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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Muhammad to Represent Himself; Heatwole Charged With Felony; Bonds, Giambi to Testify Before Federal Grand Jury in Olympics Doping Scandal

Aired October 20, 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.
Sometimes a story is important in capital letters and sometimes it's just interesting. The perfect story is both and the kid and the box cutters qualifies.

We'll deal with the outlines of the story tonight but you probably know the basics already. A college kid managed to penetrate airport security hiding box cutters and other possible weapons aboard airplanes and he told the government weeks ago he had done it though the federal government didn't get around to looking for weeks.

What makes this perfect to us is the imperfect choice facing the government. Is the kid just a criminal who broke the law and must now face the consequences or is he something else? Did he do a valuable service in an imperfect way? Apparently that will be a question for a jury the government has so decided, more on that later.

The whip now and it begins in another courtroom the start of the D.C. sniper trial, Jeanne Meserve in the court today and a headline tonight -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a day of dramatic developments John Muhammad seizes control of his own defense and Lee Malvo makes an appearance in court.

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

On to San Francisco where a story involving performance enhancing drugs and professional athletes may involve something altogether different, taxes, Rusty Dornin with the headline -- Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what do Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi have in common besides being baseball superstars? Well, they may be the first two to confirm what may be a long parade of professional Olympic athletes that will testify before a federal grand jury in San Francisco. Amid speculations of a doping scandal both athletes say they have no idea what it's all about -- Aaron.

BROWN: Rusty, thank you.

Now to Iraq and details of a breaking story there, Ben Wedeman with a headline from Baghdad -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Aaron, apparently there's an operation ongoing at this moment in the Shiite holy city of Karbala where U.S. and Iraqi troops are involved in an operation to capture those involved in a bloody attack on coalition forces last Friday -- Aaron.

BROWN: Ben, thank you.

And finally Jerusalem and an especially bloody day of Israeli attacks on suspected militants, Chris Burns with our headline tonight -- Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, one of the most intensive days of Israeli air strikes against Palestinian militants in months. Palestinian hospital sources say at least 11 Palestinians were killed, most of them civilians, more than 100 injured, the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon threatening more attacks, the militants threatening revenge, putting even more distant the chances of the Palestinian prime minister pulling off some kind of a truce -- Aaron.

BROWN: Chris, thank you, we'll get back to you and the rest shortly.

Also ahead tonight with that college student facing charges for breaching airport security we'll talk with a member of Congress who thinks he should be sentenced, sentenced to help the Transportation Security Administration do its job better.

Later, a wonderful story about a grandfather who went to war to save lives, we'll meet Dr. Mark Ploster (ph), hear about what he went through in the battlefield emergency room and see his homecoming this past weekend.

And we'll close it out with a rooster who's had an awful lot of time off lately, don't you think? He got his voice back, morning papers returns. We're glad to see you again, lots to do in the hour ahead.

We begin tonight with the sniper trial and defendant John Allen Muhammad's decision to represent himself. The case, the first of many facing Mr. Muhammad and Lee Malvo is, in the words of a prominent Washington attorney, a defense lawyer's nightmare. In asking to make it his own the defendant today potentially made it the judge's nightmare as well.

Here's CNN's Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE (voice-over): John Muhammad took his life into his own hands asking to represent himself in his capital murder and terrorism trial. During a bench conference, Judge Leroy Millette said he thought Muhammad was making a mistake but granted his request. Lee Malvo's attorney was shocked.

MICHAEL ARIF, MALVO DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It surprised everybody. I can't -- like I said I think this guy has a death wish.

MESERVE: Many legal experts said Muhammad's decision was a bad one.

WILLIAM MOFFITT, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, he had some of the finest legal talent that he could get and to turn his back on that legal talent makes it obviously a lot more easy for the commonwealth to convict him.

MESERVE: In his opening statement, Muhammad said: "The evidence will show that I had nothing to do with these crimes, directly or indirectly."

DOUG DUNCAN, MONTGOMERY COUNTY EXECUTIVE: I just sat there and looked at someone who cold-bloodily killed a number of people in our community and it was sort of tough to sit there and look at him.

MESERVE: Prosecutor James Willett stunned the courtroom taking pieces of a Bushmaster rifle out of a duffle bag, slapping it together, and placing it directly in front of the jury as he ticked off the details of 16 shootings.

An employee of a Virginia bank testified that she saw Muhammad just down the road from the scene of the Dean Myers shooting about an hour before it occurred. When Lee Malvo was led into the courtroom she said she had seen him there too.

A British military expert testified that GPS devices, scopes, maps, and walkie-talkies like those found in the Caprice were standard sniper equipment. Under cross-examination by Muhammad he acknowledged they could have more innocent uses like navigating a new community or even a shopping mall.

Prosecutor Paul Ebert countered by holding aloft a Bushmaster rifle and asking if anyone walked around a mall with one of those.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: One witness Muhammad declined to cross-examine, Larry Myers who had identified a picture of his brother Dean lying in a pool of blood. Family members of other sniper victims are said to be upset at the prospect of being questioned by the man who is accused of killing their loved ones -- Aaron, back to you.

BROWN: Jeanne, thank you, Jeanne Meserve in Virginia Beach tonight.

A quick note from another courtroom, this one in Eagle County, Colorado, Kobe Bryant not surprisingly will stand charges or stand trial on rape charges. After a preliminary hearing that ran off and on for the last two weeks the judge today ruled there is enough evidence against Mr. Bryant to proceed, the trial expected to start sometime in the spring, already plenty on the table to talk about.

The Kobe Bryant case, the sniper trial, a two-for, for Robert Tarver, former prosecutor, currently works the defense side of the courtroom and we're very pleased to have him with us tonight. There's nothing surprising that I can tell about the Bryant case. Let's set that aside for a minute.

ROBERT TARVER, THE NORTH STAR NETWORK.COM: You're right.

BROWN: Let's talk about the other. Rarely does a decision to represent yourself work out.

TARVER: I've never seen it work out quite frankly in all of my years of practice. I've only seen it in these types of serious cases when two things are happening; number one, when the defendant wants to make a big political statement; or, number two, when he just is so overwhelmed with the magnitude of the charges against him that he's not thinking straight and I suspect there may be a combination of both here with Muhammad.

BROWN: Overwhelmed in what sense?

TARVER: Overwhelmed with the amount of media publicity, with the fact that he's facing the death penalty, with the fact that there is this enormity of witnesses that have so much trauma. All those things are coming together at one time and it's hard to deal with for someone.

BROWN: His biggest problem, it seems to me sitting here having spent a year or last year covering this, is the evidence.

TARVER: Precisely and it always is for a criminal defendant.

BROWN: Yes.

TARVER: But here so much more so because, number one, there really is not that much wiggle room for him to deal with but when you really start to think about it, Aaron, this may be a very brilliant move on his part because the fact of the matter is his performance as a defense attorney now is going to get high scrutiny from an appellate court no matter what happens in the end here.

BROWN: But, all right let's talk about that for a second. The judge absent some reason not to allow one to defend themselves must allow it, correct?

TARVER: Absolutely must allow a person the right to defend themselves. Generally, what most judges will do is they'll say, OK, you can defend yourself but what we will do is we'll have a lawyer in the courtroom that is available to consult with. Now, the judge can't force him to consult with the lawyer but he does do that for his own constitutional protection.

BROWN: Why would an appellate court just hypothetically here overturn a case where the defendant decided to be his own lawyer? It's a little bit like the old joke about the guy accused of killing his parents and then pleads that he's an orphan.

TARVER: It is exactly like that but the fact of the matter is because you're talking about the most serious sanction that we have in our criminal justice system there's this high degree of scrutiny and you and I both know that even in cases where you have the most stellar defense attorneys the appellate courts spend a lot of time looking those things over. They're not going to do any less for someone who is not a stellar defense attorney.

BROWN: One question on the Bryant case and this was perhaps talked about a fair amount last week when I was out on assignment. How much in your view did that case change from week one when the prosecution put the detective on and, week two, when the defense cross-examined the detective?

TARVER: It went from twelve o'clock midnight to nine o'clock in the morning, from night to day. When they were able to produce that evidence, the evidence of the panties and the semen and the pubic hair, it changed the complexion of the case. Now you're not just talking about reasonable doubt. Now they're in a lot of other elements here that will tend to cause a person, a reasonable juror, to question her behavior, to question exactly what was going on here.

BROWN: And you said an interesting thing today, I thought, about Mr. Bryant's celebrity and race and how both might play in this.

TARVER: Absolutely because race is always a factor as far as I'm concerned, particularly when you have an African American man, a White woman, but the celebrity card may actually trump anything that has to do with race because people may be so awed with Kobe Bryant they may say he is larger than life. We're going to give him more than the benefit of the doubt.

