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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Syrian President Promises to Withdraw from Lebanon; Supreme Court Rules Against Juvenile Executions; BTK Suspect Appears in Court
Aired March 01, 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, HOST: Happening now: is Syria's leader caving to U.S. pressure for democracy? A breaking development that has huge ramifications, potentially, in the Middle East.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Juvenile killers. A deeply divided Supreme Court rules they can't be put to death.
Behind the bombing. The U.S. blames a Syrian-based group for terror in Israel.
Could NATO take on a new role in the Middle East? I'll ask the supreme allied commander.
Serial killer case. The BTK suspect faces the judge.
JUDGE GREG WALLER, SEDGWICK COUNTY, KANSAS: Do you understand you're charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder?
DENNIS RADER, SUSPECTED BTK KILLER: Yes, sir.
BLITZER: What's he telling investigators?
And a federal judge, once targeted by a hate group, makes a horrifying discovery.
CHIEF DET. JAMES MALLOY, CHICAGO POLICE: Judge Lefkow arrived home last night shortly after 5:30 p.m. to find her mother and her husband slain in the basement.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, March 1, 2005.
BLITZER: There are fresh indications tonight that Syria's strong man may be bending to American pressure. We begin with a developing story straight out of Damascus, which is blamed by the Bush administration for sponsoring terrorism and blamed by many Lebanese for last month's bombing which killed a former prime minister.
Now, under that enormous pressure, the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, is pledging to pull his troops out of Lebanon and to do so soon. That pledge comes in an interview with "TIME" magazine columnist, Joe Klein, who spoke with me by phone from Damascus, just a few minutes ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Joe Klein, thanks very much for joining us from Damascus. How specific did he get in making this pledge to withdraw Syrian forces from Lebanon?
JOE KLEIN, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, he was pretty specific about the pledge but not about the time. He said that, you know, that it was a tactical question, not a political question, meaning that the political decision to withdraw had been made.
He said he wanted to talk to Terje Roed Larsen, who is the U.N. envoy who's coming back here in March, and I asked him, "Can you tell me when you will be out of Lebanon." I'm reading you from the transcript.
He said, "Out completely?"
I said, "Yes."
He said, "Actually our discussion should be with Terje Roed Larsen, who's coming back in March. It should" -- "it" meaning the withdrawal -- "should be very soon, and maybe in the next few months. Not after that. I can't give you the technical answer. The point is, the next few months."
And then he went on to say that he had to sit down with the army and talk about how to redeploy those troops when they get back to Syria, how to rebuild the fortifications at the Syrian border.
He mentioned that the Israelis had come right up to that border when they invaded Lebanon in 1982. And so it's a matter of putting up fortifications and so on.
BLITZER: What -- what did he say, Joe, about getting Syrian intelligence operatives out of Lebanon, because the president wants those intelligence operatives out, as well?
KLEIN: Well, he wasn't specific about that. I -- you know, I said, you know, I asked him, this means -- this means the army and intelligence services? And you know, and he gave me the answer that he gave me.
Now you understand, Wolf, that we're never going to be able to completely know whether the intelligence services are in or out of -- in or out of Lebanon, because they -- they don't wear uniforms.
BLITZER: What about, Joe, the whole notion that he is now under so much international, specifically U.S. pressure that Bashar al-Assad is capitulating?
KLEIN: Well, he understands that he's under an awful lot of pressure, and I think that he doesn't -- he obviously doesn't want to give the impression that he's capitulating. But you can judge what the actions are and come to your own decision.
BLITZER: Joe Klein joining us from Damascus. Joe, good work. Thanks very much.
KLEIN: My pleasure.
And shortly, we're going to go to Andrea Koppel. She's covering Condoleezza Rice's visit to London for a Mideast conference. Right now, Condoleezza Rice making some tough statements against the Syrians just a short while ago. We'll go to London momentarily.
Meanwhile, back in this country, scores of convicted murderers will escape the death penalty following a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling today.
CNN's Brian Todd standing by live from the U.S. Supreme Court -- Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this was a very divisive case before the court. At the center of it, a young man who horrified a community near St. Louis about 12 years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): Christopher Simmons' guilt was never in doubt. He confessed to a horrible crime.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury, find the defendant, Christopher Simmons, guilty of murder in the first degree.
TODD: In 1993, Simmons and a 14-year-old accomplice convicted of killing their neighbor, Shirley Crook, taken from her home, bound, a towel over her head. She was thrown off a train trestle and drowned in the Merrimack River near St. Louis, a robbery that netted $6.
Simmons was sentenced to death. And at that time, neighbors debated the punishment for the then 17-year-old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see that tree over there? That's where they out to be. That's what I think.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What? Hanging from it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You think that these kids don't have any idea as to what life is all about. He's lost. He's a lost kid.
TODD: The Supreme Court, just as divided, ruling 5-4 that executing juvenile killers like Simmons is unconstitutional. Writing the majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy states, quote, "When a juvenile commits a heinous crime, the state can exact forfeiture of some of the most basic liberties, but the state cannot extinguish his life and his potential to attain a mature understanding of his own humanity."
Before the court, Simmons' attorney, Seth Waxman, argued the difference between adolescent and adult judgment.
SETH WAXMAN, ATTORNEY FOR CHRISTOPHER SIMMONS: We argued that 18 is the natural age. It's an age that's reflected almost universally whenever legislatures have to find a dividing line between adolescence and adulthood, for purposes of driving and signing contracts and entering marriage agreements, and things like that.
TODD: The court agreed with Waxman that standards for the juvenile death penalty had evolved since the court ruled in favor of it in 1989.
But in a bitter dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, "This is no way to run a legal system."
Prosecutors like the one in the county next to where Simmons was tried say the ruling infringes on state's authority to legislate the death penalty and could have more sweeping implications.
ROBERT MCCULLOCH, PROSECUTOR, ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI: If their decision is based on the immaturity or the fact they claim, at least, that juveniles are less culpable and therefore should not be subjected to death, how can they possibly justify sending a juvenile to prison for life without parole? That's the real concern. I don't -- I'm afraid they're not going to stop there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: For now Christopher Simmons and more than 70 others who were under 18 at the time of their crimes are no longer on Death Row, and states will not be allowed to seek the death penalty for minors in the future -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Brian Todd at the Supreme Court, thank you very much.
To our viewers, here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our Web question of the day is this: do you agree with the Supreme Court's decision to ban the death penalty for juveniles? You can vote right now. Go to CNN.com/Wolf. We'll have the results for you later in this graft.
The man accused of being the notorious BTK killer was formally charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder today. Our national correspondent, Bob Franken, joining us now live from Wichita, Kansas -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Wolf, this has now began the court process, one that has taken decades to get here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN (voice-over): It was a routine court proceeding but hardly a routine case.
WALLER: Do you understand that you're charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder?
RADER: Yes, sir.
FRANKEN: Dennis Rader was having his official first appearance to answer for killings that terrorized Wichita for more than three decades. Police say he was the one who sent taunting letters in which he had named himself BTK, for bind, torture and kill.
CHIEF NORMAN WILLIAMS, WICHITA POLICE: BTK is arrested.
FRANKEN: But several defense lawyers in Wichita say the police chief's comments on Saturday were so incendiary that there should be a change of venue.
WARREN EISENBISE, WICHITA ATTORNEY: He was convicted on Saturday morning at around 11 a.m. by a statement made by the chief of police. That was the worst thing I've experienced as a defense lawyer in 47 years.
FRANKEN: The police chief refused comment. And the district attorney brushed it off.
NOLA FOULSTON, SEDGWICK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I do not believe it will be a problem when we try this case.
FRANKEN: There's been no comment from Rader's newly appointed public defender.
WALLER: I'm going to set this case for 9 a.m. in the morning on March 15. Bond will be in the amount of $10 million. Based upon your request for court appointed lawyer, I'm going to appoint the public defender's office to represent you in this matter. Should the case proceed to sentencing, it will be assigned to Division Five.
Thank you very much.
RADER: Thank you, sir.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: Lawyers warned that that court date could very easily slip, because for both the prosecution and defense, the notoriety of this could be a problem -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Bob Franken, reporting for us from Wichita. Thank you, Bob.
A federal judge finds the bodies of her husband and mother, both murdered in her home. Are the deaths connected to a threat by a white supremacist?
One thousand leads but none of them solid, apparently not yet. Police are baffled by the disappearance of Jessica Marie Lunsford. I'll speak live with her father.
