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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Bush Administration Presses Congress to OK Use of Force Against Iraq; U.S. Had Information About 9/11 Attack Before the Disaster
Aired September 18, 2002 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Now on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS: showdown Iraq. As the U.N. deliberates, the Bush administration presses Congress to move ahead on the use of force.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it's an important signal. It's an important signal for the country. As importantly, it's an important signal for the world to see that this country is united in our resolve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: But there are dissenting voices.
Shocking findings by congressional investigators: The U.S. had information about a 9/11 scenario years before 9/11.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our intelligence agency suffered an utter collapse in their duties and responsibilities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: I'll speak live with the chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. A serial rapist stalks a college town with classes due to resume, we'll hear what police have in mind. And the day the first President Bush almost died.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He was crying, throwing up, and swimming like hell. He could have made the Olympics that day but we had to get out of there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: CNN's Paula Zahn with an exclusive interview. It's Wednesday, September 18, 2002. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. President Bush met today with congressional leaders and secured a pledge they'll work for a quick vote authorizing military action even as his case against Iraq threatens to get bogged down at the United Nations.
Our senior White House correspondent John King picks up the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Progress in working with Congress on Iraq, but clear frustration that some at the United Nations seem inclined to take Saddam Hussein at his word.
G.W. BUSH: This is just a ploy. This is a tactic. This is a way to try to say to the world, oh I'm a wonderful, peaceful fellow when, in fact, he not only kills his own people, he's terrorized his neighborhood and he's developing weapons of mass destruction. We must deal with him.
KING: Iraq's offer to let weapons inspectors return is making it more difficult for the White House to sell the idea of a tough new United Nations resolution. Key Security Council members, Russia and France, say the U.N. should first put Iraq's new promise to the test. Vice President Cheney echoed the president's skepticism.
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the letter the regime says it has no weapons of mass destruction but we know that is a lie.
KING: Mr. Cheney also made clear there is a backup plan if the administration doesn't get its way at the United Nations.
CHENEY: The government of the United States will not look the other way as threats gather against the American people.
KING: But, for now, the focus remains on U.N. diplomacy. Secretary of State Powell briefed the president on the negotiations and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld told Congress it could help the cause by quickly passing a resolution supporting the president.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: It's clear this is a critical moment for our country and for the world. Our resolve is being put to the test.
KING: Congress still has questions about how long a war would take and how much it could cost, but the leadership promised the president a resolution within the next two weeks. That leaves the United Nations as the president's major challenge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: And senior administration officials insist their private diplomacy is going much better than the public debate would suggest. The critical test of that, though, likely to come early next week. U.S. and British diplomats are working on a resolution to put to the U.N. Security Council. They hope to have the language ready next week and they hope to share it with the other permanent members of the Security Council and convince them the U.N. should go on the record and make a clear ultimatum that military force will follow if Saddam doesn't keep his commitments. Wolf.
BLITZER: John, how far does the president want the Congress to go in the resolution that they are about to pass presumably?
KING: The language is still being debated but we are told the president told Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle today it would be totally unacceptable. We are told those were the president's words when Daschle suggested some Democrats want to authorize the use of military force only if the United Nations does so as well.
Mr. Bush does not want that, does not want his hands tied if you will, and we are told the language will closely track previous resolutions where the Congress has authorized the president to use all appropriate means or all necessary means. That was the language used say in the case of the ongoing war in Afghanistan, back during the Clinton administration in Kosovo. The administration says it is closely following the language that has been used in these situations in the past.
BLITZER: John King at the White House with the very latest, thank you very much.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUMSFELD: ...where such an attack occurs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes Mr. Rumsfeld, I think we need weapons inspections not war. Why are we stopping the inspections? Is this really about oil? How many civilians will be killed? How many (UNINTELLIGIBLE) will be killed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary would you suspend for a minute.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If this is really about oil, why is (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we could ask the staff to see to it that our guest is escorted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: The Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ran into some opposition today as demonstrators chanted "inspections not war" during his appearance before the House Armed Services Committee. The hecklers were quickly hustled out of the room.
The drumbeat for war is dominating news across the country. We wanted to look outside the Washington beltway for a peek at what the op-ed pages are saying in your part of the country. This for example, from the Des Moines Register: "Last week, President Bush laid the problem of Iraq squarely at the feet of the United Nations. Now he must allow ample time for the U.N. to follow through."
The "Philadelphia Inquirer" weighed in with this: "Is the administration ready to handle fallout from an Iraq War? As the White House gears up for war, one can only hope they're as prepared for Mideast dystopia as for the rosy scenarios administration officials are spinning." And out West, the "Los Angeles Times" had this: "If the inspectors who now go to Iraq find new weaponry, it can easily be destroyed, but that would cheat Bush of an excuse for the war he desperately wants," strong opinions out there outside of Washington.
A dissenting voice on U.S. Middle East policy, he's often talked the talk. Now he's walked the walk. Just back from Baghdad and meetings with top Iraqi officials, Democratic Congressman Nick Rahale of West Virginia joins us now live from Capitol Hill. You just came back from Baghdad. Do you believe your visit there with other critics of the Bush administration's policy led to Saddam Hussein's decision to accept U.N. inspectors supposedly without conditions?
REP. NICK RAHALE (D), WEST VIRGINIA: I think we had an effect, yes Wolf. I met with Tariq Aziz the Deputy Prime Minister for over two hours and stressed very strongly to him that George Bush is serious, that the only glimmer of hope he had to prevent a devastating defeat for his people, and it will be devastating, is to accept the unconditional and unfettered access by U.N. weapons inspectors to his country.
BLITZER: Do you believe, Congressman, he will do that once these inspectors, for example, show up at one of his presidential palaces? Will they be allowed to go wherever they want for example?
RAHALE: They must be allowed to go wherever they want. I made that clear as well. The presidential palaces, the school buildings, the mosques, every site must be available for inspection without Iraqi security following them around. The weapons inspectors must be able to ask whomever, whatever questions they want.
I think it's important to note here in the Iraqi's latest motion to accept unconditional inspectors, that's not all the way I grant you and he has lied before, I grant you, but at least, Wolf, it is a step in the door, an attempt to jar that door slightly open, however slightly toward a peaceful resolution of this issue.
The Iraqis are looking for a peaceful resolution. They're looking for some light at the end of the tunnel and I don't think the administration should be slamming that door so tightly shut that they're putting a bolt across it at the same time.
BLITZER: So, is it fair to say, Congressman, you returned from Baghdad with your delegation convinced that the Iraqi government was sincere this time in their willingness to let those inspectors back in?
RAHALE: Yes. I think they are sincere. Now, only time will tell of course and it could very well be proven that he's lying again, but let me say here that you have to understand the Iraqis firmly believe that George Bush is going to strike no matter what they do. They see statements coming from the vice president, from the secretary of defense, saying weapons inspectors don't matter. We're going to bomb anyway so human nature tells you why should I give in if it's going to be inevitable that war is going to come and face my country. BLITZER: If the Iraqis are engaging as U.S. officials believe in a so-called rope-a-dope strategy to just delay, cheat, and retreat as they've done in the past, would you then, if the inspectors come back in but they're stonewalled, would you at some point down the road support military action if it comes down to that?
RAHALE: Without a doubt. I supported President George Bush the first in his very effectively put together international coalition and I would support this president if indeed Saddam Hussein turns out to be lying, if he's hiding something and if he turns away the weapons inspectors for whatever reason, yes I'd be ready to do that.
BLITZER: Congressman Rahale, thanks for joining us, just back from Baghdad. We'll get back to you, of course, as this story continues to unfold.
And here's your chance to weigh in on this very important story. Our web question of the day is this: Do you believe an attack against Iraq will do more harm than good? We'll have the results later in this program. Vote at cnn.com/wolf. While you're there, send me your comments. We'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 online column, cnn.com/wolf.
