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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

U.S. Asks Former Saddam Hussein Followers for Help, U.S. Officials Worried About More Terrorist Attacks, Fort Hood Celebrates Returning U.S. Troops, U.S. Network Airs Photos of Dying Diana, Anheuser-Busch Upset about South Beach Diet

Aired April 22, 2004 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: About face. Why the U.S. is asking former followers of Saddam Hussein for help.

Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

The Baathists are back as the allies struggle to keep control in Iraq, will they find a place for Saddam's soldiers.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: You're going to need generals, you're going to need colonels, you're going to need senior officers.

BLITZER: Welcome home. Fort Hood (ph) throws a party for the 4th Infantry Division.

As she lay dying. A U.S. network shows the last pictures of Princess Diana.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a rather sick attempt at sensationalism.

BLITZER: The British are outraged.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Thursday, April 22, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We begin with what appears to be a stunning turnabout in U.S. policy on Iraq. The Bush administration is now looking for help from former high-ranking members of Saddam Hussein's party. It's a comeback by the Baathists not the die-hards still battling coalition forces, but teachers, technocrats and even some military officers, high-ranking ones needed to help run the transition to democracy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: The remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime know they have no future in a free Iraq.

BLITZER (voice-over): Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld restating the U.S. stance. Even as coalition officials in Baghdad confirmed that some of Saddam Hussein's former Baath party loyalists will now be allowed to take back their old jobs. It's seen as a potentially significant change in post-war strategy. The chief coalition administrator, Paul Bremer is now ready to allow former Baath party members to serve in the Iraqi military and government establishment.

DAN SENOR, COALITION SPOKESMAN: I think Ambassador Bremer has probably heard from thousands of Iraqis since he's been here on the issue of de-Baathification (ph).

BLITZER: Until now, high-level Baathists, most of whom are minority Sunnis had been banned. Part of a post-war de-Baathification policy designed to remove any lingering influence of Saddam Hussein's most loyal supporters. It was a policy often compared with post-World War II de-Nazification in Germany, but with the insurgency in Iraq escalating, the U.S.-led coalition and the Iraqi governing council have been forced to take another look at that approach.

RICHARD BOUCHER, STATE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: We are working to try to develop an equitable solution to address the widely divergent activities of former Baathist party members.

BLITZER: In other words, some former Baath party members will be allowed to teach in the schools, run the country's infrastructure, move along the government's bureaucracy and serve in the military after careful screening.

KIMMITT: Sooner or later there was going to come a time when we would need senior officers and there are many senior officers remaining from this country who can meet all of the criteria that have been established in the de-Baathification policy and still have significant amount of contribution to offer the nation of Iraq in the defense structure.

BLITZER: He says a handful of former Saddam generals may even be allowed to resume their military careers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Our national security correspondent David Ensor -- some analysts are telling our national security correspondent David Ensor that easing the ban on the Baathists won't necessarily have a great impact, they note that only the top echelons of Saddam Hussein's party have been excluded from hiring. Others suggest the move is aimed more at easing the pain of Iraq's Sunni Muslims who believe they have been marginalized since Saddam Hussein's fall from power.

U.S. commanders in Iraq are warning that a resumption of the fighting in Fallujah may be just days away. A few days at that. Our Michael Holmes has our battle lines report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fallujah, insurgents are being warned they're running out of time to comply with the terms of a ceasefire agreement and it is now a matter of days and not weeks. The shaky truce in Fallujah remains in effect for the time being, but U.S. officials say the insurgents have failed to turn in their arms except for what one commander terms a pickup truckload of junk.

KIMMITT: If they can't deliver, then we've got to take a look at some other options to include the ending of the suspension of offensive operations. In other words, the resumption of offensive operations.

HOLMES: Karbala. U.S. marines distribute leaflets calling on supporters of the radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to lay down their arms and withdraw from government buildings. The leaflets called anyone carrying a weapon terrorists. Iraqis could be seen reading the leaflets outside the city's holy shrines.

Basra. Iraqis bury their dead following yesterday's suicide bombings that killed 68 people including 18 schoolchildren. Some Iraqis blame the presence of coalition forces for the violence. British commanders in charge of security in Basra say it is too early to say whether al Qaeda or some former supporters of Saddam Hussein or someone else were responsible for the attacks. The British Prime Minister Tony Blair tells his parliament he has no plans to send in more troops.

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We are satisfied that we have sufficient troops in Basra. We don't have plans to increase them. Of course, we always have to keep that situation under view, but at present time the British troops are managing actually extremely well down there.

HOLMES: Michael Holmes, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: A South African civilian was shot and killed in a Baghdad market today, but also today three hostages were released. Two Swiss citizens and a Palestinian from East Jerusalem.

Turning now to terror. Top officials admit they're deeply worried that this country may be targeted during upcoming national holidays or in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election. Joining us now, justice correspondent Kelli Arena with more -- Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, you can add Attorney General John Ashcroft to the list of U.S. officials who are publicly warning about the possibility of another attack on U.S. soil.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: There is, without a doubt in my mind a very serious level of activity of terrorism which concerns me greatly. And we know that the terrorists have often sought symbolic targeting.

ARENA: Officials continue to stress that there is no specific or credible threat information, although there is speculative chatter to that effect. Nonetheless, officials have named some possible targets, I believe that they were mentioned on the show the other night. The political conventions, the G-8 economic summit, even the dedication of the World War II memorial.

Law enforcement officials report a steady increase in calls coming in to tip lines from folks reporting suspicious behavior, for example, individuals videotaping a bridge or a tunnel. While that is a positive development, officials say there is little that can be done to detect the kind of terrorist that worries them most and that would be a lone attacker.

BLITZER: That's a serious, serious concern. Thanks very much, Kelli Arena, for that.

North Korea has reportedly declared an emergency following a rail disaster which sources say involves a large number of casualties. South Korean media say two fuel trains collided and blew up at a train station near the Chinese border. Reports say the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il had passed through the station hours before the collision on his way back from China.

The coalition says time is running out for a peaceful solution in Fallujah. Ahead, I'll speak with one of the few journalists in the Iraqi city.

On the record, John Kerry's military service and past comments on the Vietnam war. I'll speak live with another Vietnam veteran, retired U.S. army general and former presidential candidate Wesley Clark. He'll join me live.

Nuclear material missing. A disturbing discovery at a nuclear power plant in Vermont. Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It leaves the beer drinkers confused at best and afraid to include beer in their diet at worst.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The world's largest brewer challenges the popular South Beach diet about its theory on beer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Thirty-three years ago today a young Vietnam veteran named John Kerry visited Capitol Hill to testify about the Vietnam War. Kerry told a Senate committee that he and many other veterans were ashamed of their service.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP -- 1971)

JOHN KERRY, VIETNAM VET: We watched pride, allow the most unimportant of battles to be blown into extravaganzas, because we couldn't lose and we couldn't retreat and because it didn't matter how many American bodies were lost to prove that point. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Today, of course, John Kerry is a United States senator and a Democratic presidential candidate. His candidacy has revived a long-running debate over Kerry's service in the Vietnam War and his criticism over the war after he returned home.

Joining us now to talk about that is another Vietnam veteran, retired Army General Wesley Clark who ran against Kerry during the presidential primaries, the former NATO supreme allied commander.

General Clark, thanks very much for joining us.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FRM. NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Good to be with you, Wolf.

BLITZER: I want to play for you a sound bite from what John O'Neill another veteran on this program said a couple of days ago. Very critical of John Kerry. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN O'NEILL, VIETNAM VET: They are damaging lies that he told about war criminals have haunted people's entire lives. So it's just a little bit late in the course of a presidential campaign to say it's a bit excessive after, you know, coming forward with lies for a period of more than 30 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: You've heard this from some of your fellow Vietnam veterans. What do you say to critics like O'Neill?

CLARK: Well actually I've heard that from a lot of people because most people I've talked to that happened over there are things that happened over there that shouldn't have happened. And in some cases they know about him, in some cases they know him personally, some cases they've heard about them.

BLITZER: Did you see these things going on in Vietnam?