BROWN: Actually these are both things I'd like to talk more about. I hope you'll come back.

TARVER: I certainly will be here.

BROWN: Nice to see you here.

TARVER: Thank you for having me.

BROWN: Thank you very much.

On now to what at least where we sit is the story of the day when a college kid can walk on to a number of airliners on several occasions with box cutters and other suspicious looking stuff a lot of people would call it a scandal and they are.

So what do you call it when this college kid does it, then tells the government what he did, says he did it to help and nothing happens? Well today something did happen in a courtroom in Baltimore he was charged with a felony and released on his own recognizance.

Here's CNN's Mike Brooks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nathaniel Heatwole faces 10 years in prison accused of sneaking concealed weapons and other prohibited items past airport security screening checkpoints at Raleigh-Durham and Baltimore-Washington International Airports on six different occasions from February through September 14.

Officials say on four of the six occasions the 20-year-old Gilford College student left packages on Southwest Airlines planes. In an affidavit, the FBI says the packages contained box cutters, bleach, molding clay to simulate plastic explosives, matches, and a note signed with the numbers 3891925, Heatwole's date of birth in reverse order.

STEVE MCHALE, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: We do not expect ever to have 100 percent perfect screening at the checkpoints. That's why we have multiple layers of security. These items were secreted. We also secrete and test the systems very hard with our own red team all the time.

BROOKS: The discovery of two of those packages last Thursday triggered a nationwide inspection of all U.S. commercial aircraft but the Transportation Security Administration had been warned by e-mail about the security breaches and packages almost a month before.

The writer stated that his actions were "an act of civil disobedience with the aim of improving public safety for the air- traveling public." The e-mail was signed "Sincerely, Nat Heatwole." Prosecutors say this was a very dangerous act.

THOMAS DIBAGIO, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR MARYLAND: This was not a prank. This was not poor judgment. This was a crime that had the potential to cause serious risk to the individuals on the plane and serious risk of harm to the individual carrying these weapons, the defendant.

BROOKS: Neither Nathaniel Heatwole nor his attorneys had any comment. He is due back in court on November 10th for a preliminary hearing.

Mike Brooks, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Just ahead tonight or at least a little bit later someone who says the man deserves a medal for what he did more or less, our conversation with Congressman Ed Markey, the Democratic Congressman from Boston who is on the committee who oversees the Transportation Security Administration a little later in the program.

First the investigation into a lab in San Francisco and whether it cooked up designer steroids for big name athletes. This is a story that broke last week. It has been growing ever since. Today it touched on an athlete who, it is fair to say, is a little busy right now.

Here's CNN's Rusty Dornin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DORNIN (voice-over): World Series star New York Yankee Jason Giambi will soon be headlining a federal grand jury probe investigating a California sports nutrition company. Giambi told reporters he'd been subpoenaed.

JASON GIAMBI, NEW YORK YANKEES: To be honest with you, like I said before, you know, I ended up getting it. I really don't know much about it and that's the honest to God truth.

DORNIN: Giambi isn't the only one. The "San Francisco Chronicle" reports at least 40 other top athletes have been subpoenaed including home run record breaker Barry Bonds.

Last week the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said it was told Balco Laboratories was the source of a new substance known as THG, a so- called designer steroid. Until recently, THG was undetectable in tests given to athletes for illegal substances.

The president of Balco Laboratories, Victor Conte, told CNN in an e-mail his company is not the source for the THG and claims the substance is not illegal anyway. A Balco Laboratories website reveals an array of nutritional products and athletes, both professional and Olympic, who reportedly use Balco supplements.

According to the "San Francisco Chronicle" athletes may not be the focus of this investigation and last month it was the IRS that was the lead agency along with drug enforcement agents who raided Balco Laboratories and the home of Barry Bonds' personal trainer, raising the question what exactly are federal investigators after?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN: I just spoke a short time ago with Barry Bonds' attorney Michael Rains (ph) who is wondering what this is all about as well. He said he put in a call to the U.S. Attorney's Office when his client got the subpoena to appear in December.

He has not received any response back. He says that Bonds is a long time client of Balco Laboratories and has used their vitamins and supplements but doesn't even know what THG is. He says he's only met Victor Conte once and has scant knowledge of the laboratory. It looks like Barry Bonds is scheduled to appear before that grand jury on December 4th -- Aaron.

BROWN: Rusty, thank you, Rusty Dornin in San Francisco tonight.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, the latest from the Mid East as Israelis make multiple air strikes against suspected militant targets, a number of people die, some militants others not.

And later the story of a doctor who went to war, what he found in Iraq and the welcome he got when he came home this weekend, that and more as NEWSNIGHT continues on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BROWN: When asked commanders of American forces in Iraq say they will do what they can to keep a low profile and to minimize the friction with the locals. Just the same they say no attack will go unanswered and tonight in Karbala that's apparently exactly what is happening.

We go back to Baghdad where CNN's Ben Wedeman has been following developments that are unfolding now -- Ben.

WEDEMAN: Yes, Aaron, this operation began at about 2:00 a.m. local time, that's about three hours ago when Iraqi forces backed up by U.S. and Polish troops went to a mosque in the Shiite holy city of Karbala. There they are looking for anyone who may have been involved in this attack last Friday on U.S. troops there that left three people, three MPs dead plus two Iraqi soldiers dead.

Among those three MPs was the most senior American officer to be killed in Iraq since the outbreak of the war and that was Lieutenant Colonel Kim Orlando, the 43-year-old commanding officer of the 716th Military Police Battalion.

Now they were lured into that area where this mosque, the mosque that is being raided this evening by reports that there were armed men congregating outside that mosque last Friday after the curfew.

What resulted was a 12-hour gun battle which was one of the most bloody incidents that has occurred in recent weeks here in Iraq but at this point, Aaron, we really don't have a lot of details as to who are the targets of this raid.

We are told by coalition sources that it is not Muqtada Sadr who is this fire brand Shiite cleric who has declared an independent Islamic government here in Iraq and basically told the Americans they are not welcome but obviously he is linked, it is believed he is linked to those who were behind this attack -- Aaron.

BROWN: Let's cover a little bit of ground here. The reports that I saw earlier indicated that Iraqi forces, Iraqi security forces were doing most of the heavy lifting on this raid that Americans and Poles were backing them up, the significance of that?

WEDEMAN: Well, the significance is, Aaron, that the United States is anxious to see the Iraqis play an ever greater role in maintaining or restoring security here in Iraq. Now we're not there to see exactly what's going on. We do know that they are backed up by U.S. and Polish forces.

Now the Iraqi forces that have been trained and put into the field by the Americans are backed up by the Americans and the Americans tend to be the ones who have the heaviest equipment here on the ground in Iraq but the fact that Iraqis are there playing a lead role in the operation indicates how much the Americans would like to see them playing a lead role rather than a backing up role -- Aaron.

BROWN: Ben, thank you, nice, quick work tonight. I know this is still going on and we'll know more about it as day breaks but we appreciate the update. Thank you.

A day after terrorist rocket attacks on southern Israel, Israeli forces, not surprisingly, hit back in a series of raids targeting the militant group Hamas, including an air strike in Gaza that Palestinians say killed at least eleven, some Hamas members, some not.

Once again this week the road map features just about anything but peace, reporting for us tonight, CNN's Chris Burns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BURNS (voice-over): It was a day and night of more strikes and counterstrikes. Israeli helicopters fired rockets into at least two vehicles, targeting and killing militants. In densely populated Gaza, Palestinian hospital sources reported heavy civilian casualties.

Israeli warplanes repeatedly struck an alleged weapons workshop and an Israeli helicopter gunship rocketed a house allegedly used to store weapons. A leaflet by Hamas militants vowed revenge. The raids came a day after Palestinian militants fired at least eight homemade Kasam rockets into southern Israel.

They fired again Monday evening though no injuries were reported this despite Israel's week old incursion into southern Gaza in search of weapon-smuggling tunnels, an incursion that has left more than a dozen Palestinians dead most of them civilians and hundreds of homeless. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority condemned the air strikes.

SAEB ERAKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: This vicious cycle cannot be broken by more Israeli assassination attempts.

BURNS: In a speech to the Israeli Parliament full of heckling by leftist and Arab legislators, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised to continue attacking the militants but he held out the hope of a breakthrough in the peace process.

ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I believe that there is a genuine chance for progress toward peace in the next few months.

BURNS: Still, Mr. Sharon vowed Israel will extend a security barrier around Jerusalem within a year. The Palestinians call it a Berlin Wall winding through the occupied West Bank. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei called for cease-fire talks as a step forward on a roadmap for peace that lies in tatters.

AHMED QOREI, PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER: The two sides should commit themselves to act -- not to act against each other.

