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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Did Bush Sway Congress Into Supporting a Military Strike on Iraq?; The World Reacts to the President's Speech to the U.N.
Aired September 12, 2002 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Now, a special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS: "The Case Against Iraq."
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITES STATES OF AMERICA: The first time we may be completely certain he has nuclear weapons is when, god forbid, he uses one.
BLITZER: President Bush warns the U.N. to act now, or the U.S. will.
Is Congress onboard? I will ask Senator John McCain.
Will Saddam Hussein blink? We'll go live to Baghdad, and get reaction from Islamabad, Jerusalem, Paris and Moscow.
Can the U.S. fight al Qaeda and Iraq at the same time? We are at the pentagon and with the 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan.
And architects of the September 11 attacks: you'll hear from two of the world's most wanted.
It's Thursday, September 12, 2002. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
If there was ever any doubt where the president stood on the issue of Iraq, it was erased today. Fresh off the emotion of the September 11 anniversary, the president set out to make his case against Saddam Hussein's regime before what may be his toughest audience, the United Nations.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLTZER (voice-over): The president laid it right on the line. Iraq must comply with U.N. resolutions to eliminate its weapons of mass destruction, and the U.S. is prepared to act alone, if necessary.
BUSH: The Security Council resolutions will be enforced. The just demands of peace and security will be met, or action will be unavoidable. And a regime that has lost its legitimacy will also lose its power.
BLITZER: The president's contention: Iraq has already developed chemical and biological weapons and is moving in an even more menacing direction.
BUSH: Should Iraq acquire fissile material, it would be able to build a nuclear weapon within a year.
BLITZER: Example by example, Mr. Bush cited how he believed Iraq had deceived the U.N. over the past decade, once drawing a chuckle from Baghdad's U.N. ambassador, who later fired back at the president.
MOHAMMED AL-DOURI, IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: He chooses to deceive the world and his own people by the longest series of fabrications that has been ever told by a leader of a nation.
BLITZER: Some critics said they welcomed the president's speech, though they insisted they needed more evidence against Iraq.
SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: I think it was helpful. I don't think it was conclusive.
BLITZER: Just as Mr. Bush challenged the United Nations to act, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan fired a not-so-subtle warning at the president.
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: For any one state, large or small, choosing to follow or reject the multilateral path must not be a simple matter of political convenience. It has consequences far beyond the immediate context.
BLITZER: If it comes down to another U.N. resolution, how much support will the U.S. have among the four other permanent members of the Security Council?
RICHARD HOLBROOKE, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: The key to this is Russia. If Russia goes along, the U.S. can get this resolution. But if Russia says no, we won't get it. And if the Russians say no, then the famous Bush-Putin relationship is not worth as much as people thought.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are applauding President Bush for taking his case to the United Nations. While some are U.N.convinced about using force, others are calling for a quick endorsement of potential military action. Where does the U.S. Congress stand?
Joining me now from Capitol Hill, Republican Senator John McCain.
Senator -- thanks for joining us. How convinced are you that the U.S. may have no other alternative but military force?
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, I've been convinced of that for a long period of time, as the evidence continues to mount, that Saddam Hussein is acquiring these weapons and is refusing now for four years to allow the weapons inspectors back in, which, by the way, is a Security Council resolution and part of the cease-fire agreement that brought about the end of the Gulf War in 1991.
BLITZER: Is the president doing the right thing by effectively giving Saddam Hussein one more chance, one more U.N. Security Council resolution, one more opportunity to let those inspectors back in?
MCCAIN: Yes, I do, and I think he's correct in making a case to the United Nations, to our allies, asking for approval of the Congress and continuing the coalition building that is very necessary. So I think he's doing the right things, and I think his speech today was an important step.
BLITZER: What if he doesn't get that support from the four other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council? Britain presumably will, but Russia, France, China, they're still up in the air.
MCCAIN: You know, I hate to go through them one by one, but the French have already made a constructive proposal. I don't know about what China would do. Russia, they do have that personal relationship, Putin and the president. I believe that he will probably -- he will probably be amenable U.N.der certain circumstances.
BLITZER: What did you think of the U.N. Secretary Kofi Annan effectively lecturing the president about not going it alone, you must go in a multilateral United Nations sanctioned operation, if you go at all.
