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CNN CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT
Is bin Laden Tape Warning of New Attack?; Clara Harris Trial Nears End
Aired February 11, 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, a new tape with new threats. Is it Osama bin Laden? And is the next 9/11 imminent?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: A new tape reported to be Osama bin Laden is released.
OSAMA BIN LADEN, AL QAEDA LEADER (through translator): And we also encourage the suicide attacks against the enemy. Just look at what happened to the U.S. and Israel.
ANNOUNCER: Renewed threats and the claim of partnership with Iraq. But can it be verified. Bracing for the worst. The latest U.S. intelligence points to imminent attacks against the U.S..
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The intelligence is not idle chatter on the part of terrorists or their associates. It points to plots that could include the use of a radiological dispersal device, as well as poisons and chemicals.
ANNOUNCER: Is the U.S. prepared to meet the threat?
She was in the driver's seat the night her husband died beneath the wheels of her car. Tonight, the twisted Texas trial nears a conclusion.
The Oscar race.
MARISA TOMEI, ACTRESS: I'm pleased to announce that the films selected as the best picture nominees for 2002 are.
ANNOUNCER: Tonight, Hollywood hopefuls in the spotlight. Plus Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Oprah like you've never seen before they hit the big time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was my first starring role I was in every scene.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: And our person of the day, 13's a lucky number.
This is CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT. From the CNN broadcast center in New York. Connie Chung.
CHUNG: Good evening. Tonight, two alarming developments in the war on terror -- one in Washington, which we'll get to in just a moment. And one from an unknown location, The release of an audiotape purported to be a new tape from Osama bin Laden.
Seventeen months to the day after more than 3,000 people died on 9/11, the new tape reveals major threats. CNN national security correspondent David Ensor has the details. David, this tape is only 16 minutes long, but I think the message is clear, and quite ominous.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It is ominous, Connie. It is a call to arms by Osama bin Laden, addressed to the Iraqi people. And as you will hear, he's calling on them to fight Americans wherever they find them.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
BIN LADEN (through translator): Our brothers, the mujahideen in Iraq, don't worry about America's lies, about the powers and the military might. The smart bombs they talk about will do nothing when it comes to bunkers.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ENSOR: One U.S. official, Connie, said this is an example of Osama bin Laden doing what he once did with the Palestinian and Israeli cause. And that is, trying to piggyback on an issue where a lot of Muslims are angry at the United States.
CHUNG: Now, David, in this tape, he actually encourages suicide bombings. But he also suggests other methods. What are they?
ENSOR: Well, he talks about advising the Iraqis to dig deep bunkers and use the earth as their protection. He talks about how Iraqis should figure out how to drag American forces into the streets of their cities where they'll be more vulnerable and where more Americans can die. He says that Americans can't stand casualties. He claims that he learned that in Tora Bora.
He also goes on to talk a little bit about Saddam Hussein. He doesn't praise him. But at the same time, he makes common cause, as you will, with the Iraqi government. Here's how he put it.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
BIN LADEN (through translator): If the Muslims and the communists get together to fight the crusaders, that's okay. The communists and their leaders have vanished a long time ago, and communists are infidels. It doesn't matter if they're in Baghdad or elsewhere.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ENSOR: When you hear Osama bin Laden use the word communist in that context, he's talking about the Ba'athist party of Iraq. In other words, he means Saddam Hussein's people. -- Connie.
CHUNG: David, is there a link? And does this bolster the administration's contention there is a link between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden?
ENSOR: Administration officials are quick this evening, Connie, to say that they believe it does. One senior administration official put it this way, "At best, it shows common cause with a brutal dictator. At worst, it demonstrates a burgeoning alliance of terror" -- Connie.
CHUNG: David, I think one of the more alarming parts of what has happened is that there have been many times that after Osama bin Laden releases a tape, there is, in fact, a terrorist attack.
ENSOR: Well, that's right. There have been terrorist attacks after tapes. And I was talking to a senior intelligence official today on Capitol Hill. He was noting that fact. It doesn't mean there'll be another attack. But there have been attacks within weeks of previous tapes being released. So, the threat level is already high in the eyes of American intelligence officials. This tape makes it higher -- Connie.
CHUNG: David Ensor, thank you.
So what is Osama bin Laden up to with this tape? One of the few western journalists who has spoken with Osama bin Laden is CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen who joins us now from Washington. Peter, there isn't any doubt in your mind that it is Osama bin Laden's voice. Why do you think this tape is authentic?
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, Connie, I met with bin Laden in '97 and I also listened to his voice many, many times. And I'm confident it's his voice. And, obviously, Secretary Powell this morning believed that it was authentic. Octavia Nasr, a CNN editor who translated it in Atlanta, believes it to be authentic. And I can't say 100 percent, but I'd be very surprised if it isn't, let's put it that way.
CHUNG: And, Peter, can you tell us what the significance of it is?
