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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

George Tenet Defends CIA; Florida Kidnapping Suspect Silent Over Whereabouts Of Missing Girl; Fall-out Over Janet Jackson Exposure

Aired February 05, 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): Intelligence failure? After months of silence, the CIA chief speaks out.

GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: No one told us what to say or how to say it.

BLITZER: And the commander is chief is not backing down.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America did the right thing in Iraq.

BLITZER: Was it the right thing? I'll ask key members of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees.

The time running out? A missing girl and a silent suspect.

SHERIFF BILL BALKWILL, SARASOTA CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: He is not answering any of our questions.

BLITZER: How can you keep your children safe?

Timberlake on the rip.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, ENTERTAINER: I mean, I was completely shocked and appalled. All I could say was, oh, my God, oh, my God.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Thursday, February 5, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: He held his fire while his agency took a pounding over the prewar intelligence on Iraq. But today the CIA Director George Tenet fired right back. Let's turn to our national security correspondent David Ensor -- David

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, aides say George Tenet felt he could not wait any longer to respond to the critics and he was clearly eager, as he sees it, to set the record straight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): George Tenet offered a combative defense from his analysts before the Iraq war.

TENET: They never said there was an imminent threat. Rather, they painted an objective assessment for our policymakers of a brutal dictator who was continuing his efforts to deceive and build programs that might constantly surprise us and threaten our interests.

ENSOR: On specifics, though, there were some admissions from the director of Central Intelligence that the estimates have not always been proved right. On Iraq's nuclear program...

TENET: We may have over estimated the progress Saddam was making.

ENSOR: And on chemical weapons...

TENET: We have not yet found the weapons we expected.

DAVID KAY, FRM. CHIEF WEAPONS INSPECTOR: To me it's clear Iraq had no large stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons at the time of the war.

ENSOR: David Kay, the former weapons inspector, made that assertion again after Tenet's speech. Tenet strongly rejected the general charge that the CIA has been weak on human intelligence.

He said a CIA spy led the U.S. to al Qaeda mastermind Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, that penetration of the WMD supply network and the CIA telling Tripoli that the game was up contributed to Gadhafi's to give to up the weapons. And the spies inside Dr. A.Q. Khan's black market nuclear network based in Pakistan led to its exposure.

TENET: So when you hear pundits say that we have no human intelligence capability, they don't know what they're talking about.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: Tenet also strongly rejected any suggestion that the Bush administration strong armed the analysts, convincing them to toughen their view in Iraq. "No one told us," said Tenet, "what to say and how to say it" -- Wolf.

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

President Bush today was also in a mood to fire right back at his critics when it comes to Iraq even as he responds to the pressure by setting up an inquiry commission. Let's go live to our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, tomorrow President Bush is going to officially announce the members of commission investigating prewar intelligence. Sources telling us that one of the members is Senator John McCain. Not surprising. He's one of the top Republicans who was calling for the inquiry.

Today at the White House we saw the former U.S. weapons inspector David Kay. He was meeting with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, getting briefings.

And earlier today President Bush was in Charleston, South Carolina. That is where the president made it very clear that he is standing by his man, CIA Director George Tenet, and also standing by administration's case that they made for war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: We know Saddam Hussein had the intent to arm his regime with weapons of mass destruction because he hit all of those activities from the world until the last day of his regime. And Saddam Hussein had something else, he had a record of using weapons of mass destruction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Wolf, the strategy is to make the argument that, yes, the administration is going to stick with its policy of preemption, that Americans are safer for it.

Another part of the strategy of course is where the president delivers his message. It was in just a couple of weeks ago, New Hampshire, today South Carolina, next week, Missouri. All of those states, of course, where the Democrats have held their primaries -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Suzanne Malveaux. Thanks, Suzanne, very much.

In Iraq today a stunning act which even in failure may have far- ranging repercussions. Gunmen targeted Iraq's most powerful Shi'ite Muslim religious leader.

Let's go live to CNN's Brent Sadler. He's in Baghdad -- Brent.

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Wolf. This latest attack on one of Iraq's top religious leaders comes amid mounting ethnic tension, ethnic violence and threatens to tear apart U.S.-led coalition plans to stabilize and democratize Iraq.

The latest reports we have say that a group of gunmen, possibly four in all, open fire on the Ayatollah with AK-47 assault rifles as he was leaving his home in the holy city of Najaf, which is about 100 miles south of the capital, Baghdad.

The Ayatollah himself was unarmed, but some of his bodyguards may have been injured. The Ayatollah was taken to a place of safety and his various offices in this country and abroad have put out repeated statements that he is now safe and well.

Al Sistani is revered among Iraq's majority Shi'ite population, about 15 million out of some 25 million population in Iraq. Sistani's voice has been heard more and more in recent months because it is Ayatollah Sistani who's opposing the nuts and bolts of U.S. plans to go for a transition of power by the end of June without holding direct elections. And it is on the eve, if you like, of the arrival here in Baghdad in the coming days of a special U.N. team that this assassination is taken place. These U.N. electoral experts will be coming here on the orders of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to assess whether or not there can be early elections Ali al Sistani is demanding -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Brent Sadler in Baghdad. Brent, thanks very much.

And only within the past few moments the U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke out on this. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: I hope the reports are not (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the leader of these people must play an important role in Iraq. And we need inputs from leaders like him. And I think any attempt to harm bodily is counterproductive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Here's your chance to weigh in on this important story. Our "Web Question of the Day" is this, did the CIA provide adequate prewar intelligence on Iraq? You can vote right now. Go to cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results later in this broadcast.

While you're there 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 column. cnn.com/wolf.

Suspect seized.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALKWILL: We will be not letting him out of our custody whatsoever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: But now more questions in the case of the missing Florida girl. Could his impounded car hold the answer to her whereabouts?

Credibility and counter attack. The defense in the Martha Stewart case goes after the prosecution's star witness. Could it turn the trial around?

Plus...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMBERLAKE: All I could say was, oh, my God, oh, my God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Frustration over the Super Bowl Halftime fiasco. Performer Justin Timberlake now tells his side of the story. We'll get to that.

First, though, a quick look at news making "Headlines Around the World."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Scientist pardoned. One day after a Pakistani scientist admitted leaking nuclear arm secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has pardoned him. The scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, is revered in Pakistan as the father of the Islamic nuclear bomb.

Terror suspect cleared. A Moroccan man living in Germany has been found not guilty of charges he helped the September 11 hijackers. The defendant was a former roommate of Lead hijacker Mohammed Atta, but a German court found there wasn't enough evidence he had advance knowledge of the plot.

Deadly celebration. At least 37 people are dead after a stampede at a Chinese Lunar New Year festival outside Beijing. More than a dozen people were injured.

Sharon questioned. Israeli police questioned Prime Minister Ariel Sharon about bribery allegations again today. An Israeli real estate developer has been indicted on charges he gave Mr. Sharon a $690,000 bribe when he was foreign minister in the 1990s. Mr. Sharon denies wrongdoing.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Earlier we asked, "in which state did the Amber alert plan originate?" The answer, Texas. The Amber plan was created in 1996 as a legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman who was kidnapped and murdered while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas. The tragedy shocked and outraged residents. They contacted area radio stations and suggested they broadcast special alerts to help prevent such incidents in the future.

We turn our attention now to Florida and the search for an 11- year-old girl, Carlie Brucia, whose apparent abduction Sunday was captured by a surveillance camera. Police say they have the car used in the kidnapping. They also say they have a suspect but still no Carlie. CNN's John Zarrella is joining us live from Sarasota with more -- John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Wolf, 37-year-old Joseph Smith arrested Tuesday afternoon. Police are saying emphatically that Joseph Smith is, indeed, their man. In fact, saying bottom line, they have everything now but Carlie. That's the last of unfortunate piece to the puzzle. They haven't gotten it. They're not getting any help from Joseph Smith. This afternoon in a press conference at about 4:00 p.m. this afternoon, the sheriff here in Sarasota county asking that anyone in the neighborhood who sees a pink backpack to please report it, to look around. If you see it in a black alley, if you see it in a field, no other description other than a pink backpack, apparently Carlie Brucia had that pink backpack with her. Her mother was also at the press conference at 4:00 p.m. And she again pleading for her daughter's safe return and at the same time thanking the community for the tremendous outpouring of support.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN SCHORPEN, CARLIE BRUCIA'S MOTHER: I've had a lot of support from this community. I want to thank them. I want to thank all the people who have been sending us cards and flowers and prayers. You have no idea how much I appreciate it, how much strength this is giving me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: Surveillance video, the surveillance video that was taken here that placed Joseph Smith at the scene. They're still waiting for the enhancement which would actually place him here, that NASA-enhanced video tape. We should have that time this evening -- Wolf.

BLITZER: John, thanks very much for that report. To our viewers, Joseph Smith may not be cooperating with Sarasota investigators but we do know a few facts about him. He's the father of three daughters and is separated from his wife. Florida records show that he's been arrested in the state at least 13 times since 1993.

