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Powell Resigns as Secretary of State; Senate Investigating Oil- for-Food Program; Hinckley Lawyers Seek Unsupervised Visits; Insurance Institute Rates Car Head Restraints; Madonna Opens Up on Writing, Spirituality, Motherhood
Aired November 15, 2004 - 15:00 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.
MILES O'BRIEN-CO-HOST: Odd man out. Secretary of State Colin Powell hands in his resignation. Well-liked at state and in the diplomatic community, he was often reported at odds with other members of the Bush cabinet. More in a moment.
A top insurgent reportedly arrested in Falluja. The man is known as Abu Ahmed, according to the Iraq interim leader who announced the arrest this afternoon. He is described as the leader of a terrorist group involved in kidnappings and beheadings.
Another record for Barry Bonds. The San Francisco slugger named the National League's most valuable player for the seventh time and fourth year in a row. Not bad. At age 40, the Giants outfielder is also the oldest player to win the award. It's not that old.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Let's start with Secretary of State Colin Powell's resignation and the likelihood of who may be in line to take his place.
State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel joins now us to talk more about that. She's been tracking the story all day.
Hi, Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Well, it's widely known now that Secretary Powell would have liked to have stayed around here at state for a little bit longer, a few months, perhaps even a year, but President Bush, according to our sources, did not ask Secretary Powell to stick around.
And so for that reason, he says he'll be around for a few more weeks, maybe even a couple of months, until his successor has been named and approved by the next Congress.
Now, Secretary Powell made very clear when he spoke to reporters here at the State Department that he doesn't want to be viewed, really, as a lame duck, that he has quite a bit of business that he'd still like to take care of in the remaining time he has.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm still the secretary of state, and as President Bush has made it clear, I operate with his full authority. And so I think that will be recognized by the people that I deal with around the world.
And I have good relations with most of the leaders in the nations that I will be working with and visiting. So I think I'll be able to be quite effective for remaining period of my term.
And what am I going to do next? I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: It's widely believed Secretary Powell will return to the private sector.
As for his remaining days on the job here, he's going to be meeting with the Israeli foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, here at the State Department. They're expected to meet out in front in a few minutes to speak to reporters.
But beyond that Secretary Powell is going to be leaving later this week for Chile and then he'll be moving on to Middle East to deal with Iraq's future. He will be in Egypt at Sharm el-Sheikh at the Red Sea Resort to meet with Iraq's neighbors, perhaps even a chance meeting with the Iranian foreign minister.
But I mean, the plain truth about this is that Secretary Powell is going to be somewhat of a lame duck here, knowing that his replacement is only weeks away.
As for the most likely candidate, the name that's been floated around most is Condoleezza Rice, the national security advisor, but no word from the White House on that, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Andrea Koppel, thanks so much.
So who's left? Well, this list is highly subject to change, but for now Interior Secretary Gail Norton, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta, Health Secretary Tommy Thompson, Treasury Secretary John Snow, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi, and HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson.
Well, on Capitol Hill -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: On Capitol Hill senators are demanding to know how Saddam Hussein stole billions from the U.N. oil-for-food program, maybe more than $21 billion, to be exact.
Senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth in Washington for today's hearing -- Richard.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, this is the latest congressional hearing into the complicated $60 billion oil-for-food humanitarian program between the U.N. and Iraq.
There was some new disclosures regarding documentation of how the program worked, how Saddam Hussein was able to amass millions of dollars in evading United Nations Security Council sanctions through kickbacks and upgraded price deals with suppliers of humanitarian goods.
Senator Norm Coleman, the co-chair of this Senate committee, described the level of corruption he now believes occurred.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. NORM COLEMAN (R), MINNESOTA: The magnitude of fraud perpetrated by Saddam Hussein in contravention of U.N. sanctions and the oil-for-food program is staggering. The majority staff estimates that Saddam generated personal profits of over $21.3 billion in contravention of U.N. sanctions from 1991 to 2002.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: Now, a large chunk of that is not exactly from oil-for- food, but it's smuggled oil through Jordan and Syria.
Saddam Hussein's government, though, according to the committee documents and other earlier findings by prime witness today, Charles Duelfer, worked out this elaborate scheme to bring in more money illegally by paying off, through kickbacks and other means, French politicians, Russian politicians, some journalists.