CLARK: I never saw those things. I saw very honorable conduct by the senior officers. And when I was in the field I didn't see it.

BLITZER: You were a young junior officer.

CLARK: Yes, I was a junior officer. I was a company commander over there. I had my company for about seven weeks before I got shot four times and came home in a stretcher.

Had I been there longer maybe I would have seen other things. But when people are in danger in war, they do things. And I think that what John Kerry was expressing is something that many of us have felt afterwards. There are many, many victims of Vietnam.

And many of the victims were men and women who survived and wore the uniform of the United States Army and came home and thought about it afterwards and realized that things were done over there that maybe shouldn't have been done. Some of them were wrong and some of them were illegal. And I think what John Kerry deserves is a lot of respect for having seen it at an early age and spoken out.

Now, whether you agree with him or not at the time or now is really not relevant. People had different opinions on the war then. They have different opinions now. What counts to me is that John Kerry had the courage of his convictions. First, to serve in Vietnam.

And not only did he serve there, but he volunteered for a very, tough assignment and he saw a lot of action in that swift. And then he had the convictions to come out and speak against it. I think he deserve a lot of credit.

BLITZER: He himself has acknowledged on "Meet The Press" last Sunday that some of the things he said went too far. He regrets some of the comments he said about war crimes and atrocities.

But having said that, how did you feel when you came back and you heard these Vietnam vets so critical of the war while you were still in uniform?

CLARK: Well, it was confusing because I had not seen that personally. And I had served for people who were my instructors at West Point with men that I admired greatly. I came back and later went up to the military academy and taught. I studied about it.

It took me four years to digest the Vietnam experience. And finally what I realized about it is really we had not had a real success strategy. My whole career in one way or another was spent recovering from the Vietnam experience. And I wrote a masters thesis on how to run contingency operations and ended up having to do it in Kosovo.

And when I see it now in Iraqi know that we haven't learned the lesson of Vietnam now in Iraq.

BLITZER: Well, let me press on you on that. Senator Kennedy says Iraq is George W. Bush's Vietnam. Is it?

CLARK: Well it may turn out that way. But what's very significant about it is that we're asking the military to do things that are inherently beyond what a military can and ought to do.

BLITZER: Like stabilize Iraq?

CLARK: You can't stabilize Iraq with a bunch of guys in uniforms -- and gals. I mean they're doing great, they're doing incredible stuff. But ultimately they must have the legitimacy within the population.

And when you send young people in into counsels of tribal elders, they don't get legitimacy and respect. And what we've got to have is legitimacy first. We had in the Kurdish region where Dave Petraeus was over there. He did a great job working with the Kurds in a cooperative way.

BLITZER: He's coming back now.

CLARK: And he's going to come back to do the training.

But where we didn't have the legitimacy up front, we didn't have the political plan in place to get it. Today, we're announcing we're bringing the Ba'athists back. Well it's about time we used some sensitivity on this. We demobilized the army. We threw 400,000 people in the street. We de-Ba'athecized the country. We got rid of a lot of talent that we needed. We alienated people.

And then we ask our men and women in uniform to lay their lives on the line to try to fix the political mistakes that shouldn't have been made.

BLITZER: If the Pentagon sends another 20,000 or 50,000 or 100,000 troops over there will it make a difference?

CLARK: It might. It depends on what the mission is. And I've been looking at the situation mow, I keep asking myself what precisely is the military mission?

When we went into Bosnia with Dick Holbrooke, I helped write that agreement, Annex 1-A of the Dayton Peace Accords. We had a very specified lists of tasks that the military had to perform. And we were very conscious of the fact that the military can't do everything.

We got rid of Saddam Hussein. We've looked for weapons of mass destruction. Well, what is it precisely we're trying to do with our armed forces in Iraq? And what is it we're going to ask them to do after the 30th of June?

We need to know what is the mission of the troops. Not the notion get democracy. What do you expect the troops to do?

BLITZER: Let me get back to the question. Thirty-three years before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is this even in your opinion a legitimate subject for discussion, his record, his military record, how he behaved after he came back home?

Some of his supporters say we shouldn't go there just as some Bush supporters would say the whole issue of the president's service in the Texas Air National Guard really is a subject that the case closed.

CLARK: Well I think it's a wonderful subject for discussion as long as you approach it with the understanding that he's a young man who put his life on the line in combat, put his reputation on the line when he got home to speak out.

I think it's a great testimony to John Kerry. He was a public- spirited person who lived and acted on his beliefs. Surely that's what we're looking for in a president of the United States.

And compare him with our incumbent president, and what he did. I support John Kerry. And I'm proud to do so because I think he's a man who cares deeply about this country, and he has the courage to really commit himself to it. And he's shown it over a life time of public service.

BLITZER: General Clark, thanks very much.

CLARK: Thank you.

BLITZER: Lost in Vermont, highly radioactive material. What happened at this nuclear power plant? And why does it have the governor of the state so concerned?

Controversial photography. Why one contractor in Kuwait was fired for the photos she took while on the job.

And the troops that nabbed Saddam Hussein, they have a bigger reason to celebrate right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Engineers of Vermont's Yankee Nuclear Power Plant are still looking for two missing piece of spent fuel rod. Plant personnel determined Tuesday that the highly radioactive material had vanished from the spent fuel pool, a condition that has the governor asking serious questions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JAMES DOUGLAS (R) VERMONT: We need to get to the bottom of this. We need to know where these spent fuel rods are. The most important consideration is the safety of the nuclear power plant. We expect the operators of the plant to keep track of their spent fuel rods and that's why we will investigate and find out what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The missing nuclear fuel would be fatal to any unprotected person who came into contact with it. That's why officials do not believe it was necessarily stolen. The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant is owned by an Entergy Corporation. Curt Hebert is Entergy's executive vice president for external affairs. He joins us now live. Curt, thanks very much for joining us.

The governor went on to say, and I'll just read precisely what he said. "This situation is intolerable and completely unacceptable." What happened?

CURT HEBERT, ENTERGY VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think what the governor said earlier, I agree with. We need to find out exactly where they are and know what happened. We believe they're in one of a couple of places. They're either at the bottom of the pool, or they're at one of two licensed facility with an authorized move. We believe that's where they are.

BLITZER: I don't understand. I can misplace my wallet, my keys, but fuel rods that are so highly radioactive that if they got into the hands of bad guys could kill a lot of people with some sort of radio logical dirty bomb. How do you misplace that?

HEBERT: Well, we didn't misplace them. I know you said earlier they vanished. Well, they certainly did not vanish. As you know, we acquired the plant just a little around a year ago. And since we've acquired the plant there have been certain things we've done.

Now we partner with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. And in that partnership, now what we're doing is not only going through and looking and inspecting the rods themselves, but segments and fragments that have fallen off the rods. And that's the process we're going through right now. We will make that identification.

BLITZER: Because I know the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is now sending some people over to help you in this investigation. They take this very, very seriously the Department of Homeland Security.

HEBERT: Well, no one takes it more seriously than Entergy Corporation, I can assure you of that. Right now, we are putting a video down that pool to find out if they are at the bottom of that pool. We're also looking at documentation since 1979 to see exactly what the process has and where they are, in fact. And we will find it.

You mentioned could someone steal them? It is not possible. It is clearly not possible.

BLITZER: Why isn't it possible?

HEBERT: Well, one, you've got it in 40 feet of water, OK. You've got to get down in that water. Around the facility which is secured 24/7 by security guards, by security cameras, by security alarms, by radioactive alarms that quite frankly are so sensitive that we had someone the other day that went through there and the wrist watch, the radioactivity in the wrist watch set it off.

If you even imagined getting it out of that pool, which would not happen without some type of container, it would set all types of alarms off everywhere. We would be in there immediately. But even, even if someone were able to get it out, which they can't get it out of that pool without putting it in a container, they would have to get that container out of the facility as well. Those things would never happen.

BLITZER: How big are the two fuel rods? They're pretty small, aren't they?

HEBERT: Oh, absolutely. It's about the diameter of a pencil. One is seven inches long and one is 17 inches long. They are fragments that broke off the rods.