BURNS: A step Mr. Sharon has rejected, demanding instead that the militants be disarmed. Amid Palestinian rage against Israeli occupation and counterattacks, Mr. Qorei says trying to disarm the militants now would cause civil war.

(on camera): And criticism of Mr. Sharon's speech from former Labor Prime Minister Shimon Peres. Instead of seeing progress on the road map, Peres says, all he sees are the statistics of road accidents.

Chris Burns, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Still ahead on the program tonight the college kid and the airport security breach, should he be punished or should he be applauded for pointing out how porous the system seems to be?

From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: To many experts in the field and some lay people too, two years would seem plenty of time for the country to get its aviation security house in order. Given the nature of the threat that still exists, and we were treated to a reminder of it today, two years to people who travel often feels like an eternity.

In fairness to those in charge there hasn't been a successful act of air terrorism since 9/11/2001. Just the same guys shipping themselves in cargo containers and college juniors breaching security raises questions, questions we raised with Congressman Ed Markey. We spoke with him earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Congressman, just in the last month or so there have been a couple of incidents involving airline security that are worrisome. There was the fellow who shipped himself in the cargo bay cross country and now this incident with the box cutters and the college kid. Just broadly this really confirms something that you've been saying. How porous do you believe the system is?

REP. ED MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Well there are still huge gaps in the security of our passenger aircraft in the United States. We're fortunate that in both instances they were young American men rather than al Qaeda who were trying to penetrate the security of our airlines but without question TSA is still not doing the job of guaranteeing that passengers on planes are secure.

BROWN: We don't know yet how the young man got the box cutters and the rest onboard. Is it possible that we expect perfection in a business where perfection isn't possible?

MARKEY: Well, here it's very troubling. Not only did the young man place successfully these box cutters on planes but then he took the time to e-mail to the Transportation Security Agency, to the Department of Homeland Security and tell them that he had done so and yet still they did not either check back with him because he left his name and address or go to the planes and try to find the box cutters.

So, that's the more troubling part of it, that an agency with more than 50,000 people primarily tasked with protecting passenger planes in America didn't even pick up on this tip given by someone who had penetrated the security.

BROWN: The news today is, they're talking about prosecuting this kid. And I guess he did in fact break the law, if he put box cutters on airplanes. Ought he be prosecuted or what?

MARKEY: Well, he actually had no criminal intent. He was trying to provide a public service. If technically he violated the law, then I think he should probably be sentenced to perhaps 20 hours a week working at the Transportation Security Agency, helping them to shore up the security.

He is obviously a patriot. He is someone who was trying to provide a service to our country. He shouldn't have any jail time, for sure. And his sentence would probably be well placed over at this agency, helping them to shore up what obviously is a pretty big problem.

BROWN: Do you have any sense in Washington among your colleagues that this has -- these two incidents -- the cargo incident, which is something in fact you talked -- the last time were you on the program, which I think was last summer, we talked about -- and now this one, that TSA or Homeland Security, or both, have gotten the attention of Congress in a way that will solve any of these problems?

MARKEY: Obviously not. TSA objected to, successfully, my amendment which would have required the screening of cargo which goes on passenger planes. And they, as a result, don't have to screen for cargo, although they do screen for passenger bags, not cargo, on passenger planes.

They've laid off 6,000 screeners at airports over the last five months. And incidents like this give us further indication that there is still a very serious problem at the Transportation Security Agency. This did not require connecting the dots. The young man actually e- mailed in the dots and said, here's the problem. And, still, for a month, they didn't find these box cutters on the planes.

BROWN: It will be interesting to see how this ultimately is finessed. It has to be, at the very least, embarrassing to TSA. Embarrassment isn't the point. Solving it is. We appreciate your help in keeping attention on it.

Thank you.

MARKEY: Thank you, sir.

BROWN: Congressman Ed Markey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: We talked to the congressman earlier this morning.

For political junkies, the sight of John Kerry cozying up to a hog or Joe Lieberman riding a tractor or just about everyone promising to fill their tanks with ethanol, and gargle with it, too, if necessary, all of this raises the kind of goose bumps ordinarily reserved for wedding nights and opening night. And, yes, Iowa is an opening night for the presidential election.

But late yesterday, it became an opening night that Joe Lieberman and General Wesley Clark said they could do without.

Here's CNN's Jeff Greenfield.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST (voice-over): So why did General Clark and Senator Lieberman decide to skip Iowa? Different reasons explain their moves. Wesley Clark's late start made it almost impossible to build the extensive organizing a caucus state like Iowa demands. Senator Lieberman's most centrist stands, strongly for the war in Iraq, for example, don't play well there.

(on camera): But these strategic decisions also let us focus attention on two bigger matters, first, the substantial mythical importance of Iowa and even New Hampshire, and, second, the possibility that this front-loaded calendar might actually take a while to produce the eventual nominee.

(voice-over): Ever since George McGovern in '72 and Jimmy Carter in '76 used the caucuses as springboards, Iowa has been a big deal, because it's the first place where real-live voters get counted. It's a huge press story. And Iowa loves the attention and the money.

But as a key, crucial, got-to-win-or-die contest? Well, let's see. Reagan lost in 1980. The first George Bush placed third there in 1988. Michael Dukakis ran third in '88. Clinton didn't compete there in '92. And all won the nomination. And winners, like Bush in 1980, Mondale in '84, Gephardt in '88, Dole in '96, and George W. Bush in 2000, all lost in Iowa. So much for the Iowa bounce.

But surely New Hampshire, the first primary, is decisive, right? Well, maybe we should ask Henry Cabot Lodge, Edmund Muskie, Gary Hart, Paul Tsongas, Pat Buchanan, and John McCain. They all won there. None won their party's nod. And this year, the front-loaded calendar means that just seven days after New Hampshire, seven states will hold primaries or caucuses. Everyone from Lieberman to Clark to John Edwards to Al Sharpton thinks there are possibilities for victory in one or more of those states.

Now, this doesn't mean that Iowa and New Hampshire will mean nothing. They could wound or even end the candidacies of someone like Congressman Dick Gephardt, who won in Iowa in 1988, or Senator John Kerry, a New Hampshire neighbor. And it doesn't mean a candidate can skip both those states. Al Gore tried that in 1988.

(on camera): What we've already seen this year, as we do every campaign season, that early assumptions can be shaky. Just look at Howard Dean's fund-raising. So, when the armies of the fourth estate proclaim from the frozen fields of Iowa and New Hampshire how absolutely critical these battles are, tell them to try the decaf and calm down. This one could actually take a while.

Jeff Greenfield, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Still to come on the program tonight: a homecoming, a serviceman with a difference. It's a wonderful tale, a doctor who signed up when he was old enough to be the father of most of his patients -- his story and more as we continue.

This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: And still ahead on NEWSNIGHT: morning papers, of course; the curse of Larry David. Mr. David joins us.

And up next, the grandfather who went to war.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: What an interesting mix of stories.

Mark Plaster was not your typical Naval Reserve recruit, to say the least. He has no military background. And at age 51, he's, well, let's say mature. But he does have something the Pentagon needs, medical training. He's a doctor. Dr. Plaster -- or, should we say, Lieutenant Commander Plaster, M.D. -- returned from Iraq this weekend.

His story from NEWSNIGHT Beth Nissen tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A color guard with flags ready, family members with Kleenex ready.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here they come!

NISSEN: Friends and neighbors lining the curbs, a surprise welcome home for Navy Lieutenant Commander and Dr. Mark Plaster, just back from six months in Iraq.

LT. COMMANDER MARK PLASTER, U.S. NAVY: I can't believe I'm home!

NISSEN: Can't believe he's holding his first granddaughter, born while he was in Iraq. It is an emotional welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you?

NISSEN: For an unusual member of the U.S. armed forces.

Dr. Plaster, age 51, is not career military. He spent most of his working life as a civilian E.R. doctor, has worked in inner-city hospitals in Wilmington, in Philadelphia.

M. PLASTER: I worked for years off and on in city emergency departments, where we see a lot of knife and gun injuries.

NISSEN: Experience useful in a war zone. Plaster started thinking seriously about being a military doctor last fall. His oldest son was a new graduate of the Naval Academy in Annapolis.

M. PLASTER: After my son went to the U.S. Naval Academy, I became inspired. I wanted to give something back. So I volunteered to be a reservist.

NISSEN: Plaster was 50. Many friends were stunned.

ROB COOK, FRIEND OF MARK: said, "I enlisted." And we just said: "You enlisted? You enlisted in what? He said, "I enlisted in the Navy."

NISSEN: His family was not so surprised.

REBECCA PLASTER, WIFE OF MARK: Mark having the ability as an emergency physician and 25 years of practice, he felt like that that was the thing to do.

NISSEN: Plaster was mobilized within three months as an officer in charge of a shock trauma platoon, a small mobile E.R. set up a mile or two back from combat.

