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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Bush Pushes Energy Plan; Congress Considers Bill to Change Bankruptcy Requirements; Baseball Players to Testify Before Congress about Steroid Use; Dan Rather Says Good-Bye to Anchor Chair

Aired March 09, 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: forced to testify in front of the United States Congress. A powerful congressional committee has just issued subpoenas to Major League Baseball players, including Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Jason Giambi. They want information about steroid use in baseball. If they don't comply, they could be held in contempt of Congress. And if they don't tell the truth, they could face criminal charges.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Energy's anxiety. With the nation gasping at gas prices, is it time for the government to step in?

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The more we conserve, the less we use.

BLITZER: Drowning in debt? Whether it's medical bills or credit card charges, you may be about to lose your life preserver.

Weighing anchor. He reported the news, and sometimes he was the news. We'll look back at the career of Dan Rather.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Wednesday, March 9, 2005.

BLITZER: Are you feeling pain over the price at the pump? Are you buried in bills to the point of bankruptcy? President Bush is offering some prescriptions, but you have to give something up to get relief.

With the average price of regular unleaded around $2 a gallon, the president says you'll feel better if you conserve energy. And Mr. Bush is calling on Congress to allow oil exploration and drilling in a key Alaskan wildlife refuge.

And about those bills: Congress is moving to make it much harder for you to erase your debts by declaring bankruptcy.

Our congressional correspondent, Joe Johns, will tell what this landmark legislation means for all of us, but first let's go live to our senior White House correspondent, John King, as President Bush addresses the nation's energy's anxiety -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it is, perhaps, a seasonal ritual. Prices at the pump begin to go up and the politicians quickly take notice.

As you noted -- as you noted, $2 a gallon now is the national average for the price of gas. It is projected to go up to about $2.15 a gallon by the height of the driving season this summer.

The president took note of this during a visit to Ohio. He was there to promote his energy agenda. He said rising energy prices are a drag on the economy. And the president said Americans can conserve more, but he also said this country is too dependent on foreign sources of energy.

The president calling on Congress to pass, finally, the energy plan he has failed to win enough votes for for four years now. One of the most controversial items in the Bush plan, drilling for oil and natural gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Developing a small section of ANWAR would not only create thousands of new jobs, but it would eventually reduce our dependence on foreign oil by up to a million barrels of oil a day, and that's important.

Congress needs to look at the science and look at the facts and send me a bill that includes exploration in ANWAR for the sake of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Now, many Democrats oppose drilling in ANWAR. They also say that even if the drilling began tomorrow it would have no impact on prices in the short term.

A letter to the president today from 16 senators, all but one of them Democrats, saying the president should stop buying oil for the strategic petroleum reserves right now, so spend those purchases. They say that is taking oil off the market that might drive prices down. Those senators also say the president should release some oil from the strategic reserves into the market to drive those prices down.

Among those saying the president should help consumers now, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: So these are out of control prices. They're burning a hole in Americans' wallets. They're putting at risk the economic recovery. And what are they doing at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue? Twiddling their thumbs.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KING: The White House, though, reiterating its longstanding position that the strategic petroleum reserves are for national emergencies, not to be released just because of fluctuations in the market.

And Wolf, there's one other footnote. Inventories of gas and oil are actually at a six-year high. Many analysts think it is all the speculation over higher prices, including all the speeches from the politicians, that are driving up prices more than the laws of supply and demand -- Wolf.

BLITZER: John King at the White House. Thank you, John, very much.

The Senate, meanwhile, is on the verge of passing the first major overhaul of the nation's bankruptcy laws in a quarter century. Consumer advocates are up in arms, saying the measure will hurt those who need help the most.

Let's go live to our congressional correspondent, Joe Johns. He's on Capitol Hill -- Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it has been years in the making, but bankruptcy reform is expected to move one step closer to becoming law later either this evening or sometime tomorrow. Not quite clear on that.

If and when it happens, of course, it would be a big victory for the White House, congressional Republicans and the credit card companies and banks that have been pushing for it so long.

We have a graphic of some of the things in the bill. The bill, of course, would make it harder for people filing bankruptcy to wipe out their debts and get a fresh start. It will force more people into repayment plans. It also puts a means test into place, so that people who have excess income after expenses for things like housing and food would be required to pay something back to their creditors.

There are, of course, strong opposing viewpoints on this legislation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: This bill is being driven by the credit card and banking industry. You know the same people that fill your mailbox with credit card applications you never ask for?

SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: It's time to bring this to an end. We've been at it for eight years. We've worked to accommodate everybody we possibly could accommodate. It's been a bipartisan vote every time. A bipartisan vote every time, an overwhelming bipartisan vote every time. And by gosh, I think it's time to vote on this bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Supporters of the bill say the bankruptcy code, as it is written right now, allows people to abuse it while there are a number of people, of course, on Capitol Hill who are in the minority, who say simply it does not protect the people who need help the most.

Of course, this bill has been around in the past a few times. Congressional leaders see an opening now, so they put some urgency into getting this bill passed.

BLITZER: Joe Johns, reporting for us from the Hill. Thank you very much, Joe for that.

To our viewers, here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our Web question of the day is this: do you support legislative efforts to make it harder for people to file for bankruptcy? You can vote right now. Go to CNN.com/Wolf. We'll have the results later in this broadcast.

CNN has learned that subpoenas have just been issued to a roster of some of baseball's heaviest hitters. It's a part -- it's part of an investigation by a House committee into steroid use by baseball players.

Our congressional correspondent, Ed Henry, here in the studio. He's got the story. He broke it just a little while ago here on CNN -- Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, that's right. CNN has confirmed that now just moments ago the House Government Reform Committee is issuing a slew of these subpoenas as part of a major congressional investigation into the use of steroids in baseball.

The chairman of that committee, Congressman Tom Davis of Virginia, told CNN that about a half dozen current and former baseball stars will receive these subpoenas to testify next Thursday at a hearing on Capitol Hill.

Sources close to the investigation say some people will receive, quote/unquote, "unfriendly subpoenas," because they have thus far refused to testify. This includes sluggers like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Jason Giambi, and Raphael Palmeiro.

Other quote/unquote "friendly" subpoenas will go to people who have already agreed to testify willingly. This includes Jose Canseco, who has a new book out, of course, alleging that McGwire and other players have used steroids. Friendly subpoenas going to officials of Major League Baseball and the players association who have agreed to testify.

The big development here is that the stakes are being raised big time for people like Mark McGwire, who has thus far refused to come forward voluntarily. Ignoring a subpoena at this point could lead to contempt of Congress charges. And then those who do come to testify face a choice: take the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination or testify under oath.

In fact CNN producer Evan Glass just spoke to an agent for Sammy Sosa, who said that Mr. Sosa, who -- he had originally said he would not testify. He now, when getting the subpoena, says he will have to, quote, "take a second look and make the right choice," end quote.

There are already some critics charging Congress is grandstanding here, but Congressman Davis and his Democratic counterpart, Henry Waxman, insist they are not trying to play gotcha, Wolf. They just want to get the facts.

BLITZER: So we could have a spectacle of some of these baseball stars standing up and saying they're not going to answer questions, based on their -- their right against self-incrimination. That would be a pretty amazing sight before the United States Congress.

HENRY: Absolutely. There's already a cloud over some players like Mark McGwire. He holds the single -- he held the single season record before Barry Bonds took it, for 70 home runs in a year. If he were now to come forward and take the Fifth Amendment, of course, that would raise a lot of questions about whether or not he was using steroids.

If he decides to actually testify, then his testimony will be scrutinized heavily, and if he were ever -- it was ever caught in a falsehood, of course, that could lead to other criminal charges. This is -- the stakes have been raised big time for a lot of these players.

BLITZER: It could be very dramatic, next Thursday, one week from tomorrow right here in Washington. Ed Henry, thanks for breaking the story here on CNN.

HENRY: Thank you.

BLITZER: Dan Rather's last day in the anchor chair, the highs and lows of his career, plus the impact of his departure. That's coming up.

Also, Michael Jackson's accuser takes the stand in the pop star's molestation trial. We'll go live to the courthouse.

