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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Scientific Breakthroughs

Aired May 20, 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: Scientists, Larry, as you know -- you've been talking about this. I'm always careful about using the word "breakthrough." But today, many could not hide their excitement over what some called a tremendous advance, an extraordinary leap towards a tantalizing and notoriously difficult goal, a goal no smaller than curing a long list of diseases, from the diabetes you've been talking about, to spinal cord injuries, to Alzheimer's.
A step was made by a South Korean lab and the people who work in it. It set in motion a raft of ethical issues, which we'll get to in a moment. We don't deal with real medical breakthroughs each and every day, so we begin with the medicine and our medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Today, we're closer than ever before.

GERALD SCHATTEN, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: Theoretically, this will be bigger than discoveries of vaccines or antibiotics.

GUPTA: Why?

HWANG WOO-SUK, SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY: This report brings science a giant step forward.

GUPTA: Forward, toward making stem-cell therapies a reality. By cloning an embryo, stem cells can be made specific to anyone, regardless of age, sex. And since a transplant organ or tissue would be grown from the patient's own DNA, the term "rejection" may be a thing of the past.

DR. CURT CIVIN, JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: If you can get stem cells that have your own DNA coding for all the genes that they make then when a kidney, say, that might some day be made from those stem cells, were some day, maybe, put into you, you wouldn't reject it.

GUPTA: That's good news for millions of people who need treatment and cures, such as Michael J. Fox with Parkinson's disease and Mary Tyler Moore with diabetes. Still, there are barriers and controversies.

It was just a year ago that the South Koreans first figured out how to even create a stem-cell line. Now, 12 months later, these same doctors have already become 25 times more efficient at creating stem- cell lines.

CIVIN: About a year ago, they had to try 250 eggs. Now they got one in ten.

GUPTA: Meaning scientists need far fewer eggs to create the raw material for research and possible treatment, raw materials that would be used to grow cartilage for a damaged knee or a pancreas for type-I diabetes.

These scientists have solved the problem of destroying fertilized embryos, but they are still destroying cloned embryos created for research. If the embryos are never destroyed and are implanted into a woman, a cloned human being is created.

Of course, most of us want to know what this means for us today. It means, while the promise of stem cells is still years away, we have moved at lightning speed over the last 12 months and are moving faster every single day.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The science of all of this is complicated, so, too, the politics. Today's news from South Korea comes as the U.S. House of Representatives is preparing to vote on a bill that would expand the federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research. The bill does not involve cloning.

The embryos would come from fertility clinics where they would have been discarded otherwise. Senator Orrin Hatch, a pro-life Republican, has introduced a second bill that would allow taxpayer dollars to fund therapeutic cloning studies, the same kind the South Korean researchers did.

Both bills rest on the premise that stem cells are potentially nature's best repair kit, and both have created deep divisions among Republicans. The House vote expected to come on Tuesday. Today, the president said, if it passes, and passes the Senate, he will veto it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I made my position very clear on embryonic stem cells. I'm a strong supporter of adult stem-cell research, of course. But I have made it very clear to the Congress that the use of federal money, taxpayers' money, to promote science which destroys life in order to save life is -- I'm against that. And therefore, if the bill does that, I will veto it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: If the president does, in fact, veto a bill, and first it would have to pass both the House and Senate, it would be the first and only veto of his presidency.

With all that on the table, we spoke earlier tonight with Dr. Lee Silver who studies both science and public implications of science, professor of molecular biology and public policy at Princeton University.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: I want to talk about the science, and I want to talk about the ethics. Let's talk about science first.

DR. LEE SILVER, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Sure.

BROWN: How big a deal is it, what the South Korean scientists have done here?

SILVER: I think this is a very big deal. I think it's really the second biggest deal since 1998, when human stem cells were first isolated. Before 1998, it was impossible. From 1998 until today, the idea of therapeutic embryonic stem-cell research and therapy was a hope and a dream. And today, I think it's clear that that hope and dream is going to become a reality soon.

BROWN: It seems to me that a lot of these breakthroughs are being done in Asia.

SILVER: Yes.

BROWN: Is there a reason for that?

SILVER: I think there is. I think that the Asian sense of spirituality is very, very different than the western sense of a soul, which is based on the Judeo-Christian tradition that western society is built on.

And the western sense of soul is this integral entity that exists in a human being. And if you take an embryo apart, you've destroyed the soul. Whereas eastern spirituality is based on a Hindu-Buddhist kind of tradition where spirits are never destroyed. They've existed forever, and then they come forth, and they will exist forever.

BROWN: You can't stop the science. This is going to happen.

SILVER: It's going to happen.

BROWN: It's going to happen.

SILVER: Yes. It's going happen. And it would be good if we can get American public to accept that and to embrace the technology.

BROWN: It's nice to see you. I'm not so -- I think the public, in many respects, has. I'm not sure the political process has. But that's a conversation for another day.

SILVER: OK.

BROWN: Thank you very much.

SILVER: You're very welcome. BROWN: Good to see you.

SILVER: Good to see you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Dr. Lee Silver out of Princeton University.

At age 12, Sue Rubin was diagnosed as severely autistic and mentally retarded, an I.Q. level of a 2-year-old. Today, she's a college student, an advocate for disabled rights. She's also written a documentary that's been nominated for an Academy Award. It offers a rare look at autism from the inside out.

A big focus of the film is the treatment that Ms. Rubin credits with giving her back her life. The technique is called facilitated communication. What the film leaves out is the extraordinary controversy over the treatment. Critics say it gives the parents of autistic children false hope. Ms. Rubin says it is proof the treatment works.

In this clip from "Autism is a World," the actress Julianna Margulies gives voice to Sue Rubin's words.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIANNA MARGULIES, NARRATOR: I'm a junior at Whittier College, majoring in history. I attend classes with Ashling (ph), my friend and support staff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, you ready to go inside? OK, one, two, three.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, the Cairo conference. Remember, he kept talking about that.

MARGULIES: Ashling takes notes for me and is available when I want to communicate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Randy Caldera (ph)? Jennifer Eastlake (ph)? Sue Rubin? Suli Vega (ph)?

First thing we're going to do -- I'm going to start talking a little bit about ideologies and philosophies that were brought into play by the arrival of colonialism first, and then the rise of the nationalist movement in various parts of the Arab world.

MARGULIES: Autism is a constant struggle. It takes every ounce of energy I have to sit somewhat quietly during a two-hour lecture. I love learning. Yet being looked upon as feeble-minded is something I have been forced to endure my entire life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good job. You can make it.

MARGULIES: Actually, in the times I'm not fully engaged in school, I find that I'm more susceptible to awful autism. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: "Autism is a World" premiers this weekend here on "CNN PRESENTS." It was produced by "CNN PRESENTS" and, again, written by Ms. Rubin.

This night seems to be driven by questions of biology and destiny. The autism, and the cloning, and the stem cells, and now consider DNA. Also consider crime and DNA. Here's CNN's Jason Carroll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Detectives said the woman was viciously beaten and raped behind a Staten Island train station in 1994.

JOHN FEINBLATT, CRIMINAL JUSTICE COORDINATOR: A particularly heinous case where a man dragged a woman to the woods, and raped and sodomized her.

CARROLL: Investigators say the attacker took his victim's clothes, maybe an attempt to remove evidence. But Santosh Madahar says he left behind a key piece of evidence, his DNA.

SANTOSH MADAHAR, PROSECUTOR: The main piece of evidence we have in this case is the vaginal swab that was taken from a rape kit that was prepared when the victim was taken to the hospital in 1994.

CARROLL (on-screen): For almost ten years, the case went unsolved. Investigators had the DNA, but didn't know who it belonged to. And time was running out. Like many states, New York has a 10- year statute of limitations in John Doe rape cases.

So prosecutors just stopped the clock. How? They indicted the DNA. Here's how it looked: "The people of the state of New York against John Doe, with deoxyribonucleic acid profile."

FEINBLATT: What better identification is there than DNA? It's unique. It belongs to one person. And so it makes absolute sense to use that DNA to make sure that rapists can't hide behind the statute of limitations.

CARROLL: It certainly made sense to Dr. Howard Baum, the deputy director of New York City's medical examiners office.

DR. HOWARD BAUM, NY MEDICAL EXAMINER'S OFFICE: The DNA is responsible for who we are. So in essence, we are indicting the person by indicting the DNA profile.

CARROLL: This lab studied DNA results from the case.

BAUM: This is the first step. In this step, we remove the DNA from the samples. This is step two. In this step, we determine how much DNA is present. And when it's on the piece of paper, it has a certain color. The darker the color, the more DNA is present. CARROLL: A computer translates the DNA from the samples into a series of numbers which make up a person's DNA profile. The profile is then entered into the FBI's national database. The profile from the Staten Island rape matched DNA from another crime committed by a homeless drifter, Joe Pellegrino (ph). Pellegrino (ph) had been convicted of a sexual assault in Brooklyn. Scientists say the probability that someone else had the same DNA as Pellegrino (ph) is 1 in 1 trillion.

MADAHAR: This is about as close to a smoking gun as you're going to get in a sexual assault case.

CARROLL: Pellegrino's case is the first DNA indictment going to trial. He has pled not guilty. New York State has 55 other DNA indictments pending, even though state law doesn't explicitly allow using DNA indictments to get around statutes of limitations. And there are those who are questioning the validity of DNA tests.

