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Filibuster Negotiations Continue; British Official Appears on Capitol Hill; Cuba Accuses U.S. of Harboring Terrorist

Aired May 17, 2005 - 13:00   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Live pictures now from Cuba. Thousands of people protesting. The reason, they say America is harboring a known terrorist.
A new scam at the ATM. Thieves are just three steps away from cleaning out your account.

And "You Can Do It!" A daring woman who lived her dreams wants you to live yours. A book begun by a September 11 victim is finished. Are you up to the challenge?

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, hello everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips. Miles worked the early shift today. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

Well, it happened again. A red flag from a watch list sends a transatlantic airliner way off course in the name of homeland security. Today it's an Alitalia flight from Milan, diverted to Bangor, Maine, instead of Boston because a passenger's name matched a name on the U.S. no-fly list.

Flight 618, with 137 people on board, has just landed. It was just last Thursday that an Air France flight took the same route under the same circumstances, though that case was soon found out to be a false alarm.

Well, tradition and procedure, the heart and soul of the U.S. Senate, on trial in the fight over judges. As early as tomorrow, a showdown years in the making, could begin on the Senate floor, assuming no last-minute agreement among rank and file members to the rescue of the lowly filibuster.

We get the latest now from CNN congressional correspondent Joe Johns.

Hi, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

The Senate is inching really closer to this expected showdown on the Senate floor. It's not going to happen immediately, at least that's what we've been told today.

At the center of this fight, of course, are two nominees whose names are well known across the country by now, Janice Rogers Brown and Priscilla Owen. Of course, these are the two people Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has said he'll take to the floor of the Senate first.

They're in Washington today, expected to have lunch at the White House, then come up here to Capitol Hill and meet with Senator Frist and others just before, of course, all of this takes off, perhaps as early as tomorrow on the Senate floor.

Senator Frist also going before the cameras today, indicating just a little while ago that, while perhaps time is running out in this case, he is still willing to talk, because he is certainly afraid, he says, that Democrats may very well try to slow down Senate business.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: If that's the case, and that's the threat coming from the other side that they're going to stop an energy bill, an immigration bill, asbestos litigation reform, if that's really the threat, I'm going to keep listening, and I'm going to keep working to bring it to resolution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: So the negotiations goes on. Still, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid has tried, he says, to get out of the way and let others manage some type of a negotiation to try to head off this slowdown on the Senate floor over filibusters. He spoke on the Senate floor earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: Over the years, the filibuster has proven to be an important tool of moderation and consensus, which partly explains why the Republican leadership is opposed to it. They aren't interested in moderation. They're only interested in advancing their right-wing radical political agenda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: As we've already reported, of course there has been some language circulated, Democrats offering a deal to Republicans, trying to bring six members on each side to get together to allow a number of the president's nominees through, to block some others, of course. It's not clear at all where that possible compromise is going.

Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Joe Johns, we'll follow the negotiation. Thank you so much.

Well, a good first step, says the White House, but officials want to make sure that last night's retraction from "Newsweek" magazine gets as much play in the Muslim world as the inflammatory report inspired it.

The report alleged a U.S. military investigation found troops at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated the Quran, the Muslim holy book, in a bid to rattle detainees. Very shortly afterward, violent demonstrations broke out among outraged Muslims in Afghanistan, several of whom ended up dead.

U.S. officials disagree on whether that unrest was wholly, partly, or not at all related to the "Newsweek" story, which came from a source who apparently misspoke.

Still, the State Department is calling on embassies to spread the news of the retraction, while "Newsweek" looks to redeem its reputation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN KLAIDMAN, "NEWSWEEK" MAGAZINE: What we've done is to lay out in as much detail as we can, as we have learned the facts, what mistakes we made, how we believe we made them.

And we will continue to look at our processes, our reporting methods questions about sourcing. We're going to go back and learn from the mistakes we made, so that we don't repeat them in the future. That's, I think, the most important thing we can do, as we continue our mission to report the news as fairly, accurately and responsibly as we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And minutes ago, the Pentagon official who had objected the loudest to the now discredited assertions spoke with reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE DIRITA, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: The allegations have not previously been -- we've not previously included that in any kind of previous investigations into detainee operations, because there haven't been credible allegations to that effect.