MCCAIN: Well, I think the secretary general is entitled to his views. I hope the secretary general also listened to President Bush when President Bush said, look, if you all don't enforce your own resolutions -- there's some 14 of them -- against Saddam Hussein, i.e. bringing the inspectors back and having them be meaningful inspectors, then you, the United Nations, risk becoming irrelevant and becoming the League of Nations.
BLITZER: On military merits, Senator McCain, you of course speak with a great deal of authority, a great deal of personal knowledge. Why do you believe this would be a relatively easy military operation to get rid of Saddam Hussein? He still has about 400,000 troops.
MCCAIN: I believe that his troops have terrible morale. I don't believe there's an Iraqi soldier, including most of the republican guard, who would die for Saddam Hussein, particularly since they know he's going. He is very weak. He's never been able to reconstruct his military after the losses of 1991.
Yes, there's a great risk of American blood and treasure, but I do not believe that we would experience much difficulty in bringing about a regime change, just as I predicted in '91 that it would be relatively easy.
BLITZER: Right now, Senator, the polls show the American public is pretty much split on the use of force against Saddam Hussein. Many Americans not yet convinced. Given the Vietnam experience, how bad would it be for U.S. military personnel to go into battle with the country back home effectively divided?
MCCAIN: I don't think it would be -- I think it would be dangerous, but I would remind you in '91, after Saddam Hussein occupied Kuwait, there was a majority of Americans who supported the first President Bush. And through coalition building, through debate in Congress, through hearings and through talking to the American people, pretty soon a majority of Americans supported it. And I believe the president is doing exactly the same thing as we speak.
BLITZER: Senator McCain, one final question before I let you go. How much time will it take for the Congress, the Senate, to pass a resolution supporting military force?
MCCAIN: I believe we should do it before we go out of session because I think the American people need to know where their elected officials stand. I think it would be helpful, as the president makes his case, to have had the approval of Congress.
And, by the way, I think those will be by substantial numbers. And I think that we risk becoming irrelevant if we choose not to vote on it and sometime, while we're out of session, the president feels he has to take military action.
BLITZER: Senator McCain -- thanks for spending some time with us.
MCCAIN: Thank you. Thank you.
BLITZER: Thank you very much.
Iraq says it is a victim of U.S. warmongering and warns it will fight back if attacked.
For the mood there, let's go live to Baghdad. That's where CNN's Rula Amin is joining us live -- Rula.
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the president laid out a long list of charges against Iraq, and Baghdad says it's all lies. On Iraq's television, on the satellite channel, one political commentator said that the president had failed to deliver what he had promised for weeks: conclusive evidence that Iraq does have weapons of mass destruction.
On Iraq's television main evening news, they ignored the speech completely, no mention of it whatsoever. The only official comment we heard was from Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations, who said it was all fabrications, that the U.S. is driven by the president -- the president is driven by domestic, political ambitions, that he wants to have a personal revenge against Iraq and the Iraqi president.
Iraqi officials are saying the U.S. is using the weapons of mass destruction issue as a pretext to attack Iraq, to launch a strike against them because what the goal -- the goal is to control the region and its oil -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Rula Amin -- in Baghdad, thank you very much.
He had his own problems with Saddam Hussein and tried to resolve them with limited military action. The former president, Bill Clinton, appearing last night with David Letterman, commented on his successor's get-tough approach.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think the president is doing the right thing to go to the United Nations, to ask them to do something, and I hope that whatever we do -- I think we need to turn up the heat. I think it is just a mistake to walk away from this.
But I think that we should because the precedent of our acting alone might some day come back to haU.N.t us in something somebody else does.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Now, with his crucial, very tough speech over at the U.N. behind him, the president must now wait to see if he gets the support he needs from key U.S. allies. Many had expressed serious reservations about going to war to oust Saddam Hussein even before the president's remarks at the U.N. earlier today.
Did he make his case? We turn to four strategic countries to find out.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour is in Islamabad, Pakistan; Jerrold Kessel is in Jerusalem; Jim Bittermann is in Paris; and our bureau chief, Jill Dougherty, is in Moscow.
We begin with Christiane Amanpour in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, you remember in the first Gulf War, most of the Arab and Muslim world either supported or was neutral in the U.S. campaign to evict Saddam Hussein from Kuwait.
This time around, it's not so clear. They feel either cool or down right against any military intervention. Pakistan, a solid U.S. ally in the war on terror, says it does not want to get Pakistan involved in any military intervention in Iraq, feeling that it has too much on its hands right now: the war on terror, the hunt against Islamic militants here at home, the looming Kashmir conflict with its nuclear rival India.
