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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Security Watch; Interview With Jeff Chu

Aired March 07, 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, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again.
Two and a half years ago in making the case for war with Iraq, the president warned of a smoking gun in the form of a mushroom cloud. He was wrong about Iraq but right in ways that terrify the experts.

The combination, they say, of unguarded borders and unaccounted for nuclear material makes the country vulnerable. Stopping the threat begins at border crossing and ports of entry.

Whether enough is being done is hotly debated. The administration is spending more money and setting tougher goals but the job isn't easy and anything but simple.

So, we begin tonight with a report from our America Bureau and CNN's Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nuclear detectors sound the alarm. This is not a drill. Customs and border protection moves to search a cargo container for the source.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be advised container number one will have (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

MESERVE: The culprit, toilets.

STEVE BAXTER, CHIEF INSPECTOR, U.S. CUSTOMS, OAKLAND: We had a good example of naturally occurring radiation that comes in all the time.

MESERVE: This happens about 20 times a day here at the busy Port of Oakland, so at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, scientists are trying to develop nuclear detectors that can tell the difference between naturally occurring or harmless sources of radiation and those that could be used as a weapon.

SIMON LABOV, LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY: So you use liquid nitrogen, which looks like this.

MESERVE: Simon Labov heads up the radiation detection center. In his lab right now a device to accurately identify even minute amounts of radioactive material, like the uranium oxide in this rock.

LABOV: It just told me suspect norm, OK, naturally occurring radioactive material.

MESERVE: Quickly identifying sources of radiation might prevent overreactions, like the recent closure of a roadway in California after detectors picked up radiation, radiation it turns out from a man who had recently received medical treatments.

LABOV: We call this ultra spec because...

MESERVE: Also in the lab, this machine which might be able to lead investigators back to the source of material used in a terrorist crime.

LABOV: I think this can be a very powerful tool for what we call nuclear fingerprinting.

MESERVE: Labov is also experimenting with putting a chip, circuit board and GPS in cell phones creating a computer connected network of radiological detectives.

LABOV: Some examples might be delivery people that would be going to a lot of places, the Postal Service, every street ever day.

MESERVE: Dennis Slaughter is another scientist at Livermore.

DENNIS SLAUGHTER, LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY: We're trying to address the problem. What if the stuff is really well shielded and other people don't see it. We think we do.

MESERVE: He hides uranium or plutonium encased in lead deep inside sample cargoes like this plywood. When bombarded with neutrons a tiny amount of nuclear fission occurs, producing intense radiation which detectors can pick up.

SLAUGHTER: I was happy as a pig in mud doing nuclear physics up until a couple of years ago and then 9/11 came along and I quit that and said I'm not doing that anymore. I'm doing homeland security.

MESERVE: Why?

SLAUGHTER: I really wanted to work this problem.

MESERVE: Why?

SLAUGHTER: Because I don't want Oakland to go up in a mushroom cloud.

MESERVE: Top U.S. officials warn that it is just a matter of time until terrorists try to use radiological or nuclear weapons. The hope is that innovative science will help find them and stop them.

For CNN's America Bureau, Jeanne Meserve, Oakland, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The academic equivalent of a full scale battle has broken out at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. The man who started this war over words is a tenured English professor who says that far too many of the midshipmen and midshipwomen are not academically up to snuff that in an effort to make the academy look more like the country, or perhaps win a few more football games, standards have been unacceptably lowered.

He also says a lot of people privately agree with him, a story you'll only see here on CNN, from our Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): According to one outspoken academy professor, half of the brigade of midshipmen got into Annapolis through set asides, lower standards for star athletes, racial minorities or sailors who have shown potential. Weaker academics means weaker officers, he says, officers who may one day have their finger on the button or the trigger.

ADAM YANG, MIDSHIPMAN 1ST CLASS: The fundamental flaw in his argument was that weaker academics make weaker officers but academics isn't the definition of a good officer.

MCINTYRE: As part of a regular feature called "Nobody Asked Me But," Annapolis English Professor Bruce Fleming wrote in last month's "Proceedings" magazine the academy can do better.

"Set asides," he wrote "slow class discussions and take seats that better applicants could have filled."

MCINTYRE (on camera): So, what were you thinking when you wrote this?

PROF. BRUCE FLEMING, U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY: Well, my concern is for the well-being of the Navy and Marine Corps.

MCINTYRE: What kind of reaction are you getting from the students?

FLEMING: Well, a number of them have come in to tell me that I'm saying things they're not allowed to say and bully for me and they're really glad that I did it and a number of them are either writing or saying that they don't agree and want to let me know that too.

MCINTYRE: And isn't that what campus dialogue is supposed to be about?

FLEMING: At some level, I couldn't be happier.

MCINTYRE (voice-over): The academy superintendent, the equivalent of the school's president, fired off an angry memo to Fleming. "I would have expected a faculty member with almost 18 years here to exercise better judgment," wrote Rear Admiral Rodney Rempt. "Your action has served to needlessly criticize the academy, our admissions board, and every midshipman." But Admiral Rempt can't fire a tenured professor just for speaking out.

Is Professor Fleming in any trouble?

VICE ADM. RODNEY REMPT, SUPERINTENDENT U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY: No, not at all.

MCINTYRE (on camera): The Naval Academy disputes the idea that it has lower standards for some applicants and insists it's whole person admissions policy looks at far more than just academics.

(voice-over): And the academy insists there are no quotas or racial preferences to achieve diversity.

REMPT: We're looking for people who certainly have academic smarts but also have the physical toughness and the determination and the basic leadership skills.

MCINTYRE: Xochtl Piedra, is a Mexican American and a stand out on the women's soccer team. Just because she needed some extra help to get through engineering, academy officials argue, doesn't mean she won't excel as a leader.

XOCHTL PIEDRA, MIDSHIPMAN 1ST CLASS: I think I'll be able to take care of my people, which is one of the most important things about being an officer.

MCINTYRE: While the midshipmen provided to CNN for interviews all supported the official view, Professor Fleming said his e-mails were split 50/50. One student wrote, "The only reason that anybody would be opposed to your article would be if they recognized its truth and were threatened by it." But another argued the last thing the fleet needs is 4,000 straight A students and some cited examples of poor students who went on to succeed.

Senator John McCain graduated from Annapolis in 1958, fifth in his class, fifth from the bottom.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, Annapolis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Last month in Austin, Texas fire gutted a nightclub popular among African Americans. No one was badly hurt but it's what happened at the scene, what some police officers who responded to the fire did that's left a bitter feeling tonight in Austin. Some officers have been disciplined but some black leaders and black residents say the whole incident smacks of racism.

What unfolded that night and the fallout since from CNN's Keith Oppenheim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The flames didn't last long and no one was badly hurt. Officials said because of a short circuit Midtown Live, a nightclub with a mostly African American clientele was destroyed in mid-February in less than ten minutes but outside a different fire ignited, harder to extinguish, when people walked past this squad car and looked inside.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The screen in this car says "Burn baby, burn." That is ridiculous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody sent a message through on the police car that said "Burn baby, burn."

OPPENHEIM: It turned out "burn baby, burn," a line from the song "Disco Inferno," was just one of many computer messages exchanged between police and dispatchers over a two hour period. Others read, "You can smell from (Interstate) 35. It is the smell of victory." Another, "I have some extra gasoline if they need it."

REVEREND STERLING LANDS, AUSTIN COMMUNITY LEADER: This implies that there is a police officer who's willing to commit arson. I mean what? What? How can we even sit back and allow this kind of thinking to exist on a police department?

STAN KNEE, AUSTIN POLICE CHIEF: This department cannot and will not tolerate such action.

OPPENHEIM: Austin Police Chief Stan Knee said six patrol officers and four dispatchers, a mix of whites and Hispanics, were being disciplined with punishments ranging from written reprimands to 15-day suspensions.

