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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown
Pair of Suicide Bombers Strikes Israel; Cause of Death Determined for Abducted 5-Year-Old, Traficant Offers Advice to Youngsters During Hearings Recess
Aired July 17, 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: A while back, one op-ed writer recalled a conversation between two Israelis after a recent suicide attack. One had called to make sure the other's daughter was OK. His response: Thank God she's safe. She's on a trip to Auschwitz. The irony, of course, is that the place where so many Jews fled after the horror of the Holocaust, has become a place where Jews are today dying senseless, violent deaths.
Today, it was Tel Aviv, a double suicide bombing. Yesterday, an Israeli settlement on the West Bank. Two days, at least 10 dead. All while diplomats meet in New York talking peace. Aaron pointed it out last night, but it seems the militants are out to kill Israelis and kill the peace process. Secretary of State Colin Powell today pointed out that it's also an attack on the majority of Palestinians who just want a quiet life and a state of their own, a blow against the Palestinian dream, that's what he said. That's because the push for a Palestinian nation won't come until Israel has security, and suicide attacks create nothing but insecurity and despair.
One Israeli recently said this: "I will see my grandchildren talking about how to solve this country's security problem. It's the sort of thing you'd expect to hear from someone old enough to have lived through the worst." The irony here is that the Israeli who said it has lived through the worst, and he's only in the eighth grade.
Time now for "The Whip" around the world, beginning with John Vause in Tel Aviv. John, a headline please.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, two terrorist attacks on Israelis in little more than 24 hours. The latest here in Tel Aviv, a double suicide bomber killing three people, wounding at least 40 others -- Anderson.
COOPER: An agonizing day for the family of a 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, and anxiety for other parents in Orange County, California. Frank Buckley is covering that in Stanton, California. Frank, a headline on that and some breaking news on another story -- Frank.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: First on Samantha Runnion, Anderson. Authorities here say they have a cause of death, and also a warning for parents. They believe that her abductor could strike again. On the other story we're working here, the Inglewood police beating story, CNN has learned that Inglewood police officer Jeremy Morse has been indicted by the Los Angeles County grand jury in connection with that beating. We will have more in a moment.
COOPER: We will be back to you in a moment for that breaking story.
More trouble for a Bush daughter tonight, the daughter of Governor Jeb Bush. John Zarrella is on that story tonight from Orlando, Florida. John, the headline.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, Noelle Bush, the daughter of Governor Jeb Bush, is on the inside looking out of the Orange County jail. We'll tell you why later on.
COOPER: And tonight, giddy schoolgirls are squealing, well, like giddy schoolgirls with the news that one the boys from one very big boy band is taking his star to space. Miles O'Brien, who I'm told is a big 'NSYNC fan, has the headline -- Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: I certainly am becoming one, Anderson. Talk about a shooting star. Lance Bass, the boy band star with 'NSYNC, is now getting ready to say bye-bye-bye to the planet.
COOPER: All right. Back with all of you in a moment.
Also, coming up tonight, Alan Greenspan says America is being overrun by infectious greed. Is it? We'll ask Ben Stein, yes, that Ben Stein, from "Win Ben Stein's Money." He's also the guy who uttered that immortal line from movie history: "Bueller? Bueller?." And yes, he's actually qualified to talk about the economy.
Candy Crowley has the latest on James Traficant. He's looking more and more like Elvis, the old Elvis that is, Vegas Elvis. And he's sounding more and more like Professor Irwin Corey.
We'll also remember the gods of AC, on a sweltering day here in New York City, where it was hotter than a dog's mouth, the invention that helped keep us cool under the collar, 100 years of air conditioning.
All that to come, but we start out with the bombing in Tel Aviv. It came at the start of a religious holiday. The timing couldn't have been lost on the bombers. It happened as funerals went on for victims of the last attack, the one that happened just yesterday. Adding to the tragedy, many of the victims had come to Israel to find work and perhaps a better life. Adding to the obscenity, although the Palestinian Authority condemned today's bombing, three other Palestinian groups are jostling to take the credit. Back to CNN's John Vause now. He's been on the scene all night.
VAUSE: Anderson, it's 5:00 a.m. here in Tel Aviv. And once again, this city is waking to the realization that it is again being the victim of a terrorist attack. It happened here in this open air mall. As many as 60 people had gathered here. It was a very balmy night here last night, sitting at these tables and chairs, drinking beers and speaking with friends when two suicide bombers came into this mall. One detonated the explosions in this area, just here. A second, a few feet away, just over there.
They happened almost simultaneously. The first blast, a smaller blast. The second, much more powerful. But both sprayed this area with nails and metal shrapnel. Many of those injured, as you mentioned, were, in fact, migrant workers. They didn't speak Hebrew. They didn't speak English. Many of them had trouble communicating with ambulance officers, telling them exactly what their pains were, what had happened to them. That made the job of ambulance crews here so much more difficult. But they did say that everybody here was in pain. Some were missing limbs. Other had suffered severe wounds to their bodies -- Anderson.
