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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown
Kentucky Governor Admits He Lied About an Affair With Constituent; Israelis Launch Strike Against Arafat Compound in West Bank
Aired September 20, 2002 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
AARON BROWN, ANCHOR: Good evening again everyone. Once again tonight we have that unhappy collision of public figures and private affairs and we do mean affairs. The governor of Kentucky, who we featured on the program the other night, denying a sexual relationship with a constituent today admitted he lied. Now he didn't come clean because he had a change of heart or a guilty conscience, of course.
He came clean because when he denied it in the first place he apparently did not realize there were phone records, this story's version of "the little blue dress," records showing 400 calls from the governor's office to the woman involved.
It was quite a tearful apology and I'm sure he meant every word of it so I'm a bit troubled by the fact that I didn't feel in the least bit sorry for him. I think I should have. He was clearly in considerable pain. He was standing before his state, and it turned out the country, completely humiliated.
It wasn't what he admitted to that bothered me so much. I was more bothered by columnist Bob Green's sexual encounter with a teenager who he'd written about in the Chicago Tribune. That seemed utterly indefensible. All I can figure is I felt no sympathy for Governor Patton because he publicly lied, that he stood on the same stage before the same people just a couple of days before and flat out lied.
I had this feeling once before not too terribly long ago and I know that even today there are still people who give the former president a pass and will be angered by my bringing up the whole thing again. Then and now, I didn't think Mr. Clinton should be removed from office.
That to me, at least, seemed beyond the pale, but I absolutely agreed with those who did think he should be thrown out on this one point. It wasn't the sex. It was the lie. That you can not do, and in that regard, Bob Green proved himself a better man. When confronted with the allegation, he 'fessed up and resigned, in that regard at least an honorable end.
On to the whip, it begins in the Middle East. In Israel, the latest siege at Yasser Arafat's compound. Matthew Chance is in Jerusalem tonight for us so, Matthew, a headline from you.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The fact that...
(AUDIO GAP)
BROWN: Matthew, let's stop you there. We're having a bit of an audio problem. We'll get that fixed before the top of the program we hope and on to the White House, some telephone diplomacy today from the president involving Iraq. Suzanne Malveaux is at the White House. Suzanne a headline from you.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Bush is really engaged in a full court press, the message to the United Nations, to the world community, you can not allow these U.N. weapons inspectors back into Iraq until you have a strong new United Nations resolution forcing Saddam Hussein to comply. Today, the administration focusing on a critical ally, Russia.
BROWN: Suzanne, thank you. We don't do sports much on the program and, perhaps, this isn't really sports at all. There was a very ugly brawl at a baseball game last night in Chicago. Keith Olbermann is here with the headline, Keith your turn.
KEITH OLBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have learned more tonight about a father and son and how long they had planned to leap from their seats and attack the first base coach of the Kansas City Royals and about how this scenario, fans physically confronting baseball players seems, Aaron, to play out every three years or so.
BROWN: Confronting indeed, thank you Keith, back with you and the rest of you as well as we go alone. Also coming up on the program more on what's become an alarming situation once again in Israel. Matt Chance's report from Jerusalem in a bit. We'll also talk about the fate of Yasser Arafat, with the Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi.
And a classic not-in-my-backyard story, though this one has a twist. The backyards are owned by some very prominent Americans, ones with names like Kennedy and Cronkite. A fight over putting an enormous wind farm in Nantucket Sound, all of that in the next 60 minutes.
We begin again in the Middle East with the siege at Yasser Arafat's compound, which isn't much of a compound anymore. At one time the Palestinian Authority hoped to make the complex of buildings in the city of Ramallah into the birthplace of a new independent state. A satellite picture taken a few months ago shows it as it was, a compound of a dozen buildings that date back to the British mandate.
Tonight, Israeli tanks and bulldozers have demolished most of it. They've shrunken Mr. Arafat's world down to just a few buildings looking out on a pile of rubble in a town and a region controlled by the IDF. Again, CNN's Matthew Chance. He is nearby and we begin with him tonight -- Matthew.
CHANCE: Thanks, Aaron. As you say, a lot of activity on the part of Israeli demolition teams backed by armored bulldozers, armored personnel carriers and tanks in and around Yasser Arafat's presidential compound in Ramallah. As you say, just a year ago or so, this was a fledgling center of transitional capitol for the Palestinian state. Now, it's just a few tattered buildings.
We're told that after the events of this evening, just three buildings are left in use including, of course, Yasser Arafat's own office in which he's holed up alongside a number of his security personnel and a number of his close aides.
Now, the Israeli officials we've spoken to say it is not their intention at this stage to harm Yasser Arafat. It's not their intention either to arrest him. The reason they're there, they say, is to encircle this place, to isolate the Palestinian leader, and to draw out the Palestinian militants they say are holed up inside alongside President Yasser Arafat. Now, Israel says that it's repositioned its troops here in order, as I say, to isolate the Palestinian leader. The Palestinians have...
(AUDIO GAP)
BROWN: Matthew, I don't know if you can hear me but we're having audio problems hearing you so we'll work on that a bit. Those pictures that we showed you just a moment ago were Israeli soldiers, the IDF firing on buildings in the compound. It was pretty clear they sprayed it with machine gun fire of some sort or another. You can see it there. There was also heavier attacks on the building itself.
As Matthew said the IDF's position is it is not trying to harm Mr. Arafat but simply isolate him that it wants a number of people that the Israeli government calls terrorists to surrender, people the Israeli government believes are in what is left of the compound.
The Palestinian side in all of this is they don't know who, they say. They don't know who, in fact, the Israeli government wants. The Israeli government says up to 20 people. The Palestinians say we're not sure who they want. They've never presented us with a list, and in any case, Mr. Arafat and his aides argue there are no such people in what's left of the compound.
And, as Matthew indicated, the Israelis say they are going to encircle the compound. They've thrown some barbed wire around it, dug a trench, pretty much now taken everything apart but the main headquarters for Mr. Arafat personally. He is said to be fearful that the buildings might collapse around him, on top of him. These are live pictures of Ramallah. It's a little difficult to see. It is very early in the morning there now on Saturday morning.
Israeli troops moved into the area yesterday after the second suicide bombing in as many days but Israeli forces have been on the West Bank and controlled much of the West Bank now for many weeks, and it has created, we can argue about who has created, it has created a fairly serious humanitarian problem for people in the Middle East on the West Bank. We'll talk with Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian legislator, about the situation in a little bit. She'll join us from Washington.
Meanwhile, the White House reaction to all of this ran pretty much to form. There was an understanding for Israel's need to defend itself and there was a warning to Israel to keep in mind the consequences of its actions. But there was another question being raised off mike, which is what exactly did the Israelis hope to accomplish by all of this. We go back to the White House and CNN's Suzanne Malveaux who has the watch on this Friday night -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Well, Aaron, U.S. officials are quietly concerned that Israel's action could undermine the Palestinian reforms that were developing, that are well underway, but also more worrisome to officials is that this again throws the spotlight on Yasser Arafat, that again it makes him the issue that perhaps he becomes the center of the Middle East peace process. Now throughout the day, the administration focusing on another of its nemesis, another one, that being Saddam Hussein.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice over): President Bush off to Camp David after 24 hours of hard core diplomacy, the target the Russians, Secretary Powell with the foreign minister, Secretary Rumsfeld with his counterpart in defense. The president is pushing not to allow U.N. weapons inspectors back into Iraq without a tough new U.N. Security Council resolution which would force Saddam to comply.
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's important to have a different type of inspection, one that is effective, one that will make certain that Iraq has disarmed.
MALVEAUX: After Mr. Bush's meeting and his call to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia's top advisers suggested some openness to change.
IGOR IVANOV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Russia and the United States are firmly interested in how to make the work of the inspectors more effective.
MALVEAUX: In addition, Russian officials have said for now that a new U.N. resolution isn't necessary in their view but the United States would like the Russian support.
JAMES SASSER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: If the Russians go along with the resolution, the Chinese are not going to block it. They'll either vote for it or abstain. But if the Russians say we're not going along with it, the Chinese will follow suit.
MALVEAUX: But the White House made it clear that the U.S. would go it alone in Iraq if necessary. Earlier, the president released his groundbreaking national security strategy mandated by Congress. In it he emphasized the need for the U.S. to take preemptive action against its enemies, the top priority now fighting terrorists and terrorist sympathizers in rogue states. In the 33-page report, the president states: "We will not hesitate to act alone if necessary to exercise our right of self defense by acting preemptively." The administration is now seeking a congressional resolution to carry out its preemptive policy in Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (on camera): Now the United Nations hopes to have those weapons inspectors back inside Iraq as early as October 15. The administration is pushing for a new U.N. resolution before then in the weeks to come -- Aaron.
