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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Are Steroids Ruining Baseball?; Medical Examiner Concludes Levy Death was Homicide; Al Qaeda May Push Back
Aired May 28, 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ...him that I am concerned about the Catholic Church in America.
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WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Did President Bush go that far behind closed doors? And where is al Qaeda's leadership calling home now? An American commander says he knows.
It's Tuesday, May 28th, 2002. Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We have an exclusive story that's going to be the source of a lot of conversation, a story that concerns some of your children's heroes, the use of illegal steroid drugs and an American pastime. It's in the upcoming issue of ""Sports Illustrated"" and we're bringing it to you before it hits the stands. CNN's Bob Fiscella begins our coverage.
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BOB FISCELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Ken Caminiti was once one of baseball's best players. In 1996, he was the unanimous choice as the National League's Most Valuable Player. It's his greatest individual accomplishment. It's also an honor that is tainted by his disclosure that he spent much of the season on steroids.
KEN CAMINITI, FORMER MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER: I took a black market deal and it's the worst thing I did because I got the strength, whatever. I built the muscles up.
FISCELLA: In April of '96, Caminiti has suffered a shoulder injury. He decided to take steroids to help him play through the pain.
CAMINITI: Like I said, I was trying to do anything to play and I knew I was tore up, so I said OK, hold together, hold together, hold together, hold together, and I played that whole year, you know. I was MVP and I was - I cheated almost, you know.
FISCELLA: the steroids made Caminiti a better player. He had 40 homeruns in that '96 season, neither before nor after would he ever reach 30. His 130 RBIs were 36 more than in his next best season.
In a lengthy interview with Tom Verducci of "Sports Illustrated", Caminiti said he continued to use steroids for the rest of his career that ended just last season. He also said that his steroid use was not the exception but the rule.
"It's no secret what's going on in baseball. At least half the guys are using it. They talk about it. They joke about it with each other."
Caminiti also told "Sports Illustrated": "At first I felt like a cheater. But I looked around and everybody was doing it. Back then you had to go find it in Mexico or someplace. Now? It's everywhere. It's very easy to get."
KENNY ROGERS, TEXAS RANGERS: No number would shock me because I think it's prevalent out there without a doubt. I just wouldn't know a percentage at all, but I'm sure it's higher than anyone thinks.
FUSCILLA: Like Rogers, Curt Schilling is dismayed by what he sees as a game radically changed by steroids. He told SI: "You sit there and look at some of these players and you know what's going on."
ROGERS: I don't even play with them in that respect but I've dealt with it my whole career. My benefit for me is I can look in the mirror everyday whether I succeeded or failed and I knew it was me out there and you know that's my satisfaction.
FUSCILLA: Major League Baseball does not currently test its players for steroids, so the number of users is difficult to pin down. But Commissioner Bud Selig agrees that body building drugs are a problem in his game and he says that something must be done. Any testing program will have to be agreed to by the players as part of a collective bargaining agreement.
ROGERS: I wish we would never have to worry about the subject, but it's something we're going to have to deal with. It's not going to happen anytime soon, I don't think, but one day it will. The saddest part is probably going to be when something drastic happens to someone.
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BLITZER: It's been the games best kept secret. Now it's out. How will Major League Baseball handle this problem of steroid use? Joining me now from New York, the author of the "Sports Illustrated" cover story Tom Verducci, Tom thanks so much for joining us. Why don't they test major league baseball players like they test professional athletes in other sports?
TOM VERDUCCI, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": In a word, it's the strength of the union. Other sports do test for steroids and other illegal drugs, but so far the Major League Baseball Player's Association has been very adamant about opposing any sort of random testing. They consider it to be un-American, intrusive on their privacy and they've shown no enthusiasm for an issue that the owners have tried to negotiate.
BLITZER: You quote Kenny Rogers, a pitcher with the Texas Rangers, as saying this, and I'll put it up on the screen: "Basically, steroids can jump you a level or two. The average player can become a star, and the star player can become a superstar, and the superstar? Forget it. He can do things we've never seen before." That suggests this is - these steroids are very, very effective.
VERDUCCI: And really that's been a popular myth among the players is that steroids can help you in the gym but they can't help you on the field, that it won't help you as far as hand-eye coordination or hitting a slider. That might be true, but when you begin with someone who's a world-class athlete, who can hit a slider, who does have exceptional hand-eye coordination, then you add to that exceptional strength, artificially enhanced.
Then you're talking about people putting up records that, as Curt Schilling says, they're not just breaking records. They are shattering records and there's no doubt that, along with several other factors, steroids are changing the game. Baseball has become much more of a power game.
