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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

White House Faces Criticism Over 9/11 Commision Probe, Deliberations Continue in Tyco Trial, Grand Jury meets in Secrecy in Michael Jackson Case, Saddam Hussein Gets Defense Attorney.

Aired March 29, 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): 9/11 probe. The controversy over the testimony. Can the White House find a way out?

Motion denied. The jury must keep on trying in the Tyco trial.

Michael Jackson case. The wraps are off the search warrants and the grand jury gathers behind closed doors.

Defending a dictator. His client list has defended a Nazi war criminal and Carlos the Jackal.

JACQUES VERGES, ATTORNEY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) very loyal as a duty to defend people like you.

BLITZER: Can he help Saddam Hussein?

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Monday, March 29, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The controversy over the 9/11 investigation won't go away. It could be written off as a matter of he said/she said, but former Counterterrorism Chief Richard Clarke has given public testimony, and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has not.

Polls show the issue is already having an impact. Let's go live to senior White House correspondent John King -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And, Wolf, the polls showing this controversy is undermining what everyone thought and even many Democrats just a few weeks ago thought was a great asset for this president in his great reelection campaign, his leadership in the war on terrorism.

Take today, for example. Here on the south grounds of the White House just a short time ago, a ceremony, the president welcoming seven new countries into the NATO alliance. Seven countries that were once Soviet client states. Now joining the United States and NATO allies. The president, in his remarks, talking about the United States' role and the role for the NATO alliance in the war on terrorism.

But increasingly his stewardship on the war on terrorism, a campaign year question mark. Let's look at our new poll. The allegations last week by Richard Clarke, the former White House counterterrorism official, saying that President Bush is essentially asleep at switch, not paying enough attention to terrorism before 9/11.

Seventy percent of the American people are listening to those allegations, following it either very closely or somewhat closely. That raises obvious political stakes for this White House. And when asked who are they more likely believe, Richard Clarke who says the president is not paying enough attention to terrorism or the Bush White House who says for sure it was, the public is evenly divided.

All of this political controversy as the White House faces increasing pressure to have National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice testify or deliver some public statement before the 9/11 Commission. Dr. Rice says no, the White House says no on grounds of legal principle.

Political strategists in both parties, Wolf, think that is a mistake. But the White House says it is sticking by a strategy by which Dr. Rice will meet soon with family members of 9/11 victims and they're hoping to strike a deal which she will meet with the commission and that her remarks could be included in the commission's final report.

But as of now, Wolf, despite all the political pressure, the White House still says she will not testify in public.

BLITZER: John King, at the White House. Thanks, John, very much.

Condoleezza Rice for her part says that as a matter of principle national security advisers don't testify on matters of policy. But what does the record show?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Former President Bill Clinton's National Security Adviser Samuel Berger testified before Congress in 1997. On the agenda, allegations of illegal campaign fund raising practicing in the 1996 presidential election.

Former President Jimmy Carter's National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski also testified before Congress in 1980. On the agenda then, allegations the president's younger brother, Billy Carter, had tried to influence the government on behalf of Libya.

Those appearances by sitting national security advisers are being cited by 9/11 Commission members as precedence for Condoleezza Rice appearing before the commission now.

She says she'd love to do that but insists there's a huge difference.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: But this commission is rightly not concentrating on what happened of the day of September 11. So this is not a matter of what happened on that day as extraordinary as it is -- as it was. This is a matter of policy.

And we have yet to find an example of a national security adviser -- sitting national security adviser, who has been willing to testify on matters of policy.

BLITZER: Former Deputy Attorney General George Terwilliger, who served under the first President Bush, agrees that's an important difference, Noting that both Berger and Brzezinski testified on alleged criminal wrongdoing.

GEORGE TERWILLIGER, FRM. DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: The most important thins is neither was about an ongoing policy matter, let alone the prosecution of an ongoing war against terrorism.

BLITZER: Former Clinton White House Special Counsel Lanny Davis sees it very differently.

LANNY DAVIS, FRM. WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: Wolf, it's deja vu all over again. We made the same arguments in Clinton White House and surrendered and Sandy Berger testified on the China matter of campaign finance.

Sooner or later transparency wins over principle. You might as well do it sooner rather than later.

BLITZER: The White House insists issues of principle are at stake.

TERWILLIGER: This is an issue principles. Separation of powers is a constitutional dimension.

DAVIS: Voluntarily appearing in front of a congressional committee in public does not violate separation of powers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Clearly this debate is not going away. Indeed there is every reason to believe it will be front and center in the presidential campaign.

Speaking of politics, the Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry campaigned in Northern California today. National correspondent Bob Franken has been keeping track of his activities -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this was a day that was devoted to John Kerry's physical health and campaigns fiscal health.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: ... he's out in California today. John Kerry is combining campaign appearances with events that are sorely needed to provide the fuel for the campaign: money.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, thank you. FRANKEN: This appearance is being combined with the beginnings of a 20-state fund raising tour. It will come complete with Hollywood glitter, appearances by Ben Affleck and Leonardo DiCaprio, all aimed at carrying the $20 million Kerry's campaign believes it needs to take on the other side, which is busily involved in taking him out.

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Turns out John Kerry has voted in the Senate at least 350 times for higher taxes. That averages to one vote for higher taxes every three weeks for almost two decades.

FRANKEN: The Kerry campaign shot back. Like Bush, Cheney has no credibility to lecture anyone on the economy.

KERRY: ... with each attack, this administration is building up the truth deficit to go along with the jobs deficit and the fiscal deficit, and their international intelligence-gathering credibility deficit.

FRANKEN: Kerry had just returned to the campaign after vacation. But now, he's planning to take some sick days, actually rehab days after some elective shoulder surgery Wednesday.

And just to recycle the message that he's one healthy 60-year- old, Kerry made it a point to be seen riding his two-wheeler yesterday. He does this thing every once in a while.

But he did have the operation to remove his prostate last year in the early stages of cancer. So to try and preempt any talk of physical problems, his physician, Dr. Gerald Doyle, has just released an updated letter in which he describes Kerry as being in generally excellent health, no traces of cancer. Dr. Doyle says the prostate surgery was, quote, "very successful."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: This is all very important because President Bush likes to show off his physical fitness. So Kerry cannot allow himself to be outdone in what passes for a mid-life muscle flexing competition. After all, one has to be in good shape for a campaign slugfest -- Wolf.

BLITZER: To put it mildly. Bob Franken, thank you for that report.

A new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll suggests Kerry may be losing ground in the overall presidential contest. Senior political analyst Bill Schneider is looking over the numbers.

These are somewhat surprising, I suspect, Bill. Let's take a look at this. Likely voter, choice for president. Earlier this month, Bush was at 44 percent, now up to 51 percent. Kerry's gone down from 52 to 47 percent.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Whoa! People will look at those numbers and say, believe it or not, the controversy over Richard Clarke is producing a backlash in favor of President Bush. Not quite true. As John King reported earlier, the Clarke controversy is dividing Americans along partisan lines.

What's really happening is the Bush campaign set out to define John Kerry, and it looks like in those ads they're having some success.

BLITZER: And I suspect that the fact that John Kerry took a week off to do some R&R didn't necessarily help his overall image. While the president was out, he was out resting.

SCHNEIDER: The president was defining him and he's taking time off.

BLITZER: Let's take a look at this number. Would your taxes go up if Kerry is elected president? Some 58 percent of those responded said yes, 27 percent said no. I guess that's not necessarily good news for John Kerry.

SCHNEIDER: That's right, you just heard Dick Cheney a minute ago saying this man has voted to raise taxes any number of times, there have been ads making that assertion.

Kerry argues that he will only raise taxes on people earning over $200,000 a year. But in this poll we asked people do you think your own income taxes are going to go up? And every category at all income levels said yes, even those making under $30,000 a year.

BLITZER: Here's another question we asked. Has John Kerry changed his mind on issues for a political reasons? To which 57 percent, a clear majority say yes, 31 percent say no.

SCHNEIDER: Not at all. Remember this line from an ad, Kerry spoke in West Virginia, Bush put it in an ad. "I actually did vote," Kerry said, "for the $87 billion that was the defense budget, but before I voted against it." He shifted his position in one sentence, and Bush immediately threw that into an ad and created that perception which obviously is very widespread.