BERGEN: Well, I think it will galvanize bin Laden's base, and people who are maybe sitting on the fence. A: it will appear that bin Laden is alive right now. B: you know, he's calling for this jihad. It was quite a long tape. The last tape we had from bin Laden was only four minutes. This was 16 minutes. Quite a substantial piece of propaganda, as it were, from his side. So, I think that it will, you know, definitely galvanize his supporters.
And I think that if there is a war in Iraq, I think we can safely make several -- two predictions. It doesn't matter what you're view about the war in Iraq, but there will be more anti-Western attacks as a result of the war. And there will also, perhaps, be an attack from al Qaeda itself. If they can't pull together for the war in Iraq, then they're obviously out of business. I mean, they will look to use the war as an occasion to launch a -- maybe an American attack against American interests.
CHUNG: Since you do mention the potential war in Iraq, do you believe that this message actually was not a surprise, that we could have expected it?
BERGEN: Well, I think that's an excellent question, Connie. I mean, Bin Laden had to produce this tape in a sense. I mean, if he had no comment on the impending war in Iraq, after all, the most important event in the Middle East, arguably for the last decade, then that would be an indication that he was, you know, really in poor health or perhaps dead. So, I think he had to make this kind of statement.
CHUNG: Is there any way to gauge when the message was made?
BERGEN: Again, a very good question. I think the answer to that is who knows? I mean, we are being -- the United States and its allies have been talking about a potential war against Iraq for months now. So this tape could have been made any time in the last month.
My gut feeling about it, though, however, Connie, is the following -- that somehow the language that is used in the tape suggests it was made more recently. And, clearly, he's talking about impending attack on Iraq. That wasn't clear necessarily. If you go back several months it was a matter of discussion. At this moment we have, you know, the United States has hundreds of thousands of troops going towards the Gulf. Clearly, the war is potentially imminent.
CHUNG: And why do you think it was an audiotape and not a videotape?
BERGEN: I think there are several reasons for that. One, bin Laden may have changed his appearance. After all he's a man on the run. He may not want the world to know what he looks like. Two, he may have another reason for not wanting -- letting the world know what he looks like. He is in poor health. I mean, the last videotape we saw of him the guy is only 45. He's about to celebrate his 46th birthday. And on that last audiotape -- videotape, he looked like he was in his late 60s. So, you know, disguise, poor health.
Also, I think an audiotape is easier to secrete, easier than a videotape to get across borders. And also bin Laden may be concerned about giving away his location. In previous videotapes, people have tried to analyze the background to see where he is.
CHUNG: Where do you think he is? I mean, is it possible that he's in Iraq?
BERGEN: Well, that's a $25 million question. I think the likelihood of him being in Iraq is zero, basically. I think he's in the border area of Afghanistan and Pakistan, an area he knows incredibly and he's been visiting since 1980.
CHUNG: All right. Peter Bergen, it's always good to have your insight. I appreciate it very much.
BERGEN: Thank you, Connie. CHUNG: And another disturbing development in the war on terror also involves Osama bin Laden. The heads of the CIA and FBI today issued dire warnings based on intelligence reports that are, quote, "the most specific we have seen." CNN justice correspondent Kelly Arena sums up the testimony for us tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the nation remains on high alert, intelligence chiefs offered a sobering assessment to Congress of the current al Qaeda threat and the possibility of an attack as early as this week.
GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: It points to plots that could include the use of a radiological dispersal device, as well as poisons and chemicals. The intelligence is not idle chatter on the part of terrorists or their associates. It is the most specific we have seen.
ARENA: FBI Director, Robert Mueller, warned of hundreds of al Qaeda sympathizers in the United States, and the possibility that undetected sleeper cells lie in wait to strike.
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: Our greatest threat is from al Qaeda cells in the United States that we have not yet been able to identify. Finding and rooting out al Qaeda members once they have entered the United States...
ARENA: From some Democrats, skepticism about Secretary Powell's assertion at the U.N. that there are ties between al Qaeda and the Iraqi government. The discussion focused on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al Qaeda associate who the CIA says spent time in Baghdad, and whether intelligence suggests he and his associates are under the control of the Iraqi government.
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: You're saying that you don't know if they're under the support, they're under the control or direction?
MUELLER: Sir, what we've said is al-Zarqawi and this (ph)large number of operatives are in Baghdad. And it is inconceivable to us that the Iraqi intelligence service doesn't know that they live there, or what they're doing.
ARENA: As for the threat Iraq itself poses, officials say Saddam Hussein will use weapons of mass destruction against the United States if there is a war.
MUELLER: One thing you have to remember is Saddam Hussein built a WMD program with inspectors living in his country for years. He understood how to acquire chemical and biological capabilities. He understood how to establish a clandestine procurement network. He understands how to cross borders.
(on camera): Despite the assessment, officials say current tensions with Baghdad are not a factor in determining the risk of another terror attack. They say al Qaeda is determined to strike regardless and will do so in its own time frame.
