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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

9/11 Report Released; Are Iraqis Convinced Qusay, Uday Are Dead?; Will U.S. Forces Move Into Liberia?

Aired July 25, 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: Only now, two years, nearly two years that is after 9/11 are we getting new and very chilling details on how the hijackers actually rehearsed their terror operations at airports around the world.
It's a case study on the terror threat still very much out there, a story you're about to see only here on CNN. That's next on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Bodies, first photos, now videotapes. Are Iraqis convinced?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): As the Iraqi information network has showed these are not pictures of Uday and Qusay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It is true it is Uday. I was pleased when I saw Uday and we got rid of him.

BLITZER: I'll ask a high school classmate of Uday Hussein.

U.S. troops close in on Saddam. First they went for his family, now they're going after his security.

MAJ. GEN. RAY ODIERNO, U.S. ARMY: But we continue to tighten the noose.

U.S. forces move closer to Liberia, will they move in?

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The condition of the Liberian people is getting worse and worse and worse.

BLITZER: And the other side of Kobe Bryant, was there something else behind that shining image?

(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 Friday, July 25, 2003. Hello from Washington, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting. Bodies and bodyguards, the United States today stepped up its efforts to convince Iraqis the sons of Saddam Hussein are indeed dead. The bodies, said to be those of Uday and Qusay Hussein, were touched up, videotaped, and shown throughout the world.

The U.S. military says a raid on the Hussein hometown of Tikrit may have netted several members of Saddam Hussein's security detail. Troops say they're tightening the noose. We'll go live to Baghdad for Iraqi reaction.

First, though, the latest on the bodies, does the United States have enough proof? And, the bodyguards, is the U.S. closing in on Saddam Hussein? Once again we caution you some of the images are very graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): First there were the gruesome still photos of bodies the U.S. says are Uday and Qusay Hussein killed by U.S. forces during a four hour gunfight in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Now, the U.S. has allowed news organizations to view and videotape the actual bodies that have been cleaned up and reconstructed by military morticians in advance of burial.

Military pathologists say each body had been riddled with more than 20 bullet wounds. They insist there are no signs of suicide. The morticians shaved Qusay's full beard leaving only his trademark moustache.

Take a look at the before and after. They trimmed Uday's full beard leaving only the short stubble that had been his trademark. Once again, here's the comparison.

U.S. officials are hoping the videotape will convince even the most skeptical of Iraqis that Saddam Hussein's regime is gone forever but some regional experts wonder about the long term impact of releasing the pictures.

SHIBLEY TELHAMI, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: I think clearly it's going to satisfy people who had suspicion about -- some of them. Some people will still have conspiracy theories. I mean, you know, that's not going to stop.

JON ALTERMAN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTL. STUDIES: I think it was smart and I think it was necessary. It's very important I think for the U.S. to convince Iraqis that they're really gone, that they're not coming back, that what was Iraq's past is not going to be Iraq's future.

BLITZER: Meanwhile, U.S. military commanders suggest the death of the two sons may be having some positive impact on the ground.

ODIERNO: That we had somebody come into Tikrit, the 1st Brigade, and give us an informant, give us a tip to conduct a raid on a house south of Tikrit, which we conducted last night.

Based on the informant south of Tikrit we detained 13 individuals. Somewhere between five and ten of those, we're still sorting through it, are believed to be Saddam Hussein's personal security detachment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The military says another tip led to a large cache of weapons near Samarra. U.S. troops say they dug up, get this, 45,000 sticks of dynamite, grenade launchers, machine guns, and homemade bombs.

Have Iraqis been persuaded to believe that Saddam Hussein's sons are indeed dead? Let's go live to our Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson. He's joining us, as usual, in Baghdad -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, that certainly seems to be the case. Some of the Iraqis we've talked to here say that new clearer images, the shaving of the face of Qusay, the clipping of Uday's beard all give them a much clearer image of the two men leading them really to begin to believe that it is Uday and Qusay but, nevertheless, opinions have still be divided.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): As the Iraqi information network has showed these are not pictures of Uday and Qusay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It is true that he is Uday. I was pleased when I saw Uday and we got rid of him and, by the will of God, a new government will be formed. We hope we will live in security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: The people that are saying that they don't believe that these are pictures of Uday and Qusay when we ask them they say well this is because it's all a conspiracy. Uday and Qusay would never have been in the same place. It's a United States conspiracy and they sort of talk about how the bodies have been touched up by morticians to make them more presentable, make them more recognizable.

But, I think, Wolf, from the people we talked to the majority here, although they have differing views of whether or not Uday and Qusay should have been killed, they do generally accept the fact that the pair, the brothers are now dead -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Beyond the discovery of these security personnel, these former bodyguards of Saddam Hussein near Tikrit, Nic, is there any other indication that they are indeed tightening the noose around Saddam Hussein as the U.S. military commanders are suggesting?

ROBERTSON: We do get certain indications that that's the case. There were indications in Mosul, not only from neighbors that Saddam Hussein may -- neighbors around the place where Uday and Qusay were killed that indicated that Saddam Hussein may have been in Mosul.

We also had other indications from sources telling us that there were other raids going on at the same time, one of those we witnessed, other raids that we were told were important.

It appears from our standpoint and this isn't something the coalition is saying but it appears from our standpoint that a big push has been made to try and isolate Saddam Hussein from those people who might give him shelter at this time.

If he's been chased out of Mosul and that area try and stop places, try and stop him getting to places he might hide, let's say, in Tikrit with former bodyguards. It does seem to be a concerted effort to take maximum advantage of the momentum and whatever the spinoffs from it are of this attack earlier in the week -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Nic Robertson in Baghdad, Nic thanks very much.

U.S. military morticians have certainly made the bullet-riddled bodies look much more like Uday and Qusay Hussein. How did they do it? Is it enough to convince the skeptics?

Back with us once again today is Dr. Cyril Wecht. He's the world-renowned forensic pathologist. He's joining us from Boynton Beach in Florida. Dr. Wecht, thanks very much for joining us.

DR. CYRIL WECHT, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Hi, Wolf.

BLITZER: First of all, based on the videotape that you had a chance to take a look at today, as opposed to the still pictures from yesterday, what new did you learn, if anything, about the actual cause? Is there one particular cause of death?

WECHT: Well, the video, Wolf, does not clearly delineate the cause of death. One has to go with the findings of the military pathologist talking about in excess of 20 bullet holes in each person and I certainly accept their findings that they all appear to have been fired from the outside.

As we discussed previously, one can easily differentiate between a self-inflicted gunshot wound at tight close contact or very close range of a couple inches from something that has been fired from several feet and many yards away.

And then, when we talked before, we discussed the business of presenting them in a more visibly identifiable fashion, shaving the beards to simulate the last known appearances as we had seen on previous photographs and to clean up the bodies.

I frankly think that they should not have shown the pictures yesterday of the un-cleaned bodies and unshaven faces because it really served no purpose. I think it was good for them to allow news media to come into that air-conditioned tent today because, you know better than I, you are in the business, one can with computer digitalization, you can put somebody's face on somebody else's body. I've seen some very clever things done just fooling around by people who are experts, so it's good to see the actual bodies there. I think it was necessary to do and I think it is extremely important now to follow through with all the other scientific studies that can possibly be accomplished.

They've already done the x-rays showing those plates and pins, right, in the leg, matching them up. They've done the forensic odontological studies. That's important and if they have fingerprints, they probably don't, that would be very significant.

And, if they do DNA that would be the ultimate, and I will just repeat that DNA, those studies, if I were the U.S. government I would have duplicate samples given to at least three foreign governments and have their top experts do the test.

BLITZER: Well, we're told they're going to be doing those DNA. They did have DNA samples. We haven't received them yet. The dental records, the x-rays, I think they're going to be making all that available and I'm also told by the way, Dr. Wecht, they may even have fingerprints although that's still remaining very much up in the air.

Let's talk a little bit about how they fixed up these guys. They sort of reconstructed their faces, their appearance.

WECHT: Yes.

BLITZER: It's pretty amazing and we'll put up on the screen Uday first. It was -- his face was very, very badly damaged in the process of this firefight but he almost looks normal lying there now the way they cleaned him up.

WECHT: Yes, well of course there's the external cleaning and then internally they can put together the bones, not completely of course, but they can juxtapose the fractured portions and they can take out with needles much of the hemorrhagic fluid that may have accumulated inside.

