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CNN LIVE SUNDAY

Tornadoes Rip Through Indiana; Archaeologists Find Church Almost as Old as Christianity Itself

Aired November 6, 2005 - 18:00   ET

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

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Terror in the middle of the night in the Midwest. Tornadoes ripped through Indiana. More than 20 people are dead. Hundreds are injured. And survivors are telling their harrowing stories.
Another survivor's story, this one miraculous. An SUV plunges into the water. Three family members escape. One child cannot get out. It takes one very brave person to save him. We've got those details straight ahead.

And people are all abuzz over the find of a lifetime. Archaeologists have found a church almost as old as Christianity itself, possibly the oldest church in the world.

It is November 6. And you're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY.

Good evening. From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin.

To our top story in just a moment, but first, these are the stories making nice right now.

French president Jacques Chirac calls an emergency cabinet meeting to find ways to stop riots. He vows to punish those who have torched cars and properties for the past 11 nights.

Two leading senators are saying Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito will probably get a confirmation vote without a filibuster. Democrat Joseph Biden and Republican John McCain both agree.

The governor of Pennsylvania is trying to get Philadelphia transit running again by meeting separately with striking labor and management. Public transportation in the city has been almost completely shut down for a week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just a very eerie feeling when the tornado sirens went off, then the very still, quiet calm outside. And then the hail and then the freight train sound. So I mean, it was personally very scary for me and my family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: This is our top story. This frightening night. Scary is the understatement. In the middle of the night, tornadoes spun from a wild thunderstorm, tore up a 20-mile swathe in Indiana. 22 people are dead. Ten times that number are hurt.

Search and rescue crews are combing an Evansville mobile home park right now for people who are still trapped inside. Power is out to more than 20,000 homes.

Now, the sun is just starting to set in Southern Indiana. Ed Lavandera is there right now. Ed, what does the damage look like?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Carol, this particular area is one of the hardest hit areas by this storm. This is the Eastbrook Mobile Home Park that is where we had found 17 people that were killed here.

Now you were mentioning that this storm hit not just in the middle of the night, but the worst part about is that this comes months after the regional tornado season is in place. So that was something that even caught many of these people here off guard.

So many of the people here trying to put together the pieces here. Search and rescue teams, as you mentioned, still going through the area even 17 hours after the storm hit here. They are going through a second search.

And just a few hours ago an 8-year-old boy was found alive wrapped in debris in a ditch. So that is at least one piece of bright news that has come from here today.

But other than that, it has been a devastating day. Hundreds have been treated for injuries. Many in critical condition, about a dozen or so. Many treated for head and chest trauma injuries. About 20,000 people throughout the area without power as well, making it a very difficult night here in Evansville -- Carol.

LIN: Ed, it is good news indeed. Do you think that people are going to be searching through the night at least to find another child like the 8-year-old you just described?

LAVANDERA: They will continue to keep working through the night here, Carol. As you mentioned, night is starting to fall. And it's starting to get darker here. But we still do see the crews going through this particular mobile home park trying to clear out what they can. And there is still a search and rescue operation as they continue to call it.

LIN: All right. Ed Lavandera on the scene.

Well, these are deadly twisters, clearly. They burst from a line of ferocious thunderstorms. And just like what Ed was saying, it is not even tornado season right now. Pounded counties all the way from the Ohio River and it headed northeast. CNN severe weather expert Chad Myers in the weather center.

Chad, that's why they call this "tornado alley." But it came so unexpectedly.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It sure did. 2:00 in the morning. Whose thinking about that? You're thinking about 6:00, 7:00 in the afternoon, in the heat of the day. This certainly wasn't heat of the day.

I backed up radar to midnight last night. Evansville had some rain to the west. Had some fairly large thunderstorms. But now let me move it -- it was a squall line that just rolled right through the area.

It rolled right through and the storm separated, that one storm right there separated from the line. And on the base of that separation is where the rotation occurred.

And the rotation occurs in a thunderstorm because of a small even low pressure system we almost call it. We call it mesocyclone, that a big, long word that means a low pressure spin to one of the storms, and many of the storms were spinning, today, in fact.

I backed this up to 2:10 a.m. That's when the storm went by. And how many people are awake at:00 in the morning waiting for a thunderstorm to go by? Yes, the tornado warning was ten minutes early. There was advanced warning. But if you weren't paying attention, or if you didn't have a weather service weather radio, you didn't even know that this was going on. And that's how so many people got caught off guard.