DONNA LIEBERMAN, NY CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION: But it's also, you know, possible that DNA evidence can be abused. You know, DNA evidence, as we have seen in a number of criminal prosecutions, is only as reliable as those who take the evidence and process it.

CARROLL: While there are concerns about how DNA is often handled, the science behind it is considered sound.

FEINBLATT: We are not about to look rape victims in the eye and say, "We're going to do nothing." And that's why we are doing the John Doe indictment program.

CARROLL: The question soon to be answered by this case, can John Doe DNA indictments lead to real convictions?

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: In a few moments, this much we can say about Saddam Hussein: Now we've seen just about everything. But now, near quarter-past the hour, Erica Hill has the rest of the day's headlines -- Erica?

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Aaron.

If no compromise is reached in the Senate beforehand, Tuesday is the day we will likely see a showdown between Republicans and Democrats over President Bush's controversial judicial nominees. That's because Republican leaders scheduled a test vote for Tuesday on the nomination of Priscilla Owen to the Court of Appeals.

If the nomination does not get enough votes, Majority Leader Bill Frist is expected to employ the so-called nuclear option, which would then disallow filibusters. Moderates on both sides, though, are trying to work out a deal.

Prosecutors in Florida want a judge to unseal Rush Limbaugh's medical records. They're investigating whether the talk-show host engaged in a practice called doctor shopping, allegedly going from doctor to doctor to obtain prescriptions for controlled drugs without informing those doctors.

Limbaugh has admitted an addiction to painkillers but has denied breaking any laws. His attorneys claim the seizure of his records was a violation of Limbaugh's privacy. A court hearing is set for Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bomb, bomb, Pentagon!

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Bomb, bomb, Pentagon!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: An angry and unsettling anti-American demonstration today outside the U.S. embassy in London. About 300 Muslims called for the killing of Americans, the death of President Bush, and a nuclear attack on Washington. The protesters denounced the alleged desecration of the Koran by U.S. military personnel at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. Some of the protesters held copies of the Muslim holy book.

In New Mexico, a scare today. The capitol building in Santa Fe was evacuated after the governor's office received a package containing an unknown white powder and a threatening letter. Authorities say the threat was against Governor Bill Richardson, who was in his office at the time. They don't know what the powder is. An investigation, though, is underway.

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

BROWN: Erica, thank you. We'll see you about a half an hour from now.

Straight ahead on the program, he spent more than three decades working for the same company. Now that company is cutting the money they promised him at retirement by 80 percent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a betrayal. It's like being betrayed by somebody that you really, really love.

BROWN: How the promise that he and thousands of others planned their futures around just up and vanished.

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

BROWN: A rare look at autism from the inside out.

The outcry over photographs of Saddam Hussein. How did they end up at a British paper? Do they violate the Geneva Convention?

What we thought we knew about dinosaurs is history.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The world is populated with at least 8,000 species of living dinosaurs today.

BROWN: OK. And where might they be?

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: We spent a fair amount of time this week on people working hard, playing by the rules, and still getting hosed. Tonight, the employees of United Airlines, though it could just as easily be you if you're one of the millions of Americans who work for companies that still offer traditional pension plans.

The deal used to be pretty simple. Come to work for us, we'll guarantee you an income when you retire. Now it goes like this. Work for us, then if we declare bankruptcy, watch us shift our pension responsibility on to the government and see your pension get smaller.

Here's CNN's Gerri Willis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB BOWLES, RETIRED PILOT, UNITED AIRLINES: I have my nights, when I sit here on the couch and I think, "What on Earth am I going to do next? I'm don't want to face all this at 62-years-old." I just thought that I would be comfortable, and happy, and enjoying life more than I'm going to be able to.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Meet Bob Bowles, a casualty of United Airline's decision to walk away from its pension plans. The federal government's takeover of Bob's pension will mean his annual income of more than $100,000 will plunge to less than $23,000, an 80- percent cut. So it's no surprise that Bob, a 33-year veteran of United, feels betrayed.

BOWLES: It's like -- OK, how can I put this? You're married to somebody that you love a lot. And they come in one day and say, "I want a divorce and there's no negotiating this."

WILLIS: Not at all negotiable. The hard fact, that Bob's retirement is over.

BOWLES: Right now, I'm doing carpentry work. I've had a remodeling business for 15 years. And it's not -- I'm not a big businessman. But I remodel homes. And so that's a five-day-a-week job now for me, is remodeling a home somewhere to make money, because I haven't missed my checks yet, but I know that day's coming.

WILLIS: The work isn't enough to pay the bills. His real estate taxes will take nearly half his income, so Bob is selling his assets.

BOWLES: I lived well. I don't apologize for that. I worked hard. I used the money well, but the handwriting's on the wall. The vacation home is already sold. And this house will probably have to be sold, as well. So I'll find a smaller place to live. Life goes on.

WILLIS: United, for its part, gave us the following statement: "We know this is very difficult for our employees and retirees. But it's a necessary step for United to be a sustainable and viable company going forward that can continue to meet the needs of our customers and provide competitive jobs for our employees."

Bob finds solace with a group of former United pilots who meet daily at a local restaurant to commiserate.

JIM MCCUSKER, RETIRED PILOT, UNITED AIRLINES: The totally frustrating part is, most of us here have worked for probably four or five CEOs just at United Airlines. And the tenure we put in, the 30- plus years. And each and every one of those CEOs left here richer than they showed up with their retirement funded and transferable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know that mad is the word. It's...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's totally disgusting. I'm totally disgusted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's so many different emotions.

WILLIS: But as Bob and his friends point out, pilots are trained to solve problems and make the best of a bad situation. It's just what they have to do.

Gerri Willis, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: United is the largest pension to fall on record. There have been other big ones, and there could be more. That's one thing facing employees. The other is that fewer companies, perhaps yours, are offering traditional pension plans at all. Instead, just 401(k) plans.

Jane Bryant Quinn writes for "Newsweek" and "Good Housekeeping" magazines about finance. And we talked with her earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: If you don't work for United, does it matter? I mean, are there other companies whose pension plans are in trouble?

JANE BRYANT QUINN, FINANCIAL WRITER: Of course. Any company that is in a very competitive marketplace is apt to be in trouble. If you are any retailer competing with Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart does not have a pension plan. And if you have expensive pension benefits, that's a company that's going to have to be cutting benefits down. BROWN: It's one thing for just -- I don't know if Nordstrom has a pension plan or not, but let's just say Nordstrom for a second. It's one thing for them to say, "We're not going to be in the pension business anymore. If you come to work for Nordstrom, no more pension." It's another thing to say, "You know that pension we promised you when you signed on 20 years ago? Forget it."

QUINN: That's a very serious problem. And this is something that workers are having an awful time with because they say, "OK, we're going to stop the pension now. We'll give you the benefits you have to date. We'll put you in a new plan." But the new plan doesn't have as much money in it as the old plan, and you're not going to build as much. So it is a real violation of what the workers thought was their promise, no question.

BROWN: To what extent does the government pension fund -- there's this pool of money that's supposed to bail out pensions that go belly-up -- to what extent will it cover the unfunded liabilities that are out there?

QUINN: Well, when a company fails -- and of course, this is a total failure, not just a company switching to a cheaper plan, but a total failure...

BROWN: Right.

QUINN: ... as more airlines may, for example, and steel companies have. The pension benefits...

BROWN: What about auto companies, by the way? Are they in bad shape?

QUINN: The auto companies -- well, they're, again, a very competitive industry, competing globally, high benefits. They just had their ratings cut, and so there are serious questions. Ford Motor, I think it was last year, stopped having pensions for new employees. They're keeping them for old employees, but new employees don't have it. So this is all part of the cut-down on the pension promise.

BROWN: I want to get back to that, but just let you finish the question I asked, which is, to what extent does the government -- is the government fund of money, which is supposed to protect us when pensions fail, actually protect us when pensions fail?

QUINN: Well, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. -- by the way, which isn't a government corporation -- is funded by all the companies that have pension plans. And they pay insurance premiums to this guarantee corp.

BROWN: Got it.

QUINN: They will take a failed plan, and they will pay benefits up to a certain ceiling. For some workers, it covers the pension they were expecting. But many other workers are going to get a lower pension as a result of it. BROWN: Which is what's happening at United. Now, just more broadly, what we really see out there is companies that -- more and more companies not offering pension plans at all. They're just saying, "Look, here's a 401(k). We'll put in buck-and-a-half or whatever for every buck-and-a-half you put in." And that's what's replaced pension plans.

And how well-equipped are most workers to take advantage of that, manage that, benefit from it, and survive on it eventually?

QUINN: You have hit my hot button, because the fact is that most of us are not good at managing the kind of money you have to manage in a 401(k) plan, nor should we be. The whole idea that we should all be investment bankers -- I mean, if we'd done that, we'd all have gone to work on Wall Street.

People are good at their jobs. They're good at other things. And the idea that they have to be able to manage money in order to secure their own retirement, I think, is one of the great myths of our time. And it's been a serious problem, as you can see, with some of the 401(k) plans where people have lost everything by being in the wrong stocks.

BROWN: Will you come back and talk more about this with us?

QUINN: I'd be delighted.

BROWN: It's nice to meet you finally.

QUINN: Nice to meet you.

BROWN: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Jane Bryant Quinn of "Newsweek" magazine.

