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On the Story

Who Won Senate Showdown Over Judicial Nominees?; Security Tight for Fleet Week

Aired May 29, 2005 - 10:00   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.


TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning everyone, I am Tony Harris a the CNN Center in Atlanta. ON THE STORY begins in a moment, but first, headlines now in the news.
Israel's cabinet has approved the second phase of a Palestinian prisoner release plan. Under the plan about 400 prisoners would be set free, about 500 others were released just over three months ago. The release is part of a promise by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon when he met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Egypt in February.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, voters in Lebanon are taking part in an election without Syrian influence. It is the first time that has happened in three decades. The son of Lebanon's former prime minister, Rafik Hariri who was a assassinated, is among the candidates in today's parliamentary elections.

In Italy, Pope Benedict XVI has made his first papal trip since his election last month. In a visit earlier today to the city of Bari on the Adriatic coast, the pope vowed to end a 1,000-year-old rift with the Orthodox Church.

Those are the headlines. ON THE STORY starts right now.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to CNN's ON THE STORY, where our journalists have the inside word on the stories we covered this week. I'm Barbara Starr, on the story of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Is the noose pulling tighter on the mastermind of the Iraq insurgency?

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kelli Arena on the story of the terrorism fight back home and the debate of new powers of the FBI over searches, even looking at your mail.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Alina Cho, on the story of tight security here in New York for a Memorial Weekend tradition. Fleet Week with thousands of sailors, marines and coast guardsman.

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Kathleen Hays, on the story this Memorial Day weekend, a veteran is making a jump from the battlefield to the boardroom. The transition to corporate America. Also, we're also talking to "Time" magazine national political correspondent Karen Tumulty, on the story of political drama in Congress this week, and who really won those battles over judges, stem cell research and John Bolton. Karen, welcome to the show, glad to have you this Memorial Day Weekend.

KAREN TUMULTY, "TIME MAGAZINE": Great to be here.

HAYS: We're going to have a great show with Karen. And coming up, will a woman win the Indy 500 today? We'll talk to "Miami Herald" reporter Cammy Clark about the new speedster in town, Danica Patrick.

And at the end of the hour, our what's our story segment. A woman breaks barriers in another sport this week, Sheila Johnson.

Email us at on onthestory@cnn.com. Now straight to Barbara Starr and where is Zarqawi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: This violent extremist now appears committed to trying to destroy everything and everyone around him. History teaches us that this kind of evil, over time, fails.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld talking about a prime target for U.S. forces in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Secretary Rumsfeld said the terrorist mastermind was reminiscent of Hitler in his bunker. But the hard fact, where is Zarqawi, is he wounded, dead or alive? The evidence on all of these scenarios is very thin at the moment.

ARENA: Well, Barbara, let's start with what you think we do know at this point.

STARR: Not much. We've talked to all of our sources, and everybody pretty much comes up with the same set of facts. They are looking at these Islamic Web sites, which for the past many days have posted a number of messages with a number of scenarios.

ARENA: These are Web sites used by Zarqawi in the past?

STARR: Used by Zarqawi in the past, that he is either wounded. Some people say maybe dead, some people say maybe he's gone to Iran. But the real issue seems to be that something has happened. Everyone pretty much agrees on that. There seems to be growing evidence that he may well have been wounded a few weeks ago in some sort of shootout. But the U.S. military says they simply don't know at this point.

TUMULTY: Barbara if he is somehow incapacitated, what difference does that make? Certainly he's become the name and the face associated with the insurgency. But is he in fact the command and control of the insurgents?

STARR: I think everybody's pretty much -- you're making the exact point, everyone's pretty much past making any predictions that if they got Zarqawi, dead or alive, captured, whatever, that it would make a difference. There seems a be a growing view amongst the senior military commanders that this insurgency, whatever it is, is here for the long haul. That getting Zarqawi is not going to make the violence stop. This is not 18 months ago, or so when everybody was talking about oh, if we could just get Saddam, things would be better. People are past that. The assessment now is that getting Zarqawi won't make much of a difference. It will help, but it's not going to solve the problem of the insurgency.

CHO: Barbara, I'm curious what the hunt for Zarqawi means for the hunt for bin Laden?

STARR: Well, Alina, it's very interesting. A lot of people are looking at both of these issues and saying there are some similarities, that what they have accomplished is the beginning of the ability to shut down the safe havens. When people talk about tightening the noose on both of these men, if they can take away their safe havens, if they can roll up, capture or kill the associates closest to both of these men, it gives them less security, it makes them have to move around more. Possibly, no one knows for sure. But it makes them more unsettled, less secure in their environment. And that's when maybe, just maybe, they hope they can score some successes.

HAYS: And of course, over this Memorial Day weekend, a big effort starting in the streets of Baghdad right now against the insurgents. U.S. forces, Iraqi forces. We're hoping we may have Jane Arraf on a video phone. Jane, are you there?

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am, Kathleen. How are you?

HAYS: We are fine. Let's see how this goes. These shots can be tricky. I'm not sure about the audio there. But Jane, we just want to know what you can tell us about Operation Lightning, what you've heard, how this is going so far?

ARRAF: Well, it's really big, and it's rather optimistically named. I think those are two things we can safely say. It was announced in advance, which as you know is sort of unprecedented to announce that, hey, heads up, we're going to do a major security operation. Going to be 40,000 troops, police and Iraqi soldiers backed by pretty well all the U.S. troops in Baghdad. And in some sense it's already started in the form of a shaping operation. An operation that's meant to pave the way for this. So we are talking the biggest security operation the Iraqis have ever undertaken. Going to be very interesting.

STARR: But Jane, it strikes me that this is not a picture that the U.S. military wanted to show in Baghdad, that for months now, the talk has been about demilitarizing the city, getting those military troops off the streets, so there wouldn't be so much resentment by Iraqi people. Making it appear that Baghdad was, if you will, more normal. But putting 40,000 Iraqi troops on the street, backed up by hundreds if not thousands of U.S. troops, it really remilitarizes the city in an attempt to get a handle on the violence, doesn't it?

ARRAF: It does. And the reality is that no matter how you wanted to talk about progress they made, and there is some progress being made, the city is far from normal right now. You go out in the streets and there's gunfire. There are traffic jams, because there are U.S. convoys going through, stopping all traffic. There are car bombs on a regular basis. In fact, last month we were just told by a senior U.S. intelligence official was a record for car bombs. More than 140 of them. Absolutely extraordinary. And yes, there will be an Iraqi face on this. We're embedded now with Iraqi and U.S. Special Forces, and what we've seen and what they tell us is over the last two years Iraqis are increasingly taking the forefront.

Now, that doesn't mean that it is going to be by any means a flawless operation when you're talking about 40,000 troops and police. But we will see Iraqis increasingly at the front rather than at the back of these operations.

ARENA: Jane, what's the level of concern about in essence creating 40,000 very visible new targets for the insurgency?

ARRAF: That's definitely a concern. And one of the concerns is, obviously, that there are going to be more targets and more successful attempts. But what they're doing in this operation preceding it, which they've called Operation Squeeze Play that has been done by U.S. forces, is to try to minimize the risk and to try to minimize the danger by rounding up people, by putting things in place that will mean that when this operation is carried out, and we're talking about the whole city being encircled, that it is more of an effort to basically round up and put away insurgents as opposed to just putting yourself out there as a target for these security forces.

So, again, this hasn't been tried before. I mean, this is huge. 40,000 people. And it could be absolutely chaos or it could be as the Iraqis hope it will be, something that will make residents of Baghdad say, thank you, thank you for doing that. But it's not by any means a sure thing. There is a certain element of risk here. A great deal of risk, in fact.

ARENA: And risk for you, too, Jane. You take care of yourself. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us.

Well, from war in Iraq to the political wars fought out here in Washington this week. "Time Magazine's" Karen Tumulty is back on that story after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: Who won, who lost? The Senate won, and the country won.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: Republican Senator John McCain early in the week talking about the deal he and others crafted to break off the standoff over President Bush's judges. But by the end of the week, the compromise was in tatters. Helping us sort this out, "Time Magazine" national political correspondent, Karen Tumulty. Karen, were there really any winners here?

TUMULTY: Well, what we really found out this week was the real limits of the power of the president and his party. They control the White House. They control the House. They control the Senate. But what we found out in a series of measures this week was that that does not always mean that things are going to end up the way you want them to.

