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London Bombers Traveled to Pakistan in Past Year; White House Fields CIA Leak Questions; No Remorse from Clinic Bomber at Sentencing; Doctors Debate Safety of Ritalin

Aired July 18, 2005 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, HOST: Hurricane Emily hits. Howling wind and rain replace sun and sand in a vacation hot spot. We're tracking the storm as it threatens to make a second landfall.
Terror bombers. New details about the men who blasted London and where they traveled before the attacks.

And live pictures now from the White House briefing room where the CIA leak investigation is expected to come up in reporter questions. We're following it for you.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris in for Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

Well, it turned resorts into ghost towns and vacation into wet and windy nightmares, but officials in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula say the worst is over from Hurricane Emily. It came ashore early today, passing over some of the world's best-known tourist Meccas. But Emily isn't done with Mexico just yet. And Texas is also preparing for the storm. We'll check its path in a moment.

Bur first, here's CNN's Karl Penhaul, who rode out the hurricane in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The winds are dying down substantially now. The hurricane, though, did come over here in the hours of darkness, in the very early hours of this morning. Playa Del Carmen is more or less exactly where the eye came across, according to the weather experts.

Now in terms of the damage, the damage that we've seen has mostly been restricted to a lot of trees and a lot of foliage coming down. You might be able to see behind me part of a treetop that has been snapped off here on the beach front down in Playa Del Carmen.

Elsewhere, along the city's main avenues, many other trees strewn around. Also, some of the power cables are down. The city officials did take the precaution of cutting all power to the city before the hurricane actually struck, in order to avoid anybody being electrocuted.

Now, Playa Del Carmen, like most of the rest of the rest of this coast, a main tourist resort and authorities say 130,000 tourists were on vacation over this weekend, half of them Mexicans and the other half either from the United States or from Europe. But according to police in this resort town, there have been no casualties, neither among the residents nor among the tourists. Everybody is fine.

And certainly, part of that seems due to the evacuation plan, because what we saw yesterday afternoon in the hotels was that almost all the guests were being moved out of their rooms and being put into solid structures inside the hotels, most either into the ballroom and into the convention centers. That certainly seems to have paid off, because the police say that everybody has emerged from this unscathed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Boy, so where is Emily headed next? CNN meteorologist Chad Myers is tracking the storm from the CNN Weather Center -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Tony, it's going to head right to the south of Brownsville, and Brownsville, Texas, in fact, not even out of that cone of uncertainty, that forecast cone that we talk about, in case it decides to wobble left, wobble right.

When they get this large, they can actually make their own wind fields out there. They can actually turn themselves, depending on how the spin is or where the heavy precip is: on the north side or does it wobble around to the south side?

But I'll tell you what: it was very heavy as it moved over Cozumel in the overnight hours. Officially, winds were 135 miles per hour, but some of the hurricane hunter aircraft, as they flew very close to Cozumel, had the winds, aloft where the plane flies, at 162 miles an hour. So that was a very large storm.

And it's now lost some intensity. It gains intensity when it's over warm water. It's been over land the past few hours. Now it's back over water. A hundred and ten miles per hour by tomorrow morning. And then tomorrow night, Tuesday afternoon, probably around 8 p.m., it's already very close to the center of where it's going to make landfall.

That forecast line is south of Brownsville by about 100 miles, but notice if you can -- can't hardly see it there, but the cone takes it all the way up, that forecast air cone, to about North Padre Island. You're not out of the question yet if the storm decides to turn right.

It's not doing it right now. It's not even that strong, but you can begin to see the remnants of what was the eye. The eye came across Cozumel directly. I know we haven't heard about a lot of damage yet, but I'm expecting that by the time we actually get some phone lines back up, we're going to hear about a lot more, because at 140 miles-per-hour winds, I'll tell you what, Tony. There's damage there somewhere. We just don't know exactly where it is.

HARRIS: Where it is, yes.

MYERS: The information in and out of there just isn't as good as when we're down on the Gulf Coast and we have a crew every 20 miles.

