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Defense Department: Memo Shows Rumsfeld Did Not Approve Torture; Revised State Department Report Shows More Terrorism; Hundreds in Line to Buy Clinton's Memoir; Peterson Jury Warned to Avoid Contact with Laci's Family; Belly Buttons Featured in Art Exhibition
Aired June 22, 2004 - 11:00 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.
DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: Wal-Mart. The suit accuses Wal-Mart of paying female workers less than their male counterparts and bypassing women for key promotions.
An explosion rocked a neighborhood in Baghdad today. Reuter's news agency says the blast was caused by a car bomb that killed the bodyguard of Iraq's minister of state. Reports said a 6-year-old boy was also killed.
Lawyers for bombing suspect Eric Rudolph tried to get his trial moved out of Birmingham. A judge is hearing arguments on a change of venue motion.
Rudolph is charged in the 1998 bombing of a women's clinic that killed a police officer and critically wounded a nurse. He's also accused of the 1996 Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta.
Martina Navratilova wins round one in her Wimbledon comeback. It's her first singles match there in 10 years. She beat Catalina Castono, 6-0, 6-1. She's 47, Martina is, and she's the oldest woman to win a single's match at Wimbledon since 1922.
She was asked why she's doing it and she said, "Because I still can."
We are looking at just a minute past 11 on the East Coast and just a minute past 8 a.m. on the West Coast. From CNN Center in Atlanta, good morning once again. I'm Daryn Kagan.
Up first on CNN, interrogation tactics under scrutiny. The Pentagon today releases memos on aggressive tactics requested for use on detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Officials say the memos will refute claims that the tactics amount to torture.
Our Kathleen Koch is at the Pentagon with details on that.
Kathleen, good morning once again.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
What it comes down to is just how do you define torture? And with the release of these previously secret memos, both to and from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the Pentagon is really giving average Americans the opportunity to decide for themselves, to see precisely what the secretary authorized and what he didn't. And whether or not that does constitute torture.
And the secretary himself has maintained he has never OK'd the torture of any detainee in U.S. custody.
But in a memo that I did get a chance to see earlier this morning -- this was one of these memos the secretary signed -- it listed four stepped up, more aggressive interrogation techniques that were being considered for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay at the request of the commander there.
And I'll list the four. The fourth one was the only one that the secretary OK'd.
First, use of a scenario to convince the detainee that death or severe pain could be imminent for him or his family.
Second, exposure to cold weather or water.
Third, the use of a wet towel or dripping water to induce the perception of suffocating.
And then finally, mild, noninjurious physical contact such as grabbing someone's arm, poking them in the chest and shoving them. And that was, again, the only type of interrogation technique that the secretary approved.
And this was in the December 2002 memo that was rescinded just six weeks later.
Now as this is going on, the deputy defense secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, is testifying right now before Congress, defending the administration's strategy for handing over power in Iraq, just roughly a week away now.
Lawmakers were particularly concerned about just when the U.S. military deployment in Iraq would end.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. IKE SKELTON (D-MO), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Tell us what your measurement is for success for Americans to say we've succeeded and to bring the troops home. At what point? People ask me this. I have no answer.
PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY: When it becomes an Iraqi fight and the Iraqis are prepared to take on the fight, they're prepared to join their security forces. We are prepared to arm and equip them to do it. I can't tell you how long that's going to take. It's dangerous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Wolfowitz does say that training and equipping all of the Iraqi forces that will be necessary to maintain order in the country will be very expensive and will take quite some time.
Secretary Wolfowitz, deputy secretary, testifies tomorrow before the U.S. Senate -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Kathleen Koch at the Pentagon. Kathleen, thank you.
And we invite you to be with us later this week for a special event on the countdown to the handover in Iraq. Townhall meetings Thursday on the European pulse, Friday on the American pulse, both at 1 p.m. Eastern.
Now to developments in Iraq, eight days before the handover of power.
A deadline passes with no definite word on the fate of a South Korean man held hostage in Iraq. Militants threatened to behead him unless South Korea pulls its troops from Iraq and abandons plans to send more.
There are reports that the captors have extended their deadline.
