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CNN Live Today

NFL on Capitol Hill; 'Another Road Home'

Aired April 27, 2005 - 10:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Ibrahim Al-Jafari submitted his list of cabinet officials today. He did not reveal any names, but Al-Jafari says the government will reflect Iraq's diverse ethnic population.
Dollars for defense, Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld appearing before a Senate panel this hour. Live pictures from Capitol Hill. He is there to talk about the Pentagon budget.

Joint chiefs chairman Richard Myers is also testifying before the committee. The Pentagon has proposed $419 billion dollar for its budget for the next year.

Police are searching today for 12-year-old Margarita Aguilar- Lopez. She was last seen at a motel in Bradenton (ph), Florida. Police believe her kidnapper is an acquaintance. The man may be driving a red van. Authorities say the girl is in the country illegally from Mexico. She was babysitting while adults in her family worked as day laborers.

And if he survives, a New York cabbie may face charges after he set off a chain-reaction accident. The driver hit at least three cars and struck a pedestrian twice before stopping. The pregnant passenger is in critical condition today. She gave birth last night by C- section. The baby girl is fine.

First it was baseball. Today the NFL is on Capitol Hill to tackle steroids in big league sports.

CNN's Kimberly Osias joining me now from Washington with the latest -- Kim.

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

Congress is again putting professional sports under the microscope. At issue, anabolic steroid abuse. Last month, baseball was under scrutiny, and now the heat it on the NFL. Witnesses testifying include NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, director of the player's association Gene Upshaw, and former Pittsburgh Steeler Steve Courson, who admitted to using steroids decades ago. Although the NFL has been praised for instituting random testing 15 years ago, and recently tripling the number of offseason tests that can be done, Courson says there are still significant loopholes in the testing technology. He says the new designer drugs are so sophisticated that their molecular structure can be altered, making their presence virtually undetectable. Some congressional committee members agree, saying current standards aren't rigorous enough. Members want universal athletic testing protocols. What would apply for badminton would apply for basketball, too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHRISTOPHER SHAYS (R), CONNECTICUT: They can't hide behind work internal rules and penalties and ignore the broader impact of the "win at all costs" culture they glamorize. Bottom line, baseball has five strikes and you're out. It appears that football has four strikes and you're out. I think it needs to be much less than that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: Representative Christopher Shays wants to see standards like those in the International Olympic Committee, the ones that they have in place. Congressional committee members point out that half a million high school young men and women have admitted to using steroids at least once. High school coach Willie Stewart says young athletes aiming at scholarships think they need to cheat to get there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIE STEWART, HIGH SCHOOL COACH: Some of the student athletes want a quick fix. Unfortunately there are no quick fixes, meaning down the road, the student athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs are at risk for premature heart attacks, strokes, liver tumors, kidney failure and other health complications.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: Today's hearing isn't expected to be nearly contentious as baseball's. So far, the NFL has been cooperative in supplying information about how the testing is done and the number of positive results. But committee members are expected to pepper the organization with tough questions of just how players can get around it -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Kimberly Osias in Washington D.C.

Let's get the behind-the-scenes scoop on steroids in the NFL.

Shaun Assael is a writer for "ESPN The Magazine," joining me live now from New York.

Shaun, good morning.

SHAUN ASSAEL, "ESPN MAGAZINE": Thanks for having me.

KAGAN: All right, we've heard anybody who covers sports that the NFL does have a tougher drug-testing policy than many other sports, including baseball. What's the real deal, though, about what's going on with NFL players behind the scenes and steroids?

ASSAEL: What's really rattled the NFL is there is a doctor in North Carolina who is prescribing testosterone own to Carolina Panthers, and what was insidious about it was that he was prescribing just enough for them to fly under the test. Without getting too complicating, there's a ratio, six to one, of testosterone to every testosterone. He was getting them just under that ratio. So it shows that with a doctor's care, even the best intentions can be thwarted.

KAGAN: Well, if you look at what's happened, you know, so much focus on baseball and all the home runs that have been hit in recent years, but look what's at happened to football players. You know, look at the size of the player that were just drafted last weekend. They're huge. They're so bigger than they've been over the last couple of decades, and it can't just be the food that the kids are eating.

ASSAEL: Well, I mean, if you talk to some of the team trainers, they say it could be just the food. I mean, these are functionally obese players.