HARRIS: That's right. That's right.

MYERS: So...

HARRIS: Well, Chad, I've got to tell you, we're still amazed at the intensity of these storms so early in the season. This is still history-making, isn't it?

MYERS: No question about it. This is the heaviest, the strongest storm to ever be this early in the season. Hurricane Gilbert was a stronger storm, but it was when the waters were warmer. The waters even aren't done warming up yet.

HARRIS: Oh, boy.

MYERS: So that's why we could still get stronger storms than even this later in the season.

HARRIS: All right, Chad. Thank you. Chad Myers, CNN Weather Center.

And now to Britain and the Pakistan connection. New details are emerging about the suspected suicide bombers in the London terror attacks on 7/7. Investigators tracing their movements are focusing on their travels in the year before the blasts.

CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Both Pakistani intelligence and immigration officials confirm that three of the suspected suicide bombers, the three from the Leeds area, did visit Pakistan last year. They have released passport photographs and, indeed, pictures of the three as they passed through immigration control at Karachi Airport.

Shahzad Tanweer and Mohammed Sadique Khan went through Karachi airport on November the 19th last year. They arrived on a Turkish Airlines flight. We're told that they spent about a week in the Karachi area before taking a train north to the city of Lahore. We're also told that they left the country on the 8th of February this year.

It's not clear what they did during their stay in Pakistan. That's what Pakistani intelligence officials are telling us.

We also understand, again from the same officials in Pakistan, that Hasib Hussain, the youngest of the suspected bombers, entered Pakistan, again at Karachi airport, on the 15th of July last year. He flew in on a flight, on a Saudi airlines flight from Riyadh.

And again, officials telling us they're not sure how long he stayed in the country. They're not clear what he did inside the country.

Relatives and family members in Leeds say it's perfectly normal for second, third generation Pakistanis born to Britain to go back to Pakistan to visit family members.

The British police have said that they expect to find an al Qaeda link to the bombings in London. So very likely they will want to follow up and find out exactly what the men were doing in Pakistan, given that in Pakistan over the last few years, a number of al Qaeda operatives have been arrested there.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: We've been following the give and take in the White House briefing room. We want to take you there right now, where the subject has turned to the CIA leak investigation.

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: ... investigation. We have been following the president's direction to cooperate fully with it. So that we can get to -- so that the investigators can get to the bottom of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you had just said, though, that anyone involved in this would no longer be in this administration. You didn't say anybody who would -- anybody who committed a crime. You had said in September 2003 anyone involved in this would no longer be in the administration.

MCCLELLAN: Yes, and we've been through these issues over the course of the last week. And I know -- I know well what was said previously. You heard from the president today, and I think that you should not read into anything into it more than what the president said at this point.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president...

MCCLELLAN: And I think that's something you may be trying to do here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does the president equate the word "leaking" to a crime, as best you know in his mind? Does the use of the word "leaking," does he see that as a criminal standard? And is the only threshold for firing someone involved being charged with a crime?

MCCLELLAN: We all serve at the pleasure of the president in this White House. The president, you heard what he had to say on the matter. He was asked a specific question, and you heard his response.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does leaking, in your judgment of his interpretation, a crime?

MCCLELLAN: I believe what the president said. Go ahead.

HELEN THOMAS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: ... problem. Two years and he can't call them all in and find out what the hell is going on?

MCCLELLAN: Helen... THOMAS: Why is it so difficult to find out that who've cost thousands, maybe millions of dollars, two years, tied up how many lawyers? All he's got to do is call him in.

MCCLELLAN: You just heard from the president. He said he doesn't know all the facts. I don't know all the facts.

THOMAS: Why?

MCCLELLAN: We want to know what the facts are.

THOMAS: Why doesn't he ask them?

MCCLELLAN: I'll tell you why. Because there's an investigation that is continuing at this point, and the appropriate people to handle these issues are the ones who are overseeing that investigation. There is a special prosecutor that has been important. And it's important that we let all the facts come out and then at that point we'll be glad to talk bit. But we shouldn't be getting into...

