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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Cities Beef Up Security for New Year's Eve; Ashcroft Recuses Himself From Leak Probe; Bam Death Toll Revised to 50,000

Aired December 30, 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.
We have talked before about that most basic rule of journalism. The more we talk about something happening the less likely it is to actually happen. With that in mind and with New Year's Eve a night away, terror in all its forms is on our minds tonight. We hope the rule holds.

We begin the whip in Times Square. Jason Carroll is there, one of many places beefing up security for New Year's Eve, so Jason start us off with a headline.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Aaron, according to the Department of Homeland Security those beefed up security measures should remain in effect throughout the week. Some parts of these measures will be obvious such as our restricted air space over particular cities. Other security measures not meant to be so obvious to the public -- Aaron.

BROWN: Jason, thank you. We'll get back to you at the top tonight.

Next to Kelli Arena in Washington who is keeping an eye on the attorney general's decision to recuse himself today from the leak investigation, Kelli a headline from you.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, the decision follows months of criticism alleging the attorney general's ties to the White House were too close for him to conduct a fair investigation into who leaked the name of an undercover CIA operative but some critics today praised his decision to hand over the reigns to someone else.

BROWN: Kelli, thank you.

On to Frank Buckley in Santa Barbara, California, trying to make some sense of the relationship between Michael Jackson and the Nation of Islam so, Frank, a headline from you.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, it isn't clear what role the Nation of Islam will play but sources tell us that members of Jackson's management team are concerned. Meanwhile, separately the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department here says it has a videotape that it says will refute Jackson's claims that he was mistreated while in custody -- Aaron. BROWN: Frank, thank you.

And finally to Kasra Naji in Iran where the usually less than pro-American Iranian government is welcoming American help with open arms, Kasra a headline from you please.

KASRA NAJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tens of thousands of survivors of the earthquake have been spending their fifth night in freezing temperatures out in the open as President Khatami revises up the biggest of casualties and he now says up to 50,000 people may have been killed.

Also, the U.S. government has joined the efforts to help the victims of the earthquake and 83 government officials, U.S. government officials are here for the first time in more than 20 years -- Aaron.

BROWN: Kasra, thank you. We'll get back to you and the rest shortly.

Also coming up on NEWSNIGHT tonight from Jerusalem a familiar scene, protests and soldiers and gunfire but this time it was different. This time it was an Israeli protester who was shot and the nation is looking inward.

We'll take a look back at those who died in 2003 from legendary movie stars to cartoonists to all manner of people who changed our lives more often than not for the better.

And one more time this year morning papers coming up at the end, all that and more in the hour ahead.

We begin with a countdown to the New Year in the age of orange alert. Across the country security is being tightened in the air and on the ground but more than any other holiday New Year's Eve means crowds, lots of people in public places keeping them safe from terrorists. Identifying the terrorists from the tourists will be the major challenge tomorrow.

We begin with CNN's Jason Carroll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL (voice-over): A favorable weather forecast and an increase in the number of tourists in New York City could mean record turnout for the annual Times Square celebration.

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: I'm going to be there. I'm going to be safe and so are you.

CARROLL: Police will use Magnetometers to search bags and backpacks of everyone entering the area. Anti-terrorism helicopters will be patrolling the skies. On the ground, police will deploy radiation detectors in sensitive areas. Officers will monitor landmarks and transportation sites.

RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE CHIEF: We have to do things that act as a deterrent to some of the obvious threats and then we have to think about things that may be somewhat unconventional.

CARROLL: Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge says look for increased security measures nationwide.

TOM RIDGE, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We think that the level of threat is appropriately at orange and we have ramped up in an unprecedented way levels of security around the country and I think you're going to see it remain there through the balance of the week.

CARROLL: In Los Angeles, the Pasadena Police Department stepped up its efforts in preparation for the Rose Bowl. In Boston, authorities will be removing or welding shut trash cans for its annual First Night party, while in Las Vegas air space will be restricted over the Strip.

BILL YOUNG, LAS VEGAS SHERIFF: There's been some concern obviously about airliners in large, high profile cities and we're one of those cities and we take every threat with concern.

CARROLL: During the holiday much is suspect. Law enforcement officials tell CNN in New Jersey police were directed to randomly check IDs of EMS workers. While there have been no specific threats New Jersey officials want to make sure emergency vehicles are accounted for and not used to carry out a terrorist attack.

GOV. JIM MCGREEVY, NEW JERSEY: I think 9/11 as painful of an episode forced basic fundamental changes in America and we're still yielding those dividends but we still have to continue to work more to reduce the vulnerabilities present in our society.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: Law enforcement officials are also expecting the public to do its part. They're asking that any suspicious activity be reported to local authorities -- Aaron.

BROWN: Jason, thank you, Jason Carroll in Times Square tonight. It will be quite a different scene down there tomorrow.

If you believe in chatter and the Department of Homeland Security does and Las Vegas is a place that terrorists have set in their sights. Not everyone though believes in chatter and that apparently includes the mayor of Las Vegas who says business in his town is pretty much as usual. It is a city getting ready for a very big party tomorrow night and we talked with Mayor Oscar Goodman earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Mr. Mayor as I was coming up I saw a news article that said cancellations in Las Vegas are running higher than normal; a) do you agree with that, and, b) I gather you would assume that that's because of the terrorist threat?

MAYOR OSCAR GOODMAN, LAS VEGAS: A, let me put it this way, I spoke to my office and one of my staff has family that were coming up from Southern California and they said that the line of cars is just remarkable, so I'm not sure who's canceling if anybody is canceling.

If they are canceling I would assume that the story in the "Washington Post" may have gotten their attention, a story which I believe was based on holed cloth and certainly nobody should change their mind about coming to Las Vegas because of an article that doesn't have any corroboration.

BROWN: What was it about the article that you found made out of holed cloth?

GOODMAN: I found it very disturbing that there was a giant leap of inferences where because a plane is flying from France over to Los Angeles and would fly over Las Vegas without having any credible basis the reporter indicated that an undisclosed source, which I've never cared for, an undisclosed source indicated that Las Vegas may be a target. Well that isn't news. That's speculation and that's totally inappropriate for journalism.

BROWN: Let's go about this somewhat differently. Have you had contact with the Department of Homeland Security that suggests they have concern about Las Vegas as a target?

GOODMAN: I met with homeland security yesterday. I was with our homeland security staff from Nevada today with our governor, with the sheriff and the special agent in charge of the FBI and they indicate that Las Vegas is being discussed on the chatter.

I've never been told what chatter means really but Las Vegas was being discussed and generally there was an indication that any kind of danger would come from the air but as far as a specific that Las Vegas is going to be a target we have nothing to that effect.

If we did, we would tell the folks don't come here. But I'm going to be down there. I'm going to be having a revelry tomorrow night. I'm going to party and I'm no fool. If I thought that I was in danger or my family was in danger I wouldn't be out there.

BROWN: Will there be unusually high security for New Year's Eve in Las Vegas tomorrow?

GOODMAN: Not unusually high security, a different kind of security. In the past we've always made sure. We've never had an incident, thank God, as far as our New Year's occasions are concerned. They're always safe and everybody has a good time but there will be added security.

There is a ten mile fly zone that's been created where private planes and helicopters won't be able to go through and that will be extended over to Hoover Dam where the same rules will be in place and that's going to be for a six hour time period.

Other than that there will be helicopters that are being provided not unlike other cities. It's the same. They'll be up in the air and have a presence and folks will know that we're serious to make sure that everybody here is protected. But as far as having a meaningful corroborated, credible threat, I haven't heard it yet and if I do I'd do something about it.

BROWN: Sometimes with these things I suppose it's hard to get the kind of hard information that someone in your position would like but there obviously is concern at the federal level. I think we can -- we both acknowledge that. Do you -- where does the money come to pay for the additional security or the different security that will be in place tomorrow?

GOODMAN: Well, we're not doing anything different as far as the city and the county are concerned here. It's business as usual, the same kind of security that we've had in the past.

Homeland security has made these other kind of arrangements with the FAA as far as the air space is concerned and the helicopter assistance but basically we're doing things just the way we did it before 9/11 as well as after 9/11. We want to make sure that everybody who comes here can have a party and have a good time.

BROWN: Do you think this notion that Las Vegas is somehow on a target list is bogus?

GOODMAN: No, I'm not saying it's bogus but I haven't heard that it's on a target list. What I have heard is very, very specific. The information I have is that there's chatter, whatever that means. As I say, I'm not sure what chatter means discussing Las Vegas.

Las Vegas is the entertainment capital of the world. It's the resort destination of the world. Of course Las Vegas is going to be mentioned by anybody having a discussion about a major metropolitan area but as far as a specific that Las Vegas has been threatened, no.

I haven't seen one thing like that and if I did, as I said, we would be acting differently and I would not be putting myself at risk. Until I hear something like that, and I don't believe I ever will, but until I hear something like that I'm going to be out there having a party.

BROWN: Well and I assume many thousands of others will be too. I hope it's a safe New Year's Eve in Las Vegas. Thanks for your time today.

GOODMAN: Thanks a million.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The mayor of Las Vegas Oscar Goodman.

On to national security of a different sort and the politics of it, when columnist and CNN commentator Robert Novak revealed the name of a CIA operative months ago an outcry followed and an investigation into who leaked the name was launched.

Today the Attorney General John Ashcroft removed himself from that investigation. His decision follows months of criticism that his ties to the White House were so close it would compromise the process.

Here's CNN's Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA (voice-over): Attorney General John Ashcroft won't be overseeing the politically sensitive investigation into who leaked the name of Valerie Plame, a former undercover CIA operative.

