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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Senate Debates Changing Rules On Judicial Filibusters; Interview with Tom Daschle; Spokane, Washington Mayor Used Internet For Homosexual Encounters

Aired May 18, 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 "NEWSNIGHT": We like to think we know the people in our lives, really know them -- a colleague, a spouse, a public figure. That's what we'd like to think and then we often learn how much we don't know, how many secrets there are.
Tonight, the secrets which are no longer secrets, belong to a public figure, the mayor of Spokane, Washington who carried out a grand charade for a long time until a newspaper exposed him, which itself became part of the story. The newspaper part, in a moment, but first, the story of Mayor Jim West.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): In conservative Spokane, Washington, though probably in any town, the headlines were grabbers. The mayor, a staunch anti-gay rights politician for decades, accused of molesting two boys while a deputy sheriff 24 years ago, and trolling the Internet for young boys while in office, suggesting a city internship in exchange for sex.

The mayor, James West, denied some of the paper's charges, and to the shock of most in this city, admitted others.

JAMES A. WEST, SPOKANE MAYOR: I categorically deny any allegations about incidents that supposedly occurred 24 years ago, as alleged by two convicted felons and about which I have no knowledge.

The newspaper also reported that I have visited a gay Internet chat line and had relations with adult men. I don't deny that.

BROWN: If hypocrisy was a crime, the mayor in the eyes of his constituents, was guilty as charged.

SHAUN CROSS, SPOKANE ATTORNEY: No, it's really not about his sexual orientation. It's about the huge chasm between his public stances and the vigor with which he prosecuted those public stances, and his private life, and the hypocrisy that erodes public confidence in our political process.

BROWN: Since his statement to reporters, West has declined to answer questions. His last public statement was before the Spokane city council where he, in effect, said he was the victim.

WEST: I hope that you and the people will reserve judgment on me until the newspaper is done persecuting me, and allow me to have the fair opportunity to respond to each of the allegations in due time.

BROWN: The due time has yet to come. The mayor has not explained either the contradictions of his public positions and his private life, nor has he explained what he was doing engaging in seductive conversations with someone online he allegedly believed was just 17, a minor. To say that people in this eastern Washington town are displeased is to understate.

ALLAN LETOURNEAU, SPOKANE RESIDENT: I don't know if I want to be seen sitting in a restaurant or someplace talking to him. I'm sure there's a lot of other people that don't want to deal with this kind of a man.

SHERI BARNARD, FMR SPOKANE MAYOR: To think that our mayor has been using the Internet with names such as JMSElton, Cobra 82 (ph), and RightByGuy (ph) to entice and lure young men into sexual relationships is repulsive.

BROWN: Under Spokane law, the city council can't force James West to resign. He has to come to that conclusion himself. So far, he's just gone on vacation, with a lot to think about and explain.

CROSS: It's about the sheer weight of allegations, and, yes, we're innocent until proven guilty. But you know, at some point in time you can't leave even if the allegations aren't true.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (on camera): Yesterday the district attorney in Spokane County rejected a petition to recall the mayor. City council members plan to vote at the end of the month on a motion calling for the mayor to step aside.

The repercussions of the mayor's private life, even if it involves no legal wrongdoing, is one thing. How it came to the public eye is yet another. The newspaper the "Spokane Spokesman Review" got the story or elements of it. No controversy there. But how it got the story, that has raised questions. In a time when media is under the microscope, the tactics used by the paper have been the subject of intense debate. Here's CNN's Jeff Greenfield.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After the "Review" interviewed sources, it was looking for a way to nail down the story, so it hired an adult forensic computer expert to pose as a 17-year-old boy who entered a chat room, gay.com. When the boy said he turned 18, West offered him an internship at city hall and ultimately arranged a meeting at a Spokane golf course, which leads to a question that's been around for decades: is it ever fair to misrepresent, to lie, to get a story?

Back in the 1970s, "60 Minutes" and the "Chicago Sun-Times" joined with a local better government group to open a fictitious bar called the Mirage to see if local inspectors would come around looking for payoffs. They did. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A primetime undercover investigation.

GREENFIELD: In the 1990s, ABC News battled for years with the Food Lion grocery chain after writing a story about food handling practices that involved hidden cameras and store employees who were in fact working undercover for ABC. The network wound up paying all of $2.

And, in a very different terrain, in 1997, the tabloid "Globe" paid a woman who brought broadcaster Frank Gifford to a hotel room and videotaped them having sex.

A number of journalists have spoken out against any misrepresentation by the press under any circumstance. And says the Kennedy School of Government's Alex Jones, as a general rule, dissembling is a bad idea. But in this case...

ALEX JONES, KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT: Without having this kind of evidence in hand, they felt that they could not make the case with certainty and persuasiveness. You know, I think that under the circumstances this was an issue that was important enough to want to establish for sure.

GREENFIELD: Steve Smith is the editor of the "Review."

STEVE SMITH, "THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW" EDITOR: We had a mayor engaging in inappropriate conduct, and absent absolute proof that this was the individual involved, that portion of our investigation would never have been printed. He'd never have been brought under investigation by the FBI and by the state of Washington. He might never face criminal prosecution.

GREENFIELD: So, when journalists ask whether misrepresentation is justified, they're not likely to find a handy, absolute, black-and- white answer. Instead, journalists have to ask ourselves two questions -- first, is this the only way to get the story? And second, is the story worth the misrepresentation? Or as the philosophers say, does the end justify the means?

Jeff Greenfield, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Not far down I-90 from Spokane, a triple murder and the disappearance of two children. Police in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, say a man sought for questioning in the case has now made contact with authorities. He's Robert Lutner, said to be a friend of the dead and missing family members. Nine-year-old Dylan Groene and his sister Shasta were nowhere to be found on Monday when police showed up at their home and discovered their mother, brother and adult man bound and dead. This is one mystery.

Another mystery, no less horrible, perhaps even creepier in some respects, has another chapter tonight. We can report that it's solved. Here's David Mattingly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In June 2001, investigators believe a Pittsburgh engineer took his adopted daughter to a Disney resort in Orlando where they suspect he sexually abused and photographed the blonde haired child, and then posted her pictures on the internet.

DET. SGT. PAUL GILLESPIE, TORONTO POLICE DEPARTMENT: It's horrific abuse of a very young, vulnerable child, and you just -- once you've seen the images and you've seen the collection, this set of pictures is, it really breaks your heart.

MATTINGLY: So, from hotel rooms in Orlando to chat rooms in Toronto, investigators mounted an extraordinary search, and then last week, this surprising announcement.

LT. MATT IRWIN, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: We have located the victim in our case.

MATTINGLY: Surprisingly, while detectives in two countries took their very public manhunt to more than a dozen states, the girl had already been rescued. Her adoptive father, already convicted and imprisoned by federal authorities back in 2003. That's when the FBI learned that the disturbing photos didn't begin to tell this little girl's story.

MARY BETH BUCHANAN, U.S. ATTORNEY: Based upon all the evidence that we had seen, it does appear that the adoption was motivated by the defendant's interest in sexual activity, illegal sexual activity, with children.

MATTINGLY: U.S. attorney Mary Beth Buchanan of western Pennsylvania describes how the girl had been adopted from Russia at the age of five by a 45-year-old divorced engineer working with agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

Buchanan says he sexually abused the girl throughout the years that followed, even kept her on a strict diet to make her look younger.

BUCHANAN: The child at age 11 did appear to be younger than an 11-year-old child, and the types of illegal material that this suspect was trying to obtain on the internet would involve children who were of the age of approximately eight to 10, and specifically he was looking for images of young children who appeared -- who had a very thin appearance.

MATTINGLY: It was two years ago that the FBI pursued the girl's adoptive father from a child porn chat room to his home in a rural suburb of Pittsburgh. That's where they found computerized evidence of child pornography and his tormented victim.

