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CNN CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT
Is Showdown With Saddam Inevitable?; Two Sons Booked For Mother's Death
Aired January 27, 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, the verdict is in on Iraq. Will the sentence be war?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Iraq appears not to have come to a genuine acceptance, not even today, of the disarmament which was demanded of it and which it needs to carry out to win the confidence of the world and to leave in peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Is a showdown with Saddam now inevitable?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Iraq's time for choosing peaceful disarmament is fast coming to an end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Tonight, Iraqis who escaped Saddam's grip, now living in America. What do they think about conflict in their homeland?
Two sons booked and under investigation for their mother's death. Was prime-time television to blame?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her $70,000 some odd vehicle into a 4,000- pound murder weapon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: A twisted tale of sex, infidelity and tragedy, caught on tape. A crime of passion or murder by Mercedes?
Were they the winners?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) does it to cement the Super Bowl.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: Or were they?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A satellite phone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I get one of those hot dogs?
WILLIE NELSON, MUSICIAN: My face is burning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So nice to meet you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Tonight, the best and the worst of Super Bowl TV commercials.
And our person of the day. Worth the price.
This is CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT. From the CNN broadcast center in New York, Connie Chung.
CHUNG: Good evening. Tonight, Hans Blix's verdict is in. Iraq is guilty of failure to comply fully with U.N. resolutions. That's the finding of reports given to the U.N. today by chief weapons inspectors, including Blix.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLIX: Iraq appears not to have come to a genuine acceptance, not even today, of the disarmament which was demanded of it, and which it needs to carry out to win the confidence of the world and to live in peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHUNG: Blix did give Iraq credit for some compliance and indicated inspectors should have more time to finish their work, but Iraq rejected any notion that it was less than fully cooperative with inspectors' attempts to prove or disprove Iraqi possession of weapons of mass destruction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED ALDOURI, IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: All of the sites that the United States and Britain allege in their two recent reports that we are producing weapons of mass destruction were repeatedly inspected, X-rayed and environmental samples were taken to make sure that nothing happened there. The result proves that Iraq is clear of weapons of mass destruction.
The inspectors also proved that all the intelligence information provided later by the United States and Britain and satellite pictures were business (ph).
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHUNG: This afternoon Secretary of State Colin Powell said inspections are not the issue and giving inspectors time is not the issue. The issue, he said, is Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: Even at this late date, the United States hopes for a peaceful solution, but a peaceful solution is possible only if Iraq disarms itself with the help of the inspectors. The issue is not how much more time the inspectors need to search in the dark. It is how much more time Iraq should be given to turn on the lights and to come clean. And the answer is not much more time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHUNG: Joining me now are two Americans who have more reason than most to watch this debate closely, because they are Iraqi Americans. Intissar Ann Alkafaji chairs the National Association of Arab and Chaldean businesswomen. She lived in Iraq until she was 16 and still has family there. She joins us from Southfield, Michigan. Rend Rahim Francke is executive director of the Iraq Foundation think tank. She, too, has strong ties to Iraq. She grew up there, and has family still living there. And she joins us from Washington.
Thank you so much for being here, both of you.
Miss Alkafaji, how nervous are you about war?
INTISSAR ANN ALKAFAJI, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ARAB AND CHALDEAN BUSINESSWOMEN: Very nervous. I mean, you are talking about the devastation of an entire nation, the Iraqi people. Bombing them is not the answer. Bombing them is not the solution. I believe there should be some peaceful means to resolve the conflict that is occurring to date. There are other means than just bombing a country to resolve international issues.
The picture that keeps coming to my mind is in 1991, when they came on TV and they said Baghdad was lit up. I mean, if you lit up by bombing Baghdad, but what happens to those people? Those people without a voice. The voiceless, the Iraqi people?
CHUNG: Ms. Francke, what is your position on the possible war with Iraq?
REND RAHIM FRANCKE, EXEC DIR, THE IRAQ FOUNDATION: My position is that the weapons issue is really only a symptom of the Saddam Hussein regime. It's not the cause. The cause is this regime. He believes only in power through superior destructive capability, and he has destroyed Iraq. He has destroyed the Iraqi people.
Iraqis need Saddam out. Now, if Saddam really cares about Iraqis, he would gather his money, his treasures and his family, board a plane and go out and leave Iraq alone. This is a peaceful means that I see resolving the issue.
The issue is not just weapons. It is the regime that is oppressing the people and accumulating these weapons.
