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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Edmunds Captured in West Virginia; Vegas Mayor Says "No Credible Threat" of Terror Attack; Britney Spears Tops Celebs Power List
Aired June 21, 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, HOST: Now on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, a man wanted for questioning in the case of missing teenager Elizabeth Smart has been located. Is this the break police have been looking for? It comes just as a devastated father appeals to his daughter's kidnapper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED SMART, FATHER OF KIDNAPPED GIRL: I'm asking and I'm pleading with whoever has her that I would do anything to have her back in my arms.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: We'll speak to a relative of Elizabeth Smart.
An FBI warning -- fuel trucks may be the next weapon of choice for terrorists. A terrorist threat plucked out of the air? Investigators track a suspicious cell phone call about a potential 4th of July plot to attack Las Vegas.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are investigating that threat.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
BLITZER: The stuff of science fiction? Think again. You won't believe how close a huge asteroid came to earth.
It's Friday, June 21st, 2002. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
Authorities in West Virginia have taken Bret Michael Edmunds in custody. He's the man wanted for questioning in connection with the abduction of 14-year old Elizabeth Smart.
CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us now from Salt Lake City for the latest on this investigation. Ed, what's going on right now?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, what's going on right now is that the FBI and police here in Salt Lake City are preparing to send a detective and an FBI agent to West Virginia so that they can question Bret Michael Edmunds and that is because they are the ones that have most of the information. They want to give it to the people who have been directly working on this case directly to Bret Michael Edmunds. Now what happened was that at 5:15 a.m. Thursday morning Bret Michael Edmunds checked himself into a hospital in West Virginia after a drug overdose. He checked himself under the name of Todd Richards.
Now apparently we understand he gave his mother's home phone number here in Utah. And that began kind of the circle and the twisting here as all the evidence came out that Todd Richards wasn't indeed his name, that it was actually Bret Michael Edmunds and from there the U.S. Marshals Office got involved and that's how they got a hold of -- custody of him. Now he's been in -- he's in ICU. We understand he's in serious condition. There were several other patients who were in the Intensive Care Unit there at that hospital.
They've been taken out of the room, we understand and that the IC Unit is now under lockdown as they prepare to question him. Police are on their way there. An FBI agent is on the way as well. Police say that they have a lot of questions to ask Bret Michael Edmunds.
Chiefly among them is if he knows anything, to see if he's directly connected to the abduction of Elizabeth Smart. But until now they continue to say he is not a suspect in this case, but they do want to question him vigorously.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF RICK DINSE, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE: Mr. Edmunds has been somebody we want to talk to. He was seen in the area sometime around the time of the incident, or at least the vehicle, a vehicle similar to what he had been driving and we know he had been since his - April, at least April, had been on the run and had been in the avenues area. So he was somebody we wanted to talk to. I mean I use the example, he's a question mark and we want to put a period on that question mark.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Now police and family members say that Bret Michael Edmunds' behavior before and after the abduction of Elizabeth Smart had always been suspicious. He's considered a drifter. One law enforcement official calls him a doper. He had had several run-ins with the law on April 20th of this year, on May 2 of this year.
He was wanted for several incidents here, at one point even held a high-speed chase with police after they had found him outside of Salt Lake City, Utah and we understand that during (ph) after he'd been pulled over he was driving in his Saturn with stolen license plates. The police pulled him over and reached between his legs and tried to spray the officer with pepper spray - pepper spray, excuse me -- and then that ensued into a high-speed chase at the time. So that this was a person that police wanted to get into custody before June 5th, the day Elizabeth Smart was abducted and now they consider him a federal fugitive and those charges will also be pursued against him as well -- Wolf. BLITZER: Ed, explain to me and to my viewers why they think this is such an important potential break in the case in the sense that they have a description of a suspect who doesn't fit anything along the lines of Bret Michael Edmunds. Do they believe that perhaps there's some connection between him and the actual suspect they're looking for?
LAVANDERA: Well, what happens is that they have reason to believe that he was in the area the night -- June 5 -- the night of June 5th when Elizabeth Smart was abducted. So because of that alone they want to question him as well. And there are also a lot of - the week of - excuse me - that he was found in the area where Elizabeth Smart lives and because of that they want to question him. Now they also want to question him because there are several other theories that the police have and they haven't specified as exactly to what all those theories might be, but those are some of the reasons why that they want to speak to him directly.
BLITZER: Ed Lavandera on the scene for us. Once again, thank you very much. U.S. marshals were instrumental in tracking down Bret Michael Edmunds in West Virginia. Geoff Shank is a senior inspector with the U.S. Marshal's Office. He joins me now live to tell us how you did it. How did you and your colleagues at the U.S. Marshal's Service do it?
