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CNN Live Today

A Look at Controversial Documentary "Gunner Palace"; Martha Stewart Prepares to Head Home

Aired March 03, 2005 - 10:30   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are coming up on the half hour. Good morning once again. I'm Daryn Kagan.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rick Sanchez and here's what's happening right "Now in the News." Catching you up.

The GlobalFlyer is just a few hours from a scheduled landing in Kansas. Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett is attempting to become the very first man to make a solo, global non-stop plane flight. Despite earlier concerns of a fuel shortage, mission sponsor Richard Branson is confident that Fossett will, indeed, make history.

About an hour ago, Michael Chertoff took the ceremonial oath of office as Homeland Security Secretary. Chertoff was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as President Bush looked on. Chertoff has actually been on the job for a couple weeks already. He plans a massive internal review of his new department.

The nation's border security is being talked about on Capitol Hill today. A House panel holds a hearing on how the new intelligence reform law will impact border control. Among those testifying, the head of 9/11 Families for a Secure America and the father of National Park Service worker killed by a drug cartel hit squad.

And Alan Greenspan suggests that a national sales tax could possibly boost the economy, but the Federal Reserve chair warns the transition to such a program could be daunting. Greenspan made his comments this morning to the president's advisory panel on the federal tax reform.

KAGAN: To Iraq now. The insurgency shows no sign of fading away. Two car bombs exploding this morning near the Interior Ministry building in Baghdad. At least five police officers were killed and seven others were wounded. Meanwhile in Baqubah, a suicide car bomber killed one person outside of police headquarters.

Iraq's volatility has become so great, in fact, that interim prime minister Ayad Allawi has extended a nationwide state of emergency for 30 more days. That declaration essentially puts Iraq under marshal law. It establishes curfews and restricts freedom of movement. And the violence sets a grim milestone. Now more than 1,500 U.S. forces have died in Iraq since the invasion. Three American deaths yesterday pushed the total the 1,502.

KAGAN: Combat is often described as hours of boredom punctuated by seconds of terror. Maybe nowhere in Iraq is that contrast greater than in a place called Gunner Palace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "GUNNER PLACE")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I work in the Gunner Palace. This palace was built after the first Gulf War for Saddam Hussein's first wife. Later it was given to his son Uday, who used it quite often to have his wild parties.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We dropped a bomb on it and now we party in it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This building was damaged...

(END VIDEO CLIP FROM "GUNNER PALACE")

SANCHEZ: Gunner Palace is a surreal backdrop to the deadly mission facing these American soldiers. It's a newly released documentary. And I had a chance to attend the premiere and then sit down with its director and one of the soldiers that's depicted in this film.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ (on camera): Did you accomplish with this movie what you set out to accomplish when you looked at the finished product?

MICHAEL TUCKER, DIRECTOR, "GUNNER PALACE": I think when I looked at the finished product, I didn't know what was going to happen. It's only taking the film out on the road, getting it to audiences, especially seeing how soldiers react to it. The soldiers' reactions have been the best validation. I mean, they come out of the screening.

SANCHEZ: Let me ask you, what's the difference between a soldier's reaction and the reaction of an everyday American who is not a soldier?

TUCKER: Well for me, as far as validation, the soldiers are the only ones who can say that is what it's like or that's what my experience was like.

SANCHEZ: But it's interesting, because after the movie last night, what I heard from people was this documentary is not positive enough, we want to see more of what great things the Americans are doing. And then other people on the other side of the room would stand up and say, you know what, this thing needed to be more negative. Getting two completely different perspectives from different types of viewers on this thing.

TUCKER: Well, we didn't make it to change people's minds, certainly to open their minds. And just the fact that they're talking, I think -- again, we've had screenings where soldiers stand up and say, well, you know, that's pretty much what it's like. And I think people at home, they're projecting all kinds of stuff, they're seeing the war through the lens of politics. People project Vietnam on top of it. And without having been there or without having really sat with a family member or close friend and talked about the experience, they have very little reference. There's a disconnect.

SANCHEZ: If it's a soldier's story, the story that I saw as I watched your documentary was, these guys are there, many of them don't know why they're there, they're doing the best they can and they can't wait to get the hell out of there. We have with us here former captain Jonathan Powers. Is that the story that really is there in Iraq, that the American people aren't getting?

