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CNN Connie Chung Tonight

Couple That was Held For What Was Believed to be a Bomb Talk About Their Experience; Remembering Maurice Gibb

Aired January 13, 2003 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CONNIE CHUNG, HOST: Good evening. I'm Connie Chung. Tonight, how does a boot plus batteries plus a note equal a bomb?
ANNOUNCER: The real story behind a feared terrorist threat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On an X-ray, it looked very much like an explosive device.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: What one man put inside his suitcase that landed him and his wife in jail.

The brothers Gibb mourn the loss of Maurice, but did he have to die?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARRY GIBB, MAURICE GIBB'S BROTHER: We will pursue every factor, every element, every second of the timeline for the final hours of Maurice's life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GEORGE RYAN (R), ILLINOIS: How many more cases of wrongful conviction have to occur before we can all agree that this system in Illinois is broken?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Convicted killers walk free, and death sentences commuted, while the families of their victims are outraged.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is, if anything, a coward and a liar, and that's what he'll be remembered as in the state of Illinois.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: Supermodel Niki Taylor was on top of the fashion world. But it all came to a screeching halt in a near-fatal car crash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKI TAYLOR, SUPERMODEL: The surgeons saying that they were holding, like, my liver in both hands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Tonight, Niki Taylor in a rare TV interview tells Connie how she's battled back, beating the odds.

Another scene-stealing role by Oscar winner Kathy Bates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "ABOUT SCHMIDT")

KATHY BATES, ACTRESS: People used to raise their eyebrows because I breast-fed him until he was almost 5, and I say, well, you just look at the results.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Tonight, she tells Connie about her latest role.

This is CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT. From the CNN broadcast center in New York, Connie Chung.

CHUNG: Good evening. In a time of terror alerts and fears about our safety, why would someone go to so much trouble to, well, make trouble, or were Paul Donahue and Teresa Wood just trying to make a point about the price of our safety? Last week, they were arrested at Mineta San Jose International Airport for transporting what police considered a false or facsimile bomb in their bag.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE DIXON, SAN JOSE POLICE: It was a boot. On top of the boot, there were some -- a large power strip with about five or six plugs, right directly on top of the boot. The power strip cord was extended, and at the end of that cord, was a package of batteries. And it looked very much, as I say, on an X-ray, it looked very much like an explosive device.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: In addition, the bag contained a note, reading, quote, "To the uniformed puppet opening this bag, congratulations! You've just brought this once free nation one step closer to becoming a fascist police state."

Prosecutors disagreed that the boot, batteries and power strip constituted a fake bomb and they dropped the charges. Still, some questions linger, which is why we've asked Paul Donahue and Teresa Wood to join us tonight. Thank you both for being with us. Mr. Donahue, what were you thinking?

PAUL DONAHUE, PUT "FASCIST" NOTE IN AIRPORT LUGGAGE: In putting the note in the bag? My wife and I travel quite a bit and I has been concerned since 9/11 that we were watching, one, our freedoms disappear one by one. We are being asked to wave more of our rights as citizens here in this country. And since I travel often, I am concerned about what happens to our bags once they're checked in. For us, this was going to be the last straw. We decided that this was going to be our last flight.

And I've spoken to Transportation Security Administration officials when I had the chance, and since I was not able to speak to these officials in particular, and this was the first time our bags were going to be checked in such a way, I was going to make sure that they understood the strong feelings I have about this issue.

CHUNG: And what you are talking about is your bags would be checked outside of your presence? In other words, after you check the bag, it goes through and a baggage handler can look inside.

Now, the Transportation Safety Administration does have actually a reply to you. What the administration believes is that you are just playing games with the system and that you were trying to get a rise out of the system. In fact, you were trying to create a fake bomb.

DONAHUE: Well, that may be their feeling. I actually didn't ever see the image that was on the cat scanner. They waved it around a lot at us; I'll take their word for it that it looked like a fake bomb. It may very well have.

CHUNG: Did you intend to make it look like a fake bomb?

DONAHUE: Oh, no. No. It was nothing like. And you know, to tell you the truth, I think if it looked like a bomb to them, they should have done their job and opened the bag. They would have been remiss not to have.

But we had four bags, four pieces of checked luggage, and the same identical note was in all four bags. And I've heard numbers up to 30 percent of bags are going to be opened with this system because the machine does have a lot of false alarms. And I figured with four bags, the odds of at least of them being opened were fairly good.

CHUNG: Teresa, didn't you say to Mr. Donahue that this is just, you know, it's crazy. We're going to get in trouble, and if anybody finds any of this it's just going to seem like this some terrorist plot?

TERESA WOOD, ARRESTED FOR LUGGAGE CONTENTS: No. I never thought it was a terrorist plot. And the whole -- never in a million years I ever thought there would be any kind of bomb thing. It was just to be a note. Someone that the inspector might get irritated and hopefully think about what Paul is saying. I didn't think that there would be any big trouble like there was.

CHUNG: You didn't think there would be any repercussions? Go ahead.

WOOD: No. It wasn't a threatening note. And no, I didn't think there would be repercussions.

CHUNG: Well, it was written on the side of a cereal box. And I think it, you know, might have looked very suspicious to the baggage handler and to those who eventually arrested you. How many days did you spend in jail?

WOOD: Three.

CHUNG: Three days. And you, Mr. Donahue?

DONAHUE: The same. A few hours more, but basically the same amount of time.

CHUNG: Well, this is another thing that the Transportation Safety Administration said, and I want to get your reaction. They said, well, you know, if you think this is a joke, the 9/11 families certainly are not laughing.

DONAHUE: Oh, I don't think it's a joke at all. I think that security is a big issue and I fully support them screening bags. I think it's a good idea and I have no problems with them screening the bags and opening bags when they see suspicious objects. My only complaint is that, and I think many Americans would share this, that passengers would like to be present when the bags are searched, the same as with the check of the hand luggage. I think that's perfectly reasonable. I've submitted to that many, many times and had no problems with that.

CHUNG: Well, sir, there's another side of the story, of course, and we're going to get it now from Robert Johnson. He is spokesperson for the new Transportation Security Administration, which oversees the nation's airport security. Mr. Johnson, thank you for being with us.

Now, this couple believes that it really is an invasion of privacy. What do you have to say to that? Because there are many people out there who I'm sure believe that it is an invasion of privacy.

ROBERT JOHNSON, TSA SPOKESPERSON, WASHINGTON: Well, Connie, we do our best to try and balance all of those issues against what happened on 9/11. You know, we're not sitting there developing programs just on a whim. Congress responded to what happened a year and a half ago and decided that there were a number of loopholes that needed to be closed to terrorists, one of them was checked baggage and that's why our screeners did exactly what they should have done that night, last Tuesday night in San Jose. That image looked like a bomb on the screen and it's their job to resolve that. When they opened the bag, they saw the boot with the various pieces of electrical wiring and other things inside and made that information available to local law enforcement, which then took the action that you've been talking about.

CHUNG: Now, felony charges were dropped. Do you think that they should have been prosecuted?

JOHNSON: We absolutely think that there should have been more consideration given to the notion of the recklessness, if you will, that occurred. If nothing else, that in and of itself is a problem. You know, you don't make jokes about hijacking an airplane or a bomb in your bag when you're at an airport, and the same ought to apply for people who are carrying things that are assembled in such a way that they could lead someone to believe that there is an explosive device inside.

It's a fine line you have to walk between trying to maintain the right of privacy, which this administration obviously supports, and making the flights safe, you know? Nobody wants to be on a flight that has a bag underneath that's got a bomb in it. And again, our screeners did the right thing. They pulled that bag over, they took a look. When they found the, quote/unquote, hoax inside, they pointed that out to law enforcement, and then from there, the job goes to the local police department to determine what should be done next.

CHUNG: Mr. Donahue, Mr. Donahue, why didn't you just write to your congressman or why didn't you hold up a placard up at Capitol Hill, or, you know, do some other type of protest, because indeed wouldn't you rather have your plane safe than have a terrorist plant a bomb on it?

DONAHUE: I am fully supportive of screening the bags. I have no problem with that whatsoever. The only complaint I have is that the passenger should be present when that happens so that they see what's happening with their bags.

CHUNG: I see. Well, Robert Johnson, what about that?

JOHNSON: Well, Connie, actually, we do about two million bags a day. It's a huge number of bags to screen to make sure they're all safe, but they're all being checked with a variety of methods that Congress approved for us. And in most cases, those bags are being screened in front of passengers. The airports are pushing...

CHUNG: Yes, I know, but what about the bags that aren't screened in front of passengers? Would that be possible?

JOHNSON: Well, they are screened outside of some passengers' view. Most airports, as I was about to say, are pushing to put those systems behind the scenes because they don't like the equipment in the lobbies. So we're in the process now of dealing with those issues on an airport by airport basis, and eventually, I think most airports would like that work done elsewhere.