Plus, hints that Michael Jackson may eventually take the stand in his trial. Our legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, he's inside the courtroom right now. Shortly, he'll be walking outside. He'll join us live with today's developments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Chicago has seen many brutal crimes throughout the years, but this one has shocked even veteran investigators, the deaths of a federal judge's husband and mother.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Chicago police say U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow made the terrible discovery herself.
MALLOY: Judge Lefkow arrived home last night shortly after 5:30 p.m. to find her mother and her husband slain in the basement. Both were pronounced dead on the scene.
The victims are Donna Humphrey. She was the 89-year-old mother of Judge Lefkow. And Michael Lefkow, the judge's husband. He was 64. Both victims were found shot in the basement.
BLITZER: Neighbors were shocked by the killings.
CANDACE GORMAN, NEIGHBOR: Judge Lefkow is a wonderful judge. And I really hope it has nothing do with any case she's ever worked on.
BLITZER: Last year, a white supremacist leader named Matthew Hale was convicted of trying to hire someone to kill Judge Lefkow. Witnesses said Hale was angry because Lefkow ruled against him in a copyright case, barring him from calling his group the World Church of the Creator.
After Hale's conviction last year, Lefkow received special police protection, but it only lasted for a short time. Hale currently is awaiting sentencing.
Police say it's too early to say whether Hale had anything do with the deaths of Lefkow's husband and mother.
MALLOW: There is much speculation about possible links between this crime and the possible involvement of hate groups. This is but one facet of our investigation. We are looking in many, many investigations, but it would be far too early to draw any definitive links.
BLITZER: Police say a special task force composed of local and federal law officers will be investigating the case 24 hours a day.
MALLOY: If anyone in the public saw somebody that they did not know, who belonged in that house, around the house yesterday, definitely, we're asking for their cooperation in contacting us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And joining us now from our Chicago bureau with more on this story, "Chicago Tribune" reporter David Heinzmann. David, thanks very much for joining us. I know you and your colleagues at "The Chicago Tribune" have been digging. What do we know, if anything, about a possible hate crime motive in this particular case?
DAVID HEINZMANN, "CHICAGO TRIBUNE": Well, right now, it's sort of the leading theory that the police have. They're careful to say they have no known connections to white supremacists or certainly not to Hale, who's in federal custody awaiting sentencing.
But privately they say, you know, while they look into other of Judge Lefkow's cases and the cases handled by her husband, Michael, who was also an attorney, you know, clearly the focus is on any possible connections to hate groups.
BLITZER: The killing of the husband and the 89-year-old mother looked almost, at least -- at least on the reports we're getting, like an execution, a bullet shot to the head. Are there any indications of a robbery, for example?
HEINZMANN: What police sources and law enforcement sources were telling us last night, there was no evidence immediately of a robbery. That doesn't mean they won't find something as they -- as they go through the scene later on that changes their minds.
But they were looking at a possible broken basement window as the way that they got in. And they were both shot in the head with a .22 caliber gun. And the killers did leave two .22 caliber shell casings at the scene. I think there's a lot of effort now in testing those casings. And they will see if ballistics helps them out or fingerprints can be taken from the casings.
BLITZER: She did have protection, security guards, at one point after the earlier threat by Hale. Is that right?
HEINZMANN: That's right. But that's awhile ago. She -- Hale was charged with this solicitation to kill her in January of '03. And it was right around that time that the United States marshal's service, which is in charge of protecting judges, did put a detail on protecting her when she was outside the courthouse. That meant officers on her street at home, following her. And they also rigged up a camera to watch her home.
But that only lasted a few weeks. And they decided, the marshals and the judge herself decided that it wasn't -- it was no longer a credible threat. It's unclear to us exactly when that was pealed back -- repealed. But it's been quite a while ago.
BLITZER: And Hale, as you have reported in "The Chicago Tribune," he went tuned cover FBI agent and -- who was told to go ahead and kill her by him. Is that right?
HEINZMANN: It wasn't an agent. It was a member of Hale's inner circle, but he had been turned into an FBI informant and they did record several of their phone conversations, conversations between them, in which the government said they did produce enough evidence that Hale asked for or was supporting the idea of killing Lefkow.
BLITZER: Do you know if Judge Lefkow -- Is Judge Lefkow Jewish?
HEINZMANN: She is not. And that's when -- the other piece here is that the White Aryan Resistance web site posted the Lefkows' home address and made a number of anti-Semitic slurs surrounding the posting of that address. And in fact, the Lefkows are both Episcopalians. And Mr. Lefkow was very deeply involved in the Episcopalian diocese here in Chicago.
BLITZER: But were those white Aryans, those supremacists, suggesting that she was Jewish?
HEINZMANN: Yes. They called her, you know, a Jew and, you know, language much worse than that.
BLITZER: What a sad, sad story. David Heinzmann of "The Chicago Tribune. Thanks very much for joining us.
HEINZMANN: You're welcome.
BLITZER: Missing without a trace for five days, but the family of Jessica Marie Lunsford remains vigilant. We'll have an update on the case. That's coming up.
Also ahead, the new role for NATO forces around the world. The alliance is already in Afghanistan, going to be a little bit in Iraq, but will NATO troops be not -- will now they be deployed to Lebanon or Gaza or the West Bank? I'll speak with NATO allied commander, General James Jones. He's here in Washington.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: The Bush administration today turned up the heat on Syria yet another notch. Let's go live to our State Department correspondent, Andrea Koppel. She's traveling with a very tough talking secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, in London -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, only days after a suicide bomber killed five Israelis and injured dozens more in an attack outside a Tel Aviv nightclub, the Bush administration is now pointing the finger of blame at a Palestinian rejection group based in Damascus, the same group which over the weekend itself claimed responsibility for the attack.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL (voice-over): U.S. officials tell CNN the Bush administration now has, quote, "firm evidence" leaders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, based in Syria, not only authorized Friday's attack in Tel Aviv, but were actively involved in planning it.
Still, a senior State Department official also told CNN the U.S. doesn't know the degree of Syrian involvement. But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in London for a conference on Palestinian reform, suggested it was yet another example of a disturbing pattern of Syrian behavior now evident on several fronts.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: We have also said to the Syrians that the support for the Iraqi insurgency that is coming from Syrian territory has got to stop.
And there is the issue of the support for -- that is coming from Syrian territory for Palestinian rejectionists like the Palestinian Islamic Jihad that was -- we have reason to believe based in Syria at the time of those attacks.
KOPPEL: Hoping to ride the wave of massive street demonstrations in Beirut, one day after Lebanon's people power movement forced the resignation of the country's pro-Syrian prime minister, the U.S. and France, in a rare show of unity, turned up the diplomatic heat on Syria, repeating a call for Damascus to abide by a U.N. resolution to withdraw its 14,000 troops from Lebanon.
MICHEL BARNIER, FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We can never be indifferent to what is happening in Lebanon. And our way of encouraging this is to repeat what is included in the ...
KOPPEL: France and the U.S. also repeated a call for an international investigation into the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister last month and offered support for free and democratic elections now set for May.
RICE: That means election observers, if necessary, monitoring, if necessary.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL: But a senior State Department official tells CNN that Secretary Rice has not discussed such a monitoring force with the United Nations at this point, saying that there is no point discussing it, because Syrian withdrawal is in this official's words, quote, "still a big if."
Nevertheless, officials say Rice is focused on building international support for further isolating Syria, knowing, Wolf, that in recent months there have been some really dramatic developments in the region itself on the democratic front, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Andrea Koppel, traveling with the secretary of state in London. Andrea, thank you very much.
The search for that missing Florida girl continuing. Coming up, I'll speak live with Jessica Marie Lunsford's father. He's standing by.
And should NATO be playing a larger role in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East? Also standing by, NATO's supreme allied commander. Will Michael Jackson take the stand at his child molestation trial? Our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, has been watching. What's been unfolding inside the courtroom today? He'll join us with details.
And why Canada has decided to deport a Holocaust denier to his native Germany.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: From our studios in Washington, once again, Wolf Blitzer.
BLITZER: Welcome back.
In Florida search teams are using dogs, trying to catch the trail of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who's been missing almost a week. Investigators say they do not have any solid leads after five days of searching for the little girl. She disappeared after her grandmother put her to bed last Wednesday.
Joining us now is Jessica's father, Mark Lunsford.
