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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Is Washington State's Ferry Boat System a Possible Terror Target?; Christopher Reeve Dies at Age 52
Aired October 11, 2004 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now, stepped up security surrounding Washington State ferryboats amid fresh terror concerns. There's new information from Homeland Security and FBI officials.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
Neck and neck. A duel in the West.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He said he had only one position on Iraq. He must think we're on another planet.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To borrow a saying, when it comes to George Bush's record on gas prices "he can run but he can't hide."
BLITZER: They want you to vote for change. Can rock stars make a difference? I'll ask Dave Mathews.
Baghdad buyback. A grenade goes for $5. A machine gun for a thousand. Can it help stop the violence?
Courage and hope. His real life qualities made him a superhero to millions. We'll remember Christopher Reeve.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Monday, October 11, 2004.
BLITZER: Cutting out of their second debate and heading into their final showdown the presidential candidates find themselves in an extremely tight race but they are not only neck and neck, they are at each other's throats.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): It doesn't get any closer than this. The latest CNN "USA Today" Gallup poll has President Bush and Senator Kerry at 48 percent each among registered voters with 1 percent going to Ralph Nader. Among likely voters, Kerry gets 49 percent, Bush 48 percent, and Nader 1 percent. That explains why both candidates are taking no chances, cramming in as much campaigning as possible during these final three weeks of the race.
BUSH: I'm here to ask for your vote that's what I'm here to do.
BLITZER: Both campaigns have a common strategy, hammer away at the other candidate, make the other candidate the issue. The Bush/Cheney camp wants the election to be a referendum on John Kerry and his supposed wishy-washy positions. Witness how the president is now jumped all over Kerry's comments in the "New York Times" Sunday magazine in which Kerry said - "we have to get back to the place we were. Where terrorists are not the focus of our lives but they are a nuisance."
BUSH: See I couldn't disagree more. Our goal is not to reduce terror to some acceptable level of nuisance. Our goal is to defeat terror by staying on the offensive. Destroying terrorist networks. And spreading freedom and liberty around the world.
BLITZER: Kerry strategists say the President is simply distorting his comments.
TAD DEVINE, KERRY CAMPAIGN ADVISOR: John Kerry's made it clear to win the war on terror we need to be tough but we also need to be smart. That's the difference.
BLITZER: If they can make the election a referendum on the president, Kerry's strategist say, they will be positioned to win on November 2.
KERRY: Instead of standing up for you, George Bush has chosen secret meetings with the energy industry.
BLITZER: On this day, Kerry was blasting the President's energy record.
KERRY: But to borrow a saying when it comes to George Bush's record on gas prices, "he can run but he can't hide."
BLITZER: Bush strategists insist Kerry simply can't be trusted.
MATTHEW DOWD, BUSH CAMPAIGN STRATEGIST: There's a reason why the American public in poll after poll trust this president more in fighting the war on terrorism than they do John Kerry. That's been true day after day after day in this campaign.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: President Bush has followed the campaign trail from New Mexico to Colorado. Our White House correspondent Dana Bash is there. She is joining us now live from Denver -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, you know the President's campaign strategy was for Mr. Bush to use the stops in these very important western and southwestern states to sharpen his rhetoric and make the news of the day, if you will, on domestic issues in advance of Wednesday's final debate on domestic issues but the campaign shifted that plan after they saw, as you mentioned, what Senator Kerry said on Sunday in "The New York Times" magazine, quotes from him suggesting that terrorism should be reduced to the level of a nuisance.
Well, the Bush campaign obviously jumped on this as proof that they say the senator is weak on terrorism but it was a multi-front attack and the vice president was in New Jersey today echoing the same thing the President said. Essentially trying to make the case that Senator Kerry doesn't get it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD CHENEY, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Nor can we think of our goal in this war in the way Senator Kerry described it yesterday in the "New York Times." quote, "we have to get back to the place," he said, "where terrorism is a nuisance." Sort of like and these are his comparisons, sort of like gambling and prostitution. This is -- this is naive and dangerous as was Senator Kerry's reluctance earlier this year to call the war on terror an actual war. He preferred to think of it, he said, as primarily an intelligence and law enforcement operation. This is all part of a pre-9/11 mindset and it is a view we cannot go back to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Meanwhile, Kerry aides say the Bush campaign is simply playing on the politics of fear saying that the senator's quotes were taken out of context and that the President himself in august suggested in a television interview that the war on terror is unwinnable. Now, Wolf, the President does have another rally here in Denver, Colorado, tonight and Colorado is a state whose nine electoral votes really shouldn't be up for grabs if you look at what happened last time around. Mr. Bush won here handily. But the polls show that it is neck and neck. That's why the President is back in the state. Wolf?
BLITZER: Dana Bash in Colorado for us. Dana, thank you very much.
Energized by the first two debates, Democrat John Kerry is hammering the President's energy policy as he prepares for the final showdown. Our Ed Henry reports from Santa Fe, New Mexico.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Kerry is in Santa Fe for two days of preparation for Wednesday's final president debate. The Kerry camp is confident that the senator held own on national security in the first two debates. Now he can pivot to his turf, the domestic agenda, which will be the focus of the third presidential debate in Arizona. Kerry zeroed in on energy reform Monday, wrapping it into an overall indictment of President Bush's record here at home.
KERRY: Just like jobs, 1.6 million lost. Just like healthcare, 5 million people lost their healthcare. Just like education, millions of children left behind. The President has more excuses than results. HENRY: But Kerry opened his remarks to an indirect reference to another domestic issue, stem cell research by paying tribute to actor Christopher Reeve. In Friday's debate Kerry had rapped the President for not pushing enough for stem cell research and invoked Reeve's name. A Kerry aide tells CNN that on Saturday, the actor tried to call Kerry, the two did not speak but Reeve left him a message to keep the fight alive for stem cell research.
Ed Henry, CNN, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Also campaigning today, Democrat John Edwards. He blasted Bush's economic policies during a stop in Newton, Iowa. Newton is the home of the Maytag Corporation which has been cutting jobs. Edwards compared the Bush campaign's upbeat assessment to the economy, in his words, to putting lipstick on a pig.
We're just two days away from the final presidential debate Wednesday night and President Bush and Senator Kerry will go head to head right there at the debate in Tempe, Arizona. Arizona State University. We'll be in Tempe along with the entire CNN election team. Our prime time coverage will begin 7:00 p.m. Eastern Wednesday night in Arizona.
In Iraq today, a bold effort to end the bloodshed in a sprawling slum district of Baghdad. Members of a rebel Shiite militia are being rewarded for laying down their arms. Our senior international correspondent Brent Sadler reports from the Iraqi capital.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A timid start to the surrender of weapons in Sadr City, but still they came armed and dangerous. An unknown number of Mehdi Army militiamen loyal to radical Shia Muslim cleric Muqtada al Sadr, turning in machine guns and ammunition, rocket propelled grenades and mortar shells.
"It's in response to our leadership," says this fighter to hand over weapons. Masked and suspicious Iraqi security forces monitored this first tentative step to disarmament.
AYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI INTERIM PRIME MINISTER: "We hope it will hold. We have made our position -- the government has made the position very clear, that only the rule of law will prevail, nothing else is accepted.
SADLER: But trust levels are low after weeks of deadly battles here. Sadr City's bullets and bombs have claimed both American and Iraqi lives.
LTC GARY VOLESKY, U.S. ARMY: There has been no cease-fire agreement. There is no truce. This is an initiative started by the Sadr Bureau.
SADLER: A controversial initiative trading arms for cash handed out by Iraqi government officials. Heavy machine guns reportedly fetch up to a thousand U.S. dollars each. Rocket propelled grenades $175.
"It's not compensation for weapons," says this Iraqi government official, "it's a reward for their cooperation." But, black marketeers, it's feared, may also use the buy-out to profit from arms, complicating the efforts to gauge the real impact of bringing peace to this rebel stronghold.
(on camera) But hopes are blooming among U.S. and Iraqi officials here that the Sadr City accord may be the beginning of the end to a more or less self-contained Shia revolt.
