Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Jackson Back in Vegas After Posting Bail; Bombing in Turkey Kills 27; Protesters in London Take to Streets

Aired November 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.
What we saw for much of the day today the wall-to-wall coverage of a news event was quite literally invented 40 years ago this coming weekend. That may be the only connection the Michael Jackson story has with the bulk of our program tonight.

When President Kennedy was shot in Dallas, TV news in many ways was born. The coverage was non-stop or virtually so. Commercials were dropped. In many ways the role of the anchorman emerged and the TV set became a place where we didn't just get information but where we shared a common experience.

Tonight and tomorrow much of the program will be spent revisiting that common experience. Tomorrow how the event was reported by the man who did so much of the reporting, Walter Cronkite, tonight we look at the investigation. Some more on that in a few moments.

The news of the day comes first and you know where that begins. The whip begins in Santa Barbara, California, CNN's Frank Buckley, Frank pick a headline. You got several.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, as expected Michael Jackson turned himself in to authorities here in the Santa Barbara area. Unexpectedly, Michael Jackson returned to the Las Vegas area tonight and literally stopped traffic as well wishers came to his SUV to greet him. We'll show you that in a moment.

BROWN: Frank, thank you very much.

Turkey next, another round of suicide bombings, a horrible scene in Istanbul where CNN's Chris Burns has the sad watch tonight, Chris a headline.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Aaron, 27 dead in this attack, more than 450 injured, more than 100 still in the hospital, an eerie sight here, a British bank building 18 stories tall shrouded in this fog, shrouded in the dark with a car-sized crater outside and officials trying to figure out what is -- who is exactly behind what appears to be another al Qaeda attack -- Aaron.

BROWN: Chris, thank you very much.

And finally to Miami, Florida, the subject of world trade was enough to cause a riot. CNN's Susan Candiotti was in the thick of it today so, Susan, a headline from you.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Aaron. All quiet on the streets of downtown Miami tonight but anything but that earlier this day as protesters clashed with police. Yet in the end tonight apparent agreement over creating a free trade block -- back to you.

BROWN: Thank you, Susan. We'll get back to you shortly and the rest as well.

Also ahead tonight we'll spend a considerable portion of the program talking about the assassination of President Kennedy which happened 40 years ago this weekend. We'll look at the events at Dealey Plaza that day and the efforts, considerable efforts to investigate the crime.

We'll explore one of the most controversial aspects of the investigation, the so-called single bullet theory and we'll look at why after so many years so many people still believe that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone.

And later, of course, the rooster will in fact crow and we will check morning papers too, all that and more in the hour ahead.

We begin with the Michael Jackson saga which has gone from sideshow to three-ring circus in just a couple of days' time. There was a perp walk today, the mug shot. Mr. Jackson is 5'11", 120 pounds, by the way.

The mascara all of it accompanied to coin a detective down here -- collected down rather by an O.J. of reporters. Lost in all of this perhaps long ago a singer who was for a time as big as Elvis or The Beatles or Frank Sinatra and somewhere buried in all the noise today there's a child at the center of the charges that could put Michael Jackson away for years if not the rest of his life.

Here's CNN's Frank Buckley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BUCKLEY (voice-over): One of the most famous faces in the world had never been seen like this in a mug shot taken after Michael Jackson was arrested.

Jackson denied photographers the shot of him being taken into custody after he arrived in Santa Barbara by private jet to turn himself in. His pilot parked the jet halfway inside a hangar here deputies were waiting.

At the Inmate Reception Center though a handcuffed Jackson could be seen going into the facility where he was booked. His attorney claimed Jackson would fight the charges.

MARK GERAGOS, JACKSON'S ATTORNEY: He's come back specifically to confront these charges head on. He is greatly outraged by the bringing of these charges. He considers this to be a big lie. BUCKLEY: Jackson later issued a statement saying "lies run sprints but the truth runs marathons. The truth will win this marathon in court." One of Jackson's brothers, meanwhile, expressed his anger over the arrest in a phone call to CNN.

JERMAINE JACKSON, BROTHER: I am sick and (unintelligible) tired of everybody saying these things about my family. We will fight and we will stand up and everybody that knows this family around the world will support us because at the end of the day this is nothing but a modern-day lynching.

BUCKLEY: Michael Jackson emerged from the booking process with a wave and a victory sign and then he boarded a private jet and flew back to the Las Vegas area where his day had started. There his SUV crawled through traffic with well wishers coming over to shake hands with the King of Pop now accused of child molestation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BUCKLEY: And Michael Jackson was able to return to Las Vegas because he was released on $3 million bail. As part of that bail arrangement, Aaron, he had to surrender his passport but apparently it didn't prohibit travel outside of California. His next court appearance will be January 9. That's when he'll be formally arraigned.

BROWN: And he'll hear the charges and enter a plea?

BUCKLEY: He will possibly enter a plea. That's when many defendants enter a plea but it's not something that a defendant has to do at that particular moment but it's possible that he'll enter a plea and I think likely what he has said so far that he would enter a plea of not guilty.

BROWN: I think based on the facts as we know them that's a pretty safe assumption. Frank thank you very much, Frank Buckley out in Santa Barbara.

Other news of the day the State Department tonight warning Americans to put off all non-essential travel to Turkey, the warning issued shortly after suicide bombers, most likely it seems affiliated with al Qaeda, have for a second time in five days turned the Turkish city of Istanbul into a slaughterhouse.

First they targeted Turkish Jews now the British in Turkey. As always, many of the victims are Muslims and one analyst said today al Qaeda has plunged itself into a self destructive phase alienating the Islamic world with each new attack.

A small sign of hope perhaps in a sad sort of way because even if true self destruction is plenty destructive enough as the British and the Turks and the world saw today.

Here's CNN's Chris Burns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BURNS (voice-over): Witnesses said they thought it was another Istanbul earthquake and then they saw the body parts, the limbs, the bits of flesh strewn far from the blast sites.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I was in front of the bar and suddenly we heard a huge explosion. We didn't understand what was going on. All we could see was blood, glass and wreckage. The bodies were just lying on the street. It's a horrible situation.

BURNS: The late morning bombs went off just minutes and slightly more than two miles apart, apparently aiming for the maximum casualties in this bustling port city and financial capital.

The targets, the British Consulate and the world's second largest bank based in London. Among the dead the British consul general, an obvious strike at Turkey's close ties with the west as well as against a country deeply involved in the U.S.-led war on terror.

JACK STRAW, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: Let us also be clear that these attacks are attacks on the whole of humanity. Yes, today it was a direct attack on the British post here in Istanbul and a British- based, very large business HSBC. Last week here in Istanbul it was synagogues but many Muslims were killed. Tomorrow who knows because these are people who are full of hatred. They are fanatics.

BURNS: Turkish officials say they believe the attacks were linked to Saturday's dual bombings of two synagogues, attacks that officials say involved two Turkish suicide drivers who spent time in Afghanistan.

TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): These people and the people who work with them are condemned to be destroyed by our solidarity and our determination.

BURNS: Prime Minister Erdogan has sought to maintain close relations with the west despite coming to power last year leading a party with Muslim fundamentalist roots.

By striking at Turkey's financial heart the attack appeared not only aimed at destabilizing the government but also Turkey's already tenuous economic recovery.

Turkey's stock market plunged more than seven percent after the bombings before suspending trading. The country is dependent on billions from the International Monetary Fund.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNS: And, Aaron, tonight the U.S. and British governments are telling their countrymen for those of us who are here in Istanbul to proceed with caution. The U.S. Embassy is even saying there could be more attacks and for Americans to avoid any western-oriented businesses or religious institutions -- Aaron.

BROWN: As you mentioned this is a government that has its roots in fundamentalist Islam, an elected government. What -- in Istanbul does al Qaeda or do the extremists have much popular support?

BURNS: No, very little, Aaron. This is really not the part of the country to look at that. This is really the most westward leaning and westward oriented part of the country. The part to look at is really in the southeast in the (unintelligible) area region. That is where it is believed the first two suicide bombers came from last week, last weekend, and that probably is where the government is looking most closely.

However, of course, they are looking here for any kind of local involvement on the ground. Obviously it has to be very well coordinated here on the ground. They did need some kind of help right here in Istanbul.

BROWN: And just as quickly as you can do they believe this is al Qaeda as in an al Qaeda directed operation or is this do they believe the work of people with sympathies to al Qaeda or an affiliation with al Qaeda?

