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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown
Second Suicide Bomber Strikes Israel; More Clues Before September 11 Surface
Aired June 19, 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.
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, again. I'm Aaron Brown.
Something good happened in the Middle East today, believe it or not. It likely went unnoticed in a day of much bad there, and again, today there are plenty of reasons to shed tears about the Middle East.
The war on buses, as it's been dubbed by the terrorists of Hamas, continued to play out -- a rush hour attack on a Jerusalem bus stop. The horrific toll -- six killed. A toddler was said to be among them.
We will now await the e-mails from those viewers who write to justify this sort of murder because of the grievances on the other side.
We hardly felt better when we read the words of an Israeli politician, by definition a leader, "For every Jew buried after an attack, we must make sure 1,000 Palestinians are killed."
So with that as a backdrop, we confess our definition of good news is modest.
A group of 55 Palestinian leaders and intellectuals, including the legislator, Hanan Ashwari, took out a full-page ad in an Arabic newspaper today.
They urged those behind the suicide bombings to, quote, stop pushing our youth to carry out these attacks which only result in a deepening hatred between the two peoples. The attacks do not achieve progress towards achieving our freedom and independence. All they do is give the Israeli government justification to pursue its harsh and aggressive war against our people.
That was the ad that they took out today.
In a place where reason has lost out too many times to count, there was a small voice of reason, which the rest of us can only hope is heard by everyone.
And we begin the whip tonight with a story closer to home -- one that reminds us how all has changed since September 11.
Our senior White House correspondent John King with that. John, a late headline from the White House tonight. JOHN KING, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, the White House was evacuated briefly tonight for the first time since September 11th. It happened when a very small plane entered restricted airspace about four miles from the White House.
Security protocols kicked in. That plane is now on the ground. They believe it was an accident, and that this is all a false alarm. We're told the President was never in danger.
BROWN: John, thank you. We'll get more on that in just a moment or so.
Back now to the Middle East. Christiane Amanpour is back in Jerusalem. Another busy and difficult day there.
Christiane, the headline from you, please.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Israel had said to be on the alert. And indeed, it was the second suicide bombing in two days.
Six people, as you said, have been killed including very young children, 37 people wounded including very young children. And Israel has already started its response, moving in to areas of the West Bank.
BROWN: Christiane, thank you. Another disturbing revelation about clues about the 11th of September that came in before.
National security correspondent David Ensor has been working on that tonight. So, David, your headline.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, CNN has learned, Aaron, that the -- we have learned the exact phrases used in two conversations intercepted by U.S. intelligence the day before the attacks on September 11th.
And those words were warning that something major was planned.
BROWN: David, we'll hear the details from you. And back with all of you shortly.
Also coming up tonight, quite a bit on the crisis in Israel, the Middle East. We'll talk with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on two drastically different topics -- the Middle East and the World Cup.
Look, the guy knows about both. And watching me make the turn from one to the other will, in and of itself, be worth staying up for.
We'll also spend some time on the case of the missing girl, the one you haven't heard about -- Alexis Patterson. And we'll look at some of the reasons why perhaps you have not heard about her case. Media reporter Howard Kurtz joins us in a little bit.
All of that to come. We begin at the White House.
The bulletin came in just after eight o'clock tonight. And when it did, everything came to a stop and every thought came rushing back.
The White House was being evacuated. There were reports of an unidentified plane in the area.
We ran upstairs to get ready -- for what, we did not know. Just that sixth sense that we'd been here before, and it was bad.
We go back to our senior White House correspondent John King, who got the call to leave while on the air.
John, good evening.
KING: Good evening, again, to you, Aaron. We can laugh about it now. The Secret Service says all is clear.
But you're right -- a reminder tonight that the brain works in very different ways since September 11th, and how we think about these things. And a reminder tonight of the security protocols in place here at the White House.
It was shortly after eight o'clock. We were told that a small Cessna plane, a single-engine plane, entered or at least skirted the restricted airspace about four miles away from the White House, because it was not responding to the radio control -- the tower's effort to reach it by radio.
Security protocols kicked in here at the White House. Uniformed Secret Service agents telling all the staff in the West Wing, all the reporters here in the West Wing to evacuate the premises.
Mr. Bush and the First Lady were in the residence at the time. We are told that additional agents were deployed, but that the situation was resolved before they reached the point where they would have taken the President and the First Lady to secure bunkers underneath the White House here.
Now, two F-16 jets scrambled to intercept this plane. It was escorted and eventually landed in Richmond, Virginia.
At this hour tonight, everyone believes this was a misunderstanding, that the pilot inadvertently wandered into restricted airspace. But he is being interviewed just in case.
Officials here at the White House say the President was never in danger, and they say these security protocols are in place, though, and it was a necessary evacuation once that plane skirted into the White House airspace.