HAYS: So at the beginning of the week, the historic compromise to save the Senate and Senate traditions, and John McCain's involved in it, and Bill Frist has painted as sort of fuming in the corner perhaps. By the end of the week, one isn't so sure really what happened and how strong this compromise was. Lay that out. What is the kernel we should take away of what's important?

TUMULTY: Well, this question of whether the president should get an up or down vote on his judicial nominees, was really a test of Bill Frist's Senate leadership. And he was putting on the line not only his ability to manage the Senate, but also his presidential hopes. Because, of course, already everything that happens in Washington has a little bit of a 2008 edge to it as well. So Tuesday was going to be high noon in the Senate. The big vote. And Monday night, what happened was that a group of seven Democrats and seven Republicans essentially hijacked the Senate from Bill Frist, and announced that they had cut their own deal on which judges were going to get approved and which judges were not.

CHO: Karen, I'm wondering, is McCain the rock star that he was again is this -- I'm hearing that he's going to be the subject of a docudrama on A&E. What's that all about?

TUMULTY: Well, certainly it has been --as bad as a week as it has been for Bill Frist, it's been that good of a week for John McCain. In fact, I was at the premier party for this A&E special that is going to be airing tomorrow night as the deal was announced. This is a big party being thrown for John McCain. And on the television screens in there, we saw John McCain getting up and announcing this deal that essentially cut the legs out from under the Senate leader.

And certainly there's a lot of buzz in Washington this week that three, four months ago you would have thought that John McCain's day had sort of passed. He had his shot at running for president in 2000, and it was gone. I don't think anybody thinks that right now. The race is clearly on and he's in it.

STARR: And there's another issue lined up right behind the judicial issue, and that's stem cells once again. We thought that was a closed, done deal, but now that's back on the table. What's going on there?

TUMULTY: You know, a number of things have happened since the president announced his policy on stem cell research in August of 2001. And one of the main things that's happened is that science has moved on, and the states have moved ahead, and researchers in our countries have moved ahead, and also stem cell research has gotten such prominent advocates as Nancy Reagan. So now it's very clear that sort of the firm ground that the president thought he had found in August 2001 is giving way underneath him. And interestingly enough, some of the political machinations on this are being engineered by the president's own party in Congress.

Because as we were all paying attention to what was all going on with the judges in the Senate, a group of moderate Republicans in the house were putting together a bill that passed, with 50 Republican votes, that in fact would dramatically expand stem cell research and federal support of stem cell research in this country, and it could be triggering the president's first veto of his presidency.

ARENA: Karen, when you say things like the compromise sort of stole the show from the Senate, that is so telling to me, because we used to know a day when there were so many people who worked toward compromise, and now that seems to be a signal somehow of defeat.

TUMULTY: Well, that has certainly been the managing style of this president, and of this Congress, really, since the Republicans took control in 1994. They tend to win their votes narrowly, but very decisively. There has not been a lot of compromise in Washington, which is why this compromise among the seven Democrats and seven Republicans in the Senate seems so remarkable. Of course, by Thursday when the next big nomination came up, we did not see much bipartisanship at all.

STARR: Well, Karen, it's never boring on Capitol Hill, especially these days. We thank you. And we hope you'll come back on this story. Some of us consider politics a kind of national sport, noisy, around and around and around. Well, we're going to take a hard turn here. We're back on the story of the Indy 500, whether Danica Patrick will become the first woman to win later today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STARR: That's the sound of speed. And of new sports star Danica Patrick, who'll be one of the favorites, one of the great events of American sports roars into action later today, the Indianapolis 500. Welcome back. We're on the story. And joining us from the track is "Miami Herald" reporter Cammy Clark. Cammy, welcome.

CAMMY CLARK, "MIAMI HERALD": Hi. Thank you.

STARR: What do you think? Are we going to see the first woman win the Indy 500 today?

CLARK: Well, I tell you, I would love to. She's certainly got the car and she's got the guts. I think the only thing she's lacking is the experience.

STARR: So, what about the experience? It seems like she has -- but she's moved up so quickly. I mean, she almost could have had the number one pole position. She got the fourth pole. She was upset because she took her first turn a little too hard. But she's raced in England. She left her home at age 16 to race against grown-up men in England in a tough circuit. I mean, she may not have been at the Indy 500 much before, this is a young woman with a lot of experience under her belt, and a lot of fire in her belly.

CLARK: I don't think I've ever seen another woman that is so determined to do so well against the boys. I mean, she's got this almost cockiness to her. And I think she got that racing in England where it was very tough. Like when Janet Guthrie came here in 1976, she got cat calls and people were like half against her, half for her. But now Danica's got everyone rooting for her here. But in England, that wasn't the case and I think that's what made her tough.

CHO: Cammy, it's Alina Cho in New York. I want to hear about Danica Patrick the person. I love she's 5'2" and 100 pounds. But I also love that she watches "Regis and Kelly," and she loves Jim Carrey. So what is she like as a person?

CLARK: She's very eclectic. I think she's most proud that she's been able to keep her femininity while doing something that's really death-defying, in a sport that's kind of testosterone driven. And she's posed provocatively in men's magazines, and she's got like this hot, hot picture of her in the media guide. And yet she doesn't apologize for it. She said, hey, I'm a girl and I can still do this, and there's no reason we can be feminine and still do something that's male oriented.

ARENA: There's controversy brewing over the fact that she is 100 pounds. Can you tell us what's going on with that?

CLARK: Yeah. Robby Gordon, who used to do both this race and the Coca-Cola in NASCAR in the same day, brought it up last night that he said that basically she has a major advantage, because she's only 105 pounds, and he's 200. So it's a 100-pound difference. And the lighter the car is, or the lighter the person and the car is, the faster it can go, so it gives it a little bit of an advantage. A guy from Team Penske said as much as 0.8 miles per hour for every pound of difference. So anyway, Robby was making controversial remarks that he wouldn't race against Danica until they did something to even up the weight. But I think when it comes down to it it's not going to make much of a difference and I think he's kind of just more jealous that he's not here.

STARR: No comment. She has a famous racing boss, doesn't she? She's got quite an organization behind her.

CLARK: Yeah, she's got a famous racing boss, and a famous race car driver as her boss. Obviously the P.R. guy goes, yeah, she's going to go see the boss, which happens to be David Letterman, one of the team co-owners, and then the other one is Bobby Rahal who won this back in 1986. So she's got a lot of support. She's bringing a lot of publicity to the series as well. But I said that David could not have her on her show, because right now she's been the story everywhere.

HAYS: I think what's interesting about racing is that male/female we can all drive. I think people forget that Shirley Downey years ago was a top drag racer, beat a lot of men in her time. A different kind of racing. Talk to us about the sport itself and what a woman could bring to the sport, the challenge of it, what makes a great driver that she has that isn't gender specific, and forget how much she weighs.

CLARK: Yeah. Especially this track is more mental than physical. The cars, you know, are less tough to drive than some other types of racing cars. So it's more mental. It's more the, you know, thinking, and basically being a daredevil and being able to drive as hard as you can toward the wall and make the right turn at the right time, and also thinking and strategy. And that's something that women I think personally can do as well as men. So, you know, if we're going to do a weightlifting contest, no, we can probably never compete, but this is one of the maybe few sports that women could compete head-to-head against males and be successful.

CHO: Cammy, it's so great to get the attention for women in this sport. But is it going to translate into ratings for ABC, do you think?

CLARK: Absolutely. I mean, last year, I think they had I think 4.1, which was the lowest in years. It used to be like 20 years ago, this used to be the race to watch. And it's just gone downhill. I wouldn't be on here if it wasn't for Danica, you guys wouldn't be talking about the Indy 500, I'm sure. Right?

(LAUGHTER)

CLARK: Yeah. I mean, she's been in "People," she's been on the "Nightly News." I can't turn on the TV and not see her. I can't go on the newspaper or go to the Internet. I guess her PR guy said she is the most Googled person for the last week or something. She's a total package of, you know, good looks, but talent, and charisma, and probably that dynamic personality that can make you a star.

ARENA: You know, besides the weight comment, before that everyone seemed to be saying the right thing, all the male competitors, what's your sense, though, behind the scenes? Is there a true acceptance of her just as a driver?

CLARK: I think she's probably garnered that in the last maybe month and a half. Because she finished fourth in Japan. Then qualified second, I think that raised, you know, shocks. Some people were saying, in the garage, she had better equipment this, that. But I think the guys are begrudgingly seeing that she's got talent and that she might be able to do this at their level, and I think that they are starting to really show her respect. They're all saying the right things.

