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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Could Peterson Be Facing a Hung Jury?; Massive Battle in Iraq

Aired November 08, 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, a sign that could rock the Scott Peterson trial. Could the judge, Scott and Laci's family soon be facing a hung jury?
And a developing story, a massive battle in Iraq, as U.S. forces engage in urban combat. Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Phantom fury. An all-out offensive under way in Falluja.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Parts of Falluja are now on fire. A red glow lighting up the sky. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) fire is being traded across parts of the city.

BLITZER: We'll take you to the front lines.

State of emergency, where will the insurgents strike back?

Fighting over Arafat. Is it for money or power?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I ask you to understand the scope of this conspiracy. I tell you, they are trying to bury Abu Amar alive.

Mrs. Arafat sparks a controversy.

Stepping down and speaking out, New Jersey's governor says he's sorry, but...

GOV. JAMES MCGREEVEY (D), NEW JERSEY: I am not apologizing for being a gay American.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Monday, November 8, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: It's been building for weeks now. In a smaller version of shock and awe, thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops are blasting their way into the insurgent stronghold of Falluja. We'll go direct to the battlefield for this developing story, but we begin with our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre. He's joining us live -- Jamie. JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it was preceded by airstrikes, engagements, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and probing actions, but now it's all for real.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go, go!

MCINTYRE (voice-over): When the long threatened offensive finally kicked off, U.S. troops were pumped.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to smack the crap out of them. That will be nice.

MCINTYRE: With 10,000 U.S. marines and soldiers and more than 2,000 Iraqi troops moving on Falluja, the Pentagon is confident the estimated 3,000 insurgents can be routed. But Pentagon officials are downplaying any suggestion the battle for Falluja is a final showdown with the insurgents.

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I wouldn't think of it that way. And I think it would be a mistake for anyone -- listen, these folks are determined. These are killers. They chop people's heads off.

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: If there were a silver bullet, we would have shot that a long time ago. There is not a silver bullet. This is very challenging work.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: The U.S. is highlighting the role of Iraqi forces in helping to retake the city, even dropping the use of its name Phantom Fury, in favor of one picked by Iraq's interim prime minister, Operation The Dawn. While Iraqi commandos seized the main hospital there was little resistance there and they were taken there by U.S. marines who secured the security perimeter. It's still a big question mark about how well those troops will perform now that the nitty gritty of urban combat is under way -- Wolf.

BLITZER: This is a sensitive question, Jamie. Who's giving the final battle plans, the final orders? The government of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi or the U.S. military?

MCINTYRE: Well, the U.S. will tell you that it was the final decision of the Prime Minister Allawi, but clearly it was done in close consultation, as Secretary Rumsfeld here said today about that. It was something in which it was discussed and there was no debate about starting it or finishing.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Thank you very much. Let's go live to the front lines of this battle. CNN's Jane Arraf is embedded with U.S. army troops. She's joining us on the phone with the latest on what's happening right now. What's happening, Jane?

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, what's happening is continued airstrikes, continued artillery, and continued pounding of insurgent positions. We're in the northeastern sector of the city, a city completely dark. All the electricity has been cut. The only sound that's heard, apart from the explosions is a mosque that oddly enough is continuing to be able to broadcast, "god is great." Now, what we've had here are army troops going in to clear the way with their heavy armor, or marines and other forces. They have advanced into the city. And what they found is something that they had expected and feared, which is a line of booby traps, barricades, virtual streets rigged to explode as they approach. They've been firing into those improvised explosive devices, the homemade bombs with tanks, setting off huge explosions. They've also blown up part of the railroad track, army troops, to be able to proceed further. This battle is expected to continue for quite a while -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Quite a while, I know it's impossible to determine how many days or weeks, perhaps, this battle will continue, but this is only one side of a major assault against the insurgents. There are other pockets of resistance elsewhere in the country right now that eventually the U.S. and its Iraqi allies are going to have to work on. Jane, you've been there a long time. Tell us what you know about the other fronts.

ARRAF: You're absolutely right. There are other fronts, but what U.S. officials keep telling us and what Iraqi officials reiterate -- sorry, Wolf. Wolf, I don't know if you can hear me over this but we're -- as you can hear, this is clearly a military operation. What they keep reiterating is that they believe Falluja is a command and control center. That when you get homemade bombs of increasing sophistication in places like Samarra and other cities, they have come from bomb-makers in Falluja. I don't know if you can hear that in front of me, Wolf, but a huge volley of fire. This is a sector of the city that has been essentially deserted of civilians, a lot of the rest of the city isn't. There are quite a few civilians still left in the city. But the insurgency here, officials believe, if they crack down on it, if they eliminate it, that will go a long way to getting rid of the insurgency in other parts of the country -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jane, do they believe Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the known terrorist may be hiding somewhere in Falluja?

ARRAF: They do not. There has been very little credible evidence that he -- that they have been able to track him here, in fact. They have said that they have tracked some of his top lieutenants. They've been able to kill some of them, but as far as Zarqawi himself, they don't know where he is. And even if they did know, even if he were captured, although he is a very powerful symbol and a unifying force for a disparate number of groups, it wouldn't necessarily end the insurgency. This is a multifaceted problem. This is a huge, complicated problem that they are dealing with, and it is not just Abu Musab al-Zarqawi -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jane Arraf, a courageous journalist, embedded with the U.S. army in Falluja right now. Jane, be careful. Thanks very much.

CNN's Karl Penhaul, another courageous journalist is embedded with the U.S. marines moving into Falluja right now. They've been moving in over the past several hours. He reported to us what was going on in a telephone conversation just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The sky over Falluja seems to explode as U.S. marines launched their much trumpeted ground assault. Warplanes dropped plastic bombs on insurgent positions and artillery battery (UNINTELLIGIBLE) ground to conceal the marine advance. Trace of fire and the rattle of machine guns crisscross the cityscape as insurgents fight back. Above the raging battle cries of "Allahu akbar!" God is great stretch miles out into desert, and Muslim clerics chant from mosque loudspeakers. Many of the several thousand insurgents believe they're fighting a holy war against U.S. forces.

Each second explosions rock Falluja impossible at times to tell whether these are U.S. bombs or insurgent booby traps. The first ferocious hour and a half onslaught is followed by sporadic lulls while parts of the northeast are on fire. Earlier in the day fighting flared in Falluja's western outskirts. U.S. marines and Iraqi commandos seized control of the city. U.S. marines and Iraqi commandos seized control of the city hospital and of two bridges over the Euphrates River. The insurgents rallied and fought a five-hour street battle.

In the desert just north of Falluja a few hours before the nighttime assault began, marine infantrymen dug trenches, to protect against insurgent mortar attacks and as they waited, they thought about the unknown.

The fight for Falluja now under way could take several days, and the threat of insurgent booby traps or suicide attacks will never be far away. Karl Penhaul, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: While most of the troops involved in the Falluja offensive are American, the interim Iraqi government is trying to maintain a high profile. CNN senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson has that from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kicking down doors and going in hard, some of the first images that the battle for Falluja show Iraqi troops front and center of the offensive. Their role in securing a hospital on the outskirts of Falluja receiving prominence in the early coverage despite the fact U.S. troops secured the area around the hospital first, and brought in the Iraqi troops. Later in the day, barely hours before the main battle for Falluja began, Iraq's interim prime minister traveled to Falluja to meet with his frontlines commanders, not just bolstering Iraqi troop morale, but reinforcing for Iraqis wary of the U.S. role in the Falluja offensive that Iraqi troops are heavily involved in the fight.

AYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: We are going to liberate the Falluja people from the atrocities of the terrorists, and we are going to do operations widely along the whole country, wherever they are operating.

ROBERTSON: Earlier, Allawi announced implementation of new security measures under the recently declared state of emergency. A curfew for Falluja, the closure of the nearby highway, and the closure of Baghdad's international airport.

ALLAWI: We are closing the Iraqi borders with Syria and Jordan, except for the trucks carrying food and necessary goods. This measure aims at preventing the fellows from crossing the borders.

ROBERTSON: In Baghdad as the offensive was preparing in Falluja, more than half a dozen loud explosions could be heard across the city. This one, apparently targeting a Catholic church. Against this backdrop of widespread violence, Allawi is keen to assert Iraqis lead the way in resolving that country's problems.

