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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Wolf Blitzer Reports

Aired October 30, 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, ANCHOR: Seventeen hostages died after their exposure to the gas. Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is vowing to continue to lead his country despite the apparent collapse of his broad based coalition. The crisis was triggered when cabinet ministers from the moderate Labor Party resigned after voting against the new budget. The resignations take effect within 48 hours leaving room for some last ditch compromise efforts, enough to look at our news alert.
WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(voice over): They did not find opportunity or freedom, but their desperate effort is sending out ripples.

REP. CARRIE MEEK (D), FLORIDA: Tell your brother they can be released right now. They can.

BLITZER: What sent them to U.S. shores?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The people are hungry. They are dying. The political situation is unstable.

BLITZER: Investigators call the killing machine, what they found in the car used by the sniper suspects.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The old fellow seemed to be talkative. The younger fellow was always very quiet, never said a word.

BLITZER: What brought them together? Plenty of experts offered their opinions on the shootings. Now, we want to hear yours. Did the media get it right? I’m joined by journalist Sam Donaldson.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

It’s Wednesday, October 30, 2002. I’m Wolf Blitzer in Washington. There’s a stunning twist to the sniper investigation, some law enforcement sources say suspect John Muhammad was moving toward a confession when the questioning was cut off by federal officials. Other sources say it never happened. The New York Times first reported to dispute. Joining us now with more on this potentially significant development, are Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena – Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, investigators are pouring over evidence at this time, an as you said, a dispute, a war of words over circumstances surrounding the interrogation of the suspects.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA (voice over): Sources say suspects John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo have not provided any useful information to investigators, no motive, no discussion of targets, no answers to how the alleged plot was carried out. From the beginning, sources say, Malvo clammed up. But according to the New York Times, law enforcement officials say Muhammad was close to confessing last Thursday when federal prosecutors cut the interrogation short and whisked him off to court to face weapons charges at the urging of the White House.

Justice and White House officials vehemently deny that report. Maryland U.S. attorney Thomas DiBiagio who was involved in overseeing the interrogation said in a statement: “Both individuals were questioned throughout the day. There was no indication throughout the day that either of the individuals were yielding any useful information. In fact, the juvenile was not speaking to officials at all.

CNN sources agree to the most part. They say Muhammad did talk a bit but provided no relevant information. With charges pending in several counties, some insiders suggest the strikingly different accounts reflect a political battle over which jurisdiction gets to take a sniper case to court first, and some resentment over federal charges filed on Tuesday. No decision has been made on how the case will proceed. Justice sources say if evidence is uncovered, it will become clear which jurisdiction’s case is strongest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Investigators are pouring over material found at various crime scenes. They’re conducting DNA and other testing and they are reviewing videotapes. Stated in the government’s affidavit, the blue Chevy Caprice that the alleged snipers were living in, was a treasure trove for investigators, a global positioning system, laptop computer, and two-way radios among other items were found in or near that vehicle – Wolf.

BLITZER: Kelli, as you know, these guys were sometimes living in homeless shelters. Where were they getting the money for GPS, a global positioning system, or a laptop computer? These things are not cheap.

ARENA: That’s right, Wolf, and that is part of the investigation. As you know, the two men are named officially as suspects in an armed robbery in Montgomery, Alabama, although according to officials they didn’t get away with any money at that crime scene if they are indeed, you know, the people who are involved there. That has led investigators to the assumption that perhaps they may have been involved in other criminal acts, robberies and so on in several jurisdictions, so investigators in many jurisdictions arguing over some unsolved crimes to see if there’s any connection at all to these individuals to see if that would explain some of this. But as you know, Wolf, we’ve also had investigators quoting people from the homeless shelters that you mentioned that said that Muhammad, for one, was taking cross-country trips, was constantly in touch with travel agents and they couldn’t understand if was living homeless shelter where he was getting that money from. So, it remains an open question and it’s something that investigators are definitely pursuing.

BLITZER: Kelli Arena, she’s been pursuing this story from the first moment it broke, doing an excellent job for us. Thanks very much for that report. There was a half a million dollar reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the D.C. area sniper. While two suspects have been charged, the question remains, which of the numerous tipsters who provided critical information should get the cash? CNN’s Patty Davis is joining us with that – Patty.

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the $500,000 reward sits unclaimed, waiting for investigators to sift through thousands of tips and leads across the country. They have to decide who helped them crack this case. Police say that they are nowhere near a decision but it’s likely a number of people will split the money.

There’s Ron Lantz (ph), the truck driver who spotted the suspects’ Chevy Caprice at Maryland rest stop, but Lantz may be out of the running. Maryland State Police say another man, Whitney Donahue (ph), spotted the car first and called 9-1-1. And then there’s William Sullivan, a Virginia priest, who told police an agitated man called him talking about an Alabama killing.

Another man in Tacoma, Washington told police Mohammad and Malvo used a rifle for target practice in their backyard, all of these tips crucial for police connecting Muhammad and Malvo eventually to the Washington, D.C. sniper spree. Police say one thing is for sure though, even though the suspects help incriminate themselves in phone calls to the sniper tip line, they definitely will not be cashing in – Wolf.

BLITZER: To put it very mildly, Patty Davis, thanks very much for that report. After their perilous journey and desperate attempt to reach American soil, dozens of Haitians, men, women, and children, are uncertain of their future at this hour. They remain in detention today in Miami and their situation is stirring anger. CNN’s Mark Potter first brought us this story, some 24 hours ago on this program. He’s joining us now live for Miami – Mark.

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf, there’s been an interesting development today. The federal authorities say that that dramatic scene that you described yesterday was actually the product of an immigrant smuggling scheme, the planning of which started last December. Now, today six men were arrested, accused of alien smuggling. They appeared this afternoon in federal court. They are ID’d as the boat owner and the alleged coordinator of the trip, the crewmembers, a security person, and a mechanic.

Now, according to an affidavit filed by the INS in support of those arrests, the boat left a place described as Shu-Shu (ph) Bay, Haiti last Thursday, the 24th, with about 200 passengers aboard. It’s been made another stop in Haiti the next day at another port, picking up fuel and food and about 20 other passengers. It then allegedly set sail for Miami, making no other stops taking four days to get here, and as we know, it arrived between Miami and Key Biscayne yesterday afternoon.

The passengers themselves allegedly supplied money, goods, services, all to help support the trip and some of the passengers are now being held as material witnesses and they will be used by the prosecution in support of their case whenever comes to trial. Now, there was an interesting moment in court today. The judge asked the six men if they had any cars, any property, any bank accounts, homes, any money that could be used to buy a lawyer, to pay for a lawyer and the men all said no, they didn’t have anything.

The judge then said well, I would normally ask you if you have a boat, but of course I’m not been ask you that this time, and of course, that boat has been seized. It was picked up by the Coast Guard yesterday. It is being held at their facility on Miami Beach. One other note, authorities say that if the six men go to trial and are convicted, they could face up to a ten year prison term – Wolf.

BLITZER: Mark Potter on the scene for us in Miami, Mark thanks very much. Protesters demanding freedom for the Haitian refugees gathered this morning in Miami’s Little Haiti section, just as Florida Governor Jeb Bush was making a campaign stop in the area and he was pressed about the issue by the Democratic Congresswoman Carrie Meek.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEEK: I came to ask you if you would call your brother and ask him to call INS to release the Haitians that entered the country, and they don’t need any new policy. All they have to do is call. The (UNINTELLIGIBLE) policy will take effect. Those Haitians are standing on dry land. My blood has been (UNINTELLIGIBLE), governor.

GOV. JEB BUSH, FLORIDA: Congresswoman, I appreciate your...

MEEK: I love them.

BUSH: I respect your position.

MEEK: Please call. Call him governor and ask him to please...

BUSH: Thank you.

MEEK: You can do it.

BUSH: I’ve already...

MEEK: We can’t do it. The Congress can’t do it. We tried our best. We can’t do it. If you call him, tell him to call the INS.

BUSH: Carrie, you know that we worked together in 1998.

MEEK: That’s right.

BUSH: To change the immigration laws. With your leadership, that occurred to provide for more just treatment of Haitians. My position is, as I stated, if people have a well founded fear of persecution, they should be allowed into the community, out of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and they should be able to pursue those remedies through administrative courses.

MEEK: Tell your brother they can be released right now.

BUSH: OK, thank you.

MEEK: They can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Jeb Bush’s brother, of course, President Bush, has been accused of applying a double standard to Haitians last December. His administration changed its detention policy on Haitian refugees to discourage a feared mass exodus. Unlike Cubans who reach dry land, Haitian immigrants seeking asylum now goes straight to detention centers. Before the change, those who met minimum standards were released until their cases were decided.