BLITZER: That ad is a pretty powerful Bush/Cheney ad against attacking John Kerry. It's obviously having somewhat of an impact. Thank you very much, Bill Schneider, for that.

And to our viewers, here's your chance to weigh in on the story. Our web question of the day is this, "should the White House waive its concerns about executive privilege and let Condoleezza Rice testify publicly before the 9/11 Commission." You can vote right now, go to CNN.com/wolf. We'll have the results later in this broadcast.

Mistrial request denied. A white collar criminal trial lives to see another day. Why a deadlocked jury and weekend controversy are not enough to derail the Tyco case. We'll get to that.

First a Nazi war criminal, now Saddam Hussein. The story behind the man defending Iraq's former dictator. Rockets and roots. They pay tribute to NASA. Now they pay tribute to the blues. I'll speak live with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith. They're coming up on this broadcast.

First, today's news quiz. "What was the first song Steven Tyler and Joe Perry wrote together. "Dream On," "Moving Out," "Mama Kin," "Walk This Way." The answer coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Jury deliberation apparently are back on track in the trial of former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski, but the future of the closely-watched six-month-old case was in doubt up until just a few hours ago. CNN's Allan Chernoff is in New York, he joins us with the latest. Allan, what is the latest?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it was back to business for the jury in the Tyco case today as the jury examined exhibits related to the charges of grand larceny and falsifying business documents, against Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz, the former top two executives of Tyco International.

Earlier in the day, the judge did deny a motion for mistrial. The judge saying it would be inappropriate and adding that he does not want to allow what appears in the newspapers to influence what happens in his courtroom. Over the weekend, the "New York Post" and the "Wall Street Journal" online identified juror No. 4, who apparently has been the holdout among the jurors. This juror on Friday flashed an OK signal to the defense table as she walked by, and the judge asked the juror all about that, and the juror said nothing has happened that would prevent me from continuing to deliberate in good faith. The judge took that answer, and said, let's go on. So, deliberations have now concluded for the eighth day, Wolf, in a trial that started exactly six months ago.

BLITZER: Allan Chernoff reporting with the latest from New York. Thank you very much.

Our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin has been closely following the developments in this case, he joins us live from New York as well. What do you make? Is there a realistic chance, based on what you know, that this jury will come up with a verdict?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think there is a chance, Wolf. It's worth remembering that after all the chaos of the weekend, this was a fairly normal day of deliberation. The jury sent notes asking to see exhibits, hear testimony, they did not act like a deadlocked jury today. They indicated last week they were having problems, that there was one juror they said was not deliberating in good faith. But today, they did deliberate, like a normal jury. So there does seem to be at least a chance this jury will reach a verdict.

BLITZER: Based on what you know about juries and defendants, how unusual is it for a member of a jury to signal one way or the other the defense before a verdict obviously is reached?

TOOBIN: Completely unusual. I have never heard of that kind of gesture in the course of jury deliberations. I've heard of lawyers who'd wound up marrying members of the jury later, but that's only after the jury has reached its verdict and they get to know each other. I've never seen a signal like this from a juror to a defendant. You can see why the judge was concerned. The judge did the cautious, right thing. He interviewed the juror and satisfied himself that there was nothing going on there that could prevent her from reaching a verdict, and deliberations seem to be back on track.

BLITZER: How unusual is it for newspapers to publish the name of a juror in a high-profile case like this?

TOOBIN: Again, very, very unusual while the jury is still out. We at CNN have made a decision not to identify this juror. I can see why other news outlets have reached a different conclusion. This juror, by making this peculiar gesture has separated herself, she has done a newsworthy thing in a newsworthy case. She has become essentially a different kind of juror, so the usual tradition of not identifying jurors, I can see why some news outlets might want to break that rule. They've chosen to -- they've chosen to identify her, very unusual. It was one of the grounds for a mistrial. If there is conviction, it will be grounds for appeal. My sense is it won't be grounds for a successful appeal.

BLITZER: This is by no means a slam-dunk case in favor of the prosecution, is it?

TOOBIN: No, that's a fair point. It is very much worth making that because of the eccentricity of this woman's gesture, some people may think this is a slam-dunk case for the prosecution, and she's just some nut who's holding out. This was a very clear, very articulate defense in this case, where the defendant said, look, we did make a lot of money but every penny was authorized by the board. This was simply a case -- we were being paid a lot of money. The company went bad and we're now being made scapegoats. I'm not sure that's a good defense. I'm not sure the jury will buy it. It was a reasonable defense. One of the defendants, Mr. Swartz, the lesser known defendant, he testified at trial. This is a real defense, and the fact that one or more jurors is taking it seriously is not evidence of any sort of insanity on their part.

BLITZER: All right, we'll continue to watch a few more days, see what happens? Jeffrey Toobin will watch with us. Thank you very much.

TOOBIN: OK.

BLITZER: A triple challenge is launched against a certain late- term abortion ban. Details on new legal battles underway today. We'll get to that.

Plus a deadly decision. The Pentagon says it now knows what caused the worst friendly fire incident in the Iraq war. Ten U.S. marines were killed. Evidence against the king of pop. The Michael Jackson child molestation case enters a brand-new phase, we're live from Santa Barbara.

And no more puffing in the pubs. Why it's lights out for a favorite Irish tradition.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A new round of battles over abortion is underway. Three suits in three states challenging a law banning a controversial type of late-term abortion. Our justice correspondent Kelli Arena is here with the story -- Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the legal battle started even before this ban was signed into law. Opponents charged that the so-called partial-birth abortion ban is unconstitutional because it doesn't make an exception for a woman's health and it's too vague.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The law itself is a name that doesn't exist. There is no -- a procedure that is being banned. It is a wide range of the safest and most commonly used abortion procedures, and that's one of the big problems with the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: But the government says that that's simply not true. That the ban is very specific.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGLAS JOHNSON, NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE COMMITTEE: There is nothing in the Constitution that says that the American people have to permit a procedure in which a premature infant in the fifth or sixth month of pregnancy is delivered feet first, alive, and has her skull punctured.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: What's more, government lawyers say there is no proof the procedure is ever medically necessary. These trials are expected to last several weeks, and regardless of the outcome, legal experts expect this to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. We'll watch this over the next several weeks, months, maybe years. Thank you very much, Kelli, for that.

Another case drawing lots of interest, that of Michael Jackson accused of child molestation, a grand jury in Santa Barbara, California is taking up the case under a heavy cloak of secrecy. CNN's Miguel Marquez is in Santa Barbara, he joins us now live with details -- Miguel. MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, although those secret proceedings are typically held in secret, this one is far more than normal. Typically, the grand jury meets here at the Santa Barbara Supreme Court building. And they have not been meeting here today because the judge -- a judge has decided to hold it off-site from here. CNN has confirmed that the grand jurors will meet four times this week with the exception of Wednesday. They will hear testimony against Michael Joe Jackson.

One of those types of testimony they'll hear, certainly, is testimony from possible victims. It has been reported that the now 14-year-old accuser in Mr. Jackson's current case may testify. It's also been reported that Mr. Jackson's accuser from his '93 case may testify. One other thing we're likely to see here or the jurors are likely to hear is evidence from many search warrants obtained over the last several months. 18 search warrants in all everywhere from Neverland Ranch to private investigators' offices to storage units have been searched.

Investigators indicating in the last affidavit for a search warrant that they're seek unedited videotape to try to establish a relationship between Mr. Jackson and any possible victim or victims. Talked to Mr. Geragos today, Mr. Jackson's attorney, and he says he would love to be able to tell us what he thinks of the grand jury proceedings. He feels he is barred from talking because of a gag order in the criminal proceedings. By the way, the next hearing in the criminal proceedings is this Friday in Santa Maria. If Mr. Jackson is indicted by the grand jury, it could be the case we could be up in Santa Maria sometime again in the next several weeks for Mr. Jackson to be arraigned again -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Miguel Marquez reporting from Santa Barbara. Thank you very much.

He's been held by the U.S. for more than three months. Now the former dictator gets a lawyer. Up next, Saddam Hussein's new attorney. A man who's no stranger to notorious notables.

Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The prime minister is expected to resign if he is indicted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Blamed for bribery. Could Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon be forced to step down. A new scandal spells political limbo for Mr. Sharon.

