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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

California Advisory Group Links Breast Cancer to Secondhand Smoke; Michael Jackson's Accuser Takes the Stand

Aired March 09, 2005 - 22:00   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.


AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again.
We begin tonight with a very simple but not very comforting notion. If you're a woman your husband could be giving you breast cancer or your sister's friend or the guy at the end of the bar.

If he or she or they are smoking, new research from California's Air Resources Board suggests that you could be paying the price. It isn't the last word on the subject in fact it's barely even the first but as first words go, it does get your attention.

Here's CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's far from the final word but scientists doing research for a reputable environmental advisory group are now ready to report that secondhand smoke causes breast cancer, increasing a woman's risk by up to 90 percent.

DR. JONATHAN SAMET, JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: The California report gives the very powerful conclusion that secondhand smoke causes breast cancer. California is a little bit out front on this in being the first and my judgment is a little more reserved at the moment.

GUPTA: While doctors are still being cautious, what is not in dispute is that secondhand smoke is bad for your health. Now the focus is just how bad? Smoke, whether it comes off the tip of your cigarette or out of your lungs is linked to 40,000 deaths from heart disease, just about every respiratory disease you can think of and 3,000 cases of lung cancer every year.

In fact, the link between secondhand smoke and lung cancer is so strong researchers have pinpointed just how much secondhand smoke increases your risk. For example, 20 or more years in the workplace increases your risk by 25 percent. Thirty or more years with a spouse increases your risk by 23 percent. Or, over 20 years of exposure in social settings ups your risk by 26 percent.

It turns out it's a more complicated puzzle when trying to link secondhand smoke to breast cancer. Still, researchers from the California Air Resources Board think they have the data to show a similar cause and effect with breast cancer and say they will submit their data on Monday. They arrived at their conclusions by reviewing existing studies that showed the toxic elements of secondhand smoke in breast tissue. Scientists also found a link between active smoking and breast cancer, although remarkably that was much weaker.

DR. SUSAN LOVE, AUTHOR, "DR. SUSAN LOVE'S BREAST BOOK": When you're a smoker it actually is very toxic to your ovaries and it reduces the amount of estrogen you have and estrogen feeds breast cancer. So, the theory is even thought the cigarette smoking might be carcinogenic the low estrogen may be hiding that and not feeding that cancer.

GUPTA: The tobacco industry is far from sold pointing to the numerous studies that also show no association between breast cancer and secondhand smoke. As many often say, more studies are still needed but many doctors agree that another piece of the puzzle has fallen into place.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: In other news tonight, for all the talk, the Michael Jackson case really comes down to this. Will the jury believe the story told by the young teenager who is accusing Jackson of molesting him? It's that simple. If they don't believe, Jackson walks. If they do believe, he probably goes to jail.

The teenager took the witness stand today and so in Santa Maria, California for us tonight, CNN's Miguel Marquez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Jackson's accuser on the stand face-to-face with a world-renowned pop star.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michael, can you tell us (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

MICHAEL JACKSON: I'm sorry I'm under a gag order. I'm sorry.

MARQUEZ: In the courtroom, as the 15-year-old took the oath to tell the truth, Jackson sat bolt upright.

ANNE BREMNER, LEGAL ANALYST: He did look at Michael Jackson and I think you saw that and Michael Jackson looked at him.

MARQUEZ: Prosecutors have charged Jackson with plying the boy with alcohol and molesting him four times and conspiring to cover it all up. Jackson says he's not guilty. His accuser once called Jackson the coolest guy in the world. Today, the 15-year-old commanded the world's attention.

BREMNER: He doesn't appear to be relaxed and calm but he doesn't appear really nervous. MARQUEZ: The boy testified that on his first day at Neverland in 2000, while still suffering the effects of nearly terminal cancer, Jackson suggested he and his brother spend the night in his bedroom.

The boy said his parents allowed it and the following night he, his brother, Jackson, his kids, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and a man named Frank Tyson (ph) went to Jackson's room to watch movies. Instead, said the accuser, Tyson got online and surfed adult sites on the Internet for 15 to 30 minutes. His short testimony so far seemed effective.

BREMNER: Remember when he had to scoot up to the mike and he said "okay" really loud into the mike, jurors just spontaneous smiles of empathy for him.

MARQUEZ: The accuser told jurors that Jackson brought he and his siblings to Neverland during the filming of the Martin Bashir documentary "Living with Michael Jackson" and Jackson told him the documentary was the boy's audition for the movies.

He also told the court that Jackson instructed him to call him Daddy Michael and to tell Bashir on camera that Jackson was largely responsible for his recovery from cancer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Now, the boy was only on the stand for about an hour before the court day ended. He's going to take the stand again tomorrow to be questioned by the prosecution.

It will be interesting because the court is out of session on Friday whether the prosecutor will try to take up the entire seven hour day tomorrow with this witness so that the jurors can go home for a long three-day weekend to think about what this boy said Michael Jackson did to him -- Aaron.

BROWN: Has he yet said that he was molested?

MARQUEZ: He has not yet said that. We expect a lot of that testimony tomorrow. They've only pretty much laid the foundation and the groundwork for that testimony -- Aaron.

BROWN: Thank you. Miguel, thank you very much.

Jeffrey Toobin, our Senior Analyst, is here. This case, my perception is that the case has not gone swimmingly for the prosecution to this point. Is that -- do you agree with that?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: That's correct I would say. You will only know when the jury gets their response. But, you know, when I went out there last week, you know I have never gone into a courtroom and had my preconceptions changed as much or as quickly as happened in this courtroom.

BROWN: What was it?

TOOBIN: Well, the preconceptions were that, you know, Michael Jackson's a freak and that he is obviously like if not guilty, close to it. And this seemed to me from day one, the opening statement of the defense, Tom Mesereau and the prosecution a weak case with a lot of questions and the prosecution better have a great day tomorrow, better put forward an unquestionably believable witness or Michael Jackson is going to get acquitted.

BROWN: The sense I got was that they, the defense, beat up the brother, the kid's brother pretty well.

TOOBIN: Absolutely. In fact, I was talking to Ted Rowlands, one of our colleagues who was in the courtroom right at the end of the brother's testimony. He said jurors were laughing at the brother because he had changed his version so many times of parts of his testimony but he really was a terrible witness.

BROWN: Witnesses are prepared. That's what you guys call it.

TOOBIN: Right.

BROWN: I mean you've walked it through.

TOOBIN: You rehearse them, yes.

BROWN: You rehearse them. You take them through presumably what the cross-examination is going to be like. They had to know there were these problems, right?

TOOBIN: Absolutely. But, you know, sometimes there are just problems in testimony and people can't change the fact that they have told different versions of an event. You know they're going to get beat up on cross-examination. You hope that the jury believes them notwithstanding the problems.

And, remember, you know, you're only talking about a 14-year-old boy here who had all these problems, so it may be the jury said, "Well, he was confused but he was just a kid." But it seemed pretty bad.

BROWN: Good to see you.

TOOBIN: Nice to see you.

BROWN: Thank you, Jeffrey Toobin with his take on the testimony.

We have much more coming up on the program tonight starting with the movie that made millions and set off a storm.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): "The Passion of the Christ" returns to theaters this weekend.

JOHN MEACHAM, "NEWSWEEK": People will go to see this never ending story, this eternally, perennially fascinating story that is only going to stop being told when the Kingdom of God comes.

BROWN: Fascinating certainly but how accurate is it?

Also tonight the end of an unforgettable and sometimes enigmatic run.

DAN RATHER, CBS EVENING NEWS: To each of you courage. For the CBS Evening News, Dan Rather reporting. Good night.

BROWN: After 24 years, Dan Rather signs off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want to lose weight fast and have all your hair and teeth fall out? If so, methamphetamine could be right for you.

BROWN: An ad campaign created by kids to scare other kids away from a deadly drug.

And steroids and baseball, Congress slaps some of the biggest names in the game with subpoenas. Will they be forced to testify?

From New York and around the world this is NEWSNIGHT.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Erica Hill joins us in Atlanta tonight with some of the other stories we're keeping track of, good evening to you, Ms. Hill.

(NEWSBREAK)

BROWN: Thank you. We'll check with you again in about half an hour. Thank you very much.

