[Blitzer:] Welcome back. For the second straight day, Israel is the target of a Palestinian suicide bomber. The latest attack in downtown Jerusalem killed at least three Israelis and wounded about 40 others. Authorities also say the bomber was killed. Palestinian sources say the attack was carried out by the Al-Aqsa martyrs brigades, the military wing of Yasser Arafat's fatah movement. The Palestinian leader condemned the bombing. Just days before President Bush's visit to Peru, a car bomb attack near the American embassy in Lima killed at least nine people and injured 25 others. No Americans were among those killed. No one has claimed responsibility, but U.S. officials say they suspect Shining Path rebels carried out the attack. President Bush is scheduled to arrive in Lima on Saturday.
[George W. Bush, President Of The United States:] I'm still going. I'm sure President Toledo will do everything he can to make Lima safe for our trip. You know, two-bit terrorists aren't going to prevent me from doing what we need to do.
[Blitzer:] More now on the deadly suicide bomb attack in Jerusalem. So far, there has been no Israeli military response, but the government did cancel a round of U.S.-brokered cease-fire talks with the Palestinians. CNN's Michael Holmes is covering developments in Jerusalem.
[Michael Holmes, Cnn Correspondent:] Wolf, thanks very much. Yes, this incident further hampers the efforts of U.S. special envoy, Anthony Zinni, as he tries to bring about a cease-fire here. This suicide bombing happened in a busy area of west Jerusalem, an area of commercial activity, shops and residential, as well. It's also, sadly, an area that has seen these sorts of attacks several times in the past. Now, responsibility for previous incidents in recent days here have been claimed by groups such as Islamic Jihad and Hamas. These are groups that are vehemently opposed to any sort of peace with Israel, and are opposed to these cease-fire talks. But today's bombing has been claimed by the Al-Aqsa brigade. That a splinter group, if you like, of the armed militia that is linked with Yasser Arafat's own fatah movement. Israeli government spokesmen seized on that to lay the blame for the day's events at the feet of Yasser Arafat. However, the Palestinian Authority president was quick to appear in public and condemn these attacks, and say that the Palestinian Authority will do everything it can to find those responsible. Meanwhile, cease-fire talks, which had gone on during the violence of recent days, did not go on today. A high-level meeting between Palestinian and Israeli security officials was meant to take place this evening. It was called off by the Israelis. However, a government spokesman this evening said that Israel was not going to support a unilateral cease-fire. That is, call for a cease-fire on their own without full Palestinian involvement. They did, however, say that that security meeting may well take place tomorrow, Friday, in Israel. Now, before this latest attack, there had been a sense of hope here, Wolf. A sense of hope that things were being achieved, and that the cease-fire process, if you like, was moving forward. But it's fair to say that here tonight the uncertainly has returned Wolf.
[Blitzer:] Michael Holmes in Jerusalem, thank you very much. Yasser Arafat's response to the bombing was not enough for President Bush, who called on the Palestinian leader to do more to stop the violence. Covering that part of the story is our senior White House correspondent, John King. He joins us now live John.
[John King, Cnn Sr. White House Correspondent:] And, Wolf, senior officials tell us here the decision on the Cheney meeting, whether Mr. Cheney will go to Egypt for that meeting Monday or Tuesday with Yasser Arafat, could be made, the final decision, as late as Sunday night. They want to assess what is going on. They want to hear more from the president's special envoy, Anthony Zinni. But the administration sent, in very blunt terms to Yasser Arafat today, a message. He must dismantle this group responsible for today's attacks and he must do more to stop the violence, and he must do it now.
[George W. Bush, President Of The United States:] Mr. Arafat must do more to stop the violence in the Middle East.
[King:] A Palestinian group called the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade took responsibility for Thursday's attack. Al-Aqsa is affiliated with Arafat's fatah movement. Senior officials say Mr. Bush deliberately added this line to a speech in Texas just after his call for Arafat to do more.
[Bush:] If you harbor a terrorist, if you hide a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorists themselves.
[King:] Secretary of State Powell called Mr. Arafat from Air Force One, demanding that he publicly denounce the latest violence and immediately arrest those responsible if he wants the meeting to take place. The administration believes a Cheney-Arafat meeting just before next week's Arab summit in Beirut would: give Israeli Prime Minister Sharon political cover to lift travel restrictions on the Palestinian leader. Allow the vice president to make clear that Mr. Arafat must say nothing at the summit that might incite violence. Encourage the summit debate to focus on the new Saudi peace initiative, not public condemnation of Israel or the United States and allow Arab leaders to directly pressure Mr. Arafat to do what is necessary to reach a lasting cease-fire. At a morning Oval Office session, both the president and vice president said special Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni will make the final decision on the meeting based on progress in implementing security improvements required in the so-called Tenet plan.
[Dick Cheney, Vice President Of The United States:] He'll make his judgments based on whether or not Arafat is in fact implementing the Tenet. Not just promising to implement, but implementing Tenet.
[King:] The State Department upped the stakes on Mr. Arafat by announcing its designation of the Al-Aqsa Brigade as a foreign terrorist group.
[Blitzer:] John King at the White House, thank you very much. And of course, violence not strictly limited to the Middle East. There was that deadly car bombing in Peru's capital, Lima. And that raises serious questions about whether President Bush should go there, as he plans to do. We heard the president say he won't let what he calls "two-bit terrorists" stop him from going. The bombing happened very close to the U.S. embassy. Mr. Bush is scheduled to arrive in Lima on Saturday. Joining us now with his insight into what's involved in protecting the president is the former deputy assistant director of the Secret Service, John Libonati. John, thanks for joining us. This must be a nightmare for the Secret Service, protecting the president in Lima, following this bombing that just occurred outside the embassy.