BLITZER: So what are you saying though about, and I'm sure a lot of viewers are going to be interested in this, people who read ""Sports Illustrated"," your cover story, the superstars right now, are they going to come away from your article and conclude that the Mark McGuire, the Barry Bonds, that these guys are using steroids?
VERDUCCI: No, I don't think so. In fact, what was told to me by several players is that it's gotten to the point now where visually looking at a player, you just can't assume that a big guy is on steroids because steroid use has become so popular and so prevalent that we're seeing pitchers turn to steroids.
We're seeing guys who maybe play middle infield or outfield positions that are not traditional power positions using steroids. In fact, a minor league outfielder told me, "I'm using steroids. I'm not looking to get bigger. I'm not looking to hit homeruns, but what it does is it quickens up my hands. In other words, I can swing the bat faster when I'm on steroids.
So now, we've gone beyond the realm of just power hitters and the big guys looking for mass and bulk. It's become so prevalent that up and down a roster at all different positions, we're seeing steroid use.
BLITZER: The downside of steroid use, of course, are injuries, enormous injuries. You write in your article: "As more baseball players have built over muscled bodies using the advanced biochemistry of steroids and other drugs, they have been suffering sever - and costly - injuries in even greater numbers." Do these ball players understand the potential devastation, the end of the career injuries that they're likely to effect?
VERDUCCI: Well, all they have to do is look around, Wolf, and they'll see across all of baseball, people going down with major injuries, injuries we never saw before in baseball. We're talking about ruptured tendons, ruptured muscles tearing away from bones. But you know what? They have found over and over again that it's worth the risk to try to grab that brass ring. There have been cases where people have bulked up, added mass, added power, and they've cashed that in with contracts that can set them and their families up for life.
So they're more than willing to take the risk that hey, I may pull a muscle in my leg. My biceps might rupture off of the bone, but you know what? I might also get that one big contract that can set me up for life, and they're willing to take that risk.
BLITZER: Tom Verducci of our sister publication ""Sports Illustrated"," thanks for that exclusive report and breaking it here on CNN, appreciate it very much. And this note to our viewers, we are in the process of contacting Major League Baseball and the player's union for comment. We do not have any statement to bring you right now. As soon as we do receive word, we will bring you their reaction.
Our web question of the day is this: Should all professional athletes be required to undergo regular drug testing? Go to my website cnn.com/wolf. That's where you can vote. And while you're there, let me know what you're thinking. Send me your comments. I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.
A year after it began, the Chandra Levy investigation today became an official murder case. The Washington, D.C. medical examiner concluded that Levy was a victim of homicide but many questions remain unanswered. We're joined now by CNN National Correspondent Bob Franken. Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, first of all, the questions remain unanswered. The strategy is being reformulated.
Certainly a part of that strategy on the part of the various investigative agencies we met today will be to go and re-ask some of the people that they've already talked with, re-ask them some questions in light of the discovery of last week of the remains, in light of information that has come from that and, of course, in light of the fact that this is now an official homicide investigation.
What was interesting about the declaration from the medical examiner is not only that he declared this a homicide, but what he didn't know.
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JONATHAN ARDEN, DC MEDICAL EXAMINER: In this case, there was not specific - excuse me, sufficient evidence to ascertain conclusively the specific injury that caused her death. However, the circumstances of her disappearance and her body recovery are indicative that she died through the acts of another person, which is the definition of a homicidal manner of death. (END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: It took over a year to find that Chandra Levy had been the victim of murder. Now it opens the whole new investigation, Wolf, who's responsible for that murder.
BLITZER: Bob Franken on top of the story, as he always is, thanks very much. As investigators sorted out the latest clues in the Chandra Levy investigation, the former intern's family and friends gathered for a memorial. CNN National Correspondent Gary Tuchman is in Modesto, California. He joins us now live. Gary.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Chandra Levy's parents and brother are back at their home at this hour, where they had been secluded for six days. Today was the first time we've seen them in public since the remains of Chandra Levy were identified this past Wednesday.
Hundreds of people were already in this auditorium behind me for the memorial service, when the limousine pulled up carrying Robert and Susan Levy, Chandra's brother Adam on the left, and also their grandmother Lee Pollack (ph), Chandra's grandmother, Susan Levy's mother.
There were no cameras allowed inside the auditorium, but we were and we could tell you it was a very emotional service and there were appropriate smiles at times also.
Lee Pollack, the grandmother, is a very small woman, elderly, but a very strong woman, and she went up there and she said: "I am here to tell you about my grandchild." She said: "She looked like Betty Boop. All she lacked was the crow on the middle of her forehead."
The pictures you're seeing right now were placed all around the auditorium, Chandra when from she was a baby until she was 24 years old. Lee Pollack continued: "I am now missing part of myself."
Her younger brother, Adam, also spoke to the mourners. He said: "We always loved and cared for each other." And he added: "She will never be lost because she will always remain in our hearts and in our minds."