The IRL guys are great to deal with, they're all politically correct, they're all saying the right things. I think deep down she's really earning the respect she might not have had a month and a half ago. That's true of a lot of rookies, too, they have to prove themselves before they get the respect.

HAYS: That certainly is the truth. Cammy Clark, thank you. We know you're right there, race side, just the race a short time away. Enjoy it. Have fun. And we look forward to talking to you again on this story. Well, now, from the racing track to the employment track. And especially on this Memorial Day weekend, how the men and women of the U.S. military moved to civilian jobs, even in big corporations.

Also coming up, new debate about government powers and the war on terrorism and personal privacy for your home and your mail.

And Sheila Johnson making history in basketball this week. What's her story?

But first, a check on what's making news right now.

HARRIS: And good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris at the CNN Center in Atlanta. ON THE STORY continues in a moment, but first, headlines now in the news.

Insurgent attacks escalate in Iraq. Five bombings, and a shooting leave at least 17 people dead and 23 wounded today. All this as Iraqi and U.S. troops prepare a massive crackdown on the insurgency dubbed Operation Lighting. We will have details in a live report coming up at 11:00 Eastern.

French voters go to the polls today to decide if the country will go along with a European constitution. The constitution must be approved by all 25 E.U. members. Opponents worry about losing national identity and sovereignty. Supporters say it will allow Europe to speak with one voice on global issues.

A spokesman for former President Bill Clinton says Clinton is not exhausted and will continue his current tour of tsunami-damaged South Asia. Clinton is holding meetings in the Maldives today and will travel to Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Clinton is the U.N. point person on tsunami relief.

For a wrap of the top stories and Memorial Day related events on CNN LIVE SUNDAY, beginning at the top of the hour. ON THE STORY continues after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. AL AHUJA (RET.), U.S. ARMY: It's something that you can't get at a university. It's something that you can only get with experience and opportunity. And I think the Army provides opportunity every single day to build and develop your leadership skills.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYS: That's Lieutenant Colonel Al Ahuja, talking about skills he used fighting insurgents in Iraq, and throughout his 20 years wearing green. Now he's selling what he's learned to corporate America.

Welcome back to ON THE STORY, our Memorial Day weekend edition. I'm Kathleen Hays. CHO: Kathleen, I'm curious how interested corporate America is in veterans.

HAYS: Well, actually, Alina, it turns out that certainly since the Persian Gulf War, certainly since 9/11, that there is much more receptivity not just in the country as a whole, but definitely in big corporations, because they're realizing that a lot of these people have built certain soft skills, leadership. They will talk about a do-or-die attitude. All kinds of things that can make up for the fact they don't have what you would call the hard skills. In other words, you haven't worked in a big corporation, getting some of those specific skills, but the prospects in a lot of the big companies are very bright for these people.

ARENA: You know, Kathleen, the report that you did this week was wonderful. And I just really think that we should take a look at that. It was called "From the Battlefield to the Board Room," and I think that it's well worth taking a look at that tape.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HAYS (voice-over): Operation Iraqi Freedom, starting summer 2003. Lieutenant Colonel Al Ahuja commanded an infantry battalion in Mosul, fighting insurgents, rebuilding the city. Now, after 20 years, he's leaving the Army. His new priority? His family.

AHUJA: I have a 3-year-old. I haven't been here for her first two birthdays.

HAYS: And his career. He's setting his sights on corporate America, and what he's selling above all is a lifetime of leadership.

An estimated 250,000 people leave the military each year, according to "GI Jobs" magazine, and about 15 percent of these are officers. Military headhunters say the skills of these men and women are on par with those of senior executives at top corporations. Al Ahuja believes his talent for managing and motivating all kinds of people make him a perfect candidate for a job in retail distribution. And he's frustrated that some companies can't look past his lack of specific industry experience. Because he's certain he has what it takes.

AHUJA: I'm new, full of fire. I want to bring some energy to your organization. And I know I can do well. Give me a chance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAYS: And Al is well into his job search. I can't say who, but he does have some very bright prospects right now.

When I talked to people in big companies, well, they say what frequently you do need, though, is some kind of transition program. You need a way to get people who have these great skills, that can translate well, and maybe some people would say are needed in corporate America. You know, a little dose of being committed to a team, a little dose of having integrity and thinking that's a really important part of your job, but that there is some transitioning, but there are a lot of big companies who are very good at this.

ARENA: Are there specific jobs that corporate executives think that people from the military are best suited for?

HAYS: Let me tell you the story of GE, which was rated number three by "GI Jobs" magazine in terms of military friendliness. It's not just hiring people coming out of military, it's how they treat guardists (ph). Home Depot, number one in the country. They get very, very big kudos.

But I talked to Susan Kratch, who is an Air Force veteran, who says that when GE started its quality-boosting program in the mid- '90s, Six Sigma, that's when they really started using a lot of military officers who had left the service, and finding they were really great at, you know, leading the team, and let's crack down and reduce the errors and the mistakes.

But then they've tried them in all kinds of positions. Finance, investment banking, HR, and that they have an instrumental -- in doing all kinds of jobs around the world.

One quick anecdote I want to share. With Susan, are big corporations more receptive? And she said, they certainly are. You know, I came out in the Vietnam era, and back then when we were leaving the military and looking for jobs, they told us, don't tell people you were in the military.

STARR: Well, on this Memorial Day weekend, for those who are hitting the roads, not at work today, what's the picture looking like for travel, with gas prices so volatile, up and down? What's the travel prospect right now?

HAYS: Well, basically the average price of gasoline across the country is stuck about around $2.10. And that's up from, you know, about $1.50 or so a year-and-a-half ago. At any rate, people are still driving. But they are apparently going to maybe shorten their road trips, stay a little closer to home, and they're going to cut back on some of the food and drinks.

CHO: Kathleen, I'm really interested -- I really want to talk a little bit more about this. There's been so much talk about the housing bubble bursting. What are you hearing about when that's going to happen, or if it's going to happen?

ARENA: No, please! Gas prices (INAUDIBLE)...

(CROSSTALK)

HAYS: Well, let's say the housing is not falling down yet. New home sales and existing home sales set a record this week. OK? So people are buying homes.

One big difference, Alina, I think we shouldn't forget, compared with past bubble times, the inventory of unsold new homes is low. That's a good sign, number one. But I will tell you, Federal Reserve officials who have to oversee the economy and would worry about a bursting bubble hurting the economy, are making more noises. In fact, the president of the Atlanta Fed, Jack Guynn, said he thinks that there are some builders, lenders and buyers who may end up getting burned, because they're going to buy at the top of the market, with loans that are kind of shaky. In other words, they can't pay it perhaps, and that could cause a bit of a problem for some people in some regions.

So just beware, don't pay too much, make sure you don't overextend. And then you may ride out whatever happens. That's the good news.

ARENA: That's the easy good news.

HAYS: Let's have some good news. It's a Memorial Day weekend, yeah.

ARENA: For crying out loud.

Well, from the business world to fresh debate this week over new powers for federal agents, for searches and mail checks. Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

I'm back on that story right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: As we consider the allegations of abuses, we have yet to find one verifiable instance where there has been an abuse of the Patriot Act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says there have been no abuses under the act designed to protect the United States from terrorism. And he and the administration continue to push for new powers that would streamline requests for searches and not require a court order, and allow some searches of mail.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Welcome back. I'm Kelli Arena, and we are ON THE STORY.

HAYS: And this is why it's an important question, because I think a lot of us feel like, yeah, do something for me that will help my security. Right? I want to see the security watch get tighter.

On the other hand, I don't want new powers given to the government to go on fishing expeditions, because then we figure that even innocent citizens could be targeted somehow. What's going on here? Who should we believe?

ARENA: Well, if you listen to law enforcement and the government, they say, look, we need the same powers for terrorism investigations as we have for criminal investigations. What we're talking about in some of these new powers is something called administrative subpoenas, which means that the FBI director or the person in charge of a field office around the country can OK a subpoena without going to a judge.

They can already do this for drug investigations, for health care fraud investigations. The government says, how can you tie our hands when it comes to terrorism cases? But the point that you bring up is the point that some critics bring up, which is that terrorism investigations sometimes are not as clear-cut. They're a little more ambiguous, and so there might be an overstepping of those powers.

