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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Exclusive Tapes Reveal al Qaeda's Capabilities; Laid Off Enron Employee Fights With Book; Florida Draws Adoption Groups' Outrage
Aired August 23, 2002 - 17:00 ET
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, the global reach of terror. Exclusive tapes show just how far al Qaeda's tentacles extend, and find out what Osama bin Laden was taping when journalists were taping him.
A police gunshot, a wounded child, they were the fuel for an explosion in Minneapolis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The violence is escalating, but we have not created this atmosphere. This is not our doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: A laid off Enron manager fights back with a book. From Porsches to paper shredders, he reveals behind-the-scenes details of Enron's catastrophic collapse.
Want to put a baby up for adoption in Florida? Wait until you hear what you may have to do first. Is it a modern day "Scarlet Letter"?
And find our how far this man is going in his desperate search for a new kidney.
It's Friday, August 23, 2002. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. Today we'll show you a side to Osama bin Laden you've not seen before, but first some top stories making news right now.
Health officials in Louisiana are reporting 24 new cases of human West Nile Virus infection. That makes 171 for the state this year, including eight who have already died the most of any state. And late today, Virginia officials announced the probable West Nile case. It would be that state's first.
In China, a desperate attempt to keep a flooding disaster from turning into a catastrophe of horrendous proportions. Flooding has forced hundreds of thousands from their home. Almost a million emergency workers in Hunan Province are struggling around the clock to shore up dikes and levies holding back the country's second largest lake. An overflow would endanger millions of people.
The nation's third, fourth, and fifth largest airlines have announced a so-called code share agreement that will allow them to book passengers on each other's flights. The deal among Delta, Northwest, and Continental still has to be approved by federal regulators. The move is partially in response to a similar agreement between United and U.S. Airways announced last month.
All this week, we've been looking at previously secret al Qaeda videotapes showing how recruits are trained to fight and to kill. Today we conclude our exclusive TERROR ON TAPE series with video that offers a disturbing look at how far al Qaeda's reach extends and that may reveal something about the nature of Osama bin Laden himself. Here once again CNN's Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): From Tape C-89, the carefully numbered al Qaeda video archive, young Arab fighters frolicking in an Afghan river to tape B-135 from Chechnya where Arab fighters ambush a Russian convoy, the library contains a remarkable cross section of material.
(on camera): Digging deep in this archive provides an extraordinary insight into this most secretive of organizations and the man at its head, but it is the breadth of the collection that reveals al Qaeda's global reach and its links to other terror groups.
(voice-over): Look at Tape C-205, shot in 1990 in the South Asian country of Burma. It shows jihadi fighters there training with an Arabic-speaking instructor.
And this tape from Eritrea in East Africa shows fighters proclaiming an Islamic battle to drive infidels out of their country, just some of the international tapes in the al Qaeda library that terror analyst Rohan Gunaratna reviewed for us, for him proof al Qaeda was binding itself to other jihadi groups, becoming what he calls an organization of organizations.
(on camera): What would you think is the most important thing about the collection?
ROHAN GUNARATNA, AUTHOR "INSIDE AL QAEDA": It gives a comprehensive picture of al Qaeda's strategic grip, of al Qaeda's global reach. Here it really clearly demonstrates that al Qaeda is waging a universal jihad campaign.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): As we go through the tapes, we find how al Qaeda kept its growing empire together. Tape C-189 shot in a clean office, believed by coalition intelligence sources who looked at this tape to have been al Qaeda's secure Afghan communications room.
The man using the two-way radio tells the person at the other end to look for a message on his computer and decode it, and the computer wasn't just for sending e-mails.
(on camera): Look at this videotape of Osama bin Laden giving a speech. In the same library, we also found some CDs. On this one, the same Osama bin Laden speech evidence al Qaeda was disseminating its knowledge through much harder to track means.
(voice-over): These CDs a reminder, says Professor Magnus Ranstorp that al Qaeda is more than willing to embrace a technology of its enemies to get its message out.
MAGNUS RANSTORP, UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS: Bin Laden uses the whole spectrum of technology, video cassettes. He uses e-mail. He uses encryption and he also understands how his enemies operate and how to function without being impaired in terms of security wise.
ROBERTSON: Other tapes from the archive, like this one, his own recording of a 1997 interview with CNN, tell us more about Osama bin Laden himself. Peter Bergen who was there was surprised bin Laden had his own camera rolling.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: It was very odd to see it so many years later and to realize that the whole thing was you know being videotaped by this -- I mean actually I had no idea it was being videotaped. I just had no idea.
