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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Bloodshed Continues in Middle East; White House Orders INS Investigation
Aired March 13, 2002 - 17:00 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.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Now on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS: this may be the dream...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our vision for the Israelis and Palestinians is in two sovereign states, able to reside in peace with one another.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: But this is the reality.
(GUNFIRE)
BLITZER: We'll go to Jerusalem, Ramallah and Sharm el-Sheikh.
Mopping up in the mountains: the war in Afghanistan from the air and on the ground. An exclusive look at another war, at sea.
You first heard about it on CNN. An immigration mistake involving two of the September 11th hijackers. Now an angry and embarrassed White House orders an investigation.
And insecticides, detergents, antibiotics and fire retardant: is our water a chemical soup?
I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. Topping our news alert: President Bush complains about Saddam Hussein, the Israeli government, the INS and the U.S. Congress.
Very tough words from the president in a news conference within the past hour. To the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, all options are on the table, including nuclear weapons. On Israel's latest military operation in the West Bank and Gaza -- quote -- "it's not helpful." On the INS granting visas to two of the September hijackers, the president said he was -- quote -- "stunned and hot." And he lashed out at Congress, accusing Democrats of blocking judges in what he called "ideological battles."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is unacceptable. It is a bad record for the Senate. The Senate has an obligation to provide fair hearings and prompt votes to all nominees, no matter who controls the Senate or who controls the White House. By failing to allow full Senate votes on judicial nominees, a few senators are standing in the way of justice.
All options are on the table, but one thing I will not allow is a nation such as Iraq to threaten our very future.
Frankly, it's not helpful what the Israelis have recently done in order to create conditions for peace. I understand someone trying to defend themselves and to fight terror. But the recent actions aren't helpful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Joining us now for more on the president's tough talk at the press conference, our White House correspondent Kelly Wallace. First of all, about Iraq, Kelly, what did we learn new about the president's willingness, if necessary, to strike out against the Iraqi regime?
KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we saw the president trying to do two things. No. 1, perhaps trying to calm some nervous Arab allies. The president saying that he and his administration will definitely consult with allies about how to deal with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
But Mr. Bush also, in very strong terms, saying this administration is going to deal with the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, as you saw in your opening sound bite there. The president saying all options remain on the table. That clearly indicates military action remains on the table. And that means that even if Arab allies are warning the U.S. against pursuing such an option, the president saying such an option remains on the table -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And, Kelly, there was an intriguing bit of information the president suggested about a U.S. pilot whose plane went down during the first days of the Gulf Wear 11 years ago. Michael Speicher, who was then reported to be killed in action. Last year, his status was reported to be missing in action. What did we learn about this from the president in that news conference?
WALLACE: It's very interesting, Wolf. I believe, the first time the president asked about this case, asked if he believes that that Navy pilot is still alive, he said that the pilot is classified as -- quote -- "missing in action." But he also indicated he really wouldn't put it past Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
He said Saddam Hussein is a man who gassed his own people. So he said he wouldn't put it past him to hold this Navy pilot for years without telling the U.S. or anyone else about it. He seemed to sort of step away when asked what impact this case could have on any potential action against Iraq.
Clearly, the message from the president, the policy from this administration, is that he remains missing in action. Other officials telling CNN privately they don't really believe he's alive. But from the president's own lips, "missing in action" -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Kelly Wallace at the White House, thank you very much.
The president also, as we saw, was rather critical of the recent steps by the Israeli government in cracking down on the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Joining us now from Jerusalem, CNN's Michael Holmes. He's got the latest developments there -- Michael.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, as you heard, and as you mentioned at the beginning there, President Bush saying recent Israeli actions not helpful. Well, those actions continue, especially in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where Israeli tanks and troops have now reached the center of that city, of some 200,000. As the Israeli troops tighten their grip, reports of spent bullet cartridges littering the streets.
In recent days, of course, we've witnessed the biggest Israeli offensive against the Palestinians in decades. Just to give some perspective, 150 Palestinians have been killed, also dozens of Israelis. And that's just so far this month -- a month that's not even halfway through.
Among the casualties in Ramallah today: two Palestinian security officers and an Israeli officer. I can also report that just a couple of hours ago an Israeli settler was stabbed in a settlement northwest of the West Bank. And also, a Palestinian gunman shot in Gaza.
Meanwhile, signs of something of perhaps a temporary crack in the Sharon cabinet today. At a cabinet meeting today, the Israeli defense minister said he wanted to pull the army out of Ramallah. Ariel Sharon and he, apparently, we're told, exchanged very severe words, and he was overruled -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Michael Holmes in Jerusalem, thanks for that report.
Perhaps the most dangerous place in the Middle East right now, and the center of much of the fighting, is the West Bank city of Ramallah. An Italian journalist was killed there today by Israeli gunfire. Almost 1,400 Palestinians and Israelis have been killed over the past 17 months, many of them in Ramallah.