One of those arrests involved kidnapping and false imprisonment charge in 1997. Smith was acquitted. He said he grabbed the woman to prevent her from running into traffic. Carlie Brucia was abducted within Sarasota county so it falls upon the sheriff's department to coordinate the search for the sixth grader and the investigation into her disappearance.

Very much in the loop is county commission chairman John Thaxton is joining us live. Thanks very much for joining us. Is there any progress whatsoever in trying to find Carlie right now?

JON THAXTON, CHAIRMAN, SARASOTA CTY. BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS: There is a great deal of progress, actually. But it only comes in investigating the many leads that we have out there. So it's a very slow, deliberate and tenuous process. But we maintain hope that Carlie will be returned to her parents very safely and very soon.

BLITZER: Is there any physical evidence that would link this suspect, Mr. Smith, to Carlie's disappearance?

THAXTON: I have not been personally made aware of any such evidence. For that you would have to contact the sheriff directly and ask him. BLITZER: But the sheriff is saying he's not cooperating whatsoever. On what basis did they decide to pick him up, do you know that?

THAXTON: Well, he was wanted on previous warrants, for parole violation. So he was -- he was in police custody or being considered by the police for other charges. And then there was a tip given to the police department that tied Mr. Smith to the abduction of Carlie.

BLITZER: We understand that there's been some new pictures that you either have just released or will be releasing that show a clearer image of what precisely happened. In the new pictures do we get a better ability to identify the suspect in this particular case?

THAXTON: Wolf, I've not had a chance to see the new pictures. They are being generated by NASA laboratories through some of their digital imagery departments. And my understanding is that they should give us a little bit better picture, perhaps of the uniform that the abductor was wearing and even greater detail possibly to the face area.

BLITZER: John Thaxton, good luck to you. Good luck to everybody in Sarasota in finding Carlie. Thanks very much for joining us.

THAXTON: Thank you. It was my pleasure.

BLITZER: The kidnapping of Carlie Brucia, once again, spotlights the frightening reality that it could happen to any child at almost any time. CNN's Jennifer Coggiola is joining us now with steps that all of us could take to protect our children -- Jennifer.

JENNIFER COGGIOLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, for the case of a missing child in the middle of this storm of activity between the media, the investigation and barrage of investigation is a family just trying to cope.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCHORPEN: I love you. I need her home. I'm begging and pleading, please help me bring my daughter home.

COGGIOLA (voice-over): Frustration, helplessness, guilt. Parents everywhere, anguish.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What so many of these families feel is guilt and a sense of responsibility and why wasn't I or why didn't I or, you know, how could this happen? The reality is, this happens to lots of kids and lots of families. And it's not their fault.

COGGIOLA: For the family of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia, watching their child disappear again and again, like in the surveillance tape of her abduction, it can be extra painful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just have to stop watching it. You just have to tune out. COGGIOLA: Self-defense experts say there are things children like Carlie could do to protect themselves despite the differences of age and weight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you reference that video of this young lady you could see that she was being taken away with this guy. She needed to do something. She needed to react. We need to teach our kids that in that situation there's things you can do.

COGGIOLA: Bob Stuber, a former California police officer teaches adults and kids how to stay safe. And here, demonstrates one way kids can react to prevent an abduction like Carlie's.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a very bright little girl who was alert and aware and had been told and taught the right things, but, you know, bad things happen to good people.

COGGIOLA: Other tips that could save a child's life. Avoid being alone or taking shortcuts in isolated areas. Never get into a strange car. Kids can hold on to large objects, a bike for instance, to make it difficult to force a child into an automobile. And lastly, scream or carry a whistle to use despite what the abductor says. But most important, talk to your kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have power, and we believe that kids protect themselves with their heads.

COGGIOLA: But when the worst of the worst happens, just trying to cope can be the hardest part.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the most important thing is to just keep hope alive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COGGIOLA: The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children currently has two teams in Florida right now to help Carlie's family to cope, offering guidance, counseling and doing everything they can to find her.

BLITZER: Jennifer Coggiola. Thanks very much. Good advice. Appreciate that.

When we come back, his last stand, former front-runner Howard Dean now says he must win a battleground state. We'll take you on the trail as the presidential race heats up.

Campaigning for their father. Hear from First Lady Laura Bush on whether daughters Jenna and Barbara will be stumping for their dad.

And this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, SINGER: Honestly, I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated at that the whole situation. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The other side of the story. Justin Timberlake speaks out on his involvement in the halftime shocker. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Front-runner Senator John Kerry, the other major Democratic presidential contenders are fighting for support in advance of three key contests this weekend. Kerry won five of the seven state battles Tuesday. Was in Portland, Maine, today where he picked up the endorsements of former Senate majority leader George Mitchell and Governor John Beldacci. Maine holds caucuses Sunday, the day after caucuses in Michigan and Washington state. At stake, 228 delegates, almost as many that were up for grabs in Tuesday's contest.

Senator John Edwards is sticking to his southern routes today campaigning in Tennessee and Virginia. Both states vote on Tuesday. Edwards who won the South Carolina primary this past Tuesday is fighting to become the only alternative to Kerry when the race turns to contest in California, New York, and eight other states on March 2.

Like Edwards, Wesley Clark is aiming to derail the Kerry juggernaut. Clark has been stomping all day in Tennessee and this hour he's scheduled to meet the nation's No. 1 ranked women's basketball team, the Lady Volunteers of the University of Tennessee. And he's expected to be in the stands when the Lady Vols take on Connecticut in Knoxville.

Howard Dean is acknowledging that the upcoming Wisconsin primary is a must-win for him. In an e-mail to supporters, Dean predicted he would do well in contest in Michigan, Washington state and Maine. He said his entire presidential bid will come down to the February 17th Wisconsin primary. Once the Democratic front-runner, Dean has yet to win a single contest. Asked if Dean will withdraw from the race if he loses in Wisconsin, a Dean spokesman said only that Dean will win in Wisconsin.

First Lady Laura Bush said she and the president would be happy to have their twin daughters participate in Mr. Bush's re-election campaign but that's their decision. Barbara and Jenna Bush are 22- years-old now but earlier underage drinking incidents exposed them to the glare of negative publicity. In an airborne interview with CNN's senior White House correspondent, John King, Mrs. Bush said she can understand why the teens might want to avoid the spotlight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: They also, like we, you know, are looking at this as the last campaign. So, you know, I know they have a feeling of wanting to be involved because, you know, because it is their father's last campaign. But at the same time, you know, I worry about the pain that, you know, might -- they might have because they didn't choose this life. You know, their dad did. Their dad and I did, actually. And we want them to be able to live the life they want to live and not subject to, you know, mean remarks. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And you can see more of the interview with Mrs. Bush tonight on "ANDERSON COOPER 360." That comes up at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN.

Warranting the weapons claim, the CIA director stands by pre-war intelligence, but is it adequate defense? I'll speak with two ranking members of Congress, Jane Harman and Saxby Chambliss.

Getting inside gitmo for the first time, the Pentagon offers a detailed look inside the U.S. naval facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba where the detainees are being held.

And questioning his credibility. Martha Stewart's lawyers dig up dirt on the prosecution's star witness. Will his testimony now shine as brightly for the jury? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Finished far behind Senator John Kerry.

New ruling on same-sex marriages in Massachusetts. Why the decision could make it harder for politicians to side step the issue.

Legal dilemma. A conservative radio talk show host, Rush Limbaugh is handling the allegations against him. I'll speak live with his attorney, Roy Black.

Damaging testimony and a surprising admission from a star witness in the Martha Stewart case. We're live from the courthouse here in New York. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A court ruling announced today is setting the stage for Massachusetts become the first state to recognize gay marriage.

CNN's Maria Hinojosa is following this story from here in New York -- Maria.

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a historic decision, a landmark ruled by the high court of Massachusetts welcomed with cheers of joy among many gay activists but opponents are gearing up for the national fight against gay marriage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY GOODRIDGE, PLAINTIFF IN SAME-SEX MARRIAGE CASE: What this decision means for us again today is we'll be able to provide each other and we will be able to provide our daughter with all of the protections and benefits possible that we can have a healthy and stable family.

HINOJOSA: For this family Hillary and Julie Goodrich and 5-year- old daughter Annie, today's decision means legal approval for the relationship they recognized for 16 years.

H. GOODRIDGE: Twenty years ago if you told me we were going to be talking about marriage, I would have told you you were crazy.

HINOJOSA: The Massachusetts court said same sex couples must be allowed to marry and nothing less. The court said this in response to the Massachusetts legislature's proposal to grant gays and lesbians civil unions instead. Because the proposed law by it expressed term forbids same sex couples entry into civil marriage, it continues to relegate same sex couples to a different status. History of our nation has demonstrated that separate is seldom if ever, equal. The ruling by the court this fall that said denying marriage benefits to gay couples is forbidden under the Massachusetts constitution. The Massachusetts constitution affirms that dignity and equality of all individuals, the court decided in November, and forbids the creation of second class citizens.

MARY BONAUTO: The court has clarified that equal means equal. The government cannot deny marriage rights to same sex couples.