JAMES COMEY, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's just that we reached a point in the investigation where the attorney general and I thought it was appropriate to make the judgment that's been made.

ARENA: Instead, out of a "abundance of caution" Justice officials say the investigation will be led by a special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney out of Chicago.

COMEY: We thought it prudent to have the matter handled by someone who is not in regular contact with the agencies and entities affected by this investigation.

ARENA: Plame is married to former Ambassador Joe Wilson. He and several Democrats had charged the attorney general was too chummy with the White House to conduct an impartial probe.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: It gives me some faith that we will get to the bottom of this dastardly act and prosecute the people who did it.

ARENA: Wilson, who praised this latest decision, alleged the Bush administration last July leaked his wife's name to a newspaper columnist to retaliate against him. He was very vocal in saying the administration exaggerated Iraq's nuclear capabilities heading into the war.

JOE WILSON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NIGER: The crime that was committed was a crime that was committed against the country.

ARENA: While most leak investigations are closed without any resolution the deputy attorney general says this probe is moving along at a fast pace.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA: Sources say that a fourth prosecutor was recently added to the investigation team and that a grand jury may soon be impaneled to take testimony -- Aaron.

BROWN: Take a stab at this. What has changed from when this investigation was launched and the attorney general said, no, it's fine I can handle this to today?

ARENA: Wouldn't we all like to know, Aaron.

BROWN: Well, yes.

ARENA: Jim Comey was asked that very specifically today several times by several different reporters and basically he said that the information that they've gathered thus far led them to the conclusion that this was a good time for the attorney general to recuse himself.

Now, of course, the speculation is that the circle, the focus of this investigation has gotten to a point where there could be the appearance of a conflict of interest in terms of the people that they're honing in on but, again, that's speculation.

There has been an iron clamp on this administration in terms of this leak investigation. It's very, very difficult to get any information or guidance out of anyone at this point and nothing changed today on that front.

BROWN: Kelli, thank you, have a good New Year's.

ARENA: You too.

BROWN: Kelli Arena, thank you.

Imagine for a moment being arrested in a foreign country and branded a terrorist. It's happening in the Philippines tonight. Two men have been arrested, paraded in front of the media, said to have links to al Qaeda and that they are Jordanian.

Well, in fact, they are two Americans from Northern California. As to the rest of the charges, here's CNN's Rusty Dornin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a circus-like atmosphere, two American brothers, Michael Stubbs and Jamil Mujahid, arrested in the Philippines three weeks ago are paraded before reporters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Unintelligible.)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are all fabricated lies.

DORNIN: The Philippine government claims the two have ties to terrorists. CNN spoke with Mujahid on his cell phone from jail in Manila.

(via telephone): They say they had you followed and that you met with members of an al Qaeda cell is that true.

JAMIL MUJAHID, ARRESTED IN THE PHILIPPINES (via telephone): Well, not of my knowledge. The people that I met since I've been here they were really of the Christian faith and the majority of them were (unintelligible) and I had no way of really communicating with them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know. They're not listening to me or anything.

DORNIN: Mujahid claims he has been in the Philippines since last February living with his Filipino wife. When he was arrested December 13, he thought he was being kidnapped.

MUJAHID (via telephone): I was tortured for almost three days where I was handcuffed in front of me where I wasn't able to use the bathroom.

RASHEEDA STUBBS, DAUGHTER: This is happening to my father.

DORNIN: Mujahid's daughter Rasheeda saw the pictures of her father for the first time with us.

STUBBS: He looks like he's lost a lot of weight. My heart dropped when I seen the pictures that we looked at in there. My heart dropped because I know that he's an innocent man. I know that he would never hurt anyone.

DORNIN: Stubbs says her father is a Vietnam vet, is patriotic and has no ties to terrorist organizations.

(via telephone): Why are they making these accusations?

MUJAHID (via telephone): Again, political, number two I can only say financial extortion and, number three religious persecution. That's the only things I can see.

DORNIN: Mujahid says he has converted to Islam but his brother Michael did not. The State Department won't comment and says the brothers asked them not to talk with any third parties including the media. The FBI says they did not ask to have the brothers arrested. The Philippine government says they will deport them. When? Mujahid says he has no idea.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, Michael Jackson and are they his new best friends? The Nation of Islam is somehow involved in the pop star's life and problems.

And with the death toll still rising the Iranian government reaches out for help from almost anywhere.

This is NEWSNIGHT from New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: In geopolitics it might be called a strategic alliance. In business it might be called a marriage of convenience. In Santa Barbara, California it's called Michael Jackson and the Nation of Islam.

Here's CNN's Frank Buckley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BUCKLEY (voice-over): CNN has confirmed that the Nation of Islam has become involved in Jackson's affairs and that it is causing concern among some of Jackson's long time management team.

Sources say access to Jackson is being limited by Leonard Mohammed, son-in-law of this man, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. This week, Stuart Backerman, Jackson's spokesman resigned from Jackson's management team citing strategic differences and sources say at least two Jackson business partners have been unable to get to Jackson for two weeks.

Mark Geragos did not return our calls but the Nation of Islam issued a statement denying the claim saying: "The Nation of Islam has no official business or professional relationship with Mr. Jackson. The Nation of Islam joins thousands of other people in wishing him well."

Separately, CNN is being told that the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department has a videotape that will, according to officials, refute claims by Michael Jackson that he was mistreated when he turned himself in to authorities last month.

"They manhandled me roughly" Jackson told "60 Minutes." "My shoulder is dislocated, literally." Jackson said swelling on his arm, shown on this photo obtained by CNN, was caused by sheriff's deputies and Jackson claimed he could barely raise his arms now, despite video shot immediately after his booking that shows Jackson waving to cameras and onlookers.

(Unintelligible) he asked to use the restroom (unintelligible) for 45 minutes. Jermaine Jackson touched on the allegation during an appearance on "LARRY KING LIVE" (unintelligible).

JERMAINE JACKSON, BROTHER OF MICHAEL JACKSON: He asked to use the restroom and they locked him in there for 30 minutes and said how do you like the way it smells in there, the smell? And that's ridiculous. I mean this is how they conducted themselves.

BUCKLEY: Santa Barbara County sheriff's officials deny the allegations of mistreatment and the jail's Chief Deputy Fred Olguin (ph) tells CNN that while Jackson was placed in a holding cell to use the bathroom, jail procedure, it was for 15 minutes not 45 and the walls were not covered in feces. He conceded, however, that the door was locked. "It's a jail" Olguin told CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BUCKLEY: Meanwhile, we are told that this evening Santa Barbara County sheriff's officials are discussing whether or not to release that videotape we talked about. Tomorrow there is a news conference here in Santa Barbara with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department. That's scheduled for 11:00 a.m. local time -- Aaron.

BROWN: I want to go back to the beginning of this and the Nation of Islam because to me, with all due respect, that is what we call a non-denial denial. What they say is we have no official relationship. They don't say they don't have a relationship, correct?

BUCKLEY: That's correct. They don't say that affirmatively and our sources tell us that clearly there is a relationship and it's a curious association for Michael Jackson given the fact that he has been a person who has made his living on the fact that he's a multicultural person, has reached across racial lines and the Nation of Islam is a black separatist group.

BROWN: Frank, thank you, Frank Buckley out in California tonight.

On that theme, the Nation of Islam and Michael Jackson is not necessarily a partnership any of us would have predicted. We suspect we're not alone. How and why the two have come together therefore is a reasonable question to put on the table.

Michael Eric Dyson is a professor of humanities at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on race, religion, and pop culture. We're pleased to have him with us tonight, good to see you professor.

While there is a fair amount of irony in all of this given that Mr. Jackson, many would argue, has gone to some considerable lengths to be less black but this isn't the first time he has sought out black activists either.

MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, PROFESSOR OF HUMANITIES, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: No, not at all, he's been associated in the past, of course, with Reverend Al Sharpton when he made claims against Mr. Tommy Mottola the former head of Sony that he was being treated in a racist fashion and he spoke out against him. He was associated with him.

Reverend Jesse Jackson, of course, has reached out to Mr. Jackson during this and other public foibles and, of course, his recent association with the Nation of Islam or Minister Louis Farrakhan and others indicates that he's got a trifecta of black leadership so to speak.

But I think that what's interesting is that there are other factors that might suggest this is not as curious as people might suggest. On the one hand, Mr. Jackson was reared as a Jehovah's Witness, a marginal within the context of American religious landscape, a religious group in that sense.

And also, the Nation of Islam has made a history of reaching out to battered and brutalized black men, black men who have made mistakes in their lives. They're not as famous usually as Michael Jackson, although we do recall Minister Benjamin Chavis (ph) who became Minister Benjamin Mohammed when he was cast out of the NAACP was embraced by the Nation of Islam but on the ground, the Nation of Islam has majored in rehabilitating the image and identify of black men.

BROWN: Let's see if we can get to a couple things here. Why now? Why do you think now?

DYSON: Well, Michael Jackson is in trouble, in huge trouble. His perception in the culture has been deeply and profoundly damaged by these allegations. Also, perhaps he's rethinking through his own crisis what his identity is about.

You mentioned earlier that Michael Jackson, and your reporter, has distanced himself in one sense from African American culture but he's had a huge hand that has helped him in terms of the broader society seducing him in one sense, the broader (unintelligible) of a culture that says that white is better than black and certain values and visions are better than others.

And so, Michael Jackson has in one sense internalized those to what some consider an atrocious degree so he's, you know, not darkened his face. He's lightened it. He says it doesn't make a difference if you're black and white as he gets whiter and whiter and whiter but that's responding to a broader culture of white supremacy that seduces him into believing that's the truth.

