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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown
John Allen Muhammad Found Guilty; U.S. Troops Conduct Military Offensive in Tikrit; Schwarzenegger Sworn in as California's Governor
Aired November 17, 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.
Among the things we will do together this week is remember. Forty years ago this week John F. Kennedy was assassinated and the country was changed. Forty years later most Americans continue to believe it is a mystery unsolved.
Forty years later it will still light up the switchboard of radio call in shows as it did back in the days when I did that sort of program and often said, on those nights when the switchboard was dead, I was thinking about the Kennedy assassination. For whatever reason we still want to think about it, know about it and talk about it and this week we shall.
But, as always, the other news of the day comes first and the whip comes before that and that starts in Virginia Beach with the sniper case, a verdict today in the trial of John Muhammad. CNN's Jeanne Meserve has been there from the start, Jeanne a headline.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, the jury chooses guilt over innocence. Now they must choose between life and death. The defense says John Muhammad is a man worth saving. The prosecution says he deserves the very harshest penalty -- Aaron.
BROWN: Jeanne, thank you. We'll get to you tonight at the top.
Next to Iraq where it is looking like a war right down to the war correspondents. CNN's Walter Rodgers is there for us again, Walt a headline.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The headline, Aaron, is the Army's calling it "a massive military offensive in Tikrit" Saddam Hussein's hometown, the objective bloodying the Iraqis the way they've recently made the Americans bleed -- Aaron.
BROWN: Walter thank you.
On to the Pentagon and the search for those giving the orders up to and including Saddam Hussein, our Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre with the watch tonight, Jamie a headline.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the things that the Pentagon is saying that among the targets in these raids in Tikrit is a key Saddam deputy who is believed to be orchestrating the attacks but what sources are telling me is that the ultimate target may be Saddam Hussein himself -- Aaron.
BROWN: Jamie, thank you.
And get used to it, Governor Schwarzenegger, CNN's Candy Crowley was there for the inauguration today, Candy the headline.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You took the words right out of my mouth, Aaron. It is a two word headline tonight out of Sacramento, Governor Schwarzenegger.
BROWN: Thank you very much, Candy, back to you and the rest shortly.
Also tonight on NEWSNIGHT we'll talk with California Senator Barbara Boxer who is among the Democrats upset over the new energy bill they are just now getting a look at.
We'll also mark the return to the airwaves of Rush Limbaugh after his stint in rehab for an addiction to painkillers.
A bit later in Segment 7, some remarkable, remarkable photographs of President Kennedy, photographs that were feared lost in the destruction of the World Trade Center.
And, fresh from a weekend on the farm, hum, the rooster returns along with morning papers, all that and more in the hour ahead.
We begin a little more than a year and a month since the Washington, D.C. area slipped into a waking nightmare, no exaggeration there. For 20 days ordinary people getting shot and killed while going about their everyday lives.
No rhyme, no reason. The shots came almost literally from out of the blue or a nightmare and when it ended ten people were dead, three more wounded, and two men in custody. Today came the first verdict. The next will decide a man's life.
Here's CNN's Jeanne Meserve.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice-over): If John Muhammad felt anything he showed nothing as the verdict was read, guilty on all four counts, including terrorism and capital murder each of which carries a possible death penalty.
The sister of Hong Im Ballenger who was gunned down outside a Baton Rouge beauty supply store sobbed as the verdict was read. She made it clear afterwards what she thinks should happen next.
SWANG SZUSZKA, SISTER OF HONG BALLENGER: I'm glad they found him guilty and I'm still looking for death penalty for justice.
MESERVE: As the jury moved on to consider whether Muhammad should die or spend the rest of his life in prison, defense attorney Jonathan Shapiro acknowledged the obvious. "Your decision will put John Muhammad in a box of one sort of another. One is made of concrete and one is made of pine."
Saying it is not necessary to extinguish one more life, Shapiro characterized Muhammad as "a man of worth and value" who had friends, admirers, and loving children. But, prosecutor Richard Conway said Muhammad was one of the "worst of the worst" saying: "He sits right in front of you without a shred of remorse."
The first witness in the penalty phase Isa Nichols (ph) a former friend and business associate of Muhammad's whose niece was shot, prosecutors contend, after Nichols alienated Muhammad by giving support to his ex-wife Mildred.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: When Mildred Muhammad regained custody of her children and moved with them to the Washington, D.C. area, Nichols refused to tell Muhammad where they were because "Mildred felt that he was going to destroy her." Mildred Muhammad is expected to take the stand tomorrow -- Aaron.
BROWN: Where does the defense go? What does the defense show this jury that might save his life?
MESERVE: They're going to talk some about his childhood, a difficult childhood according to the opening statements they made here today in the penalty phase. They're also going to tap people who have liked and admired John Muhammad. They say they are out there that he has some people who are faithful friends to him still and they're going to talk about the kind of father he was.
We already heard from a reverend who ran the mission out in Washington state where Muhammad stayed for a while with his three children. He nearly cried on the stand explaining what good care Muhammad took of them. We'll hear more from him and from others who will testify along the same lines -- Aaron.
BROWN: Jeanne, thank you very much, Jeanne Meserve.
Also later in the program we'll talk with Bob Tarver, a legal analyst, about where the defense goes, where the prosecution goes and how, if at all, this affects the other case, the Malvo case which is underway.
On to other things now in this case the show of force in central Iraq. In a moment you'll see pictures of artillery firing in the night, rockets hitting buildings, flames shooting in the air. That much is perfectly clear to see.
Less clear, though, what exactly is being hit whether the insurgents are in fact feeling any pain. Also hard to say, so far at least, is whether the message being sent is the right one or whether it's reaching the right ears.
Reporting for us tonight CNN's Walt Rodgers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RODGERS (voice-over): Punishing Iraqi insurgents for their increasingly deadly attacks on U.S. soldiers here, two more killed Monday, the 4th Infantry Division's big guns boom away around Tikrit. The U.S. military believes Tikrit to be a stronghold of Saddam Hussein loyalists and the anti-American resistance.
These 155-millimeter shells are seeking out the hideouts of Iraqi paramilitary groups. Sometimes they just shoot at patches of ground from which the Iraqis previously fired mortars at U.S. forces.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We fired two so far. Both hit. We should be firing about nine more during the course of the night.
RODGERS: Only a reduction in the number of attacks on U.S. forces in the weeks ahead will determine the success of this offensive but its minimum goal is to keep the insurgents off balance.
COL. JAMES HICKEY, U.S. ARMY: This brigade and all the soldiers in and around in a defensive footing have been that way since June. We think we have a pretty good handle on the enemy in this area. We're noticing a definite trend that is getting weaker.
RODGERS: Still the American offensive in and around Tikrit has also raised the wrath of many Iraqi civilians.
This young Iraqi said them more they treat us this way the more of us will join the resistance.
Part of this operation was the destruction of four houses belonging to Iraqi families whom the U.S. Army said had husbands or sons involved in the shoot down of a U.S. helicopter November 7th.
"They blamed my son. My son is innocent. I swear to God" this woman said. She claims someone is trying to settle an old score with her family and they told the Army her son was an insurgent.
This Iraqi mocked the U.S. military offensive saying: "The Americans came promising freedom. Now look what they've done to us."
On this Arab street the sentiment clearly favored the Americans leaving. Unstated, however, is the real possibility an Iraqi civil war would result if the Americans actually left.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RODGERS: Like it or not, U.S. forces now appear to be slipping into a classical guerrilla warfare situation and it's still an open question whether a conventional military exercise, the kind that's going on in Tikrit, can put the insurgents out of business -- Aaron.
BROWN: That was exactly the question I was going to ask. This is -- we stay away from Vietnam analogies here and we're mostly staying away from one here but in military history, recent military history, have these sort of conventional tactics ever worked against guerrilla or insurgent actions? RODGERS: I've been trying to ask myself that question all day and I can't think of an example where helicopters and tanks and armor have put guerrillas out of business. Still, this is not Vietnam. A better analogy would be the Soviets in Afghanistan.
What we're seeing here is the Americans, except when they go out on exercises like this, being confined behind concrete barricades in their bunkers, in their fortresses and not coming out.
One other very discouraging sign we have seen the war that is the reach of the insurgents spreading. Remember the 19 Italians killed in Nasiriya last week. That's way outside the Sunni Triangle and then the Americans who died up in Mosul over the weekend well outside the Sunni Triangle. That was supposed to be a safe city -- Aaron.
BROWN: Walt, thank you, good to have you again, Walt Rodgers in Iraq tonight.
Retired General Wesley Clark says the Bush administration is making the right choice in speeding up the handover of power to the Iraqi government. The Democratic presidential hopeful was talking to reporters over the weekend but he said the Iraqis will have a very tough go of it as long as Saddam Hussein stays on the lam. So far he has and so far, at least, toppling his statue has proven a whole lot easier than finding the man.