BROWN: And, the administration is pushing for a vote in Congress when?
MALVEAUX: They want that as soon as possible but certainly before they go to campaign. That will be at the end of the month, beginning of October. Lawmakers are saying that they believe that that will happen in the next couple of weeks. Both Democrats and Republicans say that they are willing to sign on to a tough resolution, one that would call for the president to possibly use military action.
BROWN: Suzanne thank you, Suzanne Malveaux with us tonight from the White House.
MALVEAUX: Sure.
BROWN: Later on NEWSNIGHT, why are environmentalists in Massachusetts fighting over windmills? And up next, more on this latest nastiness in the Middle East conflict, we'll be joined by Hanan Ashrawi. This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(AUDIO GAP)
HANAN ASHRAWI, PALESTINIAN LEGISLATOR: ...take care of the people with them.
BROWN: Why do you think this is happening now?
ASHRAWI: I think the Israeli occupation has a very convenient scapegoat in Arafat. They know very well that the people who carry out the suicide bombings are the opposition, the Islamic Jihad or the Hamas. They know that Arafat is besieged. He's been rendered helpless for a long time. They know that they destroyed most of his security forces. They're in control actually in terms of security on the ground.
The Israelis control every town and village. Our streets, our homes, we've been living under curfew and yet at the same time they want a convenient excuse to continue this escalation. I'm afraid Sharon is being true to his own history. He knows nothing but the language of violence. He has refused negotiations. He's been escalating and driving the Palestinians to desperation. Our economy is destroyed, 70 percent below poverty level, 67 percent unemployment.
We have the re-emergence of childhood diseases because of no vaccinations. Schools are destroyed. The very fabric of our lives has been destroyed, the infrastructure, the institutions. This is a systematic and cruel daily torture and yet... BROWN: I'm sorry. The Israeli ambassador yesterday with us said that the problem here is that the Palestinian Authority knows who the terrorists are, may not control them but knows who they are and, in fact, does nothing, does not arrest them, does not hold them, does not shut down the bomb factories or labs. That's the position.
ASHRAWI: Yes, I know. I heard that before and I've heard that repeatedly. Unfortunately, Aaron, the label terrorist is a very convenient label. They stick it like a post-it everywhere every time they compare. The last six weeks there were no operations, military operations whatsoever only 75 Palestinians were killed. Nobody mentioned them, men, women, and children. Houses were demolished, trees uprooted, people starving, women delivering at checkpoints, totally immobilized and yet they find the label terrorist as very convenient.
How can Arafat arrest anybody. He, himself, is under arrest by the Israelis, number one. Number two, it's the Israelis who are in charge in terms of military control, in terms of security control, so if there's a military or security failure it is theirs not Arafat whom they want to be a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) or a surrogate occupation.
BROWN: Let me -- I want to try and get one more question in in the minute or so that we have. While I think most people, many people in the United States were focused on the anniversary of the attacks on September 11, there was this extraordinary event, political event dealing with Mr. Arafat and his cabinet, what looked like real signs of reform, the kind that the Americans, and the Israelis for that matter, have been demanding. Tell me where you think that stands or at least where it stood two days ago and where it stands now.
ASHRAWI: Well, as you know the Palestinian Legislative Council, the Parliament of which I'm a member, decided that we're not going to give this new government a vote of confidence. There has been a feeling of tremendous displeasure. I don't want to say anger but lack of trust.
We felt that the authority has been behaving without transparency, without accountability, and of course many people have abused that trust and their public positions, public funds and we want the rule of law and we want a genuine reform, and so we told Arafat twice that if he presents us with the same government, we're not going to give it a vote of confidence so the government resigned.
Now there is no government so to speak but there is a tremendous mobilization, a movement among civil society and the people for genuine reform, not reform as a pretext the way the Israelis want it, the preconditioned (UNINTELLIGIBLE) negotiations, or reform that is imposed externally, a genuine, internal, homegrown reform as part of the movement for democratization and accountability and rule of law that we started years ago, even decades ago.
BROWN: And will that survive this current moment?
ASHRAWI: Unfortunately, when you can not move, when you can not meet, when you can not talk, when you are being shelled, when your home is being demolished, when your kids are being killed, it's very hard to focus on issues like the rule of law and reform. People are in a survival mode and yet I can assure you, Aaron that the overwhelming majority of the Palestinian people are working for reform, working for democracy, for human rights, and for the rule of law and we deserve no less.
The only problem is that we are being held captive. There is a military occupation for Heaven's sake. We want to be free to live in dignity in peace, in freedom, and we're offering the Israelis peace. All we need is to start a substantive and meaningful negotiations process and we are capable of carrying out all the reforms and democratization process that the Palestinian people deserve.
BROWN: It's always good to see you, we appreciate your time again tonight. I know literally for you personally this is a difficult time back at home.
ASHRAWI: Thank you.
BROWN: And we appreciate you joining us this evening. Thank you.
ASHRAWI: Thank you very much, Aaron.
BROWN: Thank you.
ASHRAWI: It's a pleasure to be with you.
BROWN: Thank you, Hanan Ashrawi tonight. Coming up on NEWSNIGHT a little later, the governor's tearful confession. When we return, an FBI agent's e-mail warning to superiors ignored less than two weeks before September 11. This is NEWSNIGHT from New York.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: It is one of those tiny details that stops you cold with a kind of helpless anger, the fact that the phone number for two September 11 hijackers was right there in the San Diego phonebook, plain as day, in the months before the attacks. It feels like it would be easier to track me down than them.
The paths of these two hijackers, what was known about them and when, what was done to track them down, and more to the point what wasn't, these are the questions at the heart of today's hearings on Capitol Hill into the attack on September 11. Once again here's CNN's David Ensor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The staff report catalogs a list of clues not acted upon and communications problems between the CIA and the FBI. Most center around the information the CIA got in early 2000 about two of the future hijackers, Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar.
ELEANOR HILL, JOINT INQUIRY STAFF DIRECTOR: There were numerous opportunities during the tracking of these two suspected terrorists when the CIA could have alerted the FBI and other U.S. law enforcement authorities to the probability that these individuals, either were or would soon be in the United States.
VOICE OF FBI AGENT: I'm a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
ENSOR: Concealed by a screen to protect his identity, one FBI agent said 12 days before the attack, after the CIA had put Khalid Almihdhar on a watch list, he tried to open a criminal investigation into the suspect. When rebuffed, he wrote a frustrated e-mail to his boss.
VOICE OF FBI AGENT: If we do not change the system, I say again someday someone will die.
ENSOR: The staff report says in March of 2000, the CIA learned Nawaf Alhazmi had arrived in the U.S. through Los Angeles Airport back in January. A cable with the information was marked "action required none." It quotes CIA Director George Tenet as admitting that was a mistake.
But the report also blames the FBI for doing nothing when the CIA informed it earlier about the two men attending a terrorist summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. CIA officials also say they wrote to the FBI, though of this the bureau insists it has no record, that one of the men had a valid U.S. visa.
From behind the screen, a CIA officer stressed the clues that now seem so evident were needles in a huge haystack of intelligence before 9/11. He made a plea for more resources to fight terror.
VOICE OF CIA OFFICER: They are also the kinds of misses that happen when people become very confident. Dedicated people, such as the CIA officers and the FBI agents and analysts involved in all aspects of this story are simply overwhelmed.
ENSOR (on camera): After the hearings in a sharp turnaround, the White House announced that the president now favors a 9/11 blue ribbon commission to follow on the work of the joint intelligence probe. David Ensor, CNN Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Intriguing story tonight about a pilot and a possible plan to hijack a plane. Federal authorities are holding a former Sudanese Air Force pilot who may have been planning to hijack the plane, fly it into a target in the United States. Sources say the 30- year-old taxi driver was picked up in North Carolina a week ago and was being held for a court appearance Monday on charges of making false statements.
And a quick update now on the bail hearing for those six men accused of supporting terrorism, the men in Buffalo. The judge in the case said he would formally rule on bail requests early next month. Today perhaps signaling his intent, he questioned whether the men pose an immediate danger. Said the magistrate: "I haven't heard of any act of violence or propensity of violence in the history of these individuals. I know there are people out there who say if we let these people out and we have another 9/11 God forbid, but that's a risk I would be taking." He said he was trying to protect the Constitution, what he described as "probably the most valuable aspect of all."