Senator Coleman and others still very angry here that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan not cooperating with providing witnesses and access to documents that the U.N.'s own independent panel is working on.
Senator Carl Levin, a Democrat, questioned Charles Duelfer, the leader of the Iraq survey group, as to how do they know really know all these names are really guilty that are included in his report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: Have you concluded that, in fact, this person received an allocation of vouchers? That's my question to you.
CHARLES DUELFER, U.S. ARMS INSPECTOR: But my response, Senator, is that was not our job to investigate these individuals. Our job was to investigate the approaches that Iraq was using to use its influence and whether or not these resources were funding WMD programs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: Senator Levin was hammering away on whether Benon Sevan, the former director of the oil-for-food program, whose name was on a list found in Iraq, indeed, took kickbacks or bribes through oil vouchers. Duelfer, upon repeated grilling, said he believes that it occurred, but there's been no proof offered so far.
Back to you, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Richard, I know that Senator Coleman is a little bit upset with the United Nations. Haven't been delivering some documents he's requested. Where does that stand right now? ROTH: Well, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was set to leave on a trip to Africa, but it has been delayed. And one of his spokesman said, well, read the papers.
Over the weekend there was a "New York Times" story relating what we all know, that relations are rather icy between Bush administration officials and the U.N. It's over a variety of reasons.
But Secretary-General Annan called the Iraq war illegal. He is hesitant to send U.N. staff into the precarious security situation of Iraq, and it is the oil-for-food story and his failure to cooperate and turn over documents. The U.N. insists it can't do that to member governments willy-nilly. That has poisoned the atmosphere.
Senator Lieberman and others said oil-for-food is putting a dark cloud, a dark stain over the relationship. It's not often that the secretary-general, Miles, cancels a trip or at least delays a trip like this. And they are probably working on some type of statement on the level of cooperation they will offer now with this committee. That's possibly one of the reasons for the delay.
O'BRIEN: All right. Richard Roth, as always, has the insights for us. Appreciate it -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Also in Washington, the debate intensifies about what President's Reagan would-be assassin deserves more freedom. Attorneys for John Hinckley Jr. made their final case today that their client is ready for longer, unsupervised visits to his parents' home.
CNN's Kelli Arena explains that much of the decision will weigh on the relationship between Hinckley and a person from his past.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Hinckley's attempted assassination of President Reagan was barely mentioned in court. Instead, testimony largely focused on Hinckley's relationship with his former girlfriend, Leslie DeVeau.
DR. LISE VAN SUSTEREN, FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIST: If he is correctly picking up on the fact that this woman does not want to have a romantic relationship with him, and if he is acknowledging that and accepting that, he is a very different person from the person who imagined, fantasized, that he was involved with Jodie Foster and that if he could do something big, Jodie Foster would love him.
ARENA: Hinckley's lawyers and doctors say he is a different man. They say his friendship with DeVeau is real, not fantasy and that they talk daily.
His doctors argue greater freedom is an important part of his treatment, but the government argues Hinckley is obsessed with DeVeau and that he's dangerous. In essence, what might he do to win her affection?
JOSEPH DIGENOVA, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: In my lexicon, public safety outweighs the therapeutic side. And so I would always hope that the judge would -- would tilt the scales in favor of public safety.
ARENA: Under his parents' supervision, Hinckley went to places like the national zoo and Baltimore's Inner Harbor in the last year without incident. He's now asking for more regular and longer visits at his parents' house in Williamsburg, Virginia.
His doctors say he's in remission and ready. Even if he isn't, outside experts say there would be noticeable signs over time if he were headed for trouble.
VAN SUSTEREN: Suppose he isn't as healthy as we all thought. He isn't going to decompensate in a few days.
ARENA (on camera): Under such scrutiny, experts say the bar is higher for Hinckley than it is for other patients, and it is something the judge will consider. It's not clear when he will rule.
Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: All right. Whenever I see those crash test videos, I always think, "Ow, that's got to hurt."
Well, ahead -- of course, these are not quite as bad as some of the ones you see -- but we'll give you the test of the whiplash test.
PHILLIPS: That's right.
O'BRIEN: Well, you should know about this, because you are a pain in the neck.
We'll see how your car did.
And the speediest 60 seconds of your life. We've got a "Mach Minute" on an experimental aircraft. You can say it now, Kyra. Just say scram. Scramjets.
