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Interrogating Detainees, Papers Outline Approved Gitmo Techniques

Aired June 22, 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: Another top story we're following for you. The Pentagon plans to release a series of memos on interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay prison camp.
Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins us now with an update -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, CNN is correcting a story that we initially broadcast last night that said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had approved a controversial interrogation technique known as "water boarding" for detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison facility. That information came from a senior defense official, who now says the memos, when they're released later today, will show, in fact, that Rumsfeld never authorized that procedure.

It was on a list of aggressive interrogation techniques that was requested by interrogators at Guantanamo that included convincing detainees that death or severe pain could be imminent, exposure to cold weather or water, using a wet towel to induce a perception of suffocating or drowning, and mild non-injurious physical contact.

But the Defense Department says it's only that last bullet point -- the mild, non-injurious contact -- that Rumsfeld approved, and that was only to include things such as grabbing someone's arm, poking them in the chest or light shoving.

The initial CNN report provoked this reaction from Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who was on Capitol Hill this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY: I was in discussions with Secretary Rumsfeld, where he specifically ruled out the use of that kind of technique. I agree with you that how we treat people is important. I think it's particularly important with respect to the fact that we stand for something very different than the governments in that part of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: As I say, the initial information came from a discussion that I had with a senior defense official yesterday. Needless to say that there was either an honest misunderstanding, or CNN was misinformed by this official. But either way, the story did not turn out to be accurate, and that is why we're correcting it today, to reflect that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld did not approve the water boarding technique, according to the documents, which we now are told will be released in another about two hours or so -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK, Jamie, thanks so much. I know you're working your sources there at the Pentagon about the death of this South Korean hostage. We'll check back into you -- with you, rather, when you have information. Thanks -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, for a closer look at some of the tactics that may or may not be used by U.S. interrogator at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere, we're joined by our military intelligence analyst, Ken Robinson.

Let's talk specifically about Guantanamo. Those that are being detained there now, they're enemy combatant, not POWs. So, how are they supposed to be treated?

KEN ROBINSON, CNN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Humanely. That's consistent with the Geneva convention, the third Geneva convention, which does not apply to them, as a determination made by the executive branch of the government.

WHITFIELD: And because it doesn't apply to them, however, the Bush administration says it wants to adhere to the rules of the Geneva convention. Doesn't it also mean that humanely is left up to the interpretation of those who decide to apply the rule?

ROBINSON: That's the gray area right now is who is doing the interpreting. There's an enormous amount of oversight down at Guantanamo. There has been 25 congressional delegations, who have gone down, met with, spoken with prisoners, observed the interrogation process.

The International Red Cross, when it goes down there, it has traveled down there several time, and it stayed each time for almost a month at a time as it's been down there.

Now, the question is: Have they been in the interrogation rooms when interrogation techniques are applied? I can't speak to that. I don't know. But that is the issue here is: How does the United States government define its policy? Because we're now in a new area, enemy combatant.

Remember, when we fight a nation state, we fight according to the laws of land warfare. And that nation state agrees, as do all nations, to wear uniforms, to not attack women and children, to not do indiscriminate killings, all of the things that this foreign terrorist organization, al Qaeda, has done. And so, they're not affording them the same privileging a soldier would be afforded after capture.

WHITFIELD: So, is the U.S. military then commissioned with policing itself...

ROBINSON: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: ... when it comes down to Guantanamo?

ROBINSON: The chain of command, and that's the issue that's under investigation right now in Iraq with Abu Ghraib. A distinct that should be made is that everything that we saw -- the photographs, the abuses -- that were clear from Abu Ghraib were not being shown during an interrogation. They were shown during detention.

WHITFIELD: And as tactics to soften up for the preparations of interrogation.

ROBINSON: And that's the allegation the defense of the soldiers is making, that someone within the intelligence community at Abu Ghraib may have asked them to soften these prisoners up. And then someone else has said, well, then what they're doing is Gitmo-izing (ph) Abu Ghraib. But everything -- every source that I have spoken with, every senior person that's come from Guantanamo, has described a completely different situation.