COOPER: John, I noticed that they've already reset up the area. When did that happen?
VAUSE: Anderson, it happened very, very quickly after the suicide bombings occurred. In fact, it was within hours that this entire area was cleared away. The Israelis have become very good at clearing these scenes of devastation. They move in with the sweepers. The Zaka (ph) come in here. They pick up all the body parts. They remove almost any trace that there was something that happened here, something terrible like this suicide bombing. Almost every trace of this is now gone.
COOPER: And, John, the reaction from the Palestinian Authority?
VAUSE: There has been a statement issued from the Palestinian Authority. They have said that they condemn this attack. They condemn the attacks on all civilians, be it Palestinians or Israelis. However, there was an added statement that these attacks do nothing to further the Palestinian cause. And there has been a statement which has come from the PA cabinet secretary saying that attacks should be concentrated on settlers and on soldiers. Many Israelis are outraged by that, especially coming so soon after this latest atrocity here in Israel.
COOPER: All right. John Vause in Tel Aviv, thanks very much tonight.
Until the last two bombings, the Bush administration had been trying to stitch together something to keep things under control until the Palestinians hold elections early next year. Diplomats from the so-called Middle East Quartet, the U.S., Russia, the U.N., and the European community, have been meeting in New York.
Arab diplomats will be calling on the secretary of state and the president this week. It is safe to say they'll have more to talk about now than they might have otherwise. Back to CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. Suzanne, the latest.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, the White House is reacting very strongly this evening. The president was notified in the Oval Office just moments after the attack occurred. President Bush releasing this statement this evening. And it goes in part, he says, quote "I offer my deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of those killed and to the wounded in the homicide bomb attack today in Tel Aviv and the attack yesterday in the West Bank. The American people and I condemn these despicable acts of terror. These terrorist acts are also attacks on our efforts to restore hope to the Palestinian people."
He goes to talk about the international support for Palestinian reform, for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people as well as a two-state solution to the problem. This from the so-called Quartet, the European Union, United Nations, Russia and the United States. And tonight, the administration says these latest attacks will not deter it from talks that will occur here at the White House tomorrow afternoon. Those talks involving the president, Secretary of State Colin Powell Dr. Condi Rice and foreign ministers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
We are also told this evening -- CNN has learned that the administration is working on a plan, a plan that involves CIA Director George Tenet, in restructuring the Palestinian security forces, a plan that would involve a U.S. presence on the ground. We're told it's not U.S. troops or rather peacekeepers, but they would be experts, advisers on the ground working on reconstructing the Palestinian security forces. One diplomat put it this way. He says, "this is not going to be done by remote control" -- Anderson.
COOPER: You mentioned the plan that you just found out about involving George Tenet, CIA director. How different is it than the other Tenet plan that he worked on several months ago.
MALVEAUX: We're talking about a U.S. president that's on the ground in these hot spots, in these troubled areas. We're not talking about, from a distance, advice or just merely leaders who are there on the ground. But they say this is going to be very significant. They're going to have experts, advisers who are there working with the Palestinians, trying to figure a way to restructure the security forces. It is not going to go as far to involve troops or, rather, peacekeepers. But they do say that this is going to be very significant, a very significant commitment by the United States.
COOPER: All right. Suzanne, thanks very much for joining us.
Two items now in the war on terror. The first, a congressional report on intelligence failures leading up to 9/11. The other item, the unanswered question, what's happened to Osama bin Laden? Ever since the end of major fighting in Afghanistan, the official government line has been, we just don't know. Is he in Afghanistan or is he somewhere else? Is he dead or is he alive? We don't know. Today, however, we heard something else from a top official at the FBI. CNN's Kelli Arena starts with that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: For the first time, a top U.S. official is publicly saying he thinks Osama bin Laden is dead. DALE WATSON, FBI COUNTERTERRORISM: Is UBL alive or is he dead? I am not real sure of the answer, is he alive or dead. I personally think he is probably not with us anymore, but I have no evidence to support that.
ARENA: Dale Watson is the FBI's counterterrorism chief.
His public appearances are few, and his words are watched closely for clues about the latest U.S. intelligence. But other government officials dispute his opinion, saying they simply do not know bin Laden's fate, echoing the president.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Osama bin Laden -- he may be alive. If he is, we'll get him. If he's not alive, we got him.
ARENA: Officials say they have no evidence bin Laden is dead, and if he were, it couldn't be kept secret for long.
Watson also warned another attack is certain.
WATSON: There's no question in my mind about will we be attacked again.
ARENA: As the FBI official spoke, a new report from Congress criticizing all the nation's intelligence agencies for not being prepared pre-9/11.
REP. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R-GA), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: If we don't change the mindset within each of our intelligence agencies, it does not make any difference how much in resources we commit to those agencies, we are still going to have the same problems there, and the problems are not going to be solved.
ARENA: A house panel revealed that three years to the day before the September 11 attacks, leaders of the U.S. intelligence community issued a chilling warning.