And we've tried to pursue specific credible allegations carefully and we think we've done that. But nonetheless, in the course of reviewing -- in the course of the news -- in the wake of the "Newsweek" piece, we thought it useful to go back and review, to be sure.

And that's what's going on right now. The chairman of the joint chiefs talked a little bit about it yesterday. We're -- we will have more to say about this as it gets -- I think this is all something we want to all be able to wrap up quickly. We've certainly found nothing that would give any substance to the "Newsweek" story in this regard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And the Pentagon says its Gitmo investigation found no cases of U.S. interrogators using or abusing the Quran in any manner.

A stiff upper lip? Not bloody likely. The Senate panel investigating the U.N. oil-for-food scandal today heard a double- barrel defense from a furious British lawmaker accused of skimming. CNN's Richard Roth has that on Capitol Hill.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm with the man of the hour, you might say, here on Capitol Hill, George Galloway, minister of parliament in Britain who testified today at that Senate subcommittee.

You were a little shy.

GEORGE GALLOWAY, MINISTER OF PARLIAMENT, GREAT BRITAIN: Well, this was a clash of the British parliamentary tradition with the rather more sedate senatorial one. And it's up to you who won. Most of the traffic I'm getting in my ear is that -- is that the British parliamentary tradition won.

ROTH: What do you think your appearance accomplished for a committee which has accused you of oil-for-food corruption?

GALLOWAY: Well, frankly, I wasn't here to melt the hearts of the two members the committee that turned up for the hearing. I was speaking beyond these walls to the watching television audience at home. And I came not as the accused, but as the accuser.

So I don't suppose I did much beyond embarrassing the Senator Coleman with the absurd thinness of what he had to put on the table. But I hope that I reached a broader public, with my broader case, against the war, against the sanctions, and against the mother of all smoke screens, which is what this Senate committee on investigations is engaged in.

ROTH: They say they talked to a senior Iraqi official, I believe, yesterday, saying that -- saying that you were on the take?

GALLOWAY: Yes, although they wouldn't say who the official was, whether the official's in Abu Ghraib prison, like the rest of the prisoners of the United States, or whether he's received some inducement or other. We don't know, because they won't name him.

And I think the era of secret evidence -- now that we know what we know about the secret evidence that led us into the war on Iraq -- is over. The public don't want to know about secret evidence that leaders can know that other people don't know.

The bottom line is this: if I had ever bought or sold a drop of Iraqi oil, you'd know about it. The man what gave me the money would be in front of this camera now. He'd have been in front of that Senate now. There would have been evidence.

"Show me the money," I challenged the Senate chairman. And he can't show me the money because no money ever, ever reached my hands. Our campaign against sanctions and war was funded by the king of the United Arab Emirates, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, two of the most important friends in the Middle East of the United States.

ROTH: Are you -- are you worried about Paul Volcker's investigation, which is U.N.-approved? You praised Annan today and the U.N. effort to stop the war. But what of -- that report is also looking at businesses for journalists, companies. GALLOWAY: Sure. Now I have nothing to fear from that because I have never done any business with Iraq, none at all. Not so much as a drop of oil, not so much as a loaf of bread, not so much as a piece of cake. I've never bought or sold anything to or from Iraq.

I did what I did for Iraq for the reasons I've been doing what I've been doing all my political life: because I believe in it.

ROTH: George Galloway, minister of parliament. You took the oath. The committee says you face perjury if the charges are later proven.

GALLOWAY: I'm afraid the liars are on other side of this argument.

ROTH: Thank you very much for your time here on Capitol Hill. Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right. Richard Roth, thank you so much.

Well, looking back at that wayward Cessna that set off so much alarm in Washington last week. A senior Pentagon official says that terrorism was never the presumption.

Paul McHale, in charge of homeland defense, says that even as the tiny plane came nearer and nearer the White House and warplanes scrambled to confront it, a shoot down order was far from imminent. What was imminent? Well, according to the FAA, it is some sort of enforcement action against the plane's pilot and his trainee.

Your carry-ons are X-rayed, your pockets are emptied, even your shoes are subject to airport screener scrutiny. But what's in the cargo that's flying on the same plane? Right now, almost none of it is checked for explosives or other dangerous materials. And members of Congress say there ought to be a law.