ROBERTSON: There are other examples from interviews with ABC, Al- Jazeera, for Bergen and others a glimpse into the terror leader's strategy and his psyche.
BERGEN: Bin Laden has been interested in a sort of media profile for a long time, and in a way, this videotape collection that you discovered is sort of the ultimate sort of manifestation of that.
RANSTORP: I think it shows personal vanity on behalf of bin Laden, of understanding the power of the media, how to communicate, how to persuade.
ROBERTSON: Personal and institutional vanity perhaps evident in al Qaeda's final addition to the library, Tape B-222 titled "America Under Fire." We see news coverage from September 11th.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a certain bomb. It seemed like it wasn't even real.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like a bomb went off and it was like Holy hell coming down upstairs.
ROBERTSON: A chilling reminder of the terror group's dedication to detail, leaving no stone unturned in its planning for the future. It seems al Qaeda and possibly Osama bin Laden were reviewing their own handiwork.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: After this exclusive weeklong look at the al Qaeda tapes, it's time to sum things up a bit. Let's bring back Nic Robertson. He's joining us now live from the CNN Center. Nic, if you take a look at the training of these recruits, they came almost from what, 60 or 68 countries around the world. It's not necessarily going to be just Middle Easterners who might be the next terrorists out there. It could Indonesians, Malaysians, or Africans. ROBERTSON: It is. It's spread across the globe. The experts say al Qaeda has a global reach into about 60 different countries. They characterize al Qaeda as an organization of organizations, but it's not just where they got people from, where those people may have gone back to, but the fact that they've disseminated these training videos.
So perhaps even the people haven't even had to come to Afghanistan to train in al Qaeda camps to benefit from their knowledge of making high explosives, to benefit from their knowledge of chemical agents. So for the experts we talked to say that's part of where their concern lies, this global reach, how many countries has al Qaeda put their knowledge, training, skill, expertise, sophistication and dedication into?
BLITZER: And despite the fact that al Qaeda has been disrupted, the Taliban effectively destroyed, that regime in Afghanistan, there still is a potential out there for great terror damage to the United States, to U.S. interests around the world whether or not Osama bin Laden is alive or dead, isn't there?
ROBERTSON: The infrastructure that al Qaeda had in Afghanistan is largely gone. Osama bin Laden is still believed to be alive in the northwest frontier province of Pakistan, that area between Afghanistan and Pakistan. But as you say, whether or not he's alive or dead, the knowledge has been passed on.
The intent to use that knowledge is the other element that makes up a threat in any terrorist organization, ability and intent that equals threat. So the fact that the knowledge is out there, if these other organizations are as motivated and as disciplined as al Qaeda appears to be, then they do add to that threat level.
BLITZER: Nic Robertson, thanks for a great job this week, and if you missed any of the TERROR ON TAPE reports this week, please join me, Nic Robertson, and Mike Boettcher, for a CNN special investigation this Sunday night 10:00 p.m. Eastern, 7:00 p.m. Pacific. We'll also hear from a panel of experts and we'll get their take on this al Qaeda discovery.
There's a new development today in a legal battle over the war on terrorism. The Justice Department is going public after it was handed a defeat by a secret U.S. court, at issue those extraordinary powers Attorney General John Ashcroft wants to use in the wake of September 11th. In its appeal, the government says the powers are justified.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Attorney General John Ashcroft is still pushing for his Justice Department to take the offensive in the war on terror, to go beyond traditional investigations and the prosecution of terror suspects.
JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: For those who plan to extinguish themselves in the commission of their crimes, prosecution is not a very substantial deterrent and we have to learn to work together to assemble the information when possible to be preventional.
BLITZER: But Ashcroft and justice officials are now appealing a sharp setback issued by the secret federal court that approved spying on terror suspects. The court wants to limit what Ashcroft believes is a crucial tool, the sharing of wiretaps and other information between prosecutors and intelligence agents.
The court cited more than 75 mistakes committed by the FBI in obtaining warrants for terrorism investigations. Most of those mistakes were committed by the FBI during the Clinton administration. Still, this court's rebuff is another development that makes John Ashcroft a lightning rod for criticism over the department's role in the war on terror.
GREGORY NOJEIM, ACLU: And Congress is giving this Department of Justice more and more power under this intelligence rationale and it's time for Congress to think twice about whether it should give it even more intelligence power.