At a meeting on September 11, 1998, the leaders concluded that if there were not -- quote -- "substantial and sweeping changes in the way the nation collects, analyzes and produces intelligence, it would likely result in a catastrophic failure."
(on camera): But changes cost money, money Congress was not willing to allocate, leading lawmakers to admit they share part of the blame. Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: One other development today. There's a reason for the visibly tighter security today at the Golden Gate Bridge and a number of other locations in California. It has to do with yesterday's arrest of a suspected al Qaeda member in Spain.
Police say he made some very detailed videotapes, shot in 1997, of the Golden Gate, Disneyland, and a number of other locations including the World Trade Center.
We received another reminder today about a different kind of terror, nothing to do with al Qaeda, but terrifying all the same. It is the story of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, kidnapped kicking and screaming on Monday outside her home in Orange County, California.
Last night, around this time, the body of a young girl was found. The fear was that it was Samantha's and today that fear was realized. Samantha's family has begun to grieve, while other families in the area are keeping a very close eye on their own kids tonight.
Once again, here's Frank Buckley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BUCKLEY (voice-over): Investigators fought to hold back their emotions as they explained that 5-year-old Samantha Runnion was violated and killed.
MIKE CARONA, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF: We believe that she was sexually assaulted and, yes, there was some trauma to the body.
BUCKLEY: Sheriff Mike Carona said in the process the killer left behind what he described as a tremendous amount of forensic evidence. And the way the suspect discarded Samantha's body, with no apparent attempt to conceal it, was a chilling sign, say investigators, he may soon strike again.
RICHARD GARCIA, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: The way the body was found, the fact that it was not buried, not hidden and such, and how it was left, is almost like a calling card, like a challenge. I'm here and I'm coming back again.
BUCKLEY: Near Samantha's family home, members of a heartbroken community came to a makeshift memorial to pay respects and to pray that the suspect is captured before he can victimize again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't stand the thought of it happening to another child.
MIKE WILKINSON, RUNNION NEIGHBOR: It certainly makes me wonder what's wrong with our society when a little 5-year-old girl can't play outside of her house.
BUCKLEY: The suspect is described as a Hispanic male, 25 to 40 years old, with slicked-back black hair and a mustache. He may be driving a light green Honda or Acura. The physical description coming from Samantha's 5-year-old, a superficial view of a man investigators believe to be a serial rapist, one for whom they have a message.
CARONA: Don't sleep, don't eat, because we're coming after you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BUCKLEY: Investigators also revealed late in the day the results of the autopsy. They say that the little girl died of asphyxiation. They didn't have any more detail on that.
Investigators are confident they're going to capture this suspect. They have physical evidence, they believe they know what he looks like, and they believe they know how he thinks.
Still, they are asking for the public to come forward. They believe that someone in the public probably knows this person, probably has noticed some changes in behavior, and they're hoping this person will come forward -- Anderson.
COOPER: Frank, as far as you know, what is the evidence that has led investigators to believe it may be a serial killer?
BUCKLEY: Well, they won't specify, as they never do in an investigation at this early stage, exactly the evidence is, but they talk in broad terms, and they say that the way that the body was put where it was, the fact that it was in plain view, that there was no attempt to conceal this body.
Also the forensic evidence that was there suggested to them it was a calling card, as if this person said, Here's the body. I've done this before and I'll do it again.
Those are the kinds of things that have led investigators to believe that this is at least a serial rapist, potentially a serial killer.
COOPER: Frank, I understand you've also learned some breaking developments in another story. The videotape beating by police officers in Inglewood that we've been seeing all week. You have breaking news. What is it?
BUCKLEY: I've been able to confirm that Jeremy Morse, the police officer, the Inglewood police officer who was seen in that video beating the 16-year-old boy, Donovan Jackson, that he has in fact been indicted by the Los Angeles County grand jury on one count of assault under the color of authority.
That's a violation of 149 PC. The arraignment is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time at the criminal courts building.
I did talk to John Barnett, who is the attorney for Jeremy Morse, and he gave me this statement. He says -- quote -- "We will enter a not guilty plea and trust that an unbiased jury will acquit him and find that the use of force was justified under the circumstance." Unquote.
That circumstance, according to Jeremy Morse, as related to his attorney is that Donovan Jackson was grabbing the officer's testicles and that the officer Jeremy Morse was responding, and that's when he punched him. Clearly the grand jury felt that there was enough there for an indictment and they have indicted -- Anderson.
COOPER: Frank, thanks very much for joining us. I know it's been a long day for you. Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, a Bush daughter is in jail. Will there be political fallout?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: It is, of course, very tough for any family that has to deal with a child who has a drug problem. It is tougher still when the family name is Bush, the father is the governor of Florida and the uncle is the president of the United States.
Such is the case of 24-year-old Noelle Bush. She will see a few days of jail time for violating a drug treatment plan after an arrest earlier this year. We will look at the politics of all this in a minute. But first, the story from John Zarrella.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Behind the walls of the Orange County jail in a woman's housing unit, Noelle Bush, the daughter of Florida governor Jeb Bush, is locked up from now until Friday.
