Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Samuel Alito's Confirmation Expected Tomorrow; Ramsey Clark Speaks About Hussein Trial; Jury is Seated in Enron Trial

Aired January 30, 2006 - 19:59   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much, Lou. And to our viewers, you're now in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Standing by, CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you the day's top stories.
Happening now, it's 5:00 a.m. in Pakistan, where just weeks ago, a U.S. airstrike targeted al Qaeda's No. 2 man. Now he's back with a new terror tape taunting President Bush and threatening Americans.

It's 1:00 a.m. in Landstuhl, Germany, where a roadside bombing in Iraq has left ABC anchor Bob Woodruff and a cameraman, Doug Vogt lying, badly wounded, in a military hospital. What lies ahead?

And it's 4:00 p.m. under the border between Mexico and California, scene of a sophisticated 2400 foot tunnel allegedly used by drug smugglers. Our Anderson Cooper is going to take all of us inside.

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

We begin tonight with two prominent men who went from covering the war in Iraq to becoming casualties of that war. Right now, ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and his cameraman, Doug Vogt, lie seriously wounded in a U.S. military hospital in Germany. They were injured while riding with Iraqi forces when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. Let's go to live to Landstuhl, Germany. CNN's Chris Burns standing by with the latest -- Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it was a day here of a testing, of examination. Families members arrived as well as an ABC executive. They put their heads together with the doctors to decide what the next step should be in treating these two men.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BURNS (voice-over): At Landstuhl U.S. Military Hospital, two more cases that are all too come here: victims of a roadside bomb in Iraq. ABC news anchorman bob woodruff and Emmy winning cameraman Doug Vogt arrived with breathing tubes and heavily sedated. They're suffering from head wounds and broken bones after Sunday's blast in which a so-called improvised explosive device blew up outside the military vehicle they were driving in. Standing in the open hatch, they were hit by shrapnel and whatever else the bomb kicked up despite they're body armor and helmet. LT. COL. GUILLERMO TELLES, LANDSTUHL REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: These are foreign bodies that can cause tremendous amount of injury to flesh and bones.

BURNS (on camera): So you've seen this pretty off, then?

TELLES: Unfortunately, yes.

BURN (voice-over): After U.S. military doctors operated on them in Iraq, they underwent CAT scans and other testing here. The hospital says doctors saw good early signs of reaction, signs of slow improvement.

Thousands of American troops have gone through this medical center, the biggest of its kind outside the U.S. Each soldier, a tragedy for at least one family.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNS: And now two more casualties among thousands, but, then, one of them was beamed across America into millions of homes across America every night makes it even more real that Iraq remains a dangerous and violent place -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Chris Burns on the scene for us at Landstuhl. Thank you very much.

Doctors say they do see some signs of slow improvement. But Bob Woodruff and Doug Vogt have an uncertain road ahead. Let's try to get a better sense of what they might be going through from our senior medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He's joining us now from the CNN center.

Sanjay, you're a neurosurgeon. You've covered military action. You've seen these kinds of head injuries. Obviously, we don't know the specifics of this case. But walk us through what might be going on.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. When you talk about explosions like this, there are several different factors. First of all, we doesn't know either how close they were to this IED, this improvised explosive device, nor how powerful the device was itself, so it's a little bit hard to say. But really, you think about three different waves of injury to the body and to the brain after an explosion like this.

The first wave typically is debris that is actually launched by the explosive device itself or any debris in the area. The second wave really is this concussive type wave that you just see there, sort of moving the brain back and forth within the skull that can sometimes cause bleeding either within the brain or on top of the brain. And sometimes that just causes significant swelling.

The third wave, Wolf, is when the bodies themselves sort of move around. But that's typically what happens in this sort of explosive device being so close to it, Wolf. BLITZER: It's like the shock waves really could cause some serious damage. How are these guys treated for these kinds of injuries?

GUPTA: Yes. I mean, it's a good question. Again, don't know the specific types of injuries. But for shrapnel type injuries, for example, shrapnel can be launched at very high velocities as fast as being ejected from a gun or rifle. And if any of that has actually penetrated the skull, penetrated the skull, that would obviously need to be removed immediately.

If it had caused any bleeding, for example, either in the brain or on the brain, those blood clots, those blood collections would have to be taken out.

Also, Wolf, I have a brain here. I want to just show you this model. What happens sometimes, there's so much swelling from one side of the brain or the other that the bone here is actually removed and left off just to give the brain some room to swell, to give the brain some room and then hopefully that swelling will subside over time. That's another operation that might be done in this sort of situation. But there's all sorts of different operations, depending on the specific injuries.

BLITZER: Are there other injuries we're looking at potentially as well?