Once you've done that then you have restored to a great extent the appearance. You can't do it, of course, perfectly. Cosmetologists do these kinds of things in America all the time because of the custom that exists in our country of having bodies, open casket funerals for two, three, four days. So, this is a technique that is well known to Americans functioning in this practice of mortician cosmetology.

BLITZER: And many of these military morticians, in fact most of them, are reservists who are morticians in the civilian sector as well.

WECHT: Yes.

BLITZER: So, they're very familiar how to clean up these bodies that have been badly damaged. (Unintelligible.)

WECHT: Absolutely, this is not the first time they've done it, right.

BLITZER: Right. Uday Hussein, for example, his nose was virtually destroyed but now it looks almost normal.

WECHT: Yes, it's really remarkable. They're kind of postmortem plastic surgeons, if you will, and taking their time and having pictures alongside of them, which I'm sure that they had, then they can reconstruct. You can only go so far but they can do an excellent job.

I think this has been accomplished. I think it definitely will serve the purpose. It's not going to remove all of the skepticism and reluctance to accept hard facts because we know that much of that is politically oriented in base but it's going to go a long way certainly through the news media, the international community.

I believe it was a wise idea. Completion of the autopsies was important too to eliminate anything else. How do you know that this didn't exist and how do you know that they weren't poisoned and so on?

People have asked about why would you then do autopsies? For the same reason that in America we have a guy that's been shot in the head, we don't say hey we're not going to do an autopsy. You do a complete autopsy. That's the proper and only acceptable medical, legal, investigative approach in matters of this nature.

BLITZER: Doctor.

WECHT: And, needless to say, this is extremely important.

BLITZER: Dr. Wecht, as we look at this picture of the younger brother, Qusay, they shaved off his beard virtually completely. They left only his sort of trademark moustache. How hard it is to shave off a beard of a dead -- of a body there like that?

WECHT: Easier than to do it when you're alive. You just soap it up, lather it, and then shave it off and, remember, there's no mobility and there's nobody saying ouch, so it is not difficult to do.

It was a -- and then put on some cosmetic shine which you probably don't see on the videos to smooth it further and to remove any of the tiny blemishes that might have occurred on the epidermis. So, again it's no, you know, it's nothing that is the least bit atypical and I think that it was well done and wisely accomplished.

BLITZER: Dr. Cyril Wecht, thanks for joining us. We always appreciate your expertise.

WECHT: Thank you, Wolf, my pleasure.

BLITZER: Thank you, and here's your turn, our viewers that is, to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the day is this. "Do you think the images will convince Iraqis the Hussein sons are dead?"

We'll have the results later in this broadcast. You can vote at cnn.com/wolf. While you're there, I'd like to hear directly 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.

A country in crisis why the U.S. may be closer to sending troops to Liberia.

Also, the road map to peace winds its way through the White House, what the president promised the Palestinian prime minister.

And, the terror clues from the Philippines, we'll have an exclusive report showing how a terror mastermind tested airport security. This is a chilling story.

And later, inside New York City Hall when the bullets started flying, what was caught on videotape by the security camera? We'll show you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

He's long refused to welcome Yasser Arafat to the White House but today President Bush rolled out the red carpet for the Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and found some common ground.

Let's go live to our Senior White House Correspondent John King, pretty remarkable day over there today, John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Just the meeting, Wolf, noteworthy. As you noted, for 30 months this president flat out shunned Yasser Arafat, would not meet with him, would not invite him to come to the White House, simply did not trust him.

Today, the president saying he has full trust in the new prime minister of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. Now this meeting comes seven weeks after Mr. Bush's bid Mid East summit in Jordan. There has been some but only modest progress since then in implementing the so-called road map for peace.

Both the Palestinians and the Israelis say constant White House pressure is critical to moving the process along. Mr. Abbas came here with a number of demands. One of them is that Israel stop building what it calls a security wall throughout the West Bank separating Israel from the Palestinian territories.

Mr. Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel, says it is critical to stopping attacks on Israeli citizens. Mr. Abbas says it is humiliating and must come down. And, on this contentious issue, Mr. Bush made clear he agrees with the Palestinian leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I think the wall is a problem and I have discussed this with Ariel Sharon. It is very difficult to develop confidence between the Palestinians and Israel with a wall snaking through the West Bank and I will continue to discuss this issue very clearly with the prime ministers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Another always contentious issue is the issue of Palestinian -- Israeli settlements -- excuse me, in the Palestinian territories. Mr. Bush said it would be a much more easier issue to negotiate if Prime Minister Abbas can prove his commitment to cracking down on Palestinian militant groups in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

Prime Minister Abbas said he would do just that keep terror in check but he also made clear that dismantling some settlements, as Israeli has committed to doing, is simply not enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHMOUD ABBAS, PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER: Nothing less than a full settlement freeze will do because nothing less than a full settlement freeze will work. For the sake of peace and for the sake of future Palestinian and Israeli generations, all settlement activities must be stopped now and the wall must come down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now, Mr. Abbas nodded approvingly as if to show his approval anyway whenever Mr. Bush was discussing the security wall or discussing the issue of Israeli settlements; however, on one issue Mr. Bush made clear he did not agree with the Palestinian prime minister.

Mr. Abbas wants the Israelis to give blanket release to thousands of Palestinian prisoners. Mr. Bush said he could never support that. He said that issue should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, Mr. Bush saying he would never ask Israel or any other government to put back on the street someone who might immediately try to incite violence and kill citizens of Israel or any other government.

So, Wolf, it's clear some differences remain but White House officials are quite optimistic. They say just the fact that there is now a Palestinian leader that this president trusts is one sign of progress. The president's effort to push the parties further along the road map to peace will continue on Tuesday when Prime Minister Sharon comes to the White House.

BLITZER: And, John, very briefly that could be contentious given the president's rather blunt talk about the settlements and the wall. How difficult of a meeting could that be?

KING: Well, President Bush and Prime Minister Sharon always call themselves friends but Mr. Bush had made clear he is prepared to pressure Israel and even risk political heat here at home if he believes the Palestinians are keeping their end of the bargain.

Mr. Bush made clear today that at least so far he thinks the Palestinians are doing just that, so on the issue of that wall, look for some contention, if you will, some tension perhaps between the Israelis and the United States and it will be interesting to hear what Prime Minister Sharon says and whether he makes any announcements before he comes on the issues of prisoners and settlements as well.

BLITZER: All right, they're going forward with that wall. We were just there a few weeks ago, about 200 miles at $1 million a mile, more than $200 million they budgeted. We'll see what they do. John King at the White House thanks very much, John.

United Nations refugee officials call the situation in Liberia grave. Shells railed down on the capital today some near the United States Embassy killing at least 12 people, including children.

Among the buildings hit a former school housing refugees. Rebels are trying to seize Monrovia from forces loyal to President Charles Taylor. Several cease-fires have been declared. None of them have stuck.

Now comes word that U.S. Marines may be thrown into that very volatile mix. President Bush is ordering a military force, said to number 2,000, to take up positions off the Liberian coast.

CNN's Chris Plante is over at the Pentagon. He's joining us now live with details -- Chris.

CHRIS PLANTE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf.

Well, pressing to have an African peacekeeping force go in ahead of any U.S. peacekeepers, the Bush White House finds itself under increasing pressure to do something about the simmering crisis there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PLANTE (voice-over): With a mounting death toll and continuing chaos in the Liberian capital, President Bush Friday ordered the Pentagon to organize troops for possible U.S. military action.

BUSH: We're deeply concerned that the condition of the Liberian people is getting worse and worse and worse. Aid can't get to the people. We're worried about the outbreak of disease.

PLANTE: Two ships loaded with nearly 2,000 Marines have been ordered to steam toward Liberia. The USS Iwo Jima and the USS Carter Hall are already in the Mediterranean Sea. A third ship, the USS Nashville is slated to follow on. Army forces may also become part of any task force, sources told CNN. At the Pentagon there is concern about being sucked into yet another military conflict.

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: Whatever we do we have a very clear mission, we understand the mission we're asked to do, that we have an idea of when the mission is going to be over, in other words, when can we come out of the mission, and that we have sufficient force to deal with the security situation.

