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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Hussein Resting Easy Despite Military Buildup

Aired January 20, 2003 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): To those U.N. weapons inspectors and allies who still say they need months to determine whether the Iraqis have weapons of mass destruction, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld pointedly offered this.

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Either they will cooperate or they won't and it will not take months to determine whether or not they are cooperating.

BLITZER: That would suggest the showdown with Iraq, if the Bush administration has its way, could play out within weeks.

In one week, U.N. inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei will report to the Security Council on what they found. In advance of that report, Secretary of State Colin Powell spent the day at the United Nations trying to enlist support for the tough U.S. stance.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We can not be shocked into impotence because we're afraid of the difficult choices that are ahead of us.

BLITZER: The British government is with the Bush administration.

JACK STRAW, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: There has to come a moment when our patience must run out and we are now near that point with Iraq.

BLITZER: But other allies, including France and Germany, clearly prefer to give the inspectors a lot more time. That's also the case when it comes to Russia and China, both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, and several Arab friends including Saudi Arabia.

Bush administration officials publicly insist the Iraqis will never come completely clean unless they feel imminent military consequences. Privately, many of them doubt Saddam Hussein will come clean under any circumstances.

And when it comes to a so-called smoking gun, they say the burden of proof is on the Iraqis to prove they do not have weapons of mass destruction, not on the U.S. or the U.N. to prove they do.

RUMSFELD: Thus far, Iraq has been unwilling to do so. Its declaration was false. We are nearing the end of a long road and with every other option exhausted.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The tough talk from the United States may not be having the desired effect in Baghdad. Saddam Hussein told his generals today that he's resting easy.

According to the state news agency, the Iraqi president said this, and I'm quoting: "I fall asleep as soon as I put my head on the pillow. I don't need sleeping pills." This comes as the U.N. weapons chiefs have wrapped up a last chance mission to Iraq.

CNN's Nic Robertson is in Baghdad with the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Talks with Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, the last of four apparently productive meetings for Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei. Their 30 hours in Baghdad bringing pledges of cooperation notably on the key issue of interviewing Iraqi scientists.

GEN. AMER AL-SA'ADI, HUSSEIN SCIENTIFIC ADVISER: Persons asked for interviews in private will be encouraged to accept this.

ROBERTSON: Other points agreed to, the Iraqis will search for more chemical warheads, hand over more documents to the U.N., and add more scientists to the list already given to the U.N.

Baghdad has also undertaken to answer unresolved questions arising from its weapons declaration and pass laws banning the production of weapons of mass destruction. The U.N. will take Iraqi officials on helicopter inspections, Blix optimistic that the agreements will be kept.

HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. INSPECTOR: So, I have no doubt that also this will be respected. There are, of course, other issues in the air which we have discussed and we have not reached joint conclusions.

ROBERTSON: One of those issues left outstanding after more than six hours of talks the U.N.'s request to use U2 surveillance aircraft to aid inspectors. However, despite the fact that Blix and ElBaradei are demanding increased cooperation from the Iraqis, just as a previous U.N. mission did, they appear confident the inspection is working.

MOHAMED ELBARADEI, INTL. ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY: But there is already an effective functioning program and that in and by itself as we I think agree, has a good assurance that new activities will not at least be started.

ROBERTSON: For Iraqi officials the calls for improved cooperation come at a time when they feel they have already done a lot to answer accusations they still have weapons of mass destruction.

AL SA'ADI: If you prove more than 50 percent you are right. The rest you either help me do it if I am not capable or you accept my story unless you have evidence to the contrary.

ROBERTSON (on camera): If the progress Blix and ElBaradei appear to have made is to have an impact from their report to the U.N. Security Council next week, Iraqi authorities only have a short time to show their improved proactive cooperation.

Nic Robertson CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Britain today announced a dramatic boost to its buildup in the Persian Gulf. A land force of 26,000 troops is being mobilized, including the Desert Rats Armored Brigade with 120 tanks and an air assault brigade. A naval task force is already en route to the region with 3,000 Royal Marines.

China wants to give the weapons hunt in Iraq more time. Urging a go slow approach, the foreign minister Tang Jiaxuan said today that the report from the U.N. inspectors due on January 27 should be viewed as "a new beginning rather than an end to the inspections.

And, Germany's Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer also speaking at the U.N. said his nation rejects military action against Iraq arguing it would set back the global war on terrorism and destabilize the Middle East. So, is a war with Iraq inevitable and when it comes to weapons of mass destruction, why do U.S. leaders seem less worried about North Korea?

Joining me now from Tokyo, the former Defense Secretary William Cohen, who served in the Clinton administration after serving in the House of Representatives as well as the Senate.

Secretary Cohen thanks so much for joining us. You hear the president's men suggesting there's not a whole lot of time left. Is war inevitable?

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: Well, nothing is inevitable until it happens but it seems to me the dynamic is such that unless there is a remarkable breakthrough in terms of Saddam's cooperation with the Security Council and the inspectors that the dynamic is such that the forces are prepared to take military action.

So, there is time but not much. I might say that here in Japan the focus, of course, is more on North Korea than in Iraq or on Iraq but there is a perception growing here in Japan that the United States is acting more like a bully as it was put to me by some 15 members of the Diet yesterday, four of whom were former defense ministers.

So, we have a public perception problem. We're going to have to carry a very strong burden of proof to make the case that Saddam has failed to comply and that the burden of proof is on him.

Interestingly enough, the burden of proof issue is running against the United States because the perception here is if there is no finding of a smoking gun there must be no smoking gun, and of course the administration is correct in pointing out that the burden really lies on Saddam Hussein that he must come forward but that's the perception that we're losing that argument.

BLITZER: Well, we can get to North Korea in a moment but what about the whole notion of perhaps letting Saddam Hussein go into exile and getting amnesty, some sort of immunity if he just leaves. Is that really within the realm of possibility as some of his Arab neighbors, like Turkey which is not an Arab state, but Turkey and Saudi Arabia seem to be suggesting?

COHEN: Well, it may be desirable but I think it's highly unlikely. Saddam unless he is convinced that his regime is about to go down is unlikely to take that action. I might point out that his latest example of cooperating with U.N. inspectors is not too much different than what happened back in 1998.

Just as we and our British friends have launched air strikes to go into Iraq, Saddam suddenly indicated he was willing to cooperate and that's when Mr. Butler, Ambassador Butler was allowed to go in to conduct inspections which proved to be fruitless. So, he only seems to be willing to cooperate under the threat of imminent attack and that seems to be the case here today as well.

BLITZER: When you suggest that our Japanese friends where you are right now see the U.S. more as a bully than necessarily a friend, is that involving the situation with Iraq or with North Korea or both?

COHEN: Well, it's interesting. It's very simplistic in many ways. On the one hand they say that we have inspectors in Iraq but we're prepared to go to war with Iraq. We don't have inspectors in North Korea but we're willing to talk.

Now, below the surface of course there are many substantive arguments to debate those points and to disprove them but that's how it's being perceived here and again by very sophisticated individuals who have served in high levels of government and they seem to be reflective of the sentiment here in Japan.

So, we've got a burden of persuasion to carry if we're going to take any military action certainly in Iraq. On the North Korean issue - I'm sorry, go ahead.

BLITZER: I was going to say, secretary, you spent an enormous amount of time thinking about North Korea and Iraq. In your assessment, which represents a bigger threat to U.S. national security interests?

COHEN: I don't think we can distinguish between them and say one rates a higher premium than the other. North Korea does pose a significant threat to stability in the region. They can not be allowed to undertake to develop a nuclear program.

I think all concerned in the region are satisfied that that can not take place. China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, everybody who has an interest understands that that should not take place. So, it's a very high priority.

But by the same token, you can't then rank that against Iraq and say well Iraq doesn't really matter now because we are still concerned about the threat of weapons of mass destruction and their potential dissemination to terrorist groups.

So, each one has its own threat that it poses and I think it would be a mistake to try to rank them in terms of higher priority right now. We have to deal with them both and it's important that the administration concentrate on both and not one at the expense of the other.