Coming up on the program, what the best-dressed former dictators are wearing, and why Saddam Hussein, in his underwear, is more than just a fashion statement.

Then, the exhibit that proves everything you ever knew about dinosaurs was wrong.

From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: New York City, fall in the air. It seems a little odd, given that it's May.

It is, we suspect, most people would concede a bit hard to get all worked up over pictures of Saddam Hussein standing around in his underwear. Humiliating pictures hardly compares to cutting someone's tongue off. That said, the pictures of the former Iraqi president that appeared in newspapers in the U.K. and the U.S. do raise issues and may create problems. Not because you might get worked up about them, but because a good chunk of the rest of the world may.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): Along with him, apparently at prayer behind barbed wire, there are pictures of two of his former aides, including the man accused of using poison gas against Iraqi civilians, Ali Hassan al Majid, "Chemical Ali."

These new pictures join those released in yesterday's edition of the "Sun" and the "New York Post" as well. Pictures that show the former dictator in his underwear, in a bathrobe, photos clearly taken while in custody. Military sources tell CNN that it appears the photos were taken at some point last year and might have been from a video security camera.

One of Saddam's lawyers said he was shocked to see the pictures and that it was a clear violation of the Geneva convention's international law at human dignity.

The "Sun" claimed the photos were handed over by U.S. military sources, sources the tabloid claims who wanted to deal, quote, "a body blow to the resistance in Iraq."

And the "New York Post" issued a statement saying Saddam Hussein is a genocidal maniac who tortured, gassed and killed tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis. The photos published today show the U.S. military is treating him with a regard he never showed his own people.

But if these pictures were deliberately leaked by the U.S. military, and there is no evidence of that beyond the newspaper's statement, their effect on Iraqis and people of other Arab nations could well back fire, fueling anger at the U.S.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It is not acceptable to show a president in such way. They must respect the name of a president all over the world, regardless of if he is a dictator.

BROWN: Some analysts agree, the pictures could spell trouble.

ROBIN WRIGHT, WASHINGTON POST: Well, they come in context of Abu Ghraib, the Koran incident, and so it sends a strong signal in the eyes of many Muslims, that this is a sign of disrespect. It also comes at a time Laura Bush is in the Middle East to try to send a message to the Arabs as well as the wider Islamic world that the United States understands their needs, is trying to help encourage reform and takes their wishes seriously. And so this is going to be the timing of this is very unfortunate.

BROWN: At the White House, the deputy press secretary denied any official involvement. TRENT DUFFY, DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: And the multinational forces in Iraq, as well as the president, are very disappointed at the possibility that someone responsible for the security, welfare and detention of Saddam Hussein would take and provide these photos for public release.

BROWN: The president, however, brushed aside the idea that these new photos could inspire additional violence.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think a photo inspires murderers. I think they're inspired by an ideology that is so barbaric and backwards, that it's hard for many in the Western world to comprehend how they think.

BROWN: U.S. military officials have denied to CNN that the United States is in violation of the Geneva convention which bans subjective prisoners of war to insults and public curiosity in its treatment of the deposed dictator. It argues this since the release of the photos was not officially sanctioned.

However, officials say if the individual or individuals who did leak the pictures are found, they may well be in violation of the Geneva Convention and military regulations. The Pentagon has promised an investigation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Now the problem the military is having finding new recruits, in no small part because of Iraq. Which, in fact, is a two- fold problem. Problems hitting the numbers and perhaps larger problems with how.

For that second reason, every Army recruiter in the country took a break today from recruiting. Here's CNN's Kelly Wallace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than 7,500 Army recruiters around the country spend the day discussing what's right and what's wrong, because of allegations like these. A Houston recruiter threatening a young man with arrest if he didn't sign up. And Denver area recruiters helping a student get a fake diploma and pass a drug test.

That student, 17-year-old David McSwayne. He posed as a high school drop-out with a drug problem for a story for has high school paper. He recently talked with CNN's Thelma Gutierrez and shared audiotapes he says he made of conversations with the recruiters.

DAVID MCSWAYNE, STUDENT: Have they accepted my diploma and all that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. That's what they told us.

MCSWAYNE: All right. I mean, they don't know that it's fake or anything? I'm not going to get in trouble? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. No, you won't. No.

MCSWAYNE: Cool.

WALLACE: The U.S. Army's top recruiting commander.

MAJ. GEN. MICHAEL ROCHELLE, U.S. ARMY RECRUITING COMMAND: The actions of a few have reflected very, very badly on many of us, my self included, and we're all injured by that.

WALLACE: The stakes couldn't be higher. With the war in Iraq making Army recruiting increasingly difficult. The Army missed its monthly recruiting goals for February, March and April.

Part of the problem, parents discouraging their sons and daughters from enlisting. 19-year-old Andree Sojous, a freshman at City College of New York, says her mom would never let her join the military.

ANDREE SAJOUS, COLLEGE FRESHMAN: She was like, no. She's like, you could get killed. Her main concern is you could get killed.

WALLACE: With wary parents in mind, the Army recently rolled out some new television ads. Other ammunition, offering sign-up bonuses of up to $20,000 and adding nearly 1500 recruiters since last year.

(on camera): A review of army recruiting procedures clearly coming at a tough time for this branch of the military. It has set a goal of enlisting 80,000 new recruits this year. So far, it's 15 percent below its year-to-date goal.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Still to come on a Friday night, an update on the search for two Idaho children missing since their parents' murder.

A dazzling new dinosaur exhibit says, contrary to public opinion, and conventional wisdom they're not extinct at all. In case you hadn't noticed, they're still around. And so are we. This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: New York City, fall in the air. It seems a little odd, given that it's May.

It is, we suspect, most people would concede a bit hard to get all worked up over pictures of Saddam Hussein standing around in his underwear. Humiliating pictures hardly compares to cutting someone's tongue off.

That said, the pictures of the former Iraqi president that appeared in newspapers in the U.K. and the U.S. do raise issues and may create problems. Not because you might get worked up about them, but because a good chunk of the rest of the world may.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): Along with him, apparently at prayer behind barbed wire, there are pictures of two of his former aides, including the man accused of using poison gas against Iraqi civilians, Ali Hassan al Majid, "Chemical Ali."

These new pictures join those released in yesterday's edition of the "Sun" and the "New York Post" as well. Pictures that show the former dictator in his underwear, in a bathrobe, photos clearly taken while in custody. Military sources tell CNN that it appears the photos were taken at some point last year and might have been from a video security camera.

One of Saddam's lawyers said he was shocked to see the pictures and that it was a clear violation of the Geneva convention's international law at human dignity.

The "Sun" claimed the photos were handed over by U.S. military sources, sources the tabloid claims who wanted to deal, quote, "a body blow to the resistance in Iraq."

And the "New York Post" issued a statement saying Saddam Hussein is a genocidal maniac who tortured, gassed and killed tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis. The photos published today show the U.S. military is treating him with a regard he never showed his own people.

But if these pictures were deliberately leaked by the U.S. military, and there is no evidence of that beyond the newspaper's statement, their effect on Iraqis and people of other Arab nations could well back fire, fueling anger at the U.S.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It is not acceptable to show a president in such way. They must respect the name of a president all over the world, regardless of if he is a dictator.

BROWN: Some analysts agree, the pictures could spell trouble.

ROBIN WRIGHT, WASHINGTON POST: Well, they come in context of Abu Ghraib, the Koran incident, and so it sends a strong signal in the eyes of many Muslims, that this is a sign of disrespect. It also comes at a time Laura Bush is in the Middle East to try to send a message to the Arabs as well as the wider Islamic world that the United States understands their needs, is trying to help encourage reform and takes their wishes seriously. And so this is going to be the timing of this is very unfortunate.

BROWN: At the White House, the deputy press secretary denied any official involvement.

TRENT DUFFY, DEPTUY PRESS SECRETARY: And the multinational forces in Iraq, as well as the president, are very disappointed at the possibility that someone responsible for the security, welfare and detention of Saddam Hussein would take and provide these photos for public release.

BROWN: The president, however, brushed aside the idea that these new photos could inspire additional violence.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think a photo inspires murderers. I think they're inspired by an ideology that is so barbaric and backwards, that it's hard for many in the Western world to comprehend how they think.

BROWN: U.S. military officials have denied to CNN that the United States is in violation of the Geneva convention which bans subjective prisoners of war to insults and public curiosity in its treatment of the deposed dictator. It argues this since the release of the photos was not officially sanctioned.

However, officials say if the individual or individuals who did leak the pictures are found, they may well be in violation of the Geneva Convention and military regulations. The Pentagon has promised an investigation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Now the problem the military is having finding new recruits, in no small part because of Iraq. Which, in fact, is a two- fold problem. Problems hitting the numbers and perhaps larger problems with how.

For that second reason, every Army recruiter in the country took a break today from recruiting. Here's CNN's Kelly Wallace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than 7,500 Army recruiters around the country spend the day discussing what's right and what's wrong, because of allegations like these. A Houston recruiter threatening a young man with arrest if he didn't sign up. And Denver area recruiters helping a student get a fake diploma and pass a drug test.

That student, 17-year-old David McSwayne. He posed as a high school drop-out with a drug problem for a story for has high school paper. He recently talked with CNN's Thelma Gutierrez and shared audiotapes he says he made of conversations with the recruiters.

DAVID MCSWAYNE, STUDENT: Have they accepted my diploma and all that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. That's what they told us.

