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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Lawsuit in California Alleges Security Lapses at San Francisco Airport; Police Announce Possible Break in BTK Case

Aired February 25, 2005 - 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, HOST: Good evening again, everyone.
In the new normal, the question lingers, how safe is it really to fly? How safe are the airports? Tonight, a report that isn't very reassuring.

Federal officials, the people who run Newark Airport in New Jersey, have been dealing with some embarrassing security lapses. This month, a screener failed to detect a butcher knife in a woman's bag. In December, during a terror drill, a phony bomb wasn't detected and ended up on a flight to Europe.

Now a lawsuit in California alleges security at San Francisco's airport resembles a slice of Swiss cheese.

So on the security watch tonight, homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With all this security, San Francisco's airport looks safe. But Gene Bencomo says it is not.

GENE BENCOMO, FORMER COVENANT EMPLOYEE: I personally would not allow my family or friends to fly out of that airport now, knowing what I know.

MESERVE: At the airport known as SFO, screening is done by a private firm, Covenant Aviation Security, as part of a Transportation Security Administration pilot project. Bencomo was a supervisor for Covenant. In a wrongful termination lawsuit, he alleges the company's security is full of holes.

BENCOMO: Individuals who are not certified by the federal government are sitting at X-ray machines, walk-through metal detectors, working explosive trace detection machines. I can remember a small chain saw made it through one of our checkpoints, icepicks, firearms, knives, box cutters.

MESERVE: But Bencomo's most explosive allegation, that when undercover federal auditors with concealed weapons showed up to test screener performance, Covenant cheated.

BENCOMO: It would take physical descriptions of the auditors at the airport, for example, what they were wearing, how tall they were, were they blonde, did they have blue eyes? The rest of the checkpoints throughout the airport were tipped off to look for these individuals.

MESERVE: Bencomo claims the auditors' movements were tracked with surveillance cameras so Covenant management could tell screeners auditors were coming their way. He also alleges that TSA officials knew what Covenant was doing and did nothing to stop it.

(on camera): The TSA is declining to comment on Bencomo's allegations and has referred the matter to the Department of Homeland Security inspector general for investigation.

(voice-over): The former inspector general, now a CNN consultant, won't comment on SFO specifically, but says at some airports his auditors did feel they'd been given away.

CLARK KENT ERVIN, FORMER DHS INSPECTOR GENERAL: We got the sense on occasion that we had been recognized, and that that might have comprised the integrity of our tests.

MESERVE: Ervin's testing concluded that private and federal screeners performed equally poorly. Covenant implies if had cheated, it would have done better. The firm also says internal and external investigations have not substantiated Bencomo's claims.

Asked directly if the company cheated on tests, here is what Covenant's president said.

GERRY BERRY, PRESIDENT, COVENANT AVIATION SECURITY: I'm saying that it's certainly not in my policy. I can't absolutely say that nobody was ever tipped off.

MESERVE: Covenant claims Bencomo is the only person who has complained about the company's security practices. But Bencomo's lawyer showed us a letter, purportedly from another former employee, making many of the same allegations, and says others may join the suit.

Covenant suggests Bencomo is a disgruntled former employee motivated by money.

BERRY: His lawyer contacted our lawyer and said there would be no lawsuit and there would be no publicity if we were willing to come up with $3 million prior to Christmas.

MESERVE: Bencomo's lawyer says the case is not about cash, it is about security.

ANGELA ALIOTO, BENCOMO'S ATTORNEY: There's a problem there. It has to be fixed. Has to be fixed now. And this lawsuit is going to fix it.

MESERVE: SFO management says it is happy with Covenant's performance. MIKE MCCARSON, SFO SPOKESMAN: I think SFO is the safest airport in the nation. We have the most advanced security systems, great training, the screeners here do an excellent job. And I feel (UNINTELLIGIBLE) confident in bringing my own family through this airport.

MESERVE: Covenant claims wherever auditors work, word spreads quickly among screeners, raising questions about the validity of testing and the quality of security at many airports, not just this one.

For CNN's America bureau, Jeanne Meserve, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The serial killer known as BTK has managed to keep his identity secret for three decades. But tonight in Kansas, there are signs the case may be -- may be -- finally nearing an end.

CNN's David Mattingly joins us from Atlanta tonight.

I guess, David, at 10:00 Central Time tomorrow morning, we'll know what this all is.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One could hope. Tonight, everyone in Wichita choosing their words very carefully about this case. All they're saying is that they have, quote, "a person of interest" that they are questioning in connection with the BTK case.

They've also been searching a home at a suburb outside of the Wichita city limits, where they've been looking through the belongings of a person living there.

Also, reportedly, in the local media that police have been looking at the possible DNA test results, waiting for those to come back, before they make their announcement tomorrow.

And in the meantime, remember, this is a killer who's on-again, off-again killing spree has terrorized multiple generations of people in Wichita, and it all dates back to that first letter he sent years ago to the local paper in which he claimed his chilling name.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: The killer calls himself BTK, which stands for bind them, torture them, kill them, a pattern he's followed with most of his victims.

He's also developed a taste for publicity. Over 31 years, he's sent many notes to Wichita police and the local media, and once even reported one of his own murders to 911.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you will find a homicide at 843 South Pershing. (END AUDIO CLIP)

MATTINGLY (on camera): Experts following the case agree, the killer's greatest talent may be deception. His actions do not fit into any one particular profile, and his communications contain such a wide array of possible clues that no clear picture of him emerges.

(voice-over): The last known murder was in 1986, a 28-year-old mother named Vicky Wegerle was killed, like all the others, in her Wichita home. But this time, there were no calls, no notes. So many years went by that some believed BTK was dead.

They were wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This morning, we have more information on the letter sent to "The Wichita Eagle" by the BTK killer.

MATTINGLY: Last spring, after nearly a 25-year silence, the killer unleashed a flurry of communications to local media, including a package dropped in this Wichita park containing the driver's license of one of his victims.

(on camera): How unusual is this for a serial killer to give back mementos that he's taken?

ROBERT BEATTIE, ATTORNEY: I've never heard of that happening before at all.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Wichita attorney Robert Beattie has written a soon-to-be-published book on BTK and is among those believing the killer has reemerged with a purpose.

(on camera): Is it possible he's winding down, maybe coming to some sort of conclusion?

BEATTIE: He may be winding down to a conclusion or climax, or he may be teasing us. But we're all expecting something. He'll just disappear like Jack the Ripper.

MATTINGLY: Do you think he'll kill again?

RICHARD LAMUNYON, FORMER CHIEF OF POLICE: I -- you cannot rule that out. I personally don't think he will. And the reason is, you know, he still has these memories. I think he's guilt-ridden now, and I think he will -- that the final hoorah that he refers to is the idea that he will come forward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: One of the most unusual communications in recent months was a letter that included what looked like possible chapter titles, suggesting the killer was writing his own story. Everyone waiting tomorrow, Aaron, to find out if the final chapter in this case is truly about to be written.

BROWN: All right, one or two quick questions, David. Do we have any idea what precipitated the flurry of activity today?

MATTINGLY: No, we don't. Police have been playing this very close to the vest. There was a problem a few months ago when they made an arrest, and everyone assumed it was part of the BTK killings. They're not making that mistake this time. They're playing everything very quietly, almost an information lockdown tonight. All will be revealed, hopefully, tomorrow morning.

BROWN: And just perhaps to underscore why it appears that something is imminent, they've invited just about everybody who is anybody in the state of Kansas to that event tomorrow.

MATTINGLY: Reportedly a congressman, the FBI, anyone who could possibly been involved in this case or who possibly benefit from positive publicity on this will likely be there.

BROWN: And do we know anything about the families of the victims and what they've been told, if they've been told?

MATTINGLY: According to KAKE, the affiliate in Wichita, they have spoken to family members there, who say that they've been told to arrive an hour early, where they will be briefed by police, again suggesting that this could be a very big day tomorrow in Wichita.

BROWN: We shall find out tomorrow morning. David, I was reminded of going through a night almost exactly like this in Seattle, where there was a person of interest, that was the term, in the Green River case. And in that case, it didn't go anywhere. This one feels a little different. We'll know tomorrow.

MATTINGLY: Yes, it does.

BROWN: Thank you, David. David Mattingly in Atlanta tonight.

Much more to come in the hour ahead on this Friday edition of NEWSNIGHT, starting with the strange and difficult world of autism.

