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CNN Live Today
Schiavo Legal Path: What's Left?; Schiavo Backlash for Bush?; Before Terri Schiavo
Aired March 25, 2005 - 10:59 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: Going to a live picture now, Pinellas Park, Florida. This outside the hospice where Terri Schiavo, as we have heard described by her husband's attorney is going through what they say, what they call the death process. Both Michael Schiavo, her husband, and her parents and siblings, have had a chance to visit with her over the last week since the feeding tube has been removed.
We're getting word that her father, Bob Schindler, plans to come to the microphone there and make a statement shortly. And we are going to have that for you live.
Meanwhile, also there in Pinellas Park is our Bob Franken -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, and what we know about the family's reaction is what you would expect the family's reaction to be, bitter disappointment. They deny that a resignation is setting in, but they are also very aware that the legal options are extremely dicey at this particular point.
As we know, their lawyers have now gone once again to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in the federal court system after once again they failed to get an emergency order reinstalling the tube from the judge here at the district court level. And of course yesterday the previous appeal they had went to the Supreme Court, whether it failed also.
They've also had the same track record legally in the state of Florida. So the legal options are running out.
Meanwhile, we're expecting the parents to make a plea for some sort of political intervention. The pressure right now is on Governor Jeb Bush to take extra ordinary actions. Some on the other side argue that it would be an unconstitutional action. That's why the governor has not indicated any inclination to do that.
Now, when Robert Schindler speaks, he will be accompanied by some of the activist leaders who have been his advisers and organizers. Among them, Randall Terry, who is a familiar person as somebody who has covered the abortion matter over the years and decades.
He is the former head of Operation Rescue. He will be accompanying, he's been a figure here, as of others from that movement.
But, of course, at its heart, forgetting all the political and organizational and institutional and legal concerns, this is the very tragic, sad story of a bitter family dispute between parents who just don't want to let their child die and a husband who says that he wants to make sure that her death is as merciful as possible -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Well, I think that is one thing that all sides can agree on, this is a very sad, sad story of this family. Thank you for that, Bob.
We're going to go back live to Pinellas Park when Mr. Schindler speaks. Right now let's take a look at what is happening "Now in the news."
Good Friday services are taking place at the Vatican this hour without Pope John Paul II. The ailing pontiff is missing Holy Week observances for the first time since becoming pope. We'll have a live report from Rome at the half-hour.
The focus will be on fingerprints again today at the Michael Jackson child molestation trial. Testimony is set to resume in about 30 minutes. Prosecutors are trying to convince jurors that Jackson showed sexually explicit material to his accuser and the accuser's brother.
The death toll has risen to 15 in the refinery explosion and fire in Texas. Officials are still working to identify the dead. And investigators are searching for cause of the blast. The FBI has ruled out terrorism or foul play.
Florida officials say two more children have come down with life- threatening kidney infections after visiting petting zoos. Nine children are now in the hospital in central Florida. Authorities say all of them touched animals at area fairs recently. State veterinarians are tracking down the animals to determine what, if any, infections might have been transmitted.
It is just after 11:00 a.m. on the East Coast and just after 8:00 a.m. for those of you waking up and joining us from the West. From CNN Center in Atlanta, good morning once again. I am Daryn Kagan.
We go back to the Terri Schiavo story up first this hour. It could be the final desperate efforts by the parents of Terri Schiavo. They're taking their case back to a federal appeals court. This follows another legal setback in the effort to have their daughter's feeding tube reinserted a week after it was removed.
Our Tony Harris is at 11th Circuit Court of Appeals here in Atlanta. Bob Franken outside Schiavo's hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida. And the picture you see there is on the microphones where we expect Bob Schindler, Terri Schiavo's father, to come up and speak at any minute.
Tony, we'll go ahead and start with you. Give us the latest from the 11th Circuit, and if Bob Schindler speaks I will interrupt you and we'll go live back to Florida.
TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK. All right, Daryn. Well, here is the story here. Within the hour, the Schindler family again appealed Judge Whittemore's decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals here in downtown Atlanta. And as you know, they're look for that temporary restraining order that will restore the feeding tube to Terri Schiavo.
The problem here, as Bob alluded to just a few moments ago, is that this court twice on Wednesday said no to a very similar appeal from the Schindlers. But the filing has been made. The Schindlers have vowed to fight on, and fight on and they do.
So here is the paperwork for the filing that came into this court within the hour. And what can happen here? Well, the court can say no and not agree to look at it at all. It could chart a similar course, as it did on Wednesday, which means it could go to a three- judge panel.
Oddly enough, it could go to the same three-judge panel that denied the appeal on Wednesday. And if again that three-judge panel decides to deny this appeal, what could then happen is that the Schindlers could file an appeal to an entire court, an entire court that said 10-2 to deny -- voted 10-2 to deny, a very similar appeal to this one on Wednesday.
That's what's happening here at the 11th Circuit District Court, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals here in downtown Atlanta. We will follow the action here and bring you all the breaking developments -- Daryn.
KAGAN: All right. Tony, we will check back with you.
This tension surrounding the Schiavo case led to a scare at the federal courthouse in Tampa. Police found a suspicious backpack outside of the building last night. They cleared a two-block area and blew up the backpack as a precaution. The woman who left it later confirmed there was really nothing dangerous inside.