Each year thousands of Haitians hop aboard rickety crowded boats to flee the squalor of their homeland, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Earlier today, I spoke with an expert on the plight of refugees. Arthur Helton is with the Council on Foreign Relations and he’s seen firsthand the terrible conditions in Haiti.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARTHUR HELTON, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Haiti is a society in crisis. It is a mixture of abject poverty. Nearly 80 percent of Haiti’s eight million person population live in abject poverty. It is also a question of political crisis. There are reports periodically that Haitians have been sold into slavery to cut sugarcane and to work for Dominicans. It is literally the poorest of the countries in its neighborhood.

Haitian migrants, refugees, and boat people, have come to the United States. We found bodies on our beaches. It has been part of South Florida’s experience with Haitians, really literally for decades now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Here’s your chance to weigh in on this important story. Our Web question he day is this: When it comes to immigration, should Haitians be treated the same as Cubans? 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, of course, I’d love to hear from you. Send your comments to me, your questions. I’ll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. One that’s also, of course, or you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf. Sniper coverage over the edge, a look at our crime experts’ analysis, where did they do right and where did they go wrong? Plus, journalist Sam Donaldson joins us live. He’ll weigh in on the media and much more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JESSE VENTURA (I), MINNESOTA: I feel used. I feel violated and duped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Plus, Jesse Ventura is mad and he’s threatening to pull rank. Will he tip the scales of power in the Senate? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. As the snipers took their deadly toll during the Washington area, there was endless speculation in the news media as to what might be behind shootings and why. Did the experts come close? Here’s some of the analysis from our show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a Colt AR-15. It’s a civilian version of the M-16 that everyone has seen on TV before and it was used in Vietnam. It’s used bye military now. This is a semiautomatic version which means it fires one round for each time you pull the trigger. Now, this is a .223 caliber weapon. Now, it’s fairly common and it’s fairly easy to get the ammunition, and it’s just different variations on a .22. The .223 has a muzzle velocity of about from 3,000 to 3,100 feet per second and that makes it a high-powered weapon and that’s what seems like the shooter or shooters in Montgomery County have used.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the things that the media will describe the crimes is random and, of course, the offender doesn’t seem to know his victims. They’re strangers. We’re struggling to understand his motivation, the reality is there is a pattern. They’re not random.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it’s quite clear that were talking about somebody who has a distinct familiarity and expertise in the use of a long gun, in the use of rifle. In addition, were talking about somebody who, on one hand, seems to be very cunning because any geographical profiler is going to be thrown off by the fact that the killings are not all in Montgomery County or Prince George’s but now without one down in Fredericksburg. So, the geographical profiling indicates the person might have conscientiously selected Fredericksburg to throw off such profiling.

BO DEITL: The tips are where this case is going to be broken. The detectives are going to be breaking this case through a tip. These people have to go home. I feel as though, since October 3, when there was the four murders within two hours, still believe that there are two people involved. One person is pushing the other person and people laugh at me when I talk about these video games with this doom video game.

In Columbine, these people get involved, they become psychopathic with it, and I think we’re going to look. We have two young men, probably in their late teens, from the area, probably not part of a group, maybe loners, and they put this pact together. This is a game out there. When you look at a cross section of who is getting murdered, and these are not snipers. These are murderers.

DON CLARK: This certainly seems to be a bit more sophisticated than a couple of teenage boys. I weigh heavily against being an international terrorist activity because rarely, if ever, do they do random target selection.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What does not make sense is asking for $10 million. It almost sounds like an afterthought or someone else’s idea or someone else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, did the news media go too far in covering sniper shootings? He’s covered official Washington for four decades and is an area resident himself. He’s been affected by this story. Joining me now, Sam Donaldson of ABC News, and we also want to know what you think. Call us now at 1-888-CNN-0561 or send me your e-mail at wolf@cnn.com. The question is Sam, how did we do as a new media? You’re part of it. Step back and give us your assessment.

SAM DONALDSON: Well, Wolf, when we speculated, just like some of your experts, we were all over the lot. I, myself, said a lot of dumb things that turned out not to be right. But, when we were reporting, I think we did pretty well. Remember, these guys were caught because people heard on the radio.

The guy Donahue is identified as the guy who made the first 9-1-1 call, said he was listening to WMAL here in Washington, heard on the radio to license plate, jotted it down and found the car.

BLITZER: So, what should we have done differently over this arena half weeks?

DONALDSON: Well, obviously, you always want to be more right than wrong. You want to have better sources than some of us had, and you want to be very careful when you speculate as a reporter, as opposed again to a profiler or when you’re in a role of just saying well here’s my guess. Take it for what it’s worth.

So, we could have all done better that way. But on balance, remember the news media is not an IBM machine. We are human beings, on balance, and we make mistakes. I think we got it pretty right concerning what the authorities were telling us.

BLITZER: Should we have put all those profilers on television and get their speculation, and it was speculation, some more informed than others?

DONALDSON: Yes, we should have. We should have. You say well why should you do that if it’s just speculation? Folks, would you do in your living room? When you have people over for dinner during that terrible siege, did you talk about third world debt relief? No, you said who is this guy? Who is it? And someone said well he may be next door. So, it’s human nature to want to try to guess when we don’t know. To say to the news media, but not you, oh come on guys.

BLITZER: You know you and I live here. With both lived here for a long time. Did that affect our coverage, the fact that we were affected directly by this story, our family, our friends, people we know quite well. We know the neighborhoods where these killings took place. Would have been different if we had been covering a story in Sacramento or Chicago, places that you and I don’t live in?

DONALDSON: I don’t know. I don’t know, Wolf. I can’t answer. I don’t think it affected our coverage being the reporters that I watched and I read. I don’t think it distorted what they said because they themselves, and I was one of those when I pumped gas I looked around. There was a wall over there when I pumped gas during the week and I wanted to see who was behind it. I don’t think affected what I said on the radio.

BLITZER: The fact that the police had us searching for this white van or this white box truck and it turned out to be a dark Caprice, a Chevy Caprice, a 1990. What do you make of that whole, some would call it wild goose chase?

DONALDSON: You know these were good people who saw white vans at some of the initial shootings and they reported that, more power to them. And then everybody, including authorities, now admit they got fixated on a white van, so this dark Chevy Caprice just sort of slipped through. Four times at least, it was stopped in the sense of the tag run by police, but they didn’t pay a lot of attention and it just shows you that eyewitness testimony is not always to be trusted.

I know a great defense lawyer in this town who says look, the next time I have a case with eyewitness testimony, not the sniper case, I’m going to say to the jury, remember the white vans?

BLITZER: Right.

DONALDSON: See if it makes an impression.

BLITZER: You saw the news magazines, the weekly news magazines. “Newsweek" magazine for example in their issue this week, “The Sick World of the Sniper” is the inside story of an epic manhunt with the pictures of these two suspects. “U.S. News & World Report, Monsters, Why they Did it.” Now are these magazines already convicting these two suspects?

DONALDSON: Well, I don’t think it will have anything to do with their trial but, of course, that’s not the right thing to do. Kelli Arena, did you notice she was talking about the Montgomery, Alabama. She was careful to say if they are, in fact, involved. We all know.

BLITZER: Well, shouldn’t we all be that precise? DONALDSON: We know that our system says that these suspects must be presumed innocent until if they are, in fact, convicted, they’re convicted by a jury of their peers. I believe in that. If the system is going to work for any of us, it has to work for them. You know, I do a radio program, Wolf, and once in a while someone’s called in, says they’ve been arrested, and said “aw heck, just hang them. You know just get them out there.” And I say well, would you like that to be the way they treated you if the police arrest you?

BLITZER: But you believe they can get a fair trail anyplace in this area?

DONALDSON: I’m sure that someone will ask for a change of venue. We are so, in the Washington area, intensely, passionately, angry and involved. If I were a defense lawyer, I’d say let’s move this out. In this country, though, the important thing is not whether you’ve heard about this but whether you can raise your hand and take the oath as a juror that you will judge only by the evidence presented in the courtroom, and I think they can find 12 people to do that.

BLITZER: All right, Sam Donaldson, I want you to stick around with us. We got viewers. We got e-mail. We want to take your phone calls. We got a lot more to talk about on this issue. It’s rare that I get a chance to speak to Sam Donaldson on television.

DONALDSON: I love to talk. I love to talk.

BLITZER: Yes, I know that. I’ve been with you for many years. Sam Donaldson, stand by. When we come back, though, a secret gas, secret no more, the fallout from a deadly rescue mission in Moscow, a closer look at a narcotic, 100 times more potent than heroin.