BLITZER: And if there were -- as we see in movies, an inside job, people in the inside conspiring to steal these things for whatever purpose. Is that possible?

HEBERT: No. It's not possible at all. These rods, we will find out exactly where they are, whether they're at the bottom of the pool or they at one of these two licensed facilities. We will find that out.

BLITZER: How often does this kind of thing disappear?

HEBERT: Again, they didn't disappear.

BLITZER: Well, whatever. How often did this problem that exist now happen?

HEBERT: This is the first time that we have ever seen. But this is also something new that we're doing in partnership with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which quite frankly, we endorse. To make sure that when you do the visual inspection of the rods themselves, and you look at the serial numbers, you not only do the rods, but you do the segments themselves or the fragments.

BLITZER: Curt Hebert, the executive vice president of Entergy Corporation. Good luck. We hope you find out what happened and you'll tell us.

HEBERT: Absolutely, we will. Thank you.

BLITZER: Thank you very much, Curt.

Coming home to Fort Hood, the welcome mats rolled out for troops from the 4th Infantry Division. We'll get a live look at the family festivities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's rather sick attempt at sensationalism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Pictures of a princess: a network's decision to broadcast images of Diana in her final moments has her family, and indeed much of Britain, crying foul.

Fired for a photo, a cargo worker in Kuwait snapped a picture of flag-draped coffins carrying United States soldiers. Now she's out of a job and so is her husband.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

The struggle to bring peace to Fallujah. Now coalition officials warning insurgents time is running out. I'll speak live with one of the few journalists in that Iraqi city. We'll get to that.

First, though, a quick check of the latest headlines. Politics took on a green angle as the world marks the 34th Earth Day. President Bush spoke about his administration's environmental accomplishments, while his Democratic challenger, John Kerry, charged that the president's environmental policies are contributing to more pollution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My administration has put in place some of the most important anti- pollution policies in a decade, policies that have reduced harmful emissions, reclaimed brown fields, cut phosphorous releases into our rivers and streams.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He has recycled the deficit, the bad economic policies, the bad environment policies, the bad foreign policy. And that's why -- I hate to say this to Texas -- but that's why he's got to be recycled back to Crawford.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: In Yemen, a long-sought suspect in the bombing of the USS Cole surrenders. Sources say the man willingly gave himself up after police closed in on him near his hometown. Yemeni authorities call him a dangerous al Qaeda foot soldier; 17 American sailors were killed in the attack in October 2000.

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the death toll rises from yesterday's car bombing outside the general security complex. One of those wounded, a Saudi policeman, has died in a hospital. Self-professed al Qaeda sympathizers are claiming responsibility for the attack which killed five people and injured 147.

In the southern Iraqi city of Basra, a day of mourning and angry protests. Funerals are being held for the victims of yesterday's attacks which killed 68 people, including 18 schoolchildren. The British military which is responsible for patrolling the area says it is too early to say who is responsible.

Let's get back to Fallujah now, where U.S. commanders are becoming increasingly impatient waiting for insurgents to give up their arms. Coalition officials are warning that unless those arms are surrendered within the next few days, the cease-fire will be over.

For the very latest on situation in Fallujah, we are joined on the phone by Tony Perry of "The Los Angeles Times." He's embedded with U.S. Marines near Fallujah.

Are you actually in Fallujah right now, Tony, or outside of Fallujah?

TONY PERRY, "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES": Wolf, we're inside the city of Fallujah.

The Marines have four different strongholds inside the city all pointing toward the core of the city where the insurgents, several hundred, maybe several thousand of them, are holed up. And you're right. The Marines' patience is wearing thin with the negotiating process. And they have said unless the insurgents start turning in their weaponry very, very soon and in large numbers, we'll be back at combat operations within days, not within weeks, but within days.

BLITZER: Well, what's -- who's trying to bring about some sort of agreement for them, for the insurgents, to lay down their arms? Who's doing the negotiations, if there are negotiations?

PERRY: Well, that's the problem. There are a number of sort of stealth identified leaders from Fallujah. But the Marines and the Coalition Provisional Authority officials have become convinced that those people on the other side, the people they are negotiating with, quite simply don't have the clout to get the insurgents to follow what has been set down.

And what has been set down is, No. 1, put down your arms, turn them in, and then we can talk. That has not occurred, nor has there been any movement towards turning in suspects in the murder of the four Americans and the mutilation of their bodies. So the people that the Americans have been negotiating with day in, day out for a week now quite simply do not appear to have the clout to deliver on their side of the bargain.

That's why the Marines, three battalions, maybe more if needed, are ready to go back on the offensive to go into Fallujah to drive the insurgents all the way to the Euphrates and once and for all wipe them out.

BLITZER: You mentioned something very intriguing in your opening comments. You said there may be thousands of insurgents in Fallujah. I've heard hundreds in the past. Is that the current Marine estimate?

PERRY: The intelligence estimates vary. I've heard hundreds, but I've always heard thousands. Fallujah has become certainly in the last several months the gathering spot for the Middle East, for anyone who wants to participate in the jihad, who wants to fight the Americans, who wants to die in the cause.

They are still, as far as we can tell, streaming in from throughout this region. Syrians, for example, they're being -- many of them have been detained at the border attempting to get in. One figure, the uppermost figure is several thousand insurgents could be inside the city, all heavily, heavily armed. This as you know is one of the most heavily armed nations in the world.

That's why the Marines are fairly frustrated at the pitiful number of rusted, outmoded arms that have been turned in so far, enough to barely fill a small pickup truck, this in a country where AK-47s seem to grow on trees. Very, very little has been turned in. The Marines are ready to go back on the offensive, if need be.

BLITZER: Tony Perry, as I've said, is a very courageous journalist from "The Los Angeles Times."

Tony, we'll check back with you at this time tomorrow, see what's happening. It looks like the situation is going to be quite volatile in the next few days -- Tony Perry of "The Los Angeles Times" phoning in to us from Fallujah. Thousand of U.S. troops, meanwhile, are returning from Iraq. And they got a heroes welcome today. There was a huge celebration of Fort Hood -- that's in Central Texas -- home to the Army's 4th Infantry Division.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim is there. He's joining us now live -- Keith.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf.

This big welcome home concert is meant to be a gift for the troops who have fought in Iraq, for members of the 4th Infantry Division and also Task Force Ironhorse. It's also, though, supposed to be a gift for the families who supported them.

Take a look at what's going on, on the main stage behind me. You can hear in the background that Lynyrd Skynyrd is performing, 50,000 people expected to take part in the events here today, but the emotions are mixed. And what's interesting about this day is how it's a combination of reflection and celebration.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): From pop to hip-hop, music at Fort Hood is varied and nearly nonstop for the reunited military families. But this day, exciting as it is, is an emotional anti-climax to the last few weeks at Fort Hood, where every few days, soldiers burst into this crowded gym, fell in line, and into the arms of their loved ones. These troops know it means something to say they got home safely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There 's a lot of soldiers that can't say that, and my heart and my prayers go out to those soldiers.

OPPENHEIM: Fort Hood is home to the 4th Infantry Division and members of Task Force Ironhorse, all soldiers who have been in Iraq for a year and credited with capturing Saddam Hussein.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They caught Saddam.

OPPENHEIM: The news of that capture raised hopes that Fort Hood's own would be in less danger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take cover!

OPPENHEIM: But as insurgents continued attacks, soldiers from this post lost their lives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was the light of his dad and mom's eyes.

OPPENHEIM: The family of Sergeant Sean Cataudella was one of those in mourning; 79 troops from the 4th Infantry Division have been killed in action in Iraq. So for the 16,000 returning safely, this is a bittersweet time, where sadness, relief and joy come together at one very big party.

(END VIDEOTAPE) OPPENHEIM: And the big party continues tonight with Wayne Newton hosting a USO review. Featured, Wolf, will be Jessica Simpson, as well as comedian Drew Carey -- back to you.

BLITZER: Keith Oppenheim with a lot of happy people at Fort Hood in Texas -- Keith, thanks very much.

