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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Tornadoes Strike Oklahoma City; Interview With Erin Brockovich

Aired May 08, 2003 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again everyone. Someone at the Denver Airport said this today about the black cloud that was forming in the distance. It was pretty spectacular looking he said.
There is something mesmerizing about those tornadoes, twisters. It's why people chase them, why people make movies about them. But for the people actually left with the aftermath there's no magic, no appreciation of some awesome force of nature.

No one makes an action movie about what comes after the storm and there are a lot of people dealing tonight with the aftermath and unthinkably more terrible weather across the south, the Midwest, part of the west as well.

Our first whip tonight is a weather whip, if you will. We'll look at tornadoes that swept across Oklahoma City, as the afternoon rush hour began many people hurt there. We may hear from the governor of the state.

There's flooding in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with the Tennessee River hitting levels not seen in more than a generation.

We'll have the situation in Birmingham, Alabama, nearly 11 inches of rain falling in two hours. The weather is our lead story tonight.

But we have a lot more to go as well and our second whip of the night begins with other news, news that is a troubling story out of the Persian Gulf, Iran possibly nuclear ambitions and the president weighing in. David Ensor working that, so David a headline from you.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, a confrontation is brewing between the United States and Iran over nuclear weapons. The U.S. says Iran appears to be preparing to build them. Iran denies it. And next month, the U.S. will try to convince a key international organization to declare Iran in violation of a treaty it signed.

BROWN: David, thank you, back to you tonight.

More violence in Gaza ahead of a trip to the region by the secretary of state. Kelly Wallace in Jerusalem tonight with the story, so Kelly a headline.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, an Israeli missile strike leaves a Hamas leader dead and Palestinians questioning Israel's commitment to the Mid East roadmap while in a follow-up to a story we told you about last week, autopsy results are out and appear to show that an award-winning British journalist was shot and killed by Israeli forces.

BROWN: Kelly, thank you. And a real stunner even to say these three words, Michael Jordan fired. Josie Karp has the headline that we haven't yet stolen. Josie, go ahead.

JOSIE KARP, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, no one was more surprised to hear those words than Michael Jordan himself, but the expectation is that even though Jordan is out in Washington he won't be out of the game of basketball for too long -- Aaron.

BROWN: Josie, thank you, back to you and the rest shortly.

Also coming up tonight on NEWSNIGHT, the anniversary of the allied victory in Europe and we'll remember World War II with a pair of stories, one about a little French town honoring the Americans who died there, the other about a young soldier who would one day become a Senator.

We'll talk with Erin Brockovich tonight about why she's going after the city of Beverly Hills and the mayor and the City Council will join us as well.

Bob Franken tonight on an intriguing political development, why the president's good friend, National Rifle Association, is at least a bit unhappy with him.

And, the remarkable story of a hiker who did what he needed to do to survive after he was trapped by a boulder, the story in his own words. That and much more and perhaps some unexpected twists along the way.

We begin with another day in a week that a lot of people would sooner forget. They'd like to but they can not. The rubble will not let them nor will the wind and the rain and the water.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): The week of miserable and damaging weather continued throughout large sections of a rain-soaked and battered country. Flooding just about brought Chattanooga, Tennessee to a standstill. The Tennessee River reaching its highest levels in nearly 30 years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chalford (ph) Road here is shut down because it's under about three and a half foot, four foot of water.

BROWN: And tornadoes continued touching down as well. This one hit during the afternoon drive home in Oklahoma City. The destruction was widespread. Dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed. Hundreds of trees uprooted.

There were some injuries as well no fatalities, but injuries, and the cleanup will be arduous. And this huge black cloud began to assemble into a tornado just a mile away from the airport in Denver. Fortunately it never touched ground.

Throughout much of the Deep South, there was water everywhere. Near Birmingham, Alabama people were scrambling to save what they could from water-logged homes. Local television weathermen were kept quite busy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this is one that was caught on tape in Wilsonville. This thing actually came out of northern sections of Kilton (ph) County and then moved right on through Shelby County, eventually up through (UNINTELLIGIBLE) counties and on through the eastern half of the state here.

BROWN: In rural parts of western and northern Georgia, water rose up to the windows of these farmhouses. Horses had to trudge through muddy water and residents were left wondering how much left they had to lose.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hard when you seen what you work for all your life washed away.

BROWN: Weather forecasters say the same patterns that made the tornadoes and flooding possible this week are not expected to go away anytime soon. Already nearly 200 tornadoes have been counted across the country and many more are predicted until the early part of next week.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: That's a brief overview of the weather. As we said, we may hear from the governor of Oklahoma before our 90 minutes are up tonight, and if he starts to speak we'll bring that to you about the situation in Oklahoma City, which was hammered by a tornado just a few years ago. Other weather storms are developing. We'll keep an eye on them and as we can report it, we will.

There's another gathering storm, however, to deal with the growing suspicion that Iran is working on nuclear weapons. This week the State Department tried to ratchet up the international pressure and today President Bush entered the fray.

Reporting for us tonight, CNN's David Ensor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): Iran denies it will build nuclear weapons using materials from its newly-revealed plants near Natanz and Iraq but U.S. officials say they may not be telling the truth.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've always expressed my concerns that the Iranians may be developing a nuclear program.

ENSOR: Now, the Bush administration is trying to convince the International Atomic Energy Agency to consider sanctions against Iran for violating the rules of a nonproliferation treaty it signed. Officials argue an oil and gas rich nation like Iran does not need nuclear power.

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Iran flares off more gas than they would ever produce from the nuclear programs that they claim they are producing for peaceful purposes.

ENSOR: In Moscow this week, officials say, John Bolton, Undersecretary of State, asked the Russians to vote against Iran at the June meeting of the board of the IAEA.

U.S. officials argue if IAEA Director General Mohammed ElBaradei tells the board the whole story at its meeting next month, he will have to say Iran has violated the safeguard rules governing those nations that have signed the International Nonproliferation Treaty.

If so, Iran could lose substantial international technical help at the Bushear Reactor that the Russians are building for Iran and it could lose more. A lot depends on the Russian view.

GARY SICK, IRANIAN EXPERT: I don't think there's any chance that they're going to withdraw their support for the Bushear Nuclear Reactor, the power reactor, but I do think that they may take a hard look again at about -- at the support that they have been giving in terms of people getting trained and that sort of thing.

ENSOR: The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency estimates that Iran could have nuclear weapons in about seven years. Some outside analysts say it could be much sooner, possibly just two or three years.

(on camera) The U.S. goal to use international pressure on Iran to achieve change. It's an approach that in the end the U.S. gave up on in the case of Iraq.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BREAKING NEWS)

BROWN: OK, back now to the weather. The governor of Oklahoma Brad Henry is speaking with reporters in Midwest City, Oklahoma.

BRAD HENRY, OKLAHOMA GOVERNOR: Slightly more than 100 confirmed injuries as a result of the tornado that struck this afternoon but no confirmed fatalities and we are very happy to report that.

We have been in contact with FEMA officials who have a liaison on the way down here who will be here tonight. A full FEMA team will be in tomorrow to assess the damage. We have already in the works an emergency declaration request from the president. We will certainly request all the federal assistance that is available.

And, I am certainly extremely proud of all of the response team. The response to this disaster has just been absolutely phenomenal from the firefighters to the police to the healthcare officials and all the other emergency management officials. Once again, we have set the standard in Oklahoma. They have already searched the full area twice tonight and will search it a third time and give us a final count on the number, the total number, of homes damaged and destroyed. It appears that the damage was slightly worse in more than in Oklahoma City and obviously our thoughts and our prayers go out to all of those who were affected by this tragedy.

But Oklahomans are strong and Oklahomans are resilient and once again we've shown with the response, not just of the emergency management officials, but of all of the Oklahomans who have offered assistance and help tonight and I appreciate all Oklahomans and this, again, underscores why this is the greatest state in the nation.

I'd like to ask Mayor Humphreys to make a few comments at this time -- Mayor.

KIRK HUMPHREYS, MAYOR, OKLAHOMA CITY: I'd like to thank Governor Henry and Mrs. Henry for coming down tonight and Robert Ashwood (ph) and other state officials for their assistance and their offers of assistance as we move further into this.

I am quite concerned about our friends in Moore. Mayor Glen Lewis (ph) and the people in Moore got hit hard four years ago and it looks like they've been hit quite a bit harder than Oklahoma City tonight. The last report that we have is that 1,500 homes in Moore were damaged and 300 of those were destroyed.

So, that appears to be far worse than the damage in Oklahoma City. Here in Oklahoma City, the path of damage started in the area of 134th and Sante Fe, moved really just south of the track of the May 3 tornado, came out here on Sunner (ph) Road and destroyed Lincoln National Bank just south of I-240, came across I-240 and did substantial damage at the GM Plant.

We don't have information from GM yet as far as the structural damage on the plant. Apparently there was only one employee at GM that was injured and the rest of the people were OK. So, we're thankful for the fact that there was no loss of life or more serious injury at GM.

But it does appear from flyovers that the GM plant sustained substantial structural damage, so we'll find out from GM officials tomorrow exactly what that means as far as their ability to resume production.

Went on northeast from there and some of the more rural residential areas in northeast Oklahoma City did receive some substantial damage and some homes were destroyed.

So, again, I want to thank our police and fire and our emergency medical personnel for the great response. We returned most of our police and fire crews to normal duty in the city. We still have about one-third of the folks that are on duty right now are still out here doing the searches and securing the areas. I will say that if folks don't need to be in those neighborhoods we encourage them to stay home. The neighborhoods that were most directly affected our police are securing those areas to make sure the only people that go in there are the ones that have business there.

So, we'll see what happens more in the morning but it looks like that in some sense we got lucky tonight -- Governor.

HENRY: Thank you very much. We would be happy to respond to any questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about the GM Plant, what kind of impact do you believe this (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is going to have on the state?

HENRY: Well, the damage to the GM Plant will have a significant impact on the state and our economy. I did visit with GM officials tonight and while they did report significant damage, they are just very, very excited by the fact that nobody was seriously injured.

They had one injury that they transported to the hospital and nobody was killed, so the officials at GM right now are thankful for that and they're not worried about the damage. That can be repaired and we will, as Oklahomans show time and time again working together, will rebuild GM, will rebuild Oklahoma City and Moore and Midwest City and the other communities in Oklahoma that were damaged tonight and we'll be stronger in the end.

BROWN: That's Brad Henry who is the governor, the 39-year-old governor of the state of Oklahoma. Kirk Humphreys, the mayor of Oklahoma City, also speaking. This is a tornado that hit early in the afternoon rush hour and as we listen to them talk about it, it is obviously considerably more serious than the first reporting out of Oklahoma City seemed to indicate but at least so far the best news is, while there is considerable damage, considerable damage in Oklahoma City, there is right now no reported loss of life. We'll keep an eye on that.

There are a number of other storm systems that seem to be working around the country tonight in the south, way out west as well, so we're just keeping an eye on all of this and should anything happen we'll just go to it and report it and then move on to wherever else we plan to go tonight. That's the situation.

And where we plan to go next is the Middle East, the Israeli- Palestinian conflict and a random sampling of headlines tonight give you a sense of it all. One reads, "Washington has high hopes for Powell's Mid East tour." He leaves for the region tomorrow. The other headline read, "Israel kills Hamas member before Powell peace push," hope and reality.

Reporting for us tonight, CNN's Kelly Wallace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice-over): Anger on the streets of Gaza City. This is all that is left of the Hamas military commander's car. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) attack which our CNN team witnessed from about a mile away. The air strike comes just two days before U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to the region to focus on the so-called Mid East roadmap.

"Look at what they are doing here" this man told us. "This is the reward for the roadmap."

Israeli security forces say (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was planning suicide attacks against Israel and was connected to several previous attacks which left 19 Israelis dead.

(on camera): Operations like these are likely to complicate an already difficult balance for the new prime minister. His ability to try and reign in Hamas is likely to depend on the feeling on the Palestinian street.

(voice-over): There are signs everywhere in Gaza of backing for Hamas. At least here it appears to have much more political support than Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Palestinian people support Hamas more than him and he has to know that very well.

WALLACE: Do you think Hamas should be disarmed?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No because Hamas is the voice of our people here in Palestine.

WALLACE: In a conversation with CNN, this Hamas leader said the new prime minister would not pick a fight with the radical Palestinian organization.

"If Abu Mazen would insist to disarm the resistance, he would find himself in a face-to-face confrontation with the Palestinian people" Rantisi told us.

The question becomes how can Abu Mazen keep the confidence of the international community and put forward the peace process if he can't disarm Hamas? And if he tries to stamp out terror attack, like last week's Tel Aviv suicide bombing, could the result be fighting between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: Meantime, more violence in the region since that Israeli aerial attack. A Palestinian packed a car with explosives and rammed it into an Israeli tank in the Gaza Strip killing himself in what Palestinian security sources say was a suicide bombing attack.