PLANTE: Under the plan and vision by the Pentagon, U.S. forces would only provide logistics, communications, and other non-combat support and that only after the fighting has stopped.

(END VIDEOTAPE) PLANTE: With Liberian President Charles Taylor insisting he won't leave until U.S. troops arrive and the U.S. insisting they will only put peacekeepers in after Taylor is gone, the situation may find itself at another impasse -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Chris Plante at the Pentagon thanks Chris very much.

A terror attack mastermind and the clues to what he was planning years before September 11, 2001. We'll have an exclusive report on how a top al Qaeda terrorist tested security at airports around the world.

Also Uday Hussein's former high school classmate on why Iraqis won't believe Saddam's sons are indeed dead.

Later, the political fight that erupts into a fist fight, look at this, what sparked the violence? We'll tell you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The congressional report on the 9/11 attacks released only yesterday is focusing new attention on the missed clues and there were many of them. CNN has obtained documents showing Philippine police told the FBI about the plot as early as 1995 but Philippine authorities say the warning was not taken seriously.

CNN's Maria Ressa has this exclusive report.

(CNN EXCLUSIVE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This apartment in Manila was the home of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed who would become al Qaeda's third highest ranking leader by the time he was arrested in 2003.

Now in U.S. custody, Khalid told his interrogators while here he and his nephew Ramzi Yousef carried out the first World Trade Center bombing, plotted what would become the 9/11 attacks seven years later.

In 1994, the two tested airport security, Khalid on a flight from Manila to Seoul, Yousef on a flight from Hong Kong to Taipei. Khalid told authorities they each converted 14 bottles of contact lens solution into bombs by replacing their contents with an inexpensive liquid explosive readily available in the Philippines.

In place of the detonator, Khalid said he taped the metal ball to the arch of his foot. He then wore clothing and jewelry with metal to confuse airport security. He said he and Yousef placed condoms in their bags to support their cover story that they were traveling to meet women.

Khalid boasted the test worked flawlessly. In December, 1994, Yousef would actually plant and explode a bomb on a Philippine airlines flight. They were set to carry out an audacious plot to bomb 11 U.S. airlines over the Pacific that the FBI estimates would have killed 4,000 people.

But, an accidental fire in their safe house apartment led to the bust up of their cell. The only one arrested in Manila was Abdul Hakim Murad, Yousef's classmate trained as a commercial pilot in four schools in the United States.

Colonel Rodolfo Mendoza interrogated him and discovered the blueprint for 9/11.

COL. RODOLFO MENDOZA, FMR. INTELLIGENCE INVESTIGATOR: They have a plan to crash the airplane, the commercial jetliner, into the specific target and they have done it. I believe that all these plan, old plans, are supposed to be executed.

RESSA: Other plots discovered in Manila to assassinate the U.S. president and attack nuclear power plants in the U.S.

(on camera): Khalid Shaikh Mohammed said the 1995 operation was his first for al Qaeda. Through the years as he rose up the ranks, he passed along the lessons he learned to the operatives he controlled like the Millennium Bomber, Ahmed Rassam who talked about liquid explosives, and the shoe bomber Richard Reid who hid explosives in his shoes. Philippine authorities say everything they discovered in 1995 was passed along to the FBI.

Maria Ressa, CNN, Manila.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: They're the pictures the whole world has been watching for the past two days after the fire fight in Mosul. Did either of Saddam Hussein's sons commit suicide? What's revealed from the videotape that was released today? Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the story right after a break.

Also, the emotional homecoming for U.S. troops after months in the desert. They were part of the group that helped rescue private first class Jessica Lynch.

And later, new information on what may have sparked that deadly shooting at New York City hall.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. The shooting at New York City hall shocked the nation. What police now say may have been the motive in the attack. We'll get to that, but first the latest headlines.

Autopsy results show the man nominated by President Bush to be Navy Secretary committed suicide. That's according to New Mexico state medical investigator. Colin McMillan's body was found yesterday with a gunshot wound at his New Mexico ranch. He was 67 years old.

A happy homecoming in California. Members of a marine air group number 16, the landing force, returned to San Diego today. They were deployed to Iraq in January. Their commanding officer was in charge of assault helicopters that were used in the rescue of private first class Jessica Lynch.

Days after an elderly driver crashed into a market in California, there was a similar incident in Florida today. Police say a man in his late 70s lost control of his car and ran into booths at a farmer's market in Flagler Beach, six people were injured.

A wildfire on the western edge of the Glacier National Park in Montana has destroyed at least six houses. Hundreds of firefighters are trying to contain half a dozen other major fires around the state. The weather is cooperating with overcast skies and cooler temperatures.

As we told you, the United States military today showed graphic videotape of two corpses it says are the remains of Saddam Hussein's sons. It's possible the bodies could provide more information than just proof of their identity. Our medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been investigating. He has this report, but we want to warn our viewers once again. It's from a medical standpoint and the images may be more graphic than what you've previously seen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The pictures are hard to look at. First, immediately after their deaths and now after they've been cleaned up. The beards are gone, the dried blood has been removed. Makeup has been applied and even some minor physical reconstruction done.

While they are waiting still for a DNA match, officials say they used these dental records to confirm the identities matching Qusay Hussein perfectly and Uday Hussein only 90 percent because of the damage done to his jaw.

It was this damage that caused military experts to first think that Uday Hussein had committed suicide. They would have also looked for gun powder around the bullet entry sites. If there's a lot of gun powder, the barrel was likely held close to the head. After a further analysis, military pathologists say suicide was unlikely.

Both brothers now have a Y-shaped incision on their chests. The incision, closed with suture, extends from both shoulders meets in the sternum and then down into the abdomen. All of the organs including the lungs, heart, liver and kidneys are likely being examined, weighed and analyzed.

They could show evidence of disease or trace evidence of exposures to toxic substances, possibly including biological, chemical or nuclear agents. While it is medically possible to detect such substances, military officials have given no indication that this might be found.

These cases are high profile, but the autopsy was standard and may yet still reveal some important information. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BLITZER: Now let's get some reaction from someone who once knew one of Saddam Hussein's sons. Basam Ridha went to high school with Uday Hussein. He now lives in the United States. He's joining us now live from Los Angeles. Basam, thanks very much for joining us. How well did you know Uday Hussein?

BASAM RIDHA, UDAY'S FORMER CLASSMATE: Well there was an incident back in one of the university, one of high school rather, in Baghdad called the College of Baghdad. It's actually in high school. That when Uday came in that day, it was sometime back in '79, late '79, with ten, 12 cars, they -- his bodyguard were attacking the students and pushing them around and literally beating on them just for Uday to arrive and to make his first day.

And shortly after my father asked me to transfer immediately to a different high school because we were not going to tolerate this. And it was the case like everyday.

BLITZER: So Basam, what went through your mind as you saw these pictures of these two dead Hussein sons?

RIDHA: Well, we were very happy. Most of the Iraqi people are very, very happy to see what Saddam's sons being killed that way, because what he did to our people, I mean, I lost two of my brothers. Those mass graves that Uday and Qusay are responsible for and they are deliver and kill the Iraqi people, we are very happy.

We have no doubt those images belong to Saddam's sons. The best way, and this is something I would like to you know maybe suggest to the administration, to maybe call Sojidha (ph) Hussein, the mother of the two sons. Maybe she ought to come forward and speak, and she claim this is actually her sons. No one else can claim this, no one else can say this actually the sons of Saddam Hussein. Hopefully that will happen soon.

BLITZER: That's obviously a pretty good idea. But why do you believe, apparently at least, there are plenty of Iraqis still out there, even after seeing the still photos, the original pictures, the touched up videotape that was released today with the reconstructed faces, why are they still reluctant to believe it?

RIDHA: Well the Iraqi people have a doubt because the administration did not do a good job after the war. They did not provide essential things to the Iraqi people like security, water, electricity, it's only what 120 degree Fahrenheit in Baghdad right now? These people are really desperate. They have been living in the regime of Baghdad -- Saddam's for 3 decades and with vicious, brutal, killing. So they figure this is the time to see this liberation, not occupation. Essential things, I think the United Nations can do a better job than what we've been providing. Where is the interim government with the limited authority for the interim government to run Iraq? They need immediate action so they can change this, you know, lack of trust towards our administration.