From my own experience, I know -- and most experts that have talked about this in the last week -- have said torture doesn't work. What does work many times is the direct approach. But these prisoners in Guantanamo, many of them have been trained very skillfully in resistance to interrogation, very skillfully, many of them have not said anything and having been down there for two years.

WHITFIELD: And it's unclear if what is being said is actually, you know, the truth.

ROBINSON: Ass an example...

WHITFIELD: All right.

ROBINSON: ... people have been released and then have gone back into battle, into combat.

WHITFIELD: Ken Robinson, our military intelligence analyst, thanks a lot -- Kyra.

ROBINSON: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: His rise from poverty to the White House is truly inspiring. But some in his Oval Office -- some of his Oval Office hijinx, rather, not so much. Our spin team take on the man, the myth, the author, Bill Clinton.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: First the book; now the book tour. Hours after his memoirs went on sale, former President Bill Clinton is holding his first book signing. There you see it right there, live, signing those pictures like fans buying tickets to a rock concert. People camped out overnight outside the Barnes and Noble in midtown Manhattan.

And our Kelly Wallace is watching the crowd there. And some of those folks had umbrellas and all. They are there, rain or shine, aren't they, Kelly? KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They are. The rain is certainly not dampening any spirits around here, Fredricka. I have heard this described as Harry Potter for adults. It's certainly Clinton mania. He is -- you don't have to argue about it. He is definitely the hottest political author in America right at the moment, 1.5 advance copies printed, a record when it comes to a piece of nonfiction. A lot of excitement.

As the former president arrived heard in midtown Manhattan, oh, just about 45 minutes ago, he was about 20 minutes behind schedule. But for those of us who followed his presidency, we know he is notoriously late. Hundreds and hundreds of people waiting for hours, as many as 12 hours, in these lines, hoping to get an autographed copy from the former president.

As he arrived as this bookstore, he talked to reporters, and it appeared he was asked: What kind of message do you think readers should get from this book?

OK. We don't have that sound byte. But what he said was it's up to the readers to decide, that he wrote this book to try and talk about politics, to talk about the importance of it, to talk about bringing Democrats and Republicans together.

We know the initial reviews of this book were rather harsh. "The New York Times" calling it sloppy and self-indulgent. But, again, that has not kept people from coming here. We have been talking to people throughout the day, asking them why they came in the middle of the night. Some saying just because they loved Bill Clinton, others saying because they wanted to get a view, a witness to history. And many people saying they are just hoping, hoping, they're lucky enough to get their book signed by the president -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And, Kelly, it looks like folks are definitely taking advantage of a little face time with him, too, getting a chance to shake his hand, and even whisper a couple of words and have some interaction with the former president.

WALLACE: Exactly. And the interesting thing, Fredricka, the former president is slated to only be here for an hour. But we've been all talking amongst ourselves here, saying he's likely to be here for hours. This is a man, as you followed him around the country, especially at political events, he liked to shake every hand in that audience. So, we fully expect him to spend a lot of time here. Then he heads up to Harlem. This is the kickoff of a month-long book tour.

A lot of attention about whether he might be taking some attention away from the Democrat who is supposed to be on center stage right now, John Kerry. But Clinton supporters say no. As he goes around the country promoting his book, he'll also be promoting the Democratic Party and the presumptive Democratic nominee -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And when he heads up to the bookstore in Harlem, he'll be just a few doors away from where his office is located. All right, thanks a lot, Kelly Wallace, in midtown Manhattan -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: Well, as we told you earlier in the hours, Bill Clinton's memoir has just gone on sale -- or we just told you just now. To some, it's a first-hand account of history. To others, it's 900 pages of spin.

Here's the former president reading an excerpt on the audio version of that book.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

WILLIAM J. CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I woke up Hillary and told her the truth about what had happened between me and Monica Lewinsky. She looked at me as if I had punched her in the gut, almost as angry at me for lying to her in January as for what I had done. All I could do was tell her that I was sorry and that I felt I couldn't tell anyone, especially her, what had happened. I told her I loved her and I didn't want to hurt her or Chelsea, that I was ashamed of what I had done, and that I had kept everything to myself in an effort to avoid hurting my family and undermining the presidency.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Joining us now for some discussion on the manuscript and the man, author and GOP media strategist Eric Dezenhall, and Robbie Vorhaus, who, of course, is a journalist and media analyst also.

