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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Nine Iraqi Policemen Killed in Friendly Fire Incident; Israel's Threat to Expel Arafat Provokes Anger Among Palestinians

Aired September 12, 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.
If last night was a sad and difficult look back, today was a cold smack in the face of our current realities. Yesterday we mourned again the losses in lives and innocence caused by the attacks of 9/11. Today, we are reminded the losses go on.

It was a bloody day in a most difficult part of Iraq, a day when Americans lost lives and perhaps by accident, certainly not by design, the American effort lost ground a friendly fire incident that killed nearly a dozen Iraqis.

Throw in a now worsening situation in the Middle East and yet another maddening tape of a 9/11 hijacker and you have a Friday that seems to defy our best efforts to end a difficult week with hope.

We begin with the bloody day in Iraq. Nic Robertson is on that for us again tonight from Baghdad, Nic start us with a headline please.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, possibly the worst case of friendly fire since the war ended here, nine Iraqi policemen dead, one Jordanian soldier also killed in what appears to have been fire coming from U.S. troops and, as yet, no full explanation -- Aaron.

BROWN: Thank you, Nic. We'll get back to you at the top tonight.

A chilling new video emerges showing one of the 9/11 hijackers, Mike Boettcher's beat and he's at CNN Center in Atlanta, Mike a headline.

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, this week America remembered 9/11 but unfortunately al Qaeda wants us to think about it too. Coming up a new tape out there and it's not good.

BROWN: Mike, thank you.

On to the West Bank and the precarious fate of Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat, Matthew Chance with us from Ramallah, Matt a headline from you.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Aaron. And Israel's threat against Yasser Arafat has provoked more anger from Palestinians as we've been seeing. It's also provoked scorn from the international community as well. The United Nations, the Europeans, the Russians, the Arab League, as well as the United States calling on Israel not to carry through with its threat. We'll have all the details on that story, back to you.

BROWN: Matt, thank you.

And to California, finally, the predicament for Republicans for whom too many is not necessarily a good thing tonight, Candy Crowley in Los Angeles, Candy a headline.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, here they go again. California Republicans have two major candidates in the race for governor, one moderate and one conservative. They've had this kind of choice before and it has not ended happily. The question is whether this time around will be any different -- Aaron.

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

Also coming up tonight, a Friday edition of NEWSNIGHT, he was the man who sang about hard times and hard living and he knew from experience about both, Johnny Cash the man in black, an American musical legend is dead. We'll remember his work and his very full and rich life.

And, a pennant race in Chicago for both teams, yet Chicagoans can scarcely believe it either. We'll talk with a faithful White Sox fan, Dennis DeYoung, a former front man for (unintelligible), hey, rock stars get to like baseball too.

And that extra special bonus at the end, we don't even charge extra on your cable bill, our meandering journey through morning papers, meandering, all that and more in the hour ahead.

It's been a difficult week. This will not make it any easier. We begin tonight in Iraq where along with all the rest of the turmoil as usual. It can sometimes be hard to tell the good guys from the bad.

People are dying because of it, in this case, the very people the United States is counting on to keep the peace, of all the mistakes in all the places and of all the times to make it.

Here again, CNN's Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Writhing in pain an Iraqi policeman, injured in an overnight shooting involving U.S. and Jordanian forces and the Iraqi police, receives treatment in a Fallujah hospital, one of nine injured survivors in an apparent friendly fire incident that killed nine Iraqi police and one Jordanian officer; outside the nearby Jordanian military hospital where the firefight took place distraught family members.

"These shells are for a light weapon" he says. "The Iraqis don't have such ammunition, only the Americans."

According to the U.S. forces the shooting was defensive after they were attacked with a rocket-propelled grenade resulting in one U.S. casualty and the injury of five of what the U.S. describes as neutral individuals.

(on camera): Much about this incident remains unclear. All that's left here, a few spent shell casings but in this area where tensions between U.S. troops and Iraqi people have been running high for some time, this latest attack will likely antagonize an already delicate situation.

(voice-over): Meanwhile, on the other side of Fallujah, another attack on U.S. troops. In the ensuing gun battle, a young child shot in the head adding to the tension and anger here.

Not far away in the town of Ramadi, the aftermath of an overnight U.S. raid that apparently went wrong, two U.S. soldiers killed and seven injured. A bloody 24 hours even for this section of west central Iraq where security experts warn U.S. forces are at the most risk of attack.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: We've also heard a lot recently about foreign fighters coming into Iraq. Those security experts believe some of them are beginning to congregate in this particular area -- Aaron.

BROWN: And is this the area that we've commonly come to know as the Sunni Triangle?

ROBERTSON: This is an element of the Sunni Triangle. The Sunni Triangle stretches north of Baghdad but this particular area, the west side of Baghdad, the Abu Ghurayb jail, Fallujah, Ramadi is emerging as one of the real hot spots -- Aaron.

BROWN: And, Nic, one more. How does news like this make its way to the Iraqi people?

ROBERTSON: In a very, very immediate way. When we were outside the Jordanian field hospital trying to find out exactly what happened overnight last night, news broke of that other event on the other side of Fallujah. It was happening as we were standing there but we were being told about it almost in real time. Word spreads very, very quickly by word of mouth, quite surprising in fact, indeed we commented on it today.

BROWN: Nic, thank you very much, Nic Robertson in Baghdad again.

With public doubts about the mission in Iraq growing, at least according to the polls and that was before today's bloodshed, President Bush spent the day with members of the Army's 3rd Infantry.

Here's our Senior White House Correspondent John King.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fort Stewart, Georgia, a thank you to the division that led the charge on Baghdad and the president's most forceful call yet for other nations to send troops to help stabilize post-war Iraq.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No free nation can be neutral in the fight between civilization and chaos.

KING: Mr. Bush cast the Iraq War as critical to the global war on terrorism and to stability in the Middle East.

BUSH: Because of our military, catastrophic weapons will no longer be in the hands of a reckless dictator.

KING: But no weapons of mass destruction have yet been found in Iraq. And, with the rising U.S. death toll and frequent scenes of chaos comes growing skepticism. Fifty-two percent of Americans now say the mission in Iraq is going badly. Only 13 percent felt that way four months ago. Back then, Mr. Bush stood on a carrier deck and said mission accomplished, now a much more sober assessment.

BUSH: This undertaking is difficult and it is costly yet it is worthy of our country and it is critical to our security.

KING: More than 16,000 members of the 3rd Infantry Division went to war and its casualties were the highest of any U.S. unit in Iraq, including 40 killed. Many of those who made it home back the president's assertion that things in Iraq are not as bad as they might look.

LT. COL. ERIC SCHWARTZ, U.S. ARMY: From the time we entered Baghdad to the time that we left Fallujah, you saw every day life getting better in Iraq.

KING: Mr. Bush met privately with families of 11 soldiers killed in Iraq and, despite his call for more international help, this visit served as a reminder that U.S. troops will carry the overwhelming burden.

(on camera): At best the administration is hoping for perhaps 15,000 more international troops and its new budget request envisions as many as 110,000 American forces still in Iraq a year from now.

John King CNN, Fort Stewart, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Another video from al Qaeda aired today on Arab Television Network, this one an echo of 9/11, a hijacker's last will is what it's being called. In truth, it seems to us the tape lives in that world somewhere between real and important news and watching a train wreck.

The news part is not the tape itself but the reasons it was made and the purpose of its release but, like the train wreck, it is impossible not to look at the young killer preparing to murder and preparing to die.

Here's CNN's Mike Boettcher.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOETTCHER (voice-over): In this highly produced video from al Qaeda obtained by and broadcast on the Al-Jazeera network, hijacker Saeed Alghamdi is shown firing various weapons while training in Afghanistan and boasting that America will not live in peace.

SAEED ALGHAMDI, 9/11 HIJACKER (through translator): Either do what I say or just wait and the violence will hit you.

BOETTCHER: Al Qaeda calls this a last will and testament, this one apparently recorded in December, 2000. Saeed Alghamdi was one of the hijackers aboard United Flight 93 that crashed into a Pennsylvania field. It's the second video from al Qaeda this week, the first showing Osama bin Laden and his number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri promised attacks against the U.S. that will eclipse the assaults on New York and Washington.

MAGNUS RANSTORP, PROFESSOR, ST. ANDREWS UNIVERSITY: They are part of al Qaeda's largest psychological warfare, recruitment for conflicts like Iraq for jihadists to join in the ranks to show that they are still a force to be reckoned with and I think that this is going to continue for some time.

BOETTCHER: Professor Magnus Ranstorp says the tapes are signs of defiance towards the West, while it marks the anniversary of 9/11 but, he says, intelligence analysts will be looking at the pictures to see if they contain hidden codes or operational orders. He points to this one superimposed behind Alghamdi where he's holding an RPG, a rocket- propelled grenade.

RANSTORP: Showing a MANPAD an RPG with an airline may activate certain cells out there that now is the time to undertake these types of operations.

BOETTCHER: A coincidence perhaps that the State Department has just reissued a warning about the danger to civilian aircraft from shoulder-mounted missiles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOETTCHER: The bottom line Aaron according to our sources the next few weeks are going to be very, very dangerous.

BROWN: The tape was made again in what year?

BOETTCHER: It was made in December of 2000.