BROWN: A couple of quick things here. These -- is this protocol different than what was in place September 10th? Because the White House would have been restricted airspace then, correct?
KING: Correct. There is no difference in the security protocols. Perhaps an extra urgency as people implement them here on the ground. And we could hear that tonight. I was on the air live at the time, when uniformed officers came. And they did not -- they were trying to be polite. They didn't walk directly into the shot, but they were asking me to get out.
They said there was a security evacuation underway, and I was saying, as I was going back and forth to Christiane Amanpour, I just need a minute to finish.
But no, the protocols have not changed. Remember, I believe it was back in 1994 -- it was early in the Clinton administration -- when a Cessna did crash into the White House here.
They believe that pilot was on a suicide mission. He was killed. Some damage to the White House. No one on the grounds hurt. But a Cessna did crash into the White House back in 1994.
BROWN: John, while you were just going through that, we put in the big box -- we were in a big little -- what it looked like when you were reporting earlier.
And we could see behind you, there's a lot of scurrying going around. And what it says to me is that even the most routine is no longer routine.
Everything is different after September 11th.
KING: Earlier in the day, there was a plane that flew close overhead, completely unrelated to this. But I remember just looking up and thinking yet again, that is strange. Planes don't belong that close to the White House.
Sometimes it happens now when the weather changes. National Airport, remember, is just a bit away from here. Nothing is the same. Absolutely nothing is the same.
When the Secret Service says there is an evacuation underway or a security issue, we tend to take it a lot more seriously. You see the urgency in the agents' eyes on the grounds when such ...
BROWN: Yeah.
KING: ... a protocol comes in a kick. Nothing is the same.
BROWN: I want to get you on the record on the Middle East. We're going to talk to Christiane in a second.
But I gather from the reporting I've heard throughout the day that the speech -- the President's speech -- is on a long hold now.
KING: It is on hold. There is a slight possibility, we are told, it could come on Friday. That is if this Israeli military response is in retreat at that point.
No one expects that to be the case. Some people here saying at the White House, it might not come until late next week after the President returns.
He's heading to Canada for two days for the Group of Eight. The industrialized countries meet once a year.
Some say it might not come now until the end of next week.
BROWN: And the reason for the delay is in part that they don't want whatever it is the President says to be rejected out of hand immediately?
KING: They certainly don't want it to be rejected out of hand. And they would like to have an audience to completely listen to what the President has to say, because the issues are so controversial, they believe the Palestinians will not listen, will find reasons to say no if there are still Israeli troops in Ramallah.
We believe the Israelis will find -- the administration believes the Israelis will find a reason to say outright, no, if there are continuing bombings.
So the President wants to wait for an opportune moment, is how the White House is putting it. They also know he can't wait too long.
BROWN: Right. Because an opportune moment can disappear before you know it.
John, thank you. Kind of a crazy day over there for you, our senior White House correspondent John King.
On the Middle East today, Yasser Arafat, after the attack this morning, did call for an end to all attacks on Israeli civilians.
His statement came after this, another bus bombing, or bus stop bombing, in the Jerusalem area. He made the statement in Arabic. He issued the statement to a Palestinian news agency, so there was clear intent to get the message out to people who mattered in both the West Bank and Gaza.
Now, it is less clear tonight whether anyone was listening to it or not.
The bombers, who have killed more than two dozen people in the last couple of days. Israeli forces now striking in Gaza and the West Bank.
And for the families, another day of burying loved ones. Clearly, this is the Middle East.
We go back to Jerusalem and CNN's Christiane Amanpour -- Christiane.
AMANPOUR: Well, yes indeed, Aaron. Yasser Arafat came out and didn't just again condemn these attacks, but called for a complete halt to these suicide bombing attacks, saying for the first time, saying that these suicide bombing attacks against Israeli civilians were not legitimate resistance to the Israeli occupation. Of course, the Israelis are deeply skeptical about what anything -- whatever Arafat says. And they are saying that they are still looking for deeds.
And with that in mind, they have already started a response to today's suicide bombing attack -- the attack that was in an area of northeastern Jerusalem called the French Hill, a Jewish neighborhood -- that killed six people plus the bomber, making seven people, and left 37 people injured, some of them critically.
Among the dead and wounded, we're told by police and hospital officials, are several young, young children -- children as young as 18 months old.
Now, apparently, according to the Israeli police, this bomber had been dropped off close to the bus stop and managed to slip past the border guards, and essentially blew himself up near this bus stop. And that's where most of the fatalities were caused.
The Mayor of Jerusalem, Ehud Olmert, was very quickly on the scene, and he had exceptionally harsh words for Yasser Arafat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EHUD OLMERT, MAYOR OF JERUSALEM: Yasser Arafat is the twin brother Osama bin Laden. He is not the twin brother. He is the father of Osama bin Laden. He is the inspirator.
