Brit Hume, Special Report 10/28/04 CC Transcripts

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Be Optimistic and BELIEVE our Honest and Dignified President Bush will prevail on Nov 2th!

A man claiming to speak for the taliban splinter group says the workers have been take ton a safe place. The vice presidential candidates hit minnesota in international falls. Vice president cheney said john kerry is wrong to blame the administration for missing explosives in iraq. And that many were gone before the U.S. Invaded. John edwards in iowa right now. Earlier in duluth, he said that the president hasn't done his job. He also criticized suggestions that the troops didn't search hard enough for the missing explosives. More headlines in 30 minutes. "Special report" with brit start right now. Captioned by the national captioning institute --www.Ncicap.Org-- brit: Welcome to washington. I'm brit hume. Five days before the presidential election and average of the seven largest national polls finds president bush ahead of john kerry by a scant 2.3 pointS. 48.4, as you can see, to 46.1%. Ralph nader is at 1.3%. On the campaign trail, president bush is summing up the reasons voters should return him to office. Fox news senior white house correspondent jim angle reports.

>> With the election only five days away, president bush is beginning to summarize his case for re-election, telling an audience at daytonoohio t choice isn't just about policy positions, but also about the person who is president and his steadiness in the job.

>> I have found you better know what you believe or risk being tossed to and 'fro by the flattery of friends or the chorus of critics.

>> The president reflected on what he's learned as president, saying one of the lessons is that the world looks to america for leadership, so it's crucial the president be consistent.

>> I've learned america's president must base decisions on principle, core convictions from which you will never waiveR.

>> Naturally, he found those qualities lacking in senator kerry, and pointed to charges kerry made this week about missing explosives in iraq, though kerry called it a blunder and a scandal t facts in the matter are not clear as some of the kerry campaign acknowledge, leading mr. Bush to say, a president needs to get all the facts before jumping to what he called politically motivated conclusions.

>> The senator's willingness to trade principle for political convenience makes it clrr that john kerry is the wrong man for the wrong job at the wrong time.

>> He pointed to a number of instances in which he argued kerry had shifted with the political winds saying he was all for getting saddam when the U.S. First went into baghdad, but when the going got tough, kerry decided it was the wrong war at the wrong time.

>> Think about what this says, that lack of conviction says to our enemies. That if you make things uncomfortable, if you stir up trouble, john kerry will back off. And that's a very dangerous signal in the world in which we live.

>> At the next event near cleveland, the president got some help from retired general tommy franks. The commander of the wars in both afghanistan and iraq, who questioned whether senator kerry could be an effective commander in chief.

>> He cannot lead troops to victory in a war when he has made it perfectly clear that he does not support the cause.

>> Now t president is relying on a pitch about leadership and character alone, and he told audiences at two stops in ohio that he understands there are tough times in part of the state, but also noted that the unemployment rate there last month dropped from 6.3% to 6%. And that 5,500 new jobs were created. Ohio, he tried to convince voter, is on its way to recovery. Brit? Brit: Jim, thank you. While the pentagon and the news media continue investigating those reports of several hundred thousand allegedly missing explosives in iraq, democrat john kerry continues to blame the president for the apparent disappearance. Fox news chief political correspondent carl cameron reports senator kerry took hope for his campaign today from an unrelated event.

>> In the battleground state of ohio where an average of the polls gives him a slight lead within the margin of error, presidential candidate john kerry briefly interrupted the fourth consecutive day of blasting the president for the and covered the famous hair with a hometown cap and wished aloud that the red sox championship is an omeN.

>> They said john kerry won't be president until the red sox win the world serieS. Well, we're on our way! We're on our way!

>> But kerry has been thrown a couple of fast sinking curveballs. First t iraqi explosives may have disappeared before the invasion, understood cutting the attack on the president. And this from the red sox pitching sting may have stung, too.

>> Tell everybody to vote, and tell everybody to vote president bush.

