masters and winning his first major tournament. And the man who is probably still grinning about the green jacket joins me now from La Jolla, California, to talk about golf, a good cause, and the day he almost became a Mudhen.

Phil, great to see you.

PHIL MICKELSON, MASTERS CHAMPION: Kyra, thank you, it has been a fun couple of days. They tried to pry jacket off as I was leaving, but I would have none of it. I brought it with me.

PHILLIPS: Well, I wanted to say, I'm impressed with the T-shirt underneath. It is very hip.

MICKELSON: Well, I had to tone the color down. It might not be the most fashionable. They came up with it back in the '30s, but it sure feels good.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, speaking of the '30s, we're not going to go that far back, but I started going through your archives of a number of pictures. And, of course, this one. You know it's on your Web site, when you were two years old. It has got to be one of the cutest pictures I've ever seen. I'm digging the red socks. Take me back and tell me how it all started, the game of golf for you.

MICKELSON: Well, we have a pretty big backyard and my dad loved the game and he would hit shots. And before I could walk he would put me in front of him so he could keep an eye on me. And as he would hit shots right-handed, I picked it up left-handed. So in that picture there I was about two years old. And you could see that he cut down a club for me. And it was originally a right-handed club, but I started hitting it with the back of the club, eventually he turned it around and made it a left-handed club. And I would just hit balls in the back yard. And finally when I was five years old he took me to a big course.

PHILLIPS: That's amazing. Do you think you have an advantage by being a lefty?

MICKELSON: I don't know if it's an advantage or not. I don't think it matters what side of the ball you stand on, but there are certain shots I feel more comfortable on than say a right-hander. And really on the 12th hole at Augusta, it is a pin that I feel as a left- hander I can attack and be aggressive, and I ended up making a 2 there that led to the final round charge.

PHILLIPS: Wow, that's amazing. All right, maybe I have to start turning my clubs around and swinging the other way, maybe. Maybe I just need your help. But anyway, let's move on to baseball. We have got to talk about this. You actually tried out for triple-A. We're actually going to throw in a few pictures from when you played Little League, but tell me about this day, tried to make the Mudhens. And if you would have made the team would you have given up golf?

MICKELSON: Well, Kyra, what it was was just a couple of days to spend with the team. I wanted to try to fulfill a dream and just throw some pitches in a game. And that was kind of the gist of it. It's not as though I wanted to change careers by any means. But it was just fun. The Majors last year had ended and I didn't have a very good year last year. And it was a fun distraction for me to get my mind off of golf and give me some time to kind of refocus on my goals and have fun. And who would not love to spend three days in the dugout of a professional team? I had a lot of fun doing it. I was able to take batting practice, field fly balls, throw to some hitters. It was just a great couple of days.

PHILLIPS: So the golf swing didn't mess up the swing of the bat?

MICKELSON: I'm not much of a hitter, especially against Major League pitching, but batting practice I was OK.

PHILLIPS: All right, very good. All right. So you can actually see the pictures there on the screen that we're bringing up, right?

MICKELSON: Yes.

PHILLIPS: OK. So this next picture, you want to tell me what's up with the Superman costume?

MICKELSON: You had to pull that one up, huh, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Yes I am. I was digging. I was looking. You're pretty studly there. It's kind of cute. Who talked you into that?

MICKELSON: I don't know what to say. You have me speechless on that one. I just -- I wish that you had chosen another picture.

PHILLIPS: Well, actually, I did choose another one, funny that you should mention that. Tell me about your little debut as the Village People.

MICKELSON: Oh, you brought up another cute one. That's great. We did a charity auction or charity deal in Phoenix to help raise some money for some of the tour wives. And we had a few players dress up. Paul Azinger, Mark Calcavecchia, Jesper Parnevik dressed up, Billy Mayfair dressed up. And we put on a little rendition there. It was actually a lot of fun. I'm not as embarrassed about that as I am about that Superman picture.

PHILLIPS: Well, you know, when you think of Parnevik and his dressing, there's just no comparison. But well, you mentioned some special people. We have got to talk about Amy. I love this picture of when she caddied for you. This is actually your honeymoon picture. We had to bring that up. She's absolutely beautiful, and also an amazing mother. Let's talk about her as a caddie, though, what was that like?

