Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Terror on the Tracks; American Charged With Aiding Old Iraqi Regime

Aired March 11, 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): Terror on the tracks. Packed commuter trains, simultaneous bombings, hundreds of casualties.

Can it happen here? How safe are Americans? I'll ask the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

Saddam Hussein's agent? An American is charged with aiding the old Iraqi regime.

No apology.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I haven't said anything that's incorrect about them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's getting off on the wrong foot on this campaign and name calling.

BLITZER: Air Force under fire.

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: As we do hold ourselves to a higher standard.

BLITZER: Is rape on the rise in the U.S. military?

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Thursday, March 11, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We begin, unfortunately, once again with terrorism. A series of shattering explosions ripped through crowded trains and commuter stations this morning in Madrid. At least 192 people are dead. More than 1,400 others are wounded. It's still far from clear who's responsible. Spain's prime minister is calling it simply mass murder.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): The size and coordination of these attacks told so clearly in the pictures. Shell shocked faces, bloody, staggering victims, huge masses of mangled metal, broken glass, images of an operation clearly intended for maximum physical and psychological damage executed with deadly effect. Just before 8:00 a.m. in Madrid, the height of morning rush hour, no warning. In virtually an instant, a total of ten explosions at three stations, all of them along the southern part of the capital city's rail network. Witnesses so confused and horrified they seem to have trouble even describing what they saw.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The first (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I could hear people screaming. I don't know. I don't know. It's something that I can't explain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I saw gentleman that was there inside the car. It was horrible, horrible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I left the train and I saw people on the platform. Everybody thought that the cables fell, but people started to run full (UNINTELLIGIBLE) .

BLITZER: Later, in strangely measured tones, the Spanish prime minister shows confrontational resolve against those he calls mass murderers.

JOSE MARIA AZNAR, SPANISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): They still have the killing instinct, but we will stop them. Just know that we will win.

BLITZER: Winning against whom is an open question. ETA, the Basque separatists movement in Spain, al Qaeda, or some other group. Spanish officials worry that this coming weekend's elections for parliament and prime minister would be disrupted.

Now a chilling realization that it could have been worse, three other bombs set to go off were found and detonated by police.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And there now has been a claim of responsibility for today's attacks but by a group with some questionable records. A group called the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade faxed a letter to the "Al- Quds" newspaper based in London. The letter claims credit for today's blast on behalf of al Qaeda and says the terror group is 90 percent ready to attack the United States.

However, intelligence sources have consistently told CNN Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade does not necessarily speak for al Qaeda. While it has claimed previous attacks blamed on al Qaeda, it has also claimed responsibility for the U.S. power blackout last summer, a claim dismissed by terror experts and those who actually investigated the blackout.

The images from the attack tell a tragic story. A steady procession of hearses, vans and balances carried bodies to a makeshift morgue at a city exhibition center. Some people help care of the survivors of bombings while others line up to donate blood.

And across the country, shown here in the Basque region, people gather to pay silent tribute to the victims. Spain has battled terrorism for decades but it has seen nothing at all on this scale. One official already characterizing it as his nation's 9/11. But who's to blame? Authorities were quick to point to the Basque group ETA, but as we mentioned there are also possible signs pointing to the al Qaeda involvement.

Let's go live to CNN's Christiane Amanpour. She's joining us now live from Madrid. Her in Washington, Christiane, U.S. officials are by no means ruling out al Qaeda given the spectacular nature of this attack, the fact that it was simultaneous and the fact that Ayman al- Zawahiri, the No. 2 al Qaeda leader has specifically referred to Spain in that most recent audio tape.

But you're there. You're speaking to investigators. What are you hearing?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, earlier today the interior minister and the prime minister and the foreign minister all were emphatic. This was the work of ETA, the armed Basque separatists group. They said that over and over again in response to questions here put to them by reporters in various press conferences.

They pointed to specific forensic evidence they said that led them to nail ETA for this terrible carnage. They also talked about the dynamite, the explosives, that they had found at the scene that matched some had been used by ETA in previous incidents, such as this.

Then, just a few hours ago, this afternoon, a bit of a bombshell as the interior minister came out again, again spoke to the press and said, now we are not ruling out anything and we are conducting an opening new lines of investigation because a citizen's tip led us to a van outside of Madrid in a town that is on the same commuter line. In that van, said the interior minister, we found several detonators, seven or eight. And we found a tape with Quranic verses.

Now, he insisted that there were no threats on this tape, that it did not specifically refer to these attacks or anything else, that it was Quranic teaching, Quranic verses, commercially available, the kind of tape that you could buy in a store.

But he said that this was a new element and that they were opening a new line of investigation. And that's really where we are here in terms of the Spanish investigation. They have not yet said to us that it's al Qaeda or that they suspect al Qaeda.

BLITZER: Christiane Amanpour reporting live from the scene for us. Christiane, thanks very much for that report.

As she just said, Spanish government officials has said earlier in the day that the Basque separatist group ETA is of course the prime suspect in the deadly bombings in Madrid. The group had been fighting for an independent homeland in northern Spain. ETA had been designated an terror group by the United States and the European Union. Before today's bombings the highest death toll in any ETA-linked attack was in 1987 when 21 people were killed in a Barcelona supermarket blast. ETA is blamed for and has claimed responsibility for numerous terror attacks over the years that have killed 800 Spaniards over the course of more than three decades.

So far, the group has not, has not claimed responsibility for today's attacks.

With Madrid's train system targeted, though, by terrorists, how secure are the rail line in this country? CNN's Brian Todd takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A chilling attack thousands of miles away brings heightened anxiety at home, and the inevitable question, could it happen here?

GLENN SCHOEN, SECURITY ANALYST: We're worried not just about the rail lines, for instance, but tunnels and bridges and so on. So it's exceptionally hard for us to really wrap our arms around it.

TODD: With more passengers in one month than airlines move in a year, the U.S. mass transit system still wide open, extremely vulnerable, two and a half years after September 11.

Security measures have been upgraded on passenger rail, commuter and subway lines. In Washington, D.C.'s Metro rail system random sweeps, especially-trained police teams, bomb-sniffing dogs, bio chemical and hazard systems are in place to protect some 700,000 passengers every day.

STEVEN KUHN, KROLL SECURITY SERVICES: It's a very progressive program that I believe transportation agencies throughout the world actually will be able to learn lessons from.

TODD: More precautions also in place in the New York metropolitan area. San Francisco's BART system has military-trained police units. Each operator has two-way radio contact.

But just in those cities, various rail systems, millions of passengers are on the move each day, over several hundreds of miles of track. Experts say it's simply too much to cover.

KUHN: Can we truly secure an open transportation system? No. And I'm not quite sure we should try to because we don't warrant to give fear.

TODD: An added threat? Possible biological or chemical attack inside stations or rail cars. Nine years after a Japanese cult killed 12 people on the Tokyo subway using sarin gas, an expert who predicted that attack says a determined terrorist can still get away with it.

KYLE OLSON, TERRORISM EXPERT: Even a vigilant law enforcement officer could look right at it and not recognize what he's seeing. So this poses and continues to pose and will continue to pose a real threat.

TODD: Real threats, real attacks, no sure-fire prevention. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We'll have much more coming up on this. Porter Goss, the chairman of the House intelligence committee has been briefed. He'll be joining us on what the U.S. government believes may have happened in Madrid earlier today.

To our viewers, here's your chance to weigh in on this important story. Our web question of the day is this, is the U.S. prepared to stop the kind of terror attack that happened in Spain? You can vote right now. Go to CNN.com/wolf. We'll have the results later this hour.

The race for the White House heating up as John Kerry defends his tough talk and President Bush fires right back. We're live from the campaign trail. Plus, an American woman charged with conspiring with the Iraqi government to aid Saddam Hussein's regime. We'll have a live report.