CAPT. JON POWERS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Yes, there's a great story in Iraq that American people aren't getting. Because all they're getting is -- they're getting a burning humvee on the news or they're getting a list of the two soldiers that died last night. They're not getting the store be the mortars that happen every evening or the feeling that soldiers are getting when they roll out the streets. They're not rolling out the streets just down the road, they're rolling out the streets passing every bag of garbage and wincing and hoping it doesn't blow up and is full of nails and bullets that tear through your humvee.

(BEGIN CLIP FROM "GUNNER PALACE")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to get blown up, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm still a survivor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: IDs are every soldier's worst fear. They're in bags, pots, garbage piles, trees, and sometimes even molded into concrete curbs. Nobody wants to get near this thing, whatever it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP FROM "GUNNER PALACE")

SANCHEZ: This is a war -- as we look at that clip -- that's like no other, really, for American soldiers, right? You were trained to fight Russians and others who were our enemies in fields of combat. And here you are in what appeared to me, as I watched the documentary, to be in a policing tactic, correct?

POWERS: Absolutely. We were trained as artillery men, we were trained to sit ten miles from the front line and shoot 155 millimeter artillery rounds down range. And we're sent to Iraq and we were able sort of train ourselves on how to be police officers, how to be -- how to run a checkpoint, because there's really -- when we went in, unfortunately, in May of 2003, there weren't Iraq veterans.

There was Persian Gulf veterans. But anyone who had fought in Iraq had fought the war and we were following their conduct. There's no one to come back and say, this is what you need to train on, this is what you need to do, you know, this is what you're going to have to do when you go into a house. So a lot of that stuff, when we sat in Kuwait getting ready to go up, we were teaching ourselves. You know, we're fighting an enemy that we can't see.

We're trying to help a country where, for example, we trained up 185 Iraqi civil defense corps soldiers to get them to be able to take over their own country, or secure their own country, excuse me. And the first firefight we get with these guys, seven show up to work. So all of a sudden, I'm trying to convince my soldiers that we're here doing the right thing and these guys are, you know, as we've said many times, 18, 19 years old. It doesn't matter.

I'm 24 and I was looking at it and wondering what are we doing here? These guys don't want to defend themselves. But we're still proud to be soldiers and we're still proud to be doing a mission to make this a better place, whether or not we believe in all that was going on.

SANCHEZ: Yes or no, should Americans watch this documentary?

POWERS: Absolutely.

SANCHEZ: Former captain Jonathan Powers, thanks so much for being with us. Michael Tucker, job well done. Thanks.

TUCKER: Thanks for having us.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: A good documentary should get people thinking and talking. If that's the measure of one, then this a fabulous documentary because it did just that when I was there.

KAGAN: You were saying that afterwards that people who saw the same movie came away with completely different takes.

SANCHEZ: People from one side of the auditorium to the other during the discussion were literally yelling at each other with two completely differing opinions. But they were talking and they were sharing and maybe that's a good thing.

KAGAN: Sounds like it was.

Still to come on CNN LIVE TODAY, a secret tunnel comes to light. We'll tell you more.

SANCHEZ: Also later, five months of prison may lead to a good thing. A look at what it's done for Martha Stewart, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

SANCHEZ: Let's look at some of the other stories making news on this date from coast to coast.

KAGAN: Check out these pictures. They're of a secret tunnel. Federal agents the tunnel may have been used to smuggle drugs and possibly people from Mexico to the U.S. The tunnel was found on the U.S. side of the border, about 20 feet underground. It connected to a luxurious residence in Colesco (ph), California to Mexicali, Mexico.

SANCHEZ: Yes, that one was made by man. This one was made by God. In Lake City, Florida, a large sinkhole, just there, now threatening a home, could eventually affect the town's water supply. Officials say the sink hole is 220 feet long by 100 feet wide. Crews are sandbagging the source of water feeding this giant hole. The sinkhole is draining water from a pond and a nearby swamp. Oops.

KAGAN: Cable cars in San Francisco meant to help with steep hills. How about some steep prices? One of the city's top tourist attractions may soon become America's priciest local transit. There's a proposal to raise the city's cable car fare by $2. That would make it a $5 ride. The mayor, Gavin Newsome, and the city's board of supervisors, must still approve the fair hikes. Either you hike the fares or you hike up those hills.