ALLAWI: I have given my authority to the Iraqi forces to spearhead. The multinational forces would help.

ROBERTSON: When the main battle got under way, it was U.S. firepower that was most visible. Reality is, in the Falluja offensive, there are about 10,000 U.S. troops, outnumbering the Iraqi soldiers 5-1. But in an indication that the Iraqis want to define this battle, they have named it Operation Dawn, not taking the Pentagon title Operation Phantom Fury. Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Later this hour, we'll have much more on the battle for Falluja.

Palestinian officials rushing to Paris to check on Yasser Arafat. Why Arafat's wife is so angry about that.

Also ahead...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCGREEVEY: I begin today with humility, by simply saying, I'm sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey out of the closet and now almost out of office.

And a surprising development in the murder trial of Scott Peterson. All that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Four top Palestinian officials have just arrived in Paris, hoping to find out more about the fate of their critically ill leader, Yasser Arafat. But standing in the way Is Arafat's wife Suha, who rocked the Palestinian world today with an emotional statement accusing Arafat's aides of plotting to take over. At stake, political power. Also at stake, a great deal of money. CNN's Jim Bittermann reports from Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are trying to bury Abu Amar alive.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Suha Arafat's outburst accusing top Palestinian leaders of trying to shove her husband aside isn't the first time she has angrily confronted the cause he worked for and she's no stranger to controversy. The woman now standing guard at Yasser Arafat's bedside, controlling access and information has been the subject of envy and investigation. For the past four years while her husband was under a virtual house arrest in the rubble of his compound in Ramallah, 41-year-old Suha Arafat has lived in the comfortable surroundings of Paris, where her financial dealings have occasionally drawn the interest of French investigators and for years her extravagant lifestyle has drawn the ire and jealousy of Palestinians on the street, who complain that her lavish exile is being paid for by money that rightfully belongs to the Palestinian people.

BARIA ALAMUDDIN, "AL-HAYAT" NEWSPAPER: She did say, yes, I have received this money, but as you know, and I have interviewed her before on that, she takes care of a lot of things for Yasser Arafat, for also the refugees abroad.

BITTERMANN: As well, Mrs. Arafat, who once was the Palestinian leader's secretary argues that because she represents the Palestinian people, she deserves the income she receives, rumored to be around $100,000 a month. The Arafats have one daughter, now nine years old, and have rarely been together in recent years. From the beginning of her marriage, Suha Arafat shunned life on the West Bank, even though she was herself raised there by a mother deeply involved in the Palestinian cause. Now Palestinian leaders say Suha Arafat's outbursts seems like meddling in Palestinian affairs.

I can understand, this is her husband, but he's much more than Suha's husband. He's a national figure, he is a head of the state, he is the father of the Palestinian people, and national movement.

BITTERMANN: For more than a week now, Suha Arafat as the Palestinian president's closest relative has had the right to keep a tough lid on information coming from his hospital room as rumors have spread in all directions. Now though the Palestinian leadership says the situation has become intolerable and that they must know once and for all whether or not Arafat will recover. Jim Bittermann, CNN, outside Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The Palestinian delegation that has just arrived in Paris includes Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei, the former prime minister Mahmoud Abbas who is now the acting head of the PLO, the foreign minister Nabil Sha'ath and the parliament speaker Rawhi Fattuh (ph) who would replace Arafat on a 60-day interim basis if Arafat dies or cannot continue. But Suha Arafat is said to favor her husband's old comrade-in-arms Faruk Kadoumi (ph).

Joining us now to discuss all of this and the implications for the United States our foreign affairs analyst, the former defense secretary William Cohen. First of all, lots at stake for the United States right now. What jumps out of your mind?

WILLIAM COHEN, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS ANALYST: What jumps out is the need for information. We live in an information society and world, and what the Palestinian people need most of all now is information about the health of Yasser Arafat. Is he capable of recovering? Is he incapacitated? Is there a constitutional issue for the Palestinians to resolve, namely, succession, whether or not the speaker of the parliament should assume temporary authority in order to bring about a succession process. All of that is very much in balance now, along with Ariel Sharon's proposal about the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza.

BLITZER: What kind of posture should the U.S. government be taking at this delicate, sensitive moment?

COHEN: I think the posture the U.S. should take is to back off, hands off this process. Let the Palestinian people decide this for themselves. They can see that they have an opportunity here. There's a window of opportunity for new leadership to take the reigns of power as such, to then start responding in a positive way to this step by Ariel Sharon to see whether or not he's serious about having a multistep process whereby there will legitimately be a two-state solution, and that the removal from Gaza is only the first step, with more to come from the West Bank, a cessation of settlements, all of this is in balance, and that's why it's important that the Palestinian people, not the Americans, not the Europeans, but the Palestinian people have this opportunity.

BLITZER: What do you make of this public spat, this rift between Suha Arafat and the Palestinian Authority leadership?

COHEN: Well, I don't believe that she was elected or chosen by the Palestinian people, and it seems to me that even though she is the closest relative, obviously, she should give -- yield to the needs and the role of the Palestinian people. They are the ones whose future is very much at stake here.

If Yasser Arafat can recover, that is one issue. If he is inoperable and simply being held on by heroic means or special means, life support, then I think the people of -- the Palestinian people have an opportunity and a need to find out about that.

BLITZER: You've heard the stories over the years. It's not just political power she may be after, it's millions, tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions of dollars that may have been squirrelled away in Swiss bank accounts or whatever. Do you believe all of those stories?

COHEN: I have no idea and wouldn't want to prejudge it. All I know is that I believe the Palestinian people need to have some sense of order, an orderly transition that if there is a power vacuum and there's no such orderly transition, you'll see a good deal of chaos, confusion, and a lost opportunity to take advantage to see whether or not the Israeli proposal is real or simply a subterfuge to deny them their statehood opportunity.

BLITZER: It's clear the Israeli government of Prime Minister Sharon had no desire, no willingness to work ever again with Yasser Arafat, but they clearly are willing to work with Mahmoud Abbas and Ahmed Qorei, these other dealers with whom they've dealt over many, many years. What kind of opportunity, what kind of posture should the Israelis take, with the sense that if they go too -- if they embrace them too much, it's the kiss of death?

COHEN: It's the same issue that the United States is confronted with, to the extent that we are seeing as somehow pushing one candidate over another or trying to manipulate this process in any way, I think it will backfire. The same is true for the Israelis. They've made it very clear that there are two individuals that they can work with. Whether or not the Palestinian people see this as a legitimate opportunity to seize the future will remain up to them.

BLITZER: William Cohen, thanks very much.

COHEN: A pleasure.

BLITZER: A surprising development in the Scott Peterson trial, a development that has occurred only in the past couple hours, raising this question, will there be a hung jury?

And more on the battle for Falluja. What kind of tactics may the insurgents be using?

And new violence in the Ivory Coast after an American is killed over the weekend. We'll tell you what's going on. And guess what? It's not pretty.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: After half a week of deliberations in the Scott Peterson trial, there are signs of discord in the jury room. Is a hung jury a possibility? CNN's Ted Rowlands is standing by in Redwood City, California with the latest. Ted, what do we know is happening?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, at this point all we know is that something happened in the jury room, and a message was given to the judge in some form, and the judge responded by bringing the entire jury in here late this morning, and he re-read some of the instructions that he had already read to them before they started the deliberation process.

Specifically, he read to them that it is under -- it is their obligation to deliberate in a manner, using conduct that has been prescribed to them. They have to be civil with each other. They have to look at other people's points of view. They cannot take one side or the other. And they have to decide the evidence by fact, through factual evidence. After the jury left, the judge then addressed both sides -- Scott Peterson was in the courtroom as well -- and said, if we have to, again, if the jury comes back to us again, I am going to read, basically, what is called a dynamite instruction. And that is, here in California, it is more against the people. And that is an instruction to the jury which gives them tips on how to deliberate, take each other's point of view, switch sides and argue it to each other, switch forepersons. Basically, what is happening here is there is a problem with the deliberation process. We don't know if it's one juror or more jurors or how severe it is, but the judge did decide to take this action today.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, the jury came out and viewed Scott Peterson's boat. And there was a potential problem with the way in which they viewed it. A couple of the jurors actually got into the boat, and, according to both sides, one juror got in the boat and started rocking it back and forth. The boat, of course, not in the water. It was on a trailer in a parking garage. After that demonstration, Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos, asked that he bring in his own video demonstration, which he did in the water, a couple of his legal assistants fell into the water.

