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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Derrick Todd Lee in Custody; More U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq; Talks Between Israelis, Palestinians Postponed

Aired May 27, 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.


CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. Breaking news tonight in the story of the killer who murdered five women, devastated five families, and struck fear into the hearts of countless Americans in the southeast of the country for more than a year, the arrest of the prime suspect and the prime target of a nationwide manhunt.
And so, we begin the whip with Ed Lavandera who has more on the breaking news for us. He's in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the scene of the murders -- Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christiane, well here several law enforcement sources confirming to CNN that Derrick Todd Lee is now in custody as you mentioned.

Extremely welcome news for the five families that have been suffering so much over the last ten months and they've awaited word for the arrest of any kind of suspect in the case, a serial killer that has had many people in this town on edge for about ten months now.

We understand that Derrick Todd Lee was picked up about an hour ago. When we come back in a little bit we'll give you more details as to how this has transpired in the last hour -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: All right, Ed.

And now, to the latest violence in Iraq that's left more Americans dead there. Matthew Chance is in Baghdad for us -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Christiane, and there has been an upsurge in fighting and attacks against U.S. forces patrolling the territory. Across Iraq there are more and more reports coming in of more U.S. soldiers killed. When we come back to me we'll be bringing you the latest on why it's still so dangerous for U.S. forces patrolling this territory.

AMANPOUR: OK, and in Jerusalem, the latest on where the road map stands and the fallout within Israel over statements by the prime minister. Kelly Wallace has that for us -- Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christiane, the Israeli prime minister's aides tried to clarify today exactly what Ariel Sharon meant when he used the word occupation for the very first time, this controversy coming as the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers had planned to meet Wednesday. Those talks, though, now temporarily postponed -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: And from the White House, the increasingly strong words directed at Iran. Senior White House Correspondent John King has that -- John.

KING: Christiane, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today said he would not tolerate Iran meddling in post war Iraq. Here at the White House, the president spokesman said there is no doubt that Iran is harboring key members of al Qaeda. The White House insists there is no change of policy when it comes to Iran but we are certainly seeing the change in emphasis -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: John thanks, and we'll be back with all of you in a moment.

Also coming up on NEWSNIGHT the latest on the murder case against Scott Peterson in Modesto, California. David Mattingly reports on the question of phone calls intercepted by investigators, phone calls between him and his lawyer.

And, a business in London that's on the rise, who to call after too many pints and no safe way to get home, Scooter Man.

We begin, though, with the Louisiana serial killings and the fate of the prime suspect Derrick Todd Lee. We were set to report tonight that Lee was considered armed and dangerous and still on the loose. All of that changed with the breaking news that came just before airtime and so we go back now to CNN's Ed Lavandera.

LAVANDERA: Hi, Christiane. Well, a law enforcement source tells CNN that about an hour ago U.S. Marshals followed with the team from the Atlanta Metro Fugitive Squad on the west side of Atlanta, Georgia, along Bankhead Highway in western Atlanta.

U.S. Marshals teamed up with the Atlanta Metro Fugitive Squad, picked up Derrick Todd Lee. We're told that it was a tip from the public that "busted this guy." Derrick Todd Lee was said to be carrying identification with him. He did not resist arrest.

Right now there is a number of press briefings that are being scheduled here that will happen here in the course of the next hour. We're here in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The building you see behind me is where the serial killer task force has been working out of for the last ten months, but all indications were that the reports initially came out that Derrick Todd Lee had been sighted in the Atlanta area.

In fact, it was yesterday, on Monday, where authorities had descended upon a hotel in southern Atlanta where they had had reports that Derrick Todd Lee had been staying for about a week but when they got there they had missed him by about an hour we're told.

It's also believed that Derrick Todd Lee left the Baton Rouge area by bus and traveled to Chicago and then made his way to Atlanta where he has spent the last week working odd jobs perhaps in the construction industry is what authorities tend to believe at this point.

But perhaps more information will be unveiled here within the next hour as authorities, not only here in Baton Rouge, but in Atlanta as well, are planning a series of news conferences to describe what has happened.

But, of course, the major headline, Derrick Todd Lee, a man who is suspected in the murders of five women in the Baton Rouge area is now in custody. Authorities say that his DNA matches with DNA evidence taken from the crime scene of those five women and they believe he is the serial killer that has been on the minds of so many people in this area for the last ten months -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: And, Ed, the families, the mothers we heard from of those victims were very, very unhappy at the way the investigation or the hunt had gone so far. Do you think that they'll be satisfied now?

LAVANDERA: Well, every indication when this news first broke that they had had -- they had a suspect, there were several family members who were still angered. These murders happened over the course of a year and a half starting in September of 2001.

There are several family members who believed that there were a lot of balls dropped along the way and that authorities could have done more to investigate leads that were given to them by witnesses in the neighborhoods where these murders happened or where these abductions happened as well.

So, there are several family members that are still rather upset by all of that but in the end they do know that they are happy because this, if this indeed turns out to be the killer of these five women, that they're very happy that this person is off the street because what they say they've been fighting for the last ten months is to make sure that no other women are harmed in this area ever again -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: Ed, thank you very much.

And now, we move to Iraq and the enormous amount of unfinished business there. It's especially dangerous in a patch of central Iraq, where during his rule Saddam Hussein did right by the locals and even now some of them remain loyal to him. Early this morning at a checkpoint near a bridge across the Euphrates River, American forces came under attack and by sunrise two soldiers were dead.

Here is CNN's Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (voice-over): Major combat operations are over here but Iraq is still dangerous for the troops who invaded it. In recent days, attacks on U.S. patrols across the country have increased. There is still scattered opposition forces willing and able to strike.

The town of Fallujah has emerged as one deadly flashpoint. It was here on Tuesday morning U.S. officials say their men came under rocket attack and heavy machine gun fire. There is no independent verification but the U.S. says shots were fired at their patrol from a local mosque.

Outside the town, locals have been picking through the debris of an army medivac helicopter. The military says it was struck by one of its own armored vehicles in the confusion of battle. Amid rumors that innocent Iraqis were killed resentment is running high here. Critics say the U.S. has so far failed to sufficiently win these hearts and minds.

CAPT. DAVID CONNOLLY, U.S. ARMY SPOKESMAN: Today's events were accidents. Some of them were planned attacks on our forces; however it's important to note that these incidents alone yesterday did not in themselves show a trend.

CHANCE: But if it's not it is an upsurge. In the hours before the Fallujah attack, U.S. officials say this armored Humvee was blown up on the outskirts of Baghdad. A satchel bomb or mine was thrown beneath it as it passed. The soldier inside was killed. This war may be won for the U.S. and its allies but violence and bloodshed here endure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Matthew, thank you very much indeed.

Upsurge or trend, recent events obviously present a challenge and it is the attack in Fallujah we ask whether it will be a sign of things to come. Today, the Pentagon insists it is not.

Here's CNN's Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pentagon officials say they see no evidence of an organized campaign against U.S. forces but they do believe the capture of Saddam Hussein and his two sons or proof they are dead would go a long way to stemming the anti-American violence by Ba'ath Party loyalists.

CONNOLLY: It's important to remember that we had two main objectives when we came to Iraq. One was to remove the regime. Another was to search for and destroy weapons of mass destruction. Neither of those two tasks are complete.

MCINTYRE: With the latest captures, the U.S. has rounded up more than half of its 55 most wanted Iraqis but still doesn't know the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein or his sons, and as for the weapons of mass destruction, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is now among those floating the idea Iraq may have eliminated them well before U.S. troops got there.

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: It is also possible that they decided that they would destroy them prior to a conflict and I don't know the answer. MCINTYRE: Rumsfeld says it's too soon to say the weapons won't be found and he insists too much is being made of the continuing lawlessness in Iraq. The crime rate in Baghdad, he argues, is no worse than in many U.S. cities.

RUMSFELD: Washington, D.C., where I live, 215. If it were the size of Baghdad, it would be 215 murders a month and 31,700 robberies, larcenies, and burglaries. Now, we apparently have learned to live with that and we didn't have 100,000 plus or minus criminals just gorged out of every prison in our country.

MCINTYRE (on camera): Rumsfeld's New York speech amounted to a formal rebuttal to his critics. He said Iraq's transition to democracy would not be perfect and would require some course corrections along the way. "I'm sure they'll all be pointed to and viewed with alarm," he said but he urged patience, noting the U.S. has controlled Iraq for only seven weeks.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: And, at the White House today the president's spokesman put Iran on notice. The administration has many of the same concerns about Iran as it once did about Iraq but for now it appears to be taking a different approach, tough words, but also a measure of restraint and diplomacy.

For more on that we turn again to CNN's John King at the White House.

KING: Christiane, Iran certainly much more on the Bush administration radar screen, and as we have seen in past debates about policy toward Iraq and policy toward North Korea, there is also a bit of a tug of war spilling into public at times among senior Bush administration officials.

White House officials say there is no question at all that al Qaeda operatives who were involved in the planning of the recent bombing attacks in Saudi Arabia are being given safe haven inside Iran. Iran today said it arrested many al Qaeda members but the White House said flatly it simply was not enough and it is demanding more.

As this debate about al Qaeda plays out, there are some in the Bush administration arguing it is now time for the CIA and other U.S. agencies to be much more aggressive in supporting students who in recent months have been more vocal in their demonstrations within Iran.

Some of the administration saying the Bush administration should give up on the current Iranian government and support those who would like to overthrow it and protests against it. Some even saying that the Bush administration was nearing a decision to do just that and to end all contacts with the Iranian government but the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell out in public today saying there is no change at all in Bush administration policy. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Our policies with respect to Iran have not changed. We did not approve of their support of terrorist activities. We have made it clear over the years that we disapprove of their efforts to develop a nuclear capability and our policies are well known and I'm not aware of any changes in policy of the kind that have been speculated on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Australia is among the U.S. allies that has been asked in recent days to pressure Iran to do more to round up al Qaeda members, again said by the United States to be given safe harbor inside Iran.

White House officials say as the debate plays out within the administration the next key date is fast approaching in June when the International Atomic Energy Agency releases a report on Iran's nuclear program.

The White House says it is convinced that report will buttress its claims that Iran's nuclear program is not for peaceful means, as Tehran says, but in fact to develop nuclear weapons -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: John, at the same time the president and the White House is working on the Middle East peace process, what news, what do we know about what the president will do next and especially in terms of a summit with the two protagonists there?

KING: One week from tonight, Christiane, we will have a demonstration if all goes as now planned by the White House, of the most intense personal commitment from this president to the Middle East peace process.

Mr. Bush is scheduled to go first to the Red Sea Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh to meet with key Arab leaders to press them to get more involved in the process, especially with helping Palestinian and encouraging Palestinian reforms that boost Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and push Yasser Arafat to the sidelines.

And from Sharm El Sheikh, Mr. Bush is scheduled then to go onto Jordan for a three-way dramatic summit, Prime Minister Sharon of Israel, Prime Minister Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, and the U.S. President George W. Bush.

Mr. Bush's goal, we are told at that meeting will be to push the parties to embrace the early benchmarks, the deadlines in his so- called road map for peace to try, after more than two and a half years of violence and mistrust, to restart that peace process -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: John thanks, and we'll all be reporting on that next week hopefully.

More now on Iran, James Woolsey joins the program again tonight. Mr. Woolsey is a former director of the CIA, a member of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Advisory Board, and a forceful advocate of taking on militant Islam around the world. He joins us from Washington.

Mr. Woolsey, welcome to the program. You are close to the people who make decisions in Washington. What precisely is the current thinking about Iran? We've heard the debate from John but which way is it leaning?

JAMES WOOLSEY, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: First of all, Christiane, I don't think any of us would really say that we are opponents of Islam, even militant Islam. The Islamists such as the mullahs who operate the instruments of power of the state of Iran and al Qaeda really are sort of masquerading, totalitarians masquerading as religious people very much the way (unintelligible) was masquerading as a Christian I think.

So, I think it's key that the enemy here is not Islam at all, even different sort of Islam than the majority or the Muslims but it's a totalitarian ideology, al Qaeda, the people who control the instruments of power in Iran.

AMANPOUR: Well, let me ask you this then. You say totalitarian ideology and, of course, there is a measure of democracy depending on how you want to describe it, but certainly many in the U.S. and many around the world talk about the legitimate, the elected government of Iran.

And so, when they're thinking about what they may do next, wonder whether they can do in Iran what they did in Iraq given the different nature of the government there. I want to know from you what you think is where the debate is shaping up now and what will be America's way of pressuring Iran?

WOOLSEY: Well, I think Iran is a democracy today very much the way the Soviet Union was a democracy in the 1980s. It has a constitution and it had elections. They just didn't mean anything.

Iran is under the control of the Islamist totalitarians that, such as Khomeini (ph) that run the instruments of power of the state, and there was a period from '96 to around '98 or '99 when there was a kind of an Iranian glasnost and I think people got somewhat optimistic.