BURNS: It's more like people with sympathies. In fact we had a briefing with an Israeli military official in Jerusalem who is very close -- who knows about this investigation and says that yes, in fact, it does look like there were two Turks who were involved in arranging it but they did have links outside of the country possibly through Pakistan. That is where investigators are looking. It is in that direction. Some kind of Turk involvement, however, linked to some kind of international group very possibly al Qaeda.

BROWN: Chris, thank you very much, Chris Burns in Istanbul.

BURNS: Thank you.

BROWN: The location of the bombings caught British authorities somewhat off balance. They had been on guard against the possibility of attacks in the UK on the occasion of President Bush's visit there.

We're obviously not privy to the inner workings of the security machinery but it's a safe bet such precautions are being redoubled tonight. What we can report is the reaction of President Bush and Prime Minister Blair.

A report from our Senior White House Correspondent John King.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Istanbul attack added urgency to the talks at 10 Downing Street and brought fresh commitments to press ahead in the war on terror.

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We are not going to back down or flinch at all from this struggle.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today once again we saw their ambitions of murder.

KING: Both governments suggested al Qaeda and its allies are again to blame and both leaders say a thriving democracy in Iraq will be a powerful deterrent to terrorism.

BUSH: The spread of freedom and the hope it brings is the surest way in the long term to combat despair and anger and resentment that feeds terror.

KING: That the British were targeted by terrorists while the president was in London was viewed as no coincidence. Mr. Blair bristled when asked if it was the price for standing firm with Mr. Bush.

BLAIR: It's not the president of the United States. It's not the alliance between America and Britain. What is responsible for that terrorist attack is terrorism, are the terrorists.

KING: And Britain's foreign secretary cited the September 11 attacks and taking issue with those who suggest the war in Iraq and more specifically Mr. Bush are provoking the terrorists.

STRAW: It was planned under the presidency of Bill Clinton even if it were executed under the presidency of George W. Bush.

KING: Protesters took to the streets of London by the tens of thousands. Many made clear they do blame Mr. Bush for inciting terror and would prefer he meet the same fate as Saddam Hussein.

(on camera): The president's final stop on Friday is in Mr. Blair's home district in northern England, part of an effort by the prime minister to make the case that while those who wish he would not stand so close to Mr. Bush are quite vocal they do not in his view represent the majority here.

John King, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Another rough day in Iraq. Despite fewer attacks on American forces, perhaps as a result of the increased military operations of late, the attacks are still happening. A soldier was killed today by a homemade bomb in Ramadi and seven locals died in a pair of attacks nearby.

Here's CNN's Walter Rodgers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Ramadi, an hour west of Baghdad the target was thought to be the home of a major tribal leader but the powerful car bomb exploded and blew up part of another sheikh's home. Both sheikhs survived but more than a few civilians were less fortunate.

This kind of violence is commonplace in the so-called Sunni Muslim Triangle. Witness the bullet holes and blood in the ambulance that rushed to the scene to help. Even ambulances are not immune in Iraq. "There was a lot of shooting" this ambulance attendant said "trying to answer the call. The sheikh's security guards were shooting at us."

In northern Iraq, Kirkuk, another vehicle rigged with powerful explosives created more death outside the top Kurdish party offices and because the bomb went off near two schools children were among the victims in this oil-producing center. Qubad Talabani is the son of a major Iraqi political figure.

QUBAD TALABANI, PATRIOTIC UNION OF KURDISTAN: But we are appalled at what's happened because those that have been killed are innocent civilians, women and children.

RODGERS: U.S. soldiers here to protect the Iraqis are clearly not yet equal to the task and a top general said he thinks Iraqi insurgents are behind the blasts recruiting outside the country for suicide bombers this to thwart the American efforts.

BRIG. GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, U.S. ARMY: When they want to discredit it, I think they go outside to get a volunteer, a jihadist, call him what you want, a foreigner to come in and drive the car.

RODGERS (on camera): The U.S. military now says it has reduced attacks on the coalition 70 percent over the course of the past week during Operation Iron Hammer. It is not clear, however, whether the insurgents have been put out of business or just temporarily gone to ground.

Walter Rodgers, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Until relatively recently the words international trade negotiations were barely worth a yawn even though billions of dollars and millions of jobs hinged on the outcome of such talks. Now international trade seems to cause a riot wherever the subject comes up, first in Seattle then Italy, today Miami.

Here's CNN's Susan Candiotti.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): After a day of violence police showed off some of what they confiscated, bottles or urine, some thrown at police, and gas masks, knives, slingshots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Imagine getting hit in the head with this heavy marble. This would not only hurt you this would kill you.

CANDIOTTI: Intelligence predicted trouble on the fourth day and it was right on the money. Protesters who authorities say did not have required marked permits mixing it up with police. At one point they used hooks trying to tear down an eight foot high fence erected near the hotel where trade ministers are meeting. FRANK FERNANDEZ, MIAMI DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF: They threw an explosive device at the officers as well as gas. They actually pulled gas against the officers.

CANDIOTTI: The self described anarchists and union protesters failed to scuttle a free trade agreement Thursday night. Ministers ignored the trouble outside agreeing on a framework for the world's largest free trade block.

ROBERT ZOELLICK, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: We need to be both ambitious and balanced at the same time.

CANDIOTTI: Opponents argue a free trade zone will force American job cuts and hurt workers worldwide. Miami's demonstrators, peaceful for the most part, up against a massive police presence. The trouble here did not come close to riots that rocked similar trade summits in Seattle, Canada, and Mexico. Miami's police chief belittling self described anarchists.

CHIEF JOHN TIMONEY, MIAMI POLICE DEPARTMENT: Knuckleheads will be knuckleheads. They can't help themselves.

CANDIOTTI: Now, chief, should you be calling them knuckleheads?

TIMONEY: Well, what else would I call them? These are not legitimate protesters.

CANDIOTTI: Unions led by the AFL-CIO were able to stage a peaceful protest yet their message somewhat lost among these images.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lot of sort of trigger happiness I think among the police here but even that having been said I think they've restrained themselves pretty well although not entirely.

CANDIOTTI: Here police flashing a taser gun dragged away a protester, one of about 75 arrested during the day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: Trade summit participants reached an agreement, it won't be finalized until 2005, a day earlier than expected and police perhaps more as they hoped rather than expected were able to stave off what could have been even more trouble -- Aaron.

BROWN: I understand where the unions are in this. Tell me where the anarchists are in this. What is it they want or don't want?

CANDIOTTI: Well, it's really hard to pinpoint because you get different answers depending on who you ask. What they don't want is a free trade block set up for many, many, many reasons but primarily because they say it will hurt workers worldwide. They hate the idea of capitalism too so it's hard to pin them down -- Aaron.

BROWN: Susan, thank you, stay safe over the next couple of days.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT we begin our look at what happened in Dealey Plaza 40 years ago Saturday, the assassination of President Kennedy and the questions about it that remain unanswered two generations later.

From New York this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: We were looking at 40-year-old newspaper headlines today. There was something stark about them just black and white. Everything about the events of 40 years ago seem black and white to us. Our memories have added color but that's not the way we saw them first.

What we are about to lay out for much of the rest of the program is not some great investigative piece. We will not at the end of the program announce we now know the real killer of the president and all the previously unknown conspirators.

Rather it is a straightforward look at the investigations one official, many not that went on for years and literally still go on today. This journey begins, as it must, in Dallas on a Friday afternoon when in so many ways we were much younger.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): It is an utterly unremarkable building and yet a half a million people come to visit it every year and have for decades. They pose for snapshots not far from the grassy knoll. They teach their children of its history. They take guided tours, buy books and tapes but many, most in fact, do not accept what history has told them.

GIGI EWING, FORT WORTH, TEXAS: There was just so much at the time that left so much doubt that I guess it's just hard to really feel that the real truth is known about it.

GARY M ACH, CURATOR, 6TH FLOOR MUSEUM: The public opinion polls have shown very clearly since the weekend of the assassination that fewer than 50 percent believe it was just one guy.

BROWN: One guy, a 24-year-old former Marine who purchased a mail order rifle for $12 and change and a scope for another $8. How could it be just one guy?

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: People don't want to believe that he could have been brought down by just a street urchin that it had to be, you know, done by some vaster conspiracy network.

BROWN: Since the assassination more than 60 people claimed to have shot the president. Since the assassination hundreds of books had been written all claiming Lee Harvey Oswald was aided and abetted by somebody or some greater thing, the CIA, the mob, anti-Castro Cubans, even LBJ.

