Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

U.N. Report Urges GITMO Shut-Down; Accidental Shooting Victim Doing 'Wonderfully'; Secret Tapes Reveal Saddam Wanted WMD

Aired February 16, 2006 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Hello, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips.
Satisfied with the story. No comment on the delayed disclosure. The White House says the president is OK with the vice president's account of last weekend's hunting accident. But spokesperson Scott McClellan won't say whether Mr. Bush thinks the whole thing was reported in a timely manner.

The main Dick Cheney shot -- the man, rather, that Dick Cheney shot, meanwhile remains in the hospital. We are waiting for an update on the condition of Charles Whittington in a news conference due any time now. At last report, the 78-year-old Whittington was in stable condition.

Yesterday, Cheney called Saturday one of the worst days of his life. Cheney says that he's to blame for the accident, but he also defended his decision to delay reporting the mishap to the news media. We expect that hospital news conference to start any time. We'll bring it to you live as soon as it happens

Terror suspects naked, beaten, shackle, threatened with snarling dogs. Not in Iraq, but the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A new U.N. report calls for GITMO's almost 500 detainees to be tried or released immediately and the camp to be closed. The White House maintains the prisoners are dangerous terrorists, and the U.N. report is a rehash of old allegations.

But old or new, the claims are resounding in Europe. CNN European political editor Robin Oakley now is also listening.

Robin, what action is likely to follow?

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, there's no direct action that the U.N. can really go for in these circumstances. It doesn't really have the power to enforce the demands that it's making for the closedown of the Guantanamo Bay operation.

But we're going to see an intensification of international pressure, because European leaders, in particular, felt very uncomfortable about Guantanamo Bay, happy to join the U.S. in the worldwide war against terrorism, don't like that sort of method being used.

Not so long ago, Condoleezza Rice came over and assured all the European leaders that the U.S. didn't condone torture in any circumstances. And even some of the strongest allies for the United States in Europe, for example, Angela Merkel, the new German chancellor, she says Guantanamo Bay has got to go.

Tony Blair, George Bush's staunchest ally of all in Europe, at a press conference last month, he insisted, too, that the Guantanamo Bay operation was an anomaly and had to come to an end, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk more of this criticism of the report. The U.S. argues that the U.N. panel didn't get the full story from GITMO.

OAKLEY: Yes, there's no meeting of minds here at all. The U.N. inspectors say that they were refused access to the detainees in Guantanamo Bay, if they had accepted an invitation to go there, and that it was pointless for them to go, if they weren't going to be able to talk to these detainees.

But the U.S. government is saying, well, hang on a minute. This is a very one-sided report. The evidence is flimsy. Why didn't they go and at least talk to medical people and officials around the camp, even if they couldn't talk to the detainees? And they say they haven't listened to the U.S.'s own case for its own laws in terms of interrogation techniques, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: The timing is not real good here, is it, Robin?

OAKLEY: The timing is absolute disaster, really. Because already we've had Muslim opinion worldwide inflamed by the Danish cartoons affair, the new disclosures about torture at Abu Ghraib. We've had pictures circulating across the Arab world of British troops beating up rioters in Iraq.

This is really cementing the poor week this has been in terms of the battle for hearts and minds across the world, Kyra.

PHILIPS: Robin Oakley, thank you so much.

Still bad, but better than before. Iraq's acting minister of human rights describes Iraqi prisons in light of new and graphic images of apparently mistreated inmates at Abu Ghraib. Those pictures were obtained by Australian TV and aired around the world. Salon.com published still more today, apparently from the same set.

Want to take you now live to Corpus Christi, Texas. We're expecting to hear more on the condition of Charles Whittington, that friend of Dick Cheney who was shot in the hunting accident.

PETER BANKO, CHRISTUS SPOHN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: ... that I was raised in New Jersey where hostility is a way of life.

Each day, we like to share a little bit about our organization. And today, just with a certain sense of pride that Christus Spohn has been -- Christus Spohn has been in the community for over 100 years. We're the leading health system in south Texas, with cutting-edge technology and exceptional service for the citizens and visitors of our 13-county coastal bend region.