But since '98, '99, they've been murdering dissidents. They've locked up virtually all of the newspaper editors. It's a totalitarian state. There is nothing democratic about it.

AMANPOUR: So, what is the administration do you think going to do about it?

WOOLSEY: I don't know. I hope that it is going to take a forceful stand elaborating on what the president did last summer in a very fine statement about Iran, essentially putting us on the side of the brave students in the streets and the women and the newspaper editors who are being tortured in prison and opposed to Khomeini and Rafsanjani.

I think clarity of purpose is the main thing. We need to stop pretending that there's going to be some sort of amelioration of the behavior of the mullahs who run the instruments of power of the state. They are very unpopular in Iran itself.

They've lost the students. They've lost the women. They've lost the brave reformers and one by one they're losing the ayatollahs, even the conservative ayatollahs such as (unintelligible) who blasted them last summer for being un-Islamic.

AMANPOUR: Do you see a situation where the United States or certain people in the administration might want to, for instance, arm, train, or whatever, fund, help the MEK as a sort of an Iranian Northern Alliance if you like?

WOOLSEY: I'd be surprised at that unless it were sort of a very last resort. I think doing some of the types of things which we did to help the students and the people in the streets overthrow Milosevic might be a candidate option but those are essentially peaceful undertakings not arming dissidents.

AMANPOUR: Mr. Woolsey, thank you very much indeed for joining us.

WOOLSEY: Good to be here.

AMANPOUR: And now on to Israel -- thank you -- and the battle over a word, the word occupation. Israel's prime minister first made headlines when he uttered it yesterday and sine then nearly everyone has been fighting over what he really meant, including the prime minister himself.

Here again, CNN's Kelly Wallace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice-over): Israelis are still trying to understand if Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's use of the term "occupation" in public for the very first time indicates a 180-degree change in his political outlook.

ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): You can not like the word but what is happening is an occupation. To hold three and a half million Palestinians under occupation I believe that's a terrible thing for Israel and for the Palestinians.

WALLACE: Those words coming from the former general, nicknamed the Bull Dozer, for his support of Jewish settlement building in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip shocked his right-wing allies especially Jewish settlers.

YISRAEL MEIDAD, ISRAELI SETTLERS SPOKESMAN: I couldn't believe it. That's the term that is used by the enemies of the state of Israel to try to block it into a corner. We are not occupiers. This is our homeland.

WALLACE: Sensing a political storm, the Israeli prime minister and his aides rushed to clarify his remarks. RA'ANAN GISSIN, SENIOR SHARON ADVISER: People mistakenly thought that he speaks about the occupation of the territory. What he meant by the word kibosh (ph) is the control or management of the life of 3.5 million Palestinians.

WALLACE: Aides say Mr. Sharon was saying that the presence of Israeli troops in Palestinian towns eventually needs to end but that he still considers the West Bank and Gaza disputed not occupied territories to be settled in a final agreement with the Palestinians. Some political analysts though say the Israeli prime minister, regarded as a master politician, knew exactly what he was saying.

LESLIE SUSSE, POLITICAL ANALYST: I think basically, he used the term, I think he wanted to shock his right-wing audience and he wanted to show them that he is determined if all the other elements, as I said, the Americans, the Palestinians, go ahead with the road map in a serious way.

WALLACE: Some believe this was about external politics with Mr. Sharon trying to send the U.S. president a message that he is committed to the Mid East road map.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And some Israeli and many Palestinians say they remain skeptical about the prime minister's intentions. And, in a late night development, the Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas was asked about Mr. Sharon's comments in an interview which will appear in a newspaper on Wednesday.

He said: "I don't want to judge Sharon by what he says or by what's said about him" and then apparently with a smile he said, "I know him inside and out. I'll believe him only when he implements the road map" -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: So, Kelly, what does this initial sort of (unintelligible) if you like over that word say about how difficult it's going to be for Ariel Sharon to even start implementing the road map?

WALLACE: Well, no question, you saw how angry his right-wing Likud Party was, Jewish settlers as well, about those comments, and other people say that during that meeting Monday night when he used the word occupation, he also signaled to some Jewish settlers that there will continue to be an expansion of settlement activity, and obviously that is a big concern to Palestinians.

It shows how difficult, Christiane, this all will be, and again right now even the two leaders, the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers were set to meet on Wednesday to continue their ongoing talks, those talks temporarily postponed. We expect them to happen though sometime before the week is out -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: All right, Kelly, thank you very much indeed.

And we'll be back with more of NEWSNIGHT right after this break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: More now on the Louisiana serial killings and the arrest of the prime suspect Derrick Todd Lee. We're joined on the phone by the police chief of Atlanta, Georgia, Richard Pennington.

Chief Pennington, thank you for joining us.

CHIEF RICHARD PENNINGTON, ATLANTA POLICE DEPARTMENT: Thank you.

AMANPOUR: Can you tell us exactly the details, the precise details of how you arrested the suspect?

PENNINGTON: Yes, we can. First of all members of my fugitive unit had been looking for the suspect Derrick Lee all day based on information we received from the Baton Rouge Police Chief and the serial murderer task force back in the state of Louisiana.

This evening about 8:45 p.m., members of my fugitive unit received a telephone call from an informant saying that they thought they had observed the suspect, Derrick lee, in the area of Woods Drive and Donalee (ph) Holland Parkway which is in southwest Atlanta.

The officers responded to that location, noticed a suspect fitting the description, approached Derrick Lee, asked for identification. Derrick Lee produced a Louisiana identification. He was arrested without incident, taken into custody and he's currently at Atlanta Police Department headquarters pending extradition back to the state of Louisiana.

AMANPOUR: And just to be clear, exactly where, what kind of facility was it that you arrested him at?

PENNINGTON: He was in the rear of a tire shop. It's sort of like a mall area but he was hanging around a tire shop, an automotive tire shop, and someone noticed him, recognized him, made a call to the fugitive unit. We went out this evening about 8:45 and sure enough he was the person that we had been looking for all day.

AMANPOUR: And what did he say to your officers? What has he said that you can tell us about?

PENNINGTON: Actually, he didn't say very much. He just said he was the person that was Derrick Lee, and then at that point he was just taken into custody. He hasn't said much at all. He was given his rights, read his rights, and he's currently in custody at police headquarters, but he hasn't said much all evening.

AMANPOUR: And, you said that you were working on this all day. Some reports suggested he may have been in the Atlanta area for about a week. Is that accurate and, if so, why did it not -- why did you not tail him quicker than this?

PENNINGTON: We received information from Baton Rouge today. We did not know he was in the Atlanta area until today when we received information from the serial murder task force in the state of Louisiana and that was only because of some information from a relative that indicated that he was probably in the Atlanta area.

We received that information this morning. As soon as we got the information, we put together this task force to go out and start to look for him in the areas in which they said he might have been residing.

AMANPOUR: Chief Pennington thank you very much indeed for joining us.

PENNINGTON: Thank you.

AMANPOUR: And coming up on NEWSNIGHT this Tuesday, the Peterson case. We'll have the latest from another day in court. This is NEWSNIGHT from London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: In Modesto, California, a county judge is knee deep in a legal (UNINTELLIGIBLE) even before the trial of Scott Peterson begins. A hearing was held today on a range issues surround the Case against Peterson who is accused of killing his wife and unborn child. One issue involved a requested by California Newspapers to release autopsy report and various warrants which the judge suggested he wasn't inclined to do. Another was whether to release to the defense recordings of phone calls intercepted by investigators between Peterson and his lawyer.

More on all of that now from CNN's David Mattingly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Five months and two days since the murder of Laci Peterson, defense attorneys for Scott Peterson are focused on 69 calls, phone calls between Scott and his attorney and investigators that were intercepted in police wiretaps.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sixty-nine calls were intercepted. I don't believe 69 calls were monitored. So there's a difference in wiretap when all the calls are intercepted versus what's actually monitored.

MATTINGLY: A California judge ruled that prosecutors have to turn over all information from those calls so the defense can decide for themselves if Peterson's rights have been violated.

MARK GERAGOS, SCOTT PETERSON'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Once we've seen exactly what was taped, then we'll file whatever appropriate motion. Until we see what's there, we really don't know what we're going to do.

MATTINGLY: Scott Peterson appeared in court in a coat and tie, not the bright red jump-suit he wears in jail. The blond highlights he had at the time of his arrest now gone, thanks to a fresh hair cut.

Outside, there were dozens of cameras and reporters from across the country, and the abundance of national pre-trial publicity is clearly a concern, with both sides arguing against making public arrest warrants and autopsy results.

GERAGOS: We're pleased. We think that the judge protected the integrity of the investigation, and that's what we're looking to do.

MATTINGLY: The judge in the case raised the possibility of a gag order on all participants. Also an issue, the courtroom camera, will it be allowed to stay for Peterson's preliminary hearing?

(on camera): That hearing now a month and a half away, as the investigation continues on both sides.

Weather permitting, divers want to return to San Francisco bay to search for more evidence. This while investigators for the Scott Peterson defense team pursue leads of their own.

David Mattingly, CNN, Modesto, California.

AMANPOUR: Coming up, NEWSNIGHT, this Tuesday, we'll talk with former British foreign secretary, Robin Cook who resigned from the government over the Iraq war. And who has some strong things to say about that and about the potential for conflicts with Iran. This is NEWSNIGHT from London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

AMANPOUR: And as NEWSNIGHT continues we'll talk with a critic of Operation Iraqi Freedom who remains critical to this day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: The war in Iraq tore the world apart, even Britain, America's main ally. Robin Cook who once was Prime Minister Blair's foreign secretary and supported the war in Kosovo resigned in a high profile protest over the legitimacy of this latest war. He remains unrepentant and highly skeptical of the rational for going to war. I spoke to him about that earlier this evening.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: You were perhaps best known for expounding the ethical and moral doctrine of foreign policy. Even though you resigned in protest of the Iraq war, do you believe that getting rid of Saddam Hussein was a moral victory?

ROBIN COOK, FORMER MEMBER OF BRITISH PARLIAMENT: Well, Saddam Hussein was a brutal and evil dictator, nobody doubted that. Of course, the case that was made for the war was not that he was an evil dictator, but that he had weapons of mass destruction with which he might hit it. And I note two months after the war is over, we haven't still found the weapons of mass destruction. So that case of the war looks rather weak.

But secondly, if we are going to go around the world on the basis of taking out regime that is are evil and there are a lot of regimes around the world that are not democratic and don't observe human rights, it's terribly important to have an international consensus before we do that. Because if we create the principle that it is all right to change a government because it's inadequate, then it's not just us who may do it next time. Other governments may decide to do it in ways we won't like.

AMANPOUR: Mr. Cook, you talked about weapons of mass destruction, and scant evidence of that right now. There are many questions mounting about the nature of the American intelligence, and indeed British intelligence about that issue.

Do you think that the intelligence was hyped on the WMD issue?

COOK: Well, I think it would be very unfair to blame intelligence. I mean, I worked with British intelligence in the past, and my time as the British foreign minister. I was familiar with the briefings that they gave on Iraq. And they were always very careful to make clear what are the limits of their knowledge. I think those who have claimed there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq are the people who have to accept the responsibility for now proving it.

They can't blame it on intelligence associates who can't answer back for themselves in public. But it does look very hard to believe now that Saddam Hussein had any weapons with which to hit us. These are not things to leave behind. I mean, if you have a nuclear bomb, you need a nuclear reactor. If you are going to have a long range missile system you need a big factory.

We would have found that surely in the course of the past two months. And if he did have a capacity, why did never use it in the actual war? Here he was with the back against the wall about to be toppled and yet he never employed that capacity so dreadful and such a threat to go to war to disarm him. It looks as if we needed to got war with him to disarm him. He didn't have much in the way of arms in the first place.

AMANPOUR: As you look now towards what's happening in the post- war situation, where it's clearly becoming increasingly apparent that the whole security, and not to mention the reconstruction effort is very much precarious right now.

What do you think about that and what's your opinion on what needs to be done to properly rebuild and bring security there?

COOK: Well, the only thing I find surprising about the situation in the aftermath of war is that anybody should be surprised by it. I mean, Iraq has a long history of resisting and resenting any foreign occupation. And it is very important that we remove ourselves as the occupying powers as fast a possible, before we become ourselves the people who is resented as the army of occupation. That's why I think the urgent task is to provide as much authority asp possible on the ground for the United Nations because if we are -- anybody going about the very difficult, very delicate task of putting together any kind of representative government, which balances the different ethnic groups in Iraq, the people who are most likely to get the goodwill and the cooperation of the people in doing that international community in the shape of the United Nations.

We're not going to be able to achieve a representative government in Iraq if we are trying to impose it ourselves from our side.

