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The Situation Room
Investigation Of Possible New York Subway Attack; Starting Correspondence By Al Qaeda
Aired October 07, 2005 - 17:00 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 5:00 p.m. here in Washington. And you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where news and information from around the world arrive at one place simultaneously.
Happening now, it's 4:00 p.m. Central in New Orleans. Marking a milestone on the road to recovery. Also, Mayor Ray Nagin expected to make a major announcement -- at least that's what they're describing it there -- momentarily. We'll take you there live.
It's 5:00 p.m. in New York where new details are coming out about that terror threat to the city's subway system, including information about the initial source.
And it's also 5:00 p.m. here in the nation's capital, where the former FBI director, Louis Freeh, is poised to publish a scathing account of his relationship with former President Bill Clinton.
I'm Wolf Blitzer, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
And we're standing by for that live news conference with the New Orleans mayor, Ray Nagin. His office billing it as, quote, "a big announcement." We'll see what it is. We'll bring you the news conference as soon as it starts. We're waiting for that.
Other news we're watching in our "CNN Security Watch." New details, we're just learning right now about that terror threat to New York subway system. Let's go straight to CNN's Deborah Feyerick. She's in New York -- Deb?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The timing of the attack is one reason that New York City's mayor went public with this information. Well, CNN has now learned that today, October 7th, was talked about as a day for a possible attack. Sunday, October 9th was another date that was mentioned.
An official with close knowledge of the investigation tells CNN that the information about the attack came from a source who had provided accurate information in the past. And the official tells us that the source who was questioned in Iraq had trained at a terror camp in Afghanistan.
Now, the official says that the source passed a polygraph test concerning the proposed New York City subway attack. And based on an assessment of the information, the U.S. launched a military operation with members of several agencies. Now, as CNN Pentagon reporter Jamie McIntyre reported yesterday, three men were taken into custody. But what we're learning today is that the men were a mix of nationalities, according to one source. And though the official could not specify, the source said that several were Middle Eastern.
Now, concerning reports that a terrorist might actually be in New York, the official told CNN that the source named an individual who was reported to be in the city. Officials from both homeland security and the FBI, however, tell us that there's no intelligence or law enforcement information to verify that such a person is in the country or, for that matter, even exists -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Deborah Feyerick in New York with the latest information. Deb, thank you very much.
Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is standing by his decision to go public and tighten security following that threat. And while homeland security officials here in Washington concede the threat is specific, they question its credibility. Some say that shows a disconnect between federal and local officials.
CNN's Brian Todd is joining us now here in Washington. He's been following this part of the story -- Brian?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, former law enforcement and homeland security officials we spoke to say this kind of divide has happened before and will likely happen again. They say it's all part of the new environment of threat assessment and information sharing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): Is this an overreaction? An important question floating in important circles between Washington and New York and forcing New York's mayor to address the issue.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: If I'm going to make a mistake, it's going to be on the side of protecting the people of the city.
TODD: But Mayor Bloomberg and his police commissioner insist it was not a mistake to announce a specific threat against New York's subway system and to step up security, even though federal officials question the credibility of the information.
Publicly, officials from the Department of Homeland Security say they support the mayor's decision. But CNN security analyst Richard Falkenrath, a former deputy homeland security adviser to the president, believes that privately federal officials are, in his words, "pulling their hair out."
RICHARD FALKENRATH, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: This is definitely a disconnect. This is not the way things are supposed to go. Clearly, the information was shared with the New York City government.
That's an appropriate thing to do. But the federal government was not prepared for New York City to release the information and give a public advisory about the threat. And that created a real problem of mixed messages, in my view.
TODD: But Mayor Bloomberg and former top FBI official Pat D'Amuro say information on the threat had already begun trickling out when the announcement was made.
PAT D'AMURO, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Enough information got out through homeland security and through other agencies and the police department that I think the mayor and the police commissioner felt they needed to make a public statement.
TODD: Adding to the public and private confusion, one law enforcement source expressed, quote, "mystification" that federal officials are downplaying the information, saying the person who provided it has been credible in the past.
But Falkenrath says New York officials likely do not know all of the details that federal officials do, specifically details about intelligence operations in Iraq that provided the threat information, which federal officials, he says, have to hold very tightly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: Former law enforcement and intelligence officials say those operations overseas could possibly be compromised now that the threat information is out.
Another risk, they say, the overall loss of confidence, when the public hears different interpretations from different figures of authority of one piece of information and comes away with the perception of a government not coordinated -- Wolf?
BLITZER: All right, Brian, thank you very much. Good report.