>> The president is already calling ate dud, accusing kerry of saying anything to get elected and for "jumping to conclusion without all the facts accounts." Kerry tried to turn the tables using the president's remarks and explosives as a symbol.

>> George bush jumped to conclusions about 9/11 and saddam hussein. George bush jumped to conclusions about weapons of mass destruction and he rushed to war without a plan to win the peace. George bush jumped to conclusions about how the iraqi people would receive our troops.

>> Bruce springsteen campaigned with kerry in the battleground state of wisconsin where al gore in 2000, but an average of the polls puts bush slightly ahead within the margin of error. To kerry, when the explosives went missing is not as important for the metaphor of the president's refusal to take responsibility for the problems in iraq.

>> Now george bush is shifting explanations, an effort to blame everybody except themselves, is evidence that he believes the buck stops anywhere but with the president.

>> By trying to use the missing weapons as part of a broader indictment of the president's policies on the war on terror and iraq, aides say kerry is attacking the president on his strong suit -- security. But it's a break from the advice kerry took from former president bill clinton six weeks ago when clinton advised him to focus on the domestic. And kerry did, and for a time his polls picked up a bit. Brit? Brit: Ok, carl. Thanks very much. Pentagon analysts have declassified one satellite photo of that weapons storage facility in iraq which once held the explosives. Now said to be missing. Today defense secretary donald rumsfeld weighed in a little more emphatically on the whole issue. Fox correspondent bret baier is standing by with details.

>> They released and image from the al-qaqqa facility taken two days before the war began. It is coming down on email. This is the printed version of it. You can see the red arrow is a truck, a large truck. The yellow arrow is a large transporter, called a vehicle transporter. Officials are not saying that this shows that the explosives are in those vehicles, but it does show vehicle activity at the al-qaqqa site two days before the war reafghanistan. In a radio interview, donald rumsfeld spoke out saying it's high lye unlikely they were looted after the troops arrived.

>> Picture the tractor trailers and forklifts and caterpillars wled take to move 370 tons and we had total control of the air. We would have seen anything like that, and it's very likely that just as the united states would do, that saddam hussein moved munitions when he knew the war was coming.

>> Rumsfeld, who has largely stayed away from campaigning, took a direct swipe at senator kerry for using the "new york times" and cbs report immediately.

>> First reports are almost always wrong, and people who use hair-triggered judgment to come to conclusions about things that are fast moving, frequently make mistakes that are awkward and embarrassing.

>> The last time the international atomic energy agency could definitivety say what was in the bunkers is january of 2003 when iaea inspectors logged all the explosive there is. Fox news obtained the iaea action report the inspectors filed at that time. The total tonnage of high explosives, h.M.X., And R.D.X. Logged in that report is 219 tons, not 377 tons according to the documents. An iaea spokesperson said the other 158 tons of missing R.D.X. Was stored elsewhere outside of the facility, but the organization has yet to provide documentation of those logs. In january 2003, the inspectors stated that 219 ton of explosives was stored in nine different bunkers. The inspectors then locked all the bucers attaching iaea tags and seals to the doors. But on the bottom of the first page of the action report is this warning. "Of note was that the sealing ton bunkers was only partially effective because each bunker had ventilation shafts on the sides of the buildings. These shafts were not sealed and could provide removal routes for the H.M.X. While leaving the front door lockeD." So even though iaea inspectors returned in march of 2003, they only checked some of the seals and cannot definitivety say that all or any of the explosives were inside those bunkers. Brit? Brit: Bret, thank you. Next on "special report," u.S. War planes attacked targets in fallujah apparently preparing for a major offensive.

Brit: American war planes continue pounding in site where is known terrorists are bleaved to be hiding. We must warn you, some of the pictures in correspondent john cookson's report are disturbing.

