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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Experts Believe Audio Tape is Most Likely bin Laden's Voice; Iraqi Parliament Urges Rejection of Resolution

Aired November 12, 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, HOST: Good evening, again. I'm Aaron Brown.
Just a quick note at the top tonight to remind us all where we were a year ago. A year ago today, American Airlines' flight 587 crashed in Queens, New York; 265 people died, five on the ground, the rest on board the flight. A flight headed for the Dominican Republic.

When that plane went down, or at least when I heard that that plane went down, my first thought was so simple and so awful: it is happening again, I thought. I started racing into the city, but surely realized I wasn't the only one thinking not again. The bridges of the city had been closed down, blocked, so I dumped my car and got on a train.

It was just two months after the attack of September 11. As a country, we were very much still in a state of shock and mourning. And I remember in that long afternoon of anchoring the coverage urging viewers not to jump to conclusions, not to assume this was a terrorist attack. But knew many of you would, just as I had, head and heart working in opposite directions.

If, god forbid, a plane went down tomorrow, would we still think terror? I think I might. A few weeks back I saw a plane flying quite low outside what I thought the normal flight pattern was. And a short time later, very short time later, I heard sirens, lots of them.

I called the office. "Did something happen?" Nothing happened, it turned out, except perhaps imagination run wild. Maybe you've healed from the scars of September 11, but that day I knew I had not.

On to the news of the day. And we begin with the tape, the voice and the question. Is it bin Laden? Mike Boettcher has been following the story since it broke. So, Mike, a headline, please.

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, is it bin Laden's voice? The experts say, almost certainly, yes. And he has a very direct message: "We will kill you." -- Aaron.

BROWN: Mike, back to you at the top of the program tonight.

On to Baghdad and the latest twist in how the Iraqis plan to respond to the U.N. resolution. Jane Arraf again there for us -- Jane, the headline please. JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Iraq's parliament is urging, rejecting the Security Council resolution and facing war. Saddam Hussein's eldest son, though, is recommending acceptance. We're waiting to see what the Iraqi president will do.

BROWN: Jane, thank you.

And our latest from Christiane Amanpour tonight on Saudi Arabia. We look this evening at the life there for women. So Christiane, a headline.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as much focus on Saudi Arabia revolves around their treatment of women as it does on oil and sponsorship of terrorism. What we know is that women are veiled, they have little (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and can't see anything except through a little slit in their eyes. That much is true. But what we found is that a lot more is going on in the realm of women's ability to work there.

BROWN: Christiane, thank you. Back with you and the rest shortly.

Also coming up tonight, the latest from the bishop's meeting in Washington. Quite a change in how Catholic bishops are approaching and talking about the priest abuse scandal. Victims' groups not pleased. We'll get a read of this all from John Allen (ph) of the "National Catholic Reporter."

One story tonight from the storm (ph). The high school coach who spent his day putting his team back together and boosting morale in ways he's never done before. The winning gamble that was just too good not smell a rat. Three former fraternity brothers accused of fixing the pick six for the Breeder's (ph) Club. This is a fascinating story.

And the whirlwind career of Minnesota's accidental Senator, Dean Barkley. You can measure his time (UNINTELLIGIBLE) days, not decades. And he's just fine with that.

It's a busy hour on this Tuesday. We begin with the voice on the tape. Is it the voice? We don't know.

The notes are familiar, but the words sound different. Starker, more specific and blood thirsty. The message, a simple one, we will drag you into our world of pain.

For months, there have been this question: Is Osama alive? The tape aired today is not an answer exactly, more like another clue, but a big clue. Here's CNN's Mike Boettcher.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOETTCHER (voice-over): If there was any question whether Osama bin Laden was alive, the audiotape sent to Al-Jazeera seem to settle that, especially the reference to a recent string of attacks around the world.

OSAMA BIN LADEN (through translator): The killings of Germans in Tunisia and French in Karachi, and the bombing of the U.S. tanker in Yemen and the killing of the Marines in Flocca (ph), and the killing of the British and Australians in Bali and the latest Moscow operation are just some of the attacks here and there. And they're only a reaction to how the Muslims have been treated in a response to what god had ordered them (ph).

BOETTCHER: In the past, bin Laden has addressed his messages to his followers. This time, the message was aimed at those he termed allies of "the oppressive U.S. government."

BIN LADEN (through translator): So why are your governments aligning themselves with America and attacking us in Afghanistan, especially to mention Britain, France, Italy, Canada, Germany and Australia?

BOETTCHER: In Europe, security forces were already on their highest state of alert since 9/11, after a recent threat against France and Germany from bin Laden's lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahri (ph). So why is bin Laden talking now?

MAGNUS RANSTORP, PROFESSOR, ST. ANDREWS UNIVERSITY: Usually in the past whenever bin Laden has surfaced making a statement, there has been a major attack against a U.S. or Western target.

BOETTCHER: Coalition intelligence officials have been telling CNN for months they believe bin Laden is alive and hiding out along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. As for this latest message, U.S. intelligence officials are assessing the tape, comparing it to previous bin Laden statements before they're willing to say it's authentic. Those who have listened to previous bin Laden tapes say it sounds like him, but with some changes.

HISHAM MELHEM, LEBANESE JOURNALIST: Yes, it sounds like him, but the voice is not as soft as previous tapes by Osama bin Laden, and delivery is not as slow as previous delivery.

BOETTCHER: Osama bin Laden invoked Iraq, Palestine and Chechnya, all places he said where Muslims were being murdered. And he ended with a warning. "Just like you kill us, we will be you."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOETTCHER: In the past, bin Laden video and audiotapes have taken the tone of a sermon. But according to the experts we've spoken to, this was nothing more than a direct threat -- Aaron.

BROWN: And we read what into that?

BOETTCHER: Well, you can look at the timing. Across Europe, heightened alerts in Asia, heightened alerts in Argentina, for example, and South America, heightened alerts. There is a feeling among counterintelligence officials across the coalition that something is up. There's a lot of buzz out there. The big question, Aaron, is it independent of what's going on in Iraq or is it part of the threat of what's going to go on in Iraq? That's the big question.

BROWN: Well, that's one of them, Mike. Thank you. The trouble is we find out the wrong way in this, don't we? Thank you, Mike Boettcher in Atlanta tonight.

Our next guest knows the sound of bin Laden's voice up close, only the unsavory character of him. Peter Arnett has sat down with Mr. bin Laden. Mr. Arnett is one of a handful of western reporters to who have met with him. And he is with us here in New York tonight.

So, do you have an opinion on whether this is bin Laden or this is not bin Laden?

PETER ARNETT, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, CAMERA PLANET: Well, you know the voice of bin Laden I remember, Aaron, is the rich, classical Arab that delivered the interview to the CNN team of which I was a part of five years ago. He was confident, he was almost arrogant.

But the tape I heard today, subdued, flat. It's not the same man in the sense that he's not as confident and he's not as arrogant as the man I interviewed five years ago.

BROWN: Which is not to say it is not the same man. It is arguably then a person changed by circumstance. He's had, one might argue, the tar kicked out of him in Afghanistan and chased out of the country.

ARNETT: One would think so. Another point is it's basically very much off message that when we interviewed him. For example, he didn't even bring up Iraq five years ago. In an after-interview conversation we had with bin Laden with CNN's producer Peter Berg (ph) and myself and our cameraman, he ridiculed Saddam Hussein. He said he was a bad Arab.

And he sort of casually mentioned, well, the Iraqi people, I'm sorry for them. Also in our interview, he bearly dwelled on the Palestinian crisis. But what we have today is a grab bag of incidents. This message lists every basic terrorist incident of the last year. And I just wonder what message we would get from just a recitation of what we know has happened.

BROWN: Well, one -- perhaps two simple explanations, but a simple one is, by citing, for example, Bali, it's like holding up a newspaper. It does show that at least on the day after the Bali attack you were alive.

ARNETT: Well, no, that is very true. If this is aimed at asserting the fact that he's alive, sure, if indeed it is his voice. Another point, the bin Laden who was -- who we all knew not enough about prior to 9/11, constantly talked about American troop presence in the Gulf, in Saudi Arabia. He did in passing sort of mention, say, Somalia and Chechnya, but basically it was the American troop presence threatening the Arab world, the corrupt influence of Americans that he was saying of American culture and stuff. This seemed to me sort of a desperate sort of message, sort of a desperate message put out which may or may not have been by him, but I don't see it being such a rallying cry to his supporters.

BROWN: Because?

ARNETT: Well, I don't think there's any real directive in this. It's a recitation of what we all know has happened. So is this a rallying cry? If to the degree they're saying that he's still alive, maybe. But I don't see much more than that.