Most subway passengers are trying to take the threat in stride, but that's not always easy to do. CNN's Ed Lavandera is joining us right now from New York. He's got more on this part of the story.
Hi, Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf.
Well, we just found out seconds ago that here in New York City that the one and three trains between 34th Street and 96th Street have been temporarily shut down because of a suspicious bag that authorities are checking into. This just developing in the last few minutes.
So we'll continue to work that part of the story and bring you more details as that becomes available.
But throughout the day -- here, for example, we're at the entrance to the Columbus Circle station. Thousands, the entire city going in and out of the subway stations throughout. And even though they've been bombarded with headlines and news reports of the subway terror scare, the headlines -- the riders we spoke with today say they might as well read, "Here we go again."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Israel Williams can't escape the news.
ISRAEL WILLIAMS, NEW YORK CITY SUBWAY PASSENGER: ... today's headlines is "Subway Threat."
LAVANDERA: Williams and his 6-year-old son ride the subway together every day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Yes, that's it. That's just for me and my dad to go to school and work. He goes to work, and I go to school.
LAVANDERA: It's a two-hour commute. And there's a lot of time for a young boy to ask about those scary headlines.
WILLIAMS: My son and I talked about that this morning. And that's when I explained to him, you know, you have good people, but sometimes we have bad people. And bad people sometimes try to hurt others, and that the police are just here to just try to protect us.
LAVANDERA: Uniformed officers are patrolling the subway stations. City officials also say there is a strong unseen force blending in with the crowds. But most people carry on as usual, listening to music, working a laptop, or just catching some extra sleep.
We've just reached the end of the line on the E train, which is at the World Trade Center subway stop in the heart of the downtown business district. It's 8:00 in the morning. And you'd expect to see a lot more people here during this rush hour. But right now, it's rather quiet.
While some subway stops seemed slow, the daily traffic kept buzzing along in places like Penn Station. Rolling through there is where we met Patrick Burke. The subway is the only affordable option for him to get to work, so no threat is going to change his daily routine.
PATRICK BURKE, SUBWAY PASSENGER: It can't bother me, because, if it bothers me, the terrorists win. So I can't let it bother me. I have to go to do my job every single day so I have to come into work. The only way to get to work is the subway.
LAVANDERA: Israel Williams and his son have finished another journey safely. But Williams says he never shakes the feeling that a terrorist attack could happen anytime. So as he says goodbye to his son, he's already wary about the subway ride back home.
WILLIAMS: God forbid, if there is a bomb, there's no way for us to even run, you know? So that's why we cherish every moment together. And I tell him we take one day at a time, because we cannot guarantee what the future holds for us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: And, of course, Israel Williams' uneasiness brought to light again this afternoon. As we mentioned at the top there, Wolf, authorities here in New York City looking into a suspicious bag. The one and three lines here in the city have been shut down temporarily while authorities continue to check out that scene.
And it kind of highlights what one of the things that Israel Williams said and several other people that we spoke with today also pointed out. They say, after these alerts come out, they are much more vigilant and are much quicker to point out things to authorities along the subway lines if they see something suspicious like a bag -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Ed Lavandera reporting for us. Ed, thank you very much.
Let's continue to pursue this story, what's happening in New York City. CNN's Tom Foreman is here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
You're looking at this whole subway network in New York.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the problem, Wolf, the problem is very simple. It comes down to three words: volume, volume, volume. The subway system is just so huge there. Not the biggest in the world. A lot of people think that. It's not. Mexico City, Seoul, Tokyo, and Russia, Moscow, are all bigger than the New York subway system, slightly bigger than London and Paris, however.
Let's fly in and take a look at what we're talking about here. If you move into Manhattan Island, and you look at how many people ride this, 4.5 million on an average weekday, 3.5 on an average weekend day.
Look at these lines here. This is where you're going if you're traveling the subways through New York City. Not just in this area, but I want you to look at the subway station that we also have to show you here. If you look at these -- well, I'm having a little trouble getting my subway stations up here -- but the subway stations give you an idea of how many of them there are in this area.
And there are a tremendous number of them that have to -- that are filled all along these lines in various ways. Now, if we pull this down a little bit, I'll show you that this subway system isn't just here, but it runs all out into the boroughs over here, into the Bronx and to different areas.
You can travel basically in a straight line, if you pick the right lines, 38 miles on the New York subway stations. There are more than 400 metro stations throughout that city.
So the problem is: How do you keep up with all of these people? You cannot move people in New York City without the subway system. Too many people, too small a space.