Afghanistan, which has directly benefited from U.S. military intervention, very nervous about a possible military intervention in Iraq, saying it wants any kind of crisis resolved through the U.N. Security Council and through diplomatic means.
Iran, on the other hand, which is one of the other countries the U.S. lists as the "axis of evil," is saying that, just as in the first Gulf War, it will remain neutral if there is military intervention in Iraq, although nervous about any growing U.S. influence in this region.
So people here are quite concerned. This is obviously the beginning of the U.S. effort to gain support, but at the moment, at this stage, people in this region quite concerned about the way forward.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Jerrold Kessel in Jerusalem. If President Bush was suggesting that there's unfinished business with Saddam Hussein's Iraq, Israel is an entire country that feels there's such unfinished business.
Israel is behind, absolutely and solidly behind, the president's determination to switch the global war on terror to Iraq. Precisely what needs to be done, argue Israeli leaders.
Alongside that, there are quiet preparations for what might happen should Iraq attack Israel if it comes under a U.S. attack. Gas masks are being replenished, and patriot antiballistic missile systems are being deployed at sensitive spots aroU.N.d the coU.N.try.
A decade ago, during the Gulf War, 39 Iraqi scuds thudded into Israeli cities. Israel, at Washington's behest, sat on its powerful arsenal. Now, a critical factor in Israeli thinking, Israel wants everyone to know that, if it is attacked this time, it will fight back. And fight back hard.
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jim Bittermann in Paris, where the reaction has been quite positive to George Bush's speech because he has indicated that he's going to act in a multilateral fashion and not act unilaterally.
The foreign minister here, Dominique de Villepin, held a news conference shortly after the president held his speech, and he said that all the energy of the international community had to be brought together to cope with the threat from Saddam Hussein. And he said that he agreed with the U.S. idea that weapons inspectors had to be brought back into Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOMINIQUE DE VILLEPIN, FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): There's a broad consensus emerging. I think it is important to understand the need to maintain consistency, and that is why we insist on these two stages, to set the objective of a return of the inspectors and to do so collectively.
The entire international community should support this objective. This consensus will, you can imagine, exercise strong pressure on Iraq, and it's very important to show this cohesion on the part of the international community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BITTERMANN: Neither de Villepin, nor his president, would commit to sending military troops into action to topple Saddam Hussein, but both did say that all options should be considered if Iraq continues to defy the will of the United Nations.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: I'm Jill Dougherty in Moscow. Russia heard a lot of what it wanted to hear from George W. Bush. After all, Russia agrees with the United States and with the United Nations that the international weapons inspector should be allowed back in Baghdad.
There also is a growing sense of frustration with the intransigence of Saddam Hussein. The question for far Russia has been the use of force. And so far, Russia has been saying it does not agree that there should be a use of force, and it has made it very clear that it does not want any unilateral military action by the United States.
But what Russia hasn't said is, if Saddam Hussein, at this point, does not permit inspections or, in fact, interferes with them, what then? And many here in Russia are now saying that if the U.N. Security Council should take a vote on the use of force, then Russia might step aside or perhaps, some say, it might even vote for the use of force. Back to you -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jill Dougherty -- in Moscow, thanks very much. Thanks to our other correspondents around the world, as well.
Here is your chance to weigh in on this story. Our "Web Question of the Day" is this: did President Bush effectively make his case against Iraq to the United Nations? We'll have the results later this hour. You can go and vote at my web page, cnn.com/wolf.
While you are 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, of course, where you can read my daily on-line column, cnn.com/wolf.
And we're following this developing story here in Washington, D.C., just information we've received from our Senior White House Correspondent John King. He's in New York covering the president.
Senior official tells John that the vice president, Dick Cheney, is scheduled to undergo what's described as a periodic heart check up tomorrow. The routine exams include an EKG, electrocardiogram, and a scan of the ICD regulating device implanted in the vice president's chest. That, of course, monitors any irregular heartbeat that the vice president may experience.
As of its last checkup, we're told from John King, back in February, the official said the device had never activated. It could either slow down or activate, depending on the vice president's heartbeat.
Aides insist the test is routine, nothing to be alarmed about. Cheney's regular doctors are saying this will take only a few hours. We'll continue to monitor this situation as well.
When we come back, America on alert. How soon before Code Orange changes colors again?
The first pictures out of the latest mission in the war on terror. We'll take you al Qaeda hunting in Afghanistan.