CHUNG: What do you mean elsewhere? Outside of the site...

JOHNSON: Well, yes, outside of the lobbies in a new facility or something that's behind the ticket counters after passengers drop those bags and go on down to the gate. So we are going to work our way through that. There are a lot of issues still to determine. We just don't think this was exactly the right way to make the point.

CHUNG: All right, Robert Johnson, thank you. Teresa Wood and Paul Donahue, thank you both as well.

Coming up, beating the odds in a rare one-on-one interview, supermodel Nikki Taylor talks about almost dying, waking up from months in a coma and her struggle to come back. Stay with us.

ANNOUNCER: Next, convicted murderers, condemned to death walk free in Illinois. Was justice served? Depends on who you ask. CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: Maurice Gibb, bassist and keyboard player for the fifth best selling pop music act ever, the Bee Gees died yesterday. Now there are some questions and controversy about his death which we'll get to in just a moment.

But first in their only interview, this with the BBC, his brothers remembered him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARRY GIBB, MAURICE GIBB'S BROTHER: He would never walk into a room, Maurice, Maurice would prance into a room and his presence was immediate, throughout. Here I am. Were you waiting for me? You know, that's him.

ROBIN GIBB, MAURICE GIBB'S BROTHER: He was still working. He was still working.

B. GIBB: Always still working. Always still working.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were working quite recently on a new venture?

B. GIBB: Well, we're not doing anything at the moment except writing songs. We're at this point in our lives the sooner you get back to what we think our gift is writing songs. And he is always in our lives and we will always be featured as the third number of the Bees no matter what we do. But one thing I will tell you is the Bee Gees will go on. The Bee Gees will not stop here. The Bee Gees we will not disintegrate, because we've lost Mo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was going to ask you that. What does that mean for the group?

R. GIBB: We will go on and make another album. We are looking at the Bee Gees.

B. GIBB: We are looking at the Bee Gees. And we will do it in Mo's name. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So it isn't the end?

B. GIBB: No. It's the end of the beginning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: Maurice collapsed Thursday at his Miami home after suffering severe stomach pains. And after he went into cardiac arrest at Miami's Mount Sinai Medical Center, doctors operated on a intestinal blockage. Three days later Gibb was dead. While the hospital isn't talking, his family peppered their tribute with some serious question following his treatment following the collapse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

B. GIBB: Eighty percent of his stomach and that's the percentage they put on it. So there was very little left and he suffered the cardiac arrest and the fact that they had to operate on Maurice during the shock was cardiac arrest is questionable.

R. GIBB: It is very questionable.

B. GIBB: And we will pursue every factor, every element, every second of the timeline, of the final hours of Maurice's life. We will pursue that relentlessly, that will be our quest from now on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: In addition to older brother Barry and twin Robin, Maurice left behind a wife and two adult children.

For more on questions unanswered and CNN national correspondent, Susan Candiotti joins me from Miami.

Susan, thanks for being with us. What is the hospital saying?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not much of anything, really, Connie.

They site there are privacy concerns and restrictions that they have about discussing this case, although they do go on to say that they are trying to work with the Gibb family as best they can to answer any concerns and questions that they have. But they're not telling us much of what happened there.

CHUNG: How common is it for a surgeon to operate on the abdomen of someone who has just suffered cardiac arrest?

CANDIOTTI: It's difficult to find a real answer to that question without knowing the specifics, although we did speak with one expert in this area. A doctor who is not involved in this case. And he said that for them to have operated on him, following a cardiac arrest that there perhaps must have been something catastrophic going on with his organs for them to have taken that step. Now, again, this doctor stressed that without having any details about the particulars of this case, it is difficult, if not impossible, to judge what happened here. CHUNG: Susan, do you know if any members of the Gibb family planned to file any legal action?

CANDIOTTI: No, we don't. We do know, of course, from the interview they did with the BBC that they are asking hard questions. But in talking with those who know the family today as well as their agent out in California, we know that they have not yet, as far as we know, hired anyone specifically to look into this, nor do we know, for example, whether a post-mortem has been conducted.

CHUNG: All right, Susan Candiotti in Miami, thank you.

Right now, capping our look at the "World In 60," an old face from an old race is going to run again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: Senator Joseph Lieberman announced that he will run for president in 2004. The Democrat in Connecticut with former Vice President Al Gore's running mate in 2000 and the first Jewish politics on a major party ticket.

British Prime Minister Tony Blare told President Saddam Hussein to give up peacefully. Blair warned the Iraqi leader if inspectors find evidence of such weapons military action will be inevitable.

U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq urged patience for the U.S. and the allies resort to war.

A spokesman for the International Atomic Energy Agency says inspections could take up to a year. In South Asia, a month-long cold spell has killed approximately a thousand people. Millions in Northern India, Nepal and Bangladesh are expected and experts say the freezing temperatures are likely to last for a while.

In London, Queen Elizabeth underwent minor surgery today. The 76-year-old monarch had a torn cartilage removed in her right knee. Her surgeon says the procedure went quote, "very well."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Still ahead, Kathy Baits reveals all about her latest role, about Jack Nicholson, and about her successful career. CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: An entire state's death row was cleared out this weekend. In his final days in office, Illinois Governor George Ryan took his three year death penalty moratorium a big step further.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GEORGE RYAN (R), ILLINOIS: Our capital system is haunted by the demon of error. Error in determining guilt, error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die. Because of all of these reasons today, I'm commuting the sentence of all death row inmates, 157 of them.

Because of the spectacular failure to reform the system, because we have seen justice delayed for countless death row inmates with potentially meritorious claims and because the Illinois death penalty system is arbitrary and capricious, and therefore, immoral, I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: Governor Ryan didn't switch everyone's sentence to life. The day before he freed four men outright saying their confessions stemmed from police torture.

One of those men was Leroy Orange. He joins us tonight with his attorney, Cathryn Crawford. Thank you both for being with us.

Mr. Orange, you spent 18 years on death row. An unimaginable length of time. Sir, when you found out that you were being pardoned, could you believe it.

LEROY ORANGE, FREE FROM DEATH ROW: No, I couldn't. In fact the other inmates on the deck where I was at in the county jail had to urge me to come watch. My name, ironically was the last name to be called. It wasn't until he said it that I actually believed it.

CHUNG: Sir, you confessed, but you say -- you've maintained your innocence throughout. What did happen in that police room when you were questioned?

ORANGE: I was handcuffed to a ring extending from the wall behind my back. I had a plastic bag placed over my head and squeezed, you know, around my neck so I couldn't breathe. I had that happen at least on two occasions. I was struck in the body to make me lose my breath as I was trying to hold my breath to keep from suffocating.

CHUNG: And I believe they used electric shocks on you?

ORANGE: That was the next thing. Electric shocks. It felt like needle pricks in my behind when they attached or stuck me in the butt with something.

CHUNG: Oh, my goodness.

ORANGE: And eventually they just pulled my pants down and stuck something -- some electrical device inside of me at which point I agreed to take them to a weapon or go along with the story.

CHUNG: Cathryn Crawford, the victims -- whoever did this horrible crime of killing four people. Their families are probably, no doubt, upset because they probably believed that your client was guilty. Is there any way that the families, who -- we're going to be talking to more families in just a moment. But is there any way to assuage their grief? CATHRYN CRAWFORD, ORANGE'S ATTORNEY: I think that the victims are legitimately suffering right now because for so long they had been told that Leroy Orange was responsible for the deaths of their loved ones.

It's my hope that they'll be able to come to a little bit of peace and knowing that a man who was innocent won't also suffer an unnecessary death because of the prosecution's refusal to look objectively at the evidence of torture and admit that an error occurred.

It's really hard for them to let go of the belief that Leroy Orange did this simply because they've been told by the state for 19 years that he's the one that did it.

CHUNG: Yes. I wish I could talk to you a little bit more, but we're going to move on to other relatives of the family. Leroy Orange, Cathryn Crawford, thank you so much for being with us.

Not surprisingly in a nation where polls show most people favor the death penalty, a lot of people are upset about Governor Ryan's decision. Including the family of William Robert Fueling who was killed by former death row inmate Andrew Johnson. Fueling's sister, Diana Brenner, and niece, Shannon Shepard-Fueling, both join me now from Chicago.

Diana, I know that your brother was brutally murdered, almost decapitated. What was your reaction...

DIANA BRENNER, BROTHER'S KILLER OFF DEATH ROW: With his hands tied behind his back.

CHUNG: What was your reaction when you heard Governor Ryan's Announcement?

BRENNER: Hurt, outrage, betrayed. The justice system -- he has no conscience. He's just as bad as the murderer himself for doing what he'd done.

CHUNG: Shannon, I know that you met with the governor earlier and apparently he explained things. But you say that the nature of the discussion was entirely different from what the outcome was.

