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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown
Zacarias Moussaoui Makes Court Appearance; Yasser Arafat Responds to Bush Plan
Aired June 25, 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, GUEST HOST: Good evening everyone.
We want to start the program tonight with a question. You'll only be able to answer the question if you stick with us until the bitter end. Sorry about that. We want to know what is more threatening to you. What fills you with more fear, man-eating crocodiles or Martha Stewart?
The crocodiles in question, you can see them here eating some pretty unlucky chickens, live in the Ivory Coast in Africa where they protect the Presidential Mansion.
Martha Stewart, as far as we know, lives in Connecticut. You can see her here wielding a very sharp kitchen knife while facing persisting questions this morning on the CBS "Early Show." Jane Clayson right there wanted to talk about insider trading, Martha wanted to talk about potluck salads for summer. So who's scarier, Martha or the crocs? We'll have more on both coming up and we'll let you decide.
We begin tonight with a memorable court appearance by the only man charged in the September 11th attacks. Kelli Arena leads off the whip. Kelli, the headline.
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, a plea of not guilty was entered on behalf of accused terrorist, Zacarias Moussaoui, but it sure was not easy.
COOPER: Now, the wildfires threatening to overtake one small town. Bill Delaney is reporting from Arizona tonight. Bill, the headline.
BILL DELANEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, since early afternoon here, it's looked like evening because of heavy smoke, but they worst may have been averted here, maybe.
COOPER: All right, look forward to that.
To the Middle East we go now, where Yasser Arafat spoke out, responding to President Bush's speech yesterday. Wolf Blitzer is in Jerusalem again for us tonight. Wolf, the headline.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It seems like it's almost business as usual here in the Middle East, the Palestinians uttering promises or reform and the Israelis taking some major steps to try to preempt terrorist strikes -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Wolf thanks.
And an appeal to the public in the Elizabeth Smart case tonight. Jeanne Meserve is in Salt Lake City again. Jeanne, your headline.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Law enforcement officials say they have found no gun in their investigation of Richard Albert Ricci, but they have learned some interesting things about him in interviews with his neighbors, interviews that are continuing tonight. Anderson.
COOPER: All right, we'll come back to all of you in just a moment.
Also ahead tonight, as we said, Martha and the man-eating crocs, and perhaps something else to fear, the ethicist is in the house. This is the guy who tells people whether they've been naughty or nice every week in the "New York Times Magazine." Maybe you've read that column on Sundays. We'll talk with Randy Cohen on what some see as an endangered species these days, the ethical American, especially ones in leadership roles.
We have a lot to cover tonight. We're going to begin with another day in court for Zacarias Moussaoui, which as we've come to expect is rarely just another day in court.
Now as you know, arraignment hearings ordinarily have about as much drama as watching paint dry. The charges are read. Pleas are entered. That's about it. Rare is the defendant who takes issue with a venue, with the lawyers, the plea, and then actually accuses the judge of wanting to see him dead. Today, at a reading of the updated federal charges against him, Zacarias Moussaoui did all of the above. Here again, CNN's Kelli Arena.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA (voice over): The drama in the courtroom started when Zacarias Moussaoui was asked by the judge to enter a plea. He said "no contest." Judge Leonie Brinkema told him he couldn't possibly mean that because that was sure to guarantee a guilty verdict.
But he insisted saying: "I have nothing to say to the United States." Judge Brinkema ultimately entered a plea of not guilty, directing Moussaoui to have a seat.
Each court appearance by Moussaoui, the only person charged directly in connection with the September 11th terrorist attacks has been confrontational. He is representing himself and has refused to meet with any of his court-appointed lawyers, his latest Alan Yamamoto.
ALAN YAMAMOTO, COURT-APPOINTED ATTORNEY: If he's unwilling to speak to counsel and intends to continue on his own, at some point the court may have to step in if it feels that Mr. Moussaoui is not receiving a fair trial.
ARENA: Yamamoto says he does not understand what Moussaoui meant when he said "no contest," because Moussaoui has insisted he wants to defend himself and that he wants access to information and evidence.
STEPHEN SALTZBURG, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: That's why the judge entered this plea of not guilty for him, because every word he said about wanting to prepare his case is inconsistent with saying I don't wish to contest the charges.
ARENA: Moussaoui accused the judge of interfering with his defense by refusing to let this lawyer, Charles Freeman, help him. Freeman, a Muslim from Texas, was in the courtroom but the judge says he is not registered to practice law in Virginia and has not formally asked to enter the case. Freeman had no comment.
CHARLES FREEMAN, ATTORNEY: No statement. No statement and no comment. None.
