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Rape Charges Dropped Against Duke Players; Denver Airport Reopens Some Runways; Movie Commemorates How Town Coped with Tragedy

Aired December 22, 2006 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this hour with breaking news. A defense attorney tells CNN that prosecutors have dropped rape charges against three Duke University lacrosse players.
CNN's Jason Carroll joins us on the phone with more -- Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, this all stems from a new interview that an investigator working for Durham County district attorney Michael Nifong did yesterday.

That investigator interviewed the alleged victim, and the result of that interview was basically this young woman telling them that she could not say with certainty that she was, in fact, raped as rape is defined in the state of North Carolina.

As a result of that interview, they dropped the forcible rape charge against Dave Evans, Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty. However, first degree sexual offense and first degree kidnapping charges still stand.

Basically, just a short while ago, earlier this afternoon, Nifong filed the results of that interview at the Durham County courthouse. Here's what he wrote. He said, quote, "The victim in this case indicated that while she initially believed that she had been vaginally penetrated by a male sex organ, she cannot at this time testify with certainty that a penis was the body part that penetrated her.

"Since penetration, by vagina or by a penis, is one of the elements of this offense that the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt, and since there is no scientific or other evidence independent of the victim's testimony that would corroborate specifically penetration, the state is unable to meet its burden of proof with respect to this offense."

You'll recall, Kyra, that earlier two DNA tests were done of the 46 Duke lacrosse players. There was no match between any of the players, including the three accused and the alleged victim in this case. That was a test done by the state. Then an independent test was done after that. Once again, no match there, as well.

This is troublesome, Kyra, for defense attorney (sic) Michael Nifong. At this point, he will probably argue that a sexual offense did, in fact, occur. It's just that a male organ was not used in that assault -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: Jason Carroll, thanks so much. We are expecting a news conference out of Raleigh in the 3 p.m. Eastern hour. We'll bring that to you live when it happens.

HOLMES: Now more -- more now on that bombshell in the Duke lacrosse case. CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin joins us now on the phone from New York.

And, Jeffrey, wow. Tell us how you see this possibly went down. Do interviews like this continue throughout a process, and she just changed her story?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: They do, but it is certainly very unusual for a case to be dramatically limited in this way. But I mean, you just have to put this in the context of an investigation that has been basically a fiasco from day one.

And, yes, it is theoretically possible that they could now go to trial on these lesser charges, but it certainly seems at least possible, if not probable, that the whole case will go away, because this -- this case is based almost entirely on the word of the accuser who, based on this development and everything we've known since, is not -- does not look like a very credible witness.

HOLMES: Is the prosecutor -- Mike Nifong, certainly been criticized throughout, does he not have a choice almost? Or is the right thing for him to do, he has to go forward with the case as long as the victim is saying she was raped, absent whatever evidence there may be? Is he obligated, in a way, to just continue to go forward?

TOOBIN: By no means is he obligated. The prosecutor is only obligated to go forward with the case that he thinks he can persuade a jury beyond a reasonable doubt was a crime.

Yes, he may believe at some level this witness is telling the -- the accuser is telling the truth, but he's under no obligation to bring a case just because she wants him to bring a case.

Prosecutors have to make tough judgments like this all the time, that, you know, we simply can't prove our case. And it looks like it will be extremely difficult for the prosecution to win even this much reduced case.

HOLMES: Jeffrey, what happened here? This case, on many counts, has been just, like you said, a fiasco, been bungled from the jump. What now happens? And just looking back on it, and now the rape charges are gone, just reflect a little bit on what in the world possibly happened in this case.

TOOBIN: Well, I think the one issue that you certainly have to look at is, you know, Mike Nifong was in the process of running for re-election at the peak of the investigation of this case. This is a racially polarized community, and it was a racially polarized case.

And a question that will have to be asked is whether he brought this case to ingratiate himself with the many African-American voters in the -- in this community, and may have brought a case that shouldn't have been brought at all.

HOLMES: All right. Our Jeffrey Toobin, thank you as always, your insights on this case. It's been a strange one.

And we're going to be hearing more on this at 3 p.m. Expecting a press conference from the defense attorneys in the case. We'll have that for you live. Again, expecting that coming up live from Raleigh at about 3 p.m.

Again, Jeffrey Toobin, thank you so much.

