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The Situation Room

Teen Drinking; One Woman's Protest; Roberts and Abortion; CIA Leak Investigation

Aired August 16, 2005 - 16:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: It's 4:00 p.m. here in Washington. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM where news and information from around the world arrive in one place simultaneously.
Happening right now stories we're following in the United States, around the world. It's 3:00 p.m. in Crawford, Texas, where an anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan is getting backlash for her protest against the president.

A new take on teen drinking. Should parents let kids serve alcohol at home as long as they don't drive? This hour, it's a combustible question in our "Culture Wars" segment.

And what have John Roberts' opinions revealed? It turns out he once had a lot to say about the pop star Michael Jackson.

I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

First this hour, rising tensions outside the president's Texas ranch. Many of the local residents apparently not very happy about the anti-war protest movement led by the so-called peace mom Cindy Sheehan. At least one showed his feelings in a way Sheehan calls -- quote -- "very disturbing."

Right now go to Crawford, Texas, our White House correspondent Dana Bash standing by. Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. Well, there have been a lot of twists and turns in this story today. And something we can tell you we just learned in the past couple of minutes, and that is what they call Camp Casey, the area that Cindy Sheehan -- where she first pitched that tent that has grown and other people have come to sit and protest, that is actually going to move. A local resident offered them his private land for them to move away from this area that neighbors said was disruptive to them.

Now, that comes after vandalism in the middle of the night that residents fed up with the vigil, they said, crossed the line.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH (voice-over): It happened in the dead of the night. The way witnesses tell it, a man chained a metal pipe to the side of his pickup and knocked down hundreds of crosses anti-war demonstrators erected along the road.

DAVID JENSEN, WITNESS: I could hear the pipe clanging and I could see the damage of the crosses.

BASH: Each bears the name of a soldier killed in Iraq.

PAUL MITCHELL, FATHER: He just ran over 78 American flags right down that road there. And I'm not very happy with it.

BASH: The 59-year-old man responsible was arrested and charged with criminal mischief shortly after the incident, found fixing a flat with part of a cross stuck in the tire. Iraq veteran Charles Andersen, here to support Cindy's cause helped clean up.

CHARLES ANDERSON, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: This is a memorial to the fallen, five of my friends are represented by these crosses and that someone would do this is unthinkable to me.

BASH: These crosses lined the sprawling property owned by Melissa Harrison.

MELISSA HARRISON, BUSH NEIGHBOR: I was embarrassed, actually. I was embarrassed that someone would do that.

BASH: But Melissa is fed up, says Cindy Sheehan's Crawford vigil is disruptive and dangerous.

HARRISON: We have three children.

BASH: She was one of several Bush neighbors to speak before the county commission Tuesday in support of a petition to move Sheehan's Camp Casey. Melissa and other conservative locals back the president, not Sheehan, but say she does have a right to protest. They just want it someplace else. They call the traffic, the tents, the strangers sleeping outside a safety hazard.

Cindy's response?

CINDY SHEEHAN, PROTESTOR: The minute he speaks with me, we'll be gone and we are doing everything we can do to cooperate with them, be good neighbors. We're not noisy. I don't see any traffic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH (on camera): But as I mentioned, Wolf, earlier -- that was Cindy Sheehan earlier. Now Melissa is going to get her wish. They are going to move tomorrow morning to someplace else, private land.

Ironically, you remember the Bush neighbor who shot the shotgun a couple of times in the air over the weekend to protest the protestors? Well, we understand that it is his cousin who sympathizes with Cindy Sheehan and going to offer the land.

BLITZER: All right. A little family disturbance over there, as well. Thanks very much, Dana Bash, outside the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas.

There's something else Cindy Sheehan may find disturbing. She's expecting divorce papers to be delivered to her in Texas. Her estranged husband formally filed for divorce on Friday. She said the protest had nothing to do with the breakup. There's been no comment from Patrick Sheehan or his lawyer.

Here in THE SITUATION ROOM, we can bring you lots of information simultaneously.

We're getting some incoming live pictures right now from Gaza where less than one hour away, the deadline -- midnight Gaza time, 5:00 p.m. here on the East Coast of the United States -- less than one hour for Jewish settlers to leave peacefully from their homes in Gaza, go back to Israel. If they don't leave, the army is standing by to move them out forcibly starting right after midnight.

We'll see what happens. We're watching the story. Less than one hour for that deadline. The Israeli army has dedicated four soldiers for each potential Jewish settler who does not leave voluntarily. We'll watch that story for you and bring you the latest.

Here in Washington, the Supreme Court nomination battle. Activists on both sides of the abortion debate are digesting some of the clearest evidence yet about John Roberts' personal views on the subject.

