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Fight for Falluja; CIA Shakeup; New Study on Autism Gives Clues to Causes
Aired November 15, 2004 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I always indicated to him that I thought I would serve for one term.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of State Colin Powell on his way out. Who's on their way in to take his place? We'll go in-depth this hour.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Cloak and dagger at the CIA. A shakeup within the nation's top spy agency. We're live on that story.
PHILLIPS: CNN's Nic Robertson takes you inside the battle for the Falluja with the Marines' Charlie Company.
O'BRIEN: And he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Today a panel deciding whether the man who shot President Reagan deserves more freedom.
From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Philips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
O'BRIEN: A soldier's soldier, dean of diplomats, potential politician, and soon to be private citizen. Colin Powell, the secretary of state, whose star power seemingly exceeded his actual clout inside the White House, is now bowing out. And the president's closest global affairs confidante may, in fact, step in.
Let's listen to the secretary of state just a few moments ago live here on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: It has been my great honor and privilege to have been once again given the opportunity to serve my nation, and I'll always treasure the four years that I spent with President Bush and with the wonderful men and women of the Department of State. I think we've accomplished a great deal.
My purpose here today is not to give you a listing of what we have done over the last four years, but to just take note of the fact that, in recent weeks and months, President Bush and I have talked about foreign policy. And we've talked about what to do at the end of the first term. It has always been my intention that I would serve one term. And after we had a chance to have good and wholesome discussions on it, we came to the mutual agreement that it would be appropriate for me to leave at this time.
Now, I'm not leaving today. I've just offered my resignation. And I expect to act fully as secretary of state until the day that I do leave. And I suspect that will be a number of weeks, or a month or two, as my replacement goes through the confirmation process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Now to Iraq and the flight for Falluja. After one week, the U.S. military appears to have done what it set out to do, which was to break the insurgents' grip on that city, no matter what the cost.
CNN's Jane Arraf joins us live from Falluja, where even though it's mostly quiet, it's still extremely dangerous.
Jane, what's the latest?
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Kyra, you're absolutely right. They do say that they have defeated the insurgency. And what that means essentially is they control all sectors of the city. But it doesn't mean all of the insurgents are gone.
There are still lone gunmen or small cells of insurgents operating here. And it's very easy to hide.
We're in the southwest sector -- southeast sector of Falluja, where they've essentially turned this entire neighborhood into a fortress: bunkers, tunnels, buildings rigged to explode. And as we've driven through, there has been scattered gunfire.
Gunmen popping out and shooting at the U.S. troops that we are with. But essentially most of the cells have either been killed or they surrendered. Not a lot of surrenders here. These are the hard- core fighters, a lot of foreign fighters as well, and most of them have been killed rather than surrendering -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jane, reports here throughout the morning and overnight, we've been reading about numbers or just scores of dead bodies in the area of Falluja. Also, the Red Crescent unable to get in, help civilians that have been injured, or tend to those that need any type of water or food. What can you tell us about that?
ARRAF: Well, in this part of the city, Kyra, in the southeast and in the northeast that we have been through, this city has been cleared of civilians long ago. The insurgents took complete control of this area, drove out the civilians, and essentially laid bombs all the way through it.
In other parts of the city, there are small groups of civilians. And a Marine colonel tells us that they are starting to come out. And they're going to two mosques that they've set up and another distribution sector for food and water. But one of the problems is that, as they come out, they are being targeted by snipers.
The colonel tells us that one man was killed as he was standing in line waiting for food at a mosque. Another Iraqi official tells us that a woman was killed in a similar fashion, shot by a sniper as she was lining up for food as well. The insurgents still clearly mixed in with the civilian population in some parts of the city -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: How are the Iraqi troops and the U.S. troops getting along? How have you -- what have been some of your observations, seeing these two groups of soldiers working together for the first time in a pretty big offensive?
ARRAF: Well, Samarra, which was another battle, was kind of test case in terms of bringing in large numbers of Iraqi forces. And it seems to be working well.
The Iraqis are doing things the Americans can't. They have gone in and taken control of mosques and other sensitive sites, and they're going neighborhood to neighborhood.
They are the people who are interrogating Iraqi prisoners, for instance. They are the people who are getting prisoners to surrender in many cases. And when they are surrendering, they are not as well- trained as they could be, they're not as well-equipped as they could be, but it is definitely a start.
