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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Missing Boy Mystery on Verge of Being Solved; Iraqi Who Helped Save PFC Lynch Granted Asylum; Bush's Plan to Fight AIDS Announced
Aired April 29, 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: A heart wrenching story that's still developing right now. Is a boy missing for two years alive and soon to be reunited with his family?
And, the Iraqi who helped save Private Jessica Lynch gets a very special thank-you present from the United States government.
Also, President Bush's plan to fight AIDS around the world. It's called ABC, but some want that to mean anything but condoms. It's all starting right now on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Just what bin Laden wanted, the U.S. military plans a major move out of Saudi Arabia.
Why did the U.S. cut a deal with a terror group?
Who fired first? At least 15 Iraqis are dead, including children.
SGT. SARGON MACKSUD, U.S. ARMY: It's either them or me and I took the shot, sir, and I'm still here talking to you.
BLITZER: A journalist's journey through hell, why he went into hiding in Baghdad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the most difficult and dangerous place that I ever worked.
BLITZER: And what are the odds, a missing boy mystery on the verge of being solved.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the information is true, the child will be reunited with his family very soon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: CNN live this hour WOLF BLITZER REPORTS live from the nation's capital with correspondents from around the world. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts now.
BLITZER: It's Tuesday, April 29, 2003. Hello from Washington, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting. We begin with a late development from Iraq on a suspected connected between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. U.S. troops say they've captured a terror suspect, a member of a group affiliated with al Qaeda.
Our National Security Correspondent David Ensor broke this story her on CNN. He's joining me now live with details -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, senior administration officials are saying that this is a member of an al Qaeda affiliated terror group operating in Iraq that has been captured by U.S. forces.
Sources say the individual, who they did not name, is a member of a group operating in the west of Baghdad under the leadership of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian believed by the U.S. to have been the mastermind of the assassination of American diplomat Lawrence Foley in Amman last October, and to have plotted additional unconventional attacks.
Zarqawi was said to have received medical treatment in Baghdad in the spring of 2002 after being injured in Afghanistan during the war. And, you may recall, that at the United Nations in February, Secretary of State Colin Powell said that Zarqawi's al Qaeda affiliated group of nearly two dozen extremists was allowed to operate in Baghdad and the fact that it was allowed to was evidence in his view of ties between al Qaeda and Iraq.
Now, officials are saying they do not know yet whether the newly- captured individual had any connections with the government of Iraq but that will be question number one, Wolf, as the interrogation of this new prisoner gets underway.
BLITZER: David Ensor with the latest, thanks for that dramatic development, David, very much.
Meanwhile, another former official on the Pentagon's most wanted list is now in U.S. custody. Walid Hamid Tawfiq al-Tikriti is a former governor of Basra. He was number 44 on the list and the eight of clubs in the card deck given to U.S. troops to help them identify former regime leaders. Tawfiq al-Tikriti turned himself in to Iraqi National Congress members and U.S. military representatives.
And, the U.S. Central Command says the country's former oil minister also has surrendered. Amir Rashid Muhammad al-Ubaydi was also an adviser to Saddam Hussein. He's number 47 on the most wanted list and the six of spades in the deck. He's married, by the way, to the microbiologist nicknamed "Doctor Germ" for her involvement in Iraq's bioweapons program.
Now, to a dramatic adjustment to the U.S. military posture in the Persian Gulf, is it a surrender, a setback, or mission accomplished? It's all in the eye of the beholder. The Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made a major announcement today during a stopover in Saudi Arabia. It marks an historic change in the longstanding U.S. Saudi relationship. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): it's what Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda operatives have been demanding since the end of the first Persian Gulf War a dozen years ago, the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia. This is how bin Laden put it during an interview with CNN in 1997.
OSAMA BIN LADEN (through translator): The country of the two holy places, Mecca and Medina, in our religion it is not permissible for any non-Muslim to stay in Arabia.
BLITZER: Over the years, bin Laden and his fellow terrorists launched numerous strikes against U.S. targets with the stated design of getting American forces out of Saudi Arabia, including the twin embassy bombings in East Africa, the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, and eventually 9/11.
Ironically, even though bin Laden's al Qaeda movement and its Taliban backers have been crushed in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has now announced the huge Air Force operation at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia will move on to neighboring Qatar we're told.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: By mutual agreement, the aircraft that had been involved will, of course, now be able to leave.
BLITZER: Rumsfeld says it was a decision jointly made with the Saudis. He points out that with the demise of Saddam Hussein's regime, there's no longer any need to patrol Iraq's so-called southern no-fly zone.
But, as was made clear to me when I visited the Prince Sultan base last December, the Saudis are extremely sensitive to the large scale U.S. military presence there. Given their domestic political sensitivities, the Saudis pointedly refused to permit U.S. journalists to be embedded at the base during the Iraq war.
The Saudi royal leadership will clearly be relieved to say goodbye to the U.S. forces and warplanes now that the Iraqi threat is gone. Most of the U.S. forces are expected to be out of the kingdom by the end of the summer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And, news of the planned pull out came just as the U.S. Central Command also confirmed it signed a cease-fire agreement with a group which the U.S. has labeled a terror organization.
The People's Mujahaddin is a group of Iranian rebels long based in Iraq which has carried out attacks that have killed civilians. It was added to the State Department's terror list in 1997. The truce calls for the U.S. military and the Mujahaddin to refrain from hostile acts against one another.
A Pentagon official says the deal, and I'm quoting now, is a "battlefield agreement designed to bring about a complete cessation of hostilities with the group." The Pentagon says the agreement does not change the State Department's designation of the group as a terror organization.
What started as a protest against U.S. forces in an Iraqi school, ended up as a gun battle that left at least 15 Iraqis dead, including three children. In the words of one U.S. soldier, all hell broke loose. CNN's Karl Penhaul is joining us now live in Baghdad -- Karl.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Wolf. Yes, residents of a neighborhood in the city of Fallujah just west of Baghdad tonight mourning their dead and nursing their wounded. The International Committee of the Red Cross has told us so far 15 people are confirmed dead, 53 other wounded in that incident which took place as civilians demonstrated against the U.S. presence in a school in their neighborhood. They wanted them to leave so school classes could start again.
There are conflicting reports about what happened. U.S. soldiers say that the civilians opened fire first. The civilians say the troops opened fire first. Here's what we found out during a trip today to the city of Fallujah, Wolf.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PENHAUL (voice-over): Iraqi families bury their relatives, killed when U.S. soldiers opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators outside a school in Fallujah. The wounded fill the hospital of this city, just west of Baghdad. This man, Muthanna Salim says he was trying to close his front gate when gunfire erupted around the elementary school opposite his home.
"The Americans fired at me and cut my foot. My brother came out to carry me but he was shot dead," he says. "My other brother took the car out to rescue me but he was also wounded." His wife and mother also wounded.
Some 250 protesters had marched on this school after dark Monday their demands that U.S. troops camped out here should withdraw to allow pupils and teachers to return to class now that war is over.
Lessons were halted here when the war began. U.S. troops said the empty buildings provided an ideal base from which to police and secure the surrounding neighborhoods. The demonstrators admit they threw rocks but U.S. soldiers said some in the crowd opened fire first with Kalashnikov assault rifles.
MACKSUD: I just shot at what I saw and what I saw was targets, targets with weapons. They were going to harm me. It was either them or me and I took the shot, sir.
PENHAUL: The U.S. soldiers say they returned fire with sniper rifles, assault rifles and machineguns. This taxi was caught in the shooting. Neighboring houses were hit by heavy caliber machineguns.
(on camera): U.S. Army commanders have announced there will be an investigation into the deaths. That's unlikely to calm tempers here in Fallujah or elsewhere in Iraq where calls are growing for coalition forces to leave.
(voice-over): Angry residents staged impromptu protests at the deaths, taunting no to America, murderers, and down with President Bush. Raid al-Kateeb lost his cousin in the shootout. He says they weren't even taking part in the protest. "Since this whole matter started" he says "it was clear that the Americans were a force of occupation."
As night fell, troops of the 82nd Airborne Division bowed to the locals' demands. They climbed aboard trucks and humvees and pulled out. No goodbyes just jeers and insults from the crowd leaving residents to take back their school to cries of Allah Akbar, God is great.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PENHAUL: Of course by leaving, the U.S. troops have removed a potential flashpoint but to a large extent the damage has already been done -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Karl Penhaul with the latest from Baghdad, Karl thanks very much.
And joining me now to discuss all these late-breaking developments in Iraq, as well as homeland security, is Congresswoman Jane Harman. She's a Democrat from California, ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee. Congresswoman, thanks very much for joining us.