And more signs the U.S. is gearing up for war against Iraq. Can America fight two wars at the same time?
But first, we asked our viewers what they think.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe that he's doing the right thing. I mean, he's a good president for this issue, and I believe that -- yes, he's definitely the right president. He's the man.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I think that Saddam Hussein does need to be out of power, but, at the same time, I'm not sure, if we don't have the support with the rest of the U.N. and other countries, that we should just go in and try to take care of this ourselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(AUDIO/VIDEO GAP)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): ... Qatar's Al-Udeid Air Base is shaping up as the linchpin of U.S. military planning for war against Iraq. It's where the U.S. military will construct a portable headquarters for 600 key people from the U.S. central command, who will move there in November in what the pentagon claims is an "exercise."
Al-Udeid is already the site of a high-tech U.S. command center, hardened shelters for 100 aircraft, and the longest runway in the Persian Gulf.
The Qatari foreign minister, who meets with pentagon officials Friday, publicly maintains his country has not given the U.S. permission to use the base to strike Iraq.
SHEIKH HAMAD, QATARI FOREIGN MINISTER: If they ask us, we will look at this seriously. But, at the moment, there is no decision because there is nobody asks us about this.
MCINTYRE: But, while Qatar holds out hope U.N. inspections will avert war, the U.S. is moving ahead with low-profile preparations, everything from building up ammunition stocks, to slowly sending more equipment to the region. And the pentagon says it is fully capable of waging war against Iraq, even while fighting continues in Afghanistan.
MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: There is simply no doubt that a U.S. military of 1.4 million active duty troops can find 250,000 for Iraq, at the same time that we devote 20,000 or 30,000 to Afghanistan. This is doable, even if there may be some strains here and there.
MCINTYRE: Two things in short supply: unmanned spy planes and U.S. Special Operations troops.
(on camera): And just this week, sources say, the U.S. Central Commander, General Tommy Franks, briefed the joint chiefs of staff on his latest war planning for Iraq, including an updated target list. But the major military build-up has yet to begin, and for now, it appears war is months away.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: In Afghanistan, American Special Operations forces hit pay dirt during a sweep of an al Qaeda are, at least an area considered pro-al Qaeda.
CNN's Ryan Chilcote went along on that mission and joins us now live from Kandahar to tell us about it.
Ryan -- tell us what you found out.
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Wolf.
"Operation Champion Strike" was the U.S.' first large-scale push against Taliban and al Qaeda targets in Afghanistan in the last two weeks, since "Operation Mountain Sweep" ended. The operation ended September 11 with the Army saying they bagged a top level al Qaeda financier and two rank and file al Qaeda fighters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Troops in the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne landed in two different locations in eastern Afghanistan Bermel Valley over the weekend. As apache attack helicopters buzzed overhead and paratroopers pulled security, American and afghan soldiers swept through a suspected al Qaeda recruitment center and dozens of compounds in search of Taliban and al Qaeda personnel.
Allied Afghan soldiers frisked the men. Female U.S. soldiers searched the women. Hidden under a burka, one woman had a 30-round magazine tucked under her breast and an AK-47 taped to her leg. Nine men were detained in the operation, but on the whole, the valley appeared benign.
(on camera): The fighting Taliban and al Qaeda fighters and their weapons in a village like this is a bit like finding a needle in a hay stack.
(voice-over): But look they did, crawling through haylofts, storming into bedrooms, busting open chests, tapping walls and pouring over scraps of paper. The troops never got a chance to shoot at Taliban or al Qaeda.
This household had 17 anti-tank rockets hidden under their staircase, but the owner wasn't home.
LT. COL. DAVID GERRAD, 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION: We've got those that oppose peace, we've got them on the run over here. We want to deny Afghanistan or other nations, for that matter, for providing sanctuary or places for terrorists to train, equip or have sanctuary. But the fact that they are on the move is preventing them from planning future attacks.
CHILCOTE: The troops didn't come back with any big surprises for September 11, but then again, they say this war just started and it certainly won't end with its anniversary.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(on camera): Back to you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Ryan, before I let you go, I'm wondering how the 82nd Airborne prepared you to go on this mission with them. What did they tell you in advance?
CHILCOTE: Well, the 82nd Airborne brought me to all of the briefings and dress rehearsals, if you will, for this operation. They plan these operations very meticulously. They told me to bring enough water, enough food, sleeping bag, flak jacket, a kevlar helmet and, of course, tape, also, that the soldiers wear on their clothing that signifies to AC-130 gun ships overhead that they're friendly troops.