Our Senior Pentagon Correspondent now, Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE (voice-over): It is supposedly the voice of Saddam Hussein on a new audio tape aired over the weekend by Al-Arabiya Television but the CIA is not convinced the speaker exhorting Iraqis to fight the U.S. occupation is really Saddam. Its technical analysis is inconclusive.
However, the U.S. is convinced the former Iraqi leader is alive and in Iraq and that neutralizing him would take much of the fight out of his sympathizers. Pentagon sources say the U.S. hopes to find Saddam by getting his top deputy, Izzak Ibrahim al-Douri, King of Clubs in the deck of the most wanted who is believed to be the brains behind the insurgents.
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: We are getting more intelligence which suggests that he was directly implicated in the killing of some coalition soldiers. Are we any closer? We're getting closer every day.
MCINTYRE: The stepped up raids against dozens of suspected guerrilla hideouts are not based on any new intelligence as to Saddam Hussein's whereabouts, sources say, but they are designed to develop new leads for the elite units hunting him down.
KIMMITT: Every day we continue to seek intelligence to find him. Every day we continue to work to go after him and that is daily business and we will not stop the hunt for Saddam Hussein. MCINTYRE: And the Pentagon says it will not stop using helicopters as the main means of moving U.S. troops around Iraq despite the loss of 39 lives in five crashes since October 25th.
But even before the latest deadly Black Hawk collision, the Army's acting secretary ordered a review to ensure the most effective defensive systems are on all U.S. helicopters in Iraq and Afghanistan, adding a handwritten postscript "this is urgent."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: That order came in response to congressional questions about why half the fleet of CH-47 helicopters didn't have the latest missile defenses. That half is now being upgraded with the newest version of flare and chaff dispensers and the Army had ordered that all the helicopters in Iraq and Afghanistan be reviewed to see if they have the best protection available -- Aaron.
BROWN: I guess this begs the question why weren't they protected by the most sophisticated defensive measures that are available?
MCINTYRE: Well, they did have -- these CH-47s did have working pretty good systems for dispensing flares and chaff to divert missiles but a lot of these were used as -- were considered troop carrying helicopters that wouldn't necessarily be sent behind enemy lines.
So they didn't have things, some things like armor under the seats in some cases or the latest version of the missile protection system but as is clear now there's no place in Iraq that can't be considered behind enemy lines and the Pentagon's got to think about these helicopters in a different way.
BROWN: Jamie, thank you, Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon tonight.
Moving on now from questions of hardware and intelligence and the like to husbands and heartache and the knock on the door that comes in wartime. More than 400 times since this war began, too many times recently, for the families of the 101st Airborne.
Their story tonight from CNN's Gary Tuchman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Last week, Katrina Sullivan received two dozen roses from her husband serving in Iraq. This week she received two visitors at her door in military uniforms.
KATRINA SULLIVAN, WIFE OF BLACK HAWK VICTIM: I didn't want to answer the door because I pretty much knew what they were going to tell me.
TUCHMAN: Army Specialist John Sullivan was one of 17 soldiers killed in the crash of two Black Hawk helicopters in Iraq on Saturday all part of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The 26-year-old left behind a daughter and twin sons he never got a chance to hold. Gavin (ph) and Aden (ph) were born in September. Their father left for Iraq two months earlier.
SULLIVAN: He loved them so much even though he hadn't met them yet.
TUCHMAN: Private First Class Joey Whitener also just had a baby but as his wife Beth mourns his death she treasures the fact her husband came home from Iraq for an R&R break and witnessed the birth of his son.
BETH WHITENER, WIFE OF BLACK HAWK VICTIM: I was so happy to see him and about a week, maybe a little over a week after he got home I had the baby and he was so happy.
TUCHMAN: With this loss of life this fort that straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee state line has now lost 52 soldiers in Iraq since March.
LT. COL. CJ BUCHE, FT. CAMPBELL: The 101st suffered a terrible loss the night of the 15th and it may be that we will suffer more losses before we all return to Fort Campbell.
SULLIVAN: To me he's just gone and it doesn't matter how. It just -- that's the only thing that I know that he's not here and he's not coming home.
TUCHMAN: There is much pride in the Fort Campbell community but there is also increasing sadness.
Gary Tuchman CNN, Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, California has itself a new governor, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sworn in and takes action to repeal an unpopular tax in the Golden State.
And popular radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh returns to the air after five weeks off for treatment for drug addiction, a break first.
This is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: If you were to play word association 30 years ago, chances are the word governor might go with Heston or Peck or even Redford, all of whom have had political leanings, some of whom joined political movements but none of whom had a political moment. That moment, a kind of perfect storm, happened this year and Governor Schwarzenegger profited from it, Governor Schwarzenegger starting today.
Here's CNN's Candy Crowley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: I, Arnold Schwarzenegger...
CROWLEY (voice-over): Everything about the day was designed to make the turn from glitter to government, low key his aides kept saying, well as low key as you can get with 700 credentialed media, 7,500 invited guests, a couple thousand more un-ticketed star gazers and Vanessa Williams as part of the program. She was Schwarzenegger's co-star in "Eraser." This is going to take some getting used to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations Governor Schwarzenegger.
SCHWARZENEGGER: Thank you.
CROWLEY: Under unusual circumstances an unusual politician took office in the traditional way, a stately walk through the capital building, wife at the side, hand on the Bible, speech full of hope.
SCHWARZENEGGER: With the eyes of the world upon us, we did the dramatic. Now we must put the rancor of the past behind us and do the extraordinary.
CROWLEY: California has the fifth largest economy in the world as well as the biggest deficit and worst credit rating of any state in the country. For that and the tripling of the California car tax voters threw out Gray Davis, a career politician just ten months into his second term as governor.
Davis, the first California governor to be recalled clapped gamely through the swearing in of a multimillionaire action film hero, make that former action film hero whose first act, and this is no coincidence, was to repeal that car tax.
SCHWARZENEGGER: Make-up please, just joking.
CROWLEY: In a weird California kind of way, Governor Schwarzenegger is such an improbability he may just be the right guy. In a state indifferent, frequently hostile to politicians, he's not one.
SCHWARZENEGGER: To those who have dropped out, too weary, too disappointed with politics as usual I took the oath to serve you.
CROWLEY: In a state run by Democrats, he is a Republican in-law in the most prominent Democratic family in modern history.
SCHWARZENEGGER: In the words of President Kennedy: "I am an idealist without allusions."
CROWLEY: He is an immigrant in the most diverse state in the country. He understands what it is to be poor and make it big and all the dreams in between.
SCHWARZENEGGER: President Reagan spoke of America as the shining city on the hill. I see California as the golden dream by the sea. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: He has a star on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles and pretty soon he will have a portrait hanging in the state capitol here in Sacramento. Aaron, this just might work.
BROWN: Well, we'll find out. With the stroke of a pen he cost the state tens and tens of millions of dollars in that car tax money so where does he make up for it or how does he make up for it?
CROWLEY: Well, there's already talk of a bond which, of course, would be put out to the voters and would be borrowing money essentially. Here's the problem for Schwarzenegger is he's got this huge debt.
Seventy percent of the budget outlays are kind of off the table so he's only got about 30 percent of the budget and those are a lot of programs for poor people. He's promised not to touch education. He has promised, in fact, not to raise taxes.
Now, I think what you're hearing now is a lot of talk that maybe there will be some closing of loopholes. If your loophole gets closed it seems like a tax hike and you may, in fact, see Schwarzenegger do what he tried to lay out in his campaign and that is if he can't get cooperation out of the Democrat-controlled state legislature he may go directly to the people for issues like the bonds and whatever else he may need.
BROWN: Candy, thank you. It was quite a day in Sacramento, Candy Crowley.
Hard as it is to battle an addiction we imagine it is even harder to do so in the public eye, virtually everything is. Rush Limbaugh is about to find out. He made his first appearance on his syndicated radio show today after five weeks in rehab.
A very quick stint say the experts especially when kicking the habit he has had. For most patients six months would be more like it. Then again for better or worse, we don't know for sure, Rush Limbaugh isn't like most patients.
Here's CNN's Jason Carroll.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On his first day back on the air since reentering rehab, the king of talk radio, Rush Limbaugh, told his legion of loyal listeners he was nervous but excited and ready to talk.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, HOST "THE RUSH LIMBAUGH SHOW": There are people I need to apologize to. When it comes to apologizing to you, those of you in this audience, I think my statement on Friday before I left that I'm not a victim here and I'm not a role model.
CARROLL: Limbaugh says he thought his will alone was enough to fight the addiction to the painkiller OxyContin, prescribed after a back injury. Doctors use it for patients suffering from severe pain. OxyContin has also become a popular drug in American cities, suburbs, and even rural areas where it's illegally sold under the name Oxy or Hillbilly Heroin. Limbaugh says he was powerless against the addiction.