TIMOTHY RYAN, CHIEF, ORANGE COUNTY JAIL: We received a court order indicating that there is a charge of indirect contempt of court. It's a charge in Florida statute. The judge has sentenced her to three days in custody for that charge.
ZARRELLA: The 24-year-old Noelle was sentenced by a drug court judge after she was found in possession of a prescription drug, in violation of the terms of her treatment program. The program had mandated following an incident in January in Tallahassee, where she was arrested for falsifying a prescription for Xanax. Xanax is taken to treat anxiety and calm nerves. The governor was in Orlando Wednesday night, where he commented on what he calls, "a very private family matter."
GOVERNOR JEB BUSH, FLORIDA: Today has been a difficult day for my wife and I. And I am saddened and disappointed in my daughter's not complying with the court-ordered drug treatment plan. It breaks my heart that people that have addictions don't recover in a perfect way. And my daughter is not perfect.
ZARRELLA: Earlier in the day, in response to daughter Noelle's latest troubles, the governor issued a statement saying, in part, quote, "we love Noelle, but she is an adult. And I respect the role of the courts in carrying out our state's drug treatment policy."
The governor's daughter is expected to resume her treatment when she is released.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(on camera): But of course, if Noelle Bush should violate the terms of that drug treatment program again, she very likely will face a much stiffer sentence or much stiffer penalty than the three days in jail. Now, that's probably what her father told her this evening when he stopped by here while he was in Orlando to spend a few minutes with her here in the county jail. And, of course, Anderson, we have no way of knowing exactly what the governor said or talked about with his daughter, Noelle -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right. John, thanks very much.
A rough road for Noelle Bush, no doubt. But will this cause any political complications for her father? The governor is, of course, running for re-election this fall. Joining us now, Tom Fiedler, executive editor of the "Miami Herald." Thanks for being with us, Tom.
TOM FIEDLER, "MIAMI HERALD": Glad to do it.
COOPER: Do you think this is more likely to cause political fallout for Governor Bush or perhaps political sympathy?
FIEDLER: I think more the latter. You put your finger on it earlier when you were doing the introduction to the piece, that I think people will recognize that it's an extremely difficult thing for a child to grow up in a situation where she's virtually in a fish bowl, that everyone of her activities is subject to public scrutiny, that there's just very little privacy, very little opportunity to grow up as a normal kid does.
And when there are these kinds of problems, I think the reaction, by and large, and I'm basing this primarily on the reaction to the earlier incident in January, is by people who have children. Certainly there, but for the grace of God, goes one of my children. So, there's, I think, a media empathy for the situation that the Florida's first family finds itself in. And to the extent that a political opponent might attempt to take advantage of it, there's real danger of backlash.
COOPER: And the January incident really was not used by political opponents of the governor?
FIEDLER: No, it wasn't. I think there was some initial positioning by the party, the Democratic Party, to see if there was a position to be taken. They tested the argument that Governor Bush had in dealing with Florida's fiscal problems last year, the shortfall of revenues and so forth, had cut the budget in many areas, including areas where there was support for public drug treatment facilities, seeing if there's was perhaps some ammunition that could be used in that regard.
But very quickly, the sense of the public reaction was that this was not going to be an argument that would, again, hurt the governor or help the Democratic Party. So, the candidates taking their cue from this didn't touch it at all.
COOPER: In your opinion, how does her father's position impact her treatment? I mean, does it give her special treatment or perhaps especially harsh treatment?
FIEDLER: It's hard to say. But I think it could go either way. Governor Bush has been very careful to see to it that the treatment that his daughter Noelle has received in the courts and in the drug court in this particular case and the rehabilitation program has not shown any particular favoritism there.
But, you know, if you put yourself in the position perhaps of a judge who, at some point, may have to deal with this case, you could -- you could argue that the judge, in an effort not to appear to be giving favoritism, would actually be more harsh on the governor's daughter than he would be on other people. Judges in these cases tend to be quite lenient. There was not drug peddling involved. Noelle Bush wasn't accused of trafficking in any way. They generally allow, as Governor Bush himself said, for an imperfect recovery. So, two or three slips is not unusual, and the drug courts, drug judges, generally allow that to happen.
COOPER: It is definitely a long process for recovery. Thanks very much, Tom Fiedler, for joining us tonight.
FIEDLER: My pleasure.
COOPER: A quick look at some of the other stories around the nation tonight, beginning with something good about the notorious date rape drug. Sounds impossible, but it's true. The drug, GHB, won government approval today to treat a rare but dangerous complication of the sleep disorder, narcolepsy. As you could imagine, the government is also putting very tight restrictions on how GHB will be sold.
Onto Texas, where a former nurse has been charged with murdering four patients with drugs and is suspected in 16 other deaths. Vickie Dawn Jackson came under suspicion after a sharp increase in hospital deaths was traced to her shift.
And count the postmen out of the government's latest program to sniff out terror. The Postal Service says it will not participate in a new Justice Department program that encourages millions of American workers to report any suspicious activity they see while on the job. No reason was given for their decision.
