Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

NATO Targeting Gadhafi?; Palin E-mails Released

Aired June 10, 2011 - 18:00   ET

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

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: And we reached out to NBC for comment. We haven't heard back, Wolf, but Morgan's co- star Alec Baldwin, he did tweet, "Oh, that Tracy" in response to this entire controversy -- Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Kareen, thanks very much.

And to our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Happening now: new signs NATO may be trying to take out Libya's leader -- why some see Moammar Gadhafi as a legitimate target for allied aircraft. I will ask the former NATO Commander Wesley Clark if the goal in Libya has gone from protecting civilians to regime change and political assassination.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is halfway around the world dealing with rumors she wants to become head of the World Bank -- what she's saying about her future.

And 24,000 pages of Sarah Palin e-mail -- the Alaska authorities now releasing records from her time as governor. We're digging deeper. Should Palin be worried?

We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world, breaking news, political headlines and Jeanne Moos all straight ahead. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

As NATO steps up its attacks on the Libyan regime, there are now indications that it may be going directly after Moammar Gadhafi himself. The Libyan leader's compound is among the sites hit in the latest intensive airstrikes. A senior NATO official calls Gadhafi a legitimate target because he's the head of Libya's military.

A NATO spokeswoman says the alliance is not targeting individuals, but as the alliance hits command-and-control sites, is it really aiming for Gadhafi?

Let's discuss with the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark, along with CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson, our CNN national security contributor, Fran Townsend. She serves on the CIA and Homeland Security external advisory boards as well.

Well, let me start off with you, General Clark. The mission originally was to protect civilians. But I think it's fair to say it's gone way beyond that now, directly perhaps going after Moammar Gadhafi.

WESLEY CLARK, FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Well, there's a difference between the mission and the strategy that's used to accomplish the mission.

So, the mission is still to protect civilians, but the civilians are put under threat by Gadhafi's forces. Those forces are commanded and controlled ultimately by Gadhafi. And so he becomes a legitimate target. It's not necessarily to say that the mission has expanded. There was always a gap between what the policy was, which was that Gadhafi has to go, and what the military mission is.

But in order to accomplish the military mission, clearly, you can't just plink at tanks. You do have to go after the command structure.

BLITZER: Fran, you have been talking to NATO officials. I think it's fair to say they're pretty surprised how this has unfolded over these many weeks now.

FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: That's exactly right, Wolf.

Look, it wasn't clear. People thought that he'd be pressured and leave much more quickly. And, in fact, when the mission came up to expire, it wasn't clear it was going to be extended. So it has been extended. But I think looking at the gap, the gap between what are the objectives and how much more authority can -- does the military have that it's able to use, it's not really an extension or going beyond the original mission. They have just decided to use the authorities available to them.

BLITZER: And is there an authority that NATO has, that the U.S. has to kill Gadhafi?

TOWNSEND: No, it's not about killing Gadhafi. General Clark said it best. This is about going after the command-and-control structure. You hit it at all levels. If you can hit the soldiers in the field who are attacking the civilians, you can hit the guy who gives the orders. And so this is a matter of attacking the entire command structure from the top to the bottom.

BLITZER: But you remember, after the failed efforts to kill Castro, there were laws passed in the United States that barred political assassination.

CLARK: Sure, but I don't think this falls in the category of a political assassination. It's part of an ongoing military operation.

And by his own admission, he's the warrior. He's going to stay in there and fight and fight and fight. So -- and as we build up intelligence from the constant looking at the area and developing targets and so forth, I'm sure inside NATO it's become increasingly clear that you can't stop the attacks on civilians unless you target at higher levels up the chain of command.

And so they're hitting the command posts and he's -- wherever he is, that's the supreme command post.

BLITZER: All right, I want both of you to stand by for a moment, because we're also getting some dramatic new images of Gadhafi's compound, both before and after these most recent NATO airstrikes.

CNN's Tom Foreman is here.

Tom, show us where the bombs have been falling in Tripoli.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, when we talk about going after the command-and-control center, let's go to the northern coast here to Tripoli. And let's move down into this area down here, which is Gadhafi's area.

If you move into the compound, you can see these images of it before, reception hall and library here, the residence down in this area, the communication center up here, and I want you to keep an eye on that. Look at the communication center, the result of the bombing that's happened so far. This building over here, this one right here, look at what's happened, tremendous, tremendous amount of damage there.