BUCHANAN: We believe that this was the first opportunity that this child had to disclose the activities that had been occurring to her. And luckily, the federal law enforcement agents who were executing this search were well trained in investigating cases involving child sexual exploitation.

MATTINGLY: The girl was immediately placed in foster care and has since been adopted by a new family far from the home where she endured such pain. Her abuser got the maximum sentence possible at the time, 15 years in prison for producing and possessing child pornography.

But more than 200 explicit photos of the girl continued to be traded by Internet pedophiles around the world. Where they later caught the attention of authorities in Europe who alerted detectives in Toronto. Where a second investigation was launched on a case that had already been solved.

(on camera): But detectives working this case say their experience will not be remembered as a complete waste of time. The search for this girl resulted in a series of law enforcement breakthroughs that may make it easier to find other victims of child pornography.

(voice-over): The Toronto Police developed the idea of using computers to remove the victim from photographs and to re-create the rooms behind them. What they came up with were surprisingly accurate photos of crime scenes that they could share with the public.

For example, the bedspread this photo led them to the Disney Resort in Orlando. These bricks spotted in some of the photos were identified by experts and led the investigators to believe that the girl was in Pennsylvania.

Now, the focus is on Florida, where it's possible new and tougher charges could be filed against the man who was once the child's adoptive father. Charges that could carry a life sentence.

David Mattingly, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Straight ahead tonight, she got caught up in one of the country's most violent street gangs. Then she got out and started talking to the FBI.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She thought of MS as her family. And I'm sure she expected that MS would forgive her the way that family would forgive you. Unfortunately, she was wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: What became of Brenda Paz?

Showdown in the Senate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's contemptible. It's contemptible. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This debate is not about principle. It's all about politics, and it's shameful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: As the fight over the president's judicial nominees begins, we go behind the scenes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You call someone Yoda and you mean that they're wise in a short pointy-eared sort of way.

YODA: Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size do you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Star Wars changed the way we talk. But why? Tonight, confessions of a fan.

From New York, where we always hope the force is with us, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: In a moment, a young woman who considered a violent gang her family. Only they hardly treated her with love and respect. A terrific story coming up.

But first, about a quarter past the hour, Erica Hill is in Atlanta and has some of the other news of the day. Erica, good evening.

ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS: Hi, Aaron, good evening to you.

The security of judges was the focus of a Senate hearing on Capital Hill today. Federal judge Joan Lefkow of Chicago implored members of the Judiciary Committee to provide enough funding to make sure judges are protected both in court and at home. Joan Lefkow's husband and mother were murdered in February by a man who once appeared before her.

An audio tape containing a voice believed to be that of terror leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi surfaced today in the Middle East. The voice on the tape denounces the new Iraqi government and justifies the killing of innocent Muslims for the greater cause of jihad.

CNN has been unable to confirm it is actually al Zarqawi on the tape, but the Bush administration has little doubt it is his voice.

John Negroponte sworn in today as the first director of national intelligence. President Bush has charged Negroponte with restructuring the intelligence community saying the various agencies should better coordinate with each other and to share information. A lack of cooperation was a chief criticism of the 9/11 commission. Several people were handcuffed and taken hostage during a bank robbery in Kansas. Police say a suspect held the hostages for half an hour, then forced some of them into a minivan and drove them to an airport where he attempted to board a small plane. But the suspect was shot by police. He's in critical condition. The FBI says no one else was hurt.

And that is the latest from Headline News at this hour. Aaron, back to you.

BROWN: Erica, thank you. See you in a half hour.

It has been said that friends are the family that you choose. For Brenda Paz, the choice was deadly. Yesterday, a federal jury convicted two members of the MS-13 street gang of her murder.

Like most teenagers, Brenda Paz wanted to fit in, wanted to belong. That's why they joined the gang. It's also why she couldn't stay away. Here is Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Those who knew her say Brenda Paz was instantly likable. In fact, her nickname was "Smiley."

GREG HUNTER, PAZ'S LAWYER/GUARDIAN: And I've said it many times, if she were born into another -- into another existence, she'd be the president of a chess club at Wellsley (ph) by now. But that just wasn't what she was given in life.

ARENA: Instead, Paz joined MS-13, a street gang known for its brutality and violence.

HUNTER: She got friendship and fellowship, the same sort of things I think all teenage kids, I think everybody looks for.

ARENA: Greg Hunter first met Paz when she was 16. It was just after she had been arrested for allegedly riding in a stolen vehicle. He was appointed her guardian, then became her defense attorney.

HUNTER: She was a teenage runaway. And the question before the court was how we were going to return her to her family. And it wasn't until about a day later that we found out just how many law enforcement agencies want to talk to her.

ARENA: And Paz decided that she wanted to talk to them.

HUNTER: She'd been with MS long enough that she'd seen a few people die. She'd seen a few people go to jail. She'd seen a lot of lives ruined.

ARENA: The government says she cooperated with law enforcement and stayed at this FBI safe house, providing intelligence on the gang and its criminal activities. She was going to testify against her former boyfriend Dennis Rivera, who was later convicted and who the government describes as an MS-13 leader.

HUNTER: She was able to give information. The information she was able to give was specific and detailed. She was able to solve -- helpfully solve some otherwise unsolved, unsolvable crimes.

ARENA: MS has strict rules against cooperating with police, and members who do are often greenlighted or targeted for murder. One MS member we spoke to, on the condition he remain anonymous, explained it this way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, they will see him and he will be killed.

ARENA: Reporter: what do you have to do to get greenlighted?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell on somebody.

ARENA: So if you snitch?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ARENA: Paz was placed in witness protection and lived in Kansas City and other locations. But before she testified against the gang, friends say she found isolated and fled the program in June of 2003.

GREG HUNTER, PAZ'S LAWYER: She thought of MS as her family. And I'm sure she expected that MS would forgive her the way that family would forgive you. Unfortunately, she was wrong.

ARENA: Paz met up with other MS members here in Virginia at what used to be a motel. The government says those young men invited Paz on a fishing trip on the Shenandoah River.

SHERIFF TIMOTHY CARTER, SHENANDOAH COUNTY, VA: She was found north of here. And the only thing we could identify was that she had several tattoos, but it was very difficult at the time because she just had decomposed so badly.

ARENA: Paz, who was then 17, had been stabbed more than a dozen times and her throat was slashed. She was four months pregnant with a baby boy at the time. Two gang members were convicted of her murder and could be sentenced to death.

ROBERT CLIFFORD, FBI/MS-13 TASK FORCE: The Brenda Paz case in many ways illustrates I think the propensity for violence, the ruthlessness of MS-13.

ARENA: Robert Clifford heads the FBI's new MS-13 Task Force and says the bureau is now fighting the gang much like it did the Mafia.

CLIFFORD: What we are seeing is an effort to organize and to communicate. We have evidence of communications between MS-13 members in the United States, in Mexico and in El Salvador.

ARENA: The FBI estimates MS has about 15,000 members in the U.S., in 33 states and D.C. CHRIS SWECKER, FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: D.C. is sort of a wide range of criminal activity, from petty criminal activity to extremely brutal homicide of a federal witness. You don't get much more brazen than that.

ARENA: Part of the FBI's aim is to get members of the gang to cooperate, just like Brenda Paz did. But that takes courage and, too often, carries a very, very high price.

For CNN's America Bureau, Kelli Arena, Washington.

BROWN: Ahead on the program tonight, a behind-the-scenes look in the Senate. Can Republicans and Democrats reach a compromise over controversial nominees to the federal bench? Or is total partisan war about to change the Senate for years to come?

And as people line up to see the latest installment, the cultural impact of "Star Wars," what it's like to meet the real Princess Leia. I wonder what that is like?