(voice-over) If so, it could afford U.S. backed Iraqi forces greater scope to concentrate on defeating the wider Sunni Muslim insurgency raging Monday in western Iraq. The U.S. military says war planes struck a Sunni mosque in the town of Hit about 100 miles west of Baghdad where marines battled around 100 insurgents in an hour's long fire fight. A foretaste of even tougher battles that may lie ahead. Brent Sadler, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And here's your chance to weigh in on the story. Our Web question of the day is this, "Should members of Muqtada al Sadr's Mehdi militia be paid for turning in the weapons?" You can vote, go to CNN.com/wolf. We'll have the results for you later in this broadcast. Best known to fans as Superman and later in life as a key advocate of stem cell research. We'll remember the actor Christopher Reeve and his many accomplishments.
Plus -- new information coming in right now on possible terrorist surveillance of ferryboats in Washington State. How vulnerable are they?
And music with a political purpose, the rockers who want to sway your vote. I'll speak with Dave Matthews, he's here in Washington for a big concert tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Very sad news you've probably heard by now, Christopher Reeve, the actor, has died at the age of 52. He was already a very famous actor when his life took such a dramatic turn nine years ago thrusting him into a very, very different role.
Here is CNN's Jason Carroll.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is one way people will remember Christopher Reeve. Superman saving the world. A role that turned this former stage actor into a movie star around the world. Reeve made 17 films throughout his career, donning the super hero red cape in four of them. Off-screen, Reeve spent much time riding horses. It all changed in 1995. He was thrown during a competition. Reeve broke his neck and was paralyzed from the neck down. In the following years Reeve and his doctors worked tirelessly on his physical rehabilitation and broke down misconceptions about recovery.
CHRISTOPHER REEVE, ACTOR: Fortunately because of all the physical therapy I have done over the years, I have been able to beat the problems that would otherwise keep me from doing what I'm doing.
CARROLL: Reeve got well enough to act and even direct. But his new role as activist is where he made his mark. He lobbied Congress in support of stem cell research and better insurance and never gave up hope on walking again.
REEVE: If we keep giving our scientists the funding they need to do the research, very soon I will take my family by the hand and I will stand here in front of the star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
CARROLL: In support of stem cell research, Senator John Kerry mentioned Reeve during the last presidential debate. On Monday, once again, Kerry talked about his friend.
KERRY: I know that if we put our minds to it, one day we're going to realize Chris's inevitable dream.
CARROLL: Kerry, said Reeve had called him on Saturday, the day after the debate, thanking him for mentioning stem cell research. The same day Reeve was admitted into a New York hospital. He was suffering from a pressure wound similar to a bed sore, a common ailment of paralysis patients. It quickly became severely infected. Cardiac arrest followed, then a coma. Reeve died from heart failure Sunday evening. He was 52. His wife thanked the hospital staff and his fans, who left flowers on Hollywood's Walk of Fame not just for a man who played a superhero but to remember the courage Reeve showed in life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Jason Carroll with that report on Christopher Reeve. Christopher Reeve gave a very intimate and revealing interview to CNN's Paula Zahn just last November. Paula is joining us live from New York. Paula, what do you remember about this man you spent some important time with him?
PAULA ZAHN, CNN HOST: I have always been touched by so much of what Chris has shared with me over the years. I got to know him when he landed his Superman role, and that, of course is a time in his life when everything was possible. This is a man who did every sport you could ever think of. A man who never did anything halfway. And once he was injured, we talked a lot about the impact that had on his psyche, and, in fact, it had very little to do with this.
was a man who never gave up hope that he would walk again some day. Even though the odds were against it. He got up every single morning and as you saw in that piece that preceded my introduction here, he did the kind of exercises that you would need to do to keep your muscles in shape so if that scientific break through came that you would be capable of walking.
This was a man who never expressed an ounce of self-pity to me. He talked about his fears. He talked about realistically what he could do some day. This was a man who was incredibly brave. And you and I have had the good fortune of meeting some outstanding and talented people over the years. When I think of Chris and the power that he showed to us all of just his strength, it was an extraordinary gift.
BLITZER: I remember the interview. And I remember you discussed stem cell research with him. Let's play an excerpt from your interview with Christopher Reeve.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: How many people have you ticked off along the way? What kind of a lightning rod are you?
REEVE: Certainly the entire religious right. A lot of social conservatives. Probably a lot of scientists. And some people in the disabled community who think that I shouldn't be going around talking about a cure. As a patient, as someone sitting in a wheelchair, it's our prerogative to push. And scientists, of course, are free to push back. We're not asking them to do things that are irresponsible. Just don't make a career out of research. Think about the urgency. Think about people that are suffering.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Paula, what will be Christopher Reeve's legacy?
ZAHN: I think he'll have an impact on a number of different levels just a sure sense of bravery and courage and then, of course, his willingness to take on this very tough fight in a number of conversations. He talked quite openly about the criticism he took from even within the paralysis community that through his own sheer will that perhaps he was providing false hope for other paralysis victims.
I got to talk with people who he called. He would find out someone had an accident. He would be one of the first ones to pick up the phone and tell them what they were going to confront and what they were going to face in a lot of the paralysis victims told me that it made the difference between them wanting to live and giving up. So he'll have a very personal impact on those kinds of folks.
BLITZER: He will always be remembered. Paula, thank you very much. Paula Zahn had a terrific interview and Paula will have much more on the life of Christopher Reeve, the actor, the activist, tonight on her own program, PAULA ZAHN NOW that airs at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. We will all be watching.
The man once held as an enemy combatant in the United States is now back home. New details on whether Saudi Arabia will now keep tabs on Yasser Hamdi.
Unlikely survival. A missing teenager found alive in a wrecked car after eight days. Eight days without food or water.
And an outback attack. A 14-foot crocodile snatches a man from his tent. His rescuer also becomes bait. Find out what happens next, all that coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: He was held for three years without charges as an enemy combatant. Now an American accused of fighting for the Taliban is home in Saudi Arabia. Our State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel picks up the story -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, after weeks of to'ing and fro'ing between the U.S. and Saudi governments, finally a meeting of the minds. And as a result, Yasser Hamdi, who turned 24 years old while in U.S. custody last month left a naval brig in Charleston, South Carolina, onboard a U.S. military plane and headed for home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL (voice-over): Back in Saudi Arabia, after three years in U.S. custody, 24-year-old Yasser Hamdi called his American attorney, Frank Dunham.
FRANK DUNHAM, HAMDI'S ATTORNEY: This morning he told me that he was home. I asked him how that felt. He said awesome.
KOPPEL: Hamdi's return was delayed by just over two weeks after the Saudi government expressed concern it might be expected to enforce an agreement reached last month between Hamdi and the U.S. government. Saudi officials tell CNN that Hamdi, a dual U.S. Saudi citizen born in Louisiana, renounced his U.S. citizenship upon arrival in the Kingdom, a requirement under that agreement.
Hamdi also agreed he would not engage in terrorist activity and would notify the Saudi and U.S. governments if he was ever contacted by terrorist groups. Hamdi pledged to remain in Saudi Arabia for five years and never to travel to specific countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Pakistan and Syria. His lawyer said that's no problem.
DUNHAM: Traveled to Afghanistan, almost got killed, got locked up. Got three years solitary confinement. Believe me, he doesn't want to go back to Afghanistan or to Iraq or to any of the places where they say he can't go.
KOPPEL: Hamdi was captured in Afghanistan in December 2001 accused of fighting on behalf of the Taliban and labeled an enemy combatant. But no charges were ever brought against him. Speaking with CNN earlier this month, Hamdi's father maintained his son's innocence.
ESAM HAMDI: He has nothing to do with the Taliban. He has no relation with those people. But he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
(END VIDEOTAPE) KOPPEL: And now that Hamdi is home, a senior State Department official tells CNN enforcement is a big issue. Saudi officials, for their part, say they are under no obligation to force Hamdi to abide by the conditions he agreed to with the U.S. government. One Saudi official telling CNN tonight that he views this deal as a fig leaf, Wolf, a way for the U.S. to say that Hamdi was sent home but that he is -- was not allowed to walk -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Andrea Koppel for us. Thank you very much, Andrea, for sorting through all that.
