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CNN Saturday Morning News

Boston Prepares for Democratic Convention; Congress to Hold Hearings on 9/11 Commission Report in August

Aired July 24, 2004 - 09:00   ET

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

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


BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning to you. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Betty Nguyen at CNN headquarters in Atlanta, where it is 9:00 a.m.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Drew Griffin. Good morning, if you're just waking up, our friends on the West Coast out there in California and elsewhere, it's 6:00 a.m. Thank you for starting your day with CNN.

Here's what we have working this hour.

The Senate isn't letting a summer break stop it from acting on some recommendations from the 9/11 commission. The latest in a live report.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Bob Franken in Boston.

It's raining right now. A security official told me he would love nothing better if it kept on doing so. But there's an awful lot of other effort to try and dampen any trouble.

GRIFFIN: And Bob, Glacier National Park may have to be renamed if things continue to heat up. We'll look at the great melt in Montana.

Here's what's happening now in the news.

NGUYEN: In Congress, House and Senate leaders say they'll hold hearings in August to review recommendations of the 9/11 commission. Normally, Congress is recessed during August, but lawmakers say the rare hearings are needed because they want to draft relevant legislation by October.

In the Persian Gulf, the Egyptian embassy in Kuwait says it's helping lead a diplomatic effort to free seven truck drivers taken hostage in Iraq. An Egyptian official tells CNN negotiators they have spoken directly with the kidnappers and are confident a deadline to meet demands will be extended.

And in Brussels, NATO has agreed to send two more battalions to Afghanistan at the request of Washington. The additional forces, comprised of about 2,000 soldiers from Spain and Italy, are to arrive in September and stay for about two months.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news. GRIFFIN: Our top story, the 9/11 commission report a hot seller at bookstores, and now a wavemaker in Washington. Lawmakers are leaving on their break, but it could be a brief one. President Bush creates a task force. He says he wants action promptly.

The president is at his ranch near Crawford, Texas, and our Suzanne Malveaux is nearby. Suzanne?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Drew.

President Bush is expected to stay out of the spotlight this week at his Crawford ranch as the Democrats hold their convention in Boston. But, of course, the administration saying it will be working very hard considering those recommendations from the 9/11 commission.

Now, the president has actually initiated a special task force to do this. It will be headed by his chief of staff, Andy Card. We are told that members of that task force will include a homeland security team, as well as a national security team, and other high-level officials will be involved in those meetings.

Also, we are told that national security adviser Condoleezza Rice will be at the Crawford ranch on Monday. She will join the president, where the two of them will continue their discussions on what kinds of recommendations need to be implemented right away.

Now, at the same time, Congress is -- says that it will go ahead and take up hearings in August, that they will draft legislation on the kinds of changes they believe are necessary. It was both House and Senate leaders yesterday who said that they would go ahead and hold this special session.

Now, the goal, they say, is to have a draft in their hands by October 1, and to have legislation before they recess.

Now, first on the agenda would be creating some sort of national counterterrorism task force. Secondly would be the creation of this national director of intelligence. That, as you know, Drew, is a controversial proposal. Both the head of the Homeland Security Department as well as the acting director of the CIA say they do not believe that is necessary. The White House is saying they are still considering that proposal. It is on the table.

But the big question, of course, Drew, is just whether or not this is going to get done, how fast it's going to get done, And in Washington, that is a very difficult -- it's a very difficult task, Drew.

GRIFFIN: Suzanne, especially in an election year. You mentioned the president talking about the Homeland Security chief, that's a position that he created. Does he feel that is enough?

MALVEAUX: Well, the White House says that essentially it's looking at all of the options and all of the proposals. He certainly puts that out as a possibility. One of the models, they say, for the national director of intelligence would be to look at the Homeland Security Department. How has that operated? How has that worked?

Critics say that is simply another level of bureaucracy that they're creating, but others say that the Homeland Security Department is quite effective, and that if you have that kind of national position, someone directly answering to the president, that that may be some way to circumvent a lot of those turf battles that many people have been complaining about.

GRIFFIN: Suzanne Malveaux with the president in Crawford, Texas. Thank you for joining us.

NGUYEN: And adding to the sense of urgency in Washington, a feeling among some experts, the current terror threat is not just a cry wolf. In fact, there's speculation the nation's official terror alert status is about to be raised.

We get the details now from Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's more than just chatter. Senior intelligence officials say they have credible and fairly specific information that al Qaeda is poised to attack. It's just not specific enough.

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Although we know not the time and the place and the method, credible reports indicate that al Qaeda is moving forward with its plans to carry out a large-scale attack against the United States.

ARENA: Officials say al Qaeda members captured recently in countries including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan have provided information an attack is being coordinated, some say by Osama bin Laden himself. The information isn't just coming from detainees, but from multiple sources, and it's consistent.

RICHARD FALKENRATH, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: This is different. This is more serious, more specific, and more centrally led than anything that we've seen in a long time. And hence, it's being taken very seriously. I would not be surprised in the least if the government decides to raise the national threat level to orange...

ARENA: Officials say the threat is just as serious as it was in the summer of 2001, just before the attack on September 11. And while al Qaeda is plotting, the Madrid bombings showed just how dangerous splinter groups can be. They have no direct connection to al Qaeda but share their ideology.

FALKENRATH: And the most likely sort -- forms of attack, I think, will be relatively small conventional explosives set off in multiple sites simultaneously. This is a proven al Qaeda M.O.

ARENA: FBI agents continue their search for clues and people. This week, the FBI asked authorities in Mexico to be on the lookout for alleged al Qaeda operative Adnan El Shukijumah. Officials very concerned about the porous Mexican border. An even bigger fear, that there is a cell already in the United States that has been in place even before September 11.

KEN PIERNICK, COUNTERTERRORISM EXPERT: You just don't decide at a moment's notice to conduct a major operation. You have to do your target selection, which sometimes takes years...

ARENA (on camera): But law enforcement sources say there is nothing specific on that front either.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: And the threat of terror high on the minds of police in Boston. Journalists and Democrats descend on the Hub for the convention.

Bob Franken is in Boston's Government Center with the latest on a rainy morning there, Bob. Good morning to you.

FRANKEN: Well, yes. We're under a tent, Drew. It sort of sounds like the kind of rain that you get when you've gone out to sea as it pelts against the canvas. Regrettably, we are in downtown Boston, where just about a block away is the Faneuil Hall just down the street, and the Quincy Market. Hopefully it doesn't become downstream.

But that should be the toughest problem that they face here. There is a massive security presence, a lot of them right now hunkered down in shelters away from the weather. But there is a very visible security presence, that is to say, thousands and thousands of police, and all the paraphernalia that they have.

There are going to be jets flying overhead. NORAD is sending out jets in conjunction with the Secret Service in case there's any problem in the air.

Under the ground, the subways, people are having random checks of their bags, although they are going to be represented in part on Monday by a lawyers' group who's trying to get that stopped.

That is just the beginning of a massive security effort. Probably the largest facet of it is the fact that they're going to be closing down in the hours before, during, and after the convention each day, closing down I-93, which is the main artery for Boston. It's going to be so significant that officials here have asked that the residents of Boston stay out, let the Democrats do their thing at the Fleet Center, which is only a few feet, at one point, from where the highway goes past.

Demonstrators, they're going to be very, very tightly controlled in a number of ways. They're going to be raining on the parade of the protests. But, of course, they're going to go on anywhere. This is an area where just about every demonstration will march through on its way to the Fleet Center, accompanied by very, very heavy security. And yes, before you ask, we'll tell you that there has been an uncorroborated threat of some sort of incendiary device attack against news media vehicles of some sort. The police are saying that they really have very little on that. News organizations are coordinating some extra security.

But extra security is not the problem here. It is unprecedented. And it's going to mean that the normal functions of Boston, for the most part, will give way to the Democratic convention.

GRIFFIN: Bob, let's talk about the politics of all this. John Kerry on a well-scripted bus tour heading towards Boston, trying to gain some momentum. Any sign in Boston that the excitement is building? Or are we just being annoyed with all the security?

FRANKEN: Well, quite frankly, it's the latter thus far. The delegates are going to start arriving. The candidates are on their magical mystery tour into the convention city. That's something that's become pretty much pro forma.

But the big story thus far here is the security preparation. The Democrats are hoping that things go well enough that they are the big story once the convention begins on Monday.

GRIFFIN: Bob Franken, live in a rainy Boston. We thank you for joining us, Bob.

NGUYEN: And here's a look at other news that's making headlines across America.

First, though, in Colorado, a critical development in the Kobe Bryant rape case, and a huge victory for the defense. The judge ruled that the accuser's sex life during the week of their encounter can be used in the trial.

