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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Intelligence Reform Bill Stalled; Two Interracial Couples Find Burning Crosses on Front Lawns

Aired November 22, 2004 - 19:00   ET

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

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


HEIDI COLLINS, HOST: Is President Bush having trouble spending his political capital? He's facing his first political loss since reelection.
360 starts now.

President Bush on his way back home after a weekend with world leaders, talking terrorism and more, while fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill reject 9/11 reform.

A new poll on the pulse of the nation after the election. How truly divided is America on moral values?

A frightening wakeup call. Two interracial couples awake to find a burning cross on their front lawn.

Questions remain 41 years later. Did Lee Harvey Oswald assassinate President John F. Kennedy, or was it a wider conspiracy?

The Goldman family's ongoing battle to get O.J. Simpson to pay up. Could the former star be hiding a fortune?

And fists flying at professional sporting events. Why players and fans just can't seem to get along inside the box.

ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.

COLLINS: Good evening again.

The president must have thought he was leaving things pretty well battened down in Washington when he took off for South America the other day. Now he's about ready to come home to something of a political problem.

CNN senior White House correspondent John King reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A trip carefully scripted for postelection image-building on the world stage.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Helas (ph) mi amigo. KING: And a promise to push Congress for more money for Colombia's war on drugs and terror.

BUSH: Look, here's what you got to do with the Congress. You say, First of all, it's an important issue.

KING: That pledge despite a major weekend setback that could signal trouble for the president's second-term agenda. While in Chile for a Pacific Rim summit, what the president thought was a deal on intelligence reform collapsed, House conservatives rebelling despite a last-minute Bush lobbying effort.

JOHN LEHMAN, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: The president now has been challenged directly by the leadership of the Congress and by the lobbyists and by the bureaucracy. Now, he's got to show who's in charge.

KING: Immigration is another looming battle. During his trip. Mr. Bush promised to push a proposal to allow illegal immigrants to come forward and get temporary legal status. Mr. Bush knows many conservatives don't like the idea. What the White House doesn't like, however, is how eager some are to brag about opposing their newly reelected leader.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is the president. And he's a heck of a lot stronger position than I am, being a third-term member of Congress. But I will fight him, as with every ounce of my energy.

KING: There are other flashpoints too. Government spending and big deficits are making fiscal conservatives impatient. Religious conservatives say they made the difference on election day and deserve payback. And some fellow Republicans don't share Mr. Bush's optimistic assessment of Colombia's drug war.

BUSH: My administration is a results oriented administration.

KING: The loyalty problem goes beyond fellow Republicans in Congress. The Pentagon raised reservations about the intelligence bill at the very moment Mr. Bush was trying to get a deal.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R): I know there's some resistance in the Defense Department about the way the intelligence is going to be shifted around.

KING: Vice President Cheney worked Monday to revive the intelligence measure, and some believe the weekend Republican rebellion will soon be forgotten.

DAVID WINSTON, THE WINSTON GROUP: People are trying to sort of take a small incident and turn sort of a molehill into a mountain.

KING (on camera): But as the president headed home for a Thanksgiving break in Texas, his optimism about his first postelection international trip was tempered by the reality that the much-touted Republican gains in Congress don't necessarily guarantee success back home. John King, CNN, Cartagena, Colombia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The Bush administration vowing to get that stalled intelligence reform bill John King just mentioned moving through Congress once again. Does that put the president on a collision course with members of his own party?

I talked to the "CROSSFIRE" guys a little earlier, James Carville and Tucker Carlson.

The intelligence reform bill got killed by some Republican members of the House. In fact, here's what the president had to say about it, let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I was disappointed that the bill didn't pass. I thought it was going to pass up until the last minute. And so I look forward to going back to Washington to work with the interested parties to get it passed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Tucker, let me ask you, how is it possible that a newly elected president who claims that he's ready to spend this political capital can't get his own majority to agree on a bill like this?

TUCKER CARLSON, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": Well, it's hard to make other people do things they don't want to do, as we're learning in Iraq. And, look, there are a lot of real concerns about reorganizing the intelligence services. And there's a huge debate that's not probably that interesting outside of Washington, but having to do with bureaucratic turf. The Department of Defense, which obviously spends most, I think, most of the intelligence money appropriated by Congress, doesn't want to give up the authority that comes from spending that money.

And so, I don't know, there are a lot of forces here. It turns out that maybe it might not be a good idea to reorganize intelligence along those lines, anyway.

COLLINS: James, this is about bureaucratic turf?

JAMES CARVILLE, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": (UNINTELLIGIBLE) no. It's just simply that the president never wanted a 9/11 commission, they were very enthusiastic about this. If they want to get it passed, what they need to do is attach it to a bill that helps coal companies or pharmaceutical companies or insurance companies.

Then the wrath of God would come down on this Congress, and they'd get it passed, because, see, that's what they really care about. They don't care. This is all fakery. This is like the Department of Homeland Security, which (UNINTELLIGIBLE) opposed the whole time till they saw some electoral benefit. Believe you me, if it had something, if there was something in here for energy companies or pharmaceuticals, this would have passed through there like you'd never believe. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) they didn't care if it passed or not.

CARLSON: I believe John Kerry made an entire presidential campaign on a similar message, and where is he now? Back in the Senate. Look, that's, I think, a ridiculous critique. The point is, it may be a stupid idea...

CARVILLE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) true.

CARLSON: ... may be a stupid idea in the first place, and sort of the beauty of Congress is, there's debate, there's deliberation, and these things take time, and they ought to take time. Just because the 9/11 commission says it's a good idea doesn't mean that it is.

CARVILLE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

COLLINS: We are, we are out of time, guys. I'm so sorry, but James Carville, Tucker Carlson, we appreciate your time, as always.

CARLSON: Thank you.

CARVILLE: Thank you.

COLLINS: On to homeland security now. The good news is that this country does, in fact, maintain a list of people who shouldn't be allowed aboard airplanes bound for the U.S. because they are considered dangerous.

The bad news is that this so-called no-fly list doesn't seem to get consulted until after the people on it are wheels-up.

CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the second time in two months a plane bound for the U.S. from Europe had to be diverted midflight, and a passenger sent back because he was on a U.S. no-fly list.

TOM RIDGE, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We are discussing with our friends in the European Community the possibility of getting the manifest before the plane takes off, an hour before. It's easier said than done. There are diplomatic challenges, there are privacy concerns that our friends around the world have about these things.

ARENA: In late September, a plane from Britain was grounded after takeoff, carrying the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens. This time, the passenger of interest is not well known. He's a Moroccan, Ahmed Lehedi (ph). Not only was he on a no-fly list, but he didn't even have a valid visa.

MICHAEL GREENBERGER, HOMELAND SECURITY EXPERT: We have a desperate need to enter into multilateral negotiations with European countries to get this straightened out. The safety of the United States is obviously very much dependent on this, the...

ARENA: Foreign airlines are largely responsible for screening, and send passenger lists to the U.S. 15 minutes after takeoff. U.S. and European officials are negotiating to give the U.S. more time. And this latest incident provides fresh momentum.

European officials have concerns, though, about passenger privacy and logistics. What's more, the U.S. list has misspellings and other mistakes.

GREENBERGER: It certainly is an indication to other countries that their efforts are going to be wasted. It doesn't give them the incentive or encouragement to go out of their way and spend their energy and money.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA: Now, in this instance, officials insist that it was right to deny Lehedi entrance into the country. Government sources say that the CIA provided information that he associated with known terrorists. Officials say that he is being sent back to Paris, Heidi.

COLLINS: Kelli Arena, live from Washington tonight. Kelli, thanks.

ARENA: You're welcome.

COLLINS: OK, so tell the truth. Now that the election is over, do you imagine that the country's pollsters are all stretched out on the sand somewhere, drinking out of coconuts or glasses with little paper umbrellas in them?

Well, it isn't so. The questioning and the number-crunching never ends. The latest figures now from CNN senior political analyst William Schneider.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): How do Americans feel after the long, bruising election campaign?

Divided.

Asked whether American are united or divided about basic values, three-quarters declared the country united in November 2001, shortly after the terrorist attacks.

By January of this year, a majority thought the country was divided. Now, nearly two-thirds say the county is divided.

What are Americans divided over? Religion, for one thing. About half the public believes organized religion has too much political influence. About half say it has too little, or the right amount. Democrats and Republicans hold polar opposite views. Two-thirds of Democrats say religion has too much influence. Two-thirds of Republicans say it doesn't.

But one myth about the election can be dispelled. There is no evidence of a lurch to the right in public opinion or a panic over moral values. Sure, only a quarter of Americans think the country's moral values are in good shape. But that's actually a little higher than it's been in recent years. In fact, there's evidence of a shift towards greater tolerance.