LIMBAUGH: I spent five intense weeks, probably the most educational and informative five weeks on myself and about me that I ever have spent and I would have had no idea how to do this myself.
CARROLL: Limbaugh has been in rehab twice before for addiction to painkillers. Medical experts say staying clean will not be easy.
DR. GOPAL UPADHYA, DRUG REHABILITATION EXPERT: It's a difficult task for him but I am an optimist. I don't think that anybody needs to give up. It will be a tough fight but he has to face it.
CARROLL: On occasion, Limbaugh has been tough on convicted drug abusers saying they should serve prison time. Law enforcement sources tell CNN investigators have not decided whether to pursue criminal charges against Limbaugh for possible illegal trafficking of prescription drugs. Limbaugh did not address the subject but did say this about his past comments.
LIMBAUGH: I was honest with you throughout the whole time. I was not honest with myself.
CARROLL: Limbaugh says he came out of rehab feeling reborn at the age of 50. He also says he has a new appreciation for just how much he loves radio and for what his life means to him.
Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Coming up on NEWSNIGHT, controversial bills on prescription drug benefits for the elderly and national energy policy. We'll talk with California Senator Barbara Boxer in a moment.
From New York this is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: If you thought all the infighting in Congress ended last week when the 39 hour talk-a-thon on judicial nominees finished you can think again. Two new issues have jumped to the forefront.
The first prescription drug benefits for Medicare patients seems close to a deal mostly because of the surprising support of the American Association of Retired People, the AARP.
Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy blasted the deal today saying the bill would create a $12 billion slush fund to lure seniors into private coverage undermining the basic government supported Medicare program. The second controversial issue is the energy bill. The bill is loaded with tax incentives estimated at $23 billion. Senator John McCain called it the no lobbyist left behind bill.
It is an enormously complicated bill, as you would expect, written largely behind closed doors by a relative handful of people. Aside from the cost, other portions of the bill have already come in for criticism, including one that would shield the makers of the gasoline additive MTBE from liability suits stemming from its link to groundwater contamination.
Several hundred cities have sued the makers of MTBE. And the bill makes the industry's liability retroactive to September, before many of those suits were filed. Supporters say the industry deserves the protection from those greedy trial lawyers. Critics, of course, see it differently, among them, Barbara Boxer, senator from California.
Senator Boxer joins us tonight.
Of all the things in the bill -- and it's literally more than 1,000 pages...
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: Yes.
BROWN: ... why is MTBE such a big deal?
BOXER: Let me tell you why.
Millions of Americans are going to be impacted by what these conferees have done. And by the way, they didn't let any Democrats in the room, it just so happens. We didn't have anybody there. They were congratulating each other. They finally reached agreement after weeks. But no Democrat had seen the bill until today really.
But here's why: 43 of our states have water systems that are contaminated with MTBE. And this is very serious, because MTBE is linked to leukemia and brain damage and all kinds of bad things. It's a probable carcinogen. It's a real problem. And it leaks into the water supply from underground storage tanks, from motor boats. And the bottom line is, if this bill goes through as it is and there is liability waiver given to the companies who make it and use it and so on, who's going to be left holding the bag for the billions of dollars of cleanup? Ordinary taxpayers in local cities and towns all across our great country; 43 states...
(CROSSTALK)
BOXER: Let me show you. Can you see this?
BROWN: Yes.
BOXER: Is this high enough, you can see it?
BROWN: Yes. BOXER: All the black states are the ones that have MTBE. There are only seven states, the six you see here, plus Hawaii. So this is something -- I don't understand how people go in a closed room and come out with something that's going to hurt average families.
BROWN: Well, I guess, obviously, the argument's complex, but let me make a part of it. The government mandated cleaner gasoline. MTBE in fact does clean the gasoline. And so the makers were only doing what the government wanted them to do.
BOXER: Not true.
The government mandated an oxygenate. There are many other ways to do this. And the companies used MTBE. And in the lawsuits that have been filed -- and won, by the way -- what we have learned is they actually knew. They knew that MTBE was really poisoning the water supply and they just kept on doing it. So, to me, it's not complicated, Aaron.
And I think one of the problems we face here, people say, oh, it's too complicated and they tune out. We've got 43 states whose water systems are contaminated. It was done by the people who make MTBE, a lot of the oil companies. These are multibillion-dollar companies. And they want to get off the hook for billions of dollars to clean up these water supplies.
If they walk away, where are our cities going to go to get the funds? Where are they going to go? Where are our water districts? They're going to go to property tax owners, to the taxpayers. And if you believe in polluter pays, as I do, this bill is a major step backward. I'm ashamed that we would come up with something like this.
BROWN: A couple of quick things. First of all, do you expect this bill to be filibustered?
BOXER: I will know more tomorrow, because we are just -- as we speak now, people are going over the fine print.
BROWN: OK.
BOXER: And the conference -- as a matter of fact, the conference was still going on just an hour ago.
BROWN: And we've talked all day at various points about what's in the bill. What's missing from the bill that you wish were in it?
BOXER: Well, let me tell you something good that's missing. There's no drilling in the Alaska Wildlife preserve. And that's really very important. This is a wilderness area, really, that is deserving of protection. And they knew, if they put that in there, there would be some real problems.
What isn't in there that should be in there is relief for us in California and across the Western states from the electricity companies that really kind of stole from us, frankly, by making these artificial shortages. There ought to have been in this redress for us. They should have ordered renegotiation of long-term contracts. They should have refunded the $9 billion or $10 billion. Governor Schwarzenegger needs that money to help him balance our budget. We're really due that. There's no mention of that at all.
And there's really very little mention of any fuel-economy standards. How foolish is that? At a time when we're really getting those great technologies moving, we ought to be moving forward on fuel economy. It's the best way to lessen our dependence on foreign oil.
BROWN: Senator, we'll let you get back to the remaining 1,400 pages of the bill and see if you can sort it out.
BOXER: Thanks a lot.
BROWN: Thank you.
BOXER: I'd rather be talking to you. Thanks, Aaron.
BROWN: Thank you. It's good to have you with us tonight.
BOXER: Good night.
BROWN: Still to come on the program; the sniper conviction. What happens next in the Muhammad case? What effect, if any, will it have on the case of Lee Malvo?
A break first. Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: And there's lots more NEWSNIGHT ahead tonight: morning papers coming up at the end, and some fascinating photographs of President Kennedy that we thought were lost -- that and more.
We'll take a break first. This is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: More now on the sniper trials, the death penalty phase for John Muhammad, the trial of Lee Malvo, where things go from here.
We're joined by Bob Tarver, criminal defense lawyer, analyst, friend of the program, other things.
Nice to see you.
ROBERT TARVER, LEGAL ANALYST, THE NORTHSTAR NETWORK: Thanks for having me.
BROWN: Let me deal with the Malvo case first.
Does the Muhammad verdict, in your view, have any effect on that trial, which is in its most early stages?
TARVER: Not substantially. Only to buoy the prosecution there, to make them feel a little bit better about their chances. But Malvo really stands on its own facts.
BROWN: OK. And how hard a defense, by the way, is that to make, that you were brainwashed?
TARVER: An incredibly difficult defense.
I've been practicing for more than 15 years. And I can tell you, those types of psychological defenses, I've probably seen two of them be successful in the entire 17 years of my entire practice of dealing with this type thing. Juries just don't buy it.
BROWN: Is this separate from an insanity defense?
TARVER: It is, in some ways.
BROWN: Or are you questioning both?
TARVER: But, really, what you're saying -- what you're really saying is that there is a decreased capacity of some sort, some sort of decreased mental capacity.
In order to make that actually fly, you've got to suggest that he wasn't up to the mental snuff, so to speak. And jurors, as soon as they hear that little bit of insanity or mental defect, a lot of them just turn off.
BROWN: Let's talk about Mr. Muhammad.
You're the defense lawyer. You are, in fact, a defense lawyer, so that'll be an easy part for you to play here. What is it you're trying to get in the jurors' minds? They have made the judgment that this guy is a killer many times over. They've made that judgment. How do you get them to say, "on the other hand"?
TARVER: Well, it's a simple battle right now. And the real battle is, give us a reason why he should stay alive.
So the defense attorneys have to sit back and say, what are the types of things that would suggest that you keep this guy alive? They're what's called mitigating factors. And they could be any number of things. The one thing you want to try to do is connect with some juror. It might be to produce evidence of some good acts that he's had in his past, maybe some discussion of his prior military service.
You never know what's going to click in with one juror to say: You know what? I think this guy at least deserves a shot to stay alive because of one prior act.
BROWN: All of these jurors not only voted to find him guilty of capital murder, but they are, presumably -- I can't know for certain -- they are aware of the debate that brought those cases to Virginia in the first place, a debate which centered around what state would more likely deliver on the death penalty. Does that impact the jurors?