The big question is, though, the American forces, when they leave, they will have to hand over to Iraqi security forces. And it's not at all clear that there are enough of them or that they're strong enough to really take control of Falluja when the Americans do leave -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jane Arraf via phone there out of Falluja. She's embedded there with troops. We'll continue to check in with you. Thanks, Jane -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: In Washington today, more departures than at Reagan National Airport inside the Bush administration. You know about the cabinet posts, but the doors are swinging in Langley, Virginia, as well.
Sources telling CNN the top two leaders of the CIA's cloak and dagger division -- it's not officially called that, of course -- the cloak and dagger division quit today after clashes with the agency's new director, Porter Goss.
CNN's David Ensor keeps tabs on all matters cloak and dagger. He joins us now from Washington.
David, what's the latest?
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, as you say, these two gentlemen have resigned, have announced they are leaving the agency. This has not been confirmed by the CIA, but sources are saying that Stephen Kappes and Michael J. Sulick, who were the director and deputy director of operations -- the deputy director of operations and the associate deputy director of operations are their titles.
They're in charge of spies. They're in charge of human intelligence, of the collection of intelligence by -- by people at the CIA. And they have both resigned apparently after some -- some pretty negative exchanges with Patrick Murray, who is the chief of staff at the CIA now. He was brought over by Porter Goss, the new director of central intelligence.
Intelligence professionals described Mr. Murray as an abrasive person, difficult to work with, in their view. So now these two top men have left, and that follows a couple of other resignations last week. A lot of change going on now at the CIA.
I spoke earlier today to another man who left last week. He is Michael Scheuer. He is the author of "Imperial Hubris," a book about the Bush administration and the pursuit of the war on terror, which he's very critical of.
He was Mr. Anonymous until last week, when he resigned, and now he's Michael Scheuer, a 22-year veteran of the CIA. He says it's -- there's turmoil at the agency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL SCHEUER, FMR. HEAD OSAMA BIN LADEN UNIT, CIA: I think that there's a little agitation, surely. There's always a lot of apprehension when a new management team takes over. And the rumors have been pretty much rife for the last two weeks that heads were going to roll or heads were not going to roll. So I think there is -- it's safe to say that there's a degree of agitation with the agency.
ENSOR: Well, what do you expect next from al Qaeda?
SCHEUER: I think al Qaeda is just waiting to attack us again at a time of its choosing with a weapon of some kind. But surely trying to cause casualties and economic damage larger than the 9/11 attacks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: Michael Scheuer, just one of a number of people who have left the CIA in the last few weeks. And it looks like there may be more departures soon -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: David, you say there's turmoil inside the ranks there. I guess that should be natural. Of course we should remind folks that Porter Goss went to Langley as an agent for change, and here comes the change.
ENSOR: That's right. It's his job to bring -- to put in the people he thinks he needs and improve the Central Intelligence Agency after criticism over the 9/11 matter and over Iraq intelligence on weapons of mass destruction.
He certainly has a mandate to do that. The president is backing him up. At the same time, insiders say that some of the personnel he brought over from the Hill to help him are abrasive and are making things more difficult than they should be -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. We'll be watching it with your help. David Ensor, thank you -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: More on our top story ahead -- straight ahead. Colin Powell, secretary of state, resigns. We'll go in-depth.
Also, he shot a president to impress actress Jodie Foster. Should he be allowed to be unsupervised when he goes home? That question facing a panel studying the John Hinckley case.
Unlocking the mystery of autism. New discoveries offering new hope for the thousands of children with the condition.
And later, another intense day in the life of the Marines of Charlie Company as they fight the door-to-door battle in Falluja. We've got the exclusive.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: More now in the shakeup in President Bush's second term. Secretary of State Colin Powell giving his resignation today. Andrea Koppel live at the State Department with more on what happened today and what will happen in the future -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, that's right. Secretary Powell delivered his letter to the president on Friday, but the news of that letter was only leaked today.
Secretary Powell, of course, only one of four of the president's cabinet members who announced that they would be leaving the administration come the second term. Among them, Rod Paige, the secretary of Education; Spencer Abraham, the Energy secretary; and Ann Veneman, who is the secretary of Agricultural. But without a doubt, with all due respect to the other three, Secretary Powell's departure is really the headline grabber today.
