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Rice Promotes Global Freedom; Wanted -- Or Not; Reid vs. GOP

Aired February 08, 2005 - 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)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: It is time to turn away from the disagreements of the past. It is time to open a new chapter in our relationship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The secretary of state on a mission to heal old wounds in France.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Will an Israeli-Palestinian peace promise today get these hard-core fighters to lay down their weapons? CNN talks with one of the most wanted guys in the West Bank.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I lie, cheat and steal on behalf of the U.S. government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CIA spies reveal their secrets and say the agency needs to change.

HARRIS: And a Hollywood movie shoot turns out to be too real for the U.S. military. The maker of "September Tapes" joins us for the LIVE FROM interview.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris, in for Miles O'Brien.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

HARRIS: A new chapter in old Europe. The latter term you may recall from the peak of the transatlantic tussle over Iraq. And it wasn't a term of endearment. The new chapter is Condoleezza Rice's bid to let bygones be bygones in her first major speech since becoming the face of U.S. foreign policy.

The setting is Paris, and our correspondent is CNN's Jim Bitterman.

Hi, Jim.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Tony. You know, it really wasn't that long ago when officials in Washington were saying that France had to be punished for its attitude in the leadup to the Iraq war. Well, that's all changed.

Condoleezza Rice came to town today. She talked at a very prestigious university on the left bank, and her tone was entirely different.

She said there's an awful lot that the United States and Europe have done in the past together, presently can do, and should look towards doing in the future. And she said that, in a matter of U.S.- French relations, that sometimes they work out better in practice than they do in theory. She pointed to more than a half-dozen areas where the United States and France actively work together in areas like terrorism, Afghanistan, and international crime, saying that these are all areas that could be developed further in the future.

Here's kind of a look at the tone that she took this afternoon at Sciences Politiques University.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICE: This is a time of unprecedented opportunity for the transatlantic alliance. If we make the pursuit of global freedom, the organizing principle of the 21st century, we will achieve historic global advances for justice and prosperity, for liberty and peace.

But a global agenda requires a global partnership. So let us multiply our common effort. That is why the United States, above all, welcomes the growing unity of Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BITTERMANN: And Tony, as she said there, there are three other specific areas where she used language that kind of denies the common U.S. -- common European perception of what the U.S. is up to. She said, for instance, that the U.S. favors a strong United Nations. She said that liberty cannot be imposed, it has to be homegrown. And she said that in the area of military power, that more important than military power is the power of ideas and compassion.

Now, Europeans all look at that and say that the United States has acted just in the opposite fashion. So I think what they'll be looking at is whether or not the U.S. actions match up to this new rhetoric -- Tony.

HARRIS: Jim, just a quick question. Will Dr. Rice leave with anything more than what she came with? For example, will she get any more help from France, in particular, with Iraq?

BITTERMANN: Well, I think the French have made it very clear, as the Germans did the other day, that they're not going to put any boots on the ground in Iraq. They've said they're not putting soldiers in Iraq.

However, they are saying, in a much louder fashion than before, that they will be happy to help train Iraqi security forces and help in other matters of reconstruction in Iraq. But as far as soldiers go, no.

HARRIS: OK. Jim Bitterman live from Paris for us. Jim, thank you -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: The leaders say peace, the fighters say not so fast. In Egypt today, the Israeli prime minister and Palestinian president took on a formal cease-fire, capping four-plus years of mutual ill will and violence. But their hopeful announcement was followed by word from Hamas and Islamic Jihad that nobody spoke for them but them, and they're not promising anything.

High on the militants' agenda and part of today's agreement is the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Israelis almost certainly won't free all the men that the militants want, but they are offering some who have escaped capture so far the chance to go legit.

CNN's John Vause has a case in point.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jamal Abu Rob says he never goes anywhere without his M-16 and his handgun.

JAMAL ABU ROB, AL AQSA MARTYRS BRIGADES: It's very good.

VAUSE: A father of five, accountant by trade, he lives in the small West Bank village of Kabatia, not far from Jenin, an area which Israel describes as a hotbed of terror, home to militants just like Abu Rob. He's a senior leader with the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and has been on the run for more than four years.