Now, to Southern California. Firefighters have fully contained four large wildfires in and around northern Los Angeles County. In the past week, blazes have destroyed more than 48,000 acres. Forestry officials are contemplating some closures of national forest land.

The Energy Department has ordered a halt to classified work at two dozen facilities, responding to a security scandal. Classified work using removable computer disks, like those missing at the Los Alamos Weapons Lab, have been suspended.

And some dirty deeds are going on in Scottsdale, Arizona. It's Mighty Mud Mania, check it out, called the Dirty Decathlon. And it wraps up all the Scottsdale parks and recreation summer programs. It encompasses all of that. Oh, what a messy time to play in the sun.

Well, kidnappers voice their demands in Iraq. We'll have more on that while another official is abducted. The latest from Baghdad coming up in a live report.

GRIFFIN: And the commission has done its job, but how does their work stack up? Now that the final 9/11 report is out, we will talk with a 27-year veteran of the CIA. You'll be surprised at some of his opinions.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And not only are you starting out with wet weather this morning in the Denver area, you're starting out with cold weather too, 49 degrees. It's a record low right now in Denver, Colorado. We'll let you know when it's going to warm up with the nation's forecast coming up on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: In Iraq today, a growing wave of kidnappings and assassination attempt on a high-level Iraqi official.

For the latest, we turn now to CNN's Michael Holmes, who is live in Baghdad. A lot of developments, Michael.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's been plenty of developments today. There's been assassination attempt, a kidnapping of a senior businessman in town, an attempted assassination of a senior Iraqi official from the interior ministry, as you said, and the hostage crisis continues.

Now, the latest on the Egyptian diplomat, the number-three man at the embassy here in Baghdad, well, what we've been hearing about him is that diplomatic efforts are really under way, talks going on to try to get him released.

It was a shocking event and really ratcheted up the whole hostage-taking thing. There's been a lot of hostages taken, truck drivers and the like, but this is a very brazen kidnapping. He was taken off the streets outside a mosque after leaving evening prayers and has been held by a group that is saying that they want to see Egypt reject any involvement at all with training or helping with any sort of security in Egypt here.

Now, this, of course, is troubling for the Egyptians, because they have another hostage being held too, a truck driver. He's being held with three Indians and three Kenyans by a group calling themselves the Holders of the Black Banners. Their demands are that this -- these men's employer, which is a Kuwaiti transport company, pay compensation, in their words, to those killed in Fallujah, that restive town west of here, within 48 hours, and also that the Americans release all Iraqi prisoners is that they are holding here in Iraq.

A very troubling development in the hostage-taking situation. And I've got to tell you, too, that the Iraqi interim prime minister, he's visiting neighboring states, and he was talking about this in Syria, in Damascus, just a little while ago. And he was pleading with Egypt and other countries not to do any deals like the Philippines did, and with the hostage-taking. And Iyad Allawi saying, "It is time for us to close ranks to fight terrorism. There is no way to budge the terrorists and give them what they want," Betty.

NGUYEN: CNN's Michael Holmes in Baghdad. Thank you very much.

Drew? GRIFFIN: Taking a look at other news across the world, a bomb (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a bus carrying teachers and workers from an Islamic school in Pakistan. One person killed, eight wounded. Police say the bomb was remote controlled.

A train official and two conductors in Turkey are now facing negligence charges after a deadly train wreck, 37 people killed. The high-speed train jumped the tracks Thursday on its run from Istanbul to Ankara. The government facing criticism for rushing that train into service on old tracks.

And Britain's top military commander says his country is ready to send as many as 5,000 troops to Sudan. Prime Minister Tony Blair says he's consulting with the international community on how best to help with the growing humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

NGUYEN: They were asked to come up with answers. After months of in-depth investigations and interviews, the 9/11 commission has issued its report. How thorough is it? And how good a job did the commission do in uncovering the truth? We will talk with one CIA veteran about his thoughts on the report right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Time now to check in with Jacqui Jeras for a look at the forecast. Kind of hot in many areas, Jacqui.

JERAS: Yes, many areas seeing a lot of heat. But also quite a few areas seeing a lot of cold.

Speaking of cold, look at this picture. It just makes you chilled thinking about it, doesn't it, just looking at this this morning, 49 degrees in Denver. That is an all-time record low for this date. The old record was 50, so you beat it by one.

But you've got the rain to go with it, so I'm going to give you the all with this one, because it's just kind of that damp cool, not a fun morning. You're only going to make it up to 64 degrees this afternoon in Denver, which is 20 degrees below the average. You should be at 89 this time of the year.

Well, what the heck is going on? Why is it so cold in Denver? Why is it so cold across much of the upper Midwest for today? Big trough here in the upper atmosphere. The jet stream is just a very fast-moving column of air in the upper atmosphere, and kind of divides the much cooler air and the much warmer air. So it's allowing all this cool Canadian air to filter into the region and keeping all the warm air across the South at bay.

In the meantime, we have a big ridge here across the West, an upper-level high-pressure system with descending air, and that really heats things up. So we're seeing record highs across the Pacific Northwest, while we were seeing some record lows in the Rocky Mountain states and across parts of the upper Midwest.

For today, let's show you some of these chilly temperatures besides Denver. Lots of 40s and 50s to start you out with this morning. And most of you barely going to be making it out of the 70s for today, Denver 64.

And then we'll jump on over the mountains and head on into the West with 96 in Seattle this afternoon. About 100 degrees in Portland. You had a record high of 103 yesterday, 90 in Salt Lake City, very warm with 90s across the South and East, but a little cooler into the Northeast. That cold front making its way into your neighborhood. And with some rain in the Northeast, not making for a very good weekend either.

We'll have more coming up before the end of the hour.

Drew, Betty, back to you.

NGUYEN: All right, thank you, Jacqui.

GRIFFIN: The Saturday headlines, John Kerry wooing voters in Iowa as he makes his way across the country to Boston. The Democratic National Convention opens there, of course, Monday. Kerry plans to roll into the Hub Thursday to accept his party's nomination.

And President Bush has assembled a task force to review recommendations in the final report of the 9/11 commission. Congressional leaders have now called for hearings on the report to begin in August.

NGUYEN: The 9/11 commission report is generating action in officials, well, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) with officials in Washington. The big issue, how to reform the nation's intelligence network.

And my guest knows something about that intelligence. Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern is our guest in our Washington bureau this morning.

Good morning to you.

RAY MCGOVERN, FORMER CIA ANALYST: Good morning, Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, let's tackle this report. In it, it says one of the biggest problems was the failure of imagination. How do you gain that collective imagination to prepare for the unknown?

MCGOVERN: Well, I would say, Betty, that the failure of imagination was contagious, because the report itself is guilty of a failure of imagination.

Now, what we have here is a report that does not really address the roots of terrorism, and that is essential, and that was a big disappointment for me. I like to draw an analogy between trying to defeat terrorism, on the one hand, and trying to defeat malaria, on the other. You don't defeat malaria by stationing sharpshooters around the swamp and trying to kill all the mosquitoes as they leave the swamp. You drain the swamp.

And the commission, to its great credit, does hazard a little guess as to what the real problem is. It cites Secretary Rumsfeld last October as posing the question, Are we killing more terrorists than we're generating by what we're doing? And the commission says, that's the right question...

NGUYEN: OK, but in your opinion, then, what are the answers? What should the report have in it that it doesn't?

MCGOVERN: Well, the report goes on to say that the question is, what image, what are we projecting out to the Muslim world? And very courageously, the report says, Well, American foreign policy choices are part of that message. And then it says, For good or bad, American choices with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and also with respect to Iraq are a major part of the problem.

And this has not been addressed. And so these bureaucratic solutions, creating another level of bureaucracy in the intelligence community, that's a symptomatic addressing of the question. The real questions have to do with foreign policy choices.

NGUYEN: So in essence, do you think this position that pretty much oversees all of the intelligence agencies, this one position, is just another layer of that bureaucracy?

MCGOVERN: It is. And, you know, it was most revealing, I think the best comment last week was Tom Ridge. He was asked what he thought of the idea of an intelligence czar over the whole community. And he said, in effect, he said, Been there, done that. He, of course, is the czar over homeland security. And he said that's the last thing we need. We already have tried that.

So the important thing to remember here is that under the existing legislation, the National Security Act of 1947, the director of Central Intelligence already has those authorities, already has those authorities.

I bumped into Senator Gorton at one of these interviews right after the commission report. And I said, Senator Gorton, the DCI already has those authorities. And he smiled and he said, Yes, I know, but he hasn't been willing to use them. And so I said, Well, do you need to create another bureaucratic level, or do you need just to tell the DCI to use those authorities and get the president to get him to use them?