BROWN: And is it reasonable to think that three years ago, almost three years ago now that al Qaeda could have planned an operation that would be triggered by the release of this tape right now? BOETTCHER: No, no. What happened was these last will and testaments were made and they were taped then. Now, somewhere in Pakistan from this production company in Pakistan where this was released from, called Ala Saba (ph), they pre-produced this spot and sent it out recently. Behind Alghamdi speaking were superimposed images of airplanes and that so even though the statement was made a long time ago the production was made recently.

BROWN: Got it, thank you. Maybe it's I'm slow tonight. Mike, thank you very much.

BOETTCHER: No, no, no, you're usually very fast.

BROWN: Mike Boettcher, usually, Mike Boettcher in Atlanta tonight.

To Israel now and the question of Yasser Arafat, if by threatening to expel him from the area the Israeli government wanted to marginalize Chairman Arafat the time to seek plan B, Yasser who, is once again Mr. Television and the Israeli government is taking heat from all quarters, including its own country.

A prominent Israeli paper today said expelling Arafat would be a mistake. The right decision would be to kill him, so go events in the Middle East tonight, reporting for us CNN's Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (voice-over): Yasser Arafat emerged from his battered compound to shouts of Palestinian support. Amid the deep concern at what Israel might do to their leader there's talk of a public vigil around these offices to deter any possible military strike and warnings of unprecedented chaos if President Arafat, symbol of Palestinian independence for so many, is even touched.

SAEB ERAKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: I believe it will be an execution order for the peace process, an execution order for the road map, an execution order for the attempts to revive the peace process and put it back on track. I think we will witness as a result if this decision is carried out the total destruction of the Palestinian (unintelligible) and moderation in the Middle East and the rise of extremism.

CHANCE: There have been wide protests elsewhere too. After prayers at the Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, Palestinian demonstrators clashed with Israeli police but Israel says it has set no time to carry out its threat. Even the prospect of action is provoking large scale unrest.

SHAUL MOFAZ, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: The Israeli security cabinet has decided to expel Arafat at the time they see fit since Israel has realized that Arafat is the main obstacle to the peace process and the road map.

CHANCE: Israel may not like it but among his own people Yasser Arafat remains defiant and popular. Efforts continue to form a new Palestinian government with a new prime minister to lead it but this Israeli threat seems to have thrust Yasser Arafat to the center of attention once again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Well, the negative around the world for the Israeli threat that they'd expel Yasser Arafat may have bolstered the Palestinian president but it's also undermined the Palestinian prime minister designate Ahmed Qorei.

Any hope that he would be able to effectively challenge a leader who for so many, more than ever, so many Palestinians more than ever he's seen as a martyr for the Palestinian cause appear increasingly distant -- Aaron.

BROWN: Is it possible, Matt, to gauge the Israeli seriousness here that either, a) they actually intend to do something; or b) this is psychological warfare of a high order?

CHANCE: Difficult to say I think from this position but, clearly, this is an issue what to do with Yasser Arafat that is being very seriously discussed, not just in Israeli society in general but at the highest levels of Israeli government.

They've come out with this statement as a result of a cabinet meeting, so clearly, this is something we have to take seriously. Whether it was just a tactic to put additional pressure on the Palestinian leadership to sort of undertake the reforms that the Israelis want to see undertaken on the part of the Palestinian Authority it's just anyone's guess.

It's certainly, though, been a bit of a public relations, diplomatic shot in the foot for the Israelis, a lot of international criticism coming towards them as a result of this though.

BROWN: Matt, thank you very much, Matthew Chance tonight.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, "Why America Slept," a new book about how we missed warning signs of September 11, the possible Saudi and Pakistani connections as well.

And later, we'll finally lighten things up with a look at good news for Chicago baseball fans, a real pennant race for both the White Sox and the Cubs.

This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Investigative reporter and historian Gerald Posner has made a pretty good career out of debunking conspiracy theories. You'll find in his books on the Kennedy and King assassinations no gunmen on the grassy knolls or CIA hit teams on the prowl.

His new book on 9/11, however, is a different story. In addition to providing one of the more comprehensive accounts of the intelligence failures leading up to the attacks it contains enough strange connections and chilling details to keep even a hard-boiled debunker up at night.

The book is called "Why America Slept" the failure to prevent 9/11. We're pleased to have Mr. Posner with us tonight, nice to see you.

GERALD POSNER, JOURNALIST: Great to see you.

BROWN: Without, you know, we have about four and a half minutes here, there's an awful lot to cover. Was it in the inability to get bin Laden prior to 9/11, was it a failure to appreciate the dangers that he presented or was it a failure of will in some respects to act on what we knew as a country?

POSNER: I think it was the second one. It was a failure to appreciate the dangers presented by fundamental Islamic movement and this jihad against the West. That tied in then to the third factor. That didn't give us the will to fight it because we didn't appreciate the danger, bin Laden actually being in some ways the least important factor.

If bin Laden had disappeared, if we had taken care of him in '96, he'd be going on trial and was locked up somewhere, somebody else, whether Zawahiri or somebody else would have replaced him. He was key in bringing the money but they already had the training camps well established by the mid-'90s. I think 9/11 could have happened without bin Laden.

BROWN: So, in that sense we have -- we, all of us I think have created someone who is larger, more important in our vision of him than, in fact, he is?

POSNER: Yes, in some ways and more important to the fundamentalists because eventually when we do get him it will be a great psychological blow but that doesn't mean al Qaeda will disappear. They will continue as a movement. The jihad will continue. The removal of bin Laden will hurt them but will not stop them.

BROWN: A lot of the book has created buzz. I think it's the last chapter, I suppose, that's created the most, the notion that there were people within governments of both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan who knew.

POSNER: It's based upon the word of an al Qaeda operative, one of their leading terrorists, the number three person really, Abu Zubaydah who we caught in March of 2002. He names three Saudi princes and he names the head of the Pakistan Air Force.

Now here are the questions that I can't resolve from this book. Assume that everything Zubaydah tells interrogators is right, OK. If it's right that these were really his contacts, were these individuals acting because they had some sympathies for fundamental Islam and they wanted to help him or were they acting on behalf of the government? I can't answer that. Just because one happens to be the nephew of the king doesn't necessarily mean the Saudi government was involved. If somebody was using Roger Clinton or Billy Carter years ago it certainly wouldn't have meant that Carter or Clinton were involved so you can't say.

BROWN: Go backwards. In what sense would it be in the interest of the Saudi government to participate in some way, shape, or form in the attack of September 11?

POSNER: Absolutely none, none whatsoever if there was help to al Qaeda which I believe did exist in terms of money flowing through Islamic charities. It was not to create an attack on America but instead to make sure that jihad did not take place in the kingdom and that they did jihad somewhere else. Keep it away from the kingdom but they never intended to strike Washington in that way.

BROWN: When we come back, we'll come back quickly to these contacts but on this question of the deal, basically you argue that a deal was made between the government of Saudi Arabia and bin Laden. Leave us alone. We'll leave you alone.

POSNER: Not only that we'll leave you alone, it's almost like professional wrestling. It goes a step beyond that. We will with a wink and a nod ask for your extradition which they did continuously.

But, of course in 1996 when the Clinton administration offered them a possibility of getting bin Laden because we might intercept his flight going to Pakistan, they said no, not today, sorry very much. This must be Tuesday. We don't want him. So, they had an opportunity to take him and they didn't.

BROWN: Now, back to our Saudis and our Pakistani, what makes all of this sort of tantalizing beyond the mere fact of it is what happened to these four people.

POSNER: Yes. They all ended up dying either of a heart attack at the age of 43. The next day one died in a car accident on his own with no other car involved. A few days later the 25-year-old prince died of thirst in the Saudi desert, dehydration, and the Pakistani air marshal, head of the air force, died in his own military plane, clear weather, and recently inspected. It went down and is still being investigated.

But here's the key, Zubaydah, the terrorist who gave these names has recanted. He has told investigators it's not true. I made these names up. I pulled them out of a hat. I had their telephone numbers.

It is technically possible that it's a coincidence that he gave these names to American investigators and after we told the Saudis these people all died of unnatural causes from the ages of 25 to 43 but, even a person who believes that Oswald killed Kennedy, it stretches my credulity to think it's just coincidence.

BROWN: The book is a fascinating read. Just the interrogation portion, the Zubaydah interrogation is a great read on its own. It's nice to meet you. Good luck.

POSNER: Thank you very kindly.

BROWN: Thanks. Hope you'll come back.

A few more items quickly here before we go to break, starting at the U.N., the Security Council voting today to formally lift the sanctions on Libya. They've been in effect for 11 years after the bombing of Pam Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland.

Libya's government, you'll recall, recently accepted responsibility, agreed to pay nearly $3 billion to the victims' families. At the vote today, both France and the United States abstained.

Pope John Paul celebrated mass in Slovakia today, looked better than usual doing it all things considered. He made it through the two and a half hour ceremony without difficulty. When asked whether this would be the pope's final trip, a Vatican official said how can you say the last with John Paul II?

And, remember the domino theory was something to fear in Asia? Today in China's Hunan Province, a try at the world record for human dominoes feel and, in Beijing, we expect Chairman Mao is spinning in his tomb.

