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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Homeland Security Now Cabinet-Level Office

Aired November 25, 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.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN HOST: I'm Martin Savidge in Atlanta. That was Hans Blix, the Chief U.N. Weapons Inspector. We'll have more on this breaking story just ahead on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. Also, is a changing of the guard in store at CBS' "60 Minutes?"
And, a CNN exclusive: a man interrogated by the FBI talks about an intimidating encounter, those stories starting right now on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Protecting your life.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, we're taking historic action to defend the United States.

SAVIDGE: It's now the law, so why is there a sense of insecurity?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it making us safer today? Absolutely not.

SAVIDGE: One-on-one with the president's pick, is Tom Ridge the right man for the job? A new face in the Iraqi weapons hunt. Also, life after Saddam Hussein, how he'll live on even after he's gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a way for him to make sure that in 1,000 years he'll be remembered as the great Saddam Hussein.

SAVIDGE: And running out of time at "60 Minutes," who may be the odd man out?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE (on camera): It is Monday, November 25, 2002. I'm Martin Savidge at CNN Center in Atlanta. It is great to be with you. Wolf Blitzer is off today.

We begin with Breaking News. Just a few moments ago, the Chief U.N. Weapons Inspector Hans Blix commented on the showdown with Saddam and the weapons hunt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Maintain the position that they've had all the way until now that there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and we simply said -- I said that I think they should look into all their stores and stocks and that this was a fundamental part of the declaration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: U.N. weapons inspectors are on the ground in Iraq. A 17-member team arrived in Baghdad today and they are now getting ready for the first inspections in Iraq in four years. Our Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson is in the Iraqi capitol.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The 11 missile, chemical and biological weapons experts and six nuclear scientists, accompanied for the first time by uniformed and armed U.N. security guards are due to begin their first inspections Wednesday. That tight schedule unchanged, despite a 15- page protest letter sent by Iraq's foreign minister to the United Nations to complain the U.N. resolution authorizing inspections could be used by the U.S. as a pretext for war.

MELISSA FLEMIN, IAEA SPOKESWOMAN: We have no expectations. WE come in here with let's say hope that things will go well this time and that we will get what is required of Iraq in our mandate, the Security Resolution 1441.

ROBERTSON: Over the last week, an advance team of almost 40 technicians has been installing communications and computer equipment as well as refurbishing laboratories at the U.N. inspection team's headquarters. Although much work remains to be done, some vehicles and office space has been readied for these first inspectors.

Likely first to be targeted by the U.N. dual use sites such as Al Nassr (ph) north of Baghdad where inspectors believe equipment used for civilian industrial processes could also have been used to work on weapons of mass destruction. Inspectors will check monitoring equipment, such as cameras installed by the inspection teams in the 1990s and replace any found faulty. The aim for these inspectors to figure out exactly what has happened in Iraq over the past four years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (on camera): Now the inspection teams say they can go any place, anywhere, any time, and certainly none of them are ruling out at this stage a visit to a presidential site. Hans Blix has said that really the inspectors warming up at this stage before he gets in perhaps as many as 100 by the end of the year. The approach initially appears to be, at least with this team, softly, softly as they begin this inspection process -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: The big test will come this week. Nic Robertson live from Baghdad thank you very much. With a stroke of the pen, President Bush as set into motion the largest government reorganization in half a century. The new Department of Homeland Security combines 22 existing agencies into one $40 billion bohemia. It is a direct response to the 9/11 attacks but will it make us any safer? CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King joins us with more on. Big day for the president, John. JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: A big day, Marty. In some ways, a political victory. This was a department just a few weeks ago that was unclear whether Congress would pass the legislation creating it. As you noted, Mr. Bush signed it into law today. It will be up and running in a few months. It's giant mission, win the war on terrorism here at home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING (voice over): This signature launched the new Department of Homeland Security and the most dramatic shakeup of the federal government in more than 50 years.

BUSH: The continuing threat of terrorism, the threat of mass murder on our own soil will be met with a unified effective response.

KING: The new department will have 171,000 employees from 22 existing federal agencies and an annual budget of nearly $40 billion. The goal is one command for missions now scattered across the federal government, the Customs Service, Coast Guard, Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Border Patrol, and the new Transportation Security Agency will now all be in one department instead of three.

Defending against chemical and biological attacks falls under the new department as do key functions of the nation's nuclear laboratories. It will take a year or more to be fully operational and the president took pains to limit expectations.

BUSH: And in a free and open society, no department of government completely guarantee our safety against ruthless killers who move and plot in shadows.

KING: How the new department deals with intelligence about terror threats is a lingering controversy. The department is charged with assessing the threat of terrorist attacks but does not gather its own intelligence. That information will come from existing agencies, mainly the FBI and the CIA.

WILLIAM DALY, FORMER FBI AGENT: As we saw after 9/11, it was a lot of questions about connecting the dots as if we're expecting the Homeland Security Department to be responsive, to analyze this data. We have to make sure it's accurate, it's current, and it's complete in order that they can do their job.

KING: Mr. Bush made official the choice he settled on long ago, former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge will be nominated to launch and lead the new department. Ridge has been White House Homeland Security Adviser for the past year, working just a few steps down the hall from the Oval Office.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING (on camera): And it was Ridge's on-the-job frustrations with turf battles and government bureaucracy that persuaded the president to drop his initial opposition and to endorse creating a new cabinet agency, a giant cabinet agency charged with being the first line of defense against an attack here in the United States -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: Now the hard part begins, John. John King live at the White House thank you very much. And as John mentioned, the president has tapped Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge to head the new department as a cabinet level secretary. CNN's Jeanne Meserve sat down with Ridge this afternoon. She joins us from Washington. How does he feel about the new post, Jeanne?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He feels challenged to say the least. He says his number one priority is going to try to persuade the 170 people who will make up this new department that they have job security, try and keep them focused on the mission of homeland security. He also says a top priority is to improve information sharing and to protect the nation's critical infrastructure. Now some experts have said it may take years to see tangible results. Ridge says he wants to see them sooner than that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY DIRECTOR: Well hopefully from Day One we'll see tangible results. I understand that blending 22 departments and agencies and 170,000 people is going to be a very complicated time consuming task. But I believe from Day One we can begin taking advantage of the 170,000 men and women who work hard every day on homeland security and every day we can be a little bit more secure.

MESERVE: Will this department ever make us 100 percent secure?

RIDGE: No. I think the president was very appropriate when he mentioned today that we have a responsibility to maximize our effort, to do everything humanly and technologically possible to prevent another terrorist attack. But at the end of the day when you're a large country such as we are and a freedom loving country and an open country, diverse and trusting, we can't guarantee that we'll create a fail safe system. It can't be done. We have to be right a thousand times a day forever. They have to be right once in a while.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: Ridge says he's ready to knock heads together if he has to make this work. He's laid out an aggressive timetable. The president is sending his plan for the reorganization up to Congress ahead of schedule today. Ridge says he'll take office on January 24 and by March 1, most of the agencies should be merged into this new department. Asked if he's up for the job, he says absolutely -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: That is going to be one tough job. Jeanne Meserve live from Washington, thank you. Now here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the day: How do you feel now that President Bush has signed that Homeland Security Act into law? Your choices; more safe, less safe, or about the same. We'll have the results later in this broadcast. Vote at cnn.com/wolf. While you're there, send us your comments and we'll try to read some of the at the end of this program. That's also, of course, where you can read our daily online column, cnn.com/wolf. Well, he says he was coerced into confessing a crime that he didn't commit.