ABU ROB (through translator): Moving from one village to one village, one mountain to one mountain, to one house, one cave to one cave, you don't see people for many days. Sometimes you can't stand the smell of your own clothes.

VAUSE: But with the possibility of peace, he's now preparing a run for politics. He wants to fight corruption in the Palestinian Authority. Calculator in one hand, M-16 in the other.

Israel is now offering wanted men like Abu Rob a chance to start over. If they lay down their weapons, agree to stop the attacks, put that in writing and sign it, then Israel says they can live their lives without being hunted down or being on the wrong end of an Israeli airstrike.

(on camera): Are you prepared to sign an agreement that you will stop the attacks on Israelis and hand in your gun?

ABU ROB (through translator): I'm ready to lay down my weapon when there's a real talk that will lead to our basic rights. If Israel continues to refuse our rights and continues to occupy our land, then we'll take back our viewpoints.

VAUSE (voice-over): Five times I asked...

(on camera): Will you hand in your weapon? Yes or no?

ABU ROB (through translator): You are starting to sound like Bush... either you are with us fighting terror or against us.

VAUSE: The Israelis insist what they're offering is not an amnesty for wanted militants. It's more like a good behavior bond. And they say it will be up to the Palestinian Authority to ensure the terms of that indefinite probation are not broken.

(VOICE-OVER): Among the Palestinian militants there is a deep mistrust of Israel. So it will fall to the newly elected president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to convince them the time has come to end the fight for good. They won't do it for Israel, but they might just do it for him.

John Vause, CNN, Kabatia, in the West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And here at home, Congress began debating President Bush's controversial $2.5 trillion budget proposal. Mr. Bush, meantime, was out trying to sell the spending plan in Michigan. He spoke to the Detroit Economic Club in a speech you may have seen here on CNN. He also talked about ideas for changing Social Security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I like the idea of people from all walks of life starting their own business. I met entrepreneurs all across America who said, "I started my business. I'm an employer. I'm excited about the future."

We want people owning and managing their own health care accounts. That's why I believe health savings accounts are an important part of helping to control the cost of medicine. And we want people controlling and owning their own assets when it comes to their retirement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Mr. Bush told the gathering his budget would bring discipline to government by cutting programs that don't work.

President Bush is enjoying his highest approval rating in more than a year. In the latest CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll, 57 percent said they approve of how Mr. Bush is handling his job. That's a six- point increase since January.

Forty percent disapprove, a decrease. However, fewer than half, 43 percent, still approve of how the president is handling his centerpiece issue of Social Security.

PHILLIPS: A top Democratic lawmaker says he's been targeted by Republicans. He's hitting back and holding the Bush administration responsible. CNN congressional correspondent Ed Henry explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: What government's all about is honesty, integrity, not phoniness.

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid blamed the president for a Republican attack against him and his family. The 13-page Republican memo calls Reid the "chief Democratic obstructionist," highlighting his opposition to Social Security reform and conservative judicial nominees.

REID: Why didn't he stand and tell the American people last Wednesday that one of the first items of business we were going to do in Washington is send out a hit piece on the Democratic leader?

HENRY: The Republican National Committee memo also gets personal, raising old questions about the lobbying activities of Reid's sons. Reid has denied any improper conduct and changed his office policy more than a year ago to ban family members from lobbying him.

Although soft spoken, Reid is a tough partisan in-fighter. Aides say the memo made him furious.

REID: I mean, is President George Bush a man of his word? He said that he was going to reach out to the Democrats. Strange way to reach out. Mr. President, I call upon you to repudiate this document, to tell the Republican National Committee, don't mail it.

HENRY: No chance of that. An RNC spokesman said the party is going ahead with the mailing, adding, "This is just intended to show he is an obstructionist and out of step with Americans and people in his home state of Nevada." Privately, Republican strategists say this hard-ball strategy has a proven track record, helping to knock off former Georgia Senator Max Cleland, John Kerry and Harry Reid's predecessor, Senator Tom Daschle. The Republican who beat Daschle said all's fair.

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R), SOUTH DAKOTA: If, in fact, the Democrat leadership continues the pattern of the last Congress, and that is to block and obstruct the agenda, then that's a legitimate charge to make.