Our congressional correspondent Joe Johns is examining the latest documents that have been made public. Joe?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And Wolf, the abortion issue expected to be central when those hearings start in early September. The latest papers offering insight on how Roberts viewed the issue when he worked for the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): In the early to mid-'80s in then-President Ronald Reagan's home state of California, anti-abortion activists were waging a three-year battle how to handle remains of thousands of discarded fetuses that had been discovered in a cargo container in the Los Angeles area. The issue that arose was whether the fetuses were to be considered human remains or merely human tissue.

In 1982, Mr. Reagan sent a letter to the activists supporting their plan to hold a memorial service for the fetuses. Then in October of 1985, John Roberts, an associate White House counsel at the time, was asked to weigh in on the draft of a second message of support. Many of the president's advisors had urged Mr. Reagan to distance himself from the issue, but not Roberts. In a memo he said "a memorial service would seem an entirely appropriate means of calling attention to the abortion tragedy."

He recommended approving the telegram though he also proposed toning down some of the language that suggests the Roe versus Wade decision had prevented any regulation of abortion. Roberts said that was legally inaccurate since Roe did permit some regulation of abortion. Roberts had earlier questioned whether Roe was a sound legal decision, referring to its reliance on a - quote -- "so-called right to privacy." (END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (on camera): Conservative activists say these are the kinds of documents that confirm Roberts' credentials. As one GOP activist put it, he's no squishy liberal. But they tend to show on a wide range of issues, he's not a zealot either. Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: All right. Thanks very much, Joe Johns. Time now once again for our "Cafferty File", your chance to weigh in on the major stories of the hour. Jack Cafferty standing by with this question for this hour. You're smiling, Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm not sure this qualifies as a major story. But I got to tell you, a Hollywood screenwriter couldn't do any -- you can't make this stuff up. President Bush is drowning himself in the history of salt this summer. The stuff you put on your mashed potatoes.

The White House has released President Bush's summer reading list. It includes three books for his five-week stay in Crawford. They are these -- "Salt: A World History," written by Mark Kurlansky. You may have seen the movie; "Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar," by Edvard Radzinsky; and "The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History" by John M. Barry.

According to a White House spokesman, Mr. Bush is reading the book about salt because he -- quote -- "enjoys reading and learning about history."

Here's the question. What would you suggest for President Bush's summer reading list? And don't write me about the history of pepper, because I won't read it. Caffertyfiles@cnn.com. Do you believe that?

BLITZER: When I first heard, Jack, he was reading a book about salt, I thought he was referring to -- and I'm old enough to remember this -- to the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, the SALT negotiations.

CAFFERTY: Well, when I got in, my producer Sara says President Bush reading this book about salt. I'm thinking the same thing -- the history of the SALT negotiations. Wrong.

BLITZER: We'll watch this. I'm sure our viewers have strong views on what books they want him to read during his summer vacation. Thanks very much, Jack, for that.

Still ahead, a delay or a political defeat? With Iraq's parliament still waiting for a draft constitution how serious is the fallout for President Bush? I'll ask the former Defense secretary, William Cohen and the former secretary of State, Lawrence Eagleburger. They're both standing by.

Plus, Karl Rove may not be making front-page news these days, but that CIA leak probe has not gone away. We'll have a "Situation Report." And later, strange but true in the war on terror. Babies stopped from boarding airliners. We'll hear one mom's story of security perhaps taken too far.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The Bush administration is downplaying Iraq's week-long delay in completing a draft constitution. Is it a serious setback that will be overcome or a serious political blow for the Iraqis and for President Bush? Joining us now for our "Security Council" segment, two former cabinet secretaries who have advised presidents. William Cohen was the Defense secretary during the Clinton administration. He is here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Lawrence Eagleburger was secretary of State during the first Bush administration joining us from Charlottesville in Virginia.

Gentlemen, thanks very much.

Let me play, Secretary Eagleburger, a quick little snippet of what the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday in dealing with this setback of one week. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're confident that they will complete this process and continue on the path toward elections for a permanent government at the end of the year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Mr. Secretary, are you confident that will happen?

LAWRENCE EAGLEBURGER, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Confident, no. But I, at the same time am relatively optimistic. Put it that way. I tell you, in a rational world, this should mean nothing. You remember how long it took us to write our own constitution.

The trouble is, we put these people under a gun here, And you all of a sudden have to solve Sunni, Shia problems that have been with them for centuries. Now we have to solve them in about two weeks. Doesn't make any sense.

BLITZER: Let me bring William Cohen. Let me read to you what Shibley Telhami, a Middle East scholar over at the Brookings Institution, the University of Maryland, said. He said, "The U.S. ambassador there is very visible in his meetings over the constitution. There is the impression that the United States is driving this, and that is not a good thing."

Does the U.S. want this draft constitution more than the Iraqis want it?