BROWN: Oddly, does it matter if he's still alive?

ARNETT: Those who want to believe it's bin Laden will believe. The other point is, it clearly came through sort of the authorized sources. It came from Al-Jazeera, which seems to be the pipeline of choice of the al Qaeda people. So to that degree, certainly al Qaeda is trying to let the world know that someone is still around.

BROWN: Peter, it's good to see you again. Someday, perhaps, he'll turn up and we'll have a definitive answer on whether he's alive or not.

ARNETT: Well, I'm going to Baghdad this weekend and I don't think he's there.

BROWN: I don't think he's there either. Thank you, Peter Arnett. Good to see you again.

Iraq now, I'm speaking of that and another complication for the U.S. war planners. According to U.S. officials, the Iraqis have ordered a million and a quarter doses of an antidote to nerve gases. Some of this from Turkey, some of it perhaps already delivered. Officials are not clear on that.

The drug is also used to treat heart attacks, though not in the dosage of form (ph) the Iraqis have ordered. The concern is, of course, the stuff would be used to protect Iraqi soldiers from blow- back of Iraqi nerve gas. Nerve gas, of course, the Iraqis deny having.

Secretary of State Powell said the administration is in touch with Turkey now and other potential suppliers with an aim toward blocking delivery. Mr. Powell met today to talk with the U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to talk about much of this, Iraq, the inspection team and the rest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: Mr. Blix and the inspectors are ready to go. As you know, they will be there, they will leave on the 18 of November, and we will begin their work actively. And I can assure you they are determined to do a good, professional job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: That, of course, is assuming they actually do go. Mr. Annan said he looks forward to receiving a letter from the Iraqis by Friday, accepting unconditionally the terms of the Security Council resolution. The Iraqi parliament today rejected it, but then quickly booted the decision upstairs.

Less politics here than political theater by the looks of it. Everyone now waiting for word from the star of the show, as it were. We go back to Baghdad and CNN's Jane Arraf. Jane, good evening.

ARRAF: Good evening, Aaron.

Well, we are waiting for that word from the highest authorities here, the revolution command council. Now it won't come to us in the form of a letter, it will probably come after a couple of days more of putting their objections on record. That national assembly debate you referred to was speaker after speaker of explaining why this was an unworkable solution.

The twist, of course, the highest profile member of parliament, Ude (ph) Saddam Hussein, recommending actually that the resolution be adopted. Now that has been taken up to the Iraqi president, who will meet with his revolution command council in an undisclosed time and place. And we hope to be hearing about that shortly. Although, chances are it could drag out to the very last moments of that deadline -- Aaron.

BROWN: Any hints in the Iraqi press as to how the Iraqi president is going to respond?

ARRAF: This is a really interesting thing, because there are two messages here. After that unanimous resolution rejecting the Security Council resolution at the national assembly, the official news agency here, which is the way that most Iraqis get their news, didn't bother to report it. Instead it said that they simply kicked the decision upstairs, as you mentioned, to president Saddam Hussein.

Now, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said he believed that the parliament wasn't speaking to him and he was waiting for a letter. But it appears to have been a message to the outside world that they will accept this, but they won't accept it that easily. Now in the press over the last week or so, we've seen little hints that Iraq is gearing towards accepting this resolution and we're expected to see more of those in the next couple of days before they make the final decision -- Aaron.

BROWN: When you say they won't accept it that easily, do you mean that they'll want to negotiate it, that they'll try and put conditions on it? Or they'll just go through this dance that they've been going through this week before accepting it?

ARRAF: Probably all of the above. Now, they have been trying to put conditions on it, although not in a formal sense. Some of the conditions include asking for Arabs to be included among the weapons inspebors. Others, suggested by the president's eldest son, include having this under the umbrella of the Arab League.

But they're not completely out of touch. And they do realize that there's no negotiation possible now. This really is their last chance, and they realize that. However, they want to put on record that they feel this is an unworkable solution -- resolution rather. It is the strongest resolution we've seen on the weapons inspections, and at the core of it is a demand for immediate unrestricted, unconditional, unimpeded access. And essentially what that means, Aaron, is that weapons inspectors can go anywhere they want and pretty well do anything they want in these sites that they intend to search over a two-month period of time.

So there are a lot of potential problems here and a lot of reasons why Iraq says this threatens its security as well as its sovereignty. So they're going to be saying a lot more about that -- Aaron.

BROWN: Jane, thank you very much. Jane Arraf in Baghdad tonight.

Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, life today in Saudi Arabia for women. CNN's Christine Amanpour has a special report from inside Saudi Arabia.

But up next, the clean-up in the south after Sunday's tornadoes left 36 dead. Tonight, rebuilding. This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: On to the tornadoes and the stories coming out of what was just the pictures of yesterday. So many stories that only now do the survivors have the breath to tell. The granddad in tears after finding out that his baby grandson was missing. A mother who saved her son literally by his ankles. And then there is this one, the high school football coach, who struggled to get in touch with a lot of his team yesterday, and the players who had more than sports on their minds at practice today.

Here's CNN's Gary Tuchman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's high school football playoff time in Tennessee and the players on the Warthberg (ph) Center football team are practicing with heavy hearts. Their big game is this Friday, but their minds are on what happened this past Sunday.

RYAN HAMM, HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYER: About two seconds before the tornado came, the power went out and we just kind of got real close together. We could hear everything.

TUCHMAN: Ryan Hamm is a linebacker, but he was a guard on Sunday night, guarding and protecting his mother in the basement of their home in Mossy Grove (ph) as a tornado ripped apart a portion of their house. They weren't hurt but were shaken up.

(on camera): How scary was it?

HAMM: It was real scary. Just probably one of the most scary things I've ever been through in my whole life. It would be the most scary thing I've ever been through. TUCHMAN (voice-over): Seven of Ryan's neighbors weren't as fortunate. They were killed when the powerful twister ripped through Mossy Grove (ph). One student in the high school was seriously hurt. The school itself is shut until next week, but the football head coach decided to resume practice for those that could attend. However, he wanted his players to know something first.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this also puts athletics and games in perspective. Life and tragedy is a lot more important than a football game. Our thoughts and prayers need to be with those people who have lost lives.

TUCHMAN: Legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi once said "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." Which serves to remind coach Larry Davis (ph) that he agrees, but only with the winning isn't everything part.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People need to enjoy their lives and not take life for granted because it can be gone in an instant.

TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Morgan County, Tennessee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Long before the guy in the fedora said he had the horse right here, race fans have known there's no such thing as a sure thing. No sure way of picking a winner, much less six winners in six races, unless all the stars and planets line up or the fix is in. So our story tonight of three men, one bet, six winners and $3 million doesn't seem to have anything to do with stars or planets or guys in fedoras either, for that matter. Feds, yes, but no fedoras. Here's CNN's Peter Viles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Of all places for a reunion of fraternity brothers, federal court. Three buddies back together this time in handcuffs. Just two and a half weeks ago, they were on top of the world, holding a $3 million winning ticket for picking all six winners in horse racing's Breeder's Cup, but prosecutors alleged fix was in. That Chris Harn was the inside man using his job at the bet processing company Autotote, he allegedly changed his bud's bets after the races were run.

MICHAEL HOBLOCK, N.Y. STATE RACING & WAGERING BOARD: This was an inside job. And the fact that just two weeks after these wagers were placed, three individuals are in custody and waiting action before a federal judge should send a message loud and clear to those who try to cheat the system.

VILES: Prosecutors say they tried three times. October 3, Glen DaSilva wins $1,700 on a Pick Four bet. October 5, DaSilva bets bigger, wins $107,000. Then the Breeder's Cup, Derrick Davis wins $3.1 million.

JAMES COMEY, U.S. ATTORNEY, NEW YORK: Greed has a way of overcoming people's judgment. And when they go for this big a payday, somehow we find out about it.

VILES: The three met at Drexel University in Philadelphia. They still have not collected the $3 million, and they maintain they did nothing wrong.

DANIEL CONTI, CHRIS HARN'S ATTORNEY: From the outset, Chris has maintained his innocence and nothing that occurred today has changed that. And we're not have anything further to say.

VILES (on camera): Now prosecutors allege this was a scheme to take all the luck out of gambling. The irony, though, is these three were in court today partly because of bad luck at the track. On that Saturday at the Breeder's Cup, out of six races, three were won by big upsets, which meant that no one, but Derrick Davis picked all six winners, which meant that everyone in horse racing and some in law enforcement wanted to know exactly how it was that Derrick Davis got it right.

