Return to Transcripts main page
The Situation Room
President Bush Taps Alito For Supreme Court; Lewis "Scooter" Libby Arraigned Today On Five Counts; Iraq Continues Violent Trend
Aired October 31, 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 are arriving at one place at the same time.
Happening now, 5:00 p.m. over at the White House, reeling from the indictment of a top official. The tension evident at today's briefing. We'll show you what happened.
Across the capital and the country, reaction pouring in to the president's nominee to be the next Supreme Court justice. We're hearing from all sides. This hour, the chairman of the Democratic Party, Howard Dean, he'll join us here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
And it's 5:00 p.m. in Ottawa, where Canadian health officials are reporting avian flu now found in their country. But is it the potentially deadly strain spreading fear around the world?
I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Reeling from the indictment of a top official and the failure of its last Supreme Court nominee, the White House was hoping for a bit of relief today with announcement of a new pick for the high court. And the spotlight did shift for awhile, but it quickly came back into focus on the CIA leak probe.
As we learned, the vice president's former chief of staff will be arraigned later this week here in Washington. And the scandal was a major topic in today's sometimes very strained White House press briefing.
Our national security correspondent, David Ensor, is joining us now live with details -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, at the first hearing later this week, we understand that Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the vice president's chief of staff, will make a plea, and the plea will be not guilty.
No sound. I'm not hearing a thing. It suddenly went dead on me.
BLITZER: David, unfortunately, I think we've lost some of the technical problems. We're going to work on that, David, get to that story. Stand by for a moment.
The other major story, though, coming out of Washington today, the story involving President Bush's decision to nominate federal Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Let's bring in Suzanne Malveaux, our White House correspondent, with details of that -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Republican and White House insiders say this is really the battle that they were hoping for six weeks ago. One Republican insider describing it this way. He said that the thinking at the White House before was the lady down the hall is better than the lady down the street because she's closer. But he says that only holds true if you're in a grocery store, certainly not for a Supreme Court nomination.
And today, many people say they believe the president made the right strategic move.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice over): He was the runner-up turned frontrunner...
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm pleased to announce my nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. as associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
MALVEAUX: ... the man some are calling the anti-Miers, a judge who had been on the short list since Mr. Bush first took office five years ago, who quickly emerged as an early favorite after Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced she'd be stepping down, taking a backseat to John Roberts and then Harriet Miers.
BUSH: I've known Harriet for more than a decade. I know her heart, I know her character.
MALVEAUX: While conservatives roundly rejected Miers for being an unqualified Bush crony with a scant judicial record, President Bush made a point to emphasize that Alito had the judicial philosophy and qualifications the conservatives were looking for.
BUSH: Judge Alito has served with distinction on that court for 15 years. And now has more prior judicial experience than any Supreme Court nominee in more than 70 years.
MALVEAUX: Friday afternoon, the president talked to Alito about the job before leaving for Camp David with Miers. White House insiders say the Alito nomination is the president's chance for a do- over, to give Republicans just the kind of red meat they've been looking for to bring back the base, reunite the party and save the president from becoming a lame duck.
BAY BUCHANAN, THE AMERICAN CAUSE: It's terrific news. And there's real energy in our base again. We're coming home, Mr. President.
MALVEAUX: The president is now preparing to battle the Democrats and the potential for a filibuster. BUSH: And I urge the Senate to act promptly on this important nomination so that an up-or-down vote is held before the end of this year.
MALVEAUX: But political observers say the president has been substantially weakened by the ongoing violence in Iraq, the slow response to Hurricane Katrina, and the recent indictment of one of his top aides. They say pushing his nominee and his legislative agenda will be challenging if he alienates moderates.
LANNY DAVIS, FMR. WHITE HOUSE SPECIAL COUNSEL: I think his political capital will be narrow and weak unless he seeks to reach out to the great center of this country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: And Wolf, of course part of that reaching out is pivoting from the CIA leak investigation and other troubles to his agenda. Looking forward tomorrow, the president, will outline his national plan in dealing with a possible pandemic of bird flu -- Wolf.
BLITZER: That bird flu threat very, very worrisome. We'll look forward to the president's remarks on that. Thank you very much.
Suzanne Malveaux reporting from the White House.
Now more on that CIA leak and the fallout today on what's going on. More now from CNN's David Ensor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR (voice over): On Thursday morning at the U.S. District Court, the vice president's former chief of staff will make his first appearance to hear the charges against him. Lawyers for Lewis "Scooter" Libby may have their work cut out for them. That was underscored by one of the likely prosecution witnesses, Matthew Cooper of "TIME" magazine.
CNN's Soledad O'Brien asked him about Libby's version of events as described in the indictment.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Does that jive with what you recall about that conversation?
MATTHEW COOPER, "TIME" MAGAZINE: No, it doesn't.
RANDALL ELIASON, FMR. PROSECUTOR: This is not a sort of he said- she said, my word against yours case. This is a he said-they said. They've got a large number of people, according to the indictment, who are going to testify, contrary to what Mr. Libby is going to say.
ENSOR: At the White House, the spokesman answered questions this way...
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Under our legal system there is a presumption of innocence. We need to let that legal process continue. If people want to try and politicize this process, that's their business.