Government says, trust us, and that there will be a check on those, because the current bill says you have to report to Congress twice a year to tell them exactly how many times you've used the new power.

STARR: What is this now about the federal government possibly looking at the mail, the postal mail of Americans?

ARENA: Well, it's not reading your mail. It's just getting the information that's on the outside of the envelope, the mail cover.

STARR: Would they stand in the post office and watch, you know, go to my mailbox? How does this work?

ARENA: They don't have enough people to do that. But it would be -- it would be to -- if you are a target of -- or part of a terrorism investigation, the bill proposes that the government would -- that the FBI would no longer have to go through the postal inspectors, and would be able to demand that information, the information on the outside of the envelope. It's something that they do have access to now; however, they have to go through the postal inspectors.

The argument is, if we're the agency that's charged with fighting terrorism, then we should have the power to get that information.

It was something that sort of caught everybody off guard, including the Postal Inspection Service. Something that's being discussed. Of course, none of this obviously is law yet. This is all being discussed. It's being discussed over in a closed committee session, so that also has people upset.

CHO: Kelli, I want to switch gears here a little bit, because you and I both covered the two Cessna pilots who nearly -- well, who came close to the White House.

ARENA: Right.

CHO: And now we're hearing about another violation of D.C. air space just this week. What's going on here? Because I know you had said that this happens actually all the time. We just don't normally hear about it.

ARENA: Well, it does happen all the time, and many, many private pilots say, even those who live in this area, say that, you know, trying to avoid that air space, especially in a small aircraft, is sometimes a little difficult. Not because they're doing anything on purpose, but because the wind can blow them in momentarily. And so it is -- we do have incursions, at least as many as twice a week here in Washington.

But of course, the problem that we saw with that Cessna is that they got a little bit too close for comfort, and there were numerous attempts, and there's been a lot of discussion post-operation to -- could we really have done anything in time, if that were a bigger plane, if it was moving faster?

HAYS: Right. And of course, there's no back and forth over whether or not they were given the order to shoot down this little plane, as if the little airstrips around here haven't already suffered enough. People forget that the private air strips have really suffered with all the restrictions put on Reagan International.

ARENA: That's right. That's right, although they did loosen some of those, they did loosen some restrictions this week over at Reagan.

HAYS: I guess the lesson is, though, as long as these restrictions are in place, you better be awfully careful, because you could end up on the ground in a broken plane, dead.

ARENA: Well, you could, but that's more your deal, right? The Pentagon says, you know, they never gave an order to shoot.

STARR: The Pentagon was very clear this week, there was never an order given to shoot that plane down. They did feel that they had seen enough signs, it was not an imminent threat.

HAYS: They said they never saw weapons, they never saw aggressive flying tactics.

STARR: It still raises a question of future incidents and a lot of concern.

CHO: All right, ladies, from the Cessna controversy to security. And security was a visible part of a Memorial Day tradition here in New York. That, of course, is Fleet Week. I'm back on that story after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to really go around and get the feel for the whole New York right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) been in the Navy, I've always wanted to be in Fleet Week. So I finally got my chance.

CHO: How long have you been waiting?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eight years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Worth waiting for, we hope. Those are among nearly 6,000 sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen along with sailors from Canada, France, Pakistan and the United Kingdom.

Welcome back. I'm Alina Cho. We're ON THE STORY.

ARENA: Alina, what was it like to be -- I mean, I know that you were on this, this huge aircraft carrier. What was that like? That must have been magnificent.

CHO: It was. We were on the USS John F. Kennedy, which is the -- the sailors on it call it Big John. But we were on the flight deck. And an interesting story I have to tell you is that, going up to get to the flight deck, I clearly did not wear the right shoes, because you're climbing up four flights of stairs, which are really like ladders. You know, the saying on the ship is, keep your head on a swivel, because they say you have to always watch where you're going. They say they have great medical facilities onboard, but they don't want anyone to have to use them.

HAYS: Of course not. Alina, tell us a little bit more about Fleet Week. You know, if you live in New York City, all of a sudden you see sailors everywhere. It's your first clue. But what is the significance of this? Why is it so special to the sailors who get to participate?

CHO: Well, you know, I talked to a lot of sailors. One who said he had waited eight years; another who said he had waited 14 years.

HAYS: Wow.

CHO: I mean, they really consider this the highlight, or one of the highlights of their Naval career. I mean, imagine if you don't live in New York or have never been here before, you get to come here -- and first of all, you get to get off a ship, which you've been stuck on, for lack of a better word, for six months. And you get to eat real food. New York pizza, New York bagels. You get to visit Times Square, you know, the Statue of Liberty. You know, these sailors really, really enjoy it, and they consider it a highlight.

STARR: Alina, I know you were on another story this week, also military, the graduation at West Point, the class of 9/11. A very, very unique graduation at the academy.

CHO: It certainly was. You know, Barbara, I covered the graduation last year as well, when Secretary Rumsfeld spoke. This year, it was Richard Myers. And we'll get to that in a minute.

But yes, they call it the class of 9/11, because these cadets started just weeks before the terrorist attacks. And many of them said to me, listen, you know, we had two years to decide whether we wanted to leave, whether we wanted to go back to civilian life. But this really strengthened our resolve. We feel stronger about, you know, defending our country. And an overwhelming majority, 77 percent of them, decided to stick with it.

ARENA: And you also said, Alina, in a conversation that we had earlier, that there were 911 graduates as well?

CHO: Isn't that ironic? Yes. Interestingly enough, I was just about to do my 8:00 a.m. live shot, the first one of the morning, and all of the material that we had gotten had said 912 graduates. And just a couple of minutes before I went on, the public information officer came to me and said, listen, there's been -- I guess one of the graduates, for whatever reason, couldn't graduate, and so we have 911. And it is quite ironic, yes.

HAYS: But it's heartening, when you mention that so many of these young people, even though they know that the nation is fighting war on at least two fronts pretty actively right now, are sticking with this commitment. Because it's a much easier decision, I would think, for some people in peacetime. How do their parents feel, though? Because it's one thing for you to march off to war, really tough for the families left behind.

CHO: It certainly is. In fact, Kathleen, we spoke to one parent, who said, listen, I said to my son, you know, after two years, you can quit. We're already proud of you. You've completed two years of West Point. You got in, and -- which is a huge achievement in and of itself.

We talked to another parent, because I don't know if I mentioned this before, but 23 West Point graduates have died since 9/11, 22 of them in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one parent told me, during the graduation, I looked out on all of the cadets below me, and I counted 23 heads. And so this is something clearly that they do think about. And it is something that General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, spoke to in his keynote address yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: And I'm sure those events shaped every day of the past four years and gave you a clear sense of purpose and a heightened sense of resolve. 9/11, in fact, changed the entire world, and we are now in a struggle against violent extremism, who want to end our way of life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: That was Chairman Richard Myers. And of course, Rumsfeld spoke last year. And it's a very, very big deal for these cadets to have people like this giving the keynote address at the graduation ceremony.

STARR: A sobering moment indeed on Memorial Day weekend when we all remember all who have served. We're back ON THE STORY after this.

ANNOUNCER: A basketball team owner makes history this week. "What's Her Story?" More when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheila Johnson, "What's Her Story?" Johnson became part owner of the Washington Mystics this week, making her the first African-American woman to own a women's national basketball team.

SHEILA JACKSON, PART OWNER, WASHINGTON MYSTICS: I'm going to do everything I can to not only help the Mystics and bring them to the championship, but I hope that this is a signal that it's about time that a woman and an African-American woman is part of this whole scene of sports.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Black Entertainment Television co- founder says she'll be a hands-on president and managing partner of the Mystics.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAYS: Before we go, one other newsmaker this week, our Alina Cho written up in "The New York Daily News," and called -- we all know this -- the embodiment of chic, who knows how to choose her words as well as her wardrobe.

Woo-hoo!

Alina, you know, you come into the makeup room every day in New York, and we're all just looking at how fabulous you look. What do you have on today?

CHO: You know, sweats and sandals. That's how chic I am. But you know, Kathleen, I don't normally wear sensible shoes.

ARENA: Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. Well, Alina, thank you. Thanks to my colleagues, and thank you for watching ON THE STORY. We'll be back next week. And at 12:00 noon Eastern, 9:00 a.m. Pacific, "LATE EDITION" with Wolf Blitzer. Among Wolf's guests, Republican Senator John McCain. Straight ahead, a check on what's making news right now.