He was the most popular member of the -- of the president's cabinet. In April, when there were -- when there were polls taken, he was getting 68 percent of the public's support for -- for what he had on it.
There was a lot of expectation when Secretary Powell first came into office four years ago, right where I'm standing right now, greeted about as close to the welcome that a rock star for a cabinet official would get. But I think that when you talk to State Department officials, and you look at the record that Secretary Powell had had over the last four years, there was a certain amount of disappointment in what Secretary Powell was able to achieve.
This is what secretary Powell had to say a short time ago here at the State Department as to the decision that was made by the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) POWELL: In the course of the year, frankly, we have talked about the second term. And I had always indicated to him that I thought I would serve for one term. And as we got closer to the election, and the immediate aftermath of the election, it seemed the appropriate time, and we were in mutual agreement that it was the appropriate time for me to move on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: While there was no secret over the last number of months that Secretary Powell was tired of being the often lone voice who was pushing for more diplomacy against the more conservative hard-line voices in the president's cabinet over at the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, and within the White House itself, with the vice president, having said that, in recent weeks and certainly in recent days, among the secretary's aides that I did speak with, there was an indication and the suggestion, Kyra, that if the president had asked Secretary Powell to stay around a little longer, he would have liked to have done that.
Now, with the opening on the Israeli-Palestinian front, with the passing of Yasser Arafat, and certainly on the horizon with Iraq elections there, Secretary Powell felt that there was perhaps some openings for him that he might have been able to leave on a more positive note -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Andrea, when you talk with your sources, and just looking back at the past week and looking at the six members of the Bush administration now that have stepped down, is this viewed as highly unusual? Was this expected? And also, when talking about filling the shoes of Colin Powell, what are the names you're hearing tossed around there?
KOPPEL: Well, certainly whenever a president has his term extended, it is not unusual for there to be some new blood that's injected for a variety of reasons. Among them, that the cabinet officials who are there are just tired.
They -- they put in 24-7 over here, and they oftentimes want to go back out into the private sector just to rest. That doesn't mean to say that that would always be the case with each replacement. Sometimes the president decides that he wants to have a new direction from the one that was pushed by the secretary who is in that position.
Having said that, in answer to your question, the name that is being floated around most frequently right now for replacement for Secretary Powell is the president's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Andrea Koppel live there from the State Department. Sorry about that, Andrea. I thought we were going to hear some sound from Condoleezza Rice, maybe a big acceptance of filling those shoes. We'll wait and see if anything comes about.
Andrea Koppel, thanks -- Miles. O'BRIEN: Medical researchers say a new study could put scientists a step closer to discovering what causes autism in children. CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us now with details.
Hello, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi.
You know, autism is such a devastating illness. Anyone who has ever met anyone who is autistic knows that. And it's also such a mystery. Scientists just aren't sure why do some children become autistic while others don't?
Well, what scientists decided to do is they decided to look at autistic people who had died, and they looked at their brain tissue. And what they found is -- from the brain tissue -- is that some element of the immune system had become activated in a way that hadn't become activated in people without autism.
It's a very intriguing finding. They're not sure why this is or how this might lead to a treatment.
Now, specifically what they found is that neuroinflammatory cells are overactive in autistic people, and that this produces some of the same brain function chemicals as in diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. So there appears to perhaps be some relationship between all of these diseases.
Now, again, this -- they haven't found the cause. That hasn't happened yet. But what this is a little piece of the puzzle that might help them find the cause and might help them find a treatment.
O'BRIEN: Now, I know a lot of parents over the years have had some concerns about vaccines being a possible cause. What do we know about that?
COHEN: Right, many parents of autistic children have said, look, we think it's the fact that kids get so many vaccines and get so many all at one time in one shot, we think that's what causes autism. Well, researchers have gone back and forth over this, and several studies have been issued, including a huge one from the Institute of Medicine.
And they say no, it's not the vaccines. Vaccines don't cause autism. The thimerosal, which is the preservative in the vaccine they say that doesn't cause it. So the scientific community, there's a -- still some back and forth, but it's been pretty steady that it's not vaccines.
O'BRIEN: So that one's more or less been settled. Of course there's always people who will quibble with that.
COHEN: Right, of course.
O'BRIEN: It is science, after all. For parents, though, obviously this develops very young. What are the warning signs they can look for? COHEN: Right. There are certain things that parents want to look out for and to take the child to the pediatrician if they have any questions.
