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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Powell Says There Will be a Mideast Peace Conference in the Summer; Abusive Priest Arrested in San Diego

Aired May 02, 2002 - 22:00   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.
KATE SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- one he said, be yourself, which he said is both the hardest thing and the most important thing to do on TV. The other thing he told me is, don't mess it up. So here it goes.

We begin with the whip around the world, starting tonight in Boston. Jason Carroll is covering the arrest of a former Boston area priest, Paul Shanley. Jason the headline there, please.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a priest accused of sexual abuse in Boston has actually been arrested at his home in San Diego. Father Paul Shanley faces three counts of raping a child. He is allegedly – the abuse happening between 1983 and 1990. Father Paul Shanley has been at the epicenter of the sexual abuse scandal here in Boston. He's had to face a civil suit. Now he also faces criminal charges -- Kate.

SNOW: To the Middle East now, another tense day in Bethlehem and Walter Rodgers is there. Walt the headline from there, please.

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kate. Israelis are now claiming Palestinians have planted booby traps and bombs inside the Church of the Nativity, traditional site of Jesus' birth. Both sides say there's been considerable damage to the inside of the church, and of course, each blames the other -- Kate.

SNOW: On to Ramallah where Yasser Arafat left his compound today. Mike Hanna is covering that tonight. Mike the headline please.

MIKE HANNA, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Kate, for the first time in five months, Yasser Arafat is able to travel beyond the confines of Ramallah. The question is, where is he going to go and what is he going to do -- Kate.

SNOW: Thanks, Mike, back with all of you in just a moment. Also coming up on NEWSNIGHT, it's the kind of question that might have gotten you some very funny looks if you brought it up on September 10th. What if Congress were destroyed in a terrorist attack? And no one's laughing on Capitol Hill or anywhere now, so we'll look at the Doomsday plans some are working on and talk with one Congressman who's getting ready for the worst, Representative Brian Baird.

A frightening story for a small rural town of 12,000, a young college student in Huron, South Dakota accused of knowingly spreading the HIV virus and now it's all over campus. As one college official put it, it shook our world.

And if there's anything we know for sure about former President Clinton, it's that he loves to talk, and he loves an audience, makes you wonder why he's been talking to NBC executives; Bruce Morton on the possibility of a small screen future for Mr. Clinton.

But we begin with the arrest of a priest accused of child rape. When the scandal involving priests flared up in January, it focused on Father John Geoghan in the Boston area, a notorious case, as they put it at the meeting of cardinals in Rome, a priest accused of molesting dozens of kids. It seemed then that you couldn't get any more notorious than Father Geoghan, at least until the case of Reverend Paul Shanley came to light.

He is accused not just of abuse but of actually advocating abuse, even celebrating it. Tonight, he's under arrest; once again Jason Carroll from Boston.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL (voice over): Police in San Diego found Father Paul Shanley at his apartment early Thursday and took him into custody. He's charged with three counts of raping a child. A warrant for his arrest was issued in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The District Attorney says the abuse happened between 1983 and 1990.

According to a source close to the case, the alleged victim is Paul Busa. He's now 24. Shanley allegedly abused Busa when he was six, taking him and other young boys out of catechism class.

MARTHA COAKLEY, MIDLESEX COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Priests would take them to one of three locations, to the bathroom, often across the street to the rectory, or to the confessional and that is where the sexual abuse would occur.

CARROLL: Shanley was scheduled to be deposed in a separate case on Thursday, a civil suit involving Greg Ford and his parents. Ford says Shanley sexually abused him when he was six years old. His mother sent a message to all those who accuse Shanley of abusing them.

PAULA FORD, MOTHER OF PRIEST ABUSE VICTIM: Sleep tonight. The man that molested you is behind bars, because of your courage to come forward.

CARROLL: Several alleged victims came forward after Ford's attorney forced the Archdiocese of Boston to release 1,600 pages of documents relating to Shanley's past. The papers include allegations Shanley advocated sex between men and boys, some showing the archdiocese was warned about allegations of abuse and still moved Shanley from parish to parish. The documents were so alarming, many have called for Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law to resign.

RODERICK MACLEISH, ATTORNEY: This crisis in the view of everyone that I've talked to is about leadership. We will never rid ourselves of child molesters in any setting like Paul Shanley, but we must rid ourselves of those who harbor and protect them.

CARROLL: Shanley has not publicly answered any of the allegations. His lawyer has not returned CNN's repeated phone calls since the arrest. Following his arrest, the archdiocese released a statement saying: ;Our hope is that the arrest of retired priest Paul Shanley on charges of the sexual abuse of a child, will bring some level of relief and contribute to the healing of those who have been sexually abused.;

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And an extradition hearing is scheduled for tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. The District Attorney says her investigation is still wide open and she says there's a possibility that more victims could end up coming forward -- Kate.