The judge denied that request. Geragos asked for a mistrial. He denied that as well. He told the jury, the judge did, to get back and do their best and continue their deliberation process -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Ted Rowlands has been watching this trial for us from the beginning. Thank you, Ted, very much.

Is a hung jury a real possibility in the Scott Peterson trial? And if there is a hung jury, what happens then? Joining us now is Robert Talbot, the law professor at the University of San Francisco.

Professor, thanks very much for joining us. What exactly is the difference between a mistrial and a hung jury?

ROBERT TALBOT, UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO: Well, a hung jury is one of the ways that you can get a mistrial. There are other ways, for instance, if the jurors did something improperly, or some evidence was brought in that shouldn't have been in there, or the lawyers made some comments that they shouldn't have made. But a hung jury is just one of the ways to get a mistrial.

BLITZER: Right, right, I know it's still premature to even suggest that there could be a mistrial or a hung jury, because the judge is clearly going to want them to sit there for a lot longer before they come out. But this dynamite instruction that we heard Ted just talking about, what exactly can you tell us about those kinds of instructions that a judge may be forced to give?

TALBOT: Well, those instructions are geared to put a lot of pressure on the jury to come to a verdict. It's essentially telling the jury, it's your job, you have to do it. Here's some ways to get at it. But it's like I really want you to try and come to a verdict in this case, and I'm going to keep you in there for quite a while. BLITZER: The fact that the judge gave these additional instructions today, what does that say to you? That there were already indications coming out to him that they were at a problem point?

TALBOT: It looks like that. And this is the kind of case that you would anticipate something like that to be. There's powerful evidence for the prosecution that he did it, the body -- where the body was found, where his alibi is, all of his suspicious behavior. Yet the prosecution was never able to bring how, when, where, or why the killing took place. So there's a lot of potential for jurors having a different opinion as to whether or not it's been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

BLITZER: There is a lot of speculation on one juror. He's being called the super-juror. He took like 12 notebooks and he's got all these notes. He's a lawyer, he's a doctor, and he's clearly in charge of that jury. In effect, he's leading everyone. Is that usually a sign that someone like that is good for the defense or good for the prosecution?

TALBOT: You can't tell at this point if it's good for the defense or the prosecution. No one ever really wants one juror who's going to dominate everything.

That leaves you with a situation as a trial lawyer that if that juror decides against you, it's not going to happen. So, if he's for the defense, it's a good sign for the defense. If he's a prosecution, it's a good sign for the prosecution.

BLITZER: This trial's been going on for five months. It took a year to get to trial. If there is a hung jury and they can't reach a decision one way or another, I assume the pressure is on the prosecution to start from scratch, to start all over again, would be enormous.

TALBOT: There is going to be a lot of pressure on the prosecution.

The public, by and large, feels that Scott Peterson did it, and for the prosecution just to drop the case right now would be very, very bad public relations for the prosecution and a lot of bad feelings.

BLITZER: If they have to go through another five months starting from scratch, that...

TALBOT: It probably won't be another five months. It will probably be a little faster the second time.

BLITZER: But there would be a whole new jury that would come in and they would have to hear the evidence starting from the beginning.

TALBOT: A whole new jury, but the prosecution could streamline their evidence a lot. There was a lot of criticism of the prosecution at the beginning for taking three hours what might have been done in 30 minutes and things like that.

BLITZER: All right, Professor Robert Talbot of San Francisco Law School, thanks very much.

TALBOT: Thank you.

BLITZER: Outnumbered and outgunned in Falluja. Coming up, the bold and the likely deadly strategy of the insurgents holed up in the key Iraqi city.

Also, chaos in Ivory Coast leaving one U.S. aid worker dead. Will the deadly violence spread?

And the bombing of a Muslim school in the Netherlands, was it an act of revenge?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Just looking at the numbers, it appears the insurgents holed up in Falluja are heavily outnumbered and outgunned, but they've had months to prepare for this battle.

CNN's Brian Todd joining us with a look at their possible strategy -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's now looking like the game in Falluja won't depend on how much force each side has, but rather on how they use it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): The numbers going into Falluja clearly favor U.S. and Iraqi forces. The numbers coming out may be a different story.

With the battle playing out street by street, experts with close ties to the U.S. military tell CNN the insurgents have a clear, simple strategy, and it's not to win.

KEN ROBINSON, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The insurgent objective with Falluja, in particular, seems to be to draw the United States into a very bloody, costly fight.

TODD: With resistance fighters knowing full well they can't win militarily, experts say they're trying to inflict political pain.

KENNETH POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: In the assumption that if they kill enough Americans, the Americans will leave Iraq, maybe even stop the assault on Falluja itself, if they kill as many.

TODD: The insurgents have had about seven months since the last major U.S. ground attack on Falluja to carve out strongholds, map out passageways and escape routes, and lay traps that U.S. and Iraqi forces have already encountered this time.

ROBINSON: They have bombed bridges. They have booby-trapped buildings. They've established sniper positions. The fear is that they will use mosques.

TODD: Then the information battle can be waged. Images of gunfights around mosques can play on Middle Eastern networks, stirring the Arab population against the U.S./Iraqi coalition.

At some point, many resistance fighters may just melt away to emerge in another city to fight again. Experts say some of the most important, hard-core insurgents, including the notorious Abu Musab al- Zarqawi, may well have already left Falluja. Who's inside the city now?

POLLACK: As best U.S. intelligence can tell, there is a grab bag of different groups inside of Falluja, former members of Saddam's regime, foreign Salafi jihadists, Sunni fundamentalists, a homegrown variety, Sunni tribesmen who also oppose the American occupation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Now, experts say, the key for U.S.-led forces is to drive a wedge between these different groups of insurgents, somehow force the native Iraqis among them to get tired of fighting and just fade away. The foreign jihadists, they say, will have to be taken out with brute force -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Brian Todd reporting -- thank you, Brian.

Joining us now with his take on U.S. military strategy in this battle of Falluja, Marine Colonel Thomas Hammes. He's the author of the new book "The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century."

Thank you very much, Colonel, for joining us.

COL. THOMAS HAMMES, U.S. MARINES CORPS: My pleasure.

BLITZER: Did you accept the strategy that the insurgents may have as we just heard in Brian Todd's piece to try to inflict as many casualties on America as possible in order to convince the United States to leave?

HAMMES: I think that's a very accurate analysis of insurgent strategy.

Insurgents, their political struggle, there goal is to break the political will of American decision-makers so that we quit and go home.

BLITZER: Because do you think they still believe that, after Somalia, the U.S. left, or Vietnam, that this is the American mentality, if you take a hit, you leave?

HAMMES: Not just the American mentality. Remember, insurgents are 5-against superpowers, Vietnam, Beirut, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Chechnya against the Soviet Union. They're 5-0. And they say that if they can just hang in long enough, they can break the will of a superpower.

BLITZER: So what should the U.S. military strategy be?

HAMMES: The counterinsurgent strategy is out-governance. We have to not just move in.

The important battle is not the battle we're seeing on the streets of Falluja. It's what's going on now in Samarra. We move through Samarra, we're now establishing government. If that government is successful and we can duplicate that in Falluja and Ramadi, then what you've done is, created a zone of government where the Iraqis are free to choose. And I would suspect they'll choose a prosperous state, as opposed to an insurgent state.

BLITZER: Well, it seems to be critical in this battle against the insurgents is how the Iraqi allies fight, if, in fact, they fight. Do they show up or do they disappear? That would be critical in achieving the U.S. military goals.

HAMMES: That is critical.

And I think there have been some speculation that some of them disappeared. Keep in mind that some of these guys weren't in the army three months ago. That's a tremendous challenge, to form in a boot camp company and then be ready to go in an urban insurgency in three months. Even in the oldest units in this army are only about a year old. So I think they're doing pretty well.