Still to come on NEWSNIGHT the spoiler, could the conservative Republican candidate help the Democrats in the California Recall, Candy Crowley joins us.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Mathematicians will tell you that one plus one equals two, so will school children, but they don't know the tortured political calculus going on in California these days. For the Republicans, their one plus one could equal a big fat zero come Election Day.

Here's CNN's Candy Crowley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CROWLEY (voice-over): You can't beat somebody with nobody and it's even harder to beat somebody with everybody, which brings us to California's Republican Party.

BILL SIMON, FORMER GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: When I got out I said there were too many Republicans in the race and I still believe that's the case.

CROWLEY: Specifically, there's one too many. Do the math. An "L.A. Times" poll finds Democrat Bustamante leading at 30 percent, moderate Republican Schwarzenegger at 25 percent, conservative Republican McClintock 18 percent. Looking for a clean shot, team Schwarzenegger wants McClintock out. Well that's not something you say in polite or even political company.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: He needs to come up with a decision. I'm not going to force him. I'm not going to tell him what to do.

CROWLEY: Liberal on abortion and gay rights, Schwarzenegger thinks McClintock, an anti-abortion conservative, can't win in a state which votes center to left. No sale at Camp McClintock.

TOM MCCLINTOCK, REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: If Schwarzenegger's campaign would spend a fraction of their time talking about the future of California that they have spent trying to muscle me out of the race they'd be in much better shape right now.

CROWLEY: Up six points in a month, McClintock is enjoying a limelight that rarely shines on California conservatives.

MCCLINTOCK: Can we do that in a debate before the convention Saturday? We're both going to be there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

CROWLEY: California Republicans have passed this way before.

RICHARD RIORDAN, FORMER LOS ANGELES MAYOR: We care about the poor. We care about strong fiscal policies. We care about quality education and let's put off on the side the ideological things like pro choice and gay rights and things like that.

CROWLEY: Schwarzenegger's supporter Richard Riordan is a moderate Republican who supports things like that. Long story short in 2002 polls indicated Riordan could beat Governor Gray Davis but the conservative dominated Republican Party nominated Bill Simon instead. Simon lost to Davis. Now two years later Simon, an anti-abortion conservative, will support whoever has the best economic ideas.

BILL SIMON (R), FORMER CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: And so if a candidate, let's just say hypothetically, agreed with me on all those issues and was viable, I might be a little more flexible on some other issues, especially if I didn't think that was a priority for them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CROWLEY: There is a Republican convention here in California this weekend. They hope to keep the focus on Gray Davis. And just in case anyone should be tempted to start a fight, there will be absolutely no straw polls taken -- Aaron.

BROWN: So, if they're going to force McClintock out, how are they going to do that, given that he's the one moving up and Mr. Schwarzenegger seems to be the one kind of lying flat?

CROWLEY: I think that the flat answer here is, they can't force him out. He has said repeatedly: I'm not getting out. Having said that, he has, as many people have pointed out, up until the day before the election, to say: OK, I'm out of this. A lot of people think that what McClintock wants is a debate with Schwarzenegger, a clear airing of views, and that he would be open to stepping out. But he says no. I mean, he says flatly: I am in this until the end.

So, if they are going to force him out, it's going to take a lot of -- a tender and delicate diplomatic touch. But so far, he's not budging.

BROWN: Candy, thank you.

I'm making no predictions here, but, just, I would like a dollar for every candidate who said "I'm not dropping out" on this program in this race and isn't there now. Thank you very much.

A few stories from around the country tonight, beginning with the initial findings of a task force looking into last month's massive blackout. The panel at this point has no precise cause. But it has found, so far, that a combination of power plant shutdowns, line failures and voltage problems were building from between noon and 4:13 Eastern time. But the report said investigators may well have to go back before that, even, to figure out exactly what happened where and why.

Two planes left for Antarctica today to prepare for the possible evacuation of a worker at the South Pole, the worker employed by Raytheon Polar Services and is seriously ill. The pilots will wait on Chile's southern tip for the best weather conditions they can get before continuing on to the South Pole. The decision on whether to attempt a rescue is expected sometime this weekend.

And a warning from the State Department today: Stay out of Isabel's way. They warned Americans not to travel to the Bahamas because of the threat of the Category 5 hurricane, offered flights home to U.S. diplomats and their families. Forecasters say it is still too early to tell if and where this enormous storm will strike the United States.

Still ahead tonight on NEWSNIGHT: the death of actor John Ritter.

Up next as well: the man in black, Johnny Cash, who died today.

We'll take a break first. This is NEWSNIGHT from CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: On the cover of Johnny Cash's latest and now last album, he occupies only a small corner of the frame, the rest filled by darkness. You'll find it not in the oldies or nostalgia or whichever part of the store washed-up singers go to fade away, because, right to the very last, Johnny Cash's music was front and center and relevant and loved.

He died today. His voice sticks with us still. Here's CNN's David Mattingly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By any recording standard, Johnny Cash was a giant, 1,500 singles, 500 albums, 14 No. 1 hits and 11 Grammys. Born to a poor Arkansas family in the middle of the Depression, hard times resonated throughout his music.

JOHNNY CASH, SINGER: I wouldn't let anybody influence me into thinking I was doing the wrong thing by singing about death, hell and drugs.

(singing): You are someone else. I am still right here.

MATTINGLY: Though appearing frail and in poor health in recent years, Cash never stopped working, finding a new, younger audience with critically acclaimed recordings, including this one that won an MTV Music Award. The longtime fans still love the old stuff.

CASH (singing): And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when.

MATTINGLY: The haunting "Folsom Prison Blues" and the outspoken "Man in Black" are just two examples of Cash's deep empathy for the down and out.

KYLE YOUNG, COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM: He felt he had a responsibility to lend his voice to others who needed to be heard.

MATTINGLY (on camera): He sang simple songs, simple arrangements with no-doubt-about-it honesty. That made Cash an icon. His popularity transcended genres, landing him in both the Country and Rock 'n Roll Halls of Fame.

COWBOY JACK CLEMENT, FRIEND OF CASH: It's kind of hard to describe or define. But it's just the Johnny Cash thing. People go for it.

MATTINGLY: Saddened fans of all ages leave notes and flowers at the gates of Cash's suburban Nashville home, many surprised by the news of his passing of respiratory failure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't think it would be like this. I thought he would fight a little bit longer. But, obviously, it just -- it caught up with him. I'm just very upset right now.

MATTINGLY: Johnny Cash's death at the age of 71 comes just months after the death of his wife and longtime co-performer, June Carter Cash.

JUNE CARTER, SINGER (singing): Ring of fire.

MATTINGLY: To cope with the loss, the man in black threw himself into his work, leaving behind, according to friends, uncounted recordings.

David Mattingly, CNN, Nashville, Tennessee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Another death to report tonight, someone as light as affable as Johnny Cash was dark and brooding.

John Ritter could do serious dramatic parts and do them quite well. But he'll surely be remembered as the his part of the hers, hers and his on "Three's Company," falling off that bicycle and getting the laugh. He died last night from a tear in his aorta. He would have been 55 next week.

Here's CNN's Frank Buckley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was a familiar face on television, an approachable family man off camera.

JOHN RITTER, ACTOR: You know what? I think I'm going to do some rope tricks and maybe juggle.

BUCKLEY: He did it all on the show that made him a household name, "Three's Company. " Jenilee Harrison was one of his co-stars on the show.

JENILEE HARRISON, ACTRESS: I think John Ritter is the modern-day Jerry Lewis, in that he was the best physical comedian that most of us had ever known.

BUCKLEY: Ritter had range as an actor. This was "Sling Blade."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SLING BLADE")

RITTER: Why are you here now?

BILLY BOB THORNTON, ACTOR: They turned me loose from the state hospital.

RITTER: Is that right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BUCKLEY: But it was comedy for which Ritter was best known, "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter," the show he was taping when he fell ill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "8 SIMPLE RULES FOR DATING MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER)

RITTER: Bridgey, Kerry bear, you forgot your lunches. You're welcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BUCKLEY: Actor and comedian George Lopez says Ritter was a genuine talent and a genuine person.

GEORGE LOPEZ, COMEDIAN: I loved John -- I loved his work, but I loved him more once I got to know him.

BUCKLEY: John Ritter was 54 years old. His birthday would have been next week.

Frank Buckley, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: As NEWSNIGHT continues, the seventh inning stretch, the segment seventh inning stretch, and a trip to the park in Chicago, where an amazing thing is happening.

This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: One delirious fan in Chicago put it this way to a reporter. "When the teams in New York are in the World Series, they call it the subway series. You know what they call it if both Chicago teams made it? A miracle."

The miracle hasn't happened yet, but the Cubs and the White Sox are in the first real pennant race, each team, for decades. And no matter what happens from here, the long-suffering baseball fans of Chicago, all of them can do something they haven't been able to do for ages. They can smile.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: With venison sausage on the barbecue, this White Sox fan was a bit shy about showing his face on camera. He was not shy about sharing his opinion of Cubs fans. This is, after all, Chicago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They don't have this at Wrigley, because Wrigley is all yuppie scums and they're going to eat sushi. And they're all vegetarians.

BROWN: That's the way it's been for most of this summer in Chicago. Both of the city's traditionally horrible baseball teams, the White Sox and the Cubs, are battling for first place. The rivalry between the fans, even the announcers, could hardly be more intense.