PHILLIPS; Well, I wish I knew where we were going. I'm just going to -- OK, we're going to check in with Rob Marciano. He's going to tell us about the weather. A lot of airports -- actually, is Denver airport up and running, Rob, or no?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is. It's officially open, Kyra. The first airplane to lift off the tarmac in almost 20 -- 48 hours has just done so. And guess what airline it is? It's FedEx, just one more reason that Christmas is way too material. The packages and the presents go before the people.

But that happened just a few minutes ago, and people have been waiting here forever for the planes to start to take off.

Take a look behind me, and you can see the line for security, which actually, you know, looks pretty normal, like you see at any other airport. But these people, trust me, are happy because they're the ones getting on a plane. They're getting their stuff through security. They have a ticket.

But it's the people above them that have not been allowed into security. This line goes a couple hundred -- over 100 yards and talking to people in line, some of them have been waiting over two hours just to even talk to a ticket agent.

Some of them have reservations. Some of them have reservations for today for flights after noon local, when the airport was supposed to open or it has opened. But only two of the six runways are up and running right now.

So, you've got to figure, you know, less than half of the flights that were scheduled for this of afternoon are going to -- my producer is flapping his wings which means, what, another? A passenger -- Frontier passenger plane just took off. So, now the people are en route, as well.

I'll tell you, if we seem a little giddy, it's because that seems to be the mood here. People went from being angry, frustrated and now, you know, when you've been through something like this -- some of these people have slept here for the last two night, over 1,000 have done so. Others have just been hunkering down in Denver. But when you wait this long just to get out, it almost becomes laughable. But folks are trying to be as patient as possible.

So, interesting fact here. When you think about how much snow removal they have to do, you know, when you've got six runways, two, three miles long apiece, plus all the taxi ways, Denver International Airport is 53 square miles. OK? That's bigger than Denver proper. So just -- you can imagine what kind of task it is just to clear the runways and the taxiways.

And you can't just plow them. You actually have to take some of that snow elsewhere. So over 20 inches of snow. At times it was blowing 40 miles per hour. It was just an impossible task.

They haven't closed it since the blizzard of 2003. That was a March storm, which usually is the snowiest month here. December actually is the fourth snowiest. So this was an unusual storm, no doubt about it.

But, Kyra, FedEx is up and running. Maybe you'll get your presents. Frontier now just lifted off the tarmac. And United and all the other airlines certainly will follow.

But it's going to be a slow unraveling -- or ramping up, I should say, of flights getting back in the air. And it has that ripple effect to where not only here but also -- we drove in from Salt Like City.

All the rental cars were -- were gone. We had to convince some truck rental company to take -- pay some obscene amount of money and drive their Hummer over here, and we're going to dump it. And a lot of people have done just that.

We also en route here, the 11-hour trek through the mountains, we passed probably half a dozen double FedEx trucks that you can bet were trying to get packages to the Denver area.

PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh.

MARCIANO: So, FedEx is a major player today.

PHILLIPS: At Heathrow they were providing sandwiches and hot coffee and all that for the stranded passengers. Anything happening there for folks at Denver airport?

MARCIANO: Much like, you know...

PHILLIPS: Free flights, anything?

MARCIANO: ... a hurricane and evacuation shelter, it was water and, you know -- well, Burger King is here to charge their normal $8 for a hamburger that you can get at, you know...

PHILLIPS: In other words -- in other words, no, they're not doing anything.

MARCIANO: No, they're passing out -- they're passing out water. There were 200 cots that were given out to those who needed them most, mostly the elderly.

PHILLIPS: OK. MARCIANO: And -- and not only the Red Cross but Denver medical has been in to take care of folks who may not be feeling too well. So -- actually, we haven't talked to many people that are upset at the airport.

PHILLIPS: What can you do? It's the weather. Exactly.

MARCIANO: Exactly.

PHILLIPS: All right. From Denver airport, Rob Marciano, we'll keep checking in. Thanks.

MARCIANO: All right.

HOLMES: Now we need to tell you about another flight that's going to be delayed because of the weather, the Space Shuttle Discovery.

The first attempt to land that thing back here was supposed to come at 3:56 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There were some clouds, some wind there. NASA has decided to scrap that initial attempt to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Again, clouds, weather causing problems.