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 May 29, 2005 - 10:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning everyone, I am Tony Harris a the CNN Center in Atlanta. ON THE STORY begins in a moment, but first, headlines now in the news.
Israel's cabinet has approved the second phase of a Palestinian prisoner release plan. Under the plan about 400 prisoners would be set free, about 500 others were released just over three months ago. The release is part of a promise by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon when he met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Egypt in February.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, voters in Lebanon are taking part in an election without Syrian influence. It is the first time that has happened in three decades. The son of Lebanon's former prime minister, Rafik Hariri who was a assassinated, is among the candidates in today's parliamentary elections.

In Italy, Pope Benedict XVI has made his first papal trip since his election last month. In a visit earlier today to the city of Bari on the Adriatic coast, the pope vowed to end a 1,000-year-old rift with the Orthodox Church.

Those are the headlines. ON THE STORY starts right now.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to CNN's ON THE STORY, where our journalists have the inside word on the stories we covered this week. I'm Barbara Starr, on the story of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Is the noose pulling tighter on the mastermind of the Iraq insurgency?

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kelli Arena on the story of the terrorism fight back home and the debate of new powers of the FBI over searches, even looking at your mail.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Alina Cho, on the story of tight security here in New York for a Memorial Weekend tradition. Fleet Week with thousands of sailors, marines and coast guardsman.

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Kathleen Hays, on the story this Memorial Day weekend, a veteran is making a jump from the battlefield to the boardroom. The transition to corporate America. Also, we're also talking to "Time" magazine national political correspondent Karen Tumulty, on the story of political drama in Congress this week, and who really won those battles over judges, stem cell research and John Bolton. Karen, welcome to the show, glad to have you this Memorial Day Weekend.

KAREN TUMULTY, "TIME MAGAZINE": Great to be here.

HAYS: We're going to have a great show with Karen. And coming up, will a woman win the Indy 500 today? We'll talk to "Miami Herald" reporter Cammy Clark about the new speedster in town, Danica Patrick.

And at the end of the hour, our what's our story segment. A woman breaks barriers in another sport this week, Sheila Johnson.

Email us at on onthestory@cnn.com. Now straight to Barbara Starr and where is Zarqawi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: This violent extremist now appears committed to trying to destroy everything and everyone around him. History teaches us that this kind of evil, over time, fails.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld talking about a prime target for U.S. forces in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Secretary Rumsfeld said the terrorist mastermind was reminiscent of Hitler in his bunker. But the hard fact, where is Zarqawi, is he wounded, dead or alive? The evidence on all of these scenarios is very thin at the moment.

ARENA: Well, Barbara, let's start with what you think we do know at this point.

STARR: Not much. We've talked to all of our sources, and everybody pretty much comes up with the same set of facts. They are looking at these Islamic Web sites, which for the past many days have posted a number of messages with a number of scenarios.

ARENA: These are Web sites used by Zarqawi in the past?

STARR: Used by Zarqawi in the past, that he is either wounded. Some people say maybe dead, some people say maybe he's gone to Iran. But the real issue seems to be that something has happened. Everyone pretty much agrees on that. There seems to be growing evidence that he may well have been wounded a few weeks ago in some sort of shootout. But the U.S. military says they simply don't know at this point.

TUMULTY: Barbara if he is somehow incapacitated, what difference does that make? Certainly he's become the name and the face associated with the insurgency. But is he in fact the command and control of the insurgents?

STARR: I think everybody's pretty much -- you're making the exact point, everyone's pretty much past making any predictions that if they got Zarqawi, dead or alive, captured, whatever, that it would make a difference. There seems a be a growing view amongst the senior military commanders that this insurgency, whatever it is, is here for the long haul. That getting Zarqawi is not going to make the violence stop. This is not 18 months ago, or so when everybody was talking about oh, if we could just get Saddam, things would be better. People are past that. The assessment now is that getting Zarqawi won't make much of a difference. It will help, but it's not going to solve the problem of the insurgency.

CHO: Barbara, I'm curious what the hunt for Zarqawi means for the hunt for bin Laden?

STARR: Well, Alina, it's very interesting. A lot of people are looking at both of these issues and saying there are some similarities, that what they have accomplished is the beginning of the ability to shut down the safe havens. When people talk about tightening the noose on both of these men, if they can take away their safe havens, if they can roll up, capture or kill the associates closest to both of these men, it gives them less security, it makes them have to move around more. Possibly, no one knows for sure. But it makes them more unsettled, less secure in their environment. And that's when maybe, just maybe, they hope they can score some successes.

HAYS: And of course, over this Memorial Day weekend, a big effort starting in the streets of Baghdad right now against the insurgents. U.S. forces, Iraqi forces. We're hoping we may have Jane Arraf on a video phone. Jane, are you there?

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am, Kathleen. How are you?

HAYS: We are fine. Let's see how this goes. These shots can be tricky. I'm not sure about the audio there. But Jane, we just want to know what you can tell us about Operation Lightning, what you've heard, how this is going so far?

ARRAF: Well, it's really big, and it's rather optimistically named. I think those are two things we can safely say. It was announced in advance, which as you know is sort of unprecedented to announce that, hey, heads up, we're going to do a major security operation. Going to be 40,000 troops, police and Iraqi soldiers backed by pretty well all the U.S. troops in Baghdad. And in some sense it's already started in the form of a shaping operation. An operation that's meant to pave the way for this. So we are talking the biggest security operation the Iraqis have ever undertaken. Going to be very interesting.

STARR: But Jane, it strikes me that this is not a picture that the U.S. military wanted to show in Baghdad, that for months now, the talk has been about demilitarizing the city, getting those military troops off the streets, so there wouldn't be so much resentment by Iraqi people. Making it appear that Baghdad was, if you will, more normal. But putting 40,000 Iraqi troops on the street, backed up by hundreds if not thousands of U.S. troops, it really remilitarizes the city in an attempt to get a handle on the violence, doesn't it?

ARRAF: It does. And the reality is that no matter how you wanted to talk about progress they made, and there is some progress being made, the city is far from normal right now. You go out in the streets and there's gunfire. There are traffic jams, because there are U.S. convoys going through, stopping all traffic. There are car bombs on a regular basis. In fact, last month we were just told by a senior U.S. intelligence official was a record for car bombs. More than 140 of them. Absolutely extraordinary. And yes, there will be an Iraqi face on this. We're embedded now with Iraqi and U.S. Special Forces, and what we've seen and what they tell us is over the last two years Iraqis are increasingly taking the forefront.

Now, that doesn't mean that it is going to be by any means a flawless operation when you're talking about 40,000 troops and police. But we will see Iraqis increasingly at the front rather than at the back of these operations.

ARENA: Jane, what's the level of concern about in essence creating 40,000 very visible new targets for the insurgency?

ARRAF: That's definitely a concern. And one of the concerns is, obviously, that there are going to be more targets and more successful attempts. But what they're doing in this operation preceding it, which they've called Operation Squeeze Play that has been done by U.S. forces, is to try to minimize the risk and to try to minimize the danger by rounding up people, by putting things in place that will mean that when this operation is carried out, and we're talking about the whole city being encircled, that it is more of an effort to basically round up and put away insurgents as opposed to just putting yourself out there as a target for these security forces.

So, again, this hasn't been tried before. I mean, this is huge. 40,000 people. And it could be absolutely chaos or it could be as the Iraqis hope it will be, something that will make residents of Baghdad say, thank you, thank you for doing that. But it's not by any means a sure thing. There is a certain element of risk here. A great deal of risk, in fact.

ARENA: And risk for you, too, Jane. You take care of yourself. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us.

Well, from war in Iraq to the political wars fought out here in Washington this week. "Time Magazine's" Karen Tumulty is back on that story after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: Who won, who lost? The Senate won, and the country won.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: Republican Senator John McCain early in the week talking about the deal he and others crafted to break off the standoff over President Bush's judges. But by the end of the week, the compromise was in tatters. Helping us sort this out, "Time Magazine" national political correspondent, Karen Tumulty. Karen, were there really any winners here?

TUMULTY: Well, what we really found out this week was the real limits of the power of the president and his party. They control the White House. They control the House. They control the Senate. But what we found out in a series of measures this week was that that does not always mean that things are going to end up the way you want them to.