M. PLASTER: They came directly from the field. It's just like a city emergency room, minutes away.

NISSEN: Major combat was over. Most of the Marines Plaster and his team treated were sick.

M. PLASTER: Mostly, what we saw over there were illnesses and injuries related to being in the 120-plus-degree heat.

NISSEN: Still, there were gunshot wounds, blast injuries.

M. PLASTER: We saw several of those that required amputation or clean-up-type surgery. Someone loses a good portion of their limb and the surgeon clean him up and get him prepared for the final amputation.

NISSEN: Like thousands of those deployed in Iraq, Plaster missed his family, missed family milestones. He counted the miles, the days he was from home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome home, Lieutenant Commander Mark Plaster.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

NISSEN: Then he came home to perceptions of the U.S. mission in Iraq that didn't match his own.

M. PLASTER: The portrayal when I got home is that everybody over there hates us and they're all trying to shoot us, and if we didn't have a zillion force protection that they would annihilate us in a moment. And that's not the case. I really wish the American people could see that the Iraqis are happy that we're there.

NISSEN: Plaster tells almost everyone he meets about his experiences in Iraq.

M. PLASTER: We didn't wave the American flag around over there. We didn't sing patriotic songs. We gave them their country back. And you should be proud of that.

NISSEN: Plaster is still an active reservist, says he would deploy again to Iraq anywhere he is needed.

M. PLASTER: I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to serve the country like that. I mean, that sounds so hokey, but it's the truth.

NISSEN: Beth Nissen, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Ahead on NEWSNIGHT: He created "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm," but is Larry David cursed when it comes to his sports teams? He says yes.

We'll spend a few moments coming to grips with Larry's problems, because, around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Have you ever gotten the feeling that, just by sitting there, you might be responsible for some bad things happening?

OK, not real bad things, not war or pestilence, not that kind of bad, but your mere presence could cause a catastrophe of a slightly smaller present scale, perhaps a winning lottery ticket lost at the laundromat or, just by watching them on television, your team, the Red Sox or the Cubs, perhaps the Minnesota Twins, would lose their baseball playoff game, which brings us to the man who created the hit TV series "Seinfeld," Larry David, who has another hit show of his own now on HBO, "Curb Your Enthusiasm." And, we add, HBO's parent company is our parent company, too.

Mr. David is the kind of man who thinks of such curses. We talked with him earlier today from his office in L.A.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Let's talk about -- tell me about the jinx, what it is. And then we'll talk a little bit about why the jinx.

LARRY DAVID, WRITER/ACTOR: You mean a jinx in general?

BROWN: Well, the jinx that seems to afflict your life where your sports teams are concerned.

DAVID: Yes.

Well, I noticed, at some point in my life, if I ever wanted anything good to happen to the team that I was rooting for, I would leave the room. And then, invariably, good things would happen, never when I watched, but only when I left.

BROWN: So is it in fact -- is it true that if -- you're a Yankee fan -- if you watch the Yankees, they lose?

DAVID: If I watch the Yankees, more often than not, they would lose. I'm not saying there are no exceptions to this.

But even people won't even have me over to their house to watch, because they know that I bring the bad karma, the bad luck.

(CROSSTALK)

DAVID: And then if I happen to be there and they turn on the set, I could easily get thrown out, too. I'll get thrown out. "Get out! You are bringing bad luck. Come on."

BROWN: So your entire circle of friends knows that perhaps it's best not to watch ball games with you?

DAVID: Don't call me. I'm poison.

It's not only true for ball games. It's true for every aspect of people's lives. Your show, I'm bringing bad luck to right now, just having me on. You'll be off the air in a matter of weeks, probably.

BROWN: Oh, that's a comforting thought. Thank you.

DAVID: Yes.

BROWN: It's bad enough the Yankees won. Now I have to worry about getting canceled, also.

DAVID: Well, that's the price you pay.

BROWN: Do you think there is something about sport and your love of your teams that created this jinx, that the gods decided you should be punished on this?

DAVID: I don't -- I think it's -- I think it has to do with me. I think I just -- I'm a person who's been carrying a jinx around with him. And it applies to every aspect of my life, pretty much.

BROWN: So, if you're up for an Emmy, you don't go to the Emmys to receive it?

DAVID: Well, I made the mistake of going this year and got ambushed. But I'll try not to go again, though. I think I learned my lesson, yes. Or, actually, probably the odds of me winning would be better if I wasn't there. That's a good point. And I won't go next year and perhaps I'll win -- if I'm nominated. Let's not put the cart before the horse.

BROWN: Well, I understand, but that's not one of the things I won't do. I will not go to award events, because I always lose when I show up. I have a chance to win if I don't, but I have no chance if I'm there. None. DAVID: Yes. I think that's good.

BROWN: Do you think this is seriously neurotic?

(LAUGHTER)

DAVID: Well, it's not normal, yes. I don't think it's normal. It borders on neurotic, definitely.

BROWN: So how are you going to deal with the World Series? Do you not watch it?

DAVID: I'll watch it until I feel like I need to help the team. And then I -- I'll make the sacrifice.

Most people don't understand that. I'm willing to sacrifice. I'm willing to leave the house, go out of the room, because always, if I leave and then I'll put the radio on in the car on the way back, everything's changed. It's all different. It's an interesting power.

BROWN: It's almost like being a member of the team, isn't it?

DAVID: Yes. It's an interesting power that I have. It's like a superpower.

BROWN: Yes. And you're almost a member of the Yankees or the Knicks or any other team. And when you don't play, they do fine.

DAVID: You would think that these people would call me up and beg me not to watch. I never get a phone call.

BROWN: Do you watch your own television programs?

DAVID: Well, see, at that point, they're already made. There's nothing I can do about it.

BROWN: Your television programs have been consistently terrific and fun for a long time. It's nice to have you on, even if you're a bit neurotic.

DAVID: Well, thank you.

BROWN: Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Larry David. And, of course, we hope he's wrong about the program getting canceled. We really hope he's wrong, because you would miss morning papers, wouldn't you, which is next?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(ROOSTER CROWING)

BROWN: Oh, how I missed that. Time to check morning papers from around the country and -- well, you know, around the country. Now, please, I was working. I was on assignment all last week. Sometimes, I'm a little out of practice from this. There is a certain rhythm that one develops. And when you don't do it for a week, you can lose it. The guys who thought I was going to get to eight papers tonight are dying that I'm talking to this now.

OK, "The Virginian-Pilot," serving Hampton Roads in northern North Carolina. That would have fooled me. I didn't know that. "Arguing His Own Case. Muhammad Defends Himself." "We know something happened, but they weren't there. I was there. I know what happened. The evidence will show I had nothing to do with these crimes, directly or indirectly." I'm a little troubled by the "I was there part." Perhaps he misspoke in his own defense. Anyway that's the lead in "The Virginian-Pilot," kind of a cool name for a paper.

Someone suggested we do a segment on how newspapers got their names. I think we should.

"The Richmond Times-Dispatch," Virginia's news leader in Richmond, Virginia. "Muhammad Acts As lawyer." Of course, that would be the lead. And it would be my lead, too, no matter what, if I was there. And then a story out of Iraq. "Ultimate Sacrifice" is the headline. I'm sorry -- "Grim Duty in Beirut." I guess this is a look back. I just saw that. That just came in.

OK, two stories from "The Cincinnati Enquirer" I like a lot. "U.S. Deficit Balloons to Record." I don't like the facts of it, but I love the fact that there are a number of ways to spin. You could say it's a record deficit. That's bad. Or you could say, as the treasury secretary did today, it's lower than we thought it was going to be, so that's pretty good. Keep that in mind if you're running a deficit.

Down at the bottom, who would have thought of this one, right? "Locker Room Pics Possible By Phone." You know those new cell phones that take pictures? They could be taking pictures of things you don't want them to be taking pictures of. And "The Cincinnati Enquirer" was smart enough to figure out there was a story there.

We didn't do this tonight, but it certainly was a weird story in "The Washington Times." "Diana Predicted Car Crash in Letter," Princess Diana that. And up top, "Spurrier" -- Steve Spurrier -- "At a Loss Over Defeat Streak. Redskins Try to Salvage Season." I'm always amazed at how many sports stories these days make the front page of the newspaper.

"Dismal Season is Beyond Salvaging" is the lead in "The Detroit News," so they lead with sports.

Thirty seconds left? Is that really all? Is there something here I like? Let's do two tabloids, say good night. "Boston Herald." "State Set to Boot Butts. Smoke Ban By '05." Do you realize soon, there will be an entire generation of children who will never smoke inside?

The weather tomorrow: "back to reality." It's been really warm in the middle of the country, but apparently no longer.

Good to have you with us. And nice to see you again, with or without the glasses. We'll see you again tomorrow at 10:00 Eastern time.