Kelly Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG: Now, I want you to listen carefully to the following. The Department of Homeland Security has suggested possible steps that Americans can take to increase their odds of survival in an attack. For one, stock up on duct tape and plastic sheeting to seal any cracks or other sources of outside air in the event of an attack using airborne chemical or biological weapons.
Make sure you've got scissors capable of cutting your material to the needed size. Also, in the event utilities are cut off, officials recommend stocking a battery-powered radio and extra batteries, a three-day supply of water and nonperishable food for each person in your household and a first aid kit.
Now, still ahead -- the evidence is in. The final testimony in the People vs Clara Harris, accused of murdering her cheating husband by repeatedly driving over him in her car. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: The fate of Clara Harris will likely be in the hands of the jury by this time tomorrow. Today was the last day of testimony in the astonishing trial of the former Colombian beauty queen and dentist. She is facing life in prison if the jury decides she murdered her philandering husband by running over him with her Mercedes. CNN investigative correspondent Art Harris was in the courtroom again today as testimony concluded.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ART HARRIS, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Clara Harris was back in court to hear two final prosecution witnesses testify they saw her run over her husband David at least three times. Both were tennis players on courts across from the street from the Nassau Bay Hilton who heard screaming and tires screeching. "I didn't know if what I was seeing was real," said Chris Junco as tears welled up. "I heard David gasping." Clara Harris covered her eyes with her hand. Junco reached for a tissue, still obviously shaken by what he'd seen.
"The whole scene was mad," he said. "I even thought the car was pissed off at him." Asked to describe Clara Harris's face as she drove over her husband, Junco used the same words, "pissed off." When Clara Harris got out of her $70,000 Mercedes, Junco said she screamed, "Oh, David, oh, David, oh, my God, what I have done." In court, she breathed deeply, her eyes closed as Junco recalled what she said to her dying husband. "Oh, David, please stay awake! Please stay with me."
The second tennis player, Oscar Torres, said he saw the dentist's body flying after Clara's car hit him. Torres used toy cars and sound effects to tell jurors what he remembered -- the car accelerating, peeling rubber, the crash! Her composure will be put to a real test on Wednesday for closing arguments and, afterwards, when the jury files out to deliberate her fate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Nine of 12 jurors are women and fill the entire front row of the jury box. The question is, will they be more sympathetic to another woman who found her husband was unfaithful -- Connie.
CHUNG: Now, Art, those two witnesses were damaging to Clara Harris's case. What's fascinating to me is the prosecution put them on at the end. Do you know why?
HARRIS: Connie, it was a very effective way to bring the jury back to the crime scene. These were two powerful witnesses who saw it, and their testimony was full of sound effects and fury.
CHUNG: Art, coming up, the closing arguments, no doubt. Can you describe or do you have any clues as to what the defense is going to say?
HARRIS: Well, the defense can be expected to argue Connie that Clara Harris did not intend to kill her husband, that she hit him but does not remember it. And that's what she testified. So it will be her story against the prosecution's evidence.
CHUNG: Art, how would you characterize the prosecution's closing arguments?
HARRIS: Well, what we expect to hear, Connie, is they will argue she did intend to kill him and circle the parking lot three times, running over him at least twice. They will also introduce or remind the jury that she told police afterwards, "I wanted to hurt him."
CHUNG: Clara Harris could face life in prison if found guilty. What is the best-case scenario for her?
HARRIS: Well, even if the jury finds her guilty of murder, Connie, they could find it was sudden passion. Under Texas law, that could allow them to give her as little time as probation. Now, under Texas law, it's one of few states where you can be found guilty of murder, and ride down the elevator with the jury when it's over -- Connie.
CHUNG: And, finally, at the end of the day, when court was closed but before the jury went out, any clues from that jury?
HARRIS: The jury has been paying very close attention to every witness. I haven't seen them fall asleep once. They seem to be moved by today's witnesses. They were powerful prosecution witnesses. But it is so hard to tell. You can't read juries. Anybody who bets on them is bound to lose -- Connie.
CHUNG: All right. Art Harris in Houston, thank you. Joining us Lillian Smith, a friend of both Clara and David Harris. She joins us tonight from Houston. Thank you, Lillian, for being with us.
LILLIAN SMITH, FRIEND OF HARRISES: Thank you.
CHUNG: You've been in the courtroom just about every day. How do you think Clara Harris has been portrayed?
SMITH: I think Clara has been very honest. I think she is an honest person and, hopefully, the truth will weigh out in this. I think she's been very truthful and very straightforward.
CHUNG: Lillian, I know that over the years you've gone to church with Clara and David, do you think that Clara Harris would intentionally kill her husband?
SMITH: Absolutely not. I do not believe it is in Clara Harris to do anything that would harm David or any other individual.
CHUNG: Even though you know she did, in fact, run him over and kill him?
SMITH: I think it was an accident. I don't think Clara ever intended to run David down by any means. I think it was strictly an accident.