This memorial service was open to the public and there were also local dignitaries here, including the Mayor of Modesto, California. One dignitary not here was the Congressman from this district, Gary Condit. After the service was over, the Levy family attorney talked about him.
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BILLY MARTIN, LEVY FAMILY ATTORNEY: We think that Congressman Condit, as a result of his relationship with Chandra, knows something about Chandra, her state of mind, how she was feeling, what she may have been doing just prior to her disappearance. We'd love to talk to Congressman Condit.
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TUCHMAN: Robert and Susan Levy did not speak during the service. As a matter of fact, they have not spoken publicly since this past Wednesday. We are told by family spokespeople, they are too bereaved to talk right now, Wolf, back to you.
BLITZER: Thank you very much, Gary Tuchman in Modesto, California. And the Washington, D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey today expressed confidence his investigators will solve this murder mystery. He joins us now live to discuss the case. Chief Ramsey thanks so much for joining us. Billy Martin said somebody went to great lengths to conceal the body of Chandra Levy in Rock Creek Park. What does that say to you?
CHARLES RAMSEY, WASHINGTON, D.C. POLICE CHIEF: Well, it definitely was difficult to find. It was underneath about a foot of underbrush. There was very dense foliage there. That part of Rock Creek Park is really not that accessible.
So, however she got there is something we're going to have to determine, but certainly it's not a place where you would likely find a person.
BLITZER: Have you determined that the body has been there all these many months, or was moved there at some point after the murder?
RAMSEY: It's going to be impossible to determine whether or not it was moved after the murder with so much time having elapsed, but the medical examiner told us that based on the skeletal remains, it's pretty consistent with a body having been there through the different changes in seasons from summer to fall to winter.
BLITZER: Were you surprised by the medical examiner's conclusion that yes, it was murder, homicide, but unclear how the murder occurred?
RAMSEY: I'm not surprised because I've seen it in cases before. When you find skeletal remains, it's difficult to sometimes determine cause of death, unless there's a bullet wound or some obvious injury to the skeleton.
BLITZER: Is there anything there that you've seen so far in all the evidence you've been collecting around the body, the remains, over these past several days, that convinces you, yes you will solve this case?
RAMSEY: Well, I believe we will because we're going to work very hard, very aggressively. I don't know when and how long it's going to take. It took us three years for the Starbucks case that we had here in Washington, D.C. But like all of our murder cases, we never give up, and eventually we'll find out what happened to her.
BLITZER: Is there a suspect or suspects you're focusing a lot of attention on right now?
RAMSEY: Not right now, although there are some people that we're pretty interested in right now in terms of talking to. Obviously, we're looking at crimes that have been committed in that particular area, people who may have visited Rock Creek Park with her at some point in the past. Maybe she talked about it.
So we need to go back and re-interview some friends, and maybe even family. She may have inadvertently said something about Rock Creek Park. We don't know. But we've got a lot of work ahead of us.
BLITZER: Where does Congressman Gary Condit fit into your investigation right now?
RAMSEY: Well, he's one of many people that we've spoken with before. If we need to talk to him again, we will.
Anyone who has knowledge, personal knowledge of Chandra Levy, her habits, what she liked to do would be somebody who we would be interested in. She got there somehow and we don't know exactly how she got there or even why she was there.
BLITZER: Is he a suspect?
RAMSEY: Well right now, we don't have suspects, because we don't have anybody who we have taken from that realm of just a person who may have some information relative to this case, someone who may actually be involved in her demise.
BLITZER: And this individual who's already serving a ten-year sentence, convicted of assaulting a woman in that vicinity of Rock Creek Park, I assume you're checking out the timeline where he may have been around the time of the disappearance of Chandra Levy?
RAMSEY: Well, without question and we've already spoken to him. We spoke to him some time ago. Again, we'll continue to take a look at that aspect of the case. Whether or not he's involved is something that is yet to be proven, but of course we're going to look at every possible angle.
BLITZER: Chief Ramsey, as usual, thanks for joining us. Good luck in this investigation.
RAMSEY: Thank you.
BLITZER: It may just be beginning, right?
RAMSEY: That's right.
BLITZER: It could be a while.
RAMSEY: Be a while.
BLITZER: Thanks again. There had been hope the medical examination of Levy's remains would produce more clues. Dr. Michael Baden is a forensic pathologist. He joins us now live from New York.
DR. MICHAEL BADEN, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Hi. BLITZER: Is there anything else you expect, Dr. Baden, the medical examiner in D.C. to come up with that might help Chief Ramsey break this case?
BADEN: Well, what isn't known yet is what is missing, what other articles of clothing, what other skeletal remains that may be found. If they find a bone that has a bullet hole or a stab wound in it, certainly that will change things.