PHILLIPS: We're going to scram to a break.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you could effect one change, just one, what would it be?
MADONNA, ENTERTAINER: To get George Bush to study kabala.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: But wait, there's more. Four more years with Madonna? That's straight ahead. Richard Quest coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, surprising findings are out on car safety. Specifically, how well your car seat may protect you from whiplash.
CNN's Julie Vallese takes a look at the best and worst performers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There is no dented bumper, no smashed front end, but the newest test from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does simulate a crash, a rear impact crash, and measures how well a vehicle's head restraint and seat protect the driver.
ADRIAN LUND, INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY: Only eight of the 73 head restraint combinations that we looked at did a good job, and we had 30 of the tested seats that we rated as doing a poor job.
VALLESE: The eight models earning a good rating, the highest mark, went to the Saab 9-2X and 9-3, three Volvo models, the Jaguar S type, the Subaru Impreza, and certain Volkswagen Beetles.
LUND: Some manufacturers have paid attention to this problem. Volvo and Saab, it's not by chance that they're the stars of this release. You know, they account for five of the good rated head restraints.
VALLESE: You can even see the difference between a good performer and a marginal one. The institute says a good restraint will catch a head early, so it will push your head along with your body. The marginal performer allows for some motion and forces on the neck.
LUND: Getting a rating of poor in this test doesn't mean that if you're in a rear impact you're necessarily going to have a neck injury. But if you have a seat that's rated poor, your chances of being injured are much greater.
VALLESE: Drivers, Lund says, need to stop thinking of them as head rests and start adjusting head restraints to fit behind the head, not below it.
(on camera) Insurers pay out more than $7 billion each year for minor neck sprain injuries, and insurance premiums are higher because of it. So making a minor adjustment in your driving may make getting in a crash and paying for insurance a little less of a pain in the neck.
Julie Vallese, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: All right. Now it brings us to the "Mach Minute," which of course, Kyra would call a pain in the neck. We belabored that one enough, too, the pain in the neck thing. Let's...
PHILLIPS: Fly fast, stay fast, live fast. I'll all about that. O'BRIEN: Let's start the clock. And this will be not at supersonic speeds, right? Control room? Right? Regular clock. And off it goes.
And now, the "Mach Minute."
The X43 is the name of the craft. NASA, in just a couple of hours will be launching the X43. Let's show you an animation of how it works.
Of course, Kyra knows this intimately, but we want to show you. This is at the front end of it, this black portion, is the X43. The rest is a booster rocket made by orbital scientists' (ph) cooperation.
Up it goes to about 95,000 feet, at which point the scramjet, the X43, and its booster disconnect. Light the candle on that thing. And what's happening is air is coming in there at supersonic speeds and then coming out in a scramjet engine.
What makes that interesting is you don't have to carry an oxidizer, liquid oxygen in the case of the shuttle, to go at very high altitudes very fast.
Now, back in March it went mach 7. Today it will try to go mach 10. The first test was not successful. This is the March test. As you can see right here, there goes the booster rocket. Up it went, and it achieved about 5,000 miles an hour.
What are the applications for this? Who knows? It's a speculative kind of thing. It might one day lead to rockets which get to space a lot cheaper and easier, or might be a way for you to go to lunch in Tokyo.
PHILLIPS: That sounds like fun.
O'BRIEN: Yes. A little sushi. Feel like some sushi?
PHILLIPS: No pea soup?
O'BRIEN: Hop on the scramjet.
PHILLIPS: There you go.
All right. Well, gum maker Wrigley's is adding to its candy stash, believe it or not.
O'BRIEN: Yes. They bought, what, is Altoids and something else?
RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Life Saver.
O'BRIEN: All the stuff that Kraft had.
SCHAFFLER: Life Savers.
O'BRIEN: Life Savers and Altoids. That's a good combination. I like all that. SCHAFFLER: Well, apparently Wrigley did, too.
O'BRIEN: Kind of a sweet deal.
(STOCK REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, he's one of LIVE FROM's favorite correspondents, but despite his pluck, his wit, his never ending search for the hard truth, global fame has somehow eluded CNN's Richard quest.
O'BRIEN: Until now, however, in a career defining interviewing, our man, Quest, uncovers the literary side, the spiritual side, the political side and, yay verily, the potentially freaked out mom side of Madonna.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MADONNA: The reason I decided to write the books in the first place was because I had been so inspired by the things that I had learned while studying Kabala, and I had been studying for seven years before I decided to go down this road.