AMANPOUR: You know that there's a lot of pressure mounting now against Iran, Iraq's neighbor. Do you think that given what the pressure is, given the threat that was, as you mentioned, basically hyped about the WMD in Iraq, do you think that military option is even realistic against Iran? And do you believe that Britain would join the U.S. if the option was considered?

COOK: Well, before any military action is considered against anybody else, I think we should sit down and think very coolly and very hard about the damage that's been done to the international scene by the war on Iraq.

The most obvious of those is that we broke up that wonderful, big, broad coalition around the world against world terrorism which was actually one immense asset that we had an the one of the best bases for security for our countries and that's gone (UNINTELLIGIBLE) pressure of the war on Iraq. And if we were to continue to make military attacks on other nations, I think that that is to leave us with fewer friends and allies against what is a crucial issue for us, which is to fighting terrorism.

On the issue of Iran, Iran's very complex society that, yes, there is a military control in Iran which is exercised by the old revolutionary elements, the ayatollahs who took over in the Iranian revolution. But there's also by an elected government there, quite distinct form the ayatollahs, which overwhelmingly had been reformist. And the people of Iran, whenever they've had had the chance, have voted for people who are reform-minded, who are modern, who want to connect Iran with the outside world.

We should be doing everything possible to strengthen and to support them. My deep worry about some of the rhetoric that's now coming out about Iran is that it will drive Iran back into a shell. It'll make it more difficult for the reformers to win the fight. It will give arguments to the ayatollahs to say, look, you can't trust the outside world. We have got to defend ourselves.

I think we ought to embrace Iran into the modern world and build bridges the those that want to join us.

AMANPOUR: Robin Cook, thank you so much for joining us.

COOK: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: And ahead, another catastrophe in Africa. We'll talk with Nicholas Kristof from "The New York Times" about the famine that's been (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Ethiopia. This is NEWSNIGHT from London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) AMANPOUR: Earlier tonight, we reported on the uproar in Israel over the word "occupation". But it's not the only word to start a fight. Some words carry such weight, such resistance and such memories that writers take great care to use them only when no other word will do. Holocaust is one.

Today in his "New York Times" column, Nicholas Kristof wrote that one day our grandchildren might ask us, so what did you do during the African holocaust.

Nick Kristof joins us from New York.

Mr. Kristof, thank you for joining us.

NICHOLAS KRISTOF, "NEW YORK TIMES": Hi, my pleasure.

AMANPOUR: You have just come back from Africa. What did you see that's so moved you to write those words?

KRISTOF: I was in Ethiopia and Eritrea and I've seen plenty of malnutrition in other countries and plenty of situations of extreme deprivation, but I've never seen the kinds of scenes that I saw in southern Ethiopia where you have children dying in every village you go to. Where you have makeshift clinics and children dying, you know, of malnutrition related ailments before they can even be seen by doctors.

You know, in the best of situations, this year, 100,000 Ethiopian kids will die of malnutrition related ailments. And if we don't act quickly, there will be an awful lot more.

AMANPOUR: Is there any kind of help, any international aid getting to them? Has there been any kind of mobilization to the plight of these people?

KRISTOF: Yes, there has been. There are parts of Ethiopia that are very difficult to organize help in because of security reasons. In the area where I was, there was indeed some help but simply wasn't enough. And those people who could leave their villages and get to clinics were getting some help. But there were an awful lot who were just dying in the villages.

AMANPOUR: You say and you write that perhaps the focus on Iraq now and so many other things going on in the world have distracted and overburdened peoples' sort of thinking processes, if you like. What is it going to take to make people focus on this?

KRISTOF: Well, you know, I mean, we in journalism we tend to complain that the administration can't, you know, walk and chew gum at the same time. But it's very much true of ourselves, as well. I mean, I found that that was my problem for the last six months, I'd been focusing just on Iraq.

And the situation in Ethiopia and elsewhere, in Congo for example, has been completely pushed off the front pages, off the television screens by what has been happening in Iraq and elsewhere. Now, perhaps, it will begin to move back.

But in the meantime, you have a tremendous tragedy playing out in Ethiopia, again in Congo, in west Africa, as well. And I think that when we look back, we're going to be appalled at the things we allowed to happen while we were diverted.

AMANPOUR: Nick, obviously a famine has to be reacted to and responded to immediately in terms of trying to do something about that emergency. But on a broader scale, what needs to be done in terms of policy to address the perennial, seemingly endless problems of Africa?

KRISTOF: It's a fascinating question. As you say, it's a lot more than simply providing food right now. There's a deep cultural issue in these countries.

There were so many villages, so many families that I saw where the parents were actually doing OK and it was their children who weren't getting the food. The fathers eat first in these villages and get their fill and then the kids get the leftovers. You need to address these kinds of cultural issues with education. More broadly, you've got to deal with economic development and not simply aid, but trying to cultivate trade. I think the G-8 summit would be an ideal opportunity to try to push trade-based development.

You know, anything that the west can do to minimize the agricultural subsidizes that help our farmers but cripple those in Africa would be an enormous step. You know moving toward debt forgive in Africa would also be an important step.

There clearly aren't any easy solutions, but I think the very first step we need is to begin pay attention to these kinds of issues. And I hope that with Iraq beginning to wind down, maybe Africa will get a little more attention.

AMANPOUR: What do you think will be the tangible benefits of this rather unprecedented U.S. donation of something like $15 billion to the AIDS crisis in Africa?

KRISTOF: One of the fascinating things that I find just politically is that that's been a really popular measure both on the left and on the right. And, so my real hope is that politicians will see some kind of a dividend to exercising some compassion toward Africa.

I think the real problem in the West is that we perceive Africa as perennially helpless, perennially a mess. And while we think that's unfortunate, we don't see that as having an impact on our own lives. And I think that's a mistake. I think there's is an impact in terms of immigration, in terms of health, in terms of the degree to which fail safes can be a breeding ground or terrorism.

But my hope is that that AIDS initiative will begin to lay the ground work for a broader effort to address economic development in Africa so that these kinds of emergency relief aid will be less necessary.

AMANPOUR: Nicholas Kristof, thank you so much for joining us.

KRISTOF: My pleasure.

AMANPOUR: And as NEWSNIGHT continues from London, on the rise, London style. We'll hit the road with "Scooterman." Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: After a long night of pub crawling, the last thing you want to see is someone pint in one hand and their car keys in an other. This is a job for Scooterman. A superhero of sorts for partiers who've had one too many and for those who want to keep them out of the driver's seat. It's our latest look at a business that's on the rise tonight from here in London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scooterman is basically an (UNINTELLIGIBLE) driving service. And what we do is drive people home in their own cars when they had too much to drink.

My name's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Winston (ph) I set up Scooterman with my best friend Edmund Stuart. We started four years ago. We really got the name from brainstorming session. We just sat down and with a blank sheet of paper, wrote down all the relevant words and tried to find a name within it. And out came Scooterman.

About 60 percent of our customers use us again and we get a lot of referrals to new business. We have also have a lot of advertising here in pubs and bars around London. Customers call us up here at the reservation space.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where are you going?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They tell us where to be picked up from and what time to be picked up at. We dispatch a chauffeur to meet themselves outside of the pub where they might be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm glad. Nice to meet you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've designed our own bike, basically. It comes apart into three parts. And those two parts go in a bag which we then put into the boot of a customer's car. And then, chauffeur them home. Then once we got there, to the house, park the car, take the scooter out of the trunk of the car, put the scooter back together again.

Safer way to go home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't have to worry about anything in the morning which is the main thing, I think, for me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then the chauffeur speeds off to the next customer. We've been enjoyed a 40 percent growth year on year and we're looking to continue that in the foreseeable future. We have now got a fleet of 30 bikes and we're doing about 150, 200 jobs a week. All the chauffeurs are in insured under Lloyd's of London.

We are now at point we're looking to franchise it. Been developing the all of our procedures and the infrastructure to deliver the service.

Our goal is in 10 years time to a Scooterman service across the world as taking people home in their own cars after they've been drinking because at the end of the day drunk driving is an issue for all countries.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: And ahead, we'll be going back to Louisiana for a recap of tonight's breaking news. The arrest of the suspect in five serial killings.

And did the man make the mountain or the mountain make the man? Hillary on the 50th anniversary of his epic climb up Mount Everest. This is NEWSNIGHT from London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) * AMANPOUR: We want to bring you up to date on the breaking news of the night, the arrest of Derrick Todd Lee, the suspected serial killer wanted in five murders in Louisiana.

For more, we go back to CNN's Ed Lavandera in Baton Route, Louisiana -- Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christiane.

Well, officials here in Baton Rouge, as well in Atlanta in the last half hour or so, wrapping up news conferences about the developments that have transpired here this evening.

Derrick Todd Lee, the 34-year-old suspected serial killer of five women in the Baton Rouge area, is in custody in Atlanta right now. And this is welcome news to the serial killer task force, which has been working out of the building you see behind me for the last 10 months.

They say Derrick Todd Lee was found in the back of a tire shop in southwest Atlanta, that he had a identification on him, that he appeared to be very somber, but gave himself up without any incident to authorities.

A short while ago, the police chief of Baton Rouge, Pat Englade, came out and spoke with news reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF PAT ENGLADE, BATON ROUGE POLICE DEPARTMENT: Acting on a tip from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Tip Line, the Atlanta Police Department Fugitive Squad staked out an area around Donald Lee Howell at Wood Street. After surveilling the area for a period of time, Derrick Todd Lee was spotted crossing a parking lot at approximately 8:45 Eastern Standard Time.

Lee was arrested without incident. Members of the task force traveled to Atlanta late last night to be present once Lee was arrested. Lee will be booked into the Fulton County Sheriff's Department Jail as a fugitive from Baton Rouge on a first degree murder and aggravated rape charge.

Wednesday morning, Todd will appear in court in Atlanta for extradition proceedings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: We'll have a little bit more on how that extradition proceedings will go in just a second. But we are told by a law enforcement source that Derek Todd Lee was pointed out by a member of the public who called in to the tip line in Georgia, and that is what led authorities to that tire shop area in southwest Georgia.

A little while ago as well, the police chief of Atlanta, Richard Pennington, spoke with news reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF RICHARD PENNINGTON, ATLANTA POLICE DEPARTMENT: I'm happy to announce this evening at approximately 8:30 p.m. the Atlanta Police Department Fugitive Unit arrested Derrick Lee after receiving information from the FBI task force about his location in the area of Woods Drive and Donald Hollowell (ph) Parkway.

The fugitive unit responded to that location. They observed a suspect fitting Derrick Lee's description. They approached him, they asked for identification. Derrick Lee produced a identification indicating that he was Derrick Lee, and he was from the state of Louisiana. He was arrested without incident, and he was transported without any incident to the Atlanta Police Department headquarters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And Atlanta source -- authorities also (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as I mentioned before that he appeared to be very somber. Now, exactly when Derrick Todd Lee will be brought back to Baton Rouge to face what is now one count of murder and a count of aggravated rape, although authorities here also do believe that they have evidence that links him to the four other murders. But technically just being brought back on the murder charge and the aggravated rape charge.

When he will be brought back to Baton Rouge depends totally upon Derrick Lee. He will be in court tomorrow. If he waives his right to extradition, he could be brought back immediately and returned to -- be brought back to Baton Rouge sometime tomorrow afternoon. If he does not waive his right to -- does not waive his extradition, then that process would take a little bit longer.

But authorities here aren't concerned about that, really, they say it's just a matter of time before Derrick Lee is back in Baton Rouge to face the charges of murder for these women, Christiane.

AMANPOUR: Ed, why are they focusing just on the one murder charge and rape charge and not on the other four women?

LAVANDERA: You know, it's really hard to get an indication of why exactly that has been done. That was brought out in the arrest warrant that was put out yesterday, kind of semantics, I think, really, the arrest warrant says it was just for that one particular crime, of the last victim that happened back in March.

But in that same arrest warrant, it also says that the DNA evidence from Derrick Lee also connects him to the other four murders. So in essence, police say, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) they really believe that he's connected to all five of them.

AMANPOUR: You've been reporting so much fear amongst the people, obviously, in the area where you are. Do you think that's going to go away tonight? You think people are convinced now that this man is the man that they have been searching for?

LAVANDERA: I get the sense that the members of this community believe that with DNA evidence, I think in a lot of people's minds, is very convincing at this point, although there have been cases nationwide where that has created problems in the past. But I think by and large, most people you talk to here believe that this DNA evidence will probably be enough to convince them for the time being of what it is they're being told at this point.

AMANPOUR: All right, Ed, and obviously you'll be following this story. Thank you.

And now for a completely different change of pace here, it's hard to imagine someone getting an invitation from the queen of England, and, say, turning it down. But that's what Sir Edmund Hillary did. It's been reported that he could have celebrated his climb up Mount Everest 50 years ago this week in royal grandeur right here in London.