In contrast, there was a much more sober homecoming, one we that don't usually see. There have been exceptions recently that has made the Pentagon very unhappy.

Our correspondent Barbara Starr has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: With quiet dignity and military respect, caskets arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, troops killed in Iraq now on the final journey back to their families, ceremonies repeated more than 500 times since the war began, a flag unfolded over a casket, a gentle touch smoothing the corner.

But these extraordinary pictures were never supposed to be seen. The Air Force released more than 300 photographs to this private anti- government secrecy Web site, pictures the Air Force says were meant only for history. A Defense Department spokesman says the release of the pictures under the Freedom of Information Act violated military policy. The entire matter is under review.

Since the war in Iraq, the Pentagon has strictly enforced its long-standing policy of not allowing media coverage of caskets arriving at Dover. Officials say it is out of deference to grieving families, not an effort to keep the news media from covering the mounting death toll.

For the families, news coverage is always difficult. Some do allow cameras at funerals. One group, the National Military Family Association, had this to say: "We believe the current policy is sensitive to the needs of the families and would urge everyone else to be sensitive to them as well."

The issue remains controversial.

SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: These young men are heroes. This is the last long ride home. These young men and women are heroes. And the idea that they're essentially snuck back into the country under the cover of night so no one can see that their casket has arrived, I just think is wrong.

STARR: Now a private contractor has been fired by her employer after taking this picture of 20 flag-draped coffins going home from Iraq earlier this month, a picture that appeared in "The Seattle Times."

But for those who gave the full measure of devotion, there is a final salute, a final thank you from the comrades who brought them home. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: British newspapers are calling it the ultimate betrayal after the network CBS broadcasts pictures of a dying Princess Diana. But is the outrage just overreaction?

The battle of the bulge beats the battle over beer. The nation's largest brewery says the author of a popular diet, the South Beach Diet, is dead wrong about its product. Now they're fighting back.

And school sham. Students allegedly hired out for road work instead of doing schoolwork. 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): Sources on both sides say Israeli troops killed three Palestinians during a half-hour gun battle near a West Bank refugee camp. Israeli military sources say a militant leader is among the dead. And in southern Gaza, Israel Defense Forces destroyed two abandoned buildings hiding entrances to tunnels used to smuggle weapons in from Egypt.

Four suspected Palestinian militants who have been holed up in Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah on the West Bank are apparently no longer there. A Palestinian source says the Israelis have learned they were hiding in Arafat's office and demanded that they get out.

Voters in India have completed the second of five rounds in the country's national election in relative peace. A top police official in one remote Northeastern state says 65 percent of eligible voters went to the polls, despite a boycott ordered by separatist rebels.

In Japan, scientists say they have successfully found a process to produce fatherless mice. The offspring were produced with two genetic mothers and no sperm. It's the first time such a feat has been accomplished in mammals.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Time for a quick check of some stories in our "Justice Report."

Attorneys for Michael Jackson say the pop star will plead not guilty and be fully exonerated. A grand jury investigating allegations that Jackson molested a young boy indicted him yesterday. The actual charges in the sealed indictment are still unknown. A charter school in Pensacola, Florida, faces fraud charges for allegedly hiring out students to work on road projects during class time and taking a cut of their wages. If convicted, the Escambia Charter School, which is partially funded by the state, could be fined and forced to pay the state back.

The wife of Senator Max Baucus of Montana faces a charge of simple assault stemming from an incident yesterday at a Washington garden store. It seems she got into an argument with another woman while both waited for loads of mulch. Mrs. Baucus is accused of striking the other woman. If convicted, she could face a maximum 180 days in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both.

Overseas, America's closest ally is furious and deeply offended by a CBS documentary. The network's "48 Hours" program yesterday aired some never-before-seen pictures of a dying Princess Diana.

CNN's Guy Raz has more reaction from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The mangled Mercedes that ended the life of the people's princess. Diana was hounded by the paparazzi up until the end of her life. For much of that life, nothing, it seemed, about Diana was off limits, that is, until now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to start with those pictures of Diana, princess of Wales, in the moments following her car crash.

RAZ: The top story in Britain, indignation and shock over CBS's decision to broadcast imagery of a dying princess. Newspaper headlines called it the ultimate betrayal. Even the prime minister weighed in.

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I think everyone finds it distasteful that there are pictures that can cause distress to the family.

RAZ: Outside Kensington Palace, where Diana lived, passersby also expressed outrage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What the Americans have just done is not right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a rather sick attempt at sensationalism.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It seems that for many people even the latest conclusions about Diana's death will not be the last word.

RAZ: The CBS documentary hasn't been aired in Britain and is unlikely to be. Most royal watchers believe the news has already upset the princess's sons, William and Harry.

ROBERT LACEY, ROYAL BIOGRAPHER: Americans have a false picture of the princess. They've created this rather unhealthy, morbid cult around her in which anything seems to go. I just cannot imagine a British media organization publishing something that is not just distressing to the royal family and to the young princes, but to everybody.

RAZ: The newsroom at "The Daily Mirror" tabloid has published scores of salacious accounts of Diana's life, yet today a newspaper which no doubt profited off the princess's life accused CBS of cashing in on her death. But in a statement, the network insisted it wasn't exploiting the princess's memory.

(on camera): Seven years after her body was taken from here to its final resting place, Diana's legacy still captures the public imagination. And in a country where tabloids described salacious scandals daily, the Diana photos on, at least in the eyes of the British public, crossed a red line.

Guy Raz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Coming up, how about a cold one with that diet?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is clear that the authors of this book don't understand beer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Find out why the nation's largest beermaker is upset over the South Beach Diet. If you like to drink beer, you need to watch this.

And the world's largest ocean liner makes a huge entrance into New York, pictures from the Queen Mary II. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here is something worth drinking to. The nation's largest brewer claims beer is completely misunderstood in the South Beach Diet. So Anheuser-Busch is going on the offensive to make sure that dieters who have a drink will never feel carb-guilty again.

Here's CNN's John Zarrella.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): You'd like a cold one, but you're on a diet. Don't worry, says Anheuser-Busch. The nation's largest beermaker is charging that the mega-popular South Beach Diet book is flatly misleading when it comes to beer.

FRANCINE KATZ, ANHEUSER-BUSCH: And we realize that the South Beach Diet has helped many people lose weight, but it doesn't change the fact that Dr. Agatston's advice about beer is absolutely wrong. ZARRELLA: In the book, author Doctor Arthur Agatston writes: "Maltose, the sugar in beer, has a higher glycemic index than white bread. The insulin response to it leads to the fat storage in the abdomen that we call, quite accurately, the beer belly."

Anheuser-Busch representatives holding a news conference in of all places, South Beach, said the beer belly isn't caused by maltose because there isn't any maltose in beer.

DOUG MUHLEMAN, ANHEUSER-BUSCH CHIEF BREWMASTER: The yeast consumes the maltose, converting it to alcohol and carbon dioxide, leaving no maltose behind.

ZARRELLA: The South Beach Diet doctor told "The South Florida Sun-Sentinel" he's willing to do more research on that point, but remains convinced that -- quote -- "beer is fattening."

Anheuser-Busch unveiled an ad that will appear Friday on more than 30 newspapers. The ad reads, "Have a beer with your South Beach Diet." Company officials say they are going public because they can't let misstatements go unchallenged. The beermaker's message to consumers? There's nothing wrong with bellying up to the bar as long as it's done in moderation.

John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thanks very much, John, for that.

What may be the world's grandest luxury liner glides into New York harbor. Pictures from the Queen Mary II's maiden trans-Atlantic voyage, you'll want to see that.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A New York welcome fit for a queen is our picture of the day.

Look at this. The Queen Mary II slid gracefully into New York Harbor this morning after her maiden trans-Atlantic voyage from England. The world's largest cruise ship was flanked by tugboats and Coast Guard patrol vessels under tight security. The ship carried 2,600 passengers and a crew of 1,250. The voyage lasted six days. They probably had a lot of fun on that voyage.