BLITZER: One very quick question. The Muslim tradition like the Jewish tradition, you're supposed to bury the body within 24 hours. Very quickly. Do you anticipate there could be a backlash because these bodies obviously have not been buried and probably are not going to be buried for a while?

RIDHA: I don't think so. I think more time that we put those and reveal those pictures to the whole world, the Iraqi people will be eventually convinced.

Now keep in mind, the Iraqi people are looking forward to see the DNA proof. If I were the American, I would come up with this as soon as possible and maybe use Sajita Hussein as an eyewitness for their death.

BLITZER: Basam Ridha, thanks very much for joining us.

RIDHA: Thank you.

BLITZER: Once again, our "Web Question of the Day" is this: "Do you think the images will convince Iraqis that Hussein's sons are dead?" We'll have the results later in this broadcast. You can vote cnn.com/wolf.

There is new information about that shocking shooting at New York City Hall. A possible motive about why the gunman killed his political rival. That story after the break.

Also, the case against Kobe Bryant. I'll talk with the reporter who's uncovered new information in this high profile case.

First though, let's take a quick look at headlines "Around the World."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Americans ordered to leave Saudi Arabia in May after three suicide bombings will be heading back. The State Department has cleared the way for embassy and consulate staff to return, along with their families. The bombings killed 34 people, including eight Americans. U.S. citizens are still being warned against nonessential travel to Saudi Arabia.

Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War. Ceremonies are planned in the Demilitarized Zone. Fifteen hundred veterans from 16 countries will take part. North Korea was not invited.

In Cambodia, the last day of campaigning ahead of Sunday's general election. Prime Minister Hon Sen and his party are widely favored to win. Thousands of international observers will monitor polling.

It's the first full day of an international peacekeeping mission in the Solomon Islands. More than 2,000 troops from Australia, New Zealand, and several South Pacific countries are cracking down on militant groups and armed gangs terrorizing rising the capital.

Pandemonium in parliament. A scuffle broke out when opposition lawmakers rushed a chairman who cut short a debate on a bill; the measure to send troops to help rebuild Iraq passed.

And the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger turns 60 tomorrow. A private party is planned in Prague where the band is on tour.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We have some new images of the gunman and his victim in Wednesday's New York City Hall shooting. A surveillance camera captured Othniel Askew and Councilman James Davis entering the building on the morning of the fatal accident. Later that day, Askew killed Davis in a balcony in the council chamber. He was then shot dead by a police officer. The video shows people running out of city hall after the gunshots.

Meanwhile, we're learning more about a possible motive in the shooting. CNN's Maria Hinojosa reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN URBAN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The were not exactly the kind of headlines Othniel Askew had hoped to make, the 31-year-old known for his charm and model's good looks, had dreamed of making a career in politics.

AMURE LOOMIS, AIDE TO LATE NYC COUNCILMAN JAMES DAVIS: This is a wannabe politician. That's really how I saw him. I don't think he was on the level yet to win any political seat.

HINOJOSA: Askew had he hoped to run in the fall elections for the seat of City Councilman James Davis. But authorities say Askew told the FBI that Davis had threatened to derail his political career by revealing his secret life and violent temper.

JOE VALIQUETTE, FBI SPOKESMAN: During the entire conversation, Askew appeared to be rational and calm and he certainly made no threats of violence towards Davis at all.

HINOJOSA: A spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney said Askew had been arrested twice after confrontations with his male lovers, most recently charged with assault for allegedly attacking his male partner with a hammer. Record of that charge was supposed to be sealed after he pled guilty to a lesser charge.

Just hours before the shooting, Askew told the FBI that Davis, a former police officer, had accessed the records and was threatening to go public.

CHENI YERUSHALMI, ASKEW'S FRIEND: I don't know what triggered such an act. I really don't. He's competitive as we all are, but, you know, he's a very rational individual.

HINOJOSA: Davis' alleged threat, police believe, prompted Askew to sneak a handgun into high security city hall and kill Councilman Davis right in the council hall. A police officer shot and killed Askew moments later.

CHRISTINE QUINN, NYC COUNCIL: How is it still so lax in this city and country that somebody like that, who had a DWI, who had a, you know, domestic violence record, could end up with a gun -- a licensed gun?

HINOJOSA: In fact, Councilman Davis had told colleagues the day of the shooting that the two were no longer rivals. That's Davis in the front; Askew in the back. That newfound alliance apparently led Davis to allow Askew, who was known to carry a gun, to bypass security alongside him.

(on camera): The shooting at city hall at first raised concerns about security in this post-September 11 environment. But these new details about Othniel Askew have refocused local politicians on more typical urban concerns, like how a man with a criminal history of criminal violence was allowed to carry a gun, especially when authorities knew he also carried a grudge.

Maria Hinojosa, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: There is new information in the Kobe Bryant case. What from the past has surfaced now about both Kobe Bryant and his alleged victim? We'll have that story right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We seem to be learning more and more with each day about Kobe Bryant and the alleged victim in the sexual assault case that all of us have been covering very closely. Jack McCallum is the senior writer for "Sports Illustrated." His in-depth, sometimes unflattering article on Kobe Bryant appears in the current issue. Jack is joining us from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Jack, thanks very much for joining us.

I read your piece in "Sports Illustrated." There was a side of Kobe Bryant that -- I'm a long-time basketball fan -- that I never saw. Tell our viewers what you learned about him.

JACK MCCALLUM, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Well, I think, Wolf, in these kind of cases, the character of the -- certainly the character of the alleged victim has been disseminated in the press already. You've alluded to some of the, you know, we're going to hear some of the things in the future about what's going on with her, and we've already heard a lot. So Kobe's character becomes an issue too, and the image that's presented with Kobe is that of a guy who's sort of a warm and cuddly superhero, almost a pleasant cartoon character, which is the case with a lot of athletes, I think. You find, however, if you dig a little deeper that Kobe was called cold and calculating by someone who knows him well, that he didn't treat people very well. He was maybe rude and a little obnoxious and offensive, and all of that comes with a caveat that it doesn't add up to necessarily being a sexual predator. What it does add up to is a man who's not quite the image that has been portrayed.

BLITZER: At one point in the article, you describe him as extremely aloof, sort of didn't even want to hang out with his other teammates. What about that?

MCCALLUM: Well, I mean, the Lakers are very sort of a team of islands anyway. Despite the fact they won three championships and they came together on the court, they're not a real bunch of rally around the team guys. That was really the case with Kobe. I mean, a lot of these guys travel with their own bodyguards, their own kind of posse. Kobe didn't really have a big posse, but he traveled with two or three people, didn't associate very much with his teammates, kind of was an island on this team by himself. When he criticized his teammates, they took it very personally because, you know, Shaq was able when he criticized them to put his arm around them and make them feel good. Kobe couldn't really do that. So although they had come together on the court to win three championships, they weren't really the kind of guys that have embraced each other, and I think one of the interesting things about this has been a relatively tepid response from the Lakers. You haven't seen them get together and say, hey, you know, some of them have, but there hasn't been a group hug around Kobe, as it were, so far.

BLITZER: Well, it's one thing, as you know, Jack, for his teammates to believe he could have committed adultery, but it's another thing to believe he could have gotten violent and engaged in what he's accused of doing, sexual assault. How stunned, how shocked were his teammates? You spoke to a lot of them.

MCCALLUM: Well, I think that -- I think we all kind of generally, jeez, I hope we're not naive enough to think, I mean, if a president can receive, you know, oral favors in the West Wing, the idea that a 24-year-old superstar athlete would have committed an act of infidelity, I don't find astonishing. The fact that this came along with a criminal aspect, with an assault violent aspect has been surprising. I did not find one person yet who said, hey, you know, that really doesn't shock me at all. That's the Kobe I know. The Kobe they know is a little bit cold, a little bit calculated, maybe got into a situation that escalated, that he wanted to escalate a little bit more than the woman wanted to. But nobody I've yet said, oh, I've heard this kind of pattern of behavior before. I think we should all remember that, even as we disseminate Kobe's character in public.

BLITZER: Good point. Well said, Jack McCallum. His article is in "Sports Illustrated." Thanks very much, Jack, for joining us.

