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CNN Live Today
Catholic Church Opening Records on Sex Abuse Over Past Half Century; U.S. Losing Faith in President Aristide
Aired February 27, 2004 - 10:00 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, ANCHOR: Coming up live this hour, we're looking at Bob Bennett of the "National Review." And this is the Catholic Church. It's opening its records on sex abuse over the past half century. Those numbers are astounding. A live report from Washington and much more on this is ahead.
Turning, though, first to the growing crisis in Haiti. The U.S. has signaled it is losing faith in President Aristide. He faces a rebel uprising, now three weeks old, and dwindling international support. But for the moment at least the embattled Haitian leader is standing fast.
CNN's Lucia Newman reports from Port-au-Prince.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Outside the presidential palace, impassioned Aristide supporters vowed to defend their president with their life. Shouting five years, the length of his term. International as well as local pressure for Aristide to resign is mounting, but when CNN asked him if he would consider leaving the palace, he flatly said no.
JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE, HAITIAN PRESIDENT: We have had 32 coup d'etat. It's enough. We need now to respect the constitutional order. And I will leave the palace on February 7, 2006, which is good for our democracy.
NEWMAN: In the capital, nerves are on edge. Almost all businesses are closed. Gasoline stations, normally open 24 hours are closing at dusk; while people scramble to stock up on fuel, just in case. Rumors, both of attacks by mobs by Aristide supporters and of his resignation are spreading like wildfire.
U.S. Marines escorted more than 100 nonessential U.N. personnel and their families to the airport. Wednesday, they couldn't be evacuated because of enormous roadblocks, set up along the road by often-aggressive groups claiming to support the president.
In San Marc, the only city in between the capital and rebel held territory, the Belgian based aid organization, Doctors Without Borders, is preparing for the worst.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The people are scared. But at least we can say we are guaranteeing the security of the population.
NEWMAN: This as the rebels promise to march towards the capitol as soon as the time is right, which they claim could be very soon.
(on camera): In the meantime, many airlines have started canceling their flights to Haiti, prompting some countries such as the Dominican Republic, Mexico and even Canada to use their military aircraft to come here and evacuate some of their nationals.
Lucia Newman, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: As we mentioned, the U.S. is not expressing a lot of confidence in President Aristide, nor rushing to help him. Secretary of State Colin Powell has now openly questioned whether Aristide should continue as president. Last night on CNN's Paula Zahn "NOW," he called on Mr. Aristide to do what's best for his country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We want President Aristide to do what he thinks is best for his country. What we are looking for is a political solution to end the violence. We've been pressing a CARICOM approach, which would require both sides entering negotiations to form a new kind of government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: For the latest updates out of Haiti, be sure to check in periodically with cnn.com/world.
Now to the on going controversy over same-sex weddings. New Paltz, New York, a small town about an hour north of New York City, jumps head long into the fray today. The Mayor Jason West says the town will begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples beginning at noon.
Earlier today on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" explained why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON WEST, MAYOR, NEW PALTZ, NY: New York State law clearly states in Article III of the Domestic Relations Law, that for a marriage to be legal in the state, all that's required is for it to be properly solemnized by someone with authority to do so. As mayor I'm full -- fully able to do that. At noon today I'll start solemnizing marriages, regardless of gender.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: New York State officials have already warned that New Paltz ris-- risks legal problems if it does go forward with same-sex marriages.
Same-sex marriage has a bit of celebrity cache. Comedienne and former talk show host, Rosie O'Donnell and long-time girlfriend Kelly Carpenter, got married yesterday in San Francisco. O'Donnell says they were motivated to take a stand after President Bush backed a proposed constitutional ban.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROSIE O'DONNELL, COMEDIENNE: We were both inspired to come here after the sitting president said the vile and vicious and hateful comments he did on Tuesday.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
O'DONNELL: It inspired myself, my brand new wife...
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: More than 3,300 gay couples have wed in San Francisco since the city began issuing certificates two weeks ago.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Now from East to West, a Pacific storm pounded the West coast and anyone who wandered too close.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See for themselves, coming up on this -- Whoa!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: You got to be faster than that. That reporter from CNN's San Francisco affiliate KRON is fine. Not so sure about the sea swamped camera though. The tail end of the storm kicked up waves to 35 feet high along the tallest seen in a decade.
Coming up on CNN LIVE TODAY, some polite sparring.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. AL SHARPTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The issue is who you go to bed with. The issue is whether either of you have a job when you get up in the morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Al Sharpton delivers a trademark one-liner during the Democratic debate last night. But who really came out on top? A live report coming your way. And the ride of a lifetime. Can a newcomer to Hollywood sink her competition? We'll see what our film critic thinks live from the red carpet.
And later...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm scared, but...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The bachelorette picks her man and joins us to talk about her experience and her future.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GERRI WILLIS, CNNfn PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Coming up, you think the housing market is on fire. Look at condominiums; sales up more than 15 percent last year, but what do you need to know if you're going to buy one? We'll tell you up next on CNN LIVE TODAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Want to take you to New York Stock Exchange now. Take a look at these numbers, not too shabby today. You see the Dow Jones industrial average going up about 63 or so resting at 10,643, 25 for the moment. And also the Nasdaq is up about 10 points as well. So good news there.
Well, you know, not all homebuyers are looking for the sprawling lawn and white picket fence. For some, condominiums are their prime real estate. In fact, the popularity of condos has reached a milestone. For the first time a typical condo costs more than a medium priced house.
And joining us to offer tips on condo buying and ownership is CNNfn personal finance editor Gerri Willis. She's also the author of the "Smart Money Guide To Real Estate Investing."
So we're really glad to have you here once again, Gerri, with your expert info on this. This is amazing.
WILLIS: Thanks Heidi.
COLLINS: This is very new information coming out about condos. A lot of people taking up the offer I bet.
WILLIS: Right. This is so surprising that we see these numbers pop higher. I think a lot of stuff is going on there. You've got boomers who are buying them as the kids leave the nest. Lots of things going on.
But if you're going to buy a condo, here's what you need to know. Understand what you're buying. If you buy a single family home you know what you're getting the title to. It's the house, it's the yard, but with a condo it's a little different. You get everything inside those interior walls, plus you and all the other condo owners, own the building and -- the entire building and property it sits on. So, it's a little different there, Heidi.
COLLINS: Also you want to make sure that you take a real close look at the operating budget of one of these condos. Not altogether sure what that means. I imagine making sure that they don't go under, right?
WILLIS: That's right. That's right exactly. You know, they have something called a "reserve" for things that happen, maybe the roof falls in or you have some kind of bad luck. But you've got to have adequate reserves to cover even those kinds of things, plus regular building maintenance, paying for the staff, all of that. So you need to make sure the reserve has three to five percent of that gross operating budget in it to take care of those special events. That budget is going to be key to having a healthy condo experience -- Heidi.
COLLINS: A healthy condo experience. I like that. In other words, maybe find out who your neighbors are going to be. Can you actually do that?
WILLIS: Well, you know, some people actually knock on doors when they go shopping.
COLLINS: Yes. Right.
WILLIS: You want to know who lives in that condo. Look, two kinds of people buy condos typically: first-time homebuyers, who can't afford a typical home, or as I was saying before, empty nesters who are looking for a different kind of lifestyle. They want to not have to take of the yard. So you want to know who these people are and make sure you fit in.
And it's critically important because not only are you going to be living closer to them than you would in a normal House, but they're also going to be making the rules about the condo and deciding how the money is going to be spent as well. So you got make sure you're on the same page with them.
COLLINS: Also, you want to make sure that you still have insurance, which I bet a lot of people forget about. You want to have two different policies when you buy a condo.
WILLIS: Right. You'll have one that covers your condo and what's inside your condo. It's a lot like a homeowners policy. Kind of like a homeowners policy and renters policy put together. And then through your condo fees, you'll also be paying for insurance for the entire building. Now, it might be sense when you get your own insurance for your unit, to use the same company that insures the entire company. Might just make it easier for you -- Heidi.
COLLINS: And that is just one of the details that you certainly don't want to forget when you're actually sitting down, signing the paperwork. You've got to read that stuff and read it closely.
WILLIS: You know, there are two big things to look at. The Master Deed and the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions And Restrictions. Lots of rules with condos, everything from how you can decorate, to whether you can have pets or not. You can't change those rules so you need to know what it is going in. But also, don't forget to ask about parking. We talked to one expert about that, Heidi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAY BROWN, "HOME BUYING FOR DUMMIES": If you're told that you have a parking space, don't just take their word, the developers' word for it or the real estate agent's word for it. Go down and look at parking spaces, because the way parking spaces are dealt out may vary wildly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIS: You know, with parking spaces, it's usually first come first serve. So make sure you know exactly where that parking space is. Make them take you out and walk to it so you know exactly where it is. It's a critical issue for many people -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, very good. Regina Lewis, thanks so much. I'm ready to buy.
WILLIS: Great.
COLLINS: All right. Thanks again.
Want to talk now about contracting a deadly illness in the work place. Employees sue a blue chip company, claiming their work place caused them to get cancer. We'll tell you what the jury decided.
And can a pirate that won children's hearts win the gold in Hollywood? Daryn Kagan is on the red carpet, and that is the question she's poses to our film critic.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Daryn Kagan live on Hollywood Boulevard, on the red carpet, two days before Oscars. Things still under wraps because the weather has been a little bit iffy out in Southern California, and I mean literally under wraps.
Look behind me. You can see some of the Oscars still in plastic wrap there. They'll be unveiling that a little bit later. Above us, they made the decision to go ahead and tent the red carpet in case Mother Nature decides to pour down. And below us, 500 square feet of red carpet is underneath all that plastic wrap. Once again, they're trying to protect it so that on Oscar Sunday everything is tiptop.
Of course, it's all about who gets to take home the real Oscar. To preview that, to look ahead, we've invited Tom O'Neill, one of our favorite procrastinators -- not procrastinators, projectors.
TOM O'NEILL: Prognosticators.
KAGAN: There you go.
O'NEILL: It's early here in LA.
KAGAN: Goldderby.com; you can go online and see what you and some other critics have picked to win Oscars. But if people don't want to do that, we're going to do that this morning.
O'NEILL: Great.
KAGAN: Let's go ahead and talk about best actor. This is probably one of the biggest tossups of all the categories.
O'NEILL: This is a total tossup. Daryn, I need your help on this, because it is neck and neck and neck, between...
KAGAN: Three necks.
O'NEILL: ... between Penn, Bill Murray and Johnny Depp. And we thought that Penn was out front and at Gold Derby actually, we -- because we issue real racetrack odds. We give him slightly best odds. We give Penn 8-5. Right behind him is bill Murray 7-4. And Johnny Depp, who pulled off a surprise last Sunday at the Screen Actors Guild, we have at 9-5.
What's your pick? I'm going to stick with Penn.
KAGAN: You're going to stick with -- now, are we talking about who you want to win or who you think will win?
O'NEILL: You have to pick who will win.
KAGAN: Who will win. I really still -- I think it'll be Sean Penn. He's been nominated. This will be his fourth nomination. He's never won. And yet, on the other side of that, as you pointed out, not the most popular guy here in Hollywood.
O'NEILL: I know. I know. He didn't show up at the Golden Globes. I think they're going to hold that against him, a lot of voters. Bill Murray did and he was charming and amusing at the podium. And that's a lot of it. The voters want to see a star at the podium who's going to put on a show on Oscar night.
KAGAN: Well, let's talk about other big stars. Best actress award. Charlize Theron, so far has swept all the other industry awards. Do you think she's going to hold tight and walk away with Oscar gold for her performance in "Monster?"