If they find evidence in the clothing, of a knot with her hair entwined in it that could be good evidence of strangulation. So there's a lot more that still has to be done, and if there's a bullet hole or a stab wound that may be present in the clothing, even though it's not present in the skeleton.
BLITZER: How common is it, Dr. Baden, for a medical examiner to conclude yes, homicide, a murder was committed but unclear how the individual died?
BADEN: It's very uncommon, but it's this kind of case that occurs in usually skeletonized remains and strong circumstantial evidence that this is not a natural death. It's not an accidental death, and that the cause of death can be undetermined, but it's a very hard cause of death to go to a jury with if there's going to be a trial.
And hopefully the additional studies that are being done, remember the FBI laboratory is looking at all the clothing, and in a case like this, the clothing that's found and the clothing that hasn't been found yet, because they're still looking, can show up with very important evidence that can lead to changing of the cause of death from undetermined to strangulation for example.
And Dr. Arden did say that at the conference there that the cause of death undetermined is not written in granite. It can change if additional information is found.
BLITZER: You're referring specifically to potentially DNA evidence that might be found on some of the clothing or the body itself? Is that what you're suggesting?
BADEN: Well, not necessarily the DNA evidence but supposing there's hairs that are entwined in a knot or supposing there's blood on a rock that's overturned that the FBI is looking at as a possible blunt force object. There was an issue as to whether or not there might be bone damage that the medical examiner can't tell yet, whether it's before death or after death. So if there's bone damage, a fractured skull and there's blood on a rock that may be enough evidence to indicate that it happened before death. So there -
BLITZER: Very brief - Dr. Baden, very briefly, what's your expectation? Will this case be solved based on your experience?
BADEN: Well, I'm encouraged by the police chief's attitude that they're going to solve it. There may be much additional information. I think this is a very solvable case. Most murders that are solved, don't have strong trace evidence apart from bullets if they're found in the body.
BLITZER: Dr. Michael Baden thanks very much for helping us here appreciate what's going on.
BADEN: Thank you, Wolf. Good to be here.
BLITZER: CNN, of course, will have much more on this. "LARRY KING LIVE" will focus in on the Chandra Levy case tonight. Gary Condit's attorney will be among Larry's guests, Billy Martin, as well as others including the attorney representing Gary Condit, Mark Geragos. That's at 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 p.m. on the West Coast.
And where are al Qaeda's leaders hanging out? Coming up, a U.S. commander's hunch about the terror organization. Also, President Bush's European mission, why this face-to-face talk is a lot harder than it looks. And our picture of the day, what's Yasser Arafat doing on a bag of snacks? First our news quiz.
Which of these nations was in the top four on Amnesty International's list of countries which carried out the most executions in 2001? Iraq, North Korea, Syria, United States. The answer coming up.
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BLITZER: Welcome back. The United States and its allies think they've pushed the al Qaeda and Taliban leadership out of Afghanistan and into Pakistan, but al Qaeda may be getting ready to push right back. CNN's Mike Boettcher is at Afghanistan's Bagram Air Base.
MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The message from the anti- terror coalition at Bagram Air Base is very clear today. Al Qaeda is building up its forces in Western Pakistan. They plan terrorist operations in Afghanistan to disrupt the political process here, and that the coalition will continue aggressive operations to stop that.
Now in an interview with the New York Times, the coalition commander here, F.L. Hagenbeck said that between 100 and 1,000 al Qaeda fighters are along the Eastern and Southeastern border of Afghanistan in Pakistan in those lawless tribal regions.
He said that they are planning, he believes according to intelligence, offensive operations, small terrorist operations with big impact, suicide bombings, truck bombings to disrupt what is known here as the Loya Jerga, which will occur next month. That is when the political leadership, the national leadership of Afghanistan is selected.
Now the British, over the past several weeks, have launched two operations, Operation Snipe and Operation Condor. In both operations, they made no contact with al Qaeda or Taliban, but it is pointed out that is proof that al Qaeda is building up on the other side of the border, because the British have denied them those areas in Eastern Afghanistan.
The bottom line is, there will be future operations here and they will be aimed at stopping those potential terrorist attacks in Afghanistan. Mike Boettcher, CNN, Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.
BLITZER: And let's get some insight now in what's going on with al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Joining me now from Brussels Reuel Gerecht. He's a former CIA case officer. He's now with the American Enterprise Institute. Rudolph thanks so much for joining us. Has al Qaeda successfully managed to reconstitute itself?
REUEL GERECHT, FORMER CIA OFFICER: Well, I think that's probably difficult to say. I would - it wouldn't be surprising that they are over the border and that they are regrouping. They obviously were a very well organized organization before. You can tell that by their means of escape from Afghanistan. Whether they're able to come back and successfully penetrate as far north as Kabul, that's a different question.