And in fact, it was my teacher that suggested that I do it. I can assure you that it was the last thing I ever imagined that I would be doing.
What I wanted to do is I wanted to write stories for children that gave them some kind of insight and some kind of practical tool to remember when faced with adversity, you know, in their lives, which all children are and all, you know, obviously, one day they're going to grow up and become adults. And hopefully those things they learned as children will be remembered.
QUEST: Does it distress you when people start to think that it's all a bit of a fad?
MADONNA: Well, no more than it distresses me that -- that people make any number of assumptions that they make about me. I wouldn't say studying Kabala for eight years goes under the category or falls under the category of being a fad or a trend.
Now there might be people who are interested in it because they think it's trendy, but I can assure you that studying Kabala is actually a very challenging thing to do. It requires a lot of work, a lot of reading, a lot of time, a lot of commitment and a lot of discipline.
QUEST: Are you disappointed, are you distressed by what you now see as the deep polarization within the United States?
MADONNA: On the one hand I'm distressed, because I don't like the idea of polarization. But on the other hand, I think that's what's happening in the rest of the world. I think we are all polarized -- I mean I think people are becoming either incredibly more superficial and greedy, or there's an equal amount of people who are also searching and trying to find a way to reconcile all the differences in the world and bring people together.
QUEST: If you could effect one change, just one, what would it be?
MADONNA: To get George Bush to study Kabala. Yes. It would be amazing.
QUEST: And maybe Tony Blair could join him?
MADONNA: That's a very good idea.
QUEST: A final thought. If your daughter decided to prance around the stage in her underwear, singing and hollering, would you approve?
MADONNA: If she was an adult, there's, you know, not a lot I could do about it. She would be free to make that choice.
QUEST: Would you approve? If she behaved like you, if she mirrored your life to some extent, as a mother, who's now essentially found a spiritual way of life, would you approve?
MADONNA: Probably not.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Well, that was -- that was good.
PHILLIPS: That was pretty good right there at the end.
O'BRIEN: Now, with all those questions, he didn't ask the one question that I was wondering: what's up with her accent? I guess an accent issue is probably a sore subject with -- with his (ph).
PHILLIPS: Is that a part of Kabala, where you change?
O'BRIEN: You know, I haven't read the books.
PHILLIPS: OK.
O'BRIEN: I haven't read the books.
PHILLIPS: It takes a lot of reading, she says.
O'BRIEN: Richard Quest with the scoop of the century.
PHILLIPS: Well, that wraps up our Monday edition of LIVE FROM. It's kind of a special type of anchor filling in for Judy today.
O'BRIEN: Yes. "INSIDE POLITICS" is up and joining us...
PHILLIPS: Big John. Big John, John King.
O'BRIEN: The big dog is in the house. John King. Good to see you, sir.
JOHN KING, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Good to see you both. I have to follow Kyra and Miles and Quest and Madonna. Lucky me.
O'BRIEN: It's tough.
PHILLIPS: It's -- yes.
O'BRIEN: it's like "The Ed Sullivan Show."
PHILLIPS: But he doesn't have to talk about Kabala.
O'BRIEN: No, he doesn't.
KING: I don't think so. Thank you both. Have a great day.
Well, we knew it was coming, and it's here: the Bush cabinet shakeup. Colin Powell is out. So who comes in? And are other big changes just around the corner?
Plus, an amendment for Arnold. New television ads start today, urging a change in the U.S. Constitution. Could we have a President Schwarzenegger?
"INSIDE POLITICS" begins in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Checking stories now in the news.
Exit strategy takes on new meaning at the White House. Colin Powell reveals he's leaving after this term, a move not entirely unexpected. The secretaries of education, energy and agriculture also bowing out. A look at other possible departures on "INSIDE POLITICS," just ahead on CNN.
More shakeup in the nation's intelligence community, as well. Two top leaders of the CIA's clandestine operations calling it quits. Sources say they clashed with folks brought in by Porter Goss, the new CIA boss. Last week, the deputy director said he's planning to leave.
I'm Miles O'Brien at CNN Center in Atlanta. Now "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS" with John King today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Colin Powell stands down. How might the secretary of state's resignation affect Bush foreign policy?