BLITZER: Former Secretary William Cohen taking a few moments from his trip to Japan and the Far East to join us. Secretary Cohen, as usual thank you very much. Have a safe journey and we'll see you back here in Washington.

COHEN: Thank you.

BLITZER: Here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the day is this. Do you think the United States has a good reason to launch a first strike against Iraq? We'll have the results later in this broadcast.

Vote at cnn.com/wolf, and while you're there I'd love to hear from you. Send me your comments. I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also, of course, where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.

Coretta Scott King is weighing in on a possible war with Iraq. Hear her message to the Bush administration.

Plus, politics and passion in the Deep South, the battle over the Confederate Flag rages on. We'll go live to Atlanta where the new south and the old south collide.

Plus, medical malpractice to the extreme, meet a woman who had both her breasts removed by mistake.

And, the "Home Alone" kid tries for an adult comeback. Macauley Culkin joins me live to talk about his new film that's making a splash at Sundance.

But first, in case you were enjoying the days off, here's our Weekend Snapshot.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Marching for peace, protesters took to the streets around the world to denounce a possible war with Iraq. In Washington, tens of thousands of people gathered at the National Mall and several other locations.

A big crowd also gathered in San Francisco. Celebrities mixed with families and activists for a rally. In all protests were held in more than two dozen cities around the world.

Simulated shoe bombing, federal prosecutors have released videos showing what might have happened aboard a transatlantic flight if Richard Reid had set off explosives in his shoe. Reid has pleaded guilty to attempting to blowup an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami. Prosecutors plan to show the tapes when Reid is sentenced ten days from now.

Luster's vehicle found, police in California say a Toyota that belongs to fugitive Max Factor heir Andrew Luster was found abandoned in a Santa Monica neighborhood. Luster, who's charged with raping three women, disappeared during his trial and a jury is considering his fate in absentia.

Super match up, a high-powered offense will take on a stifling defense in Sunday's Super Bowl. The Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won their playoff games to seal a trip to the big game in San Diego. While Oakland knocked off the Tennessee Titans, Tampa Bay beat Philadelphia.

Golden moments, two films with strong female roles triumphed at the Golden Globe awards. "Chicago" won Best Musical Comedy and "The Hours" claimed Best Drama. Some consider the awards a barometer for the upcoming academy award nominations.

Farewell to Crenna, Hollywood is mourning the death of a veteran actor. Richard Crenna has died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 76, and that's our Weekend Snapshot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: On this national holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., President Bush called on Americans to fulfill the civil rights leader's dream of racial equality. The president and the first lady attended a remembrance service at a mostly African-American church in suburban Washington.

The president's remarks came after his official challenge last week of the University of Michigan's affirmative action program but his audience today applauded almost every sentence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As we remember the dream of Martin Luther King and remember his clear vision for a society that's equal and society full of justice, this society must remember the power of faith. This government of yours must welcome faith not discriminate faith as we deal with the future of this great country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Around the country, people are marking the King Holiday in many, many ways. In King's birthdays of Atlanta, Georgia, for example, there are speeches, church services, parades, and a protest against a possible war with Iraq.

CNN's Brian Cabell is covering all those events and he's joining us now live - Brian.

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Wolf. Hundreds of people jammed into Ebenezer Baptist Church, Dr. King's church, this morning to honor his life.

Thousands more marched in the streets of Atlanta to celebrate his life and amid that celebration, as you indicated there was a protest that broke out, hundreds, perhaps thousands of people, with signs, with banners, protesting against a possible war against Iraq. And from the pulpit at Ebenezer we heard that if Dr. King were alive today he too would probably protest against that war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORETTA SCOTT KING, MARTIN LUTHER KING'S WIDOW: Martin said true peace is not merely the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice, and once again Martin made his words credible with action as he protested against the war in Vietnam. May his challenge and his example guide and inspire us to seek peaceful alternatives to the war with Iraq and military conflict in the Middle East and all over the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABELL: Among the other speakers at Ebenezer this morning, Governor Sonny Perdue the new Republican governor here. He had very kind words for Martin Luther King this morning but he probably was not the most popular man in this particular neighborhood. It was he who recommended very recently that Georgians should be allowed to vote as to whether they want to return to their old controversial state flag.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CABELL (voice-over): The Old Georgia flag, prominently featuring the Confederate battle emblem, may have been voted out by the state legislature two years ago but its boosters still fly it high. Many Georgians have never accepted the new flag with its tiny battle emblem.

DAN COLEMAN, SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS: This change that was made in 2001 was just basically shoved down the people's throat by just a very few people and we believe that the people of this state should have some expression of what they want to represent them.

CABELL: The change in flags was engineered by former Governor Roy Barnes in attempt to finally lay this contentious issue to rest, but it backfired on Barnes because his Republican opponent last year, Sonny Perdue, campaigned on the pledge to give Georgians a voice on the new flag, keep it or drop it. Perdue won in an upset. Now he's keeping his pledge.

GOV. SONNY PERDUE (R), GEORGIA: What I want is for the majority of Georgians to speak in a way that sends a clear signal to the citizens of this state that that's their choice.

CABELL: He supports a non-binding referendum on the flag with the expectation that the legislature would then abide by the will of the voters. If the old flag were reinstated with its history not only of the Confederacy but of segregation, some here fear a return to racial strife.

MERLE BLACK, EMORY UNIVERSITY: It probably would set off a boycott, economic boycott by the NAACP and other civil rights organizations in Georgia would have a major economic impact on the city of Atlanta and other parts of Georgia.

REP. JOHN LEWIS (D), GEORGIA: I think many organizations, groups that hold conferences, sports groups would probably boycott the state. People don't want to be identified with the dark past.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABELL: The referendum on the flag if it's to be held will likely be held this fall. Neither the Democratic Party Wolf, nor the Republican Party nor the business community is looking forward to such a vote.

BLITZER: Brian Cabell thanks very much for that report from Atlanta.

A medical malpractice outrage that left one woman without breasts, find out how doctors gave her a double mastectomy by mistake and what you can do to avoid a similar tragedy.

Also, weapons of mass destruction not just in Iraq, you may be surprised what's available for the taking.

And, the NBA dominated by Black players, so why is there a difference when it comes to owners? A closer look at race, power, and professional sports, but first today's news quiz.

Which was the last professional sports league to integrate, National Basketball Association, National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, the answer coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: On the health beat today, a study out just this hour involving breast cancer surgery. The study says many women who have the surgery do not receive chemotherapy after the operation and that goes against the recommendations of the National Institutes of Health but the study does not address whether the NIH guidelines are too aggressive or whether oncologists are too conservative in their use of chemotherapy.

A Minnesota hospital is apologizing for a medical mistake that caused a woman to have a double mastectomy. Linda McDougal decided on surgery after she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer but a mix-up was discovered a short time later.

Here's CNN's Kyra Phillips.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Linda McDougal was told she had cancer and needed to have both breasts removed, but 48 hours after surgery the results of her biopsy came as a surprise.

LINDA MCDOUGAL, MISTAKE VICTIM: The surgeon walked into my room and told my husband and I that she had some bad news and there was no way of telling me other than to tell me and that's that I didn't have cancer.

PHILLIPS: The doctors at United Hospital had mixed up Linda's results with those of another patient who really did have cancer. Linda is the victim of medical error and she is not alone.

In 1999, the Institute of Medicine reported that each year between 44,000 and 98,000 people die as a result of medical mistakes. Experts agree that many medical errors are caused not by the incompetence of doctors and nurses but by institutional problems.

For instance, medications often have very similar names and are stored next to each other so patients can be given the wrong drug or different doses of the same drug have similar packaging so a patient could receive an overdose. Companies now make stickers to apply to the limbs of patients to avoid the wrong part of the body being operated on.

In the case of Linda McDougal, the hospital identified how the mistake occurred and says it's taking steps to prevent similar errors.

DR. LAUREL KRAUSE, UNITED HOSPITAL: We have now put additional safeguards of color coding the slides and paperwork. We also have only one patient case per tray of slides and we have a second pathologist completely review all aspects of the case.

