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The Situation Room
Hamas Wins Election in Palestine; Winfrey Reacts to 'Million Little Pieces' Controversy
Aired January 26, 2006 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Standing by, CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you the day's top stories.
Happening now, it's 2:00 a.m. in the West Bank and Gaza, where the green flags of Hamas are flying. President Bush's dream of a democratic Palestinian election turns into a nightmare after a group condemned for terrorism wins a landslide victory.
In New Orleans, it's 6:00 p.m. The government is renting trailers to homeless hurricane victims, but could they get five-star accommodations for the same price?
And was it a case of a million little eyes? An author tells Oprah Winfrey he made up parts of his best-selling memoir. We'll tell you what Oprah is now saying. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
President Bush called for democracy, but he may have cause to regret it following a landslide victory by the militant Islamic group Hamas, which in the past has sent out waves of suicide bombers in Israel. John Vause is standing by in Ramallah on the West Bank, but let's begin our coverage with our State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel -- Andrea?
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, during today's press conference, the president preferred to focus on the silver lining. He said that it had been a free territory in the Palestinian territory. He also said that he believes the Mid East peace process was not dead.
But what the president didn't say, but just about everyone knows, is coming a few weeks after Ariel Sharon's, the Israeli prime minister's, stroke, it means even more uncertainty in a volatile region.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL: A new flag raised over the Palestinian parliament, but Hamas' landslide victory was a stinging defeat for the U.S. and Israel.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If your platform is the destruction of Israel, it means you're not a partner in the peace. And we're interested in peace. KOPPEL: The U.S. has made spreading democracy the centerpiece of its foreign policy. The challenge now, how to treat the democratically elected Hamas, radical Islamists behind so many suicide bombers in Israel, a group the U.S. considers terrorists.
GEORGE MITCHELL, FORMER MIDDLE EAST ENVOY: One of the problems is, of course, you have to be careful what you wish for. They wanted a democratic election. And now, of course, we don't like the result of the elections.
KOPPEL: Those aren't the only results the U.S. doesn't like. Recent parliamentary elections in Egypt saw the rise of radical Islamists, now Egypt's largest opposition bloc. In Iraq, Iranian- backed Islamic parties won the most seats. In Lebanon, members of the militant group Hezbollah are in parliament, while elections in Iran brought hard-line president Ahmadinejad to power.
EDWARD WALKER, PRESIDENT, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: You always have to be careful and cautious when you throw the dice and they don't come out quite the way you want them to. We have to have a long-term confidence in the ability of democracy to change even the hard-line people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL: But in the short term, the U.S. is threatening to cut off about $270 million in much-needed financial assistance to the Palestinians and is also looking to the European allies to try to do the same. Europe, as you know, Wolf, is one of the biggest donors to the Palestinian authority.
The goal here is to try to force Hamas to moderate its views and to really agree to recognize the right of Israel to exist. It is a message that Secretary Rice is going to be delivering in person, Wolf, when she travels to London on Monday for the meeting of the quartet -- Wolf?
BLITZER: All right, Andrea. Thank you very much. Andrea Koppel reporting.
Hamas remains committed to its charter calling for the destruction of the Israel, but it's also answered the call of Palestinian poor setting up clinics and kindergartens all over Gaza and the West Bank. Which Hamas will take political power? Let's go to CNN's John Vause. He's joining us from Ramallah on the West Bank -- John?
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, after this landslide victory in these parliamentary elections, Hamas leaders have said they want to change every aspect of the way Palestinians are governed, from university schools, health care, hospitals, agriculture, everything.
But not everyone is happy about this. Within the last hour or so in Gaza City, Fatah supporters, gunmen, marching through the street, firing in the air, chanting that Abbas is a traitor. The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, is an informer, one of the worst accusations which could be leveled at a Palestinian.
These Fatah gunmen blaming Abbas for Fatah's defeat in these parliamentary elections and for Hamas' landslide victory. And while for the most part there have been celebrations by thousands of Hamas supporters across the West Bank and Gaza, here in Ramallah today, a small number of Hamas supporters rushed the Palestinian legislative council building.
There were clashes with Fatah supporters. One Hamas supporter tried to raise a flag over the main entrance of the PLC building. Rocks and stones were thrown. And there was also gunshots fired into the air -- Wolf?
BLITZER: John Vause in the West Bank. John, thanks very much.
Not surprisingly, Israel is acting sharply to the Hamas election victory. The acting prime minister Ehud Olmert met with his top security advisers, and they're calling on the Palestinian Authority to act quickly to disarm Hamas.
A statement reads in part, "Israel will not negotiate with a Palestinian administration if its members include an armed terrorist organization that calls for the destruction of the state of Israel." It goes on to warn this: "Israel will continue to fight terrorism with a heavy hand everywhere."