GERALD POSNER, AUTHOR "CASE CLOSED": Over the years we as a country tend to lose faith in our government. We learned about the lies of Vietnam and we have Watergate and Iran Contra. We no longer trust blue ribbon panels like the Warren Commission to tell us the truth.

BROWN (on camera): But, of course, the truth is precisely what the Warren Commission was meant to uncover. Led by Chief Justice Earl Warren the commission produced these 26 volumes, narrative and evidence encapsulated in a single finding. The commission found no evidence of a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy.

GERALD FORD, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The phone rang and one of our children answered it. They said the president's on the line and wants to talk to you. I got on the line. It was President Johnson. He said Gerry, I'm trying to put together a non- partisan commission to investigate the assassination. I want you to be a member.

BROWN (voice-over): At age 90, former President Gerald Ford is the only surviving member of the Warren Commission.

FORD: We held these hearings. They were not open but they were thorough and with the kind of top-notch staff we had I was satisfied that we got all the facts as they developed.

BROWN (on camera): Why, sir, were they not open? What was the thinking?

FORD: I think it was probably the decision of the chief justice. He was more reluctant than I to undertake the responsibility and I think he wanted the least possible publicity.

BROWN (voice-over): It was a fateful decision. Most historians and even surviving staff members say today that the Warren Commission hearings should have been in the open.

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R), PENNSYLVANIA: I think it would have been wiser to have had open hearings so that there would have been public examination of the work as it went along.

BROWN: Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter was a 33-year-old attorney on the commission staff and remembers a critical dispute at the eleventh hour.

SPECTER: We faced a crucial moment when the chief justice did not want to print the record and the younger members of the staff went to the members of Congress and said we must print this record. It must be open. We printed it all. We printed 26 volumes, 17,000 pages.

BROWN: But, of course, that record wasn't the end of anything and this man, now 76, saw to it that the Warren Commission conclusions would be not only debated but bitterly debated for two generations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The conspiracy theorists after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BROWN: It didn't take long, a few days in fact, before the first serious questions were raised about whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone and leading the charge was a young New York City attorney who was hired by the widow of Lee Harvey Oswald, Marina, to defend her husband's name before the Warren Commission. His name is Mark Lane and to this day he believe there is much that has not been told.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK LANE, AUTHOR, "RUSH TO JUDGMENT": How could you eliminate the possibility of a conspiracy when the president of the United States has been killed? How do you know that somebody didn't pay this guy?

BROWN: For 40 years now, Mark Lane has been asking that same question. Now 76 and living comfortably in southern New Jersey, his book "Rush to Judgment" is still seen as the Rosetta stone for all those who believe Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone.

LANE: My book came out. The first Gallup poll and Harris poll taken after that showed that two-thirds of the American people were convinced that there was a conspiracy. So nobody really believed the Warren Commission report as soon as it was possible to hear another side.

GERALD FORD, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me tell you the two basic points that the commission decided. No. 1, Lee Harvey Oswald committed the assassination. No. 2, the commission found no evidence of a conspiracy, foreign or domestic.

BROWN: Gerald Ford says that that one key phrase, no evidence of a conspiracy, was meant to leave the door slightly ajar, in the event that history would later prove there was someone else involved.

(on camera): Was there disagreement on the main points?

FORD: There was no vigorous opposition to the decision that Lee Harvey Oswald committed the assassination. That was unanimous. And in the 20 or 30 years that have passed since, I have seen no new credible evidence that a conspiracy existed.

BROWN (voice-over): But the critics and the conspiracy advocates won't go away. And most of their doubts center around the so-called single-bullet theory, that one bullet, this bullet right here, the bullet the Warren Commission found badly wounded both President Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally at practically the same instant.

LANE: This is what the bullet did. The bullet hit the president in the back of the neck, leaving behind a wound five inches below in his back. It exited from his throat, leaving behind what every doctor at the Parkland Memorial Hospital said was a clear, neat wound of entrance. It then hung out there in midair for approximately 1.8 seconds, apparently.

And then it observed Governor Connally started directly in front, started up again, went into his back, shattered his ribs, made a right turn, shattered his right wrist, and then entered into his left thigh.

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R), PENNSYLVANIA: The evidence and the truth has had a hard time catching up with the distortion.

BROWN (voice-over): Senator Specter, then a junior attorney on the commission staff, is the author, the father, of the single-bullet theory.

(on camera): The single-bullet theory is pretty much the foundation of the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, shot from that building, could have fired the shots, etcetera. Can you explain how you arrived at that conclusion?

SPECTER: The bullet entered between two large strap muscles at the back of the president's neck, hit nothing solid, went through the pleural cavity, nicked his thigh coming up. The evidence showed that the bullet entered slightly to the left of Governor Connally's right armpit, grazed a rib, went through his wrist and lodged in his thigh, which is an extraordinary path for a bullet, admittedly. But truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. And it all ties together factually.

BROWN (voice-over): The Warren Commission accepted the single- bullet theory, but it was never told by the CIA about one crucial fact.

WALTER CRONKITE, FORMER CBS NEWS ANCHOR: They never told the Warren Commission that there was a plot -- that they had a plot against the life of Castro in Cuba. And that was a motivation factor that could have led to other investigation, I think, as to whether it was possible that Castro himself or Cuban sympathizers had committed this terrible act.

BROWN: So those who wanted to believe in a conspiracy had reasons galore to do just that.

GERALD POSNER, AUTHOR, "CASE CLOSED": They think that they are on the road to uncovering a vast secret government conspiracy involving dozens of people, from the medical work, to the autopsy doctors, to extra shooters at Dealey Plaza, to ties to Jack Ruby. It goes through the Secret Service. It affects the FBI. It has the CIA involved. Often, Lyndon Johnson is named. You're talking a massive effort.

BROWN: And it did get its day in court here in this city, a city where, as one writer once said, New Orleans is a great stage and everyone wants to be part of the theater.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: So, still to come on NEWSNIGHT, we continue our look at the assassination of the president and questions that remain about whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Three years after John F. Kennedy was murdered in Dallas, a young district attorney in New Orleans stunned the nation when he claimed that he knew for a fact who would had helped conspired to kill the president. It was a drama that would keep the country riveted for much of the next year and, in the process, stoke the fires of a conspiracy fire so high, they have never really died down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): To the people who know her best, New Orleans is a city that reveres food, intrigue and theater, and not necessarily in that order.

ROSEMARY JAMES, FORMER REPORTER: The natives consider everyday life a theater. And those moving on the stage of this theater had darn well be entertaining or they're not going to last long.

BROWN: Three years after the Kennedy assassination, there was no bigger player than this man, Jim Garrison, the city's district attorney who shocked his city and the nation by claiming he knew who conspired to kill the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM GARRISON, NEW ORLEANS DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I have no doubts whatsoever about the case. I said this some time ago, and I meant it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Acting on his own authority, Garrison arrested a 54-year- old New Orleans businessman named Clay Shaw and charged him with conspiring to kill John F. Kennedy.

JAMES: One reason Garrison was, in my opinion, able to continue this farce for as long as he was able to do so is because he was very entertaining. He was very charismatic. He was a tall, big guy, pretty good-looking. And he made his statements without hesitation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAY SHAW, BUSINESSMAN: I am completely innocent of any such charges. I have not conspired with anyone at any time or any place to murder our late and esteemed President John F. Kennedy or any other individual.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Lee Harvey Oswald did have some New Orleans connections. He was born and spent his youth there in a hardscrabble downtown neighborhood. And later, not long before the assassination, he was arrested here, handing out pro-Castro leaflets at a street corner.

But try as he might, Jim Garrison couldn't prove anything else. His entire case, historians say, was built on a series of lies.

JAMES: We called it a theory du jour period. Every day, there was a new theory. And Garrison would always have a press conference. And he would always go into great, embroidered details about why this was the correct theory. And -- but a week later, he'd have another one.

BROWN: A jury took but 45 minutes to acquit Clay Shaw. But 22 years later, filmmaker Oliver Stone brazenly cast Garrison as Chief Justice Earl Warren in the movie JFK, a film that portrayed Garrison's claims as cinematic gospel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "JFK")

GARRISON: ... has presented absolutely nothing publicly which would contradict our findings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POSNER: Oliver Stone's "JFK" is a fine film, but a terrible piece of history. But, unfortunately, a whole generation not even alive at the time that Kennedy was killed know their Kennedy history from that film. So you're guaranteed a new generation has the facts completely upside down.