The first thing that you want to look out for is if a child is not babbling at one year or if a child begins developing language but then stops abruptly. If a child doesn't respond to his or her own name but does have normal hearing, or if a child avoids eye contact. Now, it's important to say that a child could have these things and not be autistic, but these are the signs that make you say, hey, let's check it out.
O'BRIEN: All right. So don't panic but don't overlook it.
COHEN: Right. Get to the doctor.
O'BRIEN: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.
COHEN: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Serious subject. Appreciate it.
What you're about to see the start of a 50-year run, 50 years on network television.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Face the Nation." Through the eyes of this television camera, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, Republican of Wisconsin, with correspondents across the country questioning him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: All right. We will face the current host of "Face the Nation," Bob Schieffer, with his own long run on network television. We'll talk about his new book about the show. It's called -- well, we'll let you guess what it's called. And we'll tell you how Ed Sullivan once tried to scoop their biggest interview.
Was it with Topo Jijo? I don't know.
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I'm Sibila Vargas in Hollywood. Everyone's talking about it, a raucous night at the American Music Awards. Plus I'll tell you which A-list star may be tapped to headline "The Da Vinci Code."
RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Rhonda Schaffler in New York. Are you dreading your next cross-country flight? One airline is looking to make your time in the skies a bit more fun. That's coming up right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: All right. There was a little controversy at the American Music Awards ceremony in Hollywood last night. With that, and all of the rest of our entertainment news from the weekend, here's CNN's Sibila Vargas.
Hello, Sibila.
VARGAS: Hi, Miles.
You know, you would think that winning all four categories in which he was nominated would make Usher the talk of last night's show. But there was plenty of competition for the spotlight at the AMAs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(APPLAUSE)
(BOOING)
USHER, RAPPER: The three superstars for favorite soul...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: The boos and cheers as he took stage to present an award, but it was a moment that may have been missed entirely by a stumbling Anna Nicole Smith, who had her own interesting way to introduce a performance by Kanye West.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNA NICOLE SMITH, ACTRESS: Make me beautiful duet because he's freakin' genius.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: And while Smith's intro did get Kanye West on stage for a smooth performance, things got a bit more rough back stage as the singer voice voiced his disappointment over losing the best new artist prize.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KANYE WEST, RAPPER: As far as best new artist, I felt like I was definitely robbed. And I refuse to give any political correct (EXPLETIVE DELETED) answer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: The AMAs are selected by a poll of 20,000 radio listeners. And when the poll was done, West was shot out of all three of his nominations.
Meanwhile, actor Tom Hanks has received his own nomination to headline the much anticipated "Da Vinci Code" movie. The two-time Academy Award winner is in talks with the director, Ron Howard, to star in the upcoming screen adaptation of the popular Dan Brown novel.
In the movie version, Hanks would like Robert Langdon, the professor who unravels the mystery of the holy grail. Hanks and Howard worked together on the highly successful "Splash" and "Apollo 13" -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. If you're watching the video, you have a hint to the answer of the next question. The question is who won, Tom Hanks' "Polar Express," or was it derailed by "The Incredibles?"
VARGAS: Oh, Miles, "The Polar Express" didn't have enough steam to arrive in first. It was second with about $23 million. Last week's top film, "The Incredibles," pulled in about $51 million, bringing it to an incredible two-week total of $144 million -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Incredible, indeed. All right. Sibila Vargas, thank you very much.
Boy, those American Music Award celebrities, whatever they are, class act, aren't they? Every last one.
VARGAS: They sure are. You know? You never know with these musicians.
O'BRIEN: Makes you love those Hollywood stars. Doesn't it? All right. Good to see you. Thanks for dropping by.
PHILLIPS: They don't make enough money. That's what the problem is.
O'BRIEN: I've got to tell you, that -- "I was robbed." She's drunk and saying incoherent things. It's really great -- a message to our young folk. All right.
PHILLIPS: Now, are we off our tirade?
O'BRIEN: Let's press on, shall we?
PHILLIPS: Let's move forward. Let's talk about those discount airlines taking -- we're going to have to explain that to our viewers. I don't look like Mao (ph). It's just a buckle.
O'BRIEN: OK. Go ahead.