And then in other incident, a 20-year-old Palestinian shot and killed a man on a donkey, shot and killed both by Israeli soldiers, according to Palestinian sources. The Israeli army says it's checking both reports -- Aaron.

BROWN: And the autopsy you mentioned earlier on the British photographer who died almost a week ago? WALLACE: Exactly. A lawyer for James Miller's family telling CNN that it is highly probably that Miller was shot and killed by Israeli forces. The lawyer says he has seen the autopsy report and says while the bullet has not been examined just yet, the radius of the bullet hole indicates that it came from an M-16 a weapon commonly used by Israeli soldiers.

Also, the forensic institute reporting that Miller was shot in the front, in the neck, not in the rear as some senior Israeli officials had asserted over the weekend, suggesting that possibly he was shot by Palestinian gunmen.

The Israeli military is still not formally commenting on the autopsy reports. Israeli officials have been saying that Miller was likely killed as a result of a clash between Israeli soldiers and armed Palestinian gunmen, but those close to James Miller say there was no firing coming from Palestinian gunmen.

They say Miller and two other journalists were walking there, one holding a white flag, motioning out to the Israeli soldiers that they were journalists. Shortly after that shots fired and Miller killed.

Now, Miller's family, his colleagues and, Aaron, even the Foreign Press Association here in Israel calling for an independent and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death -- Aaron.

BROWN: Kelly, thank you, Kelly Wallace in Jerusalem tonight.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, President Bush takes on the National Rifle Association.

And, the trapped hiker who had to resort to the most extreme measures to save himself, you'll hear his story and much more.

This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: There are two iron laws of presidential politics, don't go against your base, and don't mess with the National Rifle Association.

In supporting an extension of the congressional ban on semi- automatic assault weapons, President Bush is doing a bit of both, but if he runs the risk of alienating a hard core constituency the president may also believe the risk is worth taking to win the support of moderates on gun control. We'll know whether he succeeded in about 17 months.

Until then, here's CNN's Bob Franken.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even though the National Rifle Association has political adversaries running for cover, gun control groups are still firing back. Not only that, but one of the NRA's best friends, for the moment at least, is supporting the other side.

That friend, the president of the United States, is on record as favoring an extension of the assault weapons ban. So, the NRA is going to try and get its congressional friends to make sure that the president has no new legislation to sign.

CHRIS COX, NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION: It's really not an issue that the president hopefully will have an opportunity to discuss.

FRANKEN: Gun control advocates agree the ban can get bottled up in Congress unless the president is aggressive.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Now, we need the president to not just say he supports it but to work with us.

FRANKEN: Will the president work for it? Certainly no clear-cut guidance from the White House.

FLEISCHER: The president has made his position known and during the course of the debate I imagine that people will refer to the president's position and cite it and I will continue to repeat it. The president, you will watch his actions and judge for yourself over time.

FRANKEN: Congressional Democrats want a ten-year extension. The ban makes 19 different types of weapons illegal. Gun control is a political hard sell these days. In fact, the NRA opposing gun control stands the chance of winning a huge victory with passage of legislation that would grant weapons manufacturers and dealers legal protections against lawsuits.

Even so, there are complications. The National Rifle Association wants an emergency stay of last week's court decision upholding parts of the Campaign Finance Law, the part which restricts political ads by special interest groups, arguing the ruling will prevent the NRA from running a series of 60-second radio ads in crucial states whose Senators have yet to decide where they stand on the legislation that would limit lawsuits.

COX: We'd be able to communicate with our members and to the gun owners in any given state and to suggest that we can't do that for risk of being thrown in jail is simply outrageous.

FRANKEN (on camera): The National Rifle Association, the opponents of gun control, would seem these days to be on top of the political world but as we know it can be tough at the top.

Bob Franken, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The slogan makes for a powerful bumper sticker, "Guns don't kill people, people do." But this next story makes the case the slogan doesn't go far enough, a better one might be, "People do and people die and still other people search their souls and struggle for redemption."

The story from NEWSNIGHT's Beth Nissen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the lead story across Connecticut in early April, police say Jennifer O'Connor a Branford, Connecticut woman with a history of psychiatric problems confessed to shooting her daughter Sarah (ph) while the 7-year-old girl lay sleeping. O'Connor told police she could no longer cope with her daughter's learning disabilities. Sarah died three days later in a New Haven hospital.

Thomas Imperati (ph), owner of a local gun and motorcycle shop, said he felt gutted when he saw the news reports of O'Connor's arrest on murder charges.

THOMAS IMPERATI, SHOP OWNER: As soon as the police, Branford Police officers pulled the gun out and held it up, I knew it was my rifle.

NISSEN: Imperati had sold O'Connor the rifle a few months before.

IMPERATI: She explained to me that she wanted a lighter, smaller caliber hunting gun for, you know, for deer hunting, for medium size game hunting.

NISSEN: Imperati followed the letter of the law. He sent O'Connor's information to state authorities for a background check. Once she was cleared he made O'Connor wait even longer than the minimum two weeks. When she came in to pick up the gun he showed her how to load it and fire it.

IMPERATI: That's where you push up your ammunition which store in your magazine and then you have to work the action, cock it, and then pull the trigger.

NISSEN: He says he is now haunted by memories of that lesson.

IMPERATI: I know in my mind that when she was loading that gun she was thinking of me teaching, how I taught her to load it and that's the part that upsets me the most that I feel in my heart that I was involved in hurting the child.

NISSEN: He blames himself for not picking up what he calls red flags in O'Connor as he sometimes has in others.

IMPERATI: I've had people come in that I just didn't like the questions they were asking me or the tones that they were answering me in the questions I was asking them, and I just told them flat out, no, sorry, can't sell you a gun.

NISSEN: Imperati hasn't sold anyone a gun since Sarah O'Connor's death. He's decided to quite dealing in firearms, he says, until state screening systems are more complete. IMPERATI: I can't -- I can't deliver a gun to somebody else if I feel -- if I don't feel comfortable in the system. I can't do it. I won't be a part of it again.

NISSEN: He has shifted his business to sales of custom made motorcycles.

IMPERATI: Yes, it's a real nice bike, I mean if you're looking for one...

NISSEN: Imperati, the father of two young sons, tries not to think about Jennifer O'Connor who remains in jail with bail set at $1 million. He can not help but think of Sarah O'Connor whose photo he keeps locked in a safe in his store.

IMPERATI: That little girl was beautiful. She was seven years old. She was a little blonde girl. She looked like an angel and there will always be a part of me that blames myself for selling this gun to this woman.

NISSEN: And finds comfort only in knowing that he will not sell another gun to be used so wrongly.

Beth Nissen, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, hear from the man forced to make an impossibly difficult decision, amputate his right arm or face certain death.

Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Some stories are compelling because they involve big, important, complicated issues. And some are compelling just because they tell one person's drama, pure and simple. And this is one of those: the story of a hiker caught in a terrible accident and the stark decision he faced if he wanted to survive. He is alive today, a changed man, but alive.

And today, he told his story. Here's CNN's Gary Tuchman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not even two weeks have passed since Aron Ralston was forced to cut off his right arm to save his life. But he was physically and mentally prepared to talk to reporters and even wanted to memorialize the moment.

ARON RALSTON, HIKER: And now one for me.

(LAUGHTER)

TUCHMAN: With his mother by his side, the 27-year-old climber talked about the 800-pound boulder that landed on both of his arms.

RALSTON: I was able to successfully pull my left hand out of the way. My right hand became trapped between the falling boulder and the wall.

TUCHMAN: He was by himself in the Blue John Canyon next to Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah. He had a little water, two burritos and candy bar crumbs. After not able to budge the boulder at all, he decided after three days to amputate his arm.

RALSTON: Essentially, I got my surgical table ready and applied the knife to my arm and started sawing back and forth. And it didn't even break the skin. I couldn't even cut of the hair off my arm, the knife was so dull at that point.

TUCHMAN: Two more days went by. Ralston's thoughts raced between fears of death and happy memories of the important people of his life. He decided on Thursday he had to success in the amputation.

RALSTON: The rational section, portion of decision to sever my arm came when I just -- I realized that it was really the last opportunity that I could have and still have the physical strength to get myself out to where help would find me.

I felt pain and I coped with it and moved on.

TUCHMAN: It took about an hour. He still had to rig anchors, fix a rope, repel to the canyon floor, and then hike. But he was found.

RALSTON: I stayed conscience and coherent through the helicopter ride, landed in Moab. It's a beautiful country to see, but even more beautiful to see a town with a hospital rising up out of it.

TUCHMAN: Aron Ralston has undergone surgery in preparation for a prosthetic arm. The outdoors will still be a part of his life. And he has a more immediate wish.

RALSTON: If the doctors will so allow, I would love a big, tall, tasty, crushed margarita.

(LAUGHTER)

RALSTON: I thought a lot about margaritas while I was in there.

(LAUGHTER)

TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: That is an unbelievable story -- a few more before we go to break, starting with a mix of good and bad news where SARS is concerned. The World Health Organization today doubled the death rate from the disease. It now puts the number at 15 percent globally, with the risk of death substantially higher among older patients. The good news comes from new studies that shows the virus is slow to mutate, making it more vulnerable to a vaccine.

A Los Angeles grand jury today indicted Katrina Leung. Mrs. Leung, you may recall, is the woman recruited by the FBI to spy on China who allegedly was also a spy for China. She's accused of taking secret documents from her FBI handler, who may also have been her lover, and passing them onto the Chinese. The grand jury's bill of indictment included unlawful possession of classified documents, but not a charge of espionage.

The state of Georgia has a new flag yet again after a battle that has gone on nearly 10 times longer than the Civil War. This is the third one since 1956, the first one to get by without a Confederate battle cross on it. Georgians have been bitterly divided about the flag, the battle cross, which many call a racist throwback and other sees as a symbol of Southern heritage.

Still to come on NEWSNIGHT: Republican leaders and African- Americans come together one day -- or today at least -- to rebuild the landmark. The big question is: Can they mend fences long term?

And Michael Jordan's ungraceful exit from the NBA.

This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: And next on NEWSNIGHT: rebuilding the Frederick Douglass House and ties between African-Americans and the GOP.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: It may be that, no matter how hard they try, Republicans will never get much of the African-American vote. President Bush received only 8 percent, the lowest since Barry Goldwater in 1964. And Goldwater opposed the civil rights legislation of the era. So it may be a fruitless exercise in the end. But, today, with history as a backdrop, the Republicans tried again.

Reporting for us: CNN's Jonathan Karl.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Republicans gathered on the porch of ex-slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass to announce $1 million to renovate his home and some ideas to refurbish their party's image.

REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R-IL), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We are proud to be here today to help fulfill America's promise with an agenda to empower African-Americans to achieve the American dream.

KARL: The Douglass House is in disrepair. Water has damaged the walls and forced the removal of Douglass' treasured library. But the GOP's reputation among African-Americans is in disrepair, too, damaged after Trent Lott was forced out as Senate leader for making racially- insensitive remarks. Since then, conservative commentator Armstrong Williams has led a Republican drive to reach out to African-Americans.

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS, CONSERVATIVE COLUMNIST: I think people more and more realize, hey, these guys are sincere this time. It's not just about rhetoric. But we cannot just stop and grow defensive because the Democrats are saying what was true of our party several years ago. This is a new party. This is Bush's party. This is Hastert's party. This is Frist's party. It's different.

KARL: The Republicans toured the house and presented a grab bag of ideas, ranging money for historically black colleges to more traditional Republican issues, like school vouchers and tax cuts. They've also promised to recruit more African-American staff and candidates.

(on camera): The Frederick Douglass House is an especially strong symbol for Republicans, because not only is he considered the father of the civil rights movement, but he was also a lifelong Republican.

(voice-over): But that was in the days when Abraham Lincoln was the most famous Republican. Democrats said today's event was little more than empty symbolism.

REP. JOHN LEWIS (D), GEORGIA: I think the African-American community can see through this. We all want to see the Frederick Douglass House restored. But this is also something we all should have done many, many years ago. So why now, a year before the election of 2004?

KARL: Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi also attacks the event as cosmetic.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: Let me do something at the museum, while I do nothing to make sure you have a job.

HASTERT: People can call names and make excuses. I think we're actually doing something substantive. This is a symbol of what we're trying to get done. And I can't help what Ms. Pelosi says.

KARL (on camera): The money they announced will certainly improve the Frederick Douglass home. Less clear is whether the policies announced will improve the Republican Party's image among African-Americans.

Jonathan Karl, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Ahead on NEWSNIGHT: Michael Jordan in the awkward position of being unwanted by the game that he has come to defined, at least for now.

This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BROWN: Tonight, we're doing something that many of us never thought we'd ever do. We're pondering the notion that Michael Jordan might just be mortal after all.

This is a man who, among his many other accomplishments, also managed to make a winning team out of Bugs, Daffy and Porky Pig. But he couldn't do the same for the Washington Wizards, either as a player or the team president. So tonight, he is neither. Fans in Washington are up in arms and fans in elsewhere are licking their chops in anticipation.