MCSWAYNE: All right. I mean, they don't know that it's fake or anything? I'm not going to get in trouble?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. No, you won't. No.

MCSWAYNE: Cool.

WALLACE: The U.S. Army's top recruiting commander.

MAJ. GEN. MICHAEL ROCHELLE, U.S. ARMY RECRUITING COMMAND: The actions of a few have reflected very, very badly on many of us, my self included, and we're all injured by that.

WALLACE: The stakes couldn't be higher. With the war in Iraq making Army recruiting increasingly difficult. The Army missed its monthly recruiting goals for February, March and April.

Part of the problem, parents discouraging their sons and daughters from enlisting. 19-year-old Andree Sojous, a freshman at City College of New York, says her mom would never let her join the military.

ANDREE SAJOUS, COLLEGE FRESHMAN: She was like, no. She's like, you could get killed. Her main concern is you could get killed.

WALLACE: With wary parents in mind, the Army recently rolled out some new television ads. Other ammunition, offering sign-up bonuses of up to $20,000 and adding nearly 1500 recruiters since last year.

(on camera): A review of army recruiting procedures clearly coming at a tough time for this branch of the military. It has set a goal of enlisting 80,000 new recruits this year. So far, it's 15 percent below its year-to-date goal.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Still to come on a Friday night, an update on the search for two Idaho children missing since their parents' murder.

A dazzling new dinosaur exhibit says, contrary to public opinion, and conventional wisdom they're not extinct at all. In case you hadn't noticed, they're still around. And so are we. This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: I love this story. There are a lot of things in the next story that amaze us, but we're floored by the first, that it's only been 200 years since the first dinosaur fossils were uncovered. Which if you think about it, means they were lying around for a really long time. And even after all that time, it's taken until now to make sense of what they have to say. Or as a poster for a new exhibit at the Museum of Natural History here in New York City puts it: "What you thought you knew is history." Here's NEWSNIGHT's Beth Nissen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For most of the 200 years since the first dinosaur bones were found, those studying them have had to use a combination of deduction and great imagination to puzzle out from ancient pieces how dinosaurs looked, moved, lived. MARK NORELL, PALEONTOLOGIST: A lot of things about dinosaur behavior, a lot of things about dinosaur biology is conjecture. Studying the behavior of things that have been dead for millions and tens of millions of years is really a difficult thing.

NISSEN: But just in the last five to 10 years, study of the oldest known creatures on Earth has been revolutionized by the newest technology. High speed computers, new software, 3-D imaging, turning most of what we thought we knew about dinosaurs on its head.

Look at Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was long assumed that this fearsome predator could run fast, as fast as a galloping race horse, 40 to 45 miles an hour. Then scientists at the Royal Veterinary College in London developed a computer program to calculate, from scans of a T-Rex skeleton, the range of motion in its joints and its muscle mass.

Their discovery?

NORELL: For the animal to go very, very quickly, you would have to have an unreasonable amount of the entire weight of the animal just in the muscles of the hind limb.

NISSEN: T-Rex just didn't have muscles big enough to carry its five-ton self at a run. Its top land speed -- a relatively pokey 10 to 20 miles an hour.

Computer analysis of a different kind changed ideas about the apatasaurus, which those of us of a certain age know as a brontosaurus. Paleontologists used to think the purpose of its long tail was to counterbalance its long neck. But computer modeling found that tail had exactly the structure, the properties of a giant bullwhip. New theory? Apatasaurus shifted its massive weight to crack its tail like a whip, make a terrible noise, to warn off predators, or show off, or attract mates.

Perhaps the most significant discoveries about dinosaurs have come from CAT scans or CT scans, most done in this lab at the University of Texas in Austin. Since the lab began scanning natural objects eight years ago, paleontologists from around the world have sent in thousands of dinosaur fossils, including this skull of a cenataursus (ph), a small Jurassic carnivore.

TIMOTHY ROWE, DIRECTOR, CT FACILITY, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS: It's a specimen that's 180 million years old, and it's the only specimen in the world of a complete skull of this little guy. And so the last thing that I want to do, break the skull open to try and get some idea of the inside.

NISSEN: Btu CAT scanning yields a detailed picture of the inside of the skull, which is marked by the impression of the brain that used to fill it. Computer imaging and animation can reconstruct a 3-D image of dinosaur brains.

And what scientists saw when they first looked at these images astonished them. ROWE: If it has a big cortex, that's an indication that the animal is receiving sensory inputs from feathers. Blows me away to discover that.

NISSEN: Feathers on dinosaurs.

NORELL: We found that these animals were covered with feathers. We can predict, strongly predict that Tyrannosaurus Rex, at some stage of its life, probably when it's small, was feathered.

NISSEN: The most compelling evidence yet that carnivorous dinosaurs like T-Rex were more like birds than anyone had thought. Had feathers like birds, nesting habits like birds, three-toed feet like birds, wish bones and hollow bones, like birds.

ROWE: It's one of the many pieces of evidence that tells us that birds are descended from extinct dinosaurs like this.

NISSEN: Which leads to the most surprising of all the new discoveries, new theories about dinosaurs.

NORELL: Birds are a kind of dinosaur. So dinosaurs aren't extinct. We just call them birds now. The world is populated with at least 8,000 species of living dinosaurs today.

NISSEN: Imagine that. Beth Nissen, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Ahead on the program, the newest "Star Wars" film does what no other movie has ever done before in a single day. And so we say to you, may the gross be with you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: It's just a sad and steady drumbeat in all of this, that sometimes from the day to day out of Iraq, we forget. We ought not.

In a moment, our anniversary series, "Then & Now," tracks the rise and fall of two televangelists. But first at, well, a little bit past the quarter to the hour -- making you work late tonight -- Erica Hill has the day's headlines.

HILL: That's all right, I don't mind, Aaron.

BROWN: Thank you.

HILL: Tonight, police in Idaho still trying to locate two children. They're a brother and sister, who have been missing since Monday. That is when their mother and older brother were found murdered. Police say a tip that the children were seen inside a store turned out to be false.

Michael Jackson child molestation trial could be nearing an end. There are reports the defense may rest its case as early as Tuesday. On the witness stand today, the pop star's former defense attorney, Mark Geragos. He testified that a private investigators followed the -- the family, rather, of Jackson's accuser, because he was concerned they were going to make an accusation against Jackson or sell their story to a tabloid.

And the newest "Star Wars" movie is one for the history books. "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," setting a new record for the most tickets sold in one day. In the first 24 hours of its release on Thursday, the movie took in $50 million. That beats the old record set by "Shrek 2," which sold $45 million in tickets in one day last year.

And that is the latest from HEADLINE NEWS on this Friday. Aaron, have a great weekend.

BROWN: Thank you. You too. Thanks for your help this week.

Tonight, CNN's anniversary series, "Then & Now," profiles Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. Their rise to fame, their fall from grace, the end of their marriage, and where they are today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): In the 1980s, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker became pop icons as leaders of a hugely successful PTL Club TV ministry. The couple called their riches a blessing from God. But people soon discovered that Bakker's extravagant lifestyle was financed from the almighty contributions of the ministry's faithful.

Soon, their tears of joy became tears of remorse.

In 1987, Bakker fessed up to an adulterous relationship with church secretary Jessica Hahn, and later spent four years in jail for fraud.

Tammy Faye divorced her husband while he was in jail, and married his business partner, Roe Messner. In March of 2004, she announced on "LARRY KING LIVE" she had inoperable lung cancer.

TAMMY FAYE MESSNER: It was lung cancer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eight months later, she appeared again with an update on her condition.

MESSNER: Every bit of the cancer is gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jim Bakker and his new wife, Lori Graham, do a TV show from Branson, Missouri.

JIM BAKKER: It's so good to get together with God's people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jim and Lori Bakker are in the process of adopting five children between the ages of 9 and 15. They've had legal custody of them for four years. One big happy family, albeit a more modest one.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BROWN: All part of our celebration of our 25th anniversary, bringing you the news. A big prime-time special on June the 1st, I think, is right.

Morning papers after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: OK. Time to check morning papers from around the country and around the world. A special Friday night edition.

We'll start with "The International Herald Tribune." We haven't done it in a while. But it gives me an opportunity to talk about a story that was in today's "New York Times," which is just -- it's a fabulously reported story. And it is going to make you uncomfortable, but it's a very good story.

"Army filed details the death of Afghan detainees." It is an incredibly detailed look at the interrogation of two men, one of whom very probably was innocent and -- yeah, you know, you go online and read it for free.

Anyway, it's in "The New York Times," and it's leading "The International Herald Tribune."

Also on the front page of "The Trib," "U.S. assails photos of Saddam in underwear." I love the lead here. Here's the lead: "Two newspapers owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, 'The Sun of London' and 'The New York Post,' published photographs on Friday showing the imprisoned Saddam Hussein in his underwear." It's everything you need to know about the story.

Well, it's not everything you need to know about the story. You need to know that about the story either. I know I'm supposed to feel terrible about this, but I can't. OK, that's yesterday's "Sun." Here's tomorrow's "Sun." Or that's today's, here's tomorrow's. A free pizza. So if you're in London, two for one deal.

