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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Justice Department Plans on Immigrants Ignite Controversy
Aired June 05, 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: Fresh indications the blueprint for September 11 was drawn up years ago, and this man, wanted for earlier plots, was a key architect. Should they have seen it coming?
Fingerprinted, photographed and followed: How the U.S. will greet many Muslim and Middle Eastern visitors.
Targeted by terror for the fourth time, he survived. They did not. Rocked by another suicide slaughter, Israelis brace for a mega- attack.
And in a war of words at Harvard, meet the student who surrendered.
It's Wednesday, June 5, 2002. Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
This hour, we're also standing by for a possible break in a high- profile California mystery. We told you about a boy found dead in a pool in suburban Los Angeles. What's not clear is how he got there. Was it an accident? Was it murder? We'll hear from the coroner's office in Los Angeles.
But first our top story, and a flashback to that day of infamy for the United States.
The plot played out on September 11, but many of the clues were spelled out years earlier. CNN has details about who may have helped draw up the plans for the attacks and the warnings from an ally which, perhaps, could have thwarted them.
Our coverage starts halfway around the world. That's where CNN's Maria Ressa is standing by in the Philippines. She has details on a story that she's been working on all night -- Maria.
MARIA RESSA, CNN MANILA BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Wolf, it started when U.S. authorities named a Kuwaiti lieutenant of Osama bin Laden said that he may have been one of the key planners of the September 11 attacks. That man, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is an extremely familiar name and face for Filipino authorities here. He barely evaded arrest here in 1995, part of a Manila-based terrorist cell here then, for his role in a Manila plot to bomb U.S. airliners over Asia. He was placed on the FBI's most wanted list. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): U.S. investigators say this man, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a Kuwaiti lieutenant of Osama bin Laden's, is one of the key planners of the September 11 attacks. Long on the FBI's most wanted list for his role in a 1995 plot to bomb U.S. airliners in Asia, Pakistani investigators say he is the uncle of Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of that plot.
Both men were key figures in the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993. Although they failed to bring the buildings down then, they didn't stop trying. Two years later, Yousef had another plan, outlined in this 1995 Philippine intelligence report obtained by CNN: "He will board any American commercial aircraft pretending to be an ordinary passenger, then he will hijack said aircraft, control its cockpit and dive it at the CIA headquarters. There will be no bomb. It is simply a suicidal mission."
Other targets named the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.
The information is from Abdul Hakim Murad, who said he did structural studies for Yousef of the World Trade Center. He is also a pilot trained in four U.S. flight schools, among the first recruited for that suicide mission.
He wasn't the last. Arrested by Philippine police in 1995, Murad talked about other friends training in U.S. flight schools in transcripts of his interrogation obtained by CNN.
All this information and more, says the Philippine president at that time was handed over to the FBI.
(on camera): Could U.S. authorities have done more to prevent September 11 with the information from the Philippine authorities?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I think they should have done some more.
RESSA: The FBI did investigate the flight schools named in the documents, but said it found no evidence of other planned attacks.
Still, Philippine intelligence sources tell CNN, the 1995 Yousef plot may have been the blueprint for the September 11 attacks. More so, if one of the leaders then, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, was a key planner for September 11.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RESSA: He is not the only link between that 1995 plot and September 11. Another man involved then, Hambali, what's now -- is now al Qaeda's main operator in Southeast Asia. He was videotaped meeting with two of the September 11 hijackers in Malaysia in 2000. More evidence, investigators here say, that al Qaeda operatives may spend years to work out the kinks of a plan until it finally succeeds.
It's Maria Ressa, CNN, reporting live from Manila. Back to you, Wolf. BLITZER: Thank you very much Maria.
And as Maria just noted, officials say they believe Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is both a top al Qaeda official as well as a key figure in the September 11 conspiracy. But the FBI has been after the 37-year- old Kuwaiti for years. He was indicted in New York in 1996 for allegedly plotting to kill Americans aboard those airlines flying routes out of Asia. The U.S. government is offering a reward of some $25 million for information leading to his arrest or conviction.
To find out what official Washington is saying about this, let's bring in CNN national security correspondent David Ensor.
David, what are your sources in the intelligence community telling you?
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: In reaction to the Philippine story, the point they make is that, yes, they had that information. We all had it. It was basically public and out in the media in 1995, '96. But the fact that terrorists were maybe thinking of using an aircraft against a building, intelligence officials say that's not actionable intelligence. What do you do, close down the whole air system? They didn't feel they could do that at that point based on such general information.
BLITZER: And what are they saying about Khalid Shaikh Mohammed's role in September 11?
ENSOR: They are denying suggestions in some other reports that he was the mastermind. But they are saying he was certainly a key figure, that he was instrumental, and may even have played a pivotal role in the plotting of that attack.
BLITZER: And finally, all of this new information about him -- supposedly new information -- where is it all coming from?
ENSOR: Well, it starts from Abu Zubaydah, Wolf. Abu Zubaydah, of course, the al Qaeda senior guy who they've been holding for months and interrogating, the U.S. has. He has started to tell things, obviously trying to make himself look better, saying that, really this was more plotted by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed than by Abu Zubaydah himself.
They take that with a grain of salt. They're skeptical about it. But they do have other intelligence now that backs that up. So they're starting to believe that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed really was a key player, Wolf.
BLITZER: David Ensor, thank you very much.
