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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Kobe Bryant accuser files civil lawsuit, Possible terror clues impacting major U.S. cities, President Bush nominates new CIA director, Residents arm themselves for combat in Najaf, Amber Frey takes stand in Scott Peterson murder trial, Donald Trump company on brink of bankruptcy

Aired August 10, 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.


WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Happening now. New tactic, new trial. How Kobe Bryant's accuser now hopes to make the basketball player pay with cash.
Also possible terror clues impacting Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Dallas, even Austin and New Orleans.

Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Tapping America's top spy. President Bush nominates a new CIA director.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's the right man to lead this important agency at this critical moment in our nation's history.

BLITZER: But some top Democrats disagree.

Squaring off in Najaf. Day six of clashes between U.S. troops and fighters loyal to a wanted cleric. Now residents arm themselves for combat.

The other woman.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We believe that the tape recorded telephone calls will be compelling, will be riveting.

BLITZER: Today she takes the stand in the Scott Peterson murder trial.

Trump in trouble. With his company on the brink of bankruptcy, the man famous for saying "you're fired" now prepares to fire himself.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, August 10, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: There's a new man ready to lead the nation's intelligence war against Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. The question right now, will the United States Senate go along with the president's pick?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BUSH: I'm pleased to announce my decision to nominate Congressman Porter Goss as the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

BLITZER (voice-over): President Bush was effusive in his praise.

BUSH: Porter Goss is a leader with strong experience in intelligence and in the fight against terrorism. He knows the CIA inside and out. He's the right man to lead this important agency at this critical moment in our nation's history.

BLITZER: If confirmed by the Senate, Goss, a former CIA case officer, would replace George Tenet who stepped down last month.

REP. PORTER GOSS (R), FLORIDA: I used to be part of them when I worked for CIA. I'm very proud to be associated with them again. And I look forward to the challenges of the future. I also look forward to the confirmation process of the Senate.

BLITZER: Under normal circumstances, this presidential nomination probably would sail through the confirmation process. Goss, after all, is generally highly respected by his Republican and Democratic colleagues. Democratic Senator Bob Graham of Florida, a former chairman of the intelligence committee, was quick to endorse him. But these are not normal circumstances. For one thing, this nomination comes as Congress considers the 9/11 commission recommendations to restructure the entire U.S. intelligence community.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Many of us were very troubled when the president sort of gave a lukewarm endorsement to the 9/11 commission's recommendation that the director of national intelligence have full budgetary and hiring authority. If you don't have that, you're a toothless tiger.

BLITZER: Several Democrats are likely to use the Goss confirmation hearings as a vehicle to question the president's commitment to intelligence reform. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has endorsed all 41 recommendations.

In a statement, Kerry said Goss deserves a fair bipartisan and expeditious confirmation hearing adding, "we need to move urgently on this and other recommendations by the 9/11 commission to make America safer."

Wendy Sherman was an assistant secretary of state during the Clinton administration and is now a John Kerry foreign policy adviser.

WENDY SHERMAN, ADVISER TO JOHN KERRY: What we need to hear is this nomination in the context of the 9/11 recommendations. I hope that the Congress and the president will move as quickly on the 9/11 recommendations as he appears to want to move on this confirmation process. BLITZER: And other Democrats worry that Goss might be too political to run the CIA. They pointedly note the president made the announcement on the day he began a campaign swing through Goss' home state of Florida, a key battleground in this election.

Former CIA director Stansfield Turner, who served under President Jimmy Carter, told the Associated Press Goss' selection marked a bad day for the CIA, charging he was chosen to help George Bush win votes in Florida.

"This is the worst appointment that's ever been made to the office of director of central intelligence because that's an office that needs to be kept above partisan politics."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: But the 9/11 commission chairman the former New Jersey governor Tom Kean and the acting CIA director John McLaughlin both quickly endorsed the Goss nomination earlier today. Will Goss' CIA background hurt or help him during the Senate confirmation hearings? Joining us now for a closer look on that key issue, CNN's Brian Todd -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the answer may be both. Porter Goss is now in that familiar Washington conundrum, criticized and complimented for his experience.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): Porter Goss has plenty of friends on Capitol Hill who he'll need to get confirmed. Of perhaps greater importance, how many friends he may still have at his old workplace.

TIM ACEMER (D), 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: I think he has the personality, the background as an insider for a lot of this.

TODD: Stepping into the secretive world right after graduation from Yale in 1960, Goss spent two years as a military intelligence officer. Then joined the CIA directorate of operations, the agency's clandestine service and was deployed to Miami just as the Cuban missile crisis was heating up.

RON KESSLER, AUTHOR, "THE CIA AT WAR": During that period, the CIA engaged in some major fiascoes such as the Bay of Pigs and also did such silly things as trying to get Fidel Castro's beard to fall off.

So it was not the best time for the CIA.

TODD: Goss was a very young officer at that time and it's not clear whether he had any dealings with Cuba. Two years ago he told the "Washington Post" that he did small boat handling and, quote, "I had some very interesting moments in the Florida Straits." His job was to recruit and run agents in the Caribbean region.

KESSLER: It's a very complex job that these people have. They have to go overseas, lie, try to get other people to commit espionage against their own country.

TODD: Goss was later assigned as a clandestine officer in western Europe. But an illness forced him to retire in the early '70s. After a stint in local politics on Sanibel, Florida, Goss ran for Congress and was elected as a Republican in 1988. He became House intelligence chairman in 1997. Analysts and former CIA officers we spoke to cite his strengths as a careful overseer who has pushed for upgrades in technology and human intelligence.

REP. PORTER GOSS (R), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: Do I wish we had more spies who could do (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for us? Of course. Do I wish we had more technology? Obviously.

TODD: But one long-time CIA officer says, as chairman, Goss had a major influence over money appropriated for human and other intelligence, and blew it.

RAY MCGOVERN, FMR. CIA OFFICER: Porter Goss had -- has had the most powerful position of anyone in the intelligence community. And to the degree of the failures over the last seven years and there were, he bears as much responsibility as George Tenet.

TODD: Goss' relationship with former CIA director George Tenet is seen as positive overall. He defended Tenet from criticism of pre- 9/11 and pre-Iraq intelligence.

GOSS: I have complete confidence in DCI's ability to lead the agency and run the intelligence community.

TODD: But in a House intelligence report in June, Goss railed on Tenet and the CIA for their failures in cultivating human intelligence, some of the findings Tenet characterized as absurd.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: A respected intelligence analyst we spoke to agrees that Goss has the pedigree but says he's too partisan. And instead of a GOP congressman, what the CIA needs right now is a nonpolitical technocrat -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Brian Todd, thanks very much for that report. The Senate intelligence committee will conduct confirmation hearings on the Goss nomination.

Joining us now is the committee's chairman, the Republican senator Pat Roberts of Kansas. Thanks very much, Senator, for joining us. When do you think you'll start this process?

SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: Well, as soon as possible. I have yet to talk to Jay Rockefeller who is in Wyoming right now who is our distinguished vice chairman. But he's issued a statement that we should move in a very expeditious way and I want to. It could be -- I'm not saying it will be -- but it could be we could have a hearing even though his confirmation papers haven't been sent up and Congress is not in session. We could have a hearing in between during this break, you know, prior to the Congress coming back in, maybe next week or the week after that, and then vote in regards to confirmation, first week of September. But I think both Senator Rockefeller and I would like to make this just as expeditiously or to make it as expeditious simply as possible.

BLITZER: Normally, and correct me if I'm wrong because I've covered these hearings for a long time, you would spend at least a month or two on a major CIA nomination going through a vetting process, going through the background. If you spend only a week or two, that seems very, very quickly to take on this kind of enormous responsibility approving the president's nominee to run the CIA.

ROBERTS: Well, I think in most cases that might be somebody that the committee is not really familiar with. Everybody on the Senate intelligence committee knows Porter. Everybody on the House intelligence committee obviously knows him. He has the experience of being in the army intelligence, CIA intelligence, now the chairman of the intelligence committee. He can hit the ground running. He is independent.

You know, when somebody has a different view than you do, I don't think that's necessarily partisan. And I haven't talked to a lot of my Democrat friends across the aisle. I do know he got an endorsement from Bob Graham. I think we can do this on an expeditious basis because here we have a threat warning, most Americans are very concerned, we're worried about an attack prior to the election. We know exactly what's going on in regards to the war against terrorism both in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I don't have any problem with John McLaughlin. I think he's a very skilled individual. But there has been quite a debate I think in the administration as to whether or not they should name somebody now or wait until after the election. I don't think we can afford to wait. We have a known quantity. He has experience. He has expertise. I've known him for 16 years. I think he is a good pick.