Spearheaded by Special Ops forces, the U.S. military may be ready to open a new front in the war on terrorism, more now from CNN Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With U.S. intelligence indicating a number of al Qaeda fugitives are hiding out in remote areas of Yemen, the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden, the U.S. military has quietly moved some 800 troops, including about 200 Special Operations commandos to nearby Djibouti where they, along with CIA forces, are poised to hunt down, capture, or kill al Qaeda fugitives.
The East African nation is ideally positioned to serve as a launching pad for covert snatch missions either into Yemen or Somalia both places where al Qaeda operatives have sought refuge in the past. The U.S. amphibious assault ship Bella Wood (ph) is nearby in the Arabian Sea and could be used as a staging area for Special Operations troops and their helicopters.
Both Yemen and Somalia are the responsibility of General Tommy Franks who while running the war in Afghanistan is also meeting with Gulf allies like Qatar as he plans for possible war with Iraq. But the Pentagon denies it is shifting the counterterrorism mission to the U.S. Special Operations command in order to free up ranks to concentrate on Iraq.
RUMSFELD: The idea that there's going to be a massive change and the Special Operations people will in every instance be the supported CINC or combatant command is just not the case. MCINTYRE: Pentagon officials say the increased role for Special Operations troops is simply the next logical step as the pursuit of al Qaeda moves to other countries. It's also a recognition that terrorist networks don't fit neatly into the traditional geographical responsibility of U.S. commanders.
GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: What we're trying to do is ensure that in a global war, we have the kind of view, in some cases a global view is required because these networks, I mean they don't respect any boundaries.
MCINTYRE (on camera): At the moment, there's no indication that any mission is imminent involving the U.S. troops in Djibouti, but if the U.S. gets actionable intelligence about the whereabouts of al Qaeda suspects, the forces are ready to move on short notice. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: A plan to fly planes into the World Trade Center, a top secret report made public today, how much did the U.S. know before September 11? An intelligence debrief when we return.
A scare on a college campus, just before thousands of students resume classes. Plus, President Bush, the father, like you've rarely seen him before, an exclusive interview about his near death experience.
And, mark one up for the workers of Hershey, Pennsylvania, the world's most famous chocolate maker makes a big decision about its future. But first, today's news quiz.
Hershey's kisses have been around since 1907 but what caused their production to stop briefly, the Johnstown Flood, World War II, the Vietnam War, a railroad strike? The answer coming up.
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(AUDIO/VIDEO GAP)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: ...intelligence failures, the committee staff director was questioned about 400,000 classified documents she and her staff have reviewed.
SEN. BARBARA MIKULSKI (D) MARYLAND: Do you believe that there is a smoking gun on what went wrong or were there just a series of total disconnects?
ELEANOR HILL, INQUIRY STAFF DIRECTOR: If you mean by smoking gun that somebody had information of when, where, how this was going to happen in the United States government, we have not found that.
ENSOR: But Hill's report does say there was evidence of a threat to the U.S. homeland from al Qaeda, and evidence the terrorists wanted to use planes as terrorist weapons. In August, 1998, the intelligence community obtained information that a group of unidentified Arabs planned to fly an explosive laden plane from a foreign country into the World Trade Center.
The report also says in the fall of 1998, the intelligence community received information concerning a bin Laden plot involving aircraft in the New York and Washington areas. And, it says in April of 2001, the intelligence community obtained information from a source with terrorist connections who speculated that bin Laden would be interested in commercial pilots as potential terrorists.
SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D), INTELLIGENCE CHMN: Collectively, I think there was enough there that we should have done a better job of seeing what was coming and hopefully with luck stopping it.
ENSOR: The committee also discussed a dispute with the Bush administration over whether it can make public information about a senior al Qaeda figure whom CNN has learned is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, information the committee says that suggests U.S. intelligence knew about him since 1995 and badly underestimated his importance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: The committee report lists a lot of unconnected dots but CIA officials say remember the context. It's easy now to connect the dots among tens of thousands of other intelligence reports. Wolf, it wasn't so easy for those attacks though.
BLITZER: David Ensor on Capitol Hill, thank you very much for that report.
For more on these intelligence failures and the changes that might be required as a result of what investigators found, I'm joined now by the Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Bob Graham of Florida and the Vice Chairman Richard Shelby of Alabama. Senators thanks for joining us. Senator Graham, was someone asleep at the switch?
SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: What I think happened, Wolf, is we had a lot of intelligence agencies collecting blocks of information which they largely kept to themselves. Had all of those blocks been put down on one table before the eyes of an informed and curious and creative analyst, it's possible that they could have seen a pattern emerging. That would have led to more questions being asked, more information being put on the table and, with some luck, possibly could have interdicted this terrible event before it occurred.
BLITZER: With some luck, but it would have taken an incredible amount of luck to be able to have predicted 9/11.
GRAHAM: There were enough large blocks of information and the report that we received today spelled it out in considerable details that it wouldn't have taken a lot of luck. It would have taken someone who could have asked and gotten answers to the right follow-up questions and then put it together.
BLITZER: Senator Shelby, you've been a critic of the intelligence community in the past, specifically the CIA Director George Tenet. What new information as a result of this massive investigation you participated in did you get that would either back up that criticism or refute it?
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R) INTELLIGENCE VICE CHMN: Well, I think it augments what some of us have been concerned about all along that there was a lot of information out there. It's a question of putting it together, fusing it as Senator Graham alluded to just a minute ago.
We're looking at hindsight, that's true, but that's the only way we will ever get to the bottom of what happened or what could have happened and there was information out there. Wolf, there was information that people would try to use or could use airplanes as weapons. That was basically ignored. It was not even in the public hearing today.
I asked the question to our staff director did the FBI Analytical Unit ever do a game on that? Did they ever consider that and analyze that? The answer was no, and then she added, Eleanor Hill added in the hearing that no one else did. That's disturbing. That's very troubling.
BLITZER: And, Senator Graham, even I who am by no means an expert on these matters are recalling the years of the '90s and maybe even earlier. There were reports coming out of the Middle East that Arab terrorists were planning on using a jetliner to go into Paris or Tel Aviv and to hit a high rise building, a tower, so it shouldn't have come as that much of a surprise.
GRAHAM: Yes and we had a report today of approximately 50 pages and almost 10 percent of those pages were devoted to a listing of all the pieces of evidence that terrorists were thinking about a new use for airplanes. Terrorists or other hijackers have used airplanes in order to get money from ransom or to threaten the passengers in order to achieve a political result by getting prisoners released, but the idea of using an airplane as a weapon of mass destruction, driving it into as big building was something that had been in circulation for several years. It shouldn't have been a shocking surprise when we saw it actually happen and happen here inside the United States.
BLITZER: Senator Shelby, go ahead. I know you want to weigh in on this.
SHELBY: I just want to add that this was really, it wouldn't have taken thinking outside the box because, as Senator Graham just said, a lot of that information was out there, especially in '95, if not way before then. It's a question what did they do with this information? They didn't do enough with it. They were not deductive enough with what they had.
BLITZER: Both of you very quickly, a yes or no, if possible. Are you satisfied, Senator Shelby first of all, that enough has been done in the year since 9/11 to change the intelligence community to make it better?
SHELBY: Absolutely not. I think there have been some changes. There have been incremental changes and there will be more but as far as sweeping changes, we haven't made those recommendations yet but we will.
BLITZER: Senator Graham.
GRAHAM: We've got a lot of work to do. We still are dealing with too many agencies that see themselves as an island instead of part of a continent. We still have an inadequate capability to analyze the information that we collect. We've got a lot of work to do.
BLITZER: Senator Graham and Senator Shelby, thanks for the work you've both done.
SHELBY: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: In this investigation. I'm sure there will be others as well down the road, appreciate both of you joining us.
GRAHAM: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: A serial rapist prowling near the campus of Ohio State University, students warned to look out for their safety. Police ask for help in catching a predator. Plus, tougher baggage screening at airports well maybe not yet, find out why Congress may extend the deadline. Plus, Ted Turner and a report of a comeback at the helm, is there truth to this report? But first a look at news making headlines around the world.
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BLITZER: Welcome back, I'm Wolf Blitzer. Coming up a serial rapist on the loose, students at Ohio State University warned for their safety but first, let's take a look at some other stories making news right now.