The fact that some of them are staying and some of them are fighting and fighting well -- they apparently cleared the hospital last night. They're doing fairly well in Samarra. For instance, the attack yesterday that killed 17, they were back at work today. I think that speaks well for them.

BLITZER: That's encouraging.

But let's talk a little bit about the one fear, a great fear, that I suspect everyone has, friendly fire. You have Marines going in. You have U.S. Army soldiers going in. You have Iraqi troops going in, airpower, artillery. There is a potential in a relatively small urban area like this for enormous friendly-fire casualties.

HAMMES: There's always a potential for that.

What we forget is, we total up our friendly-fire casualties, but we can't say how many we prevented by using those combined arms. So it's a constant concern. We're getting better at it, blue force tracking and some of the training evolutions. Obviously, we're getting more joint and better at this. The Iraqis will add an interesting element as we try to figure out how to work through with them.

BLITZER: Colonel Hammes, thanks very much.

HAMMES: Thank you, sir.

BLITZER: To our viewers, here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our Web question of the day is: Will U.S. and Iraqi forces be successful in driving insurgents out of Falluja? You can vote right now. Go to CNN.com/Wolf. We'll have the results a little bit later in this broadcast.

After a bloody weekend, tensions remain high on the Ivory Coast, with one U.S. aid worker already dead. Can the fighting be controlled?

And coming up, the latest on the violence in the Ivory Coast, what France is doing right now to try to stop attacks on French nationals there. It's getting very bloody.

Plus, this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JAMES MCGREEVEY (D), NEW JERSEY: I am not apologizing for being a gay American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A farewell in New Jersey. A week before he leaves office, Governor Jim McGreevey gathers his staff together to say goodbye.

And meet a woman who's about to near -- near the record books in the delivery room -- get near, that is. Those stories still to come. You're going to be amazed when you see this one. All that coming up.

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): A bomb exploded at a Muslim elementary school in the Netherlands, damaging the building, but causing no injuries. Police say they suspect the attack was in retaliation for the killing of a Dutch filmmaker, Theo van Gogh, last week. His recent film, "Submission," is critical of how women are treated under Islam.

Bin Laden's driver. A U.S. court has stopped a pretrial hearing in the case of the driver of Osama bin Laden. The judge ruled in favor of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who's charged with conspiracy, but maintains he was not a member of Osama bin Laden's terror network. The judge says the hearing can't resume until the rules of the U.S. military commission trying Hamdan conform to military codes of justice.

Man of peace. The singer formerly known as Cat Stevens will receive the annual Man of Peace Award from the Gorbachev Foundation Wednesday. Two months ago, Yusuf Islam, was denied entry to the United States because his name was on a watch list of possible terrorists.

And that's our last around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Protesters were back in the streets today in an African hot spot, Ivory Coast.

Over the weekend, nine French peacekeepers and an American aid worker were killed as the government of Ivory Coast launched new attacks in rebel-controlled area. And now France is stepping up its efforts to stop the violence in its former colony.

CNN's Tony Campion reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TONY CAMPION, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ivorian TV reports of tension and violence in the country's capital, Yamoussoukro, and economic capital, Abidjan. An eruption of feeling against white people, French in particular, has left an unknown number of rioters dead, many others injured. The country's president made a nationwide appeal for calm.

LAURENT GBAGBO, IVORY COAST PRESIDENT (through translator): I express the regret of Ivory Coast for events which got out of control. And I express my compassion and condolences to the families of the Ivorian French and American victims, and I'm asking all of the demonstrators to go back home.

CAMPION: The chaos began on Saturday when Ivory Coast warplanes launched a surprise attack on the rebel-held north of their country, killing nine French peacekeepers and a U.S. aid worker. Within hours, the French military had retaliated, deploying troops on Abidjan streets and destroying two Ivorian warplanes and two helicopters at Yamoussoukro, hugely reducing Ivory Coast's air capability.

As word of the French action spread across the government- controlled south, machete-wielding mobs went looking for French nationals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I have been living in the Ivory Coast for eight years. They attacked me in my car. They destroyed it completely.

CAMPION: Journalists in Abidjan report aggression continuing through Monday.

CARRIE GIARDINO, JOURNALIST: It's anarchy at the moment, as you can hear people banging on the car windows. Everyone wants to speak. And it's really hard to see what the resolution to this is going to be right now.

CAMPION: Europeans in the capital are now hiding on roofs of apartment buildings, some airlifted to the safety of this U.S. compound by French helicopter.

JACQUES CHIRAC, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): I would like to state my most sincere condolences to the families of the dead and injured. I wish to reassure our compatriots in the Ivory Coast that we will do everything possible to ensure their safety.

CAMPION: As France repatriates its dead soldiers, it says there are no plans to evacuate the living, some 15,000 French nationals in Ivory Coast. For Ivorians themselves, this means a break in the 2003 cease-fire agreement between rebels in the north and government in the south. There's looting in the streets and the prospect of United Nations action against their government, blamed by the Security Council for the descent from law and order.

Tony Campion, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Three months ago, he pulled a political shocker. Today, he's saying goodbye.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCGREEVEY: I am sorry that my actions have hurt those I love in my personal and political lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Coming up, New Jersey's governor has something to say, as he gets ready to leave office. We'll get to that.

First, though, a look at some stories you may have missed this past weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Authorities in Britain say Saturday's deadly high-speed train crash may have been caused by a car driver trying to commit suicide. The express train with 300 people on board slammed into a car and derailed at a crossing west of London. Seven people were killed, and dozens of others were injured.

Geologists are keeping a close watch on Mount Saint Helens. They announced Saturday that a new lava dome that formed inside the Washington state volcano's crater is growing. It now extends upward by more than 300 feet. Mount Saint Helens has been rumbling and spewing steam for weeks.

Actor Howard Keel died yesterday at his home in Palm Springs, California. The actor was known for his work on Broadway in "Annie Get Your Gun," "Showboat," "Kiss Me Kate," and "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers." He also spent 10 years in a role on the TV series "Dallas." Keel was diagnosed with colon cancer about six weeks ago. He was 85.

And that's our weekend snapshot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The New Jersey governor, Jim McGreevey, bid farewell today to his staff, one week before he officially leaves office.

At a ceremony in Trenton, McGreevey touted some of his accomplishments as governor, including reforming the state's child welfare agency and stronger environmental protections. McGreevey's farewell comes three months after he announced he was gay and had had an affair with another man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCGREEVEY: Thank you very much.

I have to begin today with humility, by simply saying I am sorry. So, so sorry that mistakes in my judgment made this day necessary for us all. I am sorry that my actions have hurt those I love in my personal and political lives. I am sorry that my actions have hurt those I love in their personal and political lives. I am sorry to those that invested their careers with me that this abrupt transition has caused them upheaval, and I am sorry that I have disappointed the citizens of the State of New Jersey who gave me this enormous trust.

To be clear, I am not apologizing for being a gay American, but rather, for having let personal feelings impact my decision-making, and for not have having had the courage to be open about whom I was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The Democratic state Senate president, Richard Codey, will serve the remainder of McGreevey's term, which ends in 2006.

Nearing the record books. Coming up, an older woman's expected twin feat, why it's so unusual. That's our picture of the day. You'll want to see this.

And our Web question of the day is this: Will U.S. and Iraqi forces be successful in driving insurgents out of Falluja? You can still vote. Go to CNN.com/Wolf. We'll have the results when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. We've been asking you this question: Will U.S. and Iraqi forces be successful in driving insurgents out of Falluja? Sixty-one percent of you say yes; 39 percent of you say no. Remember, though, this is not a scientific poll.

Our picture of the day comes under the heading, it's never too late, literally. This New York woman -- take a look -- is pregnant with twins after in vitro fertilization. Aleta St. James plans to give birth by Caesarean section tomorrow, three days before her 57 birthday. Yes, she will be 57 years old. She apparently will become the second oldest American woman to give birth to twins. Perhaps not surprisingly, St. James is a motivational speaker. A lot of motivation right there.

This programming note. Tomorrow on this program, two people seemingly with nothing in common in the world, except they both survived a genocide, one in World War II during the Holocaust, the other in Rwanda in the '90s. You'll see how both have taken tragedy and turned it into a powerful message.

