forged. >> at the time, no one from u.s. intelligence had actually laid eyes on the documents. and they will ultimately turn out to be forgeries. but when a dia report on the yellowcake claim is presented to dick cheney, he orders the cia to dig deeper. the agency sends to niger, a veteran diplomat with extensive experience in africa, former ambassador joseph wilson. >> i knew the foreign minister who was subsequently prime minister. i knew the minister of mines. it did not happen. it could not have happened. just because of the nature of uranium mining operations in francophone africa. the french maintained control. >> the most important thing to know about the yellowcake story is that the cia never believed it. >> but even as speculation, it is enough for administration officials to move ahead with plans to take out saddam. national security adviser condoleezza rice goes on cnn to alert the nation.