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I think there's very strong pressure being generated by the administration to set a time line and to stick to it. A slippage of a week will not damage the administration politically. But there are still major issues outstanding.

I was at the Pentagon a couple of weeks ago and they remain confident that this constitutional draft at least was going to be completed on time. So a week delay will not diminish their enthusiasm for it, but I think there's a lot of pressure coming from the administration.

BLITZER: Secretary Eagleburger, they haven't been working on it for two weeks, they've been working on it ever since Saddam Hussein was overthrown formally. Since the January 30 elections, they've had these committees working on it. So it hasn't just been a two-week process.

EAGLEBURGER: No, no. But on the issues standing in the way -- and particularly the Shia/Sunni problem and the role of women -- I gather, those problems are not going to get solved in two weeks beyond the year or so that they've already had. My point is, they may get it done in a week, but I regret the fact that the U.S. has made itself so obvious in this whole process.

At the same time, I also admit that we could not accept a constitution that kept Shia and Sunni at each other's throats or that gave no rights to women. So we're in a real box here.

But the point is, I think we need to recognize these are tough problems. And if they can get it done in a week, okay. If it takes them another month, give them the time. I don't think this deadline is as serious as we have made it out to be.

BLITZER: Secretary Cohen, there is some concern, as you well know, that there could be an Islamic republic that could emerge in Iraq. One of the Shiite members of the National Assembly, a Shiite, is quoted in the "New York Times" as saying, "I fear this is a first step in setting up an Islamic state," referring to some of the demands of the Shiite clerics who want Islam to be the source of all the laws of Iraq, basically.

COHEN: That's a very real danger. It's one that the United States I think is rightfully concerned about. If you look at the irony of history, years ago, we supported Saddam Hussein to prevent Iran from dominating the region. Now you have basically a Shia majority that we've helped bring about by removing Saddam Hussein who may pass laws which lead to more of a theocratic state, a religious state which may have some sympathies and support coming from Iran.

So there's a real danger. And the administration is justifiably concerned about it. What we can do remains to be seen.

Secretary Eagleburger just mentioned the dilemma. You have a situation where all Gaul is divided into three parts. We're hoping all of Iraq is not divided into three parts. That's the basic contention, whether the Sunnis see a strong central government which will protect them or see autonomy granted to the north where the Kurds are or the south where the Shia are dominant. So it's a real dilemma for the Iraqi people to contend with.

BLITZER: How worried are you, Secretary Eagleburger, about the possibility of Iraq becoming an Islamic state?

EAGLEBURGER: I think it's a real possibility. I guess in terms of alarm. I think they will solve the problems because there are too many contending forces. It would be very difficult for the Shia to dominate completely. You also have got the issue of the Kurds and how much they would accept.

But there's no question it's a possibility. It's a possibility throughout that whole region. And it's one of the issues we've got to face and that is, in a sense, we are now engaged in a war against Muslim terrorism. And it kind of folds over into this question of being so strongly Muslim and we're going to have to face it and figure out some way to deal with it.

BLITZER: And you can't ignore, Secretary Cohen, money and oil as an important ingredient. Most of the oil is either in the south where the Shia dominate or in the north where the Kurds are. The Sunnis who are in the central and western parts of Iraq, there's not much oil there. This is an important ingredient in all this, as well. They want the cash.

COHEN: It's a very important element. What they need to find a Goldilocks solution -- one that is not too strong centrally -- by a federal government that has central control because then the Shia and Kurds will object to it. If it's too loosely controlled at the federal level, you have the Sunnis objecting. So they have to find something not too hot, not too cold, but just right. And it's going to take a lot of work in the next week if that's going to be brought about.

And then to make sure this is not simply something that's written on paper which turns out to be papier mache because that's the real danger. We pass something in a week's time and then it's amended and amended. So this may be the first of a series of constitutions, or may be the last of the first one.

BLITZER: Secretary Eagleburger, but some of the cynics are saying the Bush administration keeps pushing for this draft constitution, the scheduled elections at the end of this year, merely to set the stage for a U.S. troop withdrawal in the spring of next year before the congressional, the midterm elections.

Are you among those who sees a political timetable for some of this, as opposed to strategic national security issues dominating?

EAGLEBURGER: Yes. I'll tell you myself, to me, the issue now is we cannot afford to lose this war in Iraq. And if we're going to be driven by political considerations that get us out before we have won, we will pay the price for that in that region for decades to come. It seems to me it is more than clear that either we win this one, or that if we walk away too soon, we will end up with a mess that will confront us and terrorism and Muslim radicalism for decades on. It's a dangerous thing.

