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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

An Arrest in a Three-Year-Old Murder; Rwanda's Rebuilding after Genocide; Wall Street Sell-off

Aired April 15, 2005 - 17:00   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.


JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now: nose dive, Wall Street hits a five-and-a-half month low: what sparked the sell-off.
Air scare: Why did a passenger on an inbound Northwest Airlines flight repeatedly try to get to the cockpit.

Stand by for WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Setting up the chimney, the Vatican gets ready to pick the next pope amid votes of secrecy. You'll get a preview of the convlave.

Panic in Paris" Screams in the night as a hotel turns into a raging inferno. Many of the victims are children.

Cape Cod murder mystery: Three years after the killing of a fashion writer turned single mother, police make an arrest.

No-fly zone...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are so many high value targets in this area, it's the center of our government, we need to do everything we can to protect it.

KING: Why lasers will light up the sky over Washington.

Mourning in Monaco: Royals from around the world bid farewell to one of their own.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Friday, April 15, 2005.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING Thanks for joining us. I'm John King. Wolf has the day off.

U.S. stock markets took a nose dive today and kept on going. On Wall Street it was a bad end to a bad week for worried investors.

CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff joins us now live from New York -- Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: John, stocks got crushed Friday as investors rushed for the exit door for the third day in a row. The Dow Industrial average lost 191 points, nearly 2 percent, the NASDAQ Composite also down by 2 percent.

A series of soft economic reports this week have investors worrying that the economy suddenly is heading into a slide and taking corporate profits with it. IBM for one delivered a lousy earnings report. The stock fell 8 percent. And General Motors, expected to report a loss of more than a billion dollars next week, fell by 4 percent. It is now at its lowest level in 12 years -- John.

KING: Allen, often after such a beating there is a turnaround. Has the market taken enough of a beating?

CHERNOFF: Some analysts on Wall Street are saying the market is over sold short term and due for a bounce up, but there is a lot of anxiety On Wall street. Trading today very heavy, more than 2 billion shares. Adn that means there's lots of conviction behind this selling. Longer term, some analysts are saying that the market remains quite vulnerable -- John.

KING: Allan Chernoff for us on a bleak Friday on Wall Street. Thank you, Allan.

In our CNN "Security Watch," authorities in New York are questioning two airline passengers from the Republic of Georgia who allegedly made repeated requests and attempts to see the cockpit while the plane was descending. Let's go live now to CNN's Ali Velshi at JFK International Airport in New York -- Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, unusual behavior to say the least, from these passengers on Northwest Air Link flight 3741 which came in this afternoon from Detroit Metro Airport to Kennedy.

Now apparently, according to the airline, about 20 minutes before the plane arrived, one of the passengers asked the flight attendant how long until arrival. And when he was told it was about 20 minutes away, nothing else happened. A few minutes later, one of the passengers asked the same flight attendant if he could go into the cockpit and see what was going on in there.

The flight attendant informed the passenger that's not allowed. And according to someone from Northwest Air Link, this passenger asked seven times again before the flight landed about going to see the cockpit.

Well, after a little while, the flight attendant, realizing this -- thinking this might be a bit of a problem, informed the pilot. The captain of the flight, who following procedures declared an in-flight emergency. That meant that the pilot informed Kennedy Airport that there was a problem on the flight.

And as soon as the flight landed, the plane was met by authorities who placed -- who, well, detained two men, the gentleman who had asked to go into the cockpit and a traveling companion, both of whom have been identified so far just as citizens of the Republic of Georgia, both of whom in the United States on visas. As of now, the Brooklyn -- U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn, uncertain whether they are going to press charges of interfering with a flight crew, those are federal charges. There may as well be state charges pending.

At the moment, no charges has been announced. We're uncertain what the motivation was for these two passengers to have repeatedly asked for a visit to the cockpit despite the fact that they were told up to seven times that that wasn't allowed -- John.

KING: Ali, to the best of our knowledge, they are still being questioned, still in detention?

VELSHI: We have no news that they've been released. As far as we know they are still being questioned by authorities.

KING: Ali Velshi for us at JFK International Airport, thank you.

And also in our "Security Watch," there's a no-fly zone around the nation's capital and it costs a lot of money to scramble military jets to warn pilots to leave the restricted air space. But beginning next month, authorities will have a cheaper and more colorful option.

Our Jeanne Meserve of CNN's America bureau has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over0: Red red green, lasers pulsate into the night sky a short distance from the Capitol, warning pilots as far as 20 miles away to stop and turn.

COL. ED DANIEL, NORAD: There's so many high value targets in this area, it's the center of our government, we need to do everything we can to protect it.

MESERVE: The large hunk of restricted air space above and around the capital region is intended to prevent another September 11-style attack from the air.

(on camera): About a dozen times a week, pilots enter this restricted air space, usually unintentionally.

(voice-over): During the funeral of President Ronald Reagan, there was a hasty evacuation of the Capitol when the governor of Kentucky's plane flew inside the zone.

In other cases, if a transgressing pilot cannot be raised on the radio, fighter jets are scrambled to drop warning flares. If that doesn't stop them, there is the possibility of a shootdown.

The laser lights scattered throughout the restricted zone can be directed precisely at any plane, warning pilots they have gone astray.

DANIEL: We use a visual warning system. If the aircraft turns around, we leave the fighters stay on the ground, all the other assets that we bring to bear. It could potentially prevent a tragic situation.

MESERVE: Lasers used for different purposes have given pilots problems, even injuries.

PERRY WINDER, DELTA PILOT: Initially, I noticed almost a flash blindness like you would have if you got really close to a flash camera.

MESERVE: But the warning system uses a different kind of laser beam, perfectly safe, according to pilots who have seen it from the air.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can tell you that it definitely doesn't hurt your eyes.

MESERVE: Pilots who have gotten briefings but not seen it in operation wonder whether the lasers will be visible in all conditions.

FAYEK ZABENEH, PRIVATE PILOT: If you're flying west in the afternoon and the sun is directly in your eyes, it will be very difficult to see anything else.

MESERVE: But officials say the distinctive pattern and colors stand out day and night, except in low visibility conditions, providing an easier, cheaper, safer way to warn those in the skies and protect those below.

For CNN's America bureau, Jeanne Meserve, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: And as always, stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

One month after the Atlanta Courthouse shootings, the man who is accused appears in the courthouse. We'll have a report coming up.

Also, a dramatic new development in a three-year-old murder mystery on Massachusetts's Cape Cod.

And the world was shocked by genocide in Rwanda. One decade later, we'll talk with Rwanda's president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Atlanta's Fulton County Courthouse complex, the site of a deadly shooting spree last month, was the site today of a hearing for the suspected killer. CNN's David Mattingly has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTFIED MALE: Do you have any questions about that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Thank you, sir. DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One month and four days since the Atlanta rampage that left the judge, a court reporter and two law officers dead, suspected kiler Brian Nichols returned to the courthouse where the violent spree began. His ankles bound by a chain but wearing no handcuffs, Nichols appeared subdued, talking softly with his attorneys, only occasionally looking around the room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the question, I think, is going to be whether these jurors are going to be able to be fair.

MATTINGLY: Before the court, requests by the defense to be involved in the selection of a grand jury. These proceedings are so preliminary, it is still not known when Nichols will be officially charged in the murders.

Afterward, his mother told reporters of her unconditional support.

CLARITA NICHOLS, DEFENDANT'S MOTHER: Any mother would be concerned about her son in a situation like this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody off the sidewalk!

MATTINGLY: The mayhem of March 11 brought tragedy into the lives of thousands and plunged the city into chaos. On Monday, Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman named a task force to investigate what went wrong with courthouse security, why warning signs were ignored, how one man could so effectively exploit possible weaknesses, do so much harm and get away so easily. The task force follows a partially sealed internal report by the sheriff that reportedly contained no conclusions or recommendations.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Deputy Cynthia Hall walked out of an Atlanta brain injury center with months of recovery still ahead of her. Police say Nichols attacked Hall and took her gun as she attempted to escort him into a courtroom. Hall has no memory of the attack, and for a time, was partially blind and unable to walk.

DR. GERALD BILSKY, CYNTHIA HALL'S DOCTOR: She could not see at all out of her right eye, she had some weakness more on the left side than she demonstrated today. She needed assistance in getting out of bed, assistance with how to do basic skills.