Gentlemen, good to see you both.

ROBBIE VORHAUS, MEDIA ANALYST: Hey, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, so we just heard the clip. Obviously, it's about Monica Lewinsky and apologizing to his wife. I mean, when it comes down to it, is that why everybody wants to read this book? Is it about riveting policy changes that he made, or is it about sex in the White House?

Well, sex sells and we know that. And, you know, there's an old African expression that says, "Until lions can afford historians, history is going to be written by the hunters." So, Bill Clinton has a $10 million advance. He has the bully pulpit. And he's writing his story the way he wants it to be told. And frankly, Kyra, he's writing his story the way we would all write our story, which is with the best possible spin that we could think of.

PHILLIPS: Eric?

ERIC DEZENHALL, GOP MEDIA STRATEGIST: The worse thing that could happen to an author is that you write a book that nobody wants to read. And so, the most important thing is that you get people to want to read it. We're living in an age where it's very celebrity-driven, very personality-driven. In a perfect world, we would probably want to hear about these high-minded policy things. But in the real world, we want to hear about Bill Clinton and his sex life. I'm not saying that that's a good thing. But he has to address that, and that is what the media are going to be in, initially. And I think it's way too early to really have a serious legacy discussion about Bill Clinton.

PHILLIPS: Well, here, you have the president, now the former president, coming forward and saying to everybody, try counseling before you give up. He starts giving advice. I mean, is this someone we're going to start seeing with a radio show or with Dr. Laura or maybe with Dr. Phil, in the relationship book series, Robbie?

VORHAUS: Well, we could see -- we're going to see a lot of Bill Clinton. He's a young man. He is a very vibrant man. And he is a very well-liked man. I mean, they're -- even for those who do not care for his presidency or what he did in office, there are still a lot of Americans who think the world of Bill Clinton.

And if you look at the lines that there are waiting for him -- and this is not going to be the first time, nor -- you know, Bill Clinton is -- if Hollywood were to try to come up with a character this complex, he wouldn't be believable, because you would say there is nobody that could be the president of the United States that could have this many flaws that has come from trailer park to impeachment, and still command lines around the block in Manhattan to read their book.

WHITFIELD: So, Eric, let's talk about what that means. He says he cheated because he could. He could. So, let me ask you, does that mean that power is so intoxicating you lose moral judgment and that's OK with everybody now?

DEZENHALL: Well, one of the things I find in crisis management is that people who have a lot of options in life take a lot of options. And the thing about somebody like Clinton is he's a man who has many options. What makes him so unique from a crisis management perspective is he's one of the only figures who the more you attack him, the stronger he gets. So, the whole idea that a negative review, whereas that would kills most of us, it really won't hurt Bill Clinton. And I think somebody like him, one of the reasons he has got away with so much of what he did is when we like you, we will cut you slack that if we don't like you we won't. It's more about likability than it is about spin.

PHILLIPS: Now, Eric, you make an interesting point. You say negative reviews. But, Robbie, I have not seen one -- and he's done a lot of interviews -- not one hard hitting interview where a journalist goes after him for his infidelity.

VORHAUS: Well, Kyra, there are two archetypes of people. One is the judge, and the judge, that type of a person always looks for what's wrong in what you do. And we all know those types of people. No matter how good it is what you do, those are the people who say, well, you could have done this better. The other archetype is the teacher. And the teacher is the type of person that always looks for what you've done right, what you've done well, and they're looking to how to make it better.

Now, if the media were to come down on Bill Clinton today, as a former president -- and he is, he's a former two-term president that did great things. He also did some not so great things. But he did do some great things. If we were to come down on him too hard today, it would be looked at as, No. 1, we were supporting -- we were anti- Bush, President Bush. We would be pro the Democratic Party. So, this is really more about what Bill Clinton is writing and whether or not we believe him.