ABDALLAH HIGAZY: If you don't cooperate, the FBI will make your brother upstate live in scrutiny and will make sure Egyptian security gives your family hell.

SAVIDGE: An Egyptian student wrongly accused of aiding 9/11 hijackers speaks out, a CNN exclusive coming up. Creating the new Mona Lisa, well maybe in one man's mind. We'll take you to a museum that displays only portraits of Saddam Hussein. And, is one of television's most successful journalists being pushed out, the story ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Okay, we turn now to the war on terror and a money trail which may lead from the Saudi royal family to two of the 9/11 hijackers. Congressional investigators are examining whether funds donated by Princess Haifa al-Faisal, the wife of the Saudi ambassador reached the terrorists.

There are allegations that Saudi students in the U.S., Omar al- Bayoumi and Osama Bassman received the money and passed it on to two of the hijackers. "Newsweek" reports that al-Bayoumi helped the hijackers, Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi obtain an apartment, Social Security cards and flight lessons. The Saudis say the princess never deliberately funneled money to al Qaeda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADEL AL-JUBEIR, SAUDI FOR. POLICY ADVISER: We have realized over the years that people have now taken advantage of our charity, of our generosity, of our naivety if you want to call it that, of our innocence but those days are coming to an end. I believe most Saudi donors are now aware that they need to be more diligent in how they give money and who they give money to and they need to be very careful about just writing checks or giving cash to people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Joining us from Washington is Dan Klaidman of "Newsweek" Magazine. Thank you Dan very much for being with us.

DAN KLAIDMAN, NEWSWEEK: Thanks for having me, Martin.

SAVIDGE: I read through the article and it's very interesting but I didn't find a punch line or a smoking gun.

KLAIDMAN: Well, you're right. We don't know for sure whether this money ended up in the hands of the terrorists but there is an intriguing money trail and for some investigators it's more than intriguing. It's suspicious and that's why the FBI is now redoubling its efforts to look at this case and congressional investigators have been prodding them to do that.

There's no question that at this point we don't know whether money intentionally went from Princess Haifa to these hijackers and, in fact, in the end we may find out that there was no intention there at all. But the Saudis are going to have to ask some tough questions about how the money got to the people who it got to and if they had properly vetted these people, and if there was not a risk that the money could, in the end, end up in the hands of terrorists and that's what people are, I'm sure, looking at right now.

SAVIDGE: Absolutely. Hold on, Dan, because I want you to listen to what Senator Shelby of the Intelligence Committee had to say. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: What this is is find out the truth of where this money went. If it was to aid terrorists we need to know. We have a lot of victims in this country already. There will be more. We need to know what kind of ally we have here. I'm suspicious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: A lot of people have that same sort of feeling. Do you think that's understandable given the circumstances?

KLAIDMAN: I think one of the interesting things about this story is that it is clear that there was a lot of pent up anger and frustration in Congress and among the American public about how the Saudis have behaved, both before September 11th in terms of funding terrorist organizations, funding charities with the money that they ends up in the hands of terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda, and then also the reaction after 9/11.

There's still concern among members of Congress and others that the Saudis have not given sufficient cooperation in our war on terrorism. We've heard that from sources in the government. We've heard that from people of the Treasury Department who are concerned that in tracking down these kinds of stories, money trail stories, they've not gotten the kind of cooperation that they need.

SAVIDGE: But is this article only fanning the flames of say anger against the Saudis without proof positive of wrongdoing?

KLAIDMAN: Well, I think this article reports on an investigation that is ongoing and reports on a congressional inquiry into all of these connections. It does not establish the conclusion of the investigation because the investigation is not over but it does, I think, show that there is an intriguing, if not suspicious, money trail that people need to look at.

Look, if you look at the two people who ended up getting this money, Osama Bassman and Omar al-Bayoumi and you look at their backgrounds. First of all, obviously the fact that they were assisting the hijackers and in terms of money, paying rent, in terms of getting them Social Security cards, getting them bank accounts, helping them enroll in flight schools. That's something that needs obviously to be looked at. And then beyond that, Omar al-Bayoumi was widely regarded in the Saudi community in San Diego as someone who was keeping tabs on Saudi students there, someone who was viewed by many people as a possible Saudi agent. Osama Bassman for his part was regarded by and called by our sources in law enforcement as an al Qaeda sympathizer, someone who celebrated September 11th after the fact, called it a joyous day.

SAVIDGE: I don't want to interrupt you and I also don't want to steal from the article because it is a very intriguing read and I encourage people to go to the Web site and take a look at it, so thank you very much, Dan Klaidman joining us from "Newsweek" Magazine.

KLAIDMAN: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: Moving on now, an Egyptian college student wrongly accused of aiding the September 11th hijackers is speaking out. Abdallah Higazy was staying in a hotel across from the World Trade Center when those attacks occurred. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Deborah Feyerick, Higazy reveals what it's like to be the target of a terror investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The confession came following a polygraph test. Egyptian student Abdallah Higazy saying that a pilot's radio he'd never seen before was his, that he'd stolen it from the Egyptian Air Force. Higazy says he made the phony admission because he was threatened, claiming the FBI agent giving the test told him...

HIGAZY: If you don't cooperate, the FBI will make your brother upstate live in scrutiny and will make sure Egyptian security gives your family hell.

FEYERICK (on camera): Did you believe that he could make good on the threats against your brother and your family?

HIGAZY: I was 100 percent convinced that he can do something to my brother. As for my family, the first thing that crossed my mind was, oh my God, if whoever is setting me up, set me up here, what in God's name could they make me appear as in Egypt?

FEYERICK (voice over): Higazy was being set up by a wannabe hero, a security guard at the Millennium Hotel across from the trade center towers admitted lying to FBI agents about finding the radio in Higazy's locked room safe. Higazy says the FBI agent told him two other people could back up that story. That's why Higazy believes the FBI agent threatened his family.

HIGAZY: Either way I look at it, the device from their perspective is mine, so if I confess or if I say it's mine, my family is out of it. If I don't confess, my family could be in danger.

FEYERICK: After a month in a high-security jail, Higazy was released, all charges against him dropped.

HIGAZY: I'm happy I'm out. Nothing tops freedom.

FEYERICK: So what about the confession? An investigation by Justice officials clears the FBI agent of any misconduct.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very proud of the way our office and the FBI conducted itself in the Higazy case.

FEYERICK: The report, unsealed in part at CNN's request, says Higazy failed the polygraph test. His answers about a possible role in the 9/11 attacks labeled deceptive by the FBI polygrapher.

ROBERT DUNN, HIGAZY DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We now know he didn't have anything to do with the device. He didn't have anything to do with the attack, so what does that say about the quality of whatever the polygrapher was doing?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK (on camera): Prosecutors say Higazy waited 11 days before telling officials about the alleged threat and, they say, Higazy could have stopped the interview at any time but didn't. Higazy never signed the report containing the apparent confession. He says he was so nervous during the polygraph test he almost fainted, completely forgetting his lawyer was just outside the door -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: Live from New York, Deborah Feyerick thank you very much. It is described as the biggest identify theft case in U.S. history. Find out how 30,000 people were allegedly victimized and learn what you can do to protect yourself.