And also here in Washington, investigators for a joint House- Senate committee looking into the September 11 attacks were meeting today behind closed doors with Coleen Rowley, the chief legal adviser in the FBI's Minneapolis field office. Rowley has accused FBI officials in Washington of blocking her efforts to investigate Zacarias Moussaoui before September 11. She also says that after Moussaoui was charged as a conspirator in the September 11 attacks, FBI officials tried to cover their tracks.
Rowley and FBI Director Robert Mueller are both scheduled to appear separately at a Capitol Hill hearing tomorrow. CNN plans live coverage, beginning with Robert Mueller's testimony, 9:30 a.m. Eastern.
In the latest move to prevent terrorists from sneaking into the United States, the Bush administration is planning to expand the registration and fingerprinting of visitors.
CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The controversial new regulations are aimed at tracking, fingerprinting, photographing and otherwise tracking what the attorney general calls "high-risk visitors who might be terrorists."
JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: This system will expand substantially America's scrutiny of those foreign visitors who may pose a national security concern and enter our country. And it will provide a vital line of defense in the war against terrorism.
ARENA: It's expected that 100,000 visitors would be checked in the first year alone from countries that the U.S. says sponsor state terrorism. And others, but Ashcroft refused to name them.
ASHCROFT: We will evaluate individual visitors for the risk of involvement in terrorist activity, and impose these requirements on visitors who fall into categories of elevated national security concern.
ARENA: But sources say the regulations will focus on young men from Middle Eastern countries, which could include Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan and Somalia.
And that has Muslim-American groups seething.
NIHAD AWAD, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN ISLAMIC RELATIONS: Richard Reid will not fit the profile. John Walker will not fit the profile. And that tells us that terrorism comes in all colors and races, and you should not just focus on one ethnicity and one race. It is pure form of racism.
ARENA: New arrivals will be processed at U.S. ports of entry and be required to register with the INS after 30 days in the United States to make sure they're not lying about why they came.
Skeptics say the plan simply will not work.
JEANNE BUTTERFIELD, AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ASSOCIATION: People who really intend to come to do us harm are not going to be deterred by a voluntary requirement that you report after 30 days. They're simply not going to show up. ARENA: What's more, immigration lawyers warn the regulations will cause a bureaucratic nightmare, causing backlogs at air and seaports.
Supporters, though, say it's worth it.
REP. MARK FOLEY (R), FLORIDA: We're worried today after September 11, who has been gaining access to our country. We know the countries that terrorists are spawned from. And I think to tighten, if you will, the security and ensure the safety of Americans is going to require some inconvenience.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: As for people who meet the guidelines who are already in the United States, anti-terror teams will help immigration officials register them. Now, those who are in violation will be tracked down by local law enforcement. They could be fined, refused reentry to the United States, or simply deported -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Kelli Arena, thank you very much.
So will the additional fingerprinting protect America, or is it overreaction and discrimination?
Joining us now to debate those questions are James Zogby of the Arab American Institute, and Laura Ingraham, an attorney and radio talk show host.
James Zogby, why do you think this is a bad idea?
JAMES ZOGBY, ARAB AMERICAN INSTITUTE: Well, it's a bad idea for several reasons, Wolf. First, it is discriminatory, no question about it. It creates a field so large that -- understand, what we found out in the last several weeks is how much information the FBI already had, how much the CIA already had. The problem is, they're neither networked together, they don't have information sharing. The FBI itself, their field offices, aren't networked to the national office. Same with the INS.
BLITZER: But that may be true, but why is it a bad idea...
ZOGBY: Because all this does is provide 100,000 new pieces of information in an already broken system. And if you talk to the FBI, they say this is neither information we need, want, or are going be able to do anything with. It does not help make us more secure.
I want us to be more secure. This is not going to do the job. It's simply going to overload an already broken system with useless data that won't help.
LAURA INGRAHAM, ATTORNEY: Most Americans are stunned to know that there are 300,000 people in the United States right now who have been ordered deported. They're here, they've been ordered deported; they're still here. Congress has mandated -- mandated -- that the INS have a plan in place by 2003 to track, monitor, find out why people are coming into this country, and to make sure they leave when they're supposed to leave. That's a congressional mandate.
Your set-up piece also let out an important piece of information. A law on the books since 1952 requires that people in the United States be fingerprinted if they come here for longer than 30 days, requires that people be tracked as a registration mechanism in the United States.
That's already required by law. That's an important piece of information we can't forget.
BLITZER: All right.
ZOGBY: The point is that the FBI won't know what to do with the information. INS won't know what to do with the information. If you want to solve the problem, let the investigation proceed as it ought to proceed.
They have a profile right now. Yes, it includes people from certain countries. It doesn't include all the people from those countries. When the attorney general says we're going to question 5,000 people, or 3,000 people, as he's done in the past, or now we're going to screen 100,000 people, it overloads and complicates a situation where FBI knows where they want to go.
BLITZER: Well, that's a fair point that he's making, that this may put too much pressure on a bureaucracy that's already overloaded, and maybe the bureaucracy should be focusing in on other areas.
INGRAHAM: Well, the bureaucracy has to focus in on where the problem is coming from. Right now we know that men, the ages between 18 and 35 are overwhelmingly responsible for terror in the United States. Overwhelmingly. We know that. That is not a big secret now. The FBI has to track with the INS, Customs -- our entire federal apparatus has to be dedicated to preventing this from happening in the future, period.
BLITZER: One point that they make, though, Jim Zogby and others, is this profiling -- if you want to call it that -- Richard Reid, the alleged shoe bomber, a British citizen, presumably a close ally of the United States, he would not have necessarily fit any of these profiles.
