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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Rumsfeld Tried to Resign Twice; Iraq Violence Surges After Election; Bush Stumps for Social Security Change

Aired February 03, 2005 - 17:00   ET

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

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


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now. A bombshell just dropped by the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, what he told CNN's Larry King just a little while ago about two, yes, two attempts to resign.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): From the State of the Union to the states, the president pushes his Social Security reforms in the heartland.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It grows over time. It's your money.

BLITZER: The fight for Iraq. Insurgents add to their tally of dead by the dozens. And a top Marine general says it's fun to shoot people.

Families of the fallen. Some back President Bush, others blame him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And here's my son also.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my brother.

BLITZER: Alabama brawl. It began at a girls' basketball game. It ended with police firing Tasers.

A tumor named Frank, a family's creative fight to save their son, and the doctor who's creative surgery may have done just that.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Thursday, February 3rd, 2005.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We're just getting this information into CNN. The defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has revealed that he twice offered his resignation to President Bush during the Abu Ghraib Prison abuse scandal. Rumsfeld made that comment in an interview just taped with CNN's Larry King. Our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, is standing by live over at the Pentagon with details -- Jamie. JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as you probably recall, at the height of the Abu Ghraib scandal, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld went on Capitol Hill and testified that he took full responsibility for the scandal.

When asked if his resignation might help, he said, it might. And that he indicated he would step down if he couldn't be effective. But we've learned now in this interview with CNN's Larry King, seen only here on CNN, that Defense Secretary Rumsfeld offered that resignation not once, but twice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I submitted my resignation to President Bush twice during that period and told him that I felt that he ought to make the decision as to whether or not I stayed on, and he made that decision and said he did want me to stay on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: In fact, Rumsfeld said at the time that he served at the pleasure of the president. A short time after that appearance on Capitol Hill, President Bush came to the Pentagon and said that Donald Rumsfeld was doing a, quote, "superb job" -- Wolf.

BLITZER: At the same time today, we're getting word, Jamie, that a top U.S. Marine -- a lieutenant general made some seemingly outlandish comments. Give our viewers the details of this story.

MCINTYRE: Well, Lieutenant General James Mattis has admitted that he perhaps should have chosen his words more carefully. He's been counseled by the commandant of the Marine Corps. Mattis was speaking to a group in San Diego when he said, and I quote, "it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." He was talking about the Taliban in Afghanistan, when he was a commander there.

Here is a little clip of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. JAMES MATTIS, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Actually, it's quite fun to fight 'em, you know, it's a hell of a hoot. It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up front about it. Yeah, I like brawling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: It's a bit of a hoot, he said. Today senior officials called Mattis one of the country's bravest and most experienced military leaders, but said his comments were not in the finest tradition of the U.S. military.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. PETER PACE, VICE CHMN., JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: All of us who are leaders have a responsibility in our words and our actions to provide the right example all the time for those who look to us for leadership. I was not present when General Mattis made those specific comments, so I will let him address what he said for himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: General Pace there, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, also a Marine, he pointed to a letter that General Mattis sent to his troops before they went into Iraq, calling on them to treat people with decency, demonstrate chivalry and soldierly compassion. As one senior Pentagon official said today, General Mattis is a great general, but it's obvious we're never going to make a great diplomat out of him -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Has he explained, clarified what he meant by those remarks, Jamie?

MCINTYRE: Well, he hasn't, except in that statement through the commandant saying that he should have chosen his words more carefully. I mean, frankly, Wolf, one of the dirty little secrets of war is that combat can be dangerous and dirty, and sometimes exhilarating, but it is considered unseemly to gloat about killing in any form.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre, at the Pentagon, Jamie, thanks very much.

This programming note to our viewers, you can see Larry King's complete interview with the defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE." That airs 9:00 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Pacific. only here on CNN.

And we're also just getting this in to CNN. The U.S. Senate has just confirmed President Bush's nomination of Alberto Gonzales to be the next attorney general of the United States. The final vote: 60 in favor, 36 opposed. Gonzales will be the first Hispanic attorney general in U.S. history.

Some Democrats had strongly opposed the nomination, voting against it, saying that as White House counsel he gave advice that led to the abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. But once again, just in, Alberto Gonzales approved, confirmed to be the next attorney general, he is expected to be sworn in very, very soon.

Let's move on to Iraq right now. Four days ago after the Iraqi elections spurred new hopes for the democracy, there's been an upswing of violence in Iraq. Now Iraqi officials also think though they may be getting close to capturing the man behind many of those attacks, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

CNN's Nic Robertson has details from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, over the last few weeks, we've heard from Iraqi officials saying that they have caught several top lieutenants of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Often, this information is held for a period of weeks, so that the intelligence value can be gained from insurgents not knowing whether these leaders have been captured or killed.

Now, it appears, according to Iraqi officials, that they may very well be closing on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I said we missed him by one hour maybe, something like that. You know, he's not staying in one place. He's moving from area to another. So we will get him very soon, hopefully.

ROBERTSON: The fact that Zarqawi appears able to move around Iraq does make it harder for both Iraqi security forces, U.S. security forces to track him down. But, in the last 24 hours, there has been now an uptick in the violence by insurgents. There was a lull following the elections of the weekend.

But on Wednesday evening, when a group of young Iraqi army recruits were returning from training about 70 kilometers, about 45 miles southwest of the town of Kirkuk, right in the northern tip of the Sunni Triangle, as they were on their way home from work in a bus, the bus was stopped by insurgents. The unarmed trainees were taken off the bus and shot one by one. We understand from local police officials they were unarmed as they were taken off that bus.

Also, we've heard that another two Iraqi army soldiers in Baghdad were shot while they were off duty. It was a drive-by shooting. They were sitting at home, we are told, unarmed in civilian clothes when they were shot. But also just outside of Baquba, a town about 45- minutes drive northeast of Baghdad, an Iraqi soldier shot in an ambush by insurgents there. In the vehicle with him as he was driving along were his father and sister. They were also killed.

And in the town of Baquba in the early hours of Thursday, a number of workers were going to work, on their way to work for a U.S. contractor. They were ambushed in their taxi on way to work by insurgents. Four of those contractors, four of those Iraqi contractors were killed and two of them wounded.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: There's been another black eye for the United Nations in its dealings with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. A wide-ranging probe of the Oil-for-Food Program now concludes that its chief sought and took bribes from Saddam Hussein's regime. Let's get the details. Our senior U.N. correspondence Richard Roth is standing by -- Richard.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, first findings from Paul Volcker, the leader of this special team authorized by the U.N. into the massive Oil-for-Food Program. Pretty damning charges, you might say, about Benon Sevan, the man who directed this program.

Paul Volcker, the leader of the panel, held a press conference in this room, packed press conference, and he said that Sevan solicited allocations of oil in effect for his own benefit even while he was in Iraq on U.N. work. This was all before the war when the Oil-for-Food Program was giving thousands of millions of Iraqis badly needed food.

This is what Volcker had to say about what Saddam did wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL VOLCKER, FMR. FEDERAL RESERVE CHMN.: Whatever the result in terms of actual behavior, I think it is a fact that Mr. Sevan placed himself in a grave and continuing conflict of interest situation that violated explicit U.N. rules and violated the standards of integrity essential to our high-level international civil servant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: Volcker calls it the most disheartening aspect so far of this initial report. Benon Sevan is a 40-year career United Nations employee, he's an Armenian Cypriot. He has been in many several leading United Nations jobs, including security for U.N. officials, handling negotiations in various countries. And Kofi Annan has stood by him until just now.

Just a short time ago, his new chief of staff said Annan has started disciplinary proceedings against Benon Sevan and another U.N. official. However, Sevan is effectively retired, working for a dollar a day -- or a dollar a year cooperating with the U.N.

However, Volcker said, Wolf, that Benon Sevan has been less than forthcoming now about additional interviews. According to his report, Benon Sevan got $150,000 in cash payments and $1.5 million along with a company in oil barrel profits. Back to you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Paul Volcker, what did he say, Richard, about the U.N. secretary-general, Kofi Annan, or his son?

ROTH: Stay tuned for that. Several more months of investigating? Not ready at this moment to say anything. He said to me in an interview, Kojo Annan is cooperating and so Secretary-General Annan...

BLITZER: All right, we -- unfortunately, we are losing that signal from Richard Roth, but he said in effect stay tuned, more coming out from Paul Volcker, no final word yet on Kofi Annan or his son Kojo on this investigation, this Oil-for-Food investigation. Richard, thanks very much.