The story from CNN's Josie Karp.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARP (voice-over): For the first time since being cut from the team in high school, Michael Jordan was left in the awkward position of being unwanted by the game he has come to define.

After playing the last two seasons with the Washington Wizards, Jordan said, he expected to return to the front office. Instead, during a meeting that lasted only minutes, team owner Abe Pollin told Jordan his services were no longer necessary.

Jordan issued a statement expressing his shock over the dismissal and the -- quote -- "callous refusal to offer me any justification for it."

Jordan isn't the only one expressing outrage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is the dumbest thing that I have ever seen in my life. You got a man that did everything for the program for two years for you. Now you don't want to bring him back? Come on.

STEVE CZABAN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: This certainly will rank as one of Jordan's failures. But, then again, he's not afraid to fail. He tried to play baseball and couldn't hit a AAA curve ball. He had to go. His restaurant closed. He had a chain of golf centers that are not really doing that well. So Jordan is not afraid to try things.

KARP: During his 3 1/2-year association with the Wizards, Jordan changed the image of a historically pathetic franchise, but not the results. He drew criticism for some of his personnel moves as an executive. And as a player, he couldn't win with the talent he assembled. During his two seasons on the court, Washington never won more than 37 games and failed to make the playoffs. A frustrated Jordan lambasted his teammates publicly.

MICHAEL JORDAN, NBA PLAYER: It's very disappointing when a 40- year-old man has more desire than the 25-, 26, 23-year-old people, you know? And he's diving for loose balls, he's busting his chin, he's doing everything he can to get this team into the playoffs and it's not reciprocated from the other players on his team. KARP: Those teammates, in turn, criticized Jordan's selfishly privately. How bad was the relationship? When Jordan retired as a player last month, his teammates reportedly voted as a group not to buy him a going-away gift.

But even with the losses and the strained relationships, Jordan did score at the box office. A team that lost millions without Jordan on the marquee made millions with him in the lineup. For the two years he played, the Wizards sold out every one of their home games. And this year, on the road, they were the league's biggest draw. For this reason, many observers argue that Jordan was simply used by Pollin and the Wizards.

ANDY POLLIN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I think he did a lot for the franchise. He filled the seats. That's something that hadn't happened in a long time. There was a buzz. There was an excitement about Wizards basketball, which we haven't seen in this town for about 25 years. I think he brought that and he should have been rewarded for that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KARP: From here, Jordan could go back to Chicago, where they have had a front office restructuring and they might make room for a player who helped the team win six NBA titles. Or he could go back to his home state of North Carolina, where an expansion franchise is set to start play in 2004 and where today, Robert Johnson, that team's owner, said that, even though he has someone in place already to run the basketball side of things, he's got so much respect for Michael Jordan's knowledge that he would push that person aside and install Michael Jordan today, if he wanted to go there -- Aaron.

BROWN: Well, I am sure that fellow is comfortable hearing those words.

Michael Jordan probably doesn't need a job. So what he wants is a piece of a basketball club? Does he want to own one?

KARP: Well, he's been a partial owner of the Washington Wizards. That's certainly something that he aspires to again. I am guessing, right now, as much as anything, Michael Jordan's pride is a little bit wounded, Aaron. And he's going to go out and try to prove wherever he goes that Abe Pollin and the Washington Wizards were wrong.

BROWN: Well, wound his pride. People have paid for that before. Thank you, Josie, very much.

Joining us now from Chicago: a friend of both Michael Jordan and this program, Bob Greene, the author of two books about No. 23, "Hang Time" and "Rebound." And Mr. Greene's book "Once Upon a Town" is now out in paperback. We're glad to have him with us. Also joining us tonight: "Washington Post" sports reporter Rachel Nichols.

Welcome to both of you.

BOB GREENE, AUTHOR, "HANG TIME": Thanks. So, Rachel, let's start with you. What happened?

RACHEL NICHOLS, "WASHINGTON POST": Michael Jordan got fired today. That was pretty shocking to him.

BROWN: Was it a clash about players or was it a clash between Jordan and Mr. Pollin, the guy who owns the team?

NICHOLS: I think it was really a clash between ownership and Michael Jordan. The players were sort of ancillary.

Michael Jordan is a very proud man who likes to do what he thinks should be done and doesn't do it with a lot of consideration for other people. That's why he won six NBA titles. But that doesn't work necessarily if you are someone's employee. And he was the employee of someone who is also a proud man, who likes to have things done the way he wants to have them done. And that didn't work. Even though that they're actually very similar, they just couldn't get together on the same page.

BROWN: Did people in Washington, people in the sports community in Washington, suspect this was coming?

NICHOLS: Well, there was certainly a sense that there was growing tension between the two parties. But I think a lot of people thought, as Jordan felt, that they would be able to sit down and work it out.

But it was clear maybe a week before the two met, or certainly a few days before the two met, that there was really not much of an intention of that, that Abe Pollin had made up his mind. And, indeed, the meeting only lasted five or 10 minutes before everybody left the room quite angry. Someone in the meeting said it was as bad as it could possibly be without fists being thrown.

BROWN: Grown men.

Bob, ought we feeling sorry for Michael Jordan tonight?

GREENE: Oh, I am not sure that is necessary. I don't think -- his teammates may have not given him any gifts, but I am not sure he needed them.

This thing felt strange from the beginning. It felt as if someone had said to Elvis Presley right after he had passed the peak of his career, now that you have been a great singer, you get to be Colonel Tom Parker. Now we're going to make you the chance to be a really great music manager.

Even if Jordan had turned out to be the greatest executive in the history of sports, it would have been like -- once you are Elvis, being something else, being an executive in music, is not the same. So I'm not sure it ever felt quite right. And I am not sure why he did it in the first place.

BROWN: Because he's a man of -- I say this, actually as, a compliment -- he's a guy of extraordinary ego. And he believed -- I am now opining -- he believed that he could go into a pretty woeful situation and make it great because he is Michael Jordan.

GREENE: And now we find out what happens next, because Josie Karp mentioned in her piece just now, she mentioned when he was cut from his high school team when he was a sophomore.

You cannot underestimate in Jordan's life, anger and resentment and hurt are a pretty potent fuel. And there's one little piece of that story about being cut that has always stayed with me. Everyone knows that he was cut. He went in there with his friend Leroy Smith. And he looked at the list of the boys who were still going to be on the team. And he told me, he went down the list from the A's, the B's, went passed the J's, and went back up. And he didn't make it.

But his friend Leroy Smith did. Years later, when he was the best basketball player in the world, when traveling the world with the Bulls, he would check into hotels and he couldn't register under his oven name, because everyone in town would try to call him Michael Jordan. The name Jordan registered under at all those hotels was Leroy Smith. He registered under the name of the guy who beat him out for the team.

It's almost as if he's always been needed to be told: Tell me I'm no good. Tell me you don't want me. It's the best thing you can tell me. I need to hear it.

BROWN: So we should probably be looking for Abe Pollin's name on hotel registers now.

Was he used, Rachel, do you think?

NICHOLS: Well, whether the Wizards intended to use him or not, I think what they are going to end up seeing, as Bob said, Michael's going to succeed somewhere. He's going to success somewhere because he is determined to do it. He does want an ownership stake. That's really what's on his mind.

And he is going to succeed because he's had this great training period with the Washington Wizards. They gave him his training wheels. He's going to go back the second time. He is going to do a much better job. And they're going to say, gee, it's this other market, where he could have done that better job for Washington and they didn't want to give him the chance.

BROWN: They say in baseball that the great front office guys and the great managers are never -- or at least rarely -- the great player, that the great player really doesn't have the temperament to deal with the people who aren't the greatest players.

NICHOLS: Well, I was following Michael Jordan around for the last couple of months this season, sort of documenting his last few weeks. One thing he said is: It's so frustrating sometimes, because it seems so simple to me. And I don't understand why they just don't see it. And we see that phenomenon, as you said, with great athletes. Now, some people are able to overcome that. Larry Bird was able to see, when he was a coach, both from the workmanlike perspective and from the Larry Bird perspective. Joe Torre on the Yankees has done a great job, even after being a borderline Hall of Famer as a player. He's definitely a Hall of Fame manager. But most guys can't make that leap.

BROWN: Bob, we'll give you the last word on this. Do you expect Mr. Jordan will do just find?

GREENE: Last night, you were talking on the broadcast about Bob Hope.

BROWN: Yes.

GREENE: And it made me think about this, because, putting sports aside for a second. It's not necessary for a person to be on stage every second of his life. Maybe it's only when you get much older that you realize that you -- if you've done well enough for long enough, you will be remembered.

And I think Bob Hope doesn't go out now, is not seen now, but he still gets to be Bob Hope for the rest of his life and even after that. And I think, pretty soon, Michael's going to realize that. He gets to be Michael Jordan forever no matter what.

BROWN: And he will be for all of us.

Bob, it's good to see you. And I must say, there's nothing better when a guest indicates he watched the program the night before. That's a good lesson for all guests. Thank you, sir, Bob Greene in Chicago.

Rachel, nice to meet you. Thanks for coming in.

NICHOLS: Nice to meet you. Thank you so much.

BROWN: Thank you.

Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT: Muckraker Erin Brockovich joins us to talk about her latest cause -- that and more as we continue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: OK. At least I didn't say all right. I said OK.

Time to check morning papers from across the country and around the world, tomorrow morning's papers.

We noticed this last night: a lot of sports ending up on the front page of papers. I guess it sells. "USA Today" has never been afraid to put a sports story on the front page. And they're not now. He is the most famous athlete in the world, except in the United States. This is soccer player David Beckham on the front page. That's their cover story. Their big news story: "Support for Bush Tax Cuts is Grow: Less Costly Version Advances in the Senate." What a tortured history this tax cut bill is having.

And then down at the bottom, OK, you with me? One more sports story. "Fans not going out to the ball game; 21 of 30 teams lag behind 0-2 crowds." Baseball not drawing as well as it might. But you know that's it's been a lousy spring in a lot of places. The weather's been horrible, so maybe that's the reason.

"Slammed": "The Detroit News." This is a nation sports story. This involves the University of Michigan basketball program. Another year of sanctions by the NCAA. That's correct.

And down at the bottom -- sometimes I surprise myself. "Pot bill could bog down border." The Canadians are about to decriminalize, essentially decriminalize marijuana. The Americans are very unhappy about that. And they are saying that, well, if the Canadians go ahead and do that, they will just search every car coming in from Canada because they must be pot smokers. They are Canadians, after all. Go figure.

Weather tomorrow in Chicago. We could have asked Bob Greene this, but it wouldn't have been as clever as, "Hold on to Your Hat," which makes me believe the Windy City is going to live up to its name.

"School on Hazing." We told year-old about this story yesterday. "Punish Those Girls." That's the big story there; 30 seconds. Oh, my goodness, I am big trouble now.

"The Australian," a newspaper from Australia, surprisingly: "I'm Not a Rapist" is the headline. G.G. is the governor general who's been accused of a rape and he says it's not so. It's a case of mistake identity. It's the entire front page of the paper.

And "The Times Herald Record": "Slicing Through Spam." We just liked the headline. We're not sure exactly. And doesn't that guy look like Jim Cramer, the money guy that's on the program from time to time? It seemed like reason enough to do that paper.

We will take a break. And we have other things. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, we feel assured that even the writers of "Beverly Hills 90201" couldn't have come up with a drama like this. It's the latest fight launched by Erin Brockovich, the real Erin Brockovich, along with her co-counsel, Allen Stewart.

They and their law firms have filed claims against the Beverly Hills -- the city of Beverly Hills and its school system. They say that oil production on the grounds of famed Beverly Hills High has led to a cluster of cancer cases. City fiercely disputes this.

We'll -- we're joined tonight by both sides in all of this. That's Erin Brockovich. And it's Allen Stewart, right? Yes, Allen Stewart there in Los Angeles. And also joining us tonight, the mayor of Beverly Hills, Tom Levin, and the attorney for the city, Skip Miller. We'll get to them in just a moment.

Let's start with what the accusation is.

Ms. Brockovich, what is it, in fact, that you're claiming here?

ERIN BROCKOVICH, ATTORNEY: Well, we have 300 clients to date. We have a high incident of cancer. And we have a situation at Beverly Hills High School that's much more extensive than people realize, than the city or anybody else ever disclosed to the parents or the faculty.

There is underneath the athletic field there a derrick, and it's an oil platform underneath that has 18 operational wellheads, 18 gas lines coming in. And they are processing the gas at this facility, and nobody seems to know the extent and the seriousness of this derrick and the platform that sits at the athletic field.

BROWN: OK, let me work with that a little bit. Mr. Stewart, first on this question of whether or not there's a disproportionate number of cancer cases in the area. I was just looking at one study done there, which describes it as essentially normal, perhaps a tad in the high end of normal, but within the range of normal.

Do you dispute that?