Good night for all of us.

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





Felony; Bonds, Giambi to Testify Before Federal Grand Jury in Olympics Doping Scandal>


Aired October 20, 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.
Sometimes a story is important in capital letters and sometimes it's just interesting. The perfect story is both and the kid and the box cutters qualifies.

We'll deal with the outlines of the story tonight but you probably know the basics already. A college kid managed to penetrate airport security hiding box cutters and other possible weapons aboard airplanes and he told the government weeks ago he had done it though the federal government didn't get around to looking for weeks.

What makes this perfect to us is the imperfect choice facing the government. Is the kid just a criminal who broke the law and must now face the consequences or is he something else? Did he do a valuable service in an imperfect way? Apparently that will be a question for a jury the government has so decided, more on that later.

The whip now and it begins in another courtroom the start of the D.C. sniper trial, Jeanne Meserve in the court today and a headline tonight -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a day of dramatic developments John Muhammad seizes control of his own defense and Lee Malvo makes an appearance in court.

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

On to San Francisco where a story involving performance enhancing drugs and professional athletes may involve something altogether different, taxes, Rusty Dornin with the headline -- Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what do Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi have in common besides being baseball superstars? Well, they may be the first two to confirm what may be a long parade of professional Olympic athletes that will testify before a federal grand jury in San Francisco. Amid speculations of a doping scandal both athletes say they have no idea what it's all about -- Aaron.

BROWN: Rusty, thank you.

Now to Iraq and details of a breaking story there, Ben Wedeman with a headline from Baghdad -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Aaron, apparently there's an operation ongoing at this moment in the Shiite holy city of Karbala where U.S. and Iraqi troops are involved in an operation to capture those involved in a bloody attack on coalition forces last Friday -- Aaron.

BROWN: Ben, thank you.

And finally Jerusalem and an especially bloody day of Israeli attacks on suspected militants, Chris Burns with our headline tonight -- Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, one of the most intensive days of Israeli air strikes against Palestinian militants in months. Palestinian hospital sources say at least 11 Palestinians were killed, most of them civilians, more than 100 injured, the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon threatening more attacks, the militants threatening revenge, putting even more distant the chances of the Palestinian prime minister pulling off some kind of a truce -- Aaron.

BROWN: Chris, thank you, we'll get back to you and the rest shortly.

Also ahead tonight with that college student facing charges for breaching airport security we'll talk with a member of Congress who thinks he should be sentenced, sentenced to help the Transportation Security Administration do its job better.

Later, a wonderful story about a grandfather who went to war to save lives, we'll meet Dr. Mark Ploster (ph), hear about what he went through in the battlefield emergency room and see his homecoming this past weekend.

And we'll close it out with a rooster who's had an awful lot of time off lately, don't you think? He got his voice back, morning papers returns. We're glad to see you again, lots to do in the hour ahead.

We begin tonight with the sniper trial and defendant John Allen Muhammad's decision to represent himself. The case, the first of many facing Mr. Muhammad and Lee Malvo is, in the words of a prominent Washington attorney, a defense lawyer's nightmare. In asking to make it his own the defendant today potentially made it the judge's nightmare as well.

Here's CNN's Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE (voice-over): John Muhammad took his life into his own hands asking to represent himself in his capital murder and terrorism trial. During a bench conference, Judge Leroy Millette said he thought Muhammad was making a mistake but granted his request. Lee Malvo's attorney was shocked.

MICHAEL ARIF, MALVO DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It surprised everybody. I can't -- like I said I think this guy has a death wish.

MESERVE: Many legal experts said Muhammad's decision was a bad one.

WILLIAM MOFFITT, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, he had some of the finest legal talent that he could get and to turn his back on that legal talent makes it obviously a lot more easy for the commonwealth to convict him.

MESERVE: In his opening statement, Muhammad said: "The evidence will show that I had nothing to do with these crimes, directly or indirectly."

DOUG DUNCAN, MONTGOMERY COUNTY EXECUTIVE: I just sat there and looked at someone who cold-bloodily killed a number of people in our community and it was sort of tough to sit there and look at him.

MESERVE: Prosecutor James Willett stunned the courtroom taking pieces of a Bushmaster rifle out of a duffle bag, slapping it together, and placing it directly in front of the jury as he ticked off the details of 16 shootings.

An employee of a Virginia bank testified that she saw Muhammad just down the road from the scene of the Dean Myers shooting about an hour before it occurred. When Lee Malvo was led into the courtroom she said she had seen him there too.

A British military expert testified that GPS devices, scopes, maps, and walkie-talkies like those found in the Caprice were standard sniper equipment. Under cross-examination by Muhammad he acknowledged they could have more innocent uses like navigating a new community or even a shopping mall.

Prosecutor Paul Ebert countered by holding aloft a Bushmaster rifle and asking if anyone walked around a mall with one of those.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: One witness Muhammad declined to cross-examine, Larry Myers who had identified a picture of his brother Dean lying in a pool of blood. Family members of other sniper victims are said to be upset at the prospect of being questioned by the man who is accused of killing their loved ones -- Aaron, back to you.

BROWN: Jeanne, thank you, Jeanne Meserve in Virginia Beach tonight.

A quick note from another courtroom, this one in Eagle County, Colorado, Kobe Bryant not surprisingly will stand charges or stand trial on rape charges. After a preliminary hearing that ran off and on for the last two weeks the judge today ruled there is enough evidence against Mr. Bryant to proceed, the trial expected to start sometime in the spring, already plenty on the table to talk about.

The Kobe Bryant case, the sniper trial, a two-for, for Robert Tarver, former prosecutor, currently works the defense side of the courtroom and we're very pleased to have him with us tonight. There's nothing surprising that I can tell about the Bryant case. Let's set that aside for a minute.

ROBERT TARVER, THE NORTH STAR NETWORK.COM: You're right.

BROWN: Let's talk about the other. Rarely does a decision to represent yourself work out.

TARVER: I've never seen it work out quite frankly in all of my years of practice. I've only seen it in these types of serious cases when two things are happening; number one, when the defendant wants to make a big political statement; or, number two, when he just is so overwhelmed with the magnitude of the charges against him that he's not thinking straight and I suspect there may be a combination of both here with Muhammad.

BROWN: Overwhelmed in what sense?

TARVER: Overwhelmed with the amount of media publicity, with the fact that he's facing the death penalty, with the fact that there is this enormity of witnesses that have so much trauma. All those things are coming together at one time and it's hard to deal with for someone.

BROWN: His biggest problem, it seems to me sitting here having spent a year or last year covering this, is the evidence.

TARVER: Precisely and it always is for a criminal defendant.

BROWN: Yes.

TARVER: But here so much more so because, number one, there really is not that much wiggle room for him to deal with but when you really start to think about it, Aaron, this may be a very brilliant move on his part because the fact of the matter is his performance as a defense attorney now is going to get high scrutiny from an appellate court no matter what happens in the end here.

BROWN: But, all right let's talk about that for a second. The judge absent some reason not to allow one to defend themselves must allow it, correct?

TARVER: Absolutely must allow a person the right to defend themselves. Generally, what most judges will do is they'll say, OK, you can defend yourself but what we will do is we'll have a lawyer in the courtroom that is available to consult with. Now, the judge can't force him to consult with the lawyer but he does do that for his own constitutional protection.

BROWN: Why would an appellate court just hypothetically here overturn a case where the defendant decided to be his own lawyer? It's a little bit like the old joke about the guy accused of killing his parents and then pleads that he's an orphan.

TARVER: It is exactly like that but the fact of the matter is because you're talking about the most serious sanction that we have in our criminal justice system there's this high degree of scrutiny and you and I both know that even in cases where you have the most stellar defense attorneys the appellate courts spend a lot of time looking those things over. They're not going to do any less for someone who is not a stellar defense attorney.

BROWN: One question on the Bryant case and this was perhaps talked about a fair amount last week when I was out on assignment. How much in your view did that case change from week one when the prosecution put the detective on and, week two, when the defense cross-examined the detective?

TARVER: It went from twelve o'clock midnight to nine o'clock in the morning, from night to day. When they were able to produce that evidence, the evidence of the panties and the semen and the pubic hair, it changed the complexion of the case. Now you're not just talking about reasonable doubt. Now they're in a lot of other elements here that will tend to cause a person, a reasonable juror, to question her behavior, to question exactly what was going on here.

BROWN: And you said an interesting thing today, I thought, about Mr. Bryant's celebrity and race and how both might play in this.

TARVER: Absolutely because race is always a factor as far as I'm concerned, particularly when you have an African American man, a White woman, but the celebrity card may actually trump anything that has to do with race because people may be so awed with Kobe Bryant they may say he is larger than life. We're going to give him more than the benefit of the doubt.

BROWN: Actually these are both things I'd like to talk more about. I hope you'll come back.