[John Libonati, Former Deputy Asst. Director, Secret Service:] Well, I think it is not unique. I would point to the Secret Service's history of protecting presidents in what would be called high-tension areas. I would point to the recent trip of Vice President Cheney to the Mideast. I would point to President Clinton's trip to Bosnia, former president, then President Bush's trip to the area of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. I think, certainly, one talks about heightened concerns. But I think the Secret Service my history, knowing it as I do would tell you that the service is always at a heightened concern over things like this. They've managed these things before. This is not unique. And I think they will use their history and their training and the countermeasures and intelligence to deal with it. And I'm absolutely convinced that the trip will go well and the president will be safe.
[Blitzer:] And you have been in a presidential detail. You know personally what it is like to protect the president. But at what point and it's happened I covered the White House does the Secret Service say to the president, "I know the political mission is important; you really want to go; but, Mr. President, we don't think it's a good idea"?
[Libonati:] Well, Wolf, I think you also know that once an agent, always an agent. So I'm going to maintain the policy of not speaking to the issue of recommendations. I think you have to draw a distinction between briefings and discussions with the appropriate intelligence agencies and White House staff and recommendations. And, again, I'm going to pass on the issue of recommendation and say that, clearly there will be discussions and clearly there will be briefings. But I think the service has a long history of providing protection in this environment. I think, as you know, that there is an advanced team that will be well armed with the appropriate countermeasures and intelligence. I think also the service has a long history of working, not just with domestic law enforcement intelligence partners, but with foreign intelligence partners. And I point to working with 67 organizations and agencies in the recent challenge they had with the Olympics and many of the challenges they have faced overseas, some of which I've mentioned before. So I'm quite confident that they're up to the task. They were ready for this. They were armed with the intelligence that goes with the history of that region. And there's no doubt in my mind that they will be focused and disciplined and successful.
[Blitzer:] Spoken like a true Secret Service officer. You once were. You still are.
[Libonati:] Always are, always will be.
[Blitzer:] John Libonati, thanks again for joining us.
[Libonati:] Thank you for having me, Wolf.
[Blitzer:] Appreciate it very much.
[Libonati:] Thank you.
[Blitzer:] And, as we first told you yesterday, the defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has unveiled rules for the expected military trials of some high-ranking al Qaeda and Taliban detainees in U.S. custody. During the proceedings, which the Pentagon calls commissions, defendants will be presumed innocent. They will be provided with attorneys and won't be required to testify or implicate themselves. At the same time, they will have limited right of appeal. And standards of evidence will be looser than in regular civilian trials. Rumsfeld says the rules are fair to everyone involved.
[Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary Of Defense:] We have made every reasonable effort to establish a process that is just, one that protects both the rights of the defendant to a fair trial, but also protects the rights of the American people to their security and to live as they were meant to live: in freedom and without fear of terrorists
[Blitzer:] Earlier, I also spoke with the deputy defense secretary, Paul Wolfowitz.
[Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Defense Secretary:] We spent a lot of time trying to make sure that, on the one hand, they would meet standards of fairness, because that's the American way: to give people a fair trial. At the same time, we're in unusual circumstances with this war on terrorism. We have classified information we have to be able to deal with. We have information that may be collected on the battlefield. So the normal legal process really isn't adequate for some of the people we may have to try.
[Blitzer:] And for the full interview with the No. 2 man at the Defense Department, please be sure to join me tonight here in the CNN "War Room." That's 7:00 p.m. Eastern, 4:00 Pacific. And, in other news, it's been now more than two years since EgyptAir Flight 990 plunged into the Atlantic Ocean. Now the National Transportation Safety Board has released its final report on that crash that killed everyone on board. CNN's Kathleen Koch joins us now with details Kathleen.
[Kathleen Koch, Cnn Correspondent:] Wolf, this is a very controversial report that has been delayed several times, primarily because of concern that it could hurt U.S. relations with Egypt, one our key Arab allies. Of course, at the center of the debate are the actions of the co- pilot, Gamil al-Batouti, who was alone in the cockpit that October day in 1999 as the plane began to plunge toward the ocean.
[Mohamed Fahim Rayan, Egyptair Chairman:] What we are nearly 99 percent sure that there was something in that elevator system.
[Koch:] Now, the elevator is the movable, horizontal part of the tail that moves up and down, pointing the aircraft's nose up or down. The NTSB report released today says that it exhaustively looked at such scenarios, but found the crash quote "did not result from a failure in the elevator control system or any other plane failure." Investigators instead concluded that the airplane's movements during the initial part of the accident were the result of the relief first officer, Gamil al-Batouti's, manipulation of the controls. And the NTSB said, when the captain burst in, that his actions were consistent with an attempt to recover the accident airplane and the relief first officer's were not. Investigators do not speculate, though, on Batouti's motives, saying quote "The reason for the relief first official's actions was not determined." Egypt has said that it will formally appeal for reconsideration of the NTSB's findings Wolf.
[Blitzer:] Kathleen Koch reporting, thank you very much for that report. And we turn now to a very different kind of crash: In Phoenix, Arizona, a man is facing a variety of charges for leading police on a 40-minute chase in a stolen dump truck. The vehicle was involved in two accidents before it ran a red light and collided with a car. The truck flipped on its side and clipped a traffic light before coming to a stop. Police say the man behind the wheel may may have been on drugs. And when he takes a stand, millions of the faithful listen. But did Pope John Paul II go far enough in addressing the sex scandal in the United States? I will ask The God Squad's Monsignor Tom Hartman. And later: troubling activity after the World Trade Center tragedy and what New York is doing to stop it. Stay with us.