(NEWSBREAK)
BLITZER: A serial rapist is stalking the area around Ohio State University. Now as the new academic year gets underway school officials are stepping up their efforts to warn students.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Columbus police say they're sure of these things. Six rapes have been committed near the campus of Ohio State University. Those crimes are the work of one man and that man is determined. Police say they found some "striking similarities" in some of the attacks. The suspect usually enters through windows and in one case cut through a window screen to get to his victim.
All the rapes have occurred early in the morning in the same area near the Ohio State Campus. In each case, the rapist was described as an African-American man in his 30s of average height and build with either a shaved head or very short hair, who used a knife each time. The victims have all been young white women.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The cop came by and told us that we just keep our doors locked and our windows locked, and everything should be safe, just watch who comes in and everything. It's kind of scary, though.
BLITZER: As the school gets ready to resume classes next week, Ohio State officials are trying to impress upon students the need to deal with this reality.
BILL HALL, STUDENT AFFAIRS, OHIO STATE: When you bring young people in each year, they come in with a certain naivete, if you will. They all believe they're invincible. They all believe that something like this is not going to happen to them, so, that's why we're doing whatever we can, however we can, to make sure that we communicate the urgency of this situation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: With us now to talk more about this serial rapist is Commander Paul Denton with the Columbus, Ohio Police Department.
Commander Denton, thanks for joining us. How close are you to catching this rapist?
CMDR. PAUL DENTON, COLUMBUS POLICE: Unfortunately, we've had very few investigative leads on this case, which began to attract our attention in May of this year.
BLITZER: Why it is so hard to catch this guy?
DENTON: Normally, I would look for good physical evidence, other clues that the suspect would leave. In this case, we are not finding them and it's --I don't know if it's through his tenacity or intentional. We're yet to find out.
BLITZER: Is it a case of the women can't provide an accurate description because we do have a lot of basic details of what he looks like?
DENTON: Sometimes that's the case. These women have provided us from some details. We've been able to put together the information that you've put out, but it's not the exact, physical evidence, scientific evidence we would normally like to see in order to better identify a suspect.
BLITZER: What investigative techniques are you using among others to try to catch this guy?
DENTON: We're pulling out all resources of our division. This case has been on the agenda of our weekly crime strategy meetings since it was identified -- the full resources of the division. We have uniformed patrol, plain-clothes office others that have saturated that area either to apprehend or deter this suspect. Investigative- wise, I don't want to share all our techniques or tactics, but suffice it to say we do have an advanced crime lab and criminalistics available to us. I think the media attention has been excellent. It has also generated us some leads that we'll be able to follow up on. BLITZER: And finally, Commander, what advice do you have for all those young women, those students who are coming back to Ohio State in the coming days?
DENTON: I think it's important that as we have new visitors or guests through the Columbus area that they are first aware of the crime, that they know this suspect has preyed on women and students, and to take the personal safety awareness a step further than they normally would by locking doors, being aware of who comes to their residence, the simple things that could be so effective.
BLITZER: A scary situation in Columbus, Ohio. Good luck to you. Let's hop you catch this guy very soon.
DENTON: Thank you, sir.
BLITZER: Commander, thanks for joining us.
DENTON: You're welcome.
BLITZER: The first President Bush confronts a painful past.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE H. W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We had to get out of there. And it was going like this in the life raft, and I was scared to death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: When we come back, an exclusive journey back to a dangerous time, when a young pilot almost lost his life.
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BLITZER: As America prepares for a possible military confrontation with Iraq; President Bush is likely to consider the advice of his father. George Herbert Walker Bush was president during America's first war against Iraq. He also experience war firsthand as a Navy pilot during World War II. The former president recently returned to the South Pacific, where he was shot down during the war. CNN's Paula Zahn accompanied him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BUSH: I wake up at night and think about it sometimes. Could I have done something different?
PAULA ZAHN, ANCHOR, "AMERICAN MORNING" (voice-over): He has spent nearly a lifetime wondering.
G.H.W. BUSH: I have a clear picture of my parachute blowing up onto Chichijima.
ZAHN: Hoping to return to the South Pacific, to the site of a combat experience he says forever changed his life. G.H.W. BUSH: I'm not haunted by anything other than the fact I feel a responsibility still for the lives of the two people that were killed.
When I got out of the parachute, it blew towards land.
ZAHN: Now, 58 years after his Navy Avenger was shot down by the Japanese...
G.H.W. BUSH: Here's where we attacked, up here.
ZAHN: ... former President George Bush finally got a chance to go back to answer his own questions.
G.H.W. BUSH: The radio antenna over there...
I wonder why the chute didn't open for the other guy. Why me? Why am I blessed? Why am I still alive? Why did God, you know, let me survive when they didn't?
ZAHN: It happened on September 2, 1944. Twenty-year-old George Bush was a Navy pilot flying off the aircraft carrier, USS San Jacinto.
G.H.W. BUSH: The mission was to attack a radio station on the island of Chichijima.
ZAHN: Chichijima is a flyspeck in the South Pacific, about twice the size of Central Park, 700 miles from the Japanese mainland. Today, it is a sleepy natural paradise with fewer than 2,000 residents, but it is also home to countless relics of WWII.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a radio station. See those overhangs over the windows?
G.H.W. BUSH: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To bounce the bombs off.
G.H.W. BUSH: Oh, really? Are you surprised after my attack that this thing is still standing?
ZAHN: This is all that remains of the main radio installation on the island. It was the key target of Bush's bomber squadron.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had three of those black wireless sets in that area there.
ZAHN: It was so heavily fortified, it could not be destroyed until after the war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you see the overhang?
ZAHN: In September 1944, some 20,000 Japanese soldiers were dug in on Chichijima. Bush and the American pilots who had been bombing island targets all summer knew exactly what was in store. G.H.W. BUSH: I think when you see anti-aircraft fire, these angry black puffs of smoke, knowing that one of them could kill you, you understand your own mortality.
ZAHN: By September, Bush had flown dozens of missions. He crash landed in the water once and had seen death from close range.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As he lands, the pelly (ph) tank catches on fire with the pilot trapped in the cockpit.
G.H.W. BUSH: And I'd seen life and death by then because I was standing on the deck of the San Jacinto one day, and my plane having landed, another plane came in, spun, went in upside down. It cut a petty officer in thirds. The guy was lying there, one leg here, the rest of his torso there. And I was about as far away as that table over there. So it was an exposure to the realities and horrors of war. So I'd seen that and felt it. And, God, it was horrible.
ZAHN: It didn't help that Bush and his squadron were thousands of miles from home. For many aboard carriers in the Pacific, letters from family brought a measure of comfort.
G.H.W. BUSH: Mail day was a huge thing. They called your name out, "Bush!" So you'd reach out, call out your -- and hand you a couple of letters, you know?
ZAHN: In letters he wrote to his parents and his fiancee, Barbara, Bush's tone often turned somber. In one, he writes, "I hope my own children never have to fight a war. Friends disappearing, lives being extinguished. It's just not right. The glory of being a carrier pilot has certainly worn off."
G.H.W. BUSH: We had censors so you couldn't say much in the -- in your letters because you, our letters were censored by other officers. And I was the censor for a lot of the enlisted men's mail, which gave me a great insight into their lives and lives quite different than this life that we've been privileged to lead.
ZAHN (on camera): Tell me about that, your exposure to these men from all walks of life that became your team.
G.H.W. BUSH: Well, it's too complicated. But it, it was too long ago.
ZAHN: Was it painful to read these letters about these young men's fears, about what they were trying to communicate to their families about their service to their country?
(voice-over): Just as painful are Bush's memories of what went wrong the day he was shot down.
G.H.W. BUSH: We got into this situation where we started our dive and suddenly -- and I saw these puffs all around me, as did every other pilot. And suddenly you just felt the plane go forward like this, going down, it just goes up like that. And I knew that something bad had happened. ZAHN: Bush managed to direct his plane to the target and release his bombs. But returning to the San Jacinto was not an option.