SANCHEZ: One of the two.

KAGAN: Either way.

SANCHEZ: Either way it involves a hike.

KAGAN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: She has a huge following, and the fans are counting the days until she is finally back, her fans, that is.

KAGAN: Still coming, preparing to welcome back the domestic diva.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Martha Stewart's fans are awaiting what they're calling her second coming. The Web site savemartha.com maintains a running clock counting down the days, the hours, the minutes and seconds until Friday. That's when Stewart could leave the Alderson federal prison camp two days early and head to her Bedford, New York country estate.

CNN's Mary Snow reports, prison might even enhance Stewart's fortunes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Bedford, New York, in anticipation of her homecoming, workers are putting up fences at her 153-acre estate, and her company has been changing the guard. Just days before Stewart's release, it announced the resignation of the magazine's publisher. Also gone, Sharon Patrick, who was CEO when Stewart went into prison, replaced in November by Susan Lyne.

SUSAN LYNE, CEO, MARTHA STEWART OMNIMEDIA: The morale here has been building, I think, as we get closer to Martha's return, because it also signals our ability to put a rough 2 1/2 years behind us and to be able to finally plan for the future with no clouds.

SNOW: Analysts who follow the company see some potential clouds.

GARY MCDANIEL, STANDARD & POOR'S: I've never seen anything in Martha Stewart's past to indicate she's particularly good at playing the second fiddle, so it's really going to be interesting to see how that plays out between Susan and Martha and who is really running the ship.

SNOW: Investors have been betting on a winning outcome, doubling her company's stock since she entered Alderson. Investors are not just hitching their hopes to her, but to reality TV show producer Mark Burnett.

Burnett's two TV shows that include a spin-off of "The Apprentice" starring Martha Stewart will help transition Stewart's image away from convicted felon, which has scared off advertisers.

Stewart's new boss says Stewart's time in prison may not hurt her in the long run.

LYNE: I think Martha has made it a good experience. She's used her time well. She's done a lot of reading. She's learned some new skills, and she's made a connection with a lot of women who -- who, I think, actually inspire her in many ways.

SNOW (on camera) Martha Stewart stepped down as CEO in June of 2003 when she was indicted. Currently she holds the title of company founder. Besides appealing the criminal charges against her, she still faces civil charges filed by the SEC.

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Tonight on the eve of Martha Stewart's release from prison, CNN's airs a special primetime edition of "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS." And for the first time, you'll see Stewart at what's become to be known as "Camp Cupcake." Exclusive video and interviews, a special primetime "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS," hosted by Paula Zahn, tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.

SANCHEZ: We're getting information of some arrests overseas. Two men and a woman arrested in central England. This is part of an investigation into international terrorism. The three were arrested around Coventry. That's in what is often referred to as the Midlands there, in central England. It happened on Tuesday. They're being questioned, according to CNN sources in London. Metropolitan police are doing the questioning. Five premises in Coventry are being searched. We're told that the searches are going on as we speak. Don't know motive, don't know why police were led to that location.

Under laws, under new terrorism laws in England, by the way, authorities do not have to have a motive for making such arrests. So this is what we have, once again, two men, one woman arrested in central England under a terrorism -- international terrorism charges.

KAGAN: Let's take a look at what's on our legal docket today in our look at legal briefs.

SANCHEZ: The Virginia supreme court is expected to rule on an appeal by convicted D.C. sniper John Allen Muhammad. Muhammad is seeking to have his conviction reversed, case dismissed or his death sentence overturned. Muhammad was convicted in a case related to a shooting spree that left 10 people dead, gripped the nation's capital for three weeks in 2002.

KAGAN: No sordid testimony. The civil case accusing NBS star Kobe Bryant of rape has been settled out of court. The terse announcement contained no details of the deal, except that neither Bryant, nor his accuser will be talking about what did or didn't happen in a Colorado resort.

And in California, Michael Jackson returns to court next hour. A photographer who videotaped Jackson's Neverland Ranch is scheduled to testify. Yesterday, public relations specialist Ann Marie Kite told the court that Jackson's team planned a smear campaign against his accuser's mother, and held the family at his Neverland Ranch under duress.

