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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
The CIA Takes Its Turn in the Hot Seat; `Sum of All Fears' Adds to American Anxiety; Britain Celebrates Golden Jubilee
Aired June 03, 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: tracking terrorists without telling. The CIA takes its turn in the hot seat, and did another spy agency let the nation down as well?
"The Sum of All Fears" strikes fear across America. Could real- life terrorists smuggle in a nuclear device? Customs agents answered that question today. Deep in al Qaeda country, a story you'll see only on CNN. Come along on a raid with U.S. cave-busters in Afghanistan.
With street parties and pop stars, cannons and players, witness the crescendo of 50 years on the throne live in this hour.
It's Monday, June 3, 2002. Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. During this hour, you'll witness the celebration of a milestone in the British monarchy. Famous figures pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth, including a former member of the rock group Queen, plus, Paul McCartney and Prince Charles. We'll have extensive live coverage, and we'll also go live to Buckingham Palace.
But first, our top story.
They were on its radar long before they crashed an airliner into the Pentagon, but the CIA did not share that secret. Tomorrow, behind closed doors at the U.S. Capitol, lawmakers start looking in to the September 11 intelligence failures.
CNN national security correspondent David Ensor has more on this latest lapse.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The CIA lost more than six critical months, U.S. officials confirmed, before putting two terror suspects on a watch list to be kept out of the United States, two of the men who later hijacked the plane that hit the Pentagon.
SEN. ROBERT GRAHAM (D), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Had these people been on the watch list 90 days earlier, then when the other information, such as that which the FBI was collecting had been checked against names, these people might have emerged. It might have caused further intelligence to be gathered and at the end of the day, might have avoided September the 11th.
ENSOR: The two men, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi were among those at a suspicious meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in January, 2000. That was already known.
Then in March of 2000, officials now confirm, another nation told the CIA that al-Hazmi had flown from the Malaysian meeting to Los Angeles, California. In October, 2000 came the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen. Then in January, 2001, officials now say, the FBI identified a third man who attended that meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Tawfiq Attash Khallad as a suspect in the Cole bombing.
At that point, the CIA -- or the FBI, for that matter -- could have put al-Midhar and al-Hazmi and all the others who attended the meeting in Malaysia on a watch list to be kept out of the United States. It was not done.
On July 4, al-Midhar was able to reenter the U.S. from a trip outside the country. Only on August 23 of 2001, more than six months after the CIA knew the two had met with a suspect in the Cole bombing, were al-Midhar and al-Hazmi put on the watch list by the CIA. That was less than three weeks before the attacks of September 11.
Intelligence officials now call it a missed opportunity, but point out if the two had been kept out of the U.S., al Qaeda would likely have simply replaced them. President Bush in Arkansas said if the FBI and CIA have held out on each other in the past, that is changing.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The FBI is changing, and they're doing a better job of communicating with the CIA. They're now sharing intelligence.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: For years, CIA and FBI officials have sometimes accused the other agency of holding out on them. It appears in this case, for the most part, they were communicating about al-Hazmi and al-Midhar, but that neither agency was able to quickly connect the dots and exclude from this country two dangerous men -- Wolf.
BLITZER: David Ensor, our national security correspondent, thank you very much. Call it hands-on management, any terror-related search warrant that's rejected by an FBI bureaucrat will now be personally reviewed by the director himself, Robert Mueller.
The policy change is tied to the FBI overall that makes prevention of terrorism the top priority. The move follows the stinging letter sent to Mueller by a Minnesota agent said the FBI headquarters had thwarted repeated efforts to investigate a terror suspect that summer. That suspect since charged with conspiracy in the September 11 plot, turned out to be the alleged 20th hijacker, Zacarias Moussaoui.
One spy agency whose main job is to warn of surprise attacks has so far managed to avoid public scrutiny. But when Congress tomorrow begins its hearings on the pre-September 11 intelligence failures, the National Security Agency is likely to come in for its fair share of attention.
James Bamford is author of "Body of Secrets," an inside look at the agency. He joins us now live from San Francisco.
Mr. Bamford, thanks as usual for joining us. One of the things you do write in your article that you wrote in the "Washington Post" yesterday is this: "Perhaps the greatest missed opportunity had to do with Osama bin Laden himself. For about two years until August, 1998, NSA was able to eavesdrop on senior al Qaeda communications by monitoring bin Laden's personal satellite telephone. This gave the agency enormous insight into his organization, including the makeup of its top leadership, with whom it was in contact, and the nature of its activities. Still, that insight was not enough to provide warning of several attacks."
Was this a major intelligence failure on the part of the NSA?
JAMES BAMFORD, AUTHOR, "BODY OF SECRETS": Well, Wolf, the NSA has been getting that information and then bin Laden decided to stop using the satellite phone. At that point, NSA had no ability to begin eavesdropping again on his communications. So it was an intelligence failure, but it was caused by bin Laden becoming very conscious of his communications capabilities.