BLITZER: What about this argument Stansfield Turner makes that this is a partisan pick designed to help the president in the key battleground state of Florida?

ROBERTS: I don't think that's even worthy of a comment.

BLITZER: All right. What about the argument that he's too political and that a technocrat, like the lieutenant general who runs the National Security Agency, someone without any political background, would be more appropriate for the sensitive moment in CIA -- in the nation's history?

ROBERTS: We don't need more technocrats. We need somebody who understands both the political system and the intelligence system. Here we have the 9/11 Commission saying that we have a big challenge on our hands for reform. At the same time, we have to have a CIA director to run the agencies that are under its jurisdiction. You need somebody that can hit the ground running.

He has been independent. Two years ago when I served with him on the investigation in regards to 9/11, OK, that is what the blueprint or the foundation used by 9/11 Commission, he was very independent. Now he has been a champion for the intelligence community, but also when they have been wrong, he has been very candid.

BLITZER: The other arguments some of the Democrats are making is they want to use this confirmation process as a way to find out where the president stands on these 9/11 Commission reforms, these recommendations and that's where they're going to be pressing him on.

ROBERTS: Rest assured they will have ample opportunity with all of the hearings that are being held -- seven have been held to date in August when we're not even in session, 13 more are scheduled, including one by the Intelligence Committee on the eighteenth. Then we start in in September both with the Government Affairs Committee and the Intelligence Committee hopefully marking up a bill, hopefully reaching some conclusion by October. By that time, certainly the administration will make clear all of the details in regards to their proposal for a national counterterrorism center and also a national...

BLITZER: And whether the new director -- the super director, let's say, the czar...

ROBERTS: All you've got to do is take pick of the committee hearings which you want to go to, which is part of the problem. We already have seven, and then 12 scheduled. And that's part of the problem that the 9/11 Commission has pointed at.

BLITZER: You know the Democrats on your Intelligence Committee, given the current political climate, can this nominee sail through and get confirmed?

ROBERTS: Would you have asked me if we would have had 17-0 vote bipartisan for the 511-page inquiry that we concluded on the Intelligence Committee? It was very tough and very candid on the intelligence community and probably you'd would have said, Pat, I don't think that's going to happen. It depends on what their concerns are. But that's why we have hearings. I don't see any reason why we can't have bipartisan support and I don't think the American people want to get into politics in naming who the new CIA director is.

BLITZER: So the earliest he could be sworn in as director of the CIA would be when?

ROBERTS: I think the earliest would be the first week in September. But that may be rushing it. And I'm sort of speaking out of turn here because I had yet to talk with our vice chairman, Jay Rockefeller. I have talked with other members on the other side and members on our side and he has a lot of support.

BLITZER: Pat Roberts, thanks very much for joining us.

ROBERTS: Always my pleasure.

BLITZER: Thanks.

And here's your chance to our viewers to weigh in on this important story. Our web question of the day is this, "Is Porter Goss the right choice for CIA director?" You can vote at CNN.com/wolf. We'll have the results for you later in this broadcast.

There's been a major development in the Kobe Bryant case. His accuser is now making a legal move to try to seek damages. We'll have details. Plus this.

Gunfire and explosions rocked Najaf again as U.S. forces battle supporters of the wanted Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Also ahead...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are going to hear about how Scott Peterson wormed himself into Ms. Frey's life and into her heart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Did she reveal a web of lies? Find out as Scott Peterson's ex-mistress Amber Frey takes the stand.

Not made for reality television. Donald Trump says "you're fired" to himself. We'll explain. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Six straight days and still no letup in the fighting between U.S. and Iraqi forces and insurgents loyal to the radical Shiite cleric. CNN's John Vause is in Baghdad with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tensions have been rising here all day in Baghdad with the expectation of a major confrontation between U.S. and Iraqi forces and the militia loyal to the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The reason for this, a statement put out on behalf the cleric warning Baghdad residents to stay indoors and earlier today, in Sadr City, a poor neighborhood of Baghdad, a stronghold for al-Sadr, a call from the mosque, a crisis call, a call for the residents there to take up arms.

And overnight curfew in Sadr City did little to quell the violence with ongoing clashes between al-Sadr's men and the U.S. and Iraqi forces. One U.S. official there describes the fighting as more concentrated than in previous days. And says the clashes are directly linked to the fighting ongoing in Najaf.

In that holy city, the militia loyal to al-Sadr has now dug into the Imam Ali Mosque and also the nearby cemetery. This is set for an explosive showdown with U.S. troops now having the permission of the governor of Najaf to go into a mosque to clear out the militia.

Right now the U.S. says it has no plans to do this. Instead it has encircled the Imam Ali Mosque compound trying to cut off supply lines to the militants inside. There has been sporadic fighting in Najaf but it's been relatively quiet compared to previous days. U.S. troops are now warning residents near to the fighting to leave. In Arabic announcements they say it is not safe to stay in Najaf. They're also warning insurgents inside the Imam Ali Mosque compound to leave peacefully or they will face death. Now a statement put out on behalf of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is now calling on other Islamic organizations to join the fight, to defend Najaf and the Imam Ali Mosque, the most holy place for Shiite Muslims in all of Islam.

John Vause, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The latest of the fighting in Iraq is threatening the country's oil industry. Officials yesterday stopped pumping oil from the main southern oil fields to the southern port of Basra after insurgents threatened to attack the facilities. But officials say production resumed after they reached an accord with the militants. No other details immediately available.

There are competing claims of responsibility for a series of explosions in Istanbul that killed two people today. One claim is from a group linked to al Qaeda, although Turkish officials now suspect Kurdish separatists.

We get the latest details from CNN's Alphonzo Van Marsh in Istanbul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tourists who survive bomb blasts in Istanbul wait to get into what used to be their hotel to get what remains of their belongings.

AUTUSTE NOYART, AMERICAN TOURIST: There was a big explosion in the back of the second floor up there. The whole building vibrated. I was brushing my teeth at time and I didn't even have a shirt.

MARSH: Two blasts targeted a gas canister refueling station causing minor damage, but no causalities. The blast targeting two inexpensive hotels in the old city were deadly despite a reported 10- minute warning call from the alleged bombers.

(on camera): This hotel is just a stone's throw away from some of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) most popular tourist destinations. And August is tourist high season in Turkey.

(voice-over): A group calling itself the Abu Half Al Masri Brigades claimed responsibility for the attacks. The group affiliated with al Qaeda, said on an Islamic Web site, that Istanbul was the opening for the quote, "Bloody war we promised on the Europeans." That claim has not been independently verified.

The same group claimed responsibility for suicide bombings in Istanbul that killed at least 60 people in November, but a previously unknown Kurdish group has also said it was responsible for these attacks. The Turkish interior minister, said that whoever carried out these bombings, the government will not relent in its anti-terror campaign.

ABDULKADIR AKSU, TURKISH INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): All brave security forces have the capacity and power to defeat all of those terrorist attacks.

MARSH: The challenges are several. Kurdish, Islamic and left wing militants are all active in Turkey.

Alfonzo Van Marsh, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Are terrorists looking south?

We'll tell you about a recent arrest that raises significant questions about possible future attacks right here in the United States.

Also ahead...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLORIA ALLRED, AMBER FREY'S ATTORNEY: We believe that the tape recorded telephone calls will be compelling, will be riveting and will provide dramatic evidence in support of the prosecution's theory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And there's been dramatic testimony in the Scott Peterson trial. The former lover Amber Frey takes the stand.

And a major development in the Kobe Bryant case as well. The NBA star now faces a civil suit. We'll have details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: She's the most anticipated witness in a closely watched murder trial. And today Amber Frey, Scott Peterson's former mistress, is on the stand giving a detailed account of their relationship.

CNN's Rusty Dornin is outside the courthouse in Redwood City, California. That's near San Francisco. She has details -- Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Amber Frey, the prosecution's star witness was brought in under very tight security. The detectives driving her into the underground garage here at courthouse. She was taken straight up to court. The only folks that had a glimpse of her are those spectators in the courtroom. At times she has appeared nervous. She has often lost her train of thought, having to ask prosecutors to repeat their questions.

But overall she has kept her composure as she described her first four dates and only dates with Scott Peterson. She describes him as a very charming man who gave her champagne and strawberries on the first date, brought her roses, gave her daughter gifts. At times it sounds like scenes out of romance novel. But at the same time, he was weaving a web of lies. He talked about how he owned a warehouse in Modesto, that he lived in Sacramento. He was going fishing in Alaska with his brothers, that he was going to see his family in Kennebunkport, Maine in their home. Of course, all of that is untrue.

