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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Judge in Stewart case says securities fraud case is problematic; Prosecution rests in Martha Stewart case; Same-sex couples flocking to San Francisco for marriage licenses; Supreme Court to hear Padilla case; Jane Roe fights against Roe v. Wade in Fifth Circuit;

Aired February 20, 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. I've never said that before.
It is a rare TV series that has an ending at all. Mostly they just get cancelled. It is even more rare to really care about how a TV series ends. "Mary Tyler Moore" had an ending. I don't remember anyone debating beforehand what the ending should be. "M*A*S*H" ended and people talked about it but after, not before.

"Sex in the City" is different. People are invested in the ending. It matters to people even, of course, as it doesn't matter at all. It's a TV show but all around the country this week people talked about Big and the Russian and Carrie and the rest as if they were real people with real lives.

We did it here, Molly saying this, Kate saying that, the men chiming in as well, though I'm not sure we really felt our opinions mattered very much. It's Friday and "Sex and the City" is a perfect Friday story. It's the dessert tonight.

We serve the entree first and the entree was well prepared as it turns out by Martha Stewart stuck in a drama of her own, Allan Chernoff covering, Allan a headline from you tonight.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One of Martha Stewart's best friends raises reasonable doubt about her damaging testimony, the kind of doubt that can build confidence for Martha Stewart now that the government has rested its case -- Aaron.

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

Now, San Francisco, gay marriage in the courts, again CNN's David Mattingly is covering, David a headline today.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, gay marriage opponents failed for a second time to stop same-sex couples from getting marriage licenses in San Francisco, which is now no longer the only place where gay couples are getting married in this country -- Aaron.

BROWN: David, thank you.

Dallas next, abortion and the legal challenge to Roe v. Wade being fought by Jane Roe herself, Ed Lavandera worked the story for us, Ed a headline.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN DALLAS BUREAU CHIEF: Aaron, nine years ago the woman known as Jane Roe changed her mind. She was once a staunch supporter of abortion rights but now she's vowing to return to the Supreme Court to end legalized abortion. We'll explain what she's doing -- Aaron.

BROWN: Ed, thank you.

And now the search for Osama bin Laden and how it might be different this time, our National Security Correspondent David Ensor on that so, David, a headline.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, a large number of military and intelligence assets are being assembled on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border. What's different this time is that a lot of those assets are Pakistani and there may be incentive for the president of Pakistan to really try to help to find Osama bin Laden.

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

Also coming up on this Friday edition of NEWSNIGHT, as we said, we're going to talk about sex, well "Sex in the City" that is and for those of you who are saying what is "Sex and the City" and why are they making such a fuss about it we've taken care of that as well. Nissen condenses five years into five minutes.

The rooster, who loves "Sex in the City," will stop by for your morning papers for Saturday.

And a very special bonus segment tonight, the man who turned humiliation into stardom. It is Friday, all that and more in the hour ahead.

We begin with the Martha Stewart trial, the prosecution resting today, fair to say though it might have been better had the prosecution rested yesterday before the defense could take a shot at one of their star witnesses and possibly inject some reasonable doubt into what yesterday sounded like very damning testimony.

Here again, CNN's Allan Chernoff.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (voice-over): After hearing potentially devastating testimony from one of her closest friends, Martha Stewart got a slight reprieve. Mariana Pasternak under cross-examination questioned her memory of Martha Stewart bragging about her broker. "I do not know if that was a statement made by Martha or if it was a thought in my mind" Pasternak conceded.

On Thursday, Pasternak recalled Stewart telling her, "Isn't it nice to have brokers who tell you those things," referring to broker Peter Bacanovic tipping her that ImClone chief Sam Waksal was trying to dump his stock. Prosecutors have argued that tip led Stewart to sell her ImClone shares.

Prosecutor Michael Schachter tried to regain ground by asking for Pasternak's best recollection to which she responded "I believe Martha said it." Shortly thereafter, prosecutors rested their case.

As defense attorneys made motions to throw out charges, Judge Miriam Cederbaum said the securities fraud count against Ms. Stewart is problematic. She assigned homework for the weekend, written arguments on why the charges should or should not be tossed.

ROBERT MORVILLO, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We're going to do some research and writing.

CHERNOFF: And you go and ask to throw out all of the counts?

MORVILLO: All of the counts.

CHERNOFF: What do you think the odds of success are?

MORVILLO: Oh, I don't evaluate the odds of success. That's what the judge gets paid for.

CHERNOFF: But on the securities fraud in particular?

MORVILLO: That's what the judge gets paid for. She'll read what we write and then she'll make a decision as to what she wants to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: Peter Bacanovic's legal team now takes center stage. They'll spend next week presenting their case and then Martha Stewart's lawyers get their chance -- Aaron.

BROWN: Let's just explain as briefly and as simply as we can what the securities fraud charge is because it is a pretty novel charge in this case.

CHERNOFF: In fact, that's exactly the word that the judge herself has used to describe this. Normally, securities fraud deals with insider trading but Martha Stewart is not charged with criminal insider trading. Rather, the securities fraud charge here addresses Martha Stewart allegedly trying to defraud investors in her own company by saying she did nothing wrong in selling her ImClone stock.

BROWN: So, by proclaiming her innocence she was defrauding the stockholders, the government alleges, of her own company. Allan, thank you. You'll be back in court next week.

Jeffrey Toobin is here. Well, well, well, well, well Mr. smart lawyer.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It was a great moment in court. When that -- when she said in court, well maybe it was Martha talking and maybe it was in my own head, you could sort of hear this ripple go through, what did she just say? And, no, she really -- it was an embarrassment for the prosecution but... BROWN: How did this happen?

TOOBIN: Well, I mean obviously -- and they went through some of her prior statements. She had waffled on this in the past. She was much more definitive in her direct testimony than she had ever been before but it is worth pointing out though this part of the statement kind of went south on the prosecution, the main thing she said about Martha Stewart that Martha Stewart knew that the Waksals were dumping their stock, which is the most incriminating thing she said, that was not challenged on cross-examination. So, that still stands well for the prosecution.

BROWN: OK, let me just be slightly argumentative, just a citizen here.

TOOBIN: By all mean.

BROWN: If I think, if I as a juror think a witness is flaky, I question everything that witness has said.

TOOBIN: Absolutely. It's like what Barry Scheck said in the O.J. Simpson case when he said, you know, when you find a bug in your spaghetti you don't just remove the bug from the spaghetti. You throw out the whole bowl and there is that possibility that they will do that with this testimony.

BROWN: How novel is the -- well, I want to go back to this one more second. They interview this woman, the prosecution does, and do they have to turn over the notes?

TOOBIN: Yes.

BROWN: So, the defense knows that she's been a little flaky.

TOOBIN: Right.

BROWN: Not a legal term here and I'm not trying to disparage her but that's how it sounds. They know that.

TOOBIN: Yes. They do know that.

BROWN: So they know to go after her.

TOOBIN: They know to go -- I mean Robert Morvillo in his cross- examination he went right to that. And, if I could just digress for one minute, my favorite moment in her testimony, she said well -- the lawyer said, you know, you were sitting on a chair. She said no, it wasn't a chair it was a chaise.

BROWN: That is going to warm you to the hearts of the jury right there.

TOOBIN: That's a great sort of Martha touch there.

BROWN: That's perfect. The securities fraud charge, I said novel. It sounds almost unfair to say if you declare your innocence that you are committing a crime.

TOOBIN: It is unfair and, as Allan said and as the judge said, it is an unusual way of charging it. But, I mean in fairness to the prosecution they put on securities analysts who said, look, the Martha Stewart company came to us and said don't worry about the company because Martha is innocent. She didn't do anything wrong. Don't worry about our company.

So, they made a direct tie between the proclamation of innocence and an impact on the Martha Stewart stock price. That doesn't get rid of the fundamental unfairness that seems to bother you but it's not a made up idea that her declaration of innocence had potential impact on the stock price here.

BROWN: But what the judge did not allow is any investor to come in and say he or she relied on that statement before buying or selling Martha Stewart Living.

TOOBIN: That's right. That was one area that she precluded and you could see that every time the securities fraud charge came up in court the judge was uncomfortable with it.

I mean, you know, part of this case is very straightforward, false statements, obstruction of justice. The securities fraud has always troubled the judge and sometimes these judges they sort of hope the jury acquits on that count so they don't have to worry about it.

BROWN: All right, 30 seconds, not asking you to predict an outcome here, just tell me how the prosecution did overall.

TOOBIN: Better than I expected. I thought this was a weak case and I thought Faneuil did much better on the witness stand that many of us expected and Annie Armstrong, Martha Stewart's secretary, talking about Martha altering that message on the computer, then saying restore it. It was all a lot stronger than I expected.

BROWN: And the defense team is formidable.

TOOBIN: It is but don't count on a long defense case. I wouldn't be surprised if this case goes to the jury by the end of next week.

BROWN: Really because the stockbroker side of this has been endless.

TOOBIN: It's been somewhat endless but, you know, I don't think there are going to be a lot of witnesses. There's maybe going to be a -- there was one witness today, a fairly minor witness. But, you know, defense cases they always talk bit. We're going to have a lot of witnesses. I don't think there are going to be a lot of defense witnesses. You could see summation by the end of the week.

BROWN: Control room is going to kill me, yes or no Martha testifying?

TOOBIN: No. BROWN: Thank you. Have a good weekend.

TOOBIN: See you.

BROWN: Thank you.

On to San Francisco where the rush on gay weddings continues and where a court battle is looming, three lawsuits have now been filed since the city began performing marriages eight days ago.