KEN HARRELSON, WHITE SOX BROADCASTER: I tell you, I'm pulling for the Cubs. I'm pulling for them for two reasons, first of all, for the city. I'm pulling for them, because I think they're going to get there. And then just to kick their butts big time in the World Series.

STEVE STONE, CUBS BROADCASTER: I think that Ken Harrelson has shown over the years that he is a very bad evaluator. And I don't think he can show the three stud pitchers we have at the top. BROWN: The personality of Chicago fans seems etched mostly by where their teams play, the Cubs at Wrigley Field, a small, historic, ivy-covered ballpark in the heart of Chicago's tonier north side. And the White Sox, well, they play at a brand new park, U.S. Cellular Field, pretty much off by itself in the grittier south side of the city. Overall, there is no question which team carries the city's heart.

JAY MARIOTTI, COLUMNIST, "CHICAGO SUN-TIMES": It's a Cubs town. And the White Sox just live in it. That's the way it is. That's reality. I don't think it's fair.

BROWN: Even though the mayor, Richard Daley, is a big-time White Sox fan, the city does seem to bleed Cubs blue and white.

MARIOTTI: You've got to understand Chicago. I think there are more people who grew up here and never leave here per capita than any city in America. So it's generational. Your Cubdom is generational. Your Soxdom is generational. And when you're out of the womb and that doctor is there with you, it's, Cubs or Sox? Whap.

BROWN: The Cubs haven't made it to the World Series since 1945. And you're now looking at the only White Sox team to ever win a World Series. That was 1917.

MARIOTTI: If both teams get to the World Series, the earth beneath us will start shaking.

BROWN: That's because fans of both teams are far more used to losing than winning.

HARVEY KIRKPATRICK, WHITE SOX FAN: Well, you get accustomed to it after a while. We never worry about anything. All we do is switch to the Bears in September, and then let them lose the first five or six games.

MICHAEL SLOAN, CUBS FAN: I'm from the north side. And I actually have been a fan for, I hate to admit it, over 50 years. And there's so much electricity in this city, it's not to be believed.

BROWN: It would be nice to think that fans of both teams would want the other to win. But sitting in the stands at Wrigley the other day, a White Sox fan who wanted nothing at all to do with being pleasant.

DON NILLES, WHITE SOX FAN: Because I really do support the White Sox and I'm here to see the Cubs lose.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Our next guest has a pretty unusual day job. He's a rock star, although not necessarily one your teenage child will recognize.

Dennis DeYoung is the former lead singer of Styx. And that fact had half our staff humming songs like "Come Sail Away" and "Lady" today. But when he's not a rock star, he's also a die-hard White Sox fan, a lifelong Chicagoan. And that's what matters to us tonight.

Nice to have you on the program.

DENNIS DEYOUNG, FORMER LEAD SINGER OF STYX: Thank you, Aaron.

I want to correct one thing you said. You said that Wrigley Field is in the tonier part of town?

BROWN: Yes.

DEYOUNG: That's ridiculous. All the Tonys I know are White Sox fans.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: But let's talk about the geography. It's not really just geography, that one is on the south side, one is on the north side. They're very different communities, the south side of Chicago and the north.

DEYOUNG: Well, historically, the divisions weren't quite as stark as they've become in the last 15 years.

The south side, for those people who don't know much about Chicago, is really the basic working-class, blue-collar side of town. I grew up on the far south side of the city near the Pullman Works. And there was a lot of industry with Gary, Indiana, in the South Works, the steel mills. So the Sox fans were really typified that kind of lunch-pail, tough-guy, beer-drinking kind of fan.

But really, what's happened with the Cubs, I think, really in the last 15 years, is that, because they went on the satellite early on, and then people all over America became acquainted with the Cubs and Wrigley Field, they sort of became America's team because of the satellite, where I remember a time in the '50s and the '60s, when I was a kid playing little league baseball, the Cubs had a terrible time.

They didn't always own this town. They had a terrible time drawing fans in the '50s and the '60s. And the White Sox really outdrew them. It's just been recently, since the whole cable thing, that the Cubs have become the darlings. And, of course, there are a lot of yuppies living around Wrigley Field.

BROWN: Cable gets blamed for everything. Those were the -- those White Sox teams in the '50s and '60s, that's Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio. And those were pretty good ball clubs.

DEYOUNG: Before I wanted to be a rock star, my first dream was to be Jim Landis to play center field for the White Sox.

And one of the biggest thrills for me is, because of me being a rock musician, I forged a friendship with Tony La Russa when he was the manager of the White Sox. And we've been friends for over 20 years. And I got to enjoy all sorts of perks knowing Tony, going to World Series and All-Star Games. But being a White Sox fan, it is -- in this town right now, it's very difficult, because, as you well know, I am in the "Tribune" studios doing this interview. And they're watching every word I say. There's two armed guards with guns trained on me right now, in case I say something about the Cubs. I wanted to let you know that.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: Well, because they own the Cubs, don't they?

When you walk down the streets in Chicago today, is this what people are talking about? Is everybody talking about baseball?

DEYOUNG: No.

Quite frankly, remember Aldo Rossi, the man who was no slave to fashion for Rossi wine years ago?

BROWN: Yes.

DEYOUNG: That's pretty much what Chicago is. Chicagoans are not slave to fashion.

And I think there is a hearty bit of skepticism about either the Cubs or the White Sox really making it all the way. I know we all want them to be -- I'd love to see a series where the White Sox and the Cubs played in the world series. The last time that happened, it was called the wagon train series.

But the truth of the matter is, I want to see the Cubs win it this year. When I was a younger man, I hated the Cubs. I was like a lot of these people I see you interview. Not anymore. I think, as you get older, you really want to see the city do well.

BROWN: Not to make this too serious, because it is, after all, sports, OK? What would it mean, do you think, to the city if in fact there was a Chicago World Series, Cubs and White Sox? Would it be a great and important and unifying moment, or it would be an interesting two weeks and we move on to football season?

DEYOUNG: Well, all I can tell you is, I was a lifelong Bears fan as well. And we suffered with the Bears for many years, and then they won. They had that magical season in '85 with the Super Bowl. It turned this town upside down.

And then we had the run with Michael Jordan and the Bulls. So we got used to having some championships. But, as far as baseball goes, I don't -- I think people would break out in hives here, because nobody -- there would be -- I would say, go get the calamine lotion because, please, the people would be -- they wouldn't know what to do.

BROWN: Well, if it weren't for the Twins and the Mariners, both of whom I love dearly, I would wish you nothing but good luck.

I'll just say thanks for joining us. Thanks a lot.

DEYOUNG: My pleasure.

BROWN: Much fun having you on the program.

DEYOUNG: Thanks.

BROWN: We'll check the morning papers. And one is probably from Chicago. Usually is.

Take a break first. this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(ROOSTER CROWING)

BROWN: And that's annoying.

Time to check morning papers from around the country.

The most interesting thing to me about the papers is how they played, how they dealt with the Johnny Cash death. It's front page in virtually every paper I've looked at. And some of them are fabulous. And this is as good as any. "Saint Louis Post-Dispatch." "Johnny Cash," a very simple headline. And you'll notice the black-and-white photo, OK? Now, all these papers have invested millions of bucks to be able to print color, but a very smart decision there. And then John Ritter becomes a kind of afterthought in the paper. I don't know how else to put it. That's just the way it goes.

"The New York Times" tomorrow, a lot of interesting things on the front page. Johnny Cash is a full-color picture down at the bottom. "Johnny Cash, Country Music Bedrock, Dead at 71." President Bush with the troops also on the front page. And their political story, "Democrats Find Some Traction on Capitol Hill." I haven't read it, but I will probably when I wake up tomorrow.

"Hartford Courant." This also a very cool picture of Johnny Cash ,if we can get got a good shot of that, in a recording studio, it looks like, also in black and white. The headline is "An American Legend." He certainly was that. And up on top, they deal with Iraq. "Friendly Fire Kills Eight Iraqi Police" is the "Hartford Courant" in Hartford, Connecticut.

How we doing on time, by the way? One minute.

"Schwarzenegger Ducks McClintock Challenge" the lead in "The San Francisco Chronicle" tomorrow. And the Johnny Cash story, "Man in Black Was Musical Giant." And they, too, chose a black-and-white photo also of Mr. Cash to play.

"The South Bend Tribune," South Bend, Indiana." Johnny Cash, full-color picture, "Ballad For the Man in Black, Country Legend Dead at 71." But their big story, look at this, "Battle of the Bands." Notre Dame plays Michigan tomorrow. Who has the better theme song, Notre Dame or Michigan? And it turns out, Notre Dame does. But then, of course, this is the South Bend, Indiana, newspaper. "The Richmond Times-Dispatch." Good to have this paper. This is a nice paper, too. "Goodbye to America's Man in Black." That's a kind of interesting shot of Mr. Cash, isn't it? Yes, I think so. And they also put Iraq on the front page. And John Ritter makes the front page, too.

Quickly, "The Sun-Times" in Chicago. "The Man in Black is Wearing White" is the headline. And a cool picture there, too. "Threatening," the weather in Chicago tomorrow.

We're all back on Monday, I guess, today being Friday. We'll all be back Monday, 10:00 Eastern time.