HENRY (on camera): Senator Reid and his wife at a previously scheduled dinner at the White House on Monday night with the president and first lady. The senator's staff did not think he was going to confront the president, saying Reid prefers to do his talking on the Senate floor.

Ed Henry, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: For an American filmmaker, it was the ultimate on- location shoot in Afghanistan.

PHILLIPS: And sometimes it got intense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very real. And it's feeling very intense. What happens is we're surrounded by, like, 200 people in the street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Just ahead on LIVE FROM, the filmmaker of "September Tapes" joins us, and he's releasing some of the scenes the U.S. military initially confiscated.

HARRIS: Also ahead, the people who gave the World Dolly the cloned sheep have got a license to clone something else.

PHILLIPS: And later, how many times have you seen this and thought, there ought to be a law? We've got details on the crackdown on droopy drawers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A Hollywood filmmaker took his camera, a small crew, almost $500,000 in cash, and headed to Afghanistan. Christian Johnston wanted to shoot a fictional film about the search for Osama bin Laden. But real life intervened.

As Christian and his crew began shooting scenes with weapons dealers and anti-Taliban forces, what he got on tape was so real the U.S. military wanted to see it first. If you saw "September Tapes" in the theater, you wouldn't have seen the controversial footage. But now you can on DVD. It's just been released.

Its director, Christian Johnston, joins us live from Los Angeles to talk about it.

Good to see you, Christian.

CHRISTIAN JOHNSTON, DIRECTOR, "SEPTEMBER TAPES": Good to see you, too.

PHILLIPS: So why did the U.S. military want to see your film?

JOHNSTON: Well, we had a chance in Afghanistan -- I think a lot of the Northern Alliance people that helped us shoot the film, they were very candid with us. And what we came back with was them saying things very openly about the hunt for Osama bin Laden. And a lot of these things when we came back made the government concerned over exactly what was happening there. It sort of re-enlightened the sort of hunt for Osama for them.

PHILLIPS: And I'm going to take viewers through some of those examples. But you got this access because of a man called "The Godfather." Tell us about Baba Jon. JOHNSTON: Baba Jon was with Amishadan Asud (ph), one of the leaders of the Northern Alliance. And he had a great deal of power inside of Kabul. And when we came to shoot the movie there, as being outsiders, especially Americans, he really wanted us to see the plight of the Afghan people, and especially for what we were there for, the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

And as we -- and as we're now three years later, still Osama being this very important ideological figurehead for al Qaeda, it's really important now, even this amount of years later, that basically there's a tension being paid there. And I think that's what -- that's what Baba Jon and a lot of the Northern Alliance people wanted us to come back to Americans with.

PHILLIPS: Now, you meet with real-life arms dealers, actually in the home of the former leader of the Taliban in Kabul, now the leader of the Northern Alliance. Tell us about this and if this got the U.S. military a little nervous.

JOHNSTON: Yes. There's a great deal of instant access to weapons. A lot of the things that we used inside of this hybrid film that's part fact, part fiction was, you know -- was weapons, weapons dealers, actual territorial warlords. And I think the authenticity of this inside of the film -- and if people get a chance to hopefully rent the DVD, they can see a lot of what we went through, trying to shoot this film there.

And, you know, the weapons dealers and a lot of these people had their own comments and beliefs about the Americans and the hunt for Osama. And we captured a lot of very candid dialogue inside of the movie.

PHILLIPS: Yes, you did. We actually cut a piece of that candid dialogue. Let's take a listen to what this gentleman said about why so many people there felt the U.S. government let Osama bin Laden escape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SEPTEMBER TAPES")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bin Laden and his men went right past the U.S. military into the mountains near the Pakistani border.

(END VIDEO CLIP, "SEPTEMBER TAPES")

PHILLIPS: Tell us about this man and this interview.

JOHNSTON: There was a handful of people that worked inside of the Northern Alliance, and we had direct access to a lot of them. This scene -- there's a number of scenes in the movie. Some of them we had to delete or not put in the initial release of the film, where people explained to us very openly, Osama bin Laden was allowed to escape over -- into the Pakistani border, into Waziristan, and that they felt that the U.S. government didn't want to capture him.