BLITZER: Secretary Eagleburger, Secretary Cohen, honored to have you both here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Thanks to both of you for joining us. A trifecta of stories has Mothers Against Drunk Driving steaming mad. Coming up, teens and drinking. It's our spotlight today in our "Culture Wars" segment.

And what does Michael Jackson have to do with the fight over the U.S. Supreme Court nominee John Roberts? The answer coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's a look at some of the hot shots coming in from the Associated Press. Some of the best pictures from around the world likely to be in your newspaper tomorrow. That last picture a new view, a new shot of the Milky Way.

Zain Verjee joining us from the CNN Center in Atlanta for a quick look at other stories making news right now. Zain?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, Coretta Scott King is said to be resting comfortably at a hospital here in Atlanta. The widow of Martin Luther King, Jr. was admitted this morning although hospital officials aren't saying why. King is 78 years old.

There are no survivors in the crash of a Colombia charter plane in a remote region in western Venezuela. The West Caribbean Airlines flight was carrying 152 passengers, mostly French citizens, and eight crew from Panama to the French Caribbean island of Martinique. No word on why the plane went down.

Seventeen Spanish troops were killed in a helicopter crash near the Afghan city of Herat. Spain's defense minister says it's not really clear if it was an accident or the chopper was attacked. The soldiers were part of a NATO peacekeeping force. Their deaths mark the first Spanish fatalities in Afghanistan.

An Albuquerque man is under arrest, charged with shooting at a sheriff's helicopter this month, forcing it down and injuring the pilot. Officials say they plan to pursue federal as well as state charges against 29-year-old Jason Kerns and won't say what led to his arrest. Wolf?

BLITZER: Zain, on that plane crash, the Venezuelan plane crash, what are investigators coming up with so far? Do we have any idea?

VERJEE: They don't know what the cause is just yet. They've managed to find one of the black boxes but they haven't found the other one, the second one, which is the cockpit voice recorder. They're looking over an area of about 100 meters, which is where the aircraft fuselage has been strewn over. It's a foresty area. It's a remote area. It's a mountainous region. So it's been quite difficult to reach there. Rescue workers are pulling survivors -- excuse me, pulling the fatalities from the plane. There have been no survivors.

BLITZER: Zain, thanks very much. We'll be checking back with you.

She hasn't committed any criminal acts. So why is "New York Times" reporter Judith Miller still behind bars? Coming up next, we'll get a "Situation Report" on the CIA leak scandal.

Plus, the supreme battle over Judge John Roberts. Is there a Michael Jackson -- yes, a Michael Jackson --connection? Guess what? A little bit.

And next hour, a new look at an old figure. If you think you know everything about the rock legend Jimi Hendrix, stick around. You may learn something new.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The clock is ticking on a special prosecutor's investigation of the leak of a CIA operative's name. The once red-hot story hasn't been getting lots of media attention, at least not lately. But it's still a possible political time bomb in the works with just weeks left to go in the probe.

Our national correspondent Bob Franken brings us up to date in this "Situation Report."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: To turn an old cliche on its head, right now the Valerie Plame criminal investigation is forgotten but not gone. True, the hubbub over this has been replaced by the August doldrums and maybe Supreme Court Justice wannabe John Roberts' confirmation.

But Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's band of grand jurors met week before last. Witnesses did not include Judith Miller, the uncooperative "New York Times" reporter who is still behind bars. About all we've witnessed of late is that incident with columnist Robert Novak...

ROBERT NOVAK, POLITICAL ANALYST: Just let it go.

FRANKEN: ... who is taking time off from CNN after uttering an expletive on air. He has denied contentions that had anything to do with the possibility he was going to be grilled again about the sources that led him to out Valerie Plame as an undercover CIA operative a little over two years ago. That was after Plame's husband challenged the administration's claims about Iraq's nuclear weapons.

We do know that one of the sources for "Time" magazine reporter Matthew Cooper was the president's uber political advisor Karl Rove. The witnesses at the last grand jury session included some Rove associates.

Scooter Libby, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, has also been questioned about any role he had in the leaks.

FRANKEN (on camera): While many expect this investigation to conclude by October, there are no guarantees it will be finished by then or that Judith Miller will be released from jail at that time. Fitzgerald has many options to stretch this out, even more than it already has been. Bob Franken, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And this note to viewers, we'll stay on top of this story, every twist and turn.

On our political radar this hour newly released documents revealing that Supreme Court nominee John Roberts has expressed a very strong, very clear opinion on Michael Jackson.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was 1984. Michael Jackson was in his "Thriller" heyday, still known for his music and not for his altered looks or for child molestation charges. Jackson's publicists were trying to get President Reagan to send a letter praising the King of Pop's work against drunken driving.

Roberts, then a lawyer in the White House counsel's office said no way. In a memo to his boss, he wrote "The office of presidential correspondence is not yet an adjunct of Michael Jackson's PR firm." And he added "enough is enough." Apparently not.