O'NEILL: Pretty good odds. What did we give her? We gave her even odds. But Diane Keaton, who is against her, is the only veteran in that race. And that's never happened before. Normally we have two or three. And watch out. I know you don believe me on this one, but little Keisha Castle Hughes from "Whale Rider," is the only girl in Oscar history to be nominated in a lead race. Daryn, they love the girls: Patti Duke, Anna Paquin, Tatum O'Neil. KAGAN: And that was all in best supporting.
O'NEILL: I know.
KAGAN: And as you say, Keisha Castle Hughes is the youngest person ever nominated for best actress. She's only 13. She is adorable. She is charming. I know you love her.
O'NEILL: I'm just saying don't discount it.
KAGAN: You are so far out here on that one. But that's OK.
O'NEILL: They're suckers for kids here, we know that. OK.
KAGAN: All right, we'll see you on Oscar Sunday.
Now, we have been pointing out throughout our coverage that Oscar has been moved up three to four weeks. Is that the big story line to watch this year? Or is there something else besides, of course, "Lord of the Rings" finally getting its due?
O'NEILL: Yes, finally getting it's due, a fantasy film finally winning best picture, which has never happened in a town where make believe is the business. Which is odd to me.
But yes, we want to know if there's any suspense in this race. Because by moving up this race one month, if all the front-runners win, it's the end of the Oscars as we know it. We're going to know from now on, oh yes, just take the Globe voters and rubberstamp those.
In the past, with that extra month, that gave Oscar voters some time to get bored with the other choices. And the Oscars felt special. And you saw upsets like "The Pianist," last year pulling off three big surprises, and "Monsters Ball," and "Training Day" the year before that. Let's hope for some upsets Daryn.
KAGAN: We will, makes Sunday more exciting.
Tom O'Neil, goldderby.com. Folks can go online and get more of your picks. Thank you.
O'NEILL: Thanks Daryn.
KAGAN: Great to see you here in Hollywood.
O'NEILL: Same here.
KAGAN: Now, of course, it's about Oscar, but it's also about the parties. Come here. I have a little sneak peek for you. Take a look at this. We've got gold Oscars. This is a preview of the food that Wolfgang Puck is preparing, of course with his huge staff, for the Governor's Ball, that's the first big party tonight. We're going to get a taste and talk with Wolfgang coming up a little bit later this hour.
CNN LIVE TODAY continues after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Welcome back everybody. We begin this hour with a check of the top stories.
The murders of at least seven women in six states have investigators concerned they may have a serial killer on their hands. They will meet to compare notes today in Oklahoma City. Most of the victims were known prostitutes. Most were last seen at truck stops along Interstate 40 in Oklahoma.
In an eight-year trial a Japanese court has condemned a cult leader to death for his role in the 1995's deadly sarin gas attack in a Tokyo subway. The subway attack alone killed 12 people. Shoko Asahara attorneys expect him to appeal.
A California jury has ruled unanimously against two retired workers who sued IBM complaining work place toxins caused their cancers. Attorneys for Big Blue now move on to another multi-million dollar suit in New York. A woman there claims factory chemicals caused her daughter's birth defects.
Sources say the judge in the Martha Stewart trial appears to be leaning against dismissing any charges against the Domestic Diva. The jury in the federal trial in New York will begin deliberations next week.
And live this hour we want to let you know the Catholic Church opens its records on sex abuse over the past half century, and the numbers are astounding. We are looking at Bob Bennett here of the National Review Board. They are holding a press conference as you see right now. Our Jason Carroll is, of course, there. He will bring us a live report coming up just a little bit later on when this is over.
In less than an hour, President Bush is scheduled to sit down for talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder at the White House. CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash joining us now with a live preview of that. Good morning to you, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. And this meeting is quite significant because it's the first time that Gerhard Schroeder will be here at the White House in more than two years. The two men, and of course the two countries, we all know, were quite at odds over the war in Iraq, the lead-in to the war in Iraq and the whole concept of toppling Saddam Hussein through military action.
Now they did break the ice this fall in New York. And since then both sides have been talking about the need to repair relations, the need to move forward with cooperation. And Germany, although they're saying that they're not sending troops to help out in Iraq, they have been sending some signals. For example, they say that they will be willing to at least restructure some of the debt that Iraq owes that country.
But Germany, as far as they're concerned, Gerhard Schroeder wants to talk to the president, not necessarily about Iraq but about economic concerns. He said at a speech yesterday in Chicago that he's concerned about the fact that the U.S. dollar is quite weak, particularly against the euro and what that is doing to Germany's exports and German companies and the entire economy in Europe as a whole.
Now, the White House policy officially on the dollar is that they support a strong U.S. dollar, but it is unclear what exactly, or if any promises the president will come out or statements he will come out on that particular concern of Gerhard Schroeder.
The other issue to watch out for here at the White House is whether or not the United States will make any moves to allow Germany to bid at all for those lucrative contracts to help rebuild Iraq. Germany, you remember, and the firms there were shut out of that process because they didn't participate in the war.
So the U.S. government has said that if they saw more cooperation, maybe that would change. We're going to look today to see if that does -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Dana, I want to ask you one other thing about this morning, the gaggle this morning. Might be some word on whether or not President Bush and Vice President Cheney could be testifying on the 9/11 commission. Is that true?
BASH: Well, Heidi, they said here at the White House that the president is willing to sit down for one hour with the chair and vice chair of the commission.
Now there has been some question from other commissioners on that ten-person panel why they're not going to be involved. And also some questions about why it's just limited to one hour in private.
The White House is standing firm on that commitment. This morning the White House spokesman saying simply they're not going to budge on giving them more time or giving more access to other commissioners. He said that he's very confident that the vice chair and chair can give the information over to the other folks there.
And of course the other big controversy at this point is going on over whether or not the panel will get a two-month extension that they've asked for. The president came out and said he's for that. Denny Hastert on the Hill, the speaker, has said that he doesn't want to move forward with that because it would put the report smack dab in the middle of the election season.
The White House says that they'll continue to press for that even though Democrats believe, they say, that perhaps Speaker Hastert is doing the White House bidding for them. Back to you.
COLLINS: All right, Dana Bash live from the White House this morning. Thanks so much, Dana.
President Bush's would be challengers have a lot of ground to cover over the next four days. On Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses in ten states will unleash a flood of delegates.
Their rhetorical skills were put on display last night in a CNN/"L.A. Times" debate. CNN's Frank Buckley is joining us now from Los Angeles with a wrapup of that. Good morning to you, Frank.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Heidi. Many people thought this should have been John Edwards big breakout moment. He's down in the polls going into Super Tuesday. John Kerry has won all but two of the Democrat contests to date.
Conventional wisdom is Edwards has got to do something to stop Kerry's momentum. But Edwards didn't do anything or say anything that seemed to help in a particularly big way last night. There were some memorable moments. One when Edwards and Kerry were both asked about their votes to give the president authority to wage war in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And this president has failed in his responsibility.
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Do you regret your vote? Do you regret your vote?
EDWARDS: I did what I believed was right.
KING: Do you regret it?
EDWARDS: I believe I did what's right.
KING: Do you regret it?
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You're asked a question or no answer, do you regret your vote. The answer is no, I do not regret my vote. I regret that we have a president of the United States who mislead America and broke every promise he made to the United States Congress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: Now, this was the first time we had just four candidates on the stage and it allowed for a more relaxed conversational atmosphere. This seemed to help Kerry to be more relaxed. Edwards is naturally conversational.
But at a time when he needs to draw distinctions with Kerry it might not have been particularly helpful for him. In fact, Kerry and Edwards looked so comfortable sitting next to each other that some people might have thought they were already running mates. They were asked about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDWARDS: I think an Edwards/Kerry ticket would be powerful. And that's the ticket that I think we should have.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Are you saying now that if you get this nomination you will ask him to join you?
EDWARDS: He certainly should be considered. He's a very, very, very good candidate.
KING: And? Where does Edwards stand in your thinking? You have to be thinking about it. If you say you're not thinking about it you're kidding.
KERRY: I want to thank him for the consideration. I appreciate it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: Senator Kerry wouldn't commit to including Senator Edwards on his list of potential vice presidential picks if he gets the nomination -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Frank Buckley, thanks so much for that.
Coming up on CNN LIVE TODAY, a daring escape from a burning home. A furry little creature taking a flying leap of faith.
And speak of leaps of faith -- ow! "Bachelorette" No. 2 joins us to talk about the reality of finding love on TV.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IAN MCKEE, WINNER: I'm scared. But...
MEREDITH PHILLIPS, "THE BACHELORETTE": But?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Welcome to voyeur vision, reality TV style. Well this is one of the latest entries. ABC'S "The Bachelorette." Sure you heard of it.
The series wrapped up its second season last night with the romantic lead choosing her real-life love interest. And last hour I had a chance to speak with bachelorette Meredith Phillips and her choice, Ian McKee. The first question for "The Bachelorette."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Was this a lot harder emotionally, though, than you thought? It really was a long process, wasn't it?
PHILLIPS: It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I don't think there's really any way that I could have prepared myself except just kind of jumping right in and hoping for the best. COLLINS: In the very beginning, Ian, I remember you saying, you know, when it comes down to it, if I'm the last guy, I'm not going to propose to you this way. I want to do this in a privacy between the two of us. And then what happened? What happened at the end?
MCKEE: All the walls came crashing down. I don't know. I really had built up these rules for myself to sort of keep myself under control under this difficult and strained experience. And then I made promises and the show has made a liar out of me.
The thing is -- truth of the matter, I walked out of the limousine not knowing what I was going to do and really wanting to do it my way, but at the same time emotions took over and I felt that it was the right moment.
I thought that if we were going to share this moment, that it would be -- it was her dream that we do it then and there, even though I maybe thought that there would have been a better time some day in the future. It was just -- it just felt right, so I went with it.
PHILLIPS: Meredith, last question for you. When it came down to Ian and Matthew, I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to choose.
Did you think about in making that decision, did you think about a particular moment that you had had with these men later in life? Did you think about waking up next to this person for the rest of your life or maybe having coffee on rainy days or spending holidays together? What was it that you thought about in real life to help make your decision?
PHILLIPS: I thought about all of those areas. I think that -- it's really important to envision circumstances with each other and with Ian, it was easy. And I think that's the way it should be. I didn't really have a tough time with it.
COLLINS: All right. Well I certainly appreciate the time and you guys being with us this morning. The very best of luck to you both. Sounds like you have a wedding to plan.
MCKEE: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Thank you.
COLLINS: Ian and Meredith, have a great day. Thanks so much.
MCKEE: You, too.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: All right, so here's another leap of faith. In St. Louis take a look at this. It paid off for this squirrel. Not a flying squirrel, by the way, just a regular old squirrel. Seems he was trapped atop a burning building and wasn't about to wait for human intervention. That video shot by CNN affiliate KSDK. Some toasty tootsies, I bet. Looking beautiful can sure make you hungry. And who better to serve up an Oscar dish than Hollywood chef Wolfgang Puck? Our Daryn Kagan is live on the red carpet. And this is what we're working on for next hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: I'm Daryn Kagan live on the red carpet from Hollywood, two days before the 76th Annual Academy Awards.
We're talking Oscars. We're also talking entertainment and the parties. And no party is bigger and more important than the Governor's Ball. The first party of the night. Who does the food? None other than Wolfgang Puck, celebrity chef, with us this morning. Good morning.
WOLFGANG PUCK, CELEBRITY CHEF: Good morning.
KAGAN: I could get used to having breakfast delivered to me.
PUCK: Any time you want, we deliver breakfast for you. So that's absolutely No problem. You can get your own Oscar or your potato with caviar.
KAGAN: I love it.
PUCK: Just like all the big stars get.
KAGAN: You spoil me.
Now this is actually the food -- well not this particular food, but this is the type of food that will be served.