(voice-over): Nichols' high profile hostage, however, has remained out of the spotlight. After accepting a $72,500 award for turning Nichols in, a spokesperson for Ashley Smith says the single mother is spending a lot of time in prayer and reflection, while also trying to have light-hearted moments with close friends and family.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: And there were no doubts about courthouse security today. Nichols was escorted into the courtroom and out of the courtroom, watched by eight armed guards. And those are only the ones we could see -- John. KING: David Mattingly live in Atlanta. Thank you, David.

An emotional sendoff for the man who was Europe's longest reigning monarch. We'll tak you to the Monaco funeral of Prince Rainier.

He helped end genocide, now a White House meeting with President Bush. We'll hear from Rwanda's president.

And look who is turning 50. From humble beginnings to a global icon, a special look at how McDonald's changed the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: The countdown to the conclave is on. Starting Monday, cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church will begin meeting to vote on the next pope. The chimney, whose smoke will indicate whether a pontiff has been elected, is now in place. CNN's Jim Bittermann is at the Vatican with more on the final arrangements for this historic meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The atmosphere of expectation got a big boost today with the installation of a stove pipe at the Cistine Chapel. The stove pipe connects to a potbellied stove down in the Cistine Chapel where the cardinals will be casting their ballots for the next pope. After each vote, they will burn the ballots. If we see black smoke coming up we'll know that the voting has been inconclusive. If we see white smoke, we'll know that there's a new pope.

Now, that comes at the end of a week of meetings here, the so- called general congregations, at which the cardinals have gathered to discuss church issues. A number of different issues have been brought out on the table. Two that most can agree on.

And those are that the next pope, whoever he may be, has to have some kind of public appeal, some kind of charisma like Pope John Paul II did. It's almost become a part of the job description now for being pope.

And that the church should concentrate on evangellization. That is to say say missionary work to bring more into people churches, to bring more priests into the priesthood.

Apart from that, there is a lot of divergence on the various cardinals' opinions on where the church should be going, a lot of differences of opinion. And on Monday, we'll see if the cardinals can get together on one single person who can answer all of the concerns that they have about the future of the church.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE) KING: When he died last week at the age of 81, Monaco's Prince Rainier was Europe's longest reigning monarch. Today dignitaries from around the world gathered for his funeral. CNN's Becky Anderson has the story from Monaco.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across this tiny principality, a deep sense of loss, none more so than for the children of Prince Rainier of Monaco.

Prince Albert, his son and heir, and Princesses Caroline and Stephanie, followed their father's coffin towards St. Nicholas's Cathedral. His funeral closing the circles on a fairy tale that began five decades ago when the young prince married the Hollywood starlet Grace Kelly in this very place. They've been led by kings and queens, presidents and ministers, who filed through Monaco's lanes before invited Monagaques. Palace servants, too, bid farewell with white roses for their boss.

Many admired Prince Rainier for what he did, carving a small but thriving country out of nothing but rock during his 56 year reign.

Just as Prince Rainier created modern Monaco and dominated life in this tiny sun kissed Mediterranean state, so he had a hand in things until the end, choosing the pallbearers personally from his own company of Carabinier (ph). Accompanied by his beloved dog, Odin.

Inside the 19th Century Cathedral, citizens of Monaco and the world gathered in a moving ceremony, led by the state's archbishop Bernard Barsi.

ARCHBISHOP BERNARD BARSI, MONACO (through translator): The prince was certainly the sovereign of a state, but he was also a friend and a member of our family. So today this community feels itself orphaned without this great man, which whom we respected and loved.

ANDERSON: His children blinked back tears as Samuel Barber's Adaggio for Strings echoed through these hallowed halls.

Haunting images reminiscent of an earlier desperately sad time in Monaco's history when the death of Princess Grace in a car crash in 1982 brought a fairy tale that fascinated the world to an end.

Prince Albert sat in quiet contemplation. When Monaco completes its mourning, it will turn to him to carry on his father's legacy.

Becky Anderson, CNN, Monaco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: A decade after it faced the horror of genocide, can Rwanda find a way out of conflict. I'll speak with the President Paul Kagame.

A raging inferno sweeps through a Paris hotel, half of the dead are children.

And a rough day in court: Michael Jackson's attorney in a tense showdown with the mother of Michael Jackson's accuser.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: From our studios in Washington, once again, Wolf Blitzer.

KING: Welcome back. Wolf is off today.

Dozens of casualties after a catastrophic fire in a Paris hotel.

But first, a quick check of other stories now in the news.

Two attacks on convoys in Baghdad today. The first injured four Iraqis and one U.S. soldier. The second killed one civilian and wounded three. They followed a string of similar attacks throughout the city this week.

In Salt Lake City, Mark Hacking has pleaded guilty to killing his wife in a highly publicized case from last summer. Lori Hacking was murdered shortly after discovering her husband lied about enrolling in medical school. Mark Hacking now faces six years to life in prison.

Today is the deadline for filing tax returns. And the tax man misses no one. The White House says president and Mrs. Bush paid about $207,000 in federal taxes on an income of almost $673,000. Both figures down a bit from last year.

Vice President and Mrs. Cheney made twice as much as the first family. The Cheneys reported an income of $1.3 million, including almost $200,000 in deferred compensation from Halliburton. They paid almost $394,000 in taxes.

French President Jacques Chirac calls it one of his capital's most painful catastrophes. Fire swept through a Paris hotel overnight, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 50 others. Half of the dead were children.

CNN's Paula Hancocks reports from Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Most of the guests of this Parisianian hotel would have been sleeping in their beds with this fire took hold. Six stories were engulfed in flames.

Some of those in the building fled to the roof to escape, others leapt from bedroom windows, some to their deaths.

One firefighter told me it's the worst fire he's seen in the French capital for 20 years, a reality backed up by the high death toll. MAYOR BERTRAND DELANDE, PARIS (through translator): It is a shock, a shock. First of all, for the victims, for the wounded who are now on the streets. We'll obviously take care of them. But also for everybody, it's a tragedy, a big tragedy.

HANCOCKS: Authorities believe the fire started in a breakfast room on the first floor and spread quickly to the staircase, the only staircase in the building. There was no fire escape.

Many of the guests were put in this hotel by the state until permanent housing could be found for them elsewhere in the city. The injured are said to be from France, U.S., Senegal, Tunisia, Portugal, Ukraine and the Ivory Coast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see here where the -- upstairs.

HANCOCKS: Yes, the stairway.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the fire begins here in a room and, also, comes rapidly in the stairs.

HANCOCKS: It becomes like a chimney.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, like a chimney.

And with all the fire coming in all the rooms of the hotel.

HANCOCKS: The fire brigade said a safety inspection had been carried out earlier in the year. No further comments were made as the investigation is ongoing.

(on camera): At the height of its power, around 250 firefighters were struggling with this blaze. One of them told me that it's the worst fire that he's seen in his 15-year career.

Many of the injured are now in hospitals around Paris suffering with burns and smoke inhalation.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: The hit film "Hotel Rwanda" recently brought home to Americans the horror of the genocide which struck that African nation a decade ago. The movie and the nightmare came up today when President Bush met with the president of Rwanda, a soft spoken former soldier.

CNN's Brian Todd has a profile of President Paul Kagame.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Liberator or oppressor, reluctant warrior or double dealer: However you want to characterize the Rwandan President Paul Kagame, he's gotten the attention of the world's most powerful leaders and has become the face of a small but influential nation.

MARK SCHNEIDER, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Without any question, he does represent, if you will, the identity of Rwanda.

TODD: Kagame, who visited President Bush at the White House, now finds himself involved in another civil conflict with Rwandan Hutu rebels based in neighboring Congo who are indicating they're ready for peace.

PRES. PAUL KAGAME, RWANDA: When you talk about their offer to disarm and return home. And we will facilitate that.

TODD: This is a man who has been on the front lines consistently, as his tiny country has gone through indescribable torture. 1994, its president assassinated, Rwanda nearly disintegrates. Hutu extremists assume power, engage in mass slaughter of rival Tutsies. More than 800,000 killed in the course of three months.

Kagame commands a small Tutsi army, but commands it brilliantly. Pushing in from neighboring Uganda, the Tutsis route the larger Hutu force, drive them from power and are credited with doing more than anyone to end the genocide.

SCHNEIDER: He was a major factor in -- at a time when there was very little international response to the cries of the Rwandan people.