And who is John Muhammad? We’ll hear from his former wife and son, but first today’s news quiz. Which crime spree in the last 15 years has gotten the most network news attention in a single week, Columbine, D.C. Area Snipers, Mailbox Bomber, Unabomber, the answer coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Remember, Sam Donaldson is standing by to take your phone calls and your e-mail. Call us now, 1-888-CNN-0561 or e-mail us at wolf@cnn.com. Welcome back. As the United Nations moves ahead gingerly in a resolution to disarm Iraq, President Bush today met with the man who would be in charge of any new weapons inspectors. Our Senior White House Correspondent John King is standing by with more – John.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The White House says slow progress is being made at the United Nations but that the negotiations are likely to carry into next week.

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We have certain issues that we feel extraordinarily strongly about that we will not change, such as the resolution must state that there are consequences.

KING: The United States is promising to consult the Security Council again before launching any military action against Iraq. But the administration says from that point on, it reserves the right to strike and will not tie military action to Security Council approval.

LEE HAMILTON, WOODROW WILSON INTL. CTR.: The United States, of course, wants to be sure that we decide whether or not we’re going to go in or not, prefer to do it under a multinational U.N. support but we want to have the unilateral right to do it at the end of the day, and that increases the pressure.

KING: Mr. Bush met briefly with the Chief U.N. Weapons Inspector Hans Blix and with Mohammaed al-Baradi (ph) head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Blix and al-Baradi also held talks with Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The president just wanted to signal that he wants a peaceful way to resolve the situation, that war is not his first choice, but he does believe the situation needs to be resolved and to put the full backing behind a tough inspections regime so that the inspectors can do their job.

KING: The Pentagon reaffirmed a decision to send more B-2 bombers to the region, part of a military buildup that goes hand-in- hand with diplomacy.

HAMILTON: You have to continue to prepare for war, to build up our forces in the region, and let all the world know and let Saddam Hussein know that there is, in fact, a credible threat, military threat against him.

KING: Secretary Powell is the point man in trying to negotiate a U.N. resolution, reaching out Wednesday to the foreign ministers of France, Russia, and Great Britain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

There has been a great deal of frustration voiced around here in recent days but White House officials now cautiously predicting a deal next week. And, if the talks collapse, these officials believe it will be easier still for President Bush to build an international coalition because he, at least, gave the United Nations a chance to take the lead – Wolf.

BLITZER: John King at the White House thanks very much. Our Senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth spoke today with the Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix following his meetings at the White House. Richard Roth is joining us now live from the United Nations. What’s the latest from your vantage point, Richard?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Hans Blix returned here from Washington and said the leadership at the White House asked him how many people he would be ready to go in with, what are they going to do? Clearly the U.S. now expecting that it will be inspections and they want to make sure that is firm and tough enough. Hans Blix has said previously he knows that it’s not going to be war and peace up to him, but still there’s going to be a lot of pressure on Mr. Blix and his inspectors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: We are the servants of the council and we are asked by the council to report objectively and we will do so.

ROTH (voice over): What qualifies you coming back and saying there’s obstruction or problems?

BLIX: If there are any obstructions and problems, we will report that.

ROTH: But, do they have to be significant?

BLIX: Well, we have to exercise some judgment and I hope we have some.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROTH: The weapons inspectors, of course, are going to have to make it clear that any incidents in Baghdad will have to be seen as either real or possibly contrived incidents and to determine whether it’s necessary to report that to the Security Council, and at the council today, Wolf, some countries, including France and Russia, have given the U.S. some suggestions. The ball is in now Washington’s court.

BLITZER: Richard Roth at the U.N. with the latest. We'll be checking in with you in these coming days a lot. Thanks very much, Richard.

John Muhammad accused by his former wife and son of being obsessed with control. We'll hear from them on what life with the accused sniper was really like. And he's back for more, and you get to ask the tough questions. Veteran journalist, Sam Donaldson, of ABC News will be taking your e-mail questions as well as your phone calls. Call us now, 1-888-CNN-0561. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Earlier we asked, which crime spree in the last 15 years has gotten the most network attention in the single week. The answer, according to the Tindell Report is Columbine.

Welcome back. I'm joined once again by the veteran journalist, Sam Donaldson of ABC News. And now it's your turn to sound off on the media's handling of the sniper news. Call us right now 1-888-CNN-0561 or send us an e-mail at Wolf@CNN.com.

We have a caller, Sam, from Texas. Texas, go ahead with your question. CALLER: Yes, I just wanted to ask Mr. Donaldson about the sensitivity of the sniper case, that if he thought the media was avoiding the fact that John Muhammad had been associated with the Nation of Islam.

DONALDSON: I don't think so. I mean you've seen it reported. Obviously, I take it, that's how you found out about it. I don't think it's the most important thing in the case, but it has been reported and of course, Louis Farrakhan has said that if this man is convicted he'll be kicked out of the Nation of Islam.

BLITZER: We have an e-mail from Ann that wants to -- makes this point. "You" -- meaning all of us in the news media -- "have devoted entirely too much time to the sniper. As horrible and as distressing as the situation is, there is other news happening in the world. All the talking heads rehashing the same old info is unnecessary." Have we gone overboard, Sam, on this story?

DONALDSON: I think Ann is quite thoughtful. I think it's an important point that we all feel about this. When we do have a big story and we do lots of coverage of it, what isn't getting reported? And Ann makes a point that I can't really argue against except to say, Ann, that this story was so overriding for people in this area, but you saw that people of the nation, too, that it was irresistible. We just had to do it. That's not much of an excuse, but it's the only one I can give.

BLITZER: All right, we got another e-mail from Tim. "It appears that the communication between the snipers and the authorities conducted through the media provided key leads in the case. Would the perpetrators have been caught as quickly without the media's help?"

DONALDSON: As it turns out, the answer is no, they would not have been caught as quickly. As you know, on that last day, the police had done a terrific job. Once the snipers, assuming they are the snipers, turn themselves in by saying, "Look at Montgomery, Alabama," insisting that you go thank you very much, a fingerprint, going to Washington state. Once that happened, it was a leak from the investigators to the media. It provided the make of the car and the license plate that Donahue and also the trucker heard on the radio and saw the car and called the cops.

BLITZER: Isabele has an e-mail. "You should be reminded that these two men are suspects. How do you expect them to get a fair trial now that your constant coverage has convicted them on air?" We discussed this a little bit earlier, but Isabele makes a fair point.

DONALDSON: She's exactly right. They are suspects. They have not been convicted until a jury does that if in fact a jury does and we should treat them that way. On the other hand, Isabele, we talk about the evidence provided by the authorities. It was an affidavit from the federal government that told us in fact they had that rifle, which was the rifle that fired at least 11 of the shots, that they found all of the evidence of the car where these two men were sleeping. We've got to report that and people irresistibly will conclude that the heavy burden now is on their being declared innocent by a jury if that should take place.

BLITZER: You've been around, like me, in Washington a long time, do you remember a story that has affected this area, that has captivated our attention as much as this sniper story? Obviously, 9/11 was a worldwide story, but a story that basically affected the greater Washington area?

DONALDSON: Not for so many days. The night Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed, there was in this Washington area, great unrest, flames, buildings torn apart. That was a terrible story, but it didn't go on for three weeks.

BLITZER: It's an amazing story, but it's been fun to have you on this program.

DONALDSON: Always a pleasure, Wolf.

BLITZER: You know, Sam, if ABC News and CNN, you know, if they get together, you and I could be doing this on a daily basis.

DONALDSON: You could be my boss.

BLITZER: Or you could be mine. Sam Donaldson, thanks, great to have you here.

More on the Washington area sniper suspect, John Muhammad. One of Muhammad's former wives and one of his sons came on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" last night to discuss his past.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE, "LARRY KING LIVE")

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Did he like guns? Did he talk about killing people?

CAROL WILLIAMS, SUSPECT'S FORMER WIFE: He was also always fascinated with guns.

BLITZER (voice-over): Even as prosecutors sorted out the charges against John Muhammad, those who knew him tried to sort out their feelings. Muhammad went by the name John Williams when he married his first wife, Carol. John and Carol Williams were divorced in 1985. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Larry King, Carol Williams said the reason was adultery.

C. WILLIAMS: He was a man and he his liked women.

KING: Oh, he cheated on you?

C. WILLIAMS: Yes.

KING: He couldn't stop?

C. WILLIAMS: No.

KING: Was it a contested divorce?

C. WILLIAMS: No, I didn't contest it. He filed for the divorce.

KING: He filed for divorce?

C. WILLIAMS: Yes.

BLITZER: Williams fought for custody of their son, Lindbergh, who's now 20 years old. Lindbergh remembers his father, a Persian Gulf War veteran as a stern disciplinarian.

LINDBERGH WILLIAMS, SUSPECT'S SON: When he got angry, you knew he was angry. And I'd rather not been around him when he was angry because I didn't like that side of him.

