Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Inside Report from Qatar, U.S. Launchpad for Possible War; United Denied Bankruptcy Protection

Aired December 04, 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, HOST: I'm Wolf Blitzer in Qatar. Welcome to this special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. We are going to be giving you live reports from inside this nation which may play a key role in any future conflict with Iraq. In the coming days there will be a huge U.S.-led military exercise near Qatar, in this part of the Persian Gulf.
We're going to give you an inside look. What may be taking place, I'll tell you why this country is so special as far as a possible war with Iraq is concerned. A special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Countdown to a showdown? Waiting for Saddam Hussein's report to the U.N.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And for years he said he didn't have any weapons. Now we'll whether or not he does.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These allegations were false and lies.

BLITZER: Preparing for a war. We'll visit the base and a bomb factory.

A winter storm sweeps across the country. Snow and ice on the ground and in the forecast from Texas to the north-east.

And Christmas greeting that some Christians aren't happy about.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is a special addition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. Live from the Persian Gulf. Reporting from Doha, Qatar here's Wolf Blitzer.

BLITZER: It's just after 1:00 a.m. Thursday, here in Qatar. It's a small nation. Only roughly about the size of Connecticut, but could play a huge role in any possible war with Iraq. Qatar juts out into the Persian Gulf from the Arabian Peninsula. It borders Saudi Arabia. The people who live here are some of the wealthiest to be found anywhere in the world.

But it's not the wealth attracting U.S. interest, it's the access the U.S. forces are getting from the Qatari government. The air based here in Qatar boasts one of the longest runways in the entire region, perhaps in the entire world. Capable of handling any aircraft in the U.N. military fleet. In the near future, this nation could be the command and control center for a U.S.-led war against Saddam Hussein.

In the immediate future, indeed, it will be the site of a critically important war game. All of this, of course, hinges on what happens next in Iraq. There were some more inspections today, but there were also some tough words from a top Iraqi leader blasting those U.N. weapons inspectors.

Let's go live not very far away from here to Nic Robertson standing by in Baghdad with the very latest -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Wolf.

Tough words from Taha Yassim Ramadan, one of Iraq's two vice presidents. He was talking this evening with a delegation from Egypt. He told that delegation that he believed the weapons inspectors were working for the United States and for Israel. He said that they were spying for them. He said this was in an effort to lay the groundwork for forthcoming war with Iraq. He accused the Mossad and the CIA of funding the inspectors here. Very tough words.

We have heard from Iraqi officials complaining about a visit to a presidential palace, blaming that on political pressure from the United States and Great Britain. This appearing to be, Wolf, ratcheting that up to be a direct attack on the U.N. weapons inspectors.

Today those same expecters went to two sites, one of them to the north of Baghdad, 75 miles to the north, a site that has many connections to chemical weapons, a site that sought many visits from the U.M. weapons inspection teams in the 1990's.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Numbered and tagged, rows of rusting chemical warfare equipment lie in a rotting warehouse. The site Al Muthanna, the birth place of Iraq's biowarfare program and heart of its chemical research and production in the 1980's. Apparently left in ruin. What Gulf war bombing didn't destroy in 1991, U.N. weapons inspectors did in the mid 1990's. Filling containers like this with cement and putting U.N. tags on them.

This day, chemical, biological and missile inspectors returned to review the site, spending five hours, searching the sprawling desert complex 120 kilometers Northwest of Baghdad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you happy with the cooperation you've received so far today?

ROBERTSON: Apparently getting good cooperation. An indication of that, getting a mobile crane into the site to move some containers. According to site officials, however, the chemical and biological warfare programs stopped a long time ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It stopped working at 1991. Before the war.

ROBERTSON: The sheer scale of this site, 25 square kilometers is an indication to Iraq's previous commitment to weapons of mass destruction. Now containers like these are put across the door to stop it continuing. In Baghdad, Iraqi officials upset about the presidential palace inspection the previous day blaming the visit on pressure by the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We consider the entry of the presidential sites as unjustified and really unnecessary.

ROBERTSON: Inspectors for their part saying they feel caught in the middle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Iraqi side would have liked us to be very light. The U.S. side, as from what I heard from you who tends to be extremely severe.

ROBERTSON: Hard to gauge what the inspectors were thinking when they left Al Muthanna. It is, however, one less site to visit and to the untrained eye at least possibly one they won't be coming back to soon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: Now, the other weapons team going to the south of Baghdad to a nuclear weapons facility there apparently getting good cooperation as well -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Nic Robertson reporting live from Baghdad. Nic, thanks very much.

Let's go to the White House right now, find out what the reaction there is to on the one hand the so-called charm offensive the Iraqis are giving the U.N. weapons inspectors, at the same time some tough talk about those inspectors today.

Frank Buckley is standing by at the White House -- Frank.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, you're exactly right. The president does continue to talk tough on Iraq. Today the president noting that Iraq continues to fire on U.S. and British aircraft flying over the no-fly zones in Iraq. That was just one of the things that the president cited as he continued to press his case that Saddam Hussein and Iraq do not appear ready to comply with disarmament.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BUCKLEY (voice-over) So far U.N. inspectors haven't been blocked. Iraq's cooperation, says secretary-general Kofi Annan, seems to be good. But President Bush does not exactly agree.

BUSH: What I agree with is that we've been doing this for five days after 11 years of deception and deceit. The process is just beginning. And the world will determine soon whether or not Saddam Hussein is going to do what we've asked, which is in the name of peace fully disarm.

BUCKLEY: On December 8, Iraq must provide an accounting of its weapons programs. President Bush continues to say the signs are not encouraging.

BUSH: He wrote letters, stinging rebukes to what the U.N. did. He was very critical of the U.S. and Britain. That doesn't appear to be somebody that is that anxious to comply.

BUCKLEY: But as inspectors continue to gain access to sites, the head of Iraq's monitoring program says Iraq is fully cooperating, and inspection teams will show the country is not concealing weapons of mass destruction.

GEN. HASSAM MOHAMMED AMIN, IRAQ NATL. MONITORING DIR. (through translator): Which will support the position of Iraq against any aggression by the American and British governments.

BUCKLEY: White House officials say the declaration will be just the beginning of a process of verification.

AIR FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: The president will make until they make the formal declaration required by the United Nations Security Council. However, the last time the Iraqis said they had no weapons of mass destructions, the last time the Iraqis said they had no weapons of mass destruction, they turned out to be liars.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BUCKLEY: White House officials will not predict just how long it will take to review that declaration that is due on December 8, but clearly, Wolf, they remain skeptical -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Frank Buckley, with that report from the White House. Franks, thanks for that report.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military is preparing for a very high-tech exercise here in Qatar in the coming days. It's dubbed "Operation Internal Look." General Tommy Franks will be moving much of his headquarters from the MacDill air force base in Tampa, Florida here to Qatar, in the coming days, to take charge of this exercise.

Meantime, just up the Persian Gulf, not very far away, U.S. forces in Kuwait are training right now with a live fire drill.

And another key ally, Turkey, is debate being its role in the conflict as well. We have full coverage.

CNN's Jane Arraf is in Ankara at Turkey, and CNN's Walter Rogers is in Kuwait.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) WALTER ROGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. Army's live fire exercise here in Kuwait did not have an official operational name, but it might well have been Operation Intimidation.

(voice-over): Scores and scores of U.S. M1-A1 main battle tanks and bradley armored vehicles, carved up the Kuwaiti desert, just a few miles, less than 10 miles south of the border with Iraq.

The firing was so loud at times it was very clear that the Iraqis across the border would have had to have heard this live fire exercise and had to be intimidated by it. Sergeants that I spoke with from Michigan, South Carolina and Louisiana said this exercise was all about Saddam Hussein.

The commander, Colonel David Perkins from Keene, New Hampshire was a bit more circumspect. He said his men are the spear point of the U.S. military in this region of the world but he, too, acknowledges the focus had to be Iraq, this day of exercises.

One of the most intimidating things about the exercise, of course, was the sheer fire power the ground literally rumbled beneath you, when those tanks fired their 120 millimeter cannons. Obviously intimidation was the name of the game. It is hoped that the Iraqis will see these pictures and cut and run if the word goes forth for a war with Iraq.

(on camera): Perhaps by way of footnote, one very sobering aspect of the exercise, each of the soldiers both inside the armored vehicles and on the battlefield began the exercise wearing chemical warfare suits.

Walter Rogers, CNN, Kuwait.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: This is Jane Arraf in Ankara, Turkey. A really interesting developing racial relationship here, the U.S. and the new Turkish government. This is a government that has Islamic roots but is very keen to show it is on board with the west, and particularly with the United States.

A 24-hour visit here by the Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, left Wolfowitz leaving here say he was very pleased with the attitude of the enough Turkish government. And, in fact, said it had cleared away some roadblocks to developing the coalition that the United States needs for any attack on Iraq.

Now, Turkey would play a key part of that. It's an Iraqi neighbor, it's a NATO member, it's a huge Muslim country and it hold as lot of political weight as well as strategic military importance.