And on a new tour but still finding time to support U.S. troops. I'll talk live with the frontmen of Aerosmith on their new musical mission.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ANNOUNCER: From our studios in Washington, once again, Wolf Blitzer.

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

Defending Saddam Hussein. The former dictator's new lawyer lays out his legal strategy. We'll get to that.

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

In Massachusetts, lawmakers approve a reworked version of a proposed constitutional amendment that that would ban same-sex marriages. The bill would simultaneously ban gay marriages, while legalizing civil unions. The measure would have to go through several more steps before the public could vote on it.

Americans are being warned to be careful and avoid public places in Uzbekistan. Explosions linked to Islamic militants today and yesterday have killed at least 19 people and wounded 26 others. The United States embassy issued its warning even though it knows of no specific threats against Americans.

The investigation of the worst attack on the United Nations shows the organization may have gone back into Iraq without doing enough about security. The probe was prompted by last August's deadly bombing of the U.N.'s Baghdad headquarters.

A French attorney with a background of representing notorious clients, including a Nazi war criminal, is taking on his next case. Jacques Verges says he's taking on the case of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

The brief on Verges from CNN's Jennifer Coggiola -- Jennifer.

JENNIFER COGGIOLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, with a 50-year career as a defense attorney, 79-year-old Jacques Verges will now add ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to his list of infamous clientele.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COGGIOLA (voice-over): Through a letter from his nephew, the ousted Iraqi leader appointed Jacques Verges to defend him against charges which could genocide and crimes against humanity. And the newly appointed attorney had a message for the U.S.: innocent until proven guilty.

JACQUES VERGES, ATTORNEY FOR SADDAM HUSSEIN: In a democratic country, everybody has a right to be defended, and every lawyer has a duty to defend people accused.

COGGIOLA: Verges made the comments in an interview with CNN's Bill Hemmer. No stranger to a controversial clientele, he's been willing to represent the infamous, including Nazi Klaus Barbie, convicted of committing crime against humanity in 1987, and Carlos the Jackal, one of the world's most notorious terrorists. He already represents Tariq Aziz, the former deputy prime minister of Iraq. To defend Saddam Hussein, Verges has said he will call Western leaders to the stand. And to CNN's Bill Hemmer, he charges, the U.S. and Britain sold the weapons of mass destruction to Iraq Saddam Hussein is likely to be accused of using.

VERGES: The main accusation is to have in his possession, to have had mass destruction weapons and eventually to have used them. But who says this to him? The United States and England and the man who was the representative for this bargain, for this market, for this deal is called Mr. Rumsfeld.

COGGIOLA: Hussein, arrested December 13, is currently held by the U.S.-led coalition at an undisclosed location in Iraq. No trial date has been set.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COGGIOLA: Now, the prosecution team in Iraq, which consists of 50 lawyers, investigators and members from the Justice Department, has begun to organize and sort through any evidence that could be used against Saddam, including any used in past war crime tribunals against former leaders -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jennifer Coggiola -- thanks, Deborah, very much.

The entire Bill Hemmer interview, by the way, with Verges can be seen tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING." That's right here on CNN 7:00 a.m. Eastern.

Israel's Ariel Sharon will visit Washington next month to present his plan for a pullout from Gaza. But will the prime minister of Israel have to pull out of his own government? An Israeli state prosecutor wants Mr. Sharon indicted for bribery, and now, the Israeli Supreme Court has ordered his son to cooperate with corruption probes.

CNN's Paula Hancocks reports from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ariel Sharon's political career could rest in the hands of this man. Israeli attorney general Menachem Mazuz should decide in about a month if there is sufficient evidence to indict Sharon on bribery charges.

The Israeli Supreme Court ordered Sharon's son Gilad to hand over tapes and documents related to the investigation. Ariel Sharon refuses to comment on the possible changes hanging over him, ignoring calls for his resignation.

YOSSI BEILIN, YAHAD PARTY LEADER: If there is a decision of the attorney general to indict the prime minister for bribery, there is no other option for him than to resign.

HANCOCKS: When the scandal dubbed the Greek island affair first emerged, Sharon denied wrongdoing. In the late 1990s, an Israeli businessman, David Appel, paid Sharon's son hundreds of thousands of dollars as an adviser on a property deal in Greece. There are allegations that Sharon, who was foreign minister at the time, used his influence to help the deal.

ZE'EV SEGAL, TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY: According to our former specific law, the prime minister will not have to resign until a conviction.

But according to some judgments of our supreme court regarding ministers, and according to let us say public morals, a prime minister is expected to resign if he is indicted.

HANCOCKS: Some members of Sharon's Likud Party say an investigation is a far cry from the guilty verdict.

YUVAL STEINITZ, LIKUD MEMBER OF KNESSET: Let's remember that in the last ten years, many senior Israeli politicians came under a criminal investigation and usually, there was nothing there. Usually, they were totally cleared. Let's hope that this is a case, in this case as well.

HANCOCKS (on camera): This latest controversy could not have come at a worst time for Sharon. He's due to travel to Washington on April 14 to show his disengagement plans from Gaza to George Bush.

U.S. approval is essential. But many here say it could be trickier to secure if Sharon is in political limbo.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: A political blunder of the first order, that's one commissioner calls Condoleezza Rice's refusal to testify publicly under and oath before the 9/11 panel. Could it have political ramifications for the White House? I'll ask the former Defense Secretary William Cohen.

Rallying against Rove. President Bush's top adviser gets an unwelcome visit from hundreds of protesters.

And Wisconsin wipeout. The state is dealt a deluge like none have seen for a long time. We'll get to all of that.

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Many experts are calling it the first South Atlantic hurricane on record. Wind and rain attacked the coast of Southern Brazil, destroying hundreds of home, toppling trees and power lines and claiming at least two lives.

North and South; 100 elderly South Koreans were allowed to travel to North Korea for emotional reunions with long-lost family members. In many cases, they hadn't seen or talked to each other since Korea was divided more than half a century ago.

Put them out. A ban on smoking in public places has gone into effect in Ireland. It even applies to pubs, and it's apparently driving Irish smokers to desperate measures. Government agencies have been inundated with requests for nicotine patches and counseling.

Yankee invasion. Yanks have landed in Tokyo, the New York baseball version. The New York Yankees played an exhibition game against the Japanese team today, and they'll play Major League Baseball's regular season opener in Tokyo tomorrow against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

And that's our look around the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: It was the worst friendly-fire incident of the Iraq war, and it happened on the deadliest day of the war for U.S. forces just over a year ago. Now investigators have assigned a measure of blame for the tragedy.

Let's go live to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: And, Wolf, the investigation finds that a Marine captain who called in the airstrikes bears the brunt of the responsibility. But some of his fellow Marines don't think that he should bear all the blame.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (voice-over): As Marines from Charlie Company fought to secure a key supply route through Nasiriyah, the battle took a tragic turn. Pinned down by enemy fire, the Marines were attacked by U.S. Air Force A-10s by mistake. The eyewitness account of Staff Sergeant Lonnie Parker was given to a Marine historian and broadcast recently by NPR.

STAFF SERGEANT LONNIE PARKER, U.S. MARINE CORPS: It liked like an A-10. It just made a straight run right across all through there, right across the body. It was just all three bodies laid out in the straight line.

MCINTYRE: Investigators faulted a Marine captain far from the action who called in the A-10 strikes, unaware Charlie Company had pushed ahead of his unit. The two A-10s made multiple passes over a group of vehicles, dropping bombs, firing missiles and strafing with their tank-busting 30-millimeter canons.

As many as 10 Marines were killed. But because a total of 18 Marines died in the battle and some had wounds from both enemy and friendly-fire, the exact number of fratricide victims is unknown.

TINA CLINE, WIDOW OF CPL. DONALD CLINE: Everything is left unknown, and you just have to come to your own conclusion what you want to believe. MCINTYRE: That has left Tina Cline, widow of Corporal Donald Cline, still looking for closure.

CLINE: This actually I think has brought me to a new level of my grieving, and it's the angry stage.

MCINTYRE: While the Air Force was absolved of blame, some in the Marine Corps question why the pilots weren't better trained to spot friendly vehicles, why they failed to see cease-fire flares fired by the Marines, and why the cockpit videotapes of the incident disappeared, apparently recorded over. Some of the Marines were bitter, too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: The Marine captain who called in the deadly strikes could now face discipline for violating a standing order that required proper authorization for those strikes. It was an order designed specifically to prevent this kind of tragedy -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon -- thanks, Jamie very much, a tragic story indeed.