"The Passion of the Christ" returns to movie theaters this weekend. Some six minutes of the movie's most graphic scenes have been cut out of it. The film, which made millions, tens of millions of dollars last year, is a dramatic recreation of the last hours of Jesus.

It's not a documentary and never claimed to be but Mel Gibson said he was committed to making the movie as realistic as possible. So, how close did he come?

Here's NEWSNIGHT's Beth Nissen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For millions of Christians who have seen "The Passion of the Christ" in theaters and on DVD and will watch it again during this Lenten season, the film is the most realistic depiction ever of the last hours of Jesus but should they take it as gospel?

"NEWSWEEK" managing editor John Meacham is a student of biblical history and author of the 2004 "Newsweek" cover story on the death of Jesus.

MEACHAM: I think the basic means of crucifixion in Gibson's movie is essentially right. This was a terrible way to die.

NISSEN: Only a few of the film's graphic details are in dispute. The original film shows nails being driven into Christ's palms, which conflicts with archaeological findings.

MEACHAM: Most evidence suggests that the nail would go through the wrist, which would obviously physically keep you on the cross.

NISSEN: Otherwise, Gibson's bloody depiction of Christ's suffering on the cross is in accordance with historical sources on this commonly used form of Roman capital punishment.

MEACHAM: Death by crucifixion was wretched, horrible, violent. It's the reason we have the word excruciating.

NISSEN: The film also accurately portrays the public nature of this form of execution for those found guilty of sedition in Roman occupied Palestine.

MEACHAM: The point of the cross was that it was a public warning to others. You were on that hill. You were on those pieces of wood and the message was "If you don't fall in line, this will happen to you."

NISSEN: Gibson's film diverges more from historical and even some biblical sources in its depiction of how Jesus was sentenced to death and by whom.

MEACHAM: The central historical problem is Pilate. That's where he went sort of off the rails by making Pilate such a good guy.

NISSEN: The film depicts Pontius Pilate as a Roman leader concerned with justice, reluctant to sentence Jesus to death but persuaded to do so by a Jewish mob and the temple high priest, a portrayal that doesn't square with historical records of Pilate's tyrannical rule.

MEACHAM: One historian describes Pontius Pilate as stubborn, cruel and of inflexible disposition, quite the opposite of the just Roman ruler.

NISSEN: Gibson chose to use the Bible as his key source, which for historians is problematic.

MEACHAM: The gospel accounts may contain important spiritual truths, important theological truths but they are not necessarily documents in which the chronology of events, the nature of events in time can be taken as literally true.

NISSEN: And biblical scholars, even Catholic leaders, fault Gibson for how he's used the gospels making a composite of the New Testament's four varying accounts of the crucifixion.

Gibson, for example, ignores the passage from the book of John in which it is the chief priests and temple officers who call for Jesus' crucifixion and instead blends accounts from the other three books that stress the role of the crowd.

MEACHAM: If you take the, "Let his blood be upon us and upon our children" line from Matthew and put it in the larger crowd scene before Pilate then you get a sense that the Jewish mob made that cry as opposed to a certain element of the Jewish society at that time. You could come away from this movie believing that the Jews killed Jesus. That's not what happened.

NISSEN: What did happen? Who did kill Jesus?

MEACHAM: As a matter of history, Pontius Pilate and the Roman Empire killed Jesus. It was Pontius Pilate saying "If you think you're the king of the Jews this is what happens to you because there's only one king of the Jews and that's Caesar."

NISSEN: Historians and scholars know there will be many who take this film on faith.

MEACHAM: People will go to see this never ending story, this eternally, perennially fascinating story that is only going to stop being told when the Kingdom of God comes.

NISSEN: And it will surely be discussed as to its truths, its details until then.

Beth Nissen, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: In a moment the pain and the piling on as Dan Rather departs the anchor chair after 24 years on "CBS Evening News." We'll hear from colleagues and critics and friends and we'll take a break first.

From New York this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Dan Rather ended his run as the anchor of the "CBS Evening News" tonight. The end, as was often the case in his long career, was rich in controversy.

No doubt a lot of people are celebrating his demise tonight. I am not one of them. To me he was gracious and helpful and I am grateful for that. And to me he deserved a better end than the one he received.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RATHER: We've shared a lot in the 24 years we've been meeting here each evening.

BROWN (voice-over): The goodbye was gracious and not without a bit of the quirkiness that in part defined an extraordinary career.

RATHER: Not long after I first came to the anchor chair, I briefly signed off using the word "courage." I want to return to it now in a different way to a nation still nursing a broken heart for what happened here in 2001 and especially to those who found themselves closest to the events of September 11th.

To our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in dangerous places, to those who have endured the tsunami and to all who have suffered natural disasters and who must now find the will to rebuild, to the oppressed and to those whose lot it is to struggle in financial hardship or in failing health, to my fellow journalists in places where reporting the truth means risking all and to each of you, courage.

For the "CBS Evening News," Dan Rather reporting. Good night.

BROWN: While not one to publicly complain, these last few weeks must have been hard on Rather forced to leave a job he dearly loved, down and kicked around, not just by his long time critics but by long time colleagues.

Mike Wallace, who has since apologized, said "He's not as easy to watch as Jennings or Brokaw. He's uptight and occasionally contrived."

Said the legendary Don Hewitt, "If you are third in a three-man race, and you come in third, then the public is against you."

And then there was this.

WALTER CRONKITE, FORMER "CBS NEWS" ANCHOR: Well, I think that there was a general feeling among quite a lot of us around the CBS shop and indeed some of the viewers that Dan gave the impression of playing a role more than simply trying to deliver the news to the audience.

BROWN: That from the man Mr. Rather succeeded, Walter Cronkite.

CRONKITE: Dan Rather will be sitting in here for the next few years.

BROWN: And while the two were never close, Cronkite's words seemed especially harsh.

CRONKITE: It surprised quite a few people at CBS and elsewhere that without being able to pull up the ratings beyond third in a three-man field that they tolerated his being there for so long.

TOM BROKAW: We've been through a lot together.

BROWN: By reasons of both circumstance and perhaps personality, Rather didn't get the victory lap that Brokaw received. TV writer Tim Goodman said it best today. "Rather left more like Willie Loman, more tragic than heroic, a bit beaten." And for someone who has done so much for so long there is something not simply sad about that but wrong.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BROWN: Marvin Kalb worked with Dan Rather for years as a CBS News correspondent, currently a senior fellow at Harvard University's Shorenstein Center for Politics and Public Policy and he's in Washington; Jay Rosen is a writer and a blogger and a professor of journalism at New York University and we're glad to have you both here.

Marvin, what is it about Dan that people -- forget the critics for a second because the right-wing or the conservative Web sites are going to do what they've always done and they've been very harsh on him but the people inside CBS News and Walter Cronkite why the harshness when the guy was clearly on the mat?

MARVIN KALB, SHORENSTEIN CENTER AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY: I really don't know. I can't account for it. I can't explain it. I'm just so very sorry that it happened. I think it is a reflection of a kind of mean spiritedness which has pervaded the entire industry and including CBS.

I don't think that Dan is the reason for that mean spiritedness. I think it's been here and there now for a decade or two but it's there and Dan is very much I think the victim of it. I think he deserved a great deal better.

Dan Rather was always in my experience, and I worked with him from 1962 to 1980 very closely, he is a first-class reporter, a very aggressive interviewer. He feels he is doing his job. I don't think there's political bias at all.

BROWN: All right. Nobody, Jay, was taking pops at Brokaw when he left. I mean there weren't enough wet kisses on the planet for the guy and he was a terrific anchorman and a very good reporter. So, there is something about Dan.

JAY ROSEN, NYU SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM: Yes.

BROWN: And it is?

ROSEN: Well, he was never quite comfortable in the anchorman's role for one thing. He always thought of himself as primarily a reporter and he was authenticated through that.

BROWN: But what does that have to do with people taking pops at him this way?

ROSEN: Well, since he faced down Richard Nixon he has been a cultural symbol for an arrogant press and he himself may not be that but he has stuck out that way.

BROWN: In ways that Tom and Peter do not?