I have heard from many friends who have spoken to me and said, what is America waiting for? Why is America waiting? I've had people get in touch and say, we will never defend this regime. We will not bear arms to defend Saddam Hussein. We need help to get rid of this regime. We are not going to fight for it.
CHUNG: Ms. Alkafaji, have you spoken with your relatives to find out if they've taken precautions in the event of war?
ALKAFAJI: Absolutely I have. Everybody is petrified. I mean, we're not even talking about just the bombing and the devastation and the prospect for killing of those people, but talk about the torment. The psychological torment, being bombed with those bombs. I mean, you would not know what it feels unless you are over there, unless you have lived their fears, lived the terror that they have endured. To put them through another trauma again and the possibility now they're talking about possible nuclear weapon, that they might use it if Saddam has chemical weapon -- to me this, that is an atrocity.
FRANCKE: I can interject? I agree that there is a great deal of apprehension, and if there is military action, it is never nice and never predictable. If Saddam cares about his country, he could do a number of things. He could actually disarm. I mean, he has had 12 years to disarm. This is not something that began in November 2002. This is something that began in 1991 when Saddam was given 120 days to disarm, after which sanctions and any other international restrictions would have been lifted. Saddam has had 12 years to do this.
CHUNG: What is surprising to me, Ms. Francke is that you do have friends and relatives there in Iraq and they support the idea toppling Saddam. You fear for their lives, do you not?
FRANCKE: Certainly I fear for their lives, but you know, the lives of Iraqis are being ended every day in Saddam's prisons, under firing squads, and it has been an endless tale of terror for Iraqis and murder for the last 30 years. It's time for this to stop.
CHUNG: Ms. Alkafaji, how do your family members feel about the fact that you are living in the United States, a country that may very well soon be at war with Iraq?
ALKAFAJI: I think my family as well as the entire Iraqi population makes a distinction. They make a distinction between America and American people. The people that love freedom, you know, the humanitarian people of America. And they make a distinction between the government of America and between what America is all about. They cherish the principle of freedom in the United States. So they have absolutely no problem with that, but what they really are in opposition to is this bombing, this continued sanction of the Iraqi people.
I mean, there's absolutely no reason for it. We are -- what we are doing right now is superpower arrogance, and what we are doing right now, we are going to increase anti-American sentiment all over the world by bombing the Iraqi people again. I mean, we are a part of the United Nations. Let's act as part of that hand. Let's give peace a chance. Let's not devastate those people, those people without a voice. Let's give them a chance.
CHUNG: Ms. Alkafaji, I thank you so much for being with us, Ms. Francke as well. Thank you.
Right now, our look at the world in 60 begins with the president's look at the nation, Iraq and the world tomorrow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG (voice-over): President Bush is preparing tomorrow's State of the Union address. His speech is expected to lay out his case for possible war against Iraq, one of the nations he connected to a quote, "axis of evil" in last year's address. The president is also expected to discuss his plans for the economy and health care.
A South Korean envoy arrived in North Korea to discuss the North's disputed nuclear program. North Korea is criticizing the U.N. nuclear agency, saying it has no role in addressing the peninsula's nuclear concerns.
Concerned about terrorist attacks during the general election tomorrow, Israel has closed off the Palestinian territories. Final opinion polls indicate a victory for Prime Minister Sharon's Likud Party.
One person was killed when a strong earthquake shook eastern Turkey yesterday. Luckily, the quake struck in a sparsely-populated area about 500 miles east of the capital, Ankara.
Back in the U.S., trouble in Oakland after the Raiders lost to Tampa Bay in the super bowl. Rioters torched cars and vandalized a church and McDonald's. More than 100 people were arrested.
When we come back, did two sons commit a "Sopranos" copy-cat crime? Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: An extremely disturbing story that's still unfolding tonight. Police are charging that two sons kill their own mother and how they allegedly did it is chilling.
The method is very gruesome and very common in the underworld to a point at which the prime time audience saw it on the hit series"The Sopranos."
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): January 15, a grizzly discovery. Down a deep ravine in Orange County, California, the mutilated body of a woman is found. Her hands severed and her head cut off in an apparent attempt to hide her identity. MIKE CARONA, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF: We had a case where a body was dumped in a remote area. There were no witnesses that we had at the site of the dumping. She's headless. She's without her hands.
GUTIERREZ: Veteran investigators feared the crime would go unsolved, but just eight days later, the gruesome details began to unfold. The victim: 41-year-old Jane Marie Bautista, the single mother of two.
The suspects: her own sons, 20-year-old Jason Victor Bautista and his 15-year-old brother, both charged with murder.