GUPTA: Yes. I mean, you know, we talk about any type you have a shrapnel injury, you can have all sorts of different organ systems involved. You have also got to worry about infection, you know, in the long run if you leave that bone flap off, for example, that could be a problem. But the biggest concern, really -- sounds like anyway -- is the injury to the brain either from that concussive effect or from the shrapnel itself.

BLITZER: Sanjay Gupta. Thanks very much, Sanjay, for that insight. The kind of improvised explosive device that hit Bob Woodruff and his cameraman is dangerously common in Iraq. The U.S. military says more than one third of the 62 American troops who died in Iraq this month alone were killed by these IEDs.

In our CNN security watch, he escaped a U.S. air strike aimed at a terrorist gathering in a remote mountain village. It didn't take al Qaeda's number two man very long to answer with a videotape letting the world know that he's still very much alive, still very much a threat. Let's go live to our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In fact, Wolf, this is essentially the quickest turnaround we've seen al Qaeda, Ayman al Zawahiri or Osama bin Laden taking a specific event and responding to that specific event. This is the quickest turnaround of this type we've seen al Qaeda perform.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROBERTSON (voice-over): It has been 17 days since the U.S. tried to kill him in a missile attack in Pakistan. Now Ayman al Zawahiri has fired back. His response delivered to the Arab language channel al Jazeera.

AYMAN AL ZAWAHIRI, AL QAEDA (through translator): Their claim was to target this poor man and four of my brothers. The whole world discovered the lies as the Americans fight Islam and the Muslims.

ROBERTSON: The message, you missed me, you can't find me, clearly targeting President Bush. He adds taunts to what has become a diatribe against this administration.

ZAWAHIRI (through translator): Bush, do you know where I am? I am among the Muslim masses enjoying their care with God's blessing and sharing with them their holy war against you until we defeat you, God willing.

ROBERTSON: By far the quickest video to market yet for al Qaeda, complete with English subtitles. It's only been 11 days since Osama bin Laden's audio message offering a truce in Iraq and Afghanistan to the American public aired on al Jazeera. Zawahiri not only talked about that, but the U.S. government's rejection of the offer.

ZAWAHIRI (through translator): Sheikh (ph) Osama bin Laden offered you a decent exit from your dilemma but your leaders were akin to accumulate wealth, insist on throwing you in battles and killing your souls in Iraq and Afghanistan and God willing on your own land.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: Well, the White House's response has been that al Qaeda is on the run. But it seems the very speed with which al Qaeda has turned this around that Zawahiri at least thinks that no one is close to catching him. Indeed, video trail of getting his message out isn't being traced back to him at this time, Wolf.

BLITZER: Nic Robertson reporting to us. Thank very much. And as Nic just reported, the White House press secretary Scott McClellan says the tape shows al Qaeda leadership -- in the words of McClellan -- clearly on the run and under a lot of pressure. But he adds that al Qaeda is still very much a lethal and determined enemy. And says the Bush administration still takes the al Qaeda threat seriously.

To our viewers, stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Moving on to another dramatic new videotape out today, this one of kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll. She seems to be distressed and distraught. The footage was aired on al Jazeera. CNN cannot confirm when or where the video was shot.

In it, Jill Carroll is apparently crying. Al Jazeera says she's urged her family, friends and all Americans to plead to U.S. and Iraqi officials for the release of female prisoners in Iraq. Carroll's captors have threatened to kill her unless all female prisoners were set free.

Last week, the U.S. military in Iraq released five female prisoners, but their release is said to be unrelated to the demands from Jill Carroll's kidnappers.

Let's go to CNN's Zain Verjee at the CNN center for a closer look at some other headlines making news -- Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the Senate is now on track to confirming Judge Samuel Alito after members overwhelming defeated a filibuster attempt by Democrats. 72 Senators voted to cut off debate on Alito and just proceed to a final vote tomorrow morning. That's 12 more votes than needed, virtually assuring Alito will be confirmed as the next Supreme Court justice, replacing Sandra Day O'Connor.

The Bush White House says the president will deliver an upbeat State of the Union Address tomorrow night. He's trying to reclaim lost support among the American people. Mr. Bush will stress what one official calls kitchen table issues such as healthcare and energy. A special SITUATION ROOM coverage of the president's address begins as 7:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow.

And another major American company says it's going to lay off workers. Kraft Foods says it will cut 8,000 jobs. That's about 8 percent of its work force. Kraft is the nation's largest food manufacturer. The company says it will close up to 20 production plants. Kraft says it's part of an ongoing attempt to help save the company more than $1 billion.

Back to THE SITUATION ROOM and to Wolf and Jack.

