Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

More Armors on the Way for U.S. Troops in Iraq; Will Terrorists Take Aim at Airliners With Laser?

Aired December 10, 2004 - 17:00   ET

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

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


WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Happening now, more armor on the way for U.S. troops in Iraq. Under fire from the troops, the Congress, the media, the Pentagon takes action.
Standby for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Security warning. Will terrorists take aim at airliners with lasers?

Secret weapon. It's so secret that senators can't even say what it is. But they do say it's a huge waste of money.

Who's watching the watchers? Will the new intelligence bill let them spy on you?

Scott Peterson's penalty, a jury decides on his life. We'll look back at the life he took.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER'S REPORT for Friday, December 10, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We begin with a possible new threat prompting a new U.S. homeland security warning. Are terrorists now focusing in on airline pilots with lasers? CNN's Mary Snow is live in New York with details -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Federal law enforcement officials say they have no specific evidence. However, they say that intelligence does indicate that terrorist groups have expressed interest in using lasers. Homeland security director Tom Ridge was in New York today and he spoke about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): A recent memo sent to law enforcement agencies warns that terrorists may attempt to use laser beams to try and blind pilots during landing approaches. Homeland security director Tom Ridge, who was in New York today signaled there was no specific threat or new intelligence.

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: That's nothing more than sharing some information that may be relevant to pilots and may be relevant to the law enforcement community. Nothing more, nothing less.

SNOW: Ridge says the memo sent out by the FBI and Homeland Security, is a way of informing pilots of this potential tactic.

RIDGE: It warranted -- it was serious enough from our perspective, whether or not the reports were accurate in that they were lasers, it was serious enough, credible enough theory that we ought to tell folks we are mindful of it and you ought to be mindful of it as well.

SNOW: The memo reports the lasers can be easily obtained and can be portable. In September a Delta Airlines pilot reported damage to his retina that because of a laser beam shining into the cockpit miles outside of Salt Lake City. The Airlines Pilots Association says it is one of a handful of incidents over the last 18 months still under investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have had a few reports of different types of lasers, the light entering the cockpit. Now, whether that has been from a terrorist group or some other group, we're not sure, but that's the investigation that we're doing.

SNOW: The pilots union says it's working with government agencies and taking precautions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the public needs to know is there are two sets of eyes at a minimum in every airliner cockpit and so far we have not had any instance where both pilots at the controls have had problems.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: The Airline Pilots Union would not be more specific about the incidents it's currently looking into it, but it did indicate they were scattered around the country.

BLITZER: Mary Snow reporting for us. Thank you very much.

Let's get back to a sensitive, very sensitive, subject, armor. Armor for U.S. troops in Iraq. New developments unfolding right now. The whole matter erupted this week when a U.S. soldier complained directly to the Defense Secretary Rumsfeld that troops have to rummage through scrap piles for materials to protect their vehicles in Iraq. Now, some help may be on the way. Let's go live to our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: In the wake of that story, several U.S. companies said, hey, we can increase production of armor or armor kits if the Pentagon asks. Well, the army was taken aback by that. They said it was news to them. They thought they had negotiated contracts with the companies to provide as much armor as they could make. This morning the army secretary Francis Harvey, who has only been in office less than a month, picked up the phone, called a top executive at Armor Holdings, one of the companies that makes armored humvees in Jacksonville, Florida, and is now negotiating a deal to increase the production of armored humvees from 450 a month up to 550 a month. It's not a done deal yet, but it looks like they will reach an agreement.

Meanwhile the army secretary has created an armor task force to review other contracts to see if other production lines can be speeded up and if there are other ways to speed armor to the battlefield so that they can start addressing this situation with the armor. Again, you might ask, why has it taken this long? The army says they believed up until now they had contracted for all of the armor they could get.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, stand by. We'll be getting back to you later in the hour.

Picking up on a theme from his presidential campaign, the former Democratic candidate, Senator John Kerry, wrote the Pentagon that more can be done to get the troops the equipment they desperately need. Kerry points out that AM General, the manufacturer of humvees, says it has excess production capacity. He also notes that manufacturers of armor kits are able to boost production and Kerry says two Massachusetts firms in his home state are ready to provide bullet resistant windows and add-on armor. Much more coming up on this story.

It's super secret and super expensive and has something to do with spying and space. It's also creating a lot of controversy. Let's turn to our national security correspondent David Ensor -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATL. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's all of that and it's also an intriguing mystery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): The mystery concerns a top secret multibillion dollar program which a knowledgeable source says involves a future potential type of satellite. This week a heated debate over the program burst into the open on the floor of the U.S. Senate with a key senator saying he'll fight to stop funds for a Bush administration program that he would not describe.

SEN. JOHN ROCKEFELLER (D), INTELLIGENCE CMTE.: My decision to take this somewhat unprecedented decision is based solely on my strenuous objection shared by many in our committee, to a particular major funding acquisition program that I believe is totally unjustified and very, very wasteful and dangerous to the national security.

ENSOR: Dangerous, aides explained, because it sucks up black budget money better spent elsewhere. Fellow Democrat Senator Ron Wyden said in a statement, quote, "the original justification for developing this technology has eroded in importance due to the changed practices and capabilities of our adversaries." There are a number of other programs in existence and in development, he said, whose capabilities can match those envisioned for this program at far less cost and technological risk.

Spy satellites act as both eyes and ears for U.S. intelligence. No one will say what the controversial program seeks to do, but outside experts say, possibilities include radar satellites to target a battlefield as planes and UAVs now do or stealthy spy satellites, designed to look to an adversary like space debris.

JOHN PIKE, DIRECTOR, GLOBALSECURITY.ORG: The challenge then is to make the signature of the satellite so small, that rather than looking like satellite the size of a city bus it looks like a small coke can sized space debris and blends in with the other 8,000 pieces of space junk out there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: Knowledgeable sources say the problem is the secret programs cost so much money that when you fund one, you block others. And that is why there is such sharp debate about a program that is shrouded in secrecy.

BLITZER: David Ensor, thanks very much for that report.

The new intelligence reform bill is meant to keep you safer. But does it threaten your privacy and maybe civil liberties? live to Capitol Hill. Our congressional correspondent Joe Johns standing by -- Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For one thing, the new bill would expand police powers. But the people who wrote the bill also say in some ways it will protect civil liberties as well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Every time David Pathi flies he gets stopped because, due to a government mix-up, his name is on a federal no-fly list. He's gotten an official letter that was supposed to clear him to fly, but he says he's still getting hassled. Now he's added his name to a lawsuit with other people in the same situation.

DAVID PATHI, PLAINTIFF: Now that it's happened over and over and over, and I know more about how this list works, it's frustrating. It's humiliating.

JOHNS: But it may be about to change. The new intelligence reform bill gives the transportation security administration new powers to take control of no-fly list problems and fix them. But the bill also creates new privacy concerns for Americans. First and foremost provisions to encourage information sharing between agencies, an idea highly promoted by Republicans and Democrats alike.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I took this on as my mission to have a Manhattan project to upgrade technology and to put someone in charge of really blending this computer technology from agency to agency so we can share valuable information.

JOHNS: The concern is about people in government taking your personal information and spreading it around. To address that, the bill creates a new government civil liberties board to review guidelines on how widely personal information can be spread through the government and to advise the president on anti-terrorism laws and policies that could affect basic freedoms such as the patriot act. Some say the board doesn't have enough power to do anything. Critics include the ACLU which happens to be where David Pathi works.

PATHI: I'm not optimistic.

JOHNS: Civil liberties advocates will be watching how some other provisions in the bill play out, including government-funded research into biometric screening in airports where personal characteristics like fingerprints are used as identifiers and expanded government surveillance powers to track unaffiliated so-called "lone wolf" suspects who are not connected to terrorist organizations.