And I think that now it's especially important. The things that they said three years ago, and their sort of openness is really, especially apparent in what's happening. And these people really had these very strong feelings that America did not want to capture and wasn't doing enough to capture Osama. And I think that that still resonates. So...

PHILLIPS: So how does the U.S. military feel about your film now? You got your tape backs, obviously. What's the relationship that you have with them now?

JOHNSTON: Well, I think as far as the Department of Defense and Homeland Security, a lot of them are obviously doing their jobs. And we didn't feel -- didn't feel that we had been taken advantage of by any means.

We came back with important information. And I guess it was sort of our duty to have them review that.

But I think that what was the most important thing is a small independent film like this, you know, like "September Tapes," is being given some sort of a voice. And thanks to people like you at CNN, to be able to allow us as independent filmmakers to have sort of unchecked possibilities, releasing information from places like Afghanistan, which is still so vastly important about the ideas even leading to Iraq.

I mean, Osama bin Laden is the ideological figurehead for, you know, Islamic militants, and I think we must capture him as American people. And I think a lot of people are really interested in what's happening with the hunt for Osama. And that's kind of what we're happy to be able to keep talking about, because that's what really mattered to me, to try to go make this movie.

PHILLIPS: Well, it took a lot of courage to do it. And you captured exactly what you wanted to get. "September Tapes" is the movie. Christian Johnston, thanks so much.

JOHNSTON: Thank you very much.

HARRIS: Spies dish the dirt about the CIA.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The CIA breaks laws for a living. And if we're going to be able to do -- really push that envelope, go right up to that edge, we've got to be able to get down and dirty into our jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And they reveal what the CIA needs to do to clean up its act.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. Coming up, new details from the star witness in the multibillion-dollar WorldCom trial. That's next on LIVE FROM, so don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Tony, you know what today is?

HARRIS: No, what is it?

PHILLIPS: Mardi Gras, AKA Fat Tuesday, my friend.

HARRIS: Fat Tuesday.

PHILLIPS: Now, here in New Orleans, of course, you know, you see everything being thrown from the floats...

HARRIS: Right.

PHILLIPS: ... from the beads to the moon pies. Everybody drinking. But actually, traditionally, this is supposed to be the last day for Catholics to indulge -- you know, overindulge also.

HARRIS: So you lose your mind today, the last day...

PHILLIPS: Before Ash Wednesday.

HARRIS: ... before the Lent season kicks in, right?

PHILLIPS: There you go. There you go.

HARRIS: You've got to give up things. You've got to fast and...

PHILLIPS: Yes. Just like our writer, Jim Guthrie (ph).

HARRIS: Who has to give some things up.

PHILLIPS: He is given up the doughnuts.

HARRIS: Really?

PHILLIPS: Yes.

HARRIS: Well, that's going to be tough on Jim.

PHILLIPS: Yes. So he's watching this video. And there you right here, you've got to love it. Look at that, the New Orleans police getting involved, too, handing a few beads.

HARRIS: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Yes. Have you been there?

HARRIS: I haven't been there. I know you've covered it. But I understand that you probably should wear some full body armor for these beads. They throw these beads at you, don't they, on the parade route?

PHILLIPS: You know what? The coconuts are what hurts.

HARRIS: Ooh. PHILLIPS: And the Zulu Parade, that's the worst.

HARRIS: Yes, that will -- that will leave a mark. Eleven parades between now and sunset? Is that what you told me, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: There you go. We're tracking Mardi Gras.

HARRIS: To business now, some damaging testimony in the fraud conspiracy trial of former WorldCom chief Bernie Ebbers.

PHILLIPS: Susan Lisovicz joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange for that story.

Hi, Susan.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: "Now in the News," President Bush is off and running promoting his controversial budget proposal to the American people. Today he told business leaders in Detroit the spending plan would bring discipline to government by cutting programs that aren't need or don't meet their goals.

Turning the page. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, live pictures right now, meeting with the foreign minister of France. The country was one of the most vocal critics of the Iraq war. Speaking earlier in Paris, Rice said that it's time to turn away from the past disagreements and look forward to the future.