C. WILLIAMS: He was a very controlling person and everything had to go his way, and he controlled Len. And Len may not remember, but he wasn't -- he couldn't actually be a child. He had to be military.

KING: Meaning?

C. WILLIAMS: Meaning, everything was military and was for the military. Did he stand up straight, you know, yes, sir, no, sir. And that's good, but he had to run, he had to exercise. He had to keep, you know, fit. He couldn't put -- he couldn't eat anything he wanted to eat.

BLITZER: Last summer when Muhammad paid a visit, Carol and Lindbergh Williams met John Malvo, who police would later identify as Muhammad's partner in crime. Muhammad introduced the teenager as his son.

KING: Len, so you accepted Malvo as your stepbrother?

L. WILLIAMS: Yes, sir. I know what kind of man my dad was. I know he had children everywhere, so he said this is your brother. I just took it in stride.

KING: How did you get along with him, Len?

L. WILLIAMS: We got along -- we got along all right. He was very respectful towards all my relatives. And when it came to my cousin and my other cousin and my other brother to go outside and play with him, read him books. He was a very cool person.

KING: Courteous?

L. WILLIAMS: Very courteous.

KING: Nothing strange about him?

L. WILLIAMS: No, sir.

KING: Did you ever find out who his mother was or ever ask?

L. WILLIAMS: No, sir.

KING: What did you think of Malvo, Carol? C. WILLIAMS: I think that Malvo was a very respectable child. He was yes, ma'am. No ma'am.

BLITZER: Carol and Lindbergh Williams say they never saw any weapons during Muhammad's visit last summer. They never saw the car said to have been used in the sniper attacks. And they can only speculate on where the rage that allegedly fueled the attacks originated.

C. WILLIAMS: I would say from his childhood, from -- you know, from his childhood, maybe from losing his kids. I mean the courts gave me my child back. The courts gave their -- his second wife their kids back and just with, you know, he always loved kids, always. He always loved kids. And I think that just...

KING: And he snapped?

C. WILLIAMS: Yes. A bad childhood and, you know, losing his kids with marriages, I think he just snapped.

L. WILLIAMS: I'd just like to sit down and talk to him and see what is going on inside his head, you know, what was he thinking. If he did it, what was he thinking while he was doing it? What was going through his mind?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Both Carol Williams and Lindbergh Williams say they support the death penalty if John Muhammad is convicted.

Jesse Ventura is on a rampage, angered over a memorial turned political rally. The big guy threatens to appoint a regular citizen, but first let's take a look at other news making headlines around the world.

Soweto blast, one woman is dead after a series of explosions outside Johannesburg in the sprawling black township of Soweto. The bombings raise speculation white radicals are trying to destabilize South Africa's multiracial government.

A grim count continues in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where the confirmed death toll from a downtown fire has reached 60. Police said a gas leak may have caused the blaze.

Coming home, 11 sets of human remains recovered from North Korean soil this month are on their way to the United States. They're believed to be the remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the Korean War. After a stop in Japan, they're headed to a U.S. laboratory for positive identification.

The hammer went down on the auctioneers as the European Commission finds Sotheby's Auction House $20 million for fixing fees with its rival, Christy's. Sotheby's has two months to decide on an appeal.

There's no such thing as a freak launch. That's why a Russian rocket took off for the international space station today without Lance Bass. The 'N Sync star had trained to go along on the mission, but he never came up with the reported $20 million fare. Instead of becoming a cosmonaut, Bass ended up a Cosmo-not. And that's our look "Around The World."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Jesse Ventura says he felt duped. Why he walked out of a memorial for Senator Paul Wellstone. That, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Last night's memorial service for Senator Paul Wellstone ruffled some feathers as it took on the tone of the Democratic campaign rally complete with booing of Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott who was among those attending. Our national correspondent, Bob Franken is live in Minneapolis with more now on this controversy -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the real Democratic campaign rally is going to happen in the state theater here this evening. And this is the letter that Walter Mondale has sent to the state Democratic chairman, chairman of the Democratic Farm Labor Party, as it's called here.

"Dear Mike" -- speaking of Mike Erlington (ph) -- "I am writing to inform you that if nominated, I will accept the DFL nomination for U.S. Senate tonight." Well, plan on that happening. After the rally last night, which wasn't supposed to be a rally, it was billed as a memorial to the late Senator Paul Wellstone, who died in the tragic plane accident last Friday. But it was highly politically charged. More than 20,000 people, many of the Democratic luminaries from around the country appearing, and when a Republican was introduced, meaning Minority Leader Trent Lott of the Senate, he was booed and so was the governor, independent, Jesse Ventura. And today, Ventura was purely bent out of shape.

VENTURA: I feel used. I feel violated and duped over the fact that that turned into nothing more than a political rally and like in the case of Senator Lott flying all the way up here and being booed when he's supposed to be going to a memorial service. I think the Democrats should hang their head in shame.

FRANKEN: And life must go on, meaning that tomorrow Walter Mondale will in fact file the necessary papers and begin a very brief campaign, running against the Republican Norm Coleman with the possibility that there will be a debate. The Republicans are demanding it -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Who would have thought, Bob Franken, Walter Mondale back in politics, at least for a few days but maybe for much longer? Bob Franken on the scene for us in Minnesota. Thanks very much.

The mystery substance revealed. What the Russians are saying about the gas used in the hostage crisis. Judy Miller of the "New York Times" will join me live when we come back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Turning now to the dispute over using gas to end last week's deadly Moscow hostage crisis. Russia's health minister today identified the substance as fentanyl, an opiate-based narcotic used in anesthesia. One hundred seventeen hostages died when the gas was pumped into a theater seized by Chechen rebels. Hundreds of other hostages were hospitalized. The government has come under mounting criticism for initially refusing to tell doctors about the gas. Joining us now to talk more about this is the "New York Times" correspondent, Judith Miller.

Judy, thanks for joining us. Well, what do you make of this latest development, the release of this kind of gas?

JUDITH MILLER, "NEW YORK TIMES" CORRESPONDENT: Well, we reported two days ago, I guess, or maybe it was -- it appeared yesterday that the U.S. government suspected that it was this gas. And I think it's progress that the Russians had finally acknowledged that what the American intelligence community thought was so is so. But they still haven't revealed the exact nature of what was used and of course, they are still left with the problem that they didn't tell the doctors who were treating these people what exactly they were treating them for. So it remains, I think, a very difficult political situation for Mr. Putin even though he has widespread support for what he did, that is the attack on the theater to liberate the hostages. The way in which it was done is a big problem.

BLITZER: As far as you know, Judy, is there an anecdote to this kind of gas? In other words, had the doctors known what was used, could they have saved lives?

MILLER: Well, the assumption is yes, they could have because there is something, a chemical that works pretty well on this kind of anesthetic. But the problem, once again, is knowing exactly what was mixed with the fantanyl and we still don't know that. But most doctors assume that had the doctors been told quickly -- the Russian doctors been told quickly -- they would have been able to save more lives and in fact two more people died today of symptoms related to the gas. So it's not an easy situation.

BLITZER: You know the story as well as anyone, Judy. The Russians argue if they release all of the this information and they have another hostage-type situation with Chechen terrorists, then they're giving them an advance, the word of what they're going to use and they'll come in with the anecdote and make any hostage rescue operation unsuccessful.

MILLER: I know the argument, but I think, Wolf, that it would have been a more persuasive argument had doctors been told. They didn't have to make a public announcement. No one was really asking the Russians in the beginning to make such an announcement, but I think it was essential that the people sent to rescue hostages, be given the anecdote. They should have been sent out with it to immediately treat people. The sooner people got that anecdote, the more likely it was that they would have been saved. Now, we still have about 200 people in the hospital with symptoms related to the gas. So I think the degree of outrage about this event will largely depend on the fate of those people. And as we now know, polls show that most Russians support what President Putin did and that is they really did believe that all people in that theater could have been killed had Russia not acted. I think some American officials still have doubts about that but you know, we weren't there and it's very hard to second-guess the Russians.

BLITZER: Judy Miller reporting for us to tonight from the "New York Times" newsroom. Thanks so much for all your expertise.

Time is running out for you to weigh in on our "Web Questions of The Day." When it comes to immigration, should Haitians be treated the same way as Cubans? Log on to CNN.com/Wolf. That's where you can vote and we'll have the results as soon as we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Now here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Questions of The Day." Earlier we asked -- When it comes to immigration should Haitians be treated the same as Cubans? Look at this, 61 percent of you say yes, 39 percent of you say no. You can find, of course, the exact vote tally and continue to vote, by the way, simply go to my Web site CNN.com/Wolf. Remember, of course, this is not -- repeat not -- a scientific poll.

And that's all the time we have today. Please join me again tomorrow, 5:00 p.m. Eastern, and please join me weekdays noon Eastern for "SHOWDOWN IRAQ." Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.