And at the end he, of course, told her that he was not married. On December 9 he told her he had lost his wife. He broke down and cried and said he'd lost her, and that this was his first holiday without her. Prosecutors, of course, are trying to show that he was so passionate in this relationship, that it was definitely a motive for murder. Frey's attorney agrees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALLRED: Amber, as a single parent, was very moved about how sweet he was to her little girl. He even carried her little girl when they went on a hike and he helped her with her little bandage. This morning, I think what's most important, are Scott Peterson's lies and the double life that he was leading.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: Now the defense has claimed and admitted in open court that, yes, Scott Peterson was a lying and cheating husband. But he certainly was -- did not murder his wife. And that's what they're going to try to prove when they cross-examine Amber Frey. They also handed out these transcripts of a few conversations that Amber and Scott Peterson had over New Year's Eve time period of 2002, they're beginning to play those in court. In one of them, Scott Peterson claims that he called her from Paris, that he saw fireworks for the New Year's celebration off the Eiffel Tower and assortment of other lies, that he went to Normandy and that kind of thing. So, Amber Frey, we're expecting to be on the stand for the rest of the week and probably through the rest of next week -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. We'll get some more reports from you, obviously, throughout the week.

Rusty Dornin, covering this trial for us, thanks very much.

There's also been a major development in the Kobe Bryant case. The woman accusing the NBA star of rape has filed a civil lawsuit on top of the criminal trial scheduled to start later this month.

Our national correspondent Gary Tuchman is following all of these developments for us. He's at CNN Center in Atlanta.

GARY TUCHMAN: Wolf, hello to you.

The woman who says Kobe Bryant raped her will ask a federal court for some of his money. Just a couple of hours ago in the federal courthouse in Denver a civil lawsuit was filed. It is called Jane Doe vs. Kobe Bryant. In it this 20-year-old woman is asking for damages in an amount which shall be shown to be reasonable and just. That's the quote, no specific amount, but they want money from this case.

Just last week, one of the women's attorneys, John Clune, told us there was a reasonable chance that she would not go forward with the criminal case, which is scheduled to begin in August 27th, because of mistakes made by the court. Personal information about this woman had been posted on Web sites at least three times.

Now, that has not happened yet, but this could be the beginning of the process of this woman pulling out of the case. Now, in the lawsuit filed, eight pages today in the federal court, some harsh alleged allegations that we have not heard publicly in the criminal case. This is part of what was said, defendant Bryant has a history of attempting to commit similar acts of violent sexual assault on females he has just met, has thereby established a pattern and practice of such unlawful acts.

Once again, those allegations have not been brought up in the criminal case. You might expect attorneys for Kobe Bryant to speak out when they hear things like this. But there is a gag order in the criminal case. And the attorneys for Kobe Bryant have not talked on the record to reporters since this all began 13 months ago.

But, once again, Wolf the criminal trial scheduled to begin August 27. But stay tuned -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, we certainly will. We'll be checking back with you. Gary Tuchman, thanks very much.

In our justice report, a first appearance in court for another young husband accused of killing his pregnant wife. A judge read the murder and other charges against Mark Hacking, who appeared via video. Prosecutors say he confessed to shooting his wife, Lori, shortly after she learned he lied about being accepted to medical school. Hacking faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Terror arrests, a Pakistani man now in custody for videotaping buildings in several Southern cities right here in the United States.

Plus, President Bush names a new CIA director. Up next, more reaction. I'll speak with former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Richard Holbrooke. He'll be joining us live.

Also ahead, a duel until death, why so many Iraqis are willing to shed blood or give their lives for a cause. We'll have a closer look.

And later, trees, rocks, tons of earth, all come tumbling down, and all of it caught on videotape.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

A Pakistani man arrested for taping banks and public transportation systems in several major U.S. cities. We have details of a developing story. That's coming up.

First, though, a quick check of some stories now in the news.

A new report from the National Hurricane Center is out this hour on Tropical Storm Bonnie taking aim at Gulf Coast. Right now, it has sustained winds of 50 miles an hour. But it's expected to get stronger as it continues moving north.

As expected, the Federal Reserve raised a key interest rate today a quarter-point. The federal funds rate, which overnight bank-to-bank loans, is now 1.5 percent. But consumer rates almost immediately followed suit, also rising a quarter-point.

Changes in immigration policy were announced today by the Homeland Security Department. Officials say one will speed up expulsion of some illegal immigrants. The other lets some legal visitors stay longer in border areas of the Southwest.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

Federal officials say a Pakistani man arrested in North Carolina was videotaping skyscrapers in downtown Charlotte.

Our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, is joining us now with information she's learned -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the big question is, of course, is this a terror case? And at this point, authorities just do not know.

But they are taking a very close look at Kamran Shaikh, a Pakistani national who was stopped by local police in Charlotte, North Carolina, on July 20 shooting videotape of the skyline, including the headquarters of the Bank of America and Wachovia Bank, where the local FBI office is located. In his possession, according to a court affidavit, tapes of downtown Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Dallas and New Orleans, public transportation systems in some of those cities, and what appeared to be the Mansfield Dam in Austin, Texas.

The Dallas police chief describes the tapes of his city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID KUNKLE, DALLAS POLICE CHIEF: It was really just scanning various buildings and facilities. And it didn't appear to be directed looking at any vulnerabilities of any particular buildings or access points or anything of that nature.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Law enforcement sources say there is other information beyond the videotapes which raises suspicions, but as yet, the name Kamran Shaikh has not shown up in any terrorist-related databases.

Shaikh is being held on immigration charges, while the investigation, which has been going full bore for three weeks, continues -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jeanne Meserve, thanks very much for that.

More now on our top story. As we reported, the president has nominated Republican Congressman Porter Goss of Florida to be the new head of the CIA.

Joining us in New York with his take on this and more, the former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke. He's a senior international policy adviser to Senator John Kerry.

Thanks very much for joining us, Ambassador.

Well, give us your take. Do you think this is a good idea for Porter Goss to be the next head of the CIA?

RICHARD HOLBROOKE, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS: I know Porter Goss pretty well. We've worked together. I like him. He's a serious man. And he has a serious background in intelligence.

But I think there's a lack of clarity in what the administration is proposing. Is he going to be the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, or is he going to be the director of central intelligence, this broad, overarching job which was created to oversee the entire intelligence community back in the 1940s?

The 9/11 Commission has recommended that that job be abolished, the second half, and replaced by a director of national intelligence. Senator Kerry has endorsed that recommendation. But President Bush has said that he wants to have two different jobs, one, the director of the CIA, who still remains the title director of central intelligence, DCI, and also a director of national intelligence who doesn't have Cabinet rank and doesn't have budgetary authority.

It doesn't make much sense. And I'm sure that the senators, in the course of this hearing, are going demand clarification from the administration in order to go forward.

BLITZER: Well, I think the White House is saying -- at least Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, that they're leaving open the possibility that Porter Goss, if confirmed, could move up to the other job if the Congress authorizes it and it becomes the law of the land. They're leaving that possibility open. Is that good enough for you?

HOLBROOKE: No, that's mumbo jumbo, Wolf.

There are two distinct jobs. One has been recommended by the 9/11 Commission. And President Bush has not accepted the 9/11 Commission proposal. He's put forward a watered-down version and he's trying to pretend it's the same thing. There's the current job, director of central intelligence, which Porter Goss has been nominated for as of this morning. And those are two different jobs.

The 9/11 Commission wants to change things. Senator Kerry's endorsed it. The White House has not endorsed it. And my guess is, under the pressure that is coming down the road, you're going to see another example of the White House changing its position and moving towards Senator Kerry's position, as has happened on several other major issues, including Iraq recently. BLITZER: But until that is finally passed by Congress and signed into law by the president, during this critical moment in the war on terror, when all these threats are out there getting up to the November 2 election, doesn't it make sense for the president to have a CIA director that he trusts and has in place to fight this war?

HOLBROOKE: No one's opposed to a CIA director. The issue is whether the administration is going to make Porter Goss' nomination part of the reform or try to slide by with the sub-Cabinet director of national intelligence, which is not what 9/11 proposed.

The White House is not supporting the 9/11 Commission proposal. But they are trying to make it appear as if they're doing so.

BLITZER: All right.

HOLBROOKE: You, yourself, have reported that. Now it's up to the Senate to decide this. But I think the viewers should be very clear on what's happening here.

BLITZER: You probably know, and I'm sure you do, that the president today on the campaign trail in Florida ridiculed the Democratic nominee, John Kerry, for now saying -- he said it yesterday -- that if he had to vote all over again for that authorization for the president to go to war, knowing what he knows right now, he still would have voted for it. Can you clarify precisely what Senator Kerry's position is?

HOLBROOKE: I think it's very clear. Senator Kerry has not changed his position ever on this issue, although the White House has tried to make it appear as though he has.