A man was arrested after police say he tried to rob a gun store in an effort to rescue Terri Schiavo. Michael Mitchell faces charges of attempted armed robbery, aggravated assault and criminal mischief. The store owner in Seminole, Florida, held Mitchell at gunpoint until deputies arrived. He escaped out of a back door. He was later captured.
Most Americans think that Washington should have stayed out of the Schiavo case. Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider takes a look at those latest numbers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): President Bush's job rating over the weekend, before he and Congress acted in the Terri Schiavo case, 52 percent. President Bush's job rating in a poll taken this week, after the bill to turn the case over to the federal courts was passed into law, 45 percent. A CBS News poll shows a similar decline in the president's ratings from 49 percent last month to 43 percent now.
Are we seeing evidence of political backlash from the Schiavo case? We have to be careful.
Gas prices are up. And so are negative views about the economy.
Just in the past two weeks, the number of Americans who say the economy is getting worse has jumped nine points to nearly 60 percent. But there are also reasons to suspect a Schiavo backlash. Congress has been in the spotlight on the Schiavo case, and approval of Congress has been dropping as well, down seven points since last month.
Public opinion about the Schiavo case is very one-sided. Particularly on this question: Should Congress and the president be involved in deciding what happens to Terri Schiavo? Only 13 percent of Americans say yes. An overwhelming 82 percent say no, including large majorities of conservatives, Republicans, church-goers and even two-thirds of white evangelicals. The public does not want a case like this contaminated by politics.
REP. BARNEY FRANK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Does anyone think that this decision will be made without consideration of actual support of party ideology? Of course not.
SCHNEIDER: Among the minority of Americans who believe Congress and the president should be involved in the Schiavo case, Bush's job approval is 67 percent. The president's approval drops to less than 40 percent among the huge majority who think politicians should stay out of it. Which may explain why the president is sounding more cautious.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have not discussed the next steps with the brother -- my brother, who is the governor of Florida.
Bill Schneider, CNN Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Family members on both sides are expressing very different perceptions of what's taking place in Terri Schiavo's hospice room. Her brother and Michael's brother spoke with CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN SCHIAVO, MICHAEL SCHIAVO'S FATHER: I just came here from seeing her. And the only way how I can describe this is she's peaceful.
She's laying there. Sometimes her mouth is agape. And, you know, she's peaceful. She's not writhing in pain. You know, she's really not too different than I saw her a day -- you know, the day before.
(END VIDEO CLIP) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOBBY SCHINDLER, TERRI SCHIAVO'S BROTHER: Part of me wants to be there and the other part of me just wants to get out of the room as fast as I can. You know, as my sister said, you know, you are watching your sister being slowly dehydrated to death in front of your eyes. And it's absolutely horrific to know, you know, someone's being starved to death, especially a family member.
And I can't imagine what my -- you know, what my parents are feeling during this process. It's just horrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Doctors have said that Terri Schiavo might survive one or two weeks without her feeding tube. It's now been a week since it was removed.
Our national correspondent Bob Franken is outside of the hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida.
Bob, once again, we're standing by. We expect Bob Schindler, her father, to come out and speak pretty soon?
FRANKEN: Well, very soon. They're just in this little room that has served as their retreat here, planning it is what he's going to say, whatever announcements that are going to be said.
More often than not, it has been Mary Schindler, who's Terri Schiavo's mother, who has been the one who has made the emotional plea -- the emotional plea to the politicians. The problem, of course, that they're having is their various avenues are running out.
Certainly things do not look at all positive for them in the legal system. They're making another try at the federal judicial system.
And once again they went before Judge James Whittemore yesterday -- last night, rather. And this morning, he rejected a new set of circumstances, legal circumstances, saying that still there was not the substantial likelihood that the lawsuit would prevail. Therefore, he could not come up with what they call the temporary restraining order, in effect, an emergency order that would have restored the feeding tube.
So, they are taking their appeal now to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. All acknowledge that given what has happened before that is a long shot. And assuming that they do not succeed there, one can only assume that they're going to carry this again to the court of last resort, the U.S. Supreme Court, which has refused many times to get involved in this case.
Not only has that been feudal for them, but in the last several days they've also had a startling lack of success at the state court level. The judge who ordered the feeding tube removed a week ago has refused to change that order in any way, and has rejected the same set of new affidavits and the like that have been taken to the federal level. Last night, the Florida Supreme Court rejected a new plea to get involved.
So you can see the family is beginning to run out of different -- different options. The one that has been most of the focus right now is pressure on Governor Jeb Bush, who has been their ally over the years here. They are saying, you have to do something. Even if the courts are ruling the way they are, you have to get involved.
Well, one of them even said it, if this would cause a constitutional crisis, so be it. Well, many believe it would cause a constitutional crisis. And thus far, Governor Bush has said there doesn't seem to be much he could do.
Meanwhile, here the protesters, the vigils are continuing. This of course is the special day, the most sad day in the Christian calendar, Good Friday. And it is attracting more people who are holding religious service here to try and add their voices to the pleas to reconnect the feeding tube of Terri Schiavo.
