[Blitzer:] Welcome back, much more coverage on a search for a sniper coming up, but there are also major developments in the showdown with Iraq. With the stroke of the pen, the president today cleared the way for a possible use of the sword. Let's go live to our Senior White House Correspondent John King for details John.
[John King, Senior White House Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, as you know presidents are not required to sign congressional resolutions but Mr. Bush very much wanted to stage an elaborate event here at the White House today, a bipartisan group from Congress on hand. Mr. Bush has some very difficult and delicate diplomacy still on the Iraq question, the event today, so Mr. Bush could say that on this issue in his view the United States is speaking with one determined voice.
[King:] The signing ceremony marked a victory at home, congressional authority to use military force against Iraq. Mr. Bush used the stage to send a message to Baghdad.
[Bush:] If they have any doubt our nation's resolve, our determination, they would be unwise to test it.
[King:] And a message to those resisting the U.S. call for a tough United Nations Security Council ultimatum to Iraq.
[Bush:] Those who choose to live in denial may eventually be forced to live in fear. Every nation that shares in the benefits of peace also shares in the duty of defending the peace.
[King:] It has been five weeks now since the president told the United Nations he wanted action on Iraq within weeks and the administration is losing patience with the slow pace of debate and with continued objections from Russia and France. Iraq also a lead topic in the seventh meeting here at the White House today between the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President Bush. Mr. Bush said he fully expected that Israel would retaliate if Iraq launched an unprovoked attack, but the two leaders sidestepped the much more difficult issue, what would Israel do if Iraq launched a missile its way during a U.S. led military confrontation? In the last Gulf War, Israel agreed to stay on the sidelines and let the United States handle the fight. Mr. Bush wants it that way this time, but Prime Minister Sharon has said he would be inclined to retaliate. U.S. officials extraordinarily reluctant to discuss the details of the private meeting today, although Mr. Bush did appear to buy himself some time for continued deliberations, consultations with Israel, saying he has not made the decision to use military force yet, the implication being that question is still premature Wolf.
[Blitzer:] John King at the White House for us. Thank you very much, John. And the United Nations began formal discussions today on what to do about Iraq. The U.N. Security Council is considering a new resolution on Iraqi weapons inspections and it will be hearing debate from members of the General Assembly through tomorrow. The Secretary- General Kofi Annan is backing a resolution that would demand unrestricted access to suspected Iraq weapons sites. And despite the international storm clouds, the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein says he still has the support of his people. Iraq held an election, so-called election, yesterday and today and the government says Saddam Hussein was elected to another seven year term by a vote of, get this, 100 percent. Saddam Hussein's supporters celebrated in Baghdad. Critics, of course, say it's a joke. One Iraqi dissident said this: "Who else but a dictator gets 100 percent of the vote?" And there was 100 percent turnout as well. There's no voting in the Kurdish safe haven of Northern Iraq. The region comprises about ten percent of the country but operates independently with protection provided by allied air patrols in the northern no-fly zone, the U.S. and Britain doing that. Those who live in this area enjoy much more freedom than their counterparts under Baghdad's control, and although many followed the election, they also felt free to criticize it.
[Unidentified Male:] People are afraid so they choose him and choose his own government and his own party, so it's just a play. It's not for real.
[Blitzer:] At the end of the Persian Gulf War, Saddam Hussein appeared to be utterly defeated but the Iraqi leader has proven himself to be a survivor and experts who once counted him out are trying to determine how much damage he could do in a new conflict. The award-winning author and journalist Mark Bowden wrote about Saddam Hussein in a recent issue of "The Atlantic Monthly." His latest book is called "Finders Keepers." He joins us now live from New York. Mark thanks for joining us. A lot of our viewers are fascinated by the personal details of Saddam Hussein and his life. Just briefly give us a little flavor of what this man does on a day- to-day basis.
[Mark Bowden, Author And Journalist:] He actually lives a kind of a healthy lifestyle, Wolf. He apparently only sleeps like five or six hours a night but he has a bit of a bad back so he likes to swim, both to keep fit and also to help his back. He eats healthy foods. He likes a lot of seafood and greens, and this food is flown in for him from Europe and it's cooked by European chefs after it's tested for poisons and eradicated to kill any possible germs in it. Saddam is a little bit of a germaphobe. People who visit him are frequently asked to strip and to sort of wash down with antibacterial soaps and things. He likes to read a lot. He rides horses. He likes to walk, although he walks with a slight limp, so he tries to take his walks behind the walls of his palaces.
[Blitzer:] And I know he's a very vain man also. He tries to look younger than he actually is. What does he do in that respect?
[Bowden:] Well, Saddam I think he's about 65, 67 years old. There's no clear fix on his birth date but he definitely has gray hair at this point and a gray moustache but he dies them black. He need reading glasses to read his speeches, so he doesn't want to be seen wearing glasses so he has the speeches printed out in very big type so that he can read them without his glasses. He wears custom-tailored suits, and I think he you know, I think all these things, in addition to him being vain, are examples of him trying to project an image of youth and vitality, which I think he needs to do in order to hang on to power.
[Blitzer:] There's been a lot of speculation lately about his body doubles the people who go out there and pretend that they're Saddam Hussein. What have you learned about that?
[Bowden:] Well, I know that his whole life is built around the need to protect him, because there are so many people who would like to kill him. Not the least of which, apparently, is the United States government. And so in pursuit of that, his whole daily activity, his nightly activity, is structured around keeping people guessing about where he is. And part of that is that he apparently has three or four men who look exactly like him, may have even undergone plastic surgery to more closely resemble him. And they make public appearances for him. I doubt Saddam Hussein has appeared in public at all in the last five to six years.
[Blitzer:] Briefly, what is his ultimate goal, as far as you could learn?
[Bowden:] Well, Saddam appears to be motivated not by any kind of ideology or not by a desire to amass a huge fortune, which are things that have been the goals of dictators in the past. He seems to be motivated by a desire to go down in history as a great man. And he admires some of the great men in history, somewhat indiscriminately. He admires Stalin, for instance, and he's also apparently an admirer of Winston Churchill. But he writes novels, he writes his own speeches. He and he considers himself to be one of the great statesmen of modern Arabia. And I think his goal is to be seen in 100 years' time, or 200 years' time, as a real champion for pan Arabism and Arab culture, in a time when it's not in its ascendency.
[Blitzer:] Mark Bowden, he's one of the best journalists, one of the best writers out there. Thanks for joining us.
[Bowden:] Thank you, Wolf.
[Blitzer:] We have new information on the hunt for the sniper. That's coming up. Plus, wall-to-wall coverage of this search. Are the news media, for example, going overboard or providing a crucial flow of information? Two news veterans join us live. We'll have an assessment when we return.