Peter Viles, CNN Financial News, White Plains, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Coming up on NEWSNIGHT, women in Saudi Arabia trying to cope with old traditions in a modern world. And up next, American Catholic bishops still trying to cope with a crisis in the priesthood. This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Funny, we didn't expect to be talking two nights in a row about an exclusive all-male group that's being pushed to change by the outside. Last night it was Augusta National Golf Club being pushed to allow women in. Tonight it's a more powerful group, and the stakes here are vastly higher.

It's about Catholic bishops meeting in Washington to approve a policy involving abusive priests, one that victims groups say is not nearly tough enough. The Vatican came out against the first draft floated (ph) last summer by the bishops saying that it went too far and didn't protect the rights of the accused priests. Also such a different tone from the last meeting. This time the bishops seem to be more on the offensive.

Their president in a speech suggested that some were simply using the scandal to create division in the church.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BISHOP WILTON GREGORY, PRESIDENT, U.S. CONFERENCE OF BISHOPS: One cannot fail to hear in the distance, and sometimes very nearby, the call of a false prophet. Let us strike the shepherd and scatter the flock. We bishops need to recognize this call and to name it clearly for what it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: The Church has its own language, its own laws and its own political intrigue. We've relied many times on John Allen of the "National Catholic Reporter" to help us interpret it all. He joins us from Washington, where he's been covering the meeting. John, it's good to see you.

Why this difference in tone? No defensiveness this time, unlike Dallas.

JOHN ALLEN, ROME CORRESPONDENT, "NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER": Yeah, I think in Dallas the bishops definitely were feeling the heat. And there was an apologetic, almost timid sort of approach. I think what you're seeing here is -- what they're trying to project is that they are back in business as leaders of the Church.

On the one hand, that's clear from the fact that they are issuing statements and all sorts of other things, like Iraq and domestic violence and the U.S.-Mexico relationship. And, on the other hand, I think they're also saying to Catholics that while we were willing to make this really dramatic change on sexual abuse, there are all kinds of other changes that people might like to see us make, whether it's ordaining women or democratizing the Church, that we are simply not going to be bullied into.

Now, I think it needs to be said that there is some doubt at the end of the day whether they can really sort of cash in that claim. Whether they have in fact restored the confidence and the trust of American Catholics that they would need to be able to mobilize in order to sort of back up this idea that they are, in effect, back in the saddle.

BROWN: All right. Let's take a look at some of the substantive issues dealing with sex abuse. Have they changed from Dallas the definition of what sex abuse is?

ALLEN: Yes. The Dallas program defined sex abuse as any physical or non-physical interaction for purposes of sexual gratification.

What they've gone to is some more traditional language that comes out of canon law, which is the sort of inner church law of the Catholic church, and that language refers to sex abuse as an external, objectively grave violation of the Sixth Commandment.

The problem, of course, Aaron, is that, you know, what is a grave violation of the Sixth Commandment to one person may be very different than what it means to another.

We have yet to have a clear definition, a clear standard of what counts as sex abuse and what doesn't. That is certainly one thing that analysts and victims will be looking at as this policy goes into effect.

BROWN: And in coming out of Dallas, there was a rule or a law or whatever, that any case of sexual abuse of a minor would be immediately reported to civil authorities. Does that survive? ALLEN: Well, it depends on who you ask. I mean, what the bishops are saying is that that rule is in the charter.

Dallas created two documents. One is a charter, which is a longer, sort of state or set of principles.

The second was a set of norms. And that's the part of the program that actually has teeth. The Vatican is going to sign off on these norm and make them what's called particular law, meaning they're binding on every priest in the country.

Now this requirement to report each and every accusation that you're talking about is actually in that first document, the charter. What the bishops are saying in this meeting is that we are absolutely committed, we are obligating ourselves to living up to that. Of course what victims would say is, If it's not in the norms and it's not law, that means it is, in effect, up to each bishop to make these decisions on the fly, which is where we were before Dallas.

Again, it's a point -- we're going to have to watch the implementation to see who's right.

BROWN: One -- at the core of this has always been a feeling that, in a sense, it's a management failure, that it was the bishops themselves that failed the church.

Is there anything in this document that deals with bishops' accountability?

ALLEN: Well, yes and no. I mean, there are some forward looking accountability things. I mean, that is, you know, they've created a national review board, they've created a new office of protection for children in the church that does have some oversight responsibilities to monitor how bishops are implementing this charter or into report if they're not doing what they're supposed to do.

What that doesn't do anything, Aaron, of course, is it doesn't do anything for the failures that have already occurred. You know, to date there are some 325 or so priests that have been pulled out of ministry under the terms of the Dallas program. There isn't a single bishop who has resigned for his failure or his, as you say, management failure to intervene when he should have to prevent that abuse from happening.

Again, I think a lot of observers, a lot of sort of, you know, pew-going mass attending average Catholics out there that you would say are not really ready to sign off on the idea that the problem is solved until they see evidence that bishops and not just priests are being held accountable for how we got in this mess in the first place.

BROWN: John, the vote's tomorrow. It's good to talk to you tonight. Thank you very much.

ALLEN: Aaron, always a pleasure.

BROWN: Thank you. Up next on NEWSNIGHT, life inside Saudi Arabia from a woman's point of view.

And later, no, it's not a stunt from the hit movie "jackass." So just why did a Texas man end up trapped inside his chimney? I can't wait to find out. This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: And coming up, out from under the vail in Saudi Arabia. We're right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: A quick update from the Middle East here.

We're getting reports that Israeli troops have launched a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus. Witnesses report seeing dozens of tanks moving toward a refugee camp on the eastern side of the city. Reports of machine gun fire as well, shooting on both sides.

The Associated Press is reporting the IDF confirm a military operation is under way, but offers no more detail than that. No word either on casualties, if any, or on the objectives of the operation. This comes as part and parcel of an Israeli response to a Palestinian attack over the weekend that killed five people in a kibuttz to the north of Palestinian territory.

There are some who would say that the traditional head covering and black robes of a Muslim women are repressive. We've certainly seen our share of stories on the plight of women in places like Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia too.

But there are also those who would disagree. Some women who cover their heads and their bodies and say proudly that because of that they are free, free of harassment, free of stares, free to live their lives without the heckling and the cat calls they might find in the west.

Christiane Amanpour traveled to Saudi Arabia and talked to some of these women in who are adamant that they are not victims. Instead, they are winning some victories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR (voice-over): A baby at the Riyadh military hospital is undergoing emergency surgery to correct a congenital breathing defect.

Ably assisted by a team of male nurses and anesthesiaists, three female Saudi surgeons saved the child.

DR. HALFA AL MASSER, HEAD OF EMT DEPARTMENT: He says it was not her baby because and he's really blocked and we have to save his air otherwise we'll lose him in a second. So we did it immediately. It was an emergency tracheostomy when you came in.

AMANPOUR: Yes, but what about being a woman, working alongside men in Saudi Arabia?

DR. MAHA AL-AQEIBACH: I actually train male doctors. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

AMANPOUR: Actually, these women head their departments.

And in another wing, little Adnan is getting a checkup from Dr. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Twelve years ago at the time when I started, it wasn't easy. But with time I think the lady doctors they proved themselves very well here.

AMANPOUR: Saudi girls got the right to education only 42 years ago. Government scholarships and higher salaries than men put them on the fast track.

Still, Saudi women only make up about 7 percent of the workforce and mainly in the medical, banking and teaching professions.

Outside work, women are still heavily restricted and segregated by the country's conservative brand of Islam. There are separate lines in restaurants and banks.

But in a recent change, the government urged the Mutawah (ph), which monitors morality in public places, to go easy and respect people's freedoms.

(on camera): Last spring, the Saudi press heavily criticized the morals police for allegedly preventing school girls from fleeing their burning building for fear of exposing them to male rescue workers. Fifteen girls were killed in that fire.

Now, Saudi women are able to air more of their grievances because a slight opening up of the press here is making it a forum for public debate.

(voice-over): Nada Al-Fayez is a newspaper columnist and a private businesswoman. She calls herself a new generation woman, and has high ambitions.

NADA AL-FAYEZ, BUSINESSWOMAN: And I wish that I can have a high position in the future in the government. I dream that one day I'm going to be a minister.

AMANPOUR: Right now, women can't even drive, but they were recently granted their own ID cards. Before that, their names were simply attached to those of their husbands or male relatives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am basically an independent woman. I'm taking more serious decisions in my life. I'm looking after patients and taking more serious decisions, so I have the right to be looked at as an independent human being.

AMANPOUR: While Saudi women admit many frustrations, they remind us how long it took American women to win their rights, and they warn us not to expect them to be liberated overnight.