ALLEN STEWART, BARRON AND BUDD: We do dispute that, Aaron. I think normal many times is in the eye of the beholder. It is not unusual in cases like this for defendants or potential defendants to sound the all-clear before they've taken a look at...

BROWN: Well, I don't (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

STEWART: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

BROWN: ... respectfully, I don't believe the study (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- may correct me if you wish -- was done by either a defendant or a potential defendant, it was commissioned by a parent of a child in the school district.

STEWART: I'm familiar with the supposed study you're talking about. I believe it's a study that is said to have been commissioned by someone who is a parent. However, it's not a study that's taken a look at the data that we have or our client base or people who have contacted us.

We have taken a look at this data and had toxicologists look at it. We're presently having epidemiologists look at it right now as well. And all the evidence that they are sharing with us and the data they're sharing with us is confirming that there are excesses, excess incidences of certain kinds of cancers at the high school.

BROWN: Ms. Brockovich, has there ever been either, I guess, air quality studies, air quality studies done of the area, and did those air quality studies, if they exist, indicate a problem? BROCKOVICH: Well, no, that's something that's very, very concerning to us, because documentation shows early in the '80s that the city and the school district had asked the oil industry if this proposed site could potentially deteriorate the air or cause a human health hazard or have the potential to explode.

And the industry responded with, Maybe. Yet it was still allowed to come in. And there is a huge missing data gap. I mean, this is clearly a much more extensive operation that should have been monitored. And by state regulations, needed to be monitored. Yet nobody was ever out there looking to see what they were doing.

BROWN: All right...

BROCKOVICH: So that is something that concerns us very much, very much. Documentation shows us there was not an EIR done, it is an extensive operation, it has the potential to have a human hazard. It has the potential to...

BROWN: All right...

BROCKOVICH: ... explode. Yet nobody's done anything, just ignored it.

BROWN: All right. Let's go to the mayor here. Mayor, that -- just on that last point, has there been ongoing monitoring of the air around the wells in the high school and the adjacent areas leading up to the filing of these claims?

MAYOR TOM LEVIN, BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA: Aaron, thank you for inviting us here this evening. We appreciate the opportunity to speak with Miss Brockovich and Mr. Stewart.

You started off by saying that you had both sides. We're really on the same side. And let me tell you what this means to me. It doesn't mean lawsuits and lawyers. What it means to me is my daughter, who's an 11th grade student at the high school, my son, who's recently graduated from the high school, all of us on the city council and the school board have children at the high school.

And we say categorically today that Beverly Hills High School is safe. But the message that we want to get across is that we have Mr. Mazry (ph) and Mr. Stewart now from Texas, and Miss Brockovich, come into our community and frighten people and say that they have information.

And so the message is, where is the information? We have asked for the past two months, tell us who did your testing? When was it done? How was it done? What equipment did you use? Where's the raw data?

Both the city and the school district have shared all of our information with not only...

BROWN: OK. Let -- why don't we -- yes...

LEVIN: ... Brockovich and Mazry, but the whole community in Beverly Hills.

BROWN: Let's let...

LEVIN: And that question, where is the information? is critical to the health and safety...

BROWN: OK...

LEVIN: ... of all the children in Beverly Hills.

BROWN: Mayor, thanks. I don't mean to interrupt, but the clock ticks. Mr. Stewart, where is the information? Is it appropriate for you to supply that information to the city, to the school district? And if it is, why haven't you?

STEWART: Certainly it's appropriate to share some of it and most of it. Keep in mind that one of our responsibilities to our clients is to prepare a case.

Once we believe it's appropriate to have a case filed in court, and we've been doing that in addition to doing things that are requested of us by the press and the media, and we have offered and given to the other side the test data, what it showed. We've shared with the media the numbers of folks that have come to us and contacted us who have cancer.

That's information that's out there and available. It's not something that's being hidden from them.

What is not unusual in cases like this, unfortunately, is the first thing that potential defendants often do is, they begin to villainize the representatives of the victims and say that it's their fault.

BROWN: OK...

STEWART: We're basically reporting what we found. That's it.

BROWN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) all well and good, but I take the -- the mayor asked a specific question. I think it's a reasonable question. Have you turned -- it's -- and it -- no is an OK answer, I -- you know -- if that's the right answer. Have you turned over the raw data of the study? Have you turned over all of the relevant data so that they have a chance to look at it?

Because, you know, maybe they got a problem they don't know they have a problem, they'd like to solve it, you know?

STEWART: Simply, the answer is yes. That data has been turned over...

BROWN: OK.

STEWART: ... about what the test results were and the data has been turned over about the numbers of people who have contacted us and the cancers that they have. BROWN: All right...

STEWART: That's not something we're hiding from anyone.

BROWN: I understand that. Mr. Miller, you're the lawyer for the city of Beverly Hills. I guess this stuff would ultimately end up on your desk. So do you have all these studies, and the mayor just wasn't aware of that?

SKIP MILLER, ATTORNEY FOR BEVERLY HILLS: No, all we have is...

BROWN: No.

MILLER: ... what we went out and commissioned and investigated immediately after Ms. Brockovich and her lawyers held their first press conference and made these allegations. We went out, we hired experts. They have come back with their preliminary report, which I have here, which says point-blank that the testing of airborne chemical constituents at the high school shows levels well below the health limits established by the state of California.

We have the epidemiological study from the University of Southern California, which says point-blank, no elevated risk in Beverly Hills.

So contrary to what counsel just stated, the answer is, no, we've never received it. We're happy to hear they're willing to give it to us. And I'd be happy to, when the interview's over, call them, give them my fax number, and he can send it to me tomorrow.

STEWART: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

BROWN: That's an excellent, that's an excellent...

STEWART: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

BROWN: ... idea. I feel like I've done good if we've...

LEVIN: Aaron...

BROWN: ... if we've facilitated that.

STEWART: ... Aaron, this is...

BROWN: Mr. Stewart, go ahead.

STEWART: Wait, Aaron...

BROWN: Yes.

LEVIN: Sir -- Yes, this is Tom Levin, I'll...

BROWN: I'm sorry, go ahead, quickly, sir.

LEVIN: Yes, I'll do Skip Miller one better. I will be at Mr. Mazry's office at 10:00 on Tuesday, May 13, 10:00 a.m., to collect the information, the raw data from their test, how they did their testing, who did it, when they did it, and what equipment they used. If they will provide us with that information...

STEWART: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

LEVIN: ... then that will be valuable...

BROWN: OK...

LEVIN: ... for us to look at.

BROWN: Thank -- mayor, thank you. Ms. Brockovich, we'll give you the last word on this. Where does this go next?

BROCKOVICH: You know what? We'll take him up on his offer. We are happy to do that, because the lab that we used is the exact same lab that the South Coast Air Quality Management, in fact, used to do current testing out there. It's defensible, it's valid, we are happy to turn it over.

And I'm very concerned with the discrepancies in the data. The South Coast Air Quality Management District got test results themselves of a 2.1 part per million benzine reading at the vent pipe there at the derrick, and a 12.1 part per million reading of inhexate (ph). Yet they didn't disclose that to anybody.

I will be happy to turn that over tomorrow as well.

STEWART: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

BROWN: We'll, we'll follow all of that...

STEWART: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

BROWN: ... up to make sure everything gets turned over to everyone who ought to have it. We thank all four of you for being with us. Eventually, it sounds like this is getting into a courtroom, and we'll be following it there as well. Thank you all.

STEWART: Thank you, Aaron.

LEVIN: Thank you very much.

BROCKOVICH: Thank you.

BROWN: Take a break, be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Two Segment Sevens tonight, and they both deal with the end of World War Two, V-E Day, which is today. Heard a lot of talk about the relationship between the French and the Americans and how the French have forgotten World War II.

We begin with Jim Bitterman tonight in a small French town that clearly has not forgotten the liberators.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JIM BITTERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a town of 25,000 a half-hour's drive from Paris, a crowd of French citizens saluted the American flag as the "Star Spangled Banner" echoed across the small square.

As every year since the war, the names of nine American soldiers who died on this spot nearly six decades ago were read out in remembrance. Said one city official, "Those who think the French have forgotten their debt to the U.S. simply haven't traveled much."

The mayor says a difference of opinion should not turn a friend into a foe.

MAYOR GERARD LARCHER, RAMBOUILLET, FRANCE: In spite of the difference on political and diplomatic (UNINTELLIGIBLE) approach, we know very well here where are our real friends.

BITTERMAN: But the compliance the U.S. now seems to demand from its friends has been the subject of one conference after another on this side of the Atlantic. At this one, a warning from the American ambassador.

HOWARD LEACH, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE: And I do believe the relationship is at a crossroads. The direction it takes will depend on how we resolve the important issues immediately ahead of us.

BITTERMAN: If that was one way of saying, Our way or the highway, the ambassador's host disagreed.

ARTHUR PRAECHT, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC RESEARCH (through translator): The framework of partnership does not mean one party should be completely submissive to another.

BITTERMAN: In a country where frites have not yet become freedom fries, and where no one pours wine of any nationality down the drain, some are perplexed by how intolerant and vengeful Americans now seem to be just because others argue for a different view of the world.

When an Italian comedian in Paris opened a satirical revue called "George Bush, Sad Cowboy of God," he was promptly beaten up. These people were clearly against the play, he said, but he stopped short of accusing Americans of being behind the attack.

(on camera): What is in fact surprising is how restrained the public outcry has been here in the face of an anti-French campaign in the U.S. which, if directed against most any other national or ethnic group, would be, as several commentators have pointed out, nothing short of bigotry.

(voice-over): Back in Rambouillet, at a second ceremony marking Victory in Europe Day, the head of the Franco-American Veterans Association, the widow of an American soldier, is disappointed at the way some in the U.S. have vilified France.

MARIE-FRANCE RODGERS, FRANCO-AMERICAN VETERANS ASSOCIATION: It's a pity, really. It's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of the United States. Even if Mr. Perle says that we -- it's the fault of the French, that's -- we are also of democracy, we also can have an opinion.

BITTERMAN: Searching for something hopeful to say about trans- Atlantic relations, several at the V-E Day commemoration pointed a visitor to the nearby chateau of Rambouillet. Many of the trees along its rustic paths came from seedlings grown in the U.S., a gift arranged by Thomas Jefferson to King Louis XVI for his help during the American Revolution.

For two and a half centuries, they've withstood every manner of storm. Said the mayor, "The trees are a symbol of a long, long friendship."

Jim Bitterman, CNN, Rambouillet, France.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: And finally, on this V-E Day, a soldier's story, a hero.

Here's CNN's Candy Crowley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, a 17-year-old boy peddling through the chaotic streets of Honolulu looked up to the skies and screamed, "You dirty Japs!"

This is the story of an American soldier.

SEN. DANIEL INOUYE, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: Soon after December the 7th, the United States government decided that all Japanese were enemy aliens. So therefore, I was declared to be 4-C, enemy alien, and as a result could not serve my nation.

CROWLEY: As Japanese-Americans were put in internment camps, thousands petitioned the president, fighting to get in the fight, to prove themselves American. When the War Department relented, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was formed and sent to the battle front in Europe.

INOUYE: Everyone said the same thing in a different way. I hope I don't bring dishonor to the family, or, I hope I don't bring embarrassment. I hope I don't turn out to be a coward.

CROWLEY: They were the go-for-broke regiment, fighting for their country and a place in it. When a Texas battalion was surrounded by Germans and out of supplies, they called in the 442nd.

INOUYE: I looked upon this as the great opportunity, because obvious that the way we were pushed in, we were expendable, because there were no holds barred when we went in.

And the battle lasted about five days, and there were 800 casualties. Well, we're speaking of 10 or 15 here. There were 800 casualties in five days. But I have yet to hear anyone say it wasn't worth it, because after that, I don't think anyone, at least not men in the uniform, questioned our loyalty or whether we are Americans or not.

CROWLEY: Second Lieutent Dan Inouye fought his last battle on a hillside in Italy. It was three weeks before victory in Europe, April of 45. Though severely wounded, Inouye pushed forward, throwing grenades into a nest of German machine guns.

INOUYE: If I told you that I was shot in the leg, in my gut, in my arm, all in the same battle in a period of about three hours, and during that time I felt absolutely no pain, so help me.

CROWLEY: He lost an arm for his country but talks only of what he gained.

INOUYE: This war and the injury made it possible for me to meet other Americans.

CROWLEY: He spent 20 months in Michigan at a rehab facility, reveling in the Americanness of his experience.

INOUYE: I had my first stuffed cabbage in Akron when my Polish buddies took me home. They says, Come on home, let's spend the weekend. And Polish dances and all that. And then I go to Detroit with a couple of the African-American officers. And I -- they got me a date! I'd never seen a black woman before.

CROWLEY: The GI Bill sent him to college and law school. Hawaiians, once they achieved statehood, sent him to Congress. And as the new millennium opened, U.S. Senator Dan Inouye received the Medal of Honor, the highest military award for valor in action against an enemy force.

And that is the story of an American soldier.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And that's a terrific way to end the program. We'll see you tomorrow. Good night.