It's that military importance that was the main focus of these quite sensitive discussions here. At the end of the visit, the Turkish officials seem to have signed on in principle to allow the use of their air bases among other things. However, it's a bit controversial. At the end of the day, there's not a lot of support on the street for an attack on Iraq with Turkey participating. So both sides are playing it very, very carefully.

What turkey hopes to gain, though, is a lot of economic aid to pull them out of their deep economic crisis, as well as a further entree to the west and U.S. backing for its bid to join the European union. The United States has indicated it needs and wants Turkey badly enough to do all of those things.

Jane Arraf, CNN, reporting from Ankara.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Let's turn now to the war on terror. Israel has deported a U.S. citizen accused of funneling money to groups associated with al Qaeda.

CNN's Chris Burns is joining us from Jerusalem with that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was enough to raise a lot of alarm bells among the Israelis here about a possible al Qaeda money trail. Israeli authorities having detained a Syrian-born American, by the name of Kalid Nazim Diab (ph). 34-years-old who had been living in Qatar, who had been working with charity organizations.

Israelis say he had spent time in Afghanistan, had indirect contacts with the Hamas militant group in the Palestinian territory, they had been working in charity group ICRC. The Red Cross say that he had been working with the Palestinian Red Crescent -- had been on his way to work with them, to train them for psychological counseling.

However, -- and also the United States say that there was no evidence that he had any direct terror links so the Israelis having kept him as a precaution. Kept him several weeks for questioning, but they have deported him to Jordan. And it is believed he went on back to Qatar. Israeli authorities at this point saying that this was a warning to anyone who does intend to do that, but the U.S. saying there is no terror link to Mr. Diab (ph).

Chris Burns, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Chris, for that report.

It stands out here in the Persian Gulf, this small tiny nation of Qatar, and it could be the exception to the rule. We'll have a closer look at the people of Qatar that might become the focal point of a possible strike against Iraq.

And just as military preparations are taking place here in the Persian Gulf, they're also taking place in the United States. We'll take you live to a bomb making factory in Oklahoma, In just a few minutes.

And CNN's Martin Savidge is standing by. He has a preview of some other news -- Marty.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Wicked weather in the Southeast. We'll take a look at how bad things are getting and where that system is headed, next.

But first a look at new headlines around the world. Day turned into night across parts of the Southern Hemisphere. As a rare total eclipse thrilled star gazer. The moon blocked the glow of the sun along path stretching from southern Africa to Australia. The reaction of one women, it's simply terrific.

Scorching Sydney. Australia's continuing wildfires are closing in on its largest city. At least 60 separate blazes are reported in the Sydney area. The flames are blocking roads and railways, and burning homes. And they are blamed for a power failure that closed the Sydney opera house.

Rock-a-bye rhino. The Singapore zoo is celebrating the birth of a baby white rhinoceros. It's a female, as yet unnamed, born last month to an 18-year-old mother. The Singapore zoo is a leader in efforts to preserve the white rhino and endangered species.

Culture fix. France has its art museums, Italy has its operas and now Thailand has a museum devoted to opium. It's located in the heart of the Golden Triangle, a region known for the production of opium and heroin. The opium museum offers tourist a history of the drug trade, and challenges them to form their own conclusions. On whether the answer is prohibition or eradication or legalization.

And that's are look around the world. long day?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: I am Wolf Blitzer, I'll continue reporting live from the Persian Gulf in just a moment.

Also a CNN exclusive we are going live to Oklahoma. Inside a bomb factory, as sight of warfare you rarely get to see. All that, much more coming up on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. We're back in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: American's in much of the Sun Belt are or surely will be walking through a winter wonder land then most would probably like. Heavy snow blanketing upper east Tennessee marks the leading edge of winter storm, that stretches from Oklahoma to the Carolinas.

We have reports from Charlotte, North Carolina and Lexington, Kentucky.

First CNN's Jeff Flock is live in Charlotte -- Jeff.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I am having a good time out here, Marty.

Out along Interstate 77, perhaps you can see it's getting dark, illuminated only by the headlights on 77. The only thing keeping the road from icing over is the traffic that's moving on it. Right here on the shoulder, this is already completely iced over.

Local police here in Charlotte and we're just a short way from downtown right now, tell us that between the hours of noon and 2:30 they had reports of 119 accidents. And so this 77 and route 85, bad in a lot of spots and the worst has yet to come. Overnight it will get colder. You'll get ice over completely everything. They are really worried about the power lines and bring them down with that weight of that ice on there.

Not a good situation in North Carolina. We'll be watching it overnight.

Marty, back to you.

SAVIDGE: All right. We want to get a check on how the weather is also doing in Frankfurt, Kentucky. For that we'll turn to Molly.

Are you there? Are you with us -- Molly.

MOLLY GRANTHAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm there, I'm with you, I'm Molly Grantham. I'm in Frankfurt, the capital city of Kentucky, all though it's less icy than in Charlotte, snow has been falling since mid-morning here, and early, early morning in the western and southern part of our state. It should fall until about midnight. Lots of sleet is expected to mix in, too.

Here at Frankfurt at the capital we were supposed to get about two to four inches, the same amount as Lexington and Louisville. In the southern part of the state along the is supposed to get about 6 inches. And the problem down there around the I-75 corridor is that freezing rain is falling right now.

So for lack of a better image it's going to be an ice sandwich. We've had hours and hour of snow they're going to get freezing rain and then hours of snow on top of that. Conditions are starting to get slick. When people are driving home right now, they all say they are not going to take the back roads of which there are many, here in Kentucky, they're going to stick to the interstate.

And that's our report here in Frankfurt.

Back to you Marty.

SAVIDGE: Molly, thank you very much. It looks rather pretty now but I'm not driving it.

Let's check in with Orelon Sidney for the picture.

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR: That's the rub. If you have to drive or fly in this stuff, it's a mess and it's going to continue to be through the evening. What we are looking at here is generally this pink area now, generally represents rain/snow mix. That's the stuff that starts to freeze on the roadways.

Here's some good news though. It's been warm across this region the last couple of days. The high temperature in Atlanta was 61 degrees. So the ground is fairly warm. The problem is the overpasses will freeze over as this area starts to move through so places like Raleigh-Durham, down to Charlotte a bit later, Columbia. And you can see the line, now, starting to develop back to the Atlanta metro area, that stuff is going to freeze on things like cars, overpasses, trees and power lines.

So I'm not too concerned about the roadways immediately, that's probably going to come in a little bit later tomorrow. The problem of course is going be all this freezing rain dropping on the cars, the overpasses, the powerlines.

I wan to tell you Atlanta Hartsfield now has 3 1/1 hour delays trying to get in and out of there. There is a ground delay in effect. Ground stop too at St. Louis because of weather. And there's deicing in Nashville, St. Louis, Charlotte, Syracuse and Raleigh-Durham. All of those locations have delays at least half an hour, some up of them up to as much as an hour -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: Orelon Sidney, with a not so good big picture. Thanks very much.

Now let's go back to Wolf Blitzer in Qatar.

BLITZER: Marty, the weather, I've got to tell you, is a lot better here in Qatar than it is in parts of the United States. We'll have more on that coming up.

Meanwhile when we come back, we'll take a look at some of the airlines. They're strapped for cash as all of us know but United Airlines could face some additional problems. The airline could be fined for using tape for wing repairs. We'll have the full story.

And in a region where the United States had few allies, at right now, what is it about Qatar that makes it so ideal for American forces to set up shop? We'll have a closer look. That's all coming up, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: You're looking at one of the many marinas here in Doha where fisherman bring home their catches daily. The most popular fish in the Gulf is a fish called the soffe (ph). Locals say it's the best tasting fish in the sea especially when prepared with traditional Middle Eastern spices. I'm looking forward to having some of that fish coming up pretty soon.

I'll be back here in Qatar coming up with some more news but in the meantime let's check in with Marty Savidge once again at the CNN Center in Atlanta for other news happening right now -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: Thank you, Wolf. United Airlines already struggling to avoid bankruptcy now faces a safety fine. Investigators say the airline used tape to cover small ground spoiler holes on the wings of three Boeing 757s. Those planes then flew a combined total of 193 flights.

The FAA says United used a special kind of tape approved for some aircraft repairs but not for those particular repairs. The agency proposes a $805,000 fine. United will contest that fine. A spokesman says, "At no time did we operate the aircraft in unworthy state or condition that would render the aircraft unsafe or put passengers at risk." Several other airlines have also been fined this year.

Now back to Wolf Blitzer in Qatar.

BLITZER: Thanks, Marty. We're going to continue to check some other headlines making "News Around the World" in just a few minutes.

We'll also have an exclusive report. We're going to be in Oklahoma. We're going to go behind closed doors to a bomb making factory there. Preparations for a possible war are under way over there, but they're also under way here in the Persian Gulf. We'll have a look at the strategy behind using Qatar as a possible base of operations. All of that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to the Persian Gulf. This is one of the many pictures that shows you how Westernized Qatar's economy is. This mall is called the Kareflore (ph) or City Center Mall. And it has all the stores you would expect to find in major U.S. malls across the United States. And it even has an ice skating rink here in the middle of the Persian Gulf.

Welcome back, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting live from Doha in Qatar. In a moment we'll have a tour of a plant that could play a huge role in the possible war against Iraq.