He is the greatest terrorist that lives today in the world. And he has to be removed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: Well, Ehud Olmert is saying that he has to be removed. But when we asked an Israeli government spokesman, indeed, a minister -- an official from the Foreign Ministry -- saying that there is still a great deal of difference amongst members of the Israeli government over whether or not to expel Yasser Arafat.
But, they have started a response. Israeli armor and troops moved into the Ramallah area. And we believe there may be some incursion underway near Bethlehem, because earlier this evening, we saw flares go up over Bethlehem, and a minister, an official told us that there may be some action there.
But as you know, Israel does not comment on ongoing military operations.
Earlier, before that, they did send in helicopter gunships to Gaza, where they sent missiles down on several targets in three different areas there, sources saying that they attacked what's known as metal working shops.
Israel has long contended that many of these shops are, in fact, fronts for weapons-making factories. And they say to us that they targeted facilities belonging to Islamic Jihad and Hamas. Hamas, of course, have claimed responsibility for Tuesday's bombing in which 19 people were killed. But it was the Al-Aqsa Brigade, affiliated -- the militant group affiliated -- with Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization, which claimed responsibility for Wednesday's suicide bombing -- Aaron.
BROWN: Christiane, that is a pretty full day in Jerusalem. Thank you. It's good to see you back there. Christiane Amanpour in Jerusalem for us tonight.
We're joined now by David Makovsky, Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, an author and, it's fair to say, a journalist.
Mr. Makovsky covered the peace process for two of Israel's leading daily papers including the "Jerusalem Post" where he also served as executive editor.
And he joins us tonight from Washington, and it's nice to see you again.
DAVID MAKOVSKY, SENIOR FELLOW, WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: Good to be here.
BROWN: Let's talk -- I want to talk for a minute about the implications of the Israeli government -- the Israeli decision to re- occupy -- and I'm not precisely sure I know what that means yet -- re- occupy parts of the West Bank.
MAKOVSKY: I think you're right. I mean, I don't think we fully know how long a stay this is going to be.
I mean, I think the context is interesting. You had the head of the Shin Bet, Israel's security agency, recommend to the cabinet within the last week saying, you know, there's nobody on the Palestinian side to hand the authority over to, because they're not going to do anything on security.
And he said, my recommendation is that Israel stays in the towns until there's someone to give the authority to.
Sharon resisted that a bit. He said, I'd rather do these quick forays in and out. But with these twin bombings, he has acquiesced to the recommendation of this -- of the head of the Shin Bet, and that's where we are tonight.
BROWN: Security decision? Or a political decision by Sharon?
MAKOVSKY: I think it's a mixture of both. Like I said, there was a recommendation of the head of the Shin Bet.
But at the same time, there is, you know, a strong mounting pressure as these bombs keep going off, and people want their government to take action to stop them.
The other route to go, which is still possible -- and that was mentioned by Christiane in her piece -- was, you know, the idea of expelling Arafat. Sharon had given a pledge to President Bush not to do it. And he's reiterated that.
But he's coming under increasing pressure, saying there has to be something dramatic. So far he's resisted that.
BROWN: In all of these, whether it's expelling Arafat or reoccupying parts of the West Bank, it just reminds us of Newton's Law. For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction.
And every one of these actions will have a reaction of its own.
MAKOVSKY: Yes. At the same time, I think it's interesting what Christiane said. I mean, that Arafat issued this statement, talking about this being illegitimate resistance.
There is concern that that is tactical, because here was his own Fatah Al-Aqsa Brigade that did today's attack. And it's clear on the eve of a speech by President Bush on the Middle East, Arafat wants to put a best foot forward.
But this thing, Aaron, hasn't started yesterday. Eight years, he has never said these attacks were illegitimate. He's never condemned Hamas, which have carried out a lot of these attacks, or he hasn't stopped his own Fatah organization.
So, there's a lot of skepticism. And if it was just a tit for tat situation I think it would be one thing. But there's a belief that, you know, when warned 10,000 times to do something and it hasn't happened, to say he has no intention to do it.
And as a government, you have to make a decision.
BROWN: Yeah.
MAKOVSKY: Are you just going to let your citizens be blown up?
Sharon is facing a very difficult dilemma.
BROWN: David, we've got about 30 seconds or so. Do you expect the President's speech, whenever it happens -- this week, next, the week after -- to matter much?
MAKOVSKY: I think you're asking the right question. I mean, I think as long as the bombs go off, the words will not be heard over the din of the bombs.
And it's going to be very hard. I think that this administration is trying to craft together a very nuanced sort of policy.