He twice voted for regime change in Iraq, in 1998 and again in 2002. He feels strongly that Saddam Hussein was a terrible man, a brutal dictator, and that his removal is a net plus for the world. But he has also made clear that, in voting for that resolution, he was not giving a blank check to the administration to do what they did the way they did it, without international support, sufficient support, without authorization and NATO unity.

And he would not have done it the same way it was done here. And I think that the White House position -- and I saw the president's statement, watched it several times today as you showed it -- I think the White House statement today was a deliberate misstatement of Senator Kerry's position.

BLITZER: All right, I just want to get you on the record on this whole issue of Vietnam, John Kerry's service in Vietnam.

You were a young American diplomat serving in Saigon during the Vietnam War. So this is a personal matter for you as well. When the Democratic candidate makes such a big issue of his Vietnam service during the war at the Democratic Convention and now other veterans opposed to him come out and say, effectively, he's lying about that, what do you do to make sure that this does not become a negative campaign issue for the man you want to be the next president of the United States?

HOLBROOKE: First of all, Wolf, I don't think that the Republicans are doing themselves any service by questioning the credentials of a man, John Kerry, who volunteered three times. First, only a handful of his classmates in college volunteered for military service at all.

Then he volunteered for Vietnam. And then when he was on a slow boat out in the South China Sea, he asked for the Riverine Force to command a swift boat. I was not just in Saigon, as you said. I spent three years in Vietnam and a year and a half of that in the Lower Mekong Delta, in the same area where John Kerry was. I was a civilian, but everyone was getting shot at down there.

I was not in as much danger as John Kerry, but I know those mangrove swamps very well. Danger and death lurked behind every single turn. And when the attack ads say that his wound was only a light wound, what are they talking about? The distance between a light wound and death is an inch. It's one aorta. It's one artery. It is unbelievable to me, given the danger that people in the Riverine Force faced, that any of them would go to town and be used this way 30 years later.

I'm embarrassed for the people who have done this ad. And I think that everyone should read what Jim Rassmann wrote in today's "Wall Street Journal," reaffirming how he owes his life to John Kerry. Rassmann is a Republican who was not recruited by the campaign, but just got angry about the earlier misrepresentation.

Anyone who served in Vietnam deserves the admiration of all Americans. We're not attacking. John Kerry, myself, we're not attacking those people who are attacking Kerry. They served. He served. He was wounded three times. He saved lives. And let the record speak for itself. As Senator Kerry himself says, let them attack. They're just advertising his heroic war record.

BLITZER: Ambassador Holbrooke, unfortunately, we have to leave it there. Thanks very much for joining us.

HOLBROOKE: My pleasure, Wolf.

BLITZER: Vows to fight to the death in Najaf. We'll get some insight into why many members of Iraq's Shia community are ready and willing to die for their cause.

Plus, Trump's troubles, why the billionaire could soon find himself losing a job.

And a rare white tiger debuts without his stripes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: When the radical Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr told the world this week he would sacrifice himself before he laid down his arms, he was speaking to multiple audiences. One was the provisional Iraqi government. Another was the U.S. military. But perhaps most importantly, he was speaking to his fellow Shia.

CNN's Zain Verjee is following the story for us. She is joining us from the CNN Center in Atlanta -- Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Muqtada al-Sadr has recruited poor disenfranchised young man to his banner who embrace his message. Listen to what he says and why it's so significant.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE (voice-over): Two centuries-old shrines in Iraq stand at the epicenter of the Shia Muslim world, the Imam Hussein shrine in Karbala and the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf.

Holed up in the Imam Ali mosque amid firefights, firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr makes this proclamation...

MUQTADA AL-SADR, RADICAL SHIA CLERIC (through translator): I will remain in the city until the last drop of my blood has been spilled.

VERJEE: These are powerful and symbolic words that resonate with the Shia community, its history and its tradition.

AKBAR AHMED, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: It evokes the idea of the Karbala paradigm, which is martyrdom, death, commitment, sacrifice and passion.

VERJEE: Imam Hussein, the prophet's grandson, uttered similar words before he battled his enemies in Karbala 1,300 years ago, knowing he would be killed, but willing to die fighting in justice.

AHMED: By making that gesture and giving his life, he became the ideal prototype martyr in Islam.

VERJEE: To this day, thousands of Shia pilgrims remember Imam Hussein's death in a pilgrimage to Karbala, where they beat themselves until they bleed. Analysts say, Sadr hopes to capitalize on emotion by drawing a skillful parallel between Imam Hussein's martyrdom and his own possible martyrdom in a fight against America.

Moderate Shia clerics say Sadr is not a spokesman of all Shia and they don't approve of his methods. But because of the symbolism he's chosen, they feel they have no choice but to stay silent.

AHMED: Even the so-called moderates in the Shia community would feel very wary now of attacking Sadr or seeming to criticize him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: Now, just hours ago, Wolf, we received a more conciliatory statement from Muqtada al-Sadr welcoming the help from the United Nations to end the fighting in Najaf. Some say this move shows al Sadr is a crafty politician and not just a radical cleric -- Wolf. BLITZER: Now, Zain, I know you've been speaking with experts. What do they recommend how Americans should be dealing with Muqtada al-Sadr?

VERJEE: Well, they say, first, that Americans need to show that they're not taking on Islam, but Muqtada al-Sadr himself. So don't damage the mosques, they say. And get Shia moderate leaders involved in dealing with Sadr, push him towards negotiation. They say, the more bloodshed there is, the more Sadr becomes a poster child of resistance, even though many Shia don't support him -- Wolf.

BLITZER: CNN's Zain Verjee, good report for us. Thanks very much for that. Very informative.

In other news around the world, right place, right time, a massive landslide caught on camera in Japan by officials in the Ministry of Land. They just happened to be on hand when a mountainside gave way -- look at this -- and smothered a major highway. Fortunately, there were no injuries.

Donald Trump tells himself, you're fired.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, DEVELOPER/BUSINESSMAN: It's a really positive thing, as opposed to a negative thing. We're reducing debt by $544 million.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Why the billionaire business mogul is now having some trouble in the boardroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Donald Trump's casino operations are filing for bankruptcy and Trump is having to give up being the boss.

CNNfn's Gerri Willis is joining us now in New York with more -- Gerri.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf.

Yes, I spoke to Trump today. And he was characteristically confident and at ease.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIS (voice-over): As Donald Trump likes to say on TV:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE APPRENTICE")

TRUMP: You're fired.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WILLIS: Now he can say it to himself. His company, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, said it plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September. Under the agreement, he will give up title of chief executive and lose his 56 percent controlling ownership stake, keeping about a 25 percent equity stake in the company and retaining his role as chairman. That's provided he continues a series of investments in the company, including a $55 million cash investment and a $16 million exchange of debt in the company he owns.

When asked for comment, Trump by phone, as you might expect, remained confident.

TRUMP: It's a really positive thing, as opposed to a negative thing. We're reducing debt by $544 million. We're lowering the interest rates down to, you know, a very low level. And we have a 10- year loan from the institutions that we're deal dealing with. I think it's going to be a terrific company going into the future. And that's why I'm working on it.

WILLIS: Credit Suisse First Boston, the banker in the deal, will own nearly two-thirds of the company, investing $345 million in the restructuring. The company, which will continue operating through the financial reorganization, owns the Trump Plaza and the Trump Taj Mahal.

This will be the second time the Trump casinos have filed for bankruptcy. In 1992, the three casinos he then owned, the Taj Mahal, Castle, and Plaza, all in Atlantic City, ended up in Chapter 11, burdened by more than $1 billion in debt.

At the time, Trump himself was at brink of bankruptcy, but later regained control of the casinos and wrote a book about his experience in 1997 called "Trump: The Art of the Comeback." And while Mr. Trump has engineered a personal comeback of his own lately, starring in his own reality TV show and launching a magazine, his resorts and casinos have been losing money.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIS: Well, for all of those "Apprentice" fans out there, don't worry. Today's news will not stop the second season of the show -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Gerri Willis, thanks very much. Good report from you as well.

And well have the results of our Web question of the day. That's coming up next.

Plus, what's a tiger without its stripes? This rare cub is our picture of the day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Take a look. Here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day: Is Porter Goss the right choice for the CIA? Forty-seven percent of you said yes; 53 percent said no. Remember, though, this is not a scientific poll.

Our picture of the day shows a new member of a very small fraternity. This cub is one of only about 20 stripeless white Bengal tigers in the world. He's seen here with his brothers. The offspring of normal orange and black tigers, he was born at a Spanish wildlife refuge three months ago. He's been name Artico, which is Spanish for arctic. So perhaps you could call him a polar tiger. Maybe not. Cute, though.