PHILLIPS: Linda McDougal and her lawyer disagree with President Bush's proposal to limit malpractice awards to victims of medical errors.

CHRIS MESSERLY, MCDOUGAL'S ATTORNEY: The president wants to tell them I don't care what you've been through, we're going to put a cap on your damages of $250,000.

PHILLIPS: Linda McDougal trusted the hospital with her life. Now she faces infections, many more surgeries, and a long battle to rebuild her life.

Kyra Phillips, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Bombs, chemical weapons, and other nasty devices, find out how easy they are to get.

Plus, another mystery in Modesto, as police continue the search for Laci, learn what happened at the Peterson home.

And comeback kid, Macauley Culkin goes for a second shot at big screen fame. He'll join me live. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Coming up, easy access to weapons of mass destruction. You may be surprised how easy it is to get them from our allies.

(NEWS ALERT)

BLITZER: Now we check two hot spots abroad, a holy place of worship in Britain, a London mosque, the target of a raid in the war on terror and a CNN exclusive interview with the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. We begin in the West Bank.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Michael Holmes at the Palestinian Authority headquarters in Ramallah. It was a rare one-on- one interview by the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, when he sat down with us last evening to talk about the Palestinian elections that aren't. There are still Israeli troops throughout the West Bank and elections were impossible to hold. Yasser Arafat said he was looking forward to campaigning, even for his own job. He said they were contenders and they would have emerged during the campaign.

It was a wide-ranging interview. He touched on Iraq saying the U.S. should not act militarily unless it is under the auspices of the United Nations. He also spoke about his own leadership under -- after the U.S. and Israel among others had said that he should step aside, that he was not someone that they could do business with. He said that was up to the Palestinian people. He did say that there was a new crop of young potential leaders coming up in his own Fatah Party but he said it wasn't up to others to decide who leads the Palestinian people.

SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Sheila MacVicar in London. Police went into that mosque in the early hours of Monday morning. Hours later they were still inside searching, they said, offices and two apartments associated with the mosque. They took away bags of what they described as evidence including documents and computers. And the police have also confirmed that they seized what they described as a large number of passports, identity cards and credit cards, plus a stun gun and a blanks firing pistol.

Now, in police custody now are seven men. The police describe this as what they call an intelligence-led operation and say they went into the mosque specifically looking for certain individuals. Now, this raid follows on from a raid two weeks ago in another apartment in north London where police found the toxin, ricin. It's believed they were trying to track more people who might have been in that apartment. Back you to, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you very much, Sheila MacVicar in London and Michael Holmes on the West Bank.

While the world worries about weapons of mass destruction in the hands of terrorists or nations like Iraq and North Korea, a study released today warns that vast supplies of weapons and know-how are not secure. It calls for a crash $20 billion program to reduce what it calls the grave proliferation risks from the weapons, most of which are in Russia. CNN national security correspondent, David Ensor, has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hundreds of missiles and silos have been destroyed in the former Soviet Union, but the new report says security for much of the remaining stockpiles of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons is dangerously inadequate, a tempting supply for rogue states or terrorists.

SAM NUNN, NUCLEAR THREAT INITIATIVE: The easiest place to stop catastrophic terrorism is securing the material or the weapons at their source.

ENSOR: In (UNINTELLIGIBLE), nearly two million chemical rounds of nerve agents are stacked like wine bottles in a decaying facility. Senator Richard Lugar once demonstrated how easy they could be to smuggle.

SEN. RICHARD LUGAR (R), FOREIGN RELATIONS CHAIRMAN: A single person could carry out three weapons that the Russians claim any one of those shells would kill 85,000 people in a football stadium.

ENSOR: Ted Turner documentaries covered the travel of Lugar and former Senator Sam Nunn to sites of less than secure weapons for a forthcoming PBS series.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A wax seal on the door. This is the security system.

ENSOR: The only security on one lab door inside a top-secret facility where anthrax is stored. Until recently, this former biological weapons facility containing killers like smallpox was only secured by one fence and one guard with a dog. The report by 15 research groups from the U.S., Europe, Russia and Japan says thousands of weapons scientists and workers are underemployed, making them tempting targets for recruiters with countries with secret germs weapons programs. The report blames Russia for only upgrading security at half of its nuclear weapons sites but says the U.S. Congress should give the president a lot more money to spend on the problem.

NUNN: To me it is inexcusable when we're spending billions of bucks basically on security around the globe that we can't put up a front like that and give the president of the United States some discretion and say go after it, work with the Russians and let's get rid of these vulnerable stockpiles of materials that could end up in the hands of terrorists who wouldn't hesitate to use them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: The report says even as the U.S. tackles the demand side of weapons of mass destruction, the Iraqis and the al Qaedas, much more needs to be done and urgently on the supply side especially in Russia, Wolf.

BLITZER: Good advice. David Ensor, thanks very much for that report.

Power, race and sports, why have African-Americans shut out of the owner boxes? The commissioner of the NBA and the new owner of the Charlotte's expansion team in the NBA, Robert Johnson, they'll join me live when we return, but first, a look at news making headlines around the world.

Jimmy Carter in Venezuela. The Nobel Peace Prize winner is trying to help end the violent standoff between President Hugo Chavez and opposition forces. Carter today was scheduled to join talks aimed at ending a 50-day oil strike that severely disrupted production.

No Palestinian election. This was supposed to have been Election Day in the Palestinian territories, but the voting was postponed indefinitely. The Palestinians blame the re-emergence of Israeli forces deployed in the West Bank a year ago following a series of suicide bombings in Israel.

Cubans vote. There was an uncontested general election in Cuba yesterday. The Communist Party says more than 97 percent of voters cast ballots electing 609 candidates to parliament, including the father of Elian Gonzalez. Dissident groups urged voters to boycott or spoil their ballots or leave them blank.

Violence in the Philippines. Riot police with batons and water canons battled 3,000 protesters demanding the ouster of President Gloria Arroyo. More than 20 people were injured.

Australia's fires. The capital city, Canberra, is bracing for more wildfires. A huge blaze is burning north of the city. Wildfires already have killed four people and destroyed 400 homes. And that's our look around the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: They're the NBA's superstars -- Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Yao Ming, the very image of diversity and marketing success. But that's on the court. In the boardroom just one stat you need to know, until last month there had never been any people of color who were principle owners in the NBA or in any other major pro sports leagues.

Robert Johnson is that pioneer, the founder and CEO of Black Entertainment Network. Johnson now owns an NBA expansion team in Charlotte, North Carolina. Johnson is the first person of color to become a majority owner of a major pro sports team in the United States. Robert Johnson joins us now live from Memphis, Tennessee along with the NBA commissioner, David Stern.

Thanks to both of you for joining us. And Mr. Johnson, let me begin with you. This is a really shocking. Why has it taken so long to reach this point? ROBERT JOHNSON, FOUNDER & CEO, BET: Well, Wolf, I think that you have to understand the economics of the NBA. The NBA has grown dramatically and for the most part I think for the members of the NBA and the commissioner, David Stern. And with that growth has become a significant increase in the value of NBA franchises and unfortunately, the economic wealth of African-American businessmen has not kept pace with that kind of value growth. And obviously, I was able to do that because of my personal net worth. But clearly the issue is one of value, not one of color on the question of purchasing the team.

BLITZER: Now, let me let Commissioner Stern weigh in as well. What's your reason? What's your explanation? And I think this is an appropriate subject, especially today on Martin Luther King's birthday.

DAVID STERN, NBA COMMISSIONER: I've worked very hard to sell lots of franchises to lots of people over the last probably 25 to 30 years. And the defining issue has always been money. And to have an owner such as Bob Johnson who has a combination of the marketing skills, the experience and the money, I think that the symbolism of having the first African-American owner is great and sends a great message to kids and others who would achieve, but unfortunately or fortunately the issue is about value.

And we were lucky to find an owner who had had such extraordinary success in his day job that it would enable him to come to the NBA and see the value and be able to participate in that value.