I mean, what's interesting about this to me is that the NFL has been sort of the teacher's pet on this issue. For 15 years they've had a policy they've prescribed largely to Olympic standards. And shortly before the four major sports commissioners were hauled before Congress last year, the NFL, I thought quite shrewdly, contributed $10 million to a lab in Ohio to improve techniques. So the NFL, which has by the way great tie toss Congress, is incredibly shrewd on this, which is why I think we're not seeing them getting hammered nearly as much as baseball.

KAGAN: Well, and they're trying to do it again today. Paul Tagliabue coming out and saying we're going to even add more offseason testing. But you cover the sport. How good is the testing to really catch what's happening out there?

ASSAEL: You know, it's not -- in the NFL, it's not 100 percent. But what you're really aiming for here is deterrents. If you're caught in the NFL, I think the first strike is four games, which is nearly a quarter of the season. So the question is, is the testing good enough to deter a large number of players? I think in the NFL, more are deterred than in baseball.

KAGAN: And overall, what do you think the fans are really looking for here? Do you think the fans care, or do the fans just really want to watch really aggressive, really strong men play football every Sunday, or almost every day of the week as the NFL schedule is now playing out to be.

ASSAEL: Yes, I don't really think the fans care all that much. And that, I think, is significant for the endgame here, because what we're really seeing is a movement in Congress to take drug testing away from sports and put them in the hands of a neutral organization, like the U.S. Antidoping Agency. To do that, though, would take a fair amount of popular pressure on the leagues, and I'm not sure I see that right now.

KAGAN: All right, we'll be watching what's happening on Capitol Hill today. Shaun Assael from "ESPN The Magazine," thank you. ASSAEL: Thank for having me.

KAGAN: And still on the sports scene, but looking at baseball now, it was all about A-Rod at Yankees Stadium. Check it out. Alex Rodriguez hitting three home runs, knocked in 10 RBIs. The Yanks clobbered the Angels 12-4. There's number three. Alex Rodriguez becomes just the 11 player in history to have 10 or more RBIs in one game.

Topic A at the dot-com desk today is the NBA playoffs. Wow, we just have a plethora of sports.

And for that we're going to pass it off to CNN's Christina Park at the dot-com desk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINA PARK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Drive right by those scalpers and the ticket lines. We've got your virtual courtside seats to the NBA playoffs at SI.com. Get up close and personal with the postseason's most important players in our photo gallery, ballers like the Heat's Shaquille O'Neal and the Bull's Ben Gordon will have to kick it into high gear to push their teams deep into the playoffs. If you like nail-biters, check out the showdown going on in Texas, where the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets are facing off for the first time in the postseason since 1988. Our expert Marty Burns is putting his money on the Mavs in the best-of-seven series because of their offensive firepower.

If you're looking for a champion to root for, six out of eight experts at SI.com think the San Antonio Spurs will win it all. But don't count out he the defending champs the Detroit Pistons.

And if you're more interested in the postseason personalities, SI.com/nba peers into the crystal ball to separate the champs from the chumps. Among the champs, the long-armed wonder, Detroit's very versatile Tayshaun Prince. Among the chumps, Detroit coach Larry Brown for beating his "play the right way" mantra into the ground.

And before you log off, be sure to scroll down for the complete series schedule from now into May. You're in a whole new league at SI.com/nba.

Reporting for the dot-com desk, I'm Christina Park.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: We are talking big -- big, big, big just ahead, big enough to carry more than 800 people at one time. In the skies over France, aviation history in the making. We'll have more on the super jumbo. And it's the wedding of royal magnitude, 300 guests. Details on the four-legged bride, the groom and the bridal party.

We hear it was an arranged marriage, but we'll get the scoop coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Ongoing tensions in the Middle East make it easy to forget how the lives of Israelis and Palestinians are often intertwined. There's a new documentary out, though. It's called "Another Road Home." It explores that theme in a very personal way.

Danae Elon wrote, produced, and directed the film, and she's joining me from New York City to talk about it. Good morning.

DANAE ELON, DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR: Hello.

KAGAN: I watched the whole thing yesterday afternoon. Fascinating.

ELON: Thank you.

KAGAN: Couldn't stop watching.

ELON: Oh, good.