BROWN (on camera): The key to the mystery for both sides, those who believe Oswald acted alone and those who cannot believe that, the key is the Zapruder film, the only color-film record of the assassination, certainly the most analyzed piece of film in the nation's history, frame by frame, 18 frames to the second. Here it is at regular speed. It lasts just 26 seconds.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: It's that singular moment, like Pearl Harbor and 9/11, where you remembered where you were at the moment. And it makes this a participatory event. People somehow feel that they caught it, that they saw it on the news, that I witnessed it.

BROWN (voice-over): In 1978, 15 years after the assassination, many members of Congress were told and many believed that there was a fourth gunshot that day in Dallas. An audiotape recorded from a motorcycle policeman's radio convinced them that a conspiracy against the president was possible. Many eyewitnesses told Congress they heard several shots as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARRISON: What you just heard were the sounds picked up at this microphone of shots fired from here, the first two, one shot then fired from here, followed half-a-second later by one shot from there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: But any police officer will tell you that eyewitnesses are notoriously unreliable. And in the 40 years since the assassination, science and technology have helped convince many experts that Oswald in fact did act alone.

POSNER: We can determine the time on the film that the two men were hit, in large part because of following a flap of John Connally's lapel at the moment that he is hit in the car. We know when the two were struck by a bullet. You can place them in a three-dimensional sense of where they were at that moment, the exactly position of the two of them.

And you can then ask a computer a question, based upon the wounds that they suffered, is it possible for one bullet to have done the damage to those two men? And, as a matter of fact, it's a straight- line shot. Now, you say, great theory, great theory, but how do we know it's true? And that's because scientists have now recreated this experiment all day long.

BROWN: Many historians believe it marked an end to an age of American innocence and, no matter what people believe about who did it, the beginning of the age of cynicism.

BRINKLEY: We lost a part of ourselves and we lost a part of our innocence. And we were followed by two presidents who did nothing but lie to us constantly, Lyndon Johnson over Vietnam and Nixon on Vietnam/politics, Watergate. And a lot of people look back and say, God, it all changed when that bullet hit the president in Dallas. We lost something as a country.

And that's jarring. And it's like 9/11. When that happens, you don't know what it means fully, but you know that the world will never be the same again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Forty years ago on Saturday.

Tomorrow, on the program, a long and, in many ways, delightful conversation with Walter Cronkite. Mr. Cronkite was, as we say, in the chair, announced to the nation what had happened in Dallas. His memory of that day, those days, the changes in the country and the business are worth joining us for tomorrow. We hope you will.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, some the other things that made news today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: More stories than time to tell them tonight. Here's a quick look at a few more.

People evacuated the White House today. Air Force jets scrambled in response to what seemed to be an intrusion into restricted airspace nearby. As it happened, the alarm was a false alarm triggered by what looked on the radar like a plane coming within five miles of the White House. In fact, authorities say, it might have been a flock of birds or even some kind of atmospheric disturbance. Said a spokesman from NORAD, "It is one of those electronic gremlins that pops up from time to time."

Legendary record producer Phil Spector has been charged with murder, pleaded not guilty. The judge set another hearing date for January, at which time yet another date will be chosen for a hearing that will be determined whether there's enough evidence to try him. Are you following all of this? The wheels of justice turn slowly in California. Mr. Spector has been free on $1 million bail since February, when the body of a young woman was found at his mansion. She died of a gunshot wound. And in perhaps a sign of harmonic convergence today, Mr. Spector is represented by former O.J. Simpson attorney Robert Shapiro.

Jurors tomorrow begin deliberating life or death for convicted sniper, John Muhammad. Today, they watched a home video of Mr. Muhammad with his kids. His lawyers, you might imagine, want to do whatever they can to soften the image of their client, who may have an image to some as a monster.

Those are a few stories that made news around the country today. And if the old voice holds out, here are some that made news around the world, beginning in Gaza City, where the Palestinian prime minister held talks with representatives of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, the hope being to bring about an end to attacks on Israel. Not taking part and promising not to go along is the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which says it will reject any agreement that calls for a truce.

Seoul, South Korea: the American envoy James Kelly meeting with HIS South Korean counterpart today trying to coordinate a policy in advance of another rounds of talks with North Korea on the North Korea nuclear crisis, part of the discussion today centering on what kind of security assurances, if any, to offer the North Koreans in exchange for their willingness to stop their nuclear weapons program.

And some kind of agreement seems near on a U.N. resolution condemning Iran for hiding its nuclear program from the world. Talks have been going on, drafts drafted to narrow the differences between American diplomats, who want tougher language, and the European community, which wants a somewhat gentler tone.

We made it. It was close.

We'll check morning papers after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(ROOSTER CROWING)

BROWN: Time to check morning papers from around the country. And we got a lot of them today. I don't know. The printer worked pretty well, I guess.

We'll start with "The Sun" in San Bernardino County, California. What do you think they led with? Sure they did. "Bound, Booked and Bailed Out. Jackson Plans Battle in Molestation Case." That's their lead. The little peace sign picture, you'll see that in a lot of newspapers. And the mug shot, which you'll see in all of the rest, I guarantee you. And Turkey, the Turkish bombing relegated to the sidebar. There will a be lot of people fussing about that, I am sure.

"Miami Herald" has nothing but good stuff on the front page. "Leaders Reach a Deal Amid Street Standoff." This is the rioting we told you about earlier on the national trade agreement. Over here, "Governor Suspends Elections Chief, Oliphant, Citing Gross Ignorance" -- it's not enough to just be dumb. This is gross ignorance" -- "And Carelessness. Governor Jeb Bush Suspends the Broward County Supervisor of Elections." So there's that mess.

And the, of course, down in the corner, you have got your Michael Jackson story. "Pop Star Surrenders and is Released on Bail."

"The Philadelphia Inquirer" leads with the bombing. "British Sites Bombed in Turkey, Killing 27." But Michael Jackson is right over there on the side. "Jackson Booked, Posts Bail." And like a number of papers hopefully we'll get to tonight, they put a Kennedy story on the front page. "A New Generation Feels Little Link to JFK." I noticed that at home, actually. But that's understandable. She wasn't born yet.

"The Mi" -- "The Miami Herald" -- no, "The Boston Herald." "Pack Of Lies. House Report Helped HUB Mobsters Destroy Lives." "FBI Helped HUB Mobsters Destroy Lives." "Just Book Him" is their headline on the Michael Jackson story. The Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department, that's the booking photo. And everything you want to know about Michael Jackson -- well, perhaps not everything -- or perhaps more than you know what to know is on that front page. How are we doing on time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh, 1:10.

BROWN: Oh, my goodness, plenty.

"The Richmond Times-Dispatch" leads with Istanbul. A big story on the front page on Richmond remembering where you were when you heard about JFK. I'll bet that's one of the most asked questions of all time: Where were you when you heard the news? Coming out of study hall is the answer for me. "Jackson Returns to Get Booked," pretty straightforward headline.

And down at the bottom, here's what I found interesting here. I might have reversed this stuff, but I don't run that paper and they're smarter than I am. "Sniper Case Goes to the Jury." I think that would be -- well, enough said, right? They'll stop sending the paper. We don't want them to do that.

"The Washington Times" leads with Istanbul. "Bold Attack Kills 27 in Turkey." Very small on Michael Jackson there.

OK, quickly, because I'm running out of time, two things from "The Chicago Sun-Times." Here's the headline. "Weather World Wizard Walks. Sun-Times Bids Fond Farewell to News Editor John Dodge." That is not actually the paper. But John is the guy that writes the weather word every day. And he's been a great friend to the program. And we appreciate it. And he's moving on to a television show. Say it ain't so. "A warm farewell" is the weather. And "a warm farewell" is the weather in the real "Sun-Times," too. "Terror Blasts Kills 27 at British Consulate in Turkey." That's "The Chicago Sun-Times."

John, we wish you nothing but good fortune in your foray into television. You'll need all the help.

We'll take a break and wrap up the day in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: A quick update of our top story: Michael Jackson back in Las Vegas, mobbed there for a moment during a slow-speed trip in a Ford Motor Company truck. We feel 10 years younger just saying that. He's back in Vegas, after turning himself in to authorities in Santa Barbara, booked on sex molestation charges, released on $3 million bail. More to come, you can be certain.

And tomorrow night on this program, our continuing look back at the Kennedy assassination, this time through the eyes of CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite, who reported the events that day.

We'll see you tomorrow, I hope. Join us, please.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" is next.

Good night for all of us at NEWSNIGHT.