Still, supporters of the bill in both parties argue, on balance, the new provisions will gain public acceptance.

SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R-GA), INTELLIGENCE CMTE.: I think the American people know and understand that the information gatherers that we have around the world are very professional people and that they are dealing with, in a lot of cases, the scum of the Earth.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Many supporters of the reform bill say it's not perfect but a step in the right direction. Some activists say it will be a long time before we know whether this bill strikes the right balance between liberty and security -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Joe Johns, reading the fine print of this legislation, thanks, Joe, very much.

President Bush today named Samuel Bodman as his choice to be the next energy secretary, replacing Spencer Abraham. Bodman is a deputy treasury secretary and has little background in energy, but the president called him, and I'm quoting now, "a problem solver who knows how to set goals and how to reach them." Mr. Bush vowed to use his next term to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign sources of energy.

But for now, at least, the U.S. does depend on energy imports and it may feel the pinch as OPEC ministers today agreed to cut, cut, crude oil production by a million barrels a day. Member countries will seek to limit output to 27 million barrels each day in a bid to halt the slide in the price of oil. Prices peaked at about $55 a barrel in October. But have been falling steadily since then and closed today just under $41 a barrel.

He has been away from the U.S. Supreme Court since late October battling thyroid cancer, but the chief justice, William Rehnquist, still intends to preside at the inauguration of the president, President Bush, next month. A spokeswoman says the 80-year-old Rehnquist has accepted the invitation to administer the oath of office on January 20th.

Terror on tape. New dramatic video from insurgents as they carry out attacks on American troops.

Promoting hate. If you think Al Jazeera is anti-American, just wait until you see the Al-Manar network.

Life or death. As the jury ponders the fate of Scott Peterson, we remember the life of Laci Peterson.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Scott Peterson is still waiting to learn whether he'll be sentenced to death for the murder of his wife Laci and their unborn son. The jury has been deliberating since yesterday. Rusty Dornin is in Redwood City, California, with what's going on right now.

What do we know, Rusty?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We don't know anything, Wolf, at this point. They deliberated for about two hours yesterday and about five hours so far today. And it's amazing in an atmosphere like this where everybody is on pins and needles, any mention of anything people -- there's a lot of nervous excitement and that happened when the judge called for a certification of the record, packed the courtroom.

Now normally that's just a procedural thing. But what happened was the last time during the guilt phase he said he was just going to certify the record and then he said, oh, by the way, there's a verdict.

So just in case, they packed the courtroom for that. It turned out to be just procedural. He did tell the crowd that the jury was hard at work but he had no word from them. So they have been deliberating about five hours. Meantime at the courthouse here, anticipation building. There's a couple hundred journalists, as well avid court watchers and just the curious.

And as the afternoon goes on, those numbers seem to build. A lot of people feeling that perhaps the verdict may come down today. What will happen is we will hear that there is a verdict, they will clear out the courtroom for an hour. Then we will come back in and that's when we will hear the decision about Scott Peterson's fate -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And we, of course, will be standing by to hear about it, Rusty Dornin, reporting for us in California. Rusty, thank you very much.

It was almost two years ago that Laci Peterson disappeared.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): To most of the world, she's the pretty young brunette with a beaming smile, the glowing expectant mother, eagerly anticipating the birth of her first child. But long before Laci Peterson became a household name, she was a much-loved daughter, sister and friend. Laci Rocha was born May 4, 1975, the youngest child and only daughter of Sharon and Dennis Rocha. When their parents divorced the children and their mother moved to nearby Modesto where Laci was a popular and outgoing girl, described by her high school friends as always perky, bubbly, energetic and chatty.

She went to college in San Luis Obsipo on California's central coast where she met the man she would marry. Scott and Laci Peterson held their wedding nearby three years after they met, and stayed in the area while finishing college and running a burger joint they opened called The Shack.

They sold the business in 2001 when they moved to Modesto. There, Laci was quick to build what for her was the perfect life, resuming old friendships, setting up house, and finally, in the spring of 2002, conceiving a child she and Scott planned to name Conner.

She was eight months pregnant when she disappeared on Christmas Eve 2002.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And it's hard to believe it has been almost two years since she disappeared.

To our viewers, here's your chance to weigh in on the story. Our Web question of the day is this: Do you think Scott Peterson deserves the death penalty? You can vote right now. Go to cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results later in this broadcast.

Criticism of the U.S. on Arab satellite television, nothing new. But one broadcaster is taking it to brand new levels.

And later, protecting the troops in Iraq. We'll have the latest on what's being done to outfit military vehicles with armor. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: It's all part of the struggle for the hearts and minds of Arabs and Muslims throughout the world. And while insurgent propaganda is one tool, Arab satellite TV reaches a far wider audience. In that arena, one network is attracting a lot of new attention, not only for its strongly anti-American stance, but for what some say are ties to terrorists and because it can be seen in the United States.

CNN's Brian Todd has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a region long since overtaken by the explosion of satellite TV and 24-hour programming, where criticism of the U.S. or Israel can be found with virtually any click, one network has some observers and governments doing a double take. AVI JORISCH, AUTHOR, BEACON OF HATRED: Al-Manar makes Al Jazeera look like a Girl Scout cookie infomercial.

TODD: Al-Manar, Arabic for "the beacon," has become a guiding light for critics who accuse the station of being the propaganda arm of the militant Shiite group Hezbollah which bombed the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983.

JORISCH: The station is looking to inspire what we call in the West, quote/unquote, "suicide attacks," and what they call, quote/unquote, "martyrdom operations." They are very open about the fact that they support rhetorically these types of attacks against American soldiers and against Israelis.

TODD: A charge flatly denied by the network. Still, there's concern, reinforced by images of a skeletal Statue of Liberty dripping blood.

BUSH: We're going to hunt them down one by one.

ADOLF HITLER: (SPEAKING GERMAN)

TODD: Or of Hitler and his forces juxtaposed with President Bush and his. According to The New York Times, one Al-Manar broadcast claims Israel spread the AIDS virus and other diseases throughout the Arab world. A top official at Al-Manar admits philosophical agreements with Hezbollah but denies that the network takes its marching orders from the group.

We asked him how his station views the United States.

IBRAHIM MONSAWI, DIR. OF POLITICAL PROGRAMS, AL-MANAR: George W. Bush says that he's a friend of the peace and he's a peaceful man. So I mean, this is a distorting the realities and the facts. But we have never broadcast anything to incite hatred.

TODD (on camera): Still there is pressure on governments and the distributors of Al-Manar to crack down on the network or to shut it down. But it seems no one wants their fingerprints on this controversy.

(voice-over): The French government wants to stop the network's distribution there. But France's highest administrative judicial body must rule on whether the government has that right since Al-Manar has a license for satellite broadcasts in that country. A decision could come within a few days.

Al-Manar can be seen in the United States via satellite although not over the major direct-to-home satellite subscription services. Only those with private dishes and receivers can get the signal. Still, this U.S. access comes, despite the fact that Al-Manar's's alleged benefactor, Hezbollah, is designated a terrorist organization by the State Department.

We asked a spokesman if the State Department could take any action against Al-Manar. ADAM ERELI, STATE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: I think Al-Manar -- we have gone on the record on numerous occasions in response to what we consider to be -- I'm trying to think of a harsh enough word for it, we consider to be disgusting programming that preaches hatred and violence. For more, I refer you to the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission.

TODD: We called the Federal Communications Commission, an official there tells CNN that because Al-Manar is broadcast over satellite and is not an American network, it's not subject to FCC regulation.

Corporate responsibility is even murkier. We were originally told Intelsat distributes Al-Manar in the U.S. But Intelsat officials tell us their company is merely the wholesale operator that sells bulk satellite capacity to service providers.