HINOJOSA: Legislative leaders are convening a constitutional legislation new week to try to amend the constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. But both Houses would have to approve that in two consecutive sessions and then voters would have to approve it in a constitutional convention. The earliest all that could happen is by 2006. Meantime, a move by President Bush for a federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage has only just begun.

MATT DANIELS, ALLIANCE FOR MARRIAGE: Most Americans believe that gays and lesbians have a right to issues, but they don't have a right to sue in court to redefine marriage for our entire society.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HINOJOSA: Wolf, just to give you a quick example why many gay activists say marriage is so important. If you're a gay couple and your partner ends up in the hospital for example. You have no right, you will not be allowed in many cases to see this person. Have you no ability to make a decision about medical treatment about, anything, even though you may be a couple for 18 years. When you a marriage certificate, that give us that right -- Wolf.

BLITZER: CNN's Maria Hinojosa reporting. Thanks, Maria, very much for that comprehensive report.

Ohio's plan to ban gay marriages is a signature away from becoming is a signature from becoming law. The measure cleared the state legislature and is now awaiting Governor Bob Taft's approval. It not only outlaws gay marriages in Ohio, it also bans some state benefits for same sex and domestic partners. More than 30 states now ban same-sex marriages. But with the benefits ban the Ohio measure is considered among the strictest in the nation.

Here's your turn to weigh in on this important story. Our "Web Question of the Day" is this, "Do you think your state should follow Massachusetts' lead on gay marriage?"

You can vote right now. Go to cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results later in the broadcast.

Rushing to his defense. How will radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh challenges the legal charges that could be filed against him. I'll speak live with his attorney, Roy Black.

Star witness, damaging testimony about dumping stocks. We'll go live to the Martha Stewart trial.

And missing mystery. Can high-tech digital technology help find the man who snatched an 11-year-old girl? We'll have the latest from Florida. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN.

Inside detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, an unprecedented look at the detainees and their conditions, we'll get to that.

First, though, a quick check of some of the latest headlines.

The Robert Blake murder trial was postponed indefinitely today, after the judge agreed to remove the actor's attorney because of irreconcilable differences. This is the third time that Blake's lawyer has left the case. The move comes less than two weeks before jury selection was set to begin. Blake has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, in 2001.

An explosion in Gaza today killed an official in the military wing of the militant Hamas group. Palestinian sources say Abdul Nasr Abul Shuka (ph) was using his mobile phone when the device blew up. Sources say unmanned aerial drone was seen in the area at the time of the blast. An Israeli Army spokesman said the Israeli military was not involved in the incident.

President Bush is sticking to his guns on the controversy over Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Speaking in Charleston, South Carolina, earlier today, the president said, despite the fact that no chemical or biological weapons had yet been found in Iraq, he made the right decision to go to war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Knowing what I knew then and knowing what I know today, America did the right thing in Iraq.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: George Tenet oversees an agency which largely operates in the shadows. Today, though, he's in the spotlight, forcefully defending the prewar intelligence on Iraq. But just who is the CIA director?

CNN's Brian Todd has been taking a look -- trying to take a look at the cloak-and-dagger chief.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In one of the toughest jobs in one of the toughest towns, George Tenet flourishes.

GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: Let me say this. I'm the director of the central -- I am the director of central intelligence. The president of the United States sees me six days a week every day. I tell him what the American intelligence community believes.

TODD: Straight talk, tenacity and, observers say, extraordinary political skill and charm have made George Tenet a force in Washington, a big step for the son of Greek immigrants who ran a Greek restaurant in New York City, a George Town University grad whose wife wrote a home repair book for women.

In Washington, his tenure alone is a lesson in political savvy, nearly 6 1/2 years as director of central intelligence, under Democratic and Republican presidents, overcoming some resentment from inside the intelligence community.

WALTER PINCUS, "THE WASHINGTON POST": And it took time for him to be accepted, because, essentially, he had never worked for CIA. He was looked on as a Capitol Hill bureaucrat.

TODD: A reputation carved in the back halls and cloak rooms of the U.S. Senate, first as a legislative aide to Democratic senators, then as a top-level staffer on the Intelligence Committee.

He had learned the art of the political maneuver from the very best, and needed it from day one. July 11, 1997, George Tenet sworn in at a time of huge turmoil at Langley, when his predecessors had a hard time just getting an appointment with President Clinton. Tenet worked on Clinton, got better access and, by early 2001, was so highly regarded that a new Republican president went with the advice to keep this man in place. A bond was quickly forged.

PINCUS: It's almost an umbilical cord. And that's helped strengthen what the agency's done.

TODD: It's hard to envision a series of historical events that could have tested a relationship more. All through that lazy summer, Tenet warned that al Qaeda was planning a large-scale attack. He simply went to work after September 11, mobilizing CIA units in Afghanistan.

Much of the case for war in Iraq rested on his shoulders. Through all the doubts, recriminations on prewar intelligence, George Tenet still has a good working relationship with the president, even when others in power aren't exactly lining up behind him. SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R), KANSAS: I think there's been an overall global intelligence community failure in regards to the statements made in reference to the stockpiles.

TODD: Whenever, however George Tenet leaves, this may be judged a legacy of loyalty to country, president, family, school.

TENET: Let's beat Villanova tonight. God bless you.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: That report from CNN's Brian Todd in Washington.

"We always call it as we see it." That's how the CIA director, George Tenet, put it today, defending the agency's prewar intelligence on Iraq.

How do congressional insiders see it? Earlier, I spoke with Republican Saxby Chambliss of the Senate Intelligence Committee and Congresswoman Jane Harman. She's the ranking Democrat the House Intelligence Panel.

I began by asking her if she buys the CIA's chief statement that no one can intimidate his analysts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. JANE HARMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: Intimidation can mean many things. I doubt that anyone said, you will put this in your statement. But I think there were repeated calls for new information, better information, better analysis. And it was in the ether that there was a plan to go to war.

Also, what disturbs me, Wolf, is that I was down at the CIA fairly recently and met with those who drafted the national intelligence estimate, the big-deal piece of analysis in 2002, which said Iraq has chemical and biological weapons, Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear capability. And they said that they were writing that for the war fighters. And they were trying to predict with as much certainty as possible whether there be would chemical weapons as our soldiers came over the berm.

Well, the decision to go to war theoretically wasn't made at that point. That was a document recommended by Congress. So it raises questions, again, about what they really felt they had to achieve. I do want to say one more thing, though. I thought Tenet's speech was very good. He's a passionate man. The men and women in agency work extremely hard. And they try to get it right.

But what happened here, unfortunately, was that, over 12 or 14 years, mistakes were made. And we have to fix them.

BLITZER: Senator Chambliss, do you have confidence in George Tenet as director of the CIA? SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R), GEORGIA: I do, Wolf.

He's got a very, very difficult job. He's been operating with less than the full amount of resources that he needed. And he's told us that over the years. And while we've increased the budget of the CIA, he still has been short on resources. He's also been operating somewhat hamstrung by some regulations that were in place.

Both Intelligence Committees, the Senate and the House Intelligence Committees, have sought to remove those roadblocks that have been in his way. And it's just going to take time for him to rebuild the human asset side of the CIA and to get to a position to where we're doing a better job of getting information that we can more properly analyze.

BLITZER: A year ago today, Secretary of State Powell testified, spoke out before the United Nations Security Council, with George Tenet sitting right behind him. Among other things, Powell said this.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: There can be no doubt that Saddam Hussein has biological weapons and the capability to rapidly produce more, many more. And he has the ability to dispense these lethal poisons and diseases in ways that can cause massive death and destruction.

Second, as with biological weapons, Saddam Hussein has never accounted for vast amounts of chemical weaponry: 550 artillery shells with mustard, 30,000 empty munitions and enough precursors to increase his stockpile to as much as 500 tons of chemical agents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Jane Harman, they have found none of that in the almost year since the war.

HARMAN: That's true.

I'm sure Powell believed what he said. And he has said that he scrubbed the intelligence himself, went over it for four days, and only said those things which he believed were fully supported. No question that the intelligence analysis said, Iraq has chemical and biological weapons.

But one of the things you just played, Wolf, is very interesting. What he said was, there's been no proof that he has eliminated his chemical weapons. I think that that was the fundamental mistake we've made in our intelligence products about Iraq over 12 years, over three administrations. This didn't start in this administration. And that is the failure to prove something was destroyed was taken as proof it exists.

BLITZER: This seems to be an intelligence failure of historic magnitude.

CHAMBLISS: It's not only an intelligence failure on the part of the U.S. intel community. It's the worldwide intel community.

Just as Powell was sitting there making those statements, there were also Germans there. There were French there. There were Brits there. And every other country around the world was represented there. Those countries had intelligence operations ongoing in Iraq, just like America has had. They had the same information. They analyzed it the same way. They believed the same thing.

That's why Resolution 1441 came about.