TODD: As the killings subside, Kagame and his loyalists take the capital. Kagame himself moves into the role of vice president, but he's always considered the real power behind the throne and is formally elected president in 2003. He now faces his own opposition: critics who say he suppresses real democratic plurality; Hutu rebels at his borders; and those who say Kagame's forces in eastern Congo -- who he says are there to prevent Hutus involved in the genocide from returning -- have another motivation.

SCHNEIDER: They clearly do use that as a way of generating their own influence in that part of the country.

TODD: Now this outwardly-reticent leader, who once fought in the Ugandan army and received military training at Ft. Leavenworth, is, for better or worse, trying to turn a corner for his country: contributing troops to monitoring force in Darfur, Sudan; moving toward democratic reform -- some say too much on his own terms -- and moving as far away as possible from the nightmare of genocide -- John.

KING: Brian Todd, thank you very much.

Just a short time ago, I sat down with the president, and among the issues we discussed, the controversy over whether he should now repatriate those he holds responsible for the genocide in his country.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

PAUL KAGAME, PRESIDENT OF RWANDA: Well, the facts are there to speak for themselves. Those who criticize us or blame us for this and that, there are facts that they can't ignore. The facts are that we have had a genocide in Rwanda. We were responsible only for stopping that genocide, while those who are responsible are moving freely in different parts of our region and the rest of the world. And it's important for us to rebuild our country and to make sure that the country is stable. And we can not accept people to come back and destabilize our country and to destroy what we have been rebuilding.

In this particular case, those people who were involved with the genocide should be held accountable, and they are being held accountable by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and we also are holding them accountable within our own legal system. The justice system will have other people best -- jurisdictions that are dealing with that, as well as putting in mind the need for reconciliation.

So these people who want to come back, they are free to come back. But that does not make them any cleaner as far as the responsibility in the genocide is concerned. So they still stand accused of having had a hand in the genocide and that doesn't simply disappear.

KING: I want to ask you, lastly, a broader question. People in this country and around the world in the past year have seen the award-winning film "Hotel Rwanda." And ten years later after such an atrocity, the world always says, "Never again." And yet you see what is happening in the Sudan, specifically in Darfur.

Why does it happen again? What is the world failing to do and what are the nations of Africa failing to do?

KAGAME: Well, in Rwanda, indeed, the genocide took place when everybody was looking and when everybody knew it was going to take place. Because information was available -- it was available to the UN, to everybody, but nobody acted. There are other different acts of serious violations of human rights. There is suffering going on in different places over our continent. And we think the international community should always be able to prevent. If they are not able to prevent it, then they should be able to stop it while it is taking place.

Why it doesn't happen -- I think the whole thing is overshadowed by all sorts of interests people have and they tend not to focus on the issues where human life is being lost. And they focus more on what they call interests, rather than -- they are looking at broader interests. Because where lives are in danger I think it is in everybody's interest to ensure that does not happen.

KING: Mr. President, thank you very much for your time.

KAGAME: Thank you.

KING: Thank you.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(on camera) Now a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.

Chaos in Korea: Police clash with demonstrators in Seoul, who are demanding an apology from Japan for wartime atrocities. They also called for the expulsion of the Japanese ambassador.

British defense: Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says allegations his country ignored oil smuggling from Iraq are inaccurate. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned the smuggling, noting that it happened on what he called the American and British watch.

The long commute: a Russian Soyuz rocket is carrying two astronauts and a cosmonaut to their assignment on the International Space Station. They lifted off last night and are due to arrive over the weekend. That's our look around the world.

Cape cod murder mystery. Three years later, police make an arrest.

Has the meteoric rise of Barak Obama started a trend -- the new boom in African-American political candidates.

And showdown in court: a dramatic turn in the Michael Jackson trial.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: There's been a major break in the case of a three-year-old murder that rocked a small town on Cape Cod. It became the subject of a best selling book, and now apparently a new chapter is unfolding. CNN's Mary Snow is standing by in New York with the details. Mary.

SNOW: Well, John, Christopher McCowen of Massachusetts pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, aggravated rape and armed assault. His attorney could not be reached for comment and police say they could not discuss a motive. But they believe they've solved the case that included the rare step of taking DNA samples from one town.

(voice-over) For years Christa Worthington's murder was a mystery. A successful New York fashion writer, she had moved to this peaceful seashore town. She was discovered stabbed to death in her secluded home in January of 2002, her 2-year-old daughter found clinging to her body. The biggest clue investigators had was semen found at the scene.

Now authorities say the suspected killer, 33-year-old Christopher McCowen, a garbage collector, was first questioned just months after the murder. The district attorney called it a crime of opportunity.

MICHAEL O'KEEFE, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The evidence would suggest -- and I'm not going to go into a great deal of detail -- that it was a person who knew Christa only in the sense that they were familiar with her comings and goings. They were not personal acquaintances.

SNOW: Police never named suspects, but a number of men had come under scrutiny, including the father of Worthington's daughter, who was married to somebody else. There was also a boyfriend who found the body.

The question is, why the delay in matching the DNA to the suspect? The D.A. says it took two years to obtain a sample.

O'KEEFE: There are a number of reasons which have to do with his movements about Cape Cod and living in various locations. And beyond that, I really am not going to go into it.

SNOW: And, authorities say, it took a year for DNA from McCowen to be processed and matched.

While it was DNA that cracked the case, it was also DNA that sparked controversy and brought nationwide attention. In January of 2005, police began taking voluntary DNA samples from males living in Truro.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People would call in volunteering the samples. And other people, for whatever reason, they chose not to give it.

SNOW: Some argued that it violated their personal privacy.

And today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts issued a statement saying while arrest of the suspect is a positive development, the massive roundup of DNA samples may hinder by increasing work at the state crime lab.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: Now, the district attorney has cited a lack of resources and a backlog for the length of time in analyzing the suspect's DNA -- John.

KING: Mary Snow in New York. Mary, thank you.

And it's Friday, time again to get the inside edge on some of the biggest stories of the week. For that, we turn to CNN political analyst Carlos Watson joining us from Mountainview, California.

Carlos, let's begin. Tom DeLay would consider where you are the left coast. Your perspective on the Tom DeLay situation from out in California.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: A couple of interesting things. As you recall, over the last 16 years, John, we've had five either presidents or senior members of Congress come under investigation. Only one has survived, and that was Bill Clinton. And it's clear that Tom DeLay is taking a page out of his book in being very proactive in fighting this and pointing to demons on the other side.

Although unlike Clinton, he hasn't yet rallied a broad base of support. You remember that Clinton had all the members of his cabinet, had bus loads of members of Congress speaking on his behalf. Wait to see whether or not that happens. Two other things I think to think about here. Will we see further investigation, will this in effect open up a Pandora's box and we start to see a broader set of investigation into ethics violations, potential ethics violations by members of Congress.

Remember, that's how the post office scandal and the banking scandal in the House started some 15 years ago started, in part, looking at one or two members and it ultimately mushroomed.

And the last thought on all of this as it relates to Tom DeLay is where do other members of the House start to see their futures? Will there be some quiet thoughts about leadership campaigns post 2006? Well, some say, you know what, there is going to be turnover.

At a minimum Denny Hastert is likely to leave in 2008. Bill Frist on the Senate side and maybe even Tom DeLay. So, it's something to think about.

KING: Another big story here in Washington this week, the confirmation hearings in the Senate for John Bolton, the president's conservative and controversial choice to be ambassador to the United Nations. Critics say he's abrasive. Critics say he may have twisted some intelligence. Your perspective on the real Bolton story.

WATSON: You know, I think quietly, the bigger story here John is Condi Rice. In the couple of short months in which she has been Secretary of State, she clearly has consolidated power in a significant way. Bolton is ultimately likely to get through, get the vote, the swing vote of someone like Lincoln Chafee, in part because of assurances from Condi Rice that this is her State Department, this is her foreign policy and that ultimately she and not Bolton will direct things.

And I think what's interesting about what Condi Rice she has done in the short time is one, put together an eclectic team. You've got people like Bolton who are controversially conservative, you've got people like Karen Hughes, who you don't think of in terms of foreign policy, you've even people like Nick Burns, who used to be a spokesman in the Clinton White House for the State Department playing a major role. So that's one.

And two, I think the challenges she has ahead of her. No longer is the U.N. really the primary international organization, but really over the next several years, part of Condi Rice's major challenge is building up a series of international institutions, whether it's NATO, whether it's the successor potentially to OPEC or whether ultimately it's an Asian form, if you will, of NATO, a military organization that might encompass Japan, China and the U.S.

KING: Finally on this Friday, Carlos Watson sees what he might call the Obama effect.

