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Director of National Intelligence Says America Safer Now Than Before September 11th; Paying for Press in Iraq?; New Airport Rules

Aired December 02, 2005 - 10:33   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The director of national intelligence John Negroponte says America is safer now than before September 11th. That vote of confidence comes in an exclusive interview with our national security correspondent David Ensor, joining me now from the Washington bureau.
Good morning, David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATL. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Ambassador Negroponte pointed to the new national clandestine officer, which puts all operational officers, spies, if you will, under one boss, and the new national security branch at the FBI, and he said the intelligence community is getting better organize to collect and analyze intelligence, as well as to go after terrorists.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN NEGROPONTE, DIR., NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Well, I certainly believe America is safer since 9/11. And I believe that from an intelligence point of view, that our intelligence effort 1 better integrated today than it was previously. I think we're doing a good job at bringing together foreign, domestic and military intelligence, and in addition to that, of course, we are on the offensive against Al Qaeda and its affiliates around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: He did stress, Daryn, that there's a lot more work to do. His office is new. There's more to do to make the country safe.

KAGAN: What about specific events we've seen in recent months. There was the subway threat in New York City. They chose there to handle it differently than the federal government was thinking they should. Also a threat in a Baltimore tunnel. How does he think those incidents have been handled?

ENSOR: Well, I asked him about those, and you know, Negroponte did not want to second guess what authorities in New York and Maryland did. Some critics said that Negroponte's office should have been more forceful, maybe even public, advising that the intelligence on the threats there was questionable.

He seemed, the ambassador, seemed to thank things went about the way they should have in those two cases. KAGAN: All right.

Thank you, David. David Ensor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEGROPONTE: I think you could say in some respects the system worked here. We had information. We had threat information, which was of perhaps -- while perhaps of questionable reliability, nonetheless because of the importance of the target and the magnitude of the risk, it was considered important to pass that information to local authorities.

ENSOR: And, Daryn, there's much more on this interview. We talked about how he prepared to brief the president, whether he has enough control of the budget. We also asked him about who would prepare Secretary Rice to answer questions about reports of CIA prisons on her upcoming trip to Europe -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And where can we see more of the interview?

ENSOR: On the situation room tonight.

KAGAN: We will look forward to that. David Ensor, thank you. Be sure to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Terror inside a shopping mall. A man accused of going a rampage. Hear his 911 phone call before the shooting began.

To France and back. A feline's incredible journey from Wisconsin to Europe comes full circle. That's ahead. Also another reminder, President Bush will be speaking within the next 10 minutes at the White House. The economy, your pocketbook, your job, the topics ahead. We will have live coverage. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: President Bush has the U.S. economy on his mind. He'll be speaking about that in about five minutes from now from the Rose Garden of the White House. A live picture there. Kind of a gray day in Washington D.C., but apparently not too much to head outdoors to talk about the economy. You'll see live coverage right here on CNN.

Meanwhile, let's get some other news on this Friday morning. To Washington state where a suspected gunman's warning of the horror he was about to carry out.

Also, we have the desperate fearful pleas of the victims. The callers convey in chilling detail the severity of some of the injuries. All of it can be heard on the 911 tapes from last month's shooting in a mall in Tacoma, Washington.

Deborah Feldman from our affiliate KING has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) 911 OPERATOR: Sir, what is it that we can do for you here at 911?

SUSPECT: Oh, I'm just alerting you that I'm go about to start shooting right now.

911 OPERATOR: Where are you located? Sir, where are you located?

SUSPECT: Follow the screams.

911 OPERATOR: I'm sorry. You're on a cell phone. I don't know where you are. The cell phone doesn't give me any location, sir.

SUSPECT: Follow the screams.

DEBORAH FELDMAN, KING REPORTER (voice-over): 911 operators did not hear the screams of terrified shoppers and employees at the Tacoma Mall. But within minutes of the chilling first phone call, dozens more came pouring in.

911 OPERATOR: Just stay where you're at, OK?

CALLER: OK, he's -- everyone's running. I think he's coming again. Hurry, hurry.

911 OPERATOR: Do whatever you need to do to keep yourself safe. OK, could you tell me about the injuries?

CALLER: One gunshot to the lower abdomen.