(on camera): Where did the break in this case come?
CARONA: This one came from a security guard.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): A security guard who saw two suspicious men near a dumpster in San Diego County.
CARONA: When he got close enough to them, he saw they were putting a sleeping bag into a trash bin and he saw a foot sticking out and he yelled at them to drop what they were carrying. They put it back in their trunk and sped off and he took the time to write down the license plate number.
GUTIERREZ: Authorities say the car was registered to Jason Bautista, a third-year college student studying by on chemistry. Orange County officials confronted the student on campus.
CARONA: As they were walking off of campus, Mr. Bautista shared with them that he, in fact, had killed his mother and dismembered her body.
GUTIERREZ: During the search of the apartment Jane Bautista shared with her son, investigators found the victim's severed head and hands.
Jason Bautista allegedly told detectives the idea of dismembering his mother's body to hide her identity came from an episode of HBO's hit series "The Sopranos."
CARONA: The irony is that Mr. Bautista -- when he was giving his declaration -- spontaneous declaration to the investigative teams said that, in fact, the reason they dismembered the body was because of watching "The Sopranos." So there was a direct correlation there.
GUTIERREZ: One neighbor said the 15-year-old boy had troubles with his mother.
CORRINE LARRIMAR, NEIGHBOR: He told me once, in fact, it was the first time that I met him, that he hated his mother.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): An initial autopsy report shows that Jane Bautista may have been strangled before she was dismembered. Authorities say they have not yet found the murder weapon nor the instruments used to dismember her body. Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Santa Ana, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG: And joining us now from Santa Ana, we have Orange County Sheriff Michael Corona.
Sir, it is good to see you again, as always, to welcome you to our program. But of course, this is a horrific incident.
I still can't believe and I just heard you say it, that these young men told you and your investigators that the reason why they decapitated their mother was because they saw it on "The Sopranos."
CARONA: Well, Connie, I agree with you. It's one of these incredible stories and, unfortunately, they're all too often that something bizarre is happening in our society. But this one, where life replicates art, the young men were watching an episode of "The Sopranos" and they -- at least one of them, Jason Bautista, told our investigators that the reason he decapitated his mother and cut off her hands was because he had watched that episode in "The Sopranos" and was trying to hide the body.
CHUNG: Did either of the young men tell you about the motive or tell your investigators what the motive was?
CARONA: No, Connie, and I'm not so sure that as a parent, there's any rational explanations you could give as to why you would kill your mother and cut off her head and hands, but that will come out at some point in time during the trial, I'm sure.
In terms of the motive that's been told to us, nothing yet.
CHUNG: In talking to families and friends and neighbors, have you and your investigators been able to determine what the relationship was between the mother and those men?
CARONA: Well, we're still piecing that together. There's a lot of discussion that's being held with neighbors at the Riverside location. We're also tracking back a number of years.
My sense is that will unfold over the next couple of days, but as it stands right now, as part of our investigation, we're just picking up the forensic evidence and also looking at the physical evidence and then trying to put together the overall package as to the lifestyle that Mrs. Bautista and her children lived.
CHUNG: Now the older boy, 20-year-old Jason Bautista, I understand, is in police custody. Is the younger one, the 15-year- old, in police custody as well?
CARONA: Yes, Connie. He's also being held on a no bail murder charge.
CHUNG: One of the neighbors apparently said that she could hear at night the mother screaming at the younger one in particular to get his chores done. Do you know anything about that?
CARONA: I have seen the same news clips that have come out, where reporters have gone out and interviewed neighbors and that is a consistent statement that we've heard not only from one neighbor, but from several of the neighbors. But I have no confirmation other than what I've seen on television.
To let you know, our investigators are not only looking at the Riverside address, but all of the addresses these individuals have lived at over last four, five years.
CHUNG: Sheriff Carona, thank you.
We should mention that HBO, which airs "The Sopranos," declined to comment.
Coming up next, the story with a never-ending supply of twists and turns.
ANNOUNCER: Next, caught on tape. Will the surveillance video Clara Harris paid for help convict her of murder? The private detective takes the stand.
CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: Week two of the extraordinary Clara Harris trial began today. And this week perhaps the most explosive testimony of all is expected. Harris is the Houston dentist and former Colombian beauty queen charged with running over her adulterous husband three times. His daughter was in the car at the time and she is expected to take the stand later this week.