What happened to all the fears about the Arab street rising up, terror resulting against the United States if the U.S. went to war? That doesn't, at least so far, seem to have materialized.
REP. JANE HARMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: It doesn't and I think that we knew going into this that there were two messages. There was one for the Arab street and there was another one by elected leaders and others to us that they would not mind if Saddam Hussein were gone.
I was just watching that last story, Wolf. That's a sad story and it's clear to me that winning the war is much easier than winning the peace and we've got to find better techniques to manage crowds. We can't just be shooting innocent people.
BLITZER: But if U.S. troops -- if U.S. troops feel that they're being attacked, that they're being endangered, they have the right to shoot back.
HARMAN: They have the right to shoot back but one would hope we could explore other options, tear gas and other ways to calm a crowd other than killing innocent kids, and obviously if I were -- encountered somebody trying to create a problem in there, I would shoot through innocent crowds and then have our troops respond and that's not something we want to keep going.
BLITZER: Well, I know there's going to be an investigation so they'll get to the bottom of what exactly happened there.
Can Americans who are watching this program right now rest easier as far as the terror threat against them is concerned?
HARMAN: They can rest easier as far as Iraq -- the war in Iraq is concerned.
BLITZER: Al Qaeda, Iraq, international terrorism.
HARMAN: My answer to that would be no, not in terms of the homeland security threat. Al Qaeda is still alive and well. I heard that story that there still may be links with Zarqawi and others. We don't know what happened to Osama bin Laden. There are embedded terrorists in the United States. We're looking for them. The FBI is trying to do a good job.
I was in Los Angeles for two days last week with Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge and he's trying to do a good job; however, bottom line, there are still terrorists in the U.S. and we need well- funded first responders and we need one national strategy for homeland security, which includes a vulnerability assessment of (unintelligible).
BLITZER: Since 9/11 there hasn't been, thank God, a major terrorist attack against the United States. Who gets the credit for that?
HARMAN: Well, I think our officials get the credit, especially in our home towns as Tom Ridge would call them. They've been enormously vigilant. Our public gets the credit. They've been enormously vigilant. We have taken down a few cells, but I don't assume it's over. There is this loose horizontal network of terrorists.
I hope we find the WMD in Iraq for two reasons. One it was the moral basis on which we waged this war, but the second is if it is there, and I believe it is there, I don't want it transferred when no one is paying attention to some of these terrorist groups.
BLITZER: So, if the terror network in Afghanistan has been crushed, now in Iraq it's been crushed, where else could it find the kind of support to pose significant threats against Americans?
HARMAN: Well, I wouldn't say it's crushed in Afghanistan. It's still not a very stable society. Kabul is safe but the warlords are still in power all around the country. So, I would say that these terrorist cells are all over the world. I mean we've all learned a lot about this. Who would have suspected Hamburg, Germany, pre 9/11? Who would suspect parts of London where we found a ricin threat? So, it's still there.
BLITZER: Too early to rest easy, is that what you're saying?
HARMAN: Right, and let's congratulate people for our successes.
BLITZER: But it's still -- it's still -- it's still okay to rest a little bit easier but not necessarily to completely relax.
HARMAN: Right but it's still important to do our homework at the federal level, do this vulnerability assessment so that we make sure we're putting our resources against our vulnerabilities.
BLITZER: All right, Congresswoman Jane Harman thanks very much for joining us.
HARMAN: Thank you, good to have you back and safe.
BLITZER: Thank you very much. Here's your chance to weigh in on the aftermath of the war in Iraq. Our web question of the day is this: "Should the United States pull its troops out of the entire Middle East region?" We'll have the results later in this broadcast. Please 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.
When we come back, missing boy mystery, is a boy found in Chicago the same boy kidnapped two years ago from North Carolina? This is a heart-wrenching story. We'll have the latest on the investigation.
Also, an Iraqi good Samaritan, he led U.S. troops to the former POW Jessica Lynch. He risked his own life in the process. Find out what happened to him since that rescue.
And, good health care or bad religion, President Bush unveils his plan to stop AIDS and he's drawing fire from some of his own allies. We'll hear from both sides of this debate involving the use of condoms to fight AIDS. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: After a two and a half year wait, the family of a missing North Carolina boy may have a reason to be optimistic. Police say a boy found in Illinois could be Tristin "Buddy" Myers and DNA tests may prove the boy's identity. CNN's Chicago Bureau Chief Jeff Flock is keeping track of this very, very emotional story -- Jeff.
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CHICAGO BUREAU CHIEF: Wolf, I just got off a bit ago with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. They have custody of this boy now. They had been, they tell us, repeatedly trying to reach the man who dropped this boy off at a hospital in Evanston, Illinois in February. They have been unable to reach him and they have not yet heard from him.
He said at the time he was the boy's father, but as you report authorities now think they may have solved the case of a boy who has been disappeared from North Carolina for now two years.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONNA MYERS, MISSING BOY'S AUNT: It's been two years, six months, and 23 days today and we're just looking forward to it, praying that it is him.
FLOCK (voice-over): This is Donna Myers' then 4-year-old nephew Buddy. The question is, is this? Buddy Myers wandered away from his aunt's home here in Sampson County, North Carolina, in October, 2000. Despite searches and more than a thousand leads, no trace.
Then in February, this boy, about six years old, is brought here to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, Illinois by a man who said his name was Ricky Quick, that he was the boy's father, and called him Eli. Dirty, and unable to answer questions about his family or where he was born, the hospital got suspicious.
DR. WILLIAM MALONEY, ST. FRANCIS HOSPITAL: We have to notify authorities and sometimes take children away from their caregivers but we have to do that to protect them and ensure their safety.
FLOCK: It turns out a Ricky Quick, who lived here at this apartment building in Chicago, was wanted for shoplifting. A resident tells CNN affiliate WGN he often saw a little blonde-haired boy here and they called him Buddy.
ROBERT HUBERT, NEIGHBOR: He wasn't really scared. It didn't seem like he was scared of anything, you know. It was just mainly, you know, just playing around, you know, had fun.
FLOCK: After Ricky Quick disappeared, DCFS checked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. They turned up a link to Buddy Myers and called North Carolina.
SGT. DAROLD COX, SAMPSON COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: They said we think we found your child.
FLOCK: Sergeant Darold Cox, having been down hundreds of dead ends, is optimistic this time. The family has even made a welcome home poster with Ricky's picture, a picture that looks an awful lot like that of a boy in Chicago supposedly called Eli.
COX: The chin, the ears, eyes, speech impediment.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FLOCK: Indeed, Wolf, the authorities in North Carolina have been told that Eli, the boy known as Eli Quick even has a speech impediment that would be similar to the one that Buddy Myers had. Of course, it's DNA testing that will really tell the tale on this.
Samples of Buddy Myers' mother have been brought to Chicago for testing. Authorities say it could take several weeks for those tests to be done but we know that in some high profile cases, like the Laci Peterson case for example, those results can come back quicker.
For now whoever he is, Eli or Buddy, is in foster care here in the Chicago area according to DCFS -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And I assume that there's been no communication between this boy and his family if, in fact, it is his family back in North Carolina. That could be premature and devastating if it turns out not to be the real thing.
FLOCK: You're right on target with that. They don't want that to happen. They've had several other leads that looked really good in this case and the family has been through a lot and it would not be good for this boy either to reunite him with somebody who really wasn't his family, so they don't want to do that until they're sure.
BLITZER: So, the agony of waiting will continue, at least a little bit longer
FLOCK: You said it.
BLITZER: Thanks. I'm sure each hour will seem like a week for this family, Jeff Flock with a heart-wrenching story.
Let's get a little bit more now on this. CNN's Mike Brooks is a former law enforcement official himself. He's joining us from the CNN Center in Atlanta to talk more about this.
First of all the DNA tests, Mike, why does it take six weeks potentially to make this match if, in fact, there is a match?
MIKE BROOKS, FORMER LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL: Well, most forensic labs, Wolf, will say that is the most time that it will take to do a DNA test. But as Jeff just pointed out in the Laci Peterson case in Modesto when I was out there just last week, they were able to do a DNA test in three to four days, and the samples that they had, they took a sample from the mother of Buddy Myers.
They took it about two weeks ago and law enforcement says it was a sample of blood and they took a DNA test from the young boy on Monday which was a swabbing on the inside of his cheek which is used a lot in DNA testing and was sent to a lab in Burlington, North Carolina, Lab Corp (ph).
And, again, they will say it will take six weeks but when, in fact, they could probably come back with a pretty good idea and have a pretty good idea within maybe three to four days.
BLITZER: Three to four days, so if they started this process on Monday, by the end of this week perhaps we might be able to know if, in fact, there is a match.
BROOKS: There is a very good possibility of that.