GEOFF SHANK, U.S. MARSHALS OFFICE: A lot of hard work. The Salt Lake City Police Department contacted us early yesterday and requested our assistance in finding Mr. Edmunds. That's what we do. We hunt down fugitives or people that are wanted for questioning.
BLITZER: Was it this late in the game? They just asked only yesterday?
SHANK: Yes, sir.
BLITZER: Why was it so late? Why did it take so long?
SHANK: That's beyond my scope at this time as to why they waited until yesterday.
BLITZER: All right, so walk us through step-by-step what you did once you got that request.
SHANK: Our office in Salt Lake City was contacted for assistance and then they contacted me. I work at our headquarters division. We elevated the case to major case status, that way we could put funding and additional deputy marshals onto the case. The deputies worked diligently, interviewing all sorts of people, following down hundreds of leads in the Salt Lake City area that spanned across the United States. Then earlier today we received a phone call from a source who said that perhaps Mr. Edmunds had checked into a hospital in the Martinsburg, West Virginia area.
BLITZER: We have a live picture of that hospital we're seeing thanks to our affiliate WTTG. But go ahead, Geoff, and tell -- pick up the story. SHANK: At this point we contacted deputy U.S. marshals in Martinsburg. They proceeded to go out to the hospital area and canvass the parking lot and located what we believed to be the dark green Saturn vehicle that he was driving around in. At that point they backtracked through the admissions office there utilizing some of the information that we knew was correct, that we thought that he had used when he checked in and they were able to ascertain what room the suspected individual was in. We proceeded to that room, did a photo identification. At that point we were quite certain that we had Mr. Edmunds in our custody.
BLITZER: And he's in pretty bad shape right now, isn't he?
SHANK: From what I understand. I, by no means have any medical information. We strictly were to find Mr. Edmunds. At that point we secured him and then we contacted the Salt Lake City Police Department to let them know. hey, we've got the guy you want to talk to.
BLITZER: Is he still in your custody right now?
SHANK: The last that I knew he was in the United States Marshal's custody, yes.
BLITZER: OK. Geoff Shank, good work. I know that most of these discoveries, most of these apprehensions are done by the U.S. Marshal Service. Thanks for joining us.
SHANK: Thank you very much.
BLITZER: Thank you very much.
And despite today's break, Elizabeth Smart's family still doesn't know where she is, or even if she's alive. They've seen the trail turn cold after hot tips, more than once and in the past two and a half weeks they've been growing disappointed. But today Elizabeth's father begged for his daughter's safe return.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SMART: I'm asking and I'm pleading with whoever has her that I would do anything to Have her back in my arms And please realize how much she's missed. she's missed Tremendously.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Joining us from Salt Lake city is Cynthia Smart Owens, Elizabeth's aunt. How's the family, Cynthia, reacting to this potential break in this case?
CYNTHIA SMART OWENS, ELIZABETH'S AUNT: Well, we're grateful that people are keeping their eyes out and that we're making some progress in meeting the goals that the police have set out. I heard recently your conversation about why is Bret Michael Edmunds a suspect or wanted in any way, and he was also seen at the vigil for her and profilers have said that probably this individual who's taken her would want to be involved and to observe some of the activities. So I think that's another reason that they were interested in pursuing him. But we're just grateful that when they felt that he might be useful in giving some information that they've been able to find him. We have a lot of confidence in the law enforcement agencies and we're just happy to be making, you know, be able to check off one more box that, you know, this has been looked into.
We realize that there are many leads that they are following and we're very encouraged actually, even though we're, you know, over two weeks into it, that there are significant leads that they're following that will lead to Elizabeth.
BLITZER: Well tell us ...
OWENS: We would also like to just ...
BLITZER: ... tell us -- Cynthia, tell us why you are encouraged, because it's been now more than two weeks. Give us -- give us a little sense of that encouragement.
OWENS: Well, people all over are thinking about, you know, possible motives and possible associations and they sometimes contact us and talk to us and we ask the police about it and they pursue it and there are so many things, they've been cooperative, and even in accommodating us as a family and pursuing and we just know they are very actively pursuing several different things.
They've said that and they say they're narrowing the scope and feel like they've already talked to or are going to talk the perpetrator and we just have confidence in them. I know that they are working terribly hard.
BLITZER: We did hear from Ed Smart. He was crying, understandably, earlier today. How are the parents holding up right now?
OWENS: It's a roller-coaster. You know, I think this will be encouraging to them too that Bret Michael Edmunds has been apprehended, but until we have her in our arms, we will not have complete peace. We feel like we've been blessed by God with a lot of peace and that's given us a lot of endurance, but it's a hard road. We love Elizabeth and it's a terrible thing that's happened. So I think today, you know, it's a -- it's a hard time for our family.