ARENA: Besides entering a no guilty plea, the judge also ruled the trial would be held in Virginia rather than Denver as Moussaoui had requested.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA (on camera): Now Texas lawyer Charles Freeman did get his say in a court document filed late this afternoon. In it he said he never intended to be Moussaoui's standby lawyer and his intention was to provide out of court legal assistance. Freeman says the court's decision to not allow him to visit Moussaoui, "fails the smell, taste, and appearance of fairness test." Anderson.
COOPER: Kelli, I know there's been a lot of concern about security in this trial and the eventual trial, in particular for witnesses and the potential jury.
ARENA: Right.
COOPER: Is there anything new on that? How are they going to provide security?
ARENA: Well, as you know, the jury is an anonymous jury and as for witnesses, Judge Brinkema today ordered that the witnesses' addresses would not be divulged. It would just only show their country of origin, so it would, you know, Bill Smith, U.S.A. or Sally Sammy, Pakistan but that's it.
Moussaoui argued that if she did that he wouldn't be able to send a private investigator to go and make sure that these people were for real, that they weren't under any pressure from the U.S. Government to say what the U.S. Government wanted them to say. But the judge said she heard what he said, didn't agree, and that those witness addresses would not be publicized.
COOPER: What is your take on Moussaoui's behavior? I mean, does it seem like he has some sort of strategy or is this just, you know, the actions of someone who doesn't know what he's doing?
ARENA: Some legal experts have suggested that part of his strategy could be to try to get the judge to misstep, to make a mistake so that you could have, you know, a conviction overturned or thrown out. We don't know at this point.
Obviously he's not cooperating with any of the lawyers that have been court-appointed. He's not made any statements or said anything outside of his rantings in court, so it's unclear but the hypothesis is is that maybe he is trying to have Brinkema misstep.
COOPER: All right, pretty bizarre. Thanks very much, Kelli Arena.
ARENA: You're welcome.
COOPER: A new development tonight in the anthrax investigation. The FBI conducted a number of searches today, including this one we're showing you right here. The apartment belongs to a former employee at Fort Detrick, the army's biowarfare laboratory. The man in question consented to the search apparently, a law enforcement official telling us the man has been cooperating with authorities and in the words of that official, "no one is about to be arrested."
On to Arizona we go where the weather today gave firefighters a breather, but only just that. The fire they're up against now covers an area the size of Los Angeles. Smoke from it is visible all the way to Mexico. If you put it another way, it is like looking out your window in Manhattan and seeing smoke from a fire in North Carolina.
Today, President Bush visited the region and declared it a disaster area. He met with evacuees from the town of Show Low and even as he did, firefighters were trying to save that town by setting new fires. Again, CNN's Bill Delaney is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DELANEY (voice over): Lacing the forest with fire to stop fire. A critical 43,000-acre controlled burn to block the advancing 335,000 plus acre Rodeo-Chediski fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got a little spot across the dozer line here.
DELANEY: And scraping the ground by hand, walling off the western flank of the city of Show Low, Arizona. Out all night, Marquez Quintero of the local Apache Hotshots.
MARQUEZ QUINTERO, FT. APACHE HOTSHOTS: You know we're putting a little more effort due to the fact that this is our reservation. We're trying to protect our home, trying to protect my neighbors.
DELANEY: What President Bush saw from the remove of clear air above the boiling clouds of the wildfire. Then on the ground with firefighters and with some of the state's 35,000 plus evacuees, linking with a folksy lilt more than once, Arizona's struggle with the whole country's right now.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's like this war we're under. I believe out of evil can come some great good. It's hard to tell it right now.
DELANEY: Hard to tell amid waiting, idleness, uncertainty. Late last week, twin sisters Doris Cole and Dorothy Fields evacuated to a high school gym from the house they share on three-quarters of an acre in Show Low.
DORIS COLE, EVACUEE: Well, once it's gone, it's gone. Now we have a little cradle from home and a rocking chair. We were either three or four years old and I sat in that rocking chair and rocked my own baby, and it's only about that high.
DOROTHY FIELD, EVACUEE: We accumulated a lot of things over the years and many things from our grandmother, but I hope that everything will be all right. I really don't want to cry but I can't help it when I talk about it, you know.
DELANEY: No one expects to see their homes or where homes once were any sooner than several days.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DELANEY (on camera): Looking at the sun here in Show Low, Arizona, it's 7:00 in the evening, the sun sinking down behind this wall of cloud that has obscured the sun here in this city of 8,000, this evacuated city of 8,000. All day it's been like evening here since 2:00 in the afternoon.
Now a firefighter we spoke to, who attended a briefing just an hour or so ago, said that fire lines are holding, that the firefighters are being told that the lines are holding here. The fear overnight, Anderson, is that an ember from the big fire could leap over that blackened buffer zone to the west here and start a fire in the south, then moving toward the vulnerable south of this city, which is unprotected.