Three months later, Jackson's camp wanted a thank you from Reagan for giving hundreds of needy kids free tickets to his D.C. concert.

Roberts fired back. "I hate to sound like one of Mr. Jackson's records, constantly repeating the same refrain, but I recommend that we not approve this letter."

BLITZER: And the future judge delivered a verdict on White House staffers who were OK with having the president fawn over Jackson calling it -- and I'm quoting now -- "more than a little embarrassing." Sounds like John Roberts had some good common sense over at the White House.

A mother's protest overshadowing the president's vacation. We'll talk about it in our "Strategy Session." That's coming up.

Also, suggested summer reading for the president. We'll get your answers to our "Question of the Hour" in the "Cafferty File."

Plus, tensions flaring as the clock ticks down. The deadline for leaving Gaza now less than 30 minutes away. We'll go live to Gaza for the latest. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Right now in Washington, staffers poring over pages centering on the Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' work during the Reagan administration, hoping to find out how he feels about some of the hot button issues of the day. So how hard will groups for and against Roberts' nomination fight for their cause?

Here to talk about that and more in today's "Strategy Session," CNN political analyst, former Clinton advisor Paul Begala, and Republican strategist Greg Mueller. Guys, thanks very much for joining us. The "Washington Post" had a piece. You saw it this morning. Headline "Roberts Unlikely to Face Big Fight." Is that true, Paul?

PAUL BEGALA, FORMER CLINTON ADVISOR: Well, a big fight, who knows? Unlikely, yes.

I called some of my friends on the Hill, my sources on the Hill, and they said it was a well-reported story. The interest groups on the Democratic Party are up in arms. They're already on Capitol Hill today beating up mostly on the staffers. The senators are off on very important fact finding missions to like Paris. But they are beating up on these poor staffers.

I think there's some political gain for the Democrats in this, though. I think it's smart.

BLITZER: Political gain by fighting you mean?

BEGALA: Well, by standing up to their pressure groups. In other words, it takes political courage for a party to stand against the interest groups on its own side. And if some Democrats are willing to do that, I think they can gain from that. And I would then have them challenge the president and say when did you, Mr. President, ever stand up to Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and the ultra-conservative fringe groups who seem to be driving your agenda?

I think it's a smart move for the Democrats to move to the center.

BLITZER: Jim Manley - he's spokesman for Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader in the Senate -- was quoted in the "Washington Post" today, Greg, saying this. "There's nothing the White House would rather have seen than having us come out reflexively swinging at a nominee in order to accuse us of politicizing the debate. There was a strategic decision to keep our powder dry, to reserve judgment until the committee does its work. We want Democrats to be able to fight on principles, not politics."

That sounds like a pretty decent strategy from the Democratic perspective.

GREG MUELLER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think from a Democratic perspective, if it were fully true, it would be a great strategy. I think where it breaks down and where I might disagree with my friend Paul here a little bit, is that nobody stood up against these outrageous NARAL ads in the Democratic Party. In fact, they all went silent. If they did, we didn't hear about it or read about it.

And I think these special interest groups are overstepping their bounds. And Democrats from a strategic standpoint have to be very careful not to tie themselves to these kind of far left-wing groups lake NARAL and like some of the organizations out there that are engaged in this fight right now. But their strategy, Wolf, is two- fold, and it is a smart strategy. One is the expectations game.

Also in the "Post" story today, we saw them talking about oh 70 plus votes. He's going to sail through. I don't know if I buy that. This is going to be a close vote. We can't get caught up in the expectations game on the Republican side of the aisle.

The second thing they want to do is try and use the Roberts nomination as a way to talk about the issues they want to reenergize their base around. And they've got to be careful with that because they're falling apart at the seams, so they've got to be careful not to push the left-wing issues too hard.

BLITZER: Is it in Democratic circles sort of a given now that NARAL ad went over the top?

BEGALA: Yes. And that's why I disagree with Greg. The reason they pulled it is because there was no support from Democrats for that ad. But what's interesting is, the Democrats -- I think wisely -- don't want the fight to be about abortion or gay rights. So the country is pretty bitterly divided, pretty evenly divided.

But instead, look at new documents out today. Judge Roberts back when he was a lawyer in the Reagan administration described equal pay for women as a radical redistribution policy. Well, now, everybody in America is for equal pay for women, and so that's a place where Democrats can fight affirmative action, civil rights, equal pay for women, the environment. There's a whole lot of policy grounds that I think Democrats are going to go very hard at Judge Roberts on, and we'll see if he answers the questions when he has the hearing.

BLITZER: Let's talk a little about what's overshadowing all this right now, Greg, Iraq -- the failure to come up with a draft constitution yesterday. This is really the driving issue that's, from the Bush administration's perspective, really undermining the president's popularity right now.