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




Turkey Kills 27; Protesters in London Take to Streets>


Aired November 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.
What we saw for much of the day today the wall-to-wall coverage of a news event was quite literally invented 40 years ago this coming weekend. That may be the only connection the Michael Jackson story has with the bulk of our program tonight.

When President Kennedy was shot in Dallas, TV news in many ways was born. The coverage was non-stop or virtually so. Commercials were dropped. In many ways the role of the anchorman emerged and the TV set became a place where we didn't just get information but where we shared a common experience.

Tonight and tomorrow much of the program will be spent revisiting that common experience. Tomorrow how the event was reported by the man who did so much of the reporting, Walter Cronkite, tonight we look at the investigation. Some more on that in a few moments.

The news of the day comes first and you know where that begins. The whip begins in Santa Barbara, California, CNN's Frank Buckley, Frank pick a headline. You got several.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, as expected Michael Jackson turned himself in to authorities here in the Santa Barbara area. Unexpectedly, Michael Jackson returned to the Las Vegas area tonight and literally stopped traffic as well wishers came to his SUV to greet him. We'll show you that in a moment.

BROWN: Frank, thank you very much.

Turkey next, another round of suicide bombings, a horrible scene in Istanbul where CNN's Chris Burns has the sad watch tonight, Chris a headline.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Aaron, 27 dead in this attack, more than 450 injured, more than 100 still in the hospital, an eerie sight here, a British bank building 18 stories tall shrouded in this fog, shrouded in the dark with a car-sized crater outside and officials trying to figure out what is -- who is exactly behind what appears to be another al Qaeda attack -- Aaron.

BROWN: Chris, thank you very much.

And finally to Miami, Florida, the subject of world trade was enough to cause a riot. CNN's Susan Candiotti was in the thick of it today so, Susan, a headline from you.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Aaron. All quiet on the streets of downtown Miami tonight but anything but that earlier this day as protesters clashed with police. Yet in the end tonight apparent agreement over creating a free trade block -- back to you.

BROWN: Thank you, Susan. We'll get back to you shortly and the rest as well.

Also ahead tonight we'll spend a considerable portion of the program talking about the assassination of President Kennedy which happened 40 years ago this weekend. We'll look at the events at Dealey Plaza that day and the efforts, considerable efforts to investigate the crime.

We'll explore one of the most controversial aspects of the investigation, the so-called single bullet theory and we'll look at why after so many years so many people still believe that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone.

And later, of course, the rooster will in fact crow and we will check morning papers too, all that and more in the hour ahead.

We begin with the Michael Jackson saga which has gone from sideshow to three-ring circus in just a couple of days' time. There was a perp walk today, the mug shot. Mr. Jackson is 5'11", 120 pounds, by the way.

The mascara all of it accompanied to coin a detective down here -- collected down rather by an O.J. of reporters. Lost in all of this perhaps long ago a singer who was for a time as big as Elvis or The Beatles or Frank Sinatra and somewhere buried in all the noise today there's a child at the center of the charges that could put Michael Jackson away for years if not the rest of his life.

Here's CNN's Frank Buckley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BUCKLEY (voice-over): One of the most famous faces in the world had never been seen like this in a mug shot taken after Michael Jackson was arrested.

Jackson denied photographers the shot of him being taken into custody after he arrived in Santa Barbara by private jet to turn himself in. His pilot parked the jet halfway inside a hangar here deputies were waiting.

At the Inmate Reception Center though a handcuffed Jackson could be seen going into the facility where he was booked. His attorney claimed Jackson would fight the charges.

MARK GERAGOS, JACKSON'S ATTORNEY: He's come back specifically to confront these charges head on. He is greatly outraged by the bringing of these charges. He considers this to be a big lie. BUCKLEY: Jackson later issued a statement saying "lies run sprints but the truth runs marathons. The truth will win this marathon in court." One of Jackson's brothers, meanwhile, expressed his anger over the arrest in a phone call to CNN.

JERMAINE JACKSON, BROTHER: I am sick and (unintelligible) tired of everybody saying these things about my family. We will fight and we will stand up and everybody that knows this family around the world will support us because at the end of the day this is nothing but a modern-day lynching.

BUCKLEY: Michael Jackson emerged from the booking process with a wave and a victory sign and then he boarded a private jet and flew back to the Las Vegas area where his day had started. There his SUV crawled through traffic with well wishers coming over to shake hands with the King of Pop now accused of child molestation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BUCKLEY: And Michael Jackson was able to return to Las Vegas because he was released on $3 million bail. As part of that bail arrangement, Aaron, he had to surrender his passport but apparently it didn't prohibit travel outside of California. His next court appearance will be January 9. That's when he'll be formally arraigned.

BROWN: And he'll hear the charges and enter a plea?

BUCKLEY: He will possibly enter a plea. That's when many defendants enter a plea but it's not something that a defendant has to do at that particular moment but it's possible that he'll enter a plea and I think likely what he has said so far that he would enter a plea of not guilty.

BROWN: I think based on the facts as we know them that's a pretty safe assumption. Frank thank you very much, Frank Buckley out in Santa Barbara.

Other news of the day the State Department tonight warning Americans to put off all non-essential travel to Turkey, the warning issued shortly after suicide bombers, most likely it seems affiliated with al Qaeda, have for a second time in five days turned the Turkish city of Istanbul into a slaughterhouse.

First they targeted Turkish Jews now the British in Turkey. As always, many of the victims are Muslims and one analyst said today al Qaeda has plunged itself into a self destructive phase alienating the Islamic world with each new attack.

A small sign of hope perhaps in a sad sort of way because even if true self destruction is plenty destructive enough as the British and the Turks and the world saw today.

Here's CNN's Chris Burns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BURNS (voice-over): Witnesses said they thought it was another Istanbul earthquake and then they saw the body parts, the limbs, the bits of flesh strewn far from the blast sites.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I was in front of the bar and suddenly we heard a huge explosion. We didn't understand what was going on. All we could see was blood, glass and wreckage. The bodies were just lying on the street. It's a horrible situation.

BURNS: The late morning bombs went off just minutes and slightly more than two miles apart, apparently aiming for the maximum casualties in this bustling port city and financial capital.

The targets, the British Consulate and the world's second largest bank based in London. Among the dead the British consul general, an obvious strike at Turkey's close ties with the west as well as against a country deeply involved in the U.S.-led war on terror.

JACK STRAW, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: Let us also be clear that these attacks are attacks on the whole of humanity. Yes, today it was a direct attack on the British post here in Istanbul and a British- based, very large business HSBC. Last week here in Istanbul it was synagogues but many Muslims were killed. Tomorrow who knows because these are people who are full of hatred. They are fanatics.

BURNS: Turkish officials say they believe the attacks were linked to Saturday's dual bombings of two synagogues, attacks that officials say involved two Turkish suicide drivers who spent time in Afghanistan.

TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): These people and the people who work with them are condemned to be destroyed by our solidarity and our determination.

BURNS: Prime Minister Erdogan has sought to maintain close relations with the west despite coming to power last year leading a party with Muslim fundamentalist roots.

By striking at Turkey's financial heart the attack appeared not only aimed at destabilizing the government but also Turkey's already tenuous economic recovery.

Turkey's stock market plunged more than seven percent after the bombings before suspending trading. The country is dependent on billions from the International Monetary Fund.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNS: And, Aaron, tonight the U.S. and British governments are telling their countrymen for those of us who are here in Istanbul to proceed with caution. The U.S. Embassy is even saying there could be more attacks and for Americans to avoid any western-oriented businesses or religious institutions -- Aaron.

BROWN: As you mentioned this is a government that has its roots in fundamentalist Islam, an elected government. What -- in Istanbul does al Qaeda or do the extremists have much popular support?

BURNS: No, very little, Aaron. This is really not the part of the country to look at that. This is really the most westward leaning and westward oriented part of the country. The part to look at is really in the southeast in the (unintelligible) area region. That is where it is believed the first two suicide bombers came from last week, last weekend, and that probably is where the government is looking most closely.

However, of course, they are looking here for any kind of local involvement on the ground. Obviously it has to be very well coordinated here on the ground. They did need some kind of help right here in Istanbul.

BROWN: And just as quickly as you can do they believe this is al Qaeda as in an al Qaeda directed operation or is this do they believe the work of people with sympathies to al Qaeda or an affiliation with al Qaeda?