As the second largest employer of the area, we're happy that you've been here for the week and help contributing to the economy of Corpus Christi.

A medical update on Mr. Whittington. He's in stable condition, doing extremely well. We met with him this morning. In a joking mood, looks really good.

The 64-slice CAT scan has been completed. Once those results are back, we'll review them with the family and, if they feel appropriate, we'll share those results with you tomorrow.

Just as a matter of information, there are over 600 -- 6,000 hospitals in the country. Only 180 medical centers in the entire country currently have this technology, and we are one of those.

One point of clarification is there have been some interviews and statements from some local physicians. Just want you to aware, those statements on TV, radio and the newspaper do not represent the official statements of Christus Spohn health system, nor have those been approved through the family. Some of the statements had been misleading and contained some inaccuracies. So we are currently at Christus Spohn investigating those statements and interviews for potential -- for potential HIPAA privacy law violations.

With that, I'll open it up to questions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the vice president?

BANKO: Has?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Talked to the vice president?

BANKO: Other than what I saw reported by you all the other day, I'm not aware of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he see the vice president's interview yesterday? If so what does he think?

BANKO: He doesn't have a TV in his room so I can't comment on that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's still in intensive care?

BANKO: He's in intensive care, again, as we said yesterday, strictly for privacy reasons. It's a more private and secure area. It's not for medical reasons.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yesterday, you talked about six more days. But the possibility he might be released sooner. What is the thinking on that?

BANKO: In the next few days, he will be discharged. We still have to wait for the results of the CAT scan today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the possibility of that pellet dislodging itself in the heart?

RICHARD BLANCHARD, CHRISTUS SPOHN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: We have talked with our medical team and the possibility of that is virtually nil. Having said that, extreme situations do develop. There's always possibilities that lurk. We feel very confident, very comfortable, to almost 100 degrees certainty -- not quite -- that it will not dislodge and there will be no further problems.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any cause of (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

BANKO: There has been some discussion about that, but because he's progressing so nicely, I think he'll be discharged straight from here to home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you aware of the questions involving the alcohol?

BANKO: He's not had -- we don't have TV in our intensive care unit rooms so he's not seen any of the media coverage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But -- that question too?

BANKO: No comment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This may have been one of those erroneous reports that you would prosecute under the HIPAA violations. We heard that there was an effort to remove a BB from the posterior descending coronary artery yesterday. Has there been any effort to remove a BB near his heart?

BANKO: No, our reports here have been that we are taking -- our physicians are taking a conservative approach and leave it in there, so there has been no surgery done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sheriff's report down in Kennedy County said the deputy that interviewed Mr. Whittington was told by a nurse to hurry along, to wrap up his questions of Mr. Whittington, because he need to rest. Is that something that has been that the nurses are allowed to do or should be doing?

BANKO: I can't -- I can't comment on that because I was not in the room.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Has the family asked that you not release the blood alcohol report?

BANKO: No comment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How about other pellets? Are there other pellets near vital organs or the possibility of another pellet traveling...

BLANCHARD: Our physicians have been closely evaluating that from the get-go. And we feel very confident, to reasonable medical certainty, that there is no other pellet, birdshot that poses a threat to Mr. Whittington.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why can't they say how many pellets there are? Do they just not know? BLANCHARD: I think it's almost impossible unless were really to sit down and count the number. You all know that a certain number of shot is in a certain shell gauge, et cetera and that we can only estimate the amount. It's really an irrelevant point to his medical care.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are there other areas -- you realize when we get a "no comment" it's kind of a red flag to us.

BANKO: I think -- like I said today, yesterday, you're making a lot of ado about nothing in certain areas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are there other areas that the family or you, as the physician, don't want to comment on because of privacy concerns?

BANKO: No comment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there going to be a photo opportunity when he's discharged?

BANKO: We have not addressed that with the family. We will, but I doubt it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You mentioned he's in a joking mood. What does he say?