PHILLIPS: Eric, is he going to help the Democratic Party? Can he help John Kerry?

DEZENHALL: I don't think that his book will have any impact one way or the other. I think Bill Clinton is a rock star independent of party. I think he transcends it. I think the whole idea that this book promotion is a Machiavellian plot to benefit his wife in some way is ridiculous. I just thought, Kyra, I'm a little hurt that all of these people lined up outside the bookstores. I thought they were there for my book, but I guess I'm self-deluded.

PHILLIPS: OK, go ahead.

VORHAUS: Hey, Kyra, let's not...

PHILLIPS: A shameless cheap plug, go ahead.

VORHAUS: Let's talk about Eric's book, "Shakedown Beach." It's a great book. Go to the bookstores. Buy it today.

PHILLIPS: Oh, boy, talk about spin. All right...

VORHAUS: Hey, we all support each other, don't we?

DEZENHALL: You will be well compensated.

VORHAUS: No, please.

PHILLIPS: Eric, if you talk sex and scandal, I'm sure we'll buy the book. Robbie Vorhaus, Eric Dezenhall, thanks, guys.

VORHAUS: Pleasure, Kyra, thank you.

PHILLIPS: All right.

WHITFIELD: Well, important health news for you. Are you stressing out? Your response to pressure now will affect your blood pressure later. That's after a break right here on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In health news, a new study finds young adults who keep their cool under stress are less likely to develop high blood pressure later on.

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us with these findings.

I like the way this sounds. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Interesting study.

WHITFIELD: Stay cool...

COHEN: Yes, stay cool.

WHITFIELD: ... to keep your blood pressure low.

COHEN: That's right. And it starts very early on in life. A lot of people think of blood pressure as a problem for later in life.

But what these researchers did is they took 4,000 people in their 20s, and they put them through stressful situations. They plunged their hands into freezing cold water. They had them do a very tough videogame.

And what they found is the ones who had blood pressure spikes during these stressful times while they were in their 20s were more likely to develop hypertension 20 years later. In fact, a 10 percent increased risk of hypertension in their 40s if they were very reactive in these stressful times.

And now, something that's interesting is that the bigger the spikes, the earlier the onset of that hypertension.

So, what this tells you is that it does matter how you deal with stressful situations. It might not affect you immediately, or it might just affect you immediately and not, let's say, next month or the month after that or the month after that, but it might affect you years later.

WHITFIELD: So, you've got to condition yourself to kind of stay calm. So, how can we test ourselves? Or how do we find out whether we really are a candidate for this, whether we need to calm down?

COHEN: Right, whether you need to worry about it or not. Well, unfortunately, you can't just go to your general practitioner and ask for that test that they did in the study. Your doctor is not going to put your hand in freezing cold water and see what happens to your blood pressure. But people probably have a pretty good idea for how they feel. Think about yourself in a stressful situation. Think about how you deal with it and think about how you can deal with it differently.

And hare are some other tips for preventing high blood pressure: Maintain a healthy weight, exercise, avoid too much salt, limit alcohol, and stop smoking. So, all of those good ways to stop high blood pressure before it even starts.

WHITFIELD: Family history is still a possibility, too, right? Influence?

COHEN: Important, too. Absolutely. And there's not much you can do about that. There's not anything you can do about that. But still, you can try to do some of these things to mitigate some of that family history. WHITFIELD: All right, Elizabeth Cohen.

COHEN: OK, thanks.

WHITFIELD: Thanks very much.

We all know now we've got to be cool. All right, we're going to be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, if you missed the top of the hour, we just want to update you on a breaking news story that we've continued to follow, and that is Iraqi militants have made good on a threat that they made regarding this South Korean hostage. This is 33-year-old businessman Kim Sun-il. He had been seen on videotape pleading for his life with Islamic extremists behind him, threatening that they would kill him unless South Korea pulled their troops out of Iraq. That, of course, did not happen. The government refused that demand, refused to negotiate.

And we now have been reporting that this young hostage that was abducted a week ago has indeed been killed.

We'll continue to follow that story and much more news as the second hour of LIVE FROM begins right now.