PHILLIPS: Rhonda, let's talk about the carriers, OK, and what's happening with the discount airlines.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired November 15, 2004 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I always indicated to him that I thought I would serve for one term.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of State Colin Powell on his way out. Who's on their way in to take his place? We'll go in-depth this hour.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Cloak and dagger at the CIA. A shakeup within the nation's top spy agency. We're live on that story.
PHILLIPS: CNN's Nic Robertson takes you inside the battle for the Falluja with the Marines' Charlie Company.
O'BRIEN: And he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Today a panel deciding whether the man who shot President Reagan deserves more freedom.
From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Philips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
O'BRIEN: A soldier's soldier, dean of diplomats, potential politician, and soon to be private citizen. Colin Powell, the secretary of state, whose star power seemingly exceeded his actual clout inside the White House, is now bowing out. And the president's closest global affairs confidante may, in fact, step in.
Let's listen to the secretary of state just a few moments ago live here on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: It has been my great honor and privilege to have been once again given the opportunity to serve my nation, and I'll always treasure the four years that I spent with President Bush and with the wonderful men and women of the Department of State. I think we've accomplished a great deal.
My purpose here today is not to give you a listing of what we have done over the last four years, but to just take note of the fact that, in recent weeks and months, President Bush and I have talked about foreign policy. And we've talked about what to do at the end of the first term. It has always been my intention that I would serve one term. And after we had a chance to have good and wholesome discussions on it, we came to the mutual agreement that it would be appropriate for me to leave at this time.
Now, I'm not leaving today. I've just offered my resignation. And I expect to act fully as secretary of state until the day that I do leave. And I suspect that will be a number of weeks, or a month or two, as my replacement goes through the confirmation process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Now to Iraq and the flight for Falluja. After one week, the U.S. military appears to have done what it set out to do, which was to break the insurgents' grip on that city, no matter what the cost.
CNN's Jane Arraf joins us live from Falluja, where even though it's mostly quiet, it's still extremely dangerous.
Jane, what's the latest?
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Kyra, you're absolutely right. They do say that they have defeated the insurgency. And what that means essentially is they control all sectors of the city. But it doesn't mean all of the insurgents are gone.
There are still lone gunmen or small cells of insurgents operating here. And it's very easy to hide.
We're in the southwest sector -- southeast sector of Falluja, where they've essentially turned this entire neighborhood into a fortress: bunkers, tunnels, buildings rigged to explode. And as we've driven through, there has been scattered gunfire.
Gunmen popping out and shooting at the U.S. troops that we are with. But essentially most of the cells have either been killed or they surrendered. Not a lot of surrenders here. These are the hard- core fighters, a lot of foreign fighters as well, and most of them have been killed rather than surrendering -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jane, reports here throughout the morning and overnight, we've been reading about numbers or just scores of dead bodies in the area of Falluja. Also, the Red Crescent unable to get in, help civilians that have been injured, or tend to those that need any type of water or food. What can you tell us about that?
ARRAF: Well, in this part of the city, Kyra, in the southeast and in the northeast that we have been through, this city has been cleared of civilians long ago. The insurgents took complete control of this area, drove out the civilians, and essentially laid bombs all the way through it.
In other parts of the city, there are small groups of civilians. And a Marine colonel tells us that they are starting to come out. And they're going to two mosques that they've set up and another distribution sector for food and water. But one of the problems is that, as they come out, they are being targeted by snipers.
The colonel tells us that one man was killed as he was standing in line waiting for food at a mosque. Another Iraqi official tells us that a woman was killed in a similar fashion, shot by a sniper as she was lining up for food as well. The insurgents still clearly mixed in with the civilian population in some parts of the city -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: How are the Iraqi troops and the U.S. troops getting along? How have you -- what have been some of your observations, seeing these two groups of soldiers working together for the first time in a pretty big offensive?
ARRAF: Well, Samarra, which was another battle, was kind of test case in terms of bringing in large numbers of Iraqi forces. And it seems to be working well.
The Iraqis are doing things the Americans can't. They have gone in and taken control of mosques and other sensitive sites, and they're going neighborhood to neighborhood.
They are the people who are interrogating Iraqi prisoners, for instance. They are the people who are getting prisoners to surrender in many cases. And when they are surrendering, they are not as well- trained as they could be, they're not as well-equipped as they could be, but it is definitely a start.