SNOW: Jason, if they've always known or have they always known where Father Shanley was and if so, why didn't they arrest him before today, do we know?

CARROLL: Well, the District Attorney says that what they've been basically working on is this new case and that's the reason why it's taken some time for them to, first of all come up with these charges to put forth against Father Paul Shanley.

In terms of why it took so long, well Shanley when he was in San Diego, he moved around from one home to another home to various different places, and so they really had a tough time trying to lock down what his exact location was, which is why as soon as they found out exactly where he was staying, that's when they went on ahead and made the arrest. Kate.

SNOW: Jason Carroll from Boston tonight, thank you. The arrest today, as we mentioned, happened in San Diego, but the most emotional reactions were probably 3,000 miles away in Boston, where Paul Shanley served as a priest for decades.

We're joined now tonight by the lawyer who you just heard from, who represents the victim in today's criminal complaint. Eric MacLeish has represented hundreds of clients in priest abuse cases in recent years. We're also joined by the parents of another alleged victim of Father Shanley, also clients of Mr. MacLeish. They are Rodney and Paula Ford. They say Shanley molested their son Greg for years.

Mr. MacLeish, let me start with you. You represent four men who are allegedly involved with Reverend Shanley. Did the church know, do you think, who these men were and that these allegations were out there?

ERIC MACLEISH, ATTORNEY: No, they didn't know that these specific allegations were out there, but the church was aware as far back as 1967, when a priest came to the Archdiocese of Boston and told the Boston Archdiocese that Paul Shanley was abusing people while stationed at St. Patrick's in Stoneham, Massachusetts. That was in the '60s. I represent men who are 52 years old, who were abused by Paul Shanley and men like Greg Ford and Paul Busa who are as young as 24.

SNOW: To the Fords now, Rodney and Paula, you didn't know about your son until very recently, I understand, until January of this year. Can you tell us about that? Why didn't he share with you any sooner, do you think?

PAULA FORD, PARENT OF PRIEST ABUSE VICTIM: He --

RODNEY FORD, PARENT OF PRIEST ABUSE VICTIM: Excuse me. Go ahead Paula.

P. FORD: He had clearly blocked what had happened to him. The trauma was so great that it was buried within, but it kept coming out in self destructive ways.

SNOW: And he's 24 years old now, I understand. He's been through a series of institutions and different kinds of mental help?

P. FORD: Yes.

SNOW: How's he doing today and how does he feel, Mr. Ford, about the news? Have you talked to him today?

R. FORD: I have spoken to him today. It's kind of like a flipside. He feels good that he now has some control over this and some power over this, that he sees Shanley now in a police cruiser driving away to jail. But on the other hand, he still has these vivid, vivid memories now that he's just exploring in his own mind. These revelations just took place over a three-month period and he's still very, very sad about these things.

SNOW: Just so we're clear, what was it that prompted him to suddenly have these memories? Was it the media's attention on the cases in Boston?

R. FORD: Yes ma'am. There was an article written in the Boston Globe. My wife and I read it. We approached Greg with it that night, and after a couple attempts to have him acknowledge knowing Father Shanley, he broke down on the floor crying, and I literally had to pick him up and we hugged for at least 20 minutes crying, knowing that we just finally got the piece of the puzzle that we were missing for 18 years.

SNOW: Mr. MacLeish, no criminal complaints until this year, so I guess, how can you blame the church for not knowing this long? You say there's some evidence of past allegations, but if nobody was making the actually complaint?

MACLEISH: Well, many people were making actual complaint and that's the sad part about this case. I mean it is clear that people, as far back as 1977 and 1979 and 1985, were writing to Cardinal Law and previously to Cardinal Maderas, stating that Paul Shanley was brazenly out there telling people about his endorsement about man/boy love relationships and there were other allegations. SNOW: And what was done?

MACLEISH: Look, children as young as Greg and Paul don't typically, when they're told by a priest growing up in a Catholic culture, that they will go to hell if they tell anyone. They don't come running to their parents, but plenty of other people were coming, running to the church, and telling them that this man was out of control, but the church never listened.

SNOW: What was happening' Was the church dealing with those families one by one? Was there any money exchanged?

MACLEISH: No.

SNOW: Do we have any idea?

MACLEISH: No. No. There was no money exchanged because it wasn't the time when those things resulted in lawsuits. These were good Catholics, and then the Catholic Church as good today with many fine priests and nuns, no one should think of this as anti-Catholic. What the church was doing was simply not responding.

A woman Jacqueline Gouvreau (ph) for years was trying to tell the cardinal, spoke to him personally about Paul Shanley and they finally developed a plan for the archdiocesan telephone operators to keep her on hold and not answer her complaints.