HAYS: So at the beginning of the week, the historic compromise to save the Senate and Senate traditions, and John McCain's involved in it, and Bill Frist has painted as sort of fuming in the corner perhaps. By the end of the week, one isn't so sure really what happened and how strong this compromise was. Lay that out. What is the kernel we should take away of what's important?

TUMULTY: Well, this question of whether the president should get an up or down vote on his judicial nominees, was really a test of Bill Frist's Senate leadership. And he was putting on the line not only his ability to manage the Senate, but also his presidential hopes. Because, of course, already everything that happens in Washington has a little bit of a 2008 edge to it as well. So Tuesday was going to be high noon in the Senate. The big vote. And Monday night, what happened was that a group of seven Democrats and seven Republicans essentially hijacked the Senate from Bill Frist, and announced that they had cut their own deal on which judges were going to get approved and which judges were not.

CHO: Karen, I'm wondering, is McCain the rock star that he was again is this -- I'm hearing that he's going to be the subject of a docudrama on A&E. What's that all about?

TUMULTY: Well, certainly it has been --as bad as a week as it has been for Bill Frist, it's been that good of a week for John McCain. In fact, I was at the premier party for this A&E special that is going to be airing tomorrow night as the deal was announced. This is a big party being thrown for John McCain. And on the television screens in there, we saw John McCain getting up and announcing this deal that essentially cut the legs out from under the Senate leader.

And certainly there's a lot of buzz in Washington this week that three, four months ago you would have thought that John McCain's day had sort of passed. He had his shot at running for president in 2000, and it was gone. I don't think anybody thinks that right now. The race is clearly on and he's in it.

STARR: And there's another issue lined up right behind the judicial issue, and that's stem cells once again. We thought that was a closed, done deal, but now that's back on the table. What's going on there?

TUMULTY: You know, a number of things have happened since the president announced his policy on stem cell research in August of 2001. And one of the main things that's happened is that science has moved on, and the states have moved ahead, and researchers in our countries have moved ahead, and also stem cell research has gotten such prominent advocates as Nancy Reagan. So now it's very clear that sort of the firm ground that the president thought he had found in August 2001 is giving way underneath him. And interestingly enough, some of the political machinations on this are being engineered by the president's own party in Congress.

Because as we were all paying attention to what was all going on with the judges in the Senate, a group of moderate Republicans in the house were putting together a bill that passed, with 50 Republican votes, that in fact would dramatically expand stem cell research and federal support of stem cell research in this country, and it could be triggering the president's first veto of his presidency.

ARENA: Karen, when you say things like the compromise sort of stole the show from the Senate, that is so telling to me, because we used to know a day when there were so many people who worked toward compromise, and now that seems to be a signal somehow of defeat.

TUMULTY: Well, that has certainly been the managing style of this president, and of this Congress, really, since the Republicans took control in 1994. They tend to win their votes narrowly, but very decisively. There has not been a lot of compromise in Washington, which is why this compromise among the seven Democrats and seven Republicans in the Senate seems so remarkable. Of course, by Thursday when the next big nomination came up, we did not see much bipartisanship at all.

STARR: Well, Karen, it's never boring on Capitol Hill, especially these days. We thank you. And we hope you'll come back on this story. Some of us consider politics a kind of national sport, noisy, around and around and around. Well, we're going to take a hard turn here. We're back on the story of the Indy 500, whether Danica Patrick will become the first woman to win later today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STARR: That's the sound of speed. And of new sports star Danica Patrick, who'll be one of the favorites, one of the great events of American sports roars into action later today, the Indianapolis 500. Welcome back. We're on the story. And joining us from the track is "Miami Herald" reporter Cammy Clark. Cammy, welcome.

CAMMY CLARK, "MIAMI HERALD": Hi. Thank you.

STARR: What do you think? Are we going to see the first woman win the Indy 500 today?

CLARK: Well, I tell you, I would love to. She's certainly got the car and she's got the guts. I think the only thing she's lacking is the experience.

STARR: So, what about the experience? It seems like she has -- but she's moved up so quickly. I mean, she almost could have had the number one pole position. She got the fourth pole. She was upset because she took her first turn a little too hard. But she's raced in England. She left her home at age 16 to race against grown-up men in England in a tough circuit. I mean, she may not have been at the Indy 500 much before, this is a young woman with a lot of experience under her belt, and a lot of fire in her belly.

CLARK: I don't think I've ever seen another woman that is so determined to do so well against the boys. I mean, she's got this almost cockiness to her. And I think she got that racing in England where it was very tough. Like when Janet Guthrie came here in 1976, she got cat calls and people were like half against her, half for her. But now Danica's got everyone rooting for her here. But in England, that wasn't the case and I think that's what made her tough.

CHO: Cammy, it's Alina Cho in New York. I want to hear about Danica Patrick the person. I love she's 5'2" and 100 pounds. But I also love that she watches "Regis and Kelly," and she loves Jim Carrey. So what is she like as a person?

CLARK: She's very eclectic. I think she's most proud that she's been able to keep her femininity while doing something that's really death-defying, in a sport that's kind of testosterone driven. And she's posed provocatively in men's magazines, and she's got like this hot, hot picture of her in the media guide. And yet she doesn't apologize for it. She said, hey, I'm a girl and I can still do this, and there's no reason we can be feminine and still do something that's male oriented.

ARENA: There's controversy brewing over the fact that she is 100 pounds. Can you tell us what's going on with that?

CLARK: Yeah. Robby Gordon, who used to do both this race and the Coca-Cola in NASCAR in the same day, brought it up last night that he said that basically she has a major advantage, because she's only 105 pounds, and he's 200. So it's a 100-pound difference. And the lighter the car is, or the lighter the person and the car is, the faster it can go, so it gives it a little bit of an advantage. A guy from Team Penske said as much as 0.8 miles per hour for every pound of difference. So anyway, Robby was making controversial remarks that he wouldn't race against Danica until they did something to even up the weight. But I think when it comes down to it it's not going to make much of a difference and I think he's kind of just more jealous that he's not here.

STARR: No comment. She has a famous racing boss, doesn't she? She's got quite an organization behind her.

CLARK: Yeah, she's got a famous racing boss, and a famous race car driver as her boss. Obviously the P.R. guy goes, yeah, she's going to go see the boss, which happens to be David Letterman, one of the team co-owners, and then the other one is Bobby Rahal who won this back in 1986. So she's got a lot of support. She's bringing a lot of publicity to the series as well. But I said that David could not have her on her show, because right now she's been the story everywhere.

HAYS: I think what's interesting about racing is that male/female we can all drive. I think people forget that Shirley Downey years ago was a top drag racer, beat a lot of men in her time. A different kind of racing. Talk to us about the sport itself and what a woman could bring to the sport, the challenge of it, what makes a great driver that she has that isn't gender specific, and forget how much she weighs.

CLARK: Yeah. Especially this track is more mental than physical. The cars, you know, are less tough to drive than some other types of racing cars. So it's more mental. It's more the, you know, thinking, and basically being a daredevil and being able to drive as hard as you can toward the wall and make the right turn at the right time, and also thinking and strategy. And that's something that women I think personally can do as well as men. So, you know, if we're going to do a weightlifting contest, no, we can probably never compete, but this is one of the maybe few sports that women could compete head-to-head against males and be successful.

CHO: Cammy, it's so great to get the attention for women in this sport. But is it going to translate into ratings for ABC, do you think?

CLARK: Absolutely. I mean, last year, I think they had I think 4.1, which was the lowest in years. It used to be like 20 years ago, this used to be the race to watch. And it's just gone downhill. I wouldn't be on here if it wasn't for Danica, you guys wouldn't be talking about the Indy 500, I'm sure. Right?

(LAUGHTER)

CLARK: Yeah. I mean, she's been in "People," she's been on the "Nightly News." I can't turn on the TV and not see her. I can't go on the newspaper or go to the Internet. I guess her PR guy said she is the most Googled person for the last week or something. She's a total package of, you know, good looks, but talent, and charisma, and probably that dynamic personality that can make you a star.

ARENA: You know, besides the weight comment, before that everyone seemed to be saying the right thing, all the male competitors, what's your sense, though, behind the scenes? Is there a true acceptance of her just as a driver?

CLARK: I think she's probably garnered that in the last maybe month and a half. Because she finished fourth in Japan. Then qualified second, I think that raised, you know, shocks. Some people were saying, in the garage, she had better equipment this, that. But I think the guys are begrudgingly seeing that she's got talent and that she might be able to do this at their level, and I think that they are starting to really show her respect. They're all saying the right things.