The next attempt is going to be made about an hour and a half later, around 5:30, possible landing, but that would be in California at Edwards Air Force Base. That is the backup option, the first backup option.

Remember, the shuttle had to -- they had to add an extra day to this mission because they were -- had to do another space walk, had some maintenance to do up in space, so adding that space walk means that threw kind of the schedule off a little bit.

So the shuttle must be back home tomorrow, at least, but they have several -- several attempts, several spots. Even possibly New Mexico is another place they could possibly land, but several attempts to make.

We have our John Zarrella, of course, who's been keeping an eye on things at the Kennedy Space Center. We're going to try to get him back on the phone with us here in a little bit. He was -- he was sitting there hoping, of course, to see the shuttle come home where he is. So don't know for sure or not if that's going to be the case.

But, again here, the backup attempt to the backup site at Edwards Air Force Base out in California has some issues with that site, as well, because of weather. The winds are a little high there, as well. So don't know if they'll be able to make that landing at 5:30. So, we shall see.

Keep an eye on it, hope they do get home today. I know they hope they get home today, as well.

PHILLIPS: Well, more troops, the burning question on Iraq. The new secretary of defense is heading back from there, armed with conflicting opinions. We'll have details from the NEWSROOM.

And the spirit of a town rising from the ashes. More than three decades later, the story told on film. "We Are Marshall" is not your standard football movie.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: "We Are Marshall," a new film telling the true story from 1970. A plane crash killed almost the entire Marshall University football team and shattered a community.

The heartbreak and gradual rebirth are deeply ingrained in the people of Huntington, West Virginia, including our own Sean Callebs, who is from Huntington. Sean's dad worked at Marshall University. Sean joins us now from there.

And Sean, I guess this is something that's all a part of all of you all who grew up in Huntington.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, really, I think that everybody carries a piece of this tragedy with them, as they proceed, even though it happened such a long time ago.

The thing I'm hearing about this film, though, from so many people here, so many friends I have in this area, cathartic.

Think about it. It was 36 years ago the crash killed 75 people. Very difficult point in time for people who lived in West Virginia. Now "We Are Marshall" really chronicles the effort to rebuild the program after that disaster, and this at a time when many people in this city said, not right now. It's too early. And it's still too painful.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS (voice-over): This is Hollywood's recreation of the 1970 Marshall plane crash.

This is the real thing.

RED DAWSON, FORMER ASSISTANT COACH: The damn plane crash took a lot out of everybody.

CALLEBS: Red Dawson would know. An assistant coach on the '70 team, he skipped the flight on that November night, instead, driving home from North Carolina so he could visit a recruit. Matthew Fox portrays how country tough Red Dawson had to cope with survivor's guilt

MATTHEW FOX, ACTOR: I promised the mothers that I'd look after their sons. There's not one of them left.

CALLEBS: Seventy-five players, coaches, supporters and flight crew died. The town of Huntington also lost a portion of its soul.

I know. I was a kid growing up here then. My father was an administrator at Marshall who spent that evening calling families.

I've known Keith Morehouse, a Huntington sportscaster, nearly 30 years. His father Gene, the voice of Marshall, died in the crash. He says family members are fiercely protective of the legacy of their loved ones.

KEITH MOREHOUSE, SPORTSCASTER: It was a personal thing and you maybe push the outsiders away, you know. Don't come in here and exploit the story. Don't come in and, and read something into it that...

DEBBIE MOREHOUSE, WIFE: Invade our privacy.

CALLEBS: Debbie and Keith got married after graduating from Marshall. What makes their story more amazing: Debbie's parents also died in the crash.

Thirty-six years after the fatal accident, they say it's OK to show a town that struggled to rebuild a program, a community and lives.

K. MOREHOUSE: I think it's an unbelievable story of perseverance and fortitude and dealing with adversity, and that -- that doesn't have to be just about football. That's about how you live your life.

CALLEBS: One of the more poignant moments in the movie was filmed in a cemetery at a memorial to the victims. On the morning star Matthew McConnaughey and the crew showed up, they found a letter that Marshall's president says had a profound impact.

STEPHEN KOPP, MARSHALL UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT: It was a -- in effect, a charge to the entire cast and crew alerting them and informing them of their responsibilities in telling this story.

CALLEBS: Red has always refused to talk about the crash until helping out with this film.

DAWSON: It's a sad movie.