ROSEN: Tom Brokaw is much more of a politician and I think Peter Jennings is much more of a cosmopolitan and Dan Rather is a kind of a hot, emotional figure in a medium that favors cool personalities and people with very rounded edges. He never fit that television mold. He was always a journalist first and a very fiercely independent journalist but also somebody who I think over the course of his career lost contact a little bit with the audience, with the culture, with what was happening in politics and media.

BROWN: Marvin, I want to move on from this but just did your heart break a little bit for him tonight? I mean there was something sort of demonstrably sad about it all.

KALB: Well, no question about that. There was something very sad about it but at the very same time I must confess to you that while watching the 8:00 to 9:00 hour long program about Dan, I thought that was an excellent piece that did portray Rather in very impressive and honest ways, the aggressive reporter, the aggressive interviewer, the man who would not bow down before government pressure, the man who simply felt that he's going out there to do his best for the people and he felt that very, very sincerely.

BROWN: Jay, two of the big three are now off the stage. Peter will be around for a while would be my guess and he'd certainly like to be. Will there be other Rather's, other Brokaw's, or has the business, has television changed so much because of the Internet and because of cable and because of all of it that that era is over anyway?

ROSEN: I think what's over is the certain kind of authority that the anchorman once held. Walter Cronkite's "That's the way it is" because Dan Rather's "That's part of our world," which is a different statement and I don't think that kind of national authority, that trustworthiness, that grounded-ness is going to be there.

BROWN: Is that because we, as citizens, have changed, we're more cynical or whatever or because the medium has changed and the medium's role has changed?

ROSEN: I think the media has fractured and the kind of political consensus that grew up with television has also fractured.

BROWN: Yes.

ROSEN: And the kind of authority that the anchorman had to tell us this is the world just isn't there anymore.

BROWN: Marvin, last word, 20 second, do you agree with that?

(LAUGHTER)

KALB: Well, yes, very much so.

I think the industry itself has changed profoundly, new technology, a new economic underpinning to the entire industry, a new economic pay scale. Everything has changed. And anybody now can turn to any number of different channels and find out what's going on.

BROWN: Yes. Oh, man, thank goodness for that, someone once said. I think it was me.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: It's nice to see you. Thank you.

Nice to meet you. Thanks for coming in tonight.

ROSEN: Thank you.

BROWN: Still to come on the program, two sides of crystal meth, the problem, which is huge, and the promise, school kids getting together to send a message to their friends, a message only they can send.

And, as always, we wrap up the hour with morning papers. Around the country and around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Huge drug bust outside Atlanta today, possibly the largest amount of methamphetamine ever seized in the Eastern United States. This is a bad drug, meth is. The raid of two homes east of the city netted 174 pounds of crystal meth, about $1 million cash, street value of the drug estimated in the millions. Federal agents said it was the second significant seizure of meth in Atlanta in less than six weeks, which brings us to meth users, many of them young.

Every parent knows, or at least fears, that a lecture from adults on drugs is guaranteed to make eyes rolls. But when the message comes from another teenager, well, that can work.

Here's CNN Kimberly Osias.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want to lose weight fast and have your hair and teeth fall out? If so, methamphetamine could be right for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The satirical, fast-paced public service announcements weren't created by pros, although some played supporting roles. They were dreamed up, written and produced by kids for kids.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What teenager really wants to listen to an adult who's all dressed up in a business suit and is talking very sternly to them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of times, teenagers don't want to feel threatened. And when it becomes an adult or authoritative figure, then they immediately want to disagree with them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to stick with your own group. You can't dis on who you're with.

OSIAS: The message is that methamphetamines kill and teens are at risk. In 2002, 8 percent of high school students in this county admitted using meth, two times the national average. These filmmakers want to save their friends, taking a creative approach to get their attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shooting meth has really improved my self- esteem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: Using humor as a myth-busting teaching tool.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's comedic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My teeth draw tons of attention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even though we took a lighter tone, we really wanted to show like these horrible effects.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I get so much done in such little time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at all my scabs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: The goal, to get the serious message of meth out there beyond the walls of Oregon's Newberg High School, located in bucolic Yamhill County, 25 miles from Portland, an unlikely place for drug dens and meth labs. But, in Oregon, the state shut down 400 just last year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything that's in meth, you can get at your local hardware store.

OSIAS: Items found in some cold medications, paint thinners and kitty litter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another thing we were really shooting for was -- to get people's attention, we went for shock value. For instance, with the breakfast PSA, when the kid is like walking out there and he puts down a blender, and you're thinking, oh, so it's just some kid making breakfast. What's all this about? Then you see he starts pouring like gasoline and dropping batteries into the thing and grinding it up, that's when you're wondering, OK, so, what's this about? Because that's not something you see every day.

OSIAS: Lieutenant Ken Summers does see meth every day. He remembers when the drug emerged in the '80s. Now the problem is so pervasive, the county had to open a juvenile detention facility just to keep up, although Yamhill's teens are now using less, the community still feels the ripple effect.

LT. KEN SUMMERS, YAMHILL COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: The primary cause now in identity thefts that we're having, financial crimes, burglaries, all of our property crimes, virtually, 90 percent of them are based on the methamphetamine profit.

OSIAS: Even more terrifying, younger and younger children are trying meth.

CRAIG CAMPBELL, METHAMPHETAMINE TASK FORCE: We're seeing it as early as 8- to 12-year-olds. It's getting into middle schools now. This is a second generation that we're seeing. It's kids of parents who have been cooking meth. They know the trade. They know the vernacular and have probably been affected by the drug their whole life. And now they are including their friends. That's the way meth is spread.

OSIAS: But Oregon is hoping these creative campaigns will work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've met all kinds of interesting people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'll be amazed at what meth can do for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: By employing unlikely messengers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's important to get people before they start.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meth is not for everyone. Symptoms may include paranoia, hallucinations, loss of sex appeal, skin irritations, loss of brain cells.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: As far as those budding directors, copyrighters and prop managers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They kind of made me feel proud.

OSIAS: They believe their message made the mark.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 30 seconds seeing it on TV made it worth all the months of work.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's kind of a huge thing, become way more than any of us probably imagined it could be.

OSIAS: And is making a difference.

Kimberly Osias, CNN, Newberg, Oregon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Kids, of course, get all sorts of messages about drugs. They get messages from star athletes sometimes. Whether steroids and baseball is a matter for the U.S. Congress to deal with, we'll leave to others.

We'll leave to correspondent Ed Henry the decision by the Congress to demand the testimony of some of the biggest names in the game.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down the left field line. Is it enough? Gone! There it is, 62!

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire forged a bond during the celebrated summer of '98, when they each surpassed the previous record for home runs in a season. Now they're linked again, both slapped with subpoenas from a congressional committee probing whether their home run chase was fueled by more than just Mother Nature.

Also on the hit list, Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro, Curt Schilling, Frank Thomas and Jose Canseco. Canseco wants to testify, perhaps so he can discuss his explosive new book that claims he used steroids with McGwire and others. Schilling has spoken out against steroids. And Thomas has said this is a problem baseball must face.

FRANK THOMAS, CHICAGO WHITE SOX: Like I told people before, I have got nothing to hide. So, they subpoena us, they subpoena us. And I will stick by my word. It's an honor to go there.

HENRY: But Major League Baseball officials are swinging back at Congress, insisting they'll fight the subpoenas, because the committee does not have legal jurisdiction. Baseball officials also say forcing players like Giambi to testify on Capitol Hill next Thursday could taint the grand jury probe of BALCO Laboratories, which allegedly provided steroids to various athletes.

Giambi reportedly told the grand jury he used steroids, though, publicly, he's been vague about the case that's dominated the early days of spring training.

JASON GIAMBI, NEW YORK YANKEES: I know there's been a lot of distractions over the past year. And I wanted to apologize for all those, you know, distractions from the bottom of my heart. I take full responsibility for it and I'm sorry.

HENRY: In a letter to the congressional panel, Major League Baseball's lawyer lashed out at a separate subpoena seeking the results of player drug tests. He wrote: "The right to privacy outweighs any asserted interest in the health problems stemming from the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs."

An aide to House Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis, who issued the subpoenas, fired back, the panel does have legal authority, saying "It's sad that they've resorted to legalese and inaccurate legalese at that." And despite baseball's push to block testimony, there are indications players like Sosa may come forward on their own. The stakes have been raised because a failure to testify could result in charges of contempt of Congress.