More now on our top story. Can the White House find some sort of way to end to the embarrassment over the 9/11 investigation? Can the nation find the answers to what went wrong?

Joining us now, the former defense secretary, our world affairs analyst, William Cohen.

Mr. Secretary, thanks very much for joining us.

You speak with unique perspective. As a former member of Congress, you were a member of the Watergate investigation, Iran- Contra investigation, as well as a form member of the executive branch. Should the White House allow Condoleezza Rice to testify?

WILLIAM COHEN, CNN WORLD AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I think the White House is on solid ground when it comes to the power of the executive branch, namely invoking executive privilege.

They have done so with respect to the composition of the group that met with Vice President Cheney and have fought any disclosure of the meeting of that commission or that meeting all the way to the Supreme Court. So it's clear that they feel very strongly about executive privilege.

On the politics of it, the ground is much less firm, and I think they'll probably wait to see how much of an erosion there is to the presidential popularity as this unfolds before they make a final decision. Right now, they're going to hold firm, from what I can determine, to say that she's not going to testify in public under oath.

BLITZER: All right, right now, our latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll that came out today showed the American public roughly evenly split whether or not she should go ahead and testify publicly under oath. The politics, though, as you say, could force the White House to come up with some sort of creative compromise?

COHEN: Well, the creative compromise would involve some way of carving out this as an exception.

This was a transformational experience in our lifetime. Never has there been this kind of devastation visited upon -- directly upon us in this way. And so I think you can carve out an exception saying, even this is not a criminal act involved, this is not a scandal as such involving a crime, nevertheless, it involves something that is very fundamental to the security of this country. It is unique, and we can say it's unique and not be forced in the future to say, well, you did it for this investigation, therefore, the concept of executive privilege and power is diminished.

I think they can carve out an exception, depending upon, again, what the impact is upon the president's ratings.

BLITZER: And I'm sure the White House is thinking, Condoleezza Rice is one of the more compelling members of the administration, very articulate, knows everything about national security in this administration. She presumably would make a very, very effective witness for the president.

COHEN: She's at a handicap. You can't have dual "60 Minutes" sessions and then have another member go forward and make very compelling testimony before the commission itself. Now, the commission members, the chairman and the vice chairman, both very solid, middle-of-the-road, bipartisan in their entire careers, both I think very feel strongly that she should come forward.

Secretary Lehman, former secretary of the Navy, feels strongly she should come forward. So I think that there is bipartisan support for her congressman forward. This is not a Republican vs. Democratic issue. And I think that the White House will just simply have to take it into account as the days come to unfold.

BLITZER: In fact, it's unanimous on all the commissioners, all the Republicans and Democratic members.

Let's switch gears and talk a little bit about Iraq and Afghanistan. You saw the president earlier today meeting with these new NATO ministers from some of the new countries that have been admitted into NATO. Is there a moment now where NATO can become involved in helping the U.S. in Iraq?

COHEN: I think there was some momentum until the incident that took place in Spain with the blowing up of the trains. There was growing momentum to say, even on the part of the Germans, for example, to say, well, if there's a consensus to move forward involving NATO into Iraq, we will not object. That was quite a shift in policy and statement.

There was momentum to say, the NATO members should go from Afghanistan and help out in Iraq. That would have been a very positive development. Now, whether or not Spain and its decision most recently is going to undercut that or whether or not the new members coming in will lend momentum to helping support a NATO consensus remains to be seen. I would hope so.

BLITZER: Secretary Cohen, thanks very much for joining us.

COHEN: Pleasure.

BLITZER: When we come back, we'll switch gears. A legendary rock band is getting back to its roots and giving back to United States troops. I'll speak live with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry about those efforts and their new album. We'll get to all of that.

First, some stories you may have missed this past weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Several hundred community activists took their protests to the front yard of senior White House adviser Karl Rove's house yesterday. They're backing a bill that would help undocumented immigrants legalize their status and qualify for in-state college tuition.

Weekend floodwaters are starting to recede in Wisconsin. Roads in the Antigo area remained closed. So did schools. Melting snow and rain caused what the police chief says was the worst flooding in 40 years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Launch, launch, launch!

BLITZER: NASA met its need for speed Saturday, setting a record of Mach 7, about 5,000 miles an hour, with an unmanned aircraft.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Supersonic.

BLITZER: The X-43-A ramjet used air for fuel as it streaked to just over seven times over seven times the speed of sound.

In NCAA tournament action overt weekend, Duke heads to the final four for the 14th team by beating Xavier. The Blue Devils will face Connecticut, who got to the semifinals by crushing Alabama. In the other matchup, Georgia Tech advanced with an overtime win over Kansas. The Yellow Jackets will take on Oklahoma State, winners over St. Joseph's.

And that's our weekend snapshot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Earlier we asked, what was the first song Steven Tyler and Joe Perry wrote together. The answer, "Moving Out." Appearing on their debut album, "Moving Out" was the first of Tyler-Perry compositions. The song was inspired by a near eviction at the band's apartment.

Once the baddest of the rock music world's bad boys, Aerosmith is now back on tour. Their new C.D., a set of blues covers and a new original song, is out tomorrow. Before tomorrow night's show in Pensacola, Florida, the band is spending time with members of the United States military stationed in the area. They're also spending some time with us.

Joining us now live, the singer, Steven Tyler, the lead guitarist, Joe Perry.

Guys, thank you very much. Congratulations on the new C.D. We'll talk about that in a moment.

But what made you decide to go meet with some of the troops?

Steven.

STEVEN TYLER, LEAD SINGER, AEROSMITH: We've been affiliated with some of the black ops. And, basically, because there's -- if anything happen to any of those guys, there's not a lot set up for their families and for their children. So we've kind of embraced that and tip our hat towards them as much we can, being on the tail of a comet out here, doing this "Honkin' on Bobo" tour. So this was a rare chance, because the base is right here, to invite them all over and say hello again.

BLITZER: How important is it to you, Joe, to meet with these guys?

JOE PERRY, LEAD GUITARIST, AEROSMITH: Well, I think they don't get a chance to get thanked enough. They're the real heroes out there holding the line for us.

And every chance we get, we try and -- we'll go to some base or a hospital or anything we can do, and we kind of leave the cameras behind. We let the families know that we're going to go. And, obviously, for their personal use, we let cameras come in, but we don't like to bring like news cameras and things like that, because we don't feel like it's the kind of thing we want to make a big to-do about. It's really just us personally thanking these guys for doing what they do.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Steven, I also always have been told you are pretty interested in NASA and space exploration. Talk a little bit about that.

TYLER: Well, having lived on the dark side of the moon for so many years, it's just a natural in.

We went down there to do, for the Super Bowl, a little stunt jumping out of the space station. And so we got a chance to hang out with some astronauts and do some simulator flying. And it's just a hoot. What else is there to do? PERRY: You know, we grew up in that era when, you know, we saw the guys landing on the moon and all that, so we have that feeling.

Again, the astronauts, these guys are real heroes. They're out there risking their lives doing this all the time. And it's kind of -- back in those days, there seemed to be a lot more romance involved and people paying more attention to it. And any time we can help call attention to the fact they're out there doing this, we like to do it. And also personally, for ourselves, it's fun to watch them do it.

BLITZER: Steven, now tell me about this new C.D.

TYLER: Well, it's entitled "Honkin' on Bobo." It's right here. And it was originally done -- the original idea came up for us to not do a studio album, write songs, but to pay a little tribute to our blues roots.

And once we started bluesing out, we started rocking out. And one thing led to another and it was "Road Runner" and just a bunch of real good rock 'n' roll song. So it's turned and morphed into what we're really all about, and we're happy about that.

BLITZER: Congratulations to both of you. I can't wait to listen to it, like I'm sure millions of our viewers out there getting ready to rock 'n' roll with Aerosmith.

Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, thanks to both of you for joining us.

TYLER: Thanks you, Wolf.

PERRY: Thanks a lot.

BLITZER: Good luck to both of you on the tour.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: And the results of our hot "Web Question of the Day," that's coming up next.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

A reminder, we're on weekdays 5:00 p.m. Eastern, as well as noon Eastern.

