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The Situation Room
New Details of Woodward's Account of War in Iraq Emerge
Aired September 29, 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: Thanks very much, Lou. And to our viewers, you're 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 tonight's top stories.
Happening now, a startling account of division dysfunction and denial -- new details tonight about Bob Woodruff's -- Bob Woodward's book that is on the Bush administration's handling of Iraq. We'll get a read on the book from the White House and from Democrats.
Also this hour, a congressman call it quits with a potential scandal erupting. Mark Foley of Florida leaves behind a trail of questionable e-mail messages to a 16-year-old boy. And he's complicating the Republican fight to keep control of the House.
Plus, an eye popping record of convicted lobbyists White House contacts -- was Jack Abramoff able to gain influence by wining, dinging and giving perks to top policymakers.
I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Tonight a state of denial exposed. Democrats are seizing on the explosive account of the Bush administration's Iraq policy. They are calling it deeply, deeply troubling but the White House is dismissing it as cotton candy that melts on contact. We have the book now in hand. We're going to share details with you tonight.
CNN's Kathleen Koch is standing by at the White House, but let's go to CNN's Mary Snow in New York with more details on this bombshell -- Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, after coming under criticism for his last two books for being too soft on the Bush administration, Bob Woodward is now painting a picture of a divided inner circle at the White House over Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice-over): Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld comes under heavy fire within the Bush administration and according to Bob Woodward there were attempts to get him fired. In "State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III", Colin Powell is quoted as telling then White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card if I go, Don should go.
Woodward reports Card tried twice to persuade the president to fire Rumsfeld but the president refused. A fact a senior White House official confirmed to CNN. While (INAUDIBLE) Friday Rumsfeld was asked about the book and generally dismissed it.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I haven't seen the book. I haven't read his first two books yet either, so...
(CROSSTALK)
RUMSFELD: ... I wouldn't hold your breath on this one.
SNOW: As an example of the friction inside the Bush inner circle, Woodward says that the president had to tell Rumsfeld at one point to return calls from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. I know you won't talk to Condi, but you've got to talk to her.
The White House quotes Rice as saying that's ridiculous. Perhaps the most damaging claim that the administration is not being upfront about the level of violence in Iraq. In an interview airing Sunday, Woodward tells CBS' "60 Minutes" there's intelligence that the violence is expected to get worse in 2007.
BOB WOODWARD, AUTHOR, "STATE OF DENIAL": In public you have the president and you have the Pentagon saying oh no, things are going to get better. No. There's public and then there's private. But what did they do with the private? They stamp it secret.
SNOW: The book says there are attacks on coalition forces every 15 minutes. White House spokesman Tony Snow said he not authorized to talk about classified information but replied...
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESPERSON: The president contrary to the assertion was not in fact painting a rose colored picture. He's been saying that it's a tough war. It's a long war. It's a war that's going to outlive his presidency.
SNOW: And on the hunt for weapons of mass destruction, Woodward says that Vice President Dick Cheney was so involved in the search for WMD in Iraq that he called chief weapons inspector David Kay with specific satellite coordinates.
Woodward writes, Cheney was acting as a kind of super- investigator, trying to ferret out the elusive WMD, Kay concluded. But there were always loose ends in intelligence, disparate bits of information that could lead to all kinds of wild conclusions. It continued to remind Kay of the blockbuster novel 'The Da Vinci Code'."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: And regarding that famous mission accomplished banner aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln when President Bush announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq in May of 2003, the book claims that President Bush was intended to declare mission accomplished but Rumsfeld took it out of the speech. The script it says was fixed but the sign wasn't -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Mary, thanks very much. Let's go to the White House now. They are denying that they are in a state of denial at the White House about the situation in Iraq. Kathleen Koch is on the north lawn -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, certainly the White House is doing its very best to dismiss this book by a noted author but it is certainly distracting from what the president at least wanted the focus to be today and that's progress in the war on terror.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH (voice-over): Support moderates fight extremists, the rallying cry in President Bush's latest speech in the war on terror. The president used Afghanistan as an example of how building new democracies takes time and commitment. It was a clear reference to the difficulties the U.S. is facing in Iraq. But the president only directly mentioned Iraq when taking issue with the assessment in the recently released national intelligence estimate that the war there was fueling terrorism worldwide.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iraq is not the reason that terrorists are in war against us. They're at war against us because they hate everything America stands for.
KOCH: The president did not respond to the criticisms in a new book on the Iraq war by Bob Woodward. "State of Denial" portrays an administration plagued with infighting and a president unwilling to heed early calls for more troops.
T. SNOW: In a lot of ways, the book certainly is like cotton candy. It kind of melts on contact.
KOCH: Democrats were quick to say the book, like the NIE, is more proof of a failed policy in Iraq.