Joining us now with the latest on today's testimony, CNN's Ed Lavandera. Ed, the last time we saw Clara Harris, she was quite emotional. That was on Friday. How was she today in court?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not quite as emotional as she was on Friday when the videotape that the private investigator had taken from her car of the murder had -- that was shown in court on Friday.
So not quite as emotional today but there were definitely some moments when Clara Harris showed some visible signs of emotion, a couple of times, almost like she didn't understand or believe what some of the witnesses might have been saying. She showed some disbelief at time, many times putting her head in her hands and crying visibly.
CHUNG: What about the evidence today? I understand there were a lot of picture, certainly of the vehicle and even a tooth of the victim.
LAVANDERA: A lot of what we're seeing today comes from the first officer that was on the scene, the detective from the police department that was investigating case. Also from the private investigator, the point person, if you will, for Blue Moon Investigations. The person that Clara Harris first contacted about hiring the private investigating firms.
We heard from those witnesses today and that was when Clara Harris became the most emotional. There was a picture of David Harris' tooth at the scene, bloody rags and also of the damage done to the cars of the parking lot of the Hilton on the southern edges of Houston. Those were the times when she became the most visible.
CHUNG: There was testimony today that Clara Harris brought her stepdaughter, that is Dr. Harris' daughter into Blue Moon Investigators. What was the significance of that? Why did the prosecutors bring it up?
LAVANDERA: Well, what's happening, you see and I think it kind of goes to a lot of what we heard today. The prosecutors are trying to paint the portrait of a woman who knew what she was doing, very much in control from the police officer.
They got the police officer to say that she was not frantic. That she was under control. From the private investigator, describing that she acted very professional.
They also did bring up certain situations where there were odd things in their opinion that she did. At one point she was calling the private investigators her best friends, clearly some people she'd only known for a couple of hours and all of a sudden calling them her best friends. And then on the second meeting that she had face-to- face with the private investigators Clara Harris brought her stepdaughter Lindsey to that meeting and the private investigators thought it was very odd.
They said that here's a woman who has hired a private investigating team to follow her husband, who she believes is having an affair with another woman and all of the times they got the impression that these teenage stepdaughter was there and thought the whole thing was "cool," to put it in the words of the private investigator today.
CHUNG: Ed Lavandera, thank you.
Also in Houston we have Clara Harris' co-counsel, Wendell Odom. Thank you for being with us, sir.
WENDELL A. ODOM, CO-COUNSEL FOR CLARA HARRIS: You're welcome.
CHUNG: Mr. Odom, will Clara Harris take the stand?
ODOM: That's always a hard question for any defense attorney to answer. We're prepared to put her on, but you always wait until you see the way the evidence develops before you make that decision. But I think there's a very, very good chance. She's going to get to take the stand and explain her actions and what was going through her mind at the time. CHUNG: If she does take the stand, is she going to say that it was an accident? Because some people would say, all right, once, running over someone might be an accident, but three times? Most people might find it hard to believe that could have been an accident.
ODOM: Right. I think that without giving away all of our defense, I think that there's going to be a major dispute over whether or not she ran over him three times. Anybody who was in there and saw the video, you cannot tell whether she runs over him once from the video. So there may very well be a very strongly-contested issue over this concept that she runs over someone three times.
CHUNG: I'm glad you brought up the video because that's exactly what I was going to talk about next. What do you think it shows?
ODOM: I've seen that video a hundred times. What is it shows is her going over a median. And it's a very distant video. It's shot from a good distance away. It is very difficult to tell anything from the video. The video didn't start until after Dr. Harris was initially hit and knocked to the ground.
CHUNG: There was an audio tape today that was not allowed in by the judge. The judge excluded it.
ODOM: Right.
CHUNG: And that had to do with a phone call that she made to Blue Moon Investigators to say that she had paid for three days of work and her husband died on the first day, so can she have a refund.
ODOM: Right. That's an interesting issue. A lot of today's hearing bogged down into whether or not that was admissible or not admissible and the judge did not let that evidence come in primarily because of what relevance it had to the incident that occurred on the night of the murder.
But the issue that they were trying to establish, I think, was that she was either manipulative or perhaps mean spirited. In fact, what Clara Harris was doing at this point, Blue Moon had pretty much become her adversary in this thing. They'd hired a mistress who was having the affair with Dr. Harris and she in essence was saying, hey, I want some money back.
CHUNG: It's quite unseemly though, if indeed she did run over her husband and caused his death on the first day that she would ask for the other two days, days two and three, that money back.
