First Public Playing Of Flight 93 Cockpit Voice Recording; Bush, Iraq & WMD; Should Rumsfeld Resign?
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: To our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Standing by, CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you tonight's top stories. Happening now, the fight for Flight 93, the disturbing play-by- play of passengers battling the terrorists on the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania on 9/11. It was played for the first time in the trial against an admitted al Qaeda conspirator. Also, reckless reports or a reflection of realty? The White House is blasting a report suggesting President Bush knowingly cited bad intelligence on weapons of mass destruction to help justify the war in Iraq. Depending on the outcome, it could weaken or strengthen the president's credibility. And Tom Cruise is back promoting a new movie and touting the benefits of Scientology. He has more arguments against psychiatry. Do some findings from the government help support Cruise's arguments? I'm Heidi Collins, in for Wolf Blitzer, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM. It is the first public playing of the Flight 93 cockpit voice recording. And it captures the horror of 9/11 as it happened. That recording was played for the jury in the trial of al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. CNN Justice reporter Kelli Arena is live at the courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, now with details -- Kelli.</s>KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, this was a very difficult recording to listen to, especially with victim family members sitting right there in the courtroom. I did my best to dramatize what we heard, because the audio was not released by the court.</s>ARENA (voice-over): The courtroom was riveted as the recording was played. The turmoil, suffering, and heroism of Flight 93 brought to life. After hearing the hijackers yell at passengers to sit down, shut up and not move, you can hear a man pleading, "Please, please, don't hurt me... Oh, God." This is followed by more yelling, hijackers telling passengers to "Get down!" Then more agonizing pleading from another person, this time a woman who prosecutors identified as a flight attendant. "I don't want to die," she said. Another voice answers, "No! No! Down! Down!" Again, she pleads, "I don't want to die. I don't want to die." Then all you hear are cries. A hijacker icily reports back, "Everything is fine. I finished." As passengers approach the cockpit, you hear a hijacker saying, "Is there something? A fight? Yeah?" The plane at this time is rocking wildly. "They want to get in there. Hold, hold from the inside!" You hear screaming. It sounds like one of the hijackers has been injured or killed. This is followed by an American voice saying, "In the cockpit! If we don't, we'll die!" Then, Roll it!" You hear the crashing of what sounds like the drink cart. Unbelievable chaos followed by a struggle. "Give it to me! Give it to me! Give it to me!" Then, "Allah is the greatest!" And silence. Hamilton Peterson lost his father and stepmother aboard that flight.</s>HAMILTON PETERSON, RELATIVE OF FLIGHT 93 PASSENGERS: I think it captures the American spirit. It is truly remarkable that when one appreciates the brutality and the complexity of the conspiracy, that in a matter of moments, these brave Americans overcame a horrific challenge.</s>ARENA: The jury has had to relive the horror of 9/11 each day as prosecutors try to convince them to sentence Moussaoui to death. They rested their case today. The defense will start theirs tomorrow -- Heidi.</s>COLLINS: All right. Kelli Arena, thank you. And tonight, a one-two punch, said the Bush White House on Iraq. A published report is raising new questions about the president's credibility and his past claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. And for the first time, a general who actually commended troops in Iraq is calling for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign. Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, is standing by. But first, to our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux -- Suzanne.</s>SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, the White House is really taking issue with this report, calling it irresponsible and reckless from "The Washington Post," as well as ABC News, any suggestion that the president knew that the bad intelligence that he was putting forward was leading our country to war.</s>MALVEAUX (voice-over): On May 29, 2003, several months after the U.S. invaded Iraq, President Bush declared the U.S. was justified in going to war.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We found the weapons of mass destruction.</s>MALVEAUX: The evidence, two trailers seized in northern Iraq that U.S. intelligence claimed were mobile weapons factories previously cited by top officials in making the case for war. At it turns out, the trailers were not being used to make biological weapons, but rather, to fill weather balloons, a conclusion reached by the U.S. government's Iraq Survey Group 15 months later. But today, "The Washington Post" reported that experts on a Pentagon-sponsored mission concluded the trailers were not biological weapons labs two days before President Bush made his declaration and that they sent their findings to Washington in a classified report. But the White House says the president did not get that assessment until much later, and took strong exception to any suggestion that Mr. Bush knowingly was giving out inaccurate information.