And a boat sucked into a floodgate. But that was only the beginning of this life and death struggle. We'll show you what happened. All that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In the next hour, Dan Rather will anchor "The CBS Evening News" for the last time. He had very little to say to reporters as he arrived for work early today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN RATHER, ANCHOR, "THE CBS EVENING NEWS": Thank you. Appreciate -- appreciate what you do. Going in, going to work, feeling good. Thank you for being here this morning. Thank you very much. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you feel about your last broadcast, Dan?

RATHER: Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: After nearly a quarter of a century as the public face of CBS News, Rather leaves a legacy of both achievement and controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RATHER: Once I was told by a high ranking CBS executive, "Dan, you're a very good reporter, but I don't think you're an anchor and I don't think you'll ever become one.

What got me to the job, what brought me to the job was field reporting.

WALTER CRONKITE, FORMER ANCHOR, "THE CBS EVENING NEWS": We just have a report from our correspondent Dan Rather in Dallas that he has confirmed that President Kennedy is dead.

BLITZER (voice-over): When Dan Rather became anchor of "The CBS Evening News" 24 years ago today, he had a tough act to follow. He replaced Walter Cronkite, a broadcasting icon, who had been called the most trusted man in America.

Rather was more intense, more edgy, and sometimes seen to be uncomfortable as an anchor. His solution was to emphasize his strengths, redefining the anchor's chair by taking it on the road.

BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS NEWS: This is "The CBS Evening News." Bob Schieffer in New York. Dan Rather is in Baghdad, Iraq, tonight. Good evening.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is "The CBS Evening News" with Dan Rather reporting tonight in Amman, Jordan.

RATHER: This is "The CBS Evening News," Dan Rather reporting live from Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. Good evening.

BLITZER: From interviewing Saddam Hussein in Iraq to covering hurricanes, Rather won widespread acclaim. When he dressed as a peasant to report from Afghanistan, some pundits dubbed him Gunga Dan.

But much criticism of Rather centered not on personality but politics. As CBS White House correspondent during the Nixon era, Rather angered many conservatives with his aggressive reporting.

RICHARD NIXON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Are you running for something?

RATHER: No, sir, Mr. President. Are you?

BLITZER: Years later a confrontational interview with then Vice President George Bush only added to conservatives' charges that the CBS anchor was, in their word, rather biased.

RATHER: I don't want to be argumentative, Mr. Vice President.

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know, Dan. This is not a great night, because I want to talk about why I want to be president.

RATHER: The military records...

BLITZER: Then last year another controversy involving the Bush family when Rather reported on George W. Bush's National Guard service during the Vietnam War. The report was based on a memo that was discredited.

And when Rather announced plans to step down from the anchor chair, it wasn't just Republicans who said he was leaving under a cloud.

CRONKITE: He hung on too long to his faith in his staff. They had provided him his material, and he trusted them implicitly in all -- in all things and -- and insisted that the information was correct for a whole week when evidence was beginning to pile up that it wasn't.

MARVIN KALB, FORMER CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: I think he cares a great deal about the fact that he is going out on a negative note and probably deep down wonders why so many people, so many more people can't remember, literally, the thousands of broadcasts that he did.

BLITZER: Rather tells the "Washington Post" his critics are entitled to their opinions. He says that after 24 years have anchoring, he's looking forward to returning to his true love, reporting.

RATHER: I believe my best work is ahead of me. I hope my best work is ahead of me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: In the 24 years that Rather has been anchoring "The CBS Evening News," the network news business has changed dramatically. CNN's Mary Snow joining us now live from New York with a closer look at that part of the story -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, that change is punctuated by the fact that Dan Rather is the second network news anchor in three months to leave the anchor desk. Tom Brokaw retired from NBC in December. It not only marks the end of the era, but it also raises some questions about the future of the business of network news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW (voice-over): When Dan Rather took over the anchor chair at CBS in 1981, it's estimated that the network evening news shows drew 72 percent of viewers. Today Nielson media research puts the number at 37 percent. Since then and now, cable TV and the Internet have changed the way people get their news, and it's changed the business of television news.

TOM WOLZIEN, MEDIA ANALYST: The half hour evening news shows probably bring in around $160 million a year each in revenue, plus or minus. How much they actually make is pretty tough to figure out. They maybe break even, maybe lose a little bit.

SNOW: Media analyst Tom Wolzien says it all depends on things like anchor salaries and costs for news coverage, noting networks have scaled back on overseas news bureaus to cut costs.

It's estimated about 28 million people watch the three network evening news programs, and those who study market trends estimate it brings in half a billion dollars in advertising revenue each year.

JON SWALLEN, TNS MEDIA INTELLIGENCE: The three broadcast networks are still delivering a larger chunk of viewers in one shot than any of the news program medias on cable networks.

SNOW: Still $500 million in ad revenue for the nightly newscasts is a small piece of the overall pie for companies who own the networks. But the value isn't just determined by dollar signs.

WOLZIEN: The value of these shows is probably gauged more in image, in Washington and in establishing the image of the overall news organization than in the dollars that they actually make.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: The big question, though, is the future for nightly network news casts. That is certainly up for debate. The analysts we spoke with don't see those newscasts going away, but they still see a decline each year to the tune of about three to four percent -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Mary Snow, reporting from New York. Mary, thank you very much.

And we'll have more on Dan Rather's departure coming up. I'll speak with Howard Kurtz of the "Washington Post" and CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES."

Also, it's in with the old in Lebanon. We'll tell you about a major political about face.

Startling allegations of widespread rape in Sudan. Now new evidence supporting the claims. Our Zain Verjee is on the story.

And Mount St. Helens catches everyone by surprise. The experts tell us what this latest eruption means.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Joining us now with more on Dan Rather's last night in the anchor chair over at "The CBS Evening News," joining us, Howard Kurtz, the host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" and the "Washington Post."

Howie, the accusation of liberal bias against Dan Rather, was that a fair accusation over his 40 years of journalism -- in broadcast journalism?

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": I don't know Dan Rather's deep, dark, political opinions, but I will say that he gave his enemies a lot of ammunition.

There was the on-air shouting match with Vice President Bush, which you showed earlier. There was attendance at a Democratic fundraiser in Texas two years ago, in which his daughter was involved. And then, of course, there was the National Guard story about President Bush.

He liked a good story and he was always more of a reporter than an anchor, always seemed uncomfortable in the anchor chair, but conservatives back since the Nixon administration, have felt that they didn't get a fair shake from Dan Rather. And so he became kind of the poster boy for network liberalism.

BLITZER: Is this a real end of an era right now, with Brokaw gone from the evening news, now Rather? Peter Jennings is still there. What's going on? What's your assessment?

KURTZ: Well, these are the old bulls who came into our living rooms for decades. And it is the passing of an era in this sense. It's not that there aren't good journalists now, like Brian Williams, for example, who could take these jobs. Bob Schieffer, as well.

But when -- when Rather started and took over from Cronkite, I mean, these guys dominated the audience. There weren't that many choices. You wanted to watch the news, you watched them or you watched Brinkley or watched Cronkite.

Now, as you now know, you can not only watch CNN. You can get news on the Internet. You can get news on talk radio. You can get news, you know, wired to your cell phone. And they will never again tower over the media landscape, because there's so much information out there now available all the time. You don't wait until 6:30 to find out the headlines. You already know them.

BLITZER: The fact that these big corporations own all of these networks, including our own, and all of the news operations, has that had an impact on the way the news business, the television news business has been going?

KURTZ: An undeniable impact, Wolf. Because these big corporations, which do a lot of other things, including entertainment, want to make money. Now, of course, networks have always wanted to make money, but there's a lot more pressure now on the evening newscast, on the morning shows, on the news magazines, to turn a profit. And that means cutting back on international bureaus, not having many reporters in your Washington bureau. It means having to make do with less, and so there's less original investigative reporting, certainly on the evening newscasts than I can remember in the '80s, when we at "The Washington Post" were often chasing stories that were on CBS or NBC.

BLITZER: The fact that Viacom owns CBS, for example, and the pressure that's on Viacom from Washington or whatever, from the Bush administration, from Republicans, does that have an impact on the way it filters down to the Dan Rather level from the higher-ups in the corporate board?

KURTZ: Well, I would not suggest that Viacom is putting pressure on the content of the newscast any more than Time Warner puts pressure on the CNN news operation, but it clearly affects resources.