But, you know, one thing we'd like to emphasize is that when Bret Michael Edmunds was seen here since the abduction and now is in West Virginia, Elizabeth could be anywhere and we just pray and ask that everybody will keep their eyes open, search their cabins and be on the lookout. We know that she's out there obviously and we need everybody's help to continue to look for her. We are determined. We are prayerful that we will find her.
BLITZER: Cynthia Smart Owens, thank you so much for joining us. Our heart goes out to you and the entire family and of course all of us hope that little Elizabeth will be found very, very soon. Appreciate your joining us and good luck to you and the entire family. Let's move on now to the latest terror alert. Consider this, a fuel truck potentially pulls into a predominantly Jewish neighborhood somewhere in the United States and explodes. It hasn't happened yet, but the FBI is afraid it could, and it's warning police agencies.
CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena is standing by. She has details - Kelli.
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the FBI says that it has uncorroborated information that certain terrorist elements may be interested in using fuel trucks for attacks in the U.S. or against U.S. interests overseas. Now sources say the information came from al Qaeda detainees in Guantanomo Bay Cuba.
They caution the information is vague and its credibility is questionable. Now there were no specific targets mentioned, but intelligence indicates that they could include fuel depots or Jewish schools or synagogues. Now the FBI says it's sending out this information out of an abundance of caution. It has been distributed to law enforcement agencies around the country to encourage them to make contact with the appropriate Jewish community representatives and officials at trucking and fuel delivery facilities.
Again, Wolf, this information is uncorroborated and was distributed out of what the FBI calls an abundance of caution. Back to you.
BLITZER: Now Kelli, before I let you go, very quickly, there seems to be these alerts coming out all the time. Isn't the FBI and the federal government a bit concerned that they're perhaps going to overly panic an already jittery public out there?
ARENA: Wolf, these warnings are not meant for the public. It's information that is being distributed to local law enforcement. There are leaks that are occurring getting this information out to the media, which then in turn gets it out to the public. The attorney general and law enforcement have said all along that people should remain vigilant, that they should be aware of their surroundings but not to be overly concerned because the information is not specific.
It's not corroborated. It is mostly from as we know from al Qaeda detainees that have been being held. They have various reasons for turning over information, some of it not at all true. So this is not meant for public consumption. It just gets out Wolf.
BLITZER: Kelli Arena, thanks for that good reporting. Appreciate it very much. And concerns about possible terrorist attacks appear to be mounting as we approach the 4th of July. A Nevada man says he overheard an Arabic cell phone conversation about a plan to strike Las Vegas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Michael Hamdan's story is simple. The 54-year old Lebanese born American says he was trying to make a call on his cell phone in Las Vegas when he accidentally intercepted another conversation, this one in Arabic, a language he understands. This is what he says he heard the two men saying.
MICHAEL HAMDAN, INTERCEPTED CELL PHONE CALL: We are here in the city of corruption, the city of prostitution and gambling, the city of the unbelievers, and they are talking about freedom. We are going to hit them in the day of freedom.
BLITZER: As he continued to listen, he became increasingly alarmed.
HAMDAN: When they say we are going to hit them in the day of freedom, you know the freedom for us, for all Americans is Independence Day, the 4th of July.
BLITZER: Hamdan says the tone of the conversation was ominous with one man giving instructions and the other just listening.
HAMDAN: He was saying in Arabic (UNINTELLIGIBLE) which is really more affirmative than OK. It means like I understand.
BLITZER: Hamdan notified the FBI of his concerns and was immediately interviewed by agents in Las Vegas. FBI Director Robert Mueller testifying on Capitol Hill was asked about an FBI statement in Las Vegas that the agency was taking the matter seriously.
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: We are investigating that threat, and the statement made by the special agent out there to the extent that it was reflected and what you read is accurate.
BLITZER: Law enforcement authorities in Las Vegas are especially sensitive to these kinds of threats. Several of the 9/11 hijackers were in Las Vegas in the months before the attack. Whatever the exact nature of this most recent potential threat, the American public remains jittery. A new CNN "Time" Magazine poll shows 57 percent of the public believes a 4th of July terror attack is either very or somewhat likely. Thirty-eight percent say it's not likely.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: While the FBI is investigating the possibility of a specific threat to Las Vegas, communities across the country will be staging 4th of July celebrations. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown join us now to discuss security precautions. Mayors, thanks for joining us, and let me speak to Mr. Goodman, Mayor Goodman. First, how worried are you and your community in Las Vegas based on what we've just heard?
MAYOR OSCAR GOODMAN, LAS VEGAS: I'm not worried at all. Of course any lead is going to be pursued and that's what's taking place right now, but I've spoken to the head of the FBI here. I've spoken to our metro officials and they don't believe that there's anything credible which would suggest that anything untoward or unseemly is going to take place on the 4th of July. I'll be out and about, so I guess that says it all.