WATSON: You know what's so interesting, John, is we saw Barack Obama go from unknown state senator very quickly to becoming the United States Senator. After that, just this week we saw the devout Patrick, former associate attorney general in the Clinton White House announce that he is running for governor of Massachusetts.

That makes almost ten African Americans who are running for high level state positions. A lot of that is because of Barack Obama and the good feelings that he's let on both the Democratic and the Republican side.

KING: The "Inside Edge" with Carlos Watson every Friday. Thank you very much, Carlos. Have a great weekend.

WATSON: Good to see you, John.

KING: Take care.

And coming up at the top of the hour, LOU DOBBS TONIGHT. Lou joins us now from New York with a preview -- Lou.

LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, John.

Tonight we'll be reporting on an immigration raid involving the U.S. naval station in San Diego. Incredibly, the federal government says almost 100 illegal aliens were working there and had access to several U.S. Navy ships. We'll have that special report.

And I'll be talking with the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee about how illegal aliens gain access to high security areas. And why this government tolerates the invasion of millions of illegal aliens across borders that are anything but secure.

And then, a critical time for farmers and American consumers. For the first time in decades, this country will import more farm products than it exports. A leader of the National Farmers Union joins us to tell us why the so called free trade agreement, KAFTA, could be a major problem.

All of that and a great deal more coming up at the top of the hour. We hope you'll join us.

Now back to John King -- John.

KING: Thank you, Lou. Just a few minutes away. We'll be there.

And a big Mcbirthday for a global icon. But all is not gold under the Golden Arches, marking a golden anniversary.

Plus, tension in the courtroom as the defense grills the mother of Michael Jackson's accuser. We'll take you there live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Things got so tense in the Michael Jackson case today, the judge threatened to shut down the trial. On the stand, the mother of Jackson's accuser being grilled by Jackson's defense attorney.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is live outside the courthouse in Santa Maria, California, with details -- Ted. TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, this is a very important witness for both sides. And today it was evident that Thomas Mesereau, Michael Jackson's attorney, was going to try to convince this jury that this is the woman behind all of these charges. And that she is the one that is manipulated the situation to the point that her son has gotten up and lied about this.

And in the courtroom, as you've referenced, there was -- it was back and forth the entire day. At one point, the woman was talking about acting in a movie that was made -- a pro Michael Jackson movie.

Barbara Starr, Lou Dobbs

Michael Cardoza

has gotten up and lied about this. And in the courtroom, as you've referenced, there was -- it was back and forth the entire day. At one point, the woman was talking about acting in a movie that was made -- a pro-Michael Jackson movie. She said, "I'm a poor actress." Thomas Mesereau's, Jackson's attorneys came back and said, "oh, I think you're a very good one." The judge in this case admonished both sides many times. At one point, the woman was able to blurt out during an answer that Neverland was for just booze and sex with boys. Both sides admonished, and as you mentioned, the judge at one point said, I'm going to shut this thing down if you don't stop it. The woman was on the stand for the entire day. She'll be back on Monday.

KING: Ted, thank you very much.

And for more, we're joined now by criminal defense attorney Michael Cardoza. He's also in Santa Maria. Michael, from your experience, what happens when you have a shouting match like this? Essentially the judge admonishing both sides, yelling at everybody. What's the impact on the trial?

MICHAEL CARDOZA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, this one happened pretty quickly. It was a flashpoint. It was certainly understandable, because to my mind the witness sort of begged that response from Mesereau. Once he gave it, he quickly apologized to Judge Melville. He said he expected a little bit more from his attorneys. If he didn't get it, he would close it down. It probably took 30 seconds, it was over with.

I think the jury will not even think about it. They just passed right over it. So, basically, move on with the trial. And they did, and they quickly did.

KING: And when you have a judge getting testy with both sides in the case like that, what does that tell you? Is the judge running out of patience as well? CARDOZA: Well, they really -- yeah, they do. I've tried an awful lot of cases in my 30 years. And you know, you can tell it is running out.

One of the things that fascinated me today, Mesereau kept asking the mother on the witness stand, is what you said in the rebuttal video true or false? Well, I was acting. Is it true or false? I was acting. And he turned to the judge and he said, "Judge Melville, will you make her answer the question?" Judge Melville read the transcript and said, well, go ahead, ask your next question.

She never did answer that question. One of the most fascinating things I think that was brought out today was that she admitted that under oath, she had committed perjury before in her civil case, and she admitted lying on a number of occasions in that case. That doesn't bode well for her. How can a jury say, gee, you lied under oath one time, you take an oath here -- what, we're supposed to believe you this time? I think the DA has a hard road to hoe with this woman.

KING: You said a hard road to hoe. What does the DA do come Monday to try to repair that damage, then?

CARDOZA: I'll tell you what, run out the back door comes to my mind, because I'm not sure that they can repair the damage that she's done in this case.

Now, I'm sure there probably are people that say, you know, she did a good job. She was feisty on the stand, she got certain things in. At one time, she said, you know, I know what Neverland is about. It's about pornography, it's about drinking, and it's about molesting little boys. That was quickly stopped by the judge. He struck that from the record. He said, jurors, you're to ignore that. But so she's getting her little shots in here, too.

So the jurors could accept that, could wonder about it. But I'll tell you what, you get back to her credibility, and I'm having a very difficult time -- and I have -- I certainly, like everybody else, don't like child molestation. I can hardly think of a worse crime but murder. But in this case, to make her the linchpin of your case, in my opinion the DA made a horrible mistake. I think he should have dropped all the conspiracy charges. He should have simply charged the molestation, taken that to trial, and seen what he could have done with that. Because if they lose this trial, I'll tell you what, it's going to be because of this mother.

KING: Michael Cardoza, thank you for your thoughts and insights on a testy and perhaps important day in the Michael Jackson trial. Thank you, sir.

In a moment, McDonald's, recipe for success.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Back now to our "Security Watch." And an update on the story we told you about at the top of the show. The FBI now says it has released two airline passengers from the Republic of Georgia. The pair had repeatedly requested to see the cockpit of a plane as it descended to JFK Airport in New York, but officials now say their only apparent motive was curiosity. An FBI statement notes that alcohol did not play a factor and says there will be no charges filed.

Now to a virtual operating room on the battlefield. Kind of a Hawkeye meets HAL concept. It may sound like the stuff of pure sci- fi, but the Pentagon is investing millions to figure out how to make it a reality. CNN's Barbara Starr now with more on robodoc.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Urban combat in the year 2025 as envisioned by the Pentagon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man down, man down!

STARR: A soldier is shot. A driverless vehicle rolls up. The soldier is carried away and treated by robots. No doctors or nurses are on the front line. Treatment is immediate. The soldier is saved.

It's just a concept for now, but it's got a name: The Trauma Pod. And if it works, it can save lives.

DR. ADRIAN PARK, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEDICAL CENTER: Right now, we're working on stabilization. So -- stabilization of fractures, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) stopping the bleeding.

STARR: Today's operating rooms are already taking the first steps in automation and robotics. Surgeons routinely use laparoscopic instruments to peer into the human body with tiny cameras, one step removed from directly holding the scalpel. But with the Trauma Pod, military surgeons will rely on high-definition screens and instant communications to tell the robot what to do.

PARK: I may be in another city, maybe in another country.

STARR: The Pentagon is funding a $12 million effort to see what is possible.

(on camera): Here at the University of Maryland Medical Center, researchers are part of a team exploring critical issues that may occur when a badly wounded soldier is treated robotically by doctors hundreds of miles away.

(voice-over): High-speed communications will be a challenge. Any satellite delay sending data between the robot and the human surgeon must be less than .2 seconds. Robots will need to perform high-definition scans, insert IVs and clear a soldier's airway. The robo scrub nurse will provide instruments and bandages.

As the robot scans, it will locate any body damage as small as 1/30th of an inch.

While robots will do the work, experts insist there will always be a human doctor in control. TIM GANOUS, TRAUMA POD PROJECT MANAGER: There will be a surgeon on joysticks, let's say, back at a military hospital, who is participating in the surgery.

STARR: And then, the soldier will be lifted out of the Trauma Pod and carried off by another robotic vehicle flying through the air.

Barbara Starr, CNN, University of Maryland Medical Center.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: And today is not only tax day, it is the golden anniversary of the Golden Arches. Fifty years ago, the little restaurant that could, McDonald's, founded now, an American icon known around the world.