CHUNG: Lillian, may I ask you this, still bearing in mind that all those witnesses, even the ones that were in there today said that she did run them over -- run him over and, perhaps, more than once.
SMITH: I think in a time of turmoil like that, I think a lot of people see things differently. I'm not going to say that they didn't see what they thought they saw. I just do not believe that Clara is capable of running someone down and purposely harming anyone. She's just not that spirited.
CHUNG: Lillian, you've been able to have lunch with Clara, have private conversations with her, do you think that she is mentally prepared for the verdict, even if it is guilty and that she has to go to prison?
SMITH: I think it would be devastating for Clara. I think that she's a very strong person. However, I think she would be devastated if she ends up in prison. At the same time, I know that she will make it through that. I know that she will -- will do whatever she has to, to be with her family again and to be with her boys and raise those boys.
CHUNG: And is she holding up OK?
SMITH: As well as anyone could hold up under those circumstances. You know, when you're accused of murder, I can't imagine being in that position. So I think she's holding up as well as anyone could possibly hold up.
CHUNG: Lillian Smith, thank you.
SMITH: Thank you very much.
CHUNG: Still ahead, what could be funny about efforts to get the French to support a U.S. invasion of Iraq? If you ask the comedians, it's France itself. But is America's oldest ally getting a raw deal? Stay with us.
ANNOUNCER: Still ahead -- the nominees are -- who are the front runners in this year's Oscar race? "Entertainment Tonight's" Mary Hart handicaps the field. CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT continues in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: Despite President Bush's disappointment, some key NATO allies and powerful members of the U.N. continue to oppose his plans to invade Iraq. The U.S. and France are drafting different policy papers for the United Nations. France is not alone in opposing the U.S. drive to declare inspections pointless and move to military action. But as CNN's Bruce Burkhardt reports, the tension with France goes beyond diplomatic circles all the way to late night comedy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: Yes, dogs from all over the world are participating in the Kennel Club show, except for the French poodles and the German shepherds. They are refusing to participate. They don't want any part of it.
BRUCE BURKHARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): David Letterman has gotten in his shots, so has Donald Rumsfeld.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: You're thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don't. I think that's old Europe.
BURKHARDT: Be it a comedian or a defense secretary, liberal or conservative, few things bring us together like the French.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: France, Germany and Belgium -- that troika of people who just don't get it.
BURKHARDT: The Germans and the Belgians, sure many Americans are irritated with them for this latest NATO disagreement. But the French, perhaps the best material is saved for France.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: France is the one country who is involved in this whole Iraq deal only for the oil. Maybe a little bit of envy, maybe oily envy.
BURKHARDT (on camera): The French know how to get under our skin, and we know how to get under theirs. There are even Web sites devoted to anti-French jokes. What do you call 100,000 Frenchman with their hands up? The army. Well, that's a joke, yeah. But it does get to the heart of what bugs many Americans about those Beaujolais- sipping, Jerry Lewis watching, frog-legged eating French. Yesterday's New York Post says it all. "White crosses on French soil, a reminder that were it not for American sacrifices in two world wars, the French might be speaking German. Well, in fairness, it's worth pointing out that we all might be saying secretary instead of secretary were it not for a little French help during the American revolution. But in this century, the French, in the view of many, have stuck their head in the sand.
One huge American ideal is the notion of the stand-up guy, and the French critical moments are perceived to be sitting down, often at the at United Nations.
(voice-over): Saturday Night Live had some fun with that idea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My government would like to propose the following -- that we adjourn this special session of the Security Council and all go to lunch at an extremely expensive restaurant with the U.N. picking up the tab.
BURKHARDT: The French and the Americans are like a brother and sister in the back seat on a long family road trip, poking and needling each other. But in the end, they are family. And, though, this latest episode has a lot more import than a back seat spat, the French people and Americans are likely to be bashing each other for generations to come.
Bruce Burkhardt, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG: But does it have to be that way between the U.S. and France, America's oldest ally? Can't we all just get along? Well, tonight, we're going to ask Justin Vice who is a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, and also, in Washington, John Hulsman, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation focusing on European affairs. John Hulsman, don't you think the French just deserve this bashing?
JOHN HULSMAN, RESEARCH FELLOW, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Well, I think there are a couple of things at work here. I mean, for many, many years, those of us who read French newspapers were desperate not to have them translated into English because the bashing from the other side of the Atlantic, I think, far exceeded what went on in the United States. But, recently, I think --
CHUNG: Well, it's politically correct to be anti-American in France, isn't it?
HULSMAN: I think to some extent it is. But I think the United States' patience level has kind of run thin. And I think that is for three really basic reasons. One, I think Americans really see the French as having delusions of grandeur. They speak as though they are a global power, when they don't have the political, economic and cultural wherewithal to back up that.