Still to come on NEWSNIGHT, are baseball fans out of control? We'll talk with Hall of Famer Joe Morgan about that. Keith Olbermann joins us too. Up next, a tearful Kentucky governor apologizes for his behavior. This is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: And, coming up on NEWSNIGHT, more on the scandal in Kentucky, a tearful governor apologizes. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Their news tonight comes from Kentucky for the second time this week. As we said at the top of the program, the story's about the state's governor, democrat Paul Patton and a woman says she had an affair with the governor and that he, and this is important, retaliated after she ended the affair by having state regulators target the nursing home she owns, which by the way is located in Clinton, Kentucky. Can't make it up. On Wednesday, Patton's wife was standing by his side. She wasn't there today. He stood there quite alone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Live from WHAS 11 News, this is coverage you can count on.
GOV. PAUL PATTON (D), KENTUCKY: My first response was to not -- to deny my unfaithfulness to Judy. I was wrong. Denial was another mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRY RUTIMEYER, WHAS 11 NEWS, ANCHOR: Good evening everyone. I'm Harry Rutimeyer (ph).
JEAN WEST, WHAS 11 NEWS, ANCHOR: And, I'm Jean West (ph). Melissa Swan (ph) has the night off. Wiping back tears several times Governor Patton apologized to his family and Kentucky for his failure as a person.
RUTIMEYER: Patton's admission just an hour ago came days after he denied the allegations of an affair with Tina Connor. Mark Hubert who broke the story earlier this week begins our team coverage live tonight in Frankfurt. Mark?
MARK HEBERT, WHAS 11 NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Governor Patton wishes he had never denied he had a sexual relationship with Tina Connor. Today, in a tearful statement, a tearful apology, Governor Patton tried to right that mistake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEBERT (voice over): Governor Patton denied it on Monday in an interview with WHAS TV. Today was different.
PATTON: I apologize to the people of Kentucky for my failure as a person. I have already apologized to Judy and my family. And I'm also sorry that I initially denied the mistakes that I made in my private life.
HEBERT: In an emotionally charged room at the Kentucky History Center Patton repeatedly cracked before the cameras.
PATTON: It's not easy for me to discuss private failures a public forum but I do so because I want to be honest with the people of Kentucky and try to earn their trust and respect again. My mistakes are mine alone. I take full responsibility for them.
HEBERT: The governor spent most of the day giving the stunning news to friends, family and political supporters.
PATTON: I face the future as a man who has much work to do for my family and for the people of the Commonwealth. Thank you, God bless you and pray for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEBERT: Governor Patton then walked away from the podium and into the arms of his three children, Nicky (ph), Bambi (ph) and Chris (ph) who were tearful during his statement as well. And Governor Patton left without taking any questions. Of course, there are still questions remaining in this case. Governor Patton repeated his denials that every used his office in any way to try and help Tina Connor or hurt her when she broke off that sexual relationship. He says he hopes there is a full investigation by the ethics commission and he says he will be exonerated in that. But he also told Tina Connor through the news conference here that he hopes that she will go on with her life. Live at the Kentucky History Center in Frankfurt, I'm Mark Hebert, WHAS 11 News.
BROWN: And, that's how the story was reported by WHAS in Louisville, Kentucky.
Today, ahead on NEWSNIGHT we will get a battle of windmills in Nantucket.
But, up next the battle of the baseball game. Are fans out of control? This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Gosh, before you know it'll Monday morning time to get up, get dressed, go to work and watch "AMERICAN MORNING" with Paula Zahn. PAULA ZAHN, ANCHOR, "AMERICAN MORNING": Thanks Aaron. On the next "AMERICAN MORNING" we're going to look at the television's night of glamour, the annual Emmy Awards. And we're going to answer some of your big questions. Will "Six Feet Under" bury the competition? Does "West Wing" have a prayer and can competitors still be "Friends?" And, since the telecast is on opposite "The Sopranos," will anybody watch it? That's Monday at 7:00 -- Aaron.
BROWN: Thank you Paula. Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, someone went to a baseball game and a boxing match broke out. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: This would be the part of the program where we talk about baseball as we remember it and ring our hands about what the sport is coming to and what the fans are coming to. But, you know us a little better than. And, you probably know the game better than that as well. There are bozos on the field and off, in the front offices too. Always have been.
Still to us there was something unbelievably shocking about this story out of Chicago. A father and son leaping from the stands, running on the field and pummeling the first base coach from Kansas City. When asked about it, the two said the coach had it coming. What is it I don't get here? Keith Olbermann has the pictures and the histories. Good to see you.
OLBERMANN: It's good to see you. It's a nice thing that the family tradition continues in baseball.
BROWN: It's a family sport.
OLBERMANN: It, according to the attackers, was an obscene gesture and it appears that the attackers spent several innings planning to respond to it by jumping on the field and attacking the coach. In fact, tonight law enforcement sources told the Associated Press that in the 7th inning of last night's Kansas City-Chicago game the father and this bizarre family story, William Ligue Jr., telephoned a relative to ask her to watch the game on TV.
When she couldn't find the channel these sources said Ligue said, quote, well, then, just watch the news. "I have never seen anything like that in baseball" said one of the startled witnesses, the first baseman Mike Sweeney of the Kansas City Royals. "That stuff just doesn't happen here in the United States." But, in fact, it does happen. And, with alarming frequency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED BASEBALL ANNOUNCER (voice over): What a play by the pitcher. Now a couple of guys come out of the stands and they are beating up on the Royals first base coach, Tom Gamboa. And the Royals poor out of the dug out.
OLBERMANN: Got anything to say about why you guys are doing this? WILLIAM LIGUE JR., ACCUSED OF ASSAULT: Because he gave me his finger and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) all night.
OLBERMANN: The coach?
LIGUE: Yes.
OLBERMANN: The victim, Royals coach Tom Gamboa dense he flicked off or flipped off or interacted in any way with any fans at Comiskey Park or during his two years in the city of the attacked Chicago when he was a coach there with the Cubs.
TOM GAMBOA, KANSAS CITY ROYALS, FIRST BASE COACH: I've been doing this for 30 years professionally and 4 years in the big leagues and it's never been my policy to ever acknowledge people in the stands.
OLBERMANN: 34-year-old William Ligue Jr. is charged with aggravated battery. His 15-year-old son faces charges for attacking Gamboa and a stadium security guard. Faces is an odd word here because Gamboa never saw them coming.
GAMBOA: I just got completely blind side -- I felt like I got hit by a freight train.
UNIDENTIFIED BASEBALL ANNOUNCER: Gamboa got a shot on the head. That is unfathomable. Isn't it?
OLBERMANN: But, not only isn't it unfathomable, it isn't unprecedented. Three years ago next Tuesday a drunken 23-year-old man reportedly having wagered with other fans that he could run on the field and tackle a player, blind sides Houston right fielder Bill Spires during a game in Milwaukee. On September 28, 1995 again in Chicago, after Cubs relief pitcher Randy Myers surrenders a critical home run, a 27-year-old Chicago bond trader races to the mound and tries to assault Myers.
The assailant later explains he had intended to merely run on to the field and yell at the player. Again in Chicago, again at Wrigley Field May 16, 2000, a fan leans over the right field fence to snatch the cap of Dodgers catcher Chad Kreuter. A dozen Dodger players and coaches go into the stands. The maylay results in the fan and players arrested. The fans suing 16 Dodgers players. Three coaches suspended by baseball.
Baseball fans race on to the field at least once a year. In every stadium in the majors. Usually they do not try to interact with the players or if they do, they do so non-violently. In May of 2000, in Los Angeles a fan mooned the Atlanta pitcher John Rocker after his controversial remarks about minority groups. The supposed invisible wall between players and fans never really existed.
1984 spectators become involved in an infamous brawl between the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres. And the early pre-video history of baseball spills over with incidents upon incident, attack upon attack. GAMBOA: It's a sad state for society that we've got people that are that off emotionally to do stuff like that. I just can't comprehend it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: Some of this can be blamed squarely on the teams. This past march the television network owned by the New York Yankees aired commercials promoting its game telecast. In one, a woman posed as a member of the Yankee Stadium grounds crew in order to get on to the field to ask shortstop Derek Jeter out on a date.
Weeks later on opening day in two separate incidents, women fans vaulted from the stands to hand Jeter their phone numbers. That their intent was not violent does not mean it couldn't have been. Ask Tom Gamboa.
BROWN: Thank you. It's good to see you.
OLBERMANN: Sure.
BROWN: Come back soon. We're joined now to talk a little bit more about this what's going on by Hall of Famer, Joe Morgan. He joins us from California tonight. The Hall of Famer (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was a great ball player remains a wonderful student of the game as well. He's a commentator these days for ESPN. Mr. Morgan, good to see you sir. Do you think it's crazier out there now than it was when you played ball?
JOE MORGAN, BASEBALL HALL OF FAMER: No. I don't really think so. I think before we, you know, overreact and condemn all the fans I think we have to realize that millions and millions of fans go to the ballpark every day and do not run on the field, do not attack the coaches. This is an incident that happened with two guys who were definitely having problems. You know? Away from the ballpark. And, I think the ones that we've seen this, you know, run on the field and attack players you can tell just by what they say afterwards that they are -- they have problems but we can't just condemn all of the fans because of the actions of a few.