>> The all-out battle for american forces to retake fallujah are only days away as U.S. Warplanes continue the strategy of targeting what commanders believe are safehouses for the abu musab al-zarqawi network. Iraq's interim government has told the city leaders today they should try to find a political solution before it's too late. Local people said at least two civilians died in the latest military strikes. Meanwhile, another blow to the morale of iraq's security forces. An islamic militant website has shown pictures of what it claims are the excuse of iraqi soldiers. The 11 were kidnapped on the notoriously dangerous highway between baghdad. The militants claim they beheaded one soldier and shot the rest. It also claimed the life of a U.S. Soldier and injured two more. Insurgents regularly lie in wait for U.S. Military con voice for the the road has been the seen of kidnappings and shootings. And two iraqi policemen have been gunned down by two assailants while heading to the police station at baquoba bah. Al-zarqawi's terror groups say they carried out the killings, although there is no way of verifying the claim. While the focus has been on an assault to quell fallujah, neighboring ramadi has also erupted with fresh clashes between U.S. Forces and militants are increasing with civilians caught up in the crossfire. While fallujah presents the greatest challenge to U.S. Forces, they may end up having to deal with ramadi at the same time. In baghdad, john cookson, fox news. Brit: U.S. Intelligence agencies have not officially verified the authenticity of reported terrorist videotape given to abc news in pakistan, but the contents of that tape have been much discussed in the news media. Fox news has now independently obtained a copy of the tapE. Fox news correspondent steve steve reports. Is

>> The man has an arab headdress wrapped around his face, wears dark glasses, speaks good english, and makes chilling threats against the U.S. On a controversial videotape obtained independently by fox news.

>> The magnitude and ferocity of what is coming your way will make you forget all about september 11. After decades of american tyranny and oppression, now it's your turn to die. Allah willing, the streets of america shall run red with blood, matching drop for drop the blood of america's victims.

>> And the speaker points a finger of blame for what he calls the murder of innocent muslim.

>> No, my former countrymen, you are guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty. You are as guilty as bush and cheney.

>> But is this really a message from al qaeda? One U.S. Official tells fox news that the tape is authentic. It bears the logo of the same production house where previous al qaeda tapes have been made. But the C.I.A. Says it's unable at this point to confirm the tape's authenticity. Further analysis is being donE. Our source says the speaker appears to be american or someone raised in america, and says that the tape was made recently, possibly in late summer. The tape was first obtained by abc news over the weekend from a source in the lawless tribal region in along the pakistani-afghani border. Abc gave it to the C.I.A. And said today we continue to work aggressively to report the story. According to a U.S. Official, the tape is being shown to detainees to help identify the speaker. One theory is he's adam kadan, the young southern california man the F.B.I. Says attended al qaeda training camps and worked as a translator for terroristS. Gadhan's family is being questioned.

>> Fox news learns the F.B.I. Plans to send the tape to the field offices as early as tomorrow, hoping agents can press the sources for information about the tape and the man delivering the ominous message. In washington, cent steve centanni. U brit: We look for answers in the

Brit: The electoral college system is so designed that the winning candidate, no matter how thin his popular margin, can nonetheless roll up a large and decisive majority in the state by state tally of elector. But it was so close four years ago that that did not happen, and it looks as if it could be nearly that close in the electoral college this yeaR. For a sense of how it looks at the moment, we turn to the center for politics at the university of virginia who is keeping close track of the electoral picture. Professor, welcome. Tell us what you see.

>> Thank you, brit. What I see is a very close, volatile race. There are a lot of people out there in your audience who believe that president bush is going to get 300 electoral votes. There are also a lot of people watching who think john kerry is going to get 300 electoral votE. Loork, fked happen if all the close states break one way, but right now as we're sitting here on thursday before te election, it looks to be a very close race. So if we could look at the closest race possible that is winning for each side -- brit: 270 needed to win, right?