INGRAHAM: Well, but what we're forgetting again is that there is no fail-safe profile, and it doesn't just include people from Middle Eastern countries. The attorney general made it very clear today that no country is universally exempt from these procedures -- no country.
ZOGBY: Wolf, I've talked to the FBI, and they said they don't want it. I talked to the State Department, they thought they had killed it a week ago because they said it's a foreign policy nightmare.
If the state...
BLITZER: A foreign policy nightmare because...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: ... American citizens might be subjected to the same thing?
ZOGBY: No, you're going to end up at airports in the United States of America with a U.S. citizen, a non-U.S. citizen and an Arab- Muslim line. That will be a foreign policy nightmare.
And yes, what we've always done is raised the standard. We're now lowering the bar.
BLITZER: But you know, Jim Zogby...
ZOGBY: We're putting into place practices that we have called into question when other countries use them.
BLITZER: You know that a lot of Americans would welcome that, three lines: Americans, non-Americans, Arabs.
(CROSSTALK)
ZOGBY: There's no question. But the president of the United States came out after 9/11 and made it very clear that this tragedy should not cause us to target all Arabs and Muslims.
INGRAHAM: How do you propose, Jim, that we track and monitor people who come into the United States? How do we do it?
ZOGBY: Look, I'll tell you something, Laura...
INGRAHAM: How do we do it?
ZOGBY: You have to fix the system. It's broken. Right now the attorney general is not addressing fixing the system. What he's...
INGRAHAM: Yes he is.
ZOGBY: No, not.
INGRAHAM: This is the first concrete step I've heard from the Justice Department to monitor who's coming in and why they're here, and make sure they leave.
ZOGBY: Put INS and FBI on the same network so that their computers can talk to each other. They can't right now. Put INS offices in the field and nationally on the same track so they can...
INGRAHAM: But that's happening. That's part of the reorganization of the entire structure.
ZOGBY: But they're not there now. And the fact is, is that what the FBI is saying to me is, if they do this, this will -- we have some dots, we want to connect them. This is going to simply cloud the field with 100,000 more dots that we don't need to look at...
INGRAHAM: We have a precious data bank right now, fingerprints of known terrorists. A precious piece of information. Are we saying that we as a country cannot cross-check that database that is being formulated around the world as a global matter? France does it. Other Europeans have been doing this for years.
And a law on the books requires that we do this through the INS. It's already required. We let that law lapse. That law is still on the books, and that -- your set-up piece, Wolf -- I don't mean to criticize you -- that's an important piece of information the American people should know.
ZOGBY: The procedure in place is not going to help us screen out terrorists. Unfortunately, it's not. What it's going to do is overload an already broken system; and I think it's going to break down.
The problem is, is that we know where to look; we know the targeted people to look for...
INGRAHAM: And we do know where to look, that's what...
(CROSSTALK)
ZOGBY: And the fact is that the FBI already, and CIA already had information. They didn't talk to each other to put it together to solve this thing in the time...
INGRAHAM: Well, the point is to look forward with new measures -- not fail-safe measures. They're not going to be perfect. But this is an important screen that we have to set up to stop this from happening again.
ZOGBY: But Laura, they're not going to work. They're not going to work.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Jim, a lot of the supporters of this latest initiative by the attorney general point out that the regulations don't involve American citizens.
ZOGBY: Of course. Right.
BLITZER: These are foreigners who want to come into the United States either as tourists or as immigrants. Why not let the U.S. government track them, get their fingerprints, get their registration to see where they're going...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: ... to make sure they're living up to the obligations that they're supposed to live up to?
ZOGBY: Because the FBI doesn't want, need, or know what to do with all this information it's going to be getting in. The fact is that, as the attorney general described it, you would think that he's watching "24" or "Alias" or something like "Enemy of the State." Our system doesn't work that way.
These guys have hard copy files. These guys don't know what to do with the information they're getting. The fact is that different offices in the FBI have information, they don't talk to each other right now. If you overload that process with a discriminatory practice that will target a whole lot of...
INGRAHAM: James, how is it discriminatory when Swedes and Irish people, people from all over the world who come here at our pleasure -- it's not their right to travel to the United States, we extend that privilege to them. We allow them to come into the United States. They're here at our pleasure.
ZOGBY: We also welcome them because it's a major source of revenue that we need. As do our...
INGRAHAM: Absolutely. But, you know, you keep saying the FBI doesn't want to do this. I'd like to hear what Bob Mueller thinks about this. I have a feeling that Bob Mueller and the top tier of the FBI doesn't want any more embarrassments on their hands. And they're going to have a major one if we have a major attack, someone who comes into this country who we know shouldn't be here.
ZOGBY: Laura, look...
BLITZER: This is going to be the last word. Go ahead.
ZOGBY: I've spoken with FBI officials and State Department officials; they tell me it's a nightmare. They tell me this is not going to fix a broken system.
BLITZER: It's not a surprising development that officials in Washington speak with -- you know, there are different views even within the executive branch of the U.S. government.
Jim Zogby, as usual...
ZOGBY: Thank you.
INGRAHAM: Thanks Wolf.
BLITZER: ... Laura Ingraham, thanks for that excellent debate.
And here is your chance to weigh in on this important story. Our Web question of the day is this: Should the U.S. government fingerprint and photograph visitors from countries that the State Department considers sponsors of terrorism? 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 the program. Also, that's where you can read my daily online column -- cnn.com/wolf.