A reminder, you can always watch us here on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS 5:00 p.m. Eastern. I'm also on daily, weekdays, that is, noon Eastern.

Until tomorrow, 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 August 10, 2004 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Happening now. New tactic, new trial. How Kobe Bryant's accuser now hopes to make the basketball player pay with cash.
Also possible terror clues impacting Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Dallas, even Austin and New Orleans.

Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Tapping America's top spy. President Bush nominates a new CIA director.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's the right man to lead this important agency at this critical moment in our nation's history.

BLITZER: But some top Democrats disagree.

Squaring off in Najaf. Day six of clashes between U.S. troops and fighters loyal to a wanted cleric. Now residents arm themselves for combat.

The other woman.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We believe that the tape recorded telephone calls will be compelling, will be riveting.

BLITZER: Today she takes the stand in the Scott Peterson murder trial.

Trump in trouble. With his company on the brink of bankruptcy, the man famous for saying "you're fired" now prepares to fire himself.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, August 10, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: There's a new man ready to lead the nation's intelligence war against Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. The question right now, will the United States Senate go along with the president's pick?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BUSH: I'm pleased to announce my decision to nominate Congressman Porter Goss as the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

BLITZER (voice-over): President Bush was effusive in his praise.

BUSH: Porter Goss is a leader with strong experience in intelligence and in the fight against terrorism. He knows the CIA inside and out. He's the right man to lead this important agency at this critical moment in our nation's history.

BLITZER: If confirmed by the Senate, Goss, a former CIA case officer, would replace George Tenet who stepped down last month.

REP. PORTER GOSS (R), FLORIDA: I used to be part of them when I worked for CIA. I'm very proud to be associated with them again. And I look forward to the challenges of the future. I also look forward to the confirmation process of the Senate.

BLITZER: Under normal circumstances, this presidential nomination probably would sail through the confirmation process. Goss, after all, is generally highly respected by his Republican and Democratic colleagues. Democratic Senator Bob Graham of Florida, a former chairman of the intelligence committee, was quick to endorse him. But these are not normal circumstances. For one thing, this nomination comes as Congress considers the 9/11 commission recommendations to restructure the entire U.S. intelligence community.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Many of us were very troubled when the president sort of gave a lukewarm endorsement to the 9/11 commission's recommendation that the director of national intelligence have full budgetary and hiring authority. If you don't have that, you're a toothless tiger.

BLITZER: Several Democrats are likely to use the Goss confirmation hearings as a vehicle to question the president's commitment to intelligence reform. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has endorsed all 41 recommendations.

In a statement, Kerry said Goss deserves a fair bipartisan and expeditious confirmation hearing adding, "we need to move urgently on this and other recommendations by the 9/11 commission to make America safer."

Wendy Sherman was an assistant secretary of state during the Clinton administration and is now a John Kerry foreign policy adviser.

WENDY SHERMAN, ADVISER TO JOHN KERRY: What we need to hear is this nomination in the context of the 9/11 recommendations. I hope that the Congress and the president will move as quickly on the 9/11 recommendations as he appears to want to move on this confirmation process. BLITZER: And other Democrats worry that Goss might be too political to run the CIA. They pointedly note the president made the announcement on the day he began a campaign swing through Goss' home state of Florida, a key battleground in this election.

Former CIA director Stansfield Turner, who served under President Jimmy Carter, told the Associated Press Goss' selection marked a bad day for the CIA, charging he was chosen to help George Bush win votes in Florida.

"This is the worst appointment that's ever been made to the office of director of central intelligence because that's an office that needs to be kept above partisan politics."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: But the 9/11 commission chairman the former New Jersey governor Tom Kean and the acting CIA director John McLaughlin both quickly endorsed the Goss nomination earlier today. Will Goss' CIA background hurt or help him during the Senate confirmation hearings? Joining us now for a closer look on that key issue, CNN's Brian Todd -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the answer may be both. Porter Goss is now in that familiar Washington conundrum, criticized and complimented for his experience.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): Porter Goss has plenty of friends on Capitol Hill who he'll need to get confirmed. Of perhaps greater importance, how many friends he may still have at his old workplace.

TIM ACEMER (D), 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: I think he has the personality, the background as an insider for a lot of this.

TODD: Stepping into the secretive world right after graduation from Yale in 1960, Goss spent two years as a military intelligence officer. Then joined the CIA directorate of operations, the agency's clandestine service and was deployed to Miami just as the Cuban missile crisis was heating up.

RON KESSLER, AUTHOR, "THE CIA AT WAR": During that period, the CIA engaged in some major fiascoes such as the Bay of Pigs and also did such silly things as trying to get Fidel Castro's beard to fall off.

So it was not the best time for the CIA.

TODD: Goss was a very young officer at that time and it's not clear whether he had any dealings with Cuba. Two years ago he told the "Washington Post" that he did small boat handling and, quote, "I had some very interesting moments in the Florida Straits." His job was to recruit and run agents in the Caribbean region.

KESSLER: It's a very complex job that these people have. They have to go overseas, lie, try to get other people to commit espionage against their own country.

TODD: Goss was later assigned as a clandestine officer in western Europe. But an illness forced him to retire in the early '70s. After a stint in local politics on Sanibel, Florida, Goss ran for Congress and was elected as a Republican in 1988. He became House intelligence chairman in 1997. Analysts and former CIA officers we spoke to cite his strengths as a careful overseer who has pushed for upgrades in technology and human intelligence.

REP. PORTER GOSS (R), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: Do I wish we had more spies who could do (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for us? Of course. Do I wish we had more technology? Obviously.

TODD: But one long-time CIA officer says, as chairman, Goss had a major influence over money appropriated for human and other intelligence, and blew it.

RAY MCGOVERN, FMR. CIA OFFICER: Porter Goss had -- has had the most powerful position of anyone in the intelligence community. And to the degree of the failures over the last seven years and there were, he bears as much responsibility as George Tenet.

TODD: Goss' relationship with former CIA director George Tenet is seen as positive overall. He defended Tenet from criticism of pre- 9/11 and pre-Iraq intelligence.

GOSS: I have complete confidence in DCI's ability to lead the agency and run the intelligence community.

TODD: But in a House intelligence report in June, Goss railed on Tenet and the CIA for their failures in cultivating human intelligence, some of the findings Tenet characterized as absurd.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: A respected intelligence analyst we spoke to agrees that Goss has the pedigree but says he's too partisan. And instead of a GOP congressman, what the CIA needs right now is a nonpolitical technocrat -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Brian Todd, thanks very much for that report. The Senate intelligence committee will conduct confirmation hearings on the Goss nomination.

Joining us now is the committee's chairman, the Republican senator Pat Roberts of Kansas. Thanks very much, Senator, for joining us. When do you think you'll start this process?

SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: Well, as soon as possible. I have yet to talk to Jay Rockefeller who is in Wyoming right now who is our distinguished vice chairman. But he's issued a statement that we should move in a very expeditious way and I want to. It could be -- I'm not saying it will be -- but it could be we could have a hearing even though his confirmation papers haven't been sent up and Congress is not in session. We could have a hearing in between during this break, you know, prior to the Congress coming back in, maybe next week or the week after that, and then vote in regards to confirmation, first week of September. But I think both Senator Rockefeller and I would like to make this just as expeditiously or to make it as expeditious simply as possible.

BLITZER: Normally, and correct me if I'm wrong because I've covered these hearings for a long time, you would spend at least a month or two on a major CIA nomination going through a vetting process, going through the background. If you spend only a week or two, that seems very, very quickly to take on this kind of enormous responsibility approving the president's nominee to run the CIA.

ROBERTS: Well, I think in most cases that might be somebody that the committee is not really familiar with. Everybody on the Senate intelligence committee knows Porter. Everybody on the House intelligence committee obviously knows him. He has the experience of being in the army intelligence, CIA intelligence, now the chairman of the intelligence committee. He can hit the ground running. He is independent.

You know, when somebody has a different view than you do, I don't think that's necessarily partisan. And I haven't talked to a lot of my Democrat friends across the aisle. I do know he got an endorsement from Bob Graham. I think we can do this on an expeditious basis because here we have a threat warning, most Americans are very concerned, we're worried about an attack prior to the election. We know exactly what's going on in regards to the war against terrorism both in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I don't have any problem with John McLaughlin. I think he's a very skilled individual. But there has been quite a debate I think in the administration as to whether or not they should name somebody now or wait until after the election. I don't think we can afford to wait. We have a known quantity. He has experience. He has expertise. I've known him for 16 years. I think he is a good pick.

BLITZER: What about this argument Stansfield Turner makes that this is a partisan pick designed to help the president in the key battleground state of Florida?

ROBERTS: I don't think that's even worthy of a comment.