AL-FAYEZ: The rights belong to our religion and mentality and lifestyle in the kingdom is totally different than the women rights belong to the religion and the mentality and the lifestyle in the State, as if you are comparing between apple and banana.

AMANPOUR: But an economy that's beginning to demand two-salary families is already bringing pressure for change, and many Saudi women, and men, tell us that it will come sooner or later.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Saudi women, perhaps surprisingly, make up more than 58 percent of all the graduates of Saudi universities and special colleges. That's more than male graduates, but despite the progress, the real progress that women have made in the last 12 years, for instance, from the first Gulf War, they are still pretty agitated that there is only a small spectrum of the professional work force that is open to them. They can't study engineering, they can't study law, and they do say, despite their defensiveness when Western reporters go in and put the microscope on them, that they do want more rights, more freedoms, especially in the professional field.

BROWN: Just quickly, two things. A Saudi woman get a passport, can she leave the country on her own?

AMANPOUR: Yes and no. She does have a passport. Officially, she has to ask for her husband's permission. Most Saudi women that we spoke to say that their husbands give them permission. But of course, we're talking to a fairly privileged class.

What happens to the Saudi woman who is poor, who can't afford to leave the country in any event, certainly can't afford to do much without her husband's permission, probably can't afford to go to school, and those people are very much at a disadvantage.

BROWN: The series continues tomorrow. What's on the agenda?

AMANPOUR: Well, because we wanted to show American viewers a sort of slice of life of what's going on in Saudi Arabia, we thought we'd remind people that something to the extent of 40,000 American citizens live in Saudi Arabia, and we just want to bring up how they say they've been treated since 9/11.

They say they've been treated extremely well, not any violence targeted against them, but certainly a state of tension has developed in a long alliance between Saudi Arabia and the American workers, most of whom are in the oil and aerospace, and other major industries there.

BROWN: That's tomorrow night's report. We'll look forward to that. Thank you, Christiane. Christiane Amanpour.

Later on NEWSNIGHT, the red carpet treatment for a new senator who, temporarily, at least, holds a lot of cards. And up next, some new words you need to know about. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Time to take a look ahead at tomorrow's "AMERICAN MORNING WITH PAULA ZAHN," and here is Paula Zahn.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Aaron. Tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING," if it comes to war with Iraq, it's not going to look like any other war we have seen before. We are going to get a preview of how America's new high-tech arsenal will be used against Iraq.

That's tomorrow at 7:00 am. Hope you'll join us then -- Aaron.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: I'll set my alarm clock. Coming up on NEWSNIGHT, the accidental senator, Minnesota's Dean Barkley. And up next, words, lots of them, lots of new words. We're right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: A couple of quick items to get in tonight. First, Bobby Knight, you just cannot keep Bobby Knight down, can you? Mr. Knight has sued Indiana University saying his former employer breached his contract and cost him $2 million.

Indiana fired Knight two years ago for grabbing a student he thought was being disrespectful, just one of many transgressions.

And we expect kids to get bad ideas from the movies they watch, but not necessarily from their parents. A man in Fort Worth, Texas was trying to help his family get back into their home after they got locked out. He tried to get in through the chimney, and he actually admitted he had just watched "Mary Poppins."

If you're a baseball team, it's the World Series you want to get into. If you're a batter or a fielder or a pitcher, it's the Hall of Fame. If you're a golfer, you want to get to Augusta and the Masters. But if you're a gourmet, it is the hot new restaurant.

But if you are word, what you want to get into is the shorter Oxford English Dictionary, of which a new edition has just come out, the first in almost a decade.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): About the shorter part first. At 15 pounds and 3,750 pages, this dictionary is shorter, compared only to the unabridged OED, which is 20 volumes long, and costs $1,500.

You'd need a steamer trunk to carry that around, but a couple of good sized lunch boxes will do you for these two volumes. The big news is that there are now 3,500 words that weren't in the last edition, words that have been floating around the English-speaking world, but that weren't yet ripe enough, weren't mature enough, hadn't yet demonstrated that they really were here to stay.

But now they are here to stay, literally. No word is ever removed from the OED. So welcome for all time to "Chick lit," "pashmina," "arm candy," and "comb-over."

In these pages, snuggled up against venerable terms used by Shakespeare and Milton and the King James Bible, you will now also find "Viagra" and "botox," "lap dance," and "shockjock."

Just as we'd have no idea but for the OED what the Scotts meant by runrig back in the 18th Century, so a couple hundred years from now, flummocks (ph) folk will turn here to figure out what the devil we meant by "bling-bling," "bad ass," "mind-meld" and our favorite, "go commando."

Oh, brave new world that has such brave new words in it, thousands of them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The things you can say on television. Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, it is not queen for a day, but kind of close. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Finally from us tonight, the accidental power broker. Someone around here today suggested this story seemed like something from the old "Queen For a Day" game show, but we think it also has the makings of some great reality TV.

A guy who used to run a car wash is picked by a former pro wrestler to fill in as a U.S. senator for Minnesota, only for the last few weeks of the term. His chief of staff is a businessman who knows more about plastics than politics and we're not making that up. Sounds like a train wreck but Dean Barkley is on board and all smiles.

His story from Jonathan Karl.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to Washington.

SEN. DEAN BARKLEY (I), MINNESOTA: My pleasure being here.

KARL: So what's in store for the first day?

BARKLEY: Oh, let's see. I'm going to meet the parliamentarian, I'm going to go see Senator Byrd, I get to see President Bush at 4:30. Swearing in at 1. I have a speech, my first speech on the floor. It'll be a eulogy to the late Senator Paul Wellstone.

KARL (voice-over): A busy first day for Minnesota's accidental senator. Talking to Dean Barkley, it's almost impossible not to think of Jimmy Stewart in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." JIMMY STEWART: The dome, the Capitol dome, as big as life sparkling away under the old out there.

KARL: After all, Mr. Smith was also a political novice sent to Washington after the unexpected death of a senator.

BARKLEY: I'm a little wider than Jimmy, he's a little taller than me. But it's kind of the same thing. I'm a straight shooter, honest kind of guy, never thought that this would happen. Lightning struck and here I am.

KARL (on camera): Whether or not you're a footnote or chapter head remains to be seen but you are clearly part of American history.

BARKLEY: I know that. I found that out as soon as I got here when the media jumped me going into Daschle's office, all 60 or 70 of you. I says, Oh, my God, what have I stepped into here. So far you've been nice. I guess it's still the honeymoon. So when do you turn on me?

KARL: You have a shortened term so maybe in a few hours.

BARKLEY: Oh, OK. Good. I've got until noon?

I can just walk right by. I get my own elevator and everything. What a country.

KARL (voice-over): After a brief stop in his barren, windowless office, Barkley is off to his first meeting, which will be with Senate legend Robert C. Byrd.

(on camera): Now are you going to ask him for some money for Minnesota? I mean he is the appropriations chairman still.

BARKLEY: I'm going to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the idea about his tribute to Paul. About getting something basically greased through as a living memorial to him. We've got some pretty good ideas.

Senator Byrd.

SEN. ROBERT BYRD (D), WEST VIRGINIA: Hello.

BARKLEY: My pleasure to meet you.

BYRD: Congratulations to you.

BARKLEY: Oh, thanks.

BYRD: Yes, I look forward to serving with you.

BARKLEY: Oh, I have admired you for a long time. You are the epitome of the U.S. Senate.

KARL (voice-over): Barkley emerges from his meeting with no specific commitments, but a lesson on how to bring the bacon back home. (on camera): So, what did Mr. Byrd show you?

BARKLEY: Well, the first thing he showed me is the road map of West Virginia in 1946, where he probably said there wasn't a single two-lane paved road in the state of West Virginia, and how things have changed since he's been in the Senate.

KARL: Yes, there's quite a few paved roads in West Virginia right now.

BARKLEY: Yes, I've been through West Virginia, and I told him I noticed that you're not without a lack of freeways there. That you have quite a good transit system.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you're about to enter, so help you God.

BARKLEY: I do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations.

KARL: Barkley gets to be sworn in not once, but twice -- officially on the Senate floor and then in the old Senate Chamber, a ceremonial swearing-in.

CNN jumped in the car with Senator Barkley as he went to his last meeting of the day. This one at the White House.

BARKLEY: So it's going to be a wild conclusion to a very interesting day.

KARL: So what was that meeting like?

BARKLEY: Surreal. I mean, my first visit to the White House is the Oval Office to meet the president. I mean, how cool can that be?

KARL: Jonathan Karl, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Well that, can be pretty cool, can't it? I hope that's a good thing.

