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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Will Iraq Actually Destroy Al Samoud Missiles as Promised?; Delta Announces Plans to Perform Background Checks on Passengers

Aired February 28, 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.


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The collision course over Iraq. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Within hours Iraq must start destroying its missiles. Will it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are doing our utmost to avert this war.

BLITZER: Is the U.N. Security Council being bamboozled?

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: The Iraqi actions are propaganda wrapped in a lie, with a side of falsehood.

BLITZER: It's "Law & Order" versus "The West Wing."

MARTIN SHEEN, ACTOR: Don't invade Iraq. Inspections work. War won't.

FRED THOMPSON, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: Can we afford to appease Saddam? Kick the can down the road? Thank goodness we have a president with the courage to protect our country.

BLITZER: Answering Hollywood's anti-war ads. I'll speak with actor and former Senator Fred Thompson.

The terror threat: airport screeners may go from checking your shoes to checking your credit rating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This kind of profiling system could make airports into all purpose police scouts.

BLITZER: And a gripping look inside Columbia, just minutes before the shuttle disintegrated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know what's left? The right windows. Looks like a blast.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: It's Friday, February 28, 2003. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. The missile countdown is underway. Iraq says it will destroy its illegal Al Samoud 2 missiles beginning tomorrow. The chief U.N. weapons inspector calls that real disarmament. The Bush Administration calls it a deception. We'll get U.S. reaction from the State Department. Our Andrea Koppel is standing by there.

But we begin with CNN's Michael -- Michael Okwu, excuse me at the United Nations where the split in the Security Council is widening -- Michael.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, good afternoon to you.

As if there wasn't enough public discord on the Security Council, today fiery rhetoric coming out of Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OKWU (voice-over): Russia has its two big diplomatic guns blazing, directly pointing at George Bush and the U.S.-backed resolution that would authorize war with Iraq.

The foreign minister:

IGOR IVANOV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Russia has the right to veto. If the interest of international stability demands it, Russia, of course will exercise its right.

OKWU: And the president:

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): We believe that the potential of the Resolution 1441 is far from being exhausted. It is the aim of the joint French, German and Russian proposal announced in New York on February 24 to fully implement it.

OKWU: Talk that may be deepening the fracture already in the Security Council.

Here's how the vote looks today. The U.S. and Great Britain would vote yes, along with Bulgaria and Spain, a co-sponsor.

France, Russia, China, Germany and Syria are firmly against it.

The key swing votes wait in the balance. Chile, Angola, Cameroon, Guinea, Mexico and Pakistan.

MUNIR AKRAM, PAKISTANI AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: If it's going to be vetoed by some other permanent member, then our position, whether we take it with whatever pain and suffering we have, whatever position we take will be meaningless.

STEFAN TAFROV, BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: More pressure is needed and as long as the Security Council is divided, that pressure is not there. It won't be there; that's why we want a united council.

ISMAEL GASPAR MARTINS, ANGOLIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: It has been possible to do it in the past. Why not in the future? On key questions, we can speak with one voice on key questions.

OKWU: Iraqi ambassador Mohammed Aldouri.

MOHAMMED ALDOURI, IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: The position of Security Council right now I can't imagine, because they don't want to have war. They don't like to have war. This is a huge responsibility for everybody. So the split between them is a split between war and level of peace.

OKWU: The next big test, whether Iraq begins to destroy its Al Samoud missiles. In a letter to the chief weapons inspector, they said in principle, they would.

HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Well, it's a very big chunk of things and there are very many of these missiles and a lot of items that pertain to them and which we have enumerated in our letter which is to be destroyed. So it's a very significant -- this is real disarmament.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKWU: The missile issue is something of a wild card. If Iraq begins destroying its Al Samoud 2 missiles then the United States may have a much tougher argument to make among its members on the Security Council. Of course, the United States would undoubtedly say that Iraq has failed to comply with a host of obligations dating back to 1990, that it's not just about this missile.

Of course, also, France, Russia and China might argue that inspections are working, that Iraq can be disarmed peacefully -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Michael Okwu at the U.N. Michael, thanks very much.

As for the Bush Administration, U.S. diplomats are making a determined effort to get an international go-ahead for the possibility of war. For that let's go live to our State Department correspondent, Andrea Koppel -- Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, and to accomplish that, a senior administration official tells CNN the U.S. is now engaged in a full-court press to win votes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL (voice-over): The Bush White House dismissed the notion Iraq's announcement it will destroy its Al Samoud 2 missiles undercuts the U.S. case.

FLEISCHER: Total disarmament is total disarmament is total disarmament. It's not a piece of disarmament.

KOPPEL: In an interview with "USA Today," President Bush suggested he believes military force is the only option left.

"My attitude about Saddam Hussein is that if he had any intention of disarming," President Bush said, "he would have disarmed. We will disarm him now."

As for veiled threats by Russia's foreign minister to veto a second resolution, U.S. officials tell CNN they do not believe President Putin has made up his mind.

RICHARD BOUCHER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: I'm just saying it ain't over until it's over. Don't count your chickens before you hatch.

KOPPEL: Refusing to be deterred by Russia's shot across the bow, the State Department designated three Chechen rebel groups as terrorist organizations, a move Moscow has wanted for months.

Other high level U.S. envoys fanned out across the board, aggressively lobbying nonpermanent council members like Pakistan and Chile.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: The U.S. goal, to secure nine out of 15 votes necessary to pass a second resolution. The U.S. strategy, said one U.S. official, to go for the bandwagon effect and build enough momentum, Wolf, that that would put pressure on France, on Russia and on China to make them not use their veto -- Wolf.

BLITZER: A risky strategy. Andrea Koppel at the State Department, thanks very much.

Here's your chance on weigh in on the story. "Our Web Question" today is this: should the U.S. and its coalition partners strike u rack if the second U.N. resolution is not adopted? We'll have the results later in this broadcast. Vote at cnn.com/wolf.

While you're there, I'd like 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.

While Iraq says it will begin destroying its Al Samoud 2 missiles, officials remain defiant, denouncing the U.N. order as unjust and abusive. Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is covering all the late-breaking developments in the Iraqi capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): It's the newspapers that carry government sentiment here, expressed clearly in headlines declaring we have no missiles outside U.N. limits. The uncompromising banner masking the government's reluctant acceptance of U.N. demands to destroy the banned Al Samoud 2 missile.

School principal Abdul, not hiding his thoughts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): No, it's not necessary to destroy the missile, he says, because we have fulfilled all the U.N. resolutions.

ROBERTSON: Few, including civil servant Namir (ph), think getting rid of the missiles is enough to head off war.

"I don't think so," he says, because the United States is using the U.N. as cover."

(on camera): It is a mindset diplomats here have been working hard to avoid. The fear among nations opposed to conflict is that if Iraqi officials believe war is inevitable, they could curtail even their reluctant acceptance of U.N. demands.

(voice-over): For now, Iraqi officials say they need to be told how to destroy the Al Samoud 2 missile, its engines and fabrication equipment.

That explanation is expected to come Saturday from the U.N. inspection chief's top deputy, Dmitri Perikas (ph). In talks with Iraqi officials in Baghdad, he'll try to set a timeline, an action plan for the destruction to begin immediately.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The Pentagon is frustrated by Turkey's delay in approving the deployment of more than 60,000 U.S. troops. It may soon have to look at some other options.

Meantime it's down playing an estimate that hundreds of thousands of troops will be needed to occupy Iraq after a war. Let's go live to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, for more -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf, right now the U.S. basically has its forces in place in the Persian Gulf, with the exception of Turkey.

Now the parliament is scheduled to vote again, but the Pentagon says it can't wait much longer for an answer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (voice-over): Whether or not the Turkish parliament allows 62,000 U.S. troops into Turkey when it votes Saturday, the Pentagon says it's ready to execute the war plan.

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: We will have U.S. forces in northern Iraq one way or the other.

MCINTYRE: With more than 200,000 U.S. troops in the region, the U.S. says it's ready to strike at any time. But even if to position troops in Turkey, that will still take several more weeks.

As for how many U.S. troops stay in Iraq, the Pentagon continues to downplay the estimate of several hundred thousand offered by the army chief of staff in congressional testimony this week. PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY: The notion of hundreds of thousands of American troops is way off the mark.