BLITZER: But George Tenet, among other things, also acknowledged that some mistakes probably were made. Listen to this excerpt from what he said at Georgetown University earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TENET: I can tell you with certainly that the president of the United States gets his intelligence from one person and one community, me. And he has told me firmly and directly that he's wanted it straight, and he's wanted it honest, and he's never wanted the facts shaded. And that's what we do every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: There were other intelligence groups at the Pentagon that were established that apparently, many people have suggested, were coming up with different assessments, analytical reports than what the CIA was providing.

HARMAN: Yes, I think so.

I don't know that you can call them intelligence agencies. But it's absolutely clear -- the Pentagon has admitted it -- that it has a group of folks who were serving up what they called background for the policy apparatus at DOD. I believe that there were other intelligence channels. I doubt that those people briefed the president every day. I'm sure that George Tenet is accurate about that.

But I think that a lot of the things the vice president says, if they are based on intelligence, are not based on the intelligence products I've reviewed. So, presumably, they must come from somewhere else.

BLITZER: Are you confident that, at some point, they will find stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons in Iraq?

CHAMBLISS: I'm confident that, at some point in time, we're going to have substantiated evidence of the fact, at some point in time, he had them.

BLITZER: Well, we know he had them in the '80s.

(CROSSTALK) CHAMBLISS: The problem, Wolf, is, though, that, you know, a very small room can contain enough poison, whether it be mustard gas, sarin gas, V.X, or whatever, to destroy thousands and thousands of lives.

And whether we're ever going to find that or whether that has been destroyed, whether it ever existed, I think there are some questions about that right now that are going to have to be answered. But we're not through with the investigation, investigative part of actually looking for that stockpile.

BLITZER: You're shaking your head.

HARMAN: We're not, in my view, going to find anything substantial. We're certainly not going to find the smoking gun in the form of a mushroom cloud and other things that were predicted, nor are we going, ever, I think, to find that the categorical statements in the declassified portion of the national intelligence estimate, which said that Iraq has -- present tense -- chemical and biological weapons, Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear capability, those statements were false.

BLITZER: We only have a few seconds left.

Bottom line, though. Despite the failure, the intelligence failure, was the war justified?

HARMAN: Bottom line, the goals we sought to achieve were justified, that is, regime change, dismantling the WMD. Saddam was in violation of Resolution 1441.

But if our intelligence products and the statements of policy- makers had been clearer, more accurate, perhaps we would have had more time to let diplomacy work. War might have been inevitable. I don't regret my vote for that resolution, because this was a guy who was never going to come clean. But, nonetheless, we had time for more options to be tried.

CHAMBLISS: Iraq is a free country today because of the leadership of George Bush. We've seen other countries like Libya and Iran come forward with trying to reduce and totally eliminate weapons of mass destruction in their countries. So, absolutely, there's no question but what the reasons to go were the right reasons and the decision to go was the right reason.

BLITZER: Senator Chambliss, thanks very much for coming back. Glad to see that you're healthy, a little scare there, but good to have you back safe and sound.

CHAMBLISS: Thank you.

BLITZER: Appreciate it.

And Congresswoman Harman, always good to see you as well.

HARMAN: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: All clear, that's the word from investigators on Capitol Hill, but still no answers after the ricin scare. More on the mystery in a live report.

Stewart's side. After damaging testimony, Martha Stewart's defense team gets its chance at the star witness. We'll go live to the courthouse.

Plus this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, ENTERTAINER: I don't want to be involved in a stunt. That's not my style, you know. I don't have any reason to do this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: There's just no justifying it, so says Timberlake. Hear his side of the story on the infamous halftime flap.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: For the first time since it began holding terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, the Pentagon is now offering a detailed look inside the facility.

Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is standing by with details -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, indeed, a very unusual video look today at the conditions under which about 650 suspected Taliban and al Qaeda detainees are being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Let's take a look at some of these pictures. Now, it may come as a surprise that some of these detainees, as you see, get recreation facilities. They get to kick around a soccer ball, as well as get other recreational privileges. They get to worship in their own Islamic faith, although a cleric is no longer assigned to them.

And there is medical care, this very unusual picture of a female military medic bandaging someone who apparently has an injury, although there are continuing health concerns about their mental state. A picture of the kinds of food they are served, this being part of the high-security facility you see. That other one, the recreation facility, was the lower or medium-risk security facility at Guantanamo Bay.

All of this comes, Wolf, these pictures, as legal experts continue to debate the indefinite detention these people are facing at Guantanamo Bay. The Supreme Court, of course, scheduled to hear a case about the legality of the detention. And we've also learned the Pentagon now is about to issue new rules, giving some of the defense attorneys that will be appointed greater latitude in defending their clients if they go before a military tribunal -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Barbara Starr, fascinating pictures. We also heard the prayers going on there at the detention center.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

Let's move on to the ricin scare now on Capitol Hill here in Washington.

Our justice correspondent, Kelli Arena, is covering this story -- Kelly.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, investigators say, without a so-called smoking letter, the investigation is more difficult to pursue. But they aren't done sorting through mail. And one may yet turn up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA (voice-over): The Russell Senate Office Building is open for business. Officials say it's clear of any trace of the deadly poison ricin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open this piece of mail. And I'm very comfortable with it.

ARENA: The other two Senate buildings are expected to open within the next few days. While progress is being made on getting the Capitol back to business as usual, investigators have hit a wall in finding out how the ricin got on to Capitol grounds in the first place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have not found a hot letter at this point in time, that is, a letter that has contamination.

ARENA: Sources say all of the mail in and around Senator Bill Frist's office has tested negative for contamination. The ricin was originally found on a mailroom machine in the majority leader's office. Investigators say that ricin could have gotten there a number of ways.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Possibilities for the delivery mechanism, whether it's a person or a letter or a package is open. And we've got to work through that.

ARENA: Sources say the intern who found the ricin powder had left the mailroom for a while, came back, and then discovered the ricin, leaving open a window of opportunity. Investigators are also looking into the possibility that the ricin may have been there a while before being detected.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA: And, on another note, there is no evidence connecting this ricin to two letters signed "Fallen Angel" that were discovered back in the fall. Officials say they want to raise the profile of those letters, just in case anyone has any information to share about them.

BLITZER: Let's hope something does develop on that front.

Thanks very much, Kelli Arena.

Questions of character posed to the prosecution's star witness. A wrap of today's Martha Stewart trial. That's coming up next.

Plus, this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMBERLAKE: I mean, I was completely shocked and appalled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A frustrated Justin Timberlake on the rip seen around the world.

And lanterns for the lunar year, lighting the way to good luck in Taiwan. You'll be interested in this, I think.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: More gripping testimony today in the Martha Stewart trial.

CNN's Mary Snow is covering the case for us. She's joining us live -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, gone today were the fireworks we heard yesterday in court. Today were actually some moments that brought some chuckles.

The defense was trying to paint the picture that the government's star witness, Doug Faneuil, had an ax to grind with Martha Stewart. They produce an e-mail dated October 26, 2001 in which he wrote to a friend, "P.S., Martha yelled at me again today, but I snapped in her face and she actually backed down. Baby" -- referring to himself -- "put Ms. Martha in her place."

He was also asked object some conversations that he relayed to the government in his cooperation agreement, conversations that the defense says he didn't pass along to his then boss, Peter Bacanovic. In one conversation, Peter Bacanovic had put Martha Stewart on hold and ask Doug Faneuil to pick up the phone. Faneuil told the government that she started complaining about the hold music and said that she would leave her stockbroker and Merrill Lynch if they didn't do anything about the hold music.

That story actually brought a smile to the face of Peter Bacanovic, her co-defendant. And testimony continues on Monday, with Stewart's attorney doing the cross-examination -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Mary Snow in New York watching this for us -- thanks, Mary, very much.

And you can add Justin Timberlake to the list of people apologizing for the Super Bowl halftime show. CBS, MTV, the NFL and Janet Jackson also have expressed regrets over the conclusion of the show, which featured, of course, Timberlake ripping off part of Jackson's costume. Timberlake said he was surprised when the move exposed Jackson's breast and he understands why people were offended.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMBERLAKE: Honestly, I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated at the whole situation. I'm frustrated that my character is being questioned.

And the fact of the matter is, you know, I've had a good year, a really good year, especially with my music. And I mean, even me personally, I don't feel like I need publicity like this. And I wouldn't want to be involved with this stunt, especially with something of this magnitude. I was completely shocked and appalled.

All I could say was, oh, my God, oh, my God. You know, I immediately -- I looked at her. They brought a towel up onto the stage. I immediately covered her up. I mean, I was completely embarrassed and just walked off the stage as quick as I could.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Timberlake also says members of his own family were offended by the incident.

Lots of light and perhaps a little luck could come to those who stick around for our picture of the day.

And don't forget the results of our "Web Question of the Day" also coming up.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in our "Web Question of our day." Remember, when you see this, this is not a scientific poll.

We're getting this news into CNN right now from Democratic Party sources, Congressman Dick Gephardt, who dropped out of the presidential race, expected to endorse John Kerry tomorrow in Michigan, an important endorsement in this union state. We'll have much more coming up on this.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

END

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Silent Over Whereabouts Of Missing Girl; Fall-out Over Janet Jackson Exposure>


Aired February 5, 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): Intelligence failure? After months of silence, the CIA chief speaks out.

GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: No one told us what to say or how to say it.

BLITZER: And the commander is chief is not backing down.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America did the right thing in Iraq.

BLITZER: Was it the right thing? I'll ask key members of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees.

The time running out? A missing girl and a silent suspect.

SHERIFF BILL BALKWILL, SARASOTA CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: He is not answering any of our questions.

BLITZER: How can you keep your children safe?

Timberlake on the rip.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, ENTERTAINER: I mean, I was completely shocked and appalled. All I could say was, oh, my God, oh, my God.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Thursday, February 5, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: He held his fire while his agency took a pounding over the prewar intelligence on Iraq. But today the CIA Director George Tenet fired right back. Let's turn to our national security correspondent David Ensor -- David

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, aides say George Tenet felt he could not wait any longer to respond to the critics and he was clearly eager, as he sees it, to set the record straight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): George Tenet offered a combative defense from his analysts before the Iraq war.

TENET: They never said there was an imminent threat. Rather, they painted an objective assessment for our policymakers of a brutal dictator who was continuing his efforts to deceive and build programs that might constantly surprise us and threaten our interests.

ENSOR: On specifics, though, there were some admissions from the director of Central Intelligence that the estimates have not always been proved right. On Iraq's nuclear program...

TENET: We may have over estimated the progress Saddam was making.

ENSOR: And on chemical weapons...

TENET: We have not yet found the weapons we expected.

DAVID KAY, FRM. CHIEF WEAPONS INSPECTOR: To me it's clear Iraq had no large stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons at the time of the war.

ENSOR: David Kay, the former weapons inspector, made that assertion again after Tenet's speech. Tenet strongly rejected the general charge that the CIA has been weak on human intelligence.

He said a CIA spy led the U.S. to al Qaeda mastermind Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, that penetration of the WMD supply network and the CIA telling Tripoli that the game was up contributed to Gadhafi's to give to up the weapons. And the spies inside Dr. A.Q. Khan's black market nuclear network based in Pakistan led to its exposure.

TENET: So when you hear pundits say that we have no human intelligence capability, they don't know what they're talking about.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: Tenet also strongly rejected any suggestion that the Bush administration strong armed the analysts, convincing them to toughen their view in Iraq. "No one told us," said Tenet, "what to say and how to say it" -- Wolf.

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

President Bush today was also in a mood to fire right back at his critics when it comes to Iraq even as he responds to the pressure by setting up an inquiry commission. Let's go live to our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, tomorrow President Bush is going to officially announce the members of commission investigating prewar intelligence. Sources telling us that one of the members is Senator John McCain. Not surprising. He's one of the top Republicans who was calling for the inquiry.

Today at the White House we saw the former U.S. weapons inspector David Kay. He was meeting with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, getting briefings.

And earlier today President Bush was in Charleston, South Carolina. That is where the president made it very clear that he is standing by his man, CIA Director George Tenet, and also standing by administration's case that they made for war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: We know Saddam Hussein had the intent to arm his regime with weapons of mass destruction because he hit all of those activities from the world until the last day of his regime. And Saddam Hussein had something else, he had a record of using weapons of mass destruction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Wolf, the strategy is to make the argument that, yes, the administration is going to stick with its policy of preemption, that Americans are safer for it.

Another part of the strategy of course is where the president delivers his message. It was in just a couple of weeks ago, New Hampshire, today South Carolina, next week, Missouri. All of those states, of course, where the Democrats have held their primaries -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Suzanne Malveaux. Thanks, Suzanne, very much.

In Iraq today a stunning act which even in failure may have far- ranging repercussions. Gunmen targeted Iraq's most powerful Shi'ite Muslim religious leader.

Let's go live to CNN's Brent Sadler. He's in Baghdad -- Brent.

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Wolf. This latest attack on one of Iraq's top religious leaders comes amid mounting ethnic tension, ethnic violence and threatens to tear apart U.S.-led coalition plans to stabilize and democratize Iraq.

The latest reports we have say that a group of gunmen, possibly four in all, open fire on the Ayatollah with AK-47 assault rifles as he was leaving his home in the holy city of Najaf, which is about 100 miles south of the capital, Baghdad.

The Ayatollah himself was unarmed, but some of his bodyguards may have been injured. The Ayatollah was taken to a place of safety and his various offices in this country and abroad have put out repeated statements that he is now safe and well.

Al Sistani is revered among Iraq's majority Shi'ite population, about 15 million out of some 25 million population in Iraq. Sistani's voice has been heard more and more in recent months because it is Ayatollah Sistani who's opposing the nuts and bolts of U.S. plans to go for a transition of power by the end of June without holding direct elections. And it is on the eve, if you like, of the arrival here in Baghdad in the coming days of a special U.N. team that this assassination is taken place. These U.N. electoral experts will be coming here on the orders of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to assess whether or not there can be early elections Ali al Sistani is demanding -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Brent Sadler in Baghdad. Brent, thanks very much.

And only within the past few moments the U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke out on this. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: I hope the reports are not (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the leader of these people must play an important role in Iraq. And we need inputs from leaders like him. And I think any attempt to harm bodily is counterproductive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Here's your chance to weigh in on this important story. Our "Web Question of the Day" is this, did the CIA provide adequate prewar intelligence on Iraq? You can vote right now. Go to cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results later in this broadcast.

While you're there 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 column. cnn.com/wolf.

Suspect seized.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALKWILL: We will be not letting him out of our custody whatsoever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: But now more questions in the case of the missing Florida girl. Could his impounded car hold the answer to her whereabouts?

Credibility and counter attack. The defense in the Martha Stewart case goes after the prosecution's star witness. Could it turn the trial around?

Plus...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMBERLAKE: All I could say was, oh, my God, oh, my God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Frustration over the Super Bowl Halftime fiasco. Performer Justin Timberlake now tells his side of the story. We'll get to that.

First, though, a quick look at news making "Headlines Around the World."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Scientist pardoned. One day after a Pakistani scientist admitted leaking nuclear arm secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has pardoned him. The scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, is revered in Pakistan as the father of the Islamic nuclear bomb.

Terror suspect cleared. A Moroccan man living in Germany has been found not guilty of charges he helped the September 11 hijackers. The defendant was a former roommate of Lead hijacker Mohammed Atta, but a German court found there wasn't enough evidence he had advance knowledge of the plot.

Deadly celebration. At least 37 people are dead after a stampede at a Chinese Lunar New Year festival outside Beijing. More than a dozen people were injured.

Sharon questioned. Israeli police questioned Prime Minister Ariel Sharon about bribery allegations again today. An Israeli real estate developer has been indicted on charges he gave Mr. Sharon a $690,000 bribe when he was foreign minister in the 1990s. Mr. Sharon denies wrongdoing.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Earlier we asked, "in which state did the Amber alert plan originate?" The answer, Texas. The Amber plan was created in 1996 as a legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman who was kidnapped and murdered while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas. The tragedy shocked and outraged residents. They contacted area radio stations and suggested they broadcast special alerts to help prevent such incidents in the future.

We turn our attention now to Florida and the search for an 11- year-old girl, Carlie Brucia, whose apparent abduction Sunday was captured by a surveillance camera. Police say they have the car used in the kidnapping. They also say they have a suspect but still no Carlie. CNN's John Zarrella is joining us live from Sarasota with more -- John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Wolf, 37-year-old Joseph Smith arrested Tuesday afternoon. Police are saying emphatically that Joseph Smith is, indeed, their man. In fact, saying bottom line, they have everything now but Carlie. That's the last of unfortunate piece to the puzzle. They haven't gotten it. They're not getting any help from Joseph Smith. This afternoon in a press conference at about 4:00 p.m. this afternoon, the sheriff here in Sarasota county asking that anyone in the neighborhood who sees a pink backpack to please report it, to look around. If you see it in a black alley, if you see it in a field, no other description other than a pink backpack, apparently Carlie Brucia had that pink backpack with her. Her mother was also at the press conference at 4:00 p.m. And she again pleading for her daughter's safe return and at the same time thanking the community for the tremendous outpouring of support.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN SCHORPEN, CARLIE BRUCIA'S MOTHER: I've had a lot of support from this community. I want to thank them. I want to thank all the people who have been sending us cards and flowers and prayers. You have no idea how much I appreciate it, how much strength this is giving me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: Surveillance video, the surveillance video that was taken here that placed Joseph Smith at the scene. They're still waiting for the enhancement which would actually place him here, that NASA-enhanced video tape. We should have that time this evening -- Wolf.

BLITZER: John, thanks very much for that report. To our viewers, Joseph Smith may not be cooperating with Sarasota investigators but we do know a few facts about him. He's the father of three daughters and is separated from his wife. Florida records show that he's been arrested in the state at least 13 times since 1993.