His job is an occupational hazard, yet this driver survived a brutal attack on his bus. And there's more surprising parts to his story. You'll learn about it next.
Also in this hour: A mystery may -- repeat, may -- be solved. We'll take you live to California, where the public is waiting to hear what happened to a boy found dead in a swimming pool.
And we've all heard his music on the radio. Now hear the news that's rocking the music industry. Why a Grammy award-winning superstar is facing child pornography charges. Stay with us.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, I'm Miles O'Brien live at the Kennedy Space Center. Three minutes and 53 seconds on the countdown clock. The weather has taken an turn for the better here at the Kennedy Space Center; and that is some news. We're going to see a shuttle launch very shortly, we hope, after a brief break and then WOLF BLITZER REPORTS returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: After a number of delays, NASA is sending the space shuttle Endeavour on a mission to the International Space Station.
Let's go to Miles O'Brien. He's on the scene for details -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Wolf, T-minus 36 seconds, the space shuttle Endeavour on her 18th voyage, the 110th shuttle mission in the program history. They're carrying some special cargo, specifically a relief crew for the crew that's been on the International Space Station for more than six months. They will set a U.S. space endurance record by the time they return home.
Let's listen in to the countdown. Bruce Buckingham of NASA followed by Rob Navias in Houston.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ten, nine, eight, seven -- we have a go for main engine start -- five, four, three, two, one, zero. We have booster ignition and liftoff of the space shuttle Endeavour, extending our reach while expanding our research in space.
ROB NAVIAS, NASA: Houston now controlling the flight of Endeavour. Three new residents headed for the International Space Station. Endeavour completing its roll, 51.6 degrees and climbing to the equator. The shuttle heads down, wings level, for the eight-and- a-half minute ride to orbit. Thirty-seven seconds into the flight, three liquid fuel main engines now throttling back in a three-step fashion to 72 percent of rate of performance. That will reduce the stress on the shuttle as it breaks through the sound barrier.
NAVIAS: Endeavour, Houston, go at throttle-up.
COMMANDER KEN COCKRELL, ENDEAVOUR: Go at throttle-up.
NAVIAS: Throttle-up call acknowledged by Commander Ken Cockrell aboard Endeavour. He's joined on the flight deck by Pilot Paul Lockhart, Flight Engineer Franklin Chang-Diaz, and Mission Specialist Philippe Perrin. The new Expedition Five crew, Commander Valeri Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev seated down on the mid-deck.
Endeavour already 11-and-a-half miles in altitude, eight miles down range from the Kennedy Space Center. Three good main engines, three good fuel cells, three good auxiliary power units.
O'BRIEN: The voice of Rob Navias, Houston, NASA public affairs office, as Endeavour continues its flight uphill, as they say. One minute and 37 seconds into the flight. The shuttle being flown mostly on the weight of its solid rocket boosters, those twin boosters which do about 80 percent of the work of getting a space shuttle to space.
Eight-and-a-half minutes after it leaves the tower here, about seven minutes from now, they will be in space. They're right now going through the find stages of that solid rocket booster flight. As you watch that flare out there, nothing to worry about there. That is designed that way. That's how the fuel is loaded.
In just a few moments explosive bolts and rockets will fire. There you see those rocket boosters coming down. Parachutes will come out of the nose cone of those solid rocket boosters. They will drop into the Atlantic Ocean. They will be picked up by ships. They'll be brought back, reprocesses, restocked and put on another shuttle mission on a date to come.
Meanwhile, the space shuttle Endeavour is through the most critical phase of its ascent -- it's not that anything is less than critical at this time for a space shuttle. Flying on its three main engines on its way to orbit, and the 14th mission to the International Space Station.
An important one for the crew of the space station, having spent a lot more time up there than they expected, more than six months. By the time they land they will have exceeded the record set by Shannon Lucid aboard the space station Mir in 1996: 188 days. They will exceed that by at least six days. Carl Walz, Dan Bursch, the U.S. members of that team, no doubt would probably rather be home nonetheless, but probably will accept their place in the record books.
This mission due to the last 12 days; three challenging spacewalks. We will be watching it every step of the way as they try to, among other things, repair a $1 billion robotic arm on the space station that has a bulky wrist joint.
Also a record-matching flight for Costa an native, now U.S. citizen and NASA astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz. His seventh launch here from the Kennedy Space Center.
Space shuttle Endeavour now three minutes and 30 seconds into its flight. We at CNN will be watching it all the way -- Wolf.
BLITZER: I believe we will. Miles O'Brien, nobody does that reporting better than you do. Thanks so much for joining us.
In other news, in northern Israel, a Palestinian suicide bomber, in a car packed with explosives, pulled alongside a crowded passenger bus and set off a huge blast that killed 17 Israelis and wounded dozens more.
Let's go live to CNN's Jim Bittermann; he's in Jerusalem -- Jim.
JIM BITTERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Israeli tanks are still in the West Bank town of Jenin, the home of that suicide bomber, tonight after what was the deadliest attack since the Israeli offensive into the West Bank ended last month.
Seventeen Israelis were killed, as you mentioned; more than three dozen injured when the suicide bomber pulled his car alongside the bus and detonated the blast. Rescue workers said they were particularly struck by the intensity of the bomb, and also the fire which followed it.
According to reports, 13 of the 17 onboard the bus -- or 17 that were killed onboard the bus -- were Israeli soldiers. The attack came on the 35th anniversary of the outbreak of the Six Day War, the war in which Israel first occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A small but deadly group called Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.