In 1993, after President Clinton proposed allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the military, most Americans were opposed to the idea. That view has completely turned around. Now, by nearly two to one, the public feels gay men and lesbians should be allowed to serve.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: Americans are still looking for a leader who can deliver what President Bush promised in 2000, someone who can be a uniter and not a divider. And so far, they haven't got it, Heidi.

COLLINS: Bill Schneider, thank you, Bill.

Well, we can hear you begging for some more numbers now. Oh, please, just one more set, right? So here you are in news note form.

However popular Arnold Schwarzenegger may be as a politician, the latest CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll suggests Americans are not in favor of amending the Constitution in order to make it possible for the governor of California to run for the presidency. Not in favor, as you can see, by better than two to one.

A private jet crashes en route to Houston to pick up former president George Bush. That tops our look at news cross-country.

Investigators say the jet crashed in thick fog after hitting a light pole on approach to Habby (ph) Airport. Three crew members aboard were killed. The former president sent his condolences to their families and canceled his trip to Ecuador for a conference.

Southern California, freak snowstorm. Some desert areas east of L.A. got it to a foot of the white stuff over the weekend. Yes, the desert. Nope, you can't blame El Nino, either. The weather guy's calling it an insider slider from Canada. They say it happens about every 10 years, and when it does, it's bad.

Washington, D.C., get ready to root for the Nationals, the new name for the Montreal Expos, which plans to relocate to D.C. pending approval by the MLB team owners, it was announced today. Of course, the Nationals isn't a new idea. It was actually the name of the first baseball team in the nation's capital.

Throughout New York, U2 rocks for free. Today, the band held several impromptu performances around the city, culminating in this concert in Brooklyn, with an estimated 3,000 people in the crowd. The buzz is this is all for a music video, but U2 only called it a TV shoot. Tomorrow, the band's new CD "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" goes on sale. And that's a rockin' look at stories cross-country tonight.

360 next, killing rampage in the woods. A lone gunman accused of killing five deer hunters in a small town. Now police try to answer the question, Why?

Also tonight, 41 years after the Kennedy assassination, and the conspiracy theories still swirl. We're getting to the bottom of who killed JFK.

Plus, basket brawl. The accusations and finger-pointing fly. Will criminal charges come next?

But first, your picks, the most popular stories on CNN.com right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: It's deer season right now in northwestern Wisconsin, a time of joy for many avid hunters. But in one community, this autumn tradition will always be scarred by a horror that happened in the woods yesterday when a group of hunters became the hunted.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The residents of Rice Lake, Wisconsin, are taking in the deadly details.

LINDA KOHECZNY, RICE LAKE RESIDENT: I'm shocked, you know, and it's scary. You know, my family goes out hunting every year.

OPPENHEIM: On Sunday, in deep woods one hour away from town, a group of area hunters came across another hunter, 36-year-old Chai Vang (ph), who police say was trespassing, illegally using a deer stand on private land. Investigators say the hunters told Vang he had to leave.

SHERIFF JAMES MEIER, SAWYER COUNTY, WISCONSIN: The suspect got down from the deer stand, walked approximately 40 yards, fiddled with his rifle, and some (UNINTELLIGIBLE) which appeared he took the scope off the rifle. He turned and he opened fire on the group.

OPPENHEIM (on camera): One member of that group used his walkie- talkie and called for help. Other hunters came, and police say Vang fired on them too.

In the end, three people were injured, five were killed. And among the dead, a 28-year-old woman and a father and his 20-year-old son.

(voice-over): Police say after the shootings, Vang got lost in the woods, then got help from two other hunters, who didn't realize he was a wanted man. He was later arrested by authorities without incident. SHERIFF TOM RICHIE, BARRON COUNTY, WISCONSIN: The most frequently asked question is, how could somebody do such a horrific, inhumane act?

OPPENHEIM: At this point, police have no clear answer as to what might have led Chai Vang from committing a minor infraction, trespassing, to what police believe was his role in a multiple murder.

Keith Oppenheim, CNN, Rice Lake, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: A quiet community in Long Island, New York, is also being rocked by an inexplicable crime. A burning cross was found on the lawn of two family homes in Lake Grove. Police there don't believe it was just a prank. They say it was prompted by hate.

CNN's Adaora Udoji reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It looked harmless, the charred circle of grass on the lawn. Yet the case has sent ripples through this Long Island neighborhood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This day and age, you know, it's something I, you know, wouldn't expect.

UDOJI: But it happened. Someone set fire to a wooden cross at the home of two biracial families, one a young white man and his Latino fiancee.

RACHEL: None of us really can think of anything or anyone or any situation that might have brought this to come about.

UDOJI: The other family, an African-American man, his white wife of 22 years, and their two teenagers. She spoke from behind a door.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just amazed that somebody could be so ignorant.

UDOJI (on camera): On this normally quiet street, the families say they heard loud noises around 3:00 in the morning. Minutes later, the doorbell rang, making sure they would see the wooden cross surrounded by flames.

(voice-over): Local police and the FBI are investigating it as a hate crime, which can carry stiff federal penalties, up to 10 years in prison.

JOE ROY, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: And it will be prosecuted as a hate crime.

UDOJI: Stiff penalties adopted to help stamp out the brutal legacy of cross burnings, used by white supremacy groups to terrorize minorities, especially African-Americans, in the 20th century. Experts say they're rare today, and rarely the work of groups.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's somebody who's crossed your path either at work or at home or in your community that are trying to send a message of intimidation or run you out of the neighborhood.

UDOJI: In Long Island, investigators are looking at all angles, hoping to find the perpetrators and prosecute them.

Adaora Udoji, CNN, Long Island, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The FBI says racial bias is still the number-one motive behind hate crimes. Here's a quick news note. According to the bureau's annual report, 51 percent of hate crimes last year were prompted by racial bigotry. And there were about three times as many black victims as white victims. In general, there were almost 7,500 hate crimes last year, practically no change from the year before. Most were simple or aggravated assaults, but 14 people were killed.

Iran blinks in a confrontation over its nuclear program. That tops our look at global stories in the uplink.

Tehran, Iran, the Islamic state said today it froze sensitive nuclear work, including uranium enrichment, a process that can ultimately lead to the ingredient needed for a nuclear bomb. The U.S. had threatened to impose severe sanctions on Iran if the Islamic state did not stop its nuclear operations.

In Jericho, West Bank, Secretary of State Colin Powell met with Palestinian officials today, congratulating them on their efforts to hold elections next January to choose Yasser Arafat's successor. Earlier, Israeli officials vowed to allow Palestinians enough freedom to get to the polls.

Paris, France, Yasser Arafat's medical records show the late Palestinian medical leader had no poison in his body. But the same records still do not contain an official cause of death. Arafat died earlier this month at a Paris military hospital.

Ilyan (ph), Israel, millions of locusts are swarming through southern Israel devouring crops and flowers in their way. The ravenous insects are also threatening Jordan and Saudi Arabia after leaving their mark in Egypt.

Santiago, Chile, President Bush delivered for his Secret Service agents Saturday. Chilean security officers stopped two agents, preventing them from following the president and first lady to a summit reception. The president, realizing what was going on, intervened, hauling out the Secret Service agents from a cluster of Chilean security officials.

And that's tonight's uplink.

360 next, life hanging in the balance. Scott Peterson loses another round in court. Also tonight, the JFK assassination, 41 years later. Conspiracy theories and Jackie's secret files. We take a closer look.

And a little later, O.J. Simpson not paying the price. He was acquitted of murder but ordered to pay millions of dollars to the victims' families. Find out why they're still battling it out in court. Kim Goldman joins us live.

And in a moment, today's 360 challenge. How closely you have been following today's news? Find out next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: More legal wrangling in the Scott Peterson trial today, just 10 days after he was found guilty of killing his wife, Laci, and their unborn son. The penalty phase of the trial never got under way today.

With the courtroom drama, here now CNN's Ted Rowlands.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Scott Peterson gave his family a faint smile as he walked into the courtroom for the first time since he was found guilty of first-degree murder for killing his wife, Laci, and unborn son.

None of the jurors who found him guilty would look at Peterson when they walked past him.

Once seated, they were told that the penalty phase of the trial had been delayed for a week. Judge Al Delucchi denied a motion from Peterson's defense team to excuse this jury and move the penalty phase to another county.

Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos, argued that this jury was tainted by the, quote, "moblike response to the guilty verdict" and may be compelled to return a death sentence to please the community.

JIM HAMMER, LEGAL ANALYST: Scott was craning his neck, trying to make some eye contact with any juror, and not one would look at him. I mean, it felt today death was in the house, I mean, it really felt like this jury could sentence him to death.