HOWARD DEAN, DEMOCRATIC NATL. CMTE. CHAIRMAN: You can't fight a war if you ignore the military. The president has never listened to the military.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: He has a tin ear. He won't accept the facts and he won't tell the truth to the American people.
KOCH: One political analyst warns the piling on effect of bad news on Iraq could chip away at the poll gains the president has made since beginning his series of speeches on his strong suit, national security and the war on terror.
STU ROTHENBERG, ROTHENBERG POLITICAL REPORT: Even if the president would like to have the discussion and be general about terrorists and the guys and what we're doing, there seems to always be another bit of breaking news that contradicts him and makes his policy look in an unfavorable light.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH: So while the White House downplays the Woodward, it does certainly cast doubts on the administration's conduct of the war. That's certainly not the kind of thing that the White House likes to see just five weeks before the midterm elections, Wolf. They're very worried it could cost them votes.
BLITZER: All right. Kathleen, thank you very much, Kathleen Koch at the White House. And we're going to have a lot more on this book coming up including my interview with John McLaughlin. He was the deputy director of the CIA. He plays a major role in this book. In one page he's actually described as a villain. My interview with John McLaughlin -- now our CNN national security analyst -- that's coming up this hour.
And we have a couple of other important programming notes on these stories related information. Saturday and Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern you're going to want to see a "CNN PRESENTS" special, "Donald Rumsfeld, Man of War." And Monday night Bob Woodward joins Larry King to talk about the book, "State of Denial". That book clearly causing lots and lots of excitement. "LARRY KING LIVE" airs 9:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.
In our CNN security watch tonight a new terror tape from the al Qaeda number two leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, this time directly addressing President Bush.
Let's bring in our justice correspondent Kelli Arena -- Kelli.
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this is the 14th message from al-Zawahiri. The messages from al Qaeda coming fast and furious. Analysts say that it is an attempt by Zawahiri to remain relevant as the terror organization becomes more fractured.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA (voice-over): It's the world according to Ayman al- Zawahiri. In his third taped message this month, al Qaeda's number two seems determined to tell his followers how to interpret world events.
BOB GRENIER, FORMER CIA COUNTERTERROR OFFICIAL: It appears that Zawahiri is trying very hard to stay tactically engaged with the faithful and to maintain his leadership of a movement, which by its very nature is becoming more diffuse.
ARENA: He starts by blasting President Bush and the administration's claims that captured al Qaeda leaders including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed provided helpful information in interrogations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): And I tell him you fool hearted charlatan the arrest of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed may God free him has helped you in this so-called war on terror. Why then are your forces retreating in secret from the south and east of Afghanistan and being replaced by the forces of NATO, which are screaming for help?
ARENA: The tape is two messages pieced together with very different backgrounds and wearing different clothes. The second part focuses on the Pope. Zawahiri calls him a charlatan too for his recent comments about Islam. He then moves on to discuss Darfur calling on Muslims to fight against what he calls crusader U.N. troops. Analysts say it is all very much part of a larger al Qaeda strategy.
GRENIER: Al Qaeda has tried very carefully to paint the situation in Darfur as another chapter, another front, if you will, in the war on Islam.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: Now interestingly there is no mention of Osama bin Laden despite recent rumors that he may have died. Analysts say that could be because the tape was produced before those rumors started circulating -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Kelli, thank you very much. And stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
Jack Cafferty is in New York with "The Cafferty File" -- Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, it isn't called a do-nothing Congress for no reason. The House and Senate are expected to wrap up business by late tonight, then they'll go home and campaign for the midterm elections and rest. After all, the House of Representatives spent a grand total of about 93 days in session so far this entire year. And what do they have to show for this Herculean effort?
Well, the Republican led Congress will be able to go to their home districts and say they passed the president's detainee bill so we can go on torturing people. They reauthorized the Patriot Act. It also looks like the Senate will join the House in passing the bill to build a fence along part of the Mexican border. And they've approved additional billions to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But when it comes to comprehensive immigration reform, ethics legislation, the trade and budget deficits, Social Security, health insurance, Medicare, nothing, nada, zilch. Hopefully none of this will be lost on the voters in the upcoming midterm elections.
Here's the question. When deciding how to vote in November, what's the single most important issue to you? E-mail your thoughts to CaffertyFile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/CaffertyFile -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jack, thank you. Jack Cafferty will be back later this hour. Coming up though, a Republican congressman up for reelection resigns following questions over e-mails he sent to a 16- year-old boy. We're learning new details right now about those messages.
Also, dirty politics and a corrupt lobbyist, details of the report showing the underbelly of Washington.