ODOM: That has more to do with the fact that this investigative agency that she'd hired had been gone and employed the very person that Dr. Harris was having an affair with. I think it had more, If you're going to take this attitude, then you ought to at least give me the money back they didn't pay for.
CHUNG: The stepdaughter apparently is not cooperating with the defense attorneys, with you and your co-partner, but in fact, is cooperating with the prosecution. How much will that harm Clara Harris' case, do you think?
ODOM: The stepdaughter is minefield for us. We don't know what's going on happen there. We have some ideas of what we've been told she said, but you're right. She has not cooperated with us. She won't talk us to. And as a result, we don't know exactly what's going to be said when she takes the stand. That will be very interesting for everybody.
CHUNG: Tell us how your client is doing.
ODOM: She is extremely emotional. She's under a lot of stress. The prior statements of talking about how she would break down at various points, I think she's just on the edge. Anybody that goes through a trial, even for a lawyer, it's like a rollercoaster. For the defendant, it's extremely difficult. Your emotional highs are real high, the lows are really low and she's hanging on.
CHUNG: You have a jury of nine women and three men.
ODOM: Yes.
CHUNG: There are some who believe women will be sympathetic with women who have cheating husbands. But there are others who think women can be tougher on women. Your thoughts.
ODOM: Well it depends on the case. Certainly in some cases I've had that's been true. Our studies have shown, the mock studies we did in this trial, is on this particular case that the women were much more sympathetic than the men were to her.
CHUNG: All right. Wendell Odom, I thank you so much for being with us.
ODOM: OK.
CHUNG: Still ahead, why did Billy Joel suddenly have to go to the hospital this weekend? Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, BUDWEISER COMMERCIAL)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: So, I hear things are getting pretty serious with you and Sarah.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Yes, I'm actually meeting her mother for the first time tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Well, get a good look at her, because, in 20 years, that's what Sarah's going to look like.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: What do you mean?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Take a good look at her. That's what Sarah's going to look like.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Oh. Hi.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Hi. This is my mom.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Hi. So nice to meet you.
ANNOUNCER: For the great taste that won't fill you up and never lets you down.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Isn't she incredible?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Yes.
ANNOUNCER: Make it a Bud Light.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHUNG: Whoa. Anheuser-Busch spent $20 million last night picking up the tab for 11 ads like that one. Why? Because there were two prizes up for grabs on Super Bowl Sunday, the trophy fought for by the Bucs and the Raiders, and your money fought for by advertisers willing to spend more than $2 million bucks for 30 seconds.
Why? Because more than 100 million people watched. Well, we'll find out exactly how many people, right, after a while. One of them was "Advertising Age" editor Scott Donaton.
And, Scott, I meet you for the first time on Friday and then we see each other shopping on Saturday.
SCOTT DONATON, "ADVERTISING AGE": That's right. It's a small world and I'm going to miss you after today.
(LAUGHTER)
CHUNG: I'm going to miss you, too.
All right, our favorite -- my favorite was the Osbournes.
And let's look at it again, OK?
DONATON: Absolutely.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, PEPSI AD)
OZZY OSBOURNE, MUSICIAN: Bloody bag, now I got the bloody...
KELLY OSBOURNE, DAUGHTER OF OZZY: Hey, dad.
OSBOURNE: Not now. I'm...
(CROSSTALK)
K. OSBOURNE: But we really want to show you something.
O. OSBOURNE: I've got something to do. I'm trying to...
JACK OSBOURNE, SON OF OZZY: You really should see this.
O. OSBOURNE: What is it, then? What is it?
J. OSBOURNE: These aren't Pepsis. They're Pepsi Twists.
O. OSBOURNE: You're a bunch of bloody magicians.
K. OSBOURNE: And we're not the Osbournes.
O. OSBOURNE: You're not?
DONNY AND MARIE OSMOND, SINGERS: We're the Osmonds.
M. OSMOND (singing): I'm a little bit country.
D. OSMOND (singing): I'm a little bit rock 'n' roll
O. OSBOURNE: Sharon! Sharon, the kids have turned into the Osmonds.
FLORENCE HENDERSON, ACTRESS: Oh, there, there, dear. Go back to sleep.
ANNOUNCER: Like twists? Pepsi Twist and Diet Pepsi Twist, it's a twist on a great thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHUNG: It is great.
DONATON: That ad just had great water cooler appeal. I walked into my office this morning and three people were standing around imitating Ozzy Osbourne trying to get this garbage bag. And we've all been there. You can't even stop and talk to the kids, because you're involved in this deep task of how to fit the garbage bag over. So, he just has this great everyman quality that's irresistible.