Aired October 30, 2002 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR: Seventeen hostages died after their exposure to the gas. Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is vowing to continue to lead his country despite the apparent collapse of his broad based coalition. The crisis was triggered when cabinet ministers from the moderate Labor Party resigned after voting against the new budget. The resignations take effect within 48 hours leaving room for some last ditch compromise efforts, enough to look at our news alert.
WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(voice over): They did not find opportunity or freedom, but their desperate effort is sending out ripples.

REP. CARRIE MEEK (D), FLORIDA: Tell your brother they can be released right now. They can.

BLITZER: What sent them to U.S. shores?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The people are hungry. They are dying. The political situation is unstable.

BLITZER: Investigators call the killing machine, what they found in the car used by the sniper suspects.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The old fellow seemed to be talkative. The younger fellow was always very quiet, never said a word.

BLITZER: What brought them together? Plenty of experts offered their opinions on the shootings. Now, we want to hear yours. Did the media get it right? I’m joined by journalist Sam Donaldson.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

It’s Wednesday, October 30, 2002. I’m Wolf Blitzer in Washington. There’s a stunning twist to the sniper investigation, some law enforcement sources say suspect John Muhammad was moving toward a confession when the questioning was cut off by federal officials. Other sources say it never happened. The New York Times first reported to dispute. Joining us now with more on this potentially significant development, are Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena – Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, investigators are pouring over evidence at this time, an as you said, a dispute, a war of words over circumstances surrounding the interrogation of the suspects.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA (voice over): Sources say suspects John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo have not provided any useful information to investigators, no motive, no discussion of targets, no answers to how the alleged plot was carried out. From the beginning, sources say, Malvo clammed up. But according to the New York Times, law enforcement officials say Muhammad was close to confessing last Thursday when federal prosecutors cut the interrogation short and whisked him off to court to face weapons charges at the urging of the White House.

Justice and White House officials vehemently deny that report. Maryland U.S. attorney Thomas DiBiagio who was involved in overseeing the interrogation said in a statement: “Both individuals were questioned throughout the day. There was no indication throughout the day that either of the individuals were yielding any useful information. In fact, the juvenile was not speaking to officials at all.

CNN sources agree to the most part. They say Muhammad did talk a bit but provided no relevant information. With charges pending in several counties, some insiders suggest the strikingly different accounts reflect a political battle over which jurisdiction gets to take a sniper case to court first, and some resentment over federal charges filed on Tuesday. No decision has been made on how the case will proceed. Justice sources say if evidence is uncovered, it will become clear which jurisdiction’s case is strongest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Investigators are pouring over material found at various crime scenes. They’re conducting DNA and other testing and they are reviewing videotapes. Stated in the government’s affidavit, the blue Chevy Caprice that the alleged snipers were living in, was a treasure trove for investigators, a global positioning system, laptop computer, and two-way radios among other items were found in or near that vehicle – Wolf.

BLITZER: Kelli, as you know, these guys were sometimes living in homeless shelters. Where were they getting the money for GPS, a global positioning system, or a laptop computer? These things are not cheap.

ARENA: That’s right, Wolf, and that is part of the investigation. As you know, the two men are named officially as suspects in an armed robbery in Montgomery, Alabama, although according to officials they didn’t get away with any money at that crime scene if they are indeed, you know, the people who are involved there. That has led investigators to the assumption that perhaps they may have been involved in other criminal acts, robberies and so on in several jurisdictions, so investigators in many jurisdictions arguing over some unsolved crimes to see if there’s any connection at all to these individuals to see if that would explain some of this. But as you know, Wolf, we’ve also had investigators quoting people from the homeless shelters that you mentioned that said that Muhammad, for one, was taking cross-country trips, was constantly in touch with travel agents and they couldn’t understand if was living homeless shelter where he was getting that money from. So, it remains an open question and it’s something that investigators are definitely pursuing.

BLITZER: Kelli Arena, she’s been pursuing this story from the first moment it broke, doing an excellent job for us. Thanks very much for that report. There was a half a million dollar reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the D.C. area sniper. While two suspects have been charged, the question remains, which of the numerous tipsters who provided critical information should get the cash? CNN’s Patty Davis is joining us with that – Patty.

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the $500,000 reward sits unclaimed, waiting for investigators to sift through thousands of tips and leads across the country. They have to decide who helped them crack this case. Police say that they are nowhere near a decision but it’s likely a number of people will split the money.

There’s Ron Lantz (ph), the truck driver who spotted the suspects’ Chevy Caprice at Maryland rest stop, but Lantz may be out of the running. Maryland State Police say another man, Whitney Donahue (ph), spotted the car first and called 9-1-1. And then there’s William Sullivan, a Virginia priest, who told police an agitated man called him talking about an Alabama killing.

Another man in Tacoma, Washington told police Mohammad and Malvo used a rifle for target practice in their backyard, all of these tips crucial for police connecting Muhammad and Malvo eventually to the Washington, D.C. sniper spree. Police say one thing is for sure though, even though the suspects help incriminate themselves in phone calls to the sniper tip line, they definitely will not be cashing in – Wolf.

BLITZER: To put it very mildly, Patty Davis, thanks very much for that report. After their perilous journey and desperate attempt to reach American soil, dozens of Haitians, men, women, and children, are uncertain of their future at this hour. They remain in detention today in Miami and their situation is stirring anger. CNN’s Mark Potter first brought us this story, some 24 hours ago on this program. He’s joining us now live for Miami – Mark.

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf, there’s been an interesting development today. The federal authorities say that that dramatic scene that you described yesterday was actually the product of an immigrant smuggling scheme, the planning of which started last December. Now, today six men were arrested, accused of alien smuggling. They appeared this afternoon in federal court. They are ID’d as the boat owner and the alleged coordinator of the trip, the crewmembers, a security person, and a mechanic.

Now, according to an affidavit filed by the INS in support of those arrests, the boat left a place described as Shu-Shu (ph) Bay, Haiti last Thursday, the 24th, with about 200 passengers aboard. It’s been made another stop in Haiti the next day at another port, picking up fuel and food and about 20 other passengers. It then allegedly set sail for Miami, making no other stops taking four days to get here, and as we know, it arrived between Miami and Key Biscayne yesterday afternoon.

The passengers themselves allegedly supplied money, goods, services, all to help support the trip and some of the passengers are now being held as material witnesses and they will be used by the prosecution in support of their case whenever comes to trial. Now, there was an interesting moment in court today. The judge asked the six men if they had any cars, any property, any bank accounts, homes, any money that could be used to buy a lawyer, to pay for a lawyer and the men all said no, they didn’t have anything.

The judge then said well, I would normally ask you if you have a boat, but of course I’m not been ask you that this time, and of course, that boat has been seized. It was picked up by the Coast Guard yesterday. It is being held at their facility on Miami Beach. One other note, authorities say that if the six men go to trial and are convicted, they could face up to a ten year prison term – Wolf.

BLITZER: Mark Potter on the scene for us in Miami, Mark thanks very much. Protesters demanding freedom for the Haitian refugees gathered this morning in Miami’s Little Haiti section, just as Florida Governor Jeb Bush was making a campaign stop in the area and he was pressed about the issue by the Democratic Congresswoman Carrie Meek.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEEK: I came to ask you if you would call your brother and ask him to call INS to release the Haitians that entered the country, and they don’t need any new policy. All they have to do is call. The (UNINTELLIGIBLE) policy will take effect. Those Haitians are standing on dry land. My blood has been (UNINTELLIGIBLE), governor.

GOV. JEB BUSH, FLORIDA: Congresswoman, I appreciate your...

MEEK: I love them.

BUSH: I respect your position.

MEEK: Please call. Call him governor and ask him to please...

BUSH: Thank you.

MEEK: You can do it.

BUSH: I’ve already...

MEEK: We can’t do it. The Congress can’t do it. We tried our best. We can’t do it. If you call him, tell him to call the INS.

BUSH: Carrie, you know that we worked together in 1998.

MEEK: That’s right.

BUSH: To change the immigration laws. With your leadership, that occurred to provide for more just treatment of Haitians. My position is, as I stated, if people have a well founded fear of persecution, they should be allowed into the community, out of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and they should be able to pursue those remedies through administrative courses.

MEEK: Tell your brother they can be released right now.

BUSH: OK, thank you.

MEEK: They can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Jeb Bush’s brother, of course, President Bush, has been accused of applying a double standard to Haitians last December. His administration changed its detention policy on Haitian refugees to discourage a feared mass exodus. Unlike Cubans who reach dry land, Haitian immigrants seeking asylum now goes straight to detention centers. Before the change, those who met minimum standards were released until their cases were decided.