And now, some 20,000 Israeli forces are in the West Bank and Gaza. CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Ramallah and he has more on the very dangerous situation there.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What has happened since yesterday is essentially Israeli armored personnel carriers and tanks have moved much closer to the center of the city. In fact, they are more or less in the center of the city.
We approached that area from behind, from the Palestinian side, where we saw dozens of Palestinian gunmen, most of them -- all of them, in fact -- only armed with light machine guns. The Israelis are using armored personnel carriers and tanks. They're being provided with air cover by apache attack helicopters.
Really, the Israelis can essentially go wherever they want to go. They do run into a certain amount of resistance. But really, by and large, they have freedom of movement in this city.
Now, there was one very disturbing incident today. An Italian freelancer journalist, Rafael Ciriello, was killed in fighting near the center of the city. That is the first foreign journalist to be killed in the Palestinian uprising since it began in September of 2000.
Now, according to reports from the incident, he was shot five or six times in the abdomen and chest. Some sources saying that that fire came from an Israeli tank. Apparently, he was approaching those tanks with a group of Palestinian gunmen when they opened fire.
And because of the situation, Palestinian ambulances were not able to reach him. He eventually got to the hospital with the help of some Palestinian youth. But by the time he got to the hospital, he was dead.
Now, another French journalist was also hit twice in the leg during fighting, as well as an Egyptian journalist, who was hit by a bullet, but fortunately he was wearing a flak jacket at the time. So it's a very difficult and dangerous situation here today as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Ben Wedeman, reporting from Ramallah on the West Bank.
And the vice president, Dick Cheney, is in Egypt, talking with President Hosni Mubarak about the nonstop fighting in the Middle East and what to do next about the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Our senior White House correspondent, John King, is covering the vice president's trip.
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JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lunch with U.S. peacekeepers on the Sinai Peninsula. A chance to thank the troops and, for once, stick to the initial White House script for the vice president's Middle East trip.
This meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak included talks, as Mr. Cheney had hoped, about Iraq and other future fronts in the war on terrorism. But Mr. Mubarak made clear, escalating Israeli- Palestinian violence is a more urgent, immediate issue in the region, and also made clear he blames Israel.
HOSNI MUBARAK, EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT: It's a current military offensive in civilian towns and villages. It cannot be tolerated and must be immediately stopped.
KING: Mr. Cheney chose his words carefully because of the delicate diplomacy, saying both sides have a responsibility to end the violence, and that Washington's short-term goal is to broker a cease- fire. But he did try to curry Arab favor by reiterating the administration's long-term goal of a Palestinian state.
President Mubarak says he is optimistic that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will let United Nations weapons inspectors return to Baghdad. The Egyptian leader said all diplomatic avenues need to be exhausted first. But he did not completely slam the door on U.S. military action.
MUBARAK: If nothing happens, we'll find out what could be done in that direction.
KING: Mr. Cheney and other top U.S. officials are skeptical Iraq will agree to meaningful inspections. And at his earlier visit the U.S. peacekeeping troops, the vice president called confronting unfriendly nations with weapons of mass destruction the next objective in the war on terrorism.
CHENEY: The United States will not permit the forces of terror to gain the tools of genocide.
KING: The vice president's trademark is discipline, and top aides say he is satisfied with his talks at his first two stops in the Middle East. Yet one senior official concedes it is more difficult to focus on Iraq when Arab leaders are so angry at Israel. The official declined to answer when asked if the White House accepts the Arab view that the Israeli offensive is excessive.
(on camera): But this same senior U.S. official said emphatically that the violence needs to stop, and sent a clear signal that the timing of the latest Israeli military offensive was complicating the vice president's diplomatic efforts here in the Arab world. Noting with some sarcasm, "You might say Prime Minister Sharon did not consult with the vice president when scheduling his actions."
John King, CNN, Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Turning now to the war in Afghanistan, U.S. officials say American and Afghan forces now control the Shah-e-Kot valley, a major objective in Operation Anaconda. But small-scale fighting continues on the ground and in the air. Our Martin Savidge hopped onboard an Army helicopter for a bird's-eye view of the front lines.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, from the vantage point here at Bagram and the coalition forces, it appears that Operation Anaconda is in its final days, if it has not already reached its final day. There have been no reports of any sustained fighting for the past six days in the Shah-e-Kot valley. And over the past 48 hours, we've been watching as hundreds of U.S. forces have been withdrawn from the area.
Today there were some new coalition forces that were inserted, but again, we were out very near the front lines at a forward air refueling point, and there were no signs of any fighting taking place. No bombing that we heard, no shooting that we heard.
And we were watching as the attack helicopters came in to refuel and rearm. They did take on fuel, but they did not take on any new ammunition. The pilots say there simply is not anything for them to target anymore up there anymore.