The Austin Police Association says records show that officers responded to calls at the club 129 times last year and police were frustrated with a place known for violence. The chief didn't accept that excuse but he also didn't think prejudice was the problem.

KNEE: I think we went to great lengths to show that none of these responses were, in fact, racially motivated.

NELSON LINDER, PRESIDENT, AUSTIN NAACP: I think the chief is brain dead when it comes to racial issues, like most people. He's in denial. There's no way white cops would say this about a white establishment. For him to say that is an absolute insult to our community.

TRENICE BROWN, NEIGHBOR: In the area where it happened, I guess it's the east side of Austin and for that comment, it couldn't be considered anything else but racially motivated.

OPPENHEIM: It's worth noting that on the night of the fire some Austin officers were praised by the public for actions they took to keep people safe. In the end, it's the written words on police computers that despite apologies may have left a more lasting and damaging memory.

Keith Oppenheim, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: On now to Wichita, Kansas where Dennis Rader, the man accused of being the BTK serial killer has been meeting with his court-appointed lawyers these days. Mr. Rader is said to have complained about depression. He was also asked about his family who have not talked to him since he entered the jail.

In this week's issue of "Time" magazine, Jeff Chu writes extensively about the man behind the charges and we talked to Jeff earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): You talked to the lawyers and the lawyers give you a snapshot I would say of what Mr. Rader's days and nights are like. What are they like?

JEFF CHU, "TIME" MAGAZINE: They're pretty lonely. He doesn't have a lot of human contact, other than with the prison guards who watch over him and the lawyers.

BROWN: Is he isolated from the population?

CHU: He is on his own. He's being kept apart from other inmates and that makes for a really solitary existence. He's not in solitary confinement but he is for his own safety being kept apart.

BROWN: His family to this point, you write, has not come to see him at all. Is that -- is it that they aren't allowed or they don't feel comfortable coming into Wichita or they don't want to deal with him?

CHU: I suspect that with the media circus that's been going on, one of the reasons that they've left Wichita is because of their own privacy and safety. They're together, which the son came from Connecticut. The daughter was in Michigan. Paula Rader was obviously in Park City. And it's a good time for them to kind of regroup and gather strength and figure out how they're going to deal with this as a family.

BROWN: Have you had any success contacting them at all?

CHU: All we know is that they're not in Kansas anymore and that they're together. Their friends won't tell us anymore than that.

BROWN: Did the lawyers give you any sense of what sort of strategy they will lay out?

CHU: They're still thinking about it. They're still in the kind of getting to know you period developing a rapport with their client. Obviously, they're looking at a change of venue as a possibility. They're worried about getting a fair trial in Wichita given the blanket coverage but then you have to wonder where could they get a fair trial?

BROWN: Yes. As you've reported this have you come to any sense of why after so many silent years he, whoever he is, we don't presume we necessarily know that, became public again?

CHU: We talk about this a little in the article. There's a new book coming out shortly about the BTK case and one of the theories is that the BTK killer wanted to own the story. He didn't want somebody else to tell his story. This was about him and he wanted the spotlight to be back on him.

BROWN: If, in fact, Mr. Rader is the one does he see this as he, the killer in this psychological profile that the forensic psychologists draw, has he lost the game or has he just lost a round in the game?

CHU: Well, if you want to assume that Rader is BTK, one of the things he's been doing with his lawyers is taking copious notes. He's very interested in his own strategy, so you have to think that maybe he still thinks that there's hope here.

BROWN: Do you have a sense -- they're both public defenders right? Do they have a sense that they will actually be the lawyers who take this case to trial?

CHU: They seem to be acting as if they are. They're, you know, gearing up for the long haul.

BROWN: Do you come away with a sense that you're sort of, excuse the expression, creeped out by it all, I mean that there's something incredibly creepy about all of it, the length of it, the notes, the narcissism, the why aren't I getting attention, all of it?

CHU: It is creepy but I think the feeling that I left with the most was sadness, sadness for the people who have had to deal with this, sadness for Paula Rader who has to wonder now who was this man that I was sleeping with all these years who I was sharing my life with all these years? And also for the victims' families to have all these emotions dredged up and try to figure out what to do with the situation now.

BROWN: Nice piece in the magazine, good to meet you.

CHU: Thanks a lot.

BROWN: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Jeff Chu of "Time" magazine.

Much more coming up on this Monday night, starting with an international incident over tragedies that always seem to unfold in the fog of war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): The White House says it was a terrible accident, an Italian Secret Service agent killed by U.S. troops who claim his car was speeding through a checkpoint. Someone in the car says that's not true.

GIULIANA SGRENA (through translator): It was not a checkpoint. It was not a checkpoint because the tank was not on the road.

BROWN: Walking in a soldier's boots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The unit is 23 Field Artillery. They're based in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Germany. They're part of the 1st Armored Division and their nickname is (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

BROWN: The documentary that brings the war in Iraq as close as you've ever seen.

Martha Stewart's first day back on the job.

MARTHA STEWART: It's really wonderful to be back.

BROWN: Everything looked picture perfect. She made sure of it.

And 40 years ago in Selma, Alabama.

REP. JOHN LEWIS (D), GEORGIA: I thought I was going to die. I thought I saw death.

BROWN: Bloody Sunday, a day that changed the course of history.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: If race is the great unfinished discussion of our time, there are moments when the discussion has gotten ugly, not hurt feelings ugly or lost job ugly or any of the other uglies of race today, lynching ugly, police dog ugly, the kind of moment that turns your stomach and jars your conscience, the kind of horror though that also carries within it the seeds of hope, if only because people, good people, finally say never again.

Such a moment came 40 years ago in Selma, Alabama. Here's CNN's Jeff Greenfield.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEWIS: That Sunday 40 years ago became known as Bloody Sunday.

(voice-over): They came toward us beating us with night sticks, trampling us with horses, releasing their teargas. I was hit in the head by a state trooper with a night stick and had a concussion at the bridge. I thought I was going to die.

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST (voice-over): Veteran civil rights worker John Lewis and some 600 others began a march from Selma, Alabama to the capital of Montgomery demanding the right to vote. Lewis thought he knew what to expect.

LEWIS: I thought we would be arrested and taken to jail.

GREENFIELD: Instead, Alabama state troopers waded into the crowd with violence that shocked even those like John Segenthaler who had witnessed many civil rights demonstrations as an aide to Attorney General Robert Kennedy. On that Sunday 40 years ago, Segenthaler was editor and publisher of the "National Tennessean."

JOHN SEGENTHALER, CHAIRMAN EMERITUS, "THE TENNESSEAN": That night I was watching a movie and one of the networks came on with photographs that are still burned into my memory. But the image of law enforcement officers literally violating the law, violating any sense of humanity or decency crushing these demonstrators went beyond anything that I had seen or imagined could happen.

GREENFIELD: In fact, it was those images flashed across the country that carried far more force than the troopers' clubs. They brought home literally into millions of American living rooms the nature of the conflict.

LEWIS (on camera): If it hadn't been for the media, the civil rights movement would have been like a bird without wings.

SEGENTHALER: The struggle for freedom that began at Lexington and Concord was still going on in Selma this week. I mean that's a -- I mean that's a powerful comparison you know.

GREENFIELD: Only eight days after the violence at the Edmund Pettis Bridge, President Lyndon Johnson, the first southerner to occupy the White House in a century, addressed a joint session of Congress demanding passage of a federal voting rights act and invoking the battle cry of the civil rights movement.

LYNDON B. JOHNSON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's not just Negroes but really it's all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice and we shall overcome.

LEWIS: And we shall overcome. I looked at Dr. King and tears came down his face and then we all cried a little and Dr. King said, "We will make it from Selma to Montgomery."

MARTIN LUTHER KING: We ain't going to let nobody turn us around.

GREENFIELD: By summer, the voting rights act was law. Blacks began to vote in dramatically larger numbers throughout the south, electing dozens, then hundreds of public officials, including John Lewis, who has been in the Congress for 20 years.