And he went into his interview.

NGUYEN: So instead of talking about positions and titles, let's talk about action. Congress is set to meet. As we know, Al Qaeda, according to sources, telling CNN that they could attack sometime very soon, that this information is not just chatter. This threat is just as serious as it was back in September of 2001. What does Congress need to do right now?

MCGOVERN: I regret to say that I am very skeptical of those reports. These reports are coming from the same people who told us about weapons of mass destruction, from the same people who told us about contacts, operational contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda. So that's number one. Your premise is very doubtful.

Number two, there's nothing that can be done in an organizational sense between now and the election. What needs to be done is that serious people who know what they're doing, people like Richard Clark, need to do their job. And the head of the Central Intelligence Agency has to be empowered by the president to knock some heads together and get the FBI and the rest of the community cooperating with them.

That's what needs to happen now. The president and the DCI already have the authority to do that. And the prospect of cosmetic or symptomatic or bureaucratic solutions between now and the election is really a forlorn hope.

NGUYEN: Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, we thank you your insight today.

MCGOVERN: Most welcome.

NGUYEN: And all of this leads us to our e-mail question of the day. Are you concerned about another al Qaeda attack in the U.S.? E- mail us at wam@cnn.com. And we, of course, will read your responses a little bit later in the hour.

GRIFFIN: Preparations almost complete for the Democratic bash in Beantown. The four-day party will have few surprises. Our Bob Novak drops in with a party preview a bit later in The Novak Zone.

Armstrong gets set to put the wraps on your win number six. An update on his progress when CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Welcome back on this Saturday.

He has covered conventions for decades. This one is no different. Bob Novak joins us live from Convention City for The Novak Zone in just a minute.

GRIFFIN: Looking forward to that, Bob.

Welcome back. That's just ahead.

But first, a look at what is in the news right now.

Egypt's ambassador to Kuwait tells CNN negotiators are talking directly with a group holding seven truck drivers hostage in Iraq. The ambassador says he's confident a resolution will be found, despite new demands from those kidnappers. A separate group now holding a senior Egyptian diplomat, but so far no demands there have been made.

NATO has agreed to send up to 2,000 troops to Afghanistan to help provide security through the October elections. That is less than what NATO had pledged to President Bush last month. Spain and Italy will provide the additional forces, which are to arrive in Afghanistan in September. On Capitol Hill, lawmakers can expect to cut their vacations short. Leaders in both houses now say they will hold hearings in August on the 9/11 report's recommendations. They say (UNINTELLIGIBLE) legislation to overhaul U.S. intelligence gathering can be ready by October.

And in Salt Lake City, police and family have scheduled a news conference at noon Eastern regarding the search for missing jogger Lori Hacking. CNN will carry that live. Police have characterized her husband as a person of interest, though not a suspect. Mark Hacking currently in a psychiatric facility.

Keeping you informed, this is CNN, the most trusted name in news.

NGUYEN: Not everyone can claim 44 years of covering political conventions, but our Bob Novak can.

GRIFFIN: And he's in today's Novak Zone, of course, joining us with some lessons learned while sitting across a unique political viewpoint.

Bob, the first convention you covered, 1960, Los Angeles. I assume it was sunny.

ROBERT NOVAK, THE NOVAK ZONE: It was much better weather than we have now, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

GRIFFIN: But really, nothing -- nothing, nothing could be farther from that convention, Bob. You had, like, four strong candidates coming into that, all of them vying for the potential nomination. You eventually ended up with Kennedy. Now the nominee doesn't even arrive until the convention's almost over.

NOVAK: Yes. This is my 23rd convention. And it's so much different. In those days, of course, you not only had different contenders for the nomination, but you had great factions in the party, which were battling, had a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) tremendous fight on the platform. There was a lot of tension in the party.

And now it is, of course, a pep rally to try to get the best face forward for the party. And that's true of both parties, of course.

And also, Drew, you have here a terrific security problem in Boston, with the 9/11 situation, and a kind of a tense situation that you certainly didn't have in years past.

NGUYEN: Well, let's talk about the speakers that are going to be up to stage, up on stage this week, this coming week. The keynote speaker, who is this person, and why was this person chosen?

NOVAK: The (UNINTELLIGIBLE) keynote speaker, Betty, is a state senator from Illinois, Barak Obama, who is the nominee for the U.S. Senate, almost sure to win. But nobody knows him. Why is he up? It's, I think it's the first time in history that a state legislator has been the keynote speaker. Usually it's a very important governor or senator. But the reason is that he's an African-American, very important Democratic constituency. And he is a good guy who everybody likes. Very liberal, but he is, he doesn't get anybody angry. He's not an Al Sharpton or a Jesse Jackson. And also, he is considered one of the rising stars in the Democratic Party, and they want to put his face forward.

GRIFFIN: Bob, he is very liberal. In fact, the prime-time lineup is completely liberal. This is not a Democratic convention that's going to be reaching out to the moderate Americans.

NOVAK: No, it isn't. And that is what the kind of the disconnect is, that the prime-time schedule is all liberals. But on the other hand, you have John Kerry and John Edwards coming in, who want to reach toward the middle. So there is a kind of a conflict in the message that this party is trying to give out.

NGUYEN: Bob, the nomination speech back in 1956 put John F. Kennedy in the limelight. Let's talk about this year's nomination speech. How important is this?

NOVAK: This is a -- the nominating speeches, Betty, are usually forgotten soon afterwards. Senator Max -- former senator Max Cleland of Georgia is going to give the nominating speech, just was announced this morning, for Senator Kerry.

Senator, this is a little bit of a potential problem. Senator Cleland is a very angry man. He thought the Republicans used dirty tricks when they defeated him in the 2002 election. He has been lashing out in very tough language against George W. Bush, and language that Kerry cannot even endorse.

So I think they're going to be very careful in editing his speech for the nominating.

But I can only remember a couple of nominating speeches over the years. The best nominating speech I ever heard was Senator Gene McCarthy of Minnesota. (UNINTELLIGIBLE), delivered a great nominating speech in 1960 for Adlai Stevenson. He didn't even like Stevenson, but he hated Kennedy. So it was a great oratory.

I think the worst nominating speech I ever heard was Bill Clinton nominating George, Mike Dukakis in 1988. Went on and on and on and on. And it really ruined Clinton's career, didn't it?

GRIFFIN: It certainly didn't help Dukakis, Bob.

I'm wondering, as we look at these conventions, and based on your history of covering these, when did they change? When did they just become a prime-time commercial party instead of real solid work in nominating a presidential candidate?

NOVAK: Well, the last convention where there was any real serious doubt about who might get nominated, and there really wasn't that much doubt, was in 1960. But in -- for many years, going right through to -- up to 19 -- through 1976, there were big fights on the platform, big issues over abortion, civil rights, the war.

And then in 1980, there was a lot of tension between the Kennedy forces, who had tried to oust Jimmy Carter, and the Carter forces. They never really quite got it together for the '80 election.

But since then, they have, since 1980, they have been totally pep rallies. What is the best face you can put forward? And then, of course, then they claim that there's not enough media coverage of the convention, hearing one speech after another when there's no real news going on.

So that's the reason that nobody covers these endless speeches, because there's no conflict going on.

NGUYEN: As always, in The Novak Zone, we want to talk about the big question. The buzz around Boston is the bounce. How much of a bounce will this convention give the Kerry-Edwards ticket?

NOVAK: I'm sorry, Betty, could you repeat that?

NGUYEN: How much of a bounce will this convention give the Kerry-Edwards ticket? And don't forget, Bob, this is the big question.

NOVAK: This is the big -- OK, Betty. Bill Clinton in 1992 got a 16 percentage point bounce. That was a huge bounce. (UNINTELLIGIBLE), but he was -- he started the convention around 28 percent. In this election, running against an incumbent Republican president, John Kerry starts at about 48 percent, so he is not going to get that big a bounce. There's that that many undecided voters.

I think they will be happy if they get a 5 percentage point bounce. And they're going to -- they may be lucky to get that.

While we're talking about conventions, if I could make one plug, Betty, for a new book by the late Steve Neil (ph), political columnist, and the it is, the name of it is "Happy Days Are Here Again." It's a (UNINTELLIGIBLE), it's the story of the 1932 convention, where Franklin Roosevelt almost lost the nomination, changed American history but was nominated.

If you want to read about how conventions used to be, that was even before my time, if you can believe it, in 1932.

NGUYEN: By Steve Neil. All right, thank you, Bob.

GRIFFIN: Bob, thanks so much for getting up this morning. A real deluge there in Boston.

NGUYEN: I know.

