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American Morning
Intelligence Leak
Aired October 01, 2003 - 07:18 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: If someone in his administration blew the cover of a CIA operative, President Bush says he wants to know about it. He says he welcomes the Justice Department probe into the leak, but Democrats say only a special counsel could conduct a truly independent investigation.
With us now from Washington with some perspective on the furor, veteran journalist, Jack Nelson, a former D.C. bureau chief for the "Los Angeles Times."
Mr. Nelson, thanks for being with us. We appreciate your time this morning.
Let me just ask you, certainly in your career, you have probably come across some information, a leak if you will, that you had made the decision not to use. If this particular leak had come to you, would you have printed the name of Valerie Plame?
JACK NELSON, FORMER WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": No. No, no, I would not have printed it, and I think most of the journalists that I know wouldn't have printed it. I'm a little bit surprised. I know Bob Novak real well, and I've always considered him, of course, a very responsible journalist. But I was a little surprised that he did use it.
You know, I know that any number of other journalists had this same leak and didn't use it. The "Post" reported, for example, that two top White House officials -- "The "Washington Post" reported two top White House officials called six other journalists who did not use it.
COLLINS: Why would you not have used it, particularly?
NELSON: Well, because, to begin with, it could endanger a person's life. It could be a matter of national security. It wasn't really relevant. I mean, it may be relevant to try to show what Novak was trying to show in the column, but I think he could have made the point that they were trying to undermine Wilson without having identified his wife as an undercover agent. And so, I would not have done it.
COLLINS: Well, as you probably know, Robert Novak's editor at the "Chicago Sun-Times," Steve Huntley, has come out to defend Mr. Novak's decision, and furthermore actually says, if we could look at what he said on the screen: "Nobody at the CIA suggested there was any hint of a danger to either this man's wife or anybody else at the CIA by revealing Valerie Plame's name." What do you think of that argument?
NELSON: Well, I don't think any argument stands if it's an undercover operator and you identify them, because it's not only a matter of this person's own safety, it's a matter of the safety of other persons who may have been in contact with the undercover agent overseas. I just don't see what purpose it serves, and, as I say, I wouldn't have done it and most of the journalists I know wouldn't have done it.
COLLINS: Well, what about the motivations of Mr. Wilson? When someone like him, someone who has been very openly critical of the Bush administration and someone who has been working for the CIA himself, comes out with a claim that the president of the United States is essential a liar, shouldn't his motives and history be called into question as well?
NELSON: Well, I think his motives and his political leanings are certainly a matter of interest in this whole thing, and they were pretty thoroughly explored, as a matter of fact, both in "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post" this morning. And I haven't seen the "L.A. Times" this morning, but my guess is in the "L.A. Times," too.
So, certainly the fact that he has Democratic leanings and that has been a critic of the president prior to this is something to bring up. I don't think that justifies, however, naming his wife as an undercover agent.
COLLINS: All right, Jack Nelson, we appreciate your time this morning. Former "L.A. Times" bureau chief. Thanks again.
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 October 1, 2003 - 07:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: If someone in his administration blew the cover of a CIA operative, President Bush says he wants to know about it. He says he welcomes the Justice Department probe into the leak, but Democrats say only a special counsel could conduct a truly independent investigation.
With us now from Washington with some perspective on the furor, veteran journalist, Jack Nelson, a former D.C. bureau chief for the "Los Angeles Times."
Mr. Nelson, thanks for being with us. We appreciate your time this morning.
Let me just ask you, certainly in your career, you have probably come across some information, a leak if you will, that you had made the decision not to use. If this particular leak had come to you, would you have printed the name of Valerie Plame?
JACK NELSON, FORMER WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": No. No, no, I would not have printed it, and I think most of the journalists that I know wouldn't have printed it. I'm a little bit surprised. I know Bob Novak real well, and I've always considered him, of course, a very responsible journalist. But I was a little surprised that he did use it.
You know, I know that any number of other journalists had this same leak and didn't use it. The "Post" reported, for example, that two top White House officials -- "The "Washington Post" reported two top White House officials called six other journalists who did not use it.
COLLINS: Why would you not have used it, particularly?
NELSON: Well, because, to begin with, it could endanger a person's life. It could be a matter of national security. It wasn't really relevant. I mean, it may be relevant to try to show what Novak was trying to show in the column, but I think he could have made the point that they were trying to undermine Wilson without having identified his wife as an undercover agent. And so, I would not have done it.
COLLINS: Well, as you probably know, Robert Novak's editor at the "Chicago Sun-Times," Steve Huntley, has come out to defend Mr. Novak's decision, and furthermore actually says, if we could look at what he said on the screen: "Nobody at the CIA suggested there was any hint of a danger to either this man's wife or anybody else at the CIA by revealing Valerie Plame's name." What do you think of that argument?
NELSON: Well, I don't think any argument stands if it's an undercover operator and you identify them, because it's not only a matter of this person's own safety, it's a matter of the safety of other persons who may have been in contact with the undercover agent overseas. I just don't see what purpose it serves, and, as I say, I wouldn't have done it and most of the journalists I know wouldn't have done it.
COLLINS: Well, what about the motivations of Mr. Wilson? When someone like him, someone who has been very openly critical of the Bush administration and someone who has been working for the CIA himself, comes out with a claim that the president of the United States is essential a liar, shouldn't his motives and history be called into question as well?
NELSON: Well, I think his motives and his political leanings are certainly a matter of interest in this whole thing, and they were pretty thoroughly explored, as a matter of fact, both in "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post" this morning. And I haven't seen the "L.A. Times" this morning, but my guess is in the "L.A. Times," too.
So, certainly the fact that he has Democratic leanings and that has been a critic of the president prior to this is something to bring up. I don't think that justifies, however, naming his wife as an undercover agent.
COLLINS: All right, Jack Nelson, we appreciate your time this morning. Former "L.A. Times" bureau chief. Thanks again.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