911 OPERATOR: Lower abdominal shot?

CALLER: Yes. And one shot to the left leg.

FELDMAN: The calls accelerate. Some people give detailed descriptions of the alleged gunman, Dominick Maldonado. Dispatch tries to figure out exactly where the gunman has come to a stop and soon they get their answer.

911 OPERATOR: Yes, how may I help you, sir?

CALLER: I am one of the people being held hostage in Sam Goody.

911 OPERATOR: Yes. The guy told me to give you guys a call and let you know that as long as you guys play by the rules, he'll play by the rules.

FELDMAN: At least one critical call comes from outside the mall, when Maldonado's ex-girlfriend Tiffany Robinson dials 911 to let police know he'd sent her a text message shortly before the rampage. When the operator asks why the suspect could do something so outrageous, the answer is simple.

911 OPERATOR: Do you know what set this off?

CALLER: He's crazy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And that report was from Deborah Feldman with our affiliate KING. Police have said the motive for the shooting was the suspect's pent-up anger, which they say finally blew over.

We are standing by for President Bush to come out from the Rose Garden of the White House. He'll be speaking on the economy.

And in anticipation of those remarks, let's welcome in Chris Huntington for a look at what might be getting the president's attention exactly.

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Well, the president, choosing a day on which there is some good economic news to crow about. The latest report on the jobs growth in this country is strong, just exactly what the president would like to report. The reading, the latest reading for job creation in the country, $215,000 jobs created last month. That is substantially better than the prior two months so that's some good news. The unemployment rate remains steady.

The big picture in the economy is pretty good. Overall, growth in the economy about 4.3 percent in the last quarter. That's a solid rate. No problem in the big picture there. Also, some other factors. Consumer confidence just recently up to a higher level than expected and considerably higher than in the previous month.

So there are some broad measures that the president can talk about. We all know, though, that there is concern on many levels and small niches in the economy. Energy prices, a huge concern. Take a look at what's happening with the automakers, closing plants, shedding jobs. So there is a very real tangible weakness in the economy. The president, though, obviously wants to stress the positive.

It comes on a day when, coincidentally, that Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan giving a speech to some of the insiders at the Federal Reserve, saying, yes, indeed the economy is strong, but the budget deficits could threaten future economic growth. And, of course, the budget deficit on President Bush's watch has exploded tremendously for many, many reasons. And no doubt, the president might like to hit the best spin on that when Chairman Greenspan, who is, if you will, on his victory tour prior to his resignation or prior to the ending of his long term coming up in January.

So those are sort of the factors at play right now. No doubt you'll hear the president pound away on the positive jobs numbers to start with -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Let's talk -- or get a little bit more focus and understanding what the positive numbers stem from. Because it seems like it was a couple of months ago that it was all doom and gloom. You had Katrina, you had Rita, you had the difficulty with the oil supplies coming out of the Gulf. So how have things turned around so quickly, do you think?

HUNTINGTON: Well, the real answer to that, Daryn, is that these numbers are fickle and they are often revised. In fact, there were revisions to the prior two months, both up and down respectively. So take these numbers with a grain of salt. There also happen to be a complex estimate run through various economic models at the Labor Department.

It's very difficult to project a trend in the overall economy, which is why I said that despite some of these broad measures , we all know about and hear about pockets of insecurity and instability. So the fact that the numbers are strong this month doesn't necessarily mean that they will continue. There is still a lot of concern, a lot of weakness in the manufacturing sector of this country. That is no secret and that is not being corrected. So that's certainly a concern to a lot of Americans.

KAGAN: You mentioned Alan Greenspan and his victory lap or his victory tour, as you called it. How do you expect his stepping away to affect the markets and the economy?

HUNTINGTON: Well, it appears that the proposed successor, Bernanke, is somebody that the markets -- and that is sort of first measure -- are comfortable with. He is, by all measures, a superbly qualified person to take on where Alan Greenspan will leave off. And also he is seen as a protege of Greenspan. So there -- in the broad picture there, nobody is expecting any dramatic change in the policies that Greenspan has put forward, which is primarily to keep inflation in check.

Keep in mind that Greenspan has overseen a measured but consistent step up in interest rates in the last two years, again, trying to ward off inflation. That's expected to continue. There's another Fed policy meeting later this month. They're expected to ratchet up rates again. And Bernanke, if confirmed, expected to indeed carry on that situation.