BLITZER: Mr. Mayor, though, the FBI says they're taking seriously this threat, potentially, that was overheard by this individual in Las Vegas. They're investigating that it does sound sort of ominous, doesn't it, though?
GOODMAN: Well, of course the allegations sound ominous if, in fact, they bear out. But at this point in time I'm advised that there's nothing credible which would suggest that anybody should do anything other than they would ordinarily do, and that is to enjoy the 4th of July here in Las Vegas.
BLITZER: Mayor Brown, there's been a lot of reports that perhaps there's concerns in the Bay Area, Oakland of course being in the bay area, bridges, other landmarks. What's going out -- what's going on in your community?
MAYOR JERRY BROWN, OAKLAND: Well, first of all the bridges are the responsibility of the state, and the governor has taken some steps with the Highway Patrol and for a period of time the National Guard. I think, though, you've got to put this in a context. There are always going to be threats, and without any way of minimizing them, we have to take the appropriate steps -- the police, the fire department, the hazardous material response team.
All of these individuals are under the proper leadership. They study this stuff. There are protocols. They're doing what you would expect of these public servants. At the same time given the titillating and emotional quality of any of these threats and the potential of devastation, suffering, killing, and then the political fallout of all of that because you know there's just some inevitable tendency to exploit this kind of stuff consciously or not, I think the real message has to be one of calm and confidence.
We live with a certain amount of danger all the time. Forty thousand people die from automobiles, 40,000 die from particulate matter that comes out of tailpipes. We're facing a 50 percent probability of a devastating earthquake in northern California, which is expected to kill from five to 10,000 people. So we don't minimize it, but we don't at the same time give it a reality that it doesn't possess.
So I think the key power of terrorism is the psychological debilitation of the American people. And in Oakland and what I can hear from the mayor of Las Vegas, we're not going to go for that and we're going to live with the risk that life entails and we're going to go about our business in a - in a normal confident way.
BLITZER: Mayor Goodman, are you taking special steps in anticipation of the 4th of July in Las Vegas?
GOODMAN: Nothing other than to be alert and aware. You know Mayor Brown said it just the way it is. We can't change the way we live every day here or else the terrorists will have already won the war. We -- we're careful. We're alert. We look around, but Las Vegas is the kind of place you're supposed to have a good time, and we're advised by law enforcement that there's nothing, which would suggest that there is going to be anything other than a good time here.
So it's -- I guess the frightening thing is that the rumor gets out there and that affects our economy and of course that's a very, very unfair -- when people deal on rumors. And I think terrorism is in gender to put fear in the minds of those who hear the various rumors. And until there's something which would suggest that there's any kind of substance to a rumor, I think they have to be disregarded and we do business as usual.
BLITZER: I assume Mayor Brown, you saw those series of stories in the "San Francisco Examiner" about suspicious looking men checking the timing of ferries as they go around the bay area. What does all of that mean, if anything?
BROWN: Well, it can mean something, but then you have the police check in, look into it. You take action. The trouble, though, is warning of heightened alert. That's fine for the police, but as a general condition, it really - it can have a very negative impact. I remember when our own governor said we all have to be on alert when going across the Bay Bridge.
And as I was driving across the Bay Bridge myself, I thought to myself, what would be the state of heightened alert? Would it be to turn off the radio? Would it be to look from the left to the right? So I think we really have to learn to live with the risk of terrorism while encouraging our government to take the steps that are appropriate and decisive, at the same time realizing that the nature -- the way the world is today, we're going to have to live with the risk of terrorism and a lot of other things that are coming down the road, and that's just the way it is in the 21st century.
BLITZER: Mayor Goodman, do you think the government here in Washington, the federal government is going too far in issuing all of these alerts?
GOODMAN: I myself feel that they are going too far. Unless they have a specific that they want to tell the people about, I think just to say that they have information, which is so general, just puts fear in the minds of our public here and that's unfair. Of course if they have a specific location, specific allegation, then of course an alert is appropriate. But to just say we have vague information about a situation, I think there are a lot more serious problems out there to be quite frank with you than this kind of rumor and this type of incident.
We've got real problems as far as the transportation of high- level nuclear waste going across the country that is about to come up for a vote. That's a real serious situation. We're going to be getting these kind of stories about terrorists for time and memorial. That as was indicated, that's going to be a part of our life here. But you get a real problem under homeland security of nuclear waste being transported across the country, that's something you really have to worry about.