So there were warning signs, Kate, all over the place. We have 1,600 pages of documents replete with warning signs from priests about Paul Shanley.

SNOW: Paula Ford, did the church offer your family any money or have they at this point?

P. FORD: We –

MACLEISH: We really can't go into that.

SNOW: Would you take it? Would you take it or do you need something else? What do you need?

P. FORD: Our search is for the truth and our search is for change in the church so this will never happen again, and until we get the answers that we're looking for and who's responsible for it, there will be no discussions.

SNOW: I know –

MACLEISH: Kate.

SNOW: Go ahead. Go ahead.

MACLEISH: We're taking the deposition of Cardinal Law on June 5th. This will be the first deposition of a United States cardinal anywhere, and what Paula said is exactly right. The Fords want the truth about what happened and Paula and Rodney, who are both just extraordinary people, have said to me that no amount of money is possibly going to alter their plans to go forward with that deposition. They've resisted gag orders. They've resisted all kinds of frivolous motions to try to get this case dismissed. I mean the truth is they are going to go forward with the truth because that's what's going to help this church heal.

SNOW: You forced the release, through filing this suit, of I think 1,600 documents, hundreds and hundreds of documents. Are you still looking for more records that you want released?

MACLEISH: Yes, we are looking for more records, and we believe they're in existence. There are people that have come forward to the archdiocese that have told us that they complained about Paul Shanley. Their records have not appeared, so this is an ongoing search for the truth, and I really think that this community would be so well served if the archdiocese would simply stop with these tactics and this terrible blame game, blaming the victims, blaming gay people.

There is not one shred of evidence that being gay has anything to do with pedophilia. All the clinical studies are exactly the opposite. The blame game needs to stop and the truth needs to come out.

SNOW: Mr. Ford, I hope this isn't too personal, but do you still go to church every Sunday?

R. FORD: No, I don't ma'am, but I haven't lost my faith and I speak to God regularly.

SNOW: What does the church need to do to bring back people like you and to -- I mean is there anything the church can do moving ahead now to help families like yours?

R. FORD: Yes, ma'am. They can certainly start addressing the issue. They can certainly start reaching out to the families, and that's the most important thing that we're looking for. We put Father Shanley behind bars tonight, a lot of the victims that I should say, and he's the person responsible for this.

There are people accountable for this, and I say that is Cardinal Law and there are other bishops and other cardinals that are culpable for this, and until we remove everyone that had anything to do with pedophilia, this church can never go on, and it can never start to heal.

SNOW: Rodney and Paula Ford, we thank you for sharing your very personal story tonight. Eric MacLeish, an attorney for some of the alleged victims, we thank you for being with us as well.

MACLEISH: Thanks for having us.

P. FORD: Thank you.

R. FORD: Thank you, ma'am. SNOW: We've been talking about what allegedly happened when Father Shanley was in Boston. What Shanley did after leaving the area is more in the shadows, more of a mystery. Frank Buckley picks it up from California, where a strange story about a former priest seemed to get even stranger.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Paul Shanley arrested in San Diego was, by all outward appearances, a well-regarded senior citizen police volunteer, who lived in this apartment complex.

But there was another life before San Diego, here in Palm Springs, California, where in the early '90s, he was a co-owner with another man, who identified himself as an ex-priest, of this building, which was back then the Cabana Club, a bed and breakfast inn popular with gay men.

John Kendrick and Carter Powst are co-owners of a gay men's resort in the same neighborhood. They were surprised to learn that Shanley was once a priest.

JOHN KENDRICK, RESORT OWNER: It just never occurred to me that – I thought he was the friend of an ex-priest, but it never occurred to me that he might have been a priest himself.

BUCKLEY: Until Shanley's name surfaced in connection with the priest abuse scandal in Boston, his fellow residents at the apartment complex in San Diego had no idea either.

MEL LEE, APARTMENT MANAGER: He paid his rent on time and never created any disturbances, and was always helpful to the tenants. In fact, he saved the life of one of our tenants.

BUCKLEY: Samuel Goldberg's life, he collapsed one day and Shanley got an ambulance there quickly.

SAMUEL GOLDBERG, NEIGHBOR: He was a very courteous, very affable gentleman, very alert, intelligent. I never knew that he was a priest.

BUCKLEY: In San Diego, Shanley was a volunteer with the San Diego Police Department and police didn't know about Shanley's past either. In his application, he listed himself as retired, and a former hotel director.

DAVE COHEN, SAN DIEGO POLICE: Mr. Shanley apparently did an outstanding job for us and there were no complaints that we are aware of whatsoever from anybody he came in contact with or with whom he might have worked.