BLITZER: Is it your conclusion that Osama bin Laden, a) is still alive and he is with the rest of these al Qaeda leaders, maybe 1,000 of them according to the New York Times, somewhere in Western Pakistan?
GERECHT: It's hard to say. I mean obviously we don't have the type of intelligence that can tell us that for sure. We've largely, I guess, been probably operating on intercept and what you might call rumors. I wouldn't be surprised that he is there, and if so, I'm sure he will try to strike back.
BLITZER: Well you wrote a devastating piece in today's New York Times, in which you're quite critical of the CIA still, even after 9/11. You were critical long before 9/11 and you were very prescient in looking forward to what was going on. But basically what you're saying is the CIA still doesn't have the talent to go in there, get dirty, get on the ground and infiltrate these terror organizations.
GERECHT: Well the agency basically hasn't changed its Cold War structure. The vast majority of operatives overseas operate under diplomatic cover. And irrespective of that, whether it worked well during the Cold War, it obviously doesn't work well against Islamic radicals and there's been no serious attempt at the agency to change the way it conducts its clandestine operations against Islamic terrorist groups.
BLITZER: You're basically saying that they're still using case officers who use diplomatic cover and aren't really getting in. They don't have the Arabic speakers that you need really to penetrate these kinds of groups.
GERECHT: Yes, I mean it's going to take a very long time for the agency to restructure itself if, in fact, it can. I'm somewhat skeptical that when you have such a well established bureaucracy that has patterns of behavior going back almost for 50 years that you're going to be able to adjust this quickly.
But more or less, the type of intelligence that we receive is primarily based on liaison information from foreign intelligence services and what we can pick up from intercept. BLITZER: Is George Tenet not up to the job, your bottom line, the CIA Director?
GERECHT: I don't think Mr. Tenet is going to seriously advance a revolutionary change in the way the agency conducts its operations overseas. I think he had the opportunity to do that and he has certainly shown that he is unwilling to do so and that he, more or less, has perpetuated the type of operations, the type of bureaucratic structure that the head, the senior officers in the clandestine service are comfortable with.
BLITZER: Reuel Gerecht, joining us from Brussels tonight, thanks so much for joining us and for your insight on what's going on in the war on terror, appreciate it very much.
We have a breaking news story we're following now out of the Middle East. A Palestinian infiltrator has shot and killed three Israeli students at an Orthodox Jewish high school in the West Bank settlement - in a West Bank settlement called Itamar, near the Palestinian city of Nablus.
Settlers and rescue services are saying that they - this according to the Associated Press, but CNN has now independently confirmed. We're following this story. We'll get some more information on that as it becomes available. We're going to take a quick break.
When we come back, the President, the Pope, and the sex abuse scandal. The leader of the free world shares some frank words with the head of the Catholic Church. Also, is the United States sacrificing human rights to fight the war on terrorism? Hear who's weighing in right now. And real men do cry. Tearful reunions, as the USS Stennis comes home at last.
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ALFRED MCGUIRE, USS JOHN C. STENNIS: We deployed two months early. And we missed Christmas. We missed Thanksgiving, birthdays and anniversaries. But you have to understand that there are thousands of people in New York that will never have the opportunity to say I love you, say Merry Christmas or say happy anniversary to their loved ones because of September 11. And although my family and I will have next year, there are thousands will not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: That was the scene at San Diego where the USS Stennis returned home after six months overseas. More on that in just a few minutes, but first a look at our top stories.
There is new concern about steroids in baseball today following an admission by a recently retired star. In an interview with "Sports Illustrated", Ken Caminiti discloses that he used the muscle-building drug beginning in 1996 when he was named the National League's most valuable player. Caminiti estimates that at least half of all players use steroids, which are illegal if not prescribed by a doctor. CNN is awaiting comment from Major League Baseball and the player's union.
The Washington, D.C. medical examiner says Chandra Levy was murdered, but the exact cause of death remains a mystery. Levy's remains were discovered in the D.C. park last week. The medical examiner's announcement came as the former intern's family and friends gathered for a memorial service in California.
President Bush's is heading home from an eventful European trip. Our senior White House correspondent John King reports he may have saved some of his most delicate diplomacy for a visit with the Pope.
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JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the president's second audience with Pope John Paul II, the circumstances very different than their first meeting 10 months ago.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you so much for (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
BLITZER: Now, the Catholic church and the United States is embroiled in a sex abuse scandal. It is a delicate issue for the Vatican and the frail 82-year-old Pope. And before the trip, top Bush advisers said the president would not raise it. But hours before sitting across from the Pope in his Vatican study, Mr. Bush said it would come up.