So, for now the markets -- which is sort of the first knee-jerk measure of how any change in Fed policy would be measured -- are sanguine with what's going on at the Federal Reserve.

KAGAN: Let me ask you this, Chris. All these big numbers and all of this information, fascinating to economists and business wonks like yourself. If you're the average person sitting at home, raising -- I'll get back to you this. I'm going to want to know what you would listen to if you were a regular person.

Stand by, here's President Bush.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thanks to good old-fashioned American hard work and productivity, innovation and sound economic policies of cutting taxes.......

... I'll continue to push for pro-growth economic policies, all aimed at making sure every American can realize the American dream. Thank you very much.

QUESTION: What about the alleging of paid propaganda in the Iraqi press, Mr. President?

KAGAN: Well, the president not in the mood to answer questions from the Rose Garden today. He was there to trumpet new numbers on the economy that he shows -- that he says it means the U.S. economy is strong and growing stronger. He quoted new jobs numbers. Third quarter growth saying that is up, as well. The president saying that his administration, though, will not rest until every American who wants a job is able to find a job and has one.

Let's welcome in Kathleen Koch. Kathleen, was this a surprise that the president decided to come out and talk about these numbers?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly was not on his schedule. But, Daryn, after the positive numbers yesterday with the increased gross domestic product numbers up from 3.8 to 4.3 percent, and then the really robust unemployment numbers today, I think it was something that the White House was very eager to step up and claim credit.

You know, right before the president came out and spoke, Chris Huntington was saying that you've got to take these with a grain of salt. You know, you have to -- these may not continue. But the White House, not only with what the president said, but then also spokesman Scott McClellan before the president came out, really just saying, you know, the facts are clear. The economy is strong, continuing to expand.

And this is something that the White House has not gotten high marks on from the American public. The last CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll from November 11th through the 13th found 61 percent of Americans disapproved of the president's handling of the economy. Only 37 percent approve. So when you have good numbers like this, it's not surprising that the president would want to come out and say, hey, it's because my policies are working.

KAGAN: Kathleen Koch at the White House.

Chris, bringing you back to what you were talking about before the president out to speak. The average American, there was reference made, the president said, and tell every American who wants a job, can find a job, and has a job. What else do you hear if you're a regular person listening to those numbers.

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, it's...

KAGAN: Did I stump you having to be a regular person?

HUNTINGTON: No, sorry, the sound cut out there for a second. I didn't you were directly addressing me.

But it's astounding to me that he came out stated, frankly, what has been already reported, and then didn't take any questions. Kathleen hit the nail on the head, that obviously he was getting out there to imply that he should receive some credit for all of this.

As far as what an average American might hear in that, an implicit promise that the administration will deliver more jobs, and that's something that every administration stresses it will be able to do, and then is sort of at the mercy, frankly, of the economy, because the economy is so much bigger, and so much more dynamic, and so much faster moving than the policies that can ever be instituted and controlled by any given White House. So it's a bit of a roll of the dice, and when things are going well, you get out there and take credit for it, but creating jobs is something that you can look at strong job growth for other administrations or weak job creations in any administration, and it's hard to pin it directly on the policies.

However, everybody always wants to either blame or give credit to the person in control. So not much there for the average person to hang their hat on, other than hearing that some of these broad measures are positive. So really you'll have to wait and see if what the administration can do to deliver jobs as he said is his commitment.

KAGAN: Chris Huntington. Thank you, Chris.

Other news coming out of Washington today is new security measures. So if you're traveling during the holidays, especially close to Christmas, it's going to be different what they're looking for as you go through those security line, but how does that compare to how they do things in Israel, where they're really tough on security. My guest and I will talk about that just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: Let's talk about your travel. As we mentioned earlier, the TSA is changing the way that it screens passengers. Today it proposed allowing to bring small scissors onboard, along with screwdrivers and other sharp objects you can bring on the plane.

However, passengers will be subject to more thorough patdowns, and there will be more random passenger checks. The new rules are designed to give screeners more time to focus on detecting explosives. But these new rules, will they make flying safer or provide new opportunities for terrorists?

Joining us is the former chief of security for Israel's El Al Airlines, Isaac Yeffet.