BLITZER: Ashcroft has consistently drawn fire for pushing the civil liberties envelope since September 11 and the passage of the Patriot Act, a law which broadens the government's powers to hold and detain people and to use wiretaps.
Separately there are the cases of Jose Padilla and Yasser Hamdi, two U.S. citizens suspected of direct involvement with terrorist groups but who are being held as so-called enemy combatants in military brigs without being charged with any crime, and even without access to their attorneys.
ANDREW PATEL, JOSE PADILLA'S ATTORNEY: How do you hold an American citizen in jail without charging him with a crime? It's just that simple.
BLITZER: Ashcroft has also had to defend the controversial 9/11 practice of jailing non-Americans on visa violations without releasing their names in order to gain information, then in many cases deporting them.
The Justice Department has also had to back away from its plan to have postal carriers and utility workers report suspicious activity, but is vowing to go ahead with a program to put transportation workers on the lookout. Ashcroft and other top justice officials say their aggressive maneuvers are acceptable given the new risks America faces after September 11.
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: The front lines are right here at home in our own streets, in our own cities, and in our own neighborhoods.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: The latest court skirmish centers on eavesdropping provisions included in the Patriot Act. The Justice Department's appeal will be considered by a special three-judge panel. Florida draws outrage from adoption groups around the country. Should the state force a woman to publish her sexual history before putting her baby up for adoption? We'll hear from both sides of this debate when we return. Plus, gruesome military hazing in Peru, the shocking video that has Latin America talking. Also, an officer shoots a dog. The bullet ricochets and hits a kid. Now Minneapolis is up in arms.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: More controversy surrounding Governor Jeb Bush's choice to overhaul Florida's Child Welfare System. It centers on an article authored by Jerry Regier calling for a return to Biblical norms and so-called manly discipline in the family. Joining us now from Miami with details, CNN's Mark Potter. What's going on, Mark?
MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, at a meeting today of law enforcement officials in Miami trying to solve Florida's missing children crisis, Florida Governor Jeb Bush spoke aggressively in favor of his controversial nominee to take over the Department of Children and Families.
Now that nominee, Jerry Regier has come under fire for his strong and conservative religious beliefs and his controversial support of corporal punishment. Today, the governor said those attacking Regier were engaged in a form of bigotry and that a strong religious faith should not disqualify someone from office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: I just get a sense that somehow the implication is that people of faith can't, you know, somehow they're a little strange and I just reject that. You know to me it doesn't matter that Jerry has a deep and un-abiding faith, but it certainly doesn't disqualify him for public service.
My gosh; I think you know we need a lot more love and a lot more prayer in our society today and I just get a -- I'm very troubled by this somewhat -- I think there's bigotry here and it troubles me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POTTER: Now Regier came under attack when his name was found on a 1989 article which supported punishing children to the point of bruises and welts. Regier said that he never authored that paper and that he does not believe in such a severe form of punishment, but today he said he does believe in a parent's right to use corporal punishment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERRY REGIER, INCOMING SECY. FLA. DEPT. OF CHILDREN & FAMILIES: I've spanked my kids, yes, and I think that probably parents who give a swat to a 2-year-old would agree with that. I think disciplining children is fine. Whether children want -- whether parents want to do that in a different way that's great too. We use time out. We used all kinds of different ways to discipline children, but basically the point is how are we going to bring up the children so that they are going to be successful?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POTTER: Now when asked about the issue of mixing his religious beliefs with public policy, Regier said to him that means bringing to his work the values of fairness and compassion and integrity.
Critics though are not satisfied and they are asking Governor Bush to withdraw Regier's nomination. The governor has shown no indication that he would do that and with the governor's race heating up, this is the new hot topic for the Democrats who are trying to unseat the Republican incumbent Jeb Bush -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Mark Potter thanks very much for that report. Let's stay in Florida now and here's a modern spin on the "Scarlet Letter." A state law in Florida requires women, even young rape victims, to publish their sexual histories when offering children up for adoption.
For four weeks the legal ads must list the names and addresses of all the women's partners who could be the child's biological father. The law was meant to circumvent custody battles by fathers after an adoption, but at what cost to the mothers? A judge has already stopped the requirement for rape victims in Palm Beach County, but it remains in effect elsewhere in the state.
Jeanne Tate is an adoption attorney and past president of the Florida Adoption Council. She joins us now live from Tampa. And Jeffrey Leving is joining us from Chicago. He's an attorney and president emeritus of the Fatherhood Education Institute. Let me start with you, Jeanne, tell us briefly what your major concern is right now.