Palestinian security officials, clearly worried about the possibility of retaliation by the Israelis, said that they would try and do their best to pick up and arrest those responsible for the blast this morning.
Prime Minister Sharon -- Ariel Sharon of Israel said he will delay his trip to Washington by one day, but he's still planning to meet with President George Bush as planned on Monday morning -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jim Bittermann in Jerusalem, thank you very much.
And the scene of that suicide bombing was, indeed, horrific, the casualty count even more so. But for the bus driver, it's another chapter in an incredible story of survival.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): According to Israeli police, the blast threw the entire bus into a somersault across the roadway and into a ditch.
MICKEY HAREL, BUS DRIVER (through translator): I heard only the explosion, then I lost control of the bus. That's how I felt that I was rolling over. Yes, the bus turned over.
BLITZER: The bus driver Mickey Harel survived with minor injuries.
HAREL (through translator): They did it right near the roadblock. I could see the explosion happening, but I did feel -- I don't know how to say it -- like I was inside an attack.
BLITZER: As police and rescue workers sifted through the twisted metal and body parts, Harel was left to ponder his fate.
He'd started this day, like most others, driving the route from Tel Aviv to the city of Tiberius, picking up mostly soldiers on their way to bases in northern Israel. When the day ended, he'd reportedly survived his fourth attack in seven months.
QUESTION: What are your thoughts right now? I can imagine it's very difficult for you.
HAREL (through translator): How am I? This life, it's very hard.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Mr. Harel is either the unluckiest or luckiest individual in the world, depending on the way you look at it.
The Israeli military, meanwhile, is warning that Palestinian militants have been seeking to carry out a so-called mega-attack, one that would produce scores of casualties. Officials say attackers who planned the Passover bombing at a Netanya hotel in March -- an attack which killed 29 Israelis -- intended to disperse deadly cyanide gas, but the device failed.
Joining me now, Dr. Sue Bailey, former assistant secretary of defense, whose job it was to worry precisely about these kinds of attacks.
How serious would a cyanide attack potentially be?
DR. SUE BAILEY, FMR. ASST. DEFENSE SECY. FOR HEALTH AFFAIRS: Cyanide is a deadly chemical agent. In fact, it can cause respiratory and cardiac arrest. It's very deadly, and a real concern.
But, you know, it's not unusual for them to be thinking along these lines. The CDC has cyanide listed as one of the chemical agents to be concerned about in emergency preparedness.
BLITZER: We have some graphics we put up on the screen. Short- term effects in a cyanide attack -- rapid breathing, tremors, other neurological effects. But take a look at the long-term effects -- weight loss, thyroid effects, nerve damage. Does it get worse -- death?
BAILEY: Absolutely. It certainly can kill. It's going to cause initially choking and some respiratory distress. It depends on how much cyanide there is and if it's in a closed space or not. But that's the concern. Are they becoming more imaginative about the ways in which they're terrorizing us? And if so, what can we do to be prepared?
BLITZER: Well, what -- you know, God forbid it happens over there or spreads over here. What can we do to be prepared for that?
BAILEY: Well, physicians and health care workers really want to know exactly that. For one thing, we've got to have training that tells them to notice what it is that they're going to need to treat. Secondly, we've got to have the medications on hand, and we really don't, at this point. Specifically, there are antidotes for cyanide, for instance, that would not be in your average city, probably not even in New York or Washington, D.C., such as sodium nitrite, sodium phiosulfate (ph), antidotes that are really going to make a difference if there were an attack with cyanide.
BLITZER: And some terrorists, though, have used this in the past, and so there is a certain track record of using this -- this deadly device.
BAILEY: Absolutely. It's imaginative on their part, frighteningly so, dastardly so. But it is not something that's foreign to our thinking. We have a list of the chemical agents, the nerve agents, the biologic pathogens. This is on the list, and we've got to get prepared.
BLITZER: And so -- but as far as you can tell right now, have people -- I assume the people in Israel are ready for this. They usually get ready for this kind of stuff in advance. But what about here in the United States? How prepared are we?
BAILEY: Well, for instance, in Israel, there is no hospital that does not have a decontamination site. We here often do not have decon availability. We can't take down our hospitals treating people, so we've got to be prepared in that way and a variety of other ways, as well.
BLITZER: Dr. Sue Bailey, thank you very much, as usual.
And we're still awaiting word on a pool mystery, a swimming pool mystery. Frank Buckley is standing by in California.
Frank?
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we're talking about the mystery of the 7-year-old boy who disappeared while at a birthday party at this exclusive Homby (ph) Hills home. He was found two days later in this pool, where the party was being held, found two days later after a massive search in this area. Was he in the pool all along?
Shortly a news conference from the police and the coroner's office with the results of an autopsy. We will go to that news conference live. We will also have live reaction from the owner of this home and the host of the party.
Wolf?
BLITZER: Thank you very much, Frank. We'll be back to you, of course.
Also ahead: looking for terror on the road. There are new recruits looking out on your behalf. And the speech that nearly stung the Harvard campus. Hear from the student who wrote it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We're standing by for that news conference in Los Angeles from the Los Angeles Police Department and the coroner's office on the results of an autopsy that was conducted on that little boy whose body was found in a swimming pool. When that happens, we'll be bringing that to you live.
But let's in the meantime check some other top stories. President Bush is urging the leaders of India and Pakistan to back away from the brink of war. The White House says that in separate phone calls to each of the leaders today, the president Bush stressed the need for diplomacy. The two nuclear foes have massed a million troops along their border in the disputed area of Kashmir.
