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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
O'Neill Backs Away From Comments; U.S. Troops Under Attack in Iraq; Northeast Braces for Coldest Weather in Decades
Aired January 13, 2004 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Insider insults. An ex- cabinet secretary regrets his language in telling tales about the Bush White House, but says he didn't tell any secrets.
Trouble in the triangle. Troops under attack, in the air and on the ground.
Monumental lapse. A security slip up at a national landmark?
Refreeze. The northeast braces for its coldest weather in decades, again.
ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, January 13, 2004.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: The Bush cabinet controversy appears to be growing and the man at center of the firestorm, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill appears to be backing away just a little bit from one of his blistering assessments of President Bush. All this as the administration appears to be stepping up its attacks against O'Neill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Paul O'Neill admits he'd do some things differently if he was interviewed for a book again. But he says he did not make the mistake of giving classified documents to the author of a new book about O'Neill and President Bush.
PAUL O'NEILL, FRM. TREASURY SECY.: I don't honestly think there's anything that's classified in those 19,000 documents.
BLITZER: 19,000 documents that author Ron Suskind used for his book, "The Price of Loyalty." In it and in subsequent interviews, O'Neill alleges the president and his aides sought to overthrow Saddam Hussein from the earliest days of the administration.
Now, the Treasury Department is investigating whether any classified material was improperly given to O'Neill when he was forced out of his job in late 2002.
O'NEILL: What they will discover is the general counsel, the chief legal officer of the Treasury Department went through all these documents and sent me things. Under the law he's not supposed to send me anything that isn't unclassified.
BLITZER: In other words, nothing's classified in those papers. And if there is anything classified, O'Neill says, Don't blame me.
His interviews in the book, in "TIME" magazine, on CBS' "60 Minutes" and this morning on "The Today Show" are causing a capital size slugfest that the president's adversaries are eager to exploit.
TERRY MCAULIFFE, DNC CHAIRMAN: For him to come out and write these things about the president being aloof, that he wanted to go in Iraq from day one, not engage in economic issues, you know I think the American public will look at it and be very concerned. So of course it's something that we're going to talk about.
BLITZER: Today it was the president's deputies who took up the fight against O'Neill's claims.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I don't know what meetings he could have been in. All I know when we arrived, the policy of the United States government since 1988 has been regime change in Iraq.
BLITZER: Secretary Rumsfeld confirmed he'd spoken twice with O'Neill about the book. But Rumsfeld denied reports he asked O'Neill not to continue his involvement in the project.
O'Neill is doing his own damage control. He now says he'd take back some unflattering comments he made about the president's leadership style, specifically his description in the book of Mr. Bush and his cabinet as, quote, "a blind man surrounded by deaf people."
As for being investigated by the department he once led...
O'NEILL: If I were secretary of the treasury, I would have done the same.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: This note, due to a scheduling conflict, Ron Suskind the author of "The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House and the Education of Paul O'Neill" is not able to join us during this hour. He will be with us tomorrow at the same time.
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and the former treasury secretary, as we all know, go way back, and the cabinet controversy was a hot topic at today's Pentagon briefing. Let's go live to senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well first of all, Wolf, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld disputed the idea that he was pushing for regime change in the spring of 2001, in the early months of the administration, insisting there were a few people on board at the Pentagon. And their focus was protecting who were pilots threatened daily in the no-fly zone. And as you noted he did call Paul O'Neill twice, a friend he's said he's known for 30 years to talk to him, when he learned he was involved in this book. But he insists he never trade to muzzle him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUMSFELD: I didn't ask him not to write book. I didn't ask him to do anything. He's a person I've known since the 1960s. I must say, I have not read the book, so I really am reluctant to comment on it, other than what I say what I've been reading about the book is so different from my experience in this administration it is just dramatic. It's night and day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Rumsfeld went to heap praise on his boss, President Bush, saying his picture of him was as someone who had a brain, was engaged, his interests, his probing questions, his constructive and positive approach to issues. He said that the picture that he has of President Bush is totally different than the one he's seeing portrayed in the press based on those comments from Paul O'Neill -- Wolf.
BLITZER: A vote of support for the president from the defense secretary. Thanks very much, Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon.
And to our viewers, here's your turn to weigh in on this important story. "Our Web Question of the Day" is this: do you think there should be an investigation into whether Paul O'Neill released classified material? You can vote right now. Go to cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results later in this broadcast.
While you're there, though, I'd love to hear directly from you. Send me your comments any time, I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.
While the debate over Iraq goes on, the violence in Iraq grinds on. There was more trouble in the Sunni Triangle today. A U.S. attack helicopter was attacked and troops were targeted. But that wasn't the only hot spot as CNN's Karl Penhaul reports from Baghdad.
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KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another American helicopter down. The third wreck in two weeks in Iraq's Sunni Triangle, heartland of the guerrilla war against the occupying coalition.
This time it's an Apache Attack helicopter. A U.S. military spokesman says it was probably shot down by insurgents. The two-man crew survive.
Witnesses near the town of Habbiniyah (ph), west of Baghdad, say they saw a flash.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The rocket hit the helicopter on the tail and fire erupted. The pilot discharge his weapons. Then the helicopter lost control and crash landed. The crew of the helicopter fled and the rescue services arrived.
PENHAUL: Trouble too in a neighboring triangle town, Fallujah. Town officials say unidentified attackers fired a rocket at U.S. paratroopers guarding the mayor's office. Officials say soldiers returned fire, and three people, including a woman were killed. Seven others were injured in the gunfight.
Earlier in the day, several hundred protesters demonstrated against U.S. forces who had detained an Iraqi bride as they searched for her husband. She was released.
Unrest too in the Shi'a Muslim dominated south. A second day of demonstrations against chronic unemployment in the city of al Kut. Coalition commanders say there was no violence but wire services report seven injured in clashes between jobless protesters and Ukrainian coalition troops.
The protests, like other seen at the weekend further south in Amara, coincide with a political controversy sparked by Shi'a spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani (ph).
The media-shy ayatollah rarely pictured on camera is calling for general elections to choose a new Iraqi government. But coalition administrators say the leadership will be selected by a series of regional committees or caucuses.
PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: The problem we have is time. It will take time to produce an electoral law to get a political parties law to draw constituent boundaries so we have a voter's list.
PENHAUL (on camera): The dispute between the coalition and the cleric may be gaining pace, but there's no sign the Shi'a majority will mount the kind of armed resistance that's taken root in the Sunni Triangle.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, Baghdad.
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BLITZER: President Bush took steps to mend some badly frayed relations with Canada. Meeting for the first time with the new with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, Mr. Bush reversed himself on the ban preventing Canada to bid on contracts to rebuild Iraq. It happen in Mexico where the two leaders are attending the Summit of the Americas.
Our White House correspondent Dana Bash is there with more on that and another key issue on the table -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the president and the other 33 leaders gathered for the summit just wrapped up their two-day discussions on issues like poverty and fighting corruption. They posed for this traditional class photo. But as you mentioned the significant development of the day happened on the sidelines of the summit. And that was between the first meeting with President Bush and the new prime minister of Canada, Paul Martin. And out of that came a major policy reversal. The president said that no longer would Canada be shut out of bidding for prime contracts to rebuild Iraq. He said that things have changed since Canada -- excuse me, since Canada opposed the war in Iraq.
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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They want Iraq to succeed, they want Iraq to be free. They understand the stakes of having a free country in the midst of the Middle East. And Canada right now is eligible for subcontracting bids in the first round of construction projects and the second round, the second tranche (ph) of bidding, Canada will be eligible to bid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now will Russia, France and Germany who also opposed war in Iraq, will they be eligible for the prime bids as well? The White House says stay tuned. It depends, they say, on whether or not they show that they are also for rebuilding Iraq and for showing a commitment in cooperation in Iraq.
Now, Wolf, the U.S. and Canada relations have been quite rocky over the past year because of the former Prime Minister Jean Chretien's opposition to the war in Iraq, but this particular meeting was meant to show, as you mentioned, mending fences that the U.S. and Canada can get along and they discussed a need to cooperate on another major issue for the two countries and that is mad cow disease.
President Bush said that it is something that the two men are going to work together on. Especially on regulation and tracking the science on mad cow and the president also said, as he said before, that there is no safety issue with beef, and he said that he continues to eat beef -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Dana Bash, covering the president's trip at the Summit of the Americas in Monterrey, thanks very much.
America votes 2004, will a former U.S. president make a big endorsement? We'll go live to Iowa.
And not giving up. I'll talk live with Democratic candidate Dennis Kucinich.
Wal-Mart violations, new accusations in evident against the nation's No. 1 retailer.
Security lapse inside the nation's capital. Why the D.C. monuments may not necessarily be all that safe. All that coming up.
First today's news quiz. "What material makes up the nine-inch tip of the Washington monument?" Cobalt, granite, aluminum, steel. The answer later in the show. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLTIZER: Welcome back. The campaign for the presidency continues. Let's go to Iowa. Ames, Iowa, specifically to CNN Election Express in that city, Ames, Iowa, CNN co-hosts of "Crossfire" Tucker Carlson, Paul Begala are sitting there. I was going to say you're standing by but you're both actually sitting. Paul, first to you. You just interviewed Joe Trippi, the manager of the Howard Dean campaign. Is he hinting, is he suggesting that the former President Jimmy Carter might, in fact, endorse Howard Dean?