ROWLANDS: Geragos told the judge he plans to appeal, and will go to the state supreme court, if necessary. The judge allowed the week delay for that and other discovery issues to be worked out. But he told jurors to be ready by next week.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS: The penalty phase is scheduled to take five days. It is expected that the bulk of the prosecution case will center around testimony from Laci Peterson's friends and family, Heidi.

COLLINS: Ted Rowlands, thanks, from Redwood City tonight. Questions remain 41 years later. Did Lee Harvey Oswald assassinate President John F. Kennedy, or was it a wider conspiracy?

And the Goldman family's ongoing battle to get O.J. Simpson to pay up. Could the former star be hiding a fortune?

360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: At this moment, 41 years ago the nation was in shock, in sadness, and in fear. Trying to make sense what happened just a few hours earlier. Under a bright Dallas sun, the 35th President of the United States was shot dead. The government says Lee Harvey Oswald was the killer, but to this day not everyone believes that. CNN national correspondent Gary Tuchman revisits the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John F. Kennedy has now been dead for 41 years. But the conspiracy theories live on.

OLIVER STONE, DIRECTOR "JFK": They accuse me of rewriting history. My response is history needs to be rewritten, because it was never told properly.

TUCHMAN: Oliver Stone's 1991 film "JFK" may have done more to publicize doubts about what happens on November 22nd, 1963, than anything else.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I'm Oswald. Time me.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Go.

TUCHMAN: The movie told the story of former New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison who on his own investigated the assassination of JFK. And concluded government officials covered up information about multiple shooters. Four years before his death in 1992, this was Jim Garrison.

JIM GARRISON, FORMER DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This one man who couldn't fire a rifle effectively on the marine range, overnight was transformed into a man who in 5.8 seconds was able to turn into - just utterly destroy a president.

TUCHMAN: Why do conspiracy theorists believe in a cover-up? Some say there were those in the U.S. government who wanted JFK dead, in order to prolong the war in Vietnam. Others say it was the Mafia, angry at JFK for being aggressive against organized crime. Some say strip joint owner Jack Ruby killed Oswald to keep him quiet about the Mafia plot. Then there's the alleged Cuban connection which cuts two ways. One theory is Fidel Castro had Kennedy murdered in retaliation for attempts on his own life. The other side of the Cuban coin is that right wing Cuban exiles were responsible, angry about the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): We can't see who has been hit but apparently something is wrong here. Something is terribly wrong.

TUCHMAN: The Warren Commission said Lee Harvey Oswald was the Seoul assassin of the 35th president. But that investigation has never been enough to quiet the naysayers. Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: There are plenty of questions that may stay unanswered, though some secrets could lie in sealed files and opened decades from now. Historian Robert Dallek, who researched Kennedy's life, sat down with Anderson and discussed all the questions and theories.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: I read a poll last year that said 70 percent of Americans think that the assassination of President Kennedy was part of a larger conspiracy. A larger plot. You've done more research, perhaps, gotten closer than anyone else does. Does any of this hold any water? Any of these conspiracy theories?

ROBERT DALLEK, AUTHOR, "AN UNFINISHED LIFE": I don't think so, Anderson. I looked at this and studied it and thought about it, what I'm struck by is that the country can't quite accept the proposition that someone as inconsequential as Oswald could have killed someone as consequential as Kennedy. After all these years, 41 years now, you would think if there had been a conspiracy, we would know exactly who the conspirators were and how they carried this off. But there's been an awful lot of speculation, but no hard evidence to speak of to demonstrate that, in fact, it was a conspiracy.

COOPER: I tend to believe government is not that efficient that they can actually keep things secret for all that length of time.

DALLEK: Yes, I agree.

COOPER: But as the years have gone by, it seems that the sense that there is some sort of conspiracy has only grown. If you look at polls, more people now think that than in the immediate aftermath of his assassination. Do you think that is because of movies like "JFK" or is it a general distrust of the government?

DALLEK: Well, I think it's both, I think it's the kind of propaganda and discussion and media discussion that we've heard, and also there is great skepticism and doubts about the government. There has been allegations about everybody in government, the CIA the Pentagon, Lyndon Johnson, none of it has proved out. And in my judgment, it's all false. I had FBI records that I got through Freedom of Information Act when I was writing my second Johnson volume. And there is simply no evidence, in fact, there's contrary evidence to demonstrate that there wasn't a conspiracy and that Lyndon Johnson had absolutely nothing to do with Kennedy's death.

So I'm convinced that Oswald was the lone killer, but also, I think, what it speaks to is the kind of attachment and affection that people to this day have toward John Kennedy. When you ask people in the country who are the greatest presidents in the country's history? They mention Lincoln and Roosevelt and Washington, and then Kennedy and Reagan, and it's amazing because Kennedy was there, of course, for only a thousand days, but I think he remains an inspirational figure. His rhetoric, the tapes of his press conferences and of him speaking so young, so vital, so attractive. And he died so young, it's tabula rasa, we have a blank slate on to which you can write anything and the country seems to attach all sorts of hopes and affection to him.

COOPER: You, for your book, "An Unfinished Life, John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963" you really got closer, you got access to documents other people had not been able to. I was fascinated to read, though, that there is an oral history, recorded by Mrs. Kennedy, Jacqueline Onassis that will not be opened for 50 more years?

DALLEK: Well, actually, it will be 40 more years. 50 years after her death. I asked Caroline Kennedy for permission to read the oral history. She said it was her mother's wish to keep it closed for 50 years after her death. And so it will probably be another 40 years. I also asked the head of the Kennedy Library, Deborah Leff, would historians, biographers find it of interest when it was finally opened? And she told me "You betcha." So I was a bit frustrated not being able to get at it. What's in it? I don't know. Nobody at library, of course, can say or tell you, but I suspect it will be quite interesting.

COOPER: What are the questions you would like answered that you feel you don't have a grasp on?

DALLEK: Yeah, well, I'd like to hear more about what, if anything, Kennedy may have been saying to Jacqueline Kennedy about Vietnam or about Cuba. The information I found, the documents demonstrate to me that Kennedy was terribly skeptical about escalating the war in Vietnam, and was eager to reduce American involvement and even get out over the short term. Also, there were backchannel discussions going on with the Castro government in Havana, whether that would have produced some kind of agreement, rapprochement, nobody can say, because it's guess work, we don't know what would have happened. But it would be interesting to know if Kennedy spoke to Mrs. Kennedy about any of these issues. What he had to say about these questions, and maybe she has material in this oral history that will enrich our understanding.

COOPER: And that will no doubt keep conspiracy theorists, also, I guess, continuing to talk for another 40 years or so. Robert Dallek, appreciate you joining us. It's a fascinating subject, and you are definitely the expert on it. Thank you very much.

DALLEK: Thank you, my pleasure.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: And this may shock you. Video game players can now assume the role of Lee Harvey Oswald. Here's a quick news note.

Today, a Scottish firm released "JFK Reloaded," a video game that allows players to shoot at President Kennedy. There's even an option for blood effects. The game's maker is offering a cash prize to the person who succeeds in replicating the assassination. A spokesman for Senator Edward Kennedy has called the game despicable.

Next week, 360 will dig deep into the dark world of conspiracy theories, we'll look at fame and lesser-known rumors as well as those that are too bizarre to be true, or are they? Catch or series, "Conspiracy Theories, Paranoia or Truth?" It's coming up all next week on 360.

360 "Next" -O.J. Simpson versus the Goldman family. Acquitted of murder, but is he hiding money to avoid paying the verdict in the civil trial?

Also tonight, another loss in court for Scott Peterson. That's in "Justice Served."

Plus sport, stars and fans, throwing punches, losing their cool "Inside the Box."

And in a moment, today's 360 challenge, how closely have you been following today's news? Find out next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant, Orenthal James Simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder, in violation of Penal Code Section 187a, a felony upon Nicole Brown Simpson, a human being, as charged in count one of the information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Nine years ago, the nation watched spellbound as a Los Angeles jury declared O.J. Simpson not guilty in the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.

After his acquittal, the victims' families sued Simpson in civil court, which requires a lesser standard of proof. That jury found Simpson liable for the murders, and slapped him with a multimillion dollar judgment.

The former football star has refused to pay the money, saying he did not commit the murders. But the victims' families want justice. A judge has ordered one of Simpson's friends to appear in court tomorrow to talk about his finances.

Tonight in "Justice Served," CNN's Miguel Marquez has the latest on the case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): O.J. Simpson and his money under the microscope again. Fred Goldman has haunted Simpson since he was acquitted of criminal charges in the murder of his son, Ron Goldman. In his ongoing effort to get Simpson to make good on the entire $34 million civil judgment, a judge ordered this man to tell Goldman's lawyers what he knows about how O.J. Simpson makes money.