The weather tomorrow in Chicago, this will work for you baseball fans. "Game on." We'll wrap up the week in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Good to have you with us this week. We are back here on Monday, live and in person. We hope you'll join us, too. 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 May 20, 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: Scientists, Larry, as you know -- you've been talking about this. I'm always careful about using the word "breakthrough." But today, many could not hide their excitement over what some called a tremendous advance, an extraordinary leap towards a tantalizing and notoriously difficult goal, a goal no smaller than curing a long list of diseases, from the diabetes you've been talking about, to spinal cord injuries, to Alzheimer's.
A step was made by a South Korean lab and the people who work in it. It set in motion a raft of ethical issues, which we'll get to in a moment. We don't deal with real medical breakthroughs each and every day, so we begin with the medicine and our medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Today, we're closer than ever before.

GERALD SCHATTEN, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: Theoretically, this will be bigger than discoveries of vaccines or antibiotics.

GUPTA: Why?

HWANG WOO-SUK, SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY: This report brings science a giant step forward.

GUPTA: Forward, toward making stem-cell therapies a reality. By cloning an embryo, stem cells can be made specific to anyone, regardless of age, sex. And since a transplant organ or tissue would be grown from the patient's own DNA, the term "rejection" may be a thing of the past.

DR. CURT CIVIN, JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: If you can get stem cells that have your own DNA coding for all the genes that they make then when a kidney, say, that might some day be made from those stem cells, were some day, maybe, put into you, you wouldn't reject it.

GUPTA: That's good news for millions of people who need treatment and cures, such as Michael J. Fox with Parkinson's disease and Mary Tyler Moore with diabetes. Still, there are barriers and controversies.

It was just a year ago that the South Koreans first figured out how to even create a stem-cell line. Now, 12 months later, these same doctors have already become 25 times more efficient at creating stem- cell lines.

CIVIN: About a year ago, they had to try 250 eggs. Now they got one in ten.

GUPTA: Meaning scientists need far fewer eggs to create the raw material for research and possible treatment, raw materials that would be used to grow cartilage for a damaged knee or a pancreas for type-I diabetes.

These scientists have solved the problem of destroying fertilized embryos, but they are still destroying cloned embryos created for research. If the embryos are never destroyed and are implanted into a woman, a cloned human being is created.

Of course, most of us want to know what this means for us today. It means, while the promise of stem cells is still years away, we have moved at lightning speed over the last 12 months and are moving faster every single day.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The science of all of this is complicated, so, too, the politics. Today's news from South Korea comes as the U.S. House of Representatives is preparing to vote on a bill that would expand the federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research. The bill does not involve cloning.

The embryos would come from fertility clinics where they would have been discarded otherwise. Senator Orrin Hatch, a pro-life Republican, has introduced a second bill that would allow taxpayer dollars to fund therapeutic cloning studies, the same kind the South Korean researchers did.

Both bills rest on the premise that stem cells are potentially nature's best repair kit, and both have created deep divisions among Republicans. The House vote expected to come on Tuesday. Today, the president said, if it passes, and passes the Senate, he will veto it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I made my position very clear on embryonic stem cells. I'm a strong supporter of adult stem-cell research, of course. But I have made it very clear to the Congress that the use of federal money, taxpayers' money, to promote science which destroys life in order to save life is -- I'm against that. And therefore, if the bill does that, I will veto it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: If the president does, in fact, veto a bill, and first it would have to pass both the House and Senate, it would be the first and only veto of his presidency.

With all that on the table, we spoke earlier tonight with Dr. Lee Silver who studies both science and public implications of science, professor of molecular biology and public policy at Princeton University.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: I want to talk about the science, and I want to talk about the ethics. Let's talk about science first.

DR. LEE SILVER, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Sure.

BROWN: How big a deal is it, what the South Korean scientists have done here?

SILVER: I think this is a very big deal. I think it's really the second biggest deal since 1998, when human stem cells were first isolated. Before 1998, it was impossible. From 1998 until today, the idea of therapeutic embryonic stem-cell research and therapy was a hope and a dream. And today, I think it's clear that that hope and dream is going to become a reality soon.

BROWN: It seems to me that a lot of these breakthroughs are being done in Asia.

SILVER: Yes.

BROWN: Is there a reason for that?

SILVER: I think there is. I think that the Asian sense of spirituality is very, very different than the western sense of a soul, which is based on the Judeo-Christian tradition that western society is built on.

And the western sense of soul is this integral entity that exists in a human being. And if you take an embryo apart, you've destroyed the soul. Whereas eastern spirituality is based on a Hindu-Buddhist kind of tradition where spirits are never destroyed. They've existed forever, and then they come forth, and they will exist forever.

BROWN: You can't stop the science. This is going to happen.

SILVER: It's going to happen.

BROWN: It's going to happen.

SILVER: Yes. It's going happen. And it would be good if we can get American public to accept that and to embrace the technology.

BROWN: It's nice to see you. I'm not so -- I think the public, in many respects, has. I'm not sure the political process has. But that's a conversation for another day.

SILVER: OK.

BROWN: Thank you very much.

SILVER: You're very welcome. BROWN: Good to see you.

SILVER: Good to see you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Dr. Lee Silver out of Princeton University.

At age 12, Sue Rubin was diagnosed as severely autistic and mentally retarded, an I.Q. level of a 2-year-old. Today, she's a college student, an advocate for disabled rights. She's also written a documentary that's been nominated for an Academy Award. It offers a rare look at autism from the inside out.

A big focus of the film is the treatment that Ms. Rubin credits with giving her back her life. The technique is called facilitated communication. What the film leaves out is the extraordinary controversy over the treatment. Critics say it gives the parents of autistic children false hope. Ms. Rubin says it is proof the treatment works.

In this clip from "Autism is a World," the actress Julianna Margulies gives voice to Sue Rubin's words.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIANNA MARGULIES, NARRATOR: I'm a junior at Whittier College, majoring in history. I attend classes with Ashling (ph), my friend and support staff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, you ready to go inside? OK, one, two, three.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, the Cairo conference. Remember, he kept talking about that.

MARGULIES: Ashling takes notes for me and is available when I want to communicate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Randy Caldera (ph)? Jennifer Eastlake (ph)? Sue Rubin? Suli Vega (ph)?

First thing we're going to do -- I'm going to start talking a little bit about ideologies and philosophies that were brought into play by the arrival of colonialism first, and then the rise of the nationalist movement in various parts of the Arab world.

MARGULIES: Autism is a constant struggle. It takes every ounce of energy I have to sit somewhat quietly during a two-hour lecture. I love learning. Yet being looked upon as feeble-minded is something I have been forced to endure my entire life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good job. You can make it.

MARGULIES: Actually, in the times I'm not fully engaged in school, I find that I'm more susceptible to awful autism. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: "Autism is a World" premiers this weekend here on "CNN PRESENTS." It was produced by "CNN PRESENTS" and, again, written by Ms. Rubin.

This night seems to be driven by questions of biology and destiny. The autism, and the cloning, and the stem cells, and now consider DNA. Also consider crime and DNA. Here's CNN's Jason Carroll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Detectives said the woman was viciously beaten and raped behind a Staten Island train station in 1994.

JOHN FEINBLATT, CRIMINAL JUSTICE COORDINATOR: A particularly heinous case where a man dragged a woman to the woods, and raped and sodomized her.

CARROLL: Investigators say the attacker took his victim's clothes, maybe an attempt to remove evidence. But Santosh Madahar says he left behind a key piece of evidence, his DNA.

SANTOSH MADAHAR, PROSECUTOR: The main piece of evidence we have in this case is the vaginal swab that was taken from a rape kit that was prepared when the victim was taken to the hospital in 1994.

CARROLL (on-screen): For almost ten years, the case went unsolved. Investigators had the DNA, but didn't know who it belonged to. And time was running out. Like many states, New York has a 10- year statute of limitations in John Doe rape cases.

So prosecutors just stopped the clock. How? They indicted the DNA. Here's how it looked: "The people of the state of New York against John Doe, with deoxyribonucleic acid profile."

FEINBLATT: What better identification is there than DNA? It's unique. It belongs to one person. And so it makes absolute sense to use that DNA to make sure that rapists can't hide behind the statute of limitations.

CARROLL: It certainly made sense to Dr. Howard Baum, the deputy director of New York City's medical examiners office.

DR. HOWARD BAUM, NY MEDICAL EXAMINER'S OFFICE: The DNA is responsible for who we are. So in essence, we are indicting the person by indicting the DNA profile.

CARROLL: This lab studied DNA results from the case.

BAUM: This is the first step. In this step, we remove the DNA from the samples. This is step two. In this step, we determine how much DNA is present. And when it's on the piece of paper, it has a certain color. The darker the color, the more DNA is present. CARROLL: A computer translates the DNA from the samples into a series of numbers which make up a person's DNA profile. The profile is then entered into the FBI's national database. The profile from the Staten Island rape matched DNA from another crime committed by a homeless drifter, Joe Pellegrino (ph). Pellegrino (ph) had been convicted of a sexual assault in Brooklyn. Scientists say the probability that someone else had the same DNA as Pellegrino (ph) is 1 in 1 trillion.

MADAHAR: This is about as close to a smoking gun as you're going to get in a sexual assault case.

CARROLL: Pellegrino's case is the first DNA indictment going to trial. He has pled not guilty. New York State has 55 other DNA indictments pending, even though state law doesn't explicitly allow using DNA indictments to get around statutes of limitations. And there are those who are questioning the validity of DNA tests.