I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

"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


Aired March 29, 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): 9/11 probe. The controversy over the testimony. Can the White House find a way out?

Motion denied. The jury must keep on trying in the Tyco trial.

Michael Jackson case. The wraps are off the search warrants and the grand jury gathers behind closed doors.

Defending a dictator. His client list has defended a Nazi war criminal and Carlos the Jackal.

JACQUES VERGES, ATTORNEY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) very loyal as a duty to defend people like you.

BLITZER: Can he help Saddam Hussein?

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Monday, March 29, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The controversy over the 9/11 investigation won't go away. It could be written off as a matter of he said/she said, but former Counterterrorism Chief Richard Clarke has given public testimony, and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has not.

Polls show the issue is already having an impact. Let's go live to senior White House correspondent John King -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And, Wolf, the polls showing this controversy is undermining what everyone thought and even many Democrats just a few weeks ago thought was a great asset for this president in his great reelection campaign, his leadership in the war on terrorism.

Take today, for example. Here on the south grounds of the White House just a short time ago, a ceremony, the president welcoming seven new countries into the NATO alliance. Seven countries that were once Soviet client states. Now joining the United States and NATO allies. The president, in his remarks, talking about the United States' role and the role for the NATO alliance in the war on terrorism.

But increasingly his stewardship on the war on terrorism, a campaign year question mark. Let's look at our new poll. The allegations last week by Richard Clarke, the former White House counterterrorism official, saying that President Bush is essentially asleep at switch, not paying enough attention to terrorism before 9/11.

Seventy percent of the American people are listening to those allegations, following it either very closely or somewhat closely. That raises obvious political stakes for this White House. And when asked who are they more likely believe, Richard Clarke who says the president is not paying enough attention to terrorism or the Bush White House who says for sure it was, the public is evenly divided.

All of this political controversy as the White House faces increasing pressure to have National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice testify or deliver some public statement before the 9/11 Commission. Dr. Rice says no, the White House says no on grounds of legal principle.

Political strategists in both parties, Wolf, think that is a mistake. But the White House says it is sticking by a strategy by which Dr. Rice will meet soon with family members of 9/11 victims and they're hoping to strike a deal which she will meet with the commission and that her remarks could be included in the commission's final report.

But as of now, Wolf, despite all the political pressure, the White House still says she will not testify in public.

BLITZER: John King, at the White House. Thanks, John, very much.

Condoleezza Rice for her part says that as a matter of principle national security advisers don't testify on matters of policy. But what does the record show?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Former President Bill Clinton's National Security Adviser Samuel Berger testified before Congress in 1997. On the agenda, allegations of illegal campaign fund raising practicing in the 1996 presidential election.

Former President Jimmy Carter's National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski also testified before Congress in 1980. On the agenda then, allegations the president's younger brother, Billy Carter, had tried to influence the government on behalf of Libya.

Those appearances by sitting national security advisers are being cited by 9/11 Commission members as precedence for Condoleezza Rice appearing before the commission now.

She says she'd love to do that but insists there's a huge difference.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: But this commission is rightly not concentrating on what happened of the day of September 11. So this is not a matter of what happened on that day as extraordinary as it is -- as it was. This is a matter of policy.

And we have yet to find an example of a national security adviser -- sitting national security adviser, who has been willing to testify on matters of policy.

BLITZER: Former Deputy Attorney General George Terwilliger, who served under the first President Bush, agrees that's an important difference, Noting that both Berger and Brzezinski testified on alleged criminal wrongdoing.

GEORGE TERWILLIGER, FRM. DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: The most important thins is neither was about an ongoing policy matter, let alone the prosecution of an ongoing war against terrorism.

BLITZER: Former Clinton White House Special Counsel Lanny Davis sees it very differently.

LANNY DAVIS, FRM. WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: Wolf, it's deja vu all over again. We made the same arguments in Clinton White House and surrendered and Sandy Berger testified on the China matter of campaign finance.

Sooner or later transparency wins over principle. You might as well do it sooner rather than later.

BLITZER: The White House insists issues of principle are at stake.

TERWILLIGER: This is an issue principles. Separation of powers is a constitutional dimension.

DAVIS: Voluntarily appearing in front of a congressional committee in public does not violate separation of powers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Clearly this debate is not going away. Indeed there is every reason to believe it will be front and center in the presidential campaign.

Speaking of politics, the Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry campaigned in Northern California today. National correspondent Bob Franken has been keeping track of his activities -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this was a day that was devoted to John Kerry's physical health and campaigns fiscal health.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: ... he's out in California today. John Kerry is combining campaign appearances with events that are sorely needed to provide the fuel for the campaign: money.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, thank you. FRANKEN: This appearance is being combined with the beginnings of a 20-state fund raising tour. It will come complete with Hollywood glitter, appearances by Ben Affleck and Leonardo DiCaprio, all aimed at carrying the $20 million Kerry's campaign believes it needs to take on the other side, which is busily involved in taking him out.

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Turns out John Kerry has voted in the Senate at least 350 times for higher taxes. That averages to one vote for higher taxes every three weeks for almost two decades.

FRANKEN: The Kerry campaign shot back. Like Bush, Cheney has no credibility to lecture anyone on the economy.

KERRY: ... with each attack, this administration is building up the truth deficit to go along with the jobs deficit and the fiscal deficit, and their international intelligence-gathering credibility deficit.

FRANKEN: Kerry had just returned to the campaign after vacation. But now, he's planning to take some sick days, actually rehab days after some elective shoulder surgery Wednesday.

And just to recycle the message that he's one healthy 60-year- old, Kerry made it a point to be seen riding his two-wheeler yesterday. He does this thing every once in a while.

But he did have the operation to remove his prostate last year in the early stages of cancer. So to try and preempt any talk of physical problems, his physician, Dr. Gerald Doyle, has just released an updated letter in which he describes Kerry as being in generally excellent health, no traces of cancer. Dr. Doyle says the prostate surgery was, quote, "very successful."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: This is all very important because President Bush likes to show off his physical fitness. So Kerry cannot allow himself to be outdone in what passes for a mid-life muscle flexing competition. After all, one has to be in good shape for a campaign slugfest -- Wolf.

BLITZER: To put it mildly. Bob Franken, thank you for that report.

A new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll suggests Kerry may be losing ground in the overall presidential contest. Senior political analyst Bill Schneider is looking over the numbers.

These are somewhat surprising, I suspect, Bill. Let's take a look at this. Likely voter, choice for president. Earlier this month, Bush was at 44 percent, now up to 51 percent. Kerry's gone down from 52 to 47 percent.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Whoa! People will look at those numbers and say, believe it or not, the controversy over Richard Clarke is producing a backlash in favor of President Bush. Not quite true. As John King reported earlier, the Clarke controversy is dividing Americans along partisan lines.

What's really happening is the Bush campaign set out to define John Kerry, and it looks like in those ads they're having some success.

BLITZER: And I suspect that the fact that John Kerry took a week off to do some R&R didn't necessarily help his overall image. While the president was out, he was out resting.

SCHNEIDER: The president was defining him and he's taking time off.

BLITZER: Let's take a look at this number. Would your taxes go up if Kerry is elected president? Some 58 percent of those responded said yes, 27 percent said no. I guess that's not necessarily good news for John Kerry.

SCHNEIDER: That's right, you just heard Dick Cheney a minute ago saying this man has voted to raise taxes any number of times, there have been ads making that assertion.

Kerry argues that he will only raise taxes on people earning over $200,000 a year. But in this poll we asked people do you think your own income taxes are going to go up? And every category at all income levels said yes, even those making under $30,000 a year.

BLITZER: Here's another question we asked. Has John Kerry changed his mind on issues for a political reasons? To which 57 percent, a clear majority say yes, 31 percent say no.

SCHNEIDER: Not at all. Remember this line from an ad, Kerry spoke in West Virginia, Bush put it in an ad. "I actually did vote," Kerry said, "for the $87 billion that was the defense budget, but before I voted against it." He shifted his position in one sentence, and Bush immediately threw that into an ad and created that perception which obviously is very widespread.

BLITZER: That ad is a pretty powerful Bush/Cheney ad against attacking John Kerry. It's obviously having somewhat of an impact. Thank you very much, Bill Schneider, for that.