CHUNG: Great.
This one, you think it's very funny, but, boy. Well, let's just take a look.
DONATON: Love it or hate it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, REEBOK AD)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: When we asked Reebok to send us Terry Tate, some people thought we were crazy. But I'm a firm believer in paradigm breaking, outside-the-box thinking.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Hey, buddy.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Break was over 15 minutes ago, Mitch!
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: And since Terry's been with us, our productivity's gone up 46 percent. We're getting more from our employees than ever before.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: You know need a cover sheet on your TPS reports, Bridgette! That ain't new, baby!
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Hey, Terry.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Hey, Janice.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: But what's really impressed me is how Terry's become part of the Felcher family. He fits right in here.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: That's a long distance call, Doug!
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: To be honest, I wish Reebok sent us 10 Terry Tates.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: You want to play games, Steve? Well, when it's game time, it's pay time, baby! Whew!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHUNG: It's perfect for the Super Bowl audience, actually, right?
DONATON: Yes.
Two criticisms of that ad. One is that some people say it's too violent. The other is, it has absolutely nothing to do with Reebok or sneakers. But in terms of the people talking about it the next day, kids imitating him in schoolyards, going to the Web
(CROSSTALK)
CHUNG: Oh, good, kids imitating him.
DONATON: Well, hopefully not hitting each other, but you know the language. And they've built an instant icon. And that's kind of what the Super Bowl is best at.
CHUNG: And I think the best company ads are the Budweiser. Every year, man.
DONATON: They are just -- they show up at the top of most surveys every year. They spend the most money, but they also put a lot of thought into the work they show there.
CHUNG: OK, let's watch this one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, BUDWEISER AD)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: This referee's a jackass.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: No, I believe that's a zebra.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHUNG: Is that the greatest?
DONATON: Budweiser has such incredible equity, they don't need to show a bottle of beer for that to be a great ad. And that's really what sets their advertising apart.
CHUNG: Have they had the same ad company for all these years that they've had great ads?
DONATON: They've worked with several years now running with a company called DDB Worldwide, mostly out of Chicago, which does just terrific work for them, iconic work.
CHUNG: All right, next one. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, DODGE AD)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: So, how's that diet coming? .
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Sweet!
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Hit it!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHUNG: Oh, my gosh.
DONATON: I'll just say this, Connie. The Oakland Raiders weren't the only ones stinking up the place last night. This was an ad that was just unacceptable, bad taste, over the top. And we could have done without it.
CHUNG: Quickly, one more.
DONATON: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, BUDWEISER AD)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Give me a Bud Light.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Must be hot in that suit.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: You're telling me.
What?
ANNOUNCER: For the great taste that won't fill you up and never lets you down.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Hey, can I get one of those hot dogs?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I don't think so.
ANNOUNCER: Make it a Bud Light.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHUNG: Did I say that Budweiser did the best commercials?
(LAUGHTER)
CHUNG: I take that back.
DONATON: That's sophomoric, but you kind of can't stop yourself from laughing. And that's the beauty of it.
CHUNG: OK, Scott.
When are going to you come back?
DONATON: Any time.
CHUNG: All right. See you then.
DONATON: Thanks a lot, Connie.
CHUNG: OK, Scott Donaton.
Still ahead: Jeff Goldblum goes on war -- on screen, anyway. We'll talk to him before he ships out right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: Once upon a time, he was known simply as freak No. 1. But Jeff Goldblum has come a long way since his "Death Wish" debut. He made his first big splash in "The Big Chill" and chilled moviegoers' blood with his creepy mix of humor and horror in David Cronenberg's "The Fly." Since then, he's provided a dash of humanity to the special effects in "Jurassic Park" and "Independence Day."
And right now, he's in an NBC movie called "War Stories."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "WAR STORIES")
JEFF GOLDBLUM, ACTOR: We have a responsibility to get past it and to do our jobs. And maybe that does damage to your humanity. I don't hold myself up as a stellar human being. I'm a war correspondent. And they may be two different things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHUNG: You can also see him in an upcoming "Friends" and the indy feature "Igby Goes Down." And he sat down with me just a couple of days ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG: I had this vision of you, OK? You were going to would be tall, right, when I meet you.
GOLDBLUM: As I am.
CHUNG: Yes, as you are. And I read about you. And you are very, very intelligent and very thoughtful, well read, all of that. But our makeup lady, Carol (ph), said, he is so charming. He makes a woman feel like she's the only one in the room, the way Warren Beatty does. It's true!