GRIFFIN: We've been watching the...

NOVAK: It really is.

GRIFFIN: Something else. We certainly thank you... NGUYEN: Stay dry.

GRIFFIN: ... for joining us, and hope you will get to stay dry.

NOVAK: Thank you.

GRIFFIN: Well, cyclist Lance Armstrong lost the 18th stage of the Tour de France, but he's still in the lead. The U.S. Postal Service's Easy Rider takes a 4-minute, 9-second lead into today's individual time trial. There's only one more stage after that, a formality, really. The Tour ends tomorrow in Paris. And Armstrong is vying for an unprecedented sixth straight victory. He says he will compete in the Tour de France again, but perhaps not next year.

For almost two decades, Americans have enjoyed it. Now it is time to take the Black Arts Festival on the road overseas.

Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was in Glacier National Park 40 years ago, and they weren't having this conversation at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Well, after 16 years in Atlanta, the National Black Arts Festival is growing beyond borders. The annual 10-day celebration of African-American culture is now looking to attract more of an international audience.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: James Acheamponq has come all the way from Ghana, Africa, to demonstrate his craft. A nationally renowned drum-maker in his native land, this is his first visit to the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta.

JAMES ACHEAMPONQ, DRUM MAKER: I decided to come to see what is going on here, to tell people what we have in Ghana.

NGUYEN: Live performances and big-name stars, like Maya Angelou and Harry Belafonte, have brought national recognition. With film premiers and visual arts, virtually every genre is given a stage over the 10-day period. For international artists, it offers exposure and a chance to sell their wares.

CHIEF TUNDE ADETUNJI, AFRICAN WORLD MUSEUM: This is not Atlanta festival anymore, this is not United States festival, this is a festival for the entire black race.

NGUYEN: In fact, there's growing interest in developing similar festivals in other countries, like New Guinea, Trinidad, and Tobago.

JUDITH SERVICE MONTIER, DIRECTOR, NBAF MARKETING: Obviously our home base is Atlanta. But really, the international component of it, and reaching out and partnering with these other countries, is becoming a very, very prominent and sought-after prospect.

NGUYEN: These drummers and dancers from New Guinea are among several international contingents.

ACHEAMPONQ: If you are here, you are able to see, to meet different (UNINTELLIGIBLE), different people, for you to know how good you are.

NGUYEN: Giving the National Black Arts festival a world beat.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Event organizers say that over the past decade, more than 800,000 people have attended the National Black Arts Festival. Looks like a good time.

GRIFFIN: The argument over global warming aside, Glacier National Park has lost more than 110 glaciers or ice fields in the last 100 years. Aaron Brown takes us on a field trip.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a place at once boasted spectacular and sublime, Glacier National Park. At the height of summer, everything here is practically perfect.

Except for this. The glaciers are disappearing.

DON FAGRE, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: Right now, our best guess is that by the year 2030, all the glaciers in Glacier National Park will be gone.

BROWN: Gone, the way geology is measured, in the blink of an eye, with the only hope of saving them, scientists say, a return of something they call the Little Ice Age, unlikely in the extreme.

FAGRE: These glaciers probably formed 7,000 years ago, and the ice in them is at least several hundred years old. And so it's very, very fast, not only in geologic terms, but even in human terms.

BROWN: You can see what scientists are talking about in this series of still photos taken over the last 90 years or so, a steady, unrelenting retreat. Of the 150 original glaciers in the park, only about 20 remain today. And the rangers who guide the tourists around use the photos to discuss it with stark clarity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's about 700 feet thinner than it was in the late 1800s, and about 10 percent of the mass that it was in the late 1800s.

BROWN: The million-dollar question, of course, is why.

FAGRE: There's no question that some of it is the global warming that is attributable to humans.

BROWN: There are other factors at work as well. In scientific terms, they are called climactic pulses. In plain English, it's been far too hot.

KATE MARRONE, TOURIST: This kind of heat isn't actually normal out here. And last summer was unbelievable. I mean, it was almost 100 every day when we were here.

BROWN: The best way to see what glaciers remain is in person. Visitors first take boat rides across two small lakes, then hike through the woods and up the cliffs in a trek that takes about nine miles in all.

That the glaciers will soon be gone is a topic always of conversation.

BRUCE PATT, TOURIST: The beauty of the park will still be outstanding. It's very similar to New Zealand, as a matter of fact. I think New Zealand has nothing on this part of the -- this part of our country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was in Glacier National Park 40 years ago, and they weren't having this conversation at all.

BROWN: But they certainly are now. And if the glaciers can disappear, many visitors wonder, what's next?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The glaciers are the indicator of something much larger. So that's -- in a sense, it's the symptom to something else. And that's the part that really worries me a great deal.

BROWN: Aaron Brown, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: We will dip into the morning e-mail bag for your comments on today's question, plus another look at morning headlines, including John Kerry's journey toward Boston.

And we say good morning to Portland, Oregon, where it has been hotter than Hades. The forecast in about five minutes.

CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Today, "ON THE STORY" is on the road. Candy Crowley is in Bosty, a rainy Boston this morning, with a preview. Good morning.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Make that very rainy, Betty. Yes, we are "ON THE STORY" of the Democratic National Convention here in Boston. Kelly Wallace and I will be talking about what Democrats want to achieve here next week. Jeanne Meserve is on the story of terrorism fears. And Kelli Arena and Maria Hinojosa will be in Washington and New York "ON THE STORY" of reaction to the 9/11 commission report. If we don't blow away or float away, it's all coming up, all "ON THE STORY."

NGUYEN: Candy, I have to ask you, how do you do that? You have rain in front of you and rain behind you. Amazing.

CROWLEY: I have a tent over me.

NGUYEN: Yes, you guys might want to get inside the bus, keep you out of the rain. Thanks, Candy.

GRIFFIN: I'm going to watch just to see if they can pull it off.

NGUYEN: I know.

GRIFFIN: Well, we've been asking you your thoughts on our e-mail question of the day, somewhat fatalistic, Are you concerned about another al Qaeda attack in the United States? And we do have a couple of more responses to share with you.

This one from Jerry. "I feel no more threatened than the Congress. In fact, I'm planning a six-week stint across the nation in an effort to stay ahead of such activity."

NGUYEN: And Ruben writes, "The real question we have to ask ourselves is when. And this question will remain unanswered until, one, the attack happens, or, two, politicians in Washington stop the bickering and start doing what they preach."

And, of course, we appreciate all your responses this morning.

NGUYEN: Jacqui, we've got the forecast for Boston all wrapped up. What about the rest of the nation?

JERAS: I know. Well, hey, I wanted to tell Candy and everybody in Boston, by the way, that the rain will be coming to an end. In fact, it should be out of there before the noon hour. They're right in the middle of this bright gold band, which has a history of producing about an inch of rain per hour. Should be moving out of here shortly. Still cloudy skies, though, into the afternoon. Your temperatures are going to be staying pretty chilly.

Very hot, we're going to flip it and reverse it across the Northwest now, because the temperatures have been unbelievable. Yesterday, record high of 103 degrees in Portland. Let's take a look at what's going on this hour in Portland, 70 degrees, sunshine, looking gorgeous there. We're looking for a high near the triple digits once again. Heat relief is on the way, watching for some cooler temperatures on the way for tomorrow.

OK, rest of the country for today, looking for the wet weather across the southern tier of the country. Nothing really severe expected today, but we could see some good downpours in the southern Plains and into the lower Mississippi River Valley. Cooler than normal temperatures throughout much of the upper Midwest. In fact, many of you are going to be seeing temperatures about 20 degrees below normal.

Hit-and-miss thunderstorms across central and southern parts of Florida and into the Southeast. The Northeast, rain mostly in the morning, drying out for the afternoon. But still a little on the cool side, with highs mostly into the 70s.

Temperatures nice and comfortable into Chicago, 72 degrees there. Cool temperatures in Denver, only 64 degrees. Packed (ph) Northwest looking for well into the 90s, and into the Southwest for today, about 102 in Phoenix.

We've got a lot of hot and a lot of cold. Betty, Drew, which one of you...

NGUYEN: Mixed bag.

JERAS: ... is hot and cold?

NGUYEN: OK. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

GRIFFIN: I'm hot, she's cold.

NGUYEN: Thanks, Jacqui.

JERAS: All right.

NGUYEN: Or the other way around.

OK, plenty more ahead here on CNN today. "ON THE STORY," of course, is next. At 11:00 Eastern, "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS," with a closer look at the supporting cast of this year's Democratic ticket, profiles of John Edwards and Teresa Heinz Kerry in that. Plus at noon Eastern, "CNN LIVE SATURDAY."