And security experts have told us for quite some time this is going to remain the single biggest chokehold in controlling terrorism in this country, these big, mass people-moving systems, because you can't do it like an airport. It takes way too long to get all of those people through all of those spaces.
BLITZER: Four and a half million a day, riders of that subway system.
FOREMAN: Four and a half million. And when you look at the amount of rail they have to look at here, look at this: If you took all of the rail that's laid out in this system and you moved it all the way across the country, what you would find is that you had enough rail to stretch from New York to Chicago.
That's how much rail line they have to look at, with these more than 400 stations. That's why what happened this past 24 hours is going to happen again, and it will happen again.
BLITZER: What a challenge. Thanks very much. Tom Foreman reporting for us.
How prepared might the New York City subway system be for a possible attack? Let's bring back our Internet reporter, Abbi Tatton. She's watching this for us -- Abbi?
ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Wolf, we want to look at closed circuit television cameras in New York City's subway system and compare them to London, where the scene of bombings this summer, terror attacks.
And we got used to seeing pictures like this released from the metropolitan police in London when they were trying to track the suspects of those terror attacks. London, in the tube network, in the Underground network there, has over 6,000 of these cameras tracking your every move.
You can see signs like this on the tube cars there in London, even on the buses, as well. Eighty-five percent of the buses in London also have these closed circuit television cameras.
Compare that to New York City. What they have currently, of their 468 stations, about 200 of them have closed circuit television cameras right now. What they're trying to do is install a new surveillance system. They have 1,000 smart cameras which are being installed and hope to have them by the end of next year.
But a very different system to London, where we saw pictures like this coming out this summer, where they do have 6,000 of those cameras -- Wolf?
BLITZER: All right. Abbi, thank you very much.
And to our viewers, please stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
Time now for "The Cafferty File." That means Jack Cafferty. He's in New York. He's joining us live -- Jack? JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, federal money that used to pay for Viagra could now be used to help Hurricane Katrina victims. The House of Representatives passed a bill yesterday that pays for hurricane relief with funds previously devoted to Medicare and Medicaid for sexual performance drugs.
The bill's sponsor, Congressman Nathan Deal of Georgia, says the government would save $690 million over five years doing this. So instead of paying for hanky panky, the money would then go to federal unemployment funds in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
So far, no bill banning federal payments for drugs such as Viagra has cleared Congress. The question is this: Should the government stop subsidizing Viagra in order to help the hurricane victims?
Duh! Caffertyfile@CNN.com.
(LAUGHTER)
I'm looking forward to reading the answers. I hope we get some we can actually put on the air.
BLITZER: Yes, that's a question. All right, Jack, thank you very much.
Up ahead, on a very, very serious note, there's been a letter, a supposed letter at least, from al Qaeda. The terror network's number- two man telling a tail of woe, citing money troubles and bad P.R. But is he already looking ahead to the next battle?
And the former FBI director, Louis Freeh, speaking freely about the former President Bill Clinton. We'll tell you what he has to say.
And how do you operate on a giraffe? The answer: very carefully. It took 28 people to get this giraffe prepared for surgery. And that was only just the beginning. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We're following a potentially very important story out of the Pentagon about a startling correspondence between members of al Qaeda. Our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre is over at the Pentagon. He's got details -- Jamie?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, U.S. officials are describing this captured letter as the clearest indication yet of the goals and objectives of the insurgents in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE (voice-over): Pentagon officials say shortly after the July 7th bombings in London, Osama bin Laden's number-two, Ayman al- Zawahiri, sent an urgent dispatch to the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. According to one U.S. official who requested anonymity, al-Zawahiri claims in the 6,000-word letter Iraq has become, quote, "the place for the greatest battle of Islam in this era."
President Bush seemed to be reading off the same page in his Thursday speech on fighting terrorism.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The terrorists regard Iraq as the central front in their war against humanity. And we must recognize Iraq as the central front in our war on terror.
MCINTYRE: But the Pentagon insisted the Zawahiri letter was disclosed only after some news organizations found out about it. Still, U.S. government officials touted it as providing fresh insights into al Qaeda's current problems and future strategy, including spreading the war in Iraq to neighboring countries.
In one of the few direct quotes provided by a U.S. official, Zawahiri writes, "The Mujahedeen must not have their mission end with the expulsion of the Americans from Iraq and lay down their weapons and silence the fighting zeal."
The letter also is said to reveal a dispute over tactics, with Zawahiri admonishing Zarqawi that beheading hostages and attacks on mosques may cause many Muslims to turn against the cause. But U.S. commanders aren't putting too much stock in that.