Each year thousands of Haitians hop aboard rickety crowded boats to flee the squalor of their homeland, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Earlier today, I spoke with an expert on the plight of refugees. Arthur Helton is with the Council on Foreign Relations and he’s seen firsthand the terrible conditions in Haiti.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARTHUR HELTON, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Haiti is a society in crisis. It is a mixture of abject poverty. Nearly 80 percent of Haiti’s eight million person population live in abject poverty. It is also a question of political crisis. There are reports periodically that Haitians have been sold into slavery to cut sugarcane and to work for Dominicans. It is literally the poorest of the countries in its neighborhood.

Haitian migrants, refugees, and boat people, have come to the United States. We found bodies on our beaches. It has been part of South Florida’s experience with Haitians, really literally for decades now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Here’s your chance to weigh in on this important story. Our Web question he day is this: When it comes to immigration, should Haitians be treated the same as Cubans? 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, of course, I’d love to hear from you. Send your comments to me, your questions. I’ll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. One that’s also, of course, or you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf. Sniper coverage over the edge, a look at our crime experts’ analysis, where did they do right and where did they go wrong? Plus, journalist Sam Donaldson joins us live. He’ll weigh in on the media and much more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JESSE VENTURA (I), MINNESOTA: I feel used. I feel violated and duped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Plus, Jesse Ventura is mad and he’s threatening to pull rank. Will he tip the scales of power in the Senate? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. As the snipers took their deadly toll during the Washington area, there was endless speculation in the news media as to what might be behind shootings and why. Did the experts come close? Here’s some of the analysis from our show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a Colt AR-15. It’s a civilian version of the M-16 that everyone has seen on TV before and it was used in Vietnam. It’s used bye military now. This is a semiautomatic version which means it fires one round for each time you pull the trigger. Now, this is a .223 caliber weapon. Now, it’s fairly common and it’s fairly easy to get the ammunition, and it’s just different variations on a .22. The .223 has a muzzle velocity of about from 3,000 to 3,100 feet per second and that makes it a high-powered weapon and that’s what seems like the shooter or shooters in Montgomery County have used.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the things that the media will describe the crimes is random and, of course, the offender doesn’t seem to know his victims. They’re strangers. We’re struggling to understand his motivation, the reality is there is a pattern. They’re not random.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it’s quite clear that were talking about somebody who has a distinct familiarity and expertise in the use of a long gun, in the use of rifle. In addition, were talking about somebody who, on one hand, seems to be very cunning because any geographical profiler is going to be thrown off by the fact that the killings are not all in Montgomery County or Prince George’s but now without one down in Fredericksburg. So, the geographical profiling indicates the person might have conscientiously selected Fredericksburg to throw off such profiling.

BO DEITL: The tips are where this case is going to be broken. The detectives are going to be breaking this case through a tip. These people have to go home. I feel as though, since October 3, when there was the four murders within two hours, still believe that there are two people involved. One person is pushing the other person and people laugh at me when I talk about these video games with this doom video game.

In Columbine, these people get involved, they become psychopathic with it, and I think we’re going to look. We have two young men, probably in their late teens, from the area, probably not part of a group, maybe loners, and they put this pact together. This is a game out there. When you look at a cross section of who is getting murdered, and these are not snipers. These are murderers.

DON CLARK: This certainly seems to be a bit more sophisticated than a couple of teenage boys. I weigh heavily against being an international terrorist activity because rarely, if ever, do they do random target selection.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What does not make sense is asking for $10 million. It almost sounds like an afterthought or someone else’s idea or someone else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, did the news media go too far in covering sniper shootings? He’s covered official Washington for four decades and is an area resident himself. He’s been affected by this story. Joining me now, Sam Donaldson of ABC News, and we also want to know what you think. Call us now at 1-888-CNN-0561 or send me your e-mail at wolf@cnn.com. The question is Sam, how did we do as a new media? You’re part of it. Step back and give us your assessment.

SAM DONALDSON: Well, Wolf, when we speculated, just like some of your experts, we were all over the lot. I, myself, said a lot of dumb things that turned out not to be right. But, when we were reporting, I think we did pretty well. Remember, these guys were caught because people heard on the radio.

The guy Donahue is identified as the guy who made the first 9-1-1 call, said he was listening to WMAL here in Washington, heard on the radio to license plate, jotted it down and found the car.

BLITZER: So, what should we have done differently over this arena half weeks?

DONALDSON: Well, obviously, you always want to be more right than wrong. You want to have better sources than some of us had, and you want to be very careful when you speculate as a reporter, as opposed again to a profiler or when you’re in a role of just saying well here’s my guess. Take it for what it’s worth.

So, we could have all done better that way. But on balance, remember the news media is not an IBM machine. We are human beings, on balance, and we make mistakes. I think we got it pretty right concerning what the authorities were telling us.

BLITZER: Should we have put all those profilers on television and get their speculation, and it was speculation, some more informed than others?

DONALDSON: Yes, we should have. We should have. You say well why should you do that if it’s just speculation? Folks, would you do in your living room? When you have people over for dinner during that terrible siege, did you talk about third world debt relief? No, you said who is this guy? Who is it? And someone said well he may be next door. So, it’s human nature to want to try to guess when we don’t know. To say to the news media, but not you, oh come on guys.

BLITZER: You know you and I live here. With both lived here for a long time. Did that affect our coverage, the fact that we were affected directly by this story, our family, our friends, people we know quite well. We know the neighborhoods where these killings took place. Would have been different if we had been covering a story in Sacramento or Chicago, places that you and I don’t live in?

DONALDSON: I don’t know. I don’t know, Wolf. I can’t answer. I don’t think it affected our coverage being the reporters that I watched and I read. I don’t think it distorted what they said because they themselves, and I was one of those when I pumped gas I looked around. There was a wall over there when I pumped gas during the week and I wanted to see who was behind it. I don’t think affected what I said on the radio.

BLITZER: The fact that the police had us searching for this white van or this white box truck and it turned out to be a dark Caprice, a Chevy Caprice, a 1990. What do you make of that whole, some would call it wild goose chase?

DONALDSON: You know these were good people who saw white vans at some of the initial shootings and they reported that, more power to them. And then everybody, including authorities, now admit they got fixated on a white van, so this dark Chevy Caprice just sort of slipped through. Four times at least, it was stopped in the sense of the tag run by police, but they didn’t pay a lot of attention and it just shows you that eyewitness testimony is not always to be trusted.

I know a great defense lawyer in this town who says look, the next time I have a case with eyewitness testimony, not the sniper case, I’m going to say to the jury, remember the white vans?

BLITZER: Right.

DONALDSON: See if it makes an impression.

BLITZER: You saw the news magazines, the weekly news magazines. “Newsweek" magazine for example in their issue this week, “The Sick World of the Sniper” is the inside story of an epic manhunt with the pictures of these two suspects. “U.S. News & World Report, Monsters, Why they Did it.” Now are these magazines already convicting these two suspects?

DONALDSON: Well, I don’t think it will have anything to do with their trial but, of course, that’s not the right thing to do. Kelli Arena, did you notice she was talking about the Montgomery, Alabama. She was careful to say if they are, in fact, involved. We all know.

BLITZER: Well, shouldn’t we all be that precise? DONALDSON: We know that our system says that these suspects must be presumed innocent until if they are, in fact, convicted, they’re convicted by a jury of their peers. I believe in that. If the system is going to work for any of us, it has to work for them. You know, I do a radio program, Wolf, and once in a while someone’s called in, says they’ve been arrested, and said “aw heck, just hang them. You know just get them out there.” And I say well, would you like that to be the way they treated you if the police arrest you?

BLITZER: But you believe they can get a fair trail anyplace in this area?

DONALDSON: I’m sure that someone will ask for a change of venue. We are so, in the Washington area, intensely, passionately, angry and involved. If I were a defense lawyer, I’d say let’s move this out. In this country, though, the important thing is not whether you’ve heard about this but whether you can raise your hand and take the oath as a juror that you will judge only by the evidence presented in the courtroom, and I think they can find 12 people to do that.

BLITZER: All right, Sam Donaldson, I want you to stick around with us. We got viewers. We got e-mail. We want to take your phone calls. We got a lot more to talk about on this issue. It’s rare that I get a chance to speak to Sam Donaldson on television.

DONALDSON: I love to talk. I love to talk.

BLITZER: Yes, I know that. I’ve been with you for many years. Sam Donaldson, stand by. When we come back, though, a secret gas, secret no more, the fallout from a deadly rescue mission in Moscow, a closer look at a narcotic, 100 times more potent than heroin.

