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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Bush to Appoint Commission to Investigate Pre-War Intelligence; Bodice-Ripping Super Bowl Halftime Show Causes Uproar

Aired February 02, 2004 - 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.
First of all I want you to know that we have taken extra care to make sure that whatever else happens tonight there will not be a costume malfunction on this program.

If you're just sitting there waiting for me to rip off part of my shirt as some cheap ratings stunt in hopes that you'll watch the entire program, including the commercials, you are out of luck. The shirt stays on. So do the pants.

Sometimes I do the program without my shoes but that's as far as I'm willing to go, yet another sign of how hopelessly behind the times we are here at NEWSNIGHT.

Further, we have no intention of telling you how to stay in the game, if you know what I mean, and if you don't know what I mean think of throwing a football through a tire. That'll explain it.

Also to my knowledge there will not be a moment where we all get a good hearty laugh out of animal flatulence. We will, however, deal with the Super Bowl halftime show but should this program run longer than four hours please call a doctor immediately.

We'll begin the whip with more serious stuff though. To the White House and CNN's Dana Bash, Dana a headline please.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, after months of resisting the idea of a commission to look into pre-war intelligence the president has reversed course. He is now embracing the idea. The Democrats say what he's planning isn't truly independent. They're not buying it -- Aaron.

BROWN: Dana, thank you.

To the campaign trail, South Carolina, Frank Buckley is there, Frank a headline.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, on the last full day of campaigning before round three of the Democratic primaries and caucuses a new poll suggests that in a head-to-head match up with President George W. Bush two of the Democratic candidates could win -- Aaron.

BROWN: Frank, thank you. Now to Washington and an ominous discovery in the mailroom of the Senate majority leader tonight, Jeanne Meserve with the headline -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, let's call it a potentially ominous discovery. A homeland security official tells us that a substance found in Senator Bill Frist's mailroom this afternoon has tested positive for ricin in preliminary tests.

These tests often unreliable further testing being done. However, law enforcement officials telling CNN that the preliminary testing was confusing and inconsistent. We are waiting for a press conference from the Capitol Police shortly, which we hope will clarify the situation -- Aaron.

BROWN: Thank you, Jeanne.

And back to the water cooler story of the day, if not all time, the Super Bowl halftime show, Jen Rogers with part of that story from L.A. -- Jen.

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Aaron. That's right. You know all the people could talk today -- about today wasn't the game winning field goal, that 85-yard record breaking touchdown pass. It was Janet and Justin, that's right. But it turns out besides being good for the water cooler this stunt could have repercussions from Washington.

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

Also on the program tonight we revisit some voters in Arizona we met last October, hear how they have gone from undecided to decided before tomorrow's primary.

Segment 7 tonight you will meet Jay Williams (ph), a fantastic young kid who was about to break out as a star in the NBA until a devastating motorcycle accident. He talks about his long road back tonight.

And, for the really big finale, why morning papers of course and I wonder what will be on the morning papers as they make their way to your doorstep tomorrow? Hum, all of that and more in the one hour ahead.

We begin with the president's decision to do what less than a week ago he said was premature, probably not necessary. The president will appoint a commission to, among other things, look at the intelligence that he used to take the country to war.

It was a tacit admission that the intelligence was wrong but the president's decision has not satisfied everyone, rarely does, but this question keeps coming up again and again. If the president makes the appointment how independent will the commission actually be?

From the White House tonight here's CNN's Dana Bash. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH (voice-over): Little more than a week after outgoing weapons inspector David Kay declared weapons of mass destruction likely won't be found in Iraq, President Bush under mounting political pressure now says he'll appoint a commission to find out why.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm putting together an independent bipartisan commission to analyze where we stand, what we can do better as we fight this war against terror.

BASH: Mr. Bush invited Dr. Kay to the White House for a private briefing from the man who declared: "We were all wrong." The White House is actively assembling a nine-person panel which they compared to the Warren Commission set up after JFK's assassination. The panel will focus not just on intelligence in Iraq but take a broader look at gaps in other crucial areas like North Korea and Iran.

SCOTT REED, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT:I think the administration recognize that this issue was starting to get a head of steam with the American people, with members of Congress and, you know, every once in a while in politics you just (unintelligible) for what's going to happen.

BASH: The White House officials are informally consulting with some in Congress on the commission's makeup and mandate. It will be appointed only by the president by executive order. Democrats question whether that is truly independent.

SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D), MINORITY LEADER: We can't have the president or anybody else dictating how that commission is going to work and the nominees who will be involved.

BASH: While the latest CNN/USA Today Gallup poll still shows most Americans don't think the president deliberately misled them on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, a major rationale for war, nine months before election day there are growing misgivings about the war itself.

Just 49 percent of Americans think going to war in Iraq was worth it, down ten points in under three weeks. Bush officials are still careful to say Saddam Hussein was a threat and do not concede, even when pressed, intelligence on Iraq's illicit weapons was flawed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: And another thing that's really (unintelligible) Democrats on Capitol Hill and on the campaign trail is the fact that this commission's deadline is likely not going to be until after the election. That makes this whole idea of creating a commission, Democrats say, look a lot like a political ploy -- Aaron.

BROWN: Well, without calling it or characterizing it as a ploy or not someone at the White House must have thought, we would assume, that it does make it less of an issue in the sense they can say look a commission is investigating this. BASH: That's right and, you know, that is what they have been saying all along. They've been saying that a committee in the Senate, a committee in the House have been looking at this. Other areas, the CIA, other places they've all been investigating Iraq.

But what the White House is trying to do is make this into a broader, look, the White House spokesman Scott McClellan must have said the word broad about 20 times today in his press conference. They say that this is about looking at not just Iraq but about North Korea, about the whole war on terrorism, about the entire intelligence community at large.

BROWN: Dana, thank you, Dana Bash at the White House tonight.

With his testimony last week in the Senate, former U.S. weapons inspector David Kay pretty much assured that this issue is not going to go away anytime soon. Clearly it's not now. One question tonight how much mileage will the White House get out of today's announcement, if any?

Dana Milbank is covering this all for the "Washington Post," pleased to have him with us tonight. It's good to see you. Let's talk for a minute about the evolution of the administration's position on this because it seems to me at least the middle of last week they were arguing that no commission was necessary at all.

DANA MILBANK, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, "WASHINGTON POST": Yes. The White House says they never really flatly opposed it, although I think we might be able to find them actually flatly opposing it.

But more they were saying let's wait until the Iraq survey group has done its job and that was really a way of saying well let's wait until next year because everybody realized that's going to take another year or so to do that.

Some people in the White House began to realize though, wait a second, maybe Kay is giving us an opportunity here. He's not blaming us. He's blaming the CIA and the intelligence.

If we get onboard, get out in front of this steamroller and start driving it then perhaps we can have this independent commission and that will put it -- they have to wait for the survey group to be done anyway so we're into 2005 and we're reelected so it doesn't really matter what happens then.

BROWN: I guess what I'm trying to figure out is was there a moment where their view of a commission changed. Did something happen in the White House that led them to go from let's let the survey group do its work to we best form a commission or we're going -- we'll be buried by this?

MILBANK: Well, as I understand it, there was something of an argument inside. There are still some people inside who say well the White House should come out, the president should come out and say what everybody else seems to be realizing, what Kay said and what seems patently obvious to everybody and that is the intelligence leading to the allegations, leading to the war in Iraq were wrong.

Now, if you listen very carefully the president is not saying it was wrong. Scott McClellan is not saying it was wrong. But by having the commission you can put off saying it was wrong that much longer.

So, it's not like suddenly everybody in the White House is won over to the idea that commissions are terrific things. You can rest pretty well assured that they don't have any particular need for a commission.

This is a White House that likes to have centralized control, does not like to let things get out of their hands but they realize that tactically this is very useful for them to do so sometime towards the end of last week the people advocating this got the upper hand.

BROWN: Isn't this -- I'll withdraw the sentence I wrote a little earlier if you disagree but isn't this a tacit admission that the intelligence was wrong?

MILBANK: Well, of course it is and if you talk to people in the White House privately, I mean they're not, they're not dumb. Obviously they see what Kay has said. They see what's on the news reports. They know that the intelligence was wrong.

But what they've realized, and this happened last summer when they admitted that the allegations about Iraq getting uranium in Africa was put in the State of the Union address, they acknowledged that was wrong and it led to this tidal wave of criticism. Everybody pounced on that and used that admission to hammer away at the White House.

What they're realizing is it does them no good to say we were wrong. It projects weakness. It invites attacks from the Democrats, so they're actually -- they realize of course that it was wrong but they cannot acknowledge it. So, the commission implicitly acknowledges what the president and his people cannot say explicitly or at least are not willing to say explicitly right now.

BROWN: Hearing any names?

MILBANK: For the commission?

BROWN: Yes.

MILBANK: Well, if we did we'd report them tomorrow in the "Washington Post."

BROWN: You know somehow I knew you'd say that. Thank you. Good to have you with us telling us what you can before you publish tomorrow. Thank you.

MILBANK: Thank you, Aaron.