Until then, have a great weekend. And good night for all 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





Israel's Threat to Expel Arafat Provokes Anger Among Palestinians>


Aired September 12, 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.
If last night was a sad and difficult look back, today was a cold smack in the face of our current realities. Yesterday we mourned again the losses in lives and innocence caused by the attacks of 9/11. Today, we are reminded the losses go on.

It was a bloody day in a most difficult part of Iraq, a day when Americans lost lives and perhaps by accident, certainly not by design, the American effort lost ground a friendly fire incident that killed nearly a dozen Iraqis.

Throw in a now worsening situation in the Middle East and yet another maddening tape of a 9/11 hijacker and you have a Friday that seems to defy our best efforts to end a difficult week with hope.

We begin with the bloody day in Iraq. Nic Robertson is on that for us again tonight from Baghdad, Nic start us with a headline please.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, possibly the worst case of friendly fire since the war ended here, nine Iraqi policemen dead, one Jordanian soldier also killed in what appears to have been fire coming from U.S. troops and, as yet, no full explanation -- Aaron.

BROWN: Thank you, Nic. We'll get back to you at the top tonight.

A chilling new video emerges showing one of the 9/11 hijackers, Mike Boettcher's beat and he's at CNN Center in Atlanta, Mike a headline.

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, this week America remembered 9/11 but unfortunately al Qaeda wants us to think about it too. Coming up a new tape out there and it's not good.

BROWN: Mike, thank you.

On to the West Bank and the precarious fate of Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat, Matthew Chance with us from Ramallah, Matt a headline from you.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Aaron. And Israel's threat against Yasser Arafat has provoked more anger from Palestinians as we've been seeing. It's also provoked scorn from the international community as well. The United Nations, the Europeans, the Russians, the Arab League, as well as the United States calling on Israel not to carry through with its threat. We'll have all the details on that story, back to you.

BROWN: Matt, thank you.

And to California, finally, the predicament for Republicans for whom too many is not necessarily a good thing tonight, Candy Crowley in Los Angeles, Candy a headline.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, here they go again. California Republicans have two major candidates in the race for governor, one moderate and one conservative. They've had this kind of choice before and it has not ended happily. The question is whether this time around will be any different -- Aaron.

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

Also coming up tonight, a Friday edition of NEWSNIGHT, he was the man who sang about hard times and hard living and he knew from experience about both, Johnny Cash the man in black, an American musical legend is dead. We'll remember his work and his very full and rich life.

And, a pennant race in Chicago for both teams, yet Chicagoans can scarcely believe it either. We'll talk with a faithful White Sox fan, Dennis DeYoung, a former front man for (unintelligible), hey, rock stars get to like baseball too.

And that extra special bonus at the end, we don't even charge extra on your cable bill, our meandering journey through morning papers, meandering, all that and more in the hour ahead.

It's been a difficult week. This will not make it any easier. We begin tonight in Iraq where along with all the rest of the turmoil as usual. It can sometimes be hard to tell the good guys from the bad.

People are dying because of it, in this case, the very people the United States is counting on to keep the peace, of all the mistakes in all the places and of all the times to make it.

Here again, CNN's Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Writhing in pain an Iraqi policeman, injured in an overnight shooting involving U.S. and Jordanian forces and the Iraqi police, receives treatment in a Fallujah hospital, one of nine injured survivors in an apparent friendly fire incident that killed nine Iraqi police and one Jordanian officer; outside the nearby Jordanian military hospital where the firefight took place distraught family members.

"These shells are for a light weapon" he says. "The Iraqis don't have such ammunition, only the Americans."

According to the U.S. forces the shooting was defensive after they were attacked with a rocket-propelled grenade resulting in one U.S. casualty and the injury of five of what the U.S. describes as neutral individuals.

(on camera): Much about this incident remains unclear. All that's left here, a few spent shell casings but in this area where tensions between U.S. troops and Iraqi people have been running high for some time, this latest attack will likely antagonize an already delicate situation.

(voice-over): Meanwhile, on the other side of Fallujah, another attack on U.S. troops. In the ensuing gun battle, a young child shot in the head adding to the tension and anger here.

Not far away in the town of Ramadi, the aftermath of an overnight U.S. raid that apparently went wrong, two U.S. soldiers killed and seven injured. A bloody 24 hours even for this section of west central Iraq where security experts warn U.S. forces are at the most risk of attack.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: We've also heard a lot recently about foreign fighters coming into Iraq. Those security experts believe some of them are beginning to congregate in this particular area -- Aaron.

BROWN: And is this the area that we've commonly come to know as the Sunni Triangle?

ROBERTSON: This is an element of the Sunni Triangle. The Sunni Triangle stretches north of Baghdad but this particular area, the west side of Baghdad, the Abu Ghurayb jail, Fallujah, Ramadi is emerging as one of the real hot spots -- Aaron.

BROWN: And, Nic, one more. How does news like this make its way to the Iraqi people?

ROBERTSON: In a very, very immediate way. When we were outside the Jordanian field hospital trying to find out exactly what happened overnight last night, news broke of that other event on the other side of Fallujah. It was happening as we were standing there but we were being told about it almost in real time. Word spreads very, very quickly by word of mouth, quite surprising in fact, indeed we commented on it today.

BROWN: Nic, thank you very much, Nic Robertson in Baghdad again.

With public doubts about the mission in Iraq growing, at least according to the polls and that was before today's bloodshed, President Bush spent the day with members of the Army's 3rd Infantry.

Here's our Senior White House Correspondent John King.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fort Stewart, Georgia, a thank you to the division that led the charge on Baghdad and the president's most forceful call yet for other nations to send troops to help stabilize post-war Iraq.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No free nation can be neutral in the fight between civilization and chaos.

KING: Mr. Bush cast the Iraq War as critical to the global war on terrorism and to stability in the Middle East.

BUSH: Because of our military, catastrophic weapons will no longer be in the hands of a reckless dictator.

KING: But no weapons of mass destruction have yet been found in Iraq. And, with the rising U.S. death toll and frequent scenes of chaos comes growing skepticism. Fifty-two percent of Americans now say the mission in Iraq is going badly. Only 13 percent felt that way four months ago. Back then, Mr. Bush stood on a carrier deck and said mission accomplished, now a much more sober assessment.

BUSH: This undertaking is difficult and it is costly yet it is worthy of our country and it is critical to our security.

KING: More than 16,000 members of the 3rd Infantry Division went to war and its casualties were the highest of any U.S. unit in Iraq, including 40 killed. Many of those who made it home back the president's assertion that things in Iraq are not as bad as they might look.

LT. COL. ERIC SCHWARTZ, U.S. ARMY: From the time we entered Baghdad to the time that we left Fallujah, you saw every day life getting better in Iraq.

KING: Mr. Bush met privately with families of 11 soldiers killed in Iraq and, despite his call for more international help, this visit served as a reminder that U.S. troops will carry the overwhelming burden.

(on camera): At best the administration is hoping for perhaps 15,000 more international troops and its new budget request envisions as many as 110,000 American forces still in Iraq a year from now.

John King CNN, Fort Stewart, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Another video from al Qaeda aired today on Arab Television Network, this one an echo of 9/11, a hijacker's last will is what it's being called. In truth, it seems to us the tape lives in that world somewhere between real and important news and watching a train wreck.

The news part is not the tape itself but the reasons it was made and the purpose of its release but, like the train wreck, it is impossible not to look at the young killer preparing to murder and preparing to die.

Here's CNN's Mike Boettcher.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOETTCHER (voice-over): In this highly produced video from al Qaeda obtained by and broadcast on the Al-Jazeera network, hijacker Saeed Alghamdi is shown firing various weapons while training in Afghanistan and boasting that America will not live in peace.

SAEED ALGHAMDI, 9/11 HIJACKER (through translator): Either do what I say or just wait and the violence will hit you.

BOETTCHER: Al Qaeda calls this a last will and testament, this one apparently recorded in December, 2000. Saeed Alghamdi was one of the hijackers aboard United Flight 93 that crashed into a Pennsylvania field. It's the second video from al Qaeda this week, the first showing Osama bin Laden and his number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri promised attacks against the U.S. that will eclipse the assaults on New York and Washington.

MAGNUS RANSTORP, PROFESSOR, ST. ANDREWS UNIVERSITY: They are part of al Qaeda's largest psychological warfare, recruitment for conflicts like Iraq for jihadists to join in the ranks to show that they are still a force to be reckoned with and I think that this is going to continue for some time.

BOETTCHER: Professor Magnus Ranstorp says the tapes are signs of defiance towards the West, while it marks the anniversary of 9/11 but, he says, intelligence analysts will be looking at the pictures to see if they contain hidden codes or operational orders. He points to this one superimposed behind Alghamdi where he's holding an RPG, a rocket- propelled grenade.

RANSTORP: Showing a MANPAD an RPG with an airline may activate certain cells out there that now is the time to undertake these types of operations.

BOETTCHER: A coincidence perhaps that the State Department has just reissued a warning about the danger to civilian aircraft from shoulder-mounted missiles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOETTCHER: The bottom line Aaron according to our sources the next few weeks are going to be very, very dangerous.

BROWN: The tape was made again in what year?

BOETTCHER: It was made in December of 2000.