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





Brockovich>


Aired May 8, 2003 - 22:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again everyone. Someone at the Denver Airport said this today about the black cloud that was forming in the distance. It was pretty spectacular looking he said.
There is something mesmerizing about those tornadoes, twisters. It's why people chase them, why people make movies about them. But for the people actually left with the aftermath there's no magic, no appreciation of some awesome force of nature.

No one makes an action movie about what comes after the storm and there are a lot of people dealing tonight with the aftermath and unthinkably more terrible weather across the south, the Midwest, part of the west as well.

Our first whip tonight is a weather whip, if you will. We'll look at tornadoes that swept across Oklahoma City, as the afternoon rush hour began many people hurt there. We may hear from the governor of the state.

There's flooding in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with the Tennessee River hitting levels not seen in more than a generation.

We'll have the situation in Birmingham, Alabama, nearly 11 inches of rain falling in two hours. The weather is our lead story tonight.

But we have a lot more to go as well and our second whip of the night begins with other news, news that is a troubling story out of the Persian Gulf, Iran possibly nuclear ambitions and the president weighing in. David Ensor working that, so David a headline from you.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, a confrontation is brewing between the United States and Iran over nuclear weapons. The U.S. says Iran appears to be preparing to build them. Iran denies it. And next month, the U.S. will try to convince a key international organization to declare Iran in violation of a treaty it signed.

BROWN: David, thank you, back to you tonight.

More violence in Gaza ahead of a trip to the region by the secretary of state. Kelly Wallace in Jerusalem tonight with the story, so Kelly a headline.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, an Israeli missile strike leaves a Hamas leader dead and Palestinians questioning Israel's commitment to the Mid East roadmap while in a follow-up to a story we told you about last week, autopsy results are out and appear to show that an award-winning British journalist was shot and killed by Israeli forces.

BROWN: Kelly, thank you. And a real stunner even to say these three words, Michael Jordan fired. Josie Karp has the headline that we haven't yet stolen. Josie, go ahead.

JOSIE KARP, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, no one was more surprised to hear those words than Michael Jordan himself, but the expectation is that even though Jordan is out in Washington he won't be out of the game of basketball for too long -- Aaron.

BROWN: Josie, thank you, back to you and the rest shortly.

Also coming up tonight on NEWSNIGHT, the anniversary of the allied victory in Europe and we'll remember World War II with a pair of stories, one about a little French town honoring the Americans who died there, the other about a young soldier who would one day become a Senator.

We'll talk with Erin Brockovich tonight about why she's going after the city of Beverly Hills and the mayor and the City Council will join us as well.

Bob Franken tonight on an intriguing political development, why the president's good friend, National Rifle Association, is at least a bit unhappy with him.

And, the remarkable story of a hiker who did what he needed to do to survive after he was trapped by a boulder, the story in his own words. That and much more and perhaps some unexpected twists along the way.

We begin with another day in a week that a lot of people would sooner forget. They'd like to but they can not. The rubble will not let them nor will the wind and the rain and the water.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): The week of miserable and damaging weather continued throughout large sections of a rain-soaked and battered country. Flooding just about brought Chattanooga, Tennessee to a standstill. The Tennessee River reaching its highest levels in nearly 30 years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chalford (ph) Road here is shut down because it's under about three and a half foot, four foot of water.

BROWN: And tornadoes continued touching down as well. This one hit during the afternoon drive home in Oklahoma City. The destruction was widespread. Dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed. Hundreds of trees uprooted.

There were some injuries as well no fatalities, but injuries, and the cleanup will be arduous. And this huge black cloud began to assemble into a tornado just a mile away from the airport in Denver. Fortunately it never touched ground.

Throughout much of the Deep South, there was water everywhere. Near Birmingham, Alabama people were scrambling to save what they could from water-logged homes. Local television weathermen were kept quite busy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this is one that was caught on tape in Wilsonville. This thing actually came out of northern sections of Kilton (ph) County and then moved right on through Shelby County, eventually up through (UNINTELLIGIBLE) counties and on through the eastern half of the state here.

BROWN: In rural parts of western and northern Georgia, water rose up to the windows of these farmhouses. Horses had to trudge through muddy water and residents were left wondering how much left they had to lose.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hard when you seen what you work for all your life washed away.

BROWN: Weather forecasters say the same patterns that made the tornadoes and flooding possible this week are not expected to go away anytime soon. Already nearly 200 tornadoes have been counted across the country and many more are predicted until the early part of next week.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: That's a brief overview of the weather. As we said, we may hear from the governor of Oklahoma before our 90 minutes are up tonight, and if he starts to speak we'll bring that to you about the situation in Oklahoma City, which was hammered by a tornado just a few years ago. Other weather storms are developing. We'll keep an eye on them and as we can report it, we will.

There's another gathering storm, however, to deal with the growing suspicion that Iran is working on nuclear weapons. This week the State Department tried to ratchet up the international pressure and today President Bush entered the fray.

Reporting for us tonight, CNN's David Ensor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): Iran denies it will build nuclear weapons using materials from its newly-revealed plants near Natanz and Iraq but U.S. officials say they may not be telling the truth.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've always expressed my concerns that the Iranians may be developing a nuclear program.

ENSOR: Now, the Bush administration is trying to convince the International Atomic Energy Agency to consider sanctions against Iran for violating the rules of a nonproliferation treaty it signed. Officials argue an oil and gas rich nation like Iran does not need nuclear power.

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Iran flares off more gas than they would ever produce from the nuclear programs that they claim they are producing for peaceful purposes.

ENSOR: In Moscow this week, officials say, John Bolton, Undersecretary of State, asked the Russians to vote against Iran at the June meeting of the board of the IAEA.

U.S. officials argue if IAEA Director General Mohammed ElBaradei tells the board the whole story at its meeting next month, he will have to say Iran has violated the safeguard rules governing those nations that have signed the International Nonproliferation Treaty.

If so, Iran could lose substantial international technical help at the Bushear Reactor that the Russians are building for Iran and it could lose more. A lot depends on the Russian view.

GARY SICK, IRANIAN EXPERT: I don't think there's any chance that they're going to withdraw their support for the Bushear Nuclear Reactor, the power reactor, but I do think that they may take a hard look again at about -- at the support that they have been giving in terms of people getting trained and that sort of thing.

ENSOR: The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency estimates that Iran could have nuclear weapons in about seven years. Some outside analysts say it could be much sooner, possibly just two or three years.

(on camera) The U.S. goal to use international pressure on Iran to achieve change. It's an approach that in the end the U.S. gave up on in the case of Iraq.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BREAKING NEWS)

BROWN: OK, back now to the weather. The governor of Oklahoma Brad Henry is speaking with reporters in Midwest City, Oklahoma.

BRAD HENRY, OKLAHOMA GOVERNOR: Slightly more than 100 confirmed injuries as a result of the tornado that struck this afternoon but no confirmed fatalities and we are very happy to report that.

We have been in contact with FEMA officials who have a liaison on the way down here who will be here tonight. A full FEMA team will be in tomorrow to assess the damage. We have already in the works an emergency declaration request from the president. We will certainly request all the federal assistance that is available.

And, I am certainly extremely proud of all of the response team. The response to this disaster has just been absolutely phenomenal from the firefighters to the police to the healthcare officials and all the other emergency management officials. Once again, we have set the standard in Oklahoma. They have already searched the full area twice tonight and will search it a third time and give us a final count on the number, the total number, of homes damaged and destroyed. It appears that the damage was slightly worse in more than in Oklahoma City and obviously our thoughts and our prayers go out to all of those who were affected by this tragedy.

But Oklahomans are strong and Oklahomans are resilient and once again we've shown with the response, not just of the emergency management officials, but of all of the Oklahomans who have offered assistance and help tonight and I appreciate all Oklahomans and this, again, underscores why this is the greatest state in the nation.

I'd like to ask Mayor Humphreys to make a few comments at this time -- Mayor.

KIRK HUMPHREYS, MAYOR, OKLAHOMA CITY: I'd like to thank Governor Henry and Mrs. Henry for coming down tonight and Robert Ashwood (ph) and other state officials for their assistance and their offers of assistance as we move further into this.

I am quite concerned about our friends in Moore. Mayor Glen Lewis (ph) and the people in Moore got hit hard four years ago and it looks like they've been hit quite a bit harder than Oklahoma City tonight. The last report that we have is that 1,500 homes in Moore were damaged and 300 of those were destroyed.

So, that appears to be far worse than the damage in Oklahoma City. Here in Oklahoma City, the path of damage started in the area of 134th and Sante Fe, moved really just south of the track of the May 3 tornado, came out here on Sunner (ph) Road and destroyed Lincoln National Bank just south of I-240, came across I-240 and did substantial damage at the GM Plant.

We don't have information from GM yet as far as the structural damage on the plant. Apparently there was only one employee at GM that was injured and the rest of the people were OK. So, we're thankful for the fact that there was no loss of life or more serious injury at GM.

But it does appear from flyovers that the GM plant sustained substantial structural damage, so we'll find out from GM officials tomorrow exactly what that means as far as their ability to resume production.

Went on northeast from there and some of the more rural residential areas in northeast Oklahoma City did receive some substantial damage and some homes were destroyed.

So, again, I want to thank our police and fire and our emergency medical personnel for the great response. We returned most of our police and fire crews to normal duty in the city. We still have about one-third of the folks that are on duty right now are still out here doing the searches and securing the areas. I will say that if folks don't need to be in those neighborhoods we encourage them to stay home. The neighborhoods that were most directly affected our police are securing those areas to make sure the only people that go in there are the ones that have business there.

So, we'll see what happens more in the morning but it looks like that in some sense we got lucky tonight -- Governor.

HENRY: Thank you very much. We would be happy to respond to any questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about the GM Plant, what kind of impact do you believe this (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is going to have on the state?

HENRY: Well, the damage to the GM Plant will have a significant impact on the state and our economy. I did visit with GM officials tonight and while they did report significant damage, they are just very, very excited by the fact that nobody was seriously injured.

They had one injury that they transported to the hospital and nobody was killed, so the officials at GM right now are thankful for that and they're not worried about the damage. That can be repaired and we will, as Oklahomans show time and time again working together, will rebuild GM, will rebuild Oklahoma City and Moore and Midwest City and the other communities in Oklahoma that were damaged tonight and we'll be stronger in the end.

BROWN: That's Brad Henry who is the governor, the 39-year-old governor of the state of Oklahoma. Kirk Humphreys, the mayor of Oklahoma City, also speaking. This is a tornado that hit early in the afternoon rush hour and as we listen to them talk about it, it is obviously considerably more serious than the first reporting out of Oklahoma City seemed to indicate but at least so far the best news is, while there is considerable damage, considerable damage in Oklahoma City, there is right now no reported loss of life. We'll keep an eye on that.

There are a number of other storm systems that seem to be working around the country tonight in the south, way out west as well, so we're just keeping an eye on all of this and should anything happen we'll just go to it and report it and then move on to wherever else we plan to go tonight. That's the situation.

And where we plan to go next is the Middle East, the Israeli- Palestinian conflict and a random sampling of headlines tonight give you a sense of it all. One reads, "Washington has high hopes for Powell's Mid East tour." He leaves for the region tomorrow. The other headline read, "Israel kills Hamas member before Powell peace push," hope and reality.

Reporting for us tonight, CNN's Kelly Wallace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice-over): Anger on the streets of Gaza City. This is all that is left of the Hamas military commander's car. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) attack which our CNN team witnessed from about a mile away. The air strike comes just two days before U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to the region to focus on the so-called Mid East roadmap.

"Look at what they are doing here" this man told us. "This is the reward for the roadmap."

Israeli security forces say (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was planning suicide attacks against Israel and was connected to several previous attacks which left 19 Israelis dead.

(on camera): Operations like these are likely to complicate an already difficult balance for the new prime minister. His ability to try and reign in Hamas is likely to depend on the feeling on the Palestinian street.

(voice-over): There are signs everywhere in Gaza of backing for Hamas. At least here it appears to have much more political support than Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Palestinian people support Hamas more than him and he has to know that very well.

WALLACE: Do you think Hamas should be disarmed?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No because Hamas is the voice of our people here in Palestine.

WALLACE: In a conversation with CNN, this Hamas leader said the new prime minister would not pick a fight with the radical Palestinian organization.

"If Abu Mazen would insist to disarm the resistance, he would find himself in a face-to-face confrontation with the Palestinian people" Rantisi told us.

The question becomes how can Abu Mazen keep the confidence of the international community and put forward the peace process if he can't disarm Hamas? And if he tries to stamp out terror attack, like last week's Tel Aviv suicide bombing, could the result be fighting between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: Meantime, more violence in the region since that Israeli aerial attack. A Palestinian packed a car with explosives and rammed it into an Israeli tank in the Gaza Strip killing himself in what Palestinian security sources say was a suicide bombing attack.