Let's not get caught off guard tonight, because a similar situation is happening right now a little bit farther to the east.

Upstate New York. Here's the Catskills and the Alleganies, Adirondacks right here, Catskills, Pocanoes down here. Alleganies a little bit behind me here.

Here's the storm. A couple of storms where winds are going to really start picking up here. We could have an awful lot of wind damage reports even tonight and tomorrow morning through New York, Pennsylvania and down into Washington, D.C. because of the way the frontal system's working.

Here is one of the bows. This yellow box you see here is a severe thunderstorm watch box, but there's still the potential for a tornado even though there's not a tornado watch. Just keep that in mind. One of these storms breaks off from the line, maybe like this one's doing right here. You can get some spin.

There's Uttica all the way down into Binghamton, down I-81, right on down through the Sequehanna River valley just to the west of Scranton and Wilkesberry. We're going to see an awful lot of power line down damage across the northeast even without the warnings that are going on right now, even without tornadoes, there may be half a million people without power in the morning. So keep that in mind. Get that flashlight if you're east of this line this morning -- Carol.

LIN: All right. Appreciate the warning. Thanks, Chad. You're going to be with us through tonight tracking some of these thunderstorms so people can get ready for tonight for whatever may happen. Some of those people, though, in Evansville had only a ten-minute warning that a tornado was about to hit. Rescuers are on the ground right now. Brenna Garnet is with the Red Cross in Evansville right now. Brenna, how quickly was the Red Cross able the move in for this situation?

BRENNA GARNET, RED CROSS: Rather quickly, actually. We received word from the immediate response agencies, the fire central dispatch called us immediately after, within 45 minutes to an hour, where we were able to locate our disaster volunteers and get on the scene quickly after.

LIN: What were you able to do right afterwards?

GARNET: Initially we prepare for situation like this with our disaster volunteers who collect and get information to do a disaster response and do disaster intake. Able to let us see what's going on with individual clients.

From that point on, we were opening a shelter. Clients were coming to a shelter to meet the immediate needs of food, clothing and shelter as well as mental health administrators were assisting them as well.

LIN: Right. Because these people have to be in shock.

GARNET: Oh, definitely. You can imagine something as devastating as this, you would need someone to talk to about the emotions that you were feeling and what you actually went through and experienced.

LIN: Brenna, there's something going on right behind you. I see some lights and I hear some equipment. Do you know what that is?

GARNET: They're actually getting prepared for dark rescue and recovery right now. We're getting ready to have the sun set here in Evansville. So they're pulling in generators, they're pulling in lights so they can continue throughout the search and rescue efforts throughout the night and into the morning as well.

LIN: What does it feel like to stand there in the midst of all that rubble, knowing that there may still be people alive under there?

GARNET: It's heartbreaking and overwhelming. As I walked on here to do this interview, this is the first time I've come down to the site. And I see people's clothing strewn through trees as well as insulation and newspapers and items that you would find in your home just thrown about. It's overwhelming. And it's difficult to even explain in words.

LIN: You know, there's still hope, though, Brenna. Did you hear about the rescue of that 8-year-old boy. And it turns out he's alive.

GARNET: We did.

LIN: So, anything could happen tonight behind you. GARNET: Exactly. We're hoping that there will be more rescues like that tonight as well.

LIN: We do, too. Brenna, thank you very much. Good work out there. I know those people really need the food and the shelter and the clothing and a hand to hold. The Red Cross on the scene.

GARNET: Thank you.

LIN: Well, a death row fugitive is still at large. Convicted killer Charles Victor Thompson's clothes are found, but where is he? We're following his trail, next. .

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I want to be near my husband. I want a good education for my children. I don't think I'm asking for a difficult thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: The widow of an Iraqi pilot buried as a hero at Arlington National Cemetery. And now she wants her American dream.

And later, archaeologists believe they discovered the oldest church in the Holy Land.

But first, a look at some of the devastation left behind in Kentucky and Indiana.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: An intensified hunt for the death row inmate who strolled away from a Houston jail. Authorities say Charles Victor Thompson did have help. CNN's Keith Oppenheim has more from Houston.