TARVER: I'm not sure that it really does.
There's one thing -- having been involved in death penalty work myself, I can tell you, it's one thing to sit around and say, boy, I would give the death penalty in a heartbeat.
BROWN: Yes.
TARVER: It's another thing to sit in a courtroom with a guy for three or four weeks. You watch him smile. You watch him talk. You see him do different things. And then you have to decide at some point whether he's going to live or die. And it becomes very real very quick.
BROWN: I hope it does. It's a huge decision.
Does the fact that, for a couple of days, at least, Mr. Muhammad was in fact up there talking to witnesses. He delivered an opening statement. He cross-examined some witnesses. Does that work in his favor?
TARVER: I think it does.
I think it humanized him, to a certain extent. As long as his appearance at that time was not too antagonistic. And I'm told from people who had a chance to see him directly that it really was not antagonistic and that he made a good impression.
BROWN: Honestly -- well, of course, honestly -- what, am I going to ask you to lie here? What do you think the chances they will be able to save him, somewhere between slim and none?
TARVER: I think it's about a 3 to 10 percent chance that they'll be able to save him. But they've got to produce some form of evidence that clicks with one juror. You aim for one juror here, but that's all you need.
BROWN: That's right. This is not a hung-jury situation. One juror saves your life.
TARVER: That's right. That's right.
BROWN: Good to see you again. Thanks for coming in tonight.
TARVER: Good to see you too, Aaron.
BROWN: When we come back, we'll go back to the early days of Camelot through some remarkable photographs which have a remarkable story of their own.
This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: This coming Saturday is November 22. It will be the 40th anniversary. For those of us of a certain age, that's all you need to say for people to know what event you are talking about. The assassination of John F. Kennedy, much like Pearl Harbor and September 11, marked a turning point for the country. Anyone old enough remembers where they were, what they were doing when they heard the news. And every day this week here on NEWSNIGHT, we'll be looking back at the Kennedy presidency, what it felt like, and, of course, how it ended, conversations with Walter Cronkite, who reported the president's death and changed broadcast history that weekend; Gerald Ford, the last surviving member of the Warren Commission. We'll watch all 26 seconds of the most analyzed movie clip in history, the Zapruder film of the assassination itself.
Tonight, it is other images we'll spend some time with. And in one of those odd connections between unconnected moments of history, it concerns the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. It was there, in a secure vault in a secure bank in a secure building, that the most precious original negatives were being stored.
The pictures, some of the most intimate and revealing moments from the private lives of the Kennedy family, had been taken two generations ago by photographer Jacques Lowe. They were thought lost forever in the rubble of the Trade Center. But with a little time and a lot of work by his daughter, what was lost was found again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THOMASINA LOWE, DAUGHTER OF JACQUES LOWE: Joe Kennedy received some photographs, actually on his 60th birthday, that my father had taken of Bobby Kennedy and his family. He then invited my father to come along and take photographs of his other son. And that other son, of course, turned out to be Jack Kennedy.
BOB ADELMAN, FORMER APPRENTICE TO JACQUES LOWE: Jacques didn't like the first portraits. He thought the whole thing was a disaster and was very heartsick. But a month or two later, he heard from Jack. He was told to do whatever he wanted. He was given no restrictions. I think it was very inventive. And I think they realized that Jacques was a wonderful photographer and would do very well by them.
LOWE: My father stored his 40,000 Kennedy negatives in a safe at J.P. Morgan Chase. For him, the kernel of sort of value was in the negatives. So, on September the 11th, of course, we didn't really know what happened. And without the negatives, for a moment, we sort of thought, well, maybe we're not going to be able to do this. But with advances in digital technology, we could scan the contact sheets and reproduce them and blow them up and use those for the book.
ADELMAN: Most people, I think, see life as a kind of narrative flow. But the peculiar activity of a still photographer is to take a complicated situation and distill it to find all the elements of one frame. But here, we can go back to the narrative and see what preceded it and what followed it. And so I think it enriches it and gives the picture more dimension.
This is probably the most intimate Kennedy pictures that we've seen or ever will see. These particular pictures that we're looking at now are kind of a portrait sitting, but it looks just like family pictures. I think it just shows the level of trust and the degree of spontaneity that existed with Jacques around.
LOWE: I think Jack Kennedy understood the importance of the image and how he wanted to be portrayed to the American people. The photograph of when Jack Kennedy is offering Lyndon Johnson the vice presidency, that's an incredible moment in history, where the only other man present really was my dad. And why didn't Jack Kennedy sort of say to my dad: I'm going to offer him the vice presidency now; I think this should be a private meeting?
ADELMAN: The smart money was that Nixon was ahead. But Kennedy felt a great surge. There was all this anxious waiting and people talking to each other and waiting for information. Then he finally is triumphant, and you just see how gleeful he is.
Jackie wasn't there. She'd gone for a walk. And Jacques had to go around and chase her and find her, and then finally a moment of great joy and happiness. And there's a mood to it. And not everybody is looking at the camera. Some of them are looking at the camera, but everyone is jovial. There's no one who's kind of stiff there. And they're all smiling.
LOWE: I think the Kennedy family and Jack Kennedy really represented to my father a sense of belief in the possibility of doing anything really that you put your mind to.
There is a school of thought that sort of says, it's not really about the photographer, the person, it's more about the photographs that are a reflection of the person. So I think, in a sense, the book does that, because you open the book and you're mesmerized by it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: The book is called "Remembering Jack," the photographs of Jacques Lowe.
Weren't those fascinating?
Morning papers after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(ROOSTER CROWING)
BROWN: Okeydokey, time to check morning papers from around the country. And you may get one from around the world, too. You never know. That's why you stay to the very end.
We'll begin with "USA Today." For those of you on the road watching the program in a hotel, this is what you'll get tomorrow morning. "First Sniper Verdict: Guilty. Muhammad Convicted of Capital Murder, Awaits Fate." I love this story down at the bottom in "USA Today." This is a great story idea. "Tennis Legend Ages in Style. Back On Court, Winning Matches and Fans Again, Navratilova." Martina Navratilova, 47 years old, will play for the USA in the Fed Cup. And she also wants to play in the Olympics. There isn't much she hasn't done in her athletic life, but she's never won an Olympic gold medal. And she wants to. And I'm rooting for her.
"The Richmond Times Dispatch" plays Muhammad as its front-page story, its front-page, its big story, as you would, too. "Muhammad Guilty. Penalty Phase Begins."
"The Boston Herald" mixes the two big stories of the day right on its front page. "Will He Die? Sniper Guilty. Jurors Weighing Death Penalty." And over here, "The Governator is in Charge," Governor Schwarzenegger. And they put both those stories on the front page. "Britney Gets Her Star." I'm telling you, I don't know about that Walk of Fame thing anymore. Come on.
"The Washington Times." "Muhammad Found Guilty" is the Lead. Governor Schwarzenegger on the front page. But I like this story. "The Case Was Fixed. Democratic Staff Memo Show Efforts in Michigan Affirmative Action Decisions." Basically, the piece argues there was judge shopping to get liberal judges to rule in favor of the Michigan law, or the admissions policy.
"Chattanooga Times Free Press." I like this one. I'd have put this on the front page, if I owned a newspaper. But, clearly, I don't and never will. "AARP Endorses Republican Medicare Bill". The reason I would put it there is because I think it pretty much means game, set, match point on prescription drug coverage. I think it will now pass, if the AARP signs on.
How we doing on time, David?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty-five.
BROWN: OK.
"Chrysler Stresses" -- this is "The Detroit News" -- power and prices. OK, this is the paragraph. "Chrysler wants to improve sales by offering attractive cars, trucks with better quality, more safety, comfort, and convenient features." Duh. Well, of course they do. But can they? Twenty seconds, really?
OK. Well, you wouldn't lie to me. OK.
"Chicago Sun-Times." "Rod" -- that's the governor -- "Stares Down Power Giant in Victory For Governor, Excelon." I hope I did that right. "Decides It Doesn't Need a Rate Hike to Pay For Power." They put the governor on the front page. I love this. Mom, dad, please look at the kid over there. Weather in Chicago -- you got it? -- there you go. Weather in Chicago tomorrow is "spongy."
We'll wrap up the day after a break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Quick recap of our top story before we go: a guilty verdict in the first sniper trial. Jurors in Virginia Beach, Virginia, took about 6 1/2 hours to find John Muhammad guilty of murder and other charges carrying the death penalty. The penalty phase of the trial continues there tomorrow. Tomorrow on NEWSNIGHT: the last surviving member of the Warren Commission, our conversation with former President Gerald Ford, now 90 years old. We'll talk about a stunning moment in history.
"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" is next. We'll see you tomorrow.
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
Military Offensive in Tikrit; Schwarzenegger Sworn in as California's Governor>
Aired November 17, 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.