The diagnosis that changed everything.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We sort of just waited. I think deep down inside neither one of us wanted it to be the diagnosis of autism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Helping their son is now the focus of their lives. We'll look at a treatment for autism mired in controversy. This woman says it gave her a new life, and she's written an Oscar-nominated movie about her life.

A political firestorm surrounds this Oscar nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think very, very few people who came in to see "Million Dollar Baby" initially were properly prepared for just how deeply depressing the film ends up being.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Did "Million Dollar Baby" sell itself as simple entertainment and deliver something different?

And a conversation with Monty Python's Eric Idle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC IDLE, MONTY PYTHON: I don't have a career. I just have a life, and I just pursue what comes next, or what interests me. I try and avoid all sensible career decisions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Eric Idle, still having fun after all these years.

From New York City and around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: The story of Sue Rubin is nothing short of remarkable. At 12, she was diagnosed as severely autistic and mentally retarded, with an IQ level of a 2-year-old. Now 26, she's a college student with a top IQ and an advocate for disabled rights.

She's also written a documentary that offers a rare look at autism from the inside out, "Autism Is a World." It's been nominated for an Academy Award and premieres on CNN PRESENTS on May the 22nd.

In a moment, we'll look at the treatment Ms. Rubin credits with giving her back her life.

First, a clip from the movie, the actress Juliana Margulies giving voice to Ms. Rubin's words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AUTISM IS A WORLD")

JULIANA MARGULIES, ACTOR: My name is Sue Rubin. I'm 26 years old. I've written these thoughts about my life because I don't really talk. This is not my voice, but these are my words.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good girl. That's good.

MARGULIES: I have autism. And until the age of 13, everyone assumed I was also retarded. Now I live on my own, with assistance from others.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

MARGULIES: I decided to make this film... SYNTHESIZED VOICE: Autism.

MARGULIES: ... to bring people into my world of autism.

SYNTHESIZED VOICE: Autism is a world.

RITA RUBIN, SUE'S MOTHER: Every year she got older, and her mental age stayed the same, which was at about 2 1/2. And so by the time she was 13, she still had a mental age of about 2 1/2, so that's what we thought, we believed that.

MARGULIES: I certainly understand why I was assumed to be retarded. All of my very awkward movements and all my nonsense sounds made me appear retarded. Perhaps I was. Voices floated over me. I heard sounds, but not words. It wasn't until I had a communication system that I was able to make sense out of the sounds.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Sue Rubin used a technique called facilitated communication to emerge from the darkness of severe autism, to help her, as she put it, make sense of the sounds.

But the technique is controversial. Critics say more often than not, it leads to false hopes and broken dreams.

Here's CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is 3-year-old Joshua.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We sort of just waited, because -- and I think it's because we didn't want it to be this, you know. I think deep down inside, neither one of us wanted it to be the diagnosis of autism.

GUPTA: And like many parents, Michael and Shirley Nichols (ph) wondered if they waited too long. Just one week ago, Joshua was diagnosed. The signs had been there for some time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even the smallest tasks of, Need to change my diaper, I need, I'm hungry, he would not communicate with us, so we constantly had to be aware of what his needs were.

GUPTA: And now Josh and his parents have entered the strange world of autism, with an impossible number of questions, and hardly any answers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that it's very frustrating, because there's no one person telling you what to do. There's no... GUPTA: There's lots of difference things you're hearing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lots of different things, everywhere we went.

GUPTA: Everywhere they went, they got different advice on how best to take care of their son.

DR. WAYNE FISHER: This is for young children with autism.

GUPTA: Dr. Wayne Fisher has dedicated his life to autism and works at the prestigious Marcus (ph) Institute.

FISHER: I've seen no instances personally or in the literature where there's evidence that it works.

GUPTA (on camera): But people are still doing it.

FISHER: Correct.

GUPTA (voice-over): We asked him about facilitated communication, or FC, where a trained therapist helps an autistic person by holding their arms as they learn to use a typing device.

He is convinced that the facilitator, not the child, was actually controlling the typing.

FISHER: When we presented it to the therapist, but not to the child, the child answered correctly. When we presented it to both of them, the child answered correctly. But when only the child saw the question or the stimulus, the answer was -- did not make sense and did not correspond to the question.

GUPTA: But there are two sides. Sue Rubin knows for a fact that FC taught her to communicate. She's the author of the new documentary "Autism Is A World," which was co-produced by CNN's documentary unit and will air on the network in May.

Sue's film, which has been nominated for an Academy Award, has helped reopen the debate.

(on camera): Facilitated communication was first used in the United States around 1990 and was wildly hailed as a miracle therapy. It took just years, though, for the theories to be discredited. And now even the American Psychological Society strongly cautions doctors that the practice is both controversial and unproven.

(voice-over): But not unproven to Jamie Burke, who, as a young boy, could not talk or communicate at all. But through a therapist using FC, Jamie began to type.

JAMIE BURKE: You may be thinking...

GUPTA: And at age 12, he began to speak, reading aloud what he had typed.

BURKE: ... the author of the...

GUPTA: Now Jamie types on his own with a little help, but Jamie insists the words are his own.

BURKE: You may be thinking that, but I am the author of the typing.

GUPTA: His parents say they can now talk to their once-silent son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just opened up a whole new world, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We saw him so totally differently. I mean, we just -- I mean, that phone call to me, when they said, Yes, he indeed is recognizing letters, yes, he, indeed, can type...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Understands.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He came home that day, and you just approached him as a totally different person.

GUPTA: Dr. Fisher and many others insist FC doesn't work, despite success stories like Sue and Jamie.

(on camera): There are some extraordinary examples of people who seem to have benefited tremendously from facilitated communication. How do you explain that?

FISHER: Oh, I can't explain that.

GUPTA (voice-over): But for those like Joshua and his parents...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's no one road, one path, that's, Well, you can try this or you could look into this. And for us, we just want to help him.

GUPTA: The search for answers continues.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Coming up in the program tonight, we've talked before about the reasons the military banned gays from the service. Tonight, we'll take a look at a study that lays out the costs in economic terms, adding it all up.

A break first from New York. This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Three more Americans died in Iraq today.

Back in 1993, don't ask, don't tell became the Pentagon's official policy regarding gays in the service. At the time, it was a compromise that not many on either side of the issue liked very much. Now, a dozen years later, a government study has concluded that don't ask, don't tell has been costly to the armed services in both money and manpower.

Here's our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 1997, Steve Boeckels was a West Point cadet with a secret he couldn't even admit to himself.

STEVE BOECKELS, FORMER ARMY 1ST LIEUTENANT: I didn't feel like I was gay at the time, even though I (UNINTELLIGIBLE) always been gay. I was basically in denial with my own sexuality.

MCINTYRE: At his graduation, he shook hands with the president, whose don't ask, don't tell policy was supposed to make it easier for soldiers like him to serve.

Now, Boeckels, a former cavalry scout platoon leader, is out of the closet, and, consequently, out of uniform.

BOECKELS: With this policy, it's clear and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) obvious that you're (UNINTELLIGIBLE), you're basically kicking people out that more than (UNINTELLIGIBLE), more than willing to serve and put their life on the line.

MCINTYRE: Gay rights advocates and their supporters in Congress say with the military struggling to meet recruiting and retention goals, it's time to revisit the 1993 compromise that requires gays and lesbians to keep their sexual orientation secret if they want to stay in the U.S. military.

A just-released Government Accountability Office study estimates the Pentagon has spent roughly $200 million over the last decade to recruit and train more than 10,000 replacements for homosexuals who were booted out. The report also notes that at the same time the U.S. military is paying bonuses to fill critically short jobs such as translators, it's discharging hundreds of people, many with the same needed skills.

President Clinton was forced to abandon his campaign promise to end discrimination against gays in the military by a Congress swayed by the argument the ban was needed to maintain good order and discipline.

PETER SPRIGG, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: People serving in the military have the right to be free of the fear that they are in the barracks or in the foxhole with somebody of the same sex who may be viewing them as a sexual object.

MCINTYRE: But in recent years, in both Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. troops have served alongside allies who permit gays to serve, including Britain, Australia, Italy, and Spain. Britain lifted its ban on gays five years ago, and now the Royal Navy has begun actively encouraging them to enlist.

BOECKELS: Absolutely. It's not just myself. I think that America's ready for it.