President Bush is showing new determination today to fight back against critics of his domestic spying program. Our White House correspondent Dana Bash has more on the president's news conference today at the White House -- Dana?
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as you heard in Andrea's piece, it was actually the stunning victory of Hamas that dominated the beginning of President Bush's press conference. He did try to walk a fine line, but did say that Hamas is a terrorist group that he will not deal with.
This morning, when he decided to have the press conference, he obviously knew he was going to answer those questions. But that is not the reason he called the conference.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: The primary goal of this spirited 46-minute news conference was to continue defending his controversial program allowing domestic spying without a warrant.
BUSH: The program's legal.
BASH: And for the first time he suggested he may fight growing calls from Congress to formally approve or modify the surveillance program.
BUSH: My concern has always been that in an attempt to try to pass a law on something that's already legal, we'll show the enemy what we're doing. BASH: The idea for broader surveillance authority, Mr. Bush said, was a post-9/11 request from the eavesdropping agency itself.
BUSH: It's one design in the White House design where you expect it to be designed. In the NSA.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Now, for the second day in a row, Wolf, the president unprompted invoked the name Osama bin Laden and his tape last week, the threatening tape, in trying to defend and explain why he thinks the surveillance program should continued.
BLITZER: The president was on the defensive, including from you, Dana, on the whole Jack Abramoff scandal. What did he say?
BASH: Well, he tried to keep it very, very focused on the whole question of pictures. There have been reports. Reporters have seen photographs of President Bush and Jack Abramoff. So he had a quick ready-to-go, something he clearly worked out with his aides, saying, "My picture's taken all the time. I have pictures taken with you," talking about the people sitting in the briefing room, the media.
And he said, "I simply don't know him." But in terms of the unanswered questions, like who in this White House actually met with Jack Abramoff, we know he was here, and under what circumstances, what did they talk about, the president wouldn't answer those questions, said that they wouldn't reveal that information because it's an ongoing investigation. Perhaps prosecutors will ask, but they're not going to do it unsolicited, or at least solicited just by the media.
BLITZER: All right, Dana. Thanks very much. Dana Bash reporting.
Zain Verjee is joining us now from the CNN Center in Atlanta with a closer look at other stories making news.
Hi, Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Wolf. An unexpected showdown over Samuel Alito's Supreme Court nomination. Senator John Kerry now saying that he backs the Democratic filibuster of Alito and he's urging fellow Democrats to join the fight. But Republicans say they have the confidence, and that they will have the 60 votes needed to cut off any Democratic attempt to block Alito's confirmation. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says that he will force a showdown vote on Alito on Monday.
It's the largest fine ever levied by the Federal Trade Commission. Today, the FTC handed down a $10 million fine in civil penalties and $5 million in consumer redress against the data broker Choice Point. Officials say the fines are to settle charges that Choice Point failed to protect privacy that caused 800 cases of identity theft. The settlement also requires Choice Point to implement procedures to better safeguard consumer information. It's a case involving bootleg Botox. Today in Florida, a married couple, both doctors, sent to prison for selling a dangerous and fake form of Botox to over 200 other doctors. Some who took the bootleg Botox nearly died. The husband was sentenced to 9 years, the wife got six years. The couple made nearly $2 million selling the bogus Botox.
And California's become the first state to say that second-hand smoke is a toxic risk. Today, the state's environmental agency voted to classify tobacco smoke as a toxic air contaminant. Now, that could cause other states also to ban smoking. One state agency estimates nearly 6,000 nonsmoking Californians die each year of heart disease related to second-hand smoke.
Back to you in THE SITUATION ROOM, Wolf, and to Jackie.
BLITZER: Jackie? Is that what we're call Jack Cafferty in New York? Jack, you there?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Why don't we do something about all the automobile emissions in California? How many people do you suppose that kills every the year?
BLITZER: Don't know the answer.
CAFFERTY: Just a thought.
VERJEE: Jack, how are you?
CAFFERTY: I'm average, darling. And yourself?
VERJEE: I'm average, too.
CAFFERTY: You know the rules.
VERJEE: When are you coming to Atlanta?
CAFFERTY: You know the rules. Professor Blitzer...
(CROSSTALK)
CAFFERTY: We have no time. It's only a three-hour show, Zain. Be quiet.
Oprah Winfrey says she feels duped. The talk show hostess retracted her report today for James Frey, who wrote that best-seller "A Million Little Pieces." Winfrey apologized for a phone call she made to Larry King where she supported the book, even as Frey was on the air with Larry saying he made up some of it.