PAUL BEGALA, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": He kind of danced around it. Tucker asked him rather directly but I think Trippi and Governor Dean are trying to sort of have it both ways and so far, maybe succeeding.
Running against the establishment in Washington, against their party, and yet, receiving more endorsements from senators, from congressmen, and potentially even a former president than anybody else in the race.
BLITZER: Tucker, I want to play for our viewers precisely what Joe Trippi said to both of you when you asked him whether Jimmy Carter was going to go ahead and endorse Howard Dean.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCKER CARLSON, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": Will Jimmy Carter endorse Howard Dean?
JOE TRIPPI, DEAN CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I don't believe so, you have to tune in Sunday to find out what's going to happen when we're out in Plains, Georgia.
CARLSON: Sunday? Sunday in Plains, Georgia. But you don't believe he's going to endorse you?
TRIPPI: I don't believe so.
CARLSON: Is he going to attack you?
TRIPPI: I don't think so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Tucker, the point of a day before the Iowa caucus for Howard Dean to go to Plains, Georgia, sounds like it's setting the stage potentially for a Jimmy Carter endorsement. Doesn't that sound like that to you?
CARLSON: It certainly does, I don't think it's been in print. I certainly hadn't heard of it until right before the show, the suggestion that it might be true. And yet, Trippi's answer is just so darn weird. He doesn't think the former president is going to endorse Howard Dean.
He's not, of course, going to attack him, but he's going to leave Iowa right before the caucus to fly to Plains, Georgia, not necessarily a bustling political hub to do what? Have coffee with him? I don't know what it means. If he does endorse him, I'd like to play this tape though after it happens to get him to explain why he didn't go ahead and admit it.
BEGALA: I think he didn't just admit it because they don't want to blow story, they want to create some aura of suspense, and he certainly creates a mystery as to what he meant by that.
BLITZER: Paul, you're a good Democrat. How significant would it be, a Jimmy Carter endorsement of Howard Dean, the day before the Iowa caucuses?
BEGALA: I think President Carter is certainly very well thought of especially here in Iowa. You recall, of course, when he won the Nobel peace prize he used much of his address to excoriate the war in Iraq, that is the issue that propelled Howard Dean from obscurity to the front of the pack, there's little signs others are starting to catch up. Maybe Dean doesn't have a second act after the issue of the war, he's got a new ad reviving the issue of the war and President Carter, one more time, if he endorses him, could bring that issue back to the fore again.
BLITZER: We'll have to wait until Sunday, I guess, to find out for sure. Tucker Carlson, Paul Begala, the co-hosts of "Crossfire." They're on the road in Iowa. We'll be joining you on "Crossfire" tomorrow 4:30 p.m. Eastern, every day, every weekday that is.
Let's move to an important story in the nation's capital. Are the national monuments easy targets for terrorists. According to report obtained from government officials by CNN, investigators found serious lapses in security on Washington's National Mall two years after the 9/11 attack. Let's go live to CNN's Jennifer Coggiola. She's over at the Washington Monument.
JENNIFER COGGIOLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This august review of security at many of the nation's monuments revealed what inspectors then called serious deficiencies. Well, now, this latest assessment, a two-day undercover investigation here at the mall came to some more disturbing conclusions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COGGIOLA (voice-over): It wasn't a bomb or a gun or an explosive, just a black plastic bag stuffed with garbage left at back of the Washington monument where it sat for nearly 20 minutes undisrupted and unnoticed.
Then, it was moved to the front. Another 15 minutes and, again, nothing it. It posed no threat, but its significance is glaring. On September 10 and 11 of this past year, undercover surveillance by the Interior Department's Inspector General's office on the National Mall, an area of heightened alert for the anniversary of the terrorist attacks revealed what inspectors called persistent and severe deficiencies in security. Example, that black garbage bag dropped off on purpose by inspectors demonstrated the ease terrorists would have to place real threats near the site.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once that report reached the United States Park Police, we took it very seriously. We are very concerned about the report.
COGGIOLA: In the report in photos released to the media by Congressman Jim Turner's office, investigators detailed what they called inadequate protection and security weakness over the two days.
Quote, "it was particularly disturbing to find these vulnerabilities on a day when security and awareness should have been heightened given the anniversary of one of America's most horrific and tragic attacks." And on another visit in the middle of the day on September 11, an unmarked car with what appeared to be a plainclothes officer asleep.
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON (D), DC DELEGATE: We need do more tests on park facilities. But it does seem clear to me, we have not trained Park Service personnel up and down the line to have a fresh eye for post-9/11 events, packages and people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COGGIOLA: The National Park Service which monitors the Mall has been under some fire of its own lately after the Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers was charged with insubordination and improper lobbying. This after she publicly criticized the force of security and budget constraints to the media and the public. She has since been suspended and a gag order was issued -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Jennifer Coggiola on the National Mall outside the Washington Monument, thank you very much for that report, Jennifer.
Growing controversy over former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's harsh criticism of the Bush White House. We'll hear from both sides of this debate.
Spreading their word -- we'll take you to all of today's action on the campaign trail.
Plus I'll speak live with presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, he's always outspoken.
Coming clean, a star reporter for a top newspaper now admits to wrongdoing. We'll get on all of that. First, though, the answer to today's news quiz. Earlier we asked, "what material makes up the nine-inch tip of the Washington Monument?" The answer: Aluminum. The structure is 100 ounces of solid aluminum, part of the monument's lightning protection system. The pyramid was the largest piece of aluminum of its day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Surprisingly there's a bit of a lull today on the campaign trail in Iowa. While the state of the upcoming caucuses are still attracting plenty of attention, most of the candidates are focusing on other states today, including New Hampshire.
Perhaps it's the calm before the political storm. With less than a week to go, just two candidates hit Iowa today. One of those, John Kerry, is energized in the Hawkeye state. With the endorsement of its first lady yesterday, and singer Carol King tonight, Kerry is poised for a third or better showing in the state's caucus.
In a head-to-head matchup with Kerry there, John Edwards hit the trail in Iowa this morning where he delivered a speech on health care in Des Moines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I talk about requiring coverage for children, mandating it every single child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Edwards later traveled to New Hampshire where he campaigns throughout the evening.
Oddly absent today from the trail, Howard Dean is taking the day off. But that's not stopping Hollywood's Martin Sheen and Rob Reiner. Today, the two kicked off a two-day campaign swing on behalf of Dean.
He's got the vote. That's what folks are saying about Wesley Clark whose support seems to be growing daily. He was in the granite state today holding roundtables with voters.
Sure he's not the comeback kid yet, but Joe Lieberman certainly wouldn't mind that title. He's in New Hampshire today where he delivered a speech on the legacy of the real comeback kid of '92, Bill Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I stood with Bill Clinton before he was the comeback kid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: And taking the Bush administration head on, Richard Gephardt in New York earlier today delivered a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RICHARD GEPHARDT (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe America deserves better than a foreign policy that's left us isolated in the world and increasingly vulnerable at home.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: And that's our look at the 2004 presidential candidates on the trail.
Democrats here in the District of Columbia are getting a jump on counterparts in Iowa and New Hampshire. The district is holding its presidential primary today, but get this, the votes won't count. The primary is nonbinding. Actual delegates to the Democratic National Convention will be selected next month and in March.
Today's ballot includes only four of the Democratic candidates, Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich, Carol Moseley Braun, and Al Sharpton. Organizers of the D.C. primary say they hope it shines the national spotlight on the District's lack of true representation in the United States Congress.
The latest CNN/USA Today Gallup poll on the Democratic presidential race shows Dennis Kucinich running dead last. Just one percent of the registered Democrats questioned across the country listed Kucinich as their choice for the nomination. But that certainly does not mean Kucinich is ready to give up.
He's joining us live from Chicago. Congressman, welcome back to the program. I know you're not giving up because you're just releasing a new campaign ad. Let's play that for our viewers right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: U.N. in, U.S. out, if you believe it was wrong to go into Iraq, you know it's just as wrong to stay there. Each day our presence creates new terrorists, as commander-in-chief I'll take a new plan to the U.N. to bring in U.N. peacekeepers and bring our troops home. Unfortunately, even Howard Dean says we have to keep our troops there for years. Sounds like another Vietnam. Let's not fall into that trap again.
AD ANNOUNCER: With your vote, Kucinich will lead the world to peace.
KUCINICH: I'm Dennis Kucinich and I'm running for president. Do I prove this commercial? You bet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: What about that, Congressman Kucinich? You're going on the offensive, but so far, at least, in the national polls it doesn't seem to be resonating in Iowa and New Hampshire, you're down at the bottom of the pack as well.
KUCINICH: You have to take the election one election at a time. And I'm going to be like Seabiscuit in 2004. I'm going to come from the back of the pack, by the time we get to the Democratic convention in Boston, I'm going to be right in the mix and have a shot at the nomination.
I want to state that this issue of Iraq is going to be No. 1 on the American agenda before too long, and people will see that what I've been saying all along, that it was wrong to go and it's wrong to stay and we have to have U.N. peacekeepers in and bring our troops home is the only way that we're going to rescue the day.
BLITZER: Well, why do you think this is another Vietnam? Because a lot of the experts have often pointed out that this is, by no means, a Vietnam. There's no outside support as there was in South Vietnam, the North Vietnamese, the Viet Cong going after U.S. troops. These are relatively small bands of insurgents in Iraq who are attacking U.S. and coalition forces.