BLITZER: All right. What about the argument that he's too political and that a technocrat, like the lieutenant general who runs the National Security Agency, someone without any political background, would be more appropriate for the sensitive moment in CIA -- in the nation's history?

ROBERTS: We don't need more technocrats. We need somebody who understands both the political system and the intelligence system. Here we have the 9/11 Commission saying that we have a big challenge on our hands for reform. At the same time, we have to have a CIA director to run the agencies that are under its jurisdiction. You need somebody that can hit the ground running.

He has been independent. Two years ago when I served with him on the investigation in regards to 9/11, OK, that is what the blueprint or the foundation used by 9/11 Commission, he was very independent. Now he has been a champion for the intelligence community, but also when they have been wrong, he has been very candid.

BLITZER: The other arguments some of the Democrats are making is they want to use this confirmation process as a way to find out where the president stands on these 9/11 Commission reforms, these recommendations and that's where they're going to be pressing him on.

ROBERTS: Rest assured they will have ample opportunity with all of the hearings that are being held -- seven have been held to date in August when we're not even in session, 13 more are scheduled, including one by the Intelligence Committee on the eighteenth. Then we start in in September both with the Government Affairs Committee and the Intelligence Committee hopefully marking up a bill, hopefully reaching some conclusion by October. By that time, certainly the administration will make clear all of the details in regards to their proposal for a national counterterrorism center and also a national...

BLITZER: And whether the new director -- the super director, let's say, the czar...

ROBERTS: All you've got to do is take pick of the committee hearings which you want to go to, which is part of the problem. We already have seven, and then 12 scheduled. And that's part of the problem that the 9/11 Commission has pointed at.

BLITZER: You know the Democrats on your Intelligence Committee, given the current political climate, can this nominee sail through and get confirmed?

ROBERTS: Would you have asked me if we would have had 17-0 vote bipartisan for the 511-page inquiry that we concluded on the Intelligence Committee? It was very tough and very candid on the intelligence community and probably you'd would have said, Pat, I don't think that's going to happen. It depends on what their concerns are. But that's why we have hearings. I don't see any reason why we can't have bipartisan support and I don't think the American people want to get into politics in naming who the new CIA director is.

BLITZER: So the earliest he could be sworn in as director of the CIA would be when?

ROBERTS: I think the earliest would be the first week in September. But that may be rushing it. And I'm sort of speaking out of turn here because I had yet to talk with our vice chairman, Jay Rockefeller. I have talked with other members on the other side and members on our side and he has a lot of support.

BLITZER: Pat Roberts, thanks very much for joining us.

ROBERTS: Always my pleasure.

BLITZER: Thanks.

And here's your chance to our viewers to weigh in on this important story. Our web question of the day is this, "Is Porter Goss the right choice for CIA director?" You can vote at CNN.com/wolf. We'll have the results for you later in this broadcast.

There's been a major development in the Kobe Bryant case. His accuser is now making a legal move to try to seek damages. We'll have details. Plus this.

Gunfire and explosions rocked Najaf again as U.S. forces battle supporters of the wanted Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Also ahead...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are going to hear about how Scott Peterson wormed himself into Ms. Frey's life and into her heart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Did she reveal a web of lies? Find out as Scott Peterson's ex-mistress Amber Frey takes the stand.

Not made for reality television. Donald Trump says "you're fired" to himself. We'll explain. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Six straight days and still no letup in the fighting between U.S. and Iraqi forces and insurgents loyal to the radical Shiite cleric. CNN's John Vause is in Baghdad with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tensions have been rising here all day in Baghdad with the expectation of a major confrontation between U.S. and Iraqi forces and the militia loyal to the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The reason for this, a statement put out on behalf the cleric warning Baghdad residents to stay indoors and earlier today, in Sadr City, a poor neighborhood of Baghdad, a stronghold for al-Sadr, a call from the mosque, a crisis call, a call for the residents there to take up arms.

And overnight curfew in Sadr City did little to quell the violence with ongoing clashes between al-Sadr's men and the U.S. and Iraqi forces. One U.S. official there describes the fighting as more concentrated than in previous days. And says the clashes are directly linked to the fighting ongoing in Najaf.

In that holy city, the militia loyal to al-Sadr has now dug into the Imam Ali Mosque and also the nearby cemetery. This is set for an explosive showdown with U.S. troops now having the permission of the governor of Najaf to go into a mosque to clear out the militia.

Right now the U.S. says it has no plans to do this. Instead it has encircled the Imam Ali Mosque compound trying to cut off supply lines to the militants inside. There has been sporadic fighting in Najaf but it's been relatively quiet compared to previous days. U.S. troops are now warning residents near to the fighting to leave. In Arabic announcements they say it is not safe to stay in Najaf. They're also warning insurgents inside the Imam Ali Mosque compound to leave peacefully or they will face death. Now a statement put out on behalf of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is now calling on other Islamic organizations to join the fight, to defend Najaf and the Imam Ali Mosque, the most holy place for Shiite Muslims in all of Islam.

John Vause, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The latest of the fighting in Iraq is threatening the country's oil industry. Officials yesterday stopped pumping oil from the main southern oil fields to the southern port of Basra after insurgents threatened to attack the facilities. But officials say production resumed after they reached an accord with the militants. No other details immediately available.

There are competing claims of responsibility for a series of explosions in Istanbul that killed two people today. One claim is from a group linked to al Qaeda, although Turkish officials now suspect Kurdish separatists.

We get the latest details from CNN's Alphonzo Van Marsh in Istanbul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tourists who survive bomb blasts in Istanbul wait to get into what used to be their hotel to get what remains of their belongings.

AUTUSTE NOYART, AMERICAN TOURIST: There was a big explosion in the back of the second floor up there. The whole building vibrated. I was brushing my teeth at time and I didn't even have a shirt.

MARSH: Two blasts targeted a gas canister refueling station causing minor damage, but no causalities. The blast targeting two inexpensive hotels in the old city were deadly despite a reported 10- minute warning call from the alleged bombers.

(on camera): This hotel is just a stone's throw away from some of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) most popular tourist destinations. And August is tourist high season in Turkey.

(voice-over): A group calling itself the Abu Half Al Masri Brigades claimed responsibility for the attacks. The group affiliated with al Qaeda, said on an Islamic Web site, that Istanbul was the opening for the quote, "Bloody war we promised on the Europeans." That claim has not been independently verified.

The same group claimed responsibility for suicide bombings in Istanbul that killed at least 60 people in November, but a previously unknown Kurdish group has also said it was responsible for these attacks. The Turkish interior minister, said that whoever carried out these bombings, the government will not relent in its anti-terror campaign.

ABDULKADIR AKSU, TURKISH INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): All brave security forces have the capacity and power to defeat all of those terrorist attacks.

MARSH: The challenges are several. Kurdish, Islamic and left wing militants are all active in Turkey.

Alfonzo Van Marsh, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Are terrorists looking south?

We'll tell you about a recent arrest that raises significant questions about possible future attacks right here in the United States.

Also ahead...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLORIA ALLRED, AMBER FREY'S ATTORNEY: We believe that the tape recorded telephone calls will be compelling, will be riveting and will provide dramatic evidence in support of the prosecution's theory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And there's been dramatic testimony in the Scott Peterson trial. The former lover Amber Frey takes the stand.

And a major development in the Kobe Bryant case as well. The NBA star now faces a civil suit. We'll have details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: She's the most anticipated witness in a closely watched murder trial. And today Amber Frey, Scott Peterson's former mistress, is on the stand giving a detailed account of their relationship.

CNN's Rusty Dornin is outside the courthouse in Redwood City, California. That's near San Francisco. She has details -- Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Amber Frey, the prosecution's star witness was brought in under very tight security. The detectives driving her into the underground garage here at courthouse. She was taken straight up to court. The only folks that had a glimpse of her are those spectators in the courtroom. At times she has appeared nervous. She has often lost her train of thought, having to ask prosecutors to repeat their questions.

But overall she has kept her composure as she described her first four dates and only dates with Scott Peterson. She describes him as a very charming man who gave her champagne and strawberries on the first date, brought her roses, gave her daughter gifts. At times it sounds like scenes out of romance novel. But at the same time, he was weaving a web of lies. He talked about how he owned a warehouse in Modesto, that he lived in Sacramento. He was going fishing in Alaska with his brothers, that he was going to see his family in Kennebunkport, Maine in their home. Of course, all of that is untrue.