Good to you have with us tonight. We're back tomorrow at 10:00. We hope you are, too. Until then, I'm Aaron Brown in New York. Good night from all of us at NEWSNIGHT.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Voice; Iraqi Parliament Urges Rejection of Resolution>


Aired November 12, 2002 - 22:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
AARON BROWN, HOST: Good evening, again. I'm Aaron Brown.
Just a quick note at the top tonight to remind us all where we were a year ago. A year ago today, American Airlines' flight 587 crashed in Queens, New York; 265 people died, five on the ground, the rest on board the flight. A flight headed for the Dominican Republic.

When that plane went down, or at least when I heard that that plane went down, my first thought was so simple and so awful: it is happening again, I thought. I started racing into the city, but surely realized I wasn't the only one thinking not again. The bridges of the city had been closed down, blocked, so I dumped my car and got on a train.

It was just two months after the attack of September 11. As a country, we were very much still in a state of shock and mourning. And I remember in that long afternoon of anchoring the coverage urging viewers not to jump to conclusions, not to assume this was a terrorist attack. But knew many of you would, just as I had, head and heart working in opposite directions.

If, god forbid, a plane went down tomorrow, would we still think terror? I think I might. A few weeks back I saw a plane flying quite low outside what I thought the normal flight pattern was. And a short time later, very short time later, I heard sirens, lots of them.

I called the office. "Did something happen?" Nothing happened, it turned out, except perhaps imagination run wild. Maybe you've healed from the scars of September 11, but that day I knew I had not.

On to the news of the day. And we begin with the tape, the voice and the question. Is it bin Laden? Mike Boettcher has been following the story since it broke. So, Mike, a headline, please.

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, is it bin Laden's voice? The experts say, almost certainly, yes. And he has a very direct message: "We will kill you." -- Aaron.

BROWN: Mike, back to you at the top of the program tonight.

On to Baghdad and the latest twist in how the Iraqis plan to respond to the U.N. resolution. Jane Arraf again there for us -- Jane, the headline please. JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Iraq's parliament is urging, rejecting the Security Council resolution and facing war. Saddam Hussein's eldest son, though, is recommending acceptance. We're waiting to see what the Iraqi president will do.

BROWN: Jane, thank you.

And our latest from Christiane Amanpour tonight on Saudi Arabia. We look this evening at the life there for women. So Christiane, a headline.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as much focus on Saudi Arabia revolves around their treatment of women as it does on oil and sponsorship of terrorism. What we know is that women are veiled, they have little (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and can't see anything except through a little slit in their eyes. That much is true. But what we found is that a lot more is going on in the realm of women's ability to work there.

BROWN: Christiane, thank you. Back with you and the rest shortly.

Also coming up tonight, the latest from the bishop's meeting in Washington. Quite a change in how Catholic bishops are approaching and talking about the priest abuse scandal. Victims' groups not pleased. We'll get a read of this all from John Allen (ph) of the "National Catholic Reporter."

One story tonight from the storm (ph). The high school coach who spent his day putting his team back together and boosting morale in ways he's never done before. The winning gamble that was just too good not smell a rat. Three former fraternity brothers accused of fixing the pick six for the Breeder's (ph) Club. This is a fascinating story.

And the whirlwind career of Minnesota's accidental Senator, Dean Barkley. You can measure his time (UNINTELLIGIBLE) days, not decades. And he's just fine with that.

It's a busy hour on this Tuesday. We begin with the voice on the tape. Is it the voice? We don't know.

The notes are familiar, but the words sound different. Starker, more specific and blood thirsty. The message, a simple one, we will drag you into our world of pain.

For months, there have been this question: Is Osama alive? The tape aired today is not an answer exactly, more like another clue, but a big clue. Here's CNN's Mike Boettcher.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOETTCHER (voice-over): If there was any question whether Osama bin Laden was alive, the audiotape sent to Al-Jazeera seem to settle that, especially the reference to a recent string of attacks around the world.

OSAMA BIN LADEN (through translator): The killings of Germans in Tunisia and French in Karachi, and the bombing of the U.S. tanker in Yemen and the killing of the Marines in Flocca (ph), and the killing of the British and Australians in Bali and the latest Moscow operation are just some of the attacks here and there. And they're only a reaction to how the Muslims have been treated in a response to what god had ordered them (ph).

BOETTCHER: In the past, bin Laden has addressed his messages to his followers. This time, the message was aimed at those he termed allies of "the oppressive U.S. government."

BIN LADEN (through translator): So why are your governments aligning themselves with America and attacking us in Afghanistan, especially to mention Britain, France, Italy, Canada, Germany and Australia?

BOETTCHER: In Europe, security forces were already on their highest state of alert since 9/11, after a recent threat against France and Germany from bin Laden's lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahri (ph). So why is bin Laden talking now?

MAGNUS RANSTORP, PROFESSOR, ST. ANDREWS UNIVERSITY: Usually in the past whenever bin Laden has surfaced making a statement, there has been a major attack against a U.S. or Western target.

BOETTCHER: Coalition intelligence officials have been telling CNN for months they believe bin Laden is alive and hiding out along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. As for this latest message, U.S. intelligence officials are assessing the tape, comparing it to previous bin Laden statements before they're willing to say it's authentic. Those who have listened to previous bin Laden tapes say it sounds like him, but with some changes.

HISHAM MELHEM, LEBANESE JOURNALIST: Yes, it sounds like him, but the voice is not as soft as previous tapes by Osama bin Laden, and delivery is not as slow as previous delivery.

BOETTCHER: Osama bin Laden invoked Iraq, Palestine and Chechnya, all places he said where Muslims were being murdered. And he ended with a warning. "Just like you kill us, we will be you."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOETTCHER: In the past, bin Laden video and audiotapes have taken the tone of a sermon. But according to the experts we've spoken to, this was nothing more than a direct threat -- Aaron.

BROWN: And we read what into that?

BOETTCHER: Well, you can look at the timing. Across Europe, heightened alerts in Asia, heightened alerts in Argentina, for example, and South America, heightened alerts. There is a feeling among counterintelligence officials across the coalition that something is up. There's a lot of buzz out there. The big question, Aaron, is it independent of what's going on in Iraq or is it part of the threat of what's going to go on in Iraq? That's the big question.

BROWN: Well, that's one of them, Mike. Thank you. The trouble is we find out the wrong way in this, don't we? Thank you, Mike Boettcher in Atlanta tonight.

Our next guest knows the sound of bin Laden's voice up close, only the unsavory character of him. Peter Arnett has sat down with Mr. bin Laden. Mr. Arnett is one of a handful of western reporters to who have met with him. And he is with us here in New York tonight.

So, do you have an opinion on whether this is bin Laden or this is not bin Laden?

PETER ARNETT, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, CAMERA PLANET: Well, you know the voice of bin Laden I remember, Aaron, is the rich, classical Arab that delivered the interview to the CNN team of which I was a part of five years ago. He was confident, he was almost arrogant.

But the tape I heard today, subdued, flat. It's not the same man in the sense that he's not as confident and he's not as arrogant as the man I interviewed five years ago.

BROWN: Which is not to say it is not the same man. It is arguably then a person changed by circumstance. He's had, one might argue, the tar kicked out of him in Afghanistan and chased out of the country.

ARNETT: One would think so. Another point is it's basically very much off message that when we interviewed him. For example, he didn't even bring up Iraq five years ago. In an after-interview conversation we had with bin Laden with CNN's producer Peter Berg (ph) and myself and our cameraman, he ridiculed Saddam Hussein. He said he was a bad Arab.

And he sort of casually mentioned, well, the Iraqi people, I'm sorry for them. Also in our interview, he bearly dwelled on the Palestinian crisis. But what we have today is a grab bag of incidents. This message lists every basic terrorist incident of the last year. And I just wonder what message we would get from just a recitation of what we know has happened.

BROWN: Well, one -- perhaps two simple explanations, but a simple one is, by citing, for example, Bali, it's like holding up a newspaper. It does show that at least on the day after the Bali attack you were alive.

ARNETT: Well, no, that is very true. If this is aimed at asserting the fact that he's alive, sure, if indeed it is his voice. Another point, the bin Laden who was -- who we all knew not enough about prior to 9/11, constantly talked about American troop presence in the Gulf, in Saudi Arabia. He did in passing sort of mention, say, Somalia and Chechnya, but basically it was the American troop presence threatening the Arab world, the corrupt influence of Americans that he was saying of American culture and stuff. This seemed to me sort of a desperate sort of message, sort of a desperate message put out which may or may not have been by him, but I don't see it being such a rallying cry to his supporters.

BROWN: Because?

ARNETT: Well, I don't think there's any real directive in this. It's a recitation of what we all know has happened. So is this a rallying cry? If to the degree they're saying that he's still alive, maybe. But I don't see much more than that.