SHANNON SHEPARD-FUELING, UNCLE'S KILLER OFF DEATH ROW: Correct. He stood there on December 11 at the Union League Club and we asked him specifically, Are you stand doing a blanket clemency? He said, Why would I be standing here if I were doing a blanket clemency?

CHUNG: Diana, you know that Illinois has had a history (UNINTELLIGIBLE) like 17 people who were innocent who ended up being released because they had been found guilty. Just on that fact alone, do you think Governor Ryan has some basis for being concerned that some of the people may very well be innocent and were found guilty, wrongly found guilty.

BRENNER: The system had a -- has -- had a problem. Now the system's broke. He said the system was broke. It wasn't broke. It had a problem.

In my brother's case, was there without a doubt, that this person -- if that's what you want to call him, I call him an animal -- murdered my brother and there's two lives -- victims that survived that were left for dead.

He laughed when he murdered my brother. He laughed during the trial and I know he's laughing now, thanks to Governor Ryan.

CHUNG: Shannon, do you have some apprehensions about this man being -- not being executed? His name is Andrew Johnson.

SHEPARD-FUELING: Yes. I'm afraid he's going to escape. He escaped once before. And I asked Governor Ryan, are you going to be able to protect me when he escapes from jail and he put his head down and couldn't look me in my face. I am scared to death he is going to escape.

CHUNG: Diana, do you believe that Governor Ryan betrayed your trust?

BRENNER: Yes. He betrayed my trust in the government because of him. He has more power than the president has. It's scary to know the governor of your states have more power than your own president.

CHUNG: Shannon, what this done to your family?

SHEPARD-FUELING: It's torn my family to pieces. It really has. I lost my father exactly five years after Uncle Billy died and my poor grandfather, my poor uncles, my aunt, my aunt sitting next to me, I don't know how -- even my cousins have nightmares.

We all still have nightmares. I visit that house. My brother and sister lived in that house. Our childhood memories were in that house. And Andrew Johnson ruined them. I saw that house after it happened. He ruined our childhood memories. He ruined all of our childhood memories.

BRENNER: He was the plug of the light of the family that -- Billy was the plug.

SHEPARD-FUELING: You can't replace the plug.

CHUNG: I see his picture. He was a handsome man. Diana Brenner, Shannon Shepard-Fueling. Thank you very much for being with us.

SHEPARD-FUELING: Thank you, Connie. I appreciate for you listening to us.

CHUNG: OK.

Still ahead, we were of two minds about who should be person of the day. Stay with us and you'll understand why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHUNG: Our week long series, "Beating the Odds," kicks off tonight with a woman who not only survived a life-threatening ordeal, she came back, full force.

On April 29, 2001, Niki Taylor almost died as a passenger in a car that slammed into a telephone pole. Today the 27-year-old supermodel has got her life back and her career back and she's got a bright future ahead of her. As you'll see on this rare, on-camera interview, since her accident, Niki Taylor did it all by beating the odds.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIKI TAYLOR, MODEL: I blacked out and a few months later I woke up in the hospital.

I had flatlined, I think, twice and they had to me back. Yes.

CHUNG (voice-over): It's hard to believe that Niki Taylor died, twice. Over the years, we've come to know her as the vivacious, athletic, supermodel. Strutting down the runway for every major designer. Gracing more than 250 major magazine covers, an unprecedented six covers on the newsstand in one month. She was the youngest "Vogue" cover model and the youngest cosmetics spokesmodel. Cover Girl reportedly paid her $6 million a year.

For Taylor it was a dream that started at 13, when this sun- kissed Florida teen was discovered by a local talent agent. Her close-knit family, mother, father and two sisters supported her every move. Her father, a highway patrol officer even quit his job so he and his wife could chaperone Niki through the fast-track world of modeling.

And it was a fast ride to stardom for Niki, but it all almost ended two years ago.

TAYLOR: I remember the night that I did get into the accident and getting out of the car and my stomach hurting really bad.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many cars (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it hit the telephone pole. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, we're on the way. Let me ask you this, is the person still inside?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CHUNG: Niki didn't appear from the outside to be seriously injured. But internally, she was in trouble.

TAYLOR: I was pretty much in and out. I was under a lot and it seemed like 40-something surgeries.

CHUNG (on camera): Forty-some surgeries.

TAYLOR: Yes. My liver was cut in half, so, you know, they had to -- they pretty much -- I remember the surgeon saying that they were holding my liver in both hands and it was like, no way. It was -- yes. And still when I did wake up I wasn't sure what had happened.

CHUNG: You thought you had been as sleep for four or five days.

TAYLOR: Yes. I did. It was unbelievable.

CHUNG: And yet, it was months.

TAYLOR: Yes, it was. months. When I woke up the nurse was in there and she's like, Do you know what day it is? And I was like, I don't know. Friday? No idea.

She's like, do you know how long you've been here? And I was like, Four or five days. And she's like, Try two months.

And I'm like, No way. What happened? And, you know, I'm looking down and all these bandages and stitches -- yes. And so -- yes. Everyone had to tell me what happened. Very scary.

CHUNG: Sure, it was scary.

TAYLOR: Yes. It was a very long road, you know? Just having to do everything again. Learn how to walk, learn how to move your arms. I am so grateful that I'm not in a wheelchair and that I can walk and just -- it's amazing.

CHUNG: You seem so gentle. You know, almost fragile and I'm thinking to myself where did you get the strength?

TAYLOR: I -- you know what? I have a great support system. My family, my boys and my mom and dad, my sister and just my friends, everybody.

I think there was a lot of prayers being -- you know, said for me and I appreciate all that. And just everyone who prayed for me, all just very positive energy.

CHUNG: Niki, how did you get through 40-some operations? I mean, I cannot imagine going back -- you know? Time and time again.

TAYLOR: Time and time again. Yes.

CHUNG: You have some core inner strength.

TAYLOR: I guess God wasn't ready for me. I'm not done here on Earth. There is something for me to do here.

CHUNG (voice-over): That something is to take care of her 8- year-old twin sons as a single mother. They gave her the strength to survive. TAYLOR: My boys are amazing. They -- they're a big part of keeping me going. They're like my little helpers. They're just, you know, such gentlemen and then such boy all at the same time. It's really great.

MARC ANTHONY, SINGER: Ladies and gentlemen, Niki Taylor.

CHUNG: Her public comeback began with this extraordinary walk across the stage at the VH-1 Vogue Fashion awards. Less than six months after her near-fatal accident, the supermodel who had bounded down so many runways, teetering in high heels was tentative.

TAYLOR: I was really worried. I didn't want to trip on my dress or fall and I got a standing ovation and it was just like, I know my face turn bright red. It was like, wow. This is cool.

CHUNG (on camera): Was it exhilarating to know that you had so much support out there?

TAYLOR: Yes. Yes. It was very cool.

CHUNG (voice-over): And supermodel Niki Taylor was back. The following February, she was back on the newsstand posing for her first cover since the accident.

TAYLOR: Just starting back slowly. The two years I took off was to pretty much recover from the accident, and just everyday, just getting stronger and stocker.

CHUNG (on camera): How did it feel going back to work?

TAYLOR: It felt great, you know? I pretty much felt like I died because I'd been working since I was 13, for so long and get use to going somewhere and doing something. So I miss trade lot and it's good to be back. Now.

CHUNG: Now are you able to just about do everything that you used to be able to do?

TAYLOR: Not everything. I used to be like a real daredevil and bungee jumping and skydiving. Roller coasters and going on rides with all of the kids and you know, now they're line, take it easy and I have two rods and six pins in my back so they're like...

CHUNG: Two rods and six pins.

TAYLOR: Yes. I'm getting my balance back, but you know, just slowly. But I think everyday, I'm getting more stronger and I practice yoga which is really good for the back and you know, just every day.

CHUNG (voice-over): Now every day means trying new things. A music video star.

TAYLOR: There's something different. Something I hadn't done before. CHUNG (on camera): Is there a rock star screaming to get out of you?

TAYLOR: Yes, I think there's rock star, punk rock, there's everything.

CHUNG: What kind of person do you think you are? Are you a positive person, negative person with a glass half full or half empty?

TAYLOR: Definitely half full. Very positive. It's all a learning lesson, I think and it's there to make you stronger, you know? If you're not going through something you're not learning.

CHUNG (voice-over): And Niki should know, before the accident she had faced other challenges. Her marriage to football player Matt Martinez fell apart. They divorced after two years. Then in the middle of that, her 17-year-old sister suddenly died of an undiagnosed heart problem. She and Krissy were close. Modeling together, walking the catwalk together.

TAYLOR: It's been very hard. Very hard. It still is, every day. You never forget stuff like that.

CHUNG (on camera): How did you get through that?

TAYLOR: Basically, a lot of praying. Really, I didn't handle it all that well, I don't think. It was just a very difficult time.