Coalition officials are releasing few details on the four Marines killed by Iraqi insurgents. Their bodies were found yesterday in Ramadi. And in Baghdad, a U.S. soldier was killed, and six others were wounded in a mortar attack.
Court martial proceedings have been delayed for a female soldier charged in the prisoner abuse scandal. A hearing for Private Lynndie England was supposed to start today. It has been postponed until next month.
Now on to Iran, which may try to prosecute eight British troops accused of illegally entering Iranian territorial waters.
According to Iranian media reports, Tehran may put the two sailors and six Marines on trial. They were seized yesterday along with three British navy vessels, traveling in a waterway between Iran and Iraq.
British officials say they're in contact with the Iranians, trying to get this matter resolved.
New numbers are out today on the war on terror. The State Department releases a revised report showing a sharp increase in terror victims worldwide. This would correct earlier findings which critics say were edited to make it look like the U.S. was winning the war on terror.
At the same time, a new "Washington Post"/ABC News poll asking Americans who they trust to do a better job on terrorism shows President Bush and John Kerry virtually tied.
More now from CNN's Sean Callebs in Washington.
Sean, good morning.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
We're expecting Secretary of State Colin Powell to announce at a briefing in about three hours, 2 p.m. Eastern Time that the number of people killed worldwide in international terrorist activities will go up dramatically.
Now, the figures that came out from 2003 in the initial report from the administration showed that 307 people were killed in 190 attacks around world.
Now, that's significant because it would be the lowest number of people killed in attacks in close to 35 years and bolster claims from the administration that they are winning the war on terror.
Well, the number of attacks is expected to go up in the ballpark of somewhere around 200. However, the number of people killed in those attacks is expected to go up sharply, by several hundred.
The reason for this, a couple of reasons. They apparently -- they stopped counting, authorities stopped counting the number of fatalities after November 11. And also, Secretary Powell says there were a few clerical errors made and some figures got in that simply should not have been there -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And so I guess we're waiting on response from Secretary of State Powell?
CALLEBS: Exactly. He's expected to deliver that report as I mentioned, 2 p.m. Eastern Time.
And the significance of all this, as well, the -- 775 people were killed last year. The number of people killed is not expected to reach that height.
But critics have maintained that the Bush administration perhaps couched the numbers or deliberately manipulated them to provide some information that they were, indeed, winning the war on terror. A number of critics have claimed this.
Now Powell says the initial report is quite embarrassing and it was a serious mistake, but he says there were no intention whatsoever to try and fudge the information here to make the administration look as though it was, indeed, winning the war on terror or doing better in the global fight on terror than it was.
KAGAN: Sean Callebs in Washington, D.C., thank you.
Well, with his take on his story, former President Bill Clinton has his book coming out today. Hundreds of people are lined up outside a New York bookstore to meet the former president, buy his book and get his autograph.
Our national correspondent, Kelly Wallace, is there now -- Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, this is the true definition of committed, because it started to rain a short time ago. It is now pouring.
But you can see behind me people, hundreds and hundreds of people, are still in line. Many have been here for about 11 hours, since midnight hoping, again, to get the former president to sign a copy of his autobiography.
A lot of attention on exactly what the former president is saying in this book titled "My Life." CNN has a team of reporters who have been going through this book all night long.
One interesting thing, what did he exactly say about his former vice president, Al Gore, and his efforts to try and become the next president? Here's the former president, in his own words, about the decision that ended the 2000 election.
OK, we don't have that sound, but there Bill Clinton is talking about the Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore, calling it one of the worst Supreme Court decisions ever. And he believes that if Al Gore happened to be leading in the vote counting in Florida over George W. Bush, he believes it would have been a decision 9-0 to keep the voting and keep it going on.
Former president and his wife, the current senator, and daughter Chelsea were out at a star-studded book party last night. This is all part of a full-scale PR blitz. On one hand, to sell a number of books and also perhaps to polish his legacy, especially after some dark clouds during his presidency, including the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
A lot of people are asking this question: does Bill Clinton help or hurt the Democrat who is supposed to be on center stage right now; that is Democratic nominee John Kerry?