The big question is, though, the American forces, when they leave, they will have to hand over to Iraqi security forces. And it's not at all clear that there are enough of them or that they're strong enough to really take control of Falluja when the Americans do leave -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jane Arraf via phone there out of Falluja. She's embedded there with troops. We'll continue to check in with you. Thanks, Jane -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: In Washington today, more departures than at Reagan National Airport inside the Bush administration. You know about the cabinet posts, but the doors are swinging in Langley, Virginia, as well.
Sources telling CNN the top two leaders of the CIA's cloak and dagger division -- it's not officially called that, of course -- the cloak and dagger division quit today after clashes with the agency's new director, Porter Goss.
CNN's David Ensor keeps tabs on all matters cloak and dagger. He joins us now from Washington.
David, what's the latest?
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, as you say, these two gentlemen have resigned, have announced they are leaving the agency. This has not been confirmed by the CIA, but sources are saying that Stephen Kappes and Michael J. Sulick, who were the director and deputy director of operations -- the deputy director of operations and the associate deputy director of operations are their titles.
They're in charge of spies. They're in charge of human intelligence, of the collection of intelligence by -- by people at the CIA. And they have both resigned apparently after some -- some pretty negative exchanges with Patrick Murray, who is the chief of staff at the CIA now. He was brought over by Porter Goss, the new director of central intelligence.
Intelligence professionals described Mr. Murray as an abrasive person, difficult to work with, in their view. So now these two top men have left, and that follows a couple of other resignations last week. A lot of change going on now at the CIA.
I spoke earlier today to another man who left last week. He is Michael Scheuer. He is the author of "Imperial Hubris," a book about the Bush administration and the pursuit of the war on terror, which he's very critical of.
He was Mr. Anonymous until last week, when he resigned, and now he's Michael Scheuer, a 22-year veteran of the CIA. He says it's -- there's turmoil at the agency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL SCHEUER, FMR. HEAD OSAMA BIN LADEN UNIT, CIA: I think that there's a little agitation, surely. There's always a lot of apprehension when a new management team takes over. And the rumors have been pretty much rife for the last two weeks that heads were going to roll or heads were not going to roll. So I think there is -- it's safe to say that there's a degree of agitation with the agency.
ENSOR: Well, what do you expect next from al Qaeda?
SCHEUER: I think al Qaeda is just waiting to attack us again at a time of its choosing with a weapon of some kind. But surely trying to cause casualties and economic damage larger than the 9/11 attacks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: Michael Scheuer, just one of a number of people who have left the CIA in the last few weeks. And it looks like there may be more departures soon -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: David, you say there's turmoil inside the ranks there. I guess that should be natural. Of course we should remind folks that Porter Goss went to Langley as an agent for change, and here comes the change.
ENSOR: That's right. It's his job to bring -- to put in the people he thinks he needs and improve the Central Intelligence Agency after criticism over the 9/11 matter and over Iraq intelligence on weapons of mass destruction.
He certainly has a mandate to do that. The president is backing him up. At the same time, insiders say that some of the personnel he brought over from the Hill to help him are abrasive and are making things more difficult than they should be -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. We'll be watching it with your help. David Ensor, thank you -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: More on our top story ahead -- straight ahead. Colin Powell, secretary of state, resigns. We'll go in-depth.
Also, he shot a president to impress actress Jodie Foster. Should he be allowed to be unsupervised when he goes home? That question facing a panel studying the John Hinckley case.
Unlocking the mystery of autism. New discoveries offering new hope for the thousands of children with the condition.
And later, another intense day in the life of the Marines of Charlie Company as they fight the door-to-door battle in Falluja. We've got the exclusive.
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PHILLIPS: More now in the shakeup in President Bush's second term. Secretary of State Colin Powell giving his resignation today. Andrea Koppel live at the State Department with more on what happened today and what will happen in the future -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, that's right. Secretary Powell delivered his letter to the president on Friday, but the news of that letter was only leaked today.
Secretary Powell, of course, only one of four of the president's cabinet members who announced that they would be leaving the administration come the second term. Among them, Rod Paige, the secretary of Education; Spencer Abraham, the Energy secretary; and Ann Veneman, who is the secretary of Agricultural. But without a doubt, with all due respect to the other three, Secretary Powell's departure is really the headline grabber today.
He was the most popular member of the -- of the president's cabinet. In April, when there were -- when there were polls taken, he was getting 68 percent of the public's support for -- for what he had on it.