BLITZER: What could the NSA have done that it didn't do?
BAMFORD: Well, there's a number of things. I think NSA was very lacking in terms of linguists, the number of people they had that could actually focus on that kind of communication, especially communications from Afghanistan where you could count on one hand the number of people that spoke Pashto and Dari.
Also, the NSA manages this intelligence community web basically. It's just exclusively for the intelligence community. It's called Intelink, and had the FBI inputted their memos, such as the one in Phoenix, there was a good chance that the rest of the intelligence community, including the agents up in Minnesota that were looking into Zacarias Moussaoui, might have seen those memos simply by doing what's known as a Google search.
You look through the database by entering the names of the flight school or whatever and flight school Muslim training and so forth, and you would have been able to quickly pull up those memos. So there's a number of failures here that could be rectified in the future, but they were really tragic at the time.
BLITZER: One of the things I've always been perplexed about, the NSA is the largest of all the U.S. intelligence gathering organizations, much bigger than the CIA, the DIEA, everything else. Do they have the capability of translating all of that communications that they intercept? Because, as you know, they intercept a ton of stuff.
You say they don't have the linguists that are needed. What's the point of intercepting all that communication if you can't do anything with it?
BAMFORD: Well, that's the point I raised yesterday in my "Washington Post" article. The agency is very heavily outfitted in terms of technology but they are very weak in terms of analysis.
When U.S. troops went into Haiti, for example, NSA had a total of one Creole linguist. According to one of the senior NSA people I spoke to, they have 6,500 languages around the world. NSA speaks about 115 of those languages, so NSA is always in a problem when it comes to crises in very remote parts of the world.
BLITZER: And one little footnote that you point out, the National Security Agency is housed at Fort Meade in Maryland, right outside of Washington, D.C. That happened to be where a couple of those hijackers used to hang out right in that area, isn't it?
BAMFORD: Well it was actually the entire cell of hijackers that took over the plane and crashed into the Pentagon. They were living right in NSA's bedroom community, Laurel, Maryland.
And the greatest irony is on the morning of September 11, when the hijackers, terrorists, got in their car and left the Valencia Motel and went down Route 1, they passed all the NSA employees. They came within about two or three feet of all the NSA employees heading the opposite direction into NSA to begin looking for terrorists that day.
BLITZER: That certainly is an irony. James Bamford, who knows more about the NSA than almost anyone else, thanks again for joining us.
BAMFORD: Thanks, Wolf.
BLITZER: And near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, the watchword today is as usual, "danger." Americans are probing dark caves, peering around blind corners, never knowing what will confront them in the instant to come.
CNN's Mike Boettcher has some exclusive pictures.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): More than 150 Airborne troops made the surprise assault at sunrise Sunday morning, their objective, a suspected al Qaeda camp located in eastern Afghanistan, less than a mile from Pakistan.
Cautiously, soldiers from Bravo Company of the 101st Airborne's 2nd Batallion, 187th Infantry, approach the suspected al Qaeda camp. Intelligence reports indicated more than a dozen al Qaeda were using the base, known as the Gorko (ph) Camp. But if the al Qaeda were here, they had left before Bravo Company arrived.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: Nobody's getting shot at, so it's good.
BOETTCHER: However, a complex of caves loomed above them. There was only one choice for Bravo Company.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: There's only one way to find out, sir.
BOETTCHER: Conduct a dangerous search. One squad fired grappling hooks inside the cave complex, then pulled it back out the entrance, a technique used to detonate any booby traps.
Another team made a silent assault into an even larger cave complex. Inside, they found scattered documents, which were immediately analyzed by a special Arabic-speaking document exploitation team.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This looks like a periodic table of the elements on a calendar.
BOETTCHER: At first glance, however, it didn't appear they had discovered any important al Qaeda secrets.
CAPTAIN BRET TECKLENBERG, BRAVO COMPANY COMMANDER: This one looks like it's current or like someone has been here very recently.
BOETTCHER: After the search, the caves were blown by Bravo Company's demolition team.
BOETTCHER (on camera): Bravo Company believes it accomplished its mission here. Every boot that came on the ground left, safely, and although the al Qaeda believed hiding here disappeared when Bravo Company arrived, they believe they did send an important message to the al Qaeda and Taliban.
LT. COL. CHIP PREYSLER, BATTALION COMMANDER: Well, the message is that you can't just come back in this country and do the things you were doing before. There's no sanctuary here.
BOETTCHER (voice over): Bravo Company left the al Qaeda camp, knowing their job is not done. When al Qaeda returns, they say so will they. Mike Boettcher, CNN, on the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Now to the terror front at home. "The Sum of all Fears" based on the Tom Clancy novel, came in number one at the box office this past weekend. The film was about a plot to smuggle a nuclear bomb into the United States and detonate it in Baltimore.