BROWN: Dana Milbank who covers the White House and other matters for the "Washington Post" well and aggressively. On to an inquiry of an all together different sort so tell me did you hear the one about the Super Bowl halftime show? You did? Hum. All that's been said about it, and a lot has and will continue to be, the thing that stands out in all of this to me is I finally came to understand why TIVO has that quick backup button. How did they know?

Anyway, the federal government is now on the case, vowing to uncover the truth. Thank goodness.

Here's CNN's Jen Rogers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROGERS (voice-over): First there was the kiss. Now there's the rip.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was shocked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Disgusting, inappropriate for television, very inappropriate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The way the game was going I thought that was the best highlight of it all.

ROGERS: The racy conclusion to the Super Bowl's halftime show certainly grabbed fans' attention and it turns out the governments as well. Monday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell launched an investigation saying he is outraged.

MICHAEL POWELL, CHAIRMAN, FCC: I thought it was outrageous and I was deeply disappointed as I sat there with my two children and I knew immediately this would cause great outrage by the American people which it did.

ROGERS: CBS, which aired the Super Bowl, MTV which produced the halftime show and Justin Timberlake, the bodice ripper himself all but characterized the moment as unrehearsed and unplanned.

For her part, Janet Jackson issued a statement late Monday saying: "The decision to have a costume reveal at the end of my halftime show performance was made after final rehearsals. MTV was completely unaware of it. It was not my intention that it go as far as it did. I apologize to anyone offended, including the audience, MTV, CBS and the NFL."

Apologies aside, many believe the stunt could end up boosting Jackson's bottom line.

JENNY ELISCU, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: I think probably from a PR standpoint it is a good move for her because controversy generates album sales.

ROGERS: The timing for Janet Jackson, some say, couldn't be better. Her new album hits stores this spring.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ROGERS: Now, good timing for Jackson but tough timing for stations that actually aired the Super Bowl and that is because Chairman Powell has really been cracking down and getting much more aggressive on indecency. And, in fact, Congress has a bill making its way through that could increase the fines tenfold of where they are right now.

And one more thing, Aaron, I do want to point out that you just were talking about your new appreciation of TIVO, well TIVO actually coming out with a press release saying that the Justin Timberlake/Janet Jackson moment drew the biggest spike ever in terms of audience reaction that the company has ever measured and one can only imagine what is being traded over the Internet tonight.

BROWN: One does not even want to imagine what is being traded over the Internet tonight. Jen, thank you very much, nice job today.

Ahead on the program we'll spend a little bit more time on this Super Bowl mess. We'll get the perspective of a couple of folks, Jeff Greenfield among them, Dave Ross from CBS radio joins us to weigh in as well. It is the water cooler story of the day.

But up next the last hours of campaigning as Democratic presidential candidates try and win over the undecided votes who head to the polls tomorrow and they have to do it with their shirts on.

And in Segment 7 tonight the story of Jay Williams, an up-and- coming pro basketball star on the road back after a devastating motorcycle accident. You'll appreciate athletes a little more tonight on NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Just hours ago now until the voting begins in seven states holding Democratic primaries or caucuses tomorrow, the stage bigger, the voters more diverse, the dynamic different from two weeks ago.

Frontrunner John Kerry now hoping to cement a growing lead, his opponents bent on breaking the winning streak. The conventional wisdom is the seven states tomorrow may well serve to at least winnow the field, though none of the candidates is willing to concede that much, not yet.

Here's CNN's Frank Buckley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BUCKLEY (voice-over): John Edwards came home to Seneca, South Carolina.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's a great honor for me to be back in my birthplace.

BUCKLEY: His candidacy getting a huge boost by a new CNN/USA Today Gallup poll indicating that he is one of only two Democratic candidates who could beat President George Bush is the election were held today.

Frontrunner John Kerry wins the hypothetical content by seven points, Edwards a virtual unknown on the national political stage before his second place finish in Iowa beats Mr. Bush 49 to 48 percent.

EDWARDS: On the way here about 45 minutes ago I saw a national poll showing that I am already beating George Bush.

BUCKLEY: Edwards' homecoming celebration came on a day that saw sniping among the Democrats. Former frontrunner Howard Dean going after Kerry on Kerry's familiar line about going after special interests. Over the weekend records revealed that Kerry has accepted more money from lobbyists than any other U.S. Senator.

HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have got to change this country fundamentally, change what's going on in Washington, stand up for ordinary Americans so that we control the government and not special interests and corporations. And, John, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

BUCKLEY: Kerry responded.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know whatever happened to Governor Dean's positive campaign but it's the shortest lived positive campaign I've ever seen.

BUCKLEY: Polls show Kerry leading in five of the seven February 3 states. Wesley Clark is ahead in some polls in Oklahoma in a very tight race. It's Edwards who is winning in South Carolina.

And after a series of satellite interviews with South Carolina TV stations, Senator Kerry whispered to an aide, overheard by a pool reporter, "Edwards says he's the only one who can win states in the south. He can't win his own state," which prompted an immediate response from Edwards.

EDWARDS: Here's what happened. I took on the Helms political machine, beat the incumbent Republican Senator and now I am your Senator from North Carolina, not Jesse Helms.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BUCKLEY: Now, despite the fact that the CNN poll suggests that either Edwards or Kerry would beat George Bush in a head-to-head match-up today, no one is suggesting that that's the outcome of an election in November. It's way too early for that.

The Democrats have been in the news a lot lately and voters have been listening to that but there's been very little negative information about the candidates out there so far.

But I talked to a couple of political analysts tonight, Aaron, who said that this poll result is huge for John Edwards. John Edwards is a guy that very few people knew about just a few weeks ago. Now he's seen as a legitimate contender against George W. Bush in a general election. It's big news for John Edwards -- Aaron.

BROWN: That's a great caveat and a P.S. to it all. I think it puts the poll in better context. The overall poll itself may not tell us something but it does say something about Senator Edwards and his quest. We appreciate your reporting today, Frank. Thank you very much, Frank Buckley in South Carolina. We'll see him tomorrow.

Of the seven states in play tomorrow, Arizona offers the biggest, second biggest prize, 55 delegates. Only Missouri with 74 has more. In Iowa and New Hampshire many voters were undecided until the very end and what they decided may well shape some of tomorrow's votes. A few days ago we went back to Arizona to see how things have changed, how minds have changed since the fall.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): We met them first back last fall, a debate in October in Arizona. Like half the Democrats in the state at the time they were undecided then. They came to the debate to ask.

PAULETTE POHLMANN, ARIZONA DEMOCRAT: There is so much hate for the United States right now and how would you use your position as president to uplift the world to a place that would take us out of that darkness?

REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: America is a country from the heart.

BROWN: And sometimes they answered.

EDWARDS: Karen, how long have you been without any kind of coverage for your prescription drugs?

POHLMANN: It's been over a year.

EDWARDS: Over a year.

BROWN: And they thought the debate would help them decide which turned out to be wishful thinking.

KAREN DICKINSON, ARIZONA DEMOCRAT: I came away from the debate with the same feeling of this is just rhetoric.

POHLMANN: I had a lot of information coming at me about, particularly from the media and from print journalists but I -- I had to do a lot of research on my own.

BROWN: Now a lot has happened since last October, most notably one state's caucuses.

KERRY: I love New Hampshire.

BROWN: And another state's primary.

PAT CANTELME, ARIZONA DEMOCRAT: Between Iowa and just prior to New Hampshire I made up my mind. BROWN: Some stars have dimmed. Others, like John Edwards, brighten.

POHLMANN: And he came in second in Iowa and he came in third in New Hampshire. That was when my own faith in my first impressions were reinstated.

BROWN: It isn't a position on health care or the economy that's driving decisions. It's not Iraq or gay marriage. It is something else, something more basic, perhaps the most basic reason of all.

CANTELME: I was looking to see what candidate I thought would resonate with the public and have the best chance to beat President Bush.

POHLMANN: I think there's a lot of agreement that in the collective of people who would like to see a different direction in the presidential administration.

BROWN: Strip away everything else. Strip away the debates and the ads, the speeches and the pundits and what has moved the undecideds is simple. They pick the guy they think can win come November.

POHLMANN: I've made the decision that I'm going to vote for John Edwards.

CANTELME: Senator Kerry for president.

DICKINSON: My husband and I, it's been a great debate between us and a lot of soul searching but it's going to be John Kerry.

BROWN: They all agree on the reason they've made their choice if not on the choice itself.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Arizona and six others tomorrow.

Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, the $500 billion problem. That's how the president's new budget is in the red, how deep. Some details on that and more as NEWSNIGHT continues from New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Tonight we have a much better idea of how our tax dollars will be spent in the next fiscal year. President Bush delivered his budget for 2005 to the Congress today.

Some of the details have been dribbling out for several days, the (unintelligible) a third price tag for the Medicare overhaul for one but the extent of the new spending and the scope of the resulting cuts is now official in black and white and red.

Here's CNN's Kathleen Koch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hand delivered to lawmakers, President Bush's biggest budget yet, a whopping $2.4 trillion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now I got to get busy reading it.

KOCH: There is more money for defense, for homeland security, for NASA's mission to Mars and for some education and job training programs but 63 government programs will be trimmed and 65 eliminated all together.