There was a lot of expectation when Secretary Powell first came into office four years ago, right where I'm standing right now, greeted about as close to the welcome that a rock star for a cabinet official would get. But I think that when you talk to State Department officials, and you look at the record that Secretary Powell had had over the last four years, there was a certain amount of disappointment in what Secretary Powell was able to achieve.
This is what secretary Powell had to say a short time ago here at the State Department as to the decision that was made by the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) POWELL: In the course of the year, frankly, we have talked about the second term. And I had always indicated to him that I thought I would serve for one term. And as we got closer to the election, and the immediate aftermath of the election, it seemed the appropriate time, and we were in mutual agreement that it was the appropriate time for me to move on.
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KOPPEL: While there was no secret over the last number of months that Secretary Powell was tired of being the often lone voice who was pushing for more diplomacy against the more conservative hard-line voices in the president's cabinet over at the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, and within the White House itself, with the vice president, having said that, in recent weeks and certainly in recent days, among the secretary's aides that I did speak with, there was an indication and the suggestion, Kyra, that if the president had asked Secretary Powell to stay around a little longer, he would have liked to have done that.
Now, with the opening on the Israeli-Palestinian front, with the passing of Yasser Arafat, and certainly on the horizon with Iraq elections there, Secretary Powell felt that there was perhaps some openings for him that he might have been able to leave on a more positive note -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Andrea, when you talk with your sources, and just looking back at the past week and looking at the six members of the Bush administration now that have stepped down, is this viewed as highly unusual? Was this expected? And also, when talking about filling the shoes of Colin Powell, what are the names you're hearing tossed around there?
KOPPEL: Well, certainly whenever a president has his term extended, it is not unusual for there to be some new blood that's injected for a variety of reasons. Among them, that the cabinet officials who are there are just tired.
They -- they put in 24-7 over here, and they oftentimes want to go back out into the private sector just to rest. That doesn't mean to say that that would always be the case with each replacement. Sometimes the president decides that he wants to have a new direction from the one that was pushed by the secretary who is in that position.
Having said that, in answer to your question, the name that is being floated around most frequently right now for replacement for Secretary Powell is the president's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Andrea Koppel live there from the State Department. Sorry about that, Andrea. I thought we were going to hear some sound from Condoleezza Rice, maybe a big acceptance of filling those shoes. We'll wait and see if anything comes about.
Andrea Koppel, thanks -- Miles. O'BRIEN: Medical researchers say a new study could put scientists a step closer to discovering what causes autism in children. CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us now with details.
Hello, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi.
You know, autism is such a devastating illness. Anyone who has ever met anyone who is autistic knows that. And it's also such a mystery. Scientists just aren't sure why do some children become autistic while others don't?
Well, what scientists decided to do is they decided to look at autistic people who had died, and they looked at their brain tissue. And what they found is -- from the brain tissue -- is that some element of the immune system had become activated in a way that hadn't become activated in people without autism.
It's a very intriguing finding. They're not sure why this is or how this might lead to a treatment.
Now, specifically what they found is that neuroinflammatory cells are overactive in autistic people, and that this produces some of the same brain function chemicals as in diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. So there appears to perhaps be some relationship between all of these diseases.
Now, again, this -- they haven't found the cause. That hasn't happened yet. But what this is a little piece of the puzzle that might help them find the cause and might help them find a treatment.
O'BRIEN: Now, I know a lot of parents over the years have had some concerns about vaccines being a possible cause. What do we know about that?
COHEN: Right, many parents of autistic children have said, look, we think it's the fact that kids get so many vaccines and get so many all at one time in one shot, we think that's what causes autism. Well, researchers have gone back and forth over this, and several studies have been issued, including a huge one from the Institute of Medicine.
And they say no, it's not the vaccines. Vaccines don't cause autism. The thimerosal, which is the preservative in the vaccine they say that doesn't cause it. So the scientific community, there's a -- still some back and forth, but it's been pretty steady that it's not vaccines.
O'BRIEN: So that one's more or less been settled. Of course there's always people who will quibble with that.
COHEN: Right, of course.
O'BRIEN: It is science, after all. For parents, though, obviously this develops very young. What are the warning signs they can look for? COHEN: Right. There are certain things that parents want to look out for and to take the child to the pediatrician if they have any questions.