>> 270 needed to win. Let's take a look first at bush's most likely close victory in the electoral college. He would have 276 electoral votes if the map broke down this way. Notice he's carrying florida, which is criticaL. He would get ohio, though I have to tell you the polls right now, the private and public, are suggesting that kerry is likely to win ohio. And pennsylvania would also go for kerry. Now, bush would have 276 electoral votes under this map. John kerry would have 262. Interestingly, bush could still lose new mexico, which i'm giving him on this map. He's leading in all the public and private polls there, but he could still lose it thanks to democratic governor bill richardson and still have 271 electoral votes.

>> All right. Brit: But no way he wins it without ohio in your scheme of things, correct?

>> Well, no, in fact, there's a way around ohio. It's a tough way. Bush would have to win either wisconsin or minnesota, both of them won by al gore four years ago, and add to that either iowa or new mexico. All right. And he could just barely get over the 270 mark. Now, remember, brit, that allows for the loss of new hampshire, which both sides privately think kerry is going to win. Brit: All right. Let's look at an alternative scenario in which john kerry could win this.

>> AbsolutelY. Here's the minimalist victory pattern for john kerrY. The most likely minimalist victory pattern for kerry. In this particular map, kerry would have 272 electoral votes, just two more than needeD. Bush would have 266. Brit: That looks very much like the other map. What's different?

>> Here's what's different. Kerry has added new hampshire and ohio. And he's added new hampshire and ohio, both states that bush carried in 2000. Every other state on both sides from 2000 hold. And brit, it's amazing how similar this is turning out to 2000 in the electoral college. Brit: It certainly is amazing. It looks as if between ohio and florida, those are going to be states that if you see bush lose either one of those, he's got a big problem and, of course, i suppose th he has more ways -- mr. Bush has more ways to get there because he's got a couple of other states he might pluck out of the former gore column, but boy, this really does look like it's going to come down to just a handful of ohio, pennsylvania, florida, just those few states and a couple of others on election night, doesn't it?

>> What you said is true about bush. Kerry doesn't have a good back way into a 270 majority. But bush does. It's a tough back way iN. It's kind of a road that isn't paved and filled with potholes, but it might get him there. Kerry doesn't have that. But brit, he has to win florida. I don't see any way realistically for bush to win without florida. Brit: That is the way it looked. That turned out to be the lynch pin four years ago. You have obviously been keeping track as well of the senate races and race for control of the senate now held narrowly by a couple of votes by the republicans. What do you see there, larry?

>> You know t really odd thing, brit, is that these senate races appear to be falling more republican than democratiC. Brit: Really?

>> The irony is that republicans might -- might -- lose their president, but gain additional seats in the senatE. I think they may go to 54, and there is an outside chance of 55 republican seats. They are currently at 51. Why is that? Because by accident, by luck, by chance, most of the really close competitive races have ended up in the deeply red bush states in the south, north carolina, south carolina, georgia, maybe florida , louisiana, oklahoma, maybe colorado. And certainly alaska. These are the really close races. Let's add south dakota to that, brit, and the big surprise on election night could easily be that tom tom daschle loses that senate seaT. He is the minority leader as we all know. Brit: We looked at this earlier in the week and if you add in the seats that are safe for the republicans and the seats that are safe to the democrats to those that are not up this year, that is to say, the remaining 66 our however many that are not up, the republicans do go into the night with an advantage. And I guess you put that together with the fact that so many of them are states in the south that are uP. That would give the republicans an advantage, correct?

>> The minimum that the republicans can expect is.. they may go to a 5. Brit: Thanks so very mucH.

>> Thanks a lot. Brit: All the besT. We a take a break for the rest of the headline. When we come back, listen to who claims to have the missing explosives in iraq.

Brit: More "special report" in a minute, but first, let's get a check ton day's other headline, plus a preview of tonight's fox news from shepherd in the new york news room.