Today, the U.S. Customs Service took the extraordinary step of reminding us that it's only a movie.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve shows us why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the new hit movie, "The Sum of All Fears," terrorists ship a nuclear device into the U.S. and use it. A Hollywood fantasy, but could it become reality? COMMISSIONER ROBERT BONNER, U.S. CUSTOMS SERVICE: It's much, much, much less likely that that could happen today than before 9/11.
MESERVE: To support his argument, the Customs Service trotted out for the benefit of the press it's latest detection technologies.
BONNER: I've got a small (UNINTELLIGIBLE) here that is setting off the alarm.
MESERVE: Four thousand of these radiation detectors had been distributed to customs inspectors. Another 4,000 are in the pipeline. But there is another number that haunts and irks the Customs Service that only one to 2 percent of the 11 million containers coming into this country annually are ever inspected.
BONNER: We know we can't search 100 percent or each and every one of the cargo containers that enters this country. We don't have to.
MESERVE: Do not have to, Customs argues, because its computers sift through manifests and itineraries, separating out high risk cargo. That cargo is given a closer look. Gamma ray detectors scan containers looking for anomalies. Cartons or boxes can be taken out for scrutiny by portable X-ray vans, equipped with radiation detectors.
An array of other tools can be used to get a peek into otherwise inaccessible items and there are mobile laboratories, which can identify suspicious substances, nuclear, chemical, or biological. Ultimately, Customs is hoping to expand the number of countries that will allow U.S. inspection of cargo before it is shipped here.
BONNER: So our strategies are designed in short to make the border, make our border and our seaports the last line of defense, not the first line of defense.
MESERVE: Though the system may be better than it was before, even Commissioner Bonner concedes, it is not foolproof, that the horrifying Hollywood scenario is not entirely beyond belief.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: On a typical day, the U.S. Customs Service examines 1.3 million passengers, 2,642 aircraft, more than 50,000 trucks and containers, more than 355,000 vehicles, and 588 vessels, and handles almost 65,000 entries to the United States.
In other news around the world, the CIA Director George Tenet has returned to the Middle East, hoping to help Israelis and Palestinians find some basis for restarting peace talks, but he walks right into some messy challenges.
A Palestinian court has ordered the release of a leading militant, wanted by Israel for allegedly ordering the killing of a cabinet minister. Israel, which has been carrying out more military sweeps in the West Bank, has warned against such a move, and Palestinian officials now say there will be no immediate release.
At an Asian security summit in Kazakhstan, Russia's President Vladimir Putin is leading a mediation effort aimed at putting a lid on a neighborhood crisis that could, repeat could, go nuclear. He met today with the Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, but India's Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has refused to do the same.
Meantime, one glimmer of hope, India says Pakistan has begun carrying out a pledge to stop any infiltration of militants into the Indian portion of disputed Kashmir.
They've been massing troops and preparing their missiles, but can a war be averted between these nuclear neighbors? Joining me now Robert Oakley. He's the former U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan. He spent decades as a top United States diplomat. Ambassador Oakley, thanks for joining us. How close are India and Pakistan to war right now?
ROBERT OAKLEY, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO PAKISTAN: Well, they've come to the brink on several occasions, but they haven't had a major war since 1971, despite the fact that the Pakistanis went up to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on the Indian side of the line of control. That was contained, and again this is more serious than anything since 1971, but I think it can also be contained now. The United States is making a major effort and throwing its full weight behind the business of making peace, rather than having a war.
BLITZER: Is the U.S. in the best position to do this or are there others who can step in? You see the Russian President Putin trying to do something in Kazakhstan right now.
OAKLEY: Wolf, we can use all the help we can get and we're reaching out for it as we have done even in past occasions when I was there in 1990. We had the Chinese and the Russians working quietly at a previous confrontation over Kashmir, to tell the Indians and the Pakistanis, along with us, to back off.
But the United States has so much influence in that part of the world, and we have so much in the way of good relations with both India and Pakistan, and both of them, I think frankly are acting foolishly, because Pakistan has not done enough to control infiltration. The Indians have suddenly said, we've had our troops there for six months now. We're out of patience. We have to strike.
I think both of them will find a way to calm down, but the United States has got to help them, and furthermore, we have to help them over the long term, not just get through this present crisis.
BLITZER: So you know that the president has sent Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. They're either there or on their way to the region right now, but is that enough do you think, these two high-ranking U.S. officials can get the job done in a few days to ease the temperature?
OAKLEY: Well, the temperature has built up over a while. It can come back down. This first signal the Indian Government has actually acknowledged that the Pakistanis are doing something positive about infiltration, we haven't heard that in a long, long time, so that's a first good sign, if you will.