Oprah said she made the mistaken impression with people that the truth doesn't matter. On "Today" show, Frey confessed he made up details about almost every character in the book. But he stills says he thinks it's a memoir. Oprah had selected the book for her book club last September. Right after that, it sold over 2 million copies, which means Frey's a rich guy now. Since then, an investigation made by The Smoking Gun Web site found that Frey made up or exaggerated most of the book. So the question is this. How much leeway should an author have when writing a memoir? You can e-mail us at caffertyfile@CNN.com, or you can go to CNN.com/Caffertyfile. The other question is, I wonder if he should have to give back all that money that he made if he peddled that book under what they call false pretenses?
BLITZER: I don't think that's going to happen, Jack. That's many millions of dollars. Not going to happen. All right, Jack, thanks very much.
Coming up, it's supposed to be the government's solution, trailers for victims of Hurricane Katrina. But wait until you hear the price tag that all of us -- we're all taxpayers -- how much are we pay for these trailers?
Also, a concern over several products you might have in your house right now, including stain resistant carpet. Were they made with a chemical that causes serious health problems? What's the government doing to make us safer?
Plus, more on what Jack just talked about. Oprah Winfrey apologizes today. We'll find out why she regrets calling into CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" and backing a man who now admits to lying.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Nicole Kidman, an actress, now United Nations ambassador. We'll tell you what's going on. Our interview with Nicole Kidman this hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: What kind of house or apartment could you rent for $3,300 a month? Would you believe you could rent a trailer? That's how much the federal government is paying for temporary housing for some victims of Hurricane Katrina. Our Gulf Coast correspondent Susan Roesgen is standing by with the bottom line in New Orleans.
Susan, what is going on?
SUSAN ROESGEN, GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, doesn't it sound incredible? Because you know, these FEMA trailers are pretty plain. No frills. They're just temporary housing for people who need a roof over their heads while they try to repair their homes.
But the government spends $60,000 per trailer over the 18-month lifespan of those trailers. Now, that works out to $3,300 a month. And look what you can get in New Orleans for that kind of money. We found an elegant apartment, two bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths. It's in a chi- chi part of town, has a marble fireplace, chandeliers, hardwood floors, a beautiful apartment, that rents, Wolf, for $2,600 a month, and that's $700 less than the $3,300 a month that FEMA pays for those trailers. And that's just one example. Local realtors said you'll find many like that in New Orleans. Now, FEMA says that cost for the trailer, $3,300 per month, includes a lot of things. It includes shipping, maintenance, it includes utilities and the removal of the trailer eventually.
But, Wolf, I talked to a woman who said, "Hey, just give me $3,300 in cash and I'll find my own place to live." And you'll hear her story tomorrow morning on "American Morning."
BLITZER: We'll be watching. Susan, thank you very much. Susan Roesgen reporting for us from New Orleans.
The first lady, by the way, got a firsthand look at recovery efforts in the hurricane zone earlier today. She visited schools in New Orleans and along the Mississippi coast where she promised federal help to keep classes going and to make needed repairs.
Residents of a small community in north Florida are trying to understand an incomprehensible loss. The deaths of seven children because authorities say a truck driver simply wasn't paying attention. CNN's Susan Candiotti is joining us now from Lake Butler, which is near Jacksonville, with the latest on this really horrendous, horrendous, crash.
Susan, what did we learn today?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a lot of things. And certainly, investigators are working very hard and trying to figure out what happened here. Heartache is hanging like a cloud over Lake Butler, where the tragedy appears to have touched, even here where some of the victims attended high school.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: Look beyond the twists wreckage of a truck, a car, and a school bus, and you see an entire community torn apart and heartbroken. Seven children are dead. The oldest fifteen, the youngest just 20 months old. They were the children and nieces of Barbara and Terry Mann.
BARBARA MANN, MOTHER: They're just happy children. They're my babies.
CANDIOTTI: Today, the Manns were supposed to complete the adoption of the youngest child, Anthony. Instead, they are planning funerals, including one for Barbara Mann's father. He had a heart attack and died after getting news of the crash.
REV. SCOTT FISHER, FAMILY SPOKESMAN: There hardly any words that you can say. We just cry with them. We pray with them. And we let them know that this community is strong.
CANDIOTTI: Florida highway officials say they expect to file charges in the coming week against this man, 32-year-old truck driver Alvin Wilkerson. They say he just wasn't paying attention when his rig slammed into the car the Mann children were driving in, pushing the car into the stopped school bus.
LT. BILL LEEPER, FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL: There is no indication of any pre-crash braking or any attempt to stop prior to this crash.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): No skid marks, no nothing?
LEEPER: Nothing to indicate at all.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Wilkerson had been cited twice for driving under unsafe conditions. Authorities say that 15-year-old Nicky (ph) Mann was driving the car with just a learner's permit is one of many factors in the crash they'll be looking at, a crash that has left residents of Lake Butler in mourning.