Remember, you can always catch WOLF BLITZER REPORTS right here, 5:00 p.m. Eastern. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

END

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 April 15, 2005 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now: nose dive, Wall Street hits a five-and-a-half month low: what sparked the sell-off.
Air scare: Why did a passenger on an inbound Northwest Airlines flight repeatedly try to get to the cockpit.

Stand by for WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Setting up the chimney, the Vatican gets ready to pick the next pope amid votes of secrecy. You'll get a preview of the convlave.

Panic in Paris" Screams in the night as a hotel turns into a raging inferno. Many of the victims are children.

Cape Cod murder mystery: Three years after the killing of a fashion writer turned single mother, police make an arrest.

No-fly zone...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are so many high value targets in this area, it's the center of our government, we need to do everything we can to protect it.

KING: Why lasers will light up the sky over Washington.

Mourning in Monaco: Royals from around the world bid farewell to one of their own.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Friday, April 15, 2005.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING Thanks for joining us. I'm John King. Wolf has the day off.

U.S. stock markets took a nose dive today and kept on going. On Wall Street it was a bad end to a bad week for worried investors.

CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff joins us now live from New York -- Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: John, stocks got crushed Friday as investors rushed for the exit door for the third day in a row. The Dow Industrial average lost 191 points, nearly 2 percent, the NASDAQ Composite also down by 2 percent.

A series of soft economic reports this week have investors worrying that the economy suddenly is heading into a slide and taking corporate profits with it. IBM for one delivered a lousy earnings report. The stock fell 8 percent. And General Motors, expected to report a loss of more than a billion dollars next week, fell by 4 percent. It is now at its lowest level in 12 years -- John.

KING: Allen, often after such a beating there is a turnaround. Has the market taken enough of a beating?

CHERNOFF: Some analysts on Wall Street are saying the market is over sold short term and due for a bounce up, but there is a lot of anxiety On Wall street. Trading today very heavy, more than 2 billion shares. Adn that means there's lots of conviction behind this selling. Longer term, some analysts are saying that the market remains quite vulnerable -- John.

KING: Allan Chernoff for us on a bleak Friday on Wall Street. Thank you, Allan.

In our CNN "Security Watch," authorities in New York are questioning two airline passengers from the Republic of Georgia who allegedly made repeated requests and attempts to see the cockpit while the plane was descending. Let's go live now to CNN's Ali Velshi at JFK International Airport in New York -- Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, unusual behavior to say the least, from these passengers on Northwest Air Link flight 3741 which came in this afternoon from Detroit Metro Airport to Kennedy.

Now apparently, according to the airline, about 20 minutes before the plane arrived, one of the passengers asked the flight attendant how long until arrival. And when he was told it was about 20 minutes away, nothing else happened. A few minutes later, one of the passengers asked the same flight attendant if he could go into the cockpit and see what was going on in there.

The flight attendant informed the passenger that's not allowed. And according to someone from Northwest Air Link, this passenger asked seven times again before the flight landed about going to see the cockpit.

Well, after a little while, the flight attendant, realizing this -- thinking this might be a bit of a problem, informed the pilot. The captain of the flight, who following procedures declared an in-flight emergency. That meant that the pilot informed Kennedy Airport that there was a problem on the flight.

And as soon as the flight landed, the plane was met by authorities who placed -- who, well, detained two men, the gentleman who had asked to go into the cockpit and a traveling companion, both of whom have been identified so far just as citizens of the Republic of Georgia, both of whom in the United States on visas. As of now, the Brooklyn -- U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn, uncertain whether they are going to press charges of interfering with a flight crew, those are federal charges. There may as well be state charges pending.

At the moment, no charges has been announced. We're uncertain what the motivation was for these two passengers to have repeatedly asked for a visit to the cockpit despite the fact that they were told up to seven times that that wasn't allowed -- John.

KING: Ali, to the best of our knowledge, they are still being questioned, still in detention?

VELSHI: We have no news that they've been released. As far as we know they are still being questioned by authorities.

KING: Ali Velshi for us at JFK International Airport, thank you.

And also in our "Security Watch," there's a no-fly zone around the nation's capital and it costs a lot of money to scramble military jets to warn pilots to leave the restricted air space. But beginning next month, authorities will have a cheaper and more colorful option.

Our Jeanne Meserve of CNN's America bureau has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over0: Red red green, lasers pulsate into the night sky a short distance from the Capitol, warning pilots as far as 20 miles away to stop and turn.

COL. ED DANIEL, NORAD: There's so many high value targets in this area, it's the center of our government, we need to do everything we can to protect it.

MESERVE: The large hunk of restricted air space above and around the capital region is intended to prevent another September 11-style attack from the air.

(on camera): About a dozen times a week, pilots enter this restricted air space, usually unintentionally.

(voice-over): During the funeral of President Ronald Reagan, there was a hasty evacuation of the Capitol when the governor of Kentucky's plane flew inside the zone.

In other cases, if a transgressing pilot cannot be raised on the radio, fighter jets are scrambled to drop warning flares. If that doesn't stop them, there is the possibility of a shootdown.

The laser lights scattered throughout the restricted zone can be directed precisely at any plane, warning pilots they have gone astray.

DANIEL: We use a visual warning system. If the aircraft turns around, we leave the fighters stay on the ground, all the other assets that we bring to bear. It could potentially prevent a tragic situation.

MESERVE: Lasers used for different purposes have given pilots problems, even injuries.

PERRY WINDER, DELTA PILOT: Initially, I noticed almost a flash blindness like you would have if you got really close to a flash camera.

MESERVE: But the warning system uses a different kind of laser beam, perfectly safe, according to pilots who have seen it from the air.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can tell you that it definitely doesn't hurt your eyes.

MESERVE: Pilots who have gotten briefings but not seen it in operation wonder whether the lasers will be visible in all conditions.

FAYEK ZABENEH, PRIVATE PILOT: If you're flying west in the afternoon and the sun is directly in your eyes, it will be very difficult to see anything else.

MESERVE: But officials say the distinctive pattern and colors stand out day and night, except in low visibility conditions, providing an easier, cheaper, safer way to warn those in the skies and protect those below.

For CNN's America bureau, Jeanne Meserve, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: And as always, stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

One month after the Atlanta Courthouse shootings, the man who is accused appears in the courthouse. We'll have a report coming up.

Also, a dramatic new development in a three-year-old murder mystery on Massachusetts's Cape Cod.

And the world was shocked by genocide in Rwanda. One decade later, we'll talk with Rwanda's president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Atlanta's Fulton County Courthouse complex, the site of a deadly shooting spree last month, was the site today of a hearing for the suspected killer. CNN's David Mattingly has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTFIED MALE: Do you have any questions about that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Thank you, sir. DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One month and four days since the Atlanta rampage that left the judge, a court reporter and two law officers dead, suspected kiler Brian Nichols returned to the courthouse where the violent spree began. His ankles bound by a chain but wearing no handcuffs, Nichols appeared subdued, talking softly with his attorneys, only occasionally looking around the room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the question, I think, is going to be whether these jurors are going to be able to be fair.

MATTINGLY: Before the court, requests by the defense to be involved in the selection of a grand jury. These proceedings are so preliminary, it is still not known when Nichols will be officially charged in the murders.

Afterward, his mother told reporters of her unconditional support.

CLARITA NICHOLS, DEFENDANT'S MOTHER: Any mother would be concerned about her son in a situation like this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody off the sidewalk!

MATTINGLY: The mayhem of March 11 brought tragedy into the lives of thousands and plunged the city into chaos. On Monday, Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman named a task force to investigate what went wrong with courthouse security, why warning signs were ignored, how one man could so effectively exploit possible weaknesses, do so much harm and get away so easily. The task force follows a partially sealed internal report by the sheriff that reportedly contained no conclusions or recommendations.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Deputy Cynthia Hall walked out of an Atlanta brain injury center with months of recovery still ahead of her. Police say Nichols attacked Hall and took her gun as she attempted to escort him into a courtroom. Hall has no memory of the attack, and for a time, was partially blind and unable to walk.

DR. GERALD BILSKY, CYNTHIA HALL'S DOCTOR: She could not see at all out of her right eye, she had some weakness more on the left side than she demonstrated today. She needed assistance in getting out of bed, assistance with how to do basic skills.