They referred us to a service provider GlobeCast North America. An official there acknowledged that Al-Manar is one of nine Arabic channels it retransmits into the U.S. But he says GlobeCast is paid by a Saudi-based company called Arabsat to bring in those channels and Arabsat is responsible for its contest.

Top officials at Arabsat could not be reached for comment.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Armor assurances. Is more protection on the way? The U.S. government makes a new move in response to recent criticism. I'll speak live with retired U.S. Army General David Grange.

Also, an unusual AWOL case brought against the U.S. Army reservist who is being treated for post traumatic disorder.

And a ruling on a corruption charge against Italy's prime minister.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A new propaganda video from militants in Iraq provides a dramatic and unprecedented look at the Iraq conflict from the perspective of the insurgents.

CNN's Tim Lister has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Never before has an insurgent group produced such a comprehensive visual record of its operations.

In a 40-minute video, the Islamic Army in Iraq shows a wide range of operations from remotely controlled roadside bombs to shoulder- launched rocket attacks and attempts to bring down U.S. aircraft. In this incident, the insurgents claim to have shot down a Chinook helicopter. One sequence includes a mortar attack on a U.S. base.

Expecting return fire, the insurgents leave the area, but keep their camera rolling. A graphic appears that says 10 minutes later and then the camera records incoming fire from coalition forces as they pinpoint the insurgents' position. The video, which was quickly posted on several Islamic Web sites, specifies that some of the attacks were west of Baghdad and near Fallujah.

In one sequence, the insurgents appear to be arming an improvised roadside bomb. The next sequence shows traffic passing along the road and then, amid cries of (SPEAKING ARABIC), "God is great," an armored car is blown up.

In another part of the video, a toddler is shown barely managing to hold an automatic weapon while the Arabic audio relates a poem from his father which includes the lines, stand by, my son, and seek martyrdom, stand by, my son, and do your duty.

The final part of the video deals with recent abductions and includes pictures of the Filipino hostage Angelo de la Cruz, who, it says, was set free because the Philippines pulled out of Iraq. Of the two Frenchmen taken hostage and still unaccounted for, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, the Islamic Army's video states simply, still under investigation.

The Islamic Army in Iraq is one of the largest and best organized insurgent groups operating in the Sunni Triangle. This video seems designed to show just how audacious it's become.

Tim Lister, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And these are some of the insurgents who are attacking U.S. troops.

More now on the story we told you about at the top of our show today. After troops in the field complained they must scrounge through scrap heaps to help protect their vehicles, the U.S. Army is taking some action right now.

Once again, our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld returned from his overseas trip in the early hours this morning. He was back at his desk today.

One of his first items of business, a discussion with the Army secretary, the new Army secretary, about the armor controversial. We don't know what they said, but we do know that the Army secretary has taken some action.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (voice-over): The Army is moving to buy more armored Humvees and see if other production lines can be accelerated, just two days after a pointed question from this soldier put Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the spot about the lack of armor for military vehicles.

Army officials say they were surprised to hear from news reports that Armor Holdings of Jacksonville, Florida, was prepared to sell the Pentagon 550 armored Humvees a month, because originally the Army was told it could only get 450 because of commitments to other customers. Pentagon officials say the new Army secretary, Francis Harvey, who was sworn in less than a month ago, called the CEO of the company directly and is negotiating to buy all the Humvees the company can supply, which is up to 100 more a month.

Another company, ArmorWorks of Tempe, Arizona, says it could double production of armor plates that can be added to existing Humvees.

MATT SALMON, PRESIDENT, ARMORWORKS: We produce 300 kits a month. We could be doing 600 kits a month. So when you hear language from the Pentagon that we're doing everything humanly possible, I'm telling you that the industry base is being underutilized.

MCINTYRE: But the Army says it already has a backlog of armor kits and can't install them any faster.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: A couple of other items, Wolf. CNN has learned that the U.S. Army arsenal in Rock Island, Illinois, has been put back on 24/7 shifts to produce armor kits that are for trucks. These are for truck cabs and fuel truck cabs. That's a critical need in Iraq.

Again, those orders coming this week. And the Army secretary has created a new armor task force which is going to review all of the contracts to see if there's ways to accelerate the purchase of armor and to get it into the battlefield faster -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, a very sensitive story, indeed, important story. Thank you very much.

So why don't the troops in Iraq have the protection, all the protection they really need? And how soon can the military move to get even more armor to the front lines?

Joining us now from Oak Brook, Illinois, CNN military analyst, the retired Brigadier General David Grange.

What's your take on this, General Grange? Give us a perspective, because you've been on the front lines requiring armor over many years during your military service.

RETIRED BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Wolf.

Right now, it's highlighted in the war in Iraq. It's actually been a problem for many, many years. It's always been a low priority to outfit, for instance, supply trucks. And they're at the bottom of the heap. And there just never was any money or priority to do it. I remember when we tried to get armor...

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Explain that. Why is that? It seems like such an obvious need. There is nothing more precious than the fighting men and women, and this protects them. Why is it such a low priority?

GRANGE: Well, that's a great question.

There are four elements of combat power, maneuver, firepower, leadership and protect the force. And basically protect the force in a lot of these situations like moving in vehicles really has been neglected, at least the entire time that I served. Where the money went, where the emphasis went, were big-ticket items, tanks, jets, submarines, aircraft carriers, not the protection of the troop on the ground, whether it be an armored vest or an armored vehicle.

BLITZER: And is there any explanation for that, other than they just made a bad judgment? They didn't think the U.S. fighting forces were going to need these kinds of protective gear?

GRANGE: Well, the focus, the priority on that type of protection really hasn't come to light until the last few years. In Vietnam, you threw sandbags into vehicles and people went up the -- they called highway of death, highway one in the northern part of South Vietnam on a daily basis, very heroic, and had almost had zero armored protection.

It's been getting better and better. And it's better than it's ever been from what I can see, at least when I served, but it has a long way to go.

BLITZER: If you were a parent of a soldier right now fighting in Iraq, or a Marine, it's almost been two years since this war started. In March, it will be two years since the war started, and one of your loved ones was killed or injured by some of these -- the shrapnel or whatever that got through the soft targets, the soft sides of these Humvees or these trucks, how angry would you be?

GRANGE: I'd be very angry. I'd be very upset. The problem again wasn't just at the start of the Iraqi war. It's been a problem for years and it's been neglected. And it's not really they. I was one of they. It's the responsibility of the general officers, the administration, Congress, all of those involved in supplying, resource and providing the protection and readiness for our armed forces.

And it's getting there, but it has taken some time. Now, part of the time is because there wasn't enough priority to get it going, just like some of the shots of manufacturers saying they can increase production. You have got to grab people by the neck and make them do it.

The other is, though, there is a putting-it-together challenge, enough people to actually do that. So, once they're built, to get them and actually and put them on threat thousands of vehicles and take some time. But it's just been building up all these years.

BLITZER: Here's what's so frustrating.

Even on this program, we heard our David Ensor, our national security correspondent, just a little while ago report on some super- secret, very high-tech, fancy stealth program, a satellite program costing billions of dollars, presumably over many, many years. There's money available for that, but there's not money available for armor, for trucks or Humvees or vests?

That's what seems so frustrating given the nature of this business, because, relatively speaking, the amount of money you need to protect the troops is relatively modest.

GRANGE: Very modest.

I mean, you could probably buy armored vests for everybody in Iraq for the cost of one modern bomber airplane. Well, that's been an issue. And it's been an issue, like I said, the whole time I served. The bottom of the heap on those things basically was the old grunt, the infantryman. But, actually, below that, you may have a truck driver. And then, if you happen to be in the National Guard or Reserve, you are even below that.

So now that all the different components of the armed forces are being thrown in harm's way with the same threat, everybody needs this kind of stuff. And so there's a surge to provide it for the National Guard, Reserve, and the active, both in the front lines and in the rear, because, in a counterinsurgency, the threat's there for everybody.