THOMAS: You talked about it with reporters.

MCCLELLAN: We shouldn't get into prejudging the outcome and...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't know all of the facts, but we know some of the facts. For example, Matt Cooper says he did speak to Karl Rove and Lewis Libby about these issues. So given the fact that you had previously stood at the podium saying these men did not discuss Valerie Plame or a CIA agent's identity anyway, does the White House have a credibility problem?

MCCLELLAN: No, you just answered your own question. You said we don't know all the facts. And I would encourage everyone not to prejudge the outcome of the investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: on the specifics, you made statements that have proven to be untrue.

MCCLELLAN: Let me answer your question because you asked a very specific question.

The president has great faith in the American people, in their judgment. The president is the one who directed the White House to cooperate fully in this investigation with those who are overseeing the investigation, and that's exactly what we have been doing.

The president believes it's important to let the investigators do their work, and at that point, once they have come to the conclusion, then we will be more than happy to talk about it.

The president wants to see them get to the bottom of it as soon as possible. I share that view, as well. We want to know what the facts are, and the investigators are the ones who are drawing those -- pulling together those facts and then drawing conclusions.

Go ahead, Bob. BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Given the new formulation of somebody committed a crime, would that be a crime as determined by an indictment or a crime as determined by a conviction?

MCCLELLAN: Again, Bob, I'm not going to add to what the president said. You heard his remarks, and I think I've been through these issues over the course of the last week. I don't know that there's really much more to add at this point.

FRANKEN: The importance is the question of would -- if it is the latter, the strategy be to run out the clock?

MCCLELLAN: I indicated to you earlier that everyone here serves at the pleasure of the president. And the White House has been working to cooperate fully with the investigators. That was the direction the president set. That's what we've been doing. We hope they come to a conclusion soon.

Go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Going back to the president's statements from earlier, if someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration, it makes me go back to the question I asked you last Wednesday.

Is there regret from this administration of what it has done to the Wilson family with the CIA leak? And I talked to Mr. Wilson prior to going into the East Room, and he basically said the American people deserve an apology, and that his family was basically collateral damage in a bigger picture.

MCCLELLAN: All these questions are getting into prejudging the outcome of the investigation, and we're not going to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But the president -- the president acknowledged that there was a problem and it could be the criminal problem. If he acknowledged that, isn't there some sort of regret?

MCCLELLAN: It's a criminal investigation. We don't know all the facts to it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there any regret from this White House that it has caused an American family who worked for this government to...

MCCLELLAN: I heard what you had to say and I've already answered it. Go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: no, you didn't.

HARRIS: The press briefing at the White House starting to heat up a little bit there. Scott McClellan again being peppered by the press, asking questions about the CIA leak investigation.

And you heard McClellan refer to comments made by the president. Those were comments that were made earlier today during a meeting with India's prime minister, who is in Washington for talks. But soon after those talks, about U.S./Indian relations, the topic turned, of course, to the controversy that is still swirling around the outing of a CIA agent.

Questions continue about the possible role Mr. Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, played in the leaking of her name. The president today said the investigation is ongoing, but he added if anyone on his staff broke the law, he or she would be fired.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's best that people wait until the investigation is complete before you jump to conclusions. I will do so, as well. I don't know all the facts. I want to know all the facts. Best place for the facts to be done is by somebody who's spending time investigating it. I would like this to end as quickly as possible so we know the facts, and if someone committed a crime they will no longer work in my administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. Now "TIME" magazine reporter Matthew Cooper says he first learned about the CIA agent during a phone call with Karl Rove two years ago. He also reveals Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff confirmed the identity of Valerie Plame. Her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson questioned a key piece of the Bush administration's case for war with Iraq.

Cooper recalled the phone call that started it all on CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW COOPER, "TIME" MAGAZINE: After that conversation I knew that she worked at the CIA and worked on WMD issues, but as I made clear to the grand jury I'm certain Rove never used her exact name and certainly, never indicated she had a covert status.