We'll take a break with these live pictures. This is "Newsnight."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Some time in the next few days or so, the United States Senate may well be forced to make a historic decision. There are lots of ways to look at the battle over the president's choices for a few judgeships.

You can argue, as Democrats do, that the vast majority of the president's choices have already been confirmed, hundreds of them; or that Republicans did essentially the same thing with Clinton appointments; or you can argue, as many Republicans do, that judges deserve a straight up-or-down majority vote.

What you can't argue is that a vote to end the right to filibuster, a right deeply ingrained in American history and the rules of the Senate, will change the Senate for years to come if not forever. And no one on either side can know the implications of such a change on the American government.

We begin in Congress and CNN's Joe Johns.

JOE JOHNS, CNN (voice-over): Democrats on the capitol steps vowing defiance.

U.S. SENATOR HARRY REID (D-NV): They want it all: all the say, all the control, all the power. It's their way or the highway.

JOHNS: Party leaders squaring off.

U.S. SENATOR BILL FRIST (R-TN): It's the partisan leadership-led use of the cloture vote to kill, to defeat, to assassinate these nominees. JOHNS: But while senators gave emotional and sometimes bitter speeches about nominees Priscilla Owen and Janice Rogers Brown, behind the scenes away from all the attention, a handful of Democrats and Republicans were meeting privately looking for a way to break the impasse.

U.S. SENATOR BEN NELSON (D-NE): There are 10 people in the room, there are 11 opinions. So we're going to continue to do that. But I think -- but they're not so diverse that it doesn't look like you could ultimately bring them together.

JOHNS: So who are the leaders of this behind-the-scenes effort?

On the Democratic side, Ben Nelson, the junior senator from Nebraska is making a name for himself as someone unafraid to cross party lines. Also Mark Pryor of Arkansas, one of the youngest members of the Senate.

On the Republican side, John McCain, the maverick conservative who has no problem crossing his party and his president when he thinks he's right.

U.S. SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ): We're making some progress, but we have no conclusion yet.

JOHNS: And Virginia's John Warner, one of the old bulls of the Senate, a powerful committee chairman with a courtly manner and a deep love for the institution. And the two senators from Maine, the last bastion of Yankee moderate Republicanism, influential because their votes can never be taken for granted.

So as the conversation grows louder in the public arena...

U.S. SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT): It's contemptible. It's contemptible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This debate is not about principle. It's all about politics, and it's shameful.

JOHNS: Behind the scenes, a hint of compromise. The mission is defined 12 senators to sign on to an agreement. Republicans would refuse to change the rules on filibusters and Democrats would promise to let some but not all disputed judicial nominations go through and be more careful about who they try to block in the future.

Why 12? Because the way the Senate breaks down, 6 Republicans would be enough to deny GOP Leader Bill Frist the 51 votes needed to kill the filibuster. And six Democrats would be enough to make the filibuster unsustainable in the first place.

If either side abuses the deal, all bets would be off. In nuclear terms, it's a gradual disarmament, a version of the old axiom, "Trust, but verify."

Leadership...

FRIST: All we want is a vote, an up-or-down vote, accept, reject, confirm, yes, no, that's all that we're asking for.

SEN. HARRY REID (D), MINORITY LEADER: The majority is moving toward breaking the rules to change the rules. That's improper. It will change the Senate forever.

JOHNS: ...and leadership.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We just continue to work right up until the last minute.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We wouldn't continue to do it if we didn't have some expectation of achieving an agreement.

JOHNS: Two tracks, one headed to a showdown fueled by political pressure from activist groups, the other headed toward compromise. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has been warned by conservative groups that if he loses, he won't get points for trying, which increases the stakes for him and any senator in his party who strikes a deal that does not include up or down votes for all of the president's nominees.

Joe Johns, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Ultimately, perhaps, our grandchildren will write the details of this history. Earlier today we spoke with Tom Daschle, the former Democratic senator from South Carolina, a leader of his party both as a majority and a minority.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Senator, I have a feeling that if you could hook up all 100 serving senators to a lie detector machine, you'd find very few who find this moment a palatable one, and yet here we are. And how, if you can step back from being the former Democratic leader, how is it that we got to the point where partisanship seems to be the dominant mover of an issue?

TOM DASCHLE (D), FMR. U.S. SENATOR: Well, I think what's happened, Aaron, is that there is so much competition, so much confrontation as a result of that competition, that people fail to take the longer view. I think it's so critical for everybody to step back and remember what it is that got us here, and that is the institutions of this republic and making sure that we protect them. Knowing that it's our responsibility as public officials to protect them has an even greater role to play and far more import than I think most people fully appreciate because of that short-term, competitive confrontation you see right now.

BROWN: Why is it, in your view, why is it important that in this regard, the Senate be different from the House? There is no parallel in the House. There's no filibuster in the House. It's up or down. You have the majority or you don't. But in the Senate it's different. And the framers wanted it to be so. Why does it matter? DASCHLE: I think that they looked at the Congress as almost like an automobile, even though automobiles didn't exist. And in the House you have the gas pedal and in the Senate you have the brakes. They wanted a legislative brake system. They wanted to be sure that, whether it's a nomination or whether it's a piece of legislation, you are going to have brakes. You're going to have a way to slow things down.

So, there's no question in my mind, if we eliminate cloture on this, you take away part of that braking ability and that's exactly, diametrically opposed to the vision of the founding fathers.

BROWN: And, just finish, if you will, in a sense that paragraph. If you -- the implications of taking it away are exactly what?

DASCHLE: Well, the implications really are three-fold. First of all, it puts even greater power in the hands of the presidency. They don't have to worry any longer about the cooperation that normally is required. Secondly, I think it re-creates the same bitter partisan climate that you have in the House of Representatives right now. And third, it takes away this sense of protecting the minority, whomever the minority may be at any one point.

So the stakes are so much higher than what may be presented in the day-to-day debate about judges. This has profound implications for the institution itself.

BROWN: If you were to put money on the table, you think -- do you think that this will happen?

DASCHLE: You know, Aaron, this is probably too close to call right now. I've talked to some of my colleagues as early as this morning, and they're saying that there's still some vote in flux, that two or three votes have not yet been determined, and this still could go either way. There is still a possibility for some sort of a compromise through negotiations. That's still under way. But I think it's too close to call.

BROWN: Well, that doesn't happen very often either. So, you know, we've got a mystery on our hands but it's a mystery that I think everyone would agree with profound historical implications. It's good to see you, sir. Thank you for your time.

DASCHLE: Thank you for having me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Former majority and minority leader Tom Daschle for the U.S. Senate. Still to come on NEWSNIGHT, a check of the day's headlines, some of the other things that made news.

And days after its big premier at the film festival in Cannes, the final installment of "Star Wars" opens across the country. A look at how this series, nearly three decades old, has changed the culture. From Cannes to New York, to a galaxy far away, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Outside New York City's famous Ziegfeld movie theater tonight, scenes like this at theaters around the country. We suspect that die-hards are lining up. They call themselves the "Star Wars" geeks, and tonight is their night. At a moment past midnight, they'll be part of a milestone in the history of movies, when the sixth and final installment of the "Star Wars" saga begins playing in theaters around the country.

When the first one opened, I'd been in TV for less than a year, owned one suit, brown corduroy. My wife still laughs, and no computer. CNN didn't exist. Harrison Ford was an unknown, pretty much. It is hard to imagine a film series 28 years long because there hasn't been one, and then there's this. We have changed far more than the films.

Here's CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The first time I heard about "Star Wars," I was in high school working at a radio station in Alabama. And I saw a piece of wire copy about how people were lining up around the block to see this film about spaceships. And I thought, that's strange because I had seen "2001" and "Star Trek" for years and I wasn't that much into it.