But, you know, I'm here and I don't want sympathy, I don't want people to feel sorry for me. I just -- I want people to, you know, when it does get real bad and I'm sure there's other people who have been through a lot worse than what I have, just to hang in there.

CHUNG: Have all of these really tough times for you have they change your view about life?

TAYLOR: I'm always trying to live each day to its fullest, not like it's my last, but, you know to the best that I can.

CHUNG (voice-over): Today, Niki's moving forward, as she always has down the runways. Strengthened by the knowledge of how fleeting life is. On her arms, tattoos in memory of her sister. One in Latin, "In Love Conquers All."

For this breathtaking beauty, a love for her sons, for the life she almost lost and for the future she so cherishes.

TAYLOR: I'm not done here. I'll see what the day brings me and then there's tomorrow, you know? God willing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG: Isn't she gorgeous?

And speaking of tomorrow, our series, "Beating the Odds," will continue. Singer, former talk show host Carnie Wilson. She tipped the scales and then she beat the odds. She'll join us and tell us how.

And coming up next, the odds are looking good for Kathy Bates' award prospects, after co-starring with Jack Nicholson in "About Schmidt." We'll ask her about her naked scene with Jack right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "ABOUT SCHMIDT")

BATES: People used to raise eyebrows because I breast-fed him until he was almost 5, and I say, well, you just look at the results. I raised a sensitive, devoted boy who has turned into a sensitive, devoted man. He's also quite easy on the eye, if I do say so myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: That's Kathy Bates in "About Schmidt," playing the groom's hippie mom opposite Jack Nicholson as the bride's relatively straight-laced dad. It's a role that gets a lot of attention from audiences for her nude scene in a hot tub with Nicholson, but it's also getting attention from critics and award nominators for her acting that some are saying steals the move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "ABOUT SCHMIDT")

HOWARD HESSEMAN, ACTOR: As father of the groom, I'd like to welcome our guest.

BATES: Larry, we know who you are and you are going to have plenty of chances to make toasts tomorrow and the next day...

HESSEMAN: Will you let me finish, please?

BATES: Can't we just enjoy our food?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: Joining me now with her clothes on is Oscar-winning actress and director Kathy Bates. Kathy, it's such a pleasure to see you.

I love the way you treat your -- in the part -- ex-husband. This woman that you play just decks this ex-husband so many times. I love it.

BATES: Yes. Well, Howard -- Howard Hesseman, wonderful actor, and I get to spend a little time when we were on location in Omaha. And actually, Howard took me to, I believe, it was Borders to buy a lot of jazz CDs, so we got to know each other pretty well, and we got married and divorced in one afternoon, I think.

CHUNG: Now, you know, it's true. People have been writing about you upstaging Jack Nicholson, and I have to vote yes, also, really. Why did you take this role? BATES: Well, first of all, I took it because I loved the screenplay and also because I had seen Alexander Payne's earlier movies, "Election" and "Citizen Ruth," fabulous.

And of course, it was an opportunity to work with Jack. So I couldn't say no.

CHUNG: You have never worked with him before?

BATES: No. Never.

CHUNG: Oh, my gosh, two great actors who had not worked together before.

The director did say that at that -- there were so many scenes that he worked with you on, you wanted to make her likable, maybe more likable than the person was originally, and also he said that there was one sequence that was very hard and that was when you were feeding Jack Nicholson some soup. And he said he thought that only you with your theater background, you would learn it and you'd deliver it exactly right. And my God, it's a great scene.

BATES: Oh, thank you. Yes, it was tough for me for different reasons. Jack was in the waterbed, and I've never really sat on the edge of a waterbed before, but it's not very comfortable. So it was just logistically difficult for me to try to get the soup to Jack's mouth, and at one point I felt Jack's hand kind of pushing my other hand because I was letting the soup fall in his lap. So -- but it was a fun scene to do, and what I loved about working with Jack the most was that he's just so professional and down to earth, a hard-working actor. And...

CHUNG: Jokes around?

BATES: A little bit, but really, especially with this part, I would say he's very focused and very plugged in and cared very deeply about the character of Warren Schmidt.

CHUNG: We do have to deal with this nude scene. I don't know if I approve of that.

BATES: Well, I'm glad my mother's not around to see it.

CHUNG: But you have done that before. You originated the part in "Franky and Johnny," and were you supposed to be nude in that?

BATES: We were briefly, I think, but not as much as I hear they are in the revival on Broadway.

CHUNG: Oh, I see.

BATES: So -- and -- so I wasn't a stranger to nudity, but this was a little bit different. And so there were a lot of e-mails going back and forth, fast and furious between Alexander and myself, about OK, I will do this but I won't do that, and I have to have this, but you can't have that. So, you know, we got it all ironed out and we were both happy with the results.

CHUNG: Were you relaxed when you finally did the scene?

BATES: Yes, absolutely. My agent suggested that I have a cosmopolitan before I get in, which I did. She brought all the ingredients to the trailer, just have one, to take the edge off, you know, so that helped a lot. And Jack was very supportive. And we had a skeleton crew so I felt very comfortable, and it was great.

CHUNG: Good for you.

BATES: Thank you.

CHUNG: More power to you.

BATES: Thank you.

CHUNG: Oh, my god. At our age to do something like that, that's pretty frightening.

BATES: Well, I think it would be frightening probably at any age except 7. I mean, I don't know, but it was a lot of fun. And the tub was warm and it was -- it was fun -- I mean, hot tub with Jack Nicholson. You know, I mean, how bad can that be?

CHUNG: I know that you love your acting. You love your craft, but you said acting pays the bills, directing rejuvenates me. And so you've done -- a lot of TV. "Homicide," you've done "NYPD Blue," you've done "Oz" and "Six Feet Under," which is the greatest show.

BATES: Terrific show. Yes. I've been lucky to work with them. This is my third season. I just finished directing a show for them right before the holidays, and they have such wonderful producers over there. Alan Ball, of course, who created the show, and Alan Poul, who runs it in, and all of the actors, or a lot of them are from the theater. So it's a terrific group. It's very creative environment, and I just would love to make that my home.

CHUNG: Kathy, when will you come back on the stage here in New York? We want to see you again.

BATES: Well, I think about it. Seriously, I do. And I am always looking. I have friends still here in New York who keep their eyes out for projects, and one of these days I would like to come back, and I keep thinking I'd like to come back and do a musical. I just think that would be so much fun.

CHUNG: Oh, my gosh, yes?

BATES: Yes. That would be fun. A lot of work.

CHUNG: That would be great. That would be great. OK, I'm ready.

BATES: All right.

CHUNG: Ready for that. Thank you, Kathy Bates.

BATES: Thank you, Connie.

CHUNG: I'm such a big fan, really.

BATES: Thank you very much.

CHUNG: It was great, and "About Schmidt," you are just fabulous.

BATES: Wonderful. Thank you. I'm so glad you liked it.

CHUNG: Oh, it's great.

When we come back, the latest celebrity goes to Iraq. What was Bianca Jagger doing in Baghdad? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: Coming up, our person of the day is a tie due to an amazing feat of untying. We'll explain in a minute, but first, tonight's snapshot.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG (voice-over): Some changes at the top today. Steve Case, the chairman of CNN's parent company, AOL Time Warner, is resigning effective in May. The company's stock has tanked since the merger he engineered between AOL and Time Warner.

And at CNN itself, the network's CEO, Walter Isaacson, announced he's stepping down in late spring to head up the Aspen Institute, a Washington think tank.

Bianca Jagger is among 35 peace activists in Baghdad. The former wife of rocker Mick Jagger says the group is urging the Iraqi government to comply with U.N. disarmament requirements and avoid war.

British police have arrested rock star Peter Townshend in a child pornography investigation. The lead guitarist for The Who had admitted visiting a child porn Web site, but said he did it for research on a book he was writing.

Thousands of pilgrims from around the world are in the holy city of Bodaya (ph), India for the fifth (ph) Buddha festival. The dalai lama opened the 10-day event yesterday with prayer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Still ahead, who will be our person of the day? CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT will continue in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: Tonight, it was a very close tie to pick today's person of the day. But not as close as the Guatemalan Alvarez twins used to be. In a dramatic operation five months ago, doctors separated the twins, the little Marias, who were born conjoined at the head. Today they were released from UCLA's Mattel Children's Hospital in Los Angeles and boarded a flight home for Guatemala. The 17-month-old twins still face some tough struggles in their recovery, but if they do half as well at that as they did in capturing America's hearts, they will have shown exactly why they are our persons of the day.

Tomorrow, the latest on an emotionally charged story. Who is sending possibly racist letters to black churches in Kansas City? And coming up next on "LARRY KING LIVE," the family of Laci Peterson, who's pregnant and missing.