So it would appear that Operation Anaconda has been a good success, at least in the eyes of coalition leaders. They believe whatever remaining pockets of al Qaeda and Taliban that existed have either gone to ground or gone away.
Martin Savidge, CNN, Bagram, Afghanistan.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the village of Shah-E- Kot appears to be extensively damaged from bombs and from missiles. There appears to be little evidence there of an intense ground offensive. We did meet in the village with U.S. special forces and Afghan fighters. The Afghan fighters told us that they moved into the village, one group from the north, one group from the south. Some 900 Afghan fighters in total, meeting up en route with about 40 U.S. special forces.
Outside the village, we did see three dead Taliban or al Qaeda fighters in their defensive positions. What we did not see in the rest of the village were many other dead lying around. Commanders there told us that as they had encircled the village, they moved in and ensured that the village was surrounded. But they do say they believe, during their offensive, some Taliban and al Qaeda elements may have escaped eastwards.
We understand, about 30 miles to the east in the city of Khowst, that security is being stepped up in that area. And while we were in the village of Shah-E-Kot, aircraft coalition and also helicopters were flying overhead, scouring the terrain for possible Taliban and al Qaeda elements, maybe hiding out in nearby caves.
And the U.S. special forces commander told us that that was his next mission: to regroup, resupply and scour the area for those Taliban and al Qaeda fighters -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Nic Robertson and Martin Savidge, thanks to both of you.
And this important note. Tonight in the CNN "WAR ROOM," I'll focus on the next phase of the war and a likely target, Iraq. Please join me at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. And you can participate by going to cnn.com/wolf. Click on "send questions." I'll try to get as many of those questions to our panel. That's also where you can read my daily on-line column.
More now on the story CNN broke yesterday. A Florida flight school receiving notice that student visas were approved for two September 11th hijackers. President Bush is hopping mad, and has ordered an investigation. Our national correspondent, Susan Candiotti, has more on the controversy and the heated reaction.
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SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sound of fury erupted almost immediately after CNN broke the student visa story Tuesday.
SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: I, for the life of me, can't understand how something like that can happen. It's a major embarrassment.
CANDIOTTI: Six months to the day after Mohamed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi flew planes into the World Trade Center, their government- approved student visas arrived at their former Florida flight school.
RUDI DEKKERS, OWNER, HUFFMAN AVIATION: That's why we don't understand, why this came in today.
CANDIOTTI: The question is not why student visas were approved. After all, when they applied for the visas last summer, Atta and al- Shehhi were not on any kind of terrorist watch list. The question is how no one in the immigration service, as backlogged as it is, yanked those records after the September 11th attacks.
Attorney General John Ashcroft -- aides said he was furious -- issued a statement calling for a review by the Justice Department inspector general. "It is inexcusable when document mismanagement leads to a breakdown of this magnitude. Individuals will be held responsible for any professional incompetence that led to this failure."
But a longtime critic of the INS said the agency is incapable of fixing itself.
REP. THOMAS TANCREDO (R-CO), IMMIGRATION REFORM CAUCUS: That's like asking someone in a wheelchair with a debilitating disease to get up and walk. They can't do it.
CANDIOTTI: INS commissioner James Ziglar did not respond to a CNN request for an interview. At a news conference, President Bush said he was very displeased.
BUSH: I was stunned and not happy. I was plenty hot. This is an interesting wake-up call for those who run the INS.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: Last November, immigration made another promise to reform, breaking the agency into two parts: one specializing in paperwork, the other, enforcement. The student visa snafu another indication, neither objective has been met -- Wolf.
BLITZER: So are any heads expected to roll as a result of this snafu?
CANDIOTTI: Good question, Wolf. Well, for now, the president is sticking by his INS commissioner, and he is deferring to whatever actions they might decide to take -- he as well as the attorney general.
BLITZER: All right. Susan Candiotti, thanks for that report.
In a moment, a story you won't see anywhere else. We go to the high seas for a high-speed game of cat and mouse. The Coast Guard has a new weapon. We'll show you its target.
And Andrea Yates' life on the line. Why my next guest says she'll get the death penalty.
And what exactly is in the nation's water? An unsettling story on the surface. Should you be nervous?
First, our news quiz. Before the clean water act became law, what U.S. body of water was so polluted it caught fire and burned in 1969? Is it Lake Erie, the Hudson River, Cleveland's Cuyahoga River, or Boston Harbor? The answer, coming up.
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BLITZER: Welcome back. Since September 11th, the U.S. Coast Guard has noticed an upswing in drug-running along the Pacific Coast. And now it's using new tactics and putting new tools to use in this dangerous game of cat and mouse. CNN's Jeanne Meserve, gives us an exclusive look at one recent drug bust, in which the drug runners came up on the losing end.