Now whether that happens or not will depend on hundreds of brave firefighters who will be out all night. It will depend on unpredictable winds and it will depend on luck -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Bill Delaney, thanks very much.
The Middle East now we go. President Bush's message has already begun to sink in a day after he laid out a plan that calls for major changes on the Palestinian side.
Now as our experts predicted on the program last night, that message is getting a better reception among Israelis than among Palestinians. With that in mind, the White House tried a little fine tuning today. Spokesman Ari Fleischer taking care to say that the president's plan calls for sacrifices on both sides.
The president, he said, sees the process as two parallel tracks, Palestinian and Israeli. That is the backdrop for the details. We go once again to Jerusalem and CNN's Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice over): Israelis and Palestinians now have something in common. They're both wondering what President Bush does next, now that he's outlined his vision for peace in the Middle East. The Israelis are pleased by what they heard.
SHIMON PERES, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: He takes a very clear position against terror, any form of terror.
BLITZER: Indeed, they believe they won a green light from the Bush Administration to continue their latest military campaign on the West Bank, which they say is designed to preempt terrorist strikes.
Israeli tanks, armored personnel carriers, and troops tightened their hold on several major West Bank towns, including Hebron, but Prime Minister Ariel Sharon insists Israel has no intention of reoccupying Gaza saying: "We do not need to be inside Gaza."
The Palestinians tried to put a brave face forward, insisting they found some constructive features in the Bush speech, emphasizing his call for a Palestinian State.
President Bush says peace will require and new and different Palestinian leadership. Still, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat insists only Palestinians can determine their leadership.
YASSER ARAFAT, PALESTINIAN LEADER (through translator): President Bush talked about a Palestinian State and elections and we are proud to be a democratic state.
BLITZER: As Israelis and Palestinians pondered their next moves, Secretary of State Colin Powell signaled he was preparing to return to this part of the world.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Whether it's in the next several days or in the next couple of weeks remains to be determined, but it won't be in the too distant future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (on camera): Secretary Powell's last visit to the Middle East was in April. That visit ended in failure. He's hoping his next visit will set the stage for some sort of international peace conference that will set the stage for a stamp of approval for President Bush's vision of peace in the Middle East -- Anderson.
COOPER: Wolf, you said in your report that Palestinian officials are trying to publicly put a pretty brave face on what President Bush announced yesterday. Privately what are they telling you? What is their read of this behind the scenes?
BLITZER: Well, they're frustrated. They're not happy at all that the president was as tough as he was in demanding that Arafat in effect step aside, that a new leadership come forward. They're not pleased that most of the burden seems to be on the Palestinians right now.
What the Palestinians are insisting is that the root cause of all of these problems is the continued Israeli military occupations. They can't control the terrorism from extremists, they say, so long as the Israeli military prevents them from moving freely between Gaza and the West Bank and within the West Bank, even within Gaza for that matter.
So as a result, they're very frustrated. They're angry. They're trying, though, to put their best foot forward publicly. They don't want to overly antagonize the United States right now.
COOPER: I'm curious, Wolf. How is this working on the ground? I mean the U.S. has called for a change in leadership with the Palestinians, but I mean on the ground now is the U.S. still communicating with the current Palestinian leadership?
BLITZER: They're communicating with the current Palestinian leadership. What they're really hoping and the Secretary of State in his interview with Connie Chung earlier tonight here on CNN, he was sending two messages, a message to Arafat in effect, step aside, your days are numbered. You know you've had your chance.
But he's also sending a message to the Palestinian community as a whole, if you work with the United States, if you work with the Israelis, you'll get your Palestinian State. You'll get international support. You'll get economic aid and the day-to-day lives of the Palestinians will be a lot better.
That's what he's trying to send a message to the Palestinians. He's hoping the Palestinians will get that message and begin to turn against Yasser Arafat and find some other leaders.
COOPER: All right, Wolf Blitzer in Jerusalem, thanks very much.
As NEWSNIGHT continues, we're going to continue with this story and we're going to take an interesting look at how Arab and Israelis learned about the latest Bush proposal on their news. But up next, the latest on the disappearance of Elizabeth Smart.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: And we go to the latest on the missing Salt Lake City girl Elizabeth Smart. Now looking at the rap sheet of handyman Richard Ricci is like looking at a three-year decade odyssey of crime and punishment, burglary, aggravated robbery, attempted homicide of a police officer, even prison escape.
The police are not yet at the point where they are ready to add Kidnapping to Ricci's list of offenses. They're not yet even calling him a suspect in the Smart abduction, just in their words, "very interesting."
Today they asked for help from the public from anyone who might have seen Ricci around the time Elizabeth was kidnapped. Once again, here's Jeanne Meserve.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice over): Salt Lake City Police trying to reconstruct the movements of Richard Ricci in the days around the Elizabeth Smart abduction released pictures of a Ford Taurus, an Oldsmobile Cutlass, and a Jeep Cherokee.