ENSOR: At the National press Club, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, a strident critic of the Iraq war and the husband of Valerie Wilson, the CIA officer allegedly unmasked by White House officials, said that since then his family has been threatened.
JOE WILSON, VALERIE PLAME'S HUSBAND: There have been threats. We've coordinated our security with the appropriate authorities, law enforcement authorities. We've enhanced our security posture and we have changed our phone number so we don't get some of these telephone threats.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: If the trial goes ahead, the prosecution plans to call a succession of reluctant reporters and administration officials to try to show that Mr. Libby made false statements about what happened. Even the vice president could be called. Libby's friends are saying, "He's innocent and we'll fight." Others are predicting a plea bargain -- Wolf.
BLITZER: David Ensor, reporting for us.
Thank you, David, very much.
Other important news. Iraq, specifically, where six more U.S. soldiers died today in roadside bombings, pushing the military's October death toll past 90.
Our Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre is joining us now with more on what's going on -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: And Wolf, those six deaths in two separate attacks, as you said, pushes the death toll over 90 and makes October the fourth deadliest month for the U.S. military since it's been in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE (voice over): Increasingly sophisticated roadside bombs and suicide attacks are taking American lives in Iraq at the fasted rate in nine months. Six U.S. soldiers killed on the last day of the month, and one Marine who died over the weekend, have pushed the U.S. death toll in Iraq to 92 for October, the highest count since January's 107 U.S. deaths and the fourth highest monthly loss of American life since the initial invasion in March of 2003.
Still, U.S. commanders insist the insurgents are losing support by killing so many fellow Muslims.
MAJ. GEN. JOSEPH TALUTO, COMMANDER, 42ND INFANTRY DIVISION: I think we're getting further division between al Qaeda and Iraq and the Iraq -- and the Iraqi rejectionists or Saddamists. I don't think al Qaeda in Iraq's message is resonating very well, and I think we're seeing, at least in north central, we're not seeing as much of their influence in there. MCINTYRE: Improvised bombs and suicide attacks remain the number one killer. This video purportedly taken at an Iraqi checkpoint about 10 days ago was posted on an Internet Web site. It shows just how impossible it is to stop a suicide bomber willing to blow himself up along with U.S. or Iraqi troops.
VICTOR O'REILLY, DEFENSE CONSULTANT: They cannot attack us head on and inflict serious damage. They know that. And so they're bright enough to realize that the alternative strategy is just to nibble away at us, pinpricks, death of a thousand cuts, if you will.
MCINTYRE: U.S. and Iraqi troops continue to step up counterinsurgency operations in Al Anbar province, the area west of Baghdad that did not approve the new Iraqi constitution and which has seen the most violence. For example, since its arrival in the Persian Gulf earlier this month, the U.S. aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt has flown some 250 sorties. Many to conduct air strikes along the Syrian border, where it's believed foreign fighters continue to infiltrate into Iraq and operate from so-called safe houses.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: And this additional note about the deadly death toll in October. One of those killed last week turns out now to have been the highest military -- highest ranking military officer killed so for in the Iraq war. Colonel Todd Wood, commanding his men near the site of a roadside bomb, when a secondary roadside bomb went off and killed him.
He was a lieutenant colonel but had been selected for promotion to colonel, making him the highest ranking officer to die from hostile in Iraq since the U.S. went in, in March of 2003.
BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre. Thank you very much for that report.
Let's go up to New York once again. Jack Cafferty standing by with more -- Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Tough stuff. Thanks, Wolf.
It's been a rough couple of weeks for the Bush White House, an indictment, the continuing investigation into the CIA leak, the war that Jamie was just talking about, the failed Harriet Miers nomination, the arrest of Tom DeLay, the federal investigation into Bill Frist's stock dealings. Now there's a poll out that shows 55 percent of Americans say Mr. Bush's presidency is a failure. Just 42 percent say it's been a success.
What's interesting is, if you compare this poll to one taken about Bill Clinton's presidency one month after the House impeached him, at that time 25 percent of Americans said that Clinton's presidency was a failure, 71 percent said it was a success.
Here is the question for this hour. What does President Bush have to do to make his second term successful?
CaffertyFile@CNN.com. We'll read some of your letters in a half- hour or so.
There's a rumor, Wolf, that three hours is not enough for THE SITUATION ROOM. We are going to be back for a primetime appearance later. Is that true?
BLITZER: 7:00 to 8:00. You also, Jack, you can't go home at 6:00. You have to stick around until 8:00.
CAFFERTY: Oh, I wouldn't miss it for the world.
BLITZER: And not only today, Jack, all of this week.
CAFFERTY: I'm really excited about it.
BLITZER: You look so excited. All right. Jack Cafferty. Thanks very much. Glad you rested up last week, because we're working hard this week.
Up ahead, reaction to the president's pick for the Supreme Court. We've heard from Republicans. Now the Democratic Party chairman, Howard Dean, standing by. He's here in THE SITUATION ROOM to weigh in.
Also, bird flu now reported in Canada. But which strain is it? And should Americans be concerned about the virus closing in?
Plus, it marred the end of Dan Rather's career. Now the producer at the center of it talks about the scandal that cost her job.