Keith, you and I were both talking with a former FBI investigator about that possibility, maybe an inside job.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And Don Clark felt -- our consultant felt that there was a good chance that he might have had help. Now officials are saying that Charles Victor Thompson, the escapee, there was a good chance that he might have had help. And they're basing that on the fact that a deputy found some civilian clothes, civilian clothes that Thompson had changed into for the escape near the jail.

The main jail is behind me. But there's another jail right across the street. And behind that building is where a deputy not only found the civilian clothes that Thompson was using, but also found an I.D. This was a prisoner I.D. that police say had been rigged up to look somewhat different and that Thompson had used to pose as an investigator for the attorney general general's office.

U.S. marshals are offering $10,000, a $10,000 reward for information that would lead to the capture of Charles Victor Thompson. And police here are emphasizing now this is very much a nationwide manhunt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. JOHN MARTIN, HARRIS CO. TEXAS SHERIFF'S DEPT: We've notified airports in case he tries to get on a plane to go somewhere else. We've notified borders in case he tries to leave the country. And so we're really making the effort to get the word out as wide as possible because we really want to get this guy apprehended and get him off the streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OPPENHEIM: It was last Thursday that Charles Victor Thompson went from an inmate booth, posed as an investigator and, as we have been talking essentially walked out the front door because of security mistakes made on the inside of this jail.

And keep in mind, he has been condemned to death twice by Texas courts. He was back in this jail for a resentencing. He was convicted in 1998 for the murder of his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend. Police say they are following a lot of leads in this case, but no luck at this point. They are continuing to try to find out where he might be. Back to you, Carol.

LIN: Keith, so what are they doing to figure out who might have helped him? Do they have any clues at all?

OPPENHEIM: They don't give details about that for good reason, because they don't want to tip off the people who could be assisting him that they're following that path. But they have generally described to me the idea behind it, which is they look for places where logically he would go to get financial support, to get transportation support, to get clothes, the basics of survival and moving around.

LIN: All right. Keith Oppenheim, thank you very much.

Joining me now from Austin, Texas, former FBI agent Don Clark who knows that facility really well.

Don, what does it tell you that they found the clothing and the fake I.D. so close to the jail? Does it mean that he jumped in a car and may have driven a lot farther than we hope?

DON CLARK, FMR. FBI: Well, that's a possibility of that, carol. One of the things that have you look at right from the beginning with all of the circumstances that took place and the activities that took place, one would have to conclude, almost, that it's not an accident and he's not just lucky, that this was a planned act on his part. And no one knows at this point how long this has been planned.

It could have even been planned to the point of airline tickets and other false identification being laid out for him. So they cannot, you know, dispel any of those type of things. They've now got to a look at every conceivable avenue. LIN: It sounds dramatic when the authorities say nationwide manhunt, but frankly, that tells me they don't really know where to look next?

CLARK: Well, that's right. I suspect that they do have some leads. I mean, clearly, the obviously leads -- and as you and Keith just talked about with some of the obvious leads going to people that he knew and so forth. But now they've got to develop and try to identify places that they didn't know in advance and look into those situations. And they may very well be well outside of the state of Texas. But you don't want to just go with that because also he still could be right in Houston, quite frankly.

LIN: Now, you've dealt with serial killers. You've dealt with some really conniving, clever criminals. This guy is described as being incredibly charming and very resourceful.

A character like this, how easy is it for him -- if he can fool these deputies and get out of this jail, it's very possible he could be standing right in front of us and we wouldn't recognize him and he doesn't behave like most people would expect a criminal to behave.

CLARK: Well, you hit it on the head, Carol. This guy is very cunning. And he clearly is a con artist. And I don't know that people knew that before the actual acts that he's been convicted of, but he clearly is a con person. And that's what probably what got this started.

I mean, without a question, if there has been help from inside or outside he's co-opted these people. And they are now in serious people. So he doesn't care who he gets into trouble.

So you're right. And I think the authorities know that. With those task forces that they've got, they've been pretty good at looking at these things but they can't afford to leave any stone unturned here.

LIN: And really, the way this guy is going to get caught is someone will call with a tip.

CLARK: Well, you know Carol, it goes back a few years ago when I was still in the FBI that we went about with these type of activities with the rail car killers, and you know we'll have to use the citizens and the media. And we've got to keep as much information out there as we possibly can. Because as long as it's out there, then you've got millions of eyes that's looking out for at least an image of a person that they know that walked out of that jail.

LIN: You bet. Don Clark. Let's hope he's caught real soon. Thank you so much.