BUCKLEY: Among those who did know that Shanley was a priest, officials at the Diocese of San Bernardino, California. Shanley began serving here as a part-time supply priest in 1990, performing the occasional mass. What San Bernardino Diocese officials didn't know was what Boston church officials had known for years, that there were allegations of child molestation against Shanley. Still, Boston church officials said in a letter to the San Bernardino Diocese that Shanley was a priest in good standing.

REVERENT HOWARD LINCOLN, DIOCESE OF SAN BERNARDINO: We were deceived that this was wrong and we're very disappointed that we did not receive the truth of the background of Father Shanley. He would never have served in our diocese had we known this.

BUCKLEY (on camera): Paul Shanley's background in Boston now well known in California where Friday Shanley is expected to appear in court to begin the process of returning to Boston to face his past. Frank Buckley, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: Next on NEWSNIGHT, Yasser Arafat's tour of the ruins of Ramallah and the latest on the standoff in Bethlehem. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SNOW: A quick note from Washington about the Middle East, before we turn to our reporters. There Secretary of State Colin Powell announced today that there will be a summit meeting sometime this summer of what he called the quartet of those coordinating peace efforts in the Mideast, the U.S., the United Nations, Russia, and the European Union.

CNN's John King reporting that the conference is likely to take place somewhere in Europe.

On now to Ramallah, the siege is one of the oldest tactics of warfare for a very good reason. The reason is, it works, and army camps outside a fortress or a castle and then just sits there for as long as it takes until those inside the walls either surrender or starve.

It worked that way 1,000 years ago in the Holy Land during the Crusades, and it might have worked that way a millennium later at Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah, but for some international intervention. Don't misunderstand, things are not pretty in Ramallah, but they might have been a lot worse. Here again, CNN's Mike Hanna.

HANNA: Well, Kate, one thing that sieges do as well is leaves a lot of damage. Here you can see behind me a hastily erected barricade, during which little more than 24 hours ago, Israeli soldiers were hunted down here as they had been for much of last month.

The damage outside is evident, but there's very, very heavy damage inside this building as well. Israeli soldiers had occupied much of this building, which is within the compound of Yasser Arafat's offices, his headquarters in Ramallah and walking around inside those areas that the Israeli soldiers have occupied makes quite clear that they had left their mark. There is a great deal of damage done inside there.

Now the Israeli soldiers left here in terms of intricate negotiations, based on a proposal made by U.S. President George W. Bush. There were six Palestinians here wanted by the Israelis, who Yasser Arafat refused to hand over. Well now, those six are sitting in a prison in Jericho, some 15 miles down the road, under U.S. and British guard.

After that deal was done, the Israeli forces withdrew from this area, which they'd occupied throughout the past month, and within hours of that withdrawal, Yasser Arafat was walking the streets of Ramallah, the first time he'd done so in a long period of time.

He looked at the damage that had been done during the Israeli occupation of the city, expressing horror in terms of the extent of damage that was done to public buildings, done as well to offices of Palestinian security organizations.

From Palestinians throughout the day we've heard that there's going to need to be international assistance in rebuilding and repairing much of the damage done here in the way to Ramallah and throughout the Palestinian territories, following this massive Israeli military operation.

We've heard too that Palestinians are calling for increased international participation, perhaps even an international monitoring force in the region to prevent this type of operation from happening again.

But while the Palestinians are making their demands, well the outside world has been making its demands of the Palestinians. The U.S. administration in particular saying that now is the chance for Yasser Arafat to make clear that he's going to crack down on terror. That is what the U.S. administration is waiting to see. That is what Israel says it is waiting to see.

Possibility now of an international peace conference down the road. The Palestinians have welcomed that with reservations, so there does appear to be a little momentum established, a little momentum away from the destruction that we see around us towards a more positive process in which there could be a resumption of some kind of talks about peace. Kate.

SNOW: Mike, quickly give us a sense for Ramallah today. Were people let back into the city now? Are there tourists in the city now or is it not yet at that point?

HANNA: No, it?s certainly not yet at that point. The siege within Ramallah itself was raised about a week ago. It was only the siege right in this compound that was stopped in the last 24 hours.

Ramallah – within Ramallah has been coming back to life. The restaurants have reopened. Today there was an air of celebration when Yasser Arafat was walking through the streets. But just outside Ramallah, the Israeli soldiers are still there. There's a very heavy blockade. It took me about an hour and a half to get through that blockade between Jerusalem and Ramallah, so nothing yet back to normal. The Israeli blockade may have moved away from here, but it's just moved about a mile back and the Israeli troops still remain in a master cordon around the city. Kate.