I can now reveal that it was a joke. Karl Rove, when we had the conversation wanted it to be on deep background, which I took to mean I could use the material but not quote it directly and certainly not attribute it, that I had to protect the identity of my source.

When I wrote the to note to my bureau chief just moments after the conversation with Rove in a slightly playful way, I echoed the line in the movie "Animal House" where John Belushi's wild fraternity is put on double secret probation, so it was a little bit of humor.

I felt "TIME" made the wrong decision. I felt Norm Pearlstein, head of all the "TIME" magazine, had done it in a thoughtful and honorable way, but I really disagreed with it, because I thought we were fighting for an important principle. And I thought there would be a lot of fallout from handing over the notes, and I think events have borne that out.

A lot of people, including a lot of journalists, said to me, "Look, the confidence has been broken. You can't protect a source who's been outed, essentially, by your employer by the handing over of these notes and e-mails."

I considered that, but I thought in the end that only the source could release me from my obligation, that a court couldn't do it, a corporation couldn't do it, that really, I needed to get it personally from the source. And frankly, the idea of getting it from the source was not on my mind until that morning. I mean, I just assumed I was going to jail, and I had resigned myself to that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM, serial bomber Eric Rudolph sentenced.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is no justice for this. He cannot have any punishment near to the suffering he has caused.

HARRIS: One of his victims speaks out.

Also ahead, Ritalin reality check. Millions of prescriptions written. Should your child take it? CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta is on the story.

And later on LIVE FROM...

BOB NEWHART, COMEDIAN: I feel terrific.

MARCIA WALLACE, ACTRESS: We don't.

NEWHART: I'm on top of the world. I am strong. I am invincible.

PETER BONERZ, ACTOR: You are woman.

HARRIS: We're on top of the world. Hanging with comedy legend bob Newhart. He joins us for the CNN LIVE FROM interview.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: It is life in prison for confessed serial bomber Eric Rudolph. While the sentence was no surprise, his victims are elated that justice is finally being served.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMILY LYONS, BOMBING SURVIVOR: To let him know he's a failure. His attempts that day did not go as planned. He did not kill me. He didn't shut the clinics down. Unfortunately, Officer Sanderson was killed. But he failed. He did not get what he wanted that day.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: Reporter Alan Collins from CNN affiliate WBRC is covering today's hearings in Birmingham, Alabama, for us -- Alan.

ALAN COLLINS, WBRC REPORTER: Tony, some of the victims of that 1998 bomb blast got their chance to address the court and Rudolph, but Rudolph himself also took center stage, addressing the court, showing no remorse, never once saying he was sorry for his actions.

Now, Rudolph said, addressing the court before he received his sentence, which was two life sentences, Rudolph saying, quote, "My actions were motivated by my recognition that abortion is murder."

Now, the widow of Birmingham police Officer Sandy Sanderson, she had to leave the courtroom before Sanderson (sic) took the stand to offer his statement.

Now, the nurse, though, who was with Sanderson during that day of that fatal bomb blast, she also addressed Rudolph and the court. Emily Lyons talked about the sever injuries she endured but also said she does not have anger. If she had anger, it would be a victory for Rudolph.

Later, afterwards, Sanderson talking to the media talked about how she wanted everyone to remember her officer husband, how he was a hero, basically his body protected Lyons, keeping her from death when that bomb went off in January of 1998.

As for Rudolph, well, now he faces another sentence. That will be taking place in Atlanta for the Olympic Park bombing over there and other bombings in the area. Then he's off to Colorado, where he will spend the rest of his life at the super max is what they call it in Colorado, a maximum security prison there -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. Reporter Alan Collins for us in Birmingham, Alabama. Alan, thank you.

Medical news now. The subject Ritalin. The drug has been the source of major controversy and recently has come under fire by many Scientologists, most notably Tom Cruise, as being highly addictive and over-prescribed. So are too many kids on Ritalin, and is it dangerous?