Meanwhile President Bush today flew to North Dakota and he has a speech next hour in Montana, that's part of a five-state tour to try to promote his Social Security overhaul. As more details emerge about the plan to partially privatize the program, let's go live to New York, our economics correspondent, Kathleen Hays, standing by with details there -- Kathleen.

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN ECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, President Bush has been adamant, private investment accounts must be part of any Social Security reform proposal passed by Congress. Many Democrats are opposed. They say these accounts would be the beginning of the end for a very important part of the nation's safety net. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HAYS (voice-over): The hard sell has begun as the president takes to the road to champion the centerpiece of his State of the Union Address.

BUSH: We want you to be able to have more security in your retirement. And that is to allow younger workers to take some of their own payroll taxes and set it aside in what's called a personal retirement account.

HAYS: The White House is producing some details of a concept the president has championed for years. The plan would not affect people 55 and older. Right now workers pay a payroll tax of 12.4 percent for Social Security, half comes from the employee, half from the employer. Under the new plan, younger workers could choose to divert a third to a private investment account.

Only a limited menu of federally approved relatively conservative stock and bond funds would be allowed. The biggest plus? Supporters say it's a chance to ride the stock market higher and earn better returns than the government would earn on the same Social Security money.

SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: Over time you're going to get somewhere between 5 and 8 percent, compared to the little over 1 percent that Social Security gives. But the real key here is to give our young people who don't believe there will be any Social Security there for them to give them the chance to be able to save for their own retirement.

HAYS: Another plus, it would give workers a way to pass their Social Security retirement benefits on to their heirs. Under the current system, those benefits stay with the government.

One of the biggest objections raised to personal accounts, stock market investments are risky. Wall Street brokerage firm Goldman Sachs says retiring at the wrong point in the stock market's recent cycle could have cut returns for personal account holders by more than one third.

And personal accounts would take a lot of money out of the benefit pool. The White House puts that at $800 billion over 10 years. Others say the trust fund would be out more than $2 trillion.

SEN, JON CORZINE (D), NEW JERSEY: The fact is those are still going to have to get funded, it's going to pull financial resources out of the Social Security trust fund that are not going to be available for guaranteed benefits.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAYS: Paying guaranteed benefits as more and more workers retire is the fundamental challenge facing Social Security. Part of the president's proposal could be asking younger workers to accept a cut in guaranteed benefits in order to get a chance at investing some of their money in these private accounts -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Kathleen Hays reporting for us, thanks, Kathleen, very much. Social Security very much on the agenda.

When we come back, he supports the war in Iran -- in Iraq and now says regime change is needed in neighboring Iran as well. We'll hear from the controversial former Pentagon official, Richard Perle. He's standing by.

Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My son died for nothing. My son died in vain. Prove to me he didn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A soldier's sacrifice, a mother's incredible grief, why this family blames the president and the defense secretary for their major loss.

Also ahead, not just for men. A girl's high school basketball game turns into a brawl with extreme measures taken by police to end the fight.

And later, battling a tumor named Frank, one family's creative way to treat and pay for their young son's cancer surgery. This is a story you don't want to miss.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In his State of the Union Address, President Bush said he'll stay the course in Iraq and he indicated the U.S. is eyeing closely Iran and Syria, accusing them of supporting terrorism. Is another regime change in the works? Just a little while ago, I spoke with a former Pentagon official and noted foreign policy hawk, Richard Perle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Richard Perle, thanks very much for joining us.

RICHARD PERLE, FMR. ASST. DEFENSE SECY.: It's a pleasure.

BLITZER: I remember the speech, and I just went back to the 2002 State of the Union Address in which he spoke about the dangers from Iraq, the dangers being weapons of mass destruction and terrorism. In a speech last night, the president spoke about the importance of getting democracy, freedom, liberty in Iraq. With no WMD found in Iraq, this is a pretty dramatic change, the rationale for going to war clearly changed as a result of not finding WMD.

PERLE: I think the prospect of liberating Iraq and putting it on a path to democracy was always part of the president's thinking. It was not emphasized and it was not emphasized in part because the lawyers at the State Department and elsewhere argued that the removal of weapons of mass destruction, which Saddam refused to account for, was clearly contemplated under international law, but it was a tougher case if we were simply going to Iraq to bring about democratic reform.

BLITZER: But the main reason to going to war was the fear of weapons of mass destruction, which hasn't materialized.

PERLE: I think that if Saddam had turned over documentation proving he didn't have weapons of mass destruction, we probably would not have gone to war.

BLITZER: The liberty thing sort of came in later. Iran last night, a very interesting section on Iran with a clear warning to the Iranians. The president says, this is the primary state sponsor of terror in the world. He then goes on to deliver this direct message. He says to the Iranian people: "I say, tonight as you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you."

What is he setting the stage for there?

PERLE: Well, I hope he's setting the stage for assistance to the millions and millions of Iranians who despise the regime the theocratic dictatorship of the mullahs, a handful of mullahs in Tehran who have robbed them of any opportunity for liberalization. I hope we will now begin to support them.

Up until today, we have not done that. Although the president on every occasion that he has spoken about Iran has identified with the people of Iran and not with the government.

BLITZER: So you support regime change in Iran?

PERLE: Absolutely. As do I believe, the vast majority of Iranians.

BLITZER: Well, how do you get -- with a military invasion, if necessary? Would you do that?

PERLE: I don't believe that's necessary. I think what brought about regime change in a number of countries in the world, from Salazar's Portugal to Franco's Spain, to Milosevic's Serbia, Ukraine, there are political processes that can be made to work.

BLITZER: But the clock in Iran, at least according to the Bush administration, is ticking because of a clandestine nuclear weapons program. Would you support military force if necessary to end that program?

PERLE: If we believed that Iran was on the verge of emerging with nuclear weapons, I don't think we would have much choice but to take preemptive action against the facilities that enabled them to acquire those weapons.

BLITZER: Would it be better for the U.S. military to do that or Israeli military to do that?

PERLE: Well, I believe the U.S. military is far more capable to carry out a mission of that kind. But the much better way to deal with the situation in Iran is to assist those Iranians who want to change their regime.

BLITZER: There was a pretty strong message to Syria in that speech last night as well. What did you make of that?

PERLE: The Syrians, as the president indicated, have been assisting those who are trying to destroy an emerging Iraqi democracy. They've been complicit with those who are killing Americans. They've held on to money that rightly belongs to the Iraqi people and they support terrorism themselves. Now when you put that all together, we have a big problem with the Syrian government.

We've been sending mixed signals in the past, sometimes talking tough and then the secretary of state goes and visits and doesn't talk tough, or the deputy secretary. But I believe that will change now and you'll see a more consistent theme. And I believe that the president's views will be more directly reflected in the actions of his administration.

BLITZER: I was pretty surprised by the direct message to friendly governments like Saudi Arabia and Egypt that they should start to get better on track towards Democratic reform as well. It's unusual for a president to lecture these kind of allies.

PERLE: I think the president understands that there will be no peace in the region, there will be no security from terrorism so long as the Middle East is dominated by dictatorships that produce men, and in some cases even women, who become prepared to die in order to kill Americans.

The environment in which these terrorists are being created is not an environment of poverty, it's an environment of dictatorship and suppression of individual freedom. The president has embarked on a campaign to widen the scope of individual freedom, including in the Middle East, and that has to include countries that we regard as friends.

BLITZER: Richard Perle, one final question. You're one of the leading intellectual thinkers of the so-called neo-conservative movement. Looking back over the past couple years, were there mistakes that you and your fellow neo-conservatives, neocons, as they're called, were there serious mistakes that were made?

PERLE: I believe there were serious mistakes made in the occupation in Iraq after the toppling of Saddam's regime. We should have handed power over immediately. And as the Iraqis have now shown us they could and the have indeed risen to the occasion. But this was not a philosophical error, this was the implementation, the management of policies after the end of the war. And I don't know anyone who would think of himself as neo-conservative who favored sliding into that occupation.

BLITZER: So you blame Paul Bremer, is that what you're suggesting?

PERLE: Well, Paul Bremer wanted an occupation, yes. And I think he's no neo-conservative, but he wasn't alone. Some of our military leaders wanted an occupation.

BLITZER: Richard Perle, thanks very much.

PERLE: Thank you.