G.H.W. BUSH: We came down off these mountains. I could tell I was hit. The plane was burning. The cockpit was beginning to fill up with smoke. So we headed out here and it became apparent to me that the plane was, I thought it was going to explode because I could see fire along where the wings fold in the PBF (ph). And the cockpit had tons of smoke in it and I just figured I can't -- we can't stay up here.
ZAHN: But on the Avenger, it was impossible for the pilot to see the crew because an armor plate separated the cockpit from the rest of the plane. So when Bush parachuted into the water, he could only wonder if Ted White and Jack Delaney had done the same. Bush splashed down in enemy waters about a half-mile from land and eventually was able to inflate a small raft.
G.H.W. BUSH: I was crying, throwing up and swimming like hell. I could have made the Olympics that day because we had to get out of there. And it was going like this in the life raft and I was scared to death and thinking of my family and, you know, whatever else you do when you're a scared kid.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING," the Former President Bush reflects more on what exactly happened when he was shot down in World War II. That's at 7:00 a.m. Eastern on "AMERICAN MORNING WITH PAULA ZAHN."
Their house burned down 17 years ago in a confrontation with the police. Now, the radical group, MOVE, is defying a court order and boarding up the windows again. Find out what neighbors -- why neighbors are on edge? And trouble waters at AOL Time Warner. How the world's largest media company may be turning into what some are calling "an everyday soap opera." Stay with us.
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BLITZER: Welcome back. Seventeen years after a deadly standoff with police, the radical group, MOVE, is fortifying its Philadelphia group house, raising fear that another showdown is imminent, this time a custody battle is at the center of the brewing storm. CNN's Deborah Feyerick is covering the story in Philadelphia. She joins us now live -- Deborah.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, call it a truce, call it an understanding, but over the last decade, the group, MOVE, and Philadelphia police have pretty much gotten along even though, they had a sometimes violent and certainly traumatic history. But the question right now is that history doomed to repeat itself?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK (voice-over): The scars of history remain raw for Ramona Africa.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a revolutionary. I'm a (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, that's good. That's good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm asking you, what are you doing out at our house?
FEYERICK: Africa is a member of Philadelphia's radical MOVE group. In 1985, the group barricaded itself inside their fortified home. A tense standoff with police ended in flames, a fire that burned down an entire city block. Eleven MOVE members, five of them children, died. An earlier standoff with police in 1978 left one officer dead.
A quarter century later, MOVE is again boarding up their home, again getting ready for a standoff.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We think that this government wants to wipe MOVE out, and they will use any excuse that they can to do it.
FEYERICK: But, this time, the fight's not against the system, per se. The fight's over custody rights.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: MOVE is not masochistic, you know. We're not suicidal. We're not sadistic. We are loving, peaceful people and we love our children. We're protective of our children. And there is no way any MOVE mother or any MOVE member, period, would turn a MOVE child over to an abusive situation.
FEYERICK: The child in question is a 6-year-old boy. His mother is Ramona Africa's sister, and also the widow of MOVE founder, John Africa, who died in the 1985 fire. Alberta Africa has refused CNN's request to be interviewed. MOVE members say the father had abused his wife and son. A psychologist who has worked with the child for three years does not support unsupervised visits.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The physical abuse they report is that, every time the father plays with the father, somehow the child is seriously -- gets hurt, comes back with either, you know, bruises or crying.
FEYERICK: This summer, a new judge reversed an earlier ruling, and ordered the father to have custody every other weekend. The judge found no evidence of abuse or mistreatment by the father. CNN tried but was unable to contact the father. He has said in court he feels MOVE is not a safe place for his son. MOVE calls the new court order a declaration of war, but will it end tragically as history has shown? Police say no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They've been reassured by the police commissioner, that there would be no action taken while this entire situation is going through the courts. And with the lines of communication that we have open with both sides, the police department and MOVE, I don't anticipate anything until everyone be fully notified that there's problem that has to be resolved. (END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: The weekend custody is expected to begin this Friday at 4:00. MOVE will be holding a rally, then they will travel from Philadelphia to New Jersey, where the little boy lives. The judge who has made this decision has been transferred to criminal court and is no longer ruling on family matters -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Deborah Feyerick in Philadelphia, thanks for that report.
Rosie O'Donnell pulls out of the publishing business. Find out what's driving her from her own magazine. Plus, Ted Turner and Steve Case, the story on a possible boardroom battle, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Earlier we asked -- what caused production of Hershey's Kisses to stop briefly? The answer, World War II when silver foil was rationed.
Checking these stories on tonight's "Newswire." The trust that controls Hershey has decided not to sell the candy making company because the two bids it got weren't high enough. Wrigley offered and $12.5 billion and Nestle and Cadbury teamed up for a $10.5 bid. Hershey was hoping for $15 billion. Pennsylvania officials opposed the sale and were fighting it in court.
Former talk show host, Rosie O'Donnell, can add former publisher to her resume. She says she's leaving the magazine that bears he name because her publishing partners stripped her of editorial control while she was on vacation. The magazine, formerly known as "McCall's," sells more than three million copies a month.
An update now on a feud within our own family -- a battle has been brewing involving big shareholders and executives at the media company that owns CNN, AOL Time Warner. And it's headed for a potential showdown tomorrow morning, as Allan Chernoff tells us.
Allan, tell us all about it.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, when the AOL Time Warner board meets tomorrow, there will be tension around the table partly because of an effort by a few major shareholders to oust Chairman Steve Case and according to one report, possibly replace him with Ted Turner. Founder of CNN and vice chairman of AOL Time Warner, Mr. Turner has made no secret of his anger with the way marriage of AOL and Time Warner has been going. It has cost him more than $5 billion as the top holder of AOL Time Warner stock, which has lost more than 70 percent of its value since the wedding day early last year. Turner and other major shareholders are reportedly trying to push Case towards the exit door.
Now, Mr. Case was the chief marriage broker of the deal that brought the two companies together. Already, there have been a series of shake-ups at the tops. AOL executives have been getting pushed aside and Time Warner executives are now running the show. But Mr. Case has his friends on the board and a source close to a few of them tells CNN they are standing by Steve Case. There is also an important rule in Mr. Case's favor, 11 of the 14 board members would have to vote for an overthrow. And AOL Time Warner spokesperson tells CNN there is nothing on the agenda tomorrow about Steve's role. "After the board meeting, Steve is still going to be chairman" -- end quote. Mr. Turner did not return our phone calls and e-mails -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Did I hear you right, Allan, that Ted Turner has lost $5 billion?
CHERNOFF: Ted Turner owns more than 3.6 percent of the stock, more than 146 million shares, Wolf.
BLITZER: That's quite a piece of -- bit of change. Allan Chernoff, thanks for that report.
Let's go to New York now and get a preview of "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE," which begins right at the top of the hour. Jan Hopkins sitting in tonight for Lou -- Jan.
JAN HOPKINS, GUEST HOST, "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE": Coming up on "MONEYLINE," U.S. intelligence officials today revealed clues that were missed years before September 11 attacks. We'll have a report from national correspondent David Ensor. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld is asking Congress to authorize military force to oust Saddam Hussein. I'll be joined by General David Grange and Rohan Gunaratna, the author of "Inside al Qaeda."
Also tonight, the Bush administration unveiled its plan to secure cyberspace. The government says it needs to spend billions. It looks a lot like a bailout package for the technology industry. All of that and a great deal more ahead on "MONEYLINE." Please join us.
Wolf, back to you.
BLITZER: Thank you very much, Jan. We'll be joining you.
Time is running out for you to weigh in on our "Web Question of The Day." Do you believe an attack against Iraq will do more harm than good? Log on to CNN.com/Wolf. That's where you can vote. We'll have the results when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: That's how you're weighing in our "Web Question of The Day." Earlier we asked -- do you believe an attack against Iraq will do more harm than good? Look at this, 65 percent of you say, "yes," only 35 percent of you say, "no." You can find the exact vote tally, and you can continue to vote, by the way, if you go on my Web site, CNN.com/Wolf. Remember, this is not, repeat, not a scientific poll.