BUSH: We're calling upon Congress to be wise with the taxpayers' money and we look forward to working with them to bring a fiscal discipline to the appropriations process.

KOCH: But Democrats charge President Bush's budget is anything but disciplined.

SEN. KENT CONRAD (D), NORTH DAKOTA: This elephant won't fly. This president's plan won't lift off the ground. It is so burdened by deficit and debt that it fundamentally threatens our economic security.

KOCH: One point of contention, the budget estimates the cost of the Medicare overhaul and prescription drug plan will be one third higher than lawmakers were told it would be when they voted for it.

Also, President Bush left out of the budget money needed next year to keep U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The omission could add $50 billion or more to the record $521 billion deficit created by the president's budget. Even some Republicans worry it is gushing red ink.

SEN. DON NICKLES, CHAIRMAN, BUDGET COMMITTEE: I believe that the deficits are too high, $500 billion deficits are not acceptable.

KOCH: Political analysts say economic conservatives, the base of the Republican Party are nearing revolt.

REED: They don't like the fact that spending has grown and it feels like it's out of control. The Medicare news last week was bad.

KOCH (on camera): And then there was that vow in the State of the Union that the president will cut the budget deficit in half within five years. Mr. Bush insists his new budget is on track to keep that promise.

Kathleen Koch, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Now, we'll look at some of the other stories in the business world. This is our Moneyline Roundup of course. Blimpie, International, I love that name, plans to open a sandwich shop or many of them actually in Wal-Marts across the country. In all, Blimpie intends to open more than 100 of its express restaurants this year. The first will debut in Florida in April. Get ready.

Turning to the economy and a pair of seemingly positive reports on growth, looked that way to us, starting with the closely-watched purchasing managers' report which said manufacturing activity rose for the eighth straight month and jumped to a 20-year high in January. Also the Commerce Department said the nation's construction spending rose in December.

Some good news on the economy today; however, both reports fell below estimates which results in a mixed day on Wall Street. Can't make those people can you? The Dow and the S&P were up a little bit, NASDAQ fell again.

Still to come on NEWSNIGHT: the Super Bowl and questions of whether there were more personal fouls committed during the commercials and halftime than during the game itself, this important question after the break.

Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: The FCC is on the case.

Back to the Super Bowl. Times change; 28 years old, Carol Channing was the big-name entertainer at halftime. Super Bowl XIV was a salute to the big band era. How quaint does that sound tonight? Chubby Checker appeared during Super Bowl XXII, along with those symbols of Americans sex, the Rockettes. Tony Bennett, fully clothed, as I remember it, appeared on Super Bowl XXIX. Admit it. You don't remember any of them, not a one.

The bar has now been raised -- or perhaps lowered -- to meet the culture or imitate it.

Here's our senior analyst, Jeff Greenfield.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST (voice-over): Oh, where to begin?

Well, it's hard to beat Justin Timberlake's explanation. Wardrobe malfunction, he called it. Wardrobe malfunction? Houston, we have a problem. Or maybe we should check out MTV's heartfelt apology -- quote -- "The tearing of Janet Jackson's costume was unrehearsed, unplanned, completely unintentional and was inconsistent with assurances we had about the content of the performance. MTV regrets this incident occurred and we apologize to anyone who was offended by it" -- unquote.

Well, apology accepted, except there was this comment on MTV's Web site after Justin got something off her chest. -- quote -- "Jaws across the country hit the carpet at exactly the same time. You know what we're talking about, Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake and a kinky finale that rocked the Super Bowl to its core." Yes, baby. CBS said -- quote -- "We attended all rehearsals throughout the week, and there was no indication that any such thing would happen." Really? So they were OK with this? The National Football League -- remember they staged a game of some sort yesterday -- said -- quote -- "It's unlikely that MTV will produce another Super Bowl halftime." Yes, because, given MTV's track record during the past decade or so, why would anyone even imagine they might throw in a shock or two?

(on camera): The fact is, when it comes to the sleaze factor in mass media, there's more than enough hypocrisy to go around. All of our biggest media giants, including the one that owns CNN, have made gobs of money appealing to the public's endless taste for the naughty, the bawdy and the tawdry.

(voice-over): In fact, in the middle of the Super Bowl, CBS, you know, the network so offended by Janet Jackson's mammary, ran this promo showing a child ogling a nearly naked backside. And the commercials, all of which CBS approved for air and which cost some $2.3 million per 30 seconds, featured, among many other things, a flatulent horse and a monkey making sexual advances to a girl.

And, by the way, remember this Pepsi ad starring a presidential nominee, a hot young woman and a highly enthusiastic dog? Yes, good taste is timeless.

(on camera): In every survey, the public says it is appalled by media sleaze. It says it wants to see more documentaries and high- minded dramas. It never says it wants to see nearly-naked women wrestling with each other or kinky threesomes confessing all to a leering talk show host or secret celebrity sex tapes. Nope, never says it, and never stops watching.

Jeff Greenfield, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: So, what to make of all of this? We certainly have been talking about it all day here at NEWSNIGHT.

Dave Ross is host of the aptly named "Dave Ross Show" in Seattle and a national syndicated CBS radio commentator. He joins us from Seattle. So does Alan Light join us from here in New York. He's editor in chief of a new music magazine called "Tracks." He's also been the editor of "Spin" and "Vibe" and a senior writer at "Rolling Stone." And we're glad to have them both.

David, are we actually shocked or are we just pretending to be shocked because we know we're supposed to be?

DAVE ROSS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I think it's the latter, Aaron.

I certainly -- as a matter of fact, to be totally honest, I didn't know even it had happened. I saw a crawl, I think on CNN, saying, "Janet Jackson Apologizes." I immediately went back to the TiVo and am probably single-handedly responsible for about 500,000 of those TiVo hits. But, no, I think -- I have a feeling that al Qaeda must have sabotaged the costume in some way, because there's no way that Justin really wanted to rip all of it off.

BROWN: No, I'm sure not.

ROSS: Just some of it off.

BROWN: Just some of it.

ROSS: Just some of it.

BROWN: Did your listeners talk about it today? And were they -- I mean, Seattle is a pretty calm group, when they're not overcaffeinated. Were they appalled or did they find some amusement in it all?

ROSS: They feigned appropriate shock, Aaron.

And we discussed whether the FCC should investigate it. And they felt kind of like Howard Dean does, that they would prefer an investigation of whatever happened to those weapons, rather than whether this was intentional or not.

BROWN: Alan, is this -- should we be shocked? In a sense, isn't this what MTV and sort of kid culture is right now?

ALAN LIGHT, EDITOR IN CHIEF, "TRACKS": Well, I think, by and large, that's very true.

And I think the Super Bowl halftime show was Up With People or Gloria Estefan.

BROWN: Yes.

LIGHT: The notion was, we'll bring in MTV. We'll give it edge and energy and rock 'n' roll. And, you know, this is everything, in theory, that the NFL was going for, making this shift to having MTV produce the halftime show. It's 28 hours later and it's what we're all still talking about it. I doubt that they think that that ultimately is a failure.

BROWN: So, you have a kind of cynical suspicion that maybe they're feigning outrage themselves, because they're getting a ton and a half of attention.

LIGHT: As was pointed out in Jeff's piece, there's not a whole lot of room for improvisation and accident in the halftime show of the most watched television event of the year.

BROWN: Yes.

LIGHT: I don't really believe that it went completely -- everybody went nuts and the cameras didn't know where to go and, all of sudden, this happened.

BROWN: Yes, that is a stretch, isn't it?

LIGHT: Whether it was supposed to be, he would tear some off or all off, OK, maybe there's degrees to talk about. But in terms of the direction of what this was going to be, I have a hard time believing that this was a complete surprise to everybody at CBS and the NFL.

BROWN: Dave, setting aside for a minute whether seeing a bare breast on television for a nanosecond is going to corrupt the nation's youth, let me suggest there's actually something serious and troubling in all of this, which was the whole scene. The whole scene was inappropriately sexual.

ROSS: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: The end game was basically, if you can't get the girl to take her clothes off, just rip them off.

ROSS: Yes, exactly.

Well, that was what surprising to me, although I'll tell you, the thing, Aaron, that first caught my attention not so much the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake dance. I thought he was going to get her pregnant right on that stage. But, actually, before that, Kid Rock's lyrics.

BROWN: Yes.

ROSS: I starting hearing him talking about the IRS and meth labs and stuff like this. And I said, oh, so we hear all this and now we're going to go and play some good old American football.

BROWN: Yes.

ROSS: But I think that, you know, the point's been made that the executives who booked this booked it intentionally because they wanted it to be edgy. Clearly, they wanted to appeal to a younger demographic. And so to profess shock at this point is kind of disingenuous.

And it happens in radio, too. They will book the edgiest deejay they can find. And then they egg on a couple of people to make love in the cathedral, and they say, oh, we had no idea this would happen.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Actually, had the Janet Jackson moment not happened, I actually assumed the problem was going to be the guy wearing the American flag and ripping it off.

ROSS: Yes.

BROWN: That, actually, in the moment we're in, is pretty tasteless.

Are kids, Alan, looking at us right now, these old people that we are -- or I am -- and just laughing at us making a big fuss over this?

LIGHT: Mostly I think yes.