DONNA LIEBERMAN, NY CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION: But it's also, you know, possible that DNA evidence can be abused. You know, DNA evidence, as we have seen in a number of criminal prosecutions, is only as reliable as those who take the evidence and process it.

CARROLL: While there are concerns about how DNA is often handled, the science behind it is considered sound.

FEINBLATT: We are not about to look rape victims in the eye and say, "We're going to do nothing." And that's why we are doing the John Doe indictment program.

CARROLL: The question soon to be answered by this case, can John Doe DNA indictments lead to real convictions?

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: In a few moments, this much we can say about Saddam Hussein: Now we've seen just about everything. But now, near quarter-past the hour, Erica Hill has the rest of the day's headlines -- Erica?

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Aaron.

If no compromise is reached in the Senate beforehand, Tuesday is the day we will likely see a showdown between Republicans and Democrats over President Bush's controversial judicial nominees. That's because Republican leaders scheduled a test vote for Tuesday on the nomination of Priscilla Owen to the Court of Appeals.

If the nomination does not get enough votes, Majority Leader Bill Frist is expected to employ the so-called nuclear option, which would then disallow filibusters. Moderates on both sides, though, are trying to work out a deal.

Prosecutors in Florida want a judge to unseal Rush Limbaugh's medical records. They're investigating whether the talk-show host engaged in a practice called doctor shopping, allegedly going from doctor to doctor to obtain prescriptions for controlled drugs without informing those doctors.

Limbaugh has admitted an addiction to painkillers but has denied breaking any laws. His attorneys claim the seizure of his records was a violation of Limbaugh's privacy. A court hearing is set for Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bomb, bomb, Pentagon!

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Bomb, bomb, Pentagon!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: An angry and unsettling anti-American demonstration today outside the U.S. embassy in London. About 300 Muslims called for the killing of Americans, the death of President Bush, and a nuclear attack on Washington. The protesters denounced the alleged desecration of the Koran by U.S. military personnel at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. Some of the protesters held copies of the Muslim holy book.

In New Mexico, a scare today. The capitol building in Santa Fe was evacuated after the governor's office received a package containing an unknown white powder and a threatening letter. Authorities say the threat was against Governor Bill Richardson, who was in his office at the time. They don't know what the powder is. An investigation, though, is underway.

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

BROWN: Erica, thank you. We'll see you about a half an hour from now.

Straight ahead on the program, he spent more than three decades working for the same company. Now that company is cutting the money they promised him at retirement by 80 percent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a betrayal. It's like being betrayed by somebody that you really, really love.

BROWN: How the promise that he and thousands of others planned their futures around just up and vanished.

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

BROWN: A rare look at autism from the inside out.

The outcry over photographs of Saddam Hussein. How did they end up at a British paper? Do they violate the Geneva Convention?

What we thought we knew about dinosaurs is history.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The world is populated with at least 8,000 species of living dinosaurs today.

BROWN: OK. And where might they be?

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: We spent a fair amount of time this week on people working hard, playing by the rules, and still getting hosed. Tonight, the employees of United Airlines, though it could just as easily be you if you're one of the millions of Americans who work for companies that still offer traditional pension plans.

The deal used to be pretty simple. Come to work for us, we'll guarantee you an income when you retire. Now it goes like this. Work for us, then if we declare bankruptcy, watch us shift our pension responsibility on to the government and see your pension get smaller.

Here's CNN's Gerri Willis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB BOWLES, RETIRED PILOT, UNITED AIRLINES: I have my nights, when I sit here on the couch and I think, "What on Earth am I going to do next? I'm don't want to face all this at 62-years-old." I just thought that I would be comfortable, and happy, and enjoying life more than I'm going to be able to.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Meet Bob Bowles, a casualty of United Airline's decision to walk away from its pension plans. The federal government's takeover of Bob's pension will mean his annual income of more than $100,000 will plunge to less than $23,000, an 80- percent cut. So it's no surprise that Bob, a 33-year veteran of United, feels betrayed.

BOWLES: It's like -- OK, how can I put this? You're married to somebody that you love a lot. And they come in one day and say, "I want a divorce and there's no negotiating this."

WILLIS: Not at all negotiable. The hard fact, that Bob's retirement is over.

BOWLES: Right now, I'm doing carpentry work. I've had a remodeling business for 15 years. And it's not -- I'm not a big businessman. But I remodel homes. And so that's a five-day-a-week job now for me, is remodeling a home somewhere to make money, because I haven't missed my checks yet, but I know that day's coming.

WILLIS: The work isn't enough to pay the bills. His real estate taxes will take nearly half his income, so Bob is selling his assets.

BOWLES: I lived well. I don't apologize for that. I worked hard. I used the money well, but the handwriting's on the wall. The vacation home is already sold. And this house will probably have to be sold, as well. So I'll find a smaller place to live. Life goes on.

WILLIS: United, for its part, gave us the following statement: "We know this is very difficult for our employees and retirees. But it's a necessary step for United to be a sustainable and viable company going forward that can continue to meet the needs of our customers and provide competitive jobs for our employees."

Bob finds solace with a group of former United pilots who meet daily at a local restaurant to commiserate.

JIM MCCUSKER, RETIRED PILOT, UNITED AIRLINES: The totally frustrating part is, most of us here have worked for probably four or five CEOs just at United Airlines. And the tenure we put in, the 30- plus years. And each and every one of those CEOs left here richer than they showed up with their retirement funded and transferable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know that mad is the word. It's...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's totally disgusting. I'm totally disgusted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's so many different emotions.

WILLIS: But as Bob and his friends point out, pilots are trained to solve problems and make the best of a bad situation. It's just what they have to do.

Gerri Willis, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: United is the largest pension to fall on record. There have been other big ones, and there could be more. That's one thing facing employees. The other is that fewer companies, perhaps yours, are offering traditional pension plans at all. Instead, just 401(k) plans.

Jane Bryant Quinn writes for "Newsweek" and "Good Housekeeping" magazines about finance. And we talked with her earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: If you don't work for United, does it matter? I mean, are there other companies whose pension plans are in trouble?

JANE BRYANT QUINN, FINANCIAL WRITER: Of course. Any company that is in a very competitive marketplace is apt to be in trouble. If you are any retailer competing with Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart does not have a pension plan. And if you have expensive pension benefits, that's a company that's going to have to be cutting benefits down. BROWN: It's one thing for just -- I don't know if Nordstrom has a pension plan or not, but let's just say Nordstrom for a second. It's one thing for them to say, "We're not going to be in the pension business anymore. If you come to work for Nordstrom, no more pension." It's another thing to say, "You know that pension we promised you when you signed on 20 years ago? Forget it."

QUINN: That's a very serious problem. And this is something that workers are having an awful time with because they say, "OK, we're going to stop the pension now. We'll give you the benefits you have to date. We'll put you in a new plan." But the new plan doesn't have as much money in it as the old plan, and you're not going to build as much. So it is a real violation of what the workers thought was their promise, no question.

BROWN: To what extent does the government pension fund -- there's this pool of money that's supposed to bail out pensions that go belly-up -- to what extent will it cover the unfunded liabilities that are out there?

QUINN: Well, when a company fails -- and of course, this is a total failure, not just a company switching to a cheaper plan, but a total failure...

BROWN: Right.

QUINN: ... as more airlines may, for example, and steel companies have. The pension benefits...

BROWN: What about auto companies, by the way? Are they in bad shape?

QUINN: The auto companies -- well, they're, again, a very competitive industry, competing globally, high benefits. They just had their ratings cut, and so there are serious questions. Ford Motor, I think it was last year, stopped having pensions for new employees. They're keeping them for old employees, but new employees don't have it. So this is all part of the cut-down on the pension promise.

BROWN: I want to get back to that, but just let you finish the question I asked, which is, to what extent does the government -- is the government fund of money, which is supposed to protect us when pensions fail, actually protect us when pensions fail?

QUINN: Well, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. -- by the way, which isn't a government corporation -- is funded by all the companies that have pension plans. And they pay insurance premiums to this guarantee corp.

BROWN: Got it.

QUINN: They will take a failed plan, and they will pay benefits up to a certain ceiling. For some workers, it covers the pension they were expecting. But many other workers are going to get a lower pension as a result of it. BROWN: Which is what's happening at United. Now, just more broadly, what we really see out there is companies that -- more and more companies not offering pension plans at all. They're just saying, "Look, here's a 401(k). We'll put in buck-and-a-half or whatever for every buck-and-a-half you put in." And that's what's replaced pension plans.

And how well-equipped are most workers to take advantage of that, manage that, benefit from it, and survive on it eventually?

QUINN: You have hit my hot button, because the fact is that most of us are not good at managing the kind of money you have to manage in a 401(k) plan, nor should we be. The whole idea that we should all be investment bankers -- I mean, if we'd done that, we'd all have gone to work on Wall Street.

People are good at their jobs. They're good at other things. And the idea that they have to be able to manage money in order to secure their own retirement, I think, is one of the great myths of our time. And it's been a serious problem, as you can see, with some of the 401(k) plans where people have lost everything by being in the wrong stocks.

BROWN: Will you come back and talk more about this with us?

QUINN: I'd be delighted.

BROWN: It's nice to meet you finally.

QUINN: Nice to meet you.

BROWN: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Jane Bryant Quinn of "Newsweek" magazine.