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 June 22, 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: Another top story we're following for you. The Pentagon plans to release a series of memos on interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay prison camp.
Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins us now with an update -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, CNN is correcting a story that we initially broadcast last night that said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had approved a controversial interrogation technique known as "water boarding" for detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison facility. That information came from a senior defense official, who now says the memos, when they're released later today, will show, in fact, that Rumsfeld never authorized that procedure.

It was on a list of aggressive interrogation techniques that was requested by interrogators at Guantanamo that included convincing detainees that death or severe pain could be imminent, exposure to cold weather or water, using a wet towel to induce a perception of suffocating or drowning, and mild non-injurious physical contact.

But the Defense Department says it's only that last bullet point -- the mild, non-injurious contact -- that Rumsfeld approved, and that was only to include things such as grabbing someone's arm, poking them in the chest or light shoving.

The initial CNN report provoked this reaction from Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who was on Capitol Hill this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY: I was in discussions with Secretary Rumsfeld, where he specifically ruled out the use of that kind of technique. I agree with you that how we treat people is important. I think it's particularly important with respect to the fact that we stand for something very different than the governments in that part of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: As I say, the initial information came from a discussion that I had with a senior defense official yesterday. Needless to say that there was either an honest misunderstanding, or CNN was misinformed by this official. But either way, the story did not turn out to be accurate, and that is why we're correcting it today, to reflect that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld did not approve the water boarding technique, according to the documents, which we now are told will be released in another about two hours or so -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK, Jamie, thanks so much. I know you're working your sources there at the Pentagon about the death of this South Korean hostage. We'll check back into you -- with you, rather, when you have information. Thanks -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, for a closer look at some of the tactics that may or may not be used by U.S. interrogator at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere, we're joined by our military intelligence analyst, Ken Robinson.

Let's talk specifically about Guantanamo. Those that are being detained there now, they're enemy combatant, not POWs. So, how are they supposed to be treated?

KEN ROBINSON, CNN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Humanely. That's consistent with the Geneva convention, the third Geneva convention, which does not apply to them, as a determination made by the executive branch of the government.

WHITFIELD: And because it doesn't apply to them, however, the Bush administration says it wants to adhere to the rules of the Geneva convention. Doesn't it also mean that humanely is left up to the interpretation of those who decide to apply the rule?

ROBINSON: That's the gray area right now is who is doing the interpreting. There's an enormous amount of oversight down at Guantanamo. There has been 25 congressional delegations, who have gone down, met with, spoken with prisoners, observed the interrogation process.

The International Red Cross, when it goes down there, it has traveled down there several time, and it stayed each time for almost a month at a time as it's been down there.

Now, the question is: Have they been in the interrogation rooms when interrogation techniques are applied? I can't speak to that. I don't know. But that is the issue here is: How does the United States government define its policy? Because we're now in a new area, enemy combatant.

Remember, when we fight a nation state, we fight according to the laws of land warfare. And that nation state agrees, as do all nations, to wear uniforms, to not attack women and children, to not do indiscriminate killings, all of the things that this foreign terrorist organization, al Qaeda, has done. And so, they're not affording them the same privileging a soldier would be afforded after capture.

WHITFIELD: So, is the U.S. military then commissioned with policing itself...

ROBINSON: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: ... when it comes down to Guantanamo?

ROBINSON: The chain of command, and that's the issue that's under investigation right now in Iraq with Abu Ghraib. A distinct that should be made is that everything that we saw -- the photographs, the abuses -- that were clear from Abu Ghraib were not being shown during an interrogation. They were shown during detention.

WHITFIELD: And as tactics to soften up for the preparations of interrogation.

ROBINSON: And that's the allegation the defense of the soldiers is making, that someone within the intelligence community at Abu Ghraib may have asked them to soften these prisoners up. And then someone else has said, well, then what they're doing is Gitmo-izing (ph) Abu Ghraib. But everything -- every source that I have spoken with, every senior person that's come from Guantanamo, has described a completely different situation.