But I think that the president's speech at West Point, he said sometimes you use diplomacy, sometimes you use military force, so he's sending the number two man from the State Department and the number one man from the Defense Department. I think the message will get across, and I think there will be time.
I think the present crisis will recede by dangers will be there, particularly a miscalculation, because both sides seem to think they can deal with the other without going to nuclear war, but those dangers are very, very real.
BLITZER: So the bottom line as far as most Americans are concerned if, God forbid there's another war between India and Pakistan, could it realistically go nuclear?
OAKLEY: It could and that's the point that we're trying desperately to make to both the Pakistanis and the Indians, who don't quite seem to understand it, and that's I think one of the reasons that both Rumsfeld and Armitage are going out there.
But I think also, as another reason, which is to say is the bigger war on terrorism in the whole region which we have to deal with. Al Qaeda and Taliban are still there. The groups within Pakistan itself that are out after President Musharraf, who are allied with Taliban and al Qaeda, and they've also been supporting, they've been supporting the groups inside Kashmir, so all these things would interlock. It's going to take a while to get at it but we all have to work together.
BLITZER: I think the United States is going to be stuck in that region, trying to do some work for a long time to come. Ambassador Robert Oakley, thanks for joining us.
And al Qaeda warns Americans to get ready for another attack. Is it a real threat or simply a propaganda campaign? We'll take a close look at the man who issued this latest warning.
And this is not the worst of what happened, as flames burned through a mid-rise building. What firefighters had to witness, coming up.
And how is the Queen choosing to celebrate 50 years on the throne? We'll head live to the party at the palace, and take you to the massive fireworks display that promises to rival the millennium celebration. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Now it's time to take you to a very, very special party. Britain is marking Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee with a huge celebrity-filled gala at Buckingham Palace where the evening's festivities are nearing their climax. Prince Charles will pay tribute to his mother, the Queen, very, very shortly. Also coming up this hour in about 15 minutes or so, the Queen and her husband, Prince Philip will light a Jubilee beacon, then watch three tons, repeat tons, of fireworks light up the London sky. We'll also see Sir Paul McCartney's tribute to the Queen, as our special coverage of the Golden Jubilee will continue.
But first, CNN's Christiane Amanpour has your front row ticket to today's celebration. She joins us now from a very, very happy London. Christiane, they're pretty excited behind you, aren't they?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: They really are Wolf. Nobody expected this Jubilee celebration to go off as incredibly as it has. I don't know whether you can hear them, but they're saying that this is a worldwide (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We've just had Rod Stewart and before that Joe Cocker, Brian Wilson, anybody you can imagine. Just listen.
ANNOUNCER: And now, will you please welcome back on stage, Dame Edna Everage.
AMANPOUR: Well at that point, we'll show you what they started with. It was an amazingly dramatic beginning, because Brian May, the guitarist from Queen, the group Queen, played the National Anthem from the roof of Buckingham Palace, and it was truly electrifying. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: So you heard Brian May, Annie Lennox, and Shirley Bassey singing "Goldfinger," the signature tune from the James Bond movies. And perhaps one of the most significant things not just the party here, but the impact that British popular music has had and culture has had over these last few decades with the people around the world from music to James Bond, to you name it.
In any event, inside the palace, the Queen is there right now. She turned up about 20 minutes ago, and she is there. All her family is there. They've been there throughout the concert.
Also, the Prime Minister Tony Blair, his wife and pretty much the entire cabinet is there. There are 12,000 people and we were inside earlier and it really is an amazing atmosphere. People in the palace couldn't have hoped for any better.
Here outside, there's another many, many thousands, some are saying hundreds of thousands. We can't see the entire scope of it, but certainly all over London and all the parts, there are massive screens showing this concert, and it's quite incredible.
A lot of the tunes that we all grew up on, the very performers perhaps we all missed in concert, we're getting to see here, all in one night. As they said, Paul McCartney is coming up next and there's going to be a duet time with Eric Clapton as well, and then the Queen is meant to get on stage with the whole ensemble and the anthem of the day was the Beatles song, "All You Need is Love." We're going to see whether she sings it or not. Wolf.
BLITZER: This is extraordinary. In the history of the monarchy, the history of Queen Elizabeth if you think back over 50 years, is there anyone in London at all sort of trying to spoil this party, or is everybody as excited as the people behind you?
AMANPOUR: Everybody loves a party, so this is going to capture a lot of people's imaginations and people really are turning up. Of course, there is a small minority of British people who would rather see the monarchy disbanded. You might not think that with all the revelry tonight. But 70 percent of the people polled here have consistently throughout the last 30 years said that they would prefer a monarchy to a republic.
So the monarchy here is solid, despite some of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that's been going on about some of the Royal Family. But the Queen herself has pretty much remained (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and I think that's what you're seeing here over this Jubilee, particularly tonight.
