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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Iraq Promises U.N. it is Clear of Mass Destruction Weapons; Bush Asks Congress for the Green Light to Head for Iraq
Aired September 19, 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.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR: Now on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS: a message from Saddam Hussein.
NAJI SABRI, IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER: Iraq is totally clear of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
President Bush isn't buying it.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And if the United Nations Security council won't deal with the problem, the United States and some of our friends will.
BLITZER: But was Saddam Hussein once a U.S. friend?
Terror in Israel, suicide bombers strike and Israeli armor answers back.
And, what saved the first President Bush's life?
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The only thought I had was oh God, I hope it's one of ours.
BLITZER: The dramatic pictures from a different place and a different time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
It's Thursday, September 19, 2002. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
Showdown Iraq. President Bush asked Congress for the OK to go to war and makes it clear he's not relying on the United Nations. Saddam Hussein finds a forum to answer what Iraq calls the American propaganda machine.
Standing by at the U.N. is CNN's senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth, but we begin at the White House with CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King.
John, give us the latest.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the president still trying to get his way at the United Nations and that is a tough new Security Council resolution confronting Iraq. That has been a difficult diplomatic challenge for Mr. Bush. Often, at diplomatic moments like this, people turn to politeness and diplomatic niceties but the president today, very blunt talk. Again, perhaps you might call it hard ball.
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KING (voice over): The subject Iraq; the purpose make sure there is a zero ambiguity.
G.W. BUSH: If the United Nations Security Council won't deal with the problem, the United States and some of our friends will.
KING: To reinforce the point, the White House asked Congress to give the president a broad mandate to use military force against Iraq. A draft administration resolution calls for regime change in Baghdad and urges Congress to authorize the president to use all means he determines to be appropriate, including force to achieve three objectives, forcing Iraqi compliance with United Nations resolutions, defending the national security interests of the United States and restoring peace and security in the Middle East region.
G.W. BUSH: If you want to keep the peace, you've got to have the authorization to use force.
KING: The exact language is subject to negotiation and some in Congress believe the White House draft gives Mr. Bush too much latitude but lawmakers who met with the president Thursday predict he will get most of what he wants.
REP. NORMAN DICKS (D), WASHINGTON: It is becoming more and more obvious that Saddam Hussein not only possesses but has the intent to use weapons of mass destruction against U.S. interests abroad and possibly the United States.
KING: Claims by Iraq's foreign minister that his country has no weapons of mass destruction and has cooperated with the United Nations were met with scorn.
G.W. BUSH: It's the same old song and dance that we've heard for 11 long years and the United Nations Security Council must show backbone, must step up and hold this regime to account.
KING: But Russia is among those still skeptical of Mr. Bush's call for a tough new Security Council resolution. Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov says a new round of inspections could easily verify whether Iraq has major weapons programs.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING (on camera): But the White House position is that those inspectors should return to Iraq only under the auspices of a new Security Council resolution that says any interference at all by Baghdad would justify military strikes. Mr. Bush will press his case face-to-face here at the White House in the morning with the Russian foreign minister and will, sources tell us, plans also in the works for a phone call tomorrow to the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
BLITZER: They have a special relationship as you know, Putin and Bush, but as far as a timetable on both of these resolutions is concerned, the U.N. resolution, the Security Council resolution, the Bush administration wants and the congressional resolution, which one is supposed to come first and what are they looking for?
KING: Well, the administration would like a Security Council resolution first but is resigned to the fact that that might not happen so what the administration is telling key members of Congress is pass that resolution as soon as possible. The commitment now is to have more hearings this week, some debate by the end of next week perhaps, and a vote in Congress the first week of October.
Some say that could be moved up but probably not, probably the first week of October right before Congress breaks for the election. By then, the administration hopes to have a vote scheduled in the Security Council, the exact language of the new U.S.-British proposal will be forwarded, we are told, and distributed among Security Council members by early next week.
BLITZER: John King at the White House, thank you very much. Let's go live to our Senior United Nations Correspondent Richard Roth. He's standing by as well -- Richard.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, separated by a week and a whole lot more, Iraq denounced the U.S. today at the U.N. over weapons and terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROTH (voice over): The speaker was Iraq's foreign minister by the message was from President Saddam Hussein.
SABRI: I hereby declare before you that Iraq is totally clear of all nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.
ROTH: U.N. weapons inspectors have not been able to certify that. Now, Iraq promises access again to the weapons experts but is worried they will spy for the U.S. which some inspectors admitted doing the last time in Iraq.
SABRI: Some of the inspectors went on doing intelligence and espionage work that had nothing to do with the official mandate of an inspection teams.
ROTH: It was one week ago that President Bush in his General Assembly speech charged Iraq was building new weapons capable of mass murder. But the Iraqi leader calls that a pretext to use the terror attacks of September 11 for a military strike against Iraq.
SABRI: After a long time of utilizing the American propaganda machine, along with official statements of lies, distortion, and falsehood, the focus was deliberately turned on inciting the American public against Iraq. ROTH: In the face of possible U.S. military action, the foreign minister called on the U.N. to help protect its national sovereignty. Meanwhile, Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix is meeting now with the U.N. Security Council to iron out specifics of a new inspection regime and perhaps of how to navigate the politics of this high stakes game.
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ROTH (on camera): Blix is still inside with the Security Council right now briefing them on his talks earlier this week with Iraqi technical experts. Wolf.
BLITZER: Richard Roth at the United Nations thank you very much. We'll be following that story of course throughout these hours and days.
If politics makes for strange bedfellows, global strategy and the passage of time make for even stranger pairings.
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BLITZER (voice over): News cameras seemingly can't turn anywhere these days without capturing a member of the Bush administration giving a stern warning about Saddam Hussein.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We do know that the Iraqi regime has chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction. They're pursuing nuclear weapons that they've proven willingness to use those weapons, and that they've proven aspiration to seize territory of their neighbors and to threaten their neighbors.
BLITZER: But it was a far different picture in the 1980s, Donald Rumsfeld then a private citizen meeting with Saddam Hussein on December 20, 1983 as an emissary from the Reagan administration. At the time, most U.S. officials believed that meeting and engaging Saddam diplomatically made sense.
The Iraqi leader was involved in what would become a long and bloody war with Iran, then an American arch enemy having held Americans hostage for 444 days. Many U.S. officials then believed Saddam Hussein's regime could defeat Iran with America's help and in turn help stabilize the Middle East.
The U.S. then shared intelligence with Iraq, including satellite photos and authorized sales of equipment that could have both civilian and military use. By early 1990, even as Saddam began scheming to invade neighboring Kuwait, he hosted a delegation of U.S. Senators led by Bob Dole.
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BLITZER (on camera): Strange bedfellows indeed, politics does indeed make for strange bedfellows, geo-strategic politics even stranger.
And here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our "Web Question of The Day" is this: should Congress give President Bush the authority to take military action against Iraq? We'll have the results later in this program.
Go to my web page, cnn.com/wolf. That's where you can vote. While you're there, send me your comments. I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.
The Middle East crisis may be back in full fury. Israeli troops have laid siege to Yasser Arafat's West Bank headquarters and a number of Palestinians there have now heeded demands to surrender. This follows a bloody terror attack in the heart of Israel.
We get the story now from our Jerusalem Bureau Chief Mike Hanna.
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MIKE HANNA, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF (voice over): A suicide bombing in the middle of Tel Aviv, a massive blast coming shortly after one o'clock at the time that Allenby Street was at its most crowded. Five declared dead on the scene, more than 60 people wounded, and the horror fixed in the minds of those who were the first to respond.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought about it and now I feel like half a man, like my legs can not move and my hands, terrible, absolutely terrible.
HANNA: This attack, along with a suicide bombing in northern Israel Wednesday, ended a period of more than five weeks in which there were no successful operations against Israeli civilians in Israel.
HANNA (on camera): Faint hopes had arisen in the past five weeks that the attacks were drawing to a close now blown away, the realization among Israelis that they may be once again the target of a renewed terror offensive.
(voice over): This despite widespread Israeli military operations in Palestinian territory during which dozens of Palestinians were arrested and as many as 70 Palestinians killed.
Within hours of the Tel Aviv attack, Israeli forces were on the move in the West Bank City of Ramallah. Tanks and armored personnel carriers again entering the compound of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, a compound still bearing the scars of a similar Israeli operation earlier this year.
(on camera): The word from the Israeli government that the decision has been taken to again totally isolate Yasser Arafat, the demand too that what Israel describes as wanted Palestinians in the compound, be handed over.
Mike Hanna CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BLITZER: The Buffalo Six held on terror charges. They say there's no evidence and they want the charges dropped. We'll go live outside the courthouse in Buffalo where a judge is deciding their fate.
Also, child abuse caught on tape, one of the women here wanted by police, the surveillance video that may lead to serious charges.
And amazing new pictures from space, a star the size of Manhattan.
But first today's "News Quiz."