Is Tom Ridge the best man to lead the new Department of Homeland Security? We'll go coast-to-coast and ask local officials what they think. And, time may be up for a top television news producer, but first today's news quiz. Which of the following journalists at CBS' "60 Minutes" is the oldest, Don Hewitt, the show's executive producer; Mike Wallace, Morley Safer or Andy Rooney, the answer coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Martin Savidge. Coming up, we'll go coast to coast to ask local officials who protect your health and your streets what they think about the new Homeland Security Department. Will it make you safer?

Authorities say it is the largest credit card fraud scheme to date, bilking 30,000 victims with millions of dollars of losses in. Today, federal authorities in New York announced a major bust. Three people arrested for stealing people's identities and selling them to criminals. U.S. Attorney James Comey says it took only a few keystrokes for the suspects to pick the pockets of tens of thousands of Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, U.S. ATTORNEY: Bank accounts of victims were depleted, addresses were changed on accounts, new checks were ordered, new ATM cards were ordered, new credit cards were ordered, new lines of credit were opened and quickly drained.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Companies have been spending -- or authorities say it is the largest credit card fraud to date. We should toss now and get a look at what you can do to protect yourself.

Renay, you've got some ideas and what I want to know is there really anything you can do?

RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, when it comes to an inside information job kind of like this, no, there really isn't. But the best you can do is just to keep monitoring your credit information.

But you know, companies have been spending a lot of time since September 11 talking about hackers and cyber terrorists, you know, the outside threats to their information, but what about the threats that come from within countries? What about the people trusted with your information? That appears to be the case, according to federal officials, with what happened to this story. One of the accused worked for a company that sold software and hardware that allowed banks and lenders to get credit information on people like you and me, that the accused then used passwords to get those reports and sold those credit reports to criminals. And the rest is what we're talking about, the biggest identity theft case in history so far.

I just spoke with Chad Herington (ph). He's a computer security specialist with Intercept Security Technologies in San Francisco. He says companies are not doing enough to protect themselves from their people. They're not doing enough background checks, for example.

Herrington (ph) says temporary workers and consultants brought in for just a little bit of time; they pose the biggest threats to companies. Their user names and passwords can be deleted when they leave but they may know other user names and passwords to get back into a system and do harm.

So as you asked, is there anything really that you, as a consumer, can do to protect yourself against identity theft? Well, Christina Carplewitz (ph) is a spokeswoman for Experian. That's a credit-reporting agency. She recommends that consumers ask for a copy of their credit report at least once a year, especially if you're planning a big purchase. Chad Herrington (ph) says you ought to do this every six months.

Also, don't just throw away any mail with your account number or social security number on it, especially those pre-approved credit card offers that you get all the time. Don't just throw those away. Shred that mail. You can get a shredder very cheap these days, under $40. Don't print your social security number on your checks. Don't have it printed by your bank. Don't carry your social security number in your wallet in case your wallet is stolen and never ever give out your social security number, credit card number or any personal account information over the phone for an unsolicited call. Identity theft is a crime that has flourished in the past few years with high technology, but sometimes it just takes low-tech common sense to help beat it -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: Absolutely. Renay San Miguel, thanks very much for good advice.

SAN MIGUEL: You bet.

SAVIDGE: Vanity taken to a new level. We'll take you on a tour of a museum dedicated solely to Saddam Hussein. And he may be the most successful new producer in television history -- that's news producer -- but questions about whether he should retire are growing louder. That story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: The Department of Homeland Security is designed to prevent another terrorist attack like the one on September 11. But will it make a difference for those who are actually on the front lines of the nation's defense as well as for all of us? We're specifically talking about law enforcement and, say, medical personnel. We're going to go coast to coast to find out now. Joining us from Orange County, California is Sheriff Michael Carona. And then, in Miami, we have Fred Messing of the Baptist Health, a South Florida health care organization.

Good evening to both of you, gentlemen.

SHERIFF MICHAEL CARONA, ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: Good evening.

FRED MESSING, BAPTIST HEALTH, SOUTH FLORIDA: Thank you. Thanks for having me on.

SAVIDGE: Sheriff, you know what? We have three questions basically. We're going to ask all of you to try and simplify. But Sheriff, let me start with you first. As we look at our questionnaire really, is Tom Ridge, in your opinion, the best guy for the job? Yes, no, undecided?

CARONA: Absolutely. I've had an opportunity to work with the governor and now secretary designate on homeland security over the last year. And I have been very, very impressed with that work he's done. In fact, he has reached out to those of us at the local level on more than one occasion and asked us for input rather than just telling us what's going to happen from Washington, D.C.

SAVIDGE: All right. Now, this next one I really wanted to ask because you're in law enforcement and I've heard varying opinions. Does the alert system work?

CARONA: Well, the alert system is good information for the public. Whether or not it works is still a point of debate. I can tell you that the public is trying to figure out exactly what they -- what we mean when we tell them that we're at a heightened stage of alert or what their role is and what the interaction should be. And so, I think there's still a lot of work that needs to be done on that particular topic but it's better than saying nothing.

SAVIDGE: OK, Is the U.S. safe now?

CARONA: Yes. The U.S. is significantly safer than it was prior to September 11. We have a long way to go. But, again, when you define safe, we're never going to be in a position where we're completely devoid of any potential attacks. The reality is this is the new normal. America is going to have to engage itself in the war against terrorism both foreign and domestically.

SAVIDGE: Sheriff, thank you very much for participating in this. We appreciate it.

Let's move on to Mr. Messing now from the health care industry from South Florida. Sir, same question. First of all, Tom Ridge, is he the man for the job, do you think?

MESSING: Well, I've not had the pleasure of working with him like the sheriff has, but I got to tell you from what I've seen in terms of his presence and his political astuteness and his organizational skills that have come across through the media and what I've read, my answer would be an absolute yes.

SAVIDGE: Does the alert system work, do you think, in your opinion?

MESSING: I think that's got a ways to go. And I think the sheriff made some excellent points. From the health care perspective, you know, if we get it up to the level of being an impending red level, I think we can take all of the appropriate actions. I think it becomes a lot more difficult when the levels are below that. But I think it's definitely a step in the right direction.

SAVIDGE: Safer now than we were, say, maybe 24 hours ago, before this bill went into effect?

MESSING: I don't know about 24 hours ago, but certainly 24 months ago or 24 weeks ago. I think we've come a long way in the past six to 12 months. And, yes, I very definitely think we're safer than we were.

SAVIDGE: All right. We want to thank both of you. That is Sheriff Michael Carona and from Miami, Fred Messing of the Baptist Health, a South Florida health care organization. Thanks for participating in our survey there. Good luck, gentlemen, in your capacity.

MESSING: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: Thank you.

Insight into the world of Saddam Hussein. We will hear from a French filmmaker who got an inside look at some of Saddam's palaces. Moving on, the big feast, just a few days away. And for most of us, the turkey won't be the only thing stuffed. The truth about holiday weight gain is still to come. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Earlier we asked -- which of the following journalists at CBS' "60 Minutes" is the oldest? The answer, Mike Wallace, but not by much. Wallace, who's 84, Andy Rooney is 83.

There is some injury brewing at CBS News surrounding the man considered the driving force behind the legendary program, "60 Minutes." Here's Howard Kurtz of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" -- Howard.

