TRANSCRIPT: 082401CN.V16

SECTION: NEWS; International

LENGTH: 7556 words

HEADLINE: Connecticut Navy Base Gets New Lease on Life; Pat Robertson Under Fire; Military Analyst Suggest Exit Strategies; Tropical Storm Katrina Tops Internet Topics

BYLINE: Zain Verjee, Mary Snow, Jack Cafferty, Ali Velshi, Jacqui Jeras, David Ensor, Elaine Quijano, Wolf Blitzer, Jacki Schechner, Abbi Tatton, Barbara Starr

GUESTS: James Marks

HIGHLIGHT:

In Idaho, President Bush tells military members and their families the U.S. will stay, fight and win, even as the violence rages on in Iraq. In Connecticut, a key Navy base gets a new lease on life, but, around the nation, other military facilities and tens of thousands of workers are getting the axe. In Virginia Beach, Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson is continuing to take flak for his call to assassinate Venezuela's president. A military analyst discusses strategies for the war in Iraq; On the Internet a current hot topic is Tropical Storm Katrina; Mil bloggers share their personal experiences on the front lines via blogs; Wal-Mart attempts to attract upscale shoppers.

BODY:


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer. And you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where news and information arrive at one place simultaneously. Standing by, CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you the day's top stories happening right now. It's 1:00 p.m. in Idaho, where President Bush tells military members and their families the U.S. will stay, fight and win, even as the violence rages on in Iraq.

......

Here in THE SITUATION ROOM, we've made a point of trying to keep you informed about what's going on in the world online. Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, now takes a closer look at how blogs are changing the way U.S. military personnel are not only keeping in touch with each other but with the folks back home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Underneath the mustard yellow canopy of our 12-man canvas tent, my political thoughts are momentarily paralyzed.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A thought last year from "A Line in the Sand," the blog of Sergeant Chris Missick in Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I still think of writing, but writing somewhere far from here, a bustling Starbucks perhaps.

STARR: Missick is a milblogger. Dozens of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan now write their own online war diaries, a 21st century letter home from the battlefield, the most private thoughts in a very public forum. Missick estimates 200,000 people have read his blog.

SGT. CHRIS MISSICK, BLOG AUTHOR: It transforms from being a simple communication tool with friends and family to realizing that I had a voice as a soldier with a message to convey to the American people.

STARR: Even commanders are paying attention.

BRIG. GEN. VINCENT BROOKS, U.S. ARMY: I'm not a commander now but I can tell you that I do periodically look at blogs just to get a feel for what does it look like in the soldier's eye?

STARR: There is worry milbloggers could inadvertently give away classified information that could compromise operations. Last month, an Army National Guardsman in Iraq was demoted for blogging too many details about how his unit was attacked.

Soldiers in Iraq have been ordered to register their blogs and restrict operationally sensitive or classified information. The Pentagon is considering whether it needs to adopt a similar policy across the board.

LARRY DIRITA, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: I think, over time, that's a very rich form of communication that's historically valuable. And the question is, how do you do it in a way that doesn't give up information?

STARR (on camera): With blogs, some of the most wrenching details and personal anguish of war can be read around the world instantly.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And this just coming in to CNN. A statement that the Reverend Pat Robertson has just released a statement, a written statement, in which he goes further than he did this morning on his "700 CLUB" television program and formally now apologizes for his comments earlier this week, suggesting that the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, should be assassinated.

"Is it right to call for assassination?" he asks, Reverend Robertson in this latest statement. He says this: "No, and I apologize for that statement. I spoke in frustration that we should accommodate the man who thinks the U.S. is out to kill him."

Once again, Reverend Robertson formally apologizing for the statement he made earlier in the week, suggesting that Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, should be assassinated.

At the end of his statement, he goes on and says this. He says, "There are many who disagree with my comments, and I respect their opinions. There are others who think that stopping a dictator is the appropriate course of action. In any event, the incredible publicity surrounding my remarks has focused our government's attention on a growing problem, which has been largely ignored."