Coming up on NEWSNIGHT, it's all about the Benjamins. Ben Stein, on corporate greed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: So, having Ben Stein on the program makes it pretty easy to find something to talk about. He knows something about everything. Ben Stein has the kind of resume a printer could retire on: presidential speechwriter, syndicated columnist, novelist, game show host and Ferris Bueller's high school teacher. He joins us tonight to talk about what Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan now calls infectious greed, and what he was doing with Bob Eubanks earlier tonight. I got to ask you, what was that about?
BEN STEIN, HOST, "WIN BEN STEIN'S MONEY": Well, I was just remembering great game show moments. It was nothing that dramatic. Just some gags, game show moments. But, you know, the infectious greed was really infectious because it was infectious greed by the corporate, top corporate officers. It was infectious greed by the people issuing the stocks on Wall Street. It was infectious greed by the people touting the stocks. But it was most of all infectious greed by the investing public. I mean, the investing public should have seen giant red warning flags flying all over the place.
When the stock market reaches a certain level, bubble is the only thing it can be and it's time to run away. And people didn't run away. They just got in all the more, and got more and more badly drowned -- or more and more of them got drowned as the bubble burst.
COOPER: So, you're saying it's too easy to blame CEOs alone and we must share some of the blame.
STEIN: Well, I think the investing public has to share a lot of the blame.
The investing public saw stocks trading at thousands of times earnings, saw stocks with no earnings whatsoever priced as if they were General Motors. Do you remember when Palm came out, that makes the little Palm Pilot?
COOPER: Sure.
STEIN: And it was priced on its initial day as if it had more value than all of General Motors. That had to be a sign that we were in a bubble. And yet people kept buying. And they're still buying. And the stock market is still incredibly high. It's phenomenally, unbelievably high.
It's not going down just because we don't trust corporate officers. It's going down because it's too damn high. It's selling at a multiple of earnings that has never been seen before.
COOPER: Basically, the earnings don't support the stock prices.
STEIN: The earnings don't even come close to supporting the stock prices. Usually, you pay about $13 or $14 to buy a dollar of earnings. Now you're paying on the S&P about $36 to buy a dollar's worth of earnings. That is too high.
And then we have the problem of, you can't trust the people that you're investing your money with. Capitalism's basic building block is trust. If that turns out to be sand or quicksand, capitalism will not stand up for very long. We have got to get that trust back and fast. It's a really important project.
COOPER: I knew we were in trouble when Henry Blodget became the No. 1 analyst. I used to go to school with Henry Blodget. And I remember the guy in sophomore class out at the pubs and stuff. And I thought: "This guy is the No. 1 analyst. That's scary."
STEIN: It's very scary. A friend of mine, a very smart economist and statistician named Phil DeMuth (ph), says that all too many of these people who were the great gurus of the '90s were the C students who used to sit behind you in shop class. And there's a lot to that.
(LAUGHTER)
STEIN: And why we trusted them when they said pay $1 million for a stock that's worth zero, that has no earnings, no business plan, no chance of ever earning any money -- we were just blinded by our own greed. There's plenty of greed guilt to go around.
COOPER: But how did things get this way? Americans are pretty sensible, by and large.
STEIN: Well, they're sensible except when there's a bubble going on. When there's a bubble going on, all kind of people get swept into it.
I said to myself: "You can't get into this, Benji. It's a bubble. It's a bubble. Don't get into it." But it kept going on and on. And I thought, "Well, maybe it isn't a bubble." So, I put some money into it, too -- not very much, I'm happy to say. And it was all taken away from me.
People get to be crazy when greed is involved. And the people who were whipping them up on CNBC, on MSNBC -- not, of course, on CNN...
COOPER: Well, of course. That goes without saying.
STEIN: ... were whipping them up into a frenzy every day, saying buy, buy, buy, never saying sell, never saying be cautious. And so the investing public thought they would get something for nothing. There's a very powerful streak of wanting something for nothing in the human spirit. And there are an awful lot of people willing to make money off that.
COOPER: Do you think we're overestimating the greed of some of these corporations and some of these CEOs? Do you think there are lot more of these companies out there just waiting to burst?
STEIN: Lots more. I don't know that they ever will burst, but I think there's lots of phony accounting going on.
All during the '90s, we had one giant problem of phony accounting that hasn't been taken account of yet. Corporate pension plans were being raided by the corporations. And the money was being taken away from the corporation pension plan and put into the earnings column, because they said: "Hey, our corporation pension plan is growing at 20 percent a year. We don't need all these billions in the corporate pension plan. We'll just take them, put them over here in the earnings column, and our earnings will look fantastic."
That's all gone now. Those earnings have disappeared. And now, instead, the corporations have to go over to the earning columns and take that money and put it back into the pension plans. So, earnings are going to have to be sacked, raped, looted for years to come to put money into the pension plans. It's a giant problem.
COOPER: But you're a big mover and shaker. I'm sure you hang out at the soirees with Martha Stewart and Sam Waksal.