CLARK: Thank you, Carol.

LIN: We're going to have much more on this story later tonight at 10:00 eastern. My guest, the sister who was one of -- the sister of one of Thompson's victims. Tonight -- well, this person fears for her life. So we're going to hear why at 10:00 Eastern.

Now, anyone with information on the whereabouts of Charles Victor Thompson is encouraged to call the U.S. Marshals Office at 1-800-336- 0102. Get this guy behind bars.

Right now we've got more news also from across America. The bills are coming due for Hurricane Katrina. Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco slashes her state budget by $431 million. Louisiana law requires the budget to be in balance. But Katrina and Hurricane Rita have decimated the state's tax base.

In Houston, a second fatal plane crash in less than 24 hours. The FAA says a twin engine Piper was on approach this morning when it struck power lines and crashed on a car. Both people on the plane were killed and the person from the car was taken to the hospital.

And in Memphis, Tennessee, kaboom. The city's Baptist Memorial Hospital -- there you go -- is gone. It was demolished this morning, artfully so, to make way for a bioscience research park.

President Bush continues his Latin American tour and attempts to push his free trade policies in Brazil, but it's proving to be a hard sell. The latest from the region straight ahead.

But first, her husband was part of a band of brothers in Iraq. Well, they died together and were buried together. Now, the widow wants to be closer to her late husband. Her story when we go on the frontlines, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Every week we like to bring you the more personal stories from the front lines. And today you're going to see the story of a woman who loves her husband so much, she will find a way to be with him even after his death. An Iraqi pilot who fought and died along with U.S. troops. The first Iraqi to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

CNN's Aneesh Raman has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In life, 34 year old Ali Abbas inspired hope, a low ranking pilot under Saddam, Abbas became a captain in the new Iraqi army. A brother in arms with U.S. forces here.

HIYAM ABBAS, WIDOW (through translator): He was a very kind man, he never did anything wrong. He was the spirit of this house, he was the soul of this house.

RAMAN: This house now consumed with grief. On May 30th, Abbas, along with four Americans was flying on patrol north of Baghdad. The plane crashed. All on board were killed. Their deaths classified as non-hostile.

ABBAS: His commander called saying it was serious. They started to tell me stages. If you want me to describe how I received the news, up to now, I cannot believe it.

RAMAN: In August, the remains of all five crew members were buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Abbas the first Iraqi and only the 63rd foreign national to be interred there. Full military honors. A single casket for the remains of five men, indistinguishable in death.

A poignant in picture in shared toll the war has taken on American and Iraqi families alike.

(on camera): But since his burial Ali's family had to confront a difficult reality, at this time of Eid, when Muslims often honor and remember the dead, Hiyam is struggling with the distance between her and her husband's grave.

(voice-over): Unable to afford frequent trips back and forth to visit Ali, Hiyam now wants to move to the U.S.

ABBAS: I want to be near my husband, I want a good education for my children, I don't think I'm asking for a difficult thing, I'm not asking for millions of dollars, I wrote to the Americans, but nobody answered. RAMAN: An Iraqi who became an American hero. A wife who in grief can only look to the stars to be with her husband. One named in his honor.

ABBAS: He had had a dream of going to America, during the burial, I said to myself, maybe God gave him what he wanted.

RAMAN: And now his family is waiting to follow Ali.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Welcome back. Here's a quick look at what's happening right now in the news.

President Bush is in Brazil. And he wants businesses to trade freely without restrictions or extra taxes from Alaska all the way to Argentina. A lot is at stake for the U.S. economy. CNN's Dana Bash is going to have more on this later.

Prince Charles and Camilla attended a service today at a tiny rural church near San Francisco. The royals also planned an afternoon of landscape painting when visiting the area's rugged hills. That's vacation for you. Gas prices fell nearly a quarter a gallon over the past two weeks. That's down to $2.43 a gallon, 20 cents less than just before Hurricane Katrina, but 40 cents more than a year ago.

It was the biggest single day tornado death toll in seven years. At least 22 people are dead in Southern Indiana. And even now there may be people trapped in some of the wreckage of hundreds of mobile homes. 21,000 customers still do not have power. And at this very moment, rescue operations are under way to find people trapped, buried alive underneath the rubble.

