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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Bush Goes on 'Meet the Press'; Interview With Dan Bartlett

Aired February 09, 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, HOST: Happening now. The president's message to the people on Iraq.

And now on the economy. We're standing by this hour. We'll speak live with the White House communications director Dan Bartlett.

New information on the outcome of a potential matchup between President Bush and the Democratic front-runner John Kerry.

And this just in. A shift from Howard Dean. A surprising new promise on his presidential bid.

Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

Letter to bin Laden. Are al Qaeda allies asking for help in Iraq?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is clearly a plan on the part of outsiders to come in this country and spark civil war.

BLITZER: Democrats smell blood.

AL GORE, FMR. VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He betrayed this country. He played on our fears!

BLITZER: But President Bush battles back on another front.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe we need to make the tax cuts permanent.

BLITZER: Cockpit or pulpit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said, if you're a Christian raise your hand, if you're not you're crazy.

BLITZER: An airline pilot preaches to a captive audience.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Monday, February 9, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We begin with a letter intercepted on its way from foreign fighters in Iraq to top al Qaeda leaders. According to the United States military, the contents are blood curdling. We get the story from our Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): The message is stark and chilling. An appeal for help in starting civil war in Iraq. Military officials say it was written by suspected al Qaeda operative in Iraq Abu Musab Al Zarqawi to al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan. The message and its suspected courier were seized in a raid on a safe house in January.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: First of all, it is clearly a plan on the part of outsiders to come in this country and spark civil war. Create sectarian violence, try to expose fissures in the society.

ARRAF: Military officials say the 17-page document voices frustration. It's as the insurgency is having trouble recruiting Iraqis. It says the operation would have to be conducted before the June 30 target for the U.S. to hand power back to Iraq. It says the biggest threat to the plan is the buildup of new Iraqi security forces, and the resolve of U.S. troops. And it claims responsibility for 25 attacks in Iraq, including suicide bombs. The document calls for attacks to foster violence between Iraq's Sunni and Shi'a Muslims and Kurds. Civil war has been one of the great unrealized fears for this country.

ADNAN PACHACHI, IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL: I think they are afraid, because Iraq has never had communal strife between people of the various communities or sects.

ARRAF: Still, there is concern among coalition and Iraqi officials about the message.

DAN SENOH, COALITION SPOKESMAN: We are pursuing him, and we'll be, obviously, ranting up our own efforts to capture him for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is the plans he lays out in this document are of deep, deep concern us, to the coalition, and to the Iraqi people.

ARRAF: There is no hard evidence that the claims in this letter are true, or that the letter is authentic. But if true, it could be the first publicly known link between an operative in Iraq and al Qaeda. Jane Arraf, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Staying with the story, let's turn to our national correspondent Mike Boettcher. He's been tracking the activities of the man said to be behind this chilling letter. Mike, who exactly is Abu Musab Al Zarqawi?

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, he's a Jordanian-born terrorist closely allied to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda who actually runs two groups. One of them is Ansar Al-Islam which the U.S. military thinks may be responsible for two dozen attacks against the U.S. and others in Iraq. He's got a $5 million dollar reward on his head from the U.S. government and there are many in the intelligence community who believe he is the most dangerous terrorist adversary out there right now. He's also been linked to the terrorist attacks in Turkey, which is right next door to Iraq that took place late last year -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Mike. I also understand have you new information about another plot that involves Al Zarqawi, one involving possible chemical weapons?

BOETTCHER: Well, Wolf, in January U.S. forces found and confiscated a seven-pound brick of what they said was cyanide salt at a hideout known to be associated with Zarqawi who has a long history of training and experimenting with chemical weapons. At the same time, intelligence sources tell us of information that Zarqawi may have been planning to use some sort of poisons, possibly cyanide-based against coalition officials in Iraq and neighboring Arab countries. Wolf, it is worth remembering that a year ago, Zarqawi was linked to chemical weapons plots in Britain and France by European officials and he was singled out by Secretary of State Colin Powell before the invasion of Iraq as a link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Mike Boettcher reporting. Thank you very much.

A U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan has raised some eyebrows recently when he vowed that Osama bin Laden would be caught by the end of this year. "TIME" magazine reports some U.S. officials think the hunt may indeed be nearing an end. Tim Burger wrote the story for "TIME" magazine, he's joining us now live here in our Washington studios. Tim, thank you very much. Why are they getting apparently increasingly more confident that they're getting closer to Osama bin Laden?

TIMOTHY BURGER, "TIME" MAGAZINE: What my sources have told me is that in some quarters there is renewed optimism now more so than since bin Laden escaped our clutches in Tora Bora when we first invaded Afghanistan, because there's a little bit of a spike in the intelligence reporting about where they think he is.

BLITZER: What does that mean, a spike in intelligence reporting?

BURGER: Good question. It means that they're getting a larger volume of intelligence that they believe has some credibility to it. Obviously, if they knew exactly where he was, they would have him, although some conspiracy theorists wonder about that. They would have him and they wouldn't announce it if they had him.

BLITZER: Did they assume he is somewhere along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and they're narrowing the area? Is that right?

BURGER: Exactly. There are 200 or 300 square miles they may think he may be in. Some of the troops who are going over in rotation to join that hunt over there are going with a special optimism, and of course, it could end up being another false hope, but obviously, there's going to be an intense hunt. BLITZER: Now we've reported on this program here on CNN, that there's going to be a spring offensive when the weather presumably gets better, they then can go in a more robust manner, is that what you're hearing as well?

BURGER: Sure, they're going to do an offensive as soon as they feel they've got the territory down and know where they should be going. In addition to bin Laden you have the Taliban trying to regroup, you've got certain al Qaeda elements. So there's a lot of reasons in addition to bin Laden to take certain grounds and it's also going to require a lot of cooperation from Pakistan, because this is right along the Afghani/Pakistan border and President Musharraf's cooperation there is going to be crucial.

BLITZER: Are they getting the cooperation? I know that President Musharraf said he wants to cooperate, but in Iraq and the actual Pakistani troops who are there, are they supporting this U.S. effort?

BURGER: It's a little difficult to say what specifically happening on the ground. In general, as you say, Musharraf says he wants to cooperate, sometimes he has to say other things domestically for his own political position and not look like he's the lapdog of George Bush. But, in fact, behind the scenes I think there's been a lot of happiness with how he's been helping and that's one reason you didn't see the United States get even more angry than it did about the A.Q. Khan nuclear proliferation issues that broke wide open last week.

BLITZER: Because they need President Musharraf's help in finding Osama bin Laden. Now whatever Khan did in terms of providing nuclear technology to Libya, Iran, and North Korea. That's already done.

BURGER: Exactly.

BLITZER: What about Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban leader. He's still on the loose as well. Are you hearing anything about his whereabouts?

BURGER: Well, Colonel Hilferty, whose comments in Afghanistan you were just referencing when he said a week or so ago that they were sure they were going catch bin Laden, he also mentioned Omar, so at least according to Colonel Hilferty there's a great deal of optimism there. But of course, the big target is really bin Laden, symbolically, and I think everyone would like to see him captured.

BLITZER: All right, Tim Burger from our sister publication "TIME" magazine. Thank you very much.

BURGER: Thanks for having me.

BLITZER: President Bush on message and on the offensive...

BUSH: This economy is getting better. We're showing good growth, good strong growth.

BLITZER: The controversy over the war in Iraq continues. We'll talk about that and more with the White House communications director, Dan Bartlett. He's standing by live.

Will this be the president's opponent come November? We're on the trail with the Democratic contenders.

And a pilot's startling remarks. What he said that left some passengers shocked and frightened.

First, though, today's news quiz. "Which airline holds the record for the shortest flight? Delta, Singapore, British Airways, AirTran." The answer coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: How is President Bush handling his job? We asked more than 1,000 Americans as part of our latest CNN-"USA Today" Gallup poll. Look at this, 52 percent said they approved of the president's job performance; 44 percent disapproved. But the numbers are much tighter in a hypothetical match between the president and the current Democratic front-runner. Look at this, 49 percent of likely voters chose Mr. Bush, 48 percent chose Senator John Kerry. That's a statistical tie.