BROWN: You know there was one other point I want to make about this so-called war on terrorism. Terrorism is not one group. Terrorism is a technique. It's been used by the Irish, by the Sri Lankans, by the Kashmiris and by certain groups in the Middle East. And the notion that you could declare a war by the executive or the Congress or anyone else and have an end point in two, three, five or ten years is really not accurate. This is ...
BLITZER: Mayor Brown ...
BROWN: ... almost a permanent condition of war. I think the American people ought to be aware of that.
BLITZER: We got to cut you off. Mayor Brown, thanks for joining us. Mayor Goodman ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
BLITZER: ... nice of you to join us as well. Good luck to both of your communities ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
BLITZER: ... on the 4th of July, indeed on every day, appreciate it very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
BLITZER: And here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our Web question of the day is this. Will terror worries make you change your 4th of July plans? Go to my Web page, cnn.com/wolf. While you're there, let me know what you're thinking. 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 my daily on-line column -- cnn.com/wolf.
Violence and more violence in the Middle East. Now, Yasser Arafat says he'll accept the Clinton plan, but is it too late for peace? Reaction from the White House and the region.
Plus, suspected shoe bomber Richard Reid wants his confession thrown out. Did drugs make him spill the beans? Find out what the judge says.
And a near collision in space, a massive asteroid zips past earth.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Four Palestinians were killed today in the West Bank city of Jenin. Israeli forces say they fired in error. For a comprehensive look at today's developments in the Middle East, let's go to Jerusalem. That's where CNN's Christiane Amanpour is standing by - Christiane.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, in response to all the attacks in the recent days, the Israeli prime minister convened a meeting of his security cabinet today and afterwards the cabinet came out with a declaration that they would go in deeper and for longer periods of time into cities and towns under Palestinian control right now in the West Bank. They sort of struck a compromise whereby they didn't use the word reoccupation, but they did say they would go in and stay in for as long as it took to root out what they call the terrorist infrastructure.
Already these troops and armor have started to go in. Now in Itamar, which is a settlement in the West Bank near the town of Nablus, there was a funeral today for five Israeli settlers who had been killed by a Palestinian gunman last night. There was a woman and her three children, plus another unidentified - rather unrelated woman who were buried in Itamar today.
Now, as I said, Israeli troops in armor are already in towns (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in the West Bank. They are in Jenin and they have been there for quite some time now, since early this week. And today soldiers, IDF soldiers say they were conducting a house-to-house search for an explosives lab when, by the IDF's own account, their soldiers started firing on civilians.
It is an incident that left four Palestinians dead, including two children as young as six years old and about two dozen people wounded again, including children. And as Sheila MacVicar reports, this incident has triggered an Israeli army investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For two days the West Bank city of Jenin has been under Israeli military curfew. On Friday morning, residents thought the curfew had been lifted, so they went to the shops and the bakery to try and stock up on supplies. What happened next and why is still not clear. In a moment, with no apparent threat and no apparent provocation, Israeli forces opened fire. Within seconds, people were wounded and terrified. Israeli defense forces have issued a statement saying a tank crew fired two tank shells at a group of Palestinians violating the curfew and that - quote -- "the force erred in its action."
CAPT. JACOB DALAL, IDF SPOKESMAN: According to initial inquiry the force made a mistake in the context of the situation and the matter is under full investigation.
MACVICAR: And while the IDF says its investigation continues, there is no explanation for the repeated bursts of machine gun fire, fire that came from at least one gun mounted on an Israeli tank. At the Jenin hospital, they were dealing with the casualties. More than a dozen wounded and four dead, including three children. One was a six- year old girl who was shot sitting in the front seat of her father's car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): She was in the car, says her father. The tanks came to the market and started shooting us.
MACVICAR: Buying bread this Friday was a deadly errand.
Sheila MacVicar, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: Now, the Palestinian Authority has laid the blame squarely at the foot of the Israeli government, and they say that the Israeli army deliberately shot at these people. They are also asking for international monitors to come and monitor the situation, as Israel steps up its military response there.
Now, on a separate issue, the Palestinian Authority president, Yasser Arafat, in an interview with an Israeli newspaper today, has said that now, more than a year and a half later, he accepts the Clinton principles. These were the Clinton principles for peace that were presented to both the Palestinians and the Israelis shortly before president Clinton left office. At that time, the Palestinians rejected them, and those peace proposals and that plan was then taken off the table.
So now, in advance of a new proposed peace plan to be outlined at some point by the present president, George Bush, the Palestinians are now saying that they're ready to make concessions and modifications on language and that they accept the language that the Clintons proposed back in the year 2000.
Back to you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Christiane, any reaction from the Israeli government to the statement that Arafat made in this newspaper interview?