And that's all the time we have today. Please join me again tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" begins right now. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Against Iraq; U.S. Had Information About 9/11 Attack Before the Disaster>
Aired September 18, 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 on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS: showdown Iraq. As the U.N. deliberates, the Bush administration presses Congress to move ahead on the use of force.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it's an important signal. It's an important signal for the country. As importantly, it's an important signal for the world to see that this country is united in our resolve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: But there are dissenting voices.
Shocking findings by congressional investigators: The U.S. had information about a 9/11 scenario years before 9/11.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our intelligence agency suffered an utter collapse in their duties and responsibilities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: I'll speak live with the chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. A serial rapist stalks a college town with classes due to resume, we'll hear what police have in mind. And the day the first President Bush almost died.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He was crying, throwing up, and swimming like hell. He could have made the Olympics that day but we had to get out of there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: CNN's Paula Zahn with an exclusive interview. It's Wednesday, September 18, 2002. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. President Bush met today with congressional leaders and secured a pledge they'll work for a quick vote authorizing military action even as his case against Iraq threatens to get bogged down at the United Nations.
Our senior White House correspondent John King picks up the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Progress in working with Congress on Iraq, but clear frustration that some at the United Nations seem inclined to take Saddam Hussein at his word.
G.W. BUSH: This is just a ploy. This is a tactic. This is a way to try to say to the world, oh I'm a wonderful, peaceful fellow when, in fact, he not only kills his own people, he's terrorized his neighborhood and he's developing weapons of mass destruction. We must deal with him.
KING: Iraq's offer to let weapons inspectors return is making it more difficult for the White House to sell the idea of a tough new United Nations resolution. Key Security Council members, Russia and France, say the U.N. should first put Iraq's new promise to the test. Vice President Cheney echoed the president's skepticism.
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the letter the regime says it has no weapons of mass destruction but we know that is a lie.
KING: Mr. Cheney also made clear there is a backup plan if the administration doesn't get its way at the United Nations.
CHENEY: The government of the United States will not look the other way as threats gather against the American people.
KING: But, for now, the focus remains on U.N. diplomacy. Secretary of State Powell briefed the president on the negotiations and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld told Congress it could help the cause by quickly passing a resolution supporting the president.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: It's clear this is a critical moment for our country and for the world. Our resolve is being put to the test.
KING: Congress still has questions about how long a war would take and how much it could cost, but the leadership promised the president a resolution within the next two weeks. That leaves the United Nations as the president's major challenge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: And senior administration officials insist their private diplomacy is going much better than the public debate would suggest. The critical test of that, though, likely to come early next week. U.S. and British diplomats are working on a resolution to put to the U.N. Security Council. They hope to have the language ready next week and they hope to share it with the other permanent members of the Security Council and convince them the U.N. should go on the record and make a clear ultimatum that military force will follow if Saddam doesn't keep his commitments. Wolf.
BLITZER: John, how far does the president want the Congress to go in the resolution that they are about to pass presumably?
KING: The language is still being debated but we are told the president told Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle today it would be totally unacceptable. We are told those were the president's words when Daschle suggested some Democrats want to authorize the use of military force only if the United Nations does so as well.
Mr. Bush does not want that, does not want his hands tied if you will, and we are told the language will closely track previous resolutions where the Congress has authorized the president to use all appropriate means or all necessary means. That was the language used say in the case of the ongoing war in Afghanistan, back during the Clinton administration in Kosovo. The administration says it is closely following the language that has been used in these situations in the past.
BLITZER: John King at the White House with the very latest, thank you very much.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUMSFELD: ...where such an attack occurs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes Mr. Rumsfeld, I think we need weapons inspections not war. Why are we stopping the inspections? Is this really about oil? How many civilians will be killed? How many (UNINTELLIGIBLE) will be killed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary would you suspend for a minute.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If this is really about oil, why is (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we could ask the staff to see to it that our guest is escorted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: The Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ran into some opposition today as demonstrators chanted "inspections not war" during his appearance before the House Armed Services Committee. The hecklers were quickly hustled out of the room.
The drumbeat for war is dominating news across the country. We wanted to look outside the Washington beltway for a peek at what the op-ed pages are saying in your part of the country. This for example, from the Des Moines Register: "Last week, President Bush laid the problem of Iraq squarely at the feet of the United Nations. Now he must allow ample time for the U.N. to follow through."
The "Philadelphia Inquirer" weighed in with this: "Is the administration ready to handle fallout from an Iraq War? As the White House gears up for war, one can only hope they're as prepared for Mideast dystopia as for the rosy scenarios administration officials are spinning." And out West, the "Los Angeles Times" had this: "If the inspectors who now go to Iraq find new weaponry, it can easily be destroyed, but that would cheat Bush of an excuse for the war he desperately wants," strong opinions out there outside of Washington.
A dissenting voice on U.S. Middle East policy, he's often talked the talk. Now he's walked the walk. Just back from Baghdad and meetings with top Iraqi officials, Democratic Congressman Nick Rahale of West Virginia joins us now live from Capitol Hill. You just came back from Baghdad. Do you believe your visit there with other critics of the Bush administration's policy led to Saddam Hussein's decision to accept U.N. inspectors supposedly without conditions?
REP. NICK RAHALE (D), WEST VIRGINIA: I think we had an effect, yes Wolf. I met with Tariq Aziz the Deputy Prime Minister for over two hours and stressed very strongly to him that George Bush is serious, that the only glimmer of hope he had to prevent a devastating defeat for his people, and it will be devastating, is to accept the unconditional and unfettered access by U.N. weapons inspectors to his country.
BLITZER: Do you believe, Congressman, he will do that once these inspectors, for example, show up at one of his presidential palaces? Will they be allowed to go wherever they want for example?
RAHALE: They must be allowed to go wherever they want. I made that clear as well. The presidential palaces, the school buildings, the mosques, every site must be available for inspection without Iraqi security following them around. The weapons inspectors must be able to ask whomever, whatever questions they want.
I think it's important to note here in the Iraqi's latest motion to accept unconditional inspectors, that's not all the way I grant you and he has lied before, I grant you, but at least, Wolf, it is a step in the door, an attempt to jar that door slightly open, however slightly toward a peaceful resolution of this issue.
The Iraqis are looking for a peaceful resolution. They're looking for some light at the end of the tunnel and I don't think the administration should be slamming that door so tightly shut that they're putting a bolt across it at the same time.
BLITZER: So, is it fair to say, Congressman, you returned from Baghdad with your delegation convinced that the Iraqi government was sincere this time in their willingness to let those inspectors back in?
RAHALE: Yes. I think they are sincere. Now, only time will tell of course and it could very well be proven that he's lying again, but let me say here that you have to understand the Iraqis firmly believe that George Bush is going to strike no matter what they do. They see statements coming from the vice president, from the secretary of defense, saying weapons inspectors don't matter. We're going to bomb anyway so human nature tells you why should I give in if it's going to be inevitable that war is going to come and face my country. BLITZER: If the Iraqis are engaging as U.S. officials believe in a so-called rope-a-dope strategy to just delay, cheat, and retreat as they've done in the past, would you then, if the inspectors come back in but they're stonewalled, would you at some point down the road support military action if it comes down to that?
RAHALE: Without a doubt. I supported President George Bush the first in his very effectively put together international coalition and I would support this president if indeed Saddam Hussein turns out to be lying, if he's hiding something and if he turns away the weapons inspectors for whatever reason, yes I'd be ready to do that.
BLITZER: Congressman Rahale, thanks for joining us, just back from Baghdad. We'll get back to you, of course, as this story continues to unfold.
And here's your chance to weigh in on this very important story. Our web question of the day is this: Do you believe an attack against Iraq will do more harm than good? We'll have the results later in this program. Vote at cnn.com/wolf. While you're there, send me your comments. We'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 online column, cnn.com/wolf.
Spearheaded by Special Ops forces, the U.S. military may be ready to open a new front in the war on terrorism, more now from CNN Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With U.S. intelligence indicating a number of al Qaeda fugitives are hiding out in remote areas of Yemen, the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden, the U.S. military has quietly moved some 800 troops, including about 200 Special Operations commandos to nearby Djibouti where they, along with CIA forces, are poised to hunt down, capture, or kill al Qaeda fugitives.