Clinton supporters say he will help Senator Kerry, because during this month-long book tour, he will be talking about John Kerry, talking about the Democratic Party.
But there's an alternative view, those who believe that Bill Clinton will be helping George W. Bush by firing up those conservatives, who very much dislike Bill Clinton and dislike his eight years in the White House -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Kelly, tell us a little bit more about the event taking place. It looks like people are flowing into the bookstore. How long's the wait?
WALLACE: Yes. It appears -- It appears the bookstore is letting more people in right now because of the rain. Again, we are expecting Bill Clinton to be here at 12:30 p.m. He would be inside the bookstore signing books for about an hour and then he will be up in Harlem tonight.
And Daryn, you know, of course, watching President Clinton at the White House, he's notoriously late. So a big question we all have, will he be on time?
KAGAN: 12:30. WALLACE: That question -- answer remains to be seen.
KAGAN: Yes, Clinton time. You might tell the folks out there, there's a bit more rain drops they have to stand in there.
WALLACE: Exactly. More hurry up and wait.
KAGAN: Yes. Thanks for standing in the rain for us. We appreciate that.
WALLACE: Sure.
Don't forget to join "LARRY KING LIVE." This one is no raindrops. You can stay inside, folks, and watch this. The former president will give his first live interview since the book coming out. That's Thursday, 9 p.m. Eastern. Former President Clinton also is going to take your calls.
Illinois Republican Senate hopeful Jack Ryan is facing pressure from his own party to drop out of the race.
The calls came after some details of his divorce were made public. Ryan was once married to actress Geri Ryan. You know her from "Boston Public" and "Star Trek: Voyager."
Well, she alleged during the divorce that he planned trips to several sex clubs and demanded that she perform sexual acts in public. Jack Ryan has denied those allegations and says the details should remain private for the sake of the couple's son.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK RYAN (R), SENATE CANDIDATE: No one has ever said that I haven't abided by every single law or abided by my marriage vows or abided by commitments I've made to people.
And we're in a campaign that talks about the issue that should address our country: the defense of our country or our workers or the pro-family issues or the issues in parts of the state, in the suburbs.
And so, think of just -- what just happened. We had someone spending a lot of money to break into a file that a mom and dad wanted to have sealed to protect their son, and now we're asking what happened between a husband and a wife in the most intimate part of their relationship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: And because of that, Ryan says he has no plans to drop out of the Senate race.
Well, if you're paying close attention to the Kobe Bryant saga, mark the end of August on your calendar. We'll explain why.
Also, why is the security checkpoint at the courthouse playing such an important role -- new role in the trial of Scott Peterson? We'll explain that.
And later, deep in the heart of Texas, some Texas-sized hail causing all kinds of problems.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Checking the Kobe Bryant case, lawyers for both sides now agree the trial should start at the end of August. That agreement came during the first day of a pretrial hearing scheduled to end later today in Eagle, Colorado.
Bryant is charged with one count of sexual assault. He argues the sex was consensual.
Jurors and family members at the Scott Peterson murder trial are passing through separate security checkpoints. The judge has warned jury members and family members after a conversation at the checkpoint last week.
Details on that and more from our Ted Rowlands, who is live with us from Redwood City, California.
Good morning, Ted.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
Yes, the juror No. 5 debacle has resulted in a little bit of a change in the courthouse rules. Juror No. 5 had an interaction with Laci Peterson's brother, Brent Rocha.
From now on, according to the presiding judge here in Redwood City, the jurors and family members will have access to different entrances, to sort of alleviate a potential problem and make sure it doesn't happen again.
Meanwhile, Daryn, we are expecting that the prosecution today will stipulate that some testimony yesterday from Laci Peterson's yoga instructor could be told to the jury as being inaccurate.
Basically what happened, this yoga instructor got on the stand and told a story about Laci Peterson being so tired on her last day of yoga class that he needed help to the car. The defense jumped up out of the table, out of their chairs, and said, "We've never heard this story."
The prosecution then claimed that they had never heard the story as well. The witness said she had told the D.A. about this story and it is expected that the D.A. will stipulate that she never did. Could have an affect on the jury as to the credibility of this witness. More importantly, today's expected first witness, Al Brocchini, one of the initial Modesto detectives to interview Scott Peterson. He was first on scene.