But I don't know -- I'm a little dubious, because right not the approach of Arafat has been, it's either all or nothing. And all these middle approaches, frankly there's been no indication that the Palestinians have been willing. And frankly, even if they're offered everything, there's no indication that that will bring peace.
So, I think the situation is as dreary as dreary can be.
BROWN: David, it's always good to talk to you. Thank you, David ...
MAKOVSKY: My pleasure.
BROWN: ... Makovsky out of Washington for us tonight. We'll see you again soon.
Ahead on the program, international relations and soccer explained by soccer fan and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. That's coming up in a bit.
Up next, new details of warning signs of the September 11th attacks. A busy NEWSNIGHT from New York.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: It's one of those tantalizing stories -- another reminder today how close we came to knowing what was planned for the 11th of September.
Over the last few months, we've reported on clues missed at the FBI, dots not connected by the CIA, of INS agents not told what they need to know to keep bad guys out of the country.
Today we learned of radio messages received on the 10th of September -- but not translated until the 12th.
Now, to our ear these messages are oblique enough to mean very little at the time. But then with perfect -- and we do mean perfect -- hindsight, they mean a whole lot.
Here again, CNN's David Ensor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR (voice-over): In one intercepted communication September 10th by the U.S. National Security Agency, Congressional and other sources tell CNN, a person presumed to be from al Qaeda said, "The match begins tomorrow."
In another intercept that day, a different person said, "Tomorrow is zero hour."
The intercepts were not translated until September 12th -- the day after the attacks.
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY, (R-AL), SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: There's information, perhaps in all of the agencies, if acted upon, that is if, for example, the NSA -- if translated in a timely manner and then analyzed and disseminated -- perhaps that would have been very useful.
ENSOR: General Michael Hayden, head of the NSA, which is the U.S. government's massive eavesdropping agency, was questioned at length Tuesday about the intercepts, according to Congressional sources who were present at the House-Senate hearings behind closed doors, into missed clues prior to 9/11.
The volume of intercepted communications each day is so huge, Hayden told them, sources say, that despite the size and high tech resources of the NSA, there was and still is no way all the potentially relevant material can be translated same day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(on camera): Intelligence officials say, even if they had the intercepts translated that day, there were no specifics upon which to act -- nothing on when, where, how or who.
Still, the chilling words "Tomorrow is zero hour" and "The match begins tomorrow" heard from al Qaeda September 10th indicates, say some in Congress, that changes may be needed in the speed and quantity of U.S. intelligence analysis -- Aaron.
BROWN: Well, they are tantalizing words. Do we know who was doing the talking and who was doing the listening?
ENSOR: I -- we have one source, and not two...
BROWN: OK.
ENSOR: ... who says that it came from one country to another and was in Arabic.
BROWN: Oh, OK.
ENSOR: We don't have enough to really authoritatively say, no.
BROWN: That's fine. I'm not pushing you. Thank you.
We want two sources when it's at all possible. If we don't have them, we don't report it.
ENSOR: That's right.
BROWN: That's the way it goes. Thank you, David. We'll expect your e-mail, too, pretty soon.
Well, there's -- this is kind of an interesting night, in that at eight o'clock we had this incident -- I'm not sure what, if there's a better word for it -- at the White House, and over the White House, this plane flying above, David's reporting on security -- all of which is a reminder that we're in a very different world post-September 11, not that any of us needed the reminder. I think we've all been aware of it.
Mike Brooks is here. Mike is CNN law enforcement analyst. I think for our purposes, it's more important to say that he spent a long time -- six years -- on the FBI's joint terrorism task force. And we'll talk a little bit about what happened.
Nice to see you here.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Nice to see you, Aaron.
BROWN: I guess this is welcome to the post-September 11th world.
On September 10th, 2001, what had happened over the White House tonight would have concerned people, but then fairly benign.
BROOKS: It would have. In fact, a couple of years ago a plane similar to this was coming near the White House, even closer to the White House. It had come into the restricted airspace while the President's helicopter was en route from Andrews Air Force Base.
The Secret Service uniformed division counter-snipers were on top of the air -- on top of the White House at the time, fired some flares at it just to tell him, you know, you're off course, get back on course. And there was no interception by NORAD at that time.
So, but things, again, have changed. They've increased the restricted airspace. This plane was apparently about four miles outside of the White House.
BROWN: Yeah.
BROOKS: That wasn't inside the restricted airspace for the White House nor for the Capital. But it was close enough ...
BROWN: Right on the edge.
BROOKS: ... that -- right on the edge.
BROWN: Look, there was a few years back the small plane that crashed into the White House.
BROOKS: Right. Frank Corder.
BROWN: Right. Could that happen today? I mean "could" in that anything-is-possible way, OK, ...
BROOKS: Well, the situations behind ...
BROWN: ... could happen ...
BROOKS: ... that particular flight, the guy took off from Mount Airy, Maryland ...