JEANNE TATE, ADOPTION ATTORNEY: My major concern is this brands women for an indiscriminate act which she wishes to keep private and try to do what is in the best interest of her child but is not permitted to do so in Florida because she needs to publish intimate sexual information and personal information about herself and all the men with whom she slept in the newspaper and that publication occurs in every county and in every city in which conception may have occurred. So it's really reminiscent of the "Scarlet Letter" days.
BLITZER: Jeffrey, this sounds pretty shocking to most of us who are hearing about the need for these women to publicize all their sexual partners.
JEFFREY LEVING, FATHER'S RIGHTS ADVOCATE: Well, the issue here is what is more important, protecting a mother from being humiliated or protecting a child from knowing his or her father? I believe a child has a constitutional and moral right to know his or her father. I believe that outweighs the alleged privacy needs of the mother.
Also, I believe the father, the birth father, has a right to know he has a child and he should have a notice requirement so he can stop the adoption and raise his child as the sole parent if the mother wants to relinquish her parental rights.
BLITZER: Jeanne, what do you say about that?
TATE: I think it's absurd to suggest that you can trample on someone's constitutional rights and in effect take out a billboard about this intimate information. There are certainly far better ways to provide notice to birth fathers. This law is not about the people who are opposed to it trampling on birth fathers' rights.
It's about coming up with a mechanism that's fair to all parties to provide that motive and not one that is punitive in nature for birth mothers and their children and the birth fathers, because there are many birth fathers that don't want this intimate information in the newspaper about them as well. There are many cases where this goes bad. I mean you may have a birth father that's married and doesn't want that fact published in the newspaper.
We have stepparent adoption cases where mothers who have a ten- year-old child have to publish their sexual history from ten years ago for all the teachers and classmates and neighbors and others to see, and I think that's wrong.
BLITZER: Let's let Jeffrey respond to that.
LEVING: My feeling here is that as unfortunate as it is, there are women in our society that see children as pieces of property that they can just give away with no notice to dad. That's unfair. It takes two people to make a child and both a mom and a dad have certain legal rights, and I know in our political and legal system, a lot of people believe that mothers' rights are paramount to that of the children and dads but I don't believe that. And if you take a look at dadsrights.com, you can get a lot of data and a lot of research why it is important to focus on the welfare of the children. They are the future our society.
BLITZER: But there's one case -- Jeffrey, there's one case...
LEVING: Yes, go ahead.
BLITZER: ...where a 12-year-old girl was raped and she was effectively forced to put an ad in the newspaper saying that she was raped in order to get that child up for adoption. That is going beyond the pale, wouldn't you say?
LEVING: Well, we could always look for rare examples to trash this important law; however, in rape, in forcible rape, a judge in Florida has already determined that this law is unconstitutional. So in forcible rape, this wouldn't apply. However...
BLITZER: That's only in one county, not for the whole state, though. You would want it to go for the whole state?
LEVING: I believe that this is an important law. Now in terms of statutory rape, it is clear that the law is constitutional, meaning if a minor child consented by legally is considered not to have consent then the law would be constitutional and apply to that situation. And in that situation, which is different than forcible rape, I would support this law. I think it's an important law.
BLITZER: Jeanne, how to balance the rights of the mother and the rights of the biological father when it comes to adoption to make sure that a kid who is given up for adoption gets into a loving family, that a father down the road doesn't come by and say, you know what, I never signed off on this adoption?
TATE: I think that's a good point because this law, I think it's important to note, does not come into effect and the publication requirements are not effectual until after the attorney or the adoption agency has made a diligent search and inquiry for the birth father. That is an obligation that we have independent of this publication.
So after we've searched for the birth father, exhaustively, hired private investigators, looked in every nook and cranny, you have to even write letters to the hospitals, the utility providers, all of the Department of Motor Vehicles, Department of Correction entities in our state searching for this guy, and only after that are we entitled to publish.
So this is a needle in the haystack. I've been doing adoptions for 22 years. I have never had a father respond to a publication. This is all about humiliation to birth mothers, to their children, and frankly to birth fathers because we think it offends their privacy rights. And for my counter opponent to suggest that we should publish the name of a statutory rape victim in the newspaper offends my sensibility sir.
BLITZER: We have...
LEVING: Keep in mind this...
BLITZER: Mr. Leving, Jeffrey, as far as abortions are concerned, if you have your way, this is going to only encourage those young girls, those mothers, not to give up any children for adoption but to have abortions instead. That's what your critics say.