BROWN: Oddly, does it matter if he's still alive?

ARNETT: Those who want to believe it's bin Laden will believe. The other point is, it clearly came through sort of the authorized sources. It came from Al-Jazeera, which seems to be the pipeline of choice of the al Qaeda people. So to that degree, certainly al Qaeda is trying to let the world know that someone is still around.

BROWN: Peter, it's good to see you again. Someday, perhaps, he'll turn up and we'll have a definitive answer on whether he's alive or not.

ARNETT: Well, I'm going to Baghdad this weekend and I don't think he's there.

BROWN: I don't think he's there either. Thank you, Peter Arnett. Good to see you again.

Iraq now, I'm speaking of that and another complication for the U.S. war planners. According to U.S. officials, the Iraqis have ordered a million and a quarter doses of an antidote to nerve gases. Some of this from Turkey, some of it perhaps already delivered. Officials are not clear on that.

The drug is also used to treat heart attacks, though not in the dosage of form (ph) the Iraqis have ordered. The concern is, of course, the stuff would be used to protect Iraqi soldiers from blow- back of Iraqi nerve gas. Nerve gas, of course, the Iraqis deny having.

Secretary of State Powell said the administration is in touch with Turkey now and other potential suppliers with an aim toward blocking delivery. Mr. Powell met today to talk with the U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to talk about much of this, Iraq, the inspection team and the rest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: Mr. Blix and the inspectors are ready to go. As you know, they will be there, they will leave on the 18 of November, and we will begin their work actively. And I can assure you they are determined to do a good, professional job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: That, of course, is assuming they actually do go. Mr. Annan said he looks forward to receiving a letter from the Iraqis by Friday, accepting unconditionally the terms of the Security Council resolution. The Iraqi parliament today rejected it, but then quickly booted the decision upstairs.

Less politics here than political theater by the looks of it. Everyone now waiting for word from the star of the show, as it were. We go back to Baghdad and CNN's Jane Arraf. Jane, good evening.

ARRAF: Good evening, Aaron.

Well, we are waiting for that word from the highest authorities here, the revolution command council. Now it won't come to us in the form of a letter, it will probably come after a couple of days more of putting their objections on record. That national assembly debate you referred to was speaker after speaker of explaining why this was an unworkable solution.

The twist, of course, the highest profile member of parliament, Ude (ph) Saddam Hussein, recommending actually that the resolution be adopted. Now that has been taken up to the Iraqi president, who will meet with his revolution command council in an undisclosed time and place. And we hope to be hearing about that shortly. Although, chances are it could drag out to the very last moments of that deadline -- Aaron.

BROWN: Any hints in the Iraqi press as to how the Iraqi president is going to respond?

ARRAF: This is a really interesting thing, because there are two messages here. After that unanimous resolution rejecting the Security Council resolution at the national assembly, the official news agency here, which is the way that most Iraqis get their news, didn't bother to report it. Instead it said that they simply kicked the decision upstairs, as you mentioned, to president Saddam Hussein.

Now, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said he believed that the parliament wasn't speaking to him and he was waiting for a letter. But it appears to have been a message to the outside world that they will accept this, but they won't accept it that easily. Now in the press over the last week or so, we've seen little hints that Iraq is gearing towards accepting this resolution and we're expected to see more of those in the next couple of days before they make the final decision -- Aaron.

BROWN: When you say they won't accept it that easily, do you mean that they'll want to negotiate it, that they'll try and put conditions on it? Or they'll just go through this dance that they've been going through this week before accepting it?

ARRAF: Probably all of the above. Now, they have been trying to put conditions on it, although not in a formal sense. Some of the conditions include asking for Arabs to be included among the weapons inspebors. Others, suggested by the president's eldest son, include having this under the umbrella of the Arab League.

But they're not completely out of touch. And they do realize that there's no negotiation possible now. This really is their last chance, and they realize that. However, they want to put on record that they feel this is an unworkable solution -- resolution rather. It is the strongest resolution we've seen on the weapons inspections, and at the core of it is a demand for immediate unrestricted, unconditional, unimpeded access. And essentially what that means, Aaron, is that weapons inspectors can go anywhere they want and pretty well do anything they want in these sites that they intend to search over a two-month period of time.

So there are a lot of potential problems here and a lot of reasons why Iraq says this threatens its security as well as its sovereignty. So they're going to be saying a lot more about that -- Aaron.

BROWN: Jane, thank you very much. Jane Arraf in Baghdad tonight.

Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, life today in Saudi Arabia for women. CNN's Christine Amanpour has a special report from inside Saudi Arabia.

But up next, the clean-up in the south after Sunday's tornadoes left 36 dead. Tonight, rebuilding. This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: On to the tornadoes and the stories coming out of what was just the pictures of yesterday. So many stories that only now do the survivors have the breath to tell. The granddad in tears after finding out that his baby grandson was missing. A mother who saved her son literally by his ankles. And then there is this one, the high school football coach, who struggled to get in touch with a lot of his team yesterday, and the players who had more than sports on their minds at practice today.

Here's CNN's Gary Tuchman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's high school football playoff time in Tennessee and the players on the Warthberg (ph) Center football team are practicing with heavy hearts. Their big game is this Friday, but their minds are on what happened this past Sunday.

RYAN HAMM, HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYER: About two seconds before the tornado came, the power went out and we just kind of got real close together. We could hear everything.

TUCHMAN: Ryan Hamm is a linebacker, but he was a guard on Sunday night, guarding and protecting his mother in the basement of their home in Mossy Grove (ph) as a tornado ripped apart a portion of their house. They weren't hurt but were shaken up.

(on camera): How scary was it?

HAMM: It was real scary. Just probably one of the most scary things I've ever been through in my whole life. It would be the most scary thing I've ever been through. TUCHMAN (voice-over): Seven of Ryan's neighbors weren't as fortunate. They were killed when the powerful twister ripped through Mossy Grove (ph). One student in the high school was seriously hurt. The school itself is shut until next week, but the football head coach decided to resume practice for those that could attend. However, he wanted his players to know something first.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this also puts athletics and games in perspective. Life and tragedy is a lot more important than a football game. Our thoughts and prayers need to be with those people who have lost lives.

TUCHMAN: Legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi once said "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." Which serves to remind coach Larry Davis (ph) that he agrees, but only with the winning isn't everything part.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People need to enjoy their lives and not take life for granted because it can be gone in an instant.

TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Morgan County, Tennessee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Long before the guy in the fedora said he had the horse right here, race fans have known there's no such thing as a sure thing. No sure way of picking a winner, much less six winners in six races, unless all the stars and planets line up or the fix is in. So our story tonight of three men, one bet, six winners and $3 million doesn't seem to have anything to do with stars or planets or guys in fedoras either, for that matter. Feds, yes, but no fedoras. Here's CNN's Peter Viles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Of all places for a reunion of fraternity brothers, federal court. Three buddies back together this time in handcuffs. Just two and a half weeks ago, they were on top of the world, holding a $3 million winning ticket for picking all six winners in horse racing's Breeder's Cup, but prosecutors alleged fix was in. That Chris Harn was the inside man using his job at the bet processing company Autotote, he allegedly changed his bud's bets after the races were run.

MICHAEL HOBLOCK, N.Y. STATE RACING & WAGERING BOARD: This was an inside job. And the fact that just two weeks after these wagers were placed, three individuals are in custody and waiting action before a federal judge should send a message loud and clear to those who try to cheat the system.

VILES: Prosecutors say they tried three times. October 3, Glen DaSilva wins $1,700 on a Pick Four bet. October 5, DaSilva bets bigger, wins $107,000. Then the Breeder's Cup, Derrick Davis wins $3.1 million.

JAMES COMEY, U.S. ATTORNEY, NEW YORK: Greed has a way of overcoming people's judgment. And when they go for this big a payday, somehow we find out about it.

VILES: The three met at Drexel University in Philadelphia. They still have not collected the $3 million, and they maintain they did nothing wrong.

DANIEL CONTI, CHRIS HARN'S ATTORNEY: From the outset, Chris has maintained his innocence and nothing that occurred today has changed that. And we're not have anything further to say.

VILES (on camera): Now prosecutors allege this was a scheme to take all the luck out of gambling. The irony, though, is these three were in court today partly because of bad luck at the track. On that Saturday at the Breeder's Cup, out of six races, three were won by big upsets, which meant that no one, but Derrick Davis picked all six winners, which meant that everyone in horse racing and some in law enforcement wanted to know exactly how it was that Derrick Davis got it right.