You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We've been getting reaction from all sides to the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. Earlier here in THE SITUATION ROOM, we heard from Ken Mehlman. He is the Republican Party chairman. Now it's the Democrats turn.
Howard Dean is joining us here in THE SITUATION ROOM. He's the chairman of the DNC.
Governor, thanks very much.
HOWARD DEAN, DNC CHAIRMAN: Thanks for having me on, Wolf.
BLITZER: Welcome back.
Samuel Alito, is this worthy of a filibuster, if necessary, to defeat him?
DEAN: I think it's too soon to tell. Obviously we're very disappointed. We think the president looks weak, he's letting the right wing run the White House. Mr. Alito, Judge Alito appears to be well outside the mainstream in some of his decisions.
BLITZER: He was unanimously confirmed in 1990, when the first President Bush nominated him to the court of appeals.
DEAN: Yes. There's been some troubling decisions since that time.
He has upheld all white juries trying African-American defendants. Upheld a strip search of a woman and her 10-year-old daughter who happened to be in a house where there was a warrant given.
There's some -- had some controversial cases that made it harder for people with disabilities to avoid discrimination. So there's some troubling decisions that he has made. We need to spend some more time look into that. But it does appear that he may be outside the mainstream of American judicial tradition.
And it does also appear that the president is so weak now that he's putting up people to appease his hard right, because he has simply not been truthful to the American people about firing Karl Rove and a number of other things.
BLITZER: But as far as his qualifications are concerned, Yale Law School, Princeton, 15 years on the court of appeals, a former U.S. attorney in New Jersey, in terms of the basic qualifications, he's got it.
DEAN: Well, in terms of the basic qualifications, Harriet Miers also was qualified.
BLITZER: Well, she had no judicial experience.
DEAN: That's not necessary. There are people on the Supreme Court without judicial experience.
BLITZER: One of the criticisms against her was she really didn't have that kind of...
DEAN: No, the criticism against her was, one, she was a woman, and two, that she was not suitable for the right wing in this country. Now we apparently have a nominee who is suitable for the right wing. And of course that gives us in the mainstream a great deal of concern.
BLITZER: I don't remember people criticizing her because she was a woman.
DEAN: The -- there was a lot of implication that somehow she wasn't suitable. A man who had gone to SMU and was the president's legal counsel I think would have fared far differently.
BLITZER: But did anybody actually say that? In all the criticism from conservative pundits and others, I never heard anyone say, because she's a woman, she wasn't qualified.
DEAN: They don't say things like that, just as Judge Alito didn't say, it's perfectly all right to discriminate. The issue is, if you uphold, for example, an all-white jury, impaneled because the prosecutor systematically excludes black people from the jury, that somehow that's not discrimination, you know, you don't have to be bluntly discriminatory to be discriminatory.
BLITZER: Let's talk a little bit about the Patrick Fitzgerald indictment on Friday of Scooter Libby. Among other things, he said this -- I want you to hear what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICK FITZGERALD, SPECIAL COUNSEL: This indictment is not about the war. And I think anyone who's concerned about the war and has feelings for or against shouldn't look to this criminal process for any answers or resolution of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: The day before the indictment, you said all of this is is really about the war.
DEAN: Well, of course it wouldn't have happened had it not been for the war. And it wouldn't have happened if the president hadn't misled the country. Now the president has misled us twice.
First, he didn't tell the truth when we got into the Iraq war, and that's why Ambassador Wilson posed a threat, because Ambassador Wilson was talking about, in fact, the very evidence that the president had used, which was false. Then this was all aimed at discrediting Ambassador Wilson.
And now the president, who two years ago said he'd fire anybody who leaked, is refusing to fire Karl Rove. Karl Rove was exposed in the indictment as "Official A" who had in fact passed the name of the CIA agent on to columnists.
BLITZER: But Patrick Fitzgerald did not accuse him of committing any crime. And as far as leaking is concerned, he didn't accuse Scooter Libby or anyone else at the White House of committing a crime.
DEAN: In the indictment it talks about "Official A," who did in fact leak the information.
BLITZER: But he didn't say that was a crime.
DEAN: He didn't get indicted for it. But that's not what the president said. The president said anybody who leaks should be fired. I would like to see the president keep his word.
BLITZER: But I think what the president also said was anybody who committed a crime should be fired.
DEAN: That's what he said after it looked like Karl Rove leaked it, after Karl Rove lied to Scott McClellan.
BLITZER: So what do you want? What do you want, Karl Rove to be fired?
DEAN: Karl Rove has a security clearance. He not only shouldn't have a security clearance, he shouldn't be working for the Untied States of America on taxpayers' money.
BLITZER: But these are decisions the president of the United States should be making.
DEAN: Yes, and I think he ought to fire Karl Rove. Karl Rove lied to the American -- or concocted a lie to the American people. He lied -- evidently either lied to the press secretary, or the press secretary is a liar. And I don't think the press secretary is a liar.
And the president told -- lied to us once again when he told us he would fire anybody who leaked. He has not done so. I call upon him to do so.
BLITZER: But you trust Patrick Fitzgerald, the special counsel.
DEAN: I do.