MAJ. GEN. STEPHEN JOHNSON, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Here you got ties arguing over something -- both of them are liars, and terrorists, and killers. And they're arguing over something like this. I don't think we can -- I don't know whether we can draw any conclusions about a rift between them.
MCINTYRE: Among other things, Zawahiri reportedly asked for money from his operative in Iraq, conceding al Qaeda's funding is drying up. He admits al Qaeda leadership is isolated because lines of communication are seriously disrupted and many of its key leaders have been lost. And officials say Zawahiri appears resigned to defeat in Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: Sources say the letter was found by U.S. forces in Iraq but Pentagon officials won't say how or when it was obtained. They do, however, insist that it's genuine. One Pentagon spokesman said he wouldn't have shared details from the letter if he didn't have a high degree of confidence in its authenticity -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre reporting. Thanks, Jamie, very much.
Coming up, no friend of Bill. That would be the former FBI director, Louis Freeh. He's sounding off on former President Bill Clinton.
And they found an extra spot on this giraffe and they had to operate. It's a first in the animal kingdom. And we'll have details. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: You're back in THE SITUATION ROOM. Welcome back.
Let's check in with CNN's Ali Velshi. He's following the story of this subway threat.
What are you picking up, Ali?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I've been following it this morning, but it just got personal. We're finding out that the -- as we reported, two of the lines that go from here on the west side have been shut down. The number one and number three subway lines have been shut down by the MTA after a suspicious -- a bag, an unattended bag described as suspicious, was found.
Now, if you can see behind me, it's pretty dark out here. It's raining. And it's Friday night. And up till now, there haven't been a great deal of disruptions.
The Penn Station was closed down for an investigation earlier in the day, but a closure at rush hour is a little more important. They're investigating what's going on. And we're going to find out what is being found -- what's been found in that bag. We're going to figure it out, and MTA will report back to us about what it is. And we will keep you posted on what's going on.
Obviously, as we reported earlier, because of the kind of day it's been, and because of these threats, the MTA and the police have been getting a lot more calls than normal. And as a result, these things are being investigated more closely than they typically would.
So we'll keep you on that, Wolf, and tell you what's going on.
BLITZER: All right, Ali, thank you...
VELSHI: Wolf, I'm just going to let you know, we're just getting in right now that service on those lines has been restored. I understand that means it's an all-clear right now on the one and three lines. It's back to normal, Wolf.
BLITZER: Does that mean you're going to be able to get home tonight?
VELSHI: I was getting ready to walk. I was actually going to offer if you wanted me to stay and work late, because there's really no point in me walking out in that rain. But now I'm going to home.
BLITZER: All right. Thanks, Ali. Have a great weekend.
Let's go straight to New Orleans right now. CNN's Lisa Sylvester standing by. The mayor has sort of made an announcement, I take it.
What did he say, Lisa?
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this city has had a problem ever since Hurricane Katrina hit. And that problem being they are running out of money. So Mayor Nagin just came out and announced his idea, a novel idea for how he wants to generate and bring in more revenue into the city. His idea is to create a casino and a gambling zone right in the heart of downtown New Orleans.
He said that hotels, any hotels in this area that have 500 rooms or more, could participate in this program. They would be able to convert and change over into a casino hotel. And he's talking about not just having slot machines, but having a substantial casinos, almost like a mini-Las Vegas.
Let's listen in to what the mayor had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAY NAGIN, MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS: I'm proposing expanding and creating this zone, which will start from Claiborne Avenue and run along Canal Street. So it would go along Canal Street. It would loop around Harrah's Casino and go to Poydras Avenue, and then Poydras Avenue to Claiborne again.
So it would be a u-shaped casino conversion and gaming zone. And in that zone, hotels that have 500 rooms or more would be allowed to convert into a full-fledged casino.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SYLVESTER: And what he said also is that these casinos, these casino hotels, would have to commit to paying their workers a minimum of $8 to $10 an hour. Obviously, what he's trying to do is generate jobs and to bring much-needed revenue into this city.
Since Katrina hit, the city has lost about $13 million a month in sales tax, so you can see it's taking a pretty big hit there -- Wolf?
BLITZER: I suspect there's going to be some controversy surrounding that proposal from the mayor. Lisa, thank you very much.
And speaking about generating jobs for hurricane evacuees who've recently lost their jobs to Katrina or Rita, there are some valuable Internet job resources that can help them find work once again. Our Internet reporter, Jacki Schechner, has been tracking that. She's joining us live -- Jacki?
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: That's absolutely true, Wolf.