STEIN: No, I don't hang around...
COOPER: I can't believe you lost money?
STEIN: I didn't lose a lot of money, but I lost some.
You bet. And people a heck of a lot smarter than I did got sucked into it, some very, very smart people. I was at least old enough, I'll say, and savvy enough to say: "All right, if you're going to play craps with the money, don't play craps with very much of it." And I thought it was a bubble, but I didn't realize it was this much of a bubble.
But it's still a bubble. You know that the price/earnings ratio of stocks right now, Mr. Anderson Cooper, is higher than it was at the peak of the bubble in March of 2000. So, we have got a lot more bubble to wring out of the system yet. And we've got a lot of instances of greed to find. And it's very important that we do it quick.
COOPER: All right, well, Ben Stein, thanks very much for joining us. I'm a big fan of yours.
And I'm amazed to know that you call yourself Benji. That's the big headline of the night for me.
STEIN: That's what my sister calls me.
(LAUGHTER)
COOPER: All right. Thanks very much for being with us.
STEIN: Thank you.
COOPER: Still to come on NEWSNIGHT: another installment of Cooper's "Mad Magazines."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOU DOBBS, "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE": NEWSNIGHT will continue in just a moment, but first, the Dow Jones industrials rose for the first time in eight sessions, today gaining nearly 70 points; and the Nasdaq up as well, up 22 points on the day. After the bell, IBM reported its fourth straight decline in quarterly profits.
Watch "MONEYLINE" weeknights, 6:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN -- now back to NEWSNIGHT with Anderson Cooper.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Thanks, Lou.
Coming up on NEWSNIGHT: Willie Nelson, John Wayne, and James Brown. What do they have to do with Representative James Traficant? It's a lesson in holding court.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: So, Ohio Congressman James Traficant must be a fan of the poet Dylan Thomas. Facing years in prison, and with his career now in the hands of the House Ethics Committee, James Traficant will not go gentle into that good night. He's raging, raging against the dying of the light, against the IRS, Janet Reno, and everyone else he says is out to get him.
Today, the congressman wrapped up his defense, although I'm not sure that's the right word for it.
Here's CNN's Candy Crowley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The panel that sits in judgment of James Traficant was delayed by House business, so he started the show without them: Mrs. Malaprop meets Howard Beale.
(LAUGHTER)
REP. JAMES TRAFICANT (D), OHIO: If they want to go to the floor for this final execution, I will wear a denim outfit. I will walk in there like Willie Nelson, maybe do a Michael Jackson moonwalk...
(LAUGHTER)
TRAFICANT: ... right up to the stand and ask unanimous contempt to undress and revile the House.
CROWLEY: It took an hour-and-a-half for the panel to assemble. Traficant filled the time mugging for reporters and offering advice to the interns and law students who show up daily to watch this train wreck.
TRAFICANT: There are no ethics in politics. And there should be no Ethics Committee. It's dog eat dog, castrate your opponent.
CROWLEY: On this third day, there was a manic quality to it all and, just beneath it, a weariness.
TRAFICANT: I don't know why I am in a good mood, you know? But quite frankly, Scarlett, I am prepared to be beamed up.
CROWLEY: That goes double for the ethics panel and its chairman, who held on to decorum mostly by his fingernails.
TRAFICANT: I will not have him lie here and force me to waste my time to deny it. I want to see the damn record now.
REP. JOEL HEFLEY (R-CO), HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: You cannot. Sit down, Mr. Traficant!
TRAFICANT: I have been railroaded once and I will be damned if I am going to be railroaded twice.
HEFLEY: I think I have had that several times.
(CROSSTALK)
HEFLEY: Sit down. Sit down.
CROWLEY: If there is such a thing as repetitive free association, then Traficant is a master. This was closing argument day, but the closing sounded like the opening and the opening sounded like the middle: The government is after him. His accusers are lying.
TRAFICANT: I think they're delusionary. I think they've had something funny for lunch in their meal. I think they should be handcuffed to a chain-link fence, flogged, and all of their hearsay evidence should be thrown the hell out. And if they lie again, I'm going to go over and kick them in the crotch.
Thank you very much.
HEFLEY: Thank you, Mr. Traficant.
Mr. Lewis?
PAUL LEWIS, COMMITTEE ATTORNEY: Nothing further, Mr. Chairman.
CROWLEY: Long after the committee adjourned to decide his fate, Traficant posed for pictures.
TRAFICANT: Come on in here, you pretty little thing. Why didn't you let her in the middle? Get out of here. Come on back over here.
CROWLEY: He is playing for time. And it is running out.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: All right, so a whole wad of new magazines hit the stands this week. And we've taken on the onerous obligation of reading them so you at home don't have to.