According to the U.S. space command there are almost 10,000 known man-made objects in orbit. They range from satellites to lost space tools. Many more have fallen to earth or burned up on reentering the atmosphere.
What's the oldest man-made item still in orbit: the first Russian Sputnik satellite, a glove lost by astronaut Edward White, Vanguard I -- an early U.S. satellite, an American flag left in space by astronaut John Glenn? The answer coming up.
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(AUDIO/VIDEO GAP)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): ...acknowledging that he did go to a training camp in the summer of 2001.
Now according to a statement that Alwan made, he said that on the fifth day he was at the camp or until he got to Karachi, Pakistan, he said he didn't even know he was going to a training camp, but on the fifth day he was there he said, "I was scared. I missed my family."
Some of the people there, in his words, appeared crazy. He pleaded. He cried. He could not sleep and, in fact, he said that he faked an ankle injury and eventually after hearing a speech by Osama bin Laden, he said on the tenth day he got a ride out. When he got home, he said, he had a message waiting for him from the FBI.
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CANDIOTTI (on camera): He did talk to the FBI but it appears he did not acknowledge that he went to Afghanistan. It was not until just last week that he acknowledged that he went to a training camp. The lawyers will for all try to make their case that their clients deserve bond, that they would do no harm to anyone in this country and they were not planning any kind of an attack against the United States -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Susan Candiotti in Buffalo. She's been covering this story and will continue to cover it for us. Thank you very much.
And, remember those Muslim medical students stopped in Florida last week and questioned as supposed terror suspects? Not only were they not involved in terrorism, it turns out they weren't even involved in toll evasion.
Police had accused one of the students of driving through a toll plaza without paying. Now, after reviewing a surveillance tape, authorities have dropped that charge altogether. They say he did pay the toll.
A woman severely beats a child in a store parking lot. It's all picked up on camera. Now she's wanted by police who fear for the child's life.
Also, the day of corporate drama. What's going on with these messy millionaires?
And, President Bush, the first President Bush, his harrowing journey for survival after being shot down over Japan.
But first, a look at news making headlines around the world.
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BLITZER (voice-over): OPEC ministers ignored a plea from the West for more oil production. They agreed to stick with current levels, saying oil prices right now are good for buyers and sellers alike.
Mexico is looking into the possibility of legalizing medical marijuana. Mexican hospitals say they don't have enough painkillers to treat terminally ill patients, and a government commission is studying the possibility of using pot to make of the shortfall.
In what's said to be the first test of it's kind, Britain is using film footage to examine drivers. Officials say that if drivers can detect potential danger on the film, there's a good chance they can detect potential danger on the road.
Twenty-two Cuban nominees missed last night's Latin Grammy Awards in Los Angeles because they never received U.S. entry visas. The visas apparently got delayed by new, more rigorous U.S. security procedures.
An ancient tradition is being revived in Vietnam -- buffalo fighting. The sport began as part of a religious festival, but died out during Vietnam's turbulent years of war and revolution. Now it's back, and it's becoming a popular tourist attraction.
And that's out look around the world.
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BLITZER: Welcome back.
Indiana police are looking for a woman caught on a surveillance tape beating a young girl in a store parking lot. The video we are about to show you is disturbing and may not be appropriate for all viewers. Police are concerned about the child's safety.
Claudine Wong with CNN Affiliate WNDU has the story.
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CLAUDINE WONG, WNDU CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This video was taken outside of Kohl's Department Store last Friday. Police say the two women caught the attention of security personnel.
ASST. CHIEF MIKE SAMP, MISHAWAKA POLICE: They had some items that they took into Kohl's to try to receive monies for and for whatever reason they were refused the exchange and they were asked to leave the store.
WONG: The camera followed them to the car and caught this. The girl, who police believe is just four years old, gets into the car. Her mother looks around and then for some unknown reason, the assault begins, and it continues and continues.
We counted at least five initial blows before the girl is hit and shaken several more times. At one point, she is grabbed by her hair. Once in the car seat, she is punched in the face more than a dozen times. The assault lasts just over 25 seconds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god.
WONG: We had a doctor view the tape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Punching her in the head. I mean there is obvious blunt head trauma. I mean this child needs to be medically dilated.
WONG: The doctor police conferred with agreed. That's why police are asking for your help.
MAGGIE JONES, DEPUTY PROSECUTOR: Our immediate concern as Chief Samp has stated is to locate the child and to get the child out of that environment.
WONG: The video camera was able to get a picture of the out of state license plate. Police found the car and talked to family members but they called the family less than helpful.
SAMP: We spoke with family members. They have indicated to us that both the suspect and the victim have left the state.
WONG: Police believe the woman and her daughter may still be in the area and are searching, trying to make sure this little girl is OK.
JONES: It made me sick to think that that child is still with that mother and quite frankly if the mother is willing to do that in the parking lot, what is she doing at home?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Shocking. Our reporter Claudine Wong of CNN Affiliate WNDU.
The man heading up the Indiana investigation, as we just saw in that report is the Assistant Police Chief Mike Samp. He's joining us now from South Bend, Indiana. This is shocking videotape. It looks awful.
Is it as bad, chief, as it looks?
SAMP: Yes, I believe it is. I mean I've been in police work over 20 years and I've never seen such a horrendous attack on a small child.
BLITZER: Obviously all of us are concerned about the fate of this little girl. What can you tell us right now about the search for the mother?
SAMP: Well, what we've done is we've made sure that we've called in all of our detectives and all of our officers, all the other local police agencies are aware. We've come to the media and they've been very gracious in helping us broadcast the suspect's image as well as the victim's image. In short, we're doing everything we possibly can to try to locate this child.
BLITZER: Do you have any good leads right now?
SAMP: We are pursuing several leads as we speak, yes sir.
BLITZER: And do you believe this woman has left Indiana? Is she still in the state or could be elsewhere?
SAMP: Well, my hunch is that she's still here and that's why we're continuing to pursue this so vigorously but we are also checking other locations that she may be heading to.
BLITZER: If any of our viewers may find her or have a tip for you, what should they do?
SAMP: Well, we would like them to call the Mishawaka Police Department in Mishawaka, Indiana. Our area code is (574) 258-1684 and ask for any detective that answers the phone and at that point we'll take the information. We'll pursue the lead.
BLITZER: And at this point you say you've never seen anything like this in your career. It is very, very shocking just to see those pictures but do you actually suspect that those blows to the head were connecting?
SAMP: Well, all I can do is surmise but yes, I believe that it was a very brutal attack on a small child.
BLITZER: That's a shocking, shocking. It's amazing a mother could do what we believe she did, at least according to the videotape.
Chief, thanks for joining us and good luck in the search.
SAMP: Thank you very much.
BLITZER: Thank you very much.
When we come back, will the show go on despite a ban on women? CBS decides whether to go forward with the Masters Golf Tournament despite the protests.
And, Florida braces for a possible hurricane.
The stunning, the beautiful, and the very real Jamie Lee Curtis, she'll join us live to break down the myth of the beautiful woman.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer.
Coming up, we'll go to Kuwait where the U.S. is opening up a new front line in the war on terror, but first let's take a look at some other stories making news right now.
Four senators are calling for an independent commission to investigate all the events and factors leading up to the September 11 terror attacks. Democrats Joe Lieberman, Robert Torricelli and Republicans John McCain and Arlen Spector say they'll make the formation of the panel part of the Homeland Security Bill.
Isadore is now a hurricane bearing down on Cuba. It's expected to bring as much as 30 inches of rain to parts of the island along with the winds clocked, right now, at 75 miles an hour. The forecast calls for Isadore to strengthen, but it's not clear whether it's heading -- where it's heading next. All Gulf Coast residents are being urged to keep and eye on the storm.
And CBS Sports says it will air year's Masters Golf Tournament, despite a request from a women's group. The Nation Council of Women's Organizations asked the network to cancel coverage because the tournament hosts, the Augusta National Golf Club, does not admit women.
A psychological barrier crossed today on Wall Street. The Dow dropped 230 points to close below 8,000 points. The Nasdaq fell almost 36 points to close at 1,216. Earnings warning and worries over a war with Iraq fueled the sell-off.
If millions of people didn't have billions of dollars at stake, you'd almost have to laugh at the mess that some of the country's biggest companies are in, from WorldCom and Enron to Tyco and CNN's own parent company AOL Time Warner.
CNN's Anne McDermott takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ANNE MCDERMOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was supposed to be a merger for the millennium and CNN founder, Ted Turner, told the world how good it felt when he signed off on AOL Time Warner.
TED TURNER, CNN FOUNDER: I did it with as much or more excitement and enthusiasm as I did on that night when I first made love some 42 years ago.
MCDERMOTT: While it sure likes like this honeymoon's, well, maybe over. Stock value is down about 70 percent and AOL is restructuring and some are even saying it's time to de-Case the joint. Stay tuned.
It's an age of low stocks and low doings in the boardrooms. There are reports that WorldCom may add as much as $2 billion to the $7 billion it's already disclosed in accounting problems. Two billion, you could buy a couple of these with that.