Massachusetts Democrat Edward Markey and Connecticut Republican Christopher Shays are trying to amend the homeland security spending bill, in the meantime, alerting passengers to what they call a dangerous loophole.

Now, the lighter side: the TSA is amending its ban on cigarette lighters, in light of searing complaints from Zippo. The new rule allows flyers to pack unfilled lighters in checked baggage.

CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information day and night.

A new scam uncovered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... MACs. They get your personal information. They steal all your money out of your bank accounts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Steps you can take to protect your bottom line, just ahead on LIVE FROM.

And saving missing children. A new push to get information to the public faster.

And right after break, a protest march in Cuba because of a man in hiding in Miami. Details straight ahead.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures right now. You're watching hundreds of thousands of people just spill into the water-front street of Havana, Cuba. They were called out by President Fidel Castro to demand the arrest of longtime Castro foe Luis Posada Carriles.

The Cuban exile recently surfaced in Miami, Florida. Posada is wanted in Venezuela and Cuba in connection with a 1976 Cuban airliner bombing that killed 73 people. Posada says he didn't do it.

Castro accuses the Bush administration of hypocrisy for not acting against Posada while waging a war on terrorism.

Luis Posada Carriles is a former CIA operative who has been bent on bringing down the Castro regime for 40 years.

CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti talked with him just a couple hours ago when he addressed a handful of journalists. She joins us now with more on that pretty intense interview.

Susan, what did he say?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Luis Posada Carriles came out of hiding today to declare that he will never give up his fight for a free Cuba. However, apparently he is giving up his fight to remain in a free United States.

Posada is a suspected terrorist who has spent his life on the run, devoted to taking down Cuba's president, Fidel Castro. He denies he's a terrorist. He admits to illegally crossing the U.S. border from Mexico last month and taking a Greyhound bus to Miami.

Once here, Posada applied for political asylum, but just this week, he postponed his official interview with U.S. authorities. And now sources tell us he's on his way to leaving the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUIS POSADA CARRILES, CUBAN EXILE (through translator): I've lived for 30 years in the clandestine world. If my petition for asylum causes the United States problems, I will withdraw it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: ... political asylum application has brought a lot of attention to the United States government.

Posada denies any role in an explosion that brought down a Cabana (ph) airliner back in 1976, killing 76 people. Today he calls it, quote, "an abominable act" and adds, "I had nothing to do with it."

In Venezuela, he was twice acquitted of any role in the bombing but escaped prison before prosecutors there were done with him.

Posada refused to take any questions about a string of Havana tourist hotel bombings in the year 2000, though in the past he did claim responsibility in an interview with the "New York Times," which he later said was a -- which he later said was a lie.

CNN asked Posada whether he thinks the ends ever justify the means when it comes to freeing Cuba of Fidel Castro. He answered by saying this, generally, he says, sometimes the ends do justify the means. He would not rule out violence and added that he remains seeing himself as a soldier in the fight to free Cuba.

Now, as to those massive demonstrations that are going on even at this hour in Havana, he called them a sham, said they're all just part of a show being staged by Fidel Castro.

Although you might ask, well, why hasn't homeland security or the FBI made any effort to pick up Posada for questioning, since he's been here in the United States? Law enforcement sources have told me, again, there is no warrant for him here in the United States or from anywhere else, although the Venezuelan government has begun extradition proceeding against him.

U.S. authorities admit to us that they don't know where he is, and earlier this week, the State Department said they're not even sure whether he is in the United States. Well, obviously, Kyra, he is the United States, although soon it appears he won't be anymore.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: I can just imagine the cloak and dagger details it took to do that interview. Susan Candiotti, thank you so much.

And will the United States arrest Luis Posada Carriles or embrace him? CNN's Andrea Koppel will join us now live from the State Department with a diplomatic perspective, shall we say, on his status here.

Andrea, let's talk about the fact that a number of people consider him a terrorist.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra. There are a number of the -- the relatives, the victims, of that Air Cubana flight that went down in 1976. And others who were saying the Bush administration should pick him up, should not grant him political asylum and should hand him over to Venezuela, which has officially petitioned the State Department for him to be sent back there so he can be put on trial for him allegedly blowing up or having a hand in blowing up that Air Cubana flight -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So what are your sources telling you, and where do you go from here? What do you do with him?