So they brought me up to speed. They also told me that we were expecting perhaps a gunfight upon landing. They thought there might be as many as one or two dozen Chechen fighters waiting for us there.
Back to you, Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Ryan Chilcote -- on the scene for us in Kandahar, thanks for that report.
And let's get some perspective now on the news we just reported on Vice President Dick Cheney going in for what the White House describes as some routine tests for his heart tomorrow.
Let's bring in our doctor, our resident CNN medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
It sounds very routine. I guess there's no big deal. Is that what you're sensing as well, Dr. Gupta?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, not a surprise at all that Vice President Cheney is having this test. Certainly, the sort of device that he has -- and we've heard a lot about this. But the device, basically, is what is known as an implantable defibrillator. So this is something that is actually in his body.
And what it' designed to do, Wolf, is actually detect any sort of abnormal heartbeat. And if the abnormal heartbeat occurs, it actually shocks his heart back into a normal rhythm.
What we hear in February, which was the last time he actually had this thing checked out, was that it had never gone off, meaning that he didn't actually have any irregular heartbeats requiring that it actually do go off.
The test that he's having tomorrow will be an EKG, which is a standard test, actually, to look at heart rhythms. And they're actually going to do a scan to find out if all the -- if the defibrillator that's implanted is actually in the right spot. And we're certainly going to follow that, as well, tomorrow morning Wolf.
BLITZER: One question may or may not be related to Vice President Cheney, Sanjay, the whole issue of stress and heart disease. If you are under a lot of stress, is that effectively, the conventional wisdom -- could affect your cardiac, your heart -- has that scientifically been proven?
GUPTA: Well, certainly, that's one of the most studied things in medicine, no question. There have been some associations between stress and heart disease and even heart attacks, but there has never been a direct cause and effect.
One thing I'll point out, Wolf, is that since Vice President Cheney has become vice president, this particular device actually never went off, meaning he had no irregular heartbeats, which we know he had in the past, at least four previous heart attacks.
So I don't know if that's any kind of indicator, but it appears his heart appears to be doing quite well.
BLITZER: And good for that. That's Dr. Sanjay Gupta -- thank you very much.
GUPTA: Thank you.
BLITZER: I can only personally testify. I recently saw him. He looked great. I had a chance to speak with his wife, Lynn Cheney. She says he is doing just fine, as well. So a routine checkup for the vice president, nothing to be alarmed about, once again.
Thank you very much, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
When we come back, an alleged terrorist explains his motives: new information about the mind of an attempted shoe bomber, Richard Reid.
And a ship off Staten Island: the Feds move in to investigate radiation. Our Susan Candiotti has a live report from the high seas.
And down and out in California: what appeared -- what happened indeed to the actor, Nick Nolte?
But first, a look at news making headlines "Around the World."
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat must assemble a new cabinet. The old one, criticized as corrupt and inefficient, resigned under pressure from the Palestinian Legislative Council in what's seen as a major blow to Arafat's prestige.
Italian police say they've arrested 15 suspected al Qaeda members who entered Italian waters aboard a cargo ship. The ship was headed from Morocco to Lybia when it stopped along the coast of Sicily, apparently because it was running short on supplies.
Thirty-six more North Korean refugees have arrived in South Korea by way of international missions in China. They joined dozens of earlier defectors escaping political repression and economic strife.
U.S. forces in Afghanistan aren't the only ones conducting a search for Osama bin Laden. A movie director in Belgium held auditions, hoping to find someone to play bin Laden in the new film described as a black comedy.
British designers are showing off their styles as London Fashion Week begins. Although, some big names have departed for Paris, Milan and New York, boosters say London is a launching pad for top designers of the future.
We know an elephant can trumpet, but can it play xylophone? Apparently so, if it's a member of Thailand's Elephant Orchestra. Their human conductor says that after an hour or two of training, these pachyderm performers practiced on their own. It may look more like a circus than a symphony, but if these musicians go on tour, rest assured, they'll carry their own trunks. And that's our "Look Around The World."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Coming up, the architects of September 11 on tape, but first let's take a look at some other stories making news right now.
Although, September 11 is over, the United States will remain under a Code Orange alert. That's the word from the Office of Homeland Security. The government raised its assessment of the terrorist threat this week partly because of the 9/11 anniversary, but authorities say a decision to lower the assessment will depend on intelligence information and no change is expected this week or next.