BLANCHARD: Well, I can answer that. When I was up to his room, talking to him and his family today, he is in such a good mood at this point that I think even some of his one-liners could be quoted. He is in excellent spirit, he has good demeanor. And it is our hope that in the next few to several days, when he is discharged this saga of the shot heard 'round the world, will be at an end.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you give us some of those one-liners?

BANKO: No.

BLANCHARD: No. We can't at this point.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

BANKO: I'm not aware he was doing any work today. He was just visiting with some family and friends.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he going stir crazy, does he want out of the hospital?

BANKO: I can't comment on what family and friends are there. Yes, absolutely, everybody gets stir crazy in the hospital. You kind of lose track of day and time. So I think he and the family just want to get home and move on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he really think that someone who was shot by the vice president of the United States isn't newsworthy, at least to some level? BANKO: I can't comment on that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he up and walking?

BLANCHARD: He is up and walking around, good spirits. He's eating well. Vital signs are good. His heart continues to be in a normal sinus rhythm. We haven't found any major problems at this point. He is doing wonderfully and superb.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Depending on the results of the CAT SCAN, how soon can he go home?

BANKO: Next few days.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you going to give us a head's up before discharge?

BANKO: I can't comment on that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Has he heard from any other prominent members of the administration?

BANKO: Yes, he has, but I can't comment on that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But to follow up, he has no -- he controls his own destiny and his own privacy, right? He could wake up and say, "I'm ready to go" and he has every right to do it in private and to leave in private, and you don't have to tell us a thing.

BANKO: You are right on target. This -- whatever we have shared with you for the past couple of days has been at the privilege of Mr. Whittington and his family. I think it's a credit to them that they want to be as open and as forthright as possible.

I wouldn't read into the "no comments." Again, some of those things you're making a lot of issue about, there's nothing there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he being given any medication for infection?

BANKO: I can't comment on that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have there been outside specialists here to work with you guys to treat Mr. Whittington?

BANKO: Our physicians have consulted colleagues around the country for input, but there have been no visiting specialists.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

BANKO: Not that I'm aware of.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... wants to go hunting again?

BANKO: I think he's been a lifelong hunter, so I assume he'll be going hunting again. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he have any reaction to the broadcast interview with Dick Cheney yesterday?

BANKO: He did not -- he didn't have a TV in his room, so he didn't see it, so I can't comment.

One more question and then I've got a -- one comment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Are you really just waiting for the results of the CAT scan and that's it?

BANKO: Absolutely. Absolutely.

And my last comment is Howard's Barbecue, which is a South Texas tradition, will be catering a lunch for all of you in the next few minutes. And we're proud to offer that to you. And thank you for hanging out here for the week.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... something in five days, right?

BANKO: Could be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wonder what has it been like for you guys to experience all this?

BANKO: I heard from a guy I went to high school with that I hadn't seen in 21 years yesterday who thought I was perceived to be hostile. So...

BLANCHARD: I want to make one final comment here if I may, Peter, that Mr. Whittington has been an outstanding patient. And I think all of you, all of the medical team that has taken care of him, has considered it not only our duty but a privilege and honor. And we, in this hospital and this city are better people because of this individual and this patient.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he paying for our lunch?

BANKO: No, we're covering it. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: One of the daily briefings there from Corpus Christi, Texas, about the condition of Charles Whittington. As you know, the hunting partner of Vice President Dick Cheney. They were out on that trip when the accident happened.

According to officials there at the hospital, he remains in stable condition. He's still in ICU for privacy reasons. He is expected to be discharged soon, without any problem.

The doctors are taking the conservative approach and leaving that BB inside his body. They're not going to operate and try to take that out. They don't think it's any threat to Whittington's health at this point.

They said that Whittington has been cracking joke, possibly doing some work here and there, receiving a number of phone calls. As you know, Dick Cheney finally did talk about this incident. He gave an interview yesterday to another network. We're going to talk more about that.

But Ed Lavandera was there in the crowd, asking questions of hospital administrators there.