But a couple of weeks later, I saw that first scene where the mother ship comes flying in, and everyone in the theater just went, whoa, because it just seemed to massive and so real and unlike any space stuff we'd ever seen before, and the rest was classic western. The good guys, the bad guys, the showdown at high noon.

You know, honestly, I think that movie was a landmark, not just for American, but for world culture, and I know that's a big claim. But the "Star Wars" series has been around for almost 30 years. Every single film has produced an avalanche of worldwide coverage. "Star Wars" products have brought in $9 billion. That's a dollar and a half for every person on the planet. Terms like "wookie" and "light saber," , may the force be with you, have made their way into our language. We've embraced Star Wars figurines and clothing and even sounds. The characters have become prototypes. You call someone Yoda and you mean that they're wise in a short, pointy-eared sort of way.

YODA: You must unlearn what you have learned.

FOREMAN: Call someone Jabba the Hutt and the insult is obvious.

And Darth Vader, at least symbolically, has become the new Hitler, the great evil in the universe.

DARTH VADER: Don't make me destroy you.

FOREMAN: I'm not sure that anybody can explain exactly why we get attached so much to these films. Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters" came out at about the same time. It didn't join our consciousness like Star Wars did.

Last week, my younger daughter, who is 9, went to one of these special charity previews of the new movie. And she told me afterward that she was seated about four rows away from Princess Leia. And I said, you mean, Carrie Fisher, the actress? She said, yes.

I went up, got her autograph, talked to her about school and about acting and about movies. You know, I've been in the news business since high school, and I've met presidents and world leaders and all sorts of celebrities, but she told me that and I thought, wow, she met Princess Leia.

CARRIE FISHER, ACTRESS: I love you.

HARRISON FORD, ACTOR: I know.

FOREMAN: Now, that's the power of Star Wars.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And that's CNN's Tom Foreman.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT from BMX biker to boss, how a 16-year-old turned his passion into cash.

Morning papers don't cost us anything. They cost you what a quarter or so. They're coming up as well. We take a break first. From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: In a moment, tail whips, ice picks, toothpicks. Sounds like a NEWSNIGHT staff meeting, but it is not. We'll explain it all. But at a bout a quarter to the hour, time for other headlines of the day. Erica Hill is in Atlanta -- Erica.

HILL: Hi, Aaron. Good to see you again.

In the Michael Jackson trial today, a young cousin of the pop star took the stand. The 12-year-old testified that he saw Mr. Jackson's accuser and younger brother masturbating to sexually explicit images in a guest cottage at Neverland Ranch. Now earlier in the trial what the accuser and his brother testified they were sexually naive until being introduced to masturbation by Mr. Jackson.

No one's ever said he lacks confidence. Donald Trump, the developer turned TV star unveiled today his architectural vision. It's a model of what he things should replace the World Trade Center towers. He envisions two towers, 111 stories tall, one floor taller than the original towers. Never one to mince words, Mr. Trump he said today the design already approve for the site looks like, in his words, a junkyard.

And that's the latest from Headline News. Aaron, we'll turn it back to you.

BROWN: Thank you. Has the Donald gone blond there? Is that what happened?

HILL: He may be getting a little blonder. Maybe it is summer, he's getting more sun.

BROWN: That must be it. Thank you, Erica.

You probably won't believe us when we tell you that no one -- he just looked blond to me. That no one on the NEWSNIGHT staff rides a BMX bike, not to work anyway. OK, we didn't ask the interns, we never do. We do, however, recognize passion when we see it. In this case, the passion was BMX. And the biker became the boss and now he's on the rise.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZACK PHILLIPS, BMX BIKER: I'm Zack Phillips. I'm the owner of Kink Bicycles. We make and produce high end BMX parts for your ride.

At the age of 12 started biking. I had a blast. The funny thing was I breaking my bike parts a lot. At the age of 16, I decided, hey this stuff stinks. Let's make some better stuff. And from there, we went to axles and pegs and now we make just about everything you need to put a whole bike together.

These are the axle pegs. They need to be really strong. You can do lots of tricks with them.

What the definition of BMX is, it really just means the little bikes when you had when you were 10-years-old.

What we're doing on those is doing lots of tricks. Every trick has a name, like a tailwhip, a pipestick, toothpick. It just has all evolved using different parts of your bike and getting into different positions.

I'd say about 75 percent of our parts are made right here in Rochester. The strategy behind us making our parts, really style is a huge factor now. The weight, everyone wants lightweight products.

You can buy Kink parts at over 1200 bike shops in the U.S. And then in each country such as Canada, Australia, England, we have bike shops in all those other countries, too.

Hi Dave, this is Zack over at Kink Bikes.

Our sales have increased every single year. We sell over $1 million worth of stuff, and we've doing that in the last three years. So we're growing every year.

I think the best part is not having an alarm clock in the morning. I wake up and come into work and enjoy my day. I never thought Kink would be this large. It still amazes me. I mean, we had six employees. It is hard to imagine that something that started out of my backpack is now paying people's mortgages and car payments. It is kind of amazing when you think about it, but it is we love to do, so it worked out really nice. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Pretty cool. Morning papers after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Okey-doke. Time to check morning papers from around the country -- around the country I think, as it turns out tonight, if I'm selected them correctly.

The "Washington Times" -- we haven't done this in a while: "Border Vigil Planned for California." The "Times" like immigration stories, illegal immigration stories, so they put this on the front page: "Minutemen Organizers to Promote New Protest." That is on the front page.

Also, the judicial debate, filibuster deal: Hour of Decision on Judicial Picks; Senators Debate, Try to Negotiate." That is a mess.

"The Examiner," the free newspaper in Washington -- and you can't get a better deal than that -- puts Donald Trump on the front page. He wants to rebuild the World Trade Center. We told you that. And he wants to turn that into a reality TV show.

I just liked a couple of headlines. I like all these headlines. But here is something we don't do normally.

"Boston Herald": "Pike Boss Pays Tribute to Self From Here to New York." "Ego Driven" is the headline. Look at that picture they put up. He can't be very happen with that. They're kind of making fun of him.

"The Dallas Morning News," Texas has a dog in this fight over the judges. So they front-page it. "Will Filibuster Feud Open a Lasting Fissure?" And "Abortion Consent Bill Ok'ed.".

"New York Daily News," good headline this: "Field of Schemes: Groundskeeper at Shea Stadium Busted in $360 million mob gambling ring. "

The weather tomorrow in Chicago, pay attention, the dark side.

We'll wrap it up with a "Then & Now" in a moment. Imagine you had a great idea and shared it with the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: A tragic love story born in the competitive world of figure skating. Ekaterina Gordeeva and her skating partner, Sergei Grinkov, captured the pairs gold medal for Russia in the 1998 Olympics and again in 1994.

Along the way, they married and had a daughter, Daria.

But during a practice session in 1995, Grinkov died suddenly from a heart attack. Gordeeva found comfort in the same place she found love, on the ice, returning alone just three months later.

EKATERINA GORDEEVA, OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATER: To come back on the ice, it was hard and at the same time it was kind of a healing process.

ANNOUNCER: Gordeeva became a household name and face, writing two books and signing several endorsements, including Target. She even launched her own fragrance line. She eventually found love again, marrying fellow gold medalist Ilia Kulik and had a second daughter, Elizaveta.

Gordeeva has toured with "Stars on Ice" for seven years but says her achievements off the ice are most important to her.

GORDEEVA: I think, still, kids are the proudest moment. To be part of Olympic experience, that was very special, too. But I think that kids would be a first gold medal.

BROWN: All year long we'll celebrate our 25th anniversary with the stories that made news over a quarter of a century.