Thousands of commuters use them every day, so why are officials suddenly increasing security on these ferryboats?
Why Afghanistan's historic election is only a first step. We'll hear from our world affairs analyst, the former Defense Secretary William Cohen.
Plus -- Dave Matthews talks to us about his concert tonight here in Washington and around the country for a very, very political cause. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: From our studios in Washington, once again, Wolf Blitzer.
BLITZER: Welcome back. Is Washington State ferry system a possible terror target. Federal authorities say the ferryboats have been under surveillance. We'll get details. First, though, a quick check of some other stories in the news.
Three car bombs driven by three suicide bombers. An Israeli security source tells CNN that's what investigators believe caused last week's explosions in the Egyptian resort area of Taba. The blast killed 34 people, many of them Israelis on holiday.
A Washington state teenager missing for more than a week has been found alive. 17-year-old Laura Hatch spent eight days trapped in her wrecked car which was discovered yesterday in Seattle. She's in serious condition.
Keeping you informed, CNN the most trusted name in news.
Authorities have now stepped up security on Seattle area car ferries because of fears the boats could become terror targets.
Our Brian Todd has been looking into the story. He's joining us live -- Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this is one of those situations becoming more commonplace in recent months where officials look at a mosaic of activity and try to assess a potential threat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): The added security is clearly visible but depending on who you talk to on these ferry's confidence is variable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: State patrol around here. They have the dogs out. I think they have it pretty much under control.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can carry anything on that ferry.
TODD: The "Seattle Times" says the FBI has determined that 19 incidents over the past three years where Washington state ferries were videotaped were highly like or extremely likely to involve terrorist surveillance. The "Times" reports one man involved in three of those incidents is also the subject of an FBI investigation.
FBI officials tell CNN their Seattle field office did eventually complete an intelligence assessment on the Washington ferries and they are not disputing the "Seattle Times" report. But FBI officials say there is no specific threat and these assessments are done regularly throughout the U.S. on potential targets. A Homeland Security official tells CNN the department has no specific intelligence that al Qaeda plans to attack ferries in Washington state.
Contacted by CNN, officials with Washington state ferries say they did increase security this past weekend with extra troopers and bomb sniffing dogs checking more vehicles. They say that is based on advice from the coast guard that's been in the pipeline for months. Ferry officials say the coast guard has been increasingly concerned that someone might place a car or truck bomb on a ferry.
We asked a former FBI counter terrorism official how vulnerable ferry systems are right now.
KEN PIERNICK, FMR. FBI COUNTERTERRORISM AGENT: Ferry systems are probably have a similar vulnerability to a trains and subways and airplanes, and any other conveyance. They're available to the public. Large numbers of people and vehicles go into the ferries and exit them.
TODD: The Washington state ferry system is one of the largest in the world, carrying 25 million passengers and 11 million vehicles a year. Hundreds of square miles are covered over multiple routes, one of them extending into Canada. But one counter terrorism expert tells us ferries are not especially useful to terrorists as transport points for weapons or operatives. They are more attractive as targets, he says, for hostage taking and potential body count.
And while more vehicles are now being searched on Washington state ferries, officials tell us walk-ons are still not screened -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Brian Todd reporting for us. Thank you, Brian.
Investigations are underway into complaints about Afghanistan's historic election on Saturday. Despite irregular later in technical glitches there is broad international consensus against nullifying the vote which is still being tallied. Even some presidential candidates who initially called for the results to be thrown out have since dropped that demand. U.S. backed interim president Hamid Karzai is widely expected to win, probably two or three weeks before the final ballots are all counted. It may have been controversial, but Afghanistan managed to hold an election.
Can Iraq do the same thing?
Joining us now are world affairs analyst the former defense secretary William Cohen.
It is pretty impressive these millions of people who actually lined up in Afghanistan to vote.
WILLIAM COHEN, FMR. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Very impressive. Some 10.4 million people who are registered to vote. Millions who did vote. And the issue of ballot integrity is really kind of interesting, that we have seen something in Florida with hanging chads and so they are having something with the ink that was used on the hands or the fingers of individual. But I'm satisfied the investigation of a free person, an independent investigation will probably satisfy everyone about the integrity of the process.
BLITZER: Given, the fact the first time ever the Democratic elections in Afghanistan, it was pretty impressive indeed. Now the question is this -- Afghanistan is a different situation than Iraq.
Elections in Iraq scheduled for the end of January.
Do you think that's realistic?
COHEN: It depends what the security situation is going to be. There's some positive news in terms of the Shia groups surrendering their weapons. That may present an opportunity for the U.S. and coalition forces to focus on The Sunni triangle where the major types of controversy is going to continue to take place. And so security is key. If they can provide for a secure environment, then the election can go forward. King Abdullah of Jordan most recently indicated he was skeptical about the viability of January election given the current security environment. So, the extent the coalition forces can crackdown and crush the insurgents or reach some kind of an agreement as was most eventually reached it may provide an opportunity to reach them.
BLITZER: The Shia are a majority in Iraq, at least 60 percent. If they are smart they have the election. They can control the political process presumably.
COHEN: They can control the political process, but if the Sunnis decide to sit the election out, that's going to present a different dilemma for the United States and the coalition forces that you would have an election that would be seen by many to be illegitimate because it didn't include the Sunni minority. And so, I think the most important thing to do is to continue the effort to provide for a stable environment, encourage the Sunnis to take part in that majority of them and to have a full election not just for those in certain parts of the country.
BLITZER: It's a lot more than a thousand pages so-called, Charles Duelfer report put out by the CIA, which concluded no WMD, weapons of mass destruction, in Iraq probably since the mid 90s at least, maybe since the early '90s at the end of the Gulf War. But there was an intent, supposedly, once the sanctions went away to restart the WMD program.
Is that -- was that enough really to look back now, knowing what we know now, to justify an invasion?
COHEN: I think we have to be very careful about using the doctrine of preemption based upon intent. It's difficult enough to find countries who may have weapons, but the notion that we would attack countries who had intent to acquire them or develop them and that be the basis for our launching a military attack upon them, I think is very dangerous. What we're seeing, I think, is a retroactive rationalization. Most people believe did he have weapons.
That they were a threat as such. That he refused to comply with the international sanctions, the U.N. resolutions. And so there was a rational based upon a reasonable assumption. But if you were to say now that if we believe that someone has the intent and the future capability, that constitutes an imminent enough threat in the world in which we live to take military action. I think we lowered the threshold not only for ourselves but for many other countries to take comparable action. Very dangerous world, very dangerous interpretation of it in my judgment.
BLITZER: William Cohen, thanks very much.
Horror in Sudan, now the United States names those it says are responsible. We'll show you one of them.
High anxiety: details of this accident and how the survivors made it down.
Plus -- Dave Mathews talks to us about his concert for a cause. That would be a political cause, the concert here in Washington tonight.
First, though, a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Japan is cleaning up from what is described as the most powerful typhoon to hit the island nation in a decade. The storm made landfall Saturday lashing Tokyo in central Japan with torrential rain and fierce winds.
Australian crocodile: rescue workers say a 60-year-old woman wrestled a 14-foot crocodile forcing it to release a man trapped in its jaws. The crocodile snatched the man as he slept in a tent at a remote campsite. Both the man and woman were airlifted to a hospital in serious but stable condition.
Nobel Prize: a Norwegian and an American share this year's Nobel Prize in economics. Finn Kydland of Norway and Edward Prescott of the U.S. are recognized for their work in macro economics and the role central banks have on business cycles around the world.
That's our "Look Around the World."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. Secretary of State Colin Powell is calling the crisis in Darfur in western Sudan genocide. Diplomats say it is being orchestrated on the ground by a small group of people. CNN's Zain Verjee at the CNN Center in Atlanta with more on one of those suspected -- Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) militias in Darfur have come to be known as Janjaweed meaning evil men on horseback. They charge into villages on horseback or camels and kill. The U.S. State Department has named seven people suspected of coordinating these atrocities on the ground. Here's one of those names.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE (voice-over): Protector or murderer? Which is it? Sudan's government says Musa Hilal is a well respected and important tribal leader. The U.S. State Department says the 43-year-old is a ruthless Janjaweed field commander orchestrating a methodical murder campaign in Darfur amounting to genocide.