BLITZER: What about the other sports, the professional sports leagues, Mr. Johnson? Is there -- is it a similar issue out there? Are there any (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of racism, do you think, standing in the way of African-Americans, other minorities from going into the owner's box?

JOHNSON: No, Wolf, I don't think so. I think if there is evidence of any kind of discrimination, it's in the fact African- Americans have not been able to get access to the economic pie in America the way many white Americans have. So therefore, you have fewer African-Americans who are willing to put the dollars needed to buy a very expensive NBA or NFL or major league baseball franchise. I think that problem is a problem of this country, not a problem of the league.

I believe, as David pointed out, that any of the heads of the other leagues would love another Bob Johnson come along and be willing to invest his money into a team ownership. But you can't turn back the clock on the value of these teams. The damage was done long before by the failure of this country and in many ways to open up the capital markets to provide access to the wealth creation machines in this country for African-American and other people of color.

BLITZER: Commissioner Stern, we know that African-Americans have made enormous progress obviously on the playing court. I think almost all of them are -- or at least most of the players in the NBA are African-Americans. They're obviously great basketball players. A lot of the coaches are. But is there still a problem of racism in professional sports in the United States?

STERN: I'm only going to speak for the NBA. And I would say to you that the goal of our owners is to win. And for them the issue is getting the best. And that's why we've had the really -- the largest number early of African-American players, African-American coaches, African-American executives. We're very goal-oriented so to speak. And that -- and the big -- and it is a huge advantage to have equality of opportunity because it means you're going to get the best. And if you don't open yourselves up, you're not going to get the best. So we're very happy with where we are, but we're looking very hard to continue to make sure that we get access to the best available talent.

BLITZER: All right, Commissioner Stern, Mr. Johnson, thanks to both of you for joining us, especially today. Good luck to both of you. We'll be watching the NBA all-star game in Atlanta. That's coming up in a couple of weeks and look forward to seeing you down there. Appreciate it very much.

STERN: Thanks, Wolf.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

BLITZER: From childhood fame to off the screen, Macauley Culkin goes for a comeback at the box office, but first the answer to today's "News Quiz." Earlier we asked, what was the last professional sports league to integrate? The answer, the National Hockey League. The first black player, Willie O'Ree hit the ice in 1958 as a player for the Boston Bruins. That was 13 years after Jackie Robinson took the field making Major League Baseball the first to desegregate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Chances are you remember him and loved him as cute and clever kid in the movie, "Home Alone." I know I did. Well, the erstwhile child star, Macaulay Culkin, is now all grown up and he's making a comeback.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Even by the standards of child stars, Macaulay Culkin's rise was meteoric. The 1990 smash hit, "Home Alone," catapulted the angelic looking 10-year-old to superstardom overnight. The film grossed almost $300 million and the buzz was already on. Would Macaulay Culkin fall into the traps of self- destruction that afflicted so many other children of Hollywood? Not at first. A hot Michael Jackson video, a hit sequel to "Home Alone" and moderate success with a 1994 film "Richey Rich."

But then at the age of 14, the familiar signs of too much, too soon began to show. Culkin disowned his father after a bitter dispute over money. His mother faced lawsuits for negligence over a 1998 Manhattan apartment fire that killed four people. He married actress, Rachel Minor, when he was 17, divorced her four years later.

All told, eight years have gone by since we've seen Macaulay Culkin in a movie. Now at the advanced age of 22, he's making a comeback with a film "Party Monster" debuting this week at the Sundance Film Festival.

MACAULAY CULKIN, ACTOR: You're the Yoda to my Luke.

JOHN SCHMIDT, PRODUCER, "PARTY MONSTER": Macaulay loved the role. He's -- you know he's emerging as an adult actor. He was, I'm sure, looking for something that would redefine his career, put it on a completely new light.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And Macaulay Culkin joins us now live from Park City, Utah, where his new movie, "Party Monster" is on the screen at this year's Sundance Film Festival.

Congratulations, Macaulay. Thanks for joining us. First of all, very briefly, tell us about this movie. It's an unusual -- it's an unusual movie, especially for those of us familiar with your earlier work for you to be doing.

CULKIN: Yes, it's a film called "Party Monster" based off the James St. James book, "Disco Bloodbath," a very wonderful book. It's all about club life in New York City post Andy Warhol, kind of you know, 1980s, '90s. It's all about, you know, the limelight and all those kind of big clubs that were going on at the time.

And Michael Alig, who I play, he's kind of the king of all promoters. He just was the promoter and yes, kind of just -- it's a story about him. I kind of created this really kind of colorful, eccentric different kind of world and how it kind of all came apart for him and fell apart.

BLITZER: And well, tell us about you over the past eight years or so. How were you doing because we know you've gone through some rough patches out there?

CULKIN: I've been perfectly fine. I kind of just needed to take a step back and just figure out who I was before I tried to go out there and start acting like other people, you know. I just need to find, I guess, the joy in doing this again. When I walked away, I figured I was never, ever going to do it again and that was it and don't even ask me.

But then I realized, you know, you become a senior in high school. You want to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life. I said you know what, I really love doing this and it was something that became not mine anymore. And I think I kind of just had to kind of take control of myself, I guess, again and just find the joy again. And so thankfully I found a really great piece, this movie, and we're all very proud of it and we're all very, very excited.

BLITZER: Was it a case of too young, too much, too quickly, the stardom that came after the "Home Alone" success?

CULKIN: I'm not sure. It's hard for me to try to view my life the way everyone else does. It's just -- it has always been the way it has been, so I can't really say. I hope it hasn't gone to my head. I never really felt that. But, you know, I wouldn't take back anything in my life. I think I've led a very unique life and I think I'm very blessed for that. I've had a lot of wonderful opportunities. You know I got to meet some really great people in my life and it's just -- you know, I wouldn't take back anything.

BLITZER: Well, do you have any advice for young kids, child actors, who may be following in your footsteps right now, 10, 12-year- olds who may be making major motion pictures?

CULKIN: Oh, I wouldn't presume. I think when I was growing up and doing these films, I think a lot of people were kind of making assumptions about how I was feeling at the time or what I was thinking or whatever. So I wouldn't -- I wouldn't assume, no. Just good luck, I guess.

BLITZER: Well, we're looking forward to the new movie, "Party Monster." It sounds great. It's good to see you back on the big screen and even on the little screen on our program here today. Macaulay Culkin, thanks for joining us from the Sundance Film Festival. Good luck to you.

CULKIN: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: OK. Time is running out on your turn to weigh in on our "Web Question of The Day." Do you think the United States has a good reason to launch a first strike against Iraq? Logon to CNN.com/Wolf. That's where you can vote and we'll have the results immediately when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of The Day." Remember we've been asking you this -- do you think the United States has a good reason to launch a first strike against Iraq? Twenty-fiver percent of you say yes, 75 percent of you say no. You can find the exact vote tally. Continue to vote, by the way, on our Web site, CNN.com/Wolf. Remember, this is not a scientific poll.

Time to hear from you and read some of your e-mail.

John writes -- "President Bush has made another ill-informed political decision with his stand on affirmative action. Now he is trying to buy forgiveness with his 11th hour, five percent budget increase for black and Hispanic colleges. Too little, too late."

But Bohannon sends this -- "Wouldn't one rather be accepted to a college or university on one's own merit, character, achievements, grades rather than because of the color of one's skin? Affirmative action is racist. Those who choose not to apply themselves and then blame it on the system really have no one to blame but themselves."

Finally, this from Martha -- "President Bush is against affirmative action, but family wealth and influence got him admitted to Yale and Harvard. Isn't that a form of affirmative action for the highly privileged?" A lot of views. Remember, always e-mail me at CNN.com/Wolf. That's all the time we have today. Please join me again tomorrow 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Among my guests tomorrow, the star of the critically acclaimed movie "Frida." That star of course is Salma Hayek.

Don't forget weekdays noon Eastern, "SHOWDOWN: IRAQ." I'm there as well. Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

For our international viewers just joining us, "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







Aired January 20, 2003 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): To those U.N. weapons inspectors and allies who still say they need months to determine whether the Iraqis have weapons of mass destruction, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld pointedly offered this.