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES": Martin, Don Hewitt may be most successful producer in television history, but CBS executives are still asking the question, what have you done for us lately?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good evening.

KURTZ (voice-over): It was Hewitt who directed "See It Now" with Edward R. Morrow (ph) in the '50s. Hewitt, who produced the first televised presidential debate, the Nixon-Kennedy face-off in 1960. Hewitt who was Walter Cronkite's producer when the CBS "Evening News" expanded to half an hour and Hewitt who launched "60 Minutes".

MIKE WALLACE, "60 MINUTES": I'm Mike Wallace.

MORLEY SAFER, "60 MINUTES": I'm Morley Safer.

ED BRADLEY, "60 MINUTES": I'm Ed Bradley.

KURTZ: The most successful TV news magazine ever 34 years ago. But now with Hewitt approaching his 80th birthday, questions about whether he should retire are growing Louder.

"The New York Times" reports that CBS News president, Andrew Hayward, might like Hewitt to step down after the season. Hewitt is still a relative youngster compared to Mike Wallace, who's 84, and Andy Rooney, 83. But there's talk at CBS that the program, which has fallen from the Top Ten to No. 20 has lost a step, was not very aggressive after 9/11 and needs to appeal to younger viewers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KURTZ: But Don Hewitt wants to stay at the helm of the empire he created for another couple of seasons. Will the CBS brass force him out or will the strong willed survivor find a way to hang on? You can almost hear the "60 Minutes" stopwatch ticking -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: Stay tuned. Howard Kurtz, thanks you very much.

As weapons inspectors get ready to resume their work in Iraq, we are learning some intriguing information about Saddam Hussein. "Uncle Saddam," a documentary that premieres tomorrow night on Cinemax offers some new insight into the Iraqi president. The French filmmaker who shot the documentary sat down with CNN's Paula Zahn to talk about his discoveries.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA ZAHN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): In one of the more surrealistic parts of this documentary, you are taken on a tour of a museum that has nothing but pictures or portraits of Saddam Hussein.

JOEL SOLER, FILMMAKER: When you go to Saddam Museum for like -- Saddam art museum, you expect, you know, all that heritage and this great history and it's just about a portrait of Saddam and it's hilarious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With no criticism and no official opposition, Saddam has completely remade Iraq in his image, making the two of them synonymous.

SOLER: Every portrait you can imagine, it's there. I mean -- and -- but the funny thing is people are so convinced that they're creating the new Mona Lisa.

ZAHN: You talked about being able to get access to these palaces that hardly any correspondent has ever seen.

SOLER: For his ego -- and God, he has a big ego -- for his ego, he like like big throne and big dining room and everything has to be with a lot of gold, marble.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In early 2000, Saddam was just putting the finishing touches on an architectural extravaganza three times larger than the White House. Some of these touches include a monumental pond in which is rumored he helped to fill with dolphins.

SOLER: Here we have some sketches for -- because, you know...

ZAHN: What happened to this man, Hussam Kadori (ph)?

SOLER: According to the State Department, Hussam Kadori (ph), Saddam's interior designer was poisoned to death one month after my interview. I don't think it's related to my movie because the movie -- they didn't know a month after I shot it what I would do with it. But I must say I was pretty surprised that he did show me all the sketches of Saddam palaces.

ZAHN: What is it that Saddam Hussein is trying to accomplish or the legacy he's trying to create through this architecture?

SOLER: It's a way for him to make sure that in a thousand years, he'll be remembered as the great Saddam Hussein. And you know, you don't see, like, small thing. You just -- you see like grand things.

ZAHN: He goes to absurd lengths to do this, does he not because in one part of the documentary you show the -- trying to replicate Babylon...

SOLER: Yes.

ZAHN: ... and every 100 bricks, doesn't he have his name written into the brick?

SOLER: Everywhere. I mean every 100 bricks. Yes, you do have his name engraved to make sure that, you know if -- to make sure that in a thousand years people will see his name.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: As we said, that documentary airs tomorrow night on Cinemax.

Well, it starts with Thanksgiving and it ends at New Year's. We are talking about the season of eating. And if you're not careful, the calories can pile up. Coming up next, how to eat what you want and not overeat.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: If you think you're doomed to gain weight between Thanksgiving and New Year's, think again. Holiday meals are full of calories, but it's not as bad as you might think. CNN medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, has the truth about holiday weight gain.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Martin, I think many of us have heard this, that during the holiday season people gain between five and 10 pounds. But you what, that turns out to be a myth. The National Institutes of Health just did a study and they found that actually during the holiday season, people tend to gain a little bit less than a pound. So it's not quite as bad as we all thought.

So we decided to take a look at a Thanksgiving meal and see exactly how many calories are in each of the dishes. Let's take this meal apart. It might not be fun, but could be good for our health. If in this fictitious holiday meal, we had not one but two servings of turkey, white and dark that would be 344 calories, in addition, some gravy, that's 30 calories. And then stuffing, that's another 178 calories, cranberry sauce, 86 calorie, candied sweet potatoes, my favorite, 143 calories.

And then you've got some string beans, that only adds 21 calories if there's no sauce and then homemade pumpkin pie, that's 316 calories. So you have right there for that relatively generous meal about 1,100 calories and really that's about half of what you're supposed to get in a typical day. So if you have your Thanksgiving meal and then two lighter meals, maybe one before and one after, you've gotten about the number of calories that you're supposed to get in a typical day and nothing more.

Now, where people do get in trouble is if they have serving after serving after serving of some of those dishes that we just named or if they start to drink a lot. Alcohol has a lot of calories and that can really get you in trouble. So that's one tip for holiday dining, don't drink too much.

Another tip is don't sit down at the Thanksgiving table on an empty stomach because you'll just eat more. Have a little something before hand so you're your stomach isn't completely empty. Also, after Thanksgiving dinner, take a walk. If you had seconds or thirds or fourths, you can try to walk some of it off -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: Thanks, Elizabeth. I feel better already.

By the way, a new Gallup poll asked Americans about their feelings on weight loss. Fifty-eight percent said they'd like to take off some pounds, but only 24 percent say they are actively trying to do it.

Time's running out for you -- or your turn to weigh in that is in our "Question of The Day." How do you feel now that President Bush has signed that Homeland Security Act into law? You can log on to CNN.com/Wolf to vote. We'll have the results immediately when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Now, here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of The Day." Earlier we asked you this -- how do you feel now that President Bush has signed the Homeland Security Act into law? And the results so far say 13 percent of you said more safe, 42 percent of you said less safe and 45 percent said about the same. Remember, this is not science.

And time to hear from you and some of your e-mail. On homeland security, Michael writes -- "Where is the money going to come from? The U.S. taxpayer is tapped out. Every citizen should pack a handgun. Do you really trust the government to protect Americans?

Lee Ann adds -- "We are more secure with the signing of this bill. Just the signing of it shows the world of terror America is not going to sit on a fence and wait to be picked off one by one."

And from our segment in decency in television, we get this from Evan -- "In my opinion, it is much worse to have shows like "The Bachelor," which degrade the value and the sanctity of marriage than shows like the Victoria Secret fashion show, which are essentially just advertisements for their products.