Over the last 18 months, Arab Janjaweed militias have massacred some 50,000 non Arab Africans in Darfur. More than a million have fled from the horror.
Samantha Power won a Pulitzer prize for a book on genocide. She videotaped an interview with Hilal on a recent visit to Darfur. Hilal told her he is not Janjaweed. They are bandits, he said. I am a tribal leader. I am not a criminal.
But Power said she has talked to survivors of Janjaweed attacks who...
SAMANTHA POWER, AUTHOR: Described in eyewitness terms actually seeing Musa Halal on the ground leading his forces into battle and, of course, battle means systematic torching, pillaging, murder and rape.
VERJEE: An image Power says is a stark contrast to the charming and personable man she met.
On a government helicopter and flanked by Sudanese military men, a regal Hilal takes Power to a village in Darfur's desert where says Arabs and non Arabs live peacefully.
"Thank God we are fine and healthy," says this woman as Hilal listens and sips some juice. Later Power says she spoke to villagers when Hilal was not around.
POWER: They said there were actually Janjaweed lurking nearby and they were too afraid to speak the truth. VERJEE: The U.S. and international rights groups accuse the Sudanese government of using the Janjaweed as a proxy force to fight rebels in the region, rebels who want more political power and a share in the country's oil wells. The Sudanese government denies those accusations. The U.N. and the EU have launched investigations in U.S. claims of genocide. The U.S. also insists Hilal is at the heart of the killings.
MICHAEL RANNEBERGER, ASST. SEC. OF STATE: I think the fact that you see Musa Hilal who is one of the Janjaweed leaders, make no mistake about it, running around Khartoum, giving interviews to the international press, flying on government helicopters indicates the degree of collaboration there.
POWER: He has been given guns and money by the Sudanese government and he has trained a sizable force of Arab militia who have gone on rampages throughout north, south and west Darfur.
VERJEE: The international community is misinformed says Hilal. Toward the end of the interview provided to CNN by Power Hilal says, "now I want to ask you this question." He responds incredulously. "All these questions to get me to say I am Janjaweed?"
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: Wolf, the Sudanese government says Musa Hilal is not responsible for the violence in Darfur. It adds Khartoum does not supply weapons to Hilal or any other tribal leader. Instead the Sudanese government blames the violence in Darfur on the rebels saying they have exploited local tribal conflict for their own political gain -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Zain Verjee, very good report. Thank you very much. Very important information, as well. Continuing genocide unfolding in the Sudan.
Making a difference with music, my one-on-one interview with Dave Mathews. Find out what some artists are doing to sway your vote. We'll get to that.
First, though, a look at some stories you may have missed this past weekend.
A chartered bus carrying tourists from Chicago to a Mississippi gambling casino went off the road and overturned in Arkansas killing 14 passengers. The cause remains under investigation.
Balloon mishap. There were anxious moments at the annual hot air balloon festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when one of the balloons hit a radio tower. The 69-year-old pilot and two young passengers were forced to climb down most of the 700-foot structure but no one was hurt.
Matthews aftermath. Tropical Storm Matthew dumped up to a foot of rain in southeastern Louisiana. High water flooded streets and forced some New Orleans area residents out of their homes. Caught on tape. Now a look at a robbery in progress caught by a security camera at a Miami area convenient store. Police say this man started to leave the store without paying. A clerk tackled the man at the door but police say the man still managed to get away with some beer and cigarettes. And that's our weekend snapshot.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: A concert tour designed to boost Democratic hopes in next month's election comes to an end tonight with a finale here in Washington. There have been Vote for Change concerts in several states already. Tonight's finale features 13 acts, including the Dave Matthews Band. I spoke with Dave Matthews and another member of his band, Boyd Tinsley, just a short time ago here at the MCI Center. I asked Matthews what pushed him to make a political statement.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVE MATTHEWS, MUSICIAN: I think the direction that the country is going in has been one that frightens me. The one of specifically sort of isolating us from the rest of the world. Specifically the two-faced sort of approach to the environment, saying one thing and doing another. The approach to the economy, which very much favors the top income brackets, certainly...
BLITZER: So it's not just the war in Iraq?
MATTHEWS: It's not only the war in Iraq, although that is obviously just, you know, I suppose the catalyst, but there are so many other things that have piled onto the -- piled onto that -- on top of that, make me think that it's a very important time to stand up and say what you think.
There was a great excerpt from Garrison Keillor, where he describes a sort of responsibility that we have now to stand up and say what we think. And he put it eloquently. I couldn't dream of ever putting it as clearly and succinctly as he did, but I do feel, because I'm a father, because I'm a family man, and because I'm a very proud American, that I should stand up when I think the country is going in a direction that is less favorable for all those things combined.
BLITZER: Boyd, what about you, what pushed you?
BOYD TINSLEY, MUSICIAN: Wolf, I can't think of anything that's gone right in this country in the last four years. The fact that I and you and Dave got a huge tax cut -- there's 45 million people with no health insurance. You know, there's more people today living in poverty. There's people that's going to bed hungry in America. You know.
BLITZER: Is Bush responsible for all that?
TINSLEY: I think Bush is responsible. I think this president is responsible. You know what I mean, I mean, if a president can go take over a country with no reason at all, he can at least be able to feed his own people. At least be able to help people get health insurance. I think he's the leader of this nation, and he needs to make things happen. If he can't make things happen, he needs to step aside and put somebody in who can.
BLITZER: Is this a statement that you are making, by doing these concerts, a statement against Bush or a statement in favor of Kerry?
TINSLEY: It's a statement against the current state of affairs in America right now. It's people without health insurance, people without jobs, 18-year -- 19-year-old kids, the same ones who come see our shows, they are over in Iraq. They don't know why they are over there. We don't know why they are over there, being shot at every day.
What's the point? You know, so we think -- like I said before, I can't think of really a single reason -- a single good thing that this administration has done for the people of this country.
BLITZER: Are you worried, Dave, that this could alienate some of your fans?
MATTHEWS: If I really believe that it's the right thing to do, then I have -- then I should do it, you know, even if it does compromise some of my fans. But I don't think the reaction is going to be that bad, because we're doing something that we feel strongly about. And I think that -- both our Republican and our Democratic fans probably respect that.
TINSLEY: I think that's a problem in America, you know what I mean, just like America is about taking a stand. You know, America is about taking a stand. Everybody is always -- that's the first question people ask us, is are you worried about the backlash? You know, well, listen, in America, you are supposed to stand up. If something is not right, you stand up and say, this is not right, we need to change this. And we need to get back to that. You know what I mean? And we are willing to do that.
And I think even Republicans, who don't agree with what we are saying, respect us, because they know that what we're saying is from the heart. And they know that we would not stand up here and say it unless we believed that we need a change in this country, and we absolutely do.
BLITZER: As we're speaking, Bruce Springsteen is rehearsing right now at the MCI Center. Our viewers might be able to hear a little bit of him bleeding into our microphones. Who brought you in? Did he ask you? How did you get involved in this?
MATTHEWS: I think it was a lot of synchronicity involved. The band, our band was starting to talk about the country and the upcoming election, and that we wanted some change. And what could we do? Should we go on tour? Should we do a show in Giants Stadium in New York or do something here in D.C.? And at the same time as we were having that conversation, there was the same conversation happening with a lot of the bands that are here tonight and a lot of the bands that have been on this tour, and our management, and the artists have got together, the musicians, and then talked about what could be the most effective thing to do.
So it really was sort of us all walking into a room having the same thing on our minds. And so, you know, there's a variety, I mean, there's a little bit of variety in what -- in how we think the country should go, obviously, from person to person, but the overall consensus is that we all wanted a change. And I think that was a great thing about this tour, that nobody said, you know, Bruce didn't come and have to call anyone up and say, you need to do something. All of us walked into the room together and said, we'd really like to be part of this. I mean, you know, that was sort of the idea.
BLITZER: Dave Matthews, Boyd Tinsley, thanks very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And we'll have the results of our Web question of the day. That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Here are the results of our Web question of the day. Take a look at this. Remember, though, it's not a scientific poll.