BLITZER: And we'll have more on the president's policy in Iraq and the region as well a new peace prospects between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The former U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen standing by to join us live.

And forget about the Pacers and the Pistons, this basketball brawl erupted at a girls' high school game. We'll show you what happened.

Also ahead, a get well letter to the Pope written by the man who once tried to kill him.

And later...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He says, mom, I don't want to go back to Iraq. It's a worthless, senseless war. We don't even know who the enemy is over there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Deep anger and blame: Why the mother of one fallen soldier blames the president of the United States for her son's sacrifice.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Stun guns and arrests: Not your typical fare at a girl's high school basketball game. But that was a result of a melee that spilled out of the stands and onto the floor Tuesday night, all of it captured on videotape. CNN's Mary Snow is standing by in New York with details of this story -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, the police chief in Prattville, Alabama says this is highly unusual for his town. Fans started fighting in the stands, it spilled over into the court. Dozens were said to be involved. So far police say they've arrested 11 teenagers on charges of disorderly conduct and refusing to obey a police officer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW (voice-over): Tears flew and so did fists. And to break of the melee, the police chief in Prattville, Alabama said his officers used Taser guns. He said 4 officers, outnumbered and overwhelmed, used about ten quick jolts, or what he called dry stuns to clear the crowd.

We had night sticks, we didn't bother with the night stick. We had Tasers. And we tased those people who were actively involved.

SNOW: Exactly what sparked Tuesday night's brawl is unclear. Police say there have been tensions between 2 groups of students at rival high schools for about a year. And, they say, there had been a recent dispute at a fast food restaurant that apparently spilled over to a girls high school basketball game.

Police released this videotape. And the district attorney says his office is making every effort to identify those involved and charge them.

RANDALL HOUSTON, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The chairs pummeling through the air could have very much hurt someone. And there was a bunch of cheerleaders and basketball players in the background. And they could have been hurt.

SNOW: The scene is reminiscent that broke out at a Pistons- Pacers NBA game back in November. In that instance, like this one, police used the videotape to identify and charge participants. School officials also plan to take disciplinary action.

LOUIE FRYER, PRINCIPAL: It's unfortunate that people go to a basketball game for reasons other than to enjoy a basketball game and pull for their team.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: Police say they do expect to make some more arrests. And they say, fortunately, no one was seriously injured -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, fortunately for that. Thanks, Mary Snow, reporting for us from New York.

When we come back, new peace prospects in the Middle East just days before a landmark summit in Egypt between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders. But will this optimistic mood last amid the violent clashes?

Plus, this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID DINGMAN-GROVER, 9 YEARS OLD: He's named Frank because Frankenstein used to scare me when I was little.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A nine-year-old names his tumor Frank. We'll tell you about that and how the boy's family helped get him the surgery he so desperately needed.

And next, we'll update you on the condition of Pope John Paul II.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In the Middle East, a Palestinian gunman was killed and at least four Israelis were wounded in clashes today, but peace moves are gathering momentum. Days before a summit meeting involving the Israeli and Palestinian leadership, Israel's government approved the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and a pullout from some West Bank cities.

CNN's Guy Raz reports from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Saying goodbye before embarking on a critical journey, Iyad Asalut (ph) and some 40 fellow Palestinian police officers back in action after four years, leaving for training in Egypt. These are the men whose job will be to enforce the fragile peace in Gaza.

Israel's Cabinet, impressed with the reduction in violence, now agreeing to hand over security to Palestinian forces in five West Bank cities. At the same time, 900 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails will be gradually released, a couple of steps the Israelis are taking ahead of next week's landmark meeting in Egypt between Israeli Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas.

MARK REGEV, ISRAELI EMBASSY SPOKESPERSON: We have spoken about a number of confidence-building measures, measures that will tangibly show people on both sides, Palestinians and Israelis, that the summit between Prime Minister Sharon and Mr. Abbas is good.

RAZ: There's an optimistic mood in Israel, newspapers even declaring the end of the four-year-old armed Palestinian uprising.

MOSHE ARENS, FORMER ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: The new man, Abu Mazen, he has said that he doesn't believe in the use of terror, doesn't believe in the use of violence. So we'll see where we go from here.

RAZ: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is also optimistic, but with caution. "Had we not seen these positive signs coming from the Israeli," he said, "we wouldn't have agreed to attend the summit in Egypt."

That summit will bring together four regional leaders. Israel wants the meeting to focus on security coordination. Palestinians are hoping it will jump-start the peace process.

SAEB EREKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: We hope that the Sharm el-Sheikh summit will facilitate the way to resuming a meaningful peace process that will end the Israeli occupation that began in '67.

RAZ: An occupation that Israel is under increasing pressure from the United States to abandon.

(on camera): No one expects next Tuesday's summit in Israel to herald the end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are too many fundamental differences between both sides yet to be resolved and the momentum could be interrupted at any moment, but for now the spirit of cooperation is on a roll.

Guy Raz, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Are Israelis and Palestinians ready to turn the corner toward peace?

Joining us now, our world affairs analyst, the former Defense Secretary William Cohen.

Good question. The president last, if you saw his speech -- and I'm sure you did -- he said, peace is within reach and America will help them achieve that goal. What do you think?

WILLIAM COHEN, CNN WORLD AFFAIRS ANALYST: I think we're at an historic turning point.

There's an opportunity now that the Palestinians have a leader that both the United States and the Israelis think that they can work with, that he is seeking peace. And I think that with the new secretary of state going on behalf of President Bush, this is a real historic opportunity.

BLITZER: And the signals that the U.S. and others getting from Ariel Sharon, is he ready to make the kinds of concessions the Palestinians would require?

COHEN: Well, he appears to be ready and he is taking some initial steps. And we'll see how the meetings come out and the meeting hosted by Hosni Mubarak. President Mubarak of Egypt at Sharm el-Sheikh will be very important.

But it's going to be a step-by-step process. I think there's been an awful lot of heartbreak for those who want to see peace a Middle East peace settlement over the years. And we have to take a lot of cold showers along the way. But this is a very promising beginning and new dynamic I think under way.

BLITZER: And leading up to the summit on Tuesday in Sharm el- Sheikh, the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, will meet Sunday in Jerusalem with Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister. On Monday, she will go out to the West Bank to meet with Mahmoud Abbas, Abu Mazen, the Palestinian Authority president, separate meetings. She has got her work cut out for her as well.

COHEN: She does, but I think she's fully capable of measuring up to the responsibilities.

She has something that, unfortunately, Secretary Powell did not have, and that's the strong, unqualified support of the president of the United States. Secretary Powell went and made similar approaches in the past. He did not have the support of the administration. At least it wasn't unqualified. I think Condoleezza Rice will have that support. So that may make a difference.

BLITZER: And when you're speaking to leaders, especially in that part of the world, when they know you speak for the president of the United States, and they know Condoleezza Rice does, that has a huge impact.

COHEN: It makes a very big difference.

In the past, they would say that Secretary Powell was certainly on the right track trying to bring about a Middle East peace settlement, but didn't have unqualified support. There were too many divisions in the administration. The president wasn't fully behind him.

That appears to be a major difference. And, hopefully, we'll see the president strongly support Secretary Rice and that she'll have the support of the Israelis and the Palestinians.

BLITZER: We just learned today, thanks to Larry King's interview with Donald Rumsfeld, that he twice, not once, but twice, offered to resign during the middle of the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal. I didn't know that. Did you know that?

COHEN: No, I didn't know it, but it does not come as a surprise to me.

Secretary Rumsfeld has been a strong and -- public servant over the years. He is committed to this country. And it wounded him deeply, what took place. And I think that he felt, if he was going to be an obstacle to achieving success in Iraq, he's prepared to step aside. I think he felt deeply about it and submitted his resignation on two occasions. And the president decided that he could still be effective and wanted him in that position. And so he rejected it.

BLITZER: If you were still the defense secretary and a lieutenant general in the U.S. Marine Corps, you got word, told a group, a business group out in San Diego, it's a hoot -- a hoot -- to go out and kill in battle, what would you do about that?

COHEN: Well, first, let me say about General Mattis, I know him. He's a strong leader. I know that the Marines look up to him. He's been a real heroic warrior in battle.

But, in effect, you must point out to him, as to others, that, when you are engaged in war, you are going to kill other people. It's a matter of survival. It's not a matter of sport. And I think that the comments that were made were not appropriate. But he has a strong record of leadership. I know him personally. I know he probably regrets having said what he said.