>> Brit, five million more doses of the flu vaccine may be on the way. A flu shot maker in canada has over one million doses to sell to the united states, and the drug company glaxosmithkline can provide four million from a plant in germany. The U.S. Working to import them if they meet safety standards. Dozens of previously sealed documents from the kobe bryant rape case will be released soon. A judge says there's no reason to keep the material under wraps now that charges against the nba star have been dropped. The documents will be released once some sensitive information is edited out. 350,000 more americans filing for new unemployment benefits last weeK. That's 20,000 more than the week before and more than analysts expected. The labor department blaming some of the job losses on recent hurricaneS. That news putting a small damper ton stock market today. The winning streak continuing, barely. Dow closing two points higheR. The nasdaq up five. The s&p plus twO. Our you decide coverage continue at the top of the hour on "fox report." We'll check in for the campaigns for late developments on both sides. Also, details of frayed -- detail of parade plans for the world champion boston red sox. And meet the boston fan who's seen world series victories before. He's 114 years young. I'm shepherd smith in new yorK. I'll see you in 30 minutes, right after briT.

[Captioning made possible by fox news channel and the U.S. Department of education] Captioned by the national captioning institute --www.Ncicap.Org-- brit: Now the most interesting two minutes in television t latest from the wartime "the grapevine." A group of terrorists in iraq is not only located the missing explosive, but it is actually taken possession of them, at least that's what the group claims in a new video. The group calling itself the brigade of al-islam's army brigades says "heroic mujahadeen have managed to obtain a very huge amount of the explosives that were in the al-qaqaa facility. We promise god and the iraqi people that we will use it against the occupation forces and those who cooperate with them." So, how exactly did this group say it got the explosives? Why, with the cooperation of a number of U.S. Intelligence officers, of course. None of the claims could be verified. Meanwhile, more details are trickling out about how the "new york times" came to break the questionable missing weapons story instead of cbs' "60 minutes" which was working with the "times" on the story and planning to broadcast it two days before the electioN. According to today's "washington post," "60 minutes" executives tried to get the "times" to hold off to she could break the story together this sundaY. The "times" refused saying that wouldn't give the white house fair time to respond. The "60 minutes" producer insisted he was waiting until sunday to broadcast the story because it "came to us on relatively short notice" and that was the next available show." The bush campaign made brief use of a doctored image of U.S. Troops in a campaign commercial called whatever it take. It shows many of the sames troops faces over and over again as you can see in the crowd. As president bush's voice says "because of your service and sacrifice, we are defeating the terrorists where they live and plan." The original image included president bush on a podium. The bush campaign says that it's the result of an editing error and the actual shot was as big as it looked and will be corrected. A woman in clearwater, florida, has been caught on video camera stealing bush-cheney signs from her neighbor's yard, but she insists the actions were nothing to do with politicS. She tells the tv station that the neighborhood homeowners association fines people $50 a day for violating rules that prohibit yard signs and "I'm trying to help him." Her neighbor, howeverss not buying it and has filed a police complaint accusing her of trying to stifle his freedom of speech. In florida, a group of would-be voters say they were victimized by the sloppiness of a left-wing group's registration drive are seeking permission to cast fwalts on tuesday anyway. Fox news correspondent major garrett reports the state's most populus county is missing thousands of absentee ballots.

>> They couldn't explain the disappearance of 58,000 absentee ballot, but said voters are being contacted and new ballots will be made available.

>> In bruard county, every vote will be counted in broward county, and I almost proud the staff and community is working well together to achieve this goal. I believe that we are on top of this situation.

>> In a county with more than one million registered voter, officials said glitches are common, but there was no crime.

>> My office has also asked and received assistance from the florida department of law enforcement to determine if there were any criminal activity regarding the balloT. There was no criminal activity determined.

>> But democratic veterans of florida's recount wars said this was much more than a glitch.

>> You can lose 500 and may be able to lose 500,000, although that's an awful lot, but losing 50,000, something went wrong and seriously wrong.