Here is another story we're following. For 10 years, young Alex Kelly was on the lam in Europe. The accused rapist was living the high life, while eluding prosecution. Finally he returned and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. But after serving only half of those 16 years, 8 years, he's up for parole, and that has his victims outraged.

Here is CNN's Chris Huntington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the face of a convicted rapist. In 1986, Alex Kelly was a popular 18- year-old high school wrestling star in Darien (ph), Connecticut, one of the wealthiest towns in the nation.

SHEILA WELLER, AUTHOR, "SAINT OF CIRCUMSTANCE": The context of that town at the time was privileged kids having keg parties, you know, cutting school, just a lot of drinking, a lot of feeling they could walk on water, so to speak. But in the midst of this was somebody that was a real problem.

HUNTINGTON: In February 1986, Kelly, who had a record as a juvenile offender, was charged with raping and choking two girls, one from his high school, another from a nearby town. But just before his trial was due to begin, Kelly fled to Europe, skipping out on $200,000 bail. For eight years, he lived on the lam and lived well, with money wired from his parents, shown here visiting him in Sweden.

But in January 1995, with authorities closing in and his U.S. passport about to expire, Kelly surrendered in Switzerland.

QUESTION: Alex, do you have a comment?

HUNTINGTON: He was extradited to the United States with bail boosted to $1 million, to make sure he didn't take off again. Kelly's attorney at the time publicly accused the girls of lying.

THOMAS PUCCIO, DEFENSE ATTY: I think you'll see these allegations are scrutinized under cross-examination that they'll fly away.

HUNTINGTON: But two years and two trials later, Alex Kelly was convicted of raping one of the women, and he pleaded no contest to sexually assaulting the other.

Kelly was sentenced to serve 16 years in Connecticut state prison, but now having served only half that sentence, he is up for parole, the beneficiary of a recent state court decision on just how much time felons must serve. Prosecutors have filed their objections with the parole board.

DAVID COHEN, ATTORNEY: We believe that he should serve every day of that sentence. He would have spent more time on the run in Europe than actually incarcerated.

HUNTINGTON: Sheila Weller, who's written extensively about the case, says Kelly's convictions shatters a number of common stereotypes.

WELLER: You can be a good looking, well bred, you know, young Republican looking, handsome young man from the best town in the country and be a rapist.

HUNTINGTON: And nobody knows that better than Alex Kelly's victims.

Chris Huntington, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: It is 10:55 here on the East Coast, 7:55 on the West. Stay with us. We're back with a quick check of your morning forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We go live now to some very compelling pictures out of Los Angeles. This is a rescue in progress. Two men working on the outside of a high-rise building in Los Angeles, not that far from downtown L.A., working on some scaffolding that broke loose. Now they are trying to get those men from the outside to the inside. Right before we came on the air here, they actually broke the window to that high rise. And It looks like the fire department, which is L.A. fire department, is going to reach out and try to grab at least one of the men and pull them in.

It does appear that both men are attached by separate safety harnesses that are keeping them safe at this point. But keep in mind, these men are eight floors above the ground.

SANCHEZ: Yes, the one on the right seems to still be attached to the scaffolding, and just moments ago before we went on the air, he was actually there on the very ledge of that window, where we just in the shot now see the feet, or the boots, of that firefighter. Looks like it may not be as difficult for him.

It may be a little more precarious to get the fellow there on the left, who don't see right now.

KAGAN: Let's listen in to the reporter who's on the scene for the helicopter.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: ... firefighters here, inside of the building. Looks like they're trying to break this window completely, to bring them inside the building safety. The other option they talked about was using a rope, bringing them all the way up to the rooftop, or possibly bringing them down to the ground.

Of course those were the two things that they're looking at. But right now, it looks like by their actions, their taping up this window, and part of this window has already been broken, so they might be -- the best option for them might be to bring into the building this way -- Steve.

KAGAN: You heard the helicopter reporter there from KTTV, one of our local affiliates in Los Angeles, talking about what the options that they have here to try to rescue these two men that are window washers. They were working on the outside of this building.

Not sure how tall the building is, but we do know that they're eight floors up. And the scaffolding gave way. So they are literally hanging for their lives right now.

They tried the idea of breaking the window, and it doesn't look like they're going to go with that. But you heard that helicopter reporter talking about the option of using a separate rope in some way, either to try to lower them eight floors down, or to try to bring them up to the roof of the building.