Plus, more on Bob Woodward's controversial new book. We'll talk about it with former CIA Deputy Director John McLaughlin. He's now CNN's national security adviser. He's in the book, as well. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: A stunning resignation and a potential scandal on Capitol Hill tonight. Republican Congressman Mark Foley of Florida suddenly deciding to step down amid questions about the e-mail he sent to a teenage boy who had served as a congressional page. The boy quoted as calling the e-mail, sick.
CNN's John Zarrella is following the story. It's unfolding in Florida tonight -- John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Congressman Mark Foley who represents the 16th congressional district of Florida appeared well on his way to winning a seventh term this November. Then today he abruptly resigned and said he would not seek re-election.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Six-term Republican Congressman Mark Foley called it quits as word began spreading of an e-mail correspondence he had with a former male page. Late today Foley issued a statement, announcing his resignation and apologized.
The statement concluded quote, "I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent", end quote. A spokesman for the congressman who is single has maintained the e-mail was taken out of context in an attempt to smear Foley and there was nothing inappropriate about it.
The e-mail was reportedly sent from Foley in August 2005 to the former congressional page, who was then 16 years old. The teenager was no longer in Washington when the correspondence took place. According to ABC News, the teen called the e-mail quote, "sick, sick, sick."
House Speaker Dennis Hastert said the matter will be looked at carefully.
REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: He's done -- as of now, he's done the right thing. I had asked John Shimpis (ph), who is the head of the Page Board, to look into this issue regarding Congressman Foley. We want to make sure that all our pages are safe in and the page system is safe (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How disturbing is this?
HASTERT: None of us are very happy about it.
ZARRELLA: Foley, whose district includes West Palm Beach, was considered a virtual lock for re-election. He was running against Democrat Tim Mahoney, a political newcomer. Foley's office is charging Mahoney with leaking the e-mails, an accusation denied by Mahoney, who had this to say about his now former opponent. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The challenges facing Congressman Foley make this a difficult time for the people of (INAUDIBLE) district. The families of all of those involved are in our thoughts and in our prayers.
ZARRELLA: According to congressional sources, Foley decided not to seek re-election because there may be other politically damaging e- mails out there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Now this evening ABC News -- according to ABC News there are three e-mails that ABC News is reporting on and Foley goes by the screen name of Maf54, the first of those, Maf54 -- you in your boxers, too?
Teen: No, just got home. I had a college interview that went late.
Maf54: Well strip down and get relaxed.
Another message -- Maf54: What are you wearing?
Teen: T-shirt and shorts.
Maf54: Love to slip them off of you.
And this one -- Maf54: Do I make you a little horny?
Teen: A little.
Maf54: Cool.
Now, Foley is the chairman of the House Caucus on missing and exploited children -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, John, thanks very much, John Zarrella in Florida for us.
Also tonight new revelations in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, a draft congressional report details hundreds of contacts between Abramoff and White House officials. Democrats now pointing to the report as further evidence that the Bush administration, in their words, part of a culture of corruption. But the White House says it simply shows Abramoff is a practitioner of sleaze.
Let's bring in CNN's Joe Johns. He's covering this story for us tonight. What a story, Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the report is supposed to be a detailed look into a sorted subculture of fraud and attempted influence pedaling, claims of meetings, telephone calls, meals, drinks, tickets. But the records are so incomplete, you don't get the whole story. And the only people it really seems to point the finger at are Jack Abramoff and his associates.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS (voice-over): Washington through the looking glass as Congress prepared to break for the midterm elections, a bewildering Friday after the release of a draft report by the House Government Reform Committee, which had already been leaked. The upshot of it is that disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his associates either did or did not have hundreds of contacts with the White House that may or may not have been appropriate.
What we do know is that billing records and e-mails of a lawyer lobbyist who has already pleaded guilty to mail fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy purport to show 485 contacts with people at the White House including key lieutenants like White House adviser Karl Rove and then political director Ken Mehlman, who's now the current chairman of the RNC.
T. SNOW: Jack Abramoff was an exuberant practitioner of sleaze to the point where it is very difficult within the report itself to figure out how many actual contacts there are.
JOHNS: In other words it is not exactly outside the realm of possibility that a guy who has done all that Jack Abramoff did might have say exaggerated on the documents in order to maximize billable hours or impress clients. Rove and Mehlman have denied close association with Abramoff. The White House promised to take a close look at the report but places the blame on Abramoff. But Democrats who never quite got the traction they wanted on the Abramoff scandal say the raw numbers are at least evidence that Abramoff had more access than Republicans had let on.
PELOSI: Shame, shame, shame once again on the administration saying one thing when another set of facts is revealed.