Among the things we will do together this week is remember. Forty years ago this week John F. Kennedy was assassinated and the country was changed. Forty years later most Americans continue to believe it is a mystery unsolved.
Forty years later it will still light up the switchboard of radio call in shows as it did back in the days when I did that sort of program and often said, on those nights when the switchboard was dead, I was thinking about the Kennedy assassination. For whatever reason we still want to think about it, know about it and talk about it and this week we shall.
But, as always, the other news of the day comes first and the whip comes before that and that starts in Virginia Beach with the sniper case, a verdict today in the trial of John Muhammad. CNN's Jeanne Meserve has been there from the start, Jeanne a headline.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, the jury chooses guilt over innocence. Now they must choose between life and death. The defense says John Muhammad is a man worth saving. The prosecution says he deserves the very harshest penalty -- Aaron.
BROWN: Jeanne, thank you. We'll get to you tonight at the top.
Next to Iraq where it is looking like a war right down to the war correspondents. CNN's Walter Rodgers is there for us again, Walt a headline.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The headline, Aaron, is the Army's calling it "a massive military offensive in Tikrit" Saddam Hussein's hometown, the objective bloodying the Iraqis the way they've recently made the Americans bleed -- Aaron.
BROWN: Walter thank you.
On to the Pentagon and the search for those giving the orders up to and including Saddam Hussein, our Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre with the watch tonight, Jamie a headline.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the things that the Pentagon is saying that among the targets in these raids in Tikrit is a key Saddam deputy who is believed to be orchestrating the attacks but what sources are telling me is that the ultimate target may be Saddam Hussein himself -- Aaron.
BROWN: Jamie, thank you.
And get used to it, Governor Schwarzenegger, CNN's Candy Crowley was there for the inauguration today, Candy the headline.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You took the words right out of my mouth, Aaron. It is a two word headline tonight out of Sacramento, Governor Schwarzenegger.
BROWN: Thank you very much, Candy, back to you and the rest shortly.
Also tonight on NEWSNIGHT we'll talk with California Senator Barbara Boxer who is among the Democrats upset over the new energy bill they are just now getting a look at.
We'll also mark the return to the airwaves of Rush Limbaugh after his stint in rehab for an addiction to painkillers.
A bit later in Segment 7, some remarkable, remarkable photographs of President Kennedy, photographs that were feared lost in the destruction of the World Trade Center.
And, fresh from a weekend on the farm, hum, the rooster returns along with morning papers, all that and more in the hour ahead.
We begin a little more than a year and a month since the Washington, D.C. area slipped into a waking nightmare, no exaggeration there. For 20 days ordinary people getting shot and killed while going about their everyday lives.
No rhyme, no reason. The shots came almost literally from out of the blue or a nightmare and when it ended ten people were dead, three more wounded, and two men in custody. Today came the first verdict. The next will decide a man's life.
Here's CNN's Jeanne Meserve.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice-over): If John Muhammad felt anything he showed nothing as the verdict was read, guilty on all four counts, including terrorism and capital murder each of which carries a possible death penalty.
The sister of Hong Im Ballenger who was gunned down outside a Baton Rouge beauty supply store sobbed as the verdict was read. She made it clear afterwards what she thinks should happen next.
SWANG SZUSZKA, SISTER OF HONG BALLENGER: I'm glad they found him guilty and I'm still looking for death penalty for justice.
MESERVE: As the jury moved on to consider whether Muhammad should die or spend the rest of his life in prison, defense attorney Jonathan Shapiro acknowledged the obvious. "Your decision will put John Muhammad in a box of one sort of another. One is made of concrete and one is made of pine."
Saying it is not necessary to extinguish one more life, Shapiro characterized Muhammad as "a man of worth and value" who had friends, admirers, and loving children. But, prosecutor Richard Conway said Muhammad was one of the "worst of the worst" saying: "He sits right in front of you without a shred of remorse."
The first witness in the penalty phase Isa Nichols (ph) a former friend and business associate of Muhammad's whose niece was shot, prosecutors contend, after Nichols alienated Muhammad by giving support to his ex-wife Mildred.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: When Mildred Muhammad regained custody of her children and moved with them to the Washington, D.C. area, Nichols refused to tell Muhammad where they were because "Mildred felt that he was going to destroy her." Mildred Muhammad is expected to take the stand tomorrow -- Aaron.
BROWN: Where does the defense go? What does the defense show this jury that might save his life?
MESERVE: They're going to talk some about his childhood, a difficult childhood according to the opening statements they made here today in the penalty phase. They're also going to tap people who have liked and admired John Muhammad. They say they are out there that he has some people who are faithful friends to him still and they're going to talk about the kind of father he was.
We already heard from a reverend who ran the mission out in Washington state where Muhammad stayed for a while with his three children. He nearly cried on the stand explaining what good care Muhammad took of them. We'll hear more from him and from others who will testify along the same lines -- Aaron.
BROWN: Jeanne, thank you very much, Jeanne Meserve.
Also later in the program we'll talk with Bob Tarver, a legal analyst, about where the defense goes, where the prosecution goes and how, if at all, this affects the other case, the Malvo case which is underway.
On to other things now in this case the show of force in central Iraq. In a moment you'll see pictures of artillery firing in the night, rockets hitting buildings, flames shooting in the air. That much is perfectly clear to see.
Less clear, though, what exactly is being hit whether the insurgents are in fact feeling any pain. Also hard to say, so far at least, is whether the message being sent is the right one or whether it's reaching the right ears.
Reporting for us tonight CNN's Walt Rodgers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RODGERS (voice-over): Punishing Iraqi insurgents for their increasingly deadly attacks on U.S. soldiers here, two more killed Monday, the 4th Infantry Division's big guns boom away around Tikrit. The U.S. military believes Tikrit to be a stronghold of Saddam Hussein loyalists and the anti-American resistance.
These 155-millimeter shells are seeking out the hideouts of Iraqi paramilitary groups. Sometimes they just shoot at patches of ground from which the Iraqis previously fired mortars at U.S. forces.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We fired two so far. Both hit. We should be firing about nine more during the course of the night.
RODGERS: Only a reduction in the number of attacks on U.S. forces in the weeks ahead will determine the success of this offensive but its minimum goal is to keep the insurgents off balance.
COL. JAMES HICKEY, U.S. ARMY: This brigade and all the soldiers in and around in a defensive footing have been that way since June. We think we have a pretty good handle on the enemy in this area. We're noticing a definite trend that is getting weaker.
RODGERS: Still the American offensive in and around Tikrit has also raised the wrath of many Iraqi civilians.
This young Iraqi said them more they treat us this way the more of us will join the resistance.
Part of this operation was the destruction of four houses belonging to Iraqi families whom the U.S. Army said had husbands or sons involved in the shoot down of a U.S. helicopter November 7th.
"They blamed my son. My son is innocent. I swear to God" this woman said. She claims someone is trying to settle an old score with her family and they told the Army her son was an insurgent.
This Iraqi mocked the U.S. military offensive saying: "The Americans came promising freedom. Now look what they've done to us."
On this Arab street the sentiment clearly favored the Americans leaving. Unstated, however, is the real possibility an Iraqi civil war would result if the Americans actually left.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RODGERS: Like it or not, U.S. forces now appear to be slipping into a classical guerrilla warfare situation and it's still an open question whether a conventional military exercise, the kind that's going on in Tikrit, can put the insurgents out of business -- Aaron.
BROWN: That was exactly the question I was going to ask. This is -- we stay away from Vietnam analogies here and we're mostly staying away from one here but in military history, recent military history, have these sort of conventional tactics ever worked against guerrilla or insurgent actions? RODGERS: I've been trying to ask myself that question all day and I can't think of an example where helicopters and tanks and armor have put guerrillas out of business. Still, this is not Vietnam. A better analogy would be the Soviets in Afghanistan.
What we're seeing here is the Americans, except when they go out on exercises like this, being confined behind concrete barricades in their bunkers, in their fortresses and not coming out.
One other very discouraging sign we have seen the war that is the reach of the insurgents spreading. Remember the 19 Italians killed in Nasiriya last week. That's way outside the Sunni Triangle and then the Americans who died up in Mosul over the weekend well outside the Sunni Triangle. That was supposed to be a safe city -- Aaron.
BROWN: Walt, thank you, good to have you again, Walt Rodgers in Iraq tonight.
Retired General Wesley Clark says the Bush administration is making the right choice in speeding up the handover of power to the Iraqi government. The Democratic presidential hopeful was talking to reporters over the weekend but he said the Iraqis will have a very tough go of it as long as Saddam Hussein stays on the lam. So far he has and so far, at least, toppling his statue has proven a whole lot easier than finding the man.