>> Left wingers by a group called acorn, the association for community organizations for reform now, sought an emergency legal ruling allow them to vote on tuesday. Hundreds and possibly thousand of acorn voter registration forms never made it to the proper election officials.

>> Acorn should be shut down and whoever works for them should not be able to vote because they took the right from other people which should not have happened. So why don't we do it to them? See how they feel.

>> And the chairman of the republican national committee came to florida to complain of nasty campaign tactics, vandalism of bush-cheney headquarters, intimidation of early voting republicans, and potentially fraudulent voter registration drives.

>> No legitimate voter should be disenfranchised in this election by having his or her rightful vote denied and certainly shouldn't have his or her rightful vote canceled out by a fraudulent vote.

>> A close election could and legal experts say probably will provec litigation in florida and any other number of battleground states. Today the federal election commission told both campaigns they can raise contributions in any size from individual donors to bankroll the post-election recount accounts, which, by the way, are already groaning with cash. Bush-cheney has $11 million. Kerry-edwards, $7 million. Brit? Brit: Thanks, major. Elsewhere, in ohio, a federal judge has blocked six boards of election from proceeding on hearings by voter registrations challenged by republicans. Jeff gold gold reports that the highest numbers are filed in one countY.

>> There is a problem here with the address.

>> Board of election officials in the democratic strong hold of cayogua county, ohio, have scrutinized 17,700 newly registered voters whose legitimacy have been challenged by the republican party.

>> Board of elections sent out mailing to the new registration and a percentage, much higher than normal, came back in return mail.

>> The challenge was the largest file by the ohio g.O.P. Which contested the voting rights of 35,000 new registrants with mail returned as undeliverable.

>> There could be clerical errors on our parT. There could be fraudulent registration cards in there.

>> Republicans say the goal is to eliminate election day fraud. Democrats argue it's a campaign of intimidation designed to suppress the minority vote in democratic precincts.

>> Republicans don't have any good faith basis for thinking or knowing who has moved. They haven't cacted a single one of the voters they are challenging to find out where they live now.

>> But can you contact someone who doesn't exist, counter republicans. Consider the case of fred leonard and fred leonay. One at 135514 and one at 13516. Benwood avenue exists, but not 13513 behind me, but there is no 514 or 516. The 500 block ends at the corner.

>> I don't know why.

>> Paul lean strong has been informed her involved is among the challenged. She's lived at the same cleveland address since 1988.

>> I have my right to votE. That's right. And you know they can't take that away from me.

>> Citing database error, they unilaterally dropped thousands of state challenge, but not the cuyahoga dispute, now in limbo. A voting was scheduled friday, but a juge ruled timeny notifications were impossible before election day. Ohio's attorney general argues the hearings are constitutional and has appealed, angering democrat.

>> You don't have to tell the government when you move. You can move and as long as you're registered anywhere in ohio, you can change your registration ton day of the election.

>> Depending how the courts rule, pauline strong and perhaps thousands more may have to prove their legitimacy before election day. In cleveland, jeff goldblatt, fox newS. Brit: Doctors say a variety of factors could account for the poor health of palestinian chairman yasser arafat. Arafat has been diagnosed with a low platelet count, which means the blood does not clot easily. Fox news correspondent mike tobin is standing tpwhi ramallah with the latest developments. Mike?