Secondly, I think Americans feel that they're kind of hypocritical. The French government certainly in a sense. They talk about international law when trying to constrain America through the U.N. process over Iraq, but until recently didn't care a whole lot what the U.N. said about their adventures in Africa. And then, lastly, I think there is a sense of moral relativism or kind of historical forgetfulness. You hear in interviews in France things like, well, I mean, we don't believe the American evidence. They could have manufactured that.
CHUNG: Justin Vice, if you're going to be France and you're going to bash Americans, and you're going to be anti-American, shouldn't you expect criticism from Americans?
JUSTIN VICE, VISITING FELLOW, BROOKINGS INSTITUTE: Yes, of course. But, you know, the irony in all this is that I have been fighting anti-Americanism in my own country for a long time, to explain American, and all that. And, unfortunately, what I witnessed here is a kind of symmetric evolution and debate -- that is, you know, French bashing. And, you know, when you replace argument and the trading of serious argument and all that by epithet and insults, you know, that is just the debate that gets lower in terms of standards. And so everybody has to lose at that game.
CHUNG: Sure.
John Hulsman, isn't it true, though, the more you bash the French, the more they will believe that they are correct?
HULSMAN: I think there is kind of a perversity on both sides, that, if you attack them, that that is signification that they are correct.
And I think it's important, again, to play the arguments. But, behind the arguments, you have to look at interests. I think it is legitimate for Americans to say, France has 4 billion or so dollars worth of interest in Iraq and is that coloring their position, because national interests are legitimate? I think that's a policy argument that needs to be made.
CHUNG: Justin Vaisse , doesn't President Bush sort of crystallize everything that the French hate about America?
VAISSE: I don't think so. He certainly crystallizes a number of features that Europeans don't like about America. That is true. But it's not only a personal problem here.
What is at stake is also the manner in which the Bush administration has been presenting its foreign policy program since it took office in this very unilateral kind of way, saying, OK, we do that for our own national interests and we don't care about the rest of the world. And I think, what you're witnessing here on the part of France and Germany, but, also that 80 percent of European opinion, whether they come from Britain or some place else, is just a kind of payback for this unilateral talk.
CHUNG: John Hulsman, why don't the Americans bash the Germans or the Russians? Why is it all focused on France? HULSMAN: I think there's fatigue in the sense that, on a number of issues over the last 10 years, be they economic, like the common agricultural policy, or the death penalty, or the axis of evil, or the epithets coming out of France that President Bush is a cowboy, a stupid one at that, is trigger-happy, I think, at a certain point, the Americans are saying: Look, we are throwing our hands up. We don't believe that the French are judging these things on its merits.
And that's the danger in the relationship at the moment. France has always been a lightning rod for criticism of the United States. And that's because France has really taken it upon itself to say that: We're this other pole of power, that we can come along, but, in effect, be a loyal opposition in the alliance.
And after a while, that gets very tiring to hear to anybody's ears.
CHUNG: Justin Vaisse, final question, bottom line, in 10 seconds, if the United States does go to war with Iraq, do you think France is going to support the U.S.?
VAISSE: It depends how on it goes.
If it goes with the U.N. Security Council, as everybody, including the 10 Europeans that John were referring to inside this framework, this international framework, yes, France will definitely join and support the Bush administration. If it just is a unilateral intervention, I think it will not join.
CHUNG: All right, Justin Vaisse and John Hulsman, I thank you both for joining us.
VAISSE: Thanks.
HULSMAN: Pleasure.
CHUNG: As it turns out, the ongoing diplomatic clash between the U.S. and France is also the top news in tonight's look at "The World in: 60."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG (voice-over): An emergency NATO session ended today without any resolution to the impasse over defending Turkey in the event of war against Iraq. The dispute was triggered Monday when France, Belgium and Germany blocked plans to ship military equipment to Turkey. NATO members will reconvene tomorrow.
Authorities are searching for a man who was spotted before dawn this morning heading toward the Oakland Bay Bridge in a small inflatable boat. The vessel was running without lights and nearly collided with a tugboat.
A key suspect in last October's nightclub bombings in Bali showed how he wired the explosives that killed chose to 200 people. He admitted that Americans were the intended targets, though most of the victims were young Australian backpackers.
In Saudi Arabia, 14 people were trampled to death during the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. It happened during a symbolic devil-stoning ritual at the site of fatal stampedes in past pilgrimages.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Coming up:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIA ROBERTS, ACTRESS: A friend of mine said, I saw the poster and you have a mustache. And I as like, oh, God. He says, but that means New York likes you. They wouldn't bother to take the time to do it if they didn't like you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: A rare look back at some of Hollywood's hottest stars before they lit up the screen -- when CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: If you thought past Oscars might have been, well, a little too boring, this is your year. Nominations came out today, setting some records and including one nominee for best picture that's a throwback with a new twist.
As we hear from CNN's Thelma Gutierrez, this year's going to be interesting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The movie that danced away with the most nominations for the 75th annual Academy Awards.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Chicago."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Chicago."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Chicago."