First of all, our deepest wishes for success finding your little daughter. I can only imagine what you're going through.
Have there been any new breakthroughs, any new developments? Have the police told you that they've got something to go on right now?
MARK LUNSFORD, FATHER OF JESSICA: Today, I ain't been able to talk to them today a whole lot. As far as I know, there's not been anything new.
I just -- I've been real busy today trying to take care of everything I can for -- with Jessie.
BLITZER: You let photographers go into Jessica's bedroom and get some pictures in there. What was the purpose of that?
LUNSFORD: Well, I just wanted people to see what kind of life she lives, you know what I mean? She's happy. The pictures that we were showing of her last night, you know, were, you know, like different things. She liked to play dress-up and liked clowns and stuff, and her Halloween picture, costume, her Christmas pictures.
Just, you know what I mean, right?
BLITZER: Right. Of course.
There's nothing in her background to suggest she would have tried to run away or walk away, that she may have just decided to leave on her own?
LUNSFORD: Well, yes, she wouldn't leave on her own. You know what I mean? I just -- there's just no doubt about that. BLITZER: So, you believe somebody came into her bedroom and snatched her and took her away?
LUNSFORD: Well, yes. But I ain't -- you know, I ain't -- I'm not an investigator or nothing, you know what I mean?
BLITZER: Yes.
LUNSFORD: But that's what I think.
BLITZER: There was no sign of forced entry or anything like that? Is that right?
LUNSFORD: Yes, as far as I know, yes. That's what they've said.
BLITZER: How are you doing? How are you personally holding up right now?
LUNSFORD: Well, you know what? i stay pretty busy, you know, trying to do things for Jessie. You know that she's got that Web page. And, evidently, there's donations coming in, but people got to be careful. You know, I'm OK right now. But, I mean, they've got to be careful about making donations, because, from my understanding, there's other Web pages like with her name similarities to it taking donations, and I don't know nothing about that.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: So, in other words, there may be people -- what you're saying is, there may be scam artists trying to take advantage of this.
(CROSSTALK)
LUNSFORD: Right. Right.
And I didn't think about that, you know what I mean? And I didn't really want the donations, but the people that are working that Web page up for me, my nephew and CharlotteWebHosting.com, they give it to her for free.
BLITZER: Right.
LUNSFORD: For the rest of her life.
BLITZER: Mark, you've already gone through a polygraph. Is that right?
LUNSFORD: Yes.
BLITZER: And a voice stress test, you went through that as well?
LUNSFORD: Yes, sir.
BLITZER: And you came out OK, based on everything we're hearing. What about your father? LUNSFORD: Oh, most definitely. I'm not sure how they're working that. I mean, they still got dad to do on something, you know what I mean? I can't remember. I don't know if it's that voice stress thing or what they're doing, you know what I mean?
BLITZER: If you could reach out and say something to some person who may have taken your daughter, what would you say?
LUNSFORD: Well, they know. They know I want her home. They got to know. And, I mean, I'd like to say that -- I mean, you know, somebody out there has seen them. They had to. I just hope that somebody -- whoever it was that saw her will call and say where they seen her at.
BLITZER: Our heart goes out to you, Mark Lunsford, Jessica Lunsford's father.
LUNSFORD: Thank you.
BLITZER: Good luck to you. We're all praying for you.
LUNSFORD: Thank you.
BLITZER: Let's take a quick check of some other stories now in the news.
Tapes of President Bush that were secretly recorded by an old friend have been turned over to the president's private attorney. Doug Wead sparked controversy when he allowed journalists to hear and broadcast parts of the tapes last month at the same time his book on presidential candidates was published.
The phone conversations were recorded when Mr. Bush was governor of Texas.
Canada has deported a Holocaust denier to his native Germany on grounds that his activities were a threat not only to Canada, but to the international community. Ernst Zundel is expected to be arrested by German authorities on charges of inciting hatred via the Internet. Zundel is the author of the book "The Hitler We Loved and Why." And he had been held in a Canadian prisoner for two years while officials determined whether he posed a security risk.
"The New York Times" today named conservative columnist John Tierney to write pieces twice weekly pieces for its op-ed page. The move follows the retirement of "The Times"' longtime conservative columnist William Safire, who stepped down last most. Tierney, who's been with "The Times" since 1990, begins his new job next month.
Relatives began retrieving bodies and burying their loved ones a day after the deadliest insurgent attack since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. At least 127 people were killed yesterday when a suicide bomber struck in the mostly Shiite town of Hillah. Al Qaeda's wing in Iran says it was behind the bombing. The Iraqi government has declared Wednesday a national day of mourning for the victims. Should NATO forces be playing a bigger role inside Iraq? And should the alliance extend its reach and play a peacekeeping role elsewhere in the Middle East?
A little while ago, I spoke with NATO's supreme allied commander, General James Jones. He always wears another hat as the head of the U.S. military's European Command.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: General Jones, thanks very much for joining us. Welcome back to Washington.
GEN. JAMES JONES, NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Pleasure.
BLITZER: NATO, it has got a complicated relationship with assignments outside of Europe. In Afghanistan, it's robust. In Iraq, some would say it's pitiful. Why?
JONES: Well, in Afghanistan, it is robust and it is going to be more robust in '05. We're about to expand the mission dramatically in the west and I think soon thereafter in the south.
And we've had a lot of donations from countries who are now interested in working in Afghanistan. And so, after a difficult year of generating the force, we really have some good momentum. Iraq, of course, has been a difficult subject in the alliance, with roughly half the nations not willing to put forces on the ground in Iraq.
But as a result of the presidential visit, preceded by the secretary of state and the secretary of defense, the alliance has now come together. And they're -- all nations in the alliance have decided to make some contribution to the mission in Iraq, whether it's the form of money, whether it's the form of troop trainers on the ground or whether it's the form of training outside Iraq or providing equipment.
So, there's been some positive work done. NATO's mission in Iraq is modest. The ambition is to train 1,000 trainers year, plus 500 outside Iraq and coordinate the equipment deliveries.
BLITZER: It really is sort of bare-bones, when you think about it.
JONES: It is modest, but it will make a huge difference. We're right now engaged in training what's going to emerge as the new Iraqi general staff, the joint staff, if you will. So, there's a lot of work to be done.
And I think that, as the days and weeks go by, you will see NATO's contribution will be robust and will increase, but it will take a little time.
BLITZER: There's been lots of proposals that NATO should get directly involved in other hot spots, Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon. Is NATO ready to take on these additional commitments? JONES: Well, I think NATO is a great alliance and carries a very, very important status around the world when it gets involved. So, fundamentally, a great alliance should be prepared to do great things.
As the allied commander for operations, I've not been tasked to do anything in the areas that you mentioned. But two years ago, when I arrived in Europe, I wasn't prepared to think about Afghanistan. And eight months later, we were there. So, we have a lot of capability in NATO. The will of the nations is what drives it.
BLITZER: So, you're open-minded about it if in fact it comes down to that?
JONES: I'm open-minded about any mission that the North Atlantic Council tasks us to develop.
BLITZER: What is NATO doing specifically right now to prevent future Afghanistans, to go in and fight this war against terrorism? Because the terrorists are being infrastructures in various parts of the world.
JONES: Yes. Yes.
Well, there's a lot going on, Wolf. As you know, we've had an ongoing mission in Kosovo and in Bosnia. We have a strong presence in the Balkans. And we have an ongoing mission in the Mediterranean called Operation Active Endeavour, which is an Article 5 mission. And it's also NATO's really largest counterterrorism mission. It's been there for about two years.
And it has done amazing things in making the Mediterranean Basin safer from illegal immigration, narco trafficking, terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction in volume cargoes. And that security blanket and the net is getting tighter and tighter. So, that's also an extremely good mission. In Afghanistan, NATO has participated...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: What about in Africa, for example? Because there are potential terrorist hotbeds emerging there.
JONES: Yes.
In Africa, NATO's further -- part of this mission to the south is the Mediterranean dialogue, where we get -- we are talking to about seven members, seven members of the Southern Rim nations, not all Southern Rim. It includes Israel and Jordan as well. But on issues that relate to that -- the Mediterranean Basin. And terrorism is obviously at the top of the list.
BLITZER: Is al Qaeda still capable of launching a major terror attack against the United States?
JONES: I would have to assume that they can. It would be foolish to -- unless you have concrete proof to the opposite. But the United States European Command is the other -- is my other hat in Europe.