With the election less than nine months away, the White House is working very hard to try to improve all of those numbers for the president. Our senior White House correspondent John King is joining us now live with more on that -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And Wolf, more evidence today that the campaign is getting a bit more aggressive from the president's perspective. He has been relatively idle, just raising money during all of these Democratic attacks, but the tone changed today. You see the president here arriving back at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington. He will be back here at the White House just momentarily, but earlier today he was out in Missouri, touring a factory out there. Missouri, of course, is a key bellwether in presidential politics. It was the president's 15th trip to that key Midwestern state since taking office three years ago.

And the president carried Missouri, but just barely, back in the 2000 campaign. President Bush getting 50 percent; Al Gore getting 47 percent back in the campaign in 2000. The president, of course, very much wants to carry Missouri again.

One of the key issues in the campaign right now is the economy. 2.2 million jobs lost in this country during the Bush presidency. More than 73,000 of those in the state of Missouri. But the president making the case today in his most aggressive assault, if you will, or at least contrast to the Democrats so far. John Kerry, the Democratic front-runner, is among the Democrats who would repeal some of the big Bush tax cuts. The Democrats say that money should go to health care spending, perhaps to trim the federal budget deficit. The president said today, don't believe it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some in Washington want to raise your taxes. Make no mistake about it, let me tell you what's going to happen when they raise it. They're going to say, well, we've got to raise it so we can pay down the deficit. They're going to raise the taxes and increase the size of the federal government, which would be bad for the United States economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: No surprise why the president is focusing on the economy. Just look at the polls, is the president doing a good job, we asked in the CNN-"Time" poll; 43 percent say he's doing a good job on the economy now; 52 percent saying he's doing a poor job on the economy. The president slipping from just a month ago when 49 percent said he was doing a good job. So the economy, Wolf, one of the president's key focus -- again, we are seeing this week, the president getting more direct in contrasting himself with the Democrats, including the Democratic front-runner John Kerry, and if you talk to sources in the Bush campaign, they say they want to wait another week or two to see if Senator Kerry stumbles. If he does not, and it is clear he will be the Democratic nominee, look for two weeks maybe three weeks from now the president to tap into that more than $100 million in his campaign war chest and air his first TV commercials of this campaign -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, CNN's John King, at the White House. Thanks, John, very much. This note, I'll speak live with the White House communications director, Dan Bartlett, that's coming up later this hour.

The front-runner among the Democratic presidential contenders, Senator Kerry, of course, has added more delegates to his campaign war chest. Kerry swept contests in Washington state, Michigan and Maine over the weekend. He now has a total of 426 delegates. Two thousand, one hundred sixty are what needed to win the nomination. In second place, at least as of now, Howard Dean, followed by Senator John Edwards, Wesley Clark, the Reverend Al Sharpton and Congressman Dennis Kucinich.

On the campaign trail today, Howard Dean reversed himself, suggesting he will not drop out of the race if he loses the Wisconsin primary a week from tomorrow, February 17. On the stump in Wisconsin, Dean said he changed his position from what he had said last week because his supporters had convinced him his message is too important to the Democratic Party. For their part, Dean's rivals are fighting for delegates in Virginia and Tennessee, two states that hold primaries tomorrow.

Our national correspondent Bob Franken is in Arlington, Virginia. He's joining us now live with more -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They may have a new state song here, Wolf, it is Kerry is back in old Virginia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): Now John Kerry gets to try his Southern strategy, which is really quite simple, win in the South.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Stand up and fight with me.

FRANKEN: The polls show that Kerry can expect to be victorious here in Virginia and Tennessee, which would be his first wins in Dixie. In fact, he's become such a favorite that native sons John Edwards and Wesley Clark have jettisoned their Southern victory hopes and are now battling for Southern runner-up.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What I want to do is finish in the top two here in Virginia, top two in Tennessee. Then we go on to Wisconsin. As I said earlier, I think this thing is very quickly narrowing to a two-person race.

WESLEY CLARK (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You've got two choices in this race. You've got a great lawyer, he's a wonderful man, he's a great lawyer. You got a man who spent his life in the Senate. He's a wonderful legislator. Or you got somebody like me.

FRANKEN: Of course there's somebody like Howard Dean, way up north in Wisconsin, where he is trying not to make his last stand.

HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The media claims that this contest is already over. They say that Wisconsin's voice doesn't count, that your vote doesn't count. They expect you to rubber-stamp everybody's choice. You don't have to listen to them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: Of course, Howard Dean is now doing his version of the Wisconsin spin, changing from this is his last stand to, no, it's not his last stand. But Wisconsin is so next week. This week we've got Virginia and Tennessee, and John Kerry trying to prove that he's a Southerner when it comes to Democratic vote-getting as well as a Northerner -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Bob Franken in Virginia, thanks, Bob, very much. CNN, of course, will have extensive live coverage of the Virginia and Tennessee primaries throughout the day tomorrow, and the results coming in tomorrow night.

To our viewers, here's your chance to weigh in on this important story. Our Web question of the day is this -- is the economy the most important issue for you in this presidential election? You can vote right now, go to cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results later in this broadcast.

Possible suspect spotted -- now with a description and a possible sighting, are investigators any closer to finding the Ohio highway shooter? We'll go there live.

Flashback for Faneuil, how good is the memory of the government's star witness in the Martha Stewart trial? That's what attorneys are trying to uncover today. We'll go live to the courthouse.

And high-speed splash. This time it's the ambulance that needs the rescue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Investigators say they've linked two highway attacks in Ohio yesterday to 21 earlier attacks and they've got a new description of a possible shooter. CNN's Jeff Flock is joining us now live from Columbus -- Jeff.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Wolf, it was as we suspected. The shootings yesterday certainly had the same M.O. And the sheriff's department here in Franklin county, Ohio, just a short time ago, made it official.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE MARTIN, FRANKLIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Today the task force based on evidence recovered at the scene has linked two incidents in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) county yesterday to the 21 other cases under investigation. This brings to 23 the total number of linked cases.

FLOCK: And then there were 23. But the big headline here as you report, Wolf, it is a description. Some of the people in the cars, and there were two hit by gunfire yesterday, no one hurt, some of the people identified a man that they saw on a freeway overpass, identified as a white male between the ages of 30 and 40, medium build, and a dark colored sports car or small car. Officials said today that since that information became public yesterday, there have been 100+ tips that have come into the tipline and officials are now working them now. So perhaps authorities here are on the right road. That's the latest from Columbus. Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: Let's hope they find this guy soon, Jeff Flock, thank you very much.

Investigators are also taking a look at other issues today. Defense lawyers, for their part, grilled the prosecution's star witness at the Martha Stewart trial today. Allan Chernoff of CNN financial news is standing by with details on that front -- Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Robert Morvillo, Martha Stewart's lead attorney took a key approach to questioning the government's star witness, Douglas Faneuil, raised questions about his memory. First Morvillo raised questions about what exactly Faneuil, Douglas Faneuil, the star witness, could remember, back on December 27, 2001.

He could not recall details of conversations with clients other than Martha Stewart. But he was able to recall virtually verbatim his conversation with Martha Stewart on that day when he told her that the Waksals were trying to dump their Imclone stock. Remember Sam Waksal, Martha Stewart's friend, also at the time the head of Imclone. In addition, Douglas Faneuil was unable to remember, accurately recall other conversations he had with Martha Stewart and he was unable to give specific examples when he said that he was surprised by some of the questions that prosecutors had raised with him on direct examination. So overall, Robert Morvillo was able to score some jabs, denting his credibility, the credibility of Douglas Faneuil but there was no knockout punch to basically crush Faneuil's key story that Martha Stewart and the stockbroker lied -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Allan Chernoff, we'll be continuing to cover this trial, thank you very much for that.

Facing his foes. President Bush sits down with Tim Russert on Sunday. Did he fool the critics or just arm his adversaries? I'll speak live with the White House communications director Dan Bartlett.

Bird ban. The flu virus hits the United States, and that has a panicking poultry industry looking for answers. What exactly is bird flu? Information all of us need to know.

Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said he recently been on a mission trip and he'd like all the Christians on board to please raise their hands.