JOHNS: Of course whether the allegations are true and what it all means is the key issue. And the chairman of the Reform Committee, Tom Davis, was already on the record saying Karl Rove only actually met with Abramoff once and that there's no evidence anybody did anything wrong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: So what did Abramoff get for all his work? Apparently not much, for example, he got a jail for an Indian reservation, $3 million for a tribal school. He also tried to get people jobs in the administration succeeding once in 20 times -- Wolf.
BLITZER: He did make a lot of money for himself and his associates, millions in the process. Joe, thanks very much, Joe Johns reporting for us tonight.
Still to come tonight in THE SITUATION ROOM, a very unusual and very strict curfew announced without any warning in Baghdad. We're going to go live to the Iraqi capital, important developments unfolding right now.
Plus, we'll have much more on Bob Woodward's bombshell book and allegations President Bush himself had to step in to mediate fighting and dysfunction in his own administration over the Iraq war strategy.
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
BLITZER: We're following a developing story in the Iraqi capital. A very strict curfew announced suddenly tonight without any warning banning all vehicles and pedestrians from the streets of Baghdad until Sunday morning.
CNN's Arwa Damon is joining us now live from Baghdad with more. Out of the blue this was announced, right Arwa?
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really was, Wolf. It essentially caught pretty much everybody here by surprise. It was announced very late in the night on state-owned al Iraqiya television banning vehicle and pedestrian traffic starting at 11:00 p.m. on Friday to last until 6:00 a.m. on Sunday.
We contacted the U.S. military. They said that they were basically in the dark, that they did not know why the government was imposing this curfew. A senior Sunni politician also had no idea nor did the Iraqi emergency police -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Arwa Damon, we're going to stay on top of this story together with you, but a curfew suddenly imposed in Baghdad. No formal explanations offered yet. We'll watch this story.
Just ahead tonight in THE SITUATION ROOM, allegations of dysfunction, discord and major disagreements -- did Condoleezza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld once have a beef so big over the war in Iraq that President Bush himself had to intervene? Bob Woodward's bombshell book makes that and other stunning allegations. We're going to hash it out. We got details. The former CIA deputy director mentioned often in the book, John McLaughlin, he's standing by. In the book he's described on one page as a quote, "villain". What are they talking about -- also weighing in, Democratic strategist James Carville and Republican strategist Bay Buchanan. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: To our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Happening now, some of the most stunning claims ever made about the war in Iraq. Bob Woodward's bombshell book describes a White House so dysfunctional there were allegedly secret attempts to fire Donald Rumsfeld and staff clashes that the president himself had to referee. Administration officials dismiss the book as containing gossip and untruths.
Also, a Republican congressman quits amid questions over whether he sent inappropriate e-mail messages to a 16-year-old boy. Mark Foley of Florida says he's deeply sorry for letting down his constituents and his family, but Foley did not explain exactly what he was apologizing for.
And hate speech. Osama bin Laden's deputy calls President Bush a liar. In a new videotape Ayman al Zawahiri blasts the president as having a personal agenda in the war on terror. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(INAUDIBLE) being an October surprise, but tonight the emerging details about Bob Woodward's new book are adding new fuel for the election year war over the Iraq war.
Let's bring back CNN's Mary Snow. She's got more on this new book entitled "State of Denial," Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a lot of controversy about this book. CNN was able to purchase a copy of the book "State of Denial, Bush at War Part III." It describes divisions within the Bush administration over the war in Iraq, how it was handled, even claiming that tensions between Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were so tense that President Bush is quoted telling Rumsfeld at one point, I know you won't talk to Condi but you have got to talk to her. To that charge White House spokesman Tony Snow said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I talked to Secretary Rice today and here quote was this is ridiculous and I told that to Woodward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNOW: Now the book also claims that former White House chief of staff Andrew Card had tried to get Donald Rumsfeld fired on two occasions, the first in 2004. At the time there were nomination hearings for two cabinet positions and political adviser Karl Rove weighed in. The book reads, "clearly the conduct of the war in Iraq would be the subject of confirmation hearings for anyone Bush nominated to the new secretary of defense.
Rove agreed that they did not want to do anything that would prompt hearings on the war, Jesus no." Now the book claims that Card tried to fire Rumsfeld for a second time in 2005 but the president refused. A senior White House official tells CNN that that has been confirmed, that Card failed to persuade the president to replace Rumsfeld. Now in Slovenia today the secretary of defense was asked several questions about the book. Overall he downplayed it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I haven't seen the book. I haven't read his first two books yet either, so I wouldn't hold your breath on this one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNOW: Now this is Woodward's third book about the Bush administration. He had come under criticism that he was too soft on the Bush administration in those first two books, Wolf.