I'm going to bring it out bigger. Again, the before and the after on this is shocking. This is the after the attacks. This is before. You can see the tremendous amount of damage that was done here, doing exactly what Ms. Townsend and the general were both saying, going after the command-and-control structure.

You see some of it over here in the library section of the reception hall as well. Just as importantly, though, if you move down here, you will see the residence has not been hit particularly hard. But then when you go over here, to the Revolutionary Guard unit nearby, this is their equipment depot. Again, look at where they were before, bunkers here, here, here, these gray shapes.

And then look at them afterward. This is the damage from DigitalGlobe. They're the ones who gave us all OF these images. You can see tremendous impacts all in this area hitting the military and hitting the top echelons of the military. And, Wolf, as our guests point out, that's the way you go after these, going after the head of the snake, so to speak.

BLITZER: It's a dramatic contrast, these before-and-after pictures.

World powers have been meeting this week in the United Arab Emirates to rally support for the Libyan rebels who are fighting Gadhafi.

Let's go to Abu Dhabi right now. CNN's Nic Robertson is standing by.

Among those who have been in the United Arab Emirates with you, Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state. What are they saying about all these suggestions that Gadhafi must go, even if it means he gets killed in a NATO airstrike? NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a growing consensus that the only way that Gadhafi is going to go is not by damaging his military, let's say, on the front lines in Misrata that saves the civilians of that city, but rather focusing on him, himself, because he will quite happily let his army to pounded into the dirt.

There's also a recognition here that the longer this situation goes on, the more destruction that happens in the country, the harder it is going to be for the rebels and for other political forces in the country to unite, that it's going to take longer, if you will, and take more money to put the country back together.

So there's a recognition here that you can bomb the front lines, but, unless you get Gadhafi, you won't bring this to an end, because he's not going to step down because his troops are getting hit. But when you hear Secretary Gates today, defense secretary, saying that there's a shortage of ammunition, you begin to realize that potentially there's a discussion here that says, look, we need to focus the armaments we have on this most important target, Gadhafi, because that's what's going to end the war, Wolf.

BLITZER: Well, are they convinced that will, in fact, end the war, Nic? Assuming they kill Gadhafi, is it over then, the rebels simply move into Tripoli, take over, and peace and democracy emerge in Libya?

ROBERTSON: There's a transition team in place, 15 people, six British leading it, a number of other nations, the United States represented. And they're trying to assess what it's going to take to help the Transitional National Council, the rebel leadership, to broaden its political appeal to move into Tripoli to begin to take control. The real worry is the security in the capital in the first few perhaps hours and days once Gadhafi is gone.

What will his loyalists do and what will the opposition do? There are probably tens of thousands of people in Tripoli ready to rise up against Gadhafi. They can't do it while he's there. Potentially, you have a big fight on your hands in the city. So, there's a lot of concern about that.

But the recognition is pretty much that once Gadhafi is gone, the fear of him controlling the situation and stopping all these other people who want him gone from rising up, that is going to -- that dynamic is going to change overnight. So, that will -- that will bring about a change in scenario and a new leadership in Tripoli. That's the expectation, Wolf.

BLITZER: And Nic speaks with a lot of authority. As all of our viewers remember, he spent weeks and weeks and weeks in Tripoli covering this situation.

Nic, thanks very much.

America's ally got some cold hard truth today from the outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates. He gave a farewell speech to the NATO Council in Brussels and gave the alliance a piece of his mind.

Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is here with this part of the story -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Secretary Gates only has a few days left in office, but today he told some of America's closest allies, the NATO alliance, they're facing a dim, if not dismal, future.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): With just three weeks to retirement, Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired a broadside at NATO, America's closest military alliance for more than half-a-century. He warned, NATO is divided between nations bearing the burdens of wars and those who sit it out.

ROBERT GATES, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the United States Congress and in the American body politic writ large to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense.

STARR: Washington and NATO have bickered for years. Gates complained U.S. troops increasingly have had to take on the burden of military operations, especially in Afghanistan, even as Europe cuts defense spending.

NORA BENSAHEL, CENTER FOR A NEW AMERICAN SECURITY: He was more candid than he has been about these issues in the past, but I think it makes sense for one of his major -- for one of his last major speeches as the secretary of defense.

STARR: While Gates suggested there was still time for NATO to reverse course, he didn't seem hopeful.

GATES: This is no longer a hypothetical worry. We're there today, and it is unacceptable.

STARR: There was particular ire for the NATO-led operation against the Libyan regime.