The IRL guys are great to deal with, they're all politically correct, they're all saying the right things. I think deep down she's really earning the respect she might not have had a month and a half ago. That's true of a lot of rookies, too, they have to prove themselves before they get the respect.

HAYS: That certainly is the truth. Cammy Clark, thank you. We know you're right there, race side, just the race a short time away. Enjoy it. Have fun. And we look forward to talking to you again on this story. Well, now, from the racing track to the employment track. And especially on this Memorial Day weekend, how the men and women of the U.S. military moved to civilian jobs, even in big corporations.

Also coming up, new debate about government powers and the war on terrorism and personal privacy for your home and your mail.

And Sheila Johnson making history in basketball this week. What's her story?

But first, a check on what's making news right now.

HARRIS: And good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris at the CNN Center in Atlanta. ON THE STORY continues in a moment, but first, headlines now in the news.

Insurgent attacks escalate in Iraq. Five bombings, and a shooting leave at least 17 people dead and 23 wounded today. All this as Iraqi and U.S. troops prepare a massive crackdown on the insurgency dubbed Operation Lighting. We will have details in a live report coming up at 11:00 Eastern.

French voters go to the polls today to decide if the country will go along with a European constitution. The constitution must be approved by all 25 E.U. members. Opponents worry about losing national identity and sovereignty. Supporters say it will allow Europe to speak with one voice on global issues.

A spokesman for former President Bill Clinton says Clinton is not exhausted and will continue his current tour of tsunami-damaged South Asia. Clinton is holding meetings in the Maldives today and will travel to Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Clinton is the U.N. point person on tsunami relief.

For a wrap of the top stories and Memorial Day related events on CNN LIVE SUNDAY, beginning at the top of the hour. ON THE STORY continues after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. AL AHUJA (RET.), U.S. ARMY: It's something that you can't get at a university. It's something that you can only get with experience and opportunity. And I think the Army provides opportunity every single day to build and develop your leadership skills.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYS: That's Lieutenant Colonel Al Ahuja, talking about skills he used fighting insurgents in Iraq, and throughout his 20 years wearing green. Now he's selling what he's learned to corporate America.

Welcome back to ON THE STORY, our Memorial Day weekend edition. I'm Kathleen Hays. CHO: Kathleen, I'm curious how interested corporate America is in veterans.

HAYS: Well, actually, Alina, it turns out that certainly since the Persian Gulf War, certainly since 9/11, that there is much more receptivity not just in the country as a whole, but definitely in big corporations, because they're realizing that a lot of these people have built certain soft skills, leadership. They will talk about a do-or-die attitude. All kinds of things that can make up for the fact they don't have what you would call the hard skills. In other words, you haven't worked in a big corporation, getting some of those specific skills, but the prospects in a lot of the big companies are very bright for these people.

ARENA: You know, Kathleen, the report that you did this week was wonderful. And I just really think that we should take a look at that. It was called "From the Battlefield to the Board Room," and I think that it's well worth taking a look at that tape.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HAYS (voice-over): Operation Iraqi Freedom, starting summer 2003. Lieutenant Colonel Al Ahuja commanded an infantry battalion in Mosul, fighting insurgents, rebuilding the city. Now, after 20 years, he's leaving the Army. His new priority? His family.

AHUJA: I have a 3-year-old. I haven't been here for her first two birthdays.

HAYS: And his career. He's setting his sights on corporate America, and what he's selling above all is a lifetime of leadership.

An estimated 250,000 people leave the military each year, according to "GI Jobs" magazine, and about 15 percent of these are officers. Military headhunters say the skills of these men and women are on par with those of senior executives at top corporations. Al Ahuja believes his talent for managing and motivating all kinds of people make him a perfect candidate for a job in retail distribution. And he's frustrated that some companies can't look past his lack of specific industry experience. Because he's certain he has what it takes.

AHUJA: I'm new, full of fire. I want to bring some energy to your organization. And I know I can do well. Give me a chance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAYS: And Al is well into his job search. I can't say who, but he does have some very bright prospects right now.

When I talked to people in big companies, well, they say what frequently you do need, though, is some kind of transition program. You need a way to get people who have these great skills, that can translate well, and maybe some people would say are needed in corporate America. You know, a little dose of being committed to a team, a little dose of having integrity and thinking that's a really important part of your job, but that there is some transitioning, but there are a lot of big companies who are very good at this.

ARENA: Are there specific jobs that corporate executives think that people from the military are best suited for?

HAYS: Let me tell you the story of GE, which was rated number three by "GI Jobs" magazine in terms of military friendliness. It's not just hiring people coming out of military, it's how they treat guardists (ph). Home Depot, number one in the country. They get very, very big kudos.

But I talked to Susan Kratch, who is an Air Force veteran, who says that when GE started its quality-boosting program in the mid- '90s, Six Sigma, that's when they really started using a lot of military officers who had left the service, and finding they were really great at, you know, leading the team, and let's crack down and reduce the errors and the mistakes.

But then they've tried them in all kinds of positions. Finance, investment banking, HR, and that they have an instrumental -- in doing all kinds of jobs around the world.

One quick anecdote I want to share. With Susan, are big corporations more receptive? And she said, they certainly are. You know, I came out in the Vietnam era, and back then when we were leaving the military and looking for jobs, they told us, don't tell people you were in the military.

STARR: Well, on this Memorial Day weekend, for those who are hitting the roads, not at work today, what's the picture looking like for travel, with gas prices so volatile, up and down? What's the travel prospect right now?

HAYS: Well, basically the average price of gasoline across the country is stuck about around $2.10. And that's up from, you know, about $1.50 or so a year-and-a-half ago. At any rate, people are still driving. But they are apparently going to maybe shorten their road trips, stay a little closer to home, and they're going to cut back on some of the food and drinks.

CHO: Kathleen, I'm really interested -- I really want to talk a little bit more about this. There's been so much talk about the housing bubble bursting. What are you hearing about when that's going to happen, or if it's going to happen?

ARENA: No, please! Gas prices (INAUDIBLE)...

(CROSSTALK)

HAYS: Well, let's say the housing is not falling down yet. New home sales and existing home sales set a record this week. OK? So people are buying homes.

One big difference, Alina, I think we shouldn't forget, compared with past bubble times, the inventory of unsold new homes is low. That's a good sign, number one. But I will tell you, Federal Reserve officials who have to oversee the economy and would worry about a bursting bubble hurting the economy, are making more noises. In fact, the president of the Atlanta Fed, Jack Guynn, said he thinks that there are some builders, lenders and buyers who may end up getting burned, because they're going to buy at the top of the market, with loans that are kind of shaky. In other words, they can't pay it perhaps, and that could cause a bit of a problem for some people in some regions.

So just beware, don't pay too much, make sure you don't overextend. And then you may ride out whatever happens. That's the good news.

ARENA: That's the easy good news.

HAYS: Let's have some good news. It's a Memorial Day weekend, yeah.

ARENA: For crying out loud.

Well, from the business world to fresh debate this week over new powers for federal agents, for searches and mail checks. Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

I'm back on that story right after this.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: As we consider the allegations of abuses, we have yet to find one verifiable instance where there has been an abuse of the Patriot Act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says there have been no abuses under the act designed to protect the United States from terrorism. And he and the administration continue to push for new powers that would streamline requests for searches and not require a court order, and allow some searches of mail.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Welcome back. I'm Kelli Arena, and we are ON THE STORY.

HAYS: And this is why it's an important question, because I think a lot of us feel like, yeah, do something for me that will help my security. Right? I want to see the security watch get tighter.

On the other hand, I don't want new powers given to the government to go on fishing expeditions, because then we figure that even innocent citizens could be targeted somehow. What's going on here? Who should we believe?

ARENA: Well, if you listen to law enforcement and the government, they say, look, we need the same powers for terrorism investigations as we have for criminal investigations. What we're talking about in some of these new powers is something called administrative subpoenas, which means that the FBI director or the person in charge of a field office around the country can OK a subpoena without going to a judge.

They can already do this for drug investigations, for health care fraud investigations. The government says, how can you tie our hands when it comes to terrorism cases? But the point that you bring up is the point that some critics bring up, which is that terrorism investigations sometimes are not as clear-cut. They're a little more ambiguous, and so there might be an overstepping of those powers.