The first thing that you want to look out for is if a child is not babbling at one year or if a child begins developing language but then stops abruptly. If a child doesn't respond to his or her own name but does have normal hearing, or if a child avoids eye contact. Now, it's important to say that a child could have these things and not be autistic, but these are the signs that make you say, hey, let's check it out.
O'BRIEN: All right. So don't panic but don't overlook it.
COHEN: Right. Get to the doctor.
O'BRIEN: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.
COHEN: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Serious subject. Appreciate it.
What you're about to see the start of a 50-year run, 50 years on network television.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Face the Nation." Through the eyes of this television camera, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, Republican of Wisconsin, with correspondents across the country questioning him.
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O'BRIEN: All right. We will face the current host of "Face the Nation," Bob Schieffer, with his own long run on network television. We'll talk about his new book about the show. It's called -- well, we'll let you guess what it's called. And we'll tell you how Ed Sullivan once tried to scoop their biggest interview.
Was it with Topo Jijo? I don't know.
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I'm Sibila Vargas in Hollywood. Everyone's talking about it, a raucous night at the American Music Awards. Plus I'll tell you which A-list star may be tapped to headline "The Da Vinci Code."
RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Rhonda Schaffler in New York. Are you dreading your next cross-country flight? One airline is looking to make your time in the skies a bit more fun. That's coming up right after the break.
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O'BRIEN: All right. There was a little controversy at the American Music Awards ceremony in Hollywood last night. With that, and all of the rest of our entertainment news from the weekend, here's CNN's Sibila Vargas.
Hello, Sibila.
VARGAS: Hi, Miles.
You know, you would think that winning all four categories in which he was nominated would make Usher the talk of last night's show. But there was plenty of competition for the spotlight at the AMAs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(APPLAUSE)
(BOOING)
USHER, RAPPER: The three superstars for favorite soul...
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VARGAS: The boos and cheers as he took stage to present an award, but it was a moment that may have been missed entirely by a stumbling Anna Nicole Smith, who had her own interesting way to introduce a performance by Kanye West.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNA NICOLE SMITH, ACTRESS: Make me beautiful duet because he's freakin' genius.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: And while Smith's intro did get Kanye West on stage for a smooth performance, things got a bit more rough back stage as the singer voice voiced his disappointment over losing the best new artist prize.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KANYE WEST, RAPPER: As far as best new artist, I felt like I was definitely robbed. And I refuse to give any political correct (EXPLETIVE DELETED) answer.
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VARGAS: The AMAs are selected by a poll of 20,000 radio listeners. And when the poll was done, West was shot out of all three of his nominations.
Meanwhile, actor Tom Hanks has received his own nomination to headline the much anticipated "Da Vinci Code" movie. The two-time Academy Award winner is in talks with the director, Ron Howard, to star in the upcoming screen adaptation of the popular Dan Brown novel.
In the movie version, Hanks would like Robert Langdon, the professor who unravels the mystery of the holy grail. Hanks and Howard worked together on the highly successful "Splash" and "Apollo 13" -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. If you're watching the video, you have a hint to the answer of the next question. The question is who won, Tom Hanks' "Polar Express," or was it derailed by "The Incredibles?"
VARGAS: Oh, Miles, "The Polar Express" didn't have enough steam to arrive in first. It was second with about $23 million. Last week's top film, "The Incredibles," pulled in about $51 million, bringing it to an incredible two-week total of $144 million -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Incredible, indeed. All right. Sibila Vargas, thank you very much.
Boy, those American Music Award celebrities, whatever they are, class act, aren't they? Every last one.
VARGAS: They sure are. You know? You never know with these musicians.
O'BRIEN: Makes you love those Hollywood stars. Doesn't it? All right. Good to see you. Thanks for dropping by.
PHILLIPS: They don't make enough money. That's what the problem is.
O'BRIEN: I've got to tell you, that -- "I was robbed." She's drunk and saying incoherent things. It's really great -- a message to our young folk. All right.
PHILLIPS: Now, are we off our tirade?
O'BRIEN: Let's press on, shall we?
PHILLIPS: Let's move forward. Let's talk about those discount airlines taking -- we're going to have to explain that to our viewers. I don't look like Mao (ph). It's just a buckle.
O'BRIEN: OK. Go ahead.
PHILLIPS: Rhonda, let's talk about the carriers, OK, and what's happening with the discount airlines.
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