DETECTIVE DWAYNE BAIRD, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT: We want information concerning the whereabouts of Mr. Ricci and his activity with these three vehicles, any of these three vehicles during those dates that I mentioned, again May 31st through June 8th.
MESERVE: The cars have been vacuumed for forensic evidence and the Jeep, his principal vehicle, is still impounded. Police say something is missing from the vehicle. They won't say what it is or why it interests them.
The Jeep was given to Ricci by Ed Smart as payment for work on the Smart house. Police officials say that while Ricci was working for Ed Smart, something was stolen and everyone working the job was fired. Ricci was not the only suspect, and later he was hired again by Smart.
ED SMART, FATHER OF MISSING GIRL: I had absolutely no knowledge of his background whatsoever. I never would have ever hired him had I known that.
MESERVE: Part of Ricci's record, Attempted Murder, stemming from a shootout with police in 1983, after an escape from a halfway house. Ricci broke into a pharmacy and stole some drugs. He was hiding in some bushes nearby when Salt Lake City Police Officer Mike Hill saw him.
MIKE HILL, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE OFFICER: I told him to drop the shotgun he had in his hand. He swung it towards me. I took two quick shots.
MESERVE: Hill demonstrates how he moved around a parked car and took cover.
HILL: I came around this side of the car, put my hand up here like this and saw him again leveling that shotgun at me and then I went down like this and turned my face around just as the shotgun blast came across. That's how I got hit in the hand, the shoulder and the top of the head.
MESERVE: Ricci was caught, convicted, and sentenced. Now, his latest parole revoked, Ricci is back in prison and under the microscope in the Smart case.
SMART: Richard, please let her go if you've got her. I don't know if he does or not, but I would just ask and pray that he would.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (on camera): Mary Catherine, Elizabeth's younger sister, told investigators that the abductor used a gun. Authorities say they have not found a gun on Ricci, in his car, or in his home. They have, however, learned some interesting things about him in interviews with his neighbors. They won't tell us what those interesting items are, but the interviews continue at a suburban Salt Lake City trailer park. Anderson.
COOPER: Jeanne does Mr. Ricci match the description of the perpetrator that was given by Elizabeth Smart's younger sister?
MESERVE: Well, he's a bit older and he's a bit taller. One of the most noticeable things, however, is that he has a very heavy moustache and nothing was ever mentioned about a moustache in any of the description that has been given to us.
When I asked a law enforcement official about that very thing tonight, he said "ah hah, but you haven't heard much about facial characteristics, have you?" And that's absolutely right -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right and we should point out again, as you said in your report, he is not a suspect. The police are just saying he is very interesting tonight. Thanks very much.
A few stories tonight in our national roundup, beginning with the space shuttle, NASA has grounded all four space shuttles while engineers try to figure out why tiny cracks are developing in the fuel line that feeds the main rocket engines. NASA says it could be weeks before the shuttle fleet is cleared to fly again.
Travelers will be able to go Amtrak during the Fourth, but it's not certain what will happen after that. Amtrak today said it is putting off a possible shutdown until at least July 8th. Amtrak is negotiating with the government on getting a loan of $200 million it needs to stay in business.
And Mitt Romney won his battle to stay in the race for governor of Massachusetts. Democrats took on the Republican candidate saying he didn't meet residency requirements when he lived in Utah for three years as head of the Winter Olympics. The State Ballot Commission today sided with Romney.
Later on NEWSNIGHT, will your cheatin' heart tell on you, advice for the ethically challenged; but next, how the Bush Mid East speech played on their news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Tonight some reaction to the president's Middle East peace plan as it played on the news in Israel and the Arab world. First the Arab side as seen on the cable news channel Al-Jazeera, where the headline was Yasser Arafat's future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT (through translator): Viewers, welcome again to "Today's Harvest." The United States Secretary of Defense Colin Powell has said that the U.S. decision to drop Yasser Arafat from any Mid East negotiation is very solid, and he added that the Palestinian people consider Arafat as their leader. Yet he is not fulfilling his duties or giving them what they deserve.
As soon as United States President George Bush delivered his speech, President Bush's position became clear to the Palestinian people. They were shocked but welcomed his initiatives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We refuse the involvement of any side in the Palestinian presidency or in the Palestinian issue. There's a democratic mission here that we will show in he coming elections in six months and only the Palestinians should decide who should lead their government, who should vote and not vote.
Even though the latest initiative by Bush might be the most sensitive for the Palestinians, because of their political differences, President Yasser Arafat didn't think that Bush was referring to him when he talked about changing the Palestinian leadership.
Instead, he praised Bush's speech for its vision of a Palestinian State. At this time, Yasser Arafat will be happy with the outcome in the next election of a new Palestinian leadership. Secondly, he will see how the world responds to President Bush's call for a change in Palestinian leadership.