But it's survival. It's not sport. And you can't make light of it. You're taking somebody else's life even as you're pursuing your duties as a soldier. It's a solemn enterprise, not a sport.

BLITZER: As usual, well said. William Cohen, thanks very much for that. The Vatican says Pope John Paul II is recovering from the flu. Officials are hoping the pontiff will be well enough to deliver his weekly blessing from his hospital bed on Sunday.

In a somewhat bizarre development, the Turkish man who shot the pope in 1981 has released a statement from his prison cell. While wishing the pope a speedy recovery, it goes on to say -- and I'm quoting now -- "Now you have to confirm the divine truth that we are at the end of the world. This is the last generation of humanity on planet Earth. Only like this will God give you health and miraculous strength for the coming year." That's the end of the quote.

A grieving mother's message to the president:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUE NIEDERER, MOTHER OF KILLED U.S. SOLDIER: I just want him to see what he's done and face the people behind the shirts and behind the grief.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A soldier's sacrifice, his mother's new mission, when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A poignant moment that drew a prolonged standing ovation at last night's State of the Union address, an Iraqi political activist Safia Taleb al-Suhail, hugging Janet Norwood, a Texas woman whose Marine son was killed in Iraq. Both were guests of the first lady. What a moving moment that was.

But just as Mrs. Norwood was a symbol of support for the president's policies in Iraq, another mother who also sacrificed a son has become a symbol of opposition.

CNN's Maria Hinojosa has her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a frigid, blustery morning the day Sue Niederer marched on the Pentagon with a group of parents. Their children died fighting the Iraq war. But even the worst winter storm can't cool their emotions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop right here. Stop right here.

HINOJOSA: Sue Niederer wants to pass pictures of the children they lost to secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld.

NIEDERER: This is my son. I'd like to show him what he has done and what I have lost.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And here is my son also.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my brother.

HINOJOSA: Sue's Niederer's son, Lieutenant Seth Dvorkin, with a boyish smile and his mother's eyes, was killed almost one year ago. In New Jersey, his relatives dedicated a bench to him, a place for his mother to seek solitude and meditate on her loss.

NIEDERER: I said, don't be a hero, don't be a hero, son. And he promised me he wouldn't be a hero. But I knew in my heart that if something happened to him, it was because he saved others. And he did. He did. What do you say to a kid like that?

HINOJOSA: Just days before he died the boy she calls a brave soldier, had doubts about the war he was fighting.

NIEDERER: He says, mom, you know, I don't want to go to Iraq, it's a worthless, senseless war, we don't even know who the enemy is over there, but I'm a commander, I'm a lieutenant, I have 18 men that I'm in charge of; I've got to bring these men home safely.

HINOJOSA: Seth's mission, to bring his troops home, has now become his mother's. So the days of being a subdued suburban real estate agent are gone.

NIEDERER: I have to speak out. I can't allow this government to continue to do what they want to do and not care and not even face us. They refuse to even see or acknowledge us. I have to speak. I have to be in their faces.

HINOJOSA: When Laura Bush came to New York, Sue Niederer was there, and to ask pointed questions.

NIEDERER: Why aren't the senators, the legislators, the Congressmen, her children serving in this war? If this is a war that they agree with, there are only three.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am, you need to come with us, ma'am.

NIEDERER: You want to arrest me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I really don't want to arrest you, ma'am.

HINOJOSA: Don't take my arm!

Go ahead, come on. Arrest me, right here in front of everybody. Go ahead!

HINOJOSA: Her activism now is with potential recruits for the U.S. military -- teenagers.

NIEDERER: Pull over, sit down.

HINOJOSA: She calls herself a counter-recruiter.

NIEDERER: If the war allowed for counter-recruiters to come in, would you feel differently? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the allowed counter-recruiters to come in?

NIEDERER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would feel better about it because it's equal access.

NIEDERER: Exactly. Exactly. That's what we're fighting for.

HINOJOSA: At home, she is left only with reminders of her boy.

NIEDERER: This is his name and also in, I guess it's Arabic.

HINOJOSA: On her son's unused bed the confrontational T-shirt she wears.

NIEDERER: I just want him to see what he's done and face the people behind the shirts and behind the grief, not just the ones who agree with him at all times.

HINOJOSA: When Seth was alive she baked cookies for the troops and sent them an American signed by school kids to let them know people cared.

NIEDERER: Just seeing these boots and knowing my son's feet were in them, these may have been the boots that he died in, I don't even know.

HINOJOSA: The day President Bush was inaugurated, Sue Niederer placed her son's boots on the steps of a Washington church, her sadness laced with anger.

NIEDERER: Forty-million dollars spent on today's inauguration, because he had to have a big party.

HINOJOSA (on camera): What does sacrifice mean to you now?

NIEDERER: I don't have an answer. To me, sacrifice was my son died for nothing. My son died in vain. Prove to me he didn't. This is the ultimate sacrifice -- his life.

HINOJOSA (voice-over): Maria Hinojosa, CNN, Pennington, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: A powerful story. Thank you very much, Maria, for that.

When we come back, the power of creativity. When we return, the story of a brave young boy and his family's unique fight against cancer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Fighting cancer can be an emotional and financial drain. And when the victim is a child, the problems are only compounded. But there are lessons to be learned from one family and their unique approach to their son's illness.

CNN's Brian Todd is joining us now live with their story -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, sometimes, when people are at the end of their rope in these situations, you hear horror stories, but we found out about one family who got creative and got help.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): Upbeat chatter before surgery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ready?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're ready.

TODD: A hug from grandpa.

D. DINGMAN-GROVER: See you later.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

TODD: You would 9-year-old David Dingman-Grover and his mom would be more worried before major brain surgery, but getting here was more of a concern.

For nearly two years since being diagnosed with a brain tumor, David has been through chemotherapy, radiation. Oncologists were able to shrink the tumor, but didn't get all of it. His parents, a mid- manager for a computer company and a part-time bookkeeper, say the added costs beyond what insurance pays have put a huge financial strain on them.

TIFFINI DINGMAN-GROVER, MOTHER OF DAVID: Going to Toys "R" Us isn't something that's normal, because you don't have that kind of money.

TODD: But rather than curse their luck, this family got creative. David nicknamed his tumor Frank.

D. DINGMAN-GROVER: He's named Frank because Frankenstein used to scare me when I was little.

TODD: His parents took that and ran right to eBay, creating a "Frank Must Die' bumper sticker and putting it up for auction.

T. DINGMAN-GROVER: Why wouldn't they want to help pay so a child might have a chance at a normal life? So that's when I put the bumper sticker up.

TODD: The family is also auctioning off other items. David's mother says the bumper sticker auction got tens of thousands of hits. And the winning bid was $10,700. The family had already been in contact with this man, Dr. Hrayr Shahinian of the Skull Base Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. A pioneer in a bold new surgery, Dr. Shahinian waived his fee of up to $30,000 for the procedure when he heard about the eBay auction.

DR. HRAYR SHAHINIAN, SKULL BASE INSTITUTE: There is a role for surgery here to, as David is eager to say, to kill Frank. So there is a surgical plan to kill Frank and there is an oncologic plan to kill Frank.

TODD: On Wednesday, the search-and-destroy mission began. Dr. Shahinian's technique, going through the nostrils with a fiberoptic probe, rather than the traditional method of peeling back the face and lifting the skull. David's tumor was at a very hard place to reach, at the base of the brain, under the optic nerve, surrounded by three important vessels. The operation took 90 minutes.

Dr. Shahinian tells CNN, even though he was just doing a biopsy, he removed a substantial part of Frank, but there could be microscopic bits of it in other areas. Still, David came out of the operation in stable condition.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: And we're happy to report David Dingman-Grover was released from Cedars-Sinai early today. He's due back to travel home to Virginia this weekend. Results of this operation could come as early as tomorrow. Dr. Shahinian will find out if the tumor is dead or if there are other active cells left. The doctor tells CNN David's short-term prognosis is excellent. Long-term, they have to wait and see what is still in there, Wolf.

BLITZER: Let's hope he gets a speedy recovery, full recovery.

TODD: Right.

BLITZER: Good work. Thanks very much, Brian Todd.

A spectacular show for tourists and residents of Hawaii, that's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Our picture of the day is from Hawaii, where the Kilauea volcano is putting on a magnificent show, creating a display of fire, water and steam. Very impressive.

