CNN Producer Riad Ali Freed; Abizaid and the State of Iraq; Threat of Insurgent Alliances in Iraq
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We have a busy hour ahead, but first, there is breaking news. I want to go right to Gaza right now. Our reporter, Ben Wedeman on the phone for us. The good news, Riad Ali, our CNN producer, has been freed. Ben, pick up the story. Tell us what happened.</s>BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF: Yes. We are at Palestinian police headquarters in downtown Gaza City where Riad Ali, our producer, is upstairs meeting with one of the senior Palestinian police officers. We're told he is in good condition. We haven't yet nailed down exactly when he did reappear. But Wolf, we were receiving indications all afternoon that his release was imminent. We saw that the Palestinian authorities were basically working every possible angle to find out where he was. Just to remind you of how the story transpired, it was about 24 1/2 hours ago when we were stopped in the streets not far from our office here by gunmen who basically asked one question, which of you is Riad? They took him away and since then it has been a very difficult 24 hours just trying to find out where he is, how he is, who's holding him and why they're holding him. We did get some indication this afternoon, just about an hour ago, we received a tape that was shot of Riad in which he was talking about the fact that he's a member of the Israeli Druze minority, that's an Arabic-speaking minority that lives in Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. They traditionally have had relatively cordial relations with the Jewish state. Now in this videotape he did talk about -- basically he called upon his fellow Druze not to serve in the Israeli army, saying that the struggle of the Druze and the Palestinians is the same, one of a struggle against what he said in the tape is discrimination and occupation. Now I have to underscore that we don't know the conditions under which this tape was made, probably under duress. But at this point the most important thing, Wolf, is that Riad is no longer a hostage -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Do we know, Ben, if anything was done to facilitate his release, his freedom, were any concession concessions made? Was there any payment, anything along those lines? In other words, let's set the stage for Riad Ali's being released.</s>WEDEMAN: As far as payment or any concessions, nothing that we know of. And I don't think that was the case. This was a severe embarrassment for the Palestinian Authority. It was an incident that was condemned by all the major Palestinian groups; although I must say that in that tape, Riad says he was taken -- he was abducted by members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, which is, of course, a military faction affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. But clearly what went on was that every intelligence operative within the Palestinian Authority and within the major Palestinian armed factions were working their contacts trying to win his release. Precisely what led to his release, I do not know -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right, Ben, standby for a second. For viewers just tuning, I want to update all our viewers throughout the United States, around the world, what has happened. Riad Ali, our CNN producer, who was abducted yesterday in Gaza at gunpoint, has now been freed. He is in the hands of our CNN team. Ben Wedeman reporting, our reporter in Gaza. He's in good condition and he's there in Gaza right now. That's the good news. Riad Ali has been freed. Ben, before I let you go, and I know you have a lot of stuff that you have to do at this point, give our viewers a little sense of how extraordinary this is for a journalist to be kidnapped or abducted, if you will, in Gaza, because you've been there numerous times?</s>WEDEMAN: Yes. This is something that we haven't seen happen like this. I must -- I do have journalist colleagues who in the past were abducted, so to speak, by local Palestinian gangs, for lack of a better word. But those abductions usually lasted just a few hours, involved a meal, lots of cups of tea and coffee, conversation and debate and they were released. In this case, it was very disturbing because there was no word from the captors, no demands, no claim of responsibility and from my vantage point, sitting in the back seat when this happened, it looked like a very professional operation. I've spoken with intelligence officers here telling me it is an ad hoc freelance group, the people who did this, but they certainly looked like to me like they knew exactly what they were doing. So clearly this is going to raise concerns of news organizations that want to cover the situation here in Gaza -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Ben, stand by for one second because at the same time that we have just received word that Riad Ali, our CNN producer, has been freed in Gaza, we're getting word from both the Associated Press and Reuters that those two Italian women, those aide workers who had been held hostage had been taken captive in Iraq now also are free. Word that the two Italian hostages have been released. This according to the Al-Jazeera television network. The two women had been held for at least two weeks. No details are being made available, only within the past few minutes that we have now, CNN, spoken