BLITZER: You think he's doing a good job.
DEAN: I do.
BLITZER: And if he comes up and says, you know what? The only crime I saw was the crime of perjury, obstruction of justice, the false statements that Scooter Libby is alleged to have made, that will satisfy you?
DEAN: It will not satisfy me to have a president who says one thing and does another. And this president is in the habit of doing that again and again and again. As every day that goes on, it looks like we can't believe the president of the United States.
BLITZER: But you think that Patrick Fitzgerald, you can rely -- you can go to the bank on what he's doing?
DEAN: Patrick Fitzgerald is not a political person. He's simply looking at the law. What I'm looking at is ethics.
We have -- we have an indictment of the chief procurement officer, an indictment of Tom DeLay, an investigation of Bill Frist, an indictment of Karl Rove -- excuse me, of Scooter Libby. Karl Rove has been identified as the leaker.
This is a corruption -- a culture of corruption that's been brought to Washington by these Republicans. We need a fundamental change, Wolf, a fundamental change in Washington.
BLITZER: Did you see Lanny Davis' article in Saturday's...
DEAN: Yes.
BLITZER: ... "New York Times?" The former Clinton White House special counsel, among other things, he wrote this -- and he was referring to you. "Even before yesterday's indictments," he wrote, "Howard Dean and the Democratic National Committee were accusing the Republicans of being responsible for a culture of corruption." "In the end," Lanny Davis writes, "using an isolated scandal to tie up an entire administration only hurts the nation and tends to come back to haunt the scandal-mongering party."
DEAN: I think Lanny Davis is a delightful person and very bright, but he's absolutely wrong. This is not a single scandal.
We went to war when the president of the United States misled the nation. This is a little different than a sex problem.
BLITZER: But, you know, you're -- basically what I hear you saying is the culture of corruption is there, even if no one is accused of directly -- of corruption.
DEAN: But they are. Jack Abramoff.
BLITZER: Well, that's...
DEAN: That's a criminal...
BLITZER: In the White House.
DEAN: In the White House the chief procurement officer is indicted from the White House.
BLITZER: That's David Savabian (ph).
DEAN: Yes.
BLITZER: He was with the General Accounting Office.
DEAN: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
DEAN: Look, this corruption, the Abramoff scandal, the DeLay, the insider trading that Frist is accused of, the leaking of the -- of the secrets -- or the perjury by Libby -- in Ohio, even the governor was found guilty of a misdemeanor. In California, the governor vetoes a bill and then finds out -- we find out that he's under a retainer from bodybuilding magazines.
This is a culture of corruption which appears to be spreading throughout the Republican Party.
BLITZER: If you could speak directly to the vice president, Dick Cheney, what would you tell him?
DEAN: Probably not much. I doubt I could speak directly to him.
I mean, I'm very disappointed. This is not what's good for America. And, you know, I understand the vice president appointed today two new people to fill the role that Scooter Libby filled, both of whom had prior knowledge of what was going on.
They are both named in the indictment. Not as a -- they weren't indicted, but they're both named in the indictment. They're a part of this piece.
They need to clean house over there. I think if the president is going to save his presidency he needs to clean house.
BLITZER: So you want him to, what, address the nation and do what?
DEAN: I think he ought to do what Ronald Reagan did when he got in trouble and just clean house. Get rid of all the folks that are causing the trouble, start all over again, and be truthful for the last three years.
BLITZER: Including the vice president?
DEAN: Well, that's up to him.
BLITZER: But is that what you would like to see?
DEAN: Look, I'm not going to call on the vice president to resign. But if there were Democrats in Congress, I suspect this stuff would be investigated. And if this stuff had happened in a Democratic administration, with a Republican Congress, I suspect this stuff would be investigated by Congress.
BLITZER: The chairman...
DEAN: Look, we know that from the vice president's office came, with the knowledge of the vice president, some criminal indictments. There should be more discussion about what really is happening in this country.
BLITZER: Well, what we know is what Fitzgerald has alleged in the indictment...
DEAN: That's right.
BLITZER: ... that Scooter Libby lied.
DEAN: And we also know that Vice President Cheney was the one who gave Scooter Libby the information.
BLITZER: But that wasn't illegal. The vice president can talk about classified information with his staff.
DEAN: We're not -- we're not talking about what's illegal. We're talking about what's unethical.
BLITZER: Well, what's unethical about the vice president speaking with his staff about a CIA operative?
DEAN: Because the question that remains to be answered is, did the vice president know, or did he authorize Scooter Libby to release this information?
BLITZER: Well, that's another separate question. But the vice president has high security clearances. Scooter Libby used to have high security clearances.
DEAN: And Karl Rove still has them.
BLITZER: And presumably he still does.
Thanks very much, Governor.
DEAN: Thanks.
BLITZER: Coming up, bird flu fears next door, literally. Dozens of wild ducks -- get this -- test positive for the H5 virus in Canada. The first time that has happened. Is it the same strain, though, blamed for human deaths in southeast Asia?
And it's been two decades since he's done an official tour in this country. Now Prince Charles is back, this time Camilla. Are Americans ready?
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
World health officials are carefully tracking avian flu as the potentially deadly virus ventures outside of Asia. Now we hear that the flu has been detected in some wild birds in parts of Canada. Is there reason to worry?