Talk about your financial follies, which is what this fellow's accused of. He's Dennis Kozlowski, head of Tyco, and allegedly, he used company money for big yachts, cool vacations and fine art. Oh, OK, he didn't buy this picture, but maybe he could have since the SEC says he misappropriated $242 million that weren't his.
But he's denied any wrongdoing and is free on bail thanks to $10 million posted by an ex-wife, which sounds like a lot, but then $10 million is only half what this N'SYNC guy was going to spend to go to outer space.
Back on Earth, Jack Welch is having his problems. The former head of GE and pal of president's is tussling with a missus in a divorce case. She says GE brought good things to Jack in the form of fancy New York City digs and private planes after he retired. He's now giving much of that back to the company and meanwhile, the divorce continues as divorces do.
Anne McDermott, CNN Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And this just in to CNN, the AOL Time Warner board of directors meeting has concluded and Steve Case will remain as chairman. AOL Time Warner spokesman, Ed Adler, tells CNN, "During the meeting, the board conducted a regular business session and the status of the chairman, Steve Case, did not come up."
AOL Time Warner, of course, is the parent company of CNN.
Now back to showdown Iraq. A top American military commander is in Kuwait, and U.S. forces are taking part in a series of exercises there, just miles from the Iraqi border. U.S. officials insist it was all planned long before the current tension between Washington and Baghdad.
Our Martin Savidge has more from Kuwait City. MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, U.S. officials and Kuwaiti officials both are going out of their way to downplay the visit by Cent Com Commander General Tommy Franks. He arrived earlier today. He is meeting with his regional commanders. U.S. military officials say, "hey, this thing was already on the schedule books long before the latest crisis with Iraq blew up and that he does almost annually come here in and meet with his regional commanders, that is after all part of his job."
But you keep in the framework also some military exercise, significant ones that are going on at about the same time. Off in the Kuwaiti desert near Iraq is Operation Desert Spring, the third army using heavy armored units training jointly with Kuwaiti forces. This is an exercise that goes on for several months actually and they rotate forces in and out of this region. And then, towards the end of the month, beginning of next month, 2000 U.S. Marines will come in and practice amphibious assault landings.
Air and ground units interacting with Kuwaiti forces and of course, everyone knows that if there is a large body of U.S. conventional forces used, Kuwait is probably going to be the way to push in from the south. So everyone says it's, normal, but we clearly know with circumstances going on around here, it is not quite business as usual -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Our Martin Savidge on the scene for us in Kuwait. We'll have much more on this, of course, as the story unfolds.
But with Washington full of war talk, let's get some different views on a showdown with Iraq.
Joining me now from Capitol Hill, California Congressman Duncan Hunter. He's the vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
Also, here in Washington, the Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich. He's a ranking Democrat on a National Security Subcommittee.
Congressman Kucinich, I'll begin with you. The president wants Congress to pass legislation, which would authorize, in his words, all means that he determines to be appropriate, including force to force Saddam Hussein to comply. Are you ready to sign on?
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D), OHIO: We want inspections. We want disarmament. We don't want war. If we give the president a blank check for war in that region, the check is going to bounce.
BLITZER: What do you say about that Congressman Hunter?
REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R-CA), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I think the president is making a very clear case to the world -- and we've been in Armed Services holding hearings the last several weeks, some of them classified, some of them open, but as a result of that, I'm convinced that Saddam Hussein is a couple of years away from having a nuclear weapon. And I think it's much more prudent to deal with him now before he gets it than to have to figure out how to handle him later on, and I think the resolution will pass by a fairly wide margin.
BLITZER: Congressman Kucinich, what about that argument that better to deal with Saddam Hussein before he develops nuclear weapons than afterwards?
KUCINICH: Well, I've read the resolution and it connects Saddam Hussein with 9/11. Iraq's not connected to 9/11. Iraq's not connected to al Qaeda. Iraq's not -- doesn't have any usable weapons of mass destruction, the ability to deliver them or the intent to do so, so this resolution tries to couple together a bunch of fictions to create a pretext for war against Iraq.
I don't think the American people want to send their sons and daughters to that region just to be able to protect oil. I think the American people want peace and they want disarmament of Iraq. We can still do it. War is not inevitable. We can avoid war if the administration wants to avoid war.
BLITZER: Congressman Hunter, what do you say?
HUNTER: We just had a -- one of Iraq's former nuclear engineers, who was working their weapons program leave the Armed Services Committee. He told us that not only were they working on a nuclear weapon before 1991, before the Gulf War -- and they were very close, that they were about six months away at that point from having one -- but that they also continued to work on the program even after Desert Storm, that is in 1993 and 1994. When inspectors were still in Iraq, they were working at undisclosed locations on nuclear systems. He thinks they are a couple years away.
Clearly, Saddam Hussein has manifested an intent, which is very much against American interests. He's attacked his neighbors. He's brutalized people within his own border. He hates the United States. I don't want to have to deal with him later when he has a nuclear system. I'd rather deprive him of it now.
BLITZER: How can you be so sure Congressman Kucinich that Saddam Hussein doesn't really pose -- or won't in the short-term pose a serious threat, including potentially a nuclear threat to his neighbors and the United States?
KUCINICH: The biological, chemical and nuclear weapons capabilities, which Saddam Hussein had prior to the Gulf War, were acquired with the help of the United States government, the first Bush administration. That technology was destroyed in the Gulf War. Scott Ritter and other inspectors, meticulously, over seven years established that technology no longer exists.
There hasn't been any intelligence and no one is asserting in the intelligence community that Iraq currently has nuclear technology. They'd be able to detect it with -- by reading gamma rays. So we have to say -- should we have inspections? Yes, but why should we are have a war before the inspections? Why shouldn't we have the inspections?
BLITZER: But what happens if -- but Congressman, what happens if the Iraqis don't let those inspectors to enter those presidential palaces, for example?
KUCINICH: Well, I think that we have to have unfettered inspection of Iraq. Iraqis have agreed to it. Why don't we let that process proceed and then, we'll make the decision. But to decide to go to war first, it seems to me it is like following Alice in Wonderland -- first, the verdict, then the trial.
BLITZER: I'll give the last word, Congressman Hunter.
HUNTER: Well, a very simply -- even since the letter saying that we will accept inspectors has been delivered, saying we will comply with U.N. resolutions. The -- over the last couple days, the Iraqis have continued to fire on American aircraft, which essentially are carrying out United Nations resolutions.
So on the one hand they're delivering letters, making promises. On the other hand, they're still firing at American aircraft. I think we're going to have to take action. I hope we have a number of allies with us, but I think the United States, at this point, has to deprive Saddam Hussein of a nuclear system before he gets it.
BLITZER: All right. We can leave it there. Congressman Hunter and Congressman Kucinich, this debate, obviously, is only just getting off the ground. Thanks to both of you for joining us.
And from Hollywood bombshell to children's book writer. When we come back, Jamie Lee Curtis joins us live on the illusion of glamour and the perfect body.
Plus, health news that's breaking right now. New warnings about alcohol and liver damage and acetaminophen.
Stay with us.
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BLITZER: Let's take a look at some stories on our "Health Beat." The Food and Drug Administration's Advisory Committee is urging stronger warning labels or other or other measures to help people use acetaminophen more safely -- I can't pronounce it.
The panel voted 21 to one just a few minutes ago. Tylenol is the best-known brand of the popular painkiller. It's also contained in more than 200 products. Thousands of people accidentally overdose on acetaminophen each year, resulting in serious liver damage.
And now, an update on those Guatemalan twins whose heads were surgically separated last month. Doctors in Los Angeles say both girls are doing so well they may be ready to leave the hospital in a matter of weeks for a facility in their home country. The one-year- old girls are in serious, but stable condition. Good luck to both of them and their parents.
And you've seen her in some of the most popular films to sweep the box office, like "True Lies" and "A Fish Called Wanda," both excellent films. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis also has a literary side. She writes children's books and she has a new book called, "I'm Gonna Like Me."
Thanks, Jamie Lee for joining us.
JAMIE LEE CURTIS, ACTRESS/AUTHOR: Thanks for having me.
BLITZER: Tell us about this book. What -- the point is self- esteem.
CURTIS: Well, the point is to try to help children, young children, predominantly, develop this sense that they're a wonderful person in the world because as we get older, obviously, the addiction rate is going up. Obesity rates are going up. All of these are adult things to try to fill up the hole that is missing inside of the adult that could have been shored by good self-esteem in their youth.
BLITZER: But these young kids see beautiful women, actresses like you showing off great physical traits and all that, and obviously, they're influenced by that if they're a little chubby and they don't look that great. Their self-esteem goes down.
CURTIS: Well, I think self-esteem is actually built on, I think, self-awareness, but also, it's something that you earn. It's not something you buy. It's not acquired. You know in today, with all the saturation of things that we can get our kids, really what we need to have them be is good people. I think it's an old-fashioned idea -- be good to others, reach out and be of service to other people, be honest of who you are and what you can or cannot do and not be afraid to fail, which are kind of the old golden rules of upbringing with children.