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: There are many challenges out there. There are many opportunities out there. And I can assure you, I'll be working hard until the very, very end.
ANNOUNCER: Exit strategies? With several top officials on the way out, what will the second...
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Aired November 15, 2004 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN-CO-HOST: Odd man out. Secretary of State Colin Powell hands in his resignation. Well-liked at state and in the diplomatic community, he was often reported at odds with other members of the Bush cabinet. More in a moment.
A top insurgent reportedly arrested in Falluja. The man is known as Abu Ahmed, according to the Iraq interim leader who announced the arrest this afternoon. He is described as the leader of a terrorist group involved in kidnappings and beheadings.
Another record for Barry Bonds. The San Francisco slugger named the National League's most valuable player for the seventh time and fourth year in a row. Not bad. At age 40, the Giants outfielder is also the oldest player to win the award. It's not that old.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Let's start with Secretary of State Colin Powell's resignation and the likelihood of who may be in line to take his place.
State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel joins now us to talk more about that. She's been tracking the story all day.
Hi, Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Well, it's widely known now that Secretary Powell would have liked to have stayed around here at state for a little bit longer, a few months, perhaps even a year, but President Bush, according to our sources, did not ask Secretary Powell to stick around.
And so for that reason, he says he'll be around for a few more weeks, maybe even a couple of months, until his successor has been named and approved by the next Congress.
Now, Secretary Powell made very clear when he spoke to reporters here at the State Department that he doesn't want to be viewed, really, as a lame duck, that he has quite a bit of business that he'd still like to take care of in the remaining time he has.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm still the secretary of state, and as President Bush has made it clear, I operate with his full authority. And so I think that will be recognized by the people that I deal with around the world.
And I have good relations with most of the leaders in the nations that I will be working with and visiting. So I think I'll be able to be quite effective for remaining period of my term.
And what am I going to do next? I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: It's widely believed Secretary Powell will return to the private sector.
As for his remaining days on the job here, he's going to be meeting with the Israeli foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, here at the State Department. They're expected to meet out in front in a few minutes to speak to reporters.
But beyond that Secretary Powell is going to be leaving later this week for Chile and then he'll be moving on to Middle East to deal with Iraq's future. He will be in Egypt at Sharm el-Sheikh at the Red Sea Resort to meet with Iraq's neighbors, perhaps even a chance meeting with the Iranian foreign minister.
But I mean, the plain truth about this is that Secretary Powell is going to be somewhat of a lame duck here, knowing that his replacement is only weeks away.
As for the most likely candidate, the name that's been floated around most is Condoleezza Rice, the national security advisor, but no word from the White House on that, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Andrea Koppel, thanks so much.
So who's left? Well, this list is highly subject to change, but for now Interior Secretary Gail Norton, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta, Health Secretary Tommy Thompson, Treasury Secretary John Snow, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi, and HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson.
Well, on Capitol Hill -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: On Capitol Hill senators are demanding to know how Saddam Hussein stole billions from the U.N. oil-for-food program, maybe more than $21 billion, to be exact.
Senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth in Washington for today's hearing -- Richard.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, this is the latest congressional hearing into the complicated $60 billion oil-for-food humanitarian program between the U.N. and Iraq.
There was some new disclosures regarding documentation of how the program worked, how Saddam Hussein was able to amass millions of dollars in evading United Nations Security Council sanctions through kickbacks and upgraded price deals with suppliers of humanitarian goods.
Senator Norm Coleman, the co-chair of this Senate committee, described the level of corruption he now believes occurred.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. NORM COLEMAN (R), MINNESOTA: The magnitude of fraud perpetrated by Saddam Hussein in contravention of U.N. sanctions and the oil-for-food program is staggering. The majority staff estimates that Saddam generated personal profits of over $21.3 billion in contravention of U.N. sanctions from 1991 to 2002.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: Now, a large chunk of that is not exactly from oil-for- food, but it's smuggled oil through Jordan and Syria.
Saddam Hussein's government, though, according to the committee documents and other earlier findings by prime witness today, Charles Duelfer, worked out this elaborate scheme to bring in more money illegally by paying off, through kickbacks and other means, French politicians, Russian politicians, some journalists.
Senator Coleman and others still very angry here that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan not cooperating with providing witnesses and access to documents that the U.N.'s own independent panel is working on.