KUCINICH: You have to remember that Vietnam kept us there for 17, 19 years. We're right at the beginning of this experience. And all the other Democratic candidates who are contesting in Iowa are saying that, "Look, we're going to be there for years. We can't cut and run; we have to stay the course."
It's the same kind of language that was used way back when, when we began our involvement in Vietnam -- also, I might add, based on a lie.
I mean, we're there based on misrepresentations that were made to the American people.
Where are the weapons of mass destruction? Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.
And all these other Democratic candidates are kind of skating on this issue.
I'm taking it head on. I'm letting the people in Iowa and New Hampshire know that if they want to vote for a candidate who is ready to stand foursquare to get out of Iraq, bring in U.N. peacekeepers and bring our troops home, that they have the candidate. And that's me.
BLITZER: Congressman Kucinich, why is it that a relatively obscure governor, former governor, like Howard Dean came seemingly out of nowhere and is now doing so well raising money, in the polls, in Iowa, New Hampshire, across the United States, among Democrats?
You, a relatively unknown congressman, started around the same time and are not well doing well at all.
KUCINICH: Well, you know, it's kind of an interesting question that you ask, Wolf. It's like asking me why, if you haven't covered my campaign, aren't people watching me on CNN.
The fact of the matter is that you can directly parallel the amount of coverage a candidate gets with the candidate's standing in the polls. And as more people know about the message of this campaign, which is one of peace, which is to get our troops home, which is to recognize that the only way we're going to be safe in the world is to work cooperatively with the world community, I think more and more people will be resonating with the message of this campaign.
So I expect to be an overnight success. And I expect that people in this country will know that they really have a chance to make a difference.
When I was in Fargo, North Dakota, today, I asked people, I said, "How much change do you want?" And they responded, "A lot."
Well, that's what my campaign presents for the people of this country.
BLITZER: What are you hoping to achieve in Iowa, Monday night? What place do you hope to be?
KUCINICH: Wolf, based on the prognostications of some people in the networks, if I have a heartbeat on the night of the caucuses, it's going to be a great victory.
So let's see what happens. I expect a good turnout in the caucuses. I'm appreciative of the show of support I have there. And we'll just have to wait and see.
BLITZER: What about vice president? Has anybody discussed the possibility of your being a vice-presidential running mate?
KUCINICH: Well, you know what: You never run for vice president. I'm running for president, and I intend to win this election. And while I might be at 1 percent today, the actual choice is going to be at the conventions.
BLITZER: Some of your colleagues, like Wesley Clark and Joe Lieberman, have flatly said that, under no circumstances, would they accept the vice-presidential nomination. Could you join that group?
KUCINICH: I want you to be with me here, Wolf. This is a Zen moment. I'm focusing on becoming the next president of the United States. And the issue that's going to get me there is my desire to get this country out of Iraq as quickly as possible and bring in U.N. peacekeepers. That's how I'm going to get elected president.
BLITZER: One final question, Congressman, before I let you go, because we're getting e-mails from a lot of our viewers who knew you were going to be on this program.
You're a bachelor. You've had a date recently, a lot of women competing to go out...
KUCINICH: It's a big story when I have a date, I'll tell you.
BLITZER: A lot of women actually wanted to go out on a date with you. How's that situation developing?
KUCINICH: You know what? I'll tell you, there's something about a presidential campaign: It's absolutely lousy for your social life.
BLITZER: So you mean to say you're not getting more dates out of this?
KUCINICH: I mean to say that I have dates with masses of voters. It's a love affair everywhere I go. BLITZER: All right. Well, we hope your social life, as well as your political campaign, gets in the right direction.
Thanks, Congressman, as usual, for joining us.
KUCINICH: Thank you, Wolf. Great to see you.
BLITZER: Appreciate it very much.
Always outspoken, Congressman Kucinich, joining us from Chicago.
More news coming up. Wal-Mart woes, word the retail chain violated child laws, the fallout a little bit later. That's coming up.
Also the big chill, residents up North bracing for record-cold temperatures. We'll take you there later in the show as well.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
Controversial statements, the fallout from former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's comments about President Bush. We'll get to that. We have a debate.
First, though, a quick check of the latest headlines.
A 5-year-old girl was killed and her mother critically injured today when a tractor-trailer slammed into a school bus in North Carolina. More than a dozen other students were injured. Charges are pending against the driver of the truck.
And, in Michigan, an Amtrak passenger train slammed into a school bus occupied only by the driver, who was taken to a hospital for treatment. No one on the train was hurt.
The United States Supreme Court is giving police more power in using roadblocks, saying it's OK to use roadblocks to seek information about recent crimes. The court says doing it that way doesn't violate the privacy rights of other motorists. However, three dissenting justices warn that the ruling could lead to police interference.
Actor and writer Spalding Gray is missing. New York Police say Gray was reported missing by his wife Sunday. Gray is perhaps best known for writing and starring in the autobiographical film "Swimming to Cambodia." He also worked on "The Killing Fields" and "Beaches."
And bundling up again across the Northeast. An Arctic front is blasting its way into the New England states, sending temperatures south. Wind chills are expected to push temperatures to 25 degrees below zero or colder in upstate New York. The bitter cold will affect Pennsylvania, in addition, Maine, Massachusetts and Ohio. More now on our top story, the growing controversy over former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's tell-all book on the Bush administration.
Here to talk about it, two guests, Peter Beinart -- he's the editor of "The New Republic" -- and Deborah Perry, senior fellow at the Independent Women's Forum.
Thanks to both of you for joining us.
Peter, a mountain out of a molehill? Is this a big deal, what Paul O'Neill is saying?
PETER BEINART, EDITOR, "THE NEW REPUBLIC": I think it's important.
What's interesting is, it echoes almost exactly what John Diiulio, another refugee from this administration, the guy who ran the faith-based initiative, said about the way the Bush administration works, which is that important decisions are made wholly on politics, not at all on policy, and the president is totally disengaged and uninformed about important policy decisions. That's a pretty damning statement, I think.
BLITZER: Deborah?
DEBORAH PERRY, INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S FORUM: Let me just say, for the record, certainly, Paul O'Neill like the Dixie Chicks, like every other American has, the right to be able to speak out. But the timing is unbelievably distasteful.
It's one thing to have your views. I'm sure there's plenty of people in the Clinton administration who had something to say about the way that the Clinton administration was run. It is highly unusual that a treasury secretary who was actually asked to leave the administration, based on the fact that his views just weren't consistent with the Bush administration, made this decision on his own.
Clearly, there was some New York publishing that had immediate interests in somehow getting back at Bush administration one way or another, because the timing is just not consistent with someone who is noble and is going to be, you know, just really look out for the Bush administration.
BLITZER: What do you think of that, Peter?
BEINART: I guess what's striking to me is that the substance of what he says is never refuted. People try to impugn his motives. I don't see why this timing is particularly any better or any worse than six months ago in the middle of the Iraq war or six months from now in the middle of the presidential election.
What's striking is how few even of the administration supporters are willing to get up there and confidently say, you know what, I don't think this was true. (CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Well, we heard Don Evans, the commerce secretary, tell me on Sunday that, when he's in meetings with the president, the president is fully engaged. Donald Rumsfeld said the exact same thing today. He is refuting what Paul O'Neill is saying.
BEINART: That's right.
Well, Donald Evans wasn't in some of those meetings about the Iraq war in the War Cabinet. And Donald Evans is also President Bush's campaign chairman. So I think his views are somewhat more suspect.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Rumsfeld was certainly at more meetings on those kinds of national security issues than Paul O'Neill.
BEINART: Yes.
That's right. But Rumsfeld is also the person who made the most suspect statements himself about the Iraq war, it seems to me, even more out there than the president, in terms of saying that Iraq was so close to having a nuclear weapon. So I think that Paul O'Neill, a man who has been a Republican, who has had no history as a partisan ax to grind, has some credibility, particularly as it echoes what Diiulio, another nonpartisan guy, said.
BLITZER: Is he a disgruntled, old Cabinet official who is angry for being fired?
PERRY: No.
I think there was somebody who was along behind the -- some New York publisher, some New York agents that said, I can make you a lot of money. This is a great story to tell.
BLITZER: Well, he doesn't need the money. He's a multimillionaire.
(CROSSTALK)
BEINART: He's not taking any money for it.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: The author, Ron Suskind, is making money, but he's not making money.
PERRY: Yes, Ron Suskind, former person from "The Wall Street Journal."
The point is that the timing was just unbelievably disrespectful to any administration. You have to not just respect the president itself, but also the institution of the presidency. So, the fact of the matter is, you may have had a difference of opinion on Iraq. And that's, frankly, all it was about.
BEINART: No, it was about the tax cuts as well.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: But there's a whole other issue now that's become an issue, the fact that the Treasury Department is investigating. Was there a crime committed? Was classified information released to Paul O'Neill, who, in fact, may have released it to the author, Ron Suskind, or to "60 Minutes," for that matter?
BEINART: We don't know.
What we do know is that the Bush administration agreed to release similar documents to Bob Woodward for a very flattering book about the way the process of the Iraq war was decided. So I think there could be something of hypocrisy here in going after O'Neill for what seems to be the same thing. But let there be an investigation. I don't think there's any problem with that. The substance of the criticism still stands.
PERRY: But there is a difference here, because some of those documents were marked secret that were shared to "60 Minutes."
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: In Woodward's book, he cited all sorts of secret, classified information in his book that people were making available to him.