There's a report that the ousted Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, is still alive and making new threats. The Middle East based Al Jazeera television network says it's received a statement from Omar declaring the Taliban will fight to regain power in Afghanistan. The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has previously expressed the belief Omar is still alive, and he blames the Taliban for last week's attempt to assassinate him.
There's new information about the accused shoe bomber, Richard Reid. Newly released transcripts suggest he was motivated by a hatred of Israel. CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Richard Reid told FBI interrogators he was working alone when he allegedly attempted to set off bombs in his shoes aboard an American Airlines flight last December. In newly released court documents, Reid told the FBI a trip to Israel last July was the breaking point for him.
According the account, the site of, quote, "shoes with guns" inside the al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem made him angry. He also told interrogators he learned how to build the explosive devices that were found inside his shoes on the Internet and that he bought materials to build them in Amsterdam on the black market for $1,500.
Despite Reid's claims, sources have told CNN they do not believe he acted alone and have said he could not have pulled off an attack by himself. Seemingly, supporting that the FBI uncovered a series of e- mails believed to have been sent from Paris to an unnamed counterpart, which investigators say hint at the plan.
There are also e-mails to Reid's mother. In one, Reid talks about his duty to -- quote -- "help remove the oppressive American forces from the Muslim's land." In another, he indicates he expects to die -- quote -- "doing his part of the ongoing war between Islam and disbelief."
Reid told the FBI the idea of putting a device in his shoes came to him after he noticed Israeli airline security did not check the inside of his footwear.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: This is not the first time prosecutors have made details of Reid's motivation available. But the new revelations provide a more comprehensive look at the man charged with attempting to kill himself and 196 other people during the holiday season last year. Reid's trial is set to begin in November.
Wolf, back to you.
BLITZER: Fascinating, very fascinating, Kelli. Thank you very much for that report.
ARENA: You're welcome.
BLITZER: Meanwhile, off the New Jersey coast, investigators from the FBI, the Energy Department and the Pentagon are combing a container ship after a Coast Guard team detected radiation onboard yesterday. Our national correspondent, Susan Candiotti, is on a boat very close by. She's joining us on the phone now with the late breaking developments.
What are we hearing most recently, Susan?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as we approached this ship, we're being kept at a legal and safe distance, about 1,000 yards away from it.
We've not yet quite approached that perimeter. This perimeter is set up by the U.S. Coast Guard. And the ship itself is flanked by two U.S. Coast Guard vessels. This is roughly six miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean, away from New York, between Long Island and New Jersey, off the coast of Nassau County, if you're familiar with Long Island.
The ship is called the Palermo Senator. We've been telling you about this since yesterday. It contains more than 650 containers. It's a 700-foot long ship. And when this ship came into port or attempted to come into port, they boarded the vessel and found some traces of radiation. This is part of a normal test conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard.
At that point, the FBI was called in and with assistance from the Department of Energy, Navy personnel and some equipment on loan from the Navy. They have now taken the ship back out to sea since yesterday and been going through, as best they can, all of these containers.
The ship has been at sea since June with stops including Hong Kong, Egypt, and Spain in late August. At this point, authorities say they have no cause for public safety -- the safety of the general public, but again they're taking no chances and want to use this equipment to go through as many of the containers as they can.
But as you can imagine, Wolf, it's a tedious job.
BLITZER: Tedious but very, very important. Susan Candiotti, thank you very much for that report.
The architects of September 11 on tape. You may have never heard of them but they've been keeping an eye on this country. Our Sheila MacVicar joins us live with new details on these terror suspects.
Plus, oops, they did it again. Florida bungles another election. Find out who's counting ballots this time.
But first, today's "News Quiz."
Yesterday, on September 11, the winning numbers of the New York Lottery came up 911. What are the odds of that happening? One in five billion, one in five trillion, one in one million, one in one thousand? The answer coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
If U.S. officials can't capture Osama bin Laden, they'd like nothing better than to get their hands on two of his top lieutenants, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh. The gulf-based Al Jazeera television network today released an audiotape interview of one of their correspondents reportedly had with the two men. Earlier on this -- earlier this week on this program, I spoke with that reporter. Our senior international correspondent, Sheila MacVicar, is joining us now from London with more on this fascinating, potential development.
Sheila, tell us all about it.
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this is a documentary that appeared in the last couple of hours on the Arabic language TV news channel Al Jazeera.