SHERIFF JERRY WHITEHEAD, UNION COUNTY, FLORIDA: We're a small community, close-knit. And it's just been real hard. I mean, I have a daughter in the high school who was with Nicky yesterday at the high school.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: Now, the National Transportation Safety Board also has a team here. They're looking at a lot of things, including the driver's logs of the trucking company for whom the truck driver worked. They're looking at whether fatigue might have been a factor here. This and a lot more as authorities try to find the answer about why, why this tragedy happened.
Back to you, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, thank you very much, Susan Candiotti. What a heartbreaking story that is. Terrible.
Still to come here in THE SITUATION ROOM, a chemical found in the bloodstream of 96 percent of us. Why the federal government is now concerned it may cause health problems. We're going to tell you what's going on. This is information you need to know.
And move over Angelina Jolie. The United Nations has a new goodwill ambassador, and she's making a splash already. One-on-one with Nicole Kidman, here in THE SITUATION ROOM. All that coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: It's a chemical commonly found in items all of us use every day. But might they be dangerous? Our Brian Todd has been checking out the safety of a chemical called PFOA. What are you picking up, Brian?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, one thing government officials and scientists want us to remember about this is that there's no cause for widespread panic over this chemical, PFOA, that's in question here. But the widespread use of this substance is what's leading them to take precautions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TODD: Wearing and washing your clothes, walking on your carpet, eating a small order of fries from your local fast food joint. Could those simple acts expose you do a dangerous carcinogen? Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency have suspicions about the chemical called perfluorooctanic acid, or PFOA. But they're not entirely sure. And they're asking eight major corporations to help eliminate the risk.
SUSAN HAZEN, EPA: Asking them to voluntarily commit to reduce their emissions and use in products by 95 percent by the year 2010 and to move towards toward virtual elimination by the year 2015.
TODD: Companies like Dupont use PFOA to make Teflon, which goes into the stain resistance in clothing. PFOA's also used to make the coating inside small french fry holders and popcorn packages that keep the oil from leaking through.
TIM KROPP, ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP: It's actually coating the paper that once you heat up and moves into the oil around the popcorn and then you ingest it.
TODD: Tim Kropp, a scientist for the public health watchdog called the Environmental Working Group says with clothing, the stain resistant from Teflon gets broken down when you wear and wash your clothes. Then it turns into PFOA particles that you inhale.
Kropp's group says 96 percent of Americans have at least some level of PFOA in their systems. The chemical's been shown to cause cancer in animals, but no one's been able to link the levels of PFOA found in household products to cancer in humans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: As for the manufacturers, the EPA has sent out letters to the eight company companies that use PFOA to make these coatings, asking them to eliminate emissions and content levels in their products. Dupont is the biggest of those companies, and so far the only one that's responded.
We got this statement from Dupont today, quote, "Dupont has been aggressively reducing PFOA emissions to the environment, having achieved a 94 percent reduction in global manufacturing emissions by year end 2005. We are well on our way to meet the goals and objectives established by the EPA stewardship program" -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Brian, so does this mean we all have to run out and get rid of our stain-resistant carpeting or clothing?
TODD: Absolutely not. According to the EPA official we spoke to, in her words specifically, we have no information that consumer products are causing a hazard or risk here. They're really just taking a precaution.
BLITZER: Brian Todd reporting for us. Thank you, Brian, very much.
Let's check in with CNN's Anderson Cooper for a preview at what's coming up on his program later tonight -- Anderson?
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Wolf, tonight on "360" at 10:00, we are spending the hour over the latest fallout over James Frey's book, "A Million Little Pieces." He faced Oprah today, admitting he wrote lies. It was devastating television. Oprah says she no longer supports him and was embarrassed that she ever did.
We're going to talk to Bill Bastone, the editor of The Smoking Gun. That's the Web site that first exposed the discrepancies in the book. And you'll hear from some people who still support Frey. Plus, we'll be taking viewers' calls about the controversy. Tonight, 10:00, Wolf.
BLITZER: We'll be watching, Anderson. Thanks very much. Anderson Cooper later tonight.
Just ahead, a major discovery. A tunnel across the border that's as long as eight -- yes, eight -- football fields. Was it a clear path into the United States for drug runners or worse?
And Oprah Winfrey confronts the author who duped her in front of her TV viewers. As Anderson just reported, it's a dramatic new turn in the controversy over a book, "A Million Little Pieces." We'll have the specific details of what happened today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Angelina Jolie has some competition. Nicole Kidman. The new face at the United Nations. A one-on-one with Nicole Kidman in THE SITUATION ROOM. That interview, that's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Federal investigators call it the most sophisticated one they've ever seen -- a tunnel, eight football fields long, fully outfitted with electricity, ventilation and two tons of marijuana.