An agent for Sosa told CNN that, after respectfully declining the panel's initial invitation, the slugger now will -- quote -- "take a second look and make the right choice."

Ed Henry, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Still ahead tonight, Robert McCartney was murdered. Now his family has been given a chance to avenge his death. They said no. What their refusal got them.

We'll take a break. This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Before moving on tonight, another quick check of the headlines from Headline News and Erica Hill, who is in Atlanta.

Good evening again.

HILL: Good evening to you, Aaron.

Just about a quarter to the hour now, a look at the headlines.

Scientists in California say they have found a link between secondhand smoke and breast cancer, a finding that could lead to tougher anti-smoking laws. Now, the report of those findings from the Air Resources Board were published in "USA Today." The group found women exposed to secondhand smoke have up to a 90 percent greater risk of getting the disease.

A small community in the Philippines is grieving after about 30 elementary children died from food poisoning. Authorities say the kids fell sick at school after eating a snack made of cassava. It's a root which can be toxic if not cooked properly. Dozens of kids remain in critical condition. The vendor who sold the snacks insisted nothing was wrong with them and ate a few to prove it. But she, too, is now in critical condition.

An attorney who has represented jailed wife supremacist Matthew Hale says Hale's mother once asked him to pass on a coded message from Hale to a supporter. But Glenn Greenwald said he refuse to do so. Hale has denied having anything to do with the killing last week of an Illinois judge's family. Former President Clinton isn't letting upcoming surgery keep him off the golf course. Today, Clinton teed off with former President George Bush in a charity game in Florida to raise money for tsunami victims. They did hit the green with one new rule, though, at Clinton's request. He said, the tournament would -- quote -- "have a no -laughing rule, which is in effect every time I swing." Clinton is, of course, having surgery tomorrow to remove scar tissue that formed after a heart bypass. The golf tournament has raised $1.8 million for tsunami victims so far.

And those are your headlines. I'm Erica Hill -- Aaron, back to you.

BROWN: Thank you very much, Erica.

For years, the Irish Republican Army has been a law unto itself. When it hasn't been conducting military operations or acts of terror, depending on who you ask, the IRA has served as a kind of local police force within the Catholic community, the brand of justice rough, accountability largely absent, intimidation factor high.

Earlier this winter, at a bar in Belfast, men said to be members of the IRA stabbed a man to death. This week, the IRA made an offer to kill the killers. Punishment and crime both turning a harsh spotlight on the Irish Republican Army. And so is this.

Reporting for us tonight, ITV's Geraint Vincent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GERAINT VINCENT, ITV REPORTER (voice-over): This is the family of Robert McCartney, women from Belfast's Republican heartland who are asking some very hard questions of the IRA.

Bridgeen Hagans is Robert's 27-year-old fiancee and the mother of his two children. Catherine McCartney, Robert's elder sister, is a history teacher. Paula, a mother of five, has recently returned to college; 38-year-old Donna runs a restaurant. And Clare is the youngest sister. She's a teacher's assistant. Between them, they have 20 children.

Today, with his fiancee alongside them, two of Robert's sisters made clear that, while the IRA may have told them who killed their brother, that was nowhere near enough.

CLARE MCCARTNEY, SISTER OF ROBERT: It is now five weeks since Robert was murdered and no one has come forward with substantial evidence. This must be due to ongoing intimidation and fear. Until they do, we will continue to campaign for justice for Robert.

VINCENT: For the value of the IRA's investigation and their offer to shoot the murderers, well, these women don't want revenge. They just want justice.

CATHERINE MCCARTNEY, SISTER OF ROBERT: It's transparency and accountability that we want. And you can't have that behind closed doors. That investigation was held behind closed doors. We will only know the full truth when it gets to court.

VINCENT: These women are capable of putting huge pressure on the IRA because they're exactly the sort of people the IRA would claim it exists to protect. They're staunch Republicans who live in Belfast's Short Strand. It was on these streets 35 years ago that the provisional IRA began its work defending the Catholic community against Protestant rioters.

But because of the lawlessness of Robert McCartney's murder, the IRA's role in this community is being seriously questioned. And with the IRA offering to crack down on murder by committing more murders, Republican leaders are left to try and explain the logic.

GERRY KELLY, SINN FEIN: I think the import of this is to facilitate, is to enhance the atmosphere within which Republicans -- and this is the important thing -- that Republicans know that they should go forward and help this family in terms of justice.

VINCENT: One man is being questioned for murdering Robert McCartney outside this Belfast pub. A public investigation, a public prosecution is what these Republican women want and not the private justice of the Republican Army.

Geraint Vincent, ITV News, Belfast.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The newsmaker we profile tonight in our continuing anniversary series "Then and Now" is Joseph Wilson, a man whose name is still very much in the news. And so is the name of his wife, Valerie Plame. Her undercover identity at the CIA was compromised in 2003. That leak prompted an investigation by the Justice Department that is still going on.

So, a look back now at how it unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson was a frequent TV guest analyst during the buildup to the latest war in Iraq, until he publicly challenged 16 words in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union speech.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.

BROWN: In an op-ed piece in "The New York Times," Wilson claimed the White House used discredited intelligence to justify the war in Iraq. Shortly after that article appeared, Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was named in a newspaper column as a CIA operative. That public outing cost Plame, pictured here in "Vanity Fair," her career at the agency.

Wilson claimed her coverage was blown by the White House, revenge, she said, for speaking out. JOSEPH WILSON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR: Nobody knows the name of the person who put the 16 words in the president's State of the Union address. Everybody knows my name. Everybody knows my wife's name.

BROWN: Wilson went on to write a memoir called "The Politics of Truth," due out in paperback this year. Now he spends much of his time with his 4-year-old twins, Trevor and Samantha, and continues to be an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq.

WILSON: When I got into this debate, it was not as a Democrat or as a Republican. It was as an American who believed that the most solemn duty a government ever has is that decision to send Americans to kill and to die in the name of our country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(ROOSTER CROWING)

BROWN: OK, here we go. Time to check morning papers from around the country and around the world.

We will start with "The Christian Science Monitor." And give me a shot of this picture, if you can here. "Signs of Slavery." Last Saturday, 7,000 of Niger's estimated 43,000 slaves were supposed to be freed until the government stepped in, page seven. Above, "A Slave Wears Special Anklets That Indicate Her Class." Why not free them all?

"The Examiner of Washington." Just about every -- there was no great national or international lead today. So, a lot of newspapers led local, as we say. "The Examiner of Washington." Can't get a better deal on a newspaper, by the way. It's free. "Murder Inc. Crew Gets Life Sentence. D.C. Gang Killed 28 to Protect Drug Business, Scare Witnesses and Enhance Street Reputation." They're going to the slammer.

"Philadelphia Inquirer" leads local and leads crime. "Teen Trio Convicted in Fishtown Murder. 'My Son Got Justice Today. That's All I Cared About.'" Pictures of the three who will go to jail for life or whatever life means in the state of Pennsylvania. I don't know. Probably not life.

"Dallas Morning News" leads local, right in the middle, Eddie (ph). "Lessons on Dying. In Preparing for Robbins" -- as in Tim Robbins -- "Play, Teens Say Their Views on Capital Punishment Have Been Challenged."

I love the picture here and I like the newspaper. "The Oregonian" out in Portland. "Beguiled By a Wonder Dome." Mount Saint Helens has been acting up again, and a pretty cool picture of the crater of the volcano there.

"The Times Herald Record" in Upstate New York leads local. "How Good Is Your School? State Releases Annual Report Cards." I know what my wife will be doing tomorrow, checking ours. "Complete Results in a Special Edition." We should get this one.

And "Newsday" up on Long Island, or out on Long Island, or over in Long Island. I don't know, actually. I get lost over there. "Super Bowl of Lobbying. Cablevision," the big cable company, "Foots Most of Record Bill in Battle Over New Jets Stadium." There's a battle in New York over whether there will be a new stadium, who will pay for it, how much. And Cablevision, which also owns Madison Square Garden, doesn't like the idea. And that's what that story is about.

Weather tomorrow in Chicago, "fiendish."

We'll wrap it up in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Good to have you with us tonight. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" next for most of you. We'll see you tomorrow.