Ed, a lot of "no comments." But I don't know necessarily if that's triggering any red flags. Maybe possibly they just couldn't answer some of the questions. But you had a couple great questions to throw out there. Why don't you tell us your take on all this?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, there is a certain amount of information that Mr. Whittington's family is allowing these hospital officials to put out about his condition. And it is basically -- basic stuff, about him being, you know, stable, jovial, doing a lot better, in fact.

We were asking the hospital officials here -- they had been under a seven-day time line, to perhaps discharge him from the hospital here in Corpus Christi. And now they say they're essentially just waiting for the results of a CAT scan that was performed and perhaps he could be discharged straight home to Austin sooner than the five days he had left on that seven-day plan. So they clearly seem much more confident about his condition here today.

There were some other questions raised, basically that we had asked about the sheriff's report down in Kennedy County, where the sheriff's deputy that had interviewed Mr. Whittington in his hospital room earlier this week had put in his report that Mr. Whittington didn't want the conversation recorded. And that after some point after being interviewed by the sheriff's deputy, a nurse had come into the room and had told the deputy to kind of hurry things along because Mr. Whittington need to rest.

We just asked hospital officials about that. That was one of the "no comments" you heard from there.

But you know, most of his questions about his condition, it's coordinated with the family, and many of the "no comments" is because these hospital officials are kind of strictly limited on what the family is allowing to be put out there about his condition.

And of course, Mr. Whittington doesn't even have to allow any information about -- by law, the -- the details on his condition don't have to be made public at all. So that -- but that is carefully coordinated with his family.

PHILLIPS: Well, I understand you've got your hands on the accident report from the shooting, initially from the sheriff's department. Do you have it with you by chance?

LAVANDERA: We've got it en route. I've had someone dictate it to me. It's five pages -- five pages long. It kind of outlines from various people's standpoint exactly what happened. One of the things that we're trying to follow up on is this idea that many of -- this conclusion that it was an accident, was based probably -- seems on the initial reading that it was based primarily on phone calls made to people on the ranch. And that -- and one of the things we're trying to clear up with the sheriff's office down in Kennedy County is exactly at what point did one of the sheriff's deputy physically make it onto the Armstrong ranch?

Our initial understanding of that is that perhaps it wasn't until Sunday morning when the chief deputy of Kennedy County interviewed Mr. Cheney in the -- at a table inside the Armstrong home. But that didn't happen until 8 a.m. on Sunday morning, 14 hours after the shooting.

So we're trying to clear up with them if that was the first time that someone actually made it on to the Armstrong ranch grounds.

PHILLIPS: You've been able to -- well, the report has been dictated to you, Ed. Does it look like what's in that report pretty much matches up with what the vice president is now saying and also a few things that we've heard from Charles Whittington?

LAVANDERA: It does, from the standpoint the stories that were outlined and basically recounted about -- from the chief deputy's interview with the vice president, saying, you know, Mr. Whittington had separated from the hunting group because he had fired at a cubby of quail and killed two birds with one shot, and he had gone off to retrieve those birds.

And Mr. Cheney and some others had moved forward to chase another cubby of quail. And that Mr. Whittington was coming back toward that group.

And it talks about how Mr. Cheney was turning in a counterclockwise motion, and Mr. Whittington was on slightly lower ground than he was. And that's why he -- and the sun was setting and that sort of thing. And that's perhaps what cause around little bit of the confusion there.

So in the report, Mr. Cheney had gone into much more of those details. But the sheriff's report also says that they consistently heard over and over from the eight people who were in the hunting party, all of them insisting that this was an accident.

PHILLIPS: Ed Lavandera, live from Corpus Christi, Texas. Thanks, Ed.

The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Iraqi Sunnis may be telling "we told you so." The U.S. military confirms a "Chicago Tribune" report that a death squad was operating within Iraq's interior ministry. It came to light last month when 22 Iraqis wearing police uniforms were captured just as they were about to kill an Iraqi Sunni. The U.S. says only four of the 22 were in on that plot, but they aren't ruling out the possibility of other squads.