BLITZER: You're the commander of that.
(CROSSTALK)
JONES: We are involved in Africa and we are involved in helping Africans help themselves. We have been chasing terrorists in the large ungoverned spaces of sub-Saharan Africa with some success and building -- helping struggling democracies defend their borders, know what's going on in their borders and helping -- helping them.
BLITZER: Bottom line, is the U.S. winning this war on terror?
JONES: I think we are.
I think that not only is the U.S. winning. I think the U.S. leadership and the family of nations that understand that there is -- there is a common threat there, and that it has to be dealt with. And if you look at the -- just the results in Europe, almost every day, there is a terrorist who's arrested, whether it's in Spain or Holland or Italy or France. And quietly, sometimes quietly, but measurably, I think the noose is getting tighter on their ability to operate worldwide.
BLITZER: General Jones, good luck to you. Thanks very much.
JONES: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Let's take a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Pope John Paul II is speaking for the first time since throat surgically last week. A Vatican cardinal says the pope spoke in both German and Italian during a visit at his hospital room in Rome. The pope underwent a tracheotomy to improve his breathing after suffering what the Vatican says was a relapse of the flu.
Tourist death. An Australian tourist was killed by a hippopotamus at a resort in Kenya. The 50-year-old woman was with a group of other tourists when the hippo attacked. No one else was hurt. Officials say hippos kill more people in Africa every year than any other wild animal.
Socialist triumph. Uruguay's Congress today swore in Tabare Vazquez as the country's first ever Socialist president. The move aligns Uruguay with several other South African countries with leftist leaders.
Party time. Carnival is under way in Cuba. And both locals and tourists are kicking up their heels. The big bash continues on weekends throughout March. And that's our look around the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: The lawyers have spoken and now the testimony has begun in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial. Will the king of pop take the stand in his own defense? Our senior legal analyst, Jeff Toobin, has been inside the courtroom. He is going to join us live later.
The charm offensive. President Bush is back from his five-day three-nation trip to Europe. But did he make any lasting effects on world policy? Carlos Watson has "The Inside Edge."
And in our picture of the day, it's a migration that leaves tourists scrambling for a glimpse. We'll share it with you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Will Michael Jackson take the stand at his child molestation trial? The entertainment's lawyer hinted at that during his opening statement earlier today.
Our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, is joining us now from Santa Maria, California.
You were inside that courtroom. What exactly did Thomas Mesereau say that might suggest that Michael Jackson would testify?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Well, he said something very specific.
He said, in the course of completing his opening statement today, he said, Michael Jackson will tell you that he caught the accuser and his brother going through his adult "Playboy," "Penthouse" magazines trying to take them. So that was his explanation of how their fingerprints might get on there. That was a very explicit suggestion, not a guarantee, but it's certainly a suggestion that Michael Jackson will take the stand in his own defense.
BLITZER: If he takes the stand, though, he's open to cross- examination. And defense lawyers are always nervous about that, aren't they?
TOOBIN: Absolutely. It is a rare, rare situation, where a well- advised defendant takes the stand, especially in a case here, where you have the defendant on record so many times, with his bizarre views about the appropriateness of men and boys sleeping in the same bedroom.
BLITZER: It was a pretty bizarre day. I think you used the word earlier surreal day inside that courtroom today. You've been watching a lot of trials over the years. What was so surreal about it?
TOOBIN: Well, the first witness was Martin Bashir, the journalist from Britain who did the famous documentary about Michael Jackson. And he came on. And the only question he was asked by the prosecution essentially was, did you do this documentary? Then they played the entire nearly two-hour documentary in the courtroom for the jury.
So, you had a lot of music. You heard "Billie Jean." You heard "ABC," a lot of the Jackson Five hits. You heard this long explanation of Michael Jackson's past. There were funny parts of the documentary. The jury was laughing at some of it. There was some very sad part, Michael Jackson talking about his childhood, where he was beaten by his father. His mother was in the courtroom, as was his brother, Jackie.
And Jackie was nodding his head about how he was being beaten. Again, I don't really know what the jury made of this. It was a very unusual exhibit for a trial, but, obviously, the defense -- I'm sorry, the prosecution, what they really wanted was the admission at the very end of the documentary, where the accuser appears on camera in this case -- in this documentary, and in the course of their conversation, on camera, Michael Jackson says: Yes, he left in my bedroom. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
That's something the jury will certainly remember.
BLITZER: Why couldn't they just have played that one excerpt? Why did they make the jury listen to the whole two-hour documentary?
TOOBIN: I don't understand that, Wolf. But it was something that had been settled outside the presence of the jury, outside the presence of the public, that is to say, us. And so they played the whole documentary.
Interestingly, I mean, I had seen it when it was broadcast. I thought it was some what more sympathetic to Michael Jackson than I remembered it. You have the feeling of a very isolated, strange man. And he did insist repeatedly in the course of that documentary that, yes, he did sleep in the same bedroom with boys, not his children, but there was nothing sexual that went on between them.
And during his cross-examination, Tom Mesereau, of Martin Bashir, repeatedly invoked Michael Jackson's statement that nothing sexual went on between him and the boys that he slept in the same room with.
BLITZER: All right, CNN's legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin joining us once again. We'll continue this conversation I'm sure in the days, weeks and months to come. Jeffrey Toobin, thank you.
President Bush is home after a week in Europe. How did the trip influence his reputation around the world? Our Carlos Watson will weigh in. He has got "The Inside Edge" -- there he is -- right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Joining us now with his take on President Bush's trip to Europe and other issues, our CNN political analyst Carlos Watson. He's joining us from Mountain View, California. Before we get to the trip, there's a congressional showdown involving judicial nominees that is now about to play itself out. Carlos, as you know, the stakes are enormous. Tell our viewers your thoughts on what's going on here in Washington.
CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Wolf, you know, President Bush announced a couple months ago he was going to send back to the Senate 20 judges who he had previously nominated for federal judgeships, but were rejected in one form or another.
Beginning today, some of those judges started to have hearings. And Democrats have said they are going to go hard after them. This is worth watching, maybe even more so in the short term than the budget fight and Social Security, because it says a lot about two things.
One, it's a preview of the upcoming probably Supreme Court nomination match. Just how fierce will it be, and therefore,, what kind of nominee will the president send forward, a moderate or really strong conservative? And, two, it may be important because it may set the congressional dynamic for the rest of the year. If the president wins, if he overrides what are clear Democratic hopes, then make no mistake about it. That says good things for his chances on Social Security and other things.
On the other hand, if Democrats prevail here and these folks are not nominated, by and large, then make no mistake about it. Democrats will rally and you will see a much more aggressive, although still in the minority, Democratic Senate.
BLITZER: The president was just in Europe. He saw Tony Blair. Tony Blair has got his own election coming up pretty soon, Carlos. There are important potential ramifications for us as well, aren't they?
WATSON: There are.
Tony Blair clearly was the president's strongest ally in the Iraqi war, creating a modern-day, if you will, Thatcher-Reagan relationship. And maybe in the next two months, maybe next three months, Blair may be up for election. It look likes a close one right now. If Blair were to lose, that could mean that not only does the President Bush's foreign policy take a hit, but, frankly, there may be fewer European troops on the ground in Iraq, where we know there will be for a while more.
That may mean more American lives or maybe more American casualties, so it's a big deal. It's also, by the way, on a political note, Wolf, we've always said that all politics is local. That was a famous saying. We may finally be able to say that all politics is global, meaning that political consultants who often have left America to work abroad in England and other places to advise campaigns may start coming the reverse way. If some of those folks in England are successful, look for them to be used by campaigns here in America in 2006.
BLITZER: Carlos Watson will be back with us on Friday. Carlos, thanks very much.
WATSON: Good to see you.
BLITZER: A spectacular show in the water. We'll go whale watching, yes, whale watching. That's our picture of the day, coming up after a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Check it out. Here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day: Do you agree with the Supreme Court's decision to ban the death penalty for juveniles? Fifty-nine percent of you said yes; 41 percent of you said no. Remember, though, this is not a scientific poll.
It's a breeding ground for whales and apparently for tourists. And it's our picture of the day. Every year at this time, they come from the cold waters of the North Atlantic, near Maine, Canada and Greenland. Humpback whales, thousands of them, gathering in the warm waters off the Dominican Republic. They come to mate and bear their young. And the tourists, thousands of them, come to watch and take pictures, good photo opportunity with the whales. There they are.