Government says, trust us, and that there will be a check on those, because the current bill says you have to report to Congress twice a year to tell them exactly how many times you've used the new power.

STARR: What is this now about the federal government possibly looking at the mail, the postal mail of Americans?

ARENA: Well, it's not reading your mail. It's just getting the information that's on the outside of the envelope, the mail cover.

STARR: Would they stand in the post office and watch, you know, go to my mailbox? How does this work?

ARENA: They don't have enough people to do that. But it would be -- it would be to -- if you are a target of -- or part of a terrorism investigation, the bill proposes that the government would -- that the FBI would no longer have to go through the postal inspectors, and would be able to demand that information, the information on the outside of the envelope. It's something that they do have access to now; however, they have to go through the postal inspectors.

The argument is, if we're the agency that's charged with fighting terrorism, then we should have the power to get that information.

It was something that sort of caught everybody off guard, including the Postal Inspection Service. Something that's being discussed. Of course, none of this obviously is law yet. This is all being discussed. It's being discussed over in a closed committee session, so that also has people upset.

CHO: Kelli, I want to switch gears here a little bit, because you and I both covered the two Cessna pilots who nearly -- well, who came close to the White House.

ARENA: Right.

CHO: And now we're hearing about another violation of D.C. air space just this week. What's going on here? Because I know you had said that this happens actually all the time. We just don't normally hear about it.

ARENA: Well, it does happen all the time, and many, many private pilots say, even those who live in this area, say that, you know, trying to avoid that air space, especially in a small aircraft, is sometimes a little difficult. Not because they're doing anything on purpose, but because the wind can blow them in momentarily. And so it is -- we do have incursions, at least as many as twice a week here in Washington.

But of course, the problem that we saw with that Cessna is that they got a little bit too close for comfort, and there were numerous attempts, and there's been a lot of discussion post-operation to -- could we really have done anything in time, if that were a bigger plane, if it was moving faster?

HAYS: Right. And of course, there's no back and forth over whether or not they were given the order to shoot down this little plane, as if the little airstrips around here haven't already suffered enough. People forget that the private air strips have really suffered with all the restrictions put on Reagan International.

ARENA: That's right. That's right, although they did loosen some of those, they did loosen some restrictions this week over at Reagan.

HAYS: I guess the lesson is, though, as long as these restrictions are in place, you better be awfully careful, because you could end up on the ground in a broken plane, dead.

ARENA: Well, you could, but that's more your deal, right? The Pentagon says, you know, they never gave an order to shoot.

STARR: The Pentagon was very clear this week, there was never an order given to shoot that plane down. They did feel that they had seen enough signs, it was not an imminent threat.

HAYS: They said they never saw weapons, they never saw aggressive flying tactics.

STARR: It still raises a question of future incidents and a lot of concern.

CHO: All right, ladies, from the Cessna controversy to security. And security was a visible part of a Memorial Day tradition here in New York. That, of course, is Fleet Week. I'm back on that story after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to really go around and get the feel for the whole New York right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) been in the Navy, I've always wanted to be in Fleet Week. So I finally got my chance.

CHO: How long have you been waiting?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eight years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Worth waiting for, we hope. Those are among nearly 6,000 sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen along with sailors from Canada, France, Pakistan and the United Kingdom.

Welcome back. I'm Alina Cho. We're ON THE STORY.

ARENA: Alina, what was it like to be -- I mean, I know that you were on this, this huge aircraft carrier. What was that like? That must have been magnificent.

CHO: It was. We were on the USS John F. Kennedy, which is the -- the sailors on it call it Big John. But we were on the flight deck. And an interesting story I have to tell you is that, going up to get to the flight deck, I clearly did not wear the right shoes, because you're climbing up four flights of stairs, which are really like ladders. You know, the saying on the ship is, keep your head on a swivel, because they say you have to always watch where you're going. They say they have great medical facilities onboard, but they don't want anyone to have to use them.

HAYS: Of course not. Alina, tell us a little bit more about Fleet Week. You know, if you live in New York City, all of a sudden you see sailors everywhere. It's your first clue. But what is the significance of this? Why is it so special to the sailors who get to participate?

CHO: Well, you know, I talked to a lot of sailors. One who said he had waited eight years; another who said he had waited 14 years.

HAYS: Wow.

CHO: I mean, they really consider this the highlight, or one of the highlights of their Naval career. I mean, imagine if you don't live in New York or have never been here before, you get to come here -- and first of all, you get to get off a ship, which you've been stuck on, for lack of a better word, for six months. And you get to eat real food. New York pizza, New York bagels. You get to visit Times Square, you know, the Statue of Liberty. You know, these sailors really, really enjoy it, and they consider it a highlight.

STARR: Alina, I know you were on another story this week, also military, the graduation at West Point, the class of 9/11. A very, very unique graduation at the academy.

CHO: It certainly was. You know, Barbara, I covered the graduation last year as well, when Secretary Rumsfeld spoke. This year, it was Richard Myers. And we'll get to that in a minute.

But yes, they call it the class of 9/11, because these cadets started just weeks before the terrorist attacks. And many of them said to me, listen, you know, we had two years to decide whether we wanted to leave, whether we wanted to go back to civilian life. But this really strengthened our resolve. We feel stronger about, you know, defending our country. And an overwhelming majority, 77 percent of them, decided to stick with it.

ARENA: And you also said, Alina, in a conversation that we had earlier, that there were 911 graduates as well?

CHO: Isn't that ironic? Yes. Interestingly enough, I was just about to do my 8:00 a.m. live shot, the first one of the morning, and all of the material that we had gotten had said 912 graduates. And just a couple of minutes before I went on, the public information officer came to me and said, listen, there's been -- I guess one of the graduates, for whatever reason, couldn't graduate, and so we have 911. And it is quite ironic, yes.

HAYS: But it's heartening, when you mention that so many of these young people, even though they know that the nation is fighting war on at least two fronts pretty actively right now, are sticking with this commitment. Because it's a much easier decision, I would think, for some people in peacetime. How do their parents feel, though? Because it's one thing for you to march off to war, really tough for the families left behind.

CHO: It certainly is. In fact, Kathleen, we spoke to one parent, who said, listen, I said to my son, you know, after two years, you can quit. We're already proud of you. You've completed two years of West Point. You got in, and -- which is a huge achievement in and of itself.

We talked to another parent, because I don't know if I mentioned this before, but 23 West Point graduates have died since 9/11, 22 of them in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one parent told me, during the graduation, I looked out on all of the cadets below me, and I counted 23 heads. And so this is something clearly that they do think about. And it is something that General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, spoke to in his keynote address yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: And I'm sure those events shaped every day of the past four years and gave you a clear sense of purpose and a heightened sense of resolve. 9/11, in fact, changed the entire world, and we are now in a struggle against violent extremism, who want to end our way of life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: That was Chairman Richard Myers. And of course, Rumsfeld spoke last year. And it's a very, very big deal for these cadets to have people like this giving the keynote address at the graduation ceremony.

STARR: A sobering moment indeed on Memorial Day weekend when we all remember all who have served. We're back ON THE STORY after this.

ANNOUNCER: A basketball team owner makes history this week. "What's Her Story?" More when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheila Johnson, "What's Her Story?" Johnson became part owner of the Washington Mystics this week, making her the first African-American woman to own a women's national basketball team.

SHEILA JACKSON, PART OWNER, WASHINGTON MYSTICS: I'm going to do everything I can to not only help the Mystics and bring them to the championship, but I hope that this is a signal that it's about time that a woman and an African-American woman is part of this whole scene of sports.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Black Entertainment Television co- founder says she'll be a hands-on president and managing partner of the Mystics.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAYS: Before we go, one other newsmaker this week, our Alina Cho written up in "The New York Daily News," and called -- we all know this -- the embodiment of chic, who knows how to choose her words as well as her wardrobe.

Woo-hoo!

Alina, you know, you come into the makeup room every day in New York, and we're all just looking at how fabulous you look. What do you have on today?

CHO: You know, sweats and sandals. That's how chic I am. But you know, Kathleen, I don't normally wear sensible shoes.

ARENA: Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. Well, Alina, thank you. Thanks to my colleagues, and thank you for watching ON THE STORY. We'll be back next week. And at 12:00 noon Eastern, 9:00 a.m. Pacific, "LATE EDITION" with Wolf Blitzer. Among Wolf's guests, Republican Senator John McCain. Straight ahead, a check on what's making news right now.

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