And I suspect that if they felt they could get away with it without a public relations black eye, that some of these big companies would like to do away with the evening news, because it costs a lot of money and it's not pulling in huge ratings compared to the entertainment shows.

I don't think they should do that. I think what CBS particularly has the opportunity to do now is to reinvent the evening newscast and to try to appeal to younger viewers. The average age is about 60. Those people are going to die off some day. And if all of the network newscasts don't figure out a way to become more relevant to people who aren't watching all those aspirin and Depends commercials, they're going to be in big trouble.

BLITZER: Howard Kurtz, thanks very much.

KURTZ: Thank you.

BLITZER: And tune in to "RELIABLE SOURCES" this weekend, Sunday morning. Howie will speak with CBS anchor Bob Schieffer. That airs this Sunday morning, 11:30 a.m. Eastern. Bob Schieffer, the interim replacement anchor for Dan Rather.

Iraqi police make an especially gruesome discovery near the Syrian border. We'll have a report from Baghdad.

Also, the teenager who accuses Michael Jackson of molesting him takes the witness stand. We'll go live to the courthouse.

And there are these dramatic pictures of a rescue from a Texas lake. We will share them with you.

And our picture of the day, look at this, two former presidents, 18 holes, in the rain, on the day before he goes for surgery. We'll tell you what's going on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: From our studios in Washington, once again, Wolf Blitzer.

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Tough talk from President Bush to Syria's president, Bashar al- Assad. He says a half measure is not enough: all of Syria's troops must go, and they must go right away. We'll get to that.

First, though, a quick check of some other stories now in the news.

Federal drug agents are calling it the largest ever seizure of methamphetamine in the Eastern United States. Agents discovered 175 pounds of crystal meth in a raid in suburban Atlanta. They say it's more evidence of the eastward spread of illegal meth production and distribution.

There are new signs the war in Iraq is driving potential recruits away from the U.S. military. The Army says the percentage of African- Americans signing up has dropped significantly in the past five years. As of last month, blacks made up almost 14 percent of Army recruits, compared to more than 23 percent in 2000. An improving economy is also cited as a reason for the change.

Some Americans living in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah have been moved to another location because of a heightened threat level. The U.S. Consulate in Jeddah gave no other details. In December, gunmen attacked the consulate there, killing five local staff members.

In Iraq, a day of carnage, a suicide attack near a hotel housing Americans, and a grisly discovery near the Syrian border.

CNN's Aneesh Raman is in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A violent day in Iraq that began around 6:30 a.m. local when a suicide car bomber in Baghdad detonated a garbage truck outside of the Ministry of Agriculture. It came as he attempted to drive through that courtyard, was fired upon by guards, the explosion killing two of those guards, wounding 22 others.

Minister officials say the intended target was the Al Sadeer Hotel adjacent to the ministry and known to house a large number of Westerners. The scene was of utter destruction; 40 vehicles owned by the ministry were destroyed. Also, a suicide car bombing taking in Ramadi at a military checkpoint there.

But perhaps the most disturbing incident came west of Baghdad on the Syrian-Iraqi border in the town of Kayel (ph). There, 26 bodies were found shot to death all in civilian clothing, presumed to have been dead for four days, no known motive. But it is important to note, that area is known to have insurgents. U.S. Marines have been operating there since the end of February.

Also in Baghdad, late in the day, the Iraqi minister of planning surviving an assassination attempt, his convoy coming under attack in the affluent area of Mansour. One bodyguard there was killed and at least two others were wounded.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Controversy is still simmering over last week's friendly-fire incident in which U.S. troops in Iraq shot at a car carrying a freed Italian hostage, wounding her and killing an Italian intelligence agent. The Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, said today the United States must assume responsibility. He disputed U.S. military accounts, saying the Italian agents had contacted U.S. authorities to gain safe passage for the vehicle. And he said Italian agents received no warning from U.S. troops.

A storm of controversy has kicked up in Israel, where an inquiry commissioned by the prime minister has found that government officials have helped to spread unauthorized settler outposts throughout the West Bank.

We get the story from CNN's John Vause in Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sometimes, it's a water tower or a tent or a trailer, small outposts built in the West Bank, more than 100 of them. Officially, the Israeli government says they are illegal.

Over the years, a handful have been dismantled, but frequently after clashes between Jewish settlers and police and soldiers. But now a report ordered by the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has found widespread complicity among government departments for construction and support of the illegal outposts, some built on privately owned Palestinian land.

TALIA SASSON, FORMER STATE PROSECUTOR: Those outposts they have established on private property are totally illegal and must be evacuated.

VAUSE: Talia Sasson, a former state prosecutor, headed the investigation and found that millions of dollars in public funds had been secretly channeled to the outposts, especially from the Ministry of Housing. Settlers say they were doing what Ariel Sharon had wanted them to do before his dramatic change in policy a year ago, when he ordered the evacuation of Gaza and parts of the West Bank.

SHAUL GOLDSTEIN, SETTLER LEADER: So, he should look in the mirror ask himself why and how he did it. And he has to be questioned, not us.

VAUSE: Under the road map peace plan, Israel is obliged to dismantle all the settlement outposts constructed since Ariel Sharon became prime minister four years ago. YARIV OPPENHEIMER, PEACE NOW: This new report prove of Talia Sasson prove to the Israelis and to the world that the government of Israel did a lot in order to establish new outposts and to expand their existing land. It's not something that the settlers did alone.

VAUSE: The Palestinians say that, with each new illegal outpost, they lose more and more of there land for a future state. This settlement of Ariel, for example, home to 18,000 Jewish settlers and legal by Israeli standards, started as an outpost more than two decades ago.

(on camera): What's still unclear in the wake of this report is if senior figures in successive Israeli governments simply turned a blind eye to the illegal financing of these outposts, or whether they really had no idea what was going on. The attorney general will now decide if there's a need for a criminal investigation.

John Vause, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: A turnabout of fortune in Lebanon. Just last week, pro-Syrian Prime Minister Omar Karami resigned, as anti-Syrian demonstrators took to the streets of Beirut. Now, following a massive show of support for Syria, Karami may be back in.

Our Beirut bureau chief, Brent Sadler, has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Syrians mass on the streets of Damascus, pledging support for an embattled regime, President Bashar Al Assad taking a rare public bow before an adoring crowd.

Across the border in neighboring Lebanon, Syrian troops on the move, pulling back to positions still inside Lebanon, but failing to satisfy U.S.-lead international demands. That troop movement a focus of another pro-Syrian rally, this one on the streets of Beirut. Here, President George W. Bush was demonized.

BASSEM YAMOUT, LEBANESE PARLIAMENT MEMBER: He wants to defeat Syria. Maybe he wants to break the Syrian will because he has problems with Syria in Iraq and in Palestine and many other places. But that's not in the interests of Lebanon.

SADLER: Until now, people power has swung only one way, a way President Bush has admired, like this big demonstration Monday to demand Syria pulls all its troops out now, a heavy security presence, demonstrators opposing their government.

But an even bigger rally the next day run by Hezbollah, a group the U.S. describes as a terrorist organization, supporting Syria's slow-motion military withdrawal and denouncing American policy. Unlike Monday's rally, this demonstration is organized like clockwork. But some in the opposition accuse Syria and its allies of boosting the numbers by importing Syrians to this Lebanese rally, a claim vigorously denied by pro-Syrian parties, even though one opposition TV station here aired interviews what it said were demonstrators admitting they were Syrian.

HABIB MALLAK, POLITICAL ANALYST: These other demonstrations, there's something contrived about them. Sometimes, you see the placards. It's almost as if they were all printed at the same place, very little spontaneity, very little personal initiative of any sorts.

SADLER: And, in the latest initiative here, pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud has named the next prime minister, the same pro-Syrian prime minister who resigned last week in the face of anti-Syrian protests.

(on camera): An insulting move, say some in the opposition, who warn it can only deepen a gaping political divide, with little hope, they say, of forming a reliable Lebanese government anytime soon.

Brent Sadler, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: A day after pro-Syrian crowds packed the streets of Beirut, President Bush is clearly not impressed. Today, he condemned what he called the heavy-handed influence of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon and again said Syria should heed a U.N. resolution and get all of its forces out of Lebanon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: President Assad has said he is moving to the Bekaa Valley. That is a half-measure. But it is a measure, but it's a half-measure. And 1559 is very clear. We worked with France and the Security Council to pass 1559, which said complete removal, not half-measures, but total removal.