PUCK: Absolutely. This is all the appetizers. You can see our roasted beets here. We have some (UNINTELLIGIBLE), we have the smoked salmon and caviar (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We have some asparagus with prosciutto, some roasted peppers, some (UNINTELLIGIBLE), artichokes.
And then here for out first course really is a potato with caviar. And for main we have half a lobster and a filet mignon with black truffles. So we bought like $40,000 worth of caviar and about $30,000 worth of black truffles alone.
KAGAN: Absolutely amazing.
PUCK: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) champagne and a sterling cabernet. So we have great wine and so many people working. I have 200...
KAGAN: How many people does it take to get this together?
PUCK: I have 200 people in the kitchen alone. And Carl Schuster (ph) directs a staff of 600 in the dining room.
KAGAN: This is a huge operation. This town is famous for being obsessed with fitness and thinness. You make all this beautiful food... PUCK: Look at you.
KAGAN: I'm going to eat this, but I'm wondering, does Hollywood eat it? Do you make all this amazing food and they pick at it...
PUCK: No. You know what? Everybody is really hungry. Most of the people go to the beauty parlor and hair dresser and everything. So actually they are really hungry by 10:00 at night. Everybody sits down and everybody is happy to get great food because what happened, we serve it just like in a restaurant with all this monstrous stuff.
So many people working. Really, the food just like in our restaurant. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it's exactly the same as you would get it here. People come after the Oscar few days and tell me often, Can you make me the same thing I had at the Governor's Ball?
KAGAN: There's tradition that people are looking for.
(CROSSTALK)
PUCK: This is one of our traditional preparations is our chocolate covered Oscar. So everybody is going to get an Oscar to take home or eat it at the Governor's Ball already.
KAGAN: You wanted to show me this surprise. This is going to be dessert.
PUCK: This is the dessert. Just like they do at the Academy Awards they say the envelope, please. We will say the dessert, please. So the waiter in white gloves is going to lift it up, put it next to it and here is our 12-layer chocolate cake with espresso ice cream. Now even the confection here which is made out of sugar is edible.
KAGAN: I'm going to plan on doing that soon as we wrap this up.
PUCK: OK.
Good luck on Sunday. I know you have a lot of work between now and then.
PUCK: We have a lot of work, but we cook everything at the last moment. Sunday evening at 6:00, 7:00. Then it's going to be really busy.
KAGAN: Thanks for stopping by.
PUCK: Thank you. It was my pleasure.
KAGAN: I'm going to invite you to our party we're putting on here at CNN. I'll be live from the red carpet with my partner Kandis Gibson, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, 4:00 p.m. Pacific Sunday. So please join us for that.
Meanwhile, we have a lot more to show you her today on this Friday live from the red carpet. Next hour, we're talking fashion. What people will be wearing at the red carpet?
CNN LIVE TODAY continues from Hollywood and also Atlanta just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Mel Gibson says his film "The Passion of the Christ" is not anti-Semitic. It in fact is about tolerance. Last night the Oscar winning actor/director told talk show host Jay Leno he never expected the movie to generate the criticism it has.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": Did anybody try to talk you out of this? Career type people?
MEL GIBSON, DIRECTOR, "THE PASSION": Not really. I think people -- they don't want to talk you out of things. I don't know. I think some people thought it was a bad idea.
LENO: Why? Why would it be a bad idea?
GIBSON: I guess they said, if you delve into religion and politics you're going touch a few nerves. That's a given. You're going touch a few nerves. I didn't expect to hit a main artery though.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: "The Passion of the Christ" grossed nearly $24 million on its opening day, Wednesday. Leno joked that it's doing so well there's talk of turning it into a book.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: The second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.
Want to go ahead and check the very latest developments that we are following this hour. Repairing a relationship strained by war. President Bush meets with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder this hour. Mr. Schroeder says he'll discuss ways Germany can help in post- war Iraq. He was an outspoken opponent of the war. The German chancellor also plans to raise concerns about the dollar's weakness against the euro.
A looming deadline in Iraq. Tomorrow is the date set for the Iraqi Governing Council to approve an interim constitution. It's a key step in the plans for a June 30 transfer of power in Iraq. But a Sunni member of the council says it's unlikely the draft constitution will be finished by tomorrow's deadline.
Taking the gay marriage fight to a higher authority. Today, California's attorney general will ask the state supreme court to decide the issue. He wants the court to decide whether the city of San Francisco is violating state law by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
And six babies in 60 seconds. An Ohio woman gives birth to sextuplets. The three girls and three boys were born within one minute of each other yesterday at Akron General Medical Center. The father says the speed of the delivery was like a popcorn popper. Doctors say all six babies and the mother are doing well.
Like a popcorn popper?
It's 11 a.m. on the East Coast, 8 a.m. in the West. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Heidi Collins.
KAGAN: And from Hollywood Boulevard on the red carpet, I'm Daryn Kagan. We are just two days away from the Oscars. We're going to give you a preview. We're talking who might win, the fashion, the parties. We have it all. Stay with us here on "CNN LIVE TODAY" -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Daryn, thanks a lot.
Up first on CNN, though, this hour, the nation's Catholic bishops went public today with reports documenting a half-century of abuse by pedophile priests. One of the reports describes the Church's failure to stop the assaults, mostly on children, as nothing short of shameful.
CNN's Jason Carroll first reported the findings 10 days ago. He joins us once again this morning in Washington.
Jason, good morning.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Heidi. We now have the final numbers from that report, and the numbers are just as sobering as we first reported.
Researchers found that between 1950 and 2003, 4,392 clergy were accused of abuse. That represents 4 percent of the 110,000 priests who were in active ministry. They are accused of molesting 10,667 victims. The average age of the victim, just 12 years old. Most of the victims were enticed with either alcohol or drugs, most of the abuse taking place in either a parish or in the priest's home.
Researchers from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice were the ones who crunched the numbers. They also found that 14 percent of priests who were accused of abuse were reported to police by their bishops -- just 14 percent.
Another part of the study has to do with the causes behind the abuse. That was done by a national review board that's sort of overseeing this process, and they found that clergy, quote, "tolerated moral laxity and a gay subculture." They also found that clergy didn't do enough to screen candidates for the priesthood. They also say the clergy basically failed to grasp the gravity of the crimes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BOB BENNETT, ATTORNEY: Many bishops -- certainly not all -- breached their responsibilities as pastors, breached their responsibilities as shepherds of the flock, and put their head in the sand.
Many of them did this because they did understand the broad epidemic nature of the problem, but treated allegations in a sporadic and isolated fashion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Bob Bennett there, saying that basically high-level clergy didn't act enough like shepherds. He said, quote, "they acted more like risk assessment managers."
This part of the study also criticized Cardinal Egan of New York, Cardinal Mahony of Los Angeles, and of course, Boston's former cardinal, Bernard Law, who had to resign, or step down, in the wake of the scandal.
Critics of this report say that basically they can't trust these numbers because researchers had to rely too much on bishops and not enough on outside sources of information. Just a little bit later on this morning, we're expected to hear from the bishops when they give their reaction to the study -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, we will, and we're going have that live, of course, Jason, to be balanced on all of that. But let me just ask you, these numbers are so upsetting, and you have always said, at least for the past 10 days or so, more than 10,000 victims here. Tell us where we're at with what the Church is going to be doing to make some changes so that none of this happens again.
CARROLL: Well, there are no guarantees, but as you know, two years ago, the Church adopted a new charter, a zero tolerance policy on dealing with allegations of abuse. So right now what some of the members of the national lay review board are recommending is further study, more close content with the bishops to make sure that they are following through on their promise of a zero tolerance policy -- Heidi.
COLLINS: A lot of Catholics still looking for accountability, I guess. Jason Carroll, thanks so much, we appreciate it.
And as Jason said, the nation's Catholic bishops will address the report's findings in a news conference shortly that will be coming your way live on CNN at the half hour.
Well, the public is getting a look today at a previously unseen videotape of the Columbine shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. The tape shows the pair in trenchcoats, apparently practicing for their massacre at the Colorado high school. The video is part of 10,000 pieces of evidence released to the public by investigators, including guns, shell casings and pipe bombs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KEN SALAZAR, COLORADO ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think it is a horrific and painful videotape to watch, essentially what were mass murderers out there practicing what they were planning on doing. And it is very painful to watch that video. And all of us here in Colorado and all of us involved in law enforcement very much hope that April 20th, 1999 would never have happened in the way that it did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Authorities say they released the evidence so others won't miss any clues to similar attacks. They also determined police were not at fault for missing warning signs about Harris and Klebold. The two crossed police radar a dozen times in the two years before the killings.
Detectives from a half-dozen states are comparing notes today, trying to figure out if they have a serial killer on their hands.
CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Oklahoma City this morning with more on that.
Ed, good morning.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Well, we're outside the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation headquarters here in Oklahoma City. The building behind me right now is where some four dozen investigators from across six states, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee are meeting, comparing notes, as you mentioned.
They're still way too early to mention -- to say at this point whether investigators believe that they're dealing with a serial killer that has been striking along interstates and finding women at truck stops along Interstate 40 here in Oklahoma, but that's what they're talking about today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY RUSHING, INVESTIGATOR: A photo from a surveillance camera.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: The blurry picture captured the last moments of a woman's life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSHING: This woman here is who we believe to be our victim.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: But since, she was last seen five months ago. This woman remains a complete mystery. Chief Deputy Kelly Rushing and a team of investigators don't know who she is. They know nothing about here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSHING: The last thing she said to anyone was, I've got to ride and I've got to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Six hours after cameras showed here walking around a truck stop in Oklahoma with a backpack and wearing what looks like men's clothing, she was found dead along a highway in the Texas panhandle, the clothes and backpack nowhere to be found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSHING: Just discarded on the side of the road like a bag of trash.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Investigators believe this case could be linked to similar murders in Oklahoma, Texas and four other states. In the last two years, some 10 women have been found dead along highways. In almost every case, the women were last seen at truck stops, and also had a history of prostitution.
Investigators say there are more similarities to these cases, but they're not ready to say they're all connected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSICA BROWN, INVESTIGATOR: We have entertained the idea we may be talking about a serial killer, but we have nothing at this point in time that directly links these homicides to one person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're looking at Casey's spirit house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Following ancient Seminole tradition, Casey Jo Pipestem was buried on her family's land in central Oklahoma. Pipestem was 19, and last seen in an Oklahoma City truck stop in January. She was found dead in Texas, her body thrown off a bridge into a creek. Here family worries that no one cares about these victims because of their lifestyles, and they want people to know that no one deserves to die like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think if people looked at their background, I think what they would find is that they were human beings, that they were people with families.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LAVANDERA: Authorities also acknowledge that there are more similarities than there are difference in the various cases that they are discussing today. And they say that's what's brought everyone here to compare the notes. In fact, you would imagine -- we asked one of the investigators, talking about it, you wouldn't just come here to Oklahoma City if you didn't think you had more to talk about, and virtually every investigator we've talked to over the last few days say they definitely have reason to come here today.
As far as suspects, still way too early to determine any kind of suspect in this case, but authorities and various investigators that we've spoken with do say that their initial suspicion is that they might be looking for someone who is a truck driver and driving along the interstate here and frequenting the truck stops throughout Oklahoma.
COLLINS: Hopefully a lot more for investigators to learn as they do share their notes. Ed Lavandera, Oklahoma City. Thanks so much.
Now, to the crisis in Haiti. Rebels edge closer to the capital as the island nation descends deeper in to chaos.
A group of rebels took control of the town about 30 miles from Port-au-Prince last night. Rebel leader Guy Philippe says his forces have surrounded the capital and are waiting to attack. Armed supporters of President Jean Bertrand Aristide took to the streets overnight, setting fire to barricades there.