LEWIS: If somebody told me when we walked across that bridge 40 years ago that I would be standing here as a member of the House of Representatives, I would have said, well you're crazy.

GREENFIELD (on camera): But there is another political legacy to the civil rights movement. As national Democrats increasingly embrace the cause, white southern Democrats increasingly moved away from their traditional party, drawn in part by conservative icons from the Republican Party, like Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, who opposed key civil rights laws.

Now, a generation later, Republicans hold the lion's share of House and Senate seats from the south and in four of the last six presidential elections, Democrats have not won a single southern electoral vote.

Jeff Greenfield, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Coming up on the program still, the saga of Martha Stewart continues. Today it was back to work.

And the rooster is always working, always bringing morning papers and will tonight because this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Let's be honest for a second. Nobody really likes Mondays. I don't, you don't either, especially the first Monday back after a long time away from the office. Somebody has always been sitting in your chair. The takeout menus aren't where you left them. The parole conditions are a pain.

Martha Stewart went back to work today, back to running the business she left five months ago and on with the one she's never left, the business of being Martha Stewart.

Here's CNN's Andy Serwer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you believe her PR machine, the rise, fall and now would-be reincarnation of Martha Stewart plays out like an American epic.

STEWART: Today is a shameful day. It's shameful for me.

SERWER: That was the fall. What we're witnessing now is the revival.

STEWART: It's really wonderful to be back. I've missed you, as you can imagine.

SERWER: Martha and her people are working 24/7 to rehabilitate her image.

STEWART: Every person deserves the comforts of a good home. That's what life is all about in a very uncertain world. I want to work hard to preserve and help others connect with these deep, human values.

SERWER: Most of us love an underdog but an underdog with a 153- acre estate and a multi hundred million dollar fortune is a bit curious.

STEWART: You two are my really great friends and you're also my heroes but all of you are my heroes too.

SERWER: And then there's Martha's reported less than wonderful treatment of her employees. Martha insisted that five months in the lion's den has changed her.

STEWART: I've had the opportunity also to do a tremendous amount of thinking. I've read. I've reflected upon the past on my own life and to consider what's really and truly important to me.

SERWER: Applauding employees seemed to buy it, at least while the cameras were rolling.

As for the gray and white poncho Martha wore the night of her release, it made an appearance today and oddly enough it too had PR value.

STEWART: Here's my poncho. This is not from a fancy store. This was from Alderson and it was made by a friend of mine there, a wonderful lady.

SERWER: And yet behind the gloss and sheen, there are a few cracks in Stewart's empire. Her company lost some $7 million the latest quarter and after soaring while she was in jail, Martha Stewart's company stock has now plummeted nearly 25 percent since Friday, just before she got out of Camp Cupcake.

Wall Street, for the moment, at least, seems to know the difference between an epic and a sob story.

Andy Serwer, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Well, if you're lucky, in prison or not, you can turn your name into a brand name. If you're a little less lucky, but just as famous, you might go down in history as a punchline, a punchline to some, but a vice president all the same.

As part of our look back at 25 years of CNN, tonight, Dan Quayle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN QUAYLE, FMR. VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I accept your nomination for vice president of the United States of America.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Dan Quayle burst onto the national scene in 1988, when the young senator from Indiana was named George Bush's running mate. The TV sound bite was never quite the same.

QUAYLE: There is nothing that a good defense cannot be a better offense.

PHILLIPS: So famous for his verbal missteps, even now there are entire Web sites devoted to Quayle's quotes. Some Quayle-isms became legendary, including his criticism of TV character Murphy Brown's single motherhood and Quayle's unique way of spelling potato.

QUAYLE: That one little E on the end.

PHILLIPS: In 1992, Quayle and President Bush were voted out of office, changing the young vice president's life.

QUAYLE: That night I said, Well, now I've got to figure out what I'm going to do.

PHILLIPS: Quayle has written three books and gone on the speaking circuit. But when he failed to capture the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, he left public life for good.

QUAYLE: Do I miss politics? Of course, I do. But that's behind me. I had a good run at it.

PHILLIPS: Quayle is now chairman for Cerberus Global Investments and spends much of his time traveling. With his three children now grown, Quayle and his wife, Marilyn, make their home in Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: All through the year, we'll be revisiting our past, a quarter of a century, and yours. We hope you'll stay tuned.

Still to come tonight -- and we hope you'll stay tuned -- explosive allegations that the death of an Italian man at an American checkpoint in Iraq was not an accident. The allegation and the answer from the White House in a moment.

Also tonight, a soldier's-eye view of living and dying in Iraq. It's been made into a documentary. You saw it first here. It's worth seeing again.

We take a break first. From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: All three were 30 or older today.

We often talk about the fog of war. And here it is again. In Italy today, a full state funeral was held to honor the Italian Secret Service agent who helped free an Italian journalist held hostage in Iraq. U.S. troops opened fire on their convoy shortly after her release. Nicola Calipari has been hailed as a national hero for using his body to shield the journalist, Giuliana Sgrena.

She was wounded in the attack, remains hospitalized in Rome. Today's -- today, rather, Italy's president paid a visit. What happened in Iraq on Friday is in dispute. The U.S. military says the car was speeding through a checkpoint, ignored warnings to stop. Ms. Sgrena says the car was moving slowly; the troops fired without warning. She has also suggested she may have been targeted by U.S. troops.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GIULIANA SGRENA, JOURNALIST (through translator): It is not up to me to say that it wasn't an ambush. It is up to those who did this action. They have to demonstrate that there were valid reasons to do what they did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: The military and the White House maintain the incident was a terrible accident, the kind of accident that happens in war zones. President Bush called Italy's president on Friday to express regrets. White House spokesman Scott McClellan spoke today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We are cooperating closely with Italian authorities on this investigation. It's important that this investigation be full and complete. And so when that investigation is full and complete, then maybe we can talk more about it at that point in time, because there are differing accounts about exactly what happened. And I think the details of what occurred are still unclear at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

The White House emphasized today the stretch of road where the shooting tack place is among the most dangerous in Iraq, a reminder, if one is necessary, that in war zones nothing is simple or simple as it might seem.

Filmmaker Mike Tucker wanted to show a soldier's view of the war. He spent several weeks living with the 23 Battalion of the 1ST Armored Division, making the film "Gunner's Palace." Palm Pictures released the film over the weekend, an extraordinary look at this war and the young men and women who live it and breathe it and die in it every day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL TUCKER, FILMMAKER: All of us have watched the war on the news, but I think you're seeing it with a really long lens. I wanted to get as close as I could to them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hear that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just boom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boom, boom.

TUCKER: To maybe almost stand a little bit in their shoes, feel what they're feeling, fear what they're fearing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep your eyes open, because if it's anything like last night, it is going to be ugly.

TUCKER: And almost get beyond they, where I could say we.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Gunner Palace. This palace was built after the first Gulf War for Saddam Hussein's first wife. And later, it was given to his son Uday.

TUCKER: The unit is 23 Field Artillery. And their nickname is the Gunners. They're based in Giessen, Germany. They're part of the 1st Armored Division.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was like, hey, give me 18 Whoppers. He's like, what?

TUCKER: I was more interested in these people as personalities and talking to them. I wanted to know who are these soldiers that are fighting in this war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They got us out here in Baghdad. Life is hard.

TUCKER: When I arrived, there were a lot of weapons being captured. And I would say the insurgency was just starting to rise up then, where the IED attacks were started.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clear the road. Possible IED!

TUCKER: Mortar attacks were starting. And it was becoming a very dangerous place to be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Part of our $87 billion budget provided for us to have some secondary armor to put on top of our thin-skinned Humvees. This armor was made in Iraq. It is high-quality metal. And it will probably slow down the shrapnel so that it stays in your body instead of going clean through.

TUCKER: They really were acting like everything from policemen to social workers to politicians.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have come so far so fast. Please, let's not digress. I'm sure we can get the same discussion done without screaming across the table.