KAGAN: I'm going to try to do a "Reader's Digest" on your story, to set it up. And then you tell me how I do. You grew up in Jerusalem, the daughter of a famous Israeli writer, Amos Elon, and an American mother. But your family had this man, Moussa, who worked for the family and in many ways, raised you.

ELON: Mmm hmm.

KAGAN: And then all these years later, you have lost touch. You want to go back and find him.

ELON: Right.

KAGAN: This Palestinian man who was living in Palestinian territory.

ELON: Uh-huh.

KAGAN: The one thing I didn't understand from the movie, why? Where did that desire from at this point and time?

ELON: Well, I wanted to make an honest film about relationship between families that face -- in the background of such a big conflict. And I felt that by using my own family, I could talk about certain contradictions that existed in that relationship and really talk about certain truths that don't come out in the news, don't come out in the media, because there's not a possibility to explore them.

KAGAN: There was so many interesting -- I don't want to say conflicts, but relationships that were explored in this movie. You also look how this Palestinian family unfolds. All these sons sent here to the U.S., living the American dream and yet somehow feeling displaced because there is this desire to be back where they came from.

ELON: Right. The film deals with the entire conflict, but in a very familial way. So you can relate it to many conflicts and you can relate it to interpersonal relationships that exist in an extreme situation. We all kind of feel a little bit displaced when we leave our homeland and come to a foreign country. So somehow by making this film here in New Jersey, it made it easier for us to communicate with one another and easier for us to really talk about real issues.

KAGAN: One thing that's not easy and that is how you got not only the Palestinian family but your own family to allow the cameras to roll on some very personal and sometimes tense moments. Some of the conversations between you and your father are interesting to watch. We have a clip from the movie that I want to watch for a moment. We'll talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMOS ELON, DANAE'S FATHER: One reason why there are no more intimate relations between Israelis like me and like-minded Palestinians is that it's too painful. You cannot just go there and talk about poetry. The situation is so tense that you have to talk the whole time about the conflict.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: That's your dad, known as a famous and liberal writer in Israel, and yet, it's striking in this movie to see just how uncomfortable he is to be around Palestinians.

ELON: Well, those are the truths that I'm talking about. Those are the kind of things that I felt my entire life. And in a way, only by exposing myself and exposing my own family, I could really talk about them and I could expose them in an honest way. So I think that that was the choice of making it in such a personal manner, because this...

KAGAN: I just want to talk about what we're seeing on the screen right now. This is Moussa, this is the man who worked for your family all these years. The reunion with your parents. You go back and follow him back to Palestinian territory where he lived. He has some very heartfelt, smart and wise things to say to you at different points in the movie.

ELON: Yes. Well, I guess that I -- we discovered him when I made this film, and I also, in the whole process, our relationship was unveiled in a way that really exposed him in the most wonderful way that we all saw him. Not only myself, but also my family.

KAGAN: One of the sweetest moments is when he gives you a hard time, "but why aren't you married?"

ELON: Right.

KAGAN: It always comes down to that, doesn't it?

ELON: Right. That's why we make the film.

KAGAN: Very good. Well, I really enjoyed it. It's called "Another Road Home" and people can find out more about where they can see it, anotherroadthemovie.com.

ELON: Dot com.

KAGAN: Very good.

ELON: Thank you so much.

KAGAN: Danae Elon, thank you. And thanks for sharing your documentary.

ELON: Thank you.

KAGAN: Onto this morning's "World Wrap" now.

Russia's president is on a quest for a greater role in the Middle East. That's Vladimir Putin's visit to Cairo, marking the first time in 40 years a Russian or Soviet leader has been to Egypt. During a press conference today with the Egyptian president, Mr. Putin proposed a Mid East peace conference in Moscow later this year. Mr. Putin later today will become the first Kremlin leader ever to visit Israel.

At the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI held his first general audience today. He told the 15,000 people there that he picked the name Benedict to connect spiritually with Benedict XV. He was pope of during the turbulent era of World War I.

And in India, a full-blown wedding went straight to the dogs, literally. Like a lot of arranged marriages, a canine bride and groom did not hit it off right away. The bride apparently nipped the groom during -- it was just a brief scuffle. Really, just brief.