BLITZER: We recently saw a picture of you then; that we should say was less than flattering. What was the point of releasing that? Here it is right there.
CURTIS: You know what? The point was that I'm doing a book about self-esteem for children and my feeling is if I'm going to be talking about self-esteem issues for children, if I, myself, can't be honest about my own change as a woman.
I'm 44 years old. I'm married 18 years. I have two kids. That's what I look like. I exercise regularly. I eat well. I get my rest. I take no drugs or alcohol. That's what I look like.
And for me, I've had to accept that that's the change. And it was my way of saying to women out there, who I know are looking at pictures of me for a long time, going "Oh, I don't look like that. I don't feel good about me," understand that I, too, am just a regular person.
BLITZER: By the way, you still look pretty good when you aren't fully clothed over there. You can still look...
CURTIS: That's very nice of you to say so.
BLITZER: ... 44-year-old women. That's not that -- not that old. This book, if you had your way, what would parents tell their little girls right now about...
CURTIS: Girls or boys, by the way.
BLITZER: Boys too.
CURTIS: There's both a little girl and a little boy in the story.
BLITZER: All right, what do you want them to learn from this?
CURTIS: That they are enough, that -- I asked the little girl who the book was inspired by, what she likes about her. And she said that, "I'm the only Boco that around." That's her name.
BLITZER: It's hard to do that though given the environment, the TV, the MTV...
CURTIS: Well, and the media...
BLITZER: ... the pictures, the magazines...
CURTIS: And the media.
BLITZER: And the media. Everybody's supposed to look fabulous.
CURTIS: I believe in Gandhi incense, which is that the change begins with you. If you can change and then, maybe, your child can mirror the change that you, as you the adult parent have, then maybe they have a chance to go out into the world and develop some sense that who they are is enough in the world and that they don't have to look at a magazine picture of a girl and go, "Oh, I don't look like her, therefore, I am not enough."
BLITZER: Jamie Lee Curtis.
CURTIS: Thanks for having me.
BLITZER: She's an actress. She's on my show. Thanks for joining us.
CURTIS: Thank you.
BLITZER: Good luck with the book.
CURTIS: Thank you very much.
BLITZER: And the first President Bush, up close and very personal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
G.H.W. BUSH: 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: Shot down over the waters of Japan: an exclusive look at his escape his from capture.
Plus, a bird's-eye view of deep space: the Hubble opens a window to the stars. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. Yesterday, we told you about a recent trip by former President George Bush, who returned to the Pacific Ocean region where he served as a Navy pilot during World War II.
CNN's Paula Zahn accompanied him. Today, she takes a closer look at how the former president's war experience helped forge his future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA ZAHN, ANCHOR, "AMERICAN MORNING" (voice-over): On a spectacular sunny day in June, former President George Bush is trying to close a chapter on his life off the remote Japanese island of Chichi Jima.
G.H.W. BUSH: This way is America back there.
ZAHN: He has waited nearly 60 years to return to this spot, where he almost lost his life.
G.H.W. BUSH: I knew I had to get out of there. I had to stay away from the land and I swam.
ZAHN: In these waters on September 2, 1944, Navy pilot George Bush was bobbing in a rubber raft, similar to this one, after his plane was shot down by Japanese soldiers dug in on the island.
BUSH: I was crying. I've got to confess. I was scared. I was 20 years old.
ZAHN: Bush had been on a bombing raid, targeting a Japanese radio installation on Chichi Jima, when his plane was hit. He parachuted into the water and lost all contact with his two crewmembers.
G.H.W. BUSH: And I thought about my family and you think about survival. You think about how am I going to make it.
ZAHN (on camera): Did you think you were going to die?
G.H.W. BUSH: I'm not sure I did. I was scared about it. I don't remember now thinking I'm, I've had it, there's nothing I can do, I'm going to die.
ZAHN (voice-over): One thing he knew, he couldn't drift ashore into enemy hands.
G.H.W. BUSH: But we were all shown pictures of an officer kneeling and the guy with the big sword over his head about to kill him. And we were shown that as an indoctrination photos when we were going out to the Pacific to make clear to us that being captured would be no picnic. ZAHN: Then, after nearly three hours of paddling, drifting and praying, a remarkable vision.
G.H.W. BUSH: and suddenly, you see a periscope. Then you see a conning tower and then you see a submarine. And the only thought I had was well, God, I hope it's one of ours. And sure enough it was the USS Finback and they pulled me aboard. And I walked up dazed kind of. I mean still scared, I guess.
ZAHN: Incredibly, Bush's rescue was captured on film by a Navy photographer. On board the Finback, he would learn his two crewmembers, Ted White and Jack Delaney, were lost. Eyewitnesses had seen one other parachute, but neither body was found.
G.H.W. BUSH: God, we were close to that island.
ZAHN: Today, as Bush visits the spot where he was rescued, there's no escaping the memory of the two who were lost.
G.H.W. BUSH: I think a lot of about them and I think about them wondering well, is there something I might have done differently? Is there some way that I might have saved their lives?
That's for Ted White and for Delaney and for Don Delaney. There we go. That's beautiful.
ZAHN (on camera): How did September 2, 1944 define your life?
G.H.W. BUSH: It taught me that when you face adversity do what mother said, do your best. George, try your hardest. I look at all of this as having made me a better man. A little kid made into a man by a series of circumstances over which he had no control.
ZAHN (voice-over): And, Bush, says, his rescue deepened his sense of commitment to country. After a month on board the sub, he returned to Pearl Harbor, where he was told he could go home.
G.H.W. BUSH: I said no, I want to go back and finish our tour, hitchhiked back out to the fleet and flew some more missions over the Philippines.
ZAHN: After the war, Bush was awarded the distinguished, Flying Cross, for his bravery on the bombing mission at Chichi Jima.
(on camera): You are a decorated war hero. Why don't you view yourself that way?
G.H.W. BUSH: I was doing what everybody else was doing. How come a guy who gets his airplane shot down is a hero and a guy that's good enough that he doesn't get shot down is not? They asked Kennedy about it, why are you a hero? He said they sank my boat. Why am I hero? They shot down my airplane.
ZAHN (voice-over): Like so many WWII veterans, Bush never said much about his combat experiences, even to his family. G.H.W. BUSH: And I don't lecture today my sons, those in politics and out. I'm very, very close to them but I don't tell him here's the way it was, you ought to do this or you ought to do that or do this in your life or don't do that. I don't think we've ever done that in this family, actually.
ZAHN: The family values Bush describes were reinforced by experiences as a WWII Navy pilot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Speaker, the president of the United States.
G.H.W. BUSH: They've always said when I was president, Paula, George Bush was privileged. He led a life, a privileged life. By that, they meant he had a nice place here, his family did, and his dad could send him to good schools.
But where I was privileged was in terms of values and that a lot of people didn't get when I was president nor did I spend any time trying to convince them of that.
It's a very nice touch.
ZAHN: But even Bush now concedes that what his family sees as virtues -- reticence and humility -- may have hurt him when he reached the height of service to his country.
G.H.W. BUSH: God bless those boys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Tomorrow, in the third part of Paula's series, the former president talks about why he stays out of the Oval Office decision-making process right now, even while his own decisions during the Gulf War are being second-guessed. That piece will air tomorrow morning on "AMERICAN MORNING." That's at 7:00 a.m. Eastern.
Let's go to New York now and get a preview of "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE." That, of course, begins right at the top of the hour. Jan Hopkins, once again, filling in tonight for Lou -- Jan.
JAN HOPKINS, GUEST HOST, "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE": Thanks Wolf. Coming up on "MONEYLINE," the sell-off on Wall Street. The Dow tumbling 230 points. We'll tell you what was behind the selling.
The White House asked Congress for authority to ask military force to overthrow Saddam Hussein. We'll have live reports from the White House and from Capitol Hill. And I'll be joined by former defense secretary, William Cohen.
There's growing concern that an escalating labor dispute could shut down our West Coast ports. We'll have a special report of the potential economical effects. 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 watching.
Time is running out for you to weigh in on our "Web Question of The Day." Should Congress give President Bush the authority to take military action against Iraq? Log on to CNN.com/Wolf to vote. The results, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Earlier we asked: what's the oldest man-made item still in orbit? The answer, Vanguard I, which is still up there after 44 years. It was launched in March 1958 and sent back signals to Earth for six years before falling silent.
And a pulsating image from the stars is our "Picture of The Day." NASA scientists combined photos from the Hubble telescope and the Chandra Observatory to create a movie featuring the crab nebula. It was first -- it was first discovered almost 1,000 years ago. The compact star in its center rotates so quickly, it sends out bursts of energy. That allows the nebula to function like a giant cosmic generator.
Now, here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of The Day." Should Congress give President Bush the authority to take military action against Iraq? Forty-four percent of you are saying, "yes," 56 percent of you are saying, "no." Remember, this is not a scientific poll. Go to my web page, cnn.com/wolf. You can continue to vote on this question as well.