An anti-abortion activist is back in the United States today to face a murder charge. James Kopp (ph) was captured in France, which extradited him after receiving assurances he will not face the death penalty. A short while ago, he pleaded not guilty to federal charges. He's accused of the 1998 slaying of Dr. Barnett (ph) Slepian, an obstetrician who performed abortions in the Buffalo, New York, area.
A plane on its way from Mexico to Italy was diverted to Boston today after an unruly passenger had to be restrained by the crew and tied to his seat. Authorities say the man, who appeared to be drunk, spit on the wall and slightly injured the passenger next to him. He was turned over to the FBI and is due in federal court.
In the wake of September 11th terrorism attacks, terrorism experts worry that trucks could be used to deliver the next terror attack to America's doorstep, prompting the American Trucking Association to put all of its drivers on alert. Our Patty Davis went out with one driver and has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): FedEx driver Jenny Zinkle is on the lookout for terrorists on the nation's roads.
JENNY ZINKLE, FEDERAL EXPRESS DRIVER: It's a possibility that a truck is going to become the target of a hijacker, become the next means of a terrorist attack.
DAVIS: Zinkle is one of three million drivers of big tractor- trailers being trained by the American Trucking Association to report suspicious activity.
RICK BROWN, TOTAL SECURITY SERVICE, INTERNATIONAL: They just want to kill Americans. They want to kill as many as they can.
JEFF BEATTY, AMERICAN TRUCKING ASSOCIATION: Our B-52s can deliver, you know, precision munitions of 2,000 pounds. Well, you know, trucks can do that, too, and they're not nearly as sophisticated. It's knowing that and being dedicated to making sure that no truck be used as a weapon. That's our goal.
DAVIS: In late May, the Transportation Department warned that trucks hauling oil and gasoline could be targeted by terrorists.
(on camera): That follows another warning by government investigators that there aren't enough safeguards in place to prevent terrorists from getting commercial truck driver licenses.
(voice-over): Zinkle is also worried about hijackings. Last month, a truck carrying deadly sodium cyanide was hijacked in Mexico, raising alarm. The truck and its cargo were later recovered.
ZINKLE: And I pick up real quickly when somebody's following me and they've been behind me for too long. That's suspicious activity, and that I would report immediately to the police.
DAVIS: As she heads into Baltimore's Harbor Tunnel, Zinkle remains alert.
ZINKLE: A terrorist could put a bomb in a vehicle, leave it on the side of the road, set it for a certain time. It explodes. You've got the cars inside of the tunnel.
DAVIS: Even these two trucks parked on the side of the road raise alarm.
ZINKLE: That's suspicious, also.
DAVIS: With more than 20 million trucks on U.S. roads every day, truck drivers say the U.s. Economy depends on their efforts to stop terrorists in their tracks.
ZINKLE: My goal is to prevent another tragedy, another September 11th. I don't want to see it anymore.
DAVIS: Patty Davis, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: We often think of slavery as something from the past, but a new government report says large numbers of humans still are bought and sold, and some of them still end up here in the United States. CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel has the details.
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ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's 19 now, but Rose was only 13 when she was lured to the United States from the West African country of Cameroon with the promise of a job. Work as a maid, said her perspective employers, a couple also from Cameroon, and you'll get money and an education.
ROSE: I was just home taking care of their kids and cleaning the house. And she's hitting me.
KOPPEL: And she was never paid. Instead Rose, who asked us not to show her face, was enslaved, sexually abused and beaten for almost four years.
ROSE: And she hit me. That hurts. And she put fingers on my eyes and...
KOPPEL (on camera): She poked you in the eyes?
ROSE: Uh-huh. And had Windex sprayed in my face. So that really hurt.
KOPPEL (voice-over): Every year, the U.S. estimates, at least 700,000 and perhaps as many as 4 million men, women and children are bought and sold around the world. An estimated 50,000 women and children end up in the United States.
On Wednesday, the State Department unveiled its second annual Trafficking in Persons report, profiling 89 countries with the worst records. Among them, Saudi Arabia, Cambodia and Iran.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Traffickers often force them into pornography and prostitution, subjecting them to terrible mental and physical abuse and putting them at risk from devastating diseases, such as HIV/AIDS.
KOPPEL: Many of them just children, like Rose.
ROSE: It was like being in jail and not seeing the sunlight.
KOPPEL: Now Rose is free. Local attorneys convinced her to take her former employers to court, where they were convicted of trafficking and sentenced to nine years in prison. As for Rose...
ROSE: Now I'm in college, and I'm trying to figure out what I want to be in life.
KOPPEL: The days, Rose supports herself selling shoes in a shopping mall and takes small comfort in knowing that she is one of the lucky victims who managed to escape.
Andrea Koppel, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Is there a place for jihad at Harvard? The graduation speech that has students up in arms. Plus, sexual predator or victim of circumstance? A Grammy Award-winning superstar busted on 21 counts of child pornography. The latest on the indictment of R. Kelly still to come.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We've just been informed that representatives from the Los Angeles Police Department and the coroner's office are now informing the family of little Paolo Ayala the results of the autopsy that was conducted on him. His body was found in that swimming pool in Los Angeles. They should be coming out to the microphones shortly, informing the rest of us. Once they do, we'll be going back to Los Angeles for that.