So right now he's in huge trouble. The Nation of Islam is a group that gives a steady message that one ought to, I don't think the notion of them being a black separatist group holds now, they're certainly a pro-black group that wants to focus on rehabilitating black men and in this case of making sure that one's own cultural roots are not obscured by one's own practices.

BROWN: Do you think there is a risk to Mr. Jackson in this association, whatever the association precisely is?

DYSON: Well, there's a risk in a culture that sees any kind of black association as curious, especially one with a leader who has been demonized to the degree that Mr. Louis Farrakhan has number one.

Number two what does Michael Jackson have to lose on the other hand? Here he has already been demonized by the broader society, black and white, so his association with Minister Farrakhan cannot in any way, you know, undercut his standing in the culture because that's been so severely thrashed by these allegations.

BROWN: Does it make white jurors less comfortable? I'm sorry, let me try that again.

DYSON: OK.

BROWN: Does it make white jurors less comfortable?

DYSON: Well, it may indeed.

BROWN: OK.

DYSON: Because Minister Farrakhan himself in the presence of the Nation of Islam...

BROWN: That would be a risk.

DYSON: ...makes white people, you know, feel a bit more nervous so there's no question then in that sense if it's a calculated move strategically for Michael Jackson to figure out how he can win over white jurors that's one thing. But on the other hand I think it's fairly clear to say that if you've already been dissed by the culture that you've embraced maybe he's rethinking his own relationship to white America.

BROWN: Good to have you with us, interesting thoughts. Thank you, professor.

DYSON: Thanks for having me.

BROWN: Thank you, sir. Have a good New Year.

One story in the roundup tonight, we just had to show this to you. We talked about Las Vegas earlier. There's the orange alert and all of that. Well, it got a bit of white alert today, a storm brought snow to the Las Vegas Strip.

An estimated 300,000 people expected to gather there tomorrow on New Year's Eve and every one of them will claim they won, by the way. It's just one of those things. That was Las Vegas today.

Coming up on NEWSNIGHT, Israeli soldiers open fire on an Israeli citizen and now the soldiers themselves are under fire and the nation is asking itself questions, a break first.

On CNN this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Sometimes, I wonder how long that will go on.

In southeastern Iran, the death toll from last week's earthquake continues to rise, as I'm sure you know. Iranian officials are telling Reuters, the news service, that the number dead might eventually reach 50,000 people. As the mass graves fill up, a global exercise in first aid is under way to treat the tens of thousands who were hurt in the quake.

This morning, a U.S. team of surgeons and pediatricians and obstetricians and gynecologists and paramedics all arrived to help.

CNN's Kasra Naji is in Bam with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KASRA NAJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The catastrophe here is bringing old adversaries together, American doctors, nurses and aide workers in Bam today, first American officials here in Iran after more than 20 years.

BILL GARVELINK, U.S. AID OFFICIAL: The government has gone out of its way to be very helpful. One example is, flying up in the plane just a couple of hours ago, the pilot made a special effort to thank us all and thank us for coming. Everyone has been very warm toward us.

NAJI: American aide officials are here to assess the medical needs of the survivors. Those needs are huge. Hospitals throughout the country are inundated with tens of thousands of those injured. This is what's left of the main hospital here.

On Monday, an American military transport plane brought tons of much-needed medical supplies. American soldiers checking into a hotel in the Iranian town of Kerman. They were warmly received, an American flag on the hotel desk, a scene not seen here since before the hostage-taking of U.S. diplomats led to a break in relations. It has taken this tragedy for both sides to put the past behind them.

But will this lead to better relations?

GARVELINK: Well, I hope so. I think our primary concern is dealing with the victims here in town and helping with the recovery.

NAJI: But from Iranian officials and leaders, a cool response to any suggestion of a departure in the relations. President Khatami said there will not be any improvement until the Bush administration changes its policies towards Iran. And his minister says he cannot trust George W. Bush.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe there are very nice people in America. And everybody should believe them right now. But we never can believe to the Bush government, because of their activity here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NAJI: American aid workers here have spent the night in an overcrowded hotel here. I've been told six to a room, they're sleeping there. But they are expected to set up a camp near here and start work in the afternoon -- Aaron.

BROWN: Does this effort seem organized or is it sort of helter- skelter?

NAJI: It's very disorganized.

The whole thing has been chaotic, the management of this crisis. And all these international teams that have been coming in, even the Iranian workers. There was no coherent management. Everyone did their best. And it's getting a little better, but, as I said, chaotic -- Aaron.

BROWN: Kasra, thank you -- Kasra Naji in Bam, Iran.

Tonight, Israel finds itself bracing for what might become and likely will become a nasty time. The government says it will force some settlers from a few small West Bank settlements, for them to leave. Settlers say they will not go, at least not easily.

This continues to be a source of much debate in Israel, but it's not the only issue that people there are fighting about. The country finds itself in the midst of one of those painful moments when it seems to be asking itself what it has become. It is a moment brought on by a protest and a gunshot.

Here is CNN's John Vause.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The protest was loud and angry and has been seen many times before, except, this time, some of the demonstrators were Israelis and one of them was shot.

Gil Naamati, just a month out of national service and at his first protest, was shot in both legs. He's now in stable condition, but the next day, his shooting sparked angry protests in Tel Aviv and left many asking, why did Israeli soldiers fire at unarmed demonstrators? From his father...

URI NAAMATI, FATHER: Something break, break down in the Israeli society when Jews shot Jews just because they are demonstrating.

VAUSE: ... to politicians.

YULI TAMIR, LABOR PARTY: Apparently, there is a very easy hand on the trigger. And it seems like they're using far too much force.

VAUSE: To newspapers. "For a moment, we were given a glimpse of what we have become," wrote one commentator. For Israeli-Arab leaders, there is a simple explanation for so much national angst.

AZMI BESHARA, KNESSET MEMBER: Because the one who was shot is a Jew. That's all. We don't have any other explanation.

VAUSE: Even in Israel's Parliament, the Knesset.

YISRAEL EICHLER, UNITED TORAH PARTY (through translator): At a place where there is no danger to soldiers, firing at human beings is an unforgivable crime.

VAUSE: Israel's highest ranking soldier was summoned to a government committee. And a full investigation is now under way. The soldiers say they did not know Israelis were among the demonstrators.

RA'ANAN GISSIN, SENIOR SHARON ADVISER: The soldiers who are guarding the fence and are following certain orders have been facing a variety of threats, some of them which they could have misconstrued.

VAUSE (on camera): Gil Naamati is now under investigation for allegedly damaging the fence. While many Israelis are outraged that a peaceful demonstrator was shot, many others are critical that he was at the protest in the first place.

John Vause, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Still to come on NEWSNIGHT tonight, 800 new allegations against the Catholic Church, this time from out West in California.

Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: More fallout on the mad cow front today.

The government announced new steps to keep the U.S. food supply safe, including a ban on the slaughter of downer cattle, which get their name because they can't walk or move without assistance. This might seem obvious to us, not sending animals that are clearly sick to the slaughterhouse, but that's exactly what happened to the mad cow discovered in Washington state last week.

The Agriculture Department says as many as 200,000 downer cattle are slaughtered each year. The ban is effective immediately.

From the food chain to dietary supplements, it's the FDA's job to regulate food and drugs, but not dietary supplements, not until today, at least. Today, the FDA set a precedent by announcing a ban on the popular diet supplement ephedra. Millions use the herbal product to lose weight. But 155 deaths have been associated with it. And the FDA said today it is simply too dangerous to lose. The ban will be published formally in a few weeks and then will take effect 60 days later.

New Year's Eve is normally for celebrations, of course. But the end of the year is often a deadline as well. And, in California, the Roman Catholic Church and, in particular, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has an enormous deadline looming tomorrow. It's the last day in which attorneys can file lawsuits on behalf of those who have molestation claims against individual priests and against the church as a whole.

The final dollar figure is expected to dwarf the record-breaking $85 million settlement reached in Boston.

Reporting the story for us tonight, CNN's Charles Feldman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The number of cases filed is staggering, 800 cases statewide, involving as many as 300 current and former Catholic priests, say lawyers involved in the litigation.

A special California law that allowed for a one-year period the filing of civil cases involving old allegations of priest molestation opened a floodgate. And, by the end of Wednesday's deadline, more cases of alleged priest abuse will have been filed in California than anywhere else in the nation. Paul Kiesel law firm alone represents some 300 individuals, men and women suing the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

PAUL KIESEL, PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY: I would say that it's possible that the total exposure could well be $1 billion.

FELDMAN (on camera): A billion with a B?

KIESEL: Yes.

FELDMAN: That's an enormous amount of money.

KIESEL: There is an enormous amount of damage that has taken place here. FELDMAN (voice-over): Although about 90 percent of the cases involve boys and young men, Nancy Sloan is one of the 10 percent of cases involving girls. She is now 39, with a teenage daughter of her own. She says she was sexually abused by a priest in Northern California when she was 9. He even sent this letter, she says, apologizing. But only now is she taking legal action, she says, after years of struggle.

NANCY SLOAN, ALLEGED ABUSE VICTIM: As an abuse survivor, there is a sense of betrayal that you are robbed of your church, of your spirituality, of your dignity. It's not about the money. This decision did not come about lightly. It's about justice. It's about accountability.

FELDMAN: A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles acknowledges that some priests abused young children, but says, so many old cases present a problem.

TOD TANDBERG, LOS ANGELES ARCHDIOCESE: The vast majority of these claims predate the 1980s. And we even have claims back to the 1930s. So it makes it almost impossible to verify, beyond a shadow of a doubt, each one of these claims.