CNN's Brian Todd is joining us now live with more -- Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this does raise some alarms in the U.S., because the birds tested for this virus also fly over the U.S. and, in fact, are doing so right now. Now, in just the past hour, I've spoken with officials from Canada's Food Inspection Agency which did this testing, and with an official for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
These agencies have been in close communication over these tests. Canadian officials say thousands of wild birds were tested in August and September of this year in seven Canadian provinces. Most of them were migratory ducks.
A top Canadian official tells us in 33 cases duckses tested positive for the H5 influenza. Now, it's very important to note H5 is a very normal strain found in migratory birds. And today a Canadian official made an important distinction when dealing with the question many are asking, could this H5 strain be found -- that is found in Canada be a precursor to the deadly H5N1 flu virus that wiped out millions of birds and killed more than 60 people in Asia?
Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JIM CLARK, CANADIAN FOOD INSPECTION AGENCY: These findings do not indicate that we are dealing with a virus strain capable of causing significant illness. For example, the evidence we have observed strongly indicates that these healthy birds were not infected with the same virus that is currently present in Asia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: But Canadian officials say they will not know for sure until about a week from now whether there are any signs of H5N1 in those ducks tested there. Still, one Canadian official tells me they do not expect the deadly strain to be found. I asked why they have that confidence. She said if that was this deadly avian flu they would have already have found birds falling from the sky, as she said. And there is no sign of that -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Still worrying, at least to me. Thanks very much. I'm sure a lot of people are worried about that. Brian Todd reporting.
For more on this story, let's go to our Internet reporter, Jacki Schechner.
What are you picking up online, Jacki?
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Well, Wolf, Brian talked about those migratory birds and their flight patterns. You can see a map of those available online. You can see they make sort of circles over the United States and Canada, down into South America.
These are all available through the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Center. Also, that study available online there.
This is of interest, I'm sure, to our Canadian viewers. This is where the samples were taken, 800 samples all across the region. You can see the particular areas there in blue.
And finally, for some tech space information, if you want to read up more on the avian flu and its effect on Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has a Web site all about avian flu -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Jacki, thank you very much.
Coming up, battle lines are forming over the president's pick for the U.S. Supreme Court. I'll speak with a key Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Orrin Hatch standing by.
And remember that bungled report on President Bush's National Guard Service? It tarnished Dan Rather's reputation and gave CBS News a black eye. Now a producer fires right back for the story. We'll hear her side of the story.
And she captured the heart of a prince. Can Camilla capture the hearts of Americans, or at least their attention? The royals are coming. We have it covered.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
The nomination of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court is drawing very different reactions. Conservatives across the board are applauding the pick this time. Liberals are sounding serious alarms.
Earlier, we heard from the Democratic Party chairman, Howard Dean.
Let's get a Republican perspective.
A leading Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee is Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah.
Senator, welcome to THE SITUATION ROOM.
SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: Nice to be with you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Listen to what the Democratic leader Harry Reid told me yesterday on Samuel Alito, even before the official announcement was made, only the speculation that he was atop the list.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: That is not one of the names that I have suggested to the president. In fact, I have done just the opposite. I think it would create a lot of problems.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Let's talk about the problems, Senator Hatch.
How much of a problem will is it going to be for Samuel Alito to be confirmed?
HATCH: Well, I think it would be a problem for anybody. I think, even if -- if Harriet Miers had not withdrawn, I think she would have made it because she's an excellent person but I think they would have given her a rough time too, although they enjoyed sitting back while some of the conservative columnists, you know, did some, I thought, some fairly bad things to her.
BLITZER: The -- and you blame them, largely, for the decision by Harriet Miers to withdraw her nomination?
HATCH: No, I really don't.
I -- I do think that -- I do think that, because of the criticisms that she felt -- she's so loyal to the president, she felt that she should withdraw, rather than have the president, you know, suffer any further slings and arrows.
But she was a very good nominee, I think would have been a very good conservative nominee on the bench, but that's passed now.
And the -- the president has nominated Judge Alito. And he is -- he is really terrific. There's no question about it.
BLITZER: If the Democrats launch a filibuster, that means you need 60 votes to break a filibuster, would you, as a Republican, support the so-called nuclear option, changing the rules and forcing the abandonment of the use of the filibuster, so that 51 votes would be needed to confirm Samuel Alito?
HATCH: Well, I call it the constitutional option. And I was the one who looked that up in the early days of -- of this.
Frankly, we've never had a leader-led partisan filibuster against any federal judge. Even if you considered the Fortas nomination filibustered, it was a bipartisan filibuster, with almost as many Democrats as there were Republicans.
So, yes, I would support a -- the constitutional option that would make both parties have to quit filibustering judges, not that Republicans have. But it would apply to Republicans, as well as it would apply -- apply to Democrats.
And, frankly, the president has a right to nominate. We have a right to advise and consent. And that's a vote up and down, as far as I read the Constitution. And, yes, I would support a constitutional option. And it's not a change in the rules, by the way. It -- it actually is -- is part of the rules. It was used four times by Democrats in various nominations.