SNOW: Mike Hanna in Ramallah for us tonight, thanks, Mike. Yasser Arafat, as you saw just a few minutes ago, was jubilant today after the end of the siege of his compound, but his fury over the situation in Bethlehem is clear. The standoff at the Church of the Nativity continues to spill blood at one of the Holiest sites in Christianity. Once again, CNN's Walt Rodgers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RODGERS (voice over): It was these explosions in Manger Square triggered by the Israeli army, which Palestinians cite to back up their claim Israel was responsible for the two fires in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, except look in the lower left corner. The main fire in the Franciscan's priory is already burning, lending plausibility to the Israeli claim Palestinians deliberately started the fires.

COLONEL OLIVIER RAFOWICZ, IDF SPOKESMAN: We know for sure that the fire is a result of the Palestinian action in the church.

RODGERS: Still, Palestinians are ever willing to believe the worst about the Israelis.

NASSER: Those bombs, lightning bombs that have been thrown into the sky of the Church of the Nativity, these bombs have caused the burning of the dormitory of the Greek Orthodox and the reception hall at the Franciscan side.

RODGERS: Israel did fire three different flares near the Church of the Nativity, but a check of CNN videotapes indicates they fell away from where the fires were ignited. An examination of these Israeli-supplied photos of the fire damage reveals no evidence of any flares nor other ordinance hitting the church roof. Indeed, the Israelis claim the glass chards lying outside the building reinforces their claim the fires were started within. Palestinians reject the photographs.

ZIAD AL BANDAK, BETHLEHEM DEPUTY MAYOR: They are experts in giving the fact its opposite side.

RODGERS: Still, one Israeli charge against the Palestinians, if true, has chilling implications for the church built over the traditional site of Jesus? birth.

RAFOWICZ: They planted, the Palestinians planted bombs and we know that some entrant doors have been booby-trapped by the Palestinians in the church.

RODGERS: In Manger Square outside the church, there was little external evidence of major fire damage, but the human toll from this standoff rose again as two more Palestinians in the church compound were felled by Israeli snipers.

Since the standoff began a month ago, the Israelis have been steadily revising downward the number of people they say remain inside the Church of the Nativity. Now they say it's in the neighborhood of dozens. Eighty people have been freed, released and the Israelis say their snipers have killed five Palestinian gunmen inside the church.

The numbers inside the church jumped again later, however, when more than half a dozen peace activists, sympathetic to the Palestinians' plight rushed the door to join those inside, leaving more than a few embarrassed Israeli soldiers who let them slip by.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

This standoff in Bethlehem has now come down to a battle for the moral high ground. The Palestinians are claiming that the Israelis are starving the people inside the church. The Israelis say Palestinians are using a Holy site as a firing position.

Clearly, Yasser Arafat is trying to regain whatever moral high ground the Palestinians may have had and lost because of the suicide bombings. The Israelis are not going to allow the Palestinians that latitude or option. Kate.

SNOW: Walter Rodgers tonight, thank you. Next on NEWSNIGHT, Congress takes a dramatic stand supporting Israel against the wishes of the Bush Administration, and later, the story of a tiny South Dakota college and its AIDS problem.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SNOW: In terms of the Middle East, you would think that it would be tough enough for President Bush to navigate between Israel and the Arab allies who back the Palestinians. But the White House has another audience that's hanging on its every word: members of Congress, especially the supporters of Israel.

And today, both the House and Senate did just what the administration hoped they wouldn't do, approve resolutions that strongly support Israel.

CNN Congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl is following that story tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The administration didn't want any pro-Israel resolution right now, but the primary author of the Senate measure used the president's own words to make the case for going forward.

SEN JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D) CONNECTICUT: If you train or arm a terrorist, you are a terrorist. If you feed or fund a terrorist, you are a terrorist, and you will be held accountable by the United States and our friends. KARL: In a direct contradiction of the president's call for Israel to withdraw for the recently occupied territories, the resolution praises Israel for "dismantling the terrorist infrastructure in the Palestinian areas.”

SEN GORDON SMITH (R) OREGON: I'm proud as a Republican to be here, to do this, and upset the apple cart a bit for the Bush Administration. Not with any malignancy, but because of a principle that I feel very very personally and deeply, that we, as elected members of this body, have a right, indeed, an obligation, to stand up and be counted right now, at this critical hour. No matter what apple carts are overturned in the process.

KARL: On both sides of the capitol, the few people who agreed with the White House and opposed the resolutions were almost all Democrats.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It does not posture the United States as an honest broker seeking to defend the interests of peace and to establish a place and a climate in which is Israelis and Israel, and Palestinians, and a Palestinian state may live at peace. It simply takes one side.

KARL: Despite concerns the resolution could complicate diplomatic efforts in the Mid East, the administration reluctantly dropped its opposition to the Senate version. Of far greater concern was the more strongly-worded measure, written by Republican Tom Delay in the House, that both praises Israel, and condemns Yasser Arafat.