A live picture right now as you're about to see the devastation in Evansville. This is what remains of a mobile park home. The lights there of authorities who are supervising a nighttime rescue operation. Just a few minutes ago, Ed Lavandera told us of a successful rescue of an 8-year-old boy found alive. So when you look at this, imagine if you will the hope that we hope to find underneath that rubble throughout the night as we continue with this developing story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When it all started, it was five after 2:00. And we heard, like they said, the train coming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This tornado is much worse than the storm we had a year-and-a-half ago. The storm a year-and-a-half ago was only an F-2. This is definitely going to be way more. We've got a lot more damage. It was just an eerie feeling when the tornado sirens went off. And then the very still, quiet calm outside. And then the hail and then the freight train sound. So I mean, it was personally very scary for me and my family.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was downstairs. I heard the tree hit my window. All I could see was the open sky and I just screamed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got a phone call from my daughter. And she called me right as the storm blew through. She said, daddy, the house is gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was just glass and wood debris just flying all around my head. So I had to pull my covers over my head for about 45 seconds to a minute. And then I managed to walk through the ceiling that was on my floor and my bed, and I managed to get down our stairs to the rest of my family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Once again, a live picture of this mobile home park devastated by a tornado that struck at 2:00 in the morning. This tornado cut a path 20 miles long of devastation. So far 22 people died. But again there is hope. A nighttime rescue operation under way right now. And at 10:00 Eastern tonight on our primetime show, I'm going to be talking to a family that survived the devastation and has a miraculous story to tell. We're going to bring you every development from the tornado as we get it. Count on us on that. In the meantime, we want to update you on this bizarre pirate attack off the African coast. We're told that everyone on board a luxury cruise liner is safe today after the ship repelled and finally outran a machine gun and rocket assault. It has cruise operators nervous about that part of the Indian Ocean. One of the passengers, Mike Rogers, from Vancouver, Canada, watched it all happen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE ROGERS, PASSENGER: We were in bed, and it was about 5:30 in the morning. And was awakened by the sound of what we figured out was bullets ricocheting off the side of the boat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How soon before the captain told you exactly what was happening?

ROGERS: It was very quick. And he didn't press the general alarm, but they'd been doing lots of drills, you know, the last few days. And he came on the speaker and said, this is not a drill. This is not a drill. We have a boat alongside that appears to be armed and please get low to the floor and stay away from the windows. So -- which is what we did.

And then we heard the first grenade hit us, which was -- they had rocket launchers. And I crawled over to the other side of the suite and closed our French doors because they were open. I was scared someone might lob something through the window. And the firing went on for a while. And the captain ushered everyone to assemble in the dining room.

And on the way out of the suite, we saw a lady who was in the suite across from us on the opposite side of the boat, and one of the grenades had gone right through her window and narrowly missing her while she was sitting on the couch and destroyed her liquor cabinet above the television set. But fortunately, it appears that it didn't explode because she got out unhurt.

We went down to -- made our way, and everyone was very orderly down to the dining room and assembled in the middle of the dining room away from all the windows. And the captain, there were some more -- another rocket shot. And then more gunfire. One of the crew got hit by shrapnel, a bullet, apparently is recovering well. And the captain, one of the bullets came at us from the front and was firing, and I think he thought he was shooting at the bridge, but he ended up taking the windows out of the bar at the front of the boat.

And the captain turned the boat sharply to starboard and, you know, tried to run the boat over which created a big wave which sort of got them scurrying. There were two boats. Each one had five or six guys in it. And the captain said he was going to try and outrun them because they had radioed him to stop. They wanted to come on board. And he told them, I don't know how politely, that that wasn't going to happen. So he created as much wash as he could and took off, he turned and headed straight out to sea. I guess on the theory that these small boats wouldn't be able to follow us forever. And also I think they were as fast enough, but because of the huge swells and the wake that they were unable to keep up. And after half an hour or so, we were told that we could return to normal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: And if that story is not amazing enough, take a look at this. A family barely survives a freak accident in Florida. A tire on their SUV blew out, causing their vehicle to flip over a bridge and into nine feet of deep water. Now, two passengers dived in -- passers-by, actually, dived in to rescue a 7-year-old boy trapped in the sinking vehicle. He is reported to be in serious condition. The rest of the family was also rescued and have only minor injuries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMIRA JAKUPOVIC, DRIVER: There was a guy who jumped from the bridge in the -- and 30 seconds later he got my boy out of water. And then I saw the other girl, she was jumping from a bridge too and I guess she was a nurse. That's what they told me. And then the paramedics were there and police and everybody. And she told me that, come down, he's OK, he got a pulse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Now, violence has broken out in France again this evening, the 11th night in a row. The escalating attacks by roaming gangs of youth jumped dramatically last night and early into the morning and forced President Jacques Chirac to break his silence on the crisis.