Senator Carl Levin, a Democrat, questioned Charles Duelfer, the leader of the Iraq survey group, as to how do they know really know all these names are really guilty that are included in his report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: Have you concluded that, in fact, this person received an allocation of vouchers? That's my question to you.
CHARLES DUELFER, U.S. ARMS INSPECTOR: But my response, Senator, is that was not our job to investigate these individuals. Our job was to investigate the approaches that Iraq was using to use its influence and whether or not these resources were funding WMD programs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: Senator Levin was hammering away on whether Benon Sevan, the former director of the oil-for-food program, whose name was on a list found in Iraq, indeed, took kickbacks or bribes through oil vouchers. Duelfer, upon repeated grilling, said he believes that it occurred, but there's been no proof offered so far.
Back to you, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Richard, I know that Senator Coleman is a little bit upset with the United Nations. Haven't been delivering some documents he's requested. Where does that stand right now? ROTH: Well, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was set to leave on a trip to Africa, but it has been delayed. And one of his spokesman said, well, read the papers.
Over the weekend there was a "New York Times" story relating what we all know, that relations are rather icy between Bush administration officials and the U.N. It's over a variety of reasons.
But Secretary-General Annan called the Iraq war illegal. He is hesitant to send U.N. staff into the precarious security situation of Iraq, and it is the oil-for-food story and his failure to cooperate and turn over documents. The U.N. insists it can't do that to member governments willy-nilly. That has poisoned the atmosphere.
Senator Lieberman and others said oil-for-food is putting a dark cloud, a dark stain over the relationship. It's not often that the secretary-general, Miles, cancels a trip or at least delays a trip like this. And they are probably working on some type of statement on the level of cooperation they will offer now with this committee. That's possibly one of the reasons for the delay.
O'BRIEN: All right. Richard Roth, as always, has the insights for us. Appreciate it -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Also in Washington, the debate intensifies about what President's Reagan would-be assassin deserves more freedom. Attorneys for John Hinckley Jr. made their final case today that their client is ready for longer, unsupervised visits to his parents' home.
CNN's Kelli Arena explains that much of the decision will weigh on the relationship between Hinckley and a person from his past.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Hinckley's attempted assassination of President Reagan was barely mentioned in court. Instead, testimony largely focused on Hinckley's relationship with his former girlfriend, Leslie DeVeau.
DR. LISE VAN SUSTEREN, FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIST: If he is correctly picking up on the fact that this woman does not want to have a romantic relationship with him, and if he is acknowledging that and accepting that, he is a very different person from the person who imagined, fantasized, that he was involved with Jodie Foster and that if he could do something big, Jodie Foster would love him.
ARENA: Hinckley's lawyers and doctors say he is a different man. They say his friendship with DeVeau is real, not fantasy and that they talk daily.
His doctors argue greater freedom is an important part of his treatment, but the government argues Hinckley is obsessed with DeVeau and that he's dangerous. In essence, what might he do to win her affection?
JOSEPH DIGENOVA, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: In my lexicon, public safety outweighs the therapeutic side. And so I would always hope that the judge would -- would tilt the scales in favor of public safety.
ARENA: Under his parents' supervision, Hinckley went to places like the national zoo and Baltimore's Inner Harbor in the last year without incident. He's now asking for more regular and longer visits at his parents' house in Williamsburg, Virginia.
His doctors say he's in remission and ready. Even if he isn't, outside experts say there would be noticeable signs over time if he were headed for trouble.
VAN SUSTEREN: Suppose he isn't as healthy as we all thought. He isn't going to decompensate in a few days.
ARENA (on camera): Under such scrutiny, experts say the bar is higher for Hinckley than it is for other patients, and it is something the judge will consider. It's not clear when he will rule.
Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: All right. Whenever I see those crash test videos, I always think, "Ow, that's got to hurt."
Well, ahead -- of course, these are not quite as bad as some of the ones you see -- but we'll give you the test of the whiplash test.
PHILLIPS: That's right.
O'BRIEN: Well, you should know about this, because you are a pain in the neck.
We'll see how your car did.
And the speediest 60 seconds of your life. We've got a "Mach Minute" on an experimental aircraft. You can say it now, Kyra. Just say scram. Scramjets.
PHILLIPS: We're going to scram to a break.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you could effect one change, just one, what would it be?