BUSH: I will tell him that I'm concerned about the Catholic church in America. I'm concerned about its standing. And I -- I say that because the Catholic church is an incredibly important institution in our country.
KING: Bush aides later confirmed the sex abuse scandal was discussed. Courting the Catholic vote is a top priority of Mr. Bush and senior political adviser Karl Rove. And many U.S. Catholics are voicing displeasure with the church's handling of the crisis.
The Vatican initially kept its distance. Then the Pope summoned U.S. cardinals for an urgent meeting last month and told them to adopt new guidelines for dealing with sex abuse by priests.
BUSH: I appreciate the Pope's leadership in trying to strengthen the Catholic church in America.
KING: The president first met the Pope last July, two months before the September 11 attacks. U.S. officials say the pontiff has voiced interest in visiting the United States and the site of the terrorist strike in New York City. And Mr. Bush says he is more than welcome.
POPE JOHN PAUL II: I am very grateful for the visit.
BUSH: Thank you. KING (on camera): As Mr. Bush left the Vatican and headed home, the Pope's parting words were God bless America. But Vatican sources say there was a slight sense of unease that the president brought up a scandal the Vatican would prefer not to talk about.
John King, CNN, Rome.
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BLITZER: The president's primary reason for being in Rome was the signing of a landmark though limited partnership between NATO and Russia. The Rome declaration brings Russia into a new NATO body and gives Russia a greater voice in crisis management, peacekeeping and some military issues. Made up of some 20 nations, the NATO/Russia counsel will establish new policies in areas such as counterterrorism. The signing came just days after Russia and the United States signed a nuclear arms reduction treaty.
After more than six months at sea, the crew of the USS John C. Stennis returned home today. And as CNN national correspondent Frank Buckley reports, thousands of loved ones were standing by waiting in San Diego.
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FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The USS John C. Stennis is back home after more than six months at sea deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. This ship deploying more than two months ahead of schedule because of the events of September 11.
The sailors here for a very emotional and exciting homecoming reunion with family members who are all here at the Juliet Pier for the big reunion with them. They have missed so many family occasions, family anniversaries or birthdays, and in many cases, the birth of their children. There are some 60 new fathers on this aircraft carrier of 5,000 men and women, 60 new fathers. Among them, Jason Rettinger. As we steamed in earlier today, we were able to speak live, Jason Rettinger, a sailor on this ship, with his wife and their newborn six-month-old. Here is what that looked like.
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JASON RETTINGER, USS STENNIS: We are considered by heroes by many today, but I have to look no further than her. She has been my strength through this whole thing, and having a baby on her own, and we planned to have together, it is just incredible. And I'm so proud of her. If I could give a medal, I would give it to her.
BUCKLEY: Good for you. You know, we should mention, there are 60 new fathers on this ship during this cruise. You are one of those 60 folks. Look at that beautiful baby of yours.
RETTINGER: I can't wait to hold him. He looks so healthy and strong and I'm so proud of her. He is incredible. That's justification right here. This is exactly what we do all of this for. I want to give my -- make sure my children have the same opportunities I had growing up. So, that's everything to me right there.
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BUCKLEY: So an emotional reunion for the Rettingers and it will be an emotional day for some 5,000 families here in the San Diego area.
Frank Buckley, CNN, San Diego, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And Frank Buckley offers a unique look behind the scenes of America's nuclear-powered weapon, the USS Stennis when "CNN PRESENTS: Carrier At War" this Saturday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, again Sunday, 7:00 p.m. Eastern. You will want to watch that.
After all the terror threats in the last week, you may be wondering who is doing more to protect you. Coming up, an answer.
And later, a controversial commercial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, ADVERTISEMENT)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As much as I would like to believe that there was a reason I lived, I have trouble believing that there was a reason that everyone else died. It could have been my family along with all of the other families having lost me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: A company hired by September 11 tries to recruit, but is Cantor Fitzgerald crossing the line of good taste?
And later, why is anchorman Tom Brokaw stepping down, and more importantly, when?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: With the FBI blamed for intelligence failures before the 9/11 attacks, the director, Robert Mueller, is set to announce a major overhaul of the bureau with the focus on fighting terrorism. CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The new priority for the FBI is clear cut: protecting the United States from a terrorist attack. It's part of the major reorganization aimed at changing the culture and structure of the FBI from crimefighting to prevention. Even long-time critics are somewhat optimistic.
SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R), IOWA: I believe that the FBI mind-set can change. Will it change? I don't know, and it will be a few months or years down the road before we know for sure. I do happen to know that Director Mueller's heart is in the right place. ARENA: Mueller will announce the creation of flying squads, elite mobile terrorism units that can be dispatched around the globe to give field agents a big-picture perspective. The FBI will hire about 500 analysts with expertise in languages, world cultures and technology.