GATES: We have the spectacle of an air operation center designed to handle more than 300 sorties per day struggling to launch about 150. Furthermore, the mightiest military alliance in history is only 11 weeks into an operation against a poorly armed regime in a sparsely populated country, yet many allies are beginning to run short of munitions, requiring the U.S. once more to make up the difference.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: So Gates is warning, essentially, Wolf, that lack of political will in NATO may translate -- lack of political will and military will, I should say, may translate into big problems trying to get the U.S. to step up in the next conflict. And when he looks at Libya, he sees the future of that problem is already here -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, that future apparently not very good, a brutally honest assessment from the outgoing defense secretary.

Barbara, thanks.

Let's get some reaction to what Gates is saying, his tough statement on NATO. Back with us once again, Fran Townsend and General Wesley Clark.

You were the former NATO supreme allied commander. You agree with Gates?

CLARK: I think his statement is well-warranted.

I think, for years, as Barbara said, for decades, we have had this fight about burden-sharing. Who provides the majority of the forces? The Europeans have never, to our satisfaction, provided their fair share. They have justified it because the battle was going to be on their ground. They have other things they can do to contribute.

And I think the Libyan operation is a good test for the future of NATO. And the other thing, though, is that we have to be careful in this. This kind of rhetoric goes back and forth for a long way. But, ultimately, the United States knows, just like the Europeans know, that NATO is in everyone's vital interest.

NATO will struggle through this. Hopefully, the allies will listen to what the secretary said, they will pull themselves up by the boots, and we will finish Gadhafi.

BLITZER: I suspect that these NATO allies, a lot of them, are just weak-kneed right now, Fran. They want the benefits of being a member of NATO. They don't want any of the burdens. They don't want to send their troops, their aircraft. They don't want to spend any money. They just want to gain the benefits from being members of NATO.

And I think -- and maybe you agree or disagree -- you don't want to share the burden, you're out.

TOWNSEND: And right. And let's be very clear. The frustration you see and hear from Secretary Gates isn't just from the Libyan mission. He's watched now for years the United States military bear the burden of the coalition, the international security coalition in Afghanistan, and he has watched the American forces take many of the casualties.

It's not that NATO forces haven't. But I will tell you, this is -- he -- it is deeply felt. He's raised this privately. It hasn't worked. And I think, frankly, his frustration now is, maybe if he does it publicly, it's a name-and-shame gamble.

BLITZER: It's about time. TOWNSEND: Right.

BLITZER: Thanks, guys. Thanks very much.

Is Hillary Clinton looking for a new job? Halfway around the world right now, she's being asked about the top post over at the World Bank. Any truth to the rumors she's interested in that position?

Plus, Newt Gingrich says he will be at CNN's Republican debate in New Hampshire Monday night, despite the mass resignation of his top advisers. But can his campaign recover?

And Sarah Palin says she's not worried about those 24,000 pages of e-mail released by the state of Alaska. We're going to tell you what we're learning. We're on the scene in Alaska.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A rumor about Hillary Clinton's future has followed her overseas -- the secretary of state in Zambia today telling reporters she's not going after the top job at the World Bank here in Washington. The bank president's term ends next year.

Let's go to our foreign affairs correspondent, Jill Dougherty. She's over at the State Department working the story for us.

What are you hearing, Jill?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, was this a bogus rumor, or did someone within Hillary Clinton's circle maybe float the idea to see how it played in public? You know, anything seems possible in this never-ending cycle of rumor about what Hillary Clinton is going to do next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: How are you?

(LAUGHTER)

DOUGHERTY (voice-over): Hillary Clinton's aides have been in a tizzy trying to slap down yet another rumor about the secretary of state's future job plans -- the latest one, that she's angling to be head of the World Bank.

Clinton, traveling in Africa, finally had to drive a stake in it, herself, telling reporters: "I have had no discussions with anyone. I have evidenced no interest to anyone, and I am not pursuing that position."

Last summer, another wrong rumor had it Clinton wanted to replace outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

CLINTON: Attacks against civilians must stop. Gadhafi must go.

DOUGHERTY: Clinton says she loves her diplomatic day job, but, in March, she told CNN's Wolf Blitzer one term is enough.

BLITZER: If the president is reelected, do you want to serve a second term as secretary of state?

CLINTON: No.

BLITZER: Would you like to serve as secretary of defense?

CLINTON: No.

BLITZER: Would you like to be vice president of the United States?