TUCKER: And then, at night, they would go out and raid houses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up. Coming in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three RPG launchers. You know how many years in jail that is? That's 30 years in jail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): I don't need...

TUCKER: Every few weeks, they'd have something called Gunnerpalooza. And one thing they did at these, they would have freestyle competitions where the soldiers would spit out freestyle raps. And so I approached some of the corps soldiers and said, if I can't interview, let's do a freestyle about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This ain't fact. It's only theory in my statements about the struggle, stress and pain every day we're facing. Trials and tribulations daily we do and not always does life's pains washed away in our pool. When we take a dip, we try to stick to the script, but when those guns start blazing and our friends get hit, that's when our hearts start racing and our stomachs get woozy, because you all, this is just a show, but we're living this movie.

TUCKER: Some of the stories that they tell in the raps are more on target than any report.

When I left the first time, I thought I was done. Three, four weeks later, the first soldier in the unit, Ben Colgan, was killed. He was the best soldier in the unit. It turned out later that Ben was not just special forces, that he'd been in Delta Force.

I had hoped to somehow find an ending where I could respectfully tell what happened to him. Once I was done cutting that, I found that there was so much more to tell, I just didn't want to leave it hanging there. And then I decided to go back.

When I went back, immediately, upon arrival, you could sense that it was different. Soldiers just kind of gave off a feeling that they were exhausted. They were ready to go home. And you felt like they didn't really feel like they could do anything more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lose-lose situation we're facing, anticipation. They're hating. No need to like this, but please respect it. This is life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all talk about how when we're going to go home, how proud we're going to be to be combat vets. How many people can say that they're combat veterans? Nineteen years old, I fought in a war.

TUCKER: These soldiers are us wearing uniforms. They come from every walk of American life. I would hope that people would listen to what they have to say and not what we think they would say, because often what they say is pretty surprising.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care what anybody says. There's peaceful places in Iraq, but to say -- know that anybody who has been here has lived it, seen it and done it, and they've done their job.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: "Gunner's Palace" playing around the country these days.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT tonight, the growing international battle over Syrian troops in Lebanon, White House turning up the pressure to force Syria out, Syria not buckling just yet. A report from Damascus coming up.

Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Erica Hill in the headline newsroom in Atlanta.

Let's get you right to the day's top stories. The younger brother of Michael Jackson's accuser will return to the witness stand tomorrow. Today's testimony was the most explicit yet. And a warning now to you, our viewers. It is very graphic. The brother testified he saw the singer put his hand in the boy's pants. He described seeing Jackson grope his brother on two different occasions. Jackson has pleaded not guilty to all charges. If convicted, he could face more than 20 years in prison.

Martha Stewart says her time in prison made her realize her company may have been out of touch with ordinary Americans, and she plans to change that. Stewart will spend the next five months under house arrest at her estate in Bedford, New York. Today, though, she returned to the company she built from the ground up. She is allowed to leave her home to go to work for 48 hours a week.

If you're planning a road trip, look out. Gas prices across the nation are on the rise, jumping about 7 cents in just the last two weeks. Right now, the average price for gas is $1.97 a gallon, and analysts say more increases are on the way.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says he wants to ban the sale of junk food in schools across the state. He talked about it at a bodybuilding event last weekend. Schwarzenegger says his administration is introducing legislation this year that would replace snack food at schools with healthier options, like fruits and vegetables.

Those are the headlines. Now back to NEWSNIGHT WITH AARON BROWN.

BROWN: Well, if it turns out that we're at the beginning of a new and remarkable era in the Middle East, this will be one of the chapters, how the Lebanese people, angered by the murder of a much- loved and respected former prime minister, demanded that Syria, Lebanon's neighbor, a bully of a neighbor at that, withdraw its troops from the country. The West has demanded it for a long time. President Bush will demand it again tomorrow in a speech. It may actually happen. The Syrians are listening, calculating, buying time.

From Damascus tonight, CNN's Brent Sadler.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): In the Syrian capital, two seemingly inseparable presidents defying world pressure to agree a complete and immediate withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon. Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, shares the red carpet with a longtime friend and trusted Lebanese ally, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud. Their agenda here, to lay down specifics of a two-phase military move towards a withdrawal the world wants, but at their own pace, leading, say top Syrian officials, to a positive end game.

IMAD MOUSTAPHA, SYRIAN AMBASSADOR TO UNITED STATES: Not a single Syrian influence in Lebanon, all of our troops outside. The only influence we will have on Lebanon is that based on our historic, cultural, family, social ties with Lebanon.

SADLER: Step one, a pledge to redeploy Syrian troops by the end of this month, evacuating positions held for decades in northern and central Lebanon to a new line closer to Syria, but still well inside Lebanon. Step two is less clear, planning under close wraps. Military chiefs have been given up to a month to work out the next move. Only at that stage could both governments sign off on a complete withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

(on camera): The Syrian leader has approved the new pullout plan with a man he can rely on, his Lebanese counterpart, Emile Lahoud, a president who was made in Syria, say skeptical opponents of this enduring partnership.

(voice-over): Protesters in Beirut's Martyrs Square claim the plan satisfies neither the anti-Syrian movement here, nor the political opposition, including the president's distant cousin.

NASIB LAHOUD, OPPOSITION M.P.: No, it will not. The opposition would like to see a partial withdrawal, coupled with a timetable for full withdrawal in a matter of weeks.

SADLER: But Syria's own political allies in Lebanon are now setting their own street agenda to counter anti-Syrian demonstrations with a mass rally planned Tuesday in support of Syria, called by the armed militant group Hezbollah, hoping to prove that, even as Syria prepares to pull back troops, they can count on another kind of Lebanese support.

Brent Sadler, CNN, Damascus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Morning papers after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(ROOSTER CROWING)

BROWN: Okeydoke, time to check morning papers from around the country and around the world. I think I've detected a theme in tonight's papers, or tomorrow's papers. Well, you know what I mean.

"International Herald Tribune," published by "The New York Times" in France. Right there in the middle, Ed. "Boeing Chief Ousted Over Personal Relationship." You know what I mean?

In case you don't, "The Chicago Sun-Times." "Affair Bounces Boeing Boss." That worked pretty well. I think that's the second time that's happened to a chairman of Boeing. What's with that gig? "The Oregonian" out West puts it slightly differently, up in the corner. "Businesses Turn Less Tolerant of Affairs." So, it's not just them. Speaking of people quitting or being forced out, she didn't have an affair in this case. "'I Resign.' Hoffman" -- this is Betsy Hoffman -- "Stepping Down as Colorado University President" -- "The Rocky Mountain News" -- "After 4 1/2 Years." She wasn't having an affair, but it turns out the football recruits were having sexual parties when they came to campus, or so it seems. Out.

"The Examiner of Washington." "Back on Top." I don't know. This doesn't seem fair to Tiger, but there he is with Martha Stewart, and he certainly is back on top.

"The Philadelphia Inquirer." "Disabled Veterans Battle For Benefits," investigative piece by "The Inquirer"'s Washington bureau. This is a very nice piece of work in a very good newspaper. We're glad that they sent it our way.

"The Dallas Morning News." This is another good story and probably under-reported. "Drug-Related Deaths Rattling Mexico Town." There's just been this series of drug-related killings in parts of Mexico, which has become now the new Colombia, if you will.

How are we doing on time?

I think we mentioned this earlier. We'll mention it again, since we have it. "Minimum Wage Raise Defeated. Democrat, GOP Plans Both Go Down in Senate Amid Partisan Bickering." That's the lead in "The Cincinnati Enquirer."

If you're wondering -- and I know you are -- what the weather in Chicago tomorrow is, according to "The Chicago Sun-Times," "dastardly," which doesn't sound good if you're going to the Midwest tomorrow. And one of us is.

We'll wrap it up in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Good to have you with us tonight to start the week. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" next for most of you.

Back tomorrow, 10:00 Eastern time. Join us. Until then, good night for all of us.