Coming up on the program, what the best-dressed former dictators are wearing, and why Saddam Hussein, in his underwear, is more than just a fashion statement.

Then, the exhibit that proves everything you ever knew about dinosaurs was wrong.

From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: New York City, fall in the air. It seems a little odd, given that it's May.

It is, we suspect, most people would concede a bit hard to get all worked up over pictures of Saddam Hussein standing around in his underwear. Humiliating pictures hardly compares to cutting someone's tongue off. That said, the pictures of the former Iraqi president that appeared in newspapers in the U.K. and the U.S. do raise issues and may create problems. Not because you might get worked up about them, but because a good chunk of the rest of the world may.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): Along with him, apparently at prayer behind barbed wire, there are pictures of two of his former aides, including the man accused of using poison gas against Iraqi civilians, Ali Hassan al Majid, "Chemical Ali."

These new pictures join those released in yesterday's edition of the "Sun" and the "New York Post" as well. Pictures that show the former dictator in his underwear, in a bathrobe, photos clearly taken while in custody. Military sources tell CNN that it appears the photos were taken at some point last year and might have been from a video security camera.

One of Saddam's lawyers said he was shocked to see the pictures and that it was a clear violation of the Geneva convention's international law at human dignity.

The "Sun" claimed the photos were handed over by U.S. military sources, sources the tabloid claims who wanted to deal, quote, "a body blow to the resistance in Iraq."

And the "New York Post" issued a statement saying Saddam Hussein is a genocidal maniac who tortured, gassed and killed tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis. The photos published today show the U.S. military is treating him with a regard he never showed his own people.

But if these pictures were deliberately leaked by the U.S. military, and there is no evidence of that beyond the newspaper's statement, their effect on Iraqis and people of other Arab nations could well back fire, fueling anger at the U.S.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It is not acceptable to show a president in such way. They must respect the name of a president all over the world, regardless of if he is a dictator.

BROWN: Some analysts agree, the pictures could spell trouble.

ROBIN WRIGHT, WASHINGTON POST: Well, they come in context of Abu Ghraib, the Koran incident, and so it sends a strong signal in the eyes of many Muslims, that this is a sign of disrespect. It also comes at a time Laura Bush is in the Middle East to try to send a message to the Arabs as well as the wider Islamic world that the United States understands their needs, is trying to help encourage reform and takes their wishes seriously. And so this is going to be the timing of this is very unfortunate.

BROWN: At the White House, the deputy press secretary denied any official involvement. TRENT DUFFY, DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: And the multinational forces in Iraq, as well as the president, are very disappointed at the possibility that someone responsible for the security, welfare and detention of Saddam Hussein would take and provide these photos for public release.

BROWN: The president, however, brushed aside the idea that these new photos could inspire additional violence.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think a photo inspires murderers. I think they're inspired by an ideology that is so barbaric and backwards, that it's hard for many in the Western world to comprehend how they think.

BROWN: U.S. military officials have denied to CNN that the United States is in violation of the Geneva convention which bans subjective prisoners of war to insults and public curiosity in its treatment of the deposed dictator. It argues this since the release of the photos was not officially sanctioned.

However, officials say if the individual or individuals who did leak the pictures are found, they may well be in violation of the Geneva Convention and military regulations. The Pentagon has promised an investigation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Now the problem the military is having finding new recruits, in no small part because of Iraq. Which, in fact, is a two- fold problem. Problems hitting the numbers and perhaps larger problems with how.

For that second reason, every Army recruiter in the country took a break today from recruiting. Here's CNN's Kelly Wallace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than 7,500 Army recruiters around the country spend the day discussing what's right and what's wrong, because of allegations like these. A Houston recruiter threatening a young man with arrest if he didn't sign up. And Denver area recruiters helping a student get a fake diploma and pass a drug test.

That student, 17-year-old David McSwayne. He posed as a high school drop-out with a drug problem for a story for has high school paper. He recently talked with CNN's Thelma Gutierrez and shared audiotapes he says he made of conversations with the recruiters.

DAVID MCSWAYNE, STUDENT: Have they accepted my diploma and all that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. That's what they told us.

MCSWAYNE: All right. I mean, they don't know that it's fake or anything? I'm not going to get in trouble? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. No, you won't. No.

MCSWAYNE: Cool.

WALLACE: The U.S. Army's top recruiting commander.

MAJ. GEN. MICHAEL ROCHELLE, U.S. ARMY RECRUITING COMMAND: The actions of a few have reflected very, very badly on many of us, my self included, and we're all injured by that.

WALLACE: The stakes couldn't be higher. With the war in Iraq making Army recruiting increasingly difficult. The Army missed its monthly recruiting goals for February, March and April.

Part of the problem, parents discouraging their sons and daughters from enlisting. 19-year-old Andree Sojous, a freshman at City College of New York, says her mom would never let her join the military.

ANDREE SAJOUS, COLLEGE FRESHMAN: She was like, no. She's like, you could get killed. Her main concern is you could get killed.

WALLACE: With wary parents in mind, the Army recently rolled out some new television ads. Other ammunition, offering sign-up bonuses of up to $20,000 and adding nearly 1500 recruiters since last year.

(on camera): A review of army recruiting procedures clearly coming at a tough time for this branch of the military. It has set a goal of enlisting 80,000 new recruits this year. So far, it's 15 percent below its year-to-date goal.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Still to come on a Friday night, an update on the search for two Idaho children missing since their parents' murder.

A dazzling new dinosaur exhibit says, contrary to public opinion, and conventional wisdom they're not extinct at all. In case you hadn't noticed, they're still around. And so are we. This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: New York City, fall in the air. It seems a little odd, given that it's May.

It is, we suspect, most people would concede a bit hard to get all worked up over pictures of Saddam Hussein standing around in his underwear. Humiliating pictures hardly compares to cutting someone's tongue off.

That said, the pictures of the former Iraqi president that appeared in newspapers in the U.K. and the U.S. do raise issues and may create problems. Not because you might get worked up about them, but because a good chunk of the rest of the world may.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): Along with him, apparently at prayer behind barbed wire, there are pictures of two of his former aides, including the man accused of using poison gas against Iraqi civilians, Ali Hassan al Majid, "Chemical Ali."

These new pictures join those released in yesterday's edition of the "Sun" and the "New York Post" as well. Pictures that show the former dictator in his underwear, in a bathrobe, photos clearly taken while in custody. Military sources tell CNN that it appears the photos were taken at some point last year and might have been from a video security camera.

One of Saddam's lawyers said he was shocked to see the pictures and that it was a clear violation of the Geneva convention's international law at human dignity.

The "Sun" claimed the photos were handed over by U.S. military sources, sources the tabloid claims who wanted to deal, quote, "a body blow to the resistance in Iraq."

And the "New York Post" issued a statement saying Saddam Hussein is a genocidal maniac who tortured, gassed and killed tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis. The photos published today show the U.S. military is treating him with a regard he never showed his own people.

But if these pictures were deliberately leaked by the U.S. military, and there is no evidence of that beyond the newspaper's statement, their effect on Iraqis and people of other Arab nations could well back fire, fueling anger at the U.S.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It is not acceptable to show a president in such way. They must respect the name of a president all over the world, regardless of if he is a dictator.

BROWN: Some analysts agree, the pictures could spell trouble.

ROBIN WRIGHT, WASHINGTON POST: Well, they come in context of Abu Ghraib, the Koran incident, and so it sends a strong signal in the eyes of many Muslims, that this is a sign of disrespect. It also comes at a time Laura Bush is in the Middle East to try to send a message to the Arabs as well as the wider Islamic world that the United States understands their needs, is trying to help encourage reform and takes their wishes seriously. And so this is going to be the timing of this is very unfortunate.

BROWN: At the White House, the deputy press secretary denied any official involvement.

TRENT DUFFY, DEPTUY PRESS SECRETARY: And the multinational forces in Iraq, as well as the president, are very disappointed at the possibility that someone responsible for the security, welfare and detention of Saddam Hussein would take and provide these photos for public release.

BROWN: The president, however, brushed aside the idea that these new photos could inspire additional violence.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think a photo inspires murderers. I think they're inspired by an ideology that is so barbaric and backwards, that it's hard for many in the Western world to comprehend how they think.

BROWN: U.S. military officials have denied to CNN that the United States is in violation of the Geneva convention which bans subjective prisoners of war to insults and public curiosity in its treatment of the deposed dictator. It argues this since the release of the photos was not officially sanctioned.

However, officials say if the individual or individuals who did leak the pictures are found, they may well be in violation of the Geneva Convention and military regulations. The Pentagon has promised an investigation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Now the problem the military is having finding new recruits, in no small part because of Iraq. Which, in fact, is a two- fold problem. Problems hitting the numbers and perhaps larger problems with how.

For that second reason, every Army recruiter in the country took a break today from recruiting. Here's CNN's Kelly Wallace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than 7,500 Army recruiters around the country spend the day discussing what's right and what's wrong, because of allegations like these. A Houston recruiter threatening a young man with arrest if he didn't sign up. And Denver area recruiters helping a student get a fake diploma and pass a drug test.

That student, 17-year-old David McSwayne. He posed as a high school drop-out with a drug problem for a story for has high school paper. He recently talked with CNN's Thelma Gutierrez and shared audiotapes he says he made of conversations with the recruiters.

DAVID MCSWAYNE, STUDENT: Have they accepted my diploma and all that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. That's what they told us.