CNN's Chris Lawrence is joining us now live in San Diego, near the U.S.-Mexican border with this really amazing story. Chris, tell our viewers what you discovered.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the federal agents in the building behind me are a little worried tonight, not just about illegal aliens or drugs, but about what else might have come through that tunnel that size, a tunnel the agents tell me cost $1 million to build.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE (voice-over): Federal agents call it massive, the largest, most sophisticated tunnel they've ever found on the Southwest border. An it's easy to see why. It's long as eight football fields and high enough for a man to walk through. The shaft has lights, ventilation, and a water pumping system, even a gurney that allowed smugglers to move items in and out of the tunnel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like being in a mine shaft or a cave.
LAWRENCE: The tunnel starts 60 to 80 feet underground, below a warehouse in Tijuana, and ends a half mile into the United States. Police found more than two tons of marijuana, most of it on the Mexican side.
MICHAEL UNCUETA, ICE: We know it's used for drug trafficking, obviously, but more than that, the discovery of these tunnels truly illustrates the dangers, the risks of the security and safety concerns of the American public.
LAWRENCE: Because with a tunnel this sophisticated, officials are concerned about what else may have come through.
JOHN FERNANDES, DEA: When we find these tunnels, we see that as a vulnerability to our national security, whether the tunnel was used to smuggle aliens or whether the tunnel was used to smuggle narcotics, or in a worst scenario, some sort of weapon that would be smuggled in and directed at the United States.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: Yes, right now, the investigators are investigating who owned those properties. And they're also going to be taking some air and soil samples to try to find out what else may have come through that tunnel -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Chris, thanks very much. Chris Lawrence reporting.
We want to update you on a story we brought you last night here in THE SITUATION ROOM about a controversial map Mexico planned to give to would-be illegal immigrants into this country. It showed where to find water and highways in the Arizona desert. Now, Mexico's Human Rights Commission says it's suspending the project for fear it would help anti-immigrant groups locate migrants.
Over at the White House today, President Bush met with some security experts about the USA Patriot Act, and has pushed for a long- term extension of the anti-terror law. Former education secretary, Bill Bennett, now a CNN contributor, was in on that meeting in his current role as chairman of a group called Americans for Victory Over Terrorism.
I spoke with Bill Bennett shortly after he left the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Bill Bennett is with us now. He's wearing yet another new hat. We're happy to welcome him here at CNN as a regular CNN contributor, a participant in our "Strategy Sessions" here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Bill Bennett, welcome to CNN.
WILLIAM BENNETT, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Glad to be here. Good to be aboard.
BLITZER: Before we talk about what happened at the White House, what's your reaction to this decision that John Kerry has made to go ahead and try to filibuster the nomination of Samuel Alito to become a justice on the Supreme Court?
BENNETT: I just heard it, trying to absorb it, trying to think of what the motivations could be. And the only thing I can think of is this is positioning for the Democratic nomination down the road, in '08. And I think he's trying to step to the front of the line.
I'm the most earnest of them all. You know, who's the fairest of us all, the most earnest of us all? He's saying I'm the most in opposition. I think this is the wrong way to go, because I think most of the American people think Alito ought to be confirmed, seems like a reasonable guy. He's conservative, sure, but, you know, we elected a conservative president.
BLITZER: So it shouldn't be a huge surprise. If the Democrats though are ...
BENNETT: Though a critical act here ...
BLITZER: If the Democrats though are divided on this idea of a filibuster, that could embarrass the party, albeit, as you say, it might strengthen Kerry with the base of the party that's very much opposed to Alito.
BENNETT: It might strengthen him with the base, but if he calls for it and nothing happens, it could weaken him.
BLITZER: Because it shows ...
BENNETT: Yes, it shows he's not powerful enough. He's not potent. He's not a leader.
BLITZER: Let's talk about your meeting with the president. You were there with others who were invited in. What was that about?
BENNETT: It was about national security. It was about the Patriot Act. It was about the NSA. The president spoke. He was very, very earnest, very serious. He talked about the lethality -- he used that word several times -- the lethality of the enemy and his pledge to defend the American people, that he, the president, will defend the American people.
BLITZER: Did you learn anything that you hadn't seen before?
BENNETT: Yes.
BLITZER: Did you emerge smarter in any way?
BENNETT: Yes, I did. And I can't tell you all the stuff -- some of the stuff I learned, but -- because he wanted it to be off the record. He was speaking very, very freely. But what was clear to me was the president's clear sense of conviction about this. He said there are a lot of issues, and this is the most important one, the protection of the American people.
It was put very well. One thing I can repeat. He said, you know, nothing has changed since 9/11, in terms of people's interest in attacking this country, except they haven't succeeded in going it again. And there's no reason that we should back off on the measures that have kept us safe. He said, I am deadly serious about this. And I will take this all the way.
BLITZER: Are you completely comfortable with these wiretaps without warrants?