BROWN: Right.
BROOKS: ... in the early morning hours, came all the down, followed the Beltway around -- just followed landmarks. Came down Connecticut Avenue to 17th Street, which is on the west side of the White House right by Treasury.
Came down, went around the Washington Monument and made his final approach, if you will, onto the south grounds of the White House. Would this have happened today? I think if they had a plane at that time and they were the same circumstances right now, that they would have been escorted by fighter jets.
BROWN: So, if it happens today, the fighter jets -- the fighter jets get there in time and escort, if possible -- that was a kind of a weird deal.
BROOKS: Right.
BROWN: The guy crashed into the White House, so maybe they would have to do something untoward.
Are these -- Washington is different from the rest of the country.
I know in New York, I don't think there, they've got jets scrambled all the time anymore.
BROOKS: Well I think in New York and Washington, they did have a 24-hour CAP, ...
BROWN: Yeah.
BROOKS: ... or Combat Air Patrol at one time ...
BROWN: Right.
BROOKS: ... as we know. But I think they did away with them.
So it sounded like tonight that some of the -- that F-16s had to be scrambled out of Andrews again.
You know, if the Civil Air Patrol is up, and they're in their combat mode, there's a certain very short time to, for an intercept. Now, it's a little bit longer time, of course, if it's on the ground.
So, whether they've done away with them full-time or not, I think that they probably don't want people to know.
BROWN: Yeah.
BROOKS: You know, the little element of surprise.
BROWN: Do you think that -- the people who made the decisions tonight are sitting there going, gee, we over-reacted a bit, we ought to chill out.
Or, nice job -- system works.
BROOKS: I think it's better to be safe than sorry in this climate right now, in this atmosphere that we're living in.
BROWN: Yeah. I wish it weren't so.
BROOKS: I do too. BROWN: Nice to see you.
BROOKS: Good to see you, Aaron. Thanks.
BROWN: You had a tough time getting here. We appreciate it.
BROOKS: No problem.
BROWN: Thank you very much.
A quick look at a number of things that went on in the world and around the country today.
The latest in the case of John Walker Lindh first. Lawyers for Lindh and federal prosecutors reached an agreement on how to use certain classified information in the trial. Lindh's trial is set for August.
Judge today said the deal involves a sizable number of documents. We'll get more detail in the days ahead, presumably.
In Colorado, an indictment in the worst forest fires, wildfires in the history of that state. Forest Service worker Terry Barton was indicted on federal charges of starting one of the fires and trying to cover it up.
If she is convicted, she could face 75 years in prison.
And a goodbye to a legendary voice in sports today. We sadly report the passing of Jack Buck, an institution in St. Louis, certainly, and in much of the country.
Mr. Buck died at the age of 77. He had been ill for some time with both Parkinson's and cancer.
He started calling the Cardinal games back in '54, went on to call everything from pro bowling to the Super Bowl to the World Series. He was one of the great baseball announcers ever -- a joy to listen to.
In his autobiography, Jack Buck said, "I wouldn't have changed a thing about my life. My childhood dreams came true."
Jack Buck dead tonight at 77.
Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, the story of two missing girls. One the media covers, and the other it does not. Why is it? That, when NEWSNIGHT continues from New York.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: The latest now in the case of young Elizabeth Smart. Police today tried to clear up confusion as to just what her sister saw the night Elizabeth disappeared.
They are now saying that the sister pretended to be asleep during the abduction, that at some point she did get up to tell her parents, then went back to her room for several hours after realized the kidnapper was still in the house.
The kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart has garnered an enormous amount of media attention, and in many ways that is understandable. This is a child kidnapped from her home, and for parents, it does not get much scarier than that.
But sadly, Elizabeth is not the only missing child in the country, and we have been wondering of late why one case gets so much attention, including from this program, and others get close to none.
We'll talk media matters with Howard Kurtz of "The Washington Post" and CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" in a moment.
But first, a case in point.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Ordinarily, their worlds would never intersect. For one, a spacious and expensive home in the suburbs out West, for the other a tidy, small home in the center of the city in the Midwest.
They are quite different, except for one awful similarity.
LOIS SMART, ELIZABETH'S MOTHER: Elizabeth, we love you. Our hearts are close together. I'm wearing this special necklace you gave me on my birthday.
AYANNA BOURGEOIS, ALEXIS PATTERSON'S MOTHER: I just hear her saying, Mommy, find me, Mommy, please come and get me.
BROWN: Lois and Edward Smart spend a lot of their time these days before television cameras, here thanking some of the hundreds of people who have volunteered to look for their kidnapped daughter, Elizabeth, gone now for more than two weeks.
LOIS SMART: We appreciate so much what you've done. It's so overwhelming to see. They told me there -- people were here, but this is overwhelming.