CALLEBS (on camera): But it's uplifting, too

DAWSON: Yes, it is. It's released -- helped me release a lot of demons and snakes and spiders that have been in my head for years, I guess.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: He's really not joking when he talks about that. He said he suffered through nightmares for years and years and years.

We were at the memorial when we talked with Red. And he took us around, and he showed us the two names that always crop up in his mind in those dreams: the pilot of the aircraft and one of the flight attendants, two people he had never met. He can't explain it.

And although Red Dawson left coaching in 1971, saying he simply couldn't look at parents anymore, saying, "I can take care of your sons," he's doing really well now. He owns a successful construction company here in Huntington. He never left the area, and for the first time in a long time he feels comfortable, T.J., talking about this tragedy.

HOLMES: And you had touched on it there in your piece a little bit. Some folks saying, you know, it's been 36 years. It's OK. Just tell the story right, tell it appropriately, give it the right respect.

But for the most part, are the sentiments like that among most of the folks you talked to around there that, you know, it's been a while now. It's OK to relive this story and the aftermath?

CALLEBS: Yes, they're OK talking about it now. For years every so often a production company or a movie theater, somebody would approach the town and want to make this movie.

For the most part, no one wanted it made. It was very difficult. Even though people really didn't talk about the disaster that much, it was simply too painful.

But once this came out and they saw that the theater -- or the Warner Brothers handled it in a very sensitive fashion, they began to open up. And now it's a way that many people say they can actually celebrate the memory of the loved ones that they still miss so much.

HOLMES: All right. Sean Callebs for us in his hometown. Thank you so much, Sean.

New information about the shuttle's landing plan. CNN's John Zarrella live at Kennedy Space Center.

What do you think, John?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, no landing now here at the Kennedy Space Center, at least not at 3:56 Eastern Time. The problem, of course, is weather.

The shuttle training aircraft piloted by astronaut Chief Steve Lindsey came back with a report that said the weather here is too fluid. Storms in the area to the south and west of the Kennedy Space Center that might be over this area at the 3:56 Eastern Time. So they officially waived off the first opportunity at Kennedy.

Now, the next opportunities come up at 5:27, and that would be for Edwards Air Force Base, at 5:27, and these are Eastern times, at White Sands in New Mexico. And at 5:32 here at the Kennedy Space Center.

But again, Kennedy is not looking good, and it is not looking good in California either at Edwards, with crosswinds that are likely to exceed the limits of 15 knots.

So right now, the best option appears to be White Sands which, of course, is the one place that NASA would prefer not to go to, simply because they just don't have the infrastructure there to support the vehicle and turn it around and get it back here.

But again, the first opportunity for Kennedy Space Center now officially waived off -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, John, we'll keep tracking it. Thanks.

HOLMES: Well, delayed in Denver, obstructed at O'Hare, another terminal case of can't get there blues for holiday travelers. That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

But up first, from air scooters to deep sea submersibles to alternative food sources, the way we get from point A to point B is certainly changing, but will we really be flying to work one day? We asked a group of forward thinkers to give us their perspectives on the future of transportation in today's "Welcome to the Future".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL SAFFO, TECHNOLOGY FORECASTER: We have had this vision of personal aircraft for decades, personal helicopters, tiny airplanes, jet packs and the like.

Take a look on the highway. Most people can barely handle the horizontal dimension the car moves in. Add a vertical dimension, the problem isn't engines, it's we need robots to fly these things for us.

DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF, CULTURAL THEORIST: I think the biggest change we're going to see in transportation is private commuters' willingness to give up the dream of independent transportation for the convenience of collective transportation. And that means light rail and monorails and all sorts of public collective transportation systems.

RAY KURZWEIL, CEO, KURZWEIL TECHNOLOGIES: We will see less reliance on human drivers over the next 20 years. We'll have nanotechnology devices that can basically get us off the ground.

SAFFO: There are huge changes afoot in air travel. First of all, we're all going to fly more than ever. We will have the start of personal aircraft. You won't own an airplane, but we're going to have an air taxi service, little five-person jets, a pilot and four passengers, that are run almost like a limousine service.

RUSHKOFF: I believe that the fuel issue has already been solved. We already have enough good technology that we could easily transport ourselves, even in private vehicles, without using oil.