BLITZER: Let's go right up to Jack in New York. Jack, with "The Cafferty File."

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: As long as they don't quit making that macaroni and cheese. Kraft macaroni and cheese is the best macaroni and cheese.

VERJEE: Kraft.

CAFFERTY: What?

VERJEE: Kraft.

CAFFERTY: Say excuse.

VERJEE: Say schedule.

CAFFERTY: Just what President Bush needs.

VERJEE: Controversy.

CAFFERTY: Stop. Tell her to leave him alone, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jill (sic), leave him alone.

VERJEE: Jill? It's Zain.

BLITZER: Zain, leave him alone.

CAFFERTY: There. Now, you heard from the master. Hush.

President Bush doesn't need this on the eve of the State of the Union Address. There's a new terror tape from bin Laden's right-hand man, videotape message aired on al Jazeera. Ayman al Zawahiri says he survived that U.S. missile attack in Pakistan. He directly addresses President Bush, calls him the butcher of Washington and a loser. Al Qaeda's number two says the president will bring, quote, "more disasters to the American people," unquote, and vows to continue fighting the holy war.

This comes 11 days after that new bin Laden audiotape. Taken together, these two tapes could make the president's job of talking up progress in the war on terror a bit more difficult. So the question is this, what does the new al Zawahiri tape mean for President Bush?

E-mail us your thoughts, caffertyfile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/caffertyfile. You ever eat that Kraft macaroni and cheese, Wolf?

BLITZER: It's delicious.

CAFFERTY: I love it.

BLITZER: Good comfort food.

Thanks very much, Jack. We'll get back to you soon. Zain as well.

Coming up, the child of Saddam Hussein turns into a three-ring circus, at least that's what the critics are saying. His lawyers refuse to show up in court this week. I'll speak with one of them, the former U.S. attorney general, Ramsey Clark, he's here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

And a secret tunnel into the United States from Mexico. Drugs and who knows what else coming in under the border. Our Anderson Cooper is there. He's going to show us what's happening on the scene.

Also, homophobia at an Islamist Palestine. Hear why a senior leader of Hamas, the co-founder, is rejecting the idea of a secular Palestinian state. Our CNN exclusive. Say with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Fresh fireworks at the trial of Saddam Hussein, which has resumed with a new judge in charge. CNN's Brian Todd is in the newsroom. He has got details of some heated exchanges -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the new judge in Saddam Hussein's trial is trying to restore order to the proceedings but the credibility of this trial is still in some question after the latest courtroom theatrics. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TODD (voice-over): Saddam Hussein deals with regime change in the courtroom, a heated exchange with his new judge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): No, no, no, I will not allow you.

SADDAM HUSSEIN (through translator): Do not force me. Do not force me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I'm not forcing you to do anything.

HUSSEIN (through translator): This is my right.

TODD: Before long the former dictator walks out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I am the judge and you are the...

HUSSEIN (through translator): Shame on you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I'm the judge and you are the defendant and you are disrespecting the rules of the court.

HUSSEIN (through translator): Shame on him. Do not say get him out. I ask to leave.

TODD: But the judge claims he ordered Saddam out. Now Saddam's attorneys tell CNN they have their own demands for Chief Judge Rauf Rashid Abdel Rahman if they're to appear in court on Wednesday.

NAGIB MOHAMMED AL-NUAIMI, ATTY FOR SADDAM HUSSEIN: He has to apologize to our lawyer, has to apologize to everyone. If he wants to conduct it, he has to conduct from the proper procedures.

TODD: They also want Judge Abdel Rahman to apologize to Saddam's half-brother Barzan Hassan (ph). It was the judge's rejection of Hassan that started it the melee after the half-brother complained that he wasn't receiving adequate treatment for cancer then called the court, quote, "the daughter of the whore."

As Saddam's attorneys were leaving, the judge warned them that if they did, they wouldn't be allowed back in ever.

RUTH WEDGWOOD, FRM. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I think it's important as an assertion of the authority of the new Iraqi government to say that there are limits beyond which you as a mere Iraqi citizen cannot go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: But Saddam's lawyers have other tactics up their sleeve, telling CNN they're preparing a lawsuit against President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. They say they'll take those two leaders to the international court in the Netherlands in the coming weeks for violating international law in the invasion of Iraq. And they say they will seek damages.

Contacted by CNN, an official with the National Security Council said it would be premature to comment -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Brian Todd reporting. Thanks, Brian, very much.

Ramsey Clark is the former United States attorney general taking part in Saddam Hussein's legal defense team. He was in Baghdad last week. He joined us here in THE SITUATION ROOM earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Ramsey Clark, welcome to Washington. Thanks very much for joining us.