And so, we will continue to work with our allies to make our -- make our demands known.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And coming up, a key moment in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial, Jackson's young accuser taking the witness stand today. We will go live to the courthouse for a full report.

Also, trapped against the floodgates of a dam. It's a boating adventure you never want to experience. We will show you the pictures.

And a horrifying choice for the women of Sudan's Darfur region, starvation or rape. We will have a live report from our Zain Verjee.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: The United Nations' mission to Sudan is out with a grim assessment of that country's Darfur region. Security has improved since last month, but human rights abuses continue, particularly wide- scale rapes.

CNN's Zain Verjee is over at the CNN Center. She has details of the new report -- Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a recent report by Doctors Without Borders says there is widespread abuse of women and girls in Darfur. It tells of a terrifying choice they must make.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE (voice-over): An agonizing choice, risk rape to survive, or risk starvation and death. It's a choice 19-year-old Nura makes each day.

NURA, REFUGEE (through translator): When we go outside the camp, the people beat us and some of them rape you, and some of them, they take your wood.

VERJEE: A recent report by Medecins Sans Frontieres says its clinics in Darfur treated about 500 rape victims, most of them attacked when they left camps or villages.

CAROLINE BAUGH, MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES: Carrying out firewood to build a fire, in order that they can cook food.

VERJEE: The report documents accounts from women who say they were attacked by militiamen or government soldiers, raped multiple times, beaten or held captive for days. Medecins Sans Frontieres says many woman in Darfur carry unwanted babies and are ostracized, even treated like criminals.

BAUGH: Often later on, their were problems. They were arrested. And the stigma that was associated with that became quite, quite strong after the rape.

LORI HENINGER, WOMEN'S COMMISSION: I work for an organization.

VERJEE: Activist Lori Heninger spent time with women in refugee camps across the border in neighboring Chad and knows of the stigma.

HENINGER: If a woman is raped, it diminishes the possibility that she will be married.

VERJEE: The United Nations says it backs the Medecins Sans Frontieres' report and says the government of Sudan cannot allow crimes like this to continue with impunity.

The Sudanese embassy in Washington tells CNN it takes allegations of rape in Darfur seriously. It says an independent commission to investigate rape and other atrocities in Darfur has already been set up and anyone found guilty of rape will face justice. While women in Darfur face atrocities, the war between the government and the rebels in the region continues. The rebels want more power and a share of the country's wealth. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and almost two million displaced.

JAN EGELAND, U.N. EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR: The killing, the maiming, the raping is still taking place in the countryside.

VERJEE: Policy experts say a peacekeeping force sent by the African Union is key, but it needs more resources, more boots on the ground and a better mandate to protect civilians.

JOHN PRENDERGAST, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Two thousand troops in a place the size of France or the size of Texas is just ridiculous, but the mandate under which that force is operating needs to be more explicitly the protection of civilian life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: And, Wolf, Doctors Without Borders says the number of rape victims in Darfur is probably a lot higher than what's been documented, and that's because women and girls are just too afraid or too ashamed to talk about it.

BLITZER: It's shocking and awful how terrible these things are still going on in this world.

Thanks so much, Zain Verjee, reporting for us.

Let's take a quick look at some other stories making headlines around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): At least 27 elementary school children who ate a snack of cassava have died in the Philippines. Another 100 are hospitalized. Cassava roots are rich in protein and vitamins, but they can be poisonous if not cooked properly.

Dangerous storm. Residents of northeastern Australia are fleeing their homes in advance of Cyclone Ingrid. The storm, with wind gusts up to 175 miles an hour, is expected to hit Queensland state.

Will it sell? The British Postal Service has unveiled two stamps commemorating the wedding of Prince Charles and his longtime lover, Camilla Parker Bowles. They go on sale the same day as the wedding, April 8.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Steam and ash spewing miles into the air. What will Mount Saint Helens do next? We will have the latest.

And a crippled boat sucked into a floodgate, the owner sent plunging over the dam. He lives to tell us what happened. All that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The teenage boy who says Michael Jackson molested him has taken the stand in the pop star's trial.

CNN's Miguel Marquez is outside the courthouse in Santa Maria, California. He was inside, just walked out.

Tell us what the boy said, Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, court just broke up.

He testified for about an hour today, Wolf. Among other things that this boy testified to is that, on the first day that he and his brother were at Neverland Ranch, about a year ago, that it was Jackson himself who suggested that he and his brother stay in his bedroom. He says they stayed in his bedroom the second night and, on that night, they surfed adult Web sites for about 15 to 30 minutes.

He also said that Mr. Jackson wasn't there for many parts of his cancer, even though he liked to pretend he was. At points, he said Mr. Jackson even pretended not to be at Neverland Ranch when he was. And the kid at one point busted him at Neverland Ranch and surprised him.

About the Bashir video, the Martin Bashir video, "Living With Michael Jackson," the kid said that Mr. Jackson had told him that, if he wanted to be an actor, this was his big chance and this was his audition, and that he had to call him daddy or "Michael daddy" on that during the filming of that video, and that -- had to say that he pretty much helped him with his cancer and pretty much cured him of his cancer.

The boy said that he didn't even know that the video was going to be shown worldwide or televised anywhere. He thought it was a video like they had shot in the past, where Mr. Jackson just used it like a personal home video and didn't realize that it was going to be televised.

This boy will certainly be on the stand for much of tomorrow for both direct examination and then probably cross-examination as well -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Well, did he actually say today that he had been molested by Michael Jackson?

MARQUEZ: We have not gotten to that point in the story yet. His brother, who got off the stand today, did talk about that. But this boy, we expect will say that very thing tomorrow -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Miguel Marquez covering this trial for us -- thank you, Miguel, very much. We will move on.

No mud flow, just a lot of steam and ash. Scientists probing the Mount Saint Helens crater, trying to learn more about yesterday's surprise eruption which formed a plume 36,000 feet high. They say there's no hazard beyond the mountain itself right now and that such eruptions are a normal part of the volcano's dome-building process, which has been going on for five months.

It was an outing one Texas boater will never forget. He and a female companion were spending the day on a lake when trouble began.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): This is the last place Dirk Hoekstra expected to wind up. But when his engine died Monday, his small boat was sucked up against the open floodgates of this dam on Lake Austin.

DIRK HOEKSTRA, BOATER: Well, we got sucked on to the wall just to the right of the floodgate. And the boat was facing basically -- we were facing away from the dam. And all of a sudden, the current just whipped the boat 180 and slammed it into the floodgate, crushing the back of the boat. And we took on quite a bit of water.

BLITZER: But that was only the beginning of a drama that rescuers says Hoekstra and his companion were lucky to survive.

HOEKSTRA: And that is when we both fell back there. I pushed her up to the top and told her to grab onto whatever she could and get as far as up as she could. And about a second later is when my feet got sucked in by the water gate.

BLITZER: As rescuers used a rope to snare his companion, Hoekstra took a 60-foot plunge over the dam.

HOEKSTRA: I barely got a good breath in right before I went down. And I just held onto my breath and pretty much all that just kept going through my mind was, I just didn't want to get stuck anywhere and not be able to maneuver.

So, I was just trying to stay calm and keep floating with the water. And it was twisting me around like a rag doll and threw my arms all over the place. And it just keeps flipping you from whirlpool to whirlpool.

BLITZER: Hoekstra was swept almost half a mile downstream before finally reaching shore. He made his way to a nearby house and called 911. The only injuries from his ordeal, some cuts and scrapes.

But his boat, custom built by his father in the 1960s, was a total loss.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Hoekstra's companion was rescued safely. He says, while he doesn't necessarily feel like he got a new life, he definitely feels like he got an extension. He's one lucky man.

Golfing for a good cause. Two presidents tee off in our picture of the day. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you are weighing in our Web question of the day. Remember, take a look at these numbers, though it's not a scientific poll.

Golfing in the face of adversity, it's our picture of the day. Former President Bill Clinton hit the links in South Florida one day before heading back to a hospital in New York. Tomorrow, he undergoes a procedure to remove fluid from his chest, a complication from his bypass surgery last year. Former President Bush and golfer Greg Norman joined Mr. Clinton in today's charity round, which raised almost $2 million for tsunami relief.