MCINTYRE: Privately, Pentagon officials were fuming that General Eric Shenseki's comments fueled criticism the Pentagon was understating what it would take to occupy post-war Iraq.

But publicly, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld insisted it was an honest difference of opinion.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: First of all, people are entitled to their own opinions.

QUESTION: Is General Shinseki in trouble?

RUMSFELD: No, come on. Absolutely not, no. What are you trying to do, stir up trouble?

MCINTYRE: General Shinseki is a short timer, due to retire this summer. His aides insist the general sticks by his estimate, and independent analysts say the number may depend on when and how you count the troops, which will peak right after the war and then gradually be drawn down.

MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: In that sense, it's possible that Rumsfeld and Shinseki are both right. That Shinseki will be right for the first year and that Rumsfeld will be right for years two, three and after.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: Also today, the Pentagon released its definition of crimes that could be tried by a military tribunal, designed for the war against terrorism, but Rumsfeld said these rules could also be used to bring Iraqi generals and war criminals to justice -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Jamie, thanks very much.

Let's take a look at other developments in the showdown with Iraq.

As leaders arrived in Egypt for an Arab League summit, their foreign ministers ended a preliminary meeting divided over the U.S. push for military action. Some argued war is inevitable; others said war can be averted if Iraq cooperates with the U.N., while a third group wants Arabs to rally around Iraq. As one Arab diplomat put it, "The Arab leaders will have a lot of options to a look at this weekend."

As the leaders gathered for their summit, anti-war protestors gathered in the Middle East capitals. In Egypt Friday, prayers at Cairo's famed El-Agmar mosque ended in a demonstration as worshippers chanted anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans and urged Arab leaders to prevent a war. In Bahrain, headquarters of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet in the Persian Gulf, several thousand demonstrated against a war in Iraq, some waving Iraqi flags, others burning American flags. They marched through the streets of the capital to the United Nations offices, holding anti-war banners and chanting "death to America."

Thousands also took to the streets of the Philippine capital of Manila to protest a possible war. Many carried signs with the slogan, "Stop the U.S. war in Iraq." They also demanded the withdrawal of American troops training in the Philippines.

Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division are heading out for the Persian Gulf. They're leaving today. They're expected to spearhead an invasion of Iraq, if ordered by President Bush.

Many just returned to their home base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky last fall from combat action in Afghanistan.

Your financial life is about to become an open book every time you fly. Find out why the government is about to start running your credit rating before you board a plane.

The Homeland Security move that has privacy advocates up in arms.

Also...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not just the back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going pretty good now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Dramatic newly-released video from inside the cockpit of the space shuttle Columbia, only minutes before it exploded. Does it hold any clues?

And the battle of the Hollywood stars over a potential war with Iraq. Former Senator Fred Thompson, now a star of "Law & Order," will join us live.

But first, today's "News Quiz."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER (voice-over): In which film did Fred Thompson make his big screen debut? "No Way Out," "Maria: A True Story," "The Hunt for Red October," "Die Hard 2"? The answer coming up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Much more on the showdown with Iraq coming up, including former Senator Fred Thompson. Let's move on to some other news right now.

The federal government is getting ready to test a new system for screening airline passengers. It involves checking the background and assigning a threat level for everyone who buys a ticket. And as CNN's patty Davis reports, it's already raising huge controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ali Khan says airports make him nervous.

ALI KHAN, AIRLINE PASSENGER: Every time I approach a ticket counter, I approach with a lot of trepidation. I mean, there's anxiety, nervousness.

DAVIS: And not because he's afraid to fly, but because the Pakistani-American is often singled out for extra scrutiny. He's even been detained. The investment banker says his name is similar to a person on the airport's watch list.

The Transportation Security Administration says it's working on a better way to identify threatening passengers, soon to be tested with Delta Airlines.

How will it work? The agency plans to collect much more information about you than they do now.

(on camera): When you pick up the phone to make an airline reservation, you'd have to give, for instance, your name, date of birth and address. The Transportation Security Administration would use that information to scan databases, possibly even your financial records, and check the terrorist watch list to see if you pose a threat.

MICHAEL JACKSON, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We're trying to ask a very simple question. Is this individual a known and mooted member of the community?

DAVIS: What information turns up determines whether you get a red, yellow or green light.

A green light means you're not a risk. A yellow, you'll have to go through additional screening at the airport, but if a red comes your way, forget about flying, you won't be allowed.

The TSA proposes keeping information for up to 50 years, but only on passengers it considers a threat.

Privacy advocates call it one of the government's largest domestic surveillance programs ever and worried little have known about it.

MIHIR KSHIRSAGAR, ELECTRONIC PRIVACY INFORMATION CENTER: This -- this kind of profiling system could make airports into all-purpose police stops. So if you were somebody on the run or if you're a deadbeat dad or even if you perhaps had unpaid parking tickets, it's possible that the government now has all this information on the databases and they use it to get after you.

DAVIS: The TSA says it will work with privacy groups and others to address their own fears, but it expects to put the system into place this year.

Patty Davis, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We decided to try to find out what airline passengers think about the new security plan. Here are some American voices.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know if you have bad credit, I don't know if that's necessarily a great predictor of whether or not you're going to cause disruption on an airline flight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hands down, the terrorists have won. The amount that it costs to do all these extra security checks, that's taking away from our civil liberties of, you know, monitoring, who we're traveling with, what our credit's like, et cetera, et cetera. It's just -- it's outrageous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a good idea, but I think that goes a little too far. Especially, you know, I think they're getting too many liberties as far as -- as far as checking our backgrounds and things like that.

But I think -- I think in the end, though, it's probably for the best, you know, for everybody's safety and hopefully it doesn't get abused.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How long are they going to keep this? Will they keep this in their files for 50 years? Or will, once you're returned from your trip, will they erase it completely?

I feel that if it's proposed and it's going to happen in this country, they're going to get through regardless, whether they check your finances, your Internet e-mail and every other thing that's out there about your privacy. I disagree with it totally.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Checking somebody's credit has nothing to do with getting on the plane. It's more important what somebody's carrying than what somebody has in their bank account. I don't think that's right at all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Those were some reactions from passengers at U.S. airports with those plans of a new passenger screening system. Delta Airlines plans to begin testing the system at three unidentified airports in the next month.

We're standing by, waiting to speak live with the former Senator Fred Thompson. But when we come back, through the eyes of the shuttle astronauts, just minutes before the explosion. See it for yourself when we return.

Also, did the LAPD mess up another high profile Hollywood case? Find out how the evidence against Robert Blake may have been compromised.

And top officers indicted in a corruption scandal rocking the Bay Area. Find out why San Francisco's police chief could end up behind bars.

And the KKK weighs in on the Masters Golf Tournament controversy.

But first, a look at news making "Headlines Around the World."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Nuclear jitters. U.S. officials say newly-detected activity in a North Korean nuclear facility could be a prelude to reprocessing plutonium. The North Koreans are already believed to have one or two nuclear weapons and experts say they may be able to make five to eight more.

Attack in Pakistan. Gunfire outside the U.S. consulate in the Karachi killed two Pakistani police officers standing guard and wounded six other people. No one in the consulate staff was hurt. A suspect, described as an Afghan with links to a militant Muslim group, was taken into custody.

Second in command. A U.N. envoy says Palestinian authority president Yasser Arafat will nominate a prime minister next week. Under pressure from international mediators, Arafat recently agreed to share power.

Close call. A Colombian escape artist says he nearly died during this videotaped rehearsal. Jose Simon (ph) was chained and submerged in a tank full of water, but he began running out of breath while trying to get out. He says his crew realized he was in trouble and saved his life.

Bono Jour. An Irish entertainer became a French hero today as U2's lead singer Bono became a knight in the French Legion of Honor. Bono met with French President Jacques Chirac and praised Mr. Chirac's position against war with Iraq.

Under wraps. A British television company has agreed not to show unused footage from a controversial documentary about Michael Jackson. The entertainer is suing Grenada Television, claiming its program, "Living With Michael Jackson," was a gross distortion.