Today the judge combined the cases into one but he also denied again a request to stop the weddings; reporting from San Francisco CNN's David Mattingly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (voice-over): For the second time, opponents of same- sex marriage in San Francisco left a California courtroom unable to stop the city's gay marriage spree.

MATHEW STAVER, LIBERTY COUNSEL ATTORNEY: How can the mayor enforce laws on the citizens of San Francisco when the mayor and his staff are potentially breaking ten civil laws, the criminal code, and two constitutional provisions?

MATTINGLY: A judge refused to issue a restraining order saying the nearly 3,200 marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples so far created no irreparable harm.

THERESE STEWART, CHIEF ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY: We're glad the court is going to hear the merits of those issues and that the court did not in the meanwhile stop the city from allowing gay marriages to happen and we're proud of the city for taking that stance. But, by the way, this isn't just about San Francisco. This is about the whole country.

MATTINGLY: Gay marriage opponents expressed a sense of urgency asking the judge to hurry the case along. Each married couple now conceivably can challenge local governments, employers, and insurance companies to provide benefits equal to heterosexual couples.

Already, hundreds married in San Francisco have returned to homes in other states. Meanwhile, same-sex couples lined up for marriage certificates Friday in the small town of Benalillo, New Mexico. Similar lines can be expected just two and a half months from now in the state of Massachusetts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: All this while the really tough questions still have not been addressed in San Francisco in court. Is the city breaking the state law that defines marriage between one man and one woman or are same-sex marriages truly protected under the state constitution -- Aaron?

BROWN: This whole issue it seems like in just the last three months has moved at the most rapid speed. Are they still, are couple still flocking to San Francisco to get a marriage license?

MATTINGLY: We saw lines outside City Hall today just as we've seen for days now but you will not see those lines come Monday morning when the city opens for business. People will have to get an appointment so all the marriage licenses will be handled by appointment, which is a sign that the city is trying to get back to business as usual.

BROWN: David, thank you for your work this week, David Mattingly in San Francisco.

Ahead on the program tonight, tracking Osama bin Laden, CNN's David Ensor on U.S. plans for a renewed offensive to catch the leader of al Qaeda.

And later, a new twist in the Roe v. Wade story as the woman at the heart of that case goes back to court on the other side.

From New York this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: In the new normal dirty bombs and enemy combatants are phrases that have come to seem familiar, which is scary in itself. The two phrases have collided in the person of Jose Padilla, a suspected terrorist who has been held in a military brig for almost two years without being charged with anything and without access to anyone, including a lawyer.

Mr. Padilla is a U.S. citizen born in Brooklyn. He wasn't captured on a battlefield but arrested in Chicago. No matter how it turns out it is an extraordinary case, which the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear, reporting for us, CNN's Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Despite being a U.S. citizen, Jose Padilla has been held indefinitely in a naval brig in South Carolina. He's never been charged and hasn't seen a lawyer.

Now the Supreme Court will decide whether the president can take away such constitutional rights during wartime, calling into question the key powers the Bush administration says it needs to fight terrorism.

DONNA NEWMAN, PADILLA'S ATTORNEY: I am confident that they will likewise find, as the Second Circuit found, that the president does not have the authority he now claims, this unbridled authority he now claims he has.

ARENA: Padilla designated an enemy combatant, was initially picked up at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. He is accused of plotting to set off a radioactive dirty bomb inside the United States. The government says he "represents a grave danger to the national security." ALICE FISHER, FORMER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Military detention is to deprive the enemy of combatants that will go back and fight against our soldiers and fight with the enemy and whether they are here or whether they are abroad the war powers and international law command that those individuals who are intent on attacking us can be detained.

ARENA: Just last month, as it became clear the Supreme Court would get involved, the Pentagon said it would allow Padilla to see his lawyers. His lawyers say they expect that within two weeks but the government will monitor the meeting and certain topics are off limits.

(on camera): How and why certain individuals are designated enemy combatants has never been fully explained by the Bush administration but CNN has learned the White House counsel is expected to shed some light on the process in a speech next week.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: On now to the search for Osama bin Laden. For more than two years now American forces have been stymied by the support he enjoys along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan where it's believed he's hiding that and Pakistan's reluctance to fully help, along with the diversion of manpower to Iraq has hampered the search. But things may, may finally be changing. That's the promise at least, the hope.

Here's CNN's David Ensor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): Along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan an all-out effort is underway to hunt down Osama bin Laden, believed to be hiding out in the remote tribal region.

On a secret mission last week, U.S. intelligence chief George Tenet spent a day in Islamabad meeting with Pakistan's military and intelligence leaders. General David Barno, the top U.S. soldier in Afghanistan did the same last week, a full court press on Pakistan, which is making some headway. More Pakistani forces are moving into the border region and they are warning tribal elders there to stop sheltering al Qaeda or else.

LT. GEN. DAVID BARNO, COMMANDING GENERAL, COMBINED FORCES COMMAND, AFGHANISTAN: They're obviously adding that enforcement mechanism for those that do not comply that include I think destruction of homes.

ENSOR: Pakistani troops are getting U.S. intelligence and logistics help discretely provided, says a respected Pakistani observer, by U.S. military and intelligence personnel on the ground.

AHMED RASHID, AUTHOR, JOURNALIST: Local tribal leaders have seen them. I think they were there in very small numbers, maybe a dozen or two dozen. I think there will probably be an increase in that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are there any U.S. troops operating in those areas with the Pakistani military?

BRIG. GEN. DAVID RODRIGUEZ, DIR. OF OPERATIONS, JOINT CHIEFS: No, they're not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never have been?

RODRIGUEZ: No. No.

ENSOR: The denials provide some political cover for Pakistan's General Musharraf in a nation where may sympathize with al Qaeda. CIA spokesman also decline all comment but knowledgeable sources say a few military personnel on assignment to other U.S. agencies, like the CIA and FBI, are on the ground in Pakistan.

RASHID: They're helping with communications, with logistics, with satellite information all that kind of thing.

ENSOR: On the Afghan side of the border, U.S. forces are beefing up their numbers and making plans for a spring offensive against al Qaeda and the Taliban.

BARNO: We're moving in the direction of cooperative operations on both sides of the border, a hammer and anvil approach if you will.

ENSOR: Barno has said he hopes to find bin Laden this year. Bush administration officials deny it but some see politics behind the push.

PAT LANG, FORMER CIA OFFICIAL: There's just a greater kind of almost desperation on the part of the United States government to lay their hands on Osama bin Laden before -- in the light of our electoral cycle.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: Bin Laden's evaded capture before. U.S. officials are making no predictions but under a thick cloak of secrecy a major effort is now being ramped up -- Aaron.

BROWN: David, thank you, David Ensor in Washington tonight.

A few more quick items before we head to break starting with parliamentary elections in Iran. Hardliners expected to win a majority of the seats, reformers have been knocked off the ballot, opposition papers shut down, voters intimidated. No word yet on turnout or actual results but no one is expecting any miracles of democracy.

Americans and other foreigners spent the day packing up and leaving Haiti with rebels promising more attacks over the weekend. An international delegation today circulated a proposal for ending the bloodshed but neither the government nor the rebels were buying. In the meantime, the U.S. government has begun putting air marshals on all flights in and out of Haiti to prevent hijackings.

Japan is tightening security at airports, nuclear plants and government facilities. No official explanation why but officials say the country now is at the highest terror alert level since American forces invaded Iraq.

Coming up on NEWSNIGHT later we will check morning papers. This being Friday we'll throw in a tabloid or two.

Up next an interesting twist in the Roe v. Wade story but will it mean anything to a woman's right to choose, a break first.

This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Miranda, Sullivan, Brown, it's a measure of landmark legal rulings, cases whose reach is so broad that a single name becomes a reference point, like Roe, Jane Roe, the woman who challenged a Texas law and transformed the legal and cultural landscape.

It wasn't until after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling legalizing abortion that we learned her real name, Norma McCorvey, but today a Federal Appeals Court agreed to hear from her again three decades later. She's trying to overturn the ruling she fought so hard to win.

Here's CNN's Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to thank all the wonderful women who are standing here.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): For nearly a decade, Norma McCorvey has been working to undo her role as Jane Roe in the case that legalized abortion. This case to you it wasn't settled 30 years ago?

NORMA MCCORVEY, "JANE ROE": No, it wasn't, not at all.

LAVANDERA: McCorvey and a team of lawyers will argue before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that Roe v. Wade should be overturned. Her argument is based on what she calls 31 years of watching women suffer from the harmful effects of abortion.

MCCORVEY: We filed over 5,000 pieces of testimonies and documentations from women throughout the country who have gone through legalized abortion. A lot of their lives have been just absolutely miserable since then.

LAVANDERA: McCorvey's opponents say they're shocked the Fifth Circuit Court even agreed to hear this request. They say time and the lack of new evidence should keep this case closed.

DAVID SCHNECK, ATTORNEY: Cases eventually are over at some point and whether the parties like the result initially or decide they don't like it later they don't get to go back and start over and decide that they want a different result.

LAVANDERA: If the courts do decide to reopen the Roe v. Wade case, many legal experts say it could open a Pandora's Box perhaps reopening the door to countless other cases.

SCHNECK: The question was not about Ms. Roe or Ms. McCorvey in 1973. The question was about what the Constitution said, so there's really been no change in facts that would be relevant to reopening the case.

LAVANDERA: McCorvey doesn't worry about that.