Good night for all of us.

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


Aired March 9, 2005 - 22:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again.
We begin tonight with a very simple but not very comforting notion. If you're a woman your husband could be giving you breast cancer or your sister's friend or the guy at the end of the bar.

If he or she or they are smoking, new research from California's Air Resources Board suggests that you could be paying the price. It isn't the last word on the subject in fact it's barely even the first but as first words go, it does get your attention.

Here's CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's far from the final word but scientists doing research for a reputable environmental advisory group are now ready to report that secondhand smoke causes breast cancer, increasing a woman's risk by up to 90 percent.

DR. JONATHAN SAMET, JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: The California report gives the very powerful conclusion that secondhand smoke causes breast cancer. California is a little bit out front on this in being the first and my judgment is a little more reserved at the moment.

GUPTA: While doctors are still being cautious, what is not in dispute is that secondhand smoke is bad for your health. Now the focus is just how bad? Smoke, whether it comes off the tip of your cigarette or out of your lungs is linked to 40,000 deaths from heart disease, just about every respiratory disease you can think of and 3,000 cases of lung cancer every year.

In fact, the link between secondhand smoke and lung cancer is so strong researchers have pinpointed just how much secondhand smoke increases your risk. For example, 20 or more years in the workplace increases your risk by 25 percent. Thirty or more years with a spouse increases your risk by 23 percent. Or, over 20 years of exposure in social settings ups your risk by 26 percent.

It turns out it's a more complicated puzzle when trying to link secondhand smoke to breast cancer. Still, researchers from the California Air Resources Board think they have the data to show a similar cause and effect with breast cancer and say they will submit their data on Monday. They arrived at their conclusions by reviewing existing studies that showed the toxic elements of secondhand smoke in breast tissue. Scientists also found a link between active smoking and breast cancer, although remarkably that was much weaker.

DR. SUSAN LOVE, AUTHOR, "DR. SUSAN LOVE'S BREAST BOOK": When you're a smoker it actually is very toxic to your ovaries and it reduces the amount of estrogen you have and estrogen feeds breast cancer. So, the theory is even thought the cigarette smoking might be carcinogenic the low estrogen may be hiding that and not feeding that cancer.

GUPTA: The tobacco industry is far from sold pointing to the numerous studies that also show no association between breast cancer and secondhand smoke. As many often say, more studies are still needed but many doctors agree that another piece of the puzzle has fallen into place.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: In other news tonight, for all the talk, the Michael Jackson case really comes down to this. Will the jury believe the story told by the young teenager who is accusing Jackson of molesting him? It's that simple. If they don't believe, Jackson walks. If they do believe, he probably goes to jail.

The teenager took the witness stand today and so in Santa Maria, California for us tonight, CNN's Miguel Marquez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Jackson's accuser on the stand face-to-face with a world-renowned pop star.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michael, can you tell us (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

MICHAEL JACKSON: I'm sorry I'm under a gag order. I'm sorry.

MARQUEZ: In the courtroom, as the 15-year-old took the oath to tell the truth, Jackson sat bolt upright.

ANNE BREMNER, LEGAL ANALYST: He did look at Michael Jackson and I think you saw that and Michael Jackson looked at him.

MARQUEZ: Prosecutors have charged Jackson with plying the boy with alcohol and molesting him four times and conspiring to cover it all up. Jackson says he's not guilty. His accuser once called Jackson the coolest guy in the world. Today, the 15-year-old commanded the world's attention.

BREMNER: He doesn't appear to be relaxed and calm but he doesn't appear really nervous. MARQUEZ: The boy testified that on his first day at Neverland in 2000, while still suffering the effects of nearly terminal cancer, Jackson suggested he and his brother spend the night in his bedroom.

The boy said his parents allowed it and the following night he, his brother, Jackson, his kids, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and a man named Frank Tyson (ph) went to Jackson's room to watch movies. Instead, said the accuser, Tyson got online and surfed adult sites on the Internet for 15 to 30 minutes. His short testimony so far seemed effective.

BREMNER: Remember when he had to scoot up to the mike and he said "okay" really loud into the mike, jurors just spontaneous smiles of empathy for him.

MARQUEZ: The accuser told jurors that Jackson brought he and his siblings to Neverland during the filming of the Martin Bashir documentary "Living with Michael Jackson" and Jackson told him the documentary was the boy's audition for the movies.

He also told the court that Jackson instructed him to call him Daddy Michael and to tell Bashir on camera that Jackson was largely responsible for his recovery from cancer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Now, the boy was only on the stand for about an hour before the court day ended. He's going to take the stand again tomorrow to be questioned by the prosecution.

It will be interesting because the court is out of session on Friday whether the prosecutor will try to take up the entire seven hour day tomorrow with this witness so that the jurors can go home for a long three-day weekend to think about what this boy said Michael Jackson did to him -- Aaron.

BROWN: Has he yet said that he was molested?

MARQUEZ: He has not yet said that. We expect a lot of that testimony tomorrow. They've only pretty much laid the foundation and the groundwork for that testimony -- Aaron.

BROWN: Thank you. Miguel, thank you very much.

Jeffrey Toobin, our Senior Analyst, is here. This case, my perception is that the case has not gone swimmingly for the prosecution to this point. Is that -- do you agree with that?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: That's correct I would say. You will only know when the jury gets their response. But, you know, when I went out there last week, you know I have never gone into a courtroom and had my preconceptions changed as much or as quickly as happened in this courtroom.

BROWN: What was it?

TOOBIN: Well, the preconceptions were that, you know, Michael Jackson's a freak and that he is obviously like if not guilty, close to it. And this seemed to me from day one, the opening statement of the defense, Tom Mesereau and the prosecution a weak case with a lot of questions and the prosecution better have a great day tomorrow, better put forward an unquestionably believable witness or Michael Jackson is going to get acquitted.

BROWN: The sense I got was that they, the defense, beat up the brother, the kid's brother pretty well.

TOOBIN: Absolutely. In fact, I was talking to Ted Rowlands, one of our colleagues who was in the courtroom right at the end of the brother's testimony. He said jurors were laughing at the brother because he had changed his version so many times of parts of his testimony but he really was a terrible witness.

BROWN: Witnesses are prepared. That's what you guys call it.

TOOBIN: Right.

BROWN: I mean you've walked it through.

TOOBIN: You rehearse them, yes.

BROWN: You rehearse them. You take them through presumably what the cross-examination is going to be like. They had to know there were these problems, right?

TOOBIN: Absolutely. But, you know, sometimes there are just problems in testimony and people can't change the fact that they have told different versions of an event. You know they're going to get beat up on cross-examination. You hope that the jury believes them notwithstanding the problems.

And, remember, you know, you're only talking about a 14-year-old boy here who had all these problems, so it may be the jury said, "Well, he was confused but he was just a kid." But it seemed pretty bad.

BROWN: Good to see you.

TOOBIN: Nice to see you.

BROWN: Thank you, Jeffrey Toobin with his take on the testimony.

We have much more coming up on the program tonight starting with the movie that made millions and set off a storm.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): "The Passion of the Christ" returns to theaters this weekend.

JOHN MEACHAM, "NEWSWEEK": People will go to see this never ending story, this eternally, perennially fascinating story that is only going to stop being told when the Kingdom of God comes.

BROWN: Fascinating certainly but how accurate is it?

Also tonight the end of an unforgettable and sometimes enigmatic run.

DAN RATHER, CBS EVENING NEWS: To each of you courage. For the CBS Evening News, Dan Rather reporting. Good night.

BROWN: After 24 years, Dan Rather signs off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want to lose weight fast and have all your hair and teeth fall out? If so, methamphetamine could be right for you.

BROWN: An ad campaign created by kids to scare other kids away from a deadly drug.

And steroids and baseball, Congress slaps some of the biggest names in the game with subpoenas. Will they be forced to testify?

From New York and around the world this is NEWSNIGHT.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Erica Hill joins us in Atlanta tonight with some of the other stories we're keeping track of, good evening to you, Ms. Hill.

(NEWSBREAK)

BROWN: Thank you. We'll check with you again in about half an hour. Thank you very much.

"The Passion of the Christ" returns to movie theaters this weekend. Some six minutes of the movie's most graphic scenes have been cut out of it. The film, which made millions, tens of millions of dollars last year, is a dramatic recreation of the last hours of Jesus.