Instead, he's spending it with his great friends, 23 million of them, the people of Nepal. The story now from CNN's Satinder Bindra.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A brass band, a ride through town in a horse-drawn buggy, and the affection of millions of Nepalese.

In Nepal, Sir Edmund Hillary is a legend. Many here believe he opened this tiny Himalayan kingdom to tourists and the outside world.

On Tuesday, soon after being feted by the city of Kathmandu, 83- year-old Sir Edmund spoke of his bond with Nepal and its 23 million people. EDMUND HILLARY, MOUNTAINEER: To our bright lovers of the Himalayas and the Himalayan people, today has been a fantastic celebration of the warmth of the people of Nepal for their mountaineers.

BINDRA: Also recognized was summiteer Jambling Norge (ph), the son of Kensing (ph) Norge, Sir Edmund's partner on Everest in 1953. Others felicitated by Nepal, Reinhold Mezner (ph), the first man to climb Everest without oxygen, and Junco Taibei (ph), the first woman to scale the world's highest peak.

(on camera): The government hopes these celebrations restore national pride, and the fate of the Nepalese people in their country. But for all this drama, there are undercurrents. Several political parties here are using this anniversary and the large presence of international journalists to highlight Nepal's bitter political divisions.

(voice-over): Many people here are upset with his majesty, King Gianindra (ph), because last year he dismissed Nepal's elected government, installing in its place a caretaker regime. The king's supporters say he acted constitutionally, and it's time all political forces supported the current government as it holds delicate peace talks with Maoist insurgents.

NARAYAN SINGH PUN, NEPALESE MINISTER: Everybody must join to make this process a success. Once we have peace, then we can go for the next, we can talk about politics.

BINDRA: Politics, for the moment, at least, appears to be far from the minds of the Nepalese people, 7,000 of whom have been killed over the past seven years in fighting between government and rebel forces. These days, though, Nepalese have something to celebrate, and their Himalayan heroes to honor.

So they're making the most of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BINDRA: And Christiane, we've just heard that several political parties are now staging a major demonstration. Hundreds of demonstrators are likely to march towards parliament. But talk to the average Nepali, and he'll just shrug his shoulders and say, I really don't care.

There's a fatigue with political demonstrations here. And what people really want to do is to celebrate this 50th anniversary with vigor. People here want to see tourists and their dollars come back. These dollars are needed in this impoverished country.

And indeed, Christiane, Nepal is a beautiful country for tourists. For instance, I'm standing in an ancient square. This is where the king of Nepal is coronated, and this is being designated a World Heritage site, and there are seven such mind-numbingly beautiful sites across Nepal, Christiane. AMANPOUR: Satinder, it certainly does look beautiful, and really dramatic pictures that you've got. And, of course, the great memories that people will have of what Edmund Hillary did.

What is the situation in terms of tourism in Nepal now? Has it been affected by the recent political problems there?

BINDRA: Well, yes, Christiane, since this Maoist insurgency started in Nepal about seven years ago, many people have stayed away. But yesterday and today, as people start to celebrate, I've been noticing a change. The fear seems to have vanished from people's minds. The marketplaces have been full. Yesterday there was loud singing and dancing in marketplaces that were normally deserted.

So one is seeing a slight restoration of confidence in Nepal as far as the tourist trade is concerned. And people here really, really, really wish that tourists come back, because they bring with them dollars, and people here are really very poor. They need tourists to come back, and fast.

AMANPOUR: OK, Satinder Bindra from Kathmandu, thanks so much.

And a very different story of adventure and danger leads off the world roundup tonight. It comes from the North Pole. A plane made an ice landing near the North Pole, rescuing a stranded British explorer, who had spent a week camped on a drifting ice floe with his food supply running low.

Penn Harrow (ph) last week became the first person to reach the North Pole alone and unaided from Canada.

Terrible news in a place that's already had plenty in recent days, Algeria. Up to nine people were feared dead and almost 200 injured when a new earthquake hit Algeria during rush hour. Officials said the quake measured 5.8 on the Richter scale, and that the center was about 30 miles east of Algiers, the capital.

And a rare case of a metaphor coming to life. Like a bull in a china shop, well, not quite a china shop, but an antique store in northwest England, where a bull did run amok. Police marksmen had to kill the beast, which had escaped from a nearby animal auction.

And still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, we'll look at war photographers, so many from this generation, and what they owe the greatest of the last generation, Robert Kapper (ph).

This is NEWSNIGHT from London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: During the war, a regular feature on NEWSNIGHT was the work of still photographers in Iraq. We saw the view of the war through their lens. We also talked to them about what brought them to Iraq in the first place, and why people choose a profession which involves getting as close to the world's danger zones as you possibly can. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC SEARLE, PHOTOGRAPHER, DETROIT FREE PRESS/KNIGHT RIDDER: I felt like an explorer and adventurer going into unknown places (UNINTELLIGIBLE) going into neighborhoods where there was shooting and I had to wear my (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to my helmet. You just don't never know what's around the corner here.

BEN LOWY, PHOTOGRAPHER, "TIME" MAGAZINE/CORBIS: We have a job, and we go and do it. I do my photography, and they do their soldiering.

BRANT SANDERLIN, PHOTOGRAPHER, "ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION": The first 10 minutes is just getting pictures, and then after that you start thinking, OK, how is this situation going to end? How am I going to get out of this?

BOB NICKELSBERG, PHOTOGRAPHER, "TIME" MAGAZINE: There's no way of knowing until the end of the day, really, what will happen, or what has happened. So it's a day-by-day, day in the life of this war.

KATE BROOKS, PHOTOGRAPHER, "TIME" MAGAZINE/CORBIS: It's about telling the truth, documenting history, and being witnesses to the rest of the world.

DON BARTLETTI, PHOTOGRAPHER, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": My obligation as a photojournalist is to show the world what it looks like. What the story suggests can oftentimes be proven by a photograph.

SFC DAVID DISMUKES, PHOTOGRAPHER, ARMY PUBLIC AFFAIRS: To see the people here in Iraq, to see the women and the children living and have been through what they lived through in the past decades under this regime, the only way to understand it is to see it through the eyes of someone that's been here.

PATRICK BAZ, PHOTOGRAPHER, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE: When you come back from places like this, life for you has much more value than it has before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: These men and women are heirs to a great tradition, defined in the early 20th century by one man, the war photographer Robert Kapper. Kapper was the only photographer to go in on the first wave on D-Day, and he covered many other conflicts, including the Spanish Civil War and Vietnam. In fact, he became the first American journalist killed in Vietnam.

His fearlessness was unmatched, and his camera was his weapon. Robert Kapper is the subject of a new American Masters documentary debuting tomorrow night on PBS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "ROBERT KAPPER IN LOVE AND WAR," PBS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Robert Kapper, taking pictures was his way of fighting the war against fascism. Instead of carrying a gun, he carried a camera.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His works, I think, taught us a lot, because, you know, he dedicates the very cruel circumstance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wasn't just an observer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: The title of the documentary is "Robert Kapper in Love and War." And as that suggests, this is about his work and his fascinating life. Susan Lacy of American Masters joins us now from New York.

Susan, we captured just a little of Robert Kapper in this introduction. Tell us what made you so compelled to do this film.

SUSAN LACY, CREATOR, PBS AMERICAN MASTERS: Well, I've always loved his photographs, and have known of them for many, many years, and wanted to make this film for many, many years. He is the -- it seemed the right time to do it. And also, we finally got the rights to do it, and I'm very happy that we were able to do that. The timing is quite, quite extraordinary, I think, that we have this film on at this time.

The scheduling from PBS is brilliant, right after Memorial Day and before D-Day. As you pointed out, he was -- we pretty much know what D-Day looks like because of the 11 surviving photographs from Robert Kapper. And also, he died practically to the day 49 years ago.

AMANPOUR: You say it's an important time, and obviously his work, I suppose you must have compared it a little bit to what you were seeing during the war this time around, the closest and the nearest war to when you were doing this film.

How does what he did differ from the kind of images that were presented from the Iraq war, for instance?

LACY: Well, I think that there -- hmm, that's an interesting question. I think it was that they were different wars, and I think that he focused so much on the point of view of the soldier. And so many of his extraordinary photographs are what happened around the battlefield, the soldiers at rest, the soldiers writing letters home, the surrendering of the German soldiers, which are some of his most powerful photographs.

The women who were having their heads -- you know, whose heads were shaved for collaborating with the Nazis in France, the mourning mothers, he gave a human face to war that I think is a huge part of his legacy.

AMANPOUR: And he was also not just a brilliant photographer, but he was also a larger-than-life figure. Tell us a little bit about that incredible romantic figure that was Robert Kapper.

LACY: Oh, well, that's one of the reasons, of course, everybody's wanting to make a film about him forever. I mean, if -- you couldn't invent Robert Kapper. In fact, Robert Kapper invented himself. He wasn't really named Robert Kapper, his name was Andre Friedman, and he invented a character in order to create a name.

And his girlfriend, who was his great love of his life, Gerda Tora (ph), pretended to be an agent of a great photographer named Robert Kapper, who was always, you know, too busy to give interviews and to talk to the press because he was always in some exotic location, and got his photographs printed that way under the name of Robert Kapper.

And by the time that everyone discovered that that had happened, he had become a famous photographer. In fact, he became the invention that he created, a great American photojournalist.

But he was full of life, he was full of life and full of love of life, and he was a great -- he was incredibly handsome. Women loved him. Ingrid Bergman wanted to marry him. And he was a gambler, and he liked the fine life and he liked great champagne and great hotels, and he was a very interesting contrast, because then he would get up at 5:00 in the morning and get on the boats and go out to D-Day.

AMANPOUR: Susan, one of the comments that struck me in the clip that we showed, one of the people who knew him said he used his journalism to fight fascism. In other words, he really felt a political and a moral imperative to what he was doing.

LACY: Well, I think that's very true. It comes from his youth. I mean, he was -- he lived in Hungary. He was born in Budapest. And he was -- had to leave that country. And he was beaten up and thrown into jail. And his family suffered. And I think that he saw initially, when he started to take photographs in Berlin, he -- it was -- you know, he was recording the history and felt that this is a way that he could tell the world what was going on.

AMANPOUR: Susan, thank you so much for joining us.

And as NEWSNIGHT continues from London, the renewal of one of the great cities of the world, a place which sprang from the idea of one man 300 years ago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: Finally tonight, a special gift for a little boy and girl born today in St. Petersburg, Russia. They tied as the first babies to arrive this morning, winning their families free apartments in a city that's plagued with a housing shortage.

They won the prize because they now share a birthday with St. Petersburg itself, 300 years old today. A city celebrates, and we get the story from CNN's Jill Dougherty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Three hundred years ago, it was a swamp on the marshy shores of the Gulf of Finland, when the Russian czar, Peter the Great, ordered that a city be built on the spot, Russia's window to the West.

Nine years later, he made St. Petersburg the Russian capital, ordering the nobility to move here from Moscow. Some were afraid they'd be eaten by wolves.

But it was soon one of the greatest cities in Europe.

We found our own Peter, 27-year-old actor Radion Tsarev, who makes money playing the czar. Peter the Great, he says, opened Russia to the modern world.

RADION TSAREV, ACTOR (through translator): St. Petersburg is a place that brings together so many European cultures. It was built by Italians, Spanish, French, Germans. Russia would still be a backward and a closed society if it weren't for Peter.

DOUGHERTY (on camera): St. Petersburg is nicknamed the Venice of the North, because it's filled with canals and waterways, about 150 of them. And this really is the best way to see the city, by boat.

(voice-over): Palaces and pastels, this is a city filled with yellows, pinks, and greens, now repainted, spruced up at a cost of $1.3 billion, for the city's 300th anniversary.

(on camera): Here on Palace Square, just the sheer size of it is mind-boggling. If it was a vision of one man, Peter the Great, who conceived this city, it was the passion of one woman, Catherine the Great, who gave birth to its grandeur and its style.

(voice-over): Catherine, German by birth, loved art. Her Winter Palace, the Hermitage, one of the premiere museums of the world, holds her massive collection. St. Petersburg has packed more history into its 300 years than almost any other city in the world.

The Russian Revolution began here. The czars, including the murdered Nicholas II and his family, are buried here in the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Renamed Leningrad, the city during World War II survived a 900- day siege in which almost a million people died.

St. Petersburg finally got its name back. Today, although Moscow is the political capital of Russia, St. Petersburg remains its cultural icon. Native son Russian President Vladimir Putin is intent on restoring some of the city's former glory, a chance, perhaps, to make St. Petersburg once more Russia's window to the West.

Jill Dougherty, CNN, St. Petersburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: And that's NEWSNIGHT. Good night from London.