LEVING: I don't believe that that is a reliable argument; however, it is morally offensive to me to think that a mother would rather abort her unborn child than allow that child to know his or her dad and allow the dad to have a relationship with that child.
BLITZER: All right.
LEVING: That shows how serious parental alienation is in our society.
BLITZER: Jeffrey Leving, Jeanne Tate, we have to leave it right there. I assume this debate is just getting going in Florida. Thanks to both of you for joining us.
TATE: You're welcome.
BLITZER: Here's your chance to weigh in on the story. Our web question of the day: Should women who put up a kid for adoption and are not sure of the father's identity or whereabouts, be forced to publish their sexual history? We'll have the results later in this program.
Also that's where you can vote. If you go to my web page cnn.com/wolf, you can vote on our web question of the day. While you're there, send me your comments. I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.
Hazing and torture of military recruits in Peru; the stunning video that's sparking an investigation and condemnation; the full story when we return. Plus protesters roll out the welcome wagon for President Bush and end up with a face full of pepper spray. And a publicist for the stars cops a plea after injuring 16 people with her SUV.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: A recent television broadcast has sparked a firestorm in Peru. It showed the torture and abuse of naval recruits, and some critics say it exposed a dirty little secret. We are going to show you some of the pictures shown in Peru. We warn you, many of the images are disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Experts say the abuse of military recruits is a big problem all over the world, but it often goes ignored because it occurs out of public view.
Sometimes, however, what's private becomes public. Like in Peru, where a television station obtained this videotape -- pictures of naval cadets beaten, tortured.
These Marines are said to have been forced to swallow spoonfuls of salt. Also caught on tape, a recruit, tied nearly naked to a tree, screaming in pain as he endured severe electric shocks. The pictures apparently date back to 1995, but that has not muted the outrage.
"They hit me," says this soldier, "and they shocked me." Amnesty International is outraged over the way the recruits were treated.
TERESA CARPIO, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL (through translator): They shocked them and threatened them with electricity, after they made them sign a document that confessed that they had committed the crime. And they threatened to kill them if they said that they had been tortured.
BLITZER: Peru's Ministry of Defense issued a statement denying that abuse is a normal part of military training. Authorities announced an official investigation.
GILBERTO DIAZ PERALTA, PERUVIAN CONGRESS (through translator): We will go to these naval and air bases to get in touch with the troop personnel and let them know their rights. We will not allow under the excuse of armed forces training any human rights violations, or put at risk their lives.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Critics say the abuse in Peru's military has been going on for years, and action is being taken now only because the pictures make the truth impossible to deny.
Minneapolis is in an uproar over the police shooting of a young boy. We'll tell what went wrong and how the city's moving to try to soothe tensions.
Plus, is it wrong to advertise for a kidney donor? One man's struggle to save his life.
And two million plus: President Bush puts down the big bucks in California.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Coming up, tensions in Minneapolis after a police officer's bullet accidentally hits a child. But first, a look at other stories making news right now.
President Bush is raising funds for a troubled gubernatorial campaign in California today. He is helping GOP candidate Bill Simon, whose race for governor has been set back by a fraud verdict against his family business. A violent protest against the president's policies broke out in the streets of Portland, Oregon, during his visit there yesterday. Police used pepper spray and other nonlethal weapons against demonstrators who refused to back off a barricade near a hotel where Mr. Bush attended a Republican fund-raiser.
Celebrity publicist Lizzie Grubman has pleaded guilty to hit-and- run charges from a crash that injured 16 people outside a Long Island, New York night club. Grubman faces sentencing October 23. The accident occurred last summer in the Hamptons. Witnesses say Grubman angrily slammed her SUV into reverse after a bouncer told her to move it from a fire lane.
Authorities report one death and three injuries from a 25-story plunge of a construction elevator in midtown Manhattan. Police say a cable snapped, and the elevator dropped from a building going up at Fifth Avenue and 41st Street late this afternoon. A worker aboard the lift fell to his death. The accident critically injured a 40-year-old worker in the elevator.
Former American League MVP Jose Canseco says he won't compromise himself. He is rejecting a plea bargain and insisting on going to trial on felony battery charges. They stem from a fight Canseco and his twin brother got into with two California tourists at a Miami night club last Halloween. Canseco could be sentenced to as much as 31 years if convicted.