BLITZER: Mary Snow reporting for us. Thanks, Mary. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: We're joined by CNN national security adviser John McLaughlin. Served as the deputy director of the CIA during the course of what of much this book has written -- we have a copy of the book. We've been going through it very carefully.
There's a lot of references, as you know, John McLaughlin, to you in this book. And I want to give you a chance to respond to some of Bob Woodward's assertions and some of his reporting in this.
Page 282, "But the real villain at CIA," David Kay, the chief U.S. weapons inspector, "thought was John McLaughlin. Tenet had made his way on the political side of the intelligence world but McLaughlin had been with the agency for more than 30 years. He was the professional and Kay felt he had also been the one who clung most stubbornly to the belief that Iraq had mobile biological weapons labs.
Kay also recalled that McLaughlin at one point had told him it didn't matter what Kay said or found, he would always believe the aluminum tubes had been part of a nuclear program. McLaughlin had taken the aluminum tubes account and made it his own, a big mistake for someone as high as the deputy." I want you to respond.
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, FORMER CIA DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Well, first, Wolf, of course, I haven't read this book yet. I'm hearing all of this for the first time today.
I'm not going to join in the name calling here. But on the specific allegations, that I clung to the idea that biological weapons labs and aluminum tubes were somehow involved in weapons programs, that's just nonsense.
If you were to talk to the analysts there who worked on these programs, they will tell you that I was among the most vigorous questioners when evidence came forward. I would always probe, I would always try and get to the bottom of it. And the bottom line here is that I supervised both David Kay and his successor, Charlie Duelfer. Told them to get the truth, report it as they saw it and that's exactly what they did.
BLITZER: Well, in the book, that's not what David Kay seems to recall. There's another section here ...
MCLAUGHLIN: By the way, that's the first time I've ever been called a villain in all of my government career. I'm just not going to join in the name calling on it.
BLITZER: We're going to get a little bit more on this. In this book, "State of Denial," there's a reference to the chemical and biological weapons that Saddam supposedly had, which we obviously now know he did not have. And the effort to produce and stockpile these weapons.
Supposedly, according to this book, David Kay came to you and said they don't have them, but they could produce them relatively quickly. It meant that they would maintain some ability to make chemical and biological weapons but they wouldn't actually produce and stockpile the weapons until they needed them.
And then the book goes on to say, quote you, "'Don't tell anyone this,' McLaughlin wrote back, as Kay recalled, 'This could be upsetting. Be very careful. We can't let this out until we're sure.'"
The suggestion being, what, if in fact this is true?
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, I didn't say that. I don't talk that way. Anyone who knows me knows I don't talk that way. The only thing we told David Kay was go out and find the truth and we will publish it. And I think that's what he would say.
For example, just let me read you what David said in his congressional testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee January 28, 2004. He said he was hired to quote, "speak the truth as we found it. I have had absolutely no pressure, prior, during the course of my work with the Iraq Survey Group or after I left to do anything otherwise."
BLITZER: So when he suggested you were admonishing him and warning him, be careful, don't say that because that could cause an uproar ...
MCLAUGHLIN: I myself in the confines of the administration that summer when WMD hadn't appeared was saying, it's quite possible that he didn't have these weapons. He may have had a capability to do what we call mobilize and surge. But we need to get to the bottom of it, we need to find out what's going on. And that's exactly what we did.
BLITZER: Here's another quote from the book, this on page 311. "John McLaughlin, the CIA deputy director insisted that the failure of the intelligence community on WMD," weapons of mass destruction, "was the result of a perfect storm, that everything went wrong at once but it couldn't have been anticipated. 'We thought that was garbage,' Silberman said," that's Judge Laurence Silberman who was in charge of the post mortem. "'There were some fundamental flaws. The very worst thing was the chemical stuff.'"
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, I know Judge Silberman well, have a lot of respect for him and he and I had discussed that particular phrase that I use, "perfect storm." I think frankly the commission didn't understand what I was saying.
I wouldn't deny that there were mistakes made. And Lord knows the CIA examined this thoroughly starting in the summer of 2003. We covered walls with charts examining everything ...
BLITZER: After the downfall of Saddam Hussein?
MCLAUGHLIN: After the downfall of Saddam Hussein, covering everything we had ever said, every source we had ever encountered and so forth. What I had in mind when I told the commission that this was a perfect storm was not that there hadn't been mistakes, to be sure there had, and we documented them ourselves. There were strategic factors here though at play, which I thought came together with the mistakes that were made, strategic factors like the fact that we lost our U2 coverage over central Iraq, the fact that we had agent networks rolled up in the mid '90s, the fact that most of the outside experts who looked at Iraq were even more convinced than we were that he had weapons of mass destruction.
My point to the commission was all of these things created an environment in which the potential for mistakes was magnified.
