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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

U.S. Embassy attacked in Monrovia; Two U.S. Soldiers are Killed in Iraq

Aired July 21, 2003 - 22:00   ET

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

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


AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again everyone.
It is an odd mix of interrelated stories on the table tonight. The country seems to be inching a bit closer to sending troops to Liberia even as the situation there seems to be getting close to being totally out of control.

In Iraq, we would never say the situation is out of control but, once again tonight, we report the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq, three since we last met on Friday and it's possible more soldiers will be needed to secure Iraq.

And, add to that, well there seems to be increasing demands on the U.S. military there is a decreasing number of soldiers to fill the demand and the military is spread too thin some critics say.

All that is on the table tonight and we begin in Liberia and all of the violence there. We go first to Jeff Koinange who is in Monrovia, Jeff a headline.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN AFRICAN CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Aaron. Mortar shells rain across this ravaged capital city and even the U.S. Embassy becomes a target as the battlefront rages in this ongoing war - Aaron.

BROWN: Jeff, thank you, we'll get to you at the top tonight.

The reaction to the violence from the White House tonight, Suzanne Malveaux has the watch, Suzanne a headline.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, as the situation deteriorates in Liberia, President Bush facing increasing pressure from the international community to send U.S. troops. Well, sources saying that the president is holding off on that waiting for West African countries to take the lead.

BROWN: Suzanne, thank you.

Another deadly day in Iraq for American forces, Nic Robertson in Baghdad tonight, Nic a headline.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, another U.S. soldier killed, a commitment to build a 7,000-strong militia force, double the size of Iraq's police force. Recruitment centers for the new Iraqi army now open, all this to take some of the burden, take some of the U.S. troops out of the firing line - Aaron.

BROWN: Nic, thank you.

And, the latest now in the Kobe Bryant story, details coming about on the woman who accuses him of sexual assault. Rusty Dornin has arrived in Eagle, Colorado and is working the story, Rusty a headline.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, as you know privacy is an unknown commodity in a high profile story like this one. The alleged victim has not yet been identified but her past and her character are, of course, coming into question and there will be proof in this case that rumor and innuendo, especially in a small town, are perhaps unavoidable.

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

Also coming up tonight on NEWSNIGHT, we hope to speak with Liberia's President Charles Taylor on the phone, we hope.

We have an update on the missing Baylor University basketball player, Patrick Dennehy. There's been an arrest in the case.

Also tonight, Jeff Greenfield on the art of the push back, how the White House is trying to fight the critics of the Iraq campaign with an aggressive new political strategy.

And, the thing golf fans around the world were saying again and again over the weekend, Ben who? He is the British Open champion you never heard of, Ben Curtis, Cinderella with a putter.

And, if tonight's news is not enough we have tomorrow's news as well in a concentrated two and a half minute form. It sounds like we'll take a look through morning papers from around the country and around the world, all that in the hour ahead.

We begin in Liberia and a painful irony. The explosion of violence today shows just how much Liberia needs help and it also proves how risky providing that help might be. The terror of the civil war in West Africa came to the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia today in a grim and tangible way.

It came in the form of bodies piled up outside the embassy by Liberians who are plainly frantic for U.S. help, U.S. intervention, and in the form of mortar shells that fell inside the embassy compound.

The day in Liberia, here's CNN's Jeff Koinange.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOINANGE: Mortar shells started raining down around the U.S. Embassy compound, some directly in the flight plan of just departed Black Hawk helicopters carrying evacuees from the compound. One mortar landed directly inside the compound but no injuries were reported. LT. CMDR. TERRENCE DUDLEY, U.S. MILITARY SPOKESMAN: There have been a number of stray rounds that have entered into the embassy compound. There's also been mortar fire that's been in the direct vicinity of the embassy. Those are the things that prompted us to do this security augmentation.

KOINANGE: Under embassy instructions we were ordered indoors before being led under heavy guard to a secured building. We stayed there for the better part of five hours while mortars continued to fall around Monrovia.

Outside the U.S. Embassy an unfamiliar scene, Liberians angry at the United States for not intervening so far in this raging conflict, piled bodies of dead relatives killed in the latest shelling outside the embassy gates. Aid workers say Liberia is an unfolding humanitarian disaster.

MUKTAR FARAH, OCHA SPOKESMAN: If the fighting does not stop in the next 24 hours we are really seeing thousands of innocent women and children particularly who will be dying as a result of lack of food, no water, no sanitation, and no shelter at all.

KOINANGE: The U.S. Embassy here has urged all its citizens to prepare to leave this war ravaged country, and to help the protect the embassy the Marines sent in it's Fast Unit Fleet Anti-terrorist Security Team normally based in Rota, Spain.

But, don't count on more troops coming in too quickly. The U.S. says they are waiting for the economic community of West African states or ECOWAS to mobilize its troops before U.S. soldiers go in. A contingent of 1,500 soldiers from cooperating countries is expected.

In the meantime, President Charles Taylor vows to fight the rebels until peacekeepers arrive, as the U.S. Embassy among other areas of Monrovia continue to be battle zones.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOINANGE: And, Aaron, in a city of about a million and a half people and add to that about 120,000 displaced, in the words of one local Liberian, Monrovia is now in a state of paralysis - Aaron.

BROWN: Jeff, was there anything specific that happened today that caused this attack on the U.S. Embassy and caused people to bring the bodies to the embassy or, is it simply an extension of everything that has been happening for months?

KOINANGE: It could be a combination of the two, Aaron. First of all, the helicopter bringing the Fast Team, the U.S. Marines onto the embassy compound that happened a half an hour before the missiles started raining. There were no missile attacks in the morning.

All of a sudden it started raining thick and fast right around where the helicopter pad is. In fact, a couple of the missiles did fall into the Atlantic Ocean right beyond the helipad. It happened right after that. It could have been someone trying to send a message to the United States.

In terms of bringing the bodies to the gates of the embassy, this is what Liberians are trying to tell the Americans, the message saying if you had intervened earlier this would not have happened, so they were directly pointing blame at the United States again - Aaron.

BROWN: Jeff, thank you very much, Jeff Koinange who is in Monrovia tonight.

So, what will the United States do? The Pentagon has ordered thousands of Marines and sailors to move closer to Liberia but no decision is made to send them in. It's tricky for the White House.

The president is under pressure to show the world the compassionate part of compassionate conservative but the American public may not be of the stomach, another foreign intervention that could take more American lives.

For more on the White House reaction we go to CNN's Suzanne Malveaux.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): With violence erupting in Liberia, President Bush faces growing international pressure to put an end to the war there by sending in U.S. troops. Sources say Mr. Bush hasn't decided whether to sign off on U.S. deployment but the administration will support West African peacekeepers or ECOWAS in some way to put an end to the violence.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are working with ECOWAS to determine when they will be prepared to move in the peacekeeper troops that I have said we'd be willing to help move into Liberia. We're monitoring the situation very carefully.

MALVEAUX: But not fast enough for the U.N., which is calling for immediate U.S. intervention.

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: I think we can really salvage the situation if troops were to be deployed urgently and promptly.

MALVEAUX: But sources say there's too much confusion on the ground with the U.S. Embassy caught in the middle of the latest round of shelling.

PHIL REEKER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We are strongly condemning the rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, for their continued reckless and indiscriminate shelling of Monrovia.

MALVEAUX: The State Department is urging all sides to abide by the ceasefire. Administration sources say now the U.S. is waiting for the West African states to take the lead and for Liberian President Charles Taylor to leave for exile in Nigeria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And, U.S. officials say there are no signs now that Taylor is ready to leave nor Nigerian officials ready to take him - Aaron.

BROWN: So, is there a timeline on this that you can tell? Is this - are we looking at something that is days away, weeks away, if at all?

MALVEAUX: Well, Bush administration officials say that there is no timeline but quite frankly, Aaron, things are too hot on the ground for the U.S. to respond. That's what administration officials are saying. They have to wait for a period of relative calm before they send those - in whatever form they send those U.S. soldiers in, they are not going to send them in the kind of chaotic situation that you've seen in the last 24-48 hours.

BROWN: Suzanne, thank you very much, Suzanne Malveaux at the White House tonight.

I want to talk about Liberia, how the White House has been approaching the problem with Princeton Lyman. Ambassador Lyman is the former ambassador to South Africa and Nigeria and he wrote an op-ed piece in "The Washington Post" a couple of days back about how to do Liberia right.

The ambassador joins us from Washington, nice to have you with us sir. Is it in our view enough for the United States to wait for the other West African nations to mobilize and to operate with a small force, essentially command and control force?

PRINCETON LYMAN, SR. FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: No, I don't think so. I don't think waiting for the West Africans to take the lead is the right thing to do.

The West Africans will not have the credibility. They've been there before. The United States has a special relationship in Liberia and a special credibility and we should have moved sooner.

We should have moved a lot sooner and made the decision and sent a signal that we're prepared to lead this force. With American leadership on the ground I think we could have stabilized the situation earlier and I still think we should send that message.

BROWN: I wonder if, sir, in the backs of the minds of the president and the White House and in the backs of the minds of many Americans there is a fear of another Mogadishu.

LYMAN: Well, I know that they kind of fear this and I understand that but Liberia is not Somalia. This is a country, you remember when the assessment team that President Bush sent in, it was just swamped with people cheering them, welcoming them.