So thanks very much for checking by e-mail. That's all the time we have for today. I'm Martin Savidge in Wolf Blitzer. Join us tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Eastern and please join us weekdays at noon Eastern for "SHOWDOWN IRAQ." Until then, thanks very much for watching. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" is coming up next.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

Aired November 25, 2002 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN HOST: I'm Martin Savidge in Atlanta. That was Hans Blix, the Chief U.N. Weapons Inspector. We'll have more on this breaking story just ahead on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. Also, is a changing of the guard in store at CBS' "60 Minutes?"
And, a CNN exclusive: a man interrogated by the FBI talks about an intimidating encounter, those stories starting right now on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Protecting your life.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, we're taking historic action to defend the United States.

SAVIDGE: It's now the law, so why is there a sense of insecurity?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it making us safer today? Absolutely not.

SAVIDGE: One-on-one with the president's pick, is Tom Ridge the right man for the job? A new face in the Iraqi weapons hunt. Also, life after Saddam Hussein, how he'll live on even after he's gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a way for him to make sure that in 1,000 years he'll be remembered as the great Saddam Hussein.

SAVIDGE: And running out of time at "60 Minutes," who may be the odd man out?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE (on camera): It is Monday, November 25, 2002. I'm Martin Savidge at CNN Center in Atlanta. It is great to be with you. Wolf Blitzer is off today.

We begin with Breaking News. Just a few moments ago, the Chief U.N. Weapons Inspector Hans Blix commented on the showdown with Saddam and the weapons hunt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Maintain the position that they've had all the way until now that there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and we simply said -- I said that I think they should look into all their stores and stocks and that this was a fundamental part of the declaration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: U.N. weapons inspectors are on the ground in Iraq. A 17-member team arrived in Baghdad today and they are now getting ready for the first inspections in Iraq in four years. Our Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson is in the Iraqi capitol.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The 11 missile, chemical and biological weapons experts and six nuclear scientists, accompanied for the first time by uniformed and armed U.N. security guards are due to begin their first inspections Wednesday. That tight schedule unchanged, despite a 15- page protest letter sent by Iraq's foreign minister to the United Nations to complain the U.N. resolution authorizing inspections could be used by the U.S. as a pretext for war.

MELISSA FLEMIN, IAEA SPOKESWOMAN: We have no expectations. WE come in here with let's say hope that things will go well this time and that we will get what is required of Iraq in our mandate, the Security Resolution 1441.

ROBERTSON: Over the last week, an advance team of almost 40 technicians has been installing communications and computer equipment as well as refurbishing laboratories at the U.N. inspection team's headquarters. Although much work remains to be done, some vehicles and office space has been readied for these first inspectors.

Likely first to be targeted by the U.N. dual use sites such as Al Nassr (ph) north of Baghdad where inspectors believe equipment used for civilian industrial processes could also have been used to work on weapons of mass destruction. Inspectors will check monitoring equipment, such as cameras installed by the inspection teams in the 1990s and replace any found faulty. The aim for these inspectors to figure out exactly what has happened in Iraq over the past four years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (on camera): Now the inspection teams say they can go any place, anywhere, any time, and certainly none of them are ruling out at this stage a visit to a presidential site. Hans Blix has said that really the inspectors warming up at this stage before he gets in perhaps as many as 100 by the end of the year. The approach initially appears to be, at least with this team, softly, softly as they begin this inspection process -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: The big test will come this week. Nic Robertson live from Baghdad thank you very much. With a stroke of the pen, President Bush as set into motion the largest government reorganization in half a century. The new Department of Homeland Security combines 22 existing agencies into one $40 billion bohemia. It is a direct response to the 9/11 attacks but will it make us any safer? CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King joins us with more on. Big day for the president, John. JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: A big day, Marty. In some ways, a political victory. This was a department just a few weeks ago that was unclear whether Congress would pass the legislation creating it. As you noted, Mr. Bush signed it into law today. It will be up and running in a few months. It's giant mission, win the war on terrorism here at home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING (voice over): This signature launched the new Department of Homeland Security and the most dramatic shakeup of the federal government in more than 50 years.

BUSH: The continuing threat of terrorism, the threat of mass murder on our own soil will be met with a unified effective response.

KING: The new department will have 171,000 employees from 22 existing federal agencies and an annual budget of nearly $40 billion. The goal is one command for missions now scattered across the federal government, the Customs Service, Coast Guard, Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Border Patrol, and the new Transportation Security Agency will now all be in one department instead of three.

Defending against chemical and biological attacks falls under the new department as do key functions of the nation's nuclear laboratories. It will take a year or more to be fully operational and the president took pains to limit expectations.

BUSH: And in a free and open society, no department of government completely guarantee our safety against ruthless killers who move and plot in shadows.

KING: How the new department deals with intelligence about terror threats is a lingering controversy. The department is charged with assessing the threat of terrorist attacks but does not gather its own intelligence. That information will come from existing agencies, mainly the FBI and the CIA.

WILLIAM DALY, FORMER FBI AGENT: As we saw after 9/11, it was a lot of questions about connecting the dots as if we're expecting the Homeland Security Department to be responsive, to analyze this data. We have to make sure it's accurate, it's current, and it's complete in order that they can do their job.

KING: Mr. Bush made official the choice he settled on long ago, former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge will be nominated to launch and lead the new department. Ridge has been White House Homeland Security Adviser for the past year, working just a few steps down the hall from the Oval Office.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING (on camera): And it was Ridge's on-the-job frustrations with turf battles and government bureaucracy that persuaded the president to drop his initial opposition and to endorse creating a new cabinet agency, a giant cabinet agency charged with being the first line of defense against an attack here in the United States -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: Now the hard part begins, John. John King live at the White House thank you very much. And as John mentioned, the president has tapped Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge to head the new department as a cabinet level secretary. CNN's Jeanne Meserve sat down with Ridge this afternoon. She joins us from Washington. How does he feel about the new post, Jeanne?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He feels challenged to say the least. He says his number one priority is going to try to persuade the 170 people who will make up this new department that they have job security, try and keep them focused on the mission of homeland security. He also says a top priority is to improve information sharing and to protect the nation's critical infrastructure. Now some experts have said it may take years to see tangible results. Ridge says he wants to see them sooner than that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY DIRECTOR: Well hopefully from Day One we'll see tangible results. I understand that blending 22 departments and agencies and 170,000 people is going to be a very complicated time consuming task. But I believe from Day One we can begin taking advantage of the 170,000 men and women who work hard every day on homeland security and every day we can be a little bit more secure.

MESERVE: Will this department ever make us 100 percent secure?

RIDGE: No. I think the president was very appropriate when he mentioned today that we have a responsibility to maximize our effort, to do everything humanly and technologically possible to prevent another terrorist attack. But at the end of the day when you're a large country such as we are and a freedom loving country and an open country, diverse and trusting, we can't guarantee that we'll create a fail safe system. It can't be done. We have to be right a thousand times a day forever. They have to be right once in a while.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: Ridge says he's ready to knock heads together if he has to make this work. He's laid out an aggressive timetable. The president is sending his plan for the reorganization up to Congress ahead of schedule today. Ridge says he'll take office on January 24 and by March 1, most of the agencies should be merged into this new department. Asked if he's up for the job, he says absolutely -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: That is going to be one tough job. Jeanne Meserve live from Washington, thank you. Now here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the day: How do you feel now that President Bush has signed that Homeland Security Act into law? Your choices; more safe, less safe, or about the same. We'll have the results later in this broadcast. Vote at cnn.com/wolf. While you're there, send us your comments and we'll try to read some of the at the end of this program. That's also, of course, where you can read our daily online column, cnn.com/wolf. Well, he says he was coerced into confessing a crime that he didn't commit.

