Battle Between Clarke, White House Continues
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're following several important developments this hour including the all-out battle that's unfolding between Richard Clarke and the Bush administration. The charges and the countercharges, the intense media campaign. Can any conclusions be made so far? We'll break it all down for our viewers. Also, the scene in the Middle East. Look at this. A would-be bomber, only 14-years-old, is caught before potential disaster. And 2,000 additional United States Marines are headed to Afghanistan right now, presumably to search for this man, Osama bin Laden. We'll get to all that, first, some other headlines. A new home for Haiti's former leader. Jean-Bertrand Aristide is currently in Jamaica and officials there say he'll soon be moving on, to South Africa. But it reportedly won't be until after April 14 when South Africa holds elections. No confirmation yet from South Africa. One for the history books. British Prime Minister Tony Blair meeting with former foe, Libya leader Moammar Gadhafi. Libya's standing in the West has done an about-face since Colonel Gadhafi publicly renounced terrorism and vowed to get rid of his country's weapons of mass destruction. The flame is burning and the countdown is underway to the Summer Olympic Games in the place where it all began, Athens, Greece. For the next 20 weeks, the torch will travel the globe. Forty-eight thousand five hundred miles in 27 countries. The games begin August 13, that's a Friday. First this hour, the continuing fallout from the charges being leveled by Richard Clarke. By now the name and the face hardly need introduction. But for the record, he's the former White House official who's accusing President Bush of dropping the ball on the war on terrorism. In sworn testimony yesterday, Clarke told the federal panel that's probing the attacks of 9/11 before 9/11 the fight against terror was important to President Bush, but was not, repeat not, a matter of urgency. That particular charge he supported last night in an appearance on "LARRY KING LIVE."</s>RICHARD CLARKE, FRM. WHITE HOUSE COUNTERTERRORISM ADVISER: The president was told on a regular basis the al Qaeda threat was coming. Al Qaeda attack was coming. And what does the president say in his own words to Bob Woodward in "Bush at War"? He says Bush acknowledged that bin Laden was not his focus or that of his national security team. "I was not on point," the president said. "I didn't feel a sense of urgency." Well how can you not feel a sense of urgency when George Tenet is telling you in daily briefings, day after day, that a major al Qaeda attack is coming. That's my point. That's one of my points. My other point, which I'd like to get to, that by fighting the war in Iraq, the president has actually diminished our ability to fight the war on terrorism.</s>BLITZER: In conjunction with the hearings held this week, the 9/11 panel issued preliminary findings that fault the current administration as well as that of President Clinton for lapses that occurred before September 11. Clarke served in both administrations. But his harshest comments are reserved for President Bush and his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice.</s>CLARKE: And if Condi Rice had been doing her job and holding those daily meetings they way Sandy Berger, if she had a hands-on attitude to being national security adviser when she knew there was a threat to the United States, that kind of information was shaken out in December 1999. It would have been shaken out in the summer of 2001 if she had been doing her job.</s>BLITZER: Battling Clarke's charges has occupied the White House for much of this week. It's a bit of mixed message. The vice president, Dick Cheney, says Clarke was out of the loop in the fight against terrorism. Condoleezza Rice disputes that notion but she says that Clarke's strategy wasn't working. Others have said Clarke is simply trying to promote his book. For the latest from the White House, we turn to our White House correspondent Dana Bash. What are they saying this morning over at the White House, Dana?</s>BASH: Well, Wolf, first of all in response to what we just heard from Richard Clarke essentially suggesting that Condoleezza Rice, perhaps if she had more meetings could have prevented the attacks from occurring. As you can imagine that is not going over very well here this morning. One official saying that the suggestion more meetings could have stopped anything is really outrageous. Also, that is perhaps a dig at Richard Clarke as somewhat of a disgruntled bureaucrat, if you will. Now White House officials all morning have said that as personal and perhaps ugly as this point/counterpoint is getting between the White House and their former employee, Richard Clarke, as long as they say Richard Clarke continues to take to the airways to promote his book and to make assertions to the president, they will continue to try hit back at least on the substance. Now this morning, it was Secretary of State Colin Powell who used and appearance on Capitol Hill to try to discredit Richard Clarke.</s>COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: The very first briefing I received during my transition period, some four days after President Bush announced me was from Mr. Clarke. And the other colleagues that he had and that were becoming my colleagues in the outgoing administration were involved in intelligence and terrorism. This isn't the sign of somebody who didn't have an interest in terrorism. It was also something the president made clear we had to be interested in.</s>BASH: Now, Secretary Powell, the designated administration hitter this morning, also took issue with any suggestion from Richard Clarke that there was warning of some kind, any kind of knowledge before September 11 that it was actually happening. He said that any idea that there was a magic moment, as he put it, a magic bullet where it was possible to connect the dots is simply not right -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Dana Bash at the White House. Still very sensitive explosive story unfolding. Dana, thanks very much. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry got a copy of Richard Clarke's book. Look at this.</s>SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's very interesting. I haven't finished it. Before I give you any opinions.