We have a relationship in Liberia that we never had in Somalia and people wanted us to come in, so it is a different situation. That doesn't mean it won't be difficult, it doesn't have risks, but it's not Somalia.

BROWN: What do you think, sir, the danger is of not going in? I think we all can understand the danger of getting involved. You're talking about American lives at stake. What is the danger of not getting involved to American interests?

LYMAN: Well, I think there are several. First of all, if we don't intervene, if we don't take a strong position we are likely to see a terrible humanitarian disaster in Liberia and much of the world, certainly much of Africa but the rest of the world will see that the United States stood by and let this happen.

Second, we're thinking of going to the United Nations soon to ask for very substantial help from allies in Iraq but we have the British in Sierra Leone next door to Liberia, the French next door in Cote d'Avoire looking for the United States to cooperate and play the role in Liberia. It's hard to ask others to join us and our priorities and we just stand by and not do something here.

Finally, I think it has an impact on the president's recent trip to Africa. He made a lot of points there. He made a lot of strides in terms of demonstrating that Africa was important but if we duck this many people will feel that it was more words than reality.

BROWN: The president in situations where he has dispatched troops to foreign lands has tied it in one way or another to the war on terror. This really wouldn't be related to the war on terror, would it?

LYMAN: I think that's one of the difficult decisions for this administration. You're exactly right, Aaron. Almost all the deployment so far under this administration have been related to the war on terror or, more recently, the war in Iraq but there is an indirect relationship here which the president recognized on his trip.

And, that is that in this particular situation, and particularly in Liberia, the wars that were going on opened the door for al Qaeda to come in and exploit the diamonds that were being illegally exported to help finance their terrorist activities.

So, there is a relationship there but I also think there is a special responsibility here in which the world is looking to the United States, and we're not talking about a lot of troops. We could lead this peacekeeping effort with 1,500 to 2,000 troops, supplemented by the West Africans, but we should be in the lead.

BROWN: Quickly, do you think that at some level a decision has been made and they're waiting for the right moment or that there really is an internal debate going on about whether to dispatch troops or not?

LYMAN: What I'm concerned about, Aaron, is that I think there is a tendency to want the West Africans in the lead and the United States to play a logistic and command control role and what worries me about that is that on the ground in Liberia seeing American troops there will have a dramatic effect. Seeing Nigerians or Senegalese or Ghanaians will not. Some of those countries have been involved in Liberia in the past. They don't have the same credibility and it could lead to more instability.

The point that I wrote about in "The Washington Post" was we've seen what happens when we do this insufficiently when you send in a force that's inadequate. We saw that in Rwanda. We saw it in the Congo. We saw it in Sierra Leone, and then we have to come in with more when we see a humanitarian disaster looming. The point is let's get in enough sufficient force well led to do it right now.

BROWN: I almost called you professor, ambassador thank you for joining us, Ambassador Lyman we appreciate your insight tonight. Thank you very much.

LYMAN: Thank you, Aaron.

BROWN: Thank you, sir.

To Iraq next and something a Congressman said this week that we saw on the pages of "Time" magazine. It's hard for the American public to measure progress. In the war, we knew we were 50 miles from Baghdad, 25 miles, but this, speaking of these days is very different. If progress is hard to gauge, as the Congressman says, the danger is not.

The metric that's easy to grasp for Americans is the death toll, which has gotten higher by three in the last 24 hours, two U.S. soldiers killed in an ambush in northern Iraq, another killed today in an ambush in northeast Baghdad.

Nic Robertson filed this report from the scene of that latest ambush not long after it happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Inch by inch the aftermath of the latest guerilla-style attack on U.S. forces is cleared off the scorched tarmac, the carcass of a Humvee lifted towards a waiting truck.

LT. COL. JOHN KEN, U.S. ARMY: There was two people killed and three injured, the injuries, one American soldier was killed and one Iraqi was killed.

ROBERTSON: Thirty dollars the cost of renting the truck to get rid of the wreckage from this Baghdad highway.

(on camera): Although the precise details of this attack are not yet clear, it appears to have been very similar to previous attacks, a remote-controlled explosive device set off by people waiting for the U.S. troops to pass by.

(voice-over): Security still tight, no attackers spotted when the troops arrived but praise for Iraqis who witnessed the explosion.

KEN: They immediately went to the vehicle and they cut out - the seat belts were stuck and they cut two soldiers out from the seat belts and with the subsequent fire they may have saved their lives.

ROBERTSON: Fearful of retribution by the attackers, the father and son declined to describe on camera how they saved U.S. lives. Even Iraqi police who rushed to help now distance themselves.

LT. SHAKER ABID AL AMEER, IRAQI POLICE (through translator): I have nothing to do with the American forces. My interest is my countrymen. I am here to protect them from the Americans and Israelis.

ROBERTSON: The recovery complete, troops pull out and looters move in, scavenging the charred remains of the Humvee.

"This is a new line of business" he says. "We need something good for Iraq for our future. We need the killings and explosions to be over and done," slim pickings for these entrepreneurs of misfortune.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: I asked the young translator who was working with the U.S. recovery troops there was he worried going out on patrol with them? He said he wasn't. It was a job that he wanted to do. He told me he was at the university in Baghdad. I said how many of your class colleagues support what you're doing, support the U.S. troops here? He said about 50 percent - Aaron.

BROWN: Nic, there's also this effort today to begin developing a militia of some sort to relieve the Americans from some of the most dangerous duty. How is that going?

ROBERTSON: It's really at the very early stages. The idea is that the militia force would be made up reflecting the ethnic and religious makeup of the different towns and areas around the country where they would be used. They would initially go in with the troops, U.S. troops, in raids, on patrols.

They would be a sort of buffer. They would be the translators and eventually allow the U.S. troops to withdraw into the background to a degree. What a lot of Iraqis here say that they want, they don't particularly want to see the U.S. troops on the streets. They do want security.

They'd rather have Iraqis providing it. They think the Iraqis understand them better and, therefore, that should lead, the analysis is, to a lowering in tensions throughout the country and maybe a reduction in these attacks, and certainly less troops put at risk - Aaron.

BROWN: Nic, thank you, Nic Robertson in Baghdad tonight.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has made no secret of his desire to remake the U.S. military putting fewer boots on the ground, deploying more high tech weaponry but with U.S. troops stretched across Iraq, many still in Afghanistan and more than 100 other countries, some say the military doesn't just need to get smarter, it does need to get bigger. The Pentagon is resisting at least for now.

Here's our Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The fact the Army is now scrambling to find replacements to relieve exhausted soldiers in Iraq has some in Congress pressing the Pentagon to increase the size of the U.S. military.

SEN. JACK REED (D), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: We are dangerously stretched thin in the Army and other services also. Mr. Secretary, are you planning or prepared to increase the size of the Army to meet these commitments?

DDONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: If at some point it looks as though what you suggest might be the case turns out to be the case, clearly we will come to Congress and ask for an increase but at the moment we do not see that that's the case.

MCINTYRE: Rumsfeld insists the Army is plenty big enough. It's just that too many military people, 300,000 by one Pentagon estimate, are doing jobs that could be done by civilians. The other half of the problem, Rumsfeld says, is that too many combat critical jobs, everything from medical personnel to cooks and supply clerks, are in the Reserves.

On July 9th, Rumsfeld ordered a sweeping restructuring of the military so the U.S. can wage war without so much reliance on the Guard and Reserves. In a three-page memo obtained by CNN, Rumsfeld wrote: "I consider this a matter of the utmost urgency" and gave his military chiefs three weeks to respond. Currently, some 200,000 Reserve and Guard troops are on active duty, including 40,000 supporting operations in Iraq.

(on camera): After a decade of downsizing, the Pentagon is not anxious to do an about face. For one thing, adding troops to the U.S. military's end strength is a very expensive proposition. For another, it flies in the face of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's vision of a smaller military that leverages new technology and tactics to pack a bigger punch.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Ahead on NEWSNIGHT for this Monday, an arrest in the case of a missing Baylor basketball player.

Plus, the latest on the Kobe Bryant case as new details are revealed about the alleged victim, questions raised about whether her identity should be revealed.

And, later on, a remarkable story, the story of an unknown golfer who succeeded when all the superstars in the world failed, that and more as NEWSNIGHT continues from New York. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, we knew it would come to this, didn't we, the story of Kobe Bryant and the woman who has accused him of sexual assault has begun to focus on her, her past, her state of mind, her reputation, all of which is topic number one, both in her hometown of Eagle, Colorado, and on the Internet where it seems just about everything in her life is now up there for anyone to read, some of it true, some of it not. It's the Internet, who knows? She may not be as famous as the star athlete she is now connected with, at least not yet.

Once again, CNN's Rusty Dornin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN (voice-over): Up until now, it's pretty much been Kobe Bryant the celebrity, Kobe the NBA superstar. Did he or didn't he? He got a chance to make his defense in front of the cameras.

KOBE BRYANT, DEFENDANT: I didn't force her to do anything against her will.

DORNIN: The alleged victim hasn't taken the opportunity to plead her case in the public eye. The news media has chosen to keep her identity private but still all eyes in her own hometown of Eagle, Colorado and across the nation are focusing every tighter on her.

What kind of person is she? Would she lie? An intense microscope under which she must live her life.

MARK HURLBERT, EAGLE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: She's doing OK. She's a strong girl. She is holding up pretty well considering everything.