Both "People" and "Us Weekly" promise an inside look at Julia Roberts' secret wedding. Now, I'm sorry. This was not a secret wedding. If Anne Frank had married, that would have been a secret wedding. "Us" actually interviewed a worker at a florist Julia Roberts occasionally goes to. This minimum-wage wizard opines that Ms. Roberts seems happier now than in previous trips to the florist. Can you imagine if you were analyzed by everyone you interacted with: the cashier at McDonald's? "Yes, he didn't supersize this time. He must be depressed." "Us" also hired a certified graphologist to analyze the signatures on Ms. Roberts' marriage license. I'm really glad they went for the certified graphologist, not one of those rogue graphologists out there.
The brand new "Us," which just today hit newsstands, interviews Angelina Jolie, who reveals why she and Billy Bob Thornton have separated. A mobile biohazard unit is standing by to collect the vials of each other's blood they used to wear around their necks. All right, maybe I made that one up. My question is: Now that they can't pimp out the gory details of their marriage any longer, how will either one be able to promote future films? I'm not sure.
"Newsweek" introduces us to a self-described pet psychic. She has her own show on the Animal Planet channel, which impressed me at first, until I realized: How hard can it be to get a show on the Animal Planet? That channel makes MSNBC look like a real network.
Finally, "Details" asks if Pamela Anderson can still be a sex symbol even though she has hepatitis C? "FHM" seems to answer that question with its new cover. Pam tells "FHM" that she has a stripper's pole in her bedroom, which her kids think is an old fire pole. Ah, out of the mouths of babes.
Ahead on NEWSNIGHT: the man who helps most of us keep our cool.
But first, while you and I may be counting quarters, Lance Bass is blowing $20 million for a trip into space, yet another reason to hate him coming up on NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Let's take a look at what's coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING WITH PAULA ZAHN" -- Paula.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA ZAHN, "AMERICAN MORNING": Anderson, we start with a question: Do babies pay a price so mommy can bring in a paycheck? Well, on the next "AMERICAN MORNING," a new study finds that kids are in better shape for school if moms are around during the first nine months of their life. We're going to tackle that at 7:00 a.m. It's a loaded one -- Anderson.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Thanks, Paula.
Ahead on NEWSNIGHT: with apologies to Miss Piggy and the rest of the Muppets, another edition of "Bass in Space."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: So, ask any schoolgirl and she'll tell you he's not the funniest or the flirtiest. He's the shy guy, 'N Sync's Lance Bass -- or, as his name is pronounced by most of his preteen female fans, "Lance!" -- he's going into orbit.
Miles O'Brien has a report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): So, could this be the right stuff? Apparently so. Bye, bye, bye, Chuck Yeager. Meet Lance Bass, a teen heartthrob in the boy band 'N Sync, and now apparently a cosmonaut-in- training with a ticket to ride to the space station at the end of October.
DAVID KRIEFF, DESTINY PRODUCTIONS: We have signed a deal with the Russian space agencies. And we're very excited about it.
O'BRIEN: Excited after leaving a crucial meeting at the Beverly Hills offices of the powerhouse William Morris Agency. It was an unlikely place to find a Russian space commissar, as he readily admitted.
ALEXANDER DERECHIN, RSC ENERGIA: My reaction: It is an absolutely stupid idea. It is impossible. It cannot be done. It's not for us, etcetera. But after I met with him, I changed the mind.
O'BRIEN: The Russians are charging somewhere between $15 and $20 million for a ride on their Soyuz rocket and a visit at the station. And so the deal hinged on luring a galaxy of sponsors and a TV network deal. It should come as no surprise that an outfit with a healthy teenage girl demographic and a moon-walker logo no less, MTV, has signed on.
JIM MCDONALD, RADIO SHACK: What we're talking about here, really, is the first candidate that can engage tens of millions of viewers and youth in particular.
O'BRIEN: The cable music outlet will air an eight-part series called "Lance in Space." They will follow him through his training, which began six weeks ago, offer live coverage of the launch and mission, and air a welcome-home extravaganza, 'N Sync concert included.
KRIEFF: It is fantastic television. I think it's brilliant television. It's as interesting, certainly, as "The Osbournes" or anything else on TV in reality. It is the ultimate reality show.
LANCE BASS, 'N SYNC: That was crazy.
O'BRIEN: If he flies, the 23-year-old teen idol would be the youngest space-farer ever. Even though NASA and the other agencies that run the station aren't complaining publicly about all this, there is some private grumbling. But they know the Russians own the rocket and need the cash.
DERECHIN: A very simple issue: This will bring some money to program. We need. (END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Ah, money, money, money.
There are a couple of issues to deal with, however. And the Russians are aware of this. First of all: not a lot of time before that late-October flight. They say Lance Bass is working six days a week, 10 hours a day in his training, trying to cram it all in.
Secondly, the Russian-language requirement: It's important they can speak to each other, after all, in a Soyuz capsule. The Russians say don't worry. The other crewmates can speak English -- Anderson.
COOPER: So, Miles, what is the private grumbling that you mentioned about from NASA?
O'BRIEN: Well, I mean, we're talking about some people who are fond of wearing white scarves. This is a group that is an elite group, that works hard to attain this. They take this all very seriously. And they point out that this is a rather risky business.