A controversial police shooting has the mayor of Minneapolis appealing for calm. Police say officers were serving a drug search warrant last night when a pit bull attacked them. One officer fired, but the bullet ricocheted and hit a young boy in the arm. That prompted a melee involving as many as 100 people, some of whom say the shooting was deliberate. The crowd threw rocks and bottles at police, vandalized homes and news vehicles, and assaulted at least five reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ODIS CHIENETH, VICTIM'S FATHER: It hurts me to my heart that they shot my son, you know, and like I say, I don't see that nowhere else but on the north side and the south side, the metro area, OK? And I can't understand it
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Joining us now to talk about the situation is Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak. Mayor, thanks for joining us. Well, you normally have a peaceful city, Minneapolis, but it seems you have got some big problems on your hands right now. What's going on?
MAYOR R.T. RYBAK, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: We have always had a peaceful city; we continue to have a peaceful city. And there are issues today, but I think it's overstating it to say that Minneapolis is in an uproar. There was an incident last night in which a stray bullet that was intended to keep a pit bull from attacking a police officer ricocheted and hit a boy.
I visited the boy this morning and expressed our sympathy, and he seems to be doing well. But the issue really is about the fact that we are very serious about getting drugs and guns out of our streets. We do not want them in any part of our community. So we've been working with members of our community who've asked us to take a strong stand on this.
BLITZER: Maybe you've heard the complaints that it may not necessarily have been an accident, it might have been a deliberate shooting. Have you investigated that?
RYBAK: That is under investigation right now. It is certainly not our understanding that it was intended, and frankly, most of the folks at the scene from reports from all sides have not been alleging that.
The issue really has to do with the fact that a bullet, a stray bullet hit a boy, and we have great concern for the boy, who I'm pleased to say I spoke with today and seems to be doing well. The issue really has to do with I think the issue that many American cities have to deal with, is that with increasingly diverse populations, we have to be especially mindful of the fact there are a lot of different folks out in communities and we have to be mindful of that.
We have had issues of police/community relations that have simmered here. We are addressing those aggressively, not because there happened to be a riot last night, not because somebody picked up a rock and threw it at a car, but because since the beginning of my administration last January, we've had police/community relations at the top of our list. We will continue to do...
BLITZER: How isolated, mayor, was this incident? There was another incident that sparked some concern a few weeks back, wasn't there?
RYBAK: There was. Three weeks ago, there was a shooting of a police officer, and there was also a shooting of an African-American man a couple -- about a week ago. And so three incidents in a row have unfortunately come together at the same time. That doesn't change the fact that before that happened and after everybody forgets about this to the degree that it will ever happen, we will continue to work on issues of economic justice, the key issue of housing in neighborhoods, and others. These are long-term issues.
Now, it doesn't have to do with an incident last night, which was a very, very unfortunate one, but also one where we will continue to take tough stands against drugs on our streets. We do not think that Minneapolis is a city that will tolerate drugs in our streets. So we are very concerned about that. That is why we served a drug warrant at a house, that is why when a pit bull then came after police officers, the police officers had to protect themselves. I'm deeply troubled by the fact that a bullet ricocheted and hit a boy, and I'm pleased that today he continues to do all right.
BLITZER: Well, mayor, good luck to you.
RYBAK: Thank you.
BLITZER: Minneapolis is a great city. I love visiting there. I hope you can make it peaceful as it almost always is. Appreciate it very much.
RYBAK: Come back for the World Series, because the Twins are going to be there.
BLITZER: I'll be happy to come back to Minneapolis. Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Good luck to you.
RYBAK: Thank you very much.
BLITZER: A desperate plea for an organ donor draws fire from the National Kidney Foundation. Meet the man who placed an ad that could save his life, and hear what all the controversy is about. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. If you or a loved one needed an organ transplant to live, how far would you go to get it? A suburban St. Louis, Missouri man with hereditary kidney disease placed an ad in a weekly newspaper appealing for help. He has received at least nine responses and has begun talking with potential kidney donors. Robert Kornblum's approach, however, is not without controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. ROBERT METZGER, NATL. KIDNEY FOUNDATION: I think our concern is really about appealing to the emotions of people to commit to something that is potentially harmful to them. They really need to be objective about this, and whether it maintains the fairness of the system. Not everybody in St. Louis that's going to get this opportunity that came to Mr. Kornblum.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Joining us now to talk more about his search for a life-saving kidney is Robert Kornblum. He is undergoing dialysis in St. Louis as we speak. And with him is his physician, Dr. Marcos Rothstein. Thanks to both of you for joining us and, Mr. Kornblum, let me begin with you. Let's make it clear: you're not asking someone, you don't want someone to sell you an organ. You're just asking for a volunteer, right?
