CIA's Al Qaeda Assassination Program Ended; Afghanistan Holds Elections Amidst Violence
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And once again we're coming up to the top of the hour. It's Thursday, August 20. Glad you're with us this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.</s>JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you, I'm John Roberts. Here are the big stories we're following; we'll be breaking them down for you in the next 15 minutes. Instead of Navy SEALs or the Army Special Ops Forces tracking down al Qaeda, did the CIA use contract killers? Brand new this morning, we have learned that in 2004, the job of killing terrorists was outsourced. The price tag said to be in the millions. The plan, apparently, a total bust. We're live at the Pentagon just ahead.</s>CHETRY: And right now, the people of Afghanistan are picking their new president. The polls close in about a half an hour. And it looks like Taliban threats in some cases kept people away from the polls. So what does that mean for the election there? And also what does Afghanistan's election mean for America's mission in that war torn nation? The full global resources of CNN are on the ground tracking every side of the story.</s>ROBERTS: Halfway through a two-day summit with North Korean diplomats, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson joins us live. Find out why Pyongyang says they're owed a seat at the table with the Obama administration.</s>CHETRY: And also ranking the most influential women in the world. One European leaders tops the list for the fourth year in a row and it isn't Oprah -- actually, she isn't in the top 40. Our Christine Romans will tell us who made the list and who didn't.</s>ROBERTS: We begin, though, with new evidence that the CIA used contract killers to try to take out terrorists. In 2004, when American forces were fully engaged in Iraq, contractors from Blackwater, USA, now known as XE Services, were hired to hunt down and assassinate top Al Qaeda operatives. The program reportedly costs millions of dollars but was cancelled before any terrorists were killed. Our Barbara Starr is tracking the story from the Pentagon this morning. And Barbara, this is, to say the least, quite a surprise.</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It is, John. It sounds like something out of the Hollywood movie when you think about it. This story first appeared in "The New York Times" earlier today. It's getting a lot of attention. And we have now spoken with a source directly familiar with the program who confirms to CNN that, yes, indeed, at one point, the CIA had hired Blackwater to undertake this program. As we are understanding it, Blackwater is no longer involved. This was back in 2004. It was a program the CIA started that involved training, surveillance, and, indeed, with the aim of targeted killing of top Al Qaeda officials. Now Blackwater's involvement ended a couple of years ago, we are told. But other contractors, other entities were involved. Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, cancelled the program, actually, earlier this year once he learned about it and learned that Congress had never been notified about the full scope of the program. He cut it all out. It was moving into what we are told is a more operational phase at that time. And it was then that Director Panetta felt Congress had to be notified about what was going on. Very controversial -- Blackwater, obviously, a very well known security firm, not just for its work in Iraq and Afghanistan, but well known inside the intelligence community. They have hired top intelligence officials in the past to work for them. They have a very tight relationship with the CIA -- John?</s>ROBERTS: Something that many people might not understand. If the CIA gets into the business of targeting and killing terrorists, basically, assassinations, why not just have the military do it? Why an outside contractor?</s>STARR: Exactly. Certainly the military has quite a sufficient capability to target and kill anybody in the terrorist world that it deems that it should. Why? Why go outside to conduct this type of business? Well, the issue is plausible deniability, we are told, to put some distance between the official government entities such as the Pentagon or the CIA contract it out. If those people were to get in to trouble in one of those countries, it becomes much easier simply to walk away from it all. You don't have the tag of official U.S. government involvement. Very sensitive work, something they didn't want a U.S. government to face --- John?</s>ROBERTS: Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon. Barbara, thanks so much.</s>CHETRY: Well, today's elections in Afghanistan are a crucial test of the country's stability and also an early test of President Obama's war strategy in general. The Taliban has promised to violently derail the process there. Many people are going to the polls rising above the attacks, and they're risking their lives. But we're also hearing that turnout has been low. Atia Abawi is live on the phone in Kabul with more on what's going on in Afghanistan today -- Atia?</s>ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Hi, Kiran. Yes, the turnout in the capital of Kabul has been low, particularly at the polling station that we are at. We have seen officials coming in, we have ANA members of the Afghan National Army. But the most part, the fear has set in the Afghan people, particularly in the capital. The capital usually considered one of the safest parts in Afghanistan and it's been a very bloody week, the Taliban making good on their threat and very much scaring Afghans throughout Afghanistan. But we have heard that there has been a bit of a turnout in the northern and western parts of the country. Those are areas considered safer. Those are areas considered not controlled by the Taliban. But, again, the Afghanistan people falling for the Taliban intimidation, at the same time realizing it's not worth their life to go out and vote for a government they don't believe in -- Kiran?</s>CHETRY: And to the American audience watching this morning, explain what's at stake here for us?</s>ABAWI: The truth is that we can't give up on Afghanistan at the moment. This is a country that we did pretty much leave after the Soviets withdrew. We did not pay much attention to it -- the world didn't pay attention to it. And then we saw the rise of the Taliban, we saw the rise of Al Qaeda and then eventually we saw September 11th. And we have been here for eight years now. And it's -- it's been a while. And the Afghan people -- they're not happy. There was a time when it was ignored. It was a forgotten war. But right now, the Afghan people do need help. They realize right now they don't know who to turn to, some of them turning to the Taliban for protection from the government, some of them turning to the government for protection from the coalition forces. But in the end, they don't know who to trust. What they do ask for from coalition countries from the USA, is to stay here not necessarily by force but in the way of building infrastructure, building jobs, because when you talk to the average Afghan, they say their number one concern is not necessarily their security as it is their poverty -- Kiran?</s>CHETRY: All right, Atia Abawi for us there in Afghanistan this morning. And we were just looking moments ago at the live pictures from a polling station there in Kabul today. Also new this morning -- with the administration committed to shutting down the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, they reportedly made a deal to keep many prisoners off of American soil. "The Washington Post" is reporting that nearly a dozen countries are willing to take the detainees from Gitmo, and that includes six European Union nations, Britain, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. The report also says that the White House is increasingly confident that it can transfer most of the detainees cleared for release and that five other European nations are also considering taking some detainees.</s>ROBERTS: Seven minutes after the hour. Also new this morning, two men are under arrest over the biggest gem heist in British history. It happened two weeks ago in broad daylight, and it was all caught on tape. The two armed suspects got away with $65 million in jewelry from the Graf store in Central London. The police will not say whether the two people that you see in -- well, that you don't see -- no, not going to see it -- are the two people who are in custody.</s>CHETRY: All right. Be sure and double check your credit card bill this month. There are new rules. They're going into effect today. and they're designed to prevent you from paying higher fees without warning or if you miss a payment or go over your credit limit. But reports also say that banks have jacked up the rates and the fees and even closed some accounts ahead of these rule changes. So, again, if you get something in the mail from your credit card company, make sure you read the fine print.</s>ROBERTS: The cash for clunkers program is going to run out of gas. The Obama administration says it will wind down the popular car- buying incentives, perhaps as early as next month. Many dealerships say they had trouble getting reimbursements from the federal government, and they're worried that the $3 billion from the program will run out before they see a dime. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood assured dealers that, yes, they will get paid.</s>CHETRY: Still ahead, you know a lot of people are saying health care reform, show us where universal health care has worked. And many people point to Massachusetts and say that, you know, then Governor Romney has near universal health care and was successful at doing it without getting the government involved in an insurance program. So, is Romney-care coming? Our Jim Acosta takes a look.