FELDMAN: But alleged victims of priest abuse such as Nancy Sloan say it can take decades to muster enough courage to go public and are urging other alleged victims in California to come forward.

Charles Feldman, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: A few business stories tonight before we go to break.

The shipping giant is swallowing the copy king. FedEx said today it will buy Kinko's for $2.4 billion cash. The deal will allow FedEx to offer shipping services at 1,200 Kinko's stores worldwide.

New high in the Big Apple. For the first time, Manhattan movie tickets have crossed the $10 mark, edging up to $10.25 at some theaters. Loews Cineplex, one of those chains that raised prices, say the increase reflects the cost of doing business here in New York. But don't worry. Popcorn still is only $35.

And on to the markets. The Nasdaq hit -- I made that up -- a two-year high today. The other major stock indices had their first annual gain since 1999. Those were the good days, weren't they?

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT: Johnny Cash, Bob Hope, John Ritter, just to name a few. We look back at those who left us this year.

This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, 2004 is almost visible out there. Even so, neither we, nor anyone else can tell you much about what sort of year it's going to be, except to say that absent from it will be a great many people we know very well for a very long time, so well, some of them, that their first names were entirely enough to identify them. They will miss 2004. And we will miss them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHARINE HEPBURN, ACTRESS: I don't want to be molded. I believe in acting with my brains.

BROWN (voice-over): Kate, for instance. You really didn't have to say any more than that. There was only one.

HEPBURN: I like knowing more about what goes on than most people.

BROWN: In an age of curves, Katharine Hepburn was sharp.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Not much meat on her, but what's there is choice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's hear it for him, Bob Hope!

BROWN: Bob Hope was sharp, too. Whoever cracked wise over his many decades as he did? No matter what the medium, Vaudeville, radio, film, TV, there he was, pretending to be tough.

BOB HOPE, COMEDIAN: I'll take a lemon-aid in a dirty glass.

BROWN: He'd puff himself up, then provide his own pin, thereby teaching a couple, three generations how not to be taken in by the pretensions of others.

HOPE: Where are we, Diego Garcia, huh? That's a little embarrassing, because we started out for Honolulu?

(LAUGHTER)

DAVID BRINKLEY, NEWS ANCHOR: The news has just got here.

BROWN: David Brinkley demolished pretensions as well as an exemplary newsman. If you wanted it straight and smart and well put, you turned to him. And, for a very long time, that is exactly what much of the country did, turn to him.

BRINKLEY: Because I thought we should say good night to the audience, not to each other.

Good night, Chet.

CHET HUNTLEY, NEWS ANCHOR: Good night, David.

GREGORY PECK, ACTOR: Pleased to meet you, Pearl.

BROWN: The wonderful actor Gregory Peck is gone as well. He was regularly able to turn a rumpled jacket and a pair of pants into something very like a suit of shining armor.

PECK: You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.

BROWN: Gregory Peck had gravity.

To which, gravity, we mean, Donald O'Connor paid no attention. To a dancer like him -- not that there were many dancers like him -- gravity was not a law at all, merely a suggestion.

Al Hirschfeld spent more years sketching the stars than Galileo. The rest of us say, when things go wrong, well, back to the old drawing board. But that's where Al Hirschfeld was happy to be every day of his long life, including the last. Who could do as much with black and white as Hirschfeld did?

Maybe Elia Kazan, the director. On film and on stage, he brought gritty dramas to life, then played a part himself in a gritty drama of a different time in Washington, when he told the commie hunters of the House Un-American Activities Committee what they wanted to know about his friends in Hollywood. To this day, in that drama, even those who admire his other dramas say he played the part of a villain.

MARLON BRANDO, ACTOR: Hey, Stella!

ART CARNEY, ACTOR: What did you call the doctor for? All I got is a little bump on the head.

BROWN: It's hard to believe that Art Carney is gone. He may have been the best right-hand man in all of comedy.

CARNEY: Ninety-eight, 97, 96, three.

BROWN: Just as Warren Spahn was the best left-hand man in all of baseball, Warren Spahn of the Braves, the winningest southpaw ever.

Man, the things they could do. On the tennis court, Althea Gibson was one of the greatest, as was Willie Shoemaker one of greatest at the track. Gertrude Ederle's element was water, the first woman to swim the English Channel. And she did it faster than any of the five men who went before her.

As for Benny Carter, he was an air, man, blew it hot and sweet through his sax, sometimes a trumpet, a clarinet, a trombone as well. And he did it for decades. To Benny Carter, jazz was really the breath of life.

We say goodbye, too, to Herbie Mann, the master of the flute and Gregory Hines, who was more eloquent with his feet than most of us are with our mouths, unless we're Paul Simon, the former senator from Illinois, who was as articulate as he was principled.

SEN. PAUL SIMON (D), ILLINOIS: I will not be a candidate for reelection in 1996. BROWN: We lost a couple of really good buddies this year, Buddy Hackett, the consummate wise guy, and Buddy Ebsen. Long before he was head of the clan there on TV's "Beverly Hillbillies," he was a big star on stage as a rubber-legged dancer.

John Ritter's star was on the screen. We watched him grow, grow from the guy next door to a family man. Charles Bronson died this year. If anybody could beat the mortality rap, we thought he could. Charles Bronson was that tough.

JOHNNY CASH, MUSICIAN: I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down.

BROWN: But, then, so was Johnny Cash. And he's gone down, too. His wife, June Carter Cash, died in May. The man in black stayed behind until September and then followed along. You can't spend so many years singing two-part harmony and then give it up just like that.

CASH (singing): I hear the train a-coming. It's rolling around the bend. And I ain't seen the sun shine since I don't know when.

BROWN: Hail to Celia Cruz, the queen of salsa, hail and farewell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD")

FRED ROGERS, HOST: It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And farewell to Fred Rogers. He made a safe place on television for generations of children. A lot of them, all grown now with kids of their own will, always owe Fred Rogers a debt of gratitude.

ROGERS (singing): Please, won't you be my neighbor?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: We'll check morning papers after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(ROOSTER CROWING)

BROWN: Hard to believe, isn't it, that another year is going by for the morning papers segment? Well, we only started it this year, didn't we?

OK, here we go, around the country and around the world. Is that what I normally say? Something like that.

"The International Herald Tribune." If you're traveling overseas, you'll find this in your hotel. And you'll find a lot of stories which, if you left New York today, you read in today's "New York Times." I don't know why that happened that way.

Anyway, "Pattern Suspected in Saudi Attacks. Al Qaeda Tries to Shake Up the State, U.S. Thinks." They put Michael Jackson and the Nation of Islam on the front page of "The International Herald Tribune." What I found interesting about that, I guess, is how big a deal it is, that it's a big deal no matter where in the world you are. So that's "The International Herald Tribune," which is read probably by millions of people every day, or hundreds of thousands.

As opposed to "The Burt County Plaindealer," the weekly newspaper in Tekamah, Nebraska. That's, I think, the fourth way I've now pronounced that city, but I may have finally got it right. And the big story there in Burt County is: "A Rate Hike Approved." It will now cost you another quarter for every 1,000 of gallons you use. That could cost residents in that fine area up to another $2 a month. That's the big story in the "Plaindealer" this week. And I agree. I would put it on the front page, too.

"The Detroit Free Press." This is a good idea for a story. "Food's Larger Menace." A couple of stories. "Amid Mad Cow Fears, Other Illnesses Are Rampant, 5,000 Deaths, 76 Million Sick, 325,000 Hospitalized." Take a look at that. That's a pretty good story. And was there something else here? Not really.

How are we doing on time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 1:05.

BROWN: How much?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 1:04.

BROWN: 1:04.

I'll bet if I asked again, would you say a minute, huh? Yes.

"The Times Herald-Record." That's the Catskills edition up in Upstate New York. "Mr. and Mrs. America." I think they doctored this photo. This is not a real photo. But there was a poll done -- well, it says that right there. "National Survey Pairs Unlikely Duo as the Most Admired Man and Woman of 2003." Mrs. Clinton, Senator Clinton and President Bush. I would say an unlikely duo, indeed.

"San Francisco Chronicle," out West we go. "Downer Animals Banned for Slaughter. Agriculture Chief Reacts to Mad Cow Disease." OK, this makes sense. Why do we wait for something bad to happen? Why is it now? OK, the idea these cows can't even stand up.

How much time? Twenty. I was getting a little angry there. But I'll calm down.

"The Chicago Sun-Times," last one of the year for us. "Chicago's Fitzgerald to Probe CIA Leak." He's the U.S. attorney there. And the weather tomorrow in Chicago will be "celebratory." That works for me. A high of 40. That's pretty warm there for Chicago. I have a good friend in Chicago. So have a good day. We'll update the day's top story and look ahead to programs over the holiday after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Before we go tonight, a recap of our top story. The threats are still vague, nothing specific. But on this night before New Year's Eve, cities around the country, around the world preparing for tomorrow's celebrations, which will bring thousands, in some cases, hundreds of thousands, of people together in public spaces, including Times Square, New York, crowds that could be seen as targets or just as easily hide terrorists. That is the challenge that government's face this year.

Tomorrow on NEWSNIGHT, a look back an experiment that changed the way the world saw war. We'll hear from CNN's embeds, including Walter Rodgers, who were on the front lines in the war with Iraq. They reflect on the experience. That's tomorrow night, a special edition of NEWSNIGHT. We hope you'll join us. I'll be there watching it right along with you.

For most of you, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" is next.