PERRY: But, again, that was the Bush administration working with Bob Woodward in terms of what they were willing to...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: I think Peter makes a fair point. Why was there no investigation, criminal investigation, into perhaps leaking documents to Bob Woodward?
PERRY: Well, you never want a situation of leaking documents. And there should be a follow-through investigation about that.
But the fact of the matter is that former Secretary Paul O'Neill decided that he was going to walk away with these documents, whether to share it with "The Wall Street Journal" reporter, who then wrote the book, or the "60 Minutes" piece.
BLITZER: He says the general counsel at the Treasury Department gave him these documents, they cleared all these documents before he got them and he assumed that everything was OK. Was it his responsibility to decide what was classified and what was unclassified?
PERRY: Yes.
I think he's the one that's sitting in the meetings and he therefore knows what was classified and what could be more in the public domain or that there needs to be some time to disseminate this information.
BLITZER: The biggest question mark I'm asking, why should anyone be surprised that Paul O'Neill says that, from day one, the Bush administration wanted to get rid of Saddam Hussein? The Clinton administration wanted to get rid of Saddam Hussein. And the Congress passed a law in 1998 saying change should be the law of the land.
BEINART: That's true.
But the Bush administration didn't level with the American people during the campaign. I think one of the points that O'Neill made was that the administration in fact said quite the opposite during the campaign, that it wanted to get away from nation building, it wanted to pursue a humble policy.
I supported the war in Iraq. I still do. But I think at least one can make the point that this was not a very honest way of running a campaign, when you then, on day one, state, in fact, what we're really going to do is completely the opposite of what we said we were going to do during the campaign.
BLITZER: Deborah, I'll give you the last word.
PERRY: Peter, I absolutely have dispute with that.
The fact of the matter is, it is true that we were, during the Clinton administration and the prior Bush administration, looking to get rid of Saddam Hussein. You know, we all know, that there's tens of thousands of piece of information on security that come in, in intelligence, and you have to discern what's credible and what's not. It was just a timely thing that we did finally get rid of Saddam Hussein.
BLITZER: We're going to have to leave it right there.
Deborah Perry, thanks very much. Peter Beinart, as usual, thanks very much to you.
BEINART: Thank you.
BLITZER: Coming up, on trial. The former NBA star Jayson Williams in court today on charges of manslaughter and a cover-up.
Silence broken. A high-profile "USA Today" correspondent now admits he did in fact deceive his own newspaper.
And Wal-Mart violations, why the popular retail chain is in the hot seat again -- all that coming up.
First, though, a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BLITZER (voice-over): Protests outside the Summit of the Americas. Hundreds of riot police kept demonstrators far from the meeting of 34 Western Hemisphere leaders in Monterey, Mexico. Protesters included farmers, unionists and anti-globalization groups.
Britain's Dr. Death apparently takes his own life. Convicted serial killer Harold Shipman was found hanged in his jail cell in Northern England. The 57-year-old former physician was serving life for the deaths of 15 patients, but was believed to have killed more than 200.
Bird flu breaks out in Asia. Fowl are being destroyed by the thousands in Ho Chi Minh City, after health officials confirmed three deaths from bird flu in Vietnam. The disease has also been reported in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong.
And coming of age in Japan, a group of people mainly turning 20 this year took part in a Shinto rite by bathing in ice cold water at a Tokyo temple. One participant says the group was lucky, because past groups have had to cope with snow on top of their frigid bath.
And that's our look around the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Is the world's top retail chain playing by the rules? Three months after Wal-Mart was hit with allegations of using illegal immigrants on cleaning crews, there are new reports of labor law violations at Wal-Mart stores.
Fred Katayama of CNN Financial News is standing by with details -- Fred.
FRED KATAYAMA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Wal-Mart keep keeps prices low for customers, but that could be at a high cost for its workers, employees of the world's largest retailer skipping lunch breaks without pay, minors soldiering on into the wee hours of the night.
Such labor law violations, some tens of thousands, appeared in the form of cold, hard numbers on an in-house audit CNN obtained. The probe on 128 stores nationwide was done in July 2000. It found nearly 1,400 instances of minors working in violation of state labor laws, roughly 16,000 notations of workers skipping meals, and more than 60,000 instances of not taking breaks.
Former Wal-Mart managers say understaffing is the culprit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STAN FORTUNE, FORMER WAL-MART MANAGER: The workload that's given to them is so great, the amount pressure on them to finish the jobs that they're assigned is so great, that some of them just feel like they have to give up their lunches or they have to work over after they've clocked out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KATAYAMA: In a statement, Wal-Mart soft-pedaled the findings.
It said: "The audit misinterpreted an exception report that is generated to help managers identify instances of breaks and lunch periods. In some cases, associates modified their schedules to meet a personal need to leave early that day. We have been aggressive in implementing new processes to assure that associates are paid for every minute they work. Employment and work schedules of minors at Wal-Mart are in strict compliance with the law."
Well, the audit copy we obtained didn't go into specifics on child labor violations. But one other former Wal-Mart executive I spoke to said minors often operated heavy equipment they are not supposed to, such as power lifters and hydraulic cardboard bailers. He said such violations were, in his words, rampant throughout the company because the stores are so understaffed -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Fred Katayama reporting from New York -- Fred, thanks very much.
Court-martial proceedings begin for an Air Force translator accused of spying. That story tops our "Justice Report."
Syrian-born senior airman Ahmad Halabi did not enter a plea at today's arraignment at Travis Air Force Base in California. He faces 17 charges, including trying to deliver dozens of messages from prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, where he worked, to Syria.
In New Jersey, jury selection is under way in the trial of former NBA star Jayson Williams. Prosecutors say he was recklessly handling a gun when he accidentally shot his chauffeur, then tried to cover it up. Jury selection could take a full month.
And the judge who will preside over Michael Jackson's arraignment Friday says no cameras will be permitted in court, but reporters will be allowed to watch on closed-circuit TV. Jackson is facing seven counts of child molestation. He says he's innocent.
Allegations ahead -- just ahead, allegations of deception, why "USA Today" reporter Jack Kelley was forced to resign -- the fallout when we return.
And get this. It's a mega-smooch, kissing for a cause in South America. It's not your typical lovefest. We'll tell what you it is. You'll want to see this, I think.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: There's now word of at least two deaths in a highway accident in Maryland. State police say a tractor trailer went off an overpass on Interstate 95 just south of Baltimore this afternoon and collided with a tanker truck below. At least two other vehicles were involved in the accident. These are horrific pictures. The crash started a fire, forced authorities to shut down both directions of Interstate 95. There are backups, as can you obviously understand now, for miles and miles and miles, both directions, I-95 just south of Baltimore backed up.
In another story we're following right now, another journalist has been forced to resign because of allegations he misled his editors. "USA Today" says correspondent Jack Kelley was forced to step down because he engaged in what they're calling elaborate deception during an internal investigation of his work.
Howard Kurtz of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACK KELLEY, "USA TODAY": Now, most of the Delta Force officials...
HOWARD KURTZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For much of the last 22 years, Jack Kelley has been "USA Today"'s star correspondent, parachuting into war zones, from the Persian Gulf, to the Middle East, to Chechnya. When a suicide bomber blew up a Jerusalem pizza parlor in 2001, Kelley was right outside.
BLITZER: You obviously ran outside. What did you see with and what did you here?
KELLEY: As soon as the explosion took place, I was knocked right to the ground, as was a gentleman who I was with. I turned back then and I remember seeing three bodies hitting the ground.
KURTZ: But now Kelley has resigned after admitting that he deceived the paper. During a seven-month investigation of his reporting by "USA Today," Kelley was asked to go back and verify his front-page story from Belgrade in 1999 about an ethnic cleansing order by strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
But when the source of the story said she didn't remember speaking to Kelley, he told me, he panicked. Kelley had a Russian translator call "USA Today" and impersonate a Serbian translator who was said to be at the disputed interview. When the paper's private eyes caught him, he fessed up. Kelley insists, he's no Jayson Blair, the disgraced ""New York Times" man, that he never falsified any stories.
And "USA Today" editors, who broke their silence on the scandal today, say they haven't found any articles that need correcting. But they say they lost confidence in Kelley and told him he had no choice but to resign.
(on camera): Jack Kelley's reporting aroused suspicion because he often scored these dramatic exclusives, watching Cubans scramble on to a boat bound for Florida, hanging with Israeli settlers as they opened fire on a Palestinian taxi that no one else seemed able to match. He's been a courageous journalist. But his mistake in deceiving his bosses has sparked questions about "USA Today"'s editing process and left him under a cloud.
This is Howard Kurtz.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Howard Kurtz first broke this story writing in "The Washington Post." We'll continue to follow the fallout from that.
Locking lips, thousands of people kissing for one common goal. That and the results of our Web question, that's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of the Day." We've been asking you this question: Do you think there should be an investigation into whether Paul O'Neill released classified information? Look at this, evenly divided, 50/50 yes and no. Remember, as we always remind you, this is not a scientific poll.
In our picture of the day, a record-breaking smooch in Chile. Almost 9,000 men and women gathered in central Santiago to lock lips and set a world record. They kissed for at least 10 seconds in all. More than 4,400 couples showed up for the event. The previous record for simultaneous kissing was set in Canada almost four years ago, with almost 1,600 couples taking part.
A reminder: We're on weekdays Monday through Friday 5:00 p.m. Eastern, also noon Eastern.
I'll see you tomorrow. Until then, thanks very much for joining us.