We'll see you tomorrow at 10:00 Eastern time. Until then-- give me the picture if you got it, guys -- may the force be with you.

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 May 18, 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 "NEWSNIGHT": We like to think we know the people in our lives, really know them -- a colleague, a spouse, a public figure. That's what we'd like to think and then we often learn how much we don't know, how many secrets there are.
Tonight, the secrets which are no longer secrets, belong to a public figure, the mayor of Spokane, Washington who carried out a grand charade for a long time until a newspaper exposed him, which itself became part of the story. The newspaper part, in a moment, but first, the story of Mayor Jim West.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): In conservative Spokane, Washington, though probably in any town, the headlines were grabbers. The mayor, a staunch anti-gay rights politician for decades, accused of molesting two boys while a deputy sheriff 24 years ago, and trolling the Internet for young boys while in office, suggesting a city internship in exchange for sex.

The mayor, James West, denied some of the paper's charges, and to the shock of most in this city, admitted others.

JAMES A. WEST, SPOKANE MAYOR: I categorically deny any allegations about incidents that supposedly occurred 24 years ago, as alleged by two convicted felons and about which I have no knowledge.

The newspaper also reported that I have visited a gay Internet chat line and had relations with adult men. I don't deny that.

BROWN: If hypocrisy was a crime, the mayor in the eyes of his constituents, was guilty as charged.

SHAUN CROSS, SPOKANE ATTORNEY: No, it's really not about his sexual orientation. It's about the huge chasm between his public stances and the vigor with which he prosecuted those public stances, and his private life, and the hypocrisy that erodes public confidence in our political process.

BROWN: Since his statement to reporters, West has declined to answer questions. His last public statement was before the Spokane city council where he, in effect, said he was the victim.

WEST: I hope that you and the people will reserve judgment on me until the newspaper is done persecuting me, and allow me to have the fair opportunity to respond to each of the allegations in due time.

BROWN: The due time has yet to come. The mayor has not explained either the contradictions of his public positions and his private life, nor has he explained what he was doing engaging in seductive conversations with someone online he allegedly believed was just 17, a minor. To say that people in this eastern Washington town are displeased is to understate.

ALLAN LETOURNEAU, SPOKANE RESIDENT: I don't know if I want to be seen sitting in a restaurant or someplace talking to him. I'm sure there's a lot of other people that don't want to deal with this kind of a man.

SHERI BARNARD, FMR SPOKANE MAYOR: To think that our mayor has been using the Internet with names such as JMSElton, Cobra 82 (ph), and RightByGuy (ph) to entice and lure young men into sexual relationships is repulsive.

BROWN: Under Spokane law, the city council can't force James West to resign. He has to come to that conclusion himself. So far, he's just gone on vacation, with a lot to think about and explain.

CROSS: It's about the sheer weight of allegations, and, yes, we're innocent until proven guilty. But you know, at some point in time you can't leave even if the allegations aren't true.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (on camera): Yesterday the district attorney in Spokane County rejected a petition to recall the mayor. City council members plan to vote at the end of the month on a motion calling for the mayor to step aside.

The repercussions of the mayor's private life, even if it involves no legal wrongdoing, is one thing. How it came to the public eye is yet another. The newspaper the "Spokane Spokesman Review" got the story or elements of it. No controversy there. But how it got the story, that has raised questions. In a time when media is under the microscope, the tactics used by the paper have been the subject of intense debate. Here's CNN's Jeff Greenfield.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After the "Review" interviewed sources, it was looking for a way to nail down the story, so it hired an adult forensic computer expert to pose as a 17-year-old boy who entered a chat room, gay.com. When the boy said he turned 18, West offered him an internship at city hall and ultimately arranged a meeting at a Spokane golf course, which leads to a question that's been around for decades: is it ever fair to misrepresent, to lie, to get a story?

Back in the 1970s, "60 Minutes" and the "Chicago Sun-Times" joined with a local better government group to open a fictitious bar called the Mirage to see if local inspectors would come around looking for payoffs. They did. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A primetime undercover investigation.

GREENFIELD: In the 1990s, ABC News battled for years with the Food Lion grocery chain after writing a story about food handling practices that involved hidden cameras and store employees who were in fact working undercover for ABC. The network wound up paying all of $2.

And, in a very different terrain, in 1997, the tabloid "Globe" paid a woman who brought broadcaster Frank Gifford to a hotel room and videotaped them having sex.

A number of journalists have spoken out against any misrepresentation by the press under any circumstance. And says the Kennedy School of Government's Alex Jones, as a general rule, dissembling is a bad idea. But in this case...

ALEX JONES, KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT: Without having this kind of evidence in hand, they felt that they could not make the case with certainty and persuasiveness. You know, I think that under the circumstances this was an issue that was important enough to want to establish for sure.

GREENFIELD: Steve Smith is the editor of the "Review."

STEVE SMITH, "THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW" EDITOR: We had a mayor engaging in inappropriate conduct, and absent absolute proof that this was the individual involved, that portion of our investigation would never have been printed. He'd never have been brought under investigation by the FBI and by the state of Washington. He might never face criminal prosecution.

GREENFIELD: So, when journalists ask whether misrepresentation is justified, they're not likely to find a handy, absolute, black-and- white answer. Instead, journalists have to ask ourselves two questions -- first, is this the only way to get the story? And second, is the story worth the misrepresentation? Or as the philosophers say, does the end justify the means?

Jeff Greenfield, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Not far down I-90 from Spokane, a triple murder and the disappearance of two children. Police in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, say a man sought for questioning in the case has now made contact with authorities. He's Robert Lutner, said to be a friend of the dead and missing family members. Nine-year-old Dylan Groene and his sister Shasta were nowhere to be found on Monday when police showed up at their home and discovered their mother, brother and adult man bound and dead. This is one mystery.

Another mystery, no less horrible, perhaps even creepier in some respects, has another chapter tonight. We can report that it's solved. Here's David Mattingly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In June 2001, investigators believe a Pittsburgh engineer took his adopted daughter to a Disney resort in Orlando where they suspect he sexually abused and photographed the blonde haired child, and then posted her pictures on the internet.

DET. SGT. PAUL GILLESPIE, TORONTO POLICE DEPARTMENT: It's horrific abuse of a very young, vulnerable child, and you just -- once you've seen the images and you've seen the collection, this set of pictures is, it really breaks your heart.

MATTINGLY: So, from hotel rooms in Orlando to chat rooms in Toronto, investigators mounted an extraordinary search, and then last week, this surprising announcement.

LT. MATT IRWIN, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: We have located the victim in our case.

MATTINGLY: Surprisingly, while detectives in two countries took their very public manhunt to more than a dozen states, the girl had already been rescued. Her adoptive father, already convicted and imprisoned by federal authorities back in 2003. That's when the FBI learned that the disturbing photos didn't begin to tell this little girl's story.

MARY BETH BUCHANAN, U.S. ATTORNEY: Based upon all the evidence that we had seen, it does appear that the adoption was motivated by the defendant's interest in sexual activity, illegal sexual activity, with children.

MATTINGLY: U.S. attorney Mary Beth Buchanan of western Pennsylvania describes how the girl had been adopted from Russia at the age of five by a 45-year-old divorced engineer working with agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

Buchanan says he sexually abused the girl throughout the years that followed, even kept her on a strict diet to make her look younger.

BUCHANAN: The child at age 11 did appear to be younger than an 11-year-old child, and the types of illegal material that this suspect was trying to obtain on the internet would involve children who were of the age of approximately eight to 10, and specifically he was looking for images of young children who appeared -- who had a very thin appearance.

MATTINGLY: It was two years ago that the FBI pursued the girl's adoptive father from a child porn chat room to his home in a rural suburb of Pittsburgh. That's where they found computerized evidence of child pornography and his tormented victim.