It has been almost exactly a week since it was withdrawn. And most medical experts, Daryn, have said, as we have reported many times, that she cannot be expected to live without the nutrition and hydration that it provides more than another week -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Bob Franken live in Pinellas Park. Once again, we'll go back live when Bob Schindler begins to speak the at microphones there.
Well, Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, has pointed out, other families, a lot of other families, have faced this difficult decision that he has made. CNN correspondent Tom Foreman spent some time with a woman who has walked in Michael Schiavo's shoes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The story of Hugh Finn's controversial death begins on this road outside Louisville, where the popular local TV host was in a horrific accident on an icy morning. The wreck left Hugh Finn in a permanently vegetative state and his wife Michelle in a terrible spot.
MICHELLE FINN, WIFE: And we had talked about the fact that we would not want, neither one of us would want to live in that type of condition.
FOREMAN (on camera): So you never had any doubt about what his wishes were?
FINN: No.
FOREMAN (voice-over): So more than three years later, she decided to remove his feeding tube at his nursing home in Virginia. His parents challenged the decision in court. And they lost.
THOMAS FINN, FATHER: When he was in that hospital, we could touch him. There was hope. Now that he's in the hole, there's no hope for him, none whatsoever.
FOREMAN: But with the tube removal only hours away, Michelle could not believe what happened next. Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore went to the state courts to try to stop it.
M. FINN: I was just hysterical. I couldn't believe -- it never occurred to me that it would happen. I kept saying, "How can he do this? How can he do this?"
JIM GILMORE, FMR. VIRGINIA GOVERNOR: Well, I think the public officials have a duty to make sure that those who are disabled, those who are vulnerable, make sure that they are properly protected. That, I think, is the proper role of an elected official, and the law supported that type of intervention at the time.
FOREMAN: The governor lost, too. The feeding tube was removed. And nine days later, Hugh Finn died.
T. FINN: It was a murder because you put him to death.
FOREMAN (on camera): The rift between Michelle Finn and her husband's family has never fully healed despite efforts on both sides. And she points out, even her own mother disagreed with her decision.
Michelle understands. She does not apologize.
M. FINN: I felt like I had one more commitment that I had made to him that I needed to fulfill.
FOREMAN (on camera): You didn't think you could walk away?
M. FINN: No. Absolutely not. I could not walk away from that because I knew...
FOREMAN: Even though the family wanted to say, we'll take care of him, just leave him alone?
M. FINN: That's right, but that's not what he wanted. And that's what I was afraid of, was I knew what he wanted. And if I did not do it, nobody would. And he would not get what he wanted.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Like the rest of the nation, Michelle Finn is following the saga of Terri Schiavo. But unlike most, it is a road she has traveled.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Louisville, Kentucky.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: We will continue to bring you the latest developments in the Terri Schiavo case as they happen.
Also, the mayor of Portland is threatening to pull out of the FBI's joint terrorism task force. We will tell you why and what it could mean for that city. Plus, a new twist in the Atlanta courthouse shootings. What authorities reportedly found in Brian Nichols' jail cell. It should have been a big red flag.
And on this Good Friday, Holy Week ceremonies without the pope. We'll go live to Rome for the latest on concerns about the pontiff's health.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Time now for the CNN "Security Watch."
The mayor of Portland, Oregon, is threatening to pull out of the FBI's joint terrorism task force. The unit works with police departments in 100 cities to take a look at threats, but the mayor is demanding top-secret clearance for himself and the police chief.
That would give the two a bigger sayer in FBI counter-terrorism operations in Portland. The FBI doesn't like that. The mayor will bring his proposal before the city council next week.
New York's highest courts says 911 calls made by people trapped inside the World Trade Center don't have to be made public. Eight September 11th families were part of a suit to get the tapes released. The court ruled disclosure is not in the public's interest. Instead, only calls from relatives of the families involved in the lawsuit will be released.
CNN "Security Watch" keeps up to date on safety. Stay tuned day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
Well, speaking of security, in the Atlanta courthouse shootings exactly two weeks ago today, there is new evidence the sheriff's department could have known that suspect Brian Nichols was planning something if deputies had been more vigilant just a couple of days before. Dale Cardwell with our affiliate WSB has the unsettling details.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
SHERIFF MYRON FREEMAN, FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA: Obviously there was something that happened here that was wrong.
DALE CARDWELL, WSB CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the very first time since Brian Nichols' assault, the Fulton County sheriff discusses what went wrong.
FREEMAN: We've had extra security in the courtroom. We've got our S.W.A.T. team escorting high profile inmates now. We separate them from the general population.
CARDWELL: The problems exploded early March 11. Three deputies were assigned to this monitoring room. But no one saw Brian Nichols escape because two of the three were gone.
CHIEF DEPUTY MICHAEL COOKE, FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA: One of the officers who was assigned in central control to assist monitoring had left to go to one of his courtroom assignments, to the courtroom assignment. Another individual who was assigned in there was sent on an errand, frankly.
CARDWELL: To get breakfast for their captain, Shalisha Lee (ph). But why was Cynthia Hall alone with Brian Nichols after the judge asked for more security?
COOKE: It is not unusual for any deputy sheriff, female, male, to escort an inmate, regardless of their classification -- murderer, rapist, armed robbery, aggrieved assault. That's their job. It's a deadly job. It's dangerous.