Under an agreement between lawyers, Grenada will not release any outtakes from the documentary until after the suit is heard.

And that's our look "Around the World."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Just hours ago NASA released about 14 minutes of videotape of the final moments aboard the doomed Space Shuttle Columbia. It somehow survived the disaster and documents the unsuspecting crew making routine checks in the cockpit well before any sign of trouble. CNN's John Zarrella is joining us now from Miami on this -- John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Clearly, Wolf, as you said, it's a miracle that that videotape survived. It's the only one of about 250 such videotapes that were on Columbia. That survived.

And we want to let our viewers know before we go to that tape, that in fact, NASA showed this videotape to the families before they released the videotape and got that cleared by the families before it's been made public.

Now, it is clear from the videotape that the astronauts had no idea what was about to happen to them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA (voice-over): The videotape begins with a shot of Commander Rick Husband in the background and pilot Willie McCool, closest to where the camera was mounted on the flight desk.

Husband and McCool can be heard going through standard pre- landing checklists.

RICK HUSBAND, COLUMBIA COMMANDER: Houston, Rick. We'll take another item 27, please. Oh, shoot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Looks good. Did we miss that?

HUSBAND: We're back on it. But I need to do an item 27.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, oh, oh.

ZARRELLA: The videotape is 13 minutes long. The recording begins at about 8:35 a.m. eastern time as the vehicle is over the Pacific Ocean.

The tape ends at 8:48 a.m., just as Colombia is reaching the west coast of the U.S.

From the emotions of the crew, there's no indication they knew anything was about to go wrong.

At one point mission specialist Laurel Clark takes the camera and begins videotaping.

Mission specialist Kalpana Chawla waves.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I just turned to see what you have there. ZARRELLA: The video shows only four of the seven astronauts, those seated on the flight deck area. The other three -- specialists Mike Anderson, Dave Brown and payload specialist Ilan Ramon -- were seated on the mid-deck.

As the tape progresses, the astronauts see the flash as a plasma, hot gases that form around the shuttle during the heat of re-entry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That might be some plasma now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Think so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was hard to (UNINTELLIGIBLE), actually.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We see it out the front, also.

ZARRELLA: One theory is that minutes later, these gasses entered a breach in the shuttle's left wing and ultimately led to Columbia breaking apart.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: Now it was four minutes after this videotape stopped that is when the first indications were recorded at mission control of sensor readings in that left wing going up, heat sensor readings.

NASA says this videotape does not provide them with any clues as to what might have happened after the videotape stopped running.

What we do know, however, is that the Columbia accident investigation board does now have another videotape that may be released next week. It is a compilation of videos taken by home amateur photographers, some videos taken by private academic institutions.

And this video shows pieces of the Shuttle Columbia beginning to fall off as it crosses near the west coast of the United States near San Francisco, all of the way across to Texas, and apparently at one point somewhere over Nevada.

There's a giant flash of light shown on this video and you can see a large chunk of video that presumably falls somewhere in Nevada.

That's what we're hearing from sources, Wolf, and we expect that that videotape may be released sometime next week -- Wolf.

BLITZER: John Zarrella, our Miami bureau chief. John, thanks very much. How painful to look at that tape and know what's in store, of course, for those astronauts.

The Pledge of Allegiance still unconstitutional? A federal appeals court refuses to respond to the public outcry.

Also actor turned senator turned actor, Fred Thompson weighs in on a potential war. He'll join us live. We have e-mail pouring in for him, as well.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER (voice-over): Earlier, we asked in which film did Fred Thompson make his big-screen debut? The answer: "Marie: A True Story." Thompson played himself in the movie about government corruption in Tennessee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Coming up, "star wars." Hollywood actors weigh in on a potential war with Iraq. But is anyone listening? I'll ask the former senator and the actor Fred Thompson.

But, first, let's look at some other stories making news right now in our CNN News Alert.

(NEWSBREAK)

BLITZER: The celebrity war of words over Iraq is heating up.

Former Republican Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee is the latest to join the debate. After deciding not to run for reelection last November, Thompson returned to his acting career and now stars in "Law and Order."

Following an anti-war ad featuring the "West Wing" star Martin Sheen, Thompson is starring in an ad in support of President Bush's tough policy on Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMPSON: With all the criticism of our president's policy on Iraq lately, Americans might ask what should we do with the inevitable prospect of nuclear weapons in the hands of a murderous and aggressive enemy. Can we afford to appease Saddam? Kick the can down the road?

Thank goodness we have a president with the courage to protect our country. And, when people ask what has Saddam done to us, I ask what had the 9/11 hijackers done us to before 9/11.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The Thompson ad is scheduled to begin airing Sunday here in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Miami, as well as other cities.

Senator Fred Thompson is joining us now live from Nashville.

Senator, thanks very much for joining us. So why did you decide to do this ad?

THOMPSON: Well, just to get the other side heard, Wolf. You sit around, and you listen to a lot of criticism, a lot of anti-Iraq policy ads, demonstrations in the street, and so forth, and you get the feeling that the way the argument is going one way, when, actually, I think the American people, by and large, feel the other way, and I think that it's an opportunity to kind of rally the troops a little bit and kind of remind folks why the president's doing what he's doing.

BLITZER: You're unique in the sense that you know Washington, but you also know Hollywood. As far as your political views, conservative, Republican, support of President Bush, you're a real minority, though, in Hollywood, aren't you?

THOMPSON: Oh, I guess so, if you want to call me in Hollywood, you know. I -- we shoot in New York, and I don't get out there very often, but, generically speaking, I guess you've right.

I guess I'm very much in the minority as far as these views are concerned. They're very articulate folks. They're exercising their First-Amendment rights. I appreciate that. Some of them are very intelligent, articulate people.

But I think that they're wrong and it's something that I've been studying for some years now, I've been watching, and I think the danger is growing to not only our country but the forces of order in the world, not to mention world institutions as they're thwarted, and I've been very, very concerned just as a private citizen since I've left the Senate.

So this was an opportunity to say -- get a couple of my buddies together, the guy who did my TV ads when I was in politics, and say, you know, let's get an ad in support of the president and let's just make sure that this thing -- this air campaign is not all one-sided.

BLITZER: Who's going to pay for the distribution and the airing of these ads?

THOMPSON: Friends and supporters of mine and, presumably, friends and supporters of the president. I've got some friends who are raising some funds to put it on.

BLITZER: The -- there's a new poll that's out, a CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll, asking how effective celebrities are at changing the views of government officials. Very effective, 3 percent. Somewhat effective, 31 percent. Not effective at all, 64 percent.

You've been on the receiving end, as a politician, of these ads. Where would you -- what do you think? Do you think Hollywood stars are effective in influencing public opinion?

THOMPSON: Yes, I'm having a hard time figuring what category I ought to be put in these days, but, yes, I think people listen to them. I think people weigh what they say. I'm not sure how much influence any particular person, even an elected official, has on public opinion nowadays.

Unfortunately, all of our institutions have come under a lot of criticism. There's a lot of cynicism in the country. I think it depends on the individual. I think, if a person knows what they're talking about, they've studied the issue, and they give credence to the other side -- because this is a choice of two bad decisions, I think -- two bad choices.

I think the choice of inaction is worse than the choice of action, frankly, but -- but you have to concede those things, and a person who does that and is thoughtful about it, I think, is going to be listened to, and the fact that they're from Hollywood is not going to increase or diminish that fact.

BLITZER: Martin Sheen, who plays the president in the "West Wing," the NBC program, also has his own ad. I want you to listen to what he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEEN: Don't invade Iraq. Inspections work. War won't. The virtual march on Washington will allow every American opposed to the war to stand up and be counted by calling, faxing, and e-mailing the U.S. Senate and the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: That's a pretty powerful ad, too.

THOMPSON: Yes, it's an -- that's an effective ad, I think. Inspections work, but they work for Saddam. That's the only problem with that.

BLITZER: You don't think that, if they start destroying those Al Samoud missiles, 120 of them, tomorrow, that's going to be a powerful demonstration that the inspections are, indeed, working.

THOMPSON: No, part of his -- part of his charade. Those of us who've been following it for years have been predicting the way this would play out. In the first place, they're weapons that he never should have had.