Syria and Saddam's sons. New information emerging on what happened to Uday and Qusay Hussein after the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Also, this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BERTUZZI, NHL PLAYER: To the fans of hockey and the fans of Vancouver, for the kids that watch this game, I'm truly sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: An emotional apology and now a stiff penalty issued by the NHL. Are they enough to atone for this attack on the ice?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. For Democratic presidential contender John Kerry, this is a day for forging alliances within his own party. It includes a cameo appearance on Capitol Hill as well as a sit-down with a former political foe. There's also the matter of the few off the cuff words uttered yesterday about the other side. Did he apologize? Our national correspondent Bob Franken is joining us now live here in Washington with the answer. Did he?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's found something in common with both the Democrats and Republicans, both parties are in an uproar over Kerry's comments about the Republicans, using words like crooks and lying. That type of thing. The Democrats are saying, yes, tell it like it is. The Republicans are saying, no, no, no, apologize, it wasn't appropriate. Kerry spent the day meeting with fellow Democrats and the question was, would he say he was sorry?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: I have no intention whatsoever of apologizing for my remarks. I think that these -- I think the Republicans need to start talking about the real issues before the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: Well, for a while Kerry was claiming that he didn't really mean the Republicans. He was only taking about attack ads and the like. Some new ads, by the way, are starting by the Republicans right now. The Republicans said, oh, yes, he was talking about the Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOM DELAY (R), MAJORITY LEADER: To call the people liars and crooks, particularly if you're thinking shows are off mic just shows you who the real person is, not the person that is set up and quaffed for a town meeting or a speech, but the real person. And I think America got a little glimpse of the real John Kerry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: Well, the real John Kerry, quaff and all, has caused a bit of controversy. It looks like, Wolf, it's going to be that kind of a campaign.

BLITZER: It certainly does. Bob Franken, thanks very much for that.

The president meanwhile is walking a tightrope of his own up on Long Island. On the one hand he's the politician on the stump. On the other, he's the sitting president with kind words and consolation for terrorist victims. He's taking heat from some quarters for mixing the two. Our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is joining us now from East Meadow, that's in Long Island with a look of this delicate balance -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a mother who lost her son in the September 11 attacks who attended that groundbreaking ceremony said that she didn't believe that Senator Kerry as president would have been able to avoid the terrorism attack. She also said she told President Bush that he has to continue to do the right thing. It was really a low-key ceremony. President Bush meeting with some of the family members of 9/11 victims as well as Nassau county firefighters and New York officials.

The controversy is the fact that there is a fund-raiser following this groundbreaking ceremony and some 9/11 family members as well as New York firefighters earlier, of course, expressing their frustration and anger with the Bush camp over ads using images of 9/11, saying they thought it was exploitive and perhaps distasteful but the organizers of this memorial say they invited the president only after they found out who was attending a fund-raiser here already. They wanted to participate in their own ceremony. This also coming from the county executive who is a Democrat. Now, the President Bush did not actually have words or make a speech at this memorial ceremony but rather earlier in the day at a business function he did give a special recognition of those in New York saying that they, in particular, was strong in dealing with the September 11 attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: By the way, this nation rallied, it rallied in large part thanks to the citizens of the great state of New York because they refused to be intimidated by terrorists who killed them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And, Wolf, as you know, this comes on the same day, just in about an hour, they're going to be releasing the Bush campaign initial advertisements and they say that they make no apologies about using that ad that uses the images of September 11 -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Suzanne Malveaux on Long Island today. Thanks, Suzanne, very much.

U.S. forces on a stealth mission in Africa. Who are they helping and why?

Rape on the rise in the Air Force's Pacific Command. I'll speak with the general in charge of stopping it.

Plus this...

We'll go to the center of the the heated debate over same-sex marriage. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Serious allegations today against an American activist. The ex-congressional aide and former journalist was arrested on charges she acted as a paid agent for the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq. Let's go live to our justice correspondent Kelli Arena. She's joining us here. What's going on, Kelli?

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Susan Lindauer is accused of conspiring to act as a spy for the Iraqi intelligence service and taking money from a government that supports terrorism. Now, she says she's an antiwar activist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN LINDAUER, AMERICAN ACTIVIST: I'm an antiwar activist and I'm innocent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: Lindauer started her career as a journalist. She worked for publications including "Fortune" and "U.S. News and World Report." She then went to work on Capitol Hill. At one point as a press secretary for now Senator Ron Wyden. Lindauer is also a second cousin of White House chief of staff Andrew Card. The indictment against her alleges that she met with several members of the Iraqi intelligence service and accepted about $10,000 from the Iraqi government.

Prosecutors say that she even dropped off information to an undercover FBI agent at dead-drop locations. Now, the government sources tell CNN that Lindauer delivered a letter to her cousin Andrew Card's home telling him that she had access and contacts with members of Saddam Hussein's regime. Those sources say that it was Card who alerted authorities. She faces up to 25 years in prison if she is convicted on all counts -- Wolf.

BLITZER: This is very serious. These allegations. Thanks very much.

Did Saddam Hussein's sons take flight to a neighboring country after U.S. forces moved into Iraq? There's surprising new information out on where Uday and Qusay Hussein went and who took them in.

Plus, are Osama bin Laden's days of freedom numbered? I'll ask the chairman of the House intelligence committee, Porter Goss.

And first a punch, then an apology. Now the punishment. Why this hockey player is on thin ice with the NHL right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. Terror bombs, ten deadly explosions ripped through trains in Madrid. Is al Qaeda to blame? I'll ask the chairman of the House intelligence committee, Porter Goss. We'll get to that. First, though, a quick check of the latest headlines.

The Justice Department is joining the Pentagon investigation of Halliburton, a company once run by the Vice President Dick Cheney. A senior Pentagon official says it's not because the probe is broadening, rather a matter of limited resources. At issue, whether a Halliburton subsidiary overcharged the Pentagon for fuel by $61 million on its contract in Iraq.

No charges for five Long Island high school football coaches. They were in charge of a training camp where three older players sexually assaulted three younger players during a hazing incident last summer. A grand jury found the coaches displayed a lack of common sense and accountability but are not criminally responsible.

Hundreds of demonstrators on both sides of the gay marriage debate are outside the Massachusetts state house. Inside, lawmakers are trying once again to decide what to do about a state supreme court ruling paving the way for gay marriages starting in May. Any amendment to the state constitution barring gay marriages couldn't take effect before 2006.

U.S. officials are confirming to CNN that Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay spent time in Syria after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. They were later expelled and returned to their country where they died in a gun battle with U.S. forces. National security correspondent David Ensor is joining us now live with details. What's going on, David?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the details are as you described them. The significance is about Syria. This explain in part why Bush administration officials were so angry at Syria in that period after March 19, after the war started when they were accusing Syria of harboring various senior Iraqi officials and relatives of senior officials. Now these sources are telling me those individuals included Uday and Qusay Hussein, the two sons of Saddam Hussein famous for their brutally who died in that gun battle July 22. So this is additional evidence that the Syrians allowed very senior and very brutal members of the regime into the country. They were, of course, ejected eventually and they died in that gun battle as you mentioned.

BLITZER: All right. Interesting material. Thanks very much, David, for that. Where Saddam Hussein's sons were and went is only one item on the plate of the U.S. intelligence community. I spoke just a short time ago with the chairman of the House intelligence committee, Porter Goss, about that as well as today's devastating bomb attacks in Madrid. I asked if he thinks a London newspaper report linking al Qaeda to the multiple bombings may be credible.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. PORTER GOSS (R), FLORIDA: I think it is.

And, Wolf, this just points out the nature of the war on terrorism. I mean, as we sit here, any other number of things could be happening, too. It's constant, 24 hours, seven days a week. My guess is the al Qaeda people are trying to do a little cheerleading. Propaganda is part of terrorism. The psy-warfare piece of that is always in it.

This is an outlet, as I understand it, that has been used before for taking credit and, in some cases, it's turned out to be credible, that it was done for that reason, sort of showing off, showing muscle, that kind of stuff.

On the other hand, it could be just taking advantage of something that was already there. My guess is that, as this is beginning to unfold, the indicators are now beginning to show that this may have been al Qaeda in association with ETA doing the job or taking advantage of the ETA terrorist past there.