And to our viewers, here's your chance to weigh in on the story. Our web question of the day is this, "should the White House waive its concerns about executive privilege and let Condoleezza Rice testify publicly before the 9/11 Commission." You can vote right now, go to CNN.com/wolf. We'll have the results later in this broadcast.

Mistrial request denied. A white collar criminal trial lives to see another day. Why a deadlocked jury and weekend controversy are not enough to derail the Tyco case. We'll get to that.

First a Nazi war criminal, now Saddam Hussein. The story behind the man defending Iraq's former dictator. Rockets and roots. They pay tribute to NASA. Now they pay tribute to the blues. I'll speak live with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith. They're coming up on this broadcast.

First, today's news quiz. "What was the first song Steven Tyler and Joe Perry wrote together. "Dream On," "Moving Out," "Mama Kin," "Walk This Way." The answer coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Jury deliberation apparently are back on track in the trial of former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski, but the future of the closely-watched six-month-old case was in doubt up until just a few hours ago. CNN's Allan Chernoff is in New York, he joins us with the latest. Allan, what is the latest?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it was back to business for the jury in the Tyco case today as the jury examined exhibits related to the charges of grand larceny and falsifying business documents, against Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz, the former top two executives of Tyco International.

Earlier in the day, the judge did deny a motion for mistrial. The judge saying it would be inappropriate and adding that he does not want to allow what appears in the newspapers to influence what happens in his courtroom. Over the weekend, the "New York Post" and the "Wall Street Journal" online identified juror No. 4, who apparently has been the holdout among the jurors. This juror on Friday flashed an OK signal to the defense table as she walked by, and the judge asked the juror all about that, and the juror said nothing has happened that would prevent me from continuing to deliberate in good faith. The judge took that answer, and said, let's go on. So, deliberations have now concluded for the eighth day, Wolf, in a trial that started exactly six months ago.

BLITZER: Allan Chernoff reporting with the latest from New York. Thank you very much.

Our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin has been closely following the developments in this case, he joins us live from New York as well. What do you make? Is there a realistic chance, based on what you know, that this jury will come up with a verdict?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think there is a chance, Wolf. It's worth remembering that after all the chaos of the weekend, this was a fairly normal day of deliberation. The jury sent notes asking to see exhibits, hear testimony, they did not act like a deadlocked jury today. They indicated last week they were having problems, that there was one juror they said was not deliberating in good faith. But today, they did deliberate, like a normal jury. So there does seem to be at least a chance this jury will reach a verdict.

BLITZER: Based on what you know about juries and defendants, how unusual is it for a member of a jury to signal one way or the other the defense before a verdict obviously is reached?

TOOBIN: Completely unusual. I have never heard of that kind of gesture in the course of jury deliberations. I've heard of lawyers who'd wound up marrying members of the jury later, but that's only after the jury has reached its verdict and they get to know each other. I've never seen a signal like this from a juror to a defendant. You can see why the judge was concerned. The judge did the cautious, right thing. He interviewed the juror and satisfied himself that there was nothing going on there that could prevent her from reaching a verdict, and deliberations seem to be back on track.

BLITZER: How unusual is it for newspapers to publish the name of a juror in a high-profile case like this?

TOOBIN: Again, very, very unusual while the jury is still out. We at CNN have made a decision not to identify this juror. I can see why other news outlets have reached a different conclusion. This juror, by making this peculiar gesture has separated herself, she has done a newsworthy thing in a newsworthy case. She has become essentially a different kind of juror, so the usual tradition of not identifying jurors, I can see why some news outlets might want to break that rule. They've chosen to -- they've chosen to identify her, very unusual. It was one of the grounds for a mistrial. If there is conviction, it will be grounds for appeal. My sense is it won't be grounds for a successful appeal.

BLITZER: This is by no means a slam-dunk case in favor of the prosecution, is it?

TOOBIN: No, that's a fair point. It is very much worth making that because of the eccentricity of this woman's gesture, some people may think this is a slam-dunk case for the prosecution, and she's just some nut who's holding out. This was a very clear, very articulate defense in this case, where the defendant said, look, we did make a lot of money but every penny was authorized by the board. This was simply a case -- we were being paid a lot of money. The company went bad and we're now being made scapegoats. I'm not sure that's a good defense. I'm not sure the jury will buy it. It was a reasonable defense. One of the defendants, Mr. Swartz, the lesser known defendant, he testified at trial. This is a real defense, and the fact that one or more jurors is taking it seriously is not evidence of any sort of insanity on their part.

BLITZER: All right, we'll continue to watch a few more days, see what happens? Jeffrey Toobin will watch with us. Thank you very much.

TOOBIN: OK.

BLITZER: A triple challenge is launched against a certain late- term abortion ban. Details on new legal battles underway today. We'll get to that.

Plus a deadly decision. The Pentagon says it now knows what caused the worst friendly fire incident in the Iraq war. Ten U.S. marines were killed. Evidence against the king of pop. The Michael Jackson child molestation case enters a brand-new phase, we're live from Santa Barbara.

And no more puffing in the pubs. Why it's lights out for a favorite Irish tradition.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A new round of battles over abortion is underway. Three suits in three states challenging a law banning a controversial type of late-term abortion. Our justice correspondent Kelli Arena is here with the story -- Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the legal battle started even before this ban was signed into law. Opponents charged that the so-called partial-birth abortion ban is unconstitutional because it doesn't make an exception for a woman's health and it's too vague.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The law itself is a name that doesn't exist. There is no -- a procedure that is being banned. It is a wide range of the safest and most commonly used abortion procedures, and that's one of the big problems with the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: But the government says that that's simply not true. That the ban is very specific.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGLAS JOHNSON, NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE COMMITTEE: There is nothing in the Constitution that says that the American people have to permit a procedure in which a premature infant in the fifth or sixth month of pregnancy is delivered feet first, alive, and has her skull punctured.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: What's more, government lawyers say there is no proof the procedure is ever medically necessary. These trials are expected to last several weeks, and regardless of the outcome, legal experts expect this to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. We'll watch this over the next several weeks, months, maybe years. Thank you very much, Kelli, for that.

Another case drawing lots of interest, that of Michael Jackson accused of child molestation, a grand jury in Santa Barbara, California is taking up the case under a heavy cloak of secrecy. CNN's Miguel Marquez is in Santa Barbara, he joins us now live with details -- Miguel. MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, although those secret proceedings are typically held in secret, this one is far more than normal. Typically, the grand jury meets here at the Santa Barbara Supreme Court building. And they have not been meeting here today because the judge -- a judge has decided to hold it off-site from here. CNN has confirmed that the grand jurors will meet four times this week with the exception of Wednesday. They will hear testimony against Michael Joe Jackson.

One of those types of testimony they'll hear, certainly, is testimony from possible victims. It has been reported that the now 14-year-old accuser in Mr. Jackson's current case may testify. It's also been reported that Mr. Jackson's accuser from his '93 case may testify. One other thing we're likely to see here or the jurors are likely to hear is evidence from many search warrants obtained over the last several months. 18 search warrants in all everywhere from Neverland Ranch to private investigators' offices to storage units have been searched.

Investigators indicating in the last affidavit for a search warrant that they're seek unedited videotape to try to establish a relationship between Mr. Jackson and any possible victim or victims. Talked to Mr. Geragos today, Mr. Jackson's attorney, and he says he would love to be able to tell us what he thinks of the grand jury proceedings. He feels he is barred from talking because of a gag order in the criminal proceedings. By the way, the next hearing in the criminal proceedings is this Friday in Santa Maria. If Mr. Jackson is indicted by the grand jury, it could be the case we could be up in Santa Maria sometime again in the next several weeks for Mr. Jackson to be arraigned again -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Miguel Marquez reporting from Santa Barbara. Thank you very much.

He's been held by the U.S. for more than three months. Now the former dictator gets a lawyer. Up next, Saddam Hussein's new attorney. A man who's no stranger to notorious notables.

Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The prime minister is expected to resign if he is indicted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Blamed for bribery. Could Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon be forced to step down. A new scandal spells political limbo for Mr. Sharon.

And on a new tour but still finding time to support U.S. troops. I'll talk live with the frontmen of Aerosmith on their new musical mission.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ANNOUNCER: From our studios in Washington, once again, Wolf Blitzer.