MCCORVEY: We didn't come in to sit down at the table. We come in to kick the table over and say no. We do not want this. We do not want to see children die or women suffer from the psychological and emotional abuse that is brought on by a termination of pregnancy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: McCorvey and her attorneys will make their case to the Fifth Circuit Court in New Orleans on March 2. If that doesn't work out, McCorvey says she will continue and try to get this case back before the Supreme Court.

Now abortion rights activists are paying close attention to this but everyone we spoke with today says that they don't really see that this has much of a chance of succeeding -- Aaron.

BROWN: Did anybody you talk to today remember a similar situation like this where the court overturned a decision it had already made based on the plaintiff's change of mind?

LAVANDERA: No one that we spoke with today. In fact, they say that's why they're so convinced that this is going to have such a hard time. It would have to take an extraordinary amount of perhaps new evidence but they say that the fact that 30 years have gone by is really going to be the strongest part of their case come March 2.

BROWN: Ed, thank you very much, Ed Lavandera in Texas tonight.

Before we go to break a few other stories that made news today around the country, President Bush made another recess appointment to the federal bench today, another controversy naming Alabama Attorney General William Pryor, an outspoken abortion opponents to the U.S. Appeals Court for the Eleventh Circuit. Democrats had blocked the nomination with a filibuster ten months ago. It is the second time this year the president has bypassed Congress to appoint a judge.

Democrats, including the chairman of the Democratic National Committee today urged Ralph Nader not to seek a third party candidacy in the upcoming presidential election. Mr. Nader is expected to announce this weekend whether he will run as an Independent. Many Democrats believe Mr. Nader cost them the White House in the year 2000 when he ran on the Green Party ticket. A flight from New York to Morocco was diverted to Maine today after a passenger phoned his wife and told her he was being abducted, a story he repeated to the FBI and shouldn't have. It was a hoax. The man's wife in Chicago had reported him missing on Valentine's Day. He apparently made up the kidnapping story to explain why he was boarding a plane to Morocco. He's been charged with making false statements to the FBI. We suspect he has some explaining to do at home as well.

University of Colorado has named longtime assistant football coach Brian Cabral to be the interim head coach while Gary Barnett is on paid leave. Coach Barnett suspended after making disparaging remarks about a female football player who has accused a former teammate of sexual assault. Six women in all have made allegations involving the University of Colorado football program. No charges have yet been filed.

Up next on NEWSNIGHT, "Sex and the City." And for those who need a catchup on what this is all about, a handy-dandy review of it all.

Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: A small confession: I have never seen an episode of "Friends." I have never seen "ER." I have never saw "Law & Order." "Cheers" was background noise. The first episode of "Seinfeld" I ever saw was the last. I've seen a few since. I hear the series did pretty well.

Two years ago, I found myself at a fancy luncheon event. I was seated next to this stunning woman. We had a lovely chat. She was smart and funny. She said she was an actress. Her name was Kristin Davis. I actually asked her if she had been able to find any steady work. The table went silent.

So it was an odd and embarrassing way that I came to know "Sex and the City." But like many of you, I missed a lot. And like many of you, I, too, got sucked into the last season. For those of you who like me aren't exactly sure what all of this fuss is about, we offer the entire series really fast, reported by Beth Nissen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): First, the cast of characters, they are Carrie, who writes a newspaper column about sex and relationships, Samantha, who is in public relations when she's not in bed, Miranda, a sardonic attorney, and Charlotte, more traditional and prim, although she still -- let's just say she dates a lot.

Here's a season-by-season breakdown of what happens to these four brunch-sharing, cosmo-sipping, lover-seeking gals. Try to keep up. Carrie meets Mr. Big, played by the guy from "Law & Order." Big is not his real name. Carrie just calls him that because he's a big shot with a big bucks and a big limo, also a big little black book of other women. That breaks Carrie's heart. Carrie and Big break up. Meanwhile, Samantha dates a 20-something, a married man, and Charlotte's doorman, among others. Miranda goes through a dating dry spell. And Charlotte obsesses about getting married. OK, that's season one.

Season two, Carrie realizes she's not over Big and they get back together, but then:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SEX AND THE CITY")

CHRIS NOTH, ACTOR: I may have to move to Paris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NISSEN: They break up again.

Meanwhile, Samantha dates a 70-year-old, her neighbors, and Charlotte's brother, among others. Charlotte doesn't find a husband, but she does find some nice shoes. Miranda starts seeing Steve, but she's a lawyer and he's a bartender. And it doesn't work, so they break up, but then they get back together. Carrie starts to date Seth, who is Bon Jovi. But then she runs into Big, who is back from Paris with his beautiful young fiance.

OK, season three. Carrie, trying to forget Big, starts dating Aidan, a furniture designer who is that guy from "Northern Exposure," although he hasn't yet hit it big in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." Meanwhile, Samantha dates a firefighter, a short man and her office assistant, among others. Charlotte meets a rich doctor, Trey, who is the guy from "Twin Peaks." They get engaged and then get married. Miranda and Steve move in together, but Steve wants to have a baby and Miranda doesn't, so they break up again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SEX AND THE CITY")

CYNTHIA NIXON, ACTRESS: This isn't going to work, Steve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NISSEN: Carrie cheats on Aidan with a now married Big, then confesses to Aidan, which breaks his heart. They break up.

On to seasons four and five. Carrie and Aidan get back together, move in together and get engaged. But then Carrie gets cold feet and they break up for good. She sees Big once more, but then he moves to California. Meanwhile, Samantha briefly tries a relationship with someone who has XX chromosomes, but she soon goes back to XY.

Newlyweds Charlotte and Trey have bedroom problems. Trey moves out. Charlotte starts to date her divorce attorney. Miranda and Steve see each other again for one night, and Miranda gets pregnant. She has a baby boy and becomes a single working mother.

Carrie writes a best-selling book. She starts to date a fellow author, Jack, who is the guy from "Office Space," a cult film prized by cubical workers everywhere, which brings us to the current season. Jack breaks up with Carrie by post-it note. Meanwhile, Samantha develops a real relationship with a waiter/actor Smith, who lovingly stands by Samantha while she goes through chemo for breast cancer and looses her hair.

Charlotte converts to Judaism, marries her divorce attorney. They try to have a baby, but can't. Charlotte gets a cavalier King Charles spaniel instead. Miranda takes up a handsome doctor who is the guy from "L.A. Law," but then gets back together with Steve. She and Steve get married and move to Brooklyn with their son.

Seemingly over Big at last, Carrie gets serious about a Russian artist, Alexander Petrovsky. He is Mikhail Baryshnikov. Petrovsky tells her he's moving to Paris -- what's with all of the men in Carrie's life moving to Paris? -- and asks her to move with him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SEX AND THE CITY")

MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV, ACTOR: I'm hoping you will come and be with me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NISSEN: She does, despite her friends' misgivings and a last- minute, last-ditch visit from Big. Big then meets with Carrie's friends, asks what he should do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SEX AND THE CITY")

NIXON: Go get our girl.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NISSEN: And that's where things stand at the end of episode 93, with only one more episode to go. Me, personally, I'm guessing it will be a "Big" finish.

Beth Nissen, CNN, from "Sex and the City" city.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: We are nothing if not efficient around here.

OK, now that you're caught up on it all, when we come back, the real question: How should it end?

This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: The other night -- I don't know why I'm being so confessional today -- but some friends and I were talking. The conversation essentially boiled down to these two questions: Where do we fit in the universe and what are marshmallows made of?

It didn't quite get to where Carrie should end up and with whom Carrie should end up, so we'll deal with that tonight. Joining us, the head of the original programming for the Trio Network, Andrew Cohen, who's been with us before. Filmmaker Liz Garbus is here, Tia Williams, beauty editor of "Teen People" and the author of "Accidental Diva," and in Washington, Ali Wentworth, the co- host of "Living It Up With Ali and Jack."

It's good to have all of you here to see you all.

Take 15 seconds, no more each, Ali, starting with you. How should it end? And then we'll deal with the whys.

ALI WENTWORTH, CO-HOST, "LIVING IT UP! WITH ALI AND JACK": I think that Carrie should be walking in Charles de Gaulle Airport by herself, get on a plane back to New York, a single woman, having not made two bad mistakes.

BROWN: All right. We'll come back to that.

Tia, how should it end?

TIA WILLIAMS, BEAUTY EDITOR, "TEEN PEOPLE": I think that Big should fly to Paris and rescue her.

BROWN: You want Big?

WILLIAMS: I want Big. I want Big.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: All right. I'm intrigued by that.

Yes, Liz, how should it end?

LIZ GARBUS, FILMMAKER: She's got to come home and marry New York and marry singledom. She's got to get rid of Big. She's got to get rid of Alexander Petrovsky and be married to New York and a single lifestyle.

ANDREW COHEN, HEAD OF ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING, TRIO NETWORK: Back in New York, city she loves, making Big work like hell for her for her love and repent. And, by the way, I want to find out Big's real name.

BROWN: Do we not -- has he never had a name?

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: We don't know. But I think what's going to happen is, it's going to end with her saying something crazy like Orville or something, and then Liz and millions of other women are going to name their child Orville, you know. It's going -- the world is going to

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: All right, Ali, let's go back to you.

WENTWORTH: OK. BROWN: It's important, in quotes, we'll use the word important, to you that she end up with neither of them because?

WENTWORTH: Because it's not -- it wouldn't be an authentic ending to what the show has been over the years, which is a single gal having sex in the city.

BROWN: Yes.

WENTWORTH: And I think what she's left with are two men that, if she ends up with Big, it sort of sets back her -- her sort of feminist, you know, politically incorrect person that she is. And if she ends up with Mikhail Baryshnikov, then I feel for her. She's going to be scrubbing dishes in Paris while he's...