BUCHANAN: We believe that this was the first opportunity that this child had to disclose the activities that had been occurring to her. And luckily, the federal law enforcement agents who were executing this search were well trained in investigating cases involving child sexual exploitation.

MATTINGLY: The girl was immediately placed in foster care and has since been adopted by a new family far from the home where she endured such pain. Her abuser got the maximum sentence possible at the time, 15 years in prison for producing and possessing child pornography.

But more than 200 explicit photos of the girl continued to be traded by Internet pedophiles around the world. Where they later caught the attention of authorities in Europe who alerted detectives in Toronto. Where a second investigation was launched on a case that had already been solved.

(on camera): But detectives working this case say their experience will not be remembered as a complete waste of time. The search for this girl resulted in a series of law enforcement breakthroughs that may make it easier to find other victims of child pornography.

(voice-over): The Toronto Police developed the idea of using computers to remove the victim from photographs and to re-create the rooms behind them. What they came up with were surprisingly accurate photos of crime scenes that they could share with the public.

For example, the bedspread this photo led them to the Disney Resort in Orlando. These bricks spotted in some of the photos were identified by experts and led the investigators to believe that the girl was in Pennsylvania.

Now, the focus is on Florida, where it's possible new and tougher charges could be filed against the man who was once the child's adoptive father. Charges that could carry a life sentence.

David Mattingly, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Straight ahead tonight, she got caught up in one of the country's most violent street gangs. Then she got out and started talking to the FBI.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She thought of MS as her family. And I'm sure she expected that MS would forgive her the way that family would forgive you. Unfortunately, she was wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: What became of Brenda Paz?

Showdown in the Senate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's contemptible. It's contemptible. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This debate is not about principle. It's all about politics, and it's shameful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: As the fight over the president's judicial nominees begins, we go behind the scenes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You call someone Yoda and you mean that they're wise in a short pointy-eared sort of way.

YODA: Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size do you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Star Wars changed the way we talk. But why? Tonight, confessions of a fan.

From New York, where we always hope the force is with us, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: In a moment, a young woman who considered a violent gang her family. Only they hardly treated her with love and respect. A terrific story coming up.

But first, about a quarter past the hour, Erica Hill is in Atlanta and has some of the other news of the day. Erica, good evening.

ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS: Hi, Aaron, good evening to you.

The security of judges was the focus of a Senate hearing on Capital Hill today. Federal judge Joan Lefkow of Chicago implored members of the Judiciary Committee to provide enough funding to make sure judges are protected both in court and at home. Joan Lefkow's husband and mother were murdered in February by a man who once appeared before her.

An audio tape containing a voice believed to be that of terror leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi surfaced today in the Middle East. The voice on the tape denounces the new Iraqi government and justifies the killing of innocent Muslims for the greater cause of jihad.

CNN has been unable to confirm it is actually al Zarqawi on the tape, but the Bush administration has little doubt it is his voice.

John Negroponte sworn in today as the first director of national intelligence. President Bush has charged Negroponte with restructuring the intelligence community saying the various agencies should better coordinate with each other and to share information. A lack of cooperation was a chief criticism of the 9/11 commission. Several people were handcuffed and taken hostage during a bank robbery in Kansas. Police say a suspect held the hostages for half an hour, then forced some of them into a minivan and drove them to an airport where he attempted to board a small plane. But the suspect was shot by police. He's in critical condition. The FBI says no one else was hurt.

And that is the latest from Headline News at this hour. Aaron, back to you.

BROWN: Erica, thank you. See you in a half hour.

It has been said that friends are the family that you choose. For Brenda Paz, the choice was deadly. Yesterday, a federal jury convicted two members of the MS-13 street gang of her murder.

Like most teenagers, Brenda Paz wanted to fit in, wanted to belong. That's why they joined the gang. It's also why she couldn't stay away. Here is Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Those who knew her say Brenda Paz was instantly likable. In fact, her nickname was "Smiley."

GREG HUNTER, PAZ'S LAWYER/GUARDIAN: And I've said it many times, if she were born into another -- into another existence, she'd be the president of a chess club at Wellsley (ph) by now. But that just wasn't what she was given in life.

ARENA: Instead, Paz joined MS-13, a street gang known for its brutality and violence.

HUNTER: She got friendship and fellowship, the same sort of things I think all teenage kids, I think everybody looks for.

ARENA: Greg Hunter first met Paz when she was 16. It was just after she had been arrested for allegedly riding in a stolen vehicle. He was appointed her guardian, then became her defense attorney.

HUNTER: She was a teenage runaway. And the question before the court was how we were going to return her to her family. And it wasn't until about a day later that we found out just how many law enforcement agencies want to talk to her.

ARENA: And Paz decided that she wanted to talk to them.

HUNTER: She'd been with MS long enough that she'd seen a few people die. She'd seen a few people go to jail. She'd seen a lot of lives ruined.

ARENA: The government says she cooperated with law enforcement and stayed at this FBI safe house, providing intelligence on the gang and its criminal activities. She was going to testify against her former boyfriend Dennis Rivera, who was later convicted and who the government describes as an MS-13 leader.

HUNTER: She was able to give information. The information she was able to give was specific and detailed. She was able to solve -- helpfully solve some otherwise unsolved, unsolvable crimes.

ARENA: MS has strict rules against cooperating with police, and members who do are often greenlighted or targeted for murder. One MS member we spoke to, on the condition he remain anonymous, explained it this way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, they will see him and he will be killed.

ARENA: Reporter: what do you have to do to get greenlighted?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell on somebody.

ARENA: So if you snitch?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ARENA: Paz was placed in witness protection and lived in Kansas City and other locations. But before she testified against the gang, friends say she found isolated and fled the program in June of 2003.

GREG HUNTER, PAZ'S LAWYER: She thought of MS as her family. And I'm sure she expected that MS would forgive her the way that family would forgive you. Unfortunately, she was wrong.

ARENA: Paz met up with other MS members here in Virginia at what used to be a motel. The government says those young men invited Paz on a fishing trip on the Shenandoah River.

SHERIFF TIMOTHY CARTER, SHENANDOAH COUNTY, VA: She was found north of here. And the only thing we could identify was that she had several tattoos, but it was very difficult at the time because she just had decomposed so badly.

ARENA: Paz, who was then 17, had been stabbed more than a dozen times and her throat was slashed. She was four months pregnant with a baby boy at the time. Two gang members were convicted of her murder and could be sentenced to death.

ROBERT CLIFFORD, FBI/MS-13 TASK FORCE: The Brenda Paz case in many ways illustrates I think the propensity for violence, the ruthlessness of MS-13.

ARENA: Robert Clifford heads the FBI's new MS-13 Task Force and says the bureau is now fighting the gang much like it did the Mafia.

CLIFFORD: What we are seeing is an effort to organize and to communicate. We have evidence of communications between MS-13 members in the United States, in Mexico and in El Salvador.

ARENA: The FBI estimates MS has about 15,000 members in the U.S., in 33 states and D.C. CHRIS SWECKER, FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: D.C. is sort of a wide range of criminal activity, from petty criminal activity to extremely brutal homicide of a federal witness. You don't get much more brazen than that.

ARENA: Part of the FBI's aim is to get members of the gang to cooperate, just like Brenda Paz did. But that takes courage and, too often, carries a very, very high price.

For CNN's America Bureau, Kelli Arena, Washington.

BROWN: Ahead on the program tonight, a behind-the-scenes look in the Senate. Can Republicans and Democrats reach a compromise over controversial nominees to the federal bench? Or is total partisan war about to change the Senate for years to come?

And as people line up to see the latest installment, the cultural impact of "Star Wars," what it's like to meet the real Princess Leia. I wonder what that is like?