And continuing our animal beat here, we want to give you an update on the sea lion in Southern California. He has found freedom. Let's go ahead and take a look at the pictures. A sea lion who had taken up residence in the giant water tank of one of the water and power plants there. That was not acceptable, they didn't think it was safe. They managed to trap him, set him free. And he is loving life. Apparently -- he looks happy to be free, but apparently he had taken up residence in this L.A. power plant tank, and attempts to rescue him from there were unsuccessful. He thought he found a pretty nice pad, was living the life. But he is out in the Pacific Ocean once again.

Yet again, we're setting the bar so high. Very difficult for the noon show to top that. And yet, Carol Lin in today.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: I was going to say, that's a hard act to follow, and the doggie wedding, you know? A little nip for the groom.

KAGAN: It was just a little nip.

LIN: Yes.

KAGAN: Just a little bite. I'm sure they'll find love. It comes later.

LIN: Just a preview of things to come in married life. Anyway, Daryn, good to see you.We've got a lot of news coming up on "NEWS FROM CNN."

Fresh start, perhaps, for the folks in Iraq. I'm in for Wolf today. We're going to be talking about a step forward, as well as a step back in Iraq. On a day when one Iraqi assembly member was assassinated, news that there could soon be a vote on a new government. We are going to have a live report from Baghdad.

And as the president gets set to unveil new energy proposals, we are going to talk about how some his ideas may or may not help with the current energy crunch. So watch for those stories, more at the top of the hour on NEWS FROM CNN.

But Daryn, finish out the hour with great aplomb.

KAGAN: I, too, have to top the sea lion story. We'll see if we can do it. We'll see you at the top of the hour. Thank you, Carol.

We're going to find treasure and it might be as close as your backyard. How some friends digging up a tree -- they hit real pager. That's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: Aviation history was made near Tulus (ph), France today. A short time ago the Airbus A-380 completed its maiden test flight. It set a record as the largest, heaviest aircraft ever to supply. It's a massive jet, designed to care up to 555 passengers in style and comfort, and it has room for 800. It will compete with Boeing's 747 jumbo jets, along with the world's largest trans-oceanic flight. Boeing plans to battle back with a long range version of its new Dreamliner. That's a midsized plane, however, that won't carry nearly as many passengers as the new Airbus. So Boeing has already had advanced orders for nearly 200 Dreamliners. Business analysts say orders for Dreamliners and other planes has Boeing looking fairly robust of late. Recent orders include three big deals totalling more than $15 billion.

Well, speaking of money, who says it doesn't grow on trees, or at least underneath them. A landscaping project lead a Massachusetts man to buried treasure and new riches.

Our Dan Lothian has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Twenty-three-year- old Tim Corbasi (ph) hit pay dirt while digging up tree in his back yard three weeks ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of a sudden, like, I hit this crate. I was just, like, beside myself. I just started jumping around.

LOTHIAN: Buried treasure from the 1890s to the 1920s, stuffed inside nine rusted cans, an underground vault of sorts in Methuen, Massachusetts, north of Boston on the New Hampshire border. Corbasi's friend, Barry Villcliff, who was helping with the landscaping project, was stunned.

BARRY VILLCLIFF, FRIEND: I look at the can, and I look inside. I can see it's full of dollar bills. Finding rare notes like the bison $10 bills and gold certificates and silver certificates.

LOTHIAN: But was it all real?

VILLCLIFF: Even at that time, we didn't know if they were worth the paper they were printed on or if it's, you know, a huge find.

LOTHIAN: So, they took the loot to a nearby coin shop owner.

DOMENIC MANGAND, VILLAGE COIN SHOP: You're looking at the notes and you're saying, no, this can't be. This can't be. Not all this at once.

LOTHIAN (on camera): Only then did the two friends learn the true value of their discovery. More than $100,000. The theory is that immigrants, more than a century ago, who didn't trust local banks, buried, then forgot the treasures.

(voice over): The friends don't want the public to know where they live, fearful treasure hunters will descend on the property. For now, they plan to split the profits.

Corbasi, who says he still doesn't feel rich...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not yet. As soon as I sell them I will.

LOTHIAN: ... plans to buy a new car.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Well, that's a good-luck story to end this newscast on. It's going to do it for me. I'm Daryn Kagan. I'll see you right back here tomorrow morning.