SHANNA SWEENEY, FRIEND: She's hurt. She's been violated. I probably couldn't put words to what she's going through.

DORNIN: And it's just the beginning. Before the alleged incident with Bryant, the Eagle Police were dispatched to the young woman's home twice in the last year. The local newspaper is asking the court to unseal those dispatches but one of those calls, according to a friend who spoke to the "Orange County Register" happened when the 19-year-old overdosed on pills.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN: Now, another close friend is corroborating that overdose story but she told us she doesn't believe that it was an attempt at suicide. Now, meantime, as we said the news media has chosen not to reveal her identity but, lo and behold, on the Internet two websites today with pictures purported to be the alleged victim.

However, we discovered they are not the victim in this case. They are, however, pictures of another young girl in this very small community. So, Aaron, you can see how quickly these things can spin completely out of control.

BROWN: We got a long way to go on this one. Rusty, thank you very much, Rusty Dornin in Eagle, Colorado.

There are legal questions here. There are media questions here, obviously, as well. The legal ones are going to take some time to sort out, facts being required at least to us, but the media questions are on the table now.

Everyone in Eagle, Colorado knows who the alleged victim is. They have for weeks. We don't use her name and won't but if I were a betting man, I'd wager that her name will be out there on TV soon if it isn't already. So will everything else about her life. What is fair and right here?

Geneva Overholser joins us from Washington. About a dozen years ago, as the editor of the "Des Moines Register" she made a controversial decision to write a piece where she argued that rape victims ought to be named and then a series on a rape victim who allowed herself to be named and ultimately won the Pulitzer Prize and we're glad to see her with us tonight.

GENEVA OVERHOLSER, MISSOURI SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM: Great to be here.

BROWN: A couple of kind of basic questions here. The story over the weekend, the "Orange County Register" story on the overdose, fair or not fair? Let's assume it's true for a second, fair or not fair?

OVERHOLSER: Well, it seems to me the first thing we ought to know is who this person is before we start rooting around in her background. She isn't a public figure. Now, she's made a charge and I think it is true in our criminal justice system that it would be best if that were an open fact, if she were named.

The question of rooting around in her background it seems to me unfair but I can't say that the "Orange County Register" did something that many another newspaper wouldn't do - Aaron.

BROWN: Well, let's do the name thing for a second and come back to some of the other issues. In Eagle, everyone knows her name. I mean all her friends know who she is. All her neighbors know who she is. You could make the argument that the only people who don't know are the rest of us who actually have very little, except for perhaps (unintelligible) interest in the case, who she is.

OVERHOLSER: Well, that's an important point because, as you know, editors for years and other news managers have said we're going to protect the identity of rape victims because of the cruel stigma that is attached to rape and to anyone who charges rape as if somehow she were at fault, as if somehow she were to blame.

But, when in fact the people in her own community who supposedly would be the ones that would hurt for her to have know do know, then I think that that removes that as a powerful argument. I really think, Aaron that it is a troubling thing and that it may be time for us to recognize that in this only case of adult victims of crime we don't name the accuser. And, it's a pretty horrendous crime. It's also a pretty horrendous crime to be charged with.

BROWN: Yes, it is. Back to the Orange County story and other stories that are, I'm sure, going to emerge about her and, again, let's just make an assumption all of these stories are true for a second, does it not - if she overdosed does it not tell us something about her stability?

OVERHOLSER: Well, I suppose so but I got to say this comes very uncomfortably close to me...

does it not tell us something about her stability?

OVERHOLSER: Well I suppose so.

But I've got to say, this comes very uncomfortably close to me to all of those old, well, you know, so and so used to wear short skirts or, in the case of Patricia Bowman and William Kennedy Smith, that remarkably appalling "New York Times" story where they talked about the color of her wallpaper and said she seemed like a girl who likes to have fun. We are talking about a rape case and it needs to be tried in the courtroom.

So, this stuff is going to happen. But whether or not we really think it's fundamentally fair for it to come out, I think is a separate question from whether or not we think that the person who does the charging ought to be openly named.

BROWN: All right, not to beat this into the ground, but you're back editing the newspaper again and your reporters come to you with this story on the overdose, do you run it or do you not run it?

OVERHOLSER: Well, I don't think I would have run it.

BROWN: OK.

OVERHOLSER: But, of course, I'm not at "The Orange County Register." I don't think I would have run the story on the overdose. But the truth is, I haven't looked into that as carefully as I should have, because I am not the editor there and Kobe Bryant isn't a player in my town.

BROWN: You have talked about this question of naming names of rape victims where people accuse people of rape for a long time now. Honestly, have you made, do you think, any significant progress in persuading people that it is the right thing to do for a variety of reasons? OVERHOLSER: Not much progress, but I have to say, when "The Register" did the piece -- I appreciate your mentioning -- and it was almost a dozen years ago, our real thought was that we were giving a woman who wanted to tell her story an opportunity to talk about a crime that is seriously underattended. We don't pay a whole lot of attention to rape.

And my argument at the time is that one reason we don't pay attention to rape is because we keep it in a dark closet. We say to rape victims: Go over there. Don't tell. It's a shameful thing. If you tell, people will assume you are somehow at fault.

And I just think that is wrong. I think it's time for women to stand up and say, we're going to be treated like other adult victims of crime and we're going to name names. And this is a crime that needs to come out in the open. One reason it didn't have as much success as I think it might have is that the Patricia Bowman case came shortly thereafter. And there was a lot of sort of forcing of rape victims out.

BROWN: Well, I expect this one and this issue will come back again. I hope you will, too.

OVERHOLSER: Thank you.

BROWN: It's nice to see you again.

Thank you, Geneva Overholser, from Washington tonight.

Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT: a late development in the case of missing Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy. There's been an arrest, though the mystery continues. We'll talk with a reporter covering that story.

We'll take a break first. Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: A major development in the case of the missing Baylor University basketball player Patrick Dennehy tonight. His friend, former teammate, Carlton Dotson has been arrested in the state of Maryland and is now charged with murder in the case. Mr. Dotson will appear before a judge tomorrow for an extradition hearing, a hearing that would send him back to Texas.

Dennehy has been not heard from in more than a month. There are still no details yet on whether a body has been found. We will try and get some details, however, on what has gone on in the last 24 hours or so.

Trish McGee is the associate editor of "The Kent County Times." That's the county where Mr. Dotson in Maryland turned himself in.

Trish, welcome.

What do you know of the circumstances of the arrest? TRISH MCGEE, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, "KENT COUNTY NEWS": Well, actually, Mr. Dotson apparently, about a quarter to 5:00 yesterday afternoon, on his cell phone, called our 911 center here in Kent County and said that he needed assistance. The police did not elaborate, but I was told it was mental health kind of assistance.

So a deputy sheriff and someone from -- an officer from the Chestertown Police Department responded. They took him to the local hospital, where he was evaluated. He spent the night in the hospital, my understanding is, in a room in the emergency room, where he had around-the-clock police accompaniment. At some point today, he contacted the FBI on his own. This afternoon, he left the hospital with the FBI, went to an undisclosed location. He continued in Chestertown.

The FBI conducted an interview. And my understanding is from whatever information he gave them in the interview, he was then served with a warrant issued by the state of Texas. He has been charged with murder, intended death, which we believe translates in Maryland to first-degree murder.

BROWN: Is there -- let me run a couple of quick ones by you, OK?

MCGEE: Sure.

BROWN: Just if you know them, say so. If you don't, walk away from there.

MCGEE: OK.

BROWN: Any there indication he tried to do himself harm?

MCGEE: No. My understanding is that he had no injuries.

BROWN: Is there...

MCGEE: And I saw him tonight. And he looked fine. There were no bandages or anything on him.

BROWN: OK. Great. That helps a lot.

Is it your belief that he has in some way implicated himself or confessed?

MCGEE: He made no statements to that effect. And the police didn't say that. And, matter of fact, the warrant issued from Texas doesn't even mention Patrick Dennehy on that. So we are assuming that is who it is.

BROWN: And extradition hearing tomorrow?

MCGEE: Well, he has the right -- he's also going to be charged on a Maryland warrant as a fugitive from another state. He has been -- already been processed locally, taken to the court commissioner, and has now been taken to our local jail. I think he'll have a bail review tomorrow morning. That's the procedure locally anyhow. BROWN: Yes.

MCGEE: But no one said anything to that effect.

BROWN: Trish, nice job tonight, Trish McGee, the associate editor of "The Kent County Times," a weekly newspaper in Kent County, Maryland. Terrific job of reporting that.

Still to come on NEWSNIGHT: Nearly two years later, the report on what went wrong September 11 is due out. We will talk with Michael Isikoff, who has, not surprisingly, some of the details.

A break first. This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Later this week, the congressional committee that investigated the attacks on 9/11 will release its report. Without seeing the report, it's hard to know precisely what the headline will be. But here are some options: After almost two years, lawmakers finally explain what went wrong. Or another option that has been floated around: The Saudi government had definite ties to the terrorists.

The third is already out there at the top of a "Newsweek" magazine exclusive: slamming the FBI.

Here to talk about the story, senior investigative reporter for "Newsweek," Michael Isikoff, who reported the story and joins us from Washington.

Michael, nice to see you.

Will the report say it was a preventable tragedy, if only?