Have a great New Year's Eve. And 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





Recuses Himself From Leak Probe; Bam Death Toll Revised to 50,000>


Aired December 30, 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.
We have talked before about that most basic rule of journalism. The more we talk about something happening the less likely it is to actually happen. With that in mind and with New Year's Eve a night away, terror in all its forms is on our minds tonight. We hope the rule holds.

We begin the whip in Times Square. Jason Carroll is there, one of many places beefing up security for New Year's Eve, so Jason start us off with a headline.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Aaron, according to the Department of Homeland Security those beefed up security measures should remain in effect throughout the week. Some parts of these measures will be obvious such as our restricted air space over particular cities. Other security measures not meant to be so obvious to the public -- Aaron.

BROWN: Jason, thank you. We'll get back to you at the top tonight.

Next to Kelli Arena in Washington who is keeping an eye on the attorney general's decision to recuse himself today from the leak investigation, Kelli a headline from you.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, the decision follows months of criticism alleging the attorney general's ties to the White House were too close for him to conduct a fair investigation into who leaked the name of an undercover CIA operative but some critics today praised his decision to hand over the reigns to someone else.

BROWN: Kelli, thank you.

On to Frank Buckley in Santa Barbara, California, trying to make some sense of the relationship between Michael Jackson and the Nation of Islam so, Frank, a headline from you.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, it isn't clear what role the Nation of Islam will play but sources tell us that members of Jackson's management team are concerned. Meanwhile, separately the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department here says it has a videotape that it says will refute Jackson's claims that he was mistreated while in custody -- Aaron. BROWN: Frank, thank you.

And finally to Kasra Naji in Iran where the usually less than pro-American Iranian government is welcoming American help with open arms, Kasra a headline from you please.

KASRA NAJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tens of thousands of survivors of the earthquake have been spending their fifth night in freezing temperatures out in the open as President Khatami revises up the biggest of casualties and he now says up to 50,000 people may have been killed.

Also, the U.S. government has joined the efforts to help the victims of the earthquake and 83 government officials, U.S. government officials are here for the first time in more than 20 years -- Aaron.

BROWN: Kasra, thank you. We'll get back to you and the rest shortly.

Also coming up on NEWSNIGHT tonight from Jerusalem a familiar scene, protests and soldiers and gunfire but this time it was different. This time it was an Israeli protester who was shot and the nation is looking inward.

We'll take a look back at those who died in 2003 from legendary movie stars to cartoonists to all manner of people who changed our lives more often than not for the better.

And one more time this year morning papers coming up at the end, all that and more in the hour ahead.

We begin with a countdown to the New Year in the age of orange alert. Across the country security is being tightened in the air and on the ground but more than any other holiday New Year's Eve means crowds, lots of people in public places keeping them safe from terrorists. Identifying the terrorists from the tourists will be the major challenge tomorrow.

We begin with CNN's Jason Carroll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL (voice-over): A favorable weather forecast and an increase in the number of tourists in New York City could mean record turnout for the annual Times Square celebration.

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: I'm going to be there. I'm going to be safe and so are you.

CARROLL: Police will use Magnetometers to search bags and backpacks of everyone entering the area. Anti-terrorism helicopters will be patrolling the skies. On the ground, police will deploy radiation detectors in sensitive areas. Officers will monitor landmarks and transportation sites.

RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE CHIEF: We have to do things that act as a deterrent to some of the obvious threats and then we have to think about things that may be somewhat unconventional.

CARROLL: Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge says look for increased security measures nationwide.

TOM RIDGE, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We think that the level of threat is appropriately at orange and we have ramped up in an unprecedented way levels of security around the country and I think you're going to see it remain there through the balance of the week.

CARROLL: In Los Angeles, the Pasadena Police Department stepped up its efforts in preparation for the Rose Bowl. In Boston, authorities will be removing or welding shut trash cans for its annual First Night party, while in Las Vegas air space will be restricted over the Strip.

BILL YOUNG, LAS VEGAS SHERIFF: There's been some concern obviously about airliners in large, high profile cities and we're one of those cities and we take every threat with concern.

CARROLL: During the holiday much is suspect. Law enforcement officials tell CNN in New Jersey police were directed to randomly check IDs of EMS workers. While there have been no specific threats New Jersey officials want to make sure emergency vehicles are accounted for and not used to carry out a terrorist attack.

GOV. JIM MCGREEVY, NEW JERSEY: I think 9/11 as painful of an episode forced basic fundamental changes in America and we're still yielding those dividends but we still have to continue to work more to reduce the vulnerabilities present in our society.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: Law enforcement officials are also expecting the public to do its part. They're asking that any suspicious activity be reported to local authorities -- Aaron.

BROWN: Jason, thank you, Jason Carroll in Times Square tonight. It will be quite a different scene down there tomorrow.

If you believe in chatter and the Department of Homeland Security does and Las Vegas is a place that terrorists have set in their sights. Not everyone though believes in chatter and that apparently includes the mayor of Las Vegas who says business in his town is pretty much as usual. It is a city getting ready for a very big party tomorrow night and we talked with Mayor Oscar Goodman earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Mr. Mayor as I was coming up I saw a news article that said cancellations in Las Vegas are running higher than normal; a) do you agree with that, and, b) I gather you would assume that that's because of the terrorist threat?

MAYOR OSCAR GOODMAN, LAS VEGAS: A, let me put it this way, I spoke to my office and one of my staff has family that were coming up from Southern California and they said that the line of cars is just remarkable, so I'm not sure who's canceling if anybody is canceling.

If they are canceling I would assume that the story in the "Washington Post" may have gotten their attention, a story which I believe was based on holed cloth and certainly nobody should change their mind about coming to Las Vegas because of an article that doesn't have any corroboration.

BROWN: What was it about the article that you found made out of holed cloth?

GOODMAN: I found it very disturbing that there was a giant leap of inferences where because a plane is flying from France over to Los Angeles and would fly over Las Vegas without having any credible basis the reporter indicated that an undisclosed source, which I've never cared for, an undisclosed source indicated that Las Vegas may be a target. Well that isn't news. That's speculation and that's totally inappropriate for journalism.

BROWN: Let's go about this somewhat differently. Have you had contact with the Department of Homeland Security that suggests they have concern about Las Vegas as a target?

GOODMAN: I met with homeland security yesterday. I was with our homeland security staff from Nevada today with our governor, with the sheriff and the special agent in charge of the FBI and they indicate that Las Vegas is being discussed on the chatter.

I've never been told what chatter means really but Las Vegas was being discussed and generally there was an indication that any kind of danger would come from the air but as far as a specific that Las Vegas is going to be a target we have nothing to that effect.

If we did, we would tell the folks don't come here. But I'm going to be down there. I'm going to be having a revelry tomorrow night. I'm going to party and I'm no fool. If I thought that I was in danger or my family was in danger I wouldn't be out there.

BROWN: Will there be unusually high security for New Year's Eve in Las Vegas tomorrow?

GOODMAN: Not unusually high security, a different kind of security. In the past we've always made sure. We've never had an incident, thank God, as far as our New Year's occasions are concerned. They're always safe and everybody has a good time but there will be added security.

There is a ten mile fly zone that's been created where private planes and helicopters won't be able to go through and that will be extended over to Hoover Dam where the same rules will be in place and that's going to be for a six hour time period.

Other than that there will be helicopters that are being provided not unlike other cities. It's the same. They'll be up in the air and have a presence and folks will know that we're serious to make sure that everybody here is protected. But as far as having a meaningful corroborated, credible threat, I haven't heard it yet and if I do I'd do something about it.

BROWN: Sometimes with these things I suppose it's hard to get the kind of hard information that someone in your position would like but there obviously is concern at the federal level. I think we can -- we both acknowledge that. Do you -- where does the money come to pay for the additional security or the different security that will be in place tomorrow?

GOODMAN: Well, we're not doing anything different as far as the city and the county are concerned here. It's business as usual, the same kind of security that we've had in the past.

Homeland security has made these other kind of arrangements with the FAA as far as the air space is concerned and the helicopter assistance but basically we're doing things just the way we did it before 9/11 as well as after 9/11. We want to make sure that everybody who comes here can have a party and have a good time.

BROWN: Do you think this notion that Las Vegas is somehow on a target list is bogus?

GOODMAN: No, I'm not saying it's bogus but I haven't heard that it's on a target list. What I have heard is very, very specific. The information I have is that there's chatter, whatever that means. As I say, I'm not sure what chatter means discussing Las Vegas.

Las Vegas is the entertainment capital of the world. It's the resort destination of the world. Of course Las Vegas is going to be mentioned by anybody having a discussion about a major metropolitan area but as far as a specific that Las Vegas has been threatened, no.

I haven't seen one thing like that and if I did, as I said, we would be acting differently and I would not be putting myself at risk. Until I hear something like that, and I don't believe I ever will, but until I hear something like that I'm going to be out there having a party.

BROWN: Well and I assume many thousands of others will be too. I hope it's a safe New Year's Eve in Las Vegas. Thanks for your time today.

GOODMAN: Thanks a million.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The mayor of Las Vegas Oscar Goodman.

On to national security of a different sort and the politics of it, when columnist and CNN commentator Robert Novak revealed the name of a CIA operative months ago an outcry followed and an investigation into who leaked the name was launched.

Today the Attorney General John Ashcroft removed himself from that investigation. His decision follows months of criticism that his ties to the White House were so close it would compromise the process.

Here's CNN's Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA (voice-over): Attorney General John Ashcroft won't be overseeing the politically sensitive investigation into who leaked the name of Valerie Plame, a former undercover CIA operative.