MCINTYRE: Next week, Massachusetts Congressman Martin Meehan, who commissioned the GAO report, will introduce a bill to repeal the ban. But with Congress even more conservative now than it was in 1993, the prospects for passage are uncertain at best.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Scott O'Grady is probably a name you remember even if you don't quite remember why. He was a newsmaker a decade ago, and a perfect candidate for our 25th anniversary series, Then and Now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAPT. SCOTT O'GRADY: And as soon as the missile hit, the only thing I saw was a cockpit disintegrating in front of me.

BROWN: Captain Scott O'Grady spent six days struggling to survive after being shot down in Bosnia in 1995.

O'GRADY: My heart started racing, and then I heard Basher one one up on the radio.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) alive, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) alive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) you're alive.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BROWN: Little did he know those six days would change his life forever.

O'GRADY: I just want to have a normal life and just continue on.

BROWN: O'Grady immediately found himself thrust into the spotlight recounting his story for millions, and he continues to do so today, 10 years later. He has published two books, "Return with Honor" and "Basher Five-Two," a children's edition of his story. After 12 years serving his country, O'Grady is now pursuing a Master's at Dallas's Theological Seminary.

O'GRADY: Believe that you shouldn't be ignorant as to what you believe. You should understand why you believe it.

BROWN: Once graduated, Scott O'Grady says he wants to dedicate his life to giving back to both his community and his country.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BROWN: Now you remember, don't you?

Throughout the year, CNN marks a quarter-century of bringing you the news. We'll look back at some of the stories that changed our lives and take a look at yesterday's newsmakers, see what they're up to today.

Coming up on the program next, one of the brilliant madmen who brought us tales of dead parents and the Ministry of Silly Walks, a conversation with Eric Idle.

So, from around the universe, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: There are all sorts of comedians. Bill Maher, who was on the program the other night, is one sort, Jay Leno another. But if you are in need of a laugh, not a deep-thought laugh, but a really good belly laugh, we cast our vote with Monty Python.

Thirty years ago, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" gave whole new meaning to the word silly. Eric Idle was in the middle of it. He still is, a new book, a DVD, a Broadway play, "Spamalot," which is "The Holy Grail" with steeper prices and better music.

Eric Idle stopped by for our NEWSNIGHT conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: You have a ton of stuff out there, all -- sort of all at once. There's a play, there's DVDs and there's a book out there. Why?

ERIC IDLE, AUTHOR, "THE GREEDY BASTARD TOUR": It's just an accident. I mean, it happens that all my last three years' work has opened all at once. It happens that way in this ridiculous business.

BROWN: It wasn't a plan? It's not a way to get attention?

(LAUGHTER)

IDLE: This is no -- absolutely not. It's a total coincidence. That's how it happens.

BROWN: Are you able to -- when you've got three things out there, you have three pretty interesting things out there, are you able to love them all the same, nurture them in the way that you want to?

IDLE: Often, by the time they open, all of your nurturing business is over. You've been pregnant. You've had the baby. You've delivered.

BROWN: Yes.

IDLE: You've looked after the... (CROSSTALK)

BROWN: But I was reading something about the play, that you're still tinkering with the play or maybe even more than tinkering. I mean, you played, what, five weeks in Chicago and things get added and things -- is it ever finished?

IDLE: We locked it today. We just locked it, because -- there will be little bits and pieces. But, really, we said, OK, that's it. We've got to stop fiddling with this now.

BROWN: Is it...

IDLE: It's not getting any better. It's just getting different.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: The movie was, what, 1975?

IDLE: "The Grail," yes, April 1975, it is.

BROWN: Yes. And the play is essentially the movie, again, different.

IDLE: Yes. But it's the movie -- you take the movie and then you change it so that it is now a Broadway play. It all alters. Everything alters, because the form is altered. So now you've got an intermission. And people have got to go out and have a drink and come back. You have got to interest them again. You've got to finish it off.

The movie never had an end. It never had a plot. It sort of wandered along and then was stopped by the police, who arrested it.

BROWN: How much is the -- how much of a play is the audience's reaction to the play?

IDLE: Well, they have expectations.

It isn't -- you know, they come bringing in -- bringing certain expectations. They're going to see a Python show. So, your expectation, you have to surprise them. That's one of their expectations. They have to not know what's going to happen, and you must tease that. And that's what we do a lot in act two. We constantly surprise them when they don't expect certain things to happen.

BROWN: But they must insist that it be silly.

IDLE: That is the very leitmotif of our world.

BROWN: You have probably spent more serious time thinking about silly than almost anyone.

IDLE: Yes. And it's hard to know what silly is, really, because it's sort of defying expectation and being a little bit more stupid, whilst being intelligent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: Halt. Who art thou?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR (singing): He is brave Sir Robin, brave Sir Robin,

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Shut up. Nobody, really, I'm just passing through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

IDLE: It's a very perverse thing, because it isn't stupid comedy. It isn't dumb comedy. It's very intelligent comedy, but it seems to go off at a tangent. And it isn't quite nonsense. Python has its own sort of silly world, which is very interesting. I find it interesting, because it's an original area.

BROWN: Yes. Do you think there are people my age, mid-50s, who sort of fell in love with the movie and thought you guys were the funniest people on the planet that we want you to be that again and no more than that? Don't make this harder on me. I want you to be -- because I want to go back to 1975.

IDLE: Well, I don't think I can be that young again. I'll do my best, but makeup is just...

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Yes. There's only so much makeup you can wear.

IDLE: There's only so much you can wear.

BROWN: Yes.

IDLE: But the only thing is, I think Python is a way of looking at things. And I think it's sort of fresh bringing it back again, because we haven't really been here looking at things since the late '70s. And I think that, in the late '70s, you had a Vietnam War. And people were ready to laugh.

And I think you have the same parallel again. You have a war going on and people are depressed and they're ready to laugh. And silliness somehow is something they can grasp, because it makes them feel better. And they come out of our show, they just look and feel better. They're smiling. They're singing, always look on the bright side. And they just -- they had a great time.

BROWN: We're talking with Eric Idle. And we'll take a break and continue in a moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I don't like spam! UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Don't make a fuss, dear. I'll have your spam. I love it. I'm having spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, baked beans, spam spam, spam and spam!

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Baked beans are off.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Can I have spam instead?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IDLE: About a quarter of a century ago, I came here to this very spot in front of the Plaza in New York to make a documentary about the Rutles. I'm actually standing outside the actual hotel in which the Rutles actually stayed in 1964, actually in this room here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: We're talking with Eric Idle about all sorts of things.

Do you like being famous?

IDLE: It's just -- it's a concomitant. It's something that -- it's a side effect. I don't particularly like it, but there's nothing much I can do about it.

I think -- I started a novel, "The Road to Mars," and the first sentence was, fame is a terminable disease. And I believe that. I think that people who want to be famous are sick. And I learned that from George, really, that fame is not worth anything.

BROWN: George Harrison.

IDLE: Yes. Fame isn't worth anything. You can be the most famous person in the world. You've still got to die. You have still got to come to terms with your life. And so...

BROWN: There's fame and then there's the Beatles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED SULLIVAN, TALK SHOW HOST: Ladies and gentlemen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Rutles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: To me, I always thought how incredibly claustrophobic that sort of thing must be, that you -- literally everywhere you go, there's no -- you can walk. You can sit in a restaurant and 80 percent of the people there are not going to know who you are. And that's not a terrible thing. All right, 65, 50.

IDLE: It doesn't matter, because, every day, somebody says to me, Monty Python.

BROWN: Right.

IDLE: There's not a day of my life goes by where somebody doesn't say that. And so if it irritates you, you're going to be very irritated. You have to come to terms with that and say, there's nothing I can do about this. We did that. And it was fun and it was great. But now what are we doing?

BROWN: Do you remember the first time you thought, my lord, I can make a living being funny?

IDLE: Sort of.

I mean, we did it from college, Cambridge. I entertained people every weekend. I would do cabaret at the weekends. So we got like five quid each to go and entertain people. And that was a good sideline. And then I sort of segued into television, writing for comedians on television.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Did you at some point say to your mom, no, actually, I'll make a living; I'm not going to be a doctor or a pilot; I'm going to make a living writing jokes?

IDLE: I tried to be a doctor, but the girl saw through my credentials immediately.

(LAUGHTER)

IDLE: No, I don't have a career. I just have a life and I just pursue what comes next or what interests me. I try and avoid all sensible career decisions.

BROWN: Do you like being on the road?

(CROSSTALK)

IDLE: I loved being on the road. It was such an interesting experience.

BROWN: Why?