GRIFFIN: Thanks for spending part of your Saturday with us. We hope you have a great day.

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


Aired July 24, 2004 - 09:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning to you. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Betty Nguyen at CNN headquarters in Atlanta, where it is 9:00 a.m.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Drew Griffin. Good morning, if you're just waking up, our friends on the West Coast out there in California and elsewhere, it's 6:00 a.m. Thank you for starting your day with CNN.

Here's what we have working this hour.

The Senate isn't letting a summer break stop it from acting on some recommendations from the 9/11 commission. The latest in a live report.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Bob Franken in Boston.

It's raining right now. A security official told me he would love nothing better if it kept on doing so. But there's an awful lot of other effort to try and dampen any trouble.

GRIFFIN: And Bob, Glacier National Park may have to be renamed if things continue to heat up. We'll look at the great melt in Montana.

Here's what's happening now in the news.

NGUYEN: In Congress, House and Senate leaders say they'll hold hearings in August to review recommendations of the 9/11 commission. Normally, Congress is recessed during August, but lawmakers say the rare hearings are needed because they want to draft relevant legislation by October.

In the Persian Gulf, the Egyptian embassy in Kuwait says it's helping lead a diplomatic effort to free seven truck drivers taken hostage in Iraq. An Egyptian official tells CNN negotiators they have spoken directly with the kidnappers and are confident a deadline to meet demands will be extended.

And in Brussels, NATO has agreed to send two more battalions to Afghanistan at the request of Washington. The additional forces, comprised of about 2,000 soldiers from Spain and Italy, are to arrive in September and stay for about two months.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news. GRIFFIN: Our top story, the 9/11 commission report a hot seller at bookstores, and now a wavemaker in Washington. Lawmakers are leaving on their break, but it could be a brief one. President Bush creates a task force. He says he wants action promptly.

The president is at his ranch near Crawford, Texas, and our Suzanne Malveaux is nearby. Suzanne?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Drew.

President Bush is expected to stay out of the spotlight this week at his Crawford ranch as the Democrats hold their convention in Boston. But, of course, the administration saying it will be working very hard considering those recommendations from the 9/11 commission.

Now, the president has actually initiated a special task force to do this. It will be headed by his chief of staff, Andy Card. We are told that members of that task force will include a homeland security team, as well as a national security team, and other high-level officials will be involved in those meetings.

Also, we are told that national security adviser Condoleezza Rice will be at the Crawford ranch on Monday. She will join the president, where the two of them will continue their discussions on what kinds of recommendations need to be implemented right away.

Now, at the same time, Congress is -- says that it will go ahead and take up hearings in August, that they will draft legislation on the kinds of changes they believe are necessary. It was both House and Senate leaders yesterday who said that they would go ahead and hold this special session.

Now, the goal, they say, is to have a draft in their hands by October 1, and to have legislation before they recess.

Now, first on the agenda would be creating some sort of national counterterrorism task force. Secondly would be the creation of this national director of intelligence. That, as you know, Drew, is a controversial proposal. Both the head of the Homeland Security Department as well as the acting director of the CIA say they do not believe that is necessary. The White House is saying they are still considering that proposal. It is on the table.

But the big question, of course, Drew, is just whether or not this is going to get done, how fast it's going to get done, And in Washington, that is a very difficult -- it's a very difficult task, Drew.

GRIFFIN: Suzanne, especially in an election year. You mentioned the president talking about the Homeland Security chief, that's a position that he created. Does he feel that is enough?

MALVEAUX: Well, the White House says that essentially it's looking at all of the options and all of the proposals. He certainly puts that out as a possibility. One of the models, they say, for the national director of intelligence would be to look at the Homeland Security Department. How has that operated? How has that worked?

Critics say that is simply another level of bureaucracy that they're creating, but others say that the Homeland Security Department is quite effective, and that if you have that kind of national position, someone directly answering to the president, that that may be some way to circumvent a lot of those turf battles that many people have been complaining about.

GRIFFIN: Suzanne Malveaux with the president in Crawford, Texas. Thank you for joining us.

NGUYEN: And adding to the sense of urgency in Washington, a feeling among some experts, the current terror threat is not just a cry wolf. In fact, there's speculation the nation's official terror alert status is about to be raised.

We get the details now from Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's more than just chatter. Senior intelligence officials say they have credible and fairly specific information that al Qaeda is poised to attack. It's just not specific enough.

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Although we know not the time and the place and the method, credible reports indicate that al Qaeda is moving forward with its plans to carry out a large-scale attack against the United States.

ARENA: Officials say al Qaeda members captured recently in countries including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan have provided information an attack is being coordinated, some say by Osama bin Laden himself. The information isn't just coming from detainees, but from multiple sources, and it's consistent.

RICHARD FALKENRATH, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: This is different. This is more serious, more specific, and more centrally led than anything that we've seen in a long time. And hence, it's being taken very seriously. I would not be surprised in the least if the government decides to raise the national threat level to orange...

ARENA: Officials say the threat is just as serious as it was in the summer of 2001, just before the attack on September 11. And while al Qaeda is plotting, the Madrid bombings showed just how dangerous splinter groups can be. They have no direct connection to al Qaeda but share their ideology.

FALKENRATH: And the most likely sort -- forms of attack, I think, will be relatively small conventional explosives set off in multiple sites simultaneously. This is a proven al Qaeda M.O.

ARENA: FBI agents continue their search for clues and people. This week, the FBI asked authorities in Mexico to be on the lookout for alleged al Qaeda operative Adnan El Shukijumah. Officials very concerned about the porous Mexican border. An even bigger fear, that there is a cell already in the United States that has been in place even before September 11.

KEN PIERNICK, COUNTERTERRORISM EXPERT: You just don't decide at a moment's notice to conduct a major operation. You have to do your target selection, which sometimes takes years...

ARENA (on camera): But law enforcement sources say there is nothing specific on that front either.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: And the threat of terror high on the minds of police in Boston. Journalists and Democrats descend on the Hub for the convention.

Bob Franken is in Boston's Government Center with the latest on a rainy morning there, Bob. Good morning to you.

FRANKEN: Well, yes. We're under a tent, Drew. It sort of sounds like the kind of rain that you get when you've gone out to sea as it pelts against the canvas. Regrettably, we are in downtown Boston, where just about a block away is the Faneuil Hall just down the street, and the Quincy Market. Hopefully it doesn't become downstream.

But that should be the toughest problem that they face here. There is a massive security presence, a lot of them right now hunkered down in shelters away from the weather. But there is a very visible security presence, that is to say, thousands and thousands of police, and all the paraphernalia that they have.

There are going to be jets flying overhead. NORAD is sending out jets in conjunction with the Secret Service in case there's any problem in the air.

Under the ground, the subways, people are having random checks of their bags, although they are going to be represented in part on Monday by a lawyers' group who's trying to get that stopped.

That is just the beginning of a massive security effort. Probably the largest facet of it is the fact that they're going to be closing down in the hours before, during, and after the convention each day, closing down I-93, which is the main artery for Boston. It's going to be so significant that officials here have asked that the residents of Boston stay out, let the Democrats do their thing at the Fleet Center, which is only a few feet, at one point, from where the highway goes past.

Demonstrators, they're going to be very, very tightly controlled in a number of ways. They're going to be raining on the parade of the protests. But, of course, they're going to go on anywhere. This is an area where just about every demonstration will march through on its way to the Fleet Center, accompanied by very, very heavy security. And yes, before you ask, we'll tell you that there has been an uncorroborated threat of some sort of incendiary device attack against news media vehicles of some sort. The police are saying that they really have very little on that. News organizations are coordinating some extra security.

But extra security is not the problem here. It is unprecedented. And it's going to mean that the normal functions of Boston, for the most part, will give way to the Democratic convention.

GRIFFIN: Bob, let's talk about the politics of all this. John Kerry on a well-scripted bus tour heading towards Boston, trying to gain some momentum. Any sign in Boston that the excitement is building? Or are we just being annoyed with all the security?

FRANKEN: Well, quite frankly, it's the latter thus far. The delegates are going to start arriving. The candidates are on their magical mystery tour into the convention city. That's something that's become pretty much pro forma.

But the big story thus far here is the security preparation. The Democrats are hoping that things go well enough that they are the big story once the convention begins on Monday.

GRIFFIN: Bob Franken, live in a rainy Boston. We thank you for joining us, Bob.

NGUYEN: And here's a look at other news that's making headlines across America.

First, though, in Colorado, a critical development in the Kobe Bryant rape case, and a huge victory for the defense. The judge ruled that the accuser's sex life during the week of their encounter can be used in the trial.