BLITZER: So there could be some sort of link, some sort of coordination?

GOSS: Oh, definitely.

BLITZER: Between ETA and al Qaeda or al Qaeda-associated groups?

GOSS: There certainly could be that kind of link. It's the kind of thing we were looking for in Iraq and in fact we've been concerned about in Iraq for many years, sometimes regard the Al-Ansar question in Iraq, that the networks work together. They aren't officially card-carrying members of each other's organizations, but they do work together. And that was the worry in Iraq. It's the worry in Spain. It's the worry here.

BLITZER: You can't rule out al Qaeda, though.

GOSS: I would not rule out al Qaeda. I would not rule anything else.

Part of the concern and the things we've been talking about in the intelligence community for some time is the amorphous nature of the global terrorist network and how one group can feed off another group. So it's very possible this is ETA-plus, plus al Qaeda or plus others. It's somewhat the same kind of thing we've been seeing in the Mideast in some of the tragedy that is going on there, too.

My view is that we should be keyed for a new approach, new ways that these terrorists strike. We need to be prepared to cooperate, share information. That is going on. But it shows, once again, this is a global war and they'll hit anywhere, any time.

BLITZER: Some U.S. sources, government sources telling me that because of the spectacular nature of the simultaneity of the attack, because Ayman al-Zawahiri, the No. 2 al Qaeda still on the loose, specifically mentioned Spain in his latest audiotape, which the CIA believes was authentic, it does suggest possibly it could be al Qaeda.

GOSS: There are certainly indicators that would say that we ought to make some of those assumptions. But, remember, we're not rushing to judgment in the intelligence community on the basis of connecting dots. We did that with WMD. We want to go a little more closely and more slowly and examine what's truly there. We've got an opportunity to do that. But you're right, the pattern is very, very suspiciously like al Qaeda.

BLITZER: How concerned should Americans be that this, God forbid, could happen here?

GOSS: Well, it's what we say every day.

I mean, very few Americans wake up and think, have a first thought to say, I'm an American, we're a nation at war. That's just not a thought that normally passes our mind early in the day and sometimes we probably go through a whole day without thinking that. We are a nation at war, however, and this could happen here.

It has not happened here because our intelligence agencies have been working very hard. Our law enforcement people have been working very hard. We're doing things differently. We're applying technology differently. We're arranging our capabilities to deal with terrorists differently. And, frankly, we're taking them out on their own turf. So we are doing a lot right. And our friends are joining us because they understand that what happened tragically in Spain today can happen to them. On a professional level around the world, the respect for the United States of America has never been stronger. Some will argue that our popularity has dissipated in some places. Respect has grown.

BLITZER: Is the U.S. getting closer to finding Osama bin Laden?

GOSS: Yes. I think we get closer every day. I think we tighten the noose every day. I think we make it hard for him every day.

But there are practical problems. One is the terrain that we've talked about many times, the weather, the conditions there.

BLITZER: Along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan?

GOSS: Where wee is right now is in that basically quadrant, no- man's land up in northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan.

The issue there is not to do so much so obviously that it would cause a problem with President Musharraf's difficult and delicate positions that he has to manage as president of Pakistan. On the other hand, we need to get to business and keep it business. And I think we're doing a very good job of that.

BLITZER: Would it help to send in a lot more special operations forces, hundreds, if not thousand of U.S. troops, to try to find this guy once and for all?

GOSS: No, I don't think so. I think that would create a target problem and a logistics problem and probably some international repercussions that would be difficult to deal with.

I think the right way to do it is with a rapid response, the kind of people who do these special activities for us. We have them. And I think that working on good information, getting that information, passing it along and having that rapid response capability is our best shot.

BLITZER: Did you see the story in the paper today that the sons of Saddam Hussein, Uday and Qusay, actually had gone to Syria, but were kicked out by Bashar Al Assad's regime and they were eventually killed in Mosul in that gunfight? I wonder if you could update our viewers on that.

GOSS: I did read the story in the papers today. And you've described it very well.

I don't know the veracity of all of that or the accuracy of all the details. I know that they're dead and they deserve to be. I don't know much more.

BLITZER: Is Syria doing everything it should be doing to help the U.S. in the war on terror, to seal off, if you will, the border with Iraq among other things?

GOSS: I think Syria is a country that is still making up its mind. I don't think that they're quite at a place where Libya is, where Gadhafi is, or Morocco or some of the other countries or Jordan, where they have clearly decided that their future lies with the West, not necessarily with our culture or religion. I don't suggest that. But their interests lie in a friendly relationship with the West.

I don't think Syria is there. Part of it is the new leadership. It's a next-generation leadership. I'm not sure that the capabilities of the leadership around the current president there are sufficient for him to go much further than he's gone. It's a delicate situation for him and the process is evolutionary there.

BLITZER: Finally, Mr. Chairman, there's been an arrest of a woman accused of spying for Iraq. What do you know about this case?

GOSS: Well, I do know there's been an indictment properly done. I've seen it. It's disturbing, you know, to think at this time that an American citizen would be willing, helping -- when we have American service people overseas helping the enemy apparently for money, is what the indictment says, is -- I mean, it's more than -- I can't explain it. I don't know how anybody could be in that position.

But remember everybody is innocent until proven guilty and there is a process here. I hope there is some explanation for this. But on the basis of the indictment I've seen, it looks just like plain old greed and terrible bad judgment and selling out our country. And, I mean, that is obviously not going to sit well with the people in New York, where I understand this thing is going to be tried, and nor should it sit well anywhere.

BLITZER: Thanks very much.

GOSS: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: There is breaking news coming in right now from the California Supreme Court on the issue of same-sex marriages. The court is ordering San Francisco to stop, stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples while it considers two cases challenging the city's actions.

More than 3,600 gay and lesbian couples have been given marriage licenses since February 12. The court is also ordering the city to show cause demonstrating that its actions did not exceed its authority. Once again, the California Supreme Court putting a stop to same-sex marriages in San Francisco, at least for now.

A new report shows a troubling trend, reported cases of rape dramatically rising in military ranks. Up next, I'll ask the commander of the U.S. Air Force in the Pacific about these alarming new figures.

Blood sport, now disciplinary action, when hockey turns hellish. We'll get to that.

First, though, a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Tasting freedom after more than two years. Five British detainees released this week from the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba are now fully free. The final four were turned over yesterday to British authorities, who let them go late in the day. Four other Britons remain in U.S. military custody.

A coalition spokesman in Baghdad says an autopsy concludes that renegade Palestinian terrorist Abul Abbas died of a heart attack. Abbas died Monday, almost 11 months after his capture by U.S. troops in Iraq.

South Korea's president remains defiant in the face of possible impeachment. He angered the opposition today by refusing to apologize for backing a breakaway party in April's upcoming parliamentary elections. An impeachment vote was put off until tomorrow because of disruptions in the National Assembly Hall.

And the world welcomes Jacob (ph). Under the watchful eye of his mother, the baby rhinoceros recently met the media in Berlin for the first time at the tender age of six days. His birth was a long time coming. The rhino gestation period is roughly 16 months.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: U.S. forces on a stealth mission in Northern Africa. Sources tell CNN a small American contingent is quietly helping military forces in Chad take on a Nigerian Islamic group which Washington considers to be a terrorist organization. There has been a running gun battle this week, but the sources say U.S. forces are not involved in combat, only providing communications, intelligence, and reconnaissance support to the Chad forces.

There are disturbing findings in a new report on sexual assault in the U.S. Air Force. The number of reported cases is rising and similarities among them are emerging.

Our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Investigators took a second look at 92 rape cases involving Air Force personnel in Korea, Japan and other Pacific bases over a three-year period and found youth and alcohol to be key factors; 34 rapes were reported in 2001, 17 in 2002, and then the number jumped to 41 in 2003, at a time when the latest civilian crime statistics show nationally rapes rising only about 4 four a year.