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




Iraq; Talks Between Israelis, Palestinians Postponed>


Aired May 27, 2003 - 22:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. Breaking news tonight in the story of the killer who murdered five women, devastated five families, and struck fear into the hearts of countless Americans in the southeast of the country for more than a year, the arrest of the prime suspect and the prime target of a nationwide manhunt.
And so, we begin the whip with Ed Lavandera who has more on the breaking news for us. He's in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the scene of the murders -- Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christiane, well here several law enforcement sources confirming to CNN that Derrick Todd Lee is now in custody as you mentioned.

Extremely welcome news for the five families that have been suffering so much over the last ten months and they've awaited word for the arrest of any kind of suspect in the case, a serial killer that has had many people in this town on edge for about ten months now.

We understand that Derrick Todd Lee was picked up about an hour ago. When we come back in a little bit we'll give you more details as to how this has transpired in the last hour -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: All right, Ed.

And now, to the latest violence in Iraq that's left more Americans dead there. Matthew Chance is in Baghdad for us -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Christiane, and there has been an upsurge in fighting and attacks against U.S. forces patrolling the territory. Across Iraq there are more and more reports coming in of more U.S. soldiers killed. When we come back to me we'll be bringing you the latest on why it's still so dangerous for U.S. forces patrolling this territory.

AMANPOUR: OK, and in Jerusalem, the latest on where the road map stands and the fallout within Israel over statements by the prime minister. Kelly Wallace has that for us -- Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christiane, the Israeli prime minister's aides tried to clarify today exactly what Ariel Sharon meant when he used the word occupation for the very first time, this controversy coming as the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers had planned to meet Wednesday. Those talks, though, now temporarily postponed -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: And from the White House, the increasingly strong words directed at Iran. Senior White House Correspondent John King has that -- John.

KING: Christiane, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today said he would not tolerate Iran meddling in post war Iraq. Here at the White House, the president spokesman said there is no doubt that Iran is harboring key members of al Qaeda. The White House insists there is no change of policy when it comes to Iran but we are certainly seeing the change in emphasis -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: John thanks, and we'll be back with all of you in a moment.

Also coming up on NEWSNIGHT the latest on the murder case against Scott Peterson in Modesto, California. David Mattingly reports on the question of phone calls intercepted by investigators, phone calls between him and his lawyer.

And, a business in London that's on the rise, who to call after too many pints and no safe way to get home, Scooter Man.

We begin, though, with the Louisiana serial killings and the fate of the prime suspect Derrick Todd Lee. We were set to report tonight that Lee was considered armed and dangerous and still on the loose. All of that changed with the breaking news that came just before airtime and so we go back now to CNN's Ed Lavandera.

LAVANDERA: Hi, Christiane. Well, a law enforcement source tells CNN that about an hour ago U.S. Marshals followed with the team from the Atlanta Metro Fugitive Squad on the west side of Atlanta, Georgia, along Bankhead Highway in western Atlanta.

U.S. Marshals teamed up with the Atlanta Metro Fugitive Squad, picked up Derrick Todd Lee. We're told that it was a tip from the public that "busted this guy." Derrick Todd Lee was said to be carrying identification with him. He did not resist arrest.

Right now there is a number of press briefings that are being scheduled here that will happen here in the course of the next hour. We're here in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The building you see behind me is where the serial killer task force has been working out of for the last ten months, but all indications were that the reports initially came out that Derrick Todd Lee had been sighted in the Atlanta area.

In fact, it was yesterday, on Monday, where authorities had descended upon a hotel in southern Atlanta where they had had reports that Derrick Todd Lee had been staying for about a week but when they got there they had missed him by about an hour we're told.

It's also believed that Derrick Todd Lee left the Baton Rouge area by bus and traveled to Chicago and then made his way to Atlanta where he has spent the last week working odd jobs perhaps in the construction industry is what authorities tend to believe at this point.

But perhaps more information will be unveiled here within the next hour as authorities, not only here in Baton Rouge, but in Atlanta as well, are planning a series of news conferences to describe what has happened.

But, of course, the major headline, Derrick Todd Lee, a man who is suspected in the murders of five women in the Baton Rouge area is now in custody. Authorities say that his DNA matches with DNA evidence taken from the crime scene of those five women and they believe he is the serial killer that has been on the minds of so many people in this area for the last ten months -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: And, Ed, the families, the mothers we heard from of those victims were very, very unhappy at the way the investigation or the hunt had gone so far. Do you think that they'll be satisfied now?

LAVANDERA: Well, every indication when this news first broke that they had had -- they had a suspect, there were several family members who were still angered. These murders happened over the course of a year and a half starting in September of 2001.

There are several family members who believed that there were a lot of balls dropped along the way and that authorities could have done more to investigate leads that were given to them by witnesses in the neighborhoods where these murders happened or where these abductions happened as well.

So, there are several family members that are still rather upset by all of that but in the end they do know that they are happy because this, if this indeed turns out to be the killer of these five women, that they're very happy that this person is off the street because what they say they've been fighting for the last ten months is to make sure that no other women are harmed in this area ever again -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: Ed, thank you very much.

And now, we move to Iraq and the enormous amount of unfinished business there. It's especially dangerous in a patch of central Iraq, where during his rule Saddam Hussein did right by the locals and even now some of them remain loyal to him. Early this morning at a checkpoint near a bridge across the Euphrates River, American forces came under attack and by sunrise two soldiers were dead.

Here is CNN's Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (voice-over): Major combat operations are over here but Iraq is still dangerous for the troops who invaded it. In recent days, attacks on U.S. patrols across the country have increased. There is still scattered opposition forces willing and able to strike.

The town of Fallujah has emerged as one deadly flashpoint. It was here on Tuesday morning U.S. officials say their men came under rocket attack and heavy machine gun fire. There is no independent verification but the U.S. says shots were fired at their patrol from a local mosque.

Outside the town, locals have been picking through the debris of an army medivac helicopter. The military says it was struck by one of its own armored vehicles in the confusion of battle. Amid rumors that innocent Iraqis were killed resentment is running high here. Critics say the U.S. has so far failed to sufficiently win these hearts and minds.

CAPT. DAVID CONNOLLY, U.S. ARMY SPOKESMAN: Today's events were accidents. Some of them were planned attacks on our forces; however it's important to note that these incidents alone yesterday did not in themselves show a trend.

CHANCE: But if it's not it is an upsurge. In the hours before the Fallujah attack, U.S. officials say this armored Humvee was blown up on the outskirts of Baghdad. A satchel bomb or mine was thrown beneath it as it passed. The soldier inside was killed. This war may be won for the U.S. and its allies but violence and bloodshed here endure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Matthew, thank you very much indeed.

Upsurge or trend, recent events obviously present a challenge and it is the attack in Fallujah we ask whether it will be a sign of things to come. Today, the Pentagon insists it is not.

Here's CNN's Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pentagon officials say they see no evidence of an organized campaign against U.S. forces but they do believe the capture of Saddam Hussein and his two sons or proof they are dead would go a long way to stemming the anti-American violence by Ba'ath Party loyalists.

CONNOLLY: It's important to remember that we had two main objectives when we came to Iraq. One was to remove the regime. Another was to search for and destroy weapons of mass destruction. Neither of those two tasks are complete.

MCINTYRE: With the latest captures, the U.S. has rounded up more than half of its 55 most wanted Iraqis but still doesn't know the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein or his sons, and as for the weapons of mass destruction, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is now among those floating the idea Iraq may have eliminated them well before U.S. troops got there.

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: It is also possible that they decided that they would destroy them prior to a conflict and I don't know the answer. MCINTYRE: Rumsfeld says it's too soon to say the weapons won't be found and he insists too much is being made of the continuing lawlessness in Iraq. The crime rate in Baghdad, he argues, is no worse than in many U.S. cities.

RUMSFELD: Washington, D.C., where I live, 215. If it were the size of Baghdad, it would be 215 murders a month and 31,700 robberies, larcenies, and burglaries. Now, we apparently have learned to live with that and we didn't have 100,000 plus or minus criminals just gorged out of every prison in our country.

MCINTYRE (on camera): Rumsfeld's New York speech amounted to a formal rebuttal to his critics. He said Iraq's transition to democracy would not be perfect and would require some course corrections along the way. "I'm sure they'll all be pointed to and viewed with alarm," he said but he urged patience, noting the U.S. has controlled Iraq for only seven weeks.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: And, at the White House today the president's spokesman put Iran on notice. The administration has many of the same concerns about Iran as it once did about Iraq but for now it appears to be taking a different approach, tough words, but also a measure of restraint and diplomacy.

For more on that we turn again to CNN's John King at the White House.

KING: Christiane, Iran certainly much more on the Bush administration radar screen, and as we have seen in past debates about policy toward Iraq and policy toward North Korea, there is also a bit of a tug of war spilling into public at times among senior Bush administration officials.

White House officials say there is no question at all that al Qaeda operatives who were involved in the planning of the recent bombing attacks in Saudi Arabia are being given safe haven inside Iran. Iran today said it arrested many al Qaeda members but the White House said flatly it simply was not enough and it is demanding more.

As this debate about al Qaeda plays out, there are some in the Bush administration arguing it is now time for the CIA and other U.S. agencies to be much more aggressive in supporting students who in recent months have been more vocal in their demonstrations within Iran.

Some of the administration saying the Bush administration should give up on the current Iranian government and support those who would like to overthrow it and protests against it. Some even saying that the Bush administration was nearing a decision to do just that and to end all contacts with the Iranian government but the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell out in public today saying there is no change at all in Bush administration policy. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Our policies with respect to Iran have not changed. We did not approve of their support of terrorist activities. We have made it clear over the years that we disapprove of their efforts to develop a nuclear capability and our policies are well known and I'm not aware of any changes in policy of the kind that have been speculated on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Australia is among the U.S. allies that has been asked in recent days to pressure Iran to do more to round up al Qaeda members, again said by the United States to be given safe harbor inside Iran.

White House officials say as the debate plays out within the administration the next key date is fast approaching in June when the International Atomic Energy Agency releases a report on Iran's nuclear program.

The White House says it is convinced that report will buttress its claims that Iran's nuclear program is not for peaceful means, as Tehran says, but in fact to develop nuclear weapons -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: John, at the same time the president and the White House is working on the Middle East peace process, what news, what do we know about what the president will do next and especially in terms of a summit with the two protagonists there?

KING: One week from tonight, Christiane, we will have a demonstration if all goes as now planned by the White House, of the most intense personal commitment from this president to the Middle East peace process.

Mr. Bush is scheduled to go first to the Red Sea Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh to meet with key Arab leaders to press them to get more involved in the process, especially with helping Palestinian and encouraging Palestinian reforms that boost Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and push Yasser Arafat to the sidelines.

And from Sharm El Sheikh, Mr. Bush is scheduled then to go onto Jordan for a three-way dramatic summit, Prime Minister Sharon of Israel, Prime Minister Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, and the U.S. President George W. Bush.

Mr. Bush's goal, we are told at that meeting will be to push the parties to embrace the early benchmarks, the deadlines in his so- called road map for peace to try, after more than two and a half years of violence and mistrust, to restart that peace process -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: John thanks, and we'll all be reporting on that next week hopefully.

More now on Iran, James Woolsey joins the program again tonight. Mr. Woolsey is a former director of the CIA, a member of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Advisory Board, and a forceful advocate of taking on militant Islam around the world. He joins us from Washington.

Mr. Woolsey, welcome to the program. You are close to the people who make decisions in Washington. What precisely is the current thinking about Iran? We've heard the debate from John but which way is it leaning?

JAMES WOOLSEY, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: First of all, Christiane, I don't think any of us would really say that we are opponents of Islam, even militant Islam. The Islamists such as the mullahs who operate the instruments of power of the state of Iran and al Qaeda really are sort of masquerading, totalitarians masquerading as religious people very much the way (unintelligible) was masquerading as a Christian I think.

So, I think it's key that the enemy here is not Islam at all, even different sort of Islam than the majority or the Muslims but it's a totalitarian ideology, al Qaeda, the people who control the instruments of power in Iran.

AMANPOUR: Well, let me ask you this then. You say totalitarian ideology and, of course, there is a measure of democracy depending on how you want to describe it, but certainly many in the U.S. and many around the world talk about the legitimate, the elected government of Iran.

And so, when they're thinking about what they may do next, wonder whether they can do in Iran what they did in Iraq given the different nature of the government there. I want to know from you what you think is where the debate is shaping up now and what will be America's way of pressuring Iran?

WOOLSEY: Well, I think Iran is a democracy today very much the way the Soviet Union was a democracy in the 1980s. It has a constitution and it had elections. They just didn't mean anything.

Iran is under the control of the Islamist totalitarians that, such as Khomeini (ph) that run the instruments of power of the state, and there was a period from '96 to around '98 or '99 when there was a kind of an Iranian glasnost and I think people got somewhat optimistic.