BENNETT: I am. I am because of presidential power, presidential authority. My own view here is that people have tended to think that because it is a legal issue, that only the courts have legal authority. People forget because of the teaching of Constitutional law, the way it's taught today, Wolf, that the president is an officer of the Constitution. He has a responsibility to execute the law. He is to take the law and execute the law in many occasions.
BLITZER: Listen to what Republican Senator Arlen Specter, who is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee -- they're going to hold hearings starting February 6th on this -- what he said the other day. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA), CHAIRMAN, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: The initial claim to authority, from the resolution to authorize the use of force, I think is very, very thin. If the president had asked for authority in the Patriot Act, we would have had a determination, as to whether Congress wanted to give it to him. But to say that there was congressional intent in the resolution for force, I think is a stretch.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BENNETT: That -- is he done?
BLITZER: Yes.
BENNETT: That's an issue of whether the president has that authority statutorily from that statute. My argument is that the president has it constitutionally. It's not Congress' to give him.
Under his Article II powers, the president has the authority, indeed, the responsibility to defend the people of the United States. I don't think he needs to get that from Congress. What's interesting is that although a number of critics, mostly Democrats, but as you point out, a few Republicans, who they said they're not sure about it, they don't agree with the president's use of it.
No one has moved to curtail his authority. People have been jumping all over themselves, Wolf, saying "If the president needs this, fine, we'll give it to him." And it is interesting, why hasn't anybody stepped forward and said, "Well, if he needs it and we don't think he has it now, we'll introduce legislation to give it to him," because they'd lose the political advantage.
BLITZER: The big story of the day, at least one of the big stories of the day, Hamas wins the Palestinian elections. Did that come up?
BENNETT: It sure did. And the president's frustration. He talked about frustration of the Palestinians and that this was a vote for something different.
Let's try something that works. Unfortunately though, as he said, it put in place a government which he cannot work, which he cannot deal with. And that was the unfortunate thing, you could see his frustration. He said maybe democracy will work some things that are positive. And we can see some positive changes. But he cannot work with the leader of a government who thinks that Israel should be extinct.
BLITZER: Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for, at least that's what some people are saying.
BENNETT: That's right, that's absolutely right, it's a terrible situation.
BLITZER: This is your first time in THE SITUATION ROOM, since you joined us here at CNN. I have to ask you about those controversial comments you made a few months back, that some suggested were seen as racist, when you said in a hypothetical discussion that if you go ahead, you can repeat what you said.
BENNETT: I don't think I will.
BLITZER: If you go ahead and abort all black babies, there will be a reduction in crime. It caused a huge stir. Since this is the first time you're joining me here on CNN, I want you to explain to our viewers what you were thinking because I've known you were many years. I know you're not a racist. And I just want our viewers to have an understanding of what you were saying.
BENNETT: Well this was -- first, I want to thank CNN for looking past this canard, or through this canard and taking me on. But I've had a number of controversies in my life and some of them, frankly deserved. This one was not deserved.
I was dealing with a hypothetical, talking about lowering crime rate by aborting babies in the black community. And that this was a hypothetical. Obviously it was a matter that had been under discussion in articles and newspapers and in some discussions and books.
But I brought it up as a hypothetical to point out how noxious it was. After having brought up the hypothetical, I said of course that would be a reprehensible and impossible thing to do, direct quote.
Well some of the media that replayed it played the hypothetical, but they didn't play my condemnation of the hypothetical. I'm a college professor, old college professor, I use hypotheticals. And sometimes you bring up an extreme or ridiculous position in order to show how absurd it is. That was the point of it. So, it was based on a distortion. But more than that, Wolf, it was the whole thing, as it went on, was based on a distortion of my life.
I appreciate what you say about me. I went to Mississippi in 1967, I taught, I taught Martin Luther King letter from a Birmingham jail. I've been committed to civil rights and all anybody has to do is look at my life, my record and the work that we still do.
BLITZER: Bill Bennett, welcome to CNN and you'll be spending a lot of time here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
BENNETT: Thank you very much, great place to be.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Up next, Oprah Winfrey's mea culpa. Why she's now apologizing to the world for a call she made to CNN's Larry King. We'll have that story.
Plus, basketball's Isiah Thomas caught up in a case of he says, she says. Details of some very allegations being made by a former colleague. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: It was an hour of very unusual television today as Oprah Winfrey confronted author James Frey and pulled her support for the memoir, he now contains a healthy dose of fiction, as well as some fact in that memoir as well. CNN's Mary Snow is following the controversy, a huge uproar out there, Mary. What's the latest?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really was a huge uproar, Wolf, and today Winfrey seemed to be emotional at times. She told her audience she made a mistake. She apologized. And she also pressed Frey for answers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: It is difficult for me to talk to you because I really feel duped.
SNOW (voice-over): Oprah Winfrey says it was a first in her television career. She confronted author James Frey, who admitted he embellished parts of his memoir, "A Million Little Pieces," in a book she touted as inspirational.