And third, Arafat is happy that Bush stated that Israeli forces not only need to withdraw fully from cities in the West Bank, but also that the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 should end through a settlement negotiated between the parties with respect to international law.
The Palestinian official strategy in dealing with the United States can be easily summed up. I see what I want. This is not that different from the Sharon Cabinet response to the Bush speech. Bush repeated what Sharon wanted, Arafat's departure from leadership.
Both sides, the Israelis and the Palestinians ignored the ideas that Bush proposed in his speech and this only shows that the problem is greater than Arafat's departure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, that was Al-Jazeera.
We go now to Israel's Channel 2 and their evening news today. Same subject, you'll notice a very different tone. Among the items you'll see on your screen at the top of the lead story, a graphic that reads "Celebrating Victory."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT (through translator): Good evening. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called Condoleezza Rice after President Bush's speech and asked her to give the president his thanks for his words, which are still echoing in the Middle East.
Other political sources are saying this evening that this speech is putting the whole responsibility into the hands of the Palestinian Authority and Yasser Arafat, and therefore nothing has to happen as far as the Israeli side is concerned.
About President Bush's speech, our correspondent Yuri Segal (ph) is reporting.
YURI SEGAL (ph), CHANNEL 2 CORRESPONDENT (through translator): Prime Minister Sharon made every effort in order not to show his and his assistant's satisfaction with President Bush's speech. Yesterday, it was decided already that Sharon is not going to react in front of the cameras.
"This is a crushing political victory," one of his assistants has said. Prime Minister Sharon succeeded in convincing President Bush despite pressure from European and Arab states to adopt the Israeli policy that nothing will come out of dealing with Yasser Arafat. The same adviser said "we shall not celebrate as not to affect the American new policy."
Sharon has very good reason to be satisfied. Bush's speech reflects a substantial change in the American policy towards the Middle East and by adopting Israeli points of view in almost every detail. Up until President Bush's speech, the American policy was that Yasser Arafat was the chosen one.
BUSH: Peace requires a new and different Palestinian leadership.
SEGAL (through translator): Regarding the establishment of a Palestinian State versus the idea of a provisional Palestinian State immediately, President Bush conditions it upon fighting terrorism and significant reforms.
Regarding the borders, Arab states have been pressuring for pre- 1967 borders; however, Bush is talking about borders that are defendable and based on Resolutions 242 and 338.
Regarding settlements, the Saudi proposal demands the demolition of all settlements. President Bush is talking in a more moderate voice about stopping any new settlement activities.
Regarding a timetable, all talks about creating a definite timetable are reduced to the following:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Palestinians embrace democracy, confront corruption, and firmly reject terror. They can count on America's support for the creation of a provisional state of Palestine.
With intensive effort by all, this agreement could be reached within three years from now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Was it only me, or did the voice of the translator sound a little bit like the Iron Chef? I don't know, could have been just me.
Still to come on NEWSNIGHT: a tasty chicken dish from the Ivory Coast.
And: cooking up controversy with Martha Stewart.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Coming up on NEWSNIGHT: Martha Speaks, but she just can't stop chopping.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: All right, so in the annals of awkward television, it was up there with the best of them. Probably the most tension-filled cooking segment in the history of the small screen.
It happened this morning on the "CBS Early Show." Martha Stewart appeared for her regular cooking segment. Host Jane Clayson insisted on asking some questions about the alleged insider trading scandal. Martha didn't mince words, although ominously she did keep shredding cabbage with a very big knife.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "CBS Early Show")
JANE CLAYSON, CO-HOST: One more question about this media frenzy that surrounded this last week or so. How has it been for you to be in the middle of all that?
MARTHA STEWART, CEO, OMNIMEDIA: Well, when I was model -- and I was for all during high school and college, you always wanted to be on the cover of a magazine. That's how your success was judged: the more covers the better.
Well, I am the CEO of a New York Stock Exchange-listed company, and I don't want to be on the covers of any newspapers for a long, long time.
That's the story.
CLAYSON: All right.
STEWART: Thank you very much.
CLAYSON: Let's cook.
STEWART: Yes, great.
CLAYSON: Summer salads.
STEWART: Right.
CLAYSON: What have you got for us today?
(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: All right, so that was pretty good. But my favorite moment happened before you even saw Martha -- and, yes, I think I can call her Martha -- Jane Clayson was introducing the controversy with a little background story, but she had a hard time being heard over the sound of Martha furiously chopping away at that darn cabbage.
Listen, and enjoy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "CBS EARLY SHOW")
CLAYSON: As we've reported, our good friend Martha Stewart has been in the headlines lately, fighting allegations of insider stock trading stemming from her sale of shares in a company called ImClone.