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 March 7, 2005 - 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.
Two and a half years ago in making the case for war with Iraq, the president warned of a smoking gun in the form of a mushroom cloud. He was wrong about Iraq but right in ways that terrify the experts.

The combination, they say, of unguarded borders and unaccounted for nuclear material makes the country vulnerable. Stopping the threat begins at border crossing and ports of entry.

Whether enough is being done is hotly debated. The administration is spending more money and setting tougher goals but the job isn't easy and anything but simple.

So, we begin tonight with a report from our America Bureau and CNN's Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nuclear detectors sound the alarm. This is not a drill. Customs and border protection moves to search a cargo container for the source.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be advised container number one will have (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

MESERVE: The culprit, toilets.

STEVE BAXTER, CHIEF INSPECTOR, U.S. CUSTOMS, OAKLAND: We had a good example of naturally occurring radiation that comes in all the time.

MESERVE: This happens about 20 times a day here at the busy Port of Oakland, so at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, scientists are trying to develop nuclear detectors that can tell the difference between naturally occurring or harmless sources of radiation and those that could be used as a weapon.

SIMON LABOV, LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY: So you use liquid nitrogen, which looks like this.

MESERVE: Simon Labov heads up the radiation detection center. In his lab right now a device to accurately identify even minute amounts of radioactive material, like the uranium oxide in this rock.

LABOV: It just told me suspect norm, OK, naturally occurring radioactive material.

MESERVE: Quickly identifying sources of radiation might prevent overreactions, like the recent closure of a roadway in California after detectors picked up radiation, radiation it turns out from a man who had recently received medical treatments.

LABOV: We call this ultra spec because...

MESERVE: Also in the lab, this machine which might be able to lead investigators back to the source of material used in a terrorist crime.

LABOV: I think this can be a very powerful tool for what we call nuclear fingerprinting.

MESERVE: Labov is also experimenting with putting a chip, circuit board and GPS in cell phones creating a computer connected network of radiological detectives.

LABOV: Some examples might be delivery people that would be going to a lot of places, the Postal Service, every street ever day.

MESERVE: Dennis Slaughter is another scientist at Livermore.

DENNIS SLAUGHTER, LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY: We're trying to address the problem. What if the stuff is really well shielded and other people don't see it. We think we do.

MESERVE: He hides uranium or plutonium encased in lead deep inside sample cargoes like this plywood. When bombarded with neutrons a tiny amount of nuclear fission occurs, producing intense radiation which detectors can pick up.

SLAUGHTER: I was happy as a pig in mud doing nuclear physics up until a couple of years ago and then 9/11 came along and I quit that and said I'm not doing that anymore. I'm doing homeland security.

MESERVE: Why?

SLAUGHTER: I really wanted to work this problem.

MESERVE: Why?

SLAUGHTER: Because I don't want Oakland to go up in a mushroom cloud.

MESERVE: Top U.S. officials warn that it is just a matter of time until terrorists try to use radiological or nuclear weapons. The hope is that innovative science will help find them and stop them.

For CNN's America Bureau, Jeanne Meserve, Oakland, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The academic equivalent of a full scale battle has broken out at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. The man who started this war over words is a tenured English professor who says that far too many of the midshipmen and midshipwomen are not academically up to snuff that in an effort to make the academy look more like the country, or perhaps win a few more football games, standards have been unacceptably lowered.

He also says a lot of people privately agree with him, a story you'll only see here on CNN, from our Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): According to one outspoken academy professor, half of the brigade of midshipmen got into Annapolis through set asides, lower standards for star athletes, racial minorities or sailors who have shown potential. Weaker academics means weaker officers, he says, officers who may one day have their finger on the button or the trigger.

ADAM YANG, MIDSHIPMAN 1ST CLASS: The fundamental flaw in his argument was that weaker academics make weaker officers but academics isn't the definition of a good officer.

MCINTYRE: As part of a regular feature called "Nobody Asked Me But," Annapolis English Professor Bruce Fleming wrote in last month's "Proceedings" magazine the academy can do better.

"Set asides," he wrote "slow class discussions and take seats that better applicants could have filled."

MCINTYRE (on camera): So, what were you thinking when you wrote this?

PROF. BRUCE FLEMING, U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY: Well, my concern is for the well-being of the Navy and Marine Corps.

MCINTYRE: What kind of reaction are you getting from the students?

FLEMING: Well, a number of them have come in to tell me that I'm saying things they're not allowed to say and bully for me and they're really glad that I did it and a number of them are either writing or saying that they don't agree and want to let me know that too.

MCINTYRE: And isn't that what campus dialogue is supposed to be about?

FLEMING: At some level, I couldn't be happier.

MCINTYRE (voice-over): The academy superintendent, the equivalent of the school's president, fired off an angry memo to Fleming. "I would have expected a faculty member with almost 18 years here to exercise better judgment," wrote Rear Admiral Rodney Rempt. "Your action has served to needlessly criticize the academy, our admissions board, and every midshipman." But Admiral Rempt can't fire a tenured professor just for speaking out.

Is Professor Fleming in any trouble?

VICE ADM. RODNEY REMPT, SUPERINTENDENT U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY: No, not at all.

MCINTYRE (on camera): The Naval Academy disputes the idea that it has lower standards for some applicants and insists it's whole person admissions policy looks at far more than just academics.

(voice-over): And the academy insists there are no quotas or racial preferences to achieve diversity.

REMPT: We're looking for people who certainly have academic smarts but also have the physical toughness and the determination and the basic leadership skills.

MCINTYRE: Xochtl Piedra, is a Mexican American and a stand out on the women's soccer team. Just because she needed some extra help to get through engineering, academy officials argue, doesn't mean she won't excel as a leader.

XOCHTL PIEDRA, MIDSHIPMAN 1ST CLASS: I think I'll be able to take care of my people, which is one of the most important things about being an officer.

MCINTYRE: While the midshipmen provided to CNN for interviews all supported the official view, Professor Fleming said his e-mails were split 50/50. One student wrote, "The only reason that anybody would be opposed to your article would be if they recognized its truth and were threatened by it." But another argued the last thing the fleet needs is 4,000 straight A students and some cited examples of poor students who went on to succeed.

Senator John McCain graduated from Annapolis in 1958, fifth in his class, fifth from the bottom.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, Annapolis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Last month in Austin, Texas fire gutted a nightclub popular among African Americans. No one was badly hurt but it's what happened at the scene, what some police officers who responded to the fire did that's left a bitter feeling tonight in Austin. Some officers have been disciplined but some black leaders and black residents say the whole incident smacks of racism.

What unfolded that night and the fallout since from CNN's Keith Oppenheim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The flames didn't last long and no one was badly hurt. Officials said because of a short circuit Midtown Live, a nightclub with a mostly African American clientele was destroyed in mid-February in less than ten minutes but outside a different fire ignited, harder to extinguish, when people walked past this squad car and looked inside.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The screen in this car says "Burn baby, burn." That is ridiculous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody sent a message through on the police car that said "Burn baby, burn."

OPPENHEIM: It turned out "burn baby, burn," a line from the song "Disco Inferno," was just one of many computer messages exchanged between police and dispatchers over a two hour period. Others read, "You can smell from (Interstate) 35. It is the smell of victory." Another, "I have some extra gasoline if they need it."

REVEREND STERLING LANDS, AUSTIN COMMUNITY LEADER: This implies that there is a police officer who's willing to commit arson. I mean what? What? How can we even sit back and allow this kind of thinking to exist on a police department?

STAN KNEE, AUSTIN POLICE CHIEF: This department cannot and will not tolerate such action.

OPPENHEIM: Austin Police Chief Stan Knee said six patrol officers and four dispatchers, a mix of whites and Hispanics, were being disciplined with punishments ranging from written reprimands to 15-day suspensions.

The Austin Police Association says records show that officers responded to calls at the club 129 times last year and police were frustrated with a place known for violence. The chief didn't accept that excuse but he also didn't think prejudice was the problem.