One of those arrests involved kidnapping and false imprisonment charge in 1997. Smith was acquitted. He said he grabbed the woman to prevent her from running into traffic. Carlie Brucia was abducted within Sarasota county so it falls upon the sheriff's department to coordinate the search for the sixth grader and the investigation into her disappearance.

Very much in the loop is county commission chairman John Thaxton is joining us live. Thanks very much for joining us. Is there any progress whatsoever in trying to find Carlie right now?

JON THAXTON, CHAIRMAN, SARASOTA CTY. BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS: There is a great deal of progress, actually. But it only comes in investigating the many leads that we have out there. So it's a very slow, deliberate and tenuous process. But we maintain hope that Carlie will be returned to her parents very safely and very soon.

BLITZER: Is there any physical evidence that would link this suspect, Mr. Smith, to Carlie's disappearance?

THAXTON: I have not been personally made aware of any such evidence. For that you would have to contact the sheriff directly and ask him. BLITZER: But the sheriff is saying he's not cooperating whatsoever. On what basis did they decide to pick him up, do you know that?

THAXTON: Well, he was wanted on previous warrants, for parole violation. So he was -- he was in police custody or being considered by the police for other charges. And then there was a tip given to the police department that tied Mr. Smith to the abduction of Carlie.

BLITZER: We understand that there's been some new pictures that you either have just released or will be releasing that show a clearer image of what precisely happened. In the new pictures do we get a better ability to identify the suspect in this particular case?

THAXTON: Wolf, I've not had a chance to see the new pictures. They are being generated by NASA laboratories through some of their digital imagery departments. And my understanding is that they should give us a little bit better picture, perhaps of the uniform that the abductor was wearing and even greater detail possibly to the face area.

BLITZER: John Thaxton, good luck to you. Good luck to everybody in Sarasota in finding Carlie. Thanks very much for joining us.

THAXTON: Thank you. It was my pleasure.

BLITZER: The kidnapping of Carlie Brucia, once again, spotlights the frightening reality that it could happen to any child at almost any time. CNN's Jennifer Coggiola is joining us now with steps that all of us could take to protect our children -- Jennifer.

JENNIFER COGGIOLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, for the case of a missing child in the middle of this storm of activity between the media, the investigation and barrage of investigation is a family just trying to cope.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCHORPEN: I love you. I need her home. I'm begging and pleading, please help me bring my daughter home.

COGGIOLA (voice-over): Frustration, helplessness, guilt. Parents everywhere, anguish.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What so many of these families feel is guilt and a sense of responsibility and why wasn't I or why didn't I or, you know, how could this happen? The reality is, this happens to lots of kids and lots of families. And it's not their fault.

COGGIOLA: For the family of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia, watching their child disappear again and again, like in the surveillance tape of her abduction, it can be extra painful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just have to stop watching it. You just have to tune out. COGGIOLA: Self-defense experts say there are things children like Carlie could do to protect themselves despite the differences of age and weight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you reference that video of this young lady you could see that she was being taken away with this guy. She needed to do something. She needed to react. We need to teach our kids that in that situation there's things you can do.

COGGIOLA: Bob Stuber, a former California police officer teaches adults and kids how to stay safe. And here, demonstrates one way kids can react to prevent an abduction like Carlie's.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a very bright little girl who was alert and aware and had been told and taught the right things, but, you know, bad things happen to good people.

COGGIOLA: Other tips that could save a child's life. Avoid being alone or taking shortcuts in isolated areas. Never get into a strange car. Kids can hold on to large objects, a bike for instance, to make it difficult to force a child into an automobile. And lastly, scream or carry a whistle to use despite what the abductor says. But most important, talk to your kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have power, and we believe that kids protect themselves with their heads.

COGGIOLA: But when the worst of the worst happens, just trying to cope can be the hardest part.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the most important thing is to just keep hope alive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COGGIOLA: The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children currently has two teams in Florida right now to help Carlie's family to cope, offering guidance, counseling and doing everything they can to find her.

BLITZER: Jennifer Coggiola. Thanks very much. Good advice. Appreciate that.

When we come back, his last stand, former front-runner Howard Dean now says he must win a battleground state. We'll take you on the trail as the presidential race heats up.

Campaigning for their father. Hear from First Lady Laura Bush on whether daughters Jenna and Barbara will be stumping for their dad.

And this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, SINGER: Honestly, I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated at that the whole situation. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The other side of the story. Justin Timberlake speaks out on his involvement in the halftime shocker. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Front-runner Senator John Kerry, the other major Democratic presidential contenders are fighting for support in advance of three key contests this weekend. Kerry won five of the seven state battles Tuesday. Was in Portland, Maine, today where he picked up the endorsements of former Senate majority leader George Mitchell and Governor John Beldacci. Maine holds caucuses Sunday, the day after caucuses in Michigan and Washington state. At stake, 228 delegates, almost as many that were up for grabs in Tuesday's contest.

Senator John Edwards is sticking to his southern routes today campaigning in Tennessee and Virginia. Both states vote on Tuesday. Edwards who won the South Carolina primary this past Tuesday is fighting to become the only alternative to Kerry when the race turns to contest in California, New York, and eight other states on March 2.

Like Edwards, Wesley Clark is aiming to derail the Kerry juggernaut. Clark has been stomping all day in Tennessee and this hour he's scheduled to meet the nation's No. 1 ranked women's basketball team, the Lady Volunteers of the University of Tennessee. And he's expected to be in the stands when the Lady Vols take on Connecticut in Knoxville.

Howard Dean is acknowledging that the upcoming Wisconsin primary is a must-win for him. In an e-mail to supporters, Dean predicted he would do well in contest in Michigan, Washington state and Maine. He said his entire presidential bid will come down to the February 17th Wisconsin primary. Once the Democratic front-runner, Dean has yet to win a single contest. Asked if Dean will withdraw from the race if he loses in Wisconsin, a Dean spokesman said only that Dean will win in Wisconsin.

First Lady Laura Bush said she and the president would be happy to have their twin daughters participate in Mr. Bush's re-election campaign but that's their decision. Barbara and Jenna Bush are 22- years-old now but earlier underage drinking incidents exposed them to the glare of negative publicity. In an airborne interview with CNN's senior White House correspondent, John King, Mrs. Bush said she can understand why the teens might want to avoid the spotlight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: They also, like we, you know, are looking at this as the last campaign. So, you know, I know they have a feeling of wanting to be involved because, you know, because it is their father's last campaign. But at the same time, you know, I worry about the pain that, you know, might -- they might have because they didn't choose this life. You know, their dad did. Their dad and I did, actually. And we want them to be able to live the life they want to live and not subject to, you know, mean remarks. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And you can see more of the interview with Mrs. Bush tonight on "ANDERSON COOPER 360." That comes up at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN.

Warranting the weapons claim, the CIA director stands by pre-war intelligence, but is it adequate defense? I'll speak with two ranking members of Congress, Jane Harman and Saxby Chambliss.

Getting inside gitmo for the first time, the Pentagon offers a detailed look inside the U.S. naval facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba where the detainees are being held.

And questioning his credibility. Martha Stewart's lawyers dig up dirt on the prosecution's star witness. Will his testimony now shine as brightly for the jury? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Finished far behind Senator John Kerry.

New ruling on same-sex marriages in Massachusetts. Why the decision could make it harder for politicians to side step the issue.

Legal dilemma. A conservative radio talk show host, Rush Limbaugh is handling the allegations against him. I'll speak live with his attorney, Roy Black.

Damaging testimony and a surprising admission from a star witness in the Martha Stewart case. We're live from the courthouse here in New York. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A court ruling announced today is setting the stage for Massachusetts become the first state to recognize gay marriage.

CNN's Maria Hinojosa is following this story from here in New York -- Maria.

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a historic decision, a landmark ruled by the high court of Massachusetts welcomed with cheers of joy among many gay activists but opponents are gearing up for the national fight against gay marriage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY GOODRIDGE, PLAINTIFF IN SAME-SEX MARRIAGE CASE: What this decision means for us again today is we'll be able to provide each other and we will be able to provide our daughter with all of the protections and benefits possible that we can have a healthy and stable family.

HINOJOSA: For this family Hillary and Julie Goodrich and 5-year- old daughter Annie, today's decision means legal approval for the relationship they recognized for 16 years.

H. GOODRIDGE: Twenty years ago if you told me we were going to be talking about marriage, I would have told you you were crazy.

HINOJOSA: The Massachusetts court said same sex couples must be allowed to marry and nothing less. The court said this in response to the Massachusetts legislature's proposal to grant gays and lesbians civil unions instead. Because the proposed law by it expressed term forbids same sex couples entry into civil marriage, it continues to relegate same sex couples to a different status. History of our nation has demonstrated that separate is seldom if ever, equal. The ruling by the court this fall that said denying marriage benefits to gay couples is forbidden under the Massachusetts constitution. The Massachusetts constitution affirms that dignity and equality of all individuals, the court decided in November, and forbids the creation of second class citizens.

MARY BONAUTO: The court has clarified that equal means equal. The government cannot deny marriage rights to same sex couples.