We heard that Department of Labor announcement earlier, that there were 35,000 jobs lost in September. And that due, in part, to Hurricane Katrina. So we spent the day digging, looking at all of the online resources that were available for people who had lost their jobs due to Hurricane Katrina.
Now, Monster.com has a separate section -- if you click, it's the bottom right-hand corner of their side. This was actually the easiest to find and navigate for us. If you click on that, it takes you to a separate site. This has more than 2,600 job opportunities available.
These are companies that reached out to Monster. We spoke to them. They said these companies said, "We want to help." So they're posting specific jobs where they're going to give preference to people who were affected by the hurricane.
Another site is CareerBuilder. They set up a separate site called Katrina.jobs. Now, there was a link to this site on their web site earlier in the day. We went back. It was tough to find that link the second time around.
These jobs are not necessarily different than the jobs that are already at CareerBuilder. But if you apply through this site, it will tag your resume and it will tell them that you are actually a Katrina survivor.
On all of these sites, by the way, they're going to double check. They're going to combat fraud. So please be careful. Don't try to pull one over on them. They're very, very aware that that's a possibility.
At Craigslist -- this is a community site online -- they've had a section up since Hurricane Katrina that was specifically for resources. They do have employment offers in specific cities like New Orleans.
Another thing that they did was add new cities. You could see those in red, Mobile, Baton Rouge, Montgomery, cities where there are now job opportunities. This is a smaller community site. We've heard some success stories through this.
And finally, we did talk to Hotjobs.com, Wolf. They do have a site, but it is much harder to find. You've got to click through the Yahoo! search engine, put in the word "Katrina." That will bring up a job finder.
And I just wanted to tell you real quickly, a spokesperson from Monster.com told us that all of these major search engines are actually working with the Department of Labor to come together and put a clearance house online so all of these opportunities will be in one place for people to find. They're going to tell us when that becomes available, and we'll then let you know.
BLITZER: Well, that's all useful information, Jacki. Thank you very much, Jacki Schechner, our Internet reporter.
Coming up, Bill Clinton nominated him. Now the former FBI Director Louis Freeh speaking his mind in a brand new book. And he's painting a very unflattering picture of the former president, to put it mildly.
Plus, bird flu spreading. The virus now confirmed in a new region. This is very disturbing. We'll show you what's going on. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Here's a look at some of the "Hot Shots" coming in from our friends at the Associated Press, pictures likely to be in your hometown newspapers tomorrow. In Vienna, Austria, the Nobel Peace Prize, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei on his way to a news conference after winning the prestigious award. Congratulations to you.
In Iraq, children look out at the wreckage of a car bomb in Samarra. The 6-year-old girl and three members of her family were wounded in the attack.
San Francisco, and a Golden Gate flyover, the Blue Angels jet by the famous bridge in a practice run. They're getting ready for two air shows this weekend, all part of the city's Fleet Week, as it's called.
And a look at this. Take a look at this, a common pest like you've never seen it before, it's a house fly, close up. It's also the winner of the small world picture contest, which recognizes excellence in photography through the microscope. Didn't know there was such a contest. But that's today's "Hot Shots." Thanks to the AP for those pictures.
For the first time the former FBI director, Louis Freeh, is releasing details of what he portrays as a very troubled relationship with the man who nominated him, President Bill Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, 42ND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today I am pleased to nominate a law enforcement legend.
BLITZER (voice-over): Despite the mutual praise when his nomination was announced in 1993, Louis Freeh makes clear in his new book he's no fan of Bill Clinton. The book is entitled "My FBI: Bringing Down the Mafia, Investigating Bill Clinton and Fighting the War on Terror."
According to CBS's "60 MINUTES," which obtained and advance copy, Freeh portrays the former president as a moral delinquent and as a thorn in the side of the FBI, saying the multiple scandals that plagued the Clinton White House preoccupied his agency.
Freeh writes: "The problem was with Bill Clinton -- the scandals and the rumored scandals, the incubating ones and the dying ones never ended. Whatever moral compass the president was consulting was leading him in the wrong direction. His closets were full of skeletons just waiting to burst out."
His greatest scandal, the Monica Lewinsky case which ultimately led to his impeachment in the House, the Senate acquitted him. In a "60 MINUTES" interview with Mike Wallace to air this Sunday, Freeh recalls the night an FBI team was sent to the White House to get a DNA sample from Mr. Clinton to see if it matched a stain on Lewinsky's dress. MIKE WALLACE, CBS ANCHOR, "60 MINUTES": Well, the president obviously didn't want anyone around him knowing that the FBI was going to be taking his blood for his DNA. How did you get it?