COHEN: Forget it.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: No one likes him.

(CROSSTALK)

GARBUS: They have zero chemistry.

This is a woman who gave up her job. She's giving up her friends for him. There's never even been so much of a discussion. He's betraying her inner soul. And the truth is, I think "Sex and the City" is really a show about the family and about alternative families. And he didn't embrace her family, because her family are her four friends.

And Big got it right when he said, a guy can only hope to play fourth to you guys. That's why Big has a shot.

(CROSSTALK)

WENTWORTH: She also has nothing in common with Petrovsky, nothing in common.

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: Well, the great thing that they did -- and we've analyzed this like crazy at Trio, because we're obsessed with pop culture.

And what we decided is that, a couple weeks ago, they gave everyone a great excuse to hate Petrovsky, because Miranda started to hate Petrovsky.

BROWN: Right.

COHEN: And they saw, she's making the bad move. And you understood why she was making a bad decision. But the audience was let in, on, OK, it's cool to hate this guy.

BROWN: I need to deal with the Big question for a second. Tell me -- here's what I know about Big, Tia, is that there is this scene the other day where she says to him, every time I'm happy, you come back and mess it up.

This is like every -- honestly -- bad guy that every good girl has ever fallen for.

GARBUS: Right, so why do you want him?

WILLIAMS: She's never been happy. She's never been happy with the other guys that she's dated.

BROWN: So she's only happy with this bad boy?

WILLIAMS: She has always been in love with him. He's the love of her life. They will never be finished. And I feel like every guy she's dated has been a direct reaction to something about Big.

GARBUS: Well, she only wants him because he's unavailable. I think that's really the enticing thing.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Excuse me, but that's also true in this case of him, it seems to me. He only wants her because she's flown off to Paris with Petrovsky.

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: But, by the way, this is one of the reasons this show is so great, and this is one of the reasons we're talking about this right now, because you make mistakes. And, in relationships, they're not always great.

And that's why -- and this is a perfect example. They're not always on the same wavelength. They're going to keep coming back to each other. And they're going to hopefully find peace and contentment with each other.

BROWN: Hang on. Ali?

WENTWORTH: The relationship with Big is a neurotic relationship. I can only speak from my personal experience, but I've heard that relationship.

BROWN: That's my favorite part.

(LAUGHTER)

WENTWORTH: I've had that relationship in my past and it was completely dysfunctional. And then I had Petrovsky in the form of a French director with the smoking-cigarette, model-looking daughter, the whole thing.

(LAUGHTER)

WENTWORTH: And, ultimately, the relationship with Mr. Big is not going to get better. It's going to be fraught with insecurities and dishonesty.

And Petrovsky needs to go find himself a 14-year-old. And then, ultimately, when you get these two men out of your life, you meet the one. For me, it was my husband.

BROWN: Yes, it was.

COHEN: I hope so.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: Liz, both you and Ali, it seems to me -- well, three of you -- are -- you've created a scenario where she -- you will not let her be happy in love.

GARBUS: No, I think that, in fact, she is really

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: I wrote this down. "She should marry her singledom."

GARBUS: OK.

First of all, the show is about being single, and it has been. And all three other women are paired off right now.

BROWN: Right.

GARBUS: So, in order for the show to be true to its ideals, she has to end up single and happy. And the truth is, these three other women, that is her family. and HBO shows, "The Sopranos," "Six Feet Under," they are about families adapting to the modern world.

Here's another family. And that's where the family is going to be restored, but it's going to be this family of girlfriends.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Tia. Tia.

WILLIAMS: I don't know how realistic that is, though. It's very much a theory, though, isn't it, that a 38-year-old woman can walk off into the sunset happy to be single and not be in love? I mean, I don't know -- I don't know a woman who would make that choice, honestly.

WENTWORTH: Aaron, can I say one thing?

BROWN: Of course.

WENTWORTH: Can I just say one thing?

If I wrote this last episode, I would have her blow off Big, say goodbye to Petrovsky. She's in the plane. She lands in Kennedy Airport and she bumps into something -- somebody that we would think, wow, he looks pretty good and you leave it at that. You leave us with, wow, will she end up with this guy or will she, again, marry singledom and have a series of relationships of different lengths?

BROWN: So there should be a question mark at the end that will allow us to fill it in however we choose to?

WENTWORTH: Yes.

COHEN: But I think the one question mark that should not be there -- and I think that this is what the show is about -- to me is about these four women who are in search of contentment, in whatever shape contentment finds itself.

And so I think that Carrie will be content. And I'm hoping that her contentment is, you know, being back and making him work for it. But I think it will be a question mark.

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: Big.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Kind of quickly here, does it need to end? If it didn't end, would it be unsatisfying?

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: ... a lot more episodes.

BROWN: Is that unique series where it has to end?

Tia?

WILLIAMS: If it didn't end, would it?

BROWN: Yes. I don't mean if they kept producing them. I mean if there wasn't a clear ending to it.

WILLIAMS: I think that it would be very disappointing if there wasn't a clear ending.

GARBUS: I would be very, very happy if she was single, but there were some prospects out there, that she was happy with her computer and her friends and her writing and her career, but maybe there was somebody in her future.

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: I think it will end with some kind of a question mark leaving the door open.

(CROSSTALK)

GARBUS: Yes, maybe Big, probably not, I'm hoping, but maybe some other

(CROSSTALK) WENTWORTH: Hey, guys.

(CROSSTALK)

WENTWORTH: They've got a movie in the works. So, you know, if they end with a question mark, they'll resolve it in a feature-length film that will come out next summer.

BROWN: Works for me.

You guys work for me, too. Come back any time. Thank you very much.

We'll check morning papers after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(ROOSTER CROWING)

BROWN: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okeydokey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okeydokey.

BROWN: Time to check morning papers from around the country and around the world. Everybody calm down now. Some of these I haven't seen before. Here we go.

"The Philadelphia Inquirer" begins thusly. "High Court to Hear Dirty Bomb Case." We told you about this earlier. I can't think of an issue in my lifetime quite like this, so I'm glad the court's going to settle it. Down in the corner, "New Jersey Suspends Execution." See, I don't believe they have had any. "At issue, whether the effects of a lethal injection can be reversed. The ruling is considered a landmark." I think the whole point of a lethal injection is that it can't be reversed. Call me crazy.

"The Times," British newspaper. "The Most Controversial Story Ever Told." This is the Mel Gibson movie. This is going to be huge. It opens next week, I guess. And it's been the most interesting campaign for a movie I've ever seen. And it's pretty interesting stuff. This thing's going to be huge.

"Fire and Fury." "The Times Herald-Record" in Upstate New York. Haiti is the lead. I just think they like the picture. That's my guess. And they call and tell me I'm crazy. They wouldn't be the first people to do that.

"San Francisco Chronicle." "Gay Weddings Clear Second Hurdle. Same-sex Marriages in New Mexico as Well. Both Sides Return to Court March 29." For now, that goes on.

And let's do a couple of the tabloids, because it's Friday and because we like to and because, why not? "The National Enquirer" leads thusly. I never know with "The Enquirer" if these things are right or not, OK? "Siegfried Walks Out On Roy." I hope that's not right. We've been talking about relationships here.

OK, "The Weekly World News," I have a better idea whether these are accurate or not. Their lead today -- or this week. I think it's a weekly, "Princess Diana is Alive," for all of you who have wondered. "She's recovering in a French convent from the deadly crash that killed her lover." Inside, a story that you will not find anywhere else. "Nutty Kim Jong Il Announces" -- that's the word Aaron -- "Announces North Korean Mission to the Sun." But this is what I loved about it -- quoting the Korean leader, the North Korean leader -- "We'll go at night when it's not so hot."

The weather in Chicago tomorrow according, to "The Chicago Sun- Times," is "retrogressing." Beats me. I guess it's going to get colder.

We've got one bonus story tonight. We'll get to that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Finally from us for the week, a cultural story again. Want to know how important TV is in our day and age? This is how important. Not only can it make or break you. It can make and break you at the same time. Meet the man to whom it has happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): What to call University of California engineering student William Hung? The most successful failure there ever was, perhaps?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN IDOL")

WILLIAM HUNG, CONTESTANT (singing): She bangs, she bangs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: He did fail, spectacularly, on TV's "American Idol."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN IDOL")

SIMON COWELL, JUDGE: You can't sing. You can't dance. So what do you want me to say?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: But there was something to winning about the way he lost.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN IDOL")

HUNG: I already gave my best and I have no regrets at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: But he's been a star ever since.

HUNG (singing): Shake your bon-bon. Shake your bon-bon. Shake your bon-bon.

BROWN: There are Web sites devoted to him. Fan clubs talk about projects of various sorts. He was invited to sing at the U.S. Berkeley volleyball game, in which he was presented with a $25,000 check as part of an album and video deal. William just smiled.

What is that old crack about the guy who can't win for losing? It certainly doesn't apply to William Hung, whose career took off like a rocket, after he bombed big-time. Maybe this isn't so hard to understand. The more real people there are on TV, airbrushed and photo-shopped, made over, cut, pasted and polished, the less real they seem. Could it be that we were on the verge of forgetting what real really is? Until William Hung came along to remind us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN IDOL")

HUNG: I have no professional training of singing.

COWELL: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: This is real.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Good to have you with us tonight and for the week. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. We'll see you again next week.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" is next for most of you.