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JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This shaky Coast Guard video shows suspected drug smugglers abandoning and scuttling their ship and cargo after a cutter pulls alongside. Increasingly since September 11th, the high seas are the preferred transport route for South American drugs.
JOHN WALTERS, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF NAT'L DRUG CONTROL POLICY: Most of what we're seeing is an effort to move the drugs into Mexico along the east and west maritime coasts, and then smuggle it across the border.
MESERVE: To counter the smugglers, the Coast Guard, for several months, has put four cutters on secret deployment in the Caribbean and Pacific. On their decks, the Coast Guard's first armed helicopters. GoFast, the high-speed boats favored by traffickers, cannot outrun these fast choppers. And the choppers can disable the GoFasts.
In this incident, the traffickers ignored signals to stop and kept speeding along, dumping bale after bale of cocaine. The helicopter fired warning shots with a machine gun, then knocked out the GoFast engine with a 50-caliber rifle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been doing this for almost 14 years, and it is just wonderful to be able to catch them without them just waving to us as they go by.
MESERVE: In this incident, six smugglers were arrested, 6,700 pounds of cocaine were seized.
CAPT. BEVERLY KELLEY, U.S. COAST GUARD: We've had eight opportunities to stop GoFast boats with these helicopters, and we've been successful eight times. So that's 100 percent. And let me, maybe to put that in perspective for you. Without these helicopters, we were typically successful in stopping one of these boats about one time in 10.
MESERVE: On September 11th, the Coast Guard was deeply involved in drug interdiction in the Pacific and Caribbean. But within weeks of the terror attacks, its assets were pulled back to protect U.S. ports. Traffickers have exploited the situation. The new deployment and tactics are part of the U.S. response. But no one underestimates the smugglers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're very good at finding a way to counter what we do. And then we find a way to counter what they do, and it kind of goes back and forth. It keeps us busy. It keeps us thinking. But I think right now we have the upper hand.
MESERVE (on camera): Indeed, Captain Kelly's cutter made another bust Tuesday, using its helicopter to stop a GoFast loaded with marijuana. The program has been so successful, the Coast Guard now plans to have eight chopper-equipped cutters on patrol at all times. Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: In our justice file, one day after finding Andrea Yates guilty of capital murder, jurors in Houston, Texas, are getting ready to begin the sentencing phase of the trial. That gets under way tomorrow. In convicting Yates, the jury rejected her claim that she was insane when she drowned her children in a bathtub.
Joining us now to talk more about the sentencing phase of the Andrea Yates trial is the law professor and civil rights attorney, Avery Friedman. He joins us from Cleveland.
Avery, thanks again for joining us. Right now the jurors have to decide, either she's going to get the death sentence, lethal injection, or life in prison. Let's go through a couple of the major points that they have to consider.
We have a little score card, we can get your analysis. For example, on the issue of the jury must consider right from wrong. Did the defense successfully win that argument? Clearly they didn't, as far as the guilty verdict is concerned.
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Remember, the jury is going to have to weigh the outrageous behavior -- that is, the extreme circumstance, the heinousness of the crimes -- against mitigators. We're going to see Russell Yates appear in court on behalf of his wife.
So I don't think that we're going to see the prosecution succeed on that part of it. So check off no. BLITZER: So I'll check off no. It looks like the defense is going to succeed in showing some mitigating circumstances, which might spare her life, right?
FRIEDMAN: Exactly right.
BLITZER: Now, what about the expert testimony -- the dueling expert testimony the psychiatrists that have been brought in and will be brought in once again to try to spare her life, from the defense perspective?
FRIEDMAN: Prosecution is going to put in psychiatric testimony that will talk about her ability to know right from wrong. But look to the defense psychiatric testimony to prevail in this case during this position.
BLITZER: So once again, I should check off no. Is that what you're saying?
FRIEDMAN: Check off no again.
BLITZER: All right. What about the certainty of the facts in this particular instance, as in all of these kinds of trials, it must be beyond a reasonable doubt?
FRIEDMAN: Exactly. And we're dealing with the death penalty capital of America, Harris County. But you know what? When you look at mitigators, Wolf, what we're going to see is the prosecution, again, is going to have a hard time meeting beyond a reasonable doubt.
BLITZER: So once again, we check off no?
FRIEDMAN: Exactly right.
BLITZER: So your bottom line is what? Will she get life in prison or will she get the death sentence?
FRIEDMAN: Even though we're looking at a place like Harris County, I think you're going to have to look to life without parole. That's going to be a surprise to a lot of people.
BLITZER: Life without parole. Is that what you're saying?
FRIEDMAN: Exactly right.
BLITZER: Avery Friedman, thanks for your analysis. And always good to have you on our program. Thank you very much.