BLITZER: That would be a very dramatic development. I know you've been speaking with your sources over at the FBI and elsewhere. What are they saying to you?
BROOKS: Well, I spoke with supervisor Special Agent Eric Flowers (ph) from the Charlotte Office of the FBI earlier today and asked him what their role in this was. He said that, yes, they are involved in the investigation but they -- but as an investigator I know that they have to wait until the DNA comes back because if they get a positive match on a DNA with the woman and the boy who was reported missing back in October of 2000, then they will have a possible kidnapping case.
If they don't, then they go back to Chicago and it becomes a local law enforcement case of possibly child abandonment, child abuse, but we'll have to wait until the DNA tests come back to make that decision.
BLITZER: Mike Brooks, once again thanks very much.
Much more coverage coming up, including the Palestinians extending an olive branch perhaps with the new prime minister, will the Israelis meet them along the way? The latest twists and turns on the road to peace.
Plus, hiding in Baghdad life on the line, meet an unbelievable reporter who stayed for the war with a death threat hanging immediately over his head.
And, they may help prevent the spread of AIDS but should President Bush drop condoms from taxpayer funding, that debate, much more coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. The Palestinian parliament today endorsed a new government headed by Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. He's commonly known as Abu Mazen. His victory follows a power struggle with the Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and it sets the stage potentially for U.S.-led peace efforts and visits to the region by the Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Indeed, the State Department announced today that Powell will start this week with visits to Syria and Lebanon. A trip to the Palestinian areas, as well as Israel, is expected to follow.
We get more now on the changing guard on the West Bank.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kelly Wallace in Ramallah where Palestinians are hailing this as a critical and an historic day and sources are telling CNN that the so-called quartet, representatives of the United States, the United Nations, European Union, and Russia, convening a meeting this very night to discuss when that road map for Middle East peace will be released.
Sources say it could be presented to the Israelis and the Palestinians in the next 24 to 36 hours, this all coming after the Palestinian parliament approved Abu Mazen as the new prime minister and his 24-members. Abu Mazen is someone who has long said that the armed struggle against the Israelis has not helped the Palestinian cause.
And in his first major address, he said he rejects terrorism in all its forms. He called for a political solution with the Israelis and he also said a major goal of his will be ensuring that weapons are only held by those who are focusing on Palestinian security. But Abu Mazen faces a number of challenges. Number one, how much power will Palestinian President Yasser Arafat try to assert behind the scenes, and number two will he be able to stand up to the radical Palestinian groups responsible for attacks against Israelis, groups who are saying they will not disarm until Israeli occupation comes to an end.
So far, the Israeli response has been a bit cautious. The foreign minister of Israel, Sylvan Shalome (ph) saying Abu Mazen's speech represents "a great start." However, he says, the Israelis will judge Abu Mazen's actions, the Israelis saying if he fights terrorism and stops incitement then the Palestinians will find in Israel a "true partner for peace."
I'm Kelly Wallace reporting, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Kelly.
U.S. forces beef up security but will it be enough to win the peace? We'll go live to the Iraqi capital.
Plus, journalist on the run from Saddam Hussein, how did he stay alive in Baghdad during the war? A harrowing tale, that's still to come.
And they're promoted by doctors but should President Bush use taxpayer money for condoms in his AIDS prevention program, a debate that's coming up as well. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: CNN live this hour, WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, live from the nation's capital with correspondents from around the world. Here now is Wolf Blitzer.
BLITZER: Welcome back. He risked his life to bring you reports from the war in Iraq and even hid from Saddam Hussein's henchmen, a story of survival, a dramatic story indeed. That's coming up.
But first, for the latest headlines, let's go to CNN's Arthel Neville. She's in the CNN newsroom in Atlanta.
(NEWSBREAK)
BLITZER: Thanks, very much, Arthel.
U.S. military commanders are promising to restore law and order to Baghdad once and for all by deploying an additional 4,000 U.S. military police and soldiers.
Our Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson is joining us now live from Baghdad with details -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's certainly the case, those troops that are going to be assigned to Baghdad, many of them we are told will be military police, MPs.
They will be patrolling the streets of this city along with 20,000 other troops under the commander of Major General Buford Blunt (ph). He said today that his top priority in Baghdad is to restore law and order, to bring security to the city.
This was a day when at least one U.S. soldier, a civil affairs officer, was shot in the center of Baghdad but it's not just the U.S. troops that are under threat here. Many citizens of Baghdad still feel unsafe about the situation here.
About 30 or 40 miles west of Baghdad a final conclusion to overnight fighting, on Monday night troops of the 82nd Airborne have pulled out of a school in the town of Fallujah. Shooting broke out on Monday night and it's not clear who started the shooting.
Local residents say the U.S. troops started shooting at them when they approached the school that the 82nd Airborne were using as a base in Fallujah. The members of the 82nd Airborne say the crowd started shooting at them but the International Committee for the Red Cross say that 15 people died in that shooting and 50 or so injured. That is their report. Now, the troops have pulled out of that building.
Also today, coalition forces getting more information from two more people captured today. The former governor of Basra, Walid Hamid Tawfiq al-Tikriti handed himself in to the Iraqi National Congress today. That was a deal that was negotiated over a couple of days. He went there by car with his father. Members of U.S. military were there when he handed himself over. But he was only the governor of Basra for a very short period. Maybe he has only limited information to hand over.
Certainly, General Amir Rasheed, the former oil minister who was captured by U.S. forces Monday may have more information that will be valuable to the coalition at this time. He was head, in the 1990s, of the missile element of the Iraqi officials who were dealing with the U.N. inspectors at that time, the UNSCOM mission, so maybe on the weapons of mass destruction front he may have a lot to tell the coalition forces -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Nic Robertson with the latest from Baghdad, thanks Nic very much.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi lawyer who tipped off U.S. forces to the location of the former POW Private First Class Jessica Lynch has been granted asylum here in the United States and he's already been offered a job.
Our Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena is joining us now live with details, a pretty good story here.
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is. It's a feel good story. The paperwork was finalized in Arlington, Virginia just yesterday.
Mohammed al-Rehaief and his family are all in the United States ready and eager to start their new lives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA (voice-over): U.S. officials say it was an act of sheer bravery that led U.S. forces to former POW Army Private Jessica Lynch. After spotting her in a hospital in Nasiriya, an Iraqi lawyer, known to the world only as Mohammed, risked his life to get word to U.S. Marines.
A hero in the United States, Mohammed feared for his life. He's seen here with his face obscured under U.S. protection in Iraq. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge says Mohammed al-Rahaief is now in the United States with his wife and his 5-year-old daughter. All have been granted asylum.
TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We found it appropriate inasmuch he liberated one of the liberators that we could send a signal to Iraq with the rest of the world that that is -- that is a very extraordinary thing to do and America appreciates his courage.
ARENA: Mohammed's story sparked an immediate grassroots effort to get him here. A former Marine in Cleveland started gathering signatures online to grant him U.S. citizenship and a group called Friends of Mohammed started working to bring him to West Virginia, home of the Lynch family. While Mohammed and his family did gain entry into the United States, officials say his case is unique and should not be viewed as a precedent for U.S. policy concerning Iraq.
PAUL VIRTUE, FMR. INS GENERAL COUNSEL: And it's not unique when the U.S. government identifies oftentimes people in dangerous situations. They've assisted them in fleeing their country and have afforded them protection, but it's a pretty rare occurrence and so, yes, I think there was special treatment provided in this case.
ARENA: Officials say Mohammed has not yet met with Private Lynch, the young woman he risked his life for, but they say he plans to. She is still recovering at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: Now, as for Mohammed and his future here, CNN has learned that the Livingston Group, a lobbying group in Washington led by former Representative Bob Livingston, has offered Mohammed a job but there is no word yet on whether he has accepted -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, a feel good story, we'll continue to follow the fallout from that. Thanks very much Kelli Arena for that story.
And the story of a lifetime for one reporter in Baghdad accused of being an American spy. He'll tell us how he managed to elude capture by hiding in plain sight. You won't want to miss this.
Plus, a condom conundrum why President Bush's AIDS policy is now coming under fire from some conservatives -- stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: It seems all of us will never forget scenes from the first days of the war in Iraq. Since then we've heard some amazing stories of survival from troops and civilians both American and Iraqi.
My next guest has quite a story of his own. Reporter John Burns of "The New York Times" was accused of being a CIA agent by Iraqi authorities but managed to avoid being taken into custody by hiding out in the Palestine Hotel where so many other journalists were based.
John is joining us now live from Baghdad. An amazing story that you wrote about in "The New York Times" even though you buried it at the end of a long, long story I note. But tell our viewers in summary what exactly happened to you, John.