RAMSEY CLARK, SADDAM HUSSEIN'S LEGAL DEFENSE TEAM: Thank you, Wolf. Good to be here.

BLITZER: Why are the Saddam Hussein defense lawyers and Saddam Hussein disrupting this proceeding?

CLARK: I think that's a minor aspect. The real problem and the cause is the dysfunction of the court. The court has five judges. Three of the original judges are off the court, two just January 29. They put new people on. But they put them on under circumstances that make you believe you're not getting a fair trial.

The three that were taken off the court, one had a clear conflict of interest. He thought his brother had been killed by the defendants. What's he doing on the court? The other two was from pressure. The first chief judge resigned, because he said he was being pressured by political leaders and he wasn't going to take it.

BLITZER: So, what's going to happen? Saddam's lawyers are now saying they are going to boycott this session scheduled for later in the week.

CLARK: I don't think they're going to boycott. We've always said that we would never abandon the client. But what do you do when two of the lawyers have been killed, one seriously wounded, half a dozen have disappeared for other defendants, haven't shown up. And you don't have -- even though you've pleaded for it, you don't have protection for the Iraqi lawyers? I spent half my time urging protection for the Iraqi lawyers.

BLITZER: One of your colleagues, the Iraqi lawyer Halil al- Dumaimi says there's a unanimous decision by the defense team to not attend Wednesday's hearing, because of the comedy we witnessed in yesterday's trial.

CLARK: Yes. Not attend is simply to say that until the proceeding respects the rights of the defendants, it should not go forward. And you see what happened. This new judge comes in. He's from Halabja of all places. Why in the world would anyone who wanted a court to appear to be fair appoint a new judge in the middle of the trial who hadn't heard the 16 witnesses that already had come on from Halabja.

BLITZER: He's a Kurd.

CLARK: He's a Kurd, but Halabja is a special place isn't it? There's not a town in Kurdistan that is more famous more famous for deaths, 5,000 people they claimed died there from gassing.

BLITZER: So, what's going to happen? If this were an American court and the defense team simply decided to bolt and to boycott, or if the defendant were not cooperating, the judge would presumably hold them all in contempt and throw them in jail.

CLARK: If this were the American court, you would have had the protection that you needed to go forward. How do you try a case when you know that you're in constant danger of being killed, when you've already lost two people and they're not giving you any protection?

If they're trying to railroad this thing through to a conviction and a hanging, a lawyer can't just sit there and do nothing. And so you have to try to get the case on track so it can be a fair trial. If this isn't a fair trial, there's going to be an enormous price paid.

BLITZER: What happens now?

CLARK: What happens now, either this court -- it's probably not possible -- I mean, the violence in the country is of a magnitude and order that nobody's safe. The judges don't feel safe. How do we get witness -- we can't go out to see a witness? We can't -- we're trying a case in Dujail, we've never been to Dujail. We can't go to Dujail. It's too dangerous. You've got to have real protection to get up there. How can you cross-examine a witness if you can't do that?

So, they're either going to get the act together which I don't think is possible or the case is going to have to be abandoned. It ought to -- it shouldn't have been started. It should be abandoned. If there's to be a trial, it ought to go to a court that can give a fair trial. And it will probably have to be an international court.

BLITZER: And you'll stay on top of this? You're going to be involved.

CLARK: I'll do everything I can to see that this trial, if it occurs, is fair because I think if it's not fair you're going to distort historic truth. You're going to show that public justice in the most important cases is not possible. And, finally, you're going to cause violence.

There can be no reconciliation if the trial is perceived as unfair. There will be more violence, more chaos in a country that it breaks your heart to see now from what's happened to it.

BLITZER: Well, we'll stay on top of it. We'll watch it every step of the way. Not as closely as you, though, but we'll try to do our best.

Ramsey Clark, thanks for joining us.

CLARK: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: and still to come here in THE SITUATION ROOM, we'll have more on ABC's Bob Woodruff seriously wounded in Iraq. Details of his friendship with another American television journalist who didn't survive the war. An extraordinary story, the relationship between Bob Woodruff and David Bloom.

And a CNN exclusive: a co-founder of Hamas talks about the need for an Islamic Palestinian state so that no homosexuals will be allowed in. My exclusive interview. All that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: More now on ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff who was seriously injured along with a photographer in Iraq this weekend. The incident calls to mind the death of NBC's David Bloom, who died covering the war in 2003. It turns out their stories and their families are much closer than many people know.