IDLE: Well, for three months, to be on a rock 'n' roll bus and go to every different city and do a show to a whole different group of people and entertainment them and then move on every night is a really interesting experience. You see America and you feel the response of America. And I feel I have a much better understanding of America than I did before.

BROWN: Is that -- what -- tell me one thing you learned that you didn't know. You've lived here a while.

I learned that, in fact, there's no boondocks anymore. There isn't a middle where nobody gets everything, because they all watch TV. So, they're all watching Jon Stewart, and they're all watching your show and Leno and Letterman. They all watch everything, so...

BROWN: It's actually true in way that you -- no matter where you go, you see the same stores. I mean, kids dress the same.

IDLE: Yes.

BROWN: I don't care if they're in Twisp, Washington, or New York.

IDLE: I went to the same shopping mall all over America. It was amazing.

BROWN: Two more things. One of the guess we were talking about before was Mike Nichols. Mike Nichols directs the play. This is not a word I use often about -- because I don't you can -- but he is a genius and a genius at more than one thing.

IDLE: Yes. And his particular genius is the capacity of taking pains. He doesn't let it go. And he won't put up with a second rate. And he will get the best people. And he cuts and cuts and cuts, so that -- and he's always inspired. He inspires the company. They all love him. And they all work really hard because of him.

BROWN: People don't remember, I don't think, too many people don't remember how funny as a young guy he and Elaine May were. That's like another life.

IDLE: Nichols and May were just -- they were the hippest comedy for the longest possible time in America. For about 10 years I think they were there, weren't they?

BROWN: Yes.

IDLE: Something like that.

And I used to play their records at college. That stuff made me laugh at college.

BROWN: Is it intimidating to work with him?

IDLE: Well, I've known him for about 30 years.

BROWN: So it doesn't matter.

IDLE: So it's kind of an interesting experience. He's somebody who has been your friend and suddenly you're working together. And it's actually been a wonderful experience. It's actually deepened our friendship, because we see each other in a different way.

BROWN: You're having a ball, aren't you?

IDLE: Yes. It's been a wonderful experience. It really is. A live show with live people is -- and lots of chorus girls.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: But your life has been a ball. I don't mean every day has been terrific, but what I've learned in the last 40 minutes, actually, that we've been sort of -- from the makeup room to now, is that you see pretty content.

IDLE: Oh, I'm very content.

BROWN: Yes?

IDLE: I'm a very lucky man. I'm well-wived. I have a great daughter. And I've learned a lot. I have good friends. And I get to make people laugh. And that's just a lovely thing to do. They thank you for it.

BROWN: Yes.

IDLE: Which is nice.

BROWN: It's terrific to meet you.

IDLE: Oh, thank you.

BROWN: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

IDLE: Eric Idle. He's well-wived. I don't think I've ever heard that expression before.

Ahead on the program, whether or not it wins an Oscar this weekend is not the only question about the smash hit "Million Dollar Baby." And our Oscar-winning rooster -- maybe an Emmy, OK? -- we'll see -- be here with morning papers.

From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Perhaps no movie this year has been better received than "Million Dollar Baby." The film is a reminder of the great and still growing talents of Clint Eastwood, the wonderful acting of Hilary Swank. And both may walk off with Oscars on Sunday. That no doubt will only fuel the controversy that the movie, fair or not, has created.

Here's Jeff Greenfield.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "VERA DRAKE")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: How did you help them out?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST (voice-over): "Vera Drake" is up for a trio of key Oscars. Its heroine is a woman who helped pregnant women get abortions when that was a crime. There's no argument about its message. "The Sea Inside," a best foreign film contender, tells the true story of a quadriplegic's 30-year struggle for the right to die, a struggle painted in heroic terms. There's no argument about that.

(on camera): But an argument has been swirling around a movie that has a fair shot of walking off with one or maybe more of the major Oscars Sunday night, "Million Dollar Baby."

In fact, there are two arguments. Did the makers and promoters of "Million Dollar Baby" mislead the public about the nature of the movie and does the film in fact carry with it a message about a controversial social issue?

GREENFIELD (voice-over): The film begins as an old-fashioned tale, a woman with a hardscrabble life, Hilary Swank, who dreams of becoming a boxer and persuades a veteran fight manager, Clint Eastwood, who also directed the movie, to take her on. Without giving away too much of the plot, the movie takes a sudden, very dark turn that leaves the characters struggling with fundamental questions about life and death and the most agonizing of choices. And here's where the argument begins.

MICHAEL MEDVED, FILM CRITIC: It was presented as a female version of "Rocky."

GREENFIELD: Film critic Michael Medved, whose new book chronicles his journey to the political right, says the marketing for the movie was deceptive.

MEDVED: I think very, very few people who came into see "Million Dollar Baby" initially were properly prepared for just how deeply depressing the film ends up being.

GREENFIELD: Fellow critic Roger Ebert, whose politics are essentially liberal, disagrees.

ROGER EBERT, FILM CRITIC: I don't feel it really is misleading, if you think -- it doesn't make you think it's going to be an upbeat comedy. That's for sure.

GREENFIELD: But, Ebert, adds, movie promotions rarely tip a film's hand.

EBERT: How many trailers have you see in your life and how many of them accurately described the movie? For one thing, they all say the movie is great, and usually it's not.

GREENFIELD: But what about the controversy itself? And here's a warning. If you don't want to chance a plot giveaway, hit the mute button.

Does this movie take a position on the whole right-to-die, assisted-suicide debate? Yes, says Michael Medved.

MEDVED: It does have very strong messages in this regard and has a content that is extremely intense and that much of the audience will find deeply, deeply disturbing.

EBERT: I argue that the movie does not advocate what it shows, that it is a tragedy about people who are led to this point by the events in the film.

GREENFIELD (on camera): We've come a long way from the days when a Hollywood mogul could say, if you want to send a message, call Western Union. Now we could be arguing about a message that may or may not be in a movie at all.

Jeff Greenfield, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: We'll check morning papers for a Friday night after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(ROOSTER CROWING)

BROWN: Okeydoke, time to check morning papers from around the country and around the world, a chance to catch up on some headlines we may have missed along the way.

"International Herald Tribune," published "The New York Times," as close as we come to getting "The Times." Some day, I'll have to explain that.

"John Paul Recovering Well From Surgery. Vatican Says Pope Is Breathing Unaided, Eating and Writing." That's good to hear. Pleased to hear it. The Vatican tends to put out very upbeat statements, though, doesn't it?

"Washington Times." "Maryland House Narrowly Approves Slots." A lot of states seem to be struggling with whether to allow slot machines, Maryland more than most. "Busch Gives" -- I think that's the speaker of the House -- "Gives Ultimatum to Ehrlich," the Governor, "and Miller," who must run the senate. I don't know. Anyway, it looks like slots are headed that way. Also in "The Washington Times," "Late-Fee Policy A Poor Picture, Blockbuster Being Sued." They're being sued by the state of New Jersey. They tell you there's no late fee, but, actually, under some circumstances, they charge you for the whole movie. That's what the suit alleges. I'm not taking a position.

A big story in London tomorrow will be this, in "The Times," at least. "Radical Christians to Target Abortion Clinics." The paper says they've adopted a tactic from the Americans. Yikes. Well, the balance of trade.

"Stars and Stripes." "1st I.D. Soldier Charged in Iraq's Prisoner's Death; 17-year Army Veteran Pleads Innocent to Killing and Abuse," a military story in a military paper.

"San Antonio Express-News" leads local. I like this story and I like the picture, too. "Baby Steps to a New Life. Incarcerated Girls Are Being Taught How to Become the Parents They Never Had." There's a sad correlation between bad parenting and bad kids, I guess, or kids who turn out badly.

I like this one because I love the picture, though it actually terrifies me. "Chills, Thrills Fills Ouray's Tills," OK, not a bad headline. These are people -- I hope I pronounced that city right -- this is "The Rocky Mountain News," by the way. This is a guy -- give me a shot of this again, OK -- climbing this wall of ice. Not for $5 billion would I do that.

One more. "Courage Under fire" is the headline in "The Des Moines Register." "In Daring Rescue Mission in Iraq, an Iowa Soldier Braves Bullets and Shrapnel, Risking His Life to Save Those of His Men." God bless him. We're glad he gets out alive. That's "The Des Moines Register."

Next door in Illinois, the weather in Chicago tomorrow...

(CHIMES)

BROWN: Thank you. "Banal". Hey, you have got to come up with a word every day. That's the word they came up with.