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Either they will cooperate or they won't and it will not take months to determine whether or not they are cooperating.

BLITZER: That would suggest the showdown with Iraq, if the Bush administration has its way, could play out within weeks.

In one week, U.N. inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei will report to the Security Council on what they found. In advance of that report, Secretary of State Colin Powell spent the day at the United Nations trying to enlist support for the tough U.S. stance.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We can not be shocked into impotence because we're afraid of the difficult choices that are ahead of us.

BLITZER: The British government is with the Bush administration.

JACK STRAW, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: There has to come a moment when our patience must run out and we are now near that point with Iraq.

BLITZER: But other allies, including France and Germany, clearly prefer to give the inspectors a lot more time. That's also the case when it comes to Russia and China, both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, and several Arab friends including Saudi Arabia.

Bush administration officials publicly insist the Iraqis will never come completely clean unless they feel imminent military consequences. Privately, many of them doubt Saddam Hussein will come clean under any circumstances.

And when it comes to a so-called smoking gun, they say the burden of proof is on the Iraqis to prove they do not have weapons of mass destruction, not on the U.S. or the U.N. to prove they do.

RUMSFELD: Thus far, Iraq has been unwilling to do so. Its declaration was false. We are nearing the end of a long road and with every other option exhausted.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The tough talk from the United States may not be having the desired effect in Baghdad. Saddam Hussein told his generals today that he's resting easy.

According to the state news agency, the Iraqi president said this, and I'm quoting: "I fall asleep as soon as I put my head on the pillow. I don't need sleeping pills." This comes as the U.N. weapons chiefs have wrapped up a last chance mission to Iraq.

CNN's Nic Robertson is in Baghdad with the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Talks with Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, the last of four apparently productive meetings for Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei. Their 30 hours in Baghdad bringing pledges of cooperation notably on the key issue of interviewing Iraqi scientists.

GEN. AMER AL-SA'ADI, HUSSEIN SCIENTIFIC ADVISER: Persons asked for interviews in private will be encouraged to accept this.

ROBERTSON: Other points agreed to, the Iraqis will search for more chemical warheads, hand over more documents to the U.N., and add more scientists to the list already given to the U.N.

Baghdad has also undertaken to answer unresolved questions arising from its weapons declaration and pass laws banning the production of weapons of mass destruction. The U.N. will take Iraqi officials on helicopter inspections, Blix optimistic that the agreements will be kept.

HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. INSPECTOR: So, I have no doubt that also this will be respected. There are, of course, other issues in the air which we have discussed and we have not reached joint conclusions.

ROBERTSON: One of those issues left outstanding after more than six hours of talks the U.N.'s request to use U2 surveillance aircraft to aid inspectors. However, despite the fact that Blix and ElBaradei are demanding increased cooperation from the Iraqis, just as a previous U.N. mission did, they appear confident the inspection is working.

MOHAMED ELBARADEI, INTL. ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY: But there is already an effective functioning program and that in and by itself as we I think agree, has a good assurance that new activities will not at least be started.

ROBERTSON: For Iraqi officials the calls for improved cooperation come at a time when they feel they have already done a lot to answer accusations they still have weapons of mass destruction.

AL SA'ADI: If you prove more than 50 percent you are right. The rest you either help me do it if I am not capable or you accept my story unless you have evidence to the contrary.

ROBERTSON (on camera): If the progress Blix and ElBaradei appear to have made is to have an impact from their report to the U.N. Security Council next week, Iraqi authorities only have a short time to show their improved proactive cooperation.

Nic Robertson CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Britain today announced a dramatic boost to its buildup in the Persian Gulf. A land force of 26,000 troops is being mobilized, including the Desert Rats Armored Brigade with 120 tanks and an air assault brigade. A naval task force is already en route to the region with 3,000 Royal Marines.

China wants to give the weapons hunt in Iraq more time. Urging a go slow approach, the foreign minister Tang Jiaxuan said today that the report from the U.N. inspectors due on January 27 should be viewed as "a new beginning rather than an end to the inspections.

And, Germany's Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer also speaking at the U.N. said his nation rejects military action against Iraq arguing it would set back the global war on terrorism and destabilize the Middle East. So, is a war with Iraq inevitable and when it comes to weapons of mass destruction, why do U.S. leaders seem less worried about North Korea?

Joining me now from Tokyo, the former Defense Secretary William Cohen, who served in the Clinton administration after serving in the House of Representatives as well as the Senate.

Secretary Cohen thanks so much for joining us. You hear the president's men suggesting there's not a whole lot of time left. Is war inevitable?

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: Well, nothing is inevitable until it happens but it seems to me the dynamic is such that unless there is a remarkable breakthrough in terms of Saddam's cooperation with the Security Council and the inspectors that the dynamic is such that the forces are prepared to take military action.

So, there is time but not much. I might say that here in Japan the focus, of course, is more on North Korea than in Iraq or on Iraq but there is a perception growing here in Japan that the United States is acting more like a bully as it was put to me by some 15 members of the Diet yesterday, four of whom were former defense ministers.

So, we have a public perception problem. We're going to have to carry a very strong burden of proof to make the case that Saddam has failed to comply and that the burden of proof is on him.

Interestingly enough, the burden of proof issue is running against the United States because the perception here is if there is no finding of a smoking gun there must be no smoking gun, and of course the administration is correct in pointing out that the burden really lies on Saddam Hussein that he must come forward but that's the perception that we're losing that argument.

BLITZER: Well, we can get to North Korea in a moment but what about the whole notion of perhaps letting Saddam Hussein go into exile and getting amnesty, some sort of immunity if he just leaves. Is that really within the realm of possibility as some of his Arab neighbors, like Turkey which is not an Arab state, but Turkey and Saudi Arabia seem to be suggesting?

COHEN: Well, it may be desirable but I think it's highly unlikely. Saddam unless he is convinced that his regime is about to go down is unlikely to take that action. I might point out that his latest example of cooperating with U.N. inspectors is not too much different than what happened back in 1998.

Just as we and our British friends have launched air strikes to go into Iraq, Saddam suddenly indicated he was willing to cooperate and that's when Mr. Butler, Ambassador Butler was allowed to go in to conduct inspections which proved to be fruitless. So, he only seems to be willing to cooperate under the threat of imminent attack and that seems to be the case here today as well.

BLITZER: When you suggest that our Japanese friends where you are right now see the U.S. more as a bully than necessarily a friend, is that involving the situation with Iraq or with North Korea or both?

COHEN: Well, it's interesting. It's very simplistic in many ways. On the one hand they say that we have inspectors in Iraq but we're prepared to go to war with Iraq. We don't have inspectors in North Korea but we're willing to talk.

Now, below the surface of course there are many substantive arguments to debate those points and to disprove them but that's how it's being perceived here and again by very sophisticated individuals who have served in high levels of government and they seem to be reflective of the sentiment here in Japan.

So, we've got a burden of persuasion to carry if we're going to take any military action certainly in Iraq. On the North Korean issue - I'm sorry, go ahead.

BLITZER: I was going to say, secretary, you spent an enormous amount of time thinking about North Korea and Iraq. In your assessment, which represents a bigger threat to U.S. national security interests?

COHEN: I don't think we can distinguish between them and say one rates a higher premium than the other. North Korea does pose a significant threat to stability in the region. They can not be allowed to undertake to develop a nuclear program.

I think all concerned in the region are satisfied that that can not take place. China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, everybody who has an interest understands that that should not take place. So, it's a very high priority.

But by the same token, you can't then rank that against Iraq and say well Iraq doesn't really matter now because we are still concerned about the threat of weapons of mass destruction and their potential dissemination to terrorist groups.

So, each one has its own threat that it poses and I think it would be a mistake to try to rank them in terms of higher priority right now. We have to deal with them both and it's important that the administration concentrate on both and not one at the expense of the other.