BURNS: It's more like people with sympathies. In fact we had a briefing with an Israeli military official in Jerusalem who is very close -- who knows about this investigation and says that yes, in fact, it does look like there were two Turks who were involved in arranging it but they did have links outside of the country possibly through Pakistan. That is where investigators are looking. It is in that direction. Some kind of Turk involvement, however, linked to some kind of international group very possibly al Qaeda.

BROWN: Chris, thank you very much, Chris Burns in Istanbul.

BURNS: Thank you.

BROWN: The location of the bombings caught British authorities somewhat off balance. They had been on guard against the possibility of attacks in the UK on the occasion of President Bush's visit there.

We're obviously not privy to the inner workings of the security machinery but it's a safe bet such precautions are being redoubled tonight. What we can report is the reaction of President Bush and Prime Minister Blair.

A report from our Senior White House Correspondent John King.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Istanbul attack added urgency to the talks at 10 Downing Street and brought fresh commitments to press ahead in the war on terror.

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We are not going to back down or flinch at all from this struggle.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today once again we saw their ambitions of murder.

KING: Both governments suggested al Qaeda and its allies are again to blame and both leaders say a thriving democracy in Iraq will be a powerful deterrent to terrorism.

BUSH: The spread of freedom and the hope it brings is the surest way in the long term to combat despair and anger and resentment that feeds terror.

KING: That the British were targeted by terrorists while the president was in London was viewed as no coincidence. Mr. Blair bristled when asked if it was the price for standing firm with Mr. Bush.

BLAIR: It's not the president of the United States. It's not the alliance between America and Britain. What is responsible for that terrorist attack is terrorism, are the terrorists.

KING: And Britain's foreign secretary cited the September 11 attacks and taking issue with those who suggest the war in Iraq and more specifically Mr. Bush are provoking the terrorists.

STRAW: It was planned under the presidency of Bill Clinton even if it were executed under the presidency of George W. Bush.

KING: Protesters took to the streets of London by the tens of thousands. Many made clear they do blame Mr. Bush for inciting terror and would prefer he meet the same fate as Saddam Hussein.

(on camera): The president's final stop on Friday is in Mr. Blair's home district in northern England, part of an effort by the prime minister to make the case that while those who wish he would not stand so close to Mr. Bush are quite vocal they do not in his view represent the majority here.

John King, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Another rough day in Iraq. Despite fewer attacks on American forces, perhaps as a result of the increased military operations of late, the attacks are still happening. A soldier was killed today by a homemade bomb in Ramadi and seven locals died in a pair of attacks nearby.

Here's CNN's Walter Rodgers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Ramadi, an hour west of Baghdad the target was thought to be the home of a major tribal leader but the powerful car bomb exploded and blew up part of another sheikh's home. Both sheikhs survived but more than a few civilians were less fortunate.

This kind of violence is commonplace in the so-called Sunni Muslim Triangle. Witness the bullet holes and blood in the ambulance that rushed to the scene to help. Even ambulances are not immune in Iraq. "There was a lot of shooting" this ambulance attendant said "trying to answer the call. The sheikh's security guards were shooting at us."

In northern Iraq, Kirkuk, another vehicle rigged with powerful explosives created more death outside the top Kurdish party offices and because the bomb went off near two schools children were among the victims in this oil-producing center. Qubad Talabani is the son of a major Iraqi political figure.

QUBAD TALABANI, PATRIOTIC UNION OF KURDISTAN: But we are appalled at what's happened because those that have been killed are innocent civilians, women and children.

RODGERS: U.S. soldiers here to protect the Iraqis are clearly not yet equal to the task and a top general said he thinks Iraqi insurgents are behind the blasts recruiting outside the country for suicide bombers this to thwart the American efforts.

BRIG. GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, U.S. ARMY: When they want to discredit it, I think they go outside to get a volunteer, a jihadist, call him what you want, a foreigner to come in and drive the car.

RODGERS (on camera): The U.S. military now says it has reduced attacks on the coalition 70 percent over the course of the past week during Operation Iron Hammer. It is not clear, however, whether the insurgents have been put out of business or just temporarily gone to ground.

Walter Rodgers, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Until relatively recently the words international trade negotiations were barely worth a yawn even though billions of dollars and millions of jobs hinged on the outcome of such talks. Now international trade seems to cause a riot wherever the subject comes up, first in Seattle then Italy, today Miami.

Here's CNN's Susan Candiotti.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): After a day of violence police showed off some of what they confiscated, bottles or urine, some thrown at police, and gas masks, knives, slingshots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Imagine getting hit in the head with this heavy marble. This would not only hurt you this would kill you.

CANDIOTTI: Intelligence predicted trouble on the fourth day and it was right on the money. Protesters who authorities say did not have required marked permits mixing it up with police. At one point they used hooks trying to tear down an eight foot high fence erected near the hotel where trade ministers are meeting. FRANK FERNANDEZ, MIAMI DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF: They threw an explosive device at the officers as well as gas. They actually pulled gas against the officers.

CANDIOTTI: The self described anarchists and union protesters failed to scuttle a free trade agreement Thursday night. Ministers ignored the trouble outside agreeing on a framework for the world's largest free trade block.

ROBERT ZOELLICK, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: We need to be both ambitious and balanced at the same time.

CANDIOTTI: Opponents argue a free trade zone will force American job cuts and hurt workers worldwide. Miami's demonstrators, peaceful for the most part, up against a massive police presence. The trouble here did not come close to riots that rocked similar trade summits in Seattle, Canada, and Mexico. Miami's police chief belittling self described anarchists.

CHIEF JOHN TIMONEY, MIAMI POLICE DEPARTMENT: Knuckleheads will be knuckleheads. They can't help themselves.

CANDIOTTI: Now, chief, should you be calling them knuckleheads?

TIMONEY: Well, what else would I call them? These are not legitimate protesters.

CANDIOTTI: Unions led by the AFL-CIO were able to stage a peaceful protest yet their message somewhat lost among these images.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lot of sort of trigger happiness I think among the police here but even that having been said I think they've restrained themselves pretty well although not entirely.

CANDIOTTI: Here police flashing a taser gun dragged away a protester, one of about 75 arrested during the day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: Trade summit participants reached an agreement, it won't be finalized until 2005, a day earlier than expected and police perhaps more as they hoped rather than expected were able to stave off what could have been even more trouble -- Aaron.

BROWN: I understand where the unions are in this. Tell me where the anarchists are in this. What is it they want or don't want?

CANDIOTTI: Well, it's really hard to pinpoint because you get different answers depending on who you ask. What they don't want is a free trade block set up for many, many, many reasons but primarily because they say it will hurt workers worldwide. They hate the idea of capitalism too so it's hard to pin them down -- Aaron.

BROWN: Susan, thank you, stay safe over the next couple of days.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT we begin our look at what happened in Dealey Plaza 40 years ago Saturday, the assassination of President Kennedy and the questions about it that remain unanswered two generations later.

From New York this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: We were looking at 40-year-old newspaper headlines today. There was something stark about them just black and white. Everything about the events of 40 years ago seem black and white to us. Our memories have added color but that's not the way we saw them first.

What we are about to lay out for much of the rest of the program is not some great investigative piece. We will not at the end of the program announce we now know the real killer of the president and all the previously unknown conspirators.

Rather it is a straightforward look at the investigations one official, many not that went on for years and literally still go on today. This journey begins, as it must, in Dallas on a Friday afternoon when in so many ways we were much younger.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): It is an utterly unremarkable building and yet a half a million people come to visit it every year and have for decades. They pose for snapshots not far from the grassy knoll. They teach their children of its history. They take guided tours, buy books and tapes but many, most in fact, do not accept what history has told them.

GIGI EWING, FORT WORTH, TEXAS: There was just so much at the time that left so much doubt that I guess it's just hard to really feel that the real truth is known about it.

GARY M ACH, CURATOR, 6TH FLOOR MUSEUM: The public opinion polls have shown very clearly since the weekend of the assassination that fewer than 50 percent believe it was just one guy.

BROWN: One guy, a 24-year-old former Marine who purchased a mail order rifle for $12 and change and a scope for another $8. How could it be just one guy?

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: People don't want to believe that he could have been brought down by just a street urchin that it had to be, you know, done by some vaster conspiracy network.

BROWN: Since the assassination more than 60 people claimed to have shot the president. Since the assassination hundreds of books had been written all claiming Lee Harvey Oswald was aided and abetted by somebody or some greater thing, the CIA, the mob, anti-Castro Cubans, even LBJ.