Air Force General William Begert, who ordered the review, wrote: "Too many sexual assaults have occurred and continue to occur throughout Pacific Air Forces," adding, "It's not a promising picture." The grim assessment comes as the Pentagon is reacting to a series of reports suggesting sexual assaults may be on the rise in the ranks.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: One cannot read the kinds of reports you're referring to and not have a deep concern about the armed forces, because we do hold ourselves to a higher standard.

MCINTYRE: A Pentagon study into how victims are treated is due out next month. But some trends are already clear.

As was the case at the Air Force Academy, most of the rapes occur in military dorms or private homes and involve people under 25 who know each other. About 60 percent of the time, alcohol is involved.

(on camera): The big unanswered question is whether something unique is happening in the military or whether it's simply a reflection of increased sexual assaults and alcohol abuse in society as a whole.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And just a short while ago, I spoke about the report with the man who commissioned it, General William Begert, the commander of the U.S. Air Force in the Pacific.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: General Begert, thanks very much for joining us.

Let's get right to the issue at hand, rape in the U.S. Air Force. You've been in the Air Force for more than three decades. How serious of a problem is this?

GEN. WILLIAM BEGERT, U.S. AIR FORCE: It's a very serious problem, Wolf. There's no minimizing the situation. The question is, how well are we going to deal with the situation?

BLITZER: Well, what's the problem right now? Why isn't the Air Force -- given the history of what has happened over these years, why isn't the Air Force doing a better job dealing with this issue based on the numbers that you released only within the past few days?

BEGERT: Well, the reason I asked for the study eight months ago was to take a look and see what we were really dealing with and get some factual information, so that we could assess what's the profile of what's happening, how are we doing handling the situation and taking care of the cases, how good is our victim assistance program, and then what can we do to minimize the incidents from happening and drive down the numbers?

And so I think we are being proactive. I have an action plan out there that I have sent out to all my commanders and we are doing something about it. BLITZER: It seems like a huge part of the problem is alcohol- related. Is that your bottom line as well?

BEGERT: It is. That's one of the main conclusions that we found out.

That was not immediately apparent to me as a commander as I've seen these incidents happen over time, was just how predominant a factor alcohol consumption is for both the subjects and, in too many cases, the victims.

BLITZER: Is there a need? What specifically can you do about alcohol? When troops, when Air Force personnel are off duty, they want to go have a beer. They want to have a drink. What happens? What can you do to ease that problem?

BEGERT: Well, I'm not anti-alcohol, per se. It is responsible alcohol consumption that we're looking for.

These people are predominantly under 25 years old. We need to educate them. We need to educate them about binge drinking and drinking alcohol to excess. And they're smart young people. I think, if we educate them, talk about responsible alcohol consumption, and then have commanders and 1st sergeants and others in the chain of command mentoring them, talking to them, leading them, I think we can drive these numbers down and drive down some of this binge drinking that's going on in our society and especially, for me, in the Air Force.

BLITZER: Another major problem was the way the military investigated the allegations, the incidents and dealt with the victims in these particular cases. This is a very important aspect of the investigation you ordered. What's going on on that front?

BEGERT: Well, one of the -- one of the insights that we got from the study that we did was that we were actually dealing with the cases themselves pretty well. When you compared how well we dealt with the subjects, the alleged perpetrators of these crimes, we were actually -- the commanders were doing a pretty good job prosecuting them, taking administrative action, court-martial action, etcetera.

What we were lacking is, we did not have a victim-assistance program that was as proactive as I would have liked it to be. We offered basically the victims information as to what was available for counseling and other assistance, but we weren't reaching out to them in the way that we really need to. We left the onus on them to seek help, not reaching out to them and getting them help. And that's the part that we're going to concentrate on now.

BLITZER: You're a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. There have been some highly publicized indents at the Air Force Academy, as you well know. Is this a unique problem that the Air Force has or do the other branches of the U.S. military, the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, have similar problems?

BEGERT: Wolf, I would refer you to a Pam Zubeck article in "The Colorado Springs Gazette" last Sunday.

And she's been very critical of the Air Force Academy and the Air Force. She tried to put this in the context of our society. And that's really where I come down on this. We have, according to her article, over a million rapes or attempted rapes a year in the American society. It is a societal-wide problem. It's not just the Air Force Academy. It's not just the Air Force. It is a societal problem.

We have a unique opportunity, I think, in the military to deal with these issues, get some insight, find out what works to lower these numbers and to help victims better and perhaps we can all be better off if we do our job properly. And that's really what I'm focused on, is trying to drive down these numbers and trying to help victims better and perhaps we can all be better off if we do our job properly. That's what I'm focused on, is trying to drive down these numbers and trying to help the victim in a better way than we have in the best.

BLITZER: General Begert, good luck to you and good luck to all the men and women in the Air Force.

BEGERT: Thanks, Wolf. Thanks very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: A powerful punch and an emotional apology.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BERTUZZI, NHL PLAYER: I don't play the game that way. I'm not a mean-spirited person. I'm sorry for what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Now the National Hockey League issues a hard-hitting punishment to the player involved in this fight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: This just coming in into CNN.

The Massachusetts legislature has narrowly -- actually, not so narrowly -- has broadly approved legislation that would allow a constitutional amendment in the state to go forward defining marriage as that being a union between a man and a woman. But, at the same time, it would provide for civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. The vote was 149-69. It wouldn't take effect until another approval next year.

The earlier it could take effect would be 2006. On May 17 of this year, though, gay marriage is supposed to go into effect, at least for the time being, in Massachusetts. We'll follow that store for you.

We're also following this other story, the fallout beginning to rain down in the aftermath of Vancouver Canuck Todd Bertuzzi's punch to Colorado's Steve Moore. Moore's still in the hospital after Bertuzzi is out for the rest of the NHL season. But that's just for starters.

Here's CNN's Steve Overmyer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE OVERMYER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Suspended for the rest of the season, including the playoffs, that's what Vancouver's Todd Bertuzzi received after punching Colorado's Steve Moore during a game on Monday. Moore sustained a fractured neck, but did not injury his spinal cord or nerves. Canucks general manager Brian Burke expressed sympathy for Moore, but was steadfast in his support for Bertuzzi, who has come under fire.

BRIAN BURKE, GENERAL MANAGER, VANCOUVER CANUCKS: It shouldn't be overlooked what an outstanding person this guy is, what an outstanding hockey player this guy is. Yes, he's been devastated by this entire incident. You're talking about a quality hockey play that made a mistake. And all of that seems to be going down the drain with some people in the media, and it's not fair.

OVERMYER: Some believe Bertuzzi was seeking retaliation for a hit Moore made on Canucks captain Marcus Naslund during a previous game. The hit was ruled to be clean, but Naslund missed three games with a concussion. Bertuzzi, the Canucks' second leading scorer, did not comment on the suspension, but he did issue an emotional apology on Wednesday.

BERTUZZI: I don't play the game that way. And I'm not a mean- spirited person. And I'm sorry for what happened.

OVERMYER: The last time the NHL received this much publicity for an on-ice incident does during the 2000 season. That's when Boston's Marty McSorley knocked out Vancouver's Donald Brashear with a stick. McSorley received a one-year suspension and was convicted of assault with a weapon, but he didn't serve any time. The NHL has been criticized over the years with too much violence, but the league says it has made the proper efforts to clean up their sport.

COLIN CAMPBELL, VICE PRESIDENT, NHL: I don't think it's an overall problem and I don't this one incident should -- should say or -- or introduce the fact that we've got a problem in our game.

OVERMYER: In addition to suspending Bertuzzi, which will cost him half-a-million in salary, the NHL often fined his club $250,000. Bertuzzi won't find out when he will be reinstated until next fall. In the meantime, he must also wait to find out if Vancouver authorities are going to press charges.

Steve Overmyer, CNN Sports.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And the results of our "Web Question of the Day" when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in our "Web Question of the Day." Take a look at this, remembering that this is not a scientific poll.