We'll wrap it up in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Have a great weekend. We'll see you on Monday. Good night.

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


Aired February 25, 2005 - 22:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
AARON BROWN, HOST: Good evening again, everyone.
In the new normal, the question lingers, how safe is it really to fly? How safe are the airports? Tonight, a report that isn't very reassuring.

Federal officials, the people who run Newark Airport in New Jersey, have been dealing with some embarrassing security lapses. This month, a screener failed to detect a butcher knife in a woman's bag. In December, during a terror drill, a phony bomb wasn't detected and ended up on a flight to Europe.

Now a lawsuit in California alleges security at San Francisco's airport resembles a slice of Swiss cheese.

So on the security watch tonight, homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With all this security, San Francisco's airport looks safe. But Gene Bencomo says it is not.

GENE BENCOMO, FORMER COVENANT EMPLOYEE: I personally would not allow my family or friends to fly out of that airport now, knowing what I know.

MESERVE: At the airport known as SFO, screening is done by a private firm, Covenant Aviation Security, as part of a Transportation Security Administration pilot project. Bencomo was a supervisor for Covenant. In a wrongful termination lawsuit, he alleges the company's security is full of holes.

BENCOMO: Individuals who are not certified by the federal government are sitting at X-ray machines, walk-through metal detectors, working explosive trace detection machines. I can remember a small chain saw made it through one of our checkpoints, icepicks, firearms, knives, box cutters.

MESERVE: But Bencomo's most explosive allegation, that when undercover federal auditors with concealed weapons showed up to test screener performance, Covenant cheated.

BENCOMO: It would take physical descriptions of the auditors at the airport, for example, what they were wearing, how tall they were, were they blonde, did they have blue eyes? The rest of the checkpoints throughout the airport were tipped off to look for these individuals.

MESERVE: Bencomo claims the auditors' movements were tracked with surveillance cameras so Covenant management could tell screeners auditors were coming their way. He also alleges that TSA officials knew what Covenant was doing and did nothing to stop it.

(on camera): The TSA is declining to comment on Bencomo's allegations and has referred the matter to the Department of Homeland Security inspector general for investigation.

(voice-over): The former inspector general, now a CNN consultant, won't comment on SFO specifically, but says at some airports his auditors did feel they'd been given away.

CLARK KENT ERVIN, FORMER DHS INSPECTOR GENERAL: We got the sense on occasion that we had been recognized, and that that might have comprised the integrity of our tests.

MESERVE: Ervin's testing concluded that private and federal screeners performed equally poorly. Covenant implies if had cheated, it would have done better. The firm also says internal and external investigations have not substantiated Bencomo's claims.

Asked directly if the company cheated on tests, here is what Covenant's president said.

GERRY BERRY, PRESIDENT, COVENANT AVIATION SECURITY: I'm saying that it's certainly not in my policy. I can't absolutely say that nobody was ever tipped off.

MESERVE: Covenant claims Bencomo is the only person who has complained about the company's security practices. But Bencomo's lawyer showed us a letter, purportedly from another former employee, making many of the same allegations, and says others may join the suit.

Covenant suggests Bencomo is a disgruntled former employee motivated by money.

BERRY: His lawyer contacted our lawyer and said there would be no lawsuit and there would be no publicity if we were willing to come up with $3 million prior to Christmas.

MESERVE: Bencomo's lawyer says the case is not about cash, it is about security.

ANGELA ALIOTO, BENCOMO'S ATTORNEY: There's a problem there. It has to be fixed. Has to be fixed now. And this lawsuit is going to fix it.

MESERVE: SFO management says it is happy with Covenant's performance. MIKE MCCARSON, SFO SPOKESMAN: I think SFO is the safest airport in the nation. We have the most advanced security systems, great training, the screeners here do an excellent job. And I feel (UNINTELLIGIBLE) confident in bringing my own family through this airport.

MESERVE: Covenant claims wherever auditors work, word spreads quickly among screeners, raising questions about the validity of testing and the quality of security at many airports, not just this one.

For CNN's America bureau, Jeanne Meserve, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The serial killer known as BTK has managed to keep his identity secret for three decades. But tonight in Kansas, there are signs the case may be -- may be -- finally nearing an end.

CNN's David Mattingly joins us from Atlanta tonight.

I guess, David, at 10:00 Central Time tomorrow morning, we'll know what this all is.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One could hope. Tonight, everyone in Wichita choosing their words very carefully about this case. All they're saying is that they have, quote, "a person of interest" that they are questioning in connection with the BTK case.

They've also been searching a home at a suburb outside of the Wichita city limits, where they've been looking through the belongings of a person living there.

Also, reportedly, in the local media that police have been looking at the possible DNA test results, waiting for those to come back, before they make their announcement tomorrow.

And in the meantime, remember, this is a killer who's on-again, off-again killing spree has terrorized multiple generations of people in Wichita, and it all dates back to that first letter he sent years ago to the local paper in which he claimed his chilling name.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: The killer calls himself BTK, which stands for bind them, torture them, kill them, a pattern he's followed with most of his victims.

He's also developed a taste for publicity. Over 31 years, he's sent many notes to Wichita police and the local media, and once even reported one of his own murders to 911.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you will find a homicide at 843 South Pershing. (END AUDIO CLIP)

MATTINGLY (on camera): Experts following the case agree, the killer's greatest talent may be deception. His actions do not fit into any one particular profile, and his communications contain such a wide array of possible clues that no clear picture of him emerges.

(voice-over): The last known murder was in 1986, a 28-year-old mother named Vicky Wegerle was killed, like all the others, in her Wichita home. But this time, there were no calls, no notes. So many years went by that some believed BTK was dead.

They were wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This morning, we have more information on the letter sent to "The Wichita Eagle" by the BTK killer.

MATTINGLY: Last spring, after nearly a 25-year silence, the killer unleashed a flurry of communications to local media, including a package dropped in this Wichita park containing the driver's license of one of his victims.

(on camera): How unusual is this for a serial killer to give back mementos that he's taken?

ROBERT BEATTIE, ATTORNEY: I've never heard of that happening before at all.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Wichita attorney Robert Beattie has written a soon-to-be-published book on BTK and is among those believing the killer has reemerged with a purpose.

(on camera): Is it possible he's winding down, maybe coming to some sort of conclusion?

BEATTIE: He may be winding down to a conclusion or climax, or he may be teasing us. But we're all expecting something. He'll just disappear like Jack the Ripper.

MATTINGLY: Do you think he'll kill again?

RICHARD LAMUNYON, FORMER CHIEF OF POLICE: I -- you cannot rule that out. I personally don't think he will. And the reason is, you know, he still has these memories. I think he's guilt-ridden now, and I think he will -- that the final hoorah that he refers to is the idea that he will come forward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: One of the most unusual communications in recent months was a letter that included what looked like possible chapter titles, suggesting the killer was writing his own story. Everyone waiting tomorrow, Aaron, to find out if the final chapter in this case is truly about to be written.

BROWN: All right, one or two quick questions, David. Do we have any idea what precipitated the flurry of activity today?

MATTINGLY: No, we don't. Police have been playing this very close to the vest. There was a problem a few months ago when they made an arrest, and everyone assumed it was part of the BTK killings. They're not making that mistake this time. They're playing everything very quietly, almost an information lockdown tonight. All will be revealed, hopefully, tomorrow morning.

BROWN: And just perhaps to underscore why it appears that something is imminent, they've invited just about everybody who is anybody in the state of Kansas to that event tomorrow.

MATTINGLY: Reportedly a congressman, the FBI, anyone who could possibly been involved in this case or who possibly benefit from positive publicity on this will likely be there.

BROWN: And do we know anything about the families of the victims and what they've been told, if they've been told?

MATTINGLY: According to KAKE, the affiliate in Wichita, they have spoken to family members there, who say that they've been told to arrive an hour early, where they will be briefed by police, again suggesting that this could be a very big day tomorrow in Wichita.

BROWN: We shall find out tomorrow morning. David, I was reminded of going through a night almost exactly like this in Seattle, where there was a person of interest, that was the term, in the Green River case. And in that case, it didn't go anywhere. This one feels a little different. We'll know tomorrow.

MATTINGLY: Yes, it does.

BROWN: Thank you, David. David Mattingly in Atlanta tonight.

Much more to come in the hour ahead on this Friday edition of NEWSNIGHT, starting with the strange and difficult world of autism.