Our Senior Pentagon Correspondent now, Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE (voice-over): It is supposedly the voice of Saddam Hussein on a new audio tape aired over the weekend by Al-Arabiya Television but the CIA is not convinced the speaker exhorting Iraqis to fight the U.S. occupation is really Saddam. Its technical analysis is inconclusive.
However, the U.S. is convinced the former Iraqi leader is alive and in Iraq and that neutralizing him would take much of the fight out of his sympathizers. Pentagon sources say the U.S. hopes to find Saddam by getting his top deputy, Izzak Ibrahim al-Douri, King of Clubs in the deck of the most wanted who is believed to be the brains behind the insurgents.
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: We are getting more intelligence which suggests that he was directly implicated in the killing of some coalition soldiers. Are we any closer? We're getting closer every day.
MCINTYRE: The stepped up raids against dozens of suspected guerrilla hideouts are not based on any new intelligence as to Saddam Hussein's whereabouts, sources say, but they are designed to develop new leads for the elite units hunting him down.
KIMMITT: Every day we continue to seek intelligence to find him. Every day we continue to work to go after him and that is daily business and we will not stop the hunt for Saddam Hussein. MCINTYRE: And the Pentagon says it will not stop using helicopters as the main means of moving U.S. troops around Iraq despite the loss of 39 lives in five crashes since October 25th.
But even before the latest deadly Black Hawk collision, the Army's acting secretary ordered a review to ensure the most effective defensive systems are on all U.S. helicopters in Iraq and Afghanistan, adding a handwritten postscript "this is urgent."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: That order came in response to congressional questions about why half the fleet of CH-47 helicopters didn't have the latest missile defenses. That half is now being upgraded with the newest version of flare and chaff dispensers and the Army had ordered that all the helicopters in Iraq and Afghanistan be reviewed to see if they have the best protection available -- Aaron.
BROWN: I guess this begs the question why weren't they protected by the most sophisticated defensive measures that are available?
MCINTYRE: Well, they did have -- these CH-47s did have working pretty good systems for dispensing flares and chaff to divert missiles but a lot of these were used as -- were considered troop carrying helicopters that wouldn't necessarily be sent behind enemy lines.
So they didn't have things, some things like armor under the seats in some cases or the latest version of the missile protection system but as is clear now there's no place in Iraq that can't be considered behind enemy lines and the Pentagon's got to think about these helicopters in a different way.
BROWN: Jamie, thank you, Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon tonight.
Moving on now from questions of hardware and intelligence and the like to husbands and heartache and the knock on the door that comes in wartime. More than 400 times since this war began, too many times recently, for the families of the 101st Airborne.
Their story tonight from CNN's Gary Tuchman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Last week, Katrina Sullivan received two dozen roses from her husband serving in Iraq. This week she received two visitors at her door in military uniforms.
KATRINA SULLIVAN, WIFE OF BLACK HAWK VICTIM: I didn't want to answer the door because I pretty much knew what they were going to tell me.
TUCHMAN: Army Specialist John Sullivan was one of 17 soldiers killed in the crash of two Black Hawk helicopters in Iraq on Saturday all part of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The 26-year-old left behind a daughter and twin sons he never got a chance to hold. Gavin (ph) and Aden (ph) were born in September. Their father left for Iraq two months earlier.
SULLIVAN: He loved them so much even though he hadn't met them yet.
TUCHMAN: Private First Class Joey Whitener also just had a baby but as his wife Beth mourns his death she treasures the fact her husband came home from Iraq for an R&R break and witnessed the birth of his son.
BETH WHITENER, WIFE OF BLACK HAWK VICTIM: I was so happy to see him and about a week, maybe a little over a week after he got home I had the baby and he was so happy.
TUCHMAN: With this loss of life this fort that straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee state line has now lost 52 soldiers in Iraq since March.
LT. COL. CJ BUCHE, FT. CAMPBELL: The 101st suffered a terrible loss the night of the 15th and it may be that we will suffer more losses before we all return to Fort Campbell.
SULLIVAN: To me he's just gone and it doesn't matter how. It just -- that's the only thing that I know that he's not here and he's not coming home.
TUCHMAN: There is much pride in the Fort Campbell community but there is also increasing sadness.
Gary Tuchman CNN, Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, California has itself a new governor, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sworn in and takes action to repeal an unpopular tax in the Golden State.
And popular radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh returns to the air after five weeks off for treatment for drug addiction, a break first.
This is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: If you were to play word association 30 years ago, chances are the word governor might go with Heston or Peck or even Redford, all of whom have had political leanings, some of whom joined political movements but none of whom had a political moment. That moment, a kind of perfect storm, happened this year and Governor Schwarzenegger profited from it, Governor Schwarzenegger starting today.
Here's CNN's Candy Crowley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: I, Arnold Schwarzenegger...
CROWLEY (voice-over): Everything about the day was designed to make the turn from glitter to government, low key his aides kept saying, well as low key as you can get with 700 credentialed media, 7,500 invited guests, a couple thousand more un-ticketed star gazers and Vanessa Williams as part of the program. She was Schwarzenegger's co-star in "Eraser." This is going to take some getting used to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations Governor Schwarzenegger.
SCHWARZENEGGER: Thank you.
CROWLEY: Under unusual circumstances an unusual politician took office in the traditional way, a stately walk through the capital building, wife at the side, hand on the Bible, speech full of hope.
SCHWARZENEGGER: With the eyes of the world upon us, we did the dramatic. Now we must put the rancor of the past behind us and do the extraordinary.
CROWLEY: California has the fifth largest economy in the world as well as the biggest deficit and worst credit rating of any state in the country. For that and the tripling of the California car tax voters threw out Gray Davis, a career politician just ten months into his second term as governor.
Davis, the first California governor to be recalled clapped gamely through the swearing in of a multimillionaire action film hero, make that former action film hero whose first act, and this is no coincidence, was to repeal that car tax.
SCHWARZENEGGER: Make-up please, just joking.
CROWLEY: In a weird California kind of way, Governor Schwarzenegger is such an improbability he may just be the right guy. In a state indifferent, frequently hostile to politicians, he's not one.
SCHWARZENEGGER: To those who have dropped out, too weary, too disappointed with politics as usual I took the oath to serve you.
CROWLEY: In a state run by Democrats, he is a Republican in-law in the most prominent Democratic family in modern history.
SCHWARZENEGGER: In the words of President Kennedy: "I am an idealist without allusions."
CROWLEY: He is an immigrant in the most diverse state in the country. He understands what it is to be poor and make it big and all the dreams in between.
SCHWARZENEGGER: President Reagan spoke of America as the shining city on the hill. I see California as the golden dream by the sea. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: He has a star on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles and pretty soon he will have a portrait hanging in the state capitol here in Sacramento. Aaron, this just might work.
BROWN: Well, we'll find out. With the stroke of a pen he cost the state tens and tens of millions of dollars in that car tax money so where does he make up for it or how does he make up for it?
CROWLEY: Well, there's already talk of a bond which, of course, would be put out to the voters and would be borrowing money essentially. Here's the problem for Schwarzenegger is he's got this huge debt.
Seventy percent of the budget outlays are kind of off the table so he's only got about 30 percent of the budget and those are a lot of programs for poor people. He's promised not to touch education. He has promised, in fact, not to raise taxes.
Now, I think what you're hearing now is a lot of talk that maybe there will be some closing of loopholes. If your loophole gets closed it seems like a tax hike and you may, in fact, see Schwarzenegger do what he tried to lay out in his campaign and that is if he can't get cooperation out of the Democrat-controlled state legislature he may go directly to the people for issues like the bonds and whatever else he may need.
BROWN: Candy, thank you. It was quite a day in Sacramento, Candy Crowley.
Hard as it is to battle an addiction we imagine it is even harder to do so in the public eye, virtually everything is. Rush Limbaugh is about to find out. He made his first appearance on his syndicated radio show today after five weeks in rehab.
A very quick stint say the experts especially when kicking the habit he has had. For most patients six months would be more like it. Then again for better or worse, we don't know for sure, Rush Limbaugh isn't like most patients.
Here's CNN's Jason Carroll.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On his first day back on the air since reentering rehab, the king of talk radio, Rush Limbaugh, told his legion of loyal listeners he was nervous but excited and ready to talk.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, HOST "THE RUSH LIMBAUGH SHOW": There are people I need to apologize to. When it comes to apologizing to you, those of you in this audience, I think my statement on Friday before I left that I'm not a victim here and I'm not a role model.
CARROLL: Limbaugh says he thought his will alone was enough to fight the addiction to the painkiller OxyContin, prescribed after a back injury. Doctors use it for patients suffering from severe pain. OxyContin has also become a popular drug in American cities, suburbs, and even rural areas where it's illegally sold under the name Oxy or Hillbilly Heroin. Limbaugh says he was powerless against the addiction.
LIMBAUGH: I spent five intense weeks, probably the most educational and informative five weeks on myself and about me that I ever have spent and I would have had no idea how to do this myself.