And our Web question of the day is this: how should Andrea Yates be sentenced? You can vote at cnn.com/wolf. While you're there, let me know what you're thinking. There's a "click here" icon on the left side of the page. Send me your comments. I'll read some of them on the air each day. That's also where you can read my daily on-line column, cnn.com/wolf.
The water may be clear, but don't think it's clean. Coming up: surprising news of what may be in the waterways near you.
And Ted Koppel's major concerns. Are Disney bosses listening?
Plus, Bill Clinton issues a stern denial. But that is not stopping Congress from pointing the finger at the former president -- at least, one member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Stay with us.
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BLITZER: We have news coming in right now. You're looking at a live picture from a courthouse in Georgia, where Jamil Abdullah al- Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, has just been sentenced to life in prison without parole. He was just convicted earlier of murder a few days ago. Once again, Jamil Abdullah al-Amin, convicted a few days ago, now sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
And, in other developments: why the water near your neighborhood may have more than H2O.
Let's get a "News Alert" first, though. The spiralling violence in Middle East tops our "News Alert." Israel's intensified military campaign in Gaza and West Bank goes on today; 20,000 Israeli troops are involved in the operation. Israel says its aim is to root out terrorists. Palestinians say the offensive may have killed many innocent people and is a terrorist act by itself.
The defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, fired a warning to government officials today: Stop leaking secrets to the news media. He says doing that compromises national security. The flap is over a secret Pentagon report on nuclear weapons leaked over the weekend. Rumsfeld's tough words came during a news conference with his Russian counterpart after talks on nuclear disarmament.
There is a new case of anthrax. A laboratory worker in Texas was infected with the skin form of the disease while testing specimens from the anthrax letter attacks last fall. He is expected to make a full recovery.
A winner was declared today in Zimbabwe's controversial presidential election. President Robert Mugabe will remain in office. Official results show he got about 57 percent of the vote. Some international election monitors described the balloting as neither free nor fair. President Bush says the United States does not recognize the results.
Irish-American ties were in the spotlight as President Bush met today at the White House with the Irish prime minister, Bertie Ahern. Mr. Bush praised the Irish leader for helping Northern Ireland takes steps toward peace. Leaders from the British province of Northern Ireland were also in the Oval Office today. The meetings came four days before Saint Patrick's Day.
A new government survey of the nation's waterways finds a number of manmade chemicals are in the water. CNN environmental correspondent Natalie Pawelski joins me now from the CNN Center with more.
First of all, Natalie, what did they find in these waterways?
NATALIE PAWELSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, they looked at 139 streams across the country and found a lot of things you wouldn't expect in your backyard stream, things like antibiotics.
The list also includes steroids, insect repellent, caffeine, disinfectant and fire retardants. Now, the U.S. Geological Survey, which conducted the study, stresses that we are talking about very small amounts here.
One example: One study turned up acetaminophen. That's the pain reliever you'll find in drugs like Tylenol. But you would have to drink 300,000 gallons of the water in question in order to get the same amount of acetaminophen you would normally get in one tablet of Tylenol. So we are talking about some unusual things, Wolf, but not about large quantities of them.
BLITZER: Well, how does it get there?
PAWELSKI: There is no easy way to answer that question, Wolf.
When you take a drug, not all of it stays into your body. Up to 90 percent comes out the other end. And water treatment structures are not designed to filter that out. They will take care of bacteria and pathogens, but they are not designed to strain out things like the residues of drugs. So it passes through you into the water system.
BLITZER: And how much potential harm to the environment from all of this?
PAWELSKI: That's sort of the big question at this point.
One thing scientists are looking at is small quantities of things like hormones, the residue of birth controls have been shown in other cases to cause problems like, for example, in Britain, hermaphroditic fish with male and female characteristics. One study in Lake Mead in Nevada turned up male fish with low testosterone levels. And that was linked to residues of birth control in the lake.
So the concern is not that it is going to kill other fish or other wildlife in the short term. But in the long term, as these substances build up in the environment, will they cause problems for fish and other wildlife? That's the question. And it is still an open one.
BLITZER: OK, Natalie Pawelski, thanks for that report. Appreciate it very much.
Now we want to give our viewers the answer to our "News Quiz." Earlier we asked, "Before the Clean Water Act became law, what U.S. body of water was so polluted it caught fire and burned in 1969?" Is it Lake Erie, the Hudson River, Cleveland's Cuyahoga River, or Boston Harbor? The answer: Cleveland's Cuyahoga River. It caught fire after a welder's torch fell in the water. The river is now much cleaner.
That's good news for Cleveland.
The search for two teenage girls leads the story on today's "Newswire." The FBI says it believes the two 13-year-olds, both missing from the same apartment complex in Oregon, were abducted. Ashley Pond has been missing since early January. Miranda Gaddis disappeared on Friday.