A reminder, you can always catch "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS" weekdays at this time, 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Among my guests tomorrow, "The Washington Post" reporter and best-selling author Bob Woodward.

Until then, thanks very much for joining us. 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 April 22, 2004 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: About face. Why the U.S. is asking former followers of Saddam Hussein for help.

Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

The Baathists are back as the allies struggle to keep control in Iraq, will they find a place for Saddam's soldiers.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: You're going to need generals, you're going to need colonels, you're going to need senior officers.

BLITZER: Welcome home. Fort Hood (ph) throws a party for the 4th Infantry Division.

As she lay dying. A U.S. network shows the last pictures of Princess Diana.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a rather sick attempt at sensationalism.

BLITZER: The British are outraged.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Thursday, April 22, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We begin with what appears to be a stunning turnabout in U.S. policy on Iraq. The Bush administration is now looking for help from former high-ranking members of Saddam Hussein's party. It's a comeback by the Baathists not the die-hards still battling coalition forces, but teachers, technocrats and even some military officers, high-ranking ones needed to help run the transition to democracy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: The remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime know they have no future in a free Iraq.

BLITZER (voice-over): Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld restating the U.S. stance. Even as coalition officials in Baghdad confirmed that some of Saddam Hussein's former Baath party loyalists will now be allowed to take back their old jobs. It's seen as a potentially significant change in post-war strategy. The chief coalition administrator, Paul Bremer is now ready to allow former Baath party members to serve in the Iraqi military and government establishment.

DAN SENOR, COALITION SPOKESMAN: I think Ambassador Bremer has probably heard from thousands of Iraqis since he's been here on the issue of de-Baathification (ph).

BLITZER: Until now, high-level Baathists, most of whom are minority Sunnis had been banned. Part of a post-war de-Baathification policy designed to remove any lingering influence of Saddam Hussein's most loyal supporters. It was a policy often compared with post-World War II de-Nazification in Germany, but with the insurgency in Iraq escalating, the U.S.-led coalition and the Iraqi governing council have been forced to take another look at that approach.

RICHARD BOUCHER, STATE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: We are working to try to develop an equitable solution to address the widely divergent activities of former Baathist party members.

BLITZER: In other words, some former Baath party members will be allowed to teach in the schools, run the country's infrastructure, move along the government's bureaucracy and serve in the military after careful screening.

KIMMITT: Sooner or later there was going to come a time when we would need senior officers and there are many senior officers remaining from this country who can meet all of the criteria that have been established in the de-Baathification policy and still have significant amount of contribution to offer the nation of Iraq in the defense structure.

BLITZER: He says a handful of former Saddam generals may even be allowed to resume their military careers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Our national security correspondent David Ensor -- some analysts are telling our national security correspondent David Ensor that easing the ban on the Baathists won't necessarily have a great impact, they note that only the top echelons of Saddam Hussein's party have been excluded from hiring. Others suggest the move is aimed more at easing the pain of Iraq's Sunni Muslims who believe they have been marginalized since Saddam Hussein's fall from power.

U.S. commanders in Iraq are warning that a resumption of the fighting in Fallujah may be just days away. A few days at that. Our Michael Holmes has our battle lines report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fallujah, insurgents are being warned they're running out of time to comply with the terms of a ceasefire agreement and it is now a matter of days and not weeks. The shaky truce in Fallujah remains in effect for the time being, but U.S. officials say the insurgents have failed to turn in their arms except for what one commander terms a pickup truckload of junk.

KIMMITT: If they can't deliver, then we've got to take a look at some other options to include the ending of the suspension of offensive operations. In other words, the resumption of offensive operations.

HOLMES: Karbala. U.S. marines distribute leaflets calling on supporters of the radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to lay down their arms and withdraw from government buildings. The leaflets called anyone carrying a weapon terrorists. Iraqis could be seen reading the leaflets outside the city's holy shrines.

Basra. Iraqis bury their dead following yesterday's suicide bombings that killed 68 people including 18 schoolchildren. Some Iraqis blame the presence of coalition forces for the violence. British commanders in charge of security in Basra say it is too early to say whether al Qaeda or some former supporters of Saddam Hussein or someone else were responsible for the attacks. The British Prime Minister Tony Blair tells his parliament he has no plans to send in more troops.

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We are satisfied that we have sufficient troops in Basra. We don't have plans to increase them. Of course, we always have to keep that situation under view, but at present time the British troops are managing actually extremely well down there.

HOLMES: Michael Holmes, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: A South African civilian was shot and killed in a Baghdad market today, but also today three hostages were released. Two Swiss citizens and a Palestinian from East Jerusalem.

Turning now to terror. Top officials admit they're deeply worried that this country may be targeted during upcoming national holidays or in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election. Joining us now, justice correspondent Kelli Arena with more -- Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, you can add Attorney General John Ashcroft to the list of U.S. officials who are publicly warning about the possibility of another attack on U.S. soil.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: There is, without a doubt in my mind a very serious level of activity of terrorism which concerns me greatly. And we know that the terrorists have often sought symbolic targeting.

ARENA: Officials continue to stress that there is no specific or credible threat information, although there is speculative chatter to that effect. Nonetheless, officials have named some possible targets, I believe that they were mentioned on the show the other night. The political conventions, the G-8 economic summit, even the dedication of the World War II memorial.

Law enforcement officials report a steady increase in calls coming in to tip lines from folks reporting suspicious behavior, for example, individuals videotaping a bridge or a tunnel. While that is a positive development, officials say there is little that can be done to detect the kind of terrorist that worries them most and that would be a lone attacker.

BLITZER: That's a serious, serious concern. Thanks very much, Kelli Arena, for that.

North Korea has reportedly declared an emergency following a rail disaster which sources say involves a large number of casualties. South Korean media say two fuel trains collided and blew up at a train station near the Chinese border. Reports say the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il had passed through the station hours before the collision on his way back from China.

The coalition says time is running out for a peaceful solution in Fallujah. Ahead, I'll speak with one of the few journalists in the Iraqi city.

On the record, John Kerry's military service and past comments on the Vietnam war. I'll speak live with another Vietnam veteran, retired U.S. army general and former presidential candidate Wesley Clark. He'll join me live.

Nuclear material missing. A disturbing discovery at a nuclear power plant in Vermont. Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It leaves the beer drinkers confused at best and afraid to include beer in their diet at worst.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The world's largest brewer challenges the popular South Beach diet about its theory on beer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Thirty-three years ago today a young Vietnam veteran named John Kerry visited Capitol Hill to testify about the Vietnam War. Kerry told a Senate committee that he and many other veterans were ashamed of their service.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP -- 1971)

JOHN KERRY, VIETNAM VET: We watched pride, allow the most unimportant of battles to be blown into extravaganzas, because we couldn't lose and we couldn't retreat and because it didn't matter how many American bodies were lost to prove that point. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Today, of course, John Kerry is a United States senator and a Democratic presidential candidate. His candidacy has revived a long-running debate over Kerry's service in the Vietnam War and his criticism over the war after he returned home.

Joining us now to talk about that is another Vietnam veteran, retired Army General Wesley Clark who ran against Kerry during the presidential primaries, the former NATO supreme allied commander.

General Clark, thanks very much for joining us.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FRM. NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Good to be with you, Wolf.

BLITZER: I want to play for you a sound bite from what John O'Neill another veteran on this program said a couple of days ago. Very critical of John Kerry. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN O'NEILL, VIETNAM VET: They are damaging lies that he told about war criminals have haunted people's entire lives. So it's just a little bit late in the course of a presidential campaign to say it's a bit excessive after, you know, coming forward with lies for a period of more than 30 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: You've heard this from some of your fellow Vietnam veterans. What do you say to critics like O'Neill?

CLARK: Well actually I've heard that from a lot of people because most people I've talked to that happened over there are things that happened over there that shouldn't have happened. And in some cases they know about him, in some cases they know him personally, some cases they've heard about them.

BLITZER: Did you see these things going on in Vietnam?

CLARK: I never saw those things. I saw very honorable conduct by the senior officers. And when I was in the field I didn't see it.

BLITZER: You were a young junior officer.