ABDALLAH HIGAZY: If you don't cooperate, the FBI will make your brother upstate live in scrutiny and will make sure Egyptian security gives your family hell.

SAVIDGE: An Egyptian student wrongly accused of aiding 9/11 hijackers speaks out, a CNN exclusive coming up. Creating the new Mona Lisa, well maybe in one man's mind. We'll take you to a museum that displays only portraits of Saddam Hussein. And, is one of television's most successful journalists being pushed out, the story ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Okay, we turn now to the war on terror and a money trail which may lead from the Saudi royal family to two of the 9/11 hijackers. Congressional investigators are examining whether funds donated by Princess Haifa al-Faisal, the wife of the Saudi ambassador reached the terrorists.

There are allegations that Saudi students in the U.S., Omar al- Bayoumi and Osama Bassman received the money and passed it on to two of the hijackers. "Newsweek" reports that al-Bayoumi helped the hijackers, Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi obtain an apartment, Social Security cards and flight lessons. The Saudis say the princess never deliberately funneled money to al Qaeda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADEL AL-JUBEIR, SAUDI FOR. POLICY ADVISER: We have realized over the years that people have now taken advantage of our charity, of our generosity, of our naivety if you want to call it that, of our innocence but those days are coming to an end. I believe most Saudi donors are now aware that they need to be more diligent in how they give money and who they give money to and they need to be very careful about just writing checks or giving cash to people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Joining us from Washington is Dan Klaidman of "Newsweek" Magazine. Thank you Dan very much for being with us.

DAN KLAIDMAN, NEWSWEEK: Thanks for having me, Martin.

SAVIDGE: I read through the article and it's very interesting but I didn't find a punch line or a smoking gun.

KLAIDMAN: Well, you're right. We don't know for sure whether this money ended up in the hands of the terrorists but there is an intriguing money trail and for some investigators it's more than intriguing. It's suspicious and that's why the FBI is now redoubling its efforts to look at this case and congressional investigators have been prodding them to do that.

There's no question that at this point we don't know whether money intentionally went from Princess Haifa to these hijackers and, in fact, in the end we may find out that there was no intention there at all. But the Saudis are going to have to ask some tough questions about how the money got to the people who it got to and if they had properly vetted these people, and if there was not a risk that the money could, in the end, end up in the hands of terrorists and that's what people are, I'm sure, looking at right now.

SAVIDGE: Absolutely. Hold on, Dan, because I want you to listen to what Senator Shelby of the Intelligence Committee had to say. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: What this is is find out the truth of where this money went. If it was to aid terrorists we need to know. We have a lot of victims in this country already. There will be more. We need to know what kind of ally we have here. I'm suspicious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: A lot of people have that same sort of feeling. Do you think that's understandable given the circumstances?

KLAIDMAN: I think one of the interesting things about this story is that it is clear that there was a lot of pent up anger and frustration in Congress and among the American public about how the Saudis have behaved, both before September 11th in terms of funding terrorist organizations, funding charities with the money that they ends up in the hands of terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda, and then also the reaction after 9/11.

There's still concern among members of Congress and others that the Saudis have not given sufficient cooperation in our war on terrorism. We've heard that from sources in the government. We've heard that from people of the Treasury Department who are concerned that in tracking down these kinds of stories, money trail stories, they've not gotten the kind of cooperation that they need.

SAVIDGE: But is this article only fanning the flames of say anger against the Saudis without proof positive of wrongdoing?

KLAIDMAN: Well, I think this article reports on an investigation that is ongoing and reports on a congressional inquiry into all of these connections. It does not establish the conclusion of the investigation because the investigation is not over but it does, I think, show that there is an intriguing, if not suspicious, money trail that people need to look at.

Look, if you look at the two people who ended up getting this money, Osama Bassman and Omar al-Bayoumi and you look at their backgrounds. First of all, obviously the fact that they were assisting the hijackers and in terms of money, paying rent, in terms of getting them Social Security cards, getting them bank accounts, helping them enroll in flight schools. That's something that needs obviously to be looked at. And then beyond that, Omar al-Bayoumi was widely regarded in the Saudi community in San Diego as someone who was keeping tabs on Saudi students there, someone who was viewed by many people as a possible Saudi agent. Osama Bassman for his part was regarded by and called by our sources in law enforcement as an al Qaeda sympathizer, someone who celebrated September 11th after the fact, called it a joyous day.

SAVIDGE: I don't want to interrupt you and I also don't want to steal from the article because it is a very intriguing read and I encourage people to go to the Web site and take a look at it, so thank you very much, Dan Klaidman joining us from "Newsweek" Magazine.

KLAIDMAN: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: Moving on now, an Egyptian college student wrongly accused of aiding the September 11th hijackers is speaking out. Abdallah Higazy was staying in a hotel across from the World Trade Center when those attacks occurred. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Deborah Feyerick, Higazy reveals what it's like to be the target of a terror investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The confession came following a polygraph test. Egyptian student Abdallah Higazy saying that a pilot's radio he'd never seen before was his, that he'd stolen it from the Egyptian Air Force. Higazy says he made the phony admission because he was threatened, claiming the FBI agent giving the test told him...

HIGAZY: If you don't cooperate, the FBI will make your brother upstate live in scrutiny and will make sure Egyptian security gives your family hell.

FEYERICK (on camera): Did you believe that he could make good on the threats against your brother and your family?

HIGAZY: I was 100 percent convinced that he can do something to my brother. As for my family, the first thing that crossed my mind was, oh my God, if whoever is setting me up, set me up here, what in God's name could they make me appear as in Egypt?

FEYERICK (voice over): Higazy was being set up by a wannabe hero, a security guard at the Millennium Hotel across from the trade center towers admitted lying to FBI agents about finding the radio in Higazy's locked room safe. Higazy says the FBI agent told him two other people could back up that story. That's why Higazy believes the FBI agent threatened his family.

HIGAZY: Either way I look at it, the device from their perspective is mine, so if I confess or if I say it's mine, my family is out of it. If I don't confess, my family could be in danger.

FEYERICK: After a month in a high-security jail, Higazy was released, all charges against him dropped.

HIGAZY: I'm happy I'm out. Nothing tops freedom.

FEYERICK: So what about the confession? An investigation by Justice officials clears the FBI agent of any misconduct.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very proud of the way our office and the FBI conducted itself in the Higazy case.

FEYERICK: The report, unsealed in part at CNN's request, says Higazy failed the polygraph test. His answers about a possible role in the 9/11 attacks labeled deceptive by the FBI polygrapher.

ROBERT DUNN, HIGAZY DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We now know he didn't have anything to do with the device. He didn't have anything to do with the attack, so what does that say about the quality of whatever the polygrapher was doing?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK (on camera): Prosecutors say Higazy waited 11 days before telling officials about the alleged threat and, they say, Higazy could have stopped the interview at any time but didn't. Higazy never signed the report containing the apparent confession. He says he was so nervous during the polygraph test he almost fainted, completely forgetting his lawyer was just outside the door -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: Live from New York, Deborah Feyerick thank you very much. It is described as the biggest identify theft case in U.S. history. Find out how 30,000 people were allegedly victimized and learn what you can do to protect yourself.