The prosecution is expected to use Brocchini, as they did in the preliminary hearing, to set the stage for the investigation against Scott Peterson. They will present him as a hard-working, hard- charging detective who was after the truth.
The defense, on the other hand, is expected to paint Brocchini as an inappropriate detective that took steps beyond even legal means to try to get Scott Peterson and arrest Scott Peterson.
They say that Brocchini made up his mind right away that Scott Peterson was guilty and conducted himself inappropriately throughout the investigation.
This is a very important witness for both sides. It will be very important for the -- both sides hoping that the jury takes a certain element of Brocchini away. If you will, he is the Mark Fuhrman of this trial.
And during the voir dire session, each juror was told by Mark Geragos that he planned to attack certain members of the Modesto Police Department, and Al Brocchini is definitely one of those people.
That testimony is expected to start today when court resumes at 9 a.m.
KAGAN: Ted, tell me a little bit more how the separate security checkpoints are supposed to work.
ROWLANDS: Well, basically they only have one metal detector here at the courthouse. So it's expected that the jurors may be able to use a back entrance to get through, but the family members are still going to have to go through security.
Whether -- they haven't disclosed exactly what they're doing to do yet. What they could do is wand people at a separate entrance or they just marshal them in with sheriff deputies by their sides and bring the jury in as one unit in every day. Have them meet in one spot, bring them in.
And so therefore, there would be no contact between the family members.
The judge basically said they're going to do what they can, but this is a small courthouse. And it's going to happen; there's going to be interaction between people in the jury and people of the public and family members.
He warned jurors, just be careful, don't talk. Just walk in and take your seat.
KAGAN: Ted Rowlands, doing his part for us in Redwood City, California. Thank you for that. Well, they say everything is bigger in Texas. And today there are a whole lot of folks who wish that wasn't applying to hail. The pictures up next.
And Jeanne Moos has a belly full of art to show you.
CNN LIVE TODAY is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: One wall of windows was blown out of Texas-sized hail. It pounded a hospital building in Amarillo. Look at that. A hundred patients were moved to other rooms.
Strong winds and hail made motorists wish they had never parked outside. I bet. Look at that car lot.
And in west Texas, the storms were so strong, how strong were they? They were so strong, a Wal-Mart super center was closed after its roof was damaged.
Jackie, what is it about Texas? They don't do anything small. Including hail.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: Jacqui, thank you for that.
Do you have an innie or an outie? Either way, you'll probably get a belly laugh or two out of the belly button art show.
Our Jeanne Moos has that story from New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Is it an astronomical phenomenon, a black hole perhaps or a crater on the Red Planet? Maybe this will ring a bell, as in belly ring.
CHRIS TWOMEY, ARTIST: The hairy ones turned out great.
MOOS: Navel gazing...
TWOMEY: Ah, nice!
MOOS: ... has been turned into an art.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's mysterious. It's got texture. It's got depth.
MOOS: Sure, works like Michelangelo's David have a belly button, but it's never been the focus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's sort of a neglected body part in art history.
MOOS: Not anymore.
TWOMEY: How about this one? It's so cute.
MOOS: New York artist Chris Twomey snapped her first navel about eight years ago on the beach. It was her father's.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is me. It's like a fingerprint. You could probably identify people.
MOOS: Chris' navel salute is on exhibit at a gallery called "A Gathering of Tribes." She's gathered belly buttons ranging from the hairy, before and after, to the pierced.
She PhotoShops the images, adding layers.
What most of us see as an often ugly anatomical indentation tickles Chris.
TWOMEY: It's almost spiritual. It looks like a cross.
MOOS: She sees the placenta as a life-giving source of oxygen, DNA and stem cells.
TWOMEY: Belly, belly!
MOOS: And she loves doing family portraits. But even in this age of the exposed midriff, not all navels are ready for their closeup.
Outies are outnumbered.
TOOMEY: Most of them are innies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm an innie. And the bigger I get, the innier I get.