AMANPOUR: Well, they have been saying all along -- because this is sort of another step in what is being -- what we've been hearing about, these sort of diplomatic concessions that the Palestinians are prepared now to make. They're saying, "Well, these are all great words, but." You know, there's very little tolerance right now from the Israeli government for any words that come out of the Palestinian Authority. But also, there is quite some jockeying for position by both the Israelis and the Palestinians ahead of this anticipated speech by President Bush.
BLITZER: Christiane Amanpour in Jerusalem, thanks very much.
And the Bush administration is keeping a very watchful eye on the Middle East. Here's CNN senior White House correspondent John King.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the White House today flat- out dismissive of the statement from the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat that he now would accept the peace proposal he rejected and walked away from in the closing days of the Clinton administration. Several senior officials say there would be no official, no public reaction at all to Mr. Arafat's statement, one senior official involved in Middle East policy telling CNN, quote, "Obviously, when it comes to Mr. Arafat, there is not a high degree of trust here. What we care about is what he does, not what he says."
Another official took pains to note that in recent weeks and months, as Mr. Bush has put together this new U.S. policy, one he will outline presumably sometime next week, he has consulted the president of Egypt, the king of Jordan the crown prince and the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia. Implicit in that list is that Mr. Bush did not feel the need or the desire at all to directly consult Mr. Arafat, the White House, of course, publicly rejecting Mr. Arafat's efforts in recent months, saying he is not doing enough, in its view, to crack down on the violence.
And Mr. Bush had the latest bombings in mind today. He's traveling in Orlando, Florida, and he told reporters he is preparing his speech and he will deliver it in the near future, when he believes the moment appropriate, Mr. Bush saying it is critical right now that the world must do everything in its power, the president said, to prevent the few from creating misery for the many.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE WALKER BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I strongly condemn this series of attacks. I fully recognize that Israel's got the right to defend herself. And all parties who are interested in getting on the path to peace must do everything they can to reject this terror. It is outrageous!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now, as for exactly when the president's speech will come, senior administration officials say the goal is next week, either just before the president goes to Canada for the annual G-8 summit meeting or just after he returns late in the week. But they say the president will make that the final call based on developments on the ground in the region, meaning whether there are any more bombings and the status of Israeli military response over the next several days -- Wolf.
BLITZER: John King, thank you very much.
And parts of Arizona are on fire. When we return, the latest on a massive wildfire threatening that state. Plus, a royal celebrates his big day. A look at William's life as a 20-something.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: What you're watching is a growing nightmare for firefighters. This is one of two fires racing across eastern Arizona. The fear is the dueling fires will merge.
CNN's Bill Delaney joins us from the town of Show Low. He's right in the middle of all of this.
Bill, what -- what's the situation like?
BILL DELANEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, you know, unfortunately, they won't let us quite in middle of it. They're still keeping us several miles away because of intensity and the enormous power of this fire. But some images behind me that may communicate, to a degree, at least, the power of the fire known as the Rodeo fire.
That wall of smoke and cloud you see behind me is the Rodeo fire, smoke rising 30,000 feet in the air and being fanned by winds as high as 40 miles an hour. And 120,000 acres of Arizona, have already been burned, Wolf, in this tremendous fire, the biggest fire in the history of Arizona. Some 5,000 people have been evacuated, 15 homes have destroyed. Officials here fear that will be a much higher toll, eventually. Firefighters simply haven't been able to get to some of the towns that have been hit by the fire to determine just what the damage has been.
As far as containing it controlling it -- well, fire officials, Wolf, say Mother Nature is in control of this thing, not us. As you said, one of the biggest concerns now, kind of the nightmare scenario here, is that a fire to the west of us, a smaller fire, could merge with the big Rodeo fire and create an enormous conflagration, by far the biggest this state will ever have seen and one of the biggest ever in the United States. That could consume as much as 300,000 acres.
Jim Paxon of the National Fire Service had this to say earlier about the Rodeo fire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM PAXON, FIRE INFORMATION OFFICER: Get ready because you're going to see fire behavior today like few have witnessed. We're in heavy pine with heavy fuels. It's dry. We going to have 90 degrees, 7 or 8 percent humidity and 40 mile-an-hour winds. It's a recipe for as climax fire behavior as can be witnessed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DELANEY: Now, it is believed that this fire was set. Law enforcement officials are looking into that. We don't know yet what the scenario was, but the law enforcement and fire officials here do believe this Rodeo fire, the biggest ever in Colorado -- in Arizona was set -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Bill Delaney for us in Arizona. Thank you very much for that report.
And you've seen it in science fiction. Could it happen in real life? A huge asteroid came closer to Earth than you believed. And how much longer will you be using your VCR? Find out just ahead.
"Forbes" is out with Celebrity 100, a ranking based on star power. Who's number one on "Forbes's" Celebrity 100 list? Michael Jordan, George Lucas, Britney Spears, Tiger Woods? The answer coming up.