"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
in Iraq; Northeast Braces for Coldest Weather in Decades>
Aired January 13, 2004 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Insider insults. An ex- cabinet secretary regrets his language in telling tales about the Bush White House, but says he didn't tell any secrets.
Trouble in the triangle. Troops under attack, in the air and on the ground.
Monumental lapse. A security slip up at a national landmark?
Refreeze. The northeast braces for its coldest weather in decades, again.
ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, January 13, 2004.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: The Bush cabinet controversy appears to be growing and the man at center of the firestorm, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill appears to be backing away just a little bit from one of his blistering assessments of President Bush. All this as the administration appears to be stepping up its attacks against O'Neill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Paul O'Neill admits he'd do some things differently if he was interviewed for a book again. But he says he did not make the mistake of giving classified documents to the author of a new book about O'Neill and President Bush.
PAUL O'NEILL, FRM. TREASURY SECY.: I don't honestly think there's anything that's classified in those 19,000 documents.
BLITZER: 19,000 documents that author Ron Suskind used for his book, "The Price of Loyalty." In it and in subsequent interviews, O'Neill alleges the president and his aides sought to overthrow Saddam Hussein from the earliest days of the administration.
Now, the Treasury Department is investigating whether any classified material was improperly given to O'Neill when he was forced out of his job in late 2002.
O'NEILL: What they will discover is the general counsel, the chief legal officer of the Treasury Department went through all these documents and sent me things. Under the law he's not supposed to send me anything that isn't unclassified.
BLITZER: In other words, nothing's classified in those papers. And if there is anything classified, O'Neill says, Don't blame me.
His interviews in the book, in "TIME" magazine, on CBS' "60 Minutes" and this morning on "The Today Show" are causing a capital size slugfest that the president's adversaries are eager to exploit.
TERRY MCAULIFFE, DNC CHAIRMAN: For him to come out and write these things about the president being aloof, that he wanted to go in Iraq from day one, not engage in economic issues, you know I think the American public will look at it and be very concerned. So of course it's something that we're going to talk about.
BLITZER: Today it was the president's deputies who took up the fight against O'Neill's claims.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I don't know what meetings he could have been in. All I know when we arrived, the policy of the United States government since 1988 has been regime change in Iraq.
BLITZER: Secretary Rumsfeld confirmed he'd spoken twice with O'Neill about the book. But Rumsfeld denied reports he asked O'Neill not to continue his involvement in the project.
O'Neill is doing his own damage control. He now says he'd take back some unflattering comments he made about the president's leadership style, specifically his description in the book of Mr. Bush and his cabinet as, quote, "a blind man surrounded by deaf people."
As for being investigated by the department he once led...
O'NEILL: If I were secretary of the treasury, I would have done the same.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: This note, due to a scheduling conflict, Ron Suskind the author of "The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House and the Education of Paul O'Neill" is not able to join us during this hour. He will be with us tomorrow at the same time.
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and the former treasury secretary, as we all know, go way back, and the cabinet controversy was a hot topic at today's Pentagon briefing. Let's go live to senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well first of all, Wolf, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld disputed the idea that he was pushing for regime change in the spring of 2001, in the early months of the administration, insisting there were a few people on board at the Pentagon. And their focus was protecting who were pilots threatened daily in the no-fly zone. And as you noted he did call Paul O'Neill twice, a friend he's said he's known for 30 years to talk to him, when he learned he was involved in this book. But he insists he never trade to muzzle him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUMSFELD: I didn't ask him not to write book. I didn't ask him to do anything. He's a person I've known since the 1960s. I must say, I have not read the book, so I really am reluctant to comment on it, other than what I say what I've been reading about the book is so different from my experience in this administration it is just dramatic. It's night and day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Rumsfeld went to heap praise on his boss, President Bush, saying his picture of him was as someone who had a brain, was engaged, his interests, his probing questions, his constructive and positive approach to issues. He said that the picture that he has of President Bush is totally different than the one he's seeing portrayed in the press based on those comments from Paul O'Neill -- Wolf.
BLITZER: A vote of support for the president from the defense secretary. Thanks very much, Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon.
And to our viewers, here's your turn to weigh in on this important story. "Our Web Question of the Day" is this: do you think there should be an investigation into whether Paul O'Neill released classified material? You can vote right now. Go to cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results later in this broadcast.
While you're there, though, I'd love to hear directly from you. Send me your comments any time, I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.
While the debate over Iraq goes on, the violence in Iraq grinds on. There was more trouble in the Sunni Triangle today. A U.S. attack helicopter was attacked and troops were targeted. But that wasn't the only hot spot as CNN's Karl Penhaul reports from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another American helicopter down. The third wreck in two weeks in Iraq's Sunni Triangle, heartland of the guerrilla war against the occupying coalition.
This time it's an Apache Attack helicopter. A U.S. military spokesman says it was probably shot down by insurgents. The two-man crew survive.
Witnesses near the town of Habbiniyah (ph), west of Baghdad, say they saw a flash.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The rocket hit the helicopter on the tail and fire erupted. The pilot discharge his weapons. Then the helicopter lost control and crash landed. The crew of the helicopter fled and the rescue services arrived.
PENHAUL: Trouble too in a neighboring triangle town, Fallujah. Town officials say unidentified attackers fired a rocket at U.S. paratroopers guarding the mayor's office. Officials say soldiers returned fire, and three people, including a woman were killed. Seven others were injured in the gunfight.
Earlier in the day, several hundred protesters demonstrated against U.S. forces who had detained an Iraqi bride as they searched for her husband. She was released.
Unrest too in the Shi'a Muslim dominated south. A second day of demonstrations against chronic unemployment in the city of al Kut. Coalition commanders say there was no violence but wire services report seven injured in clashes between jobless protesters and Ukrainian coalition troops.
The protests, like other seen at the weekend further south in Amara, coincide with a political controversy sparked by Shi'a spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani (ph).
The media-shy ayatollah rarely pictured on camera is calling for general elections to choose a new Iraqi government. But coalition administrators say the leadership will be selected by a series of regional committees or caucuses.
PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: The problem we have is time. It will take time to produce an electoral law to get a political parties law to draw constituent boundaries so we have a voter's list.
PENHAUL (on camera): The dispute between the coalition and the cleric may be gaining pace, but there's no sign the Shi'a majority will mount the kind of armed resistance that's taken root in the Sunni Triangle.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: President Bush took steps to mend some badly frayed relations with Canada. Meeting for the first time with the new with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, Mr. Bush reversed himself on the ban preventing Canada to bid on contracts to rebuild Iraq. It happen in Mexico where the two leaders are attending the Summit of the Americas.
Our White House correspondent Dana Bash is there with more on that and another key issue on the table -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the president and the other 33 leaders gathered for the summit just wrapped up their two-day discussions on issues like poverty and fighting corruption. They posed for this traditional class photo. But as you mentioned the significant development of the day happened on the sidelines of the summit. And that was between the first meeting with President Bush and the new prime minister of Canada, Paul Martin. And out of that came a major policy reversal. The president said that no longer would Canada be shut out of bidding for prime contracts to rebuild Iraq. He said that things have changed since Canada -- excuse me, since Canada opposed the war in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They want Iraq to succeed, they want Iraq to be free. They understand the stakes of having a free country in the midst of the Middle East. And Canada right now is eligible for subcontracting bids in the first round of construction projects and the second round, the second tranche (ph) of bidding, Canada will be eligible to bid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now will Russia, France and Germany who also opposed war in Iraq, will they be eligible for the prime bids as well? The White House says stay tuned. It depends, they say, on whether or not they show that they are also for rebuilding Iraq and for showing a commitment in cooperation in Iraq.
Now, Wolf, the U.S. and Canada relations have been quite rocky over the past year because of the former Prime Minister Jean Chretien's opposition to the war in Iraq, but this particular meeting was meant to show, as you mentioned, mending fences that the U.S. and Canada can get along and they discussed a need to cooperate on another major issue for the two countries and that is mad cow disease.
President Bush said that it is something that the two men are going to work together on. Especially on regulation and tracking the science on mad cow and the president also said, as he said before, that there is no safety issue with beef, and he said that he continues to eat beef -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Dana Bash, covering the president's trip at the Summit of the Americas in Monterrey, thanks very much.
America votes 2004, will a former U.S. president make a big endorsement? We'll go live to Iowa.
And not giving up. I'll talk live with Democratic candidate Dennis Kucinich.
Wal-Mart violations, new accusations in evident against the nation's No. 1 retailer.
Security lapse inside the nation's capital. Why the D.C. monuments may not necessarily be all that safe. All that coming up.
First today's news quiz. "What material makes up the nine-inch tip of the Washington monument?" Cobalt, granite, aluminum, steel. The answer later in the show. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLTIZER: Welcome back. The campaign for the presidency continues. Let's go to Iowa. Ames, Iowa, specifically to CNN Election Express in that city, Ames, Iowa, CNN co-hosts of "Crossfire" Tucker Carlson, Paul Begala are sitting there. I was going to say you're standing by but you're both actually sitting. Paul, first to you. You just interviewed Joe Trippi, the manager of the Howard Dean campaign. Is he hinting, is he suggesting that the former President Jimmy Carter might, in fact, endorse Howard Dean?
PAUL BEGALA, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": He kind of danced around it. Tucker asked him rather directly but I think Trippi and Governor Dean are trying to sort of have it both ways and so far, maybe succeeding.