JAMES COMEY, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's just that we reached a point in the investigation where the attorney general and I thought it was appropriate to make the judgment that's been made.

ARENA: Instead, out of a "abundance of caution" Justice officials say the investigation will be led by a special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney out of Chicago.

COMEY: We thought it prudent to have the matter handled by someone who is not in regular contact with the agencies and entities affected by this investigation.

ARENA: Plame is married to former Ambassador Joe Wilson. He and several Democrats had charged the attorney general was too chummy with the White House to conduct an impartial probe.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: It gives me some faith that we will get to the bottom of this dastardly act and prosecute the people who did it.

ARENA: Wilson, who praised this latest decision, alleged the Bush administration last July leaked his wife's name to a newspaper columnist to retaliate against him. He was very vocal in saying the administration exaggerated Iraq's nuclear capabilities heading into the war.

JOE WILSON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NIGER: The crime that was committed was a crime that was committed against the country.

ARENA: While most leak investigations are closed without any resolution the deputy attorney general says this probe is moving along at a fast pace.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA: Sources say that a fourth prosecutor was recently added to the investigation team and that a grand jury may soon be impaneled to take testimony -- Aaron.

BROWN: Take a stab at this. What has changed from when this investigation was launched and the attorney general said, no, it's fine I can handle this to today?

ARENA: Wouldn't we all like to know, Aaron.

BROWN: Well, yes.

ARENA: Jim Comey was asked that very specifically today several times by several different reporters and basically he said that the information that they've gathered thus far led them to the conclusion that this was a good time for the attorney general to recuse himself.

Now, of course, the speculation is that the circle, the focus of this investigation has gotten to a point where there could be the appearance of a conflict of interest in terms of the people that they're honing in on but, again, that's speculation.

There has been an iron clamp on this administration in terms of this leak investigation. It's very, very difficult to get any information or guidance out of anyone at this point and nothing changed today on that front.

BROWN: Kelli, thank you, have a good New Year's.

ARENA: You too.

BROWN: Kelli Arena, thank you.

Imagine for a moment being arrested in a foreign country and branded a terrorist. It's happening in the Philippines tonight. Two men have been arrested, paraded in front of the media, said to have links to al Qaeda and that they are Jordanian.

Well, in fact, they are two Americans from Northern California. As to the rest of the charges, here's CNN's Rusty Dornin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a circus-like atmosphere, two American brothers, Michael Stubbs and Jamil Mujahid, arrested in the Philippines three weeks ago are paraded before reporters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Unintelligible.)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are all fabricated lies.

DORNIN: The Philippine government claims the two have ties to terrorists. CNN spoke with Mujahid on his cell phone from jail in Manila.

(via telephone): They say they had you followed and that you met with members of an al Qaeda cell is that true.

JAMIL MUJAHID, ARRESTED IN THE PHILIPPINES (via telephone): Well, not of my knowledge. The people that I met since I've been here they were really of the Christian faith and the majority of them were (unintelligible) and I had no way of really communicating with them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know. They're not listening to me or anything.

DORNIN: Mujahid claims he has been in the Philippines since last February living with his Filipino wife. When he was arrested December 13, he thought he was being kidnapped.

MUJAHID (via telephone): I was tortured for almost three days where I was handcuffed in front of me where I wasn't able to use the bathroom.

RASHEEDA STUBBS, DAUGHTER: This is happening to my father.

DORNIN: Mujahid's daughter Rasheeda saw the pictures of her father for the first time with us.

STUBBS: He looks like he's lost a lot of weight. My heart dropped when I seen the pictures that we looked at in there. My heart dropped because I know that he's an innocent man. I know that he would never hurt anyone.

DORNIN: Stubbs says her father is a Vietnam vet, is patriotic and has no ties to terrorist organizations.

(via telephone): Why are they making these accusations?

MUJAHID (via telephone): Again, political, number two I can only say financial extortion and, number three religious persecution. That's the only things I can see.

DORNIN: Mujahid says he has converted to Islam but his brother Michael did not. The State Department won't comment and says the brothers asked them not to talk with any third parties including the media. The FBI says they did not ask to have the brothers arrested. The Philippine government says they will deport them. When? Mujahid says he has no idea.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, Michael Jackson and are they his new best friends? The Nation of Islam is somehow involved in the pop star's life and problems.

And with the death toll still rising the Iranian government reaches out for help from almost anywhere.

This is NEWSNIGHT from New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: In geopolitics it might be called a strategic alliance. In business it might be called a marriage of convenience. In Santa Barbara, California it's called Michael Jackson and the Nation of Islam.

Here's CNN's Frank Buckley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BUCKLEY (voice-over): CNN has confirmed that the Nation of Islam has become involved in Jackson's affairs and that it is causing concern among some of Jackson's long time management team.

Sources say access to Jackson is being limited by Leonard Mohammed, son-in-law of this man, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. This week, Stuart Backerman, Jackson's spokesman resigned from Jackson's management team citing strategic differences and sources say at least two Jackson business partners have been unable to get to Jackson for two weeks.

Mark Geragos did not return our calls but the Nation of Islam issued a statement denying the claim saying: "The Nation of Islam has no official business or professional relationship with Mr. Jackson. The Nation of Islam joins thousands of other people in wishing him well."

Separately, CNN is being told that the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department has a videotape that will, according to officials, refute claims by Michael Jackson that he was mistreated when he turned himself in to authorities last month.

"They manhandled me roughly" Jackson told "60 Minutes." "My shoulder is dislocated, literally." Jackson said swelling on his arm, shown on this photo obtained by CNN, was caused by sheriff's deputies and Jackson claimed he could barely raise his arms now, despite video shot immediately after his booking that shows Jackson waving to cameras and onlookers.

(Unintelligible) he asked to use the restroom (unintelligible) for 45 minutes. Jermaine Jackson touched on the allegation during an appearance on "LARRY KING LIVE" (unintelligible).

JERMAINE JACKSON, BROTHER OF MICHAEL JACKSON: He asked to use the restroom and they locked him in there for 30 minutes and said how do you like the way it smells in there, the smell? And that's ridiculous. I mean this is how they conducted themselves.

BUCKLEY: Santa Barbara County sheriff's officials deny the allegations of mistreatment and the jail's Chief Deputy Fred Olguin (ph) tells CNN that while Jackson was placed in a holding cell to use the bathroom, jail procedure, it was for 15 minutes not 45 and the walls were not covered in feces. He conceded, however, that the door was locked. "It's a jail" Olguin told CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BUCKLEY: Meanwhile, we are told that this evening Santa Barbara County sheriff's officials are discussing whether or not to release that videotape we talked about. Tomorrow there is a news conference here in Santa Barbara with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department. That's scheduled for 11:00 a.m. local time -- Aaron.

BROWN: I want to go back to the beginning of this and the Nation of Islam because to me, with all due respect, that is what we call a non-denial denial. What they say is we have no official relationship. They don't say they don't have a relationship, correct?

BUCKLEY: That's correct. They don't say that affirmatively and our sources tell us that clearly there is a relationship and it's a curious association for Michael Jackson given the fact that he has been a person who has made his living on the fact that he's a multicultural person, has reached across racial lines and the Nation of Islam is a black separatist group.

BROWN: Frank, thank you, Frank Buckley out in California tonight.

On that theme, the Nation of Islam and Michael Jackson is not necessarily a partnership any of us would have predicted. We suspect we're not alone. How and why the two have come together therefore is a reasonable question to put on the table.

Michael Eric Dyson is a professor of humanities at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on race, religion, and pop culture. We're pleased to have him with us tonight, good to see you professor.

While there is a fair amount of irony in all of this given that Mr. Jackson, many would argue, has gone to some considerable lengths to be less black but this isn't the first time he has sought out black activists either.

MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, PROFESSOR OF HUMANITIES, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: No, not at all, he's been associated in the past, of course, with Reverend Al Sharpton when he made claims against Mr. Tommy Mottola the former head of Sony that he was being treated in a racist fashion and he spoke out against him. He was associated with him.

Reverend Jesse Jackson, of course, has reached out to Mr. Jackson during this and other public foibles and, of course, his recent association with the Nation of Islam or Minister Louis Farrakhan and others indicates that he's got a trifecta of black leadership so to speak.

But I think that what's interesting is that there are other factors that might suggest this is not as curious as people might suggest. On the one hand, Mr. Jackson was reared as a Jehovah's Witness, a marginal within the context of American religious landscape, a religious group in that sense.

And also, the Nation of Islam has made a history of reaching out to battered and brutalized black men, black men who have made mistakes in their lives. They're not as famous usually as Michael Jackson, although we do recall Minister Benjamin Chavis (ph) who became Minister Benjamin Mohammed when he was cast out of the NAACP was embraced by the Nation of Islam but on the ground, the Nation of Islam has majored in rehabilitating the image and identify of black men.

BROWN: Let's see if we can get to a couple things here. Why now? Why do you think now?

DYSON: Well, Michael Jackson is in trouble, in huge trouble. His perception in the culture has been deeply and profoundly damaged by these allegations. Also, perhaps he's rethinking through his own crisis what his identity is about.

You mentioned earlier that Michael Jackson, and your reporter, has distanced himself in one sense from African American culture but he's had a huge hand that has helped him in terms of the broader society seducing him in one sense, the broader (unintelligible) of a culture that says that white is better than black and certain values and visions are better than others.

And so, Michael Jackson has in one sense internalized those to what some consider an atrocious degree so he's, you know, not darkened his face. He's lightened it. He says it doesn't make a difference if you're black and white as he gets whiter and whiter and whiter but that's responding to a broader culture of white supremacy that seduces him into believing that's the truth.