CLINTON: No.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: Would you like to be president of the United States?

CLINTON: No.

DOUGHERTY: But what does she want? Clinton says, when she steps down, she wants to go back to private life, to read, write, teach, and travel.

CLINTON: I think I will serve as secretary of state as my last public position, and then probably go back to advocacy work, particularly on behalf of women and children.

DOUGHERTY: Bill Clinton tells reporters his wife won't be happy until she's a grandmother. And now that Chelsea is married, he says she wants that more than she wanted to be president. She told us her daughter shares her devotion to women's empowerment.

CLINTON: She has seen in her own life, because of the experiences she's had and the travel she's been able to do, how fortunate we are in America and how in a sense we're called to try to provide more opportunities for women everywhere.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOUGHERTY: Secretary Clinton actually has been pretty up-front publicly about what she wants to do next. But that isn't stopping the rumors. And, you know, some Hillary fans, Wolf, even are pushing, yet again, for her to run, this time in 2012.

BLITZER: 2012, run for president and challenge the president for the Democratic nomination; is that what you're saying?

DOUGHERTY: Yes. I mean, she says she's not going to do it.

But just check out Facebook and some of the other social media sites, and you will see that there are people who are die-hard supporters who really want her to stay in politics.

BLITZER: Yes. I don't think she's going to do it this time, although I'm not ruling out 2016. She's still not going to be too old. She could run in 2016, if she wants, to be president. She says she doesn't. But let's see. You can change your mind in this country.

Jill, thanks very much.

Coming up: Newt Gingrich threw his hat into the presidential race on May 11 -- now, less than a month later, the former House speaker's staff in shambles. What's left of it?

And later: An unarmed man begs Pakistani forces not to shoot him, but his pleas fall on deaf ears. You're going to want to see this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: There's some unexpected suspense right now as Republican hopefuls get ready for CNN's New Hampshire presidential debate.

You will see them Monday night when they all gather to hash out the issues. But in a stunning twist, Newt Gingrich is scrambling on this day to try to rebuild his campaign staff after about 20 of his top advisers suddenly quit and his campaign co-chairman defected to Tim Pawlenty's campaign.

Listen to Gingrich's reaction today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me just say that there's a fundamental strategic difference between the traditional consulting community and the kind of campaign I want to run. Now, we will find out over the next year who's right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Gingrich is re-launching his campaign, says he still intends to join the debate Monday night.

Let's discuss with our chief political analyst Gloria Borger, and, from New Hampshire, CNN's John King.

Gloria, first to you.

How did this campaign implode even before it began?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think that there was a campaign that finally realized that they couldn't get control of their own candidate.

And in speaking -- in trying to piece this together about what happened over the last few days, you know, it seems to me that there was a fundamental difference, that these are campaign professionals who felt that they needed a candidate who was willing to stay on message, to go to the states he needed to go to, to listen to them when they gave him advice, and to just be more available to them, if you will.

And, in the end, after a conference call and a conversation in person with the candidate, they decided that, in fact, he could never make the transition from being a professional thinker to a presidential candidate. And, in the end, out of frustration, I think, they decided that they needed to part ways because they couldn't run the campaign the way they really wanted to, and they couldn't schedule the candidate in the places he needed to be.

BLITZER: And I'm hearing now from some former supporters of Newt Gingrich, including some who worked for him, John, that the money guys, the big money guys with whom he had worked over the years -- and he needs their money if he's going to have a successful Republican presidential campaign -- they're running away from him in droves right now.

How do you launch a campaign without money?

JOHN KING, HOST, "JOHN KING, USA": And that was a huge challenge, Wolf, from the beginning.

And you have hit the important nail on the head. One of the arguments the staff was making to him is, Mr. Speaker, you need to campaign more. You need to prove that you will have a sustained, disciplined operation.

You know, he's a guy who over the years sometimes, and he has in this campaign, let his tongue get out ahead of his brain sometimes. He made a misstep in the Medicare issue, which is very important to the Republican base. What the staff was saying is, the money will only come in, in large, sustainable numbers -- running for president takes a year-plus -- it takes a lot of money -- if you prove yourself.

And they did not believe he was proving himself as a consistent campaigner, getting out and shaking hands, building an organization, getting personally on the phone to the fund-raisers and showing that he had the sustained discipline.