KOPPEL: Well, one senior State Department official admitted, as long as his name wasn't used, that -- that Posada Carriles is a bad guy, to say the least. Just four or five years ago, he was convicted in a Panamanian court for plotting to assassinate Fidel Castro, and then he was pardoned last year when the now ex-president left office.

So he is a convicted, at least in the eyes of some, a convicted terrorist. The State Department is saying that's a matter that has to do with legal issues, it's for justice, it's for homeland security.

But there are others who say that, look, this is a guy who clearly is a hero within the Cuban exile community in south Florida. Florida is a very important political state.

They say that it is no secret that the U.S. cannot stand the government of Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela. Why would they want to do anything to help him out or to help out Fidel Castro?

And thirdly, they say that this is also a guy who is well known for having said that he would say anything, that he would speak out and tell all of his secrets. And just last week in newly declassified documents, he was shown to be the CIA operative head, who was the head of the CIA in 1986, George Bush's father -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So that leads to the question of those secrets, George Bush's father -- I don't think the Bush administration would want this information to go public.

KOPPEL: Well, those are certainly some of the allegations by family members of some of those who were killed on the Air Cubana flight. The Bush administration would say that it doesn't have evidence, or is certainly trying to sort through documents to see whether or no Posada Carriles is a guy who is responsible for acts of terrorism.

But certainly if reporters could find him, you would think that the U.S. government would be able to find him and sit down and ask him some tough questions.

KOPPEL: Andrea Koppel, live from the State Department, thank you so much.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I was just shocked. It's like, it's mine, it's mine.

PHILLIPS: To catch a thief, how one woman clicked her way to recovering her stolen possessions.

Later on LIVE FROM, luggage gets screened, but what about the cargo on board your next flight? We'll talk about it with a former security chief.

Also ahead...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): W hen the day is dawning on a Texas Sunday morning

PHILLIPS: Music has charms to soothe the savage breast, but this song managed to bring British military computers to a screeching halt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Here's a look at the latest health headlines right now. It's estimated that impotence drugs could cost taxpayers $2 billion during the next decade. That's according to Congressman Steve King of Iowa. He wants to ban Medicare coverage of what he calls recreational sex drugs for elderly and disabled patients. Medicare starts fraud restriction (ph) drug coverage next year.

Some popular anti-depressants can cause internal bleeding. Northwestern University Medical School researchers found that the side effect in selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. SSRI's include drugs like Prozac. Aspirin and related pain killers can also trigger internal bleeding.

A low-fat diet may help prevent a recurrence of breast cancer. The National Cancer Institute compared cancer patients on regular diets and low-fat diets. Five years later, cancer was about 25 percent less likely to return in the low-fat diet group. But experts debate whether cutting fat or losing weight is really responsible for lowering breast cancer risk.

The best-selling car in America will soon have a hybrid version. For the details, let's drive over to Susan Lisovicz, who's parked at the New York Stock Exchange.

Hi, Susan.

(STOCK REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired May 17, 2005 - 13:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Live pictures now from Cuba. Thousands of people protesting. The reason, they say America is harboring a known terrorist.
A new scam at the ATM. Thieves are just three steps away from cleaning out your account.

And "You Can Do It!" A daring woman who lived her dreams wants you to live yours. A book begun by a September 11 victim is finished. Are you up to the challenge?

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, hello everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips. Miles worked the early shift today. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

Well, it happened again. A red flag from a watch list sends a transatlantic airliner way off course in the name of homeland security. Today it's an Alitalia flight from Milan, diverted to Bangor, Maine, instead of Boston because a passenger's name matched a name on the U.S. no-fly list.

Flight 618, with 137 people on board, has just landed. It was just last Thursday that an Air France flight took the same route under the same circumstances, though that case was soon found out to be a false alarm.

Well, tradition and procedure, the heart and soul of the U.S. Senate, on trial in the fight over judges. As early as tomorrow, a showdown years in the making, could begin on the Senate floor, assuming no last-minute agreement among rank and file members to the rescue of the lowly filibuster.

We get the latest now from CNN congressional correspondent Joe Johns.

Hi, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

The Senate is inching really closer to this expected showdown on the Senate floor. It's not going to happen immediately, at least that's what we've been told today.