It's not a documentary and never claimed to be but Mel Gibson said he was committed to making the movie as realistic as possible. So, how close did he come?

Here's NEWSNIGHT's Beth Nissen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For millions of Christians who have seen "The Passion of the Christ" in theaters and on DVD and will watch it again during this Lenten season, the film is the most realistic depiction ever of the last hours of Jesus but should they take it as gospel?

"NEWSWEEK" managing editor John Meacham is a student of biblical history and author of the 2004 "Newsweek" cover story on the death of Jesus.

MEACHAM: I think the basic means of crucifixion in Gibson's movie is essentially right. This was a terrible way to die.

NISSEN: Only a few of the film's graphic details are in dispute. The original film shows nails being driven into Christ's palms, which conflicts with archaeological findings.

MEACHAM: Most evidence suggests that the nail would go through the wrist, which would obviously physically keep you on the cross.

NISSEN: Otherwise, Gibson's bloody depiction of Christ's suffering on the cross is in accordance with historical sources on this commonly used form of Roman capital punishment.

MEACHAM: Death by crucifixion was wretched, horrible, violent. It's the reason we have the word excruciating.

NISSEN: The film also accurately portrays the public nature of this form of execution for those found guilty of sedition in Roman occupied Palestine.

MEACHAM: The point of the cross was that it was a public warning to others. You were on that hill. You were on those pieces of wood and the message was "If you don't fall in line, this will happen to you."

NISSEN: Gibson's film diverges more from historical and even some biblical sources in its depiction of how Jesus was sentenced to death and by whom.

MEACHAM: The central historical problem is Pilate. That's where he went sort of off the rails by making Pilate such a good guy.

NISSEN: The film depicts Pontius Pilate as a Roman leader concerned with justice, reluctant to sentence Jesus to death but persuaded to do so by a Jewish mob and the temple high priest, a portrayal that doesn't square with historical records of Pilate's tyrannical rule.

MEACHAM: One historian describes Pontius Pilate as stubborn, cruel and of inflexible disposition, quite the opposite of the just Roman ruler.

NISSEN: Gibson chose to use the Bible as his key source, which for historians is problematic.

MEACHAM: The gospel accounts may contain important spiritual truths, important theological truths but they are not necessarily documents in which the chronology of events, the nature of events in time can be taken as literally true.

NISSEN: And biblical scholars, even Catholic leaders, fault Gibson for how he's used the gospels making a composite of the New Testament's four varying accounts of the crucifixion.

Gibson, for example, ignores the passage from the book of John in which it is the chief priests and temple officers who call for Jesus' crucifixion and instead blends accounts from the other three books that stress the role of the crowd.

MEACHAM: If you take the, "Let his blood be upon us and upon our children" line from Matthew and put it in the larger crowd scene before Pilate then you get a sense that the Jewish mob made that cry as opposed to a certain element of the Jewish society at that time. You could come away from this movie believing that the Jews killed Jesus. That's not what happened.

NISSEN: What did happen? Who did kill Jesus?

MEACHAM: As a matter of history, Pontius Pilate and the Roman Empire killed Jesus. It was Pontius Pilate saying "If you think you're the king of the Jews this is what happens to you because there's only one king of the Jews and that's Caesar."

NISSEN: Historians and scholars know there will be many who take this film on faith.

MEACHAM: People will go to see this never ending story, this eternally, perennially fascinating story that is only going to stop being told when the Kingdom of God comes.

NISSEN: And it will surely be discussed as to its truths, its details until then.

Beth Nissen, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: In a moment the pain and the piling on as Dan Rather departs the anchor chair after 24 years on "CBS Evening News." We'll hear from colleagues and critics and friends and we'll take a break first.

From New York this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Dan Rather ended his run as the anchor of the "CBS Evening News" tonight. The end, as was often the case in his long career, was rich in controversy.

No doubt a lot of people are celebrating his demise tonight. I am not one of them. To me he was gracious and helpful and I am grateful for that. And to me he deserved a better end than the one he received.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RATHER: We've shared a lot in the 24 years we've been meeting here each evening.

BROWN (voice-over): The goodbye was gracious and not without a bit of the quirkiness that in part defined an extraordinary career.

RATHER: Not long after I first came to the anchor chair, I briefly signed off using the word "courage." I want to return to it now in a different way to a nation still nursing a broken heart for what happened here in 2001 and especially to those who found themselves closest to the events of September 11th.

To our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in dangerous places, to those who have endured the tsunami and to all who have suffered natural disasters and who must now find the will to rebuild, to the oppressed and to those whose lot it is to struggle in financial hardship or in failing health, to my fellow journalists in places where reporting the truth means risking all and to each of you, courage.

For the "CBS Evening News," Dan Rather reporting. Good night.

BROWN: While not one to publicly complain, these last few weeks must have been hard on Rather forced to leave a job he dearly loved, down and kicked around, not just by his long time critics but by long time colleagues.

Mike Wallace, who has since apologized, said "He's not as easy to watch as Jennings or Brokaw. He's uptight and occasionally contrived."

Said the legendary Don Hewitt, "If you are third in a three-man race, and you come in third, then the public is against you."

And then there was this.

WALTER CRONKITE, FORMER "CBS NEWS" ANCHOR: Well, I think that there was a general feeling among quite a lot of us around the CBS shop and indeed some of the viewers that Dan gave the impression of playing a role more than simply trying to deliver the news to the audience.

BROWN: That from the man Mr. Rather succeeded, Walter Cronkite.

CRONKITE: Dan Rather will be sitting in here for the next few years.

BROWN: And while the two were never close, Cronkite's words seemed especially harsh.

CRONKITE: It surprised quite a few people at CBS and elsewhere that without being able to pull up the ratings beyond third in a three-man field that they tolerated his being there for so long.

TOM BROKAW: We've been through a lot together.

BROWN: By reasons of both circumstance and perhaps personality, Rather didn't get the victory lap that Brokaw received. TV writer Tim Goodman said it best today. "Rather left more like Willie Loman, more tragic than heroic, a bit beaten." And for someone who has done so much for so long there is something not simply sad about that but wrong.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BROWN: Marvin Kalb worked with Dan Rather for years as a CBS News correspondent, currently a senior fellow at Harvard University's Shorenstein Center for Politics and Public Policy and he's in Washington; Jay Rosen is a writer and a blogger and a professor of journalism at New York University and we're glad to have you both here.

Marvin, what is it about Dan that people -- forget the critics for a second because the right-wing or the conservative Web sites are going to do what they've always done and they've been very harsh on him but the people inside CBS News and Walter Cronkite why the harshness when the guy was clearly on the mat?

MARVIN KALB, SHORENSTEIN CENTER AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY: I really don't know. I can't account for it. I can't explain it. I'm just so very sorry that it happened. I think it is a reflection of a kind of mean spiritedness which has pervaded the entire industry and including CBS.

I don't think that Dan is the reason for that mean spiritedness. I think it's been here and there now for a decade or two but it's there and Dan is very much I think the victim of it. I think he deserved a great deal better.

Dan Rather was always in my experience, and I worked with him from 1962 to 1980 very closely, he is a first-class reporter, a very aggressive interviewer. He feels he is doing his job. I don't think there's political bias at all.

BROWN: All right. Nobody, Jay, was taking pops at Brokaw when he left. I mean there weren't enough wet kisses on the planet for the guy and he was a terrific anchorman and a very good reporter. So, there is something about Dan.

JAY ROSEN, NYU SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM: Yes.

BROWN: And it is?

ROSEN: Well, he was never quite comfortable in the anchorman's role for one thing. He always thought of himself as primarily a reporter and he was authenticated through that.

BROWN: But what does that have to do with people taking pops at him this way?

ROSEN: Well, since he faced down Richard Nixon he has been a cultural symbol for an arrogant press and he himself may not be that but he has stuck out that way.

BROWN: In ways that Tom and Peter do not?

ROSEN: Tom Brokaw is much more of a politician and I think Peter Jennings is much more of a cosmopolitan and Dan Rather is a kind of a hot, emotional figure in a medium that favors cool personalities and people with very rounded edges. He never fit that television mold. He was always a journalist first and a very fiercely independent journalist but also somebody who I think over the course of his career lost contact a little bit with the audience, with the culture, with what was happening in politics and media.