BROWN: Well, no. Absolutely. No one would condemn all the fans. But, I was intrigued by a comment that Chuck Knoblauch of Kansas City made after this last night. He said, you know, "I have been worrying about this sort of thing for a long time." That it does seem to him at least that fans are rowdier these days than they've ever been.
MORGAN: Well, I think part of it let's face it, the fans were very upset about the labor issues and the fact there may have been a strike and the fact it took so long before the issue was resolved. And, I have to think the fans are still a little bit irritated because, you know, of the things that happened in the labor issues. But I just don't think that most of the fans or 99 percent of the fans that go to the park every day even think of attacking a player or even go there with any animosity toward the players. I think they really go there to watch a baseball game. BROWN: How did you deal with -- I assume when were you on the road, at least, and maybe sometimes at home in some of the towns you played in fans would get a little nasty. Did you acknowledge them, pay any attention to them at all?
MORGAN: No. I think Tom Gamboa has the best idea. You just ignore them. And, truthfully they will go away. But, when you start to interact with them then they get a little more hostile. And, look there are going to -- if you're on the road, fan are going to yell things to you. They're going to yell about you. You just have to have a deaf ear. You have to be able to do that.
And, if you are not able to do that, what's to stop the opposing players from yelling at you then you react. So if you let some things that happen on the field, you know, upset you, then you are never going to be a good player any way. I don't think you have ever seen the great players have problems with the fans or let the fans gets to them.
BROWN: Are you -- you hear those sorts of comments though don't you when people scream at you?
MORGAN: Yes of course. Of course you hear them. But again, you have to ignore them. I mean, you're not going to go into the stands and yell at a guy or confront him. I think that's part of it. I've always been under the feeling that if a fan pays his money to go to the game he can say what he wants as long as he doesn't attack the players or he doesn't get physical.
I have always said to a fan that you pay for the seat to watch the game. You don't pay for the seat to talk to the players or to, you know, harass the players. But, you know, that seems to be part of the game now days. Fans do harass the opposing players all the time.
BROWN: And in that respect, has it gotten any worse or is it about at least as you remember it how it's always been?
MORGAN: No. I think it's a little worse. I don't think there's any doubt that it's a little worse. I think our society is a little worse now as far as respect for, you know, the other man. I don't think we have the same respect for our fellow human beings that we had before. You know, that's why, you know, one of the things that happened after 9/11 has seemed to bring the fans, the players and everyone together a little closer.
But before that I always felt like, you know, we were losing respect for each other and the fans were losing respect for the players and in turn the players are going to lose respect for the fans. The problem I have is that I think this is going to distance some of the players again from the fans because, you know, they're going to be more stand offish and that's not good for the game.
BROWN: You are good for the game. And, it's nice to see you. We're pleased to talk to you tonight. We appreciate your time. A great ball player.
MORGAN: My pleasure. Thank you.
BROWN: Thank you. Joe Morgan, now commentator for ESPN.
Next on NEWSNIGHT, there once was plan in Nantucket. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Finally from us tonight it's one of those symbols of rustic New England charm something tourists flock to cameras in hand. The windmills. This one's the Nantucket windmill, one of those prized landmarks that's set against a backdrop of a beautiful coastline. So there's a certain amount of irony that a big fight is going on off the coast of Massachusetts. A fight over putting up windmills. Maybe it's not ironic because these windmills after all are anything but quaint. They're big and they're loud.
Nantucket Sound is one of 21 sites near the beaches up and down the East Coast that an energy company has pick as attractive for developing wind farms. And, it's interesting that people both for and against the plan consider themselves conservationists. Those for it want to develop more and clean sources of energy. People against it want an unspoiled coast to stay that way. Here's CNN's Michael Shoulder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL SHOULDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A plan to develop America's first offshore wind power farm in an area famous for its natural beauty has set off a battle between some people who want to protect the environment and others who also want to protect the environment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael we are developing America's first offshore wind farm.
SHOULDER: What are we seeing here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we're on our way out of the inner harbor and now we're on the outer harbor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six miles off the coast of Hyannis Port we have this awesome inexhaustible supply of wind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you go on around that point, you get into Hyannis Port where you have the Kennedy compound.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to have 170 wind turbines space about one-third to a half mile apart.
WALTER CRONKITE, FORMER NEWS ANCHOR: That's right in the middle of Nantucket Sound. Once they fill it up with these things, it's going to be disastrous.
SHOULDER: Here's what is not in dispute. Wind turbines convert wind to electricity and do so without causing any air pollution at all. That means no green house gases. That means no contribution to global warming. If you drive through the mountains east of San Francisco, or through the Palm Springs Desert you can see and hear the very largest wind farms in America.
The newest turbines are quieter and more powerful. There's a large array along the Washington Oregon border. There's big growth in Texas. And now the wind energy industry says the technology is reliable enough to put them at sea. This is the newest installation under construction off the west coast of Denmark. Which brings us back to Nantucket Sound.
Again, what is being proposed is to install 170 wind turbines each 420 feet high to the tip of the top blade over about 28 square miles of Nantucket Sound at a cost of about $500 million.
(on-camera): We are on the ferry now from Cape Cod to Martha's Vineyard where Walter Cronkite has a home.
(voice-over): Captain Cronkite has sailed Nantucket Sound for many years. He's been weighing the potential costs and benefits of putting wind turbines in the sound.
Are these just ugly things to you or are they conceivably part of a landscape that we might just get used to?
CRONKITE: No. I don't think these things can possibly be considered attractive in any possible way. I don't care what colors you paint them or whether you have them dance in unison to music or what. They are big ugly things sitting out there in the middle of what should be the pristine waters. The way we are affected in a visual sense will be nothing compared to what the natural life -- how it is affected out there.
Do the whales know how to get around the towers? Do dolphins know how to get around those towers? I don't know. We'll have to find that out but it sounds to me like they are going to have a very tough time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the exact dimensions of the wind turbine. So if you were standing on the beach, you would see this from Hyannis. You would see -- you would be nine miles from Martha's Vineyard. This would be your view. So, the visual impact is really very, very small.
SHOULDER: The organized opposition has done its own simulated images. They claim the turbines will be far more imposing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's Dufley (ph). That's my grandson's dog. He's the best god damned escape artist.
SHOULDER: Francis Broadhurst is a retired Cape Cod journalist. He wants wind turbines in Nantucket Sound to reduce America's dependence on imported oil and natural gas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you see them going -- they are energy in motion. And what I like the most about it is when you see it, you say that's one barrel less of Middle East oil.
SHOULDER: Robert Kennedy Jr. is a long time environmental activist and attorney who opposes a wind power installation in Nantucket Sound. And he knows what some people will say now that he has come out against the source of clean renewable energy near the Kennedy family compound.
ROBERT KENNEDY JR., ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST: You know, this isn't just not in my back yard by a bunch of wealthy people who own land along Nantucket Sound. It's, there are people from all over New England who use this. It's going to injure a very, very valuable tourist industry. And it's going destroy a resource which is really part of the commons. It's part of our nation's history. It's part of the maritime and the nautical tradition of Massachusetts.
SHOULDER: Mr. Kennedy says Congress needs to stop this permitting process in Nantucket Sound so that there can be a national debate to establish where the most appropriate sites are for these wind farms. Carol Lee Rones (ph) with the Conservation Law Foundation which hasn't taken a position on Nantucket Sound but ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The longer you way the more green house gases will be building up in the atmosphere and the harder it's going to be to combat that. We simply can't afford to wait.
SHOULDER: Now this half-billion dollar wind farm in Nantucket Sound is unlikely to replace any older polluting power plants. It's designed to keep up with America's ever expanding demand for more and more energy. Jim Gordan (ph) is President of the company that wants to develop the wind farm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now Mike, between now and 2020 we are going to have a 40 percent increase in electric demand. How are we going to supply that increased demand? The last energy facility built in Cape Cod was built in the late 1960's and it needs a new source of clean renewable energy.
CRONKITE: We all know we have to go to alternate fuels. I mean, there's no question about that. And this is a source of alternate energy. But does it have to be in this concentration in this particular spot? Is that -- that's the argument and I think that's the argument that many of us would want an awful lot of evidence.
SHOULDER: The evidence is now being valuated by state environment officials and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and with a large number of wind farm proposals on the drawing board, many communities may soon have to decide just as the people around Nantucket Sound are trying to decide what they value most in the environment.