"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 February 3, 2005 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now. A bombshell just dropped by the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, what he told CNN's Larry King just a little while ago about two, yes, two attempts to resign.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): From the State of the Union to the states, the president pushes his Social Security reforms in the heartland.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It grows over time. It's your money.

BLITZER: The fight for Iraq. Insurgents add to their tally of dead by the dozens. And a top Marine general says it's fun to shoot people.

Families of the fallen. Some back President Bush, others blame him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And here's my son also.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my brother.

BLITZER: Alabama brawl. It began at a girls' basketball game. It ended with police firing Tasers.

A tumor named Frank, a family's creative fight to save their son, and the doctor who's creative surgery may have done just that.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Thursday, February 3rd, 2005.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We're just getting this information into CNN. The defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has revealed that he twice offered his resignation to President Bush during the Abu Ghraib Prison abuse scandal. Rumsfeld made that comment in an interview just taped with CNN's Larry King. Our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, is standing by live over at the Pentagon with details -- Jamie. JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as you probably recall, at the height of the Abu Ghraib scandal, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld went on Capitol Hill and testified that he took full responsibility for the scandal.

When asked if his resignation might help, he said, it might. And that he indicated he would step down if he couldn't be effective. But we've learned now in this interview with CNN's Larry King, seen only here on CNN, that Defense Secretary Rumsfeld offered that resignation not once, but twice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I submitted my resignation to President Bush twice during that period and told him that I felt that he ought to make the decision as to whether or not I stayed on, and he made that decision and said he did want me to stay on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: In fact, Rumsfeld said at the time that he served at the pleasure of the president. A short time after that appearance on Capitol Hill, President Bush came to the Pentagon and said that Donald Rumsfeld was doing a, quote, "superb job" -- Wolf.

BLITZER: At the same time today, we're getting word, Jamie, that a top U.S. Marine -- a lieutenant general made some seemingly outlandish comments. Give our viewers the details of this story.

MCINTYRE: Well, Lieutenant General James Mattis has admitted that he perhaps should have chosen his words more carefully. He's been counseled by the commandant of the Marine Corps. Mattis was speaking to a group in San Diego when he said, and I quote, "it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." He was talking about the Taliban in Afghanistan, when he was a commander there.

Here is a little clip of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. JAMES MATTIS, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Actually, it's quite fun to fight 'em, you know, it's a hell of a hoot. It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up front about it. Yeah, I like brawling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: It's a bit of a hoot, he said. Today senior officials called Mattis one of the country's bravest and most experienced military leaders, but said his comments were not in the finest tradition of the U.S. military.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. PETER PACE, VICE CHMN., JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: All of us who are leaders have a responsibility in our words and our actions to provide the right example all the time for those who look to us for leadership. I was not present when General Mattis made those specific comments, so I will let him address what he said for himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: General Pace there, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, also a Marine, he pointed to a letter that General Mattis sent to his troops before they went into Iraq, calling on them to treat people with decency, demonstrate chivalry and soldierly compassion. As one senior Pentagon official said today, General Mattis is a great general, but it's obvious we're never going to make a great diplomat out of him -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Has he explained, clarified what he meant by those remarks, Jamie?

MCINTYRE: Well, he hasn't, except in that statement through the commandant saying that he should have chosen his words more carefully. I mean, frankly, Wolf, one of the dirty little secrets of war is that combat can be dangerous and dirty, and sometimes exhilarating, but it is considered unseemly to gloat about killing in any form.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre, at the Pentagon, Jamie, thanks very much.

This programming note to our viewers, you can see Larry King's complete interview with the defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE." That airs 9:00 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Pacific. only here on CNN.

And we're also just getting this in to CNN. The U.S. Senate has just confirmed President Bush's nomination of Alberto Gonzales to be the next attorney general of the United States. The final vote: 60 in favor, 36 opposed. Gonzales will be the first Hispanic attorney general in U.S. history.

Some Democrats had strongly opposed the nomination, voting against it, saying that as White House counsel he gave advice that led to the abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. But once again, just in, Alberto Gonzales approved, confirmed to be the next attorney general, he is expected to be sworn in very, very soon.

Let's move on to Iraq right now. Four days ago after the Iraqi elections spurred new hopes for the democracy, there's been an upswing of violence in Iraq. Now Iraqi officials also think though they may be getting close to capturing the man behind many of those attacks, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

CNN's Nic Robertson has details from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, over the last few weeks, we've heard from Iraqi officials saying that they have caught several top lieutenants of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Often, this information is held for a period of weeks, so that the intelligence value can be gained from insurgents not knowing whether these leaders have been captured or killed.

Now, it appears, according to Iraqi officials, that they may very well be closing on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I said we missed him by one hour maybe, something like that. You know, he's not staying in one place. He's moving from area to another. So we will get him very soon, hopefully.

ROBERTSON: The fact that Zarqawi appears able to move around Iraq does make it harder for both Iraqi security forces, U.S. security forces to track him down. But, in the last 24 hours, there has been now an uptick in the violence by insurgents. There was a lull following the elections of the weekend.

But on Wednesday evening, when a group of young Iraqi army recruits were returning from training about 70 kilometers, about 45 miles southwest of the town of Kirkuk, right in the northern tip of the Sunni Triangle, as they were on their way home from work in a bus, the bus was stopped by insurgents. The unarmed trainees were taken off the bus and shot one by one. We understand from local police officials they were unarmed as they were taken off that bus.

Also, we've heard that another two Iraqi army soldiers in Baghdad were shot while they were off duty. It was a drive-by shooting. They were sitting at home, we are told, unarmed in civilian clothes when they were shot. But also just outside of Baquba, a town about 45- minutes drive northeast of Baghdad, an Iraqi soldier shot in an ambush by insurgents there. In the vehicle with him as he was driving along were his father and sister. They were also killed.

And in the town of Baquba in the early hours of Thursday, a number of workers were going to work, on their way to work for a U.S. contractor. They were ambushed in their taxi on way to work by insurgents. Four of those contractors, four of those Iraqi contractors were killed and two of them wounded.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: There's been another black eye for the United Nations in its dealings with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. A wide-ranging probe of the Oil-for-Food Program now concludes that its chief sought and took bribes from Saddam Hussein's regime. Let's get the details. Our senior U.N. correspondence Richard Roth is standing by -- Richard.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, first findings from Paul Volcker, the leader of this special team authorized by the U.N. into the massive Oil-for-Food Program. Pretty damning charges, you might say, about Benon Sevan, the man who directed this program.

Paul Volcker, the leader of the panel, held a press conference in this room, packed press conference, and he said that Sevan solicited allocations of oil in effect for his own benefit even while he was in Iraq on U.N. work. This was all before the war when the Oil-for-Food Program was giving thousands of millions of Iraqis badly needed food.

This is what Volcker had to say about what Saddam did wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL VOLCKER, FMR. FEDERAL RESERVE CHMN.: Whatever the result in terms of actual behavior, I think it is a fact that Mr. Sevan placed himself in a grave and continuing conflict of interest situation that violated explicit U.N. rules and violated the standards of integrity essential to our high-level international civil servant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: Volcker calls it the most disheartening aspect so far of this initial report. Benon Sevan is a 40-year career United Nations employee, he's an Armenian Cypriot. He has been in many several leading United Nations jobs, including security for U.N. officials, handling negotiations in various countries. And Kofi Annan has stood by him until just now.

Just a short time ago, his new chief of staff said Annan has started disciplinary proceedings against Benon Sevan and another U.N. official. However, Sevan is effectively retired, working for a dollar a day -- or a dollar a year cooperating with the U.N.

However, Volcker said, Wolf, that Benon Sevan has been less than forthcoming now about additional interviews. According to his report, Benon Sevan got $150,000 in cash payments and $1.5 million along with a company in oil barrel profits. Back to you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Paul Volcker, what did he say, Richard, about the U.N. secretary-general, Kofi Annan, or his son?

ROTH: Stay tuned for that. Several more months of investigating? Not ready at this moment to say anything. He said to me in an interview, Kojo Annan is cooperating and so Secretary-General Annan...

BLITZER: All right, we -- unfortunately, we are losing that signal from Richard Roth, but he said in effect stay tuned, more coming out from Paul Volcker, no final word yet on Kofi Annan or his son Kojo on this investigation, this Oil-for-Food investigation. Richard, thanks very much.