BLITZER: Christiane Amanpour in London, stand by, we'll probably be coming back to you, and I want to alert our viewers that once Prince Charles begins to speak, we'll be going there live to London to hear his historic remarks as well.
Also, here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the day is this: Is the Royal Family still relevant? You can vote. Go to my Web page, cnn.com/wolf. While you're there, send me your comments. I'll read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also where you can read by daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.
Still ahead, a fire in a mid-rise out of control, what happens next caught everyone around who saw it totally off guard. Plus, new threats against America, is al Qaeda gearing up for a new wave of attacks? A look at the words of war, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Our national security correspondent, David Ensor, joins us once again. He has news on what the intelligence community and the FBI knew before September 11 -- David.
ENSOR: Wolf, senior U.S. officials and U.S. intelligence officials are telling me that they have documents showing that on the 5th of January 2000 the CIA informed the FBI that Khalid al-Midhar, one of the hijackers of September 11, should be -- merited further investigation, that he was someone they were suspicious of, that they knew he would be attending a meeting at which suspected terrorists would also be attending in Kuala Lumpur a few days after that and that they suggested the FBI further investigate Khalid al-Midhar.
Officials are also telling me that at the end of December 1999, when a tip was received by the National Security Agency, the Signals Intelligence Agency of the United States that there would be such a meeting in Kuala Lumpur, that information was passed onto the FBI headquarters and to the FBI Washington field office.
There was also an exchange of e-mails, officials tell me, between CIA and FBI officials on January 6, 2000 in which the CIA people let the FBI people know about their suspicions about Khalid al-Midhar and suggested further that the FBI investigate him this. So this is another little bit of information showing that both agencies had information about at least one of the hijackers, and the FBI contrary to what has been reported all day in various quarters, was informed by the CIA according to these officials well ahead of time, that they ought to be looking into Khalid al-Midhar -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Just Khalid al-Midhar, but what about the other hijacker that the "Newsweek" report says the CIA only informed the FBI in August of 2001, a month or so before September 11, about the -- these suspicious characters, but now you're saying at least as far as one of them is concerned a year and a half earlier the CIA informed the FBI of this hijacker.
ENSOR: Well, that's basically right. They informed him about al-Midhar way back in January 5, 2000. On the other man, I, at the moment don't know whether any information was given before August of 2001.
BLITZER: David Ensor, our national security correspondent. Thanks for that update on this more important story. And in other news, an international Arabic newspaper, "Al-Hayat" has published what it says is a statement from an al Qaeda spokesman warning the United States of another attack. The statement reads in part, "What is coming to the Americans will not, by the will of God, be less than what has come. So beware America. Get ready. Get prepared. Put on the safety belt".
Joining me now, Hisham Melhem. He's a veteran correspondent of another Arabic newspaper, "As-Safir". Hisham thanks for joining us.
HISHAM MELHEM, "AS-SAFIR": (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
BLITZER: Give us your assessment. What about this latest threat, if in fact it is a real threat, from al Qaeda.
MELHEM: It's difficult to make sure that this statement is authentic. And until last October, Wolf, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was only known as a minor religious cleric in Kuwait with absolutely no followers to speak of. He was known only for his eccentric (ph) rhetoric. After October the 7th, when he appeared for that famous or infamous video sitting on the right side of Osama bin Laden, and on his right -- on his left side, was Mohammed Atta, the Egyptian fellow was killed...
BLITZER: And just to be precise, this latest statement published in "Al-Hayat" was in the name of (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
MELHEM: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) who's a Kuwaiti citizen, the Kuwaiti government stripped him of his citizenship back in October when they found out about his major role apparently at that time in al Qaeda. Because it's very difficult to make sure the authenticity of the claims and because we don't know exactly where (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is in the hierarchy of al Qaeda, but definitely he became a spokesperson later on. And in April, in many ways he almost took -- he officially took credit for the September 11 attacks.
BLITZER: And we know (UNINTELLIGIBLE) one of those videotapes he's sitting right there...
MELHEM: Absolutely.
BLITZER: ... next to Osama bin Laden...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: ... so he must be relatively high up.
MELHEM: On his right side, exactly. So in that sense one cannot dismiss these claims. And also, this may be the other side of the -- of the statements that we have heard from American officials almost on daily basis telling us that there would be attacks inevitably against the United States. This could be also part of a psychological warfare carried out by the al Qaeda and their supporters. Now they're using the Web sites. In the past, they used the videotapes. Now they're using a number of Web sites, and it's very easy for anybody to have a Web site and to be monitored by the international media.
BLITZER: How credible is this newspaper "Al-Hayat"?
MELHEM: "Al-Hayat" is a very credible newspaper. Another credible newspaper (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a few weeks ago again published what was reportedly at that time, we were told, an interview with Mullah Omar, again, rallying his troops. We don't know where that interview took place. The byline -- there was no byline. The date line was Afghanistan, Pakistan. It's very difficult to know exactly the circumstances of this statement or statements or these interviews. But one should not dismiss them definitely.