That's all the time we have. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.
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Aired March 1, 2005 - 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: is Syria's leader caving to U.S. pressure for democracy? A breaking development that has huge ramifications, potentially, in the Middle East.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Juvenile killers. A deeply divided Supreme Court rules they can't be put to death.
Behind the bombing. The U.S. blames a Syrian-based group for terror in Israel.
Could NATO take on a new role in the Middle East? I'll ask the supreme allied commander.
Serial killer case. The BTK suspect faces the judge.
JUDGE GREG WALLER, SEDGWICK COUNTY, KANSAS: Do you understand you're charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder?
DENNIS RADER, SUSPECTED BTK KILLER: Yes, sir.
BLITZER: What's he telling investigators?
And a federal judge, once targeted by a hate group, makes a horrifying discovery.
CHIEF DET. JAMES MALLOY, CHICAGO POLICE: Judge Lefkow arrived home last night shortly after 5:30 p.m. to find her mother and her husband slain in the basement.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, March 1, 2005.
BLITZER: There are fresh indications tonight that Syria's strong man may be bending to American pressure. We begin with a developing story straight out of Damascus, which is blamed by the Bush administration for sponsoring terrorism and blamed by many Lebanese for last month's bombing which killed a former prime minister.
Now, under that enormous pressure, the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, is pledging to pull his troops out of Lebanon and to do so soon. That pledge comes in an interview with "TIME" magazine columnist, Joe Klein, who spoke with me by phone from Damascus, just a few minutes ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Joe Klein, thanks very much for joining us from Damascus. How specific did he get in making this pledge to withdraw Syrian forces from Lebanon?
JOE KLEIN, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, he was pretty specific about the pledge but not about the time. He said that, you know, that it was a tactical question, not a political question, meaning that the political decision to withdraw had been made.
He said he wanted to talk to Terje Roed Larsen, who is the U.N. envoy who's coming back here in March, and I asked him, "Can you tell me when you will be out of Lebanon." I'm reading you from the transcript.
He said, "Out completely?"
I said, "Yes."
He said, "Actually our discussion should be with Terje Roed Larsen, who's coming back in March. It should" -- "it" meaning the withdrawal -- "should be very soon, and maybe in the next few months. Not after that. I can't give you the technical answer. The point is, the next few months."
And then he went on to say that he had to sit down with the army and talk about how to redeploy those troops when they get back to Syria, how to rebuild the fortifications at the Syrian border.
He mentioned that the Israelis had come right up to that border when they invaded Lebanon in 1982. And so it's a matter of putting up fortifications and so on.
BLITZER: What -- what did he say, Joe, about getting Syrian intelligence operatives out of Lebanon, because the president wants those intelligence operatives out, as well?
KLEIN: Well, he wasn't specific about that. I -- you know, I said, you know, I asked him, this means -- this means the army and intelligence services? And you know, and he gave me the answer that he gave me.
Now you understand, Wolf, that we're never going to be able to completely know whether the intelligence services are in or out of -- in or out of Lebanon, because they -- they don't wear uniforms.
BLITZER: What about, Joe, the whole notion that he is now under so much international, specifically U.S. pressure that Bashar al-Assad is capitulating?
KLEIN: Well, he understands that he's under an awful lot of pressure, and I think that he doesn't -- he obviously doesn't want to give the impression that he's capitulating. But you can judge what the actions are and come to your own decision.
BLITZER: Joe Klein joining us from Damascus. Joe, good work. Thanks very much.
KLEIN: My pleasure.
And shortly, we're going to go to Andrea Koppel. She's covering Condoleezza Rice's visit to London for a Mideast conference. Right now, Condoleezza Rice making some tough statements against the Syrians just a short while ago. We'll go to London momentarily.
Meanwhile, back in this country, scores of convicted murderers will escape the death penalty following a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling today.
CNN's Brian Todd standing by live from the U.S. Supreme Court -- Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this was a very divisive case before the court. At the center of it, a young man who horrified a community near St. Louis about 12 years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): Christopher Simmons' guilt was never in doubt. He confessed to a horrible crime.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury, find the defendant, Christopher Simmons, guilty of murder in the first degree.
TODD: In 1993, Simmons and a 14-year-old accomplice convicted of killing their neighbor, Shirley Crook, taken from her home, bound, a towel over her head. She was thrown off a train trestle and drowned in the Merrimack River near St. Louis, a robbery that netted $6.
Simmons was sentenced to death. And at that time, neighbors debated the punishment for the then 17-year-old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see that tree over there? That's where they out to be. That's what I think.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What? Hanging from it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You think that these kids don't have any idea as to what life is all about. He's lost. He's a lost kid.
TODD: The Supreme Court, just as divided, ruling 5-4 that executing juvenile killers like Simmons is unconstitutional. Writing the majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy states, quote, "When a juvenile commits a heinous crime, the state can exact forfeiture of some of the most basic liberties, but the state cannot extinguish his life and his potential to attain a mature understanding of his own humanity."
Before the court, Simmons' attorney, Seth Waxman, argued the difference between adolescent and adult judgment.
SETH WAXMAN, ATTORNEY FOR CHRISTOPHER SIMMONS: We argued that 18 is the natural age. It's an age that's reflected almost universally whenever legislatures have to find a dividing line between adolescence and adulthood, for purposes of driving and signing contracts and entering marriage agreements, and things like that.
TODD: The court agreed with Waxman that standards for the juvenile death penalty had evolved since the court ruled in favor of it in 1989.
But in a bitter dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, "This is no way to run a legal system."
Prosecutors like the one in the county next to where Simmons was tried say the ruling infringes on state's authority to legislate the death penalty and could have more sweeping implications.
ROBERT MCCULLOCH, PROSECUTOR, ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI: If their decision is based on the immaturity or the fact they claim, at least, that juveniles are less culpable and therefore should not be subjected to death, how can they possibly justify sending a juvenile to prison for life without parole? That's the real concern. I don't -- I'm afraid they're not going to stop there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: For now Christopher Simmons and more than 70 others who were under 18 at the time of their crimes are no longer on Death Row, and states will not be allowed to seek the death penalty for minors in the future -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Brian Todd at the Supreme Court, thank you very much.
To our viewers, here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our Web question of the day is this: do you agree with the Supreme Court's decision to ban the death penalty for juveniles? You can vote right now. Go to CNN.com/Wolf. We'll have the results for you later in this graft.
The man accused of being the notorious BTK killer was formally charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder today. Our national correspondent, Bob Franken, joining us now live from Wichita, Kansas -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Wolf, this has now began the court process, one that has taken decades to get here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN (voice-over): It was a routine court proceeding but hardly a routine case.
WALLER: Do you understand that you're charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder?
RADER: Yes, sir.
FRANKEN: Dennis Rader was having his official first appearance to answer for killings that terrorized Wichita for more than three decades. Police say he was the one who sent taunting letters in which he had named himself BTK, for bind, torture and kill.
CHIEF NORMAN WILLIAMS, WICHITA POLICE: BTK is arrested.
FRANKEN: But several defense lawyers in Wichita say the police chief's comments on Saturday were so incendiary that there should be a change of venue.
WARREN EISENBISE, WICHITA ATTORNEY: He was convicted on Saturday morning at around 11 a.m. by a statement made by the chief of police. That was the worst thing I've experienced as a defense lawyer in 47 years.
FRANKEN: The police chief refused comment. And the district attorney brushed it off.
NOLA FOULSTON, SEDGWICK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I do not believe it will be a problem when we try this case.
FRANKEN: There's been no comment from Rader's newly appointed public defender.
WALLER: I'm going to set this case for 9 a.m. in the morning on March 15. Bond will be in the amount of $10 million. Based upon your request for court appointed lawyer, I'm going to appoint the public defender's office to represent you in this matter. Should the case proceed to sentencing, it will be assigned to Division Five.
Thank you very much.
RADER: Thank you, sir.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: Lawyers warned that that court date could very easily slip, because for both the prosecution and defense, the notoriety of this could be a problem -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Bob Franken, reporting for us from Wichita. Thank you, Bob.
A federal judge finds the bodies of her husband and mother, both murdered in her home. Are the deaths connected to a threat by a white supremacist?
One thousand leads but none of them solid, apparently not yet. Police are baffled by the disappearance of Jessica Marie Lunsford. I'll speak live with her father.