CARROLL: Limbaugh has been in rehab twice before for addiction to painkillers. Medical experts say staying clean will not be easy.
DR. GOPAL UPADHYA, DRUG REHABILITATION EXPERT: It's a difficult task for him but I am an optimist. I don't think that anybody needs to give up. It will be a tough fight but he has to face it.
CARROLL: On occasion, Limbaugh has been tough on convicted drug abusers saying they should serve prison time. Law enforcement sources tell CNN investigators have not decided whether to pursue criminal charges against Limbaugh for possible illegal trafficking of prescription drugs. Limbaugh did not address the subject but did say this about his past comments.
LIMBAUGH: I was honest with you throughout the whole time. I was not honest with myself.
CARROLL: Limbaugh says he came out of rehab feeling reborn at the age of 50. He also says he has a new appreciation for just how much he loves radio and for what his life means to him.
Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Coming up on NEWSNIGHT, controversial bills on prescription drug benefits for the elderly and national energy policy. We'll talk with California Senator Barbara Boxer in a moment.
From New York this is NEWSNIGHT.
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BROWN: If you thought all the infighting in Congress ended last week when the 39 hour talk-a-thon on judicial nominees finished you can think again. Two new issues have jumped to the forefront.
The first prescription drug benefits for Medicare patients seems close to a deal mostly because of the surprising support of the American Association of Retired People, the AARP.
Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy blasted the deal today saying the bill would create a $12 billion slush fund to lure seniors into private coverage undermining the basic government supported Medicare program. The second controversial issue is the energy bill. The bill is loaded with tax incentives estimated at $23 billion. Senator John McCain called it the no lobbyist left behind bill.
It is an enormously complicated bill, as you would expect, written largely behind closed doors by a relative handful of people. Aside from the cost, other portions of the bill have already come in for criticism, including one that would shield the makers of the gasoline additive MTBE from liability suits stemming from its link to groundwater contamination.
Several hundred cities have sued the makers of MTBE. And the bill makes the industry's liability retroactive to September, before many of those suits were filed. Supporters say the industry deserves the protection from those greedy trial lawyers. Critics, of course, see it differently, among them, Barbara Boxer, senator from California.
Senator Boxer joins us tonight.
Of all the things in the bill -- and it's literally more than 1,000 pages...
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: Yes.
BROWN: ... why is MTBE such a big deal?
BOXER: Let me tell you why.
Millions of Americans are going to be impacted by what these conferees have done. And by the way, they didn't let any Democrats in the room, it just so happens. We didn't have anybody there. They were congratulating each other. They finally reached agreement after weeks. But no Democrat had seen the bill until today really.
But here's why: 43 of our states have water systems that are contaminated with MTBE. And this is very serious, because MTBE is linked to leukemia and brain damage and all kinds of bad things. It's a probable carcinogen. It's a real problem. And it leaks into the water supply from underground storage tanks, from motor boats. And the bottom line is, if this bill goes through as it is and there is liability waiver given to the companies who make it and use it and so on, who's going to be left holding the bag for the billions of dollars of cleanup? Ordinary taxpayers in local cities and towns all across our great country; 43 states...
(CROSSTALK)
BOXER: Let me show you. Can you see this?
BROWN: Yes.
BOXER: Is this high enough, you can see it?
BROWN: Yes. BOXER: All the black states are the ones that have MTBE. There are only seven states, the six you see here, plus Hawaii. So this is something -- I don't understand how people go in a closed room and come out with something that's going to hurt average families.
BROWN: Well, I guess, obviously, the argument's complex, but let me make a part of it. The government mandated cleaner gasoline. MTBE in fact does clean the gasoline. And so the makers were only doing what the government wanted them to do.
BOXER: Not true.
The government mandated an oxygenate. There are many other ways to do this. And the companies used MTBE. And in the lawsuits that have been filed -- and won, by the way -- what we have learned is they actually knew. They knew that MTBE was really poisoning the water supply and they just kept on doing it. So, to me, it's not complicated, Aaron.
And I think one of the problems we face here, people say, oh, it's too complicated and they tune out. We've got 43 states whose water systems are contaminated. It was done by the people who make MTBE, a lot of the oil companies. These are multibillion-dollar companies. And they want to get off the hook for billions of dollars to clean up these water supplies.
If they walk away, where are our cities going to go to get the funds? Where are they going to go? Where are our water districts? They're going to go to property tax owners, to the taxpayers. And if you believe in polluter pays, as I do, this bill is a major step backward. I'm ashamed that we would come up with something like this.
BROWN: A couple of quick things. First of all, do you expect this bill to be filibustered?
BOXER: I will know more tomorrow, because we are just -- as we speak now, people are going over the fine print.
BROWN: OK.
BOXER: And the conference -- as a matter of fact, the conference was still going on just an hour ago.
BROWN: And we've talked all day at various points about what's in the bill. What's missing from the bill that you wish were in it?
BOXER: Well, let me tell you something good that's missing. There's no drilling in the Alaska Wildlife preserve. And that's really very important. This is a wilderness area, really, that is deserving of protection. And they knew, if they put that in there, there would be some real problems.
What isn't in there that should be in there is relief for us in California and across the Western states from the electricity companies that really kind of stole from us, frankly, by making these artificial shortages. There ought to have been in this redress for us. They should have ordered renegotiation of long-term contracts. They should have refunded the $9 billion or $10 billion. Governor Schwarzenegger needs that money to help him balance our budget. We're really due that. There's no mention of that at all.
And there's really very little mention of any fuel-economy standards. How foolish is that? At a time when we're really getting those great technologies moving, we ought to be moving forward on fuel economy. It's the best way to lessen our dependence on foreign oil.
BROWN: Senator, we'll let you get back to the remaining 1,400 pages of the bill and see if you can sort it out.
BOXER: Thanks a lot.
BROWN: Thank you.
BOXER: I'd rather be talking to you. Thanks, Aaron.
BROWN: Thank you. It's good to have you with us tonight.
BOXER: Good night.
BROWN: Still to come on the program; the sniper conviction. What happens next in the Muhammad case? What effect, if any, will it have on the case of Lee Malvo?
A break first. Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.
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BROWN: And there's lots more NEWSNIGHT ahead tonight: morning papers coming up at the end, and some fascinating photographs of President Kennedy that we thought were lost -- that and more.
We'll take a break first. This is NEWSNIGHT.
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BROWN: More now on the sniper trials, the death penalty phase for John Muhammad, the trial of Lee Malvo, where things go from here.
We're joined by Bob Tarver, criminal defense lawyer, analyst, friend of the program, other things.
Nice to see you.
ROBERT TARVER, LEGAL ANALYST, THE NORTHSTAR NETWORK: Thanks for having me.
BROWN: Let me deal with the Malvo case first.
Does the Muhammad verdict, in your view, have any effect on that trial, which is in its most early stages?
TARVER: Not substantially. Only to buoy the prosecution there, to make them feel a little bit better about their chances. But Malvo really stands on its own facts.
BROWN: OK. And how hard a defense, by the way, is that to make, that you were brainwashed?
TARVER: An incredibly difficult defense.
I've been practicing for more than 15 years. And I can tell you, those types of psychological defenses, I've probably seen two of them be successful in the entire 17 years of my entire practice of dealing with this type thing. Juries just don't buy it.
BROWN: Is this separate from an insanity defense?
TARVER: It is, in some ways.
BROWN: Or are you questioning both?
TARVER: But, really, what you're saying -- what you're really saying is that there is a decreased capacity of some sort, some sort of decreased mental capacity.
In order to make that actually fly, you've got to suggest that he wasn't up to the mental snuff, so to speak. And jurors, as soon as they hear that little bit of insanity or mental defect, a lot of them just turn off.
BROWN: Let's talk about Mr. Muhammad.
You're the defense lawyer. You are, in fact, a defense lawyer, so that'll be an easy part for you to play here. What is it you're trying to get in the jurors' minds? They have made the judgment that this guy is a killer many times over. They've made that judgment. How do you get them to say, "on the other hand"?
TARVER: Well, it's a simple battle right now. And the real battle is, give us a reason why he should stay alive.
So the defense attorneys have to sit back and say, what are the types of things that would suggest that you keep this guy alive? They're what's called mitigating factors. And they could be any number of things. The one thing you want to try to do is connect with some juror. It might be to produce evidence of some good acts that he's had in his past, maybe some discussion of his prior military service.
You never know what's going to click in with one juror to say: You know what? I think this guy at least deserves a shot to stay alive because of one prior act.
BROWN: All of these jurors not only voted to find him guilty of capital murder, but they are, presumably -- I can't know for certain -- they are aware of the debate that brought those cases to Virginia in the first place, a debate which centered around what state would more likely deliver on the death penalty. Does that impact the jurors?
TARVER: I'm not sure that it really does.