BLITZER: David Grange, retired U.S. Army, Brigadier General -- thanks very much, David.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

BLITZER: And a related story, A U.S. Army Reservist who filed several complaints up the chain of command over the lack of equipment for troops in Iraq could face court-martial. An investigating officer is recommending court-martial for Lieutenant Julian Goodrum, who commanded for than a dozen vehicles in a transportation company in the early stages of the Iraq war.

Goodrum complained several times about equipment shortages and lack of security for his convoys, then rotated out of Iraq and sought treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. The Army claims he was AWOL during that time he was seeking treatment. Goodrum denies that. In an interview with our Brian Todd just last month, he claimed he's the victim of retaliation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. JULIAN GOODRUM, U.S. ARMY RESERVE: My honor and loyalty has been shattered by the military. I've never questioned an order in 16 years. I was always under the belief if I'm injured or hurt or if a soldier or company needs essential equipment, the Army will always provide it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Lieutenant Goodrum and his attorneys plan to fight the court-martial. The Army has declined comment.

Canada's newest action on same-sex marriage. Will the United States take a cue from its northern neighbor? Our Carlos Watson has "The Inside Edge."

Humanitarian crisis in Sudan. We'll hear from a woman who has been an eyewitness to much of the killing of civilians. Our Zain Verjee is standing by with that story.

And a new milestone for the United States and a former enemy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Gay marriage was an issue in the U.S. presidential election. Now it's making news in Canada.

For a look at some cross-border politics and other issues, we turn to our political analyst Carlos Watson. He has "The Inside Edge," Joining us Palo Alto.

Carlos, you see some sort of connection between what's happening in Canada on this issue and in the United States?

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I do, Wolf.

You know, what's really interesting is that over the last 20-plus years we've seen globalization bring a lot of things into the U.S., from movies to raincoats, to all sorts of goods. But now we seem to be importing things from other countries, political ideas. And think about it. Canada's offered us two signature things over the last year.

One was the prescription drug issue, which they helped fuel, because you could go across the border. Now, given that the Supreme Court in Canada has just essentially given the go-ahead for gay marriage licenses there, you may, over the next year, see Americans go across the border there and that may reignite the issue here. So it's interesting to see political issues or at least political fuel being imported from Canada.

BLITZER: Globalization. There's also this notion of the intensity of U.S. elections being exported, a whole bunch of elections coming up in the coming weeks and months around the world. What do you sense on that?

WATSON: You bet.

The flip side, if you will, of the globalization of politics is, we're not only importing political fuel, but we're exporting it. We had such an intense election, spent record amounts of money, had lots of people participating. And a lot of people thought, well, after November 2, it's over. But the reality is, we're in a sense exporting some of that intensity abroad.

January 9, the Palestinian elections to replace Yasser Arafat. Also in January you've got the elections in Iraq and we're seeing a lot of activity there both on the Shiite and on the Sunni side. And remember, later in the year, you'll see in England, you'll see some fairly intense election. One thing to note is, one of the reasons why we're exporting it is not just the media coverage, but because some of our own political consultants are going abroad, both to the Middle East and to Europe, to play a role in those elections.

BLITZER: Carlos Watson with "The Inside Edge," he joins us every Friday here on CNN. Carlos, thanks very much.

WATSON: Good to see you.

BLITZER: Surviving what the United States calls a campaign of genocide in Sudan. We'll hear from a woman who has witnessed the horrors firsthand. We'll get to that.

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has won his corruption trial. A three-judge panel acquitted Berlusconi of one of the charges and it ruled that the statute of limitations has run out on the other charge.

Pakistan blast. At least 10 people were killed when a bomb hidden on a bicycle exploded in a crowded outdoor market in southwestern Pakistan near an army truck. Police say the dead included one soldier.

Explosive cargo. In China's Hunan Province, flames broke out aboard a railroad freight car filled with fireworks. Explosions injured at least 18 railroad workers.

Nobel effort. Wangari Maathai accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway. An environmental activist, Maathai is the first African woman and the first Kenyan to receive the honor.

Historic landing. For the first time since the Vietnam War, a U.S. commercial passenger jet has landed in Vietnam. United Airlines Flight 869 will provide daily service between San Francisco and Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Sudanese government officials and rebels from the western Darfur region are in Nigeria for talks on ending hostilities. A campaign to terrorize residents oft region has been called genocide by the U.S. government. And despite earlier agreements, the United Nations says the situation is getting worse.

CNN's Zain Verjee is here in Washington. She's been at a conference on the situation. She's joining us live -- Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, she is an eyewitness to murder, rape, destruction. Eiman was in a village in the Darfur region of Sudan when the feared janjaweed militia rode in and attacked. It's a militia human rights groups say is backed by the government.

Here's what Eiman says she saw.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EIMAN ABULGASIM SEIFELDIN, SUDANESE CITIZEN: People coming on their horses killing, doing everything, shouting. There is, you know, a noise that cannot get out of my mind never, ever.

And, you see, they just -- there is the taste of war and the smell of burning of all the houses, homes and the crops, everything, everything that you can imagine. And, you know, you just get scared. You are very scared. And you have to run away. But, you know, we just ran away. To where, we don't know.

VERJEE: Eiman says her childhood friend from that village was raped by several men. Women who are raped, she says, can look forward to nothing but rejection.

SEIFELDIN: Because, as women, to be raped, it is very -- you know, it is lowering her quality as a human being. That is why rape is very vicious to us.

When a woman raped, her life is finished. It is nothing more. You don't have right to life again. It was very hard for us. So many women have been raped. And some of them are now pregnant. And, you know, there is no word to describe it, no. We have been tortured.

VERJEE: I asked Eiman, you are the wife of the secretary-general of one of the rebel groups fighting in Darfur. You have an interest in telling the story. There are many who will say, you are not telling the truth.

Her response:

SEIFELDIN: Let them go and be there and let them see what is really what's really happening and what's really happened in the past. There is no single village now standing. All of them have been wiped from the ground. All the village have been destructed.

VERJEE: Although she escaped the atrocities, Eiman says the horror haunts her day and night.

SEIFELDIN: You just, sometimes, in the midnight, you wake up because there is images of those who are coming, their horses, the bombs that are falling up from the sky. There is insecurity. There is darkness. There is hopelessness. There is anything -- there is nothing.

VERJEE: Help us, Eiman pleads to the international community.

SEIFELDIN: We are suffering a lot. We cannot fight that war alone, and to give hands and to give food and to provide security and to prevent what is going on in Darfur.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: U.S. officials say, what's going on in Darfur is genocide.

The government of Sudan says the rebels are responsible for the violence. Khartoum denies it supports the Arab janjaweed militia and insists the international community must put pressure on the rebels to end the violence -- Wolf.

BLITZER: What a heartbreaking story.

Zain Verjee, thanks very much. Thanks for coming to Washington.

VERJEE: Thank you.

BLITZER: And we'll have the results of our Web question of the day. That's coming up next.

And these military members won't be home for the holidays. But they're still celebrating. And that will be in our picture of the day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Do you think Scott Peterson deserves the death penalty? Seventy percent of you say yes; 30 percent of you say no. More than 106,000 votes cast so far. Remember, though, this is not a scientific poll.

U.S. troops need to be innovative as they try to bring American traditions and a holiday spirit to their bases in Iraq. But leave it to engineers to build a Christmas tree out of scrap metal and cement blocks. Members of this engineering battalion posed for this photo after a tree-lighting ceremony at their base in eastern Baghdad. It serves as a tribute to all those U.S. military personnel who will be far from home for the holidays. And as a result, it's a worthy picture of the day.

A reminder, you can always catch us on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS weekdays, 5:00 p.m. Eastern, also weekdays at noon Eastern. Tune in to "LATE EDITION" this Sunday. It's the last word in Sunday talk. Among my special guests, Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, just elected. That's Sunday noon Eastern.