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BLITZER: If today seems longer than normal to you, there's good reason for it, including here, a live picture we're seeing in Seattle, Washington. It's the summer solstice, the longest day of the year and also the beginning of the summer. That's also true in Los Angeles. People are already beginning to take advantage of the additional sunshine in L.A. They always do that. Hope they remember to use lots of sunscreen!
Exactly one week ago, the world faced a very dangerous threat that no one knew about. An asteroid the size of a football field came within 75,000 miles of hitting Earth. CNN space correspondent Miles O'Brien joins us now with details.
Miles, that's actually pretty close, isn't it? MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf. We'll give you a little explainer to give you a sense of scale. This is a story of the asteroid that got away. Could have cold-cocked us. We didn't see it until three days later. It's 2002MN, Mary Nancy. That's what the astronomers are calling it.
Take a look at this. That's the sun, all right? And when we start with the sun, let's move out toward the Earth and give you a sense of where this asteroid was and how it passed by, as we put this video in motion here. There's the rock. We'll tell you about its size in just a few moments.
In the center of your screen is the Earth, all right? As we said, 75,000 miles, is what we're talking about. That was the distance between 2002MN and the Earth. That's over here. And the Earth to the moon at the same time -- the moon being there -- was 230,000 miles. So it was actually about a third of the distance to the moon, giving it -- in astronomical terms, I guess you'd call that a grazing, although I don't know the astronomers would use that term.
Let's give you some size indications here. This is a rock that would fill up a football field. That's a big rock -- 300 feet, 100 yards, whichever way you want to do it. Let's give you a sense of what kind of damage something like that would cause. Something about 100 yards would destroy a city the size of Washington, D.C., if it were to hit a city. Anything in the 350 yards to half-mile category could destroy the area the size of a small state, could cause a global-type situation.
When you get into the one-mile category, tsunamis, coastal communities could be destroyed. Anything above 4 miles and beyond, we're talking mass extinction. We're talking the end of the dinosaurs, that kind of situation.
Now, let's take a look at some of the asteroid impacts that scientists have examined over time, looking at fossil records. This one is one that is quite dramatic. It's an asteroid that hit in the Ontario area in Sudbury's (ph). We're talking on the order of a couple billion years ago. It was about six miles in diameter and caused a mass extinction at that time. Of course, you know one 65 million years ago caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. It was about the same size.
Now, there are other asteroid impacts that we know about. Arizona -- if you've have been to Arizona and been to Meteor Crater, you know a little bit about that. That's 4,000 feet diameter. That particular event was caused by a rock about 150 feet in diameter. And the rock that just almost hit us is about the same size of an asteroid or comet which came down in Siberia in 1908 in an area called Tanguska (ph). And it caused a tremendous explosion, even though it didn't hit ground. But a 10-megaton explosion in the atmosphere leveled as lot of timber. Fortunately, it was in Siberia, so there wasn't mass casualties as a result.
Here -- let's take a look at the Web. NASA has a Web site which tells you all about this. This looks like a lot of squiggles, but essentially what you're looking at are all the orbits of those near- Earth objects which could hit us. There are more than 400 of them.
So what are odds, you say? Well, the odds are perhaps one every 100 or so years, an object the size of 2002MN hitting the Earth. Perhaps one every million years or so, something that could cause a global event, something that could cause perhaps crops to fail and mass extinctions.
Now, is this something that should be spent more money on? Astronomers say we should be looking for more of these objects so we don't get cold-cocked. A lot of people will tell you the money would be better spent, say, fighting terrorism -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Miles O'Brien, explaining a complicated situation. Glad it didn't get closer than it did. Thank you very much.
The author of "Fatherhood" takes on the man he says is not destined to win Father of the Year. From Black Sabbath rock star to father figure TV star, something about Ozzy Osbourne has Bill Cosby all fired up. Find out next.
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BLITZER: The antics of aging rocker Ozzy Osbourne and his family may be hot stuff to the MTV crowd, but the TV dad of "The Cosby Show" is not amused. "Access Hollywood" caught up with Bill Cosby at the Playboy Jazz Festival.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL COSBY: All of you need to stop with this Ozzy Osbourne. This is a sad, sad family. It's a sad case. The children are sad and the parents are sad. And this is not entertainment. I'm telling you, it's as sad as laughing at Tiny Tim.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Bill Cosby.
And is your VCR about to go the way of the 8-track cassette player? The nation's second-biggest electronics chain, Circuit City, says it's going to stop selling movies on videotape because today's customers want DVDs. CNN technology correspondent Renay San Miguel joins us now live. He's got some details.
This is amazing, Renay!