(voice-over): Nichols' high profile hostage, however, has remained out of the spotlight. After accepting a $72,500 award for turning Nichols in, a spokesperson for Ashley Smith says the single mother is spending a lot of time in prayer and reflection, while also trying to have light-hearted moments with close friends and family.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: And there were no doubts about courthouse security today. Nichols was escorted into the courtroom and out of the courtroom, watched by eight armed guards. And those are only the ones we could see -- John. KING: David Mattingly live in Atlanta. Thank you, David.

An emotional sendoff for the man who was Europe's longest reigning monarch. We'll tak you to the Monaco funeral of Prince Rainier.

He helped end genocide, now a White House meeting with President Bush. We'll hear from Rwanda's president.

And look who is turning 50. From humble beginnings to a global icon, a special look at how McDonald's changed the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: The countdown to the conclave is on. Starting Monday, cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church will begin meeting to vote on the next pope. The chimney, whose smoke will indicate whether a pontiff has been elected, is now in place. CNN's Jim Bittermann is at the Vatican with more on the final arrangements for this historic meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The atmosphere of expectation got a big boost today with the installation of a stove pipe at the Cistine Chapel. The stove pipe connects to a potbellied stove down in the Cistine Chapel where the cardinals will be casting their ballots for the next pope. After each vote, they will burn the ballots. If we see black smoke coming up we'll know that the voting has been inconclusive. If we see white smoke, we'll know that there's a new pope.

Now, that comes at the end of a week of meetings here, the so- called general congregations, at which the cardinals have gathered to discuss church issues. A number of different issues have been brought out on the table. Two that most can agree on.

And those are that the next pope, whoever he may be, has to have some kind of public appeal, some kind of charisma like Pope John Paul II did. It's almost become a part of the job description now for being pope.

And that the church should concentrate on evangellization. That is to say say missionary work to bring more into people churches, to bring more priests into the priesthood.

Apart from that, there is a lot of divergence on the various cardinals' opinions on where the church should be going, a lot of differences of opinion. And on Monday, we'll see if the cardinals can get together on one single person who can answer all of the concerns that they have about the future of the church.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE) KING: When he died last week at the age of 81, Monaco's Prince Rainier was Europe's longest reigning monarch. Today dignitaries from around the world gathered for his funeral. CNN's Becky Anderson has the story from Monaco.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across this tiny principality, a deep sense of loss, none more so than for the children of Prince Rainier of Monaco.

Prince Albert, his son and heir, and Princesses Caroline and Stephanie, followed their father's coffin towards St. Nicholas's Cathedral. His funeral closing the circles on a fairy tale that began five decades ago when the young prince married the Hollywood starlet Grace Kelly in this very place. They've been led by kings and queens, presidents and ministers, who filed through Monaco's lanes before invited Monagaques. Palace servants, too, bid farewell with white roses for their boss.

Many admired Prince Rainier for what he did, carving a small but thriving country out of nothing but rock during his 56 year reign.

Just as Prince Rainier created modern Monaco and dominated life in this tiny sun kissed Mediterranean state, so he had a hand in things until the end, choosing the pallbearers personally from his own company of Carabinier (ph). Accompanied by his beloved dog, Odin.

Inside the 19th Century Cathedral, citizens of Monaco and the world gathered in a moving ceremony, led by the state's archbishop Bernard Barsi.

ARCHBISHOP BERNARD BARSI, MONACO (through translator): The prince was certainly the sovereign of a state, but he was also a friend and a member of our family. So today this community feels itself orphaned without this great man, which whom we respected and loved.

ANDERSON: His children blinked back tears as Samuel Barber's Adaggio for Strings echoed through these hallowed halls.

Haunting images reminiscent of an earlier desperately sad time in Monaco's history when the death of Princess Grace in a car crash in 1982 brought a fairy tale that fascinated the world to an end.

Prince Albert sat in quiet contemplation. When Monaco completes its mourning, it will turn to him to carry on his father's legacy.

Becky Anderson, CNN, Monaco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: A decade after it faced the horror of genocide, can Rwanda find a way out of conflict. I'll speak with the President Paul Kagame.

A raging inferno sweeps through a Paris hotel, half of the dead are children.

And a rough day in court: Michael Jackson's attorney in a tense showdown with the mother of Michael Jackson's accuser.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: From our studios in Washington, once again, Wolf Blitzer.

KING: Welcome back. Wolf is off today.

Dozens of casualties after a catastrophic fire in a Paris hotel.

But first, a quick check of other stories now in the news.

Two attacks on convoys in Baghdad today. The first injured four Iraqis and one U.S. soldier. The second killed one civilian and wounded three. They followed a string of similar attacks throughout the city this week.

In Salt Lake City, Mark Hacking has pleaded guilty to killing his wife in a highly publicized case from last summer. Lori Hacking was murdered shortly after discovering her husband lied about enrolling in medical school. Mark Hacking now faces six years to life in prison.

Today is the deadline for filing tax returns. And the tax man misses no one. The White House says president and Mrs. Bush paid about $207,000 in federal taxes on an income of almost $673,000. Both figures down a bit from last year.

Vice President and Mrs. Cheney made twice as much as the first family. The Cheneys reported an income of $1.3 million, including almost $200,000 in deferred compensation from Halliburton. They paid almost $394,000 in taxes.

French President Jacques Chirac calls it one of his capital's most painful catastrophes. Fire swept through a Paris hotel overnight, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 50 others. Half of the dead were children.

CNN's Paula Hancocks reports from Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Most of the guests of this Parisianian hotel would have been sleeping in their beds with this fire took hold. Six stories were engulfed in flames.

Some of those in the building fled to the roof to escape, others leapt from bedroom windows, some to their deaths.

One firefighter told me it's the worst fire he's seen in the French capital for 20 years, a reality backed up by the high death toll. MAYOR BERTRAND DELANDE, PARIS (through translator): It is a shock, a shock. First of all, for the victims, for the wounded who are now on the streets. We'll obviously take care of them. But also for everybody, it's a tragedy, a big tragedy.

HANCOCKS: Authorities believe the fire started in a breakfast room on the first floor and spread quickly to the staircase, the only staircase in the building. There was no fire escape.

Many of the guests were put in this hotel by the state until permanent housing could be found for them elsewhere in the city. The injured are said to be from France, U.S., Senegal, Tunisia, Portugal, Ukraine and the Ivory Coast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see here where the -- upstairs.

HANCOCKS: Yes, the stairway.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the fire begins here in a room and, also, comes rapidly in the stairs.

HANCOCKS: It becomes like a chimney.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, like a chimney.

And with all the fire coming in all the rooms of the hotel.

HANCOCKS: The fire brigade said a safety inspection had been carried out earlier in the year. No further comments were made as the investigation is ongoing.

(on camera): At the height of its power, around 250 firefighters were struggling with this blaze. One of them told me that it's the worst fire that he's seen in his 15-year career.

Many of the injured are now in hospitals around Paris suffering with burns and smoke inhalation.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: The hit film "Hotel Rwanda" recently brought home to Americans the horror of the genocide which struck that African nation a decade ago. The movie and the nightmare came up today when President Bush met with the president of Rwanda, a soft spoken former soldier.

CNN's Brian Todd has a profile of President Paul Kagame.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Liberator or oppressor, reluctant warrior or double dealer: However you want to characterize the Rwandan President Paul Kagame, he's gotten the attention of the world's most powerful leaders and has become the face of a small but influential nation.

MARK SCHNEIDER, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Without any question, he does represent, if you will, the identity of Rwanda.

TODD: Kagame, who visited President Bush at the White House, now finds himself involved in another civil conflict with Rwandan Hutu rebels based in neighboring Congo who are indicating they're ready for peace.

PRES. PAUL KAGAME, RWANDA: When you talk about their offer to disarm and return home. And we will facilitate that.

TODD: This is a man who has been on the front lines consistently, as his tiny country has gone through indescribable torture. 1994, its president assassinated, Rwanda nearly disintegrates. Hutu extremists assume power, engage in mass slaughter of rival Tutsies. More than 800,000 killed in the course of three months.

Kagame commands a small Tutsi army, but commands it brilliantly. Pushing in from neighboring Uganda, the Tutsis route the larger Hutu force, drive them from power and are credited with doing more than anyone to end the genocide.

SCHNEIDER: He was a major factor in -- at a time when there was very little international response to the cries of the Rwandan people.

TODD: As the killings subside, Kagame and his loyalists take the capital. Kagame himself moves into the role of vice president, but he's always considered the real power behind the throne and is formally elected president in 2003. He now faces his own opposition: critics who say he suppresses real democratic plurality; Hutu rebels at his borders; and those who say Kagame's forces in eastern Congo -- who he says are there to prevent Hutus involved in the genocide from returning -- have another motivation.