After Delay insisted on going forward, the White House tried to quickly negotiate changes, with only modest success. An earlier draft of Delay's resolution condemned Arafat's "support and coordination of terror." The final version drops the word "coordination." The final version also omits language that accused "forces directly under Yasser Arafat's control of murdering innocent Israelis." Instead, the resolution only refers to forces that are “part of Arafat's fatah organization”.

KARL (on camera): Those changes are important to the White House, because the administration does not want the Congress to go on record saying that Arafat is directly responsible for terrorism at the very time that they are trying to negotiate with him.

Jonathan Karl, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: A real switch now, from Washington to a small town in South Dakota, where one of the residents described the hometown feel of the place: "if something happens to one of us, it happens to all of us." That line takes on an almost literal meaning when you look at what's happening in Huron, South Dakota.

A young man accused of spreading a virus on a college campus, one that's as deadly you can get.

David Mattingly reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Huron, South Dakota. Population 12,000. An 18-year-old student indicted for knowingly exposing a girlfriend to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. 100 miles away in Aberdeen, South Dakota, two more men in unrelated cases, charged with the same crime, exposing multiple partners.

And with the cases, health officials warn of a potential web of unprotected sex, where dozens may have been exposed.

MIKE MOORE, STATE'S ATTORNEY, BEADLE COUNTY: There's still running down contacts. And that's how it can snowball.

MATTINGLY: The cases are a shock to small town rural America. One county, in particular, where only six cases of HIV have been reported since 1985. Now hundreds tested in just the last two weeks. So far, four turning up positive, with more positives possible as time goes by.

CHUCK KEVGHAS, SOUTH DAKOTA HEALTH DEPARTMENT: Some people need to be worried. Other people have no need to be worried.

MATTINGLY: The cases are similar to one in New York in 1997. A 20-year-old man admitted to knowingly exposing 28 unsuspecting women to HIV. 13 later became HIV positive.

MATTINGLY (on camera): But here in South Dakota, where spring is normally a time of welcome change, this is one change with deeply unsettling effects. Even for those who are not at risk.

BOB GEIGER, HURON RESIDENT: Something happened like this that you think couldn't happen, and yet it does happen.

ATTINGLY (voice-over): In the lunchtime crowd at a diner in Huron, customers feel a loss of security. In a town where people say they don't need to lock their doors, eyes are turning to the local college campus.

VERA WARNKE, HURON RESIDENT: Anytime you have college kids come from every walk of life and every size of city in the United States, you're going to have a problem like this.

MATTINGLY: Chicago native Nikko Briteramos was a scholarship basketball player at the tiny Sitonka Huron University. According to state health officials, a campus blood drive revealed he was HIV positive in March. In April, authorities arrested him after finding him in his dorm room with a girl. Brad Smith is the school's interim chancellor.

BRAD SMITH, INTERIM CHANCELLOR, SITONKA HURON UNIVERSITY: We certainly didn't go looking for it. The community certainly didn't expect it to happen here. I think it's a symptom of the times.

MATTINGLY: Thoughts echoed among the student body of 400. These students telling me the HIV incident is a wake up call.

TAMI SANDMAN: They're realizing now that it could happen to anyone.

MATTINGLY: Young people concerned, but also compassionate. Biteramos' friends in court today, showing support, as he pleaded not guilty in this first-of-a-kind case in South Dakota.

DISRAELI BITERAMOS, FATHER OF ACCUSED: And he was devastated by this whole case. I mean, the fact that he's being held up as public lynching of a -- as I said an untested law.

MATTINGLY: If found guilty of all counts against him, Nikko Biiteramos could be sent to prison for 45 years.

David Mattingly, CNN, Huron, South Dakota.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

SNOW: Later on NEWSNIGHT, what's an out-of-work President to do? We'll tell you about President Clinton's visit to Hollywood. And up next, what's the plan if Congress comes under attack? Well, that's the problem. We'll explain in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SNOW: The notion used to be crazy enough to make people laugh back when it staple of comic books and science fiction films, death rays destroy the capitol. Chaos ensues. America hangs in the balance.

We can tell you exactly how long it's been since that idea seemed funny, seven months and nine days. Ever since the towers fell, and the Pentagon burned, people everywhere, and certainly people in Washington, have been forced to think through the very worst that might happen. The White House already has implemented a plan to keep the executive branch up and running, but when it comes to Congress, things are a little more complicated, and a little less organized.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW (voice-over): September 11, a black cloud billows from the Pentagon, visible from Capitol Hill. Leaders of Congress are warned, another plane may be headed for the famous dome.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have evacuated the Capitol building.

SNOW: Though they can't be sure, some investigators say the Capitol could very well have been the target of flight 93, the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. A terrorist attack wiping out most or all of Congress. A horrible prospect some say Congress is completely unprepared for. While the executive branch has set up a standby government in a bunker secretly located outside Washington, Congress has no similar plan.