We weren't sure, I mean, just given the history of what's happened on planes in this country, anything could happen at this point so we weren't sure if something was going to happen at takeoff or he was going to wait until JFK to do something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Christian commandment. An American Airlines pilot wishes for worship. Don't fly with jittery passengers. We'll have the fallout from his religious requests coming up later this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN.

Coming up: chilling message, documents plotting civil war seized at a safe house in Iraq, how al Qaeda might be involved. We'll get to that.

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

Catholic Bishop Thomas O'Brien is speaking publicly for the first time about his hit-and-run case. O'Brien took the witness stand in his trial in Phoenix, Arizona. He testified that he heard a loud crash on one side of his car the night he's accused of hitting and killing a pedestrian, but he said he never saw anyone in the road. If convicted, O'Brien could get almost four years in prison.

In California, jury selection in the Scott Peterson double murder trial is about two weeks away, that word today from the judge. Jury selection is expected to take a month, with testimony expected to begin about six weeks from now. Peterson is accused of killing his wife, Laci, and their unborn son. The New Jersey postal facility shut down by the anthrax scare two years ago has been cleared of all traces of the deadly bacteria and it's expected to reopen by the end of the year. Several anthrax- tainted letters passed through the mail-distribution complex. It's been closed since December 2001.

In Miami, a frightening ride for two ambulance workers. The vehicle veered out of control as it arrived at a hospital and ended in the water of Biscayne Bay. There was no patient in the vehicle at the time, and no injuries were reported.

Back now to our top story, a chilling letter to al Qaeda from an ally asking for help in Iraq.

Let's go live to our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr -- Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, indeed, today, in Iraq, new concerns about the al Qaeda.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): It was a raid like this one Monday in Baquba that led to the discovery a computer disc containing the 17-page document written by a Jordanian terrorist with ties to al Qaeda, calling for a civil war in Iraq.

Military officials say the document discovered last month was written by this man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, believed to be hiding in Iraq, Iran or Syria. Officials say the letter was on its way to Afghanistan by courier, possibly to be delivered to Osama bin Laden.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. DEPUTY CHIEF OF OPERATIONS: It is clearly a plan on the part of outsiders to come in this country and spark civil war, create sectarian violence, try to expose fissures in the society. about

STARR: The Zarqawi letter an extraordinary look at al Qaeda's interests in Iraq.

He calls for attacks on the majority Shiite population, with the hope, that will spark counterattacks against the once powerful Sunni minorities. He says it must be done before the June 30 date for handing power back to the Iraqis. He complains that the insurgency is not scaring off U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces are growing in numbers.

And, finally, he claims responsibility for 25 attacks inside Iraq. Zarqawi is suspected of involvement in the attack on Italian troops in Nasiriyah in November and the bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad in August.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: With respect to the letter itself, it's very revealing. They describe the weaknesses that they have in their efforts to undercut the coalition's efforts. But, at the same time, it shows they haven't given up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: So, the al Qaeda, Wolf, perhaps frustrated that it hasn't had more success inside Iraq, but the coalition saying it is going to step up efforts to find Zarqawi and make sure he does not succeed -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- thanks, Barbara.

Iraq, of course, was a major topic of discussion when the president made a rare appearance on a Sunday talk show. The White House communications director, Dan Bartlett, is joining us now live from the North Lawn of the White House lawn.

Dan, thanks very much for joining us.

Let's get first to this letter from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. How hard is the information? How strong is the intelligence the president is getting on this alleged effort to get al Qaeda more involved now in Iraq?

DAN BARTLETT, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, Wolf, you know that this has been a concern of ours for some time, that foreign terrorists, particularly al Qaeda, was trying to infiltrate Iraq, had infiltrated Iraq, and was doing everything they can to disrupt the peaceful transition to a democracy in Iraq.

And what this information provides us is clear evidence that al Qaeda is operating in Iraq, that they're trying to incite violence and disrupt the very progress we're making. I think it's striking -- and when you read the letter and read the information where it says that al Qaeda recognizes that the Iraqi security forces, numbering now about 150,000, are making great progress in stamping out the violence and in bringing order to the street.

They also recognize that the date of sovereignty for Iraq was important and that it was important that they try to disrupt that, because they know, once sovereignty is handed to the Iraqi people, freedom and liberty and success in Iraq are in the hands of the Iraqi people. And they know that the power of that freedom will stand as a beacon for the rest of the Middle East. It's an important development.

BLITZER: As you know, Dan, your critics, administration critics, insist, there really was no significant al Qaeda presence in Iraq under Saddam Hussein before the war. It's only developed in the aftermath of war, and, as a result, the U.S. is in part responsible for that. What do you say to that kind of criticism?

BARTLETT: Well, Wolf, that would ignore the evidence of al- Zarqawi, who is Jordanian, but has found refuge in Baghdad.

He's a person who killed a U.S. diplomat in Jordan. There is information showing that he had operated and had affiliations in Iraq. He had fought in Afghanistan, apparently, and then got refuge in Baghdad. So, the ties to terrorist organizations, including Iraq, were well known in the region and the world with Saddam Hussein. And so that doesn't hold true.

What is true is that the foreign terrorists, including al Qaeda, understand that the stakes are high in Iraq, that, if we get it right in Iraq, if we're able to have a peaceful transition to the Iraqi people, that's going to stand as a beacon of success for all of the Middle East. And that's why they're fighting so desperately to stop it.

BLITZER: Dan, as you know, the president has named a commission to go ahead investigate prewar intelligence on Iraq. A lot of your critics are saying you don't need a year to do this and to kick it beyond November.

BARTLETT: Right.

BLITZER: Listen, for example, to what the presidential Democratic front-runner, John Kerry, said. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There aren't that many people to talk to. There's not that long a trail to trace. And it ought to be able to be done in a matter of months and it needs to be done in order to provide America with a clearer understanding of what our intelligence status is and of how we went to war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The criticism, if Tony Blair can do this in a few months, why did the president need a year to do this investigation?

BARTLETT: Well, Wolf, I think the fact that John Kerry, the leading candidate in the Democrat primary, is taking to the campaign trail to talk about this issue tells that they're trying to use this as politics.

What the president said in his interview is that we ought to give this independent group the time and attention and resources to do this right. The question of intelligence is critically important to the fight and the war on terror. Just like the very same people who are calling for a very lengthy 9/11 Commission to make sure they had all the time and resources necessary to do their investigation, we ought to treat this investigation with that similar type of attention.

So, those who try to use this for political purposes, we think would be irresponsible. The president said clearly over the weekend that those who want to question his judgment on the decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power, bring those questions to him, because he's very glad and looking forward to the opportunity to talk about his decision about how the world now is safer without Saddam Hussein in power and the fact, if critics got their way here in Washington, D.C., Saddam Hussein would still be in power today.

BLITZER: One final question before I let you go, Dan. The former Vice President Al Gore, he was really angry in a speech in Tennessee yesterday, going after the president.

Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The reason I'm recalling those feelings now is because those are the feelings that were betrayed by this president!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

GORE: He betrayed the country! He played on our fears!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I want to give you a chance -- you're smiling. You're laughing. Why are you laughing? He's making a very serious allegation against the president.

BARTLETT: Well, I'm trying to readjust my ear set, because he was screaming so loud.

But, look, he's been angry the last 3 1/2 years. That's understandable. He lost the election. And I can see why he's probably a little upset. And his most recent act, where he endorsed Howard Dean, who is no longer nowhere near the front, I'm sure he has a lot to be upset about.

But that type of bitterness and anger is simply not going to forward this debate at all. It's the type of reasons why the president had a thoughtful interview, like he did yesterday here in Washington, where we talked through in a very serious manner the issues before the country.

But the type of screaming and yelling and the type of rhetoric that you just saw displayed by the former vice president, I don't think is responsible in the sense of the type of debate that the country deserves.

BLITZER: Dan Bartlett, joining us from the White House, Dan, thanks very much.

BARTLETT: You're welcome.

BLITZER: Flu fears. A documented case of the flu, the avian flu, in Delaware prompting a ban on U.S. birds, as a desperate attempt to stop the strain ensues.

Also ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARLA AUSTIN, FLIGHT 34 PASSENGER: ... Christian, raise your hand. If you're not, you're crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: Preaching on a plane. A prayerful pilot makes some passengers nervous at the start of a very long flight, and the airline attempting an explanation right now.