BROWN: Ayanna Bourgeois lives in Milwaukee and isn't often on television. She's been helping a group of children look for another missing child, her daughter, 7-year-old Alexis Patterson, who has been gone now for more than seven weeks.
DEPUTY CHIEF LESLIE BARBER, MILWAUKEE POLICE DEPARTMENT: We're still talking to witnesses, we're following up on leads that come into our department. We're still canvassing open fields, parks, we're still working to locate the young lady.
BROWN: The search for Elizabeth Smart, apparently abducted at gunpoint while she slept in her parents' home, has been a staple of both network and cable news coverage since the day she disappeared.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "NBC NIGHTLY NEWS") TOM BROKAW, NBC NEWS: A new development tonight in the hunt for that missing girl in Salt Lake City...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: While the search for Alexis Patterson, missing since the 3rd of May when her stepfather dropped her off here at a school only yards away from her home, has generated practically no coverage outside of Milwaukee, something Alexis's parents understandably resent.
LARON BOURGEOIS, ALEXIS PATTERSON'S STEPFATHER: But everybody knows about Elizabeth Smart. Everybody. And I don't think it's fair. Give her just as -- give us just as much air time as you give her, everywhere, because, I mean, these kids are helpless. What can they do? What can they do?
BOB STEELE, THE POYNTER INSTITUTE: Race and class can be factors when it comes to how journalists cover stories, and that includes stories on missing children.
BROWN: Consider this might be one effect of the lack of coverage. While in Utah, hundreds of volunteers are still on the job helping the authorities, in Milwaukee the volunteer effort has dwindled. Headquartered in this small work area, headed by a committee of one, a retired private investigator.
JOHN WELLS, VOLUNTEER: For some reason, we just can't draw the people with the interest on this case.
BROWN: Perhaps another difference, Elizabeth's father is well spoken and well-to-do. Alexis Patterson's stepfather, LaRon Bourgeois, has a criminal record.
L. BOURGEOIS: People change. My criminal background has nothing to do with what's happening with this baby. I haven't been in trouble since '89. So what I -- my criminal background is irrelevant.
BROWN: So far, the police agree. He is not, they say, a suspect, and they are desperate now in Milwaukee for national coverage.
BARBER: Our department would like and welcome national attention. This would aid us in locating Alexis, especially if she's been taken out of state.
BROWN: Whatever has become of Elizabeth Smart, and whatever has become of Alexis Patterson, there is one plea that applies to both.
AYANNA BOURGEOIS: All I want is my baby, that's all I want is my baby, wherever my child is, she did not deserve to be snatched away from me. That's my baby.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: So why, why is it that one gets coverage and the other doesn't?
We'll talk with "Washington Post" media reporter Howard Kurtz as NEWSNIGHT continues in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: We've been talking about race and class and the media, and why one child's abduction can capture the country's attention and the other never makes the evening news at all.
We're joined by someone who thinks about these things for a living, "Washington Post" media reporter Howard Kurtz.
Always good to see Howie, welcome.
HOWARD KURTZ, MEDIA REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Thank you.
BROWN: Simple as race and class, do you think?
KURTZ: Well, maybe a little bit more complicated. But we've got to be candid, Aaron, and say that most news organizations are run by white, middle-class editors and producers and executives who tend to identify with people like themselves. Elizabeth Smart, heartrending case, cute, white teenager in a middle-class million-dollar home in Utah, everybody focuses on it.
I hadn't even heard of the Alexis Patterson case until I read a story about it a couple days in "The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel," and I don't think 99 percent of these journalists outside of Wisconsin did either, and she is a young black girl, her father served time in prison, and maybe that sense of identification is not there.
BROWN: You know, at -- this case of this child in Milwaukee is outrageous enough. It occurred to me that there's this -- the case in Miami, Rilya Wilson, which has gotten attention, it's not that it has been ignored, but it has not been a daily -- I'm not in any sense -- I'm not being critical here of the coverage of Elizabeth Smart, it's the missing child, if we can do something to get her, terrific.
But here's the state of Florida screws up, loses a child, and it becomes a kind of once-a-week outrage.
KURTZ: Well, I think that the Elizabeth Smart case has taken on a certain critical mass in the media, and it's starting to reach almost Chandra Levy-like proportions on all the cable networks, including CNN, and I don't mean that as a compliment, because often what happens is days go by, there's no real news, no hard information, there's speculation about a drifter who may or may not know anything.
And yet there are 50 live shots a day on these networks. And I think that there's a void in cable television, even with all the terrorism and Middle East news going on, for the tragedy du jour. And right now the tragedy du jour is clearly that of Elizabeth Smart.
BROWN: You know, this is -- I think you and I once on a Sunday morning a long time ago in a different lifetime, for me, had this conversation, that the 24-hour news business in some respects needs a story, needs the sort of story that it can -- that we can go to all the time, keep alive. Is that it?