Carol Lin will be in Wolf Blitzer at the top of the hour. Hope you have a great day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired April 27, 2005 - 10:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Ibrahim Al-Jafari submitted his list of cabinet officials today. He did not reveal any names, but Al-Jafari says the government will reflect Iraq's diverse ethnic population.
Dollars for defense, Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld appearing before a Senate panel this hour. Live pictures from Capitol Hill. He is there to talk about the Pentagon budget.

Joint chiefs chairman Richard Myers is also testifying before the committee. The Pentagon has proposed $419 billion dollar for its budget for the next year.

Police are searching today for 12-year-old Margarita Aguilar- Lopez. She was last seen at a motel in Bradenton (ph), Florida. Police believe her kidnapper is an acquaintance. The man may be driving a red van. Authorities say the girl is in the country illegally from Mexico. She was babysitting while adults in her family worked as day laborers.

And if he survives, a New York cabbie may face charges after he set off a chain-reaction accident. The driver hit at least three cars and struck a pedestrian twice before stopping. The pregnant passenger is in critical condition today. She gave birth last night by C- section. The baby girl is fine.

First it was baseball. Today the NFL is on Capitol Hill to tackle steroids in big league sports.

CNN's Kimberly Osias joining me now from Washington with the latest -- Kim.

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

Congress is again putting professional sports under the microscope. At issue, anabolic steroid abuse. Last month, baseball was under scrutiny, and now the heat it on the NFL. Witnesses testifying include NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, director of the player's association Gene Upshaw, and former Pittsburgh Steeler Steve Courson, who admitted to using steroids decades ago. Although the NFL has been praised for instituting random testing 15 years ago, and recently tripling the number of offseason tests that can be done, Courson says there are still significant loopholes in the testing technology. He says the new designer drugs are so sophisticated that their molecular structure can be altered, making their presence virtually undetectable. Some congressional committee members agree, saying current standards aren't rigorous enough. Members want universal athletic testing protocols. What would apply for badminton would apply for basketball, too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHRISTOPHER SHAYS (R), CONNECTICUT: They can't hide behind work internal rules and penalties and ignore the broader impact of the "win at all costs" culture they glamorize. Bottom line, baseball has five strikes and you're out. It appears that football has four strikes and you're out. I think it needs to be much less than that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: Representative Christopher Shays wants to see standards like those in the International Olympic Committee, the ones that they have in place. Congressional committee members point out that half a million high school young men and women have admitted to using steroids at least once. High school coach Willie Stewart says young athletes aiming at scholarships think they need to cheat to get there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIE STEWART, HIGH SCHOOL COACH: Some of the student athletes want a quick fix. Unfortunately there are no quick fixes, meaning down the road, the student athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs are at risk for premature heart attacks, strokes, liver tumors, kidney failure and other health complications.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: Today's hearing isn't expected to be nearly contentious as baseball's. So far, the NFL has been cooperative in supplying information about how the testing is done and the number of positive results. But committee members are expected to pepper the organization with tough questions of just how players can get around it -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Kimberly Osias in Washington D.C.

Let's get the behind-the-scenes scoop on steroids in the NFL.

Shaun Assael is a writer for "ESPN The Magazine," joining me live now from New York.

Shaun, good morning.

SHAUN ASSAEL, "ESPN MAGAZINE": Thanks for having me.

KAGAN: All right, we've heard anybody who covers sports that the NFL does have a tougher drug-testing policy than many other sports, including baseball. What's the real deal, though, about what's going on with NFL players behind the scenes and steroids?

ASSAEL: What's really rattled the NFL is there is a doctor in North Carolina who is prescribing testosterone own to Carolina Panthers, and what was insidious about it was that he was prescribing just enough for them to fly under the test. Without getting too complicating, there's a ratio, six to one, of testosterone to every testosterone. He was getting them just under that ratio. So it shows that with a doctor's care, even the best intentions can be thwarted.

KAGAN: Well, if you look at what's happened, you know, so much focus on baseball and all the home runs that have been hit in recent years, but look what's at happened to football players. You know, look at the size of the player that were just drafted last weekend. They're huge. They're so bigger than they've been over the last couple of decades, and it can't just be the food that the kids are eating.

ASSAEL: Well, I mean, if you talk to some of the team trainers, they say it could be just the food. I mean, these are functionally obese players.