I do think -- look, for all of this said, I do think it's a surprise and a line that we didn't expect to go past, to end up with a breast bared at halftime at the Super Bowl. But...

BROWN: Because, if it happened at the Grammys, we would talk about it, but -- I'm not sure we would do it.

(CROSSTALK)

LIGHT: But this is the biggest mass, mainstream event of the entire year.

That said, you know, especially, as you said, surrounded by ads joking about passing gas and wearing nothing under your kilt and all the other ways to cut through the clutter that you saw through the entire game, I think kids are thinking, why is this one second, as we have seen on other award shows, other MTV shows, other reality shows, Howard Stern's show, is this a big deal?

BROWN: Yes.

LIGHT: I don't think, if it got this kind of coverage, that kids would still be talking about it that much.

BROWN: Nice to meet you. Thanks for coming in.

LIGHT: Thanks so much, Aaron.

BROWN: David, it's good to see you. It's been a while. We always enjoy you, though. Thank you very much.

ROSS: Thanks, Aaron.

BROWN: Dave Ross in Seattle, Alan Light here in New York.

We'll see if this story lasts another day or not. You know cable. It probably will.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, a different sort of sports story, this one about a young man you will want to root for, I believe it, Jay Williams and his long road back, a story of courage and more, as NEWSNIGHT continues from New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, we can say one good thing about the Super Bowl dust-up. This time, it wasn't the athletes who acted like jerks.

We tend to think of modern athletes that way, too rich, too spoiled, too drugged, too selfish, too a lot of things none of us like very much. And the danger of that thinking is not that it's sometimes right. It's that it is sometimes wrong. And Jay Williams proves it, though you may never see this good kid perform ever again, not a perfect good, a good kid, a hardworking kid, a role model sort of kid who, in one moment of being a kid, learned a good deal about being a man.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAY WILLIAMS, CHICAGO BULLS: I remember the colors of the car that I saw when I was going towards it in the air. And I remember the pole that I was going towards. And, you know, I was going fast, at a fast speed. I remember a lot of pain.

BROWN: Twenty-two-year-old Jay Williams is talking about the night he almost died.

WILLIAMS: The first thing I thought about wasn't that, I feel pain. It was that, I threw it all away.

BROWN: Until that accident, Jay Williams was a basketball star, A star at Duke, where he went to college, the second player chosen in the NBA draft 18 months ago, a three-year, $13.5 million contract under his belt from the Chicago Bulls. And that was just the start of a career.

Jay Williams was also just a kid who acted like a kid and thought like a kid.

WILLIAMS: You kind of think that you're invincible, not that you can't get hurt, but, no, I don't think that can happen to me. So it kind of broke -- it really broke my heart.

BROWN: A broken pelvis, a severed nerve, three of his four knee ligaments torn in the left leg, his left leg, all of that caused him to grow up. A hospital bed will do that to a young man.

WILLIAMS: I was in the bed for a long time on my back. And I couldn't move, couldn't really do anything. My leg hurt every time somebody touched it. It's been a difficult adjustment, but it's getting better and better each day.

BROWN: For all intents and purposes, this is his new home, the sports medicine complex at Duke University, where his rehabilitation is both relentless and painful, but hardly guarantees he will play again.

So to the weights and the exercise bike, he's added a religious medal given to him by a special friend.

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI, DUKE UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL COACH: I gave him a holy medal. I'm Catholic and it's something that I've had for years. And I just gave it to him. I said, this is yours, but I'm only lending it to you. And I said, I want you to use it and it's very special to me. And -- I'm going to cry here -- I said, the night you -- the night you come back and play your first NBA game, you give it back to me and I'll be there.

WILLIAMS: Being weak at the time, when I saw his face, it just -- it inspired me. It inspired me to say, OK, I can get through this. It's going to be a long journey.

BROWN: Riding a motorcycle is against a standard NBA player's contract. And the Chicago Bulls would have been within their rights not to pay him a dime. But they did. They gave him more than $3 million this year and another $3 million to forego the remainder of his lucrative contract. They may have given up on him. Most people in the sport have. But Jay Williams still believes.

WILLIAMS: It's a trying experience. But I think that the great part about it is, you know, throughout my life, a lot of people have always looked at me, playing basketball, oh, he's a man. Look at his body type. He's a man. He plays like a man.

And it is not until now that I'm finding out what it is to be a man, how it is to go through pain every day, but, at the same time, to try to persevere and to have the big picture down the road and keep fighting for my dream. I am really fighting for my dream.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: A kid worth rooting for.

Morning papers after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: OK, time to check morning papers from around the country and around the world. I'm sure there's none of that Super Bowl nonsense in any of the papers. That's just a cable TV thing. And the papers wouldn't stoop to that, would they?

Well, "The International Herald Tribune" didn't, at least, published in France, but not, as a viewer said the other day, a French newspaper, published by "The New York Times." "Bush Budget Focus: Anti-Terror Fight, Military and Security Programs Benefit, While '05 Domestic Spending Is Limited." Anything else on the front page? Well, yes, but nothing that cool.

Now, "The Times, a London paper, kind of center-right paper. "Spies Must Tell How They Got Iraq Wrong." Doesn't that sound familiar? That could have happened in the United States. We had to go to a foreign paper for that? My goodness. Oh, wait, down at the bottom. "How Super Bowl Was Shocked From Top to Bottom." It's news everywhere. I'm sure they're laughing trying to figure out what football is.

Here's the right lead. "The Boston Herald" got it right. It led with the football player. "Superstar." It was a great football game, wasn't it? Yes. And that halftime show, who will remember, though? Anyway, that's Tom Brady. He was the MVP, I guess, right? But that other kid did pretty good, didn't he? That was cool.

"The Philadelphia Inquirer." Up at the top here, it's not really a front-page story. It's a teaser, but it's close enough for my taste. "Janet Jackson Offers Apology. She Didn't Mean for It to Go That Far, She Said Last Night. A Red Lace Garment Was Supposed to Remain During Her Super Bowl Duet, But it Didn't." Don't you hate when that happens? I know I do. "Kerry's Momentum Faces Seven-State Test today." That would be tomorrow, unless you're watching the replay, in which case, it would be today. And "Bush Sets His Course on Budget." That's how they lead.

"The Chattanooga Times Free Press" leads the budget story a little bit differently. "Bush '05 Budget Proposal Faces Record Deficits," not the kind of lead that will make the White House all that happy, will it?

"The Richmond Times-Dispatch." We haven't had this one for a while. What I found interesting about this, this is a Virginia newspaper. That's tobacco country. "Survey: Many Back Higher Tobacco Taxes; 71 Percent Would Support an Increase of 75 Cents a Pack to Address the State's Shortfall."

And let's just go to -- I have to find it. I know when you do morning papers at home, you sometimes have this problem as well. "The Chicago Sun-Times." "Janet's Wardrobe Malfunction." Who was the P.R. person who came up with that phrase, by the way, wardrobe malfunction? The weather in Chicago tomorrow -- oh, I hate when they do that -- "The groundhog says..." -- so we don't know what the weather will be tomorrow.

Well, actually, I can tell you, it's going to be 30 degrees, a heat wave. That's morning papers.

We'll update -- literally update -- the day's top story in just a moment. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, as we reported at the top of program tonight, a white powdery substance was found today in the mailroom of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. A government official says that initial tests -- and initial tests are aren't necessarily definitive -- were positive for the highly toxic poison, the compound ricin.

CNN's Jeanne Meserve has been tracking this down, trying to get more information, as they produce more tests or more test results.

Jeanne, where are we on this?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, we've been told to expect a press conference in about 15 minutes by the head of the U.S. Capitol Police and also by Senator Bill Frist. We hope that will further illuminate the situation.

But here's what we know right now. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Capitol Police says, a substance found in Senator Bill Frist's mailroom this afternoon tested positive for a hazardous substance. And a Homeland Security official tells CNN, the substance was ricin, a poison made from castor beans. These tests are preliminary. Let me emphasize that, preliminary. And they are not considered reliable.

Further analysis is being done at the Army lab at Fort Detrick, Maryland. And, according to the Homeland Security official, some results from that testing may be back Tuesday. The substance described as resembling paper dust by the Capitol Police was found in Senator Frist's mailroom in the Dirksen Senate Office Building at 3:00 this afternoon. It was coming out of an envelope.

The Capitol Police spokesperson says there is nothing in the content of that letter that constitutes a threat. Ricin is an extremely dangerous poison, which, according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, can cause death 36 to 48 hours after it's inhaled. If ingested or injected, it can also cause death, but ricin poisoning is not contagious.

Let me emphasize once again, Aaron, these are preliminary test results. Many times, more thorough testing will turn up a completely contradictory result -- back to you.

BROWN: And, at 11:15 Eastern time, or about 16 minutes from now, we expect to learn more, but how much more, we don't know, right?

MESERVE: Exactly right.

BROWN: All right, so, what we'll do is, we'll hang around here until they say what they're going to say. And we'll put that on the air, so all of you can hear it. And we'll what they know when they know it.

But, for now, I guess, for most of you, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" is next. And we'll see you in a little bit.