Mr. Yeffet, good morning. Thanks for joining us.

ISAAC YEFFET, FMR, SECURITY CHIEF, EL AL: Good morning to you.

KAGAN: What do you think of the new rules?

YEFFET: I think it's wrong, it's dangerous for the American passengers, and I don't understand why we need to risk the lives of our passengers. Four years ago only, 19 terrorists hijacked four aircraft in this country, only with knives they were allowed to carry with them when they fly wherever they wanted.

KAGAN: Well, those knives and those box cutters under these new rules not allowed. What they're saying is they want to shift the focus off of that so they can focus more on things that might be linked to explosives like detonators?

YEFFET: That's -- allow me to remind you that September 11th, no one from the 19 terrorists used any explosive or weapon. All they used is knives. And after that, the TSA decided that even nail clippers, the passenger would not be allowed to carry with them when they go to any flight. Now what happened suddenly? We allow the terrorists to come and tell them, you can come with knife, you can come with scissor, you can come with screwdriver to come to cause us another tragedy?

KAGAN: And how would you do it? What would you do. I'm putting you in charge of the TSA for a moment here.

YEFFET: First of all, we need to change the concept of the security that we have in the country. We must...

KAGAN: What's the concept?

YEFFET: The concept is that we must have profiling system similar to El Al. Why we cannot interview every passenger? Why we cannot have the list of the passengers before they come even to the airport similar to El Al, to be able to match the list of the names.

KAGAN: Let me just jump in on that. Everybody does look to see how El Al does it, and it's so impressive and it's incredible the security record of your former airline.

But two things with that. One, that's a much smaller operation than what the American transit system demands. Some people say it would shutdown the system to do it in that way. And also there's the issue of civil rights.

YEFFET: First of all, it's unfair statement for the American passengers. Let me ask you this, is 300 or 400 passengers that are flying with El Al, they have the full right to fly safe and secure only because they are flying with small airlines? And second, 400 passengers that are flying with American air carriers, they don't have the same right to fly only because they are flying with big air carriers? Is this a serious excuse to come to the American people to tell them this?

What's the difference, I want to know, Between 747 in Tel Aviv and 747 in the United States and any airport around the country?

KAGAN: Well you're absolutely right.

YEFFET: Each aircraft needs separate gates. Each aircraft needs a separate catering. Each aircraft, they have to separate cargo, so I do not understand why we have to go and to compare it with small airlines. You don't need a separate gate for the passengers? You don't need a separate catering? You don't need separate cargo? You don't need separate fueling? So the luggage are not going to same aircraft? I don't understand why we have to risk the life of the American people and to tell them, listen, you have to risk your life because we have conveniencey, we have human rights, conveniencey by risking our life? Did we hear from any passenger in the United States after September 11th when he went to take the flight and he had to go through security checkpoint? And to be searched...

KAGAN: Let me just (INAUDIBLE) Mr. Yeffet, because we are up against the clock here. You are right that passengers everywhere do demand, and do want and do wish to be safe when they fly.

ISAAC YEFFET, FMR. SECURITY CHIEF, EL AL: I am calling -- excuse me. I'm calling the secretary of Homeland Security, please don't allow to increase the risk of the security in this country from bad to very bad. We are killing our passengers.

KAGAN: Said very well and very plainly.

YEFFET: Thank you.

KAGAN: Isaac Yeffet, the former head of security for El Al Airlines.

Sir, thank you for your time on this Friday morning.

YEFFET: Thank you.

KAGAN: And with that, we're up against the clock. We go now to what's happening "Now in the News."

The top headline, President Bush says new jobs figures are proof that the economy is strong. The Labor Department says about 250,000 new jobs were added last month. The president came out to the Rose Garden about 15 minutes ago to trumpet the latest figures.

Alan Greenspan is in London right now, where finance leaders from the world's richest nations are giving him a farewell party as the -- as the Fed chairman. Greenspan's speech at the G-7 meeting is expected to focus on global economic disparities. Earlier, Greenspan issued a dire warning about Social Security and Medicare facing likely cuts because of the soaring federal budget deficit.

Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito was on Capitol Hill this morning, meeting with the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Earlier this week -- and that is not the chairman. That is not Arlen Specter, but he was meeting with Arlen Specter. Alito's responses to a lengthy questionnaire were submitted to the committee.

Oh, it is Arlen Specter. Sorry. My monitor. OK.

Senator Arlen Specter is expected to hold a news conference in about an hour on the Alito nomination.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last hour announced the resignation of the man who oversees billions of dollars in U.S. development aid. Andrew Natsios will leave the U.S. Agency for International Development, which he has headed since 2001. Natsios was the public face of the U.S. response to last December's tsunami in South Asia. He's leaving to take a job teaching at Georgetown University.

Good morning. It is Friday morning. Welcome back to CNN LIVE TODAY.

It is just after 10:00 a.m. in New Orleans; just after 11:00 here in Atlanta; and just after 7:00 in Baghdad.

From CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Daryn Kagan.

Our focus this hour -- there are several angles to talk about -- is Iraq. We have a new crackdown in Iraq's wild west to tell you about. Also, Operation Shank.

At the Pentagon, our Jamie McIntyre looks into reports of planted news paid for by the U.S. military.

And we'll go to Baghdad and talk to our CNN senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson. He's going to show us how terrorists use the media to make their point.

We're going to start at the Pentagon. The Bush administration spending millions to encourage an independent Western-style media in Iraq. But now there are reports that a Defense Department consultant is paying the Iraqi press to print pro-American stories.

Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre looks into these allegations.

Jamie, good morning.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Daryn.

Three days after the story first broke in the "Los Angeles Times," the Pentagon is still scrambling to provide answers to some of the key questions, particularly some of the questions coming from Capitol Hill.

The allegation is that the U.S. military secretly wrote stories that were then translated by this contractor, the Lincoln Group, based in Washington, and then that group paid to have those stories, favorable to the U.S. military and the U.S. government, put into Iraqi newspapers, drawing serious questions about whether that undermines the credibility of the U.S. government and the Iraqi press.

Senator John Warner, head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, summoned members from the Defense Department up to the Hill today to answer questions. Senator Warner, in a statement, said, "I am concerned that any actions may undermine the credibility of the United States as we help the Iraqi people stand up a democracy. Further, a free and independent press is critical to the functioning of a democracy. And I'm concerned about any actions which may erode the independence of the Iraqi media." Unfortunately, Senator Warner is not getting the answers to those questions yet either, because right now the Pentagon says it has no one to send to Capitol Hill to provide those answers because it's still getting the information together.

We are told that sometime today, General George Casey, who was in charge of all U.S. troops in Iraq, his office will provide some additional statement or information about what exactly happened in this case. But meanwhile, the criticism of the policy is pretty universal, including coming from a former Pentagon spokesman, Ken Bacon, who appeared on "AMERICAN MORNING" this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNETH BACON, FMR. PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: The key, they have to remember, is that they have to protect good information sources. And the press is something we're trying to build up in Iraq as a reliable free source of information. So to undermine that by paying for stories shoots our own program in the foot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: The key to this debate is not so much what the U.S. government can and should say publicly for dissemination, to particularly the American compress, but it's what so-called information operators within the military, what they can do in other countries to try to get their message out. And that's the gray area that seems to have gotten somebody in trouble here.

KAGAN: Well, and the part that I find very curious is how can no one at the Pentagon really know what's going on? Is that because they used an outside contractor to allegedly do this?

MCINTYRE: Well, I think the answer is, it was so far down in the weeds, happening in Iraq, that it's been taking some time to get -- get the sort of chain of accountability together. But the other answer is, this is a gray area, and sometimes they are skirting a policy.

In fact, it was interesting. We could not get the Pentagon today to state clearly what the limits are on the use of so-called information warfare, information operations. They can't provide us with a clear statement of what that policy is.

KAGAN: All right, Jamie. Thank you.

Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon.

Let's go to Iraq now, where the Marines, along with Iraqi troops, launched a new crackdown on insurgents today. For that, we bring in Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson.

Nic, hello.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn. Well, that is Operation Shank, 300 Marines, 200 Iraqi soldiers in the town of Ramadi, a town that has -- that is still proving problematic for the U.S. military and a town that just yesterday, some video came out from that town that's proved very controversial.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice over): This is video that has the U.S. military fighting mad. It supposedly shows insurgents roaming freely on Thursday in the city of Ramadi, western Iraq. Cameramen filmed the event and sent different videotapes to two TV news agencies.