MICHAEL ISIKOFF, "NEWSWEEK": Sort of, actually.

The line always was, after 9/11, that there was no way the government could have seen this coming; there were no specific warnings or information that would have led them to piece together the plot. The more we learn, the more we've learned how much really was out there and available to U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies that might have, with a little extra work, with a little extra probing, might have allowed them to put the pieces together.

BROWN: How much of that -- you have a pretty fair eye on this sort of thing. How much of that is the exquisite precision of hindsight?

ISIKOFF: Sure. Look, 20/20 hindsight is always a factor here.

But some of what's going to be in this report, when you take a step back, is going to be pretty stunning to a lot of people. Start with the CIA, which had information about these two hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaq Alhamzi, who attend a terrorist summit, an al Qaeda in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in January 2000. It's monitored by the CIA. They know the terrorists are meeting.

The CIA then knows that these two of these individuals, al-Midhar and Alhamzi, have come into the United States. They don't share the information with other U.S. agencies, including the FBI. Then you get to San Diego. And this is going to be a major focus of the report, the FBI in San Diego. How much were they aggressively investigating a lot of leads that were out there? It turns out that these same two individuals ended up living for months with an FBI informant, somebody who was in regular touch with an FBI handler looking into -- looking for evidence of terrorism.

There were a lot of questions about the informant. He had prior contact with another hijacker, Hani Hanjour. And yet the case agent apparently didn't follow up and look into who his informant was fraternizing with, two strange Saudi students who had just arrived in the company. What were they doing here? It also turns out -- and this gets to the Saudi connection that you mentioned before -- that one of the individuals who facilitated their arrival in San Diego, helped them get housing, helped them get settled was a man, Omar al- Bayoumi, who the FBI had prior information about, was a Saudi government agent.

And, in fact, one of the rather striking details, I'm told, that's going to be in this report is, al-Bayoumi is somebody who not only may have been a Saudi agent, but the day in January 2000 when he first meets the hijackers, he first goes for a meeting at the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles, then goes directly to a restaurant, where he meets the hijackers and brings them to San Diego, raising a whole set of questions, whether -- if this guy was a Saudi agent, who was he reporting to? What was he telling them about these two men, al-Midhar and Alhamzi, who had come to the United States?

BROWN: I have got literally a half a minute. Do you think heads are going to roll on this one? Or will this be just sort of consumed and forgotten?

ISIKOFF: Hard to say.

I think that some people that have read the report say, if you put all together, it's a pretty damning indictment of the FBI, the CIA, the Pentagon, for not being more aggressive and wanting to attack al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. And there's probably going to be a lot of anger from families of 9/11 victims.

On the other hand, the 20/20 hindsight factor will be argued by some. I think that it is going to produce a lot of details and a lot of debate about where we go from here.

BROWN: Michael, terrific work. And we appreciate your time tonight. Thank you, Michael Isikoff, with "Newsweek" magazine.

ISIKOFF: Any time.

BROWN: And you can read the details in the magazine this week.

Another story related to Saudi Arabia, but the brutal leader in this story is neither Osama bin Laden, nor Saddam Hussein, kicks off the "World Roundup." Idi Amin, who is known for his eight-year reign of brutality of Uganda, is in a coma, it is said, in a hospital in Saudi Arabia. He's responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of his citizens, was finally driven from power and from the country in 1979, that long ago. He first went to Libya, finally Saudi Arabia, where he has lived quietly ever since.

In England, the best-selling author and former Conservative Party deputy chairman, Jeffrey Archer, was released from prison today. You saw him there scampering away. He'd served two of his four-year sentence for perjury. His rise and fall has long been a part of the splashy tabloids and whispered high-society cocktail conversations. I never get invited to those. Now he plans to pursue his former interests: politics and writing.

And, at the Tour de France today, a break for Lance Armstrong: Despite another crash, Mr. Armstrong, who described this race as the tour of too many problems, too many close calls and too many things, won the 15th stage, with a one-minute, seven-second lead over his German rival, who, following tour tradition, waited for Mr. Armstrong to get back on his bike before he continued the race. So there is sportsmanship in that.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT: the David of the golf world beats all of those Goliaths and makes history and a terrific story, too, at the British Open.

A break first. Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: All in all, it's been a pretty dispiriting summer so far, in terms of the news anyway: Iraq, Liberia, the mess with Kobe Bryant. Heaven knows, the economy is still struggling.

So, as we reach midsummer, a fairy tale is not such a bad idea, a story too good to be true, improbable to be true, but true nevertheless. Our fairy tale ended on a golf course in England that looked like a moonscape and stars a young man who has more in common with Cinderella than Tiger Woods.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): Ben Curtis came home today, incredibly, famous.

BEN CURTIS, BRITISH OPEN CHAMPION: My life changed forever now. It's been unbelievable. I know that, for the next year, I'll be the Open champion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trying to run it in. This could be good.

BROWN: It was that, before yesterday's victory in one of golf's four major tournaments, that 26-year-old Curtis was somebody even devoted fans of game had never heard of. He ranked 396th in the world. Today, he is more than $1 million richer and the holder of one of the oldest and most prestigious trophies in all of sports.

CURTIS: I'm thrilled to be the winner.

BROWN: In terms of upsets, this is off the charts.

ALAN SHIPNUCK, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED GOLF PLUS": It was phenomenal. This kid came out of nowhere. No one ever heard of him. He beat the best players in the world at the oldest tournament. It's a Cinderella story.

BROWN: Ben Curtis learned to play the game here, a public golf course in Ohio that had once been his grandfather's farm.

CURTIS: He was tough, but he was fun. He'd come off of the tractor and just say, hey, let me show you how to do this. He'd grab the putter and knock it in and say, this is how you do it, and walk away.

BROWN: That course toughened him, he said, made him appreciate that not all golfers are necessarily bred in exclusive, manicured environments, members of tony country clubs.

CURTIS: Public golf courses are great. I think they are awesome. I never think that they should be looked down upon. That's how I grew up. I think a lot of the great players have grown up that way.

SHIPNUCK: Links golf, the kind of course where Curtis won, there's a lot of quirky bounces and a lot of bad lies. And you get that on a public course. I think he was kind of ready for all the craziness that transpired last week, because he grew up on a public course, where funny things happen.

CURTIS STRANGE, ANNOUNCER: From this angle, it looks worse.

BROWN: When one player or one team wins because someone else fails, critics say they backed into the winner's circle. And you could argue that that was the case yesterday, when the Danish golfer, Thomas Bjorn, missed twice with shots out of sand bunker. And that is true.

But so is this: Curtis had to make a shot, this putt on 18, under more pressure than most athletes experience in a lifetime. He did. And he was a champion.

CURTIS: Everywhere I go, I'm going to be watched. And there is going to be cameras and -- but -- photographers there. And I'm going to -- I will look forward to it. It'll be fun. And I worked my whole life for this. And I am not going to let it bother me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: A fairy tale.

Morning papers after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(ROOSTER CROWING)

BROWN: The rooster is getting annoying, isn't it?

Okeydokey, time to check morning papers from around the country and around the world. We'll start with "The New York Times." Going to go really quickly tonight. I don't know why. I'm just in a mood to go really quickly.

"Measure to Ease Import of Drugs is Gaining in House: GOP Lending Support." Drug manufacturers -- by the way, who spent millions of dollars to kill this thing in Congress -- scramble to lobby against bill that may cost them millions. This would allow you to get cheaper drugs imported from Canada. And they are running a big radio campaign saying that, basically, if this happens, we will all die. I don't know.

Here's a picture you'll see. Wait. I need to put my glasses on for this. Here is a picture you will see in tomorrow morning's paper in a lot of parts across the country. That's Jessica Lynch. We haven't really seen much of Ms. Lynch. Tomorrow, we are going to see a lot of Ms. Lynch, Private Lynch. Here she is getting a series of medals, three I think she got, for her service in Iraq. And she arrives tomorrow in West Virginia. And we'll have that for you at 2:00. Is that what it said, 2:00 Eastern time? I think so.

"The Oregonian" -- back with the glasses. Here we go. This is a front-page story in the Portland "Oregonian." "Governor" -- in this case, it would be Washington's governor -- "Locke Says He Won't Run Again." That's Gary Locke. He will not seek a third term. Right on the border, Portland and Vancouver, Washington, right there on the border. So they have a large readership in Washington state. So they put that on the front page. We wish Governor Locke a lot of luck. We have known him a long time.

Liberia is on a lot of front pages, not all but most, which is, in some ways, kind of -- it's not surprising, but it does say something about how serious things are: "Mortars Rock Liberian Capital," front-page story, "Miami Herald."

"The Chicago Sun-Times" doesn't lead that way: "City Seeing Big Drop in Violent Crime This Year." That's good news. The big picture: the Lance Armstrong wreck in the Tour de France. It's a nice picture. And the weather tomorrow, by the way, if you are wondering: rapture. I assume that's good. I don't know. It doesn't necessarily sound good.

Forty seconds, huh? "Murder Indictment in New Hampshire Charges Dad Shot Kids." This is a truly horrible story that "The Herald" has been running for a while now. And they put it on the front page again today. And that picture comes from Liberia.

And that's pretty much a look at morning papers from around the country and around the world, but I slightly mistimed it, so we have about five more seconds. We'll see you tomorrow night, 10:00 Eastern time. Until then, good night for all of us at NEWSNIGHT.