That's all the time we have right now. "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





Iraqi Regime>


Aired March 11, 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): Terror on the tracks. Packed commuter trains, simultaneous bombings, hundreds of casualties.

Can it happen here? How safe are Americans? I'll ask the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

Saddam Hussein's agent? An American is charged with aiding the old Iraqi regime.

No apology.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I haven't said anything that's incorrect about them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's getting off on the wrong foot on this campaign and name calling.

BLITZER: Air Force under fire.

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: As we do hold ourselves to a higher standard.

BLITZER: Is rape on the rise in the U.S. military?

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Thursday, March 11, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We begin, unfortunately, once again with terrorism. A series of shattering explosions ripped through crowded trains and commuter stations this morning in Madrid. At least 192 people are dead. More than 1,400 others are wounded. It's still far from clear who's responsible. Spain's prime minister is calling it simply mass murder.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): The size and coordination of these attacks told so clearly in the pictures. Shell shocked faces, bloody, staggering victims, huge masses of mangled metal, broken glass, images of an operation clearly intended for maximum physical and psychological damage executed with deadly effect. Just before 8:00 a.m. in Madrid, the height of morning rush hour, no warning. In virtually an instant, a total of ten explosions at three stations, all of them along the southern part of the capital city's rail network. Witnesses so confused and horrified they seem to have trouble even describing what they saw.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The first (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I could hear people screaming. I don't know. I don't know. It's something that I can't explain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I saw gentleman that was there inside the car. It was horrible, horrible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I left the train and I saw people on the platform. Everybody thought that the cables fell, but people started to run full (UNINTELLIGIBLE) .

BLITZER: Later, in strangely measured tones, the Spanish prime minister shows confrontational resolve against those he calls mass murderers.

JOSE MARIA AZNAR, SPANISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): They still have the killing instinct, but we will stop them. Just know that we will win.

BLITZER: Winning against whom is an open question. ETA, the Basque separatists movement in Spain, al Qaeda, or some other group. Spanish officials worry that this coming weekend's elections for parliament and prime minister would be disrupted.

Now a chilling realization that it could have been worse, three other bombs set to go off were found and detonated by police.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And there now has been a claim of responsibility for today's attacks but by a group with some questionable records. A group called the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade faxed a letter to the "Al- Quds" newspaper based in London. The letter claims credit for today's blast on behalf of al Qaeda and says the terror group is 90 percent ready to attack the United States.

However, intelligence sources have consistently told CNN Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade does not necessarily speak for al Qaeda. While it has claimed previous attacks blamed on al Qaeda, it has also claimed responsibility for the U.S. power blackout last summer, a claim dismissed by terror experts and those who actually investigated the blackout.

The images from the attack tell a tragic story. A steady procession of hearses, vans and balances carried bodies to a makeshift morgue at a city exhibition center. Some people help care of the survivors of bombings while others line up to donate blood.

And across the country, shown here in the Basque region, people gather to pay silent tribute to the victims. Spain has battled terrorism for decades but it has seen nothing at all on this scale. One official already characterizing it as his nation's 9/11. But who's to blame? Authorities were quick to point to the Basque group ETA, but as we mentioned there are also possible signs pointing to the al Qaeda involvement.

Let's go live to CNN's Christiane Amanpour. She's joining us now live from Madrid. Her in Washington, Christiane, U.S. officials are by no means ruling out al Qaeda given the spectacular nature of this attack, the fact that it was simultaneous and the fact that Ayman al- Zawahiri, the No. 2 al Qaeda leader has specifically referred to Spain in that most recent audio tape.

But you're there. You're speaking to investigators. What are you hearing?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, earlier today the interior minister and the prime minister and the foreign minister all were emphatic. This was the work of ETA, the armed Basque separatists group. They said that over and over again in response to questions here put to them by reporters in various press conferences.

They pointed to specific forensic evidence they said that led them to nail ETA for this terrible carnage. They also talked about the dynamite, the explosives, that they had found at the scene that matched some had been used by ETA in previous incidents, such as this.

Then, just a few hours ago, this afternoon, a bit of a bombshell as the interior minister came out again, again spoke to the press and said, now we are not ruling out anything and we are conducting an opening new lines of investigation because a citizen's tip led us to a van outside of Madrid in a town that is on the same commuter line. In that van, said the interior minister, we found several detonators, seven or eight. And we found a tape with Quranic verses.

Now, he insisted that there were no threats on this tape, that it did not specifically refer to these attacks or anything else, that it was Quranic teaching, Quranic verses, commercially available, the kind of tape that you could buy in a store.

But he said that this was a new element and that they were opening a new line of investigation. And that's really where we are here in terms of the Spanish investigation. They have not yet said to us that it's al Qaeda or that they suspect al Qaeda.

BLITZER: Christiane Amanpour reporting live from the scene for us. Christiane, thanks very much for that report.

As she just said, Spanish government officials has said earlier in the day that the Basque separatist group ETA is of course the prime suspect in the deadly bombings in Madrid. The group had been fighting for an independent homeland in northern Spain. ETA had been designated an terror group by the United States and the European Union. Before today's bombings the highest death toll in any ETA-linked attack was in 1987 when 21 people were killed in a Barcelona supermarket blast. ETA is blamed for and has claimed responsibility for numerous terror attacks over the years that have killed 800 Spaniards over the course of more than three decades.

So far, the group has not, has not claimed responsibility for today's attacks.

With Madrid's train system targeted, though, by terrorists, how secure are the rail line in this country? CNN's Brian Todd takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A chilling attack thousands of miles away brings heightened anxiety at home, and the inevitable question, could it happen here?

GLENN SCHOEN, SECURITY ANALYST: We're worried not just about the rail lines, for instance, but tunnels and bridges and so on. So it's exceptionally hard for us to really wrap our arms around it.

TODD: With more passengers in one month than airlines move in a year, the U.S. mass transit system still wide open, extremely vulnerable, two and a half years after September 11.

Security measures have been upgraded on passenger rail, commuter and subway lines. In Washington, D.C.'s Metro rail system random sweeps, especially-trained police teams, bomb-sniffing dogs, bio chemical and hazard systems are in place to protect some 700,000 passengers every day.

STEVEN KUHN, KROLL SECURITY SERVICES: It's a very progressive program that I believe transportation agencies throughout the world actually will be able to learn lessons from.

TODD: More precautions also in place in the New York metropolitan area. San Francisco's BART system has military-trained police units. Each operator has two-way radio contact.

But just in those cities, various rail systems, millions of passengers are on the move each day, over several hundreds of miles of track. Experts say it's simply too much to cover.

KUHN: Can we truly secure an open transportation system? No. And I'm not quite sure we should try to because we don't warrant to give fear.

TODD: An added threat? Possible biological or chemical attack inside stations or rail cars. Nine years after a Japanese cult killed 12 people on the Tokyo subway using sarin gas, an expert who predicted that attack says a determined terrorist can still get away with it.

KYLE OLSON, TERRORISM EXPERT: Even a vigilant law enforcement officer could look right at it and not recognize what he's seeing. So this poses and continues to pose and will continue to pose a real threat.

TODD: Real threats, real attacks, no sure-fire prevention. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We'll have much more coming up on this. Porter Goss, the chairman of the House intelligence committee has been briefed. He'll be joining us on what the U.S. government believes may have happened in Madrid earlier today.

To our viewers, here's your chance to weigh in on this important story. Our web question of the day is this, is the U.S. prepared to stop the kind of terror attack that happened in Spain? You can vote right now. Go to CNN.com/wolf. We'll have the results later this hour.

The race for the White House heating up as John Kerry defends his tough talk and President Bush fires right back. We're live from the campaign trail. Plus, an American woman charged with conspiring with the Iraqi government to aid Saddam Hussein's regime. We'll have a live report.