But since '98, '99, they've been murdering dissidents. They've locked up virtually all of the newspaper editors. It's a totalitarian state. There is nothing democratic about it.

AMANPOUR: So, what is the administration do you think going to do about it?

WOOLSEY: I don't know. I hope that it is going to take a forceful stand elaborating on what the president did last summer in a very fine statement about Iran, essentially putting us on the side of the brave students in the streets and the women and the newspaper editors who are being tortured in prison and opposed to Khomeini and Rafsanjani.

I think clarity of purpose is the main thing. We need to stop pretending that there's going to be some sort of amelioration of the behavior of the mullahs who run the instruments of power of the state. They are very unpopular in Iran itself.

They've lost the students. They've lost the women. They've lost the brave reformers and one by one they're losing the ayatollahs, even the conservative ayatollahs such as (unintelligible) who blasted them last summer for being un-Islamic.

AMANPOUR: Do you see a situation where the United States or certain people in the administration might want to, for instance, arm, train, or whatever, fund, help the MEK as a sort of an Iranian Northern Alliance if you like?

WOOLSEY: I'd be surprised at that unless it were sort of a very last resort. I think doing some of the types of things which we did to help the students and the people in the streets overthrow Milosevic might be a candidate option but those are essentially peaceful undertakings not arming dissidents.

AMANPOUR: Mr. Woolsey, thank you very much indeed for joining us.

WOOLSEY: Good to be here.

AMANPOUR: And now on to Israel -- thank you -- and the battle over a word, the word occupation. Israel's prime minister first made headlines when he uttered it yesterday and sine then nearly everyone has been fighting over what he really meant, including the prime minister himself.

Here again, CNN's Kelly Wallace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice-over): Israelis are still trying to understand if Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's use of the term "occupation" in public for the very first time indicates a 180-degree change in his political outlook.

ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): You can not like the word but what is happening is an occupation. To hold three and a half million Palestinians under occupation I believe that's a terrible thing for Israel and for the Palestinians.

WALLACE: Those words coming from the former general, nicknamed the Bull Dozer, for his support of Jewish settlement building in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip shocked his right-wing allies especially Jewish settlers.

YISRAEL MEIDAD, ISRAELI SETTLERS SPOKESMAN: I couldn't believe it. That's the term that is used by the enemies of the state of Israel to try to block it into a corner. We are not occupiers. This is our homeland.

WALLACE: Sensing a political storm, the Israeli prime minister and his aides rushed to clarify his remarks. RA'ANAN GISSIN, SENIOR SHARON ADVISER: People mistakenly thought that he speaks about the occupation of the territory. What he meant by the word kibosh (ph) is the control or management of the life of 3.5 million Palestinians.

WALLACE: Aides say Mr. Sharon was saying that the presence of Israeli troops in Palestinian towns eventually needs to end but that he still considers the West Bank and Gaza disputed not occupied territories to be settled in a final agreement with the Palestinians. Some political analysts though say the Israeli prime minister, regarded as a master politician, knew exactly what he was saying.

LESLIE SUSSE, POLITICAL ANALYST: I think basically, he used the term, I think he wanted to shock his right-wing audience and he wanted to show them that he is determined if all the other elements, as I said, the Americans, the Palestinians, go ahead with the road map in a serious way.

WALLACE: Some believe this was about external politics with Mr. Sharon trying to send the U.S. president a message that he is committed to the Mid East road map.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And some Israeli and many Palestinians say they remain skeptical about the prime minister's intentions. And, in a late night development, the Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas was asked about Mr. Sharon's comments in an interview which will appear in a newspaper on Wednesday.

He said: "I don't want to judge Sharon by what he says or by what's said about him" and then apparently with a smile he said, "I know him inside and out. I'll believe him only when he implements the road map" -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: So, Kelly, what does this initial sort of (unintelligible) if you like over that word say about how difficult it's going to be for Ariel Sharon to even start implementing the road map?

WALLACE: Well, no question, you saw how angry his right-wing Likud Party was, Jewish settlers as well, about those comments, and other people say that during that meeting Monday night when he used the word occupation, he also signaled to some Jewish settlers that there will continue to be an expansion of settlement activity, and obviously that is a big concern to Palestinians.

It shows how difficult, Christiane, this all will be, and again right now even the two leaders, the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers were set to meet on Wednesday to continue their ongoing talks, those talks temporarily postponed. We expect them to happen though sometime before the week is out -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: All right, Kelly, thank you very much indeed.

And we'll be back with more of NEWSNIGHT right after this break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: More now on the Louisiana serial killings and the arrest of the prime suspect Derrick Todd Lee. We're joined on the phone by the police chief of Atlanta, Georgia, Richard Pennington.

Chief Pennington, thank you for joining us.

CHIEF RICHARD PENNINGTON, ATLANTA POLICE DEPARTMENT: Thank you.

AMANPOUR: Can you tell us exactly the details, the precise details of how you arrested the suspect?

PENNINGTON: Yes, we can. First of all members of my fugitive unit had been looking for the suspect Derrick Lee all day based on information we received from the Baton Rouge Police Chief and the serial murderer task force back in the state of Louisiana.

This evening about 8:45 p.m., members of my fugitive unit received a telephone call from an informant saying that they thought they had observed the suspect, Derrick lee, in the area of Woods Drive and Donalee (ph) Holland Parkway which is in southwest Atlanta.

The officers responded to that location, noticed a suspect fitting the description, approached Derrick Lee, asked for identification. Derrick Lee produced a Louisiana identification. He was arrested without incident, taken into custody and he's currently at Atlanta Police Department headquarters pending extradition back to the state of Louisiana.

AMANPOUR: And just to be clear, exactly where, what kind of facility was it that you arrested him at?

PENNINGTON: He was in the rear of a tire shop. It's sort of like a mall area but he was hanging around a tire shop, an automotive tire shop, and someone noticed him, recognized him, made a call to the fugitive unit. We went out this evening about 8:45 and sure enough he was the person that we had been looking for all day.

AMANPOUR: And what did he say to your officers? What has he said that you can tell us about?

PENNINGTON: Actually, he didn't say very much. He just said he was the person that was Derrick Lee, and then at that point he was just taken into custody. He hasn't said much at all. He was given his rights, read his rights, and he's currently in custody at police headquarters, but he hasn't said much all evening.

AMANPOUR: And, you said that you were working on this all day. Some reports suggested he may have been in the Atlanta area for about a week. Is that accurate and, if so, why did it not -- why did you not tail him quicker than this?

PENNINGTON: We received information from Baton Rouge today. We did not know he was in the Atlanta area until today when we received information from the serial murder task force in the state of Louisiana and that was only because of some information from a relative that indicated that he was probably in the Atlanta area.

We received that information this morning. As soon as we got the information, we put together this task force to go out and start to look for him in the areas in which they said he might have been residing.

AMANPOUR: Chief Pennington thank you very much indeed for joining us.

PENNINGTON: Thank you.

AMANPOUR: And coming up on NEWSNIGHT this Tuesday, the Peterson case. We'll have the latest from another day in court. This is NEWSNIGHT from London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: In Modesto, California, a county judge is knee deep in a legal (UNINTELLIGIBLE) even before the trial of Scott Peterson begins. A hearing was held today on a range issues surround the Case against Peterson who is accused of killing his wife and unborn child. One issue involved a requested by California Newspapers to release autopsy report and various warrants which the judge suggested he wasn't inclined to do. Another was whether to release to the defense recordings of phone calls intercepted by investigators between Peterson and his lawyer.

More on all of that now from CNN's David Mattingly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Five months and two days since the murder of Laci Peterson, defense attorneys for Scott Peterson are focused on 69 calls, phone calls between Scott and his attorney and investigators that were intercepted in police wiretaps.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sixty-nine calls were intercepted. I don't believe 69 calls were monitored. So there's a difference in wiretap when all the calls are intercepted versus what's actually monitored.

MATTINGLY: A California judge ruled that prosecutors have to turn over all information from those calls so the defense can decide for themselves if Peterson's rights have been violated.

MARK GERAGOS, SCOTT PETERSON'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Once we've seen exactly what was taped, then we'll file whatever appropriate motion. Until we see what's there, we really don't know what we're going to do.

MATTINGLY: Scott Peterson appeared in court in a coat and tie, not the bright red jump-suit he wears in jail. The blond highlights he had at the time of his arrest now gone, thanks to a fresh hair cut.

Outside, there were dozens of cameras and reporters from across the country, and the abundance of national pre-trial publicity is clearly a concern, with both sides arguing against making public arrest warrants and autopsy results.

GERAGOS: We're pleased. We think that the judge protected the integrity of the investigation, and that's what we're looking to do.

MATTINGLY: The judge in the case raised the possibility of a gag order on all participants. Also an issue, the courtroom camera, will it be allowed to stay for Peterson's preliminary hearing?

(on camera): That hearing now a month and a half away, as the investigation continues on both sides.

Weather permitting, divers want to return to San Francisco bay to search for more evidence. This while investigators for the Scott Peterson defense team pursue leads of their own.

David Mattingly, CNN, Modesto, California.

AMANPOUR: Coming up, NEWSNIGHT, this Tuesday, we'll talk with former British foreign secretary, Robin Cook who resigned from the government over the Iraq war. And who has some strong things to say about that and about the potential for conflicts with Iran. This is NEWSNIGHT from London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

AMANPOUR: And as NEWSNIGHT continues we'll talk with a critic of Operation Iraqi Freedom who remains critical to this day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: The war in Iraq tore the world apart, even Britain, America's main ally. Robin Cook who once was Prime Minister Blair's foreign secretary and supported the war in Kosovo resigned in a high profile protest over the legitimacy of this latest war. He remains unrepentant and highly skeptical of the rational for going to war. I spoke to him about that earlier this evening.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: You were perhaps best known for expounding the ethical and moral doctrine of foreign policy. Even though you resigned in protest of the Iraq war, do you believe that getting rid of Saddam Hussein was a moral victory?

ROBIN COOK, FORMER MEMBER OF BRITISH PARLIAMENT: Well, Saddam Hussein was a brutal and evil dictator, nobody doubted that. Of course, the case that was made for the war was not that he was an evil dictator, but that he had weapons of mass destruction with which he might hit it. And I note two months after the war is over, we haven't still found the weapons of mass destruction. So that case of the war looks rather weak.

But secondly, if we are going to go around the world on the basis of taking out regime that is are evil and there are a lot of regimes around the world that are not democratic and don't observe human rights, it's terribly important to have an international consensus before we do that. Because if we create the principle that it is all right to change a government because it's inadequate, then it's not just us who may do it next time. Other governments may decide to do it in ways we won't like.

AMANPOUR: Mr. Cook, you talked about weapons of mass destruction, and scant evidence of that right now. There are many questions mounting about the nature of the American intelligence, and indeed British intelligence about that issue.

Do you think that the intelligence was hyped on the WMD issue?

COOK: Well, I think it would be very unfair to blame intelligence. I mean, I worked with British intelligence in the past, and my time as the British foreign minister. I was familiar with the briefings that they gave on Iraq. And they were always very careful to make clear what are the limits of their knowledge. I think those who have claimed there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq are the people who have to accept the responsibility for now proving it.

They can't blame it on intelligence associates who can't answer back for themselves in public. But it does look very hard to believe now that Saddam Hussein had any weapons with which to hit us. These are not things to leave behind. I mean, if you have a nuclear bomb, you need a nuclear reactor. If you are going to have a long range missile system you need a big factory.

We would have found that surely in the course of the past two months. And if he did have a capacity, why did never use it in the actual war? Here he was with the back against the wall about to be toppled and yet he never employed that capacity so dreadful and such a threat to go to war to disarm him. It looks as if we needed to got war with him to disarm him. He didn't have much in the way of arms in the first place.

AMANPOUR: As you look now towards what's happening in the post- war situation, where it's clearly becoming increasingly apparent that the whole security, and not to mention the reconstruction effort is very much precarious right now.

What do you think about that and what's your opinion on what needs to be done to properly rebuild and bring security there?

COOK: Well, the only thing I find surprising about the situation in the aftermath of war is that anybody should be surprised by it. I mean, Iraq has a long history of resisting and resenting any foreign occupation. And it is very important that we remove ourselves as the occupying powers as fast a possible, before we become ourselves the people who is resented as the army of occupation. That's why I think the urgent task is to provide as much authority asp possible on the ground for the United Nations because if we are -- anybody going about the very difficult, very delicate task of putting together any kind of representative government, which balances the different ethnic groups in Iraq, the people who are most likely to get the goodwill and the cooperation of the people in doing that international community in the shape of the United Nations.

We're not going to be able to achieve a representative government in Iraq if we are trying to impose it ourselves from our side.