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





Killed in Iraq>


Aired July 21, 2003 - 22:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again everyone.
It is an odd mix of interrelated stories on the table tonight. The country seems to be inching a bit closer to sending troops to Liberia even as the situation there seems to be getting close to being totally out of control.

In Iraq, we would never say the situation is out of control but, once again tonight, we report the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq, three since we last met on Friday and it's possible more soldiers will be needed to secure Iraq.

And, add to that, well there seems to be increasing demands on the U.S. military there is a decreasing number of soldiers to fill the demand and the military is spread too thin some critics say.

All that is on the table tonight and we begin in Liberia and all of the violence there. We go first to Jeff Koinange who is in Monrovia, Jeff a headline.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN AFRICAN CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Aaron. Mortar shells rain across this ravaged capital city and even the U.S. Embassy becomes a target as the battlefront rages in this ongoing war - Aaron.

BROWN: Jeff, thank you, we'll get to you at the top tonight.

The reaction to the violence from the White House tonight, Suzanne Malveaux has the watch, Suzanne a headline.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, as the situation deteriorates in Liberia, President Bush facing increasing pressure from the international community to send U.S. troops. Well, sources saying that the president is holding off on that waiting for West African countries to take the lead.

BROWN: Suzanne, thank you.

Another deadly day in Iraq for American forces, Nic Robertson in Baghdad tonight, Nic a headline.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, another U.S. soldier killed, a commitment to build a 7,000-strong militia force, double the size of Iraq's police force. Recruitment centers for the new Iraqi army now open, all this to take some of the burden, take some of the U.S. troops out of the firing line - Aaron.

BROWN: Nic, thank you.

And, the latest now in the Kobe Bryant story, details coming about on the woman who accuses him of sexual assault. Rusty Dornin has arrived in Eagle, Colorado and is working the story, Rusty a headline.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, as you know privacy is an unknown commodity in a high profile story like this one. The alleged victim has not yet been identified but her past and her character are, of course, coming into question and there will be proof in this case that rumor and innuendo, especially in a small town, are perhaps unavoidable.

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

Also coming up tonight on NEWSNIGHT, we hope to speak with Liberia's President Charles Taylor on the phone, we hope.

We have an update on the missing Baylor University basketball player, Patrick Dennehy. There's been an arrest in the case.

Also tonight, Jeff Greenfield on the art of the push back, how the White House is trying to fight the critics of the Iraq campaign with an aggressive new political strategy.

And, the thing golf fans around the world were saying again and again over the weekend, Ben who? He is the British Open champion you never heard of, Ben Curtis, Cinderella with a putter.

And, if tonight's news is not enough we have tomorrow's news as well in a concentrated two and a half minute form. It sounds like we'll take a look through morning papers from around the country and around the world, all that in the hour ahead.

We begin in Liberia and a painful irony. The explosion of violence today shows just how much Liberia needs help and it also proves how risky providing that help might be. The terror of the civil war in West Africa came to the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia today in a grim and tangible way.

It came in the form of bodies piled up outside the embassy by Liberians who are plainly frantic for U.S. help, U.S. intervention, and in the form of mortar shells that fell inside the embassy compound.

The day in Liberia, here's CNN's Jeff Koinange.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOINANGE: Mortar shells started raining down around the U.S. Embassy compound, some directly in the flight plan of just departed Black Hawk helicopters carrying evacuees from the compound. One mortar landed directly inside the compound but no injuries were reported. LT. CMDR. TERRENCE DUDLEY, U.S. MILITARY SPOKESMAN: There have been a number of stray rounds that have entered into the embassy compound. There's also been mortar fire that's been in the direct vicinity of the embassy. Those are the things that prompted us to do this security augmentation.

KOINANGE: Under embassy instructions we were ordered indoors before being led under heavy guard to a secured building. We stayed there for the better part of five hours while mortars continued to fall around Monrovia.

Outside the U.S. Embassy an unfamiliar scene, Liberians angry at the United States for not intervening so far in this raging conflict, piled bodies of dead relatives killed in the latest shelling outside the embassy gates. Aid workers say Liberia is an unfolding humanitarian disaster.

MUKTAR FARAH, OCHA SPOKESMAN: If the fighting does not stop in the next 24 hours we are really seeing thousands of innocent women and children particularly who will be dying as a result of lack of food, no water, no sanitation, and no shelter at all.

KOINANGE: The U.S. Embassy here has urged all its citizens to prepare to leave this war ravaged country, and to help the protect the embassy the Marines sent in it's Fast Unit Fleet Anti-terrorist Security Team normally based in Rota, Spain.

But, don't count on more troops coming in too quickly. The U.S. says they are waiting for the economic community of West African states or ECOWAS to mobilize its troops before U.S. soldiers go in. A contingent of 1,500 soldiers from cooperating countries is expected.

In the meantime, President Charles Taylor vows to fight the rebels until peacekeepers arrive, as the U.S. Embassy among other areas of Monrovia continue to be battle zones.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOINANGE: And, Aaron, in a city of about a million and a half people and add to that about 120,000 displaced, in the words of one local Liberian, Monrovia is now in a state of paralysis - Aaron.

BROWN: Jeff, was there anything specific that happened today that caused this attack on the U.S. Embassy and caused people to bring the bodies to the embassy or, is it simply an extension of everything that has been happening for months?

KOINANGE: It could be a combination of the two, Aaron. First of all, the helicopter bringing the Fast Team, the U.S. Marines onto the embassy compound that happened a half an hour before the missiles started raining. There were no missile attacks in the morning.

All of a sudden it started raining thick and fast right around where the helicopter pad is. In fact, a couple of the missiles did fall into the Atlantic Ocean right beyond the helipad. It happened right after that. It could have been someone trying to send a message to the United States.

In terms of bringing the bodies to the gates of the embassy, this is what Liberians are trying to tell the Americans, the message saying if you had intervened earlier this would not have happened, so they were directly pointing blame at the United States again - Aaron.

BROWN: Jeff, thank you very much, Jeff Koinange who is in Monrovia tonight.

So, what will the United States do? The Pentagon has ordered thousands of Marines and sailors to move closer to Liberia but no decision is made to send them in. It's tricky for the White House.

The president is under pressure to show the world the compassionate part of compassionate conservative but the American public may not be of the stomach, another foreign intervention that could take more American lives.

For more on the White House reaction we go to CNN's Suzanne Malveaux.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): With violence erupting in Liberia, President Bush faces growing international pressure to put an end to the war there by sending in U.S. troops. Sources say Mr. Bush hasn't decided whether to sign off on U.S. deployment but the administration will support West African peacekeepers or ECOWAS in some way to put an end to the violence.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are working with ECOWAS to determine when they will be prepared to move in the peacekeeper troops that I have said we'd be willing to help move into Liberia. We're monitoring the situation very carefully.

MALVEAUX: But not fast enough for the U.N., which is calling for immediate U.S. intervention.

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: I think we can really salvage the situation if troops were to be deployed urgently and promptly.

MALVEAUX: But sources say there's too much confusion on the ground with the U.S. Embassy caught in the middle of the latest round of shelling.

PHIL REEKER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We are strongly condemning the rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, for their continued reckless and indiscriminate shelling of Monrovia.

MALVEAUX: The State Department is urging all sides to abide by the ceasefire. Administration sources say now the U.S. is waiting for the West African states to take the lead and for Liberian President Charles Taylor to leave for exile in Nigeria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And, U.S. officials say there are no signs now that Taylor is ready to leave nor Nigerian officials ready to take him - Aaron.

BROWN: So, is there a timeline on this that you can tell? Is this - are we looking at something that is days away, weeks away, if at all?

MALVEAUX: Well, Bush administration officials say that there is no timeline but quite frankly, Aaron, things are too hot on the ground for the U.S. to respond. That's what administration officials are saying. They have to wait for a period of relative calm before they send those - in whatever form they send those U.S. soldiers in, they are not going to send them in the kind of chaotic situation that you've seen in the last 24-48 hours.

BROWN: Suzanne, thank you very much, Suzanne Malveaux at the White House tonight.

I want to talk about Liberia, how the White House has been approaching the problem with Princeton Lyman. Ambassador Lyman is the former ambassador to South Africa and Nigeria and he wrote an op-ed piece in "The Washington Post" a couple of days back about how to do Liberia right.

The ambassador joins us from Washington, nice to have you with us sir. Is it in our view enough for the United States to wait for the other West African nations to mobilize and to operate with a small force, essentially command and control force?

PRINCETON LYMAN, SR. FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: No, I don't think so. I don't think waiting for the West Africans to take the lead is the right thing to do.

The West Africans will not have the credibility. They've been there before. The United States has a special relationship in Liberia and a special credibility and we should have moved sooner.

We should have moved a lot sooner and made the decision and sent a signal that we're prepared to lead this force. With American leadership on the ground I think we could have stabilized the situation earlier and I still think we should send that message.

BROWN: I wonder if, sir, in the backs of the minds of the president and the White House and in the backs of the minds of many Americans there is a fear of another Mogadishu.

LYMAN: Well, I know that they kind of fear this and I understand that but Liberia is not Somalia. This is a country, you remember when the assessment team that President Bush sent in, it was just swamped with people cheering them, welcoming them.