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Aired February 8, 2005 - 14:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: It is time to turn away from the disagreements of the past. It is time to open a new chapter in our relationship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The secretary of state on a mission to heal old wounds in France.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Will an Israeli-Palestinian peace promise today get these hard-core fighters to lay down their weapons? CNN talks with one of the most wanted guys in the West Bank.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I lie, cheat and steal on behalf of the U.S. government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CIA spies reveal their secrets and say the agency needs to change.

HARRIS: And a Hollywood movie shoot turns out to be too real for the U.S. military. The maker of "September Tapes" joins us for the LIVE FROM interview.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris, in for Miles O'Brien.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

HARRIS: A new chapter in old Europe. The latter term you may recall from the peak of the transatlantic tussle over Iraq. And it wasn't a term of endearment. The new chapter is Condoleezza Rice's bid to let bygones be bygones in her first major speech since becoming the face of U.S. foreign policy.

The setting is Paris, and our correspondent is CNN's Jim Bitterman.

Hi, Jim.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Tony. You know, it really wasn't that long ago when officials in Washington were saying that France had to be punished for its attitude in the leadup to the Iraq war. Well, that's all changed.

Condoleezza Rice came to town today. She talked at a very prestigious university on the left bank, and her tone was entirely different.

She said there's an awful lot that the United States and Europe have done in the past together, presently can do, and should look towards doing in the future. And she said that, in a matter of U.S.- French relations, that sometimes they work out better in practice than they do in theory. She pointed to more than a half-dozen areas where the United States and France actively work together in areas like terrorism, Afghanistan, and international crime, saying that these are all areas that could be developed further in the future.

Here's kind of a look at the tone that she took this afternoon at Sciences Politiques University.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICE: This is a time of unprecedented opportunity for the transatlantic alliance. If we make the pursuit of global freedom, the organizing principle of the 21st century, we will achieve historic global advances for justice and prosperity, for liberty and peace.

But a global agenda requires a global partnership. So let us multiply our common effort. That is why the United States, above all, welcomes the growing unity of Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BITTERMANN: And Tony, as she said there, there are three other specific areas where she used language that kind of denies the common U.S. -- common European perception of what the U.S. is up to. She said, for instance, that the U.S. favors a strong United Nations. She said that liberty cannot be imposed, it has to be homegrown. And she said that in the area of military power, that more important than military power is the power of ideas and compassion.

Now, Europeans all look at that and say that the United States has acted just in the opposite fashion. So I think what they'll be looking at is whether or not the U.S. actions match up to this new rhetoric -- Tony.

HARRIS: Jim, just a quick question. Will Dr. Rice leave with anything more than what she came with? For example, will she get any more help from France, in particular, with Iraq?

BITTERMANN: Well, I think the French have made it very clear, as the Germans did the other day, that they're not going to put any boots on the ground in Iraq. They've said they're not putting soldiers in Iraq.

However, they are saying, in a much louder fashion than before, that they will be happy to help train Iraqi security forces and help in other matters of reconstruction in Iraq. But as far as soldiers go, no.

HARRIS: OK. Jim Bitterman live from Paris for us. Jim, thank you -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: The leaders say peace, the fighters say not so fast. In Egypt today, the Israeli prime minister and Palestinian president took on a formal cease-fire, capping four-plus years of mutual ill will and violence. But their hopeful announcement was followed by word from Hamas and Islamic Jihad that nobody spoke for them but them, and they're not promising anything.

High on the militants' agenda and part of today's agreement is the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Israelis almost certainly won't free all the men that the militants want, but they are offering some who have escaped capture so far the chance to go legit.

CNN's John Vause has a case in point.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jamal Abu Rob says he never goes anywhere without his M-16 and his handgun.

JAMAL ABU ROB, AL AQSA MARTYRS BRIGADES: It's very good.

VAUSE: A father of five, accountant by trade, he lives in the small West Bank village of Kabatia, not far from Jenin, an area which Israel describes as a hotbed of terror, home to militants just like Abu Rob. He's a senior leader with the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and has been on the run for more than four years.