Now, as the noose starts tightening, he'll start making concessions to the extent that he can con -- keep American and Western Europeans divided. To the extent that he feels like he can divide Americans, he'll start making these kinds of concessions.

But, of course, that's just the tip of the iceberg. He has tons of VX gas, he has botulism, he has anthrax, and he is in the process of developing nuclear capability.

So this is just the tip of the iceberg and another way for him to try to chip away at the last second the resolve that this country has to -- finally, after all these years, to do something about this threat that's been developing for all these years.

BLITZER: Let's get to some -- let's get to some e-mail, Senator, before our time runs out.

This one from Vanessa. "It doesn't matter if Iraq destroys every weapon in the country. Bush has blinders on, and America is going to war with Iraq."

Is America going to war with Iraq no matter what the Iraqis do?

THOMPSON: Well, if Saddam disarms, you know, he wouldn't be Saddam anymore. So it's a virtual impossibility.

I don't think he will do that, and, if he does not do that, then the United Nations, in effect, said that we're going to go to war if he doesn't disarm. We gave him -- the United Nations gave him a -- what the United Nations called a last chance to do that.

The overwhelming majority of the -- of NATO and the European Union, I think, supports what we're doing. So it's not just us. But, yes, I think we'll go to war if he doesn't disarm.

The real issue here not only is what we're going to do with a fellow who's developing nuclear capability, but what is going to happen to our international institutions. Can a -- can a defeated tyrant thwart the terms of his surrender?

When he says, if you'll leave me in power, I'll give up my weapons of mass destruction and then he doesn't do it and we don't do anything about that, what signal does that give to the North Koreans and all the other would-be Saddams around the world.

Thank goodness, as I've said, we've got someone who's got the guts to stand up to all the forces that say let's kick the can down the road and hope for the best. We don't need a mushroom cloud to tell us we were wrong.

BLITZER: Senator Thompson, as usual, thanks very much. We miss you in the political arena here in Washington, but I have a sneaking suspicion you might be back one of these days.

Senator Fred Thompson.

THOMPSON: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks for joining us. Good luck with the TV show and the big screen as well.

While recruits on track to become elite fighting machines, the Army sends in its newest troops to use brutality at special forces training. That's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: As the world gets closer to a possible war in Iraq, we're hearing a lot about the Army special forces and the crucial role the special forces may play in the weeks and months to come.

CNN recently visited an obstacle course at Fort Bragg in North Carolina called Nasty Nick to watch troops try out for special forces training.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the beginning of six phases of training and/or transform this soldier into a special forces non- commissioned officer for ops.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Early in the program, one of the first things which they -- the candidates do is go through this obstacle course.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The folks who are successful here are physically relatively normal. These are not Arnold -- we are not looking for Arnold Schwarzeneggers. What we're looking for most is what's inside the guy...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to make a commitment either to go up or to go down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... doesn't want to quit...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go. Head over heels.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... is adaptive, has great self-confidence, and is willing to overcome obstacles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both sides, mount.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This obstacle here has produced one refusal to train. That is someone who has been incapacitated by his own fear of heights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they don't succeed here, they will -- they're still in the Army. They enlist. It's a five-year enlistment. They're qualified infantryman, so they -- they go, and they will continue to serve as an infantryman.

At end of the day, special forces is not for everybody. We are the nation's unconventional warfare warriors. These guys are going to represent the United States of America in places that they can't even imagine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go 93. You're holding everybody up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For those who are willing to stick it out, we'll teach them what they need to do to be successful, and we'll get them the green beret.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And as Colonel King (ph) pointed out, the special forces, of course, are not for everyone. During the day, our CNN crews visited Nasty Nick. Three candidates dropped out.

Is the LAPD about to blow another high-profile Hollywood murder case. We'll go live to Los Angeles to find out why the evidence against Robert Blake might have been compromised.

And San Francisco's police chief indicted. Find out what he's accused of covering up.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A new police corruption scandal is rocking North California. A grand jury has indicted San Francisco's police chief and several other members of the department.

Our Rusty Dornin is standing by with details -- Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, news of those indictments really shocked the City of San Francisco and -- but, here at the Hall of Justice, no one is talking.

The district attorney's office did cancel a news conference scheduled about the indictments this afternoon, and they're on the fifth floor that you're looking at, where the police brass reside, and those offices have been locked up like a drum.

Now the headlines about this story have been simmering for months, and it all stems from allegations of a cover-up following a brawl on the streets of San Francisco.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN (voice-over): November 20 outside a San Francisco bar, Adam Snyder and his friend, Jade Santoro, say they were attacked by two men. Snyder says the men were trying to steal a bag of take-out food. Then, Snyder, says a third man drove up in a pickup and attacked his friend.

ADAM SNYDER, ALLEGED VICTIM: Three had went up and were kicking him as he's laying on the ground, kicking him, punching him, and they picked him up, put him on the car, beat him more, and then they got in their truck and sped away.

DORNIN: Within hours police had three suspects, off-duty San Francisco police officers. One, Alex Fagan, Jr., son of the assistant police chief.

For months, the police department has been criticized for dragging its feet in the investigation. The victims were never asked to identify their assailants. The suspect officers' clothes were never tested for blood.

Then, in mid-January, a 27-year police veteran, Joe Dutto, who investigated the case was transferred. He says he was punished for pursuing the case too vigorously.

JOE DUTTO, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE INVESTIGATOR: I'm disappointed in things that others in our department have done. I think the whole picture has been lost here as to what our job is. DORNIN: Nine days and 42 witnesses later, a grand jury indicted the three off-duty police officers for assault and seven others for conspiracy, including Police Chief Earl Sanders, Assistant Police Chief Alex Fagan, the father of one of the accused, and a deputy police chief.

San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown says the indictments are dirty politics.

MAYOR WILLIE BROWN, SAN FRANCISCO: You can get anything you wish out of a grand jury. You ought to be extraordinarily careful, though, when you use that power because that power could come back to bite you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN: Now the mayor and others are saying this is politically motivated on the part of the district attorney's office. Meantime, the police here, including the police chief, could be booked just around the corner.

We do understand, however, there is a tunnel going into there so people may never see them arrive for their booking -- Wolf.

Rusty Dornin on a street in San Francisco.

Thanks, Rusty, very much for that report.

Several months ago, CNN's Charles Feldman broke the news that an author was allowed to tag along with police investigating murder charges against actor Robert Blake. The author's involvement became an issue today at Blake's preliminary hearing.

Charles is now standing by in Los Angeles to tell us how this is all playing out -- Charles.

CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The issue of the presence of Miles Corwin, Wolf, is very important to this case. He is a former "Los Angeles Times" reporter turned book author and, apparently, was along for the entire, if not -- much, if not the entire, investigation of Robert Blake.

In fact, we have a videotape that we can show you that we aired months ago when we broke this story that shows the author's presence at a search of Robert Blake's house just the day after the murder of Bonny Lee Blakely and you can hear him being introduced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... Mike Whalen (ph), Jim Boulliez (ph), Chuck Knowles (ph). My two observers is Miles Corwin and Greg Dewey (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FELDMAN: Now, in court today, Wolf, the attorneys for the prosecution argued that the defense attorney should not be allowed to raise this in the preliminary hearing, but the judge would have none of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE LLOYD NASH: I think the testimony that there was an author that was brought along in any investigation, be it this one or any other one, is significant in terms of the potential possibility, number one, of contamination of evidence, bias of the witness, all -- it's fraught with all kinds of problems I'm sure that the both of you are aware of, and I believe that it's the absolute proper subject of cross-examination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FELDMAN: And now on the witness stand is Ronald "Duffy" Hambleton, who's the second of two Hollywood stuntmen, and he's expected to testify that Robert Blake approached him to kill Bonny Lee Blakely, his wife -- Wolf.

BLITZER: We'll continue to cover this hearing.

Charles Feldman in Los Angeles.

Thanks very much.

Should the U.S. and its coalition partners strike Iraq if the second U.N. resolution is not adopted? We'll have the results of "Our Web Question of the Day" when we which back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: That's all of the time we have today. "LOU DOBBS' "MONEYLINE" is standing by.