Peter Viles, CNN Financial News, White Plains, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Coming up on NEWSNIGHT, women in Saudi Arabia trying to cope with old traditions in a modern world. And up next, American Catholic bishops still trying to cope with a crisis in the priesthood. This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Funny, we didn't expect to be talking two nights in a row about an exclusive all-male group that's being pushed to change by the outside. Last night it was Augusta National Golf Club being pushed to allow women in. Tonight it's a more powerful group, and the stakes here are vastly higher.

It's about Catholic bishops meeting in Washington to approve a policy involving abusive priests, one that victims groups say is not nearly tough enough. The Vatican came out against the first draft floated (ph) last summer by the bishops saying that it went too far and didn't protect the rights of the accused priests. Also such a different tone from the last meeting. This time the bishops seem to be more on the offensive.

Their president in a speech suggested that some were simply using the scandal to create division in the church.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BISHOP WILTON GREGORY, PRESIDENT, U.S. CONFERENCE OF BISHOPS: One cannot fail to hear in the distance, and sometimes very nearby, the call of a false prophet. Let us strike the shepherd and scatter the flock. We bishops need to recognize this call and to name it clearly for what it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: The Church has its own language, its own laws and its own political intrigue. We've relied many times on John Allen of the "National Catholic Reporter" to help us interpret it all. He joins us from Washington, where he's been covering the meeting. John, it's good to see you.

Why this difference in tone? No defensiveness this time, unlike Dallas.

JOHN ALLEN, ROME CORRESPONDENT, "NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER": Yeah, I think in Dallas the bishops definitely were feeling the heat. And there was an apologetic, almost timid sort of approach. I think what you're seeing here is -- what they're trying to project is that they are back in business as leaders of the Church.

On the one hand, that's clear from the fact that they are issuing statements and all sorts of other things, like Iraq and domestic violence and the U.S.-Mexico relationship. And, on the other hand, I think they're also saying to Catholics that while we were willing to make this really dramatic change on sexual abuse, there are all kinds of other changes that people might like to see us make, whether it's ordaining women or democratizing the Church, that we are simply not going to be bullied into.

Now, I think it needs to be said that there is some doubt at the end of the day whether they can really sort of cash in that claim. Whether they have in fact restored the confidence and the trust of American Catholics that they would need to be able to mobilize in order to sort of back up this idea that they are, in effect, back in the saddle.

BROWN: All right. Let's take a look at some of the substantive issues dealing with sex abuse. Have they changed from Dallas the definition of what sex abuse is?

ALLEN: Yes. The Dallas program defined sex abuse as any physical or non-physical interaction for purposes of sexual gratification.

What they've gone to is some more traditional language that comes out of canon law, which is the sort of inner church law of the Catholic church, and that language refers to sex abuse as an external, objectively grave violation of the Sixth Commandment.

The problem, of course, Aaron, is that, you know, what is a grave violation of the Sixth Commandment to one person may be very different than what it means to another.

We have yet to have a clear definition, a clear standard of what counts as sex abuse and what doesn't. That is certainly one thing that analysts and victims will be looking at as this policy goes into effect.

BROWN: And in coming out of Dallas, there was a rule or a law or whatever, that any case of sexual abuse of a minor would be immediately reported to civil authorities. Does that survive? ALLEN: Well, it depends on who you ask. I mean, what the bishops are saying is that that rule is in the charter.

Dallas created two documents. One is a charter, which is a longer, sort of state or set of principles.

The second was a set of norms. And that's the part of the program that actually has teeth. The Vatican is going to sign off on these norm and make them what's called particular law, meaning they're binding on every priest in the country.

Now this requirement to report each and every accusation that you're talking about is actually in that first document, the charter. What the bishops are saying in this meeting is that we are absolutely committed, we are obligating ourselves to living up to that. Of course what victims would say is, If it's not in the norms and it's not law, that means it is, in effect, up to each bishop to make these decisions on the fly, which is where we were before Dallas.

Again, it's a point -- we're going to have to watch the implementation to see who's right.

BROWN: One -- at the core of this has always been a feeling that, in a sense, it's a management failure, that it was the bishops themselves that failed the church.

Is there anything in this document that deals with bishops' accountability?

ALLEN: Well, yes and no. I mean, there are some forward looking accountability things. I mean, that is, you know, they've created a national review board, they've created a new office of protection for children in the church that does have some oversight responsibilities to monitor how bishops are implementing this charter or into report if they're not doing what they're supposed to do.

What that doesn't do anything, Aaron, of course, is it doesn't do anything for the failures that have already occurred. You know, to date there are some 325 or so priests that have been pulled out of ministry under the terms of the Dallas program. There isn't a single bishop who has resigned for his failure or his, as you say, management failure to intervene when he should have to prevent that abuse from happening.

Again, I think a lot of observers, a lot of sort of, you know, pew-going mass attending average Catholics out there that you would say are not really ready to sign off on the idea that the problem is solved until they see evidence that bishops and not just priests are being held accountable for how we got in this mess in the first place.

BROWN: John, the vote's tomorrow. It's good to talk to you tonight. Thank you very much.

ALLEN: Aaron, always a pleasure.

BROWN: Thank you. Up next on NEWSNIGHT, life inside Saudi Arabia from a woman's point of view.

And later, no, it's not a stunt from the hit movie "jackass." So just why did a Texas man end up trapped inside his chimney? I can't wait to find out. This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: And coming up, out from under the vail in Saudi Arabia. We're right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: A quick update from the Middle East here.

We're getting reports that Israeli troops have launched a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus. Witnesses report seeing dozens of tanks moving toward a refugee camp on the eastern side of the city. Reports of machine gun fire as well, shooting on both sides.

The Associated Press is reporting the IDF confirm a military operation is under way, but offers no more detail than that. No word either on casualties, if any, or on the objectives of the operation. This comes as part and parcel of an Israeli response to a Palestinian attack over the weekend that killed five people in a kibuttz to the north of Palestinian territory.

There are some who would say that the traditional head covering and black robes of a Muslim women are repressive. We've certainly seen our share of stories on the plight of women in places like Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia too.

But there are also those who would disagree. Some women who cover their heads and their bodies and say proudly that because of that they are free, free of harassment, free of stares, free to live their lives without the heckling and the cat calls they might find in the west.

Christiane Amanpour traveled to Saudi Arabia and talked to some of these women in who are adamant that they are not victims. Instead, they are winning some victories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR (voice-over): A baby at the Riyadh military hospital is undergoing emergency surgery to correct a congenital breathing defect.

Ably assisted by a team of male nurses and anesthesiaists, three female Saudi surgeons saved the child.

DR. HALFA AL MASSER, HEAD OF EMT DEPARTMENT: He says it was not her baby because and he's really blocked and we have to save his air otherwise we'll lose him in a second. So we did it immediately. It was an emergency tracheostomy when you came in.

AMANPOUR: Yes, but what about being a woman, working alongside men in Saudi Arabia?

DR. MAHA AL-AQEIBACH: I actually train male doctors. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

AMANPOUR: Actually, these women head their departments.

And in another wing, little Adnan is getting a checkup from Dr. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Twelve years ago at the time when I started, it wasn't easy. But with time I think the lady doctors they proved themselves very well here.

AMANPOUR: Saudi girls got the right to education only 42 years ago. Government scholarships and higher salaries than men put them on the fast track.

Still, Saudi women only make up about 7 percent of the workforce and mainly in the medical, banking and teaching professions.

Outside work, women are still heavily restricted and segregated by the country's conservative brand of Islam. There are separate lines in restaurants and banks.

But in a recent change, the government urged the Mutawah (ph), which monitors morality in public places, to go easy and respect people's freedoms.

(on camera): Last spring, the Saudi press heavily criticized the morals police for allegedly preventing school girls from fleeing their burning building for fear of exposing them to male rescue workers. Fifteen girls were killed in that fire.

Now, Saudi women are able to air more of their grievances because a slight opening up of the press here is making it a forum for public debate.

(voice-over): Nada Al-Fayez is a newspaper columnist and a private businesswoman. She calls herself a new generation woman, and has high ambitions.

NADA AL-FAYEZ, BUSINESSWOMAN: And I wish that I can have a high position in the future in the government. I dream that one day I'm going to be a minister.

AMANPOUR: Right now, women can't even drive, but they were recently granted their own ID cards. Before that, their names were simply attached to those of their husbands or male relatives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am basically an independent woman. I'm taking more serious decisions in my life. I'm looking after patients and taking more serious decisions, so I have the right to be looked at as an independent human being.

AMANPOUR: While Saudi women admit many frustrations, they remind us how long it took American women to win their rights, and they warn us not to expect them to be liberated overnight.

AL-FAYEZ: The rights belong to our religion and mentality and lifestyle in the kingdom is totally different than the women rights belong to the religion and the mentality and the lifestyle in the State, as if you are comparing between apple and banana.