Crash tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety show four new vehicles, including the Volvo S40, can suffer thousands of dollars in damage after 5-mile-per-hour an hour crashes. According to the institute, The bumpers are poorly designed on the four, including the Mitsubishi Lancer, Subaru Impreza and the Kia Sedona.
Ruben Rivera was a hot prospect for the New York Yankees, but the Yankees have dropped the outfielder from the team, reportedly for stealing a bat and glove from the locker of teammate Derek Jeter. Rivera allegedly took the gear to sell at a sports memorabilia agency.
A damning report on the former president: Coming up, Congressman Dan Burton takes on Bill Clinton's actions. And later: He's gone from being a Clinton hater to a Clinton defender. Why is David Brock changing his tune? And Ted Koppel takes a critical phone call -- his future coming up.
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BLITZER: It was a final flap of a presidency filled with controversy. Now, many months later, a Republican-led congressional committee has prepared a new report about the last-minute pardons granted by Bill Clinton.
Our congressional correspondent Kate Snow has been going over the report. She has obtained it. And she joins us now live -- Kate.
KATE SNOW, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this report comes just about a year after the first hearings into the Clinton pardons that he granted in the final days of his presidency.
And what Republicans are calling closure, Democrats are calling a vendetta against President Clinton. But the report's key findings don't have anything, really, do with President Clinton. The focus of some of these allegations have do with his brother, Roger.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): According to committee investigators, Roger Clinton used his name as cache to make tens of thousands of dollars and lobbied for as many as 13 pardons and commutations, more than twice as many as he has acknowledged. The report suggests President Clinton actually encouraged Roger to capitalize on their relationship, an assertion both Roger Clinton and former President Clinton deny.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I haven't seen that report. All I have seen is the news stories. But I can tell you -- you know, I wouldn't -- I didn't do that. And, as you see from the record, the people that he asked me to give clemency to, I didn't do.
SNOW: An attorney for Roger Clinton says he never made a penny off helping people seek pardons. But Republicans say there was a pattern of impropriety.
REP. STEVEN LATOURETTE (R), OHIO: People were trading on their relationship with the White House to say that, obviously a fellow who was going to get right in, the former counsel to the president, a relative of the first lady, a relative of the president himself, is going to get to the presidency quicker than the lawyer you're going to find out of the yellow pages.
SNOW: Former fugitive Marc Rich is subject of a large chunk of the report. It accuses former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder of working with Rich's attorney, former White House counsel Jack Quinn, to help him get around Justice Department objections and go directly to the White House.
Holder's lawyer calls those charges absurd, saying Holder never suggested that anyone should circumvent the Department of Justice. In fact, Democrats roundly rejected the report from Dan Burton's Government Reform Committee, the committee's top Democrat calling it shoddy.
REP. HENRY WAXMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: There are a lot of omissions in it. There are some misstatements in it. It is not a good quality piece of work. And it also reflects the fact that Congressman Dan Burton and the Republicans are in a time warp. They have to come to the recognition that President Clinton is no longer president anymore.
SNOW (on camera): Politics aside, this report is the committee's final word on the Clinton pardon matter. But it may not be the last word. The U.S. attorney's office in New York confirms their investigation of the Clinton pardons is still ongoing.
Kate Snow, CNN Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And joining us now live is Dan Burton, the chairman of the subcommittee that is releasing this report.
Congressman Burton, thanks so much for joining us.
Let's get right to the most controversial issue: the suggestion that you make in this report that former President Clinton encouraged his half-brother, Roger Clinton, to go ahead, use the Clinton name, use his influence to encourage clients to come and make tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, and promise them favors, if not presidential pardons.
What specific evidence do you have to make that allegation against Bill Clinton? REP. DAN BURTON (R), INDIANA: Well, I think the record speaks for itself. Bill Clinton's brother, I think, was told by his brother the president that, if he could make some money by working on issues and other things during the last year of the Clinton presidency, that he would welcome that.
Now, the problem, Wolf, is this. We have a 440-page report. And I can't very well cover all of it right now. But all of it is documented. None of it is just made up. We have documentation for everything that is said in that report. My staff worked very, very hard on it.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Excuse me for interrupting, Congressman. But in the executive summary, which I read, the only specific documentation for the allegation against Bill Clinton was a lawyer who represents a former Arkansas state senator, George Locke, as making that allegation against Bill Clinton. Is there anyone else who makes that allegation?
BURTON: Well, you will have to read the whole report. I don't think the summary covers all that.
But I will tell you this, Wolf. Bill's brother got $335,000 in travelers checks that has never been accounted for. We think that there may have been laws violated there. These were from foreign countries during the last year of the president's administration.
In addition to that, he dealt with a number of people that he was trying to help get pardons. He tried to get Rosario Gambino a pardon, who was an organized crime figure. He got $50,000 for that. Rita Lavelle, who was head of the EPA, or with the EPA during the Reagan administration, he asked her for $100,000, which she could not come up with, to get a pardon.