Wolf, I can tell you now, if you talk to Republicans here in New Hampshire or nationally, they do not believe he recover. And they say the only way he can recover is to prove quickly, prove quickly that, on his own, and then quickly by building a new staff, he can have a second wind to his campaign, and they say a critical moment, and that will be our debate Monday night.

BORGER: And, you know, Wolf, the money really started to dry up after he appeared on "Meet the Press" and criticized the Republican budget, you know, as right-wing social engineering.

And he seemed oddly out of touch with the Republican constituency. I mean, that budget has become kind of a Holy Grail. I mean, most congressional Republicans support it. And at that point, big donors started to sort of shake their heads and say, why would I give money to this fellow? He doesn't represent what the party stands for. KING: And, Wolf, here's a reason -- and here's a reason so many Republicans got mad about that. Remember, back in 1994, in the Contract With America, Newt Gingrich asked Republican candidates that you're to sign on to some things not all of them were 100 percent comfortable with. But he said it was important the party speak with one voice.

The Ryan Medicare plan right now is, as Gloria said, the Holy Grail for Republicans. And to have the former speaker, someone who should understand how important that agenda is to the House Republicans, criticize it really hurt him with the base of the party.

BLITZER: I know, John, you're getting ready for the big debate Monday night. You're already in New Hampshire.

You had a chance to speak with one of the candidates today. Tell our viewers what happened.

KING: I'm fascinated by this field because they have differences on economic policy. They have differences in the -- some of it is degrees of differences about taxes and spending and about health care.

But there's an emerging big change in the Republican Party on foreign policy. Wolf, remember back -- you did a debate back in 2007 and in the 2008 campaign -- how Ron Paul was viewed as the outlier, John McCain and others saying he was too reluctant to use U.S. forces overseas, too reluctant to use American power.

Listen to Ron Paul here. He says he believes that his view, his view of how the United States should step back from the world, not have troops everywhere, including Libya, including Afghanistan, is gaining steam in the Republican Party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I wished it had been based on moral principles and the Constitution, but I will take the support any way I can get it.

And I always made fun of myself, it won't be because I give a grand speech and I'm going to convert them. It's always going to be the money. All great nations come down because they extend themselves too far, the empire gets too big, and they can't afford it, just as the Soviet system came down. That is what happening.

We better wake up and realize it, and realize that, if we live within our means and within -- with our Constitution, we're going to be safer and much more prosperous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: His position, Wolf, is that he believes constitutionally America shouldn't be around the world, but he says because of all the financial costs, more and more Republicans, he says, we'll see how it plays out in the debate, say get out of Libya, Mr. President, and Afghanistan more quickly. BLITZER: Say what you want about Ron Paul. He's been very, very consistent all of these years on foreign policy, domestic policy. And more of these Republicans, more and more of them, are following his lead. He's not changing his position, but he's getting a lot of support out there.

We'll see you in New Hampshire, Monday night, 8 p.m. Eastern. We'll be in THE SITUATION ROOM from New Hampshire Monday, as well. Gloria will be there, of course, as well. Guys, thanks very much.

Authorities in Alaska have released 24,000 pages of e-mail from Sarah Palin's time as governor. That's in response to a request made by CNN and other major news organizations back during the 2008 presidential campaign. Palin says she's not worried about what might show up in all these records. The document dump came just a few hours ago.

CNN's Drew Griffin is in Juneau right now. He's digging through it all with a good team of help.

Drew, a lot of e-mail there to go through. So far, and I know you haven't gone through anywhere near 24,000 pages, what have you found?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, if you're looking for scandals, if you're looking for gaffes, if you're looking for embarrassing things for the governor, we haven't found that yet.

Now, it's early in this mission, and there are 24,000, as you said, paper documents, Wolf. This all came to us in paper, six boxes. In fact, I want to show you the scene this morning over at administration office where we had to literally pick up our six boxes and wheel them down the street and bring them to a hotel where we could just start deciphering through them.

What you see, really, is a history of how Sarah Palin was becoming governor, was writing a state budget, was attending to the business of the governorship, handling the media, handling her own staff, trying to juggle her family events. And you get little glimpses of her life through there.

I want to share with you just one where she's becoming concerned about leaks. Early on she had to fire one of her aides, her top aides actually, John Bitney. And she's complaining about a leak that got into the "Anchorage Daily News." She writes to her staff, "Wonder how the Bitney replacement mention already got in the Ear. Sheesh, I can trust people in this business as far as I can throw them. Another lesson for me that nothing is considered confidential to some folks, so fewer and fewer people should be brought in to think out loud, re: administration business."