Now, to Southern California. Firefighters have fully contained four large wildfires in and around northern Los Angeles County. In the past week, blazes have destroyed more than 48,000 acres. Forestry officials are contemplating some closures of national forest land.

The Energy Department has ordered a halt to classified work at two dozen facilities, responding to a security scandal. Classified work using removable computer disks, like those missing at the Los Alamos Weapons Lab, have been suspended.

And some dirty deeds are going on in Scottsdale, Arizona. It's Mighty Mud Mania, check it out, called the Dirty Decathlon. And it wraps up all the Scottsdale parks and recreation summer programs. It encompasses all of that. Oh, what a messy time to play in the sun.

Well, kidnappers voice their demands in Iraq. We'll have more on that while another official is abducted. The latest from Baghdad coming up in a live report.

GRIFFIN: And the commission has done its job, but how does their work stack up? Now that the final 9/11 report is out, we will talk with a 27-year veteran of the CIA. You'll be surprised at some of his opinions.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And not only are you starting out with wet weather this morning in the Denver area, you're starting out with cold weather too, 49 degrees. It's a record low right now in Denver, Colorado. We'll let you know when it's going to warm up with the nation's forecast coming up on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: In Iraq today, a growing wave of kidnappings and assassination attempt on a high-level Iraqi official.

For the latest, we turn now to CNN's Michael Holmes, who is live in Baghdad. A lot of developments, Michael.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's been plenty of developments today. There's been assassination attempt, a kidnapping of a senior businessman in town, an attempted assassination of a senior Iraqi official from the interior ministry, as you said, and the hostage crisis continues.

Now, the latest on the Egyptian diplomat, the number-three man at the embassy here in Baghdad, well, what we've been hearing about him is that diplomatic efforts are really under way, talks going on to try to get him released.

It was a shocking event and really ratcheted up the whole hostage-taking thing. There's been a lot of hostages taken, truck drivers and the like, but this is a very brazen kidnapping. He was taken off the streets outside a mosque after leaving evening prayers and has been held by a group that is saying that they want to see Egypt reject any involvement at all with training or helping with any sort of security in Egypt here.

Now, this, of course, is troubling for the Egyptians, because they have another hostage being held too, a truck driver. He's being held with three Indians and three Kenyans by a group calling themselves the Holders of the Black Banners. Their demands are that this -- these men's employer, which is a Kuwaiti transport company, pay compensation, in their words, to those killed in Fallujah, that restive town west of here, within 48 hours, and also that the Americans release all Iraqi prisoners is that they are holding here in Iraq.

A very troubling development in the hostage-taking situation. And I've got to tell you, too, that the Iraqi interim prime minister, he's visiting neighboring states, and he was talking about this in Syria, in Damascus, just a little while ago. And he was pleading with Egypt and other countries not to do any deals like the Philippines did, and with the hostage-taking. And Iyad Allawi saying, "It is time for us to close ranks to fight terrorism. There is no way to budge the terrorists and give them what they want," Betty.

NGUYEN: CNN's Michael Holmes in Baghdad. Thank you very much.

Drew? GRIFFIN: Taking a look at other news across the world, a bomb (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a bus carrying teachers and workers from an Islamic school in Pakistan. One person killed, eight wounded. Police say the bomb was remote controlled.

A train official and two conductors in Turkey are now facing negligence charges after a deadly train wreck, 37 people killed. The high-speed train jumped the tracks Thursday on its run from Istanbul to Ankara. The government facing criticism for rushing that train into service on old tracks.

And Britain's top military commander says his country is ready to send as many as 5,000 troops to Sudan. Prime Minister Tony Blair says he's consulting with the international community on how best to help with the growing humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

NGUYEN: They were asked to come up with answers. After months of in-depth investigations and interviews, the 9/11 commission has issued its report. How thorough is it? And how good a job did the commission do in uncovering the truth? We will talk with one CIA veteran about his thoughts on the report right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Time now to check in with Jacqui Jeras for a look at the forecast. Kind of hot in many areas, Jacqui.

JERAS: Yes, many areas seeing a lot of heat. But also quite a few areas seeing a lot of cold.

Speaking of cold, look at this picture. It just makes you chilled thinking about it, doesn't it, just looking at this this morning, 49 degrees in Denver. That is an all-time record low for this date. The old record was 50, so you beat it by one.

But you've got the rain to go with it, so I'm going to give you the all with this one, because it's just kind of that damp cool, not a fun morning. You're only going to make it up to 64 degrees this afternoon in Denver, which is 20 degrees below the average. You should be at 89 this time of the year.

Well, what the heck is going on? Why is it so cold in Denver? Why is it so cold across much of the upper Midwest for today? Big trough here in the upper atmosphere. The jet stream is just a very fast-moving column of air in the upper atmosphere, and kind of divides the much cooler air and the much warmer air. So it's allowing all this cool Canadian air to filter into the region and keeping all the warm air across the South at bay.

In the meantime, we have a big ridge here across the West, an upper-level high-pressure system with descending air, and that really heats things up. So we're seeing record highs across the Pacific Northwest, while we were seeing some record lows in the Rocky Mountain states and across parts of the upper Midwest.

For today, let's show you some of these chilly temperatures besides Denver. Lots of 40s and 50s to start you out with this morning. And most of you barely going to be making it out of the 70s for today, Denver 64.

And then we'll jump on over the mountains and head on into the West with 96 in Seattle this afternoon. About 100 degrees in Portland. You had a record high of 103 yesterday, 90 in Salt Lake City, very warm with 90s across the South and East, but a little cooler into the Northeast. That cold front making its way into your neighborhood. And with some rain in the Northeast, not making for a very good weekend either.

We'll have more coming up before the end of the hour.

Drew, Betty, back to you.

NGUYEN: All right, thank you, Jacqui.

GRIFFIN: The Saturday headlines, John Kerry wooing voters in Iowa as he makes his way across the country to Boston. The Democratic National Convention opens there, of course, Monday. Kerry plans to roll into the Hub Thursday to accept his party's nomination.

And President Bush has assembled a task force to review recommendations in the final report of the 9/11 commission. Congressional leaders have now called for hearings on the report to begin in August.

NGUYEN: The 9/11 commission report is generating action in officials, well, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) with officials in Washington. The big issue, how to reform the nation's intelligence network.

And my guest knows something about that intelligence. Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern is our guest in our Washington bureau this morning.

Good morning to you.

RAY MCGOVERN, FORMER CIA ANALYST: Good morning, Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, let's tackle this report. In it, it says one of the biggest problems was the failure of imagination. How do you gain that collective imagination to prepare for the unknown?

MCGOVERN: Well, I would say, Betty, that the failure of imagination was contagious, because the report itself is guilty of a failure of imagination.

Now, what we have here is a report that does not really address the roots of terrorism, and that is essential, and that was a big disappointment for me. I like to draw an analogy between trying to defeat terrorism, on the one hand, and trying to defeat malaria, on the other. You don't defeat malaria by stationing sharpshooters around the swamp and trying to kill all the mosquitoes as they leave the swamp. You drain the swamp.

And the commission, to its great credit, does hazard a little guess as to what the real problem is. It cites Secretary Rumsfeld last October as posing the question, Are we killing more terrorists than we're generating by what we're doing? And the commission says, that's the right question...

NGUYEN: OK, but in your opinion, then, what are the answers? What should the report have in it that it doesn't?

MCGOVERN: Well, the report goes on to say that the question is, what image, what are we projecting out to the Muslim world? And very courageously, the report says, Well, American foreign policy choices are part of that message. And then it says, For good or bad, American choices with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and also with respect to Iraq are a major part of the problem.

And this has not been addressed. And so these bureaucratic solutions, creating another level of bureaucracy in the intelligence community, that's a symptomatic addressing of the question. The real questions have to do with foreign policy choices.

NGUYEN: So in essence, do you think this position that pretty much oversees all of the intelligence agencies, this one position, is just another layer of that bureaucracy?

MCGOVERN: It is. And, you know, it was most revealing, I think the best comment last week was Tom Ridge. He was asked what he thought of the idea of an intelligence czar over the whole community. And he said, in effect, he said, Been there, done that. He, of course, is the czar over homeland security. And he said that's the last thing we need. We already have tried that.

So the important thing to remember here is that under the existing legislation, the National Security Act of 1947, the director of Central Intelligence already has those authorities, already has those authorities.

I bumped into Senator Gorton at one of these interviews right after the commission report. And I said, Senator Gorton, the DCI already has those authorities. And he smiled and he said, Yes, I know, but he hasn't been willing to use them. And so I said, Well, do you need to create another bureaucratic level, or do you need just to tell the DCI to use those authorities and get the president to get him to use them?