MUELLER: Well, I think there are polls out now that suggest that's the case. But I think you have to look at the long-term view right now, Wolf, and I think the strategy is accurate. They have to stay the course. Whoever thought we would be talking about a constitution or elections in a place like Iraq that just got rid of a dictator that we had a little something to do with?

So I think as long as the White House and the Republican focus is on the war on terror at ground zero, fighting that war and getting a democratic republic -- we're talking about Iraq becoming a democratic republic in the Middle East -- an Arab democratic republic in the Middle East. This is going to be key to peace in the Middle East.

BLITZER: But there's also a possibility it could become an Islamic republic, too.

MUELLER: Yes. We have to be careful of that. This is not an easy game, and the president has said that over and over again. This is a very, very, difficult issue that we're involved in -- the war on terror there at ground zero. And we're trying to bring democracy and freedom to the Middle East. It's not an easy task, but we're going to win points, I think, from strategically sticking to that message. BLITZER: Well, let's go to Texas, your home state. Has Cindy Sheehan overplayed her cards right now, do you think, politically speaking? Has she gone too far?

BEGALA: No. I think the president has underplayed his cards. In other words, he's done terribly. My goodness, he should have learned better manners at the fancy boarding schools and Ivy League colleges that he went to. I mean, we know he was raised by the most gracious woman in America, Barbara Bush, a woman of impeccable taste and manners. And you know that Barbara Bush or Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton, they would have invited her in. Have a -- in Texas, we would have had plate of chicken-fried steak and a cold iced tea.

It's a win. Either, then Mrs. Sheehan would have been disarmed, or if she had remained such a strong critic, she would have looked sort of discredited. The president should have invited her in. He should be a decent guy, which he is at his base, but he's not acting like one now. I mean, this is hurting him enormously.

BLITZER: With this hindsight, early on, when she first showed up there and said, I'd like to just have a meeting with the president -- with hindsight, Greg, should he have invited her in for some iced tea?

MUELLER: Well, I think he -- my understanding was he already had met with her, and in fact, there was some local coverage earlier on.

BLITZER: They met a year earlier.

MUELLER: Yes. I mean, so he'd already met with her. I think what's coming out today, though, and I think people will see it in the papers tomorrow, is that this has now gone from a grieving mother who lost a son in the Iraq war, who we all sympathize and pray with, who now is being kind of utilized by the Democratic anti-war machine. We've got Joe Trippi, former Dean campaign manager, down there. Fenton Communications is now running the P.R. They're a left-wing P.R. firm.

This is really an orchestrated campaign that's now being exposed. So I think the president has played this exactly right. And now you're seeing other protesters counter-demonstrating, saying we support the president.

BLITZER: All right, very quickly. I'll give you the last word.

BEGALA: What you're seeing is the thing spinning out of control. And the president should be the national healer. And instead, he's looking divisive. And now, his actions have allowed some right-wing kook in Texas to run over 50 American flags, 50 crosses commemorating 50 war heroes. Nobody on the right or left should ever tolerate that. And the president's to blame for that.

BLITZER: Well...

MUELLER: She was showing us the protest, Paul.

BLITZER: That will be a subject for debate. We'll leave it alone right there. Paul Begala, Greg Mueller, thanks to both of you for joining us here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Much more coming up, including U.S. troops on the offensive against one of the biggest dangers they face in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just looking for trunks that ajar, windows that may have been shot, doors welded shut, keyholes that are taken out, ignition wires that are ripped apart, wires coming out of the vehicle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Hunting the roadside bombs known as IEDs. We'll have part two of our special report. If you saw part one yesterday, you'll want to stick around for part two.

Plus, what would you recommend President Bush put on his summer reading list? Our Jack Cafferty reads some of your e-mail suggestions.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In our "Culture Wars" segment, teens under the influence. If you think there's no debate about underage drinking, think again.

CNN's Tom Foreman is here with a clash between hard realities and the moms at MADD. What's going on?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, you know, the Mothers Against Drunk Driving, MADD, just like the president, had big plans for their summer and they're being diverted a little bit. They were happy about congressional support for a measure they say will reduce alcohol-related fatalities. They were unveiling a big new campaign to discourage teen drinking among Latinos. But now, in their path, a trifecta of teen alcohol issues.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (voice-over): First, an American Medical Association poll showed nearly half the teens in the country have had alcohol and most get it from adults.

Second, a court in Virginia ruled that part of the drunken driving law in that state is unconstitutional, paving the way for legal challenges nationwide.

And third, a policy analyst for a big think tank here in Washington put out an editorial saying parents who host beer and alcohol parties for teens at home to keep kids from driving drunk are performing a great community service.