It could be propaganda. And that's what angers coalition commanders. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, they say, is an expert propagandist.

MAJ. GEN. RICK LYNCH, COALITION SPOKESMAN: Conducting these kidnappings, these beheadings, these explosions so that he gets international coverage to look like he has more capability than he truly has. He is lying to the Iraqi people.

ROBERTSON: And that's the point of the videotape from Ramadi. Is it real or staged? It's certainly designed to show that the insurgents can move about at will in the town. But the coalition says that's not the reality.

LYNCH: Over the course of the day we've had one attack. It was an RPG attack, and it was ineffective. That shows you disparity between the perception of security in Ramadi and what is happening on the ground.

ROBERTSON: On the streets of Ramadi, where CNN is not safely able to go alone, a man identified as an insurgent claims to control the streets and vows to crack down on U.S. troops. Leaflets distributed by the gunman claim Zarqawi, the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq, is taking over Ramadi. That he may be close to the city is not disputed by U.S. officers, but they claim is on the run.

LYNCH: No doubt that Zarqawi tried to gravitate him and his forces toward Ramadi. I know it to be true. Our operations are focused on taking him out in Ramadi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: Now, propaganda is proving critical in this battle for both sides. General Lynch said that U.S. commanders are authorized to provide information to Iraqis, but he pointed out that, unlike the insurgents, that information is always based on fact -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Nic Robertson, live in Baghdad.

Thank you.

And this news just in. It is coming out of Baghdad. Ten Marines -- CNN is learning 10 Marines have been killed. Ten marines from the Regimental Combat Team 8, the 2nd Marine Division, the Marine Expeditionary Force. They were killed in action yesterday.

They were hit by an improvised explosive device while they were conducting a foot patrol outside of Falluja. That's coming from a -- the Multinational Force West in a news release today.

Once again, 10 Marines killed while on patrol in Falluja, killed by an improvised explosive device while they were on foot patrol.

More on that just ahead.

But now to today's CNN "Security Watch." The next time you take a flight, you may notice some different screening procedures, and some items that were once banned will now be allowed back on board.

Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve joins us live at Washington's Reagan National Airport to talk about new screening rules that were announced this morning.

Jeanne, good morning.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

On December 22 the rules are going to change, and passengers will be able to bring on their carry-ons scissors that are less than four inches in length and tools that are less than seven inches in length. Now, some other items will still be prohibited: larger scissors, box cutters, knives, tools like saws and hammers.

Some flight attendants, though, and some others have expressed concerns that any sharp objects are going to be allowed in passenger cabins. Today, TSA administrator Kip Hawley answered that criticism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIP HAWLEY, TSA ADMINISTRATOR: Let me be clear. The question is not, can your object be used by terrorists? The answer in every case would be yes. The important question is, can we prevent more dangerous attacks by redirecting the resources we now expend to find these less dangerous items?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: The more dangerous items he's talking about are bombs. Hawley announced today that pat-down procedures are going to be changed. There will be more random screeners. Passengers will now be able to pat down the arms and the legs from mid-thigh down, looking for explosives.

He also said that TSA screeners are being trained, better trained to look for bombs and their components. He mentioned detonators specifically. He said none of this is being done in reaction to specific intelligence, but because the general threat environment is being changed.

He said what he wants to do is have a screening procedure that is easy for travelers to navigate but is difficult for terrorists to manipulate. They are trying to make things more unpredictable, more random, so it will be harder for terrorists to game the system.

Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: Well, speaking of scary and unpredictable, how about those long lines you have to stand in to get through the screening process? How are these new rules supposed to affect that?

MESERVE: Well, these rules are going into effect December 22, just as the peak holiday travel season is beginning. Hawley says that they have done three pilot studies of these new procedures already, and they believe that they're not going to result in longer lines because they'll be spending less time looking for those little scissors and small tools, and that will compensate for the increased time it will take to do more random pat-downs -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Jeanne Meserve at Reagan National Airport.

Thank you, Jeanne.

The new director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte, says America is safer now than before September 11. He gave an exclusive first interview as intelligence chief.