Officials say that currently, the FBI does not have the analytical capacity to deal with the volume of information coming in. On the agents side, more than 500 will be reassigned to terrorism units from narcotics, white-collar crime and violent crime squads. The thinking is the Drug Enforcement Agency and state and local law enforcement can pick up the slack.
BILL BERGER, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF POLICE: There is certainly a lot of duplication. Over the previous administration, just about every crime was being federalized. And we saw a great exception to that. So I think if anything, as long as it's done in a prudent manner.
ARENA: As CNN previously report, the FBI will also establish an office of intelligence to be led by someone from the CIA. Its goal: to be proactive rather than reactive.
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: We must refocus our mission and our priorities, and new technologies must be put in place to support new and different operational practices.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA (on camera): Along with what the FBI is proposing, officials say the justice department is rewriting investigative guidelines to give agents more flexibility in the field, especially when it comes to surveillance. The attorney general is expected to announce those changes on Thursday -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Kelli Arena, thanks very much.
And let's turn now to some other stories from our "Justice Files."
The convicted murderer Napoleon Beazley is scheduled to die by injection, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, a little bit more than an hour or so from now in Huntsville, Texas. The former high school senior class president was convicted of murdering John Luttig in 1994 by shooting him twice in the head while trying to steal his car. Lawyers for Beazley sought a reprieve on the grounds that the death penalty constitutes cruel and unusual punishment because he was 17 at the time of the crime. The parole board and the Supreme Court have denied that request.
Taliban-American John Walker Lindh is back in court. His lawyers are seeking the right to question Taliban and al Qaeda detainees in Cuba about Walker Lindh's role in the war. The government has offered to allow Walker Lindh to submit questions to prisoners in writing. The hearing began about an hour ago. Amnesty International has just released its annual report on the global state of human rights. Part of that study examines how the United States may be sidestepping human rights to fight its war on terror. Here's our state department correspondent, Andrea Koppel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the wake of the September 11 attacks, a scathing report by Amnesty International claims the U.S. is sacrificing human rights in the name of national security, in Afghanistan, where many civilians were killed, and at home, where hundreds of foreign nationals have been detained.
Topping the list, treatment of captured al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in Guantanamo, Cuba, held incommunicado without legal counsel, which Amnesty says violates the Geneva Conventions and compromises U.S. moral authority.
WILLIAM SCHULTZ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: By having shredded certain provisions of the conventions ourselves, namely the requirement that an independent tribunal determine whether captives are to be regarded as prisoners of war, the U.S. is severely compromised in calling Russia to account for its violations of the conventions in Chechnya.
VICTORIA CLARKE, PENTAGON SPOKESWOMAN: They are battlefield combatants, and they are being held as such and they are being held appropriately.
KOPPEL: The Bush administration also denies that by welcoming leaders from Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Malaysia to the White House, the U.S. is excusing their poor records on human rights.
SCHULTZ: When it comes to confronting terrorism, President Bush is a bulldog. But when it comes to confronting the human rights violations of our allies in the war against terrorism, he turns into a lap dog.
KOPPEL (on camera): And Amnesty says it's this double-standard which most concerns the human rights community, the further erosion of what little leverage used to exist now that one of the world's most outspoken defenders of human rights has become less so.
Andrea Koppel, CNN, at the State Department.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And this note, tonight on "CROSSFIRE," you can hear more from the executive director of Amnesty International, William Schultz. That's at 7:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN.
NBC News is targeted for a makeover in 2004. Who will fill the chair of the veteran anchor, Tom Brokaw? A sneak peek, next.
Plus, exploitation or a respectful tribute? A company that suffered heavy losses in the World Trade Center attack releases a controversial new ad.
Earlier we asked which nation was among the top four on Amnesty International's newly released annual list of countries that carried out the most executions in 2001? According to the report, the United States is No. 4 on the list, having carried out 66 executions last year. China, Iran and Saudi Arabia had the highest number of executions reported.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
A new ad campaign for a bond trading firm is making some viewers uneasy. Cantor Fitzgerald lost some 658 employees in the World Trade Center attack. The firm's ads, placed on CNN and elsewhere, play up that fact. Here's a sample.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, ADVERTISEMENT)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thing that I do that I keep in my head is my visual Rolodex of people. I'll go through each person I can think of that I've lost and I'll just say their name in my head and their face will come. And I'll just look at their face for a minute and then I'll go to the next. And it's my way of just saying, I still remember you.
The Towers are gone. My friends are gone. I'm still here. I'm living in the present. Everyone who I lost would have said, go to work. That's where we need you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Joining us now to discuss the ads is Amy Nauiokas. She's the senior vice president for global marketing for Cantor Fitzgerald. Amy, thanks for joining us.