CLARK: Yes, I was a junior officer. I was a company commander over there. I had my company for about seven weeks before I got shot four times and came home in a stretcher.

Had I been there longer maybe I would have seen other things. But when people are in danger in war, they do things. And I think that what John Kerry was expressing is something that many of us have felt afterwards. There are many, many victims of Vietnam.

And many of the victims were men and women who survived and wore the uniform of the United States Army and came home and thought about it afterwards and realized that things were done over there that maybe shouldn't have been done. Some of them were wrong and some of them were illegal. And I think what John Kerry deserves is a lot of respect for having seen it at an early age and spoken out.

Now, whether you agree with him or not at the time or now is really not relevant. People had different opinions on the war then. They have different opinions now. What counts to me is that John Kerry had the courage of his convictions. First, to serve in Vietnam.

And not only did he serve there, but he volunteered for a very, tough assignment and he saw a lot of action in that swift. And then he had the convictions to come out and speak against it. I think he deserve a lot of credit.

BLITZER: He himself has acknowledged on "Meet The Press" last Sunday that some of the things he said went too far. He regrets some of the comments he said about war crimes and atrocities.

But having said that, how did you feel when you came back and you heard these Vietnam vets so critical of the war while you were still in uniform?

CLARK: Well, it was confusing because I had not seen that personally. And I had served for people who were my instructors at West Point with men that I admired greatly. I came back and later went up to the military academy and taught. I studied about it.

It took me four years to digest the Vietnam experience. And finally what I realized about it is really we had not had a real success strategy. My whole career in one way or another was spent recovering from the Vietnam experience. And I wrote a masters thesis on how to run contingency operations and ended up having to do it in Kosovo.

And when I see it now in Iraqi know that we haven't learned the lesson of Vietnam now in Iraq.

BLITZER: Well, let me press on you on that. Senator Kennedy says Iraq is George W. Bush's Vietnam. Is it?

CLARK: Well it may turn out that way. But what's very significant about it is that we're asking the military to do things that are inherently beyond what a military can and ought to do.

BLITZER: Like stabilize Iraq?

CLARK: You can't stabilize Iraq with a bunch of guys in uniforms -- and gals. I mean they're doing great, they're doing incredible stuff. But ultimately they must have the legitimacy within the population.

And when you send young people in into counsels of tribal elders, they don't get legitimacy and respect. And what we've got to have is legitimacy first. We had in the Kurdish region where Dave Petraeus was over there. He did a great job working with the Kurds in a cooperative way.

BLITZER: He's coming back now.

CLARK: And he's going to come back to do the training.

But where we didn't have the legitimacy up front, we didn't have the political plan in place to get it. Today, we're announcing we're bringing the Ba'athists back. Well it's about time we used some sensitivity on this. We demobilized the army. We threw 400,000 people in the street. We de-Ba'athecized the country. We got rid of a lot of talent that we needed. We alienated people.

And then we ask our men and women in uniform to lay their lives on the line to try to fix the political mistakes that shouldn't have been made.

BLITZER: If the Pentagon sends another 20,000 or 50,000 or 100,000 troops over there will it make a difference?

CLARK: It might. It depends on what the mission is. And I've been looking at the situation mow, I keep asking myself what precisely is the military mission?

When we went into Bosnia with Dick Holbrooke, I helped write that agreement, Annex 1-A of the Dayton Peace Accords. We had a very specified lists of tasks that the military had to perform. And we were very conscious of the fact that the military can't do everything.

We got rid of Saddam Hussein. We've looked for weapons of mass destruction. Well, what is it precisely we're trying to do with our armed forces in Iraq? And what is it we're going to ask them to do after the 30th of June?

We need to know what is the mission of the troops. Not the notion get democracy. What do you expect the troops to do?

BLITZER: Let me get back to the question. Thirty-three years before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is this even in your opinion a legitimate subject for discussion, his record, his military record, how he behaved after he came back home?

Some of his supporters say we shouldn't go there just as some Bush supporters would say the whole issue of the president's service in the Texas Air National Guard really is a subject that the case closed.

CLARK: Well I think it's a wonderful subject for discussion as long as you approach it with the understanding that he's a young man who put his life on the line in combat, put his reputation on the line when he got home to speak out.

I think it's a great testimony to John Kerry. He was a public- spirited person who lived and acted on his beliefs. Surely that's what we're looking for in a president of the United States.

And compare him with our incumbent president, and what he did. I support John Kerry. And I'm proud to do so because I think he's a man who cares deeply about this country, and he has the courage to really commit himself to it. And he's shown it over a life time of public service.

BLITZER: General Clark, thanks very much.

CLARK: Thank you.

BLITZER: Lost in Vermont, highly radioactive material. What happened at this nuclear power plant? And why does it have the governor of the state so concerned?

Controversial photography. Why one contractor in Kuwait was fired for the photos she took while on the job.

And the troops that nabbed Saddam Hussein, they have a bigger reason to celebrate right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Engineers of Vermont's Yankee Nuclear Power Plant are still looking for two missing piece of spent fuel rod. Plant personnel determined Tuesday that the highly radioactive material had vanished from the spent fuel pool, a condition that has the governor asking serious questions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JAMES DOUGLAS (R) VERMONT: We need to get to the bottom of this. We need to know where these spent fuel rods are. The most important consideration is the safety of the nuclear power plant. We expect the operators of the plant to keep track of their spent fuel rods and that's why we will investigate and find out what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The missing nuclear fuel would be fatal to any unprotected person who came into contact with it. That's why officials do not believe it was necessarily stolen. The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant is owned by an Entergy Corporation. Curt Hebert is Entergy's executive vice president for external affairs. He joins us now live. Curt, thanks very much for joining us.

The governor went on to say, and I'll just read precisely what he said. "This situation is intolerable and completely unacceptable." What happened?

CURT HEBERT, ENTERGY VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think what the governor said earlier, I agree with. We need to find out exactly where they are and know what happened. We believe they're in one of a couple of places. They're either at the bottom of the pool, or they're at one of two licensed facility with an authorized move. We believe that's where they are.

BLITZER: I don't understand. I can misplace my wallet, my keys, but fuel rods that are so highly radioactive that if they got into the hands of bad guys could kill a lot of people with some sort of radio logical dirty bomb. How do you misplace that?

HEBERT: Well, we didn't misplace them. I know you said earlier they vanished. Well, they certainly did not vanish. As you know, we acquired the plant just a little around a year ago. And since we've acquired the plant there have been certain things we've done.

Now we partner with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. And in that partnership, now what we're doing is not only going through and looking and inspecting the rods themselves, but segments and fragments that have fallen off the rods. And that's the process we're going through right now. We will make that identification.

BLITZER: Because I know the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is now sending some people over to help you in this investigation. They take this very, very seriously the Department of Homeland Security.

HEBERT: Well, no one takes it more seriously than Entergy Corporation, I can assure you of that. Right now, we are putting a video down that pool to find out if they are at the bottom of that pool. We're also looking at documentation since 1979 to see exactly what the process has and where they are, in fact. And we will find it.

You mentioned could someone steal them? It is not possible. It is clearly not possible.

BLITZER: Why isn't it possible?

HEBERT: Well, one, you've got it in 40 feet of water, OK. You've got to get down in that water. Around the facility which is secured 24/7 by security guards, by security cameras, by security alarms, by radioactive alarms that quite frankly are so sensitive that we had someone the other day that went through there and the wrist watch, the radioactivity in the wrist watch set it off.

If you even imagined getting it out of that pool, which would not happen without some type of container, it would set all types of alarms off everywhere. We would be in there immediately. But even, even if someone were able to get it out, which they can't get it out of that pool without putting it in a container, they would have to get that container out of the facility as well. Those things would never happen.

BLITZER: How big are the two fuel rods? They're pretty small, aren't they?

HEBERT: Oh, absolutely. It's about the diameter of a pencil. One is seven inches long and one is 17 inches long. They are fragments that broke off the rods.

BLITZER: And if there were -- as we see in movies, an inside job, people in the inside conspiring to steal these things for whatever purpose. Is that possible?