BROWN: And is it reasonable to think that three years ago, almost three years ago now that al Qaeda could have planned an operation that would be triggered by the release of this tape right now? BOETTCHER: No, no. What happened was these last will and testaments were made and they were taped then. Now, somewhere in Pakistan from this production company in Pakistan where this was released from, called Ala Saba (ph), they pre-produced this spot and sent it out recently. Behind Alghamdi speaking were superimposed images of airplanes and that so even though the statement was made a long time ago the production was made recently.

BROWN: Got it, thank you. Maybe it's I'm slow tonight. Mike, thank you very much.

BOETTCHER: No, no, no, you're usually very fast.

BROWN: Mike Boettcher, usually, Mike Boettcher in Atlanta tonight.

To Israel now and the question of Yasser Arafat, if by threatening to expel him from the area the Israeli government wanted to marginalize Chairman Arafat the time to seek plan B, Yasser who, is once again Mr. Television and the Israeli government is taking heat from all quarters, including its own country.

A prominent Israeli paper today said expelling Arafat would be a mistake. The right decision would be to kill him, so go events in the Middle East tonight, reporting for us CNN's Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (voice-over): Yasser Arafat emerged from his battered compound to shouts of Palestinian support. Amid the deep concern at what Israel might do to their leader there's talk of a public vigil around these offices to deter any possible military strike and warnings of unprecedented chaos if President Arafat, symbol of Palestinian independence for so many, is even touched.

SAEB ERAKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: I believe it will be an execution order for the peace process, an execution order for the road map, an execution order for the attempts to revive the peace process and put it back on track. I think we will witness as a result if this decision is carried out the total destruction of the Palestinian (unintelligible) and moderation in the Middle East and the rise of extremism.

CHANCE: There have been wide protests elsewhere too. After prayers at the Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, Palestinian demonstrators clashed with Israeli police but Israel says it has set no time to carry out its threat. Even the prospect of action is provoking large scale unrest.

SHAUL MOFAZ, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: The Israeli security cabinet has decided to expel Arafat at the time they see fit since Israel has realized that Arafat is the main obstacle to the peace process and the road map.

CHANCE: Israel may not like it but among his own people Yasser Arafat remains defiant and popular. Efforts continue to form a new Palestinian government with a new prime minister to lead it but this Israeli threat seems to have thrust Yasser Arafat to the center of attention once again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Well, the negative around the world for the Israeli threat that they'd expel Yasser Arafat may have bolstered the Palestinian president but it's also undermined the Palestinian prime minister designate Ahmed Qorei.

Any hope that he would be able to effectively challenge a leader who for so many, more than ever, so many Palestinians more than ever he's seen as a martyr for the Palestinian cause appear increasingly distant -- Aaron.

BROWN: Is it possible, Matt, to gauge the Israeli seriousness here that either, a) they actually intend to do something; or b) this is psychological warfare of a high order?

CHANCE: Difficult to say I think from this position but, clearly, this is an issue what to do with Yasser Arafat that is being very seriously discussed, not just in Israeli society in general but at the highest levels of Israeli government.

They've come out with this statement as a result of a cabinet meeting, so clearly, this is something we have to take seriously. Whether it was just a tactic to put additional pressure on the Palestinian leadership to sort of undertake the reforms that the Israelis want to see undertaken on the part of the Palestinian Authority it's just anyone's guess.

It's certainly, though, been a bit of a public relations, diplomatic shot in the foot for the Israelis, a lot of international criticism coming towards them as a result of this though.

BROWN: Matt, thank you very much, Matthew Chance tonight.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, "Why America Slept," a new book about how we missed warning signs of September 11, the possible Saudi and Pakistani connections as well.

And later, we'll finally lighten things up with a look at good news for Chicago baseball fans, a real pennant race for both the White Sox and the Cubs.

This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Investigative reporter and historian Gerald Posner has made a pretty good career out of debunking conspiracy theories. You'll find in his books on the Kennedy and King assassinations no gunmen on the grassy knolls or CIA hit teams on the prowl.

His new book on 9/11, however, is a different story. In addition to providing one of the more comprehensive accounts of the intelligence failures leading up to the attacks it contains enough strange connections and chilling details to keep even a hard-boiled debunker up at night.

The book is called "Why America Slept" the failure to prevent 9/11. We're pleased to have Mr. Posner with us tonight, nice to see you.

GERALD POSNER, JOURNALIST: Great to see you.

BROWN: Without, you know, we have about four and a half minutes here, there's an awful lot to cover. Was it in the inability to get bin Laden prior to 9/11, was it a failure to appreciate the dangers that he presented or was it a failure of will in some respects to act on what we knew as a country?

POSNER: I think it was the second one. It was a failure to appreciate the dangers presented by fundamental Islamic movement and this jihad against the West. That tied in then to the third factor. That didn't give us the will to fight it because we didn't appreciate the danger, bin Laden actually being in some ways the least important factor.

If bin Laden had disappeared, if we had taken care of him in '96, he'd be going on trial and was locked up somewhere, somebody else, whether Zawahiri or somebody else would have replaced him. He was key in bringing the money but they already had the training camps well established by the mid-'90s. I think 9/11 could have happened without bin Laden.

BROWN: So, in that sense we have -- we, all of us I think have created someone who is larger, more important in our vision of him than, in fact, he is?

POSNER: Yes, in some ways and more important to the fundamentalists because eventually when we do get him it will be a great psychological blow but that doesn't mean al Qaeda will disappear. They will continue as a movement. The jihad will continue. The removal of bin Laden will hurt them but will not stop them.

BROWN: A lot of the book has created buzz. I think it's the last chapter, I suppose, that's created the most, the notion that there were people within governments of both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan who knew.

POSNER: It's based upon the word of an al Qaeda operative, one of their leading terrorists, the number three person really, Abu Zubaydah who we caught in March of 2002. He names three Saudi princes and he names the head of the Pakistan Air Force.

Now here are the questions that I can't resolve from this book. Assume that everything Zubaydah tells interrogators is right, OK. If it's right that these were really his contacts, were these individuals acting because they had some sympathies for fundamental Islam and they wanted to help him or were they acting on behalf of the government? I can't answer that. Just because one happens to be the nephew of the king doesn't necessarily mean the Saudi government was involved. If somebody was using Roger Clinton or Billy Carter years ago it certainly wouldn't have meant that Carter or Clinton were involved so you can't say.

BROWN: Go backwards. In what sense would it be in the interest of the Saudi government to participate in some way, shape, or form in the attack of September 11?

POSNER: Absolutely none, none whatsoever if there was help to al Qaeda which I believe did exist in terms of money flowing through Islamic charities. It was not to create an attack on America but instead to make sure that jihad did not take place in the kingdom and that they did jihad somewhere else. Keep it away from the kingdom but they never intended to strike Washington in that way.

BROWN: When we come back, we'll come back quickly to these contacts but on this question of the deal, basically you argue that a deal was made between the government of Saudi Arabia and bin Laden. Leave us alone. We'll leave you alone.

POSNER: Not only that we'll leave you alone, it's almost like professional wrestling. It goes a step beyond that. We will with a wink and a nod ask for your extradition which they did continuously.

But, of course in 1996 when the Clinton administration offered them a possibility of getting bin Laden because we might intercept his flight going to Pakistan, they said no, not today, sorry very much. This must be Tuesday. We don't want him. So, they had an opportunity to take him and they didn't.

BROWN: Now, back to our Saudis and our Pakistani, what makes all of this sort of tantalizing beyond the mere fact of it is what happened to these four people.

POSNER: Yes. They all ended up dying either of a heart attack at the age of 43. The next day one died in a car accident on his own with no other car involved. A few days later the 25-year-old prince died of thirst in the Saudi desert, dehydration, and the Pakistani air marshal, head of the air force, died in his own military plane, clear weather, and recently inspected. It went down and is still being investigated.

But here's the key, Zubaydah, the terrorist who gave these names has recanted. He has told investigators it's not true. I made these names up. I pulled them out of a hat. I had their telephone numbers.

It is technically possible that it's a coincidence that he gave these names to American investigators and after we told the Saudis these people all died of unnatural causes from the ages of 25 to 43 but, even a person who believes that Oswald killed Kennedy, it stretches my credulity to think it's just coincidence.

BROWN: The book is a fascinating read. Just the interrogation portion, the Zubaydah interrogation is a great read on its own. It's nice to meet you. Good luck.

POSNER: Thank you very kindly.

BROWN: Thanks. Hope you'll come back.

A few more items quickly here before we go to break, starting at the U.N., the Security Council voting today to formally lift the sanctions on Libya. They've been in effect for 11 years after the bombing of Pam Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland.

Libya's government, you'll recall, recently accepted responsibility, agreed to pay nearly $3 billion to the victims' families. At the vote today, both France and the United States abstained.

Pope John Paul celebrated mass in Slovakia today, looked better than usual doing it all things considered. He made it through the two and a half hour ceremony without difficulty. When asked whether this would be the pope's final trip, a Vatican official said how can you say the last with John Paul II?

And, remember the domino theory was something to fear in Asia? Today in China's Hunan Province, a try at the world record for human dominoes feel and, in Beijing, we expect Chairman Mao is spinning in his tomb.