JAMES FREY, AUTHOR: I have, you know, essentially admitted to...
WINFREY: Lying.
FREY: ... that I have been -- to lying.
WINFREY: To lying. SNOW: In September, Winfrey added the memoir to her book club. Sales skyrocketed. By January, Frey found himself under scrutiny and went on the Larry King show to defend himself.
FREY: I don't think it's necessarily appropriate to say I've conned anyone.
SNOW: That same night, came a surprise phone call from Winfrey. She defended Frey.
WINFREY: To me, it seems to be much ado about nothing. The underlying message of redemption in James Frey's memoir still resonates with me and I know that it resonates with millions of other people who have read this book.
SNOW: Now, Winfrey has done an about-face and retracted her support.
WINFREY: I regret that phone call. I made a mistake and I left the impression that the truth does not matter and I'm deeply sorry about that.
SNOW: Questions first arose on The Smoking Gun, a Web site owned by CourtTV, which is partly owned by Time Warner, CNN's parent company.
WINFREY: The Smoking Gun report, titled "The Man who Conned Oprah," and I want to know were they right.
FREY: I think most of what they wrote was pretty accurate, absolutely.
SNOW: Among the facts that turned out to be fiction, Frey's time in jail. He said he spent a few hours in jail, not 87 days as written in the book. Frey also says he altered every character in the book but still thinks of it as a memoir, not a novel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: The publisher of the book, Doubleday and Anchor Books also retracted its previous support, including that a number of facts were altered and incidents embellished. It is apologizing to readers and says will add a note from the publisher and author in all further printings. Wolf?
BLITZER: All right, Mary, thanks very much. I wonder if "The New York Times" book review and other book reviews and newspapers, magazines around the country are going to move this book from the nonfiction to the fiction category, now that he admits he made up so much of this story. The online community is certainly a buzz over author James Frey's newest confessions on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Let's get more from our Internet reporter Jacki Schechner. Jacki?
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Wolf, you talk about those book lists. We'll show you in a moment, they haven't moved it yet. Chances are that you missed the interview because you were in THE SITUATION ROOM with us at 4:00 and 5:00. But online at Gawker.com, this is a New York media blog, they live blog a feed of that show.
And you can read very detailed notes about what Oprah said to James Frey in her confrontation. She does of course mention the Smoking Gun Web site. You can still go to TheSmokingGun.com and read the full investigative report. It is still their featured document there.
As for book sales, well they say no publicity is bad publicity. And according to Amazon.com, it's still No. 5 in books. Yesterday it was No. 6. And if you go to the community sections of Amazon.com, where people post their reviews, you can see there are 1,300 people who have commented on this book, Wolf.
BLITZER: Jacki, thank you very much.
Up next, Nicole Kidman's new role on the world stage. We'll show you how she's about to give Angelina Jolie a run for her money.
Plus, basketball star turned Knicks boss Isiah Thomas embroiled now in a bitter battle with a former colleague. Details of the sexual harassment lawsuit he's now facing. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: The actress Nicole Kidman is taking on a new role. Let's go live to our senior United Nations correspondent, Richard Roth, for details. Who would have though I'd go to the U.N. for details on a new role involving Nicole Kidman.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, Nicole Kidman is a goodwill ambassador for a U.N. women's rights agency. She said this time, the story's not about her. It's about getting attention for issues such as violent against women.
I mean, the last time Nicole Kidman was in the U.N. building, it was for "The Interpreter" movie where she overheard an assassination plot. In the mid '90s she defused a nuclear bomb across the street in the movie "The Peacemaker." So I asked her is this now a save the world campaign she continues to be on?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLE KIDMAN, U.N. GOODWILL AMBASSADOR: I don't know if it's about saving the world. It's about helping people, though. It's -- I was -- I think -- I was always raised, as I said, with my family having the door open to our house, allowing people in.
And my mother was always saying you have to take care -- we have to take care of each other and not just our own family. This world is a big family. And I think that's the way in which I view it. And I've been given many, many blessings in this life and so much of it is about now, a time and a place of being able to give back.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROTH: Kidman joins a growing rank of ambassadors by celebrity route, including Angelina Jolie, Michael Douglas -- Wolf, there's almost as many as U.N. member countries, 191. The party is growing.
BLITZER: Good. Good work. Thanks very much, Richard, for that.
Let's find out what's coming up right at the top of the hour. Paula is standing by in New York. Hi, Paula.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Wolf. Just about seven minutes from now, we are going to take a look at that cruise ship mystery that everybody has been talking about, the case of the honeymooner who simply vanished off a ship in the Mediterranean. I'll be talking with forensic expert Dr. Henry Lee, who says he found something when he examined the ship just days ago.
Now, that's six months or so after this has happened. Could that break open up the case, even though that room has been used by many, many customers over the last several months.