REP. BRIAN BAIRD (D), WASHINGTON: I joked at the time that if our pagers would go off and a voice would come and say "attention all members, run for your lives." As far as I know, that's our plan.

SNOW: Congressman Brian Baird has made it his mission to get colleagues thinking about doomsday scenarios.

BAIRD: We have nothing in place. And this is frightening, I know. Believe me, everyday I think about this. We have nothing in place right now that would allow the United States Congress to reconstitute itself and faster than, at the quickest, a month and a half, two months.

SNOW: Baird is talking about the worst case, a devastating attack killing large numbers of senators and congressmen. While the Constitution says governors could quickly appoint new senators, new House members would have to be elected, elections governed by state laws that vary widely.

NORMAN ORNSTEIN, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: If most of the members of the House were killed, we would have no House of Representatives for three to six months. And if you have a Senate but no House, you can't pass laws, you can't confirm a new vice president if it were necessary. You can't declare war. You can't do any of the things you need to do under condition of an immense emergency.

THOMAS FOLEY, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: It's not a pleasant subject, but it's one we ought to think about and act on before the tragic event could possibly take place.

SNOW: Former Speaker Foley, and his Republican counterpart, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, suggest governors or the House members themselves, should designate a temporary successor. It's one of several solutions being battered around Capitol Hill. While those complex constitutional issues are still being debated, more practical decisions have been made. The House could relocate if most members survived an attack, but the Capitol were demolished.

REP BOB NEY (R) OHIO: It is no secret about the, you know, the one site that was prepared. And it can be functional really immediately. It was I think well planned, well prepared.

SNOW: The site, Fort McNair, but that's in southeast Washington. Not a good location if the city were destroyed.

Sources tell CNN other locations outside of Washington are being explored. No one wants to say where, but House Republican leaders have secretly asked for $100 million for alternate sites. Congressman Baird says it's a positive step, but having a nice facility will do no good, if there are no members to occupy it. He says the more urgent need is finding a way to form a new Congress quickly.

BAIRD: What I'm absolutely certain about is the status quo, the current situation leaves our nation in peril and uncertainty at a time of its gravest challenge. And we've got to fix that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: But how do you fix it when your concern isn't shared equally by all of your colleagues? When NEWSNIGHT continues, we'll talk with Congressman Baird who you just saw. A former psychologist, by the way, about his struggle to get other members of Congress to face the possibility of their own demise.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SNOW: I'm joined now by Representative Brian Baird, Democrat of Washington. You just heard from the congressmen just a minute ago in the piece you saw. But there is certainly a lot more to say on this subject.

Congressman, thanks for being here. It's dismal subject, talking about doomsday scenarios for the Congress. I wonder, do you think that the problem or half the battle is that people, not just Congressmen, but people don't want to face the possibility of their own death?

BAIRD: Well of course we don't. You know? Prior to September 11, as you said earlier, it would have seemed farfetched to discuss what we're talking about tonight. But clearly that fourth plane was heading towards the Capitol. And if it were to succeed in striking the Capitol and killing the members of Congress, we owe it to the people to have a plan, even if it's unpleasant to think about our own deaths.

SNOW: I think a lot of people would be very surprised that there's not some giant plan out there. We outline that there, you know, there are some things in place, there's an alternate site. We know there are evacuation plans. You think people just never thought that this was a possibility?

BAIRD: Well, I think people thought about it. In the '50s, in fact, they discussed it, but never got to the point of actually implementing a solution. One of the things September 11 did is help us focus on the fact that we have to confront these possibilities. We can delay things further if we want, but we delay them at our peril and at the nation’s peril.

You have to act to solve these problems before the solution is needed. Because if someone attacks the Capitol, all the mechanisms, the executive branch, the legislative branch, the judiciary that are designated in the Constitution to solve the problems are by definition eliminated. So we should solve it now. And I think it could be urgent.

SNOW: You're a freshman Congressman, first term congressman. No offense, but why latch on to such a morbid cause?

BAIRD: Well on the night of September 11, there was a great debate about whether members should go back into the Congress and show the American people our solidarity. We chose, as many know, to stand on the steps and join hands. But it occurred to me what if we do go into the building and the terrorists have some other device prepared, and they kill us all. What would folks like yourself in your profession tell the American people? What next? And as I studied that, it became apparent we don't really have clear answers. There are real and important ambiguities in congressional issues about how we replace the Congress, and indeed about the line of succession to the presidency.

I believe the media needs an absolutely clear cut answer and the American people need that answer. If the worst case scenario, what happens to your government? Believe it or not, we don't have clear cut answers. And that's deeply troubling.

