Wolf Blitzer Reports

John Ashcroft Faces Grilling From Democratic Senators During Confirmation Hearing

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Tonight, more Bush nominees head to Capitol Hill, but the Ashcroft hearing provides the fireworks.

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JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: I don't believe there is a First Amendment right to coercion and intimidation.

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BLITZER: I'll discuss day two of the Judiciary Committee questioning with two of its members: Republican Arlen Specter and Democrat Charles Schumer. The next president begins his journey to Washington with a personal goodbye to the people of Texas.

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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to take a lot of Midland and a lot of Texas with me up there.

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BLITZER: And the outgoing president thanks the people of Arkansas, where it all began for him.

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WILLIAM J. CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Everything that I have been able to do as president is in no small measure a result of the life I lived and the jobs I had in Arkansas.

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BLITZER: Good evening. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting tonight from Capitol Hill. Day two of Senate confirmation hearings for Attorney General-nominee John Ashcroft, and the exchanges today heated up. And that's our top story.

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UNIDENTIFIED SENATOR: You are not particularly sympathetic to African-American concerns and needs.

BLITZER (voice-over): Under intense questioning, John Ashcroft remained unruffled.

ASHCROFT: I will enforce the law. I reject racism.

BLITZER: But one major source of concern was Ashcroft's opposition to confirming Missouri Supreme Court Justice Ronnie White, an African-American, to the federal bench.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: What happened to Judge Ronnie White in the United States Senate was disgraceful.

ASHCROFT: I had a particular concern with his dissents in death penalty cases.

BLITZER: And on the matter of his controversial visit to Bob Jones University, Ashcroft said he, as attorney general, would be much more sensitive if invited back. He was also pressed to defend his opposition to abortion rights.

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: Can you tell us why you feel there is no need for a rape exception to a ban abortion?

ASHCROFT: I understand that reasonable people do differ on these things, and that's been not only my understanding, but it has been a basis for my seeking to act in concert with people to cooperate to move toward a variety of different ways to reduce the level of aborting unborn children in our culture and in our society.

BLITZER: He insisted that as attorney general, he will not try to overturn Roe versus Wade, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. And despite his strong opposition to gun control, he promised to uphold existing laws.

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BLITZER: And on the Ashcroft nomination, more fireworks are expected tomorrow. For the latest, we're joined by CNN congressional correspondent, Chris Black.

Last night, Chris, you told us that on day one the Democrats did not do what they had to do in order to defeat this nomination. Did they do it today?

CHRIS BLACK, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, they certainly didn't do it in the sense that they've picked up the votes they need to defeat the confirmation on the -- the nomination on the Senate floor. But what they did do was that they were able to box in former Senator Ashcroft to a very large degree.

On issue after issue Ashcroft said he would uphold the law. He said would not send, for example, the solicitor general, the top prosecutor for the U.S. Government to the Supreme Court to argue against overturning the laws that uphold abortion rights. He said he would enforce the Brady Bill. He said he would enforce the assault weapons ban. This, to a very real degree for Democrats who are openly acknowledge would probably be confirmed, was a victory. BLITZER: But there could be some extra tension tomorrow. The Missouri Justice -- Supreme Court Justice Ronnie White is expected to testify. That could make for some fireworks?

BLACK: Well, there's no question it's very, very important testimony. It is extremely unusual for a sitting judge to come before a legislative committee like this and testify in this way. Judge Ronnie White is very highly respected in Missouri. He's on that state's highest court, and he will be basically telling the senators why he made the decision he made on the death penalty cases that Senator Ashcroft said were the reason that he voted to keep him from going on the federal bench. It should be pretty good theater.

BLITZER: Chris Black, we'll be all watching tomorrow as well. Thank you very much.

Today's confirmation hearing for Secretary of State-nominee Colin Powell stands in sharp contrast to the hearings for John Ashcroft. Senators gave Powell a very warm reception.

For more on the emerging Powell world view and its role in a Bush administration, we're joined by our State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel. I take it was pretty going for General Powell today?