Thank you for joining us, and for all of us at CNN, good night and see you tomorrow.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Talk About Their Experience; Remembering Maurice Gibb>


Aired January 13, 2003 - 20:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CONNIE CHUNG, HOST: Good evening. I'm Connie Chung. Tonight, how does a boot plus batteries plus a note equal a bomb?
ANNOUNCER: The real story behind a feared terrorist threat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On an X-ray, it looked very much like an explosive device.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: What one man put inside his suitcase that landed him and his wife in jail.

The brothers Gibb mourn the loss of Maurice, but did he have to die?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARRY GIBB, MAURICE GIBB'S BROTHER: We will pursue every factor, every element, every second of the timeline for the final hours of Maurice's life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GEORGE RYAN (R), ILLINOIS: How many more cases of wrongful conviction have to occur before we can all agree that this system in Illinois is broken?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Convicted killers walk free, and death sentences commuted, while the families of their victims are outraged.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is, if anything, a coward and a liar, and that's what he'll be remembered as in the state of Illinois.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: Supermodel Niki Taylor was on top of the fashion world. But it all came to a screeching halt in a near-fatal car crash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKI TAYLOR, SUPERMODEL: The surgeons saying that they were holding, like, my liver in both hands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Tonight, Niki Taylor in a rare TV interview tells Connie how she's battled back, beating the odds.

Another scene-stealing role by Oscar winner Kathy Bates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "ABOUT SCHMIDT")

KATHY BATES, ACTRESS: People used to raise their eyebrows because I breast-fed him until he was almost 5, and I say, well, you just look at the results.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Tonight, she tells Connie about her latest role.

This is CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT. From the CNN broadcast center in New York, Connie Chung.

CHUNG: Good evening. In a time of terror alerts and fears about our safety, why would someone go to so much trouble to, well, make trouble, or were Paul Donahue and Teresa Wood just trying to make a point about the price of our safety? Last week, they were arrested at Mineta San Jose International Airport for transporting what police considered a false or facsimile bomb in their bag.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE DIXON, SAN JOSE POLICE: It was a boot. On top of the boot, there were some -- a large power strip with about five or six plugs, right directly on top of the boot. The power strip cord was extended, and at the end of that cord, was a package of batteries. And it looked very much, as I say, on an X-ray, it looked very much like an explosive device.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: In addition, the bag contained a note, reading, quote, "To the uniformed puppet opening this bag, congratulations! You've just brought this once free nation one step closer to becoming a fascist police state."

Prosecutors disagreed that the boot, batteries and power strip constituted a fake bomb and they dropped the charges. Still, some questions linger, which is why we've asked Paul Donahue and Teresa Wood to join us tonight. Thank you both for being with us. Mr. Donahue, what were you thinking?

PAUL DONAHUE, PUT "FASCIST" NOTE IN AIRPORT LUGGAGE: In putting the note in the bag? My wife and I travel quite a bit and I has been concerned since 9/11 that we were watching, one, our freedoms disappear one by one. We are being asked to wave more of our rights as citizens here in this country. And since I travel often, I am concerned about what happens to our bags once they're checked in. For us, this was going to be the last straw. We decided that this was going to be our last flight.

And I've spoken to Transportation Security Administration officials when I had the chance, and since I was not able to speak to these officials in particular, and this was the first time our bags were going to be checked in such a way, I was going to make sure that they understood the strong feelings I have about this issue.

CHUNG: And what you are talking about is your bags would be checked outside of your presence? In other words, after you check the bag, it goes through and a baggage handler can look inside.

Now, the Transportation Safety Administration does have actually a reply to you. What the administration believes is that you are just playing games with the system and that you were trying to get a rise out of the system. In fact, you were trying to create a fake bomb.

DONAHUE: Well, that may be their feeling. I actually didn't ever see the image that was on the cat scanner. They waved it around a lot at us; I'll take their word for it that it looked like a fake bomb. It may very well have.

CHUNG: Did you intend to make it look like a fake bomb?

DONAHUE: Oh, no. No. It was nothing like. And you know, to tell you the truth, I think if it looked like a bomb to them, they should have done their job and opened the bag. They would have been remiss not to have.

But we had four bags, four pieces of checked luggage, and the same identical note was in all four bags. And I've heard numbers up to 30 percent of bags are going to be opened with this system because the machine does have a lot of false alarms. And I figured with four bags, the odds of at least of them being opened were fairly good.

CHUNG: Teresa, didn't you say to Mr. Donahue that this is just, you know, it's crazy. We're going to get in trouble, and if anybody finds any of this it's just going to seem like this some terrorist plot?

TERESA WOOD, ARRESTED FOR LUGGAGE CONTENTS: No. I never thought it was a terrorist plot. And the whole -- never in a million years I ever thought there would be any kind of bomb thing. It was just to be a note. Someone that the inspector might get irritated and hopefully think about what Paul is saying. I didn't think that there would be any big trouble like there was.

CHUNG: You didn't think there would be any repercussions? Go ahead.

WOOD: No. It wasn't a threatening note. And no, I didn't think there would be repercussions.

CHUNG: Well, it was written on the side of a cereal box. And I think it, you know, might have looked very suspicious to the baggage handler and to those who eventually arrested you. How many days did you spend in jail?

WOOD: Three.

CHUNG: Three days. And you, Mr. Donahue?

DONAHUE: The same. A few hours more, but basically the same amount of time.

CHUNG: Well, this is another thing that the Transportation Safety Administration said, and I want to get your reaction. They said, well, you know, if you think this is a joke, the 9/11 families certainly are not laughing.

DONAHUE: Oh, I don't think it's a joke at all. I think that security is a big issue and I fully support them screening bags. I think it's a good idea and I have no problems with them screening the bags and opening bags when they see suspicious objects. My only complaint is that, and I think many Americans would share this, that passengers would like to be present when the bags are searched, the same as with the check of the hand luggage. I think that's perfectly reasonable. I've submitted to that many, many times and had no problems with that.

CHUNG: Well, sir, there's another side of the story, of course, and we're going to get it now from Robert Johnson. He is spokesperson for the new Transportation Security Administration, which oversees the nation's airport security. Mr. Johnson, thank you for being with us.

Now, this couple believes that it really is an invasion of privacy. What do you have to say to that? Because there are many people out there who I'm sure believe that it is an invasion of privacy.

ROBERT JOHNSON, TSA SPOKESPERSON, WASHINGTON: Well, Connie, we do our best to try and balance all of those issues against what happened on 9/11. You know, we're not sitting there developing programs just on a whim. Congress responded to what happened a year and a half ago and decided that there were a number of loopholes that needed to be closed to terrorists, one of them was checked baggage and that's why our screeners did exactly what they should have done that night, last Tuesday night in San Jose. That image looked like a bomb on the screen and it's their job to resolve that. When they opened the bag, they saw the boot with the various pieces of electrical wiring and other things inside and made that information available to local law enforcement, which then took the action that you've been talking about.

CHUNG: Now, felony charges were dropped. Do you think that they should have been prosecuted?

JOHNSON: We absolutely think that there should have been more consideration given to the notion of the recklessness, if you will, that occurred. If nothing else, that in and of itself is a problem. You know, you don't make jokes about hijacking an airplane or a bomb in your bag when you're at an airport, and the same ought to apply for people who are carrying things that are assembled in such a way that they could lead someone to believe that there is an explosive device inside.

It's a fine line you have to walk between trying to maintain the right of privacy, which this administration obviously supports, and making the flights safe, you know? Nobody wants to be on a flight that has a bag underneath that's got a bomb in it. And again, our screeners did the right thing. They pulled that bag over, they took a look. When they found the, quote/unquote, hoax inside, they pointed that out to law enforcement, and then from there, the job goes to the local police department to determine what should be done next.

CHUNG: Mr. Donahue, Mr. Donahue, why didn't you just write to your congressman or why didn't you hold up a placard up at Capitol Hill, or, you know, do some other type of protest, because indeed wouldn't you rather have your plane safe than have a terrorist plant a bomb on it?

DONAHUE: I am fully supportive of screening the bags. I have no problem with that whatsoever. The only complaint I have is that the passenger should be present when that happens so that they see what's happening with their bags.

CHUNG: I see. Well, Robert Johnson, what about that?

JOHNSON: Well, Connie, actually, we do about two million bags a day. It's a huge number of bags to screen to make sure they're all safe, but they're all being checked with a variety of methods that Congress approved for us. And in most cases, those bags are being screened in front of passengers. The airports are pushing...

CHUNG: Yes, I know, but what about the bags that aren't screened in front of passengers? Would that be possible?

JOHNSON: Well, they are screened outside of some passengers' view. Most airports, as I was about to say, are pushing to put those systems behind the scenes because they don't like the equipment in the lobbies. So we're in the process now of dealing with those issues on an airport by airport basis, and eventually, I think most airports would like that work done elsewhere.