BROWN: Marvin, I want to move on from this but just did your heart break a little bit for him tonight? I mean there was something sort of demonstrably sad about it all.

KALB: Well, no question about that. There was something very sad about it but at the very same time I must confess to you that while watching the 8:00 to 9:00 hour long program about Dan, I thought that was an excellent piece that did portray Rather in very impressive and honest ways, the aggressive reporter, the aggressive interviewer, the man who would not bow down before government pressure, the man who simply felt that he's going out there to do his best for the people and he felt that very, very sincerely.

BROWN: Jay, two of the big three are now off the stage. Peter will be around for a while would be my guess and he'd certainly like to be. Will there be other Rather's, other Brokaw's, or has the business, has television changed so much because of the Internet and because of cable and because of all of it that that era is over anyway?

ROSEN: I think what's over is the certain kind of authority that the anchorman once held. Walter Cronkite's "That's the way it is" because Dan Rather's "That's part of our world," which is a different statement and I don't think that kind of national authority, that trustworthiness, that grounded-ness is going to be there.

BROWN: Is that because we, as citizens, have changed, we're more cynical or whatever or because the medium has changed and the medium's role has changed?

ROSEN: I think the media has fractured and the kind of political consensus that grew up with television has also fractured.

BROWN: Yes.

ROSEN: And the kind of authority that the anchorman had to tell us this is the world just isn't there anymore.

BROWN: Marvin, last word, 20 second, do you agree with that?

(LAUGHTER)

KALB: Well, yes, very much so.

I think the industry itself has changed profoundly, new technology, a new economic underpinning to the entire industry, a new economic pay scale. Everything has changed. And anybody now can turn to any number of different channels and find out what's going on.

BROWN: Yes. Oh, man, thank goodness for that, someone once said. I think it was me.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: It's nice to see you. Thank you.

Nice to meet you. Thanks for coming in tonight.

ROSEN: Thank you.

BROWN: Still to come on the program, two sides of crystal meth, the problem, which is huge, and the promise, school kids getting together to send a message to their friends, a message only they can send.

And, as always, we wrap up the hour with morning papers. Around the country and around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Huge drug bust outside Atlanta today, possibly the largest amount of methamphetamine ever seized in the Eastern United States. This is a bad drug, meth is. The raid of two homes east of the city netted 174 pounds of crystal meth, about $1 million cash, street value of the drug estimated in the millions. Federal agents said it was the second significant seizure of meth in Atlanta in less than six weeks, which brings us to meth users, many of them young.

Every parent knows, or at least fears, that a lecture from adults on drugs is guaranteed to make eyes rolls. But when the message comes from another teenager, well, that can work.

Here's CNN Kimberly Osias.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want to lose weight fast and have your hair and teeth fall out? If so, methamphetamine could be right for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The satirical, fast-paced public service announcements weren't created by pros, although some played supporting roles. They were dreamed up, written and produced by kids for kids.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What teenager really wants to listen to an adult who's all dressed up in a business suit and is talking very sternly to them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of times, teenagers don't want to feel threatened. And when it becomes an adult or authoritative figure, then they immediately want to disagree with them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to stick with your own group. You can't dis on who you're with.

OSIAS: The message is that methamphetamines kill and teens are at risk. In 2002, 8 percent of high school students in this county admitted using meth, two times the national average. These filmmakers want to save their friends, taking a creative approach to get their attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shooting meth has really improved my self- esteem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: Using humor as a myth-busting teaching tool.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's comedic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My teeth draw tons of attention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even though we took a lighter tone, we really wanted to show like these horrible effects.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I get so much done in such little time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at all my scabs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: The goal, to get the serious message of meth out there beyond the walls of Oregon's Newberg High School, located in bucolic Yamhill County, 25 miles from Portland, an unlikely place for drug dens and meth labs. But, in Oregon, the state shut down 400 just last year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything that's in meth, you can get at your local hardware store.

OSIAS: Items found in some cold medications, paint thinners and kitty litter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another thing we were really shooting for was -- to get people's attention, we went for shock value. For instance, with the breakfast PSA, when the kid is like walking out there and he puts down a blender, and you're thinking, oh, so it's just some kid making breakfast. What's all this about? Then you see he starts pouring like gasoline and dropping batteries into the thing and grinding it up, that's when you're wondering, OK, so, what's this about? Because that's not something you see every day.

OSIAS: Lieutenant Ken Summers does see meth every day. He remembers when the drug emerged in the '80s. Now the problem is so pervasive, the county had to open a juvenile detention facility just to keep up, although Yamhill's teens are now using less, the community still feels the ripple effect.

LT. KEN SUMMERS, YAMHILL COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: The primary cause now in identity thefts that we're having, financial crimes, burglaries, all of our property crimes, virtually, 90 percent of them are based on the methamphetamine profit.

OSIAS: Even more terrifying, younger and younger children are trying meth.

CRAIG CAMPBELL, METHAMPHETAMINE TASK FORCE: We're seeing it as early as 8- to 12-year-olds. It's getting into middle schools now. This is a second generation that we're seeing. It's kids of parents who have been cooking meth. They know the trade. They know the vernacular and have probably been affected by the drug their whole life. And now they are including their friends. That's the way meth is spread.

OSIAS: But Oregon is hoping these creative campaigns will work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've met all kinds of interesting people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'll be amazed at what meth can do for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: By employing unlikely messengers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's important to get people before they start.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meth is not for everyone. Symptoms may include paranoia, hallucinations, loss of sex appeal, skin irritations, loss of brain cells.

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OSIAS: As far as those budding directors, copyrighters and prop managers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They kind of made me feel proud.

OSIAS: They believe their message made the mark.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 30 seconds seeing it on TV made it worth all the months of work.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's kind of a huge thing, become way more than any of us probably imagined it could be.

OSIAS: And is making a difference.

Kimberly Osias, CNN, Newberg, Oregon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Kids, of course, get all sorts of messages about drugs. They get messages from star athletes sometimes. Whether steroids and baseball is a matter for the U.S. Congress to deal with, we'll leave to others.

We'll leave to correspondent Ed Henry the decision by the Congress to demand the testimony of some of the biggest names in the game.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down the left field line. Is it enough? Gone! There it is, 62!

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire forged a bond during the celebrated summer of '98, when they each surpassed the previous record for home runs in a season. Now they're linked again, both slapped with subpoenas from a congressional committee probing whether their home run chase was fueled by more than just Mother Nature.

Also on the hit list, Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro, Curt Schilling, Frank Thomas and Jose Canseco. Canseco wants to testify, perhaps so he can discuss his explosive new book that claims he used steroids with McGwire and others. Schilling has spoken out against steroids. And Thomas has said this is a problem baseball must face.

FRANK THOMAS, CHICAGO WHITE SOX: Like I told people before, I have got nothing to hide. So, they subpoena us, they subpoena us. And I will stick by my word. It's an honor to go there.

HENRY: But Major League Baseball officials are swinging back at Congress, insisting they'll fight the subpoenas, because the committee does not have legal jurisdiction. Baseball officials also say forcing players like Giambi to testify on Capitol Hill next Thursday could taint the grand jury probe of BALCO Laboratories, which allegedly provided steroids to various athletes.

Giambi reportedly told the grand jury he used steroids, though, publicly, he's been vague about the case that's dominated the early days of spring training.

JASON GIAMBI, NEW YORK YANKEES: I know there's been a lot of distractions over the past year. And I wanted to apologize for all those, you know, distractions from the bottom of my heart. I take full responsibility for it and I'm sorry.

HENRY: In a letter to the congressional panel, Major League Baseball's lawyer lashed out at a separate subpoena seeking the results of player drug tests. He wrote: "The right to privacy outweighs any asserted interest in the health problems stemming from the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs."

An aide to House Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis, who issued the subpoenas, fired back, the panel does have legal authority, saying "It's sad that they've resorted to legalese and inaccurate legalese at that." And despite baseball's push to block testimony, there are indications players like Sosa may come forward on their own. The stakes have been raised because a failure to testify could result in charges of contempt of Congress.