MOOS: Sometimes it pays to keep your belly buttoned.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Going to examine another topic. Four years ago Al Gore tried to perform a precarious balancing act, and he fell. Is John Kerry doing the same thing this time around? Handling the Clinton factor when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 22, 2004 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: Wal-Mart. The suit accuses Wal-Mart of paying female workers less than their male counterparts and bypassing women for key promotions.
An explosion rocked a neighborhood in Baghdad today. Reuter's news agency says the blast was caused by a car bomb that killed the bodyguard of Iraq's minister of state. Reports said a 6-year-old boy was also killed.
Lawyers for bombing suspect Eric Rudolph tried to get his trial moved out of Birmingham. A judge is hearing arguments on a change of venue motion.
Rudolph is charged in the 1998 bombing of a women's clinic that killed a police officer and critically wounded a nurse. He's also accused of the 1996 Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta.
Martina Navratilova wins round one in her Wimbledon comeback. It's her first singles match there in 10 years. She beat Catalina Castono, 6-0, 6-1. She's 47, Martina is, and she's the oldest woman to win a single's match at Wimbledon since 1922.
She was asked why she's doing it and she said, "Because I still can."
We are looking at just a minute past 11 on the East Coast and just a minute past 8 a.m. on the West Coast. From CNN Center in Atlanta, good morning once again. I'm Daryn Kagan.
Up first on CNN, interrogation tactics under scrutiny. The Pentagon today releases memos on aggressive tactics requested for use on detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Officials say the memos will refute claims that the tactics amount to torture.
Our Kathleen Koch is at the Pentagon with details on that.
Kathleen, good morning once again.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
What it comes down to is just how do you define torture? And with the release of these previously secret memos, both to and from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the Pentagon is really giving average Americans the opportunity to decide for themselves, to see precisely what the secretary authorized and what he didn't. And whether or not that does constitute torture.
And the secretary himself has maintained he has never OK'd the torture of any detainee in U.S. custody.
But in a memo that I did get a chance to see earlier this morning -- this was one of these memos the secretary signed -- it listed four stepped up, more aggressive interrogation techniques that were being considered for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay at the request of the commander there.
And I'll list the four. The fourth one was the only one that the secretary OK'd.
First, use of a scenario to convince the detainee that death or severe pain could be imminent for him or his family.
Second, exposure to cold weather or water.
Third, the use of a wet towel or dripping water to induce the perception of suffocating.
And then finally, mild, noninjurious physical contact such as grabbing someone's arm, poking them in the chest and shoving them. And that was, again, the only type of interrogation technique that the secretary approved.
And this was in the December 2002 memo that was rescinded just six weeks later.
Now as this is going on, the deputy defense secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, is testifying right now before Congress, defending the administration's strategy for handing over power in Iraq, just roughly a week away now.
Lawmakers were particularly concerned about just when the U.S. military deployment in Iraq would end.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. IKE SKELTON (D-MO), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Tell us what your measurement is for success for Americans to say we've succeeded and to bring the troops home. At what point? People ask me this. I have no answer.
PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY: When it becomes an Iraqi fight and the Iraqis are prepared to take on the fight, they're prepared to join their security forces. We are prepared to arm and equip them to do it. I can't tell you how long that's going to take. It's dangerous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Wolfowitz does say that training and equipping all of the Iraqi forces that will be necessary to maintain order in the country will be very expensive and will take quite some time.
Secretary Wolfowitz, deputy secretary, testifies tomorrow before the U.S. Senate -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Kathleen Koch at the Pentagon. Kathleen, thank you.
And we invite you to be with us later this week for a special event on the countdown to the handover in Iraq. Townhall meetings Thursday on the European pulse, Friday on the American pulse, both at 1 p.m. Eastern.
Now to developments in Iraq, eight days before the handover of power.
A deadline passes with no definite word on the fate of a South Korean man held hostage in Iraq. Militants threatened to behead him unless South Korea pulls its troops from Iraq and abandons plans to send more.
There are reports that the captors have extended their deadline.
Coalition officials are releasing few details on the four Marines killed by Iraqi insurgents. Their bodies were found yesterday in Ramadi. And in Baghdad, a U.S. soldier was killed, and six others were wounded in a mortar attack.