Sunnis have long claimed to be the targets of Shiites posing as Iraqi police.

Saddam Hussein and WMDs. The U.S. stance has always been if he didn't have them he wanted them and wanted to hide them from U.N. inspectors. Some newly aired long secret recordings from 1995 seem to bear that out. They are believed to be authentic and are certainly specific. The question now: what, if anything, does it matter at this point?

CNN's national security correspondent, David Ensor, joins us now from Washington.

David, where did these tapes come from and how did they come to light?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seems that Saddam Hussein, like Richard Nixon before him, likes to record his meetings. These are the palace tapes, if you will, like the White House tapes of the Nixon years.

He recorded all his meetings with his advisers. And on these tapes, which are -- go from 1991 up to 2000, there are about a dozen hours of them that are now in the hands of some journalists and intelligence officials and people on the Hill that I've spoken to.

On the tapes, he talks about how he believes terrorism with weapons of mass destruction will come to Washington, D.C., one day. But he said it won't come from Iraq.

And his son-in-law, Hussein Kamel, who defected in 1995 and exposed that there was, in fact, a biological weapons program in Iraq, just prior to that, talks about how he's trying to conceal that program from the United Nations.

But in some, Kyra, the tapes show that Saddam Hussein was obsessed with weapons of mass destruction, but there's no evidence that he had them after that 1995 period. So it doesn't really change, you know, the historical record very much.

PHILLIPS: So there's no smoking guns?

ENSOR: That's right.

PHILLIPS: OK. Now, I understand there is a lot of tape yet to be heard, even transcribed. Is it possible that after we hear a few more hours-plus that we might learn something else?

ENSOR: Well, yes. I'm told that there are hundreds of hours of tape. This is 12 hours of tape that we're -- that are so far out in the public eye. They're actually going to be made fully public tomorrow, we're told, by a group that has its hands on them.

So there are hundreds of tapes that have not yet been translated. And we might get more insights.

But people I've talked to who were on the CIA effort to try to figure out if there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq or not, the effort after the invasion of U.S. forces, say they don't believe there are going to be really any remarkable moments on these tapes.

PHILLIPS: Do we know a time line? Did he start making these tapes right when he became president, all the way to the point of the beginning of the war, or is it just a certain section of a time?

ENSOR: I'm told that in the dozen hours of tapes that we so far know about, those cover 1991 to 2000. I don't know if there were tapes on either end of that or not.

PHILLIPS: Got it. I know you're still working it.

ENSOR: Right.

PHILLIPS: David Ensor, pretty interesting. Thanks so much.

ENSOR: OK.

PHILLIPS: More tough talk from Washington for the Palestinian militants awaiting their turn in power. At a hearing on Capitol Hill, Secretary of state Rice said that Hamas has to change as it prepares to form a Palestinian government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: We've made very clear that we cannot fund a Palestinian government unless that government is devoted to Israel's right to exist, to denouncing terror and to, indeed, disarmament.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: An Associated Press report out of Jerusalem says that tough Israeli sanctions will greet the Palestinians when Hamas takes power on Saturday. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scrambling to get Hamas to make concessions to ensure the outside aid, that keeps the Palestinian government afloat, will be there.

Straight ahead, new worries about bird flu. Two new countries confirm cases of the most deadly strain. How to contain the outbreak when people ignore public health warnings. We're going to talk about it after the break.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: You've heard of New York delis, New York-style pizza, even a New York minute. But are we really ready for an official New York condom?

Well, the city hands out more than a million condoms a month. Now they plan to brand them to promote safe sex and to make it easier to keep track of distribution. So far, no announcement on a name or logo. We'll go ahead and pause while you make up your own joke.

In the digital music business, everyone wants a piece of Apple's piece. The latest company mulling an iTunes challenge may be online juggernaut Amazon. Susan Lisovicz has the details live from the New York Stock Exchange.

But I guess maybe before we get into that, we buy stock in these New York condoms? I don't know. We could make a lot of money.

(STOCK REPORT)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com