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




problematic; Prosecution rests in Martha Stewart case; Same-sex couples flocking to San Francisco for marriage licenses; Supreme Court to hear Padilla case; Jane Roe fights against Roe v. Wade in Fifth Circuit;>


Aired February 20, 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. I've never said that before.
It is a rare TV series that has an ending at all. Mostly they just get cancelled. It is even more rare to really care about how a TV series ends. "Mary Tyler Moore" had an ending. I don't remember anyone debating beforehand what the ending should be. "M*A*S*H" ended and people talked about it but after, not before.

"Sex in the City" is different. People are invested in the ending. It matters to people even, of course, as it doesn't matter at all. It's a TV show but all around the country this week people talked about Big and the Russian and Carrie and the rest as if they were real people with real lives.

We did it here, Molly saying this, Kate saying that, the men chiming in as well, though I'm not sure we really felt our opinions mattered very much. It's Friday and "Sex and the City" is a perfect Friday story. It's the dessert tonight.

We serve the entree first and the entree was well prepared as it turns out by Martha Stewart stuck in a drama of her own, Allan Chernoff covering, Allan a headline from you tonight.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One of Martha Stewart's best friends raises reasonable doubt about her damaging testimony, the kind of doubt that can build confidence for Martha Stewart now that the government has rested its case -- Aaron.

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

Now, San Francisco, gay marriage in the courts, again CNN's David Mattingly is covering, David a headline today.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, gay marriage opponents failed for a second time to stop same-sex couples from getting marriage licenses in San Francisco, which is now no longer the only place where gay couples are getting married in this country -- Aaron.

BROWN: David, thank you.

Dallas next, abortion and the legal challenge to Roe v. Wade being fought by Jane Roe herself, Ed Lavandera worked the story for us, Ed a headline.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN DALLAS BUREAU CHIEF: Aaron, nine years ago the woman known as Jane Roe changed her mind. She was once a staunch supporter of abortion rights but now she's vowing to return to the Supreme Court to end legalized abortion. We'll explain what she's doing -- Aaron.

BROWN: Ed, thank you.

And now the search for Osama bin Laden and how it might be different this time, our National Security Correspondent David Ensor on that so, David, a headline.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, a large number of military and intelligence assets are being assembled on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border. What's different this time is that a lot of those assets are Pakistani and there may be incentive for the president of Pakistan to really try to help to find Osama bin Laden.

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

Also coming up on this Friday edition of NEWSNIGHT, as we said, we're going to talk about sex, well "Sex in the City" that is and for those of you who are saying what is "Sex and the City" and why are they making such a fuss about it we've taken care of that as well. Nissen condenses five years into five minutes.

The rooster, who loves "Sex in the City," will stop by for your morning papers for Saturday.

And a very special bonus segment tonight, the man who turned humiliation into stardom. It is Friday, all that and more in the hour ahead.

We begin with the Martha Stewart trial, the prosecution resting today, fair to say though it might have been better had the prosecution rested yesterday before the defense could take a shot at one of their star witnesses and possibly inject some reasonable doubt into what yesterday sounded like very damning testimony.

Here again, CNN's Allan Chernoff.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (voice-over): After hearing potentially devastating testimony from one of her closest friends, Martha Stewart got a slight reprieve. Mariana Pasternak under cross-examination questioned her memory of Martha Stewart bragging about her broker. "I do not know if that was a statement made by Martha or if it was a thought in my mind" Pasternak conceded.

On Thursday, Pasternak recalled Stewart telling her, "Isn't it nice to have brokers who tell you those things," referring to broker Peter Bacanovic tipping her that ImClone chief Sam Waksal was trying to dump his stock. Prosecutors have argued that tip led Stewart to sell her ImClone shares.

Prosecutor Michael Schachter tried to regain ground by asking for Pasternak's best recollection to which she responded "I believe Martha said it." Shortly thereafter, prosecutors rested their case.

As defense attorneys made motions to throw out charges, Judge Miriam Cederbaum said the securities fraud count against Ms. Stewart is problematic. She assigned homework for the weekend, written arguments on why the charges should or should not be tossed.

ROBERT MORVILLO, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We're going to do some research and writing.

CHERNOFF: And you go and ask to throw out all of the counts?

MORVILLO: All of the counts.

CHERNOFF: What do you think the odds of success are?

MORVILLO: Oh, I don't evaluate the odds of success. That's what the judge gets paid for.

CHERNOFF: But on the securities fraud in particular?

MORVILLO: That's what the judge gets paid for. She'll read what we write and then she'll make a decision as to what she wants to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: Peter Bacanovic's legal team now takes center stage. They'll spend next week presenting their case and then Martha Stewart's lawyers get their chance -- Aaron.

BROWN: Let's just explain as briefly and as simply as we can what the securities fraud charge is because it is a pretty novel charge in this case.

CHERNOFF: In fact, that's exactly the word that the judge herself has used to describe this. Normally, securities fraud deals with insider trading but Martha Stewart is not charged with criminal insider trading. Rather, the securities fraud charge here addresses Martha Stewart allegedly trying to defraud investors in her own company by saying she did nothing wrong in selling her ImClone stock.

BROWN: So, by proclaiming her innocence she was defrauding the stockholders, the government alleges, of her own company. Allan, thank you. You'll be back in court next week.

Jeffrey Toobin is here. Well, well, well, well, well Mr. smart lawyer.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It was a great moment in court. When that -- when she said in court, well maybe it was Martha talking and maybe it was in my own head, you could sort of hear this ripple go through, what did she just say? And, no, she really -- it was an embarrassment for the prosecution but... BROWN: How did this happen?

TOOBIN: Well, I mean obviously -- and they went through some of her prior statements. She had waffled on this in the past. She was much more definitive in her direct testimony than she had ever been before but it is worth pointing out though this part of the statement kind of went south on the prosecution, the main thing she said about Martha Stewart that Martha Stewart knew that the Waksals were dumping their stock, which is the most incriminating thing she said, that was not challenged on cross-examination. So, that still stands well for the prosecution.

BROWN: OK, let me just be slightly argumentative, just a citizen here.

TOOBIN: By all mean.

BROWN: If I think, if I as a juror think a witness is flaky, I question everything that witness has said.

TOOBIN: Absolutely. It's like what Barry Scheck said in the O.J. Simpson case when he said, you know, when you find a bug in your spaghetti you don't just remove the bug from the spaghetti. You throw out the whole bowl and there is that possibility that they will do that with this testimony.

BROWN: How novel is the -- well, I want to go back to this one more second. They interview this woman, the prosecution does, and do they have to turn over the notes?

TOOBIN: Yes.

BROWN: So, the defense knows that she's been a little flaky.

TOOBIN: Right.

BROWN: Not a legal term here and I'm not trying to disparage her but that's how it sounds. They know that.

TOOBIN: Yes. They do know that.

BROWN: So they know to go after her.

TOOBIN: They know to go -- I mean Robert Morvillo in his cross- examination he went right to that. And, if I could just digress for one minute, my favorite moment in her testimony, she said well -- the lawyer said, you know, you were sitting on a chair. She said no, it wasn't a chair it was a chaise.

BROWN: That is going to warm you to the hearts of the jury right there.

TOOBIN: That's a great sort of Martha touch there.

BROWN: That's perfect. The securities fraud charge, I said novel. It sounds almost unfair to say if you declare your innocence that you are committing a crime.

TOOBIN: It is unfair and, as Allan said and as the judge said, it is an unusual way of charging it. But, I mean in fairness to the prosecution they put on securities analysts who said, look, the Martha Stewart company came to us and said don't worry about the company because Martha is innocent. She didn't do anything wrong. Don't worry about our company.

So, they made a direct tie between the proclamation of innocence and an impact on the Martha Stewart stock price. That doesn't get rid of the fundamental unfairness that seems to bother you but it's not a made up idea that her declaration of innocence had potential impact on the stock price here.

BROWN: But what the judge did not allow is any investor to come in and say he or she relied on that statement before buying or selling Martha Stewart Living.

TOOBIN: That's right. That was one area that she precluded and you could see that every time the securities fraud charge came up in court the judge was uncomfortable with it.

I mean, you know, part of this case is very straightforward, false statements, obstruction of justice. The securities fraud has always troubled the judge and sometimes these judges they sort of hope the jury acquits on that count so they don't have to worry about it.

BROWN: All right, 30 seconds, not asking you to predict an outcome here, just tell me how the prosecution did overall.

TOOBIN: Better than I expected. I thought this was a weak case and I thought Faneuil did much better on the witness stand that many of us expected and Annie Armstrong, Martha Stewart's secretary, talking about Martha altering that message on the computer, then saying restore it. It was all a lot stronger than I expected.

BROWN: And the defense team is formidable.

TOOBIN: It is but don't count on a long defense case. I wouldn't be surprised if this case goes to the jury by the end of next week.

BROWN: Really because the stockbroker side of this has been endless.

TOOBIN: It's been somewhat endless but, you know, I don't think there are going to be a lot of witnesses. There's maybe going to be a -- there was one witness today, a fairly minor witness. But, you know, defense cases they always talk bit. We're going to have a lot of witnesses. I don't think there are going to be a lot of defense witnesses. You could see summation by the end of the week.

BROWN: Control room is going to kill me, yes or no Martha testifying?

TOOBIN: No. BROWN: Thank you. Have a good weekend.

TOOBIN: See you.

BROWN: Thank you.

On to San Francisco where the rush on gay weddings continues and where a court battle is looming, three lawsuits have now been filed since the city began performing marriages eight days ago.