JOHN BURNS, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": A number of us had been on a kind of special list, I think for some time because we had written about terror and fear under Saddam Hussein and so I was on a watch list.
They came for me at midnight on April the 1st, intelligence agents, so they identified themselves, told me I was a CIA agent, I was under arrest. I had to cooperate. It wasn't clear what they meant by that and that failure to cooperate would mean that they would take me away to a place from which I would not return.
These people then took everything I had, my equipment, my money, and then disappeared. As you can imagine as soon a I could I slipped away into a darkened stairwell and it left me wondering if these were serious intelligence officers, why would they have left me alone? Was it just a shakedown? Did they just want to steal my equipment? I'll never know. I would like to know.
But I also want to say that I'm not much a believer in the journalist as hero. In places like this there are much greater bravery shown by ordinary Iraqis and others and I think it's worth remembering that at least 12, perhaps 15 journalists died in this war, most of them on their way to Baghdad. So, I think that I got off relatively lightly.
BLITZER: Well, how many days did you have to stay hidden inside that hotel in order to survive?
BURNS: Well, as you know, the Marines, the 3-4 task force of the Marine Corps arrived her on the afternoon of April the 9th. That was my liberation as well as, if you'll excuse me, the liberation of the people of Baghdad, and I have never been happier to see an American tank than I was that afternoon.
BLITZER: You would have thought, John, that after what you had gone through you would want to get out of Baghdad as quickly as possible and go back home, but you're still there, talk about that.
BURNS: Well, of course, you know, we had anticipated this for so long. We wanted to see how it would work out, we in "The New York Times" now have a fairly large crew of people here. I have some responsibility for helping run our affairs here. I will be leaving and I must say like so many of us who have been here a long time, I dream of the blue of the ocean and of green fields and all those things we don't see in Baghdad.
BLITZER: Did you ever think that this was the end of John Burns in the darkest moment?
BURNS: I had always assumed that being a "New York Times" correspondent, being a CNN correspondent, being a "Washington Post" correspondent afforded us a measure of protection but we also knew that the time would come when the real lunatics would take over and after that there was no knowing where it would go.
We know now a story far more dramatic than mine that Matt McAllester of "Newsweek" -- "Newsday," I beg your pardon, who was arrested and taken to Abu Ghraib prison, the heart of Saddam's gulag, in the early days of the war because he had no approved visa and spent a week there blindfolded under interrogation.
Matt McAllester is back here now and 48 hours ago was back in that prison watching the unearthing of the bodies of his foreign Arab cellmates, people who were with him, whose offense was, like his in part, that they had hand held (unintelligible) satellite telephones. So, you'd have to say that Matt McAllester and his photographer, Moises Saman had a very, very narrow escape.
BLITZER: Well, you did as well. John Burns, you've already won two Pulitzer Prizes. I sense number three might be on the way. You did a brilliant job. I read every word you wrote from Baghdad as so many of our other viewers did. We look forward to everything else you're going to be writing down the road. Congratulations to you and all of your colleagues.
BURNS: I always wanted to be interviewed by you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you very much, John Burns, a brilliant correspondent from "The New York Times."
BURNS: Thank you.
BLITZER: Did some outstanding, courageous work for all of us in Baghdad.
When we come back should your tax dollars be used to promote condom use to fight AIDS? Coming up why some of President Bush's supporters are giving him grief. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: In a moment should your taxpayer dollars be used to distribute condoms to fight AIDS around the world? We'll get to that in just a moment.
But first let's take a look at some other stories making headlines around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Progress on the nuclear issue in talks between North and South Korea. In a joint statement, the two countries agreed to resolve peacefully the crisis that has erupted over Pyongyang's nuclear program.
Russia is at odds again with Britain and the United States over Iraq. President Vladimir Putin told Prime Minister Tony Blair he's against lifting U.N. sanctions until the issue of weapons of mass destruction is resolved.
Residents of a village near Beijing attacked the school they thought was being used to house people with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. China is reporting more than 3,300 SARS cases.
The United Nations is predicting Afghanistan will harvest about 4,000 tons of opium this year making it once again the world's top producer. Under the Taliban, poppy production was virtually eliminated.
Sirens wailed as Israelis observed two minutes of silence today remembering the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust. They also marked the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
And two American and one Russian astronauts are wrapping up their five-month mission on the International Space Station. They were originally scheduled to return on the shuttle Columbia. Instead they'll use a Russian capsule that arrived yesterday with a fresh crew.
President Bush is calling on the Congress to pass his plan to fight AIDS in Africa. In a ceremony over at the White House earlier today, the president touted his $15 billion plan as a way to turn the tide against AIDS. It's modeled on a program in Uganda known as the ABC approach, abstinence, being faithful in marriage, and condoms.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: President Museveni has begun a comprehensive program in 1986 with a prevention strategy emphasizing abstinence and marital fidelity, as well as condoms to prevent HIV transmission. The results are encouraging.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: The president's AIDS initiative is under fire from some members of his own party. Among other things, they're not pleased with its emphasis on condom use.
With me now to talk more about the initiative, some of the criticism that it's getting are our two guests, Democratic Congresswoman Nita Lowey of New York, and Republican Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana.
You're not happy with the focus on condoms, are you Congressman Pence?
REP. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: Wolf, I'm not. I and a number of other conservative pro-family members of Congress are very concerned that the global AIDS bill that will come to the floor of the Congress this week simply does not reflect the values that the president described at that ceremony at the White House today.
We tried in the committee to put a special emphasis on the Uganda-style program, the abstinence, be faithful, and then condoms program. We tried to create a conscience clause that would protect faith-based organizations. That's not currently in this bill as it goes to the floor but we're hoping the president will lead us in that direction.
BLITZER: Congresswoman Lowey, why is Congressman Pence wrong?
REP. NITA LOWEY (D), NEW YORK: Well, first of all, I want to congratulate the president for supporting the bill. It's a very important bill to deal with the scourge of AIDS around the world.
Adolescents everywhere should be encouraged to put off sexual activity until they're adults; however, the ABC approach is really important because every community is different, every individual is different, and to encourage adolescence, to be abstinent as long as they can and then encourage them to be faithful to one partner doesn't work in some parts of the world because their marital partner may have many sexual relationships.
And, therefore, condoms are important as well. So, the whole package, ABC, abstinence, be faithful, and condom use, worked well in Uganda and we can't put all our eggs in one basket and I congratulate the president.
BLITZER: Congressman Pence, if it will save lives to promote condom use and to use U.S. taxpayer dollars in the process isn't it worth it?
PENCE: Well, Wolf, I join my colleague from New York in commending the president for his compassionate leadership on this issue, but what will save lives is precisely the program that Congresswoman Lowey was describing and the president described, the focus on abstinence first, then being faithful in your marriage, then as a last resort distributing condoms.
I say it with some lament. That's not currently in this bill. The bill right now in the committee completely rejected an emphasis on that prioritization of values that really work, Wolf.
BLITZER: Congressman Pence, should taxpayer money be used to distribute condoms in Uganda or anyplace else?
PENCE: I don't think there's any pro-family American who would object to that as long as we're able to deliver that consistent with our values and consistent with what we know works. You know, Wolf, in the four African nations that exclusively use condoms as a means for AIDS prevention that's where you've seen the incidence of AIDS skyrocket in Africa, in Kenya and Zimbabwe.
BLITZER: All right. PENCE: The ABC program focusing on emphasis, on abstinence, and on traditional moral values has made a difference in Uganda and it's the prescription the president wants us to follow now.
BLITZER: I'll give you the last word, Congresswoman Lowey.
LOWEY: Well, that's why ABC, abstinence, be faithful, and condom distribution has worked so well in Uganda. It's the combination that works so successfully where they have reduced AIDS from 15 percent to five percent. So, again congratulations to the president, I'm glad he stood firm. It's a good bill and I'm very pleased that we can address the terrible pandemic of AIDS throughout the world.
BLITZER: The president getting praise from a liberal Democrat and a conservative Republican, not often happening but at least on this day some praise, more praise from the Democrat than from the Republican, though. Thanks to both of you for joining us very much.
LOWEY: Thank you.
PENCE: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Our web question of the day is this: "Should the United States pull its troops out of the entire Middle East region?" Please vote now at cnn.com/wolf.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our web question of the day. "Should the United States pull its troops out of the entire Middle East region?" Look at this, 55 percent of you say yes, 45 percent of you say no. Remember this is not necessarily a scientific poll. Indeed, it's not a scientific poll.
Reminder, we're here every day 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Please join me then as well as Noon Eastern. See you again tomorrow.
For the latest, let's turn it over to Lou Dobbs. He's standing by in New York.