Michael Shoulder CNN, Nantucket Sound.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: That's our report for tonight. Have a good weekend and we'll see you all on Monday. Good night from all of us. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Constituent; Israelis Launch Strike Against Arafat Compound in West Bank>
Aired September 20, 2002 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
AARON BROWN, ANCHOR: Good evening again everyone. Once again tonight we have that unhappy collision of public figures and private affairs and we do mean affairs. The governor of Kentucky, who we featured on the program the other night, denying a sexual relationship with a constituent today admitted he lied. Now he didn't come clean because he had a change of heart or a guilty conscience, of course.
He came clean because when he denied it in the first place he apparently did not realize there were phone records, this story's version of "the little blue dress," records showing 400 calls from the governor's office to the woman involved.
It was quite a tearful apology and I'm sure he meant every word of it so I'm a bit troubled by the fact that I didn't feel in the least bit sorry for him. I think I should have. He was clearly in considerable pain. He was standing before his state, and it turned out the country, completely humiliated.
It wasn't what he admitted to that bothered me so much. I was more bothered by columnist Bob Green's sexual encounter with a teenager who he'd written about in the Chicago Tribune. That seemed utterly indefensible. All I can figure is I felt no sympathy for Governor Patton because he publicly lied, that he stood on the same stage before the same people just a couple of days before and flat out lied.
I had this feeling once before not too terribly long ago and I know that even today there are still people who give the former president a pass and will be angered by my bringing up the whole thing again. Then and now, I didn't think Mr. Clinton should be removed from office.
That to me, at least, seemed beyond the pale, but I absolutely agreed with those who did think he should be thrown out on this one point. It wasn't the sex. It was the lie. That you can not do, and in that regard, Bob Green proved himself a better man. When confronted with the allegation, he 'fessed up and resigned, in that regard at least an honorable end.
On to the whip, it begins in the Middle East. In Israel, the latest siege at Yasser Arafat's compound. Matthew Chance is in Jerusalem tonight for us so, Matthew, a headline from you.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The fact that...
(AUDIO GAP)
BROWN: Matthew, let's stop you there. We're having a bit of an audio problem. We'll get that fixed before the top of the program we hope and on to the White House, some telephone diplomacy today from the president involving Iraq. Suzanne Malveaux is at the White House. Suzanne a headline from you.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Bush is really engaged in a full court press, the message to the United Nations, to the world community, you can not allow these U.N. weapons inspectors back into Iraq until you have a strong new United Nations resolution forcing Saddam Hussein to comply. Today, the administration focusing on a critical ally, Russia.
BROWN: Suzanne, thank you. We don't do sports much on the program and, perhaps, this isn't really sports at all. There was a very ugly brawl at a baseball game last night in Chicago. Keith Olbermann is here with the headline, Keith your turn.
KEITH OLBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have learned more tonight about a father and son and how long they had planned to leap from their seats and attack the first base coach of the Kansas City Royals and about how this scenario, fans physically confronting baseball players seems, Aaron, to play out every three years or so.
BROWN: Confronting indeed, thank you Keith, back with you and the rest of you as well as we go alone. Also coming up on the program more on what's become an alarming situation once again in Israel. Matt Chance's report from Jerusalem in a bit. We'll also talk about the fate of Yasser Arafat, with the Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi.
And a classic not-in-my-backyard story, though this one has a twist. The backyards are owned by some very prominent Americans, ones with names like Kennedy and Cronkite. A fight over putting an enormous wind farm in Nantucket Sound, all of that in the next 60 minutes.
We begin again in the Middle East with the siege at Yasser Arafat's compound, which isn't much of a compound anymore. At one time the Palestinian Authority hoped to make the complex of buildings in the city of Ramallah into the birthplace of a new independent state. A satellite picture taken a few months ago shows it as it was, a compound of a dozen buildings that date back to the British mandate.
Tonight, Israeli tanks and bulldozers have demolished most of it. They've shrunken Mr. Arafat's world down to just a few buildings looking out on a pile of rubble in a town and a region controlled by the IDF. Again, CNN's Matthew Chance. He is nearby and we begin with him tonight -- Matthew.
CHANCE: Thanks, Aaron. As you say, a lot of activity on the part of Israeli demolition teams backed by armored bulldozers, armored personnel carriers and tanks in and around Yasser Arafat's presidential compound in Ramallah. As you say, just a year ago or so, this was a fledgling center of transitional capitol for the Palestinian state. Now, it's just a few tattered buildings.
We're told that after the events of this evening, just three buildings are left in use including, of course, Yasser Arafat's own office in which he's holed up alongside a number of his security personnel and a number of his close aides.
Now, the Israeli officials we've spoken to say it is not their intention at this stage to harm Yasser Arafat. It's not their intention either to arrest him. The reason they're there, they say, is to encircle this place, to isolate the Palestinian leader, and to draw out the Palestinian militants they say are holed up inside alongside President Yasser Arafat. Now, Israel says that it's repositioned its troops here in order, as I say, to isolate the Palestinian leader. The Palestinians have...
(AUDIO GAP)
BROWN: Matthew, I don't know if you can hear me but we're having audio problems hearing you so we'll work on that a bit. Those pictures that we showed you just a moment ago were Israeli soldiers, the IDF firing on buildings in the compound. It was pretty clear they sprayed it with machine gun fire of some sort or another. You can see it there. There was also heavier attacks on the building itself.
As Matthew said the IDF's position is it is not trying to harm Mr. Arafat but simply isolate him that it wants a number of people that the Israeli government calls terrorists to surrender, people the Israeli government believes are in what is left of the compound.
The Palestinian side in all of this is they don't know who, they say. They don't know who, in fact, the Israeli government wants. The Israeli government says up to 20 people. The Palestinians say we're not sure who they want. They've never presented us with a list, and in any case, Mr. Arafat and his aides argue there are no such people in what's left of the compound.
And, as Matthew indicated, the Israelis say they are going to encircle the compound. They've thrown some barbed wire around it, dug a trench, pretty much now taken everything apart but the main headquarters for Mr. Arafat personally. He is said to be fearful that the buildings might collapse around him, on top of him. These are live pictures of Ramallah. It's a little difficult to see. It is very early in the morning there now on Saturday morning.
Israeli troops moved into the area yesterday after the second suicide bombing in as many days but Israeli forces have been on the West Bank and controlled much of the West Bank now for many weeks, and it has created, we can argue about who has created, it has created a fairly serious humanitarian problem for people in the Middle East on the West Bank. We'll talk with Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian legislator, about the situation in a little bit. She'll join us from Washington.
Meanwhile, the White House reaction to all of this ran pretty much to form. There was an understanding for Israel's need to defend itself and there was a warning to Israel to keep in mind the consequences of its actions. But there was another question being raised off mike, which is what exactly did the Israelis hope to accomplish by all of this. We go back to the White House and CNN's Suzanne Malveaux who has the watch on this Friday night -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Well, Aaron, U.S. officials are quietly concerned that Israel's action could undermine the Palestinian reforms that were developing, that are well underway, but also more worrisome to officials is that this again throws the spotlight on Yasser Arafat, that again it makes him the issue that perhaps he becomes the center of the Middle East peace process. Now throughout the day, the administration focusing on another of its nemesis, another one, that being Saddam Hussein.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice over): President Bush off to Camp David after 24 hours of hard core diplomacy, the target the Russians, Secretary Powell with the foreign minister, Secretary Rumsfeld with his counterpart in defense. The president is pushing not to allow U.N. weapons inspectors back into Iraq without a tough new U.N. Security Council resolution which would force Saddam to comply.
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's important to have a different type of inspection, one that is effective, one that will make certain that Iraq has disarmed.
MALVEAUX: After Mr. Bush's meeting and his call to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia's top advisers suggested some openness to change.
IGOR IVANOV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Russia and the United States are firmly interested in how to make the work of the inspectors more effective.
MALVEAUX: In addition, Russian officials have said for now that a new U.N. resolution isn't necessary in their view but the United States would like the Russian support.
JAMES SASSER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: If the Russians go along with the resolution, the Chinese are not going to block it. They'll either vote for it or abstain. But if the Russians say we're not going along with it, the Chinese will follow suit.
MALVEAUX: But the White House made it clear that the U.S. would go it alone in Iraq if necessary. Earlier, the president released his groundbreaking national security strategy mandated by Congress. In it he emphasized the need for the U.S. to take preemptive action against its enemies, the top priority now fighting terrorists and terrorist sympathizers in rogue states. In the 33-page report, the president states: "We will not hesitate to act alone if necessary to exercise our right of self defense by acting preemptively." The administration is now seeking a congressional resolution to carry out its preemptive policy in Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (on camera): Now the United Nations hopes to have those weapons inspectors back inside Iraq as early as October 15. The administration is pushing for a new U.N. resolution before then in the weeks to come -- Aaron.