Until then, thanks very much for joining us.

"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 December 10, 2004 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Happening now, more armor on the way for U.S. troops in Iraq. Under fire from the troops, the Congress, the media, the Pentagon takes action.
Standby for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Security warning. Will terrorists take aim at airliners with lasers?

Secret weapon. It's so secret that senators can't even say what it is. But they do say it's a huge waste of money.

Who's watching the watchers? Will the new intelligence bill let them spy on you?

Scott Peterson's penalty, a jury decides on his life. We'll look back at the life he took.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER'S REPORT for Friday, December 10, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We begin with a possible new threat prompting a new U.S. homeland security warning. Are terrorists now focusing in on airline pilots with lasers? CNN's Mary Snow is live in New York with details -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Federal law enforcement officials say they have no specific evidence. However, they say that intelligence does indicate that terrorist groups have expressed interest in using lasers. Homeland security director Tom Ridge was in New York today and he spoke about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): A recent memo sent to law enforcement agencies warns that terrorists may attempt to use laser beams to try and blind pilots during landing approaches. Homeland security director Tom Ridge, who was in New York today signaled there was no specific threat or new intelligence.

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: That's nothing more than sharing some information that may be relevant to pilots and may be relevant to the law enforcement community. Nothing more, nothing less.

SNOW: Ridge says the memo sent out by the FBI and Homeland Security, is a way of informing pilots of this potential tactic.

RIDGE: It warranted -- it was serious enough from our perspective, whether or not the reports were accurate in that they were lasers, it was serious enough, credible enough theory that we ought to tell folks we are mindful of it and you ought to be mindful of it as well.

SNOW: The memo reports the lasers can be easily obtained and can be portable. In September a Delta Airlines pilot reported damage to his retina that because of a laser beam shining into the cockpit miles outside of Salt Lake City. The Airlines Pilots Association says it is one of a handful of incidents over the last 18 months still under investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have had a few reports of different types of lasers, the light entering the cockpit. Now, whether that has been from a terrorist group or some other group, we're not sure, but that's the investigation that we're doing.

SNOW: The pilots union says it's working with government agencies and taking precautions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the public needs to know is there are two sets of eyes at a minimum in every airliner cockpit and so far we have not had any instance where both pilots at the controls have had problems.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: The Airline Pilots Union would not be more specific about the incidents it's currently looking into it, but it did indicate they were scattered around the country.

BLITZER: Mary Snow reporting for us. Thank you very much.

Let's get back to a sensitive, very sensitive, subject, armor. Armor for U.S. troops in Iraq. New developments unfolding right now. The whole matter erupted this week when a U.S. soldier complained directly to the Defense Secretary Rumsfeld that troops have to rummage through scrap piles for materials to protect their vehicles in Iraq. Now, some help may be on the way. Let's go live to our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: In the wake of that story, several U.S. companies said, hey, we can increase production of armor or armor kits if the Pentagon asks. Well, the army was taken aback by that. They said it was news to them. They thought they had negotiated contracts with the companies to provide as much armor as they could make. This morning the army secretary Francis Harvey, who has only been in office less than a month, picked up the phone, called a top executive at Armor Holdings, one of the companies that makes armored humvees in Jacksonville, Florida, and is now negotiating a deal to increase the production of armored humvees from 450 a month up to 550 a month. It's not a done deal yet, but it looks like they will reach an agreement.

Meanwhile the army secretary has created an armor task force to review other contracts to see if other production lines can be speeded up and if there are other ways to speed armor to the battlefield so that they can start addressing this situation with the armor. Again, you might ask, why has it taken this long? The army says they believed up until now they had contracted for all of the armor they could get.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, stand by. We'll be getting back to you later in the hour.

Picking up on a theme from his presidential campaign, the former Democratic candidate, Senator John Kerry, wrote the Pentagon that more can be done to get the troops the equipment they desperately need. Kerry points out that AM General, the manufacturer of humvees, says it has excess production capacity. He also notes that manufacturers of armor kits are able to boost production and Kerry says two Massachusetts firms in his home state are ready to provide bullet resistant windows and add-on armor. Much more coming up on this story.

It's super secret and super expensive and has something to do with spying and space. It's also creating a lot of controversy. Let's turn to our national security correspondent David Ensor -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATL. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's all of that and it's also an intriguing mystery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): The mystery concerns a top secret multibillion dollar program which a knowledgeable source says involves a future potential type of satellite. This week a heated debate over the program burst into the open on the floor of the U.S. Senate with a key senator saying he'll fight to stop funds for a Bush administration program that he would not describe.

SEN. JOHN ROCKEFELLER (D), INTELLIGENCE CMTE.: My decision to take this somewhat unprecedented decision is based solely on my strenuous objection shared by many in our committee, to a particular major funding acquisition program that I believe is totally unjustified and very, very wasteful and dangerous to the national security.

ENSOR: Dangerous, aides explained, because it sucks up black budget money better spent elsewhere. Fellow Democrat Senator Ron Wyden said in a statement, quote, "the original justification for developing this technology has eroded in importance due to the changed practices and capabilities of our adversaries." There are a number of other programs in existence and in development, he said, whose capabilities can match those envisioned for this program at far less cost and technological risk.

Spy satellites act as both eyes and ears for U.S. intelligence. No one will say what the controversial program seeks to do, but outside experts say, possibilities include radar satellites to target a battlefield as planes and UAVs now do or stealthy spy satellites, designed to look to an adversary like space debris.

JOHN PIKE, DIRECTOR, GLOBALSECURITY.ORG: The challenge then is to make the signature of the satellite so small, that rather than looking like satellite the size of a city bus it looks like a small coke can sized space debris and blends in with the other 8,000 pieces of space junk out there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: Knowledgeable sources say the problem is the secret programs cost so much money that when you fund one, you block others. And that is why there is such sharp debate about a program that is shrouded in secrecy.

BLITZER: David Ensor, thanks very much for that report.

The new intelligence reform bill is meant to keep you safer. But does it threaten your privacy and maybe civil liberties? live to Capitol Hill. Our congressional correspondent Joe Johns standing by -- Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For one thing, the new bill would expand police powers. But the people who wrote the bill also say in some ways it will protect civil liberties as well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Every time David Pathi flies he gets stopped because, due to a government mix-up, his name is on a federal no-fly list. He's gotten an official letter that was supposed to clear him to fly, but he says he's still getting hassled. Now he's added his name to a lawsuit with other people in the same situation.

DAVID PATHI, PLAINTIFF: Now that it's happened over and over and over, and I know more about how this list works, it's frustrating. It's humiliating.

JOHNS: But it may be about to change. The new intelligence reform bill gives the transportation security administration new powers to take control of no-fly list problems and fix them. But the bill also creates new privacy concerns for Americans. First and foremost provisions to encourage information sharing between agencies, an idea highly promoted by Republicans and Democrats alike.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I took this on as my mission to have a Manhattan project to upgrade technology and to put someone in charge of really blending this computer technology from agency to agency so we can share valuable information.

JOHNS: The concern is about people in government taking your personal information and spreading it around. To address that, the bill creates a new government civil liberties board to review guidelines on how widely personal information can be spread through the government and to advise the president on anti-terrorism laws and policies that could affect basic freedoms such as the patriot act. Some say the board doesn't have enough power to do anything. Critics include the ACLU which happens to be where David Pathi works.

PATHI: I'm not optimistic.

JOHNS: Civil liberties advocates will be watching how some other provisions in the bill play out, including government-funded research into biometric screening in airports where personal characteristics like fingerprints are used as identifiers and expanded government surveillance powers to track unaffiliated so-called "lone wolf" suspects who are not connected to terrorist organizations.

Still, supporters of the bill in both parties argue, on balance, the new provisions will gain public acceptance.

SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R-GA), INTELLIGENCE CMTE.: I think the American people know and understand that the information gatherers that we have around the world are very professional people and that they are dealing with, in a lot of cases, the scum of the Earth.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Many supporters of the reform bill say it's not perfect but a step in the right direction. Some activists say it will be a long time before we know whether this bill strikes the right balance between liberty and security -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Joe Johns, reading the fine print of this legislation, thanks, Joe, very much.

President Bush today named Samuel Bodman as his choice to be the next energy secretary, replacing Spencer Abraham. Bodman is a deputy treasury secretary and has little background in energy, but the president called him, and I'm quoting now, "a problem solver who knows how to set goals and how to reach them." Mr. Bush vowed to use his next term to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign sources of energy.

But for now, at least, the U.S. does depend on energy imports and it may feel the pinch as OPEC ministers today agreed to cut, cut, crude oil production by a million barrels a day. Member countries will seek to limit output to 27 million barrels each day in a bid to halt the slide in the price of oil. Prices peaked at about $55 a barrel in October. But have been falling steadily since then and closed today just under $41 a barrel.

He has been away from the U.S. Supreme Court since late October battling thyroid cancer, but the chief justice, William Rehnquist, still intends to preside at the inauguration of the president, President Bush, next month. A spokeswoman says the 80-year-old Rehnquist has accepted the invitation to administer the oath of office on January 20th.

Terror on tape. New dramatic video from insurgents as they carry out attacks on American troops.

Promoting hate. If you think Al Jazeera is anti-American, just wait until you see the Al-Manar network.

Life or death. As the jury ponders the fate of Scott Peterson, we remember the life of Laci Peterson.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Scott Peterson is still waiting to learn whether he'll be sentenced to death for the murder of his wife Laci and their unborn son. The jury has been deliberating since yesterday. Rusty Dornin is in Redwood City, California, with what's going on right now.

What do we know, Rusty?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We don't know anything, Wolf, at this point. They deliberated for about two hours yesterday and about five hours so far today. And it's amazing in an atmosphere like this where everybody is on pins and needles, any mention of anything people -- there's a lot of nervous excitement and that happened when the judge called for a certification of the record, packed the courtroom.

Now normally that's just a procedural thing. But what happened was the last time during the guilt phase he said he was just going to certify the record and then he said, oh, by the way, there's a verdict.

So just in case, they packed the courtroom for that. It turned out to be just procedural. He did tell the crowd that the jury was hard at work but he had no word from them. So they have been deliberating about five hours. Meantime at the courthouse here, anticipation building. There's a couple hundred journalists, as well avid court watchers and just the curious.

And as the afternoon goes on, those numbers seem to build. A lot of people feeling that perhaps the verdict may come down today. What will happen is we will hear that there is a verdict, they will clear out the courtroom for an hour. Then we will come back in and that's when we will hear the decision about Scott Peterson's fate -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And we, of course, will be standing by to hear about it, Rusty Dornin, reporting for us in California. Rusty, thank you very much.

It was almost two years ago that Laci Peterson disappeared.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): To most of the world, she's the pretty young brunette with a beaming smile, the glowing expectant mother, eagerly anticipating the birth of her first child. But long before Laci Peterson became a household name, she was a much-loved daughter, sister and friend. Laci Rocha was born May 4, 1975, the youngest child and only daughter of Sharon and Dennis Rocha. When their parents divorced the children and their mother moved to nearby Modesto where Laci was a popular and outgoing girl, described by her high school friends as always perky, bubbly, energetic and chatty.

She went to college in San Luis Obsipo on California's central coast where she met the man she would marry. Scott and Laci Peterson held their wedding nearby three years after they met, and stayed in the area while finishing college and running a burger joint they opened called The Shack.

They sold the business in 2001 when they moved to Modesto. There, Laci was quick to build what for her was the perfect life, resuming old friendships, setting up house, and finally, in the spring of 2002, conceiving a child she and Scott planned to name Conner.

She was eight months pregnant when she disappeared on Christmas Eve 2002.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And it's hard to believe it has been almost two years since she disappeared.

To our viewers, here's your chance to weigh in on the story. Our Web question of the day is this: Do you think Scott Peterson deserves the death penalty? You can vote right now. Go to cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results later in this broadcast.

Criticism of the U.S. on Arab satellite television, nothing new. But one broadcaster is taking it to brand new levels.

And later, protecting the troops in Iraq. We'll have the latest on what's being done to outfit military vehicles with armor. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: It's all part of the struggle for the hearts and minds of Arabs and Muslims throughout the world. And while insurgent propaganda is one tool, Arab satellite TV reaches a far wider audience. In that arena, one network is attracting a lot of new attention, not only for its strongly anti-American stance, but for what some say are ties to terrorists and because it can be seen in the United States.

CNN's Brian Todd has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a region long since overtaken by the explosion of satellite TV and 24-hour programming, where criticism of the U.S. or Israel can be found with virtually any click, one network has some observers and governments doing a double take. AVI JORISCH, AUTHOR, BEACON OF HATRED: Al-Manar makes Al Jazeera look like a Girl Scout cookie infomercial.

TODD: Al-Manar, Arabic for "the beacon," has become a guiding light for critics who accuse the station of being the propaganda arm of the militant Shiite group Hezbollah which bombed the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983.

JORISCH: The station is looking to inspire what we call in the West, quote/unquote, "suicide attacks," and what they call, quote/unquote, "martyrdom operations." They are very open about the fact that they support rhetorically these types of attacks against American soldiers and against Israelis.

TODD: A charge flatly denied by the network. Still, there's concern, reinforced by images of a skeletal Statue of Liberty dripping blood.

BUSH: We're going to hunt them down one by one.

ADOLF HITLER: (SPEAKING GERMAN)

TODD: Or of Hitler and his forces juxtaposed with President Bush and his. According to The New York Times, one Al-Manar broadcast claims Israel spread the AIDS virus and other diseases throughout the Arab world. A top official at Al-Manar admits philosophical agreements with Hezbollah but denies that the network takes its marching orders from the group.

We asked him how his station views the United States.

IBRAHIM MONSAWI, DIR. OF POLITICAL PROGRAMS, AL-MANAR: George W. Bush says that he's a friend of the peace and he's a peaceful man. So I mean, this is a distorting the realities and the facts. But we have never broadcast anything to incite hatred.

TODD (on camera): Still there is pressure on governments and the distributors of Al-Manar to crack down on the network or to shut it down. But it seems no one wants their fingerprints on this controversy.

(voice-over): The French government wants to stop the network's distribution there. But France's highest administrative judicial body must rule on whether the government has that right since Al-Manar has a license for satellite broadcasts in that country. A decision could come within a few days.

Al-Manar can be seen in the United States via satellite although not over the major direct-to-home satellite subscription services. Only those with private dishes and receivers can get the signal. Still, this U.S. access comes, despite the fact that Al-Manar's's alleged benefactor, Hezbollah, is designated a terrorist organization by the State Department.

We asked a spokesman if the State Department could take any action against Al-Manar. ADAM ERELI, STATE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: I think Al-Manar -- we have gone on the record on numerous occasions in response to what we consider to be -- I'm trying to think of a harsh enough word for it, we consider to be disgusting programming that preaches hatred and violence. For more, I refer you to the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission.

TODD: We called the Federal Communications Commission, an official there tells CNN that because Al-Manar is broadcast over satellite and is not an American network, it's not subject to FCC regulation.

Corporate responsibility is even murkier. We were originally told Intelsat distributes Al-Manar in the U.S. But Intelsat officials tell us their company is merely the wholesale operator that sells bulk satellite capacity to service providers.

They referred us to a service provider GlobeCast North America. An official there acknowledged that Al-Manar is one of nine Arabic channels it retransmits into the U.S. But he says GlobeCast is paid by a Saudi-based company called Arabsat to bring in those channels and Arabsat is responsible for its contest.