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Helped Save PFC Lynch Granted Asylum; Bush's Plan to Fight AIDS Announced>
Aired April 29, 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: A heart wrenching story that's still developing right now. Is a boy missing for two years alive and soon to be reunited with his family?
And, the Iraqi who helped save Private Jessica Lynch gets a very special thank-you present from the United States government.
Also, President Bush's plan to fight AIDS around the world. It's called ABC, but some want that to mean anything but condoms. It's all starting right now on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Just what bin Laden wanted, the U.S. military plans a major move out of Saudi Arabia.
Why did the U.S. cut a deal with a terror group?
Who fired first? At least 15 Iraqis are dead, including children.
SGT. SARGON MACKSUD, U.S. ARMY: It's either them or me and I took the shot, sir, and I'm still here talking to you.
BLITZER: A journalist's journey through hell, why he went into hiding in Baghdad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the most difficult and dangerous place that I ever worked.
BLITZER: And what are the odds, a missing boy mystery on the verge of being solved.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the information is true, the child will be reunited with his family very soon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: CNN live this hour WOLF BLITZER REPORTS live from the nation's capital with correspondents from around the world. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts now.
BLITZER: It's Tuesday, April 29, 2003. Hello from Washington, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting. We begin with a late development from Iraq on a suspected connected between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. U.S. troops say they've captured a terror suspect, a member of a group affiliated with al Qaeda.
Our National Security Correspondent David Ensor broke this story her on CNN. He's joining me now live with details -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, senior administration officials are saying that this is a member of an al Qaeda affiliated terror group operating in Iraq that has been captured by U.S. forces.
Sources say the individual, who they did not name, is a member of a group operating in the west of Baghdad under the leadership of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian believed by the U.S. to have been the mastermind of the assassination of American diplomat Lawrence Foley in Amman last October, and to have plotted additional unconventional attacks.
Zarqawi was said to have received medical treatment in Baghdad in the spring of 2002 after being injured in Afghanistan during the war. And, you may recall, that at the United Nations in February, Secretary of State Colin Powell said that Zarqawi's al Qaeda affiliated group of nearly two dozen extremists was allowed to operate in Baghdad and the fact that it was allowed to was evidence in his view of ties between al Qaeda and Iraq.
Now, officials are saying they do not know yet whether the newly- captured individual had any connections with the government of Iraq but that will be question number one, Wolf, as the interrogation of this new prisoner gets underway.
BLITZER: David Ensor with the latest, thanks for that dramatic development, David, very much.
Meanwhile, another former official on the Pentagon's most wanted list is now in U.S. custody. Walid Hamid Tawfiq al-Tikriti is a former governor of Basra. He was number 44 on the list and the eight of clubs in the card deck given to U.S. troops to help them identify former regime leaders. Tawfiq al-Tikriti turned himself in to Iraqi National Congress members and U.S. military representatives.
And, the U.S. Central Command says the country's former oil minister also has surrendered. Amir Rashid Muhammad al-Ubaydi was also an adviser to Saddam Hussein. He's number 47 on the most wanted list and the six of spades in the deck. He's married, by the way, to the microbiologist nicknamed "Doctor Germ" for her involvement in Iraq's bioweapons program.
Now, to a dramatic adjustment to the U.S. military posture in the Persian Gulf, is it a surrender, a setback, or mission accomplished? It's all in the eye of the beholder. The Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made a major announcement today during a stopover in Saudi Arabia. It marks an historic change in the longstanding U.S. Saudi relationship. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): it's what Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda operatives have been demanding since the end of the first Persian Gulf War a dozen years ago, the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia. This is how bin Laden put it during an interview with CNN in 1997.
OSAMA BIN LADEN (through translator): The country of the two holy places, Mecca and Medina, in our religion it is not permissible for any non-Muslim to stay in Arabia.
BLITZER: Over the years, bin Laden and his fellow terrorists launched numerous strikes against U.S. targets with the stated design of getting American forces out of Saudi Arabia, including the twin embassy bombings in East Africa, the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, and eventually 9/11.
Ironically, even though bin Laden's al Qaeda movement and its Taliban backers have been crushed in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has now announced the huge Air Force operation at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia will move on to neighboring Qatar we're told.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: By mutual agreement, the aircraft that had been involved will, of course, now be able to leave.
BLITZER: Rumsfeld says it was a decision jointly made with the Saudis. He points out that with the demise of Saddam Hussein's regime, there's no longer any need to patrol Iraq's so-called southern no-fly zone.
But, as was made clear to me when I visited the Prince Sultan base last December, the Saudis are extremely sensitive to the large scale U.S. military presence there. Given their domestic political sensitivities, the Saudis pointedly refused to permit U.S. journalists to be embedded at the base during the Iraq war.
The Saudi royal leadership will clearly be relieved to say goodbye to the U.S. forces and warplanes now that the Iraqi threat is gone. Most of the U.S. forces are expected to be out of the kingdom by the end of the summer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And, news of the planned pull out came just as the U.S. Central Command also confirmed it signed a cease-fire agreement with a group which the U.S. has labeled a terror organization.
The People's Mujahaddin is a group of Iranian rebels long based in Iraq which has carried out attacks that have killed civilians. It was added to the State Department's terror list in 1997. The truce calls for the U.S. military and the Mujahaddin to refrain from hostile acts against one another.
A Pentagon official says the deal, and I'm quoting now, is a "battlefield agreement designed to bring about a complete cessation of hostilities with the group." The Pentagon says the agreement does not change the State Department's designation of the group as a terror organization.
What started as a protest against U.S. forces in an Iraqi school, ended up as a gun battle that left at least 15 Iraqis dead, including three children. In the words of one U.S. soldier, all hell broke loose. CNN's Karl Penhaul is joining us now live in Baghdad -- Karl.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Wolf. Yes, residents of a neighborhood in the city of Fallujah just west of Baghdad tonight mourning their dead and nursing their wounded. The International Committee of the Red Cross has told us so far 15 people are confirmed dead, 53 other wounded in that incident which took place as civilians demonstrated against the U.S. presence in a school in their neighborhood. They wanted them to leave so school classes could start again.
There are conflicting reports about what happened. U.S. soldiers say that the civilians opened fire first. The civilians say the troops opened fire first. Here's what we found out during a trip today to the city of Fallujah, Wolf.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PENHAUL (voice-over): Iraqi families bury their relatives, killed when U.S. soldiers opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators outside a school in Fallujah. The wounded fill the hospital of this city, just west of Baghdad. This man, Muthanna Salim says he was trying to close his front gate when gunfire erupted around the elementary school opposite his home.
"The Americans fired at me and cut my foot. My brother came out to carry me but he was shot dead," he says. "My other brother took the car out to rescue me but he was also wounded." His wife and mother also wounded.
Some 250 protesters had marched on this school after dark Monday their demands that U.S. troops camped out here should withdraw to allow pupils and teachers to return to class now that war is over.
Lessons were halted here when the war began. U.S. troops said the empty buildings provided an ideal base from which to police and secure the surrounding neighborhoods. The demonstrators admit they threw rocks but U.S. soldiers said some in the crowd opened fire first with Kalashnikov assault rifles.
MACKSUD: I just shot at what I saw and what I saw was targets, targets with weapons. They were going to harm me. It was either them or me and I took the shot, sir.
PENHAUL: The U.S. soldiers say they returned fire with sniper rifles, assault rifles and machineguns. This taxi was caught in the shooting. Neighboring houses were hit by heavy caliber machineguns.
(on camera): U.S. Army commanders have announced there will be an investigation into the deaths. That's unlikely to calm tempers here in Fallujah or elsewhere in Iraq where calls are growing for coalition forces to leave.
(voice-over): Angry residents staged impromptu protests at the deaths, taunting no to America, murderers, and down with President Bush. Raid al-Kateeb lost his cousin in the shootout. He says they weren't even taking part in the protest. "Since this whole matter started" he says "it was clear that the Americans were a force of occupation."
As night fell, troops of the 82nd Airborne Division bowed to the locals' demands. They climbed aboard trucks and humvees and pulled out. No goodbyes just jeers and insults from the crowd leaving residents to take back their school to cries of Allah Akbar, God is great.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PENHAUL: Of course by leaving, the U.S. troops have removed a potential flashpoint but to a large extent the damage has already been done -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Karl Penhaul with the latest from Baghdad, Karl thanks very much.
And joining me now to discuss all these late-breaking developments in Iraq, as well as homeland security, is Congresswoman Jane Harman. She's a Democrat from California, ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee. Congresswoman, thanks very much for joining us.
What happened to all the fears about the Arab street rising up, terror resulting against the United States if the U.S. went to war? That doesn't, at least so far, seem to have materialized.