BROWN: And, the administration is pushing for a vote in Congress when?
MALVEAUX: They want that as soon as possible but certainly before they go to campaign. That will be at the end of the month, beginning of October. Lawmakers are saying that they believe that that will happen in the next couple of weeks. Both Democrats and Republicans say that they are willing to sign on to a tough resolution, one that would call for the president to possibly use military action.
BROWN: Suzanne thank you, Suzanne Malveaux with us tonight from the White House.
MALVEAUX: Sure.
BROWN: Later on NEWSNIGHT, why are environmentalists in Massachusetts fighting over windmills? And up next, more on this latest nastiness in the Middle East conflict, we'll be joined by Hanan Ashrawi. This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(AUDIO GAP)
HANAN ASHRAWI, PALESTINIAN LEGISLATOR: ...take care of the people with them.
BROWN: Why do you think this is happening now?
ASHRAWI: I think the Israeli occupation has a very convenient scapegoat in Arafat. They know very well that the people who carry out the suicide bombings are the opposition, the Islamic Jihad or the Hamas. They know that Arafat is besieged. He's been rendered helpless for a long time. They know that they destroyed most of his security forces. They're in control actually in terms of security on the ground.
The Israelis control every town and village. Our streets, our homes, we've been living under curfew and yet at the same time they want a convenient excuse to continue this escalation. I'm afraid Sharon is being true to his own history. He knows nothing but the language of violence. He has refused negotiations. He's been escalating and driving the Palestinians to desperation. Our economy is destroyed, 70 percent below poverty level, 67 percent unemployment.
We have the re-emergence of childhood diseases because of no vaccinations. Schools are destroyed. The very fabric of our lives has been destroyed, the infrastructure, the institutions. This is a systematic and cruel daily torture and yet... BROWN: I'm sorry. The Israeli ambassador yesterday with us said that the problem here is that the Palestinian Authority knows who the terrorists are, may not control them but knows who they are and, in fact, does nothing, does not arrest them, does not hold them, does not shut down the bomb factories or labs. That's the position.
ASHRAWI: Yes, I know. I heard that before and I've heard that repeatedly. Unfortunately, Aaron, the label terrorist is a very convenient label. They stick it like a post-it everywhere every time they compare. The last six weeks there were no operations, military operations whatsoever only 75 Palestinians were killed. Nobody mentioned them, men, women, and children. Houses were demolished, trees uprooted, people starving, women delivering at checkpoints, totally immobilized and yet they find the label terrorist as very convenient.
How can Arafat arrest anybody. He, himself, is under arrest by the Israelis, number one. Number two, it's the Israelis who are in charge in terms of military control, in terms of security control, so if there's a military or security failure it is theirs not Arafat whom they want to be a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) or a surrogate occupation.
BROWN: Let me -- I want to try and get one more question in in the minute or so that we have. While I think most people, many people in the United States were focused on the anniversary of the attacks on September 11, there was this extraordinary event, political event dealing with Mr. Arafat and his cabinet, what looked like real signs of reform, the kind that the Americans, and the Israelis for that matter, have been demanding. Tell me where you think that stands or at least where it stood two days ago and where it stands now.
ASHRAWI: Well, as you know the Palestinian Legislative Council, the Parliament of which I'm a member, decided that we're not going to give this new government a vote of confidence. There has been a feeling of tremendous displeasure. I don't want to say anger but lack of trust.
We felt that the authority has been behaving without transparency, without accountability, and of course many people have abused that trust and their public positions, public funds and we want the rule of law and we want a genuine reform, and so we told Arafat twice that if he presents us with the same government, we're not going to give it a vote of confidence so the government resigned.
Now there is no government so to speak but there is a tremendous mobilization, a movement among civil society and the people for genuine reform, not reform as a pretext the way the Israelis want it, the preconditioned (UNINTELLIGIBLE) negotiations, or reform that is imposed externally, a genuine, internal, homegrown reform as part of the movement for democratization and accountability and rule of law that we started years ago, even decades ago.
BROWN: And will that survive this current moment?
ASHRAWI: Unfortunately, when you can not move, when you can not meet, when you can not talk, when you are being shelled, when your home is being demolished, when your kids are being killed, it's very hard to focus on issues like the rule of law and reform. People are in a survival mode and yet I can assure you, Aaron that the overwhelming majority of the Palestinian people are working for reform, working for democracy, for human rights, and for the rule of law and we deserve no less.
The only problem is that we are being held captive. There is a military occupation for Heaven's sake. We want to be free to live in dignity in peace, in freedom, and we're offering the Israelis peace. All we need is to start a substantive and meaningful negotiations process and we are capable of carrying out all the reforms and democratization process that the Palestinian people deserve.
BROWN: It's always good to see you, we appreciate your time again tonight. I know literally for you personally this is a difficult time back at home.
ASHRAWI: Thank you.
BROWN: And we appreciate you joining us this evening. Thank you.
ASHRAWI: Thank you very much, Aaron.
BROWN: Thank you.
ASHRAWI: It's a pleasure to be with you.
BROWN: Thank you, Hanan Ashrawi tonight. Coming up on NEWSNIGHT a little later, the governor's tearful confession. When we return, an FBI agent's e-mail warning to superiors ignored less than two weeks before September 11. This is NEWSNIGHT from New York.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: It is one of those tiny details that stops you cold with a kind of helpless anger, the fact that the phone number for two September 11 hijackers was right there in the San Diego phonebook, plain as day, in the months before the attacks. It feels like it would be easier to track me down than them.
The paths of these two hijackers, what was known about them and when, what was done to track them down, and more to the point what wasn't, these are the questions at the heart of today's hearings on Capitol Hill into the attack on September 11. Once again here's CNN's David Ensor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The staff report catalogs a list of clues not acted upon and communications problems between the CIA and the FBI. Most center around the information the CIA got in early 2000 about two of the future hijackers, Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar.
ELEANOR HILL, JOINT INQUIRY STAFF DIRECTOR: There were numerous opportunities during the tracking of these two suspected terrorists when the CIA could have alerted the FBI and other U.S. law enforcement authorities to the probability that these individuals, either were or would soon be in the United States.
VOICE OF FBI AGENT: I'm a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
ENSOR: Concealed by a screen to protect his identity, one FBI agent said 12 days before the attack, after the CIA had put Khalid Almihdhar on a watch list, he tried to open a criminal investigation into the suspect. When rebuffed, he wrote a frustrated e-mail to his boss.
VOICE OF FBI AGENT: If we do not change the system, I say again someday someone will die.
ENSOR: The staff report says in March of 2000, the CIA learned Nawaf Alhazmi had arrived in the U.S. through Los Angeles Airport back in January. A cable with the information was marked "action required none." It quotes CIA Director George Tenet as admitting that was a mistake.
But the report also blames the FBI for doing nothing when the CIA informed it earlier about the two men attending a terrorist summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. CIA officials also say they wrote to the FBI, though of this the bureau insists it has no record, that one of the men had a valid U.S. visa.
From behind the screen, a CIA officer stressed the clues that now seem so evident were needles in a huge haystack of intelligence before 9/11. He made a plea for more resources to fight terror.
VOICE OF CIA OFFICER: They are also the kinds of misses that happen when people become very confident. Dedicated people, such as the CIA officers and the FBI agents and analysts involved in all aspects of this story are simply overwhelmed.
ENSOR (on camera): After the hearings in a sharp turnaround, the White House announced that the president now favors a 9/11 blue ribbon commission to follow on the work of the joint intelligence probe. David Ensor, CNN Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Intriguing story tonight about a pilot and a possible plan to hijack a plane. Federal authorities are holding a former Sudanese Air Force pilot who may have been planning to hijack the plane, fly it into a target in the United States. Sources say the 30- year-old taxi driver was picked up in North Carolina a week ago and was being held for a court appearance Monday on charges of making false statements.
And a quick update now on the bail hearing for those six men accused of supporting terrorism, the men in Buffalo. The judge in the case said he would formally rule on bail requests early next month. Today perhaps signaling his intent, he questioned whether the men pose an immediate danger. Said the magistrate: "I haven't heard of any act of violence or propensity of violence in the history of these individuals. I know there are people out there who say if we let these people out and we have another 9/11 God forbid, but that's a risk I would be taking." He said he was trying to protect the Constitution, what he described as "probably the most valuable aspect of all."
Still to come on NEWSNIGHT, are baseball fans out of control? We'll talk with Hall of Famer Joe Morgan about that. Keith Olbermann joins us too. Up next, a tearful Kentucky governor apologizes for his behavior. This is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: And, coming up on NEWSNIGHT, more on the scandal in Kentucky, a tearful governor apologizes. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Their news tonight comes from Kentucky for the second time this week. As we said at the top of the program, the story's about the state's governor, democrat Paul Patton and a woman says she had an affair with the governor and that he, and this is important, retaliated after she ended the affair by having state regulators target the nursing home she owns, which by the way is located in Clinton, Kentucky. Can't make it up. On Wednesday, Patton's wife was standing by his side. She wasn't there today. He stood there quite alone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Live from WHAS 11 News, this is coverage you can count on.