And then in other incident, a 20-year-old Palestinian shot and killed a man on a donkey, shot and killed both by Israeli soldiers, according to Palestinian sources. The Israeli army says it's checking both reports -- Aaron.

BROWN: And the autopsy you mentioned earlier on the British photographer who died almost a week ago? WALLACE: Exactly. A lawyer for James Miller's family telling CNN that it is highly probably that Miller was shot and killed by Israeli forces. The lawyer says he has seen the autopsy report and says while the bullet has not been examined just yet, the radius of the bullet hole indicates that it came from an M-16 a weapon commonly used by Israeli soldiers.

Also, the forensic institute reporting that Miller was shot in the front, in the neck, not in the rear as some senior Israeli officials had asserted over the weekend, suggesting that possibly he was shot by Palestinian gunmen.

The Israeli military is still not formally commenting on the autopsy reports. Israeli officials have been saying that Miller was likely killed as a result of a clash between Israeli soldiers and armed Palestinian gunmen, but those close to James Miller say there was no firing coming from Palestinian gunmen.

They say Miller and two other journalists were walking there, one holding a white flag, motioning out to the Israeli soldiers that they were journalists. Shortly after that shots fired and Miller killed.

Now, Miller's family, his colleagues and, Aaron, even the Foreign Press Association here in Israel calling for an independent and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death -- Aaron.

BROWN: Kelly, thank you, Kelly Wallace in Jerusalem tonight.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, President Bush takes on the National Rifle Association.

And, the trapped hiker who had to resort to the most extreme measures to save himself, you'll hear his story and much more.

This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: There are two iron laws of presidential politics, don't go against your base, and don't mess with the National Rifle Association.

In supporting an extension of the congressional ban on semi- automatic assault weapons, President Bush is doing a bit of both, but if he runs the risk of alienating a hard core constituency the president may also believe the risk is worth taking to win the support of moderates on gun control. We'll know whether he succeeded in about 17 months.

Until then, here's CNN's Bob Franken.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even though the National Rifle Association has political adversaries running for cover, gun control groups are still firing back. Not only that, but one of the NRA's best friends, for the moment at least, is supporting the other side.

That friend, the president of the United States, is on record as favoring an extension of the assault weapons ban. So, the NRA is going to try and get its congressional friends to make sure that the president has no new legislation to sign.

CHRIS COX, NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION: It's really not an issue that the president hopefully will have an opportunity to discuss.

FRANKEN: Gun control advocates agree the ban can get bottled up in Congress unless the president is aggressive.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Now, we need the president to not just say he supports it but to work with us.

FRANKEN: Will the president work for it? Certainly no clear-cut guidance from the White House.

FLEISCHER: The president has made his position known and during the course of the debate I imagine that people will refer to the president's position and cite it and I will continue to repeat it. The president, you will watch his actions and judge for yourself over time.

FRANKEN: Congressional Democrats want a ten-year extension. The ban makes 19 different types of weapons illegal. Gun control is a political hard sell these days. In fact, the NRA opposing gun control stands the chance of winning a huge victory with passage of legislation that would grant weapons manufacturers and dealers legal protections against lawsuits.

Even so, there are complications. The National Rifle Association wants an emergency stay of last week's court decision upholding parts of the Campaign Finance Law, the part which restricts political ads by special interest groups, arguing the ruling will prevent the NRA from running a series of 60-second radio ads in crucial states whose Senators have yet to decide where they stand on the legislation that would limit lawsuits.

COX: We'd be able to communicate with our members and to the gun owners in any given state and to suggest that we can't do that for risk of being thrown in jail is simply outrageous.

FRANKEN (on camera): The National Rifle Association, the opponents of gun control, would seem these days to be on top of the political world but as we know it can be tough at the top.

Bob Franken, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The slogan makes for a powerful bumper sticker, "Guns don't kill people, people do." But this next story makes the case the slogan doesn't go far enough, a better one might be, "People do and people die and still other people search their souls and struggle for redemption."

The story from NEWSNIGHT's Beth Nissen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the lead story across Connecticut in early April, police say Jennifer O'Connor a Branford, Connecticut woman with a history of psychiatric problems confessed to shooting her daughter Sarah (ph) while the 7-year-old girl lay sleeping. O'Connor told police she could no longer cope with her daughter's learning disabilities. Sarah died three days later in a New Haven hospital.

Thomas Imperati (ph), owner of a local gun and motorcycle shop, said he felt gutted when he saw the news reports of O'Connor's arrest on murder charges.

THOMAS IMPERATI, SHOP OWNER: As soon as the police, Branford Police officers pulled the gun out and held it up, I knew it was my rifle.

NISSEN: Imperati had sold O'Connor the rifle a few months before.

IMPERATI: She explained to me that she wanted a lighter, smaller caliber hunting gun for, you know, for deer hunting, for medium size game hunting.

NISSEN: Imperati followed the letter of the law. He sent O'Connor's information to state authorities for a background check. Once she was cleared he made O'Connor wait even longer than the minimum two weeks. When she came in to pick up the gun he showed her how to load it and fire it.

IMPERATI: That's where you push up your ammunition which store in your magazine and then you have to work the action, cock it, and then pull the trigger.

NISSEN: He says he is now haunted by memories of that lesson.

IMPERATI: I know in my mind that when she was loading that gun she was thinking of me teaching, how I taught her to load it and that's the part that upsets me the most that I feel in my heart that I was involved in hurting the child.

NISSEN: He blames himself for not picking up what he calls red flags in O'Connor as he sometimes has in others.

IMPERATI: I've had people come in that I just didn't like the questions they were asking me or the tones that they were answering me in the questions I was asking them, and I just told them flat out, no, sorry, can't sell you a gun.

NISSEN: Imperati hasn't sold anyone a gun since Sarah O'Connor's death. He's decided to quite dealing in firearms, he says, until state screening systems are more complete. IMPERATI: I can't -- I can't deliver a gun to somebody else if I feel -- if I don't feel comfortable in the system. I can't do it. I won't be a part of it again.

NISSEN: He has shifted his business to sales of custom made motorcycles.

IMPERATI: Yes, it's a real nice bike, I mean if you're looking for one...

NISSEN: Imperati, the father of two young sons, tries not to think about Jennifer O'Connor who remains in jail with bail set at $1 million. He can not help but think of Sarah O'Connor whose photo he keeps locked in a safe in his store.

IMPERATI: That little girl was beautiful. She was seven years old. She was a little blonde girl. She looked like an angel and there will always be a part of me that blames myself for selling this gun to this woman.

NISSEN: And finds comfort only in knowing that he will not sell another gun to be used so wrongly.

Beth Nissen, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, hear from the man forced to make an impossibly difficult decision, amputate his right arm or face certain death.

Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Some stories are compelling because they involve big, important, complicated issues. And some are compelling just because they tell one person's drama, pure and simple. And this is one of those: the story of a hiker caught in a terrible accident and the stark decision he faced if he wanted to survive. He is alive today, a changed man, but alive.

And today, he told his story. Here's CNN's Gary Tuchman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not even two weeks have passed since Aron Ralston was forced to cut off his right arm to save his life. But he was physically and mentally prepared to talk to reporters and even wanted to memorialize the moment.

ARON RALSTON, HIKER: And now one for me.

(LAUGHTER)

TUCHMAN: With his mother by his side, the 27-year-old climber talked about the 800-pound boulder that landed on both of his arms.

RALSTON: I was able to successfully pull my left hand out of the way. My right hand became trapped between the falling boulder and the wall.

TUCHMAN: He was by himself in the Blue John Canyon next to Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah. He had a little water, two burritos and candy bar crumbs. After not able to budge the boulder at all, he decided after three days to amputate his arm.

RALSTON: Essentially, I got my surgical table ready and applied the knife to my arm and started sawing back and forth. And it didn't even break the skin. I couldn't even cut of the hair off my arm, the knife was so dull at that point.

TUCHMAN: Two more days went by. Ralston's thoughts raced between fears of death and happy memories of the important people of his life. He decided on Thursday he had to success in the amputation.

RALSTON: The rational section, portion of decision to sever my arm came when I just -- I realized that it was really the last opportunity that I could have and still have the physical strength to get myself out to where help would find me.

I felt pain and I coped with it and moved on.

TUCHMAN: It took about an hour. He still had to rig anchors, fix a rope, repel to the canyon floor, and then hike. But he was found.

RALSTON: I stayed conscience and coherent through the helicopter ride, landed in Moab. It's a beautiful country to see, but even more beautiful to see a town with a hospital rising up out of it.

TUCHMAN: Aron Ralston has undergone surgery in preparation for a prosthetic arm. The outdoors will still be a part of his life. And he has a more immediate wish.

RALSTON: If the doctors will so allow, I would love a big, tall, tasty, crushed margarita.

(LAUGHTER)

RALSTON: I thought a lot about margaritas while I was in there.

(LAUGHTER)

TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: That is an unbelievable story -- a few more before we go to break, starting with a mix of good and bad news where SARS is concerned. The World Health Organization today doubled the death rate from the disease. It now puts the number at 15 percent globally, with the risk of death substantially higher among older patients. The good news comes from new studies that shows the virus is slow to mutate, making it more vulnerable to a vaccine.

A Los Angeles grand jury today indicted Katrina Leung. Mrs. Leung, you may recall, is the woman recruited by the FBI to spy on China who allegedly was also a spy for China. She's accused of taking secret documents from her FBI handler, who may also have been her lover, and passing them onto the Chinese. The grand jury's bill of indictment included unlawful possession of classified documents, but not a charge of espionage.

The state of Georgia has a new flag yet again after a battle that has gone on nearly 10 times longer than the Civil War. This is the third one since 1956, the first one to get by without a Confederate battle cross on it. Georgians have been bitterly divided about the flag, the battle cross, which many call a racist throwback and other sees as a symbol of Southern heritage.

Still to come on NEWSNIGHT: Republican leaders and African- Americans come together one day -- or today at least -- to rebuild the landmark. The big question is: Can they mend fences long term?

And Michael Jordan's ungraceful exit from the NBA.

This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: And next on NEWSNIGHT: rebuilding the Frederick Douglass House and ties between African-Americans and the GOP.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: It may be that, no matter how hard they try, Republicans will never get much of the African-American vote. President Bush received only 8 percent, the lowest since Barry Goldwater in 1964. And Goldwater opposed the civil rights legislation of the era. So it may be a fruitless exercise in the end. But, today, with history as a backdrop, the Republicans tried again.

Reporting for us: CNN's Jonathan Karl.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Republicans gathered on the porch of ex-slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass to announce $1 million to renovate his home and some ideas to refurbish their party's image.

REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R-IL), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We are proud to be here today to help fulfill America's promise with an agenda to empower African-Americans to achieve the American dream.

KARL: The Douglass House is in disrepair. Water has damaged the walls and forced the removal of Douglass' treasured library. But the GOP's reputation among African-Americans is in disrepair, too, damaged after Trent Lott was forced out as Senate leader for making racially- insensitive remarks. Since then, conservative commentator Armstrong Williams has led a Republican drive to reach out to African-Americans.

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS, CONSERVATIVE COLUMNIST: I think people more and more realize, hey, these guys are sincere this time. It's not just about rhetoric. But we cannot just stop and grow defensive because the Democrats are saying what was true of our party several years ago. This is a new party. This is Bush's party. This is Hastert's party. This is Frist's party. It's different.

KARL: The Republicans toured the house and presented a grab bag of ideas, ranging money for historically black colleges to more traditional Republican issues, like school vouchers and tax cuts. They've also promised to recruit more African-American staff and candidates.

(on camera): The Frederick Douglass House is an especially strong symbol for Republicans, because not only is he considered the father of the civil rights movement, but he was also a lifelong Republican.

(voice-over): But that was in the days when Abraham Lincoln was the most famous Republican. Democrats said today's event was little more than empty symbolism.

REP. JOHN LEWIS (D), GEORGIA: I think the African-American community can see through this. We all want to see the Frederick Douglass House restored. But this is also something we all should have done many, many years ago. So why now, a year before the election of 2004?

KARL: Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi also attacks the event as cosmetic.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: Let me do something at the museum, while I do nothing to make sure you have a job.

HASTERT: People can call names and make excuses. I think we're actually doing something substantive. This is a symbol of what we're trying to get done. And I can't help what Ms. Pelosi says.

KARL (on camera): The money they announced will certainly improve the Frederick Douglass home. Less clear is whether the policies announced will improve the Republican Party's image among African-Americans.

Jonathan Karl, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Ahead on NEWSNIGHT: Michael Jordan in the awkward position of being unwanted by the game that he has come to defined, at least for now.

This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BROWN: Tonight, we're doing something that many of us never thought we'd ever do. We're pondering the notion that Michael Jordan might just be mortal after all.

This is a man who, among his many other accomplishments, also managed to make a winning team out of Bugs, Daffy and Porky Pig. But he couldn't do the same for the Washington Wizards, either as a player or the team president. So tonight, he is neither. Fans in Washington are up in arms and fans in elsewhere are licking their chops in anticipation.