At the center of this fight, of course, are two nominees whose names are well known across the country by now, Janice Rogers Brown and Priscilla Owen. Of course, these are the two people Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has said he'll take to the floor of the Senate first.

They're in Washington today, expected to have lunch at the White House, then come up here to Capitol Hill and meet with Senator Frist and others just before, of course, all of this takes off, perhaps as early as tomorrow on the Senate floor.

Senator Frist also going before the cameras today, indicating just a little while ago that, while perhaps time is running out in this case, he is still willing to talk, because he is certainly afraid, he says, that Democrats may very well try to slow down Senate business.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: If that's the case, and that's the threat coming from the other side that they're going to stop an energy bill, an immigration bill, asbestos litigation reform, if that's really the threat, I'm going to keep listening, and I'm going to keep working to bring it to resolution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: So the negotiations goes on. Still, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid has tried, he says, to get out of the way and let others manage some type of a negotiation to try to head off this slowdown on the Senate floor over filibusters. He spoke on the Senate floor earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: Over the years, the filibuster has proven to be an important tool of moderation and consensus, which partly explains why the Republican leadership is opposed to it. They aren't interested in moderation. They're only interested in advancing their right-wing radical political agenda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: As we've already reported, of course there has been some language circulated, Democrats offering a deal to Republicans, trying to bring six members on each side to get together to allow a number of the president's nominees through, to block some others, of course. It's not clear at all where that possible compromise is going.

Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Joe Johns, we'll follow the negotiation. Thank you so much.

Well, a good first step, says the White House, but officials want to make sure that last night's retraction from "Newsweek" magazine gets as much play in the Muslim world as the inflammatory report inspired it.

The report alleged a U.S. military investigation found troops at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated the Quran, the Muslim holy book, in a bid to rattle detainees. Very shortly afterward, violent demonstrations broke out among outraged Muslims in Afghanistan, several of whom ended up dead.

U.S. officials disagree on whether that unrest was wholly, partly, or not at all related to the "Newsweek" story, which came from a source who apparently misspoke.

Still, the State Department is calling on embassies to spread the news of the retraction, while "Newsweek" looks to redeem its reputation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN KLAIDMAN, "NEWSWEEK" MAGAZINE: What we've done is to lay out in as much detail as we can, as we have learned the facts, what mistakes we made, how we believe we made them.

And we will continue to look at our processes, our reporting methods questions about sourcing. We're going to go back and learn from the mistakes we made, so that we don't repeat them in the future. That's, I think, the most important thing we can do, as we continue our mission to report the news as fairly, accurately and responsibly as we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And minutes ago, the Pentagon official who had objected the loudest to the now discredited assertions spoke with reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE DIRITA, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: The allegations have not previously been -- we've not previously included that in any kind of previous investigations into detainee operations, because there haven't been credible allegations to that effect.

And we've tried to pursue specific credible allegations carefully and we think we've done that. But nonetheless, in the course of reviewing -- in the course of the news -- in the wake of the "Newsweek" piece, we thought it useful to go back and review, to be sure.

And that's what's going on right now. The chairman of the joint chiefs talked a little bit about it yesterday. We're -- we will have more to say about this as it gets -- I think this is all something we want to all be able to wrap up quickly. We've certainly found nothing that would give any substance to the "Newsweek" story in this regard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And the Pentagon says its Gitmo investigation found no cases of U.S. interrogators using or abusing the Quran in any manner.

A stiff upper lip? Not bloody likely. The Senate panel investigating the U.N. oil-for-food scandal today heard a double- barrel defense from a furious British lawmaker accused of skimming. CNN's Richard Roth has that on Capitol Hill.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm with the man of the hour, you might say, here on Capitol Hill, George Galloway, minister of parliament in Britain who testified today at that Senate subcommittee.

You were a little shy.

GEORGE GALLOWAY, MINISTER OF PARLIAMENT, GREAT BRITAIN: Well, this was a clash of the British parliamentary tradition with the rather more sedate senatorial one. And it's up to you who won. Most of the traffic I'm getting in my ear is that -- is that the British parliamentary tradition won.

ROTH: What do you think your appearance accomplished for a committee which has accused you of oil-for-food corruption?

GALLOWAY: Well, frankly, I wasn't here to melt the hearts of the two members the committee that turned up for the hearing. I was speaking beyond these walls to the watching television audience at home. And I came not as the accused, but as the accuser.