KURZWEIL: If you really look to the ultimate solution, it's going to be using renewable energy.

If we captured 1 percent of 1 percent of the sunlight that falls to the earth we can meet 100 percent of our energy needs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Digging out in Denver, mounds of snow being shoved to the sides of highways as well as runways. Traffic is flowing again on interstates around the Mile High City.

Several thousand would-be travelers are stuck at Denver's international airport and have been since the blizzard hit Wednesday. The airport is reopened at this hour. Still, it could be Christmas day before everyone gets where they're going.

As for letters and packages, post offices are back in business in Colorado Springs and north of the Denver metro area, but not yet in Denver.

HOLMES: And long lines, frazzled nerves, as well, at other airports, all due to the weather. And Wendy Abrams is with Chicago's Department of Aviation. She joins us now from a pretty busy O'Hare International.

Wendy, hello. Thanks for being here. Tell me, those folks have a pretty good chance of being home by Christmas? How are things there?

WENDY ABRAMS, CHICAGO DEPARTMENT OF AVIATION: Actually, things at O'Hare are faring very well. We had a rough spot this morning with some weather passing through the Chicago area, but the majority of our flights are delayed by just 45 minutes to an hour at this time. Pretty good.

HOLMES: Just 45 minutes? Just 45 minutes to an hour. That's nothing then.

ABRAMS: It's not bad for Chicago during the winter, during one of the busiest holiday seasons of the year. So, yes, we're very pleased.

We have had more than 100 flights canceled so far at O'Hare today, but like I said, the weather is looking a lot better, and we're hoping to get back on schedule within the next several hours.

HOLMES: Now you said you did have a rough start this morning, but the 45- to an hour delay, so I guess what was causing the problem? What kind of weather, and what kind of issues were you having?

ABRAMS: Well, it was a combination of light rain, low visibility and fog that made our arrival and departure rate drop for several hours this morning. But like I said, it was sunny outside not long ago, and we're very much looking forward to getting back on schedule this afternoon and tonight.

HOLMES: And, Wendy, it is Chicago, and it is winter. Is this something -- nothing really out of the ordinary for you all today and during this time. It's just -- it just happens. Every winter, pretty much, and you all know how to handle it.

ABRAMS: Well, thankfully it's about 56 degrees in Chicago right now and a little bit rainy, which is great news. We're just really grateful that it's not snow.

HOLMES: What are -- how are things looking on the board right now as far as -- have you gotten rid of that delay, cancellations and what not? How would you say it's going currently for people who are going to have to come through there soon or who are going to have to leave there or coming through there or what?

ABRAMS: Well, like I said, delays are averaging about 45 minutes to an hour for all flights at O'Hare. Generally, when you consider the high passenger volume we're expecting on a day like today and the poor weather that passed through this morning, we always urge travelers to contact their airline ahead of time to make sure their flight is on time and to arrive at the airport at least two hours before their departure.

HOLMES: Have you all not had any issues with people being stuck and whatnot. You said some -- I don't think many cancellations -- some cancellations, but you don't have people camped out too much around your airport, or do you?

ABRAMS: We don't as of yet. We did have several hundred passengers remain with us overnight last night due to the storm in Denver, and the low visibility that we saw in Chicago most of the day yesterday. But assuming, like I said, that the weather continues to cooperate, we're hoping that nobody has to stay the night at O'Hare tonight.

HOLMES: All right. And looking behind you there, it looks pretty calm, looks pretty peaceful, and doesn't look too crowded. So, I'm sure the folks in Denver would love to have your problems right now because they have all kinds of issues.

Wendy Abrams with Chicago's Department of Aviation, do appreciate you giving us a couple minutes. Good luck to you guys over the holidays.

ABRAMS: Thank you so much.

PHILIPS: Legal drama in Durham, North Carolina, prosecutors there have dismissed rape charges against three Duke University lacrosse players. A lawyer for one of the layers says other charges, including kidnapping still stand.

The players were accused of attacking a stripper at a party back in March. The defense lawyer says the state was forced to rethink the rape claim when the alleged victim became unsure about certain key details. We're expecting a news conference out of Raleigh at the top of the hour. We will bring it to you live when it happens.

HOLMES: Toyota has been stealing market share from the big three automakers for years. Now it looks like the company will steal the number one spot as well. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with all the details for us. Hello, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, T.J. Well, it was inevitable, we just didn't know about when. It could be really soon. In fact, next year, Toyota could become number one in the world.