Is Tom Ridge the best man to lead the new Department of Homeland Security? We'll go coast-to-coast and ask local officials what they think. And, time may be up for a top television news producer, but first today's news quiz. Which of the following journalists at CBS' "60 Minutes" is the oldest, Don Hewitt, the show's executive producer; Mike Wallace, Morley Safer or Andy Rooney, the answer coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Martin Savidge. Coming up, we'll go coast to coast to ask local officials who protect your health and your streets what they think about the new Homeland Security Department. Will it make you safer?

Authorities say it is the largest credit card fraud scheme to date, bilking 30,000 victims with millions of dollars of losses in. Today, federal authorities in New York announced a major bust. Three people arrested for stealing people's identities and selling them to criminals. U.S. Attorney James Comey says it took only a few keystrokes for the suspects to pick the pockets of tens of thousands of Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, U.S. ATTORNEY: Bank accounts of victims were depleted, addresses were changed on accounts, new checks were ordered, new ATM cards were ordered, new credit cards were ordered, new lines of credit were opened and quickly drained.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Companies have been spending -- or authorities say it is the largest credit card fraud to date. We should toss now and get a look at what you can do to protect yourself.

Renay, you've got some ideas and what I want to know is there really anything you can do?

RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, when it comes to an inside information job kind of like this, no, there really isn't. But the best you can do is just to keep monitoring your credit information.

But you know, companies have been spending a lot of time since September 11 talking about hackers and cyber terrorists, you know, the outside threats to their information, but what about the threats that come from within countries? What about the people trusted with your information? That appears to be the case, according to federal officials, with what happened to this story. One of the accused worked for a company that sold software and hardware that allowed banks and lenders to get credit information on people like you and me, that the accused then used passwords to get those reports and sold those credit reports to criminals. And the rest is what we're talking about, the biggest identity theft case in history so far.

I just spoke with Chad Herington (ph). He's a computer security specialist with Intercept Security Technologies in San Francisco. He says companies are not doing enough to protect themselves from their people. They're not doing enough background checks, for example.

Herrington (ph) says temporary workers and consultants brought in for just a little bit of time; they pose the biggest threats to companies. Their user names and passwords can be deleted when they leave but they may know other user names and passwords to get back into a system and do harm.

So as you asked, is there anything really that you, as a consumer, can do to protect yourself against identity theft? Well, Christina Carplewitz (ph) is a spokeswoman for Experian. That's a credit-reporting agency. She recommends that consumers ask for a copy of their credit report at least once a year, especially if you're planning a big purchase. Chad Herrington (ph) says you ought to do this every six months.

Also, don't just throw away any mail with your account number or social security number on it, especially those pre-approved credit card offers that you get all the time. Don't just throw those away. Shred that mail. You can get a shredder very cheap these days, under $40. Don't print your social security number on your checks. Don't have it printed by your bank. Don't carry your social security number in your wallet in case your wallet is stolen and never ever give out your social security number, credit card number or any personal account information over the phone for an unsolicited call. Identity theft is a crime that has flourished in the past few years with high technology, but sometimes it just takes low-tech common sense to help beat it -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: Absolutely. Renay San Miguel, thanks very much for good advice.

SAN MIGUEL: You bet.

SAVIDGE: Vanity taken to a new level. We'll take you on a tour of a museum dedicated solely to Saddam Hussein. And he may be the most successful new producer in television history -- that's news producer -- but questions about whether he should retire are growing louder. That story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: The Department of Homeland Security is designed to prevent another terrorist attack like the one on September 11. But will it make a difference for those who are actually on the front lines of the nation's defense as well as for all of us? We're specifically talking about law enforcement and, say, medical personnel. We're going to go coast to coast to find out now. Joining us from Orange County, California is Sheriff Michael Carona. And then, in Miami, we have Fred Messing of the Baptist Health, a South Florida health care organization.

Good evening to both of you, gentlemen.

SHERIFF MICHAEL CARONA, ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: Good evening.

FRED MESSING, BAPTIST HEALTH, SOUTH FLORIDA: Thank you. Thanks for having me on.

SAVIDGE: Sheriff, you know what? We have three questions basically. We're going to ask all of you to try and simplify. But Sheriff, let me start with you first. As we look at our questionnaire really, is Tom Ridge, in your opinion, the best guy for the job? Yes, no, undecided?

CARONA: Absolutely. I've had an opportunity to work with the governor and now secretary designate on homeland security over the last year. And I have been very, very impressed with that work he's done. In fact, he has reached out to those of us at the local level on more than one occasion and asked us for input rather than just telling us what's going to happen from Washington, D.C.

SAVIDGE: All right. Now, this next one I really wanted to ask because you're in law enforcement and I've heard varying opinions. Does the alert system work?

CARONA: Well, the alert system is good information for the public. Whether or not it works is still a point of debate. I can tell you that the public is trying to figure out exactly what they -- what we mean when we tell them that we're at a heightened stage of alert or what their role is and what the interaction should be. And so, I think there's still a lot of work that needs to be done on that particular topic but it's better than saying nothing.

SAVIDGE: OK, Is the U.S. safe now?

CARONA: Yes. The U.S. is significantly safer than it was prior to September 11. We have a long way to go. But, again, when you define safe, we're never going to be in a position where we're completely devoid of any potential attacks. The reality is this is the new normal. America is going to have to engage itself in the war against terrorism both foreign and domestically.

SAVIDGE: Sheriff, thank you very much for participating in this. We appreciate it.

Let's move on to Mr. Messing now from the health care industry from South Florida. Sir, same question. First of all, Tom Ridge, is he the man for the job, do you think?

MESSING: Well, I've not had the pleasure of working with him like the sheriff has, but I got to tell you from what I've seen in terms of his presence and his political astuteness and his organizational skills that have come across through the media and what I've read, my answer would be an absolute yes.

SAVIDGE: Does the alert system work, do you think, in your opinion?

MESSING: I think that's got a ways to go. And I think the sheriff made some excellent points. From the health care perspective, you know, if we get it up to the level of being an impending red level, I think we can take all of the appropriate actions. I think it becomes a lot more difficult when the levels are below that. But I think it's definitely a step in the right direction.

SAVIDGE: Safer now than we were, say, maybe 24 hours ago, before this bill went into effect?

MESSING: I don't know about 24 hours ago, but certainly 24 months ago or 24 weeks ago. I think we've come a long way in the past six to 12 months. And, yes, I very definitely think we're safer than we were.

SAVIDGE: All right. We want to thank both of you. That is Sheriff Michael Carona and from Miami, Fred Messing of the Baptist Health, a South Florida health care organization. Thanks for participating in our survey there. Good luck, gentlemen, in your capacity.

MESSING: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: Thank you.

Insight into the world of Saddam Hussein. We will hear from a French filmmaker who got an inside look at some of Saddam's palaces. Moving on, the big feast, just a few days away. And for most of us, the turkey won't be the only thing stuffed. The truth about holiday weight gain is still to come. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Earlier we asked -- which of the following journalists at CBS' "60 Minutes" is the oldest? The answer, Mike Wallace, but not by much. Wallace, who's 84, Andy Rooney is 83.

There is some injury brewing at CBS News surrounding the man considered the driving force behind the legendary program, "60 Minutes." Here's Howard Kurtz of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" -- Howard.

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES": Martin, Don Hewitt may be most successful producer in television history, but CBS executives are still asking the question, what have you done for us lately?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good evening.