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





Intelligence; Bodice-Ripping Super Bowl Halftime Show Causes Uproar>


Aired February 2, 2004 - 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.
First of all I want you to know that we have taken extra care to make sure that whatever else happens tonight there will not be a costume malfunction on this program.

If you're just sitting there waiting for me to rip off part of my shirt as some cheap ratings stunt in hopes that you'll watch the entire program, including the commercials, you are out of luck. The shirt stays on. So do the pants.

Sometimes I do the program without my shoes but that's as far as I'm willing to go, yet another sign of how hopelessly behind the times we are here at NEWSNIGHT.

Further, we have no intention of telling you how to stay in the game, if you know what I mean, and if you don't know what I mean think of throwing a football through a tire. That'll explain it.

Also to my knowledge there will not be a moment where we all get a good hearty laugh out of animal flatulence. We will, however, deal with the Super Bowl halftime show but should this program run longer than four hours please call a doctor immediately.

We'll begin the whip with more serious stuff though. To the White House and CNN's Dana Bash, Dana a headline please.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, after months of resisting the idea of a commission to look into pre-war intelligence the president has reversed course. He is now embracing the idea. The Democrats say what he's planning isn't truly independent. They're not buying it -- Aaron.

BROWN: Dana, thank you.

To the campaign trail, South Carolina, Frank Buckley is there, Frank a headline.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, on the last full day of campaigning before round three of the Democratic primaries and caucuses a new poll suggests that in a head-to-head match up with President George W. Bush two of the Democratic candidates could win -- Aaron.

BROWN: Frank, thank you. Now to Washington and an ominous discovery in the mailroom of the Senate majority leader tonight, Jeanne Meserve with the headline -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, let's call it a potentially ominous discovery. A homeland security official tells us that a substance found in Senator Bill Frist's mailroom this afternoon has tested positive for ricin in preliminary tests.

These tests often unreliable further testing being done. However, law enforcement officials telling CNN that the preliminary testing was confusing and inconsistent. We are waiting for a press conference from the Capitol Police shortly, which we hope will clarify the situation -- Aaron.

BROWN: Thank you, Jeanne.

And back to the water cooler story of the day, if not all time, the Super Bowl halftime show, Jen Rogers with part of that story from L.A. -- Jen.

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Aaron. That's right. You know all the people could talk today -- about today wasn't the game winning field goal, that 85-yard record breaking touchdown pass. It was Janet and Justin, that's right. But it turns out besides being good for the water cooler this stunt could have repercussions from Washington.

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

Also on the program tonight we revisit some voters in Arizona we met last October, hear how they have gone from undecided to decided before tomorrow's primary.

Segment 7 tonight you will meet Jay Williams (ph), a fantastic young kid who was about to break out as a star in the NBA until a devastating motorcycle accident. He talks about his long road back tonight.

And, for the really big finale, why morning papers of course and I wonder what will be on the morning papers as they make their way to your doorstep tomorrow? Hum, all of that and more in the one hour ahead.

We begin with the president's decision to do what less than a week ago he said was premature, probably not necessary. The president will appoint a commission to, among other things, look at the intelligence that he used to take the country to war.

It was a tacit admission that the intelligence was wrong but the president's decision has not satisfied everyone, rarely does, but this question keeps coming up again and again. If the president makes the appointment how independent will the commission actually be?

From the White House tonight here's CNN's Dana Bash. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH (voice-over): Little more than a week after outgoing weapons inspector David Kay declared weapons of mass destruction likely won't be found in Iraq, President Bush under mounting political pressure now says he'll appoint a commission to find out why.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm putting together an independent bipartisan commission to analyze where we stand, what we can do better as we fight this war against terror.

BASH: Mr. Bush invited Dr. Kay to the White House for a private briefing from the man who declared: "We were all wrong." The White House is actively assembling a nine-person panel which they compared to the Warren Commission set up after JFK's assassination. The panel will focus not just on intelligence in Iraq but take a broader look at gaps in other crucial areas like North Korea and Iran.

SCOTT REED, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT:I think the administration recognize that this issue was starting to get a head of steam with the American people, with members of Congress and, you know, every once in a while in politics you just (unintelligible) for what's going to happen.

BASH: The White House officials are informally consulting with some in Congress on the commission's makeup and mandate. It will be appointed only by the president by executive order. Democrats question whether that is truly independent.

SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D), MINORITY LEADER: We can't have the president or anybody else dictating how that commission is going to work and the nominees who will be involved.

BASH: While the latest CNN/USA Today Gallup poll still shows most Americans don't think the president deliberately misled them on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, a major rationale for war, nine months before election day there are growing misgivings about the war itself.

Just 49 percent of Americans think going to war in Iraq was worth it, down ten points in under three weeks. Bush officials are still careful to say Saddam Hussein was a threat and do not concede, even when pressed, intelligence on Iraq's illicit weapons was flawed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: And another thing that's really (unintelligible) Democrats on Capitol Hill and on the campaign trail is the fact that this commission's deadline is likely not going to be until after the election. That makes this whole idea of creating a commission, Democrats say, look a lot like a political ploy -- Aaron.

BROWN: Well, without calling it or characterizing it as a ploy or not someone at the White House must have thought, we would assume, that it does make it less of an issue in the sense they can say look a commission is investigating this. BASH: That's right and, you know, that is what they have been saying all along. They've been saying that a committee in the Senate, a committee in the House have been looking at this. Other areas, the CIA, other places they've all been investigating Iraq.

But what the White House is trying to do is make this into a broader, look, the White House spokesman Scott McClellan must have said the word broad about 20 times today in his press conference. They say that this is about looking at not just Iraq but about North Korea, about the whole war on terrorism, about the entire intelligence community at large.

BROWN: Dana, thank you, Dana Bash at the White House tonight.

With his testimony last week in the Senate, former U.S. weapons inspector David Kay pretty much assured that this issue is not going to go away anytime soon. Clearly it's not now. One question tonight how much mileage will the White House get out of today's announcement, if any?

Dana Milbank is covering this all for the "Washington Post," pleased to have him with us tonight. It's good to see you. Let's talk for a minute about the evolution of the administration's position on this because it seems to me at least the middle of last week they were arguing that no commission was necessary at all.

DANA MILBANK, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, "WASHINGTON POST": Yes. The White House says they never really flatly opposed it, although I think we might be able to find them actually flatly opposing it.

But more they were saying let's wait until the Iraq survey group has done its job and that was really a way of saying well let's wait until next year because everybody realized that's going to take another year or so to do that.

Some people in the White House began to realize though, wait a second, maybe Kay is giving us an opportunity here. He's not blaming us. He's blaming the CIA and the intelligence.

If we get onboard, get out in front of this steamroller and start driving it then perhaps we can have this independent commission and that will put it -- they have to wait for the survey group to be done anyway so we're into 2005 and we're reelected so it doesn't really matter what happens then.

BROWN: I guess what I'm trying to figure out is was there a moment where their view of a commission changed. Did something happen in the White House that led them to go from let's let the survey group do its work to we best form a commission or we're going -- we'll be buried by this?

MILBANK: Well, as I understand it, there was something of an argument inside. There are still some people inside who say well the White House should come out, the president should come out and say what everybody else seems to be realizing, what Kay said and what seems patently obvious to everybody and that is the intelligence leading to the allegations, leading to the war in Iraq were wrong.

Now, if you listen very carefully the president is not saying it was wrong. Scott McClellan is not saying it was wrong. But by having the commission you can put off saying it was wrong that much longer.

So, it's not like suddenly everybody in the White House is won over to the idea that commissions are terrific things. You can rest pretty well assured that they don't have any particular need for a commission.

This is a White House that likes to have centralized control, does not like to let things get out of their hands but they realize that tactically this is very useful for them to do so sometime towards the end of last week the people advocating this got the upper hand.

BROWN: Isn't this -- I'll withdraw the sentence I wrote a little earlier if you disagree but isn't this a tacit admission that the intelligence was wrong?

MILBANK: Well, of course it is and if you talk to people in the White House privately, I mean they're not, they're not dumb. Obviously they see what Kay has said. They see what's on the news reports. They know that the intelligence was wrong.

But what they've realized, and this happened last summer when they admitted that the allegations about Iraq getting uranium in Africa was put in the State of the Union address, they acknowledged that was wrong and it led to this tidal wave of criticism. Everybody pounced on that and used that admission to hammer away at the White House.

What they're realizing is it does them no good to say we were wrong. It projects weakness. It invites attacks from the Democrats, so they're actually -- they realize of course that it was wrong but they cannot acknowledge it. So, the commission implicitly acknowledges what the president and his people cannot say explicitly or at least are not willing to say explicitly right now.

BROWN: Hearing any names?

MILBANK: For the commission?

BROWN: Yes.

MILBANK: Well, if we did we'd report them tomorrow in the "Washington Post."

BROWN: You know somehow I knew you'd say that. Thank you. Good to have you with us telling us what you can before you publish tomorrow. Thank you.

MILBANK: Thank you, Aaron.

BROWN: Dana Milbank who covers the White House and other matters for the "Washington Post" well and aggressively. On to an inquiry of an all together different sort so tell me did you hear the one about the Super Bowl halftime show? You did? Hum. All that's been said about it, and a lot has and will continue to be, the thing that stands out in all of this to me is I finally came to understand why TIVO has that quick backup button. How did they know?