CHUNG: What do you mean elsewhere? Outside of the site...

JOHNSON: Well, yes, outside of the lobbies in a new facility or something that's behind the ticket counters after passengers drop those bags and go on down to the gate. So we are going to work our way through that. There are a lot of issues still to determine. We just don't think this was exactly the right way to make the point.

CHUNG: All right, Robert Johnson, thank you. Teresa Wood and Paul Donahue, thank you both as well.

Coming up, beating the odds in a rare one-on-one interview, supermodel Nikki Taylor talks about almost dying, waking up from months in a coma and her struggle to come back. Stay with us.

ANNOUNCER: Next, convicted murderers, condemned to death walk free in Illinois. Was justice served? Depends on who you ask. CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: Maurice Gibb, bassist and keyboard player for the fifth best selling pop music act ever, the Bee Gees died yesterday. Now there are some questions and controversy about his death which we'll get to in just a moment.

But first in their only interview, this with the BBC, his brothers remembered him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARRY GIBB, MAURICE GIBB'S BROTHER: He would never walk into a room, Maurice, Maurice would prance into a room and his presence was immediate, throughout. Here I am. Were you waiting for me? You know, that's him.

ROBIN GIBB, MAURICE GIBB'S BROTHER: He was still working. He was still working.

B. GIBB: Always still working. Always still working.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were working quite recently on a new venture?

B. GIBB: Well, we're not doing anything at the moment except writing songs. We're at this point in our lives the sooner you get back to what we think our gift is writing songs. And he is always in our lives and we will always be featured as the third number of the Bees no matter what we do. But one thing I will tell you is the Bee Gees will go on. The Bee Gees will not stop here. The Bee Gees we will not disintegrate, because we've lost Mo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was going to ask you that. What does that mean for the group?

R. GIBB: We will go on and make another album. We are looking at the Bee Gees.

B. GIBB: We are looking at the Bee Gees. And we will do it in Mo's name. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So it isn't the end?

B. GIBB: No. It's the end of the beginning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: Maurice collapsed Thursday at his Miami home after suffering severe stomach pains. And after he went into cardiac arrest at Miami's Mount Sinai Medical Center, doctors operated on a intestinal blockage. Three days later Gibb was dead. While the hospital isn't talking, his family peppered their tribute with some serious question following his treatment following the collapse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

B. GIBB: Eighty percent of his stomach and that's the percentage they put on it. So there was very little left and he suffered the cardiac arrest and the fact that they had to operate on Maurice during the shock was cardiac arrest is questionable.

R. GIBB: It is very questionable.

B. GIBB: And we will pursue every factor, every element, every second of the timeline, of the final hours of Maurice's life. We will pursue that relentlessly, that will be our quest from now on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: In addition to older brother Barry and twin Robin, Maurice left behind a wife and two adult children.

For more on questions unanswered and CNN national correspondent, Susan Candiotti joins me from Miami.

Susan, thanks for being with us. What is the hospital saying?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not much of anything, really, Connie.

They site there are privacy concerns and restrictions that they have about discussing this case, although they do go on to say that they are trying to work with the Gibb family as best they can to answer any concerns and questions that they have. But they're not telling us much of what happened there.

CHUNG: How common is it for a surgeon to operate on the abdomen of someone who has just suffered cardiac arrest?

CANDIOTTI: It's difficult to find a real answer to that question without knowing the specifics, although we did speak with one expert in this area. A doctor who is not involved in this case. And he said that for them to have operated on him, following a cardiac arrest that there perhaps must have been something catastrophic going on with his organs for them to have taken that step. Now, again, this doctor stressed that without having any details about the particulars of this case, it is difficult, if not impossible, to judge what happened here. CHUNG: Susan, do you know if any members of the Gibb family planned to file any legal action?

CANDIOTTI: No, we don't. We do know, of course, from the interview they did with the BBC that they are asking hard questions. But in talking with those who know the family today as well as their agent out in California, we know that they have not yet, as far as we know, hired anyone specifically to look into this, nor do we know, for example, whether a post-mortem has been conducted.

CHUNG: All right, Susan Candiotti in Miami, thank you.

Right now, capping our look at the "World In 60," an old face from an old race is going to run again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: Senator Joseph Lieberman announced that he will run for president in 2004. The Democrat in Connecticut with former Vice President Al Gore's running mate in 2000 and the first Jewish politics on a major party ticket.

British Prime Minister Tony Blare told President Saddam Hussein to give up peacefully. Blair warned the Iraqi leader if inspectors find evidence of such weapons military action will be inevitable.

U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq urged patience for the U.S. and the allies resort to war.

A spokesman for the International Atomic Energy Agency says inspections could take up to a year. In South Asia, a month-long cold spell has killed approximately a thousand people. Millions in Northern India, Nepal and Bangladesh are expected and experts say the freezing temperatures are likely to last for a while.

In London, Queen Elizabeth underwent minor surgery today. The 76-year-old monarch had a torn cartilage removed in her right knee. Her surgeon says the procedure went quote, "very well."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Still ahead, Kathy Baits reveals all about her latest role, about Jack Nicholson, and about her successful career. CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: An entire state's death row was cleared out this weekend. In his final days in office, Illinois Governor George Ryan took his three year death penalty moratorium a big step further.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GEORGE RYAN (R), ILLINOIS: Our capital system is haunted by the demon of error. Error in determining guilt, error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die. Because of all of these reasons today, I'm commuting the sentence of all death row inmates, 157 of them.

Because of the spectacular failure to reform the system, because we have seen justice delayed for countless death row inmates with potentially meritorious claims and because the Illinois death penalty system is arbitrary and capricious, and therefore, immoral, I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: Governor Ryan didn't switch everyone's sentence to life. The day before he freed four men outright saying their confessions stemmed from police torture.

One of those men was Leroy Orange. He joins us tonight with his attorney, Cathryn Crawford. Thank you both for being with us.

Mr. Orange, you spent 18 years on death row. An unimaginable length of time. Sir, when you found out that you were being pardoned, could you believe it.

LEROY ORANGE, FREE FROM DEATH ROW: No, I couldn't. In fact the other inmates on the deck where I was at in the county jail had to urge me to come watch. My name, ironically was the last name to be called. It wasn't until he said it that I actually believed it.

CHUNG: Sir, you confessed, but you say -- you've maintained your innocence throughout. What did happen in that police room when you were questioned?

ORANGE: I was handcuffed to a ring extending from the wall behind my back. I had a plastic bag placed over my head and squeezed, you know, around my neck so I couldn't breathe. I had that happen at least on two occasions. I was struck in the body to make me lose my breath as I was trying to hold my breath to keep from suffocating.

CHUNG: And I believe they used electric shocks on you?

ORANGE: That was the next thing. Electric shocks. It felt like needle pricks in my behind when they attached or stuck me in the butt with something.

CHUNG: Oh, my goodness.

ORANGE: And eventually they just pulled my pants down and stuck something -- some electrical device inside of me at which point I agreed to take them to a weapon or go along with the story.

CHUNG: Cathryn Crawford, the victims -- whoever did this horrible crime of killing four people. Their families are probably, no doubt, upset because they probably believed that your client was guilty. Is there any way that the families, who -- we're going to be talking to more families in just a moment. But is there any way to assuage their grief? CATHRYN CRAWFORD, ORANGE'S ATTORNEY: I think that the victims are legitimately suffering right now because for so long they had been told that Leroy Orange was responsible for the deaths of their loved ones.

It's my hope that they'll be able to come to a little bit of peace and knowing that a man who was innocent won't also suffer an unnecessary death because of the prosecution's refusal to look objectively at the evidence of torture and admit that an error occurred.

It's really hard for them to let go of the belief that Leroy Orange did this simply because they've been told by the state for 19 years that he's the one that did it.

CHUNG: Yes. I wish I could talk to you a little bit more, but we're going to move on to other relatives of the family. Leroy Orange, Cathryn Crawford, thank you so much for being with us.

Not surprisingly in a nation where polls show most people favor the death penalty, a lot of people are upset about Governor Ryan's decision. Including the family of William Robert Fueling who was killed by former death row inmate Andrew Johnson. Fueling's sister, Diana Brenner, and niece, Shannon Shepard-Fueling, both join me now from Chicago.

Diana, I know that your brother was brutally murdered, almost decapitated. What was your reaction...

DIANA BRENNER, BROTHER'S KILLER OFF DEATH ROW: With his hands tied behind his back.

CHUNG: What was your reaction when you heard Governor Ryan's Announcement?

BRENNER: Hurt, outrage, betrayed. The justice system -- he has no conscience. He's just as bad as the murderer himself for doing what he'd done.

CHUNG: Shannon, I know that you met with the governor earlier and apparently he explained things. But you say that the nature of the discussion was entirely different from what the outcome was.