BLITZER: Here is another quote not directly related to you but to your boss, who is George Tenet, the director of the CIA and Cofer Black, one of your colleagues at the CIA, had been a spy for many years, worked his way up, now involved in counterterrorism.
MCLAUGHLIN: Great officer.
BLITZER: In this scene that Bob Woodward reports on, they came and met with then-national security advisor Condoleezza Rice at the White House. This was in the summer of 2001 before 9/11. I'll read this to you.
"They both felt they were not getting through to Rice. She was polite, but they felt the brush-off." This when they were warning of al Qaeda operations, threats against the United States.
Is that your recollection? Because you were a player inside the CIA in that crucial summer of 2001, just weeks before 9/11.
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, I don't think I was in that actual meeting. I certainly heard about it, but unless I check my calendar, I can't tell you I was physically there. What I understand it to have been was a very serious briefing about the growing threat. It wasn't the first one we had done that spring and summer.
I think it was very starkly stated -- and this was very consistent with what we were doing and hearing all summer long. Director Tenet told the 9/11 commission and I told the 9/11 commission that our red lights were going off that summer. We didn't know time, place, didn't know target, but we were getting ...
BLITZER: But did you get the impression the White House was lackadaisical? That they were sort of uninterested?
MCLAUGHLIN: Let me say this. Let me give you what I think is a balanced statement on that because I think people are wrong at this point to want to say Bush was right, Clinton was wrong, Clinton was right, Bush was wrong. What was going on that summer were a series of meetings that I was in, deputies level meetings where we were looking at the policy toward the Taliban and toward al Qaeda and bin Laden.
Those of us in the intelligence community who were deeply involved in fighting al Qaeda for years and receiving all these reports did chafe during that summer at what we felt was a kind of lack of urgency about the problem.
On the other side of the coin, I have to say the Bush administration was trying during that summer to put together a comprehensive approach to al Qaeda. They wanted to get al Qaeda attacked fundamentally, if you will. They just ran out of time. Principal's meeting that took place following up on all of these deputies' meeting was on September 4th, of course which was to approve all of the programs. Of course, September 11th happened seven days later.
So yes, this was an urgent briefing, a sharp briefing, but I'll just leave it at that. Director Tenet, by the way, I think will have the final word on this. He's writing a book, and I'm sure he'll characterize this. I'll let him speak for himself.
BLITZER: We'll be anxious to hear from him. We'll invite him on the program, will read his book when that book comes out. John McLaughlin, thanks very much for coming on.
MCLAUGHLIN: You bet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And this reminder, Saturday and Sunday night this weekend 8:00 p.m. Eastern you are going to want to see the "CNN PRESENTS" special, "Donald Rumsfeld, Man of War" 8:00 p.m. Eastern Saturday and Sunday night. Then Monday night Bob Woodward joins Larry King to talk about the book "State of Denial." "LARRY KING LIVE" Monday night 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
Up ahead tonight, more on these bombshell charges about the run- up and the conduct of the war in Iraq. Was there really an incredible dysfunction over the war as Bob Woodward claims in the White House? I'll speak with Democratic strategist James Carville and Republican strategist Bay Buchanan. You're going to want to hear what they have to say.
And a storm that has already killed dozens in one place now threatens another. Now CNN is getting an I-Report, video from a viewer of a typhoon approaching, 160 miles an hour. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
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BLITZER: No surprise, Democrats already seizing on the allegations in Bob Woodward's new book on Iraq and the White House. But are these really bombshell accusations or a case of much to do about nothing?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Joining us now, our CNN political analyst and Democratic strategist James Carville, and our CNN political analyst and president of the American Cause, Bay Buchanan.
Whenever Bob Woodward -- you and I have been around -- all of us have been around Washington for a long time.
(CROSSTALK)
JAMES CARVILLE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.
BLITZER: He writes a book, we know a few things are going to happen. There is going to be a lot of nuggets in there.
CARVILLE: Right.
BLITZER: There is going to be a lot of news in there, and it's going to be number one on "The New York Times" bestsellers list very, very quickly.
CARVILLE: It's already number one on Amazon.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: What a surprise. What a surprise.
CARVILLE: What a surprise.
And, also, we know that he's going to be wall to wall on the media.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: It's going to be "LARRY KING..."
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Right. He starts with "60 Minutes" Sunday night, and "LARRY KING LIVE" Monday.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: He will be here in "THE SITUATION ROOM" later in the week.
CARVILLE: Exactly. He -- he's going to roll out all week and beyond. So, it's going to -- he will be in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: ... blanket coverage.
BLITZER: So, the political fallout from this suggestion that this president is in a -- the title of the book, "A State of Denial," and that the White House, in conducting this war in Iraq, has been dysfunctional.