BLITZER: Hisham Melhem, as usual thank you very much.
MELHEM: Thank you.
BLITZER: Let's take a look now at some other top stories. A fisherman on the Arkansas River was one of the first witnesses to sound the alert about the recent bridge collapse on Interstate 40 in Oklahoma. Fourteen people died when their vehicles went into the Arkansas River May 26. Tapes of the 911 call were released earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) fishing (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a barge hit (UNINTELLIGIBLE) bridge and it -- there's trucks, cars everything off of it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK sir, where at on I-40?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where? The Webbers Falls exit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, where's the Webbers Falls?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: East of Webbers Falls exit, I'm sorry. Yes just east of Webbers Falls exit (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Arkansas River. Both lanes -- both lanes are down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Both lanes, so the whole bridge is totally down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, the whole bridge is out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: In Colorado, dry conditions and stiff winds are fueling a fire that's already consumed more than 7,000 acres, destroying 20 homes and threatening 200 others near Canon City. Authorities say the fire is expected to get up and run again.
Fire in a nine-story building in St. Petersburg, Russia resulted in this dramatic collapse. At least one person was killed, rescue workers are sifting through the smoldering rubble searching for people feared trapped. Four people were taken to the hospital.
The cause of yesterday's fire at London's Buckingham's Palace has not been determined, but authorities say they believe it was accidental. Hundreds of people had to be evacuated, but no members of the Royal family were present and damage was reported to be minor. The fire has not prevented today's Golden Jubilee celebration at the palace as we just saw earlier in our program.
As today's Golden Jubilee celebration continues, Charles Mosley, the editor-in-chief of "Burke's Peerage" joins us now from London for the little bit closer look at the monarchy and this special occasion.
Mr. Mosley, thanks so much for joining us. This huge event, obviously, that we're all watching, give us a sense of proportion. How big is it?
CHARLES MOSLEY, "BURKE'S PEERAGE": (UNINTELLIGIBLE) we've gone in Southwest London and there hasn't, according to my host at the dinner party I've just come from, hence this dinner jacket, hasn't been enormous amount of enthusiasm down there for the jubilee whereas there has, of course, been for the football, the World Cup, which England has been very prominent in.
But that, my host thought was maybe just the young people. On the other hand, elsewhere in the country in the provinces up north, there seems to be as much enthusiasm among young people as older ones. But London is emptier today, this weekend. I came across France on Saturday. There were streams of cars coming with British number plates across the whole of France.
Three out of every five cars had British number plates. So a lot of people are going away, obviously taking advantage of a long weekend, because the weekend goes until Wednesday. But, you know, if they were that keen on celebrating the Jubilee, surely they'd have stayed at home.
BLITZER: Is this -- this -- so this is an enormously important day in the history of the monarchy in England and in Britain. The events, though, tonight, how extraordinaire is it for the Queen to be receiving these rock stars and letting them perform at Buckingham Palace?
MOSLEY: Well, they have recognized in a way that didn't happen in 1977 that pop music is not just here to stay, but it's almost an alternative monarchy. If you say the king, most places in the world, everybody knows who you mean. It's Elvis Presley. Moreover, the king lives. There are people in America who are convinced that the king is still alive. They actually claimed to have seen him.
There is a pop star called Prince, or at least he used to be called Prince or maybe he's now called Prince after being called something else before he was called Prince. We have a pop band called Queen. These people -- we give knighthoods to pop singers. They are free. Tonight, Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Cliff Richard.
We're seeing an emasculation of monarchy and pop. So of course you have pop singers at your Golden Jubilee celebrations. That didn't happen before.
BLITZER: Is there any chance the Queen might step down and hand over the monarchy to the prince, Prince Charles?
MOSLEY: There's always a chance, supposing, for instance, she had a nasty fall out riding, which God for bid, but she does goes out riding without a hardhat. Most people would tell her that's not on there, but you can't say that to the Queen. So if she had a bad fall, yes, obviously she would presumably hand over. But she went on record the other day, saying I have no intention to abdicate. So one must assume that she means it and that some accident, you know feigning some accident, that that will remain the case.
BLITZER: Has the Queen come to accept Camilla Parker-Bowles as the so-called special friend of Prince Charles? Is that now accepted in Buckingham Palace?
MOSLEY: Well, we've seen Camilla Parker-Bowles on the podium this evening, which rather like as I was saying earlier, to somebody, it's rather like the presence of a high-ranking Soviet on the march path at May Day. It shows they're in favor or at least they're not out of favor. Yes I think she probably has accepted the friendship. Marriage, on the other hand, they say is a different matter.