GOV. PAUL PATTON (D), KENTUCKY: My first response was to not -- to deny my unfaithfulness to Judy. I was wrong. Denial was another mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRY RUTIMEYER, WHAS 11 NEWS, ANCHOR: Good evening everyone. I'm Harry Rutimeyer (ph).
JEAN WEST, WHAS 11 NEWS, ANCHOR: And, I'm Jean West (ph). Melissa Swan (ph) has the night off. Wiping back tears several times Governor Patton apologized to his family and Kentucky for his failure as a person.
RUTIMEYER: Patton's admission just an hour ago came days after he denied the allegations of an affair with Tina Connor. Mark Hubert who broke the story earlier this week begins our team coverage live tonight in Frankfurt. Mark?
MARK HEBERT, WHAS 11 NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Governor Patton wishes he had never denied he had a sexual relationship with Tina Connor. Today, in a tearful statement, a tearful apology, Governor Patton tried to right that mistake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEBERT (voice over): Governor Patton denied it on Monday in an interview with WHAS TV. Today was different.
PATTON: I apologize to the people of Kentucky for my failure as a person. I have already apologized to Judy and my family. And I'm also sorry that I initially denied the mistakes that I made in my private life.
HEBERT: In an emotionally charged room at the Kentucky History Center Patton repeatedly cracked before the cameras.
PATTON: It's not easy for me to discuss private failures a public forum but I do so because I want to be honest with the people of Kentucky and try to earn their trust and respect again. My mistakes are mine alone. I take full responsibility for them.
HEBERT: The governor spent most of the day giving the stunning news to friends, family and political supporters.
PATTON: I face the future as a man who has much work to do for my family and for the people of the Commonwealth. Thank you, God bless you and pray for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEBERT: Governor Patton then walked away from the podium and into the arms of his three children, Nicky (ph), Bambi (ph) and Chris (ph) who were tearful during his statement as well. And Governor Patton left without taking any questions. Of course, there are still questions remaining in this case. Governor Patton repeated his denials that every used his office in any way to try and help Tina Connor or hurt her when she broke off that sexual relationship. He says he hopes there is a full investigation by the ethics commission and he says he will be exonerated in that. But he also told Tina Connor through the news conference here that he hopes that she will go on with her life. Live at the Kentucky History Center in Frankfurt, I'm Mark Hebert, WHAS 11 News.
BROWN: And, that's how the story was reported by WHAS in Louisville, Kentucky.
Today, ahead on NEWSNIGHT we will get a battle of windmills in Nantucket.
But, up next the battle of the baseball game. Are fans out of control? This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Gosh, before you know it'll Monday morning time to get up, get dressed, go to work and watch "AMERICAN MORNING" with Paula Zahn. PAULA ZAHN, ANCHOR, "AMERICAN MORNING": Thanks Aaron. On the next "AMERICAN MORNING" we're going to look at the television's night of glamour, the annual Emmy Awards. And we're going to answer some of your big questions. Will "Six Feet Under" bury the competition? Does "West Wing" have a prayer and can competitors still be "Friends?" And, since the telecast is on opposite "The Sopranos," will anybody watch it? That's Monday at 7:00 -- Aaron.
BROWN: Thank you Paula. Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, someone went to a baseball game and a boxing match broke out. We'll be right back.
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BROWN: This would be the part of the program where we talk about baseball as we remember it and ring our hands about what the sport is coming to and what the fans are coming to. But, you know us a little better than. And, you probably know the game better than that as well. There are bozos on the field and off, in the front offices too. Always have been.
Still to us there was something unbelievably shocking about this story out of Chicago. A father and son leaping from the stands, running on the field and pummeling the first base coach from Kansas City. When asked about it, the two said the coach had it coming. What is it I don't get here? Keith Olbermann has the pictures and the histories. Good to see you.
OLBERMANN: It's good to see you. It's a nice thing that the family tradition continues in baseball.
BROWN: It's a family sport.
OLBERMANN: It, according to the attackers, was an obscene gesture and it appears that the attackers spent several innings planning to respond to it by jumping on the field and attacking the coach. In fact, tonight law enforcement sources told the Associated Press that in the 7th inning of last night's Kansas City-Chicago game the father and this bizarre family story, William Ligue Jr., telephoned a relative to ask her to watch the game on TV.
When she couldn't find the channel these sources said Ligue said, quote, well, then, just watch the news. "I have never seen anything like that in baseball" said one of the startled witnesses, the first baseman Mike Sweeney of the Kansas City Royals. "That stuff just doesn't happen here in the United States." But, in fact, it does happen. And, with alarming frequency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED BASEBALL ANNOUNCER (voice over): What a play by the pitcher. Now a couple of guys come out of the stands and they are beating up on the Royals first base coach, Tom Gamboa. And the Royals poor out of the dug out.
OLBERMANN: Got anything to say about why you guys are doing this? WILLIAM LIGUE JR., ACCUSED OF ASSAULT: Because he gave me his finger and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) all night.
OLBERMANN: The coach?
LIGUE: Yes.
OLBERMANN: The victim, Royals coach Tom Gamboa dense he flicked off or flipped off or interacted in any way with any fans at Comiskey Park or during his two years in the city of the attacked Chicago when he was a coach there with the Cubs.
TOM GAMBOA, KANSAS CITY ROYALS, FIRST BASE COACH: I've been doing this for 30 years professionally and 4 years in the big leagues and it's never been my policy to ever acknowledge people in the stands.
OLBERMANN: 34-year-old William Ligue Jr. is charged with aggravated battery. His 15-year-old son faces charges for attacking Gamboa and a stadium security guard. Faces is an odd word here because Gamboa never saw them coming.
GAMBOA: I just got completely blind side -- I felt like I got hit by a freight train.
UNIDENTIFIED BASEBALL ANNOUNCER: Gamboa got a shot on the head. That is unfathomable. Isn't it?
OLBERMANN: But, not only isn't it unfathomable, it isn't unprecedented. Three years ago next Tuesday a drunken 23-year-old man reportedly having wagered with other fans that he could run on the field and tackle a player, blind sides Houston right fielder Bill Spires during a game in Milwaukee. On September 28, 1995 again in Chicago, after Cubs relief pitcher Randy Myers surrenders a critical home run, a 27-year-old Chicago bond trader races to the mound and tries to assault Myers.
The assailant later explains he had intended to merely run on to the field and yell at the player. Again in Chicago, again at Wrigley Field May 16, 2000, a fan leans over the right field fence to snatch the cap of Dodgers catcher Chad Kreuter. A dozen Dodger players and coaches go into the stands. The maylay results in the fan and players arrested. The fans suing 16 Dodgers players. Three coaches suspended by baseball.
Baseball fans race on to the field at least once a year. In every stadium in the majors. Usually they do not try to interact with the players or if they do, they do so non-violently. In May of 2000, in Los Angeles a fan mooned the Atlanta pitcher John Rocker after his controversial remarks about minority groups. The supposed invisible wall between players and fans never really existed.
1984 spectators become involved in an infamous brawl between the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres. And the early pre-video history of baseball spills over with incidents upon incident, attack upon attack. GAMBOA: It's a sad state for society that we've got people that are that off emotionally to do stuff like that. I just can't comprehend it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: Some of this can be blamed squarely on the teams. This past march the television network owned by the New York Yankees aired commercials promoting its game telecast. In one, a woman posed as a member of the Yankee Stadium grounds crew in order to get on to the field to ask shortstop Derek Jeter out on a date.
Weeks later on opening day in two separate incidents, women fans vaulted from the stands to hand Jeter their phone numbers. That their intent was not violent does not mean it couldn't have been. Ask Tom Gamboa.
BROWN: Thank you. It's good to see you.
OLBERMANN: Sure.
BROWN: Come back soon. We're joined now to talk a little bit more about this what's going on by Hall of Famer, Joe Morgan. He joins us from California tonight. The Hall of Famer (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was a great ball player remains a wonderful student of the game as well. He's a commentator these days for ESPN. Mr. Morgan, good to see you sir. Do you think it's crazier out there now than it was when you played ball?
JOE MORGAN, BASEBALL HALL OF FAMER: No. I don't really think so. I think before we, you know, overreact and condemn all the fans I think we have to realize that millions and millions of fans go to the ballpark every day and do not run on the field, do not attack the coaches. This is an incident that happened with two guys who were definitely having problems. You know? Away from the ballpark. And, I think the ones that we've seen this, you know, run on the field and attack players you can tell just by what they say afterwards that they are -- they have problems but we can't just condemn all of the fans because of the actions of a few.