I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.
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Aired October 11, 2004 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now, stepped up security surrounding Washington State ferryboats amid fresh terror concerns. There's new information from Homeland Security and FBI officials.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
Neck and neck. A duel in the West.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He said he had only one position on Iraq. He must think we're on another planet.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To borrow a saying, when it comes to George Bush's record on gas prices "he can run but he can't hide."
BLITZER: They want you to vote for change. Can rock stars make a difference? I'll ask Dave Mathews.
Baghdad buyback. A grenade goes for $5. A machine gun for a thousand. Can it help stop the violence?
Courage and hope. His real life qualities made him a superhero to millions. We'll remember Christopher Reeve.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Monday, October 11, 2004.
BLITZER: Cutting out of their second debate and heading into their final showdown the presidential candidates find themselves in an extremely tight race but they are not only neck and neck, they are at each other's throats.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): It doesn't get any closer than this. The latest CNN "USA Today" Gallup poll has President Bush and Senator Kerry at 48 percent each among registered voters with 1 percent going to Ralph Nader. Among likely voters, Kerry gets 49 percent, Bush 48 percent, and Nader 1 percent. That explains why both candidates are taking no chances, cramming in as much campaigning as possible during these final three weeks of the race.
BUSH: I'm here to ask for your vote that's what I'm here to do.
BLITZER: Both campaigns have a common strategy, hammer away at the other candidate, make the other candidate the issue. The Bush/Cheney camp wants the election to be a referendum on John Kerry and his supposed wishy-washy positions. Witness how the president is now jumped all over Kerry's comments in the "New York Times" Sunday magazine in which Kerry said - "we have to get back to the place we were. Where terrorists are not the focus of our lives but they are a nuisance."
BUSH: See I couldn't disagree more. Our goal is not to reduce terror to some acceptable level of nuisance. Our goal is to defeat terror by staying on the offensive. Destroying terrorist networks. And spreading freedom and liberty around the world.
BLITZER: Kerry strategists say the President is simply distorting his comments.
TAD DEVINE, KERRY CAMPAIGN ADVISOR: John Kerry's made it clear to win the war on terror we need to be tough but we also need to be smart. That's the difference.
BLITZER: If they can make the election a referendum on the president, Kerry's strategist say, they will be positioned to win on November 2.
KERRY: Instead of standing up for you, George Bush has chosen secret meetings with the energy industry.
BLITZER: On this day, Kerry was blasting the President's energy record.
KERRY: But to borrow a saying when it comes to George Bush's record on gas prices, "he can run but he can't hide."
BLITZER: Bush strategists insist Kerry simply can't be trusted.
MATTHEW DOWD, BUSH CAMPAIGN STRATEGIST: There's a reason why the American public in poll after poll trust this president more in fighting the war on terrorism than they do John Kerry. That's been true day after day after day in this campaign.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: President Bush has followed the campaign trail from New Mexico to Colorado. Our White House correspondent Dana Bash is there. She is joining us now live from Denver -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, you know the President's campaign strategy was for Mr. Bush to use the stops in these very important western and southwestern states to sharpen his rhetoric and make the news of the day, if you will, on domestic issues in advance of Wednesday's final debate on domestic issues but the campaign shifted that plan after they saw, as you mentioned, what Senator Kerry said on Sunday in "The New York Times" magazine, quotes from him suggesting that terrorism should be reduced to the level of a nuisance.
Well, the Bush campaign obviously jumped on this as proof that they say the senator is weak on terrorism but it was a multi-front attack and the vice president was in New Jersey today echoing the same thing the President said. Essentially trying to make the case that Senator Kerry doesn't get it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD CHENEY, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Nor can we think of our goal in this war in the way Senator Kerry described it yesterday in the "New York Times." quote, "we have to get back to the place," he said, "where terrorism is a nuisance." Sort of like and these are his comparisons, sort of like gambling and prostitution. This is -- this is naive and dangerous as was Senator Kerry's reluctance earlier this year to call the war on terror an actual war. He preferred to think of it, he said, as primarily an intelligence and law enforcement operation. This is all part of a pre-9/11 mindset and it is a view we cannot go back to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Meanwhile, Kerry aides say the Bush campaign is simply playing on the politics of fear saying that the senator's quotes were taken out of context and that the President himself in august suggested in a television interview that the war on terror is unwinnable. Now, Wolf, the President does have another rally here in Denver, Colorado, tonight and Colorado is a state whose nine electoral votes really shouldn't be up for grabs if you look at what happened last time around. Mr. Bush won here handily. But the polls show that it is neck and neck. That's why the President is back in the state. Wolf?
BLITZER: Dana Bash in Colorado for us. Dana, thank you very much.
Energized by the first two debates, Democrat John Kerry is hammering the President's energy policy as he prepares for the final showdown. Our Ed Henry reports from Santa Fe, New Mexico.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Kerry is in Santa Fe for two days of preparation for Wednesday's final president debate. The Kerry camp is confident that the senator held own on national security in the first two debates. Now he can pivot to his turf, the domestic agenda, which will be the focus of the third presidential debate in Arizona. Kerry zeroed in on energy reform Monday, wrapping it into an overall indictment of President Bush's record here at home.
KERRY: Just like jobs, 1.6 million lost. Just like healthcare, 5 million people lost their healthcare. Just like education, millions of children left behind. The President has more excuses than results. HENRY: But Kerry opened his remarks to an indirect reference to another domestic issue, stem cell research by paying tribute to actor Christopher Reeve. In Friday's debate Kerry had rapped the President for not pushing enough for stem cell research and invoked Reeve's name. A Kerry aide tells CNN that on Saturday, the actor tried to call Kerry, the two did not speak but Reeve left him a message to keep the fight alive for stem cell research.
Ed Henry, CNN, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Also campaigning today, Democrat John Edwards. He blasted Bush's economic policies during a stop in Newton, Iowa. Newton is the home of the Maytag Corporation which has been cutting jobs. Edwards compared the Bush campaign's upbeat assessment to the economy, in his words, to putting lipstick on a pig.
We're just two days away from the final presidential debate Wednesday night and President Bush and Senator Kerry will go head to head right there at the debate in Tempe, Arizona. Arizona State University. We'll be in Tempe along with the entire CNN election team. Our prime time coverage will begin 7:00 p.m. Eastern Wednesday night in Arizona.
In Iraq today, a bold effort to end the bloodshed in a sprawling slum district of Baghdad. Members of a rebel Shiite militia are being rewarded for laying down their arms. Our senior international correspondent Brent Sadler reports from the Iraqi capital.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A timid start to the surrender of weapons in Sadr City, but still they came armed and dangerous. An unknown number of Mehdi Army militiamen loyal to radical Shia Muslim cleric Muqtada al Sadr, turning in machine guns and ammunition, rocket propelled grenades and mortar shells.
"It's in response to our leadership," says this fighter to hand over weapons. Masked and suspicious Iraqi security forces monitored this first tentative step to disarmament.
AYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI INTERIM PRIME MINISTER: "We hope it will hold. We have made our position -- the government has made the position very clear, that only the rule of law will prevail, nothing else is accepted.
SADLER: But trust levels are low after weeks of deadly battles here. Sadr City's bullets and bombs have claimed both American and Iraqi lives.
LTC GARY VOLESKY, U.S. ARMY: There has been no cease-fire agreement. There is no truce. This is an initiative started by the Sadr Bureau.
SADLER: A controversial initiative trading arms for cash handed out by Iraqi government officials. Heavy machine guns reportedly fetch up to a thousand U.S. dollars each. Rocket propelled grenades $175.
"It's not compensation for weapons," says this Iraqi government official, "it's a reward for their cooperation." But, black marketeers, it's feared, may also use the buy-out to profit from arms, complicating the efforts to gauge the real impact of bringing peace to this rebel stronghold.
(on camera) But hopes are blooming among U.S. and Iraqi officials here that the Sadr City accord may be the beginning of the end to a more or less self-contained Shia revolt.