ALFRED BEARDSLEY, MEMORABILIA COLLECTOR: I know I'm an innocent bystander in this thing. I know Mr. Simpson is an innocent bystander in this thing. We just tried to do a very simple transaction, and it just blew way out of control.

MARQUEZ: Beardsley says he is a longtime collector of Simpson memorabilia, and that he and a business partner set up a deal to bring Simpson to East Los Angeles to sign autographs.

BEARDSLEY: All I was going to do is accommodate him with his hotels, his transportation and meals.

MARQUEZ: But Simpson's Miami lawyer, Yale Galanter, told CNN in a phone interview that Simpson had no idea an autograph session was being planned. Frank Zamarripa, who owns Frank & Son's Collectible Show in City of Commerce says he spoke to both Simpson and his attorney, and both assured him he was coming to sign autographs.

FRANK ZAMARRIPA, COLLECTIBLE SHOW OWNER: O.J. wanted to come. He called up and said, you know, I'll come out there and guarantee -- his attorney called and guaranteed us that he would come out here and stuff.

MARQUEZ: Zamarripa even took out an ad in the classified section of the "L.A. Times," and then says he had to call everything off.

ZAMARRIPA: There's a lot of collectors out there for O.J. We had a lot of phone calls when he canceled.

MARQUEZ: Lawyers for Fred Goldman say they hope to use whatever information they learn from Alfred Beardsley to keep after O.J. Simpson's money. Even if they collect one nickel at a time.

Miquel Marquez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Murder victim Ron Goldman's sister, Kim Goldman, is joining us now from Los Angeles with more on tomorrow's court appearance.

Kim, good to see you, and thanks for being with us tonight. We appreciate your time.

KIM GOLDMAN, RON GOLDMAN'S SISTER: Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: You believe O.J. Simpson may be making a lot of money off memorabilia, and this guy we just saw, Alfred Beardsley, knows Simpson's secrets. What are you basing this on?

GOLDMAN: We've had reason to believe for years that he's been gaining income from his memorabilia shows, autograph signings, his public appearances. I'm not surprised that this is coming out now. I'm thankful in some ways that Beardsley is bringing this to the forefront, but this is not new information to us.

COLLINS: So do you think O.J. Simpson has been actually hiding money intentionally to avoid paying you?

GOLDMAN: We've had reason to believe that he's fraudulently conveyed money to other sources in an effort to not honor the judgment against him. I can't obviously speak to that at this point, but again, this is not the first time we've heard this. But, yes, we do have reason to believe that that's been happening.

COLLINS: Well, I can't imagine how difficult it must be to hear words like this. In fact, in a televised interview, it was over the summer, O.J. Simpson said, "I've been very clear. I won. I didn't commit the crime. I don't think they deserve anything."

And he said if it's up to him, he, in fact, will never pay. Your response?

GOLDMAN: My response is that, you know, this is a man who benefited from our system, and now he's taking advantage of it and manipulating it and not honoring it. And I find that to be incredibly hypocritical, and insensitive, and, you know, full of a lack of compassion for anybody but himself. And I'm not surprised, and, you know, I don't really add too much credence to what he says, but it's just unbelievable that he's still making those kind of comments after all this time.

COLLINS: After Simpson was found liable for the murders of your brother Ron, and Nicole Brown Simpson in the civil case, your dad, Fred Goldman, said it is absolutely not about the money. In fact, listen to this for just a moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRED GOLDMAN, FATHER OF RON GOLDMAN: To put it simply, I look at the dollars as an irrelevant issue, except that if I were to think in terms of each dollar as one day in prison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Kim, is it about the money now?

GOLDMAN: You know what? It's a really fine line, because we've always maintained the fact that it's about wanting it on the record and wanting to make sure that it's somewhere written that he's responsible.

The only way that we can punish him at this point is a financial one, and I've explained often that financial freedom for him, you know, represents liberty and the right to pursue his life and to have luxuries that he stole from Ron and Nicole when he stabbed them to death on June 12th. And so, it does become a financial situation, because we -- that's the only way we can render him helpless and paralyze him from kind of, you know, enjoying a life of luxury.

COLLINS: We just watched quite a bit of video there, and we've seen it before, of him golfing and so forth.

The world, though, watched as O.J. Simpson was acquitted of double murder. In fact, we saw this as we just got into this piece here. But no cameras were allowed at the civil trial, where you say O.J. did, in fact, act guilty. Do you remain convinced O.J. killed your brother?

GOLDMAN: There's not a shadow of doubt. There's never been anything to sway me in any other direction. You know, there are hundreds of pieces of evidence that point to only one person in this case, and there will never be anything that will ever be presented that will tell me differently. So yeah, absolutely, he's the one that stabbed my brother to death and nearly decapitated his wife.

COLLINS: How do you feel when you see those images, like we just saw, of him playing golf and so forth?

GOLDMAN: It makes me sick. It's very disturbing, you know, to watch the level of arrogance and to watch the smugness, and to know that that's the last face that my brother saw as he walked away to leave my brother to die. It just -- it sickens me, and it's incredibly sad that he commands the kind of attention that he does. And that for the rest of my life and his life, he'll be a part of my living room and my news.

COLLINS: How far are you prepared to go to make him pay?

GOLDMAN: We're going to go every step that it takes. You know, I vowed this after the civil case ended, that I want to be an albatross around his neck, and I want to make sure that he knows that he's not being forgiven, and not being, you know, it's not forgotten what he did. And we will do whatever we can, and we hope the public encourages and stays passionate about this case. And you know, I will be behind him every step of the way, watching every move that he makes.

COLLINS: Kim Goldman, coming to us live from Los Angeles tonight. Kim, thanks so much.

GOLDMAN: Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: O.J. Simpson has two children with Nicole Brown Simpson who was murdered on June 12th, 1994. Here's a quick news note what they're doing now. Simpson's daughter Sydney is 18, she was 10 when she lost her mom. She went to college this fall. Justin 16, and like his dad plays football. He still lives with his father in Florida. Both kids visit Nicole's parents Lou and Judith Brown on holidays.

360 next, players and fans in an ugly brawl. Suspensions and the blame game "Inside The Box."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest has a lot of free time on his hands for the rest of the NBA season and a lot less money. Artest is one of the nine players handed suspensions without pay after an ugly brawl broke out between players and fans during the Pacers/Pistons game Friday night. The fight may go down as one of the worst ever, but it's certainly not the first.

And how the blame game begins "inside the box."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS (voice-over): By now, you've probably seen the pictures countless time, Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest sprinting into the stands after a fan who hit him with a cup.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Artest is in the stands!

COLLINS: Suddenly a basketball game became an all out brawl. With superstars athletes on the attack in the audience and fans on the floor duking it out with the players. In the end nine players were suspended including Artest who will sit out the rest of the season, and sacrifice more than $5 million in salary. Tough punishment handed out by a disgusted NBA commissioner.

DAVID STERN, NBA COMMISSIONER: We have to make the point that there are boundaries in our games.

COLLINS: But it is far from the first time fans and players crossed the line, turning playing fields into battlegrounds. In September, Texas Rangers pitcher Frank Francisco flew into a rage and flung a chair into the stands, breaking a fans nose. Father and son White Sox fans flew onto the field and punched and kicked a Kansas City coach in 2002. Even football has fanatics. In 1999 Oakland Raiders players were pelted with snowballs in Denver, some stuffed with batteries. When players struck back, a female fan was hit in the face.

When punches fly, so do the inevitable questions, why can't highly paid players practice more self-control? When does fan fervor go too far?

For now the pacers are standing by their men.

LARRY BIRD, PACERS PRES., BASKETBALL OPS.: We will be supporting them 100 percent. We'll keep in contact with them and let them know we're here for them, and we're going to do whatever we can to help them get back as soon as possible.

COLLINS: The league is left with a black eye, lawsuits like likely to follow. But the question of who's to blame when fists fly on the field has yet to be settled "Inside the Box."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS; Stay with CNN as PAULA ZAHN TONIGHT goes in depth on fans and players out of control. That's coming your way less than five minutes.

The 360 challenge now. Here's another look at tonight's questions.

Do you know news?

Log onto cnn.com/360, click on the answer link to play.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Time for the answers to today's "360 Challenge."

No. 1, how many U.S. bound planes have been diverted mid flight from Europe in the past two months, the answer, two.

According to the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll what percentage of people think organized religion has too much influence on politics, 48 percent.

And finally today marks what anniversary of the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy, it's the 41st. The first person to answer all three questions correctly will be send a 360 question. Tune in tomorrow and find out if you're the one.

Friday's winner Jasminder Deol of Irvine California. That is our "360 Challenge" winner.