to relatives of these two women and we have independently confirmed that they are freed. Both of these Italian women having been held now for the past couple weeks. Good news on that front, as well. One final question, Ben Wedeman, before I let you go. What happens now? What do you do differently in terms of your day-to-day journalism in Gaza that, as a result of what happened yesterday, that -- the abduction of Riad Ali? I think we lost Ben Wedeman, unfortunately. We'll try to reconnect with Ben Wedeman when we can. But let me just recap, Riad Ali, our CNN producer, abducted at gunpoint yesterday in Gaza, is now freed. He's in good condition and continuing, of course, to work for CNN. Good news on that front all around. Let's move on to Iraq now. United States forces struck, once again -- once again today, against the terrorist network blamed for suicide bombings, abductions and beheadings. The military says two laser-guided bombs were dropped in a hideout at Fallujah, a hideout used by militants linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the terrorist leader. In addition, U.S. warplanes pounded a series of targets in the Baghdad neighborhood known as Sadr City. U.S. officials say the strikes were tightly targeted. But in a CNN interview, Iraq's interim president cautioned that air attacks could send the wrong message to Iraqis.</s>GHAZI AL-YAWER, IRAQI INTERIM PRESIDENT: The picture of having air strikes, especially when it's jet fighters, strikes congested areas, it looks more like a collective punishment than hitting a limited target. And this is very bad.</s>BLITZER: Ghazi Al-Yawer speaking to our Brent Sadler just a little while ago in Iraq, the interim president of Iraq. Also today in Iraq, in the south, suspected insurgents mounted a deadly ambush against a British military convoy. British officials say two soldiers were killed, raising the British death toll in Iraq now to 68. In an exclusive interview, the head of the U.S. military Central Command says things in Iraq are probably getting better -- are probably going better, that is, better than most Americans generally believe. General John Abizaid was interviewed in Iraq by CNN's Jane Arraf. She joins us now live from the Iraqi city of Baquba. Jane, give our viewers the gist of what General Abizaid told you.</s>JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Wolf, the general came through here to this major Army base in Baquba which once was a center of the insurgency, now considerably calmer. And he told us that he did believe that things were progressing. In fact, he insists that despite the ongoing violence, things are getting better. Iraqi security forces are being stood (ph) up, and that this violence that is cyclical, they are getting a handle on. Now, the numbers around the country are very high, ongoing attacks, kidnappings. But Abizaid said he believes that as they improve security in general and crack down on what he believes is the main problem, still former Ba'ath party elements, former supporters of Saddam Hussein, that will make it considerably safer and leave them less room for fighters and kidnappers to operate. He also insists that he believes elections will go forward in this country, despite continuing violence.</s>GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, CENTCOM COMMANDER: Despite pockets of violence, people will move forward and have the vote. You have the same sort of momentum here. Now, the confluence of three elections happening here and in Afghanistan and also our own creates an opportunity for -- for people to try to derail all of the electoral process that they see out there in order to gain political advantage. Now, I don't think that will work. I think there's more people interested in making things work than are -- than are interested in derailing the process.</s>ARRAF: Now, Abizaid was referring to the experience of holding elections in Afghanistan, which he is also responsible for that part of Central Command. And he referred to the fact that here in -- around Baquba, they've had a dramatic decrease in the number of, for instance, roadside bomb attacks. They still happen. Suicide bombs still happen, but much fewer than there were. And military officials here attribute a lot of that to reaching out, making contact, and cooperating with local leaders, tribal leaders, as well as getting Iraqi information to crack down on those insurgents -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Jane Arraf reporting for us. Jane, thanks very much. Good interview with General Abizaid. Sources tell CNN President Bush was warned before he went to war in Iraq that the invasion could prompt a dangerous alliance, an alliance between Saddam loyalists and terrorists. The warning was in two classified reports from the National Intelligence Council. Our David Ensor is joining us now live with details. David, what have you learned?