(voice-over) If so, it could afford U.S. backed Iraqi forces greater scope to concentrate on defeating the wider Sunni Muslim insurgency raging Monday in western Iraq. The U.S. military says war planes struck a Sunni mosque in the town of Hit about 100 miles west of Baghdad where marines battled around 100 insurgents in an hour's long fire fight. A foretaste of even tougher battles that may lie ahead. Brent Sadler, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And here's your chance to weigh in on the story. Our Web question of the day is this, "Should members of Muqtada al Sadr's Mehdi militia be paid for turning in the weapons?" You can vote, go to CNN.com/wolf. We'll have the results for you later in this broadcast. Best known to fans as Superman and later in life as a key advocate of stem cell research. We'll remember the actor Christopher Reeve and his many accomplishments.
Plus -- new information coming in right now on possible terrorist surveillance of ferryboats in Washington State. How vulnerable are they?
And music with a political purpose, the rockers who want to sway your vote. I'll speak with Dave Matthews, he's here in Washington for a big concert tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Very sad news you've probably heard by now, Christopher Reeve, the actor, has died at the age of 52. He was already a very famous actor when his life took such a dramatic turn nine years ago thrusting him into a very, very different role.
Here is CNN's Jason Carroll.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is one way people will remember Christopher Reeve. Superman saving the world. A role that turned this former stage actor into a movie star around the world. Reeve made 17 films throughout his career, donning the super hero red cape in four of them. Off-screen, Reeve spent much time riding horses. It all changed in 1995. He was thrown during a competition. Reeve broke his neck and was paralyzed from the neck down. In the following years Reeve and his doctors worked tirelessly on his physical rehabilitation and broke down misconceptions about recovery.
CHRISTOPHER REEVE, ACTOR: Fortunately because of all the physical therapy I have done over the years, I have been able to beat the problems that would otherwise keep me from doing what I'm doing.
CARROLL: Reeve got well enough to act and even direct. But his new role as activist is where he made his mark. He lobbied Congress in support of stem cell research and better insurance and never gave up hope on walking again.
REEVE: If we keep giving our scientists the funding they need to do the research, very soon I will take my family by the hand and I will stand here in front of the star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
CARROLL: In support of stem cell research, Senator John Kerry mentioned Reeve during the last presidential debate. On Monday, once again, Kerry talked about his friend.
KERRY: I know that if we put our minds to it, one day we're going to realize Chris's inevitable dream.
CARROLL: Kerry, said Reeve had called him on Saturday, the day after the debate, thanking him for mentioning stem cell research. The same day Reeve was admitted into a New York hospital. He was suffering from a pressure wound similar to a bed sore, a common ailment of paralysis patients. It quickly became severely infected. Cardiac arrest followed, then a coma. Reeve died from heart failure Sunday evening. He was 52. His wife thanked the hospital staff and his fans, who left flowers on Hollywood's Walk of Fame not just for a man who played a superhero but to remember the courage Reeve showed in life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Jason Carroll with that report on Christopher Reeve. Christopher Reeve gave a very intimate and revealing interview to CNN's Paula Zahn just last November. Paula is joining us live from New York. Paula, what do you remember about this man you spent some important time with him?
PAULA ZAHN, CNN HOST: I have always been touched by so much of what Chris has shared with me over the years. I got to know him when he landed his Superman role, and that, of course is a time in his life when everything was possible. This is a man who did every sport you could ever think of. A man who never did anything halfway. And once he was injured, we talked a lot about the impact that had on his psyche, and, in fact, it had very little to do with this.
was a man who never gave up hope that he would walk again some day. Even though the odds were against it. He got up every single morning and as you saw in that piece that preceded my introduction here, he did the kind of exercises that you would need to do to keep your muscles in shape so if that scientific break through came that you would be capable of walking.
This was a man who never expressed an ounce of self-pity to me. He talked about his fears. He talked about realistically what he could do some day. This was a man who was incredibly brave. And you and I have had the good fortune of meeting some outstanding and talented people over the years. When I think of Chris and the power that he showed to us all of just his strength, it was an extraordinary gift.
BLITZER: I remember the interview. And I remember you discussed stem cell research with him. Let's play an excerpt from your interview with Christopher Reeve.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: How many people have you ticked off along the way? What kind of a lightning rod are you?
REEVE: Certainly the entire religious right. A lot of social conservatives. Probably a lot of scientists. And some people in the disabled community who think that I shouldn't be going around talking about a cure. As a patient, as someone sitting in a wheelchair, it's our prerogative to push. And scientists, of course, are free to push back. We're not asking them to do things that are irresponsible. Just don't make a career out of research. Think about the urgency. Think about people that are suffering.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Paula, what will be Christopher Reeve's legacy?
ZAHN: I think he'll have an impact on a number of different levels just a sure sense of bravery and courage and then, of course, his willingness to take on this very tough fight in a number of conversations. He talked quite openly about the criticism he took from even within the paralysis community that through his own sheer will that perhaps he was providing false hope for other paralysis victims.
I got to talk with people who he called. He would find out someone had an accident. He would be one of the first ones to pick up the phone and tell them what they were going to confront and what they were going to face in a lot of the paralysis victims told me that it made the difference between them wanting to live and giving up. So he'll have a very personal impact on those kinds of folks.
BLITZER: He will always be remembered. Paula, thank you very much. Paula Zahn had a terrific interview and Paula will have much more on the life of Christopher Reeve, the actor, the activist, tonight on her own program, PAULA ZAHN NOW that airs at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. We will all be watching.
The man once held as an enemy combatant in the United States is now back home. New details on whether Saudi Arabia will now keep tabs on Yasser Hamdi.
Unlikely survival. A missing teenager found alive in a wrecked car after eight days. Eight days without food or water.
And an outback attack. A 14-foot crocodile snatches a man from his tent. His rescuer also becomes bait. Find out what happens next, all that coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: He was held for three years without charges as an enemy combatant. Now an American accused of fighting for the Taliban is home in Saudi Arabia. Our State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel picks up the story -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, after weeks of to'ing and fro'ing between the U.S. and Saudi governments, finally a meeting of the minds. And as a result, Yasser Hamdi, who turned 24 years old while in U.S. custody last month left a naval brig in Charleston, South Carolina, onboard a U.S. military plane and headed for home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL (voice-over): Back in Saudi Arabia, after three years in U.S. custody, 24-year-old Yasser Hamdi called his American attorney, Frank Dunham.
FRANK DUNHAM, HAMDI'S ATTORNEY: This morning he told me that he was home. I asked him how that felt. He said awesome.
KOPPEL: Hamdi's return was delayed by just over two weeks after the Saudi government expressed concern it might be expected to enforce an agreement reached last month between Hamdi and the U.S. government. Saudi officials tell CNN that Hamdi, a dual U.S. Saudi citizen born in Louisiana, renounced his U.S. citizenship upon arrival in the Kingdom, a requirement under that agreement.
Hamdi also agreed he would not engage in terrorist activity and would notify the Saudi and U.S. governments if he was ever contacted by terrorist groups. Hamdi pledged to remain in Saudi Arabia for five years and never to travel to specific countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Pakistan and Syria. His lawyer said that's no problem.
DUNHAM: Traveled to Afghanistan, almost got killed, got locked up. Got three years solitary confinement. Believe me, he doesn't want to go back to Afghanistan or to Iraq or to any of the places where they say he can't go.
KOPPEL: Hamdi was captured in Afghanistan in December 2001 accused of fighting on behalf of the Taliban and labeled an enemy combatant. But no charges were ever brought against him. Speaking with CNN earlier this month, Hamdi's father maintained his son's innocence.
ESAM HAMDI: He has nothing to do with the Taliban. He has no relation with those people. But he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
(END VIDEOTAPE) KOPPEL: And now that Hamdi is home, a senior State Department official tells CNN enforcement is a big issue. Saudi officials, for their part, say they are under no obligation to force Hamdi to abide by the conditions he agreed to with the U.S. government. One Saudi official telling CNN tonight that he views this deal as a fig leaf, Wolf, a way for the U.S. to say that Hamdi was sent home but that he is -- was not allowed to walk -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Andrea Koppel for us. Thank you very much, Andrea, for sorting through all that.
Thousands of commuters use them every day, so why are officials suddenly increasing security on these ferryboats?