But first, our CNN "News Alert."

(NEWSBREAK)

BLITZER: As the U.S. faces the possibility of going to war with Iraq in the coming days, perhaps weeks or months, a factory back home in the United States is stepping up production of a key component in any possible war with Iraq, namely this -- bombs. CNN national correspondent, Gary Tuchman, has an exclusive report. He's had unusual access to that plant and he has the story now from McAlester, Oklahoma.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm here with Camille Washburn (ph), the plant supervisor.

Camille, you don't make widgets in this factory. You make bombs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right

TUCHMAN: It's very unusual. When you walk in her and see all these blue bombs here. How heavy are these bombs, first of all?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, they're 2,000 pounds.

TUCHMAN: These are 2,000-pound bombs. OK, and what's this -- this is the beginning step, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.

TUCHMAN: Bombs are brought in here. And what's happened right here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We break them down and clean them all up and ready to hook on the monorail system to the (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

TUCHMAN: OK, now I want to go a little farther down the process here. It's almost like a conveyor belt. And we're used to going to factories where we see more typical things made. It's probably one of the most unusual factories I've seen. Do people tell that you all the time?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: Do you ever get scared working here? You have all these explosives around.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, you got to respect the explosives here. So no, I don't really get scared.

TUCHMAN: OK. Now here, what's the process we're at right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right here, these bombs are waiting to be filled with an inert load. They've already been painted. They're waiting to be filled.

TUCHMAN: All right. And 2,000 pounds, you can tell I wouldn't want to lift this in a weight-lifting contest. OK. So they're -- why are they hanging up like this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're hanging up so we can fill them, and put them in a tilt table and then lay them down so we can roll them on a finished table to stencil them and lug them.

TUCHMAN: OK. Let's go down here. And this is where you fill it with the concrete.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Correct.

TUCHMAN: Now, concrete bombs enable you to drop the bomb and not have a lot of collateral damage, correct?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's correct.

TUCHMAN: So you can see up there, the woman who's working up there, she's an explosive expert, is actually putting concrete inside the bombs, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, she is.

TUCHMAN: Now, what will these bombs be used for, practice and/or battle? Do we know yet?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, they can. No, I really don't know, but they can be used as both.

TUCHMAN: OK, they don't tell you which branch of the service is getting these bombs?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really don't know who ordered these bombs.

TUCHMAN: I was told that's kind of a top security method. They don't tell us. But basically, you get the order, you manufacture the bomb and that's almost the finished process right there, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it is.

TUCHMAN: Once you get to that point, the bomb is ready to be used?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it is. From our point of view, it is. And it goes -- they may have to put other things on it to make it work, but for us that is ready to be used.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Gary Tuchman reporting from Oklahoma. Gary, thanks very much.

War preparations are of course also under way right here in Qatar. This small country, as I reported, just a little smaller than the size of Connecticut, could play a huge role if the United States and its coalition partners decide to go to war against Iraq. CNN's Martin Savidge is joining us now. He's moved to the map room at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Marty, I know you've reported from here in Qatar over the years. Give as little bit of background why this country could be so significant with any possible war with Iraq.

SAVIDGE: Be glad to, Wolf. It's a very interesting place, as you're no doubt going to find out. Let me point out something. Remember a couple of weeks ago that controversy about high school students in the U.S. having trouble finding this place, Iraq? Well, Americans in general would be very hard pressed to try to find Qatar, not just because they are high school students but in general because take a look, it's right here. It's a relatively small nation; so you can you see the problems.

But a realtor would point out something very significant. It's got three benefits, three going for it. They are location, location, location. Iraq back here is only about an hour to two hours away depending on what you're flying. And for the U.S. military, it's got three other assets, access, access, access, which is why in the next couple of months you're going to hear a lot about Qatar, beginning and starting right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Once a top-secret base, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) went public shortly after the September 11 attacks on the United States. Now large U.S. military planes lumber around the acres of ramps and runways. For liftoff on round-the-clock support missions for Operation Enduring Freedom. For the moment, the base's primary U.S. mission is to serve as the region's busiest aviation gas station, providing fuel for thirsty fighter planes still patrolling the skies over Afghanistan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Typically, we'll fly anywhere from eight to ten hours depending on what our tasking is for that day.

SAVIDGE: In the searing heat of over 100 degrees, about 2,000 U.S. Air Force personnel live and work to keep the fuel flying. Security for the massive base is provided jointly by Qatari and U.S. military forces.

Flight time to Afghanistan is two and a half hours, the same time it would take for U.S. planes leaving here bound for Iraq. The base's commander won't say anything about (UNINTELLIGIBLE) potential role in the conflict with Iraq, only that the facilities and technology at the airfield are state of the art and capable of handling anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a multi-purpose base. And depending on what the taskings were, you could fly a variety of aircraft here.

SAVIDGE: Colonel Timothy Scott (ph) calls relations with the U.S. and Qatar government outstanding. Reportedly, the country's leaders have not placed any limits on how the base could be used in a showdown with Saddam Hussein, unlike other regions in the nation hosting U.S. bases. This dual combination of ease of access and a runway measuring over 12,000 feet are likely to make (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and Qatar itself a nerve center for strikes on Iraq.

(on camera): There is a lot of construction going on at this base. We are not allowed to show it to you because technically it is all being done by the Qatari government, not bit U.S. military. Just take our word. There is a lot of building going on.

(voice-over): The work is reportedly part of a major improvements plan recently approved by the government of Qatar. But the scale of construction seems out of place for a country with an air force of just a dozen fighter planes. Base officials had no comment. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) may have come out from under its cloak of secrecy but its future U.S. role in a possible war with Iraq remains under wraps.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: By now, you may be wondering why is it that Qatar has decided to align itself with the United States. Well, it all goes back to where we began. It's a very small nation and it would like to have a big brother standing behind it just in case it has a problem.

Now, let's go back to Wolf Blitzer in Qatar -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Marty, thanks very much. As you discovered when you were here and as I'm discovering when I'm here right here, these people here like Americans. They're very friendly, very supportive. We'll have much more of that coming up in the days ahead.

In a moment, a holiday greeting that's angering some Christians. Why the message is creating an uproar? And is there an explanation for an Ivy League rivalry that led to a brutal beating? There's a new development in the story. And there's a reason for celebration here in Qatar. Why today is so important to everyone here and everyone in the Muslim world? We'll have that. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Anew holiday greeting card is causing some controversy at Christmastime. Planned Parenthood's choice of words has some calling it anti-Christian. We'll hear from both sides on what's heating up on a significant date. Marty Savidge will be back with that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: The Supreme Court is revisiting a case it first dealt with nine years ago when it ruled that any abortion protestors could be punished under a federal racketeering law used to combat corruption. The justices hear arguments today from sides. A lawyer for abortion clinics and an abortion rights group argued that the punishments are needed to stop violent protests but anti-abortion leaders say that violates free speech. A decision is expected sometime next spring.

All right, a holiday card created by Planned Parenthood is being blasted by conservative groups. On the outside of the card features the words "choice on earth." Inside it reads, "warmest wishes for a peaceful holiday season." Bioethics analyst and spokeswoman for Focus on The Family, Carry Earle, joins us from Colorado Springs. And from Washington, lobbyist and former president of the National Organization for Women, Patricia Ireland.

Thanks, both, for being with us.

CARRIE EARLL, FOCUS ON THE FAMILY: Hi, Marty, good to be with you.

SAVIDGE: Let me ask you, Patricia, how long has this card been out?

PATRICIA IRELAND, LOBBYIST: This card has been out there for a decade, Martin. And I guess to divert attention from the tactics heard in the Supreme Court and racketeering case, we're now going to talk about holiday cards because that's what the anti-abortion folks want to talk about.

SAVIDGE: Well, Carrie, now why now? If this card has been out for this long, why suddenly is your group coming forward and saying, "Were not keen on this?"

EARLL: Well, you know, we hadn't seen the card until now. If it's been around for 10 years, it certainly hasn't had very wide distribution because this is the first we've heard about it. But you know, now that Planned Parenthood knows that it offends the faith of millions of Christians around the world, I'm hoping they're going to pull it.

SAVIDGE: OK. So you don't like it, what, because of the choice of words or what it stands for?

EARLL: Oh, absolutely the choice of words, Martin. When you look at the terms, "choice on earth," that is clearly a take off of the passage in Luke II where the angels proclaimed to the glory of God, the birth of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and say "peace on earth." So that's a twisting of Christian scripture. And again, that offends the people of faith, Christians around the world who consider the birth of Christ to be one of our most high holy days. You know if Planned Parenthood wants to do a secular greeting card, I think that's fine but don't twist scripture and the word of God in order to do that.

SAVIDGE: Patricia, didn't you take a phrase that is highly regarded in the religious world and turn it into sort of a jingle for your cause?

IRELAND: Not at all. And first of all, within the Christian community and within and among denomination, there's a vast degree of difference on their opinions whether choice, that is self- determination, freedom, free will, which is part of my version of Christianity are important messages. But also, this is a holiday card. We're talking about Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, New Year.