Plus, hints that Michael Jackson may eventually take the stand in his trial. Our legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, he's inside the courtroom right now. Shortly, he'll be walking outside. He'll join us live with today's developments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Chicago has seen many brutal crimes throughout the years, but this one has shocked even veteran investigators, the deaths of a federal judge's husband and mother.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Chicago police say U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow made the terrible discovery herself.
MALLOY: Judge Lefkow arrived home last night shortly after 5:30 p.m. to find her mother and her husband slain in the basement. Both were pronounced dead on the scene.
The victims are Donna Humphrey. She was the 89-year-old mother of Judge Lefkow. And Michael Lefkow, the judge's husband. He was 64. Both victims were found shot in the basement.
BLITZER: Neighbors were shocked by the killings.
CANDACE GORMAN, NEIGHBOR: Judge Lefkow is a wonderful judge. And I really hope it has nothing do with any case she's ever worked on.
BLITZER: Last year, a white supremacist leader named Matthew Hale was convicted of trying to hire someone to kill Judge Lefkow. Witnesses said Hale was angry because Lefkow ruled against him in a copyright case, barring him from calling his group the World Church of the Creator.
After Hale's conviction last year, Lefkow received special police protection, but it only lasted for a short time. Hale currently is awaiting sentencing.
Police say it's too early to say whether Hale had anything do with the deaths of Lefkow's husband and mother.
MALLOW: There is much speculation about possible links between this crime and the possible involvement of hate groups. This is but one facet of our investigation. We are looking in many, many investigations, but it would be far too early to draw any definitive links.
BLITZER: Police say a special task force composed of local and federal law officers will be investigating the case 24 hours a day.
MALLOY: If anyone in the public saw somebody that they did not know, who belonged in that house, around the house yesterday, definitely, we're asking for their cooperation in contacting us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And joining us now from our Chicago bureau with more on this story, "Chicago Tribune" reporter David Heinzmann. David, thanks very much for joining us. I know you and your colleagues at "The Chicago Tribune" have been digging. What do we know, if anything, about a possible hate crime motive in this particular case?
DAVID HEINZMANN, "CHICAGO TRIBUNE": Well, right now, it's sort of the leading theory that the police have. They're careful to say they have no known connections to white supremacists or certainly not to Hale, who's in federal custody awaiting sentencing.
But privately they say, you know, while they look into other of Judge Lefkow's cases and the cases handled by her husband, Michael, who was also an attorney, you know, clearly the focus is on any possible connections to hate groups.
BLITZER: The killing of the husband and the 89-year-old mother looked almost, at least -- at least on the reports we're getting, like an execution, a bullet shot to the head. Are there any indications of a robbery, for example?
HEINZMANN: What police sources and law enforcement sources were telling us last night, there was no evidence immediately of a robbery. That doesn't mean they won't find something as they -- as they go through the scene later on that changes their minds.
But they were looking at a possible broken basement window as the way that they got in. And they were both shot in the head with a .22 caliber gun. And the killers did leave two .22 caliber shell casings at the scene. I think there's a lot of effort now in testing those casings. And they will see if ballistics helps them out or fingerprints can be taken from the casings.
BLITZER: She did have protection, security guards, at one point after the earlier threat by Hale. Is that right?
HEINZMANN: That's right. But that's awhile ago. She -- Hale was charged with this solicitation to kill her in January of '03. And it was right around that time that the United States marshal's service, which is in charge of protecting judges, did put a detail on protecting her when she was outside the courthouse. That meant officers on her street at home, following her. And they also rigged up a camera to watch her home.
But that only lasted a few weeks. And they decided, the marshals and the judge herself decided that it wasn't -- it was no longer a credible threat. It's unclear to us exactly when that was pealed back -- repealed. But it's been quite a while ago.
BLITZER: And Hale, as you have reported in "The Chicago Tribune," he went tuned cover FBI agent and -- who was told to go ahead and kill her by him. Is that right?
HEINZMANN: It wasn't an agent. It was a member of Hale's inner circle, but he had been turned into an FBI informant and they did record several of their phone conversations, conversations between them, in which the government said they did produce enough evidence that Hale asked for or was supporting the idea of killing Lefkow.
BLITZER: Do you know if Judge Lefkow -- Is Judge Lefkow Jewish?
HEINZMANN: She is not. And that's when -- the other piece here is that the White Aryan Resistance web site posted the Lefkows' home address and made a number of anti-Semitic slurs surrounding the posting of that address. And in fact, the Lefkows are both Episcopalians. And Mr. Lefkow was very deeply involved in the Episcopalian diocese here in Chicago.
BLITZER: But were those white Aryans, those supremacists, suggesting that she was Jewish?
HEINZMANN: Yes. They called her, you know, a Jew and, you know, language much worse than that.
BLITZER: What a sad, sad story. David Heinzmann of "The Chicago Tribune. Thanks very much for joining us.
HEINZMANN: You're welcome.
BLITZER: Missing without a trace for five days, but the family of Jessica Marie Lunsford remains vigilant. We'll have an update on the case. That's coming up.
Also ahead, the new role for NATO forces around the world. The alliance is already in Afghanistan, going to be a little bit in Iraq, but will NATO troops be not -- will now they be deployed to Lebanon or Gaza or the West Bank? I'll speak with NATO allied commander, General James Jones. He's here in Washington.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: The Bush administration today turned up the heat on Syria yet another notch. Let's go live to our State Department correspondent, Andrea Koppel. She's traveling with a very tough talking secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, in London -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, only days after a suicide bomber killed five Israelis and injured dozens more in an attack outside a Tel Aviv nightclub, the Bush administration is now pointing the finger of blame at a Palestinian rejection group based in Damascus, the same group which over the weekend itself claimed responsibility for the attack.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL (voice-over): U.S. officials tell CNN the Bush administration now has, quote, "firm evidence" leaders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, based in Syria, not only authorized Friday's attack in Tel Aviv, but were actively involved in planning it.
Still, a senior State Department official also told CNN the U.S. doesn't know the degree of Syrian involvement. But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in London for a conference on Palestinian reform, suggested it was yet another example of a disturbing pattern of Syrian behavior now evident on several fronts.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: We have also said to the Syrians that the support for the Iraqi insurgency that is coming from Syrian territory has got to stop.
And there is the issue of the support for -- that is coming from Syrian territory for Palestinian rejectionists like the Palestinian Islamic Jihad that was -- we have reason to believe based in Syria at the time of those attacks.
KOPPEL: Hoping to ride the wave of massive street demonstrations in Beirut, one day after Lebanon's people power movement forced the resignation of the country's pro-Syrian prime minister, the U.S. and France, in a rare show of unity, turned up the diplomatic heat on Syria, repeating a call for Damascus to abide by a U.N. resolution to withdraw its 14,000 troops from Lebanon.
MICHEL BARNIER, FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We can never be indifferent to what is happening in Lebanon. And our way of encouraging this is to repeat what is included in the ...
KOPPEL: France and the U.S. also repeated a call for an international investigation into the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister last month and offered support for free and democratic elections now set for May.
RICE: That means election observers, if necessary, monitoring, if necessary.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL: But a senior State Department official tells CNN that Secretary Rice has not discussed such a monitoring force with the United Nations at this point, saying that there is no point discussing it, because Syrian withdrawal is in this official's words, quote, "still a big if."
Nevertheless, officials say Rice is focused on building international support for further isolating Syria, knowing, Wolf, that in recent months there have been some really dramatic developments in the region itself on the democratic front, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Andrea Koppel, traveling with the secretary of state in London. Andrea, thank you very much.
The search for that missing Florida girl continuing. Coming up, I'll speak live with Jessica Marie Lunsford's father. He's standing by.
And should NATO be playing a larger role in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East? Also standing by, NATO's supreme allied commander. Will Michael Jackson take the stand at his child molestation trial? Our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, has been watching. What's been unfolding inside the courtroom today? He'll join us with details.
And why Canada has decided to deport a Holocaust denier to his native Germany.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: From our studios in Washington, once again, Wolf Blitzer.
BLITZER: Welcome back.
In Florida search teams are using dogs, trying to catch the trail of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who's been missing almost a week. Investigators say they do not have any solid leads after five days of searching for the little girl. She disappeared after her grandmother put her to bed last Wednesday.
Joining us now is Jessica's father, Mark Lunsford.
First of all, our deepest wishes for success finding your little daughter. I can only imagine what you're going through.