KURTZ (voice-over): It was Hewitt who directed "See It Now" with Edward R. Morrow (ph) in the '50s. Hewitt, who produced the first televised presidential debate, the Nixon-Kennedy face-off in 1960. Hewitt who was Walter Cronkite's producer when the CBS "Evening News" expanded to half an hour and Hewitt who launched "60 Minutes".

MIKE WALLACE, "60 MINUTES": I'm Mike Wallace.

MORLEY SAFER, "60 MINUTES": I'm Morley Safer.

ED BRADLEY, "60 MINUTES": I'm Ed Bradley.

KURTZ: The most successful TV news magazine ever 34 years ago. But now with Hewitt approaching his 80th birthday, questions about whether he should retire are growing Louder.

"The New York Times" reports that CBS News president, Andrew Hayward, might like Hewitt to step down after the season. Hewitt is still a relative youngster compared to Mike Wallace, who's 84, and Andy Rooney, 83. But there's talk at CBS that the program, which has fallen from the Top Ten to No. 20 has lost a step, was not very aggressive after 9/11 and needs to appeal to younger viewers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KURTZ: But Don Hewitt wants to stay at the helm of the empire he created for another couple of seasons. Will the CBS brass force him out or will the strong willed survivor find a way to hang on? You can almost hear the "60 Minutes" stopwatch ticking -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: Stay tuned. Howard Kurtz, thanks you very much.

As weapons inspectors get ready to resume their work in Iraq, we are learning some intriguing information about Saddam Hussein. "Uncle Saddam," a documentary that premieres tomorrow night on Cinemax offers some new insight into the Iraqi president. The French filmmaker who shot the documentary sat down with CNN's Paula Zahn to talk about his discoveries.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA ZAHN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): In one of the more surrealistic parts of this documentary, you are taken on a tour of a museum that has nothing but pictures or portraits of Saddam Hussein.

JOEL SOLER, FILMMAKER: When you go to Saddam Museum for like -- Saddam art museum, you expect, you know, all that heritage and this great history and it's just about a portrait of Saddam and it's hilarious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With no criticism and no official opposition, Saddam has completely remade Iraq in his image, making the two of them synonymous.

SOLER: Every portrait you can imagine, it's there. I mean -- and -- but the funny thing is people are so convinced that they're creating the new Mona Lisa.

ZAHN: You talked about being able to get access to these palaces that hardly any correspondent has ever seen.

SOLER: For his ego -- and God, he has a big ego -- for his ego, he like like big throne and big dining room and everything has to be with a lot of gold, marble.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In early 2000, Saddam was just putting the finishing touches on an architectural extravaganza three times larger than the White House. Some of these touches include a monumental pond in which is rumored he helped to fill with dolphins.

SOLER: Here we have some sketches for -- because, you know...

ZAHN: What happened to this man, Hussam Kadori (ph)?

SOLER: According to the State Department, Hussam Kadori (ph), Saddam's interior designer was poisoned to death one month after my interview. I don't think it's related to my movie because the movie -- they didn't know a month after I shot it what I would do with it. But I must say I was pretty surprised that he did show me all the sketches of Saddam palaces.

ZAHN: What is it that Saddam Hussein is trying to accomplish or the legacy he's trying to create through this architecture?

SOLER: It's a way for him to make sure that in a thousand years, he'll be remembered as the great Saddam Hussein. And you know, you don't see, like, small thing. You just -- you see like grand things.

ZAHN: He goes to absurd lengths to do this, does he not because in one part of the documentary you show the -- trying to replicate Babylon...

SOLER: Yes.

ZAHN: ... and every 100 bricks, doesn't he have his name written into the brick?

SOLER: Everywhere. I mean every 100 bricks. Yes, you do have his name engraved to make sure that, you know if -- to make sure that in a thousand years people will see his name.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: As we said, that documentary airs tomorrow night on Cinemax.

Well, it starts with Thanksgiving and it ends at New Year's. We are talking about the season of eating. And if you're not careful, the calories can pile up. Coming up next, how to eat what you want and not overeat.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: If you think you're doomed to gain weight between Thanksgiving and New Year's, think again. Holiday meals are full of calories, but it's not as bad as you might think. CNN medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, has the truth about holiday weight gain.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Martin, I think many of us have heard this, that during the holiday season people gain between five and 10 pounds. But you what, that turns out to be a myth. The National Institutes of Health just did a study and they found that actually during the holiday season, people tend to gain a little bit less than a pound. So it's not quite as bad as we all thought.

So we decided to take a look at a Thanksgiving meal and see exactly how many calories are in each of the dishes. Let's take this meal apart. It might not be fun, but could be good for our health. If in this fictitious holiday meal, we had not one but two servings of turkey, white and dark that would be 344 calories, in addition, some gravy, that's 30 calories. And then stuffing, that's another 178 calories, cranberry sauce, 86 calorie, candied sweet potatoes, my favorite, 143 calories.

And then you've got some string beans, that only adds 21 calories if there's no sauce and then homemade pumpkin pie, that's 316 calories. So you have right there for that relatively generous meal about 1,100 calories and really that's about half of what you're supposed to get in a typical day. So if you have your Thanksgiving meal and then two lighter meals, maybe one before and one after, you've gotten about the number of calories that you're supposed to get in a typical day and nothing more.

Now, where people do get in trouble is if they have serving after serving after serving of some of those dishes that we just named or if they start to drink a lot. Alcohol has a lot of calories and that can really get you in trouble. So that's one tip for holiday dining, don't drink too much.

Another tip is don't sit down at the Thanksgiving table on an empty stomach because you'll just eat more. Have a little something before hand so you're your stomach isn't completely empty. Also, after Thanksgiving dinner, take a walk. If you had seconds or thirds or fourths, you can try to walk some of it off -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: Thanks, Elizabeth. I feel better already.

By the way, a new Gallup poll asked Americans about their feelings on weight loss. Fifty-eight percent said they'd like to take off some pounds, but only 24 percent say they are actively trying to do it.

Time's running out for you -- or your turn to weigh in that is in our "Question of The Day." How do you feel now that President Bush has signed that Homeland Security Act into law? You can log on to CNN.com/Wolf to vote. We'll have the results immediately when we come back.

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SAVIDGE: Now, here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of The Day." Earlier we asked you this -- how do you feel now that President Bush has signed the Homeland Security Act into law? And the results so far say 13 percent of you said more safe, 42 percent of you said less safe and 45 percent said about the same. Remember, this is not science.

And time to hear from you and some of your e-mail. On homeland security, Michael writes -- "Where is the money going to come from? The U.S. taxpayer is tapped out. Every citizen should pack a handgun. Do you really trust the government to protect Americans?

Lee Ann adds -- "We are more secure with the signing of this bill. Just the signing of it shows the world of terror America is not going to sit on a fence and wait to be picked off one by one."

And from our segment in decency in television, we get this from Evan -- "In my opinion, it is much worse to have shows like "The Bachelor," which degrade the value and the sanctity of marriage than shows like the Victoria Secret fashion show, which are essentially just advertisements for their products.

So thanks very much for checking by e-mail. That's all the time we have for today. I'm Martin Savidge in Wolf Blitzer. Join us tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Eastern and please join us weekdays at noon Eastern for "SHOWDOWN IRAQ." Until then, thanks very much for watching. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" is coming up next.

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