I mean, what's interesting about this to me is that the NFL has been sort of the teacher's pet on this issue. For 15 years they've had a policy they've prescribed largely to Olympic standards. And shortly before the four major sports commissioners were hauled before Congress last year, the NFL, I thought quite shrewdly, contributed $10 million to a lab in Ohio to improve techniques. So the NFL, which has by the way great tie toss Congress, is incredibly shrewd on this, which is why I think we're not seeing them getting hammered nearly as much as baseball.

KAGAN: Well, and they're trying to do it again today. Paul Tagliabue coming out and saying we're going to even add more offseason testing. But you cover the sport. How good is the testing to really catch what's happening out there?

ASSAEL: You know, it's not -- in the NFL, it's not 100 percent. But what you're really aiming for here is deterrents. If you're caught in the NFL, I think the first strike is four games, which is nearly a quarter of the season. So the question is, is the testing good enough to deter a large number of players? I think in the NFL, more are deterred than in baseball.

KAGAN: And overall, what do you think the fans are really looking for here? Do you think the fans care, or do the fans just really want to watch really aggressive, really strong men play football every Sunday, or almost every day of the week as the NFL schedule is now playing out to be.

ASSAEL: Yes, I don't really think the fans care all that much. And that, I think, is significant for the endgame here, because what we're really seeing is a movement in Congress to take drug testing away from sports and put them in the hands of a neutral organization, like the U.S. Antidoping Agency. To do that, though, would take a fair amount of popular pressure on the leagues, and I'm not sure I see that right now.

KAGAN: All right, we'll be watching what's happening on Capitol Hill today. Shaun Assael from "ESPN The Magazine," thank you. ASSAEL: Thank for having me.

KAGAN: And still on the sports scene, but looking at baseball now, it was all about A-Rod at Yankees Stadium. Check it out. Alex Rodriguez hitting three home runs, knocked in 10 RBIs. The Yanks clobbered the Angels 12-4. There's number three. Alex Rodriguez becomes just the 11 player in history to have 10 or more RBIs in one game.

Topic A at the dot-com desk today is the NBA playoffs. Wow, we just have a plethora of sports.

And for that we're going to pass it off to CNN's Christina Park at the dot-com desk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINA PARK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Drive right by those scalpers and the ticket lines. We've got your virtual courtside seats to the NBA playoffs at SI.com. Get up close and personal with the postseason's most important players in our photo gallery, ballers like the Heat's Shaquille O'Neal and the Bull's Ben Gordon will have to kick it into high gear to push their teams deep into the playoffs. If you like nail-biters, check out the showdown going on in Texas, where the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets are facing off for the first time in the postseason since 1988. Our expert Marty Burns is putting his money on the Mavs in the best-of-seven series because of their offensive firepower.

If you're looking for a champion to root for, six out of eight experts at SI.com think the San Antonio Spurs will win it all. But don't count out he the defending champs the Detroit Pistons.

And if you're more interested in the postseason personalities, SI.com/nba peers into the crystal ball to separate the champs from the chumps. Among the champs, the long-armed wonder, Detroit's very versatile Tayshaun Prince. Among the chumps, Detroit coach Larry Brown for beating his "play the right way" mantra into the ground.

And before you log off, be sure to scroll down for the complete series schedule from now into May. You're in a whole new league at SI.com/nba.

Reporting for the dot-com desk, I'm Christina Park.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: We are talking big -- big, big, big just ahead, big enough to carry more than 800 people at one time. In the skies over France, aviation history in the making. We'll have more on the super jumbo. And it's the wedding of royal magnitude, 300 guests. Details on the four-legged bride, the groom and the bridal party.

We hear it was an arranged marriage, but we'll get the scoop coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Ongoing tensions in the Middle East make it easy to forget how the lives of Israelis and Palestinians are often intertwined. There's a new documentary out, though. It's called "Another Road Home." It explores that theme in a very personal way.

Danae Elon wrote, produced, and directed the film, and she's joining me from New York City to talk about it. Good morning.

DANAE ELON, DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR: Hello.

KAGAN: I watched the whole thing yesterday afternoon. Fascinating.

ELON: Thank you.

KAGAN: Couldn't stop watching.

ELON: Oh, good.