Today the judge combined the cases into one but he also denied again a request to stop the weddings; reporting from San Francisco CNN's David Mattingly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (voice-over): For the second time, opponents of same- sex marriage in San Francisco left a California courtroom unable to stop the city's gay marriage spree.

MATHEW STAVER, LIBERTY COUNSEL ATTORNEY: How can the mayor enforce laws on the citizens of San Francisco when the mayor and his staff are potentially breaking ten civil laws, the criminal code, and two constitutional provisions?

MATTINGLY: A judge refused to issue a restraining order saying the nearly 3,200 marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples so far created no irreparable harm.

THERESE STEWART, CHIEF ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY: We're glad the court is going to hear the merits of those issues and that the court did not in the meanwhile stop the city from allowing gay marriages to happen and we're proud of the city for taking that stance. But, by the way, this isn't just about San Francisco. This is about the whole country.

MATTINGLY: Gay marriage opponents expressed a sense of urgency asking the judge to hurry the case along. Each married couple now conceivably can challenge local governments, employers, and insurance companies to provide benefits equal to heterosexual couples.

Already, hundreds married in San Francisco have returned to homes in other states. Meanwhile, same-sex couples lined up for marriage certificates Friday in the small town of Benalillo, New Mexico. Similar lines can be expected just two and a half months from now in the state of Massachusetts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: All this while the really tough questions still have not been addressed in San Francisco in court. Is the city breaking the state law that defines marriage between one man and one woman or are same-sex marriages truly protected under the state constitution -- Aaron?

BROWN: This whole issue it seems like in just the last three months has moved at the most rapid speed. Are they still, are couple still flocking to San Francisco to get a marriage license?

MATTINGLY: We saw lines outside City Hall today just as we've seen for days now but you will not see those lines come Monday morning when the city opens for business. People will have to get an appointment so all the marriage licenses will be handled by appointment, which is a sign that the city is trying to get back to business as usual.

BROWN: David, thank you for your work this week, David Mattingly in San Francisco.

Ahead on the program tonight, tracking Osama bin Laden, CNN's David Ensor on U.S. plans for a renewed offensive to catch the leader of al Qaeda.

And later, a new twist in the Roe v. Wade story as the woman at the heart of that case goes back to court on the other side.

From New York this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: In the new normal dirty bombs and enemy combatants are phrases that have come to seem familiar, which is scary in itself. The two phrases have collided in the person of Jose Padilla, a suspected terrorist who has been held in a military brig for almost two years without being charged with anything and without access to anyone, including a lawyer.

Mr. Padilla is a U.S. citizen born in Brooklyn. He wasn't captured on a battlefield but arrested in Chicago. No matter how it turns out it is an extraordinary case, which the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear, reporting for us, CNN's Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Despite being a U.S. citizen, Jose Padilla has been held indefinitely in a naval brig in South Carolina. He's never been charged and hasn't seen a lawyer.

Now the Supreme Court will decide whether the president can take away such constitutional rights during wartime, calling into question the key powers the Bush administration says it needs to fight terrorism.

DONNA NEWMAN, PADILLA'S ATTORNEY: I am confident that they will likewise find, as the Second Circuit found, that the president does not have the authority he now claims, this unbridled authority he now claims he has.

ARENA: Padilla designated an enemy combatant, was initially picked up at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. He is accused of plotting to set off a radioactive dirty bomb inside the United States. The government says he "represents a grave danger to the national security." ALICE FISHER, FORMER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Military detention is to deprive the enemy of combatants that will go back and fight against our soldiers and fight with the enemy and whether they are here or whether they are abroad the war powers and international law command that those individuals who are intent on attacking us can be detained.

ARENA: Just last month, as it became clear the Supreme Court would get involved, the Pentagon said it would allow Padilla to see his lawyers. His lawyers say they expect that within two weeks but the government will monitor the meeting and certain topics are off limits.

(on camera): How and why certain individuals are designated enemy combatants has never been fully explained by the Bush administration but CNN has learned the White House counsel is expected to shed some light on the process in a speech next week.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: On now to the search for Osama bin Laden. For more than two years now American forces have been stymied by the support he enjoys along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan where it's believed he's hiding that and Pakistan's reluctance to fully help, along with the diversion of manpower to Iraq has hampered the search. But things may, may finally be changing. That's the promise at least, the hope.

Here's CNN's David Ensor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): Along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan an all-out effort is underway to hunt down Osama bin Laden, believed to be hiding out in the remote tribal region.

On a secret mission last week, U.S. intelligence chief George Tenet spent a day in Islamabad meeting with Pakistan's military and intelligence leaders. General David Barno, the top U.S. soldier in Afghanistan did the same last week, a full court press on Pakistan, which is making some headway. More Pakistani forces are moving into the border region and they are warning tribal elders there to stop sheltering al Qaeda or else.

LT. GEN. DAVID BARNO, COMMANDING GENERAL, COMBINED FORCES COMMAND, AFGHANISTAN: They're obviously adding that enforcement mechanism for those that do not comply that include I think destruction of homes.

ENSOR: Pakistani troops are getting U.S. intelligence and logistics help discretely provided, says a respected Pakistani observer, by U.S. military and intelligence personnel on the ground.

AHMED RASHID, AUTHOR, JOURNALIST: Local tribal leaders have seen them. I think they were there in very small numbers, maybe a dozen or two dozen. I think there will probably be an increase in that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are there any U.S. troops operating in those areas with the Pakistani military?

BRIG. GEN. DAVID RODRIGUEZ, DIR. OF OPERATIONS, JOINT CHIEFS: No, they're not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never have been?

RODRIGUEZ: No. No.

ENSOR: The denials provide some political cover for Pakistan's General Musharraf in a nation where may sympathize with al Qaeda. CIA spokesman also decline all comment but knowledgeable sources say a few military personnel on assignment to other U.S. agencies, like the CIA and FBI, are on the ground in Pakistan.

RASHID: They're helping with communications, with logistics, with satellite information all that kind of thing.

ENSOR: On the Afghan side of the border, U.S. forces are beefing up their numbers and making plans for a spring offensive against al Qaeda and the Taliban.

BARNO: We're moving in the direction of cooperative operations on both sides of the border, a hammer and anvil approach if you will.

ENSOR: Barno has said he hopes to find bin Laden this year. Bush administration officials deny it but some see politics behind the push.

PAT LANG, FORMER CIA OFFICIAL: There's just a greater kind of almost desperation on the part of the United States government to lay their hands on Osama bin Laden before -- in the light of our electoral cycle.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: Bin Laden's evaded capture before. U.S. officials are making no predictions but under a thick cloak of secrecy a major effort is now being ramped up -- Aaron.

BROWN: David, thank you, David Ensor in Washington tonight.

A few more quick items before we head to break starting with parliamentary elections in Iran. Hardliners expected to win a majority of the seats, reformers have been knocked off the ballot, opposition papers shut down, voters intimidated. No word yet on turnout or actual results but no one is expecting any miracles of democracy.

Americans and other foreigners spent the day packing up and leaving Haiti with rebels promising more attacks over the weekend. An international delegation today circulated a proposal for ending the bloodshed but neither the government nor the rebels were buying. In the meantime, the U.S. government has begun putting air marshals on all flights in and out of Haiti to prevent hijackings.

Japan is tightening security at airports, nuclear plants and government facilities. No official explanation why but officials say the country now is at the highest terror alert level since American forces invaded Iraq.

Coming up on NEWSNIGHT later we will check morning papers. This being Friday we'll throw in a tabloid or two.

Up next an interesting twist in the Roe v. Wade story but will it mean anything to a woman's right to choose, a break first.

This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Miranda, Sullivan, Brown, it's a measure of landmark legal rulings, cases whose reach is so broad that a single name becomes a reference point, like Roe, Jane Roe, the woman who challenged a Texas law and transformed the legal and cultural landscape.

It wasn't until after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling legalizing abortion that we learned her real name, Norma McCorvey, but today a Federal Appeals Court agreed to hear from her again three decades later. She's trying to overturn the ruling she fought so hard to win.

Here's CNN's Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to thank all the wonderful women who are standing here.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): For nearly a decade, Norma McCorvey has been working to undo her role as Jane Roe in the case that legalized abortion. This case to you it wasn't settled 30 years ago?

NORMA MCCORVEY, "JANE ROE": No, it wasn't, not at all.

LAVANDERA: McCorvey and a team of lawyers will argue before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that Roe v. Wade should be overturned. Her argument is based on what she calls 31 years of watching women suffer from the harmful effects of abortion.

MCCORVEY: We filed over 5,000 pieces of testimonies and documentations from women throughout the country who have gone through legalized abortion. A lot of their lives have been just absolutely miserable since then.

LAVANDERA: McCorvey's opponents say they're shocked the Fifth Circuit Court even agreed to hear this request. They say time and the lack of new evidence should keep this case closed.

DAVID SCHNECK, ATTORNEY: Cases eventually are over at some point and whether the parties like the result initially or decide they don't like it later they don't get to go back and start over and decide that they want a different result.

LAVANDERA: If the courts do decide to reopen the Roe v. Wade case, many legal experts say it could open a Pandora's Box perhaps reopening the door to countless other cases.

SCHNECK: The question was not about Ms. Roe or Ms. McCorvey in 1973. The question was about what the Constitution said, so there's really been no change in facts that would be relevant to reopening the case.

LAVANDERA: McCorvey doesn't worry about that.

MCCORVEY: We didn't come in to sit down at the table. We come in to kick the table over and say no. We do not want this. We do not want to see children die or women suffer from the psychological and emotional abuse that is brought on by a termination of pregnancy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: McCorvey and her attorneys will make their case to the Fifth Circuit Court in New Orleans on March 2. If that doesn't work out, McCorvey says she will continue and try to get this case back before the Supreme Court.