And who is John Muhammad? We’ll hear from his former wife and son, but first today’s news quiz. Which crime spree in the last 15 years has gotten the most network news attention in a single week, Columbine, D.C. Area Snipers, Mailbox Bomber, Unabomber, the answer coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Remember, Sam Donaldson is standing by to take your phone calls and your e-mail. Call us now, 1-888-CNN-0561 or e-mail us at wolf@cnn.com. Welcome back. As the United Nations moves ahead gingerly in a resolution to disarm Iraq, President Bush today met with the man who would be in charge of any new weapons inspectors. Our Senior White House Correspondent John King is standing by with more – John.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The White House says slow progress is being made at the United Nations but that the negotiations are likely to carry into next week.

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We have certain issues that we feel extraordinarily strongly about that we will not change, such as the resolution must state that there are consequences.

KING: The United States is promising to consult the Security Council again before launching any military action against Iraq. But the administration says from that point on, it reserves the right to strike and will not tie military action to Security Council approval.

LEE HAMILTON, WOODROW WILSON INTL. CTR.: The United States, of course, wants to be sure that we decide whether or not we’re going to go in or not, prefer to do it under a multinational U.N. support but we want to have the unilateral right to do it at the end of the day, and that increases the pressure.

KING: Mr. Bush met briefly with the Chief U.N. Weapons Inspector Hans Blix and with Mohammaed al-Baradi (ph) head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Blix and al-Baradi also held talks with Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The president just wanted to signal that he wants a peaceful way to resolve the situation, that war is not his first choice, but he does believe the situation needs to be resolved and to put the full backing behind a tough inspections regime so that the inspectors can do their job.

KING: The Pentagon reaffirmed a decision to send more B-2 bombers to the region, part of a military buildup that goes hand-in- hand with diplomacy.

HAMILTON: You have to continue to prepare for war, to build up our forces in the region, and let all the world know and let Saddam Hussein know that there is, in fact, a credible threat, military threat against him.

KING: Secretary Powell is the point man in trying to negotiate a U.N. resolution, reaching out Wednesday to the foreign ministers of France, Russia, and Great Britain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

There has been a great deal of frustration voiced around here in recent days but White House officials now cautiously predicting a deal next week. And, if the talks collapse, these officials believe it will be easier still for President Bush to build an international coalition because he, at least, gave the United Nations a chance to take the lead – Wolf.

BLITZER: John King at the White House thanks very much. Our Senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth spoke today with the Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix following his meetings at the White House. Richard Roth is joining us now live from the United Nations. What’s the latest from your vantage point, Richard?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Hans Blix returned here from Washington and said the leadership at the White House asked him how many people he would be ready to go in with, what are they going to do? Clearly the U.S. now expecting that it will be inspections and they want to make sure that is firm and tough enough. Hans Blix has said previously he knows that it’s not going to be war and peace up to him, but still there’s going to be a lot of pressure on Mr. Blix and his inspectors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: We are the servants of the council and we are asked by the council to report objectively and we will do so.

ROTH (voice over): What qualifies you coming back and saying there’s obstruction or problems?

BLIX: If there are any obstructions and problems, we will report that.

ROTH: But, do they have to be significant?

BLIX: Well, we have to exercise some judgment and I hope we have some.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROTH: The weapons inspectors, of course, are going to have to make it clear that any incidents in Baghdad will have to be seen as either real or possibly contrived incidents and to determine whether it’s necessary to report that to the Security Council, and at the council today, Wolf, some countries, including France and Russia, have given the U.S. some suggestions. The ball is in now Washington’s court.

BLITZER: Richard Roth at the U.N. with the latest. We'll be checking in with you in these coming days a lot. Thanks very much, Richard.

John Muhammad accused by his former wife and son of being obsessed with control. We'll hear from them on what life with the accused sniper was really like. And he's back for more, and you get to ask the tough questions. Veteran journalist, Sam Donaldson, of ABC News will be taking your e-mail questions as well as your phone calls. Call us now, 1-888-CNN-0561. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Earlier we asked, which crime spree in the last 15 years has gotten the most network attention in the single week. The answer, according to the Tindell Report is Columbine.

Welcome back. I'm joined once again by the veteran journalist, Sam Donaldson of ABC News. And now it's your turn to sound off on the media's handling of the sniper news. Call us right now 1-888-CNN-0561 or send us an e-mail at Wolf@CNN.com.

We have a caller, Sam, from Texas. Texas, go ahead with your question. CALLER: Yes, I just wanted to ask Mr. Donaldson about the sensitivity of the sniper case, that if he thought the media was avoiding the fact that John Muhammad had been associated with the Nation of Islam.

DONALDSON: I don't think so. I mean you've seen it reported. Obviously, I take it, that's how you found out about it. I don't think it's the most important thing in the case, but it has been reported and of course, Louis Farrakhan has said that if this man is convicted he'll be kicked out of the Nation of Islam.

BLITZER: We have an e-mail from Ann that wants to -- makes this point. "You" -- meaning all of us in the news media -- "have devoted entirely too much time to the sniper. As horrible and as distressing as the situation is, there is other news happening in the world. All the talking heads rehashing the same old info is unnecessary." Have we gone overboard, Sam, on this story?

DONALDSON: I think Ann is quite thoughtful. I think it's an important point that we all feel about this. When we do have a big story and we do lots of coverage of it, what isn't getting reported? And Ann makes a point that I can't really argue against except to say, Ann, that this story was so overriding for people in this area, but you saw that people of the nation, too, that it was irresistible. We just had to do it. That's not much of an excuse, but it's the only one I can give.

BLITZER: All right, we got another e-mail from Tim. "It appears that the communication between the snipers and the authorities conducted through the media provided key leads in the case. Would the perpetrators have been caught as quickly without the media's help?"

DONALDSON: As it turns out, the answer is no, they would not have been caught as quickly. As you know, on that last day, the police had done a terrific job. Once the snipers, assuming they are the snipers, turn themselves in by saying, "Look at Montgomery, Alabama," insisting that you go thank you very much, a fingerprint, going to Washington state. Once that happened, it was a leak from the investigators to the media. It provided the make of the car and the license plate that Donahue and also the trucker heard on the radio and saw the car and called the cops.

BLITZER: Isabele has an e-mail. "You should be reminded that these two men are suspects. How do you expect them to get a fair trial now that your constant coverage has convicted them on air?" We discussed this a little bit earlier, but Isabele makes a fair point.

DONALDSON: She's exactly right. They are suspects. They have not been convicted until a jury does that if in fact a jury does and we should treat them that way. On the other hand, Isabele, we talk about the evidence provided by the authorities. It was an affidavit from the federal government that told us in fact they had that rifle, which was the rifle that fired at least 11 of the shots, that they found all of the evidence of the car where these two men were sleeping. We've got to report that and people irresistibly will conclude that the heavy burden now is on their being declared innocent by a jury if that should take place.

BLITZER: You've been around, like me, in Washington a long time, do you remember a story that has affected this area, that has captivated our attention as much as this sniper story? Obviously, 9/11 was a worldwide story, but a story that basically affected the greater Washington area?

DONALDSON: Not for so many days. The night Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed, there was in this Washington area, great unrest, flames, buildings torn apart. That was a terrible story, but it didn't go on for three weeks.

BLITZER: It's an amazing story, but it's been fun to have you on this program.

DONALDSON: Always a pleasure, Wolf.

BLITZER: You know, Sam, if ABC News and CNN, you know, if they get together, you and I could be doing this on a daily basis.

DONALDSON: You could be my boss.

BLITZER: Or you could be mine. Sam Donaldson, thanks, great to have you here.

More on the Washington area sniper suspect, John Muhammad. One of Muhammad's former wives and one of his sons came on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" last night to discuss his past.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE, "LARRY KING LIVE")

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Did he like guns? Did he talk about killing people?

CAROL WILLIAMS, SUSPECT'S FORMER WIFE: He was also always fascinated with guns.

BLITZER (voice-over): Even as prosecutors sorted out the charges against John Muhammad, those who knew him tried to sort out their feelings. Muhammad went by the name John Williams when he married his first wife, Carol. John and Carol Williams were divorced in 1985. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Larry King, Carol Williams said the reason was adultery.

C. WILLIAMS: He was a man and he his liked women.

KING: Oh, he cheated on you?

C. WILLIAMS: Yes.

KING: He couldn't stop?

C. WILLIAMS: No.

KING: Was it a contested divorce?

C. WILLIAMS: No, I didn't contest it. He filed for the divorce.

KING: He filed for divorce?

C. WILLIAMS: Yes.

BLITZER: Williams fought for custody of their son, Lindbergh, who's now 20 years old. Lindbergh remembers his father, a Persian Gulf War veteran as a stern disciplinarian.

LINDBERGH WILLIAMS, SUSPECT'S SON: When he got angry, you knew he was angry. And I'd rather not been around him when he was angry because I didn't like that side of him.

C. WILLIAMS: He was a very controlling person and everything had to go his way, and he controlled Len. And Len may not remember, but he wasn't -- he couldn't actually be a child. He had to be military.