We'll continue to watch this story, get some more reaction. Mary Snow is watching this story for us. And we'll have additional details coming up. Once again, a formal apology from Pat Robertson.

Still to come, four brothers serving in Iraq. We'll get to know them, a little bit at least, and why they got a mention today from President Bush.

Plus, Wal-Mart takes a page out of Target's playbook. But are the upscale shoppers buying it?

And when we go "Inside Politics" in a few minutes, we'll find out who's coming out for and against Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, with his confirmation hearings less than two weeks away.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

BLITZER: Record high oil prices. The markets are about to close in New York. We'll go to Ali Velshi in a moment.

But first, there's been a development in Jerusalem. Zain Verjee is watching what's going on. Zain, what's happened?

VERJEE: Wolf, two Jewish men have been stabbed in Jerusalem's Old City. Police are looking for a man described as a Palestinian. One man has been moderately wounded, and he was able to go to the police station and to report this. Another man has been seriously wounded, say police and ambulance services. The Associated Press, quoting hospital officials there, say that that second man has died of his wounds. CNN cannot confirm that. But that's the information we're receiving right now.

Police are calling it a terror attack. Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Zain. We'll watch that story. We'll go to Jerusalem when we get some more information. Thanks very much.

Moving on now. Supermodels strolling the walkways at Wal-Mart (ph)? You may see more of it if the store has its way. Let's check in, the "Bottom Line".

Ali Velshi joining us. What's going on, Ali?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, let's start with Target. Target has worked hard to create an impression among consumers as an upscale version of a discount retailer. Now it carries designer lines by Mossimo, Isaac Mizrahi, Michael Graves, others, things that aren't typically seen in discount stores.

Now, if you've missed the trend and you can't figure out why your friends are calling it "Target", Target is going to hit you over the head with it in the current issue of "New Yorker," the issue that actually came out last week.

Now I've got this in my hand. And for the first time ever, every ad in "The New Yorker" is held by Target. There's no other advertisers in this issue. They're all Target. They're all very "New Yorker"-style ads, in that they're cartoonish, and I'll show you what I'm talking about in a second. They're all -- they're kind of -- they're not really very clear ads. They're just little Target ads.

Now the typical reader of the "New Yorker" is a sophisticated, high-income reader earning $80,000 or more a year. The world's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart, told us last week that its core customer is starting to feel the pinch from rising gas prices, and that's been typical of lower income consumers who have less disposable income.

What Wal-Mart has been trying to do for some time is attract more of those upscale consumers that Target has been attracting. And Wal- Mart is nothing if not big, so it has taken eight full color pages in this, the more than 800-page fall fashion issue of "Vogue." It's the first time it's done that. This is the typical -- let me try to get no reflection on that. This ad is one of the eight that it's trying to put out there.

Now, the average "Vogue" reader doesn't earn as much as the average "New Yorker" reader, but it's part of an attempt by Wal-Mart to upscale its own image. And it's unclear as to whether or not this is actually going to work for Wal-Mart, Wolf.

BLITZER: There's another story that involves Gap, that you're watching, as well. What's happening on that front?

VELSHI: Yes. And what Gap has done is for the first time since 1996, it started a new brand. That brand is called Forth & Towne. It's aiming at an older client, the Baby Boomer, 41-59.

Even though you go to a mall and all you see is the -- all you see is stores for kids, the bottom line is people age 40 to 59 accounted for 40 percent of all sales to women, women's apparel last year. It's a hot market. It's very different. And that's what Gap is trying to capitalize on, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. The markets are closing. What's going on?

VELSHI: We've got the Dow closing. Look at this, 81 points lower to 10,438. That was a late-day turnaround because of the spike in oil prices. The NASDAQ is down 8 points, 8 1/4 points to 2,129. And crude oil for October closing at above $67, another all-time hig. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Ali. We'll be checking back with you. Ali, thanks very much.

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LOAD-DATE: August 26, 2005