We'll take a break with these live pictures. This is "Newsnight."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Some time in the next few days or so, the United States Senate may well be forced to make a historic decision. There are lots of ways to look at the battle over the president's choices for a few judgeships.

You can argue, as Democrats do, that the vast majority of the president's choices have already been confirmed, hundreds of them; or that Republicans did essentially the same thing with Clinton appointments; or you can argue, as many Republicans do, that judges deserve a straight up-or-down majority vote.

What you can't argue is that a vote to end the right to filibuster, a right deeply ingrained in American history and the rules of the Senate, will change the Senate for years to come if not forever. And no one on either side can know the implications of such a change on the American government.

We begin in Congress and CNN's Joe Johns.

JOE JOHNS, CNN (voice-over): Democrats on the capitol steps vowing defiance.

U.S. SENATOR HARRY REID (D-NV): They want it all: all the say, all the control, all the power. It's their way or the highway.

JOHNS: Party leaders squaring off.

U.S. SENATOR BILL FRIST (R-TN): It's the partisan leadership-led use of the cloture vote to kill, to defeat, to assassinate these nominees. JOHNS: But while senators gave emotional and sometimes bitter speeches about nominees Priscilla Owen and Janice Rogers Brown, behind the scenes away from all the attention, a handful of Democrats and Republicans were meeting privately looking for a way to break the impasse.

U.S. SENATOR BEN NELSON (D-NE): There are 10 people in the room, there are 11 opinions. So we're going to continue to do that. But I think -- but they're not so diverse that it doesn't look like you could ultimately bring them together.

JOHNS: So who are the leaders of this behind-the-scenes effort?

On the Democratic side, Ben Nelson, the junior senator from Nebraska is making a name for himself as someone unafraid to cross party lines. Also Mark Pryor of Arkansas, one of the youngest members of the Senate.

On the Republican side, John McCain, the maverick conservative who has no problem crossing his party and his president when he thinks he's right.

U.S. SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ): We're making some progress, but we have no conclusion yet.

JOHNS: And Virginia's John Warner, one of the old bulls of the Senate, a powerful committee chairman with a courtly manner and a deep love for the institution. And the two senators from Maine, the last bastion of Yankee moderate Republicanism, influential because their votes can never be taken for granted.

So as the conversation grows louder in the public arena...

U.S. SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT): It's contemptible. It's contemptible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This debate is not about principle. It's all about politics, and it's shameful.

JOHNS: Behind the scenes, a hint of compromise. The mission is defined 12 senators to sign on to an agreement. Republicans would refuse to change the rules on filibusters and Democrats would promise to let some but not all disputed judicial nominations go through and be more careful about who they try to block in the future.

Why 12? Because the way the Senate breaks down, 6 Republicans would be enough to deny GOP Leader Bill Frist the 51 votes needed to kill the filibuster. And six Democrats would be enough to make the filibuster unsustainable in the first place.

If either side abuses the deal, all bets would be off. In nuclear terms, it's a gradual disarmament, a version of the old axiom, "Trust, but verify."

Leadership...

FRIST: All we want is a vote, an up-or-down vote, accept, reject, confirm, yes, no, that's all that we're asking for.

SEN. HARRY REID (D), MINORITY LEADER: The majority is moving toward breaking the rules to change the rules. That's improper. It will change the Senate forever.

JOHNS: ...and leadership.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We just continue to work right up until the last minute.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We wouldn't continue to do it if we didn't have some expectation of achieving an agreement.

JOHNS: Two tracks, one headed to a showdown fueled by political pressure from activist groups, the other headed toward compromise. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has been warned by conservative groups that if he loses, he won't get points for trying, which increases the stakes for him and any senator in his party who strikes a deal that does not include up or down votes for all of the president's nominees.

Joe Johns, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Ultimately, perhaps, our grandchildren will write the details of this history. Earlier today we spoke with Tom Daschle, the former Democratic senator from South Carolina, a leader of his party both as a majority and a minority.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Senator, I have a feeling that if you could hook up all 100 serving senators to a lie detector machine, you'd find very few who find this moment a palatable one, and yet here we are. And how, if you can step back from being the former Democratic leader, how is it that we got to the point where partisanship seems to be the dominant mover of an issue?

TOM DASCHLE (D), FMR. U.S. SENATOR: Well, I think what's happened, Aaron, is that there is so much competition, so much confrontation as a result of that competition, that people fail to take the longer view. I think it's so critical for everybody to step back and remember what it is that got us here, and that is the institutions of this republic and making sure that we protect them. Knowing that it's our responsibility as public officials to protect them has an even greater role to play and far more import than I think most people fully appreciate because of that short-term, competitive confrontation you see right now.

BROWN: Why is it, in your view, why is it important that in this regard, the Senate be different from the House? There is no parallel in the House. There's no filibuster in the House. It's up or down. You have the majority or you don't. But in the Senate it's different. And the framers wanted it to be so. Why does it matter? DASCHLE: I think that they looked at the Congress as almost like an automobile, even though automobiles didn't exist. And in the House you have the gas pedal and in the Senate you have the brakes. They wanted a legislative brake system. They wanted to be sure that, whether it's a nomination or whether it's a piece of legislation, you are going to have brakes. You're going to have a way to slow things down.

So, there's no question in my mind, if we eliminate cloture on this, you take away part of that braking ability and that's exactly, diametrically opposed to the vision of the founding fathers.

BROWN: And, just finish, if you will, in a sense that paragraph. If you -- the implications of taking it away are exactly what?

DASCHLE: Well, the implications really are three-fold. First of all, it puts even greater power in the hands of the presidency. They don't have to worry any longer about the cooperation that normally is required. Secondly, I think it re-creates the same bitter partisan climate that you have in the House of Representatives right now. And third, it takes away this sense of protecting the minority, whomever the minority may be at any one point.

So the stakes are so much higher than what may be presented in the day-to-day debate about judges. This has profound implications for the institution itself.

BROWN: If you were to put money on the table, you think -- do you think that this will happen?

DASCHLE: You know, Aaron, this is probably too close to call right now. I've talked to some of my colleagues as early as this morning, and they're saying that there's still some vote in flux, that two or three votes have not yet been determined, and this still could go either way. There is still a possibility for some sort of a compromise through negotiations. That's still under way. But I think it's too close to call.

BROWN: Well, that doesn't happen very often either. So, you know, we've got a mystery on our hands but it's a mystery that I think everyone would agree with profound historical implications. It's good to see you, sir. Thank you for your time.

DASCHLE: Thank you for having me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Former majority and minority leader Tom Daschle for the U.S. Senate. Still to come on NEWSNIGHT, a check of the day's headlines, some of the other things that made news.

And days after its big premier at the film festival in Cannes, the final installment of "Star Wars" opens across the country. A look at how this series, nearly three decades old, has changed the culture. From Cannes to New York, to a galaxy far away, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Outside New York City's famous Ziegfeld movie theater tonight, scenes like this at theaters around the country. We suspect that die-hards are lining up. They call themselves the "Star Wars" geeks, and tonight is their night. At a moment past midnight, they'll be part of a milestone in the history of movies, when the sixth and final installment of the "Star Wars" saga begins playing in theaters around the country.

When the first one opened, I'd been in TV for less than a year, owned one suit, brown corduroy. My wife still laughs, and no computer. CNN didn't exist. Harrison Ford was an unknown, pretty much. It is hard to imagine a film series 28 years long because there hasn't been one, and then there's this. We have changed far more than the films.

Here's CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The first time I heard about "Star Wars," I was in high school working at a radio station in Alabama. And I saw a piece of wire copy about how people were lining up around the block to see this film about spaceships. And I thought, that's strange because I had seen "2001" and "Star Trek" for years and I wasn't that much into it.