KNEE: I think we went to great lengths to show that none of these responses were, in fact, racially motivated.

NELSON LINDER, PRESIDENT, AUSTIN NAACP: I think the chief is brain dead when it comes to racial issues, like most people. He's in denial. There's no way white cops would say this about a white establishment. For him to say that is an absolute insult to our community.

TRENICE BROWN, NEIGHBOR: In the area where it happened, I guess it's the east side of Austin and for that comment, it couldn't be considered anything else but racially motivated.

OPPENHEIM: It's worth noting that on the night of the fire some Austin officers were praised by the public for actions they took to keep people safe. In the end, it's the written words on police computers that despite apologies may have left a more lasting and damaging memory.

Keith Oppenheim, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: On now to Wichita, Kansas where Dennis Rader, the man accused of being the BTK serial killer has been meeting with his court-appointed lawyers these days. Mr. Rader is said to have complained about depression. He was also asked about his family who have not talked to him since he entered the jail.

In this week's issue of "Time" magazine, Jeff Chu writes extensively about the man behind the charges and we talked to Jeff earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): You talked to the lawyers and the lawyers give you a snapshot I would say of what Mr. Rader's days and nights are like. What are they like?

JEFF CHU, "TIME" MAGAZINE: They're pretty lonely. He doesn't have a lot of human contact, other than with the prison guards who watch over him and the lawyers.

BROWN: Is he isolated from the population?

CHU: He is on his own. He's being kept apart from other inmates and that makes for a really solitary existence. He's not in solitary confinement but he is for his own safety being kept apart.

BROWN: His family to this point, you write, has not come to see him at all. Is that -- is it that they aren't allowed or they don't feel comfortable coming into Wichita or they don't want to deal with him?

CHU: I suspect that with the media circus that's been going on, one of the reasons that they've left Wichita is because of their own privacy and safety. They're together, which the son came from Connecticut. The daughter was in Michigan. Paula Rader was obviously in Park City. And it's a good time for them to kind of regroup and gather strength and figure out how they're going to deal with this as a family.

BROWN: Have you had any success contacting them at all?

CHU: All we know is that they're not in Kansas anymore and that they're together. Their friends won't tell us anymore than that.

BROWN: Did the lawyers give you any sense of what sort of strategy they will lay out?

CHU: They're still thinking about it. They're still in the kind of getting to know you period developing a rapport with their client. Obviously, they're looking at a change of venue as a possibility. They're worried about getting a fair trial in Wichita given the blanket coverage but then you have to wonder where could they get a fair trial?

BROWN: Yes. As you've reported this have you come to any sense of why after so many silent years he, whoever he is, we don't presume we necessarily know that, became public again?

CHU: We talk about this a little in the article. There's a new book coming out shortly about the BTK case and one of the theories is that the BTK killer wanted to own the story. He didn't want somebody else to tell his story. This was about him and he wanted the spotlight to be back on him.

BROWN: If, in fact, Mr. Rader is the one does he see this as he, the killer in this psychological profile that the forensic psychologists draw, has he lost the game or has he just lost a round in the game?

CHU: Well, if you want to assume that Rader is BTK, one of the things he's been doing with his lawyers is taking copious notes. He's very interested in his own strategy, so you have to think that maybe he still thinks that there's hope here.

BROWN: Do you have a sense -- they're both public defenders right? Do they have a sense that they will actually be the lawyers who take this case to trial?

CHU: They seem to be acting as if they are. They're, you know, gearing up for the long haul.

BROWN: Do you come away with a sense that you're sort of, excuse the expression, creeped out by it all, I mean that there's something incredibly creepy about all of it, the length of it, the notes, the narcissism, the why aren't I getting attention, all of it?

CHU: It is creepy but I think the feeling that I left with the most was sadness, sadness for the people who have had to deal with this, sadness for Paula Rader who has to wonder now who was this man that I was sleeping with all these years who I was sharing my life with all these years? And also for the victims' families to have all these emotions dredged up and try to figure out what to do with the situation now.

BROWN: Nice piece in the magazine, good to meet you.

CHU: Thanks a lot.

BROWN: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Jeff Chu of "Time" magazine.

Much more coming up on this Monday night, starting with an international incident over tragedies that always seem to unfold in the fog of war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): The White House says it was a terrible accident, an Italian Secret Service agent killed by U.S. troops who claim his car was speeding through a checkpoint. Someone in the car says that's not true.

GIULIANA SGRENA (through translator): It was not a checkpoint. It was not a checkpoint because the tank was not on the road.

BROWN: Walking in a soldier's boots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The unit is 23 Field Artillery. They're based in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Germany. They're part of the 1st Armored Division and their nickname is (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

BROWN: The documentary that brings the war in Iraq as close as you've ever seen.

Martha Stewart's first day back on the job.

MARTHA STEWART: It's really wonderful to be back.

BROWN: Everything looked picture perfect. She made sure of it.

And 40 years ago in Selma, Alabama.

REP. JOHN LEWIS (D), GEORGIA: I thought I was going to die. I thought I saw death.

BROWN: Bloody Sunday, a day that changed the course of history.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: If race is the great unfinished discussion of our time, there are moments when the discussion has gotten ugly, not hurt feelings ugly or lost job ugly or any of the other uglies of race today, lynching ugly, police dog ugly, the kind of moment that turns your stomach and jars your conscience, the kind of horror though that also carries within it the seeds of hope, if only because people, good people, finally say never again.

Such a moment came 40 years ago in Selma, Alabama. Here's CNN's Jeff Greenfield.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEWIS: That Sunday 40 years ago became known as Bloody Sunday.

(voice-over): They came toward us beating us with night sticks, trampling us with horses, releasing their teargas. I was hit in the head by a state trooper with a night stick and had a concussion at the bridge. I thought I was going to die.

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST (voice-over): Veteran civil rights worker John Lewis and some 600 others began a march from Selma, Alabama to the capital of Montgomery demanding the right to vote. Lewis thought he knew what to expect.

LEWIS: I thought we would be arrested and taken to jail.

GREENFIELD: Instead, Alabama state troopers waded into the crowd with violence that shocked even those like John Segenthaler who had witnessed many civil rights demonstrations as an aide to Attorney General Robert Kennedy. On that Sunday 40 years ago, Segenthaler was editor and publisher of the "National Tennessean."

JOHN SEGENTHALER, CHAIRMAN EMERITUS, "THE TENNESSEAN": That night I was watching a movie and one of the networks came on with photographs that are still burned into my memory. But the image of law enforcement officers literally violating the law, violating any sense of humanity or decency crushing these demonstrators went beyond anything that I had seen or imagined could happen.

GREENFIELD: In fact, it was those images flashed across the country that carried far more force than the troopers' clubs. They brought home literally into millions of American living rooms the nature of the conflict.

LEWIS (on camera): If it hadn't been for the media, the civil rights movement would have been like a bird without wings.

SEGENTHALER: The struggle for freedom that began at Lexington and Concord was still going on in Selma this week. I mean that's a -- I mean that's a powerful comparison you know.

GREENFIELD: Only eight days after the violence at the Edmund Pettis Bridge, President Lyndon Johnson, the first southerner to occupy the White House in a century, addressed a joint session of Congress demanding passage of a federal voting rights act and invoking the battle cry of the civil rights movement.

LYNDON B. JOHNSON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's not just Negroes but really it's all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice and we shall overcome.

LEWIS: And we shall overcome. I looked at Dr. King and tears came down his face and then we all cried a little and Dr. King said, "We will make it from Selma to Montgomery."

MARTIN LUTHER KING: We ain't going to let nobody turn us around.

GREENFIELD: By summer, the voting rights act was law. Blacks began to vote in dramatically larger numbers throughout the south, electing dozens, then hundreds of public officials, including John Lewis, who has been in the Congress for 20 years.