MADONNA, ENTERTAINER: To get George Bush to study kabala.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: But wait, there's more. Four more years with Madonna? That's straight ahead. Richard Quest coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, surprising findings are out on car safety. Specifically, how well your car seat may protect you from whiplash.
CNN's Julie Vallese takes a look at the best and worst performers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There is no dented bumper, no smashed front end, but the newest test from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does simulate a crash, a rear impact crash, and measures how well a vehicle's head restraint and seat protect the driver.
ADRIAN LUND, INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY: Only eight of the 73 head restraint combinations that we looked at did a good job, and we had 30 of the tested seats that we rated as doing a poor job.
VALLESE: The eight models earning a good rating, the highest mark, went to the Saab 9-2X and 9-3, three Volvo models, the Jaguar S type, the Subaru Impreza, and certain Volkswagen Beetles.
LUND: Some manufacturers have paid attention to this problem. Volvo and Saab, it's not by chance that they're the stars of this release. You know, they account for five of the good rated head restraints.
VALLESE: You can even see the difference between a good performer and a marginal one. The institute says a good restraint will catch a head early, so it will push your head along with your body. The marginal performer allows for some motion and forces on the neck.
LUND: Getting a rating of poor in this test doesn't mean that if you're in a rear impact you're necessarily going to have a neck injury. But if you have a seat that's rated poor, your chances of being injured are much greater.
VALLESE: Drivers, Lund says, need to stop thinking of them as head rests and start adjusting head restraints to fit behind the head, not below it.
(on camera) Insurers pay out more than $7 billion each year for minor neck sprain injuries, and insurance premiums are higher because of it. So making a minor adjustment in your driving may make getting in a crash and paying for insurance a little less of a pain in the neck.
Julie Vallese, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: All right. Now it brings us to the "Mach Minute," which of course, Kyra would call a pain in the neck. We belabored that one enough, too, the pain in the neck thing. Let's...
PHILLIPS: Fly fast, stay fast, live fast. I'll all about that. O'BRIEN: Let's start the clock. And this will be not at supersonic speeds, right? Control room? Right? Regular clock. And off it goes.
And now, the "Mach Minute."
The X43 is the name of the craft. NASA, in just a couple of hours will be launching the X43. Let's show you an animation of how it works.
Of course, Kyra knows this intimately, but we want to show you. This is at the front end of it, this black portion, is the X43. The rest is a booster rocket made by orbital scientists' (ph) cooperation.
Up it goes to about 95,000 feet, at which point the scramjet, the X43, and its booster disconnect. Light the candle on that thing. And what's happening is air is coming in there at supersonic speeds and then coming out in a scramjet engine.
What makes that interesting is you don't have to carry an oxidizer, liquid oxygen in the case of the shuttle, to go at very high altitudes very fast.
Now, back in March it went mach 7. Today it will try to go mach 10. The first test was not successful. This is the March test. As you can see right here, there goes the booster rocket. Up it went, and it achieved about 5,000 miles an hour.
What are the applications for this? Who knows? It's a speculative kind of thing. It might one day lead to rockets which get to space a lot cheaper and easier, or might be a way for you to go to lunch in Tokyo.
PHILLIPS: That sounds like fun.
O'BRIEN: Yes. A little sushi. Feel like some sushi?
PHILLIPS: No pea soup?
O'BRIEN: Hop on the scramjet.
PHILLIPS: There you go.
All right. Well, gum maker Wrigley's is adding to its candy stash, believe it or not.
O'BRIEN: Yes. They bought, what, is Altoids and something else?
RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Life Saver.
O'BRIEN: All the stuff that Kraft had.
SCHAFFLER: Life Savers.
O'BRIEN: Life Savers and Altoids. That's a good combination. I like all that. SCHAFFLER: Well, apparently Wrigley did, too.
O'BRIEN: Kind of a sweet deal.
(STOCK REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, he's one of LIVE FROM's favorite correspondents, but despite his pluck, his wit, his never ending search for the hard truth, global fame has somehow eluded CNN's Richard quest.
O'BRIEN: Until now, however, in a career defining interviewing, our man, Quest, uncovers the literary side, the spiritual side, the political side and, yay verily, the potentially freaked out mom side of Madonna.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MADONNA: The reason I decided to write the books in the first place was because I had been so inspired by the things that I had learned while studying Kabala, and I had been studying for seven years before I decided to go down this road.