And at the end he, of course, told her that he was not married. On December 9 he told her he had lost his wife. He broke down and cried and said he'd lost her, and that this was his first holiday without her. Prosecutors, of course, are trying to show that he was so passionate in this relationship, that it was definitely a motive for murder. Frey's attorney agrees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALLRED: Amber, as a single parent, was very moved about how sweet he was to her little girl. He even carried her little girl when they went on a hike and he helped her with her little bandage. This morning, I think what's most important, are Scott Peterson's lies and the double life that he was leading.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: Now the defense has claimed and admitted in open court that, yes, Scott Peterson was a lying and cheating husband. But he certainly was -- did not murder his wife. And that's what they're going to try to prove when they cross-examine Amber Frey. They also handed out these transcripts of a few conversations that Amber and Scott Peterson had over New Year's Eve time period of 2002, they're beginning to play those in court. In one of them, Scott Peterson claims that he called her from Paris, that he saw fireworks for the New Year's celebration off the Eiffel Tower and assortment of other lies, that he went to Normandy and that kind of thing. So, Amber Frey, we're expecting to be on the stand for the rest of the week and probably through the rest of next week -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. We'll get some more reports from you, obviously, throughout the week.

Rusty Dornin, covering this trial for us, thanks very much.

There's also been a major development in the Kobe Bryant case. The woman accusing the NBA star of rape has filed a civil lawsuit on top of the criminal trial scheduled to start later this month.

Our national correspondent Gary Tuchman is following all of these developments for us. He's at CNN Center in Atlanta.

GARY TUCHMAN: Wolf, hello to you.

The woman who says Kobe Bryant raped her will ask a federal court for some of his money. Just a couple of hours ago in the federal courthouse in Denver a civil lawsuit was filed. It is called Jane Doe vs. Kobe Bryant. In it this 20-year-old woman is asking for damages in an amount which shall be shown to be reasonable and just. That's the quote, no specific amount, but they want money from this case.

Just last week, one of the women's attorneys, John Clune, told us there was a reasonable chance that she would not go forward with the criminal case, which is scheduled to begin in August 27th, because of mistakes made by the court. Personal information about this woman had been posted on Web sites at least three times.

Now, that has not happened yet, but this could be the beginning of the process of this woman pulling out of the case. Now, in the lawsuit filed, eight pages today in the federal court, some harsh alleged allegations that we have not heard publicly in the criminal case. This is part of what was said, defendant Bryant has a history of attempting to commit similar acts of violent sexual assault on females he has just met, has thereby established a pattern and practice of such unlawful acts.

Once again, those allegations have not been brought up in the criminal case. You might expect attorneys for Kobe Bryant to speak out when they hear things like this. But there is a gag order in the criminal case. And the attorneys for Kobe Bryant have not talked on the record to reporters since this all began 13 months ago.

But, once again, Wolf the criminal trial scheduled to begin August 27. But stay tuned -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, we certainly will. We'll be checking back with you. Gary Tuchman, thanks very much.

In our justice report, a first appearance in court for another young husband accused of killing his pregnant wife. A judge read the murder and other charges against Mark Hacking, who appeared via video. Prosecutors say he confessed to shooting his wife, Lori, shortly after she learned he lied about being accepted to medical school. Hacking faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Terror arrests, a Pakistani man now in custody for videotaping buildings in several Southern cities right here in the United States.

Plus, President Bush names a new CIA director. Up next, more reaction. I'll speak with former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Richard Holbrooke. He'll be joining us live.

Also ahead, a duel until death, why so many Iraqis are willing to shed blood or give their lives for a cause. We'll have a closer look.

And later, trees, rocks, tons of earth, all come tumbling down, and all of it caught on videotape.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

A Pakistani man arrested for taping banks and public transportation systems in several major U.S. cities. We have details of a developing story. That's coming up.

First, though, a quick check of some stories now in the news.

A new report from the National Hurricane Center is out this hour on Tropical Storm Bonnie taking aim at Gulf Coast. Right now, it has sustained winds of 50 miles an hour. But it's expected to get stronger as it continues moving north.

As expected, the Federal Reserve raised a key interest rate today a quarter-point. The federal funds rate, which overnight bank-to-bank loans, is now 1.5 percent. But consumer rates almost immediately followed suit, also rising a quarter-point.

Changes in immigration policy were announced today by the Homeland Security Department. Officials say one will speed up expulsion of some illegal immigrants. The other lets some legal visitors stay longer in border areas of the Southwest.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

Federal officials say a Pakistani man arrested in North Carolina was videotaping skyscrapers in downtown Charlotte.

Our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, is joining us now with information she's learned -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the big question is, of course, is this a terror case? And at this point, authorities just do not know.

But they are taking a very close look at Kamran Shaikh, a Pakistani national who was stopped by local police in Charlotte, North Carolina, on July 20 shooting videotape of the skyline, including the headquarters of the Bank of America and Wachovia Bank, where the local FBI office is located. In his possession, according to a court affidavit, tapes of downtown Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Dallas and New Orleans, public transportation systems in some of those cities, and what appeared to be the Mansfield Dam in Austin, Texas.

The Dallas police chief describes the tapes of his city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID KUNKLE, DALLAS POLICE CHIEF: It was really just scanning various buildings and facilities. And it didn't appear to be directed looking at any vulnerabilities of any particular buildings or access points or anything of that nature.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Law enforcement sources say there is other information beyond the videotapes which raises suspicions, but as yet, the name Kamran Shaikh has not shown up in any terrorist-related databases.

Shaikh is being held on immigration charges, while the investigation, which has been going full bore for three weeks, continues -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jeanne Meserve, thanks very much for that.

More now on our top story. As we reported, the president has nominated Republican Congressman Porter Goss of Florida to be the new head of the CIA.

Joining us in New York with his take on this and more, the former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke. He's a senior international policy adviser to Senator John Kerry.

Thanks very much for joining us, Ambassador.

Well, give us your take. Do you think this is a good idea for Porter Goss to be the next head of the CIA?

RICHARD HOLBROOKE, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS: I know Porter Goss pretty well. We've worked together. I like him. He's a serious man. And he has a serious background in intelligence.

But I think there's a lack of clarity in what the administration is proposing. Is he going to be the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, or is he going to be the director of central intelligence, this broad, overarching job which was created to oversee the entire intelligence community back in the 1940s?

The 9/11 Commission has recommended that that job be abolished, the second half, and replaced by a director of national intelligence. Senator Kerry has endorsed that recommendation. But President Bush has said that he wants to have two different jobs, one, the director of the CIA, who still remains the title director of central intelligence, DCI, and also a director of national intelligence who doesn't have Cabinet rank and doesn't have budgetary authority.

It doesn't make much sense. And I'm sure that the senators, in the course of this hearing, are going demand clarification from the administration in order to go forward.

BLITZER: Well, I think the White House is saying -- at least Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, that they're leaving open the possibility that Porter Goss, if confirmed, could move up to the other job if the Congress authorizes it and it becomes the law of the land. They're leaving that possibility open. Is that good enough for you?

HOLBROOKE: No, that's mumbo jumbo, Wolf.

There are two distinct jobs. One has been recommended by the 9/11 Commission. And President Bush has not accepted the 9/11 Commission proposal. He's put forward a watered-down version and he's trying to pretend it's the same thing. There's the current job, director of central intelligence, which Porter Goss has been nominated for as of this morning. And those are two different jobs.

The 9/11 Commission wants to change things. Senator Kerry's endorsed it. The White House has not endorsed it. And my guess is, under the pressure that is coming down the road, you're going to see another example of the White House changing its position and moving towards Senator Kerry's position, as has happened on several other major issues, including Iraq recently. BLITZER: But until that is finally passed by Congress and signed into law by the president, during this critical moment in the war on terror, when all these threats are out there getting up to the November 2 election, doesn't it make sense for the president to have a CIA director that he trusts and has in place to fight this war?

HOLBROOKE: No one's opposed to a CIA director. The issue is whether the administration is going to make Porter Goss' nomination part of the reform or try to slide by with the sub-Cabinet director of national intelligence, which is not what 9/11 proposed.

The White House is not supporting the 9/11 Commission proposal. But they are trying to make it appear as if they're doing so.

BLITZER: All right.

HOLBROOKE: You, yourself, have reported that. Now it's up to the Senate to decide this. But I think the viewers should be very clear on what's happening here.

BLITZER: You probably know, and I'm sure you do, that the president today on the campaign trail in Florida ridiculed the Democratic nominee, John Kerry, for now saying -- he said it yesterday -- that if he had to vote all over again for that authorization for the president to go to war, knowing what he knows right now, he still would have voted for it. Can you clarify precisely what Senator Kerry's position is?

HOLBROOKE: I think it's very clear. Senator Kerry has not changed his position ever on this issue, although the White House has tried to make it appear as though he has.