BLITZER: You realize, though, of course that the Republicans are in the majority right now. But these things -- and you go way back in the Senate -- have a tendency to go up and down. The Democrats could be in the majority and they, therefore, would have the same ability to ram a vote through and eliminate the filibuster if you were in the minority.
HATCH: Well, that's right. And I think that's right. That's what you get when you -- when you get the president.
You know, President Bush was very straightforward about it. He said in the year 2000 -- he also said in the year 2004 -- that he's going to appoint people to the bench who are strict constructionists, in other words, people who believe in interpreting the laws, not making them. He didn't want people on the bench who were acting as -- who would act as super-legislators from the bench, enacting their own policy preferences. But he wanted people who would interpret the laws made by those who had to stand for reelection.
And Alito is a perfect illustration of that. You know, it's nothing more or less than what the president said he was going to do. The people elected him. He ought to have the right to do it. Alito is an exceptional human being. You know, he was Phi Beta Kappa at Princeton. He was the editor in chief of the -- of the "Yale Law Journal." He's held 30 years of very important federal positions, including actively arguing, I think, 11 cases before the Supreme Court.
He's got all the credentials in the world. BLITZER: Senator...
HATCH: And he ought to -- he ought to be confirmed.
BLITZER: One final question: Are you disappointed the president couldn't find a woman, a minority, or a Hispanic, for example, to take that nomination?
HATCH: Well, no, I'm not, because I think he ought to pick the best person that he possibly can.
And I don't think he can find a better person than Judge Alito. And, you know, we all would like to see various people on the court. But it's the president's choice. And I don't think anybody should -- should hold that against him.
BLITZER: Orrin Hatch, member of the Judiciary Committee -- thanks -- thanks, Senator, for joining us.
HATCH: You bet.
BLITZER: The Republican Party is reaching out to bloggers to try to garner support for the Alito nomination.
Our Internet reporter, Abbi Tatton, is checking the situation online -- Abbi.
ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Yes, Wolf, a look back at the day online, including the Republican National Committee reaching out there.
We saw very early on today advocacy groups taking this fight online, Web sites springing up immediately -- Progress For America on the right with their JudgeAlito.com. They had that ready to go, sites on the left, for example, the Alliance For Justice, with their Supreme Court watch.
As you mentioned, the Republican National Committee, who had found a lot of conservative opposition amongst bloggers for the Harriet Miers nomination, they were now trying to get ahead of the game today, organizing a conference call with the bloggers, in which Chairman Ken Mehlman said they were expecting offensive attacks on this nominee and said, we need your help to the conservative blogosphere.
And it seems that the battle lines are being clearly drawn out there. With the nomination of John Roberts, we didn't really see a really intense fight on this. With Harriet Miers, the intensity was among the conservatives. But, today, the message is, bring it on from Red State on the right, and, from Daily Kos, the showdown finally arrives, on the left -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Abbi, thank you very much.
Lou Dobbs getting ready for his program, right at the top of the hour. Lou is joining us. What are you working on, Lou?
LOU DOBBS, HOST, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT": Thank you, Wolf.
At 6:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN, we will have much more on the president's nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court -- new developments, as well, in the CIA White House leak case. I will be joined by three of the country's leading political and legal analysts -- also, October now the deadliest month in Iraq for our troops since January. We will have a special report -- and while attempts to make English the official language of one state have sparked a bitter political fight.
And I will be talking with the producer and the director of a new documentary film highly critical of Wal-Mart. He says, Wal-Mart's low prices come with an unacceptably high cost socially -- all of that and a great deal more at the top of the hour.
We hope you will join us -- now back to you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Lou. We will be joining you.
Still to come, behind that black eye -- it stained Dan Rather's representation and caused a shakeup at CBS News. A producer fired for that story about President Bush's National Guard service is now going public.
Last time, he toured America with Princess Diana. Twenty years later, Prince Charles comes back to the United States with his new bride, Camilla. Can the duchess dazzle Americans?
We will find out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: The British are coming. The heir to the throne, Prince Charles, and his new wife, Camilla, start a weeklong jampacked tour of the United States tomorrow.
Zain Verjee is very excited about it.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: She's joining us from the CNN Center -- Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But I'm not British.
BLITZER: That's all right.
You used to be part of the commonwealth.
(LAUGHTER)
VERJEE: Wolf, the official purpose of the royal visit is, essentially, to strengthen ties between the United States and the United Kingdom. But, unofficially, the royals are hoping this country, which adored Diana, will at least accept Camilla.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRINCE CHARLES, PRINCE OF WALES: See what, you know, the American people make of it when we -- when we come.
VERJEE (voice-over): The prince of Wales in a rare interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" on the eve of his first official U.S. tour in 20 years. Much has changed since then. This time, the prince is accompanied by a different spouse, Camilla, the duchess of Cornwall. Talk about a tough act to follow.
Diana, princess of Wales, was hugely popular in the U.S. and around the world before her death in a 1997 car crash. But the British public has gradually warmed to Camilla. The royals hope the American public will do the same. The royal couple will have ample opportunity to enjoy friendly Americans. Their whirlwind tour includes stops in New York and a visit to ground zero, both lunch and dinner at the White House, a brief check on rebuilding efforts in New Orleans, plus a journey to San Francisco, with an emphasis on environmental issues.