Meanwhile President Bush today flew to North Dakota and he has a speech next hour in Montana, that's part of a five-state tour to try to promote his Social Security overhaul. As more details emerge about the plan to partially privatize the program, let's go live to New York, our economics correspondent, Kathleen Hays, standing by with details there -- Kathleen.

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN ECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, President Bush has been adamant, private investment accounts must be part of any Social Security reform proposal passed by Congress. Many Democrats are opposed. They say these accounts would be the beginning of the end for a very important part of the nation's safety net. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HAYS (voice-over): The hard sell has begun as the president takes to the road to champion the centerpiece of his State of the Union Address.

BUSH: We want you to be able to have more security in your retirement. And that is to allow younger workers to take some of their own payroll taxes and set it aside in what's called a personal retirement account.

HAYS: The White House is producing some details of a concept the president has championed for years. The plan would not affect people 55 and older. Right now workers pay a payroll tax of 12.4 percent for Social Security, half comes from the employee, half from the employer. Under the new plan, younger workers could choose to divert a third to a private investment account.

Only a limited menu of federally approved relatively conservative stock and bond funds would be allowed. The biggest plus? Supporters say it's a chance to ride the stock market higher and earn better returns than the government would earn on the same Social Security money.

SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: Over time you're going to get somewhere between 5 and 8 percent, compared to the little over 1 percent that Social Security gives. But the real key here is to give our young people who don't believe there will be any Social Security there for them to give them the chance to be able to save for their own retirement.

HAYS: Another plus, it would give workers a way to pass their Social Security retirement benefits on to their heirs. Under the current system, those benefits stay with the government.

One of the biggest objections raised to personal accounts, stock market investments are risky. Wall Street brokerage firm Goldman Sachs says retiring at the wrong point in the stock market's recent cycle could have cut returns for personal account holders by more than one third.

And personal accounts would take a lot of money out of the benefit pool. The White House puts that at $800 billion over 10 years. Others say the trust fund would be out more than $2 trillion.

SEN, JON CORZINE (D), NEW JERSEY: The fact is those are still going to have to get funded, it's going to pull financial resources out of the Social Security trust fund that are not going to be available for guaranteed benefits.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAYS: Paying guaranteed benefits as more and more workers retire is the fundamental challenge facing Social Security. Part of the president's proposal could be asking younger workers to accept a cut in guaranteed benefits in order to get a chance at investing some of their money in these private accounts -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Kathleen Hays reporting for us, thanks, Kathleen, very much. Social Security very much on the agenda.

When we come back, he supports the war in Iran -- in Iraq and now says regime change is needed in neighboring Iran as well. We'll hear from the controversial former Pentagon official, Richard Perle. He's standing by.

Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My son died for nothing. My son died in vain. Prove to me he didn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A soldier's sacrifice, a mother's incredible grief, why this family blames the president and the defense secretary for their major loss.

Also ahead, not just for men. A girl's high school basketball game turns into a brawl with extreme measures taken by police to end the fight.

And later, battling a tumor named Frank, one family's creative way to treat and pay for their young son's cancer surgery. This is a story you don't want to miss.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In his State of the Union Address, President Bush said he'll stay the course in Iraq and he indicated the U.S. is eyeing closely Iran and Syria, accusing them of supporting terrorism. Is another regime change in the works? Just a little while ago, I spoke with a former Pentagon official and noted foreign policy hawk, Richard Perle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Richard Perle, thanks very much for joining us.

RICHARD PERLE, FMR. ASST. DEFENSE SECY.: It's a pleasure.

BLITZER: I remember the speech, and I just went back to the 2002 State of the Union Address in which he spoke about the dangers from Iraq, the dangers being weapons of mass destruction and terrorism. In a speech last night, the president spoke about the importance of getting democracy, freedom, liberty in Iraq. With no WMD found in Iraq, this is a pretty dramatic change, the rationale for going to war clearly changed as a result of not finding WMD.

PERLE: I think the prospect of liberating Iraq and putting it on a path to democracy was always part of the president's thinking. It was not emphasized and it was not emphasized in part because the lawyers at the State Department and elsewhere argued that the removal of weapons of mass destruction, which Saddam refused to account for, was clearly contemplated under international law, but it was a tougher case if we were simply going to Iraq to bring about democratic reform.

BLITZER: But the main reason to going to war was the fear of weapons of mass destruction, which hasn't materialized.

PERLE: I think that if Saddam had turned over documentation proving he didn't have weapons of mass destruction, we probably would not have gone to war.

BLITZER: The liberty thing sort of came in later. Iran last night, a very interesting section on Iran with a clear warning to the Iranians. The president says, this is the primary state sponsor of terror in the world. He then goes on to deliver this direct message. He says to the Iranian people: "I say, tonight as you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you."

What is he setting the stage for there?

PERLE: Well, I hope he's setting the stage for assistance to the millions and millions of Iranians who despise the regime the theocratic dictatorship of the mullahs, a handful of mullahs in Tehran who have robbed them of any opportunity for liberalization. I hope we will now begin to support them.

Up until today, we have not done that. Although the president on every occasion that he has spoken about Iran has identified with the people of Iran and not with the government.

BLITZER: So you support regime change in Iran?

PERLE: Absolutely. As do I believe, the vast majority of Iranians.

BLITZER: Well, how do you get -- with a military invasion, if necessary? Would you do that?

PERLE: I don't believe that's necessary. I think what brought about regime change in a number of countries in the world, from Salazar's Portugal to Franco's Spain, to Milosevic's Serbia, Ukraine, there are political processes that can be made to work.

BLITZER: But the clock in Iran, at least according to the Bush administration, is ticking because of a clandestine nuclear weapons program. Would you support military force if necessary to end that program?

PERLE: If we believed that Iran was on the verge of emerging with nuclear weapons, I don't think we would have much choice but to take preemptive action against the facilities that enabled them to acquire those weapons.

BLITZER: Would it be better for the U.S. military to do that or Israeli military to do that?

PERLE: Well, I believe the U.S. military is far more capable to carry out a mission of that kind. But the much better way to deal with the situation in Iran is to assist those Iranians who want to change their regime.

BLITZER: There was a pretty strong message to Syria in that speech last night as well. What did you make of that?

PERLE: The Syrians, as the president indicated, have been assisting those who are trying to destroy an emerging Iraqi democracy. They've been complicit with those who are killing Americans. They've held on to money that rightly belongs to the Iraqi people and they support terrorism themselves. Now when you put that all together, we have a big problem with the Syrian government.

We've been sending mixed signals in the past, sometimes talking tough and then the secretary of state goes and visits and doesn't talk tough, or the deputy secretary. But I believe that will change now and you'll see a more consistent theme. And I believe that the president's views will be more directly reflected in the actions of his administration.

BLITZER: I was pretty surprised by the direct message to friendly governments like Saudi Arabia and Egypt that they should start to get better on track towards Democratic reform as well. It's unusual for a president to lecture these kind of allies.

PERLE: I think the president understands that there will be no peace in the region, there will be no security from terrorism so long as the Middle East is dominated by dictatorships that produce men, and in some cases even women, who become prepared to die in order to kill Americans.

The environment in which these terrorists are being created is not an environment of poverty, it's an environment of dictatorship and suppression of individual freedom. The president has embarked on a campaign to widen the scope of individual freedom, including in the Middle East, and that has to include countries that we regard as friends.

BLITZER: Richard Perle, one final question. You're one of the leading intellectual thinkers of the so-called neo-conservative movement. Looking back over the past couple years, were there mistakes that you and your fellow neo-conservatives, neocons, as they're called, were there serious mistakes that were made?

PERLE: I believe there were serious mistakes made in the occupation in Iraq after the toppling of Saddam's regime. We should have handed power over immediately. And as the Iraqis have now shown us they could and the have indeed risen to the occasion. But this was not a philosophical error, this was the implementation, the management of policies after the end of the war. And I don't know anyone who would think of himself as neo-conservative who favored sliding into that occupation.

BLITZER: So you blame Paul Bremer, is that what you're suggesting?

PERLE: Well, Paul Bremer wanted an occupation, yes. And I think he's no neo-conservative, but he wasn't alone. Some of our military leaders wanted an occupation.

BLITZER: Richard Perle, thanks very much.

PERLE: Thank you.

BLITZER: And we'll have more on the president's policy in Iraq and the region as well a new peace prospects between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The former U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen standing by to join us live.