QUESTION: In retrospect, Chief, was that a mistake?
COOKE: It was not a mistake. It was a policy issue. Certainly we're going to look at policy to see if we need to change it.
CARDWELL (voice-over): But this could be the biggest mistake of them all.
FREEMAN: Well, there's three pieces of paper. It has names on them, but I don't know where they were found.
CARDWELL: But the chief knows what they are -- escape plans hidden in Brian Nichols' cell that could have been discovered two days before the shooting, when deputies found these weapons in Brian Nichols' shoes. But Brian Nichols' cell was never searched.
COOKE: I mean, you hate to speculate. Let me tell you, Dale, contraband is found on inmates daily. It's part of the job. Does finding contraband on an individual immediately require that we shake down their cell? No, it does not.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
KAGAN: One other update on the Brian Nichols' story. Ashley Smith, whose 911 call led to Nichols' capture, yesterday collected all $72,500 in reward money.
We're going to check in on Monaco's Prince Rainier. He remains in intensive care today. An update on his medical condition is just ahead.
And Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores the science of memory, how the smallest details can be pulled from deep within our mind. That's coming up on CNN LIVE TODAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Let's show you some pictures we're watching live from Dallas, Texas. A roof collapsed.
This is a building under construction in the Dallas area. A partial roof collapse. We understand there's as many as four injuries at this time. In terms of what caused the collapse and exactly how many other people are hurt, we're not sure. But we'll continue to monitor the pictures and bring you more information as it becomes available on the partial roof collapse out of Dallas, Texas.
We're focused on crime this morning, an eyewitness testimony. The words have the very ring of truth, but just how reliable is an eyewitness's memory? It turns out it can be mistaken. In fact, many prisoners convicted on eyewitness accounts have been freed because DNA proved they were not guilty.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows us how one woman helped solve crimes by coaxing the right memories to the surface.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jeanne Boylan makes a living by mining the very details of memory. A top ranked freelance artist, she sketches thousands of subjects for the FBI and police departments around the country. From the Unabomber, to the Oklahoma City Bombing, to the Polly Klaas kidnapping, she's worked the biggest cases around.
In 1987, a bomb badly wounded the owner of a computer store in Salt Lake City, Utah. Minutes earlier, a worker there had caught a glimpse, just a two-second glimpse, of the man leaving the suspicious package. Seven long years later, Boylan was called in to meet the lone eyewitness. The result was this famous sketch, the hooded Unabomber. A good likeness, judge for yourself.
JEANNE BOYLAN, ARTIST/CRIMINAL PROFILER: Your memory may have been distorted in the interim, but the odds of that original memory being there are extremely good.
GUPTA: At most police departments, a witness to a crime either looks through mug shots or picks and chooses from a menu of facial feature until an artist or computer creates a composite. But researchers have found that these techniques actually impair memory. As the witness concentrates on each new image, the original memory is blurred.
BOYLAN: I hate those mug books. An imprint into memory is not unlike a fingerprint on a murder weapon. So when police show witnesses, you know, eyes and lips and noses in books full of facial features and expect that memory to be static, what they're doing is overlaying the imprinted memory with all these new additional prints, just as they would be overlaying fingerprints on a murder weapon if they handed it to bare handed people.
GUPTA: Boylan's method is different. Her interviews are long, about 12 hours. But most of the talking has nothing to do with the crime. She relaxes the witness and lets memories come to the surface. She's careful not to suggest details, which is tougher than you might think.
(on camera): The contamination of an eyewitness. So -- I mean, how subtle can it be? You just said, if the investigator says were his eyes brown, is that contamination?
BOYLAN: That's absolutely contamination, yes.
GUPTA (voice-over): When it comes to memory, we often can't trust our own eyes.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: To get your "Daily Dose" of health news online, log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address is CNN.com/health.
Today's dot-com desk is a trip down memory lane, literally. Scientists are trying to figure out exactly how memories form, and it might help them treat diseases like Alzheimer's. We click onto cnn.com with more from Veronica De La Cruz.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Do you remember the capitals of all 50 states? How about the name of your second grade teacher? Do you remember where you put your keys? Whether you know those answers or not, learn more about how memory works at CNN.com.
Details, impressions and opinions constantly bombard our brains, giving us fodder for memories. But how are memories made and later recalled? Well, when you have an experience, it's stored throughout cerebral cortex. At CNN.com, this interactive guide explains specific brain structures and their roll in this complex process.
But even as scientists make strides in understanding memory, millions of Americans struggle with memory loss. According to the Alzheimer's Foundation, as many as 16 million could suffer from a mind-eroding disease by 2050, up from 4.5 million today. And even though it is difficult to predict Alzheimer's, some say you could do your best to prevent it.
To keep your nogin nimble as you age, a few steps suggested by the Mayo Clinic. First of all, exercise your mind with brain teasers. Start by reading a book or learning a new language. Also, mind and body work together, so it's important to stay physically active.
In addition to the resources available at CNN.com, Dr. Sanjay Gupta hosts a prime-time special on memory. That's at 10:00 Eastern this Sunday night on CNN. Hopefully you'll remember.
From the dot-com desk in Atlanta, I'm Veronica De La Cruz.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Well, I think I'm going to remember to check in with Orelon Sidney on weather.