We'll have the results of our Web question of the day immediately when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our web question of the day. Do you think the images will convince Iraqis that Hussein's sons are dead? Look at this, 47 percent of you say yes; 58 percent of you say no. Remember, this is not a scientific poll. That's all the time we have. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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





Dead?; Will U.S. Forces Move Into Liberia?>


Aired July 25, 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: Only now, two years, nearly two years that is after 9/11 are we getting new and very chilling details on how the hijackers actually rehearsed their terror operations at airports around the world.
It's a case study on the terror threat still very much out there, a story you're about to see only here on CNN. That's next on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Bodies, first photos, now videotapes. Are Iraqis convinced?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): As the Iraqi information network has showed these are not pictures of Uday and Qusay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It is true it is Uday. I was pleased when I saw Uday and we got rid of him.

BLITZER: I'll ask a high school classmate of Uday Hussein.

U.S. troops close in on Saddam. First they went for his family, now they're going after his security.

MAJ. GEN. RAY ODIERNO, U.S. ARMY: But we continue to tighten the noose.

U.S. forces move closer to Liberia, will they move in?

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The condition of the Liberian people is getting worse and worse and worse.

BLITZER: And the other side of Kobe Bryant, was there something else behind that shining image?

(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 Friday, July 25, 2003. Hello from Washington, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting. Bodies and bodyguards, the United States today stepped up its efforts to convince Iraqis the sons of Saddam Hussein are indeed dead. The bodies, said to be those of Uday and Qusay Hussein, were touched up, videotaped, and shown throughout the world.

The U.S. military says a raid on the Hussein hometown of Tikrit may have netted several members of Saddam Hussein's security detail. Troops say they're tightening the noose. We'll go live to Baghdad for Iraqi reaction.

First, though, the latest on the bodies, does the United States have enough proof? And, the bodyguards, is the U.S. closing in on Saddam Hussein? Once again we caution you some of the images are very graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): First there were the gruesome still photos of bodies the U.S. says are Uday and Qusay Hussein killed by U.S. forces during a four hour gunfight in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Now, the U.S. has allowed news organizations to view and videotape the actual bodies that have been cleaned up and reconstructed by military morticians in advance of burial.

Military pathologists say each body had been riddled with more than 20 bullet wounds. They insist there are no signs of suicide. The morticians shaved Qusay's full beard leaving only his trademark moustache.

Take a look at the before and after. They trimmed Uday's full beard leaving only the short stubble that had been his trademark. Once again, here's the comparison.

U.S. officials are hoping the videotape will convince even the most skeptical of Iraqis that Saddam Hussein's regime is gone forever but some regional experts wonder about the long term impact of releasing the pictures.

SHIBLEY TELHAMI, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: I think clearly it's going to satisfy people who had suspicion about -- some of them. Some people will still have conspiracy theories. I mean, you know, that's not going to stop.

JON ALTERMAN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTL. STUDIES: I think it was smart and I think it was necessary. It's very important I think for the U.S. to convince Iraqis that they're really gone, that they're not coming back, that what was Iraq's past is not going to be Iraq's future.

BLITZER: Meanwhile, U.S. military commanders suggest the death of the two sons may be having some positive impact on the ground.

ODIERNO: That we had somebody come into Tikrit, the 1st Brigade, and give us an informant, give us a tip to conduct a raid on a house south of Tikrit, which we conducted last night.

Based on the informant south of Tikrit we detained 13 individuals. Somewhere between five and ten of those, we're still sorting through it, are believed to be Saddam Hussein's personal security detachment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The military says another tip led to a large cache of weapons near Samarra. U.S. troops say they dug up, get this, 45,000 sticks of dynamite, grenade launchers, machine guns, and homemade bombs.

Have Iraqis been persuaded to believe that Saddam Hussein's sons are indeed dead? Let's go live to our Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson. He's joining us, as usual, in Baghdad -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, that certainly seems to be the case. Some of the Iraqis we've talked to here say that new clearer images, the shaving of the face of Qusay, the clipping of Uday's beard all give them a much clearer image of the two men leading them really to begin to believe that it is Uday and Qusay but, nevertheless, opinions have still be divided.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): As the Iraqi information network has showed these are not pictures of Uday and Qusay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It is true that he is Uday. I was pleased when I saw Uday and we got rid of him and, by the will of God, a new government will be formed. We hope we will live in security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: The people that are saying that they don't believe that these are pictures of Uday and Qusay when we ask them they say well this is because it's all a conspiracy. Uday and Qusay would never have been in the same place. It's a United States conspiracy and they sort of talk about how the bodies have been touched up by morticians to make them more presentable, make them more recognizable.

But, I think, Wolf, from the people we talked to the majority here, although they have differing views of whether or not Uday and Qusay should have been killed, they do generally accept the fact that the pair, the brothers are now dead -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Beyond the discovery of these security personnel, these former bodyguards of Saddam Hussein near Tikrit, Nic, is there any other indication that they are indeed tightening the noose around Saddam Hussein as the U.S. military commanders are suggesting?

ROBERTSON: We do get certain indications that that's the case. There were indications in Mosul, not only from neighbors that Saddam Hussein may -- neighbors around the place where Uday and Qusay were killed that indicated that Saddam Hussein may have been in Mosul.

We also had other indications from sources telling us that there were other raids going on at the same time, one of those we witnessed, other raids that we were told were important.

It appears from our standpoint and this isn't something the coalition is saying but it appears from our standpoint that a big push has been made to try and isolate Saddam Hussein from those people who might give him shelter at this time.

If he's been chased out of Mosul and that area try and stop places, try and stop him getting to places he might hide, let's say, in Tikrit with former bodyguards. It does seem to be a concerted effort to take maximum advantage of the momentum and whatever the spinoffs from it are of this attack earlier in the week -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Nic Robertson in Baghdad, Nic thanks very much.

U.S. military morticians have certainly made the bullet-riddled bodies look much more like Uday and Qusay Hussein. How did they do it? Is it enough to convince the skeptics?

Back with us once again today is Dr. Cyril Wecht. He's the world-renowned forensic pathologist. He's joining us from Boynton Beach in Florida. Dr. Wecht, thanks very much for joining us.

DR. CYRIL WECHT, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Hi, Wolf.

BLITZER: First of all, based on the videotape that you had a chance to take a look at today, as opposed to the still pictures from yesterday, what new did you learn, if anything, about the actual cause? Is there one particular cause of death?

WECHT: Well, the video, Wolf, does not clearly delineate the cause of death. One has to go with the findings of the military pathologist talking about in excess of 20 bullet holes in each person and I certainly accept their findings that they all appear to have been fired from the outside.

As we discussed previously, one can easily differentiate between a self-inflicted gunshot wound at tight close contact or very close range of a couple inches from something that has been fired from several feet and many yards away.

And then, when we talked before, we discussed the business of presenting them in a more visibly identifiable fashion, shaving the beards to simulate the last known appearances as we had seen on previous photographs and to clean up the bodies.

I frankly think that they should not have shown the pictures yesterday of the un-cleaned bodies and unshaven faces because it really served no purpose. I think it was good for them to allow news media to come into that air-conditioned tent today because, you know better than I, you are in the business, one can with computer digitalization, you can put somebody's face on somebody else's body. I've seen some very clever things done just fooling around by people who are experts, so it's good to see the actual bodies there. I think it was necessary to do and I think it is extremely important now to follow through with all the other scientific studies that can possibly be accomplished.

They've already done the x-rays showing those plates and pins, right, in the leg, matching them up. They've done the forensic odontological studies. That's important and if they have fingerprints, they probably don't, that would be very significant.

And, if they do DNA that would be the ultimate, and I will just repeat that DNA, those studies, if I were the U.S. government I would have duplicate samples given to at least three foreign governments and have their top experts do the test.

BLITZER: Well, we're told they're going to be doing those DNA. They did have DNA samples. We haven't received them yet. The dental records, the x-rays, I think they're going to be making all that available and I'm also told by the way, Dr. Wecht, they may even have fingerprints although that's still remaining very much up in the air.

Let's talk a little bit about how they fixed up these guys. They sort of reconstructed their faces, their appearance.

WECHT: Yes.

BLITZER: It's pretty amazing and we'll put up on the screen Uday first. It was -- his face was very, very badly damaged in the process of this firefight but he almost looks normal lying there now the way they cleaned him up.

WECHT: Yes, well of course there's the external cleaning and then internally they can put together the bones, not completely of course, but they can juxtapose the fractured portions and they can take out with needles much of the hemorrhagic fluid that may have accumulated inside.