RADLEY BALKO, CATO INSTITUTE: Let's be real about this. High school kids drink. Better that they drink in a supervised environment where adults are present than, you know, in a rented hotel room or a vacant lot or in their cars.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there alcohol in this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, God, honey, no. What kind of mother do you think I am? Why? Do you want a little bit? Because if you're going to drink, I'd rather you do it in the house.

FOREMAN: That idea was satirized in the movie "Mean Girls" and MADD thinks it's ridiculous.

CHUCK HURLEY, CEO, MADD: It undermines the respect for law. It gives the signal that underage drinking is not a big deal. We wish it wasn't a big deal, but unfortunately, it is a big deal. We lost 2,300 teenagers in alcohol-related crashes last year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: Now, opponents of this idea of safe parental beer bashes for kids say it's just nutty.

Now, Radley Balko argues his case well. He says why this ought to work. But the opponents say, look, if that logic works, you could have sex parties, drug parties, shoplifting parties. Certainly teenagers could do all of those things better with parental help. It has derailed a little bit of the anti-teen drinking agenda for the summer while they deal with this and say no, these are bad ideas. They don't want them around.

BLITZER: It's an important issue, a very important issue.

FOREMAN: It's going to be with us. People are going to keep talking about this.

BLITZER: It's going to be with us for long time, and will be for a long time down the road. Tom, thanks very much for that.

Zain Verjee joining us from the CNN Center in Atlanta with a closer look at some of the other stories we're following right now. Zain?

VERJEE: Wolf, three men accused of passing classified defense information to Israel are pleading not guilty. They include a Pentagon analyst and two former employees of a pro-Israel lobbying group. Trial's been set for January and the men are free, though, for now on $100,000 bail each.

And right now, the cleanup continues hours after a major earthquake off northeast Japan. The tremor measured a magnitude 7.2, so powerful it shook skyscrapers 185 miles away in Tokyo. It was centered 50 miles offshore and 12 miles under the sea. Only a few houses were destroyed, 17,000 homes lost their power, and 62 people were hurt.

Singer Madonna is in a hospital with three cracked ribs, a broken collarbone and broken hand from a horse riding accident. A publicist says it happened today, which is also Madonna's birthday, at the singer's country home outside of London. Madonna was on a new horse and she wasn't accustomed to riding it when it fell.

Wolf?

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Zain. We'll get back to you.

Let's find out what you're saying about our question of the hour. Once again, Jack Cafferty standing by in New York with the "Cafferty File" -- Jack.

CAFFERTY: Yes, you know what happened, that horse turned around and saw who was on his back and went nuts, freaked out, couldn't handle it.

According to the White House, President Bush's summer reading list includes the following three books: "Salt: A World History," "Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar," and "The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History."

We asked the question -- and maybe it was a mistake -- what would you suggest for President Bush's summer reading list?

We got close to 1,000 e-mails in the last 35, 40 minutes, and some of them we can read. Some of you folks are just downright mean.

Dan in the Bronx, New York, writes this: "I just finished reading a very good book named 'The War on Our Freedoms: Civil Liberties in the Age of Terrorism.' I'm very interested to know if the president has read the Patriot Act."

Richard in Mississagua, Canada writes: "Mr. Bush should seriously consider reading 'How to Win Friends and Influence People.' He could not have read it before."

Dave in Japan: "Reading for President Bush? How about Lou Dobbs' book, 'Exporting America'?"

Karl (ph) writes: "How about 'My Pet Goat'? On September 11, he was holding it upside down. Perhaps he'd get more out of it this time."

Deidre (ph) writes: "How about the newspaper?"

And one other nut job writes simply: "My lips."

BLITZER: You know, Jack, we got a special guest, Ali Velshi, who has actually read the book "Salt." Ali, what is this book about?

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: You know, you guys all -- you know, people made fun of me when I was reading it because I was so excited about this book. I really enjoyed the book.

It's actually kind of neat. It gives you a whole sense of world history, gives you a sense of the fact that salt allowed us to preserve food. And preserving food not only let people eat better, but it let armies go on the march, it allowed people to conquer other lands because you could preserve your food. BLITZER: Jack?

CAFFERTY: Boring.

VELSHI: Come on, Jack. You've got to admit, that's good.

CAFFERTY: What?

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Salt.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: You take it for granted.

VELSHI: You take it for granted, exactly.

BLITZER: But it's critical in the history of the world.

VELSHI: Even you couldn't go on without salt, Jack.

CAFFERTY: OK. You know...

BLITZER: I'll bet you, Jack, a lot of people who are watching this program right now are going to rush out and buy that book "Salt." They want to read it.

VELSHI: It's a good book.