We have a relationship in Liberia that we never had in Somalia and people wanted us to come in, so it is a different situation. That doesn't mean it won't be difficult, it doesn't have risks, but it's not Somalia.

BROWN: What do you think, sir, the danger is of not going in? I think we all can understand the danger of getting involved. You're talking about American lives at stake. What is the danger of not getting involved to American interests?

LYMAN: Well, I think there are several. First of all, if we don't intervene, if we don't take a strong position we are likely to see a terrible humanitarian disaster in Liberia and much of the world, certainly much of Africa but the rest of the world will see that the United States stood by and let this happen.

Second, we're thinking of going to the United Nations soon to ask for very substantial help from allies in Iraq but we have the British in Sierra Leone next door to Liberia, the French next door in Cote d'Avoire looking for the United States to cooperate and play the role in Liberia. It's hard to ask others to join us and our priorities and we just stand by and not do something here.

Finally, I think it has an impact on the president's recent trip to Africa. He made a lot of points there. He made a lot of strides in terms of demonstrating that Africa was important but if we duck this many people will feel that it was more words than reality.

BROWN: The president in situations where he has dispatched troops to foreign lands has tied it in one way or another to the war on terror. This really wouldn't be related to the war on terror, would it?

LYMAN: I think that's one of the difficult decisions for this administration. You're exactly right, Aaron. Almost all the deployment so far under this administration have been related to the war on terror or, more recently, the war in Iraq but there is an indirect relationship here which the president recognized on his trip.

And, that is that in this particular situation, and particularly in Liberia, the wars that were going on opened the door for al Qaeda to come in and exploit the diamonds that were being illegally exported to help finance their terrorist activities.

So, there is a relationship there but I also think there is a special responsibility here in which the world is looking to the United States, and we're not talking about a lot of troops. We could lead this peacekeeping effort with 1,500 to 2,000 troops, supplemented by the West Africans, but we should be in the lead.

BROWN: Quickly, do you think that at some level a decision has been made and they're waiting for the right moment or that there really is an internal debate going on about whether to dispatch troops or not?

LYMAN: What I'm concerned about, Aaron, is that I think there is a tendency to want the West Africans in the lead and the United States to play a logistic and command control role and what worries me about that is that on the ground in Liberia seeing American troops there will have a dramatic effect. Seeing Nigerians or Senegalese or Ghanaians will not. Some of those countries have been involved in Liberia in the past. They don't have the same credibility and it could lead to more instability.

The point that I wrote about in "The Washington Post" was we've seen what happens when we do this insufficiently when you send in a force that's inadequate. We saw that in Rwanda. We saw it in the Congo. We saw it in Sierra Leone, and then we have to come in with more when we see a humanitarian disaster looming. The point is let's get in enough sufficient force well led to do it right now.

BROWN: I almost called you professor, ambassador thank you for joining us, Ambassador Lyman we appreciate your insight tonight. Thank you very much.

LYMAN: Thank you, Aaron.

BROWN: Thank you, sir.

To Iraq next and something a Congressman said this week that we saw on the pages of "Time" magazine. It's hard for the American public to measure progress. In the war, we knew we were 50 miles from Baghdad, 25 miles, but this, speaking of these days is very different. If progress is hard to gauge, as the Congressman says, the danger is not.

The metric that's easy to grasp for Americans is the death toll, which has gotten higher by three in the last 24 hours, two U.S. soldiers killed in an ambush in northern Iraq, another killed today in an ambush in northeast Baghdad.

Nic Robertson filed this report from the scene of that latest ambush not long after it happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Inch by inch the aftermath of the latest guerilla-style attack on U.S. forces is cleared off the scorched tarmac, the carcass of a Humvee lifted towards a waiting truck.

LT. COL. JOHN KEN, U.S. ARMY: There was two people killed and three injured, the injuries, one American soldier was killed and one Iraqi was killed.

ROBERTSON: Thirty dollars the cost of renting the truck to get rid of the wreckage from this Baghdad highway.

(on camera): Although the precise details of this attack are not yet clear, it appears to have been very similar to previous attacks, a remote-controlled explosive device set off by people waiting for the U.S. troops to pass by.

(voice-over): Security still tight, no attackers spotted when the troops arrived but praise for Iraqis who witnessed the explosion.

KEN: They immediately went to the vehicle and they cut out - the seat belts were stuck and they cut two soldiers out from the seat belts and with the subsequent fire they may have saved their lives.

ROBERTSON: Fearful of retribution by the attackers, the father and son declined to describe on camera how they saved U.S. lives. Even Iraqi police who rushed to help now distance themselves.

LT. SHAKER ABID AL AMEER, IRAQI POLICE (through translator): I have nothing to do with the American forces. My interest is my countrymen. I am here to protect them from the Americans and Israelis.

ROBERTSON: The recovery complete, troops pull out and looters move in, scavenging the charred remains of the Humvee.

"This is a new line of business" he says. "We need something good for Iraq for our future. We need the killings and explosions to be over and done," slim pickings for these entrepreneurs of misfortune.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: I asked the young translator who was working with the U.S. recovery troops there was he worried going out on patrol with them? He said he wasn't. It was a job that he wanted to do. He told me he was at the university in Baghdad. I said how many of your class colleagues support what you're doing, support the U.S. troops here? He said about 50 percent - Aaron.

BROWN: Nic, there's also this effort today to begin developing a militia of some sort to relieve the Americans from some of the most dangerous duty. How is that going?

ROBERTSON: It's really at the very early stages. The idea is that the militia force would be made up reflecting the ethnic and religious makeup of the different towns and areas around the country where they would be used. They would initially go in with the troops, U.S. troops, in raids, on patrols.

They would be a sort of buffer. They would be the translators and eventually allow the U.S. troops to withdraw into the background to a degree. What a lot of Iraqis here say that they want, they don't particularly want to see the U.S. troops on the streets. They do want security.

They'd rather have Iraqis providing it. They think the Iraqis understand them better and, therefore, that should lead, the analysis is, to a lowering in tensions throughout the country and maybe a reduction in these attacks, and certainly less troops put at risk - Aaron.

BROWN: Nic, thank you, Nic Robertson in Baghdad tonight.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has made no secret of his desire to remake the U.S. military putting fewer boots on the ground, deploying more high tech weaponry but with U.S. troops stretched across Iraq, many still in Afghanistan and more than 100 other countries, some say the military doesn't just need to get smarter, it does need to get bigger. The Pentagon is resisting at least for now.

Here's our Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The fact the Army is now scrambling to find replacements to relieve exhausted soldiers in Iraq has some in Congress pressing the Pentagon to increase the size of the U.S. military.

SEN. JACK REED (D), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: We are dangerously stretched thin in the Army and other services also. Mr. Secretary, are you planning or prepared to increase the size of the Army to meet these commitments?

DDONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: If at some point it looks as though what you suggest might be the case turns out to be the case, clearly we will come to Congress and ask for an increase but at the moment we do not see that that's the case.

MCINTYRE: Rumsfeld insists the Army is plenty big enough. It's just that too many military people, 300,000 by one Pentagon estimate, are doing jobs that could be done by civilians. The other half of the problem, Rumsfeld says, is that too many combat critical jobs, everything from medical personnel to cooks and supply clerks, are in the Reserves.

On July 9th, Rumsfeld ordered a sweeping restructuring of the military so the U.S. can wage war without so much reliance on the Guard and Reserves. In a three-page memo obtained by CNN, Rumsfeld wrote: "I consider this a matter of the utmost urgency" and gave his military chiefs three weeks to respond. Currently, some 200,000 Reserve and Guard troops are on active duty, including 40,000 supporting operations in Iraq.

(on camera): After a decade of downsizing, the Pentagon is not anxious to do an about face. For one thing, adding troops to the U.S. military's end strength is a very expensive proposition. For another, it flies in the face of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's vision of a smaller military that leverages new technology and tactics to pack a bigger punch.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Ahead on NEWSNIGHT for this Monday, an arrest in the case of a missing Baylor basketball player.

Plus, the latest on the Kobe Bryant case as new details are revealed about the alleged victim, questions raised about whether her identity should be revealed.

And, later on, a remarkable story, the story of an unknown golfer who succeeded when all the superstars in the world failed, that and more as NEWSNIGHT continues from New York. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, we knew it would come to this, didn't we, the story of Kobe Bryant and the woman who has accused him of sexual assault has begun to focus on her, her past, her state of mind, her reputation, all of which is topic number one, both in her hometown of Eagle, Colorado, and on the Internet where it seems just about everything in her life is now up there for anyone to read, some of it true, some of it not. It's the Internet, who knows? She may not be as famous as the star athlete she is now connected with, at least not yet.

Once again, CNN's Rusty Dornin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN (voice-over): Up until now, it's pretty much been Kobe Bryant the celebrity, Kobe the NBA superstar. Did he or didn't he? He got a chance to make his defense in front of the cameras.

KOBE BRYANT, DEFENDANT: I didn't force her to do anything against her will.

DORNIN: The alleged victim hasn't taken the opportunity to plead her case in the public eye. The news media has chosen to keep her identity private but still all eyes in her own hometown of Eagle, Colorado and across the nation are focusing every tighter on her.

What kind of person is she? Would she lie? An intense microscope under which she must live her life.

MARK HURLBERT, EAGLE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: She's doing OK. She's a strong girl. She is holding up pretty well considering everything.