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





Promised?; Delta Announces Plans to Perform Background Checks on Passengers>


Aired February 28, 2003 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The collision course over Iraq. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Within hours Iraq must start destroying its missiles. Will it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are doing our utmost to avert this war.

BLITZER: Is the U.N. Security Council being bamboozled?

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: The Iraqi actions are propaganda wrapped in a lie, with a side of falsehood.

BLITZER: It's "Law & Order" versus "The West Wing."

MARTIN SHEEN, ACTOR: Don't invade Iraq. Inspections work. War won't.

FRED THOMPSON, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: Can we afford to appease Saddam? Kick the can down the road? Thank goodness we have a president with the courage to protect our country.

BLITZER: Answering Hollywood's anti-war ads. I'll speak with actor and former Senator Fred Thompson.

The terror threat: airport screeners may go from checking your shoes to checking your credit rating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This kind of profiling system could make airports into all purpose police scouts.

BLITZER: And a gripping look inside Columbia, just minutes before the shuttle disintegrated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know what's left? The right windows. Looks like a blast.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: It's Friday, February 28, 2003. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. The missile countdown is underway. Iraq says it will destroy its illegal Al Samoud 2 missiles beginning tomorrow. The chief U.N. weapons inspector calls that real disarmament. The Bush Administration calls it a deception. We'll get U.S. reaction from the State Department. Our Andrea Koppel is standing by there.

But we begin with CNN's Michael -- Michael Okwu, excuse me at the United Nations where the split in the Security Council is widening -- Michael.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, good afternoon to you.

As if there wasn't enough public discord on the Security Council, today fiery rhetoric coming out of Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OKWU (voice-over): Russia has its two big diplomatic guns blazing, directly pointing at George Bush and the U.S.-backed resolution that would authorize war with Iraq.

The foreign minister:

IGOR IVANOV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Russia has the right to veto. If the interest of international stability demands it, Russia, of course will exercise its right.

OKWU: And the president:

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): We believe that the potential of the Resolution 1441 is far from being exhausted. It is the aim of the joint French, German and Russian proposal announced in New York on February 24 to fully implement it.

OKWU: Talk that may be deepening the fracture already in the Security Council.

Here's how the vote looks today. The U.S. and Great Britain would vote yes, along with Bulgaria and Spain, a co-sponsor.

France, Russia, China, Germany and Syria are firmly against it.

The key swing votes wait in the balance. Chile, Angola, Cameroon, Guinea, Mexico and Pakistan.

MUNIR AKRAM, PAKISTANI AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: If it's going to be vetoed by some other permanent member, then our position, whether we take it with whatever pain and suffering we have, whatever position we take will be meaningless.

STEFAN TAFROV, BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: More pressure is needed and as long as the Security Council is divided, that pressure is not there. It won't be there; that's why we want a united council.

ISMAEL GASPAR MARTINS, ANGOLIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: It has been possible to do it in the past. Why not in the future? On key questions, we can speak with one voice on key questions.

OKWU: Iraqi ambassador Mohammed Aldouri.

MOHAMMED ALDOURI, IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: The position of Security Council right now I can't imagine, because they don't want to have war. They don't like to have war. This is a huge responsibility for everybody. So the split between them is a split between war and level of peace.

OKWU: The next big test, whether Iraq begins to destroy its Al Samoud missiles. In a letter to the chief weapons inspector, they said in principle, they would.

HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Well, it's a very big chunk of things and there are very many of these missiles and a lot of items that pertain to them and which we have enumerated in our letter which is to be destroyed. So it's a very significant -- this is real disarmament.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKWU: The missile issue is something of a wild card. If Iraq begins destroying its Al Samoud 2 missiles then the United States may have a much tougher argument to make among its members on the Security Council. Of course, the United States would undoubtedly say that Iraq has failed to comply with a host of obligations dating back to 1990, that it's not just about this missile.

Of course, also, France, Russia and China might argue that inspections are working, that Iraq can be disarmed peacefully -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Michael Okwu at the U.N. Michael, thanks very much.

As for the Bush Administration, U.S. diplomats are making a determined effort to get an international go-ahead for the possibility of war. For that let's go live to our State Department correspondent, Andrea Koppel -- Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, and to accomplish that, a senior administration official tells CNN the U.S. is now engaged in a full-court press to win votes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL (voice-over): The Bush White House dismissed the notion Iraq's announcement it will destroy its Al Samoud 2 missiles undercuts the U.S. case.

FLEISCHER: Total disarmament is total disarmament is total disarmament. It's not a piece of disarmament.

KOPPEL: In an interview with "USA Today," President Bush suggested he believes military force is the only option left.

"My attitude about Saddam Hussein is that if he had any intention of disarming," President Bush said, "he would have disarmed. We will disarm him now."

As for veiled threats by Russia's foreign minister to veto a second resolution, U.S. officials tell CNN they do not believe President Putin has made up his mind.

RICHARD BOUCHER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: I'm just saying it ain't over until it's over. Don't count your chickens before you hatch.

KOPPEL: Refusing to be deterred by Russia's shot across the bow, the State Department designated three Chechen rebel groups as terrorist organizations, a move Moscow has wanted for months.

Other high level U.S. envoys fanned out across the board, aggressively lobbying nonpermanent council members like Pakistan and Chile.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: The U.S. goal, to secure nine out of 15 votes necessary to pass a second resolution. The U.S. strategy, said one U.S. official, to go for the bandwagon effect and build enough momentum, Wolf, that that would put pressure on France, on Russia and on China to make them not use their veto -- Wolf.

BLITZER: A risky strategy. Andrea Koppel at the State Department, thanks very much.

Here's your chance on weigh in on the story. "Our Web Question" today is this: should the U.S. and its coalition partners strike u rack if the second U.N. resolution is not adopted? We'll have the results later in this broadcast. Vote at cnn.com/wolf.

While you're there, I'd like 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.

While Iraq says it will begin destroying its Al Samoud 2 missiles, officials remain defiant, denouncing the U.N. order as unjust and abusive. Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is covering all the late-breaking developments in the Iraqi capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): It's the newspapers that carry government sentiment here, expressed clearly in headlines declaring we have no missiles outside U.N. limits. The uncompromising banner masking the government's reluctant acceptance of U.N. demands to destroy the banned Al Samoud 2 missile.

School principal Abdul, not hiding his thoughts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): No, it's not necessary to destroy the missile, he says, because we have fulfilled all the U.N. resolutions.

ROBERTSON: Few, including civil servant Namir (ph), think getting rid of the missiles is enough to head off war.

"I don't think so," he says, because the United States is using the U.N. as cover."

(on camera): It is a mindset diplomats here have been working hard to avoid. The fear among nations opposed to conflict is that if Iraqi officials believe war is inevitable, they could curtail even their reluctant acceptance of U.N. demands.

(voice-over): For now, Iraqi officials say they need to be told how to destroy the Al Samoud 2 missile, its engines and fabrication equipment.

That explanation is expected to come Saturday from the U.N. inspection chief's top deputy, Dmitri Perikas (ph). In talks with Iraqi officials in Baghdad, he'll try to set a timeline, an action plan for the destruction to begin immediately.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The Pentagon is frustrated by Turkey's delay in approving the deployment of more than 60,000 U.S. troops. It may soon have to look at some other options.

Meantime it's down playing an estimate that hundreds of thousands of troops will be needed to occupy Iraq after a war. Let's go live to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, for more -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf, right now the U.S. basically has its forces in place in the Persian Gulf, with the exception of Turkey.

Now the parliament is scheduled to vote again, but the Pentagon says it can't wait much longer for an answer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (voice-over): Whether or not the Turkish parliament allows 62,000 U.S. troops into Turkey when it votes Saturday, the Pentagon says it's ready to execute the war plan.

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: We will have U.S. forces in northern Iraq one way or the other.

MCINTYRE: With more than 200,000 U.S. troops in the region, the U.S. says it's ready to strike at any time. But even if to position troops in Turkey, that will still take several more weeks.

As for how many U.S. troops stay in Iraq, the Pentagon continues to downplay the estimate of several hundred thousand offered by the army chief of staff in congressional testimony this week. PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY: The notion of hundreds of thousands of American troops is way off the mark.