The East African nation is ideally positioned to serve as a launching pad for covert snatch missions either into Yemen or Somalia both places where al Qaeda operatives have sought refuge in the past. The U.S. amphibious assault ship Bella Wood (ph) is nearby in the Arabian Sea and could be used as a staging area for Special Operations troops and their helicopters.
Both Yemen and Somalia are the responsibility of General Tommy Franks who while running the war in Afghanistan is also meeting with Gulf allies like Qatar as he plans for possible war with Iraq. But the Pentagon denies it is shifting the counterterrorism mission to the U.S. Special Operations command in order to free up ranks to concentrate on Iraq.
RUMSFELD: The idea that there's going to be a massive change and the Special Operations people will in every instance be the supported CINC or combatant command is just not the case. MCINTYRE: Pentagon officials say the increased role for Special Operations troops is simply the next logical step as the pursuit of al Qaeda moves to other countries. It's also a recognition that terrorist networks don't fit neatly into the traditional geographical responsibility of U.S. commanders.
GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: What we're trying to do is ensure that in a global war, we have the kind of view, in some cases a global view is required because these networks, I mean they don't respect any boundaries.
MCINTYRE (on camera): At the moment, there's no indication that any mission is imminent involving the U.S. troops in Djibouti, but if the U.S. gets actionable intelligence about the whereabouts of al Qaeda suspects, the forces are ready to move on short notice. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: A plan to fly planes into the World Trade Center, a top secret report made public today, how much did the U.S. know before September 11? An intelligence debrief when we return.
A scare on a college campus, just before thousands of students resume classes. Plus, President Bush, the father, like you've rarely seen him before, an exclusive interview about his near death experience.
And, mark one up for the workers of Hershey, Pennsylvania, the world's most famous chocolate maker makes a big decision about its future. But first, today's news quiz.
Hershey's kisses have been around since 1907 but what caused their production to stop briefly, the Johnstown Flood, World War II, the Vietnam War, a railroad strike? The answer coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(AUDIO/VIDEO GAP)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: ...intelligence failures, the committee staff director was questioned about 400,000 classified documents she and her staff have reviewed.
SEN. BARBARA MIKULSKI (D) MARYLAND: Do you believe that there is a smoking gun on what went wrong or were there just a series of total disconnects?
ELEANOR HILL, INQUIRY STAFF DIRECTOR: If you mean by smoking gun that somebody had information of when, where, how this was going to happen in the United States government, we have not found that.
ENSOR: But Hill's report does say there was evidence of a threat to the U.S. homeland from al Qaeda, and evidence the terrorists wanted to use planes as terrorist weapons. In August, 1998, the intelligence community obtained information that a group of unidentified Arabs planned to fly an explosive laden plane from a foreign country into the World Trade Center.
The report also says in the fall of 1998, the intelligence community received information concerning a bin Laden plot involving aircraft in the New York and Washington areas. And, it says in April of 2001, the intelligence community obtained information from a source with terrorist connections who speculated that bin Laden would be interested in commercial pilots as potential terrorists.
SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D), INTELLIGENCE CHMN: Collectively, I think there was enough there that we should have done a better job of seeing what was coming and hopefully with luck stopping it.
ENSOR: The committee also discussed a dispute with the Bush administration over whether it can make public information about a senior al Qaeda figure whom CNN has learned is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, information the committee says that suggests U.S. intelligence knew about him since 1995 and badly underestimated his importance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: The committee report lists a lot of unconnected dots but CIA officials say remember the context. It's easy now to connect the dots among tens of thousands of other intelligence reports. Wolf, it wasn't so easy for those attacks though.
BLITZER: David Ensor on Capitol Hill, thank you very much for that report.
For more on these intelligence failures and the changes that might be required as a result of what investigators found, I'm joined now by the Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Bob Graham of Florida and the Vice Chairman Richard Shelby of Alabama. Senators thanks for joining us. Senator Graham, was someone asleep at the switch?
SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: What I think happened, Wolf, is we had a lot of intelligence agencies collecting blocks of information which they largely kept to themselves. Had all of those blocks been put down on one table before the eyes of an informed and curious and creative analyst, it's possible that they could have seen a pattern emerging. That would have led to more questions being asked, more information being put on the table and, with some luck, possibly could have interdicted this terrible event before it occurred.
BLITZER: With some luck, but it would have taken an incredible amount of luck to be able to have predicted 9/11.
GRAHAM: There were enough large blocks of information and the report that we received today spelled it out in considerable details that it wouldn't have taken a lot of luck. It would have taken someone who could have asked and gotten answers to the right follow-up questions and then put it together.
BLITZER: Senator Shelby, you've been a critic of the intelligence community in the past, specifically the CIA Director George Tenet. What new information as a result of this massive investigation you participated in did you get that would either back up that criticism or refute it?
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R) INTELLIGENCE VICE CHMN: Well, I think it augments what some of us have been concerned about all along that there was a lot of information out there. It's a question of putting it together, fusing it as Senator Graham alluded to just a minute ago.
We're looking at hindsight, that's true, but that's the only way we will ever get to the bottom of what happened or what could have happened and there was information out there. Wolf, there was information that people would try to use or could use airplanes as weapons. That was basically ignored. It was not even in the public hearing today.
I asked the question to our staff director did the FBI Analytical Unit ever do a game on that? Did they ever consider that and analyze that? The answer was no, and then she added, Eleanor Hill added in the hearing that no one else did. That's disturbing. That's very troubling.
BLITZER: And, Senator Graham, even I who am by no means an expert on these matters are recalling the years of the '90s and maybe even earlier. There were reports coming out of the Middle East that Arab terrorists were planning on using a jetliner to go into Paris or Tel Aviv and to hit a high rise building, a tower, so it shouldn't have come as that much of a surprise.
GRAHAM: Yes and we had a report today of approximately 50 pages and almost 10 percent of those pages were devoted to a listing of all the pieces of evidence that terrorists were thinking about a new use for airplanes. Terrorists or other hijackers have used airplanes in order to get money from ransom or to threaten the passengers in order to achieve a political result by getting prisoners released, but the idea of using an airplane as a weapon of mass destruction, driving it into as big building was something that had been in circulation for several years. It shouldn't have been a shocking surprise when we saw it actually happen and happen here inside the United States.
BLITZER: Senator Shelby, go ahead. I know you want to weigh in on this.
SHELBY: I just want to add that this was really, it wouldn't have taken thinking outside the box because, as Senator Graham just said, a lot of that information was out there, especially in '95, if not way before then. It's a question what did they do with this information? They didn't do enough with it. They were not deductive enough with what they had.
BLITZER: Both of you very quickly, a yes or no, if possible. Are you satisfied, Senator Shelby first of all, that enough has been done in the year since 9/11 to change the intelligence community to make it better?
SHELBY: Absolutely not. I think there have been some changes. There have been incremental changes and there will be more but as far as sweeping changes, we haven't made those recommendations yet but we will.
BLITZER: Senator Graham.
GRAHAM: We've got a lot of work to do. We still are dealing with too many agencies that see themselves as an island instead of part of a continent. We still have an inadequate capability to analyze the information that we collect. We've got a lot of work to do.
BLITZER: Senator Graham and Senator Shelby, thanks for the work you've both done.
SHELBY: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: In this investigation. I'm sure there will be others as well down the road, appreciate both of you joining us.
GRAHAM: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: A serial rapist prowling near the campus of Ohio State University, students warned to look out for their safety. Police ask for help in catching a predator. Plus, tougher baggage screening at airports well maybe not yet, find out why Congress may extend the deadline. Plus, Ted Turner and a report of a comeback at the helm, is there truth to this report? But first a look at news making headlines around the world.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back, I'm Wolf Blitzer. Coming up a serial rapist on the loose, students at Ohio State University warned for their safety but first, let's take a look at some other stories making news right now.