Negroponte tells CNN intelligence agencies are sharing information now, and he defended acting on intelligence, even if the information can't be verified. That was the case recently when New York and Baltimore dramatically beefed up security on subways and tunnels in response to a possible terror threat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN NEGROPONTE, NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR: I think you could say in some respects the system worked here. We had information. We had threat information which was of perhaps -- while perhaps of questionable reliability, nonetheless, because of the importance of the target and the magnitude of the risk, it was -- it was considered important to pass that information to local authorities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: You can hear more of this CNN exclusive interview later today on "THE SITUATION ROOM WITH WOLF BLITZER." That's coming up at 5:00 Eastern.

CNN "Security Watch" keeps you up to date on your safety. Stay tuned day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Just a few minutes ago, President Bush stepped out into the Rose Garden to trumpet the latest numbers on the economy. They do show improvement on the job front.

Let's get that story from Kathleen Koch at the White House, also from correspondent Chris Huntington in New York. First to the White House -- Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, the president himself said it has been a long time since the U.S. has gotten such good economic numbers, numbers that the president was obviously very eager to come out and claim credit for. The president telling an audience of reporters in the Rose Garden that the economic horizon is as bright as it has ever been. Mr. Bush touted new numbers that are out today and yesterday on both jobs and Gross Domestic Product.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... good old- fashioned American hard work and productivity, innovation and sound economic policies of cutting taxes and restraining spending, our economy continues to gain strength and momentum.

Our economy added 215,000 jobs for the month of November. We've added nearly 4.5 million new jobs in the last two and a half years. Third quarter growth of this year was 4.3 percent. That's in spite of the fact that we had hurricanes and high gasoline prices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: The president said that he would continue to push for pro- growth economic policies, important not only to his slipping approval ratings, but also to the many Republicans on Capitol Hill who are facing midterm elections in less than a year -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Kathleen, thank you.

And now to Chris Huntington for more on the business angle -- Chris.

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, the business response to this is muted. However, the stock market, although down a little bit right now, is touching up on four and a half year highs, in fact, approaching that psychologically key level for the Dow industrials of 11000 the market hasn't seen in, as I say, in four and a half years, and really seen since before the bursting of the dot-com bubble and prior to 9/11, of course.

So by the -- by the business measure of the stock market, investors are happier with the way things are going. Indeed, what the jobs report shows today, what the president was stressing, is that the underlying strength of the economy is solid, able to snap back from Katrina and Rita, and also from the energy spike that we had over the summer and earlier this fall.

So the business response right now is -- is cautiously optimistic. They are adding jobs, even adding some jobs in the manufacturing sector, which has been very, very hard hit. But, of course, we also know in the pipeline to be factored into the statistics are job cuts, massive job cuts in the automobile industry.

So it's -- it's by no means a straight line trajectory to the upside in the business community right now.

KAGAN: Chris Huntington, Kathleen Koch, thank you to both of you.

Want to get back to a developing story, breaking news, the information coming out of Baghdad. Ten U.S. Marines killed yesterday in Falluja yesterday while they were on foot patrol.

With more on that, let's go back to the Pentagon and Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

MCINTYRE: Well, Daryn, this -- these Marines were killed by a very powerful improvised explosive device, a booby trap, essentially, in which several artillery shells were wired together and exploded at the same time. The Marines were on foot, on patrol outside Falluja yesterday, December 1. Ten were killed, 11 were wounded.

Seven -- of the wounded, seven were wounded lightly enough that they could report back to duty. But a very powerful blast.

This coming at the end of one of the deadliest months for U.S. troops in Iraq. In November, 85 troops died, and then on the first day of December now, 10 Marines dying in a single incident. Again, showing the lethality of the improvised bombs that continue to be the weapon of choice targeting U.S. troops and Iraqi forces and Iraqi civilians.

But again, it appears that several large artillery shells were wired together and detonated as this Marine patrol went by on foot. The devastating results, 10 Marines dead, 11 wounded -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And we are hearing that those Marines came from the Regimental Combat Team, 2nd Marine Division, the Marine Expeditionary Force. Anything else we would know about that unit, Jamie?

MCINTYRE: No. And those are really all the details they're giving because they're still in the process of notifying the next of kin.

KAGAN: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon.

Thank you for that additional information.