Have there been any new breakthroughs, any new developments? Have the police told you that they've got something to go on right now?
MARK LUNSFORD, FATHER OF JESSICA: Today, I ain't been able to talk to them today a whole lot. As far as I know, there's not been anything new.
I just -- I've been real busy today trying to take care of everything I can for -- with Jessie.
BLITZER: You let photographers go into Jessica's bedroom and get some pictures in there. What was the purpose of that?
LUNSFORD: Well, I just wanted people to see what kind of life she lives, you know what I mean? She's happy. The pictures that we were showing of her last night, you know, were, you know, like different things. She liked to play dress-up and liked clowns and stuff, and her Halloween picture, costume, her Christmas pictures.
Just, you know what I mean, right?
BLITZER: Right. Of course.
There's nothing in her background to suggest she would have tried to run away or walk away, that she may have just decided to leave on her own?
LUNSFORD: Well, yes, she wouldn't leave on her own. You know what I mean? I just -- there's just no doubt about that. BLITZER: So, you believe somebody came into her bedroom and snatched her and took her away?
LUNSFORD: Well, yes. But I ain't -- you know, I ain't -- I'm not an investigator or nothing, you know what I mean?
BLITZER: Yes.
LUNSFORD: But that's what I think.
BLITZER: There was no sign of forced entry or anything like that? Is that right?
LUNSFORD: Yes, as far as I know, yes. That's what they've said.
BLITZER: How are you doing? How are you personally holding up right now?
LUNSFORD: Well, you know what? i stay pretty busy, you know, trying to do things for Jessie. You know that she's got that Web page. And, evidently, there's donations coming in, but people got to be careful. You know, I'm OK right now. But, I mean, they've got to be careful about making donations, because, from my understanding, there's other Web pages like with her name similarities to it taking donations, and I don't know nothing about that.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: So, in other words, there may be people -- what you're saying is, there may be scam artists trying to take advantage of this.
(CROSSTALK)
LUNSFORD: Right. Right.
And I didn't think about that, you know what I mean? And I didn't really want the donations, but the people that are working that Web page up for me, my nephew and CharlotteWebHosting.com, they give it to her for free.
BLITZER: Right.
LUNSFORD: For the rest of her life.
BLITZER: Mark, you've already gone through a polygraph. Is that right?
LUNSFORD: Yes.
BLITZER: And a voice stress test, you went through that as well?
LUNSFORD: Yes, sir.
BLITZER: And you came out OK, based on everything we're hearing. What about your father? LUNSFORD: Oh, most definitely. I'm not sure how they're working that. I mean, they still got dad to do on something, you know what I mean? I can't remember. I don't know if it's that voice stress thing or what they're doing, you know what I mean?
BLITZER: If you could reach out and say something to some person who may have taken your daughter, what would you say?
LUNSFORD: Well, they know. They know I want her home. They got to know. And, I mean, I'd like to say that -- I mean, you know, somebody out there has seen them. They had to. I just hope that somebody -- whoever it was that saw her will call and say where they seen her at.
BLITZER: Our heart goes out to you, Mark Lunsford, Jessica Lunsford's father.
LUNSFORD: Thank you.
BLITZER: Good luck to you. We're all praying for you.
LUNSFORD: Thank you.
BLITZER: Let's take a quick check of some other stories now in the news.
Tapes of President Bush that were secretly recorded by an old friend have been turned over to the president's private attorney. Doug Wead sparked controversy when he allowed journalists to hear and broadcast parts of the tapes last month at the same time his book on presidential candidates was published.
The phone conversations were recorded when Mr. Bush was governor of Texas.
Canada has deported a Holocaust denier to his native Germany on grounds that his activities were a threat not only to Canada, but to the international community. Ernst Zundel is expected to be arrested by German authorities on charges of inciting hatred via the Internet. Zundel is the author of the book "The Hitler We Loved and Why." And he had been held in a Canadian prisoner for two years while officials determined whether he posed a security risk.
"The New York Times" today named conservative columnist John Tierney to write pieces twice weekly pieces for its op-ed page. The move follows the retirement of "The Times"' longtime conservative columnist William Safire, who stepped down last most. Tierney, who's been with "The Times" since 1990, begins his new job next month.
Relatives began retrieving bodies and burying their loved ones a day after the deadliest insurgent attack since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. At least 127 people were killed yesterday when a suicide bomber struck in the mostly Shiite town of Hillah. Al Qaeda's wing in Iran says it was behind the bombing. The Iraqi government has declared Wednesday a national day of mourning for the victims. Should NATO forces be playing a bigger role inside Iraq? And should the alliance extend its reach and play a peacekeeping role elsewhere in the Middle East?
A little while ago, I spoke with NATO's supreme allied commander, General James Jones. He always wears another hat as the head of the U.S. military's European Command.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: General Jones, thanks very much for joining us. Welcome back to Washington.
GEN. JAMES JONES, NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Pleasure.
BLITZER: NATO, it has got a complicated relationship with assignments outside of Europe. In Afghanistan, it's robust. In Iraq, some would say it's pitiful. Why?
JONES: Well, in Afghanistan, it is robust and it is going to be more robust in '05. We're about to expand the mission dramatically in the west and I think soon thereafter in the south.
And we've had a lot of donations from countries who are now interested in working in Afghanistan. And so, after a difficult year of generating the force, we really have some good momentum. Iraq, of course, has been a difficult subject in the alliance, with roughly half the nations not willing to put forces on the ground in Iraq.
But as a result of the presidential visit, preceded by the secretary of state and the secretary of defense, the alliance has now come together. And they're -- all nations in the alliance have decided to make some contribution to the mission in Iraq, whether it's the form of money, whether it's the form of troop trainers on the ground or whether it's the form of training outside Iraq or providing equipment.
So, there's been some positive work done. NATO's mission in Iraq is modest. The ambition is to train 1,000 trainers year, plus 500 outside Iraq and coordinate the equipment deliveries.
BLITZER: It really is sort of bare-bones, when you think about it.
JONES: It is modest, but it will make a huge difference. We're right now engaged in training what's going to emerge as the new Iraqi general staff, the joint staff, if you will. So, there's a lot of work to be done.
And I think that, as the days and weeks go by, you will see NATO's contribution will be robust and will increase, but it will take a little time.
BLITZER: There's been lots of proposals that NATO should get directly involved in other hot spots, Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon. Is NATO ready to take on these additional commitments? JONES: Well, I think NATO is a great alliance and carries a very, very important status around the world when it gets involved. So, fundamentally, a great alliance should be prepared to do great things.
As the allied commander for operations, I've not been tasked to do anything in the areas that you mentioned. But two years ago, when I arrived in Europe, I wasn't prepared to think about Afghanistan. And eight months later, we were there. So, we have a lot of capability in NATO. The will of the nations is what drives it.
BLITZER: So, you're open-minded about it if in fact it comes down to that?
JONES: I'm open-minded about any mission that the North Atlantic Council tasks us to develop.
BLITZER: What is NATO doing specifically right now to prevent future Afghanistans, to go in and fight this war against terrorism? Because the terrorists are being infrastructures in various parts of the world.
JONES: Yes. Yes.
Well, there's a lot going on, Wolf. As you know, we've had an ongoing mission in Kosovo and in Bosnia. We have a strong presence in the Balkans. And we have an ongoing mission in the Mediterranean called Operation Active Endeavour, which is an Article 5 mission. And it's also NATO's really largest counterterrorism mission. It's been there for about two years.
And it has done amazing things in making the Mediterranean Basin safer from illegal immigration, narco trafficking, terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction in volume cargoes. And that security blanket and the net is getting tighter and tighter. So, that's also an extremely good mission. In Afghanistan, NATO has participated...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: What about in Africa, for example? Because there are potential terrorist hotbeds emerging there.
JONES: Yes.
In Africa, NATO's further -- part of this mission to the south is the Mediterranean dialogue, where we get -- we are talking to about seven members, seven members of the Southern Rim nations, not all Southern Rim. It includes Israel and Jordan as well. But on issues that relate to that -- the Mediterranean Basin. And terrorism is obviously at the top of the list.
BLITZER: Is al Qaeda still capable of launching a major terror attack against the United States?
JONES: I would have to assume that they can. It would be foolish to -- unless you have concrete proof to the opposite. But the United States European Command is the other -- is my other hat in Europe.
BLITZER: You're the commander of that.