Toyota's '07 production targets out today shows it expects to make about 9.4 million vehicles next year, that's up 4 percent from this year.

GM doesn't give its annual forecast, but this year is expected to build around 9.2 million vehicles. And it's been scaling back production as part of its massive restructuring program.

It, of course, has also been letting go of tens of thousands of workers and the remaining workforce simply can't turn out as many vehicles.

Toyota, on the other hand, has been reporting record profits and building a reputation for itself in hybrids which are known for getting better gas mileage than traditional automobiles, T.J.

HOLMES: And do I have this right? Wasn't it just yesterday we were talking about this. You said Toyota was about to take the number two spot. Now here we are a day later, they're about to take the number one spot. Man, they work fast, don't they?

LISOVICZ: Right. It's a real black eye for Detroit, T.J. I mean, we're talking about U.S. for Ford and global for GM.

The New York Times reported yesterday that Ford expects Toyota to permanently take the number two sales spot in the U.S. as soon as next month, which would push Ford to No. 3 and it would come much earlier than Ford had originally anticipated.

This is a historic shift, because Ford has held the number two spot for about eight decades. As for the number one spot, that has to do with production around the world, not just autos sold in the U.S. And GM has held that title for decades, T.J.

HOLMES: And we have been talking a little bit this week, word of the Santa Claus rally. Did we see that finally today?

(MARKET REPORT)

LISOVICZ: Coming up, the holiday shopping season is coming down to the wire. I'll tell you where you can get some last-minute gifts if you are really desperate. NEWSROOM continues in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: You may have heard of what some call a War on Christmas, all about nativity scenes, decorated trees, even greetings. But the first real crisis emerged in Christianity more than 2,000 years ago. Delia Gallagher, CNN's faith and values correspondent, well, she's here to shed more light on one of Christianity's defining moments. Hi, Delia.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH & VALUES CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra. You know, today some 2 billion Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Christmas. It seems strange to think that Christianity could have easily died on the cross with Jesus. Were it not for two men, the names you know, Peter and Paul. And they were men who were very different but who together created and helped to create this religion that would change the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GALLAGHER (voice-over): In the tumultuous years just after Jesus' death, his followers struggled to keep his message alive, a message in peril of disappearing completely. But then two leaders emerged, Peter, the simple fisherman from Galilee, Jesus' chief apostle, and Paul, the sophisticated intellectual.

PROF. BART EHRMAN, UNC: Some people called Paul the second founder of Christianity because Christianity is more than following the teachings of Jesus. Christianity is not just a religion that Jesus had, it's the religion about Jesus. It's the religion founded on Jesus' death and resurrection.

GALLAGHER: But spreading Jesus' story and defining this new faith put Paul and Peter, its most influential leaders, at odds. Both were Jews, but Peter argued that Jesus was for the Jews only. If you wanted to follow Jesus, you had to become a Jew and obey Jewish law.

Paul, on the other hand, preached that the new faith was open to everyone, gentile and Jew. This open door policy was a huge problem for Peter who wielded considerable power in Jerusalem, power given to him by Jesus.

PROFESSOR AMY-JILL LEVINE, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY DEVINIT: According to the gospel of Matthew, Jesus says to Peter, you are Peter, the Greek term for rock, petros. And on this rock Petra, I will build my church.

EHRMAN: Peter was the key player in early Christianity and according to our traditions, was the one who converted Jews early on to believe in Jesus as the messiah.

GALLAGHER: Within two decades of the crucifixion, scholars say Christianity faced a life-or-death moment.

EHRMAN: This was a major dispute in early Christianity. Whether followers of Jesus have to become Jewish in order to worship the Jewish God.

GALLAGHER: This conflict between Peter and Paul threatened to destroy the new faith.

PROFESSOR CLAIRE PEANN, UNIVERSITY OF THE HOLY LAND: In Jerusalem around the year 48 to 49, the first apostolic council is called in order to resolve the issue of gentile Christians. Do they convert or don't they convert.

LEVINE: Paul argues that the Holy Spirit had descended upon the gentiles apart from the Law of Moses, therefore, there was no reason to insist that those gentiles be converted first to Judaism in order to be a member of the church.