>> Brit, we just saw a sign go um ton wall of the compound urging yasser arafat not to leave, but the stage is set for the palestinian leader to leave this compound for the first time in years and head to paris where he is scheduled to get extensive medical testing. We saw pictures of yasser arafat that we are told were taken today. It's the first time we have seen him in a long time not wearing the traditional military fatigues and what look to be suites and a knit cap. Doctors say he suffered from a low blood platelet count, which is not consistent with what we heard before, but doesn't rule out reports that he has gallstones or reports that he has the flu and is nauseous. At the end of the day, the palestinian sources say the doctors just don't know what exactly is wrong with yasser arafat and that is why they want to fly him to paris where he can get sophisticated testing and treatmenT. At the end of the day, he's 75 years old, weak, and very sicK. Bulldozers have been at work at the compound clearing away defenses created by the palestinians intended to prevent israeli helicopters loaded with commandos from landing in the compound and taking him outside of the country and palestinian territory. They are clearing the way so a jordanian helicopter can land here to take him outside of the palestinian territories where they will take him as scheduled to take him to amman where the helicopter will be met by a plane to take yasser arafat to paris for testing. He will be acompany and by his wife who arrived here earlier today. They saw each other for the first time nins 2001. And they will be accompanied by several other high-ranking and recognizable figures in the palestinian authority. Brit? Brit: Thanks very much, mikE. Next on "special report" t ongoing mystery of the missing explosives in iraq and how the presidential candidates are handling that issue. The fox all-stars will weigh in after a break.

His own advisors admitted he didn't know what had happened to the explosives in iraQ. A president needs to get all the facts before jumping to politically motivated conclusions.

>> Well, mr. President, I agree with you. George bush jumped to conclusions about 9/11 and saddam hussein. George bush jumped to conclusions about weapons of mass destruction and he rushed to war without a plan to win the peace. Brit: And so it has gone now for the fourth straight day. Analytical observations on this from morton kondracke, executive director of "roll call," and charles krouthammer. Where does this stand? We keep hear they are going to move on to other issues and it doesn't happen. What is this? Ground hog day t movie. What about it? How does it stand? Is this this issue helping anybody?

>> I think they are both right in what they saiD. A president shouldn't leap to politically motivated conclusions. But what this means is john kerry doing exactly what he accused george bush of doing. George bush when he decided that iraq had weapons of mass destruction, however, was basing his opinion on what the french said, what the germans said, what the russians thought, what our c.I.A. Said that he had weapons of mass destruction. And in this case, john kerry is basing the big conclusion on the "new york times," for heaven's sake, which as you look at the story, looks weaker and weaker by the day.

>> In terms of the impact on the campaign, I don't think there's any question it's hurting president bush. If you talk to people t president had moment um coming into the period and since the story has broken, it's flattened out. It looks to me like there is no question. The key issue continues to be the war, and once you get past the failure to find weapons of mass destruction, you come onto the content of the war and the image that comes from this is really the presidenter to administration didn't do a good job of securing this weapons facility if the weapons were there.

>> I think when it first hit, it did hurt the president. I think the longer it goes on, it's hurting kerry, and the reason is that the story is getting weaker and weaker and i think it will hurt him as it's exposed because the story at the time, the front page said that the explosive had vanished sometime after the american-led invasions. That was mistaken. And you have to assume that obviously we had inspectors there and american inspecteder tos who saw that it had to have been strip aidway in april when we had control of the roads. Only two roads into the facility and we had control of the air and all our soldiers on the roads patrolling and we how far to imagine that 30 trucks drove up, loaded up that stuff and drove awaY. At a time when the insurgency did not even exist. It wasn't organized until julY. The more probable story is, of course it happened while saddam was in power. He also disperses his weapons in preparation for a war. Before the gulf war, he dispersed the aircraft and even sent them into iran, which was his mortal enemy. So the idea that it happened after I think is extremely unlikely. As it comes out, you have kerry jumping on this. Let me add one thing. 30 years ago, kerry stood in front of the world and accused the american army of acting like the armies of khan and now accusing it of acting like the keystone cop. You wanted this man to be the commander in chief?

>> Wait a minute. I think that was rudy giuliani accusing american troops of not doing the job and saying it's the failure on the troops, which I think is wrong.

>> The second thing is the international atomic energy people said when they went there, they said there was -- they knew of the weapons and as late as april 9 believed -- brit: No, no, no, nO. They were not there on april 9.

>> Exactly.

>> But the last time they -- brit: And there was march.