GUTIERREZ: The movie musical's 13 nominations include best picture, Renee Zellweger for best actress, and Catherine Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah for best supporting actress and John C. Reilly for best supporting actor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For best performance by an actress in a leading role are, the nominees are...
GUTIERREZ: This year, it was the women who shined in strong roles about women.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Salma Hayek, Nicole Kidman, Diane Lane, Julianne Moore.
GUTIERREZ: And captured the academy's attention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FAR FROM HEAVEN")
JULIANNE MOORE, ACTRESS: Every girl has her secret.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTIERREZ: Julianne Moore took two nominations, for best actress in "Far From Heaven" and best supporting actress in "The Hours."
MOORE: It's such a great, great day, because these are movies that I cared about so much and were so personal and so interesting to me.
GUTIERREZ: Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf was also nominated for best actress in "The Hours." Last year, she was nominated for "Moulin Rouge."
NICOLE KIDMAN, ACTRESS: It's happened two years in a row. And you just have to sit back for a minute and go, this is unusual and special special.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FRIDA")
SALMA HAYEK, ACTRESS: If you think I'm going to sleep with you just because...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTIERREZ: Also in the best actress category: Salma Hayek for "Frida," a film that took 10 years to bring to the big screen. And Diane Lane for unfaithful.
DIANE LANE, ACTRESS: I'm done. I'm satisfied. My cup overfloweth already, completely, just to be in their company.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "ADAPTATION")
MERYL STREEP, ACTRESS: Nice to meet you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTIERREZ: Meryl Streep received her 13th Oscar nomination, this time for best supporting actress in "Adaptation," making her the most nominated actor in history.
Streep's co-star in "Adaptation," Nicolas Cage, got a nod in the best actor category. He goes up against Michael Caine, "The Quiet American"; Daniel Day-Lewis, "Gangs of New York"; and Jack Nicholson for "About Schmidt"; and Adrien Brody for "The Pianist."
ADRIEN BRODY, ACTOR: Obviously, I'm honored for the recognition that I have received for this. But, really, I have to attribute it to the power of the story. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "GANGS OF NEW YORK")
LEONARDO DICAPRIO, ACTOR: Challenge.
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS, ACTOR: Challenge accepted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTIERREZ: And last but not least, for best picture: "Gangs of New York," "The Pianist," "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," "Chicago," and "The Hours."
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG: Now, who knows the world of entertainment better than the woman who's reported on it for two decades. Tonight, we're dishing Oscars with the host of "Entertainment Tonight," Mary Hart.
Mary, thank you so much.
MARY HART, "ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT": Connie, it's so good to see you.
CHUNG: I love seeing you. Boy, we've been friends for all that time, haven't we?
(LAUGHTER)
HART: We have known each other for, yes, even more than two decades -- which I can't believe.
CHUNG: I know. But you look the same.
All right, let's do the Oscars first. What was your biggest surprise?
HART: I think, one, the very pleasant surprise that I had was hearing Salma Hayek's name.
CHUNG: Right.
HART: I wasn't sure if she was going to be mentioned. So many people had talked about double nominations for Meryl Streep. It was Julianne Moore, of course, who did get the double nomination, first time in nine years that has happened.
But Salma was a very pleasant surprise. I think a big omission was Dennis Quaid. A lot of people anticipated that he would be nominated in the best lead acting category for "Far From Heaven," because he did a superb job in that. That would have meant that someone else would have to go, of course.
CHUNG: Right. OK, I am going to ask you to take a plunge, all right? I'm want you to give your predictions. And we'll go through them fairly quickly.
HART: All right. Is my life on the line here?
CHUNG: You bet.
(LAUGHTER)
HART: Is my reputation at stake?
CHUNG: All right, best actor?
HART: I really think Daniel Day-Lewis will get the Oscar again. Now, he's won once before for "My Left Foot." He's been nominated twice. But I think it's, again, his year for "Gangs of New York."
CHUNG: All right, best actress?
HART: Best actress, it's a tough one to call. It's very difficult this year. But I really think "Chicago" has bowled everybody over.
CHUNG: Oh, yes.
HART: And so has Renee Zellweger. She didn't win it last year. I think she's going to win it this year.
CHUNG: I thought she was great.
All right, best supporting actress?
HART: Best supporting actress, I do believe will be -- I'm kind of putting my money on Julianne Moore. There's always a two-edged sword here when you have a double nomination. Which category will people be voting for you in? I think, because Renee Zellweger's going to get the votes there, that they're going to go for Julianne in the supporting category.
CHUNG: Best supporting actor?
HART: And best supporting actor, I believe Chris Cooper. He's been one of those interesting performers. Throughout the years, we've seen him in a slew of television performances over the years, for 20 years. Same with movies. He's a terrific character actor. Everybody knows his face. They don't necessarily know his name.
CHUNG: His name, yes.