The diagnosis that changed everything.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We sort of just waited. I think deep down inside neither one of us wanted it to be the diagnosis of autism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Helping their son is now the focus of their lives. We'll look at a treatment for autism mired in controversy. This woman says it gave her a new life, and she's written an Oscar-nominated movie about her life.

A political firestorm surrounds this Oscar nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think very, very few people who came in to see "Million Dollar Baby" initially were properly prepared for just how deeply depressing the film ends up being.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Did "Million Dollar Baby" sell itself as simple entertainment and deliver something different?

And a conversation with Monty Python's Eric Idle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC IDLE, MONTY PYTHON: I don't have a career. I just have a life, and I just pursue what comes next, or what interests me. I try and avoid all sensible career decisions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Eric Idle, still having fun after all these years.

From New York City and around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: The story of Sue Rubin is nothing short of remarkable. At 12, she was diagnosed as severely autistic and mentally retarded, with an IQ level of a 2-year-old. Now 26, she's a college student with a top IQ and an advocate for disabled rights.

She's also written a documentary that offers a rare look at autism from the inside out, "Autism Is a World." It's been nominated for an Academy Award and premieres on CNN PRESENTS on May the 22nd.

In a moment, we'll look at the treatment Ms. Rubin credits with giving her back her life.

First, a clip from the movie, the actress Juliana Margulies giving voice to Ms. Rubin's words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AUTISM IS A WORLD")

JULIANA MARGULIES, ACTOR: My name is Sue Rubin. I'm 26 years old. I've written these thoughts about my life because I don't really talk. This is not my voice, but these are my words.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good girl. That's good.

MARGULIES: I have autism. And until the age of 13, everyone assumed I was also retarded. Now I live on my own, with assistance from others.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

MARGULIES: I decided to make this film... SYNTHESIZED VOICE: Autism.

MARGULIES: ... to bring people into my world of autism.

SYNTHESIZED VOICE: Autism is a world.

RITA RUBIN, SUE'S MOTHER: Every year she got older, and her mental age stayed the same, which was at about 2 1/2. And so by the time she was 13, she still had a mental age of about 2 1/2, so that's what we thought, we believed that.

MARGULIES: I certainly understand why I was assumed to be retarded. All of my very awkward movements and all my nonsense sounds made me appear retarded. Perhaps I was. Voices floated over me. I heard sounds, but not words. It wasn't until I had a communication system that I was able to make sense out of the sounds.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Sue Rubin used a technique called facilitated communication to emerge from the darkness of severe autism, to help her, as she put it, make sense of the sounds.

But the technique is controversial. Critics say more often than not, it leads to false hopes and broken dreams.

Here's CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is 3-year-old Joshua.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We sort of just waited, because -- and I think it's because we didn't want it to be this, you know. I think deep down inside, neither one of us wanted it to be the diagnosis of autism.

GUPTA: And like many parents, Michael and Shirley Nichols (ph) wondered if they waited too long. Just one week ago, Joshua was diagnosed. The signs had been there for some time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even the smallest tasks of, Need to change my diaper, I need, I'm hungry, he would not communicate with us, so we constantly had to be aware of what his needs were.

GUPTA: And now Josh and his parents have entered the strange world of autism, with an impossible number of questions, and hardly any answers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that it's very frustrating, because there's no one person telling you what to do. There's no... GUPTA: There's lots of difference things you're hearing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lots of different things, everywhere we went.

GUPTA: Everywhere they went, they got different advice on how best to take care of their son.

DR. WAYNE FISHER: This is for young children with autism.

GUPTA: Dr. Wayne Fisher has dedicated his life to autism and works at the prestigious Marcus (ph) Institute.

FISHER: I've seen no instances personally or in the literature where there's evidence that it works.

GUPTA (on camera): But people are still doing it.

FISHER: Correct.

GUPTA (voice-over): We asked him about facilitated communication, or FC, where a trained therapist helps an autistic person by holding their arms as they learn to use a typing device.

He is convinced that the facilitator, not the child, was actually controlling the typing.

FISHER: When we presented it to the therapist, but not to the child, the child answered correctly. When we presented it to both of them, the child answered correctly. But when only the child saw the question or the stimulus, the answer was -- did not make sense and did not correspond to the question.

GUPTA: But there are two sides. Sue Rubin knows for a fact that FC taught her to communicate. She's the author of the new documentary "Autism Is A World," which was co-produced by CNN's documentary unit and will air on the network in May.

Sue's film, which has been nominated for an Academy Award, has helped reopen the debate.

(on camera): Facilitated communication was first used in the United States around 1990 and was wildly hailed as a miracle therapy. It took just years, though, for the theories to be discredited. And now even the American Psychological Society strongly cautions doctors that the practice is both controversial and unproven.

(voice-over): But not unproven to Jamie Burke, who, as a young boy, could not talk or communicate at all. But through a therapist using FC, Jamie began to type.

JAMIE BURKE: You may be thinking...

GUPTA: And at age 12, he began to speak, reading aloud what he had typed.

BURKE: ... the author of the...

GUPTA: Now Jamie types on his own with a little help, but Jamie insists the words are his own.

BURKE: You may be thinking that, but I am the author of the typing.

GUPTA: His parents say they can now talk to their once-silent son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just opened up a whole new world, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We saw him so totally differently. I mean, we just -- I mean, that phone call to me, when they said, Yes, he indeed is recognizing letters, yes, he, indeed, can type...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Understands.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He came home that day, and you just approached him as a totally different person.

GUPTA: Dr. Fisher and many others insist FC doesn't work, despite success stories like Sue and Jamie.

(on camera): There are some extraordinary examples of people who seem to have benefited tremendously from facilitated communication. How do you explain that?

FISHER: Oh, I can't explain that.

GUPTA (voice-over): But for those like Joshua and his parents...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's no one road, one path, that's, Well, you can try this or you could look into this. And for us, we just want to help him.

GUPTA: The search for answers continues.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Coming up in the program tonight, we've talked before about the reasons the military banned gays from the service. Tonight, we'll take a look at a study that lays out the costs in economic terms, adding it all up.

A break first from New York. This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Three more Americans died in Iraq today.

Back in 1993, don't ask, don't tell became the Pentagon's official policy regarding gays in the service. At the time, it was a compromise that not many on either side of the issue liked very much. Now, a dozen years later, a government study has concluded that don't ask, don't tell has been costly to the armed services in both money and manpower.

Here's our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 1997, Steve Boeckels was a West Point cadet with a secret he couldn't even admit to himself.

STEVE BOECKELS, FORMER ARMY 1ST LIEUTENANT: I didn't feel like I was gay at the time, even though I (UNINTELLIGIBLE) always been gay. I was basically in denial with my own sexuality.

MCINTYRE: At his graduation, he shook hands with the president, whose don't ask, don't tell policy was supposed to make it easier for soldiers like him to serve.

Now, Boeckels, a former cavalry scout platoon leader, is out of the closet, and, consequently, out of uniform.

BOECKELS: With this policy, it's clear and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) obvious that you're (UNINTELLIGIBLE), you're basically kicking people out that more than (UNINTELLIGIBLE), more than willing to serve and put their life on the line.

MCINTYRE: Gay rights advocates and their supporters in Congress say with the military struggling to meet recruiting and retention goals, it's time to revisit the 1993 compromise that requires gays and lesbians to keep their sexual orientation secret if they want to stay in the U.S. military.

A just-released Government Accountability Office study estimates the Pentagon has spent roughly $200 million over the last decade to recruit and train more than 10,000 replacements for homosexuals who were booted out. The report also notes that at the same time the U.S. military is paying bonuses to fill critically short jobs such as translators, it's discharging hundreds of people, many with the same needed skills.

President Clinton was forced to abandon his campaign promise to end discrimination against gays in the military by a Congress swayed by the argument the ban was needed to maintain good order and discipline.

PETER SPRIGG, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: People serving in the military have the right to be free of the fear that they are in the barracks or in the foxhole with somebody of the same sex who may be viewing them as a sexual object.

MCINTYRE: But in recent years, in both Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. troops have served alongside allies who permit gays to serve, including Britain, Australia, Italy, and Spain. Britain lifted its ban on gays five years ago, and now the Royal Navy has begun actively encouraging them to enlist.

BOECKELS: Absolutely. It's not just myself. I think that America's ready for it.