CNN's Mary Snow is joining us now from New York. She has details -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Bob Woodruff and David Bloom had a bond professionally and personally. They were close friends with jobs that took them on dangerous assignments. It's something their wives understood well and grew closer through tragedy. Now that support is being called on once again.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW (voice-over): As Bob Woodruff was flown to a military hospital in Germany, his wife, Leigh, was on her way to be with him. By her side, Melanie Bloom. Melanie lost her husband, David, an NBC correspondent in 2003. He died of a medical condition while covering the Iraqi war. When the shocking call came, it was Leigh Woodruff who got the first call. She and Melanie Bloom talked about it on the "Jane Pauley Show" last year.

LEIGH WOODRUFF, BOB WOODRUFF'S WIFE: And for some reason they couldn't get through on her so they called me. And it was 2:00 in the morning and of course my first thought was, what's happened to Bob? And I called Mel and I said NBC is trying to reach you. And I didn't ask what was wrong but they told me to get in the car and start driving to her.

SNOW: As Leigh went to comfort her friend, Bob Woodruff cut short his assignment in Iraq to attend Bloom's funeral. Woodruff spoke about the family's bond to Larry King.

BOB WOODRUFF, ABC ANCHOR: Our wives hit it off. And they had a lot in common with husbands like us and they didn't have to explain anything to each other. So we became very, very close friends, family friends. Our kids became friends.

SNOW: When Bloom's twins had a father/daughter dance recently, it was Woodruff who stepped in to take them. Like Bloom, Woodruff also has twin girls, the youngest of his four children. America saw their love for one another during ABC's coverage of the tsunami.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come home soon?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come home soon.

B. WOODRUFF: Dora and Clair, sweety you're breaking my heart now.

SNOW: Woodruff told his children he would give them a massive hug when he returned home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: And as anyone who knows Bob Woodruff will tell you, while Bob is known for his passion about his work, he has an even greater passion for his family -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And I know you worked closely with Bob earlier in your career. Like you and all of us, millions of people around the world, we want to wish him, Doug Vogt, his photographer, a speedy recovery.

Mary, thank you very much for that good piece. Hope he recovers very, very quickly.

Just a short while ago, I talked about the dangers facing journalists in Iraq with "Time" magazine's Baghdad bureau chief Michael Ware. He joined us from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Michael Ware, thanks very much for joining us. Let's talk about Bob Woodruff. You spoke with him just before he left. How did that conversation go?

MICHAEL WARE, TIME: Well, Bob was keenly interested in the story in Iraq. What he wanted to know was what was the latest from the ground. And in great detail, we discussed what had been going on behind the scenes.

I'm sure in the back of his mind were the concerns for safety that every journalist in Iraq must carry with them like a heavy stone around their neck. Yet, Bob really wanted to know about the story. And I think that's what was foremost with him as he set off.

BLITZER: You've gone out, you've been embedded with U.S. troops. But it's different when you're embedded with Iraqi troops when you go on an Iraqi armored vehicle as opposed to a U.S. armored vehicle. And he was in an old Soviet-made Iraqi armored vehicle. We've got some video of that. That's especially dangerous, isn't it?

WARE: Yes. Those old BMPs, I suspect it was, not as -- anywhere near as well armored as the modern American Bradley armored fighting vehicle, or certainly the M1 Abrams tank. But let me tell you this, the devices, the homemade explosive devices that the Iraqi insurgents are now fashioning and laying in wait for American forces are so deadly and have become so sophisticated -- they're using laser technology, and can rip apart a Bradley like a tuna can. In the very area where Bob and his cameraman were hurt, Taji, north of the capital, I know an American unit that I'd spent time with, its Bradley was torn apart and six men inside were killed. There's now an explosive device, a shaped charge in Iraq that's been floating around for about a year that can punch through an Abrams battle tank like a fist through a plaster wall. To some degree, there's nothing that you can do. You're just rolling the dice.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST: And our thoughts and prayers are with Bob Woodruff right now, his cameraman Doug Vogt as well. Let's talk about Jill Carroll, another journalist you know from your experiences in Iraq. We saw her weeping today on this latest Al-Jazeera videotape. It's heartbreaking to see this kind of stuff. What goes thou your mind?

WARE: Well, honestly, it's an awful thing. I mean, every journalist plays this scenario out in their mind. It's so easy to empathize with poor Jill's situation. I mean -- I mean, I haven't been detained, but I've been hauled from my car. I had Zarqawi's foreign Al-Qaeda terrorists ready to execute me by the side of the road. This is the sort of thing that you never, ever get over. We all ache for someone in Jill's position. And you can only hope that there are secret back channel communications underway.

BLITZER: How does a journalist go about doing his or her job in Iraq right now with the dangers from improvised explosive devices, kidnapping, god knows what else? You've spent a lot of time there over the past few years. How do you do it?