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: It definitely was, Wolf. In essentially five hours worth of testimony and questioning, General Powell managed to refrain from actually laying out what his world view or particular strategy would be. What he did do was essentially lay out a smorgasbord of what he called key issues. All the expected topics: keeping sanctions in place against Iraq; maintaining a strong NATO alliance.

Where he depart from the Clinton administration, however, is talking about withdrawing troops from the Balkans; things like taking a harder line with economic reform with the Russians. He also tried to defend what he said was an erroneous interpretation the Bush administration would take much more isolationist view than the Clinton administration.

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GEN. COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE NOMINEE: There is no inclination whatsoever to have our nation withdraw from the world into a fortress of protectionism or an island of isolationism. As President-elect Bush has also said, America must be involved in the world, and we must be involved according to our national interests and not in some haphazard way that seems more dictated by the crisis of the day than by serious, thoughtful foreign policy.

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KOPPEL: ... of course, Wolf, was a not-so-subtle jab at the Clinton administration, which the Bush teams believes was unfocused and undisciplined.

BLITZER: He couldn't get away, though, if you watched a lot of that hearing, from his military background. A lot of questions involving really the Defense Department, not the State Department.

KOPPEL: And it's funny because there was a light moment at one point. The general was thanking the Senate and saying that he was terribly honored to be the first black American to be the secretary of defense, and he said, secretary of state. He said, you know, old habits die hard.

But if you closed your eyes, you might have thought you were in confirmation hearing for secretary of defense. Lots of military issues; of course, the Balkans, moving to Iraq, all around the world. This is a something that General Powell has 35 years worth of experience dealing with.

BLITZER: All right, Andrea Koppel, our State Department correspondent...

KOPPEL: Thank you very much.

BLITZER: ... not our Defense Department correspondent. Thank you so much.

President-elect Bush, meanwhile, left Texas today for Washington to begin preparations for his inauguration here at the Capitol on Saturday. CNN White House correspondent Kelly Wallace joins us now from Mr. Bush's home town of Midland, Texas.

Kelly, tell us what happened today?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it was a very nostalgic day for George W. Bush as he headed back to his boyhood town, this West Texas oil town, promising to take the values he learned here with him to the White House. And then he and his family made their way to the nation's capitol, arriving a little more than an hour ago. Greeted at Andrews Air Force Base by Vice President-elect Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne.

The president-elect expected to spend some time this evening practicing his inaugural address. But earlier, it was a Texas-style send-off for the now famous son and daughter of Midland. Mr. Bush was actually born in Connecticut, but grew up here, and then came back armed with a business degree to work in the oil business and to take a stab at politics, finding the future first lady along the way. He told thousands of supporters that he worked with both sides to get things done as governor of Texas and he said would take that same approach to Washington.

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BUSH: I leave here really upbeat about getting some things done for the people; getting something accomplished for the people of this land by putting aside all the partisan bickering and name-calling and anger.

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WALLACE: The president-elect talked of Midland's passion for the possible. Mr. Bush hoping to take some of that optimism with him to nation's capitol to try to bring together a sharply-divided Washington -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Kelly, you're also our White House correspondent. Of course, that means you have to cover Bill Clinton, at least for a few more days. I take it he was down in Arkansas today, saying thanks to his fellow Arkansans.

WALLACE: Absolutely. Just as the incoming president went home again today, so did the outgoing one. As you said, he wrapped up his farewell tour by visiting the place where his political career began, Arkansas. He went before the Arkansas legislature, and that is where he delivered first political speech during his unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Congress back in 1974, and he said he never would have been able to make it to the national stage without the support of voters in his home state.

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CLINTON: I would like to thank the people of this state who elected me five times for sending me to Washington to carry the lessons that I learned from you, and the progress that we tried to make here to the rest of the country. Everything that I have been able to do as president is in no small measure a result of the life I lived and the jobs I had in Arkansas.