HEBERT: No. It's not possible at all. These rods, we will find out exactly where they are, whether they're at the bottom of the pool or they at one of these two licensed facilities. We will find that out.

BLITZER: How often does this kind of thing disappear?

HEBERT: Again, they didn't disappear.

BLITZER: Well, whatever. How often did this problem that exist now happen?

HEBERT: This is the first time that we have ever seen. But this is also something new that we're doing in partnership with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which quite frankly, we endorse. To make sure that when you do the visual inspection of the rods themselves, and you look at the serial numbers, you not only do the rods, but you do the segments themselves or the fragments.

BLITZER: Curt Hebert, the executive vice president of Entergy Corporation. Good luck. We hope you find out what happened and you'll tell us.

HEBERT: Absolutely, we will. Thank you.

BLITZER: Thank you very much, Curt.

Coming home to Fort Hood, the welcome mats rolled out for troops from the 4th Infantry Division. We'll get a live look at the family festivities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's rather sick attempt at sensationalism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Pictures of a princess: a network's decision to broadcast images of Diana in her final moments has her family, and indeed much of Britain, crying foul.

Fired for a photo, a cargo worker in Kuwait snapped a picture of flag-draped coffins carrying United States soldiers. Now she's out of a job and so is her husband.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

The struggle to bring peace to Fallujah. Now coalition officials warning insurgents time is running out. I'll speak live with one of the few journalists in that Iraqi city. We'll get to that.

First, though, a quick check of the latest headlines. Politics took on a green angle as the world marks the 34th Earth Day. President Bush spoke about his administration's environmental accomplishments, while his Democratic challenger, John Kerry, charged that the president's environmental policies are contributing to more pollution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My administration has put in place some of the most important anti- pollution policies in a decade, policies that have reduced harmful emissions, reclaimed brown fields, cut phosphorous releases into our rivers and streams.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He has recycled the deficit, the bad economic policies, the bad environment policies, the bad foreign policy. And that's why -- I hate to say this to Texas -- but that's why he's got to be recycled back to Crawford.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: In Yemen, a long-sought suspect in the bombing of the USS Cole surrenders. Sources say the man willingly gave himself up after police closed in on him near his hometown. Yemeni authorities call him a dangerous al Qaeda foot soldier; 17 American sailors were killed in the attack in October 2000.

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the death toll rises from yesterday's car bombing outside the general security complex. One of those wounded, a Saudi policeman, has died in a hospital. Self-professed al Qaeda sympathizers are claiming responsibility for the attack which killed five people and injured 147.

In the southern Iraqi city of Basra, a day of mourning and angry protests. Funerals are being held for the victims of yesterday's attacks which killed 68 people, including 18 schoolchildren. The British military which is responsible for patrolling the area says it is too early to say who is responsible.

Let's get back to Fallujah now, where U.S. commanders are becoming increasingly impatient waiting for insurgents to give up their arms. Coalition officials are warning that unless those arms are surrendered within the next few days, the cease-fire will be over.

For the very latest on situation in Fallujah, we are joined on the phone by Tony Perry of "The Los Angeles Times." He's embedded with U.S. Marines near Fallujah.

Are you actually in Fallujah right now, Tony, or outside of Fallujah?

TONY PERRY, "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES": Wolf, we're inside the city of Fallujah.

The Marines have four different strongholds inside the city all pointing toward the core of the city where the insurgents, several hundred, maybe several thousand of them, are holed up. And you're right. The Marines' patience is wearing thin with the negotiating process. And they have said unless the insurgents start turning in their weaponry very, very soon and in large numbers, we'll be back at combat operations within days, not within weeks, but within days.

BLITZER: Well, what's -- who's trying to bring about some sort of agreement for them, for the insurgents, to lay down their arms? Who's doing the negotiations, if there are negotiations?

PERRY: Well, that's the problem. There are a number of sort of stealth identified leaders from Fallujah. But the Marines and the Coalition Provisional Authority officials have become convinced that those people on the other side, the people they are negotiating with, quite simply don't have the clout to get the insurgents to follow what has been set down.

And what has been set down is, No. 1, put down your arms, turn them in, and then we can talk. That has not occurred, nor has there been any movement towards turning in suspects in the murder of the four Americans and the mutilation of their bodies. So the people that the Americans have been negotiating with day in, day out for a week now quite simply do not appear to have the clout to deliver on their side of the bargain.

That's why the Marines, three battalions, maybe more if needed, are ready to go back on the offensive to go into Fallujah to drive the insurgents all the way to the Euphrates and once and for all wipe them out.

BLITZER: You mentioned something very intriguing in your opening comments. You said there may be thousands of insurgents in Fallujah. I've heard hundreds in the past. Is that the current Marine estimate?

PERRY: The intelligence estimates vary. I've heard hundreds, but I've always heard thousands. Fallujah has become certainly in the last several months the gathering spot for the Middle East, for anyone who wants to participate in the jihad, who wants to fight the Americans, who wants to die in the cause.

They are still, as far as we can tell, streaming in from throughout this region. Syrians, for example, they're being -- many of them have been detained at the border attempting to get in. One figure, the uppermost figure is several thousand insurgents could be inside the city, all heavily, heavily armed. This as you know is one of the most heavily armed nations in the world.

That's why the Marines are fairly frustrated at the pitiful number of rusted, outmoded arms that have been turned in so far, enough to barely fill a small pickup truck, this in a country where AK-47s seem to grow on trees. Very, very little has been turned in. The Marines are ready to go back on the offensive, if need be.

BLITZER: Tony Perry, as I've said, is a very courageous journalist from "The Los Angeles Times."

Tony, we'll check back with you at this time tomorrow, see what's happening. It looks like the situation is going to be quite volatile in the next few days -- Tony Perry of "The Los Angeles Times" phoning in to us from Fallujah. Thousand of U.S. troops, meanwhile, are returning from Iraq. And they got a heroes welcome today. There was a huge celebration of Fort Hood -- that's in Central Texas -- home to the Army's 4th Infantry Division.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim is there. He's joining us now live -- Keith.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf.

This big welcome home concert is meant to be a gift for the troops who have fought in Iraq, for members of the 4th Infantry Division and also Task Force Ironhorse. It's also, though, supposed to be a gift for the families who supported them.

Take a look at what's going on, on the main stage behind me. You can hear in the background that Lynyrd Skynyrd is performing, 50,000 people expected to take part in the events here today, but the emotions are mixed. And what's interesting about this day is how it's a combination of reflection and celebration.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): From pop to hip-hop, music at Fort Hood is varied and nearly nonstop for the reunited military families. But this day, exciting as it is, is an emotional anti-climax to the last few weeks at Fort Hood, where every few days, soldiers burst into this crowded gym, fell in line, and into the arms of their loved ones. These troops know it means something to say they got home safely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There 's a lot of soldiers that can't say that, and my heart and my prayers go out to those soldiers.

OPPENHEIM: Fort Hood is home to the 4th Infantry Division and members of Task Force Ironhorse, all soldiers who have been in Iraq for a year and credited with capturing Saddam Hussein.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They caught Saddam.

OPPENHEIM: The news of that capture raised hopes that Fort Hood's own would be in less danger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take cover!

OPPENHEIM: But as insurgents continued attacks, soldiers from this post lost their lives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was the light of his dad and mom's eyes.

OPPENHEIM: The family of Sergeant Sean Cataudella was one of those in mourning; 79 troops from the 4th Infantry Division have been killed in action in Iraq. So for the 16,000 returning safely, this is a bittersweet time, where sadness, relief and joy come together at one very big party.

(END VIDEOTAPE) OPPENHEIM: And the big party continues tonight with Wayne Newton hosting a USO review. Featured, Wolf, will be Jessica Simpson, as well as comedian Drew Carey -- back to you.

BLITZER: Keith Oppenheim with a lot of happy people at Fort Hood in Texas -- Keith, thanks very much.

In contrast, there was a much more sober homecoming, one we that don't usually see. There have been exceptions recently that has made the Pentagon very unhappy.