An ethics debate is heating up over surgery that's already been performed. Doctors operated on a disfigured woman to replace part of her face with a transplant. We're going to hear how they arrived at the decision to go through with this controversial procedure.

And an ominous distinction. North Carolina becomes the state to execute the 1,000th inmate since the U.S. reinstated the death penalty.

Plus, chilling calls placed from the suspect in a shopping center shooting moments before gunfire rang out.

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KAGAN: Talking some medical news now. When we look at that, we are talking about the face transplant. And doctors who performed the world's first partial face transplant say that the operation was a success. But that has not cooled a simmering ethics debate about the operation.

The 38-year-old woman was mauled by a dog in May. She received a new nose, lips and a chin in the transplant on Sunday. The donor was a brain-dead woman whose family consented to the transplant.

One French surgeon questioned the procedure, saying traditional reconstructive surgery should have been tried first. However, the woman's doctors expressed no reservations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN-MICHEL DUBERNARD, TRANSPLANT SURGEON (through translator): When you saw this person's face, how severely disfigured it was -- her nose, her chin and her lips had been utterly removed by what had happened to her -- you will understand why we had to decide to take on this challenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: A face transplant, by the way, isn't just science on the cutting edge. It's science fiction, the stuff that movie plots are made of.

And as CNN's Jeanne Moos reports, it's an extreme makeover that many people can't even fathom.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For once, being two-faced isn't an insult, it's a reality.

(on camera): Would you be willing to donate your face after you died?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure. I don't think -- hopefully nobody will want it by the time I die.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would anyone want to go through life with this face?

MOOS (voice-over): Might as well face it. Movies like "Face Off" are a little more science and a little less fiction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's a matter?

NICOLAS CAGE, ACTOR: Face sutures. MOOS: Face transplantation is an itch surgeons have been dying to scratch, and now a French team has taken the chin, mouth and nose of a brain-dead woman and transplanted them onto another woman, whose face was mauled by a dog. It reminds this New York plastic surgeon of a headline in the semi-satirical "Weekly World News."

DR. STEVE FALLEK, PLASTIC SURGEON: Head transplant performed. And then at the bottom it said, donors in short supply. So we've gone from the "Weekly World News" to "The New York Times" in less than five or six years.

MOOS: Would donors be in short supply? It's one thing to leave your liver.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you give away your liver, your loved ones don't miss that. They've never seen it. But you give away your face and the face is still there on the mantle. It matters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think nobody would like my face.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like your heart belongs to daddy, my face belongs to me.

MOOS: Maybe we've all seen too many horror films.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're losing him.

MOOS: For instance, Hannibal Lecter slicing off a guard's face to use as a disguise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The patient is on...

MOOS: .. or the French cult film, "Eyes without a Face," a doctor kidnaps young girls to steal their faces for his disfigured daughter.

(on camera): So If I were the donor and they gave my face to another woman, she wouldn't look just like me.

FALLEK: No.

MOOS: She'd look like a combination of us.

FALLEK: Correct.

MOOS (voice-over): The bones on a recipient's face shape the look.

(on camera): You have good bone structure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You do, too.

MOOS: Oh good, we'd make a nice hybrid.

(voice-over): Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic transplant faces of brown rats onto bodies of white rats. And look at this University of Massachusetts mouse growing a human ear. They implanted a mold with human ear cells growing on it, nourished by the rat's blood supply. Imagine the weird possibilities you could face with a transplant. Say she donated her face to me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It would be worse if you ran into someone who knew me before.

MOOS: And you could choose your new face?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, Bruce Willis is OK.

MOOS (on camera): Then you'd need a hair transplant.

Would you be willing to donate your face?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I wouldn't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would. I'm dead. I ain't got nobody to impress. Nobody coming to visit me. So I don't have to doll myself up for the grave. You know?

MOOS (voice-over): If only it were this easy.

DICK VAN DYKE, "BYE-BYE BIRDIE" (SINGING): Put on a happy face.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Thank you, Jeanne. I think I could have done without the ear growing out of the rat's back. Other than that, loved the piece.

Still to come, Oprah -- Dave, Dave, Oprah. Late night love-fest making up for all those negative rumors. What were they really upset about in the first place? We'll look at that just ahead.

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