</s>DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as you say, two classified reports that were prepared for President Bush two months before the invasion in Iraq warned, according to sources, that such an invasion could prompt an insurgency, including rogue elements from Saddam Hussein's government working with existing terrorist groups. The reports in January 2003 from the National Intelligence Council said an invasion would increase support for hard- line politicalicized Islam and result in a divided society prone to violent conflict. Disclosure of these details from these two classified reports just weeks before the presidential election. The fact that these pessimistic assessments were given to President Bush could create political problems for the White House in the coming weeks. The reports were prepared, as you mentioned, by the same unit that in July prepared a gloomy national intelligence estimate about prospects for Iraq. This is the National Intelligence Council, which is a quasi-independent think tank headquartered at the CIA. It includes outside academics, as well as U.S. intelligence professionals from throughout the government. And it coordinates its reports with all 15 of the U.S. intelligence agencies. So this was an -- this was an additional warning that the president got a couple of months before the war, that in view of some intelligence professionals and some outside academics, he ought to watch out for the possibility that Saddam Hussein's loyalists might get together with terrorists like Zarqawi and work together, as they have turned out to do.</s>BLITZER: Because it's significant, especially because some of the public statements that were being made at the time that U.S. and coalition forces would be warmly welcomed by Iraqis on the streets, they would be receiving flowers, and there would be joy, and the notion of some sort of insurgency was played down, at least in many of the public statements.</s>ENSOR: That's exactly right. Vice President Cheney, for one, was a senior official who -- who had a much more optimistic view of what might transpire in Iraq after the invasion than did these intelligence reports that apparently were given to the president two months ago.</s>BLITZER: Well, is there any information, any indication that this report released two months -- confidential classified report -- two months before the war, that it had any impact on anyone? That they began to take steps to prepare for a possible terrorist insurgency?</s>ENSOR: No doubt they were. The U.S. military was aware that there was that possibility. I don't have any first-hand knowledge that these two specific reports in January, 2003, had that impact, though.</s>BLITZER: And right now, the same people basically who put together that report have put together what is being described as this gloomy national intelligence estimate that was submitted to the president in July, but only in recent days has been leaked publicly.</s>ENSOR: That's right. And you do have to say that, given that the CIA has come under intense criticism for its apparently faulty analysis about the prospects of finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, here you have what appeared to be leaks of some other information that U.S. intelligence put in front of the president before the war that was much less optimistic about the prospects, and perhaps provides a more balanced picture of what the -- what the intelligence was he got before the war. But there is some self- serving aspects to these leaks, perhaps.</s>BLITZER: The president acknowledged last week that the use of his word "guess" when describing this most recent national intelligence estimate, sort of deriding it is as guesswork, if you will, he thought that was unfortunate, that use of words. Clearly a serious intelligence study under way. David, thanks very much.</s>ENSOR: Thank you.</s>BLITZER: What happens in Iraq over the next five weeks could help determine who wins -- winds up in the White House. But it's far from the only issue on the presidential election agenda. There's also the war on terrorism. There's also the overall U.S. economy. The latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll shows 54 percent of voters prefer the policies of President Bush over those of Senator John Kerry, the Democratic nominee. And the president's numbers are also going up. His job approval rating now at 54 percent. Our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joining us with more on the latest to-ing and fro-ing in advance of Thursday's night debate -- Suzanne.</s>SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, President Bush is at his Crawford ranch. He is hunkered down there. That is where his aides say he's crystallizing his thoughts. He has finished those mock debate sessions, and now he's just honing his message. It is a message that he has been testing, of course, for the last couple months on the campaign trail. It was just yesterday that he was campaigning in the critical battleground state of Ohio. Now, earlier today, I spoke with a senior Republican official. "What does the president need to do for that Thursday debate?" "The first one," he says, "well, the president has to come across as knowledgeable, as likable, and he has to make a connection with the American people. His vulnerability, however, he cannot mispronounce the name of a world leader." But he describes as can Kerry's challenge as ominous. He says that he really has to fundamentally change his position in the polls. But he continue on to say that Bush has to make the case here that Iraq really is the central front in the global war on terror. All of this, of course, Wolf, comes at a time when the Kerry- Edwards camp is really stepping up their criticism. Just yesterday, we heard from vice presidential candidate John Edwards, saying that one of the TV ads amounted to the campaign lying about absolutely anything. Well, today, a senior advisor the president, Karen Hughes, fired back.