Anyway, the federal government is now on the case, vowing to uncover the truth. Thank goodness.

Here's CNN's Jen Rogers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROGERS (voice-over): First there was the kiss. Now there's the rip.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was shocked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Disgusting, inappropriate for television, very inappropriate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The way the game was going I thought that was the best highlight of it all.

ROGERS: The racy conclusion to the Super Bowl's halftime show certainly grabbed fans' attention and it turns out the governments as well. Monday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell launched an investigation saying he is outraged.

MICHAEL POWELL, CHAIRMAN, FCC: I thought it was outrageous and I was deeply disappointed as I sat there with my two children and I knew immediately this would cause great outrage by the American people which it did.

ROGERS: CBS, which aired the Super Bowl, MTV which produced the halftime show and Justin Timberlake, the bodice ripper himself all but characterized the moment as unrehearsed and unplanned.

For her part, Janet Jackson issued a statement late Monday saying: "The decision to have a costume reveal at the end of my halftime show performance was made after final rehearsals. MTV was completely unaware of it. It was not my intention that it go as far as it did. I apologize to anyone offended, including the audience, MTV, CBS and the NFL."

Apologies aside, many believe the stunt could end up boosting Jackson's bottom line.

JENNY ELISCU, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: I think probably from a PR standpoint it is a good move for her because controversy generates album sales.

ROGERS: The timing for Janet Jackson, some say, couldn't be better. Her new album hits stores this spring.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ROGERS: Now, good timing for Jackson but tough timing for stations that actually aired the Super Bowl and that is because Chairman Powell has really been cracking down and getting much more aggressive on indecency. And, in fact, Congress has a bill making its way through that could increase the fines tenfold of where they are right now.

And one more thing, Aaron, I do want to point out that you just were talking about your new appreciation of TIVO, well TIVO actually coming out with a press release saying that the Justin Timberlake/Janet Jackson moment drew the biggest spike ever in terms of audience reaction that the company has ever measured and one can only imagine what is being traded over the Internet tonight.

BROWN: One does not even want to imagine what is being traded over the Internet tonight. Jen, thank you very much, nice job today.

Ahead on the program we'll spend a little bit more time on this Super Bowl mess. We'll get the perspective of a couple of folks, Jeff Greenfield among them, Dave Ross from CBS radio joins us to weigh in as well. It is the water cooler story of the day.

But up next the last hours of campaigning as Democratic presidential candidates try and win over the undecided votes who head to the polls tomorrow and they have to do it with their shirts on.

And in Segment 7 tonight the story of Jay Williams, an up-and- coming pro basketball star on the road back after a devastating motorcycle accident. You'll appreciate athletes a little more tonight on NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Just hours ago now until the voting begins in seven states holding Democratic primaries or caucuses tomorrow, the stage bigger, the voters more diverse, the dynamic different from two weeks ago.

Frontrunner John Kerry now hoping to cement a growing lead, his opponents bent on breaking the winning streak. The conventional wisdom is the seven states tomorrow may well serve to at least winnow the field, though none of the candidates is willing to concede that much, not yet.

Here's CNN's Frank Buckley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BUCKLEY (voice-over): John Edwards came home to Seneca, South Carolina.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's a great honor for me to be back in my birthplace.

BUCKLEY: His candidacy getting a huge boost by a new CNN/USA Today Gallup poll indicating that he is one of only two Democratic candidates who could beat President George Bush is the election were held today.

Frontrunner John Kerry wins the hypothetical content by seven points, Edwards a virtual unknown on the national political stage before his second place finish in Iowa beats Mr. Bush 49 to 48 percent.

EDWARDS: On the way here about 45 minutes ago I saw a national poll showing that I am already beating George Bush.

BUCKLEY: Edwards' homecoming celebration came on a day that saw sniping among the Democrats. Former frontrunner Howard Dean going after Kerry on Kerry's familiar line about going after special interests. Over the weekend records revealed that Kerry has accepted more money from lobbyists than any other U.S. Senator.

HOWARD DEAN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have got to change this country fundamentally, change what's going on in Washington, stand up for ordinary Americans so that we control the government and not special interests and corporations. And, John, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

BUCKLEY: Kerry responded.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know whatever happened to Governor Dean's positive campaign but it's the shortest lived positive campaign I've ever seen.

BUCKLEY: Polls show Kerry leading in five of the seven February 3 states. Wesley Clark is ahead in some polls in Oklahoma in a very tight race. It's Edwards who is winning in South Carolina.

And after a series of satellite interviews with South Carolina TV stations, Senator Kerry whispered to an aide, overheard by a pool reporter, "Edwards says he's the only one who can win states in the south. He can't win his own state," which prompted an immediate response from Edwards.

EDWARDS: Here's what happened. I took on the Helms political machine, beat the incumbent Republican Senator and now I am your Senator from North Carolina, not Jesse Helms.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BUCKLEY: Now, despite the fact that the CNN poll suggests that either Edwards or Kerry would beat George Bush in a head-to-head match-up today, no one is suggesting that that's the outcome of an election in November. It's way too early for that.

The Democrats have been in the news a lot lately and voters have been listening to that but there's been very little negative information about the candidates out there so far.

But I talked to a couple of political analysts tonight, Aaron, who said that this poll result is huge for John Edwards. John Edwards is a guy that very few people knew about just a few weeks ago. Now he's seen as a legitimate contender against George W. Bush in a general election. It's big news for John Edwards -- Aaron.

BROWN: That's a great caveat and a P.S. to it all. I think it puts the poll in better context. The overall poll itself may not tell us something but it does say something about Senator Edwards and his quest. We appreciate your reporting today, Frank. Thank you very much, Frank Buckley in South Carolina. We'll see him tomorrow.

Of the seven states in play tomorrow, Arizona offers the biggest, second biggest prize, 55 delegates. Only Missouri with 74 has more. In Iowa and New Hampshire many voters were undecided until the very end and what they decided may well shape some of tomorrow's votes. A few days ago we went back to Arizona to see how things have changed, how minds have changed since the fall.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): We met them first back last fall, a debate in October in Arizona. Like half the Democrats in the state at the time they were undecided then. They came to the debate to ask.

PAULETTE POHLMANN, ARIZONA DEMOCRAT: There is so much hate for the United States right now and how would you use your position as president to uplift the world to a place that would take us out of that darkness?

REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: America is a country from the heart.

BROWN: And sometimes they answered.

EDWARDS: Karen, how long have you been without any kind of coverage for your prescription drugs?

POHLMANN: It's been over a year.

EDWARDS: Over a year.

BROWN: And they thought the debate would help them decide which turned out to be wishful thinking.

KAREN DICKINSON, ARIZONA DEMOCRAT: I came away from the debate with the same feeling of this is just rhetoric.

POHLMANN: I had a lot of information coming at me about, particularly from the media and from print journalists but I -- I had to do a lot of research on my own.

BROWN: Now a lot has happened since last October, most notably one state's caucuses.

KERRY: I love New Hampshire.

BROWN: And another state's primary.

PAT CANTELME, ARIZONA DEMOCRAT: Between Iowa and just prior to New Hampshire I made up my mind. BROWN: Some stars have dimmed. Others, like John Edwards, brighten.

POHLMANN: And he came in second in Iowa and he came in third in New Hampshire. That was when my own faith in my first impressions were reinstated.

BROWN: It isn't a position on health care or the economy that's driving decisions. It's not Iraq or gay marriage. It is something else, something more basic, perhaps the most basic reason of all.

CANTELME: I was looking to see what candidate I thought would resonate with the public and have the best chance to beat President Bush.

POHLMANN: I think there's a lot of agreement that in the collective of people who would like to see a different direction in the presidential administration.

BROWN: Strip away everything else. Strip away the debates and the ads, the speeches and the pundits and what has moved the undecideds is simple. They pick the guy they think can win come November.

POHLMANN: I've made the decision that I'm going to vote for John Edwards.

CANTELME: Senator Kerry for president.

DICKINSON: My husband and I, it's been a great debate between us and a lot of soul searching but it's going to be John Kerry.

BROWN: They all agree on the reason they've made their choice if not on the choice itself.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Arizona and six others tomorrow.

Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, the $500 billion problem. That's how the president's new budget is in the red, how deep. Some details on that and more as NEWSNIGHT continues from New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Tonight we have a much better idea of how our tax dollars will be spent in the next fiscal year. President Bush delivered his budget for 2005 to the Congress today.

Some of the details have been dribbling out for several days, the (unintelligible) a third price tag for the Medicare overhaul for one but the extent of the new spending and the scope of the resulting cuts is now official in black and white and red.

Here's CNN's Kathleen Koch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hand delivered to lawmakers, President Bush's biggest budget yet, a whopping $2.4 trillion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now I got to get busy reading it.

KOCH: There is more money for defense, for homeland security, for NASA's mission to Mars and for some education and job training programs but 63 government programs will be trimmed and 65 eliminated all together.

BUSH: We're calling upon Congress to be wise with the taxpayers' money and we look forward to working with them to bring a fiscal discipline to the appropriations process.