MCINTYRE: Next week, Massachusetts Congressman Martin Meehan, who commissioned the GAO report, will introduce a bill to repeal the ban. But with Congress even more conservative now than it was in 1993, the prospects for passage are uncertain at best.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Scott O'Grady is probably a name you remember even if you don't quite remember why. He was a newsmaker a decade ago, and a perfect candidate for our 25th anniversary series, Then and Now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAPT. SCOTT O'GRADY: And as soon as the missile hit, the only thing I saw was a cockpit disintegrating in front of me.

BROWN: Captain Scott O'Grady spent six days struggling to survive after being shot down in Bosnia in 1995.

O'GRADY: My heart started racing, and then I heard Basher one one up on the radio.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) alive, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) alive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) you're alive.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BROWN: Little did he know those six days would change his life forever.

O'GRADY: I just want to have a normal life and just continue on.

BROWN: O'Grady immediately found himself thrust into the spotlight recounting his story for millions, and he continues to do so today, 10 years later. He has published two books, "Return with Honor" and "Basher Five-Two," a children's edition of his story. After 12 years serving his country, O'Grady is now pursuing a Master's at Dallas's Theological Seminary.

O'GRADY: Believe that you shouldn't be ignorant as to what you believe. You should understand why you believe it.

BROWN: Once graduated, Scott O'Grady says he wants to dedicate his life to giving back to both his community and his country.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BROWN: Now you remember, don't you?

Throughout the year, CNN marks a quarter-century of bringing you the news. We'll look back at some of the stories that changed our lives and take a look at yesterday's newsmakers, see what they're up to today.

Coming up on the program next, one of the brilliant madmen who brought us tales of dead parents and the Ministry of Silly Walks, a conversation with Eric Idle.

So, from around the universe, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: There are all sorts of comedians. Bill Maher, who was on the program the other night, is one sort, Jay Leno another. But if you are in need of a laugh, not a deep-thought laugh, but a really good belly laugh, we cast our vote with Monty Python.

Thirty years ago, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" gave whole new meaning to the word silly. Eric Idle was in the middle of it. He still is, a new book, a DVD, a Broadway play, "Spamalot," which is "The Holy Grail" with steeper prices and better music.

Eric Idle stopped by for our NEWSNIGHT conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: You have a ton of stuff out there, all -- sort of all at once. There's a play, there's DVDs and there's a book out there. Why?

ERIC IDLE, AUTHOR, "THE GREEDY BASTARD TOUR": It's just an accident. I mean, it happens that all my last three years' work has opened all at once. It happens that way in this ridiculous business.

BROWN: It wasn't a plan? It's not a way to get attention?

(LAUGHTER)

IDLE: This is no -- absolutely not. It's a total coincidence. That's how it happens.

BROWN: Are you able to -- when you've got three things out there, you have three pretty interesting things out there, are you able to love them all the same, nurture them in the way that you want to?

IDLE: Often, by the time they open, all of your nurturing business is over. You've been pregnant. You've had the baby. You've delivered.

BROWN: Yes.

IDLE: You've looked after the... (CROSSTALK)

BROWN: But I was reading something about the play, that you're still tinkering with the play or maybe even more than tinkering. I mean, you played, what, five weeks in Chicago and things get added and things -- is it ever finished?

IDLE: We locked it today. We just locked it, because -- there will be little bits and pieces. But, really, we said, OK, that's it. We've got to stop fiddling with this now.

BROWN: Is it...

IDLE: It's not getting any better. It's just getting different.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: The movie was, what, 1975?

IDLE: "The Grail," yes, April 1975, it is.

BROWN: Yes. And the play is essentially the movie, again, different.

IDLE: Yes. But it's the movie -- you take the movie and then you change it so that it is now a Broadway play. It all alters. Everything alters, because the form is altered. So now you've got an intermission. And people have got to go out and have a drink and come back. You have got to interest them again. You've got to finish it off.

The movie never had an end. It never had a plot. It sort of wandered along and then was stopped by the police, who arrested it.

BROWN: How much is the -- how much of a play is the audience's reaction to the play?

IDLE: Well, they have expectations.

It isn't -- you know, they come bringing in -- bringing certain expectations. They're going to see a Python show. So, your expectation, you have to surprise them. That's one of their expectations. They have to not know what's going to happen, and you must tease that. And that's what we do a lot in act two. We constantly surprise them when they don't expect certain things to happen.

BROWN: But they must insist that it be silly.

IDLE: That is the very leitmotif of our world.

BROWN: You have probably spent more serious time thinking about silly than almost anyone.

IDLE: Yes. And it's hard to know what silly is, really, because it's sort of defying expectation and being a little bit more stupid, whilst being intelligent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: Halt. Who art thou?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR (singing): He is brave Sir Robin, brave Sir Robin,

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Shut up. Nobody, really, I'm just passing through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

IDLE: It's a very perverse thing, because it isn't stupid comedy. It isn't dumb comedy. It's very intelligent comedy, but it seems to go off at a tangent. And it isn't quite nonsense. Python has its own sort of silly world, which is very interesting. I find it interesting, because it's an original area.

BROWN: Yes. Do you think there are people my age, mid-50s, who sort of fell in love with the movie and thought you guys were the funniest people on the planet that we want you to be that again and no more than that? Don't make this harder on me. I want you to be -- because I want to go back to 1975.

IDLE: Well, I don't think I can be that young again. I'll do my best, but makeup is just...

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Yes. There's only so much makeup you can wear.

IDLE: There's only so much you can wear.

BROWN: Yes.

IDLE: But the only thing is, I think Python is a way of looking at things. And I think it's sort of fresh bringing it back again, because we haven't really been here looking at things since the late '70s. And I think that, in the late '70s, you had a Vietnam War. And people were ready to laugh.

And I think you have the same parallel again. You have a war going on and people are depressed and they're ready to laugh. And silliness somehow is something they can grasp, because it makes them feel better. And they come out of our show, they just look and feel better. They're smiling. They're singing, always look on the bright side. And they just -- they had a great time.

BROWN: We're talking with Eric Idle. And we'll take a break and continue in a moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I don't like spam! UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Don't make a fuss, dear. I'll have your spam. I love it. I'm having spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, baked beans, spam spam, spam and spam!

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Baked beans are off.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Can I have spam instead?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IDLE: About a quarter of a century ago, I came here to this very spot in front of the Plaza in New York to make a documentary about the Rutles. I'm actually standing outside the actual hotel in which the Rutles actually stayed in 1964, actually in this room here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: We're talking with Eric Idle about all sorts of things.

Do you like being famous?

IDLE: It's just -- it's a concomitant. It's something that -- it's a side effect. I don't particularly like it, but there's nothing much I can do about it.

I think -- I started a novel, "The Road to Mars," and the first sentence was, fame is a terminable disease. And I believe that. I think that people who want to be famous are sick. And I learned that from George, really, that fame is not worth anything.

BROWN: George Harrison.

IDLE: Yes. Fame isn't worth anything. You can be the most famous person in the world. You've still got to die. You have still got to come to terms with your life. And so...

BROWN: There's fame and then there's the Beatles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED SULLIVAN, TALK SHOW HOST: Ladies and gentlemen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Rutles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: To me, I always thought how incredibly claustrophobic that sort of thing must be, that you -- literally everywhere you go, there's no -- you can walk. You can sit in a restaurant and 80 percent of the people there are not going to know who you are. And that's not a terrible thing. All right, 65, 50.

IDLE: It doesn't matter, because, every day, somebody says to me, Monty Python.

BROWN: Right.

IDLE: There's not a day of my life goes by where somebody doesn't say that. And so if it irritates you, you're going to be very irritated. You have to come to terms with that and say, there's nothing I can do about this. We did that. And it was fun and it was great. But now what are we doing?

BROWN: Do you remember the first time you thought, my lord, I can make a living being funny?

IDLE: Sort of.

I mean, we did it from college, Cambridge. I entertained people every weekend. I would do cabaret at the weekends. So we got like five quid each to go and entertain people. And that was a good sideline. And then I sort of segued into television, writing for comedians on television.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Did you at some point say to your mom, no, actually, I'll make a living; I'm not going to be a doctor or a pilot; I'm going to make a living writing jokes?

IDLE: I tried to be a doctor, but the girl saw through my credentials immediately.

(LAUGHTER)

IDLE: No, I don't have a career. I just have a life and I just pursue what comes next or what interests me. I try and avoid all sensible career decisions.

BROWN: Do you like being on the road?

(CROSSTALK)

IDLE: I loved being on the road. It was such an interesting experience.

BROWN: Why?