BLITZER: Former Secretary William Cohen taking a few moments from his trip to Japan and the Far East to join us. Secretary Cohen, as usual thank you very much. Have a safe journey and we'll see you back here in Washington.

COHEN: Thank you.

BLITZER: Here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the day is this. Do you think the United States has a good reason to launch a first strike against Iraq? We'll have the results later in this broadcast.

Vote at cnn.com/wolf, and while you're there I'd love to hear from you. Send me your comments. I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also, of course, where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.

Coretta Scott King is weighing in on a possible war with Iraq. Hear her message to the Bush administration.

Plus, politics and passion in the Deep South, the battle over the Confederate Flag rages on. We'll go live to Atlanta where the new south and the old south collide.

Plus, medical malpractice to the extreme, meet a woman who had both her breasts removed by mistake.

And, the "Home Alone" kid tries for an adult comeback. Macauley Culkin joins me live to talk about his new film that's making a splash at Sundance.

But first, in case you were enjoying the days off, here's our Weekend Snapshot.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Marching for peace, protesters took to the streets around the world to denounce a possible war with Iraq. In Washington, tens of thousands of people gathered at the National Mall and several other locations.

A big crowd also gathered in San Francisco. Celebrities mixed with families and activists for a rally. In all protests were held in more than two dozen cities around the world.

Simulated shoe bombing, federal prosecutors have released videos showing what might have happened aboard a transatlantic flight if Richard Reid had set off explosives in his shoe. Reid has pleaded guilty to attempting to blowup an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami. Prosecutors plan to show the tapes when Reid is sentenced ten days from now.

Luster's vehicle found, police in California say a Toyota that belongs to fugitive Max Factor heir Andrew Luster was found abandoned in a Santa Monica neighborhood. Luster, who's charged with raping three women, disappeared during his trial and a jury is considering his fate in absentia.

Super match up, a high-powered offense will take on a stifling defense in Sunday's Super Bowl. The Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won their playoff games to seal a trip to the big game in San Diego. While Oakland knocked off the Tennessee Titans, Tampa Bay beat Philadelphia.

Golden moments, two films with strong female roles triumphed at the Golden Globe awards. "Chicago" won Best Musical Comedy and "The Hours" claimed Best Drama. Some consider the awards a barometer for the upcoming academy award nominations.

Farewell to Crenna, Hollywood is mourning the death of a veteran actor. Richard Crenna has died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 76, and that's our Weekend Snapshot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: On this national holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., President Bush called on Americans to fulfill the civil rights leader's dream of racial equality. The president and the first lady attended a remembrance service at a mostly African-American church in suburban Washington.

The president's remarks came after his official challenge last week of the University of Michigan's affirmative action program but his audience today applauded almost every sentence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As we remember the dream of Martin Luther King and remember his clear vision for a society that's equal and society full of justice, this society must remember the power of faith. This government of yours must welcome faith not discriminate faith as we deal with the future of this great country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Around the country, people are marking the King Holiday in many, many ways. In King's birthdays of Atlanta, Georgia, for example, there are speeches, church services, parades, and a protest against a possible war with Iraq.

CNN's Brian Cabell is covering all those events and he's joining us now live - Brian.

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Wolf. Hundreds of people jammed into Ebenezer Baptist Church, Dr. King's church, this morning to honor his life.

Thousands more marched in the streets of Atlanta to celebrate his life and amid that celebration, as you indicated there was a protest that broke out, hundreds, perhaps thousands of people, with signs, with banners, protesting against a possible war against Iraq. And from the pulpit at Ebenezer we heard that if Dr. King were alive today he too would probably protest against that war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORETTA SCOTT KING, MARTIN LUTHER KING'S WIDOW: Martin said true peace is not merely the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice, and once again Martin made his words credible with action as he protested against the war in Vietnam. May his challenge and his example guide and inspire us to seek peaceful alternatives to the war with Iraq and military conflict in the Middle East and all over the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABELL: Among the other speakers at Ebenezer this morning, Governor Sonny Perdue the new Republican governor here. He had very kind words for Martin Luther King this morning but he probably was not the most popular man in this particular neighborhood. It was he who recommended very recently that Georgians should be allowed to vote as to whether they want to return to their old controversial state flag.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CABELL (voice-over): The Old Georgia flag, prominently featuring the Confederate battle emblem, may have been voted out by the state legislature two years ago but its boosters still fly it high. Many Georgians have never accepted the new flag with its tiny battle emblem.

DAN COLEMAN, SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS: This change that was made in 2001 was just basically shoved down the people's throat by just a very few people and we believe that the people of this state should have some expression of what they want to represent them.

CABELL: The change in flags was engineered by former Governor Roy Barnes in attempt to finally lay this contentious issue to rest, but it backfired on Barnes because his Republican opponent last year, Sonny Perdue, campaigned on the pledge to give Georgians a voice on the new flag, keep it or drop it. Perdue won in an upset. Now he's keeping his pledge.

GOV. SONNY PERDUE (R), GEORGIA: What I want is for the majority of Georgians to speak in a way that sends a clear signal to the citizens of this state that that's their choice.

CABELL: He supports a non-binding referendum on the flag with the expectation that the legislature would then abide by the will of the voters. If the old flag were reinstated with its history not only of the Confederacy but of segregation, some here fear a return to racial strife.

MERLE BLACK, EMORY UNIVERSITY: It probably would set off a boycott, economic boycott by the NAACP and other civil rights organizations in Georgia would have a major economic impact on the city of Atlanta and other parts of Georgia.

REP. JOHN LEWIS (D), GEORGIA: I think many organizations, groups that hold conferences, sports groups would probably boycott the state. People don't want to be identified with the dark past.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABELL: The referendum on the flag if it's to be held will likely be held this fall. Neither the Democratic Party Wolf, nor the Republican Party nor the business community is looking forward to such a vote.

BLITZER: Brian Cabell thanks very much for that report from Atlanta.

A medical malpractice outrage that left one woman without breasts, find out how doctors gave her a double mastectomy by mistake and what you can do to avoid a similar tragedy.

Also, weapons of mass destruction not just in Iraq, you may be surprised what's available for the taking.

And, the NBA dominated by Black players, so why is there a difference when it comes to owners? A closer look at race, power, and professional sports, but first today's news quiz.

Which was the last professional sports league to integrate, National Basketball Association, National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, the answer coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: On the health beat today, a study out just this hour involving breast cancer surgery. The study says many women who have the surgery do not receive chemotherapy after the operation and that goes against the recommendations of the National Institutes of Health but the study does not address whether the NIH guidelines are too aggressive or whether oncologists are too conservative in their use of chemotherapy.

A Minnesota hospital is apologizing for a medical mistake that caused a woman to have a double mastectomy. Linda McDougal decided on surgery after she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer but a mix-up was discovered a short time later.

Here's CNN's Kyra Phillips.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Linda McDougal was told she had cancer and needed to have both breasts removed, but 48 hours after surgery the results of her biopsy came as a surprise.

LINDA MCDOUGAL, MISTAKE VICTIM: The surgeon walked into my room and told my husband and I that she had some bad news and there was no way of telling me other than to tell me and that's that I didn't have cancer.

PHILLIPS: The doctors at United Hospital had mixed up Linda's results with those of another patient who really did have cancer. Linda is the victim of medical error and she is not alone.

In 1999, the Institute of Medicine reported that each year between 44,000 and 98,000 people die as a result of medical mistakes. Experts agree that many medical errors are caused not by the incompetence of doctors and nurses but by institutional problems.

For instance, medications often have very similar names and are stored next to each other so patients can be given the wrong drug or different doses of the same drug have similar packaging so a patient could receive an overdose. Companies now make stickers to apply to the limbs of patients to avoid the wrong part of the body being operated on.

In the case of Linda McDougal, the hospital identified how the mistake occurred and says it's taking steps to prevent similar errors.

DR. LAUREL KRAUSE, UNITED HOSPITAL: We have now put additional safeguards of color coding the slides and paperwork. We also have only one patient case per tray of slides and we have a second pathologist completely review all aspects of the case.