And forget about the Pacers and the Pistons, this basketball brawl erupted at a girls' high school game. We'll show you what happened.

Also ahead, a get well letter to the Pope written by the man who once tried to kill him.

And later...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He says, mom, I don't want to go back to Iraq. It's a worthless, senseless war. We don't even know who the enemy is over there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Deep anger and blame: Why the mother of one fallen soldier blames the president of the United States for her son's sacrifice.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Stun guns and arrests: Not your typical fare at a girl's high school basketball game. But that was a result of a melee that spilled out of the stands and onto the floor Tuesday night, all of it captured on videotape. CNN's Mary Snow is standing by in New York with details of this story -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, the police chief in Prattville, Alabama says this is highly unusual for his town. Fans started fighting in the stands, it spilled over into the court. Dozens were said to be involved. So far police say they've arrested 11 teenagers on charges of disorderly conduct and refusing to obey a police officer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW (voice-over): Tears flew and so did fists. And to break of the melee, the police chief in Prattville, Alabama said his officers used Taser guns. He said 4 officers, outnumbered and overwhelmed, used about ten quick jolts, or what he called dry stuns to clear the crowd.

We had night sticks, we didn't bother with the night stick. We had Tasers. And we tased those people who were actively involved.

SNOW: Exactly what sparked Tuesday night's brawl is unclear. Police say there have been tensions between 2 groups of students at rival high schools for about a year. And, they say, there had been a recent dispute at a fast food restaurant that apparently spilled over to a girls high school basketball game.

Police released this videotape. And the district attorney says his office is making every effort to identify those involved and charge them.

RANDALL HOUSTON, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The chairs pummeling through the air could have very much hurt someone. And there was a bunch of cheerleaders and basketball players in the background. And they could have been hurt.

SNOW: The scene is reminiscent that broke out at a Pistons- Pacers NBA game back in November. In that instance, like this one, police used the videotape to identify and charge participants. School officials also plan to take disciplinary action.

LOUIE FRYER, PRINCIPAL: It's unfortunate that people go to a basketball game for reasons other than to enjoy a basketball game and pull for their team.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: Police say they do expect to make some more arrests. And they say, fortunately, no one was seriously injured -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, fortunately for that. Thanks, Mary Snow, reporting for us from New York.

When we come back, new peace prospects in the Middle East just days before a landmark summit in Egypt between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders. But will this optimistic mood last amid the violent clashes?

Plus, this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID DINGMAN-GROVER, 9 YEARS OLD: He's named Frank because Frankenstein used to scare me when I was little.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A nine-year-old names his tumor Frank. We'll tell you about that and how the boy's family helped get him the surgery he so desperately needed.

And next, we'll update you on the condition of Pope John Paul II.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In the Middle East, a Palestinian gunman was killed and at least four Israelis were wounded in clashes today, but peace moves are gathering momentum. Days before a summit meeting involving the Israeli and Palestinian leadership, Israel's government approved the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and a pullout from some West Bank cities.

CNN's Guy Raz reports from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Saying goodbye before embarking on a critical journey, Iyad Asalut (ph) and some 40 fellow Palestinian police officers back in action after four years, leaving for training in Egypt. These are the men whose job will be to enforce the fragile peace in Gaza.

Israel's Cabinet, impressed with the reduction in violence, now agreeing to hand over security to Palestinian forces in five West Bank cities. At the same time, 900 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails will be gradually released, a couple of steps the Israelis are taking ahead of next week's landmark meeting in Egypt between Israeli Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas.

MARK REGEV, ISRAELI EMBASSY SPOKESPERSON: We have spoken about a number of confidence-building measures, measures that will tangibly show people on both sides, Palestinians and Israelis, that the summit between Prime Minister Sharon and Mr. Abbas is good.

RAZ: There's an optimistic mood in Israel, newspapers even declaring the end of the four-year-old armed Palestinian uprising.

MOSHE ARENS, FORMER ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: The new man, Abu Mazen, he has said that he doesn't believe in the use of terror, doesn't believe in the use of violence. So we'll see where we go from here.

RAZ: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is also optimistic, but with caution. "Had we not seen these positive signs coming from the Israeli," he said, "we wouldn't have agreed to attend the summit in Egypt."

That summit will bring together four regional leaders. Israel wants the meeting to focus on security coordination. Palestinians are hoping it will jump-start the peace process.

SAEB EREKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: We hope that the Sharm el-Sheikh summit will facilitate the way to resuming a meaningful peace process that will end the Israeli occupation that began in '67.

RAZ: An occupation that Israel is under increasing pressure from the United States to abandon.

(on camera): No one expects next Tuesday's summit in Israel to herald the end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are too many fundamental differences between both sides yet to be resolved and the momentum could be interrupted at any moment, but for now the spirit of cooperation is on a roll.

Guy Raz, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Are Israelis and Palestinians ready to turn the corner toward peace?

Joining us now, our world affairs analyst, the former Defense Secretary William Cohen.

Good question. The president last, if you saw his speech -- and I'm sure you did -- he said, peace is within reach and America will help them achieve that goal. What do you think?

WILLIAM COHEN, CNN WORLD AFFAIRS ANALYST: I think we're at an historic turning point.

There's an opportunity now that the Palestinians have a leader that both the United States and the Israelis think that they can work with, that he is seeking peace. And I think that with the new secretary of state going on behalf of President Bush, this is a real historic opportunity.

BLITZER: And the signals that the U.S. and others getting from Ariel Sharon, is he ready to make the kinds of concessions the Palestinians would require?

COHEN: Well, he appears to be ready and he is taking some initial steps. And we'll see how the meetings come out and the meeting hosted by Hosni Mubarak. President Mubarak of Egypt at Sharm el-Sheikh will be very important.

But it's going to be a step-by-step process. I think there's been an awful lot of heartbreak for those who want to see peace a Middle East peace settlement over the years. And we have to take a lot of cold showers along the way. But this is a very promising beginning and new dynamic I think under way.

BLITZER: And leading up to the summit on Tuesday in Sharm el- Sheikh, the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, will meet Sunday in Jerusalem with Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister. On Monday, she will go out to the West Bank to meet with Mahmoud Abbas, Abu Mazen, the Palestinian Authority president, separate meetings. She has got her work cut out for her as well.

COHEN: She does, but I think she's fully capable of measuring up to the responsibilities.

She has something that, unfortunately, Secretary Powell did not have, and that's the strong, unqualified support of the president of the United States. Secretary Powell went and made similar approaches in the past. He did not have the support of the administration. At least it wasn't unqualified. I think Condoleezza Rice will have that support. So that may make a difference.

BLITZER: And when you're speaking to leaders, especially in that part of the world, when they know you speak for the president of the United States, and they know Condoleezza Rice does, that has a huge impact.

COHEN: It makes a very big difference.

In the past, they would say that Secretary Powell was certainly on the right track trying to bring about a Middle East peace settlement, but didn't have unqualified support. There were too many divisions in the administration. The president wasn't fully behind him.

That appears to be a major difference. And, hopefully, we'll see the president strongly support Secretary Rice and that she'll have the support of the Israelis and the Palestinians.

BLITZER: We just learned today, thanks to Larry King's interview with Donald Rumsfeld, that he twice, not once, but twice, offered to resign during the middle of the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal. I didn't know that. Did you know that?

COHEN: No, I didn't know it, but it does not come as a surprise to me.

Secretary Rumsfeld has been a strong and -- public servant over the years. He is committed to this country. And it wounded him deeply, what took place. And I think that he felt, if he was going to be an obstacle to achieving success in Iraq, he's prepared to step aside. I think he felt deeply about it and submitted his resignation on two occasions. And the president decided that he could still be effective and wanted him in that position. And so he rejected it.

BLITZER: If you were still the defense secretary and a lieutenant general in the U.S. Marine Corps, you got word, told a group, a business group out in San Diego, it's a hoot -- a hoot -- to go out and kill in battle, what would you do about that?

COHEN: Well, first, let me say about General Mattis, I know him. He's a strong leader. I know that the Marines look up to him. He's been a real heroic warrior in battle.

But, in effect, you must point out to him, as to others, that, when you are engaged in war, you are going to kill other people. It's a matter of survival. It's not a matter of sport. And I think that the comments that were made were not appropriate. But he has a strong record of leadership. I know him personally. I know he probably regrets having said what he said.