Behind bars. Former Congressman Bill Janklow checks into jail. How long will he sit in a cell?

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: There's no sign so far that the so-called bird flu has spread beyond one Delaware farm. Unlike the outbreak in Asia, the virus in this case doesn't affect humans, but officials are still very, very concerned.

CNN's Jennifer Coggiola is here with more on the story -- Jennifer.

JENNIFER COGGIOLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, this flu has so far killed 18 people in Southeast Asia. But for Americans, who eat an average of 80 pounds of chicken a year, it's brought some new, unjustified fears to the kitchen table.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COGGIOLA (voice-over): It's been a common sight and a necessary precaution overseas, but this weekend, the killing was in Delaware, 12,000 farm chickens destroyed after two birds tested positive with the bird flu last week. It's the latest scare for meat-eating Americans.

But the Delaware chicken strain of the bird virus, called H-7, carries no known risk to humans, according to health officials. It's a different strain that is wreaking havoc on farms across Southeast Asia, where more than 50 million birds have been slaughtered. The H-5 virus is an infectious disease with a nearly 100 percent mortality rate among the most vulnerable birds, chickens and turkeys.

DR. DANIEL PEREZ, VETERINARIAN: In chickens, the virus causes a systemic infection. So, every single organ in the chicken is compromised.

COGGIOLA: Because it mutates so quickly and easily and spreads from animal to animal, it's especially dangerous in countries like China, where less modern facilities require more contact between animals and humans, contact that health officials believe could have caused the first human outbreak six years ago in Hong Kong that killed six people and prompted the slaughter of Hong Kong's entire poultry population, nearly 1.5 million birds in three days.

At this point, all human fatalities from H-5 are the results of human contact with infected birds. And there is no evidence of person-to-person transmission. But that could change, according to University of Maryland researcher Daniel Perez, who's currently working on a human vaccine. He says it's only a matter of time before the virus mutates and the impact could be devastating, perhaps creating a worldwide pandemic.

PEREZ: If we don't act now, maybe when the virus actually can transmit from human to human, it will be too late.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COGGIOLA: Now, health officials today tell me that they have tested birds in a three-mile radius from the infected farms in Delaware and all came back negative. So they are optimistic that this news could ease any restrictions and the current ban of U.S. poultry exports in Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong will soon be lifted -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jennifer Coggiola, thanks very much, useful information for all of us.

Pilot preaching, an airline pilot's bizarre -- very bizarre -- request creating a stir among passengers on a flight. How would you have reacted to his words at the start of a flight?

And this, big winners, the contagious sounds of OutKast, why this rap group is receiving lots of positive attention. We'll get to all of that.

First, though, a quick look at some news making headlines around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Day of mourning. Moscow is remembering 39 people killed when a bomb exploded in a subway car Friday. Flags with black ribbons flew at half-staff over government buildings. And TV stations canceled entertainment programs. Officials say the blast was probably triggered by a suicide bomber.

Taiwan custody battle. Police dragged a kicking and crying 8- year-old orphan from his relatives' home to enforce a court order to return him to his grandmother in Brazil. In 2001, his Taiwanese father died just days after bringing the boy to Taiwan. The grandmother cared for him for three years after his Brazilian mother died when he was 3.

Royal visit. Britain's Prince Charles is in Iran, the first visit by a member of the royal family there in 33 years. He held talks with President Mohammad Khatami and later met with survivors of the earthquake that killed 40,000 people in Bam in December.

Beating the odds. A 24-year-old woman was pulled from the rubble of an apartment building in Turkey one week after it collapsed, killing at least 85 people. Her condition was said to be serious. The woman's rescue came one day after a 16-year-old boy was dug out of the rubble. Doctors said that what helped both survive for so long without food and water was that they slept most of the time.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Earlier, we asked: Which airline holds the record for the shortest flight? The answer, British Airways. According to the official airline guide, with a flight time of two minutes, a British Airways hop between the Scottish islands of Westray and Papa Westray is the shortest. The flight was once flown in just 58 seconds.

In marked contrast, passengers on an American Airlines flight say they were startled and frightened by a pilot's announcement suggesting they should start discussing their religious faith. The pilot reportedly told non-Christian passengers they were crazy.

CNN's Brian Todd has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Settling in on American Airlines Flight 34, L.A. to New York, Friday morning, passengers expecting maybe a weather update or news about delays, but not this.

JEN DORSEY, FLIGHT 34 PASSENGER: The pilot came onto greet everyone, give his comments for the morning. And he said he'd recently been on a mission trip. And he would like all the Christians on board to please raise their hand and then invited us to all look around a little bit at one another. He said that our flight time was 4 1/2 hours today, and you can either use your time wisely on the flight or you can sit back and watch the movie.

The pilot later tells his bosses, this is an invitation to discuss the issue of faith, but he isn't finished.

AUSTIN: He said, if you're Christian, raise your hand. If you're not, you're crazy.

TODD: An American Airlines spokesman says the pilot denies using the word crazy. Still, passengers, concerned about safety, try to make phone calls from their seats.

AUSTIN: There was definitely an implication there that we felt something was going to happen.

TODD: News of discomfort in the cabin gets back to the pilot.

DORSEY: He came on and said: I want to apologize for my comments earlier. I think I really threw the flight crew off a little bit and they're getting a lot of flak for the things I said. So I want to apologize to the flight crew.

TODD: No direct apologizes to passengers. But a spokesman tells CNN today, "American Airlines apologizes if anyone was made to feel uncomfortable by the comment this was pilot.

(on camera): American would not release the name of the pilot and would not say if he's being grounded during its internal investigation. We asked the head of a passenger advocate group what realistically could happen with the pilot.

DAVID STEMPLER, AIR TRAVELERS ASSOCIATION: Most likely, he'll go in for retraining. Many of the full-service carriers are having a tough time with relationships with their pilots. They've been seeking extra concessions. And it's one of the big problems they've had. So, I don't think they want to incur the ire of their pilot community, if it's not necessary.

TODD: One passenger tells CNN, as she left the plane, she told the pilot he ought to be ashamed of himself. She says the pilot just nodded and looked to the ground.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Jump and freeze. The name says it all, competitors taking the ultimate frosty plunge.

And the result of our "Web Question of the Day." We'll get to that.

First, though, a quick look at some stories you may have missed this past weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Janklow to jail. Former Congressman Bill Janklow has started his 100-day sentence for his manslaughter conviction. The South Dakota Republican checked into jail Saturday in Sioux Falls. But after 30 days, he can leave the jail during the day to do community service. Janklow was found guilty in December of second-degree manslaughter in a collision that killed a motorcyclist.

New trade ties. The United States has gone down under for a new trade pact, signing a free trade agreement with Australia yesterday. While supporters say the deal will promote economic growth and prosperity, some opponents in Australia, including farmers, call it a sellout that ignores their country's interests.

All-star ending. The National Football League season drew to a close yesterday, with the NFC holding on for a 55-52 win over the AFC in the Pro Bowl. As time expired, the AFC missed a field goal which would have sent the game into overtime. It was the highest scoring Pro Bowl ever.

Playing it straight. After the uproar over the halftime shows at the Super Bowl, no private body parts were exposed during last night's Grammy Awards. CBS had a delay in place to keep any shocking audio or video from making it to air. The belle of the ball, Beyonce, who racked up five Grammys.

And that's our weekend snapshot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of the Day." As always, we remind you, this is not a scientific poll.

Our picture of the day takes us to Austria and a bizarre cross between skiing and swimming. Dozens of competitors and thousands of spectators turned out at a ski resort for its annual jump-and-freeze competition. In one event, contestants plunged down a ski slope into a frigid pool. Oh.

Now a thought about changing times at the Grammys last night. OutKast became the first hip-hop group to win album of the of the year. It was a milestone passed almost 40 years ago to the day after the Beatles debuted on American TV, signaling the ascendancy of a new style of music as exciting to audiences of that era as hip-hop is to audiences of today.

So have times really changed or do they just repeat themselves with new variations. You be the judge. Take a look at OutKast performing its hit song, "Hey Ya."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OUTKAST PERFORMS "HEY YA"

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I love that song.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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





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Aired February 9, 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, HOST: Happening now. The president's message to the people on Iraq.