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

Defending Saddam Hussein. The former dictator's new lawyer lays out his legal strategy. We'll get to that.

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

In Massachusetts, lawmakers approve a reworked version of a proposed constitutional amendment that that would ban same-sex marriages. The bill would simultaneously ban gay marriages, while legalizing civil unions. The measure would have to go through several more steps before the public could vote on it.

Americans are being warned to be careful and avoid public places in Uzbekistan. Explosions linked to Islamic militants today and yesterday have killed at least 19 people and wounded 26 others. The United States embassy issued its warning even though it knows of no specific threats against Americans.

The investigation of the worst attack on the United Nations shows the organization may have gone back into Iraq without doing enough about security. The probe was prompted by last August's deadly bombing of the U.N.'s Baghdad headquarters.

A French attorney with a background of representing notorious clients, including a Nazi war criminal, is taking on his next case. Jacques Verges says he's taking on the case of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

The brief on Verges from CNN's Jennifer Coggiola -- Jennifer.

JENNIFER COGGIOLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, with a 50-year career as a defense attorney, 79-year-old Jacques Verges will now add ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to his list of infamous clientele.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COGGIOLA (voice-over): Through a letter from his nephew, the ousted Iraqi leader appointed Jacques Verges to defend him against charges which could genocide and crimes against humanity. And the newly appointed attorney had a message for the U.S.: innocent until proven guilty.

JACQUES VERGES, ATTORNEY FOR SADDAM HUSSEIN: In a democratic country, everybody has a right to be defended, and every lawyer has a duty to defend people accused.

COGGIOLA: Verges made the comments in an interview with CNN's Bill Hemmer. No stranger to a controversial clientele, he's been willing to represent the infamous, including Nazi Klaus Barbie, convicted of committing crime against humanity in 1987, and Carlos the Jackal, one of the world's most notorious terrorists. He already represents Tariq Aziz, the former deputy prime minister of Iraq. To defend Saddam Hussein, Verges has said he will call Western leaders to the stand. And to CNN's Bill Hemmer, he charges, the U.S. and Britain sold the weapons of mass destruction to Iraq Saddam Hussein is likely to be accused of using.

VERGES: The main accusation is to have in his possession, to have had mass destruction weapons and eventually to have used them. But who says this to him? The United States and England and the man who was the representative for this bargain, for this market, for this deal is called Mr. Rumsfeld.

COGGIOLA: Hussein, arrested December 13, is currently held by the U.S.-led coalition at an undisclosed location in Iraq. No trial date has been set.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COGGIOLA: Now, the prosecution team in Iraq, which consists of 50 lawyers, investigators and members from the Justice Department, has begun to organize and sort through any evidence that could be used against Saddam, including any used in past war crime tribunals against former leaders -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jennifer Coggiola -- thanks, Deborah, very much.

The entire Bill Hemmer interview, by the way, with Verges can be seen tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING." That's right here on CNN 7:00 a.m. Eastern.

Israel's Ariel Sharon will visit Washington next month to present his plan for a pullout from Gaza. But will the prime minister of Israel have to pull out of his own government? An Israeli state prosecutor wants Mr. Sharon indicted for bribery, and now, the Israeli Supreme Court has ordered his son to cooperate with corruption probes.

CNN's Paula Hancocks reports from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ariel Sharon's political career could rest in the hands of this man. Israeli attorney general Menachem Mazuz should decide in about a month if there is sufficient evidence to indict Sharon on bribery charges.

The Israeli Supreme Court ordered Sharon's son Gilad to hand over tapes and documents related to the investigation. Ariel Sharon refuses to comment on the possible changes hanging over him, ignoring calls for his resignation.

YOSSI BEILIN, YAHAD PARTY LEADER: If there is a decision of the attorney general to indict the prime minister for bribery, there is no other option for him than to resign.

HANCOCKS: When the scandal dubbed the Greek island affair first emerged, Sharon denied wrongdoing. In the late 1990s, an Israeli businessman, David Appel, paid Sharon's son hundreds of thousands of dollars as an adviser on a property deal in Greece. There are allegations that Sharon, who was foreign minister at the time, used his influence to help the deal.

ZE'EV SEGAL, TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY: According to our former specific law, the prime minister will not have to resign until a conviction.

But according to some judgments of our supreme court regarding ministers, and according to let us say public morals, a prime minister is expected to resign if he is indicted.

HANCOCKS: Some members of Sharon's Likud Party say an investigation is a far cry from the guilty verdict.

YUVAL STEINITZ, LIKUD MEMBER OF KNESSET: Let's remember that in the last ten years, many senior Israeli politicians came under a criminal investigation and usually, there was nothing there. Usually, they were totally cleared. Let's hope that this is a case, in this case as well.

HANCOCKS (on camera): This latest controversy could not have come at a worst time for Sharon. He's due to travel to Washington on April 14 to show his disengagement plans from Gaza to George Bush.

U.S. approval is essential. But many here say it could be trickier to secure if Sharon is in political limbo.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: A political blunder of the first order, that's one commissioner calls Condoleezza Rice's refusal to testify publicly under and oath before the 9/11 panel. Could it have political ramifications for the White House? I'll ask the former Defense Secretary William Cohen.

Rallying against Rove. President Bush's top adviser gets an unwelcome visit from hundreds of protesters.

And Wisconsin wipeout. The state is dealt a deluge like none have seen for a long time. We'll get to all of that.

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Many experts are calling it the first South Atlantic hurricane on record. Wind and rain attacked the coast of Southern Brazil, destroying hundreds of home, toppling trees and power lines and claiming at least two lives.

North and South; 100 elderly South Koreans were allowed to travel to North Korea for emotional reunions with long-lost family members. In many cases, they hadn't seen or talked to each other since Korea was divided more than half a century ago.

Put them out. A ban on smoking in public places has gone into effect in Ireland. It even applies to pubs, and it's apparently driving Irish smokers to desperate measures. Government agencies have been inundated with requests for nicotine patches and counseling.

Yankee invasion. Yanks have landed in Tokyo, the New York baseball version. The New York Yankees played an exhibition game against the Japanese team today, and they'll play Major League Baseball's regular season opener in Tokyo tomorrow against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

And that's our look around the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: It was the worst friendly-fire incident of the Iraq war, and it happened on the deadliest day of the war for U.S. forces just over a year ago. Now investigators have assigned a measure of blame for the tragedy.

Let's go live to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: And, Wolf, the investigation finds that a Marine captain who called in the airstrikes bears the brunt of the responsibility. But some of his fellow Marines don't think that he should bear all the blame.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (voice-over): As Marines from Charlie Company fought to secure a key supply route through Nasiriyah, the battle took a tragic turn. Pinned down by enemy fire, the Marines were attacked by U.S. Air Force A-10s by mistake. The eyewitness account of Staff Sergeant Lonnie Parker was given to a Marine historian and broadcast recently by NPR.

STAFF SERGEANT LONNIE PARKER, U.S. MARINE CORPS: It liked like an A-10. It just made a straight run right across all through there, right across the body. It was just all three bodies laid out in the straight line.

MCINTYRE: Investigators faulted a Marine captain far from the action who called in the A-10 strikes, unaware Charlie Company had pushed ahead of his unit. The two A-10s made multiple passes over a group of vehicles, dropping bombs, firing missiles and strafing with their tank-busting 30-millimeter canons.

As many as 10 Marines were killed. But because a total of 18 Marines died in the battle and some had wounds from both enemy and friendly-fire, the exact number of fratricide victims is unknown.

TINA CLINE, WIDOW OF CPL. DONALD CLINE: Everything is left unknown, and you just have to come to your own conclusion what you want to believe. MCINTYRE: That has left Tina Cline, widow of Corporal Donald Cline, still looking for closure.

CLINE: This actually I think has brought me to a new level of my grieving, and it's the angry stage.

MCINTYRE: While the Air Force was absolved of blame, some in the Marine Corps question why the pilots weren't better trained to spot friendly vehicles, why they failed to see cease-fire flares fired by the Marines, and why the cockpit videotapes of the incident disappeared, apparently recorded over. Some of the Marines were bitter, too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: The Marine captain who called in the deadly strikes could now face discipline for violating a standing order that required proper authorization for those strikes. It was an order designed specifically to prevent this kind of tragedy -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon -- thanks, Jamie very much, a tragic story indeed.