WARE: It's very, very hard. And it's been this way for well over a year now. I remember in the beginning of 2004, journalists could still traverse the breadth and width of Iraq. And then we lost the highways. The insurgents took control of the highways. Then by the summer of 2004, we lost the capital city. We can no longer move about Baghdad without fully armed escorts. And even armed escorts are no guarantee of safety against suicide car bombings or determined kidnap attempts. Even in your own home, you can be car bombed. And we've seen incidents where insurgents have assaulted westerners' homes and dragged them out for kidnap and hostage taking.

I cannot begin to tell you how dire the situation is in Iraq on the ground. And think about the Iraqi people, you cannot send your children to elementary school without the dreaded fear that they will be on the wrong street corner at the wrong time and blown up. I mean, we are seeing multiple car bombings in Baghdad virtually every day. Fire fights breaking out everywhere. Can you imagine living in such a condition?

BLITZER: Michael Ware of our sister publication "Time" magazine, thanks for joining us.

WARE: My pleasure. Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: We're also following casualties among U.S. forces in Iraq. According to the Pentagon, as of today, 2,241 Americans have been killed since the start of the war nearly three years ago.

The militant Islamic group Hamas is now taking charge of the Palestinian political scene and it's calling on world leaders to keep international aid flowing. But President Bush is calling on Hamas to give up terrorism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Hamas party has made it clear that they do not support the right of Israel to exist. And I have made it clear, so long as that's their policy, that we will not support a Palestinian government made up of Hamas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: There's no sign Hamas will budge on that issue. Yesterday I spoke with one of the leaders of Hamas, and he certainly didn't try to sugarcoat the goals of the organization.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(voice-over): Mahmoud Al-Zahar, a trained surgeon, was a co-founder of Hamas in 1987. He minces no words in describing his vision of an Islamic Palestinian state.

MAHMOUD AL-ZAHAR, HAMAS COFOUNDER: Do you think the circle of system is serving the -- any nation. Certain system allows homosexuality, allows corruption, allows the spread of the loss of natural immunity, like aids. We are here living under Islamic control. No -- nothing will change. Islam is our constitution.

BLITZER: He rejects the long-standing U.S. charge that Hamas is a terrorist organization.

AL-ZAHAR: When the American attacking the Arabic and Islamic world in Afghanistan, in Iraq and they are playing a deadly game in Lebanon, this is terrorism.

BLITZER: Although he insists Hamas is not taking money from Iran, he says the Palestinians will find other sources for financial assistance if U.S. aid dries up.

AL-ZAHAR: We'll be able to open another new channel under our Arabic and Islamic and international community to help the Palestinian people with our condition. We are looking for this money, but this money should not be conditioned.

BLITZER: In refusing to back away from the stated Hamas goal of destroying Israel, Al-Zahar pointed to the Israeli flag.

AL-ZAHAR: Ask the Israelis about what is the meaning of the two blue lines in their flag. What is the meaning of land over Israel in their concept?

BLITZER: The two blue flags on the Israeli flag that's -- that are on top of the Star of David, is that what you are talking about?

AL-ZAHAR: They are indicating -- they are saying that frankly -- it is indicating the River Nile the Froth (ph) Nile.

BLITZER: What you're saying is Israel wants to establish a state between the Nile and the Euphrates? Is that what you're saying?

AL-ZAHAR: Yes. It is written in their bibles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The flag of Israel, by the way, could be traced back more than a century to the dawn of the modern Zionist movement. According to the encyclopedia Judaica and the Israeli foreign ministry, the two stripes on the flag were inspired by the two stripes on the prayer shawls worn during prayer. These stripes and the six pointed Star of David date back to antiquity.

Just ahead, a secret tunnel into the United States, drugs and who knows what else coming in under the border. Our Anderson Cooper is going to give us a firsthand look.

And the future of infertility. A story for those planning families. A story that those people will want to watch very, very closely. All that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Corporation fraud on trial. Enron head Ken Lay faces justice. Can he get a fair hearing? You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. A Mexican man has been arrested in connection with that drug tunnel discovered under the U.S.-Mexican border. Investigators now say they think construction of the giant passage started in May of 2004 with operations beginning this past November. Our Anderson Cooper has had an exclusive look inside. Anderson is joining us now on the phone.

Anderson, tell us what you saw.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It is surreal, Wolf this tunnel. It comes out in an industrial warehouse, this anonymous warehouse very close to the border in San Diego and you go down a ladder. It's a little three foot hole, three feet by three feet. And this is one of the -- this is the largest tunnel underneath the U.S.- Mexican border that immigration, and customs enforcement agents have ever seen. It's also one of the most sophisticated tunnels, there's electrical cabling all throughout the 2,400 feet of underground tunnel. There's light bulbs, there's electric sockets for them to use power tools down there. There's even an oxygen system to pump in fresh air from Mexico. They found more than two tons of marijuana inside the tunnel, but there's no telling how many drugs or how -- and what kind of drugs were brought through the tunnel.