That's all the time we have today. Join me 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
Weapons; Bush Asks Congress for the Green Light to Head for Iraq>
Aired September 19, 2002 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR: Now on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS: a message from Saddam Hussein.
NAJI SABRI, IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER: Iraq is totally clear of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
President Bush isn't buying it.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And if the United Nations Security council won't deal with the problem, the United States and some of our friends will.
BLITZER: But was Saddam Hussein once a U.S. friend?
Terror in Israel, suicide bombers strike and Israeli armor answers back.
And, what saved the first President Bush's life?
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The only thought I had was oh God, I hope it's one of ours.
BLITZER: The dramatic pictures from a different place and a different time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
It's Thursday, September 19, 2002. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
Showdown Iraq. President Bush asked Congress for the OK to go to war and makes it clear he's not relying on the United Nations. Saddam Hussein finds a forum to answer what Iraq calls the American propaganda machine.
Standing by at the U.N. is CNN's senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth, but we begin at the White House with CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King.
John, give us the latest.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the president still trying to get his way at the United Nations and that is a tough new Security Council resolution confronting Iraq. That has been a difficult diplomatic challenge for Mr. Bush. Often, at diplomatic moments like this, people turn to politeness and diplomatic niceties but the president today, very blunt talk. Again, perhaps you might call it hard ball.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING (voice over): The subject Iraq; the purpose make sure there is a zero ambiguity.
G.W. BUSH: If the United Nations Security Council won't deal with the problem, the United States and some of our friends will.
KING: To reinforce the point, the White House asked Congress to give the president a broad mandate to use military force against Iraq. A draft administration resolution calls for regime change in Baghdad and urges Congress to authorize the president to use all means he determines to be appropriate, including force to achieve three objectives, forcing Iraqi compliance with United Nations resolutions, defending the national security interests of the United States and restoring peace and security in the Middle East region.
G.W. BUSH: If you want to keep the peace, you've got to have the authorization to use force.
KING: The exact language is subject to negotiation and some in Congress believe the White House draft gives Mr. Bush too much latitude but lawmakers who met with the president Thursday predict he will get most of what he wants.
REP. NORMAN DICKS (D), WASHINGTON: It is becoming more and more obvious that Saddam Hussein not only possesses but has the intent to use weapons of mass destruction against U.S. interests abroad and possibly the United States.
KING: Claims by Iraq's foreign minister that his country has no weapons of mass destruction and has cooperated with the United Nations were met with scorn.
G.W. BUSH: It's the same old song and dance that we've heard for 11 long years and the United Nations Security Council must show backbone, must step up and hold this regime to account.
KING: But Russia is among those still skeptical of Mr. Bush's call for a tough new Security Council resolution. Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov says a new round of inspections could easily verify whether Iraq has major weapons programs.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING (on camera): But the White House position is that those inspectors should return to Iraq only under the auspices of a new Security Council resolution that says any interference at all by Baghdad would justify military strikes. Mr. Bush will press his case face-to-face here at the White House in the morning with the Russian foreign minister and will, sources tell us, plans also in the works for a phone call tomorrow to the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
BLITZER: They have a special relationship as you know, Putin and Bush, but as far as a timetable on both of these resolutions is concerned, the U.N. resolution, the Security Council resolution, the Bush administration wants and the congressional resolution, which one is supposed to come first and what are they looking for?
KING: Well, the administration would like a Security Council resolution first but is resigned to the fact that that might not happen so what the administration is telling key members of Congress is pass that resolution as soon as possible. The commitment now is to have more hearings this week, some debate by the end of next week perhaps, and a vote in Congress the first week of October.
Some say that could be moved up but probably not, probably the first week of October right before Congress breaks for the election. By then, the administration hopes to have a vote scheduled in the Security Council, the exact language of the new U.S.-British proposal will be forwarded, we are told, and distributed among Security Council members by early next week.
BLITZER: John King at the White House, thank you very much. Let's go live to our Senior United Nations Correspondent Richard Roth. He's standing by as well -- Richard.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, separated by a week and a whole lot more, Iraq denounced the U.S. today at the U.N. over weapons and terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROTH (voice over): The speaker was Iraq's foreign minister by the message was from President Saddam Hussein.
SABRI: I hereby declare before you that Iraq is totally clear of all nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.
ROTH: U.N. weapons inspectors have not been able to certify that. Now, Iraq promises access again to the weapons experts but is worried they will spy for the U.S. which some inspectors admitted doing the last time in Iraq.
SABRI: Some of the inspectors went on doing intelligence and espionage work that had nothing to do with the official mandate of an inspection teams.
ROTH: It was one week ago that President Bush in his General Assembly speech charged Iraq was building new weapons capable of mass murder. But the Iraqi leader calls that a pretext to use the terror attacks of September 11 for a military strike against Iraq.
SABRI: After a long time of utilizing the American propaganda machine, along with official statements of lies, distortion, and falsehood, the focus was deliberately turned on inciting the American public against Iraq. ROTH: In the face of possible U.S. military action, the foreign minister called on the U.N. to help protect its national sovereignty. Meanwhile, Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix is meeting now with the U.N. Security Council to iron out specifics of a new inspection regime and perhaps of how to navigate the politics of this high stakes game.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROTH (on camera): Blix is still inside with the Security Council right now briefing them on his talks earlier this week with Iraqi technical experts. Wolf.
BLITZER: Richard Roth at the United Nations thank you very much. We'll be following that story of course throughout these hours and days.
If politics makes for strange bedfellows, global strategy and the passage of time make for even stranger pairings.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice over): News cameras seemingly can't turn anywhere these days without capturing a member of the Bush administration giving a stern warning about Saddam Hussein.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We do know that the Iraqi regime has chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction. They're pursuing nuclear weapons that they've proven willingness to use those weapons, and that they've proven aspiration to seize territory of their neighbors and to threaten their neighbors.
BLITZER: But it was a far different picture in the 1980s, Donald Rumsfeld then a private citizen meeting with Saddam Hussein on December 20, 1983 as an emissary from the Reagan administration. At the time, most U.S. officials believed that meeting and engaging Saddam diplomatically made sense.
The Iraqi leader was involved in what would become a long and bloody war with Iran, then an American arch enemy having held Americans hostage for 444 days. Many U.S. officials then believed Saddam Hussein's regime could defeat Iran with America's help and in turn help stabilize the Middle East.
The U.S. then shared intelligence with Iraq, including satellite photos and authorized sales of equipment that could have both civilian and military use. By early 1990, even as Saddam began scheming to invade neighboring Kuwait, he hosted a delegation of U.S. Senators led by Bob Dole.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (on camera): Strange bedfellows indeed, politics does indeed make for strange bedfellows, geo-strategic politics even stranger.
And here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our "Web Question of The Day" is this: should Congress give President Bush the authority to take military action against Iraq? We'll have the results later in this program.
Go to my web page, cnn.com/wolf. That's where you can vote. While you're there, send me your comments. I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.
The Middle East crisis may be back in full fury. Israeli troops have laid siege to Yasser Arafat's West Bank headquarters and a number of Palestinians there have now heeded demands to surrender. This follows a bloody terror attack in the heart of Israel.
We get the story now from our Jerusalem Bureau Chief Mike Hanna.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE HANNA, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF (voice over): A suicide bombing in the middle of Tel Aviv, a massive blast coming shortly after one o'clock at the time that Allenby Street was at its most crowded. Five declared dead on the scene, more than 60 people wounded, and the horror fixed in the minds of those who were the first to respond.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought about it and now I feel like half a man, like my legs can not move and my hands, terrible, absolutely terrible.
HANNA: This attack, along with a suicide bombing in northern Israel Wednesday, ended a period of more than five weeks in which there were no successful operations against Israeli civilians in Israel.
HANNA (on camera): Faint hopes had arisen in the past five weeks that the attacks were drawing to a close now blown away, the realization among Israelis that they may be once again the target of a renewed terror offensive.
(voice over): This despite widespread Israeli military operations in Palestinian territory during which dozens of Palestinians were arrested and as many as 70 Palestinians killed.
Within hours of the Tel Aviv attack, Israeli forces were on the move in the West Bank City of Ramallah. Tanks and armored personnel carriers again entering the compound of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, a compound still bearing the scars of a similar Israeli operation earlier this year.
(on camera): The word from the Israeli government that the decision has been taken to again totally isolate Yasser Arafat, the demand too that what Israel describes as wanted Palestinians in the compound, be handed over.
Mike Hanna CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BLITZER: The Buffalo Six held on terror charges. They say there's no evidence and they want the charges dropped. We'll go live outside the courthouse in Buffalo where a judge is deciding their fate.
Also, child abuse caught on tape, one of the women here wanted by police, the surveillance video that may lead to serious charges.
And amazing new pictures from space, a star the size of Manhattan.
But first today's "News Quiz."