CNN's Chris Burns is there in Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The violence crept closer to the showpieces of Paris. A half-dozen cars were set on fire for the first time in the capital's upscale 17th District that stretches west from Montmartre to the Arc de Triomphe. President Jacques Chirac held an emergency security meeting Sunday with key members of his cabinet.

JACQUES CHIRAC, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): Today, the absolute priority is to reestablish security and public order. The law should have the final say, and the republic is determined to be stronger than those who want to spread violence and fear.

BURNS: In eastern Paris, at Place de la Republique, youths torched several cars and damaged shops. Altogether, authorities say, rioters burned some 1,300 vehicles across the country overnight Saturday, by far the highest figure since the violence began more than a week ago.

NICOLAS SARKOZY, FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): It was a difficult night. Even if the police displayed a lot of presence on the ground, they worked with a degree of control and allowed us to avoid many incidents. There were more than 300 arrests. BURNS: The rioting exploded among France's poor immigrant neighborhoods, plagued by high unemployment and discrimination. And frustration was growing among rioters' victims too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We're at war. We need to send the army. There's no other solution.

BURNS: The list of cities attacked was growing, from Lille in the north to Rouen and Orleans in the west, from Nice and Cannes in the south, to Strasbourg in the east. Among the targets, schools, shops, another police station. Firefighters were attacked by youths with baseball bats in one Paris suburb.

(on camera): With the cost of the rioting rising into the millions, and the violence getting closer to tourist areas like this one, the government is under increasing pressure to take more action. But it faces a dilemma, how much of an iron fist to use, and how much more aid to promise to poor neighborhoods without making it look like they're rewarding the rioters.

(voice-over): Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has held crisis talks in recent days with community leaders, with youths, teachers, and police. His government aims to complete an urban renewal plan by the end of the month.

In the meantime, there's the task of restoring order to areas where renegade youths are difficult to control.

Chris Burns, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Now, as we said a few moments ago, President Bush is finding his free trade proposal a rough sell in Latin America. Mr. Bush would like to establish a free trade zone throughout the Americas, but he's meeting with stubborn resistance on his tour of the South Americas.

And as Dana Bash reports from Brazil, the president's political slide at home is not helping.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A day after failing to convince a 34-nation summit to embrace his call for a giant free trade zone, the president stood with one of his main dissenters, Brazil's leader, and acknowledged his sales pitch fell short.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's got to be convinced just like the people of America must be convinced that a trade arrangement in our hemisphere is good for jobs, it's good for the quality of life.

BASH: Brazil is a Latin American economic powerhouse. By joining four other nations in refusing to restart trade talks, its leaders snatched away a much-needed victory from the embattled Mr. Bush.

But here, on President Lula da Silva's compound in Brazilia, the two men took pains to express their personal fondness for one another and common ground on a different set of trade talks.

PRES. LUIS INACIO "LULA" DA SILVA, BRAZIL (through translator): Our relations today are going through one of their best moments ever.

BASH: A White House goal for this trip was to strengthen America's poor standing in a region that's long felt ignored, even wronged by U.S. policies. But even as he made his way to see the Brazilian president, Mr. Bush passed a familiar sight: protests that have become more and more personal.

The president tried to embrace the demonstrations he's encountered on this trip with the thousands in Argentina as democracy in action.

BUSH: I expect there to be dissent. That's what freedom's all about. People should be allowed to express themselves. And so what happened in Argentina, you know, happens in America. That's positive.

BASH: Later in the day, the president took aim, though not by name, at Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, who stirred anti-American protests in Argentina. He slammed his brand of democracy.

BUSH: Playing to fear, pitting neighbor against neighbor and blaming others for their own failures to provide for their people.

BASH (on camera): The White House is trying to downplay Mr. Bush's failure to return home with a victory on trade, saying it's been in trouble for a while. But some believe because world leaders know the president is weak politically, they were more emboldened to say no.