How severely are you being criticized for potentially exploiting this tragedy for marketing purposes?
AMY NAUIOKAS, SR. VICE PRESIDENT, CANTOR FITZGERALD: Wolf, we thought long and hard, of course, after 9/11 how we were going to handle and how we would appropriately communicate with our core business audiences. I should point out that this campaign is targeted at those business audiences. And prior to 9/11, we actually had a campaign planned that we, of course, pulled that was planned to launch on 9/17.
And when we sat down to discuss what our next steps were, we thought long and hard about how we come out and communicate in order to grow our business for both Cantor Fitzgerald and eSpeed. And it was clear to us that we couldn't ignore the fact that 9/11 is so much of a part of who we are as a company and who we are as a group of employees. And it was important for us to make sure that we didn't just step over the events of September 11 as it plays such an important role in every single one of our desires to go to work, our commitment to the families that we're helping to support. And it just didn't seem right to ignore that.
BLITZER: I'm sure you've already heard the criticism. It's tacky, it's bad taste, it's really not something worth the death of, what, almost 700 of your employees. One of whom, by the way, was my cousin, Jeffrey Schrier (ph). But what do you say to those people who say you're simply trying to make a buck out of this tragedy?
NAUIOKAS: Like I said, Wolf, we needed to communicate to our core business audiences Cantor Fitzgerald and eSpeed after the events of 9/11, of course, had been in the news. And I think the whole world has been incredibly sympathetic to the fact that we did lose so much on September 11.
But our core business targets, the institutional investors, the world that we are targeting with this specific ad campaign, you know, we needed to find a way to communicate our business message so that we could move forward because 25 percent of the profits of Cantor Fitzgerald are going to the families of our colleagues and friends that were lost on September 11. And because of that, you know, it's so important for all of us to have this business continue to grow and to continue to move forward. And we needed to do that in order to grow the business.
BLITZER: Did you consult with family members extensively or just a handful and get their reaction in advance of releasing this ad campaign?
NAUIOKAS: We talked to a handful of family members, certainly the family members whose loved ones were mentioned in the campaign. And everybody has been overwhelmingly positive. I think that we are a team, the Cantor families and the employees of Cantor Fitzgerald. And we go to work every day knowing that we have a sort of higher purpose now.
And, you know, the fact that we all went back to work on 9/11 and on the days following September 11, you know, is a tribute to the employees that we have as a firm and is a tribute to the memories of the employees that we lost. And I think that the only and the best way to tell that story was to let the employees tell it themselves and to tell the truth and get out of its way.
BLITZER: Amy Nauiokas, thanks so much for joining us, from Cantor Fitzgerald.
NAUIOKAS: Thank you.
BLITZER: Thank you.
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, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, good to see you. Thank you.
Tonight on "MONEYLINE," the FBI tries to restore its reputation after September 11. We'll have details of a major reorganization in the works at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is damage control.
NATO and Russia, former foes, are now allies. We'll have a report on a deepening relationship between West and East.
And a triple-digit loss again for the Dow Jones Industrials, a decline as well for the Nasdaq. Jan Hopkins will be here to give us all of the day's activity on Wall Street.
All of that, a lot more, coming up at the top of the hour. Please join us. Now back to Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you very much, Lou. We'll certainly join you as we always do.
An American icon, by the way, is calling it quits. The NBC News anchor and managing editor, Tom Brokaw, will retire in 2004. Brokaw has been a journalist for more than 40 years, 36 with NBC News. His credits include seven Emmy awards and a Peabody. Brokaw says he will remain active in journalism after he retires. He will be succeeded by MSNBC anchor and managing editor Brian Williams. His other credits include serving as NBC's chief White House correspondent and the anchor of the Saturday edition of the "NBC Nightly News." Congratulations to Brian Williams, a good friend and good luck to both Brian Williams and Tom Brokaw.
You've seen him on the news, but have you seen him on a snack? Why Yasser Arafat is making our picture of the day.
And the results of our Web question of the day: Should all professional athletes be required to undergo regular drug testing? Learn how our viewers vote next.
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BLITZER: Let's turn now to our "Picture of the Day."
Branding is thy buy word these days. And in the Middle East, a new snack has a well known and powerful name. Bags of cheese chips (ph) carry the picture of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his nom de gur (ph), Abu Amar. That means the builder in Arabic. And the slogan on the bag is "the more you buy, the more you build," with part of the five-cent purchase price going to the Palestinian cause.
That's all the time we have. Tomorrow, we'll be back. We'll follow up on the reorganization of the FBI. I'll speak with the investigative journalist, Seymour Hersh.
Until then, thanks very much for watching. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" begins right now.
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