Running against the establishment in Washington, against their party, and yet, receiving more endorsements from senators, from congressmen, and potentially even a former president than anybody else in the race.
BLITZER: Tucker, I want to play for our viewers precisely what Joe Trippi said to both of you when you asked him whether Jimmy Carter was going to go ahead and endorse Howard Dean.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCKER CARLSON, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": Will Jimmy Carter endorse Howard Dean?
JOE TRIPPI, DEAN CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I don't believe so, you have to tune in Sunday to find out what's going to happen when we're out in Plains, Georgia.
CARLSON: Sunday? Sunday in Plains, Georgia. But you don't believe he's going to endorse you?
TRIPPI: I don't believe so.
CARLSON: Is he going to attack you?
TRIPPI: I don't think so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Tucker, the point of a day before the Iowa caucus for Howard Dean to go to Plains, Georgia, sounds like it's setting the stage potentially for a Jimmy Carter endorsement. Doesn't that sound like that to you?
CARLSON: It certainly does, I don't think it's been in print. I certainly hadn't heard of it until right before the show, the suggestion that it might be true. And yet, Trippi's answer is just so darn weird. He doesn't think the former president is going to endorse Howard Dean.
He's not, of course, going to attack him, but he's going to leave Iowa right before the caucus to fly to Plains, Georgia, not necessarily a bustling political hub to do what? Have coffee with him? I don't know what it means. If he does endorse him, I'd like to play this tape though after it happens to get him to explain why he didn't go ahead and admit it.
BEGALA: I think he didn't just admit it because they don't want to blow story, they want to create some aura of suspense, and he certainly creates a mystery as to what he meant by that.
BLITZER: Paul, you're a good Democrat. How significant would it be, a Jimmy Carter endorsement of Howard Dean, the day before the Iowa caucuses?
BEGALA: I think President Carter is certainly very well thought of especially here in Iowa. You recall, of course, when he won the Nobel peace prize he used much of his address to excoriate the war in Iraq, that is the issue that propelled Howard Dean from obscurity to the front of the pack, there's little signs others are starting to catch up. Maybe Dean doesn't have a second act after the issue of the war, he's got a new ad reviving the issue of the war and President Carter, one more time, if he endorses him, could bring that issue back to the fore again.
BLITZER: We'll have to wait until Sunday, I guess, to find out for sure. Tucker Carlson, Paul Begala, the co-hosts of "Crossfire." They're on the road in Iowa. We'll be joining you on "Crossfire" tomorrow 4:30 p.m. Eastern, every day, every weekday that is.
Let's move to an important story in the nation's capital. Are the national monuments easy targets for terrorists. According to report obtained from government officials by CNN, investigators found serious lapses in security on Washington's National Mall two years after the 9/11 attack. Let's go live to CNN's Jennifer Coggiola. She's over at the Washington Monument.
JENNIFER COGGIOLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This august review of security at many of the nation's monuments revealed what inspectors then called serious deficiencies. Well, now, this latest assessment, a two-day undercover investigation here at the mall came to some more disturbing conclusions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COGGIOLA (voice-over): It wasn't a bomb or a gun or an explosive, just a black plastic bag stuffed with garbage left at back of the Washington monument where it sat for nearly 20 minutes undisrupted and unnoticed.
Then, it was moved to the front. Another 15 minutes and, again, nothing it. It posed no threat, but its significance is glaring. On September 10 and 11 of this past year, undercover surveillance by the Interior Department's Inspector General's office on the National Mall, an area of heightened alert for the anniversary of the terrorist attacks revealed what inspectors called persistent and severe deficiencies in security. Example, that black garbage bag dropped off on purpose by inspectors demonstrated the ease terrorists would have to place real threats near the site.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once that report reached the United States Park Police, we took it very seriously. We are very concerned about the report.
COGGIOLA: In the report in photos released to the media by Congressman Jim Turner's office, investigators detailed what they called inadequate protection and security weakness over the two days.
Quote, "it was particularly disturbing to find these vulnerabilities on a day when security and awareness should have been heightened given the anniversary of one of America's most horrific and tragic attacks." And on another visit in the middle of the day on September 11, an unmarked car with what appeared to be a plainclothes officer asleep.
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON (D), DC DELEGATE: We need do more tests on park facilities. But it does seem clear to me, we have not trained Park Service personnel up and down the line to have a fresh eye for post-9/11 events, packages and people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COGGIOLA: The National Park Service which monitors the Mall has been under some fire of its own lately after the Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers was charged with insubordination and improper lobbying. This after she publicly criticized the force of security and budget constraints to the media and the public. She has since been suspended and a gag order was issued -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Jennifer Coggiola on the National Mall outside the Washington Monument, thank you very much for that report, Jennifer.
Growing controversy over former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's harsh criticism of the Bush White House. We'll hear from both sides of this debate.
Spreading their word -- we'll take you to all of today's action on the campaign trail.
Plus I'll speak live with presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, he's always outspoken.
Coming clean, a star reporter for a top newspaper now admits to wrongdoing. We'll get on all of that. First, though, the answer to today's news quiz. Earlier we asked, "what material makes up the nine-inch tip of the Washington Monument?" The answer: Aluminum. The structure is 100 ounces of solid aluminum, part of the monument's lightning protection system. The pyramid was the largest piece of aluminum of its day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Surprisingly there's a bit of a lull today on the campaign trail in Iowa. While the state of the upcoming caucuses are still attracting plenty of attention, most of the candidates are focusing on other states today, including New Hampshire.
Perhaps it's the calm before the political storm. With less than a week to go, just two candidates hit Iowa today. One of those, John Kerry, is energized in the Hawkeye state. With the endorsement of its first lady yesterday, and singer Carol King tonight, Kerry is poised for a third or better showing in the state's caucus.
In a head-to-head matchup with Kerry there, John Edwards hit the trail in Iowa this morning where he delivered a speech on health care in Des Moines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I talk about requiring coverage for children, mandating it every single child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Edwards later traveled to New Hampshire where he campaigns throughout the evening.
Oddly absent today from the trail, Howard Dean is taking the day off. But that's not stopping Hollywood's Martin Sheen and Rob Reiner. Today, the two kicked off a two-day campaign swing on behalf of Dean.
He's got the vote. That's what folks are saying about Wesley Clark whose support seems to be growing daily. He was in the granite state today holding roundtables with voters.
Sure he's not the comeback kid yet, but Joe Lieberman certainly wouldn't mind that title. He's in New Hampshire today where he delivered a speech on the legacy of the real comeback kid of '92, Bill Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I stood with Bill Clinton before he was the comeback kid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: And taking the Bush administration head on, Richard Gephardt in New York earlier today delivered a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RICHARD GEPHARDT (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe America deserves better than a foreign policy that's left us isolated in the world and increasingly vulnerable at home.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: And that's our look at the 2004 presidential candidates on the trail.
Democrats here in the District of Columbia are getting a jump on counterparts in Iowa and New Hampshire. The district is holding its presidential primary today, but get this, the votes won't count. The primary is nonbinding. Actual delegates to the Democratic National Convention will be selected next month and in March.
Today's ballot includes only four of the Democratic candidates, Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich, Carol Moseley Braun, and Al Sharpton. Organizers of the D.C. primary say they hope it shines the national spotlight on the District's lack of true representation in the United States Congress.
The latest CNN/USA Today Gallup poll on the Democratic presidential race shows Dennis Kucinich running dead last. Just one percent of the registered Democrats questioned across the country listed Kucinich as their choice for the nomination. But that certainly does not mean Kucinich is ready to give up.
He's joining us live from Chicago. Congressman, welcome back to the program. I know you're not giving up because you're just releasing a new campaign ad. Let's play that for our viewers right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: U.N. in, U.S. out, if you believe it was wrong to go into Iraq, you know it's just as wrong to stay there. Each day our presence creates new terrorists, as commander-in-chief I'll take a new plan to the U.N. to bring in U.N. peacekeepers and bring our troops home. Unfortunately, even Howard Dean says we have to keep our troops there for years. Sounds like another Vietnam. Let's not fall into that trap again.
AD ANNOUNCER: With your vote, Kucinich will lead the world to peace.
KUCINICH: I'm Dennis Kucinich and I'm running for president. Do I prove this commercial? You bet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: What about that, Congressman Kucinich? You're going on the offensive, but so far, at least, in the national polls it doesn't seem to be resonating in Iowa and New Hampshire, you're down at the bottom of the pack as well.
KUCINICH: You have to take the election one election at a time. And I'm going to be like Seabiscuit in 2004. I'm going to come from the back of the pack, by the time we get to the Democratic convention in Boston, I'm going to be right in the mix and have a shot at the nomination.
I want to state that this issue of Iraq is going to be No. 1 on the American agenda before too long, and people will see that what I've been saying all along, that it was wrong to go and it's wrong to stay and we have to have U.N. peacekeepers in and bring our troops home is the only way that we're going to rescue the day.
BLITZER: Well, why do you think this is another Vietnam? Because a lot of the experts have often pointed out that this is, by no means, a Vietnam. There's no outside support as there was in South Vietnam, the North Vietnamese, the Viet Cong going after U.S. troops. These are relatively small bands of insurgents in Iraq who are attacking U.S. and coalition forces.
KUCINICH: You have to remember that Vietnam kept us there for 17, 19 years. We're right at the beginning of this experience. And all the other Democratic candidates who are contesting in Iowa are saying that, "Look, we're going to be there for years. We can't cut and run; we have to stay the course."