Top officials at Arabsat could not be reached for comment.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Armor assurances. Is more protection on the way? The U.S. government makes a new move in response to recent criticism. I'll speak live with retired U.S. Army General David Grange.

Also, an unusual AWOL case brought against the U.S. Army reservist who is being treated for post traumatic disorder.

And a ruling on a corruption charge against Italy's prime minister.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A new propaganda video from militants in Iraq provides a dramatic and unprecedented look at the Iraq conflict from the perspective of the insurgents.

CNN's Tim Lister has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Never before has an insurgent group produced such a comprehensive visual record of its operations.

In a 40-minute video, the Islamic Army in Iraq shows a wide range of operations from remotely controlled roadside bombs to shoulder- launched rocket attacks and attempts to bring down U.S. aircraft. In this incident, the insurgents claim to have shot down a Chinook helicopter. One sequence includes a mortar attack on a U.S. base.

Expecting return fire, the insurgents leave the area, but keep their camera rolling. A graphic appears that says 10 minutes later and then the camera records incoming fire from coalition forces as they pinpoint the insurgents' position. The video, which was quickly posted on several Islamic Web sites, specifies that some of the attacks were west of Baghdad and near Fallujah.

In one sequence, the insurgents appear to be arming an improvised roadside bomb. The next sequence shows traffic passing along the road and then, amid cries of (SPEAKING ARABIC), "God is great," an armored car is blown up.

In another part of the video, a toddler is shown barely managing to hold an automatic weapon while the Arabic audio relates a poem from his father which includes the lines, stand by, my son, and seek martyrdom, stand by, my son, and do your duty.

The final part of the video deals with recent abductions and includes pictures of the Filipino hostage Angelo de la Cruz, who, it says, was set free because the Philippines pulled out of Iraq. Of the two Frenchmen taken hostage and still unaccounted for, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, the Islamic Army's video states simply, still under investigation.

The Islamic Army in Iraq is one of the largest and best organized insurgent groups operating in the Sunni Triangle. This video seems designed to show just how audacious it's become.

Tim Lister, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And these are some of the insurgents who are attacking U.S. troops.

More now on the story we told you about at the top of our show today. After troops in the field complained they must scrounge through scrap heaps to help protect their vehicles, the U.S. Army is taking some action right now.

Once again, our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld returned from his overseas trip in the early hours this morning. He was back at his desk today.

One of his first items of business, a discussion with the Army secretary, the new Army secretary, about the armor controversial. We don't know what they said, but we do know that the Army secretary has taken some action.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (voice-over): The Army is moving to buy more armored Humvees and see if other production lines can be accelerated, just two days after a pointed question from this soldier put Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the spot about the lack of armor for military vehicles.

Army officials say they were surprised to hear from news reports that Armor Holdings of Jacksonville, Florida, was prepared to sell the Pentagon 550 armored Humvees a month, because originally the Army was told it could only get 450 because of commitments to other customers. Pentagon officials say the new Army secretary, Francis Harvey, who was sworn in less than a month ago, called the CEO of the company directly and is negotiating to buy all the Humvees the company can supply, which is up to 100 more a month.

Another company, ArmorWorks of Tempe, Arizona, says it could double production of armor plates that can be added to existing Humvees.

MATT SALMON, PRESIDENT, ARMORWORKS: We produce 300 kits a month. We could be doing 600 kits a month. So when you hear language from the Pentagon that we're doing everything humanly possible, I'm telling you that the industry base is being underutilized.

MCINTYRE: But the Army says it already has a backlog of armor kits and can't install them any faster.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: A couple of other items, Wolf. CNN has learned that the U.S. Army arsenal in Rock Island, Illinois, has been put back on 24/7 shifts to produce armor kits that are for trucks. These are for truck cabs and fuel truck cabs. That's a critical need in Iraq.

Again, those orders coming this week. And the Army secretary has created a new armor task force which is going to review all of the contracts to see if there's ways to accelerate the purchase of armor and to get it into the battlefield faster -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, a very sensitive story, indeed, important story. Thank you very much.

So why don't the troops in Iraq have the protection, all the protection they really need? And how soon can the military move to get even more armor to the front lines?

Joining us now from Oak Brook, Illinois, CNN military analyst, the retired Brigadier General David Grange.

What's your take on this, General Grange? Give us a perspective, because you've been on the front lines requiring armor over many years during your military service.

RETIRED BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Wolf.

Right now, it's highlighted in the war in Iraq. It's actually been a problem for many, many years. It's always been a low priority to outfit, for instance, supply trucks. And they're at the bottom of the heap. And there just never was any money or priority to do it. I remember when we tried to get armor...

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Explain that. Why is that? It seems like such an obvious need. There is nothing more precious than the fighting men and women, and this protects them. Why is it such a low priority?

GRANGE: Well, that's a great question.

There are four elements of combat power, maneuver, firepower, leadership and protect the force. And basically protect the force in a lot of these situations like moving in vehicles really has been neglected, at least the entire time that I served. Where the money went, where the emphasis went, were big-ticket items, tanks, jets, submarines, aircraft carriers, not the protection of the troop on the ground, whether it be an armored vest or an armored vehicle.

BLITZER: And is there any explanation for that, other than they just made a bad judgment? They didn't think the U.S. fighting forces were going to need these kinds of protective gear?

GRANGE: Well, the focus, the priority on that type of protection really hasn't come to light until the last few years. In Vietnam, you threw sandbags into vehicles and people went up the -- they called highway of death, highway one in the northern part of South Vietnam on a daily basis, very heroic, and had almost had zero armored protection.

It's been getting better and better. And it's better than it's ever been from what I can see, at least when I served, but it has a long way to go.

BLITZER: If you were a parent of a soldier right now fighting in Iraq, or a Marine, it's almost been two years since this war started. In March, it will be two years since the war started, and one of your loved ones was killed or injured by some of these -- the shrapnel or whatever that got through the soft targets, the soft sides of these Humvees or these trucks, how angry would you be?

GRANGE: I'd be very angry. I'd be very upset. The problem again wasn't just at the start of the Iraqi war. It's been a problem for years and it's been neglected. And it's not really they. I was one of they. It's the responsibility of the general officers, the administration, Congress, all of those involved in supplying, resource and providing the protection and readiness for our armed forces.

And it's getting there, but it has taken some time. Now, part of the time is because there wasn't enough priority to get it going, just like some of the shots of manufacturers saying they can increase production. You have got to grab people by the neck and make them do it.

The other is, though, there is a putting-it-together challenge, enough people to actually do that. So, once they're built, to get them and actually and put them on threat thousands of vehicles and take some time. But it's just been building up all these years.

BLITZER: Here's what's so frustrating.

Even on this program, we heard our David Ensor, our national security correspondent, just a little while ago report on some super- secret, very high-tech, fancy stealth program, a satellite program costing billions of dollars, presumably over many, many years. There's money available for that, but there's not money available for armor, for trucks or Humvees or vests?

That's what seems so frustrating given the nature of this business, because, relatively speaking, the amount of money you need to protect the troops is relatively modest.

GRANGE: Very modest.

I mean, you could probably buy armored vests for everybody in Iraq for the cost of one modern bomber airplane. Well, that's been an issue. And it's been an issue, like I said, the whole time I served. The bottom of the heap on those things basically was the old grunt, the infantryman. But, actually, below that, you may have a truck driver. And then, if you happen to be in the National Guard or Reserve, you are even below that.

So now that all the different components of the armed forces are being thrown in harm's way with the same threat, everybody needs this kind of stuff. And so there's a surge to provide it for the National Guard, Reserve, and the active, both in the front lines and in the rear, because, in a counterinsurgency, the threat's there for everybody.