Our correspondent Barbara Starr has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: With quiet dignity and military respect, caskets arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, troops killed in Iraq now on the final journey back to their families, ceremonies repeated more than 500 times since the war began, a flag unfolded over a casket, a gentle touch smoothing the corner.

But these extraordinary pictures were never supposed to be seen. The Air Force released more than 300 photographs to this private anti- government secrecy Web site, pictures the Air Force says were meant only for history. A Defense Department spokesman says the release of the pictures under the Freedom of Information Act violated military policy. The entire matter is under review.

Since the war in Iraq, the Pentagon has strictly enforced its long-standing policy of not allowing media coverage of caskets arriving at Dover. Officials say it is out of deference to grieving families, not an effort to keep the news media from covering the mounting death toll.

For the families, news coverage is always difficult. Some do allow cameras at funerals. One group, the National Military Family Association, had this to say: "We believe the current policy is sensitive to the needs of the families and would urge everyone else to be sensitive to them as well."

The issue remains controversial.

SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: These young men are heroes. This is the last long ride home. These young men and women are heroes. And the idea that they're essentially snuck back into the country under the cover of night so no one can see that their casket has arrived, I just think is wrong.

STARR: Now a private contractor has been fired by her employer after taking this picture of 20 flag-draped coffins going home from Iraq earlier this month, a picture that appeared in "The Seattle Times."

But for those who gave the full measure of devotion, there is a final salute, a final thank you from the comrades who brought them home. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: British newspapers are calling it the ultimate betrayal after the network CBS broadcasts pictures of a dying Princess Diana. But is the outrage just overreaction?

The battle of the bulge beats the battle over beer. The nation's largest brewery says the author of a popular diet, the South Beach Diet, is dead wrong about its product. Now they're fighting back.

And school sham. Students allegedly hired out for road work instead of doing schoolwork. 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): Sources on both sides say Israeli troops killed three Palestinians during a half-hour gun battle near a West Bank refugee camp. Israeli military sources say a militant leader is among the dead. And in southern Gaza, Israel Defense Forces destroyed two abandoned buildings hiding entrances to tunnels used to smuggle weapons in from Egypt.

Four suspected Palestinian militants who have been holed up in Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah on the West Bank are apparently no longer there. A Palestinian source says the Israelis have learned they were hiding in Arafat's office and demanded that they get out.

Voters in India have completed the second of five rounds in the country's national election in relative peace. A top police official in one remote Northeastern state says 65 percent of eligible voters went to the polls, despite a boycott ordered by separatist rebels.

In Japan, scientists say they have successfully found a process to produce fatherless mice. The offspring were produced with two genetic mothers and no sperm. It's the first time such a feat has been accomplished in mammals.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Time for a quick check of some stories in our "Justice Report."

Attorneys for Michael Jackson say the pop star will plead not guilty and be fully exonerated. A grand jury investigating allegations that Jackson molested a young boy indicted him yesterday. The actual charges in the sealed indictment are still unknown. A charter school in Pensacola, Florida, faces fraud charges for allegedly hiring out students to work on road projects during class time and taking a cut of their wages. If convicted, the Escambia Charter School, which is partially funded by the state, could be fined and forced to pay the state back.

The wife of Senator Max Baucus of Montana faces a charge of simple assault stemming from an incident yesterday at a Washington garden store. It seems she got into an argument with another woman while both waited for loads of mulch. Mrs. Baucus is accused of striking the other woman. If convicted, she could face a maximum 180 days in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both.

Overseas, America's closest ally is furious and deeply offended by a CBS documentary. The network's "48 Hours" program yesterday aired some never-before-seen pictures of a dying Princess Diana.

CNN's Guy Raz has more reaction from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The mangled Mercedes that ended the life of the people's princess. Diana was hounded by the paparazzi up until the end of her life. For much of that life, nothing, it seemed, about Diana was off limits, that is, until now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to start with those pictures of Diana, princess of Wales, in the moments following her car crash.

RAZ: The top story in Britain, indignation and shock over CBS's decision to broadcast imagery of a dying princess. Newspaper headlines called it the ultimate betrayal. Even the prime minister weighed in.

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I think everyone finds it distasteful that there are pictures that can cause distress to the family.

RAZ: Outside Kensington Palace, where Diana lived, passersby also expressed outrage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What the Americans have just done is not right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a rather sick attempt at sensationalism.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It seems that for many people even the latest conclusions about Diana's death will not be the last word.

RAZ: The CBS documentary hasn't been aired in Britain and is unlikely to be. Most royal watchers believe the news has already upset the princess's sons, William and Harry.

ROBERT LACEY, ROYAL BIOGRAPHER: Americans have a false picture of the princess. They've created this rather unhealthy, morbid cult around her in which anything seems to go. I just cannot imagine a British media organization publishing something that is not just distressing to the royal family and to the young princes, but to everybody.

RAZ: The newsroom at "The Daily Mirror" tabloid has published scores of salacious accounts of Diana's life, yet today a newspaper which no doubt profited off the princess's life accused CBS of cashing in on her death. But in a statement, the network insisted it wasn't exploiting the princess's memory.

(on camera): Seven years after her body was taken from here to its final resting place, Diana's legacy still captures the public imagination. And in a country where tabloids described salacious scandals daily, the Diana photos on, at least in the eyes of the British public, crossed a red line.

Guy Raz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Coming up, how about a cold one with that diet?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is clear that the authors of this book don't understand beer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Find out why the nation's largest beermaker is upset over the South Beach Diet. If you like to drink beer, you need to watch this.

And the world's largest ocean liner makes a huge entrance into New York, pictures from the Queen Mary II. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here is something worth drinking to. The nation's largest brewer claims beer is completely misunderstood in the South Beach Diet. So Anheuser-Busch is going on the offensive to make sure that dieters who have a drink will never feel carb-guilty again.

Here's CNN's John Zarrella.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): You'd like a cold one, but you're on a diet. Don't worry, says Anheuser-Busch. The nation's largest beermaker is charging that the mega-popular South Beach Diet book is flatly misleading when it comes to beer.

FRANCINE KATZ, ANHEUSER-BUSCH: And we realize that the South Beach Diet has helped many people lose weight, but it doesn't change the fact that Dr. Agatston's advice about beer is absolutely wrong. ZARRELLA: In the book, author Doctor Arthur Agatston writes: "Maltose, the sugar in beer, has a higher glycemic index than white bread. The insulin response to it leads to the fat storage in the abdomen that we call, quite accurately, the beer belly."

Anheuser-Busch representatives holding a news conference in of all places, South Beach, said the beer belly isn't caused by maltose because there isn't any maltose in beer.

DOUG MUHLEMAN, ANHEUSER-BUSCH CHIEF BREWMASTER: The yeast consumes the maltose, converting it to alcohol and carbon dioxide, leaving no maltose behind.

ZARRELLA: The South Beach Diet doctor told "The South Florida Sun-Sentinel" he's willing to do more research on that point, but remains convinced that -- quote -- "beer is fattening."

Anheuser-Busch unveiled an ad that will appear Friday on more than 30 newspapers. The ad reads, "Have a beer with your South Beach Diet." Company officials say they are going public because they can't let misstatements go unchallenged. The beermaker's message to consumers? There's nothing wrong with bellying up to the bar as long as it's done in moderation.

John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thanks very much, John, for that.

What may be the world's grandest luxury liner glides into New York harbor. Pictures from the Queen Mary II's maiden trans-Atlantic voyage, you'll want to see that.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A New York welcome fit for a queen is our picture of the day.

Look at this. The Queen Mary II slid gracefully into New York Harbor this morning after her maiden trans-Atlantic voyage from England. The world's largest cruise ship was flanked by tugboats and Coast Guard patrol vessels under tight security. The ship carried 2,600 passengers and a crew of 1,250. The voyage lasted six days. They probably had a lot of fun on that voyage.

A reminder, you can always catch "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS" weekdays at this time, 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Among my guests tomorrow, "The Washington Post" reporter and best-selling author Bob Woodward.

Until then, thanks very much for joining us. 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