That's it for now. Anderson will be back later. Paula Zahn is up next.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired November 22, 2004 - 19:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, HOST: Is President Bush having trouble spending his political capital? He's facing his first political loss since reelection.
360 starts now.

President Bush on his way back home after a weekend with world leaders, talking terrorism and more, while fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill reject 9/11 reform.

A new poll on the pulse of the nation after the election. How truly divided is America on moral values?

A frightening wakeup call. Two interracial couples awake to find a burning cross on their front lawn.

Questions remain 41 years later. Did Lee Harvey Oswald assassinate President John F. Kennedy, or was it a wider conspiracy?

The Goldman family's ongoing battle to get O.J. Simpson to pay up. Could the former star be hiding a fortune?

And fists flying at professional sporting events. Why players and fans just can't seem to get along inside the box.

ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.

COLLINS: Good evening again.

The president must have thought he was leaving things pretty well battened down in Washington when he took off for South America the other day. Now he's about ready to come home to something of a political problem.

CNN senior White House correspondent John King reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A trip carefully scripted for postelection image-building on the world stage.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Helas (ph) mi amigo. KING: And a promise to push Congress for more money for Colombia's war on drugs and terror.

BUSH: Look, here's what you got to do with the Congress. You say, First of all, it's an important issue.

KING: That pledge despite a major weekend setback that could signal trouble for the president's second-term agenda. While in Chile for a Pacific Rim summit, what the president thought was a deal on intelligence reform collapsed, House conservatives rebelling despite a last-minute Bush lobbying effort.

JOHN LEHMAN, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: The president now has been challenged directly by the leadership of the Congress and by the lobbyists and by the bureaucracy. Now, he's got to show who's in charge.

KING: Immigration is another looming battle. During his trip. Mr. Bush promised to push a proposal to allow illegal immigrants to come forward and get temporary legal status. Mr. Bush knows many conservatives don't like the idea. What the White House doesn't like, however, is how eager some are to brag about opposing their newly reelected leader.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is the president. And he's a heck of a lot stronger position than I am, being a third-term member of Congress. But I will fight him, as with every ounce of my energy.

KING: There are other flashpoints too. Government spending and big deficits are making fiscal conservatives impatient. Religious conservatives say they made the difference on election day and deserve payback. And some fellow Republicans don't share Mr. Bush's optimistic assessment of Colombia's drug war.

BUSH: My administration is a results oriented administration.

KING: The loyalty problem goes beyond fellow Republicans in Congress. The Pentagon raised reservations about the intelligence bill at the very moment Mr. Bush was trying to get a deal.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R): I know there's some resistance in the Defense Department about the way the intelligence is going to be shifted around.

KING: Vice President Cheney worked Monday to revive the intelligence measure, and some believe the weekend Republican rebellion will soon be forgotten.

DAVID WINSTON, THE WINSTON GROUP: People are trying to sort of take a small incident and turn sort of a molehill into a mountain.

KING (on camera): But as the president headed home for a Thanksgiving break in Texas, his optimism about his first postelection international trip was tempered by the reality that the much-touted Republican gains in Congress don't necessarily guarantee success back home. John King, CNN, Cartagena, Colombia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The Bush administration vowing to get that stalled intelligence reform bill John King just mentioned moving through Congress once again. Does that put the president on a collision course with members of his own party?

I talked to the "CROSSFIRE" guys a little earlier, James Carville and Tucker Carlson.

The intelligence reform bill got killed by some Republican members of the House. In fact, here's what the president had to say about it, let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I was disappointed that the bill didn't pass. I thought it was going to pass up until the last minute. And so I look forward to going back to Washington to work with the interested parties to get it passed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Tucker, let me ask you, how is it possible that a newly elected president who claims that he's ready to spend this political capital can't get his own majority to agree on a bill like this?

TUCKER CARLSON, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": Well, it's hard to make other people do things they don't want to do, as we're learning in Iraq. And, look, there are a lot of real concerns about reorganizing the intelligence services. And there's a huge debate that's not probably that interesting outside of Washington, but having to do with bureaucratic turf. The Department of Defense, which obviously spends most, I think, most of the intelligence money appropriated by Congress, doesn't want to give up the authority that comes from spending that money.

And so, I don't know, there are a lot of forces here. It turns out that maybe it might not be a good idea to reorganize intelligence along those lines, anyway.

COLLINS: James, this is about bureaucratic turf?

JAMES CARVILLE, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": (UNINTELLIGIBLE) no. It's just simply that the president never wanted a 9/11 commission, they were very enthusiastic about this. If they want to get it passed, what they need to do is attach it to a bill that helps coal companies or pharmaceutical companies or insurance companies.

Then the wrath of God would come down on this Congress, and they'd get it passed, because, see, that's what they really care about. They don't care. This is all fakery. This is like the Department of Homeland Security, which (UNINTELLIGIBLE) opposed the whole time till they saw some electoral benefit. Believe you me, if it had something, if there was something in here for energy companies or pharmaceuticals, this would have passed through there like you'd never believe. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) they didn't care if it passed or not.

CARLSON: I believe John Kerry made an entire presidential campaign on a similar message, and where is he now? Back in the Senate. Look, that's, I think, a ridiculous critique. The point is, it may be a stupid idea...

CARVILLE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) true.

CARLSON: ... may be a stupid idea in the first place, and sort of the beauty of Congress is, there's debate, there's deliberation, and these things take time, and they ought to take time. Just because the 9/11 commission says it's a good idea doesn't mean that it is.

CARVILLE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

COLLINS: We are, we are out of time, guys. I'm so sorry, but James Carville, Tucker Carlson, we appreciate your time, as always.

CARLSON: Thank you.

CARVILLE: Thank you.

COLLINS: On to homeland security now. The good news is that this country does, in fact, maintain a list of people who shouldn't be allowed aboard airplanes bound for the U.S. because they are considered dangerous.

The bad news is that this so-called no-fly list doesn't seem to get consulted until after the people on it are wheels-up.

CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the second time in two months a plane bound for the U.S. from Europe had to be diverted midflight, and a passenger sent back because he was on a U.S. no-fly list.

TOM RIDGE, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We are discussing with our friends in the European Community the possibility of getting the manifest before the plane takes off, an hour before. It's easier said than done. There are diplomatic challenges, there are privacy concerns that our friends around the world have about these things.

ARENA: In late September, a plane from Britain was grounded after takeoff, carrying the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens. This time, the passenger of interest is not well known. He's a Moroccan, Ahmed Lehedi (ph). Not only was he on a no-fly list, but he didn't even have a valid visa.

MICHAEL GREENBERGER, HOMELAND SECURITY EXPERT: We have a desperate need to enter into multilateral negotiations with European countries to get this straightened out. The safety of the United States is obviously very much dependent on this, the...

ARENA: Foreign airlines are largely responsible for screening, and send passenger lists to the U.S. 15 minutes after takeoff. U.S. and European officials are negotiating to give the U.S. more time. And this latest incident provides fresh momentum.

European officials have concerns, though, about passenger privacy and logistics. What's more, the U.S. list has misspellings and other mistakes.

GREENBERGER: It certainly is an indication to other countries that their efforts are going to be wasted. It doesn't give them the incentive or encouragement to go out of their way and spend their energy and money.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA: Now, in this instance, officials insist that it was right to deny Lehedi entrance into the country. Government sources say that the CIA provided information that he associated with known terrorists. Officials say that he is being sent back to Paris, Heidi.

COLLINS: Kelli Arena, live from Washington tonight. Kelli, thanks.

ARENA: You're welcome.

COLLINS: OK, so tell the truth. Now that the election is over, do you imagine that the country's pollsters are all stretched out on the sand somewhere, drinking out of coconuts or glasses with little paper umbrellas in them?

Well, it isn't so. The questioning and the number-crunching never ends. The latest figures now from CNN senior political analyst William Schneider.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): How do Americans feel after the long, bruising election campaign?

Divided.

Asked whether American are united or divided about basic values, three-quarters declared the country united in November 2001, shortly after the terrorist attacks.

By January of this year, a majority thought the country was divided. Now, nearly two-thirds say the county is divided.

What are Americans divided over? Religion, for one thing. About half the public believes organized religion has too much political influence. About half say it has too little, or the right amount. Democrats and Republicans hold polar opposite views. Two-thirds of Democrats say religion has too much influence. Two-thirds of Republicans say it doesn't.

But one myth about the election can be dispelled. There is no evidence of a lurch to the right in public opinion or a panic over moral values. Sure, only a quarter of Americans think the country's moral values are in good shape. But that's actually a little higher than it's been in recent years. In fact, there's evidence of a shift towards greater tolerance.