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WALLACE: And Mr. Clinton is expected to take that message of thanks to the country as a whole when he delivers a farewell address to the nation tomorrow night -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Kelly Wallace in Midland, Texas. Thank you very much.

Up next: John Ashcroft's chances and the hearings so far. An up- close look at the attorney general nominee from two senators who've questioned him over these past two days. I'll talk live with Ashcroft supporter Arlen Specter and Democrat Charles Schumer, one of his toughest questioners. Stay with us.

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BLITZER: Welcome back. The second day of John Ashcroft's confirmation hearings was even more intense than the first. Two men who took part in the questioning today join us now tonight: Democrat Charles Schumer of New York and Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

And I want to begin with you, Senator Schumer. Have you made up your mind already how you're going to vote on this confirmation?

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: No, not yet. I think I owe it to Senator Ashcroft and to the process to have the hearings finish. Obviously, I have a whole lot of questions about Senator Ashcroft. And I have asked him a lot of them. Some of them he answered better than -- at least, in terms of my ideological perspective -- better than I thought he would: some questions on choice and gun control.

But my major, major doubt is that, for such an office that requires real sensitivity -- probably the Cabinet post that requires most of that -- being the chief law-enforcement officer, having to have the appearance as the well as the reality of impartiality dealing with all the groups -- to choose somebody whose career been so hard right, that's the real question here.

BLITZER: Senator Specter, you have made up your mind, basically, already, haven't you?

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R), PENNSYLVANIA: It doesn't sound like Senator Schumer is very much in doubt either. I have said that unless something unusual happens, I will support John Ashcroft. It would be disingenuous of me to say that I don't know him or have a good idea of his views. I have worked with him on the Judiciary Committee for six years. And I know him pretty well.

BLITZER: But for someone who says that abortion is so wrong, to say, "I will uphold the laws of the land" -- which, of course, allow abortion -- and you're one of those few Republicans that do support abortion rights for women -- do you feel comfortable that he will be able to implement all of those laws, just as, let's say, a Clinton administration has been implementing those laws?

SPECTER: I do. He makes a sharp distinction between his ideology on what the laws should be and his responsibility as a law- enforcement officer. And I know that from firsthand experience on a different level, being a district attorney of Philadelphia.

But I pressed him very hard today on one of the key sore spots as to his willingness to enforce the access to abortion clinics. And he was very emphatic about that. And, in fact, one of his votes on a collateral matter several months ago supports that distinction that he can't understand. And I pressed him very hard on the issue of no litmus test for Supreme Court justices. And I found him to be a man of integrity. And we have him well committed on the record to enforcing the law as it exists and not to try to overturn Roe versus Wade.

BLITZER: And, Senator Schumer, on that point: Janet Reno opposes executions, but she said she is willing to uphold the law. She did that for eight years. Can you -- yesterday, you raised questions about the zeal with which he's gone after the abortion issue. You still have major doubts whether he could do that.

SCHUMER: I do. Janet Reno never came in a zealot. In fact, she had been a prosecutor, I think, for a good number of years in Miami. And I cannot recall a choice for attorney general so far over -- either to the far left or far right -- as Senator Ashcroft. And I think it's an unfortunate choice.

What you weigh -- and why there are still some doubts -- is, you like to give the president the benefit of the doubt. But if you believe that the zealotry and passion and integrity -- because he does have integrity -- I agree with Arlen there -- with which he has advocated abortion as murder, and then he will turn around and protect clinics where he believes, at least, murder is going on -- you know, the decisions are not easy.

The decisions are not easy. And you can get up in front of an audience and say: I will obey the law and enforce the law. But in those wee hours of the morning when you have to decide to allocate money or resources or law-enforcement officers in this or that direction, when you have to advise other Cabinet secretaries, say whether stem-cell research is allowed, one doubts whether Senator Ashcroft, as a good man as he is, can overcome 25 years of zealotry in this area.

BLITZER: Senator...

SPECTER: Wait, wait, wait.

BLITZER: Go ahead, Senator.