PHILLIPS: Linda McDougal and her lawyer disagree with President Bush's proposal to limit malpractice awards to victims of medical errors.

CHRIS MESSERLY, MCDOUGAL'S ATTORNEY: The president wants to tell them I don't care what you've been through, we're going to put a cap on your damages of $250,000.

PHILLIPS: Linda McDougal trusted the hospital with her life. Now she faces infections, many more surgeries, and a long battle to rebuild her life.

Kyra Phillips, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Bombs, chemical weapons, and other nasty devices, find out how easy they are to get.

Plus, another mystery in Modesto, as police continue the search for Laci, learn what happened at the Peterson home.

And comeback kid, Macauley Culkin goes for a second shot at big screen fame. He'll join me live. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Coming up, easy access to weapons of mass destruction. You may be surprised how easy it is to get them from our allies.

(NEWS ALERT)

BLITZER: Now we check two hot spots abroad, a holy place of worship in Britain, a London mosque, the target of a raid in the war on terror and a CNN exclusive interview with the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. We begin in the West Bank.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Michael Holmes at the Palestinian Authority headquarters in Ramallah. It was a rare one-on- one interview by the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, when he sat down with us last evening to talk about the Palestinian elections that aren't. There are still Israeli troops throughout the West Bank and elections were impossible to hold. Yasser Arafat said he was looking forward to campaigning, even for his own job. He said they were contenders and they would have emerged during the campaign.

It was a wide-ranging interview. He touched on Iraq saying the U.S. should not act militarily unless it is under the auspices of the United Nations. He also spoke about his own leadership under -- after the U.S. and Israel among others had said that he should step aside, that he was not someone that they could do business with. He said that was up to the Palestinian people. He did say that there was a new crop of young potential leaders coming up in his own Fatah Party but he said it wasn't up to others to decide who leads the Palestinian people.

SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Sheila MacVicar in London. Police went into that mosque in the early hours of Monday morning. Hours later they were still inside searching, they said, offices and two apartments associated with the mosque. They took away bags of what they described as evidence including documents and computers. And the police have also confirmed that they seized what they described as a large number of passports, identity cards and credit cards, plus a stun gun and a blanks firing pistol.

Now, in police custody now are seven men. The police describe this as what they call an intelligence-led operation and say they went into the mosque specifically looking for certain individuals. Now, this raid follows on from a raid two weeks ago in another apartment in north London where police found the toxin, ricin. It's believed they were trying to track more people who might have been in that apartment. Back you to, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you very much, Sheila MacVicar in London and Michael Holmes on the West Bank.

While the world worries about weapons of mass destruction in the hands of terrorists or nations like Iraq and North Korea, a study released today warns that vast supplies of weapons and know-how are not secure. It calls for a crash $20 billion program to reduce what it calls the grave proliferation risks from the weapons, most of which are in Russia. CNN national security correspondent, David Ensor, has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hundreds of missiles and silos have been destroyed in the former Soviet Union, but the new report says security for much of the remaining stockpiles of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons is dangerously inadequate, a tempting supply for rogue states or terrorists.

SAM NUNN, NUCLEAR THREAT INITIATIVE: The easiest place to stop catastrophic terrorism is securing the material or the weapons at their source.

ENSOR: In (UNINTELLIGIBLE), nearly two million chemical rounds of nerve agents are stacked like wine bottles in a decaying facility. Senator Richard Lugar once demonstrated how easy they could be to smuggle.

SEN. RICHARD LUGAR (R), FOREIGN RELATIONS CHAIRMAN: A single person could carry out three weapons that the Russians claim any one of those shells would kill 85,000 people in a football stadium.

ENSOR: Ted Turner documentaries covered the travel of Lugar and former Senator Sam Nunn to sites of less than secure weapons for a forthcoming PBS series.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A wax seal on the door. This is the security system.

ENSOR: The only security on one lab door inside a top-secret facility where anthrax is stored. Until recently, this former biological weapons facility containing killers like smallpox was only secured by one fence and one guard with a dog. The report by 15 research groups from the U.S., Europe, Russia and Japan says thousands of weapons scientists and workers are underemployed, making them tempting targets for recruiters with countries with secret germs weapons programs. The report blames Russia for only upgrading security at half of its nuclear weapons sites but says the U.S. Congress should give the president a lot more money to spend on the problem.

NUNN: To me it is inexcusable when we're spending billions of bucks basically on security around the globe that we can't put up a front like that and give the president of the United States some discretion and say go after it, work with the Russians and let's get rid of these vulnerable stockpiles of materials that could end up in the hands of terrorists who wouldn't hesitate to use them.

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ENSOR: The report says even as the U.S. tackles the demand side of weapons of mass destruction, the Iraqis and the al Qaedas, much more needs to be done and urgently on the supply side especially in Russia, Wolf.

BLITZER: Good advice. David Ensor, thanks very much for that report.

Power, race and sports, why have African-Americans shut out of the owner boxes? The commissioner of the NBA and the new owner of the Charlotte's expansion team in the NBA, Robert Johnson, they'll join me live when we return, but first, a look at news making headlines around the world.

Jimmy Carter in Venezuela. The Nobel Peace Prize winner is trying to help end the violent standoff between President Hugo Chavez and opposition forces. Carter today was scheduled to join talks aimed at ending a 50-day oil strike that severely disrupted production.

No Palestinian election. This was supposed to have been Election Day in the Palestinian territories, but the voting was postponed indefinitely. The Palestinians blame the re-emergence of Israeli forces deployed in the West Bank a year ago following a series of suicide bombings in Israel.

Cubans vote. There was an uncontested general election in Cuba yesterday. The Communist Party says more than 97 percent of voters cast ballots electing 609 candidates to parliament, including the father of Elian Gonzalez. Dissident groups urged voters to boycott or spoil their ballots or leave them blank.

Violence in the Philippines. Riot police with batons and water canons battled 3,000 protesters demanding the ouster of President Gloria Arroyo. More than 20 people were injured.

Australia's fires. The capital city, Canberra, is bracing for more wildfires. A huge blaze is burning north of the city. Wildfires already have killed four people and destroyed 400 homes. And that's our look around the world.

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BLITZER: They're the NBA's superstars -- Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Yao Ming, the very image of diversity and marketing success. But that's on the court. In the boardroom just one stat you need to know, until last month there had never been any people of color who were principle owners in the NBA or in any other major pro sports leagues.

Robert Johnson is that pioneer, the founder and CEO of Black Entertainment Network. Johnson now owns an NBA expansion team in Charlotte, North Carolina. Johnson is the first person of color to become a majority owner of a major pro sports team in the United States. Robert Johnson joins us now live from Memphis, Tennessee along with the NBA commissioner, David Stern.

Thanks to both of you for joining us. And Mr. Johnson, let me begin with you. This is a really shocking. Why has it taken so long to reach this point? ROBERT JOHNSON, FOUNDER & CEO, BET: Well, Wolf, I think that you have to understand the economics of the NBA. The NBA has grown dramatically and for the most part I think for the members of the NBA and the commissioner, David Stern. And with that growth has become a significant increase in the value of NBA franchises and unfortunately, the economic wealth of African-American businessmen has not kept pace with that kind of value growth. And obviously, I was able to do that because of my personal net worth. But clearly the issue is one of value, not one of color on the question of purchasing the team.

BLITZER: Now, let me let Commissioner Stern weigh in as well. What's your reason? What's your explanation? And I think this is an appropriate subject, especially today on Martin Luther King's birthday.

DAVID STERN, NBA COMMISSIONER: I've worked very hard to sell lots of franchises to lots of people over the last probably 25 to 30 years. And the defining issue has always been money. And to have an owner such as Bob Johnson who has a combination of the marketing skills, the experience and the money, I think that the symbolism of having the first African-American owner is great and sends a great message to kids and others who would achieve, but unfortunately or fortunately the issue is about value.

And we were lucky to find an owner who had had such extraordinary success in his day job that it would enable him to come to the NBA and see the value and be able to participate in that value.