HART: And I think this is his year.
CHUNG: OK, best -- you know what? We're going to do a quick best director, OK, before we get to best picture.
HART: Oh, I think it's Marty Scorsese's year, even though "Gangs of New York" was not as highly critically acclaimed as I felt it deserved.
CHUNG: Right.
HART: I loved the movie. I just feel he worked so long and hard on this. He came up with this idea. He's wanted to do it for 25 years. And I think he has never won an Oscar. It's his time.
CHUNG: All right, the last 20 seconds, best picture. But I want to ask you one more question. How about if you do that in 10 seconds, best picture?
HART: Best picture?
CHUNG: Yes.
HART: "Chicago."
CHUNG: OK. Final question: Roman Polanski is nominated. He's never going to come here. Otherwise, he'll be arrested.
HART: I do not believe he would come. And I think maybe he even said today in a statement that he would not be coming here. But what about satellite feed? I'll bet you he'll be watching via satellite. You know he'd love to be here, but he's still in trouble.
CHUNG: You got it.
Mary, I thank you so much, but I don't want you to go away, because you have got this great special coming up on this Friday, right?
HART: I do.
CHUNG: And it has all of this great old footage of the stars that you have interviewed over the years.
HART: And I want you to see it.
CHUNG: OK, I know you do, because, actually, I've seen some of the clips. They're great. Let's look at one of them, Tom Cruise.
HART: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: It was my first starring role. I was in every scene.
HART: Tom has come a long way from the young man who once was filled with doubt that he would ever make it.
CRUISE: I'm terrified every time I start a film, you know? I look at it as my last film.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: Of course, Oscars usually go to actors who have already made it big in the business. But as Mary Hart's special on Friday reminds us, sometimes it's more fun to go back. Roll back, and look at those same stars before they were big, stars such as a very, very young Drew Barrymore getting a first taste of the accolades to come.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HART: I want to you just take a little trip back with me.
DREW BARRYMORE, ACTRESS: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drew Barrymore, "E.T."
BARRYMORE: I want to thank you all for this award. I appreciate it very much. This is my first award.
I was 6, too, like, of course, it was my first award.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
CHUNG: Isn't that cute?
A lot more stars than that show up in "The Stars," the first time on "Entertainment Tonight" with Mary Hart. And so we have asked her to come back and share some of those really choice moments with us.
It's great.
HART: Connie, I had more fun doing this special. I've been working on it -- all of us have been working on it since November, trying to gather up these interviews and trying to convince people it would be OK if I showed them footage of themselves from way back then, their first appearances on "ET."
Not everybody was convinced that that would be a good thing. But once they sat with me -- for example, Denzel said, no, I just don't think that would be such a great idea. Come on, Denzel. OK, I'll play along.
At the last minute, I sat down with him. And by the end of looking at this footage -- three times, mind you -- he said, my kids have to see this. I've got to take it home.
CHUNG: That's so sweet.
HART: And that was the experience I had with everybody, Drew Barrymore, watching herself as a 6-, and 7-, and 8-, and then 15-, 16- and 20-year-old, because we go through a lot of her career.
CHUNG: How about Tom Cruise?
HART: Tom Cruise before he was a star. When you showed that clip before we went to commercial break, that was Tom Cruise walking down the Sunset Strip, of course, "Risky Business," the big billboard behind him, of himself. But you know what? At that time, in 1983, he wasn't even a little blip on the radar screen.
CHUNG: Oh, my gosh.
HART: Nobody noticed. Today, can you imagine? They'd be mobbed.
CHUNG: Oh, they would go crazy. Yes, absolutely.
All right, I want to show another little clip that you brought with you of George Clooney early on.
HART: OK. Oh, he was so much fun, so much fun to talk to.
CHUNG: And so cute.
HART: So cute. Still is.
CHUNG: Yes. OK, let's listen to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR: Without question, I'm the highest paid and I'm the most important person on the show. Is that fair, guys?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's fair, George.
CLOONEY: I'd like to buy all of this footage back, if I could.
HART: Would you really? Why?
CLOONEY: Sure.
HART: Come on.
CLOONEY: No, there's worse stuff. There's some stuff I'd really like to buy back.
HART: Does this embarrass you?
CLOONEY: I was sort of the worst combination of bad acting and overconfidence that you've ever seen. So, you're watching, you, like, go, oh, my God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHUNG: Oh, my God is right.
HART: The thing that is so neat about George is, with all his success, he has always kept a very balanced perspective on his career, because he had so much failure early on.
CHUNG: He worked so hard early on.
HART: It took him a long time to succeed in Hollywood.
CHUNG: Really?
HART: And he is just as charming. And he's not afraid of putting himself down. He has this wonderful self-deprecating sense of humor. And he's just the best. So, he played along and I think thoroughly enjoyed it, and hasn't paid me for the old footage yet.
(LAUGHTER)
CHUNG: All right, your favorite, Bon Jovi?