According to the U.S. space command there are almost 10,000 known man-made objects in orbit. They range from satellites to lost space tools. Many more have fallen to earth or burned up on reentering the atmosphere.
What's the oldest man-made item still in orbit: the first Russian Sputnik satellite, a glove lost by astronaut Edward White, Vanguard I -- an early U.S. satellite, an American flag left in space by astronaut John Glenn? The answer coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(AUDIO/VIDEO GAP)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): ...acknowledging that he did go to a training camp in the summer of 2001.
Now according to a statement that Alwan made, he said that on the fifth day he was at the camp or until he got to Karachi, Pakistan, he said he didn't even know he was going to a training camp, but on the fifth day he was there he said, "I was scared. I missed my family."
Some of the people there, in his words, appeared crazy. He pleaded. He cried. He could not sleep and, in fact, he said that he faked an ankle injury and eventually after hearing a speech by Osama bin Laden, he said on the tenth day he got a ride out. When he got home, he said, he had a message waiting for him from the FBI.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI (on camera): He did talk to the FBI but it appears he did not acknowledge that he went to Afghanistan. It was not until just last week that he acknowledged that he went to a training camp. The lawyers will for all try to make their case that their clients deserve bond, that they would do no harm to anyone in this country and they were not planning any kind of an attack against the United States -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Susan Candiotti in Buffalo. She's been covering this story and will continue to cover it for us. Thank you very much.
And, remember those Muslim medical students stopped in Florida last week and questioned as supposed terror suspects? Not only were they not involved in terrorism, it turns out they weren't even involved in toll evasion.
Police had accused one of the students of driving through a toll plaza without paying. Now, after reviewing a surveillance tape, authorities have dropped that charge altogether. They say he did pay the toll.
A woman severely beats a child in a store parking lot. It's all picked up on camera. Now she's wanted by police who fear for the child's life.
Also, the day of corporate drama. What's going on with these messy millionaires?
And, President Bush, the first President Bush, his harrowing journey for survival after being shot down over Japan.
But first, a look at news making headlines around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): OPEC ministers ignored a plea from the West for more oil production. They agreed to stick with current levels, saying oil prices right now are good for buyers and sellers alike.
Mexico is looking into the possibility of legalizing medical marijuana. Mexican hospitals say they don't have enough painkillers to treat terminally ill patients, and a government commission is studying the possibility of using pot to make of the shortfall.
In what's said to be the first test of it's kind, Britain is using film footage to examine drivers. Officials say that if drivers can detect potential danger on the film, there's a good chance they can detect potential danger on the road.
Twenty-two Cuban nominees missed last night's Latin Grammy Awards in Los Angeles because they never received U.S. entry visas. The visas apparently got delayed by new, more rigorous U.S. security procedures.
An ancient tradition is being revived in Vietnam -- buffalo fighting. The sport began as part of a religious festival, but died out during Vietnam's turbulent years of war and revolution. Now it's back, and it's becoming a popular tourist attraction.
And that's out look around the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
Indiana police are looking for a woman caught on a surveillance tape beating a young girl in a store parking lot. The video we are about to show you is disturbing and may not be appropriate for all viewers. Police are concerned about the child's safety.
Claudine Wong with CNN Affiliate WNDU has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLAUDINE WONG, WNDU CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This video was taken outside of Kohl's Department Store last Friday. Police say the two women caught the attention of security personnel.
ASST. CHIEF MIKE SAMP, MISHAWAKA POLICE: They had some items that they took into Kohl's to try to receive monies for and for whatever reason they were refused the exchange and they were asked to leave the store.
WONG: The camera followed them to the car and caught this. The girl, who police believe is just four years old, gets into the car. Her mother looks around and then for some unknown reason, the assault begins, and it continues and continues.
We counted at least five initial blows before the girl is hit and shaken several more times. At one point, she is grabbed by her hair. Once in the car seat, she is punched in the face more than a dozen times. The assault lasts just over 25 seconds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god.
WONG: We had a doctor view the tape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Punching her in the head. I mean there is obvious blunt head trauma. I mean this child needs to be medically dilated.
WONG: The doctor police conferred with agreed. That's why police are asking for your help.
MAGGIE JONES, DEPUTY PROSECUTOR: Our immediate concern as Chief Samp has stated is to locate the child and to get the child out of that environment.
WONG: The video camera was able to get a picture of the out of state license plate. Police found the car and talked to family members but they called the family less than helpful.
SAMP: We spoke with family members. They have indicated to us that both the suspect and the victim have left the state.
WONG: Police believe the woman and her daughter may still be in the area and are searching, trying to make sure this little girl is OK.
JONES: It made me sick to think that that child is still with that mother and quite frankly if the mother is willing to do that in the parking lot, what is she doing at home?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Shocking. Our reporter Claudine Wong of CNN Affiliate WNDU.
The man heading up the Indiana investigation, as we just saw in that report is the Assistant Police Chief Mike Samp. He's joining us now from South Bend, Indiana. This is shocking videotape. It looks awful.
Is it as bad, chief, as it looks?
SAMP: Yes, I believe it is. I mean I've been in police work over 20 years and I've never seen such a horrendous attack on a small child.
BLITZER: Obviously all of us are concerned about the fate of this little girl. What can you tell us right now about the search for the mother?
SAMP: Well, what we've done is we've made sure that we've called in all of our detectives and all of our officers, all the other local police agencies are aware. We've come to the media and they've been very gracious in helping us broadcast the suspect's image as well as the victim's image. In short, we're doing everything we possibly can to try to locate this child.
BLITZER: Do you have any good leads right now?
SAMP: We are pursuing several leads as we speak, yes sir.
BLITZER: And do you believe this woman has left Indiana? Is she still in the state or could be elsewhere?
SAMP: Well, my hunch is that she's still here and that's why we're continuing to pursue this so vigorously but we are also checking other locations that she may be heading to.
BLITZER: If any of our viewers may find her or have a tip for you, what should they do?
SAMP: Well, we would like them to call the Mishawaka Police Department in Mishawaka, Indiana. Our area code is (574) 258-1684 and ask for any detective that answers the phone and at that point we'll take the information. We'll pursue the lead.
BLITZER: And at this point you say you've never seen anything like this in your career. It is very, very shocking just to see those pictures but do you actually suspect that those blows to the head were connecting?
SAMP: Well, all I can do is surmise but yes, I believe that it was a very brutal attack on a small child.
BLITZER: That's a shocking, shocking. It's amazing a mother could do what we believe she did, at least according to the videotape.
Chief, thanks for joining us and good luck in the search.
SAMP: Thank you very much.
BLITZER: Thank you very much.
When we come back, will the show go on despite a ban on women? CBS decides whether to go forward with the Masters Golf Tournament despite the protests.
And, Florida braces for a possible hurricane.
The stunning, the beautiful, and the very real Jamie Lee Curtis, she'll join us live to break down the myth of the beautiful woman.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer.
Coming up, we'll go to Kuwait where the U.S. is opening up a new front line in the war on terror, but first let's take a look at some other stories making news right now.
Four senators are calling for an independent commission to investigate all the events and factors leading up to the September 11 terror attacks. Democrats Joe Lieberman, Robert Torricelli and Republicans John McCain and Arlen Spector say they'll make the formation of the panel part of the Homeland Security Bill.
Isadore is now a hurricane bearing down on Cuba. It's expected to bring as much as 30 inches of rain to parts of the island along with the winds clocked, right now, at 75 miles an hour. The forecast calls for Isadore to strengthen, but it's not clear whether it's heading -- where it's heading next. All Gulf Coast residents are being urged to keep and eye on the storm.
And CBS Sports says it will air year's Masters Golf Tournament, despite a request from a women's group. The Nation Council of Women's Organizations asked the network to cancel coverage because the tournament hosts, the Augusta National Golf Club, does not admit women.
A psychological barrier crossed today on Wall Street. The Dow dropped 230 points to close below 8,000 points. The Nasdaq fell almost 36 points to close at 1,216. Earnings warning and worries over a war with Iraq fueled the sell-off.
If millions of people didn't have billions of dollars at stake, you'd almost have to laugh at the mess that some of the country's biggest companies are in, from WorldCom and Enron to Tyco and CNN's own parent company AOL Time Warner.
CNN's Anne McDermott takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ANNE MCDERMOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was supposed to be a merger for the millennium and CNN founder, Ted Turner, told the world how good it felt when he signed off on AOL Time Warner.
TED TURNER, CNN FOUNDER: I did it with as much or more excitement and enthusiasm as I did on that night when I first made love some 42 years ago.
MCDERMOTT: While it sure likes like this honeymoon's, well, maybe over. Stock value is down about 70 percent and AOL is restructuring and some are even saying it's time to de-Case the joint. Stay tuned.
It's an age of low stocks and low doings in the boardrooms. There are reports that WorldCom may add as much as $2 billion to the $7 billion it's already disclosed in accounting problems. Two billion, you could buy a couple of these with that.