SAVIDGE: But there are any number of ways you could have said that without necessarily taking peace on earth. You could have taken, you know, may you have choice this season or something. Why that phrase? You caught on something that people are already attuned to.

IRELAND: Well, if we're talking about there being peace, we have to have freedom. We have to respect and tolerance for each other's views. That's why, for instance, our court, this Supreme Court, is upholding the use of racketeering laws against tactics of violence. And if you want to talk about what's offensive to Christianity and others...

EARLL: I'm sorry, Martin...

IRELAND: ... the violence is what we're talking about as being wholly offensive and inappropriate.

EARLL: If we're going to talk about religious tolerance, religious tolerance means not offending millions of Christians for whom the scripture and this term, "peace on earth" at the time of Christmas is sacred. You know if you twisted the Torah or the Koran into some kind of a greeting card, you would be having offended Muslims and Jews sitting here having this conversation. So if you want to have a secular greeting card, don't twist the word of God to do it.

SAVIDGE: But Carrie, aren't we also coming down to free speech? They are allowed to take some other words...

EARLL: Absolutely.

SAVIDGE: ... and speak as they wish even if it's on a greeting card.

EARLL: Absolutely. And I defend their rights in the same way I hope they defend my right to speak for those who are offended by this. You know Christmas is about the birth of the Christ child. It's about a Jewish teenager who had an unplanned pregnancy and the man who came alongside her to adopt the baby Jesus. It's about the messiah and new hope and that's what we need to be focusing on. Abortion is not a political holiday and it's really insulting for Planned Parenthood to use this as a fundraising toy.

IRELAND: It's not insulting at all. It's a message...

(CROSSTALK)

EARLL: Well Patricia, you can't possibly...

(CROSSTALK)

IRELAND: Let me suggest that as we head into a time of war in the Middle East, as we see the need for freedom, for tolerance for a wide diversity of views, if you don't like the card, don't buy it. It's flying off the shelves at Planned Parenthood and I...

EARLL: I don't give my money to Planned Parenthood.

(CROSSTALK)

SAVIDGE: Wait a minute. One of you has to talk and one of you has not. So Carrie, go ahead and finish out here and then Patricia, you'll have a final say as well.

EARLL: You know we can have religious tolerance but it needs to be two ways. And it seems like it's open season on Christianity with this card. When people get together for Christmas to share gifts, to sing carols, they are not going to be thinking about abortion. This is a life message of motherhood and fatherhood and adoption. It is the hope of the Lord Jesus Christ at Christmas and that is what we hope we can focus on.

SAVIDGE: Patricia?

IRELAND: Even if we stay within the realm of Christianity only, there's a wide diversity of views. Jesus is not quoted anywhere in the Bible as talking against birth control or abortion and both were widely available and used during his time. Instead, the message was of self-determination, of free will, of redemption and belief and faith. I don't see that as being controversial...

EARLL: I'm not sure...

IRELAND: ... by a compassionate message -- I didn't interrupt you.

EARLL: I'm not sure we're reading the same Bible.

IRELAND: I'm sorry. I didn't interrupt you. And let me just suggest that if we're looking at what kind of peace we want, I hope that the anti-abortion, the so-called pro-life people who have been attacking people at clinics that was right in front of the Supreme Court this day will take the message back from you in your message from the Focus on The Family, a message of true peace and true tolerance and true Christian love. But I would also include all of the other religious holiday -- denominations and views and say that I hope we have a happy winter season of holidays and of love and of our families and of tolerance and belief in women.

SAVIDGE: Ok, that's a lot to get on a greeting card. And we've got -- I'm sorry, we've got to leave it there. Thank you very much.

EARLL: Well, Merry Christmas to everyone and peace on earth.

SAVIDGE: Carrie Earll, thank you very much. All right.

EARLL: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: All right, now here is your chance to weigh in on this very story. Our "Web Question of The Day," do you think Planned Parenthood's card is inappropriate? We'll have the results later in this broadcast. Vote at CNN.com/Wolf. While you're there, we'd like to hear from you as always. Send us your comments and we'll try to read some of them at the end of this program. That's also of course where can you read our daily online column, CNN.com/Wolf.

Well, it was a case of debate taken to the extreme. Five Ivy League university students stand accused of attacking another during a debate tournament. We'll go live to Philadelphia when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: A lawyer for a University of Pennsylvania student calls it an unfortunate incident. Prosecutors call it aggravated assault, terroristic threats and criminal conspiracy, among other things. Five University of Pennsylvania students made their first court appearance today in an alleged attack on a visiting debate student from Princeton. CNN's Kathleen Koch was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) coming into court. That's all we're going to say.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The five clean- cut Ivy League suspects emerged from court flanked by parents and lawyers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know I'm sorry to be involved in this but we're not really going to comment on it.

KOCH: It was an alleged brutal beating that took place November 16 in a lounge in this University of Pennsylvania dormitory where a visiting group of Princeton students were sleeping. They were in town for a debate tournament. Nineteen-year-old John Brandel (ph), one of the Princeton visitors says a couple of Penn students came in, turned the lights on and off and ordered them to leave. He told the Penn student to go away. But Brandel (ph) alleges one young man came back with four friends, told him to get on his knees, and began kicking and beating him. He claims they then poured motor oil on his face and head and threatened to light a match. This Princeton student was also in the room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean obviously we're shocked and appalled. I mean this has never happened to us before.

KOCH: Five Penn students now face charges ranging from aggravated assault to criminal conspiracy. The incident is the talk of students at each of the rival Ivy League schools.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was surprised. I didn't think that, you know, first of all, you Penn kids would do that kind of thing, even when drunk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a friendly rivalry. No, we don't actually hate people from Yale or we don't actually hate people from U-Penn. We have lots of friends that go there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's definitely gotten out of hand. I mean I never thought anything like this would ever happen, ever.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To expel them, I think, is the right move to show them it's not acceptable. It's not acceptable behavior.

KOCH: The suspects are all said to be members or pledges of something called the Owl Society, headquartered at this house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's structured somewhat like a fraternity, although it is not affiliated with the Greek system.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In no way were these kids acting on behalf of the society in any ritualistic event or anything.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOCH: Now, the judge in this case postponed a preliminary hearing and that won't go forward until January or February. And if convicted on each one of the counts, the five defendants could face up to 49 years in prison -- Marty. SAVIDGE: Kathleen Koch live in Philadelphia. Thanks very much.

Now let's go back to Wolf Blitzer in Qatar.

BLITZER: Thanks Marty. When we come back, we're going to have the results of our "Web Question of The Day." You still have some time to go ahead and vote. Log on to CNN.com/Wolf. We'll bring you those results, also, some final thoughts on what's going on here in Qatar, not only here but throughout the Muslim world. They're getting ready to celebrate. We'll tell you why. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Now here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of The Day." Earlier we asked this question, do you think Planned Parenthood's card is inappropriate? Look at this, 46 percent of you say yes, 54 percent of you say no. You can find, of course, the exact tally and continue to vote. Go to my Web site, cnn.com/wolf. Remember, this is not a scientific poll.

We leave you now with some thoughts about what's going on in the Muslim world as Muslims not only here in the Persian Gulf but around the world get ready to end the month of Ramadan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): For almost a month now, the daylight hours in Qatar have been quiet. Muslims here and throughout the world have been fasting from sunup to sundown in observance of Ramadan. Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, called Psalm (ph), meaning self- purification. Muslims cannot eat, smoke, even drink water, or engage in other forms of indulgence during the day. Doha comes to life after the sun sets.

The shops and decorated streets, they were almost empty quickly become crowded. Fun fares dot the city. Ramadan starts with the sighting of the new moon in the ninth month of the year and ends when the month is passed and the moon's crescent shape appears again.

Qataris are preparing for the end of Ramadan, a celebration called Al-Fitr, four days of joy marking the broken fast. Even now, before the eve, the celebration goes well into the morning hours. It's a time for Muslims to pray, be thankful for all they have and share their wealth with others.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And even as Muslims prepare to celebrate the end of Ramadan, Jewish people around the United States are celebrating Hanukkah. Tonight the sixth night of Hanukkah. Over at the White House, they lit the candle. President Bush watching this celebration. Eight nights all together. Hanukkah being celebrated over at the White House. Our best wishes to all of our Jewish and Muslim viewers on these occasions.

Let's go to some e-mails. Kenneth is writing this -- "The proposed attack on Iraq is not about human rights violations, Iraq's attack on its neighbors or disarmament of weapons of mass destruction. It's about oil, plain and simple."

Keith adds -- "It is so frustrating to watch the U.N. inspectors wallowing around in old, dilapidated sites looking for weapons of mass destruction. They'll find nothing there. Saddam hid all his weapons long ago. Stop the games and attack now."

Finally, this from William -- "U.S. attitudes and foreign policy concerning the war on terror, Iraq and the Arab world in general are deplorable. Not every country thinks and acts like the U.S. There are other legitimate cultures on this planet."