KING: Meaning?

C. WILLIAMS: Meaning, everything was military and was for the military. Did he stand up straight, you know, yes, sir, no, sir. And that's good, but he had to run, he had to exercise. He had to keep, you know, fit. He couldn't put -- he couldn't eat anything he wanted to eat.

BLITZER: Last summer when Muhammad paid a visit, Carol and Lindbergh Williams met John Malvo, who police would later identify as Muhammad's partner in crime. Muhammad introduced the teenager as his son.

KING: Len, so you accepted Malvo as your stepbrother?

L. WILLIAMS: Yes, sir. I know what kind of man my dad was. I know he had children everywhere, so he said this is your brother. I just took it in stride.

KING: How did you get along with him, Len?

L. WILLIAMS: We got along -- we got along all right. He was very respectful towards all my relatives. And when it came to my cousin and my other cousin and my other brother to go outside and play with him, read him books. He was a very cool person.

KING: Courteous?

L. WILLIAMS: Very courteous.

KING: Nothing strange about him?

L. WILLIAMS: No, sir.

KING: Did you ever find out who his mother was or ever ask?

L. WILLIAMS: No, sir.

KING: What did you think of Malvo, Carol? C. WILLIAMS: I think that Malvo was a very respectable child. He was yes, ma'am. No ma'am.

BLITZER: Carol and Lindbergh Williams say they never saw any weapons during Muhammad's visit last summer. They never saw the car said to have been used in the sniper attacks. And they can only speculate on where the rage that allegedly fueled the attacks originated.

C. WILLIAMS: I would say from his childhood, from -- you know, from his childhood, maybe from losing his kids. I mean the courts gave me my child back. The courts gave their -- his second wife their kids back and just with, you know, he always loved kids, always. He always loved kids. And I think that just...

KING: And he snapped?

C. WILLIAMS: Yes. A bad childhood and, you know, losing his kids with marriages, I think he just snapped.

L. WILLIAMS: I'd just like to sit down and talk to him and see what is going on inside his head, you know, what was he thinking. If he did it, what was he thinking while he was doing it? What was going through his mind?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Both Carol Williams and Lindbergh Williams say they support the death penalty if John Muhammad is convicted.

Jesse Ventura is on a rampage, angered over a memorial turned political rally. The big guy threatens to appoint a regular citizen, but first let's take a look at other news making headlines around the world.

Soweto blast, one woman is dead after a series of explosions outside Johannesburg in the sprawling black township of Soweto. The bombings raise speculation white radicals are trying to destabilize South Africa's multiracial government.

A grim count continues in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where the confirmed death toll from a downtown fire has reached 60. Police said a gas leak may have caused the blaze.

Coming home, 11 sets of human remains recovered from North Korean soil this month are on their way to the United States. They're believed to be the remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the Korean War. After a stop in Japan, they're headed to a U.S. laboratory for positive identification.

The hammer went down on the auctioneers as the European Commission finds Sotheby's Auction House $20 million for fixing fees with its rival, Christy's. Sotheby's has two months to decide on an appeal.

There's no such thing as a freak launch. That's why a Russian rocket took off for the international space station today without Lance Bass. The 'N Sync star had trained to go along on the mission, but he never came up with the reported $20 million fare. Instead of becoming a cosmonaut, Bass ended up a Cosmo-not. And that's our look "Around The World."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Jesse Ventura says he felt duped. Why he walked out of a memorial for Senator Paul Wellstone. That, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Last night's memorial service for Senator Paul Wellstone ruffled some feathers as it took on the tone of the Democratic campaign rally complete with booing of Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott who was among those attending. Our national correspondent, Bob Franken is live in Minneapolis with more now on this controversy -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the real Democratic campaign rally is going to happen in the state theater here this evening. And this is the letter that Walter Mondale has sent to the state Democratic chairman, chairman of the Democratic Farm Labor Party, as it's called here.

"Dear Mike" -- speaking of Mike Erlington (ph) -- "I am writing to inform you that if nominated, I will accept the DFL nomination for U.S. Senate tonight." Well, plan on that happening. After the rally last night, which wasn't supposed to be a rally, it was billed as a memorial to the late Senator Paul Wellstone, who died in the tragic plane accident last Friday. But it was highly politically charged. More than 20,000 people, many of the Democratic luminaries from around the country appearing, and when a Republican was introduced, meaning Minority Leader Trent Lott of the Senate, he was booed and so was the governor, independent, Jesse Ventura. And today, Ventura was purely bent out of shape.

VENTURA: I feel used. I feel violated and duped over the fact that that turned into nothing more than a political rally and like in the case of Senator Lott flying all the way up here and being booed when he's supposed to be going to a memorial service. I think the Democrats should hang their head in shame.

FRANKEN: And life must go on, meaning that tomorrow Walter Mondale will in fact file the necessary papers and begin a very brief campaign, running against the Republican Norm Coleman with the possibility that there will be a debate. The Republicans are demanding it -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Who would have thought, Bob Franken, Walter Mondale back in politics, at least for a few days but maybe for much longer? Bob Franken on the scene for us in Minnesota. Thanks very much.

The mystery substance revealed. What the Russians are saying about the gas used in the hostage crisis. Judy Miller of the "New York Times" will join me live when we come back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Turning now to the dispute over using gas to end last week's deadly Moscow hostage crisis. Russia's health minister today identified the substance as fentanyl, an opiate-based narcotic used in anesthesia. One hundred seventeen hostages died when the gas was pumped into a theater seized by Chechen rebels. Hundreds of other hostages were hospitalized. The government has come under mounting criticism for initially refusing to tell doctors about the gas. Joining us now to talk more about this is the "New York Times" correspondent, Judith Miller.

Judy, thanks for joining us. Well, what do you make of this latest development, the release of this kind of gas?

JUDITH MILLER, "NEW YORK TIMES" CORRESPONDENT: Well, we reported two days ago, I guess, or maybe it was -- it appeared yesterday that the U.S. government suspected that it was this gas. And I think it's progress that the Russians had finally acknowledged that what the American intelligence community thought was so is so. But they still haven't revealed the exact nature of what was used and of course, they are still left with the problem that they didn't tell the doctors who were treating these people what exactly they were treating them for. So it remains, I think, a very difficult political situation for Mr. Putin even though he has widespread support for what he did, that is the attack on the theater to liberate the hostages. The way in which it was done is a big problem.

BLITZER: As far as you know, Judy, is there an anecdote to this kind of gas? In other words, had the doctors known what was used, could they have saved lives?

MILLER: Well, the assumption is yes, they could have because there is something, a chemical that works pretty well on this kind of anesthetic. But the problem, once again, is knowing exactly what was mixed with the fantanyl and we still don't know that. But most doctors assume that had the doctors been told quickly -- the Russian doctors been told quickly -- they would have been able to save more lives and in fact two more people died today of symptoms related to the gas. So it's not an easy situation.

BLITZER: You know the story as well as anyone, Judy. The Russians argue if they release all of the this information and they have another hostage-type situation with Chechen terrorists, then they're giving them an advance, the word of what they're going to use and they'll come in with the anecdote and make any hostage rescue operation unsuccessful.

MILLER: I know the argument, but I think, Wolf, that it would have been a more persuasive argument had doctors been told. They didn't have to make a public announcement. No one was really asking the Russians in the beginning to make such an announcement, but I think it was essential that the people sent to rescue hostages, be given the anecdote. They should have been sent out with it to immediately treat people. The sooner people got that anecdote, the more likely it was that they would have been saved. Now, we still have about 200 people in the hospital with symptoms related to the gas. So I think the degree of outrage about this event will largely depend on the fate of those people. And as we now know, polls show that most Russians support what President Putin did and that is they really did believe that all people in that theater could have been killed had Russia not acted. I think some American officials still have doubts about that but you know, we weren't there and it's very hard to second-guess the Russians.

BLITZER: Judy Miller reporting for us to tonight from the "New York Times" newsroom. Thanks so much for all your expertise.

Time is running out for you to weigh in on our "Web Questions of The Day." When it comes to immigration, should Haitians be treated the same way as Cubans? Log on to CNN.com/Wolf. That's where you can vote and we'll have the results as soon as we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Now here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Questions of The Day." Earlier we asked -- When it comes to immigration should Haitians be treated the same as Cubans? Look at this, 61 percent of you say yes, 39 percent of you say no. You can find, of course, the exact vote tally and continue to vote, by the way, simply go to my Web site CNN.com/Wolf. Remember, of course, this is not -- repeat not -- a scientific poll.

And that's all the time we have today. Please join me again tomorrow, 5:00 p.m. Eastern, and please join me weekdays noon Eastern for "SHOWDOWN IRAQ." Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.