The investigation into Martha's transaction comes in the wake of the arrest of her friend ImClone CEO Sam Waksal, who is charged with sharing negative information about the company before it became public.
Martha did sell her shares one day before the announcement that an experimental cancer drug the company was working on was rejected by the FDA.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: All right, we're going to lay off Martha in moment.
But first, in case you were wondering, the cabbage Martha was chopping was for a lovely chicken and cabbage with noodles and peanut sauce. Mmm, peanuts.
One more note on Martha: Her bad day got even worse. A potpourri simmering pot marketed under her brand name is being recalled voluntarily; about 80,000 of them. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the tea light candles inside the pots can overheat and flames can flare out of the side ventilation holes. I hate it when that happens.
That's enough for Martha.
On to ethics in America. At this point, we don't know whether Martha Stewart committed any ethical lapse, but we do know of other CEOs who have, and plenty of other Americans from all walks of life.
It leads you to ask a question: Are the principled people among us a dying breed?
Allan Chernoff takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): FBI officials squelching leads that might have caught terrorists because of their own careerism.
COLEEN ROWLEY, FBI AGENT: I think that the FBI does have a problem with that. And if I remember right, it means promoting one's career over integrity.
CHERNOFF: Church leaders concerned with appearances in the dioceses protecting sexual predators.
REV. THOMAS REESE: They forgot that the family that they're responsible for includes not just the priests, but also the people who were abused.
CHERNOFF: Corporate executives making off with millions as stockholders lose their shirts.
Though the scandals may appear unrelated, they do have a common thread: All involve self-interest at the expense of the common good.
JOSHUA HALPERSTAM, AUTHOR, "EVERYDAY ETHICS": And what you're seeing is not merely the old story of one person being very greedy, going out there and defying the system, but we're seeing a breakdown of organizational morality.
CHERNOFF: In today's success-driven society, the win-at-all costs mentality often develops at an early age. A recent national survey of high school students found three-quarters cheat.
Alice Newhall freely admits to it.
ALICE NEWHALL, GEORGE MASON H.S.: What's important is getting ahead. You know, the better grades you have, you know, the better school you get into is, you know, the better you're going to do in life. And if you learn to cut corners to do that, you know, you're going to be saving yourself time and energy.
And in the real world, you know, that's what's going to be going on.
CHERNOFF: And the consequences of getting caught?
In Piper, Kansas, parents protested when a biology teacher flunked 28 high school students for plagiarizing. The school board caved in to the parents. More than one-quarter of the teachers responded by quitting.
The pressure to cut corners and exaggerate accomplishments doesn't end in school. Historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and Stephen Ambrose admitted they lifted passages from other authors for use in their books.
Then there's resume padding. Pulitzer Prize-winner Joseph Ellis confessed his claims he had served in Vietnam were a lie. U.S. Olympic Committee Chair Sandra Baldwin recently resigned after admitting she had never finished the PhD, nor graduated from the undergraduate college listed on her resume.
GEORGE O'LEARY, NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL COACH: I'm very proud to be coach at Notre Dame.
CHERNOFF: And George O'Leary stepped down five days after being appointed Notre Dame football coach. He never received the masters degree, nor the letters in football claimed on his resume.
HALPERSTAM: It's very easy to judge all these guys as bad guys. And they'll tell you right away, hey, we've all been doing this. Everybody knows this has been going on. Why are you giving me a hard time?
But somebody has to actually step up there and take the fall, because this activity, in fact, deserves to be knocked down.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: Now, there have been recent example of Americans whose selflessness was notable: whistleblowers in the FBI and Enron cases and, most importantly, firefighters, police officers and volunteers at the World Trade Center.
But the many ethical lapses standing in sharp contrast raise the very troubling question of whether America, for many people, is becoming a nation of self-interest -- Anderson.
COOPER: Well, if you will, stick around because we want to talk about this a little bit after the commercial break.
If you will at home, stay with us. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: We had hoped to have a conversation with Randy Cohen, ethics columnist for the "New York Times." Unforeseen circumstances now make that impossible, so we continue the discussion of ethics with CNN's Allan Chernoff.
CHERNOFF: My pleasure.
COOPER: There's a new report just out tonight about WorldCom, and it plays into this whole sort of ethical question.
CHERNOFF: Yet the latest company to now have been revealed to have overstated its earnings, revenues, all the numbers, so...
COOPER: Do you know how big the overstatement was?
CHERNOFF: Yes, significant.
And guess who the accountant was once again? Arthur Andersen.
COOPER: Oh man, say it ain't so.
Do you think there are more ethical lapses these days, or do you think we're simply paying attention to them more, reporting them more?
CHERNOFF: It's a combination. But obviously a lot of the stuff that's happening now, or that's being revealed now, has been happening for quite a number of years.