(CROSSTALK)

SPECTER: ... zealotry was a little overdone. On issues that I stand for, I'm very, very emphatic about them. But it's a difference as to what you vote for as a legislator as opposed to what you enforce. Now, on this business of the abortion clinics, it's come up a couple of times.

It's worth saying that, when this matter came up on a very important issue on bankruptcy, as to whether people who had gotten big judgments against them -- one for more than $100 million -- could be discharged from bankruptcy, months ago, before John Ashcroft knew he would be up for attorney general, he said: No, don't discharge them.

And that was opposed

(CROSSTALK)

SCHUMER: That was my amendment -- the Schumer amendment.

SPECTER: You did a good job on it, Chuck.

SCHUMER: Here is the problem, Arlen. He voted against it in committee. Then, three weeks later, when it looked like Al Gore would break the tie and it would be 51-50, Trent Lott sent out the message to have the Republicans vote for it. And it passed 80-20.

BLITZER: Very quickly...

SCHUMER: Never once did Senator Ashcroft stand up and say: We have to keep this law in the bill.

SPECTER: Wait, this is important.

SCHUMER: And he voted against...

SPECTER: This is important, Wolf. He didn't do it because of what Lott said. He did it because of the persuasiveness of Chuck Schumer.

BLITZER: Very quickly, very quickly. We only have a few seconds.

SCHUMER: I hope it continues.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Do you think any Democrat will begin a filibuster, which would require 60 votes as opposed to 50?

SCHUMER: Well, to begin any filibuster successfully, a Democrat would have to have the support of 39 of his or her colleagues. And we're a long way from that. I think most Democrats now will -- are looking at the hearings and really deeply analyzing where they come out.

SPECTER: Wolf, if they're really serious about opposing him, well, that's what they'll do. They have the power to block it if they're really serious -- if they're really serious.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: We, unfortunately, have to leave it right there. Senator Specter, Senator Schumer...

SCHUMER: Thank you.

BLITZER: .. thanks for braving this little wind here on Capitol Hill and joining us on our program.

Still to come: As threatened, California, running out of electricity, begins rolling-blackouts. We'll have a live report. Also: two babies, two continents and the latest on an unusual custody battle.

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BLITZER: Welcome back. Let's take a look at the other top stories we're covering tonight. With the evening commute under way, several hundred thousand Californians may arrive home to thawing food freezers. Rolling blackouts were used today for the first time during that state's power crisis. Our San Francisco bureau chief Greg Lefevre joins us today with the latest.

Greg, tell us what's going on.

GREG LEFEVRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest right now is, the energy secretary Bill Richardson has extended a federal order requiring out of state electrical suppliers to feed their juice into California. Lord knows, California certainly needs it. The state independence service operator that distributes electricity, today ordered Pacific Gas & Electric to dump 500,000 customers today in a series of rolling blackouts.

It's the first time that this kind of energy conservation measure has been used. The blackouts range from San Francisco and the northern suburbs all the way down through Monterey to the south and east into the state's agriculture region of the Central Valley. The state's historic district around San Francisco; for example, the Haight-Ashbury District was the first to go dark. Other areas: Fisherman's Wharf of San Francisco, parts of Silicon Valley, Apple Computer was cut off, all the way down to the fish canneries and the historic areas of Monterey.

Restaurants, delis were closed -- were dark. A lot of those food freezers, if you will, simply had to be kept shut. The blackouts occurred at about 45 minutes to a half hour each. They went throughout the region, we now enter a peak use period, where we may see blackouts again coming up in about an hour -- Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: Greg Lefevre, we'll be watching this story -- thank you very much.

Overseas, OPEC ministers are cutting oil production 5 percent, or 1 1/2 million barrels a day, and hint other cuts may follow. Energy experts fear this could worsen a heating oil shortage this winter and could raise the price of gasoline. President-elect George W. Bush says it underscores the need to boost U.S. oil production.