French officials held talks in Paris today with leaders of Haiti's government, looking for ways to end the crisis. The French foreign minister says President Aristide should step down. In a statement, he said the president bears a heavy responsibility for the current rebellion.
But Mr. Aristide says he will not give up power. He called the rebels who are trying to oust him terrorists and drug dealers. The Haitian leader wants the U.S. to take part in an international force to restore order of the Caribbean nation. They're also calling on the U.N. to back a multinational force in Haiti.
Jamaica's foreign minister says without help, sheer anarchy and chaos are imminent.
Well, what do you get when you mix "The Black Album" with "The White Album"? A whole lot of trouble. That musical question is part of today's "Buzz On The Web," to tell you about that.
And the battle of Los Angeles. The Democratic contenders tussle over some hot topics. We're live with a wrap-up of last night's debate. And, goodbye to the curse. Finally, huh? Cubs fans make sure that baseball goes out without a bang -- or with a bang, I should say. It's all coming up next, when "CNN LIVE TODAY" returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MARKET UPDATE) COLLINS: You already have to take off your shoes before you take off, so soon you may have to step on a scale. The federal government wants airlines to weigh passengers from time to time. The recommendations stem from the crash of a U.S. Airways commuter flight to -- in Charlotte, that is, two years ago. Investigators determined the plane was overloaded.
Well, we do it every Friday, check the hot topics you're talking about on AOL. AOL Online Editor Regina Lewis is in our Washington bureau this morning. She starts us off with the sounds of protest, right Regina?
REGINA LEWIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Heidi. It was a very interesting week.
You've probably heard of "The White Album" by the Beatles. You may have heard of "The Black Album" by hip hop artist Jay-Z. Well, some very enterprising deejay in Los Angeles mixed the two, much to the chagrin of record label EMI, and then released it online via file sharing in what is being deemed Grey Tuesday.
Let's take a listen to the song.
(MUSIC)
LEWIS: Now, Heidi, as we've talked about before, these tend to have a very viral effect. Once it gets online, very hard to get back, and, of course, that's where the controversy ensues. The deejay and the people involved with it are calling it organized disobedience. The recording industry lawyers are calling it 24 hours of mass copyright infringement. So to say that these guys now have become some of the industry's most wanted, probably an understatement. I don't think this story has completely played out yet, but as subscription sites, authorized sites like iTunes and AOL's MusicNet take ground in the mainstream, you still have an industry that has long had no shortage of controversy -- this kind of thing happening.
COLLINS: All right. Well, dare I say, it sounds pretty good, though.
LEWIS: I know, exactly.
COLLINS: All right, and now to some more defiance, if you will.
Rosie and her wife, a lot of people talking about that.
LEWIS: Absolutely. They went to San Francisco to get married -- probably no surprise there. It begs the question, though, if you're following the online angle here, did they have an appointment? Because as of this week, you need one in order to show up in San Francisco and get married.
Here's how they're doing this. We've seen, and you've covered for weeks now, the big crowds outside. Now they're saying, look, we need to really kind of keep this in check. Here's how we're going to do it -- from 8:00 to 3:00, four weddings per half-hour increment. That's 44 per day. We're going to take appointments, and we're only going to do these ceremonies by appointment only.
To give you a sense for the volume, I looked into this, you are looking at April if you want to get married in San Francisco now, so interesting to see how that's playing out. Also, on the controversy side, a lot of people are looking for Dick Cheney's daughter, who has come out as a lesbian and saying, dearmary.com, where are you? And actually pointing to the San Francisco mayor as what they hope will be inspiration. He is a heterosexual Catholic, and they are saying, where are you?
So we are seeing here -- the mainstream here is Rosie and her longtime girlfriend, Kelli Carpenter. We're also seeing appointments taken in San Francisco, and some underground searching for Mary Cheney.
COLLINS: OK, and how about number one, certainly no surprise here. The big stars, Oscar.
LEWIS: Yes, everybody can't wait for this one. Interestingly, it's also one of the biggest nights online. A lot of people like to watch it with a friend, perhaps across the country, and of course you can imagine the dialog is, I can't believe he/she won. I can't believe what they're wearing.
A couple of interesting Internet angles. One, the second you hit the red carpet with your designer gown, whether you run into Joan Rivers or whomever you run into first, boom, digital picture goes directly to the factory so they can start making the knockoff dresses. No surprise there. It takes days, sometimes weeks. A couple of big players there. You see them on Oprah sometimes, Victor Costa, a guy named Allen Schwartz, whose label is ABS. They'll knock off these dresses, really discount the prices, and to give you a sense for just how successful they've been in this realm, Helen Hunt won a Calvin Klein dress a couple of years back, $1,900. Victor Costa made a version for $145, sold 60,000 of them.
So watch for dresses.com to get some serious traffic. In terms of Oscar nominees and winners, you can find ballots online, so if you want to take your own office pool or really keep track while you're watching, that's a lot of fun.
We couldn't help but look at the search term data to see if we could get kind of the inside look on who might win. Sean Penn interestingly is not even the biggest Sean searched for. Sean Paul, who is a hip heart artist, tops the list. Sean John, which is the clothing line for P. Diddy, Puff Daddy, how many names can that guy have? And Sean Hannity, all ahead of Sean Penn, whom you see here, who is an Oscar nominee. I don't know if that bodes well for him or not. But it will be interesting to see how it plays out.
We also have Charlize Theron. There is a picture of her as a young ballerina when she was in South Africa growing up, and that is also circulating online.
COLLINS: All right. Well, you always have the interesting stuff online. We appreciate it very much. Regina Lewis, we'll see you next time.
LEWIS: OK. Take care.
COLLINS: Well, today in the land of cotton is the land of snow. Mother Nature continues to pound the South. We've got a live report coming up.
KAGAN: I'm Daryn Kagan live in Hollywood. We are doing the walk -- the walk down the red carpet. This is the big one that's going to happen on Sunday. The big question is, what will the stars be wearing? We'll be talking about that, perhaps giving you a preview, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Some news coming in at this very moment to CNN, want to make sure you know about. Count number nine in the Martha Stewart trial has been dropped. I want to remind you what that was -- the security fraud charge. This was the biggest charge of all of those against her, max penalty of 10 years, a $1 million fine. That count has been dropped. This was Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum making the decision. There had been some questions about the validity of that charge, and therefore we are learning right now that the judge has dismissed the securities fraud charge against Martha Stewart. It could have carried a maximum penalty of 10 years and $1 million fine.
We have CNN Correspondent Mary Snow standing by. She's going to tell us a little bit more about this in just a few minutes.
For now, though, we're going to back to L.A., where Daryn Kagan is standing by to give us the very latest on the Academy Awards.
Hey, Daryn.
KAGAN: Heidi, standing right by me, literally on the red carpet now, everything -- they're getting ready just in case the weather is not great, because frankly, it has not been that great in southern California -- a beautiful sunny morning this morning.
Let's show you some of the preparations that have been made using our multi-camera setup we have here. As you can see, they have put up clear tents over the red carpet, and I believe those are going to stay up no matter what the weather does between now and Sunday, not taking any chances because it has been so soggy.
Keep in mind as we come back live to the red carpet, the incredible millions of dollars of gowns and jewels that will be walking down here on Sunday wouldn't really work with things pouring down with the rain.
So what will people be wearing? I want to give a preview of that and talk about what the trends are, and for that we're going to bring in Marlene Hentmeester. She is with "Lucky Magazine."
Good morning.
MARLENE HENTMEESTER, "LUCKY MAGAZINE": Thank you. Good morning to you.
KAGAN: In the award shows leading up to this point, we've seen a lot of colors. Do you think that's going to stay?
HENTMEESTER: Yes, definitely. There's color -- lots of pretty, soft -- pastel hews, almost like Easter, and Charlize Theron clearly demonstrated her love of color at the Golden Globes. She war a beautiful yellow chiffon Dior gown, and then again at the SAG Awards, a beautiful violet dress.
KAGAN: She was very pretty.
HENTMEESTER: Yes.
KAGAN: One of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. Marcia Gay Harden, she is pregnant with twins. She's nominated for best supporting actor. She's told us that she has a boy and a girl. She told me when I interviewed her at the Oscar nominee lunch that she'll probably wear a subdued tone, because it's been kind of a sad year for her family.
HENTMEESTER: Yes, and it's probably a wise choice fashion-wise, because it will be more slimming for her figure.
KAGAN: And what else can we look for in terms of pregnancy and pregnant stars?
HENTMEESTER: Well, I mean, clearly -- they have so many options, which is so nice. Designers are coming up with the most beautiful gowns. A lot of them are floor skimming, obviously, and they just do -- they just flatter that shape.
KAGAN: Diane Keaton. Now, she is one of the most popular women here in Hollywood making the comeback, one of the possible winners for Best Actress. Fashion-wise, sometimes still don't really appreciate her style, but she has her own style.
HENTMEESTER: Yes, she does, and clearly has a thing for suits -- for pantsuits. And I hear that she will be wearing a custom-made Ralph Lauren tuxedo for the Oscars.
KAGAN: Oh, really?
HENTMEESTER: Yes.
KAGAN: OK, we'll look for that. And then it will be interesting to see Keisha Castle-Hughes. She is nominated for Best Actress in "Whale Rider," the youngest nominee ever in that category. She's only 13 years old, and yet she comes to the most glamorous event in the world.
HENTMEESTER: It's true, and she will probably have a zillion options to choose from, but I'm sure she'll choose something that's sort of age appropriate, very princess-like.
KAGAN: We will be looking for it. Thank you so much, Marlene Hentmeester from "Lucky Magazine." I'm sure your magazine will be looking for all the hot trends.
HENTMEESTER: Oh, definitely.
KAGAN: We're talking a lot more Oscars ahead. We're just two days away. Stay with us as "CNN LIVE TODAY" continues after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Want to get back to the story on the Martha Stewart trial that we were telling you about just moments ago -- a reminder that a judge in that case has dismissed the securities fraud charge. It was the biggest charge that held the largest penalty against Martha Stewart.
Again, reminding you, it was count number nine, a maximum penalty of 10 years and a $1 million fine. That judge, Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum has dismissed that charge.
We have our Allan Chernoff standing by to tell us more about this.
Allan, this was quite a surprise, wasn't it?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not shocking, Heidi. It certainly is an important victory for Martha Stewart, but not shocking at all, because the judge herself, even before the trial began, had referred to this count as novel.
Normally when you have securities fraud, it implies insider trading, but that's not what this was all about. Martha Stewart had been charged with trying to prop up the stock of her own company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia by saying that her sale of ImClone stock was entirely legitimate.
This is not, again, not the usually way you have a securities fraud charge. And the judge herself in her opinion here says that in order to find the essential element of criminal intent beyond a reasonable doubt, a rational jury would have to speculate.
So, again, this is certianly a very important victory for Martha Stewart. But keep in mind, she is still confronting obstruction of justice charges, making false statements, and also conspiracy charges. So by no means is Martha Stewart off the hook. But this, as you said, had been the most serious charge, carried the largest potential time in jail, a maximum of 10 years -- Heidi.
COLLINS: And quickly, I'm wondering what the defense's reaction to this was, because there was that draft provided by the judge, and it looked a little like she was leaning towards dismissing these charges.
CHERNOFF: Right. Well, yesterday, she did -- yesterday afternoon, she did release to the lawyers a draft of her instructions to the jury. And in that draft, she had included instructions for count number nine. So at that point, the anticipation was, well, perhaps she's not going to dismiss any of the charges. But this morning, about half hour ago, the lawyers went in to the judge's robing room and just now, minutes ago, this opinion from the judge did come out -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Allan Chernoff, thanks so much for clearing that up for us. We appreciate it very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Half Century; U.S. Losing Faith in President Aristide>
Aired February 27, 2004 - 10:00 Â ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, ANCHOR: Coming up live this hour, we're looking at Bob Bennett of the "National Review." And this is the Catholic Church. It's opening its records on sex abuse over the past half century. Those numbers are astounding. A live report from Washington and much more on this is ahead.