KOCH: But Democrats charge President Bush's budget is anything but disciplined.

SEN. KENT CONRAD (D), NORTH DAKOTA: This elephant won't fly. This president's plan won't lift off the ground. It is so burdened by deficit and debt that it fundamentally threatens our economic security.

KOCH: One point of contention, the budget estimates the cost of the Medicare overhaul and prescription drug plan will be one third higher than lawmakers were told it would be when they voted for it.

Also, President Bush left out of the budget money needed next year to keep U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The omission could add $50 billion or more to the record $521 billion deficit created by the president's budget. Even some Republicans worry it is gushing red ink.

SEN. DON NICKLES, CHAIRMAN, BUDGET COMMITTEE: I believe that the deficits are too high, $500 billion deficits are not acceptable.

KOCH: Political analysts say economic conservatives, the base of the Republican Party are nearing revolt.

REED: They don't like the fact that spending has grown and it feels like it's out of control. The Medicare news last week was bad.

KOCH (on camera): And then there was that vow in the State of the Union that the president will cut the budget deficit in half within five years. Mr. Bush insists his new budget is on track to keep that promise.

Kathleen Koch, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Now, we'll look at some of the other stories in the business world. This is our Moneyline Roundup of course. Blimpie, International, I love that name, plans to open a sandwich shop or many of them actually in Wal-Marts across the country. In all, Blimpie intends to open more than 100 of its express restaurants this year. The first will debut in Florida in April. Get ready.

Turning to the economy and a pair of seemingly positive reports on growth, looked that way to us, starting with the closely-watched purchasing managers' report which said manufacturing activity rose for the eighth straight month and jumped to a 20-year high in January. Also the Commerce Department said the nation's construction spending rose in December.

Some good news on the economy today; however, both reports fell below estimates which results in a mixed day on Wall Street. Can't make those people can you? The Dow and the S&P were up a little bit, NASDAQ fell again.

Still to come on NEWSNIGHT: the Super Bowl and questions of whether there were more personal fouls committed during the commercials and halftime than during the game itself, this important question after the break.

Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: The FCC is on the case.

Back to the Super Bowl. Times change; 28 years old, Carol Channing was the big-name entertainer at halftime. Super Bowl XIV was a salute to the big band era. How quaint does that sound tonight? Chubby Checker appeared during Super Bowl XXII, along with those symbols of Americans sex, the Rockettes. Tony Bennett, fully clothed, as I remember it, appeared on Super Bowl XXIX. Admit it. You don't remember any of them, not a one.

The bar has now been raised -- or perhaps lowered -- to meet the culture or imitate it.

Here's our senior analyst, Jeff Greenfield.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST (voice-over): Oh, where to begin?

Well, it's hard to beat Justin Timberlake's explanation. Wardrobe malfunction, he called it. Wardrobe malfunction? Houston, we have a problem. Or maybe we should check out MTV's heartfelt apology -- quote -- "The tearing of Janet Jackson's costume was unrehearsed, unplanned, completely unintentional and was inconsistent with assurances we had about the content of the performance. MTV regrets this incident occurred and we apologize to anyone who was offended by it" -- unquote.

Well, apology accepted, except there was this comment on MTV's Web site after Justin got something off her chest. -- quote -- "Jaws across the country hit the carpet at exactly the same time. You know what we're talking about, Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake and a kinky finale that rocked the Super Bowl to its core." Yes, baby. CBS said -- quote -- "We attended all rehearsals throughout the week, and there was no indication that any such thing would happen." Really? So they were OK with this? The National Football League -- remember they staged a game of some sort yesterday -- said -- quote -- "It's unlikely that MTV will produce another Super Bowl halftime." Yes, because, given MTV's track record during the past decade or so, why would anyone even imagine they might throw in a shock or two?

(on camera): The fact is, when it comes to the sleaze factor in mass media, there's more than enough hypocrisy to go around. All of our biggest media giants, including the one that owns CNN, have made gobs of money appealing to the public's endless taste for the naughty, the bawdy and the tawdry.

(voice-over): In fact, in the middle of the Super Bowl, CBS, you know, the network so offended by Janet Jackson's mammary, ran this promo showing a child ogling a nearly naked backside. And the commercials, all of which CBS approved for air and which cost some $2.3 million per 30 seconds, featured, among many other things, a flatulent horse and a monkey making sexual advances to a girl.

And, by the way, remember this Pepsi ad starring a presidential nominee, a hot young woman and a highly enthusiastic dog? Yes, good taste is timeless.

(on camera): In every survey, the public says it is appalled by media sleaze. It says it wants to see more documentaries and high- minded dramas. It never says it wants to see nearly-naked women wrestling with each other or kinky threesomes confessing all to a leering talk show host or secret celebrity sex tapes. Nope, never says it, and never stops watching.

Jeff Greenfield, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: So, what to make of all of this? We certainly have been talking about it all day here at NEWSNIGHT.

Dave Ross is host of the aptly named "Dave Ross Show" in Seattle and a national syndicated CBS radio commentator. He joins us from Seattle. So does Alan Light join us from here in New York. He's editor in chief of a new music magazine called "Tracks." He's also been the editor of "Spin" and "Vibe" and a senior writer at "Rolling Stone." And we're glad to have them both.

David, are we actually shocked or are we just pretending to be shocked because we know we're supposed to be?

DAVE ROSS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I think it's the latter, Aaron.

I certainly -- as a matter of fact, to be totally honest, I didn't know even it had happened. I saw a crawl, I think on CNN, saying, "Janet Jackson Apologizes." I immediately went back to the TiVo and am probably single-handedly responsible for about 500,000 of those TiVo hits. But, no, I think -- I have a feeling that al Qaeda must have sabotaged the costume in some way, because there's no way that Justin really wanted to rip all of it off.

BROWN: No, I'm sure not.

ROSS: Just some of it off.

BROWN: Just some of it.

ROSS: Just some of it.

BROWN: Did your listeners talk about it today? And were they -- I mean, Seattle is a pretty calm group, when they're not overcaffeinated. Were they appalled or did they find some amusement in it all?

ROSS: They feigned appropriate shock, Aaron.

And we discussed whether the FCC should investigate it. And they felt kind of like Howard Dean does, that they would prefer an investigation of whatever happened to those weapons, rather than whether this was intentional or not.

BROWN: Alan, is this -- should we be shocked? In a sense, isn't this what MTV and sort of kid culture is right now?

ALAN LIGHT, EDITOR IN CHIEF, "TRACKS": Well, I think, by and large, that's very true.

And I think the Super Bowl halftime show was Up With People or Gloria Estefan.

BROWN: Yes.

LIGHT: The notion was, we'll bring in MTV. We'll give it edge and energy and rock 'n' roll. And, you know, this is everything, in theory, that the NFL was going for, making this shift to having MTV produce the halftime show. It's 28 hours later and it's what we're all still talking about it. I doubt that they think that that ultimately is a failure.

BROWN: So, you have a kind of cynical suspicion that maybe they're feigning outrage themselves, because they're getting a ton and a half of attention.

LIGHT: As was pointed out in Jeff's piece, there's not a whole lot of room for improvisation and accident in the halftime show of the most watched television event of the year.

BROWN: Yes.

LIGHT: I don't really believe that it went completely -- everybody went nuts and the cameras didn't know where to go and, all of sudden, this happened.

BROWN: Yes, that is a stretch, isn't it?

LIGHT: Whether it was supposed to be, he would tear some off or all off, OK, maybe there's degrees to talk about. But in terms of the direction of what this was going to be, I have a hard time believing that this was a complete surprise to everybody at CBS and the NFL.

BROWN: Dave, setting aside for a minute whether seeing a bare breast on television for a nanosecond is going to corrupt the nation's youth, let me suggest there's actually something serious and troubling in all of this, which was the whole scene. The whole scene was inappropriately sexual.

ROSS: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: The end game was basically, if you can't get the girl to take her clothes off, just rip them off.

ROSS: Yes, exactly.

Well, that was what surprising to me, although I'll tell you, the thing, Aaron, that first caught my attention not so much the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake dance. I thought he was going to get her pregnant right on that stage. But, actually, before that, Kid Rock's lyrics.

BROWN: Yes.

ROSS: I starting hearing him talking about the IRS and meth labs and stuff like this. And I said, oh, so we hear all this and now we're going to go and play some good old American football.

BROWN: Yes.

ROSS: But I think that, you know, the point's been made that the executives who booked this booked it intentionally because they wanted it to be edgy. Clearly, they wanted to appeal to a younger demographic. And so to profess shock at this point is kind of disingenuous.

And it happens in radio, too. They will book the edgiest deejay they can find. And then they egg on a couple of people to make love in the cathedral, and they say, oh, we had no idea this would happen.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Actually, had the Janet Jackson moment not happened, I actually assumed the problem was going to be the guy wearing the American flag and ripping it off.

ROSS: Yes.

BROWN: That, actually, in the moment we're in, is pretty tasteless.

Are kids, Alan, looking at us right now, these old people that we are -- or I am -- and just laughing at us making a big fuss over this?

LIGHT: Mostly I think yes.