There's one thing -- having been involved in death penalty work myself, I can tell you, it's one thing to sit around and say, boy, I would give the death penalty in a heartbeat.
BROWN: Yes.
TARVER: It's another thing to sit in a courtroom with a guy for three or four weeks. You watch him smile. You watch him talk. You see him do different things. And then you have to decide at some point whether he's going to live or die. And it becomes very real very quick.
BROWN: I hope it does. It's a huge decision.
Does the fact that, for a couple of days, at least, Mr. Muhammad was in fact up there talking to witnesses. He delivered an opening statement. He cross-examined some witnesses. Does that work in his favor?
TARVER: I think it does.
I think it humanized him, to a certain extent. As long as his appearance at that time was not too antagonistic. And I'm told from people who had a chance to see him directly that it really was not antagonistic and that he made a good impression.
BROWN: Honestly -- well, of course, honestly -- what, am I going to ask you to lie here? What do you think the chances they will be able to save him, somewhere between slim and none?
TARVER: I think it's about a 3 to 10 percent chance that they'll be able to save him. But they've got to produce some form of evidence that clicks with one juror. You aim for one juror here, but that's all you need.
BROWN: That's right. This is not a hung-jury situation. One juror saves your life.
TARVER: That's right. That's right.
BROWN: Good to see you again. Thanks for coming in tonight.
TARVER: Good to see you too, Aaron.
BROWN: When we come back, we'll go back to the early days of Camelot through some remarkable photographs which have a remarkable story of their own.
This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.
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BROWN: This coming Saturday is November 22. It will be the 40th anniversary. For those of us of a certain age, that's all you need to say for people to know what event you are talking about. The assassination of John F. Kennedy, much like Pearl Harbor and September 11, marked a turning point for the country. Anyone old enough remembers where they were, what they were doing when they heard the news. And every day this week here on NEWSNIGHT, we'll be looking back at the Kennedy presidency, what it felt like, and, of course, how it ended, conversations with Walter Cronkite, who reported the president's death and changed broadcast history that weekend; Gerald Ford, the last surviving member of the Warren Commission. We'll watch all 26 seconds of the most analyzed movie clip in history, the Zapruder film of the assassination itself.
Tonight, it is other images we'll spend some time with. And in one of those odd connections between unconnected moments of history, it concerns the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. It was there, in a secure vault in a secure bank in a secure building, that the most precious original negatives were being stored.
The pictures, some of the most intimate and revealing moments from the private lives of the Kennedy family, had been taken two generations ago by photographer Jacques Lowe. They were thought lost forever in the rubble of the Trade Center. But with a little time and a lot of work by his daughter, what was lost was found again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THOMASINA LOWE, DAUGHTER OF JACQUES LOWE: Joe Kennedy received some photographs, actually on his 60th birthday, that my father had taken of Bobby Kennedy and his family. He then invited my father to come along and take photographs of his other son. And that other son, of course, turned out to be Jack Kennedy.
BOB ADELMAN, FORMER APPRENTICE TO JACQUES LOWE: Jacques didn't like the first portraits. He thought the whole thing was a disaster and was very heartsick. But a month or two later, he heard from Jack. He was told to do whatever he wanted. He was given no restrictions. I think it was very inventive. And I think they realized that Jacques was a wonderful photographer and would do very well by them.
LOWE: My father stored his 40,000 Kennedy negatives in a safe at J.P. Morgan Chase. For him, the kernel of sort of value was in the negatives. So, on September the 11th, of course, we didn't really know what happened. And without the negatives, for a moment, we sort of thought, well, maybe we're not going to be able to do this. But with advances in digital technology, we could scan the contact sheets and reproduce them and blow them up and use those for the book.
ADELMAN: Most people, I think, see life as a kind of narrative flow. But the peculiar activity of a still photographer is to take a complicated situation and distill it to find all the elements of one frame. But here, we can go back to the narrative and see what preceded it and what followed it. And so I think it enriches it and gives the picture more dimension.
This is probably the most intimate Kennedy pictures that we've seen or ever will see. These particular pictures that we're looking at now are kind of a portrait sitting, but it looks just like family pictures. I think it just shows the level of trust and the degree of spontaneity that existed with Jacques around.
LOWE: I think Jack Kennedy understood the importance of the image and how he wanted to be portrayed to the American people. The photograph of when Jack Kennedy is offering Lyndon Johnson the vice presidency, that's an incredible moment in history, where the only other man present really was my dad. And why didn't Jack Kennedy sort of say to my dad: I'm going to offer him the vice presidency now; I think this should be a private meeting?
ADELMAN: The smart money was that Nixon was ahead. But Kennedy felt a great surge. There was all this anxious waiting and people talking to each other and waiting for information. Then he finally is triumphant, and you just see how gleeful he is.
Jackie wasn't there. She'd gone for a walk. And Jacques had to go around and chase her and find her, and then finally a moment of great joy and happiness. And there's a mood to it. And not everybody is looking at the camera. Some of them are looking at the camera, but everyone is jovial. There's no one who's kind of stiff there. And they're all smiling.
LOWE: I think the Kennedy family and Jack Kennedy really represented to my father a sense of belief in the possibility of doing anything really that you put your mind to.
There is a school of thought that sort of says, it's not really about the photographer, the person, it's more about the photographs that are a reflection of the person. So I think, in a sense, the book does that, because you open the book and you're mesmerized by it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: The book is called "Remembering Jack," the photographs of Jacques Lowe.
Weren't those fascinating?
Morning papers after the break.
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(ROOSTER CROWING)
BROWN: Okeydokey, time to check morning papers from around the country. And you may get one from around the world, too. You never know. That's why you stay to the very end.
We'll begin with "USA Today." For those of you on the road watching the program in a hotel, this is what you'll get tomorrow morning. "First Sniper Verdict: Guilty. Muhammad Convicted of Capital Murder, Awaits Fate." I love this story down at the bottom in "USA Today." This is a great story idea. "Tennis Legend Ages in Style. Back On Court, Winning Matches and Fans Again, Navratilova." Martina Navratilova, 47 years old, will play for the USA in the Fed Cup. And she also wants to play in the Olympics. There isn't much she hasn't done in her athletic life, but she's never won an Olympic gold medal. And she wants to. And I'm rooting for her.
"The Richmond Times Dispatch" plays Muhammad as its front-page story, its front-page, its big story, as you would, too. "Muhammad Guilty. Penalty Phase Begins."
"The Boston Herald" mixes the two big stories of the day right on its front page. "Will He Die? Sniper Guilty. Jurors Weighing Death Penalty." And over here, "The Governator is in Charge," Governor Schwarzenegger. And they put both those stories on the front page. "Britney Gets Her Star." I'm telling you, I don't know about that Walk of Fame thing anymore. Come on.
"The Washington Times." "Muhammad Found Guilty" is the Lead. Governor Schwarzenegger on the front page. But I like this story. "The Case Was Fixed. Democratic Staff Memo Show Efforts in Michigan Affirmative Action Decisions." Basically, the piece argues there was judge shopping to get liberal judges to rule in favor of the Michigan law, or the admissions policy.
"Chattanooga Times Free Press." I like this one. I'd have put this on the front page, if I owned a newspaper. But, clearly, I don't and never will. "AARP Endorses Republican Medicare Bill". The reason I would put it there is because I think it pretty much means game, set, match point on prescription drug coverage. I think it will now pass, if the AARP signs on.
How we doing on time, David?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty-five.
BROWN: OK.
"Chrysler Stresses" -- this is "The Detroit News" -- power and prices. OK, this is the paragraph. "Chrysler wants to improve sales by offering attractive cars, trucks with better quality, more safety, comfort, and convenient features." Duh. Well, of course they do. But can they? Twenty seconds, really?
OK. Well, you wouldn't lie to me. OK.
"Chicago Sun-Times." "Rod" -- that's the governor -- "Stares Down Power Giant in Victory For Governor, Excelon." I hope I did that right. "Decides It Doesn't Need a Rate Hike to Pay For Power." They put the governor on the front page. I love this. Mom, dad, please look at the kid over there. Weather in Chicago -- you got it? -- there you go. Weather in Chicago tomorrow is "spongy."
We'll wrap up the day after a break. We'll be right back.
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BROWN: Quick recap of our top story before we go: a guilty verdict in the first sniper trial. Jurors in Virginia Beach, Virginia, took about 6 1/2 hours to find John Muhammad guilty of murder and other charges carrying the death penalty. The penalty phase of the trial continues there tomorrow. Tomorrow on NEWSNIGHT: the last surviving member of the Warren Commission, our conversation with former President Gerald Ford, now 90 years old. We'll talk about a stunning moment in history.
"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" is next. We'll see you tomorrow.
Good night for all of us.
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Military Offensive in Tikrit; Schwarzenegger Sworn in as California's Governor>