Turning, though, first to the growing crisis in Haiti. The U.S. has signaled it is losing faith in President Aristide. He faces a rebel uprising, now three weeks old, and dwindling international support. But for the moment at least the embattled Haitian leader is standing fast.
CNN's Lucia Newman reports from Port-au-Prince.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Outside the presidential palace, impassioned Aristide supporters vowed to defend their president with their life. Shouting five years, the length of his term. International as well as local pressure for Aristide to resign is mounting, but when CNN asked him if he would consider leaving the palace, he flatly said no.
JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE, HAITIAN PRESIDENT: We have had 32 coup d'etat. It's enough. We need now to respect the constitutional order. And I will leave the palace on February 7, 2006, which is good for our democracy.
NEWMAN: In the capital, nerves are on edge. Almost all businesses are closed. Gasoline stations, normally open 24 hours are closing at dusk; while people scramble to stock up on fuel, just in case. Rumors, both of attacks by mobs by Aristide supporters and of his resignation are spreading like wildfire.
U.S. Marines escorted more than 100 nonessential U.N. personnel and their families to the airport. Wednesday, they couldn't be evacuated because of enormous roadblocks, set up along the road by often-aggressive groups claiming to support the president.
In San Marc, the only city in between the capital and rebel held territory, the Belgian based aid organization, Doctors Without Borders, is preparing for the worst.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The people are scared. But at least we can say we are guaranteeing the security of the population.
NEWMAN: This as the rebels promise to march towards the capitol as soon as the time is right, which they claim could be very soon.
(on camera): In the meantime, many airlines have started canceling their flights to Haiti, prompting some countries such as the Dominican Republic, Mexico and even Canada to use their military aircraft to come here and evacuate some of their nationals.
Lucia Newman, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: As we mentioned, the U.S. is not expressing a lot of confidence in President Aristide, nor rushing to help him. Secretary of State Colin Powell has now openly questioned whether Aristide should continue as president. Last night on CNN's Paula Zahn "NOW," he called on Mr. Aristide to do what's best for his country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We want President Aristide to do what he thinks is best for his country. What we are looking for is a political solution to end the violence. We've been pressing a CARICOM approach, which would require both sides entering negotiations to form a new kind of government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: For the latest updates out of Haiti, be sure to check in periodically with cnn.com/world.
Now to the on going controversy over same-sex weddings. New Paltz, New York, a small town about an hour north of New York City, jumps head long into the fray today. The Mayor Jason West says the town will begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples beginning at noon.
Earlier today on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" explained why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON WEST, MAYOR, NEW PALTZ, NY: New York State law clearly states in Article III of the Domestic Relations Law, that for a marriage to be legal in the state, all that's required is for it to be properly solemnized by someone with authority to do so. As mayor I'm full -- fully able to do that. At noon today I'll start solemnizing marriages, regardless of gender.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: New York State officials have already warned that New Paltz ris-- risks legal problems if it does go forward with same-sex marriages.
Same-sex marriage has a bit of celebrity cache. Comedienne and former talk show host, Rosie O'Donnell and long-time girlfriend Kelly Carpenter, got married yesterday in San Francisco. O'Donnell says they were motivated to take a stand after President Bush backed a proposed constitutional ban.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROSIE O'DONNELL, COMEDIENNE: We were both inspired to come here after the sitting president said the vile and vicious and hateful comments he did on Tuesday.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
O'DONNELL: It inspired myself, my brand new wife...
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: More than 3,300 gay couples have wed in San Francisco since the city began issuing certificates two weeks ago.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Now from East to West, a Pacific storm pounded the West coast and anyone who wandered too close.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See for themselves, coming up on this -- Whoa!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: You got to be faster than that. That reporter from CNN's San Francisco affiliate KRON is fine. Not so sure about the sea swamped camera though. The tail end of the storm kicked up waves to 35 feet high along the tallest seen in a decade.
Coming up on CNN LIVE TODAY, some polite sparring.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. AL SHARPTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The issue is who you go to bed with. The issue is whether either of you have a job when you get up in the morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Al Sharpton delivers a trademark one-liner during the Democratic debate last night. But who really came out on top? A live report coming your way. And the ride of a lifetime. Can a newcomer to Hollywood sink her competition? We'll see what our film critic thinks live from the red carpet.
And later...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm scared, but...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The bachelorette picks her man and joins us to talk about her experience and her future.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GERRI WILLIS, CNNfn PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Coming up, you think the housing market is on fire. Look at condominiums; sales up more than 15 percent last year, but what do you need to know if you're going to buy one? We'll tell you up next on CNN LIVE TODAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Want to take you to New York Stock Exchange now. Take a look at these numbers, not too shabby today. You see the Dow Jones industrial average going up about 63 or so resting at 10,643, 25 for the moment. And also the Nasdaq is up about 10 points as well. So good news there.
Well, you know, not all homebuyers are looking for the sprawling lawn and white picket fence. For some, condominiums are their prime real estate. In fact, the popularity of condos has reached a milestone. For the first time a typical condo costs more than a medium priced house.
And joining us to offer tips on condo buying and ownership is CNNfn personal finance editor Gerri Willis. She's also the author of the "Smart Money Guide To Real Estate Investing."
So we're really glad to have you here once again, Gerri, with your expert info on this. This is amazing.
WILLIS: Thanks Heidi.
COLLINS: This is very new information coming out about condos. A lot of people taking up the offer I bet.
WILLIS: Right. This is so surprising that we see these numbers pop higher. I think a lot of stuff is going on there. You've got boomers who are buying them as the kids leave the nest. Lots of things going on.
But if you're going to buy a condo, here's what you need to know. Understand what you're buying. If you buy a single family home you know what you're getting the title to. It's the house, it's the yard, but with a condo it's a little different. You get everything inside those interior walls, plus you and all the other condo owners, own the building and -- the entire building and property it sits on. So, it's a little different there, Heidi.
COLLINS: Also you want to make sure that you take a real close look at the operating budget of one of these condos. Not altogether sure what that means. I imagine making sure that they don't go under, right?
WILLIS: That's right. That's right exactly. You know, they have something called a "reserve" for things that happen, maybe the roof falls in or you have some kind of bad luck. But you've got to have adequate reserves to cover even those kinds of things, plus regular building maintenance, paying for the staff, all of that. So you need to make sure the reserve has three to five percent of that gross operating budget in it to take care of those special events. That budget is going to be key to having a healthy condo experience -- Heidi.
COLLINS: A healthy condo experience. I like that. In other words, maybe find out who your neighbors are going to be. Can you actually do that?
WILLIS: Well, you know, some people actually knock on doors when they go shopping.
COLLINS: Yes. Right.
WILLIS: You want to know who lives in that condo. Look, two kinds of people buy condos typically: first-time homebuyers, who can't afford a typical home, or as I was saying before, empty nesters who are looking for a different kind of lifestyle. They want to not have to take of the yard. So you want to know who these people are and make sure you fit in.
And it's critically important because not only are you going to be living closer to them than you would in a normal House, but they're also going to be making the rules about the condo and deciding how the money is going to be spent as well. So you got make sure you're on the same page with them.
COLLINS: Also, you want to make sure that you still have insurance, which I bet a lot of people forget about. You want to have two different policies when you buy a condo.
WILLIS: Right. You'll have one that covers your condo and what's inside your condo. It's a lot like a homeowners policy. Kind of like a homeowners policy and renters policy put together. And then through your condo fees, you'll also be paying for insurance for the entire building. Now, it might be sense when you get your own insurance for your unit, to use the same company that insures the entire company. Might just make it easier for you -- Heidi.
COLLINS: And that is just one of the details that you certainly don't want to forget when you're actually sitting down, signing the paperwork. You've got to read that stuff and read it closely.
WILLIS: You know, there are two big things to look at. The Master Deed and the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions And Restrictions. Lots of rules with condos, everything from how you can decorate, to whether you can have pets or not. You can't change those rules so you need to know what it is going in. But also, don't forget to ask about parking. We talked to one expert about that, Heidi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAY BROWN, "HOME BUYING FOR DUMMIES": If you're told that you have a parking space, don't just take their word, the developers' word for it or the real estate agent's word for it. Go down and look at parking spaces, because the way parking spaces are dealt out may vary wildly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIS: You know, with parking spaces, it's usually first come first serve. So make sure you know exactly where that parking space is. Make them take you out and walk to it so you know exactly where it is. It's a critical issue for many people -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, very good. Regina Lewis, thanks so much. I'm ready to buy.
WILLIS: Great.
COLLINS: All right. Thanks again.
Want to talk now about contracting a deadly illness in the work place. Employees sue a blue chip company, claiming their work place caused them to get cancer. We'll tell you what the jury decided.
And can a pirate that won children's hearts win the gold in Hollywood? Daryn Kagan is on the red carpet, and that is the question she's poses to our film critic.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Daryn Kagan live on Hollywood Boulevard, on the red carpet, two days before Oscars. Things still under wraps because the weather has been a little bit iffy out in Southern California, and I mean literally under wraps.
Look behind me. You can see some of the Oscars still in plastic wrap there. They'll be unveiling that a little bit later. Above us, they made the decision to go ahead and tent the red carpet in case Mother Nature decides to pour down. And below us, 500 square feet of red carpet is underneath all that plastic wrap. Once again, they're trying to protect it so that on Oscar Sunday everything is tiptop.
Of course, it's all about who gets to take home the real Oscar. To preview that, to look ahead, we've invited Tom O'Neill, one of our favorite procrastinators -- not procrastinators, projectors.
TOM O'NEILL: Prognosticators.
KAGAN: There you go.
O'NEILL: It's early here in LA.
KAGAN: Goldderby.com; you can go online and see what you and some other critics have picked to win Oscars. But if people don't want to do that, we're going to do that this morning.
O'NEILL: Great.
KAGAN: Let's go ahead and talk about best actor. This is probably one of the biggest tossups of all the categories.
O'NEILL: This is a total tossup. Daryn, I need your help on this, because it is neck and neck and neck, between...
KAGAN: Three necks.
O'NEILL: ... between Penn, Bill Murray and Johnny Depp. And we thought that Penn was out front and at Gold Derby actually, we -- because we issue real racetrack odds. We give him slightly best odds. We give Penn 8-5. Right behind him is bill Murray 7-4. And Johnny Depp, who pulled off a surprise last Sunday at the Screen Actors Guild, we have at 9-5.
What's your pick? I'm going to stick with Penn.
KAGAN: You're going to stick with -- now, are we talking about who you want to win or who you think will win?
O'NEILL: You have to pick who will win.
KAGAN: Who will win. I really still -- I think it'll be Sean Penn. He's been nominated. This will be his fourth nomination. He's never won. And yet, on the other side of that, as you pointed out, not the most popular guy here in Hollywood.
O'NEILL: I know. I know. He didn't show up at the Golden Globes. I think they're going to hold that against him, a lot of voters. Bill Murray did and he was charming and amusing at the podium. And that's a lot of it. The voters want to see a star at the podium who's going to put on a show on Oscar night.
KAGAN: Well, let's talk about other big stars. Best actress award. Charlize Theron, so far has swept all the other industry awards. Do you think she's going to hold tight and walk away with Oscar gold for her performance in "Monster?"