HINOJOSA: Legislative leaders are convening a constitutional legislation new week to try to amend the constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. But both Houses would have to approve that in two consecutive sessions and then voters would have to approve it in a constitutional convention. The earliest all that could happen is by 2006. Meantime, a move by President Bush for a federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage has only just begun.

MATT DANIELS, ALLIANCE FOR MARRIAGE: Most Americans believe that gays and lesbians have a right to issues, but they don't have a right to sue in court to redefine marriage for our entire society.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HINOJOSA: Wolf, just to give you a quick example why many gay activists say marriage is so important. If you're a gay couple and your partner ends up in the hospital for example. You have no right, you will not be allowed in many cases to see this person. Have you no ability to make a decision about medical treatment about, anything, even though you may be a couple for 18 years. When you a marriage certificate, that give us that right -- Wolf.

BLITZER: CNN's Maria Hinojosa reporting. Thanks, Maria, very much for that comprehensive report.

Ohio's plan to ban gay marriages is a signature away from becoming is a signature from becoming law. The measure cleared the state legislature and is now awaiting Governor Bob Taft's approval. It not only outlaws gay marriages in Ohio, it also bans some state benefits for same sex and domestic partners. More than 30 states now ban same-sex marriages. But with the benefits ban the Ohio measure is considered among the strictest in the nation.

Here's your turn to weigh in on this important story. Our "Web Question of the Day" is this, "Do you think your state should follow Massachusetts' lead on gay marriage?"

You can vote right now. Go to cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results later in the broadcast.

Rushing to his defense. How will radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh challenges the legal charges that could be filed against him. I'll speak live with his attorney, Roy Black.

Star witness, damaging testimony about dumping stocks. We'll go live to the Martha Stewart trial.

And missing mystery. Can high-tech digital technology help find the man who snatched an 11-year-old girl? We'll have the latest from Florida. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN.

Inside detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, an unprecedented look at the detainees and their conditions, we'll get to that.

First, though, a quick check of some of the latest headlines.

The Robert Blake murder trial was postponed indefinitely today, after the judge agreed to remove the actor's attorney because of irreconcilable differences. This is the third time that Blake's lawyer has left the case. The move comes less than two weeks before jury selection was set to begin. Blake has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, in 2001.

An explosion in Gaza today killed an official in the military wing of the militant Hamas group. Palestinian sources say Abdul Nasr Abul Shuka (ph) was using his mobile phone when the device blew up. Sources say unmanned aerial drone was seen in the area at the time of the blast. An Israeli Army spokesman said the Israeli military was not involved in the incident.

President Bush is sticking to his guns on the controversy over Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Speaking in Charleston, South Carolina, earlier today, the president said, despite the fact that no chemical or biological weapons had yet been found in Iraq, he made the right decision to go to war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Knowing what I knew then and knowing what I know today, America did the right thing in Iraq.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: George Tenet oversees an agency which largely operates in the shadows. Today, though, he's in the spotlight, forcefully defending the prewar intelligence on Iraq. But just who is the CIA director?

CNN's Brian Todd has been taking a look -- trying to take a look at the cloak-and-dagger chief.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In one of the toughest jobs in one of the toughest towns, George Tenet flourishes.

GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: Let me say this. I'm the director of the central -- I am the director of central intelligence. The president of the United States sees me six days a week every day. I tell him what the American intelligence community believes.

TODD: Straight talk, tenacity and, observers say, extraordinary political skill and charm have made George Tenet a force in Washington, a big step for the son of Greek immigrants who ran a Greek restaurant in New York City, a George Town University grad whose wife wrote a home repair book for women.

In Washington, his tenure alone is a lesson in political savvy, nearly 6 1/2 years as director of central intelligence, under Democratic and Republican presidents, overcoming some resentment from inside the intelligence community.

WALTER PINCUS, "THE WASHINGTON POST": And it took time for him to be accepted, because, essentially, he had never worked for CIA. He was looked on as a Capitol Hill bureaucrat.

TODD: A reputation carved in the back halls and cloak rooms of the U.S. Senate, first as a legislative aide to Democratic senators, then as a top-level staffer on the Intelligence Committee.

He had learned the art of the political maneuver from the very best, and needed it from day one. July 11, 1997, George Tenet sworn in at a time of huge turmoil at Langley, when his predecessors had a hard time just getting an appointment with President Clinton. Tenet worked on Clinton, got better access and, by early 2001, was so highly regarded that a new Republican president went with the advice to keep this man in place. A bond was quickly forged.

PINCUS: It's almost an umbilical cord. And that's helped strengthen what the agency's done.

TODD: It's hard to envision a series of historical events that could have tested a relationship more. All through that lazy summer, Tenet warned that al Qaeda was planning a large-scale attack. He simply went to work after September 11, mobilizing CIA units in Afghanistan.

Much of the case for war in Iraq rested on his shoulders. Through all the doubts, recriminations on prewar intelligence, George Tenet still has a good working relationship with the president, even when others in power aren't exactly lining up behind him. SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R), KANSAS: I think there's been an overall global intelligence community failure in regards to the statements made in reference to the stockpiles.

TODD: Whenever, however George Tenet leaves, this may be judged a legacy of loyalty to country, president, family, school.

TENET: Let's beat Villanova tonight. God bless you.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: That report from CNN's Brian Todd in Washington.

"We always call it as we see it." That's how the CIA director, George Tenet, put it today, defending the agency's prewar intelligence on Iraq.

How do congressional insiders see it? Earlier, I spoke with Republican Saxby Chambliss of the Senate Intelligence Committee and Congresswoman Jane Harman. She's the ranking Democrat the House Intelligence Panel.

I began by asking her if she buys the CIA's chief statement that no one can intimidate his analysts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. JANE HARMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: Intimidation can mean many things. I doubt that anyone said, you will put this in your statement. But I think there were repeated calls for new information, better information, better analysis. And it was in the ether that there was a plan to go to war.

Also, what disturbs me, Wolf, is that I was down at the CIA fairly recently and met with those who drafted the national intelligence estimate, the big-deal piece of analysis in 2002, which said Iraq has chemical and biological weapons, Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear capability. And they said that they were writing that for the war fighters. And they were trying to predict with as much certainty as possible whether there be would chemical weapons as our soldiers came over the berm.

Well, the decision to go to war theoretically wasn't made at that point. That was a document recommended by Congress. So it raises questions, again, about what they really felt they had to achieve. I do want to say one more thing, though. I thought Tenet's speech was very good. He's a passionate man. The men and women in agency work extremely hard. And they try to get it right.

But what happened here, unfortunately, was that, over 12 or 14 years, mistakes were made. And we have to fix them.

BLITZER: Senator Chambliss, do you have confidence in George Tenet as director of the CIA? SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R), GEORGIA: I do, Wolf.

He's got a very, very difficult job. He's been operating with less than the full amount of resources that he needed. And he's told us that over the years. And while we've increased the budget of the CIA, he still has been short on resources. He's also been operating somewhat hamstrung by some regulations that were in place.

Both Intelligence Committees, the Senate and the House Intelligence Committees, have sought to remove those roadblocks that have been in his way. And it's just going to take time for him to rebuild the human asset side of the CIA and to get to a position to where we're doing a better job of getting information that we can more properly analyze.

BLITZER: A year ago today, Secretary of State Powell testified, spoke out before the United Nations Security Council, with George Tenet sitting right behind him. Among other things, Powell said this.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: There can be no doubt that Saddam Hussein has biological weapons and the capability to rapidly produce more, many more. And he has the ability to dispense these lethal poisons and diseases in ways that can cause massive death and destruction.

Second, as with biological weapons, Saddam Hussein has never accounted for vast amounts of chemical weaponry: 550 artillery shells with mustard, 30,000 empty munitions and enough precursors to increase his stockpile to as much as 500 tons of chemical agents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Jane Harman, they have found none of that in the almost year since the war.

HARMAN: That's true.

I'm sure Powell believed what he said. And he has said that he scrubbed the intelligence himself, went over it for four days, and only said those things which he believed were fully supported. No question that the intelligence analysis said, Iraq has chemical and biological weapons.

But one of the things you just played, Wolf, is very interesting. What he said was, there's been no proof that he has eliminated his chemical weapons. I think that that was the fundamental mistake we've made in our intelligence products about Iraq over 12 years, over three administrations. This didn't start in this administration. And that is the failure to prove something was destroyed was taken as proof it exists.

BLITZER: This seems to be an intelligence failure of historic magnitude.

CHAMBLISS: It's not only an intelligence failure on the part of the U.S. intel community. It's the worldwide intel community.

Just as Powell was sitting there making those statements, there were also Germans there. There were French there. There were Brits there. And every other country around the world was represented there. Those countries had intelligence operations ongoing in Iraq, just like America has had. They had the same information. They analyzed it the same way. They believed the same thing.

That's why Resolution 1441 came about.