Syria and Saddam's sons. New information emerging on what happened to Uday and Qusay Hussein after the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Also, this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BERTUZZI, NHL PLAYER: To the fans of hockey and the fans of Vancouver, for the kids that watch this game, I'm truly sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: An emotional apology and now a stiff penalty issued by the NHL. Are they enough to atone for this attack on the ice?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. For Democratic presidential contender John Kerry, this is a day for forging alliances within his own party. It includes a cameo appearance on Capitol Hill as well as a sit-down with a former political foe. There's also the matter of the few off the cuff words uttered yesterday about the other side. Did he apologize? Our national correspondent Bob Franken is joining us now live here in Washington with the answer. Did he?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's found something in common with both the Democrats and Republicans, both parties are in an uproar over Kerry's comments about the Republicans, using words like crooks and lying. That type of thing. The Democrats are saying, yes, tell it like it is. The Republicans are saying, no, no, no, apologize, it wasn't appropriate. Kerry spent the day meeting with fellow Democrats and the question was, would he say he was sorry?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: I have no intention whatsoever of apologizing for my remarks. I think that these -- I think the Republicans need to start talking about the real issues before the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: Well, for a while Kerry was claiming that he didn't really mean the Republicans. He was only taking about attack ads and the like. Some new ads, by the way, are starting by the Republicans right now. The Republicans said, oh, yes, he was talking about the Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOM DELAY (R), MAJORITY LEADER: To call the people liars and crooks, particularly if you're thinking shows are off mic just shows you who the real person is, not the person that is set up and quaffed for a town meeting or a speech, but the real person. And I think America got a little glimpse of the real John Kerry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: Well, the real John Kerry, quaff and all, has caused a bit of controversy. It looks like, Wolf, it's going to be that kind of a campaign.

BLITZER: It certainly does. Bob Franken, thanks very much for that.

The president meanwhile is walking a tightrope of his own up on Long Island. On the one hand he's the politician on the stump. On the other, he's the sitting president with kind words and consolation for terrorist victims. He's taking heat from some quarters for mixing the two. Our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is joining us now from East Meadow, that's in Long Island with a look of this delicate balance -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a mother who lost her son in the September 11 attacks who attended that groundbreaking ceremony said that she didn't believe that Senator Kerry as president would have been able to avoid the terrorism attack. She also said she told President Bush that he has to continue to do the right thing. It was really a low-key ceremony. President Bush meeting with some of the family members of 9/11 victims as well as Nassau county firefighters and New York officials.

The controversy is the fact that there is a fund-raiser following this groundbreaking ceremony and some 9/11 family members as well as New York firefighters earlier, of course, expressing their frustration and anger with the Bush camp over ads using images of 9/11, saying they thought it was exploitive and perhaps distasteful but the organizers of this memorial say they invited the president only after they found out who was attending a fund-raiser here already. They wanted to participate in their own ceremony. This also coming from the county executive who is a Democrat. Now, the President Bush did not actually have words or make a speech at this memorial ceremony but rather earlier in the day at a business function he did give a special recognition of those in New York saying that they, in particular, was strong in dealing with the September 11 attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: By the way, this nation rallied, it rallied in large part thanks to the citizens of the great state of New York because they refused to be intimidated by terrorists who killed them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And, Wolf, as you know, this comes on the same day, just in about an hour, they're going to be releasing the Bush campaign initial advertisements and they say that they make no apologies about using that ad that uses the images of September 11 -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Suzanne Malveaux on Long Island today. Thanks, Suzanne, very much.

U.S. forces on a stealth mission in Africa. Who are they helping and why?

Rape on the rise in the Air Force's Pacific Command. I'll speak with the general in charge of stopping it.

Plus this...

We'll go to the center of the the heated debate over same-sex marriage. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Serious allegations today against an American activist. The ex-congressional aide and former journalist was arrested on charges she acted as a paid agent for the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq. Let's go live to our justice correspondent Kelli Arena. She's joining us here. What's going on, Kelli?

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Susan Lindauer is accused of conspiring to act as a spy for the Iraqi intelligence service and taking money from a government that supports terrorism. Now, she says she's an antiwar activist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN LINDAUER, AMERICAN ACTIVIST: I'm an antiwar activist and I'm innocent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: Lindauer started her career as a journalist. She worked for publications including "Fortune" and "U.S. News and World Report." She then went to work on Capitol Hill. At one point as a press secretary for now Senator Ron Wyden. Lindauer is also a second cousin of White House chief of staff Andrew Card. The indictment against her alleges that she met with several members of the Iraqi intelligence service and accepted about $10,000 from the Iraqi government.

Prosecutors say that she even dropped off information to an undercover FBI agent at dead-drop locations. Now, the government sources tell CNN that Lindauer delivered a letter to her cousin Andrew Card's home telling him that she had access and contacts with members of Saddam Hussein's regime. Those sources say that it was Card who alerted authorities. She faces up to 25 years in prison if she is convicted on all counts -- Wolf.

BLITZER: This is very serious. These allegations. Thanks very much.

Did Saddam Hussein's sons take flight to a neighboring country after U.S. forces moved into Iraq? There's surprising new information out on where Uday and Qusay Hussein went and who took them in.

Plus, are Osama bin Laden's days of freedom numbered? I'll ask the chairman of the House intelligence committee, Porter Goss.

And first a punch, then an apology. Now the punishment. Why this hockey player is on thin ice with the NHL right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. Terror bombs, ten deadly explosions ripped through trains in Madrid. Is al Qaeda to blame? I'll ask the chairman of the House intelligence committee, Porter Goss. We'll get to that. First, though, a quick check of the latest headlines.

The Justice Department is joining the Pentagon investigation of Halliburton, a company once run by the Vice President Dick Cheney. A senior Pentagon official says it's not because the probe is broadening, rather a matter of limited resources. At issue, whether a Halliburton subsidiary overcharged the Pentagon for fuel by $61 million on its contract in Iraq.

No charges for five Long Island high school football coaches. They were in charge of a training camp where three older players sexually assaulted three younger players during a hazing incident last summer. A grand jury found the coaches displayed a lack of common sense and accountability but are not criminally responsible.

Hundreds of demonstrators on both sides of the gay marriage debate are outside the Massachusetts state house. Inside, lawmakers are trying once again to decide what to do about a state supreme court ruling paving the way for gay marriages starting in May. Any amendment to the state constitution barring gay marriages couldn't take effect before 2006.

U.S. officials are confirming to CNN that Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay spent time in Syria after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. They were later expelled and returned to their country where they died in a gun battle with U.S. forces. National security correspondent David Ensor is joining us now live with details. What's going on, David?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the details are as you described them. The significance is about Syria. This explain in part why Bush administration officials were so angry at Syria in that period after March 19, after the war started when they were accusing Syria of harboring various senior Iraqi officials and relatives of senior officials. Now these sources are telling me those individuals included Uday and Qusay Hussein, the two sons of Saddam Hussein famous for their brutally who died in that gun battle July 22. So this is additional evidence that the Syrians allowed very senior and very brutal members of the regime into the country. They were, of course, ejected eventually and they died in that gun battle as you mentioned.

BLITZER: All right. Interesting material. Thanks very much, David, for that. Where Saddam Hussein's sons were and went is only one item on the plate of the U.S. intelligence community. I spoke just a short time ago with the chairman of the House intelligence committee, Porter Goss, about that as well as today's devastating bomb attacks in Madrid. I asked if he thinks a London newspaper report linking al Qaeda to the multiple bombings may be credible.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. PORTER GOSS (R), FLORIDA: I think it is.

And, Wolf, this just points out the nature of the war on terrorism. I mean, as we sit here, any other number of things could be happening, too. It's constant, 24 hours, seven days a week. My guess is the al Qaeda people are trying to do a little cheerleading. Propaganda is part of terrorism. The psy-warfare piece of that is always in it.

This is an outlet, as I understand it, that has been used before for taking credit and, in some cases, it's turned out to be credible, that it was done for that reason, sort of showing off, showing muscle, that kind of stuff.

On the other hand, it could be just taking advantage of something that was already there. My guess is that, as this is beginning to unfold, the indicators are now beginning to show that this may have been al Qaeda in association with ETA doing the job or taking advantage of the ETA terrorist past there.