Talk about your financial follies, which is what this fellow's accused of. He's Dennis Kozlowski, head of Tyco, and allegedly, he used company money for big yachts, cool vacations and fine art. Oh, OK, he didn't buy this picture, but maybe he could have since the SEC says he misappropriated $242 million that weren't his.
But he's denied any wrongdoing and is free on bail thanks to $10 million posted by an ex-wife, which sounds like a lot, but then $10 million is only half what this N'SYNC guy was going to spend to go to outer space.
Back on Earth, Jack Welch is having his problems. The former head of GE and pal of president's is tussling with a missus in a divorce case. She says GE brought good things to Jack in the form of fancy New York City digs and private planes after he retired. He's now giving much of that back to the company and meanwhile, the divorce continues as divorces do.
Anne McDermott, CNN Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And this just in to CNN, the AOL Time Warner board of directors meeting has concluded and Steve Case will remain as chairman. AOL Time Warner spokesman, Ed Adler, tells CNN, "During the meeting, the board conducted a regular business session and the status of the chairman, Steve Case, did not come up."
AOL Time Warner, of course, is the parent company of CNN.
Now back to showdown Iraq. A top American military commander is in Kuwait, and U.S. forces are taking part in a series of exercises there, just miles from the Iraqi border. U.S. officials insist it was all planned long before the current tension between Washington and Baghdad.
Our Martin Savidge has more from Kuwait City. MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, U.S. officials and Kuwaiti officials both are going out of their way to downplay the visit by Cent Com Commander General Tommy Franks. He arrived earlier today. He is meeting with his regional commanders. U.S. military officials say, "hey, this thing was already on the schedule books long before the latest crisis with Iraq blew up and that he does almost annually come here in and meet with his regional commanders, that is after all part of his job."
But you keep in the framework also some military exercise, significant ones that are going on at about the same time. Off in the Kuwaiti desert near Iraq is Operation Desert Spring, the third army using heavy armored units training jointly with Kuwaiti forces. This is an exercise that goes on for several months actually and they rotate forces in and out of this region. And then, towards the end of the month, beginning of next month, 2000 U.S. Marines will come in and practice amphibious assault landings.
Air and ground units interacting with Kuwaiti forces and of course, everyone knows that if there is a large body of U.S. conventional forces used, Kuwait is probably going to be the way to push in from the south. So everyone says it's, normal, but we clearly know with circumstances going on around here, it is not quite business as usual -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Our Martin Savidge on the scene for us in Kuwait. We'll have much more on this, of course, as the story unfolds.
But with Washington full of war talk, let's get some different views on a showdown with Iraq.
Joining me now from Capitol Hill, California Congressman Duncan Hunter. He's the vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
Also, here in Washington, the Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich. He's a ranking Democrat on a National Security Subcommittee.
Congressman Kucinich, I'll begin with you. The president wants Congress to pass legislation, which would authorize, in his words, all means that he determines to be appropriate, including force to force Saddam Hussein to comply. Are you ready to sign on?
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D), OHIO: We want inspections. We want disarmament. We don't want war. If we give the president a blank check for war in that region, the check is going to bounce.
BLITZER: What do you say about that Congressman Hunter?
REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R-CA), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I think the president is making a very clear case to the world -- and we've been in Armed Services holding hearings the last several weeks, some of them classified, some of them open, but as a result of that, I'm convinced that Saddam Hussein is a couple of years away from having a nuclear weapon. And I think it's much more prudent to deal with him now before he gets it than to have to figure out how to handle him later on, and I think the resolution will pass by a fairly wide margin.
BLITZER: Congressman Kucinich, what about that argument that better to deal with Saddam Hussein before he develops nuclear weapons than afterwards?
KUCINICH: Well, I've read the resolution and it connects Saddam Hussein with 9/11. Iraq's not connected to 9/11. Iraq's not connected to al Qaeda. Iraq's not -- doesn't have any usable weapons of mass destruction, the ability to deliver them or the intent to do so, so this resolution tries to couple together a bunch of fictions to create a pretext for war against Iraq.
I don't think the American people want to send their sons and daughters to that region just to be able to protect oil. I think the American people want peace and they want disarmament of Iraq. We can still do it. War is not inevitable. We can avoid war if the administration wants to avoid war.
BLITZER: Congressman Hunter, what do you say?
HUNTER: We just had a -- one of Iraq's former nuclear engineers, who was working their weapons program leave the Armed Services Committee. He told us that not only were they working on a nuclear weapon before 1991, before the Gulf War -- and they were very close, that they were about six months away at that point from having one -- but that they also continued to work on the program even after Desert Storm, that is in 1993 and 1994. When inspectors were still in Iraq, they were working at undisclosed locations on nuclear systems. He thinks they are a couple years away.
Clearly, Saddam Hussein has manifested an intent, which is very much against American interests. He's attacked his neighbors. He's brutalized people within his own border. He hates the United States. I don't want to have to deal with him later when he has a nuclear system. I'd rather deprive him of it now.
BLITZER: How can you be so sure Congressman Kucinich that Saddam Hussein doesn't really pose -- or won't in the short-term pose a serious threat, including potentially a nuclear threat to his neighbors and the United States?
KUCINICH: The biological, chemical and nuclear weapons capabilities, which Saddam Hussein had prior to the Gulf War, were acquired with the help of the United States government, the first Bush administration. That technology was destroyed in the Gulf War. Scott Ritter and other inspectors, meticulously, over seven years established that technology no longer exists.
There hasn't been any intelligence and no one is asserting in the intelligence community that Iraq currently has nuclear technology. They'd be able to detect it with -- by reading gamma rays. So we have to say -- should we have inspections? Yes, but why should we are have a war before the inspections? Why shouldn't we have the inspections?
BLITZER: But what happens if -- but Congressman, what happens if the Iraqis don't let those inspectors to enter those presidential palaces, for example?
KUCINICH: Well, I think that we have to have unfettered inspection of Iraq. Iraqis have agreed to it. Why don't we let that process proceed and then, we'll make the decision. But to decide to go to war first, it seems to me it is like following Alice in Wonderland -- first, the verdict, then the trial.
BLITZER: I'll give the last word, Congressman Hunter.
HUNTER: Well, a very simply -- even since the letter saying that we will accept inspectors has been delivered, saying we will comply with U.N. resolutions. The -- over the last couple days, the Iraqis have continued to fire on American aircraft, which essentially are carrying out United Nations resolutions.
So on the one hand they're delivering letters, making promises. On the other hand, they're still firing at American aircraft. I think we're going to have to take action. I hope we have a number of allies with us, but I think the United States, at this point, has to deprive Saddam Hussein of a nuclear system before he gets it.
BLITZER: All right. We can leave it there. Congressman Hunter and Congressman Kucinich, this debate, obviously, is only just getting off the ground. Thanks to both of you for joining us.
And from Hollywood bombshell to children's book writer. When we come back, Jamie Lee Curtis joins us live on the illusion of glamour and the perfect body.
Plus, health news that's breaking right now. New warnings about alcohol and liver damage and acetaminophen.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Let's take a look at some stories on our "Health Beat." The Food and Drug Administration's Advisory Committee is urging stronger warning labels or other or other measures to help people use acetaminophen more safely -- I can't pronounce it.
The panel voted 21 to one just a few minutes ago. Tylenol is the best-known brand of the popular painkiller. It's also contained in more than 200 products. Thousands of people accidentally overdose on acetaminophen each year, resulting in serious liver damage.
And now, an update on those Guatemalan twins whose heads were surgically separated last month. Doctors in Los Angeles say both girls are doing so well they may be ready to leave the hospital in a matter of weeks for a facility in their home country. The one-year- old girls are in serious, but stable condition. Good luck to both of them and their parents.
And you've seen her in some of the most popular films to sweep the box office, like "True Lies" and "A Fish Called Wanda," both excellent films. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis also has a literary side. She writes children's books and she has a new book called, "I'm Gonna Like Me."
Thanks, Jamie Lee for joining us.
JAMIE LEE CURTIS, ACTRESS/AUTHOR: Thanks for having me.
BLITZER: Tell us about this book. What -- the point is self- esteem.
CURTIS: Well, the point is to try to help children, young children, predominantly, develop this sense that they're a wonderful person in the world because as we get older, obviously, the addiction rate is going up. Obesity rates are going up. All of these are adult things to try to fill up the hole that is missing inside of the adult that could have been shored by good self-esteem in their youth.
BLITZER: But these young kids see beautiful women, actresses like you showing off great physical traits and all that, and obviously, they're influenced by that if they're a little chubby and they don't look that great. Their self-esteem goes down.
CURTIS: Well, I think self-esteem is actually built on, I think, self-awareness, but also, it's something that you earn. It's not something you buy. It's not acquired. You know in today, with all the saturation of things that we can get our kids, really what we need to have them be is good people. I think it's an old-fashioned idea -- be good to others, reach out and be of service to other people, be honest of who you are and what you can or cannot do and not be afraid to fail, which are kind of the old golden rules of upbringing with children.
BLITZER: We recently saw a picture of you then; that we should say was less than flattering. What was the point of releasing that? Here it is right there.