SHANNON SHEPARD-FUELING, UNCLE'S KILLER OFF DEATH ROW: Correct. He stood there on December 11 at the Union League Club and we asked him specifically, Are you stand doing a blanket clemency? He said, Why would I be standing here if I were doing a blanket clemency?

CHUNG: Diana, you know that Illinois has had a history (UNINTELLIGIBLE) like 17 people who were innocent who ended up being released because they had been found guilty. Just on that fact alone, do you think Governor Ryan has some basis for being concerned that some of the people may very well be innocent and were found guilty, wrongly found guilty.

BRENNER: The system had a -- has -- had a problem. Now the system's broke. He said the system was broke. It wasn't broke. It had a problem.

In my brother's case, was there without a doubt, that this person -- if that's what you want to call him, I call him an animal -- murdered my brother and there's two lives -- victims that survived that were left for dead.

He laughed when he murdered my brother. He laughed during the trial and I know he's laughing now, thanks to Governor Ryan.

CHUNG: Shannon, do you have some apprehensions about this man being -- not being executed? His name is Andrew Johnson.

SHEPARD-FUELING: Yes. I'm afraid he's going to escape. He escaped once before. And I asked Governor Ryan, are you going to be able to protect me when he escapes from jail and he put his head down and couldn't look me in my face. I am scared to death he is going to escape.

CHUNG: Diana, do you believe that Governor Ryan betrayed your trust?

BRENNER: Yes. He betrayed my trust in the government because of him. He has more power than the president has. It's scary to know the governor of your states have more power than your own president.

CHUNG: Shannon, what this done to your family?

SHEPARD-FUELING: It's torn my family to pieces. It really has. I lost my father exactly five years after Uncle Billy died and my poor grandfather, my poor uncles, my aunt, my aunt sitting next to me, I don't know how -- even my cousins have nightmares.

We all still have nightmares. I visit that house. My brother and sister lived in that house. Our childhood memories were in that house. And Andrew Johnson ruined them. I saw that house after it happened. He ruined our childhood memories. He ruined all of our childhood memories.

BRENNER: He was the plug of the light of the family that -- Billy was the plug.

SHEPARD-FUELING: You can't replace the plug.

CHUNG: I see his picture. He was a handsome man. Diana Brenner, Shannon Shepard-Fueling. Thank you very much for being with us.

SHEPARD-FUELING: Thank you, Connie. I appreciate for you listening to us.

CHUNG: OK.

Still ahead, we were of two minds about who should be person of the day. Stay with us and you'll understand why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHUNG: Our week long series, "Beating the Odds," kicks off tonight with a woman who not only survived a life-threatening ordeal, she came back, full force.

On April 29, 2001, Niki Taylor almost died as a passenger in a car that slammed into a telephone pole. Today the 27-year-old supermodel has got her life back and her career back and she's got a bright future ahead of her. As you'll see on this rare, on-camera interview, since her accident, Niki Taylor did it all by beating the odds.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIKI TAYLOR, MODEL: I blacked out and a few months later I woke up in the hospital.

I had flatlined, I think, twice and they had to me back. Yes.

CHUNG (voice-over): It's hard to believe that Niki Taylor died, twice. Over the years, we've come to know her as the vivacious, athletic, supermodel. Strutting down the runway for every major designer. Gracing more than 250 major magazine covers, an unprecedented six covers on the newsstand in one month. She was the youngest "Vogue" cover model and the youngest cosmetics spokesmodel. Cover Girl reportedly paid her $6 million a year.

For Taylor it was a dream that started at 13, when this sun- kissed Florida teen was discovered by a local talent agent. Her close-knit family, mother, father and two sisters supported her every move. Her father, a highway patrol officer even quit his job so he and his wife could chaperone Niki through the fast-track world of modeling.

And it was a fast ride to stardom for Niki, but it all almost ended two years ago.

TAYLOR: I remember the night that I did get into the accident and getting out of the car and my stomach hurting really bad.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many cars (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it hit the telephone pole. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, we're on the way. Let me ask you this, is the person still inside?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CHUNG: Niki didn't appear from the outside to be seriously injured. But internally, she was in trouble.

TAYLOR: I was pretty much in and out. I was under a lot and it seemed like 40-something surgeries.

CHUNG (on camera): Forty-some surgeries.

TAYLOR: Yes. My liver was cut in half, so, you know, they had to -- they pretty much -- I remember the surgeon saying that they were holding my liver in both hands and it was like, no way. It was -- yes. And still when I did wake up I wasn't sure what had happened.

CHUNG: You thought you had been as sleep for four or five days.

TAYLOR: Yes. I did. It was unbelievable.

CHUNG: And yet, it was months.

TAYLOR: Yes, it was. months. When I woke up the nurse was in there and she's like, Do you know what day it is? And I was like, I don't know. Friday? No idea.

She's like, do you know how long you've been here? And I was like, Four or five days. And she's like, Try two months.

And I'm like, No way. What happened? And, you know, I'm looking down and all these bandages and stitches -- yes. And so -- yes. Everyone had to tell me what happened. Very scary.

CHUNG: Sure, it was scary.

TAYLOR: Yes. It was a very long road, you know? Just having to do everything again. Learn how to walk, learn how to move your arms. I am so grateful that I'm not in a wheelchair and that I can walk and just -- it's amazing.

CHUNG: You seem so gentle. You know, almost fragile and I'm thinking to myself where did you get the strength?

TAYLOR: I -- you know what? I have a great support system. My family, my boys and my mom and dad, my sister and just my friends, everybody.

I think there was a lot of prayers being -- you know, said for me and I appreciate all that. And just everyone who prayed for me, all just very positive energy.

CHUNG: Niki, how did you get through 40-some operations? I mean, I cannot imagine going back -- you know? Time and time again.

TAYLOR: Time and time again. Yes.

CHUNG: You have some core inner strength.

TAYLOR: I guess God wasn't ready for me. I'm not done here on Earth. There is something for me to do here.

CHUNG (voice-over): That something is to take care of her 8- year-old twin sons as a single mother. They gave her the strength to survive. TAYLOR: My boys are amazing. They -- they're a big part of keeping me going. They're like my little helpers. They're just, you know, such gentlemen and then such boy all at the same time. It's really great.

MARC ANTHONY, SINGER: Ladies and gentlemen, Niki Taylor.

CHUNG: Her public comeback began with this extraordinary walk across the stage at the VH-1 Vogue Fashion awards. Less than six months after her near-fatal accident, the supermodel who had bounded down so many runways, teetering in high heels was tentative.

TAYLOR: I was really worried. I didn't want to trip on my dress or fall and I got a standing ovation and it was just like, I know my face turn bright red. It was like, wow. This is cool.

CHUNG (on camera): Was it exhilarating to know that you had so much support out there?

TAYLOR: Yes. Yes. It was very cool.

CHUNG (voice-over): And supermodel Niki Taylor was back. The following February, she was back on the newsstand posing for her first cover since the accident.

TAYLOR: Just starting back slowly. The two years I took off was to pretty much recover from the accident, and just everyday, just getting stronger and stocker.

CHUNG (on camera): How did it feel going back to work?

TAYLOR: It felt great, you know? I pretty much felt like I died because I'd been working since I was 13, for so long and get use to going somewhere and doing something. So I miss trade lot and it's good to be back. Now.

CHUNG: Now are you able to just about do everything that you used to be able to do?

TAYLOR: Not everything. I used to be like a real daredevil and bungee jumping and skydiving. Roller coasters and going on rides with all of the kids and you know, now they're line, take it easy and I have two rods and six pins in my back so they're like...

CHUNG: Two rods and six pins.

TAYLOR: Yes. I'm getting my balance back, but you know, just slowly. But I think everyday, I'm getting more stronger and I practice yoga which is really good for the back and you know, just every day.

CHUNG (voice-over): Now every day means trying new things. A music video star.

TAYLOR: There's something different. Something I hadn't done before. CHUNG (on camera): Is there a rock star screaming to get out of you?

TAYLOR: Yes, I think there's rock star, punk rock, there's everything.

CHUNG: What kind of person do you think you are? Are you a positive person, negative person with a glass half full or half empty?

TAYLOR: Definitely half full. Very positive. It's all a learning lesson, I think and it's there to make you stronger, you know? If you're not going through something you're not learning.

CHUNG (voice-over): And Niki should know, before the accident she had faced other challenges. Her marriage to football player Matt Martinez fell apart. They divorced after two years. Then in the middle of that, her 17-year-old sister suddenly died of an undiagnosed heart problem. She and Krissy were close. Modeling together, walking the catwalk together.

TAYLOR: It's been very hard. Very hard. It still is, every day. You never forget stuff like that.

CHUNG (on camera): How did you get through that?

TAYLOR: Basically, a lot of praying. Really, I didn't handle it all that well, I don't think. It was just a very difficult time.