BLITZER: So there could be some sort of link, some sort of coordination?

GOSS: Oh, definitely.

BLITZER: Between ETA and al Qaeda or al Qaeda-associated groups?

GOSS: There certainly could be that kind of link. It's the kind of thing we were looking for in Iraq and in fact we've been concerned about in Iraq for many years, sometimes regard the Al-Ansar question in Iraq, that the networks work together. They aren't officially card-carrying members of each other's organizations, but they do work together. And that was the worry in Iraq. It's the worry in Spain. It's the worry here.

BLITZER: You can't rule out al Qaeda, though.

GOSS: I would not rule out al Qaeda. I would not rule anything else.

Part of the concern and the things we've been talking about in the intelligence community for some time is the amorphous nature of the global terrorist network and how one group can feed off another group. So it's very possible this is ETA-plus, plus al Qaeda or plus others. It's somewhat the same kind of thing we've been seeing in the Mideast in some of the tragedy that is going on there, too.

My view is that we should be keyed for a new approach, new ways that these terrorists strike. We need to be prepared to cooperate, share information. That is going on. But it shows, once again, this is a global war and they'll hit anywhere, any time.

BLITZER: Some U.S. sources, government sources telling me that because of the spectacular nature of the simultaneity of the attack, because Ayman al-Zawahiri, the No. 2 al Qaeda still on the loose, specifically mentioned Spain in his latest audiotape, which the CIA believes was authentic, it does suggest possibly it could be al Qaeda.

GOSS: There are certainly indicators that would say that we ought to make some of those assumptions. But, remember, we're not rushing to judgment in the intelligence community on the basis of connecting dots. We did that with WMD. We want to go a little more closely and more slowly and examine what's truly there. We've got an opportunity to do that. But you're right, the pattern is very, very suspiciously like al Qaeda.

BLITZER: How concerned should Americans be that this, God forbid, could happen here?

GOSS: Well, it's what we say every day.

I mean, very few Americans wake up and think, have a first thought to say, I'm an American, we're a nation at war. That's just not a thought that normally passes our mind early in the day and sometimes we probably go through a whole day without thinking that. We are a nation at war, however, and this could happen here.

It has not happened here because our intelligence agencies have been working very hard. Our law enforcement people have been working very hard. We're doing things differently. We're applying technology differently. We're arranging our capabilities to deal with terrorists differently. And, frankly, we're taking them out on their own turf. So we are doing a lot right. And our friends are joining us because they understand that what happened tragically in Spain today can happen to them. On a professional level around the world, the respect for the United States of America has never been stronger. Some will argue that our popularity has dissipated in some places. Respect has grown.

BLITZER: Is the U.S. getting closer to finding Osama bin Laden?

GOSS: Yes. I think we get closer every day. I think we tighten the noose every day. I think we make it hard for him every day.

But there are practical problems. One is the terrain that we've talked about many times, the weather, the conditions there.

BLITZER: Along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan?

GOSS: Where wee is right now is in that basically quadrant, no- man's land up in northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan.

The issue there is not to do so much so obviously that it would cause a problem with President Musharraf's difficult and delicate positions that he has to manage as president of Pakistan. On the other hand, we need to get to business and keep it business. And I think we're doing a very good job of that.

BLITZER: Would it help to send in a lot more special operations forces, hundreds, if not thousand of U.S. troops, to try to find this guy once and for all?

GOSS: No, I don't think so. I think that would create a target problem and a logistics problem and probably some international repercussions that would be difficult to deal with.

I think the right way to do it is with a rapid response, the kind of people who do these special activities for us. We have them. And I think that working on good information, getting that information, passing it along and having that rapid response capability is our best shot.

BLITZER: Did you see the story in the paper today that the sons of Saddam Hussein, Uday and Qusay, actually had gone to Syria, but were kicked out by Bashar Al Assad's regime and they were eventually killed in Mosul in that gunfight? I wonder if you could update our viewers on that.

GOSS: I did read the story in the papers today. And you've described it very well.

I don't know the veracity of all of that or the accuracy of all the details. I know that they're dead and they deserve to be. I don't know much more.

BLITZER: Is Syria doing everything it should be doing to help the U.S. in the war on terror, to seal off, if you will, the border with Iraq among other things?

GOSS: I think Syria is a country that is still making up its mind. I don't think that they're quite at a place where Libya is, where Gadhafi is, or Morocco or some of the other countries or Jordan, where they have clearly decided that their future lies with the West, not necessarily with our culture or religion. I don't suggest that. But their interests lie in a friendly relationship with the West.

I don't think Syria is there. Part of it is the new leadership. It's a next-generation leadership. I'm not sure that the capabilities of the leadership around the current president there are sufficient for him to go much further than he's gone. It's a delicate situation for him and the process is evolutionary there.

BLITZER: Finally, Mr. Chairman, there's been an arrest of a woman accused of spying for Iraq. What do you know about this case?

GOSS: Well, I do know there's been an indictment properly done. I've seen it. It's disturbing, you know, to think at this time that an American citizen would be willing, helping -- when we have American service people overseas helping the enemy apparently for money, is what the indictment says, is -- I mean, it's more than -- I can't explain it. I don't know how anybody could be in that position.

But remember everybody is innocent until proven guilty and there is a process here. I hope there is some explanation for this. But on the basis of the indictment I've seen, it looks just like plain old greed and terrible bad judgment and selling out our country. And, I mean, that is obviously not going to sit well with the people in New York, where I understand this thing is going to be tried, and nor should it sit well anywhere.

BLITZER: Thanks very much.

GOSS: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: There is breaking news coming in right now from the California Supreme Court on the issue of same-sex marriages. The court is ordering San Francisco to stop, stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples while it considers two cases challenging the city's actions.

More than 3,600 gay and lesbian couples have been given marriage licenses since February 12. The court is also ordering the city to show cause demonstrating that its actions did not exceed its authority. Once again, the California Supreme Court putting a stop to same-sex marriages in San Francisco, at least for now.

A new report shows a troubling trend, reported cases of rape dramatically rising in military ranks. Up next, I'll ask the commander of the U.S. Air Force in the Pacific about these alarming new figures.

Blood sport, now disciplinary action, when hockey turns hellish. We'll get to that.

First, though, a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Tasting freedom after more than two years. Five British detainees released this week from the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba are now fully free. The final four were turned over yesterday to British authorities, who let them go late in the day. Four other Britons remain in U.S. military custody.

A coalition spokesman in Baghdad says an autopsy concludes that renegade Palestinian terrorist Abul Abbas died of a heart attack. Abbas died Monday, almost 11 months after his capture by U.S. troops in Iraq.

South Korea's president remains defiant in the face of possible impeachment. He angered the opposition today by refusing to apologize for backing a breakaway party in April's upcoming parliamentary elections. An impeachment vote was put off until tomorrow because of disruptions in the National Assembly Hall.

And the world welcomes Jacob (ph). Under the watchful eye of his mother, the baby rhinoceros recently met the media in Berlin for the first time at the tender age of six days. His birth was a long time coming. The rhino gestation period is roughly 16 months.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: U.S. forces on a stealth mission in Northern Africa. Sources tell CNN a small American contingent is quietly helping military forces in Chad take on a Nigerian Islamic group which Washington considers to be a terrorist organization. There has been a running gun battle this week, but the sources say U.S. forces are not involved in combat, only providing communications, intelligence, and reconnaissance support to the Chad forces.

There are disturbing findings in a new report on sexual assault in the U.S. Air Force. The number of reported cases is rising and similarities among them are emerging.

Our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Investigators took a second look at 92 rape cases involving Air Force personnel in Korea, Japan and other Pacific bases over a three-year period and found youth and alcohol to be key factors; 34 rapes were reported in 2001, 17 in 2002, and then the number jumped to 41 in 2003, at a time when the latest civilian crime statistics show nationally rapes rising only about 4 four a year.