TARVER: I certainly will be here.

BROWN: Nice to see you here.

TARVER: Thank you for having me.

BROWN: Thank you very much.

On now to what at least where we sit is the story of the day when a college kid can walk on to a number of airliners on several occasions with box cutters and other suspicious looking stuff a lot of people would call it a scandal and they are.

So what do you call it when this college kid does it, then tells the government what he did, says he did it to help and nothing happens? Well today something did happen in a courtroom in Baltimore he was charged with a felony and released on his own recognizance.

Here's CNN's Mike Brooks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nathaniel Heatwole faces 10 years in prison accused of sneaking concealed weapons and other prohibited items past airport security screening checkpoints at Raleigh-Durham and Baltimore-Washington International Airports on six different occasions from February through September 14.

Officials say on four of the six occasions the 20-year-old Gilford College student left packages on Southwest Airlines planes. In an affidavit, the FBI says the packages contained box cutters, bleach, molding clay to simulate plastic explosives, matches, and a note signed with the numbers 3891925, Heatwole's date of birth in reverse order.

STEVE MCHALE, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: We do not expect ever to have 100 percent perfect screening at the checkpoints. That's why we have multiple layers of security. These items were secreted. We also secrete and test the systems very hard with our own red team all the time.

BROOKS: The discovery of two of those packages last Thursday triggered a nationwide inspection of all U.S. commercial aircraft but the Transportation Security Administration had been warned by e-mail about the security breaches and packages almost a month before.

The writer stated that his actions were "an act of civil disobedience with the aim of improving public safety for the air- traveling public." The e-mail was signed "Sincerely, Nat Heatwole." Prosecutors say this was a very dangerous act.

THOMAS DIBAGIO, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR MARYLAND: This was not a prank. This was not poor judgment. This was a crime that had the potential to cause serious risk to the individuals on the plane and serious risk of harm to the individual carrying these weapons, the defendant.

BROOKS: Neither Nathaniel Heatwole nor his attorneys had any comment. He is due back in court on November 10th for a preliminary hearing.

Mike Brooks, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Just ahead tonight or at least a little bit later someone who says the man deserves a medal for what he did more or less, our conversation with Congressman Ed Markey, the Democratic Congressman from Boston who is on the committee who oversees the Transportation Security Administration a little later in the program.

First the investigation into a lab in San Francisco and whether it cooked up designer steroids for big name athletes. This is a story that broke last week. It has been growing ever since. Today it touched on an athlete who, it is fair to say, is a little busy right now.

Here's CNN's Rusty Dornin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DORNIN (voice-over): World Series star New York Yankee Jason Giambi will soon be headlining a federal grand jury probe investigating a California sports nutrition company. Giambi told reporters he'd been subpoenaed.

JASON GIAMBI, NEW YORK YANKEES: To be honest with you, like I said before, you know, I ended up getting it. I really don't know much about it and that's the honest to God truth.

DORNIN: Giambi isn't the only one. The "San Francisco Chronicle" reports at least 40 other top athletes have been subpoenaed including home run record breaker Barry Bonds.

Last week the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said it was told Balco Laboratories was the source of a new substance known as THG, a so- called designer steroid. Until recently, THG was undetectable in tests given to athletes for illegal substances.

The president of Balco Laboratories, Victor Conte, told CNN in an e-mail his company is not the source for the THG and claims the substance is not illegal anyway. A Balco Laboratories website reveals an array of nutritional products and athletes, both professional and Olympic, who reportedly use Balco supplements.

According to the "San Francisco Chronicle" athletes may not be the focus of this investigation and last month it was the IRS that was the lead agency along with drug enforcement agents who raided Balco Laboratories and the home of Barry Bonds' personal trainer, raising the question what exactly are federal investigators after?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN: I just spoke a short time ago with Barry Bonds' attorney Michael Rains (ph) who is wondering what this is all about as well. He said he put in a call to the U.S. Attorney's Office when his client got the subpoena to appear in December.

He has not received any response back. He says that Bonds is a long time client of Balco Laboratories and has used their vitamins and supplements but doesn't even know what THG is. He says he's only met Victor Conte once and has scant knowledge of the laboratory. It looks like Barry Bonds is scheduled to appear before that grand jury on December 4th -- Aaron.

BROWN: Rusty, thank you, Rusty Dornin in San Francisco tonight.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, the latest from the Mid East as Israelis make multiple air strikes against suspected militant targets, a number of people die, some militants others not.

And later the story of a doctor who went to war, what he found in Iraq and the welcome he got when he came home this weekend, that and more as NEWSNIGHT continues on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BROWN: When asked commanders of American forces in Iraq say they will do what they can to keep a low profile and to minimize the friction with the locals. Just the same they say no attack will go unanswered and tonight in Karbala that's apparently exactly what is happening.

We go back to Baghdad where CNN's Ben Wedeman has been following developments that are unfolding now -- Ben.

WEDEMAN: Yes, Aaron, this operation began at about 2:00 a.m. local time, that's about three hours ago when Iraqi forces backed up by U.S. and Polish troops went to a mosque in the Shiite holy city of Karbala. There they are looking for anyone who may have been involved in this attack last Friday on U.S. troops there that left three people, three MPs dead plus two Iraqi soldiers dead.

Among those three MPs was the most senior American officer to be killed in Iraq since the outbreak of the war and that was Lieutenant Colonel Kim Orlando, the 43-year-old commanding officer of the 716th Military Police Battalion.

Now they were lured into that area where this mosque, the mosque that is being raided this evening by reports that there were armed men congregating outside that mosque last Friday after the curfew.

What resulted was a 12-hour gun battle which was one of the most bloody incidents that has occurred in recent weeks here in Iraq but at this point, Aaron, we really don't have a lot of details as to who are the targets of this raid.

We are told by coalition sources that it is not Muqtada Sadr who is this fire brand Shiite cleric who has declared an independent Islamic government here in Iraq and basically told the Americans they are not welcome but obviously he is linked, it is believed he is linked to those who were behind this attack -- Aaron.

BROWN: Let's cover a little bit of ground here. The reports that I saw earlier indicated that Iraqi forces, Iraqi security forces were doing most of the heavy lifting on this raid that Americans and Poles were backing them up, the significance of that?

WEDEMAN: Well, the significance is, Aaron, that the United States is anxious to see the Iraqis play an ever greater role in maintaining or restoring security here in Iraq. Now we're not there to see exactly what's going on. We do know that they are backed up by U.S. and Polish forces.

Now the Iraqi forces that have been trained and put into the field by the Americans are backed up by the Americans and the Americans tend to be the ones who have the heaviest equipment here on the ground in Iraq but the fact that Iraqis are there playing a lead role in the operation indicates how much the Americans would like to see them playing a lead role rather than a backing up role -- Aaron.

BROWN: Ben, thank you, nice, quick work tonight. I know this is still going on and we'll know more about it as day breaks but we appreciate the update. Thank you.

A day after terrorist rocket attacks on southern Israel, Israeli forces, not surprisingly, hit back in a series of raids targeting the militant group Hamas, including an air strike in Gaza that Palestinians say killed at least eleven, some Hamas members, some not.

Once again this week the road map features just about anything but peace, reporting for us tonight, CNN's Chris Burns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BURNS (voice-over): It was a day and night of more strikes and counterstrikes. Israeli helicopters fired rockets into at least two vehicles, targeting and killing militants. In densely populated Gaza, Palestinian hospital sources reported heavy civilian casualties.

Israeli warplanes repeatedly struck an alleged weapons workshop and an Israeli helicopter gunship rocketed a house allegedly used to store weapons. A leaflet by Hamas militants vowed revenge. The raids came a day after Palestinian militants fired at least eight homemade Kasam rockets into southern Israel.

They fired again Monday evening though no injuries were reported this despite Israel's week old incursion into southern Gaza in search of weapon-smuggling tunnels, an incursion that has left more than a dozen Palestinians dead most of them civilians and hundreds of homeless. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority condemned the air strikes.

SAEB ERAKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: This vicious cycle cannot be broken by more Israeli assassination attempts.

BURNS: In a speech to the Israeli Parliament full of heckling by leftist and Arab legislators, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised to continue attacking the militants but he held out the hope of a breakthrough in the peace process.

ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I believe that there is a genuine chance for progress toward peace in the next few months.

BURNS: Still, Mr. Sharon vowed Israel will extend a security barrier around Jerusalem within a year. The Palestinians call it a Berlin Wall winding through the occupied West Bank. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei called for cease-fire talks as a step forward on a roadmap for peace that lies in tatters.

AHMED QOREI, PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER: The two sides should commit themselves to act -- not to act against each other.

BURNS: A step Mr. Sharon has rejected, demanding instead that the militants be disarmed. Amid Palestinian rage against Israeli occupation and counterattacks, Mr. Qorei says trying to disarm the militants now would cause civil war.