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Aired March 3, 2005 - 10:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are coming up on the half hour. Good morning once again. I'm Daryn Kagan.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rick Sanchez and here's what's happening right "Now in the News." Catching you up.

The GlobalFlyer is just a few hours from a scheduled landing in Kansas. Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett is attempting to become the very first man to make a solo, global non-stop plane flight. Despite earlier concerns of a fuel shortage, mission sponsor Richard Branson is confident that Fossett will, indeed, make history.

About an hour ago, Michael Chertoff took the ceremonial oath of office as Homeland Security Secretary. Chertoff was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as President Bush looked on. Chertoff has actually been on the job for a couple weeks already. He plans a massive internal review of his new department.

The nation's border security is being talked about on Capitol Hill today. A House panel holds a hearing on how the new intelligence reform law will impact border control. Among those testifying, the head of 9/11 Families for a Secure America and the father of National Park Service worker killed by a drug cartel hit squad.

And Alan Greenspan suggests that a national sales tax could possibly boost the economy, but the Federal Reserve chair warns the transition to such a program could be daunting. Greenspan made his comments this morning to the president's advisory panel on the federal tax reform.

KAGAN: To Iraq now. The insurgency shows no sign of fading away. Two car bombs exploding this morning near the Interior Ministry building in Baghdad. At least five police officers were killed and seven others were wounded. Meanwhile in Baqubah, a suicide car bomber killed one person outside of police headquarters.

Iraq's volatility has become so great, in fact, that interim prime minister Ayad Allawi has extended a nationwide state of emergency for 30 more days. That declaration essentially puts Iraq under marshal law. It establishes curfews and restricts freedom of movement. And the violence sets a grim milestone. Now more than 1,500 U.S. forces have died in Iraq since the invasion. Three American deaths yesterday pushed the total the 1,502.

KAGAN: Combat is often described as hours of boredom punctuated by seconds of terror. Maybe nowhere in Iraq is that contrast greater than in a place called Gunner Palace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "GUNNER PLACE")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I work in the Gunner Palace. This palace was built after the first Gulf War for Saddam Hussein's first wife. Later it was given to his son Uday, who used it quite often to have his wild parties.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We dropped a bomb on it and now we party in it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This building was damaged...

(END VIDEO CLIP FROM "GUNNER PALACE")

SANCHEZ: Gunner Palace is a surreal backdrop to the deadly mission facing these American soldiers. It's a newly released documentary. And I had a chance to attend the premiere and then sit down with its director and one of the soldiers that's depicted in this film.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ (on camera): Did you accomplish with this movie what you set out to accomplish when you looked at the finished product?

MICHAEL TUCKER, DIRECTOR, "GUNNER PALACE": I think when I looked at the finished product, I didn't know what was going to happen. It's only taking the film out on the road, getting it to audiences, especially seeing how soldiers react to it. The soldiers' reactions have been the best validation. I mean, they come out of the screening.

SANCHEZ: Let me ask you, what's the difference between a soldier's reaction and the reaction of an everyday American who is not a soldier?

TUCKER: Well for me, as far as validation, the soldiers are the only ones who can say that is what it's like or that's what my experience was like.

SANCHEZ: But it's interesting, because after the movie last night, what I heard from people was this documentary is not positive enough, we want to see more of what great things the Americans are doing. And then other people on the other side of the room would stand up and say, you know what, this thing needed to be more negative. Getting two completely different perspectives from different types of viewers on this thing.

TUCKER: Well, we didn't make it to change people's minds, certainly to open their minds. And just the fact that they're talking, I think -- again, we've had screenings where soldiers stand up and say, well, you know, that's pretty much what it's like. And I think people at home, they're projecting all kinds of stuff, they're seeing the war through the lens of politics. People project Vietnam on top of it. And without having been there or without having really sat with a family member or close friend and talked about the experience, they have very little reference. There's a disconnect.

SANCHEZ: If it's a soldier's story, the story that I saw as I watched your documentary was, these guys are there, many of them don't know why they're there, they're doing the best they can and they can't wait to get the hell out of there. We have with us here former captain Jonathan Powers. Is that the story that really is there in Iraq, that the American people aren't getting?