GERALD POSNER, AUTHOR "CASE CLOSED": Over the years we as a country tend to lose faith in our government. We learned about the lies of Vietnam and we have Watergate and Iran Contra. We no longer trust blue ribbon panels like the Warren Commission to tell us the truth.

BROWN (on camera): But, of course, the truth is precisely what the Warren Commission was meant to uncover. Led by Chief Justice Earl Warren the commission produced these 26 volumes, narrative and evidence encapsulated in a single finding. The commission found no evidence of a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy.

GERALD FORD, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The phone rang and one of our children answered it. They said the president's on the line and wants to talk to you. I got on the line. It was President Johnson. He said Gerry, I'm trying to put together a non- partisan commission to investigate the assassination. I want you to be a member.

BROWN (voice-over): At age 90, former President Gerald Ford is the only surviving member of the Warren Commission.

FORD: We held these hearings. They were not open but they were thorough and with the kind of top-notch staff we had I was satisfied that we got all the facts as they developed.

BROWN (on camera): Why, sir, were they not open? What was the thinking?

FORD: I think it was probably the decision of the chief justice. He was more reluctant than I to undertake the responsibility and I think he wanted the least possible publicity.

BROWN (voice-over): It was a fateful decision. Most historians and even surviving staff members say today that the Warren Commission hearings should have been in the open.

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R), PENNSYLVANIA: I think it would have been wiser to have had open hearings so that there would have been public examination of the work as it went along.

BROWN: Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter was a 33-year-old attorney on the commission staff and remembers a critical dispute at the eleventh hour.

SPECTER: We faced a crucial moment when the chief justice did not want to print the record and the younger members of the staff went to the members of Congress and said we must print this record. It must be open. We printed it all. We printed 26 volumes, 17,000 pages.

BROWN: But, of course, that record wasn't the end of anything and this man, now 76, saw to it that the Warren Commission conclusions would be not only debated but bitterly debated for two generations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The conspiracy theorists after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BROWN: It didn't take long, a few days in fact, before the first serious questions were raised about whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone and leading the charge was a young New York City attorney who was hired by the widow of Lee Harvey Oswald, Marina, to defend her husband's name before the Warren Commission. His name is Mark Lane and to this day he believe there is much that has not been told.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK LANE, AUTHOR, "RUSH TO JUDGMENT": How could you eliminate the possibility of a conspiracy when the president of the United States has been killed? How do you know that somebody didn't pay this guy?

BROWN: For 40 years now, Mark Lane has been asking that same question. Now 76 and living comfortably in southern New Jersey, his book "Rush to Judgment" is still seen as the Rosetta stone for all those who believe Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone.

LANE: My book came out. The first Gallup poll and Harris poll taken after that showed that two-thirds of the American people were convinced that there was a conspiracy. So nobody really believed the Warren Commission report as soon as it was possible to hear another side.

GERALD FORD, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me tell you the two basic points that the commission decided. No. 1, Lee Harvey Oswald committed the assassination. No. 2, the commission found no evidence of a conspiracy, foreign or domestic.

BROWN: Gerald Ford says that that one key phrase, no evidence of a conspiracy, was meant to leave the door slightly ajar, in the event that history would later prove there was someone else involved.

(on camera): Was there disagreement on the main points?

FORD: There was no vigorous opposition to the decision that Lee Harvey Oswald committed the assassination. That was unanimous. And in the 20 or 30 years that have passed since, I have seen no new credible evidence that a conspiracy existed.

BROWN (voice-over): But the critics and the conspiracy advocates won't go away. And most of their doubts center around the so-called single-bullet theory, that one bullet, this bullet right here, the bullet the Warren Commission found badly wounded both President Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally at practically the same instant.

LANE: This is what the bullet did. The bullet hit the president in the back of the neck, leaving behind a wound five inches below in his back. It exited from his throat, leaving behind what every doctor at the Parkland Memorial Hospital said was a clear, neat wound of entrance. It then hung out there in midair for approximately 1.8 seconds, apparently.

And then it observed Governor Connally started directly in front, started up again, went into his back, shattered his ribs, made a right turn, shattered his right wrist, and then entered into his left thigh.

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R), PENNSYLVANIA: The evidence and the truth has had a hard time catching up with the distortion.

BROWN (voice-over): Senator Specter, then a junior attorney on the commission staff, is the author, the father, of the single-bullet theory.

(on camera): The single-bullet theory is pretty much the foundation of the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, shot from that building, could have fired the shots, etcetera. Can you explain how you arrived at that conclusion?

SPECTER: The bullet entered between two large strap muscles at the back of the president's neck, hit nothing solid, went through the pleural cavity, nicked his thigh coming up. The evidence showed that the bullet entered slightly to the left of Governor Connally's right armpit, grazed a rib, went through his wrist and lodged in his thigh, which is an extraordinary path for a bullet, admittedly. But truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. And it all ties together factually.

BROWN (voice-over): The Warren Commission accepted the single- bullet theory, but it was never told by the CIA about one crucial fact.

WALTER CRONKITE, FORMER CBS NEWS ANCHOR: They never told the Warren Commission that there was a plot -- that they had a plot against the life of Castro in Cuba. And that was a motivation factor that could have led to other investigation, I think, as to whether it was possible that Castro himself or Cuban sympathizers had committed this terrible act.

BROWN: So those who wanted to believe in a conspiracy had reasons galore to do just that.

GERALD POSNER, AUTHOR, "CASE CLOSED": They think that they are on the road to uncovering a vast secret government conspiracy involving dozens of people, from the medical work, to the autopsy doctors, to extra shooters at Dealey Plaza, to ties to Jack Ruby. It goes through the Secret Service. It affects the FBI. It has the CIA involved. Often, Lyndon Johnson is named. You're talking a massive effort.

BROWN: And it did get its day in court here in this city, a city where, as one writer once said, New Orleans is a great stage and everyone wants to be part of the theater.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: So, still to come on NEWSNIGHT, we continue our look at the assassination of the president and questions that remain about whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Three years after John F. Kennedy was murdered in Dallas, a young district attorney in New Orleans stunned the nation when he claimed that he knew for a fact who would had helped conspired to kill the president. It was a drama that would keep the country riveted for much of the next year and, in the process, stoke the fires of a conspiracy fire so high, they have never really died down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): To the people who know her best, New Orleans is a city that reveres food, intrigue and theater, and not necessarily in that order.

ROSEMARY JAMES, FORMER REPORTER: The natives consider everyday life a theater. And those moving on the stage of this theater had darn well be entertaining or they're not going to last long.

BROWN: Three years after the Kennedy assassination, there was no bigger player than this man, Jim Garrison, the city's district attorney who shocked his city and the nation by claiming he knew who conspired to kill the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM GARRISON, NEW ORLEANS DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I have no doubts whatsoever about the case. I said this some time ago, and I meant it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Acting on his own authority, Garrison arrested a 54-year- old New Orleans businessman named Clay Shaw and charged him with conspiring to kill John F. Kennedy.

JAMES: One reason Garrison was, in my opinion, able to continue this farce for as long as he was able to do so is because he was very entertaining. He was very charismatic. He was a tall, big guy, pretty good-looking. And he made his statements without hesitation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAY SHAW, BUSINESSMAN: I am completely innocent of any such charges. I have not conspired with anyone at any time or any place to murder our late and esteemed President John F. Kennedy or any other individual.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Lee Harvey Oswald did have some New Orleans connections. He was born and spent his youth there in a hardscrabble downtown neighborhood. And later, not long before the assassination, he was arrested here, handing out pro-Castro leaflets at a street corner.

But try as he might, Jim Garrison couldn't prove anything else. His entire case, historians say, was built on a series of lies.

JAMES: We called it a theory du jour period. Every day, there was a new theory. And Garrison would always have a press conference. And he would always go into great, embroidered details about why this was the correct theory. And -- but a week later, he'd have another one.

BROWN: A jury took but 45 minutes to acquit Clay Shaw. But 22 years later, filmmaker Oliver Stone brazenly cast Garrison as Chief Justice Earl Warren in the movie JFK, a film that portrayed Garrison's claims as cinematic gospel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "JFK")

GARRISON: ... has presented absolutely nothing publicly which would contradict our findings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POSNER: Oliver Stone's "JFK" is a fine film, but a terrible piece of history. But, unfortunately, a whole generation not even alive at the time that Kennedy was killed know their Kennedy history from that film. So you're guaranteed a new generation has the facts completely upside down.