From my own experience, I know -- and most experts that have talked about this in the last week -- have said torture doesn't work. What does work many times is the direct approach. But these prisoners in Guantanamo, many of them have been trained very skillfully in resistance to interrogation, very skillfully, many of them have not said anything and having been down there for two years.

WHITFIELD: And it's unclear if what is being said is actually, you know, the truth.

ROBINSON: Ass an example...

WHITFIELD: All right.

ROBINSON: ... people have been released and then have gone back into battle, into combat.

WHITFIELD: Ken Robinson, our military intelligence analyst, thanks a lot -- Kyra.

ROBINSON: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: His rise from poverty to the White House is truly inspiring. But some in his Oval Office -- some of his Oval Office hijinx, rather, not so much. Our spin team take on the man, the myth, the author, Bill Clinton.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: First the book; now the book tour. Hours after his memoirs went on sale, former President Bill Clinton is holding his first book signing. There you see it right there, live, signing those pictures like fans buying tickets to a rock concert. People camped out overnight outside the Barnes and Noble in midtown Manhattan.

And our Kelly Wallace is watching the crowd there. And some of those folks had umbrellas and all. They are there, rain or shine, aren't they, Kelly? KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They are. The rain is certainly not dampening any spirits around here, Fredricka. I have heard this described as Harry Potter for adults. It's certainly Clinton mania. He is -- you don't have to argue about it. He is definitely the hottest political author in America right at the moment, 1.5 advance copies printed, a record when it comes to a piece of nonfiction. A lot of excitement.

As the former president arrived heard in midtown Manhattan, oh, just about 45 minutes ago, he was about 20 minutes behind schedule. But for those of us who followed his presidency, we know he is notoriously late. Hundreds and hundreds of people waiting for hours, as many as 12 hours, in these lines, hoping to get an autographed copy from the former president.

As he arrived as this bookstore, he talked to reporters, and it appeared he was asked: What kind of message do you think readers should get from this book?

OK. We don't have that sound byte. But what he said was it's up to the readers to decide, that he wrote this book to try and talk about politics, to talk about the importance of it, to talk about bringing Democrats and Republicans together.

We know the initial reviews of this book were rather harsh. "The New York Times" calling it sloppy and self-indulgent. But, again, that has not kept people from coming here. We have been talking to people throughout the day, asking them why they came in the middle of the night. Some saying just because they loved Bill Clinton, others saying because they wanted to get a view, a witness to history. And many people saying they are just hoping, hoping, they're lucky enough to get their book signed by the president -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And, Kelly, it looks like folks are definitely taking advantage of a little face time with him, too, getting a chance to shake his hand, and even whisper a couple of words and have some interaction with the former president.

WALLACE: Exactly. And the interesting thing, Fredricka, the former president is slated to only be here for an hour. But we've been all talking amongst ourselves here, saying he's likely to be here for hours. This is a man, as you followed him around the country, especially at political events, he liked to shake every hand in that audience. So, we fully expect him to spend a lot of time here. Then he heads up to Harlem. This is the kickoff of a month-long book tour.

A lot of attention about whether he might be taking some attention away from the Democrat who is supposed to be on center stage right now, John Kerry. But Clinton supporters say no. As he goes around the country promoting his book, he'll also be promoting the Democratic Party and the presumptive Democratic nominee -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And when he heads up to the bookstore in Harlem, he'll be just a few doors away from where his office is located. All right, thanks a lot, Kelly Wallace, in midtown Manhattan -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: Well, as we told you earlier in the hours, Bill Clinton's memoir has just gone on sale -- or we just told you just now. To some, it's a first-hand account of history. To others, it's 900 pages of spin.

Here's the former president reading an excerpt on the audio version of that book.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

WILLIAM J. CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I woke up Hillary and told her the truth about what had happened between me and Monica Lewinsky. She looked at me as if I had punched her in the gut, almost as angry at me for lying to her in January as for what I had done. All I could do was tell her that I was sorry and that I felt I couldn't tell anyone, especially her, what had happened. I told her I loved her and I didn't want to hurt her or Chelsea, that I was ashamed of what I had done, and that I had kept everything to myself in an effort to avoid hurting my family and undermining the presidency.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Joining us now for some discussion on the manuscript and the man, author and GOP media strategist Eric Dezenhall, and Robbie Vorhaus, who, of course, is a journalist and media analyst also.