CAPT. JON POWERS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Yes, there's a great story in Iraq that American people aren't getting. Because all they're getting is -- they're getting a burning humvee on the news or they're getting a list of the two soldiers that died last night. They're not getting the store be the mortars that happen every evening or the feeling that soldiers are getting when they roll out the streets. They're not rolling out the streets just down the road, they're rolling out the streets passing every bag of garbage and wincing and hoping it doesn't blow up and is full of nails and bullets that tear through your humvee.

(BEGIN CLIP FROM "GUNNER PALACE")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to get blown up, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm still a survivor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: IDs are every soldier's worst fear. They're in bags, pots, garbage piles, trees, and sometimes even molded into concrete curbs. Nobody wants to get near this thing, whatever it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP FROM "GUNNER PALACE")

SANCHEZ: This is a war -- as we look at that clip -- that's like no other, really, for American soldiers, right? You were trained to fight Russians and others who were our enemies in fields of combat. And here you are in what appeared to me, as I watched the documentary, to be in a policing tactic, correct?

POWERS: Absolutely. We were trained as artillery men, we were trained to sit ten miles from the front line and shoot 155 millimeter artillery rounds down range. And we're sent to Iraq and we were able sort of train ourselves on how to be police officers, how to be -- how to run a checkpoint, because there's really -- when we went in, unfortunately, in May of 2003, there weren't Iraq veterans.

There was Persian Gulf veterans. But anyone who had fought in Iraq had fought the war and we were following their conduct. There's no one to come back and say, this is what you need to train on, this is what you need to do, you know, this is what you're going to have to do when you go into a house. So a lot of that stuff, when we sat in Kuwait getting ready to go up, we were teaching ourselves. You know, we're fighting an enemy that we can't see.

We're trying to help a country where, for example, we trained up 185 Iraqi civil defense corps soldiers to get them to be able to take over their own country, or secure their own country, excuse me. And the first firefight we get with these guys, seven show up to work. So all of a sudden, I'm trying to convince my soldiers that we're here doing the right thing and these guys are, you know, as we've said many times, 18, 19 years old. It doesn't matter.

I'm 24 and I was looking at it and wondering what are we doing here? These guys don't want to defend themselves. But we're still proud to be soldiers and we're still proud to be doing a mission to make this a better place, whether or not we believe in all that was going on.

SANCHEZ: Yes or no, should Americans watch this documentary?

POWERS: Absolutely.

SANCHEZ: Former captain Jonathan Powers, thanks so much for being with us. Michael Tucker, job well done. Thanks.

TUCKER: Thanks for having us.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: A good documentary should get people thinking and talking. If that's the measure of one, then this a fabulous documentary because it did just that when I was there.

KAGAN: You were saying that afterwards that people who saw the same movie came away with completely different takes.

SANCHEZ: People from one side of the auditorium to the other during the discussion were literally yelling at each other with two completely differing opinions. But they were talking and they were sharing and maybe that's a good thing.

KAGAN: Sounds like it was.

Still to come on CNN LIVE TODAY, a secret tunnel comes to light. We'll tell you more.

SANCHEZ: Also later, five months of prison may lead to a good thing. A look at what it's done for Martha Stewart, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

SANCHEZ: Let's look at some of the other stories making news on this date from coast to coast.

KAGAN: Check out these pictures. They're of a secret tunnel. Federal agents the tunnel may have been used to smuggle drugs and possibly people from Mexico to the U.S. The tunnel was found on the U.S. side of the border, about 20 feet underground. It connected to a luxurious residence in Colesco (ph), California to Mexicali, Mexico.

SANCHEZ: Yes, that one was made by man. This one was made by God. In Lake City, Florida, a large sinkhole, just there, now threatening a home, could eventually affect the town's water supply. Officials say the sink hole is 220 feet long by 100 feet wide. Crews are sandbagging the source of water feeding this giant hole. The sinkhole is draining water from a pond and a nearby swamp. Oops.

KAGAN: Cable cars in San Francisco meant to help with steep hills. How about some steep prices? One of the city's top tourist attractions may soon become America's priciest local transit. There's a proposal to raise the city's cable car fare by $2. That would make it a $5 ride. The mayor, Gavin Newsome, and the city's board of supervisors, must still approve the fair hikes. Either you hike the fares or you hike up those hills.