SHANNA SWEENEY, FRIEND: She's hurt. She's been violated. I probably couldn't put words to what she's going through.

DORNIN: And it's just the beginning. Before the alleged incident with Bryant, the Eagle Police were dispatched to the young woman's home twice in the last year. The local newspaper is asking the court to unseal those dispatches but one of those calls, according to a friend who spoke to the "Orange County Register" happened when the 19-year-old overdosed on pills.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN: Now, another close friend is corroborating that overdose story but she told us she doesn't believe that it was an attempt at suicide. Now, meantime, as we said the news media has chosen not to reveal her identity but, lo and behold, on the Internet two websites today with pictures purported to be the alleged victim.

However, we discovered they are not the victim in this case. They are, however, pictures of another young girl in this very small community. So, Aaron, you can see how quickly these things can spin completely out of control.

BROWN: We got a long way to go on this one. Rusty, thank you very much, Rusty Dornin in Eagle, Colorado.

There are legal questions here. There are media questions here, obviously, as well. The legal ones are going to take some time to sort out, facts being required at least to us, but the media questions are on the table now.

Everyone in Eagle, Colorado knows who the alleged victim is. They have for weeks. We don't use her name and won't but if I were a betting man, I'd wager that her name will be out there on TV soon if it isn't already. So will everything else about her life. What is fair and right here?

Geneva Overholser joins us from Washington. About a dozen years ago, as the editor of the "Des Moines Register" she made a controversial decision to write a piece where she argued that rape victims ought to be named and then a series on a rape victim who allowed herself to be named and ultimately won the Pulitzer Prize and we're glad to see her with us tonight.

GENEVA OVERHOLSER, MISSOURI SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM: Great to be here.

BROWN: A couple of kind of basic questions here. The story over the weekend, the "Orange County Register" story on the overdose, fair or not fair? Let's assume it's true for a second, fair or not fair?

OVERHOLSER: Well, it seems to me the first thing we ought to know is who this person is before we start rooting around in her background. She isn't a public figure. Now, she's made a charge and I think it is true in our criminal justice system that it would be best if that were an open fact, if she were named.

The question of rooting around in her background it seems to me unfair but I can't say that the "Orange County Register" did something that many another newspaper wouldn't do - Aaron.

BROWN: Well, let's do the name thing for a second and come back to some of the other issues. In Eagle, everyone knows her name. I mean all her friends know who she is. All her neighbors know who she is. You could make the argument that the only people who don't know are the rest of us who actually have very little, except for perhaps (unintelligible) interest in the case, who she is.

OVERHOLSER: Well, that's an important point because, as you know, editors for years and other news managers have said we're going to protect the identity of rape victims because of the cruel stigma that is attached to rape and to anyone who charges rape as if somehow she were at fault, as if somehow she were to blame.

But, when in fact the people in her own community who supposedly would be the ones that would hurt for her to have know do know, then I think that that removes that as a powerful argument. I really think, Aaron that it is a troubling thing and that it may be time for us to recognize that in this only case of adult victims of crime we don't name the accuser. And, it's a pretty horrendous crime. It's also a pretty horrendous crime to be charged with.

BROWN: Yes, it is. Back to the Orange County story and other stories that are, I'm sure, going to emerge about her and, again, let's just make an assumption all of these stories are true for a second, does it not - if she overdosed does it not tell us something about her stability?

OVERHOLSER: Well, I suppose so but I got to say this comes very uncomfortably close to me...

does it not tell us something about her stability?

OVERHOLSER: Well I suppose so.

But I've got to say, this comes very uncomfortably close to me to all of those old, well, you know, so and so used to wear short skirts or, in the case of Patricia Bowman and William Kennedy Smith, that remarkably appalling "New York Times" story where they talked about the color of her wallpaper and said she seemed like a girl who likes to have fun. We are talking about a rape case and it needs to be tried in the courtroom.

So, this stuff is going to happen. But whether or not we really think it's fundamentally fair for it to come out, I think is a separate question from whether or not we think that the person who does the charging ought to be openly named.

BROWN: All right, not to beat this into the ground, but you're back editing the newspaper again and your reporters come to you with this story on the overdose, do you run it or do you not run it?

OVERHOLSER: Well, I don't think I would have run it.

BROWN: OK.

OVERHOLSER: But, of course, I'm not at "The Orange County Register." I don't think I would have run the story on the overdose. But the truth is, I haven't looked into that as carefully as I should have, because I am not the editor there and Kobe Bryant isn't a player in my town.

BROWN: You have talked about this question of naming names of rape victims where people accuse people of rape for a long time now. Honestly, have you made, do you think, any significant progress in persuading people that it is the right thing to do for a variety of reasons? OVERHOLSER: Not much progress, but I have to say, when "The Register" did the piece -- I appreciate your mentioning -- and it was almost a dozen years ago, our real thought was that we were giving a woman who wanted to tell her story an opportunity to talk about a crime that is seriously underattended. We don't pay a whole lot of attention to rape.

And my argument at the time is that one reason we don't pay attention to rape is because we keep it in a dark closet. We say to rape victims: Go over there. Don't tell. It's a shameful thing. If you tell, people will assume you are somehow at fault.

And I just think that is wrong. I think it's time for women to stand up and say, we're going to be treated like other adult victims of crime and we're going to name names. And this is a crime that needs to come out in the open. One reason it didn't have as much success as I think it might have is that the Patricia Bowman case came shortly thereafter. And there was a lot of sort of forcing of rape victims out.

BROWN: Well, I expect this one and this issue will come back again. I hope you will, too.

OVERHOLSER: Thank you.

BROWN: It's nice to see you again.

Thank you, Geneva Overholser, from Washington tonight.

Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT: a late development in the case of missing Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy. There's been an arrest, though the mystery continues. We'll talk with a reporter covering that story.

We'll take a break first. Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: A major development in the case of the missing Baylor University basketball player Patrick Dennehy tonight. His friend, former teammate, Carlton Dotson has been arrested in the state of Maryland and is now charged with murder in the case. Mr. Dotson will appear before a judge tomorrow for an extradition hearing, a hearing that would send him back to Texas.

Dennehy has been not heard from in more than a month. There are still no details yet on whether a body has been found. We will try and get some details, however, on what has gone on in the last 24 hours or so.

Trish McGee is the associate editor of "The Kent County Times." That's the county where Mr. Dotson in Maryland turned himself in.

Trish, welcome.

What do you know of the circumstances of the arrest? TRISH MCGEE, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, "KENT COUNTY NEWS": Well, actually, Mr. Dotson apparently, about a quarter to 5:00 yesterday afternoon, on his cell phone, called our 911 center here in Kent County and said that he needed assistance. The police did not elaborate, but I was told it was mental health kind of assistance.

So a deputy sheriff and someone from -- an officer from the Chestertown Police Department responded. They took him to the local hospital, where he was evaluated. He spent the night in the hospital, my understanding is, in a room in the emergency room, where he had around-the-clock police accompaniment. At some point today, he contacted the FBI on his own. This afternoon, he left the hospital with the FBI, went to an undisclosed location. He continued in Chestertown.

The FBI conducted an interview. And my understanding is from whatever information he gave them in the interview, he was then served with a warrant issued by the state of Texas. He has been charged with murder, intended death, which we believe translates in Maryland to first-degree murder.

BROWN: Is there -- let me run a couple of quick ones by you, OK?

MCGEE: Sure.

BROWN: Just if you know them, say so. If you don't, walk away from there.

MCGEE: OK.

BROWN: Any there indication he tried to do himself harm?

MCGEE: No. My understanding is that he had no injuries.

BROWN: Is there...

MCGEE: And I saw him tonight. And he looked fine. There were no bandages or anything on him.

BROWN: OK. Great. That helps a lot.

Is it your belief that he has in some way implicated himself or confessed?

MCGEE: He made no statements to that effect. And the police didn't say that. And, matter of fact, the warrant issued from Texas doesn't even mention Patrick Dennehy on that. So we are assuming that is who it is.

BROWN: And extradition hearing tomorrow?

MCGEE: Well, he has the right -- he's also going to be charged on a Maryland warrant as a fugitive from another state. He has been -- already been processed locally, taken to the court commissioner, and has now been taken to our local jail. I think he'll have a bail review tomorrow morning. That's the procedure locally anyhow. BROWN: Yes.

MCGEE: But no one said anything to that effect.

BROWN: Trish, nice job tonight, Trish McGee, the associate editor of "The Kent County Times," a weekly newspaper in Kent County, Maryland. Terrific job of reporting that.

Still to come on NEWSNIGHT: Nearly two years later, the report on what went wrong September 11 is due out. We will talk with Michael Isikoff, who has, not surprisingly, some of the details.

A break first. This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Later this week, the congressional committee that investigated the attacks on 9/11 will release its report. Without seeing the report, it's hard to know precisely what the headline will be. But here are some options: After almost two years, lawmakers finally explain what went wrong. Or another option that has been floated around: The Saudi government had definite ties to the terrorists.

The third is already out there at the top of a "Newsweek" magazine exclusive: slamming the FBI.

Here to talk about the story, senior investigative reporter for "Newsweek," Michael Isikoff, who reported the story and joins us from Washington.

Michael, nice to see you.

Will the report say it was a preventable tragedy, if only?

MICHAEL ISIKOFF, "NEWSWEEK": Sort of, actually.