</s>BLITZER: Kerry's expected to get the endorsement of Howard Dean. We're standing by to go over to George Washington University here in Washington D.C. to cover that formal endorsement. Howard Dean endorsing his former rival, John Kerry. That's expected to take place this hour. Once former rivals, now evidently on the same page. CNN's Kelly Wallace is watching all of this unfold over at GW, at George Washington university. Sounds like there's a pretty enthusiastic crowd behind you, Kelly.</s>KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf. Several hundred college students very excited as they listened to the former Vermont governor, Howard Dean, who is talking right now. Howard Dean, certainly one of the biggest critics of John Kerry during the presidential primary campaign. But what he says is that his goal has always been to defeat President Bush in November and that John Kerry is the one with the best chance to do that. So Kerry's aides say this is incredibly important, this public endorsement from Howard Dean. A way to validate John Kerry in the eyes of Howard Dean's base of thousands, hundreds of thousands of supporters. Something else though that Howard Dean is doing, especially as Ralph Nader seems to be doing better and better in some polls, is try to prevent his supporters from embracing a third party candidate. Saying that would not help defeat President Bush in November. So we're expecting to hear John Kerry momentarily now. Wolf, back to you.</s>BLITZER: All right. Let's listen in briefly to hear what Howard Dean has to say.</s>HOWARD DEAN (D), FRM. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... balancing budgets and God knows you can't trust the Republicans with your money because not one of them have balanced the budget in 34 years. But the real issue is this. You know I got such a kick out of seeing the president huff and puff and get all indignant over the testimony of Richard Clarke this week. And the real issue is this: who would you rather have in charge of the defense of the United States of America? A group of people who never served a day overseas in their life or a guy who served his country honorably, has three Purple Hearts and a Silver Star on the battlefields of Vietnam? Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry! So my question, my question to you is this: who do you trust to bring jobs back to the United States of America and to our people? George Bush or John Kerry? Who do you trust to protect our environment? George Bush or John Kerry? Who do you trust to bring health insurance to every man, woman and child in America? George Bush or John Kerry? Who do you trust to save Social Security and to balance budgets? George Bush or John Kerry? Well, I know who I trust. I trust John Kerry. And that's who I'm voting for. That's who I'm working for. We're sending George Bush back to Crawford, Texas. And it is a pleasure and honor to introduce to you, the next president of the United States, John F. Kerry!</s>KERRY: Thanks a lot!</s>BLITZER: So there's the introduction, there's the welcome, there's the formal endorsement. Howard Dean making it clear he supports the senator from Massachusetts, John Kerry, as the next president of the United States. We'll continue to monitor this rally at George Washington University. Get back there if there's any other news that develops. In the meantime, let's turn to the war on terrorism. As part of a spring offensive, the United States will soon have more Marines on the ground in Afghanistan. Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, is joining us now live. She has details -- Barbara.</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well you know, Wolf, no one at the Pentagon even officially acknowledges there's a spring offensive. But indeed some details shaping up about what we are going to see over the next few weeks. About 2,000 additional Marines going to Afghanistan. They will unload on their ships in the Persian Gulf and then fly into Afghanistan, we are told, with their equipment, with their Harrier Jump Jets. All getting there in time to beef up the U.S. military presence for this coming spring action. Now one of the questions on the table, of course, will be, how long will they stay? Will this just turn into another rotation, with some troops coming back? Or will this be a plus-up, if you will, in addition to the 11,000 troops already in Afghanistan, that will be there through the spring searching out remnants of the Taliban and the al Qaeda? Every indication now is these troops will stay for a while. They will engage in missions along the border with Pakistan. Move into some of those mountain areas. Try and root out those Taliban and al Qaeda remnants -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Barbara, I just want to clarify one sensitive point as far as the rules of engagement for the U.S. military forces in Afghanistan right now, as they hunt nor Osama bin Laden, Ayman al- Zawahiri and the other al Qaeda and Taliban remnants. Is there any doubt they have the authority, the legal authority, to go out and kill them if they come upon them, because as you know, in the testimony over the past couple of days, up on Capitol Hill, the CIA operatives on the ground said it wasn't clear to them that they had the clear-cut authority to go ahead and kill, assassinate, if you will, Osama bin Laden, in earlier years.</s>STARR: You know, Wolf, this gets to the point that nobody really wants to talk about. Here's the dilemma: Who is holding that gun? Who is pointing it. If it member of the United States intelligence community, of the CIA, there is a ban against assassination? The CIA is not supposed to go out and assassinate people. There is the question of legitimate self-defense, however. If it is someone that poses an immediate threat to the United States, then we are told by very senior administration officials, there is no doubt there would be authority to kill that person. We have talked to very senior officials since that testimony yesterday. And according to people we've talked to, there is no doubt at this point, that the people who might be holding that gun, whether they are U.S. military special forces, whether they are members of the intelligence community, they feel they have all the authority that they have all the clear lines of communication to do whatever is required -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, clarifying that issue for us. Thanks, Barbara, very much. Punch, counter punch, Richard Clarke versus the Bush administration. It's getting pretty heated here in Washington, indeed around the country. What about Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico? What's he saying about the 9/11 investigation and other sensitive issues? He's my guest. He's coming up live, when we return.