The $335,000 in travelers checks I told you about is a fact. He also lobbied for at least five or six other people to try to get pardons. So there's no question that he was in the process of using his brother's name to make money.
BLITZER: Will you make any criminal referrals involving either Bill Clinton or Roger Clinton to the Justice Department?
BURTON: I don't think there will be any criminal referrals at this point.
I can tell you this, though, that the Marc Rich pardon is a pretty widely viewed pardon as one that was very ill-founded. Roger Clinton -- not Roger Clinton, but Bill Clinton was involved with that up to his neck. And all he had to do was check with the CIA, the FBI or any other intelligence agency or any foreign government and he would have known that Marc Rich not only was one of the 10 most wanted fugitives in the world, but he was also one that was involved in a lot of other nefarious activities. And he should never have been pardoned. He was a criminal and still is. BLITZER: Dan Burton, the congressman who is releasing this report, the chairman of the subcommittee, thanks for joining us on this program.
BURTON: You are welcome.
BLITZER: And the man who helped stir the sex scandals that swirled around Bill Clinton when he was president has done a huge about-face. David Brock has gone from conservative to liberal. And he has changed his party affiliation and perspective. And now he is out with a tell-all book, "Blinded by the Right."
David Brock joins us now live from New York.
David, thanks for joining us.
In this book, you say you basically smeared Bill Clinton and his friends deliberately, knowing the information in the early 90s was wrong.
DAVID BROCK, AUTHOR, "BLINDED BY THE RIGHT": Well, yes, what I say is that I was part of a well-coordinated and very well funded dirty-tricks operation that the Republicans ran against Bill Clinton that began in 1993 with my Troopergate article in "The American Spectator." And the people who were behind that sorry, Wolf, which was five years before anybody heard the words Monica Lewinsky, were talking then about how to impeach Bill Clinton.
So the book really explains this effort to disable and destroy the Clinton presidency without regard for the facts. And that includes myself.
BLITZER: And among other things, you write this in the book -- and I will put it up on the screen -- You say: "This is a terrible book," referring to your new book. "It is about lies told and reputations ruined. It is about what the conservative movement did and what I did as we plotted in the shadows, disregarded the law, and abused power to win even greater power."
What was the worst thing that you personally did as part of that supposed conspiracy?
BROCK: Well, I suppose the worst thing was the publication of the Troopergate article, which, as you know, somewhat inadvertently brought Paula Jones to light. And the Paula Jones case became the heart of the conspiracy to get Bill Clinton. And people laughed at Mrs. Clinton when she said there was a vast right-wing conspiracy.
I really lay out the conspiracy in the book. It came to center on the Jones case, which was funded and managed by the political right. And it was that Troopergate story which ultimately gave the Jones lawyers the ammunition to bring up Monica Lewinsky and set up the chain of events that led to President Clinton's impeachment. So that was clearly the thing that was at the heart of what I did wrong.
BLITZER: Well, was there a lie there in that article that -- because everybody now knows the president, then governor, did have a relationship, a sexual relationship with Paula Jones.
BROCK: Right.
Well, no, there wasn't necessarily a lie consciously in the article. What I say in my book is that the troopers were not credible sources. Later, when they were put -- when two of them were put under oath in the Paula Jones case, they denied what they had told me in my interviews. They were paid later for having talked to me, which I didn't know about. So it is really questions of the troopers' credibility. It is not one specific lie. But it's a story that I couldn't really stand by, essentially.
BLITZER: And you know about the $850,000 that the president eventually did pay as a settlement to Paula Jones, which suggests, obviously, there was something that was going on there.
BROCK: Well, it may or it may not. I mean, the Paula Jones case became a political issue. I believe it was a political case. And, in fact, one of her own lawyers, I write in the book, told me at one point that he didn't believe Paula Jones, that this was really about proving Troopergate, by which he meant getting President Clinton under oath in that setting -- the abuse of that lawsuit -- under oath to get him to lie on matters that had nothing do with the Jones case.
BLITZER: And, just to be precise, let me correct myself. I am not suggesting the president has acknowledged having had a sexual relationship with Paula Jones. He continues to deny that. She continues to insist he did sexually harass her in that hotel room in Little Rock, Arkansas.
All right, David Brock, thanks for joining us. I appreciate it very much.
BROCK: Thanks for having me.
BLITZER: The name of the book is "Blinded by the Right."
And when we come back: Disney tries to make amends with Ted Koppel. Will it be enough to keep the "Nightline" anchor at ABC?
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
Now that its pursuit of "Late Show" host David Letterman is over, Disney is trying to fix the damage done in its relationship with "Nightline" host Ted Koppel.