Now, if these voices are the voices of the men that they say they are, then Al Jazeera has talked to two of the most wanted men on the planet. Both of whom have confessed in these audiotapes to intimate involvement in the planning and execution of the events of 9/11.
Now, first, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed believed to be the head of al Qaeda's military committee. A $25 million price tag on his head, someone who was previously associated with attempting to carry out other terrorist attacks and someone, who investigators have been pointing towards, of course, over the last number of months as someone who might have been very important indeed in 9/11. This is what he had to say on tape about the planning.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMMED, BIN LADEN LIEUTENANT (through translator): Preparation for the Washington and New York raids started two-and-a-half years earlier. We had a large surplus and brothers willing to die as martyrs. As we studied various targets, nuclear facilities arose as a key option.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
MACVICAR: Now, that was nuclear facilities, he said, Wolf. They did, he says; think about bombing or driving those planes into nuclear plants. And they concluded that they could not be sure what kind of reaction would be created, if in fact, it would, in their words, "run out of control," and so, instead they picked the targets that we are much more familiar with.
One more thing on the subject of targeting. They say that the fourth target was not the White House, as U.S. investigators have believed, but Capitol Hill.
Now, the second man, Ramzi Binalshibh, a key member of the Hamburg cell, a roommate of Mohammad Atta, the lead hijacker pilot, someone ho has been named by U.S. investigators as himself trying to become a hijacker. He tried on three different occasions to get a visa to come into the United States. He was left behind in Germany where he provided key logistics. He says, in late August 2001, he got a phone call from Mohammed Atta.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
RAMZI BINALSHIBH, BIN LADEN LIEUTENANT (through translator): He told me in Egyptian dialect, "A friend of mine gave me a puzzle. I'm unable to solve it and that's why I'm calling you, to try and help me." I said to him, "Is this time for puzzles, Mohammed?" He said, "That's all right. You're my friend and no one else can help but you." I said, "Go ahead, tell me." He said, "Two sticks, a dash and a cake with a stick down, facing down. What is it?" I said, "Did you wake me up to tell this puzzle?"
As it turns out, sticks is the number 11, dash, and a cake with a stick down and the number nine. And that was the relevance of September.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
MACVICAR: Now, that's the moment, according to the voices on these tape recordings, that the bin Laden network learned that the date of the attack was to be September 11, something they say that Osama bin Laden himself did not know until Ramzi Binalshibh was able to get out of Europe and arrive in Afghanistan on September 6 -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Sheila MacVicar in London, very, very fascinating. Thank you very much. Those two sticks, of course, could have been the Twin Towers, as well, if you're looking at a puzzle. Appreciate it very much.
Could the State of Florida have blown it, again, in a crucial election? Voting irregularities, questionable results -- sound familiar?
And a break in the criminal case of NBA star, Allen Iverson. We'll tell you all about it just ahead.
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BLITZER: Welcome back.
Election officials in Florida say there will not be an automatic recount in the Democratic primary race for governor. That puts political newcomer, Bill McBride one step closer to facing the incumbent governor, Jeb Bush, in November. Unofficial results show McBride about 8,000 votes ahead of Janet Reno. Her campaign manager says the former attorney general is questioning the results, and may decide later today whether to demand a recount or sue to overturn the election.
In a replay of the 2000 presidential race, there are reports of widespread polling problems, including stations that opened late and malfunctioning equipment.
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GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: Well, I'm very angry. I'm very disappointed. And you know, 65 counties got it right. We passed the law. We put more money into the budgets to upgrade the machines and for training. And we have a provisional ballot that should eliminate any kind of confusion, that people can cast their ballot without being pushed aside. There's a statewide voter list that's now in place. The state has done its part. We responded to the 2000 election and it is unconscionable.
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BLITZER: And let's check some other stories on this evening's "Newswire." Late this afternoon, a federal judge refused to reinstate the former Miss North Carolina, who resigned over topless photos taken by an ex-boyfriend. Both she and her replacement were taking part in the Miss America pageant ahead of the decision. The judge says the pageant can still let both women compete if officials choose to do so.
Results of a blood test found on the actor, Nick Nolte, are pending. The actor was arrested yesterday near his Malibu, California, home on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The arresting officer described Nolte as drooling and disheveled. Nolte was released on $2,500 bail.