And so, when you start seeing teenage heartthrobs on their way to space, potentially, it somehow, maybe, trivializes things just a little bit. What do you think?
COOPER: Yes, probably.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: Yes.
COOPER: But it seems like the Russians at least were won over once they actually met with Mr. Bass, or figured out what $20 million would buy.
O'BRIEN: They're impressed with him personally and they're impressed with the dead presidents, no question.
COOPER: All right, Miles O'Brien -- I think, Miles, I think you want to go into space. Is this not true?
O'BRIEN: You might say that's true. I'm a little bit green with envy. I can't sing, but I can lip-synch.
COOPER: All right. Well, you deserve to go, too. So, I hope you get there. Thanks very much, Miles O'Brien.
O'BRIEN: OK. Thanks.
COOPER: A few items now from around the world, starting in China: the government there opening parts of the country so Americans can come in and search for G.I.s who went missing during the Cold War. Most of the missing date back to the early '50s, when the U.S. and China were on opposite sides of the fighting in North Korea.
On the subject of war, did Spain invade Morocco today? The Moroccans say yes, but it could be sour grapes. This morning, 28 Spanish commandos rooted all six -- yes, six -- Moroccan soldiers from a small island in the Mediterranean. Morocco claims the island as its own. So does Spain. There's only a few acres, in any case.
And, finally, some lingering controversy surrounding Tiger Woods at the British Open for what he said, not about the grand slam, but other things: Muirfield, where the Open is being played, has come under criticism for being a men's-only club. Yesterday, Tiger was asked about the policy there and also at Augusta National, where women aren't allowed as members either.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIGER WOODS, PGA PLAYER: You know, it's one of those things where everyone has -- they're entitled to set their own rules the way they want them. And it would be nice to see everyone have an equal chance to participate in it if they wanted to. But if it's -- there's nothing you could do about it. If you have a group or organization, that's the way they want to set it up, it's their prerogative to set it up that way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: He said if such clubs also had a policy barring blacks and Asians, he would feel the same way. And when asked if, given his stature, he's done enough to help change things, Tiger pointing to his work getting inner-city kids to take up golf.
Now, as Tiger and the rest of the golf world prepare for the British Open, the anchor who usually fills this chair spent the day on the daunting Black Course in Bethpage, Long Island, where the U.S. Open was held just a few weeks ago. That's right, Aaron Brown. He claims he shot an 83 today. Frankly, I don't anything about golf, so I don't even know what that means. But I am not going to question him, because every day he is away is another chance for me to take his job.
That's right, baby. I'm gunning for you.
When NEWSNIGHT returns, segment seven, and what a difference a day makes: the importance of July 17, 1902 when NEWSNIGHT returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: And finally from us tonight, moments in history that we will never forget: 1066: the Battle of Hastings; 1492, Columbus' trip to the New World; 1793, Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin. June, 2001, Aaron Brown is hired by CNN. July, 17, 1902, 100 years ago today: air conditioning.
Garrick Utley reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARRICK UTLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Return now to those scorching, humid, clothes-soaking days of yesteryear, when every workplace was a sweatshop. And then one day came blessed cool relief.
(on camera): It happened here in Brooklyn in this building on July 17, 1902, when the first modern air-conditioning system was installed. Now, it was not put in there for the comfort of the workers, but rather to keep the machinery running efficiently in what was then a printing press.
The inventor of this wonder was a contemporary of Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford and the Wright Brothers.
(voice-over): But do we remember who Willis Carrier was? He changed the way we live.
GERAUD DARNIS, PRESIDENT, CARRIER CORPORATION: I think it's as big as electricity, cars, because he made human health better. He made comfort environment better. It's allowed development of cities and industries. It is truly a remarkable invention that marked a century.
UTLEY: Climate control meant perishables would perish more slowly. Air conditioning gave birth to the modern office culture. Who wouldn't want to work an extra two or four hours a day in such comfortable surroundings?
Temperatures that don't change all day or all year have led to new industries that have powered economic growth, as they have helped to preserve the art and artifacts of the past, including Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel or old warplanes at the Intrepid Museum in New York Harbor.
DONALD FRANCIS, INTREPID MUSEUM: We have some very priceless artifacts here. And we need to have climate control for those artifacts. And this has achieved that goal.
UTLEY: And would American life have become this without air conditioning: the boom of the Sun Belt, deserts turned into suburbia, where it is always 68 degrees inside.
If a cooler world began a century ago, it caught on slowly. Air conditioning was not installed in the U.S. Congress until 1929, followed by the White House and other government buildings. That changed government, too. Today, Congress and the president and the bureaucrats can work right through the sultry Washington summer, which has led some commentators to point out that the only way to really control the growth of government is to turn off what Willis Carrier turned on 100 years ago.
Garrick Utley, CNN, Brooklyn, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Who knew?
That is NEWSNIGHT for Wednesday. Aaron is back tomorrow, unless he finds another golf course to play on. Drop us a line, if you would like. The place to do it is www.CNN.com/NEWSNIGHT. Just look for the link on the left side of the page.
Have a good night, everyone.
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