And in fact, it was my teacher that suggested that I do it. I can assure you that it was the last thing I ever imagined that I would be doing.
What I wanted to do is I wanted to write stories for children that gave them some kind of insight and some kind of practical tool to remember when faced with adversity, you know, in their lives, which all children are and all, you know, obviously, one day they're going to grow up and become adults. And hopefully those things they learned as children will be remembered.
QUEST: Does it distress you when people start to think that it's all a bit of a fad?
MADONNA: Well, no more than it distresses me that -- that people make any number of assumptions that they make about me. I wouldn't say studying Kabala for eight years goes under the category or falls under the category of being a fad or a trend.
Now there might be people who are interested in it because they think it's trendy, but I can assure you that studying Kabala is actually a very challenging thing to do. It requires a lot of work, a lot of reading, a lot of time, a lot of commitment and a lot of discipline.
QUEST: Are you disappointed, are you distressed by what you now see as the deep polarization within the United States?
MADONNA: On the one hand I'm distressed, because I don't like the idea of polarization. But on the other hand, I think that's what's happening in the rest of the world. I think we are all polarized -- I mean I think people are becoming either incredibly more superficial and greedy, or there's an equal amount of people who are also searching and trying to find a way to reconcile all the differences in the world and bring people together.
QUEST: If you could effect one change, just one, what would it be?
MADONNA: To get George Bush to study Kabala. Yes. It would be amazing.
QUEST: And maybe Tony Blair could join him?
MADONNA: That's a very good idea.
QUEST: A final thought. If your daughter decided to prance around the stage in her underwear, singing and hollering, would you approve?
MADONNA: If she was an adult, there's, you know, not a lot I could do about it. She would be free to make that choice.
QUEST: Would you approve? If she behaved like you, if she mirrored your life to some extent, as a mother, who's now essentially found a spiritual way of life, would you approve?
MADONNA: Probably not.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Well, that was -- that was good.
PHILLIPS: That was pretty good right there at the end.
O'BRIEN: Now, with all those questions, he didn't ask the one question that I was wondering: what's up with her accent? I guess an accent issue is probably a sore subject with -- with his (ph).
PHILLIPS: Is that a part of Kabala, where you change?
O'BRIEN: You know, I haven't read the books.
PHILLIPS: OK.
O'BRIEN: I haven't read the books.
PHILLIPS: It takes a lot of reading, she says.
O'BRIEN: Richard Quest with the scoop of the century.
PHILLIPS: Well, that wraps up our Monday edition of LIVE FROM. It's kind of a special type of anchor filling in for Judy today.
O'BRIEN: Yes. "INSIDE POLITICS" is up and joining us...
PHILLIPS: Big John. Big John, John King.
O'BRIEN: The big dog is in the house. John King. Good to see you, sir.
JOHN KING, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Good to see you both. I have to follow Kyra and Miles and Quest and Madonna. Lucky me.
O'BRIEN: It's tough.
PHILLIPS: It's -- yes.
O'BRIEN: it's like "The Ed Sullivan Show."
PHILLIPS: But he doesn't have to talk about Kabala.
O'BRIEN: No, he doesn't.
KING: I don't think so. Thank you both. Have a great day.
Well, we knew it was coming, and it's here: the Bush cabinet shakeup. Colin Powell is out. So who comes in? And are other big changes just around the corner?
Plus, an amendment for Arnold. New television ads start today, urging a change in the U.S. Constitution. Could we have a President Schwarzenegger?
"INSIDE POLITICS" begins in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Checking stories now in the news.
Exit strategy takes on new meaning at the White House. Colin Powell reveals he's leaving after this term, a move not entirely unexpected. The secretaries of education, energy and agriculture also bowing out. A look at other possible departures on "INSIDE POLITICS," just ahead on CNN.
More shakeup in the nation's intelligence community, as well. Two top leaders of the CIA's clandestine operations calling it quits. Sources say they clashed with folks brought in by Porter Goss, the new CIA boss. Last week, the deputy director said he's planning to leave.
I'm Miles O'Brien at CNN Center in Atlanta. Now "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS" with John King today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Colin Powell stands down. How might the secretary of state's resignation affect Bush foreign policy?
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: There are many challenges out there. There are many opportunities out there. And I can assure you, I'll be working hard until the very, very end.
ANNOUNCER: Exit strategies? With several top officials on the way out, what will the second...
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