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, this is really big news. You know, a lot of Americans, Wolf, aren't just couch potatoes. Now they're digital couch potatoes, and DVDs are the big reason why. DVDs aren't just the fastest-growing entertainment medium, they're the fastest-growing consumer electronics technology ever, according to analysts, far outstripping the rise of VCRs in the '80s, CDs in the '90s and Internet shopping in the late '90s. And that's why Circuit City, the number two seller of electronic goods in U.S., in terms of sales, has decided to phase out VHS movies in its stores, in its 622 stores around the country by end of this year.
Company officials say that people don't want VHS tapes when they buy movies, they want the DVDs. They'll still stock blank videocassettes, and they'll sell the VHS recorder-players, but you -- and you can still buy their movies on their VHS -- on their Web site. Circuit City not the only chain do this, by the way. Borders has decided to phase out VHS, as well, but they will still carry sports and exercise videotapes.
So what kind of DVD growth are we talking about here? Well, the Consumer Electronics Association says that while videocassette player- recorders have pretty much conquered America, they're in 95 percent of U.S. Households, that's over nearly a 30-year period. In just five years, DVDs are now in 30 percent of U.S. households, and they are expected to grow to about 50 percent by just the end of this year alone.
Last year, Americans snapped up 12 million DVD players to 14 million VHS decks, so you can see that that race is now just about even. The average price of a DVD player is now down to about $165, and that's going to be about $150 in another year or two. The average price of a VHS player-recorder now about $70.
Now, give all what I've just told you, some folks might still think that Circuit City's move is a little bit premature, in terms of phasing out VHS. But one analyst says Circuit City is just giving the consumer what it wants.
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JAMES MCQUIVEY, RESEARCH DIRECTOR, FORRESTER RESEARCH: When you put the quality of the VHS tape to watch, say, you know, when finally "The Lord of the Rings" comes out later this year, are you going to want that on a medium that degrades visibly over three years? Or are you going to want that on digital-quality medium that takes about a third the space on your shelf and has incredible sound and extra features on the DVD? There's really, as consumer experience, no reason not go with the DVD.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAN MIGUEL: DVDs may cost about five to seven bucks more than your VHS prerecorded tape, but you do get all those extra features, like directors' commentary, behind-the-scenes documentaries and subtitles for different languages.
Wolf, back to you.
BLITZER: Renay, just when I was beginning to learn how to use that VCR, they're taking it off. Thanks for joining us.
SAN MIGUEL: Sure.
BLITZER: Have a great weekend.
And let's go to New York now and get a preview of "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE." That begins, of course, right at top of the hour -- Lou.
LOU DOBBS, HOST: Wolf, thank you very much. Coming up next: Two wildfires are raging tonight in Arizona. Tonight officials are afraid those two will combine into one inferno. We'll have a live report for you from Arizona. No break in Middle East violence. Four Palestinians were killed in the West Bank, that after Israeli forces mistakenly fired on a crowd. Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is my guest.
And another bruising session on Wall Street, all of the major indexes lower for a fifth consecutive week. I'll be talking with three of country's leading business editors about that, and the top financial stories of the week.
All of that and a lot more ahead. Please join us. Now back to Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you very much, Lou. I hate bruising Wall Street days myself.
It may seem hard to believe, but Prince Charles's oldest son is no longer a teenager. Prince Williams -- Prince William, that is, is turning 20 years old today. Word has it his birthday was spoiled early on by today's World Cup action. Brazil handed England a heart- breaking defeat. Incidentally, William may be second in line to the British throne, but recent polls indicate most young adults would rather see him crowned king, rather than his father.
Only two minutes left to answer our question of the day. Will terror worries make you change your 4th of July plans? Go to my Web page, cnn.com/wolf, and weigh in.
Stay with us.
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BLITZER: Earlier we asked, "Who's number one on `Forbes's' Celebrity 100 list?" Oops! She's done it. Britney Spears tops "Forbes's" ranking of the stars. 2001's top celebrity, Tom Cruise, didn't make this year's list.
And here's your chance to weigh in on our Web question of the day. Earlier, we asked "Will terror worries make you change your 4th of July plans?" Eighteen percent of you say yes, eighty-two percent say not. This is not -- remember -- a scientific poll.
Time to hear from you. Many viewers wrote in with comments about the government's decision not to encourage vaccines for everyone in the United States. John writes this. "Smallpox vaccine should be provided to anyone who understands the risks that are involved. Perhaps I would die if I were inoculated. Even so, each and every American citizen deserves the right to make his or her own decision in this matter."
Jean has this. "Though I would not want the vaccine administered now, I do want it available at a moment's notice. The same goes for iodine pills for those living near nuclear plants."
That's all the time we have right now. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" begins right now.
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