And would you believe there's a thriving black market for human breast milk? Who's buying this stuff, sometimes paying hundreds of dollars a bottle? Well, the answer might shock you. Those stories and much more coming up just about six minutes from now, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, thanks very much, Paula. We'll be watching.
A very bitter and very public battle has broken out between former NBA star Isiah Thomas and a former colleague who accuses him now of sexual harassment. CNN's Adaora Udoji reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's not the ending Anucha Browne Sanders, one of the most powerful women in professional sports, had worked so hard for.
ANUCHA BROWNE SANDERS, PLAINTIFF: I'm outraged that I was fired for telling the truth. And I'm outraged that they've destroyed what was a stellar sports career for me.
UDOJI: A stellar career -- from a star college basketball player to the senior vice presidency of the New York Knicks, in charge of business operations and marketing. Browne Sanders was living her dream when it was shattered, she says, by Isiah Thomas, the team's president who she accuses of sexually harassing her.
Thomas, a former NBA superstar, vehemently denies her allegations, all 18 pages of them outlined in the lawsuit she filed this week. In it, Browne Sanders charges shortly after Thomas joined the team in 2003, he began, quote, "to sexually harass her," among other things calling her curse words and a ho to he face.
Browne Sanders in the suit accuses Thomas of, quote, "repeatedly confessing his love for her, suggesting they go off site together, a thinly-veiled solicitation for sex," and that Thomas, quote, "continued to undermine Browne Sanders within the Knicks organization."
(on camera): Browne Sanders is also suing Madison Square Garden. The Garden and the Knicks are owned by the same company. She claims that management here ignored her complaints and fired her ultimately in retaliation, despite good performance reviews.
(voice-over): But Garden officials deny any retaliation. They say Browne Sanders was fired because she failed to fulfill her professional responsibilities. In the raw politics of the Big Apple, the lawsuit triggered dueling news conferences with each side blasting the other in a he says, she says battle.
SANDERS: No woman, regardless of the industry she works for, should have to endure the type of abuse that I endured on this job.
ISIAH THOMAS, PRES., NEW YORK KNICKS: I did not harass Anucha, I did not discriminate against her. I did not fire her, I did not participate in any discussion that led to her being fired.
UDOJI: Thomas says he spoke to reporters over his attorneys' objections to defend his reputation, suggesting Browne Sanders is simply motivated by money.
THOMAS: I would not allow anybody, man or woman, to use me as a pawn for their financial gain.
UDOJI: Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: In a moment, the Oprah apology and the author that led to it. Jack Cafferty back with your e-mail.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Let's go right to Jack in New York with "The Cafferty File" -- Jack.
CAFFERTY: Oprah Winfrey today, Wolf, retracted her support for James Frey who wrote that best-seller, "A Million Little Pieces." I bought this thing a couple weeks ago. I'm about halfway through it, then I find out he's a lying worm. I have no interest in finishing the book at all, even though it's a pretty good read.
Frey confessed he made up details about every character in his memoir. The question is, how much leeway should an author have when writing a memoir?
And Ray, who bills himself as an aspiring novelist, writes this: "Blurring the lines of truth can be a compelling narrative device, especially in works of fiction to create mood, tone and authorial timbre. Personally, I'm all for a good liar if the writing's good."
Barton in Mill Creek, Washington: "I believe an author has no obligation to the reader. It's the publisher who's responsible. Jack, I plan to title my memoir "A Liar's Autobiography." Matt in Washington, D.C.: "Who's Oprah to say she feels duped by Frey's stretching the truth in his memoir? Her initial reaction was correct. She only changed it after she saw that it was an unpopular opinion."
Emma in Illinois: "I'm disappointed to find that many of the interesting, heart-wrenching, and frightening occurrences in the book never happened. At first, I had great respect for Mr. Frey, but after finding this out, I just can't trust that he's a completely honest person. It's sad to discover that one of the most inspiring and incredible books I've ever read is fake."
Ann writes, "who cares what label is slapped on the book? A good read is a good read."
And Tom in New York writes, "authors of memoirs should have as much leeway as it takes to make the book entertaining. I don't want to know what Chicken McNuggets are made of or how old the kid who made my Nikes is. I don't want to know that a book I just read was a load of lies. It would be like learning that deep down inside, you were all nice and cuddly. Ignorance is bliss, Jack."
BLITZER: Jack, should this book be moved from the non-fiction to the fiction list?
CAFFERTY: It's a little late now, ain't it?
BLITZER: The guy has made a few million dollars already.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
BLITZER: And, as you said earlier, he ain't going to give it back.
CAFFERTY: No.
BLITZER: Jack, thanks very much. See you tomorrow. Let's head to New York. Still in New York, Paula Zahn standing by to take over our coverage -- Paula.
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