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Aired March 25, 2005 - 10:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Going to a live picture now, Pinellas Park, Florida. This outside the hospice where Terri Schiavo, as we have heard described by her husband's attorney is going through what they say, what they call the death process. Both Michael Schiavo, her husband, and her parents and siblings, have had a chance to visit with her over the last week since the feeding tube has been removed.
We're getting word that her father, Bob Schindler, plans to come to the microphone there and make a statement shortly. And we are going to have that for you live.
Meanwhile, also there in Pinellas Park is our Bob Franken -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, and what we know about the family's reaction is what you would expect the family's reaction to be, bitter disappointment. They deny that a resignation is setting in, but they are also very aware that the legal options are extremely dicey at this particular point.
As we know, their lawyers have now gone once again to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in the federal court system after once again they failed to get an emergency order reinstalling the tube from the judge here at the district court level. And of course yesterday the previous appeal they had went to the Supreme Court, whether it failed also.
They've also had the same track record legally in the state of Florida. So the legal options are running out.
Meanwhile, we're expecting the parents to make a plea for some sort of political intervention. The pressure right now is on Governor Jeb Bush to take extra ordinary actions. Some on the other side argue that it would be an unconstitutional action. That's why the governor has not indicated any inclination to do that.
Now, when Robert Schindler speaks, he will be accompanied by some of the activist leaders who have been his advisers and organizers. Among them, Randall Terry, who is a familiar person as somebody who has covered the abortion matter over the years and decades.
He is the former head of Operation Rescue. He will be accompanying, he's been a figure here, as of others from that movement.
But, of course, at its heart, forgetting all the political and organizational and institutional and legal concerns, this is the very tragic, sad story of a bitter family dispute between parents who just don't want to let their child die and a husband who says that he wants to make sure that her death is as merciful as possible -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Well, I think that is one thing that all sides can agree on, this is a very sad, sad story of this family. Thank you for that, Bob.
We're going to go back live to Pinellas Park when Mr. Schindler speaks. Right now let's take a look at what is happening "Now in the news."
Good Friday services are taking place at the Vatican this hour without Pope John Paul II. The ailing pontiff is missing Holy Week observances for the first time since becoming pope. We'll have a live report from Rome at the half-hour.
The focus will be on fingerprints again today at the Michael Jackson child molestation trial. Testimony is set to resume in about 30 minutes. Prosecutors are trying to convince jurors that Jackson showed sexually explicit material to his accuser and the accuser's brother.
The death toll has risen to 15 in the refinery explosion and fire in Texas. Officials are still working to identify the dead. And investigators are searching for cause of the blast. The FBI has ruled out terrorism or foul play.
Florida officials say two more children have come down with life- threatening kidney infections after visiting petting zoos. Nine children are now in the hospital in central Florida. Authorities say all of them touched animals at area fairs recently. State veterinarians are tracking down the animals to determine what, if any, infections might have been transmitted.
It is just after 11:00 a.m. on the East Coast and just after 8:00 a.m. for those of you waking up and joining us from the West. From CNN Center in Atlanta, good morning once again. I am Daryn Kagan.
We go back to the Terri Schiavo story up first this hour. It could be the final desperate efforts by the parents of Terri Schiavo. They're taking their case back to a federal appeals court. This follows another legal setback in the effort to have their daughter's feeding tube reinserted a week after it was removed.
Our Tony Harris is at 11th Circuit Court of Appeals here in Atlanta. Bob Franken outside Schiavo's hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida. And the picture you see there is on the microphones where we expect Bob Schindler, Terri Schiavo's father, to come up and speak at any minute.
Tony, we'll go ahead and start with you. Give us the latest from the 11th Circuit, and if Bob Schindler speaks I will interrupt you and we'll go live back to Florida.
TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK. All right, Daryn. Well, here is the story here. Within the hour, the Schindler family again appealed Judge Whittemore's decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals here in downtown Atlanta. And as you know, they're look for that temporary restraining order that will restore the feeding tube to Terri Schiavo.
The problem here, as Bob alluded to just a few moments ago, is that this court twice on Wednesday said no to a very similar appeal from the Schindlers. But the filing has been made. The Schindlers have vowed to fight on, and fight on and they do.
So here is the paperwork for the filing that came into this court within the hour. And what can happen here? Well, the court can say no and not agree to look at it at all. It could chart a similar course, as it did on Wednesday, which means it could go to a three- judge panel.
Oddly enough, it could go to the same three-judge panel that denied the appeal on Wednesday. And if again that three-judge panel decides to deny this appeal, what could then happen is that the Schindlers could file an appeal to an entire court, an entire court that said 10-2 to deny -- voted 10-2 to deny, a very similar appeal to this one on Wednesday.
That's what's happening here at the 11th Circuit District Court, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals here in downtown Atlanta. We will follow the action here and bring you all the breaking developments -- Daryn.
KAGAN: All right. Tony, we will check back with you.
This tension surrounding the Schiavo case led to a scare at the federal courthouse in Tampa. Police found a suspicious backpack outside of the building last night. They cleared a two-block area and blew up the backpack as a precaution. The woman who left it later confirmed there was really nothing dangerous inside.