SANCHEZ: One of the two.

KAGAN: Either way.

SANCHEZ: Either way it involves a hike.

KAGAN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: She has a huge following, and the fans are counting the days until she is finally back, her fans, that is.

KAGAN: Still coming, preparing to welcome back the domestic diva.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Martha Stewart's fans are awaiting what they're calling her second coming. The Web site savemartha.com maintains a running clock counting down the days, the hours, the minutes and seconds until Friday. That's when Stewart could leave the Alderson federal prison camp two days early and head to her Bedford, New York country estate.

CNN's Mary Snow reports, prison might even enhance Stewart's fortunes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Bedford, New York, in anticipation of her homecoming, workers are putting up fences at her 153-acre estate, and her company has been changing the guard. Just days before Stewart's release, it announced the resignation of the magazine's publisher. Also gone, Sharon Patrick, who was CEO when Stewart went into prison, replaced in November by Susan Lyne.

SUSAN LYNE, CEO, MARTHA STEWART OMNIMEDIA: The morale here has been building, I think, as we get closer to Martha's return, because it also signals our ability to put a rough 2 1/2 years behind us and to be able to finally plan for the future with no clouds.

SNOW: Analysts who follow the company see some potential clouds.

GARY MCDANIEL, STANDARD & POOR'S: I've never seen anything in Martha Stewart's past to indicate she's particularly good at playing the second fiddle, so it's really going to be interesting to see how that plays out between Susan and Martha and who is really running the ship.

SNOW: Investors have been betting on a winning outcome, doubling her company's stock since she entered Alderson. Investors are not just hitching their hopes to her, but to reality TV show producer Mark Burnett.

Burnett's two TV shows that include a spin-off of "The Apprentice" starring Martha Stewart will help transition Stewart's image away from convicted felon, which has scared off advertisers.

Stewart's new boss says Stewart's time in prison may not hurt her in the long run.

LYNE: I think Martha has made it a good experience. She's used her time well. She's done a lot of reading. She's learned some new skills, and she's made a connection with a lot of women who -- who, I think, actually inspire her in many ways.

SNOW (on camera) Martha Stewart stepped down as CEO in June of 2003 when she was indicted. Currently she holds the title of company founder. Besides appealing the criminal charges against her, she still faces civil charges filed by the SEC.

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Tonight on the eve of Martha Stewart's release from prison, CNN's airs a special primetime edition of "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS." And for the first time, you'll see Stewart at what's become to be known as "Camp Cupcake." Exclusive video and interviews, a special primetime "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS," hosted by Paula Zahn, tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.

SANCHEZ: We're getting information of some arrests overseas. Two men and a woman arrested in central England. This is part of an investigation into international terrorism. The three were arrested around Coventry. That's in what is often referred to as the Midlands there, in central England. It happened on Tuesday. They're being questioned, according to CNN sources in London. Metropolitan police are doing the questioning. Five premises in Coventry are being searched. We're told that the searches are going on as we speak. Don't know motive, don't know why police were led to that location.

Under laws, under new terrorism laws in England, by the way, authorities do not have to have a motive for making such arrests. So this is what we have, once again, two men, one woman arrested in central England under a terrorism -- international terrorism charges.

KAGAN: Let's take a look at what's on our legal docket today in our look at legal briefs.

SANCHEZ: The Virginia supreme court is expected to rule on an appeal by convicted D.C. sniper John Allen Muhammad. Muhammad is seeking to have his conviction reversed, case dismissed or his death sentence overturned. Muhammad was convicted in a case related to a shooting spree that left 10 people dead, gripped the nation's capital for three weeks in 2002.

KAGAN: No sordid testimony. The civil case accusing NBS star Kobe Bryant of rape has been settled out of court. The terse announcement contained no details of the deal, except that neither Bryant, nor his accuser will be talking about what did or didn't happen in a Colorado resort.

And in California, Michael Jackson returns to court next hour. A photographer who videotaped Jackson's Neverland Ranch is scheduled to testify. Yesterday, public relations specialist Ann Marie Kite told the court that Jackson's team planned a smear campaign against his accuser's mother, and held the family at his Neverland Ranch under duress.

Here is another story we're following. For 10 years, young Alex Kelly was on the lam in Europe. The accused rapist was living the high life, while eluding prosecution. Finally he returned and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. But after serving only half of those 16 years, 8 years, he's up for parole, and that has his victims outraged.