ROBERT KORNBLUM, KIDNEY PATIENT: Absolutely. I wanted to take a more proactive -- first of all, buying and selling an organ is illegal, so if anybody approaches me in that manner I just pretty much have to hang up on them. It's not anything I can consider, nor do I think I really would consider. And I just really wanted to take a more proactive approach in obtaining a donor, because I am fortunate -- with kidney disease you can obtain an organ from a live donor, unlike any other organs that might require a cadaveric donor, so I decided to place the ad, and I've really had nobody do or say anything really negative about it. Most people have been thumbs-up about the situation.
BLITZER: What do you say, Dr. Rothstein, about this extraordinary move by Mr. Kornblum to place this ad?
DR. MARCOS ROTHSTEIN, KIDNEY SPECIALIST: I believe that the plight of Mr. Kornblum emphasizes the incredible need for increased awareness regarding organ donation. I think if we take in consideration there are more than 50,000 Americans are waiting for kidneys, and of those more than 10 percent die every year waiting for a kidney, I think this is a cry for help, and I think as you mentioned this is a controversial issue, but I think if we all get aware that if organ donation increases in the country, Mr. Kornblum and many other in his position will not have the need for this desperate move.
Here at (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Jewish Hospital in the Washington University in St. Louis, we transplanting a great number of patients, more than 100 to 150 patients every year, but that doesn't even get close to a quarter of a yearly need for transplantation, and I think...
BLITZER: Mr. Kornblum I was going to -- sorry for interrupting, Doctor, but I know you received some responses, but are any of them seriously going to give up a kidney for you?
KORNBLUM: Well, really the first person who called me happened to be somebody that I knew as an acquaintance, and she did interview with the pre-transplant office here at Barnes, and it was found she had a preexisting health condition that they pretty much ruled her out for that, so she did go through the process, at least the initial interviews, and most everybody that has called me has been very sincere and extremely, seemed very strong willed about doing this if it all comes to fruition.
BLITZER: What are the chances, Mr. Kornblum, of your getting a kidney transplant if you just wait, according to the line, the long list out there?
KORNBLUM: Well, I'm among many people here who have had one and two transplants, and the chance is very good -- two years is what I was told would be a wait, but I've never been so ill in my life, and it just seems to be getting worse and worse, and I just felt placing the ad was no different than standing up in place of worship or a place where you work, and indicating hey, I need a kidney. If somebody would like to donate, I have asked my friends. My girlfriend Christine (ph) was tested and was not a match, so it didn't work out, and I just wanted to be a little more proactive in the process.
BLITZER: Mr. Kornblum, good luck to you, and Dr. Rothstein, thanks for joining us as well.
ROTHSTEIN: Thank you.
BLITZER: A very emotional, heart-wrenching story, and I hope everything works out for the best. I'm sure both of you appreciate, though, the controversy involved. Thanks so much to both you for joining us.
KORNBLUM: Thank you for having us.
BLITZER: The company gay -- the company gave him a pink slip. Now he's writing a tell-all book. What this former Enron employee has to say about his former company, and why the media are taking notice. Stay with us.
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BLITZER: A former Enron employee is telling all in new book about the collapse of the former energy giant. It's called "Anatomy of Greed: the Unshredded Truth from an Enron Insider."
It paints a very unflattering picture of the people caught up in Enron's cutthroat culture. The author, Brian Cruver, joins us now live from New York. Brian, thanks for joining us.
BRIAN CRUVER, AUTHOR, "ANATOMY OF GREED": Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Let me read you one line from the book. You quote Ken Lay as saying, "I don't want to be rich. I want to be world-class rich."
Was all of this simply about greed?
CRUVER: It's about greed and it's about the state of corporate America, at least as it was before Enron. Now it's changing rather rapidly, and it goes beyond just greed. I think it's the system of meeting quarter-to-quarter earnings, it's accounting regulations, it's human rights violations. It's just a never-ending story, and there are so many layers, I think we've really just scratched the surface.
BLITZER: You write this about Jeffrey Skilling, one of the top executives at Enron. You say Skilling was known to himself and others as the smartest human being ever to walk the face of the earth. He never lost and he never failed. He was arrogant and ultra- competitive.
You don't paint a very flattering picture of any of these big corporate executives.
CRUVER: Well, I mean, Skilling -- and I still think Skilling is a genius -- and he was brought into Enron by Ken Lay from McKenzie (ph) with his background to turn the company into something different. I mean, Enron was really about international assets. And you know, global energy power plants, and things like that. And he really turned it into a trading group, what a lot of people at Enron have referred to as the casino, and he was creating new markets and taking Enron in new fantastic directions, and that's what investors really believed in.