A man was arrested after police say he tried to rob a gun store in an effort to rescue Terri Schiavo. Michael Mitchell faces charges of attempted armed robbery, aggravated assault and criminal mischief. The store owner in Seminole, Florida, held Mitchell at gunpoint until deputies arrived. He escaped out of a back door. He was later captured.
Most Americans think that Washington should have stayed out of the Schiavo case. Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider takes a look at those latest numbers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): President Bush's job rating over the weekend, before he and Congress acted in the Terri Schiavo case, 52 percent. President Bush's job rating in a poll taken this week, after the bill to turn the case over to the federal courts was passed into law, 45 percent. A CBS News poll shows a similar decline in the president's ratings from 49 percent last month to 43 percent now.
Are we seeing evidence of political backlash from the Schiavo case? We have to be careful.
Gas prices are up. And so are negative views about the economy.
Just in the past two weeks, the number of Americans who say the economy is getting worse has jumped nine points to nearly 60 percent. But there are also reasons to suspect a Schiavo backlash. Congress has been in the spotlight on the Schiavo case, and approval of Congress has been dropping as well, down seven points since last month.
Public opinion about the Schiavo case is very one-sided. Particularly on this question: Should Congress and the president be involved in deciding what happens to Terri Schiavo? Only 13 percent of Americans say yes. An overwhelming 82 percent say no, including large majorities of conservatives, Republicans, church-goers and even two-thirds of white evangelicals. The public does not want a case like this contaminated by politics.
REP. BARNEY FRANK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Does anyone think that this decision will be made without consideration of actual support of party ideology? Of course not.
SCHNEIDER: Among the minority of Americans who believe Congress and the president should be involved in the Schiavo case, Bush's job approval is 67 percent. The president's approval drops to less than 40 percent among the huge majority who think politicians should stay out of it. Which may explain why the president is sounding more cautious.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have not discussed the next steps with the brother -- my brother, who is the governor of Florida.
Bill Schneider, CNN Washington.
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KAGAN: Family members on both sides are expressing very different perceptions of what's taking place in Terri Schiavo's hospice room. Her brother and Michael's brother spoke with CNN.
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BRIAN SCHIAVO, MICHAEL SCHIAVO'S FATHER: I just came here from seeing her. And the only way how I can describe this is she's peaceful.
She's laying there. Sometimes her mouth is agape. And, you know, she's peaceful. She's not writhing in pain. You know, she's really not too different than I saw her a day -- you know, the day before.
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BOBBY SCHINDLER, TERRI SCHIAVO'S BROTHER: Part of me wants to be there and the other part of me just wants to get out of the room as fast as I can. You know, as my sister said, you know, you are watching your sister being slowly dehydrated to death in front of your eyes. And it's absolutely horrific to know, you know, someone's being starved to death, especially a family member.
And I can't imagine what my -- you know, what my parents are feeling during this process. It's just horrible.
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KAGAN: Doctors have said that Terri Schiavo might survive one or two weeks without her feeding tube. It's now been a week since it was removed.
Our national correspondent Bob Franken is outside of the hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida.
Bob, once again, we're standing by. We expect Bob Schindler, her father, to come out and speak pretty soon?
FRANKEN: Well, very soon. They're just in this little room that has served as their retreat here, planning it is what he's going to say, whatever announcements that are going to be said.
More often than not, it has been Mary Schindler, who's Terri Schiavo's mother, who has been the one who has made the emotional plea -- the emotional plea to the politicians. The problem, of course, that they're having is their various avenues are running out.
Certainly things do not look at all positive for them in the legal system. They're making another try at the federal judicial system.
And once again they went before Judge James Whittemore yesterday -- last night, rather. And this morning, he rejected a new set of circumstances, legal circumstances, saying that still there was not the substantial likelihood that the lawsuit would prevail. Therefore, he could not come up with what they call the temporary restraining order, in effect, an emergency order that would have restored the feeding tube.
So, they are taking their appeal now to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. All acknowledge that given what has happened before that is a long shot. And assuming that they do not succeed there, one can only assume that they're going to carry this again to the court of last resort, the U.S. Supreme Court, which has refused many times to get involved in this case.
Not only has that been feudal for them, but in the last several days they've also had a startling lack of success at the state court level. The judge who ordered the feeding tube removed a week ago has refused to change that order in any way, and has rejected the same set of new affidavits and the like that have been taken to the federal level. Last night, the Florida Supreme Court rejected a new plea to get involved.
So you can see the family is beginning to run out of different -- different options. The one that has been most of the focus right now is pressure on Governor Jeb Bush, who has been their ally over the years here. They are saying, you have to do something. Even if the courts are ruling the way they are, you have to get involved.
Well, one of them even said it, if this would cause a constitutional crisis, so be it. Well, many believe it would cause a constitutional crisis. And thus far, Governor Bush has said there doesn't seem to be much he could do.
Meanwhile, here the protesters, the vigils are continuing. This of course is the special day, the most sad day in the Christian calendar, Good Friday. And it is attracting more people who are holding religious service here to try and add their voices to the pleas to reconnect the feeding tube of Terri Schiavo.
It has been almost exactly a week since it was withdrawn. And most medical experts, Daryn, have said, as we have reported many times, that she cannot be expected to live without the nutrition and hydration that it provides more than another week -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Bob Franken live in Pinellas Park. Once again, we'll go back live when Bob Schindler begins to speak the at microphones there.