But it's no honeymoon for the prince and his duchess, who married in April.
PRINCE CHARLES: you know, these official visits are quite difficult to escape -- they're difficult to escape, you know, go to places. It would be nice to do it privately, but I will have to wait for other occasions. But...
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: The prince of Wales has been to the U.S. many times in recent years. He was here last summer for Ronald Reagan's funeral.
But this is his first official trip in two decades. But it's not considered a state visit because Charles is not a head of state yet.
And, Wolf, as the queen would say, it gives me the greatest pleasure to go back to you and Sir Jack in THE SITUATION ROOM.
BLITZER: Sir Jack.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: All right. Let's bring in Sir Jack.
What do think about that, the -- the visit, Jack?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I think she ought to put that cowboy hat back on and get that lariat.
(LAUGHTER)
CAFFERTY: I'm paying...
(CROSSTALK)
VERJEE: No, he meant Camilla.
CAFFERTY: ... paying absolutely no attention to the...
VERJEE: Camilla. Camilla.
CAFFERTY: Huh?
(LAUGHTER)
VERJEE: Camilla, Charles visit U.S.
CAFFERTY: You know what? I mean, Camilla was fiddling around with him for a long time, back when he was married to Diana. True?
VERJEE: True.
CAFFERTY: So, you know, I mean, be over here...
VERJEE: So...
CAFFERTY: ... trying to pawn her off as some noble deal.
VERJEE: You know what would be...
CAFFERTY: She was an interloper.
(LAUGHTER)
CAFFERTY: Isn't that what they call them?
VERJEE: You know what would be a good e-mail question for you maybe some time tomorrow, Jack? I mean...
CAFFERTY: Oh, good. I...
VERJEE: Yes.
CAFFERTY: I'm going to get some help from you...
VERJEE: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
CAFFERTY: ... on the e-mail questions.
(LAUGHTER)
CAFFERTY: What?
VERJEE: Are Americans interested in the British royal family?
CAFFERTY: I can answer that.
(LAUGHTER) CAFFERTY: We don't have to go through all the emotions of doing the question. No, they're not.
VERJEE: All right.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: Jack...
(CROSSTALK)
VERJEE: Read some e-mails, Jack.
CAFFERTY: What's that?
VERJEE: Go ahead, Jack. Read some...
CAFFERTY: Well, I have to -- I have to be introduced first.
BLITZER: All right, Jack Cafferty is joining us now.
VERJEE: Jack Cafferty joins us now.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: Go ahead.
(LAUGHTER)
CAFFERTY: The new poll that's out, Wolf and Zain, shows that 55 percent of Americans think Mr. Bush's second term as -- as president is a -- a failure thus far.
And when you add the other headaches the White House is facing the last couple of weeks, CIA leak, DeLay, Harriet Miers, Bill Frist, the war in Iraq, the question becomes this: What does President Bush have to do to make his second term a success.
Paul in Fredericksburg, Virginia, writes: "For President Bush to make his second term a success, he needs to fess up to the American people his mistakes and ask our forgiveness. He then needs to govern all the people and bring this nation together. Divide and conquer doesn't work."
Pat in Modesto, California: "Admit that he has lost touch with the American people and get on to the issues that are important to us: gasoline prices, health care, the deficit, and the Iraq war was a mistake."
Mike in Lahaina -- or Lahaina, I guess it is -- Hawaii: "Get out of Iraq. Clean up the deficit. Fire Rove. Rebuild the Gulf Coast. Get rid of the pork to pay for the rebuilding. Quit campaigning and start governing."
Ron in Summerville, South Carolina: "Wake up for a start. He seems so far removed from the average American that each new decision has us all shaking our heads in disbelief. Once sufficiently awakened, he should move toward the middle and try to solidify his support."
And Doug in Bloomfield, New Jersey, has the answer: "For second- term success, Bush should fire Karl Rove and hire CNN's Lou Dobbs to be his brain."
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: I wonder how Lou Dobbs will feel about that.
All right, Jack...
CAFFERTY: Probably...
BLITZER: ... thanks very much.
CAFFERTY: ... doesn't pay as well as this does.
BLITZER: Jack, you're not leaving yet. We have another hour, from 7:00 to 8:00 tonight. New generation of viewers are tuning in.
CAFFERTY: Would you take a bribe, so I could go home? I mean...
BLITZER: No.
CAFFERTY: ... if I sent you some money?
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: All this week -- no bribes excepted.
CAFFERTY: All right.
BLITZER: Up next, the story behind the meltdown -- Dan Rather's former producer tells her side of the story.
And, later, the tiny, quiet woman who launched a cultural revolution -- the lasting legacy of Rosa Parks.
You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: It was a story that rocked CBS News, a "60 Minutes II" report on President Bush's National Guard service. It triggered an investigation, stained Dan Rather's career and led to the firing of veteran Mary Mapes. Now, for the first time, Mapes is telling her version of events of what happened behind the scenes over at CBS News.