"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 November 8, 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, a sign that could rock the Scott Peterson trial. Could the judge, Scott and Laci's family soon be facing a hung jury?
And a developing story, a massive battle in Iraq, as U.S. forces engage in urban combat. Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Phantom fury. An all-out offensive under way in Falluja.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Parts of Falluja are now on fire. A red glow lighting up the sky. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) fire is being traded across parts of the city.

BLITZER: We'll take you to the front lines.

State of emergency, where will the insurgents strike back?

Fighting over Arafat. Is it for money or power?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I ask you to understand the scope of this conspiracy. I tell you, they are trying to bury Abu Amar alive.

Mrs. Arafat sparks a controversy.

Stepping down and speaking out, New Jersey's governor says he's sorry, but...

GOV. JAMES MCGREEVEY (D), NEW JERSEY: I am not apologizing for being a gay American.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Monday, November 8, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: It's been building for weeks now. In a smaller version of shock and awe, thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops are blasting their way into the insurgent stronghold of Falluja. We'll go direct to the battlefield for this developing story, but we begin with our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre. He's joining us live -- Jamie. JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it was preceded by airstrikes, engagements, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and probing actions, but now it's all for real.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go, go!

MCINTYRE (voice-over): When the long threatened offensive finally kicked off, U.S. troops were pumped.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to smack the crap out of them. That will be nice.

MCINTYRE: With 10,000 U.S. marines and soldiers and more than 2,000 Iraqi troops moving on Falluja, the Pentagon is confident the estimated 3,000 insurgents can be routed. But Pentagon officials are downplaying any suggestion the battle for Falluja is a final showdown with the insurgents.

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I wouldn't think of it that way. And I think it would be a mistake for anyone -- listen, these folks are determined. These are killers. They chop people's heads off.

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: If there were a silver bullet, we would have shot that a long time ago. There is not a silver bullet. This is very challenging work.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: The U.S. is highlighting the role of Iraqi forces in helping to retake the city, even dropping the use of its name Phantom Fury, in favor of one picked by Iraq's interim prime minister, Operation The Dawn. While Iraqi commandos seized the main hospital there was little resistance there and they were taken there by U.S. marines who secured the security perimeter. It's still a big question mark about how well those troops will perform now that the nitty gritty of urban combat is under way -- Wolf.

BLITZER: This is a sensitive question, Jamie. Who's giving the final battle plans, the final orders? The government of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi or the U.S. military?

MCINTYRE: Well, the U.S. will tell you that it was the final decision of the Prime Minister Allawi, but clearly it was done in close consultation, as Secretary Rumsfeld here said today about that. It was something in which it was discussed and there was no debate about starting it or finishing.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Thank you very much. Let's go live to the front lines of this battle. CNN's Jane Arraf is embedded with U.S. army troops. She's joining us on the phone with the latest on what's happening right now. What's happening, Jane?

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, what's happening is continued airstrikes, continued artillery, and continued pounding of insurgent positions. We're in the northeastern sector of the city, a city completely dark. All the electricity has been cut. The only sound that's heard, apart from the explosions is a mosque that oddly enough is continuing to be able to broadcast, "god is great." Now, what we've had here are army troops going in to clear the way with their heavy armor, or marines and other forces. They have advanced into the city. And what they found is something that they had expected and feared, which is a line of booby traps, barricades, virtual streets rigged to explode as they approach. They've been firing into those improvised explosive devices, the homemade bombs with tanks, setting off huge explosions. They've also blown up part of the railroad track, army troops, to be able to proceed further. This battle is expected to continue for quite a while -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Quite a while, I know it's impossible to determine how many days or weeks, perhaps, this battle will continue, but this is only one side of a major assault against the insurgents. There are other pockets of resistance elsewhere in the country right now that eventually the U.S. and its Iraqi allies are going to have to work on. Jane, you've been there a long time. Tell us what you know about the other fronts.

ARRAF: You're absolutely right. There are other fronts, but what U.S. officials keep telling us and what Iraqi officials reiterate -- sorry, Wolf. Wolf, I don't know if you can hear me over this but we're -- as you can hear, this is clearly a military operation. What they keep reiterating is that they believe Falluja is a command and control center. That when you get homemade bombs of increasing sophistication in places like Samarra and other cities, they have come from bomb-makers in Falluja. I don't know if you can hear that in front of me, Wolf, but a huge volley of fire. This is a sector of the city that has been essentially deserted of civilians, a lot of the rest of the city isn't. There are quite a few civilians still left in the city. But the insurgency here, officials believe, if they crack down on it, if they eliminate it, that will go a long way to getting rid of the insurgency in other parts of the country -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jane, do they believe Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the known terrorist may be hiding somewhere in Falluja?

ARRAF: They do not. There has been very little credible evidence that he -- that they have been able to track him here, in fact. They have said that they have tracked some of his top lieutenants. They've been able to kill some of them, but as far as Zarqawi himself, they don't know where he is. And even if they did know, even if he were captured, although he is a very powerful symbol and a unifying force for a disparate number of groups, it wouldn't necessarily end the insurgency. This is a multifaceted problem. This is a huge, complicated problem that they are dealing with, and it is not just Abu Musab al-Zarqawi -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jane Arraf, a courageous journalist, embedded with the U.S. army in Falluja right now. Jane, be careful. Thanks very much.

CNN's Karl Penhaul, another courageous journalist is embedded with the U.S. marines moving into Falluja right now. They've been moving in over the past several hours. He reported to us what was going on in a telephone conversation just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The sky over Falluja seems to explode as U.S. marines launched their much trumpeted ground assault. Warplanes dropped plastic bombs on insurgent positions and artillery battery (UNINTELLIGIBLE) ground to conceal the marine advance. Trace of fire and the rattle of machine guns crisscross the cityscape as insurgents fight back. Above the raging battle cries of "Allahu akbar!" God is great stretch miles out into desert, and Muslim clerics chant from mosque loudspeakers. Many of the several thousand insurgents believe they're fighting a holy war against U.S. forces.

Each second explosions rock Falluja impossible at times to tell whether these are U.S. bombs or insurgent booby traps. The first ferocious hour and a half onslaught is followed by sporadic lulls while parts of the northeast are on fire. Earlier in the day fighting flared in Falluja's western outskirts. U.S. marines and Iraqi commandos seized control of the city. U.S. marines and Iraqi commandos seized control of the city hospital and of two bridges over the Euphrates River. The insurgents rallied and fought a five-hour street battle.

In the desert just north of Falluja a few hours before the nighttime assault began, marine infantrymen dug trenches, to protect against insurgent mortar attacks and as they waited, they thought about the unknown.

The fight for Falluja now under way could take several days, and the threat of insurgent booby traps or suicide attacks will never be far away. Karl Penhaul, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: While most of the troops involved in the Falluja offensive are American, the interim Iraqi government is trying to maintain a high profile. CNN senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson has that from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kicking down doors and going in hard, some of the first images that the battle for Falluja show Iraqi troops front and center of the offensive. Their role in securing a hospital on the outskirts of Falluja receiving prominence in the early coverage despite the fact U.S. troops secured the area around the hospital first, and brought in the Iraqi troops. Later in the day, barely hours before the main battle for Falluja began, Iraq's interim prime minister traveled to Falluja to meet with his frontlines commanders, not just bolstering Iraqi troop morale, but reinforcing for Iraqis wary of the U.S. role in the Falluja offensive that Iraqi troops are heavily involved in the fight.

AYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: We are going to liberate the Falluja people from the atrocities of the terrorists, and we are going to do operations widely along the whole country, wherever they are operating.

ROBERTSON: Earlier, Allawi announced implementation of new security measures under the recently declared state of emergency. A curfew for Falluja, the closure of the nearby highway, and the closure of Baghdad's international airport.

ALLAWI: We are closing the Iraqi borders with Syria and Jordan, except for the trucks carrying food and necessary goods. This measure aims at preventing the fellows from crossing the borders.

ROBERTSON: In Baghdad as the offensive was preparing in Falluja, more than half a dozen loud explosions could be heard across the city. This one, apparently targeting a Catholic church. Against this backdrop of widespread violence, Allawi is keen to assert Iraqis lead the way in resolving that country's problems.