Court martial proceedings have been delayed for a female soldier charged in the prisoner abuse scandal. A hearing for Private Lynndie England was supposed to start today. It has been postponed until next month.
Now on to Iran, which may try to prosecute eight British troops accused of illegally entering Iranian territorial waters.
According to Iranian media reports, Tehran may put the two sailors and six Marines on trial. They were seized yesterday along with three British navy vessels, traveling in a waterway between Iran and Iraq.
British officials say they're in contact with the Iranians, trying to get this matter resolved.
New numbers are out today on the war on terror. The State Department releases a revised report showing a sharp increase in terror victims worldwide. This would correct earlier findings which critics say were edited to make it look like the U.S. was winning the war on terror.
At the same time, a new "Washington Post"/ABC News poll asking Americans who they trust to do a better job on terrorism shows President Bush and John Kerry virtually tied.
More now from CNN's Sean Callebs in Washington.
Sean, good morning.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
We're expecting Secretary of State Colin Powell to announce at a briefing in about three hours, 2 p.m. Eastern Time that the number of people killed worldwide in international terrorist activities will go up dramatically.
Now, the figures that came out from 2003 in the initial report from the administration showed that 307 people were killed in 190 attacks around world.
Now, that's significant because it would be the lowest number of people killed in attacks in close to 35 years and bolster claims from the administration that they are winning the war on terror.
Well, the number of attacks is expected to go up in the ballpark of somewhere around 200. However, the number of people killed in those attacks is expected to go up sharply, by several hundred.
The reason for this, a couple of reasons. They apparently -- they stopped counting, authorities stopped counting the number of fatalities after November 11. And also, Secretary Powell says there were a few clerical errors made and some figures got in that simply should not have been there -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And so I guess we're waiting on response from Secretary of State Powell?
CALLEBS: Exactly. He's expected to deliver that report as I mentioned, 2 p.m. Eastern Time.
And the significance of all this, as well, the -- 775 people were killed last year. The number of people killed is not expected to reach that height.
But critics have maintained that the Bush administration perhaps couched the numbers or deliberately manipulated them to provide some information that they were, indeed, winning the war on terror. A number of critics have claimed this.
Now Powell says the initial report is quite embarrassing and it was a serious mistake, but he says there were no intention whatsoever to try and fudge the information here to make the administration look as though it was, indeed, winning the war on terror or doing better in the global fight on terror than it was.
KAGAN: Sean Callebs in Washington, D.C., thank you.
Well, with his take on his story, former President Bill Clinton has his book coming out today. Hundreds of people are lined up outside a New York bookstore to meet the former president, buy his book and get his autograph.
Our national correspondent, Kelly Wallace, is there now -- Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, this is the true definition of committed, because it started to rain a short time ago. It is now pouring.
But you can see behind me people, hundreds and hundreds of people, are still in line. Many have been here for about 11 hours, since midnight hoping, again, to get the former president to sign a copy of his autobiography.
A lot of attention on exactly what the former president is saying in this book titled "My Life." CNN has a team of reporters who have been going through this book all night long.
One interesting thing, what did he exactly say about his former vice president, Al Gore, and his efforts to try and become the next president? Here's the former president, in his own words, about the decision that ended the 2000 election.
OK, we don't have that sound, but there Bill Clinton is talking about the Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore, calling it one of the worst Supreme Court decisions ever. And he believes that if Al Gore happened to be leading in the vote counting in Florida over George W. Bush, he believes it would have been a decision 9-0 to keep the voting and keep it going on.
Former president and his wife, the current senator, and daughter Chelsea were out at a star-studded book party last night. This is all part of a full-scale PR blitz. On one hand, to sell a number of books and also perhaps to polish his legacy, especially after some dark clouds during his presidency, including the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
A lot of people are asking this question: does Bill Clinton help or hurt the Democrat who is supposed to be on center stage right now; that is Democratic nominee John Kerry?
Clinton supporters say he will help Senator Kerry, because during this month-long book tour, he will be talking about John Kerry, talking about the Democratic Party.
But there's an alternative view, those who believe that Bill Clinton will be helping George W. Bush by firing up those conservatives, who very much dislike Bill Clinton and dislike his eight years in the White House -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Kelly, tell us a little bit more about the event taking place. It looks like people are flowing into the bookstore. How long's the wait?