(on camera): And criticism of Mr. Sharon's speech from former Labor Prime Minister Shimon Peres. Instead of seeing progress on the road map, Peres says, all he sees are the statistics of road accidents.

Chris Burns, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Still ahead on the program tonight the college kid and the airport security breach, should he be punished or should he be applauded for pointing out how porous the system seems to be?

From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: To many experts in the field and some lay people too, two years would seem plenty of time for the country to get its aviation security house in order. Given the nature of the threat that still exists, and we were treated to a reminder of it today, two years to people who travel often feels like an eternity.

In fairness to those in charge there hasn't been a successful act of air terrorism since 9/11/2001. Just the same guys shipping themselves in cargo containers and college juniors breaching security raises questions, questions we raised with Congressman Ed Markey. We spoke with him earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Congressman, just in the last month or so there have been a couple of incidents involving airline security that are worrisome. There was the fellow who shipped himself in the cargo bay cross country and now this incident with the box cutters and the college kid. Just broadly this really confirms something that you've been saying. How porous do you believe the system is?

REP. ED MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Well there are still huge gaps in the security of our passenger aircraft in the United States. We're fortunate that in both instances they were young American men rather than al Qaeda who were trying to penetrate the security of our airlines but without question TSA is still not doing the job of guaranteeing that passengers on planes are secure.

BROWN: We don't know yet how the young man got the box cutters and the rest onboard. Is it possible that we expect perfection in a business where perfection isn't possible?

MARKEY: Well, here it's very troubling. Not only did the young man place successfully these box cutters on planes but then he took the time to e-mail to the Transportation Security Agency, to the Department of Homeland Security and tell them that he had done so and yet still they did not either check back with him because he left his name and address or go to the planes and try to find the box cutters.

So, that's the more troubling part of it, that an agency with more than 50,000 people primarily tasked with protecting passenger planes in America didn't even pick up on this tip given by someone who had penetrated the security.

BROWN: The news today is, they're talking about prosecuting this kid. And I guess he did in fact break the law, if he put box cutters on airplanes. Ought he be prosecuted or what?

MARKEY: Well, he actually had no criminal intent. He was trying to provide a public service. If technically he violated the law, then I think he should probably be sentenced to perhaps 20 hours a week working at the Transportation Security Agency, helping them to shore up the security.

He is obviously a patriot. He is someone who was trying to provide a service to our country. He shouldn't have any jail time, for sure. And his sentence would probably be well placed over at this agency, helping them to shore up what obviously is a pretty big problem.

BROWN: Do you have any sense in Washington among your colleagues that this has -- these two incidents -- the cargo incident, which is something in fact you talked -- the last time were you on the program, which I think was last summer, we talked about -- and now this one, that TSA or Homeland Security, or both, have gotten the attention of Congress in a way that will solve any of these problems?

MARKEY: Obviously not. TSA objected to, successfully, my amendment which would have required the screening of cargo which goes on passenger planes. And they, as a result, don't have to screen for cargo, although they do screen for passenger bags, not cargo, on passenger planes.

They've laid off 6,000 screeners at airports over the last five months. And incidents like this give us further indication that there is still a very serious problem at the Transportation Security Agency. This did not require connecting the dots. The young man actually e- mailed in the dots and said, here's the problem. And, still, for a month, they didn't find these box cutters on the planes.

BROWN: It will be interesting to see how this ultimately is finessed. It has to be, at the very least, embarrassing to TSA. Embarrassment isn't the point. Solving it is. We appreciate your help in keeping attention on it.

Thank you.

MARKEY: Thank you, sir.

BROWN: Congressman Ed Markey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: We talked to the congressman earlier this morning.

For political junkies, the sight of John Kerry cozying up to a hog or Joe Lieberman riding a tractor or just about everyone promising to fill their tanks with ethanol, and gargle with it, too, if necessary, all of this raises the kind of goose bumps ordinarily reserved for wedding nights and opening night. And, yes, Iowa is an opening night for the presidential election.

But late yesterday, it became an opening night that Joe Lieberman and General Wesley Clark said they could do without.

Here's CNN's Jeff Greenfield.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST (voice-over): So why did General Clark and Senator Lieberman decide to skip Iowa? Different reasons explain their moves. Wesley Clark's late start made it almost impossible to build the extensive organizing a caucus state like Iowa demands. Senator Lieberman's most centrist stands, strongly for the war in Iraq, for example, don't play well there.

(on camera): But these strategic decisions also let us focus attention on two bigger matters, first, the substantial mythical importance of Iowa and even New Hampshire, and, second, the possibility that this front-loaded calendar might actually take a while to produce the eventual nominee.

(voice-over): Ever since George McGovern in '72 and Jimmy Carter in '76 used the caucuses as springboards, Iowa has been a big deal, because it's the first place where real-live voters get counted. It's a huge press story. And Iowa loves the attention and the money.

But as a key, crucial, got-to-win-or-die contest? Well, let's see. Reagan lost in 1980. The first George Bush placed third there in 1988. Michael Dukakis ran third in '88. Clinton didn't compete there in '92. And all won the nomination. And winners, like Bush in 1980, Mondale in '84, Gephardt in '88, Dole in '96, and George W. Bush in 2000, all lost in Iowa. So much for the Iowa bounce.

But surely New Hampshire, the first primary, is decisive, right? Well, maybe we should ask Henry Cabot Lodge, Edmund Muskie, Gary Hart, Paul Tsongas, Pat Buchanan, and John McCain. They all won there. None won their party's nod. And this year, the front-loaded calendar means that just seven days after New Hampshire, seven states will hold primaries or caucuses. Everyone from Lieberman to Clark to John Edwards to Al Sharpton thinks there are possibilities for victory in one or more of those states.

Now, this doesn't mean that Iowa and New Hampshire will mean nothing. They could wound or even end the candidacies of someone like Congressman Dick Gephardt, who won in Iowa in 1988, or Senator John Kerry, a New Hampshire neighbor. And it doesn't mean a candidate can skip both those states. Al Gore tried that in 1988.

(on camera): What we've already seen this year, as we do every campaign season, that early assumptions can be shaky. Just look at Howard Dean's fund-raising. So, when the armies of the fourth estate proclaim from the frozen fields of Iowa and New Hampshire how absolutely critical these battles are, tell them to try the decaf and calm down. This one could actually take a while.

Jeff Greenfield, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Still to come on the program tonight: a homecoming, a serviceman with a difference. It's a wonderful tale, a doctor who signed up when he was old enough to be the father of most of his patients -- his story and more as we continue.

This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: And still ahead on NEWSNIGHT: morning papers, of course; the curse of Larry David. Mr. David joins us.

And up next, the grandfather who went to war.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: What an interesting mix of stories.

Mark Plaster was not your typical Naval Reserve recruit, to say the least. He has no military background. And at age 51, he's, well, let's say mature. But he does have something the Pentagon needs, medical training. He's a doctor. Dr. Plaster -- or, should we say, Lieutenant Commander Plaster, M.D. -- returned from Iraq this weekend.

His story from NEWSNIGHT Beth Nissen tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A color guard with flags ready, family members with Kleenex ready.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here they come!

NISSEN: Friends and neighbors lining the curbs, a surprise welcome home for Navy Lieutenant Commander and Dr. Mark Plaster, just back from six months in Iraq.

LT. COMMANDER MARK PLASTER, U.S. NAVY: I can't believe I'm home!

NISSEN: Can't believe he's holding his first granddaughter, born while he was in Iraq. It is an emotional welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you?

NISSEN: For an unusual member of the U.S. armed forces.

Dr. Plaster, age 51, is not career military. He spent most of his working life as a civilian E.R. doctor, has worked in inner-city hospitals in Wilmington, in Philadelphia.

M. PLASTER: I worked for years off and on in city emergency departments, where we see a lot of knife and gun injuries.

NISSEN: Experience useful in a war zone. Plaster started thinking seriously about being a military doctor last fall. His oldest son was a new graduate of the Naval Academy in Annapolis.

M. PLASTER: After my son went to the U.S. Naval Academy, I became inspired. I wanted to give something back. So I volunteered to be a reservist.

NISSEN: Plaster was 50. Many friends were stunned.

ROB COOK, FRIEND OF MARK: said, "I enlisted." And we just said: "You enlisted? You enlisted in what? He said, "I enlisted in the Navy."

NISSEN: His family was not so surprised.

REBECCA PLASTER, WIFE OF MARK: Mark having the ability as an emergency physician and 25 years of practice, he felt like that that was the thing to do.

NISSEN: Plaster was mobilized within three months as an officer in charge of a shock trauma platoon, a small mobile E.R. set up a mile or two back from combat.