Well, Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, has pointed out, other families, a lot of other families, have faced this difficult decision that he has made. CNN correspondent Tom Foreman spent some time with a woman who has walked in Michael Schiavo's shoes.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The story of Hugh Finn's controversial death begins on this road outside Louisville, where the popular local TV host was in a horrific accident on an icy morning. The wreck left Hugh Finn in a permanently vegetative state and his wife Michelle in a terrible spot.
MICHELLE FINN, WIFE: And we had talked about the fact that we would not want, neither one of us would want to live in that type of condition.
FOREMAN (on camera): So you never had any doubt about what his wishes were?
FINN: No.
FOREMAN (voice-over): So more than three years later, she decided to remove his feeding tube at his nursing home in Virginia. His parents challenged the decision in court. And they lost.
THOMAS FINN, FATHER: When he was in that hospital, we could touch him. There was hope. Now that he's in the hole, there's no hope for him, none whatsoever.
FOREMAN: But with the tube removal only hours away, Michelle could not believe what happened next. Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore went to the state courts to try to stop it.
M. FINN: I was just hysterical. I couldn't believe -- it never occurred to me that it would happen. I kept saying, "How can he do this? How can he do this?"
JIM GILMORE, FMR. VIRGINIA GOVERNOR: Well, I think the public officials have a duty to make sure that those who are disabled, those who are vulnerable, make sure that they are properly protected. That, I think, is the proper role of an elected official, and the law supported that type of intervention at the time.
FOREMAN: The governor lost, too. The feeding tube was removed. And nine days later, Hugh Finn died.
T. FINN: It was a murder because you put him to death.
FOREMAN (on camera): The rift between Michelle Finn and her husband's family has never fully healed despite efforts on both sides. And she points out, even her own mother disagreed with her decision.
Michelle understands. She does not apologize.
M. FINN: I felt like I had one more commitment that I had made to him that I needed to fulfill.
FOREMAN (on camera): You didn't think you could walk away?
M. FINN: No. Absolutely not. I could not walk away from that because I knew...
FOREMAN: Even though the family wanted to say, we'll take care of him, just leave him alone?
M. FINN: That's right, but that's not what he wanted. And that's what I was afraid of, was I knew what he wanted. And if I did not do it, nobody would. And he would not get what he wanted.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Like the rest of the nation, Michelle Finn is following the saga of Terri Schiavo. But unlike most, it is a road she has traveled.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Louisville, Kentucky.
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KAGAN: We will continue to bring you the latest developments in the Terri Schiavo case as they happen.
Also, the mayor of Portland is threatening to pull out of the FBI's joint terrorism task force. We will tell you why and what it could mean for that city. Plus, a new twist in the Atlanta courthouse shootings. What authorities reportedly found in Brian Nichols' jail cell. It should have been a big red flag.
And on this Good Friday, Holy Week ceremonies without the pope. We'll go live to Rome for the latest on concerns about the pontiff's health.
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KAGAN: Time now for the CNN "Security Watch."
The mayor of Portland, Oregon, is threatening to pull out of the FBI's joint terrorism task force. The unit works with police departments in 100 cities to take a look at threats, but the mayor is demanding top-secret clearance for himself and the police chief.
That would give the two a bigger sayer in FBI counter-terrorism operations in Portland. The FBI doesn't like that. The mayor will bring his proposal before the city council next week.
New York's highest courts says 911 calls made by people trapped inside the World Trade Center don't have to be made public. Eight September 11th families were part of a suit to get the tapes released. The court ruled disclosure is not in the public's interest. Instead, only calls from relatives of the families involved in the lawsuit will be released.
CNN "Security Watch" keeps up to date on safety. Stay tuned day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
Well, speaking of security, in the Atlanta courthouse shootings exactly two weeks ago today, there is new evidence the sheriff's department could have known that suspect Brian Nichols was planning something if deputies had been more vigilant just a couple of days before. Dale Cardwell with our affiliate WSB has the unsettling details.
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SHERIFF MYRON FREEMAN, FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA: Obviously there was something that happened here that was wrong.
DALE CARDWELL, WSB CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the very first time since Brian Nichols' assault, the Fulton County sheriff discusses what went wrong.
FREEMAN: We've had extra security in the courtroom. We've got our S.W.A.T. team escorting high profile inmates now. We separate them from the general population.
CARDWELL: The problems exploded early March 11. Three deputies were assigned to this monitoring room. But no one saw Brian Nichols escape because two of the three were gone.
CHIEF DEPUTY MICHAEL COOKE, FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA: One of the officers who was assigned in central control to assist monitoring had left to go to one of his courtroom assignments, to the courtroom assignment. Another individual who was assigned in there was sent on an errand, frankly.
CARDWELL: To get breakfast for their captain, Shalisha Lee (ph). But why was Cynthia Hall alone with Brian Nichols after the judge asked for more security?
COOKE: It is not unusual for any deputy sheriff, female, male, to escort an inmate, regardless of their classification -- murderer, rapist, armed robbery, aggrieved assault. That's their job. It's a deadly job. It's dangerous.
QUESTION: In retrospect, Chief, was that a mistake?
