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CNN Connie Chung Tonight

Nightmarish Medical Mix-Up; Murder by Mercedes or Accident?

Aired January 20, 2003 - 20:00   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.


CONNIE CHUNG, HOST: Good evening. I'm Connie Chung.
Tonight: a nightmarish medical mixup: radical surgery on a patient for a disease she didn't have.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA MCDOUGAL, UNDERWENT MISTAKEN DOUBLE MASTECTOMY: I have a story that I think is important to a lot other women out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: A horrifying medical mistake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCDOUGAL: She told me I didn't have cancer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: How could doctors perform disfiguring surgery on the wrong woman? Could it happen to you?

Nearly a month after Laci Peterson vanished, police and her family are still searching for answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT PETERSON, HUSBAND OF LACI PETERSON: Well, we just all hope she's safe and she'll be back. What else is there to say?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: And asking her husband, Scott, did he lie?

She says she caught her husband with another woman. Murder by Mercedes caught on tape, an accident or jealousy?

Hollywood celebrates the Golden Globes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jack Nicholson, "About Schmidt."

(END VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: Now the race is on for the Oscars.

And our "Person of the Day": more than a dreamer.

This is CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT. Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York: Connie Chung.

CHUNG: Good evening.

This story would be a horrific nightmare for anyone. A woman is told she has breast cancer. She has a double mastectomy. And while she's recovering in her hospital room, her doctor tells her it was a mistake, a rather big mistake. She doesn't have cancer after all.

CNN's Kyra Phillips reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Linda McDougal was told she had cancer and needed to have both breasts removed, but 48 hours after surgery the results of her biopsy came as a surprise.

MCDOUGAL: The surgeon walked into my room and told my husband and I that she had some bad news and there was no way of telling me other than to tell me and that's that I didn't have cancer.

PHILLIPS: The doctors at United Hospital had mixed up Linda's results with those of another patient who really did have cancer. Linda is the victim of medical error and she is not alone.

In 1999, the Institute of Medicine reported that each year between 44,000 and 98,000 people die as a result of medical mistakes. Experts agree that many medical errors are caused not by the incompetence of doctors and nurses but by institutional problems.

For instance, medications often have very similar names and are stored next to each other so patients can be given the wrong drug or different doses of the same drug have similar packaging so a patient could receive an overdose. Companies now make stickers to apply to the limbs of patients to avoid the wrong part of the body being operated on.

In the case of Linda McDougal, the hospital identified how the mistake occurred and says it's taking steps to prevent similar errors.

DR. LAUREL KRAUSE, SENIOR PATHOLOGIST, UNITED HOSPITAL: We have now put additional safeguards of color coding the slides and paperwork. We also have only one patient case per tray of slides and we have a second pathologist completely review all aspects of the case.

PHILLIPS: Linda McDougal and her lawyer disagree with President Bush's proposal to limit malpractice awards to victims of medical errors.

CHRIS MESSERLY, ATTORNEY FOR MCDOUGAL: The president wants to tell them I don't care what you've been through, we're going to put a cap on your damages of $250,000.

PHILLIPS: Linda McDougal trusted the hospital with her life. Now she faces infections, many more surgeries, and a long battle to rebuild her life.

Kyra Phillips, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG: Linda McDougal is with us now, along with her attorney, Chris Messerly. And we have United Hospital's senior pathologist, Dr. Laurel Krause, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

And I thank you all for being with us.

Linda, last May, you were told that you have breast cancer. And that had to have been devastating and life-altering.

MCDOUGAL: It was.

CHUNG: How did you handle it?

MCDOUGAL: I shed a lot of tears. I was very depressed. How else do you deal with it? I had to -- I really withdrew and dealt with my husband, dealt with all the occurrences with my husband.

CHUNG: And your husband and your boys?

MCDOUGAL: And my boys. We didn't tell the boys initially. But right before surgery, we did.

CHUNG: And you were told it was an aggressive form of cancer. What were you told you should do?

MCDOUGAL: I was given options of a lumpectomy. And I was told that there was an occurrence -- there was a chance of reoccurrence. And they gave me statistics. The surgeon did.

I don't remember the exact one. But there was a great reoccurrence within five to six years, the same with the single breast removal. So we opted for the most aggressive form of treatment we could. I was looking at three months of chemotherapy, six weeks of radiation, and possibly medication after that.

CHUNG: Now, you went ahead and got the double mastectomy.

MCDOUGAL: That's correct.

CHUNG: Forty-eight hours later, you're in your hospital room with your husband and your doctor comes in and says what?

MCDOUGAL: She had bad news for me and that she didn't know quite how to tell us, other than to just put it on the table, and that we -- I did not have cancer. And, immediately, my reaction was, well, good.