In the meantime, other stories. Fireworks over commencement speeches don't usually start until the speech is actually given, but a controversy has erupted over a Harvard student's intent to set the record straight on a word he says has been misused.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): One of America's top universities has become polarized over the use of one word, but in the post-September 11 dynamic, the word "jihad" is a verbal lightning rod. Today no one has a better sense of that than Zayed Yasin.
ZAYED YASIN, HARVARD STUDENT: "Jihad" is a very powerful word. It's much more powerful than we had even anticipated.
BLITZER: Yasin, a bioengineering major, is one of three graduates slated to give commencement speeches Thursday at Harvard. But after a campus-wide battle over the original title of his speech, "My American Jihad," he's agreed to drop that title. Many students were angry that he'd chosen a term which has been used by Islamic fundamentalists as an inspiration for holy war. One student group told "The Boston Globe," quote, "This talk has the potential to be religiously and spiritually divisive."
But Yasin says the whole point of the speech is to condemn those who have abused the word "jihad."
YASIN: ...the unity between American and Islamic values, the idea that there is no contradiction between being Muslim and being American, that the values that we share are universal values, as well as trying to reclaim the word from the way it's been misappropriated.
BLITZER: And he condemns the attacks of September 11th. But Yasin is also defending himself over accusations that Harvard Islamic Society, which he once headed, had ties to a group called the Holy Land Foundation. That's a charity which had its funding cut off by the U.S. government over suspected ties to the Muslim militant group Hamas, branded by the State Department as a terrorist organization.
YASIN: This is a horrible misinterpretation. It's kind of misinterpretations of falsehoods. First, I never -- at one point in time, I was part of a group that considered giving money to the Holy Land Foundation, but for variety of different reasons, we decided never to give them any money.
BLITZER: As for Yasin's speech, the word "jihad" will be taken out of the title and the commencement programs, but the content will not change and the word "jihad" will be used during the speech.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
And as far as his future is concerned, he plans to take next year off and volunteer in northern Pakistan as a humanitarian aid worker.
An Air Force colonel is off the job after shooting off a letter critical of President Bush. Lieutenant Colonel Steve Butler's letter to a California newspaper slammed the president, accusing him of letting the September 11th attacks take place to boost his presidency. Butler's been suspended pending an investigation. Military law prohibits officers from bad-mouthing high-ranking civilian officials. A teenage girl kidnapped from her room as her sister watched helplessly. The search for a man on the run. Plus, he's worked with Michael Jackson and Celine Dion. Now R. Kelly's in big trouble for a sex tape he allegedly made himself. Reaction from the Grammy Award winner when we come back.
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BLITZER: Top-selling R&B singer R. Kelly was indicted on child pornography charges today. Kelly is best known for the song "I Can Fly" from the movie "Space Jam." Or Chicago bureau chief, Jeff Flock, is following the story. He's got some new developments.
Jeff?
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Wolf. We have just learned this from a spokesman for R. Kelly, that the R&B singer indicted today on 21 counts of child pornography has apparently just been taken into custody in Florida by local police. All we know is it's somewhere in Polk County. Kelly was said to be planning to drive back from Florida to Chicago to appear here sometime tomorrow and surrender himself to local police. But Chicago police said that if he was found, he would be arrested anywhere he was found. And apparently, that's what took place, again, in Polk County, Florida, R&B singer R. Kelly apparently now in local police custody.
Now, the Chicago police superintendent earlier today said they would treat him just like they would anyone else.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERRY HILLARD, CHICAGO POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: Criminal conduct, no matter who's involved, cannot and will not be tolerated here in the city of Chicago. The fact that he is a celebrity is of no importance to us. The fact that children and communities have been harmed as a result of his actions is very and extremely important to us. Decency and the law demand this indictment today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLOCK: To run down now the counts again, 21 counts -- 7 counts of enticing a minor to appear in child pornography, 7 counts of videotaping and 7 counts of providing that videotape. Now, as for Mr. Kelly's defense, he's hired one of Chicago most high-profile defense attorneys. His name is Ed Genson. We talked to him just a short time ago, and he said -- while not saying whether or not it was not R. Kelly on the videotape in question, he did say that the -- it's very simple, that they will not be able to -- that is, the Cook County state's attorney will not be able to prove that the girl on the tape was under 18.
Ed Genson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED GENSON, R. KELLY'S ATTORNEY: Simply put, the girl that they claim that is on that tape, it's my understanding, has gone in front of the grand jury and denied it's her. They do not have any evidence of any proof at all that R. Kelly is on that tape with anyone under the age of 18.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLOCK: And now Kelly, in his own words, in statement released before he was taken into custody -- "Even though I don't believe any of these charges are warranted," he says, "I am grateful that I'll have a chance to establish the truth about me in a court of law. I've got complete faith in our system of justice, and I'm confident that when all the facts come out, people will see that I'm no criminal."
No word from R. Kelly since apparently he was taken into custody in Polk County, Florida, not too long ago. How soon he would come back to Chicago to face the charges we don't know.
That's the latest from here, Wolf. Back to you.
BLITZER: Jeff Flock, before I let you go, some of our viewers may not be familiar with R. Kelly. Give them very briefly a sense how huge of a pop star and R&B star is he?
FLOCK: Chicago-based, the song that perhaps everybody knows, "I Believe I Can Fly," was the soundtrack on that Michael Jordan "Space Jam" movie, very, very popular, sold a million copies of his first album, five million of his second album, had an annulled marriage with the singer Aliyah (ph), apparently when she was underage, as well, multi-Grammy Award-winning. He's big.