KAGAN: I'm going to try to do a "Reader's Digest" on your story, to set it up. And then you tell me how I do. You grew up in Jerusalem, the daughter of a famous Israeli writer, Amos Elon, and an American mother. But your family had this man, Moussa, who worked for the family and in many ways, raised you.

ELON: Mmm hmm.

KAGAN: And then all these years later, you have lost touch. You want to go back and find him.

ELON: Right.

KAGAN: This Palestinian man who was living in Palestinian territory.

ELON: Uh-huh.

KAGAN: The one thing I didn't understand from the movie, why? Where did that desire from at this point and time?

ELON: Well, I wanted to make an honest film about relationship between families that face -- in the background of such a big conflict. And I felt that by using my own family, I could talk about certain contradictions that existed in that relationship and really talk about certain truths that don't come out in the news, don't come out in the media, because there's not a possibility to explore them.

KAGAN: There was so many interesting -- I don't want to say conflicts, but relationships that were explored in this movie. You also look how this Palestinian family unfolds. All these sons sent here to the U.S., living the American dream and yet somehow feeling displaced because there is this desire to be back where they came from.

ELON: Right. The film deals with the entire conflict, but in a very familial way. So you can relate it to many conflicts and you can relate it to interpersonal relationships that exist in an extreme situation. We all kind of feel a little bit displaced when we leave our homeland and come to a foreign country. So somehow by making this film here in New Jersey, it made it easier for us to communicate with one another and easier for us to really talk about real issues.

KAGAN: One thing that's not easy and that is how you got not only the Palestinian family but your own family to allow the cameras to roll on some very personal and sometimes tense moments. Some of the conversations between you and your father are interesting to watch. We have a clip from the movie that I want to watch for a moment. We'll talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMOS ELON, DANAE'S FATHER: One reason why there are no more intimate relations between Israelis like me and like-minded Palestinians is that it's too painful. You cannot just go there and talk about poetry. The situation is so tense that you have to talk the whole time about the conflict.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: That's your dad, known as a famous and liberal writer in Israel, and yet, it's striking in this movie to see just how uncomfortable he is to be around Palestinians.

ELON: Well, those are the truths that I'm talking about. Those are the kind of things that I felt my entire life. And in a way, only by exposing myself and exposing my own family, I could really talk about them and I could expose them in an honest way. So I think that that was the choice of making it in such a personal manner, because this...

KAGAN: I just want to talk about what we're seeing on the screen right now. This is Moussa, this is the man who worked for your family all these years. The reunion with your parents. You go back and follow him back to Palestinian territory where he lived. He has some very heartfelt, smart and wise things to say to you at different points in the movie.

ELON: Yes. Well, I guess that I -- we discovered him when I made this film, and I also, in the whole process, our relationship was unveiled in a way that really exposed him in the most wonderful way that we all saw him. Not only myself, but also my family.

KAGAN: One of the sweetest moments is when he gives you a hard time, "but why aren't you married?"

ELON: Right.

KAGAN: It always comes down to that, doesn't it?

ELON: Right. That's why we make the film.

KAGAN: Very good. Well, I really enjoyed it. It's called "Another Road Home" and people can find out more about where they can see it, anotherroadthemovie.com.

ELON: Dot com.

KAGAN: Very good.

ELON: Thank you so much.

KAGAN: Danae Elon, thank you. And thanks for sharing your documentary.

ELON: Thank you.

KAGAN: Onto this morning's "World Wrap" now.

Russia's president is on a quest for a greater role in the Middle East. That's Vladimir Putin's visit to Cairo, marking the first time in 40 years a Russian or Soviet leader has been to Egypt. During a press conference today with the Egyptian president, Mr. Putin proposed a Mid East peace conference in Moscow later this year. Mr. Putin later today will become the first Kremlin leader ever to visit Israel.

At the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI held his first general audience today. He told the 15,000 people there that he picked the name Benedict to connect spiritually with Benedict XV. He was pope of during the turbulent era of World War I.

And in India, a full-blown wedding went straight to the dogs, literally. Like a lot of arranged marriages, a canine bride and groom did not hit it off right away. The bride apparently nipped the groom during -- it was just a brief scuffle. Really, just brief.