WALLACE: Yes. It appears -- It appears the bookstore is letting more people in right now because of the rain. Again, we are expecting Bill Clinton to be here at 12:30 p.m. He would be inside the bookstore signing books for about an hour and then he will be up in Harlem tonight.
And Daryn, you know, of course, watching President Clinton at the White House, he's notoriously late. So a big question we all have, will he be on time?
KAGAN: 12:30. WALLACE: That question -- answer remains to be seen.
KAGAN: Yes, Clinton time. You might tell the folks out there, there's a bit more rain drops they have to stand in there.
WALLACE: Exactly. More hurry up and wait.
KAGAN: Yes. Thanks for standing in the rain for us. We appreciate that.
WALLACE: Sure.
Don't forget to join "LARRY KING LIVE." This one is no raindrops. You can stay inside, folks, and watch this. The former president will give his first live interview since the book coming out. That's Thursday, 9 p.m. Eastern. Former President Clinton also is going to take your calls.
Illinois Republican Senate hopeful Jack Ryan is facing pressure from his own party to drop out of the race.
The calls came after some details of his divorce were made public. Ryan was once married to actress Geri Ryan. You know her from "Boston Public" and "Star Trek: Voyager."
Well, she alleged during the divorce that he planned trips to several sex clubs and demanded that she perform sexual acts in public. Jack Ryan has denied those allegations and says the details should remain private for the sake of the couple's son.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK RYAN (R), SENATE CANDIDATE: No one has ever said that I haven't abided by every single law or abided by my marriage vows or abided by commitments I've made to people.
And we're in a campaign that talks about the issue that should address our country: the defense of our country or our workers or the pro-family issues or the issues in parts of the state, in the suburbs.
And so, think of just -- what just happened. We had someone spending a lot of money to break into a file that a mom and dad wanted to have sealed to protect their son, and now we're asking what happened between a husband and a wife in the most intimate part of their relationship.
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KAGAN: And because of that, Ryan says he has no plans to drop out of the Senate race.
Well, if you're paying close attention to the Kobe Bryant saga, mark the end of August on your calendar. We'll explain why.
Also, why is the security checkpoint at the courthouse playing such an important role -- new role in the trial of Scott Peterson? We'll explain that.
And later, deep in the heart of Texas, some Texas-sized hail causing all kinds of problems.
We'll be right back.
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Checking the Kobe Bryant case, lawyers for both sides now agree the trial should start at the end of August. That agreement came during the first day of a pretrial hearing scheduled to end later today in Eagle, Colorado.
Bryant is charged with one count of sexual assault. He argues the sex was consensual.
Jurors and family members at the Scott Peterson murder trial are passing through separate security checkpoints. The judge has warned jury members and family members after a conversation at the checkpoint last week.
Details on that and more from our Ted Rowlands, who is live with us from Redwood City, California.
Good morning, Ted.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
Yes, the juror No. 5 debacle has resulted in a little bit of a change in the courthouse rules. Juror No. 5 had an interaction with Laci Peterson's brother, Brent Rocha.
From now on, according to the presiding judge here in Redwood City, the jurors and family members will have access to different entrances, to sort of alleviate a potential problem and make sure it doesn't happen again.
Meanwhile, Daryn, we are expecting that the prosecution today will stipulate that some testimony yesterday from Laci Peterson's yoga instructor could be told to the jury as being inaccurate.
Basically what happened, this yoga instructor got on the stand and told a story about Laci Peterson being so tired on her last day of yoga class that he needed help to the car. The defense jumped up out of the table, out of their chairs, and said, "We've never heard this story."
The prosecution then claimed that they had never heard the story as well. The witness said she had told the D.A. about this story and it is expected that the D.A. will stipulate that she never did. Could have an affect on the jury as to the credibility of this witness. More importantly, today's expected first witness, Al Brocchini, one of the initial Modesto detectives to interview Scott Peterson. He was first on scene.
The prosecution is expected to use Brocchini, as they did in the preliminary hearing, to set the stage for the investigation against Scott Peterson. They will present him as a hard-working, hard- charging detective who was after the truth.