Why Afghanistan's historic election is only a first step. We'll hear from our world affairs analyst, the former Defense Secretary William Cohen.
Plus -- Dave Matthews talks to us about his concert tonight here in Washington and around the country for a very, very political cause. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: From our studios in Washington, once again, Wolf Blitzer.
BLITZER: Welcome back. Is Washington State ferry system a possible terror target. Federal authorities say the ferryboats have been under surveillance. We'll get details. First, though, a quick check of some other stories in the news.
Three car bombs driven by three suicide bombers. An Israeli security source tells CNN that's what investigators believe caused last week's explosions in the Egyptian resort area of Taba. The blast killed 34 people, many of them Israelis on holiday.
A Washington state teenager missing for more than a week has been found alive. 17-year-old Laura Hatch spent eight days trapped in her wrecked car which was discovered yesterday in Seattle. She's in serious condition.
Keeping you informed, CNN the most trusted name in news.
Authorities have now stepped up security on Seattle area car ferries because of fears the boats could become terror targets.
Our Brian Todd has been looking into the story. He's joining us live -- Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this is one of those situations becoming more commonplace in recent months where officials look at a mosaic of activity and try to assess a potential threat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): The added security is clearly visible but depending on who you talk to on these ferry's confidence is variable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: State patrol around here. They have the dogs out. I think they have it pretty much under control.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can carry anything on that ferry.
TODD: The "Seattle Times" says the FBI has determined that 19 incidents over the past three years where Washington state ferries were videotaped were highly like or extremely likely to involve terrorist surveillance. The "Times" reports one man involved in three of those incidents is also the subject of an FBI investigation.
FBI officials tell CNN their Seattle field office did eventually complete an intelligence assessment on the Washington ferries and they are not disputing the "Seattle Times" report. But FBI officials say there is no specific threat and these assessments are done regularly throughout the U.S. on potential targets. A Homeland Security official tells CNN the department has no specific intelligence that al Qaeda plans to attack ferries in Washington state.
Contacted by CNN, officials with Washington state ferries say they did increase security this past weekend with extra troopers and bomb sniffing dogs checking more vehicles. They say that is based on advice from the coast guard that's been in the pipeline for months. Ferry officials say the coast guard has been increasingly concerned that someone might place a car or truck bomb on a ferry.
We asked a former FBI counter terrorism official how vulnerable ferry systems are right now.
KEN PIERNICK, FMR. FBI COUNTERTERRORISM AGENT: Ferry systems are probably have a similar vulnerability to a trains and subways and airplanes, and any other conveyance. They're available to the public. Large numbers of people and vehicles go into the ferries and exit them.
TODD: The Washington state ferry system is one of the largest in the world, carrying 25 million passengers and 11 million vehicles a year. Hundreds of square miles are covered over multiple routes, one of them extending into Canada. But one counter terrorism expert tells us ferries are not especially useful to terrorists as transport points for weapons or operatives. They are more attractive as targets, he says, for hostage taking and potential body count.
And while more vehicles are now being searched on Washington state ferries, officials tell us walk-ons are still not screened -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Brian Todd reporting for us. Thank you, Brian.
Investigations are underway into complaints about Afghanistan's historic election on Saturday. Despite irregular later in technical glitches there is broad international consensus against nullifying the vote which is still being tallied. Even some presidential candidates who initially called for the results to be thrown out have since dropped that demand. U.S. backed interim president Hamid Karzai is widely expected to win, probably two or three weeks before the final ballots are all counted. It may have been controversial, but Afghanistan managed to hold an election.
Can Iraq do the same thing?
Joining us now are world affairs analyst the former defense secretary William Cohen.
It is pretty impressive these millions of people who actually lined up in Afghanistan to vote.
WILLIAM COHEN, FMR. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Very impressive. Some 10.4 million people who are registered to vote. Millions who did vote. And the issue of ballot integrity is really kind of interesting, that we have seen something in Florida with hanging chads and so they are having something with the ink that was used on the hands or the fingers of individual. But I'm satisfied the investigation of a free person, an independent investigation will probably satisfy everyone about the integrity of the process.
BLITZER: Given, the fact the first time ever the Democratic elections in Afghanistan, it was pretty impressive indeed. Now the question is this -- Afghanistan is a different situation than Iraq.
Elections in Iraq scheduled for the end of January.
Do you think that's realistic?
COHEN: It depends what the security situation is going to be. There's some positive news in terms of the Shia groups surrendering their weapons. That may present an opportunity for the U.S. and coalition forces to focus on The Sunni triangle where the major types of controversy is going to continue to take place. And so security is key. If they can provide for a secure environment, then the election can go forward. King Abdullah of Jordan most recently indicated he was skeptical about the viability of January election given the current security environment. So, the extent the coalition forces can crackdown and crush the insurgents or reach some kind of an agreement as was most eventually reached it may provide an opportunity to reach them.
BLITZER: The Shia are a majority in Iraq, at least 60 percent. If they are smart they have the election. They can control the political process presumably.
COHEN: They can control the political process, but if the Sunnis decide to sit the election out, that's going to present a different dilemma for the United States and the coalition forces that you would have an election that would be seen by many to be illegitimate because it didn't include the Sunni minority. And so, I think the most important thing to do is to continue the effort to provide for a stable environment, encourage the Sunnis to take part in that majority of them and to have a full election not just for those in certain parts of the country.
BLITZER: It's a lot more than a thousand pages so-called, Charles Duelfer report put out by the CIA, which concluded no WMD, weapons of mass destruction, in Iraq probably since the mid 90s at least, maybe since the early '90s at the end of the Gulf War. But there was an intent, supposedly, once the sanctions went away to restart the WMD program.
Is that -- was that enough really to look back now, knowing what we know now, to justify an invasion?
COHEN: I think we have to be very careful about using the doctrine of preemption based upon intent. It's difficult enough to find countries who may have weapons, but the notion that we would attack countries who had intent to acquire them or develop them and that be the basis for our launching a military attack upon them, I think is very dangerous. What we're seeing, I think, is a retroactive rationalization. Most people believe did he have weapons.
That they were a threat as such. That he refused to comply with the international sanctions, the U.N. resolutions. And so there was a rational based upon a reasonable assumption. But if you were to say now that if we believe that someone has the intent and the future capability, that constitutes an imminent enough threat in the world in which we live to take military action. I think we lowered the threshold not only for ourselves but for many other countries to take comparable action. Very dangerous world, very dangerous interpretation of it in my judgment.
BLITZER: William Cohen, thanks very much.
Horror in Sudan, now the United States names those it says are responsible. We'll show you one of them.
High anxiety: details of this accident and how the survivors made it down.
Plus -- Dave Mathews talks to us about his concert for a cause. That would be a political cause, the concert here in Washington tonight.
First, though, a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Japan is cleaning up from what is described as the most powerful typhoon to hit the island nation in a decade. The storm made landfall Saturday lashing Tokyo in central Japan with torrential rain and fierce winds.
Australian crocodile: rescue workers say a 60-year-old woman wrestled a 14-foot crocodile forcing it to release a man trapped in its jaws. The crocodile snatched the man as he slept in a tent at a remote campsite. Both the man and woman were airlifted to a hospital in serious but stable condition.
Nobel Prize: a Norwegian and an American share this year's Nobel Prize in economics. Finn Kydland of Norway and Edward Prescott of the U.S. are recognized for their work in macro economics and the role central banks have on business cycles around the world.
That's our "Look Around the World."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. Secretary of State Colin Powell is calling the crisis in Darfur in western Sudan genocide. Diplomats say it is being orchestrated on the ground by a small group of people. CNN's Zain Verjee at the CNN Center in Atlanta with more on one of those suspected -- Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) militias in Darfur have come to be known as Janjaweed meaning evil men on horseback. They charge into villages on horseback or camels and kill. The U.S. State Department has named seven people suspected of coordinating these atrocities on the ground. Here's one of those names.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE (voice-over): Protector or murderer? Which is it? Sudan's government says Musa Hilal is a well respected and important tribal leader. The U.S. State Department says the 43-year-old is a ruthless Janjaweed field commander orchestrating a methodical murder campaign in Darfur amounting to genocide.