And he went into his interview.

NGUYEN: So instead of talking about positions and titles, let's talk about action. Congress is set to meet. As we know, Al Qaeda, according to sources, telling CNN that they could attack sometime very soon, that this information is not just chatter. This threat is just as serious as it was back in September of 2001. What does Congress need to do right now?

MCGOVERN: I regret to say that I am very skeptical of those reports. These reports are coming from the same people who told us about weapons of mass destruction, from the same people who told us about contacts, operational contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda. So that's number one. Your premise is very doubtful.

Number two, there's nothing that can be done in an organizational sense between now and the election. What needs to be done is that serious people who know what they're doing, people like Richard Clark, need to do their job. And the head of the Central Intelligence Agency has to be empowered by the president to knock some heads together and get the FBI and the rest of the community cooperating with them.

That's what needs to happen now. The president and the DCI already have the authority to do that. And the prospect of cosmetic or symptomatic or bureaucratic solutions between now and the election is really a forlorn hope.

NGUYEN: Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, we thank you your insight today.

MCGOVERN: Most welcome.

NGUYEN: And all of this leads us to our e-mail question of the day. Are you concerned about another al Qaeda attack in the U.S.? E- mail us at wam@cnn.com. And we, of course, will read your responses a little bit later in the hour.

GRIFFIN: Preparations almost complete for the Democratic bash in Beantown. The four-day party will have few surprises. Our Bob Novak drops in with a party preview a bit later in The Novak Zone.

Armstrong gets set to put the wraps on your win number six. An update on his progress when CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Welcome back on this Saturday.

He has covered conventions for decades. This one is no different. Bob Novak joins us live from Convention City for The Novak Zone in just a minute.

GRIFFIN: Looking forward to that, Bob.

Welcome back. That's just ahead.

But first, a look at what is in the news right now.

Egypt's ambassador to Kuwait tells CNN negotiators are talking directly with a group holding seven truck drivers hostage in Iraq. The ambassador says he's confident a resolution will be found, despite new demands from those kidnappers. A separate group now holding a senior Egyptian diplomat, but so far no demands there have been made.

NATO has agreed to send up to 2,000 troops to Afghanistan to help provide security through the October elections. That is less than what NATO had pledged to President Bush last month. Spain and Italy will provide the additional forces, which are to arrive in Afghanistan in September. On Capitol Hill, lawmakers can expect to cut their vacations short. Leaders in both houses now say they will hold hearings in August on the 9/11 report's recommendations. They say (UNINTELLIGIBLE) legislation to overhaul U.S. intelligence gathering can be ready by October.

And in Salt Lake City, police and family have scheduled a news conference at noon Eastern regarding the search for missing jogger Lori Hacking. CNN will carry that live. Police have characterized her husband as a person of interest, though not a suspect. Mark Hacking currently in a psychiatric facility.

Keeping you informed, this is CNN, the most trusted name in news.

NGUYEN: Not everyone can claim 44 years of covering political conventions, but our Bob Novak can.

GRIFFIN: And he's in today's Novak Zone, of course, joining us with some lessons learned while sitting across a unique political viewpoint.

Bob, the first convention you covered, 1960, Los Angeles. I assume it was sunny.

ROBERT NOVAK, THE NOVAK ZONE: It was much better weather than we have now, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

GRIFFIN: But really, nothing -- nothing, nothing could be farther from that convention, Bob. You had, like, four strong candidates coming into that, all of them vying for the potential nomination. You eventually ended up with Kennedy. Now the nominee doesn't even arrive until the convention's almost over.

NOVAK: Yes. This is my 23rd convention. And it's so much different. In those days, of course, you not only had different contenders for the nomination, but you had great factions in the party, which were battling, had a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) tremendous fight on the platform. There was a lot of tension in the party.

And now it is, of course, a pep rally to try to get the best face forward for the party. And that's true of both parties, of course.

And also, Drew, you have here a terrific security problem in Boston, with the 9/11 situation, and a kind of a tense situation that you certainly didn't have in years past.

NGUYEN: Well, let's talk about the speakers that are going to be up to stage, up on stage this week, this coming week. The keynote speaker, who is this person, and why was this person chosen?

NOVAK: The (UNINTELLIGIBLE) keynote speaker, Betty, is a state senator from Illinois, Barak Obama, who is the nominee for the U.S. Senate, almost sure to win. But nobody knows him. Why is he up? It's, I think it's the first time in history that a state legislator has been the keynote speaker. Usually it's a very important governor or senator. But the reason is that he's an African-American, very important Democratic constituency. And he is a good guy who everybody likes. Very liberal, but he is, he doesn't get anybody angry. He's not an Al Sharpton or a Jesse Jackson. And also, he is considered one of the rising stars in the Democratic Party, and they want to put his face forward.

GRIFFIN: Bob, he is very liberal. In fact, the prime-time lineup is completely liberal. This is not a Democratic convention that's going to be reaching out to the moderate Americans.

NOVAK: No, it isn't. And that is what the kind of the disconnect is, that the prime-time schedule is all liberals. But on the other hand, you have John Kerry and John Edwards coming in, who want to reach toward the middle. So there is a kind of a conflict in the message that this party is trying to give out.

NGUYEN: Bob, the nomination speech back in 1956 put John F. Kennedy in the limelight. Let's talk about this year's nomination speech. How important is this?

NOVAK: This is a -- the nominating speeches, Betty, are usually forgotten soon afterwards. Senator Max -- former senator Max Cleland of Georgia is going to give the nominating speech, just was announced this morning, for Senator Kerry.

Senator, this is a little bit of a potential problem. Senator Cleland is a very angry man. He thought the Republicans used dirty tricks when they defeated him in the 2002 election. He has been lashing out in very tough language against George W. Bush, and language that Kerry cannot even endorse.

So I think they're going to be very careful in editing his speech for the nominating.

But I can only remember a couple of nominating speeches over the years. The best nominating speech I ever heard was Senator Gene McCarthy of Minnesota. (UNINTELLIGIBLE), delivered a great nominating speech in 1960 for Adlai Stevenson. He didn't even like Stevenson, but he hated Kennedy. So it was a great oratory.

I think the worst nominating speech I ever heard was Bill Clinton nominating George, Mike Dukakis in 1988. Went on and on and on and on. And it really ruined Clinton's career, didn't it?

GRIFFIN: It certainly didn't help Dukakis, Bob.

I'm wondering, as we look at these conventions, and based on your history of covering these, when did they change? When did they just become a prime-time commercial party instead of real solid work in nominating a presidential candidate?

NOVAK: Well, the last convention where there was any real serious doubt about who might get nominated, and there really wasn't that much doubt, was in 1960. But in -- for many years, going right through to -- up to 19 -- through 1976, there were big fights on the platform, big issues over abortion, civil rights, the war.

And then in 1980, there was a lot of tension between the Kennedy forces, who had tried to oust Jimmy Carter, and the Carter forces. They never really quite got it together for the '80 election.

But since then, they have, since 1980, they have been totally pep rallies. What is the best face you can put forward? And then, of course, then they claim that there's not enough media coverage of the convention, hearing one speech after another when there's no real news going on.

So that's the reason that nobody covers these endless speeches, because there's no conflict going on.

NGUYEN: As always, in The Novak Zone, we want to talk about the big question. The buzz around Boston is the bounce. How much of a bounce will this convention give the Kerry-Edwards ticket?

NOVAK: I'm sorry, Betty, could you repeat that?

NGUYEN: How much of a bounce will this convention give the Kerry-Edwards ticket? And don't forget, Bob, this is the big question.

NOVAK: This is the big -- OK, Betty. Bill Clinton in 1992 got a 16 percentage point bounce. That was a huge bounce. (UNINTELLIGIBLE), but he was -- he started the convention around 28 percent. In this election, running against an incumbent Republican president, John Kerry starts at about 48 percent, so he is not going to get that big a bounce. There's that that many undecided voters.

I think they will be happy if they get a 5 percentage point bounce. And they're going to -- they may be lucky to get that.

While we're talking about conventions, if I could make one plug, Betty, for a new book by the late Steve Neil (ph), political columnist, and the it is, the name of it is "Happy Days Are Here Again." It's a (UNINTELLIGIBLE), it's the story of the 1932 convention, where Franklin Roosevelt almost lost the nomination, changed American history but was nominated.

If you want to read about how conventions used to be, that was even before my time, if you can believe it, in 1932.

NGUYEN: By Steve Neil. All right, thank you, Bob.

GRIFFIN: Bob, thanks so much for getting up this morning. A real deluge there in Boston.

NGUYEN: I know.

GRIFFIN: We've been watching the...

NOVAK: It really is.