COOKE: It was not a mistake. It was a policy issue. Certainly we're going to look at policy to see if we need to change it.
CARDWELL (voice-over): But this could be the biggest mistake of them all.
FREEMAN: Well, there's three pieces of paper. It has names on them, but I don't know where they were found.
CARDWELL: But the chief knows what they are -- escape plans hidden in Brian Nichols' cell that could have been discovered two days before the shooting, when deputies found these weapons in Brian Nichols' shoes. But Brian Nichols' cell was never searched.
COOKE: I mean, you hate to speculate. Let me tell you, Dale, contraband is found on inmates daily. It's part of the job. Does finding contraband on an individual immediately require that we shake down their cell? No, it does not.
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KAGAN: One other update on the Brian Nichols' story. Ashley Smith, whose 911 call led to Nichols' capture, yesterday collected all $72,500 in reward money.
We're going to check in on Monaco's Prince Rainier. He remains in intensive care today. An update on his medical condition is just ahead.
And Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores the science of memory, how the smallest details can be pulled from deep within our mind. That's coming up on CNN LIVE TODAY.
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KAGAN: Let's show you some pictures we're watching live from Dallas, Texas. A roof collapsed.
This is a building under construction in the Dallas area. A partial roof collapse. We understand there's as many as four injuries at this time. In terms of what caused the collapse and exactly how many other people are hurt, we're not sure. But we'll continue to monitor the pictures and bring you more information as it becomes available on the partial roof collapse out of Dallas, Texas.
We're focused on crime this morning, an eyewitness testimony. The words have the very ring of truth, but just how reliable is an eyewitness's memory? It turns out it can be mistaken. In fact, many prisoners convicted on eyewitness accounts have been freed because DNA proved they were not guilty.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows us how one woman helped solve crimes by coaxing the right memories to the surface.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jeanne Boylan makes a living by mining the very details of memory. A top ranked freelance artist, she sketches thousands of subjects for the FBI and police departments around the country. From the Unabomber, to the Oklahoma City Bombing, to the Polly Klaas kidnapping, she's worked the biggest cases around.
In 1987, a bomb badly wounded the owner of a computer store in Salt Lake City, Utah. Minutes earlier, a worker there had caught a glimpse, just a two-second glimpse, of the man leaving the suspicious package. Seven long years later, Boylan was called in to meet the lone eyewitness. The result was this famous sketch, the hooded Unabomber. A good likeness, judge for yourself.
JEANNE BOYLAN, ARTIST/CRIMINAL PROFILER: Your memory may have been distorted in the interim, but the odds of that original memory being there are extremely good.
GUPTA: At most police departments, a witness to a crime either looks through mug shots or picks and chooses from a menu of facial feature until an artist or computer creates a composite. But researchers have found that these techniques actually impair memory. As the witness concentrates on each new image, the original memory is blurred.
BOYLAN: I hate those mug books. An imprint into memory is not unlike a fingerprint on a murder weapon. So when police show witnesses, you know, eyes and lips and noses in books full of facial features and expect that memory to be static, what they're doing is overlaying the imprinted memory with all these new additional prints, just as they would be overlaying fingerprints on a murder weapon if they handed it to bare handed people.
GUPTA: Boylan's method is different. Her interviews are long, about 12 hours. But most of the talking has nothing to do with the crime. She relaxes the witness and lets memories come to the surface. She's careful not to suggest details, which is tougher than you might think.
(on camera): The contamination of an eyewitness. So -- I mean, how subtle can it be? You just said, if the investigator says were his eyes brown, is that contamination?
BOYLAN: That's absolutely contamination, yes.
GUPTA (voice-over): When it comes to memory, we often can't trust our own eyes.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.
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KAGAN: To get your "Daily Dose" of health news online, log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address is CNN.com/health.
Today's dot-com desk is a trip down memory lane, literally. Scientists are trying to figure out exactly how memories form, and it might help them treat diseases like Alzheimer's. We click onto cnn.com with more from Veronica De La Cruz.
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VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Do you remember the capitals of all 50 states? How about the name of your second grade teacher? Do you remember where you put your keys? Whether you know those answers or not, learn more about how memory works at CNN.com.
Details, impressions and opinions constantly bombard our brains, giving us fodder for memories. But how are memories made and later recalled? Well, when you have an experience, it's stored throughout cerebral cortex. At CNN.com, this interactive guide explains specific brain structures and their roll in this complex process.
But even as scientists make strides in understanding memory, millions of Americans struggle with memory loss. According to the Alzheimer's Foundation, as many as 16 million could suffer from a mind-eroding disease by 2050, up from 4.5 million today. And even though it is difficult to predict Alzheimer's, some say you could do your best to prevent it.
To keep your nogin nimble as you age, a few steps suggested by the Mayo Clinic. First of all, exercise your mind with brain teasers. Start by reading a book or learning a new language. Also, mind and body work together, so it's important to stay physically active.
In addition to the resources available at CNN.com, Dr. Sanjay Gupta hosts a prime-time special on memory. That's at 10:00 Eastern this Sunday night on CNN. Hopefully you'll remember.
From the dot-com desk in Atlanta, I'm Veronica De La Cruz.
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KAGAN: Well, I think I'm going to remember to check in with Orelon Sidney on weather.
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