But, you know, I'm here and I don't want sympathy, I don't want people to feel sorry for me. I just -- I want people to, you know, when it does get real bad and I'm sure there's other people who have been through a lot worse than what I have, just to hang in there.

CHUNG: Have all of these really tough times for you have they change your view about life?

TAYLOR: I'm always trying to live each day to its fullest, not like it's my last, but, you know to the best that I can.

CHUNG (voice-over): Today, Niki's moving forward, as she always has down the runways. Strengthened by the knowledge of how fleeting life is. On her arms, tattoos in memory of her sister. One in Latin, "In Love Conquers All."

For this breathtaking beauty, a love for her sons, for the life she almost lost and for the future she so cherishes.

TAYLOR: I'm not done here. I'll see what the day brings me and then there's tomorrow, you know? God willing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG: Isn't she gorgeous?

And speaking of tomorrow, our series, "Beating the Odds," will continue. Singer, former talk show host Carnie Wilson. She tipped the scales and then she beat the odds. She'll join us and tell us how.

And coming up next, the odds are looking good for Kathy Bates' award prospects, after co-starring with Jack Nicholson in "About Schmidt." We'll ask her about her naked scene with Jack right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "ABOUT SCHMIDT")

BATES: People used to raise eyebrows because I breast-fed him until he was almost 5, and I say, well, you just look at the results. I raised a sensitive, devoted boy who has turned into a sensitive, devoted man. He's also quite easy on the eye, if I do say so myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: That's Kathy Bates in "About Schmidt," playing the groom's hippie mom opposite Jack Nicholson as the bride's relatively straight-laced dad. It's a role that gets a lot of attention from audiences for her nude scene in a hot tub with Nicholson, but it's also getting attention from critics and award nominators for her acting that some are saying steals the move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "ABOUT SCHMIDT")

HOWARD HESSEMAN, ACTOR: As father of the groom, I'd like to welcome our guest.

BATES: Larry, we know who you are and you are going to have plenty of chances to make toasts tomorrow and the next day...

HESSEMAN: Will you let me finish, please?

BATES: Can't we just enjoy our food?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: Joining me now with her clothes on is Oscar-winning actress and director Kathy Bates. Kathy, it's such a pleasure to see you.

I love the way you treat your -- in the part -- ex-husband. This woman that you play just decks this ex-husband so many times. I love it.

BATES: Yes. Well, Howard -- Howard Hesseman, wonderful actor, and I get to spend a little time when we were on location in Omaha. And actually, Howard took me to, I believe, it was Borders to buy a lot of jazz CDs, so we got to know each other pretty well, and we got married and divorced in one afternoon, I think.

CHUNG: Now, you know, it's true. People have been writing about you upstaging Jack Nicholson, and I have to vote yes, also, really. Why did you take this role? BATES: Well, first of all, I took it because I loved the screenplay and also because I had seen Alexander Payne's earlier movies, "Election" and "Citizen Ruth," fabulous.

And of course, it was an opportunity to work with Jack. So I couldn't say no.

CHUNG: You have never worked with him before?

BATES: No. Never.

CHUNG: Oh, my gosh, two great actors who had not worked together before.

The director did say that at that -- there were so many scenes that he worked with you on, you wanted to make her likable, maybe more likable than the person was originally, and also he said that there was one sequence that was very hard and that was when you were feeding Jack Nicholson some soup. And he said he thought that only you with your theater background, you would learn it and you'd deliver it exactly right. And my God, it's a great scene.

BATES: Oh, thank you. Yes, it was tough for me for different reasons. Jack was in the waterbed, and I've never really sat on the edge of a waterbed before, but it's not very comfortable. So it was just logistically difficult for me to try to get the soup to Jack's mouth, and at one point I felt Jack's hand kind of pushing my other hand because I was letting the soup fall in his lap. So -- but it was a fun scene to do, and what I loved about working with Jack the most was that he's just so professional and down to earth, a hard-working actor. And...

CHUNG: Jokes around?

BATES: A little bit, but really, especially with this part, I would say he's very focused and very plugged in and cared very deeply about the character of Warren Schmidt.

CHUNG: We do have to deal with this nude scene. I don't know if I approve of that.

BATES: Well, I'm glad my mother's not around to see it.

CHUNG: But you have done that before. You originated the part in "Franky and Johnny," and were you supposed to be nude in that?

BATES: We were briefly, I think, but not as much as I hear they are in the revival on Broadway.

CHUNG: Oh, I see.

BATES: So -- and -- so I wasn't a stranger to nudity, but this was a little bit different. And so there were a lot of e-mails going back and forth, fast and furious between Alexander and myself, about OK, I will do this but I won't do that, and I have to have this, but you can't have that. So, you know, we got it all ironed out and we were both happy with the results.

CHUNG: Were you relaxed when you finally did the scene?

BATES: Yes, absolutely. My agent suggested that I have a cosmopolitan before I get in, which I did. She brought all the ingredients to the trailer, just have one, to take the edge off, you know, so that helped a lot. And Jack was very supportive. And we had a skeleton crew so I felt very comfortable, and it was great.

CHUNG: Good for you.

BATES: Thank you.

CHUNG: More power to you.

BATES: Thank you.

CHUNG: Oh, my god. At our age to do something like that, that's pretty frightening.

BATES: Well, I think it would be frightening probably at any age except 7. I mean, I don't know, but it was a lot of fun. And the tub was warm and it was -- it was fun -- I mean, hot tub with Jack Nicholson. You know, I mean, how bad can that be?

CHUNG: I know that you love your acting. You love your craft, but you said acting pays the bills, directing rejuvenates me. And so you've done -- a lot of TV. "Homicide," you've done "NYPD Blue," you've done "Oz" and "Six Feet Under," which is the greatest show.

BATES: Terrific show. Yes. I've been lucky to work with them. This is my third season. I just finished directing a show for them right before the holidays, and they have such wonderful producers over there. Alan Ball, of course, who created the show, and Alan Poul, who runs it in, and all of the actors, or a lot of them are from the theater. So it's a terrific group. It's very creative environment, and I just would love to make that my home.

CHUNG: Kathy, when will you come back on the stage here in New York? We want to see you again.

BATES: Well, I think about it. Seriously, I do. And I am always looking. I have friends still here in New York who keep their eyes out for projects, and one of these days I would like to come back, and I keep thinking I'd like to come back and do a musical. I just think that would be so much fun.

CHUNG: Oh, my gosh, yes?

BATES: Yes. That would be fun. A lot of work.

CHUNG: That would be great. That would be great. OK, I'm ready.

BATES: All right.

CHUNG: Ready for that. Thank you, Kathy Bates.

BATES: Thank you, Connie.

CHUNG: I'm such a big fan, really.

BATES: Thank you very much.

CHUNG: It was great, and "About Schmidt," you are just fabulous.

BATES: Wonderful. Thank you. I'm so glad you liked it.

CHUNG: Oh, it's great.

When we come back, the latest celebrity goes to Iraq. What was Bianca Jagger doing in Baghdad? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: Coming up, our person of the day is a tie due to an amazing feat of untying. We'll explain in a minute, but first, tonight's snapshot.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG (voice-over): Some changes at the top today. Steve Case, the chairman of CNN's parent company, AOL Time Warner, is resigning effective in May. The company's stock has tanked since the merger he engineered between AOL and Time Warner.

And at CNN itself, the network's CEO, Walter Isaacson, announced he's stepping down in late spring to head up the Aspen Institute, a Washington think tank.

Bianca Jagger is among 35 peace activists in Baghdad. The former wife of rocker Mick Jagger says the group is urging the Iraqi government to comply with U.N. disarmament requirements and avoid war.

British police have arrested rock star Peter Townshend in a child pornography investigation. The lead guitarist for The Who had admitted visiting a child porn Web site, but said he did it for research on a book he was writing.

Thousands of pilgrims from around the world are in the holy city of Bodaya (ph), India for the fifth (ph) Buddha festival. The dalai lama opened the 10-day event yesterday with prayer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Still ahead, who will be our person of the day? CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT will continue in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: Tonight, it was a very close tie to pick today's person of the day. But not as close as the Guatemalan Alvarez twins used to be. In a dramatic operation five months ago, doctors separated the twins, the little Marias, who were born conjoined at the head. Today they were released from UCLA's Mattel Children's Hospital in Los Angeles and boarded a flight home for Guatemala. The 17-month-old twins still face some tough struggles in their recovery, but if they do half as well at that as they did in capturing America's hearts, they will have shown exactly why they are our persons of the day.

Tomorrow, the latest on an emotionally charged story. Who is sending possibly racist letters to black churches in Kansas City? And coming up next on "LARRY KING LIVE," the family of Laci Peterson, who's pregnant and missing.

Thank you for joining us, and for all of us at CNN, good night and see you tomorrow.

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