Here is CNN's Chris Huntington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the face of a convicted rapist. In 1986, Alex Kelly was a popular 18- year-old high school wrestling star in Darien (ph), Connecticut, one of the wealthiest towns in the nation.

SHEILA WELLER, AUTHOR, "SAINT OF CIRCUMSTANCE": The context of that town at the time was privileged kids having keg parties, you know, cutting school, just a lot of drinking, a lot of feeling they could walk on water, so to speak. But in the midst of this was somebody that was a real problem.

HUNTINGTON: In February 1986, Kelly, who had a record as a juvenile offender, was charged with raping and choking two girls, one from his high school, another from a nearby town. But just before his trial was due to begin, Kelly fled to Europe, skipping out on $200,000 bail. For eight years, he lived on the lam and lived well, with money wired from his parents, shown here visiting him in Sweden.

But in January 1995, with authorities closing in and his U.S. passport about to expire, Kelly surrendered in Switzerland.

QUESTION: Alex, do you have a comment?

HUNTINGTON: He was extradited to the United States with bail boosted to $1 million, to make sure he didn't take off again. Kelly's attorney at the time publicly accused the girls of lying.

THOMAS PUCCIO, DEFENSE ATTY: I think you'll see these allegations are scrutinized under cross-examination that they'll fly away.

HUNTINGTON: But two years and two trials later, Alex Kelly was convicted of raping one of the women, and he pleaded no contest to sexually assaulting the other.

Kelly was sentenced to serve 16 years in Connecticut state prison, but now having served only half that sentence, he is up for parole, the beneficiary of a recent state court decision on just how much time felons must serve. Prosecutors have filed their objections with the parole board.

DAVID COHEN, ATTORNEY: We believe that he should serve every day of that sentence. He would have spent more time on the run in Europe than actually incarcerated.

HUNTINGTON: Sheila Weller, who's written extensively about the case, says Kelly's convictions shatters a number of common stereotypes.

WELLER: You can be a good looking, well bred, you know, young Republican looking, handsome young man from the best town in the country and be a rapist.

HUNTINGTON: And nobody knows that better than Alex Kelly's victims.

Chris Huntington, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: It is 10:55 here on the East Coast, 7:55 on the West. Stay with us. We're back with a quick check of your morning forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We go live now to some very compelling pictures out of Los Angeles. This is a rescue in progress. Two men working on the outside of a high-rise building in Los Angeles, not that far from downtown L.A., working on some scaffolding that broke loose. Now they are trying to get those men from the outside to the inside. Right before we came on the air here, they actually broke the window to that high rise. And It looks like the fire department, which is L.A. fire department, is going to reach out and try to grab at least one of the men and pull them in.

It does appear that both men are attached by separate safety harnesses that are keeping them safe at this point. But keep in mind, these men are eight floors above the ground.

SANCHEZ: Yes, the one on the right seems to still be attached to the scaffolding, and just moments ago before we went on the air, he was actually there on the very ledge of that window, where we just in the shot now see the feet, or the boots, of that firefighter. Looks like it may not be as difficult for him.

It may be a little more precarious to get the fellow there on the left, who don't see right now.

KAGAN: Let's listen in to the reporter who's on the scene for the helicopter.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: ... firefighters here, inside of the building. Looks like they're trying to break this window completely, to bring them inside the building safety. The other option they talked about was using a rope, bringing them all the way up to the rooftop, or possibly bringing them down to the ground.

Of course those were the two things that they're looking at. But right now, it looks like by their actions, their taping up this window, and part of this window has already been broken, so they might be -- the best option for them might be to bring into the building this way -- Steve.

KAGAN: You heard the helicopter reporter there from KTTV, one of our local affiliates in Los Angeles, talking about what the options that they have here to try to rescue these two men that are window washers. They were working on the outside of this building.

Not sure how tall the building is, but we do know that they're eight floors up. And the scaffolding gave way. So they are literally hanging for their lives right now.

They tried the idea of breaking the window, and it doesn't look like they're going to go with that. But you heard that helicopter reporter talking about the option of using a separate rope in some way, either to try to lower them eight floors down, or to try to bring them up to the roof of the building.

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