ABU ROB (through translator): Moving from one village to one village, one mountain to one mountain, to one house, one cave to one cave, you don't see people for many days. Sometimes you can't stand the smell of your own clothes.

VAUSE: But with the possibility of peace, he's now preparing a run for politics. He wants to fight corruption in the Palestinian Authority. Calculator in one hand, M-16 in the other.

Israel is now offering wanted men like Abu Rob a chance to start over. If they lay down their weapons, agree to stop the attacks, put that in writing and sign it, then Israel says they can live their lives without being hunted down or being on the wrong end of an Israeli airstrike.

(on camera): Are you prepared to sign an agreement that you will stop the attacks on Israelis and hand in your gun?

ABU ROB (through translator): I'm ready to lay down my weapon when there's a real talk that will lead to our basic rights. If Israel continues to refuse our rights and continues to occupy our land, then we'll take back our viewpoints.

VAUSE (voice-over): Five times I asked...

(on camera): Will you hand in your weapon? Yes or no?

ABU ROB (through translator): You are starting to sound like Bush... either you are with us fighting terror or against us.

VAUSE: The Israelis insist what they're offering is not an amnesty for wanted militants. It's more like a good behavior bond. And they say it will be up to the Palestinian Authority to ensure the terms of that indefinite probation are not broken.

(VOICE-OVER): Among the Palestinian militants there is a deep mistrust of Israel. So it will fall to the newly elected president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to convince them the time has come to end the fight for good. They won't do it for Israel, but they might just do it for him.

John Vause, CNN, Kabatia, in the West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And here at home, Congress began debating President Bush's controversial $2.5 trillion budget proposal. Mr. Bush, meantime, was out trying to sell the spending plan in Michigan. He spoke to the Detroit Economic Club in a speech you may have seen here on CNN. He also talked about ideas for changing Social Security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I like the idea of people from all walks of life starting their own business. I met entrepreneurs all across America who said, "I started my business. I'm an employer. I'm excited about the future."

We want people owning and managing their own health care accounts. That's why I believe health savings accounts are an important part of helping to control the cost of medicine. And we want people controlling and owning their own assets when it comes to their retirement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Mr. Bush told the gathering his budget would bring discipline to government by cutting programs that don't work.

President Bush is enjoying his highest approval rating in more than a year. In the latest CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll, 57 percent said they approve of how Mr. Bush is handling his job. That's a six- point increase since January.

Forty percent disapprove, a decrease. However, fewer than half, 43 percent, still approve of how the president is handling his centerpiece issue of Social Security.

PHILLIPS: A top Democratic lawmaker says he's been targeted by Republicans. He's hitting back and holding the Bush administration responsible. CNN congressional correspondent Ed Henry explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: What government's all about is honesty, integrity, not phoniness.

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid blamed the president for a Republican attack against him and his family. The 13-page Republican memo calls Reid the "chief Democratic obstructionist," highlighting his opposition to Social Security reform and conservative judicial nominees.

REID: Why didn't he stand and tell the American people last Wednesday that one of the first items of business we were going to do in Washington is send out a hit piece on the Democratic leader?

HENRY: The Republican National Committee memo also gets personal, raising old questions about the lobbying activities of Reid's sons. Reid has denied any improper conduct and changed his office policy more than a year ago to ban family members from lobbying him.

Although soft spoken, Reid is a tough partisan in-fighter. Aides say the memo made him furious.

REID: I mean, is President George Bush a man of his word? He said that he was going to reach out to the Democrats. Strange way to reach out. Mr. President, I call upon you to repudiate this document, to tell the Republican National Committee, don't mail it.

HENRY: No chance of that. An RNC spokesman said the party is going ahead with the mailing, adding, "This is just intended to show he is an obstructionist and out of step with Americans and people in his home state of Nevada." Privately, Republican strategists say this hard-ball strategy has a proven track record, helping to knock off former Georgia Senator Max Cleland, John Kerry and Harry Reid's predecessor, Senator Tom Daschle. The Republican who beat Daschle said all's fair.

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R), SOUTH DAKOTA: If, in fact, the Democrat leadership continues the pattern of the last Congress, and that is to block and obstruct the agenda, then that's a legitimate charge to make.