So right now he's in huge trouble. The Nation of Islam is a group that gives a steady message that one ought to, I don't think the notion of them being a black separatist group holds now, they're certainly a pro-black group that wants to focus on rehabilitating black men and in this case of making sure that one's own cultural roots are not obscured by one's own practices.

BROWN: Do you think there is a risk to Mr. Jackson in this association, whatever the association precisely is?

DYSON: Well, there's a risk in a culture that sees any kind of black association as curious, especially one with a leader who has been demonized to the degree that Mr. Louis Farrakhan has number one.

Number two what does Michael Jackson have to lose on the other hand? Here he has already been demonized by the broader society, black and white, so his association with Minister Farrakhan cannot in any way, you know, undercut his standing in the culture because that's been so severely thrashed by these allegations.

BROWN: Does it make white jurors less comfortable? I'm sorry, let me try that again.

DYSON: OK.

BROWN: Does it make white jurors less comfortable?

DYSON: Well, it may indeed.

BROWN: OK.

DYSON: Because Minister Farrakhan himself in the presence of the Nation of Islam...

BROWN: That would be a risk.

DYSON: ...makes white people, you know, feel a bit more nervous so there's no question then in that sense if it's a calculated move strategically for Michael Jackson to figure out how he can win over white jurors that's one thing. But on the other hand I think it's fairly clear to say that if you've already been dissed by the culture that you've embraced maybe he's rethinking his own relationship to white America.

BROWN: Good to have you with us, interesting thoughts. Thank you, professor.

DYSON: Thanks for having me.

BROWN: Thank you, sir. Have a good New Year.

One story in the roundup tonight, we just had to show this to you. We talked about Las Vegas earlier. There's the orange alert and all of that. Well, it got a bit of white alert today, a storm brought snow to the Las Vegas Strip.

An estimated 300,000 people expected to gather there tomorrow on New Year's Eve and every one of them will claim they won, by the way. It's just one of those things. That was Las Vegas today.

Coming up on NEWSNIGHT, Israeli soldiers open fire on an Israeli citizen and now the soldiers themselves are under fire and the nation is asking itself questions, a break first.

On CNN this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Sometimes, I wonder how long that will go on.

In southeastern Iran, the death toll from last week's earthquake continues to rise, as I'm sure you know. Iranian officials are telling Reuters, the news service, that the number dead might eventually reach 50,000 people. As the mass graves fill up, a global exercise in first aid is under way to treat the tens of thousands who were hurt in the quake.

This morning, a U.S. team of surgeons and pediatricians and obstetricians and gynecologists and paramedics all arrived to help.

CNN's Kasra Naji is in Bam with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KASRA NAJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The catastrophe here is bringing old adversaries together, American doctors, nurses and aide workers in Bam today, first American officials here in Iran after more than 20 years.

BILL GARVELINK, U.S. AID OFFICIAL: The government has gone out of its way to be very helpful. One example is, flying up in the plane just a couple of hours ago, the pilot made a special effort to thank us all and thank us for coming. Everyone has been very warm toward us.

NAJI: American aide officials are here to assess the medical needs of the survivors. Those needs are huge. Hospitals throughout the country are inundated with tens of thousands of those injured. This is what's left of the main hospital here.

On Monday, an American military transport plane brought tons of much-needed medical supplies. American soldiers checking into a hotel in the Iranian town of Kerman. They were warmly received, an American flag on the hotel desk, a scene not seen here since before the hostage-taking of U.S. diplomats led to a break in relations. It has taken this tragedy for both sides to put the past behind them.

But will this lead to better relations?

GARVELINK: Well, I hope so. I think our primary concern is dealing with the victims here in town and helping with the recovery.

NAJI: But from Iranian officials and leaders, a cool response to any suggestion of a departure in the relations. President Khatami said there will not be any improvement until the Bush administration changes its policies towards Iran. And his minister says he cannot trust George W. Bush.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe there are very nice people in America. And everybody should believe them right now. But we never can believe to the Bush government, because of their activity here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NAJI: American aid workers here have spent the night in an overcrowded hotel here. I've been told six to a room, they're sleeping there. But they are expected to set up a camp near here and start work in the afternoon -- Aaron.

BROWN: Does this effort seem organized or is it sort of helter- skelter?

NAJI: It's very disorganized.

The whole thing has been chaotic, the management of this crisis. And all these international teams that have been coming in, even the Iranian workers. There was no coherent management. Everyone did their best. And it's getting a little better, but, as I said, chaotic -- Aaron.

BROWN: Kasra, thank you -- Kasra Naji in Bam, Iran.

Tonight, Israel finds itself bracing for what might become and likely will become a nasty time. The government says it will force some settlers from a few small West Bank settlements, for them to leave. Settlers say they will not go, at least not easily.

This continues to be a source of much debate in Israel, but it's not the only issue that people there are fighting about. The country finds itself in the midst of one of those painful moments when it seems to be asking itself what it has become. It is a moment brought on by a protest and a gunshot.

Here is CNN's John Vause.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The protest was loud and angry and has been seen many times before, except, this time, some of the demonstrators were Israelis and one of them was shot.

Gil Naamati, just a month out of national service and at his first protest, was shot in both legs. He's now in stable condition, but the next day, his shooting sparked angry protests in Tel Aviv and left many asking, why did Israeli soldiers fire at unarmed demonstrators? From his father...

URI NAAMATI, FATHER: Something break, break down in the Israeli society when Jews shot Jews just because they are demonstrating.

VAUSE: ... to politicians.

YULI TAMIR, LABOR PARTY: Apparently, there is a very easy hand on the trigger. And it seems like they're using far too much force.

VAUSE: To newspapers. "For a moment, we were given a glimpse of what we have become," wrote one commentator. For Israeli-Arab leaders, there is a simple explanation for so much national angst.

AZMI BESHARA, KNESSET MEMBER: Because the one who was shot is a Jew. That's all. We don't have any other explanation.

VAUSE: Even in Israel's Parliament, the Knesset.

YISRAEL EICHLER, UNITED TORAH PARTY (through translator): At a place where there is no danger to soldiers, firing at human beings is an unforgivable crime.

VAUSE: Israel's highest ranking soldier was summoned to a government committee. And a full investigation is now under way. The soldiers say they did not know Israelis were among the demonstrators.

RA'ANAN GISSIN, SENIOR SHARON ADVISER: The soldiers who are guarding the fence and are following certain orders have been facing a variety of threats, some of them which they could have misconstrued.

VAUSE (on camera): Gil Naamati is now under investigation for allegedly damaging the fence. While many Israelis are outraged that a peaceful demonstrator was shot, many others are critical that he was at the protest in the first place.

John Vause, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Still to come on NEWSNIGHT tonight, 800 new allegations against the Catholic Church, this time from out West in California.

Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: More fallout on the mad cow front today.

The government announced new steps to keep the U.S. food supply safe, including a ban on the slaughter of downer cattle, which get their name because they can't walk or move without assistance. This might seem obvious to us, not sending animals that are clearly sick to the slaughterhouse, but that's exactly what happened to the mad cow discovered in Washington state last week.

The Agriculture Department says as many as 200,000 downer cattle are slaughtered each year. The ban is effective immediately.

From the food chain to dietary supplements, it's the FDA's job to regulate food and drugs, but not dietary supplements, not until today, at least. Today, the FDA set a precedent by announcing a ban on the popular diet supplement ephedra. Millions use the herbal product to lose weight. But 155 deaths have been associated with it. And the FDA said today it is simply too dangerous to lose. The ban will be published formally in a few weeks and then will take effect 60 days later.

New Year's Eve is normally for celebrations, of course. But the end of the year is often a deadline as well. And, in California, the Roman Catholic Church and, in particular, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has an enormous deadline looming tomorrow. It's the last day in which attorneys can file lawsuits on behalf of those who have molestation claims against individual priests and against the church as a whole.

The final dollar figure is expected to dwarf the record-breaking $85 million settlement reached in Boston.

Reporting the story for us tonight, CNN's Charles Feldman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The number of cases filed is staggering, 800 cases statewide, involving as many as 300 current and former Catholic priests, say lawyers involved in the litigation.

A special California law that allowed for a one-year period the filing of civil cases involving old allegations of priest molestation opened a floodgate. And, by the end of Wednesday's deadline, more cases of alleged priest abuse will have been filed in California than anywhere else in the nation. Paul Kiesel law firm alone represents some 300 individuals, men and women suing the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

PAUL KIESEL, PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY: I would say that it's possible that the total exposure could well be $1 billion.

FELDMAN (on camera): A billion with a B?

KIESEL: Yes.

FELDMAN: That's an enormous amount of money.

KIESEL: There is an enormous amount of damage that has taken place here. FELDMAN (voice-over): Although about 90 percent of the cases involve boys and young men, Nancy Sloan is one of the 10 percent of cases involving girls. She is now 39, with a teenage daughter of her own. She says she was sexually abused by a priest in Northern California when she was 9. He even sent this letter, she says, apologizing. But only now is she taking legal action, she says, after years of struggle.

NANCY SLOAN, ALLEGED ABUSE VICTIM: As an abuse survivor, there is a sense of betrayal that you are robbed of your church, of your spirituality, of your dignity. It's not about the money. This decision did not come about lightly. It's about justice. It's about accountability.

FELDMAN: A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles acknowledges that some priests abused young children, but says, so many old cases present a problem.

TOD TANDBERG, LOS ANGELES ARCHDIOCESE: The vast majority of these claims predate the 1980s. And we even have claims back to the 1930s. So it makes it almost impossible to verify, beyond a shadow of a doubt, each one of these claims.