BLITZER: But George Tenet, among other things, also acknowledged that some mistakes probably were made. Listen to this excerpt from what he said at Georgetown University earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TENET: I can tell you with certainly that the president of the United States gets his intelligence from one person and one community, me. And he has told me firmly and directly that he's wanted it straight, and he's wanted it honest, and he's never wanted the facts shaded. And that's what we do every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: There were other intelligence groups at the Pentagon that were established that apparently, many people have suggested, were coming up with different assessments, analytical reports than what the CIA was providing.

HARMAN: Yes, I think so.

I don't know that you can call them intelligence agencies. But it's absolutely clear -- the Pentagon has admitted it -- that it has a group of folks who were serving up what they called background for the policy apparatus at DOD. I believe that there were other intelligence channels. I doubt that those people briefed the president every day. I'm sure that George Tenet is accurate about that.

But I think that a lot of the things the vice president says, if they are based on intelligence, are not based on the intelligence products I've reviewed. So, presumably, they must come from somewhere else.

BLITZER: Are you confident that, at some point, they will find stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons in Iraq?

CHAMBLISS: I'm confident that, at some point in time, we're going to have substantiated evidence of the fact, at some point in time, he had them.

BLITZER: Well, we know he had them in the '80s.

(CROSSTALK) CHAMBLISS: The problem, Wolf, is, though, that, you know, a very small room can contain enough poison, whether it be mustard gas, sarin gas, V.X, or whatever, to destroy thousands and thousands of lives.

And whether we're ever going to find that or whether that has been destroyed, whether it ever existed, I think there are some questions about that right now that are going to have to be answered. But we're not through with the investigation, investigative part of actually looking for that stockpile.

BLITZER: You're shaking your head.

HARMAN: We're not, in my view, going to find anything substantial. We're certainly not going to find the smoking gun in the form of a mushroom cloud and other things that were predicted, nor are we going, ever, I think, to find that the categorical statements in the declassified portion of the national intelligence estimate, which said that Iraq has -- present tense -- chemical and biological weapons, Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear capability, those statements were false.

BLITZER: We only have a few seconds left.

Bottom line, though. Despite the failure, the intelligence failure, was the war justified?

HARMAN: Bottom line, the goals we sought to achieve were justified, that is, regime change, dismantling the WMD. Saddam was in violation of Resolution 1441.

But if our intelligence products and the statements of policy- makers had been clearer, more accurate, perhaps we would have had more time to let diplomacy work. War might have been inevitable. I don't regret my vote for that resolution, because this was a guy who was never going to come clean. But, nonetheless, we had time for more options to be tried.

CHAMBLISS: Iraq is a free country today because of the leadership of George Bush. We've seen other countries like Libya and Iran come forward with trying to reduce and totally eliminate weapons of mass destruction in their countries. So, absolutely, there's no question but what the reasons to go were the right reasons and the decision to go was the right reason.

BLITZER: Senator Chambliss, thanks very much for coming back. Glad to see that you're healthy, a little scare there, but good to have you back safe and sound.

CHAMBLISS: Thank you.

BLITZER: Appreciate it.

And Congresswoman Harman, always good to see you as well.

HARMAN: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: All clear, that's the word from investigators on Capitol Hill, but still no answers after the ricin scare. More on the mystery in a live report.

Stewart's side. After damaging testimony, Martha Stewart's defense team gets its chance at the star witness. We'll go live to the courthouse.

Plus this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, ENTERTAINER: I don't want to be involved in a stunt. That's not my style, you know. I don't have any reason to do this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: There's just no justifying it, so says Timberlake. Hear his side of the story on the infamous halftime flap.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: For the first time since it began holding terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, the Pentagon is now offering a detailed look inside the facility.

Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is standing by with details -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, indeed, a very unusual video look today at the conditions under which about 650 suspected Taliban and al Qaeda detainees are being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Let's take a look at some of these pictures. Now, it may come as a surprise that some of these detainees, as you see, get recreation facilities. They get to kick around a soccer ball, as well as get other recreational privileges. They get to worship in their own Islamic faith, although a cleric is no longer assigned to them.

And there is medical care, this very unusual picture of a female military medic bandaging someone who apparently has an injury, although there are continuing health concerns about their mental state. A picture of the kinds of food they are served, this being part of the high-security facility you see. That other one, the recreation facility, was the lower or medium-risk security facility at Guantanamo Bay.

All of this comes, Wolf, these pictures, as legal experts continue to debate the indefinite detention these people are facing at Guantanamo Bay. The Supreme Court, of course, scheduled to hear a case about the legality of the detention. And we've also learned the Pentagon now is about to issue new rules, giving some of the defense attorneys that will be appointed greater latitude in defending their clients if they go before a military tribunal -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Barbara Starr, fascinating pictures. We also heard the prayers going on there at the detention center.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

Let's move on to the ricin scare now on Capitol Hill here in Washington.

Our justice correspondent, Kelli Arena, is covering this story -- Kelly.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, investigators say, without a so-called smoking letter, the investigation is more difficult to pursue. But they aren't done sorting through mail. And one may yet turn up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA (voice-over): The Russell Senate Office Building is open for business. Officials say it's clear of any trace of the deadly poison ricin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open this piece of mail. And I'm very comfortable with it.

ARENA: The other two Senate buildings are expected to open within the next few days. While progress is being made on getting the Capitol back to business as usual, investigators have hit a wall in finding out how the ricin got on to Capitol grounds in the first place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have not found a hot letter at this point in time, that is, a letter that has contamination.

ARENA: Sources say all of the mail in and around Senator Bill Frist's office has tested negative for contamination. The ricin was originally found on a mailroom machine in the majority leader's office. Investigators say that ricin could have gotten there a number of ways.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Possibilities for the delivery mechanism, whether it's a person or a letter or a package is open. And we've got to work through that.

ARENA: Sources say the intern who found the ricin powder had left the mailroom for a while, came back, and then discovered the ricin, leaving open a window of opportunity. Investigators are also looking into the possibility that the ricin may have been there a while before being detected.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA: And, on another note, there is no evidence connecting this ricin to two letters signed "Fallen Angel" that were discovered back in the fall. Officials say they want to raise the profile of those letters, just in case anyone has any information to share about them.

BLITZER: Let's hope something does develop on that front.

Thanks very much, Kelli Arena.

Questions of character posed to the prosecution's star witness. A wrap of today's Martha Stewart trial. That's coming up next.

Plus, this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMBERLAKE: I mean, I was completely shocked and appalled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A frustrated Justin Timberlake on the rip seen around the world.

And lanterns for the lunar year, lighting the way to good luck in Taiwan. You'll be interested in this, I think.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: More gripping testimony today in the Martha Stewart trial.

CNN's Mary Snow is covering the case for us. She's joining us live -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, gone today were the fireworks we heard yesterday in court. Today were actually some moments that brought some chuckles.

The defense was trying to paint the picture that the government's star witness, Doug Faneuil, had an ax to grind with Martha Stewart. They produce an e-mail dated October 26, 2001 in which he wrote to a friend, "P.S., Martha yelled at me again today, but I snapped in her face and she actually backed down. Baby" -- referring to himself -- "put Ms. Martha in her place."

He was also asked object some conversations that he relayed to the government in his cooperation agreement, conversations that the defense says he didn't pass along to his then boss, Peter Bacanovic. In one conversation, Peter Bacanovic had put Martha Stewart on hold and ask Doug Faneuil to pick up the phone. Faneuil told the government that she started complaining about the hold music and said that she would leave her stockbroker and Merrill Lynch if they didn't do anything about the hold music.

That story actually brought a smile to the face of Peter Bacanovic, her co-defendant. And testimony continues on Monday, with Stewart's attorney doing the cross-examination -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Mary Snow in New York watching this for us -- thanks, Mary, very much.

And you can add Justin Timberlake to the list of people apologizing for the Super Bowl halftime show. CBS, MTV, the NFL and Janet Jackson also have expressed regrets over the conclusion of the show, which featured, of course, Timberlake ripping off part of Jackson's costume. Timberlake said he was surprised when the move exposed Jackson's breast and he understands why people were offended.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMBERLAKE: Honestly, I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated at the whole situation. I'm frustrated that my character is being questioned.

And the fact of the matter is, you know, I've had a good year, a really good year, especially with my music. And I mean, even me personally, I don't feel like I need publicity like this. And I wouldn't want to be involved with this stunt, especially with something of this magnitude. I was completely shocked and appalled.

All I could say was, oh, my God, oh, my God. You know, I immediately -- I looked at her. They brought a towel up onto the stage. I immediately covered her up. I mean, I was completely embarrassed and just walked off the stage as quick as I could.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Timberlake also says members of his own family were offended by the incident.

Lots of light and perhaps a little luck could come to those who stick around for our picture of the day.

And don't forget the results of our "Web Question of the Day" also coming up.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in our "Web Question of our day." Remember, when you see this, this is not a scientific poll.

We're getting this news into CNN right now from Democratic Party sources, Congressman Dick Gephardt, who dropped out of the presidential race, expected to endorse John Kerry tomorrow in Michigan, an important endorsement in this union state. We'll have much more coming up on this.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

END

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Silent Over Whereabouts Of Missing Girl; Fall-out Over Janet Jackson Exposure>