It's the same kind of language that was used way back when, when we began our involvement in Vietnam -- also, I might add, based on a lie.
I mean, we're there based on misrepresentations that were made to the American people.
Where are the weapons of mass destruction? Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.
And all these other Democratic candidates are kind of skating on this issue.
I'm taking it head on. I'm letting the people in Iowa and New Hampshire know that if they want to vote for a candidate who is ready to stand foursquare to get out of Iraq, bring in U.N. peacekeepers and bring our troops home, that they have the candidate. And that's me.
BLITZER: Congressman Kucinich, why is it that a relatively obscure governor, former governor, like Howard Dean came seemingly out of nowhere and is now doing so well raising money, in the polls, in Iowa, New Hampshire, across the United States, among Democrats?
You, a relatively unknown congressman, started around the same time and are not well doing well at all.
KUCINICH: Well, you know, it's kind of an interesting question that you ask, Wolf. It's like asking me why, if you haven't covered my campaign, aren't people watching me on CNN.
The fact of the matter is that you can directly parallel the amount of coverage a candidate gets with the candidate's standing in the polls. And as more people know about the message of this campaign, which is one of peace, which is to get our troops home, which is to recognize that the only way we're going to be safe in the world is to work cooperatively with the world community, I think more and more people will be resonating with the message of this campaign.
So I expect to be an overnight success. And I expect that people in this country will know that they really have a chance to make a difference.
When I was in Fargo, North Dakota, today, I asked people, I said, "How much change do you want?" And they responded, "A lot."
Well, that's what my campaign presents for the people of this country.
BLITZER: What are you hoping to achieve in Iowa, Monday night? What place do you hope to be?
KUCINICH: Wolf, based on the prognostications of some people in the networks, if I have a heartbeat on the night of the caucuses, it's going to be a great victory.
So let's see what happens. I expect a good turnout in the caucuses. I'm appreciative of the show of support I have there. And we'll just have to wait and see.
BLITZER: What about vice president? Has anybody discussed the possibility of your being a vice-presidential running mate?
KUCINICH: Well, you know what: You never run for vice president. I'm running for president, and I intend to win this election. And while I might be at 1 percent today, the actual choice is going to be at the conventions.
BLITZER: Some of your colleagues, like Wesley Clark and Joe Lieberman, have flatly said that, under no circumstances, would they accept the vice-presidential nomination. Could you join that group?
KUCINICH: I want you to be with me here, Wolf. This is a Zen moment. I'm focusing on becoming the next president of the United States. And the issue that's going to get me there is my desire to get this country out of Iraq as quickly as possible and bring in U.N. peacekeepers. That's how I'm going to get elected president.
BLITZER: One final question, Congressman, before I let you go, because we're getting e-mails from a lot of our viewers who knew you were going to be on this program.
You're a bachelor. You've had a date recently, a lot of women competing to go out...
KUCINICH: It's a big story when I have a date, I'll tell you.
BLITZER: A lot of women actually wanted to go out on a date with you. How's that situation developing?
KUCINICH: You know what? I'll tell you, there's something about a presidential campaign: It's absolutely lousy for your social life.
BLITZER: So you mean to say you're not getting more dates out of this?
KUCINICH: I mean to say that I have dates with masses of voters. It's a love affair everywhere I go. BLITZER: All right. Well, we hope your social life, as well as your political campaign, gets in the right direction.
Thanks, Congressman, as usual, for joining us.
KUCINICH: Thank you, Wolf. Great to see you.
BLITZER: Appreciate it very much.
Always outspoken, Congressman Kucinich, joining us from Chicago.
More news coming up. Wal-Mart woes, word the retail chain violated child laws, the fallout a little bit later. That's coming up.
Also the big chill, residents up North bracing for record-cold temperatures. We'll take you there later in the show as well.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
Controversial statements, the fallout from former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's comments about President Bush. We'll get to that. We have a debate.
First, though, a quick check of the latest headlines.
A 5-year-old girl was killed and her mother critically injured today when a tractor-trailer slammed into a school bus in North Carolina. More than a dozen other students were injured. Charges are pending against the driver of the truck.
And, in Michigan, an Amtrak passenger train slammed into a school bus occupied only by the driver, who was taken to a hospital for treatment. No one on the train was hurt.
The United States Supreme Court is giving police more power in using roadblocks, saying it's OK to use roadblocks to seek information about recent crimes. The court says doing it that way doesn't violate the privacy rights of other motorists. However, three dissenting justices warn that the ruling could lead to police interference.
Actor and writer Spalding Gray is missing. New York Police say Gray was reported missing by his wife Sunday. Gray is perhaps best known for writing and starring in the autobiographical film "Swimming to Cambodia." He also worked on "The Killing Fields" and "Beaches."
And bundling up again across the Northeast. An Arctic front is blasting its way into the New England states, sending temperatures south. Wind chills are expected to push temperatures to 25 degrees below zero or colder in upstate New York. The bitter cold will affect Pennsylvania, in addition, Maine, Massachusetts and Ohio. More now on our top story, the growing controversy over former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's tell-all book on the Bush administration.
Here to talk about it, two guests, Peter Beinart -- he's the editor of "The New Republic" -- and Deborah Perry, senior fellow at the Independent Women's Forum.
Thanks to both of you for joining us.
Peter, a mountain out of a molehill? Is this a big deal, what Paul O'Neill is saying?
PETER BEINART, EDITOR, "THE NEW REPUBLIC": I think it's important.
What's interesting is, it echoes almost exactly what John Diiulio, another refugee from this administration, the guy who ran the faith-based initiative, said about the way the Bush administration works, which is that important decisions are made wholly on politics, not at all on policy, and the president is totally disengaged and uninformed about important policy decisions. That's a pretty damning statement, I think.
BLITZER: Deborah?
DEBORAH PERRY, INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S FORUM: Let me just say, for the record, certainly, Paul O'Neill like the Dixie Chicks, like every other American has, the right to be able to speak out. But the timing is unbelievably distasteful.
It's one thing to have your views. I'm sure there's plenty of people in the Clinton administration who had something to say about the way that the Clinton administration was run. It is highly unusual that a treasury secretary who was actually asked to leave the administration, based on the fact that his views just weren't consistent with the Bush administration, made this decision on his own.
Clearly, there was some New York publishing that had immediate interests in somehow getting back at Bush administration one way or another, because the timing is just not consistent with someone who is noble and is going to be, you know, just really look out for the Bush administration.
BLITZER: What do you think of that, Peter?
BEINART: I guess what's striking to me is that the substance of what he says is never refuted. People try to impugn his motives. I don't see why this timing is particularly any better or any worse than six months ago in the middle of the Iraq war or six months from now in the middle of the presidential election.
What's striking is how few even of the administration supporters are willing to get up there and confidently say, you know what, I don't think this was true. (CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Well, we heard Don Evans, the commerce secretary, tell me on Sunday that, when he's in meetings with the president, the president is fully engaged. Donald Rumsfeld said the exact same thing today. He is refuting what Paul O'Neill is saying.
BEINART: That's right.
Well, Donald Evans wasn't in some of those meetings about the Iraq war in the War Cabinet. And Donald Evans is also President Bush's campaign chairman. So I think his views are somewhat more suspect.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Rumsfeld was certainly at more meetings on those kinds of national security issues than Paul O'Neill.
BEINART: Yes.
That's right. But Rumsfeld is also the person who made the most suspect statements himself about the Iraq war, it seems to me, even more out there than the president, in terms of saying that Iraq was so close to having a nuclear weapon. So I think that Paul O'Neill, a man who has been a Republican, who has had no history as a partisan ax to grind, has some credibility, particularly as it echoes what Diiulio, another nonpartisan guy, said.
BLITZER: Is he a disgruntled, old Cabinet official who is angry for being fired?
PERRY: No.
I think there was somebody who was along behind the -- some New York publisher, some New York agents that said, I can make you a lot of money. This is a great story to tell.
BLITZER: Well, he doesn't need the money. He's a multimillionaire.
(CROSSTALK)
BEINART: He's not taking any money for it.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: The author, Ron Suskind, is making money, but he's not making money.
PERRY: Yes, Ron Suskind, former person from "The Wall Street Journal."
The point is that the timing was just unbelievably disrespectful to any administration. You have to not just respect the president itself, but also the institution of the presidency. So, the fact of the matter is, you may have had a difference of opinion on Iraq. And that's, frankly, all it was about.
BEINART: No, it was about the tax cuts as well.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: But there's a whole other issue now that's become an issue, the fact that the Treasury Department is investigating. Was there a crime committed? Was classified information released to Paul O'Neill, who, in fact, may have released it to the author, Ron Suskind, or to "60 Minutes," for that matter?
BEINART: We don't know.
What we do know is that the Bush administration agreed to release similar documents to Bob Woodward for a very flattering book about the way the process of the Iraq war was decided. So I think there could be something of hypocrisy here in going after O'Neill for what seems to be the same thing. But let there be an investigation. I don't think there's any problem with that. The substance of the criticism still stands.
PERRY: But there is a difference here, because some of those documents were marked secret that were shared to "60 Minutes."
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: In Woodward's book, he cited all sorts of secret, classified information in his book that people were making available to him.
PERRY: But, again, that was the Bush administration working with Bob Woodward in terms of what they were willing to...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: I think Peter makes a fair point. Why was there no investigation, criminal investigation, into perhaps leaking documents to Bob Woodward?