That's all the time we have now. I'll be back here reporting from the Persian Gulf tomorrow at noon Eastern, on "SHOWDOWN IRAQ" as well as on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Until then, thanks very much for watching. For Martin Savidge at the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Wolf Blitzer in the Persian Gulf. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" is 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





United Denied Bankruptcy Protection>


Aired December 4, 2002 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: I'm Wolf Blitzer in Qatar. Welcome to this special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. We are going to be giving you live reports from inside this nation which may play a key role in any future conflict with Iraq. In the coming days there will be a huge U.S.-led military exercise near Qatar, in this part of the Persian Gulf.
We're going to give you an inside look. What may be taking place, I'll tell you why this country is so special as far as a possible war with Iraq is concerned. A special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Countdown to a showdown? Waiting for Saddam Hussein's report to the U.N.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And for years he said he didn't have any weapons. Now we'll whether or not he does.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These allegations were false and lies.

BLITZER: Preparing for a war. We'll visit the base and a bomb factory.

A winter storm sweeps across the country. Snow and ice on the ground and in the forecast from Texas to the north-east.

And Christmas greeting that some Christians aren't happy about.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is a special addition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. Live from the Persian Gulf. Reporting from Doha, Qatar here's Wolf Blitzer.

BLITZER: It's just after 1:00 a.m. Thursday, here in Qatar. It's a small nation. Only roughly about the size of Connecticut, but could play a huge role in any possible war with Iraq. Qatar juts out into the Persian Gulf from the Arabian Peninsula. It borders Saudi Arabia. The people who live here are some of the wealthiest to be found anywhere in the world.

But it's not the wealth attracting U.S. interest, it's the access the U.S. forces are getting from the Qatari government. The air based here in Qatar boasts one of the longest runways in the entire region, perhaps in the entire world. Capable of handling any aircraft in the U.N. military fleet. In the near future, this nation could be the command and control center for a U.S.-led war against Saddam Hussein.

In the immediate future, indeed, it will be the site of a critically important war game. All of this, of course, hinges on what happens next in Iraq. There were some more inspections today, but there were also some tough words from a top Iraqi leader blasting those U.N. weapons inspectors.

Let's go live not very far away from here to Nic Robertson standing by in Baghdad with the very latest -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Wolf.

Tough words from Taha Yassim Ramadan, one of Iraq's two vice presidents. He was talking this evening with a delegation from Egypt. He told that delegation that he believed the weapons inspectors were working for the United States and for Israel. He said that they were spying for them. He said this was in an effort to lay the groundwork for forthcoming war with Iraq. He accused the Mossad and the CIA of funding the inspectors here. Very tough words.

We have heard from Iraqi officials complaining about a visit to a presidential palace, blaming that on political pressure from the United States and Great Britain. This appearing to be, Wolf, ratcheting that up to be a direct attack on the U.N. weapons inspectors.

Today those same expecters went to two sites, one of them to the north of Baghdad, 75 miles to the north, a site that has many connections to chemical weapons, a site that sought many visits from the U.M. weapons inspection teams in the 1990's.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Numbered and tagged, rows of rusting chemical warfare equipment lie in a rotting warehouse. The site Al Muthanna, the birth place of Iraq's biowarfare program and heart of its chemical research and production in the 1980's. Apparently left in ruin. What Gulf war bombing didn't destroy in 1991, U.N. weapons inspectors did in the mid 1990's. Filling containers like this with cement and putting U.N. tags on them.

This day, chemical, biological and missile inspectors returned to review the site, spending five hours, searching the sprawling desert complex 120 kilometers Northwest of Baghdad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you happy with the cooperation you've received so far today?

ROBERTSON: Apparently getting good cooperation. An indication of that, getting a mobile crane into the site to move some containers. According to site officials, however, the chemical and biological warfare programs stopped a long time ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It stopped working at 1991. Before the war.

ROBERTSON: The sheer scale of this site, 25 square kilometers is an indication to Iraq's previous commitment to weapons of mass destruction. Now containers like these are put across the door to stop it continuing. In Baghdad, Iraqi officials upset about the presidential palace inspection the previous day blaming the visit on pressure by the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We consider the entry of the presidential sites as unjustified and really unnecessary.

ROBERTSON: Inspectors for their part saying they feel caught in the middle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Iraqi side would have liked us to be very light. The U.S. side, as from what I heard from you who tends to be extremely severe.

ROBERTSON: Hard to gauge what the inspectors were thinking when they left Al Muthanna. It is, however, one less site to visit and to the untrained eye at least possibly one they won't be coming back to soon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: Now, the other weapons team going to the south of Baghdad to a nuclear weapons facility there apparently getting good cooperation as well -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Nic Robertson reporting live from Baghdad. Nic, thanks very much.

Let's go to the White House right now, find out what the reaction there is to on the one hand the so-called charm offensive the Iraqis are giving the U.N. weapons inspectors, at the same time some tough talk about those inspectors today.

Frank Buckley is standing by at the White House -- Frank.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, you're exactly right. The president does continue to talk tough on Iraq. Today the president noting that Iraq continues to fire on U.S. and British aircraft flying over the no-fly zones in Iraq. That was just one of the things that the president cited as he continued to press his case that Saddam Hussein and Iraq do not appear ready to comply with disarmament.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BUCKLEY (voice-over) So far U.N. inspectors haven't been blocked. Iraq's cooperation, says secretary-general Kofi Annan, seems to be good. But President Bush does not exactly agree.

BUSH: What I agree with is that we've been doing this for five days after 11 years of deception and deceit. The process is just beginning. And the world will determine soon whether or not Saddam Hussein is going to do what we've asked, which is in the name of peace fully disarm.

BUCKLEY: On December 8, Iraq must provide an accounting of its weapons programs. President Bush continues to say the signs are not encouraging.

BUSH: He wrote letters, stinging rebukes to what the U.N. did. He was very critical of the U.S. and Britain. That doesn't appear to be somebody that is that anxious to comply.

BUCKLEY: But as inspectors continue to gain access to sites, the head of Iraq's monitoring program says Iraq is fully cooperating, and inspection teams will show the country is not concealing weapons of mass destruction.

GEN. HASSAM MOHAMMED AMIN, IRAQ NATL. MONITORING DIR. (through translator): Which will support the position of Iraq against any aggression by the American and British governments.

BUCKLEY: White House officials say the declaration will be just the beginning of a process of verification.

AIR FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: The president will make until they make the formal declaration required by the United Nations Security Council. However, the last time the Iraqis said they had no weapons of mass destructions, the last time the Iraqis said they had no weapons of mass destruction, they turned out to be liars.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BUCKLEY: White House officials will not predict just how long it will take to review that declaration that is due on December 8, but clearly, Wolf, they remain skeptical -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Frank Buckley, with that report from the White House. Franks, thanks for that report.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military is preparing for a very high-tech exercise here in Qatar in the coming days. It's dubbed "Operation Internal Look." General Tommy Franks will be moving much of his headquarters from the MacDill air force base in Tampa, Florida here to Qatar, in the coming days, to take charge of this exercise.

Meantime, just up the Persian Gulf, not very far away, U.S. forces in Kuwait are training right now with a live fire drill.

And another key ally, Turkey, is debate being its role in the conflict as well. We have full coverage.

CNN's Jane Arraf is in Ankara at Turkey, and CNN's Walter Rogers is in Kuwait.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) WALTER ROGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. Army's live fire exercise here in Kuwait did not have an official operational name, but it might well have been Operation Intimidation.

(voice-over): Scores and scores of U.S. M1-A1 main battle tanks and bradley armored vehicles, carved up the Kuwaiti desert, just a few miles, less than 10 miles south of the border with Iraq.

The firing was so loud at times it was very clear that the Iraqis across the border would have had to have heard this live fire exercise and had to be intimidated by it. Sergeants that I spoke with from Michigan, South Carolina and Louisiana said this exercise was all about Saddam Hussein.

The commander, Colonel David Perkins from Keene, New Hampshire was a bit more circumspect. He said his men are the spear point of the U.S. military in this region of the world but he, too, acknowledges the focus had to be Iraq, this day of exercises.

One of the most intimidating things about the exercise, of course, was the sheer fire power the ground literally rumbled beneath you, when those tanks fired their 120 millimeter cannons. Obviously intimidation was the name of the game. It is hoped that the Iraqis will see these pictures and cut and run if the word goes forth for a war with Iraq.

(on camera): Perhaps by way of footnote, one very sobering aspect of the exercise, each of the soldiers both inside the armored vehicles and on the battlefield began the exercise wearing chemical warfare suits.

Walter Rogers, CNN, Kuwait.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: This is Jane Arraf in Ankara, Turkey. A really interesting developing racial relationship here, the U.S. and the new Turkish government. This is a government that has Islamic roots but is very keen to show it is on board with the west, and particularly with the United States.

A 24-hour visit here by the Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, left Wolfowitz leaving here say he was very pleased with the attitude of the enough Turkish government. And, in fact, said it had cleared away some roadblocks to developing the coalition that the United States needs for any attack on Iraq.

Now, Turkey would play a key part of that. It's an Iraqi neighbor, it's a NATO member, it's a huge Muslim country and it hold as lot of political weight as well as strategic military importance.

It's that military importance that was the main focus of these quite sensitive discussions here. At the end of the visit, the Turkish officials seem to have signed on in principle to allow the use of their air bases among other things. However, it's a bit controversial. At the end of the day, there's not a lot of support on the street for an attack on Iraq with Turkey participating. So both sides are playing it very, very carefully.