BROWN: Well, no. Absolutely. No one would condemn all the fans. But, I was intrigued by a comment that Chuck Knoblauch of Kansas City made after this last night. He said, you know, "I have been worrying about this sort of thing for a long time." That it does seem to him at least that fans are rowdier these days than they've ever been.
MORGAN: Well, I think part of it let's face it, the fans were very upset about the labor issues and the fact there may have been a strike and the fact it took so long before the issue was resolved. And, I have to think the fans are still a little bit irritated because, you know, of the things that happened in the labor issues. But I just don't think that most of the fans or 99 percent of the fans that go to the park every day even think of attacking a player or even go there with any animosity toward the players. I think they really go there to watch a baseball game. BROWN: How did you deal with -- I assume when were you on the road, at least, and maybe sometimes at home in some of the towns you played in fans would get a little nasty. Did you acknowledge them, pay any attention to them at all?
MORGAN: No. I think Tom Gamboa has the best idea. You just ignore them. And, truthfully they will go away. But, when you start to interact with them then they get a little more hostile. And, look there are going to -- if you're on the road, fan are going to yell things to you. They're going to yell about you. You just have to have a deaf ear. You have to be able to do that.
And, if you are not able to do that, what's to stop the opposing players from yelling at you then you react. So if you let some things that happen on the field, you know, upset you, then you are never going to be a good player any way. I don't think you have ever seen the great players have problems with the fans or let the fans gets to them.
BROWN: Are you -- you hear those sorts of comments though don't you when people scream at you?
MORGAN: Yes of course. Of course you hear them. But again, you have to ignore them. I mean, you're not going to go into the stands and yell at a guy or confront him. I think that's part of it. I've always been under the feeling that if a fan pays his money to go to the game he can say what he wants as long as he doesn't attack the players or he doesn't get physical.
I have always said to a fan that you pay for the seat to watch the game. You don't pay for the seat to talk to the players or to, you know, harass the players. But, you know, that seems to be part of the game now days. Fans do harass the opposing players all the time.
BROWN: And in that respect, has it gotten any worse or is it about at least as you remember it how it's always been?
MORGAN: No. I think it's a little worse. I don't think there's any doubt that it's a little worse. I think our society is a little worse now as far as respect for, you know, the other man. I don't think we have the same respect for our fellow human beings that we had before. You know, that's why, you know, one of the things that happened after 9/11 has seemed to bring the fans, the players and everyone together a little closer.
But before that I always felt like, you know, we were losing respect for each other and the fans were losing respect for the players and in turn the players are going to lose respect for the fans. The problem I have is that I think this is going to distance some of the players again from the fans because, you know, they're going to be more stand offish and that's not good for the game.
BROWN: You are good for the game. And, it's nice to see you. We're pleased to talk to you tonight. We appreciate your time. A great ball player.
MORGAN: My pleasure. Thank you.
BROWN: Thank you. Joe Morgan, now commentator for ESPN.
Next on NEWSNIGHT, there once was plan in Nantucket. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Finally from us tonight it's one of those symbols of rustic New England charm something tourists flock to cameras in hand. The windmills. This one's the Nantucket windmill, one of those prized landmarks that's set against a backdrop of a beautiful coastline. So there's a certain amount of irony that a big fight is going on off the coast of Massachusetts. A fight over putting up windmills. Maybe it's not ironic because these windmills after all are anything but quaint. They're big and they're loud.
Nantucket Sound is one of 21 sites near the beaches up and down the East Coast that an energy company has pick as attractive for developing wind farms. And, it's interesting that people both for and against the plan consider themselves conservationists. Those for it want to develop more and clean sources of energy. People against it want an unspoiled coast to stay that way. Here's CNN's Michael Shoulder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL SHOULDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A plan to develop America's first offshore wind power farm in an area famous for its natural beauty has set off a battle between some people who want to protect the environment and others who also want to protect the environment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael we are developing America's first offshore wind farm.
SHOULDER: What are we seeing here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we're on our way out of the inner harbor and now we're on the outer harbor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six miles off the coast of Hyannis Port we have this awesome inexhaustible supply of wind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you go on around that point, you get into Hyannis Port where you have the Kennedy compound.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to have 170 wind turbines space about one-third to a half mile apart.
WALTER CRONKITE, FORMER NEWS ANCHOR: That's right in the middle of Nantucket Sound. Once they fill it up with these things, it's going to be disastrous.
SHOULDER: Here's what is not in dispute. Wind turbines convert wind to electricity and do so without causing any air pollution at all. That means no green house gases. That means no contribution to global warming. If you drive through the mountains east of San Francisco, or through the Palm Springs Desert you can see and hear the very largest wind farms in America.
The newest turbines are quieter and more powerful. There's a large array along the Washington Oregon border. There's big growth in Texas. And now the wind energy industry says the technology is reliable enough to put them at sea. This is the newest installation under construction off the west coast of Denmark. Which brings us back to Nantucket Sound.
Again, what is being proposed is to install 170 wind turbines each 420 feet high to the tip of the top blade over about 28 square miles of Nantucket Sound at a cost of about $500 million.
(on-camera): We are on the ferry now from Cape Cod to Martha's Vineyard where Walter Cronkite has a home.
(voice-over): Captain Cronkite has sailed Nantucket Sound for many years. He's been weighing the potential costs and benefits of putting wind turbines in the sound.
Are these just ugly things to you or are they conceivably part of a landscape that we might just get used to?
CRONKITE: No. I don't think these things can possibly be considered attractive in any possible way. I don't care what colors you paint them or whether you have them dance in unison to music or what. They are big ugly things sitting out there in the middle of what should be the pristine waters. The way we are affected in a visual sense will be nothing compared to what the natural life -- how it is affected out there.
Do the whales know how to get around the towers? Do dolphins know how to get around those towers? I don't know. We'll have to find that out but it sounds to me like they are going to have a very tough time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the exact dimensions of the wind turbine. So if you were standing on the beach, you would see this from Hyannis. You would see -- you would be nine miles from Martha's Vineyard. This would be your view. So, the visual impact is really very, very small.
SHOULDER: The organized opposition has done its own simulated images. They claim the turbines will be far more imposing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's Dufley (ph). That's my grandson's dog. He's the best god damned escape artist.
SHOULDER: Francis Broadhurst is a retired Cape Cod journalist. He wants wind turbines in Nantucket Sound to reduce America's dependence on imported oil and natural gas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you see them going -- they are energy in motion. And what I like the most about it is when you see it, you say that's one barrel less of Middle East oil.
SHOULDER: Robert Kennedy Jr. is a long time environmental activist and attorney who opposes a wind power installation in Nantucket Sound. And he knows what some people will say now that he has come out against the source of clean renewable energy near the Kennedy family compound.
ROBERT KENNEDY JR., ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST: You know, this isn't just not in my back yard by a bunch of wealthy people who own land along Nantucket Sound. It's, there are people from all over New England who use this. It's going to injure a very, very valuable tourist industry. And it's going destroy a resource which is really part of the commons. It's part of our nation's history. It's part of the maritime and the nautical tradition of Massachusetts.
SHOULDER: Mr. Kennedy says Congress needs to stop this permitting process in Nantucket Sound so that there can be a national debate to establish where the most appropriate sites are for these wind farms. Carol Lee Rones (ph) with the Conservation Law Foundation which hasn't taken a position on Nantucket Sound but ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The longer you way the more green house gases will be building up in the atmosphere and the harder it's going to be to combat that. We simply can't afford to wait.
SHOULDER: Now this half-billion dollar wind farm in Nantucket Sound is unlikely to replace any older polluting power plants. It's designed to keep up with America's ever expanding demand for more and more energy. Jim Gordan (ph) is President of the company that wants to develop the wind farm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now Mike, between now and 2020 we are going to have a 40 percent increase in electric demand. How are we going to supply that increased demand? The last energy facility built in Cape Cod was built in the late 1960's and it needs a new source of clean renewable energy.
CRONKITE: We all know we have to go to alternate fuels. I mean, there's no question about that. And this is a source of alternate energy. But does it have to be in this concentration in this particular spot? Is that -- that's the argument and I think that's the argument that many of us would want an awful lot of evidence.
SHOULDER: The evidence is now being valuated by state environment officials and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and with a large number of wind farm proposals on the drawing board, many communities may soon have to decide just as the people around Nantucket Sound are trying to decide what they value most in the environment.
Michael Shoulder CNN, Nantucket Sound.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: That's our report for tonight. Have a good weekend and we'll see you all on Monday. Good night from all of us. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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