And Philadelphia prosecutors plan to drop criminal charges against NBA star Allen Iverson. He initially faced 14 counts, including four felonies, for allegedly threatening two men with a gun while looking for his wife. That was later reduced to two misdemeanor charges. But, the district attorney's office says, Iverson's accusers don't want to pursue the case anymore.
Injecting poison in your face to smooth out those wrinkles? The FDA says that's fine, but orders the maker of Botox to pull its ads. Find out why the company is refusing. Stay with us.
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BLITZER: Earlier we asked, what are the odds that on 9/11 the winning numbers of the New York Lottery would be 911? According to the New York Lottery, the answer is one in 1,000, the same as they are any other day -- fascinating.
A battle has broken out between the Food and Drug Administration and the makers of Botox, a popular treatment used to erase some facial wrinkles at least temporarily.
Our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is at CNN Center in Atlanta. She has details.
A lot of our viewers are interested in Botox. What's going on?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Absolutely, Wolf.
Well, the clash is over promotional brochures that are being put out for Botox as well as for ads that are being put on television for Botox. The FDA says that both of those are misleading, that they are not being done right. Apparently, the ads are encouraging people, according to the FDA, to get these shots for wrinkles other than the ones between the eyebrows. Botox is only approved for wrinkles between the eyebrows, the ones that are right there, not that I have any. They are not approved for the wrinkles that are on other parts of the face and so; the FDA says that needs to be changed.
They also say that the makers of Botox are not telling people that this is temporary. You need to get these shots more -- you can't just get them once, you need to get them every three to four months. And so, the FDA says pull these ads. However, the company that makes Botox, called Allergan -- they so, "No, we think the ads are fine and we're keeping them" -- Wolf.
BLITZER: What power does the FDA have to do this, to pull commercials from the air? COHEN: Well, they do have a power, but it is a long process. They've written this first letter. If the company sticks to its guns and says, "No, we're not pulling them off the air," then, they write them more letters. Here -- you have the ad here. These are ads where you can hear, Wow!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's magic. It's Botox Cosmetic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: So that is not magic, it's Botox Cosmetics. Well, the FDA doesn't like these ads. And what the FDA can do is they then can write more letters. And then, in the end, they could actually seize the project or seek an injunction in court, but this is a long process. This is not something that's done overnight -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Elizabeth Cohen, who does not need Botox...
COHEN: Well, thank you.
BLITZER: ... has no wrinkles whatsoever, thanks for joining us.
Time is running out to weigh in on our "Web Question of The Day." Did President Bush effectively make his case against Iraq before the United Nations? Log on to cnn.com/wolf. That's where you can vote. The results when we come back.
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BLITZER: 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 -- Lou.
LOU DOBBS, HOST, "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE": Wolf, thank you very much.
Coming up at the top of the hour, President Bush demands that the United Nations take action against Iraq or lose its relevance. The president says the United States is prepared to act alone should the United Nations not live up to its responsibilities.
We'll have live report from the United Nations and Baghdad and the foreign minister of Qatar is my guest tonight.
The preliminary results, as well, in Florida's primaries are in. Once again, however, the Florida voting system had major problems. I'll be talking with pollsters, John Zogby and political analyst, Ron Faucheaux.
Stocks tumble on Wall Street today. We'll have complete coverage of the market.
All of that and more coming at the top of the hour. Please join us. Now back to Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.
BLITZER: An excellent rundown as usual. Thank you very much, Lou.
Our "Picture of The Day" is a postscript to yesterday's anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks. This morning, the unidentified remains of victims of the attack on the Pentagon were buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The cremated remains were in an urn placed inside a coffin. The grave will be marked by a granite memorial listing the names of all 184 people killed in that attack, including five, for whom no remains were ever positively identified.
Earlier we asked -- did President Bush effectively make his case against Iraq at the U.N.? Sixty-three percent of you say, "yes," 37 percent say, "no." This is not, remember, a scientific poll.
Some of our e-mails. Matthew writing this -- "I was also at the memorial yesterday at the Pentagon and I wanted to add to your point about how eerie it was. Driving around the Pentagon, it felt more like a high security battle zone than an office building. I felt all the pain and anguish of the unlucky souls who died there last year."
And Willis offered this criticism -- "We need to move on and realize that we cannot stand still in time and mourn forever. We live and die. That's life. To continually mourn and blame 9/11 is almost sick."
That's all the time we have today. Join me again tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Eastern as usual -- a great lineup, including Steven Van Zandt of "The Sopranos."
Until then, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" begins right now.
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