Still to come on NEWSNIGHT the spoiler, could the conservative Republican candidate help the Democrats in the California Recall, Candy Crowley joins us.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Mathematicians will tell you that one plus one equals two, so will school children, but they don't know the tortured political calculus going on in California these days. For the Republicans, their one plus one could equal a big fat zero come Election Day.

Here's CNN's Candy Crowley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CROWLEY (voice-over): You can't beat somebody with nobody and it's even harder to beat somebody with everybody, which brings us to California's Republican Party.

BILL SIMON, FORMER GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: When I got out I said there were too many Republicans in the race and I still believe that's the case.

CROWLEY: Specifically, there's one too many. Do the math. An "L.A. Times" poll finds Democrat Bustamante leading at 30 percent, moderate Republican Schwarzenegger at 25 percent, conservative Republican McClintock 18 percent. Looking for a clean shot, team Schwarzenegger wants McClintock out. Well that's not something you say in polite or even political company.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: He needs to come up with a decision. I'm not going to force him. I'm not going to tell him what to do.

CROWLEY: Liberal on abortion and gay rights, Schwarzenegger thinks McClintock, an anti-abortion conservative, can't win in a state which votes center to left. No sale at Camp McClintock.

TOM MCCLINTOCK, REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: If Schwarzenegger's campaign would spend a fraction of their time talking about the future of California that they have spent trying to muscle me out of the race they'd be in much better shape right now.

CROWLEY: Up six points in a month, McClintock is enjoying a limelight that rarely shines on California conservatives.

MCCLINTOCK: Can we do that in a debate before the convention Saturday? We're both going to be there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

CROWLEY: California Republicans have passed this way before.

RICHARD RIORDAN, FORMER LOS ANGELES MAYOR: We care about the poor. We care about strong fiscal policies. We care about quality education and let's put off on the side the ideological things like pro choice and gay rights and things like that.

CROWLEY: Schwarzenegger's supporter Richard Riordan is a moderate Republican who supports things like that. Long story short in 2002 polls indicated Riordan could beat Governor Gray Davis but the conservative dominated Republican Party nominated Bill Simon instead. Simon lost to Davis. Now two years later Simon, an anti-abortion conservative, will support whoever has the best economic ideas.

BILL SIMON (R), FORMER CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: And so if a candidate, let's just say hypothetically, agreed with me on all those issues and was viable, I might be a little more flexible on some other issues, especially if I didn't think that was a priority for them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CROWLEY: There is a Republican convention here in California this weekend. They hope to keep the focus on Gray Davis. And just in case anyone should be tempted to start a fight, there will be absolutely no straw polls taken -- Aaron.

BROWN: So, if they're going to force McClintock out, how are they going to do that, given that he's the one moving up and Mr. Schwarzenegger seems to be the one kind of lying flat?

CROWLEY: I think that the flat answer here is, they can't force him out. He has said repeatedly: I'm not getting out. Having said that, he has, as many people have pointed out, up until the day before the election, to say: OK, I'm out of this. A lot of people think that what McClintock wants is a debate with Schwarzenegger, a clear airing of views, and that he would be open to stepping out. But he says no. I mean, he says flatly: I am in this until the end.

So, if they are going to force him out, it's going to take a lot of -- a tender and delicate diplomatic touch. But so far, he's not budging.

BROWN: Candy, thank you.

I'm making no predictions here, but, just, I would like a dollar for every candidate who said "I'm not dropping out" on this program in this race and isn't there now. Thank you very much.

A few stories from around the country tonight, beginning with the initial findings of a task force looking into last month's massive blackout. The panel at this point has no precise cause. But it has found, so far, that a combination of power plant shutdowns, line failures and voltage problems were building from between noon and 4:13 Eastern time. But the report said investigators may well have to go back before that, even, to figure out exactly what happened where and why.

Two planes left for Antarctica today to prepare for the possible evacuation of a worker at the South Pole, the worker employed by Raytheon Polar Services and is seriously ill. The pilots will wait on Chile's southern tip for the best weather conditions they can get before continuing on to the South Pole. The decision on whether to attempt a rescue is expected sometime this weekend.

And a warning from the State Department today: Stay out of Isabel's way. They warned Americans not to travel to the Bahamas because of the threat of the Category 5 hurricane, offered flights home to U.S. diplomats and their families. Forecasters say it is still too early to tell if and where this enormous storm will strike the United States.

Still ahead tonight on NEWSNIGHT: the death of actor John Ritter.

Up next as well: the man in black, Johnny Cash, who died today.

We'll take a break first. This is NEWSNIGHT from CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: On the cover of Johnny Cash's latest and now last album, he occupies only a small corner of the frame, the rest filled by darkness. You'll find it not in the oldies or nostalgia or whichever part of the store washed-up singers go to fade away, because, right to the very last, Johnny Cash's music was front and center and relevant and loved.

He died today. His voice sticks with us still. Here's CNN's David Mattingly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By any recording standard, Johnny Cash was a giant, 1,500 singles, 500 albums, 14 No. 1 hits and 11 Grammys. Born to a poor Arkansas family in the middle of the Depression, hard times resonated throughout his music.

JOHNNY CASH, SINGER: I wouldn't let anybody influence me into thinking I was doing the wrong thing by singing about death, hell and drugs.

(singing): You are someone else. I am still right here.

MATTINGLY: Though appearing frail and in poor health in recent years, Cash never stopped working, finding a new, younger audience with critically acclaimed recordings, including this one that won an MTV Music Award. The longtime fans still love the old stuff.

CASH (singing): And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when.

MATTINGLY: The haunting "Folsom Prison Blues" and the outspoken "Man in Black" are just two examples of Cash's deep empathy for the down and out.

KYLE YOUNG, COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM: He felt he had a responsibility to lend his voice to others who needed to be heard.

MATTINGLY (on camera): He sang simple songs, simple arrangements with no-doubt-about-it honesty. That made Cash an icon. His popularity transcended genres, landing him in both the Country and Rock 'n Roll Halls of Fame.

COWBOY JACK CLEMENT, FRIEND OF CASH: It's kind of hard to describe or define. But it's just the Johnny Cash thing. People go for it.

MATTINGLY: Saddened fans of all ages leave notes and flowers at the gates of Cash's suburban Nashville home, many surprised by the news of his passing of respiratory failure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't think it would be like this. I thought he would fight a little bit longer. But, obviously, it just -- it caught up with him. I'm just very upset right now.

MATTINGLY: Johnny Cash's death at the age of 71 comes just months after the death of his wife and longtime co-performer, June Carter Cash.

JUNE CARTER, SINGER (singing): Ring of fire.

MATTINGLY: To cope with the loss, the man in black threw himself into his work, leaving behind, according to friends, uncounted recordings.

David Mattingly, CNN, Nashville, Tennessee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Another death to report tonight, someone as light as affable as Johnny Cash was dark and brooding.

John Ritter could do serious dramatic parts and do them quite well. But he'll surely be remembered as the his part of the hers, hers and his on "Three's Company," falling off that bicycle and getting the laugh. He died last night from a tear in his aorta. He would have been 55 next week.

Here's CNN's Frank Buckley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was a familiar face on television, an approachable family man off camera.

JOHN RITTER, ACTOR: You know what? I think I'm going to do some rope tricks and maybe juggle.

BUCKLEY: He did it all on the show that made him a household name, "Three's Company. " Jenilee Harrison was one of his co-stars on the show.

JENILEE HARRISON, ACTRESS: I think John Ritter is the modern-day Jerry Lewis, in that he was the best physical comedian that most of us had ever known.

BUCKLEY: Ritter had range as an actor. This was "Sling Blade."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SLING BLADE")

RITTER: Why are you here now?

BILLY BOB THORNTON, ACTOR: They turned me loose from the state hospital.

RITTER: Is that right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BUCKLEY: But it was comedy for which Ritter was best known, "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter," the show he was taping when he fell ill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "8 SIMPLE RULES FOR DATING MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER)

RITTER: Bridgey, Kerry bear, you forgot your lunches. You're welcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BUCKLEY: Actor and comedian George Lopez says Ritter was a genuine talent and a genuine person.

GEORGE LOPEZ, COMEDIAN: I loved John -- I loved his work, but I loved him more once I got to know him.

BUCKLEY: John Ritter was 54 years old. His birthday would have been next week.

Frank Buckley, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: As NEWSNIGHT continues, the seventh inning stretch, the segment seventh inning stretch, and a trip to the park in Chicago, where an amazing thing is happening.

This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: One delirious fan in Chicago put it this way to a reporter. "When the teams in New York are in the World Series, they call it the subway series. You know what they call it if both Chicago teams made it? A miracle."

The miracle hasn't happened yet, but the Cubs and the White Sox are in the first real pennant race, each team, for decades. And no matter what happens from here, the long-suffering baseball fans of Chicago, all of them can do something they haven't been able to do for ages. They can smile.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: With venison sausage on the barbecue, this White Sox fan was a bit shy about showing his face on camera. He was not shy about sharing his opinion of Cubs fans. This is, after all, Chicago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They don't have this at Wrigley, because Wrigley is all yuppie scums and they're going to eat sushi. And they're all vegetarians.

BROWN: That's the way it's been for most of this summer in Chicago. Both of the city's traditionally horrible baseball teams, the White Sox and the Cubs, are battling for first place. The rivalry between the fans, even the announcers, could hardly be more intense.