PERRY: Well, you never want a situation of leaking documents. And there should be a follow-through investigation about that.
But the fact of the matter is that former Secretary Paul O'Neill decided that he was going to walk away with these documents, whether to share it with "The Wall Street Journal" reporter, who then wrote the book, or the "60 Minutes" piece.
BLITZER: He says the general counsel at the Treasury Department gave him these documents, they cleared all these documents before he got them and he assumed that everything was OK. Was it his responsibility to decide what was classified and what was unclassified?
PERRY: Yes.
I think he's the one that's sitting in the meetings and he therefore knows what was classified and what could be more in the public domain or that there needs to be some time to disseminate this information.
BLITZER: The biggest question mark I'm asking, why should anyone be surprised that Paul O'Neill says that, from day one, the Bush administration wanted to get rid of Saddam Hussein? The Clinton administration wanted to get rid of Saddam Hussein. And the Congress passed a law in 1998 saying change should be the law of the land.
BEINART: That's true.
But the Bush administration didn't level with the American people during the campaign. I think one of the points that O'Neill made was that the administration in fact said quite the opposite during the campaign, that it wanted to get away from nation building, it wanted to pursue a humble policy.
I supported the war in Iraq. I still do. But I think at least one can make the point that this was not a very honest way of running a campaign, when you then, on day one, state, in fact, what we're really going to do is completely the opposite of what we said we were going to do during the campaign.
BLITZER: Deborah, I'll give you the last word.
PERRY: Peter, I absolutely have dispute with that.
The fact of the matter is, it is true that we were, during the Clinton administration and the prior Bush administration, looking to get rid of Saddam Hussein. You know, we all know, that there's tens of thousands of piece of information on security that come in, in intelligence, and you have to discern what's credible and what's not. It was just a timely thing that we did finally get rid of Saddam Hussein.
BLITZER: We're going to have to leave it right there.
Deborah Perry, thanks very much. Peter Beinart, as usual, thanks very much to you.
BEINART: Thank you.
BLITZER: Coming up, on trial. The former NBA star Jayson Williams in court today on charges of manslaughter and a cover-up.
Silence broken. A high-profile "USA Today" correspondent now admits he did in fact deceive his own newspaper.
And Wal-Mart violations, why the popular retail chain is in the hot seat again -- all that coming up.
First, though, a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BLITZER (voice-over): Protests outside the Summit of the Americas. Hundreds of riot police kept demonstrators far from the meeting of 34 Western Hemisphere leaders in Monterey, Mexico. Protesters included farmers, unionists and anti-globalization groups.
Britain's Dr. Death apparently takes his own life. Convicted serial killer Harold Shipman was found hanged in his jail cell in Northern England. The 57-year-old former physician was serving life for the deaths of 15 patients, but was believed to have killed more than 200.
Bird flu breaks out in Asia. Fowl are being destroyed by the thousands in Ho Chi Minh City, after health officials confirmed three deaths from bird flu in Vietnam. The disease has also been reported in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong.
And coming of age in Japan, a group of people mainly turning 20 this year took part in a Shinto rite by bathing in ice cold water at a Tokyo temple. One participant says the group was lucky, because past groups have had to cope with snow on top of their frigid bath.
And that's our look around the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Is the world's top retail chain playing by the rules? Three months after Wal-Mart was hit with allegations of using illegal immigrants on cleaning crews, there are new reports of labor law violations at Wal-Mart stores.
Fred Katayama of CNN Financial News is standing by with details -- Fred.
FRED KATAYAMA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Wal-Mart keep keeps prices low for customers, but that could be at a high cost for its workers, employees of the world's largest retailer skipping lunch breaks without pay, minors soldiering on into the wee hours of the night.
Such labor law violations, some tens of thousands, appeared in the form of cold, hard numbers on an in-house audit CNN obtained. The probe on 128 stores nationwide was done in July 2000. It found nearly 1,400 instances of minors working in violation of state labor laws, roughly 16,000 notations of workers skipping meals, and more than 60,000 instances of not taking breaks.
Former Wal-Mart managers say understaffing is the culprit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STAN FORTUNE, FORMER WAL-MART MANAGER: The workload that's given to them is so great, the amount pressure on them to finish the jobs that they're assigned is so great, that some of them just feel like they have to give up their lunches or they have to work over after they've clocked out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KATAYAMA: In a statement, Wal-Mart soft-pedaled the findings.
It said: "The audit misinterpreted an exception report that is generated to help managers identify instances of breaks and lunch periods. In some cases, associates modified their schedules to meet a personal need to leave early that day. We have been aggressive in implementing new processes to assure that associates are paid for every minute they work. Employment and work schedules of minors at Wal-Mart are in strict compliance with the law."
Well, the audit copy we obtained didn't go into specifics on child labor violations. But one other former Wal-Mart executive I spoke to said minors often operated heavy equipment they are not supposed to, such as power lifters and hydraulic cardboard bailers. He said such violations were, in his words, rampant throughout the company because the stores are so understaffed -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Fred Katayama reporting from New York -- Fred, thanks very much.
Court-martial proceedings begin for an Air Force translator accused of spying. That story tops our "Justice Report."
Syrian-born senior airman Ahmad Halabi did not enter a plea at today's arraignment at Travis Air Force Base in California. He faces 17 charges, including trying to deliver dozens of messages from prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, where he worked, to Syria.
In New Jersey, jury selection is under way in the trial of former NBA star Jayson Williams. Prosecutors say he was recklessly handling a gun when he accidentally shot his chauffeur, then tried to cover it up. Jury selection could take a full month.
And the judge who will preside over Michael Jackson's arraignment Friday says no cameras will be permitted in court, but reporters will be allowed to watch on closed-circuit TV. Jackson is facing seven counts of child molestation. He says he's innocent.
Allegations ahead -- just ahead, allegations of deception, why "USA Today" reporter Jack Kelley was forced to resign -- the fallout when we return.
And get this. It's a mega-smooch, kissing for a cause in South America. It's not your typical lovefest. We'll tell what you it is. You'll want to see this, I think.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: There's now word of at least two deaths in a highway accident in Maryland. State police say a tractor trailer went off an overpass on Interstate 95 just south of Baltimore this afternoon and collided with a tanker truck below. At least two other vehicles were involved in the accident. These are horrific pictures. The crash started a fire, forced authorities to shut down both directions of Interstate 95. There are backups, as can you obviously understand now, for miles and miles and miles, both directions, I-95 just south of Baltimore backed up.
In another story we're following right now, another journalist has been forced to resign because of allegations he misled his editors. "USA Today" says correspondent Jack Kelley was forced to step down because he engaged in what they're calling elaborate deception during an internal investigation of his work.
Howard Kurtz of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACK KELLEY, "USA TODAY": Now, most of the Delta Force officials...
HOWARD KURTZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For much of the last 22 years, Jack Kelley has been "USA Today"'s star correspondent, parachuting into war zones, from the Persian Gulf, to the Middle East, to Chechnya. When a suicide bomber blew up a Jerusalem pizza parlor in 2001, Kelley was right outside.
BLITZER: You obviously ran outside. What did you see with and what did you here?
KELLEY: As soon as the explosion took place, I was knocked right to the ground, as was a gentleman who I was with. I turned back then and I remember seeing three bodies hitting the ground.
KURTZ: But now Kelley has resigned after admitting that he deceived the paper. During a seven-month investigation of his reporting by "USA Today," Kelley was asked to go back and verify his front-page story from Belgrade in 1999 about an ethnic cleansing order by strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
But when the source of the story said she didn't remember speaking to Kelley, he told me, he panicked. Kelley had a Russian translator call "USA Today" and impersonate a Serbian translator who was said to be at the disputed interview. When the paper's private eyes caught him, he fessed up. Kelley insists, he's no Jayson Blair, the disgraced ""New York Times" man, that he never falsified any stories.
And "USA Today" editors, who broke their silence on the scandal today, say they haven't found any articles that need correcting. But they say they lost confidence in Kelley and told him he had no choice but to resign.
(on camera): Jack Kelley's reporting aroused suspicion because he often scored these dramatic exclusives, watching Cubans scramble on to a boat bound for Florida, hanging with Israeli settlers as they opened fire on a Palestinian taxi that no one else seemed able to match. He's been a courageous journalist. But his mistake in deceiving his bosses has sparked questions about "USA Today"'s editing process and left him under a cloud.
This is Howard Kurtz.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Howard Kurtz first broke this story writing in "The Washington Post." We'll continue to follow the fallout from that.
Locking lips, thousands of people kissing for one common goal. That and the results of our Web question, that's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of the Day." We've been asking you this question: Do you think there should be an investigation into whether Paul O'Neill released classified information? Look at this, evenly divided, 50/50 yes and no. Remember, as we always remind you, this is not a scientific poll.
In our picture of the day, a record-breaking smooch in Chile. Almost 9,000 men and women gathered in central Santiago to lock lips and set a world record. They kissed for at least 10 seconds in all. More than 4,400 couples showed up for the event. The previous record for simultaneous kissing was set in Canada almost four years ago, with almost 1,600 couples taking part.
A reminder: We're on weekdays Monday through Friday 5:00 p.m. Eastern, also noon Eastern.
I'll see you tomorrow. Until then, thanks very much for joining us.
"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.
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in Iraq; Northeast Braces for Coldest Weather in Decades>