And now on the economy. We're standing by this hour. We'll speak live with the White House communications director Dan Bartlett.

New information on the outcome of a potential matchup between President Bush and the Democratic front-runner John Kerry.

And this just in. A shift from Howard Dean. A surprising new promise on his presidential bid.

Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

Letter to bin Laden. Are al Qaeda allies asking for help in Iraq?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is clearly a plan on the part of outsiders to come in this country and spark civil war.

BLITZER: Democrats smell blood.

AL GORE, FMR. VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He betrayed this country. He played on our fears!

BLITZER: But President Bush battles back on another front.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe we need to make the tax cuts permanent.

BLITZER: Cockpit or pulpit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said, if you're a Christian raise your hand, if you're not you're crazy.

BLITZER: An airline pilot preaches to a captive audience.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Monday, February 9, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We begin with a letter intercepted on its way from foreign fighters in Iraq to top al Qaeda leaders. According to the United States military, the contents are blood curdling. We get the story from our Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): The message is stark and chilling. An appeal for help in starting civil war in Iraq. Military officials say it was written by suspected al Qaeda operative in Iraq Abu Musab Al Zarqawi to al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan. The message and its suspected courier were seized in a raid on a safe house in January.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: First of all, it is clearly a plan on the part of outsiders to come in this country and spark civil war. Create sectarian violence, try to expose fissures in the society.

ARRAF: Military officials say the 17-page document voices frustration. It's as the insurgency is having trouble recruiting Iraqis. It says the operation would have to be conducted before the June 30 target for the U.S. to hand power back to Iraq. It says the biggest threat to the plan is the buildup of new Iraqi security forces, and the resolve of U.S. troops. And it claims responsibility for 25 attacks in Iraq, including suicide bombs. The document calls for attacks to foster violence between Iraq's Sunni and Shi'a Muslims and Kurds. Civil war has been one of the great unrealized fears for this country.

ADNAN PACHACHI, IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL: I think they are afraid, because Iraq has never had communal strife between people of the various communities or sects.

ARRAF: Still, there is concern among coalition and Iraqi officials about the message.

DAN SENOH, COALITION SPOKESMAN: We are pursuing him, and we'll be, obviously, ranting up our own efforts to capture him for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is the plans he lays out in this document are of deep, deep concern us, to the coalition, and to the Iraqi people.

ARRAF: There is no hard evidence that the claims in this letter are true, or that the letter is authentic. But if true, it could be the first publicly known link between an operative in Iraq and al Qaeda. Jane Arraf, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Staying with the story, let's turn to our national correspondent Mike Boettcher. He's been tracking the activities of the man said to be behind this chilling letter. Mike, who exactly is Abu Musab Al Zarqawi?

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, he's a Jordanian-born terrorist closely allied to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda who actually runs two groups. One of them is Ansar Al-Islam which the U.S. military thinks may be responsible for two dozen attacks against the U.S. and others in Iraq. He's got a $5 million dollar reward on his head from the U.S. government and there are many in the intelligence community who believe he is the most dangerous terrorist adversary out there right now. He's also been linked to the terrorist attacks in Turkey, which is right next door to Iraq that took place late last year -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Mike. I also understand have you new information about another plot that involves Al Zarqawi, one involving possible chemical weapons?

BOETTCHER: Well, Wolf, in January U.S. forces found and confiscated a seven-pound brick of what they said was cyanide salt at a hideout known to be associated with Zarqawi who has a long history of training and experimenting with chemical weapons. At the same time, intelligence sources tell us of information that Zarqawi may have been planning to use some sort of poisons, possibly cyanide-based against coalition officials in Iraq and neighboring Arab countries. Wolf, it is worth remembering that a year ago, Zarqawi was linked to chemical weapons plots in Britain and France by European officials and he was singled out by Secretary of State Colin Powell before the invasion of Iraq as a link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Mike Boettcher reporting. Thank you very much.

A U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan has raised some eyebrows recently when he vowed that Osama bin Laden would be caught by the end of this year. "TIME" magazine reports some U.S. officials think the hunt may indeed be nearing an end. Tim Burger wrote the story for "TIME" magazine, he's joining us now live here in our Washington studios. Tim, thank you very much. Why are they getting apparently increasingly more confident that they're getting closer to Osama bin Laden?

TIMOTHY BURGER, "TIME" MAGAZINE: What my sources have told me is that in some quarters there is renewed optimism now more so than since bin Laden escaped our clutches in Tora Bora when we first invaded Afghanistan, because there's a little bit of a spike in the intelligence reporting about where they think he is.

BLITZER: What does that mean, a spike in intelligence reporting?

BURGER: Good question. It means that they're getting a larger volume of intelligence that they believe has some credibility to it. Obviously, if they knew exactly where he was, they would have him, although some conspiracy theorists wonder about that. They would have him and they wouldn't announce it if they had him.

BLITZER: Did they assume he is somewhere along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and they're narrowing the area? Is that right?

BURGER: Exactly. There are 200 or 300 square miles they may think he may be in. Some of the troops who are going over in rotation to join that hunt over there are going with a special optimism, and of course, it could end up being another false hope, but obviously, there's going to be an intense hunt. BLITZER: Now we've reported on this program here on CNN, that there's going to be a spring offensive when the weather presumably gets better, they then can go in a more robust manner, is that what you're hearing as well?

BURGER: Sure, they're going to do an offensive as soon as they feel they've got the territory down and know where they should be going. In addition to bin Laden you have the Taliban trying to regroup, you've got certain al Qaeda elements. So there's a lot of reasons in addition to bin Laden to take certain grounds and it's also going to require a lot of cooperation from Pakistan, because this is right along the Afghani/Pakistan border and President Musharraf's cooperation there is going to be crucial.

BLITZER: Are they getting the cooperation? I know that President Musharraf said he wants to cooperate, but in Iraq and the actual Pakistani troops who are there, are they supporting this U.S. effort?

BURGER: It's a little difficult to say what specifically happening on the ground. In general, as you say, Musharraf says he wants to cooperate, sometimes he has to say other things domestically for his own political position and not look like he's the lapdog of George Bush. But, in fact, behind the scenes I think there's been a lot of happiness with how he's been helping and that's one reason you didn't see the United States get even more angry than it did about the A.Q. Khan nuclear proliferation issues that broke wide open last week.

BLITZER: Because they need President Musharraf's help in finding Osama bin Laden. Now whatever Khan did in terms of providing nuclear technology to Libya, Iran, and North Korea. That's already done.

BURGER: Exactly.

BLITZER: What about Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban leader. He's still on the loose as well. Are you hearing anything about his whereabouts?

BURGER: Well, Colonel Hilferty, whose comments in Afghanistan you were just referencing when he said a week or so ago that they were sure they were going catch bin Laden, he also mentioned Omar, so at least according to Colonel Hilferty there's a great deal of optimism there. But of course, the big target is really bin Laden, symbolically, and I think everyone would like to see him captured.

BLITZER: All right, Tim Burger from our sister publication "TIME" magazine. Thank you very much.

BURGER: Thanks for having me.

BLITZER: President Bush on message and on the offensive...

BUSH: This economy is getting better. We're showing good growth, good strong growth.

BLITZER: The controversy over the war in Iraq continues. We'll talk about that and more with the White House communications director, Dan Bartlett. He's standing by live.

Will this be the president's opponent come November? We're on the trail with the Democratic contenders.

And a pilot's startling remarks. What he said that left some passengers shocked and frightened.

First, though, today's news quiz. "Which airline holds the record for the shortest flight? Delta, Singapore, British Airways, AirTran." The answer coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: How is President Bush handling his job? We asked more than 1,000 Americans as part of our latest CNN-"USA Today" Gallup poll. Look at this, 52 percent said they approved of the president's job performance; 44 percent disapproved. But the numbers are much tighter in a hypothetical match between the president and the current Democratic front-runner. Look at this, 49 percent of likely voters chose Mr. Bush, 48 percent chose Senator John Kerry. That's a statistical tie.