REP. JANE HARMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: It doesn't and I think that we knew going into this that there were two messages. There was one for the Arab street and there was another one by elected leaders and others to us that they would not mind if Saddam Hussein were gone.
I was just watching that last story, Wolf. That's a sad story and it's clear to me that winning the war is much easier than winning the peace and we've got to find better techniques to manage crowds. We can't just be shooting innocent people.
BLITZER: But if U.S. troops -- if U.S. troops feel that they're being attacked, that they're being endangered, they have the right to shoot back.
HARMAN: They have the right to shoot back but one would hope we could explore other options, tear gas and other ways to calm a crowd other than killing innocent kids, and obviously if I were -- encountered somebody trying to create a problem in there, I would shoot through innocent crowds and then have our troops respond and that's not something we want to keep going.
BLITZER: Well, I know there's going to be an investigation so they'll get to the bottom of what exactly happened there.
Can Americans who are watching this program right now rest easier as far as the terror threat against them is concerned?
HARMAN: They can rest easier as far as Iraq -- the war in Iraq is concerned.
BLITZER: Al Qaeda, Iraq, international terrorism.
HARMAN: My answer to that would be no, not in terms of the homeland security threat. Al Qaeda is still alive and well. I heard that story that there still may be links with Zarqawi and others. We don't know what happened to Osama bin Laden. There are embedded terrorists in the United States. We're looking for them. The FBI is trying to do a good job.
I was in Los Angeles for two days last week with Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge and he's trying to do a good job; however, bottom line, there are still terrorists in the U.S. and we need well- funded first responders and we need one national strategy for homeland security, which includes a vulnerability assessment of (unintelligible).
BLITZER: Since 9/11 there hasn't been, thank God, a major terrorist attack against the United States. Who gets the credit for that?
HARMAN: Well, I think our officials get the credit, especially in our home towns as Tom Ridge would call them. They've been enormously vigilant. Our public gets the credit. They've been enormously vigilant. We have taken down a few cells, but I don't assume it's over. There is this loose horizontal network of terrorists.
I hope we find the WMD in Iraq for two reasons. One it was the moral basis on which we waged this war, but the second is if it is there, and I believe it is there, I don't want it transferred when no one is paying attention to some of these terrorist groups.
BLITZER: So, if the terror network in Afghanistan has been crushed, now in Iraq it's been crushed, where else could it find the kind of support to pose significant threats against Americans?
HARMAN: Well, I wouldn't say it's crushed in Afghanistan. It's still not a very stable society. Kabul is safe but the warlords are still in power all around the country. So, I would say that these terrorist cells are all over the world. I mean we've all learned a lot about this. Who would have suspected Hamburg, Germany, pre 9/11? Who would suspect parts of London where we found a ricin threat? So, it's still there.
BLITZER: Too early to rest easy, is that what you're saying?
HARMAN: Right, and let's congratulate people for our successes.
BLITZER: But it's still -- it's still -- it's still okay to rest a little bit easier but not necessarily to completely relax.
HARMAN: Right but it's still important to do our homework at the federal level, do this vulnerability assessment so that we make sure we're putting our resources against our vulnerabilities.
BLITZER: All right, Congresswoman Jane Harman thanks very much for joining us.
HARMAN: Thank you, good to have you back and safe.
BLITZER: Thank you very much. Here's your chance to weigh in on the aftermath of the war in Iraq. Our web question of the day is this: "Should the United States pull its troops out of the entire Middle East region?" We'll have the results later in this broadcast. Please 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.
When we come back, missing boy mystery, is a boy found in Chicago the same boy kidnapped two years ago from North Carolina? This is a heart-wrenching story. We'll have the latest on the investigation.
Also, an Iraqi good Samaritan, he led U.S. troops to the former POW Jessica Lynch. He risked his own life in the process. Find out what happened to him since that rescue.
And, good health care or bad religion, President Bush unveils his plan to stop AIDS and he's drawing fire from some of his own allies. We'll hear from both sides of this debate involving the use of condoms to fight AIDS. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: After a two and a half year wait, the family of a missing North Carolina boy may have a reason to be optimistic. Police say a boy found in Illinois could be Tristin "Buddy" Myers and DNA tests may prove the boy's identity. CNN's Chicago Bureau Chief Jeff Flock is keeping track of this very, very emotional story -- Jeff.
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CHICAGO BUREAU CHIEF: Wolf, I just got off a bit ago with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. They have custody of this boy now. They had been, they tell us, repeatedly trying to reach the man who dropped this boy off at a hospital in Evanston, Illinois in February. They have been unable to reach him and they have not yet heard from him.
He said at the time he was the boy's father, but as you report authorities now think they may have solved the case of a boy who has been disappeared from North Carolina for now two years.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONNA MYERS, MISSING BOY'S AUNT: It's been two years, six months, and 23 days today and we're just looking forward to it, praying that it is him.
FLOCK (voice-over): This is Donna Myers' then 4-year-old nephew Buddy. The question is, is this? Buddy Myers wandered away from his aunt's home here in Sampson County, North Carolina, in October, 2000. Despite searches and more than a thousand leads, no trace.
Then in February, this boy, about six years old, is brought here to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, Illinois by a man who said his name was Ricky Quick, that he was the boy's father, and called him Eli. Dirty, and unable to answer questions about his family or where he was born, the hospital got suspicious.
DR. WILLIAM MALONEY, ST. FRANCIS HOSPITAL: We have to notify authorities and sometimes take children away from their caregivers but we have to do that to protect them and ensure their safety.
FLOCK: It turns out a Ricky Quick, who lived here at this apartment building in Chicago, was wanted for shoplifting. A resident tells CNN affiliate WGN he often saw a little blonde-haired boy here and they called him Buddy.
ROBERT HUBERT, NEIGHBOR: He wasn't really scared. It didn't seem like he was scared of anything, you know. It was just mainly, you know, just playing around, you know, had fun.
FLOCK: After Ricky Quick disappeared, DCFS checked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. They turned up a link to Buddy Myers and called North Carolina.
SGT. DAROLD COX, SAMPSON COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: They said we think we found your child.
FLOCK: Sergeant Darold Cox, having been down hundreds of dead ends, is optimistic this time. The family has even made a welcome home poster with Ricky's picture, a picture that looks an awful lot like that of a boy in Chicago supposedly called Eli.
COX: The chin, the ears, eyes, speech impediment.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FLOCK: Indeed, Wolf, the authorities in North Carolina have been told that Eli, the boy known as Eli Quick even has a speech impediment that would be similar to the one that Buddy Myers had. Of course, it's DNA testing that will really tell the tale on this.
Samples of Buddy Myers' mother have been brought to Chicago for testing. Authorities say it could take several weeks for those tests to be done but we know that in some high profile cases, like the Laci Peterson case for example, those results can come back quicker.
For now whoever he is, Eli or Buddy, is in foster care here in the Chicago area according to DCFS -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And I assume that there's been no communication between this boy and his family if, in fact, it is his family back in North Carolina. That could be premature and devastating if it turns out not to be the real thing.
FLOCK: You're right on target with that. They don't want that to happen. They've had several other leads that looked really good in this case and the family has been through a lot and it would not be good for this boy either to reunite him with somebody who really wasn't his family, so they don't want to do that until they're sure.
BLITZER: So, the agony of waiting will continue, at least a little bit longer
FLOCK: You said it.
BLITZER: Thanks. I'm sure each hour will seem like a week for this family, Jeff Flock with a heart-wrenching story.
Let's get a little bit more now on this. CNN's Mike Brooks is a former law enforcement official himself. He's joining us from the CNN Center in Atlanta to talk more about this.
First of all the DNA tests, Mike, why does it take six weeks potentially to make this match if, in fact, there is a match?
MIKE BROOKS, FORMER LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL: Well, most forensic labs, Wolf, will say that is the most time that it will take to do a DNA test. But as Jeff just pointed out in the Laci Peterson case in Modesto when I was out there just last week, they were able to do a DNA test in three to four days, and the samples that they had, they took a sample from the mother of Buddy Myers.
They took it about two weeks ago and law enforcement says it was a sample of blood and they took a DNA test from the young boy on Monday which was a swabbing on the inside of his cheek which is used a lot in DNA testing and was sent to a lab in Burlington, North Carolina, Lab Corp (ph).
And, again, they will say it will take six weeks but when, in fact, they could probably come back with a pretty good idea and have a pretty good idea within maybe three to four days.
BLITZER: Three to four days, so if they started this process on Monday, by the end of this week perhaps we might be able to know if, in fact, there is a match.
BROOKS: There is a very good possibility of that.
BLITZER: That would be a very dramatic development. I know you've been speaking with your sources over at the FBI and elsewhere. What are they saying to you?