What turkey hopes to gain, though, is a lot of economic aid to pull them out of their deep economic crisis, as well as a further entree to the west and U.S. backing for its bid to join the European union. The United States has indicated it needs and wants Turkey badly enough to do all of those things.

Jane Arraf, CNN, reporting from Ankara.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Let's turn now to the war on terror. Israel has deported a U.S. citizen accused of funneling money to groups associated with al Qaeda.

CNN's Chris Burns is joining us from Jerusalem with that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was enough to raise a lot of alarm bells among the Israelis here about a possible al Qaeda money trail. Israeli authorities having detained a Syrian-born American, by the name of Kalid Nazim Diab (ph). 34-years-old who had been living in Qatar, who had been working with charity organizations.

Israelis say he had spent time in Afghanistan, had indirect contacts with the Hamas militant group in the Palestinian territory, they had been working in charity group ICRC. The Red Cross say that he had been working with the Palestinian Red Crescent -- had been on his way to work with them, to train them for psychological counseling.

However, -- and also the United States say that there was no evidence that he had any direct terror links so the Israelis having kept him as a precaution. Kept him several weeks for questioning, but they have deported him to Jordan. And it is believed he went on back to Qatar. Israeli authorities at this point saying that this was a warning to anyone who does intend to do that, but the U.S. saying there is no terror link to Mr. Diab (ph).

Chris Burns, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Chris, for that report.

It stands out here in the Persian Gulf, this small tiny nation of Qatar, and it could be the exception to the rule. We'll have a closer look at the people of Qatar that might become the focal point of a possible strike against Iraq.

And just as military preparations are taking place here in the Persian Gulf, they're also taking place in the United States. We'll take you live to a bomb making factory in Oklahoma, In just a few minutes.

And CNN's Martin Savidge is standing by. He has a preview of some other news -- Marty.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Wicked weather in the Southeast. We'll take a look at how bad things are getting and where that system is headed, next.

But first a look at new headlines around the world. Day turned into night across parts of the Southern Hemisphere. As a rare total eclipse thrilled star gazer. The moon blocked the glow of the sun along path stretching from southern Africa to Australia. The reaction of one women, it's simply terrific.

Scorching Sydney. Australia's continuing wildfires are closing in on its largest city. At least 60 separate blazes are reported in the Sydney area. The flames are blocking roads and railways, and burning homes. And they are blamed for a power failure that closed the Sydney opera house.

Rock-a-bye rhino. The Singapore zoo is celebrating the birth of a baby white rhinoceros. It's a female, as yet unnamed, born last month to an 18-year-old mother. The Singapore zoo is a leader in efforts to preserve the white rhino and endangered species.

Culture fix. France has its art museums, Italy has its operas and now Thailand has a museum devoted to opium. It's located in the heart of the Golden Triangle, a region known for the production of opium and heroin. The opium museum offers tourist a history of the drug trade, and challenges them to form their own conclusions. On whether the answer is prohibition or eradication or legalization.

And that's are look around the world. long day?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: I am Wolf Blitzer, I'll continue reporting live from the Persian Gulf in just a moment.

Also a CNN exclusive we are going live to Oklahoma. Inside a bomb factory, as sight of warfare you rarely get to see. All that, much more coming up on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. We're back in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: American's in much of the Sun Belt are or surely will be walking through a winter wonder land then most would probably like. Heavy snow blanketing upper east Tennessee marks the leading edge of winter storm, that stretches from Oklahoma to the Carolinas.

We have reports from Charlotte, North Carolina and Lexington, Kentucky.

First CNN's Jeff Flock is live in Charlotte -- Jeff.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I am having a good time out here, Marty.

Out along Interstate 77, perhaps you can see it's getting dark, illuminated only by the headlights on 77. The only thing keeping the road from icing over is the traffic that's moving on it. Right here on the shoulder, this is already completely iced over.

Local police here in Charlotte and we're just a short way from downtown right now, tell us that between the hours of noon and 2:30 they had reports of 119 accidents. And so this 77 and route 85, bad in a lot of spots and the worst has yet to come. Overnight it will get colder. You'll get ice over completely everything. They are really worried about the power lines and bring them down with that weight of that ice on there.

Not a good situation in North Carolina. We'll be watching it overnight.

Marty, back to you.

SAVIDGE: All right. We want to get a check on how the weather is also doing in Frankfurt, Kentucky. For that we'll turn to Molly.

Are you there? Are you with us -- Molly.

MOLLY GRANTHAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm there, I'm with you, I'm Molly Grantham. I'm in Frankfurt, the capital city of Kentucky, all though it's less icy than in Charlotte, snow has been falling since mid-morning here, and early, early morning in the western and southern part of our state. It should fall until about midnight. Lots of sleet is expected to mix in, too.

Here at Frankfurt at the capital we were supposed to get about two to four inches, the same amount as Lexington and Louisville. In the southern part of the state along the is supposed to get about 6 inches. And the problem down there around the I-75 corridor is that freezing rain is falling right now.

So for lack of a better image it's going to be an ice sandwich. We've had hours and hour of snow they're going to get freezing rain and then hours of snow on top of that. Conditions are starting to get slick. When people are driving home right now, they all say they are not going to take the back roads of which there are many, here in Kentucky, they're going to stick to the interstate.

And that's our report here in Frankfurt.

Back to you Marty.

SAVIDGE: Molly, thank you very much. It looks rather pretty now but I'm not driving it.

Let's check in with Orelon Sidney for the picture.

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR: That's the rub. If you have to drive or fly in this stuff, it's a mess and it's going to continue to be through the evening. What we are looking at here is generally this pink area now, generally represents rain/snow mix. That's the stuff that starts to freeze on the roadways.

Here's some good news though. It's been warm across this region the last couple of days. The high temperature in Atlanta was 61 degrees. So the ground is fairly warm. The problem is the overpasses will freeze over as this area starts to move through so places like Raleigh-Durham, down to Charlotte a bit later, Columbia. And you can see the line, now, starting to develop back to the Atlanta metro area, that stuff is going to freeze on things like cars, overpasses, trees and power lines.

So I'm not too concerned about the roadways immediately, that's probably going to come in a little bit later tomorrow. The problem of course is going be all this freezing rain dropping on the cars, the overpasses, the powerlines.

I wan to tell you Atlanta Hartsfield now has 3 1/1 hour delays trying to get in and out of there. There is a ground delay in effect. Ground stop too at St. Louis because of weather. And there's deicing in Nashville, St. Louis, Charlotte, Syracuse and Raleigh-Durham. All of those locations have delays at least half an hour, some up of them up to as much as an hour -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: Orelon Sidney, with a not so good big picture. Thanks very much.

Now let's go back to Wolf Blitzer in Qatar.

BLITZER: Marty, the weather, I've got to tell you, is a lot better here in Qatar than it is in parts of the United States. We'll have more on that coming up.

Meanwhile when we come back, we'll take a look at some of the airlines. They're strapped for cash as all of us know but United Airlines could face some additional problems. The airline could be fined for using tape for wing repairs. We'll have the full story.

And in a region where the United States had few allies, at right now, what is it about Qatar that makes it so ideal for American forces to set up shop? We'll have a closer look. That's all coming up, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: You're looking at one of the many marinas here in Doha where fisherman bring home their catches daily. The most popular fish in the Gulf is a fish called the soffe (ph). Locals say it's the best tasting fish in the sea especially when prepared with traditional Middle Eastern spices. I'm looking forward to having some of that fish coming up pretty soon.

I'll be back here in Qatar coming up with some more news but in the meantime let's check in with Marty Savidge once again at the CNN Center in Atlanta for other news happening right now -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: Thank you, Wolf. United Airlines already struggling to avoid bankruptcy now faces a safety fine. Investigators say the airline used tape to cover small ground spoiler holes on the wings of three Boeing 757s. Those planes then flew a combined total of 193 flights.

The FAA says United used a special kind of tape approved for some aircraft repairs but not for those particular repairs. The agency proposes a $805,000 fine. United will contest that fine. A spokesman says, "At no time did we operate the aircraft in unworthy state or condition that would render the aircraft unsafe or put passengers at risk." Several other airlines have also been fined this year.

Now back to Wolf Blitzer in Qatar.

BLITZER: Thanks, Marty. We're going to continue to check some other headlines making "News Around the World" in just a few minutes.

We'll also have an exclusive report. We're going to be in Oklahoma. We're going to go behind closed doors to a bomb making factory there. Preparations for a possible war are under way over there, but they're also under way here in the Persian Gulf. We'll have a look at the strategy behind using Qatar as a possible base of operations. All of that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to the Persian Gulf. This is one of the many pictures that shows you how Westernized Qatar's economy is. This mall is called the Kareflore (ph) or City Center Mall. And it has all the stores you would expect to find in major U.S. malls across the United States. And it even has an ice skating rink here in the middle of the Persian Gulf.

Welcome back, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting live from Doha in Qatar. In a moment we'll have a tour of a plant that could play a huge role in the possible war against Iraq.