The line always was, after 9/11, that there was no way the government could have seen this coming; there were no specific warnings or information that would have led them to piece together the plot. The more we learn, the more we've learned how much really was out there and available to U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies that might have, with a little extra work, with a little extra probing, might have allowed them to put the pieces together.

BROWN: How much of that -- you have a pretty fair eye on this sort of thing. How much of that is the exquisite precision of hindsight?

ISIKOFF: Sure. Look, 20/20 hindsight is always a factor here.

But some of what's going to be in this report, when you take a step back, is going to be pretty stunning to a lot of people. Start with the CIA, which had information about these two hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaq Alhamzi, who attend a terrorist summit, an al Qaeda in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in January 2000. It's monitored by the CIA. They know the terrorists are meeting.

The CIA then knows that these two of these individuals, al-Midhar and Alhamzi, have come into the United States. They don't share the information with other U.S. agencies, including the FBI. Then you get to San Diego. And this is going to be a major focus of the report, the FBI in San Diego. How much were they aggressively investigating a lot of leads that were out there? It turns out that these same two individuals ended up living for months with an FBI informant, somebody who was in regular touch with an FBI handler looking into -- looking for evidence of terrorism.

There were a lot of questions about the informant. He had prior contact with another hijacker, Hani Hanjour. And yet the case agent apparently didn't follow up and look into who his informant was fraternizing with, two strange Saudi students who had just arrived in the company. What were they doing here? It also turns out -- and this gets to the Saudi connection that you mentioned before -- that one of the individuals who facilitated their arrival in San Diego, helped them get housing, helped them get settled was a man, Omar al- Bayoumi, who the FBI had prior information about, was a Saudi government agent.

And, in fact, one of the rather striking details, I'm told, that's going to be in this report is, al-Bayoumi is somebody who not only may have been a Saudi agent, but the day in January 2000 when he first meets the hijackers, he first goes for a meeting at the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles, then goes directly to a restaurant, where he meets the hijackers and brings them to San Diego, raising a whole set of questions, whether -- if this guy was a Saudi agent, who was he reporting to? What was he telling them about these two men, al-Midhar and Alhamzi, who had come to the United States?

BROWN: I have got literally a half a minute. Do you think heads are going to roll on this one? Or will this be just sort of consumed and forgotten?

ISIKOFF: Hard to say.

I think that some people that have read the report say, if you put all together, it's a pretty damning indictment of the FBI, the CIA, the Pentagon, for not being more aggressive and wanting to attack al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. And there's probably going to be a lot of anger from families of 9/11 victims.

On the other hand, the 20/20 hindsight factor will be argued by some. I think that it is going to produce a lot of details and a lot of debate about where we go from here.

BROWN: Michael, terrific work. And we appreciate your time tonight. Thank you, Michael Isikoff, with "Newsweek" magazine.

ISIKOFF: Any time.

BROWN: And you can read the details in the magazine this week.

Another story related to Saudi Arabia, but the brutal leader in this story is neither Osama bin Laden, nor Saddam Hussein, kicks off the "World Roundup." Idi Amin, who is known for his eight-year reign of brutality of Uganda, is in a coma, it is said, in a hospital in Saudi Arabia. He's responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of his citizens, was finally driven from power and from the country in 1979, that long ago. He first went to Libya, finally Saudi Arabia, where he has lived quietly ever since.

In England, the best-selling author and former Conservative Party deputy chairman, Jeffrey Archer, was released from prison today. You saw him there scampering away. He'd served two of his four-year sentence for perjury. His rise and fall has long been a part of the splashy tabloids and whispered high-society cocktail conversations. I never get invited to those. Now he plans to pursue his former interests: politics and writing.

And, at the Tour de France today, a break for Lance Armstrong: Despite another crash, Mr. Armstrong, who described this race as the tour of too many problems, too many close calls and too many things, won the 15th stage, with a one-minute, seven-second lead over his German rival, who, following tour tradition, waited for Mr. Armstrong to get back on his bike before he continued the race. So there is sportsmanship in that.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT: the David of the golf world beats all of those Goliaths and makes history and a terrific story, too, at the British Open.

A break first. Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: All in all, it's been a pretty dispiriting summer so far, in terms of the news anyway: Iraq, Liberia, the mess with Kobe Bryant. Heaven knows, the economy is still struggling.

So, as we reach midsummer, a fairy tale is not such a bad idea, a story too good to be true, improbable to be true, but true nevertheless. Our fairy tale ended on a golf course in England that looked like a moonscape and stars a young man who has more in common with Cinderella than Tiger Woods.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): Ben Curtis came home today, incredibly, famous.

BEN CURTIS, BRITISH OPEN CHAMPION: My life changed forever now. It's been unbelievable. I know that, for the next year, I'll be the Open champion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trying to run it in. This could be good.

BROWN: It was that, before yesterday's victory in one of golf's four major tournaments, that 26-year-old Curtis was somebody even devoted fans of game had never heard of. He ranked 396th in the world. Today, he is more than $1 million richer and the holder of one of the oldest and most prestigious trophies in all of sports.

CURTIS: I'm thrilled to be the winner.

BROWN: In terms of upsets, this is off the charts.

ALAN SHIPNUCK, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED GOLF PLUS": It was phenomenal. This kid came out of nowhere. No one ever heard of him. He beat the best players in the world at the oldest tournament. It's a Cinderella story.

BROWN: Ben Curtis learned to play the game here, a public golf course in Ohio that had once been his grandfather's farm.

CURTIS: He was tough, but he was fun. He'd come off of the tractor and just say, hey, let me show you how to do this. He'd grab the putter and knock it in and say, this is how you do it, and walk away.

BROWN: That course toughened him, he said, made him appreciate that not all golfers are necessarily bred in exclusive, manicured environments, members of tony country clubs.

CURTIS: Public golf courses are great. I think they are awesome. I never think that they should be looked down upon. That's how I grew up. I think a lot of the great players have grown up that way.

SHIPNUCK: Links golf, the kind of course where Curtis won, there's a lot of quirky bounces and a lot of bad lies. And you get that on a public course. I think he was kind of ready for all the craziness that transpired last week, because he grew up on a public course, where funny things happen.

CURTIS STRANGE, ANNOUNCER: From this angle, it looks worse.

BROWN: When one player or one team wins because someone else fails, critics say they backed into the winner's circle. And you could argue that that was the case yesterday, when the Danish golfer, Thomas Bjorn, missed twice with shots out of sand bunker. And that is true.

But so is this: Curtis had to make a shot, this putt on 18, under more pressure than most athletes experience in a lifetime. He did. And he was a champion.

CURTIS: Everywhere I go, I'm going to be watched. And there is going to be cameras and -- but -- photographers there. And I'm going to -- I will look forward to it. It'll be fun. And I worked my whole life for this. And I am not going to let it bother me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: A fairy tale.

Morning papers after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(ROOSTER CROWING)

BROWN: The rooster is getting annoying, isn't it?

Okeydokey, time to check morning papers from around the country and around the world. We'll start with "The New York Times." Going to go really quickly tonight. I don't know why. I'm just in a mood to go really quickly.

"Measure to Ease Import of Drugs is Gaining in House: GOP Lending Support." Drug manufacturers -- by the way, who spent millions of dollars to kill this thing in Congress -- scramble to lobby against bill that may cost them millions. This would allow you to get cheaper drugs imported from Canada. And they are running a big radio campaign saying that, basically, if this happens, we will all die. I don't know.

Here's a picture you'll see. Wait. I need to put my glasses on for this. Here is a picture you will see in tomorrow morning's paper in a lot of parts across the country. That's Jessica Lynch. We haven't really seen much of Ms. Lynch. Tomorrow, we are going to see a lot of Ms. Lynch, Private Lynch. Here she is getting a series of medals, three I think she got, for her service in Iraq. And she arrives tomorrow in West Virginia. And we'll have that for you at 2:00. Is that what it said, 2:00 Eastern time? I think so.

"The Oregonian" -- back with the glasses. Here we go. This is a front-page story in the Portland "Oregonian." "Governor" -- in this case, it would be Washington's governor -- "Locke Says He Won't Run Again." That's Gary Locke. He will not seek a third term. Right on the border, Portland and Vancouver, Washington, right there on the border. So they have a large readership in Washington state. So they put that on the front page. We wish Governor Locke a lot of luck. We have known him a long time.

Liberia is on a lot of front pages, not all but most, which is, in some ways, kind of -- it's not surprising, but it does say something about how serious things are: "Mortars Rock Liberian Capital," front-page story, "Miami Herald."

"The Chicago Sun-Times" doesn't lead that way: "City Seeing Big Drop in Violent Crime This Year." That's good news. The big picture: the Lance Armstrong wreck in the Tour de France. It's a nice picture. And the weather tomorrow, by the way, if you are wondering: rapture. I assume that's good. I don't know. It doesn't necessarily sound good.

Forty seconds, huh? "Murder Indictment in New Hampshire Charges Dad Shot Kids." This is a truly horrible story that "The Herald" has been running for a while now. And they put it on the front page again today. And that picture comes from Liberia.

And that's pretty much a look at morning papers from around the country and around the world, but I slightly mistimed it, so we have about five more seconds. We'll see you tomorrow night, 10:00 Eastern time. Until then, good night for all of us at NEWSNIGHT.

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