BROOKS: Well, I spoke with supervisor Special Agent Eric Flowers (ph) from the Charlotte Office of the FBI earlier today and asked him what their role in this was. He said that, yes, they are involved in the investigation but they -- but as an investigator I know that they have to wait until the DNA comes back because if they get a positive match on a DNA with the woman and the boy who was reported missing back in October of 2000, then they will have a possible kidnapping case.
If they don't, then they go back to Chicago and it becomes a local law enforcement case of possibly child abandonment, child abuse, but we'll have to wait until the DNA tests come back to make that decision.
BLITZER: Mike Brooks, once again thanks very much.
Much more coverage coming up, including the Palestinians extending an olive branch perhaps with the new prime minister, will the Israelis meet them along the way? The latest twists and turns on the road to peace.
Plus, hiding in Baghdad life on the line, meet an unbelievable reporter who stayed for the war with a death threat hanging immediately over his head.
And, they may help prevent the spread of AIDS but should President Bush drop condoms from taxpayer funding, that debate, much more coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. The Palestinian parliament today endorsed a new government headed by Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. He's commonly known as Abu Mazen. His victory follows a power struggle with the Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and it sets the stage potentially for U.S.-led peace efforts and visits to the region by the Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Indeed, the State Department announced today that Powell will start this week with visits to Syria and Lebanon. A trip to the Palestinian areas, as well as Israel, is expected to follow.
We get more now on the changing guard on the West Bank.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kelly Wallace in Ramallah where Palestinians are hailing this as a critical and an historic day and sources are telling CNN that the so-called quartet, representatives of the United States, the United Nations, European Union, and Russia, convening a meeting this very night to discuss when that road map for Middle East peace will be released.
Sources say it could be presented to the Israelis and the Palestinians in the next 24 to 36 hours, this all coming after the Palestinian parliament approved Abu Mazen as the new prime minister and his 24-members. Abu Mazen is someone who has long said that the armed struggle against the Israelis has not helped the Palestinian cause.
And in his first major address, he said he rejects terrorism in all its forms. He called for a political solution with the Israelis and he also said a major goal of his will be ensuring that weapons are only held by those who are focusing on Palestinian security. But Abu Mazen faces a number of challenges. Number one, how much power will Palestinian President Yasser Arafat try to assert behind the scenes, and number two will he be able to stand up to the radical Palestinian groups responsible for attacks against Israelis, groups who are saying they will not disarm until Israeli occupation comes to an end.
So far, the Israeli response has been a bit cautious. The foreign minister of Israel, Sylvan Shalome (ph) saying Abu Mazen's speech represents "a great start." However, he says, the Israelis will judge Abu Mazen's actions, the Israelis saying if he fights terrorism and stops incitement then the Palestinians will find in Israel a "true partner for peace."
I'm Kelly Wallace reporting, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Kelly.
U.S. forces beef up security but will it be enough to win the peace? We'll go live to the Iraqi capital.
Plus, journalist on the run from Saddam Hussein, how did he stay alive in Baghdad during the war? A harrowing tale, that's still to come.
And they're promoted by doctors but should President Bush use taxpayer money for condoms in his AIDS prevention program, a debate that's coming up as well. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: CNN live this hour, WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, live from the nation's capital with correspondents from around the world. Here now is Wolf Blitzer.
BLITZER: Welcome back. He risked his life to bring you reports from the war in Iraq and even hid from Saddam Hussein's henchmen, a story of survival, a dramatic story indeed. That's coming up.
But first, for the latest headlines, let's go to CNN's Arthel Neville. She's in the CNN newsroom in Atlanta.
(NEWSBREAK)
BLITZER: Thanks, very much, Arthel.
U.S. military commanders are promising to restore law and order to Baghdad once and for all by deploying an additional 4,000 U.S. military police and soldiers.
Our Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson is joining us now live from Baghdad with details -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's certainly the case, those troops that are going to be assigned to Baghdad, many of them we are told will be military police, MPs.
They will be patrolling the streets of this city along with 20,000 other troops under the commander of Major General Buford Blunt (ph). He said today that his top priority in Baghdad is to restore law and order, to bring security to the city.
This was a day when at least one U.S. soldier, a civil affairs officer, was shot in the center of Baghdad but it's not just the U.S. troops that are under threat here. Many citizens of Baghdad still feel unsafe about the situation here.
About 30 or 40 miles west of Baghdad a final conclusion to overnight fighting, on Monday night troops of the 82nd Airborne have pulled out of a school in the town of Fallujah. Shooting broke out on Monday night and it's not clear who started the shooting.
Local residents say the U.S. troops started shooting at them when they approached the school that the 82nd Airborne were using as a base in Fallujah. The members of the 82nd Airborne say the crowd started shooting at them but the International Committee for the Red Cross say that 15 people died in that shooting and 50 or so injured. That is their report. Now, the troops have pulled out of that building.
Also today, coalition forces getting more information from two more people captured today. The former governor of Basra, Walid Hamid Tawfiq al-Tikriti handed himself in to the Iraqi National Congress today. That was a deal that was negotiated over a couple of days. He went there by car with his father. Members of U.S. military were there when he handed himself over. But he was only the governor of Basra for a very short period. Maybe he has only limited information to hand over.
Certainly, General Amir Rasheed, the former oil minister who was captured by U.S. forces Monday may have more information that will be valuable to the coalition at this time. He was head, in the 1990s, of the missile element of the Iraqi officials who were dealing with the U.N. inspectors at that time, the UNSCOM mission, so maybe on the weapons of mass destruction front he may have a lot to tell the coalition forces -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Nic Robertson with the latest from Baghdad, thanks Nic very much.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi lawyer who tipped off U.S. forces to the location of the former POW Private First Class Jessica Lynch has been granted asylum here in the United States and he's already been offered a job.
Our Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena is joining us now live with details, a pretty good story here.
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is. It's a feel good story. The paperwork was finalized in Arlington, Virginia just yesterday.
Mohammed al-Rehaief and his family are all in the United States ready and eager to start their new lives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA (voice-over): U.S. officials say it was an act of sheer bravery that led U.S. forces to former POW Army Private Jessica Lynch. After spotting her in a hospital in Nasiriya, an Iraqi lawyer, known to the world only as Mohammed, risked his life to get word to U.S. Marines.
A hero in the United States, Mohammed feared for his life. He's seen here with his face obscured under U.S. protection in Iraq. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge says Mohammed al-Rahaief is now in the United States with his wife and his 5-year-old daughter. All have been granted asylum.
TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We found it appropriate inasmuch he liberated one of the liberators that we could send a signal to Iraq with the rest of the world that that is -- that is a very extraordinary thing to do and America appreciates his courage.
ARENA: Mohammed's story sparked an immediate grassroots effort to get him here. A former Marine in Cleveland started gathering signatures online to grant him U.S. citizenship and a group called Friends of Mohammed started working to bring him to West Virginia, home of the Lynch family. While Mohammed and his family did gain entry into the United States, officials say his case is unique and should not be viewed as a precedent for U.S. policy concerning Iraq.
PAUL VIRTUE, FMR. INS GENERAL COUNSEL: And it's not unique when the U.S. government identifies oftentimes people in dangerous situations. They've assisted them in fleeing their country and have afforded them protection, but it's a pretty rare occurrence and so, yes, I think there was special treatment provided in this case.
ARENA: Officials say Mohammed has not yet met with Private Lynch, the young woman he risked his life for, but they say he plans to. She is still recovering at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: Now, as for Mohammed and his future here, CNN has learned that the Livingston Group, a lobbying group in Washington led by former Representative Bob Livingston, has offered Mohammed a job but there is no word yet on whether he has accepted -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, a feel good story, we'll continue to follow the fallout from that. Thanks very much Kelli Arena for that story.
And the story of a lifetime for one reporter in Baghdad accused of being an American spy. He'll tell us how he managed to elude capture by hiding in plain sight. You won't want to miss this.
Plus, a condom conundrum why President Bush's AIDS policy is now coming under fire from some conservatives -- stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: It seems all of us will never forget scenes from the first days of the war in Iraq. Since then we've heard some amazing stories of survival from troops and civilians both American and Iraqi.
My next guest has quite a story of his own. Reporter John Burns of "The New York Times" was accused of being a CIA agent by Iraqi authorities but managed to avoid being taken into custody by hiding out in the Palestine Hotel where so many other journalists were based.
John is joining us now live from Baghdad. An amazing story that you wrote about in "The New York Times" even though you buried it at the end of a long, long story I note. But tell our viewers in summary what exactly happened to you, John.
JOHN BURNS, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": A number of us had been on a kind of special list, I think for some time because we had written about terror and fear under Saddam Hussein and so I was on a watch list.