</s>KAREN HUGHES, SR. ADVISOR, BUSH CAMPAIGN: We can disagree on issues, but I don't think we need to run around using words like "lie" and things like that. I think what you're seeing is a little bit of increasing desperation on the part of the -- of the Democratic candidates, as the polls show that President Bush continues to be in the lead.</s>MALVEAUX: And here are those polls. The latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll from September 24 to the 26 showing that 67 percent believe that President Bush can handle responsibly -- the responsibilities, rather, of commander in chief. That is compared to 49 percent for Kerry. And as for the debate, it shows also that 52 percent believe that President Bush will be the winner, that he'll do a better job. Thirty-nine percent believe that Kerry will. And most interesting to note about these numbers, Wolf, is that 80 percent of those polled say that they do not believe that this debate either way is really going to make a difference in the way that they vote -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: It's interesting. That number you showed, Suzanne, showing that most -- more Americans think the president will "win this debate." The expectations game, usually in his career he has gone in with low expectations. He seems to be going in with higher expectations right now than John Kerry, and that may be an advantage for John Kerry.</s>MALVEAUX: Well, certainly both of the sides are playing that low expectation game so that they can essentially, whatever he does, comes out the winner here. Because they're not really expecting that much. But the voters are showing that they expect more of the president. Essentially, they expect him to know more, they expect him to come across better. That going into this, they want the president to perform, and they believe he should perform better than his challenger. But we'll have to wait and see.</s>BLITZER: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, we won't have to wait very long. That would be Thursday night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Of course CNN will have live coverage of the first debate in Miami. The Kerry camp is also crunching all the latest poll numbers. CNN's Frank Buckley is covering the Democratic candidate. He's preparing for the debates in Wisconsin. Set the scene for us. What's on the Kerry agenda today, Frank?</s>FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, no public appearances here in Wisconsin, Wolf. Senator Kerry continuing to be hunkered down with advisors and involved in debate prep. But you were talking about the poll numbers. These are very tough poll numbers on Senator John Kerry, especially on what has become the centerpiece of his offensive during the past couple of weeks against President Bush on this issue of Iraq. This, despite the fact that the majority of Americans apparently believe that things are going badly in Iraq. When the voters are asked in this new poll how things are going for the U.S. in Iraq, only 46 percent say things are going well. Fifty-two percent say things are going badly. But when those voters were asked who can better handle Iraq, 55 percent say Bush can, 41 percent say Kerry can. Of course, Senator Kerry has been criticized repeatedly over the past several months on Iraq, called inconsistent with his position on Iraq. The Kerry campaign believes, still, that this is an issue that is important. They believe that the president should be on the defensive on this, but despite that, it has been Senator Kerry in many settings who has had to be on the defensive on the issue of Iraq, as he was yesterday at a town hall meeting here in Wisconsin.</s>SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This president and the Republicans have tried to make it look as if John Kerry has zero position or -- I've had one position steady all the way, folks. That I thought we ought to stand up and hold Saddam Hussein accountable, but I thought we ought to do it the right way. And doing it the right way means having the patience and the maturity to bring allies to our side, to go through diplomacy, to recognize that the United States of America is strongest when we are standing with the rest of the world in a legitimate cause.</s>BUCKLEY: Now, of course, the conventional wisdom on this election is that Iraq is what it's all about. But look at what our voters said. When asked, "What is most important to your vote," those polls had only 17 percent said Iraq, twice as many said the economy. Thirty-two percent said terrorism. So some tough poll numbers for the Kerry campaign. The Kerry campaign, Wolf, dismissive of these numbers. They say that it's out of sync with other national polls recently. They still believe it's President Bush who is going to have to be on the defensive in this debate. They look forward to it. They say that he has to answer questions about how he's handled the war in Iraq -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Frank Buckley reporting for us from the Kerry campaign. Thanks, Frank, very much. Once again, Thursday night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern. That presidential debate live here on CNN. Another day of insurgent violence in Iraq. Who's to blame and how is it going to be stopped? We'll explore that a little bit later. Up next, is there a diversity issue overshadowing these presidential debates? We'll talk about that with the head of the National Urban League, Marc Morial. He joins me next.