Should A National Intel Dir. Control The Intelligence Budget?; Damage To Fla. Citrus Crops
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A battle brewing in Washington: The position of National Intelligence Director hasn't even been created yet, but already there's disagreement over whether he or she should control the intelligence budget. Today, the defense secretary offered his perspective to law makers. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is here to fill us in -- Barbara?</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Kyra. Well, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sat in a chair before the Senate Armed Services Committee for four hours today with other top officials testifying on proposals for intelligence reform from the 9/11 Commission. Now the secretary, as expected, refusing to let himself get pinned into a corner about which specific proposals he is supporting. There's a lot of competing ideas in Washington, some from the 9/11 commission, some from Congress, some from the White House. The secretary saying that basically he did support the White House proposal, of course, for the creation of a National Intelligence Director, but as far as getting pinned down any further, just listen to this exchange between the secretary and Senator John Warner, chairman of the committee.</s>DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We are still looking at these things.</s>SEN. JOHN WARNER (R), VIRGINIA: Well, I'm going to continue to...</s>RUMSFELD: They're terribly important. And I am not in the position to say anything other than the devil's in the details. And...</s>WARNER: Right. I accept that. But the work of the Congress is moving ahead. We've got some momentum in these committees. We're coming up with ideas. And the sooner we can kind of get those guide posts from our present administration, the better we will be able to perform our work.</s>STARR: Now the Republican-dominated Congress, of course, wanting to be seen ahead of the Republican convention as moving ahead on intelligence reform. But some of the critical questions, Kyra, that did come up in the hearing today, what about a National Intelligence Director? What would that person do? How much control would they have over the $40 billion intelligence budget? Don Rumsfeld now controls about 80 percent of that. Would he give up some of that? Would that new director be able to move agents around the world, task and move satellites around the world for intelligence collection? All a lot of questions to which there are no answers yet. Now the United States military, of course, is the largest consumer, if you will, of intelligence, and the top military officer, General Richard Myers, sitting next to Rumsfeld, gave his views on all of this, as well.</s>GENERAL RICHARD MYERS, CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: There cannot be a czar that just starts pointing and pulling level. There is no Wizard of Oz here that's going to solve this in my opinion. It's got to be a collaborative effort.</s>STARR: One of the other key issues that came up at the hearing was this very question of human intelligence. Both Secretary Rumsfeld, General Myers, all making the case that they don't want to just see boxes moved around on the reorganization chart, reorganization for the sake of the bureaucracy. They want to see changes that will fix specific problems. And as far as human intelligence goes, what they say is they still need more human intelligence assets, the type of people that can penetrate al Qaeda and see what's really going on -- Kyra?</s>PHILLIPS: Barbara, there's so much talk about this director. But is there a timeline for nominations, or a selection? Any names out there?</s>STARR: Well, not at the moment. All of this is going to require legislative authority. Now there's a lot of political momentum in Congress to get it done this year, before the presidential elections, certainly. The Republicans have made it very clear they do want to be seen as moving ahead. But what's really interesting, as these hearings progress, most of the senators, most of the congressmen are beginning to realize, of course, they know it's a lot more complicated than it appears on the surface. They're very cautious about not creating more problems than they may solve. So, it all may take a little bit longer than anybody anticipates, and nobody's making any real predictions just yet.</s>PHILLIPS: All right. Barbara Starr live from the Pentagon. Thanks.</s>BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Warplanes and peace talks in Najaf. A scaled-back, long delayed delegation of Iraqi envoys rode U.S. helicopters into the line of fire today hoping to transform firefights into political debates. For now, though, the bullets and bombs are flying in Baghdad, as well as in the Shiite heartland. A mortar attack in the capital killed at least seven people. CNN's John Vause has the latest.