With the election less than nine months away, the White House is working very hard to try to improve all of those numbers for the president. Our senior White House correspondent John King is joining us now live with more on that -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And Wolf, more evidence today that the campaign is getting a bit more aggressive from the president's perspective. He has been relatively idle, just raising money during all of these Democratic attacks, but the tone changed today. You see the president here arriving back at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington. He will be back here at the White House just momentarily, but earlier today he was out in Missouri, touring a factory out there. Missouri, of course, is a key bellwether in presidential politics. It was the president's 15th trip to that key Midwestern state since taking office three years ago.

And the president carried Missouri, but just barely, back in the 2000 campaign. President Bush getting 50 percent; Al Gore getting 47 percent back in the campaign in 2000. The president, of course, very much wants to carry Missouri again.

One of the key issues in the campaign right now is the economy. 2.2 million jobs lost in this country during the Bush presidency. More than 73,000 of those in the state of Missouri. But the president making the case today in his most aggressive assault, if you will, or at least contrast to the Democrats so far. John Kerry, the Democratic front-runner, is among the Democrats who would repeal some of the big Bush tax cuts. The Democrats say that money should go to health care spending, perhaps to trim the federal budget deficit. The president said today, don't believe it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some in Washington want to raise your taxes. Make no mistake about it, let me tell you what's going to happen when they raise it. They're going to say, well, we've got to raise it so we can pay down the deficit. They're going to raise the taxes and increase the size of the federal government, which would be bad for the United States economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: No surprise why the president is focusing on the economy. Just look at the polls, is the president doing a good job, we asked in the CNN-"Time" poll; 43 percent say he's doing a good job on the economy now; 52 percent saying he's doing a poor job on the economy. The president slipping from just a month ago when 49 percent said he was doing a good job. So the economy, Wolf, one of the president's key focus -- again, we are seeing this week, the president getting more direct in contrasting himself with the Democrats, including the Democratic front-runner John Kerry, and if you talk to sources in the Bush campaign, they say they want to wait another week or two to see if Senator Kerry stumbles. If he does not, and it is clear he will be the Democratic nominee, look for two weeks maybe three weeks from now the president to tap into that more than $100 million in his campaign war chest and air his first TV commercials of this campaign -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, CNN's John King, at the White House. Thanks, John, very much. This note, I'll speak live with the White House communications director, Dan Bartlett, that's coming up later this hour.

The front-runner among the Democratic presidential contenders, Senator Kerry, of course, has added more delegates to his campaign war chest. Kerry swept contests in Washington state, Michigan and Maine over the weekend. He now has a total of 426 delegates. Two thousand, one hundred sixty are what needed to win the nomination. In second place, at least as of now, Howard Dean, followed by Senator John Edwards, Wesley Clark, the Reverend Al Sharpton and Congressman Dennis Kucinich.

On the campaign trail today, Howard Dean reversed himself, suggesting he will not drop out of the race if he loses the Wisconsin primary a week from tomorrow, February 17. On the stump in Wisconsin, Dean said he changed his position from what he had said last week because his supporters had convinced him his message is too important to the Democratic Party. For their part, Dean's rivals are fighting for delegates in Virginia and Tennessee, two states that hold primaries tomorrow.

Our national correspondent Bob Franken is in Arlington, Virginia. He's joining us now live with more -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They may have a new state song here, Wolf, it is Kerry is back in old Virginia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): Now John Kerry gets to try his Southern strategy, which is really quite simple, win in the South.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Stand up and fight with me.

FRANKEN: The polls show that Kerry can expect to be victorious here in Virginia and Tennessee, which would be his first wins in Dixie. In fact, he's become such a favorite that native sons John Edwards and Wesley Clark have jettisoned their Southern victory hopes and are now battling for Southern runner-up.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What I want to do is finish in the top two here in Virginia, top two in Tennessee. Then we go on to Wisconsin. As I said earlier, I think this thing is very quickly narrowing to a two-person race.

WESLEY CLARK (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You've got two choices in this race. You've got a great lawyer, he's a wonderful man, he's a great lawyer. You got a man who spent his life in the Senate. He's a wonderful legislator. Or you got somebody like me.

FRANKEN: Of course there's somebody like Howard Dean, way up north in Wisconsin, where he is trying not to make his last stand.

HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The media claims that this contest is already over. They say that Wisconsin's voice doesn't count, that your vote doesn't count. They expect you to rubber-stamp everybody's choice. You don't have to listen to them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: Of course, Howard Dean is now doing his version of the Wisconsin spin, changing from this is his last stand to, no, it's not his last stand. But Wisconsin is so next week. This week we've got Virginia and Tennessee, and John Kerry trying to prove that he's a Southerner when it comes to Democratic vote-getting as well as a Northerner -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Bob Franken in Virginia, thanks, Bob, very much. CNN, of course, will have extensive live coverage of the Virginia and Tennessee primaries throughout the day tomorrow, and the results coming in tomorrow night.

To our viewers, here's your chance to weigh in on this important story. Our Web question of the day is this -- is the economy the most important issue for you in this presidential election? You can vote right now, go to cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results later in this broadcast.

Possible suspect spotted -- now with a description and a possible sighting, are investigators any closer to finding the Ohio highway shooter? We'll go there live.

Flashback for Faneuil, how good is the memory of the government's star witness in the Martha Stewart trial? That's what attorneys are trying to uncover today. We'll go live to the courthouse.

And high-speed splash. This time it's the ambulance that needs the rescue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Investigators say they've linked two highway attacks in Ohio yesterday to 21 earlier attacks and they've got a new description of a possible shooter. CNN's Jeff Flock is joining us now live from Columbus -- Jeff.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Wolf, it was as we suspected. The shootings yesterday certainly had the same M.O. And the sheriff's department here in Franklin county, Ohio, just a short time ago, made it official.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE MARTIN, FRANKLIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Today the task force based on evidence recovered at the scene has linked two incidents in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) county yesterday to the 21 other cases under investigation. This brings to 23 the total number of linked cases.

FLOCK: And then there were 23. But the big headline here as you report, Wolf, it is a description. Some of the people in the cars, and there were two hit by gunfire yesterday, no one hurt, some of the people identified a man that they saw on a freeway overpass, identified as a white male between the ages of 30 and 40, medium build, and a dark colored sports car or small car. Officials said today that since that information became public yesterday, there have been 100+ tips that have come into the tipline and officials are now working them now. So perhaps authorities here are on the right road. That's the latest from Columbus. Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: Let's hope they find this guy soon, Jeff Flock, thank you very much.

Investigators are also taking a look at other issues today. Defense lawyers, for their part, grilled the prosecution's star witness at the Martha Stewart trial today. Allan Chernoff of CNN financial news is standing by with details on that front -- Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Robert Morvillo, Martha Stewart's lead attorney took a key approach to questioning the government's star witness, Douglas Faneuil, raised questions about his memory. First Morvillo raised questions about what exactly Faneuil, Douglas Faneuil, the star witness, could remember, back on December 27, 2001.

He could not recall details of conversations with clients other than Martha Stewart. But he was able to recall virtually verbatim his conversation with Martha Stewart on that day when he told her that the Waksals were trying to dump their Imclone stock. Remember Sam Waksal, Martha Stewart's friend, also at the time the head of Imclone. In addition, Douglas Faneuil was unable to remember, accurately recall other conversations he had with Martha Stewart and he was unable to give specific examples when he said that he was surprised by some of the questions that prosecutors had raised with him on direct examination. So overall, Robert Morvillo was able to score some jabs, denting his credibility, the credibility of Douglas Faneuil but there was no knockout punch to basically crush Faneuil's key story that Martha Stewart and the stockbroker lied -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Allan Chernoff, we'll be continuing to cover this trial, thank you very much for that.

Facing his foes. President Bush sits down with Tim Russert on Sunday. Did he fool the critics or just arm his adversaries? I'll speak live with the White House communications director Dan Bartlett.

Bird ban. The flu virus hits the United States, and that has a panicking poultry industry looking for answers. What exactly is bird flu? Information all of us need to know.

Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said he recently been on a mission trip and he'd like all the Christians on board to please raise their hands.