LOUIS FREEH, FMR. DIRECTOR, FBI: Well, we went over to the White House. We did it very carefully, very confidentially.
WALLACE: He was at a dinner.
FREEH: Yes.
WALLACE: A scheduled dinner, pretended he had to go to the bathroom.
FREEH: Yes, and that's where it was done.
BLITZER: But Freeh saved some of his harshest criticism of Clinton for his handling of the bombing of the Khobar Towers, that 1996 attack on a U.S. military complex in Saudi Arabia killed 19 servicemen and injured more than 400 people. Freeh claims Clinton refused to ask the Saudi crown prince to let the FBI question suspects in Saudi custody and instead hit him up for a donation for the Clinton Library.
We contacted Clinton's spokesman who told us, quote: "Freeh was not even in the meetings he describes and thus is totally wrong with his baseless allegations. President Clinton repeatedly pressed the Saudis for cooperation on the Khobar Towers investigation which led to the eventual indictments."
And Clinton's spokesman adds this about the book: "This is a total work of fiction written by a man who is desperate to sell books and it's unfortunate that he would stoop to his level in his attempt to rewrite history and clear his name."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And sources close to the former president portray Freeh as a partisan, pointing out he's given almost $20,000 to Republican candidates over the last two years. Freeh's book, by the way, is out in the coming days.
There's been a development in the Tom DeLay indictment story. Let's get details from our congressional correspondent Joe Johns.
What are you picking up, Joe?
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this battle, this bitter battle between Travis County prosecutor Ronnie Earle and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who's now under indictment, has just gotten a little bit uglier this evening. In fact, just a little while ago we received a copy of what is a motion by Tom DeLay's lawyers to essentially dismiss the indictment against him on the grounds of prosecutorial misconduct.
It alleges, among other things, that Ronnie Earle and his staff unlawfully participated in grand jury deliberations and tried to browbeat and coerce one grand jury, that they unlawfully attempted to cover up and delay public disclosure of a no bill, that's basically evidence that an indictment was not returned in one case; unlawfully incited the foreman of a grand jury to violate the grand jury secrecy law, on and on it goes.
So we've got calls into lawyers about this latest development but it does seem clear at least at this stage that these matters will not be heard until around October 21st. That is the scheduled arraignment, if you will, of Tom DeLay. Back to you, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, it's getting very bitter and very personal between these two men. Thanks, Joe, very much.
Lou Dobbs is getting ready for his program that begins right at the top of the hour. Lou, what are you working on?
LOU DOBBS, HOST, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT": Wolf, thank you very much. 6:00 p.m. Eastern tonight here on CNN, a day after the president's so- called major speech on terrorism, a number of American cities today respond to local terrorist threats. And the Homeland Security Department and New York City at odds over the proper way to respond.
And we'll be reporting tonight on what has been a deadly day for our troops in Iraq. Six Americans have been killed as insurgents intensify their attacks on U.S. Marines.
Also tonight, as world authorities decry our lack of preparation for a possible bird flu pandemic, it turns out the United States is absolutely dependent upon foreign companies to develop a vaccine.
And four years after September 11th, the federal government has failed to prepare for a biological, chemical or nuclear attack against this country. We'll have that special report and a great deal more. Please join us.
Now back to you, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Lou, we're looking forward to it. Thanks very much.
Still to come, the bird flu spreading. We'll show you where the deadly virus has now turned up.
Plus, the first known case of its kind, a giraffe afflicted with a very serious disease, commonly seen in humans. We'll be right back.
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BLITZER: Today in Washington, President Bush met with the pharmaceutical industry to try to urge work on a bird flu vaccine. Nearby, members of his administration were at a conference on bird flu. Our State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel has been monitoring the international response to bird flu and filed this report.
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ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is how the virus spreads, from infected birds like chickens and ducks, to humans, usually poor farmers, whose livelihood depends on them.
It's not a crisis, at least not yet, but since December, 2003, the avian influenza has turned up in at least 10 Asian countries, infecting more than 100 people, killing at least 60 of them. Now, almost two years after the virus first appeared in Southeast Asia, the Bush administration is mobilizing an urgent global call to action.
MIKE LEAVITT, HHS SECRETARY: The world is obviously unprepared or inadequately prepared for the potential of a pandemic.
KOPPEL: To jumpstart such preparations, the State Department hosted officials from over 80 countries. The goal? To persuade governments, even those not on the front lines in Asia, to focus on planning for a possible pandemic.
Some forecast that tens of millions could die, and economies around the world would suffer. The U.S. hopes to convince those unaccustomed to sharing information it's in their best interests to do so.