The defense, on the other hand, is expected to paint Brocchini as an inappropriate detective that took steps beyond even legal means to try to get Scott Peterson and arrest Scott Peterson.
They say that Brocchini made up his mind right away that Scott Peterson was guilty and conducted himself inappropriately throughout the investigation.
This is a very important witness for both sides. It will be very important for the -- both sides hoping that the jury takes a certain element of Brocchini away. If you will, he is the Mark Fuhrman of this trial.
And during the voir dire session, each juror was told by Mark Geragos that he planned to attack certain members of the Modesto Police Department, and Al Brocchini is definitely one of those people.
That testimony is expected to start today when court resumes at 9 a.m.
KAGAN: Ted, tell me a little bit more how the separate security checkpoints are supposed to work.
ROWLANDS: Well, basically they only have one metal detector here at the courthouse. So it's expected that the jurors may be able to use a back entrance to get through, but the family members are still going to have to go through security.
Whether -- they haven't disclosed exactly what they're doing to do yet. What they could do is wand people at a separate entrance or they just marshal them in with sheriff deputies by their sides and bring the jury in as one unit in every day. Have them meet in one spot, bring them in.
And so therefore, there would be no contact between the family members.
The judge basically said they're going to do what they can, but this is a small courthouse. And it's going to happen; there's going to be interaction between people in the jury and people of the public and family members.
He warned jurors, just be careful, don't talk. Just walk in and take your seat.
KAGAN: Ted Rowlands, doing his part for us in Redwood City, California. Thank you for that. Well, they say everything is bigger in Texas. And today there are a whole lot of folks who wish that wasn't applying to hail. The pictures up next.
And Jeanne Moos has a belly full of art to show you.
CNN LIVE TODAY is coming right back.
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KAGAN: One wall of windows was blown out of Texas-sized hail. It pounded a hospital building in Amarillo. Look at that. A hundred patients were moved to other rooms.
Strong winds and hail made motorists wish they had never parked outside. I bet. Look at that car lot.
And in west Texas, the storms were so strong, how strong were they? They were so strong, a Wal-Mart super center was closed after its roof was damaged.
Jackie, what is it about Texas? They don't do anything small. Including hail.
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KAGAN: Jacqui, thank you for that.
Do you have an innie or an outie? Either way, you'll probably get a belly laugh or two out of the belly button art show.
Our Jeanne Moos has that story from New York.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Is it an astronomical phenomenon, a black hole perhaps or a crater on the Red Planet? Maybe this will ring a bell, as in belly ring.
CHRIS TWOMEY, ARTIST: The hairy ones turned out great.
MOOS: Navel gazing...
TWOMEY: Ah, nice!
MOOS: ... has been turned into an art.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's mysterious. It's got texture. It's got depth.
MOOS: Sure, works like Michelangelo's David have a belly button, but it's never been the focus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's sort of a neglected body part in art history.
MOOS: Not anymore.
TWOMEY: How about this one? It's so cute.
MOOS: New York artist Chris Twomey snapped her first navel about eight years ago on the beach. It was her father's.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is me. It's like a fingerprint. You could probably identify people.
MOOS: Chris' navel salute is on exhibit at a gallery called "A Gathering of Tribes." She's gathered belly buttons ranging from the hairy, before and after, to the pierced.
She PhotoShops the images, adding layers.
What most of us see as an often ugly anatomical indentation tickles Chris.
TWOMEY: It's almost spiritual. It looks like a cross.
MOOS: She sees the placenta as a life-giving source of oxygen, DNA and stem cells.
TWOMEY: Belly, belly!
MOOS: And she loves doing family portraits. But even in this age of the exposed midriff, not all navels are ready for their closeup.
Outies are outnumbered.
TOOMEY: Most of them are innies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm an innie. And the bigger I get, the innier I get.
MOOS: Sometimes it pays to keep your belly buttoned.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
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KAGAN: Going to examine another topic. Four years ago Al Gore tried to perform a precarious balancing act, and he fell. Is John Kerry doing the same thing this time around? Handling the Clinton factor when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.
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