That's it for me. "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 March 9, 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: forced to testify in front of the United States Congress. A powerful congressional committee has just issued subpoenas to Major League Baseball players, including Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Jason Giambi. They want information about steroid use in baseball. If they don't comply, they could be held in contempt of Congress. And if they don't tell the truth, they could face criminal charges.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Energy's anxiety. With the nation gasping at gas prices, is it time for the government to step in?

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The more we conserve, the less we use.

BLITZER: Drowning in debt? Whether it's medical bills or credit card charges, you may be about to lose your life preserver.

Weighing anchor. He reported the news, and sometimes he was the news. We'll look back at the career of Dan Rather.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Wednesday, March 9, 2005.

BLITZER: Are you feeling pain over the price at the pump? Are you buried in bills to the point of bankruptcy? President Bush is offering some prescriptions, but you have to give something up to get relief.

With the average price of regular unleaded around $2 a gallon, the president says you'll feel better if you conserve energy. And Mr. Bush is calling on Congress to allow oil exploration and drilling in a key Alaskan wildlife refuge.

And about those bills: Congress is moving to make it much harder for you to erase your debts by declaring bankruptcy.

Our congressional correspondent, Joe Johns, will tell what this landmark legislation means for all of us, but first let's go live to our senior White House correspondent, John King, as President Bush addresses the nation's energy's anxiety -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it is, perhaps, a seasonal ritual. Prices at the pump begin to go up and the politicians quickly take notice.

As you noted -- as you noted, $2 a gallon now is the national average for the price of gas. It is projected to go up to about $2.15 a gallon by the height of the driving season this summer.

The president took note of this during a visit to Ohio. He was there to promote his energy agenda. He said rising energy prices are a drag on the economy. And the president said Americans can conserve more, but he also said this country is too dependent on foreign sources of energy.

The president calling on Congress to pass, finally, the energy plan he has failed to win enough votes for for four years now. One of the most controversial items in the Bush plan, drilling for oil and natural gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Developing a small section of ANWAR would not only create thousands of new jobs, but it would eventually reduce our dependence on foreign oil by up to a million barrels of oil a day, and that's important.

Congress needs to look at the science and look at the facts and send me a bill that includes exploration in ANWAR for the sake of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Now, many Democrats oppose drilling in ANWAR. They also say that even if the drilling began tomorrow it would have no impact on prices in the short term.

A letter to the president today from 16 senators, all but one of them Democrats, saying the president should stop buying oil for the strategic petroleum reserves right now, so spend those purchases. They say that is taking oil off the market that might drive prices down. Those senators also say the president should release some oil from the strategic reserves into the market to drive those prices down.

Among those saying the president should help consumers now, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: So these are out of control prices. They're burning a hole in Americans' wallets. They're putting at risk the economic recovery. And what are they doing at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue? Twiddling their thumbs.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KING: The White House, though, reiterating its longstanding position that the strategic petroleum reserves are for national emergencies, not to be released just because of fluctuations in the market.

And Wolf, there's one other footnote. Inventories of gas and oil are actually at a six-year high. Many analysts think it is all the speculation over higher prices, including all the speeches from the politicians, that are driving up prices more than the laws of supply and demand -- Wolf.

BLITZER: John King at the White House. Thank you, John, very much.

The Senate, meanwhile, is on the verge of passing the first major overhaul of the nation's bankruptcy laws in a quarter century. Consumer advocates are up in arms, saying the measure will hurt those who need help the most.

Let's go live to our congressional correspondent, Joe Johns. He's on Capitol Hill -- Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it has been years in the making, but bankruptcy reform is expected to move one step closer to becoming law later either this evening or sometime tomorrow. Not quite clear on that.

If and when it happens, of course, it would be a big victory for the White House, congressional Republicans and the credit card companies and banks that have been pushing for it so long.

We have a graphic of some of the things in the bill. The bill, of course, would make it harder for people filing bankruptcy to wipe out their debts and get a fresh start. It will force more people into repayment plans. It also puts a means test into place, so that people who have excess income after expenses for things like housing and food would be required to pay something back to their creditors.

There are, of course, strong opposing viewpoints on this legislation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: This bill is being driven by the credit card and banking industry. You know the same people that fill your mailbox with credit card applications you never ask for?

SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: It's time to bring this to an end. We've been at it for eight years. We've worked to accommodate everybody we possibly could accommodate. It's been a bipartisan vote every time. A bipartisan vote every time, an overwhelming bipartisan vote every time. And by gosh, I think it's time to vote on this bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Supporters of the bill say the bankruptcy code, as it is written right now, allows people to abuse it while there are a number of people, of course, on Capitol Hill who are in the minority, who say simply it does not protect the people who need help the most.

Of course, this bill has been around in the past a few times. Congressional leaders see an opening now, so they put some urgency into getting this bill passed.

BLITZER: Joe Johns, reporting for us from the Hill. Thank you very much, Joe for that.

To our viewers, here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our Web question of the day is this: do you support legislative efforts to make it harder for people to file for bankruptcy? You can vote right now. Go to CNN.com/Wolf. We'll have the results later in this broadcast.

CNN has learned that subpoenas have just been issued to a roster of some of baseball's heaviest hitters. It's a part -- it's part of an investigation by a House committee into steroid use by baseball players.

Our congressional correspondent, Ed Henry, here in the studio. He's got the story. He broke it just a little while ago here on CNN -- Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, that's right. CNN has confirmed that now just moments ago the House Government Reform Committee is issuing a slew of these subpoenas as part of a major congressional investigation into the use of steroids in baseball.

The chairman of that committee, Congressman Tom Davis of Virginia, told CNN that about a half dozen current and former baseball stars will receive these subpoenas to testify next Thursday at a hearing on Capitol Hill.

Sources close to the investigation say some people will receive, quote/unquote, "unfriendly subpoenas," because they have thus far refused to testify. This includes sluggers like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Jason Giambi, and Raphael Palmeiro.

Other quote/unquote "friendly" subpoenas will go to people who have already agreed to testify willingly. This includes Jose Canseco, who has a new book out, of course, alleging that McGwire and other players have used steroids. Friendly subpoenas going to officials of Major League Baseball and the players association who have agreed to testify.

The big development here is that the stakes are being raised big time for people like Mark McGwire, who has thus far refused to come forward voluntarily. Ignoring a subpoena at this point could lead to contempt of Congress charges. And then those who do come to testify face a choice: take the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination or testify under oath.

In fact CNN producer Evan Glass just spoke to an agent for Sammy Sosa, who said that Mr. Sosa, who -- he had originally said he would not testify. He now, when getting the subpoena, says he will have to, quote, "take a second look and make the right choice," end quote.

There are already some critics charging Congress is grandstanding here, but Congressman Davis and his Democratic counterpart, Henry Waxman, insist they are not trying to play gotcha, Wolf. They just want to get the facts.

BLITZER: So we could have a spectacle of some of these baseball stars standing up and saying they're not going to answer questions, based on their -- their right against self-incrimination. That would be a pretty amazing sight before the United States Congress.

HENRY: Absolutely. There's already a cloud over some players like Mark McGwire. He holds the single -- he held the single season record before Barry Bonds took it, for 70 home runs in a year. If he were now to come forward and take the Fifth Amendment, of course, that would raise a lot of questions about whether or not he was using steroids.

If he decides to actually testify, then his testimony will be scrutinized heavily, and if he were ever -- it was ever caught in a falsehood, of course, that could lead to other criminal charges. This is -- the stakes have been raised big time for a lot of these players.

BLITZER: It could be very dramatic, next Thursday, one week from tomorrow right here in Washington. Ed Henry, thanks for breaking the story here on CNN.

HENRY: Thank you.

BLITZER: Dan Rather's last day in the anchor chair, the highs and lows of his career, plus the impact of his departure. That's coming up.

Also, Michael Jackson's accuser takes the stand in the pop star's molestation trial. We'll go live to the courthouse.

And a boat sucked into a floodgate. But that was only the beginning of this life and death struggle. We'll show you what happened. All that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In the next hour, Dan Rather will anchor "The CBS Evening News" for the last time. He had very little to say to reporters as he arrived for work early today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN RATHER, ANCHOR, "THE CBS EVENING NEWS": Thank you. Appreciate -- appreciate what you do. Going in, going to work, feeling good. Thank you for being here this morning. Thank you very much. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you feel about your last broadcast, Dan?