(NEWSBREAK)
BLITZER: A serial rapist is stalking the area around Ohio State University. Now as the new academic year gets underway school officials are stepping up their efforts to warn students.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Columbus police say they're sure of these things. Six rapes have been committed near the campus of Ohio State University. Those crimes are the work of one man and that man is determined. Police say they found some "striking similarities" in some of the attacks. The suspect usually enters through windows and in one case cut through a window screen to get to his victim.
All the rapes have occurred early in the morning in the same area near the Ohio State Campus. In each case, the rapist was described as an African-American man in his 30s of average height and build with either a shaved head or very short hair, who used a knife each time. The victims have all been young white women.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The cop came by and told us that we just keep our doors locked and our windows locked, and everything should be safe, just watch who comes in and everything. It's kind of scary, though.
BLITZER: As the school gets ready to resume classes next week, Ohio State officials are trying to impress upon students the need to deal with this reality.
BILL HALL, STUDENT AFFAIRS, OHIO STATE: When you bring young people in each year, they come in with a certain naivete, if you will. They all believe they're invincible. They all believe that something like this is not going to happen to them, so, that's why we're doing whatever we can, however we can, to make sure that we communicate the urgency of this situation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: With us now to talk more about this serial rapist is Commander Paul Denton with the Columbus, Ohio Police Department.
Commander Denton, thanks for joining us. How close are you to catching this rapist?
CMDR. PAUL DENTON, COLUMBUS POLICE: Unfortunately, we've had very few investigative leads on this case, which began to attract our attention in May of this year.
BLITZER: Why it is so hard to catch this guy?
DENTON: Normally, I would look for good physical evidence, other clues that the suspect would leave. In this case, we are not finding them and it's --I don't know if it's through his tenacity or intentional. We're yet to find out.
BLITZER: Is it a case of the women can't provide an accurate description because we do have a lot of basic details of what he looks like?
DENTON: Sometimes that's the case. These women have provided us from some details. We've been able to put together the information that you've put out, but it's not the exact, physical evidence, scientific evidence we would normally like to see in order to better identify a suspect.
BLITZER: What investigative techniques are you using among others to try to catch this guy?
DENTON: We're pulling out all resources of our division. This case has been on the agenda of our weekly crime strategy meetings since it was identified -- the full resources of the division. We have uniformed patrol, plain-clothes office others that have saturated that area either to apprehend or deter this suspect. Investigative- wise, I don't want to share all our techniques or tactics, but suffice it to say we do have an advanced crime lab and criminalistics available to us. I think the media attention has been excellent. It has also generated us some leads that we'll be able to follow up on. BLITZER: And finally, Commander, what advice do you have for all those young women, those students who are coming back to Ohio State in the coming days?
DENTON: I think it's important that as we have new visitors or guests through the Columbus area that they are first aware of the crime, that they know this suspect has preyed on women and students, and to take the personal safety awareness a step further than they normally would by locking doors, being aware of who comes to their residence, the simple things that could be so effective.
BLITZER: A scary situation in Columbus, Ohio. Good luck to you. Let's hop you catch this guy very soon.
DENTON: Thank you, sir.
BLITZER: Commander, thanks for joining us.
DENTON: You're welcome.
BLITZER: The first President Bush confronts a painful past.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE H. W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We had to get out of there. And it was going like this in the life raft, and I was scared to death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: When we come back, an exclusive journey back to a dangerous time, when a young pilot almost lost his life.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: As America prepares for a possible military confrontation with Iraq; President Bush is likely to consider the advice of his father. George Herbert Walker Bush was president during America's first war against Iraq. He also experience war firsthand as a Navy pilot during World War II. The former president recently returned to the South Pacific, where he was shot down during the war. CNN's Paula Zahn accompanied him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BUSH: I wake up at night and think about it sometimes. Could I have done something different?
PAULA ZAHN, ANCHOR, "AMERICAN MORNING" (voice-over): He has spent nearly a lifetime wondering.
G.H.W. BUSH: I have a clear picture of my parachute blowing up onto Chichijima.
ZAHN: Hoping to return to the South Pacific, to the site of a combat experience he says forever changed his life. G.H.W. BUSH: I'm not haunted by anything other than the fact I feel a responsibility still for the lives of the two people that were killed.
When I got out of the parachute, it blew towards land.
ZAHN: Now, 58 years after his Navy Avenger was shot down by the Japanese...
G.H.W. BUSH: Here's where we attacked, up here.
ZAHN: ... former President George Bush finally got a chance to go back to answer his own questions.
G.H.W. BUSH: The radio antenna over there...
I wonder why the chute didn't open for the other guy. Why me? Why am I blessed? Why am I still alive? Why did God, you know, let me survive when they didn't?
ZAHN: It happened on September 2, 1944. Twenty-year-old George Bush was a Navy pilot flying off the aircraft carrier, USS San Jacinto.
G.H.W. BUSH: The mission was to attack a radio station on the island of Chichijima.
ZAHN: Chichijima is a flyspeck in the South Pacific, about twice the size of Central Park, 700 miles from the Japanese mainland. Today, it is a sleepy natural paradise with fewer than 2,000 residents, but it is also home to countless relics of WWII.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a radio station. See those overhangs over the windows?
G.H.W. BUSH: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To bounce the bombs off.
G.H.W. BUSH: Oh, really? Are you surprised after my attack that this thing is still standing?
ZAHN: This is all that remains of the main radio installation on the island. It was the key target of Bush's bomber squadron.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had three of those black wireless sets in that area there.
ZAHN: It was so heavily fortified, it could not be destroyed until after the war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you see the overhang?
ZAHN: In September 1944, some 20,000 Japanese soldiers were dug in on Chichijima. Bush and the American pilots who had been bombing island targets all summer knew exactly what was in store. G.H.W. BUSH: I think when you see anti-aircraft fire, these angry black puffs of smoke, knowing that one of them could kill you, you understand your own mortality.
ZAHN: By September, Bush had flown dozens of missions. He crash landed in the water once and had seen death from close range.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As he lands, the pelly (ph) tank catches on fire with the pilot trapped in the cockpit.
G.H.W. BUSH: And I'd seen life and death by then because I was standing on the deck of the San Jacinto one day, and my plane having landed, another plane came in, spun, went in upside down. It cut a petty officer in thirds. The guy was lying there, one leg here, the rest of his torso there. And I was about as far away as that table over there. So it was an exposure to the realities and horrors of war. So I'd seen that and felt it. And, God, it was horrible.
ZAHN: It didn't help that Bush and his squadron were thousands of miles from home. For many aboard carriers in the Pacific, letters from family brought a measure of comfort.
G.H.W. BUSH: Mail day was a huge thing. They called your name out, "Bush!" So you'd reach out, call out your -- and hand you a couple of letters, you know?
ZAHN: In letters he wrote to his parents and his fiancee, Barbara, Bush's tone often turned somber. In one, he writes, "I hope my own children never have to fight a war. Friends disappearing, lives being extinguished. It's just not right. The glory of being a carrier pilot has certainly worn off."
G.H.W. BUSH: We had censors so you couldn't say much in the -- in your letters because you, our letters were censored by other officers. And I was the censor for a lot of the enlisted men's mail, which gave me a great insight into their lives and lives quite different than this life that we've been privileged to lead.
ZAHN (on camera): Tell me about that, your exposure to these men from all walks of life that became your team.
G.H.W. BUSH: Well, it's too complicated. But it, it was too long ago.
ZAHN: Was it painful to read these letters about these young men's fears, about what they were trying to communicate to their families about their service to their country?
(voice-over): Just as painful are Bush's memories of what went wrong the day he was shot down.
G.H.W. BUSH: We got into this situation where we started our dive and suddenly -- and I saw these puffs all around me, as did every other pilot. And suddenly you just felt the plane go forward like this, going down, it just goes up like that. And I knew that something bad had happened. ZAHN: Bush managed to direct his plane to the target and release his bombs. But returning to the San Jacinto was not an option.