HENRY (on camera): Senator Reid and his wife at a previously scheduled dinner at the White House on Monday night with the president and first lady. The senator's staff did not think he was going to confront the president, saying Reid prefers to do his talking on the Senate floor.

Ed Henry, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: For an American filmmaker, it was the ultimate on- location shoot in Afghanistan.

PHILLIPS: And sometimes it got intense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very real. And it's feeling very intense. What happens is we're surrounded by, like, 200 people in the street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Just ahead on LIVE FROM, the filmmaker of "September Tapes" joins us, and he's releasing some of the scenes the U.S. military initially confiscated.

HARRIS: Also ahead, the people who gave the World Dolly the cloned sheep have got a license to clone something else.

PHILLIPS: And later, how many times have you seen this and thought, there ought to be a law? We've got details on the crackdown on droopy drawers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A Hollywood filmmaker took his camera, a small crew, almost $500,000 in cash, and headed to Afghanistan. Christian Johnston wanted to shoot a fictional film about the search for Osama bin Laden. But real life intervened.

As Christian and his crew began shooting scenes with weapons dealers and anti-Taliban forces, what he got on tape was so real the U.S. military wanted to see it first. If you saw "September Tapes" in the theater, you wouldn't have seen the controversial footage. But now you can on DVD. It's just been released.

Its director, Christian Johnston, joins us live from Los Angeles to talk about it.

Good to see you, Christian.

CHRISTIAN JOHNSTON, DIRECTOR, "SEPTEMBER TAPES": Good to see you, too.

PHILLIPS: So why did the U.S. military want to see your film?

JOHNSTON: Well, we had a chance in Afghanistan -- I think a lot of the Northern Alliance people that helped us shoot the film, they were very candid with us. And what we came back with was them saying things very openly about the hunt for Osama bin Laden. And a lot of these things when we came back made the government concerned over exactly what was happening there. It sort of re-enlightened the sort of hunt for Osama for them.

PHILLIPS: And I'm going to take viewers through some of those examples. But you got this access because of a man called "The Godfather." Tell us about Baba Jon. JOHNSTON: Baba Jon was with Amishadan Asud (ph), one of the leaders of the Northern Alliance. And he had a great deal of power inside of Kabul. And when we came to shoot the movie there, as being outsiders, especially Americans, he really wanted us to see the plight of the Afghan people, and especially for what we were there for, the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

And as we -- and as we're now three years later, still Osama being this very important ideological figurehead for al Qaeda, it's really important now, even this amount of years later, that basically there's a tension being paid there. And I think that's what -- that's what Baba Jon and a lot of the Northern Alliance people wanted us to come back to Americans with.

PHILLIPS: Now, you meet with real-life arms dealers, actually in the home of the former leader of the Taliban in Kabul, now the leader of the Northern Alliance. Tell us about this and if this got the U.S. military a little nervous.

JOHNSTON: Yes. There's a great deal of instant access to weapons. A lot of the things that we used inside of this hybrid film that's part fact, part fiction was, you know -- was weapons, weapons dealers, actual territorial warlords. And I think the authenticity of this inside of the film -- and if people get a chance to hopefully rent the DVD, they can see a lot of what we went through, trying to shoot this film there.

And, you know, the weapons dealers and a lot of these people had their own comments and beliefs about the Americans and the hunt for Osama. And we captured a lot of very candid dialogue inside of the movie.

PHILLIPS: Yes, you did. We actually cut a piece of that candid dialogue. Let's take a listen to what this gentleman said about why so many people there felt the U.S. government let Osama bin Laden escape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SEPTEMBER TAPES")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bin Laden and his men went right past the U.S. military into the mountains near the Pakistani border.

(END VIDEO CLIP, "SEPTEMBER TAPES")

PHILLIPS: Tell us about this man and this interview.

JOHNSTON: There was a handful of people that worked inside of the Northern Alliance, and we had direct access to a lot of them. This scene -- there's a number of scenes in the movie. Some of them we had to delete or not put in the initial release of the film, where people explained to us very openly, Osama bin Laden was allowed to escape over -- into the Pakistani border, into Waziristan, and that they felt that the U.S. government didn't want to capture him.