But first, our CNN "News Alert."

(NEWSBREAK)

BLITZER: As the U.S. faces the possibility of going to war with Iraq in the coming days, perhaps weeks or months, a factory back home in the United States is stepping up production of a key component in any possible war with Iraq, namely this -- bombs. CNN national correspondent, Gary Tuchman, has an exclusive report. He's had unusual access to that plant and he has the story now from McAlester, Oklahoma.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm here with Camille Washburn (ph), the plant supervisor.

Camille, you don't make widgets in this factory. You make bombs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right

TUCHMAN: It's very unusual. When you walk in her and see all these blue bombs here. How heavy are these bombs, first of all?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, they're 2,000 pounds.

TUCHMAN: These are 2,000-pound bombs. OK, and what's this -- this is the beginning step, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.

TUCHMAN: Bombs are brought in here. And what's happened right here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We break them down and clean them all up and ready to hook on the monorail system to the (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

TUCHMAN: OK, now I want to go a little farther down the process here. It's almost like a conveyor belt. And we're used to going to factories where we see more typical things made. It's probably one of the most unusual factories I've seen. Do people tell that you all the time?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: Do you ever get scared working here? You have all these explosives around.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, you got to respect the explosives here. So no, I don't really get scared.

TUCHMAN: OK. Now here, what's the process we're at right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right here, these bombs are waiting to be filled with an inert load. They've already been painted. They're waiting to be filled.

TUCHMAN: All right. And 2,000 pounds, you can tell I wouldn't want to lift this in a weight-lifting contest. OK. So they're -- why are they hanging up like this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're hanging up so we can fill them, and put them in a tilt table and then lay them down so we can roll them on a finished table to stencil them and lug them.

TUCHMAN: OK. Let's go down here. And this is where you fill it with the concrete.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Correct.

TUCHMAN: Now, concrete bombs enable you to drop the bomb and not have a lot of collateral damage, correct?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's correct.

TUCHMAN: So you can see up there, the woman who's working up there, she's an explosive expert, is actually putting concrete inside the bombs, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, she is.

TUCHMAN: Now, what will these bombs be used for, practice and/or battle? Do we know yet?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, they can. No, I really don't know, but they can be used as both.

TUCHMAN: OK, they don't tell you which branch of the service is getting these bombs?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really don't know who ordered these bombs.

TUCHMAN: I was told that's kind of a top security method. They don't tell us. But basically, you get the order, you manufacture the bomb and that's almost the finished process right there, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it is.

TUCHMAN: Once you get to that point, the bomb is ready to be used?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it is. From our point of view, it is. And it goes -- they may have to put other things on it to make it work, but for us that is ready to be used.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Gary Tuchman reporting from Oklahoma. Gary, thanks very much.

War preparations are of course also under way right here in Qatar. This small country, as I reported, just a little smaller than the size of Connecticut, could play a huge role if the United States and its coalition partners decide to go to war against Iraq. CNN's Martin Savidge is joining us now. He's moved to the map room at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Marty, I know you've reported from here in Qatar over the years. Give as little bit of background why this country could be so significant with any possible war with Iraq.

SAVIDGE: Be glad to, Wolf. It's a very interesting place, as you're no doubt going to find out. Let me point out something. Remember a couple of weeks ago that controversy about high school students in the U.S. having trouble finding this place, Iraq? Well, Americans in general would be very hard pressed to try to find Qatar, not just because they are high school students but in general because take a look, it's right here. It's a relatively small nation; so you can you see the problems.

But a realtor would point out something very significant. It's got three benefits, three going for it. They are location, location, location. Iraq back here is only about an hour to two hours away depending on what you're flying. And for the U.S. military, it's got three other assets, access, access, access, which is why in the next couple of months you're going to hear a lot about Qatar, beginning and starting right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Once a top-secret base, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) went public shortly after the September 11 attacks on the United States. Now large U.S. military planes lumber around the acres of ramps and runways. For liftoff on round-the-clock support missions for Operation Enduring Freedom. For the moment, the base's primary U.S. mission is to serve as the region's busiest aviation gas station, providing fuel for thirsty fighter planes still patrolling the skies over Afghanistan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Typically, we'll fly anywhere from eight to ten hours depending on what our tasking is for that day.

SAVIDGE: In the searing heat of over 100 degrees, about 2,000 U.S. Air Force personnel live and work to keep the fuel flying. Security for the massive base is provided jointly by Qatari and U.S. military forces.

Flight time to Afghanistan is two and a half hours, the same time it would take for U.S. planes leaving here bound for Iraq. The base's commander won't say anything about (UNINTELLIGIBLE) potential role in the conflict with Iraq, only that the facilities and technology at the airfield are state of the art and capable of handling anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a multi-purpose base. And depending on what the taskings were, you could fly a variety of aircraft here.

SAVIDGE: Colonel Timothy Scott (ph) calls relations with the U.S. and Qatar government outstanding. Reportedly, the country's leaders have not placed any limits on how the base could be used in a showdown with Saddam Hussein, unlike other regions in the nation hosting U.S. bases. This dual combination of ease of access and a runway measuring over 12,000 feet are likely to make (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and Qatar itself a nerve center for strikes on Iraq.

(on camera): There is a lot of construction going on at this base. We are not allowed to show it to you because technically it is all being done by the Qatari government, not bit U.S. military. Just take our word. There is a lot of building going on.

(voice-over): The work is reportedly part of a major improvements plan recently approved by the government of Qatar. But the scale of construction seems out of place for a country with an air force of just a dozen fighter planes. Base officials had no comment. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) may have come out from under its cloak of secrecy but its future U.S. role in a possible war with Iraq remains under wraps.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: By now, you may be wondering why is it that Qatar has decided to align itself with the United States. Well, it all goes back to where we began. It's a very small nation and it would like to have a big brother standing behind it just in case it has a problem.

Now, let's go back to Wolf Blitzer in Qatar -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Marty, thanks very much. As you discovered when you were here and as I'm discovering when I'm here right here, these people here like Americans. They're very friendly, very supportive. We'll have much more of that coming up in the days ahead.

In a moment, a holiday greeting that's angering some Christians. Why the message is creating an uproar? And is there an explanation for an Ivy League rivalry that led to a brutal beating? There's a new development in the story. And there's a reason for celebration here in Qatar. Why today is so important to everyone here and everyone in the Muslim world? We'll have that. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Anew holiday greeting card is causing some controversy at Christmastime. Planned Parenthood's choice of words has some calling it anti-Christian. We'll hear from both sides on what's heating up on a significant date. Marty Savidge will be back with that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: The Supreme Court is revisiting a case it first dealt with nine years ago when it ruled that any abortion protestors could be punished under a federal racketeering law used to combat corruption. The justices hear arguments today from sides. A lawyer for abortion clinics and an abortion rights group argued that the punishments are needed to stop violent protests but anti-abortion leaders say that violates free speech. A decision is expected sometime next spring.

All right, a holiday card created by Planned Parenthood is being blasted by conservative groups. On the outside of the card features the words "choice on earth." Inside it reads, "warmest wishes for a peaceful holiday season." Bioethics analyst and spokeswoman for Focus on The Family, Carry Earle, joins us from Colorado Springs. And from Washington, lobbyist and former president of the National Organization for Women, Patricia Ireland.

Thanks, both, for being with us.

CARRIE EARLL, FOCUS ON THE FAMILY: Hi, Marty, good to be with you.

SAVIDGE: Let me ask you, Patricia, how long has this card been out?

PATRICIA IRELAND, LOBBYIST: This card has been out there for a decade, Martin. And I guess to divert attention from the tactics heard in the Supreme Court and racketeering case, we're now going to talk about holiday cards because that's what the anti-abortion folks want to talk about.

SAVIDGE: Well, Carrie, now why now? If this card has been out for this long, why suddenly is your group coming forward and saying, "Were not keen on this?"

EARLL: Well, you know, we hadn't seen the card until now. If it's been around for 10 years, it certainly hasn't had very wide distribution because this is the first we've heard about it. But you know, now that Planned Parenthood knows that it offends the faith of millions of Christians around the world, I'm hoping they're going to pull it.

SAVIDGE: OK. So you don't like it, what, because of the choice of words or what it stands for?

EARLL: Oh, absolutely the choice of words, Martin. When you look at the terms, "choice on earth," that is clearly a take off of the passage in Luke II where the angels proclaimed to the glory of God, the birth of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and say "peace on earth." So that's a twisting of Christian scripture. And again, that offends the people of faith, Christians around the world who consider the birth of Christ to be one of our most high holy days. You know if Planned Parenthood wants to do a secular greeting card, I think that's fine but don't twist scripture and the word of God in order to do that.

SAVIDGE: Patricia, didn't you take a phrase that is highly regarded in the religious world and turn it into sort of a jingle for your cause?

IRELAND: Not at all. And first of all, within the Christian community and within and among denomination, there's a vast degree of difference on their opinions whether choice, that is self- determination, freedom, free will, which is part of my version of Christianity are important messages. But also, this is a holiday card. We're talking about Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, New Year.

SAVIDGE: But there are any number of ways you could have said that without necessarily taking peace on earth. You could have taken, you know, may you have choice this season or something. Why that phrase? You caught on something that people are already attuned to.