KURTZ: And that's the thing that bothers me the most, because it's not just this young girl in Milwaukee, there are hundreds of cases, sadly, tragically, of kids who are missing, kidnapped, killed. And obviously only a mere fraction of them get national attention.
Now, it helps if a family, like the Smart family, enlist the services of a PR person who knows how to pitch journalists and stage news conferences, which gives live pictures to television, which it needs. But I also think that there is this sense of, we've got to build something up and hook the audience and come back to it day after day.
And sometimes I think that we are in danger of overplaying these stories. It's not that they're not important. But 10 years ago this would have been a local story, and now, thanks to the cable competition, it's a national one.
BROWN: And I would just argue that in -- like most things in life, in moderation, taking this story, making it a national story, is hardly the worst sin that any of us will commit in our lifetimes. The problem becomes, if the decisions are made for the wrong reasons. If you're ignoring one tragedy because it doesn't fit a kind of comfortable profile of what you think viewers want, then that is a sin.
KURTZ: Well, I think that is going on to some degree, not necessarily consciously, but again, editors, reporters tend to identify with people like themselves. And another factor here is that when a story like the Elizabeth Smart case gets so much cable on coverages -- on cable, coverage, it's sort of a drumbeat, what happens is, newspaper editors say, Gee, everybody's talking about this, and newspaper reporters tell me they're told to cover it just because it's been on cable.
So it reaches that -- it goes up the media food chain, if you will.
BROWN: You know, if we're going to beat up on cable, gently, then we're going to beat up on the networks too, because NBC has been running like crazy with this story.
KURTZ: Right. I just mean to suggest that cable is often the germinating ground for this of story. NBC "Nightly News," which in the past has covered O.J. and other tabloid kind of stories, has hit this hard. I suspect the other broadcast networks will follow suit, and I think you'll see more stories in the newsmagazines, the big newspapers, because it has now taken on a life of its own.
Unfortunately, there's not a lot of new news about that case. But that has not stopped journalists who have made this their cause, at least for this week, until the next tragedy comes along.
BROWN: Well, perhaps we'll both do a better job of it, your paper and my network.
Thanks. It's always good to talk to you, Howard Kurtz from Washington tonight on coverage decisions and how we make them.
A few quick items from around the world before we take a break.
A preliminary report on a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan last April -- I know this is hugely important to Canadians -- four Canadian soldiers died, eight more hurt when a U.S. F-16 dropped a 500-pound bomb on their position. Sources say the joint U.S. and Canadian panel is expected to report that two Air National Guard pilots did not follow proper procedures in sizing up possible threats. The panel may also recommend the pilots face a hearing that could in turn lead to criminal charges out of this tragedy.
The shuttle "Endeavour" returned to earth two days late and somewhere else. Bad weather at the Kennedy Space Center put the kibosh on landing there, so it was a California touchdown, out in the desert. Among those back home tonight, two American astronauts who spent 196 days aboard the International Space Station.
And then there's Steve Fossett (ph), who expects to orbit the earth (UNINTELLIGIBLE) 15 days, weather and wind allowing. Yet another attempt by Steve to become the first to fly solo around the world, solo being the key here. So far, so good. Fossett is now one day into the journey somewhere off the coast of Australia, going about 50 miles an hour. He does keep trying, and we keep wishing him luck.
And if we haven't had enough aviation for one night, this is a New Zealand -- this is from New Zealand. A vintage DC-3 made like a gooney bird, skids off the runway on takeoff. Kind of cold in New Zealand there today, huh? World War II, the DC-3's nickname was the Gooney Bird, so I guess this all fit. No one was hurt, which is why we can afford to make a light joke of it.
Up next, speaking of which, international soccer from that famed soccer expert, Henry Kissinger. This must be NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: OK, here's the deal. I wrote this really long, clever lead to introduce Dr. Kissinger. I don't want to do it, I just want to talk to him about soccer and other stuff.
Dr. Henry Kissinger is here. It's nice to see you, sir.
HENRY KISSINGER, NEWSNIGHT SPECIAL WORLD CUP ANALYST: Nice to be here.
BROWN: Thanks for being with us.
KISSINGER: Thank you.
BROWN: We want to talk about -- I mean, the question everyone asks, and the Americans play the Germans on Friday morning, and actually I sort of sense that people are getting into this a little bit now. It's sort of why Americans don't love soccer in the way everyone else on the planet pretty much does, and you have a couple of interesting notions, one having to do with statistics, or the lack thereof.
KISSINGER: Yes, our games are segmented into periods and into individual actions. But soccer has continuous action, so it's very hard to express it in percentages and batting averages and completions and third-down completions and so forth.