FELDMAN: But alleged victims of priest abuse such as Nancy Sloan say it can take decades to muster enough courage to go public and are urging other alleged victims in California to come forward.

Charles Feldman, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: A few business stories tonight before we go to break.

The shipping giant is swallowing the copy king. FedEx said today it will buy Kinko's for $2.4 billion cash. The deal will allow FedEx to offer shipping services at 1,200 Kinko's stores worldwide.

New high in the Big Apple. For the first time, Manhattan movie tickets have crossed the $10 mark, edging up to $10.25 at some theaters. Loews Cineplex, one of those chains that raised prices, say the increase reflects the cost of doing business here in New York. But don't worry. Popcorn still is only $35.

And on to the markets. The Nasdaq hit -- I made that up -- a two-year high today. The other major stock indices had their first annual gain since 1999. Those were the good days, weren't they?

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT: Johnny Cash, Bob Hope, John Ritter, just to name a few. We look back at those who left us this year.

This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, 2004 is almost visible out there. Even so, neither we, nor anyone else can tell you much about what sort of year it's going to be, except to say that absent from it will be a great many people we know very well for a very long time, so well, some of them, that their first names were entirely enough to identify them. They will miss 2004. And we will miss them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHARINE HEPBURN, ACTRESS: I don't want to be molded. I believe in acting with my brains.

BROWN (voice-over): Kate, for instance. You really didn't have to say any more than that. There was only one.

HEPBURN: I like knowing more about what goes on than most people.

BROWN: In an age of curves, Katharine Hepburn was sharp.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Not much meat on her, but what's there is choice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's hear it for him, Bob Hope!

BROWN: Bob Hope was sharp, too. Whoever cracked wise over his many decades as he did? No matter what the medium, Vaudeville, radio, film, TV, there he was, pretending to be tough.

BOB HOPE, COMEDIAN: I'll take a lemon-aid in a dirty glass.

BROWN: He'd puff himself up, then provide his own pin, thereby teaching a couple, three generations how not to be taken in by the pretensions of others.

HOPE: Where are we, Diego Garcia, huh? That's a little embarrassing, because we started out for Honolulu?

(LAUGHTER)

DAVID BRINKLEY, NEWS ANCHOR: The news has just got here.

BROWN: David Brinkley demolished pretensions as well as an exemplary newsman. If you wanted it straight and smart and well put, you turned to him. And, for a very long time, that is exactly what much of the country did, turn to him.

BRINKLEY: Because I thought we should say good night to the audience, not to each other.

Good night, Chet.

CHET HUNTLEY, NEWS ANCHOR: Good night, David.

GREGORY PECK, ACTOR: Pleased to meet you, Pearl.

BROWN: The wonderful actor Gregory Peck is gone as well. He was regularly able to turn a rumpled jacket and a pair of pants into something very like a suit of shining armor.

PECK: You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.

BROWN: Gregory Peck had gravity.

To which, gravity, we mean, Donald O'Connor paid no attention. To a dancer like him -- not that there were many dancers like him -- gravity was not a law at all, merely a suggestion.

Al Hirschfeld spent more years sketching the stars than Galileo. The rest of us say, when things go wrong, well, back to the old drawing board. But that's where Al Hirschfeld was happy to be every day of his long life, including the last. Who could do as much with black and white as Hirschfeld did?

Maybe Elia Kazan, the director. On film and on stage, he brought gritty dramas to life, then played a part himself in a gritty drama of a different time in Washington, when he told the commie hunters of the House Un-American Activities Committee what they wanted to know about his friends in Hollywood. To this day, in that drama, even those who admire his other dramas say he played the part of a villain.

MARLON BRANDO, ACTOR: Hey, Stella!

ART CARNEY, ACTOR: What did you call the doctor for? All I got is a little bump on the head.

BROWN: It's hard to believe that Art Carney is gone. He may have been the best right-hand man in all of comedy.

CARNEY: Ninety-eight, 97, 96, three.

BROWN: Just as Warren Spahn was the best left-hand man in all of baseball, Warren Spahn of the Braves, the winningest southpaw ever.

Man, the things they could do. On the tennis court, Althea Gibson was one of the greatest, as was Willie Shoemaker one of greatest at the track. Gertrude Ederle's element was water, the first woman to swim the English Channel. And she did it faster than any of the five men who went before her.

As for Benny Carter, he was an air, man, blew it hot and sweet through his sax, sometimes a trumpet, a clarinet, a trombone as well. And he did it for decades. To Benny Carter, jazz was really the breath of life.

We say goodbye, too, to Herbie Mann, the master of the flute and Gregory Hines, who was more eloquent with his feet than most of us are with our mouths, unless we're Paul Simon, the former senator from Illinois, who was as articulate as he was principled.

SEN. PAUL SIMON (D), ILLINOIS: I will not be a candidate for reelection in 1996. BROWN: We lost a couple of really good buddies this year, Buddy Hackett, the consummate wise guy, and Buddy Ebsen. Long before he was head of the clan there on TV's "Beverly Hillbillies," he was a big star on stage as a rubber-legged dancer.

John Ritter's star was on the screen. We watched him grow, grow from the guy next door to a family man. Charles Bronson died this year. If anybody could beat the mortality rap, we thought he could. Charles Bronson was that tough.

JOHNNY CASH, MUSICIAN: I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down.

BROWN: But, then, so was Johnny Cash. And he's gone down, too. His wife, June Carter Cash, died in May. The man in black stayed behind until September and then followed along. You can't spend so many years singing two-part harmony and then give it up just like that.

CASH (singing): I hear the train a-coming. It's rolling around the bend. And I ain't seen the sun shine since I don't know when.

BROWN: Hail to Celia Cruz, the queen of salsa, hail and farewell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD")

FRED ROGERS, HOST: It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And farewell to Fred Rogers. He made a safe place on television for generations of children. A lot of them, all grown now with kids of their own will, always owe Fred Rogers a debt of gratitude.

ROGERS (singing): Please, won't you be my neighbor?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: We'll check morning papers after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(ROOSTER CROWING)

BROWN: Hard to believe, isn't it, that another year is going by for the morning papers segment? Well, we only started it this year, didn't we?

OK, here we go, around the country and around the world. Is that what I normally say? Something like that.

"The International Herald Tribune." If you're traveling overseas, you'll find this in your hotel. And you'll find a lot of stories which, if you left New York today, you read in today's "New York Times." I don't know why that happened that way.

Anyway, "Pattern Suspected in Saudi Attacks. Al Qaeda Tries to Shake Up the State, U.S. Thinks." They put Michael Jackson and the Nation of Islam on the front page of "The International Herald Tribune." What I found interesting about that, I guess, is how big a deal it is, that it's a big deal no matter where in the world you are. So that's "The International Herald Tribune," which is read probably by millions of people every day, or hundreds of thousands.

As opposed to "The Burt County Plaindealer," the weekly newspaper in Tekamah, Nebraska. That's, I think, the fourth way I've now pronounced that city, but I may have finally got it right. And the big story there in Burt County is: "A Rate Hike Approved." It will now cost you another quarter for every 1,000 of gallons you use. That could cost residents in that fine area up to another $2 a month. That's the big story in the "Plaindealer" this week. And I agree. I would put it on the front page, too.

"The Detroit Free Press." This is a good idea for a story. "Food's Larger Menace." A couple of stories. "Amid Mad Cow Fears, Other Illnesses Are Rampant, 5,000 Deaths, 76 Million Sick, 325,000 Hospitalized." Take a look at that. That's a pretty good story. And was there something else here? Not really.

How are we doing on time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 1:05.

BROWN: How much?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 1:04.

BROWN: 1:04.

I'll bet if I asked again, would you say a minute, huh? Yes.

"The Times Herald-Record." That's the Catskills edition up in Upstate New York. "Mr. and Mrs. America." I think they doctored this photo. This is not a real photo. But there was a poll done -- well, it says that right there. "National Survey Pairs Unlikely Duo as the Most Admired Man and Woman of 2003." Mrs. Clinton, Senator Clinton and President Bush. I would say an unlikely duo, indeed.

"San Francisco Chronicle," out West we go. "Downer Animals Banned for Slaughter. Agriculture Chief Reacts to Mad Cow Disease." OK, this makes sense. Why do we wait for something bad to happen? Why is it now? OK, the idea these cows can't even stand up.

How much time? Twenty. I was getting a little angry there. But I'll calm down.

"The Chicago Sun-Times," last one of the year for us. "Chicago's Fitzgerald to Probe CIA Leak." He's the U.S. attorney there. And the weather tomorrow in Chicago will be "celebratory." That works for me. A high of 40. That's pretty warm there for Chicago. I have a good friend in Chicago. So have a good day. We'll update the day's top story and look ahead to programs over the holiday after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Before we go tonight, a recap of our top story. The threats are still vague, nothing specific. But on this night before New Year's Eve, cities around the country, around the world preparing for tomorrow's celebrations, which will bring thousands, in some cases, hundreds of thousands, of people together in public spaces, including Times Square, New York, crowds that could be seen as targets or just as easily hide terrorists. That is the challenge that government's face this year.

Tomorrow on NEWSNIGHT, a look back an experiment that changed the way the world saw war. We'll hear from CNN's embeds, including Walter Rodgers, who were on the front lines in the war with Iraq. They reflect on the experience. That's tomorrow night, a special edition of NEWSNIGHT. We hope you'll join us. I'll be there watching it right along with you.

For most of you, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" is next.

Have a great New Year's Eve. And 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





Recuses Himself From Leak Probe; Bam Death Toll Revised to 50,000>