That's 2007, Wolf. And we know that she became more and more frustrated with leaks, certainly, as things moved on in her political career.

I also want to point out that she's very concerned about being there for Alaska, being there for all the people of Alaska over and over again. We see that in these e-mails. And this was a poignant e- mail. August 30, 2007. She's writing to her staff. "As usual I'm hearing on the news of our troops being deployed with ceremonies to Afghanistan, and Sean just asked if I'm going to funeral today for five of our soldiers. I had to tell him I haven't been told of deployment nor funeral. Why doesn't McHugh let me know what's going on with my troops so I can help honor them? I've asked repeatedly to be in the loop, and it's unacceptable to still not be given info on military activities that I'm expected and should be participating in."

She later finds out these are monthly events, these monthly funerals, and she says she plans to attend those.

But Wolf, a lot of the mundane business, a lot of the emotional business of being governor. So far not a lot of the scandalous business that we have all read so much about over these past several years.

BLITZER: All right, Drew. I know you're going to continue to go through those documents. We'll see what else comes up.

I'm surprised that the Alaskan authorities didn't just post it all online, making you go through all that paperwork, the sort of old- school way, would have made it a lot easier for everybody, wouldn't have wasted so much paper in the process.

Thanks very much, Drew. We'll check back with you.

German officials now know the source of the deadly E. coli -- E. coli outbreak. That's what they're telling us. A remarkable machine was used to read the germ's DNA. There are stunning implications for fighting other diseases, as well. Stand by.

And a dramatic outpouring of emotion from the mother accused of killing her young child. We're going to have the latest on the Casey Anthony trial.

And a singer/songwriter joins the fight against modern-day slavery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON MRAZ, SINGER: Hey, I'm Jason Mraz, and we can make an impact by ending modern slavery.

I got the invitation from Free the Slaves (ph) to go to Ghana with a group in the Lake Volta region, where it's a fishing village largely operated by kids. There's thousands of thousands of children that don't get the opportunity even to go to school. Like, they're forced to work in this fishing industry.

So I had the opportunity to be out there on the water and participate in these rescue missions.

(SINGING) Freedom, freedom. (SPEAKING) Human trafficking is happening all across the world. And so the more we have awareness about it, this is something we can overcome.

Join the movement. Impact your world. Go to CNN.com/impact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: An American ally faces public outrage after shocking pictures emerge of an unarmed teenager being gunned down by security forces. It all happened in Pakistan. CNN's Phil Black has this disturbing report from Islamabad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This video shows Sarfraz Shah being handled roughly. He's quickly surrounded. He's unarmed. He begs not to be shot. "I am helpless," he cries. "Please do not fire."

Bleeding, screaming, he begs to be taken to hospital. Sarfraz Shah bled to death.

The shooting of this 17-year-old and his funeral have been broadcast across Pakistan's TV networks.

"My son was innocent" his mother says. "They killed him."

His sister cries repeatedly, "We need our brother."

There is grief and anger here, too strong for authorities to ignore. Pakistan's government has promised justice for Shah's family, while also telling the country he was accused of using a handgun to rob people in a park. Police say the gun was confiscated before he was shot.

"He could not do this," his sister cries. Her painful scream is a demand for justice.

Last month, a paramilitary force opened fire on five people in the western city of Quetta. Three women, two men, all from Chechnya, all killed.

The security forces then said they were suspected suicide bombers, but none was armed. That incident is still being investigated.

(on camera) All of Pakistan's security forces have a reputation for behaving above the law. And many people here believe extrajudicial killings are common. Pakistan's highest court has now taken charge of this case, and authorities here insist the death of Sarfraz Shah will not go unpunished.

Phil Black, CNN, Islamabad. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: What a (ph) story that is.

Still ahead, that E. coli outbreak in Europe has left 31 people now dead, made nearly 3,000 people very sick. We're going to tell you about an amazing tool scientists are now using to study it and to fight it.

And a mother accused of killing her young child breaking down in court today. We'll have an update on the Casey Anthony trial. Stand by for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Now let's get you up to speed on that sensational and gruesome murder trial happening in Orlando, Florida. The defendant, Casey Anthony, appearing to cry once again today during some graphic testimony. The trial is so sensational people actually fought over spectator seats in the courtroom once again today.