And corporate America, over the past decade, 15 years, increasingly became under so much pressure to boost the earnings, deliver fantastic numbers, to keep the stock going higher and higher. It's all tumbling down now -- the stock market and, of course, these revelations that we're hearing.
And obviously behind of it, we had plenty of executives who cut corners, tried to pump up the numbers, and accountants who were willing to sign off simply to get their paychecks.
COOPER: Do you think -- I mean, personally do you think we're a more ethical society these days, or becoming less and less ethical?
I mean, it's always hard to tell, you know, when you see these things in the news, you see individual cases. It's hard to tell, is this just, you know, sort of a media-produced pattern, or is this something larger?
CHERNOFF: I think hopefully we're in the process of becoming a more ethical society. But no, I don't think, until the present, that we have been terribly ethical, certainly in the corporate world.
But also as we showed in our piece, students very concerned with getting ahead now. Very common cheating. I mean, surveys showing that a very high percentage of high school students are plagiarizing, using the Internet for those purposes.
There's just so much pressure on people to succeed these days that they just cut corners. They...
COOPER: It's interesting, when -- you can try to figure out how much of this is a personal thing and how much is sort of a community decision. I mean, when I was in high school, there was a lot of cheating, quite frankly.
And it was sort of, in a weird way, accepted. I mean, it wasn't really discussed openly, but it was sort of known. It was sort of part of what the community did. It was almost as if there was a community standard that was different, or was at odds with what individual standards should have been?
CHERNOFF: Unethical to not cheat in your school?
COOPER: Well, I don't want to go that far.
But, you know, it seemed very commonplace. And it was very difficult, in fact, you know, when you saw everyone around you kind of cheating, it was hard not to do it yourself.
CHERNOFF: Right. Well, no question, it's become ever more popular. Back when I was in high school, that's when the regents were first stolen (ph). So that, maybe, was the beginning of all of it, and we've grown up with this...
COOPER: Why would people, though, pad their resumes? I mean, that seems like the most obvious thing you can check on. Especially, you know, find a kid just graduating college, maybe pad their resume to get an entry-level job. But a coach of, you know, Notre Dame -- I mean, it doesn't make any sense.
CHERNOFF: It raises another question in my mind: Why would a politician seeking even higher office make a stupid mistake? Or why would even Bill Clinton do what he did?
Clearly a lot of people think they can get away with it. And they try it.
COOPER: All right. And a lot of people do. Thanks very much, Allan Chernoff, thanks.
We're going to go briefly back to Salt Lake City where Jeanne Meserve is standing by with the uncle of missing teenager Elizabeth Smart -- Jeanne.
MESERVE: With me, a David Smart.
David, the latest name being floated by investigators, Richard Albert Ricci. Did you know him? How excited is the family by the fact that his name is now out there?
DAVID SMART, ELIZABETH SMART'S UNCLE: I did not know -- I have never met Ricci. I've heard of him.
And as far as, you know, how excited is the family about Ricci, it really comes down to -- we know the police are working on a lot of leads. I mean, that's obvious. How much information they've received from the volunteer effort and other leads that they've received from tips and so forth.
But it just still comes back to, we will not slow down until we have Elizabeth back in our arms.
MESERVE: Police say he is most promising because of his criminal record, because he knew the house, because he knew the family.
Are those things that you think also compute into someone who might have committed this crime?
SMART: Well, it seems like it would be a little bit stronger. They seem to think that the person may have had reaction in the house or knew of the house, been familiar with the house. So, I mean it sounds like a little bit closer than Edmunds.
But, then again, you know, I'm not a detective, so I really can't speculate on that.
MESERVE: Your search moved into a second phase, a more decentralized phase. I saw some of it at the very beginning. It was very disorganized, haphazard. How is it going now?
SMART: It's lot more organized. Just as the first phase that we went into, it was very chaotic. We had tons of volunteers coming in and trying to get organized, and understanding, you know, the process and everything. That was a crazy day. The first couple of days were very crazy, such as moving into the second phase, or moving into any other phase, there's going to be a lot of testing that we have to do in working all the bugs out. And I think we're still working the bugs out, and trying to learn.
The main thing that we're trying to do right now is, we feel that, with what we're able to -- what we've learned, we're hoping to be able to extend those tools to everyone else. It has to, unfortunately, go through this.
MESERVE: OK, David Smart, thanks so much for your time tonight.
Anderson, back to you.
COOPER: Jeanne Meserve, thanks. I think everyone's thoughts and prayers are with the Smart family as the search continues. We'll be right back on NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Time now for a quick magazine rundown. So many magazines hit the stands each week, we thought we'd offer you a brief synopsis, so you don't actually have to waste time and money reading the magazines.