The story from CNN's Josie Karp.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARP (voice-over): For the first time since being cut from the team in high school, Michael Jordan was left in the awkward position of being unwanted by the game he has come to define.

After playing the last two seasons with the Washington Wizards, Jordan said, he expected to return to the front office. Instead, during a meeting that lasted only minutes, team owner Abe Pollin told Jordan his services were no longer necessary.

Jordan issued a statement expressing his shock over the dismissal and the -- quote -- "callous refusal to offer me any justification for it."

Jordan isn't the only one expressing outrage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is the dumbest thing that I have ever seen in my life. You got a man that did everything for the program for two years for you. Now you don't want to bring him back? Come on.

STEVE CZABAN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: This certainly will rank as one of Jordan's failures. But, then again, he's not afraid to fail. He tried to play baseball and couldn't hit a AAA curve ball. He had to go. His restaurant closed. He had a chain of golf centers that are not really doing that well. So Jordan is not afraid to try things.

KARP: During his 3 1/2-year association with the Wizards, Jordan changed the image of a historically pathetic franchise, but not the results. He drew criticism for some of his personnel moves as an executive. And as a player, he couldn't win with the talent he assembled. During his two seasons on the court, Washington never won more than 37 games and failed to make the playoffs. A frustrated Jordan lambasted his teammates publicly.

MICHAEL JORDAN, NBA PLAYER: It's very disappointing when a 40- year-old man has more desire than the 25-, 26, 23-year-old people, you know? And he's diving for loose balls, he's busting his chin, he's doing everything he can to get this team into the playoffs and it's not reciprocated from the other players on his team. KARP: Those teammates, in turn, criticized Jordan's selfishly privately. How bad was the relationship? When Jordan retired as a player last month, his teammates reportedly voted as a group not to buy him a going-away gift.

But even with the losses and the strained relationships, Jordan did score at the box office. A team that lost millions without Jordan on the marquee made millions with him in the lineup. For the two years he played, the Wizards sold out every one of their home games. And this year, on the road, they were the league's biggest draw. For this reason, many observers argue that Jordan was simply used by Pollin and the Wizards.

ANDY POLLIN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I think he did a lot for the franchise. He filled the seats. That's something that hadn't happened in a long time. There was a buzz. There was an excitement about Wizards basketball, which we haven't seen in this town for about 25 years. I think he brought that and he should have been rewarded for that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KARP: From here, Jordan could go back to Chicago, where they have had a front office restructuring and they might make room for a player who helped the team win six NBA titles. Or he could go back to his home state of North Carolina, where an expansion franchise is set to start play in 2004 and where today, Robert Johnson, that team's owner, said that, even though he has someone in place already to run the basketball side of things, he's got so much respect for Michael Jordan's knowledge that he would push that person aside and install Michael Jordan today, if he wanted to go there -- Aaron.

BROWN: Well, I am sure that fellow is comfortable hearing those words.

Michael Jordan probably doesn't need a job. So what he wants is a piece of a basketball club? Does he want to own one?

KARP: Well, he's been a partial owner of the Washington Wizards. That's certainly something that he aspires to again. I am guessing, right now, as much as anything, Michael Jordan's pride is a little bit wounded, Aaron. And he's going to go out and try to prove wherever he goes that Abe Pollin and the Washington Wizards were wrong.

BROWN: Well, wound his pride. People have paid for that before. Thank you, Josie, very much.

Joining us now from Chicago: a friend of both Michael Jordan and this program, Bob Greene, the author of two books about No. 23, "Hang Time" and "Rebound." And Mr. Greene's book "Once Upon a Town" is now out in paperback. We're glad to have him with us. Also joining us tonight: "Washington Post" sports reporter Rachel Nichols.

Welcome to both of you.

BOB GREENE, AUTHOR, "HANG TIME": Thanks. So, Rachel, let's start with you. What happened?

RACHEL NICHOLS, "WASHINGTON POST": Michael Jordan got fired today. That was pretty shocking to him.

BROWN: Was it a clash about players or was it a clash between Jordan and Mr. Pollin, the guy who owns the team?

NICHOLS: I think it was really a clash between ownership and Michael Jordan. The players were sort of ancillary.

Michael Jordan is a very proud man who likes to do what he thinks should be done and doesn't do it with a lot of consideration for other people. That's why he won six NBA titles. But that doesn't work necessarily if you are someone's employee. And he was the employee of someone who is also a proud man, who likes to have things done the way he wants to have them done. And that didn't work. Even though that they're actually very similar, they just couldn't get together on the same page.

BROWN: Did people in Washington, people in the sports community in Washington, suspect this was coming?

NICHOLS: Well, there was certainly a sense that there was growing tension between the two parties. But I think a lot of people thought, as Jordan felt, that they would be able to sit down and work it out.

But it was clear maybe a week before the two met, or certainly a few days before the two met, that there was really not much of an intention of that, that Abe Pollin had made up his mind. And, indeed, the meeting only lasted five or 10 minutes before everybody left the room quite angry. Someone in the meeting said it was as bad as it could possibly be without fists being thrown.

BROWN: Grown men.

Bob, ought we feeling sorry for Michael Jordan tonight?

GREENE: Oh, I am not sure that is necessary. I don't think -- his teammates may have not given him any gifts, but I am not sure he needed them.

This thing felt strange from the beginning. It felt as if someone had said to Elvis Presley right after he had passed the peak of his career, now that you have been a great singer, you get to be Colonel Tom Parker. Now we're going to make you the chance to be a really great music manager.

Even if Jordan had turned out to be the greatest executive in the history of sports, it would have been like -- once you are Elvis, being something else, being an executive in music, is not the same. So I'm not sure it ever felt quite right. And I am not sure why he did it in the first place.

BROWN: Because he's a man of -- I say this, actually as, a compliment -- he's a guy of extraordinary ego. And he believed -- I am now opining -- he believed that he could go into a pretty woeful situation and make it great because he is Michael Jordan.

GREENE: And now we find out what happens next, because Josie Karp mentioned in her piece just now, she mentioned when he was cut from his high school team when he was a sophomore.

You cannot underestimate in Jordan's life, anger and resentment and hurt are a pretty potent fuel. And there's one little piece of that story about being cut that has always stayed with me. Everyone knows that he was cut. He went in there with his friend Leroy Smith. And he looked at the list of the boys who were still going to be on the team. And he told me, he went down the list from the A's, the B's, went passed the J's, and went back up. And he didn't make it.

But his friend Leroy Smith did. Years later, when he was the best basketball player in the world, when traveling the world with the Bulls, he would check into hotels and he couldn't register under his oven name, because everyone in town would try to call him Michael Jordan. The name Jordan registered under at all those hotels was Leroy Smith. He registered under the name of the guy who beat him out for the team.

It's almost as if he's always been needed to be told: Tell me I'm no good. Tell me you don't want me. It's the best thing you can tell me. I need to hear it.

BROWN: So we should probably be looking for Abe Pollin's name on hotel registers now.

Was he used, Rachel, do you think?

NICHOLS: Well, whether the Wizards intended to use him or not, I think what they are going to end up seeing, as Bob said, Michael's going to succeed somewhere. He's going to success somewhere because he is determined to do it. He does want an ownership stake. That's really what's on his mind.

And he is going to succeed because he's had this great training period with the Washington Wizards. They gave him his training wheels. He's going to go back the second time. He is going to do a much better job. And they're going to say, gee, it's this other market, where he could have done that better job for Washington and they didn't want to give him the chance.

BROWN: They say in baseball that the great front office guys and the great managers are never -- or at least rarely -- the great player, that the great player really doesn't have the temperament to deal with the people who aren't the greatest players.

NICHOLS: Well, I was following Michael Jordan around for the last couple of months this season, sort of documenting his last few weeks. One thing he said is: It's so frustrating sometimes, because it seems so simple to me. And I don't understand why they just don't see it. And we see that phenomenon, as you said, with great athletes. Now, some people are able to overcome that. Larry Bird was able to see, when he was a coach, both from the workmanlike perspective and from the Larry Bird perspective. Joe Torre on the Yankees has done a great job, even after being a borderline Hall of Famer as a player. He's definitely a Hall of Fame manager. But most guys can't make that leap.

BROWN: Bob, we'll give you the last word on this. Do you expect Mr. Jordan will do just find?

GREENE: Last night, you were talking on the broadcast about Bob Hope.

BROWN: Yes.

GREENE: And it made me think about this, because, putting sports aside for a second. It's not necessary for a person to be on stage every second of his life. Maybe it's only when you get much older that you realize that you -- if you've done well enough for long enough, you will be remembered.

And I think Bob Hope doesn't go out now, is not seen now, but he still gets to be Bob Hope for the rest of his life and even after that. And I think, pretty soon, Michael's going to realize that. He gets to be Michael Jordan forever no matter what.

BROWN: And he will be for all of us.

Bob, it's good to see you. And I must say, there's nothing better when a guest indicates he watched the program the night before. That's a good lesson for all guests. Thank you, sir, Bob Greene in Chicago.

Rachel, nice to meet you. Thanks for coming in.

NICHOLS: Nice to meet you. Thank you so much.

BROWN: Thank you.

Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT: Muckraker Erin Brockovich joins us to talk about her latest cause -- that and more as we continue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: OK. At least I didn't say all right. I said OK.

Time to check morning papers from across the country and around the world, tomorrow morning's papers.

We noticed this last night: a lot of sports ending up on the front page of papers. I guess it sells. "USA Today" has never been afraid to put a sports story on the front page. And they're not now. He is the most famous athlete in the world, except in the United States. This is soccer player David Beckham on the front page. That's their cover story. Their big news story: "Support for Bush Tax Cuts is Grow: Less Costly Version Advances in the Senate." What a tortured history this tax cut bill is having.

And then down at the bottom, OK, you with me? One more sports story. "Fans not going out to the ball game; 21 of 30 teams lag behind 0-2 crowds." Baseball not drawing as well as it might. But you know that's it's been a lousy spring in a lot of places. The weather's been horrible, so maybe that's the reason.

"Slammed": "The Detroit News." This is a nation sports story. This involves the University of Michigan basketball program. Another year of sanctions by the NCAA. That's correct.

And down at the bottom -- sometimes I surprise myself. "Pot bill could bog down border." The Canadians are about to decriminalize, essentially decriminalize marijuana. The Americans are very unhappy about that. And they are saying that, well, if the Canadians go ahead and do that, they will just search every car coming in from Canada because they must be pot smokers. They are Canadians, after all. Go figure.

Weather tomorrow in Chicago. We could have asked Bob Greene this, but it wouldn't have been as clever as, "Hold on to Your Hat," which makes me believe the Windy City is going to live up to its name.

"School on Hazing." We told year-old about this story yesterday. "Punish Those Girls." That's the big story there; 30 seconds. Oh, my goodness, I am big trouble now.

"The Australian," a newspaper from Australia, surprisingly: "I'm Not a Rapist" is the headline. G.G. is the governor general who's been accused of a rape and he says it's not so. It's a case of mistake identity. It's the entire front page of the paper.

And "The Times Herald Record": "Slicing Through Spam." We just liked the headline. We're not sure exactly. And doesn't that guy look like Jim Cramer, the money guy that's on the program from time to time? It seemed like reason enough to do that paper.

We will take a break. And we have other things. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, we feel assured that even the writers of "Beverly Hills 90201" couldn't have come up with a drama like this. It's the latest fight launched by Erin Brockovich, the real Erin Brockovich, along with her co-counsel, Allen Stewart.

They and their law firms have filed claims against the Beverly Hills -- the city of Beverly Hills and its school system. They say that oil production on the grounds of famed Beverly Hills High has led to a cluster of cancer cases. City fiercely disputes this.

We'll -- we're joined tonight by both sides in all of this. That's Erin Brockovich. And it's Allen Stewart, right? Yes, Allen Stewart there in Los Angeles. And also joining us tonight, the mayor of Beverly Hills, Tom Levin, and the attorney for the city, Skip Miller. We'll get to them in just a moment.

Let's start with what the accusation is.

Ms. Brockovich, what is it, in fact, that you're claiming here?

ERIN BROCKOVICH, ATTORNEY: Well, we have 300 clients to date. We have a high incident of cancer. And we have a situation at Beverly Hills High School that's much more extensive than people realize, than the city or anybody else ever disclosed to the parents or the faculty.

There is underneath the athletic field there a derrick, and it's an oil platform underneath that has 18 operational wellheads, 18 gas lines coming in. And they are processing the gas at this facility, and nobody seems to know the extent and the seriousness of this derrick and the platform that sits at the athletic field.

BROWN: OK, let me work with that a little bit. Mr. Stewart, first on this question of whether or not there's a disproportionate number of cancer cases in the area. I was just looking at one study done there, which describes it as essentially normal, perhaps a tad in the high end of normal, but within the range of normal.

Do you dispute that?

ALLEN STEWART, BARRON AND BUDD: We do dispute that, Aaron. I think normal many times is in the eye of the beholder. It is not unusual in cases like this for defendants or potential defendants to sound the all-clear before they've taken a look at...