LEWIS: If somebody told me when we walked across that bridge 40 years ago that I would be standing here as a member of the House of Representatives, I would have said, well you're crazy.

GREENFIELD (on camera): But there is another political legacy to the civil rights movement. As national Democrats increasingly embrace the cause, white southern Democrats increasingly moved away from their traditional party, drawn in part by conservative icons from the Republican Party, like Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, who opposed key civil rights laws.

Now, a generation later, Republicans hold the lion's share of House and Senate seats from the south and in four of the last six presidential elections, Democrats have not won a single southern electoral vote.

Jeff Greenfield, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Coming up on the program still, the saga of Martha Stewart continues. Today it was back to work.

And the rooster is always working, always bringing morning papers and will tonight because this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Let's be honest for a second. Nobody really likes Mondays. I don't, you don't either, especially the first Monday back after a long time away from the office. Somebody has always been sitting in your chair. The takeout menus aren't where you left them. The parole conditions are a pain.

Martha Stewart went back to work today, back to running the business she left five months ago and on with the one she's never left, the business of being Martha Stewart.

Here's CNN's Andy Serwer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you believe her PR machine, the rise, fall and now would-be reincarnation of Martha Stewart plays out like an American epic.

STEWART: Today is a shameful day. It's shameful for me.

SERWER: That was the fall. What we're witnessing now is the revival.

STEWART: It's really wonderful to be back. I've missed you, as you can imagine.

SERWER: Martha and her people are working 24/7 to rehabilitate her image.

STEWART: Every person deserves the comforts of a good home. That's what life is all about in a very uncertain world. I want to work hard to preserve and help others connect with these deep, human values.

SERWER: Most of us love an underdog but an underdog with a 153- acre estate and a multi hundred million dollar fortune is a bit curious.

STEWART: You two are my really great friends and you're also my heroes but all of you are my heroes too.

SERWER: And then there's Martha's reported less than wonderful treatment of her employees. Martha insisted that five months in the lion's den has changed her.

STEWART: I've had the opportunity also to do a tremendous amount of thinking. I've read. I've reflected upon the past on my own life and to consider what's really and truly important to me.

SERWER: Applauding employees seemed to buy it, at least while the cameras were rolling.

As for the gray and white poncho Martha wore the night of her release, it made an appearance today and oddly enough it too had PR value.

STEWART: Here's my poncho. This is not from a fancy store. This was from Alderson and it was made by a friend of mine there, a wonderful lady.

SERWER: And yet behind the gloss and sheen, there are a few cracks in Stewart's empire. Her company lost some $7 million the latest quarter and after soaring while she was in jail, Martha Stewart's company stock has now plummeted nearly 25 percent since Friday, just before she got out of Camp Cupcake.

Wall Street, for the moment, at least, seems to know the difference between an epic and a sob story.

Andy Serwer, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Well, if you're lucky, in prison or not, you can turn your name into a brand name. If you're a little less lucky, but just as famous, you might go down in history as a punchline, a punchline to some, but a vice president all the same.

As part of our look back at 25 years of CNN, tonight, Dan Quayle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN QUAYLE, FMR. VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I accept your nomination for vice president of the United States of America.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Dan Quayle burst onto the national scene in 1988, when the young senator from Indiana was named George Bush's running mate. The TV sound bite was never quite the same.

QUAYLE: There is nothing that a good defense cannot be a better offense.

PHILLIPS: So famous for his verbal missteps, even now there are entire Web sites devoted to Quayle's quotes. Some Quayle-isms became legendary, including his criticism of TV character Murphy Brown's single motherhood and Quayle's unique way of spelling potato.

QUAYLE: That one little E on the end.

PHILLIPS: In 1992, Quayle and President Bush were voted out of office, changing the young vice president's life.

QUAYLE: That night I said, Well, now I've got to figure out what I'm going to do.

PHILLIPS: Quayle has written three books and gone on the speaking circuit. But when he failed to capture the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, he left public life for good.

QUAYLE: Do I miss politics? Of course, I do. But that's behind me. I had a good run at it.

PHILLIPS: Quayle is now chairman for Cerberus Global Investments and spends much of his time traveling. With his three children now grown, Quayle and his wife, Marilyn, make their home in Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: All through the year, we'll be revisiting our past, a quarter of a century, and yours. We hope you'll stay tuned.

Still to come tonight -- and we hope you'll stay tuned -- explosive allegations that the death of an Italian man at an American checkpoint in Iraq was not an accident. The allegation and the answer from the White House in a moment.

Also tonight, a soldier's-eye view of living and dying in Iraq. It's been made into a documentary. You saw it first here. It's worth seeing again.

We take a break first. From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: All three were 30 or older today.

We often talk about the fog of war. And here it is again. In Italy today, a full state funeral was held to honor the Italian Secret Service agent who helped free an Italian journalist held hostage in Iraq. U.S. troops opened fire on their convoy shortly after her release. Nicola Calipari has been hailed as a national hero for using his body to shield the journalist, Giuliana Sgrena.

She was wounded in the attack, remains hospitalized in Rome. Today's -- today, rather, Italy's president paid a visit. What happened in Iraq on Friday is in dispute. The U.S. military says the car was speeding through a checkpoint, ignored warnings to stop. Ms. Sgrena says the car was moving slowly; the troops fired without warning. She has also suggested she may have been targeted by U.S. troops.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GIULIANA SGRENA, JOURNALIST (through translator): It is not up to me to say that it wasn't an ambush. It is up to those who did this action. They have to demonstrate that there were valid reasons to do what they did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: The military and the White House maintain the incident was a terrible accident, the kind of accident that happens in war zones. President Bush called Italy's president on Friday to express regrets. White House spokesman Scott McClellan spoke today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We are cooperating closely with Italian authorities on this investigation. It's important that this investigation be full and complete. And so when that investigation is full and complete, then maybe we can talk more about it at that point in time, because there are differing accounts about exactly what happened. And I think the details of what occurred are still unclear at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

The White House emphasized today the stretch of road where the shooting tack place is among the most dangerous in Iraq, a reminder, if one is necessary, that in war zones nothing is simple or simple as it might seem.

Filmmaker Mike Tucker wanted to show a soldier's view of the war. He spent several weeks living with the 23 Battalion of the 1ST Armored Division, making the film "Gunner's Palace." Palm Pictures released the film over the weekend, an extraordinary look at this war and the young men and women who live it and breathe it and die in it every day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL TUCKER, FILMMAKER: All of us have watched the war on the news, but I think you're seeing it with a really long lens. I wanted to get as close as I could to them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hear that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just boom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boom, boom.

TUCKER: To maybe almost stand a little bit in their shoes, feel what they're feeling, fear what they're fearing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep your eyes open, because if it's anything like last night, it is going to be ugly.

TUCKER: And almost get beyond they, where I could say we.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Gunner Palace. This palace was built after the first Gulf War for Saddam Hussein's first wife. And later, it was given to his son Uday.

TUCKER: The unit is 23 Field Artillery. And their nickname is the Gunners. They're based in Giessen, Germany. They're part of the 1st Armored Division.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was like, hey, give me 18 Whoppers. He's like, what?

TUCKER: I was more interested in these people as personalities and talking to them. I wanted to know who are these soldiers that are fighting in this war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They got us out here in Baghdad. Life is hard.

TUCKER: When I arrived, there were a lot of weapons being captured. And I would say the insurgency was just starting to rise up then, where the IED attacks were started.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clear the road. Possible IED!

TUCKER: Mortar attacks were starting. And it was becoming a very dangerous place to be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Part of our $87 billion budget provided for us to have some secondary armor to put on top of our thin-skinned Humvees. This armor was made in Iraq. It is high-quality metal. And it will probably slow down the shrapnel so that it stays in your body instead of going clean through.

TUCKER: They really were acting like everything from policemen to social workers to politicians.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have come so far so fast. Please, let's not digress. I'm sure we can get the same discussion done without screaming across the table.