O'NEILL: Pretty good odds. What did we give her? We gave her even odds. But Diane Keaton, who is against her, is the only veteran in that race. And that's never happened before. Normally we have two or three. And watch out. I know you don believe me on this one, but little Keisha Castle Hughes from "Whale Rider," is the only girl in Oscar history to be nominated in a lead race. Daryn, they love the girls: Patti Duke, Anna Paquin, Tatum O'Neil. KAGAN: And that was all in best supporting.
O'NEILL: I know.
KAGAN: And as you say, Keisha Castle Hughes is the youngest person ever nominated for best actress. She's only 13. She is adorable. She is charming. I know you love her.
O'NEILL: I'm just saying don't discount it.
KAGAN: You are so far out here on that one. But that's OK.
O'NEILL: They're suckers for kids here, we know that. OK.
KAGAN: All right, we'll see you on Oscar Sunday.
Now, we have been pointing out throughout our coverage that Oscar has been moved up three to four weeks. Is that the big story line to watch this year? Or is there something else besides, of course, "Lord of the Rings" finally getting its due?
O'NEILL: Yes, finally getting it's due, a fantasy film finally winning best picture, which has never happened in a town where make believe is the business. Which is odd to me.
But yes, we want to know if there's any suspense in this race. Because by moving up this race one month, if all the front-runners win, it's the end of the Oscars as we know it. We're going to know from now on, oh yes, just take the Globe voters and rubberstamp those.
In the past, with that extra month, that gave Oscar voters some time to get bored with the other choices. And the Oscars felt special. And you saw upsets like "The Pianist," last year pulling off three big surprises, and "Monsters Ball," and "Training Day" the year before that. Let's hope for some upsets Daryn.
KAGAN: We will, makes Sunday more exciting.
Tom O'Neil, goldderby.com. Folks can go online and get more of your picks. Thank you.
O'NEILL: Thanks Daryn.
KAGAN: Great to see you here in Hollywood.
O'NEILL: Same here.
KAGAN: Now, of course, it's about Oscar, but it's also about the parties. Come here. I have a little sneak peek for you. Take a look at this. We've got gold Oscars. This is a preview of the food that Wolfgang Puck is preparing, of course with his huge staff, for the Governor's Ball, that's the first big party tonight. We're going to get a taste and talk with Wolfgang coming up a little bit later this hour.
CNN LIVE TODAY continues after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Welcome back everybody. We begin this hour with a check of the top stories.
The murders of at least seven women in six states have investigators concerned they may have a serial killer on their hands. They will meet to compare notes today in Oklahoma City. Most of the victims were known prostitutes. Most were last seen at truck stops along Interstate 40 in Oklahoma.
In an eight-year trial a Japanese court has condemned a cult leader to death for his role in the 1995's deadly sarin gas attack in a Tokyo subway. The subway attack alone killed 12 people. Shoko Asahara attorneys expect him to appeal.
A California jury has ruled unanimously against two retired workers who sued IBM complaining work place toxins caused their cancers. Attorneys for Big Blue now move on to another multi-million dollar suit in New York. A woman there claims factory chemicals caused her daughter's birth defects.
Sources say the judge in the Martha Stewart trial appears to be leaning against dismissing any charges against the Domestic Diva. The jury in the federal trial in New York will begin deliberations next week.
And live this hour we want to let you know the Catholic Church opens its records on sex abuse over the past half century, and the numbers are astounding. We are looking at Bob Bennett here of the National Review Board. They are holding a press conference as you see right now. Our Jason Carroll is, of course, there. He will bring us a live report coming up just a little bit later on when this is over.
In less than an hour, President Bush is scheduled to sit down for talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder at the White House. CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash joining us now with a live preview of that. Good morning to you, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. And this meeting is quite significant because it's the first time that Gerhard Schroeder will be here at the White House in more than two years. The two men, and of course the two countries, we all know, were quite at odds over the war in Iraq, the lead-in to the war in Iraq and the whole concept of toppling Saddam Hussein through military action.
Now they did break the ice this fall in New York. And since then both sides have been talking about the need to repair relations, the need to move forward with cooperation. And Germany, although they're saying that they're not sending troops to help out in Iraq, they have been sending some signals. For example, they say that they will be willing to at least restructure some of the debt that Iraq owes that country.
But Germany, as far as they're concerned, Gerhard Schroeder wants to talk to the president, not necessarily about Iraq but about economic concerns. He said at a speech yesterday in Chicago that he's concerned about the fact that the U.S. dollar is quite weak, particularly against the euro and what that is doing to Germany's exports and German companies and the entire economy in Europe as a whole.
Now, the White House policy officially on the dollar is that they support a strong U.S. dollar, but it is unclear what exactly, or if any promises the president will come out or statements he will come out on that particular concern of Gerhard Schroeder.
The other issue to watch out for here at the White House is whether or not the United States will make any moves to allow Germany to bid at all for those lucrative contracts to help rebuild Iraq. Germany, you remember, and the firms there were shut out of that process because they didn't participate in the war.
So the U.S. government has said that if they saw more cooperation, maybe that would change. We're going to look today to see if that does -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Dana, I want to ask you one other thing about this morning, the gaggle this morning. Might be some word on whether or not President Bush and Vice President Cheney could be testifying on the 9/11 commission. Is that true?
BASH: Well, Heidi, they said here at the White House that the president is willing to sit down for one hour with the chair and vice chair of the commission.
Now there has been some question from other commissioners on that ten-person panel why they're not going to be involved. And also some questions about why it's just limited to one hour in private.
The White House is standing firm on that commitment. This morning the White House spokesman saying simply they're not going to budge on giving them more time or giving more access to other commissioners. He said that he's very confident that the vice chair and chair can give the information over to the other folks there.
And of course the other big controversy at this point is going on over whether or not the panel will get a two-month extension that they've asked for. The president came out and said he's for that. Denny Hastert on the Hill, the speaker, has said that he doesn't want to move forward with that because it would put the report smack dab in the middle of the election season.
The White House says that they'll continue to press for that even though Democrats believe, they say, that perhaps Speaker Hastert is doing the White House bidding for them. Back to you.
COLLINS: All right, Dana Bash live from the White House this morning. Thanks so much, Dana.
President Bush's would be challengers have a lot of ground to cover over the next four days. On Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses in ten states will unleash a flood of delegates.
Their rhetorical skills were put on display last night in a CNN/"L.A. Times" debate. CNN's Frank Buckley is joining us now from Los Angeles with a wrapup of that. Good morning to you, Frank.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Heidi. Many people thought this should have been John Edwards big breakout moment. He's down in the polls going into Super Tuesday. John Kerry has won all but two of the Democrat contests to date.
Conventional wisdom is Edwards has got to do something to stop Kerry's momentum. But Edwards didn't do anything or say anything that seemed to help in a particularly big way last night. There were some memorable moments. One when Edwards and Kerry were both asked about their votes to give the president authority to wage war in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And this president has failed in his responsibility.
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Do you regret your vote? Do you regret your vote?
EDWARDS: I did what I believed was right.
KING: Do you regret it?
EDWARDS: I believe I did what's right.
KING: Do you regret it?
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You're asked a question or no answer, do you regret your vote. The answer is no, I do not regret my vote. I regret that we have a president of the United States who mislead America and broke every promise he made to the United States Congress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: Now, this was the first time we had just four candidates on the stage and it allowed for a more relaxed conversational atmosphere. This seemed to help Kerry to be more relaxed. Edwards is naturally conversational.
But at a time when he needs to draw distinctions with Kerry it might not have been particularly helpful for him. In fact, Kerry and Edwards looked so comfortable sitting next to each other that some people might have thought they were already running mates. They were asked about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDWARDS: I think an Edwards/Kerry ticket would be powerful. And that's the ticket that I think we should have.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Are you saying now that if you get this nomination you will ask him to join you?
EDWARDS: He certainly should be considered. He's a very, very, very good candidate.
KING: And? Where does Edwards stand in your thinking? You have to be thinking about it. If you say you're not thinking about it you're kidding.
KERRY: I want to thank him for the consideration. I appreciate it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: Senator Kerry wouldn't commit to including Senator Edwards on his list of potential vice presidential picks if he gets the nomination -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Frank Buckley, thanks so much for that.
Coming up on CNN LIVE TODAY, a daring escape from a burning home. A furry little creature taking a flying leap of faith.
And speak of leaps of faith -- ow! "Bachelorette" No. 2 joins us to talk about the reality of finding love on TV.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IAN MCKEE, WINNER: I'm scared. But...
MEREDITH PHILLIPS, "THE BACHELORETTE": But?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Welcome to voyeur vision, reality TV style. Well this is one of the latest entries. ABC'S "The Bachelorette." Sure you heard of it.
The series wrapped up its second season last night with the romantic lead choosing her real-life love interest. And last hour I had a chance to speak with bachelorette Meredith Phillips and her choice, Ian McKee. The first question for "The Bachelorette."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Was this a lot harder emotionally, though, than you thought? It really was a long process, wasn't it?
PHILLIPS: It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I don't think there's really any way that I could have prepared myself except just kind of jumping right in and hoping for the best. COLLINS: In the very beginning, Ian, I remember you saying, you know, when it comes down to it, if I'm the last guy, I'm not going to propose to you this way. I want to do this in a privacy between the two of us. And then what happened? What happened at the end?
MCKEE: All the walls came crashing down. I don't know. I really had built up these rules for myself to sort of keep myself under control under this difficult and strained experience. And then I made promises and the show has made a liar out of me.
The thing is -- truth of the matter, I walked out of the limousine not knowing what I was going to do and really wanting to do it my way, but at the same time emotions took over and I felt that it was the right moment.
I thought that if we were going to share this moment, that it would be -- it was her dream that we do it then and there, even though I maybe thought that there would have been a better time some day in the future. It was just -- it just felt right, so I went with it.
PHILLIPS: Meredith, last question for you. When it came down to Ian and Matthew, I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to choose.
Did you think about in making that decision, did you think about a particular moment that you had had with these men later in life? Did you think about waking up next to this person for the rest of your life or maybe having coffee on rainy days or spending holidays together? What was it that you thought about in real life to help make your decision?
PHILLIPS: I thought about all of those areas. I think that -- it's really important to envision circumstances with each other and with Ian, it was easy. And I think that's the way it should be. I didn't really have a tough time with it.
COLLINS: All right. Well I certainly appreciate the time and you guys being with us this morning. The very best of luck to you both. Sounds like you have a wedding to plan.
MCKEE: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Thank you.
COLLINS: Ian and Meredith, have a great day. Thanks so much.
MCKEE: You, too.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: All right, so here's another leap of faith. In St. Louis take a look at this. It paid off for this squirrel. Not a flying squirrel, by the way, just a regular old squirrel. Seems he was trapped atop a burning building and wasn't about to wait for human intervention. That video shot by CNN affiliate KSDK. Some toasty tootsies, I bet. Looking beautiful can sure make you hungry. And who better to serve up an Oscar dish than Hollywood chef Wolfgang Puck? Our Daryn Kagan is live on the red carpet. And this is what we're working on for next hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: I'm Daryn Kagan live on the red carpet from Hollywood, two days before the 76th Annual Academy Awards.
We're talking Oscars. We're also talking entertainment and the parties. And no party is bigger and more important than the Governor's Ball. The first party of the night. Who does the food? None other than Wolfgang Puck, celebrity chef, with us this morning. Good morning.
WOLFGANG PUCK, CELEBRITY CHEF: Good morning.
KAGAN: I could get used to having breakfast delivered to me.
PUCK: Any time you want, we deliver breakfast for you. So that's absolutely No problem. You can get your own Oscar or your potato with caviar.
KAGAN: I love it.
PUCK: Just like all the big stars get.
KAGAN: You spoil me.
Now this is actually the food -- well not this particular food, but this is the type of food that will be served.