CNN senior medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta has a reality check.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been around for nearly 50 years, heralded for decades as a cure for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHA. And the life of popular prescription drug Ritalin so far can be summed up in one word: controversial.

DR. PETER JENSEN, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: When people think about hyperactivity and attention deficit problems and think about medicine they think, oh, my goodness, you're drugging your child. Do we say that to parents whose kids have seizures, you're drugging your child?

GUPTA: So how does one little pill draw the ire of so many? Part of it may have to do with numbers. In 1980 between 270,000 and 540,000 people in this country were prescribed Ritalin. That figure doubled 10 years later to around 900,000.

Then a fivefold leap. Nearly five million Americans in 1997 were prescribed Ritalin.

For critics, that's too many millions of people, most of them children, taking a controlled stimulant. Pediatrician Dr. Lawrence Diller is the author of "Running on Ritalin."

LAWRENCE DILLER, PEDIATRICIAN: Many children who are minimally affected but whose parents are worried are now flocking to the doctor, often pushed by the teacher to get a diagnosis and the drug.

GUPTA: And as the number of children and adults prescribed Ritalin mount, so do the questions about its safety. In fact, the FDA has been weighing those concerns, particularly reports from some people of suicidal thoughts, hallucinations and violent behavior, trying to determine whether Ritalin should carry stronger warning labels.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With any medication, and Ritalin is no exception, there are case reports of things like suicidal ideation, but by and large these are exceptionally rare.

GUPTA: Studies say Ritalin is safe, but few of the thousands that have been conducted have followed patients over a long term.

And what about abuse of the drug? The most recent Partnership for a Drug-Free America survey found that one in 10 teens had tried the stimulants Ritalin or Adderal without a doctor's prescription.

DILLER: There is a divide between age, I'd say, 13 to 15. If you're younger Ritalin is basically a safe medicine. But over the age of 15, the risks of abuse are actually quite reasonable and high.

GUPTA: So what is the truth about Ritalin? Is it safe? Is it abused? Is it a drug saddled with too many problems?

DILLER: Ritalin is, you know, the best thing since sliced white bread or Ritalin is the devil's drug. It's neither. I would tell you in general if the parents have, you know, gone through an effort to find out what's troubling this child both in terms of behavior and learning problems, go ahead and use Ritalin.

GUPTA: The key, an open dialogue with your child's doctor about whether medication is, indeed, the best path.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And don't forget that we have a doctor in the house even on the weekends. Watch CNN Saturday and Sunday mornings at 8:30 Eastern for all the latest medical news on "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

OK, you go on vacation expecting to relax on the beach, and instead you get this. Hurricane Emily forcing tourists and residents to head inland in Mexico. We'll talk live with a hotel owner trying to hold it together in the midst of the storm.

And this invention might calm potentially bumpy weather in your den. TV that allows both of you to watch what you want. We'll dial that one up when LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So if TV time typically in your home turns into a battle over who gets to watch what, we may have a solution for you. Dan Sloan takes a look at TV for two?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SLOAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Football on television at the same time as the evening sitcoms? No problem. Sharp has developed a liquid crystal display panel that allows viewers on the right and left side of a soda to watch two different programs staring at the same screen.

Earphones are still required, but a Japanese firm, the world's top maker of LCD sets, says directional sound would be examined.

In the interim, couch potatoes now have a dual view display that means fewer battles for control of the zapper and indeed a TV for two.

MIKIO KATAYAMA, LCD GROUP, SHARP CORPORATION (through translator): as a father, I always lost control of the television at home. So for every father who wants to stay in the living room, the only solution was different channels.

SLOAN: A parallax barrier superimposed on the LCD separates the source light into right and left. Other potential uses include screens that show two different advertisements at once on walls, phones and PCs, or car navigation systems in which the driver can watch a road map while passengers eye the television.

Sharp sees 90 million in sales from the technology in the current business year and is in talks with customers on new products, potentially leaving its competitors with a case of double vision.

Dan Sloan, Reuters, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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