Gentlemen, good to see you both.

ROBBIE VORHAUS, MEDIA ANALYST: Hey, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, so we just heard the clip. Obviously, it's about Monica Lewinsky and apologizing to his wife. I mean, when it comes down to it, is that why everybody wants to read this book? Is it about riveting policy changes that he made, or is it about sex in the White House?

Well, sex sells and we know that. And, you know, there's an old African expression that says, "Until lions can afford historians, history is going to be written by the hunters." So, Bill Clinton has a $10 million advance. He has the bully pulpit. And he's writing his story the way he wants it to be told. And frankly, Kyra, he's writing his story the way we would all write our story, which is with the best possible spin that we could think of.

PHILLIPS: Eric?

ERIC DEZENHALL, GOP MEDIA STRATEGIST: The worse thing that could happen to an author is that you write a book that nobody wants to read. And so, the most important thing is that you get people to want to read it. We're living in an age where it's very celebrity-driven, very personality-driven. In a perfect world, we would probably want to hear about these high-minded policy things. But in the real world, we want to hear about Bill Clinton and his sex life. I'm not saying that that's a good thing. But he has to address that, and that is what the media are going to be in, initially. And I think it's way too early to really have a serious legacy discussion about Bill Clinton.

PHILLIPS: Well, here, you have the president, now the former president, coming forward and saying to everybody, try counseling before you give up. He starts giving advice. I mean, is this someone we're going to start seeing with a radio show or with Dr. Laura or maybe with Dr. Phil, in the relationship book series, Robbie?

VORHAUS: Well, we could see -- we're going to see a lot of Bill Clinton. He's a young man. He is a very vibrant man. And he is a very well-liked man. I mean, they're -- even for those who do not care for his presidency or what he did in office, there are still a lot of Americans who think the world of Bill Clinton.

And if you look at the lines that there are waiting for him -- and this is not going to be the first time, nor -- you know, Bill Clinton is -- if Hollywood were to try to come up with a character this complex, he wouldn't be believable, because you would say there is nobody that could be the president of the United States that could have this many flaws that has come from trailer park to impeachment, and still command lines around the block in Manhattan to read their book.

WHITFIELD: So, Eric, let's talk about what that means. He says he cheated because he could. He could. So, let me ask you, does that mean that power is so intoxicating you lose moral judgment and that's OK with everybody now?

DEZENHALL: Well, one of the things I find in crisis management is that people who have a lot of options in life take a lot of options. And the thing about somebody like Clinton is he's a man who has many options. What makes him so unique from a crisis management perspective is he's one of the only figures who the more you attack him, the stronger he gets. So, the whole idea that a negative review, whereas that would kills most of us, it really won't hurt Bill Clinton. And I think somebody like him, one of the reasons he has got away with so much of what he did is when we like you, we will cut you slack that if we don't like you we won't. It's more about likability than it is about spin.

PHILLIPS: Now, Eric, you make an interesting point. You say negative reviews. But, Robbie, I have not seen one -- and he's done a lot of interviews -- not one hard hitting interview where a journalist goes after him for his infidelity.

VORHAUS: Well, Kyra, there are two archetypes of people. One is the judge, and the judge, that type of a person always looks for what's wrong in what you do. And we all know those types of people. No matter how good it is what you do, those are the people who say, well, you could have done this better. The other archetype is the teacher. And the teacher is the type of person that always looks for what you've done right, what you've done well, and they're looking to how to make it better.

Now, if the media were to come down on Bill Clinton today, as a former president -- and he is, he's a former two-term president that did great things. He also did some not so great things. But he did do some great things. If we were to come down on him too hard today, it would be looked at as, No. 1, we were supporting -- we were anti- Bush, President Bush. We would be pro the Democratic Party. So, this is really more about what Bill Clinton is writing and whether or not we believe him.

PHILLIPS: Eric, is he going to help the Democratic Party? Can he help John Kerry?