A meeting in Cairo today produced no breakthrough in the search for Middle East peace. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat met with Israeli foreign minister Shlomo Ben Ami. An Israeli spokesman says they agreed to continue negotiations.

Violence, meanwhile, continued in Gaza, with the shooting death of the head of Palestinian television. Two masked gunmen opened fire on him at a restaurant. Israel denies any involvement.

Twin babies are at the heart of a custody battle on two continents. A California couple says they adopted the 6-month-old girls through a San Diego-based Internet site. They say the children were later taken from them and given to a couple in Britain. The adoptive mother tells CNN she trusted the birth mother to take the children for a final visit. The FBI, meanwhile, is looking into this case.

On the leading edge tonight, energy experts say the shaky status of the nation's electric power facilities can be blamed in part on the growth of the Internet. According to an IDG report, an industry panel cites a huge increase in electricity demand in areas that have come online in recent years. A utility spokesman in a Silicon Valley City says a single Internet data center typically consumes more power than the largest manufacturing plant.

The federal government is proposing guidelines on bioengineered food and animal feed. The Food and Drug Administration says it wants to make sure food developed through biotechnology is as safe as conventional food. Stricter labeling would alert consumers if the product contains allergens. The public has until March 28th to respond to the proposal.

Doctors say they may have a better treatment option for leukemia patients, blood cell transplants. Cancer specialists say traditional bone marrow transplants will remain an important treatment. But a new study finds the less-invasive blood cell transplants offer a better chance of survival for many leukemia patients. The findings are printed in tomorrow's "New England Journal of Medicine."

Up next, we'll open our WOLF BLITZER REPORTS mailbag. What a difference a decade makes. One of you likes the new Wolf Blitzer better than the old. I'll explain.

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BLITZER: Welcome back. Time now to open our WOLF BLITZER REPORTS mailbag. We received some nice reaction to our program last night from the Pentagon on the tenth anniversary of the Persian Gulf War. This e-mail from John Hunt of Texas:

"I remember that night very well ten years ago. I will never forget the lights going out and John Holliman asking Bernard Shaw, 'Where are you Bernie?' It was truly a scary time. Wolf, Bernie is a good reporter and you need to persuade him to stay at CNN."

Thanks, John, but I think Bernie has made up his mind. He's retiring at the end of next month, and we wish him only the best. He's a reporter's reporter, in a class all by himself and we will miss him very much. Barry Wiseman of Roanoke, Virginia writes:

"I greatly enjoyed your retrospective of the first night of the Gulf War. At the time, I was a senior cadet in the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, hanging on every word from Bernie, Peter, and John. It was not the gung-ho, 'give 'em hell' atmosphere you may have suspected from some young officer candidates. We all watched with great reverence, praying for the lives of our countrymen who were engaged in a real shooting war."

And finally, this nice note from C. Sikes about our program last night.

"Wolf, you looked much better today than you did ten years ago."

Am I looking the right way? There you are. That's what you looked like ten years ago. For those of you who missed our program, here's your chance -- that's what I looked like. Here's what I look like now. You notice my hair? You make the call. Remember: you can e-mail me at wolf@cnn.com. We just might read your comments on the air.

Stay with CNN throughout the night. Peter Jennings is Larry King's guest at the top of the hour. Up next, Greta Van Susteren, she's standing by to tell us what she has -- Greta.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST, CNN'S "THE POINT": Wolf, I vote for the new look, the 2001 look. We're going to look ahead and behind at what happened in the United States Senate. Attorney General-nominee John Ashcroft was skewered today by some of his former colleagues in the Democratic party. Does it make a difference and what's next? That will be our topic -- Wolf. BLITZER: Thanks, Greta. We will be watching. Tomorrow night, President Clinton delivers his farewell address from the White House at this hour. We will bring it to you live, followed by complete analysis on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

And this note: Friday night, I'll talk with the new first lady, Mrs. Laura Bush. Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer on Capitol Hill. "THE POINT WITH GRETA VAN SUSTEREN" begins right now.

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