(CROSSTALK)
JONES: We are involved in Africa and we are involved in helping Africans help themselves. We have been chasing terrorists in the large ungoverned spaces of sub-Saharan Africa with some success and building -- helping struggling democracies defend their borders, know what's going on in their borders and helping -- helping them.
BLITZER: Bottom line, is the U.S. winning this war on terror?
JONES: I think we are.
I think that not only is the U.S. winning. I think the U.S. leadership and the family of nations that understand that there is -- there is a common threat there, and that it has to be dealt with. And if you look at the -- just the results in Europe, almost every day, there is a terrorist who's arrested, whether it's in Spain or Holland or Italy or France. And quietly, sometimes quietly, but measurably, I think the noose is getting tighter on their ability to operate worldwide.
BLITZER: General Jones, good luck to you. Thanks very much.
JONES: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Let's take a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Pope John Paul II is speaking for the first time since throat surgically last week. A Vatican cardinal says the pope spoke in both German and Italian during a visit at his hospital room in Rome. The pope underwent a tracheotomy to improve his breathing after suffering what the Vatican says was a relapse of the flu.
Tourist death. An Australian tourist was killed by a hippopotamus at a resort in Kenya. The 50-year-old woman was with a group of other tourists when the hippo attacked. No one else was hurt. Officials say hippos kill more people in Africa every year than any other wild animal.
Socialist triumph. Uruguay's Congress today swore in Tabare Vazquez as the country's first ever Socialist president. The move aligns Uruguay with several other South African countries with leftist leaders.
Party time. Carnival is under way in Cuba. And both locals and tourists are kicking up their heels. The big bash continues on weekends throughout March. And that's our look around the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: The lawyers have spoken and now the testimony has begun in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial. Will the king of pop take the stand in his own defense? Our senior legal analyst, Jeff Toobin, has been inside the courtroom. He is going to join us live later.
The charm offensive. President Bush is back from his five-day three-nation trip to Europe. But did he make any lasting effects on world policy? Carlos Watson has "The Inside Edge."
And in our picture of the day, it's a migration that leaves tourists scrambling for a glimpse. We'll share it with you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Will Michael Jackson take the stand at his child molestation trial? The entertainment's lawyer hinted at that during his opening statement earlier today.
Our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, is joining us now from Santa Maria, California.
You were inside that courtroom. What exactly did Thomas Mesereau say that might suggest that Michael Jackson would testify?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Well, he said something very specific.
He said, in the course of completing his opening statement today, he said, Michael Jackson will tell you that he caught the accuser and his brother going through his adult "Playboy," "Penthouse" magazines trying to take them. So that was his explanation of how their fingerprints might get on there. That was a very explicit suggestion, not a guarantee, but it's certainly a suggestion that Michael Jackson will take the stand in his own defense.
BLITZER: If he takes the stand, though, he's open to cross- examination. And defense lawyers are always nervous about that, aren't they?
TOOBIN: Absolutely. It is a rare, rare situation, where a well- advised defendant takes the stand, especially in a case here, where you have the defendant on record so many times, with his bizarre views about the appropriateness of men and boys sleeping in the same bedroom.
BLITZER: It was a pretty bizarre day. I think you used the word earlier surreal day inside that courtroom today. You've been watching a lot of trials over the years. What was so surreal about it?
TOOBIN: Well, the first witness was Martin Bashir, the journalist from Britain who did the famous documentary about Michael Jackson. And he came on. And the only question he was asked by the prosecution essentially was, did you do this documentary? Then they played the entire nearly two-hour documentary in the courtroom for the jury.
So, you had a lot of music. You heard "Billie Jean." You heard "ABC," a lot of the Jackson Five hits. You heard this long explanation of Michael Jackson's past. There were funny parts of the documentary. The jury was laughing at some of it. There was some very sad part, Michael Jackson talking about his childhood, where he was beaten by his father. His mother was in the courtroom, as was his brother, Jackie.
And Jackie was nodding his head about how he was being beaten. Again, I don't really know what the jury made of this. It was a very unusual exhibit for a trial, but, obviously, the defense -- I'm sorry, the prosecution, what they really wanted was the admission at the very end of the documentary, where the accuser appears on camera in this case -- in this documentary, and in the course of their conversation, on camera, Michael Jackson says: Yes, he left in my bedroom. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
That's something the jury will certainly remember.
BLITZER: Why couldn't they just have played that one excerpt? Why did they make the jury listen to the whole two-hour documentary?
TOOBIN: I don't understand that, Wolf. But it was something that had been settled outside the presence of the jury, outside the presence of the public, that is to say, us. And so they played the whole documentary.
Interestingly, I mean, I had seen it when it was broadcast. I thought it was some what more sympathetic to Michael Jackson than I remembered it. You have the feeling of a very isolated, strange man. And he did insist repeatedly in the course of that documentary that, yes, he did sleep in the same bedroom with boys, not his children, but there was nothing sexual that went on between them.
And during his cross-examination, Tom Mesereau, of Martin Bashir, repeatedly invoked Michael Jackson's statement that nothing sexual went on between him and the boys that he slept in the same room with.
BLITZER: All right, CNN's legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin joining us once again. We'll continue this conversation I'm sure in the days, weeks and months to come. Jeffrey Toobin, thank you.
President Bush is home after a week in Europe. How did the trip influence his reputation around the world? Our Carlos Watson will weigh in. He has got "The Inside Edge" -- there he is -- right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Joining us now with his take on President Bush's trip to Europe and other issues, our CNN political analyst Carlos Watson. He's joining us from Mountain View, California. Before we get to the trip, there's a congressional showdown involving judicial nominees that is now about to play itself out. Carlos, as you know, the stakes are enormous. Tell our viewers your thoughts on what's going on here in Washington.
CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Wolf, you know, President Bush announced a couple months ago he was going to send back to the Senate 20 judges who he had previously nominated for federal judgeships, but were rejected in one form or another.
Beginning today, some of those judges started to have hearings. And Democrats have said they are going to go hard after them. This is worth watching, maybe even more so in the short term than the budget fight and Social Security, because it says a lot about two things.
One, it's a preview of the upcoming probably Supreme Court nomination match. Just how fierce will it be, and therefore,, what kind of nominee will the president send forward, a moderate or really strong conservative? And, two, it may be important because it may set the congressional dynamic for the rest of the year. If the president wins, if he overrides what are clear Democratic hopes, then make no mistake about it. That says good things for his chances on Social Security and other things.
On the other hand, if Democrats prevail here and these folks are not nominated, by and large, then make no mistake about it. Democrats will rally and you will see a much more aggressive, although still in the minority, Democratic Senate.
BLITZER: The president was just in Europe. He saw Tony Blair. Tony Blair has got his own election coming up pretty soon, Carlos. There are important potential ramifications for us as well, aren't they?
WATSON: There are.
Tony Blair clearly was the president's strongest ally in the Iraqi war, creating a modern-day, if you will, Thatcher-Reagan relationship. And maybe in the next two months, maybe next three months, Blair may be up for election. It look likes a close one right now. If Blair were to lose, that could mean that not only does the President Bush's foreign policy take a hit, but, frankly, there may be fewer European troops on the ground in Iraq, where we know there will be for a while more.
That may mean more American lives or maybe more American casualties, so it's a big deal. It's also, by the way, on a political note, Wolf, we've always said that all politics is local. That was a famous saying. We may finally be able to say that all politics is global, meaning that political consultants who often have left America to work abroad in England and other places to advise campaigns may start coming the reverse way. If some of those folks in England are successful, look for them to be used by campaigns here in America in 2006.
BLITZER: Carlos Watson will be back with us on Friday. Carlos, thanks very much.
WATSON: Good to see you.
BLITZER: A spectacular show in the water. We'll go whale watching, yes, whale watching. That's our picture of the day, coming up after a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Check it out. Here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day: Do you agree with the Supreme Court's decision to ban the death penalty for juveniles? Fifty-nine percent of you said yes; 41 percent of you said no. Remember, though, this is not a scientific poll.
It's a breeding ground for whales and apparently for tourists. And it's our picture of the day. Every year at this time, they come from the cold waters of the North Atlantic, near Maine, Canada and Greenland. Humpback whales, thousands of them, gathering in the warm waters off the Dominican Republic. They come to mate and bear their young. And the tourists, thousands of them, come to watch and take pictures, good photo opportunity with the whales. There they are.
That's all the time we have. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.
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