Over the last 18 months, Arab Janjaweed militias have massacred some 50,000 non Arab Africans in Darfur. More than a million have fled from the horror.
Samantha Power won a Pulitzer prize for a book on genocide. She videotaped an interview with Hilal on a recent visit to Darfur. Hilal told her he is not Janjaweed. They are bandits, he said. I am a tribal leader. I am not a criminal.
But Power said she has talked to survivors of Janjaweed attacks who...
SAMANTHA POWER, AUTHOR: Described in eyewitness terms actually seeing Musa Halal on the ground leading his forces into battle and, of course, battle means systematic torching, pillaging, murder and rape.
VERJEE: An image Power says is a stark contrast to the charming and personable man she met.
On a government helicopter and flanked by Sudanese military men, a regal Hilal takes Power to a village in Darfur's desert where says Arabs and non Arabs live peacefully.
"Thank God we are fine and healthy," says this woman as Hilal listens and sips some juice. Later Power says she spoke to villagers when Hilal was not around.
POWER: They said there were actually Janjaweed lurking nearby and they were too afraid to speak the truth. VERJEE: The U.S. and international rights groups accuse the Sudanese government of using the Janjaweed as a proxy force to fight rebels in the region, rebels who want more political power and a share in the country's oil wells. The Sudanese government denies those accusations. The U.N. and the EU have launched investigations in U.S. claims of genocide. The U.S. also insists Hilal is at the heart of the killings.
MICHAEL RANNEBERGER, ASST. SEC. OF STATE: I think the fact that you see Musa Hilal who is one of the Janjaweed leaders, make no mistake about it, running around Khartoum, giving interviews to the international press, flying on government helicopters indicates the degree of collaboration there.
POWER: He has been given guns and money by the Sudanese government and he has trained a sizable force of Arab militia who have gone on rampages throughout north, south and west Darfur.
VERJEE: The international community is misinformed says Hilal. Toward the end of the interview provided to CNN by Power Hilal says, "now I want to ask you this question." He responds incredulously. "All these questions to get me to say I am Janjaweed?"
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: Wolf, the Sudanese government says Musa Hilal is not responsible for the violence in Darfur. It adds Khartoum does not supply weapons to Hilal or any other tribal leader. Instead the Sudanese government blames the violence in Darfur on the rebels saying they have exploited local tribal conflict for their own political gain -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Zain Verjee, very good report. Thank you very much. Very important information, as well. Continuing genocide unfolding in the Sudan.
Making a difference with music, my one-on-one interview with Dave Mathews. Find out what some artists are doing to sway your vote. We'll get to that.
First, though, a look at some stories you may have missed this past weekend.
A chartered bus carrying tourists from Chicago to a Mississippi gambling casino went off the road and overturned in Arkansas killing 14 passengers. The cause remains under investigation.
Balloon mishap. There were anxious moments at the annual hot air balloon festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when one of the balloons hit a radio tower. The 69-year-old pilot and two young passengers were forced to climb down most of the 700-foot structure but no one was hurt.
Matthews aftermath. Tropical Storm Matthew dumped up to a foot of rain in southeastern Louisiana. High water flooded streets and forced some New Orleans area residents out of their homes. Caught on tape. Now a look at a robbery in progress caught by a security camera at a Miami area convenient store. Police say this man started to leave the store without paying. A clerk tackled the man at the door but police say the man still managed to get away with some beer and cigarettes. And that's our weekend snapshot.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: A concert tour designed to boost Democratic hopes in next month's election comes to an end tonight with a finale here in Washington. There have been Vote for Change concerts in several states already. Tonight's finale features 13 acts, including the Dave Matthews Band. I spoke with Dave Matthews and another member of his band, Boyd Tinsley, just a short time ago here at the MCI Center. I asked Matthews what pushed him to make a political statement.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVE MATTHEWS, MUSICIAN: I think the direction that the country is going in has been one that frightens me. The one of specifically sort of isolating us from the rest of the world. Specifically the two-faced sort of approach to the environment, saying one thing and doing another. The approach to the economy, which very much favors the top income brackets, certainly...
BLITZER: So it's not just the war in Iraq?
MATTHEWS: It's not only the war in Iraq, although that is obviously just, you know, I suppose the catalyst, but there are so many other things that have piled onto the -- piled onto that -- on top of that, make me think that it's a very important time to stand up and say what you think.
There was a great excerpt from Garrison Keillor, where he describes a sort of responsibility that we have now to stand up and say what we think. And he put it eloquently. I couldn't dream of ever putting it as clearly and succinctly as he did, but I do feel, because I'm a father, because I'm a family man, and because I'm a very proud American, that I should stand up when I think the country is going in a direction that is less favorable for all those things combined.
BLITZER: Boyd, what about you, what pushed you?
BOYD TINSLEY, MUSICIAN: Wolf, I can't think of anything that's gone right in this country in the last four years. The fact that I and you and Dave got a huge tax cut -- there's 45 million people with no health insurance. You know, there's more people today living in poverty. There's people that's going to bed hungry in America. You know.
BLITZER: Is Bush responsible for all that?
TINSLEY: I think Bush is responsible. I think this president is responsible. You know what I mean, I mean, if a president can go take over a country with no reason at all, he can at least be able to feed his own people. At least be able to help people get health insurance. I think he's the leader of this nation, and he needs to make things happen. If he can't make things happen, he needs to step aside and put somebody in who can.
BLITZER: Is this a statement that you are making, by doing these concerts, a statement against Bush or a statement in favor of Kerry?
TINSLEY: It's a statement against the current state of affairs in America right now. It's people without health insurance, people without jobs, 18-year -- 19-year-old kids, the same ones who come see our shows, they are over in Iraq. They don't know why they are over there. We don't know why they are over there, being shot at every day.
What's the point? You know, so we think -- like I said before, I can't think of really a single reason -- a single good thing that this administration has done for the people of this country.
BLITZER: Are you worried, Dave, that this could alienate some of your fans?
MATTHEWS: If I really believe that it's the right thing to do, then I have -- then I should do it, you know, even if it does compromise some of my fans. But I don't think the reaction is going to be that bad, because we're doing something that we feel strongly about. And I think that -- both our Republican and our Democratic fans probably respect that.
TINSLEY: I think that's a problem in America, you know what I mean, just like America is about taking a stand. You know, America is about taking a stand. Everybody is always -- that's the first question people ask us, is are you worried about the backlash? You know, well, listen, in America, you are supposed to stand up. If something is not right, you stand up and say, this is not right, we need to change this. And we need to get back to that. You know what I mean? And we are willing to do that.
And I think even Republicans, who don't agree with what we are saying, respect us, because they know that what we're saying is from the heart. And they know that we would not stand up here and say it unless we believed that we need a change in this country, and we absolutely do.
BLITZER: As we're speaking, Bruce Springsteen is rehearsing right now at the MCI Center. Our viewers might be able to hear a little bit of him bleeding into our microphones. Who brought you in? Did he ask you? How did you get involved in this?
MATTHEWS: I think it was a lot of synchronicity involved. The band, our band was starting to talk about the country and the upcoming election, and that we wanted some change. And what could we do? Should we go on tour? Should we do a show in Giants Stadium in New York or do something here in D.C.? And at the same time as we were having that conversation, there was the same conversation happening with a lot of the bands that are here tonight and a lot of the bands that have been on this tour, and our management, and the artists have got together, the musicians, and then talked about what could be the most effective thing to do.
So it really was sort of us all walking into a room having the same thing on our minds. And so, you know, there's a variety, I mean, there's a little bit of variety in what -- in how we think the country should go, obviously, from person to person, but the overall consensus is that we all wanted a change. And I think that was a great thing about this tour, that nobody said, you know, Bruce didn't come and have to call anyone up and say, you need to do something. All of us walked into the room together and said, we'd really like to be part of this. I mean, you know, that was sort of the idea.
BLITZER: Dave Matthews, Boyd Tinsley, thanks very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And we'll have the results of our Web question of the day. That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Here are the results of our Web question of the day. Take a look at this. Remember, though, it's not a scientific poll.
I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.
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