SNOW: You know I've been working on this story for a while. And I've had several people say to me, well, the executive branch has a plan. They've got this stand by government in a bunker somewhere that can get up and running right away. So is it really that big a deal that we don't have a Congress for a little while? And again, no offense, but is it really that big a deal -- you know -- can't that fill the void for a while? That executive branch?

BAIRD: Well, conceivably it could. But remember that the Constitution requires checks and balances and purposefully separates power. The Congress has the authority under the Constitution to declare war, to appropriate funds, in fact to approve vice presidential nominees. And in the case of the Speaker of the House, who is third in the line of succession, the Congress actually could elect the person who succeeds to the role of presidency.

If you don't have a House of Representatives, all of those functions would be eliminated. And you could have, for example, a cabinet member declaring extra constitutional powers. And many Americans might not even know who the cabinet member is. And this person has never been elected.

I would much rather have a Congress representing the states, representing the districts of the states, coming together, deciding what the future of the country is, than a cabinet member who moves up to that with absolutely no checks or balances. Separation of powers and checks and balances are so fundamental to our constitutional system. We've got to have a way to rapidly put the Congress back together. Not waiting three or four months or even longer.

SNOW: Quickly Congressman, I know you're going to meet with some other Republicans, have a bipartisan meeting about this, a lot more talking about this. But what happens next in terms of actual legislation? Do you see a constitutional amendment being proposed sometime this year?

BAIRD: Well, we'll be meeting with leaders of both parties in two weeks on May 16. Chris Cox on the Republican side and myself, along with Martin Frost, and Jim Langevin (ph) have done a lot of work on this issue. I -- we may need a constitutional amendment. People are reluctant to do that.

I'm not so fixed on exactly how we solve the problem. There are many possible ways. I'm absolutely certain we must have a solution. And I believe we should have that solution during this session of Congress. Because you never know how much time we'll have. SNOW: Yes. Thank you so much, Congressman Brian Baird, joining us from Washington tonight. Really appreciate your thoughts.

There's word tonight out of Texas that Lady Bird Johnson has been hospitalized. A family friend says that the former First Lady was at home when she became ill and was taken to the intensive care unit at Seton Medical Center. That's in Austin, Texas. She is 89-years old. No word yet as to what's wrong.

Next on NEWSNIGHT, the perfect job for a former President.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SNOW: Turnabout, the expression goes, is fair play. So, if a former TV star could go on to become president, you remember Ronald Reagan, host of Death Valley Days, brought to you by that wash-day miracle Twenty Mule Team Borax? Then why can't a former president go on to become a TV star?

Not to mislead you here. That silver-haired fellow from Arkansas isn't signing on with "FRIENDS" or anything. But he hasn't signed anything at all in fact. But there is talk, talk about, a talk show.

Bruce Morton assesses the possibilities.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Maybe it's just that simple. The ex-president wants to have some fun and thinks a daytime talk show would be a way to do it. He knows how to work an audience. This was an Arkansas town meeting.

BILL CLINTON, FMR., PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I want you to be blunt and brief.

MORTON: He can work a crowd with the best of them. There's Regis interviewing a politician. We know the ex-pres knows how to do that. He’s been a big hit on MTV, and advertisers covet those younger viewers.

Have to be careful whom you hug, of course. He hasn't been on "Oprah," but his wife, the senator, has and probably picked up some expertise.

And hey, he can play tenor sax. None of these other daytime talk show hosts can do that. There is one caution. Mr. President, you may want to stay away from those Jerry Springer style, roll in the trash pile confrontations. That stuff makes the Middle East look like a church picnic.

So is he serious? Well, he did meet with people at NBC. His spokesman said he didn't demand a show, denying reports he was insisting on $50 million a year. "He went," his statement says, "to listen." He is "gratified by the range of opportunities presented to him," which is about 8.5 miles from saying, “No way!”

Can't you see it? A crowd buzzing, and the hush of the announcer: Here's Bill!

Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: Now, if President Clinton were to go into the TV business, he wouldn't be the first former head of state to head to the little screen. In fact, in "their TV news" tonight, we bring you the big story from South Africa, where the former president of that country joined the program to interview that country's newest hero, space tourist Mark Shuttleworth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NELSON MANDELA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA: Mark, the international space station is a wonderful example of cooperation among nations, all of whom have the future of our planet at heart. More and more will realize that we are all interlinked, all interdependent. Here and now, we see six young men engaged in scientific research and exploration, which will improve the quality of life on earth.

MARK SHUTTLEWORTH: It's very true to say that the international space station is bringing those countries together. And it was interesting as an outsider from a country that doesn't participate in the international space station to see how that enormous project is challenging and taxing them, and how it is creating cooperation on a level that we’ve never seen before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: Maybe Clinton could do it too.

I'm Kate Snow in New York. Thanks for watching. Back here tomorrow night.

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