MIKE JOHANNS, AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: As a global community, if we fail to act decisively, the repercussions will be significant, really at all levels, and in every country.
KOPPEL: Among the many challenges, to manufacture a vaccine to keep the virus from spreading, and to expand the stockpile of anti- viral medications like Tamiflu. President Bush summoned the heads of half a dozen U.S. pharmaceutical companies to the White House to encourage them to do just that.
But ultimately, experts say, the best way to protect Americans is to contain the virus before it spreads.
DAVID NABARRO, UNITED NATIONS: You can't simply put a wall around the United States of America and keep the virus out. It won't be like that. Instead, keeping America safe means addressing the bird flu epidemic in Asia.
KOPPEL (on camera): And that is just what the head of the Department of Health and Human Services and other senior officials from here at the State Department plan to do, when they head out to Asia this weekend.
Andrea Koppel, CNN, at the State Department.
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BLITZER: Betty Nguyen is joining us now from the CNN Center in Atlanta with a closer look at some other stories making news.
Hi, Betty. BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Wolf. A Romanian village situated on a Danube River delta is sealed off at this hour after avian influenza was discovered in three ducks there. Hunting and fishing also have been banned in eight counties in the region. Romania's agriculture minister says the ducks, which were farm-raised, contracted the virus from birds migrating from Russia. Thirty people live in that village. So far though, there are no reports of anyone falling ill.
The deaths today of six U.S. Marines punctuate the continuing rise in the attacks in Iraq, they were killed in two roadside bombings in the Anbar province. Statistics show that there were about 2,500 such attacks in September. Now that is up from about 1,500 in March. The death toll for American troops so far in Iraq is now 1,959.
Officials with the International Atomic Energy Agency say they are thrilled that the agency was named for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Its director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, was also tapped to share the prize with the IAEA. An IAEA spokeswoman says the prestigious award will strengthen the agency's cause. The Nobel committee praised the watchdog group and ElBaradei for fighting to demilitarize nuclear energy and pressing for its peaceful use.
And international relief efforts are mobilizing in the wake of landslides and floods that have killed more than 200 people in Central America and Mexico. The region was just devastated when Hurricane Stan slammed into a stretch from southeastern Mexico to Colombia in the recent days. Tens of thousands of people are displaced and damage is estimated in the millions of dollars -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Betty, thank you very much. Betty Nguyen reporting for us.
Up next, it's why we send them to Washington, a congressman proposing a novel way of paying for the Katrina recovery effort. Shift money away from Medicaid and Medicare coverage of sexual dysfunction drugs? Is that why we send them to Washington? Should the federal government stop subsidizing Viagra to help the hurricane victims? Jack Cafferty has been going through your e-mail, he'll tell us what you think.
And it's a common and curable cancer, except when it's found in a giraffe. We'll tell you what's going on. Stay with us.
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BLITZER: From afar it inspires awestruck amazement. But up close it's one of the deadliest weather phenomena in the air. We're talking about lightning. Each year in the United States it kills an average of 67 people. Now in Florida another tragic case.
Here's CNN's John Zarrella.
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JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Paramedics tried desperately to bring him back. They couldn't. 15-year-old Shaffner Noel, a high school football player, died probably never knowing what hit him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll tell you, that lightning just came out of no where, just out of nowhere, and these kids were being led off the field and they just didn't make it.
ZARRELLA: Witnesses say the junior varsity game was suspended just as soon as the nasty afternoon thunderstorm let out its first rumble, as it rolled into Coconut Creek in Broward County, Florida.
JUDY BANKS, COCONUT CREEK POLICE: The minute they heard the clap of thunder they called the game. And that was just prior to the first lightning bolt.
ZARRELLA: When it struck, the surge of electricity knocked dozens of fans and players to the ground. A second football player and a cheerleader were also rushed to the hospital. Her best friend, shaken.
KAYLA MCDONALD, CHEERLEADER: I didn't even know it was her. She was like convulging (sic), I guess. And it was -- we didn't even know it was her.
HOLLY MCDONALD, PARENT: There was a coach down, a ref down, three players, two cheerleaders, I mean, people just laying all over the field.
ZARRELLA: That a deadly lightning strike happened in Florida is no surprise. The state is considered the lightning capital of the United States. Nationwide there are about 20 million lightning strikes a year. More than 1 million of those hit in Florida, ironically also known as the Sunshine State.
More people, 126, between 1990 and 2003, died in Florida from lightning strikes than in any other state. And some areas of the state are hit by lightning storms more than 100 days a year. But still, when it happens, with deadly consequences, it's hard to believe.