CHUNG: Yes. MCDOUGAL: I hope you got it all after what I've just gone through. And she said: You don't understand. You never had cancer.

And she was very compassionate. But...

CHUNG: What you later learned was a mixup in the pathology report.

MCDOUGAL: That's correct.

CHUNG: Dr. Krause, is anyone -- or the pathologist who made this mistake, is this person being suspended, fired, any action taken against this person?

KRAUSE: This person, the pathologist who made the error is also the very first person who identified and reported the error. The pathologist has cooperated fully with investigations by both our practice and by the hospital at United in St. Paul.

CHUNG: So, is that person being punished?

KRAUSE: This person is not undergoing punishment, per se. This person has been instrumental in developing the new guidelines to help us ensure additional safeguards, so that such errors never occur again.

CHUNG: So, what you're saying is, nothing is happening to this pathologist, despite what happened to Linda.

Linda, how do you feel about that?

MCDOUGAL: Well, the explanation comes over seven months past the time when they told me I didn't have cancer. It's a little late. I have a feeling that they're coming out with this apology right now simply because I have brought this to the news.

CHUNG: You've stepped forward.

MCDOUGAL: I question the sincerity.

CHUNG: Has the hospital or have any of those responsible for what happened taken any action regarding the subsequent surgeries that you have to have? Are they saying, look, we'll pay for it or providing you with that kind of financial comfort?

MESSERLY: Well, I can say that they have offered to pay some of her medical expenses. The insurance, her own insurance company, paid the past medical expenses.

But they have not offered. And we don't know what the future holds for Linda with a lifetime of disability and scarring that she's going to have to live with. All we do know is that if, President Bush's plan goes through, the clear and unequivocal message to doctors is that: Malpractice, it's OK. I'll take care of it.

And it tells a veteran like Linda and a mother and a wife and a daughter that it's no big deal. And it is.

CHUNG: Dr. Krause, do you think that you or the hospital owe Linda an apology and, beyond that, some kind of financial reward for what she has gone through?

KRAUSE: Absolutely.

I believe that Linda has every reason to be angry and to be due an apology. I extend my sincerest sympathy and apology for the tragic error that has happened.

CHUNG: Why have you come forward now, Linda? It's been, what, seven months?

MCDOUGAL: It's been a little over seven months. I'm still infected. I can't continue with my reconstruction until they get a handle on the infections.

My message is twofold, though. I think, first, women need to know that they can take control of their own medical care. If you get a diagnosis such as cancer that could change your life, get a second opinion or a third, if need be.

CHUNG: Actually, everybody should do that, right?

MCDOUGAL: And it doesn't stop with your doctor. Go to the source. Go to the pathologist. That's very important. If one woman can hear me and do this and not go through what I've gone through, it's very important to me.

CHUNG: But the other is that you do have an objection to what President Bush supports, and that is to put a cap on medical malpractice.

MCDOUGAL: I certainly do.

President Bush intends to harm me more, and as well as other victims of medical malpractice. Rather, wouldn't it be a good idea to get to the source of the problem and stop the medical malpractice, make doctors accountable for their mistakes? If we can stop the medical malpractice, we wouldn't have need for medical malpractice insurance.

CHUNG: All right, Linda, thank you.

Chris, thank you.

And, Dr. Krause, I thank you so much for being with us as well.

So, when you go to the doctor, are you at the mercy of procedures and decisions made without your input or is there something you can do to avoid falling victim to malpractice?

Dr. Marc Siegel is the associate professor of medicine at New York University.

And I thank you, sir, for being with us.

DR. MARC SIEGEL, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: Good evening, Connie.

CHUNG: Dr. Siegel, what should we do as patients when we go get a diagnosis? Should we question it every time?

SIEGEL: Well, in the first case, Connie, I don't think that this -- what happened here with this patient is really excusable.

I think that there needs to be a system of hypervigilance and surveillance in place, especially if what the diagnosis turns out to be is a bad one. I think that it is up to the pathologist to rescrutinize everything and to go back over it and make sure, at the very least, that he has the right patient.

CHUNG: But, Doctor, in Linda's case, she did everything that she normally would do, that any of us would do. And that is just, believe the pathology report.

SIEGEL: Right. It's not her fault. It's really the hospital's fault.

But, in terms of patients learning from this, having said that I think the hospital should have more vigilance, you look at the situation with newborn babies that used to be an issue. But, if you have a baby now, you see that there's an armband. There's a leg band. There's a foot being stamped. You're checking the father and the mother. This type of vigilance should be done the same thing with a pathological diagnosis.