Now abortion rights activists are paying close attention to this but everyone we spoke with today says that they don't really see that this has much of a chance of succeeding -- Aaron.

BROWN: Did anybody you talk to today remember a similar situation like this where the court overturned a decision it had already made based on the plaintiff's change of mind?

LAVANDERA: No one that we spoke with today. In fact, they say that's why they're so convinced that this is going to have such a hard time. It would have to take an extraordinary amount of perhaps new evidence but they say that the fact that 30 years have gone by is really going to be the strongest part of their case come March 2.

BROWN: Ed, thank you very much, Ed Lavandera in Texas tonight.

Before we go to break a few other stories that made news today around the country, President Bush made another recess appointment to the federal bench today, another controversy naming Alabama Attorney General William Pryor, an outspoken abortion opponents to the U.S. Appeals Court for the Eleventh Circuit. Democrats had blocked the nomination with a filibuster ten months ago. It is the second time this year the president has bypassed Congress to appoint a judge.

Democrats, including the chairman of the Democratic National Committee today urged Ralph Nader not to seek a third party candidacy in the upcoming presidential election. Mr. Nader is expected to announce this weekend whether he will run as an Independent. Many Democrats believe Mr. Nader cost them the White House in the year 2000 when he ran on the Green Party ticket. A flight from New York to Morocco was diverted to Maine today after a passenger phoned his wife and told her he was being abducted, a story he repeated to the FBI and shouldn't have. It was a hoax. The man's wife in Chicago had reported him missing on Valentine's Day. He apparently made up the kidnapping story to explain why he was boarding a plane to Morocco. He's been charged with making false statements to the FBI. We suspect he has some explaining to do at home as well.

University of Colorado has named longtime assistant football coach Brian Cabral to be the interim head coach while Gary Barnett is on paid leave. Coach Barnett suspended after making disparaging remarks about a female football player who has accused a former teammate of sexual assault. Six women in all have made allegations involving the University of Colorado football program. No charges have yet been filed.

Up next on NEWSNIGHT, "Sex and the City." And for those who need a catchup on what this is all about, a handy-dandy review of it all.

Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: A small confession: I have never seen an episode of "Friends." I have never seen "ER." I have never saw "Law & Order." "Cheers" was background noise. The first episode of "Seinfeld" I ever saw was the last. I've seen a few since. I hear the series did pretty well.

Two years ago, I found myself at a fancy luncheon event. I was seated next to this stunning woman. We had a lovely chat. She was smart and funny. She said she was an actress. Her name was Kristin Davis. I actually asked her if she had been able to find any steady work. The table went silent.

So it was an odd and embarrassing way that I came to know "Sex and the City." But like many of you, I missed a lot. And like many of you, I, too, got sucked into the last season. For those of you who like me aren't exactly sure what all of this fuss is about, we offer the entire series really fast, reported by Beth Nissen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): First, the cast of characters, they are Carrie, who writes a newspaper column about sex and relationships, Samantha, who is in public relations when she's not in bed, Miranda, a sardonic attorney, and Charlotte, more traditional and prim, although she still -- let's just say she dates a lot.

Here's a season-by-season breakdown of what happens to these four brunch-sharing, cosmo-sipping, lover-seeking gals. Try to keep up. Carrie meets Mr. Big, played by the guy from "Law & Order." Big is not his real name. Carrie just calls him that because he's a big shot with a big bucks and a big limo, also a big little black book of other women. That breaks Carrie's heart. Carrie and Big break up. Meanwhile, Samantha dates a 20-something, a married man, and Charlotte's doorman, among others. Miranda goes through a dating dry spell. And Charlotte obsesses about getting married. OK, that's season one.

Season two, Carrie realizes she's not over Big and they get back together, but then:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SEX AND THE CITY")

CHRIS NOTH, ACTOR: I may have to move to Paris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NISSEN: They break up again.

Meanwhile, Samantha dates a 70-year-old, her neighbors, and Charlotte's brother, among others. Charlotte doesn't find a husband, but she does find some nice shoes. Miranda starts seeing Steve, but she's a lawyer and he's a bartender. And it doesn't work, so they break up, but then they get back together. Carrie starts to date Seth, who is Bon Jovi. But then she runs into Big, who is back from Paris with his beautiful young fiance.

OK, season three. Carrie, trying to forget Big, starts dating Aidan, a furniture designer who is that guy from "Northern Exposure," although he hasn't yet hit it big in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." Meanwhile, Samantha dates a firefighter, a short man and her office assistant, among others. Charlotte meets a rich doctor, Trey, who is the guy from "Twin Peaks." They get engaged and then get married. Miranda and Steve move in together, but Steve wants to have a baby and Miranda doesn't, so they break up again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SEX AND THE CITY")

CYNTHIA NIXON, ACTRESS: This isn't going to work, Steve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NISSEN: Carrie cheats on Aidan with a now married Big, then confesses to Aidan, which breaks his heart. They break up.

On to seasons four and five. Carrie and Aidan get back together, move in together and get engaged. But then Carrie gets cold feet and they break up for good. She sees Big once more, but then he moves to California. Meanwhile, Samantha briefly tries a relationship with someone who has XX chromosomes, but she soon goes back to XY.

Newlyweds Charlotte and Trey have bedroom problems. Trey moves out. Charlotte starts to date her divorce attorney. Miranda and Steve see each other again for one night, and Miranda gets pregnant. She has a baby boy and becomes a single working mother.

Carrie writes a best-selling book. She starts to date a fellow author, Jack, who is the guy from "Office Space," a cult film prized by cubical workers everywhere, which brings us to the current season. Jack breaks up with Carrie by post-it note. Meanwhile, Samantha develops a real relationship with a waiter/actor Smith, who lovingly stands by Samantha while she goes through chemo for breast cancer and looses her hair.

Charlotte converts to Judaism, marries her divorce attorney. They try to have a baby, but can't. Charlotte gets a cavalier King Charles spaniel instead. Miranda takes up a handsome doctor who is the guy from "L.A. Law," but then gets back together with Steve. She and Steve get married and move to Brooklyn with their son.

Seemingly over Big at last, Carrie gets serious about a Russian artist, Alexander Petrovsky. He is Mikhail Baryshnikov. Petrovsky tells her he's moving to Paris -- what's with all of the men in Carrie's life moving to Paris? -- and asks her to move with him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SEX AND THE CITY")

MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV, ACTOR: I'm hoping you will come and be with me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NISSEN: She does, despite her friends' misgivings and a last- minute, last-ditch visit from Big. Big then meets with Carrie's friends, asks what he should do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SEX AND THE CITY")

NIXON: Go get our girl.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NISSEN: And that's where things stand at the end of episode 93, with only one more episode to go. Me, personally, I'm guessing it will be a "Big" finish.

Beth Nissen, CNN, from "Sex and the City" city.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: We are nothing if not efficient around here.

OK, now that you're caught up on it all, when we come back, the real question: How should it end?

This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: The other night -- I don't know why I'm being so confessional today -- but some friends and I were talking. The conversation essentially boiled down to these two questions: Where do we fit in the universe and what are marshmallows made of?

It didn't quite get to where Carrie should end up and with whom Carrie should end up, so we'll deal with that tonight. Joining us, the head of the original programming for the Trio Network, Andrew Cohen, who's been with us before. Filmmaker Liz Garbus is here, Tia Williams, beauty editor of "Teen People" and the author of "Accidental Diva," and in Washington, Ali Wentworth, the co- host of "Living It Up With Ali and Jack."

It's good to have all of you here to see you all.

Take 15 seconds, no more each, Ali, starting with you. How should it end? And then we'll deal with the whys.

ALI WENTWORTH, CO-HOST, "LIVING IT UP! WITH ALI AND JACK": I think that Carrie should be walking in Charles de Gaulle Airport by herself, get on a plane back to New York, a single woman, having not made two bad mistakes.

BROWN: All right. We'll come back to that.

Tia, how should it end?

TIA WILLIAMS, BEAUTY EDITOR, "TEEN PEOPLE": I think that Big should fly to Paris and rescue her.

BROWN: You want Big?

WILLIAMS: I want Big. I want Big.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: All right. I'm intrigued by that.

Yes, Liz, how should it end?

LIZ GARBUS, FILMMAKER: She's got to come home and marry New York and marry singledom. She's got to get rid of Big. She's got to get rid of Alexander Petrovsky and be married to New York and a single lifestyle.

ANDREW COHEN, HEAD OF ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING, TRIO NETWORK: Back in New York, city she loves, making Big work like hell for her for her love and repent. And, by the way, I want to find out Big's real name.

BROWN: Do we not -- has he never had a name?

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: We don't know. But I think what's going to happen is, it's going to end with her saying something crazy like Orville or something, and then Liz and millions of other women are going to name their child Orville, you know. It's going -- the world is going to

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: All right, Ali, let's go back to you.

WENTWORTH: OK. BROWN: It's important, in quotes, we'll use the word important, to you that she end up with neither of them because?

WENTWORTH: Because it's not -- it wouldn't be an authentic ending to what the show has been over the years, which is a single gal having sex in the city.

BROWN: Yes.

WENTWORTH: And I think what she's left with are two men that, if she ends up with Big, it sort of sets back her -- her sort of feminist, you know, politically incorrect person that she is. And if she ends up with Mikhail Baryshnikov, then I feel for her. She's going to be scrubbing dishes in Paris while he's...