But it's survival. It's not sport. And you can't make light of it. You're taking somebody else's life even as you're pursuing your duties as a soldier. It's a solemn enterprise, not a sport.

BLITZER: As usual, well said. William Cohen, thanks very much for that. The Vatican says Pope John Paul II is recovering from the flu. Officials are hoping the pontiff will be well enough to deliver his weekly blessing from his hospital bed on Sunday.

In a somewhat bizarre development, the Turkish man who shot the pope in 1981 has released a statement from his prison cell. While wishing the pope a speedy recovery, it goes on to say -- and I'm quoting now -- "Now you have to confirm the divine truth that we are at the end of the world. This is the last generation of humanity on planet Earth. Only like this will God give you health and miraculous strength for the coming year." That's the end of the quote.

A grieving mother's message to the president:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUE NIEDERER, MOTHER OF KILLED U.S. SOLDIER: I just want him to see what he's done and face the people behind the shirts and behind the grief.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A soldier's sacrifice, his mother's new mission, when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A poignant moment that drew a prolonged standing ovation at last night's State of the Union address, an Iraqi political activist Safia Taleb al-Suhail, hugging Janet Norwood, a Texas woman whose Marine son was killed in Iraq. Both were guests of the first lady. What a moving moment that was.

But just as Mrs. Norwood was a symbol of support for the president's policies in Iraq, another mother who also sacrificed a son has become a symbol of opposition.

CNN's Maria Hinojosa has her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a frigid, blustery morning the day Sue Niederer marched on the Pentagon with a group of parents. Their children died fighting the Iraq war. But even the worst winter storm can't cool their emotions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop right here. Stop right here.

HINOJOSA: Sue Niederer wants to pass pictures of the children they lost to secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld.

NIEDERER: This is my son. I'd like to show him what he has done and what I have lost.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And here is my son also.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my brother.

HINOJOSA: Sue's Niederer's son, Lieutenant Seth Dvorkin, with a boyish smile and his mother's eyes, was killed almost one year ago. In New Jersey, his relatives dedicated a bench to him, a place for his mother to seek solitude and meditate on her loss.

NIEDERER: I said, don't be a hero, don't be a hero, son. And he promised me he wouldn't be a hero. But I knew in my heart that if something happened to him, it was because he saved others. And he did. He did. What do you say to a kid like that?

HINOJOSA: Just days before he died the boy she calls a brave soldier, had doubts about the war he was fighting.

NIEDERER: He says, mom, you know, I don't want to go to Iraq, it's a worthless, senseless war, we don't even know who the enemy is over there, but I'm a commander, I'm a lieutenant, I have 18 men that I'm in charge of; I've got to bring these men home safely.

HINOJOSA: Seth's mission, to bring his troops home, has now become his mother's. So the days of being a subdued suburban real estate agent are gone.

NIEDERER: I have to speak out. I can't allow this government to continue to do what they want to do and not care and not even face us. They refuse to even see or acknowledge us. I have to speak. I have to be in their faces.

HINOJOSA: When Laura Bush came to New York, Sue Niederer was there, and to ask pointed questions.

NIEDERER: Why aren't the senators, the legislators, the Congressmen, her children serving in this war? If this is a war that they agree with, there are only three.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am, you need to come with us, ma'am.

NIEDERER: You want to arrest me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I really don't want to arrest you, ma'am.

HINOJOSA: Don't take my arm!

Go ahead, come on. Arrest me, right here in front of everybody. Go ahead!

HINOJOSA: Her activism now is with potential recruits for the U.S. military -- teenagers.

NIEDERER: Pull over, sit down.

HINOJOSA: She calls herself a counter-recruiter.

NIEDERER: If the war allowed for counter-recruiters to come in, would you feel differently? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the allowed counter-recruiters to come in?

NIEDERER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would feel better about it because it's equal access.

NIEDERER: Exactly. Exactly. That's what we're fighting for.

HINOJOSA: At home, she is left only with reminders of her boy.

NIEDERER: This is his name and also in, I guess it's Arabic.

HINOJOSA: On her son's unused bed the confrontational T-shirt she wears.

NIEDERER: I just want him to see what he's done and face the people behind the shirts and behind the grief, not just the ones who agree with him at all times.

HINOJOSA: When Seth was alive she baked cookies for the troops and sent them an American signed by school kids to let them know people cared.

NIEDERER: Just seeing these boots and knowing my son's feet were in them, these may have been the boots that he died in, I don't even know.

HINOJOSA: The day President Bush was inaugurated, Sue Niederer placed her son's boots on the steps of a Washington church, her sadness laced with anger.

NIEDERER: Forty-million dollars spent on today's inauguration, because he had to have a big party.

HINOJOSA (on camera): What does sacrifice mean to you now?

NIEDERER: I don't have an answer. To me, sacrifice was my son died for nothing. My son died in vain. Prove to me he didn't. This is the ultimate sacrifice -- his life.

HINOJOSA (voice-over): Maria Hinojosa, CNN, Pennington, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: A powerful story. Thank you very much, Maria, for that.

When we come back, the power of creativity. When we return, the story of a brave young boy and his family's unique fight against cancer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Fighting cancer can be an emotional and financial drain. And when the victim is a child, the problems are only compounded. But there are lessons to be learned from one family and their unique approach to their son's illness.

CNN's Brian Todd is joining us now live with their story -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, sometimes, when people are at the end of their rope in these situations, you hear horror stories, but we found out about one family who got creative and got help.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): Upbeat chatter before surgery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ready?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're ready.

TODD: A hug from grandpa.

D. DINGMAN-GROVER: See you later.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

TODD: You would 9-year-old David Dingman-Grover and his mom would be more worried before major brain surgery, but getting here was more of a concern.

For nearly two years since being diagnosed with a brain tumor, David has been through chemotherapy, radiation. Oncologists were able to shrink the tumor, but didn't get all of it. His parents, a mid- manager for a computer company and a part-time bookkeeper, say the added costs beyond what insurance pays have put a huge financial strain on them.

TIFFINI DINGMAN-GROVER, MOTHER OF DAVID: Going to Toys "R" Us isn't something that's normal, because you don't have that kind of money.

TODD: But rather than curse their luck, this family got creative. David nicknamed his tumor Frank.

D. DINGMAN-GROVER: He's named Frank because Frankenstein used to scare me when I was little.

TODD: His parents took that and ran right to eBay, creating a "Frank Must Die' bumper sticker and putting it up for auction.

T. DINGMAN-GROVER: Why wouldn't they want to help pay so a child might have a chance at a normal life? So that's when I put the bumper sticker up.

TODD: The family is also auctioning off other items. David's mother says the bumper sticker auction got tens of thousands of hits. And the winning bid was $10,700. The family had already been in contact with this man, Dr. Hrayr Shahinian of the Skull Base Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. A pioneer in a bold new surgery, Dr. Shahinian waived his fee of up to $30,000 for the procedure when he heard about the eBay auction.

DR. HRAYR SHAHINIAN, SKULL BASE INSTITUTE: There is a role for surgery here to, as David is eager to say, to kill Frank. So there is a surgical plan to kill Frank and there is an oncologic plan to kill Frank.

TODD: On Wednesday, the search-and-destroy mission began. Dr. Shahinian's technique, going through the nostrils with a fiberoptic probe, rather than the traditional method of peeling back the face and lifting the skull. David's tumor was at a very hard place to reach, at the base of the brain, under the optic nerve, surrounded by three important vessels. The operation took 90 minutes.

Dr. Shahinian tells CNN, even though he was just doing a biopsy, he removed a substantial part of Frank, but there could be microscopic bits of it in other areas. Still, David came out of the operation in stable condition.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: And we're happy to report David Dingman-Grover was released from Cedars-Sinai early today. He's due back to travel home to Virginia this weekend. Results of this operation could come as early as tomorrow. Dr. Shahinian will find out if the tumor is dead or if there are other active cells left. The doctor tells CNN David's short-term prognosis is excellent. Long-term, they have to wait and see what is still in there, Wolf.

BLITZER: Let's hope he gets a speedy recovery, full recovery.

TODD: Right.

BLITZER: Good work. Thanks very much, Brian Todd.

A spectacular show for tourists and residents of Hawaii, that's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Our picture of the day is from Hawaii, where the Kilauea volcano is putting on a magnificent show, creating a display of fire, water and steam. Very impressive.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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