MCINTYRE: Privately, Pentagon officials were fuming that General Eric Shenseki's comments fueled criticism the Pentagon was understating what it would take to occupy post-war Iraq.

But publicly, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld insisted it was an honest difference of opinion.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: First of all, people are entitled to their own opinions.

QUESTION: Is General Shinseki in trouble?

RUMSFELD: No, come on. Absolutely not, no. What are you trying to do, stir up trouble?

MCINTYRE: General Shinseki is a short timer, due to retire this summer. His aides insist the general sticks by his estimate, and independent analysts say the number may depend on when and how you count the troops, which will peak right after the war and then gradually be drawn down.

MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: In that sense, it's possible that Rumsfeld and Shinseki are both right. That Shinseki will be right for the first year and that Rumsfeld will be right for years two, three and after.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: Also today, the Pentagon released its definition of crimes that could be tried by a military tribunal, designed for the war against terrorism, but Rumsfeld said these rules could also be used to bring Iraqi generals and war criminals to justice -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Jamie, thanks very much.

Let's take a look at other developments in the showdown with Iraq.

As leaders arrived in Egypt for an Arab League summit, their foreign ministers ended a preliminary meeting divided over the U.S. push for military action. Some argued war is inevitable; others said war can be averted if Iraq cooperates with the U.N., while a third group wants Arabs to rally around Iraq. As one Arab diplomat put it, "The Arab leaders will have a lot of options to a look at this weekend."

As the leaders gathered for their summit, anti-war protestors gathered in the Middle East capitals. In Egypt Friday, prayers at Cairo's famed El-Agmar mosque ended in a demonstration as worshippers chanted anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans and urged Arab leaders to prevent a war. In Bahrain, headquarters of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet in the Persian Gulf, several thousand demonstrated against a war in Iraq, some waving Iraqi flags, others burning American flags. They marched through the streets of the capital to the United Nations offices, holding anti-war banners and chanting "death to America."

Thousands also took to the streets of the Philippine capital of Manila to protest a possible war. Many carried signs with the slogan, "Stop the U.S. war in Iraq." They also demanded the withdrawal of American troops training in the Philippines.

Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division are heading out for the Persian Gulf. They're leaving today. They're expected to spearhead an invasion of Iraq, if ordered by President Bush.

Many just returned to their home base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky last fall from combat action in Afghanistan.

Your financial life is about to become an open book every time you fly. Find out why the government is about to start running your credit rating before you board a plane.

The Homeland Security move that has privacy advocates up in arms.

Also...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not just the back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going pretty good now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Dramatic newly-released video from inside the cockpit of the space shuttle Columbia, only minutes before it exploded. Does it hold any clues?

And the battle of the Hollywood stars over a potential war with Iraq. Former Senator Fred Thompson, now a star of "Law & Order," will join us live.

But first, today's "News Quiz."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER (voice-over): In which film did Fred Thompson make his big screen debut? "No Way Out," "Maria: A True Story," "The Hunt for Red October," "Die Hard 2"? The answer coming up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Much more on the showdown with Iraq coming up, including former Senator Fred Thompson. Let's move on to some other news right now.

The federal government is getting ready to test a new system for screening airline passengers. It involves checking the background and assigning a threat level for everyone who buys a ticket. And as CNN's patty Davis reports, it's already raising huge controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ali Khan says airports make him nervous.

ALI KHAN, AIRLINE PASSENGER: Every time I approach a ticket counter, I approach with a lot of trepidation. I mean, there's anxiety, nervousness.

DAVIS: And not because he's afraid to fly, but because the Pakistani-American is often singled out for extra scrutiny. He's even been detained. The investment banker says his name is similar to a person on the airport's watch list.

The Transportation Security Administration says it's working on a better way to identify threatening passengers, soon to be tested with Delta Airlines.

How will it work? The agency plans to collect much more information about you than they do now.

(on camera): When you pick up the phone to make an airline reservation, you'd have to give, for instance, your name, date of birth and address. The Transportation Security Administration would use that information to scan databases, possibly even your financial records, and check the terrorist watch list to see if you pose a threat.

MICHAEL JACKSON, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We're trying to ask a very simple question. Is this individual a known and mooted member of the community?

DAVIS: What information turns up determines whether you get a red, yellow or green light.

A green light means you're not a risk. A yellow, you'll have to go through additional screening at the airport, but if a red comes your way, forget about flying, you won't be allowed.

The TSA proposes keeping information for up to 50 years, but only on passengers it considers a threat.

Privacy advocates call it one of the government's largest domestic surveillance programs ever and worried little have known about it.

MIHIR KSHIRSAGAR, ELECTRONIC PRIVACY INFORMATION CENTER: This -- this kind of profiling system could make airports into all-purpose police stops. So if you were somebody on the run or if you're a deadbeat dad or even if you perhaps had unpaid parking tickets, it's possible that the government now has all this information on the databases and they use it to get after you.

DAVIS: The TSA says it will work with privacy groups and others to address their own fears, but it expects to put the system into place this year.

Patty Davis, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We decided to try to find out what airline passengers think about the new security plan. Here are some American voices.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know if you have bad credit, I don't know if that's necessarily a great predictor of whether or not you're going to cause disruption on an airline flight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hands down, the terrorists have won. The amount that it costs to do all these extra security checks, that's taking away from our civil liberties of, you know, monitoring, who we're traveling with, what our credit's like, et cetera, et cetera. It's just -- it's outrageous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a good idea, but I think that goes a little too far. Especially, you know, I think they're getting too many liberties as far as -- as far as checking our backgrounds and things like that.

But I think -- I think in the end, though, it's probably for the best, you know, for everybody's safety and hopefully it doesn't get abused.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How long are they going to keep this? Will they keep this in their files for 50 years? Or will, once you're returned from your trip, will they erase it completely?

I feel that if it's proposed and it's going to happen in this country, they're going to get through regardless, whether they check your finances, your Internet e-mail and every other thing that's out there about your privacy. I disagree with it totally.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Checking somebody's credit has nothing to do with getting on the plane. It's more important what somebody's carrying than what somebody has in their bank account. I don't think that's right at all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Those were some reactions from passengers at U.S. airports with those plans of a new passenger screening system. Delta Airlines plans to begin testing the system at three unidentified airports in the next month.

We're standing by, waiting to speak live with the former Senator Fred Thompson. But when we come back, through the eyes of the shuttle astronauts, just minutes before the explosion. See it for yourself when we return.

Also, did the LAPD mess up another high profile Hollywood case? Find out how the evidence against Robert Blake may have been compromised.

And top officers indicted in a corruption scandal rocking the Bay Area. Find out why San Francisco's police chief could end up behind bars.

And the KKK weighs in on the Masters Golf Tournament controversy.

But first, a look at news making "Headlines Around the World."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Nuclear jitters. U.S. officials say newly-detected activity in a North Korean nuclear facility could be a prelude to reprocessing plutonium. The North Koreans are already believed to have one or two nuclear weapons and experts say they may be able to make five to eight more.

Attack in Pakistan. Gunfire outside the U.S. consulate in the Karachi killed two Pakistani police officers standing guard and wounded six other people. No one in the consulate staff was hurt. A suspect, described as an Afghan with links to a militant Muslim group, was taken into custody.

Second in command. A U.N. envoy says Palestinian authority president Yasser Arafat will nominate a prime minister next week. Under pressure from international mediators, Arafat recently agreed to share power.

Close call. A Colombian escape artist says he nearly died during this videotaped rehearsal. Jose Simon (ph) was chained and submerged in a tank full of water, but he began running out of breath while trying to get out. He says his crew realized he was in trouble and saved his life.

Bono Jour. An Irish entertainer became a French hero today as U2's lead singer Bono became a knight in the French Legion of Honor. Bono met with French President Jacques Chirac and praised Mr. Chirac's position against war with Iraq.

Under wraps. A British television company has agreed not to show unused footage from a controversial documentary about Michael Jackson. The entertainer is suing Grenada Television, claiming its program, "Living With Michael Jackson," was a gross distortion.