IDLE: Well, for three months, to be on a rock 'n' roll bus and go to every different city and do a show to a whole different group of people and entertainment them and then move on every night is a really interesting experience. You see America and you feel the response of America. And I feel I have a much better understanding of America than I did before.

BROWN: Is that -- what -- tell me one thing you learned that you didn't know. You've lived here a while.

I learned that, in fact, there's no boondocks anymore. There isn't a middle where nobody gets everything, because they all watch TV. So, they're all watching Jon Stewart, and they're all watching your show and Leno and Letterman. They all watch everything, so...

BROWN: It's actually true in way that you -- no matter where you go, you see the same stores. I mean, kids dress the same.

IDLE: Yes.

BROWN: I don't care if they're in Twisp, Washington, or New York.

IDLE: I went to the same shopping mall all over America. It was amazing.

BROWN: Two more things. One of the guess we were talking about before was Mike Nichols. Mike Nichols directs the play. This is not a word I use often about -- because I don't you can -- but he is a genius and a genius at more than one thing.

IDLE: Yes. And his particular genius is the capacity of taking pains. He doesn't let it go. And he won't put up with a second rate. And he will get the best people. And he cuts and cuts and cuts, so that -- and he's always inspired. He inspires the company. They all love him. And they all work really hard because of him.

BROWN: People don't remember, I don't think, too many people don't remember how funny as a young guy he and Elaine May were. That's like another life.

IDLE: Nichols and May were just -- they were the hippest comedy for the longest possible time in America. For about 10 years I think they were there, weren't they?

BROWN: Yes.

IDLE: Something like that.

And I used to play their records at college. That stuff made me laugh at college.

BROWN: Is it intimidating to work with him?

IDLE: Well, I've known him for about 30 years.

BROWN: So it doesn't matter.

IDLE: So it's kind of an interesting experience. He's somebody who has been your friend and suddenly you're working together. And it's actually been a wonderful experience. It's actually deepened our friendship, because we see each other in a different way.

BROWN: You're having a ball, aren't you?

IDLE: Yes. It's been a wonderful experience. It really is. A live show with live people is -- and lots of chorus girls.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: But your life has been a ball. I don't mean every day has been terrific, but what I've learned in the last 40 minutes, actually, that we've been sort of -- from the makeup room to now, is that you see pretty content.

IDLE: Oh, I'm very content.

BROWN: Yes?

IDLE: I'm a very lucky man. I'm well-wived. I have a great daughter. And I've learned a lot. I have good friends. And I get to make people laugh. And that's just a lovely thing to do. They thank you for it.

BROWN: Yes.

IDLE: Which is nice.

BROWN: It's terrific to meet you.

IDLE: Oh, thank you.

BROWN: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

IDLE: Eric Idle. He's well-wived. I don't think I've ever heard that expression before.

Ahead on the program, whether or not it wins an Oscar this weekend is not the only question about the smash hit "Million Dollar Baby." And our Oscar-winning rooster -- maybe an Emmy, OK? -- we'll see -- be here with morning papers.

From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Perhaps no movie this year has been better received than "Million Dollar Baby." The film is a reminder of the great and still growing talents of Clint Eastwood, the wonderful acting of Hilary Swank. And both may walk off with Oscars on Sunday. That no doubt will only fuel the controversy that the movie, fair or not, has created.

Here's Jeff Greenfield.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "VERA DRAKE")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: How did you help them out?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST (voice-over): "Vera Drake" is up for a trio of key Oscars. Its heroine is a woman who helped pregnant women get abortions when that was a crime. There's no argument about its message. "The Sea Inside," a best foreign film contender, tells the true story of a quadriplegic's 30-year struggle for the right to die, a struggle painted in heroic terms. There's no argument about that.

(on camera): But an argument has been swirling around a movie that has a fair shot of walking off with one or maybe more of the major Oscars Sunday night, "Million Dollar Baby."

In fact, there are two arguments. Did the makers and promoters of "Million Dollar Baby" mislead the public about the nature of the movie and does the film in fact carry with it a message about a controversial social issue?

GREENFIELD (voice-over): The film begins as an old-fashioned tale, a woman with a hardscrabble life, Hilary Swank, who dreams of becoming a boxer and persuades a veteran fight manager, Clint Eastwood, who also directed the movie, to take her on. Without giving away too much of the plot, the movie takes a sudden, very dark turn that leaves the characters struggling with fundamental questions about life and death and the most agonizing of choices. And here's where the argument begins.

MICHAEL MEDVED, FILM CRITIC: It was presented as a female version of "Rocky."

GREENFIELD: Film critic Michael Medved, whose new book chronicles his journey to the political right, says the marketing for the movie was deceptive.

MEDVED: I think very, very few people who came into see "Million Dollar Baby" initially were properly prepared for just how deeply depressing the film ends up being.

GREENFIELD: Fellow critic Roger Ebert, whose politics are essentially liberal, disagrees.

ROGER EBERT, FILM CRITIC: I don't feel it really is misleading, if you think -- it doesn't make you think it's going to be an upbeat comedy. That's for sure.

GREENFIELD: But, Ebert, adds, movie promotions rarely tip a film's hand.

EBERT: How many trailers have you see in your life and how many of them accurately described the movie? For one thing, they all say the movie is great, and usually it's not.

GREENFIELD: But what about the controversy itself? And here's a warning. If you don't want to chance a plot giveaway, hit the mute button.

Does this movie take a position on the whole right-to-die, assisted-suicide debate? Yes, says Michael Medved.

MEDVED: It does have very strong messages in this regard and has a content that is extremely intense and that much of the audience will find deeply, deeply disturbing.

EBERT: I argue that the movie does not advocate what it shows, that it is a tragedy about people who are led to this point by the events in the film.

GREENFIELD (on camera): We've come a long way from the days when a Hollywood mogul could say, if you want to send a message, call Western Union. Now we could be arguing about a message that may or may not be in a movie at all.

Jeff Greenfield, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: We'll check morning papers for a Friday night after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(ROOSTER CROWING)

BROWN: Okeydoke, time to check morning papers from around the country and around the world, a chance to catch up on some headlines we may have missed along the way.

"International Herald Tribune," published "The New York Times," as close as we come to getting "The Times." Some day, I'll have to explain that.

"John Paul Recovering Well From Surgery. Vatican Says Pope Is Breathing Unaided, Eating and Writing." That's good to hear. Pleased to hear it. The Vatican tends to put out very upbeat statements, though, doesn't it?

"Washington Times." "Maryland House Narrowly Approves Slots." A lot of states seem to be struggling with whether to allow slot machines, Maryland more than most. "Busch Gives" -- I think that's the speaker of the House -- "Gives Ultimatum to Ehrlich," the Governor, "and Miller," who must run the senate. I don't know. Anyway, it looks like slots are headed that way. Also in "The Washington Times," "Late-Fee Policy A Poor Picture, Blockbuster Being Sued." They're being sued by the state of New Jersey. They tell you there's no late fee, but, actually, under some circumstances, they charge you for the whole movie. That's what the suit alleges. I'm not taking a position.

A big story in London tomorrow will be this, in "The Times," at least. "Radical Christians to Target Abortion Clinics." The paper says they've adopted a tactic from the Americans. Yikes. Well, the balance of trade.

"Stars and Stripes." "1st I.D. Soldier Charged in Iraq's Prisoner's Death; 17-year Army Veteran Pleads Innocent to Killing and Abuse," a military story in a military paper.

"San Antonio Express-News" leads local. I like this story and I like the picture, too. "Baby Steps to a New Life. Incarcerated Girls Are Being Taught How to Become the Parents They Never Had." There's a sad correlation between bad parenting and bad kids, I guess, or kids who turn out badly.

I like this one because I love the picture, though it actually terrifies me. "Chills, Thrills Fills Ouray's Tills," OK, not a bad headline. These are people -- I hope I pronounced that city right -- this is "The Rocky Mountain News," by the way. This is a guy -- give me a shot of this again, OK -- climbing this wall of ice. Not for $5 billion would I do that.

One more. "Courage Under fire" is the headline in "The Des Moines Register." "In Daring Rescue Mission in Iraq, an Iowa Soldier Braves Bullets and Shrapnel, Risking His Life to Save Those of His Men." God bless him. We're glad he gets out alive. That's "The Des Moines Register."

Next door in Illinois, the weather in Chicago tomorrow...

(CHIMES)

BROWN: Thank you. "Banal". Hey, you have got to come up with a word every day. That's the word they came up with.

We'll wrap it up in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Have a great weekend. We'll see you on Monday. Good night.

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