COHEN: Forget it.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: No one likes him.

(CROSSTALK)

GARBUS: They have zero chemistry.

This is a woman who gave up her job. She's giving up her friends for him. There's never even been so much of a discussion. He's betraying her inner soul. And the truth is, I think "Sex and the City" is really a show about the family and about alternative families. And he didn't embrace her family, because her family are her four friends.

And Big got it right when he said, a guy can only hope to play fourth to you guys. That's why Big has a shot.

(CROSSTALK)

WENTWORTH: She also has nothing in common with Petrovsky, nothing in common.

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: Well, the great thing that they did -- and we've analyzed this like crazy at Trio, because we're obsessed with pop culture.

And what we decided is that, a couple weeks ago, they gave everyone a great excuse to hate Petrovsky, because Miranda started to hate Petrovsky.

BROWN: Right.

COHEN: And they saw, she's making the bad move. And you understood why she was making a bad decision. But the audience was let in, on, OK, it's cool to hate this guy.

BROWN: I need to deal with the Big question for a second. Tell me -- here's what I know about Big, Tia, is that there is this scene the other day where she says to him, every time I'm happy, you come back and mess it up.

This is like every -- honestly -- bad guy that every good girl has ever fallen for.

GARBUS: Right, so why do you want him?

WILLIAMS: She's never been happy. She's never been happy with the other guys that she's dated.

BROWN: So she's only happy with this bad boy?

WILLIAMS: She has always been in love with him. He's the love of her life. They will never be finished. And I feel like every guy she's dated has been a direct reaction to something about Big.

GARBUS: Well, she only wants him because he's unavailable. I think that's really the enticing thing.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Excuse me, but that's also true in this case of him, it seems to me. He only wants her because she's flown off to Paris with Petrovsky.

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: But, by the way, this is one of the reasons this show is so great, and this is one of the reasons we're talking about this right now, because you make mistakes. And, in relationships, they're not always great.

And that's why -- and this is a perfect example. They're not always on the same wavelength. They're going to keep coming back to each other. And they're going to hopefully find peace and contentment with each other.

BROWN: Hang on. Ali?

WENTWORTH: The relationship with Big is a neurotic relationship. I can only speak from my personal experience, but I've heard that relationship.

BROWN: That's my favorite part.

(LAUGHTER)

WENTWORTH: I've had that relationship in my past and it was completely dysfunctional. And then I had Petrovsky in the form of a French director with the smoking-cigarette, model-looking daughter, the whole thing.

(LAUGHTER)

WENTWORTH: And, ultimately, the relationship with Mr. Big is not going to get better. It's going to be fraught with insecurities and dishonesty.

And Petrovsky needs to go find himself a 14-year-old. And then, ultimately, when you get these two men out of your life, you meet the one. For me, it was my husband.

BROWN: Yes, it was.

COHEN: I hope so.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: Liz, both you and Ali, it seems to me -- well, three of you -- are -- you've created a scenario where she -- you will not let her be happy in love.

GARBUS: No, I think that, in fact, she is really

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: I wrote this down. "She should marry her singledom."

GARBUS: OK.

First of all, the show is about being single, and it has been. And all three other women are paired off right now.

BROWN: Right.

GARBUS: So, in order for the show to be true to its ideals, she has to end up single and happy. And the truth is, these three other women, that is her family. and HBO shows, "The Sopranos," "Six Feet Under," they are about families adapting to the modern world.

Here's another family. And that's where the family is going to be restored, but it's going to be this family of girlfriends.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Tia. Tia.

WILLIAMS: I don't know how realistic that is, though. It's very much a theory, though, isn't it, that a 38-year-old woman can walk off into the sunset happy to be single and not be in love? I mean, I don't know -- I don't know a woman who would make that choice, honestly.

WENTWORTH: Aaron, can I say one thing?

BROWN: Of course.

WENTWORTH: Can I just say one thing?

If I wrote this last episode, I would have her blow off Big, say goodbye to Petrovsky. She's in the plane. She lands in Kennedy Airport and she bumps into something -- somebody that we would think, wow, he looks pretty good and you leave it at that. You leave us with, wow, will she end up with this guy or will she, again, marry singledom and have a series of relationships of different lengths?

BROWN: So there should be a question mark at the end that will allow us to fill it in however we choose to?

WENTWORTH: Yes.

COHEN: But I think the one question mark that should not be there -- and I think that this is what the show is about -- to me is about these four women who are in search of contentment, in whatever shape contentment finds itself.

And so I think that Carrie will be content. And I'm hoping that her contentment is, you know, being back and making him work for it. But I think it will be a question mark.

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: Big.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Kind of quickly here, does it need to end? If it didn't end, would it be unsatisfying?

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: ... a lot more episodes.

BROWN: Is that unique series where it has to end?

Tia?

WILLIAMS: If it didn't end, would it?

BROWN: Yes. I don't mean if they kept producing them. I mean if there wasn't a clear ending to it.

WILLIAMS: I think that it would be very disappointing if there wasn't a clear ending.

GARBUS: I would be very, very happy if she was single, but there were some prospects out there, that she was happy with her computer and her friends and her writing and her career, but maybe there was somebody in her future.

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: I think it will end with some kind of a question mark leaving the door open.

(CROSSTALK)

GARBUS: Yes, maybe Big, probably not, I'm hoping, but maybe some other

(CROSSTALK) WENTWORTH: Hey, guys.

(CROSSTALK)

WENTWORTH: They've got a movie in the works. So, you know, if they end with a question mark, they'll resolve it in a feature-length film that will come out next summer.

BROWN: Works for me.

You guys work for me, too. Come back any time. Thank you very much.

We'll check morning papers after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(ROOSTER CROWING)

BROWN: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okeydokey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okeydokey.

BROWN: Time to check morning papers from around the country and around the world. Everybody calm down now. Some of these I haven't seen before. Here we go.

"The Philadelphia Inquirer" begins thusly. "High Court to Hear Dirty Bomb Case." We told you about this earlier. I can't think of an issue in my lifetime quite like this, so I'm glad the court's going to settle it. Down in the corner, "New Jersey Suspends Execution." See, I don't believe they have had any. "At issue, whether the effects of a lethal injection can be reversed. The ruling is considered a landmark." I think the whole point of a lethal injection is that it can't be reversed. Call me crazy.

"The Times," British newspaper. "The Most Controversial Story Ever Told." This is the Mel Gibson movie. This is going to be huge. It opens next week, I guess. And it's been the most interesting campaign for a movie I've ever seen. And it's pretty interesting stuff. This thing's going to be huge.

"Fire and Fury." "The Times Herald-Record" in Upstate New York. Haiti is the lead. I just think they like the picture. That's my guess. And they call and tell me I'm crazy. They wouldn't be the first people to do that.

"San Francisco Chronicle." "Gay Weddings Clear Second Hurdle. Same-sex Marriages in New Mexico as Well. Both Sides Return to Court March 29." For now, that goes on.

And let's do a couple of the tabloids, because it's Friday and because we like to and because, why not? "The National Enquirer" leads thusly. I never know with "The Enquirer" if these things are right or not, OK? "Siegfried Walks Out On Roy." I hope that's not right. We've been talking about relationships here.

OK, "The Weekly World News," I have a better idea whether these are accurate or not. Their lead today -- or this week. I think it's a weekly, "Princess Diana is Alive," for all of you who have wondered. "She's recovering in a French convent from the deadly crash that killed her lover." Inside, a story that you will not find anywhere else. "Nutty Kim Jong Il Announces" -- that's the word Aaron -- "Announces North Korean Mission to the Sun." But this is what I loved about it -- quoting the Korean leader, the North Korean leader -- "We'll go at night when it's not so hot."

The weather in Chicago tomorrow according, to "The Chicago Sun- Times," is "retrogressing." Beats me. I guess it's going to get colder.

We've got one bonus story tonight. We'll get to that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Finally from us for the week, a cultural story again. Want to know how important TV is in our day and age? This is how important. Not only can it make or break you. It can make and break you at the same time. Meet the man to whom it has happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): What to call University of California engineering student William Hung? The most successful failure there ever was, perhaps?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN IDOL")

WILLIAM HUNG, CONTESTANT (singing): She bangs, she bangs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: He did fail, spectacularly, on TV's "American Idol."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN IDOL")

SIMON COWELL, JUDGE: You can't sing. You can't dance. So what do you want me to say?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: But there was something to winning about the way he lost.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN IDOL")

HUNG: I already gave my best and I have no regrets at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: But he's been a star ever since.

HUNG (singing): Shake your bon-bon. Shake your bon-bon. Shake your bon-bon.

BROWN: There are Web sites devoted to him. Fan clubs talk about projects of various sorts. He was invited to sing at the U.S. Berkeley volleyball game, in which he was presented with a $25,000 check as part of an album and video deal. William just smiled.

What is that old crack about the guy who can't win for losing? It certainly doesn't apply to William Hung, whose career took off like a rocket, after he bombed big-time. Maybe this isn't so hard to understand. The more real people there are on TV, airbrushed and photo-shopped, made over, cut, pasted and polished, the less real they seem. Could it be that we were on the verge of forgetting what real really is? Until William Hung came along to remind us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN IDOL")

HUNG: I have no professional training of singing.

COWELL: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: This is real.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Good to have you with us tonight and for the week. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. We'll see you again next week.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" is next for most of you.

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




problematic; Prosecution rests in Martha Stewart case; Same-sex couples flocking to San Francisco for marriage licenses; Supreme Court to hear Padilla case; Jane Roe fights against Roe v. Wade in Fifth Circuit;>