So I don't suppose I did much beyond embarrassing the Senator Coleman with the absurd thinness of what he had to put on the table. But I hope that I reached a broader public, with my broader case, against the war, against the sanctions, and against the mother of all smoke screens, which is what this Senate committee on investigations is engaged in.

ROTH: They say they talked to a senior Iraqi official, I believe, yesterday, saying that -- saying that you were on the take?

GALLOWAY: Yes, although they wouldn't say who the official was, whether the official's in Abu Ghraib prison, like the rest of the prisoners of the United States, or whether he's received some inducement or other. We don't know, because they won't name him.

And I think the era of secret evidence -- now that we know what we know about the secret evidence that led us into the war on Iraq -- is over. The public don't want to know about secret evidence that leaders can know that other people don't know.

The bottom line is this: if I had ever bought or sold a drop of Iraqi oil, you'd know about it. The man what gave me the money would be in front of this camera now. He'd have been in front of that Senate now. There would have been evidence.

"Show me the money," I challenged the Senate chairman. And he can't show me the money because no money ever, ever reached my hands. Our campaign against sanctions and war was funded by the king of the United Arab Emirates, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, two of the most important friends in the Middle East of the United States.

ROTH: Are you -- are you worried about Paul Volcker's investigation, which is U.N.-approved? You praised Annan today and the U.N. effort to stop the war. But what of -- that report is also looking at businesses for journalists, companies. GALLOWAY: Sure. Now I have nothing to fear from that because I have never done any business with Iraq, none at all. Not so much as a drop of oil, not so much as a loaf of bread, not so much as a piece of cake. I've never bought or sold anything to or from Iraq.

I did what I did for Iraq for the reasons I've been doing what I've been doing all my political life: because I believe in it.

ROTH: George Galloway, minister of parliament. You took the oath. The committee says you face perjury if the charges are later proven.

GALLOWAY: I'm afraid the liars are on other side of this argument.

ROTH: Thank you very much for your time here on Capitol Hill. Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right. Richard Roth, thank you so much.

Well, looking back at that wayward Cessna that set off so much alarm in Washington last week. A senior Pentagon official says that terrorism was never the presumption.

Paul McHale, in charge of homeland defense, says that even as the tiny plane came nearer and nearer the White House and warplanes scrambled to confront it, a shoot down order was far from imminent. What was imminent? Well, according to the FAA, it is some sort of enforcement action against the plane's pilot and his trainee.

Your carry-ons are X-rayed, your pockets are emptied, even your shoes are subject to airport screener scrutiny. But what's in the cargo that's flying on the same plane? Right now, almost none of it is checked for explosives or other dangerous materials. And members of Congress say there ought to be a law.

Massachusetts Democrat Edward Markey and Connecticut Republican Christopher Shays are trying to amend the homeland security spending bill, in the meantime, alerting passengers to what they call a dangerous loophole.

Now, the lighter side: the TSA is amending its ban on cigarette lighters, in light of searing complaints from Zippo. The new rule allows flyers to pack unfilled lighters in checked baggage.

CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information day and night.

A new scam uncovered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... MACs. They get your personal information. They steal all your money out of your bank accounts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Steps you can take to protect your bottom line, just ahead on LIVE FROM.

And saving missing children. A new push to get information to the public faster.

And right after break, a protest march in Cuba because of a man in hiding in Miami. Details straight ahead.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures right now. You're watching hundreds of thousands of people just spill into the water-front street of Havana, Cuba. They were called out by President Fidel Castro to demand the arrest of longtime Castro foe Luis Posada Carriles.

The Cuban exile recently surfaced in Miami, Florida. Posada is wanted in Venezuela and Cuba in connection with a 1976 Cuban airliner bombing that killed 73 people. Posada says he didn't do it.

Castro accuses the Bush administration of hypocrisy for not acting against Posada while waging a war on terrorism.

Luis Posada Carriles is a former CIA operative who has been bent on bringing down the Castro regime for 40 years.

CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti talked with him just a couple hours ago when he addressed a handful of journalists. She joins us now with more on that pretty intense interview.

Susan, what did he say?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Luis Posada Carriles came out of hiding today to declare that he will never give up his fight for a free Cuba. However, apparently he is giving up his fight to remain in a free United States.