An agent for Sosa told CNN that, after respectfully declining the panel's initial invitation, the slugger now will -- quote -- "take a second look and make the right choice."

Ed Henry, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Still ahead tonight, Robert McCartney was murdered. Now his family has been given a chance to avenge his death. They said no. What their refusal got them.

We'll take a break. This is NEWSNIGHT.

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BROWN: Before moving on tonight, another quick check of the headlines from Headline News and Erica Hill, who is in Atlanta.

Good evening again.

HILL: Good evening to you, Aaron.

Just about a quarter to the hour now, a look at the headlines.

Scientists in California say they have found a link between secondhand smoke and breast cancer, a finding that could lead to tougher anti-smoking laws. Now, the report of those findings from the Air Resources Board were published in "USA Today." The group found women exposed to secondhand smoke have up to a 90 percent greater risk of getting the disease.

A small community in the Philippines is grieving after about 30 elementary children died from food poisoning. Authorities say the kids fell sick at school after eating a snack made of cassava. It's a root which can be toxic if not cooked properly. Dozens of kids remain in critical condition. The vendor who sold the snacks insisted nothing was wrong with them and ate a few to prove it. But she, too, is now in critical condition.

An attorney who has represented jailed wife supremacist Matthew Hale says Hale's mother once asked him to pass on a coded message from Hale to a supporter. But Glenn Greenwald said he refuse to do so. Hale has denied having anything to do with the killing last week of an Illinois judge's family. Former President Clinton isn't letting upcoming surgery keep him off the golf course. Today, Clinton teed off with former President George Bush in a charity game in Florida to raise money for tsunami victims. They did hit the green with one new rule, though, at Clinton's request. He said, the tournament would -- quote -- "have a no -laughing rule, which is in effect every time I swing." Clinton is, of course, having surgery tomorrow to remove scar tissue that formed after a heart bypass. The golf tournament has raised $1.8 million for tsunami victims so far.

And those are your headlines. I'm Erica Hill -- Aaron, back to you.

BROWN: Thank you very much, Erica.

For years, the Irish Republican Army has been a law unto itself. When it hasn't been conducting military operations or acts of terror, depending on who you ask, the IRA has served as a kind of local police force within the Catholic community, the brand of justice rough, accountability largely absent, intimidation factor high.

Earlier this winter, at a bar in Belfast, men said to be members of the IRA stabbed a man to death. This week, the IRA made an offer to kill the killers. Punishment and crime both turning a harsh spotlight on the Irish Republican Army. And so is this.

Reporting for us tonight, ITV's Geraint Vincent.

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GERAINT VINCENT, ITV REPORTER (voice-over): This is the family of Robert McCartney, women from Belfast's Republican heartland who are asking some very hard questions of the IRA.

Bridgeen Hagans is Robert's 27-year-old fiancee and the mother of his two children. Catherine McCartney, Robert's elder sister, is a history teacher. Paula, a mother of five, has recently returned to college; 38-year-old Donna runs a restaurant. And Clare is the youngest sister. She's a teacher's assistant. Between them, they have 20 children.

Today, with his fiancee alongside them, two of Robert's sisters made clear that, while the IRA may have told them who killed their brother, that was nowhere near enough.

CLARE MCCARTNEY, SISTER OF ROBERT: It is now five weeks since Robert was murdered and no one has come forward with substantial evidence. This must be due to ongoing intimidation and fear. Until they do, we will continue to campaign for justice for Robert.

VINCENT: For the value of the IRA's investigation and their offer to shoot the murderers, well, these women don't want revenge. They just want justice.

CATHERINE MCCARTNEY, SISTER OF ROBERT: It's transparency and accountability that we want. And you can't have that behind closed doors. That investigation was held behind closed doors. We will only know the full truth when it gets to court.

VINCENT: These women are capable of putting huge pressure on the IRA because they're exactly the sort of people the IRA would claim it exists to protect. They're staunch Republicans who live in Belfast's Short Strand. It was on these streets 35 years ago that the provisional IRA began its work defending the Catholic community against Protestant rioters.

But because of the lawlessness of Robert McCartney's murder, the IRA's role in this community is being seriously questioned. And with the IRA offering to crack down on murder by committing more murders, Republican leaders are left to try and explain the logic.

GERRY KELLY, SINN FEIN: I think the import of this is to facilitate, is to enhance the atmosphere within which Republicans -- and this is the important thing -- that Republicans know that they should go forward and help this family in terms of justice.

VINCENT: One man is being questioned for murdering Robert McCartney outside this Belfast pub. A public investigation, a public prosecution is what these Republican women want and not the private justice of the Republican Army.

Geraint Vincent, ITV News, Belfast.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The newsmaker we profile tonight in our continuing anniversary series "Then and Now" is Joseph Wilson, a man whose name is still very much in the news. And so is the name of his wife, Valerie Plame. Her undercover identity at the CIA was compromised in 2003. That leak prompted an investigation by the Justice Department that is still going on.

So, a look back now at how it unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson was a frequent TV guest analyst during the buildup to the latest war in Iraq, until he publicly challenged 16 words in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union speech.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.

BROWN: In an op-ed piece in "The New York Times," Wilson claimed the White House used discredited intelligence to justify the war in Iraq. Shortly after that article appeared, Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was named in a newspaper column as a CIA operative. That public outing cost Plame, pictured here in "Vanity Fair," her career at the agency.

Wilson claimed her coverage was blown by the White House, revenge, she said, for speaking out. JOSEPH WILSON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR: Nobody knows the name of the person who put the 16 words in the president's State of the Union address. Everybody knows my name. Everybody knows my wife's name.

BROWN: Wilson went on to write a memoir called "The Politics of Truth," due out in paperback this year. Now he spends much of his time with his 4-year-old twins, Trevor and Samantha, and continues to be an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq.

WILSON: When I got into this debate, it was not as a Democrat or as a Republican. It was as an American who believed that the most solemn duty a government ever has is that decision to send Americans to kill and to die in the name of our country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(ROOSTER CROWING)

BROWN: OK, here we go. Time to check morning papers from around the country and around the world.

We will start with "The Christian Science Monitor." And give me a shot of this picture, if you can here. "Signs of Slavery." Last Saturday, 7,000 of Niger's estimated 43,000 slaves were supposed to be freed until the government stepped in, page seven. Above, "A Slave Wears Special Anklets That Indicate Her Class." Why not free them all?

"The Examiner of Washington." Just about every -- there was no great national or international lead today. So, a lot of newspapers led local, as we say. "The Examiner of Washington." Can't get a better deal on a newspaper, by the way. It's free. "Murder Inc. Crew Gets Life Sentence. D.C. Gang Killed 28 to Protect Drug Business, Scare Witnesses and Enhance Street Reputation." They're going to the slammer.

"Philadelphia Inquirer" leads local and leads crime. "Teen Trio Convicted in Fishtown Murder. 'My Son Got Justice Today. That's All I Cared About.'" Pictures of the three who will go to jail for life or whatever life means in the state of Pennsylvania. I don't know. Probably not life.

"Dallas Morning News" leads local, right in the middle, Eddie (ph). "Lessons on Dying. In Preparing for Robbins" -- as in Tim Robbins -- "Play, Teens Say Their Views on Capital Punishment Have Been Challenged."

I love the picture here and I like the newspaper. "The Oregonian" out in Portland. "Beguiled By a Wonder Dome." Mount Saint Helens has been acting up again, and a pretty cool picture of the crater of the volcano there.

"The Times Herald Record" in Upstate New York leads local. "How Good Is Your School? State Releases Annual Report Cards." I know what my wife will be doing tomorrow, checking ours. "Complete Results in a Special Edition." We should get this one.

And "Newsday" up on Long Island, or out on Long Island, or over in Long Island. I don't know, actually. I get lost over there. "Super Bowl of Lobbying. Cablevision," the big cable company, "Foots Most of Record Bill in Battle Over New Jets Stadium." There's a battle in New York over whether there will be a new stadium, who will pay for it, how much. And Cablevision, which also owns Madison Square Garden, doesn't like the idea. And that's what that story is about.

Weather tomorrow in Chicago, "fiendish."

We'll wrap it up in a moment.

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BROWN: Good to have you with us tonight. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" next for most of you. We'll see you tomorrow.

Good night for all of us.

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