In 1993, after President Clinton proposed allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the military, most Americans were opposed to the idea. That view has completely turned around. Now, by nearly two to one, the public feels gay men and lesbians should be allowed to serve.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: Americans are still looking for a leader who can deliver what President Bush promised in 2000, someone who can be a uniter and not a divider. And so far, they haven't got it, Heidi.

COLLINS: Bill Schneider, thank you, Bill.

Well, we can hear you begging for some more numbers now. Oh, please, just one more set, right? So here you are in news note form.

However popular Arnold Schwarzenegger may be as a politician, the latest CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll suggests Americans are not in favor of amending the Constitution in order to make it possible for the governor of California to run for the presidency. Not in favor, as you can see, by better than two to one.

A private jet crashes en route to Houston to pick up former president George Bush. That tops our look at news cross-country.

Investigators say the jet crashed in thick fog after hitting a light pole on approach to Habby (ph) Airport. Three crew members aboard were killed. The former president sent his condolences to their families and canceled his trip to Ecuador for a conference.

Southern California, freak snowstorm. Some desert areas east of L.A. got it to a foot of the white stuff over the weekend. Yes, the desert. Nope, you can't blame El Nino, either. The weather guy's calling it an insider slider from Canada. They say it happens about every 10 years, and when it does, it's bad.

Washington, D.C., get ready to root for the Nationals, the new name for the Montreal Expos, which plans to relocate to D.C. pending approval by the MLB team owners, it was announced today. Of course, the Nationals isn't a new idea. It was actually the name of the first baseball team in the nation's capital.

Throughout New York, U2 rocks for free. Today, the band held several impromptu performances around the city, culminating in this concert in Brooklyn, with an estimated 3,000 people in the crowd. The buzz is this is all for a music video, but U2 only called it a TV shoot. Tomorrow, the band's new CD "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" goes on sale. And that's a rockin' look at stories cross-country tonight.

360 next, killing rampage in the woods. A lone gunman accused of killing five deer hunters in a small town. Now police try to answer the question, Why?

Also tonight, 41 years after the Kennedy assassination, and the conspiracy theories still swirl. We're getting to the bottom of who killed JFK.

Plus, basket brawl. The accusations and finger-pointing fly. Will criminal charges come next?

But first, your picks, the most popular stories on CNN.com right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: It's deer season right now in northwestern Wisconsin, a time of joy for many avid hunters. But in one community, this autumn tradition will always be scarred by a horror that happened in the woods yesterday when a group of hunters became the hunted.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The residents of Rice Lake, Wisconsin, are taking in the deadly details.

LINDA KOHECZNY, RICE LAKE RESIDENT: I'm shocked, you know, and it's scary. You know, my family goes out hunting every year.

OPPENHEIM: On Sunday, in deep woods one hour away from town, a group of area hunters came across another hunter, 36-year-old Chai Vang (ph), who police say was trespassing, illegally using a deer stand on private land. Investigators say the hunters told Vang he had to leave.

SHERIFF JAMES MEIER, SAWYER COUNTY, WISCONSIN: The suspect got down from the deer stand, walked approximately 40 yards, fiddled with his rifle, and some (UNINTELLIGIBLE) which appeared he took the scope off the rifle. He turned and he opened fire on the group.

OPPENHEIM (on camera): One member of that group used his walkie- talkie and called for help. Other hunters came, and police say Vang fired on them too.

In the end, three people were injured, five were killed. And among the dead, a 28-year-old woman and a father and his 20-year-old son.

(voice-over): Police say after the shootings, Vang got lost in the woods, then got help from two other hunters, who didn't realize he was a wanted man. He was later arrested by authorities without incident. SHERIFF TOM RICHIE, BARRON COUNTY, WISCONSIN: The most frequently asked question is, how could somebody do such a horrific, inhumane act?

OPPENHEIM: At this point, police have no clear answer as to what might have led Chai Vang from committing a minor infraction, trespassing, to what police believe was his role in a multiple murder.

Keith Oppenheim, CNN, Rice Lake, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: A quiet community in Long Island, New York, is also being rocked by an inexplicable crime. A burning cross was found on the lawn of two family homes in Lake Grove. Police there don't believe it was just a prank. They say it was prompted by hate.

CNN's Adaora Udoji reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It looked harmless, the charred circle of grass on the lawn. Yet the case has sent ripples through this Long Island neighborhood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This day and age, you know, it's something I, you know, wouldn't expect.

UDOJI: But it happened. Someone set fire to a wooden cross at the home of two biracial families, one a young white man and his Latino fiancee.

RACHEL: None of us really can think of anything or anyone or any situation that might have brought this to come about.

UDOJI: The other family, an African-American man, his white wife of 22 years, and their two teenagers. She spoke from behind a door.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just amazed that somebody could be so ignorant.

UDOJI (on camera): On this normally quiet street, the families say they heard loud noises around 3:00 in the morning. Minutes later, the doorbell rang, making sure they would see the wooden cross surrounded by flames.

(voice-over): Local police and the FBI are investigating it as a hate crime, which can carry stiff federal penalties, up to 10 years in prison.

JOE ROY, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: And it will be prosecuted as a hate crime.

UDOJI: Stiff penalties adopted to help stamp out the brutal legacy of cross burnings, used by white supremacy groups to terrorize minorities, especially African-Americans, in the 20th century. Experts say they're rare today, and rarely the work of groups.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's somebody who's crossed your path either at work or at home or in your community that are trying to send a message of intimidation or run you out of the neighborhood.

UDOJI: In Long Island, investigators are looking at all angles, hoping to find the perpetrators and prosecute them.

Adaora Udoji, CNN, Long Island, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The FBI says racial bias is still the number-one motive behind hate crimes. Here's a quick news note. According to the bureau's annual report, 51 percent of hate crimes last year were prompted by racial bigotry. And there were about three times as many black victims as white victims. In general, there were almost 7,500 hate crimes last year, practically no change from the year before. Most were simple or aggravated assaults, but 14 people were killed.

Iran blinks in a confrontation over its nuclear program. That tops our look at global stories in the uplink.

Tehran, Iran, the Islamic state said today it froze sensitive nuclear work, including uranium enrichment, a process that can ultimately lead to the ingredient needed for a nuclear bomb. The U.S. had threatened to impose severe sanctions on Iran if the Islamic state did not stop its nuclear operations.

In Jericho, West Bank, Secretary of State Colin Powell met with Palestinian officials today, congratulating them on their efforts to hold elections next January to choose Yasser Arafat's successor. Earlier, Israeli officials vowed to allow Palestinians enough freedom to get to the polls.

Paris, France, Yasser Arafat's medical records show the late Palestinian medical leader had no poison in his body. But the same records still do not contain an official cause of death. Arafat died earlier this month at a Paris military hospital.

Ilyan (ph), Israel, millions of locusts are swarming through southern Israel devouring crops and flowers in their way. The ravenous insects are also threatening Jordan and Saudi Arabia after leaving their mark in Egypt.

Santiago, Chile, President Bush delivered for his Secret Service agents Saturday. Chilean security officers stopped two agents, preventing them from following the president and first lady to a summit reception. The president, realizing what was going on, intervened, hauling out the Secret Service agents from a cluster of Chilean security officials.

And that's tonight's uplink.

360 next, life hanging in the balance. Scott Peterson loses another round in court. Also tonight, the JFK assassination, 41 years later. Conspiracy theories and Jackie's secret files. We take a closer look.

And a little later, O.J. Simpson not paying the price. He was acquitted of murder but ordered to pay millions of dollars to the victims' families. Find out why they're still battling it out in court. Kim Goldman joins us live.

And in a moment, today's 360 challenge. How closely you have been following today's news? Find out next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: More legal wrangling in the Scott Peterson trial today, just 10 days after he was found guilty of killing his wife, Laci, and their unborn son. The penalty phase of the trial never got under way today.

With the courtroom drama, here now CNN's Ted Rowlands.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Scott Peterson gave his family a faint smile as he walked into the courtroom for the first time since he was found guilty of first-degree murder for killing his wife, Laci, and unborn son.

None of the jurors who found him guilty would look at Peterson when they walked past him.

Once seated, they were told that the penalty phase of the trial had been delayed for a week. Judge Al Delucchi denied a motion from Peterson's defense team to excuse this jury and move the penalty phase to another county.

Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos, argued that this jury was tainted by the, quote, "moblike response to the guilty verdict" and may be compelled to return a death sentence to please the community.

JIM HAMMER, LEGAL ANALYST: Scott was craning his neck, trying to make some eye contact with any juror, and not one would look at him. I mean, it felt today death was in the house, I mean, it really felt like this jury could sentence him to death.