BROWN: Well, I don't (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

STEWART: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

BROWN: ... respectfully, I don't believe the study (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- may correct me if you wish -- was done by either a defendant or a potential defendant, it was commissioned by a parent of a child in the school district.

STEWART: I'm familiar with the supposed study you're talking about. I believe it's a study that is said to have been commissioned by someone who is a parent. However, it's not a study that's taken a look at the data that we have or our client base or people who have contacted us.

We have taken a look at this data and had toxicologists look at it. We're presently having epidemiologists look at it right now as well. And all the evidence that they are sharing with us and the data they're sharing with us is confirming that there are excesses, excess incidences of certain kinds of cancers at the high school.

BROWN: Ms. Brockovich, has there ever been either, I guess, air quality studies, air quality studies done of the area, and did those air quality studies, if they exist, indicate a problem? BROCKOVICH: Well, no, that's something that's very, very concerning to us, because documentation shows early in the '80s that the city and the school district had asked the oil industry if this proposed site could potentially deteriorate the air or cause a human health hazard or have the potential to explode.

And the industry responded with, Maybe. Yet it was still allowed to come in. And there is a huge missing data gap. I mean, this is clearly a much more extensive operation that should have been monitored. And by state regulations, needed to be monitored. Yet nobody was ever out there looking to see what they were doing.

BROWN: All right...

BROCKOVICH: So that is something that concerns us very much, very much. Documentation shows us there was not an EIR done, it is an extensive operation, it has the potential to have a human hazard. It has the potential to...

BROWN: All right...

BROCKOVICH: ... explode. Yet nobody's done anything, just ignored it.

BROWN: All right. Let's go to the mayor here. Mayor, that -- just on that last point, has there been ongoing monitoring of the air around the wells in the high school and the adjacent areas leading up to the filing of these claims?

MAYOR TOM LEVIN, BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA: Aaron, thank you for inviting us here this evening. We appreciate the opportunity to speak with Miss Brockovich and Mr. Stewart.

You started off by saying that you had both sides. We're really on the same side. And let me tell you what this means to me. It doesn't mean lawsuits and lawyers. What it means to me is my daughter, who's an 11th grade student at the high school, my son, who's recently graduated from the high school, all of us on the city council and the school board have children at the high school.

And we say categorically today that Beverly Hills High School is safe. But the message that we want to get across is that we have Mr. Mazry (ph) and Mr. Stewart now from Texas, and Miss Brockovich, come into our community and frighten people and say that they have information.

And so the message is, where is the information? We have asked for the past two months, tell us who did your testing? When was it done? How was it done? What equipment did you use? Where's the raw data?

Both the city and the school district have shared all of our information with not only...

BROWN: OK. Let -- why don't we -- yes...

LEVIN: ... Brockovich and Mazry, but the whole community in Beverly Hills.

BROWN: Let's let...

LEVIN: And that question, where is the information? is critical to the health and safety...

BROWN: OK...

LEVIN: ... of all the children in Beverly Hills.

BROWN: Mayor, thanks. I don't mean to interrupt, but the clock ticks. Mr. Stewart, where is the information? Is it appropriate for you to supply that information to the city, to the school district? And if it is, why haven't you?

STEWART: Certainly it's appropriate to share some of it and most of it. Keep in mind that one of our responsibilities to our clients is to prepare a case.

Once we believe it's appropriate to have a case filed in court, and we've been doing that in addition to doing things that are requested of us by the press and the media, and we have offered and given to the other side the test data, what it showed. We've shared with the media the numbers of folks that have come to us and contacted us who have cancer.

That's information that's out there and available. It's not something that's being hidden from them.

What is not unusual in cases like this, unfortunately, is the first thing that potential defendants often do is, they begin to villainize the representatives of the victims and say that it's their fault.

BROWN: OK...

STEWART: We're basically reporting what we found. That's it.

BROWN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) all well and good, but I take the -- the mayor asked a specific question. I think it's a reasonable question. Have you turned -- it's -- and it -- no is an OK answer, I -- you know -- if that's the right answer. Have you turned over the raw data of the study? Have you turned over all of the relevant data so that they have a chance to look at it?

Because, you know, maybe they got a problem they don't know they have a problem, they'd like to solve it, you know?

STEWART: Simply, the answer is yes. That data has been turned over...

BROWN: OK.

STEWART: ... about what the test results were and the data has been turned over about the numbers of people who have contacted us and the cancers that they have. BROWN: All right...

STEWART: That's not something we're hiding from anyone.

BROWN: I understand that. Mr. Miller, you're the lawyer for the city of Beverly Hills. I guess this stuff would ultimately end up on your desk. So do you have all these studies, and the mayor just wasn't aware of that?

SKIP MILLER, ATTORNEY FOR BEVERLY HILLS: No, all we have is...

BROWN: No.

MILLER: ... what we went out and commissioned and investigated immediately after Ms. Brockovich and her lawyers held their first press conference and made these allegations. We went out, we hired experts. They have come back with their preliminary report, which I have here, which says point-blank that the testing of airborne chemical constituents at the high school shows levels well below the health limits established by the state of California.

We have the epidemiological study from the University of Southern California, which says point-blank, no elevated risk in Beverly Hills.

So contrary to what counsel just stated, the answer is, no, we've never received it. We're happy to hear they're willing to give it to us. And I'd be happy to, when the interview's over, call them, give them my fax number, and he can send it to me tomorrow.

STEWART: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

BROWN: That's an excellent, that's an excellent...

STEWART: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

BROWN: ... idea. I feel like I've done good if we've...

LEVIN: Aaron...

BROWN: ... if we've facilitated that.

STEWART: ... Aaron, this is...

BROWN: Mr. Stewart, go ahead.

STEWART: Wait, Aaron...

BROWN: Yes.

LEVIN: Sir -- Yes, this is Tom Levin, I'll...

BROWN: I'm sorry, go ahead, quickly, sir.

LEVIN: Yes, I'll do Skip Miller one better. I will be at Mr. Mazry's office at 10:00 on Tuesday, May 13, 10:00 a.m., to collect the information, the raw data from their test, how they did their testing, who did it, when they did it, and what equipment they used. If they will provide us with that information...

STEWART: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

LEVIN: ... then that will be valuable...

BROWN: OK...

LEVIN: ... for us to look at.

BROWN: Thank -- mayor, thank you. Ms. Brockovich, we'll give you the last word on this. Where does this go next?

BROCKOVICH: You know what? We'll take him up on his offer. We are happy to do that, because the lab that we used is the exact same lab that the South Coast Air Quality Management, in fact, used to do current testing out there. It's defensible, it's valid, we are happy to turn it over.

And I'm very concerned with the discrepancies in the data. The South Coast Air Quality Management District got test results themselves of a 2.1 part per million benzine reading at the vent pipe there at the derrick, and a 12.1 part per million reading of inhexate (ph). Yet they didn't disclose that to anybody.

I will be happy to turn that over tomorrow as well.

STEWART: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

BROWN: We'll, we'll follow all of that...

STEWART: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

BROWN: ... up to make sure everything gets turned over to everyone who ought to have it. We thank all four of you for being with us. Eventually, it sounds like this is getting into a courtroom, and we'll be following it there as well. Thank you all.

STEWART: Thank you, Aaron.

LEVIN: Thank you very much.

BROCKOVICH: Thank you.

BROWN: Take a break, be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Two Segment Sevens tonight, and they both deal with the end of World War Two, V-E Day, which is today. Heard a lot of talk about the relationship between the French and the Americans and how the French have forgotten World War II.

We begin with Jim Bitterman tonight in a small French town that clearly has not forgotten the liberators.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JIM BITTERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a town of 25,000 a half-hour's drive from Paris, a crowd of French citizens saluted the American flag as the "Star Spangled Banner" echoed across the small square.

As every year since the war, the names of nine American soldiers who died on this spot nearly six decades ago were read out in remembrance. Said one city official, "Those who think the French have forgotten their debt to the U.S. simply haven't traveled much."

The mayor says a difference of opinion should not turn a friend into a foe.

MAYOR GERARD LARCHER, RAMBOUILLET, FRANCE: In spite of the difference on political and diplomatic (UNINTELLIGIBLE) approach, we know very well here where are our real friends.

BITTERMAN: But the compliance the U.S. now seems to demand from its friends has been the subject of one conference after another on this side of the Atlantic. At this one, a warning from the American ambassador.

HOWARD LEACH, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE: And I do believe the relationship is at a crossroads. The direction it takes will depend on how we resolve the important issues immediately ahead of us.

BITTERMAN: If that was one way of saying, Our way or the highway, the ambassador's host disagreed.

ARTHUR PRAECHT, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC RESEARCH (through translator): The framework of partnership does not mean one party should be completely submissive to another.

BITTERMAN: In a country where frites have not yet become freedom fries, and where no one pours wine of any nationality down the drain, some are perplexed by how intolerant and vengeful Americans now seem to be just because others argue for a different view of the world.

When an Italian comedian in Paris opened a satirical revue called "George Bush, Sad Cowboy of God," he was promptly beaten up. These people were clearly against the play, he said, but he stopped short of accusing Americans of being behind the attack.

(on camera): What is in fact surprising is how restrained the public outcry has been here in the face of an anti-French campaign in the U.S. which, if directed against most any other national or ethnic group, would be, as several commentators have pointed out, nothing short of bigotry.

(voice-over): Back in Rambouillet, at a second ceremony marking Victory in Europe Day, the head of the Franco-American Veterans Association, the widow of an American soldier, is disappointed at the way some in the U.S. have vilified France.

MARIE-FRANCE RODGERS, FRANCO-AMERICAN VETERANS ASSOCIATION: It's a pity, really. It's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of the United States. Even if Mr. Perle says that we -- it's the fault of the French, that's -- we are also of democracy, we also can have an opinion.

BITTERMAN: Searching for something hopeful to say about trans- Atlantic relations, several at the V-E Day commemoration pointed a visitor to the nearby chateau of Rambouillet. Many of the trees along its rustic paths came from seedlings grown in the U.S., a gift arranged by Thomas Jefferson to King Louis XVI for his help during the American Revolution.

For two and a half centuries, they've withstood every manner of storm. Said the mayor, "The trees are a symbol of a long, long friendship."

Jim Bitterman, CNN, Rambouillet, France.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: And finally, on this V-E Day, a soldier's story, a hero.

Here's CNN's Candy Crowley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, a 17-year-old boy peddling through the chaotic streets of Honolulu looked up to the skies and screamed, "You dirty Japs!"

This is the story of an American soldier.

SEN. DANIEL INOUYE, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: Soon after December the 7th, the United States government decided that all Japanese were enemy aliens. So therefore, I was declared to be 4-C, enemy alien, and as a result could not serve my nation.

CROWLEY: As Japanese-Americans were put in internment camps, thousands petitioned the president, fighting to get in the fight, to prove themselves American. When the War Department relented, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was formed and sent to the battle front in Europe.

INOUYE: Everyone said the same thing in a different way. I hope I don't bring dishonor to the family, or, I hope I don't bring embarrassment. I hope I don't turn out to be a coward.

CROWLEY: They were the go-for-broke regiment, fighting for their country and a place in it. When a Texas battalion was surrounded by Germans and out of supplies, they called in the 442nd.

INOUYE: I looked upon this as the great opportunity, because obvious that the way we were pushed in, we were expendable, because there were no holds barred when we went in.

And the battle lasted about five days, and there were 800 casualties. Well, we're speaking of 10 or 15 here. There were 800 casualties in five days. But I have yet to hear anyone say it wasn't worth it, because after that, I don't think anyone, at least not men in the uniform, questioned our loyalty or whether we are Americans or not.

CROWLEY: Second Lieutent Dan Inouye fought his last battle on a hillside in Italy. It was three weeks before victory in Europe, April of 45. Though severely wounded, Inouye pushed forward, throwing grenades into a nest of German machine guns.

INOUYE: If I told you that I was shot in the leg, in my gut, in my arm, all in the same battle in a period of about three hours, and during that time I felt absolutely no pain, so help me.

CROWLEY: He lost an arm for his country but talks only of what he gained.

INOUYE: This war and the injury made it possible for me to meet other Americans.

CROWLEY: He spent 20 months in Michigan at a rehab facility, reveling in the Americanness of his experience.

INOUYE: I had my first stuffed cabbage in Akron when my Polish buddies took me home. They says, Come on home, let's spend the weekend. And Polish dances and all that. And then I go to Detroit with a couple of the African-American officers. And I -- they got me a date! I'd never seen a black woman before.

CROWLEY: The GI Bill sent him to college and law school. Hawaiians, once they achieved statehood, sent him to Congress. And as the new millennium opened, U.S. Senator Dan Inouye received the Medal of Honor, the highest military award for valor in action against an enemy force.

And that is the story of an American soldier.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And that's a terrific way to end the program. We'll see you tomorrow. Good night.

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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