BROWN: You have to sort of love the flow. It does have a flow to it, and it has...
KISSINGER: I mean...
BROWN: ... a momentum about it.
KISSINGER: It has a flow, and it has a strategy.
BROWN: Yes.
KISSINGER: And once you understand it, and then you also get to see that these national teams, in a way, reflect some of the attributes of their nations.
BROWN: Right, I read something you wrote a number of years ago, and you were talking about the South American style. And the South American style sounded South American.
KISSINGER: That's right, I mean, the Brazilians, for example, very rarely have a good goalie, because they all like to go forward, and the goalie has to stay back in his goal, and he isn't part of the action.
So the Brazilian style is more offensive. And also the Argentinian one, and it's more defined by samba-like steps, especially in Brazil.
BROWN: And the Germans -- are the Germans a disciplined...
KISSINGER: Germans are disciplined, they're well trained, they're well coached. But given the depressions, if they're in -- if they're not ahead in the 75th minute, they would then begin to get frantic.
BROWN: So they're front runners...
KISSINGER: I think that affects that end on Friday.
BROWN: They're front runners. They score early, and then play defense.
KISSINGER: No, that's the Italians. They score early. But the Germans continue to try to score. But they're very well coached, usually, and they have a lot of endurance, and they're very physical. But they don't have the inspiration of the Brazilian football.
BROWN: Nothing like a great stereotype.
KISSINGER: Or the French, the French play a very elegant style.
BROWN: Elegant and romantic, and they're...
KISSINGER: Very elegant.
BROWN: ... now, they can't -- they haven't gotten out of bed in about 48 hours, they're so miserable in France right now.
KISSINGER: It's almost incomprehensible how they -- they didn't score in three games.
BROWN: Yes.
KISSINGER: Which is unheard of.
BROWN: One more soccer question. Do the Americans have a chance on...
KISSINGER: On paper...
BROWN: They don't play it on paper, Dr. Kissinger.
KISSINGER: Yes, on paper the Germans have a wider array -- larger array of good players, because they have -- that's their national sport. But this American team has shown inspiration, and if we get ahead early, we have a chance.
BROWN: It'd be great, it would be a great...
KISSINGER: I think they're phenomenal. They've already gotten further than any experts thought they could get. But if they win on Friday, they'll get into the semifinals, which is unheard of.
BROWN: It's unbelievable.
You've loved this since you were a child, I assume.
KISSINGER: Yes, I used to go, to the despair of my parents.
BROWN: Did you? And they'd say, You're wasting your life watching soccer games?
KISSINGER: Well, they thought I should go to the opera, museum, and I'd sneak away and go to soccer games.
BROWN: That's the -- Can I ask you serious questions now? Not that these were not.
I don't know how to change gears so quickly. But I want to talk about the Middle East. Will you do that for a minute?
KISSINGER: Sure.
BROWN: OK. The president and the White House, they're trying to write this speech and write a plan. Is there -- is the time right, or should they just follow their initial instinct, was -- which was to stand back, let the two sides get to some point where they want to do business and then get in the game?
KISSINGER: I would say neither. With respect to the first point, they must -- should ask themselves, are they writing a speech for the immediate impact, or are they writing a speech on which they can stand for an extended period of time? If the latter, then it doesn't matter whether they give it Monday or Wednesday or Friday, then the date doesn't matter so much.
Secondly, they -- I hope they're checking it around so that it isn't immediately rejected, or so that we don't have to spend all our energies trying to adjust it. I think that it is not a bad idea, it's a good idea, to put forward certain principles that we think should be followed in the negotiations. And that, I think, would be desirable.
BROWN: It's -- we appreciate a lot your coming in. I'm sure people say this to you all the time. But it's remarkable how much you sound like Henry Kissinger, when you actually sit and talk to you. Thank you...
KISSINGER: I've practiced it.
BROWN: You got it down, man, you're really good.
KISSINGER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I'm working on it.
BROWN: Thank you. You'll be watching the soccer game wherever you are on Friday.
KISSINGER: Absolutely.
BROWN: We'll be there with you. Thank you very much.
KISSINGER: Thank you.
BROWN: We'll wrap it up in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: A quick plug. Tomorrow on NEWSNIGHT, some of New York's finest -- that is, finest subway musicians, the musicians who entertain New York commuters and fill the tunnels with the sounds of music.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SINGER (singing): When there's nobody else to turn to, who do I turn to? When nobody wants to listen, then who do I lean on?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: These men and women are all over town, and they're taking their acts above ground tomorrow, they'll be at Lincoln Center. Doesn't get classier than that. And we will listen in. That's tomorrow night, much more too, right here on NEWSNIGHT.
We've never done a plug like that. You'll be here, won't you? At 10:00 Eastern time. Good night for all of us.
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