ALLAWI: I have given my authority to the Iraqi forces to spearhead. The multinational forces would help.

ROBERTSON: When the main battle got under way, it was U.S. firepower that was most visible. Reality is, in the Falluja offensive, there are about 10,000 U.S. troops, outnumbering the Iraqi soldiers 5-1. But in an indication that the Iraqis want to define this battle, they have named it Operation Dawn, not taking the Pentagon title Operation Phantom Fury. Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Later this hour, we'll have much more on the battle for Falluja.

Palestinian officials rushing to Paris to check on Yasser Arafat. Why Arafat's wife is so angry about that.

Also ahead...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCGREEVEY: I begin today with humility, by simply saying, I'm sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey out of the closet and now almost out of office.

And a surprising development in the murder trial of Scott Peterson. All that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Four top Palestinian officials have just arrived in Paris, hoping to find out more about the fate of their critically ill leader, Yasser Arafat. But standing in the way Is Arafat's wife Suha, who rocked the Palestinian world today with an emotional statement accusing Arafat's aides of plotting to take over. At stake, political power. Also at stake, a great deal of money. CNN's Jim Bittermann reports from Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are trying to bury Abu Amar alive.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Suha Arafat's outburst accusing top Palestinian leaders of trying to shove her husband aside isn't the first time she has angrily confronted the cause he worked for and she's no stranger to controversy. The woman now standing guard at Yasser Arafat's bedside, controlling access and information has been the subject of envy and investigation. For the past four years while her husband was under a virtual house arrest in the rubble of his compound in Ramallah, 41-year-old Suha Arafat has lived in the comfortable surroundings of Paris, where her financial dealings have occasionally drawn the interest of French investigators and for years her extravagant lifestyle has drawn the ire and jealousy of Palestinians on the street, who complain that her lavish exile is being paid for by money that rightfully belongs to the Palestinian people.

BARIA ALAMUDDIN, "AL-HAYAT" NEWSPAPER: She did say, yes, I have received this money, but as you know, and I have interviewed her before on that, she takes care of a lot of things for Yasser Arafat, for also the refugees abroad.

BITTERMANN: As well, Mrs. Arafat, who once was the Palestinian leader's secretary argues that because she represents the Palestinian people, she deserves the income she receives, rumored to be around $100,000 a month. The Arafats have one daughter, now nine years old, and have rarely been together in recent years. From the beginning of her marriage, Suha Arafat shunned life on the West Bank, even though she was herself raised there by a mother deeply involved in the Palestinian cause. Now Palestinian leaders say Suha Arafat's outbursts seems like meddling in Palestinian affairs.

I can understand, this is her husband, but he's much more than Suha's husband. He's a national figure, he is a head of the state, he is the father of the Palestinian people, and national movement.

BITTERMANN: For more than a week now, Suha Arafat as the Palestinian president's closest relative has had the right to keep a tough lid on information coming from his hospital room as rumors have spread in all directions. Now though the Palestinian leadership says the situation has become intolerable and that they must know once and for all whether or not Arafat will recover. Jim Bittermann, CNN, outside Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The Palestinian delegation that has just arrived in Paris includes Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei, the former prime minister Mahmoud Abbas who is now the acting head of the PLO, the foreign minister Nabil Sha'ath and the parliament speaker Rawhi Fattuh (ph) who would replace Arafat on a 60-day interim basis if Arafat dies or cannot continue. But Suha Arafat is said to favor her husband's old comrade-in-arms Faruk Kadoumi (ph).

Joining us now to discuss all of this and the implications for the United States our foreign affairs analyst, the former defense secretary William Cohen. First of all, lots at stake for the United States right now. What jumps out of your mind?

WILLIAM COHEN, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS ANALYST: What jumps out is the need for information. We live in an information society and world, and what the Palestinian people need most of all now is information about the health of Yasser Arafat. Is he capable of recovering? Is he incapacitated? Is there a constitutional issue for the Palestinians to resolve, namely, succession, whether or not the speaker of the parliament should assume temporary authority in order to bring about a succession process. All of that is very much in balance now, along with Ariel Sharon's proposal about the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza.

BLITZER: What kind of posture should the U.S. government be taking at this delicate, sensitive moment?

COHEN: I think the posture the U.S. should take is to back off, hands off this process. Let the Palestinian people decide this for themselves. They can see that they have an opportunity here. There's a window of opportunity for new leadership to take the reigns of power as such, to then start responding in a positive way to this step by Ariel Sharon to see whether or not he's serious about having a multistep process whereby there will legitimately be a two-state solution, and that the removal from Gaza is only the first step, with more to come from the West Bank, a cessation of settlements, all of this is in balance, and that's why it's important that the Palestinian people, not the Americans, not the Europeans, but the Palestinian people have this opportunity.

BLITZER: What do you make of this public spat, this rift between Suha Arafat and the Palestinian Authority leadership?

COHEN: Well, I don't believe that she was elected or chosen by the Palestinian people, and it seems to me that even though she is the closest relative, obviously, she should give -- yield to the needs and the role of the Palestinian people. They are the ones whose future is very much at stake here.

If Yasser Arafat can recover, that is one issue. If he is inoperable and simply being held on by heroic means or special means, life support, then I think the people of -- the Palestinian people have an opportunity and a need to find out about that.

BLITZER: You've heard the stories over the years. It's not just political power she may be after, it's millions, tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions of dollars that may have been squirrelled away in Swiss bank accounts or whatever. Do you believe all of those stories?

COHEN: I have no idea and wouldn't want to prejudge it. All I know is that I believe the Palestinian people need to have some sense of order, an orderly transition that if there is a power vacuum and there's no such orderly transition, you'll see a good deal of chaos, confusion, and a lost opportunity to take advantage to see whether or not the Israeli proposal is real or simply a subterfuge to deny them their statehood opportunity.

BLITZER: It's clear the Israeli government of Prime Minister Sharon had no desire, no willingness to work ever again with Yasser Arafat, but they clearly are willing to work with Mahmoud Abbas and Ahmed Qorei, these other dealers with whom they've dealt over many, many years. What kind of opportunity, what kind of posture should the Israelis take, with the sense that if they go too -- if they embrace them too much, it's the kiss of death?

COHEN: It's the same issue that the United States is confronted with, to the extent that we are seeing as somehow pushing one candidate over another or trying to manipulate this process in any way, I think it will backfire. The same is true for the Israelis. They've made it very clear that there are two individuals that they can work with. Whether or not the Palestinian people see this as a legitimate opportunity to seize the future will remain up to them.

BLITZER: William Cohen, thanks very much.

COHEN: A pleasure.

BLITZER: A surprising development in the Scott Peterson trial, a development that has occurred only in the past couple hours, raising this question, will there be a hung jury?

And more on the battle for Falluja. What kind of tactics may the insurgents be using?

And new violence in the Ivory Coast after an American is killed over the weekend. We'll tell you what's going on. And guess what? It's not pretty.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: After half a week of deliberations in the Scott Peterson trial, there are signs of discord in the jury room. Is a hung jury a possibility? CNN's Ted Rowlands is standing by in Redwood City, California with the latest. Ted, what do we know is happening?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, at this point all we know is that something happened in the jury room, and a message was given to the judge in some form, and the judge responded by bringing the entire jury in here late this morning, and he re-read some of the instructions that he had already read to them before they started the deliberation process.

Specifically, he read to them that it is under -- it is their obligation to deliberate in a manner, using conduct that has been prescribed to them. They have to be civil with each other. They have to look at other people's points of view. They cannot take one side or the other. And they have to decide the evidence by fact, through factual evidence. After the jury left, the judge then addressed both sides -- Scott Peterson was in the courtroom as well -- and said, if we have to, again, if the jury comes back to us again, I am going to read, basically, what is called a dynamite instruction. And that is, here in California, it is more against the people. And that is an instruction to the jury which gives them tips on how to deliberate, take each other's point of view, switch sides and argue it to each other, switch forepersons. Basically, what is happening here is there is a problem with the deliberation process. We don't know if it's one juror or more jurors or how severe it is, but the judge did decide to take this action today.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, the jury came out and viewed Scott Peterson's boat. And there was a potential problem with the way in which they viewed it. A couple of the jurors actually got into the boat, and, according to both sides, one juror got in the boat and started rocking it back and forth. The boat, of course, not in the water. It was on a trailer in a parking garage. After that demonstration, Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos, asked that he bring in his own video demonstration, which he did in the water, a couple of his legal assistants fell into the water.