MICKELSON: She carried it one hole, and she's five-three, and the rear part of the bag kept dragging. She had to kind of hold it up a little bit. It was fun doing it. It was one of those things that let's just do it a hole. I have got such a great caddie in Bones that I don't want to trade him in by any means. But Amy and I have such a fun relationship. We've been able to do a lot of fun things together, Kyra, outside of golf. She doesn't really play much golf. And so when I take time off we have a lot of other interests we do together. And actually we're looking forward to doing a couple of things in the next few weeks.

PHILLIPS: Really. What are those couple of things, any secrets here?

MICKELSON: Well, she's an excellent skier and so we might try to do a little spring skiing here in the next week or two. We love to go down to Mexico and vacation on the beach, spend a few days because it is so quiet down there, and there's some great resorts. So we're looking into that. We also love to go to Hawaii and spend a few days there. Our family just really enjoys a couple of places over there.

PHILLIPS: I've got to tell you, you have got the all-American family. And we have to talk about grandpa, someone who has been a tremendous influence in your life and he actually predicted this win, didn't he?

MICKELSON: He did. He was near the end over the holidays, and he ended up passing away in January at 97. But over the holidays he said that this was going to be the year that I was going to end up winning this Masters. And I had been kind of working towards it and so forth, but I really believe that he had some influence there. You saw that putt on the last hole, how it just caught the left lip and swirled around in. I believe he had something to do with that ball hanging in there.

PHILLIPS: You know what, I cannot disagree with that. Grandpas' spirits are pretty strong and pretty amazing. Phil, as we wind up, of course, I did a little more digging and had to bring up this final picture of how creative you are when it comes to putting. I think it's you and Ben Crenshaw there on the pool table. I'm just curious, what keeps you so down to earth and just -- you really do keep things in perspective. And things haven't gotten to you, as successful as you've been. How do you keep the humor, how do you keep that big smile on your face?

MICKELSON: Kyra, I live in almost a fantasy land. And I just -- I have so much fun with life. And that picture there was from the '96 PGA. I had a lead after 36 holes, but I wasn't putting well. And we were staying with the Crenshaws. And he helped me with my stroke a little bit.

But Kyra, we -- Amy and I have so much fun together. We've had so much fun with our kids. I've been very fortunate to play golf for a living. It's what people do for vacation and I get to do it as my vocation. It's just -- it's an incredible life and I just have so much fun every day that to be able to do things like play baseball for a couple of days or go skiing or whatever it is, I'm just so very lucky.

PHILLIPS: Well, you're a true role model. It has been a pleasure interviewing you. And not only are you a great American, I know you raise money for special operations with your Special Warrior Fund, we salute you for that. And congratulations on the win. And thanks so much for your time, Phil. We'll be watching you. We're a big fan of yours.

MICKELSON: Thank you, Kyra. That was very nice.

PHILLIPS: All right, take care.

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O'BRIEN: News across America now. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He hits it hard! He hits it deep! 660!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Into the bay it goes, hitting a milestone, Barry Bonds finally hilts his 660th home run. He does it at home, in 'Frisco, tying Willie Mays for third on baseball's all-time list. Now, afterwards Bonds was congratulated by Mays who just so happens to be his godfather.

In the hot seat, suspended coach Gary Barnett is being grilled today about whether the University of Colorado used sex parties to entice football recruits. Several women say they were raped by players.

The Show-Me State has a new crown jewel, 25-year-old Shandi Finnessey of Missouri is the new Miss USA. Finnessey holds two master's degrees and has published a children's book.

And one of the owners of the Miss USA Pageant, Donald Trump, has something of his own to celebrate, a raise. "The L.A. Times" reports Trump's salary will double for the second and third installments of "The Apprentice." That means he'll make a million dollars an episode. A million bucks.

PHILLIPS: Coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM... -- Miles, you get paid a million bucks, right?

O'BRIEN: Oh yes, sure.

PHILLIPS: We're LIVE FROM... the 9/11 Commission hearings and we expect things to heat up with the former acting director of the FBI's criticism of Attorney General John Ashcroft. That testimony and more when LIVE FROM... returns right after this.

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