KEN HARRELSON, WHITE SOX BROADCASTER: I tell you, I'm pulling for the Cubs. I'm pulling for them for two reasons, first of all, for the city. I'm pulling for them, because I think they're going to get there. And then just to kick their butts big time in the World Series.

STEVE STONE, CUBS BROADCASTER: I think that Ken Harrelson has shown over the years that he is a very bad evaluator. And I don't think he can show the three stud pitchers we have at the top. BROWN: The personality of Chicago fans seems etched mostly by where their teams play, the Cubs at Wrigley Field, a small, historic, ivy-covered ballpark in the heart of Chicago's tonier north side. And the White Sox, well, they play at a brand new park, U.S. Cellular Field, pretty much off by itself in the grittier south side of the city. Overall, there is no question which team carries the city's heart.

JAY MARIOTTI, COLUMNIST, "CHICAGO SUN-TIMES": It's a Cubs town. And the White Sox just live in it. That's the way it is. That's reality. I don't think it's fair.

BROWN: Even though the mayor, Richard Daley, is a big-time White Sox fan, the city does seem to bleed Cubs blue and white.

MARIOTTI: You've got to understand Chicago. I think there are more people who grew up here and never leave here per capita than any city in America. So it's generational. Your Cubdom is generational. Your Soxdom is generational. And when you're out of the womb and that doctor is there with you, it's, Cubs or Sox? Whap.

BROWN: The Cubs haven't made it to the World Series since 1945. And you're now looking at the only White Sox team to ever win a World Series. That was 1917.

MARIOTTI: If both teams get to the World Series, the earth beneath us will start shaking.

BROWN: That's because fans of both teams are far more used to losing than winning.

HARVEY KIRKPATRICK, WHITE SOX FAN: Well, you get accustomed to it after a while. We never worry about anything. All we do is switch to the Bears in September, and then let them lose the first five or six games.

MICHAEL SLOAN, CUBS FAN: I'm from the north side. And I actually have been a fan for, I hate to admit it, over 50 years. And there's so much electricity in this city, it's not to be believed.

BROWN: It would be nice to think that fans of both teams would want the other to win. But sitting in the stands at Wrigley the other day, a White Sox fan who wanted nothing at all to do with being pleasant.

DON NILLES, WHITE SOX FAN: Because I really do support the White Sox and I'm here to see the Cubs lose.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Our next guest has a pretty unusual day job. He's a rock star, although not necessarily one your teenage child will recognize.

Dennis DeYoung is the former lead singer of Styx. And that fact had half our staff humming songs like "Come Sail Away" and "Lady" today. But when he's not a rock star, he's also a die-hard White Sox fan, a lifelong Chicagoan. And that's what matters to us tonight.

Nice to have you on the program.

DENNIS DEYOUNG, FORMER LEAD SINGER OF STYX: Thank you, Aaron.

I want to correct one thing you said. You said that Wrigley Field is in the tonier part of town?

BROWN: Yes.

DEYOUNG: That's ridiculous. All the Tonys I know are White Sox fans.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: But let's talk about the geography. It's not really just geography, that one is on the south side, one is on the north side. They're very different communities, the south side of Chicago and the north.

DEYOUNG: Well, historically, the divisions weren't quite as stark as they've become in the last 15 years.

The south side, for those people who don't know much about Chicago, is really the basic working-class, blue-collar side of town. I grew up on the far south side of the city near the Pullman Works. And there was a lot of industry with Gary, Indiana, in the South Works, the steel mills. So the Sox fans were really typified that kind of lunch-pail, tough-guy, beer-drinking kind of fan.

But really, what's happened with the Cubs, I think, really in the last 15 years, is that, because they went on the satellite early on, and then people all over America became acquainted with the Cubs and Wrigley Field, they sort of became America's team because of the satellite, where I remember a time in the '50s and the '60s, when I was a kid playing little league baseball, the Cubs had a terrible time.

They didn't always own this town. They had a terrible time drawing fans in the '50s and the '60s. And the White Sox really outdrew them. It's just been recently, since the whole cable thing, that the Cubs have become the darlings. And, of course, there are a lot of yuppies living around Wrigley Field.

BROWN: Cable gets blamed for everything. Those were the -- those White Sox teams in the '50s and '60s, that's Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio. And those were pretty good ball clubs.

DEYOUNG: Before I wanted to be a rock star, my first dream was to be Jim Landis to play center field for the White Sox.

And one of the biggest thrills for me is, because of me being a rock musician, I forged a friendship with Tony La Russa when he was the manager of the White Sox. And we've been friends for over 20 years. And I got to enjoy all sorts of perks knowing Tony, going to World Series and All-Star Games. But being a White Sox fan, it is -- in this town right now, it's very difficult, because, as you well know, I am in the "Tribune" studios doing this interview. And they're watching every word I say. There's two armed guards with guns trained on me right now, in case I say something about the Cubs. I wanted to let you know that.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: Well, because they own the Cubs, don't they?

When you walk down the streets in Chicago today, is this what people are talking about? Is everybody talking about baseball?

DEYOUNG: No.

Quite frankly, remember Aldo Rossi, the man who was no slave to fashion for Rossi wine years ago?

BROWN: Yes.

DEYOUNG: That's pretty much what Chicago is. Chicagoans are not slave to fashion.

And I think there is a hearty bit of skepticism about either the Cubs or the White Sox really making it all the way. I know we all want them to be -- I'd love to see a series where the White Sox and the Cubs played in the world series. The last time that happened, it was called the wagon train series.

But the truth of the matter is, I want to see the Cubs win it this year. When I was a younger man, I hated the Cubs. I was like a lot of these people I see you interview. Not anymore. I think, as you get older, you really want to see the city do well.

BROWN: Not to make this too serious, because it is, after all, sports, OK? What would it mean, do you think, to the city if in fact there was a Chicago World Series, Cubs and White Sox? Would it be a great and important and unifying moment, or it would be an interesting two weeks and we move on to football season?

DEYOUNG: Well, all I can tell you is, I was a lifelong Bears fan as well. And we suffered with the Bears for many years, and then they won. They had that magical season in '85 with the Super Bowl. It turned this town upside down.

And then we had the run with Michael Jordan and the Bulls. So we got used to having some championships. But, as far as baseball goes, I don't -- I think people would break out in hives here, because nobody -- there would be -- I would say, go get the calamine lotion because, please, the people would be -- they wouldn't know what to do.

BROWN: Well, if it weren't for the Twins and the Mariners, both of whom I love dearly, I would wish you nothing but good luck.

I'll just say thanks for joining us. Thanks a lot.

DEYOUNG: My pleasure.

BROWN: Much fun having you on the program.

DEYOUNG: Thanks.

BROWN: We'll check the morning papers. And one is probably from Chicago. Usually is.

Take a break first. this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(ROOSTER CROWING)

BROWN: And that's annoying.

Time to check morning papers from around the country.

The most interesting thing to me about the papers is how they played, how they dealt with the Johnny Cash death. It's front page in virtually every paper I've looked at. And some of them are fabulous. And this is as good as any. "Saint Louis Post-Dispatch." "Johnny Cash," a very simple headline. And you'll notice the black-and-white photo, OK? Now, all these papers have invested millions of bucks to be able to print color, but a very smart decision there. And then John Ritter becomes a kind of afterthought in the paper. I don't know how else to put it. That's just the way it goes.

"The New York Times" tomorrow, a lot of interesting things on the front page. Johnny Cash is a full-color picture down at the bottom. "Johnny Cash, Country Music Bedrock, Dead at 71." President Bush with the troops also on the front page. And their political story, "Democrats Find Some Traction on Capitol Hill." I haven't read it, but I will probably when I wake up tomorrow.

"Hartford Courant." This also a very cool picture of Johnny Cash ,if we can get got a good shot of that, in a recording studio, it looks like, also in black and white. The headline is "An American Legend." He certainly was that. And up on top, they deal with Iraq. "Friendly Fire Kills Eight Iraqi Police" is the "Hartford Courant" in Hartford, Connecticut.

How we doing on time, by the way? One minute.

"Schwarzenegger Ducks McClintock Challenge" the lead in "The San Francisco Chronicle" tomorrow. And the Johnny Cash story, "Man in Black Was Musical Giant." And they, too, chose a black-and-white photo also of Mr. Cash to play.

"The South Bend Tribune," South Bend, Indiana." Johnny Cash, full-color picture, "Ballad For the Man in Black, Country Legend Dead at 71." But their big story, look at this, "Battle of the Bands." Notre Dame plays Michigan tomorrow. Who has the better theme song, Notre Dame or Michigan? And it turns out, Notre Dame does. But then, of course, this is the South Bend, Indiana, newspaper. "The Richmond Times-Dispatch." Good to have this paper. This is a nice paper, too. "Goodbye to America's Man in Black." That's a kind of interesting shot of Mr. Cash, isn't it? Yes, I think so. And they also put Iraq on the front page. And John Ritter makes the front page, too.

Quickly, "The Sun-Times" in Chicago. "The Man in Black is Wearing White" is the headline. And a cool picture there, too. "Threatening," the weather in Chicago tomorrow.

We're all back on Monday, I guess, today being Friday. We'll all be back Monday, 10:00 Eastern time.

Until then, have a great weekend. And good night for all us at NEWSNIGHT.

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