M. PLASTER: They came directly from the field. It's just like a city emergency room, minutes away.

NISSEN: Major combat was over. Most of the Marines Plaster and his team treated were sick.

M. PLASTER: Mostly, what we saw over there were illnesses and injuries related to being in the 120-plus-degree heat.

NISSEN: Still, there were gunshot wounds, blast injuries.

M. PLASTER: We saw several of those that required amputation or clean-up-type surgery. Someone loses a good portion of their limb and the surgeon clean him up and get him prepared for the final amputation.

NISSEN: Like thousands of those deployed in Iraq, Plaster missed his family, missed family milestones. He counted the miles, the days he was from home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome home, Lieutenant Commander Mark Plaster.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

NISSEN: Then he came home to perceptions of the U.S. mission in Iraq that didn't match his own.

M. PLASTER: The portrayal when I got home is that everybody over there hates us and they're all trying to shoot us, and if we didn't have a zillion force protection that they would annihilate us in a moment. And that's not the case. I really wish the American people could see that the Iraqis are happy that we're there.

NISSEN: Plaster tells almost everyone he meets about his experiences in Iraq.

M. PLASTER: We didn't wave the American flag around over there. We didn't sing patriotic songs. We gave them their country back. And you should be proud of that.

NISSEN: Plaster is still an active reservist, says he would deploy again to Iraq anywhere he is needed.

M. PLASTER: I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to serve the country like that. I mean, that sounds so hokey, but it's the truth.

NISSEN: Beth Nissen, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Ahead on NEWSNIGHT: He created "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm," but is Larry David cursed when it comes to his sports teams? He says yes.

We'll spend a few moments coming to grips with Larry's problems, because, around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Have you ever gotten the feeling that, just by sitting there, you might be responsible for some bad things happening?

OK, not real bad things, not war or pestilence, not that kind of bad, but your mere presence could cause a catastrophe of a slightly smaller present scale, perhaps a winning lottery ticket lost at the laundromat or, just by watching them on television, your team, the Red Sox or the Cubs, perhaps the Minnesota Twins, would lose their baseball playoff game, which brings us to the man who created the hit TV series "Seinfeld," Larry David, who has another hit show of his own now on HBO, "Curb Your Enthusiasm." And, we add, HBO's parent company is our parent company, too.

Mr. David is the kind of man who thinks of such curses. We talked with him earlier today from his office in L.A.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Let's talk about -- tell me about the jinx, what it is. And then we'll talk a little bit about why the jinx.

LARRY DAVID, WRITER/ACTOR: You mean a jinx in general?

BROWN: Well, the jinx that seems to afflict your life where your sports teams are concerned.

DAVID: Yes.

Well, I noticed, at some point in my life, if I ever wanted anything good to happen to the team that I was rooting for, I would leave the room. And then, invariably, good things would happen, never when I watched, but only when I left.

BROWN: So is it in fact -- is it true that if -- you're a Yankee fan -- if you watch the Yankees, they lose?

DAVID: If I watch the Yankees, more often than not, they would lose. I'm not saying there are no exceptions to this.

But even people won't even have me over to their house to watch, because they know that I bring the bad karma, the bad luck.

(CROSSTALK)

DAVID: And then if I happen to be there and they turn on the set, I could easily get thrown out, too. I'll get thrown out. "Get out! You are bringing bad luck. Come on."

BROWN: So your entire circle of friends knows that perhaps it's best not to watch ball games with you?

DAVID: Don't call me. I'm poison.

It's not only true for ball games. It's true for every aspect of people's lives. Your show, I'm bringing bad luck to right now, just having me on. You'll be off the air in a matter of weeks, probably.

BROWN: Oh, that's a comforting thought. Thank you.

DAVID: Yes.

BROWN: It's bad enough the Yankees won. Now I have to worry about getting canceled, also.

DAVID: Well, that's the price you pay.

BROWN: Do you think there is something about sport and your love of your teams that created this jinx, that the gods decided you should be punished on this?

DAVID: I don't -- I think it's -- I think it has to do with me. I think I just -- I'm a person who's been carrying a jinx around with him. And it applies to every aspect of my life, pretty much.

BROWN: So, if you're up for an Emmy, you don't go to the Emmys to receive it?

DAVID: Well, I made the mistake of going this year and got ambushed. But I'll try not to go again, though. I think I learned my lesson, yes. Or, actually, probably the odds of me winning would be better if I wasn't there. That's a good point. And I won't go next year and perhaps I'll win -- if I'm nominated. Let's not put the cart before the horse.

BROWN: Well, I understand, but that's not one of the things I won't do. I will not go to award events, because I always lose when I show up. I have a chance to win if I don't, but I have no chance if I'm there. None. DAVID: Yes. I think that's good.

BROWN: Do you think this is seriously neurotic?

(LAUGHTER)

DAVID: Well, it's not normal, yes. I don't think it's normal. It borders on neurotic, definitely.

BROWN: So how are you going to deal with the World Series? Do you not watch it?

DAVID: I'll watch it until I feel like I need to help the team. And then I -- I'll make the sacrifice.

Most people don't understand that. I'm willing to sacrifice. I'm willing to leave the house, go out of the room, because always, if I leave and then I'll put the radio on in the car on the way back, everything's changed. It's all different. It's an interesting power.

BROWN: It's almost like being a member of the team, isn't it?

DAVID: Yes. It's an interesting power that I have. It's like a superpower.

BROWN: Yes. And you're almost a member of the Yankees or the Knicks or any other team. And when you don't play, they do fine.

DAVID: You would think that these people would call me up and beg me not to watch. I never get a phone call.

BROWN: Do you watch your own television programs?

DAVID: Well, see, at that point, they're already made. There's nothing I can do about it.

BROWN: Your television programs have been consistently terrific and fun for a long time. It's nice to have you on, even if you're a bit neurotic.

DAVID: Well, thank you.

BROWN: Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Larry David. And, of course, we hope he's wrong about the program getting canceled. We really hope he's wrong, because you would miss morning papers, wouldn't you, which is next?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(ROOSTER CROWING)

BROWN: Oh, how I missed that. Time to check morning papers from around the country and -- well, you know, around the country. Now, please, I was working. I was on assignment all last week. Sometimes, I'm a little out of practice from this. There is a certain rhythm that one develops. And when you don't do it for a week, you can lose it. The guys who thought I was going to get to eight papers tonight are dying that I'm talking to this now.

OK, "The Virginian-Pilot," serving Hampton Roads in northern North Carolina. That would have fooled me. I didn't know that. "Arguing His Own Case. Muhammad Defends Himself." "We know something happened, but they weren't there. I was there. I know what happened. The evidence will show I had nothing to do with these crimes, directly or indirectly." I'm a little troubled by the "I was there part." Perhaps he misspoke in his own defense. Anyway that's the lead in "The Virginian-Pilot," kind of a cool name for a paper.

Someone suggested we do a segment on how newspapers got their names. I think we should.

"The Richmond Times-Dispatch," Virginia's news leader in Richmond, Virginia. "Muhammad Acts As lawyer." Of course, that would be the lead. And it would be my lead, too, no matter what, if I was there. And then a story out of Iraq. "Ultimate Sacrifice" is the headline. I'm sorry -- "Grim Duty in Beirut." I guess this is a look back. I just saw that. That just came in.

OK, two stories from "The Cincinnati Enquirer" I like a lot. "U.S. Deficit Balloons to Record." I don't like the facts of it, but I love the fact that there are a number of ways to spin. You could say it's a record deficit. That's bad. Or you could say, as the treasury secretary did today, it's lower than we thought it was going to be, so that's pretty good. Keep that in mind if you're running a deficit.

Down at the bottom, who would have thought of this one, right? "Locker Room Pics Possible By Phone." You know those new cell phones that take pictures? They could be taking pictures of things you don't want them to be taking pictures of. And "The Cincinnati Enquirer" was smart enough to figure out there was a story there.

We didn't do this tonight, but it certainly was a weird story in "The Washington Times." "Diana Predicted Car Crash in Letter," Princess Diana that. And up top, "Spurrier" -- Steve Spurrier -- "At a Loss Over Defeat Streak. Redskins Try to Salvage Season." I'm always amazed at how many sports stories these days make the front page of the newspaper.

"Dismal Season is Beyond Salvaging" is the lead in "The Detroit News," so they lead with sports.

Thirty seconds left? Is that really all? Is there something here I like? Let's do two tabloids, say good night. "Boston Herald." "State Set to Boot Butts. Smoke Ban By '05." Do you realize soon, there will be an entire generation of children who will never smoke inside?

The weather tomorrow: "back to reality." It's been really warm in the middle of the country, but apparently no longer.

Good to have you with us. And nice to see you again, with or without the glasses. We'll see you again tomorrow at 10:00 Eastern time.

Good night for all of us.

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