CBS -- CNN's Mary Snow standing by in New York with more. Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Mary Mapes was the only CBS producer fired for the story. Three other executives were asked to resign. In a new book, Mapes claims she was made out to be the villain, describes right-wing bloggers who helped force her out, and writes about a fateful call from Dan Rather.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice-over): Former CBS producer Mary Mapes says, when her story on President Bush's National Guard service first aired in September 2004, co-workers gave her hugs and kisses. Sixteen months later, CBS fired her.
Mapes blames politics and corporate interests. The story came out during 2004 campaign. It alleged that George Bush received special consideration to get into the Texas National Guard and didn't fulfill his service obligations. But the documents that supposedly proved this came under fire, and so did CBS.
In a new book, "Truth and Duty," excerpted in "Vanity Fair" magazine, Mapes stands by her work. On Dan Rather, who worked with Mapes as the reporter, she says, Rather initially told her he had confidence in the story and quotes him as saying he was lucky to work with her.
But she claims Rather had a very different message when CBS was appointing a special panel to investigate the story. Mapes quotes Rather as saying: "Now, Mary, this is very bad. I want you to get yourself a lawyer as fast as you can. You need to start protecting yourself. We all do."
As for her ultimate firing, Mapes said she was fired on a speaker phone, when CBS News President Andrew Heyward called her to say -- quote -- "Mary, the report is out. It's very bad. You're being terminated."
In a statement, CBS News says Mapes' actions damaged CBS News as an organization and brought pain to her colleagues. And it says -- quote -- "AS always, revisionist history must be tested against the facts. Not only are the facts contained in the extensive media coverage that took place at the time, but also in the 200-plus-page report of the independent panel."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: We put a call in to Dan Rather for his comment. A spokesperson said Dan Rather at CBS News says Rather was unavailable to comment because he is on assignment for "60 Minutes" -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Mary, thank you very much. I suspect we will be hearing a lot more about this story coming up.
Also, when we come back, a rare honor for a very rare woman -- the civil rights legend Rosa Parks honored under the Capitol dome, the tributes and her legacy remembered.
We will be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As CNN celebrates its silver anniversary, editors at "Entertainment Weekly" compiled their top 25 moments in pop culture.
Here's one from the hit list. Author J.K. Rowling's wizards and muggles have cast a serious spell on the publishing industry. The first five volumes in the "Harry Potter" series sold about 270 million copies in 200 countries and reportedly made Rowling richer than the queen of England. But it was book number four that caused a craze.
MARK HARRIS, EDITOR AT LARGE, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": Stores opened at 12:01 a.m. to sell the book. It really was the kind of hype that usually only belongs to movies, for the first time, belonged to a book.
UNIDENTIFIED MALES AND FEMALES: Harry. Harry. Harry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Harry hysteria continues. Book number six, released this summer, became the fastest-selling book in history. Rowling has has done what few other authors have, magically made her books disappear from store shelves and children appear to be reading again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: The country said farewell today to the civil rights legend Rosa Parks.
Here is CNN's national correspondent, Bruce Morton.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRUCE MORTON, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rosa Parks grew up with trouble. You couldn't go here, sit there. Segregation was the law, the way of life. It didn't scare her.
When she refused to give up her seat on a bus for a white person -- she said she wasn't tired, just tired of giving in. And, so, she sat and lit a fire, which burned hot and strong all over America. She resisted, just the way we would all want our daughters to resist, polite, soft-spoken and tough as nails.
And, today, thousands of Americans came to their capital to pay their respects.
Congressman John Lewis spoke for many.
REP. JOHN LEWIS (D), GEORGIA: There was so much fear, so much hate.
And we couldn't eat together at a -- at a lunch counter, in a restaurant. Blacks and whites couldn't ride in the same taxicab. Rosa Parks got out of place. She got in the way. And she inspired the rest of us.
MORTON: John Lewis marched. Many marched.
But Rosa Parks was, in a way, the starting point. How many people can say they changed the times they lived in, changed their country? But she did. And, so, her country honors her, the first woman, the second African-American, to lie in state in this most special place.
And, then, she left. The honor guard, we remember from mourning other Americans here, the music.
(MUSIC)
MORTON: Her body will lie in state at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. The funeral will be there on Wednesday. And flags all across the country she made better will fly at half-staff.
Tom Toles, "The Washington Post"'s editorial cartoonist, summed her life up as well as anyone.
Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: This note: Tonight, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, a central figure in the CIA leak saga says he has confidence in the special counsel, Patrick Fitzgerald. But Joe Wilson is not entirely satisfied by the indictment of former Cheney Chief of Staff Lewis Scooter Libby.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH WILSON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR: Karl Rove should be fired. I think that this -- this idea that you can, with impunity, call journalists and leak national security information is repugnant. It is not fitting for a senior White House official. It is below any standard of ethical comportment, even if it is not technically illegal, because of the high standard of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act.
But, nonetheless, there's now clear evidence that Mr. Rove was leaking classified information. And Mr. Fitzgerald made it very clear. My wife was a covert officer at the time that these people were leaking her name.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: The White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, today brushed aside calls for Rove to leave, indicating the president still has confidence in him. You can see the complete interview coming up, special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, one hour from now.
"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" picking up our coverage -- he's standing by now in New York -- Lou. DOBBS: Thank you, Wolf.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