I do think -- look, for all of this said, I do think it's a surprise and a line that we didn't expect to go past, to end up with a breast bared at halftime at the Super Bowl. But...

BROWN: Because, if it happened at the Grammys, we would talk about it, but -- I'm not sure we would do it.

(CROSSTALK)

LIGHT: But this is the biggest mass, mainstream event of the entire year.

That said, you know, especially, as you said, surrounded by ads joking about passing gas and wearing nothing under your kilt and all the other ways to cut through the clutter that you saw through the entire game, I think kids are thinking, why is this one second, as we have seen on other award shows, other MTV shows, other reality shows, Howard Stern's show, is this a big deal?

BROWN: Yes.

LIGHT: I don't think, if it got this kind of coverage, that kids would still be talking about it that much.

BROWN: Nice to meet you. Thanks for coming in.

LIGHT: Thanks so much, Aaron.

BROWN: David, it's good to see you. It's been a while. We always enjoy you, though. Thank you very much.

ROSS: Thanks, Aaron.

BROWN: Dave Ross in Seattle, Alan Light here in New York.

We'll see if this story lasts another day or not. You know cable. It probably will.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, a different sort of sports story, this one about a young man you will want to root for, I believe it, Jay Williams and his long road back, a story of courage and more, as NEWSNIGHT continues from New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, we can say one good thing about the Super Bowl dust-up. This time, it wasn't the athletes who acted like jerks.

We tend to think of modern athletes that way, too rich, too spoiled, too drugged, too selfish, too a lot of things none of us like very much. And the danger of that thinking is not that it's sometimes right. It's that it is sometimes wrong. And Jay Williams proves it, though you may never see this good kid perform ever again, not a perfect good, a good kid, a hardworking kid, a role model sort of kid who, in one moment of being a kid, learned a good deal about being a man.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAY WILLIAMS, CHICAGO BULLS: I remember the colors of the car that I saw when I was going towards it in the air. And I remember the pole that I was going towards. And, you know, I was going fast, at a fast speed. I remember a lot of pain.

BROWN: Twenty-two-year-old Jay Williams is talking about the night he almost died.

WILLIAMS: The first thing I thought about wasn't that, I feel pain. It was that, I threw it all away.

BROWN: Until that accident, Jay Williams was a basketball star, A star at Duke, where he went to college, the second player chosen in the NBA draft 18 months ago, a three-year, $13.5 million contract under his belt from the Chicago Bulls. And that was just the start of a career.

Jay Williams was also just a kid who acted like a kid and thought like a kid.

WILLIAMS: You kind of think that you're invincible, not that you can't get hurt, but, no, I don't think that can happen to me. So it kind of broke -- it really broke my heart.

BROWN: A broken pelvis, a severed nerve, three of his four knee ligaments torn in the left leg, his left leg, all of that caused him to grow up. A hospital bed will do that to a young man.

WILLIAMS: I was in the bed for a long time on my back. And I couldn't move, couldn't really do anything. My leg hurt every time somebody touched it. It's been a difficult adjustment, but it's getting better and better each day.

BROWN: For all intents and purposes, this is his new home, the sports medicine complex at Duke University, where his rehabilitation is both relentless and painful, but hardly guarantees he will play again.

So to the weights and the exercise bike, he's added a religious medal given to him by a special friend.

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI, DUKE UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL COACH: I gave him a holy medal. I'm Catholic and it's something that I've had for years. And I just gave it to him. I said, this is yours, but I'm only lending it to you. And I said, I want you to use it and it's very special to me. And -- I'm going to cry here -- I said, the night you -- the night you come back and play your first NBA game, you give it back to me and I'll be there.

WILLIAMS: Being weak at the time, when I saw his face, it just -- it inspired me. It inspired me to say, OK, I can get through this. It's going to be a long journey.

BROWN: Riding a motorcycle is against a standard NBA player's contract. And the Chicago Bulls would have been within their rights not to pay him a dime. But they did. They gave him more than $3 million this year and another $3 million to forego the remainder of his lucrative contract. They may have given up on him. Most people in the sport have. But Jay Williams still believes.

WILLIAMS: It's a trying experience. But I think that the great part about it is, you know, throughout my life, a lot of people have always looked at me, playing basketball, oh, he's a man. Look at his body type. He's a man. He plays like a man.

And it is not until now that I'm finding out what it is to be a man, how it is to go through pain every day, but, at the same time, to try to persevere and to have the big picture down the road and keep fighting for my dream. I am really fighting for my dream.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: A kid worth rooting for.

Morning papers after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: OK, time to check morning papers from around the country and around the world. I'm sure there's none of that Super Bowl nonsense in any of the papers. That's just a cable TV thing. And the papers wouldn't stoop to that, would they?

Well, "The International Herald Tribune" didn't, at least, published in France, but not, as a viewer said the other day, a French newspaper, published by "The New York Times." "Bush Budget Focus: Anti-Terror Fight, Military and Security Programs Benefit, While '05 Domestic Spending Is Limited." Anything else on the front page? Well, yes, but nothing that cool.

Now, "The Times, a London paper, kind of center-right paper. "Spies Must Tell How They Got Iraq Wrong." Doesn't that sound familiar? That could have happened in the United States. We had to go to a foreign paper for that? My goodness. Oh, wait, down at the bottom. "How Super Bowl Was Shocked From Top to Bottom." It's news everywhere. I'm sure they're laughing trying to figure out what football is.

Here's the right lead. "The Boston Herald" got it right. It led with the football player. "Superstar." It was a great football game, wasn't it? Yes. And that halftime show, who will remember, though? Anyway, that's Tom Brady. He was the MVP, I guess, right? But that other kid did pretty good, didn't he? That was cool.

"The Philadelphia Inquirer." Up at the top here, it's not really a front-page story. It's a teaser, but it's close enough for my taste. "Janet Jackson Offers Apology. She Didn't Mean for It to Go That Far, She Said Last Night. A Red Lace Garment Was Supposed to Remain During Her Super Bowl Duet, But it Didn't." Don't you hate when that happens? I know I do. "Kerry's Momentum Faces Seven-State Test today." That would be tomorrow, unless you're watching the replay, in which case, it would be today. And "Bush Sets His Course on Budget." That's how they lead.

"The Chattanooga Times Free Press" leads the budget story a little bit differently. "Bush '05 Budget Proposal Faces Record Deficits," not the kind of lead that will make the White House all that happy, will it?

"The Richmond Times-Dispatch." We haven't had this one for a while. What I found interesting about this, this is a Virginia newspaper. That's tobacco country. "Survey: Many Back Higher Tobacco Taxes; 71 Percent Would Support an Increase of 75 Cents a Pack to Address the State's Shortfall."

And let's just go to -- I have to find it. I know when you do morning papers at home, you sometimes have this problem as well. "The Chicago Sun-Times." "Janet's Wardrobe Malfunction." Who was the P.R. person who came up with that phrase, by the way, wardrobe malfunction? The weather in Chicago tomorrow -- oh, I hate when they do that -- "The groundhog says..." -- so we don't know what the weather will be tomorrow.

Well, actually, I can tell you, it's going to be 30 degrees, a heat wave. That's morning papers.

We'll update -- literally update -- the day's top story in just a moment. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, as we reported at the top of program tonight, a white powdery substance was found today in the mailroom of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. A government official says that initial tests -- and initial tests are aren't necessarily definitive -- were positive for the highly toxic poison, the compound ricin.

CNN's Jeanne Meserve has been tracking this down, trying to get more information, as they produce more tests or more test results.

Jeanne, where are we on this?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, we've been told to expect a press conference in about 15 minutes by the head of the U.S. Capitol Police and also by Senator Bill Frist. We hope that will further illuminate the situation.

But here's what we know right now. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Capitol Police says, a substance found in Senator Bill Frist's mailroom this afternoon tested positive for a hazardous substance. And a Homeland Security official tells CNN, the substance was ricin, a poison made from castor beans. These tests are preliminary. Let me emphasize that, preliminary. And they are not considered reliable.

Further analysis is being done at the Army lab at Fort Detrick, Maryland. And, according to the Homeland Security official, some results from that testing may be back Tuesday. The substance described as resembling paper dust by the Capitol Police was found in Senator Frist's mailroom in the Dirksen Senate Office Building at 3:00 this afternoon. It was coming out of an envelope.

The Capitol Police spokesperson says there is nothing in the content of that letter that constitutes a threat. Ricin is an extremely dangerous poison, which, according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, can cause death 36 to 48 hours after it's inhaled. If ingested or injected, it can also cause death, but ricin poisoning is not contagious.

Let me emphasize once again, Aaron, these are preliminary test results. Many times, more thorough testing will turn up a completely contradictory result -- back to you.

BROWN: And, at 11:15 Eastern time, or about 16 minutes from now, we expect to learn more, but how much more, we don't know, right?

MESERVE: Exactly right.

BROWN: All right, so, what we'll do is, we'll hang around here until they say what they're going to say. And we'll put that on the air, so all of you can hear it. And we'll what they know when they know it.

But, for now, I guess, for most of you, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" is next. And we'll see you in a little bit.

Good night for all of us at NEWSNIGHT.

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Intelligence; Bodice-Ripping Super Bowl Halftime Show Causes Uproar>