AMANPOUR: You know that there's a lot of pressure mounting now against Iran, Iraq's neighbor. Do you think that given what the pressure is, given the threat that was, as you mentioned, basically hyped about the WMD in Iraq, do you think that military option is even realistic against Iran? And do you believe that Britain would join the U.S. if the option was considered?

COOK: Well, before any military action is considered against anybody else, I think we should sit down and think very coolly and very hard about the damage that's been done to the international scene by the war on Iraq.

The most obvious of those is that we broke up that wonderful, big, broad coalition around the world against world terrorism which was actually one immense asset that we had an the one of the best bases for security for our countries and that's gone (UNINTELLIGIBLE) pressure of the war on Iraq. And if we were to continue to make military attacks on other nations, I think that that is to leave us with fewer friends and allies against what is a crucial issue for us, which is to fighting terrorism.

On the issue of Iran, Iran's very complex society that, yes, there is a military control in Iran which is exercised by the old revolutionary elements, the ayatollahs who took over in the Iranian revolution. But there's also by an elected government there, quite distinct form the ayatollahs, which overwhelmingly had been reformist. And the people of Iran, whenever they've had had the chance, have voted for people who are reform-minded, who are modern, who want to connect Iran with the outside world.

We should be doing everything possible to strengthen and to support them. My deep worry about some of the rhetoric that's now coming out about Iran is that it will drive Iran back into a shell. It'll make it more difficult for the reformers to win the fight. It will give arguments to the ayatollahs to say, look, you can't trust the outside world. We have got to defend ourselves.

I think we ought to embrace Iran into the modern world and build bridges the those that want to join us.

AMANPOUR: Robin Cook, thank you so much for joining us.

COOK: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: And ahead, another catastrophe in Africa. We'll talk with Nicholas Kristof from "The New York Times" about the famine that's been (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Ethiopia. This is NEWSNIGHT from London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) AMANPOUR: Earlier tonight, we reported on the uproar in Israel over the word "occupation". But it's not the only word to start a fight. Some words carry such weight, such resistance and such memories that writers take great care to use them only when no other word will do. Holocaust is one.

Today in his "New York Times" column, Nicholas Kristof wrote that one day our grandchildren might ask us, so what did you do during the African holocaust.

Nick Kristof joins us from New York.

Mr. Kristof, thank you for joining us.

NICHOLAS KRISTOF, "NEW YORK TIMES": Hi, my pleasure.

AMANPOUR: You have just come back from Africa. What did you see that's so moved you to write those words?

KRISTOF: I was in Ethiopia and Eritrea and I've seen plenty of malnutrition in other countries and plenty of situations of extreme deprivation, but I've never seen the kinds of scenes that I saw in southern Ethiopia where you have children dying in every village you go to. Where you have makeshift clinics and children dying, you know, of malnutrition related ailments before they can even be seen by doctors.

You know, in the best of situations, this year, 100,000 Ethiopian kids will die of malnutrition related ailments. And if we don't act quickly, there will be an awful lot more.

AMANPOUR: Is there any kind of help, any international aid getting to them? Has there been any kind of mobilization to the plight of these people?

KRISTOF: Yes, there has been. There are parts of Ethiopia that are very difficult to organize help in because of security reasons. In the area where I was, there was indeed some help but simply wasn't enough. And those people who could leave their villages and get to clinics were getting some help. But there were an awful lot who were just dying in the villages.

AMANPOUR: You say and you write that perhaps the focus on Iraq now and so many other things going on in the world have distracted and overburdened peoples' sort of thinking processes, if you like. What is it going to take to make people focus on this?

KRISTOF: Well, you know, I mean, we in journalism we tend to complain that the administration can't, you know, walk and chew gum at the same time. But it's very much true of ourselves, as well. I mean, I found that that was my problem for the last six months, I'd been focusing just on Iraq.

And the situation in Ethiopia and elsewhere, in Congo for example, has been completely pushed off the front pages, off the television screens by what has been happening in Iraq and elsewhere. Now, perhaps, it will begin to move back.

But in the meantime, you have a tremendous tragedy playing out in Ethiopia, again in Congo, in west Africa, as well. And I think that when we look back, we're going to be appalled at the things we allowed to happen while we were diverted.

AMANPOUR: Nick, obviously a famine has to be reacted to and responded to immediately in terms of trying to do something about that emergency. But on a broader scale, what needs to be done in terms of policy to address the perennial, seemingly endless problems of Africa?

KRISTOF: It's a fascinating question. As you say, it's a lot more than simply providing food right now. There's a deep cultural issue in these countries.

There were so many villages, so many families that I saw where the parents were actually doing OK and it was their children who weren't getting the food. The fathers eat first in these villages and get their fill and then the kids get the leftovers. You need to address these kinds of cultural issues with education. More broadly, you've got to deal with economic development and not simply aid, but trying to cultivate trade. I think the G-8 summit would be an ideal opportunity to try to push trade-based development.

You know, anything that the west can do to minimize the agricultural subsidizes that help our farmers but cripple those in Africa would be an enormous step. You know moving toward debt forgive in Africa would also be an important step.

There clearly aren't any easy solutions, but I think the very first step we need is to begin pay attention to these kinds of issues. And I hope that with Iraq beginning to wind down, maybe Africa will get a little more attention.

AMANPOUR: What do you think will be the tangible benefits of this rather unprecedented U.S. donation of something like $15 billion to the AIDS crisis in Africa?

KRISTOF: One of the fascinating things that I find just politically is that that's been a really popular measure both on the left and on the right. And, so my real hope is that politicians will see some kind of a dividend to exercising some compassion toward Africa.

I think the real problem in the West is that we perceive Africa as perennially helpless, perennially a mess. And while we think that's unfortunate, we don't see that as having an impact on our own lives. And I think that's a mistake. I think there's is an impact in terms of immigration, in terms of health, in terms of the degree to which fail safes can be a breeding ground or terrorism.

But my hope is that that AIDS initiative will begin to lay the ground work for a broader effort to address economic development in Africa so that these kinds of emergency relief aid will be less necessary.

AMANPOUR: Nicholas Kristof, thank you so much for joining us.

KRISTOF: My pleasure.

AMANPOUR: And as NEWSNIGHT continues from London, on the rise, London style. We'll hit the road with "Scooterman." Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: After a long night of pub crawling, the last thing you want to see is someone pint in one hand and their car keys in an other. This is a job for Scooterman. A superhero of sorts for partiers who've had one too many and for those who want to keep them out of the driver's seat. It's our latest look at a business that's on the rise tonight from here in London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scooterman is basically an (UNINTELLIGIBLE) driving service. And what we do is drive people home in their own cars when they had too much to drink.

My name's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Winston (ph) I set up Scooterman with my best friend Edmund Stuart. We started four years ago. We really got the name from brainstorming session. We just sat down and with a blank sheet of paper, wrote down all the relevant words and tried to find a name within it. And out came Scooterman.

About 60 percent of our customers use us again and we get a lot of referrals to new business. We have also have a lot of advertising here in pubs and bars around London. Customers call us up here at the reservation space.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where are you going?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They tell us where to be picked up from and what time to be picked up at. We dispatch a chauffeur to meet themselves outside of the pub where they might be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm glad. Nice to meet you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've designed our own bike, basically. It comes apart into three parts. And those two parts go in a bag which we then put into the boot of a customer's car. And then, chauffeur them home. Then once we got there, to the house, park the car, take the scooter out of the trunk of the car, put the scooter back together again.

Safer way to go home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't have to worry about anything in the morning which is the main thing, I think, for me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then the chauffeur speeds off to the next customer. We've been enjoyed a 40 percent growth year on year and we're looking to continue that in the foreseeable future. We have now got a fleet of 30 bikes and we're doing about 150, 200 jobs a week. All the chauffeurs are in insured under Lloyd's of London.

We are now at point we're looking to franchise it. Been developing the all of our procedures and the infrastructure to deliver the service.

Our goal is in 10 years time to a Scooterman service across the world as taking people home in their own cars after they've been drinking because at the end of the day drunk driving is an issue for all countries.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: And ahead, we'll be going back to Louisiana for a recap of tonight's breaking news. The arrest of the suspect in five serial killings.

And did the man make the mountain or the mountain make the man? Hillary on the 50th anniversary of his epic climb up Mount Everest. This is NEWSNIGHT from London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) * AMANPOUR: We want to bring you up to date on the breaking news of the night, the arrest of Derrick Todd Lee, the suspected serial killer wanted in five murders in Louisiana.

For more, we go back to CNN's Ed Lavandera in Baton Route, Louisiana -- Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christiane.

Well, officials here in Baton Rouge, as well in Atlanta in the last half hour or so, wrapping up news conferences about the developments that have transpired here this evening.

Derrick Todd Lee, the 34-year-old suspected serial killer of five women in the Baton Rouge area, is in custody in Atlanta right now. And this is welcome news to the serial killer task force, which has been working out of the building you see behind me for the last 10 months.

They say Derrick Todd Lee was found in the back of a tire shop in southwest Atlanta, that he had a identification on him, that he appeared to be very somber, but gave himself up without any incident to authorities.

A short while ago, the police chief of Baton Rouge, Pat Englade, came out and spoke with news reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF PAT ENGLADE, BATON ROUGE POLICE DEPARTMENT: Acting on a tip from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Tip Line, the Atlanta Police Department Fugitive Squad staked out an area around Donald Lee Howell at Wood Street. After surveilling the area for a period of time, Derrick Todd Lee was spotted crossing a parking lot at approximately 8:45 Eastern Standard Time.

Lee was arrested without incident. Members of the task force traveled to Atlanta late last night to be present once Lee was arrested. Lee will be booked into the Fulton County Sheriff's Department Jail as a fugitive from Baton Rouge on a first degree murder and aggravated rape charge.

Wednesday morning, Todd will appear in court in Atlanta for extradition proceedings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: We'll have a little bit more on how that extradition proceedings will go in just a second. But we are told by a law enforcement source that Derek Todd Lee was pointed out by a member of the public who called in to the tip line in Georgia, and that is what led authorities to that tire shop area in southwest Georgia.

A little while ago as well, the police chief of Atlanta, Richard Pennington, spoke with news reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF RICHARD PENNINGTON, ATLANTA POLICE DEPARTMENT: I'm happy to announce this evening at approximately 8:30 p.m. the Atlanta Police Department Fugitive Unit arrested Derrick Lee after receiving information from the FBI task force about his location in the area of Woods Drive and Donald Hollowell (ph) Parkway.

The fugitive unit responded to that location. They observed a suspect fitting Derrick Lee's description. They approached him, they asked for identification. Derrick Lee produced a identification indicating that he was Derrick Lee, and he was from the state of Louisiana. He was arrested without incident, and he was transported without any incident to the Atlanta Police Department headquarters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And Atlanta source -- authorities also (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as I mentioned before that he appeared to be very somber. Now, exactly when Derrick Todd Lee will be brought back to Baton Rouge to face what is now one count of murder and a count of aggravated rape, although authorities here also do believe that they have evidence that links him to the four other murders. But technically just being brought back on the murder charge and the aggravated rape charge.

When he will be brought back to Baton Rouge depends totally upon Derrick Lee. He will be in court tomorrow. If he waives his right to extradition, he could be brought back immediately and returned to -- be brought back to Baton Rouge sometime tomorrow afternoon. If he does not waive his right to -- does not waive his extradition, then that process would take a little bit longer.

But authorities here aren't concerned about that, really, they say it's just a matter of time before Derrick Lee is back in Baton Rouge to face the charges of murder for these women, Christiane.

AMANPOUR: Ed, why are they focusing just on the one murder charge and rape charge and not on the other four women?

LAVANDERA: You know, it's really hard to get an indication of why exactly that has been done. That was brought out in the arrest warrant that was put out yesterday, kind of semantics, I think, really, the arrest warrant says it was just for that one particular crime, of the last victim that happened back in March.

But in that same arrest warrant, it also says that the DNA evidence from Derrick Lee also connects him to the other four murders. So in essence, police say, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) they really believe that he's connected to all five of them.

AMANPOUR: You've been reporting so much fear amongst the people, obviously, in the area where you are. Do you think that's going to go away tonight? You think people are convinced now that this man is the man that they have been searching for?

LAVANDERA: I get the sense that the members of this community believe that with DNA evidence, I think in a lot of people's minds, is very convincing at this point, although there have been cases nationwide where that has created problems in the past. But I think by and large, most people you talk to here believe that this DNA evidence will probably be enough to convince them for the time being of what it is they're being told at this point.

AMANPOUR: All right, Ed, and obviously you'll be following this story. Thank you.

And now for a completely different change of pace here, it's hard to imagine someone getting an invitation from the queen of England, and, say, turning it down. But that's what Sir Edmund Hillary did. It's been reported that he could have celebrated his climb up Mount Everest 50 years ago this week in royal grandeur right here in London.