Air Force General William Begert, who ordered the review, wrote: "Too many sexual assaults have occurred and continue to occur throughout Pacific Air Forces," adding, "It's not a promising picture." The grim assessment comes as the Pentagon is reacting to a series of reports suggesting sexual assaults may be on the rise in the ranks.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: One cannot read the kinds of reports you're referring to and not have a deep concern about the armed forces, because we do hold ourselves to a higher standard.

MCINTYRE: A Pentagon study into how victims are treated is due out next month. But some trends are already clear.

As was the case at the Air Force Academy, most of the rapes occur in military dorms or private homes and involve people under 25 who know each other. About 60 percent of the time, alcohol is involved.

(on camera): The big unanswered question is whether something unique is happening in the military or whether it's simply a reflection of increased sexual assaults and alcohol abuse in society as a whole.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And just a short while ago, I spoke about the report with the man who commissioned it, General William Begert, the commander of the U.S. Air Force in the Pacific.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: General Begert, thanks very much for joining us.

Let's get right to the issue at hand, rape in the U.S. Air Force. You've been in the Air Force for more than three decades. How serious of a problem is this?

GEN. WILLIAM BEGERT, U.S. AIR FORCE: It's a very serious problem, Wolf. There's no minimizing the situation. The question is, how well are we going to deal with the situation?

BLITZER: Well, what's the problem right now? Why isn't the Air Force -- given the history of what has happened over these years, why isn't the Air Force doing a better job dealing with this issue based on the numbers that you released only within the past few days?

BEGERT: Well, the reason I asked for the study eight months ago was to take a look and see what we were really dealing with and get some factual information, so that we could assess what's the profile of what's happening, how are we doing handling the situation and taking care of the cases, how good is our victim assistance program, and then what can we do to minimize the incidents from happening and drive down the numbers?

And so I think we are being proactive. I have an action plan out there that I have sent out to all my commanders and we are doing something about it. BLITZER: It seems like a huge part of the problem is alcohol- related. Is that your bottom line as well?

BEGERT: It is. That's one of the main conclusions that we found out.

That was not immediately apparent to me as a commander as I've seen these incidents happen over time, was just how predominant a factor alcohol consumption is for both the subjects and, in too many cases, the victims.

BLITZER: Is there a need? What specifically can you do about alcohol? When troops, when Air Force personnel are off duty, they want to go have a beer. They want to have a drink. What happens? What can you do to ease that problem?

BEGERT: Well, I'm not anti-alcohol, per se. It is responsible alcohol consumption that we're looking for.

These people are predominantly under 25 years old. We need to educate them. We need to educate them about binge drinking and drinking alcohol to excess. And they're smart young people. I think, if we educate them, talk about responsible alcohol consumption, and then have commanders and 1st sergeants and others in the chain of command mentoring them, talking to them, leading them, I think we can drive these numbers down and drive down some of this binge drinking that's going on in our society and especially, for me, in the Air Force.

BLITZER: Another major problem was the way the military investigated the allegations, the incidents and dealt with the victims in these particular cases. This is a very important aspect of the investigation you ordered. What's going on on that front?

BEGERT: Well, one of the -- one of the insights that we got from the study that we did was that we were actually dealing with the cases themselves pretty well. When you compared how well we dealt with the subjects, the alleged perpetrators of these crimes, we were actually -- the commanders were doing a pretty good job prosecuting them, taking administrative action, court-martial action, etcetera.

What we were lacking is, we did not have a victim-assistance program that was as proactive as I would have liked it to be. We offered basically the victims information as to what was available for counseling and other assistance, but we weren't reaching out to them in the way that we really need to. We left the onus on them to seek help, not reaching out to them and getting them help. And that's the part that we're going to concentrate on now.

BLITZER: You're a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. There have been some highly publicized indents at the Air Force Academy, as you well know. Is this a unique problem that the Air Force has or do the other branches of the U.S. military, the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, have similar problems?

BEGERT: Wolf, I would refer you to a Pam Zubeck article in "The Colorado Springs Gazette" last Sunday.

And she's been very critical of the Air Force Academy and the Air Force. She tried to put this in the context of our society. And that's really where I come down on this. We have, according to her article, over a million rapes or attempted rapes a year in the American society. It is a societal-wide problem. It's not just the Air Force Academy. It's not just the Air Force. It is a societal problem.

We have a unique opportunity, I think, in the military to deal with these issues, get some insight, find out what works to lower these numbers and to help victims better and perhaps we can all be better off if we do our job properly. And that's really what I'm focused on, is trying to drive down these numbers and trying to help victims better and perhaps we can all be better off if we do our job properly. That's what I'm focused on, is trying to drive down these numbers and trying to help the victim in a better way than we have in the best.

BLITZER: General Begert, good luck to you and good luck to all the men and women in the Air Force.

BEGERT: Thanks, Wolf. Thanks very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: A powerful punch and an emotional apology.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BERTUZZI, NHL PLAYER: I don't play the game that way. I'm not a mean-spirited person. I'm sorry for what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Now the National Hockey League issues a hard-hitting punishment to the player involved in this fight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: This just coming in into CNN.

The Massachusetts legislature has narrowly -- actually, not so narrowly -- has broadly approved legislation that would allow a constitutional amendment in the state to go forward defining marriage as that being a union between a man and a woman. But, at the same time, it would provide for civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. The vote was 149-69. It wouldn't take effect until another approval next year.

The earlier it could take effect would be 2006. On May 17 of this year, though, gay marriage is supposed to go into effect, at least for the time being, in Massachusetts. We'll follow that store for you.

We're also following this other story, the fallout beginning to rain down in the aftermath of Vancouver Canuck Todd Bertuzzi's punch to Colorado's Steve Moore. Moore's still in the hospital after Bertuzzi is out for the rest of the NHL season. But that's just for starters.

Here's CNN's Steve Overmyer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE OVERMYER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Suspended for the rest of the season, including the playoffs, that's what Vancouver's Todd Bertuzzi received after punching Colorado's Steve Moore during a game on Monday. Moore sustained a fractured neck, but did not injury his spinal cord or nerves. Canucks general manager Brian Burke expressed sympathy for Moore, but was steadfast in his support for Bertuzzi, who has come under fire.

BRIAN BURKE, GENERAL MANAGER, VANCOUVER CANUCKS: It shouldn't be overlooked what an outstanding person this guy is, what an outstanding hockey player this guy is. Yes, he's been devastated by this entire incident. You're talking about a quality hockey play that made a mistake. And all of that seems to be going down the drain with some people in the media, and it's not fair.

OVERMYER: Some believe Bertuzzi was seeking retaliation for a hit Moore made on Canucks captain Marcus Naslund during a previous game. The hit was ruled to be clean, but Naslund missed three games with a concussion. Bertuzzi, the Canucks' second leading scorer, did not comment on the suspension, but he did issue an emotional apology on Wednesday.

BERTUZZI: I don't play the game that way. And I'm not a mean- spirited person. And I'm sorry for what happened.

OVERMYER: The last time the NHL received this much publicity for an on-ice incident does during the 2000 season. That's when Boston's Marty McSorley knocked out Vancouver's Donald Brashear with a stick. McSorley received a one-year suspension and was convicted of assault with a weapon, but he didn't serve any time. The NHL has been criticized over the years with too much violence, but the league says it has made the proper efforts to clean up their sport.

COLIN CAMPBELL, VICE PRESIDENT, NHL: I don't think it's an overall problem and I don't this one incident should -- should say or -- or introduce the fact that we've got a problem in our game.

OVERMYER: In addition to suspending Bertuzzi, which will cost him half-a-million in salary, the NHL often fined his club $250,000. Bertuzzi won't find out when he will be reinstated until next fall. In the meantime, he must also wait to find out if Vancouver authorities are going to press charges.

Steve Overmyer, CNN Sports.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And the results of our "Web Question of the Day" when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in our "Web Question of the Day." Take a look at this, remembering that this is not a scientific poll.

That's all the time we have right now. "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





Iraqi Regime>