AMANPOUR: But an economy that's beginning to demand two-salary families is already bringing pressure for change, and many Saudi women, and men, tell us that it will come sooner or later.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Saudi women, perhaps surprisingly, make up more than 58 percent of all the graduates of Saudi universities and special colleges. That's more than male graduates, but despite the progress, the real progress that women have made in the last 12 years, for instance, from the first Gulf War, they are still pretty agitated that there is only a small spectrum of the professional work force that is open to them. They can't study engineering, they can't study law, and they do say, despite their defensiveness when Western reporters go in and put the microscope on them, that they do want more rights, more freedoms, especially in the professional field.

BROWN: Just quickly, two things. A Saudi woman get a passport, can she leave the country on her own?

AMANPOUR: Yes and no. She does have a passport. Officially, she has to ask for her husband's permission. Most Saudi women that we spoke to say that their husbands give them permission. But of course, we're talking to a fairly privileged class.

What happens to the Saudi woman who is poor, who can't afford to leave the country in any event, certainly can't afford to do much without her husband's permission, probably can't afford to go to school, and those people are very much at a disadvantage.

BROWN: The series continues tomorrow. What's on the agenda?

AMANPOUR: Well, because we wanted to show American viewers a sort of slice of life of what's going on in Saudi Arabia, we thought we'd remind people that something to the extent of 40,000 American citizens live in Saudi Arabia, and we just want to bring up how they say they've been treated since 9/11.

They say they've been treated extremely well, not any violence targeted against them, but certainly a state of tension has developed in a long alliance between Saudi Arabia and the American workers, most of whom are in the oil and aerospace, and other major industries there.

BROWN: That's tomorrow night's report. We'll look forward to that. Thank you, Christiane. Christiane Amanpour.

Later on NEWSNIGHT, the red carpet treatment for a new senator who, temporarily, at least, holds a lot of cards. And up next, some new words you need to know about. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Time to take a look ahead at tomorrow's "AMERICAN MORNING WITH PAULA ZAHN," and here is Paula Zahn.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Aaron. Tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING," if it comes to war with Iraq, it's not going to look like any other war we have seen before. We are going to get a preview of how America's new high-tech arsenal will be used against Iraq.

That's tomorrow at 7:00 am. Hope you'll join us then -- Aaron.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: I'll set my alarm clock. Coming up on NEWSNIGHT, the accidental senator, Minnesota's Dean Barkley. And up next, words, lots of them, lots of new words. We're right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: A couple of quick items to get in tonight. First, Bobby Knight, you just cannot keep Bobby Knight down, can you? Mr. Knight has sued Indiana University saying his former employer breached his contract and cost him $2 million.

Indiana fired Knight two years ago for grabbing a student he thought was being disrespectful, just one of many transgressions.

And we expect kids to get bad ideas from the movies they watch, but not necessarily from their parents. A man in Fort Worth, Texas was trying to help his family get back into their home after they got locked out. He tried to get in through the chimney, and he actually admitted he had just watched "Mary Poppins."

If you're a baseball team, it's the World Series you want to get into. If you're a batter or a fielder or a pitcher, it's the Hall of Fame. If you're a golfer, you want to get to Augusta and the Masters. But if you're a gourmet, it is the hot new restaurant.

But if you are word, what you want to get into is the shorter Oxford English Dictionary, of which a new edition has just come out, the first in almost a decade.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): About the shorter part first. At 15 pounds and 3,750 pages, this dictionary is shorter, compared only to the unabridged OED, which is 20 volumes long, and costs $1,500.

You'd need a steamer trunk to carry that around, but a couple of good sized lunch boxes will do you for these two volumes. The big news is that there are now 3,500 words that weren't in the last edition, words that have been floating around the English-speaking world, but that weren't yet ripe enough, weren't mature enough, hadn't yet demonstrated that they really were here to stay.

But now they are here to stay, literally. No word is ever removed from the OED. So welcome for all time to "Chick lit," "pashmina," "arm candy," and "comb-over."

In these pages, snuggled up against venerable terms used by Shakespeare and Milton and the King James Bible, you will now also find "Viagra" and "botox," "lap dance," and "shockjock."

Just as we'd have no idea but for the OED what the Scotts meant by runrig back in the 18th Century, so a couple hundred years from now, flummocks (ph) folk will turn here to figure out what the devil we meant by "bling-bling," "bad ass," "mind-meld" and our favorite, "go commando."

Oh, brave new world that has such brave new words in it, thousands of them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The things you can say on television. Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, it is not queen for a day, but kind of close. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Finally from us tonight, the accidental power broker. Someone around here today suggested this story seemed like something from the old "Queen For a Day" game show, but we think it also has the makings of some great reality TV.

A guy who used to run a car wash is picked by a former pro wrestler to fill in as a U.S. senator for Minnesota, only for the last few weeks of the term. His chief of staff is a businessman who knows more about plastics than politics and we're not making that up. Sounds like a train wreck but Dean Barkley is on board and all smiles.

His story from Jonathan Karl.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to Washington.

SEN. DEAN BARKLEY (I), MINNESOTA: My pleasure being here.

KARL: So what's in store for the first day?

BARKLEY: Oh, let's see. I'm going to meet the parliamentarian, I'm going to go see Senator Byrd, I get to see President Bush at 4:30. Swearing in at 1. I have a speech, my first speech on the floor. It'll be a eulogy to the late Senator Paul Wellstone.

KARL (voice-over): A busy first day for Minnesota's accidental senator. Talking to Dean Barkley, it's almost impossible not to think of Jimmy Stewart in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." JIMMY STEWART: The dome, the Capitol dome, as big as life sparkling away under the old out there.

KARL: After all, Mr. Smith was also a political novice sent to Washington after the unexpected death of a senator.

BARKLEY: I'm a little wider than Jimmy, he's a little taller than me. But it's kind of the same thing. I'm a straight shooter, honest kind of guy, never thought that this would happen. Lightning struck and here I am.

KARL (on camera): Whether or not you're a footnote or chapter head remains to be seen but you are clearly part of American history.

BARKLEY: I know that. I found that out as soon as I got here when the media jumped me going into Daschle's office, all 60 or 70 of you. I says, Oh, my God, what have I stepped into here. So far you've been nice. I guess it's still the honeymoon. So when do you turn on me?

KARL: You have a shortened term so maybe in a few hours.

BARKLEY: Oh, OK. Good. I've got until noon?

I can just walk right by. I get my own elevator and everything. What a country.

KARL (voice-over): After a brief stop in his barren, windowless office, Barkley is off to his first meeting, which will be with Senate legend Robert C. Byrd.

(on camera): Now are you going to ask him for some money for Minnesota? I mean he is the appropriations chairman still.

BARKLEY: I'm going to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the idea about his tribute to Paul. About getting something basically greased through as a living memorial to him. We've got some pretty good ideas.

Senator Byrd.

SEN. ROBERT BYRD (D), WEST VIRGINIA: Hello.

BARKLEY: My pleasure to meet you.

BYRD: Congratulations to you.

BARKLEY: Oh, thanks.

BYRD: Yes, I look forward to serving with you.

BARKLEY: Oh, I have admired you for a long time. You are the epitome of the U.S. Senate.

KARL (voice-over): Barkley emerges from his meeting with no specific commitments, but a lesson on how to bring the bacon back home. (on camera): So, what did Mr. Byrd show you?

BARKLEY: Well, the first thing he showed me is the road map of West Virginia in 1946, where he probably said there wasn't a single two-lane paved road in the state of West Virginia, and how things have changed since he's been in the Senate.

KARL: Yes, there's quite a few paved roads in West Virginia right now.

BARKLEY: Yes, I've been through West Virginia, and I told him I noticed that you're not without a lack of freeways there. That you have quite a good transit system.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you're about to enter, so help you God.

BARKLEY: I do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations.

KARL: Barkley gets to be sworn in not once, but twice -- officially on the Senate floor and then in the old Senate Chamber, a ceremonial swearing-in.

CNN jumped in the car with Senator Barkley as he went to his last meeting of the day. This one at the White House.

BARKLEY: So it's going to be a wild conclusion to a very interesting day.

KARL: So what was that meeting like?

BARKLEY: Surreal. I mean, my first visit to the White House is the Oval Office to meet the president. I mean, how cool can that be?

KARL: Jonathan Karl, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Well that, can be pretty cool, can't it? I hope that's a good thing.

Good to you have with us tonight. We're back tomorrow at 10:00. We hope you are, too. Until then, I'm Aaron Brown in New York. Good night from all of us at NEWSNIGHT.

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