We weren't sure, I mean, just given the history of what's happened on planes in this country, anything could happen at this point so we weren't sure if something was going to happen at takeoff or he was going to wait until JFK to do something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Christian commandment. An American Airlines pilot wishes for worship. Don't fly with jittery passengers. We'll have the fallout from his religious requests coming up later this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN.

Coming up: chilling message, documents plotting civil war seized at a safe house in Iraq, how al Qaeda might be involved. We'll get to that.

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

Catholic Bishop Thomas O'Brien is speaking publicly for the first time about his hit-and-run case. O'Brien took the witness stand in his trial in Phoenix, Arizona. He testified that he heard a loud crash on one side of his car the night he's accused of hitting and killing a pedestrian, but he said he never saw anyone in the road. If convicted, O'Brien could get almost four years in prison.

In California, jury selection in the Scott Peterson double murder trial is about two weeks away, that word today from the judge. Jury selection is expected to take a month, with testimony expected to begin about six weeks from now. Peterson is accused of killing his wife, Laci, and their unborn son. The New Jersey postal facility shut down by the anthrax scare two years ago has been cleared of all traces of the deadly bacteria and it's expected to reopen by the end of the year. Several anthrax- tainted letters passed through the mail-distribution complex. It's been closed since December 2001.

In Miami, a frightening ride for two ambulance workers. The vehicle veered out of control as it arrived at a hospital and ended in the water of Biscayne Bay. There was no patient in the vehicle at the time, and no injuries were reported.

Back now to our top story, a chilling letter to al Qaeda from an ally asking for help in Iraq.

Let's go live to our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr -- Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, indeed, today, in Iraq, new concerns about the al Qaeda.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): It was a raid like this one Monday in Baquba that led to the discovery a computer disc containing the 17-page document written by a Jordanian terrorist with ties to al Qaeda, calling for a civil war in Iraq.

Military officials say the document discovered last month was written by this man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, believed to be hiding in Iraq, Iran or Syria. Officials say the letter was on its way to Afghanistan by courier, possibly to be delivered to Osama bin Laden.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. DEPUTY CHIEF OF OPERATIONS: It is clearly a plan on the part of outsiders to come in this country and spark civil war, create sectarian violence, try to expose fissures in the society. about

STARR: The Zarqawi letter an extraordinary look at al Qaeda's interests in Iraq.

He calls for attacks on the majority Shiite population, with the hope, that will spark counterattacks against the once powerful Sunni minorities. He says it must be done before the June 30 date for handing power back to the Iraqis. He complains that the insurgency is not scaring off U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces are growing in numbers.

And, finally, he claims responsibility for 25 attacks inside Iraq. Zarqawi is suspected of involvement in the attack on Italian troops in Nasiriyah in November and the bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad in August.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: With respect to the letter itself, it's very revealing. They describe the weaknesses that they have in their efforts to undercut the coalition's efforts. But, at the same time, it shows they haven't given up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: So, the al Qaeda, Wolf, perhaps frustrated that it hasn't had more success inside Iraq, but the coalition saying it is going to step up efforts to find Zarqawi and make sure he does not succeed -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- thanks, Barbara.

Iraq, of course, was a major topic of discussion when the president made a rare appearance on a Sunday talk show. The White House communications director, Dan Bartlett, is joining us now live from the North Lawn of the White House lawn.

Dan, thanks very much for joining us.

Let's get first to this letter from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. How hard is the information? How strong is the intelligence the president is getting on this alleged effort to get al Qaeda more involved now in Iraq?

DAN BARTLETT, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, Wolf, you know that this has been a concern of ours for some time, that foreign terrorists, particularly al Qaeda, was trying to infiltrate Iraq, had infiltrated Iraq, and was doing everything they can to disrupt the peaceful transition to a democracy in Iraq.

And what this information provides us is clear evidence that al Qaeda is operating in Iraq, that they're trying to incite violence and disrupt the very progress we're making. I think it's striking -- and when you read the letter and read the information where it says that al Qaeda recognizes that the Iraqi security forces, numbering now about 150,000, are making great progress in stamping out the violence and in bringing order to the street.

They also recognize that the date of sovereignty for Iraq was important and that it was important that they try to disrupt that, because they know, once sovereignty is handed to the Iraqi people, freedom and liberty and success in Iraq are in the hands of the Iraqi people. And they know that the power of that freedom will stand as a beacon for the rest of the Middle East. It's an important development.

BLITZER: As you know, Dan, your critics, administration critics, insist, there really was no significant al Qaeda presence in Iraq under Saddam Hussein before the war. It's only developed in the aftermath of war, and, as a result, the U.S. is in part responsible for that. What do you say to that kind of criticism?

BARTLETT: Well, Wolf, that would ignore the evidence of al- Zarqawi, who is Jordanian, but has found refuge in Baghdad.

He's a person who killed a U.S. diplomat in Jordan. There is information showing that he had operated and had affiliations in Iraq. He had fought in Afghanistan, apparently, and then got refuge in Baghdad. So, the ties to terrorist organizations, including Iraq, were well known in the region and the world with Saddam Hussein. And so that doesn't hold true.

What is true is that the foreign terrorists, including al Qaeda, understand that the stakes are high in Iraq, that, if we get it right in Iraq, if we're able to have a peaceful transition to the Iraqi people, that's going to stand as a beacon of success for all of the Middle East. And that's why they're fighting so desperately to stop it.

BLITZER: Dan, as you know, the president has named a commission to go ahead investigate prewar intelligence on Iraq. A lot of your critics are saying you don't need a year to do this and to kick it beyond November.

BARTLETT: Right.

BLITZER: Listen, for example, to what the presidential Democratic front-runner, John Kerry, said. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There aren't that many people to talk to. There's not that long a trail to trace. And it ought to be able to be done in a matter of months and it needs to be done in order to provide America with a clearer understanding of what our intelligence status is and of how we went to war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The criticism, if Tony Blair can do this in a few months, why did the president need a year to do this investigation?

BARTLETT: Well, Wolf, I think the fact that John Kerry, the leading candidate in the Democrat primary, is taking to the campaign trail to talk about this issue tells that they're trying to use this as politics.

What the president said in his interview is that we ought to give this independent group the time and attention and resources to do this right. The question of intelligence is critically important to the fight and the war on terror. Just like the very same people who are calling for a very lengthy 9/11 Commission to make sure they had all the time and resources necessary to do their investigation, we ought to treat this investigation with that similar type of attention.

So, those who try to use this for political purposes, we think would be irresponsible. The president said clearly over the weekend that those who want to question his judgment on the decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power, bring those questions to him, because he's very glad and looking forward to the opportunity to talk about his decision about how the world now is safer without Saddam Hussein in power and the fact, if critics got their way here in Washington, D.C., Saddam Hussein would still be in power today.

BLITZER: One final question before I let you go, Dan. The former Vice President Al Gore, he was really angry in a speech in Tennessee yesterday, going after the president.

Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The reason I'm recalling those feelings now is because those are the feelings that were betrayed by this president!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

GORE: He betrayed the country! He played on our fears!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I want to give you a chance -- you're smiling. You're laughing. Why are you laughing? He's making a very serious allegation against the president.

BARTLETT: Well, I'm trying to readjust my ear set, because he was screaming so loud.

But, look, he's been angry the last 3 1/2 years. That's understandable. He lost the election. And I can see why he's probably a little upset. And his most recent act, where he endorsed Howard Dean, who is no longer nowhere near the front, I'm sure he has a lot to be upset about.

But that type of bitterness and anger is simply not going to forward this debate at all. It's the type of reasons why the president had a thoughtful interview, like he did yesterday here in Washington, where we talked through in a very serious manner the issues before the country.

But the type of screaming and yelling and the type of rhetoric that you just saw displayed by the former vice president, I don't think is responsible in the sense of the type of debate that the country deserves.

BLITZER: Dan Bartlett, joining us from the White House, Dan, thanks very much.

BARTLETT: You're welcome.

BLITZER: Flu fears. A documented case of the flu, the avian flu, in Delaware prompting a ban on U.S. birds, as a desperate attempt to stop the strain ensues.

Also ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARLA AUSTIN, FLIGHT 34 PASSENGER: ... Christian, raise your hand. If you're not, you're crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: Preaching on a plane. A prayerful pilot makes some passengers nervous at the start of a very long flight, and the airline attempting an explanation right now.