IRELAND: Well, if we're talking about there being peace, we have to have freedom. We have to respect and tolerance for each other's views. That's why, for instance, our court, this Supreme Court, is upholding the use of racketeering laws against tactics of violence. And if you want to talk about what's offensive to Christianity and others...

EARLL: I'm sorry, Martin...

IRELAND: ... the violence is what we're talking about as being wholly offensive and inappropriate.

EARLL: If we're going to talk about religious tolerance, religious tolerance means not offending millions of Christians for whom the scripture and this term, "peace on earth" at the time of Christmas is sacred. You know if you twisted the Torah or the Koran into some kind of a greeting card, you would be having offended Muslims and Jews sitting here having this conversation. So if you want to have a secular greeting card, don't twist the word of God to do it.

SAVIDGE: But Carrie, aren't we also coming down to free speech? They are allowed to take some other words...

EARLL: Absolutely.

SAVIDGE: ... and speak as they wish even if it's on a greeting card.

EARLL: Absolutely. And I defend their rights in the same way I hope they defend my right to speak for those who are offended by this. You know Christmas is about the birth of the Christ child. It's about a Jewish teenager who had an unplanned pregnancy and the man who came alongside her to adopt the baby Jesus. It's about the messiah and new hope and that's what we need to be focusing on. Abortion is not a political holiday and it's really insulting for Planned Parenthood to use this as a fundraising toy.

IRELAND: It's not insulting at all. It's a message...

(CROSSTALK)

EARLL: Well Patricia, you can't possibly...

(CROSSTALK)

IRELAND: Let me suggest that as we head into a time of war in the Middle East, as we see the need for freedom, for tolerance for a wide diversity of views, if you don't like the card, don't buy it. It's flying off the shelves at Planned Parenthood and I...

EARLL: I don't give my money to Planned Parenthood.

(CROSSTALK)

SAVIDGE: Wait a minute. One of you has to talk and one of you has not. So Carrie, go ahead and finish out here and then Patricia, you'll have a final say as well.

EARLL: You know we can have religious tolerance but it needs to be two ways. And it seems like it's open season on Christianity with this card. When people get together for Christmas to share gifts, to sing carols, they are not going to be thinking about abortion. This is a life message of motherhood and fatherhood and adoption. It is the hope of the Lord Jesus Christ at Christmas and that is what we hope we can focus on.

SAVIDGE: Patricia?

IRELAND: Even if we stay within the realm of Christianity only, there's a wide diversity of views. Jesus is not quoted anywhere in the Bible as talking against birth control or abortion and both were widely available and used during his time. Instead, the message was of self-determination, of free will, of redemption and belief and faith. I don't see that as being controversial...

EARLL: I'm not sure...

IRELAND: ... by a compassionate message -- I didn't interrupt you.

EARLL: I'm not sure we're reading the same Bible.

IRELAND: I'm sorry. I didn't interrupt you. And let me just suggest that if we're looking at what kind of peace we want, I hope that the anti-abortion, the so-called pro-life people who have been attacking people at clinics that was right in front of the Supreme Court this day will take the message back from you in your message from the Focus on The Family, a message of true peace and true tolerance and true Christian love. But I would also include all of the other religious holiday -- denominations and views and say that I hope we have a happy winter season of holidays and of love and of our families and of tolerance and belief in women.

SAVIDGE: Ok, that's a lot to get on a greeting card. And we've got -- I'm sorry, we've got to leave it there. Thank you very much.

EARLL: Well, Merry Christmas to everyone and peace on earth.

SAVIDGE: Carrie Earll, thank you very much. All right.

EARLL: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: All right, now here is your chance to weigh in on this very story. Our "Web Question of The Day," do you think Planned Parenthood's card is inappropriate? We'll have the results later in this broadcast. Vote at CNN.com/Wolf. While you're there, we'd like to hear from you as always. Send us your comments and we'll try to read some of them at the end of this program. That's also of course where can you read our daily online column, CNN.com/Wolf.

Well, it was a case of debate taken to the extreme. Five Ivy League university students stand accused of attacking another during a debate tournament. We'll go live to Philadelphia when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: A lawyer for a University of Pennsylvania student calls it an unfortunate incident. Prosecutors call it aggravated assault, terroristic threats and criminal conspiracy, among other things. Five University of Pennsylvania students made their first court appearance today in an alleged attack on a visiting debate student from Princeton. CNN's Kathleen Koch was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) coming into court. That's all we're going to say.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The five clean- cut Ivy League suspects emerged from court flanked by parents and lawyers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know I'm sorry to be involved in this but we're not really going to comment on it.

KOCH: It was an alleged brutal beating that took place November 16 in a lounge in this University of Pennsylvania dormitory where a visiting group of Princeton students were sleeping. They were in town for a debate tournament. Nineteen-year-old John Brandel (ph), one of the Princeton visitors says a couple of Penn students came in, turned the lights on and off and ordered them to leave. He told the Penn student to go away. But Brandel (ph) alleges one young man came back with four friends, told him to get on his knees, and began kicking and beating him. He claims they then poured motor oil on his face and head and threatened to light a match. This Princeton student was also in the room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean obviously we're shocked and appalled. I mean this has never happened to us before.

KOCH: Five Penn students now face charges ranging from aggravated assault to criminal conspiracy. The incident is the talk of students at each of the rival Ivy League schools.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was surprised. I didn't think that, you know, first of all, you Penn kids would do that kind of thing, even when drunk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a friendly rivalry. No, we don't actually hate people from Yale or we don't actually hate people from U-Penn. We have lots of friends that go there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's definitely gotten out of hand. I mean I never thought anything like this would ever happen, ever.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To expel them, I think, is the right move to show them it's not acceptable. It's not acceptable behavior.

KOCH: The suspects are all said to be members or pledges of something called the Owl Society, headquartered at this house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's structured somewhat like a fraternity, although it is not affiliated with the Greek system.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In no way were these kids acting on behalf of the society in any ritualistic event or anything.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOCH: Now, the judge in this case postponed a preliminary hearing and that won't go forward until January or February. And if convicted on each one of the counts, the five defendants could face up to 49 years in prison -- Marty. SAVIDGE: Kathleen Koch live in Philadelphia. Thanks very much.

Now let's go back to Wolf Blitzer in Qatar.

BLITZER: Thanks Marty. When we come back, we're going to have the results of our "Web Question of The Day." You still have some time to go ahead and vote. Log on to CNN.com/Wolf. We'll bring you those results, also, some final thoughts on what's going on here in Qatar, not only here but throughout the Muslim world. They're getting ready to celebrate. We'll tell you why. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Now here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of The Day." Earlier we asked this question, do you think Planned Parenthood's card is inappropriate? Look at this, 46 percent of you say yes, 54 percent of you say no. You can find, of course, the exact tally and continue to vote. Go to my Web site, cnn.com/wolf. Remember, this is not a scientific poll.

We leave you now with some thoughts about what's going on in the Muslim world as Muslims not only here in the Persian Gulf but around the world get ready to end the month of Ramadan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): For almost a month now, the daylight hours in Qatar have been quiet. Muslims here and throughout the world have been fasting from sunup to sundown in observance of Ramadan. Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, called Psalm (ph), meaning self- purification. Muslims cannot eat, smoke, even drink water, or engage in other forms of indulgence during the day. Doha comes to life after the sun sets.

The shops and decorated streets, they were almost empty quickly become crowded. Fun fares dot the city. Ramadan starts with the sighting of the new moon in the ninth month of the year and ends when the month is passed and the moon's crescent shape appears again.

Qataris are preparing for the end of Ramadan, a celebration called Al-Fitr, four days of joy marking the broken fast. Even now, before the eve, the celebration goes well into the morning hours. It's a time for Muslims to pray, be thankful for all they have and share their wealth with others.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And even as Muslims prepare to celebrate the end of Ramadan, Jewish people around the United States are celebrating Hanukkah. Tonight the sixth night of Hanukkah. Over at the White House, they lit the candle. President Bush watching this celebration. Eight nights all together. Hanukkah being celebrated over at the White House. Our best wishes to all of our Jewish and Muslim viewers on these occasions.

Let's go to some e-mails. Kenneth is writing this -- "The proposed attack on Iraq is not about human rights violations, Iraq's attack on its neighbors or disarmament of weapons of mass destruction. It's about oil, plain and simple."

Keith adds -- "It is so frustrating to watch the U.N. inspectors wallowing around in old, dilapidated sites looking for weapons of mass destruction. They'll find nothing there. Saddam hid all his weapons long ago. Stop the games and attack now."

Finally, this from William -- "U.S. attitudes and foreign policy concerning the war on terror, Iraq and the Arab world in general are deplorable. Not every country thinks and acts like the U.S. There are other legitimate cultures on this planet."

That's all the time we have now. I'll be back here reporting from the Persian Gulf tomorrow at noon Eastern, on "SHOWDOWN IRAQ" as well as on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Until then, thanks very much for watching. For Martin Savidge at the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Wolf Blitzer in the Persian Gulf. "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" is 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





United Denied Bankruptcy Protection>