GOLDBLUM: Really?
CHUNG: Absolutely.
You've told me secrets about yourself that I don't think anybody knows, which is, you have no cavities.
GOLDBLUM: That's right.
CHUNG: Ladies and gentlemen, he has the most beautiful teeth I've ever seen in my life.
GOLDBLUM: Oh.
CHUNG: Really.
GOLDBLUM: Sweetie, that's so nice.
CHUNG: Better than Miss America, I'm telling you.
GOLDBLUM: Well, thanks a lot.
CHUNG: All right.
GOLDBLUM: Tell me.
CHUNG: The movie, you play a journalist and a war correspondent, and, actually, quite believably.
GOLDBLUM: Thank you.
CHUNG: No, but you did so much research on this. Do you find it, honestly, to be a noble profession?
GOLDBLUM: Yes. Yes. With the research I did, yes, the people I met, I met -- talked at some length to John Balzar, the war correspondent for the "L.A. Times." He was so intelligent.
First of all, the people that rise in that field, like yourself and all these people, are wildly intelligent and driven and have worked terrifically, terrifically hard and are driven. The people I talked to and saw films about -- David Halberstam I talked to and read a book about him. And James Nachtwey, war photographer, a wonderful documentary about him.
These people are driven and animated by a kind of passion and a kind of idealism that is really noble, yes. They're going into these places where they're sacrificing and sometimes dying for this thing that they're devoted to, bringing the truth, as much as they're able to get, back to a public who will benefit from widening their horizons and possibly give some relief to suffering. It's very noble.
CHUNG: You play a "People" magazine -- a journalist -- I'm sorry -- in "The Big Chill," right?
GOLDBLUM: Yes.
CHUNG: Wasn't it?
I can imagine you, if you didn't love your craft so much, being a journalist. Ever thought about that?
GOLDBLUM: Yes. I don't know if I could be a war journalist. Those people have my undying respect. They do something that is very rough and very tough. I don't know if I could do that.
But I like the journalistic way, whereby you're interested not so much in yourself, at least for the time that you're doing it, but are actually engaged in and interested and curious about and are excavating the souls and spirits and facts about somebody else. That's interesting to me, yes.
CHUNG: But, in many ways, you do that when you're acting. You actually teach acting, don't you?
GOLDBLUM: Yes, it's a humbling endeavor. But I do it for the last 10 or 15 years at a place called Playhouse West in north Hollywood. That's right. I think teaching is a great thing to do. I love to do it, yes.
CHUNG: You have another love, though. And that is jazz piano. You're a jazz pianist.
GOLDBLUM: As a kind of a hobby. I played piano when I was a kid. And for the last several years, I have been playing out and about in L.A. whenever I'm not working. You ever play anything?
CHUNG: No. No. No. No. I wanted to, but never did.
GOLDBLUM: Why?
CHUNG: Why?
GOLDBLUM: Yes.
CHUNG: Oh, I don't know. My sister got piano lessons. I didn't. I mean one of my sisters.
GOLDBLUM: I didn't know you had a sister.
CHUNG: I've got four sisters.
GOLDBLUM: Five girls in the family, really?
CHUNG: Yes. Can you imagine?
GOLDBLUM: And no brothers?
CHUNG: No brothers.
GOLDBLUM: Holy cats.
CHUNG: You?
GOLDBLUM: One brother, who is still in Pittsburgh, and a younger sister, who paints, with whom I'm very close. And than I had a brother who died when he was 23, when I was 19. He might have been a journalist and a kind of war journalist. In fact, he died in North Africa kind of pursuing a kind of writing project.
CHUNG: Oh, really?
GOLDBLUM: Yes, yes.
CHUNG: Well, Jeff, I thank you so much for coming.
GOLDBLUM: Thank you.
CHUNG: You stop that.
(LAUGHTER)
CHUNG: Trying to be so serious. And I know you're not.
GOLDBLUM: No, I'm not going to be serious. I am really thankful to be here.
CHUNG: Oh, good.I am so glad you could come. Will you come back?
GOLDBLUM: I'd love to.
CHUNG: OK. Thank you, Jeff Goldblum.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG (voice-over): Singer Billy Joel is out of the hospital after his weekend car crash on Long Island. Police say the piano man lost control of his Mercedes and smashed it into a tree in Sag Harbor Saturday night.
The father of the TV news magazine is stepping down. Don Hewitt, who created the CBS news program "60 Minutes" in 1968, says he will retire as the program's executive producer a year and a half from now.