BLITZER: What about the other sports, the professional sports leagues, Mr. Johnson? Is there -- is it a similar issue out there? Are there any (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of racism, do you think, standing in the way of African-Americans, other minorities from going into the owner's box?

JOHNSON: No, Wolf, I don't think so. I think if there is evidence of any kind of discrimination, it's in the fact African- Americans have not been able to get access to the economic pie in America the way many white Americans have. So therefore, you have fewer African-Americans who are willing to put the dollars needed to buy a very expensive NBA or NFL or major league baseball franchise. I think that problem is a problem of this country, not a problem of the league.

I believe, as David pointed out, that any of the heads of the other leagues would love another Bob Johnson come along and be willing to invest his money into a team ownership. But you can't turn back the clock on the value of these teams. The damage was done long before by the failure of this country and in many ways to open up the capital markets to provide access to the wealth creation machines in this country for African-American and other people of color.

BLITZER: Commissioner Stern, we know that African-Americans have made enormous progress obviously on the playing court. I think almost all of them are -- or at least most of the players in the NBA are African-Americans. They're obviously great basketball players. A lot of the coaches are. But is there still a problem of racism in professional sports in the United States?

STERN: I'm only going to speak for the NBA. And I would say to you that the goal of our owners is to win. And for them the issue is getting the best. And that's why we've had the really -- the largest number early of African-American players, African-American coaches, African-American executives. We're very goal-oriented so to speak. And that -- and the big -- and it is a huge advantage to have equality of opportunity because it means you're going to get the best. And if you don't open yourselves up, you're not going to get the best. So we're very happy with where we are, but we're looking very hard to continue to make sure that we get access to the best available talent.

BLITZER: All right, Commissioner Stern, Mr. Johnson, thanks to both of you for joining us, especially today. Good luck to both of you. We'll be watching the NBA all-star game in Atlanta. That's coming up in a couple of weeks and look forward to seeing you down there. Appreciate it very much.

STERN: Thanks, Wolf.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

BLITZER: From childhood fame to off the screen, Macauley Culkin goes for a comeback at the box office, but first the answer to today's "News Quiz." Earlier we asked, what was the last professional sports league to integrate? The answer, the National Hockey League. The first black player, Willie O'Ree hit the ice in 1958 as a player for the Boston Bruins. That was 13 years after Jackie Robinson took the field making Major League Baseball the first to desegregate.

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BLITZER: Welcome back. Chances are you remember him and loved him as cute and clever kid in the movie, "Home Alone." I know I did. Well, the erstwhile child star, Macaulay Culkin, is now all grown up and he's making a comeback.

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BLITZER (voice-over): Even by the standards of child stars, Macaulay Culkin's rise was meteoric. The 1990 smash hit, "Home Alone," catapulted the angelic looking 10-year-old to superstardom overnight. The film grossed almost $300 million and the buzz was already on. Would Macaulay Culkin fall into the traps of self- destruction that afflicted so many other children of Hollywood? Not at first. A hot Michael Jackson video, a hit sequel to "Home Alone" and moderate success with a 1994 film "Richey Rich."

But then at the age of 14, the familiar signs of too much, too soon began to show. Culkin disowned his father after a bitter dispute over money. His mother faced lawsuits for negligence over a 1998 Manhattan apartment fire that killed four people. He married actress, Rachel Minor, when he was 17, divorced her four years later.

All told, eight years have gone by since we've seen Macaulay Culkin in a movie. Now at the advanced age of 22, he's making a comeback with a film "Party Monster" debuting this week at the Sundance Film Festival.

MACAULAY CULKIN, ACTOR: You're the Yoda to my Luke.

JOHN SCHMIDT, PRODUCER, "PARTY MONSTER": Macaulay loved the role. He's -- you know he's emerging as an adult actor. He was, I'm sure, looking for something that would redefine his career, put it on a completely new light.

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BLITZER: And Macaulay Culkin joins us now live from Park City, Utah, where his new movie, "Party Monster" is on the screen at this year's Sundance Film Festival.

Congratulations, Macaulay. Thanks for joining us. First of all, very briefly, tell us about this movie. It's an unusual -- it's an unusual movie, especially for those of us familiar with your earlier work for you to be doing.

CULKIN: Yes, it's a film called "Party Monster" based off the James St. James book, "Disco Bloodbath," a very wonderful book. It's all about club life in New York City post Andy Warhol, kind of you know, 1980s, '90s. It's all about, you know, the limelight and all those kind of big clubs that were going on at the time.

And Michael Alig, who I play, he's kind of the king of all promoters. He just was the promoter and yes, kind of just -- it's a story about him. I kind of created this really kind of colorful, eccentric different kind of world and how it kind of all came apart for him and fell apart.

BLITZER: And well, tell us about you over the past eight years or so. How were you doing because we know you've gone through some rough patches out there?

CULKIN: I've been perfectly fine. I kind of just needed to take a step back and just figure out who I was before I tried to go out there and start acting like other people, you know. I just need to find, I guess, the joy in doing this again. When I walked away, I figured I was never, ever going to do it again and that was it and don't even ask me.

But then I realized, you know, you become a senior in high school. You want to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life. I said you know what, I really love doing this and it was something that became not mine anymore. And I think I kind of just had to kind of take control of myself, I guess, again and just find the joy again. And so thankfully I found a really great piece, this movie, and we're all very proud of it and we're all very, very excited.

BLITZER: Was it a case of too young, too much, too quickly, the stardom that came after the "Home Alone" success?

CULKIN: I'm not sure. It's hard for me to try to view my life the way everyone else does. It's just -- it has always been the way it has been, so I can't really say. I hope it hasn't gone to my head. I never really felt that. But, you know, I wouldn't take back anything in my life. I think I've led a very unique life and I think I'm very blessed for that. I've had a lot of wonderful opportunities. You know I got to meet some really great people in my life and it's just -- you know, I wouldn't take back anything.

BLITZER: Well, do you have any advice for young kids, child actors, who may be following in your footsteps right now, 10, 12-year- olds who may be making major motion pictures?

CULKIN: Oh, I wouldn't presume. I think when I was growing up and doing these films, I think a lot of people were kind of making assumptions about how I was feeling at the time or what I was thinking or whatever. So I wouldn't -- I wouldn't assume, no. Just good luck, I guess.

BLITZER: Well, we're looking forward to the new movie, "Party Monster." It sounds great. It's good to see you back on the big screen and even on the little screen on our program here today. Macaulay Culkin, thanks for joining us from the Sundance Film Festival. Good luck to you.

CULKIN: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: OK. Time is running out on your turn to weigh in on our "Web Question of The Day." Do you think the United States has a good reason to launch a first strike against Iraq? Logon to CNN.com/Wolf. That's where you can vote and we'll have the results immediately when we come back.

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BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of The Day." Remember we've been asking you this -- do you think the United States has a good reason to launch a first strike against Iraq? Twenty-fiver percent of you say yes, 75 percent of you say no. You can find the exact vote tally. Continue to vote, by the way, on our Web site, CNN.com/Wolf. Remember, this is not a scientific poll.

Time to hear from you and read some of your e-mail.

John writes -- "President Bush has made another ill-informed political decision with his stand on affirmative action. Now he is trying to buy forgiveness with his 11th hour, five percent budget increase for black and Hispanic colleges. Too little, too late."

But Bohannon sends this -- "Wouldn't one rather be accepted to a college or university on one's own merit, character, achievements, grades rather than because of the color of one's skin? Affirmative action is racist. Those who choose not to apply themselves and then blame it on the system really have no one to blame but themselves."

Finally, this from Martha -- "President Bush is against affirmative action, but family wealth and influence got him admitted to Yale and Harvard. Isn't that a form of affirmative action for the highly privileged?" A lot of views. Remember, always e-mail me at CNN.com/Wolf. That's all the time we have today. Please join me again tomorrow 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Among my guests tomorrow, the star of the critically acclaimed movie "Frida." That star of course is Salma Hayek.

Don't forget weekdays noon Eastern, "SHOWDOWN: IRAQ." I'm there as well. Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

For our international viewers just joining us, "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE" is up next.

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