CARVILLE: Yes.
BLITZER: That's the suggestion in the book.
(CROSSTALK) CARVILLE: I guess -- I guess, this week, we found out that Willie Nelson smokes pot and the White House is dysfunctional.
(CROSSTALK)
BAY BUCHANAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, exactly. Nothing new. James is absolutely correct.
CARVILLE: There's nothing new. We have a dysfunctional White House.
Anyway, I think that Bob -- the thing about Bob Woodward is -- is, he is very seldom, if ever, challenged on the facts. I mean, he really is. I mean, some Democrats didn't like his first two books. The Republicans have -- obviously, don't like this book. Some people in the Clinton administration didn't like "The Agenda." Other people didn't.
But Bob is pretty good about -- he has a pretty good record of getting his facts right.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: This is part three, this book, on the Bush administration. Part one and part two, a lot of people thought were favorable toward the Bush administration.
BUCHANAN: Yes, and people -- and Democrats thought too favorably.
But the key is, you all act surprised. Oh, my gosh, it's number one again. He usually always is. No wonder he is number one. You have got him all over the media.
The media is playing this as if there are some new revelations. There is nothing new in this book. Sure, he's got some little details that might be interesting we didn't hear about.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: All right.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Here are a few nuggets. Let's talk about some of...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: But you all really are being irresponsible, in the sense of making this something bigger, hyping it, because it's an election.
BLITZER: Here is a -- a quote from the book, page 360 and 361.
"The biggest voice for change at the Pentagon was the then Secretary of State Colin Powell. In one conversation Powell had with White House Chief of Staff Andy Card -- quote -- 'If I go, Don Rumsfeld should go.'"
Did you know that Powell was urging Rumsfeld to go after he left?
BUCHANAN: I knew -- it doesn't surprise me.
I didn't know specifically. But I did know that Powell was very much in -- did not believe we should go to war, and that he was inside fighting against it constantly, which means he would have been fighting against what Rumsfeld wants to do. And he felt, if he leaves, if he can take Rumsfeld with him, all the better.
What I also know is, Rumsfeld won that round.
BLITZER: Rumsfeld is still there.
BUCHANAN: Yes. Exactly.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: I just find in stunning that -- that Woodward says that the White House was dysfunctional in pursuing the war, and the Republican answer is, well, we all knew that.
Well, I never heard anybody say that this was, any Republican say this White House is completely dysfunctional in its Iraq strategy, and completely incompetent.
And I think Bob even goes further to be...
BUCHANAN: Yes.
CARVILLE: Based on what I have seen, he's saying that they're not telling that the American people everything about this.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: So, you're suggesting...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: ... when -- when some people say this book could have an impact on the November 7 midterm elections, what you're saying is that most people are already discounted...
BUCHANAN: No. What I'm saying is...
BLITZER: ... the notion that this is a White House that is dysfunctional?
BUCHANAN: ... that this is what the Democrats and the media want.
And, so, they are going to hype it and hype it, make it sound like new revelations. But what you have just said is, it's dysfunctional. That's a word he uses. What he also -- what also could be interpreted, which we all did know, is that there are great disagreements, and they were -- that's exactly what America should want, is that the people in the White House are disagreeing with one another, as they present their case to the president, so he hears both sides.
BLITZER: Thanks guys, very much, James Carville and Bay Buchanan.
CARVILLE: Appreciate it. Thank you, Wolf.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And up ahead, if you think they have done nothing, will you say something with your vote as the midterm elections approach? Jack Cafferty is wondering what's the most important issue to you?
And as Baghdad continues to explode tonight in violence, officials there take a zero tolerance approach. They just imposed a curfew with no cars, no people allowed on the streets at all until Sunday morning. We're going to tell you what's going on. Stay with us.
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BLITZER: There's a very disturbing story unfolding right now. Let's check in with Zain Verjee for details. What do we know, Zain?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, the Reuters News Agency is reporting the Brazilian airline, Gol, says that a passenger plane has gone missing. They just can't find it on the radar. We really don't have a lot more information on that, but we'll bring you more information when we do get it.
Meanwhile, a strict curfew is underway in Baghdad right now. All vehicle and pedestrian traffic is just banned in the Iraqi capital through Sunday morning. It's not clear why Iraq's government ordered the curfew, but it follows clashes today in some Baghdad neighborhoods between gunmen and Iraqi troops. Police today also found the bodies of at least 14 people. They showed signs of torture.
A Wisconsin school principal has died hours after he was allegedly shot by a student. Prosecutors say the 15-year-old has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide. Police say that the ninth grader went to his school today armed with two guns. The custodian supposedly wrestled one gun away, but police say the teen pulled out another gun and shot the principal. Now the motive isn't clear.