</s>SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: That is absolutely false and it is irresponsible. The president was saying what the intelligence community assessed to be right, that they had discovered a "mobile biological production plant."</s>MALVEAUX: The debate comes at a time when polls show Mr. Bush has lost ground in one of his strongest areas, trustworthiness. More than half of Americans say they believe the president is not honest. Since the beginning of Mr. Bush's second term, the administration has been faced with a series of setbacks, from the failed Dubai port deal to the CIA leak investigation.</s>DAVID GERGEN, FMR. PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: There's a drip, drip, drip that's occurred, that's worn away his credibility for much of the public. And that's -- I think it's terribly unfortunate from his standpoint, because it's very hard to govern.</s>MALVEAUX: And three years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the president continues to make the case that it was justifiable going to war with Iraq. And Scot McClellan saying he doesn't believe it's a credibility gap that is with the president, but rather, those who continue to insist that he deliberately misled the public into going to war -- Heidi.</s>COLLINS: Suzanne Malveaux outside the White House tonight. Suzanne, thank you. A quick fact check now on this story. We asked our nation security correspondent, David Ensor, about the time frame for intelligence information to make it from the field to the White House. He says in almost every case, raw data would not arrive on the president's desk in a matter of a day or two. As President Bush deals with that report, his defense secretary is dealing with calls for his resignation. Another military general wants Donald Rumsfeld out. More from CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr -- Barbara.</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Heidi. Well, this time it is just a bit different, because for the first time, a general who commanded thousands of combat troops in Iraq, indeed, is calling for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign. Major General John Batiste commanded the 1st Infantry Division until he retired from the military about five and a half months ago, did a long combat tour in Iraq. And this morning, when he interviewed on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," he was remarkably blunt about his views.</s>MAJ. GEN. JOHN BATISTE, U.S. ARMY (RET.): When decisions are made without taking into account sound military recommendations, sound military decision-making, sound planning, then we're bound to make mistakes. When we violate the principles of war with mass and unity at command, and unity of effort, we do that at our own peril.</s>MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: So the secretary should step down?</s>BATISTE: In my opinion, yes.</s>STARR: A pretty startling admission, Heidi. Of course, three other generals in the last month, retired generals -- but they did not command combat troops in Iraq -- also called for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign. All of this yesterday leading the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, to make a very public statement about all of this, saying that generals have ample opportunity to complain in private when they're on active duty. And he says he never heard any such complaints. But I have to tell you, all of this causing a good deal of dismay in the Pentagon. A lot of speculation about who might be next to complain -- Heidi.</s>COLLINS: We'll continue to follow it. Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr. Thank you, Barbara. And time now for what we call "The Cafferty File." Our Jack Cafferty is in New York. Jack, hi there.</s>JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, I want to go back to that story Suzanne Malveaux was talking about a couple of minutes ago. As if the administration isn't in enough trouble, along comes this report in "The Washington Post" this morning that President Bush was declaring to world, "We have found the weapons of mass destruction," 50 days after the fall of Baghdad in 2003. But that statement was false. And some U.S. intelligence officials knew it was false. A secret fact-finding mission to Iraq had discovered that those much-publicized trailers touted as biological weapons labs were nothing of the sort. ABC News has even reported that President Bush knew what he was saying about those trailers was false. Well, needless to say, the White House is not very happy about any of this. They pooh-poohed "The Post" story and they want ABC News to apologize. What the White House did not do is answer this question: Did President Bush know what he was saying about the weapons of mass destruction was false? No answer. Here's our question, though? Who's to blame for the president's credibility problem? Is it the White House or the media? E-mail us at CaffertyFile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/CaffertyFile -- Heidi.</s>COLLINS: All right, Jack. We'll check back a little later. Thanks. Coming up, how big of a credibility problem does the White House have on its hands? We're taking a closer look at the political implications. Plus, former FEMA director Michael Brown, he's been blamed for the slow response to Hurricane Katrina. So why would a Louisiana parish consult him on the cleanup? I'll ask him. Michael Brown is in THE SITUATION ROOM. And Tom Cruise is a "Top Gun" in the Church of Scientology, and he's claiming new progress in the church's campaign against what it calls an industry of death. We'll have the story.