They came for me at midnight on April the 1st, intelligence agents, so they identified themselves, told me I was a CIA agent, I was under arrest. I had to cooperate. It wasn't clear what they meant by that and that failure to cooperate would mean that they would take me away to a place from which I would not return.
These people then took everything I had, my equipment, my money, and then disappeared. As you can imagine as soon a I could I slipped away into a darkened stairwell and it left me wondering if these were serious intelligence officers, why would they have left me alone? Was it just a shakedown? Did they just want to steal my equipment? I'll never know. I would like to know.
But I also want to say that I'm not much a believer in the journalist as hero. In places like this there are much greater bravery shown by ordinary Iraqis and others and I think it's worth remembering that at least 12, perhaps 15 journalists died in this war, most of them on their way to Baghdad. So, I think that I got off relatively lightly.
BLITZER: Well, how many days did you have to stay hidden inside that hotel in order to survive?
BURNS: Well, as you know, the Marines, the 3-4 task force of the Marine Corps arrived her on the afternoon of April the 9th. That was my liberation as well as, if you'll excuse me, the liberation of the people of Baghdad, and I have never been happier to see an American tank than I was that afternoon.
BLITZER: You would have thought, John, that after what you had gone through you would want to get out of Baghdad as quickly as possible and go back home, but you're still there, talk about that.
BURNS: Well, of course, you know, we had anticipated this for so long. We wanted to see how it would work out, we in "The New York Times" now have a fairly large crew of people here. I have some responsibility for helping run our affairs here. I will be leaving and I must say like so many of us who have been here a long time, I dream of the blue of the ocean and of green fields and all those things we don't see in Baghdad.
BLITZER: Did you ever think that this was the end of John Burns in the darkest moment?
BURNS: I had always assumed that being a "New York Times" correspondent, being a CNN correspondent, being a "Washington Post" correspondent afforded us a measure of protection but we also knew that the time would come when the real lunatics would take over and after that there was no knowing where it would go.
We know now a story far more dramatic than mine that Matt McAllester of "Newsweek" -- "Newsday," I beg your pardon, who was arrested and taken to Abu Ghraib prison, the heart of Saddam's gulag, in the early days of the war because he had no approved visa and spent a week there blindfolded under interrogation.
Matt McAllester is back here now and 48 hours ago was back in that prison watching the unearthing of the bodies of his foreign Arab cellmates, people who were with him, whose offense was, like his in part, that they had hand held (unintelligible) satellite telephones. So, you'd have to say that Matt McAllester and his photographer, Moises Saman had a very, very narrow escape.
BLITZER: Well, you did as well. John Burns, you've already won two Pulitzer Prizes. I sense number three might be on the way. You did a brilliant job. I read every word you wrote from Baghdad as so many of our other viewers did. We look forward to everything else you're going to be writing down the road. Congratulations to you and all of your colleagues.
BURNS: I always wanted to be interviewed by you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you very much, John Burns, a brilliant correspondent from "The New York Times."
BURNS: Thank you.
BLITZER: Did some outstanding, courageous work for all of us in Baghdad.
When we come back should your tax dollars be used to promote condom use to fight AIDS? Coming up why some of President Bush's supporters are giving him grief. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: In a moment should your taxpayer dollars be used to distribute condoms to fight AIDS around the world? We'll get to that in just a moment.
But first let's take a look at some other stories making headlines around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Progress on the nuclear issue in talks between North and South Korea. In a joint statement, the two countries agreed to resolve peacefully the crisis that has erupted over Pyongyang's nuclear program.
Russia is at odds again with Britain and the United States over Iraq. President Vladimir Putin told Prime Minister Tony Blair he's against lifting U.N. sanctions until the issue of weapons of mass destruction is resolved.
Residents of a village near Beijing attacked the school they thought was being used to house people with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. China is reporting more than 3,300 SARS cases.
The United Nations is predicting Afghanistan will harvest about 4,000 tons of opium this year making it once again the world's top producer. Under the Taliban, poppy production was virtually eliminated.
Sirens wailed as Israelis observed two minutes of silence today remembering the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust. They also marked the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
And two American and one Russian astronauts are wrapping up their five-month mission on the International Space Station. They were originally scheduled to return on the shuttle Columbia. Instead they'll use a Russian capsule that arrived yesterday with a fresh crew.
President Bush is calling on the Congress to pass his plan to fight AIDS in Africa. In a ceremony over at the White House earlier today, the president touted his $15 billion plan as a way to turn the tide against AIDS. It's modeled on a program in Uganda known as the ABC approach, abstinence, being faithful in marriage, and condoms.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: President Museveni has begun a comprehensive program in 1986 with a prevention strategy emphasizing abstinence and marital fidelity, as well as condoms to prevent HIV transmission. The results are encouraging.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: The president's AIDS initiative is under fire from some members of his own party. Among other things, they're not pleased with its emphasis on condom use.
With me now to talk more about the initiative, some of the criticism that it's getting are our two guests, Democratic Congresswoman Nita Lowey of New York, and Republican Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana.
You're not happy with the focus on condoms, are you Congressman Pence?
REP. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: Wolf, I'm not. I and a number of other conservative pro-family members of Congress are very concerned that the global AIDS bill that will come to the floor of the Congress this week simply does not reflect the values that the president described at that ceremony at the White House today.
We tried in the committee to put a special emphasis on the Uganda-style program, the abstinence, be faithful, and then condoms program. We tried to create a conscience clause that would protect faith-based organizations. That's not currently in this bill as it goes to the floor but we're hoping the president will lead us in that direction.
BLITZER: Congresswoman Lowey, why is Congressman Pence wrong?
REP. NITA LOWEY (D), NEW YORK: Well, first of all, I want to congratulate the president for supporting the bill. It's a very important bill to deal with the scourge of AIDS around the world.
Adolescents everywhere should be encouraged to put off sexual activity until they're adults; however, the ABC approach is really important because every community is different, every individual is different, and to encourage adolescence, to be abstinent as long as they can and then encourage them to be faithful to one partner doesn't work in some parts of the world because their marital partner may have many sexual relationships.
And, therefore, condoms are important as well. So, the whole package, ABC, abstinence, be faithful, and condom use, worked well in Uganda and we can't put all our eggs in one basket and I congratulate the president.
BLITZER: Congressman Pence, if it will save lives to promote condom use and to use U.S. taxpayer dollars in the process isn't it worth it?
PENCE: Well, Wolf, I join my colleague from New York in commending the president for his compassionate leadership on this issue, but what will save lives is precisely the program that Congresswoman Lowey was describing and the president described, the focus on abstinence first, then being faithful in your marriage, then as a last resort distributing condoms.
I say it with some lament. That's not currently in this bill. The bill right now in the committee completely rejected an emphasis on that prioritization of values that really work, Wolf.
BLITZER: Congressman Pence, should taxpayer money be used to distribute condoms in Uganda or anyplace else?
PENCE: I don't think there's any pro-family American who would object to that as long as we're able to deliver that consistent with our values and consistent with what we know works. You know, Wolf, in the four African nations that exclusively use condoms as a means for AIDS prevention that's where you've seen the incidence of AIDS skyrocket in Africa, in Kenya and Zimbabwe.
BLITZER: All right. PENCE: The ABC program focusing on emphasis, on abstinence, and on traditional moral values has made a difference in Uganda and it's the prescription the president wants us to follow now.
BLITZER: I'll give you the last word, Congresswoman Lowey.
LOWEY: Well, that's why ABC, abstinence, be faithful, and condom distribution has worked so well in Uganda. It's the combination that works so successfully where they have reduced AIDS from 15 percent to five percent. So, again congratulations to the president, I'm glad he stood firm. It's a good bill and I'm very pleased that we can address the terrible pandemic of AIDS throughout the world.
BLITZER: The president getting praise from a liberal Democrat and a conservative Republican, not often happening but at least on this day some praise, more praise from the Democrat than from the Republican, though. Thanks to both of you for joining us very much.
LOWEY: Thank you.
PENCE: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Our web question of the day is this: "Should the United States pull its troops out of the entire Middle East region?" Please vote now at cnn.com/wolf.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our web question of the day. "Should the United States pull its troops out of the entire Middle East region?" Look at this, 55 percent of you say yes, 45 percent of you say no. Remember this is not necessarily a scientific poll. Indeed, it's not a scientific poll.
Reminder, we're here every day 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Please join me then as well as Noon Eastern. See you again tomorrow.
For the latest, let's turn it over to Lou Dobbs. He's standing by in New York.
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Helped Save PFC Lynch Granted Asylum; Bush's Plan to Fight AIDS Announced>