Forecasters say Tropical Storm Isaac is strengthening and could become a hurricane sometime this weekend. The ninth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season is churning in the Atlantic Ocean with top sustained winds near 60 miles an hour. Now, it is about 505 miles east-southeast of Bermuda. It's drifting towards Canada, but forecasters are saying that it doesn't appear to be major threat to land -- Wolf. BLITZER: All right, Zain. Thank you very much.
Let's go to Jack Cafferty in New York for "The Cafferty File" -- Jack.
CAFFERTY: Wolf, when deciding how to vote in the midterms coming in November, what's the single most important issue to you?
Smith in Seattle writes, "Come on, Jack. It's the war in Iraq. If Americans really want to weigh in on this issue at all, we'll have to vote these slugs out of office next month. Nothing else matters as much by any measure."
Nancy in Texas: "Worse than the terrorist threat by al Qaeda are the illegal immigrants. They threaten the very existence of middle class Americans. How the candidates address this issue is my main concern."
Janice in Ramona, California: "The three Is have my vote this November: Iraq, immigration, incompetence."
Charlie in Middleboro, Mass.: "Global warming, environmental protection. If we simply concern ourselves with other problems while continuing to load up the atmosphere with carbon dioxide, while at the same time harvesting millions of acres of rainforest, we will soon destroy nature. When that happens, what difference does anything else make?"
Darren in Indiana: "The biggest issue in my mine in the midterm election is the lack of lobby reform by the Congress. After the exposure of several disgraceful scandals involving lobbyists, lawmakers promised to crack down on the lobbyist influence in Washington. They've done nothing."
And Ben in Washington, D.C.: "This was going to be my first time voting, and I think the most important issue is the price of gas, because I've stopped driving since January, so I had to wake up every morning to take a bus and that pissed me off."
If you didn't see your e-mail here, go to CNN.com/CaffertyFile. You can read more of these online -- Mr. Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks, Jack. And our viewers can see a lot more of Jack Cafferty this weekend. His program, "IN THE MONEY," airs on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, replayed Sunday 3:00 p.m. Eastern. Jack Cafferty's "IN THE MONEY." You're going to want to see that.
Let's find out what's coming up right at the top of the hour. John King is filling in for Paula Zahn. Hi, John.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Wolf. Some testy e-mails there for Jack.
Stay with us. Right here at the top of the hour, a pair of tell- all, insider books that are raising questions about the war on terror and causing headaches for the Bush administration. We'll check out what both Bob Woodward and Pakistan's president is saying.
Congress just might approve a new fence along the U.S.-Mexican border tonight, but just the idea is already dividing some people down in Texas.
I'll see you right here at the top of the hour -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. John, sounds good. We'll be watching.
And when we come back, a killer storm coming into land. Our Internet reporters are going to show us the situation online. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
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BLITZER: Vietnam is bracing for the expected arrival this weekend of a powerful typhoon. The storm has already killed at least 48 people in the Philippines. Dozens more are missing. Let's bring in our Internet reporter, Jacki Schechner.
She has the situation online -- Jacki.
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Wolf, look at how beautiful the weather is. That's going change in just a moment. Let's take a look at the video that was sent to us through out new I- Report system by Toby Wallenberg, who's in Manila, Philippines. He took this video over the course of 90 minutes and then cut it down to 42 seconds to show you how the weather progresses. This was taken Wednesday morning from a third floor window.
He says there's plenty of debris to clean up after this nasty storm. This is exactly what's heading toward Vietnam right now. Take a look at this map, from Weather Underground, and you can see the path of the storm. The eye is heading for Danang.
We're talking about gusts now of 132 miles per hour -- winds, rather, of 132 and then gusts up to 160. They are planning now to evacuate thousands from the central coast of the Vietnam.
Wolf, this is a nasty storm. You can see it right here. Send it back to you.
BLITZER: Are we getting a lot of those I-Report videos from our viewers in the United States and around the world, Jacki?
SCHECHNER: We are. We're getting a lot of I-Report videos, we're getting a lot of images, and a lot of stories. As news breaks, people are sending us some wonderful things, and we encourage you to continue to do that. We'll feature them here, Wolf.
BLITZER: Jacki, thanks very much.
And that's in for us. A couple of programming notes. Don't forget this Sunday on "LATE EDITION," the last work in Sunday talk, among my guests, the White House counselor Dan Bartlett, and Senators Richard Lugar and Chris Dodd, both members of the Foreign Relations Committee, Sunday 11:00 a.m. Eastern. Two hours on "LATE EDITION," we've got a lot of stuff coming up, you're going to want to see that.
Until then, thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. Up next, "PAULA ZAHN NOW," John King filling in for Paula -- John.
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