Howard Kurtz of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" and "The Washington Post" has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE LATE SHOW") DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST: Can you believe that there are two networks fighting over this crap?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD KURTZ, "RELIABLE SOURCES" (voice-over): The famously unhappy David Letterman seems happy at the moment. And why not? He gets $31 million a year to stay at CBS rather than jump to ABC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE LATE SHOW")
LETTERMAN: And I put a lot of thought into this whole thing. Here is what I'm going to do. I'm going to get a face lift and then I'm going over to Fox News. That's exactly what I'm going to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ: But the late-night funny man turned serious when he talked about Ted Koppel, whose award-winning "Nightline" would have been booted off the air if Letterman had accepted ABC's offer to take over the 11:30 time slot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE LATE SHOW")
LETTERMAN: Ted Koppel, at the very least, at the absolutely very least, because of his contributions and because of the kind of guy he is and the kind of show he runs and what he has done for this country and the world of broadcasting, this guy, at the very least, deserves the right to determine his own professional future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ: So the great media melodrama is over, right? Letterman keeps doing stupid pet tricks at CBS and Koppel keeps his $8-million- a-year job at ABC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, ""NIGHTLINE")
TED KOPPEL, HOST: That's our report for tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ: Well, not so fast. Koppel, like many of his colleagues at ABC News, is angry about the way he was treated. And so the former State Department reporter issued a rather undiplomatic statement: "We hope the corporate leadership of Disney understands that it would not be reasonable to expect all of us at 'Nightline' to continue our work in a climate of ongoing uncertainty. Our hope is that Disney will send a clear and unmistakable signal that 'Nightline' can count on serious corporate backing. We need something more than bland assurances or a short-term guarantee."
That got noticed over a the mouse house. Disney Chairman Michael Eisner called Koppel yesterday for what was described as a friendly conversation. But the future of "Nightline" remains up in the air.
ABC executives aren't apologizing for trying to lure Letterman. His draws the kind of younger, more lucrative audience that produces far more advertising dollars than a news program.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KURTZ: Letterman's producer says ABC executives told Dave they had around decided to drop "Nightline" at 11:30 before approaching him. Now the question is whether Ted Koppel and the network that spurned him can kiss and make up, or whether his 20-year run at "Nightline" could be nearing an end -- Wolf.
BLITZER: So, Howie, how is it going to be resolved?
KURTZ: It's a fascinating standoff. Koppel wants a long-term commitment, maybe three years for the remainder of his contract. The ABC folks seem to be saying: "Ted, we love you," but they're not going to make that kind of commitment, because they want to leave open the possibility of bringing on, who knows, Jon Stewart, Howard Stern, some other entertainer at 11:30.
I suspect they will work it out, because, at this point, I think both sides need each other.
BLITZER: Howard Kurtz, as usual, thanks for joining us.
KURTZ: Thank you.
BLITZER: Let's go to New York now and get a preview of "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE." That begins right at the top of the hour -- Lou.
LOU DOBBS, "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE": Thank you, Wolf.
Coming up tonight: Stock prices today declined on Wall Street because of a weaker-than-expected report on the economy. We will have a special report for you on the state of Nevada and its critical shortage of doctors. "New York Times" columnist Gretchen Morgenson on the rift between Wall Street and the telecom industry and, in one case, a split within a brokerage firm. And we'll be going live to Jerusalem for the latest on the fighting there, and the economic impact of the violence, and the prospects for peace.
Now back to Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you very much, Lou. We will be watching.
And in just a moment: How should Andrea Yates be sentenced? We will tally your votes when we come back.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Our "Web Question of the Day": "How should Andrea Yates be sentenced?" Look at this. Just over half of you say the death penalty. A reminder: This is not a scientific poll.
Time now to hear from you. We got lots of reaction to the verdict of Andrea Yates at the trial yesterday.
Alex writes this: "Wolf, sadly, our criminal justice system has failed us again, first in the O.J. Simpson trial and now in the Andrea Yates murder trial. I think it is time to take these decisions out of the hands of jurors and have a panel of judges rule on the verdicts."
But Joyce writes: "Wolf, the Andrea Yates verdict was a kindness. And a death sentence would be, too, be she sane or not. It would be a miserable life for her to live with the memory of murdering her beautiful children."
And on another topic, Diane writes: "Would like to know the name of the song and singer you aired at the end of Monday's show about ground zero. Excellent choice. Very touching."
Listen in.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CAREY PATRICK CLARK (ph), SINGER (singing): Over and over again, we lost something back there.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BLITZER: We got many e-mails from many of our viewers about this song. This note: It is called "Ground Zero" from the CD "Songs to Heal a Nation" by Carey Patrick Clark (ph).
And I will back in one hour in the CNN WAR ROOM. Will Iraq be the next target in the war on terror?
Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" begins right now.
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