Dana Bash, CNN, Brazilia, Brazil.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: More news now in our world wrap tonight. A U.S. Marine is killed as Operation Steel Curtain enters a second day in Iraq. The joint U.S.-Iraqi military operation is designed to flush out insurgents along the Syrian border and keep more from coming in to Iraq.

In Morocco today, thousands took to the streets to protest al Qaeda's threat to kill two Moroccan hostages. The men were seized last month in Iraq.

And the pilot of an ultra light lands in Mexico after flying alongside and filming the migration of monarch butterflies. The 3,000-mile journey Canada to Mexico took 72 days.

Now, we just updated you on the turmoil in France, but could this violence spread to America? Well, I'm going to get a fresh take on the story with Carlos Watson, next. Plus, does your spouse speak for you in the eyes of the law? The Supreme Court is about to take up a case involving a search warrant and an angry wife.

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LIN: Time now to take a "Fresh Take." Night after night, we have seen these dramatic pictures of French cities in flames. And if you don't think this could have any connection to our country, remember the tumultuous '60s. Joining me now is CNN's Carlos Watson, today he's in Phoenix.

Carlos, you were the one who gave us this idea. How does this conjure up what happened back in the 1960s during the civil rights movement?

CARLOS WATSON, CNN ANALYST: Well, you remember, Carol, that in the spring of 1968 from Mexico City to Brussels to Paris to Columbia University in New York City, you saw student movements, although they were for different reasons, often feed on each other and ultimately explode around the world. That's unlikely to happen here in this case, but it is worth watching what's happening in Paris if you're an American because over the next year, we're about to enter one of the most intense periods of debate over immigration and even illegal immigration.

And as we enter that debate it is worth remembering how combustible this issue is, not just on the side of those who call themselves, for example, Minutemen who want less immigration, but as we're seeing in France on the side of the immigrants themselves who may, in fact, say you're pushing too hard or you're pushing too far. So it's a cautionary tale as we enter into a very aggressive season of debating immigration.

LIN: Interesting, you're right because there are impoverished neighborhoods, unemployment running like 30, 40 percent in some cases. And it reminds me of the scene after the Rodney King trial and the beating and the riots that broke out in Los Angeles where it was just a can of worms that just exploded with emotion.

WATSON: Well, and one thing that's true today, Carol, as well, is the presence of media and the ability of people watching TV or listening to the radio or following things on the Internet, again for very different reasons maybe to pick up the same forms of protest. And so again while we may not expect that here, it is worth remembering that this immigration debate has more than one side.

LIN: Hey, did you hear about the in-your-face out in California between Warren Beatty, Annette Bening and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger?

WATSON: It is like Dick Tracy and the first lady versus the Terminator.

LIN: I know. WATSON: Everybody's jumping into the California special election, Carol. We talked about it early at the beginning of the year. We said they had spent a quarter of a billion dollars. The numbers already $225 million, close to 7 million people are going to vote. But here's the big so what. Of the four major ballot initiatives that the governor has proposed, they're now all losing from anywhere from call it 6 points to maybe as much as 28 points. And a lot of the shift has happened just in the last week.

LIN: Right. And, yes, and you were saying that this was going to be a referendum on his governorship. What about the governors' races out in New Jersey and Virginia, the only open seats right now on this Election Day coming up.

WATSON: You know, sometimes people say that in an off-year, you know, the elections don't matter. But I think both of them are worth watching this year, Carol. Watch the New Jersey race, because if the Democrat there, Jon Corzine, wins, he'll win in large part on the issue of stem cell research. He supported it strongly, as does close to three-quarters of the New Jersey population. He's run a very emotional ad. And if he wins, I guarantee you next year you'll see that ad run by Democrats all around the country as a so-called wedge issue.

LIN: Right. Because it was a young man in a wheelchair. And Doug Forrester was suggesting, what, Corzine suggesting that if he doesn't support the governorship, this guy is never going to get out of the wheelchair?

WATSON: Exactly. It was very -- it was raw politics. The sort of thing, Frankly, that over the years Republicans have been better at than Democrats. But this could be, as I said, a wedge issue.

Now over in the Virginia race, you've got a lot of interesting things, the issue of immigration, which you don't expect to come up in Virginia. But here's what you should follow. If the Democrat ultimately wins, Mark Warner, the current sitting governor, will get a lot of credit for giving coattails to his lieutenant governor and could become a leading presidential front-runner.

LIN: All right. We'll do a "Fresh Take" follow on all of this. Thanks very much, Carlos.