TUCKER: And then, at night, they would go out and raid houses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up. Coming in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three RPG launchers. You know how many years in jail that is? That's 30 years in jail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): I don't need...

TUCKER: Every few weeks, they'd have something called Gunnerpalooza. And one thing they did at these, they would have freestyle competitions where the soldiers would spit out freestyle raps. And so I approached some of the corps soldiers and said, if I can't interview, let's do a freestyle about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This ain't fact. It's only theory in my statements about the struggle, stress and pain every day we're facing. Trials and tribulations daily we do and not always does life's pains washed away in our pool. When we take a dip, we try to stick to the script, but when those guns start blazing and our friends get hit, that's when our hearts start racing and our stomachs get woozy, because you all, this is just a show, but we're living this movie.

TUCKER: Some of the stories that they tell in the raps are more on target than any report.

When I left the first time, I thought I was done. Three, four weeks later, the first soldier in the unit, Ben Colgan, was killed. He was the best soldier in the unit. It turned out later that Ben was not just special forces, that he'd been in Delta Force.

I had hoped to somehow find an ending where I could respectfully tell what happened to him. Once I was done cutting that, I found that there was so much more to tell, I just didn't want to leave it hanging there. And then I decided to go back.

When I went back, immediately, upon arrival, you could sense that it was different. Soldiers just kind of gave off a feeling that they were exhausted. They were ready to go home. And you felt like they didn't really feel like they could do anything more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lose-lose situation we're facing, anticipation. They're hating. No need to like this, but please respect it. This is life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all talk about how when we're going to go home, how proud we're going to be to be combat vets. How many people can say that they're combat veterans? Nineteen years old, I fought in a war.

TUCKER: These soldiers are us wearing uniforms. They come from every walk of American life. I would hope that people would listen to what they have to say and not what we think they would say, because often what they say is pretty surprising.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care what anybody says. There's peaceful places in Iraq, but to say -- know that anybody who has been here has lived it, seen it and done it, and they've done their job.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: "Gunner's Palace" playing around the country these days.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT tonight, the growing international battle over Syrian troops in Lebanon, White House turning up the pressure to force Syria out, Syria not buckling just yet. A report from Damascus coming up.

Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Erica Hill in the headline newsroom in Atlanta.

Let's get you right to the day's top stories. The younger brother of Michael Jackson's accuser will return to the witness stand tomorrow. Today's testimony was the most explicit yet. And a warning now to you, our viewers. It is very graphic. The brother testified he saw the singer put his hand in the boy's pants. He described seeing Jackson grope his brother on two different occasions. Jackson has pleaded not guilty to all charges. If convicted, he could face more than 20 years in prison.

Martha Stewart says her time in prison made her realize her company may have been out of touch with ordinary Americans, and she plans to change that. Stewart will spend the next five months under house arrest at her estate in Bedford, New York. Today, though, she returned to the company she built from the ground up. She is allowed to leave her home to go to work for 48 hours a week.

If you're planning a road trip, look out. Gas prices across the nation are on the rise, jumping about 7 cents in just the last two weeks. Right now, the average price for gas is $1.97 a gallon, and analysts say more increases are on the way.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says he wants to ban the sale of junk food in schools across the state. He talked about it at a bodybuilding event last weekend. Schwarzenegger says his administration is introducing legislation this year that would replace snack food at schools with healthier options, like fruits and vegetables.

Those are the headlines. Now back to NEWSNIGHT WITH AARON BROWN.

BROWN: Well, if it turns out that we're at the beginning of a new and remarkable era in the Middle East, this will be one of the chapters, how the Lebanese people, angered by the murder of a much- loved and respected former prime minister, demanded that Syria, Lebanon's neighbor, a bully of a neighbor at that, withdraw its troops from the country. The West has demanded it for a long time. President Bush will demand it again tomorrow in a speech. It may actually happen. The Syrians are listening, calculating, buying time.

From Damascus tonight, CNN's Brent Sadler.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): In the Syrian capital, two seemingly inseparable presidents defying world pressure to agree a complete and immediate withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon. Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, shares the red carpet with a longtime friend and trusted Lebanese ally, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud. Their agenda here, to lay down specifics of a two-phase military move towards a withdrawal the world wants, but at their own pace, leading, say top Syrian officials, to a positive end game.

IMAD MOUSTAPHA, SYRIAN AMBASSADOR TO UNITED STATES: Not a single Syrian influence in Lebanon, all of our troops outside. The only influence we will have on Lebanon is that based on our historic, cultural, family, social ties with Lebanon.

SADLER: Step one, a pledge to redeploy Syrian troops by the end of this month, evacuating positions held for decades in northern and central Lebanon to a new line closer to Syria, but still well inside Lebanon. Step two is less clear, planning under close wraps. Military chiefs have been given up to a month to work out the next move. Only at that stage could both governments sign off on a complete withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

(on camera): The Syrian leader has approved the new pullout plan with a man he can rely on, his Lebanese counterpart, Emile Lahoud, a president who was made in Syria, say skeptical opponents of this enduring partnership.

(voice-over): Protesters in Beirut's Martyrs Square claim the plan satisfies neither the anti-Syrian movement here, nor the political opposition, including the president's distant cousin.

NASIB LAHOUD, OPPOSITION M.P.: No, it will not. The opposition would like to see a partial withdrawal, coupled with a timetable for full withdrawal in a matter of weeks.

SADLER: But Syria's own political allies in Lebanon are now setting their own street agenda to counter anti-Syrian demonstrations with a mass rally planned Tuesday in support of Syria, called by the armed militant group Hezbollah, hoping to prove that, even as Syria prepares to pull back troops, they can count on another kind of Lebanese support.

Brent Sadler, CNN, Damascus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Morning papers after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(ROOSTER CROWING)

BROWN: Okeydoke, time to check morning papers from around the country and around the world. I think I've detected a theme in tonight's papers, or tomorrow's papers. Well, you know what I mean.

"International Herald Tribune," published by "The New York Times" in France. Right there in the middle, Ed. "Boeing Chief Ousted Over Personal Relationship." You know what I mean?

In case you don't, "The Chicago Sun-Times." "Affair Bounces Boeing Boss." That worked pretty well. I think that's the second time that's happened to a chairman of Boeing. What's with that gig? "The Oregonian" out West puts it slightly differently, up in the corner. "Businesses Turn Less Tolerant of Affairs." So, it's not just them. Speaking of people quitting or being forced out, she didn't have an affair in this case. "'I Resign.' Hoffman" -- this is Betsy Hoffman -- "Stepping Down as Colorado University President" -- "The Rocky Mountain News" -- "After 4 1/2 Years." She wasn't having an affair, but it turns out the football recruits were having sexual parties when they came to campus, or so it seems. Out.

"The Examiner of Washington." "Back on Top." I don't know. This doesn't seem fair to Tiger, but there he is with Martha Stewart, and he certainly is back on top.

"The Philadelphia Inquirer." "Disabled Veterans Battle For Benefits," investigative piece by "The Inquirer"'s Washington bureau. This is a very nice piece of work in a very good newspaper. We're glad that they sent it our way.

"The Dallas Morning News." This is another good story and probably under-reported. "Drug-Related Deaths Rattling Mexico Town." There's just been this series of drug-related killings in parts of Mexico, which has become now the new Colombia, if you will.

How are we doing on time?

I think we mentioned this earlier. We'll mention it again, since we have it. "Minimum Wage Raise Defeated. Democrat, GOP Plans Both Go Down in Senate Amid Partisan Bickering." That's the lead in "The Cincinnati Enquirer."

If you're wondering -- and I know you are -- what the weather in Chicago tomorrow is, according to "The Chicago Sun-Times," "dastardly," which doesn't sound good if you're going to the Midwest tomorrow. And one of us is.

We'll wrap it up in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Good to have you with us tonight to start the week. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" next for most of you.

Back tomorrow, 10:00 Eastern time. Join us. Until then, good night for all of us.

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