The judge denied that request. Geragos asked for a mistrial. He denied that as well. He told the jury, the judge did, to get back and do their best and continue their deliberation process -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Ted Rowlands has been watching this trial for us from the beginning. Thank you, Ted, very much.

Is a hung jury a real possibility in the Scott Peterson trial? And if there is a hung jury, what happens then? Joining us now is Robert Talbot, the law professor at the University of San Francisco.

Professor, thanks very much for joining us. What exactly is the difference between a mistrial and a hung jury?

ROBERT TALBOT, UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO: Well, a hung jury is one of the ways that you can get a mistrial. There are other ways, for instance, if the jurors did something improperly, or some evidence was brought in that shouldn't have been in there, or the lawyers made some comments that they shouldn't have made. But a hung jury is just one of the ways to get a mistrial.

BLITZER: Right, right, I know it's still premature to even suggest that there could be a mistrial or a hung jury, because the judge is clearly going to want them to sit there for a lot longer before they come out. But this dynamite instruction that we heard Ted just talking about, what exactly can you tell us about those kinds of instructions that a judge may be forced to give?

TALBOT: Well, those instructions are geared to put a lot of pressure on the jury to come to a verdict. It's essentially telling the jury, it's your job, you have to do it. Here's some ways to get at it. But it's like I really want you to try and come to a verdict in this case, and I'm going to keep you in there for quite a while. BLITZER: The fact that the judge gave these additional instructions today, what does that say to you? That there were already indications coming out to him that they were at a problem point?

TALBOT: It looks like that. And this is the kind of case that you would anticipate something like that to be. There's powerful evidence for the prosecution that he did it, the body -- where the body was found, where his alibi is, all of his suspicious behavior. Yet the prosecution was never able to bring how, when, where, or why the killing took place. So there's a lot of potential for jurors having a different opinion as to whether or not it's been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

BLITZER: There is a lot of speculation on one juror. He's being called the super-juror. He took like 12 notebooks and he's got all these notes. He's a lawyer, he's a doctor, and he's clearly in charge of that jury. In effect, he's leading everyone. Is that usually a sign that someone like that is good for the defense or good for the prosecution?

TALBOT: You can't tell at this point if it's good for the defense or the prosecution. No one ever really wants one juror who's going to dominate everything.

That leaves you with a situation as a trial lawyer that if that juror decides against you, it's not going to happen. So, if he's for the defense, it's a good sign for the defense. If he's a prosecution, it's a good sign for the prosecution.

BLITZER: This trial's been going on for five months. It took a year to get to trial. If there is a hung jury and they can't reach a decision one way or another, I assume the pressure is on the prosecution to start from scratch, to start all over again, would be enormous.

TALBOT: There is going to be a lot of pressure on the prosecution.

The public, by and large, feels that Scott Peterson did it, and for the prosecution just to drop the case right now would be very, very bad public relations for the prosecution and a lot of bad feelings.

BLITZER: If they have to go through another five months starting from scratch, that...

TALBOT: It probably won't be another five months. It will probably be a little faster the second time.

BLITZER: But there would be a whole new jury that would come in and they would have to hear the evidence starting from the beginning.

TALBOT: A whole new jury, but the prosecution could streamline their evidence a lot. There was a lot of criticism of the prosecution at the beginning for taking three hours what might have been done in 30 minutes and things like that.

BLITZER: All right, Professor Robert Talbot of San Francisco Law School, thanks very much.

TALBOT: Thank you.

BLITZER: Outnumbered and outgunned in Falluja. Coming up, the bold and the likely deadly strategy of the insurgents holed up in the key Iraqi city.

Also, chaos in Ivory Coast leaving one U.S. aid worker dead. Will the deadly violence spread?

And the bombing of a Muslim school in the Netherlands, was it an act of revenge?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Just looking at the numbers, it appears the insurgents holed up in Falluja are heavily outnumbered and outgunned, but they've had months to prepare for this battle.

CNN's Brian Todd joining us with a look at their possible strategy -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's now looking like the game in Falluja won't depend on how much force each side has, but rather on how they use it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): The numbers going into Falluja clearly favor U.S. and Iraqi forces. The numbers coming out may be a different story.

With the battle playing out street by street, experts with close ties to the U.S. military tell CNN the insurgents have a clear, simple strategy, and it's not to win.

KEN ROBINSON, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The insurgent objective with Falluja, in particular, seems to be to draw the United States into a very bloody, costly fight.

TODD: With resistance fighters knowing full well they can't win militarily, experts say they're trying to inflict political pain.

KENNETH POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: In the assumption that if they kill enough Americans, the Americans will leave Iraq, maybe even stop the assault on Falluja itself, if they kill as many.

TODD: The insurgents have had about seven months since the last major U.S. ground attack on Falluja to carve out strongholds, map out passageways and escape routes, and lay traps that U.S. and Iraqi forces have already encountered this time.

ROBINSON: They have bombed bridges. They have booby-trapped buildings. They've established sniper positions. The fear is that they will use mosques.

TODD: Then the information battle can be waged. Images of gunfights around mosques can play on Middle Eastern networks, stirring the Arab population against the U.S./Iraqi coalition.

At some point, many resistance fighters may just melt away to emerge in another city to fight again. Experts say some of the most important, hard-core insurgents, including the notorious Abu Musab al- Zarqawi, may well have already left Falluja. Who's inside the city now?

POLLACK: As best U.S. intelligence can tell, there is a grab bag of different groups inside of Falluja, former members of Saddam's regime, foreign Salafi jihadists, Sunni fundamentalists, a homegrown variety, Sunni tribesmen who also oppose the American occupation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Now, experts say, the key for U.S.-led forces is to drive a wedge between these different groups of insurgents, somehow force the native Iraqis among them to get tired of fighting and just fade away. The foreign jihadists, they say, will have to be taken out with brute force -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Brian Todd reporting -- thank you, Brian.

Joining us now with his take on U.S. military strategy in this battle of Falluja, Marine Colonel Thomas Hammes. He's the author of the new book "The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century."

Thank you very much, Colonel, for joining us.

COL. THOMAS HAMMES, U.S. MARINES CORPS: My pleasure.

BLITZER: Did you accept the strategy that the insurgents may have as we just heard in Brian Todd's piece to try to inflict as many casualties on America as possible in order to convince the United States to leave?

HAMMES: I think that's a very accurate analysis of insurgent strategy.

Insurgents, their political struggle, there goal is to break the political will of American decision-makers so that we quit and go home.

BLITZER: Because do you think they still believe that, after Somalia, the U.S. left, or Vietnam, that this is the American mentality, if you take a hit, you leave?

HAMMES: Not just the American mentality. Remember, insurgents are 5-against superpowers, Vietnam, Beirut, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Chechnya against the Soviet Union. They're 5-0. And they say that if they can just hang in long enough, they can break the will of a superpower.

BLITZER: So what should the U.S. military strategy be?

HAMMES: The counterinsurgent strategy is out-governance. We have to not just move in.

The important battle is not the battle we're seeing on the streets of Falluja. It's what's going on now in Samarra. We move through Samarra, we're now establishing government. If that government is successful and we can duplicate that in Falluja and Ramadi, then what you've done is, created a zone of government where the Iraqis are free to choose. And I would suspect they'll choose a prosperous state, as opposed to an insurgent state.

BLITZER: Well, it seems to be critical in this battle against the insurgents is how the Iraqi allies fight, if, in fact, they fight. Do they show up or do they disappear? That would be critical in achieving the U.S. military goals.

HAMMES: That is critical.

And I think there have been some speculation that some of them disappeared. Keep in mind that some of these guys weren't in the army three months ago. That's a tremendous challenge, to form in a boot camp company and then be ready to go in an urban insurgency in three months. Even in the oldest units in this army are only about a year old. So I think they're doing pretty well.