WATSON: Good to see you.

LIN: You too.

Well, can police enter your home? That's a matter pending again before the Supreme Court. The case involves a house divided.

CNN's Gary Nurenberg reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open up! Police! GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Police know in most cases they need a warrant to search someone's home without permission. Scott Randolph refused permission for police to search his Americas, Georgia, home after a domestic dispute with his wife in 2001. But he was arrested when she did give permission and led police to an alleged stash of illegal drugs.

TOM GOLDSTEIN, RANDOLPH'S LAWYER: Mr. Randolph was charged with cocaine possession. The Georgia state courts threw out the charges explaining that this search was unconstitutional.

NURENBERG: Unconstitutional because state courts ruled it violated Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches.

GOLDSTEIN: We think the lower court got this case right because Mr. Randolph, who objected to the search, is the one who has the constitutional right.

NURENBERG: Prosecutors declined comment prior to trial but the president of the National Sheriff's Association says each spouse has the right to give permission.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think we're giving away the constitutional rights. I believe what we're doing is maintaining the rights. She has just as much right.

NURENBERG (on camera): Lower courts are divided on the issue of whether a search can go forward when one spouse explicitly objects and the other gives permission, is one reason this case is making it to the Supreme Court. Law enforcement says it needs clarity to do its job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, first of all, this happens almost every day. This is not an uncommon type of situation that arises. And a local law enforcement officer who is arriving on the scene is not a constitutional lawyer.

NURENBERG (voice-over): The case joins a post 9/11 wave of government attempts to expand police powers to search, interrogate, detain and surveil.

GOLDSTEIN: The federal government really has tried to use the concerns of terrorism in a post-9/11 world to expand its powers and to keep the courts out and say, no, the police, the FBI, the CIA need substantially greater discretion.

NURENBERG: The court has recently been sympathetic to those appeals. It's expected to decide this case within months.

Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: The find of a lifetime. Archaeologists believe they've located the oldest church in the Holy Land. But where they found it is a surprise. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Israeli archaeologists believe they have uncovered the oldest known church in the Holy Land, possibly the oldest Christian church in the world. It's being called the find of a lifetime. And you won't believe where it's located.

Guy Raz has our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "The God Jesus Christ in memorial" reads this inscription, most likely the oldest reference to Christ ever found in the Holy Land, discovered on the grounds of Israel's maximum security prison Megiddo, less than a mile from ancient Megiddo, the site known to Christians as Armageddon, where Revelations suggests good will battle evil at the end of days.

Prison officials planned to expand this jail a few months ago, but a preconstruction site survey presented something that excited archaeologists. It was a prison inmate who made the discovery.

GHAZIL ABU RAHMIN, PRISONER (through translator): In the beginning, we weren't sure what it was. So we continued to dig. And we saw that the mosaic went on and on.

RAZ: A mosaic that contained the image of a fish, a symbol for Christ. Ancient pottery shards found on-site were dated to the 3rd Century when Christianity was still officially banned throughout the Roman Empire.

(on camera): At the time, Rome was just starting to relax its prohibitions against Christian worship. This was not a secret church but more likely a barely tolerated one. It would take another hundred years before Rome itself would embrace Christianity.

(voice-over): The patron of this church was a Roman military officer called Gaionos (ph), his name inscribed in the mosaic. Those worshiping here may have wanted to be in Armageddon, believing they might witness the end of days.

YARDENA ALEXANDER, ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY: It really reflects a very early stage of Christianity of which not much is known, and certainly the archaeological find of the early developers of Christianity is fully known. So here this is a very important discovery. And it will maybe provide a lot of answers to questions about this early Christianity.

RAZ: And perhaps, say archaeologists, a future pilgrimage site. But what to do with the prison? The Antiquities Authority is weighing whether to demolish the facility and move it down the road.

Guy Raz, CNN, Armageddon in northern Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE) LIN: Yet another reason to make sure to keep it on CNN. Coming up in just a minute at 7:00 Eastern, they lost their houses, but not their spirit. You are going to meet some Katrina victims who ran the New York Marathon today.

And at 8:00 Eastern, Entertainment Weekly's list of the 25 most important pop culture moments from the past quarter century.

At 9:00 Eastern, "LARRY KING WEEKEND." And tonight Larry's guest, noted attorney Robert Shapiro on the overdose death of his son.

The hour's headlines when I come back.

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