"People" magazine this week -- it's a good one -- takes a hard- hitting look at the wedding of one-time bad boy Charlie Sheen and alleged actress Denise Richards. Yes, I said alleged. Look, I've seen her movies and, believe me, she's no Elizabeth Berkeley.
Anyway, unless you're a Hollywood madam, you probably won't care, but Charlie Sheen has apparently mended his ways. In "People" we learn he's tired of having sex with call girls, and on the advice of his therapist, is settling down.
Charlie is such a romantic, he even got his bride's name tattooed on his wrist. Now, I ask you, did we learn nothing from Johnny Depp? Hello. Read the article quickly because by the time you finish, the marriage is likely to be over. Ouch! I know. It hurts, but it's true.
"Entertainment Weekly" has come out with its annual "It" list. I would tell you who was on it, but, to be honest, I didn't recognize any of the names. The only one I could identify was creepy Crispin Glover. Glover may have it, but a little penicillin should clear that up in about ten days, all right? Take it from me.
One time "It" girl Martha Stewart graces the cover of "Newsweek."
Man, are the '90s over, or what? It is so easy to mock Martha right now, I actually feel something akin to sympathy for her. The weirdest part of the "Newsweek" story for me? Sam Waksal, fifty- something CEO of ImClone, is involved with Martha and dated her daughter. Didn't Jerry Springer get into a tag team with a mother-daughter combo? Maybe I'm wrong. I tell you what's in the new issue of "Time" magazine, but frankly, I didn't get it this week, which I think is maybe a message from our parent company at AOL-Time Warner. I think I maybe should be worried about that.
That's it for the magazines this week. Finally tonight, it is a point of pride around here that we get a lot of stories that defy categorization. This is definitely one of them.
On the one hand it's an up-close look at the palace guard in a faraway kingdom, their secret service, if you will. On the other hand, it's a wildlife story. But, on yet another level, it's a cooking show. Crikey (ph)! From the East -- from the Ivory Coast, here's CNN's Jeff Koinange.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dikko Ibrahim (ph) is busy shopping for dinner at Yamousoukro's local meat market. But, this dinner isn't for his family. Rather, it's for some very special guests who frequent his place of work, hoping to snap up a quick snack before moving on.
Ibrahim (ph) is the official caretaker of the crocodile pit at the presidential mansion here in the nation's capital. A one-time farmer who quit his profession for greener pastures, he's been working here now for more than 15 years. And, his job isn't restricted to just feeding the animals, he's also a self-taught vet, taking care of wounds each time they fight.
DIKKO IBRAHIM (through translator): They know my scent, he says. No one can come into this pit and do the things that I do just like that. It's not easy.
KOINANGE (on camera): Now don't be fooled by the seemingly gentle nature. These reptiles behind me are unpredictable as they are deadly, and could just as easily turn their meal ticket into a meal.
(voice-over): Legend has it the country's first president was on the run from bandits with his fellow villagers and had to cross a dangerous crocodile-infested river. Fearing capture, they decided to cross and, legend goes, the crocodiles allowed them access. Since then, the creatures have been turned into sacred animals. Poaching is strictly prohibited.
Palace guards here say the reptiles have more than played their part in keeping the crime rate low at the mansion.
BOULEY DOUAGBE, PALACE GUARD (through translator): More than once, people have tried crossing these waters to get into the mansion, he says, and they have never been heard from since.
These animals are our guardians.
KOINANGE: So far, half a dozen people have disappeared in these deadly waters. All that has ever been found of any of them has been the odd belt or shoe. No one knows how many crocodiles are here, but Ibrahim (ph) says there could be as many as 300.
A daily meal of raw meat is provided by the state, and once in a while, tourists buy chickens, goats, and other small animals for added nutrition.
Ibrahim, who's given most of these crocodiles' names, says he wouldn't trade his job for anything.
IBRAHIM (through translator): It's what I do best, he says. Where else can I get to be the king of the beasts?
KOINANGE: To the delight of tourists and locals alike, Ibrahim tosses chicken after chicken, to the sound of teeth clashing and bodies swaying, as the giant reptiles scramble and slide over each other in the competition for food.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It's incredible, this French tourist says, the way he controls these beasts, and the way they respond to him. It's amazing.
KOINANGE: Animal rights activists argue feeding crocodiles live animals is a form of cruelty. But don't tell that to Ibrahim here. He says it's like being in the wild, where animals constantly hunt each other for food. Only here, he's the provider, and the animals are only too grateful to get something other than their usual diet of fish every now and then.
Jeff Koinange, CNN, Yamousoukro, in Cote d'Ivoire.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Man, how great a job is that? You actually get paid to chuck the chicken. Amazing. That's NEWSNIGHT for tonight. You can get our daily e-mail. Just go to cnn.com/newsnight, and sign up.
I'm Anderson Cooper. I'll be in all week for Aaron Brown. I will see you tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. Good night.
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