Once you've done that then you have restored to a great extent the appearance. You can't do it, of course, perfectly. Cosmetologists do these kinds of things in America all the time because of the custom that exists in our country of having bodies, open casket funerals for two, three, four days. So, this is a technique that is well known to Americans functioning in this practice of mortician cosmetology.

BLITZER: And many of these military morticians, in fact most of them, are reservists who are morticians in the civilian sector as well.

WECHT: Yes.

BLITZER: So, they're very familiar how to clean up these bodies that have been badly damaged. (Unintelligible.)

WECHT: Absolutely, this is not the first time they've done it, right.

BLITZER: Right. Uday Hussein, for example, his nose was virtually destroyed but now it looks almost normal.

WECHT: Yes, it's really remarkable. They're kind of postmortem plastic surgeons, if you will, and taking their time and having pictures alongside of them, which I'm sure that they had, then they can reconstruct. You can only go so far but they can do an excellent job.

I think this has been accomplished. I think it definitely will serve the purpose. It's not going to remove all of the skepticism and reluctance to accept hard facts because we know that much of that is politically oriented in base but it's going to go a long way certainly through the news media, the international community.

I believe it was a wise idea. Completion of the autopsies was important too to eliminate anything else. How do you know that this didn't exist and how do you know that they weren't poisoned and so on?

People have asked about why would you then do autopsies? For the same reason that in America we have a guy that's been shot in the head, we don't say hey we're not going to do an autopsy. You do a complete autopsy. That's the proper and only acceptable medical, legal, investigative approach in matters of this nature.

BLITZER: Doctor.

WECHT: And, needless to say, this is extremely important.

BLITZER: Dr. Wecht, as we look at this picture of the younger brother, Qusay, they shaved off his beard virtually completely. They left only his sort of trademark moustache. How hard it is to shave off a beard of a dead -- of a body there like that?

WECHT: Easier than to do it when you're alive. You just soap it up, lather it, and then shave it off and, remember, there's no mobility and there's nobody saying ouch, so it is not difficult to do.

It was a -- and then put on some cosmetic shine which you probably don't see on the videos to smooth it further and to remove any of the tiny blemishes that might have occurred on the epidermis. So, again it's no, you know, it's nothing that is the least bit atypical and I think that it was well done and wisely accomplished.

BLITZER: Dr. Cyril Wecht, thanks for joining us. We always appreciate your expertise.

WECHT: Thank you, Wolf, my pleasure.

BLITZER: Thank you, and here's your turn, our viewers that is, to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the day is this. "Do you think the images will convince Iraqis the Hussein sons are dead?"

We'll have the results later in this broadcast. You can vote at cnn.com/wolf. While you're there, I'd like to hear directly 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.

A country in crisis why the U.S. may be closer to sending troops to Liberia.

Also, the road map to peace winds its way through the White House, what the president promised the Palestinian prime minister.

And, the terror clues from the Philippines, we'll have an exclusive report showing how a terror mastermind tested airport security. This is a chilling story.

And later, inside New York City Hall when the bullets started flying, what was caught on videotape by the security camera? We'll show you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

He's long refused to welcome Yasser Arafat to the White House but today President Bush rolled out the red carpet for the Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and found some common ground.

Let's go live to our Senior White House Correspondent John King, pretty remarkable day over there today, John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Just the meeting, Wolf, noteworthy. As you noted, for 30 months this president flat out shunned Yasser Arafat, would not meet with him, would not invite him to come to the White House, simply did not trust him.

Today, the president saying he has full trust in the new prime minister of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. Now this meeting comes seven weeks after Mr. Bush's bid Mid East summit in Jordan. There has been some but only modest progress since then in implementing the so-called road map for peace.

Both the Palestinians and the Israelis say constant White House pressure is critical to moving the process along. Mr. Abbas came here with a number of demands. One of them is that Israel stop building what it calls a security wall throughout the West Bank separating Israel from the Palestinian territories.

Mr. Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel, says it is critical to stopping attacks on Israeli citizens. Mr. Abbas says it is humiliating and must come down. And, on this contentious issue, Mr. Bush made clear he agrees with the Palestinian leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I think the wall is a problem and I have discussed this with Ariel Sharon. It is very difficult to develop confidence between the Palestinians and Israel with a wall snaking through the West Bank and I will continue to discuss this issue very clearly with the prime ministers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Another always contentious issue is the issue of Palestinian -- Israeli settlements -- excuse me, in the Palestinian territories. Mr. Bush said it would be a much more easier issue to negotiate if Prime Minister Abbas can prove his commitment to cracking down on Palestinian militant groups in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

Prime Minister Abbas said he would do just that keep terror in check but he also made clear that dismantling some settlements, as Israeli has committed to doing, is simply not enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHMOUD ABBAS, PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER: Nothing less than a full settlement freeze will do because nothing less than a full settlement freeze will work. For the sake of peace and for the sake of future Palestinian and Israeli generations, all settlement activities must be stopped now and the wall must come down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now, Mr. Abbas nodded approvingly as if to show his approval anyway whenever Mr. Bush was discussing the security wall or discussing the issue of Israeli settlements; however, on one issue Mr. Bush made clear he did not agree with the Palestinian prime minister.

Mr. Abbas wants the Israelis to give blanket release to thousands of Palestinian prisoners. Mr. Bush said he could never support that. He said that issue should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, Mr. Bush saying he would never ask Israel or any other government to put back on the street someone who might immediately try to incite violence and kill citizens of Israel or any other government.

So, Wolf, it's clear some differences remain but White House officials are quite optimistic. They say just the fact that there is now a Palestinian leader that this president trusts is one sign of progress. The president's effort to push the parties further along the road map to peace will continue on Tuesday when Prime Minister Sharon comes to the White House.

BLITZER: And, John, very briefly that could be contentious given the president's rather blunt talk about the settlements and the wall. How difficult of a meeting could that be?

KING: Well, President Bush and Prime Minister Sharon always call themselves friends but Mr. Bush had made clear he is prepared to pressure Israel and even risk political heat here at home if he believes the Palestinians are keeping their end of the bargain.

Mr. Bush made clear today that at least so far he thinks the Palestinians are doing just that, so on the issue of that wall, look for some contention, if you will, some tension perhaps between the Israelis and the United States and it will be interesting to hear what Prime Minister Sharon says and whether he makes any announcements before he comes on the issues of prisoners and settlements as well.

BLITZER: All right, they're going forward with that wall. We were just there a few weeks ago, about 200 miles at $1 million a mile, more than $200 million they budgeted. We'll see what they do. John King at the White House thanks very much, John.

United Nations refugee officials call the situation in Liberia grave. Shells railed down on the capital today some near the United States Embassy killing at least 12 people, including children.

Among the buildings hit a former school housing refugees. Rebels are trying to seize Monrovia from forces loyal to President Charles Taylor. Several cease-fires have been declared. None of them have stuck.

Now comes word that U.S. Marines may be thrown into that very volatile mix. President Bush is ordering a military force, said to number 2,000, to take up positions off the Liberian coast.

CNN's Chris Plante is over at the Pentagon. He's joining us now live with details -- Chris.

CHRIS PLANTE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf.

Well, pressing to have an African peacekeeping force go in ahead of any U.S. peacekeepers, the Bush White House finds itself under increasing pressure to do something about the simmering crisis there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PLANTE (voice-over): With a mounting death toll and continuing chaos in the Liberian capital, President Bush Friday ordered the Pentagon to organize troops for possible U.S. military action.

BUSH: We're deeply concerned that the condition of the Liberian people is getting worse and worse and worse. Aid can't get to the people. We're worried about the outbreak of disease.

PLANTE: Two ships loaded with nearly 2,000 Marines have been ordered to steam toward Liberia. The USS Iwo Jima and the USS Carter Hall are already in the Mediterranean Sea. A third ship, the USS Nashville is slated to follow on. Army forces may also become part of any task force, sources told CNN. At the Pentagon there is concern about being sucked into yet another military conflict.

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: Whatever we do we have a very clear mission, we understand the mission we're asked to do, that we have an idea of when the mission is going to be over, in other words, when can we come out of the mission, and that we have sufficient force to deal with the security situation.

PLANTE: Under the plan and vision by the Pentagon, U.S. forces would only provide logistics, communications, and other non-combat support and that only after the fighting has stopped.