SCHNEIDER: They clearly do use that as a way of generating their own influence in that part of the country.

TODD: Now this outwardly-reticent leader, who once fought in the Ugandan army and received military training at Ft. Leavenworth, is, for better or worse, trying to turn a corner for his country: contributing troops to monitoring force in Darfur, Sudan; moving toward democratic reform -- some say too much on his own terms -- and moving as far away as possible from the nightmare of genocide -- John.

KING: Brian Todd, thank you very much.

Just a short time ago, I sat down with the president, and among the issues we discussed, the controversy over whether he should now repatriate those he holds responsible for the genocide in his country.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

PAUL KAGAME, PRESIDENT OF RWANDA: Well, the facts are there to speak for themselves. Those who criticize us or blame us for this and that, there are facts that they can't ignore. The facts are that we have had a genocide in Rwanda. We were responsible only for stopping that genocide, while those who are responsible are moving freely in different parts of our region and the rest of the world. And it's important for us to rebuild our country and to make sure that the country is stable. And we can not accept people to come back and destabilize our country and to destroy what we have been rebuilding.

In this particular case, those people who were involved with the genocide should be held accountable, and they are being held accountable by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and we also are holding them accountable within our own legal system. The justice system will have other people best -- jurisdictions that are dealing with that, as well as putting in mind the need for reconciliation.

So these people who want to come back, they are free to come back. But that does not make them any cleaner as far as the responsibility in the genocide is concerned. So they still stand accused of having had a hand in the genocide and that doesn't simply disappear.

KING: I want to ask you, lastly, a broader question. People in this country and around the world in the past year have seen the award-winning film "Hotel Rwanda." And ten years later after such an atrocity, the world always says, "Never again." And yet you see what is happening in the Sudan, specifically in Darfur.

Why does it happen again? What is the world failing to do and what are the nations of Africa failing to do?

KAGAME: Well, in Rwanda, indeed, the genocide took place when everybody was looking and when everybody knew it was going to take place. Because information was available -- it was available to the UN, to everybody, but nobody acted. There are other different acts of serious violations of human rights. There is suffering going on in different places over our continent. And we think the international community should always be able to prevent. If they are not able to prevent it, then they should be able to stop it while it is taking place.

Why it doesn't happen -- I think the whole thing is overshadowed by all sorts of interests people have and they tend not to focus on the issues where human life is being lost. And they focus more on what they call interests, rather than -- they are looking at broader interests. Because where lives are in danger I think it is in everybody's interest to ensure that does not happen.

KING: Mr. President, thank you very much for your time.

KAGAME: Thank you.

KING: Thank you.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(on camera) Now a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.

Chaos in Korea: Police clash with demonstrators in Seoul, who are demanding an apology from Japan for wartime atrocities. They also called for the expulsion of the Japanese ambassador.

British defense: Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says allegations his country ignored oil smuggling from Iraq are inaccurate. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned the smuggling, noting that it happened on what he called the American and British watch.

The long commute: a Russian Soyuz rocket is carrying two astronauts and a cosmonaut to their assignment on the International Space Station. They lifted off last night and are due to arrive over the weekend. That's our look around the world.

Cape cod murder mystery. Three years later, police make an arrest.

Has the meteoric rise of Barak Obama started a trend -- the new boom in African-American political candidates.

And showdown in court: a dramatic turn in the Michael Jackson trial.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: There's been a major break in the case of a three-year-old murder that rocked a small town on Cape Cod. It became the subject of a best selling book, and now apparently a new chapter is unfolding. CNN's Mary Snow is standing by in New York with the details. Mary.

SNOW: Well, John, Christopher McCowen of Massachusetts pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, aggravated rape and armed assault. His attorney could not be reached for comment and police say they could not discuss a motive. But they believe they've solved the case that included the rare step of taking DNA samples from one town.

(voice-over) For years Christa Worthington's murder was a mystery. A successful New York fashion writer, she had moved to this peaceful seashore town. She was discovered stabbed to death in her secluded home in January of 2002, her 2-year-old daughter found clinging to her body. The biggest clue investigators had was semen found at the scene.

Now authorities say the suspected killer, 33-year-old Christopher McCowen, a garbage collector, was first questioned just months after the murder. The district attorney called it a crime of opportunity.

MICHAEL O'KEEFE, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The evidence would suggest -- and I'm not going to go into a great deal of detail -- that it was a person who knew Christa only in the sense that they were familiar with her comings and goings. They were not personal acquaintances.

SNOW: Police never named suspects, but a number of men had come under scrutiny, including the father of Worthington's daughter, who was married to somebody else. There was also a boyfriend who found the body.

The question is, why the delay in matching the DNA to the suspect? The D.A. says it took two years to obtain a sample.

O'KEEFE: There are a number of reasons which have to do with his movements about Cape Cod and living in various locations. And beyond that, I really am not going to go into it.

SNOW: And, authorities say, it took a year for DNA from McCowen to be processed and matched.

While it was DNA that cracked the case, it was also DNA that sparked controversy and brought nationwide attention. In January of 2005, police began taking voluntary DNA samples from males living in Truro.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People would call in volunteering the samples. And other people, for whatever reason, they chose not to give it.

SNOW: Some argued that it violated their personal privacy.

And today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts issued a statement saying while arrest of the suspect is a positive development, the massive roundup of DNA samples may hinder by increasing work at the state crime lab.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: Now, the district attorney has cited a lack of resources and a backlog for the length of time in analyzing the suspect's DNA -- John.

KING: Mary Snow in New York. Mary, thank you.

And it's Friday, time again to get the inside edge on some of the biggest stories of the week. For that, we turn to CNN political analyst Carlos Watson joining us from Mountainview, California.

Carlos, let's begin. Tom DeLay would consider where you are the left coast. Your perspective on the Tom DeLay situation from out in California.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: A couple of interesting things. As you recall, over the last 16 years, John, we've had five either presidents or senior members of Congress come under investigation. Only one has survived, and that was Bill Clinton. And it's clear that Tom DeLay is taking a page out of his book in being very proactive in fighting this and pointing to demons on the other side.

Although unlike Clinton, he hasn't yet rallied a broad base of support. You remember that Clinton had all the members of his cabinet, had bus loads of members of Congress speaking on his behalf. Wait to see whether or not that happens. Two other things I think to think about here. Will we see further investigation, will this in effect open up a Pandora's box and we start to see a broader set of investigation into ethics violations, potential ethics violations by members of Congress.

Remember, that's how the post office scandal and the banking scandal in the House started some 15 years ago started, in part, looking at one or two members and it ultimately mushroomed.

And the last thought on all of this as it relates to Tom DeLay is where do other members of the House start to see their futures? Will there be some quiet thoughts about leadership campaigns post 2006? Well, some say, you know what, there is going to be turnover.

At a minimum Denny Hastert is likely to leave in 2008. Bill Frist on the Senate side and maybe even Tom DeLay. So, it's something to think about.

KING: Another big story here in Washington this week, the confirmation hearings in the Senate for John Bolton, the president's conservative and controversial choice to be ambassador to the United Nations. Critics say he's abrasive. Critics say he may have twisted some intelligence. Your perspective on the real Bolton story.

WATSON: You know, I think quietly, the bigger story here John is Condi Rice. In the couple of short months in which she has been Secretary of State, she clearly has consolidated power in a significant way. Bolton is ultimately likely to get through, get the vote, the swing vote of someone like Lincoln Chafee, in part because of assurances from Condi Rice that this is her State Department, this is her foreign policy and that ultimately she and not Bolton will direct things.

And I think what's interesting about what Condi Rice she has done in the short time is one, put together an eclectic team. You've got people like Bolton who are controversially conservative, you've got people like Karen Hughes, who you don't think of in terms of foreign policy, you've even people like Nick Burns, who used to be a spokesman in the Clinton White House for the State Department playing a major role. So that's one.

And two, I think the challenges she has ahead of her. No longer is the U.N. really the primary international organization, but really over the next several years, part of Condi Rice's major challenge is building up a series of international institutions, whether it's NATO, whether it's the successor potentially to OPEC or whether ultimately it's an Asian form, if you will, of NATO, a military organization that might encompass Japan, China and the U.S.

KING: Finally on this Friday, Carlos Watson sees what he might call the Obama effect.