They know the tunnel has been -- they learned about this tunnel about two years ago. They don't even know how long it has actually been operational. But they've known about it for two years, but they don't know if that was most of that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) built or drugs were being brought through all that time. But it is just -- it is an incredible operation when you consider this thing is eight football fields long. Seven of those football fields are under U.S. territory, one football field is under Tijuana and it comes up in another anonymous warehouse in Tijuana. It's like something out of a movie, but it is very real and the customs and immigration services are all over it trying to track down leads to find out exactly who built the tunnel -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Anderson, briefly, do we know if people were smuggled in addition to drugs?

COOPER: It's possible but they doesn't know. They think logically it's probably just drugs. They say that because the economics of the tunnel -- it was so expensive likely to build it that drugs would be the most sensible thing, from an economics standpoint, to use. And the more people you bring through it, the more likelihood the tunnel will get known, to they probably want to limit the amount of people that actually move through that.

BLITZER: Anderson's going to have a lot more on this story coming up 10:00 p.m. Eastern, tonight. "Anderson Cooper 360." Anderson, good work. Thanks very much for that.

Up next, the corporate trial of the century, that's how it's being billed. Ken Lay finally facing justice. But can he get a fair trial? We're going to take a closer look. We're going to go live to the courtroom.

Also, what is the new Al-Zawahiri tape mean for president Bush? It's our question of the hour, Jack Cafferty has your e-mail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A little over an hour ago, a jury was seated in the trial of former Enron bosses Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. Our Ali Velshi is on the scene in Houston, he's got the bottom line -- Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, as of -- as late as Friday, Ken Lay, former chairman of Enron, and Jeffrey Skilling, former president and CEO, had said they can't get a fair trial in Houston. Well, in one day they seated an entire jury and at the end of the day it seemed clear, except whether Ken Lay thought he was innocent or not.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE) KEN LAY, FMR. ENRON CHAIRMAN: We're innocent. Or certainly not guilty and we think we're innocent.

VELSHI (voice-over): Day one of the trial for the former Enron boss. Enron was one of Houston's biggest employers before it went bankrupts in 2001 throwing thousands of people out of work. The Enron name was everywhere, on one of the downtown's finest buildings, on a major sports field.

DAVID BERG, TRIAL LAWYER: They're being tried in a down that resents, bitterly, at most levels, what happened to Enron. It hurt our friends, it hurt our neighbors, and it hurt those of us, not me, who had stock in the company.

VELSHI: Lawyers for Lay and former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling say their clients can't get a fair trial in Houston. With potential jurors calling Lay a "snake in the grass" and saying skilling would lie to his mother if it further his cause those comments came from questionnaires that some 400 potential jurors filled out in November. Thirteen pages of negotiated questions like, have you or your spouse lost a significant amount of money in the stock market in the past 10 years?

The defense hired a well-known jury consultant who says the ideal juror for Lay and Skilling is someone with a mind for business, likes being in control, and admires President Bush. But that's the ideal.

TOM AJAMIE, SECURITIES LAWYER: My biggest fear today on the defense is can I get a fair jury has anyone snuck on to this jury who really does have a strong feeling against my clients?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: Now, at the end of the day, lawyers for both Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling came out and said they're happy with the jury, they think it's a fair jury, it's a far cry from what they said Friday, but looks like this trial starts with opening arguments tomorrow morning, and I'll be here for that -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right Ali, thanks very much. We'll check back with you.

Let's find out what's coming up at the top of the hour. Paula Zahn is standing by.

Hi Paula.

PAULA ZAHN, "PAULA ZAHN NOW": Hi Wolf, thanks so much, Just about 12 minutes from now we will update you on the injuries to ABC news anchor, Bob Woodruff, and his cameraman, Doug Vogt. Plus, the latest on kidnapped journalist Jill Carroll and her impassed plea.

Also, a man who says he's guilty of a lot of things, but not the crimes he's accused of committing, For example, raping a 3-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy, accusations that will have to be duked out in court. Do police have the right man? Plus, a real eye-opener here. Who is the old lady killer? Could the trial actually lead into the wrestling ring? You're going to stay tuned for the answer to that one. Wolf, and I will be seeing you in THE SITUATION ROOM this time tomorrow night.

BLITZER: We are excited, Paula. So, you will be here right with me. We'll have a good time covering the "State of the Union." Thanks Paula.