MCSWAYNE: All right. I mean, they don't know that it's fake or anything? I'm not going to get in trouble?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. No, you won't. No.

MCSWAYNE: Cool.

WALLACE: The U.S. Army's top recruiting commander.

MAJ. GEN. MICHAEL ROCHELLE, U.S. ARMY RECRUITING COMMAND: The actions of a few have reflected very, very badly on many of us, my self included, and we're all injured by that.

WALLACE: The stakes couldn't be higher. With the war in Iraq making Army recruiting increasingly difficult. The Army missed its monthly recruiting goals for February, March and April.

Part of the problem, parents discouraging their sons and daughters from enlisting. 19-year-old Andree Sojous, a freshman at City College of New York, says her mom would never let her join the military.

ANDREE SAJOUS, COLLEGE FRESHMAN: She was like, no. She's like, you could get killed. Her main concern is you could get killed.

WALLACE: With wary parents in mind, the Army recently rolled out some new television ads. Other ammunition, offering sign-up bonuses of up to $20,000 and adding nearly 1500 recruiters since last year.

(on camera): A review of army recruiting procedures clearly coming at a tough time for this branch of the military. It has set a goal of enlisting 80,000 new recruits this year. So far, it's 15 percent below its year-to-date goal.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Still to come on a Friday night, an update on the search for two Idaho children missing since their parents' murder.

A dazzling new dinosaur exhibit says, contrary to public opinion, and conventional wisdom they're not extinct at all. In case you hadn't noticed, they're still around. And so are we. This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: I love this story. There are a lot of things in the next story that amaze us, but we're floored by the first, that it's only been 200 years since the first dinosaur fossils were uncovered. Which if you think about it, means they were lying around for a really long time. And even after all that time, it's taken until now to make sense of what they have to say. Or as a poster for a new exhibit at the Museum of Natural History here in New York City puts it: "What you thought you knew is history." Here's NEWSNIGHT's Beth Nissen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For most of the 200 years since the first dinosaur bones were found, those studying them have had to use a combination of deduction and great imagination to puzzle out from ancient pieces how dinosaurs looked, moved, lived. MARK NORELL, PALEONTOLOGIST: A lot of things about dinosaur behavior, a lot of things about dinosaur biology is conjecture. Studying the behavior of things that have been dead for millions and tens of millions of years is really a difficult thing.

NISSEN: But just in the last five to 10 years, study of the oldest known creatures on Earth has been revolutionized by the newest technology. High speed computers, new software, 3-D imaging, turning most of what we thought we knew about dinosaurs on its head.

Look at Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was long assumed that this fearsome predator could run fast, as fast as a galloping race horse, 40 to 45 miles an hour. Then scientists at the Royal Veterinary College in London developed a computer program to calculate, from scans of a T-Rex skeleton, the range of motion in its joints and its muscle mass.

Their discovery?

NORELL: For the animal to go very, very quickly, you would have to have an unreasonable amount of the entire weight of the animal just in the muscles of the hind limb.

NISSEN: T-Rex just didn't have muscles big enough to carry its five-ton self at a run. Its top land speed -- a relatively pokey 10 to 20 miles an hour.

Computer analysis of a different kind changed ideas about the apatasaurus, which those of us of a certain age know as a brontosaurus. Paleontologists used to think the purpose of its long tail was to counterbalance its long neck. But computer modeling found that tail had exactly the structure, the properties of a giant bullwhip. New theory? Apatasaurus shifted its massive weight to crack its tail like a whip, make a terrible noise, to warn off predators, or show off, or attract mates.

Perhaps the most significant discoveries about dinosaurs have come from CAT scans or CT scans, most done in this lab at the University of Texas in Austin. Since the lab began scanning natural objects eight years ago, paleontologists from around the world have sent in thousands of dinosaur fossils, including this skull of a cenataursus (ph), a small Jurassic carnivore.

TIMOTHY ROWE, DIRECTOR, CT FACILITY, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS: It's a specimen that's 180 million years old, and it's the only specimen in the world of a complete skull of this little guy. And so the last thing that I want to do, break the skull open to try and get some idea of the inside.

NISSEN: Btu CAT scanning yields a detailed picture of the inside of the skull, which is marked by the impression of the brain that used to fill it. Computer imaging and animation can reconstruct a 3-D image of dinosaur brains.

And what scientists saw when they first looked at these images astonished them. ROWE: If it has a big cortex, that's an indication that the animal is receiving sensory inputs from feathers. Blows me away to discover that.

NISSEN: Feathers on dinosaurs.

NORELL: We found that these animals were covered with feathers. We can predict, strongly predict that Tyrannosaurus Rex, at some stage of its life, probably when it's small, was feathered.

NISSEN: The most compelling evidence yet that carnivorous dinosaurs like T-Rex were more like birds than anyone had thought. Had feathers like birds, nesting habits like birds, three-toed feet like birds, wish bones and hollow bones, like birds.

ROWE: It's one of the many pieces of evidence that tells us that birds are descended from extinct dinosaurs like this.

NISSEN: Which leads to the most surprising of all the new discoveries, new theories about dinosaurs.

NORELL: Birds are a kind of dinosaur. So dinosaurs aren't extinct. We just call them birds now. The world is populated with at least 8,000 species of living dinosaurs today.

NISSEN: Imagine that. Beth Nissen, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Ahead on the program, the newest "Star Wars" film does what no other movie has ever done before in a single day. And so we say to you, may the gross be with you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: It's just a sad and steady drumbeat in all of this, that sometimes from the day to day out of Iraq, we forget. We ought not.

In a moment, our anniversary series, "Then & Now," tracks the rise and fall of two televangelists. But first at, well, a little bit past the quarter to the hour -- making you work late tonight -- Erica Hill has the day's headlines.

HILL: That's all right, I don't mind, Aaron.

BROWN: Thank you.

HILL: Tonight, police in Idaho still trying to locate two children. They're a brother and sister, who have been missing since Monday. That is when their mother and older brother were found murdered. Police say a tip that the children were seen inside a store turned out to be false.

Michael Jackson child molestation trial could be nearing an end. There are reports the defense may rest its case as early as Tuesday. On the witness stand today, the pop star's former defense attorney, Mark Geragos. He testified that a private investigators followed the -- the family, rather, of Jackson's accuser, because he was concerned they were going to make an accusation against Jackson or sell their story to a tabloid.

And the newest "Star Wars" movie is one for the history books. "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," setting a new record for the most tickets sold in one day. In the first 24 hours of its release on Thursday, the movie took in $50 million. That beats the old record set by "Shrek 2," which sold $45 million in tickets in one day last year.

And that is the latest from HEADLINE NEWS on this Friday. Aaron, have a great weekend.

BROWN: Thank you. You too. Thanks for your help this week.

Tonight, CNN's anniversary series, "Then & Now," profiles Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. Their rise to fame, their fall from grace, the end of their marriage, and where they are today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): In the 1980s, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker became pop icons as leaders of a hugely successful PTL Club TV ministry. The couple called their riches a blessing from God. But people soon discovered that Bakker's extravagant lifestyle was financed from the almighty contributions of the ministry's faithful.

Soon, their tears of joy became tears of remorse.

In 1987, Bakker fessed up to an adulterous relationship with church secretary Jessica Hahn, and later spent four years in jail for fraud.

Tammy Faye divorced her husband while he was in jail, and married his business partner, Roe Messner. In March of 2004, she announced on "LARRY KING LIVE" she had inoperable lung cancer.

TAMMY FAYE MESSNER: It was lung cancer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eight months later, she appeared again with an update on her condition.

MESSNER: Every bit of the cancer is gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jim Bakker and his new wife, Lori Graham, do a TV show from Branson, Missouri.

JIM BAKKER: It's so good to get together with God's people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jim and Lori Bakker are in the process of adopting five children between the ages of 9 and 15. They've had legal custody of them for four years. One big happy family, albeit a more modest one.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BROWN: All part of our celebration of our 25th anniversary, bringing you the news. A big prime-time special on June the 1st, I think, is right.

Morning papers after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: OK. Time to check morning papers from around the country and around the world. A special Friday night edition.

We'll start with "The International Herald Tribune." We haven't done it in a while. But it gives me an opportunity to talk about a story that was in today's "New York Times," which is just -- it's a fabulously reported story. And it is going to make you uncomfortable, but it's a very good story.

"Army filed details the death of Afghan detainees." It is an incredibly detailed look at the interrogation of two men, one of whom very probably was innocent and -- yeah, you know, you go online and read it for free.

Anyway, it's in "The New York Times," and it's leading "The International Herald Tribune."

Also on the front page of "The Trib," "U.S. assails photos of Saddam in underwear." I love the lead here. Here's the lead: "Two newspapers owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, 'The Sun of London' and 'The New York Post,' published photographs on Friday showing the imprisoned Saddam Hussein in his underwear." It's everything you need to know about the story.

Well, it's not everything you need to know about the story. You need to know that about the story either. I know I'm supposed to feel terrible about this, but I can't. OK, that's yesterday's "Sun." Here's tomorrow's "Sun." Or that's today's, here's tomorrow's. A free pizza. So if you're in London, two for one deal.

The weather tomorrow in Chicago, this will work for you baseball fans. "Game on." We'll wrap up the week in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Good to have you with us this week. We are back here on Monday, live and in person. We hope you'll join us, too. 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