>> No, what i read was -- brit: The facts are off on that. It was in march. Here's what they depiffed when they went there in march, they checked the seals.

>> Correct. Brit: It was a cursory searcH. They didn't look in the buildings and noted as was reported earlier on this broadcast tonight that the structures in which the weapons were housed an locks on the door with the iaea seals had ventilation vents large enough so they could easily be removed and get in and out and get materials in and out without breaking the sale. It raised the possibility that you could have goten the stuff out without breaking the iaea seals before anybody else came

>> When the U.S. Military went in, the U.S. Military simply checked the seals, right? Brit: No, the U.S. Military didn't even see any sealed weapons when they got in there.

>> Didn't see the seals at that point.

>> That's right.

>> Look tks probability -- the probability is that saddam hussein moved that stuff or was moved while he was in power, not that -- how would these guys have goten in there and out of there with 30 truck after we were already here?

>> Even for that period and the immediate period before the war began, we still had the sthrithe surveillance and watching that -- the satellite surveillance area and we didn't see it.

>> There were thousands of trucks moving around troops and supplies and weapons. We would have known if those weapons had been inside of a truck. Of course, you wouldn't have known. Brit: There were pictures, though. A satellite photo released today that shows big trucks in the area in the period before we got there. Anyway, when we come back with our panel, who is going to feel yasser arafat's shoes while he is out of ramallah? Could an end of an ere rar about to happen? We'll have analysis from the all-star.

Thu Oct 28 17:53:30 2004

LAST SEGMENT!

Brit: We're back with our panel. The world got a look at yasser arafat today from his -- where he's been getting cared for. People may notice he's surrounded by some of his aides. There is a slight requested weekend at bernie's" quality as you see him in the track suit with a wool hat on. He's said to be very i'll, but nobody knows for sure what he is I'll with. One thing is he's apparently going to paris and resisted going anywhere for fear the israelis won't let him back, but where are we in all this?

>> Our middle east expert dennis ross who knows the people and knows lots of people everywhere in the middle east says that it's clear that he has very low red blood count and white blood count, and he suspects that it's some kind of leukemia, but he reminds that all leukemias are not instantly fatal and if yasser arafat thought he was going to die from what he's got, he would not be going off to paris. He would want to die in palestine, but it's serious enough he has to go to paris, but not so serious he thinks he's on his deathbeD. Brit: Juan?

>> I think there are two issues. One issue of successioN. There is no successor in linE. There is no sense of hire arky hire hire arky and this is a dangerous situation where arafat goes and it is not clear how to put together to make political sense of what the palestinians have as they try to respond to even the work that ariel sharon shar has been doing trying to get some of the settlers off the bank. The second thing is israel's position is very tricky here. They allow arafat to go to paris. Will they allow him to come back? I'm surprised. Brit: That is the question. What do you think they'll do, charles?

>> Well, if the lord could intervene and make sure he doesn't return, bring him back to the bosom of the lord, he may not come out of the hospital in paris. I think he's very sick. The real issue here is -- brit: Is it your view he has leukemia or not have any sense?

>> No. He has a lot of illnesses all together and when you are that old and they are together, the body will go very quickly. But the issue is if he dies, where is he going to be laid to rest? He wants it to be in jerusalem at the temple. The israelis will not allow that. The israelis would like to have it in gaza or also in a town outside of jerusalem where they have prepared a plot. And I think if he dies, it's going to be a crisis over that if the palestinians are going to insist on doing in it what is the holiest of the jewish places and, but as for the succession, he is like a medieval tyrant who wanted to make sure there was nobody to succeed him so he'd never have a challenger in life. There is going to be a huge uprising within the palestinians and they're going to have to make historic decision would they choose a leadership like the past, which is against any kind of peace, or choose the rates and outstretch a hand towards israel. That is going to be the real issue. Brit: That is it for the panel, folk. Stay tuned to find out just how popular secretary of state powell really is overseas. That's next. .

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