Instead of shipping out to the Persian Gulf with his Marine outfit, one leatherneck is reportedly headed for a shot at stardom on "American Idol." Media reports say Marine brass are cutting Lance Corporal Josh Gracin some slack to appear on the popular television program.
Her magazine "Talk" tanked, but editor Tina Brown will soon be talking on television. CNBC has signed her to host four prime-time specials beginning in March. Kmart has a hearing in bankruptcy court after its embarrassing admission Friday that 23 former top managers and employees may have engaged in wrongdoing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Still ahead: our "Person of the Day" worth the price -- when CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: As we mentioned earlier, President Bush is putting the finishing touches on his State of the Union speech tomorrow. The president is expected to tell the American people why he's convinced Iraq poses a threat to America. And he will also outline his plan for jump-starting the economy.
As CNN's Bruce Morton reminds us, the State of the Union speeches not only make history. On occasion, they are part of history.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My lord and members of the House of Commons.
BRUCE MORTON, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It comes from the speech of the British monarch makes to parliament every year, though today's constitutional queen just reads what the prime minister's party has written for her.
Presidents say what they want to say. George Washington delivered the first one in New York, then the Capitol, in 1790. Thomas Jefferson stopped delivering them in person, too royal, he thought, and sent a written message to Congress. Presidents followed that precedent for more than a century. James Monroe, in a message, laid out the Monroe Doctrine: Europe, stay out of this hemisphere. Lincoln, in a message, freed the slaves: "In giving freedom to the slaves, we assure freedom to the free."
Nobody delivered a speech in person again until Woodrow Wilson in 1913. Calvin Coolidge delivered the first one on radio in 1923; Harry Truman the first televised one in 1947.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, 1943)
HARRY TRUMAN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Most of the countries of the world have joined together in the United Nations in an attempt to build world order based on law and not on force.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORTON: Inaugural addresses have produced more famous phrases: Franklin's Roosevelt's "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," though he did set forth his four freedoms, of speech, of worship, from want, from fear, in a World War II State of the Union. John Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you" was in his inaugural.
State of the Union speeches are often about legislation the president want: Lyndon Johnson and the Voting Rights Act in 1965.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, 1965)
LYNDON JOHNSON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I propose that we eliminate every remaining obstacle to the right and the opportunity to vote.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORTON: And this president had a memorable phrase in last year's speech.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: States like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world.
MORTON: Bill Clinton probably had the oddest one. In 1997, the verdict in O.J. Simpson's civil trial came the night of the speech. Most networks stayed with the speech. Some split their screens. In 1998, Clinton's speech came just after we all learned who Monica Lewinsky was. And, in 1999, oddest of the all, spoke to a House which had impeached him and a Senate which had just begun his trial.
Mr. Bush won't have to cope with anything that odd. But with a looming war, a soggy economy, and a controversial tax proposal, he'll have lots to talk about.
Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG: Thank you, Bruce Morton.
And we'll have a lot to talk about tomorrow night as well. Join me at 8:00 Eastern for a special edition of CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT, as we begin CNN's coverage of the State of the Union. Then, at 8:45, Aaron Brown and Judy Woodruff take us up to the president's speech and lead the analysis afterwards.
And still ahead: They don't always throw a parade for the "Person of the Day." Why is today different?
We'll find out right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: Some disappointed fans call him a traitor. Others call him Chucky for his supposed resemblance to the horror movie doll.
But because he and his team are world champions of professional football, we call him our "Person of the Day." The youngest head coach ever to win the Super Bowl, 39-year-old Jon Gruden of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, earned his Gatorade bath, that chilly tradition reserved for the winner, by figuratively biting the hand that used to feed him.
Gruden and the Bucs triumphed over the Oakland Raiders, the team Gruden coached for four years; 11 months ago, he allowed Tampa Bay to lure him away from the San Francisco Bay area for $8 million and future draft picks, a move that prompted his old boss and many Oakland fans to call Gruden a traitor. Gruden's current boss calls him a messiah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MALCOLM GLAZER, OWNER OF TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS: He came from heaven and he brought us to heaven.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHUNG: High praise indeed for the one-time fry cook who now stands at the top of his profession and wins our trophy as "Person of the Day."
And tomorrow, we'll be in Washington previewing the president's State of the Union speech.
And coming up next on "LARRY KING LIVE": What does the Blix report on Iraq mean? Well, Larry will ask former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger.
Thank you so much for joining us. And for all of us at CNN, good night and we'll see you tomorrow.
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