Behind bars. Former Congressman Bill Janklow checks into jail. How long will he sit in a cell?

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: There's no sign so far that the so-called bird flu has spread beyond one Delaware farm. Unlike the outbreak in Asia, the virus in this case doesn't affect humans, but officials are still very, very concerned.

CNN's Jennifer Coggiola is here with more on the story -- Jennifer.

JENNIFER COGGIOLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, this flu has so far killed 18 people in Southeast Asia. But for Americans, who eat an average of 80 pounds of chicken a year, it's brought some new, unjustified fears to the kitchen table.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COGGIOLA (voice-over): It's been a common sight and a necessary precaution overseas, but this weekend, the killing was in Delaware, 12,000 farm chickens destroyed after two birds tested positive with the bird flu last week. It's the latest scare for meat-eating Americans.

But the Delaware chicken strain of the bird virus, called H-7, carries no known risk to humans, according to health officials. It's a different strain that is wreaking havoc on farms across Southeast Asia, where more than 50 million birds have been slaughtered. The H-5 virus is an infectious disease with a nearly 100 percent mortality rate among the most vulnerable birds, chickens and turkeys.

DR. DANIEL PEREZ, VETERINARIAN: In chickens, the virus causes a systemic infection. So, every single organ in the chicken is compromised.

COGGIOLA: Because it mutates so quickly and easily and spreads from animal to animal, it's especially dangerous in countries like China, where less modern facilities require more contact between animals and humans, contact that health officials believe could have caused the first human outbreak six years ago in Hong Kong that killed six people and prompted the slaughter of Hong Kong's entire poultry population, nearly 1.5 million birds in three days.

At this point, all human fatalities from H-5 are the results of human contact with infected birds. And there is no evidence of person-to-person transmission. But that could change, according to University of Maryland researcher Daniel Perez, who's currently working on a human vaccine. He says it's only a matter of time before the virus mutates and the impact could be devastating, perhaps creating a worldwide pandemic.

PEREZ: If we don't act now, maybe when the virus actually can transmit from human to human, it will be too late.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COGGIOLA: Now, health officials today tell me that they have tested birds in a three-mile radius from the infected farms in Delaware and all came back negative. So they are optimistic that this news could ease any restrictions and the current ban of U.S. poultry exports in Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong will soon be lifted -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jennifer Coggiola, thanks very much, useful information for all of us.

Pilot preaching, an airline pilot's bizarre -- very bizarre -- request creating a stir among passengers on a flight. How would you have reacted to his words at the start of a flight?

And this, big winners, the contagious sounds of OutKast, why this rap group is receiving lots of positive attention. We'll get to all of that.

First, though, a quick look at some news making headlines around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Day of mourning. Moscow is remembering 39 people killed when a bomb exploded in a subway car Friday. Flags with black ribbons flew at half-staff over government buildings. And TV stations canceled entertainment programs. Officials say the blast was probably triggered by a suicide bomber.

Taiwan custody battle. Police dragged a kicking and crying 8- year-old orphan from his relatives' home to enforce a court order to return him to his grandmother in Brazil. In 2001, his Taiwanese father died just days after bringing the boy to Taiwan. The grandmother cared for him for three years after his Brazilian mother died when he was 3.

Royal visit. Britain's Prince Charles is in Iran, the first visit by a member of the royal family there in 33 years. He held talks with President Mohammad Khatami and later met with survivors of the earthquake that killed 40,000 people in Bam in December.

Beating the odds. A 24-year-old woman was pulled from the rubble of an apartment building in Turkey one week after it collapsed, killing at least 85 people. Her condition was said to be serious. The woman's rescue came one day after a 16-year-old boy was dug out of the rubble. Doctors said that what helped both survive for so long without food and water was that they slept most of the time.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Earlier, we asked: Which airline holds the record for the shortest flight? The answer, British Airways. According to the official airline guide, with a flight time of two minutes, a British Airways hop between the Scottish islands of Westray and Papa Westray is the shortest. The flight was once flown in just 58 seconds.

In marked contrast, passengers on an American Airlines flight say they were startled and frightened by a pilot's announcement suggesting they should start discussing their religious faith. The pilot reportedly told non-Christian passengers they were crazy.

CNN's Brian Todd has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Settling in on American Airlines Flight 34, L.A. to New York, Friday morning, passengers expecting maybe a weather update or news about delays, but not this.

JEN DORSEY, FLIGHT 34 PASSENGER: The pilot came onto greet everyone, give his comments for the morning. And he said he'd recently been on a mission trip. And he would like all the Christians on board to please raise their hand and then invited us to all look around a little bit at one another. He said that our flight time was 4 1/2 hours today, and you can either use your time wisely on the flight or you can sit back and watch the movie.

The pilot later tells his bosses, this is an invitation to discuss the issue of faith, but he isn't finished.

AUSTIN: He said, if you're Christian, raise your hand. If you're not, you're crazy.

TODD: An American Airlines spokesman says the pilot denies using the word crazy. Still, passengers, concerned about safety, try to make phone calls from their seats.

AUSTIN: There was definitely an implication there that we felt something was going to happen.

TODD: News of discomfort in the cabin gets back to the pilot.

DORSEY: He came on and said: I want to apologize for my comments earlier. I think I really threw the flight crew off a little bit and they're getting a lot of flak for the things I said. So I want to apologize to the flight crew.

TODD: No direct apologizes to passengers. But a spokesman tells CNN today, "American Airlines apologizes if anyone was made to feel uncomfortable by the comment this was pilot.

(on camera): American would not release the name of the pilot and would not say if he's being grounded during its internal investigation. We asked the head of a passenger advocate group what realistically could happen with the pilot.

DAVID STEMPLER, AIR TRAVELERS ASSOCIATION: Most likely, he'll go in for retraining. Many of the full-service carriers are having a tough time with relationships with their pilots. They've been seeking extra concessions. And it's one of the big problems they've had. So, I don't think they want to incur the ire of their pilot community, if it's not necessary.

TODD: One passenger tells CNN, as she left the plane, she told the pilot he ought to be ashamed of himself. She says the pilot just nodded and looked to the ground.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Jump and freeze. The name says it all, competitors taking the ultimate frosty plunge.

And the result of our "Web Question of the Day." We'll get to that.

First, though, a quick look at some stories you may have missed this past weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Janklow to jail. Former Congressman Bill Janklow has started his 100-day sentence for his manslaughter conviction. The South Dakota Republican checked into jail Saturday in Sioux Falls. But after 30 days, he can leave the jail during the day to do community service. Janklow was found guilty in December of second-degree manslaughter in a collision that killed a motorcyclist.

New trade ties. The United States has gone down under for a new trade pact, signing a free trade agreement with Australia yesterday. While supporters say the deal will promote economic growth and prosperity, some opponents in Australia, including farmers, call it a sellout that ignores their country's interests.

All-star ending. The National Football League season drew to a close yesterday, with the NFC holding on for a 55-52 win over the AFC in the Pro Bowl. As time expired, the AFC missed a field goal which would have sent the game into overtime. It was the highest scoring Pro Bowl ever.

Playing it straight. After the uproar over the halftime shows at the Super Bowl, no private body parts were exposed during last night's Grammy Awards. CBS had a delay in place to keep any shocking audio or video from making it to air. The belle of the ball, Beyonce, who racked up five Grammys.

And that's our weekend snapshot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of the Day." As always, we remind you, this is not a scientific poll.

Our picture of the day takes us to Austria and a bizarre cross between skiing and swimming. Dozens of competitors and thousands of spectators turned out at a ski resort for its annual jump-and-freeze competition. In one event, contestants plunged down a ski slope into a frigid pool. Oh.

Now a thought about changing times at the Grammys last night. OutKast became the first hip-hop group to win album of the of the year. It was a milestone passed almost 40 years ago to the day after the Beatles debuted on American TV, signaling the ascendancy of a new style of music as exciting to audiences of that era as hip-hop is to audiences of today.

So have times really changed or do they just repeat themselves with new variations. You be the judge. Take a look at OutKast performing its hit song, "Hey Ya."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OUTKAST PERFORMS "HEY YA"

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I love that song.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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