ROWLANDS: Geragos told the judge he plans to appeal, and will go to the state supreme court, if necessary. The judge allowed the week delay for that and other discovery issues to be worked out. But he told jurors to be ready by next week.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS: The penalty phase is scheduled to take five days. It is expected that the bulk of the prosecution case will center around testimony from Laci Peterson's friends and family, Heidi.

COLLINS: Ted Rowlands, thanks, from Redwood City tonight. Questions remain 41 years later. Did Lee Harvey Oswald assassinate President John F. Kennedy, or was it a wider conspiracy?

And the Goldman family's ongoing battle to get O.J. Simpson to pay up. Could the former star be hiding a fortune?

360 continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: At this moment, 41 years ago the nation was in shock, in sadness, and in fear. Trying to make sense what happened just a few hours earlier. Under a bright Dallas sun, the 35th President of the United States was shot dead. The government says Lee Harvey Oswald was the killer, but to this day not everyone believes that. CNN national correspondent Gary Tuchman revisits the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John F. Kennedy has now been dead for 41 years. But the conspiracy theories live on.

OLIVER STONE, DIRECTOR "JFK": They accuse me of rewriting history. My response is history needs to be rewritten, because it was never told properly.

TUCHMAN: Oliver Stone's 1991 film "JFK" may have done more to publicize doubts about what happens on November 22nd, 1963, than anything else.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I'm Oswald. Time me.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Go.

TUCHMAN: The movie told the story of former New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison who on his own investigated the assassination of JFK. And concluded government officials covered up information about multiple shooters. Four years before his death in 1992, this was Jim Garrison.

JIM GARRISON, FORMER DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This one man who couldn't fire a rifle effectively on the marine range, overnight was transformed into a man who in 5.8 seconds was able to turn into - just utterly destroy a president.

TUCHMAN: Why do conspiracy theorists believe in a cover-up? Some say there were those in the U.S. government who wanted JFK dead, in order to prolong the war in Vietnam. Others say it was the Mafia, angry at JFK for being aggressive against organized crime. Some say strip joint owner Jack Ruby killed Oswald to keep him quiet about the Mafia plot. Then there's the alleged Cuban connection which cuts two ways. One theory is Fidel Castro had Kennedy murdered in retaliation for attempts on his own life. The other side of the Cuban coin is that right wing Cuban exiles were responsible, angry about the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): We can't see who has been hit but apparently something is wrong here. Something is terribly wrong.

TUCHMAN: The Warren Commission said Lee Harvey Oswald was the Seoul assassin of the 35th president. But that investigation has never been enough to quiet the naysayers. Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: There are plenty of questions that may stay unanswered, though some secrets could lie in sealed files and opened decades from now. Historian Robert Dallek, who researched Kennedy's life, sat down with Anderson and discussed all the questions and theories.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: I read a poll last year that said 70 percent of Americans think that the assassination of President Kennedy was part of a larger conspiracy. A larger plot. You've done more research, perhaps, gotten closer than anyone else does. Does any of this hold any water? Any of these conspiracy theories?

ROBERT DALLEK, AUTHOR, "AN UNFINISHED LIFE": I don't think so, Anderson. I looked at this and studied it and thought about it, what I'm struck by is that the country can't quite accept the proposition that someone as inconsequential as Oswald could have killed someone as consequential as Kennedy. After all these years, 41 years now, you would think if there had been a conspiracy, we would know exactly who the conspirators were and how they carried this off. But there's been an awful lot of speculation, but no hard evidence to speak of to demonstrate that, in fact, it was a conspiracy.

COOPER: I tend to believe government is not that efficient that they can actually keep things secret for all that length of time.

DALLEK: Yes, I agree.

COOPER: But as the years have gone by, it seems that the sense that there is some sort of conspiracy has only grown. If you look at polls, more people now think that than in the immediate aftermath of his assassination. Do you think that is because of movies like "JFK" or is it a general distrust of the government?

DALLEK: Well, I think it's both, I think it's the kind of propaganda and discussion and media discussion that we've heard, and also there is great skepticism and doubts about the government. There has been allegations about everybody in government, the CIA the Pentagon, Lyndon Johnson, none of it has proved out. And in my judgment, it's all false. I had FBI records that I got through Freedom of Information Act when I was writing my second Johnson volume. And there is simply no evidence, in fact, there's contrary evidence to demonstrate that there wasn't a conspiracy and that Lyndon Johnson had absolutely nothing to do with Kennedy's death.

So I'm convinced that Oswald was the lone killer, but also, I think, what it speaks to is the kind of attachment and affection that people to this day have toward John Kennedy. When you ask people in the country who are the greatest presidents in the country's history? They mention Lincoln and Roosevelt and Washington, and then Kennedy and Reagan, and it's amazing because Kennedy was there, of course, for only a thousand days, but I think he remains an inspirational figure. His rhetoric, the tapes of his press conferences and of him speaking so young, so vital, so attractive. And he died so young, it's tabula rasa, we have a blank slate on to which you can write anything and the country seems to attach all sorts of hopes and affection to him.

COOPER: You, for your book, "An Unfinished Life, John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963" you really got closer, you got access to documents other people had not been able to. I was fascinated to read, though, that there is an oral history, recorded by Mrs. Kennedy, Jacqueline Onassis that will not be opened for 50 more years?

DALLEK: Well, actually, it will be 40 more years. 50 years after her death. I asked Caroline Kennedy for permission to read the oral history. She said it was her mother's wish to keep it closed for 50 years after her death. And so it will probably be another 40 years. I also asked the head of the Kennedy Library, Deborah Leff, would historians, biographers find it of interest when it was finally opened? And she told me "You betcha." So I was a bit frustrated not being able to get at it. What's in it? I don't know. Nobody at library, of course, can say or tell you, but I suspect it will be quite interesting.

COOPER: What are the questions you would like answered that you feel you don't have a grasp on?

DALLEK: Yeah, well, I'd like to hear more about what, if anything, Kennedy may have been saying to Jacqueline Kennedy about Vietnam or about Cuba. The information I found, the documents demonstrate to me that Kennedy was terribly skeptical about escalating the war in Vietnam, and was eager to reduce American involvement and even get out over the short term. Also, there were backchannel discussions going on with the Castro government in Havana, whether that would have produced some kind of agreement, rapprochement, nobody can say, because it's guess work, we don't know what would have happened. But it would be interesting to know if Kennedy spoke to Mrs. Kennedy about any of these issues. What he had to say about these questions, and maybe she has material in this oral history that will enrich our understanding.

COOPER: And that will no doubt keep conspiracy theorists, also, I guess, continuing to talk for another 40 years or so. Robert Dallek, appreciate you joining us. It's a fascinating subject, and you are definitely the expert on it. Thank you very much.

DALLEK: Thank you, my pleasure.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: And this may shock you. Video game players can now assume the role of Lee Harvey Oswald. Here's a quick news note.

Today, a Scottish firm released "JFK Reloaded," a video game that allows players to shoot at President Kennedy. There's even an option for blood effects. The game's maker is offering a cash prize to the person who succeeds in replicating the assassination. A spokesman for Senator Edward Kennedy has called the game despicable.

Next week, 360 will dig deep into the dark world of conspiracy theories, we'll look at fame and lesser-known rumors as well as those that are too bizarre to be true, or are they? Catch or series, "Conspiracy Theories, Paranoia or Truth?" It's coming up all next week on 360.

360 "Next" -O.J. Simpson versus the Goldman family. Acquitted of murder, but is he hiding money to avoid paying the verdict in the civil trial?

Also tonight, another loss in court for Scott Peterson. That's in "Justice Served."

Plus sport, stars and fans, throwing punches, losing their cool "Inside the Box."

And in a moment, today's 360 challenge, how closely have you been following today's news? Find out next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant, Orenthal James Simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder, in violation of Penal Code Section 187a, a felony upon Nicole Brown Simpson, a human being, as charged in count one of the information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Nine years ago, the nation watched spellbound as a Los Angeles jury declared O.J. Simpson not guilty in the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.

After his acquittal, the victims' families sued Simpson in civil court, which requires a lesser standard of proof. That jury found Simpson liable for the murders, and slapped him with a multimillion dollar judgment.

The former football star has refused to pay the money, saying he did not commit the murders. But the victims' families want justice. A judge has ordered one of Simpson's friends to appear in court tomorrow to talk about his finances.

Tonight in "Justice Served," CNN's Miguel Marquez has the latest on the case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): O.J. Simpson and his money under the microscope again. Fred Goldman has haunted Simpson since he was acquitted of criminal charges in the murder of his son, Ron Goldman. In his ongoing effort to get Simpson to make good on the entire $34 million civil judgment, a judge ordered this man to tell Goldman's lawyers what he knows about how O.J. Simpson makes money.