(END VIDEOTAPE) PLANTE: With Liberian President Charles Taylor insisting he won't leave until U.S. troops arrive and the U.S. insisting they will only put peacekeepers in after Taylor is gone, the situation may find itself at another impasse -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Chris Plante at the Pentagon thanks Chris very much.

A terror attack mastermind and the clues to what he was planning years before September 11, 2001. We'll have an exclusive report on how a top al Qaeda terrorist tested security at airports around the world.

Also Uday Hussein's former high school classmate on why Iraqis won't believe Saddam's sons are indeed dead.

Later, the political fight that erupts into a fist fight, look at this, what sparked the violence? We'll tell you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The congressional report on the 9/11 attacks released only yesterday is focusing new attention on the missed clues and there were many of them. CNN has obtained documents showing Philippine police told the FBI about the plot as early as 1995 but Philippine authorities say the warning was not taken seriously.

CNN's Maria Ressa has this exclusive report.

(CNN EXCLUSIVE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This apartment in Manila was the home of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed who would become al Qaeda's third highest ranking leader by the time he was arrested in 2003.

Now in U.S. custody, Khalid told his interrogators while here he and his nephew Ramzi Yousef carried out the first World Trade Center bombing, plotted what would become the 9/11 attacks seven years later.

In 1994, the two tested airport security, Khalid on a flight from Manila to Seoul, Yousef on a flight from Hong Kong to Taipei. Khalid told authorities they each converted 14 bottles of contact lens solution into bombs by replacing their contents with an inexpensive liquid explosive readily available in the Philippines.

In place of the detonator, Khalid said he taped the metal ball to the arch of his foot. He then wore clothing and jewelry with metal to confuse airport security. He said he and Yousef placed condoms in their bags to support their cover story that they were traveling to meet women.

Khalid boasted the test worked flawlessly. In December, 1994, Yousef would actually plant and explode a bomb on a Philippine airlines flight. They were set to carry out an audacious plot to bomb 11 U.S. airlines over the Pacific that the FBI estimates would have killed 4,000 people.

But, an accidental fire in their safe house apartment led to the bust up of their cell. The only one arrested in Manila was Abdul Hakim Murad, Yousef's classmate trained as a commercial pilot in four schools in the United States.

Colonel Rodolfo Mendoza interrogated him and discovered the blueprint for 9/11.

COL. RODOLFO MENDOZA, FMR. INTELLIGENCE INVESTIGATOR: They have a plan to crash the airplane, the commercial jetliner, into the specific target and they have done it. I believe that all these plan, old plans, are supposed to be executed.

RESSA: Other plots discovered in Manila to assassinate the U.S. president and attack nuclear power plants in the U.S.

(on camera): Khalid Shaikh Mohammed said the 1995 operation was his first for al Qaeda. Through the years as he rose up the ranks, he passed along the lessons he learned to the operatives he controlled like the Millennium Bomber, Ahmed Rassam who talked about liquid explosives, and the shoe bomber Richard Reid who hid explosives in his shoes. Philippine authorities say everything they discovered in 1995 was passed along to the FBI.

Maria Ressa, CNN, Manila.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: They're the pictures the whole world has been watching for the past two days after the fire fight in Mosul. Did either of Saddam Hussein's sons commit suicide? What's revealed from the videotape that was released today? Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the story right after a break.

Also, the emotional homecoming for U.S. troops after months in the desert. They were part of the group that helped rescue private first class Jessica Lynch.

And later, new information on what may have sparked that deadly shooting at New York City hall.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. The shooting at New York City hall shocked the nation. What police now say may have been the motive in the attack. We'll get to that, but first the latest headlines.

Autopsy results show the man nominated by President Bush to be Navy Secretary committed suicide. That's according to New Mexico state medical investigator. Colin McMillan's body was found yesterday with a gunshot wound at his New Mexico ranch. He was 67 years old.

A happy homecoming in California. Members of a marine air group number 16, the landing force, returned to San Diego today. They were deployed to Iraq in January. Their commanding officer was in charge of assault helicopters that were used in the rescue of private first class Jessica Lynch.

Days after an elderly driver crashed into a market in California, there was a similar incident in Florida today. Police say a man in his late 70s lost control of his car and ran into booths at a farmer's market in Flagler Beach, six people were injured.

A wildfire on the western edge of the Glacier National Park in Montana has destroyed at least six houses. Hundreds of firefighters are trying to contain half a dozen other major fires around the state. The weather is cooperating with overcast skies and cooler temperatures.

As we told you, the United States military today showed graphic videotape of two corpses it says are the remains of Saddam Hussein's sons. It's possible the bodies could provide more information than just proof of their identity. Our medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been investigating. He has this report, but we want to warn our viewers once again. It's from a medical standpoint and the images may be more graphic than what you've previously seen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The pictures are hard to look at. First, immediately after their deaths and now after they've been cleaned up. The beards are gone, the dried blood has been removed. Makeup has been applied and even some minor physical reconstruction done.

While they are waiting still for a DNA match, officials say they used these dental records to confirm the identities matching Qusay Hussein perfectly and Uday Hussein only 90 percent because of the damage done to his jaw.

It was this damage that caused military experts to first think that Uday Hussein had committed suicide. They would have also looked for gun powder around the bullet entry sites. If there's a lot of gun powder, the barrel was likely held close to the head. After a further analysis, military pathologists say suicide was unlikely.

Both brothers now have a Y-shaped incision on their chests. The incision, closed with suture, extends from both shoulders meets in the sternum and then down into the abdomen. All of the organs including the lungs, heart, liver and kidneys are likely being examined, weighed and analyzed.

They could show evidence of disease or trace evidence of exposures to toxic substances, possibly including biological, chemical or nuclear agents. While it is medically possible to detect such substances, military officials have given no indication that this might be found.

These cases are high profile, but the autopsy was standard and may yet still reveal some important information. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BLITZER: Now let's get some reaction from someone who once knew one of Saddam Hussein's sons. Basam Ridha went to high school with Uday Hussein. He now lives in the United States. He's joining us now live from Los Angeles. Basam, thanks very much for joining us. How well did you know Uday Hussein?

BASAM RIDHA, UDAY'S FORMER CLASSMATE: Well there was an incident back in one of the university, one of high school rather, in Baghdad called the College of Baghdad. It's actually in high school. That when Uday came in that day, it was sometime back in '79, late '79, with ten, 12 cars, they -- his bodyguard were attacking the students and pushing them around and literally beating on them just for Uday to arrive and to make his first day.

And shortly after my father asked me to transfer immediately to a different high school because we were not going to tolerate this. And it was the case like everyday.

BLITZER: So Basam, what went through your mind as you saw these pictures of these two dead Hussein sons?

RIDHA: Well, we were very happy. Most of the Iraqi people are very, very happy to see what Saddam's sons being killed that way, because what he did to our people, I mean, I lost two of my brothers. Those mass graves that Uday and Qusay are responsible for and they are deliver and kill the Iraqi people, we are very happy.

We have no doubt those images belong to Saddam's sons. The best way, and this is something I would like to you know maybe suggest to the administration, to maybe call Sojidha (ph) Hussein, the mother of the two sons. Maybe she ought to come forward and speak, and she claim this is actually her sons. No one else can claim this, no one else can say this actually the sons of Saddam Hussein. Hopefully that will happen soon.

BLITZER: That's obviously a pretty good idea. But why do you believe, apparently at least, there are plenty of Iraqis still out there, even after seeing the still photos, the original pictures, the touched up videotape that was released today with the reconstructed faces, why are they still reluctant to believe it?

RIDHA: Well the Iraqi people have a doubt because the administration did not do a good job after the war. They did not provide essential things to the Iraqi people like security, water, electricity, it's only what 120 degree Fahrenheit in Baghdad right now? These people are really desperate. They have been living in the regime of Baghdad -- Saddam's for 3 decades and with vicious, brutal, killing. So they figure this is the time to see this liberation, not occupation. Essential things, I think the United Nations can do a better job than what we've been providing. Where is the interim government with the limited authority for the interim government to run Iraq? They need immediate action so they can change this, you know, lack of trust towards our administration.