BLITZER: Jeff Flock, thanks very much for that report.
And it's every parent's nightmare. Police are reporting an unusually bold child abduction in an up-scale neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah. They say 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her bedroom as her 9-year-old sister watched and their parents slept elsewhere in the house. Police said the kidnapper carried a handgun. They say that because of a threat from the gunman, the sister waited several hours to alert her parents. The kidnapper is described as a white male, five foot, eight inches tall, wearing a white shirt and a white cap, possibly a baseball cap.
Officials say an autopsy has determined how a 7-year-old boy died. The child was found on the bottom of a swimming pool after being missing since Sunday. Once again, let's go to our national correspondent, Frank Buckley. He's in Los Angeles. We're still awaiting that news conference. Frank, what's going on?
BUCKLEY: Well, Wolf, just a few moments ago, the officials came to the podium to announce to the reporters that they were not going to hold the news conference exactly at the time that they said they would, 2:30 local time, 5:30 Pacific -- or 5:30 Eastern. They said that they wanted to make sure that the next of kin, all the next of kin, were notified first, before they released the results of that autopsy to the media. But the question is, was this 7-year-old boy, Paolo Ayala, in this pool since Sunday afternoon? There was a massive search that was conducted in this neighborhood. It seemed incredible to think that somehow the body could have been here all along. Police, in fact, came out yesterday to say, "Look, there's no way that that body was in there while we were all there," that this was a command post. That body must have been placed there. Then later in the day, they came out and said, "Well, now we're keeping our options open. It's possible that the child's body was there all along."
I want to bring in here Saeed Farkhondehpour. You are the owner of this home. You were the host of the birthday party where the boy disappeared. You know, as we look into the pool right now, it's very clear. We can see all the way to the bottom of the pool, and it's clear that if anyone was in there, we would see them. You were telling me earlier that, in fact, you couldn't see the bottom of the pool at the conclusion of that party.
SAEED FARKHONDEHPOUR, POOL OWNER: That's right. At the time on Sunday when we were walking around the pool with the police officers, I personally was under the impression that we could see it, even though the drain in the pool was not obvious. You couldn't see the drain. But we thought we could see the bottom. But obviously, we were not able to.
BUCKLEY: And your two children were walking with you and kept trying to say, "Dad, you can't see the bottom."
FARKHONDEHPOUR: That's right. We were standing right about here. Two of my children, they were saying, "Dad, you cannot see the bottom of the pool." They were -- they repeated the same statement, like, three, four times, all along with the officer right next to me. But since we thought we could see it, we just sort of, like, ignored them.
BUCKLEY: And so for people who may think there's no way -- - and in fact, police said this initially -- there's no way that body could have been here all along, you're saying, "Yes, it could have been."
FARKHONDEHPOUR: I'm almost positive that the body was here the whole time. You just couldn't see it. And as we discussed earlier, the pool man said that when he came on Monday morning to clean the pool, the water was very murky. He could not see more than three steps of the ladder, which is about three feet. So he didn't even bother to clean the bottom of the pool. He just added the chemicals and left. And I guess the police, once they heard that, you know, they looked at it different.
BUCKLEY: How was the body actually found? It was yesterday morning, we know. But what -- what happened?
FARKHONDEHPOUR: That's right. I was up in my bedroom about 8:15 in the morning. I heard one loud scream, and then a few seconds later, another loud scream. I thought something had happened to my kids. I got up to come see what had happened. At the same time, my housekeeper ran upstairs. He was frantic. He said, "Sir, the little boy's body is in the pool." And I totally freaked out. I was, like, "Oh, no, no, no!" And right away, I got on the phone, called 911, and they connected me with the fire department. And I told them what had happened.
BUCKLEY: You hosted this party. There were many children here, many adults here, as well. You were telling me earlier that there were many adults around this pool at the time of the party. How could this have happened, if, in fact, the boy was in the pool?
FARKHONDEHPOUR: That's the part I don't understand, how he could have just went down without trying to make noise or come up for air. That part I don't understand what happened.
BUCKLEY: You -- I know you told parents they could come if they wanted to. Others dropped off their children. You actually have -- your wife, you were telling me, went over to visit with Paolo's parents, is that right?
FARKHONDEHPOUR: Me and my wife last night, I believe it was around 9:00 o'clock we went and visited with them.
BUCKLEY: Can you let us in on what -- what happened or what you could tell them to try to comfort them?
FARKHONDEHPOUR: Sure. There was a lot of people over there. They were inside their bedroom. We went in. We hugged. We -- there was not much talking, but I asked them if they had any questions. I assured them that it was an accident, as far as I was concerned. And tomorrow, you know, we'll all know for sure, once the results of the autopsy come out.
BUCKLEY: Many of us attend parties. Our children attend parties where we drop off or that sort of thing. Do you in any way feel -- I know you feel badly about what happened, but is "responsible" the wrong word to say?
FARKHONDEHPOUR: Well, in hindsight, it's different story. But at the time, you know, we thought it's going to be a fun occasion. Everybody's going to be here having a good time.
BUCKLEY: Saeed Farkhondehpour, thank you so much for sharing this time with us and letting us see for the first time really into the pool here in Homby Hills.
Wolf?
BLITZER: Frank, stand by. We're expecting the representatives from the LAPD, as well as the coroner's office, to emerge, come to the microphones, tell us -- tell everyone what they've already informed the family of, the autopsy results. Our viewers are seeing a live picture now of the microphone. They should be coming out momentarily. We're told that it should be any second now.
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