And continuing our animal beat here, we want to give you an update on the sea lion in Southern California. He has found freedom. Let's go ahead and take a look at the pictures. A sea lion who had taken up residence in the giant water tank of one of the water and power plants there. That was not acceptable, they didn't think it was safe. They managed to trap him, set him free. And he is loving life. Apparently -- he looks happy to be free, but apparently he had taken up residence in this L.A. power plant tank, and attempts to rescue him from there were unsuccessful. He thought he found a pretty nice pad, was living the life. But he is out in the Pacific Ocean once again.

Yet again, we're setting the bar so high. Very difficult for the noon show to top that. And yet, Carol Lin in today.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: I was going to say, that's a hard act to follow, and the doggie wedding, you know? A little nip for the groom.

KAGAN: It was just a little nip.

LIN: Yes.

KAGAN: Just a little bite. I'm sure they'll find love. It comes later.

LIN: Just a preview of things to come in married life. Anyway, Daryn, good to see you.We've got a lot of news coming up on "NEWS FROM CNN."

Fresh start, perhaps, for the folks in Iraq. I'm in for Wolf today. We're going to be talking about a step forward, as well as a step back in Iraq. On a day when one Iraqi assembly member was assassinated, news that there could soon be a vote on a new government. We are going to have a live report from Baghdad.

And as the president gets set to unveil new energy proposals, we are going to talk about how some his ideas may or may not help with the current energy crunch. So watch for those stories, more at the top of the hour on NEWS FROM CNN.

But Daryn, finish out the hour with great aplomb.

KAGAN: I, too, have to top the sea lion story. We'll see if we can do it. We'll see you at the top of the hour. Thank you, Carol.

We're going to find treasure and it might be as close as your backyard. How some friends digging up a tree -- they hit real pager. That's just ahead.

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(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: Aviation history was made near Tulus (ph), France today. A short time ago the Airbus A-380 completed its maiden test flight. It set a record as the largest, heaviest aircraft ever to supply. It's a massive jet, designed to care up to 555 passengers in style and comfort, and it has room for 800. It will compete with Boeing's 747 jumbo jets, along with the world's largest trans-oceanic flight. Boeing plans to battle back with a long range version of its new Dreamliner. That's a midsized plane, however, that won't carry nearly as many passengers as the new Airbus. So Boeing has already had advanced orders for nearly 200 Dreamliners. Business analysts say orders for Dreamliners and other planes has Boeing looking fairly robust of late. Recent orders include three big deals totalling more than $15 billion.

Well, speaking of money, who says it doesn't grow on trees, or at least underneath them. A landscaping project lead a Massachusetts man to buried treasure and new riches.

Our Dan Lothian has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Twenty-three-year- old Tim Corbasi (ph) hit pay dirt while digging up tree in his back yard three weeks ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of a sudden, like, I hit this crate. I was just, like, beside myself. I just started jumping around.

LOTHIAN: Buried treasure from the 1890s to the 1920s, stuffed inside nine rusted cans, an underground vault of sorts in Methuen, Massachusetts, north of Boston on the New Hampshire border. Corbasi's friend, Barry Villcliff, who was helping with the landscaping project, was stunned.

BARRY VILLCLIFF, FRIEND: I look at the can, and I look inside. I can see it's full of dollar bills. Finding rare notes like the bison $10 bills and gold certificates and silver certificates.

LOTHIAN: But was it all real?

VILLCLIFF: Even at that time, we didn't know if they were worth the paper they were printed on or if it's, you know, a huge find.

LOTHIAN: So, they took the loot to a nearby coin shop owner.

DOMENIC MANGAND, VILLAGE COIN SHOP: You're looking at the notes and you're saying, no, this can't be. This can't be. Not all this at once.

LOTHIAN (on camera): Only then did the two friends learn the true value of their discovery. More than $100,000. The theory is that immigrants, more than a century ago, who didn't trust local banks, buried, then forgot the treasures.

(voice over): The friends don't want the public to know where they live, fearful treasure hunters will descend on the property. For now, they plan to split the profits.

Corbasi, who says he still doesn't feel rich...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not yet. As soon as I sell them I will.

LOTHIAN: ... plans to buy a new car.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Well, that's a good-luck story to end this newscast on. It's going to do it for me. I'm Daryn Kagan. I'll see you right back here tomorrow morning.

Carol Lin will be in Wolf Blitzer at the top of the hour. Hope you have a great day.

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