</s>JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The mortar landed in busy Al Rashid Street in central Baghdad, killing at least seven people, wounding more than 40 others. The Interior Ministry here says it was intended for a police station, but missed its mark, landing in a busy residential commercial area. One residential building was badly damaged; seven cars were destroyed. There has been heavy fighting, too, in Najaf between U.S. and Iraqi forces, and the Mehdi Militia. U.S. warplanes have dropped bombs around the cemetery, not far from the Imam Ali mosque, where Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi Militia remain holed up. His numbers have apparently swelled from 1,000 just last week to reportedly close to 2,000 now. All of this as a delegation from Iraq's National Conference arrived to try and convince al-Sadr to dissolve his Mehdi Militia, lay down their weapons, and join the mainstream political party. The delegation from Baghdad was flown by U.S. helicopter to Najaf amid security concerns that insurgents had laid an ambush for a convoy on the road between Baghdad and Najaf. And at the Iraqi National Conference, meantime, the main purpose of that conference was to elect a 100-person council to advise the Iraqi interim government. But because Najaf has dominated the three-day conference, that vote has now been delayed. The conference will go an extra day. The vote should be held sometime tomorrow. John Vause, CNN, Baghdad.</s>NGUYEN: Also overseas, today we received amazing video of flash flooding in Great Britain. Take a look. Dozens of cars are swept away by a torrent of water in Boscastle, which is a village southwest of London. A short burst of rain yesterday caused a wall of water to sweep down the narrow valley that serves as a popular tourist destination. Seven helicopters scrambled to join the rescue effort there. Crews even plucked stranded villagers and tourists from rooftops and the tops of cars. At least 15 people remain unaccounted for.</s>PHILLIPS: Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson tells CNN he's releasing just more than $11 million in additional disaster relief for victims of Hurricane Charley. Thompson and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge flew to Florida today to see the damage firsthand. CNN's Bob Franken is live from Punta Gorda, Florida, with the latest -- Bob?</s>BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, this point in back of us is really a focal point of the effort. Right now, the first issue is just to help people survive. With hundreds of thousands going without electricity or without homes, so many of the essentials, so many of the things we take for granted, no longer can be taken for granted by people here. Many of them come to the station. We've seen a steady line of cars for the last couple of days picking up such things as ice, nonperishable food, portable toilets, all of that type of thing, just to get by. But there are any number of people who can't get down here. So, after hearing complaints, National Guard troops fanned out to some of the neighborhoods that were really devastated by the hurricane -- of course, the worst being in some of the trailer parks. People just have not been able to get out so they brought supplies to them. And all of this part of an effort that's being coordinated at the very top levels of government. We've seen a steady parade of administration officials into the area, this particular area which was hit so hard, and they all have a consistent message: "We care."</s>TOM RIDGE, U.S. SECRETARY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY: Sometimes I think that America's best qualities as a country surface when we're asked to respond to a tragedy. And clearly this is just another example. When you have literally people coming from around the country to help the citizens of Florida, and you have Floridians leaving other parts of the state to come in and help their fellow citizens. And I just want to assure you that from the federal government -- from our perspective, we are prepared to work together. Secretary Thompson's down here. He's going to talk to you a little bit about what he's been doing today and why he's here. The Corps of Engineers may be called in to help with debris removal. I mean, there's just a lot of assets that we can bring to bear in partnership with Governor Bush and local officials, as well.</s>FRANKEN: And Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge just the latest, as I said, of officials coming in here. There's also another kind of reality about this type of thing and that is the scam artists, those who come in and try and take advantage of the situation. The Attorney General of Florida announced today two prosecutions. The first of what he said will be many against price gougers in this particular case, alleged price gougers, including two hotels, one in West Palm Beach, one in</s>PHILLIPS: Bob Franken, live from Punta Gorda. Thanks so much. Well Hurricane Charley tore a path of destruction right through the heart of Florida's multimillion dollar citrus industry. Strong winds snapped thousands of trees, oranges and grapefruit. They were thrown to the ground. Florida's agricultural commissioner says that the main damage appears to be the oranges used to make juice.</s>CHARLES BRONSON, FLA. AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER: We won't know the total damages for another four to six weeks but we believe that in some areas I saw yesterday, we will lose anywhere from 40 percent total loss of oranges up to 100 percent in certain areas. The nursery industry also was damaged very heavily by this storm.</s>PHILLIPS: A third of Florida's citrus crop is grown in the area hit by that storm. More drama in the courtroom today as Amber Frey reveals more of Scott Peterson's secrets. We're going to take you live to the courthouse. Plus Oprah Winfrey gives her opinions all the time. Find out why her next verdict may be a little different. American favorites locked in a race for number one. We're going to meet the candidates.