And I think that now it's especially important. The things that they said three years ago, and their sort of openness is really, especially apparent in what's happening. And these people really had these very strong feelings that America did not want to capture and wasn't doing enough to capture Osama. And I think that that still resonates. So...

PHILLIPS: So how does the U.S. military feel about your film now? You got your tape backs, obviously. What's the relationship that you have with them now?

JOHNSTON: Well, I think as far as the Department of Defense and Homeland Security, a lot of them are obviously doing their jobs. And we didn't feel -- didn't feel that we had been taken advantage of by any means.

We came back with important information. And I guess it was sort of our duty to have them review that.

But I think that what was the most important thing is a small independent film like this, you know, like "September Tapes," is being given some sort of a voice. And thanks to people like you at CNN, to be able to allow us as independent filmmakers to have sort of unchecked possibilities, releasing information from places like Afghanistan, which is still so vastly important about the ideas even leading to Iraq.

I mean, Osama bin Laden is the ideological figurehead for, you know, Islamic militants, and I think we must capture him as American people. And I think a lot of people are really interested in what's happening with the hunt for Osama. And that's kind of what we're happy to be able to keep talking about, because that's what really mattered to me, to try to go make this movie.

PHILLIPS: Well, it took a lot of courage to do it. And you captured exactly what you wanted to get. "September Tapes" is the movie. Christian Johnston, thanks so much.

JOHNSTON: Thank you very much.

HARRIS: Spies dish the dirt about the CIA.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The CIA breaks laws for a living. And if we're going to be able to do -- really push that envelope, go right up to that edge, we've got to be able to get down and dirty into our jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And they reveal what the CIA needs to do to clean up its act.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. Coming up, new details from the star witness in the multibillion-dollar WorldCom trial. That's next on LIVE FROM, so don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Tony, you know what today is?

HARRIS: No, what is it?

PHILLIPS: Mardi Gras, AKA Fat Tuesday, my friend.

HARRIS: Fat Tuesday.

PHILLIPS: Now, here in New Orleans, of course, you know, you see everything being thrown from the floats...

HARRIS: Right.

PHILLIPS: ... from the beads to the moon pies. Everybody drinking. But actually, traditionally, this is supposed to be the last day for Catholics to indulge -- you know, overindulge also.

HARRIS: So you lose your mind today, the last day...

PHILLIPS: Before Ash Wednesday.

HARRIS: ... before the Lent season kicks in, right?

PHILLIPS: There you go. There you go.

HARRIS: You've got to give up things. You've got to fast and...

PHILLIPS: Yes. Just like our writer, Jim Guthrie (ph).

HARRIS: Who has to give some things up.

PHILLIPS: He is given up the doughnuts.

HARRIS: Really?

PHILLIPS: Yes.

HARRIS: Well, that's going to be tough on Jim.

PHILLIPS: Yes. So he's watching this video. And there you right here, you've got to love it. Look at that, the New Orleans police getting involved, too, handing a few beads.

HARRIS: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Yes. Have you been there?

HARRIS: I haven't been there. I know you've covered it. But I understand that you probably should wear some full body armor for these beads. They throw these beads at you, don't they, on the parade route?

PHILLIPS: You know what? The coconuts are what hurts.

HARRIS: Ooh. PHILLIPS: And the Zulu Parade, that's the worst.

HARRIS: Yes, that will -- that will leave a mark. Eleven parades between now and sunset? Is that what you told me, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: There you go. We're tracking Mardi Gras.

HARRIS: To business now, some damaging testimony in the fraud conspiracy trial of former WorldCom chief Bernie Ebbers.

PHILLIPS: Susan Lisovicz joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange for that story.

Hi, Susan.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: "Now in the News," President Bush is off and running promoting his controversial budget proposal to the American people. Today he told business leaders in Detroit the spending plan would bring discipline to government by cutting programs that aren't need or don't meet their goals.

Turning the page. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, live pictures right now, meeting with the foreign minister of France. The country was one of the most vocal critics of the Iraq war. Speaking earlier in Paris, Rice said that it's time to turn away from the past disagreements and look forward to the future.

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