BLITZER: One very quick question. The Muslim tradition like the Jewish tradition, you're supposed to bury the body within 24 hours. Very quickly. Do you anticipate there could be a backlash because these bodies obviously have not been buried and probably are not going to be buried for a while?

RIDHA: I don't think so. I think more time that we put those and reveal those pictures to the whole world, the Iraqi people will be eventually convinced.

Now keep in mind, the Iraqi people are looking forward to see the DNA proof. If I were the American, I would come up with this as soon as possible and maybe use Sajita Hussein as an eyewitness for their death.

BLITZER: Basam Ridha, thanks very much for joining us.

RIDHA: Thank you.

BLITZER: Once again, our "Web Question of the Day" is this: "Do you think the images will convince Iraqis that Hussein's sons are dead?" We'll have the results later in this broadcast. You can vote cnn.com/wolf.

There is new information about that shocking shooting at New York City Hall. A possible motive about why the gunman killed his political rival. That story after the break.

Also, the case against Kobe Bryant. I'll talk with the reporter who's uncovered new information in this high profile case.

First though, let's take a quick look at headlines "Around the World."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Americans ordered to leave Saudi Arabia in May after three suicide bombings will be heading back. The State Department has cleared the way for embassy and consulate staff to return, along with their families. The bombings killed 34 people, including eight Americans. U.S. citizens are still being warned against nonessential travel to Saudi Arabia.

Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War. Ceremonies are planned in the Demilitarized Zone. Fifteen hundred veterans from 16 countries will take part. North Korea was not invited.

In Cambodia, the last day of campaigning ahead of Sunday's general election. Prime Minister Hon Sen and his party are widely favored to win. Thousands of international observers will monitor polling.

It's the first full day of an international peacekeeping mission in the Solomon Islands. More than 2,000 troops from Australia, New Zealand, and several South Pacific countries are cracking down on militant groups and armed gangs terrorizing rising the capital.

Pandemonium in parliament. A scuffle broke out when opposition lawmakers rushed a chairman who cut short a debate on a bill; the measure to send troops to help rebuild Iraq passed.

And the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger turns 60 tomorrow. A private party is planned in Prague where the band is on tour.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We have some new images of the gunman and his victim in Wednesday's New York City Hall shooting. A surveillance camera captured Othniel Askew and Councilman James Davis entering the building on the morning of the fatal accident. Later that day, Askew killed Davis in a balcony in the council chamber. He was then shot dead by a police officer. The video shows people running out of city hall after the gunshots.

Meanwhile, we're learning more about a possible motive in the shooting. CNN's Maria Hinojosa reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN URBAN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The were not exactly the kind of headlines Othniel Askew had hoped to make, the 31-year-old known for his charm and model's good looks, had dreamed of making a career in politics.

AMURE LOOMIS, AIDE TO LATE NYC COUNCILMAN JAMES DAVIS: This is a wannabe politician. That's really how I saw him. I don't think he was on the level yet to win any political seat.

HINOJOSA: Askew had he hoped to run in the fall elections for the seat of City Councilman James Davis. But authorities say Askew told the FBI that Davis had threatened to derail his political career by revealing his secret life and violent temper.

JOE VALIQUETTE, FBI SPOKESMAN: During the entire conversation, Askew appeared to be rational and calm and he certainly made no threats of violence towards Davis at all.

HINOJOSA: A spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney said Askew had been arrested twice after confrontations with his male lovers, most recently charged with assault for allegedly attacking his male partner with a hammer. Record of that charge was supposed to be sealed after he pled guilty to a lesser charge.

Just hours before the shooting, Askew told the FBI that Davis, a former police officer, had accessed the records and was threatening to go public.

CHENI YERUSHALMI, ASKEW'S FRIEND: I don't know what triggered such an act. I really don't. He's competitive as we all are, but, you know, he's a very rational individual.

HINOJOSA: Davis' alleged threat, police believe, prompted Askew to sneak a handgun into high security city hall and kill Councilman Davis right in the council hall. A police officer shot and killed Askew moments later.

CHRISTINE QUINN, NYC COUNCIL: How is it still so lax in this city and country that somebody like that, who had a DWI, who had a, you know, domestic violence record, could end up with a gun -- a licensed gun?

HINOJOSA: In fact, Councilman Davis had told colleagues the day of the shooting that the two were no longer rivals. That's Davis in the front; Askew in the back. That newfound alliance apparently led Davis to allow Askew, who was known to carry a gun, to bypass security alongside him.

(on camera): The shooting at city hall at first raised concerns about security in this post-September 11 environment. But these new details about Othniel Askew have refocused local politicians on more typical urban concerns, like how a man with a criminal history of criminal violence was allowed to carry a gun, especially when authorities knew he also carried a grudge.

Maria Hinojosa, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: There is new information in the Kobe Bryant case. What from the past has surfaced now about both Kobe Bryant and his alleged victim? We'll have that story right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We seem to be learning more and more with each day about Kobe Bryant and the alleged victim in the sexual assault case that all of us have been covering very closely. Jack McCallum is the senior writer for "Sports Illustrated." His in-depth, sometimes unflattering article on Kobe Bryant appears in the current issue. Jack is joining us from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Jack, thanks very much for joining us.

I read your piece in "Sports Illustrated." There was a side of Kobe Bryant that -- I'm a long-time basketball fan -- that I never saw. Tell our viewers what you learned about him.

JACK MCCALLUM, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Well, I think, Wolf, in these kind of cases, the character of the -- certainly the character of the alleged victim has been disseminated in the press already. You've alluded to some of the, you know, we're going to hear some of the things in the future about what's going on with her, and we've already heard a lot. So Kobe's character becomes an issue too, and the image that's presented with Kobe is that of a guy who's sort of a warm and cuddly superhero, almost a pleasant cartoon character, which is the case with a lot of athletes, I think. You find, however, if you dig a little deeper that Kobe was called cold and calculating by someone who knows him well, that he didn't treat people very well. He was maybe rude and a little obnoxious and offensive, and all of that comes with a caveat that it doesn't add up to necessarily being a sexual predator. What it does add up to is a man who's not quite the image that has been portrayed.

BLITZER: At one point in the article, you describe him as extremely aloof, sort of didn't even want to hang out with his other teammates. What about that?

MCCALLUM: Well, I mean, the Lakers are very sort of a team of islands anyway. Despite the fact they won three championships and they came together on the court, they're not a real bunch of rally around the team guys. That was really the case with Kobe. I mean, a lot of these guys travel with their own bodyguards, their own kind of posse. Kobe didn't really have a big posse, but he traveled with two or three people, didn't associate very much with his teammates, kind of was an island on this team by himself. When he criticized his teammates, they took it very personally because, you know, Shaq was able when he criticized them to put his arm around them and make them feel good. Kobe couldn't really do that. So although they had come together on the court to win three championships, they weren't really the kind of guys that have embraced each other, and I think one of the interesting things about this has been a relatively tepid response from the Lakers. You haven't seen them get together and say, hey, you know, some of them have, but there hasn't been a group hug around Kobe, as it were, so far.

BLITZER: Well, it's one thing, as you know, Jack, for his teammates to believe he could have committed adultery, but it's another thing to believe he could have gotten violent and engaged in what he's accused of doing, sexual assault. How stunned, how shocked were his teammates? You spoke to a lot of them.

MCCALLUM: Well, I think that -- I think we all kind of generally, jeez, I hope we're not naive enough to think, I mean, if a president can receive, you know, oral favors in the West Wing, the idea that a 24-year-old superstar athlete would have committed an act of infidelity, I don't find astonishing. The fact that this came along with a criminal aspect, with an assault violent aspect has been surprising. I did not find one person yet who said, hey, you know, that really doesn't shock me at all. That's the Kobe I know. The Kobe they know is a little bit cold, a little bit calculated, maybe got into a situation that escalated, that he wanted to escalate a little bit more than the woman wanted to. But nobody I've yet said, oh, I've heard this kind of pattern of behavior before. I think we should all remember that, even as we disseminate Kobe's character in public.

BLITZER: Good point. Well said, Jack McCallum. His article is in "Sports Illustrated." Thanks very much, Jack, for joining us.

We'll have the results of our Web question of the day immediately when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our web question of the day. Do you think the images will convince Iraqis that Hussein's sons are dead? Look at this, 47 percent of you say yes; 58 percent of you say no. Remember, this is not a scientific poll. That's all the time we have. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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