RATHER: Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: After nearly a quarter of a century as the public face of CBS News, Rather leaves a legacy of both achievement and controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RATHER: Once I was told by a high ranking CBS executive, "Dan, you're a very good reporter, but I don't think you're an anchor and I don't think you'll ever become one.

What got me to the job, what brought me to the job was field reporting.

WALTER CRONKITE, FORMER ANCHOR, "THE CBS EVENING NEWS": We just have a report from our correspondent Dan Rather in Dallas that he has confirmed that President Kennedy is dead.

BLITZER (voice-over): When Dan Rather became anchor of "The CBS Evening News" 24 years ago today, he had a tough act to follow. He replaced Walter Cronkite, a broadcasting icon, who had been called the most trusted man in America.

Rather was more intense, more edgy, and sometimes seen to be uncomfortable as an anchor. His solution was to emphasize his strengths, redefining the anchor's chair by taking it on the road.

BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS NEWS: This is "The CBS Evening News." Bob Schieffer in New York. Dan Rather is in Baghdad, Iraq, tonight. Good evening.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is "The CBS Evening News" with Dan Rather reporting tonight in Amman, Jordan.

RATHER: This is "The CBS Evening News," Dan Rather reporting live from Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. Good evening.

BLITZER: From interviewing Saddam Hussein in Iraq to covering hurricanes, Rather won widespread acclaim. When he dressed as a peasant to report from Afghanistan, some pundits dubbed him Gunga Dan.

But much criticism of Rather centered not on personality but politics. As CBS White House correspondent during the Nixon era, Rather angered many conservatives with his aggressive reporting.

RICHARD NIXON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Are you running for something?

RATHER: No, sir, Mr. President. Are you?

BLITZER: Years later a confrontational interview with then Vice President George Bush only added to conservatives' charges that the CBS anchor was, in their word, rather biased.

RATHER: I don't want to be argumentative, Mr. Vice President.

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know, Dan. This is not a great night, because I want to talk about why I want to be president.

RATHER: The military records...

BLITZER: Then last year another controversy involving the Bush family when Rather reported on George W. Bush's National Guard service during the Vietnam War. The report was based on a memo that was discredited.

And when Rather announced plans to step down from the anchor chair, it wasn't just Republicans who said he was leaving under a cloud.

CRONKITE: He hung on too long to his faith in his staff. They had provided him his material, and he trusted them implicitly in all -- in all things and -- and insisted that the information was correct for a whole week when evidence was beginning to pile up that it wasn't.

MARVIN KALB, FORMER CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: I think he cares a great deal about the fact that he is going out on a negative note and probably deep down wonders why so many people, so many more people can't remember, literally, the thousands of broadcasts that he did.

BLITZER: Rather tells the "Washington Post" his critics are entitled to their opinions. He says that after 24 years have anchoring, he's looking forward to returning to his true love, reporting.

RATHER: I believe my best work is ahead of me. I hope my best work is ahead of me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: In the 24 years that Rather has been anchoring "The CBS Evening News," the network news business has changed dramatically. CNN's Mary Snow joining us now live from New York with a closer look at that part of the story -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, that change is punctuated by the fact that Dan Rather is the second network news anchor in three months to leave the anchor desk. Tom Brokaw retired from NBC in December. It not only marks the end of the era, but it also raises some questions about the future of the business of network news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW (voice-over): When Dan Rather took over the anchor chair at CBS in 1981, it's estimated that the network evening news shows drew 72 percent of viewers. Today Nielson media research puts the number at 37 percent. Since then and now, cable TV and the Internet have changed the way people get their news, and it's changed the business of television news.

TOM WOLZIEN, MEDIA ANALYST: The half hour evening news shows probably bring in around $160 million a year each in revenue, plus or minus. How much they actually make is pretty tough to figure out. They maybe break even, maybe lose a little bit.

SNOW: Media analyst Tom Wolzien says it all depends on things like anchor salaries and costs for news coverage, noting networks have scaled back on overseas news bureaus to cut costs.

It's estimated about 28 million people watch the three network evening news programs, and those who study market trends estimate it brings in half a billion dollars in advertising revenue each year.

JON SWALLEN, TNS MEDIA INTELLIGENCE: The three broadcast networks are still delivering a larger chunk of viewers in one shot than any of the news program medias on cable networks.

SNOW: Still $500 million in ad revenue for the nightly newscasts is a small piece of the overall pie for companies who own the networks. But the value isn't just determined by dollar signs.

WOLZIEN: The value of these shows is probably gauged more in image, in Washington and in establishing the image of the overall news organization than in the dollars that they actually make.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: The big question, though, is the future for nightly network news casts. That is certainly up for debate. The analysts we spoke with don't see those newscasts going away, but they still see a decline each year to the tune of about three to four percent -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Mary Snow, reporting from New York. Mary, thank you very much.

And we'll have more on Dan Rather's departure coming up. I'll speak with Howard Kurtz of the "Washington Post" and CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES."

Also, it's in with the old in Lebanon. We'll tell you about a major political about face.

Startling allegations of widespread rape in Sudan. Now new evidence supporting the claims. Our Zain Verjee is on the story.

And Mount St. Helens catches everyone by surprise. The experts tell us what this latest eruption means.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Joining us now with more on Dan Rather's last night in the anchor chair over at "The CBS Evening News," joining us, Howard Kurtz, the host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" and the "Washington Post."

Howie, the accusation of liberal bias against Dan Rather, was that a fair accusation over his 40 years of journalism -- in broadcast journalism?

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": I don't know Dan Rather's deep, dark, political opinions, but I will say that he gave his enemies a lot of ammunition.

There was the on-air shouting match with Vice President Bush, which you showed earlier. There was attendance at a Democratic fundraiser in Texas two years ago, in which his daughter was involved. And then, of course, there was the National Guard story about President Bush.

He liked a good story and he was always more of a reporter than an anchor, always seemed uncomfortable in the anchor chair, but conservatives back since the Nixon administration, have felt that they didn't get a fair shake from Dan Rather. And so he became kind of the poster boy for network liberalism.

BLITZER: Is this a real end of an era right now, with Brokaw gone from the evening news, now Rather? Peter Jennings is still there. What's going on? What's your assessment?

KURTZ: Well, these are the old bulls who came into our living rooms for decades. And it is the passing of an era in this sense. It's not that there aren't good journalists now, like Brian Williams, for example, who could take these jobs. Bob Schieffer, as well.

But when -- when Rather started and took over from Cronkite, I mean, these guys dominated the audience. There weren't that many choices. You wanted to watch the news, you watched them or you watched Brinkley or watched Cronkite.

Now, as you now know, you can not only watch CNN. You can get news on the Internet. You can get news on talk radio. You can get news, you know, wired to your cell phone. And they will never again tower over the media landscape, because there's so much information out there now available all the time. You don't wait until 6:30 to find out the headlines. You already know them.

BLITZER: The fact that these big corporations own all of these networks, including our own, and all of the news operations, has that had an impact on the way the news business, the television news business has been going?

KURTZ: An undeniable impact, Wolf. Because these big corporations, which do a lot of other things, including entertainment, want to make money. Now, of course, networks have always wanted to make money, but there's a lot more pressure now on the evening newscast, on the morning shows, on the news magazines, to turn a profit. And that means cutting back on international bureaus, not having many reporters in your Washington bureau. It means having to make do with less, and so there's less original investigative reporting, certainly on the evening newscasts than I can remember in the '80s, when we at "The Washington Post" were often chasing stories that were on CBS or NBC.

BLITZER: The fact that Viacom owns CBS, for example, and the pressure that's on Viacom from Washington or whatever, from the Bush administration, from Republicans, does that have an impact on the way it filters down to the Dan Rather level from the higher-ups in the corporate board?

KURTZ: Well, I would not suggest that Viacom is putting pressure on the content of the newscast any more than Time Warner puts pressure on the CNN news operation, but it clearly affects resources.

And I suspect that if they felt they could get away with it without a public relations black eye, that some of these big companies would like to do away with the evening news, because it costs a lot of money and it's not pulling in huge ratings compared to the entertainment shows.