Instead, he's spending it with his great friends, 23 million of them, the people of Nepal. The story now from CNN's Satinder Bindra.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A brass band, a ride through town in a horse-drawn buggy, and the affection of millions of Nepalese.

In Nepal, Sir Edmund Hillary is a legend. Many here believe he opened this tiny Himalayan kingdom to tourists and the outside world.

On Tuesday, soon after being feted by the city of Kathmandu, 83- year-old Sir Edmund spoke of his bond with Nepal and its 23 million people. EDMUND HILLARY, MOUNTAINEER: To our bright lovers of the Himalayas and the Himalayan people, today has been a fantastic celebration of the warmth of the people of Nepal for their mountaineers.

BINDRA: Also recognized was summiteer Jambling Norge (ph), the son of Kensing (ph) Norge, Sir Edmund's partner on Everest in 1953. Others felicitated by Nepal, Reinhold Mezner (ph), the first man to climb Everest without oxygen, and Junco Taibei (ph), the first woman to scale the world's highest peak.

(on camera): The government hopes these celebrations restore national pride, and the fate of the Nepalese people in their country. But for all this drama, there are undercurrents. Several political parties here are using this anniversary and the large presence of international journalists to highlight Nepal's bitter political divisions.

(voice-over): Many people here are upset with his majesty, King Gianindra (ph), because last year he dismissed Nepal's elected government, installing in its place a caretaker regime. The king's supporters say he acted constitutionally, and it's time all political forces supported the current government as it holds delicate peace talks with Maoist insurgents.

NARAYAN SINGH PUN, NEPALESE MINISTER: Everybody must join to make this process a success. Once we have peace, then we can go for the next, we can talk about politics.

BINDRA: Politics, for the moment, at least, appears to be far from the minds of the Nepalese people, 7,000 of whom have been killed over the past seven years in fighting between government and rebel forces. These days, though, Nepalese have something to celebrate, and their Himalayan heroes to honor.

So they're making the most of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BINDRA: And Christiane, we've just heard that several political parties are now staging a major demonstration. Hundreds of demonstrators are likely to march towards parliament. But talk to the average Nepali, and he'll just shrug his shoulders and say, I really don't care.

There's a fatigue with political demonstrations here. And what people really want to do is to celebrate this 50th anniversary with vigor. People here want to see tourists and their dollars come back. These dollars are needed in this impoverished country.

And indeed, Christiane, Nepal is a beautiful country for tourists. For instance, I'm standing in an ancient square. This is where the king of Nepal is coronated, and this is being designated a World Heritage site, and there are seven such mind-numbingly beautiful sites across Nepal, Christiane. AMANPOUR: Satinder, it certainly does look beautiful, and really dramatic pictures that you've got. And, of course, the great memories that people will have of what Edmund Hillary did.

What is the situation in terms of tourism in Nepal now? Has it been affected by the recent political problems there?

BINDRA: Well, yes, Christiane, since this Maoist insurgency started in Nepal about seven years ago, many people have stayed away. But yesterday and today, as people start to celebrate, I've been noticing a change. The fear seems to have vanished from people's minds. The marketplaces have been full. Yesterday there was loud singing and dancing in marketplaces that were normally deserted.

So one is seeing a slight restoration of confidence in Nepal as far as the tourist trade is concerned. And people here really, really, really wish that tourists come back, because they bring with them dollars, and people here are really very poor. They need tourists to come back, and fast.

AMANPOUR: OK, Satinder Bindra from Kathmandu, thanks so much.

And a very different story of adventure and danger leads off the world roundup tonight. It comes from the North Pole. A plane made an ice landing near the North Pole, rescuing a stranded British explorer, who had spent a week camped on a drifting ice floe with his food supply running low.

Penn Harrow (ph) last week became the first person to reach the North Pole alone and unaided from Canada.

Terrible news in a place that's already had plenty in recent days, Algeria. Up to nine people were feared dead and almost 200 injured when a new earthquake hit Algeria during rush hour. Officials said the quake measured 5.8 on the Richter scale, and that the center was about 30 miles east of Algiers, the capital.

And a rare case of a metaphor coming to life. Like a bull in a china shop, well, not quite a china shop, but an antique store in northwest England, where a bull did run amok. Police marksmen had to kill the beast, which had escaped from a nearby animal auction.

And still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, we'll look at war photographers, so many from this generation, and what they owe the greatest of the last generation, Robert Kapper (ph).

This is NEWSNIGHT from London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: During the war, a regular feature on NEWSNIGHT was the work of still photographers in Iraq. We saw the view of the war through their lens. We also talked to them about what brought them to Iraq in the first place, and why people choose a profession which involves getting as close to the world's danger zones as you possibly can. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC SEARLE, PHOTOGRAPHER, DETROIT FREE PRESS/KNIGHT RIDDER: I felt like an explorer and adventurer going into unknown places (UNINTELLIGIBLE) going into neighborhoods where there was shooting and I had to wear my (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to my helmet. You just don't never know what's around the corner here.

BEN LOWY, PHOTOGRAPHER, "TIME" MAGAZINE/CORBIS: We have a job, and we go and do it. I do my photography, and they do their soldiering.

BRANT SANDERLIN, PHOTOGRAPHER, "ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION": The first 10 minutes is just getting pictures, and then after that you start thinking, OK, how is this situation going to end? How am I going to get out of this?

BOB NICKELSBERG, PHOTOGRAPHER, "TIME" MAGAZINE: There's no way of knowing until the end of the day, really, what will happen, or what has happened. So it's a day-by-day, day in the life of this war.

KATE BROOKS, PHOTOGRAPHER, "TIME" MAGAZINE/CORBIS: It's about telling the truth, documenting history, and being witnesses to the rest of the world.

DON BARTLETTI, PHOTOGRAPHER, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": My obligation as a photojournalist is to show the world what it looks like. What the story suggests can oftentimes be proven by a photograph.

SFC DAVID DISMUKES, PHOTOGRAPHER, ARMY PUBLIC AFFAIRS: To see the people here in Iraq, to see the women and the children living and have been through what they lived through in the past decades under this regime, the only way to understand it is to see it through the eyes of someone that's been here.

PATRICK BAZ, PHOTOGRAPHER, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE: When you come back from places like this, life for you has much more value than it has before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: These men and women are heirs to a great tradition, defined in the early 20th century by one man, the war photographer Robert Kapper. Kapper was the only photographer to go in on the first wave on D-Day, and he covered many other conflicts, including the Spanish Civil War and Vietnam. In fact, he became the first American journalist killed in Vietnam.

His fearlessness was unmatched, and his camera was his weapon. Robert Kapper is the subject of a new American Masters documentary debuting tomorrow night on PBS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "ROBERT KAPPER IN LOVE AND WAR," PBS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Robert Kapper, taking pictures was his way of fighting the war against fascism. Instead of carrying a gun, he carried a camera.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His works, I think, taught us a lot, because, you know, he dedicates the very cruel circumstance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wasn't just an observer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: The title of the documentary is "Robert Kapper in Love and War." And as that suggests, this is about his work and his fascinating life. Susan Lacy of American Masters joins us now from New York.

Susan, we captured just a little of Robert Kapper in this introduction. Tell us what made you so compelled to do this film.

SUSAN LACY, CREATOR, PBS AMERICAN MASTERS: Well, I've always loved his photographs, and have known of them for many, many years, and wanted to make this film for many, many years. He is the -- it seemed the right time to do it. And also, we finally got the rights to do it, and I'm very happy that we were able to do that. The timing is quite, quite extraordinary, I think, that we have this film on at this time.

The scheduling from PBS is brilliant, right after Memorial Day and before D-Day. As you pointed out, he was -- we pretty much know what D-Day looks like because of the 11 surviving photographs from Robert Kapper. And also, he died practically to the day 49 years ago.

AMANPOUR: You say it's an important time, and obviously his work, I suppose you must have compared it a little bit to what you were seeing during the war this time around, the closest and the nearest war to when you were doing this film.

How does what he did differ from the kind of images that were presented from the Iraq war, for instance?

LACY: Well, I think that there -- hmm, that's an interesting question. I think it was that they were different wars, and I think that he focused so much on the point of view of the soldier. And so many of his extraordinary photographs are what happened around the battlefield, the soldiers at rest, the soldiers writing letters home, the surrendering of the German soldiers, which are some of his most powerful photographs.

The women who were having their heads -- you know, whose heads were shaved for collaborating with the Nazis in France, the mourning mothers, he gave a human face to war that I think is a huge part of his legacy.

AMANPOUR: And he was also not just a brilliant photographer, but he was also a larger-than-life figure. Tell us a little bit about that incredible romantic figure that was Robert Kapper.

LACY: Oh, well, that's one of the reasons, of course, everybody's wanting to make a film about him forever. I mean, if -- you couldn't invent Robert Kapper. In fact, Robert Kapper invented himself. He wasn't really named Robert Kapper, his name was Andre Friedman, and he invented a character in order to create a name.

And his girlfriend, who was his great love of his life, Gerda Tora (ph), pretended to be an agent of a great photographer named Robert Kapper, who was always, you know, too busy to give interviews and to talk to the press because he was always in some exotic location, and got his photographs printed that way under the name of Robert Kapper.

And by the time that everyone discovered that that had happened, he had become a famous photographer. In fact, he became the invention that he created, a great American photojournalist.

But he was full of life, he was full of life and full of love of life, and he was a great -- he was incredibly handsome. Women loved him. Ingrid Bergman wanted to marry him. And he was a gambler, and he liked the fine life and he liked great champagne and great hotels, and he was a very interesting contrast, because then he would get up at 5:00 in the morning and get on the boats and go out to D-Day.

AMANPOUR: Susan, one of the comments that struck me in the clip that we showed, one of the people who knew him said he used his journalism to fight fascism. In other words, he really felt a political and a moral imperative to what he was doing.

LACY: Well, I think that's very true. It comes from his youth. I mean, he was -- he lived in Hungary. He was born in Budapest. And he was -- had to leave that country. And he was beaten up and thrown into jail. And his family suffered. And I think that he saw initially, when he started to take photographs in Berlin, he -- it was -- you know, he was recording the history and felt that this is a way that he could tell the world what was going on.

AMANPOUR: Susan, thank you so much for joining us.

And as NEWSNIGHT continues from London, the renewal of one of the great cities of the world, a place which sprang from the idea of one man 300 years ago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: Finally tonight, a special gift for a little boy and girl born today in St. Petersburg, Russia. They tied as the first babies to arrive this morning, winning their families free apartments in a city that's plagued with a housing shortage.

They won the prize because they now share a birthday with St. Petersburg itself, 300 years old today. A city celebrates, and we get the story from CNN's Jill Dougherty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Three hundred years ago, it was a swamp on the marshy shores of the Gulf of Finland, when the Russian czar, Peter the Great, ordered that a city be built on the spot, Russia's window to the West.

Nine years later, he made St. Petersburg the Russian capital, ordering the nobility to move here from Moscow. Some were afraid they'd be eaten by wolves.

But it was soon one of the greatest cities in Europe.

We found our own Peter, 27-year-old actor Radion Tsarev, who makes money playing the czar. Peter the Great, he says, opened Russia to the modern world.

RADION TSAREV, ACTOR (through translator): St. Petersburg is a place that brings together so many European cultures. It was built by Italians, Spanish, French, Germans. Russia would still be a backward and a closed society if it weren't for Peter.

DOUGHERTY (on camera): St. Petersburg is nicknamed the Venice of the North, because it's filled with canals and waterways, about 150 of them. And this really is the best way to see the city, by boat.

(voice-over): Palaces and pastels, this is a city filled with yellows, pinks, and greens, now repainted, spruced up at a cost of $1.3 billion, for the city's 300th anniversary.

(on camera): Here on Palace Square, just the sheer size of it is mind-boggling. If it was a vision of one man, Peter the Great, who conceived this city, it was the passion of one woman, Catherine the Great, who gave birth to its grandeur and its style.

(voice-over): Catherine, German by birth, loved art. Her Winter Palace, the Hermitage, one of the premiere museums of the world, holds her massive collection. St. Petersburg has packed more history into its 300 years than almost any other city in the world.

The Russian Revolution began here. The czars, including the murdered Nicholas II and his family, are buried here in the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Renamed Leningrad, the city during World War II survived a 900- day siege in which almost a million people died.

St. Petersburg finally got its name back. Today, although Moscow is the political capital of Russia, St. Petersburg remains its cultural icon. Native son Russian President Vladimir Putin is intent on restoring some of the city's former glory, a chance, perhaps, to make St. Petersburg once more Russia's window to the West.

Jill Dougherty, CNN, St. Petersburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: And that's NEWSNIGHT. Good night from London.

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




Iraq; Talks Between Israelis, Palestinians Postponed>