PUCK: Absolutely. This is all the appetizers. You can see our roasted beets here. We have some (UNINTELLIGIBLE), we have the smoked salmon and caviar (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We have some asparagus with prosciutto, some roasted peppers, some (UNINTELLIGIBLE), artichokes.
And then here for out first course really is a potato with caviar. And for main we have half a lobster and a filet mignon with black truffles. So we bought like $40,000 worth of caviar and about $30,000 worth of black truffles alone.
KAGAN: Absolutely amazing.
PUCK: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) champagne and a sterling cabernet. So we have great wine and so many people working. I have 200...
KAGAN: How many people does it take to get this together?
PUCK: I have 200 people in the kitchen alone. And Carl Schuster (ph) directs a staff of 600 in the dining room.
KAGAN: This is a huge operation. This town is famous for being obsessed with fitness and thinness. You make all this beautiful food... PUCK: Look at you.
KAGAN: I'm going to eat this, but I'm wondering, does Hollywood eat it? Do you make all this amazing food and they pick at it...
PUCK: No. You know what? Everybody is really hungry. Most of the people go to the beauty parlor and hair dresser and everything. So actually they are really hungry by 10:00 at night. Everybody sits down and everybody is happy to get great food because what happened, we serve it just like in a restaurant with all this monstrous stuff.
So many people working. Really, the food just like in our restaurant. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it's exactly the same as you would get it here. People come after the Oscar few days and tell me often, Can you make me the same thing I had at the Governor's Ball?
KAGAN: There's tradition that people are looking for.
(CROSSTALK)
PUCK: This is one of our traditional preparations is our chocolate covered Oscar. So everybody is going to get an Oscar to take home or eat it at the Governor's Ball already.
KAGAN: You wanted to show me this surprise. This is going to be dessert.
PUCK: This is the dessert. Just like they do at the Academy Awards they say the envelope, please. We will say the dessert, please. So the waiter in white gloves is going to lift it up, put it next to it and here is our 12-layer chocolate cake with espresso ice cream. Now even the confection here which is made out of sugar is edible.
KAGAN: I'm going to plan on doing that soon as we wrap this up.
PUCK: OK.
Good luck on Sunday. I know you have a lot of work between now and then.
PUCK: We have a lot of work, but we cook everything at the last moment. Sunday evening at 6:00, 7:00. Then it's going to be really busy.
KAGAN: Thanks for stopping by.
PUCK: Thank you. It was my pleasure.
KAGAN: I'm going to invite you to our party we're putting on here at CNN. I'll be live from the red carpet with my partner Kandis Gibson, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, 4:00 p.m. Pacific Sunday. So please join us for that.
Meanwhile, we have a lot more to show you her today on this Friday live from the red carpet. Next hour, we're talking fashion. What people will be wearing at the red carpet?
CNN LIVE TODAY continues from Hollywood and also Atlanta just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Mel Gibson says his film "The Passion of the Christ" is not anti-Semitic. It in fact is about tolerance. Last night the Oscar winning actor/director told talk show host Jay Leno he never expected the movie to generate the criticism it has.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": Did anybody try to talk you out of this? Career type people?
MEL GIBSON, DIRECTOR, "THE PASSION": Not really. I think people -- they don't want to talk you out of things. I don't know. I think some people thought it was a bad idea.
LENO: Why? Why would it be a bad idea?
GIBSON: I guess they said, if you delve into religion and politics you're going touch a few nerves. That's a given. You're going touch a few nerves. I didn't expect to hit a main artery though.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: "The Passion of the Christ" grossed nearly $24 million on its opening day, Wednesday. Leno joked that it's doing so well there's talk of turning it into a book.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: The second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.
Want to go ahead and check the very latest developments that we are following this hour. Repairing a relationship strained by war. President Bush meets with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder this hour. Mr. Schroeder says he'll discuss ways Germany can help in post- war Iraq. He was an outspoken opponent of the war. The German chancellor also plans to raise concerns about the dollar's weakness against the euro.
A looming deadline in Iraq. Tomorrow is the date set for the Iraqi Governing Council to approve an interim constitution. It's a key step in the plans for a June 30 transfer of power in Iraq. But a Sunni member of the council says it's unlikely the draft constitution will be finished by tomorrow's deadline.
Taking the gay marriage fight to a higher authority. Today, California's attorney general will ask the state supreme court to decide the issue. He wants the court to decide whether the city of San Francisco is violating state law by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
And six babies in 60 seconds. An Ohio woman gives birth to sextuplets. The three girls and three boys were born within one minute of each other yesterday at Akron General Medical Center. The father says the speed of the delivery was like a popcorn popper. Doctors say all six babies and the mother are doing well.
Like a popcorn popper?
It's 11 a.m. on the East Coast, 8 a.m. in the West. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Heidi Collins.
KAGAN: And from Hollywood Boulevard on the red carpet, I'm Daryn Kagan. We are just two days away from the Oscars. We're going to give you a preview. We're talking who might win, the fashion, the parties. We have it all. Stay with us here on "CNN LIVE TODAY" -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Daryn, thanks a lot.
Up first on CNN, though, this hour, the nation's Catholic bishops went public today with reports documenting a half-century of abuse by pedophile priests. One of the reports describes the Church's failure to stop the assaults, mostly on children, as nothing short of shameful.
CNN's Jason Carroll first reported the findings 10 days ago. He joins us once again this morning in Washington.
Jason, good morning.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Heidi. We now have the final numbers from that report, and the numbers are just as sobering as we first reported.
Researchers found that between 1950 and 2003, 4,392 clergy were accused of abuse. That represents 4 percent of the 110,000 priests who were in active ministry. They are accused of molesting 10,667 victims. The average age of the victim, just 12 years old. Most of the victims were enticed with either alcohol or drugs, most of the abuse taking place in either a parish or in the priest's home.
Researchers from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice were the ones who crunched the numbers. They also found that 14 percent of priests who were accused of abuse were reported to police by their bishops -- just 14 percent.
Another part of the study has to do with the causes behind the abuse. That was done by a national review board that's sort of overseeing this process, and they found that clergy, quote, "tolerated moral laxity and a gay subculture." They also found that clergy didn't do enough to screen candidates for the priesthood. They also say the clergy basically failed to grasp the gravity of the crimes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BOB BENNETT, ATTORNEY: Many bishops -- certainly not all -- breached their responsibilities as pastors, breached their responsibilities as shepherds of the flock, and put their head in the sand.
Many of them did this because they did understand the broad epidemic nature of the problem, but treated allegations in a sporadic and isolated fashion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Bob Bennett there, saying that basically high-level clergy didn't act enough like shepherds. He said, quote, "they acted more like risk assessment managers."
This part of the study also criticized Cardinal Egan of New York, Cardinal Mahony of Los Angeles, and of course, Boston's former cardinal, Bernard Law, who had to resign, or step down, in the wake of the scandal.
Critics of this report say that basically they can't trust these numbers because researchers had to rely too much on bishops and not enough on outside sources of information. Just a little bit later on this morning, we're expected to hear from the bishops when they give their reaction to the study -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, we will, and we're going have that live, of course, Jason, to be balanced on all of that. But let me just ask you, these numbers are so upsetting, and you have always said, at least for the past 10 days or so, more than 10,000 victims here. Tell us where we're at with what the Church is going to be doing to make some changes so that none of this happens again.
CARROLL: Well, there are no guarantees, but as you know, two years ago, the Church adopted a new charter, a zero tolerance policy on dealing with allegations of abuse. So right now what some of the members of the national lay review board are recommending is further study, more close content with the bishops to make sure that they are following through on their promise of a zero tolerance policy -- Heidi.
COLLINS: A lot of Catholics still looking for accountability, I guess. Jason Carroll, thanks so much, we appreciate it.
And as Jason said, the nation's Catholic bishops will address the report's findings in a news conference shortly that will be coming your way live on CNN at the half hour.
Well, the public is getting a look today at a previously unseen videotape of the Columbine shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. The tape shows the pair in trenchcoats, apparently practicing for their massacre at the Colorado high school. The video is part of 10,000 pieces of evidence released to the public by investigators, including guns, shell casings and pipe bombs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KEN SALAZAR, COLORADO ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think it is a horrific and painful videotape to watch, essentially what were mass murderers out there practicing what they were planning on doing. And it is very painful to watch that video. And all of us here in Colorado and all of us involved in law enforcement very much hope that April 20th, 1999 would never have happened in the way that it did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Authorities say they released the evidence so others won't miss any clues to similar attacks. They also determined police were not at fault for missing warning signs about Harris and Klebold. The two crossed police radar a dozen times in the two years before the killings.
Detectives from a half-dozen states are comparing notes today, trying to figure out if they have a serial killer on their hands.
CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Oklahoma City this morning with more on that.
Ed, good morning.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Well, we're outside the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation headquarters here in Oklahoma City. The building behind me right now is where some four dozen investigators from across six states, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee are meeting, comparing notes, as you mentioned.
They're still way too early to mention -- to say at this point whether investigators believe that they're dealing with a serial killer that has been striking along interstates and finding women at truck stops along Interstate 40 here in Oklahoma, but that's what they're talking about today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY RUSHING, INVESTIGATOR: A photo from a surveillance camera.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: The blurry picture captured the last moments of a woman's life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSHING: This woman here is who we believe to be our victim.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: But since, she was last seen five months ago. This woman remains a complete mystery. Chief Deputy Kelly Rushing and a team of investigators don't know who she is. They know nothing about here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSHING: The last thing she said to anyone was, I've got to ride and I've got to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Six hours after cameras showed here walking around a truck stop in Oklahoma with a backpack and wearing what looks like men's clothing, she was found dead along a highway in the Texas panhandle, the clothes and backpack nowhere to be found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSHING: Just discarded on the side of the road like a bag of trash.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Investigators believe this case could be linked to similar murders in Oklahoma, Texas and four other states. In the last two years, some 10 women have been found dead along highways. In almost every case, the women were last seen at truck stops, and also had a history of prostitution.
Investigators say there are more similarities to these cases, but they're not ready to say they're all connected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSICA BROWN, INVESTIGATOR: We have entertained the idea we may be talking about a serial killer, but we have nothing at this point in time that directly links these homicides to one person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're looking at Casey's spirit house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Following ancient Seminole tradition, Casey Jo Pipestem was buried on her family's land in central Oklahoma. Pipestem was 19, and last seen in an Oklahoma City truck stop in January. She was found dead in Texas, her body thrown off a bridge into a creek. Here family worries that no one cares about these victims because of their lifestyles, and they want people to know that no one deserves to die like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think if people looked at their background, I think what they would find is that they were human beings, that they were people with families.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LAVANDERA: Authorities also acknowledge that there are more similarities than there are difference in the various cases that they are discussing today. And they say that's what's brought everyone here to compare the notes. In fact, you would imagine -- we asked one of the investigators, talking about it, you wouldn't just come here to Oklahoma City if you didn't think you had more to talk about, and virtually every investigator we've talked to over the last few days say they definitely have reason to come here today.
As far as suspects, still way too early to determine any kind of suspect in this case, but authorities and various investigators that we've spoken with do say that their initial suspicion is that they might be looking for someone who is a truck driver and driving along the interstate here and frequenting the truck stops throughout Oklahoma.
COLLINS: Hopefully a lot more for investigators to learn as they do share their notes. Ed Lavandera, Oklahoma City. Thanks so much.
Now, to the crisis in Haiti. Rebels edge closer to the capital as the island nation descends deeper in to chaos.
A group of rebels took control of the town about 30 miles from Port-au-Prince last night. Rebel leader Guy Philippe says his forces have surrounded the capital and are waiting to attack. Armed supporters of President Jean Bertrand Aristide took to the streets overnight, setting fire to barricades there.