The fact that some of them are staying and some of them are fighting and fighting well -- they apparently cleared the hospital last night. They're doing fairly well in Samarra. For instance, the attack yesterday that killed 17, they were back at work today. I think that speaks well for them.

BLITZER: That's encouraging.

But let's talk a little bit about the one fear, a great fear, that I suspect everyone has, friendly fire. You have Marines going in. You have U.S. Army soldiers going in. You have Iraqi troops going in, airpower, artillery. There is a potential in a relatively small urban area like this for enormous friendly-fire casualties.

HAMMES: There's always a potential for that.

What we forget is, we total up our friendly-fire casualties, but we can't say how many we prevented by using those combined arms. So it's a constant concern. We're getting better at it, blue force tracking and some of the training evolutions. Obviously, we're getting more joint and better at this. The Iraqis will add an interesting element as we try to figure out how to work through with them.

BLITZER: Colonel Hammes, thanks very much.

HAMMES: Thank you, sir.

BLITZER: To our viewers, here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our Web question of the day is: Will U.S. and Iraqi forces be successful in driving insurgents out of Falluja? You can vote right now. Go to CNN.com/Wolf. We'll have the results a little bit later in this broadcast.

After a bloody weekend, tensions remain high on the Ivory Coast, with one U.S. aid worker already dead. Can the fighting be controlled?

And coming up, the latest on the violence in the Ivory Coast, what France is doing right now to try to stop attacks on French nationals there. It's getting very bloody.

Plus, this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JAMES MCGREEVEY (D), NEW JERSEY: I am not apologizing for being a gay American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A farewell in New Jersey. A week before he leaves office, Governor Jim McGreevey gathers his staff together to say goodbye.

And meet a woman who's about to near -- near the record books in the delivery room -- get near, that is. Those stories still to come. You're going to be amazed when you see this one. All that coming up.

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): A bomb exploded at a Muslim elementary school in the Netherlands, damaging the building, but causing no injuries. Police say they suspect the attack was in retaliation for the killing of a Dutch filmmaker, Theo van Gogh, last week. His recent film, "Submission," is critical of how women are treated under Islam.

Bin Laden's driver. A U.S. court has stopped a pretrial hearing in the case of the driver of Osama bin Laden. The judge ruled in favor of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who's charged with conspiracy, but maintains he was not a member of Osama bin Laden's terror network. The judge says the hearing can't resume until the rules of the U.S. military commission trying Hamdan conform to military codes of justice.

Man of peace. The singer formerly known as Cat Stevens will receive the annual Man of Peace Award from the Gorbachev Foundation Wednesday. Two months ago, Yusuf Islam, was denied entry to the United States because his name was on a watch list of possible terrorists.

And that's our last around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Protesters were back in the streets today in an African hot spot, Ivory Coast.

Over the weekend, nine French peacekeepers and an American aid worker were killed as the government of Ivory Coast launched new attacks in rebel-controlled area. And now France is stepping up its efforts to stop the violence in its former colony.

CNN's Tony Campion reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TONY CAMPION, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ivorian TV reports of tension and violence in the country's capital, Yamoussoukro, and economic capital, Abidjan. An eruption of feeling against white people, French in particular, has left an unknown number of rioters dead, many others injured. The country's president made a nationwide appeal for calm.

LAURENT GBAGBO, IVORY COAST PRESIDENT (through translator): I express the regret of Ivory Coast for events which got out of control. And I express my compassion and condolences to the families of the Ivorian French and American victims, and I'm asking all of the demonstrators to go back home.

CAMPION: The chaos began on Saturday when Ivory Coast warplanes launched a surprise attack on the rebel-held north of their country, killing nine French peacekeepers and a U.S. aid worker. Within hours, the French military had retaliated, deploying troops on Abidjan streets and destroying two Ivorian warplanes and two helicopters at Yamoussoukro, hugely reducing Ivory Coast's air capability.

As word of the French action spread across the government- controlled south, machete-wielding mobs went looking for French nationals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I have been living in the Ivory Coast for eight years. They attacked me in my car. They destroyed it completely.

CAMPION: Journalists in Abidjan report aggression continuing through Monday.

CARRIE GIARDINO, JOURNALIST: It's anarchy at the moment, as you can hear people banging on the car windows. Everyone wants to speak. And it's really hard to see what the resolution to this is going to be right now.

CAMPION: Europeans in the capital are now hiding on roofs of apartment buildings, some airlifted to the safety of this U.S. compound by French helicopter.

JACQUES CHIRAC, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): I would like to state my most sincere condolences to the families of the dead and injured. I wish to reassure our compatriots in the Ivory Coast that we will do everything possible to ensure their safety.

CAMPION: As France repatriates its dead soldiers, it says there are no plans to evacuate the living, some 15,000 French nationals in Ivory Coast. For Ivorians themselves, this means a break in the 2003 cease-fire agreement between rebels in the north and government in the south. There's looting in the streets and the prospect of United Nations action against their government, blamed by the Security Council for the descent from law and order.

Tony Campion, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Three months ago, he pulled a political shocker. Today, he's saying goodbye.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCGREEVEY: I am sorry that my actions have hurt those I love in my personal and political lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Coming up, New Jersey's governor has something to say, as he gets ready to leave office. We'll get to that.

First, though, a look at some stories you may have missed this past weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Authorities in Britain say Saturday's deadly high-speed train crash may have been caused by a car driver trying to commit suicide. The express train with 300 people on board slammed into a car and derailed at a crossing west of London. Seven people were killed, and dozens of others were injured.

Geologists are keeping a close watch on Mount Saint Helens. They announced Saturday that a new lava dome that formed inside the Washington state volcano's crater is growing. It now extends upward by more than 300 feet. Mount Saint Helens has been rumbling and spewing steam for weeks.

Actor Howard Keel died yesterday at his home in Palm Springs, California. The actor was known for his work on Broadway in "Annie Get Your Gun," "Showboat," "Kiss Me Kate," and "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers." He also spent 10 years in a role on the TV series "Dallas." Keel was diagnosed with colon cancer about six weeks ago. He was 85.

And that's our weekend snapshot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The New Jersey governor, Jim McGreevey, bid farewell today to his staff, one week before he officially leaves office.

At a ceremony in Trenton, McGreevey touted some of his accomplishments as governor, including reforming the state's child welfare agency and stronger environmental protections. McGreevey's farewell comes three months after he announced he was gay and had had an affair with another man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCGREEVEY: Thank you very much.

I have to begin today with humility, by simply saying I am sorry. So, so sorry that mistakes in my judgment made this day necessary for us all. I am sorry that my actions have hurt those I love in my personal and political lives. I am sorry that my actions have hurt those I love in their personal and political lives. I am sorry to those that invested their careers with me that this abrupt transition has caused them upheaval, and I am sorry that I have disappointed the citizens of the State of New Jersey who gave me this enormous trust.

To be clear, I am not apologizing for being a gay American, but rather, for having let personal feelings impact my decision-making, and for not have having had the courage to be open about whom I was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The Democratic state Senate president, Richard Codey, will serve the remainder of McGreevey's term, which ends in 2006.

Nearing the record books. Coming up, an older woman's expected twin feat, why it's so unusual. That's our picture of the day. You'll want to see this.

And our Web question of the day is this: Will U.S. and Iraqi forces be successful in driving insurgents out of Falluja? You can still vote. Go to CNN.com/Wolf. We'll have the results when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. We've been asking you this question: Will U.S. and Iraqi forces be successful in driving insurgents out of Falluja? Sixty-one percent of you say yes; 39 percent of you say no. Remember, though, this is not a scientific poll.

Our picture of the day comes under the heading, it's never too late, literally. This New York woman -- take a look -- is pregnant with twins after in vitro fertilization. Aleta St. James plans to give birth by Caesarean section tomorrow, three days before her 57 birthday. Yes, she will be 57 years old. She apparently will become the second oldest American woman to give birth to twins. Perhaps not surprisingly, St. James is a motivational speaker. A lot of motivation right there.

This programming note. Tomorrow on this program, two people seemingly with nothing in common in the world, except they both survived a genocide, one in World War II during the Holocaust, the other in Rwanda in the '90s. You'll see how both have taken tragedy and turned it into a powerful message.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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