WATSON: You know what's so interesting, John, is we saw Barack Obama go from unknown state senator very quickly to becoming the United States Senator. After that, just this week we saw the devout Patrick, former associate attorney general in the Clinton White House announce that he is running for governor of Massachusetts.

That makes almost ten African Americans who are running for high level state positions. A lot of that is because of Barack Obama and the good feelings that he's let on both the Democratic and the Republican side.

KING: The "Inside Edge" with Carlos Watson every Friday. Thank you very much, Carlos. Have a great weekend.

WATSON: Good to see you, John.

KING: Take care.

And coming up at the top of the hour, LOU DOBBS TONIGHT. Lou joins us now from New York with a preview -- Lou.

LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, John.

Tonight we'll be reporting on an immigration raid involving the U.S. naval station in San Diego. Incredibly, the federal government says almost 100 illegal aliens were working there and had access to several U.S. Navy ships. We'll have that special report.

And I'll be talking with the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee about how illegal aliens gain access to high security areas. And why this government tolerates the invasion of millions of illegal aliens across borders that are anything but secure.

And then, a critical time for farmers and American consumers. For the first time in decades, this country will import more farm products than it exports. A leader of the National Farmers Union joins us to tell us why the so called free trade agreement, KAFTA, could be a major problem.

All of that and a great deal more coming up at the top of the hour. We hope you'll join us.

Now back to John King -- John.

KING: Thank you, Lou. Just a few minutes away. We'll be there.

And a big Mcbirthday for a global icon. But all is not gold under the Golden Arches, marking a golden anniversary.

Plus, tension in the courtroom as the defense grills the mother of Michael Jackson's accuser. We'll take you there live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Things got so tense in the Michael Jackson case today, the judge threatened to shut down the trial. On the stand, the mother of Jackson's accuser being grilled by Jackson's defense attorney.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is live outside the courthouse in Santa Maria, California, with details -- Ted. TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, this is a very important witness for both sides. And today it was evident that Thomas Mesereau, Michael Jackson's attorney, was going to try to convince this jury that this is the woman behind all of these charges. And that she is the one that is manipulated the situation to the point that her son has gotten up and lied about this.

And in the courtroom, as you've referenced, there was -- it was back and forth the entire day. At one point, the woman was talking about acting in a movie that was made -- a pro Michael Jackson movie.

Barbara Starr, Lou Dobbs

Michael Cardoza

has gotten up and lied about this. And in the courtroom, as you've referenced, there was -- it was back and forth the entire day. At one point, the woman was talking about acting in a movie that was made -- a pro-Michael Jackson movie. She said, "I'm a poor actress." Thomas Mesereau's, Jackson's attorneys came back and said, "oh, I think you're a very good one." The judge in this case admonished both sides many times. At one point, the woman was able to blurt out during an answer that Neverland was for just booze and sex with boys. Both sides admonished, and as you mentioned, the judge at one point said, I'm going to shut this thing down if you don't stop it. The woman was on the stand for the entire day. She'll be back on Monday.

KING: Ted, thank you very much.

And for more, we're joined now by criminal defense attorney Michael Cardoza. He's also in Santa Maria. Michael, from your experience, what happens when you have a shouting match like this? Essentially the judge admonishing both sides, yelling at everybody. What's the impact on the trial?

MICHAEL CARDOZA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, this one happened pretty quickly. It was a flashpoint. It was certainly understandable, because to my mind the witness sort of begged that response from Mesereau. Once he gave it, he quickly apologized to Judge Melville. He said he expected a little bit more from his attorneys. If he didn't get it, he would close it down. It probably took 30 seconds, it was over with.

I think the jury will not even think about it. They just passed right over it. So, basically, move on with the trial. And they did, and they quickly did.

KING: And when you have a judge getting testy with both sides in the case like that, what does that tell you? Is the judge running out of patience as well? CARDOZA: Well, they really -- yeah, they do. I've tried an awful lot of cases in my 30 years. And you know, you can tell it is running out.

One of the things that fascinated me today, Mesereau kept asking the mother on the witness stand, is what you said in the rebuttal video true or false? Well, I was acting. Is it true or false? I was acting. And he turned to the judge and he said, "Judge Melville, will you make her answer the question?" Judge Melville read the transcript and said, well, go ahead, ask your next question.

She never did answer that question. One of the most fascinating things I think that was brought out today was that she admitted that under oath, she had committed perjury before in her civil case, and she admitted lying on a number of occasions in that case. That doesn't bode well for her. How can a jury say, gee, you lied under oath one time, you take an oath here -- what, we're supposed to believe you this time? I think the DA has a hard road to hoe with this woman.

KING: You said a hard road to hoe. What does the DA do come Monday to try to repair that damage, then?

CARDOZA: I'll tell you what, run out the back door comes to my mind, because I'm not sure that they can repair the damage that she's done in this case.

Now, I'm sure there probably are people that say, you know, she did a good job. She was feisty on the stand, she got certain things in. At one time, she said, you know, I know what Neverland is about. It's about pornography, it's about drinking, and it's about molesting little boys. That was quickly stopped by the judge. He struck that from the record. He said, jurors, you're to ignore that. But so she's getting her little shots in here, too.

So the jurors could accept that, could wonder about it. But I'll tell you what, you get back to her credibility, and I'm having a very difficult time -- and I have -- I certainly, like everybody else, don't like child molestation. I can hardly think of a worse crime but murder. But in this case, to make her the linchpin of your case, in my opinion the DA made a horrible mistake. I think he should have dropped all the conspiracy charges. He should have simply charged the molestation, taken that to trial, and seen what he could have done with that. Because if they lose this trial, I'll tell you what, it's going to be because of this mother.

KING: Michael Cardoza, thank you for your thoughts and insights on a testy and perhaps important day in the Michael Jackson trial. Thank you, sir.

In a moment, McDonald's, recipe for success.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Back now to our "Security Watch." And an update on the story we told you about at the top of the show. The FBI now says it has released two airline passengers from the Republic of Georgia. The pair had repeatedly requested to see the cockpit of a plane as it descended to JFK Airport in New York, but officials now say their only apparent motive was curiosity. An FBI statement notes that alcohol did not play a factor and says there will be no charges filed.

Now to a virtual operating room on the battlefield. Kind of a Hawkeye meets HAL concept. It may sound like the stuff of pure sci- fi, but the Pentagon is investing millions to figure out how to make it a reality. CNN's Barbara Starr now with more on robodoc.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Urban combat in the year 2025 as envisioned by the Pentagon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man down, man down!

STARR: A soldier is shot. A driverless vehicle rolls up. The soldier is carried away and treated by robots. No doctors or nurses are on the front line. Treatment is immediate. The soldier is saved.

It's just a concept for now, but it's got a name: The Trauma Pod. And if it works, it can save lives.

DR. ADRIAN PARK, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEDICAL CENTER: Right now, we're working on stabilization. So -- stabilization of fractures, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) stopping the bleeding.

STARR: Today's operating rooms are already taking the first steps in automation and robotics. Surgeons routinely use laparoscopic instruments to peer into the human body with tiny cameras, one step removed from directly holding the scalpel. But with the Trauma Pod, military surgeons will rely on high-definition screens and instant communications to tell the robot what to do.

PARK: I may be in another city, maybe in another country.

STARR: The Pentagon is funding a $12 million effort to see what is possible.

(on camera): Here at the University of Maryland Medical Center, researchers are part of a team exploring critical issues that may occur when a badly wounded soldier is treated robotically by doctors hundreds of miles away.

(voice-over): High-speed communications will be a challenge. Any satellite delay sending data between the robot and the human surgeon must be less than .2 seconds. Robots will need to perform high-definition scans, insert IVs and clear a soldier's airway. The robo scrub nurse will provide instruments and bandages.

As the robot scans, it will locate any body damage as small as 1/30th of an inch.

While robots will do the work, experts insist there will always be a human doctor in control. TIM GANOUS, TRAUMA POD PROJECT MANAGER: There will be a surgeon on joysticks, let's say, back at a military hospital, who is participating in the surgery.

STARR: And then, the soldier will be lifted out of the Trauma Pod and carried off by another robotic vehicle flying through the air.

Barbara Starr, CNN, University of Maryland Medical Center.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: And today is not only tax day, it is the golden anniversary of the Golden Arches. Fifty years ago, the little restaurant that could, McDonald's, founded now, an American icon known around the world.

Remember, you can always catch WOLF BLITZER REPORTS right here, 5:00 p.m. Eastern. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

END

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