BLITZER: David Grange, retired U.S. Army, Brigadier General -- thanks very much, David.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

BLITZER: And a related story, A U.S. Army Reservist who filed several complaints up the chain of command over the lack of equipment for troops in Iraq could face court-martial. An investigating officer is recommending court-martial for Lieutenant Julian Goodrum, who commanded for than a dozen vehicles in a transportation company in the early stages of the Iraq war.

Goodrum complained several times about equipment shortages and lack of security for his convoys, then rotated out of Iraq and sought treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. The Army claims he was AWOL during that time he was seeking treatment. Goodrum denies that. In an interview with our Brian Todd just last month, he claimed he's the victim of retaliation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. JULIAN GOODRUM, U.S. ARMY RESERVE: My honor and loyalty has been shattered by the military. I've never questioned an order in 16 years. I was always under the belief if I'm injured or hurt or if a soldier or company needs essential equipment, the Army will always provide it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Lieutenant Goodrum and his attorneys plan to fight the court-martial. The Army has declined comment.

Canada's newest action on same-sex marriage. Will the United States take a cue from its northern neighbor? Our Carlos Watson has "The Inside Edge."

Humanitarian crisis in Sudan. We'll hear from a woman who has been an eyewitness to much of the killing of civilians. Our Zain Verjee is standing by with that story.

And a new milestone for the United States and a former enemy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Gay marriage was an issue in the U.S. presidential election. Now it's making news in Canada.

For a look at some cross-border politics and other issues, we turn to our political analyst Carlos Watson. He has "The Inside Edge," Joining us Palo Alto.

Carlos, you see some sort of connection between what's happening in Canada on this issue and in the United States?

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I do, Wolf.

You know, what's really interesting is that over the last 20-plus years we've seen globalization bring a lot of things into the U.S., from movies to raincoats, to all sorts of goods. But now we seem to be importing things from other countries, political ideas. And think about it. Canada's offered us two signature things over the last year.

One was the prescription drug issue, which they helped fuel, because you could go across the border. Now, given that the Supreme Court in Canada has just essentially given the go-ahead for gay marriage licenses there, you may, over the next year, see Americans go across the border there and that may reignite the issue here. So it's interesting to see political issues or at least political fuel being imported from Canada.

BLITZER: Globalization. There's also this notion of the intensity of U.S. elections being exported, a whole bunch of elections coming up in the coming weeks and months around the world. What do you sense on that?

WATSON: You bet.

The flip side, if you will, of the globalization of politics is, we're not only importing political fuel, but we're exporting it. We had such an intense election, spent record amounts of money, had lots of people participating. And a lot of people thought, well, after November 2, it's over. But the reality is, we're in a sense exporting some of that intensity abroad.

January 9, the Palestinian elections to replace Yasser Arafat. Also in January you've got the elections in Iraq and we're seeing a lot of activity there both on the Shiite and on the Sunni side. And remember, later in the year, you'll see in England, you'll see some fairly intense election. One thing to note is, one of the reasons why we're exporting it is not just the media coverage, but because some of our own political consultants are going abroad, both to the Middle East and to Europe, to play a role in those elections.

BLITZER: Carlos Watson with "The Inside Edge," he joins us every Friday here on CNN. Carlos, thanks very much.

WATSON: Good to see you.

BLITZER: Surviving what the United States calls a campaign of genocide in Sudan. We'll hear from a woman who has witnessed the horrors firsthand. We'll get to that.

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has won his corruption trial. A three-judge panel acquitted Berlusconi of one of the charges and it ruled that the statute of limitations has run out on the other charge.

Pakistan blast. At least 10 people were killed when a bomb hidden on a bicycle exploded in a crowded outdoor market in southwestern Pakistan near an army truck. Police say the dead included one soldier.

Explosive cargo. In China's Hunan Province, flames broke out aboard a railroad freight car filled with fireworks. Explosions injured at least 18 railroad workers.

Nobel effort. Wangari Maathai accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway. An environmental activist, Maathai is the first African woman and the first Kenyan to receive the honor.

Historic landing. For the first time since the Vietnam War, a U.S. commercial passenger jet has landed in Vietnam. United Airlines Flight 869 will provide daily service between San Francisco and Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Sudanese government officials and rebels from the western Darfur region are in Nigeria for talks on ending hostilities. A campaign to terrorize residents oft region has been called genocide by the U.S. government. And despite earlier agreements, the United Nations says the situation is getting worse.

CNN's Zain Verjee is here in Washington. She's been at a conference on the situation. She's joining us live -- Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, she is an eyewitness to murder, rape, destruction. Eiman was in a village in the Darfur region of Sudan when the feared janjaweed militia rode in and attacked. It's a militia human rights groups say is backed by the government.

Here's what Eiman says she saw.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EIMAN ABULGASIM SEIFELDIN, SUDANESE CITIZEN: People coming on their horses killing, doing everything, shouting. There is, you know, a noise that cannot get out of my mind never, ever.

And, you see, they just -- there is the taste of war and the smell of burning of all the houses, homes and the crops, everything, everything that you can imagine. And, you know, you just get scared. You are very scared. And you have to run away. But, you know, we just ran away. To where, we don't know.

VERJEE: Eiman says her childhood friend from that village was raped by several men. Women who are raped, she says, can look forward to nothing but rejection.

SEIFELDIN: Because, as women, to be raped, it is very -- you know, it is lowering her quality as a human being. That is why rape is very vicious to us.

When a woman raped, her life is finished. It is nothing more. You don't have right to life again. It was very hard for us. So many women have been raped. And some of them are now pregnant. And, you know, there is no word to describe it, no. We have been tortured.

VERJEE: I asked Eiman, you are the wife of the secretary-general of one of the rebel groups fighting in Darfur. You have an interest in telling the story. There are many who will say, you are not telling the truth.

Her response:

SEIFELDIN: Let them go and be there and let them see what is really what's really happening and what's really happened in the past. There is no single village now standing. All of them have been wiped from the ground. All the village have been destructed.

VERJEE: Although she escaped the atrocities, Eiman says the horror haunts her day and night.

SEIFELDIN: You just, sometimes, in the midnight, you wake up because there is images of those who are coming, their horses, the bombs that are falling up from the sky. There is insecurity. There is darkness. There is hopelessness. There is anything -- there is nothing.

VERJEE: Help us, Eiman pleads to the international community.

SEIFELDIN: We are suffering a lot. We cannot fight that war alone, and to give hands and to give food and to provide security and to prevent what is going on in Darfur.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: U.S. officials say, what's going on in Darfur is genocide.

The government of Sudan says the rebels are responsible for the violence. Khartoum denies it supports the Arab janjaweed militia and insists the international community must put pressure on the rebels to end the violence -- Wolf.

BLITZER: What a heartbreaking story.

Zain Verjee, thanks very much. Thanks for coming to Washington.

VERJEE: Thank you.

BLITZER: And we'll have the results of our Web question of the day. That's coming up next.

And these military members won't be home for the holidays. But they're still celebrating. And that will be in our picture of the day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Do you think Scott Peterson deserves the death penalty? Seventy percent of you say yes; 30 percent of you say no. More than 106,000 votes cast so far. Remember, though, this is not a scientific poll.

U.S. troops need to be innovative as they try to bring American traditions and a holiday spirit to their bases in Iraq. But leave it to engineers to build a Christmas tree out of scrap metal and cement blocks. Members of this engineering battalion posed for this photo after a tree-lighting ceremony at their base in eastern Baghdad. It serves as a tribute to all those U.S. military personnel who will be far from home for the holidays. And as a result, it's a worthy picture of the day.

A reminder, you can always catch us on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS weekdays, 5:00 p.m. Eastern, also weekdays at noon Eastern. Tune in to "LATE EDITION" this Sunday. It's the last word in Sunday talk. Among my special guests, Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, just elected. That's Sunday noon Eastern.

Until then, thanks very much for joining us.

"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