Let's go to CNN's Gary Tuchman. He's in Orlando working the story for us. So what happened today, Gary?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Casey Anthony was crying for much of the day. More very hard to watch photos of her daughter's skull were shown in the courtroom.

But then she stopped crying and she got angry, angry because of what a medical examiner said, a medical examiner declaring today this death was a homicide. Now, it's very important for Casey and her attorneys to get the jury to believe that there was no homicide of her daughter. Casey Anthony saying her daughter drowned accidentally and she was so panicked by it she decided that she would spend the rest of her life not telling anybody that her daughter drowned. That is what the defense is telling this jury.

What the medical examiner said was, in her career as a medical examiner, in 100 percent of the accidental drowning cases here in Orange County, Florida, zero percent of the parents did not report the drowning. That is one of the reasons she declared this to be a homicide. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JAN GARAVAGLIA, CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER: When a child is not reported immediately to authorities, either with an injury, that's something we look for, for foul play. This child, from history, was not reported for a long time.

The other thing that makes it a homicide is that the body was hidden. Besides the delay, besides the being found in a field decomposed, would be the duct tape somewhere located on the lower half of this face. There is no child that should have duct tape on its face when it dies. There is no reason to put duct tape on the face after they die. (END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: Mark my words in this, Wolf. This duct tape is crucial evidence. No one denies this. There was duct tape found on her skull, in her mouth area.

What the prosecution is trying to say, is that -- and they're saying this directly. They're saying the duct tape was the murder weapon, that Casey Anthony suffocated her daughter with the duct tape, and then dumped her body in the woods near her house.

The defense, of course, is denying that and saying she accidentally drowned.

Two other things I want to tell you. Some -- a lot of emotional evidence. It's very hard as a parent, as anybody to sit in this court and watch this. But today they showed a happy picture of Casey and Caylee. And Caylee was wearing a shirt. It turned out that shirt that she was wearing was the same shirt that she was found in in the woods and in a sad irony, the shirt said on it, "Big Trouble." On the shirt.

Finally, I want to tell you, Wolf, you were mentioning this when you introduced me. Again, today, starting at 1 in the morning, there were dozens of people waiting in line, trying to get the tickets to go into the court. By 5:30 in the morning there were a couple hundred people. People started running. One woman was injured, had to be taken to the hospital. It's amazing what happens here for people who want to see this trial in person -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Thanks very much, Gary. We'll check back with you next week, as well.

Up next, the E. coli outbreak in Europe that's killed 31 people. An amazing new machine, though, is helping scientists untangle the mystery.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: E. coli outbreak in Europe has left 31 people dead, nearly 3,000 people sick. Health officials have traced the deadly bacteria to sprouts. Scientists have a new tool to help them figure out exactly what's going on.

Lisa Sylvester is back in THE SITUATION ROOM, working this story.

What are you learning?

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this is a fascinating story. Researchers learned a lot about the E. coli bacteria very quickly, because they discovered it was super toxic. They discovered it was a super toxic bug. And they were able to do so because of something called the Personal Genome Machine. And it allows scientists to break down the genetic map of a virus or bacteria.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SYLVESTER (voice-over): Maybe this looks like a lot of gibberish to you, but this is the genetic sequencing of a killer, E. coli 0101 H4. It has killed 31 people in Europe and sickened nearly 3,000 others.

It used to take scientists weeks to decode a bacteria or virus, but the new super-toxic E. coli strain was done in just two hours, a marvel to scientists.

JONATHAN ROTHBERG, LIFE TECHNOLOGIES: From this machine to their computer to a Web site, out to the world.

SYLVESTER: Jonathan Rothberg's company, Life Technologies, invented the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine. Teams of scientists in Beijing and Germany used the machine to read the new E. coli's DNA, the results posted online for researchers around the world.

ROTHBERG: I watched in real time. I would be watching the Internet. I'd be getting e-mails. And over a few hours from the time that the bug was sequenced on the Ion Torrent machine, there were already people explaining where it came from.

SYLVESTER: What scientists learned was the E. coli strain was a super bug, highly virulent and resistant to 14 known antibiotics. The Personal Genome Machine is not only fast, but simple to use.

ROTHBERG: After you've put your DNA on the chip, you close this handle, close this, and press go, and in two hours you have the sequence.

SYLVESTER: The implications are enormous. The same science can be used to not only map bacteria, but viruses like HIV and cancer.