But a couple of weeks later, I saw that first scene where the mother ship comes flying in, and everyone in the theater just went, whoa, because it just seemed to massive and so real and unlike any space stuff we'd ever seen before, and the rest was classic western. The good guys, the bad guys, the showdown at high noon.

You know, honestly, I think that movie was a landmark, not just for American, but for world culture, and I know that's a big claim. But the "Star Wars" series has been around for almost 30 years. Every single film has produced an avalanche of worldwide coverage. "Star Wars" products have brought in $9 billion. That's a dollar and a half for every person on the planet. Terms like "wookie" and "light saber," , may the force be with you, have made their way into our language. We've embraced Star Wars figurines and clothing and even sounds. The characters have become prototypes. You call someone Yoda and you mean that they're wise in a short, pointy-eared sort of way.

YODA: You must unlearn what you have learned.

FOREMAN: Call someone Jabba the Hutt and the insult is obvious.

And Darth Vader, at least symbolically, has become the new Hitler, the great evil in the universe.

DARTH VADER: Don't make me destroy you.

FOREMAN: I'm not sure that anybody can explain exactly why we get attached so much to these films. Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters" came out at about the same time. It didn't join our consciousness like Star Wars did.

Last week, my younger daughter, who is 9, went to one of these special charity previews of the new movie. And she told me afterward that she was seated about four rows away from Princess Leia. And I said, you mean, Carrie Fisher, the actress? She said, yes.

I went up, got her autograph, talked to her about school and about acting and about movies. You know, I've been in the news business since high school, and I've met presidents and world leaders and all sorts of celebrities, but she told me that and I thought, wow, she met Princess Leia.

CARRIE FISHER, ACTRESS: I love you.

HARRISON FORD, ACTOR: I know.

FOREMAN: Now, that's the power of Star Wars.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And that's CNN's Tom Foreman.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT from BMX biker to boss, how a 16-year-old turned his passion into cash.

Morning papers don't cost us anything. They cost you what a quarter or so. They're coming up as well. We take a break first. From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: In a moment, tail whips, ice picks, toothpicks. Sounds like a NEWSNIGHT staff meeting, but it is not. We'll explain it all. But at a bout a quarter to the hour, time for other headlines of the day. Erica Hill is in Atlanta -- Erica.

HILL: Hi, Aaron. Good to see you again.

In the Michael Jackson trial today, a young cousin of the pop star took the stand. The 12-year-old testified that he saw Mr. Jackson's accuser and younger brother masturbating to sexually explicit images in a guest cottage at Neverland Ranch. Now earlier in the trial what the accuser and his brother testified they were sexually naive until being introduced to masturbation by Mr. Jackson.

No one's ever said he lacks confidence. Donald Trump, the developer turned TV star unveiled today his architectural vision. It's a model of what he things should replace the World Trade Center towers. He envisions two towers, 111 stories tall, one floor taller than the original towers. Never one to mince words, Mr. Trump he said today the design already approve for the site looks like, in his words, a junkyard.

And that's the latest from Headline News. Aaron, we'll turn it back to you.

BROWN: Thank you. Has the Donald gone blond there? Is that what happened?

HILL: He may be getting a little blonder. Maybe it is summer, he's getting more sun.

BROWN: That must be it. Thank you, Erica.

You probably won't believe us when we tell you that no one -- he just looked blond to me. That no one on the NEWSNIGHT staff rides a BMX bike, not to work anyway. OK, we didn't ask the interns, we never do. We do, however, recognize passion when we see it. In this case, the passion was BMX. And the biker became the boss and now he's on the rise.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZACK PHILLIPS, BMX BIKER: I'm Zack Phillips. I'm the owner of Kink Bicycles. We make and produce high end BMX parts for your ride.

At the age of 12 started biking. I had a blast. The funny thing was I breaking my bike parts a lot. At the age of 16, I decided, hey this stuff stinks. Let's make some better stuff. And from there, we went to axles and pegs and now we make just about everything you need to put a whole bike together.

These are the axle pegs. They need to be really strong. You can do lots of tricks with them.

What the definition of BMX is, it really just means the little bikes when you had when you were 10-years-old.

What we're doing on those is doing lots of tricks. Every trick has a name, like a tailwhip, a pipestick, toothpick. It just has all evolved using different parts of your bike and getting into different positions.

I'd say about 75 percent of our parts are made right here in Rochester. The strategy behind us making our parts, really style is a huge factor now. The weight, everyone wants lightweight products.

You can buy Kink parts at over 1200 bike shops in the U.S. And then in each country such as Canada, Australia, England, we have bike shops in all those other countries, too.

Hi Dave, this is Zack over at Kink Bikes.

Our sales have increased every single year. We sell over $1 million worth of stuff, and we've doing that in the last three years. So we're growing every year.

I think the best part is not having an alarm clock in the morning. I wake up and come into work and enjoy my day. I never thought Kink would be this large. It still amazes me. I mean, we had six employees. It is hard to imagine that something that started out of my backpack is now paying people's mortgages and car payments. It is kind of amazing when you think about it, but it is we love to do, so it worked out really nice. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Pretty cool. Morning papers after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Okey-doke. Time to check morning papers from around the country -- around the country I think, as it turns out tonight, if I'm selected them correctly.

The "Washington Times" -- we haven't done this in a while: "Border Vigil Planned for California." The "Times" like immigration stories, illegal immigration stories, so they put this on the front page: "Minutemen Organizers to Promote New Protest." That is on the front page.

Also, the judicial debate, filibuster deal: Hour of Decision on Judicial Picks; Senators Debate, Try to Negotiate." That is a mess.

"The Examiner," the free newspaper in Washington -- and you can't get a better deal than that -- puts Donald Trump on the front page. He wants to rebuild the World Trade Center. We told you that. And he wants to turn that into a reality TV show.

I just liked a couple of headlines. I like all these headlines. But here is something we don't do normally.

"Boston Herald": "Pike Boss Pays Tribute to Self From Here to New York." "Ego Driven" is the headline. Look at that picture they put up. He can't be very happen with that. They're kind of making fun of him.

"The Dallas Morning News," Texas has a dog in this fight over the judges. So they front-page it. "Will Filibuster Feud Open a Lasting Fissure?" And "Abortion Consent Bill Ok'ed.".

"New York Daily News," good headline this: "Field of Schemes: Groundskeeper at Shea Stadium Busted in $360 million mob gambling ring. "

The weather tomorrow in Chicago, pay attention, the dark side.

We'll wrap it up with a "Then & Now" in a moment. Imagine you had a great idea and shared it with the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: A tragic love story born in the competitive world of figure skating. Ekaterina Gordeeva and her skating partner, Sergei Grinkov, captured the pairs gold medal for Russia in the 1998 Olympics and again in 1994.

Along the way, they married and had a daughter, Daria.

But during a practice session in 1995, Grinkov died suddenly from a heart attack. Gordeeva found comfort in the same place she found love, on the ice, returning alone just three months later.

EKATERINA GORDEEVA, OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATER: To come back on the ice, it was hard and at the same time it was kind of a healing process.

ANNOUNCER: Gordeeva became a household name and face, writing two books and signing several endorsements, including Target. She even launched her own fragrance line. She eventually found love again, marrying fellow gold medalist Ilia Kulik and had a second daughter, Elizaveta.

Gordeeva has toured with "Stars on Ice" for seven years but says her achievements off the ice are most important to her.

GORDEEVA: I think, still, kids are the proudest moment. To be part of Olympic experience, that was very special, too. But I think that kids would be a first gold medal.

BROWN: All year long we'll celebrate our 25th anniversary with the stories that made news over a quarter of a century.

We'll see you tomorrow at 10:00 Eastern time. Until then-- give me the picture if you got it, guys -- may the force be with you.

Good night.

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