DEZENHALL: I don't think that his book will have any impact one way or the other. I think Bill Clinton is a rock star independent of party. I think he transcends it. I think the whole idea that this book promotion is a Machiavellian plot to benefit his wife in some way is ridiculous. I just thought, Kyra, I'm a little hurt that all of these people lined up outside the bookstores. I thought they were there for my book, but I guess I'm self-deluded.

PHILLIPS: OK, go ahead.

VORHAUS: Hey, Kyra, let's not...

PHILLIPS: A shameless cheap plug, go ahead.

VORHAUS: Let's talk about Eric's book, "Shakedown Beach." It's a great book. Go to the bookstores. Buy it today.

PHILLIPS: Oh, boy, talk about spin. All right...

VORHAUS: Hey, we all support each other, don't we?

DEZENHALL: You will be well compensated.

VORHAUS: No, please.

PHILLIPS: Eric, if you talk sex and scandal, I'm sure we'll buy the book. Robbie Vorhaus, Eric Dezenhall, thanks, guys.

VORHAUS: Pleasure, Kyra, thank you.

PHILLIPS: All right.

WHITFIELD: Well, important health news for you. Are you stressing out? Your response to pressure now will affect your blood pressure later. That's after a break right here on LIVE FROM.

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WHITFIELD: In health news, a new study finds young adults who keep their cool under stress are less likely to develop high blood pressure later on.

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us with these findings.

I like the way this sounds. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Interesting study.

WHITFIELD: Stay cool...

COHEN: Yes, stay cool.

WHITFIELD: ... to keep your blood pressure low.

COHEN: That's right. And it starts very early on in life. A lot of people think of blood pressure as a problem for later in life.

But what these researchers did is they took 4,000 people in their 20s, and they put them through stressful situations. They plunged their hands into freezing cold water. They had them do a very tough videogame.

And what they found is the ones who had blood pressure spikes during these stressful times while they were in their 20s were more likely to develop hypertension 20 years later. In fact, a 10 percent increased risk of hypertension in their 40s if they were very reactive in these stressful times.

And now, something that's interesting is that the bigger the spikes, the earlier the onset of that hypertension.

So, what this tells you is that it does matter how you deal with stressful situations. It might not affect you immediately, or it might just affect you immediately and not, let's say, next month or the month after that or the month after that, but it might affect you years later.

WHITFIELD: So, you've got to condition yourself to kind of stay calm. So, how can we test ourselves? Or how do we find out whether we really are a candidate for this, whether we need to calm down?

COHEN: Right, whether you need to worry about it or not. Well, unfortunately, you can't just go to your general practitioner and ask for that test that they did in the study. Your doctor is not going to put your hand in freezing cold water and see what happens to your blood pressure. But people probably have a pretty good idea for how they feel. Think about yourself in a stressful situation. Think about how you deal with it and think about how you can deal with it differently.

And hare are some other tips for preventing high blood pressure: Maintain a healthy weight, exercise, avoid too much salt, limit alcohol, and stop smoking. So, all of those good ways to stop high blood pressure before it even starts.

WHITFIELD: Family history is still a possibility, too, right? Influence?

COHEN: Important, too. Absolutely. And there's not much you can do about that. There's not anything you can do about that. But still, you can try to do some of these things to mitigate some of that family history. WHITFIELD: All right, Elizabeth Cohen.

COHEN: OK, thanks.

WHITFIELD: Thanks very much.

We all know now we've got to be cool. All right, we're going to be right back.

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PHILLIPS: Well, if you missed the top of the hour, we just want to update you on a breaking news story that we've continued to follow, and that is Iraqi militants have made good on a threat that they made regarding this South Korean hostage. This is 33-year-old businessman Kim Sun-il. He had been seen on videotape pleading for his life with Islamic extremists behind him, threatening that they would kill him unless South Korea pulled their troops out of Iraq. That, of course, did not happen. The government refused that demand, refused to negotiate.

And we now have been reporting that this young hostage that was abducted a week ago has indeed been killed.

We'll continue to follow that story and much more news as the second hour of LIVE FROM begins right now.

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