Posada is a suspected terrorist who has spent his life on the run, devoted to taking down Cuba's president, Fidel Castro. He denies he's a terrorist. He admits to illegally crossing the U.S. border from Mexico last month and taking a Greyhound bus to Miami.

Once here, Posada applied for political asylum, but just this week, he postponed his official interview with U.S. authorities. And now sources tell us he's on his way to leaving the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUIS POSADA CARRILES, CUBAN EXILE (through translator): I've lived for 30 years in the clandestine world. If my petition for asylum causes the United States problems, I will withdraw it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: ... political asylum application has brought a lot of attention to the United States government.

Posada denies any role in an explosion that brought down a Cabana (ph) airliner back in 1976, killing 76 people. Today he calls it, quote, "an abominable act" and adds, "I had nothing to do with it."

In Venezuela, he was twice acquitted of any role in the bombing but escaped prison before prosecutors there were done with him.

Posada refused to take any questions about a string of Havana tourist hotel bombings in the year 2000, though in the past he did claim responsibility in an interview with the "New York Times," which he later said was a -- which he later said was a lie.

CNN asked Posada whether he thinks the ends ever justify the means when it comes to freeing Cuba of Fidel Castro. He answered by saying this, generally, he says, sometimes the ends do justify the means. He would not rule out violence and added that he remains seeing himself as a soldier in the fight to free Cuba.

Now, as to those massive demonstrations that are going on even at this hour in Havana, he called them a sham, said they're all just part of a show being staged by Fidel Castro.

Although you might ask, well, why hasn't homeland security or the FBI made any effort to pick up Posada for questioning, since he's been here in the United States? Law enforcement sources have told me, again, there is no warrant for him here in the United States or from anywhere else, although the Venezuelan government has begun extradition proceeding against him.

U.S. authorities admit to us that they don't know where he is, and earlier this week, the State Department said they're not even sure whether he is in the United States. Well, obviously, Kyra, he is the United States, although soon it appears he won't be anymore.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: I can just imagine the cloak and dagger details it took to do that interview. Susan Candiotti, thank you so much.

And will the United States arrest Luis Posada Carriles or embrace him? CNN's Andrea Koppel will join us now live from the State Department with a diplomatic perspective, shall we say, on his status here.

Andrea, let's talk about the fact that a number of people consider him a terrorist.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra. There are a number of the -- the relatives, the victims, of that Air Cubana flight that went down in 1976. And others who were saying the Bush administration should pick him up, should not grant him political asylum and should hand him over to Venezuela, which has officially petitioned the State Department for him to be sent back there so he can be put on trial for him allegedly blowing up or having a hand in blowing up that Air Cubana flight -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So what are your sources telling you, and where do you go from here? What do you do with him?

KOPPEL: Well, one senior State Department official admitted, as long as his name wasn't used, that -- that Posada Carriles is a bad guy, to say the least. Just four or five years ago, he was convicted in a Panamanian court for plotting to assassinate Fidel Castro, and then he was pardoned last year when the now ex-president left office.

So he is a convicted, at least in the eyes of some, a convicted terrorist. The State Department is saying that's a matter that has to do with legal issues, it's for justice, it's for homeland security.

But there are others who say that, look, this is a guy who clearly is a hero within the Cuban exile community in south Florida. Florida is a very important political state.

They say that it is no secret that the U.S. cannot stand the government of Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela. Why would they want to do anything to help him out or to help out Fidel Castro?

And thirdly, they say that this is also a guy who is well known for having said that he would say anything, that he would speak out and tell all of his secrets. And just last week in newly declassified documents, he was shown to be the CIA operative head, who was the head of the CIA in 1986, George Bush's father -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So that leads to the question of those secrets, George Bush's father -- I don't think the Bush administration would want this information to go public.

KOPPEL: Well, those are certainly some of the allegations by family members of some of those who were killed on the Air Cubana flight. The Bush administration would say that it doesn't have evidence, or is certainly trying to sort through documents to see whether or no Posada Carriles is a guy who is responsible for acts of terrorism.

But certainly if reporters could find him, you would think that the U.S. government would be able to find him and sit down and ask him some tough questions.

KOPPEL: Andrea Koppel, live from the State Department, thank you so much.

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