I don't think they should do that. I think what CBS particularly has the opportunity to do now is to reinvent the evening newscast and to try to appeal to younger viewers. The average age is about 60. Those people are going to die off some day. And if all of the network newscasts don't figure out a way to become more relevant to people who aren't watching all those aspirin and Depends commercials, they're going to be in big trouble.

BLITZER: Howard Kurtz, thanks very much.

KURTZ: Thank you.

BLITZER: And tune in to "RELIABLE SOURCES" this weekend, Sunday morning. Howie will speak with CBS anchor Bob Schieffer. That airs this Sunday morning, 11:30 a.m. Eastern. Bob Schieffer, the interim replacement anchor for Dan Rather.

Iraqi police make an especially gruesome discovery near the Syrian border. We'll have a report from Baghdad.

Also, the teenager who accuses Michael Jackson of molesting him takes the witness stand. We'll go live to the courthouse.

And there are these dramatic pictures of a rescue from a Texas lake. We will share them with you.

And our picture of the day, look at this, two former presidents, 18 holes, in the rain, on the day before he goes for surgery. We'll tell you what's going on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: From our studios in Washington, once again, Wolf Blitzer.

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Tough talk from President Bush to Syria's president, Bashar al- Assad. He says a half measure is not enough: all of Syria's troops must go, and they must go right away. We'll get to that.

First, though, a quick check of some other stories now in the news.

Federal drug agents are calling it the largest ever seizure of methamphetamine in the Eastern United States. Agents discovered 175 pounds of crystal meth in a raid in suburban Atlanta. They say it's more evidence of the eastward spread of illegal meth production and distribution.

There are new signs the war in Iraq is driving potential recruits away from the U.S. military. The Army says the percentage of African- Americans signing up has dropped significantly in the past five years. As of last month, blacks made up almost 14 percent of Army recruits, compared to more than 23 percent in 2000. An improving economy is also cited as a reason for the change.

Some Americans living in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah have been moved to another location because of a heightened threat level. The U.S. Consulate in Jeddah gave no other details. In December, gunmen attacked the consulate there, killing five local staff members.

In Iraq, a day of carnage, a suicide attack near a hotel housing Americans, and a grisly discovery near the Syrian border.

CNN's Aneesh Raman is in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A violent day in Iraq that began around 6:30 a.m. local when a suicide car bomber in Baghdad detonated a garbage truck outside of the Ministry of Agriculture. It came as he attempted to drive through that courtyard, was fired upon by guards, the explosion killing two of those guards, wounding 22 others.

Minister officials say the intended target was the Al Sadeer Hotel adjacent to the ministry and known to house a large number of Westerners. The scene was of utter destruction; 40 vehicles owned by the ministry were destroyed. Also, a suicide car bombing taking in Ramadi at a military checkpoint there.

But perhaps the most disturbing incident came west of Baghdad on the Syrian-Iraqi border in the town of Kayel (ph). There, 26 bodies were found shot to death all in civilian clothing, presumed to have been dead for four days, no known motive. But it is important to note, that area is known to have insurgents. U.S. Marines have been operating there since the end of February.

Also in Baghdad, late in the day, the Iraqi minister of planning surviving an assassination attempt, his convoy coming under attack in the affluent area of Mansour. One bodyguard there was killed and at least two others were wounded.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Controversy is still simmering over last week's friendly-fire incident in which U.S. troops in Iraq shot at a car carrying a freed Italian hostage, wounding her and killing an Italian intelligence agent. The Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, said today the United States must assume responsibility. He disputed U.S. military accounts, saying the Italian agents had contacted U.S. authorities to gain safe passage for the vehicle. And he said Italian agents received no warning from U.S. troops.

A storm of controversy has kicked up in Israel, where an inquiry commissioned by the prime minister has found that government officials have helped to spread unauthorized settler outposts throughout the West Bank.

We get the story from CNN's John Vause in Jerusalem.

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sometimes, it's a water tower or a tent or a trailer, small outposts built in the West Bank, more than 100 of them. Officially, the Israeli government says they are illegal.

Over the years, a handful have been dismantled, but frequently after clashes between Jewish settlers and police and soldiers. But now a report ordered by the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has found widespread complicity among government departments for construction and support of the illegal outposts, some built on privately owned Palestinian land.

TALIA SASSON, FORMER STATE PROSECUTOR: Those outposts they have established on private property are totally illegal and must be evacuated.

VAUSE: Talia Sasson, a former state prosecutor, headed the investigation and found that millions of dollars in public funds had been secretly channeled to the outposts, especially from the Ministry of Housing. Settlers say they were doing what Ariel Sharon had wanted them to do before his dramatic change in policy a year ago, when he ordered the evacuation of Gaza and parts of the West Bank.

SHAUL GOLDSTEIN, SETTLER LEADER: So, he should look in the mirror ask himself why and how he did it. And he has to be questioned, not us.

VAUSE: Under the road map peace plan, Israel is obliged to dismantle all the settlement outposts constructed since Ariel Sharon became prime minister four years ago. YARIV OPPENHEIMER, PEACE NOW: This new report prove of Talia Sasson prove to the Israelis and to the world that the government of Israel did a lot in order to establish new outposts and to expand their existing land. It's not something that the settlers did alone.

VAUSE: The Palestinians say that, with each new illegal outpost, they lose more and more of there land for a future state. This settlement of Ariel, for example, home to 18,000 Jewish settlers and legal by Israeli standards, started as an outpost more than two decades ago.

(on camera): What's still unclear in the wake of this report is if senior figures in successive Israeli governments simply turned a blind eye to the illegal financing of these outposts, or whether they really had no idea what was going on. The attorney general will now decide if there's a need for a criminal investigation.

John Vause, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: A turnabout of fortune in Lebanon. Just last week, pro-Syrian Prime Minister Omar Karami resigned, as anti-Syrian demonstrators took to the streets of Beirut. Now, following a massive show of support for Syria, Karami may be back in.

Our Beirut bureau chief, Brent Sadler, has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Syrians mass on the streets of Damascus, pledging support for an embattled regime, President Bashar Al Assad taking a rare public bow before an adoring crowd.

Across the border in neighboring Lebanon, Syrian troops on the move, pulling back to positions still inside Lebanon, but failing to satisfy U.S.-lead international demands. That troop movement a focus of another pro-Syrian rally, this one on the streets of Beirut. Here, President George W. Bush was demonized.

BASSEM YAMOUT, LEBANESE PARLIAMENT MEMBER: He wants to defeat Syria. Maybe he wants to break the Syrian will because he has problems with Syria in Iraq and in Palestine and many other places. But that's not in the interests of Lebanon.

SADLER: Until now, people power has swung only one way, a way President Bush has admired, like this big demonstration Monday to demand Syria pulls all its troops out now, a heavy security presence, demonstrators opposing their government.

But an even bigger rally the next day run by Hezbollah, a group the U.S. describes as a terrorist organization, supporting Syria's slow-motion military withdrawal and denouncing American policy. Unlike Monday's rally, this demonstration is organized like clockwork. But some in the opposition accuse Syria and its allies of boosting the numbers by importing Syrians to this Lebanese rally, a claim vigorously denied by pro-Syrian parties, even though one opposition TV station here aired interviews what it said were demonstrators admitting they were Syrian.

HABIB MALLAK, POLITICAL ANALYST: These other demonstrations, there's something contrived about them. Sometimes, you see the placards. It's almost as if they were all printed at the same place, very little spontaneity, very little personal initiative of any sorts.

SADLER: And, in the latest initiative here, pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud has named the next prime minister, the same pro-Syrian prime minister who resigned last week in the face of anti-Syrian protests.

(on camera): An insulting move, say some in the opposition, who warn it can only deepen a gaping political divide, with little hope, they say, of forming a reliable Lebanese government anytime soon.

Brent Sadler, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: A day after pro-Syrian crowds packed the streets of Beirut, President Bush is clearly not impressed. Today, he condemned what he called the heavy-handed influence of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon and again said Syria should heed a U.N. resolution and get all of its forces out of Lebanon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: President Assad has said he is moving to the Bekaa Valley. That is a half-measure. But it is a measure, but it's a half-measure. And 1559 is very clear. We worked with France and the Security Council to pass 1559, which said complete removal, not half-measures, but total removal.