Under an agreement between lawyers, Grenada will not release any outtakes from the documentary until after the suit is heard.

And that's our look "Around the World."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Just hours ago NASA released about 14 minutes of videotape of the final moments aboard the doomed Space Shuttle Columbia. It somehow survived the disaster and documents the unsuspecting crew making routine checks in the cockpit well before any sign of trouble. CNN's John Zarrella is joining us now from Miami on this -- John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Clearly, Wolf, as you said, it's a miracle that that videotape survived. It's the only one of about 250 such videotapes that were on Columbia. That survived.

And we want to let our viewers know before we go to that tape, that in fact, NASA showed this videotape to the families before they released the videotape and got that cleared by the families before it's been made public.

Now, it is clear from the videotape that the astronauts had no idea what was about to happen to them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA (voice-over): The videotape begins with a shot of Commander Rick Husband in the background and pilot Willie McCool, closest to where the camera was mounted on the flight desk.

Husband and McCool can be heard going through standard pre- landing checklists.

RICK HUSBAND, COLUMBIA COMMANDER: Houston, Rick. We'll take another item 27, please. Oh, shoot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Looks good. Did we miss that?

HUSBAND: We're back on it. But I need to do an item 27.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, oh, oh.

ZARRELLA: The videotape is 13 minutes long. The recording begins at about 8:35 a.m. eastern time as the vehicle is over the Pacific Ocean.

The tape ends at 8:48 a.m., just as Colombia is reaching the west coast of the U.S.

From the emotions of the crew, there's no indication they knew anything was about to go wrong.

At one point mission specialist Laurel Clark takes the camera and begins videotaping.

Mission specialist Kalpana Chawla waves.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I just turned to see what you have there. ZARRELLA: The video shows only four of the seven astronauts, those seated on the flight deck area. The other three -- specialists Mike Anderson, Dave Brown and payload specialist Ilan Ramon -- were seated on the mid-deck.

As the tape progresses, the astronauts see the flash as a plasma, hot gases that form around the shuttle during the heat of re-entry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That might be some plasma now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Think so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was hard to (UNINTELLIGIBLE), actually.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We see it out the front, also.

ZARRELLA: One theory is that minutes later, these gasses entered a breach in the shuttle's left wing and ultimately led to Columbia breaking apart.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: Now it was four minutes after this videotape stopped that is when the first indications were recorded at mission control of sensor readings in that left wing going up, heat sensor readings.

NASA says this videotape does not provide them with any clues as to what might have happened after the videotape stopped running.

What we do know, however, is that the Columbia accident investigation board does now have another videotape that may be released next week. It is a compilation of videos taken by home amateur photographers, some videos taken by private academic institutions.

And this video shows pieces of the Shuttle Columbia beginning to fall off as it crosses near the west coast of the United States near San Francisco, all of the way across to Texas, and apparently at one point somewhere over Nevada.

There's a giant flash of light shown on this video and you can see a large chunk of video that presumably falls somewhere in Nevada.

That's what we're hearing from sources, Wolf, and we expect that that videotape may be released sometime next week -- Wolf.

BLITZER: John Zarrella, our Miami bureau chief. John, thanks very much. How painful to look at that tape and know what's in store, of course, for those astronauts.

The Pledge of Allegiance still unconstitutional? A federal appeals court refuses to respond to the public outcry.

Also actor turned senator turned actor, Fred Thompson weighs in on a potential war. He'll join us live. We have e-mail pouring in for him, as well.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER (voice-over): Earlier, we asked in which film did Fred Thompson make his big-screen debut? The answer: "Marie: A True Story." Thompson played himself in the movie about government corruption in Tennessee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Coming up, "star wars." Hollywood actors weigh in on a potential war with Iraq. But is anyone listening? I'll ask the former senator and the actor Fred Thompson.

But, first, let's look at some other stories making news right now in our CNN News Alert.

(NEWSBREAK)

BLITZER: The celebrity war of words over Iraq is heating up.

Former Republican Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee is the latest to join the debate. After deciding not to run for reelection last November, Thompson returned to his acting career and now stars in "Law and Order."

Following an anti-war ad featuring the "West Wing" star Martin Sheen, Thompson is starring in an ad in support of President Bush's tough policy on Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMPSON: With all the criticism of our president's policy on Iraq lately, Americans might ask what should we do with the inevitable prospect of nuclear weapons in the hands of a murderous and aggressive enemy. Can we afford to appease Saddam? Kick the can down the road?

Thank goodness we have a president with the courage to protect our country. And, when people ask what has Saddam done to us, I ask what had the 9/11 hijackers done us to before 9/11.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The Thompson ad is scheduled to begin airing Sunday here in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Miami, as well as other cities.

Senator Fred Thompson is joining us now live from Nashville.

Senator, thanks very much for joining us. So why did you decide to do this ad?

THOMPSON: Well, just to get the other side heard, Wolf. You sit around, and you listen to a lot of criticism, a lot of anti-Iraq policy ads, demonstrations in the street, and so forth, and you get the feeling that the way the argument is going one way, when, actually, I think the American people, by and large, feel the other way, and I think that it's an opportunity to kind of rally the troops a little bit and kind of remind folks why the president's doing what he's doing.

BLITZER: You're unique in the sense that you know Washington, but you also know Hollywood. As far as your political views, conservative, Republican, support of President Bush, you're a real minority, though, in Hollywood, aren't you?

THOMPSON: Oh, I guess so, if you want to call me in Hollywood, you know. I -- we shoot in New York, and I don't get out there very often, but, generically speaking, I guess you've right.

I guess I'm very much in the minority as far as these views are concerned. They're very articulate folks. They're exercising their First-Amendment rights. I appreciate that. Some of them are very intelligent, articulate people.

But I think that they're wrong and it's something that I've been studying for some years now, I've been watching, and I think the danger is growing to not only our country but the forces of order in the world, not to mention world institutions as they're thwarted, and I've been very, very concerned just as a private citizen since I've left the Senate.

So this was an opportunity to say -- get a couple of my buddies together, the guy who did my TV ads when I was in politics, and say, you know, let's get an ad in support of the president and let's just make sure that this thing -- this air campaign is not all one-sided.

BLITZER: Who's going to pay for the distribution and the airing of these ads?

THOMPSON: Friends and supporters of mine and, presumably, friends and supporters of the president. I've got some friends who are raising some funds to put it on.

BLITZER: The -- there's a new poll that's out, a CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll, asking how effective celebrities are at changing the views of government officials. Very effective, 3 percent. Somewhat effective, 31 percent. Not effective at all, 64 percent.

You've been on the receiving end, as a politician, of these ads. Where would you -- what do you think? Do you think Hollywood stars are effective in influencing public opinion?

THOMPSON: Yes, I'm having a hard time figuring what category I ought to be put in these days, but, yes, I think people listen to them. I think people weigh what they say. I'm not sure how much influence any particular person, even an elected official, has on public opinion nowadays.

Unfortunately, all of our institutions have come under a lot of criticism. There's a lot of cynicism in the country. I think it depends on the individual. I think, if a person knows what they're talking about, they've studied the issue, and they give credence to the other side -- because this is a choice of two bad decisions, I think -- two bad choices.

I think the choice of inaction is worse than the choice of action, frankly, but -- but you have to concede those things, and a person who does that and is thoughtful about it, I think, is going to be listened to, and the fact that they're from Hollywood is not going to increase or diminish that fact.

BLITZER: Martin Sheen, who plays the president in the "West Wing," the NBC program, also has his own ad. I want you to listen to what he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEEN: Don't invade Iraq. Inspections work. War won't. The virtual march on Washington will allow every American opposed to the war to stand up and be counted by calling, faxing, and e-mailing the U.S. Senate and the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: That's a pretty powerful ad, too.

THOMPSON: Yes, it's an -- that's an effective ad, I think. Inspections work, but they work for Saddam. That's the only problem with that.

BLITZER: You don't think that, if they start destroying those Al Samoud missiles, 120 of them, tomorrow, that's going to be a powerful demonstration that the inspections are, indeed, working.

THOMPSON: No, part of his -- part of his charade. Those of us who've been following it for years have been predicting the way this would play out. In the first place, they're weapons that he never should have had.