ALFRED BEARDSLEY, MEMORABILIA COLLECTOR: I know I'm an innocent bystander in this thing. I know Mr. Simpson is an innocent bystander in this thing. We just tried to do a very simple transaction, and it just blew way out of control.

MARQUEZ: Beardsley says he is a longtime collector of Simpson memorabilia, and that he and a business partner set up a deal to bring Simpson to East Los Angeles to sign autographs.

BEARDSLEY: All I was going to do is accommodate him with his hotels, his transportation and meals.

MARQUEZ: But Simpson's Miami lawyer, Yale Galanter, told CNN in a phone interview that Simpson had no idea an autograph session was being planned. Frank Zamarripa, who owns Frank & Son's Collectible Show in City of Commerce says he spoke to both Simpson and his attorney, and both assured him he was coming to sign autographs.

FRANK ZAMARRIPA, COLLECTIBLE SHOW OWNER: O.J. wanted to come. He called up and said, you know, I'll come out there and guarantee -- his attorney called and guaranteed us that he would come out here and stuff.

MARQUEZ: Zamarripa even took out an ad in the classified section of the "L.A. Times," and then says he had to call everything off.

ZAMARRIPA: There's a lot of collectors out there for O.J. We had a lot of phone calls when he canceled.

MARQUEZ: Lawyers for Fred Goldman say they hope to use whatever information they learn from Alfred Beardsley to keep after O.J. Simpson's money. Even if they collect one nickel at a time.

Miquel Marquez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Murder victim Ron Goldman's sister, Kim Goldman, is joining us now from Los Angeles with more on tomorrow's court appearance.

Kim, good to see you, and thanks for being with us tonight. We appreciate your time.

KIM GOLDMAN, RON GOLDMAN'S SISTER: Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: You believe O.J. Simpson may be making a lot of money off memorabilia, and this guy we just saw, Alfred Beardsley, knows Simpson's secrets. What are you basing this on?

GOLDMAN: We've had reason to believe for years that he's been gaining income from his memorabilia shows, autograph signings, his public appearances. I'm not surprised that this is coming out now. I'm thankful in some ways that Beardsley is bringing this to the forefront, but this is not new information to us.

COLLINS: So do you think O.J. Simpson has been actually hiding money intentionally to avoid paying you?

GOLDMAN: We've had reason to believe that he's fraudulently conveyed money to other sources in an effort to not honor the judgment against him. I can't obviously speak to that at this point, but again, this is not the first time we've heard this. But, yes, we do have reason to believe that that's been happening.

COLLINS: Well, I can't imagine how difficult it must be to hear words like this. In fact, in a televised interview, it was over the summer, O.J. Simpson said, "I've been very clear. I won. I didn't commit the crime. I don't think they deserve anything."

And he said if it's up to him, he, in fact, will never pay. Your response?

GOLDMAN: My response is that, you know, this is a man who benefited from our system, and now he's taking advantage of it and manipulating it and not honoring it. And I find that to be incredibly hypocritical, and insensitive, and, you know, full of a lack of compassion for anybody but himself. And I'm not surprised, and, you know, I don't really add too much credence to what he says, but it's just unbelievable that he's still making those kind of comments after all this time.

COLLINS: After Simpson was found liable for the murders of your brother Ron, and Nicole Brown Simpson in the civil case, your dad, Fred Goldman, said it is absolutely not about the money. In fact, listen to this for just a moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRED GOLDMAN, FATHER OF RON GOLDMAN: To put it simply, I look at the dollars as an irrelevant issue, except that if I were to think in terms of each dollar as one day in prison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Kim, is it about the money now?

GOLDMAN: You know what? It's a really fine line, because we've always maintained the fact that it's about wanting it on the record and wanting to make sure that it's somewhere written that he's responsible.

The only way that we can punish him at this point is a financial one, and I've explained often that financial freedom for him, you know, represents liberty and the right to pursue his life and to have luxuries that he stole from Ron and Nicole when he stabbed them to death on June 12th. And so, it does become a financial situation, because we -- that's the only way we can render him helpless and paralyze him from kind of, you know, enjoying a life of luxury.

COLLINS: We just watched quite a bit of video there, and we've seen it before, of him golfing and so forth.

The world, though, watched as O.J. Simpson was acquitted of double murder. In fact, we saw this as we just got into this piece here. But no cameras were allowed at the civil trial, where you say O.J. did, in fact, act guilty. Do you remain convinced O.J. killed your brother?

GOLDMAN: There's not a shadow of doubt. There's never been anything to sway me in any other direction. You know, there are hundreds of pieces of evidence that point to only one person in this case, and there will never be anything that will ever be presented that will tell me differently. So yeah, absolutely, he's the one that stabbed my brother to death and nearly decapitated his wife.

COLLINS: How do you feel when you see those images, like we just saw, of him playing golf and so forth?

GOLDMAN: It makes me sick. It's very disturbing, you know, to watch the level of arrogance and to watch the smugness, and to know that that's the last face that my brother saw as he walked away to leave my brother to die. It just -- it sickens me, and it's incredibly sad that he commands the kind of attention that he does. And that for the rest of my life and his life, he'll be a part of my living room and my news.

COLLINS: How far are you prepared to go to make him pay?

GOLDMAN: We're going to go every step that it takes. You know, I vowed this after the civil case ended, that I want to be an albatross around his neck, and I want to make sure that he knows that he's not being forgiven, and not being, you know, it's not forgotten what he did. And we will do whatever we can, and we hope the public encourages and stays passionate about this case. And you know, I will be behind him every step of the way, watching every move that he makes.

COLLINS: Kim Goldman, coming to us live from Los Angeles tonight. Kim, thanks so much.

GOLDMAN: Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: O.J. Simpson has two children with Nicole Brown Simpson who was murdered on June 12th, 1994. Here's a quick news note what they're doing now. Simpson's daughter Sydney is 18, she was 10 when she lost her mom. She went to college this fall. Justin 16, and like his dad plays football. He still lives with his father in Florida. Both kids visit Nicole's parents Lou and Judith Brown on holidays.

360 next, players and fans in an ugly brawl. Suspensions and the blame game "Inside The Box."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest has a lot of free time on his hands for the rest of the NBA season and a lot less money. Artest is one of the nine players handed suspensions without pay after an ugly brawl broke out between players and fans during the Pacers/Pistons game Friday night. The fight may go down as one of the worst ever, but it's certainly not the first.

And how the blame game begins "inside the box."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS (voice-over): By now, you've probably seen the pictures countless time, Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest sprinting into the stands after a fan who hit him with a cup.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Artest is in the stands!

COLLINS: Suddenly a basketball game became an all out brawl. With superstars athletes on the attack in the audience and fans on the floor duking it out with the players. In the end nine players were suspended including Artest who will sit out the rest of the season, and sacrifice more than $5 million in salary. Tough punishment handed out by a disgusted NBA commissioner.

DAVID STERN, NBA COMMISSIONER: We have to make the point that there are boundaries in our games.

COLLINS: But it is far from the first time fans and players crossed the line, turning playing fields into battlegrounds. In September, Texas Rangers pitcher Frank Francisco flew into a rage and flung a chair into the stands, breaking a fans nose. Father and son White Sox fans flew onto the field and punched and kicked a Kansas City coach in 2002. Even football has fanatics. In 1999 Oakland Raiders players were pelted with snowballs in Denver, some stuffed with batteries. When players struck back, a female fan was hit in the face.

When punches fly, so do the inevitable questions, why can't highly paid players practice more self-control? When does fan fervor go too far?

For now the pacers are standing by their men.

LARRY BIRD, PACERS PRES., BASKETBALL OPS.: We will be supporting them 100 percent. We'll keep in contact with them and let them know we're here for them, and we're going to do whatever we can to help them get back as soon as possible.

COLLINS: The league is left with a black eye, lawsuits like likely to follow. But the question of who's to blame when fists fly on the field has yet to be settled "Inside the Box."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS; Stay with CNN as PAULA ZAHN TONIGHT goes in depth on fans and players out of control. That's coming your way less than five minutes.

The 360 challenge now. Here's another look at tonight's questions.

Do you know news?

Log onto cnn.com/360, click on the answer link to play.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Time for the answers to today's "360 Challenge."

No. 1, how many U.S. bound planes have been diverted mid flight from Europe in the past two months, the answer, two.

According to the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll what percentage of people think organized religion has too much influence on politics, 48 percent.

And finally today marks what anniversary of the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy, it's the 41st. The first person to answer all three questions correctly will be send a 360 question. Tune in tomorrow and find out if you're the one.

Friday's winner Jasminder Deol of Irvine California. That is our "360 Challenge" winner.

That's it for now. Anderson will be back later. Paula Zahn is up next.

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