ROTHBERG: Just like we got the whole playbook for this bacteria, we know everything about it, we're now doing the same things with human genomes and human genomes from people with cancer. So we really, for the first time, will have the entire code that makes a breast cancer a breast cancer. And it will allow us to do better diagnosis, and it will absolutely allow us to understand where to intervene.

I have a hope that through high throughput DNA sequencings, problems that were impossible -- we had a war on cancer since the 1970s -- really will be cracked this decade.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SYLVESTER: And the real beauty here is the cost. Whereas sequencing machines of the past that would cost tens of millions of dollars, the Personal Genome Machine costs only $50,000 and that means clinics, hospitals, laboratories can easily have access to this technology. And of course, the more people working on a problem, the quicker it will be to find a cure.

BLITZER: And very quickly, his background? More information? SYLVESTER: Jonathan Rothberg is a fascinating individual. He's a guy who started his first company when he was still in graduate school at Yale, and he came up with this idea of individual genome sequencing when his infant son was born. The baby had some complications, some problems, but he decided that this is where the technology was. He wanted to be able to sequence his own son's genome. But the technology was way too expensive, would have taken too much time, and that's what started him on this path, Wolf.

BLITZER: Impressive. Thanks very much for that.

For our North American viewers, "JOHN KING USA" is coming up at the top of the hour, but first Jeanne Moos' take on Anthony Weiner when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Let's go to CNN's Jeanne Moos. She has more on Anthony Weiner, a scandal and a gift that keeps on giving.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You know the scandal has peaked when the Weiner puns start to shrivel, though every day there's a little something new to keep the story alive.

The scandal has been physically painful for comedian Jon Stewart, who was making margaritas during a spoof of the Weiner press conference when he broke some glass.

JON STEWART, HOST, COMEDY CENTRAL'S "THE DAILY SHOW": That's not good.

MOOS: The show went on.

JOHN OLIVER, CAST MEMBER, COMEDY CENTRAL'S "THE DAILY SHOW": That's...

MOOS: By the next night...

STEWART: Oh!

MOOS: ... Stewart was showing off his stitches.

STEWART: Here's what happened there. That's...

MOOS: The psychic cuts suffered by Anthony Weiner were self- inflicted.

(on camera) It's bad news for the congressman when liberals are the ones whining about Weiner, begging him directly.

ED SCHULTZ, HOST, MSNBC's "THE ED SHOW": Please resign. Please. Please do it. It's bigger than you.

JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, ABC'S "THE VIEW: Get out now, Anthony. Out. WHOOPI GOLDBERG, CO-HOST, ABC'S "THE VIEW": You've got to go, Anthony! Bye-bye!

MOOS (voice-over): We said hello to a bunch of guys with Anthony's same name, though unrelated to him. And in almost every case...

ANTHONY WEINER, CITIZEN: Hello. This is Anthony Whiner.

MOOS (on camera): Anthony Weiner?

WEINER: No. Weiner. Pronounced the correct way.

MOOS (voice-over): And spelled W-E-I-N-E-R, just like the congressman.

(on camera) Now, this kind of wiener is spelled W-I-E-N-E-R.

(voice-over) The point is that, if Anthony Weiner pronounced his name like the rest of the "whiners," the whole scandal would have lost much of its pun-laced appeal.

WEINER: If it's E-I, it's "whiner," you say it like that. If it's I-E, it's wiener. So I'm clearly a whiner, not a wiener.

MOOS (on camera): And what does that make Anthony, the other Anthony?

WEINER : For what he did and being a Democrat, he's definitely a wiener.

MOOS: Stephen Colbert was whining about how his show came up in text messages Weiner exchanged with one woman.

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, COMEDY CENTRAL'S "THE COLBERT REPORT': Who claims she told Weiner, quote, "I was so psyched to see you on Colbert. You were so funny."

To which he says, "You watch it naked?" Oh. Oh, my God.

MOOS: But while Colbert was squirting sanitizer and spraying Lysol, Barbara Walters didn't sound so grossed out. After the totally nude close-up of Weiner's alleged privates circulated online, Barbara noted that Weiner didn't deny it was him.

ELISABETH HASSELBECK, CO-HOST, ABC'S "THE VIEW": Then it must be a flattering photo, back to my original point.

BARBARA WALTERS, CO-HOST, ABC'S "THE VIEW": Let me tell you something. It is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But even if he did deny it...

MOOS: Who knew the host of "The View" would enjoy this view?

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. For our international viewers, "WORLD REPORT" is next. Here in North America, "JOHN KING USA" starts right now.