CAFFERTY: Well, I understand that, you know, it was an interesting -- people used to buy stuff with stones, too, but we don't do that anymore. And I don't know. It just seems like maybe there's other stuff in the world that is worthy of our attention. But, hey, what do I know? I just make the sandwiches.

BLITZER: All right. We'll leave it alone.

We'll talk about our reading lists throughout this summer. Not much of the summer left, but we'll continue to watch what you're reading and Ali's reading, what Zain is reading. We've got a lot coming up on those.

CAFFERTY: Oh, boy.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: Thanks very much.

We're getting these live pictures coming in from Gaza. Check this out. This is only minutes away -- what -- seven, eight minutes away from the deadline, midnight, Gaza time, 5:00 p.m. here on the East Coast of the United States. That's when all of those Jewish settlers in Gaza are supposed to be out. But guess what? A lot of them are not out. Israeli soldiers have been drilling for months preparing to go in and physically remove them. They've dedicated four Israeli soldiers potentially per Jewish settler in Gaza. They'll be going in there shortly over the next several hours and days to remove them.

We'll be watching the story. Coming up, we'll also have a live update on what's going on in Gaza. We'll go there, see what's happening. Is it peaceful or not?

Also, the Iraqi lawmakers and a new constitution all in limbo. The delay burning up the blogs. We'll tell you what they're saying.

Plus, U.S. troops on the hunt for bombs in Iraq. The risk and the raw emotion exposed in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The delay of Iraq's draft constitution getting quite a bit of reaction online.

Our Internet reporters, Jacki Schechner, Abbi Tatton, standing by to take us "Inside the Blogs". Jacki?

JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, you might be surprised to hear actually that instead of disappointment, we're seeing a lot of understanding that these sorts of things are going to take time -- people picking up the nuances, something we thought was interesting to show you.

This is from this morning's "New York Times." We found it over at thismodernworld.com. It's on tomorrow's blog. We picked up the best subhead ever, what he called it. You look a little closer it says "one week to solve issues over Islam, oil wealth and political power. It's a lot to do in seven days' time, clearly."

Over at Buzz Machine by Jeff Jarvis. This is a liberal blog. And Jeff is talking about the timeframe as well, pointing out, "compare it to our history. Take a look. Sixteen months to negotiate the Articles of the Confederation. Not that successful. It took 13 years for the Declaration of Independence, until we had a Constitution and a government, and frankly, we weren't killing each other at that time."

So definitely put this into context is what we're seeing on the blogs.

ABBI TATTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And contemplating this delay out in Baghdad, this is Chris Albritton. He blogs at back-to-iraq.com. He's also a freelance journalist. He calls himself the Web's first fully reader-funded journalist blogger. He actually did an online fund-raising drive to raise the money to start this site, which has been going since 2003. He's been contemplating their constitution for the last couple of days and what it means. He says, everyone out there is on tenterhooks waiting to see what will happen. Well, everyone in the Iraqi government and journalists, in any case. But what does this mean to your average Iraqi? He's saying the constitution is important, but perhaps there is a disconnect between what's going on out on the streets and what's happening in the Green Zone. In his opinion, your average Iraqi is probably more interested in when the power's coming back or if the water will run tonight.

Now, there are a few Iraqi blogs out there, blogs by people in Iraq. One of them that we mentioned yesterday, IraqtheModel. That's two brothers in Baghdad who give a positive view of the Americans and what they're doing out there.

A completely different view that we found also is from a young girl in Mosul. This is Days Of My Life. She's describing the intense heat of the summer, the fact that there is a lack of electricity for many, many hours a day, and because of this, she's apologizing -- this is the reason behind the delay in her blog posts some of the time.

SCHECHNER: I think we'd actually all understand if it takes her a little while.

One of the things we did want to show you, though, is the Carnival of the Liberated. These get posts periodically. I think they are weekly at some point. (INAUDIBLE) has the list here. And basically what this is, is a Carnival is a roundup of blogs talking about a particular thing. There is links to posts on other blogs. So deanesmay.com now the Carnival of the Liberated. Anything you can find on Iraqi and Afghani bloggers, posts that are talking about this issue, Wolf.

We just thought it was an interesting thing to show you in how people round up posts from other blogs on a specific topic. You can have everything -- carnival of knitting, carnival of chefs, carnival of whatever. You name it, they do it.

BLITZER: Some of the best blogs, Jackie and Abbi, are certainly the blogs from the troops in Iraq. Some of the reading really, really compelling.

If our viewers want to hear what troops on the ground are getting, what's the best way to find some of these blogs?

TATTON: I would say to start at "The Mudville Gazette." That is the site that started the Milbloggers ring. Those are military people who blog online. "Mudville Gazette," a good place to start.

BLITZER: All right. Good advice. We'll continue to follow these stories for our viewers. Thanks very much.

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