That's what got the stock up to $90.
BLITZER: Do you think some of these other executives are going to wind up in jail?
CRUVER: I don't know. You know, Kopper's guilty plea the other day, that's a good start, but there's a long way to go, and I think the Justice Department is dealing with the biggest and most complicated can of worms they've ever faced.
Enron is so much more complicated than WorldCom or Adelphia or any other companies, and it doesn't really surprise me that it's taken this long, and it wouldn't surprise me if it continued for many, many years.
(CROSSTALK)
Go ahead.
BLITZER: I was going to say, are there plans now to make your book into a movie?
CRUVER: Yes, actually there are. The book I wrote is really sort of the typical Enron employee's view with myself and the people I worked with, and it's really putting a human face on Enron. It's about the culture, it's about the behaviors and what it was like to actually live through that collapse, and CBS bought the rights to that, and they're actually going to make a movie and call it the "Crooked E," starring Brian Dennehy and Mike Farrell and a few other actors.
BLITZER: Mike Farrell plays Ken Lay. Thanks for joining us, Brian. I'm going to give the name of the book once again, "Anatomy of Greed: the Unshredded Truth from an Enron Insider." CRUVER: Thanks, Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks, good luck with the book. Good luck with the movie.
CRUVER: Thank you.
BLITZER: Thank you, and let's go to New York now and get a preview of "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE." That of course begins right at the top of the hour. Jan Hopkins once again filling in for Lou this evening -- Jan.
JAN HOPKINS, GUEST HOST, "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE": Thanks, Wolf. We also will be talking about Enron on "MONEYLINE," and the market loses two percent today. It still manages to close up for the fifth week in a row. I will have a full report of the market and talk with our editor's circle about the week on Wall Street.
Hurricane Andrew was 10 years ago, but we will tell why homeowners, even ones not living in Florida a decade ago, are paying the price for that disaster. And Led Zeppelin selling Cadillacs. Tonight a special report on a growing number of artists embracing corporate America. All that and a lot more ahead on "MONEYLINE." Wolf, back to you.
BLITZER: Thank you very much, Jan. We'll be watching. Time is running out to weigh on our Web question of the day. Should women who want to put up a kid for adoption and are not sure of the father's identity or whereabouts, be forced to publish their sexual history?
Log on the to cnn.com/WOLF to cast your vote. The results when we come back.
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BLITZER: We have this just in, a development in the case of alleged September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. The U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema has ruled that Moussaoui will not be allowed access to classified documents in this case. Judge Brinkema sided with the government, stating that Moussaoui's repeated calls for the destruction of the United States and his stated support for Osama bin Laden pose a threat to national security if he gained access to those documents.
He's also been denied his request to attend classified hearings into which documents would be used at trial. We'll continue to follow this story.
Here is your -- how you are weighing in on our Web question of the day. Earlier we asked, should women who want to put up a kid for adoption and are not sure of the father's identity or whereabouts be forced to publish their sexual history? Seventeen percent of you say yes, 83 percent no.
You can find the exact tally on my Web site, cnn.com/WOLF. Remember, this is not a scientific poll. We will continue to monitor those results.
Time now to hear directly from you. Yesterday's segment on psychologist Robert Epstein's project to find a partner who can learn to love him generated lots of feedback.
For example, Tim writes, "Can we learn to love? Isn't every marriage that lasts past the initial stage of infatuation an answer to that question?"
From Lise, "The idea that a bolt of lightning strikes you from across a crowded room to make you fall in love is ludicrous. That's harlequin romance fiction, not real life."
Chris thinks the project is bogus. "The idea of advertising for someone to fall in love with you is emblematic of a narcissistic personality. I'm astounded that neither of your guests pointed that out."
That's all the time we have today. I'll be back Sunday on "LATE EDITION," the last word this Sunday talk. Our issue: going to war with Iraq. Among my guests former secretary of state Laurence Eagleburger and former defense secretary Caspar Weinberger, as well as the former NATO supreme allied commander, General George Jalwhan (ph). That's Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Eastern. And Sunday night 10:00 p.m. Eastern, I'll anchor a special report, "Terror on Tape." Nic Robertson will be joining me, as well as Mike Boettcher, that's Sunday 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
Until then, thanks very much for watching. Have a wonderful weekend. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" begins right now.
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