But my feeling is that the British people who ultimately are the people who have got to be persuaded, if they can be brought to accept many of the things -- I don't know -- McDonald's hamburgers, for instance, if you can sell them that, you should be able to sell Camilla Parker-Bowles as the wife of the Prince of Wales. It may take a few years, but with a good PR and advertising campaign, there should be no real difficulty.
BLITZER: Charles Mosley, thank you very much for your insight. And I want to alert or viewers that we're still standing by awaiting the remarks from Prince Charles in honor of his mother, Queen Elizabeth. Once the prince begins his speech, we will, of course, return to Buckingham Palace and bring you those comments live.
The celebration of Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee wasn't confined to Britain. British scientists and their support staff in, of all places, Antarctica, conducted their own festivities. The celebration included the lighting a beacon similar to the Jubilee beacons being lit in London and in many other parts of the commonwealth.
You're about to hear the story of a death row inmate convicted of killing his lover and confessing. Now he may now be set free because his lawyer was asleep on the job, literally.
Plus, he's the cousin of the Kennedys. He's on trial for murder. His future is now in the hands of the jury.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We're awaiting the remarks from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace in honor of his mother Queen Elizabeth. We'll be going back to London and Buckingham Palace for those remarks once Prince Charles begins speaking.
In the meantime in our justice files, a Texas death row inmate, whose lawyer slept through parts of his murder trial, will get either a new trial or freedom. The U.S. Supreme Court today let stand a lower court ruling that Calvin Jerold Burdine was derived of his constitutional right to effective counsel.
In 1984, Burdine was convicted of stabbing his gay lover to death in Houston. He came within moments of execution in 1987. Texas must now choose whether to retry him, or let him walk.
In Beverly Hills, a judge had to put movie star Winona Ryder's preliminary hearing on shoplifting and drug possession charges on hold today after a TV camera hit her in the head. Ryder was entering the courtroom during a recess when the camera struck here and the bailiff. Both were whisked away for medical treatment. Prosecutors say the Oscar nominated actress stole $4800 worth of merchandise, from a store last December. They say she was illegally in possession of a prescription painkiller at the time.
Figure skater Tonya Harding faces trial August 20 on a drunken driving charge that could lead to jail time. The trial date was set at a court hearing this morning in Vancouver, Washington. Police say Harding failed a sobriety test after crashing her pickup truck in April. Prosecutors say that violated her probation agreement not to drink alcohol for two years after assaulting her boyfriend with a hubcap in May of 2000.
The murder case against Kennedy cousin, Michael Skakel, is now in the hands of a jury. Closing arguments today painted starkly different pictures of the man accused of killing Martha Moxley.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick is covering the trial. She joins us now live from Norfolk, Connecticut -- Deborah.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, when this trial first started, many people didn't think that prosecutors had a strong case. But in the end the most damaging evidence the prosecutors say are Michael Skakel's own words, saying that he spun a web entrapping himself. This, as the defense maintains there's still no case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): In closing arguments, Michael Skakel's lawyer had a strong message for the jury.
MICKEY SHERMAN,MICHAEL SKAKEL'S ATTORNEY: He didn't do it. He doesn't know who did. He wasn't there. He never confessed.
FEYERICK: As he has throughout the month-long trial, Mickey Sherman again pointed out, there's no physical, no forensic evidence. And that the alleged motive, jealousy over his brother's relationship with Martha Moxley, was sketchy at best.
SHERMAN: They played investigative musical chairs. First they tried to see if that chair fit Tommy Skakel. They brought in an arrest warrant for him. Then they went to Ken Littleton. God knows who else they want. When the music stopped, Michael Skakel was sitting in the defendant's chair.
FEYERICK: As graphic autopsy photos of Martha Moxley flashed on screen, her mother and brother looked down, avoiding pictures of Martha's head smashed by a golf club. Skakel's lawyer warned jurors they may feel compelled to help the Moxley family get closure. But, he repeated, Michael Skakel didn't do it.
Prosecutors, in their closing arguments, relied on Michael Skakel's own words placing him at the crime scene, tape recordings taken for his book proposal. In it, Skakel himself seems to undermine his own alibi, saying he remembers that his sister's friend had gone home, something which happened after he supposedly left to go to his cousin's house.
Prosecutor Jonathan Benedict said Skakel took a staggering walk down memory lane in his book proposal. Though Skakel never links himself to the Moxley murder, the path he describes taking that night places him at the major points of the crime scene, from the front of the Moxley home, where Martha Moxley was first hit, to the trees toward which Skakel said he was throwing rocks after hearing a noise. The motion, said the prosecutor, like someone hitting another person with a golf club.