More now on our top story. Can the White House find some sort of way to end to the embarrassment over the 9/11 investigation? Can the nation find the answers to what went wrong?

Joining us now, the former defense secretary, our world affairs analyst, William Cohen.

Mr. Secretary, thanks very much for joining us.

You speak with unique perspective. As a former member of Congress, you were a member of the Watergate investigation, Iran- Contra investigation, as well as a form member of the executive branch. Should the White House allow Condoleezza Rice to testify?

WILLIAM COHEN, CNN WORLD AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I think the White House is on solid ground when it comes to the power of the executive branch, namely invoking executive privilege.

They have done so with respect to the composition of the group that met with Vice President Cheney and have fought any disclosure of the meeting of that commission or that meeting all the way to the Supreme Court. So it's clear that they feel very strongly about executive privilege.

On the politics of it, the ground is much less firm, and I think they'll probably wait to see how much of an erosion there is to the presidential popularity as this unfolds before they make a final decision. Right now, they're going to hold firm, from what I can determine, to say that she's not going to testify in public under oath.

BLITZER: All right, right now, our latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll that came out today showed the American public roughly evenly split whether or not she should go ahead and testify publicly under oath. The politics, though, as you say, could force the White House to come up with some sort of creative compromise?

COHEN: Well, the creative compromise would involve some way of carving out this as an exception.

This was a transformational experience in our lifetime. Never has there been this kind of devastation visited upon -- directly upon us in this way. And so I think you can carve out an exception saying, even this is not a criminal act involved, this is not a scandal as such involving a crime, nevertheless, it involves something that is very fundamental to the security of this country. It is unique, and we can say it's unique and not be forced in the future to say, well, you did it for this investigation, therefore, the concept of executive privilege and power is diminished.

I think they can carve out an exception, depending upon, again, what the impact is upon the president's ratings.

BLITZER: And I'm sure the White House is thinking, Condoleezza Rice is one of the more compelling members of the administration, very articulate, knows everything about national security in this administration. She presumably would make a very, very effective witness for the president.

COHEN: She's at a handicap. You can't have dual "60 Minutes" sessions and then have another member go forward and make very compelling testimony before the commission itself. Now, the commission members, the chairman and the vice chairman, both very solid, middle-of-the-road, bipartisan in their entire careers, both I think very feel strongly that she should come forward.

Secretary Lehman, former secretary of the Navy, feels strongly she should come forward. So I think that there is bipartisan support for her congressman forward. This is not a Republican vs. Democratic issue. And I think that the White House will just simply have to take it into account as the days come to unfold.

BLITZER: In fact, it's unanimous on all the commissioners, all the Republicans and Democratic members.

Let's switch gears and talk a little bit about Iraq and Afghanistan. You saw the president earlier today meeting with these new NATO ministers from some of the new countries that have been admitted into NATO. Is there a moment now where NATO can become involved in helping the U.S. in Iraq?

COHEN: I think there was some momentum until the incident that took place in Spain with the blowing up of the trains. There was growing momentum to say, even on the part of the Germans, for example, to say, well, if there's a consensus to move forward involving NATO into Iraq, we will not object. That was quite a shift in policy and statement.

There was momentum to say, the NATO members should go from Afghanistan and help out in Iraq. That would have been a very positive development. Now, whether or not Spain and its decision most recently is going to undercut that or whether or not the new members coming in will lend momentum to helping support a NATO consensus remains to be seen. I would hope so.

BLITZER: Secretary Cohen, thanks very much for joining us.

COHEN: Pleasure.

BLITZER: When we come back, we'll switch gears. A legendary rock band is getting back to its roots and giving back to United States troops. I'll speak live with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry about those efforts and their new album. We'll get to all of that.

First, some stories you may have missed this past weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Several hundred community activists took their protests to the front yard of senior White House adviser Karl Rove's house yesterday. They're backing a bill that would help undocumented immigrants legalize their status and qualify for in-state college tuition.

Weekend floodwaters are starting to recede in Wisconsin. Roads in the Antigo area remained closed. So did schools. Melting snow and rain caused what the police chief says was the worst flooding in 40 years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Launch, launch, launch!

BLITZER: NASA met its need for speed Saturday, setting a record of Mach 7, about 5,000 miles an hour, with an unmanned aircraft.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Supersonic.

BLITZER: The X-43-A ramjet used air for fuel as it streaked to just over seven times over seven times the speed of sound.

In NCAA tournament action overt weekend, Duke heads to the final four for the 14th team by beating Xavier. The Blue Devils will face Connecticut, who got to the semifinals by crushing Alabama. In the other matchup, Georgia Tech advanced with an overtime win over Kansas. The Yellow Jackets will take on Oklahoma State, winners over St. Joseph's.

And that's our weekend snapshot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Earlier we asked, what was the first song Steven Tyler and Joe Perry wrote together. The answer, "Moving Out." Appearing on their debut album, "Moving Out" was the first of Tyler-Perry compositions. The song was inspired by a near eviction at the band's apartment.

Once the baddest of the rock music world's bad boys, Aerosmith is now back on tour. Their new C.D., a set of blues covers and a new original song, is out tomorrow. Before tomorrow night's show in Pensacola, Florida, the band is spending time with members of the United States military stationed in the area. They're also spending some time with us.

Joining us now live, the singer, Steven Tyler, the lead guitarist, Joe Perry.

Guys, thank you very much. Congratulations on the new C.D. We'll talk about that in a moment.

But what made you decide to go meet with some of the troops?

Steven.

STEVEN TYLER, LEAD SINGER, AEROSMITH: We've been affiliated with some of the black ops. And, basically, because there's -- if anything happen to any of those guys, there's not a lot set up for their families and for their children. So we've kind of embraced that and tip our hat towards them as much we can, being on the tail of a comet out here, doing this "Honkin' on Bobo" tour. So this was a rare chance, because the base is right here, to invite them all over and say hello again.

BLITZER: How important is it to you, Joe, to meet with these guys?

JOE PERRY, LEAD GUITARIST, AEROSMITH: Well, I think they don't get a chance to get thanked enough. They're the real heroes out there holding the line for us.

And every chance we get, we try and -- we'll go to some base or a hospital or anything we can do, and we kind of leave the cameras behind. We let the families know that we're going to go. And, obviously, for their personal use, we let cameras come in, but we don't like to bring like news cameras and things like that, because we don't feel like it's the kind of thing we want to make a big to-do about. It's really just us personally thanking these guys for doing what they do.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Steven, I also always have been told you are pretty interested in NASA and space exploration. Talk a little bit about that.

TYLER: Well, having lived on the dark side of the moon for so many years, it's just a natural in.

We went down there to do, for the Super Bowl, a little stunt jumping out of the space station. And so we got a chance to hang out with some astronauts and do some simulator flying. And it's just a hoot. What else is there to do? PERRY: You know, we grew up in that era when, you know, we saw the guys landing on the moon and all that, so we have that feeling.

Again, the astronauts, these guys are real heroes. They're out there risking their lives doing this all the time. And it's kind of -- back in those days, there seemed to be a lot more romance involved and people paying more attention to it. And any time we can help call attention to the fact they're out there doing this, we like to do it. And also personally, for ourselves, it's fun to watch them do it.

BLITZER: Steven, now tell me about this new C.D.

TYLER: Well, it's entitled "Honkin' on Bobo." It's right here. And it was originally done -- the original idea came up for us to not do a studio album, write songs, but to pay a little tribute to our blues roots.

And once we started bluesing out, we started rocking out. And one thing led to another and it was "Road Runner" and just a bunch of real good rock 'n' roll song. So it's turned and morphed into what we're really all about, and we're happy about that.

BLITZER: Congratulations to both of you. I can't wait to listen to it, like I'm sure millions of our viewers out there getting ready to rock 'n' roll with Aerosmith.

Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, thanks to both of you for joining us.

TYLER: Thanks you, Wolf.

PERRY: Thanks a lot.

BLITZER: Good luck to both of you on the tour.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: And the results of our hot "Web Question of the Day," that's coming up next.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

A reminder, we're on weekdays 5:00 p.m. Eastern, as well as noon Eastern.

I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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