GALLAGHER: Paul's argument won the day. Jesus' message was for the whole world, a huge triumph for the new faith, but the biggest struggle was yet to come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GALLAGHER: And that struggle, Kyra, was of course the persecutions by the Roman Empire from which Christianity through the witness and death of those early Christians eventually emerged victorious.

PHILLIPS: Delia Gallagher. We won't want to miss your "CNN PRESENTS: AFTER JESUS, THE FIRST CHRISTIANS." It airs tonight at 10:00 p.m. The dramatic two-hour special event narrated by Liam Neeson exploring the surprising history of the world's largest religion.

HOLMES: Well, seven possible time slots, three possible landing strips. When and where will NASA bring Discovery home. We know at least one landing attempt has been scrapped. We're keeping an eye on this one. Stay here. You're in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Space shuttle Discovery in a holding pattern. A short time ago NASA told the shuttle to make another pass around Earth in search of better weather at the preferred landing sites.

Option number one, still Kennedy Space Center. The problem there, Rain clouds. Option two, Edwards Air Force base in California. Problem there, crosswinds. So, it may came down to a site that's hosted a shuttle landing just once before in 1982, that's the army test range at White Sands, New Mexico. The White Sands landing could add weeks to shuttle's turnaround time for a mission planned for October. Whatever NASA decides, shuttle commander Mark Polansky tells us he will make it work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK POLANSKY, SHUTTLE COMMANDER: My wife cares where we land, and I believe that she and the other families will be going to Florida so, of course, from a personal note it's always nice to go where they're going to be. We would also like to go to Florida because that's where the vehicle needs to be eventually processed.

So it certainly helps the program to do that. But the real answer is I really don't care where we land. You know, I have had a lot of things to worry about on this flight, things that I could control and the weather is something that I just can't, so I'm prepared to land at any of the three sites and we've trained a lot to do that, so wherever the weather is is good and the folks decide to spring us into, we'll be prepared to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And the shuttle used an extra day's fuel to squeeze in that improvised spacewalk. It needs to be down somewhere tomorrow.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: Well, a CNN security watch now. Underwater train tunnel between New York and New Jersey may be even more vulnerable to terrorist attacks than officials believed.

A preliminary report done for the government by outside experts was leaked to "New York Times" and the analysis of the PATH train system shows any of the four cast-iron train tunnels would flood within six minutes if a large bomb went off.

A 50-foot hole from a blast would let in more than 1 million gallons of water every minute. About 230,000 people ride the PATH trains every day.

PHILLIPS: Would you know the supreme court justices if you saw them in their streets clothes? What about the cabinet secretaries? Or your own member of Congress? None of those people have to fight off autograph hounds, but the '08 crop of presumed presidential contenders is another story, even this far-out name recognition isn't a problem.

CNN's Dan Lothian takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Our sidewalk survey isn't scientific but it proves a point. Do you know who this is? There are so many superstar potential '08 presidential candidates, that it seems everyone knows they are names.

(on camera): OK, so this one. Do you know who this is?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary Clinton.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That guy looks like me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: McCain.

LOTHIAN: Do you know who this is?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Arizona senator.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obama.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Romney, Mitt Romney.

LOTHIAN: 100 percent. Good job. You got them all right. What's your name.

(voice-over): The potential high profile roster is creating larger than usual hurdles for anyone lacking in name recognition. DAVID KING, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: There are people who have been planning runs for the presidency their entire life, with the expectations of they might somehow win. But when you have the big names in the field, they're not going to win. The small guy's not going to win.

LOTHIAN: Consider Indiana Senator Evan Bayh who recently dipped his toes in New Hampshire's presidential waters, but now says he won't jump in. Long odds, he said, for a relatively unknown candidate like myself. A little bit like David and Goliath.

(on camera): If face recognition weren't already enough, experts say the likely super candidates will get the lion's share of the money and raise a record amount of cash.

KING: There will be a tremendous amount of money spent. You will need a lot of money to be able to compete in the early caucuses and in the primaries.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): But don't be fooled. Even at this high altitude, there is always the possibility of an upset.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, people want to root for -- people want to root for the underdog. You don't want to go into the primary season looking like you're squashing all the competition before there are any -- really is any competition.