G.H.W. BUSH: We came down off these mountains. I could tell I was hit. The plane was burning. The cockpit was beginning to fill up with smoke. So we headed out here and it became apparent to me that the plane was, I thought it was going to explode because I could see fire along where the wings fold in the PBF (ph). And the cockpit had tons of smoke in it and I just figured I can't -- we can't stay up here.
ZAHN: But on the Avenger, it was impossible for the pilot to see the crew because an armor plate separated the cockpit from the rest of the plane. So when Bush parachuted into the water, he could only wonder if Ted White and Jack Delaney had done the same. Bush splashed down in enemy waters about a half-mile from land and eventually was able to inflate a small raft.
G.H.W. BUSH: I was crying, throwing up and swimming like hell. I could have made the Olympics that day because we had to get out of there. And it was going like this in the life raft and I was scared to death and thinking of my family and, you know, whatever else you do when you're a scared kid.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING," the Former President Bush reflects more on what exactly happened when he was shot down in World War II. That's at 7:00 a.m. Eastern on "AMERICAN MORNING WITH PAULA ZAHN."
Their house burned down 17 years ago in a confrontation with the police. Now, the radical group, MOVE, is defying a court order and boarding up the windows again. Find out what neighbors -- why neighbors are on edge? And trouble waters at AOL Time Warner. How the world's largest media company may be turning into what some are calling "an everyday soap opera." Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. Seventeen years after a deadly standoff with police, the radical group, MOVE, is fortifying its Philadelphia group house, raising fear that another showdown is imminent, this time a custody battle is at the center of the brewing storm. CNN's Deborah Feyerick is covering the story in Philadelphia. She joins us now live -- Deborah.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, call it a truce, call it an understanding, but over the last decade, the group, MOVE, and Philadelphia police have pretty much gotten along even though, they had a sometimes violent and certainly traumatic history. But the question right now is that history doomed to repeat itself?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK (voice-over): The scars of history remain raw for Ramona Africa.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a revolutionary. I'm a (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, that's good. That's good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm asking you, what are you doing out at our house?
FEYERICK: Africa is a member of Philadelphia's radical MOVE group. In 1985, the group barricaded itself inside their fortified home. A tense standoff with police ended in flames, a fire that burned down an entire city block. Eleven MOVE members, five of them children, died. An earlier standoff with police in 1978 left one officer dead.
A quarter century later, MOVE is again boarding up their home, again getting ready for a standoff.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We think that this government wants to wipe MOVE out, and they will use any excuse that they can to do it.
FEYERICK: But, this time, the fight's not against the system, per se. The fight's over custody rights.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: MOVE is not masochistic, you know. We're not suicidal. We're not sadistic. We are loving, peaceful people and we love our children. We're protective of our children. And there is no way any MOVE mother or any MOVE member, period, would turn a MOVE child over to an abusive situation.
FEYERICK: The child in question is a 6-year-old boy. His mother is Ramona Africa's sister, and also the widow of MOVE founder, John Africa, who died in the 1985 fire. Alberta Africa has refused CNN's request to be interviewed. MOVE members say the father had abused his wife and son. A psychologist who has worked with the child for three years does not support unsupervised visits.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The physical abuse they report is that, every time the father plays with the father, somehow the child is seriously -- gets hurt, comes back with either, you know, bruises or crying.
FEYERICK: This summer, a new judge reversed an earlier ruling, and ordered the father to have custody every other weekend. The judge found no evidence of abuse or mistreatment by the father. CNN tried but was unable to contact the father. He has said in court he feels MOVE is not a safe place for his son. MOVE calls the new court order a declaration of war, but will it end tragically as history has shown? Police say no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They've been reassured by the police commissioner, that there would be no action taken while this entire situation is going through the courts. And with the lines of communication that we have open with both sides, the police department and MOVE, I don't anticipate anything until everyone be fully notified that there's problem that has to be resolved. (END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: The weekend custody is expected to begin this Friday at 4:00. MOVE will be holding a rally, then they will travel from Philadelphia to New Jersey, where the little boy lives. The judge who has made this decision has been transferred to criminal court and is no longer ruling on family matters -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Deborah Feyerick in Philadelphia, thanks for that report.
Rosie O'Donnell pulls out of the publishing business. Find out what's driving her from her own magazine. Plus, Ted Turner and Steve Case, the story on a possible boardroom battle, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Earlier we asked -- what caused production of Hershey's Kisses to stop briefly? The answer, World War II when silver foil was rationed.
Checking these stories on tonight's "Newswire." The trust that controls Hershey has decided not to sell the candy making company because the two bids it got weren't high enough. Wrigley offered and $12.5 billion and Nestle and Cadbury teamed up for a $10.5 bid. Hershey was hoping for $15 billion. Pennsylvania officials opposed the sale and were fighting it in court.
Former talk show host, Rosie O'Donnell, can add former publisher to her resume. She says she's leaving the magazine that bears he name because her publishing partners stripped her of editorial control while she was on vacation. The magazine, formerly known as "McCall's," sells more than three million copies a month.
An update now on a feud within our own family -- a battle has been brewing involving big shareholders and executives at the media company that owns CNN, AOL Time Warner. And it's headed for a potential showdown tomorrow morning, as Allan Chernoff tells us.
Allan, tell us all about it.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, when the AOL Time Warner board meets tomorrow, there will be tension around the table partly because of an effort by a few major shareholders to oust Chairman Steve Case and according to one report, possibly replace him with Ted Turner. Founder of CNN and vice chairman of AOL Time Warner, Mr. Turner has made no secret of his anger with the way marriage of AOL and Time Warner has been going. It has cost him more than $5 billion as the top holder of AOL Time Warner stock, which has lost more than 70 percent of its value since the wedding day early last year. Turner and other major shareholders are reportedly trying to push Case towards the exit door.
Now, Mr. Case was the chief marriage broker of the deal that brought the two companies together. Already, there have been a series of shake-ups at the tops. AOL executives have been getting pushed aside and Time Warner executives are now running the show. But Mr. Case has his friends on the board and a source close to a few of them tells CNN they are standing by Steve Case. There is also an important rule in Mr. Case's favor, 11 of the 14 board members would have to vote for an overthrow. And AOL Time Warner spokesperson tells CNN there is nothing on the agenda tomorrow about Steve's role. "After the board meeting, Steve is still going to be chairman" -- end quote. Mr. Turner did not return our phone calls and e-mails -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Did I hear you right, Allan, that Ted Turner has lost $5 billion?
CHERNOFF: Ted Turner owns more than 3.6 percent of the stock, more than 146 million shares, Wolf.
BLITZER: That's quite a piece of -- bit of change. Allan Chernoff, thanks for that report.
Let's go to New York now and get a preview of "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE," which begins right at the top of the hour. Jan Hopkins sitting in tonight for Lou -- Jan.
JAN HOPKINS, GUEST HOST, "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE": Coming up on "MONEYLINE," U.S. intelligence officials today revealed clues that were missed years before September 11 attacks. We'll have a report from national correspondent David Ensor. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld is asking Congress to authorize military force to oust Saddam Hussein. I'll be joined by General David Grange and Rohan Gunaratna, the author of "Inside al Qaeda."
Also tonight, the Bush administration unveiled its plan to secure cyberspace. The government says it needs to spend billions. It looks a lot like a bailout package for the technology industry. All of that and a great deal more ahead on "MONEYLINE." Please join us.
Wolf, back to you.
BLITZER: Thank you very much, Jan. We'll be joining you.
Time is running out for you to weigh in on our "Web Question of The Day." Do you believe an attack against Iraq will do more harm than good? Log on to CNN.com/Wolf. That's where you can vote. We'll have the results when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: That's how you're weighing in our "Web Question of The Day." Earlier we asked -- do you believe an attack against Iraq will do more harm than good? Look at this, 65 percent of you say, "yes," only 35 percent of you say, "no." You can find the exact vote tally, and you can continue to vote, by the way, if you go on my Web site, CNN.com/Wolf. Remember, this is not, repeat, not a scientific poll.
And that's all the time we have today. Please join me again tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" begins right now. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Against Iraq; U.S. Had Information About 9/11 Attack Before the Disaster>
