Senate Slams Iraq Intel; Alleged Architect of 9/11 in Military Court
BLITZER: Fresh on the heels of a scathing tell-all book by a former press secretary, the White House is being slammed once again right now over the run-up to the war in Iraq, this time, a brand-new report just out by the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee. Let's go to our White House correspondent, Ed Henry -- Ed.</s>ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this long awaited report could have landed with a thud. But Scott McClellan's book is giving Democrats new ammunition to charge the White House misled the nation into war.</s>HENRY: What's troublesome for the president is the new report goes beyond just saying the intelligence in the run-up to the war in Iraq was wrong. It concludes the White House left out contradictory evidence and exaggerated intelligence to make the threat from Saddam Hussein sound more ominous.</s>SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: It is entirely possible that the administration had not presented these facts, that if they had not done that as facts to the American people in making the case for it, we might have avoided this catastrophe.</s>HENRY: The Senate report released by Democrats wrapped the president proclaiming Saddam wanted weapons of mass destruction to hand them off to terrorists when the intelligence did not back that up. Ditto for Vice President Cheney suggesting 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta may have met an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We learned more and more that there was a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda.</s>HENRY: Republicans mocked the report for rehashing old ground.</s>SEN. KIT BOND (R), INTELLIGENCE VICE CHAIRMAN: The attempt by my friends on the other side of the aisle to score election year points.</s>HENRY: They noted top Democrats used the same intelligence to make ominous statements, such as Rockefeller saying in 2002 --</s>ROCKEFELLER: There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years.</s>HENRY: The new report comes just a week after former White House press secretary Scott McClellan came forward to allege the administration used propaganda to sell the war.</s>SCOTT MCCLELLAN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What happened was that the case was packaged together, overstated, and oversold to the American people.</s>HENRY: White House spokeswoman Dana Perino however insisted the administration did not intentionally mislead the nation.</s>DANA PERINO, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: No one lied. I think that's sort of the point of all this. These issues have been looked at many times.</s>HENRY: But Senator Rockefeller said this is not about rehashing history. It's about trying to learn a lesson so the same mistakes are not repeated -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Ed Henry at the White House, thank you. Nearly seven years after the 9/11 attacks five alleged terrorists are now facing a military court. Day one of the trial featured dramatic words from the alleged architect of the 9/11 plot. Let's go to our justice correspondent, Kelli Arena. She's live at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Not a whole lot of live shots we get from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba but this is an historic day. Kelli, tell our viewers what's going on.</s>KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Sure is, Wolf. Five men, all accused of playing a critical role in the September 11th attacks, in the same room at the same time. They sat at five separate tables but they were clearly united with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed seemingly in charge.</s>ARENA: The U.S. government and self-confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed both agree on one thing, he should die. Mohammed, who looks starkly different from when he was captured, thinner with a long gray beard, told the military judge here in Guantanamo Bay that he doesn't want a defense team or a trial. He wants to be a martyr. Mohammed insisted on representing himself. He called the U.S. legal system "evil" and said he would "only recognize sharia," or Islamic law. The judge tried to talk him out of it but Mohammed mocked him, calling the trial an inquisition. "After the torture they transfer us to inquisition land in Guantanamo," he said. The CIA has admitted to waterboarding Mohammed during interrogations and evidence from that questioning may be introduced at trial, something that would never be allowed in a civilian court. CNN spoke to his lawyer before the proceedings.</s>CAPT. PRESCOTT PRINCE, MOHAMMED'S LAWYER: That's not the rule of law. That's -- that's just insanity.</s>ARENA: One by one the detainees followed Mohammed's lead rejecting their legal teams. Ramsey Bin al-Shibh who the government says helped with 9/11 planning told the judge that he's wanted to be a martyr for years. His civilian attorney blasted the process as preposterous.</s>TOM DURKIN, BIN AL-SHIBH'S ATTORNEY: There's a serious can be systemic problem here of proceeding with the representation. It's preposterous.</s>ARENA: This was first time the detainees had been in the same room in years. For the most part they looked healthy, only bin al- Shibh in shackles. At times, they ignored the proceedings going on around them, choosing to spend their time in court doing what they have not been able to do for years, talk to each other.</s>ARENA: Wolf, this was just an arraignment and it's still going on. It's been going on all day. You can only imagine how complicated any trial would be.</s>BLITZER: You were inside when this took place. Give us a little flavor of what he looked like. You actually saw this guy.</s>ARENA: I did, Wolf. After all these years and only having seen that picture of him when he was taken into custody, very heavy, very disheveled, he looked like an entirely different man. He was very thin. He had a very long salt and pepper beard, very calm, almost scholarly in his approach toward the other defendants that were all sitting at separate tables but talking to them, almost looking like he was advising them, shaking his finger and trying to, it looked like from where we were, we couldn't hear him, looked like he was trying to give them guidance or instruction of some sort.</s>BLITZER: Thanks. Kelli Arena's at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba where only a few journalists have been allowed there on this day. Thank you, Kelli. An American student jailed in Egypt after taking these photos. Check it out. How one word and a cell phone helped get him out and why he's still fighting the people who arrested him. And we're waiting for an important event in Barack Obama's campaign. This is going to be the first really large rally of the general election since he clinched the nomination the other night. Thousands of people are gearing up. They're expected. We're monitoring it. It's about to take place in suburban Washington in northern Virginia. We're going to go there. We'll hear what Barack Obama is saying now that the general campaign against John McCain is under way.