LOTHIAN: Dan Lothian, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Can things really get any uglier between the Donald and the O'Donnell? We're going to check in now with A.J. Hammer of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT."

Please tell me it's not getting worse, A.J.

A.J. HAMMER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, T.J., nobody is really saying anything today so maybe that's a good thing. Rosie O'Donnell may not have anything new to say about what Donald Trump has said. But really, when you boil it right down, what really matters is how her show, "The View," is doing. We're going to tell you what "The View" is like for Rosie.

Plus, a Jessica Simpson song you may not see anywhere else. That's coming up next, in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Taking a peek now at live pictures out of Raleigh, North Carolina, where we are standing by for a press conference expected at the top of the hour from the defense attorneys for the Duke lacrosse players.

Word today that the rape charge against those three players is being dropped. However, they still do face kidnapping and sexual offense charges, are expecting to hear from their attorneys here at the top of the hour. We will bring that to you live when it happens.

PHILLIPS: Well, a new tactic from Donald trump. Instead of hurling more insults at Rosie O'Donnell, he is defending what he's already said. And Rosie? Well, let's get the latest from CNN entertainment correspondent A.J. Hammer.

A.J., it's been an interesting 48 hours.

HAMMER: Oh, it sure has, Kyra.

And, of course, yesterday we told you all about this feud between Donald Trump and Rosie O'Donnell. Well, one of Trump's shots at Rosie was that he thought that she was going to drag down her show, "The View." That actually doesn't appear to be the case. Since Rosie has joined the 10-year-old show, its audience has grown by 13 percent.

Now, that audience, as Donald Trump has claimed, may be tuning in to see what sort of controversy Rosie is stirring up. Since her first day in September, she has ticked off -- well, Trump, of course -- Kelly Ripa and Chinese people among others.

Now, Trump is also saying that his friend, Barbara Walters, the executive producer of "The View" didn't like Rosie. Well, Walters responded by putting out a statement from her vacation saying that she doesn't regret for one moment hiring Rosie, and that she hopes this tempest will pass quickly.

This one may be fading, Kyra, but I think with Rosie on "The View," the odds are pretty good that another tempest will, in fact, be coming soon, probably early in '07.

PHILLIPS: Well, this all comes from Trump's decision to give Miss USA, Tara Conner, a second chance. But I hear not everyone is handing out second chances.

HAMMER: No, that's true. We all know by now that Miss USA, Tara Conner, was accused of inappropriate behavior in public and she was given a chance to go to rehab and keep her crown.

Now, Miss Nevada, Katie Rees, is losing her title after photos appeared all over the Internet showing her half naked and kissing and groping other women. After the racy pics appeared, the Miss Universe folks who run the Miss USA Pageant announced that she had been relieved of her duties and would be replaced.

And in the midst of all of this, Mothers Against Drunk Driving -- you know them as MADD -- they announced that they were cutting their ties with Miss Teen USA, Katie Blair. It's madness everywhere.

Blair had been seen with Conner at New York City nightclubs together and MADD decided that an 18-year-old who goes to clubs may not be an effective spokesperson against underage drinking.

And, Kyra, I think we can certainly understand that position.

PHILLIPS: It's all pathetic, A.J., all these women, it's just unbelievable.

All right. T.J. doesn't necessarily think so. OK, he finds it a little interesting. But I digress. Jessica Simpson making news as well.

HAMMER: Yes, she is. She sang the song "9 to 5" on a taped tribute to Dolly Parton. You may remember when that news broke. She was at the Kennedy Center Honors a few weeks ago. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Well, if you like what you're hearing, Simpson didn't agree with you. She tried the song twice and then she walked off stage, all upset with her performance. And now she's actually convinced the show's producers to cut the number out of the show altogether when the show does air next Tuesday. So, there it is for you. Hope you had the opportunity to enjoy it.

We do have some sad news that we're just hearing about. Mike Evans, who played the very first Lionel on "The Jeffersons" died from throat cancer last week. He's the guy who also co-created the show "Good Times." Those two shows are among the biggest hits of the '70s.

PHILLIPS: Legend in the business. All right, A.J. We will be watching the show tonight. Thanks.

HAMMER: All right, Kyra.

HOLMES: Rape charges dropped but other charges still stand for three members of the Duke University lacrosse team. A live news conference coming up in just a few minutes from Raleigh. That will be live here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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