CRAIG WOHLITKA, FOOTBALL PLAYER: When you play football, you think of neck, leg break and something. You don't think of a lightning strike. That's the last thing you're thinking of.
ZARRELLA: Lightning strikes every month of the year in Florida, but by October, the most volatile period is usually over. Tragically, not this year.
John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.
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BLITZER: From Miami, let's head back to New York. Jack Cafferty has been going through your e-mail -- Jack.
CAFFERTY: Well, Wolf, the House of Representatives passed a bill yesterday that pays for hurricane relief with funds previously devoted to Medicare and Medicaid for sexual performance drugs like Viagra. The question this hour is, should the government stop subsidizing Viagra in order to help the hurricane victims?
Some of this stuff is priceless. I wish we could read it all to you but it's a family program. Alan in Burlington, Kansas: "The budget deficit will be over $300 billion this year, is Viagra really a big cause of this? Surely there are bigger issues in the national budget. Pay for, don't pay for it, who cares? Build a bridge to nowhere using the little blue pills, what's the difference?"
Lindsay in New York writes: "Does anyone else think it's outrageous that E.D., erectile dysfunction drugs are being subsidized by a government run largely by aging heterosexual men? I can't get affordable prescription birth control, even with health insurance."
Andy in Charleston, South Carolina: "You said it, Jack, duh. Of course the funds should be diverted. If someone needs sexual enhancement, they should pay for it. It's not life or death, in Louisiana it is.
Janet in Raleigh, North Carolina: "The drug industry will object to the cut in funds for Viagra. It is only due to the lobbyists for the drug industry that Viagra was ever covered by Medicare and Medicaid.
Yancey in Culloden, West Virginia, writes: "I get my Viagra from the Veteran's Hospital, but they only give me two a month. The 15th and the 30th are important dates on the may calendar, but I guess I could give up one pill a month for Katrina.
And finally this last one: "'No, this is a terrible idea.' Signed, Bob Dole."
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BLITZER: That one I know you're joking.
CAFFERTY: Yes, well, somebody wrote that in. It probably wasn't Bob Dole.
BLITZER: All right. Jack, have a great weekend.
CAFFERTY: You, too.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Jack Cafferty.
Up next, it wasn't easy to spot, a case of skin cancer on a giraffe. So how did doctors do it and what did they do? We'll tell you about this rare story. That's coming up next.
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BLITZER: In humans, skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States and one of the easiest to cure. But it's not so easy in animals. A new closely-watched case is being called the very first diagnosis in one animal known for spots.
Our Brian Todd has more.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jafari (ph) acts a lot like you might after major surgery, stable and coherent one minute, nearly catatonic the next. What it got him here it also decidedly human. Jafari has been stricken with basal cell carcinoma, skin cancer.
SUZAN MURRAY, VETERINARIAN: In humans, this cancer is one of the more common skin cancers, it's not reported in giraffes. As far as we know, this is the very first report of it of basal cell carcinoma in a giraffe and therefore the first report of anesthesia and a surgery to remove such a tumor.
TODD: Officials at the National Zoo noticed a grapefruit sized lump behind Jafari's left ear back in August. Two fluid taps and a biopsy later, they knew they had to go in, that's when the real anxiety started.
(on camera): Surgery on a Giraffe is so tricky that they need this huge compartment just to get it started, it's called the giraffe restraining device. They lure the animal in with food, then they start to close the walls behind it and close in these padded walls just to stabilize the animal so that they can give it anesthesia.
(voice-over): It took 28 people to get this 1,300-pound, nearly 3-year-old giraffe in position. They used a padded ladder for support and had to keep massaging his neck to prevent cramping and blockage. The surgery took 45 minutes, then Jafari stabilized but he has still got a fight on his hands.
MURRAY: His prognosis is poor to guarded. The things he has got going against him is that we could not get all of the tumor. We got about 90 percent of it and some of it was invading the bone. We were able to tell that, so we were able to take very quick X-rays while he was down, so that's not so good.
TODD: The positive signs, according to zoo officials: this is an otherwise healthy, young animal whose well-trained if he needs more medication.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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BLITZER: And we'll keep you updated on Jafari here in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're here every weekday afternoon from 3 to 6 p.m. Eastern.
Please join me again this Sunday when "LATE EDITION" begins at our new time, 11 a.m. Eastern. We'll be on every Sunday from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Among my guests this Sunday, the New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. Until then, thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now. Lou is standing by in New York -- Lou.
DOBBS: Thanks, Wolf.
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