HART: I say that's maybe my favorite segment. It's hard to tell, because we have a lot of stars in this one hour.
(CROSSTALK)
CHUNG: Well, let's look at a clip first, OK?
HART: OK, let's take a look. I won't give anything away.
CHUNG: All right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON BON JOVI, MUSICIAN: Man, I got to learn some cooler chords to write some songs, because I'm going to be a rock 'n' roll star.
HART: You knew it.
BON JOVI: That naivete and blind faith is why we're talking now, because, if I had a brain in my head, I would have realized that this was impossible.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG: Oh, isn't that great?
HART: He has a lot more to say. We have Bon Jovi from back in that first year when Bon Jovi was formed. And that was 20 years ago. And he was quite cocky. His attitude about women was entirely different than it is now.
He's been happily married to Dorothea. They have children. And watching him watch himself with some perspective and being somewhat judgmental was fascinating. He's very introspective.
I got to take people, Ted Danson, the cast of "Raymond," just to mention a few -- Oprah Winfrey.
CHUNG: Oh, yes.
HART: Back to where they started, when they really weren't known at all. And they all appreciated it. And they had fun. It's a fun trip back.
CHUNG: Terrific. So, we'll watch on Valentine's Day.
HART: On Valentine's Day. Don't go out with your date, at least not until after the special.
CHUNG: OK. We'll do that.
HART: On CBS.
CHUNG: All right.
HART: Connie, it's great to see you again.
CHUNG: Thank you, Mary.
You know, I might have to dig up early footage of you, too
(CROSSTALK)
HART: ... in Los Angeles.
CHUNG: Oh, yes. I don't think you have it.
HART: I bet we could get it.
CHUNG: You wouldn't be able to find it. I know you wouldn't be able to find it.
(LAUGHTER)
HART: Well, it's before "ET," so you're lucky.
CHUNG: OK. Mary Hart, thank you.
And still ahead: Action hero takes on the mob. No, it's not a made-in-Hollywood story. This time, it's for real.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: Democratic presidential hopeful Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts will have his prostate removed tomorrow, after being diagnosed with what his doctor called a very early and curable form of cancer. The 59-year-old Kerry will have the surgery at Johns Hopkins University hospital in Baltimore. He's expected to make a quick recovery and will continue with his presidential bid.
Tonight's "Snapshot" begins with the story of an actor who took a stand today by taking the stand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG (voice-over): Actor Steven Seagal brought star power to the prosecution's case in a Brooklyn mob trial today. He said the Gambino crime family demanded he make movies for them, or else. Women's rights activist Martha Burk says the location planned for protesters at the Masters golf tournament are too far from the site. Her group is protesting the all-male membership at Augusta, which hosts the tournament.
The actor who plays the Dell Computer dude in TV commercials will get his misdemeanor drug charge thrown out if he goes a year without another arrest. The judge cut Benjamin Curtis some slack after he was busted Sunday night for allegedly buying a small bag of marijuana.
Look for Christopher Reeve to do a guest appearance ABC's courtroom drama "The Practice" sometime soon. "USA Today" says he will play a paralyzed man whose wife is accused of murder.
The man who never lived down calling the Watergate break-in just a third-rate burglary is dead after a heart attack at 63. Ron Ziegler was President Nixon's press secretary during the scandal that ended his presidency.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: Tonight, with apologies to Katharine Hepburn, we salute the stellar feat accomplished by our "Person of the Day."
Meryl Streep today became the most nominated actor in Academy Award history, passing Katharine Hepburn by. Streep was nominated for her supporting role in "Adaptation."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "ADAPTATION")
STREEP: Nice to meet you. Maybe I could talk to you for a second. I'm just trying to get a feel for the whole...
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: You have beautiful hair.
STREEP: Oh, thank you very much. Thank you. I just washed it this morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHUNG: It is her 13th nomination, following her previous nominations for -- and I have to take a deep breath here -- "Music of the Heart," "One True Thing," "The Bridges of Madison County, "Postcards from the Edge," "A Cry in the Dark," "Ironweed," "Out of Africa," "Silkwood," "Sophie's Choice," "The French Lieutenant's Woman," Kramer Vs. Kramer," and "The Deer Hunter."
Put another way, she's been a nominee at 17 percent of all the Oscar ceremonies ever. But she only won twice, back in 1980 for "Kramer vs. Kramer," and in 1983 for "Sophie's Choice."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SOPHIE'S CHOICE")
STREEP: I'm going to tell you something now I have never told anybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHUNG: Twenty years later, maybe it's time for another Oscar to go home with our "Person of the Day."
And tomorrow: Did Clara Harris murder her cheating husband? The case goes to the jury. You'll hear the closing arguments. Plus: a rare interview with the family of Laci Peterson. She was due to give birth yesterday, but she's now been missing a month and a half.
And coming up next on "LARRY KING LIVE," exclusively: Priscilla Presley.
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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