French officials held talks in Paris today with leaders of Haiti's government, looking for ways to end the crisis. The French foreign minister says President Aristide should step down. In a statement, he said the president bears a heavy responsibility for the current rebellion.
But Mr. Aristide says he will not give up power. He called the rebels who are trying to oust him terrorists and drug dealers. The Haitian leader wants the U.S. to take part in an international force to restore order of the Caribbean nation. They're also calling on the U.N. to back a multinational force in Haiti.
Jamaica's foreign minister says without help, sheer anarchy and chaos are imminent.
Well, what do you get when you mix "The Black Album" with "The White Album"? A whole lot of trouble. That musical question is part of today's "Buzz On The Web," to tell you about that.
And the battle of Los Angeles. The Democratic contenders tussle over some hot topics. We're live with a wrap-up of last night's debate. And, goodbye to the curse. Finally, huh? Cubs fans make sure that baseball goes out without a bang -- or with a bang, I should say. It's all coming up next, when "CNN LIVE TODAY" returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MARKET UPDATE) COLLINS: You already have to take off your shoes before you take off, so soon you may have to step on a scale. The federal government wants airlines to weigh passengers from time to time. The recommendations stem from the crash of a U.S. Airways commuter flight to -- in Charlotte, that is, two years ago. Investigators determined the plane was overloaded.
Well, we do it every Friday, check the hot topics you're talking about on AOL. AOL Online Editor Regina Lewis is in our Washington bureau this morning. She starts us off with the sounds of protest, right Regina?
REGINA LEWIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Heidi. It was a very interesting week.
You've probably heard of "The White Album" by the Beatles. You may have heard of "The Black Album" by hip hop artist Jay-Z. Well, some very enterprising deejay in Los Angeles mixed the two, much to the chagrin of record label EMI, and then released it online via file sharing in what is being deemed Grey Tuesday.
Let's take a listen to the song.
(MUSIC)
LEWIS: Now, Heidi, as we've talked about before, these tend to have a very viral effect. Once it gets online, very hard to get back, and, of course, that's where the controversy ensues. The deejay and the people involved with it are calling it organized disobedience. The recording industry lawyers are calling it 24 hours of mass copyright infringement. So to say that these guys now have become some of the industry's most wanted, probably an understatement. I don't think this story has completely played out yet, but as subscription sites, authorized sites like iTunes and AOL's MusicNet take ground in the mainstream, you still have an industry that has long had no shortage of controversy -- this kind of thing happening.
COLLINS: All right. Well, dare I say, it sounds pretty good, though.
LEWIS: I know, exactly.
COLLINS: All right, and now to some more defiance, if you will.
Rosie and her wife, a lot of people talking about that.
LEWIS: Absolutely. They went to San Francisco to get married -- probably no surprise there. It begs the question, though, if you're following the online angle here, did they have an appointment? Because as of this week, you need one in order to show up in San Francisco and get married.
Here's how they're doing this. We've seen, and you've covered for weeks now, the big crowds outside. Now they're saying, look, we need to really kind of keep this in check. Here's how we're going to do it -- from 8:00 to 3:00, four weddings per half-hour increment. That's 44 per day. We're going to take appointments, and we're only going to do these ceremonies by appointment only.
To give you a sense for the volume, I looked into this, you are looking at April if you want to get married in San Francisco now, so interesting to see how that's playing out. Also, on the controversy side, a lot of people are looking for Dick Cheney's daughter, who has come out as a lesbian and saying, dearmary.com, where are you? And actually pointing to the San Francisco mayor as what they hope will be inspiration. He is a heterosexual Catholic, and they are saying, where are you?
So we are seeing here -- the mainstream here is Rosie and her longtime girlfriend, Kelli Carpenter. We're also seeing appointments taken in San Francisco, and some underground searching for Mary Cheney.
COLLINS: OK, and how about number one, certainly no surprise here. The big stars, Oscar.
LEWIS: Yes, everybody can't wait for this one. Interestingly, it's also one of the biggest nights online. A lot of people like to watch it with a friend, perhaps across the country, and of course you can imagine the dialog is, I can't believe he/she won. I can't believe what they're wearing.
A couple of interesting Internet angles. One, the second you hit the red carpet with your designer gown, whether you run into Joan Rivers or whomever you run into first, boom, digital picture goes directly to the factory so they can start making the knockoff dresses. No surprise there. It takes days, sometimes weeks. A couple of big players there. You see them on Oprah sometimes, Victor Costa, a guy named Allen Schwartz, whose label is ABS. They'll knock off these dresses, really discount the prices, and to give you a sense for just how successful they've been in this realm, Helen Hunt won a Calvin Klein dress a couple of years back, $1,900. Victor Costa made a version for $145, sold 60,000 of them.
So watch for dresses.com to get some serious traffic. In terms of Oscar nominees and winners, you can find ballots online, so if you want to take your own office pool or really keep track while you're watching, that's a lot of fun.
We couldn't help but look at the search term data to see if we could get kind of the inside look on who might win. Sean Penn interestingly is not even the biggest Sean searched for. Sean Paul, who is a hip heart artist, tops the list. Sean John, which is the clothing line for P. Diddy, Puff Daddy, how many names can that guy have? And Sean Hannity, all ahead of Sean Penn, whom you see here, who is an Oscar nominee. I don't know if that bodes well for him or not. But it will be interesting to see how it plays out.
We also have Charlize Theron. There is a picture of her as a young ballerina when she was in South Africa growing up, and that is also circulating online.
COLLINS: All right. Well, you always have the interesting stuff online. We appreciate it very much. Regina Lewis, we'll see you next time.
LEWIS: OK. Take care.
COLLINS: Well, today in the land of cotton is the land of snow. Mother Nature continues to pound the South. We've got a live report coming up.
KAGAN: I'm Daryn Kagan live in Hollywood. We are doing the walk -- the walk down the red carpet. This is the big one that's going to happen on Sunday. The big question is, what will the stars be wearing? We'll be talking about that, perhaps giving you a preview, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Some news coming in at this very moment to CNN, want to make sure you know about. Count number nine in the Martha Stewart trial has been dropped. I want to remind you what that was -- the security fraud charge. This was the biggest charge of all of those against her, max penalty of 10 years, a $1 million fine. That count has been dropped. This was Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum making the decision. There had been some questions about the validity of that charge, and therefore we are learning right now that the judge has dismissed the securities fraud charge against Martha Stewart. It could have carried a maximum penalty of 10 years and $1 million fine.
We have CNN Correspondent Mary Snow standing by. She's going to tell us a little bit more about this in just a few minutes.
For now, though, we're going to back to L.A., where Daryn Kagan is standing by to give us the very latest on the Academy Awards.
Hey, Daryn.
KAGAN: Heidi, standing right by me, literally on the red carpet now, everything -- they're getting ready just in case the weather is not great, because frankly, it has not been that great in southern California -- a beautiful sunny morning this morning.
Let's show you some of the preparations that have been made using our multi-camera setup we have here. As you can see, they have put up clear tents over the red carpet, and I believe those are going to stay up no matter what the weather does between now and Sunday, not taking any chances because it has been so soggy.
Keep in mind as we come back live to the red carpet, the incredible millions of dollars of gowns and jewels that will be walking down here on Sunday wouldn't really work with things pouring down with the rain.
So what will people be wearing? I want to give a preview of that and talk about what the trends are, and for that we're going to bring in Marlene Hentmeester. She is with "Lucky Magazine."
Good morning.
MARLENE HENTMEESTER, "LUCKY MAGAZINE": Thank you. Good morning to you.
KAGAN: In the award shows leading up to this point, we've seen a lot of colors. Do you think that's going to stay?
HENTMEESTER: Yes, definitely. There's color -- lots of pretty, soft -- pastel hews, almost like Easter, and Charlize Theron clearly demonstrated her love of color at the Golden Globes. She war a beautiful yellow chiffon Dior gown, and then again at the SAG Awards, a beautiful violet dress.
KAGAN: She was very pretty.
HENTMEESTER: Yes.
KAGAN: One of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. Marcia Gay Harden, she is pregnant with twins. She's nominated for best supporting actor. She's told us that she has a boy and a girl. She told me when I interviewed her at the Oscar nominee lunch that she'll probably wear a subdued tone, because it's been kind of a sad year for her family.
HENTMEESTER: Yes, and it's probably a wise choice fashion-wise, because it will be more slimming for her figure.
KAGAN: And what else can we look for in terms of pregnancy and pregnant stars?
HENTMEESTER: Well, I mean, clearly -- they have so many options, which is so nice. Designers are coming up with the most beautiful gowns. A lot of them are floor skimming, obviously, and they just do -- they just flatter that shape.
KAGAN: Diane Keaton. Now, she is one of the most popular women here in Hollywood making the comeback, one of the possible winners for Best Actress. Fashion-wise, sometimes still don't really appreciate her style, but she has her own style.
HENTMEESTER: Yes, she does, and clearly has a thing for suits -- for pantsuits. And I hear that she will be wearing a custom-made Ralph Lauren tuxedo for the Oscars.
KAGAN: Oh, really?
HENTMEESTER: Yes.
KAGAN: OK, we'll look for that. And then it will be interesting to see Keisha Castle-Hughes. She is nominated for Best Actress in "Whale Rider," the youngest nominee ever in that category. She's only 13 years old, and yet she comes to the most glamorous event in the world.
HENTMEESTER: It's true, and she will probably have a zillion options to choose from, but I'm sure she'll choose something that's sort of age appropriate, very princess-like.
KAGAN: We will be looking for it. Thank you so much, Marlene Hentmeester from "Lucky Magazine." I'm sure your magazine will be looking for all the hot trends.
HENTMEESTER: Oh, definitely.
KAGAN: We're talking a lot more Oscars ahead. We're just two days away. Stay with us as "CNN LIVE TODAY" continues after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Want to get back to the story on the Martha Stewart trial that we were telling you about just moments ago -- a reminder that a judge in that case has dismissed the securities fraud charge. It was the biggest charge that held the largest penalty against Martha Stewart.
Again, reminding you, it was count number nine, a maximum penalty of 10 years and a $1 million fine. That judge, Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum has dismissed that charge.
We have our Allan Chernoff standing by to tell us more about this.
Allan, this was quite a surprise, wasn't it?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not shocking, Heidi. It certainly is an important victory for Martha Stewart, but not shocking at all, because the judge herself, even before the trial began, had referred to this count as novel.
Normally when you have securities fraud, it implies insider trading, but that's not what this was all about. Martha Stewart had been charged with trying to prop up the stock of her own company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia by saying that her sale of ImClone stock was entirely legitimate.
This is not, again, not the usually way you have a securities fraud charge. And the judge herself in her opinion here says that in order to find the essential element of criminal intent beyond a reasonable doubt, a rational jury would have to speculate.
So, again, this is certianly a very important victory for Martha Stewart. But keep in mind, she is still confronting obstruction of justice charges, making false statements, and also conspiracy charges. So by no means is Martha Stewart off the hook. But this, as you said, had been the most serious charge, carried the largest potential time in jail, a maximum of 10 years -- Heidi.
COLLINS: And quickly, I'm wondering what the defense's reaction to this was, because there was that draft provided by the judge, and it looked a little like she was leaning towards dismissing these charges.
CHERNOFF: Right. Well, yesterday, she did -- yesterday afternoon, she did release to the lawyers a draft of her instructions to the jury. And in that draft, she had included instructions for count number nine. So at that point, the anticipation was, well, perhaps she's not going to dismiss any of the charges. But this morning, about half hour ago, the lawyers went in to the judge's robing room and just now, minutes ago, this opinion from the judge did come out -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Allan Chernoff, thanks so much for clearing that up for us. We appreciate it very much.
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