GRIFFIN: Something else. We certainly thank you... NGUYEN: Stay dry.

GRIFFIN: ... for joining us, and hope you will get to stay dry.

NOVAK: Thank you.

GRIFFIN: Well, cyclist Lance Armstrong lost the 18th stage of the Tour de France, but he's still in the lead. The U.S. Postal Service's Easy Rider takes a 4-minute, 9-second lead into today's individual time trial. There's only one more stage after that, a formality, really. The Tour ends tomorrow in Paris. And Armstrong is vying for an unprecedented sixth straight victory. He says he will compete in the Tour de France again, but perhaps not next year.

For almost two decades, Americans have enjoyed it. Now it is time to take the Black Arts Festival on the road overseas.

Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was in Glacier National Park 40 years ago, and they weren't having this conversation at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Well, after 16 years in Atlanta, the National Black Arts Festival is growing beyond borders. The annual 10-day celebration of African-American culture is now looking to attract more of an international audience.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: James Acheamponq has come all the way from Ghana, Africa, to demonstrate his craft. A nationally renowned drum-maker in his native land, this is his first visit to the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta.

JAMES ACHEAMPONQ, DRUM MAKER: I decided to come to see what is going on here, to tell people what we have in Ghana.

NGUYEN: Live performances and big-name stars, like Maya Angelou and Harry Belafonte, have brought national recognition. With film premiers and visual arts, virtually every genre is given a stage over the 10-day period. For international artists, it offers exposure and a chance to sell their wares.

CHIEF TUNDE ADETUNJI, AFRICAN WORLD MUSEUM: This is not Atlanta festival anymore, this is not United States festival, this is a festival for the entire black race.

NGUYEN: In fact, there's growing interest in developing similar festivals in other countries, like New Guinea, Trinidad, and Tobago.

JUDITH SERVICE MONTIER, DIRECTOR, NBAF MARKETING: Obviously our home base is Atlanta. But really, the international component of it, and reaching out and partnering with these other countries, is becoming a very, very prominent and sought-after prospect.

NGUYEN: These drummers and dancers from New Guinea are among several international contingents.

ACHEAMPONQ: If you are here, you are able to see, to meet different (UNINTELLIGIBLE), different people, for you to know how good you are.

NGUYEN: Giving the National Black Arts festival a world beat.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Event organizers say that over the past decade, more than 800,000 people have attended the National Black Arts Festival. Looks like a good time.

GRIFFIN: The argument over global warming aside, Glacier National Park has lost more than 110 glaciers or ice fields in the last 100 years. Aaron Brown takes us on a field trip.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a place at once boasted spectacular and sublime, Glacier National Park. At the height of summer, everything here is practically perfect.

Except for this. The glaciers are disappearing.

DON FAGRE, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: Right now, our best guess is that by the year 2030, all the glaciers in Glacier National Park will be gone.

BROWN: Gone, the way geology is measured, in the blink of an eye, with the only hope of saving them, scientists say, a return of something they call the Little Ice Age, unlikely in the extreme.

FAGRE: These glaciers probably formed 7,000 years ago, and the ice in them is at least several hundred years old. And so it's very, very fast, not only in geologic terms, but even in human terms.

BROWN: You can see what scientists are talking about in this series of still photos taken over the last 90 years or so, a steady, unrelenting retreat. Of the 150 original glaciers in the park, only about 20 remain today. And the rangers who guide the tourists around use the photos to discuss it with stark clarity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's about 700 feet thinner than it was in the late 1800s, and about 10 percent of the mass that it was in the late 1800s.

BROWN: The million-dollar question, of course, is why.

FAGRE: There's no question that some of it is the global warming that is attributable to humans.

BROWN: There are other factors at work as well. In scientific terms, they are called climactic pulses. In plain English, it's been far too hot.

KATE MARRONE, TOURIST: This kind of heat isn't actually normal out here. And last summer was unbelievable. I mean, it was almost 100 every day when we were here.

BROWN: The best way to see what glaciers remain is in person. Visitors first take boat rides across two small lakes, then hike through the woods and up the cliffs in a trek that takes about nine miles in all.

That the glaciers will soon be gone is a topic always of conversation.

BRUCE PATT, TOURIST: The beauty of the park will still be outstanding. It's very similar to New Zealand, as a matter of fact. I think New Zealand has nothing on this part of the -- this part of our country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was in Glacier National Park 40 years ago, and they weren't having this conversation at all.

BROWN: But they certainly are now. And if the glaciers can disappear, many visitors wonder, what's next?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The glaciers are the indicator of something much larger. So that's -- in a sense, it's the symptom to something else. And that's the part that really worries me a great deal.

BROWN: Aaron Brown, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: We will dip into the morning e-mail bag for your comments on today's question, plus another look at morning headlines, including John Kerry's journey toward Boston.

And we say good morning to Portland, Oregon, where it has been hotter than Hades. The forecast in about five minutes.

CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Today, "ON THE STORY" is on the road. Candy Crowley is in Bosty, a rainy Boston this morning, with a preview. Good morning.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Make that very rainy, Betty. Yes, we are "ON THE STORY" of the Democratic National Convention here in Boston. Kelly Wallace and I will be talking about what Democrats want to achieve here next week. Jeanne Meserve is on the story of terrorism fears. And Kelli Arena and Maria Hinojosa will be in Washington and New York "ON THE STORY" of reaction to the 9/11 commission report. If we don't blow away or float away, it's all coming up, all "ON THE STORY."

NGUYEN: Candy, I have to ask you, how do you do that? You have rain in front of you and rain behind you. Amazing.

CROWLEY: I have a tent over me.

NGUYEN: Yes, you guys might want to get inside the bus, keep you out of the rain. Thanks, Candy.

GRIFFIN: I'm going to watch just to see if they can pull it off.

NGUYEN: I know.

GRIFFIN: Well, we've been asking you your thoughts on our e-mail question of the day, somewhat fatalistic, Are you concerned about another al Qaeda attack in the United States? And we do have a couple of more responses to share with you.

This one from Jerry. "I feel no more threatened than the Congress. In fact, I'm planning a six-week stint across the nation in an effort to stay ahead of such activity."

NGUYEN: And Ruben writes, "The real question we have to ask ourselves is when. And this question will remain unanswered until, one, the attack happens, or, two, politicians in Washington stop the bickering and start doing what they preach."

And, of course, we appreciate all your responses this morning.

NGUYEN: Jacqui, we've got the forecast for Boston all wrapped up. What about the rest of the nation?

JERAS: I know. Well, hey, I wanted to tell Candy and everybody in Boston, by the way, that the rain will be coming to an end. In fact, it should be out of there before the noon hour. They're right in the middle of this bright gold band, which has a history of producing about an inch of rain per hour. Should be moving out of here shortly. Still cloudy skies, though, into the afternoon. Your temperatures are going to be staying pretty chilly.

Very hot, we're going to flip it and reverse it across the Northwest now, because the temperatures have been unbelievable. Yesterday, record high of 103 degrees in Portland. Let's take a look at what's going on this hour in Portland, 70 degrees, sunshine, looking gorgeous there. We're looking for a high near the triple digits once again. Heat relief is on the way, watching for some cooler temperatures on the way for tomorrow.

OK, rest of the country for today, looking for the wet weather across the southern tier of the country. Nothing really severe expected today, but we could see some good downpours in the southern Plains and into the lower Mississippi River Valley. Cooler than normal temperatures throughout much of the upper Midwest. In fact, many of you are going to be seeing temperatures about 20 degrees below normal.

Hit-and-miss thunderstorms across central and southern parts of Florida and into the Southeast. The Northeast, rain mostly in the morning, drying out for the afternoon. But still a little on the cool side, with highs mostly into the 70s.

Temperatures nice and comfortable into Chicago, 72 degrees there. Cool temperatures in Denver, only 64 degrees. Packed (ph) Northwest looking for well into the 90s, and into the Southwest for today, about 102 in Phoenix.

We've got a lot of hot and a lot of cold. Betty, Drew, which one of you...

NGUYEN: Mixed bag.

JERAS: ... is hot and cold?

NGUYEN: OK. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

GRIFFIN: I'm hot, she's cold.

NGUYEN: Thanks, Jacqui.

JERAS: All right.

NGUYEN: Or the other way around.

OK, plenty more ahead here on CNN today. "ON THE STORY," of course, is next. At 11:00 Eastern, "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS," with a closer look at the supporting cast of this year's Democratic ticket, profiles of John Edwards and Teresa Heinz Kerry in that. Plus at noon Eastern, "CNN LIVE SATURDAY."

GRIFFIN: Thanks for spending part of your Saturday with us. We hope you have a great day.

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