Now, as the noose starts tightening, he'll start making concessions to the extent that he can con -- keep American and Western Europeans divided. To the extent that he feels like he can divide Americans, he'll start making these kinds of concessions.

But, of course, that's just the tip of the iceberg. He has tons of VX gas, he has botulism, he has anthrax, and he is in the process of developing nuclear capability.

So this is just the tip of the iceberg and another way for him to try to chip away at the last second the resolve that this country has to -- finally, after all these years, to do something about this threat that's been developing for all these years.

BLITZER: Let's get to some -- let's get to some e-mail, Senator, before our time runs out.

This one from Vanessa. "It doesn't matter if Iraq destroys every weapon in the country. Bush has blinders on, and America is going to war with Iraq."

Is America going to war with Iraq no matter what the Iraqis do?

THOMPSON: Well, if Saddam disarms, you know, he wouldn't be Saddam anymore. So it's a virtual impossibility.

I don't think he will do that, and, if he does not do that, then the United Nations, in effect, said that we're going to go to war if he doesn't disarm. We gave him -- the United Nations gave him a -- what the United Nations called a last chance to do that.

The overwhelming majority of the -- of NATO and the European Union, I think, supports what we're doing. So it's not just us. But, yes, I think we'll go to war if he doesn't disarm.

The real issue here not only is what we're going to do with a fellow who's developing nuclear capability, but what is going to happen to our international institutions. Can a -- can a defeated tyrant thwart the terms of his surrender?

When he says, if you'll leave me in power, I'll give up my weapons of mass destruction and then he doesn't do it and we don't do anything about that, what signal does that give to the North Koreans and all the other would-be Saddams around the world.

Thank goodness, as I've said, we've got someone who's got the guts to stand up to all the forces that say let's kick the can down the road and hope for the best. We don't need a mushroom cloud to tell us we were wrong.

BLITZER: Senator Thompson, as usual, thanks very much. We miss you in the political arena here in Washington, but I have a sneaking suspicion you might be back one of these days.

Senator Fred Thompson.

THOMPSON: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks for joining us. Good luck with the TV show and the big screen as well.

While recruits on track to become elite fighting machines, the Army sends in its newest troops to use brutality at special forces training. That's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: As the world gets closer to a possible war in Iraq, we're hearing a lot about the Army special forces and the crucial role the special forces may play in the weeks and months to come.

CNN recently visited an obstacle course at Fort Bragg in North Carolina called Nasty Nick to watch troops try out for special forces training.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the beginning of six phases of training and/or transform this soldier into a special forces non- commissioned officer for ops.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Early in the program, one of the first things which they -- the candidates do is go through this obstacle course.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The folks who are successful here are physically relatively normal. These are not Arnold -- we are not looking for Arnold Schwarzeneggers. What we're looking for most is what's inside the guy...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to make a commitment either to go up or to go down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... doesn't want to quit...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go. Head over heels.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... is adaptive, has great self-confidence, and is willing to overcome obstacles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both sides, mount.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This obstacle here has produced one refusal to train. That is someone who has been incapacitated by his own fear of heights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they don't succeed here, they will -- they're still in the Army. They enlist. It's a five-year enlistment. They're qualified infantryman, so they -- they go, and they will continue to serve as an infantryman.

At end of the day, special forces is not for everybody. We are the nation's unconventional warfare warriors. These guys are going to represent the United States of America in places that they can't even imagine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go 93. You're holding everybody up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For those who are willing to stick it out, we'll teach them what they need to do to be successful, and we'll get them the green beret.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And as Colonel King (ph) pointed out, the special forces, of course, are not for everyone. During the day, our CNN crews visited Nasty Nick. Three candidates dropped out.

Is the LAPD about to blow another high-profile Hollywood murder case. We'll go live to Los Angeles to find out why the evidence against Robert Blake might have been compromised.

And San Francisco's police chief indicted. Find out what he's accused of covering up.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A new police corruption scandal is rocking North California. A grand jury has indicted San Francisco's police chief and several other members of the department.

Our Rusty Dornin is standing by with details -- Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, news of those indictments really shocked the City of San Francisco and -- but, here at the Hall of Justice, no one is talking.

The district attorney's office did cancel a news conference scheduled about the indictments this afternoon, and they're on the fifth floor that you're looking at, where the police brass reside, and those offices have been locked up like a drum.

Now the headlines about this story have been simmering for months, and it all stems from allegations of a cover-up following a brawl on the streets of San Francisco.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN (voice-over): November 20 outside a San Francisco bar, Adam Snyder and his friend, Jade Santoro, say they were attacked by two men. Snyder says the men were trying to steal a bag of take-out food. Then, Snyder, says a third man drove up in a pickup and attacked his friend.

ADAM SNYDER, ALLEGED VICTIM: Three had went up and were kicking him as he's laying on the ground, kicking him, punching him, and they picked him up, put him on the car, beat him more, and then they got in their truck and sped away.

DORNIN: Within hours police had three suspects, off-duty San Francisco police officers. One, Alex Fagan, Jr., son of the assistant police chief.

For months, the police department has been criticized for dragging its feet in the investigation. The victims were never asked to identify their assailants. The suspect officers' clothes were never tested for blood.

Then, in mid-January, a 27-year police veteran, Joe Dutto, who investigated the case was transferred. He says he was punished for pursuing the case too vigorously.

JOE DUTTO, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE INVESTIGATOR: I'm disappointed in things that others in our department have done. I think the whole picture has been lost here as to what our job is. DORNIN: Nine days and 42 witnesses later, a grand jury indicted the three off-duty police officers for assault and seven others for conspiracy, including Police Chief Earl Sanders, Assistant Police Chief Alex Fagan, the father of one of the accused, and a deputy police chief.

San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown says the indictments are dirty politics.

MAYOR WILLIE BROWN, SAN FRANCISCO: You can get anything you wish out of a grand jury. You ought to be extraordinarily careful, though, when you use that power because that power could come back to bite you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN: Now the mayor and others are saying this is politically motivated on the part of the district attorney's office. Meantime, the police here, including the police chief, could be booked just around the corner.

We do understand, however, there is a tunnel going into there so people may never see them arrive for their booking -- Wolf.

Rusty Dornin on a street in San Francisco.

Thanks, Rusty, very much for that report.

Several months ago, CNN's Charles Feldman broke the news that an author was allowed to tag along with police investigating murder charges against actor Robert Blake. The author's involvement became an issue today at Blake's preliminary hearing.

Charles is now standing by in Los Angeles to tell us how this is all playing out -- Charles.

CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The issue of the presence of Miles Corwin, Wolf, is very important to this case. He is a former "Los Angeles Times" reporter turned book author and, apparently, was along for the entire, if not -- much, if not the entire, investigation of Robert Blake.

In fact, we have a videotape that we can show you that we aired months ago when we broke this story that shows the author's presence at a search of Robert Blake's house just the day after the murder of Bonny Lee Blakely and you can hear him being introduced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... Mike Whalen (ph), Jim Boulliez (ph), Chuck Knowles (ph). My two observers is Miles Corwin and Greg Dewey (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FELDMAN: Now, in court today, Wolf, the attorneys for the prosecution argued that the defense attorney should not be allowed to raise this in the preliminary hearing, but the judge would have none of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE LLOYD NASH: I think the testimony that there was an author that was brought along in any investigation, be it this one or any other one, is significant in terms of the potential possibility, number one, of contamination of evidence, bias of the witness, all -- it's fraught with all kinds of problems I'm sure that the both of you are aware of, and I believe that it's the absolute proper subject of cross-examination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FELDMAN: And now on the witness stand is Ronald "Duffy" Hambleton, who's the second of two Hollywood stuntmen, and he's expected to testify that Robert Blake approached him to kill Bonny Lee Blakely, his wife -- Wolf.

BLITZER: We'll continue to cover this hearing.

Charles Feldman in Los Angeles.

Thanks very much.

Should the U.S. and its coalition partners strike Iraq if the second U.N. resolution is not adopted? We'll have the results of "Our Web Question of the Day" when we which back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: That's all of the time we have today. "LOU DOBBS' "MONEYLINE" is standing by.

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