He twice voted for regime change in Iraq, in 1998 and again in 2002. He feels strongly that Saddam Hussein was a terrible man, a brutal dictator, and that his removal is a net plus for the world. But he has also made clear that, in voting for that resolution, he was not giving a blank check to the administration to do what they did the way they did it, without international support, sufficient support, without authorization and NATO unity.

And he would not have done it the same way it was done here. And I think that the White House position -- and I saw the president's statement, watched it several times today as you showed it -- I think the White House statement today was a deliberate misstatement of Senator Kerry's position.

BLITZER: All right, I just want to get you on the record on this whole issue of Vietnam, John Kerry's service in Vietnam.

You were a young American diplomat serving in Saigon during the Vietnam War. So this is a personal matter for you as well. When the Democratic candidate makes such a big issue of his Vietnam service during the war at the Democratic Convention and now other veterans opposed to him come out and say, effectively, he's lying about that, what do you do to make sure that this does not become a negative campaign issue for the man you want to be the next president of the United States?

HOLBROOKE: First of all, Wolf, I don't think that the Republicans are doing themselves any service by questioning the credentials of a man, John Kerry, who volunteered three times. First, only a handful of his classmates in college volunteered for military service at all.

Then he volunteered for Vietnam. And then when he was on a slow boat out in the South China Sea, he asked for the Riverine Force to command a swift boat. I was not just in Saigon, as you said. I spent three years in Vietnam and a year and a half of that in the Lower Mekong Delta, in the same area where John Kerry was. I was a civilian, but everyone was getting shot at down there.

I was not in as much danger as John Kerry, but I know those mangrove swamps very well. Danger and death lurked behind every single turn. And when the attack ads say that his wound was only a light wound, what are they talking about? The distance between a light wound and death is an inch. It's one aorta. It's one artery. It is unbelievable to me, given the danger that people in the Riverine Force faced, that any of them would go to town and be used this way 30 years later.

I'm embarrassed for the people who have done this ad. And I think that everyone should read what Jim Rassmann wrote in today's "Wall Street Journal," reaffirming how he owes his life to John Kerry. Rassmann is a Republican who was not recruited by the campaign, but just got angry about the earlier misrepresentation.

Anyone who served in Vietnam deserves the admiration of all Americans. We're not attacking. John Kerry, myself, we're not attacking those people who are attacking Kerry. They served. He served. He was wounded three times. He saved lives. And let the record speak for itself. As Senator Kerry himself says, let them attack. They're just advertising his heroic war record.

BLITZER: Ambassador Holbrooke, unfortunately, we have to leave it there. Thanks very much for joining us.

HOLBROOKE: My pleasure, Wolf.

BLITZER: Vows to fight to the death in Najaf. We'll get some insight into why many members of Iraq's Shia community are ready and willing to die for their cause.

Plus, Trump's troubles, why the billionaire could soon find himself losing a job.

And a rare white tiger debuts without his stripes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: When the radical Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr told the world this week he would sacrifice himself before he laid down his arms, he was speaking to multiple audiences. One was the provisional Iraqi government. Another was the U.S. military. But perhaps most importantly, he was speaking to his fellow Shia.

CNN's Zain Verjee is following the story for us. She is joining us from the CNN Center in Atlanta -- Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Muqtada al-Sadr has recruited poor disenfranchised young man to his banner who embrace his message. Listen to what he says and why it's so significant.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE (voice-over): Two centuries-old shrines in Iraq stand at the epicenter of the Shia Muslim world, the Imam Hussein shrine in Karbala and the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf.

Holed up in the Imam Ali mosque amid firefights, firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr makes this proclamation...

MUQTADA AL-SADR, RADICAL SHIA CLERIC (through translator): I will remain in the city until the last drop of my blood has been spilled.

VERJEE: These are powerful and symbolic words that resonate with the Shia community, its history and its tradition.

AKBAR AHMED, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: It evokes the idea of the Karbala paradigm, which is martyrdom, death, commitment, sacrifice and passion.

VERJEE: Imam Hussein, the prophet's grandson, uttered similar words before he battled his enemies in Karbala 1,300 years ago, knowing he would be killed, but willing to die fighting in justice.

AHMED: By making that gesture and giving his life, he became the ideal prototype martyr in Islam.

VERJEE: To this day, thousands of Shia pilgrims remember Imam Hussein's death in a pilgrimage to Karbala, where they beat themselves until they bleed. Analysts say, Sadr hopes to capitalize on emotion by drawing a skillful parallel between Imam Hussein's martyrdom and his own possible martyrdom in a fight against America.

Moderate Shia clerics say Sadr is not a spokesman of all Shia and they don't approve of his methods. But because of the symbolism he's chosen, they feel they have no choice but to stay silent.

AHMED: Even the so-called moderates in the Shia community would feel very wary now of attacking Sadr or seeming to criticize him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: Now, just hours ago, Wolf, we received a more conciliatory statement from Muqtada al-Sadr welcoming the help from the United Nations to end the fighting in Najaf. Some say this move shows al Sadr is a crafty politician and not just a radical cleric -- Wolf. BLITZER: Now, Zain, I know you've been speaking with experts. What do they recommend how Americans should be dealing with Muqtada al-Sadr?

VERJEE: Well, they say, first, that Americans need to show that they're not taking on Islam, but Muqtada al-Sadr himself. So don't damage the mosques, they say. And get Shia moderate leaders involved in dealing with Sadr, push him towards negotiation. They say, the more bloodshed there is, the more Sadr becomes a poster child of resistance, even though many Shia don't support him -- Wolf.

BLITZER: CNN's Zain Verjee, good report for us. Thanks very much for that. Very informative.

In other news around the world, right place, right time, a massive landslide caught on camera in Japan by officials in the Ministry of Land. They just happened to be on hand when a mountainside gave way -- look at this -- and smothered a major highway. Fortunately, there were no injuries.

Donald Trump tells himself, you're fired.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, DEVELOPER/BUSINESSMAN: It's a really positive thing, as opposed to a negative thing. We're reducing debt by $544 million.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Why the billionaire business mogul is now having some trouble in the boardroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Donald Trump's casino operations are filing for bankruptcy and Trump is having to give up being the boss.

CNNfn's Gerri Willis is joining us now in New York with more -- Gerri.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf.

Yes, I spoke to Trump today. And he was characteristically confident and at ease.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIS (voice-over): As Donald Trump likes to say on TV:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE APPRENTICE")

TRUMP: You're fired.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WILLIS: Now he can say it to himself. His company, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, said it plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September. Under the agreement, he will give up title of chief executive and lose his 56 percent controlling ownership stake, keeping about a 25 percent equity stake in the company and retaining his role as chairman. That's provided he continues a series of investments in the company, including a $55 million cash investment and a $16 million exchange of debt in the company he owns.

When asked for comment, Trump by phone, as you might expect, remained confident.

TRUMP: It's a really positive thing, as opposed to a negative thing. We're reducing debt by $544 million. We're lowering the interest rates down to, you know, a very low level. And we have a 10- year loan from the institutions that we're deal dealing with. I think it's going to be a terrific company going into the future. And that's why I'm working on it.

WILLIS: Credit Suisse First Boston, the banker in the deal, will own nearly two-thirds of the company, investing $345 million in the restructuring. The company, which will continue operating through the financial reorganization, owns the Trump Plaza and the Trump Taj Mahal.

This will be the second time the Trump casinos have filed for bankruptcy. In 1992, the three casinos he then owned, the Taj Mahal, Castle, and Plaza, all in Atlantic City, ended up in Chapter 11, burdened by more than $1 billion in debt.

At the time, Trump himself was at brink of bankruptcy, but later regained control of the casinos and wrote a book about his experience in 1997 called "Trump: The Art of the Comeback." And while Mr. Trump has engineered a personal comeback of his own lately, starring in his own reality TV show and launching a magazine, his resorts and casinos have been losing money.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIS: Well, for all of those "Apprentice" fans out there, don't worry. Today's news will not stop the second season of the show -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Gerri Willis, thanks very much. Good report from you as well.

And well have the results of our Web question of the day. That's coming up next.

Plus, what's a tiger without its stripes? This rare cub is our picture of the day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Take a look. Here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day: Is Porter Goss the right choice for the CIA? Forty-seven percent of you said yes; 53 percent said no. Remember, though, this is not a scientific poll.

Our picture of the day shows a new member of a very small fraternity. This cub is one of only about 20 stripeless white Bengal tigers in the world. He's seen here with his brothers. The offspring of normal orange and black tigers, he was born at a Spanish wildlife refuge three months ago. He's been name Artico, which is Spanish for arctic. So perhaps you could call him a polar tiger. Maybe not. Cute, though.

A reminder, you can always watch us here on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS 5:00 p.m. Eastern. I'm also on daily, weekdays, that is, noon Eastern.

Until tomorrow, thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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