CURTIS: You know what? The point was that I'm doing a book about self-esteem for children and my feeling is if I'm going to be talking about self-esteem issues for children, if I, myself, can't be honest about my own change as a woman.
I'm 44 years old. I'm married 18 years. I have two kids. That's what I look like. I exercise regularly. I eat well. I get my rest. I take no drugs or alcohol. That's what I look like.
And for me, I've had to accept that that's the change. And it was my way of saying to women out there, who I know are looking at pictures of me for a long time, going "Oh, I don't look like that. I don't feel good about me," understand that I, too, am just a regular person.
BLITZER: By the way, you still look pretty good when you aren't fully clothed over there. You can still look...
CURTIS: That's very nice of you to say so.
BLITZER: ... 44-year-old women. That's not that -- not that old. This book, if you had your way, what would parents tell their little girls right now about...
CURTIS: Girls or boys, by the way.
BLITZER: Boys too.
CURTIS: There's both a little girl and a little boy in the story.
BLITZER: All right, what do you want them to learn from this?
CURTIS: That they are enough, that -- I asked the little girl who the book was inspired by, what she likes about her. And she said that, "I'm the only Boco that around." That's her name.
BLITZER: It's hard to do that though given the environment, the TV, the MTV...
CURTIS: Well, and the media...
BLITZER: ... the pictures, the magazines...
CURTIS: And the media.
BLITZER: And the media. Everybody's supposed to look fabulous.
CURTIS: I believe in Gandhi incense, which is that the change begins with you. If you can change and then, maybe, your child can mirror the change that you, as you the adult parent have, then maybe they have a chance to go out into the world and develop some sense that who they are is enough in the world and that they don't have to look at a magazine picture of a girl and go, "Oh, I don't look like her, therefore, I am not enough."
BLITZER: Jamie Lee Curtis.
CURTIS: Thanks for having me.
BLITZER: She's an actress. She's on my show. Thanks for joining us.
CURTIS: Thank you.
BLITZER: Good luck with the book.
CURTIS: Thank you very much.
BLITZER: And the first President Bush, up close and very personal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
G.H.W. BUSH: 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: Shot down over the waters of Japan: an exclusive look at his escape his from capture.
Plus, a bird's-eye view of deep space: the Hubble opens a window to the stars. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. Yesterday, we told you about a recent trip by former President George Bush, who returned to the Pacific Ocean region where he served as a Navy pilot during World War II.
CNN's Paula Zahn accompanied him. Today, she takes a closer look at how the former president's war experience helped forge his future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA ZAHN, ANCHOR, "AMERICAN MORNING" (voice-over): On a spectacular sunny day in June, former President George Bush is trying to close a chapter on his life off the remote Japanese island of Chichi Jima.
G.H.W. BUSH: This way is America back there.
ZAHN: He has waited nearly 60 years to return to this spot, where he almost lost his life.
G.H.W. BUSH: I knew I had to get out of there. I had to stay away from the land and I swam.
ZAHN: In these waters on September 2, 1944, Navy pilot George Bush was bobbing in a rubber raft, similar to this one, after his plane was shot down by Japanese soldiers dug in on the island.
BUSH: I was crying. I've got to confess. I was scared. I was 20 years old.
ZAHN: Bush had been on a bombing raid, targeting a Japanese radio installation on Chichi Jima, when his plane was hit. He parachuted into the water and lost all contact with his two crewmembers.
G.H.W. BUSH: And I thought about my family and you think about survival. You think about how am I going to make it.
ZAHN (on camera): Did you think you were going to die?
G.H.W. BUSH: I'm not sure I did. I was scared about it. I don't remember now thinking I'm, I've had it, there's nothing I can do, I'm going to die.
ZAHN (voice-over): One thing he knew, he couldn't drift ashore into enemy hands.
G.H.W. BUSH: But we were all shown pictures of an officer kneeling and the guy with the big sword over his head about to kill him. And we were shown that as an indoctrination photos when we were going out to the Pacific to make clear to us that being captured would be no picnic. ZAHN: Then, after nearly three hours of paddling, drifting and praying, a remarkable vision.
G.H.W. BUSH: and suddenly, you see a periscope. Then you see a conning tower and then you see a submarine. And the only thought I had was well, God, I hope it's one of ours. And sure enough it was the USS Finback and they pulled me aboard. And I walked up dazed kind of. I mean still scared, I guess.
ZAHN: Incredibly, Bush's rescue was captured on film by a Navy photographer. On board the Finback, he would learn his two crewmembers, Ted White and Jack Delaney, were lost. Eyewitnesses had seen one other parachute, but neither body was found.
G.H.W. BUSH: God, we were close to that island.
ZAHN: Today, as Bush visits the spot where he was rescued, there's no escaping the memory of the two who were lost.
G.H.W. BUSH: I think a lot of about them and I think about them wondering well, is there something I might have done differently? Is there some way that I might have saved their lives?
That's for Ted White and for Delaney and for Don Delaney. There we go. That's beautiful.
ZAHN (on camera): How did September 2, 1944 define your life?
G.H.W. BUSH: It taught me that when you face adversity do what mother said, do your best. George, try your hardest. I look at all of this as having made me a better man. A little kid made into a man by a series of circumstances over which he had no control.
ZAHN (voice-over): And, Bush, says, his rescue deepened his sense of commitment to country. After a month on board the sub, he returned to Pearl Harbor, where he was told he could go home.
G.H.W. BUSH: I said no, I want to go back and finish our tour, hitchhiked back out to the fleet and flew some more missions over the Philippines.
ZAHN: After the war, Bush was awarded the distinguished, Flying Cross, for his bravery on the bombing mission at Chichi Jima.
(on camera): You are a decorated war hero. Why don't you view yourself that way?
G.H.W. BUSH: I was doing what everybody else was doing. How come a guy who gets his airplane shot down is a hero and a guy that's good enough that he doesn't get shot down is not? They asked Kennedy about it, why are you a hero? He said they sank my boat. Why am I hero? They shot down my airplane.
ZAHN (voice-over): Like so many WWII veterans, Bush never said much about his combat experiences, even to his family. G.H.W. BUSH: And I don't lecture today my sons, those in politics and out. I'm very, very close to them but I don't tell him here's the way it was, you ought to do this or you ought to do that or do this in your life or don't do that. I don't think we've ever done that in this family, actually.
ZAHN: The family values Bush describes were reinforced by experiences as a WWII Navy pilot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Speaker, the president of the United States.
G.H.W. BUSH: They've always said when I was president, Paula, George Bush was privileged. He led a life, a privileged life. By that, they meant he had a nice place here, his family did, and his dad could send him to good schools.
But where I was privileged was in terms of values and that a lot of people didn't get when I was president nor did I spend any time trying to convince them of that.
It's a very nice touch.
ZAHN: But even Bush now concedes that what his family sees as virtues -- reticence and humility -- may have hurt him when he reached the height of service to his country.
G.H.W. BUSH: God bless those boys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Tomorrow, in the third part of Paula's series, the former president talks about why he stays out of the Oval Office decision-making process right now, even while his own decisions during the Gulf War are being second-guessed. That piece will air tomorrow morning on "AMERICAN MORNING." That's at 7:00 a.m. Eastern.
Let's go to New York now and get a preview of "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE." That, of course, begins right at the top of the hour. Jan Hopkins, once again, filling in tonight for Lou -- Jan.
JAN HOPKINS, GUEST HOST, "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE": Thanks Wolf. Coming up on "MONEYLINE," the sell-off on Wall Street. The Dow tumbling 230 points. We'll tell you what was behind the selling.
The White House asked Congress for authority to ask military force to overthrow Saddam Hussein. We'll have live reports from the White House and from Capitol Hill. And I'll be joined by former defense secretary, William Cohen.
There's growing concern that an escalating labor dispute could shut down our West Coast ports. We'll have a special report of the potential economical effects. 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 watching.
Time is running out for you to weigh in on our "Web Question of The Day." Should Congress give President Bush the authority to take military action against Iraq? Log on to CNN.com/Wolf to vote. The results, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Earlier we asked: what's the oldest man-made item still in orbit? The answer, Vanguard I, which is still up there after 44 years. It was launched in March 1958 and sent back signals to Earth for six years before falling silent.
And a pulsating image from the stars is our "Picture of The Day." NASA scientists combined photos from the Hubble telescope and the Chandra Observatory to create a movie featuring the crab nebula. It was first -- it was first discovered almost 1,000 years ago. The compact star in its center rotates so quickly, it sends out bursts of energy. That allows the nebula to function like a giant cosmic generator.
Now, here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of The Day." Should Congress give President Bush the authority to take military action against Iraq? Forty-four percent of you are saying, "yes," 56 percent of you are saying, "no." Remember, this is not a scientific poll. Go to my web page, cnn.com/wolf. You can continue to vote on this question as well.
That's all the time we have today. Join me 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.
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Weapons; Bush Asks Congress for the Green Light to Head for Iraq>