ZAHN: Look forward to it.

BLITZER: Up next, your answers to our question of the hour. What does Ayman Al-Zawahiri and his new videotape mean for president Bush? Jack Cafferty standing by with your e-mail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Let's head straight to Jack in New York with the "Cafferty file" -- Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Wolf, there is a new video message from Osama bin Laden's right-hand man. That means in less than three weeks we've heard from both the top guys in Al-Qaeda. Ayman Al- Zawahiri says he survived that U.S. missile attack in Pakistan. And the video message aired on Al-Jazeera he calls President Bush, the quote, "Butcher of Washington and a looser," unquote. The question is, what is the new Al-zawahiri tape me for President Bush? Here's some of what you have written to us.

James writes, "It means we should have finished bin Laden and his loonies before we even thought about Iraq. Those and other items on the president's plate with zero completions."

John in West Hollywood writes, "The current tape means nothing more than the fact that Al-Qaeda is running scared and has no viable strategy options left other than to release fuzzy tapes to Al- Jazeera."

Jay writes, "Al-Zawahiri couldn't me more helpful if her were being paid. Once again, your president will be able to keep Americans cowering in fear while his cronies rob this nation blind.

He has failed at capturing Al-Qaeda, the middle class is suffering, but Exxon is making more money than any company in history."

Brent in San Antonio, Texas, "How can the president make the point that we're succeeding in the so-called 'war on terror?' Both bin Laden and his right-hand man have resurfaced. Is there any credible intelligence? How could we not see the outcome of the Palestinian elections? When will the American public wake up?"

And Chris writes, "The latest tape from Al Zawahiri apparently came from complete with subtitles. I could not read them clearly behind Wolf, but I think I saw, 'Focus on kitchen table issues tomorrow night, Mr. President."

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: Good point, Chris. All right, I'll see you tomorrow. We'll be covering this "State of the Union Address," Jack. Thank you very much.

Still ahead, millions of working women say it's a tough choice to make. Aggressively pursuing their careers or pausing to have a baby. Now medical advances may let them have both. We're going to take a closer look at the future, that's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Today CNN begins a year-long look into the future at developments that could be just around the corner. We begin with a report on cutting-edge medicine that could affect millions of working women. Here's CNN's Miles O'Brien.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREA MILLER, TANGO MEDIA: My name is Andrea Miller. I'm 34 and I'm the founder and president of Tango Media. I'm in a career but, nevertheless, I really feel the ticking clock. Right now, I probably average about 16 hour days. Like any entrepreneur will tell you, you live it and breathe it. When I have thought about being a mom, it was one of these things that you just feel like, well, of course I'm going to be. But I'm one of these people, I think, like a lot of women, who frankly, hadn't planned and suddenly you're 34 and trying to have a child and the doctors are say, hey, guess what, I think our life-style timeline has gotten out of sync with the fertility timeline. So, my wish for the future would be for science to advance to the point where women had many more options and had more control of her fertility.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Andrea represents an entire generation of working women who want to further their careers and yet someday still have kids. How close are we to the day when they could have it all?

(voice-over): This man believes he has the answer. Dr. Allen Copperman is a fertility specialist at New York's Mt. Sinai Medical Center. Everyday he sees patients just like Andrea whose careers may be rising, but whose prospects for pregnancy are falling fast.

DR. ALLEN COPPERMAN, FERTILITY SPECIALIST: Most of that is really related to a decline in egg quality with aging. When you're 21, 90 percent of your eggs are chromosomally normal and when you're 41 90 percent of the eggs are chromosomally abnormal.

O'BRIEN: For a woman who wants to postpone pregnancy invitrofertilisation is an option and thousands of babies have been conceived from frozen embryos. But what if you don't have a partner and want to wait until you do to conceive. Copperman says this is the future: Freezing a woman's actual eggs.

COPPERMAN: Well, we can thaw them out, fertilizing them by taking a single sperm and putting him right though this egg which has been frozen and thawed and them emplanting them. O'BRIEN: But does it work? Worldwide, fewer than two hundred babies have been born from frozen eggs, though several recent clinical trials suggest the success rate is growing.

COPPERMAN: Ten years from now it's my hope that I can sit there with a patient, like Andrea, or anybody else, and say that it is safe and it's effective.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Don't forget tomorrow night, a special extended edition of THE SITUATION ROOM leading up to the "State of the Union," we start 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Paula Zahn and the entire CNN politic team will join me here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Among our gests, the senate mMajority leader, Bill Frist, and House democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi. Anderson Cooper follows the speech, then "Larry King Live." Paula Zahn standing by now. Hi Paula.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com