And so, we will continue to work with our allies to make our -- make our demands known.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And coming up, a key moment in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial, Jackson's young accuser taking the witness stand today. We will go live to the courthouse for a full report.

Also, trapped against the floodgates of a dam. It's a boating adventure you never want to experience. We will show you the pictures.

And a horrifying choice for the women of Sudan's Darfur region, starvation or rape. We will have a live report from our Zain Verjee.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: The United Nations' mission to Sudan is out with a grim assessment of that country's Darfur region. Security has improved since last month, but human rights abuses continue, particularly wide- scale rapes.

CNN's Zain Verjee is over at the CNN Center. She has details of the new report -- Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a recent report by Doctors Without Borders says there is widespread abuse of women and girls in Darfur. It tells of a terrifying choice they must make.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE (voice-over): An agonizing choice, risk rape to survive, or risk starvation and death. It's a choice 19-year-old Nura makes each day.

NURA, REFUGEE (through translator): When we go outside the camp, the people beat us and some of them rape you, and some of them, they take your wood.

VERJEE: A recent report by Medecins Sans Frontieres says its clinics in Darfur treated about 500 rape victims, most of them attacked when they left camps or villages.

CAROLINE BAUGH, MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES: Carrying out firewood to build a fire, in order that they can cook food.

VERJEE: The report documents accounts from women who say they were attacked by militiamen or government soldiers, raped multiple times, beaten or held captive for days. Medecins Sans Frontieres says many woman in Darfur carry unwanted babies and are ostracized, even treated like criminals.

BAUGH: Often later on, their were problems. They were arrested. And the stigma that was associated with that became quite, quite strong after the rape.

LORI HENINGER, WOMEN'S COMMISSION: I work for an organization.

VERJEE: Activist Lori Heninger spent time with women in refugee camps across the border in neighboring Chad and knows of the stigma.

HENINGER: If a woman is raped, it diminishes the possibility that she will be married.

VERJEE: The United Nations says it backs the Medecins Sans Frontieres' report and says the government of Sudan cannot allow crimes like this to continue with impunity.

The Sudanese embassy in Washington tells CNN it takes allegations of rape in Darfur seriously. It says an independent commission to investigate rape and other atrocities in Darfur has already been set up and anyone found guilty of rape will face justice. While women in Darfur face atrocities, the war between the government and the rebels in the region continues. The rebels want more power and a share of the country's wealth. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and almost two million displaced.

JAN EGELAND, U.N. EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR: The killing, the maiming, the raping is still taking place in the countryside.

VERJEE: Policy experts say a peacekeeping force sent by the African Union is key, but it needs more resources, more boots on the ground and a better mandate to protect civilians.

JOHN PRENDERGAST, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Two thousand troops in a place the size of France or the size of Texas is just ridiculous, but the mandate under which that force is operating needs to be more explicitly the protection of civilian life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: And, Wolf, Doctors Without Borders says the number of rape victims in Darfur is probably a lot higher than what's been documented, and that's because women and girls are just too afraid or too ashamed to talk about it.

BLITZER: It's shocking and awful how terrible these things are still going on in this world.

Thanks so much, Zain Verjee, reporting for us.

Let's take a quick look at some other stories making headlines around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): At least 27 elementary school children who ate a snack of cassava have died in the Philippines. Another 100 are hospitalized. Cassava roots are rich in protein and vitamins, but they can be poisonous if not cooked properly.

Dangerous storm. Residents of northeastern Australia are fleeing their homes in advance of Cyclone Ingrid. The storm, with wind gusts up to 175 miles an hour, is expected to hit Queensland state.

Will it sell? The British Postal Service has unveiled two stamps commemorating the wedding of Prince Charles and his longtime lover, Camilla Parker Bowles. They go on sale the same day as the wedding, April 8.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Steam and ash spewing miles into the air. What will Mount Saint Helens do next? We will have the latest.

And a crippled boat sucked into a floodgate, the owner sent plunging over the dam. He lives to tell us what happened. All that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The teenage boy who says Michael Jackson molested him has taken the stand in the pop star's trial.

CNN's Miguel Marquez is outside the courthouse in Santa Maria, California. He was inside, just walked out.

Tell us what the boy said, Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, court just broke up.

He testified for about an hour today, Wolf. Among other things that this boy testified to is that, on the first day that he and his brother were at Neverland Ranch, about a year ago, that it was Jackson himself who suggested that he and his brother stay in his bedroom. He says they stayed in his bedroom the second night and, on that night, they surfed adult Web sites for about 15 to 30 minutes.

He also said that Mr. Jackson wasn't there for many parts of his cancer, even though he liked to pretend he was. At points, he said Mr. Jackson even pretended not to be at Neverland Ranch when he was. And the kid at one point busted him at Neverland Ranch and surprised him.

About the Bashir video, the Martin Bashir video, "Living With Michael Jackson," the kid said that Mr. Jackson had told him that, if he wanted to be an actor, this was his big chance and this was his audition, and that he had to call him daddy or "Michael daddy" on that during the filming of that video, and that -- had to say that he pretty much helped him with his cancer and pretty much cured him of his cancer.

The boy said that he didn't even know that the video was going to be shown worldwide or televised anywhere. He thought it was a video like they had shot in the past, where Mr. Jackson just used it like a personal home video and didn't realize that it was going to be televised.

This boy will certainly be on the stand for much of tomorrow for both direct examination and then probably cross-examination as well -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Well, did he actually say today that he had been molested by Michael Jackson?

MARQUEZ: We have not gotten to that point in the story yet. His brother, who got off the stand today, did talk about that. But this boy, we expect will say that very thing tomorrow -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Miguel Marquez covering this trial for us -- thank you, Miguel, very much. We will move on.

No mud flow, just a lot of steam and ash. Scientists probing the Mount Saint Helens crater, trying to learn more about yesterday's surprise eruption which formed a plume 36,000 feet high. They say there's no hazard beyond the mountain itself right now and that such eruptions are a normal part of the volcano's dome-building process, which has been going on for five months.

It was an outing one Texas boater will never forget. He and a female companion were spending the day on a lake when trouble began.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): This is the last place Dirk Hoekstra expected to wind up. But when his engine died Monday, his small boat was sucked up against the open floodgates of this dam on Lake Austin.

DIRK HOEKSTRA, BOATER: Well, we got sucked on to the wall just to the right of the floodgate. And the boat was facing basically -- we were facing away from the dam. And all of a sudden, the current just whipped the boat 180 and slammed it into the floodgate, crushing the back of the boat. And we took on quite a bit of water.

BLITZER: But that was only the beginning of a drama that rescuers says Hoekstra and his companion were lucky to survive.

HOEKSTRA: And that is when we both fell back there. I pushed her up to the top and told her to grab onto whatever she could and get as far as up as she could. And about a second later is when my feet got sucked in by the water gate.

BLITZER: As rescuers used a rope to snare his companion, Hoekstra took a 60-foot plunge over the dam.

HOEKSTRA: I barely got a good breath in right before I went down. And I just held onto my breath and pretty much all that just kept going through my mind was, I just didn't want to get stuck anywhere and not be able to maneuver.

So, I was just trying to stay calm and keep floating with the water. And it was twisting me around like a rag doll and threw my arms all over the place. And it just keeps flipping you from whirlpool to whirlpool.

BLITZER: Hoekstra was swept almost half a mile downstream before finally reaching shore. He made his way to a nearby house and called 911. The only injuries from his ordeal, some cuts and scrapes.

But his boat, custom built by his father in the 1960s, was a total loss.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Hoekstra's companion was rescued safely. He says, while he doesn't necessarily feel like he got a new life, he definitely feels like he got an extension. He's one lucky man.

Golfing for a good cause. Two presidents tee off in our picture of the day. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you are weighing in our Web question of the day. Remember, take a look at these numbers, though it's not a scientific poll.

Golfing in the face of adversity, it's our picture of the day. Former President Bill Clinton hit the links in South Florida one day before heading back to a hospital in New York. Tomorrow, he undergoes a procedure to remove fluid from his chest, a complication from his bypass surgery last year. Former President Bush and golfer Greg Norman joined Mr. Clinton in today's charity round, which raised almost $2 million for tsunami relief.

That's it for me. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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