And then, the tree where Moxley was found, the tree where Skakel said he masturbated that night. The prosecutor argued Skakel concocted this story, fearing he may have left semen behind, or that someone may have seen him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And that was our report from Deborah Feyerick covering the Skakel trial. We want to go back to Buckingham Palace. Prince Charles is speaking -- he's addressing this Jubilee audience. He will be addressing the Jubilee audience momentarily. There is the Queen walking in, given obviously a huge reception. Prince Charles follows the Queen for this 50th anniversary of the Queen on the throne.
Christiane Amanpour is standing by as well watching and listening with all of us, as well as the tens of thousands who have gathered inside and outside of Buckingham Palace. This is a very, very emotional moment, isn't it Christiane?
AMANPOUR: Well it's really a joyful moment. I mean there are tens of thousands of people out here, out here outside Buckingham Palace and 12,000 or so in. But the Queen is meeting Ozzy Osbourne right now. I mean when does this kind of thing happen? It is very, very, very exhilarating for all the people who have been watching.
And there has been some very, very good (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the real stars of rock 'n' roll who shaped a generation. And the Queen right now talking to Paul McCartney. They had a rousing finale, in which all the performers sung "All You Need Is Love". And now the Queen has been escorted in by George Martin, who, the Beatles producer, and he was saying in his speech earlier on, that it was almost 40 years ago to the day that he escorted the Beatles into the Abbey Road Studios and wow, what a difference they made to popular culture.
So the Queen has come onto the stage meeting all the artists who have been performing. Prince Charles you could perhaps see the back of his head there, as he's taking a seat. He is due to address the crowd, just listen to this.
(APPLAUSE)
BLITZER: William and Prince Harry are there as well, as well as Prince Charles who's getting ready to address this huge audience, not only there, but around the world.
PRINCE CHARLES, HEIR TO BRITISH THRONE: Mummy, this has been -- in my long experience of pop concerts, this has been something very special indeed. I don't think any of us will ever forget this evening. It has been -- it really has been a wonderful celebration of some of the best of British musical talent. Well, nearly all British -- nearly all British.
And when you're talking about British talent, my goodness, there's a lot of it about. And this gives me an opportunity on behalf of everybody, I think, to express our warmest gratitude to all the performers who've given up so much of their precious time to be here and to entertain us in this remarkable way.
As a result, they've enabled us to raise an enormous amount for charity, which really has been fantastic. And ladies and gentlemen, we must also thank the technicians, because without all of them, and there are hundreds of them behind here -- without all of them, none of this incredible extravagance would ever have happened nor would we have had such incredible sound quality. I don't know about you, but I thought it was fantastic.
And for that -- for that we also owe a huge amount to the BBC, for having made it all possible. So I don't know about you ladies and gentlemen, but all of this has made me feel extraordinarily proud of this country. And we, your majesty, are here tonight because above all we feel proud of you -- proud and grateful for everything you have done for your country and for the commonwealth over 50 extraordinary years, supported unfailingly throughout by my father.
You have embodied something vital in our lives, continuity. You have been a beacon of tradition and stability in the midst of profound, sometimes perilous change. Fifty years ago, at nearly four years of age, I would probably have been playing in the sand pits in the garden just behind this stage. But now you have generously invited everyone in here for a thoroughly memorable party. And we probably frightened the poor old geese into the bargain.
So your majesty, we are all deeply grateful to you and in the words of the nonpolitically correct second verse of the national anthem, you have defended our laws and certainly given us cause to shout with heartened voice, God save the Queen!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three cheers -- three cheers for her majesty, the Queen. Hip hip! Hip hip! Hip hip!
BLITZER: And so the Queen did her famous wave to a huge, huge crowd gathered at Buckingham Palace to honor her and her 50 years on the throne, surrounded by some of the top British and non-British top stars and other stars. You saw Sir Paul McCartney there, among others, we had been watching earlier.
Prince Charles delivering moving remarks about his mother -- moving remarks about Queen Elizabeth II, now 50 years on the throne. Christiane Amanpour, here's Paul McCartney. Let's listen briefly to him.
SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY: Are we doing this next year...
AMANPOUR: Paul McCartney is...
MCCARTNEY: ... she said, "Not at my garden."
AMANPOUR: ... has just said that he asked the Queen, "Your Majesty, are we doing this again next year," and she says, "Not in my garden."
But they're going to play another song. Now -- so the crowd is going to go wild again.
But let's just say that one the things Prince Charles said, which, I think, sums up why people appreciate the Queen, is continuity and stability through 50 sometimes turbulent years.
Listen to "Hey, Jude." It's better than me. (MUSIC)
BLITZER: Christiane Amanpour in London listening to Paul McCartney play "Hey, Jude."
We, unfortunately, don't have authorization to listen to that. BBC has exclusive rights to the music. So we have to leave it right there.
Queen Elizabeth marking 50 years on the thrown. Fifty years. Enjoying celebration of all sorts of talented British and non-British pop stars.
We're going to continue our coverage, of course, throughout the night. But, for now, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
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