BROWN (on camera): The key to the mystery for both sides, those who believe Oswald acted alone and those who cannot believe that, the key is the Zapruder film, the only color-film record of the assassination, certainly the most analyzed piece of film in the nation's history, frame by frame, 18 frames to the second. Here it is at regular speed. It lasts just 26 seconds.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: It's that singular moment, like Pearl Harbor and 9/11, where you remembered where you were at the moment. And it makes this a participatory event. People somehow feel that they caught it, that they saw it on the news, that I witnessed it.

BROWN (voice-over): In 1978, 15 years after the assassination, many members of Congress were told and many believed that there was a fourth gunshot that day in Dallas. An audiotape recorded from a motorcycle policeman's radio convinced them that a conspiracy against the president was possible. Many eyewitnesses told Congress they heard several shots as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARRISON: What you just heard were the sounds picked up at this microphone of shots fired from here, the first two, one shot then fired from here, followed half-a-second later by one shot from there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: But any police officer will tell you that eyewitnesses are notoriously unreliable. And in the 40 years since the assassination, science and technology have helped convince many experts that Oswald in fact did act alone.

POSNER: We can determine the time on the film that the two men were hit, in large part because of following a flap of John Connally's lapel at the moment that he is hit in the car. We know when the two were struck by a bullet. You can place them in a three-dimensional sense of where they were at that moment, the exactly position of the two of them.

And you can then ask a computer a question, based upon the wounds that they suffered, is it possible for one bullet to have done the damage to those two men? And, as a matter of fact, it's a straight- line shot. Now, you say, great theory, great theory, but how do we know it's true? And that's because scientists have now recreated this experiment all day long.

BROWN: Many historians believe it marked an end to an age of American innocence and, no matter what people believe about who did it, the beginning of the age of cynicism.

BRINKLEY: We lost a part of ourselves and we lost a part of our innocence. And we were followed by two presidents who did nothing but lie to us constantly, Lyndon Johnson over Vietnam and Nixon on Vietnam/politics, Watergate. And a lot of people look back and say, God, it all changed when that bullet hit the president in Dallas. We lost something as a country.

And that's jarring. And it's like 9/11. When that happens, you don't know what it means fully, but you know that the world will never be the same again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Forty years ago on Saturday.

Tomorrow, on the program, a long and, in many ways, delightful conversation with Walter Cronkite. Mr. Cronkite was, as we say, in the chair, announced to the nation what had happened in Dallas. His memory of that day, those days, the changes in the country and the business are worth joining us for tomorrow. We hope you will.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, some the other things that made news today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: More stories than time to tell them tonight. Here's a quick look at a few more.

People evacuated the White House today. Air Force jets scrambled in response to what seemed to be an intrusion into restricted airspace nearby. As it happened, the alarm was a false alarm triggered by what looked on the radar like a plane coming within five miles of the White House. In fact, authorities say, it might have been a flock of birds or even some kind of atmospheric disturbance. Said a spokesman from NORAD, "It is one of those electronic gremlins that pops up from time to time."

Legendary record producer Phil Spector has been charged with murder, pleaded not guilty. The judge set another hearing date for January, at which time yet another date will be chosen for a hearing that will be determined whether there's enough evidence to try him. Are you following all of this? The wheels of justice turn slowly in California. Mr. Spector has been free on $1 million bail since February, when the body of a young woman was found at his mansion. She died of a gunshot wound. And in perhaps a sign of harmonic convergence today, Mr. Spector is represented by former O.J. Simpson attorney Robert Shapiro.

Jurors tomorrow begin deliberating life or death for convicted sniper, John Muhammad. Today, they watched a home video of Mr. Muhammad with his kids. His lawyers, you might imagine, want to do whatever they can to soften the image of their client, who may have an image to some as a monster.

Those are a few stories that made news around the country today. And if the old voice holds out, here are some that made news around the world, beginning in Gaza City, where the Palestinian prime minister held talks with representatives of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, the hope being to bring about an end to attacks on Israel. Not taking part and promising not to go along is the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which says it will reject any agreement that calls for a truce.

Seoul, South Korea: the American envoy James Kelly meeting with HIS South Korean counterpart today trying to coordinate a policy in advance of another rounds of talks with North Korea on the North Korea nuclear crisis, part of the discussion today centering on what kind of security assurances, if any, to offer the North Koreans in exchange for their willingness to stop their nuclear weapons program.

And some kind of agreement seems near on a U.N. resolution condemning Iran for hiding its nuclear program from the world. Talks have been going on, drafts drafted to narrow the differences between American diplomats, who want tougher language, and the European community, which wants a somewhat gentler tone.

We made it. It was close.

We'll check morning papers after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(ROOSTER CROWING)

BROWN: Time to check morning papers from around the country. And we got a lot of them today. I don't know. The printer worked pretty well, I guess.

We'll start with "The Sun" in San Bernardino County, California. What do you think they led with? Sure they did. "Bound, Booked and Bailed Out. Jackson Plans Battle in Molestation Case." That's their lead. The little peace sign picture, you'll see that in a lot of newspapers. And the mug shot, which you'll see in all of the rest, I guarantee you. And Turkey, the Turkish bombing relegated to the sidebar. There will a be lot of people fussing about that, I am sure.

"Miami Herald" has nothing but good stuff on the front page. "Leaders Reach a Deal Amid Street Standoff." This is the rioting we told you about earlier on the national trade agreement. Over here, "Governor Suspends Elections Chief, Oliphant, Citing Gross Ignorance" -- it's not enough to just be dumb. This is gross ignorance" -- "And Carelessness. Governor Jeb Bush Suspends the Broward County Supervisor of Elections." So there's that mess.

And the, of course, down in the corner, you have got your Michael Jackson story. "Pop Star Surrenders and is Released on Bail."

"The Philadelphia Inquirer" leads with the bombing. "British Sites Bombed in Turkey, Killing 27." But Michael Jackson is right over there on the side. "Jackson Booked, Posts Bail." And like a number of papers hopefully we'll get to tonight, they put a Kennedy story on the front page. "A New Generation Feels Little Link to JFK." I noticed that at home, actually. But that's understandable. She wasn't born yet.

"The Mi" -- "The Miami Herald" -- no, "The Boston Herald." "Pack Of Lies. House Report Helped HUB Mobsters Destroy Lives." "FBI Helped HUB Mobsters Destroy Lives." "Just Book Him" is their headline on the Michael Jackson story. The Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department, that's the booking photo. And everything you want to know about Michael Jackson -- well, perhaps not everything -- or perhaps more than you know what to know is on that front page. How are we doing on time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh, 1:10.

BROWN: Oh, my goodness, plenty.

"The Richmond Times-Dispatch" leads with Istanbul. A big story on the front page on Richmond remembering where you were when you heard about JFK. I'll bet that's one of the most asked questions of all time: Where were you when you heard the news? Coming out of study hall is the answer for me. "Jackson Returns to Get Booked," pretty straightforward headline.

And down at the bottom, here's what I found interesting here. I might have reversed this stuff, but I don't run that paper and they're smarter than I am. "Sniper Case Goes to the Jury." I think that would be -- well, enough said, right? They'll stop sending the paper. We don't want them to do that.

"The Washington Times" leads with Istanbul. "Bold Attack Kills 27 in Turkey." Very small on Michael Jackson there.

OK, quickly, because I'm running out of time, two things from "The Chicago Sun-Times." Here's the headline. "Weather World Wizard Walks. Sun-Times Bids Fond Farewell to News Editor John Dodge." That is not actually the paper. But John is the guy that writes the weather word every day. And he's been a great friend to the program. And we appreciate it. And he's moving on to a television show. Say it ain't so. "A warm farewell" is the weather. And "a warm farewell" is the weather in the real "Sun-Times," too. "Terror Blasts Kills 27 at British Consulate in Turkey." That's "The Chicago Sun-Times."

John, we wish you nothing but good fortune in your foray into television. You'll need all the help.

We'll take a break and wrap up the day in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: A quick update of our top story: Michael Jackson back in Las Vegas, mobbed there for a moment during a slow-speed trip in a Ford Motor Company truck. We feel 10 years younger just saying that. He's back in Vegas, after turning himself in to authorities in Santa Barbara, booked on sex molestation charges, released on $3 million bail. More to come, you can be certain.

And tomorrow night on this program, our continuing look back at the Kennedy assassination, this time through the eyes of CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite, who reported the events that day.

We'll see you tomorrow, I hope. Join us, please.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" is next.

Good night for all of us at NEWSNIGHT.

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




Turkey Kills 27; Protesters in London Take to Streets>