CHUNG: Yes, but are we to simply get a second opinion? Because, if that's what we're going to do, we'll take that same pathology report to the new doctor and we'll get the same results, won't we?

SIEGEL: Yes, that's a good point, Connie.

I think that the first thing you have to do -- my opinion is that, in a case like this, with a very sick patient and a bad diagnosis, you need a very regional medical center, something associated with a medical school. I advise my patients to go to the top place in the region. And that's -- that's not unimportant. I think that there's more scrutiny, there's more structure, there's more vigilance at the top medical centers.

CHUNG: How do you know what is the top medical center? Because it's very difficult to do all that kind of research when you're under the stress of receiving some terrible news about an illness.

SIEGEL: Well, for starters, you have to be able to trust your physician. You have to have a physician you can trust. And I believe that physicians know who the good people are, who the good hospitals are. They know the strengths and weaknesses of their own hospital.

Now, I also agree with something you said before. I think that it's very reasonable to get a second opinion from a pathologist, not just another surgeon or another doctor. I think, if the pathology is in question, there is nothing wrong with sending the sample to a different hospital.

CHUNG: All right, Dr. Siegel, I thank you so much. This is a difficult one, isn't it?

SIEGEL: Yes.

CHUNG: Up next: The search for Laci Peterson grows wider. And there are new questions for her husband.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: There is a growing rift tonight between the family of Laci Peterson, the missing woman who is pregnant, and the family of her husband, Scott Peterson. When Laci disappeared on Christmas Eve, her family stood by Scott.

Now, as CNN's Paul Vercammen reports, the family is not so sure.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another gray winter day in Modesto and still no sign of Laci Peterson. This morning, her husband, Scott Peterson, was seen, but not heard at the couple's home. He changed a broken lock after what police called -- quote -- "a bizarre burglary." Police report nothing significant was stolen and this is not a -- quote -- "smoking gun break" in the case.

Scott Peterson returned home to Modesto from Los Angeles, where his friends and family members set up a volunteer command center Sunday. They passed out flyers and asked for help finding Laci, but why L.A. and not Modesto, where Laci vanished Christmas Eve?

PETERSON: If you go to Modesto, you will see, in every store, on every corner, there's posters of her everywhere. We simply have to expand the geographical area. So, we'll do it here and we'll do it in San Diego next weekend. And we'll continue to expand until we find her.

VERCAMMEN (on camera): Other than that, Scott Peterson is not saying much, but Modesto is sure talking about him.

(voice-over): Because his wife's close friends say Modesto police showed Laci's parents a recent picture of a woman they called Scott's girlfriend.

KIM PETERSEN, FAMILY SPOKESPERSON: Approximately two weeks ago, Ron Grantski, Laci's stepfather, asked Scott if he had a girlfriend. Scott told him no and Ron believed him. Now, however, they believe that he has lied to them about this and possibly other things as well.

VERCAMMEN: While rumors swirl through Peterson's neighborhood like leaves, Scott's side of the family dismisses any talk of infidelity.

JANEY PETERSON, SISTER-IN-LAW OF SCOTT PETERSON: I have no knowledge of that. I haven't seen the pictures. I just -- our family and the Rocha family continues to believe that Scott in no way had anything to do with Laci's disappearance.

VERCAMMEN: A lot of innuendo surrounds the search for Laci Peterson. And there's one hard, agonizing fact. The radiant Laci Peterson, seen in this photograph, was expected, three weeks from today, to deliver a baby boy.

Paul Vercammen, CNN, Modesto, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG: Joining us now is Henry Lee, one of the reporters covering this story for "The San Francisco Chronicle."

Thank you so much, Henry.

What more can you tell us about this break-in at Scott and Laci's house?

HENRY LEE,"THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE": Right now, Modesto police are investigating a reported break-in overnight. They're not saying much, but it is of intense interest simply because of whose house it is, the Petersons in Modesto.

CHUNG: We're told that it was a bizarre break-in. Do you know anything about it?

LEE: The details are pretty slim right now. Modesto police have clamped down, basically, on any information relating to Scott Peterson and the course of their investigation. So, we will try to find out as much as we can as the day and the week progresses.

CHUNG: Henry, the investigation has expanded, thanks to Scott Peterson, to Los Angeles. But have police received any information that would lead them to believe that Laci Peterson or, God forbid, her body, is in that area of the state?

LEE: As of now, there are no public or viable leads that the police have indicated lie in Los Angeles. So, right now, everything is in Scott Peterson's court as far as why he has decided to take the search, at least for the day, to Los Angeles. He plans to go to San Diego next, he says. And that's where he's from.

CHUNG: Do you know if police are tailing him?

LEE: They won't comment on that. Right now, they're saying that Scott has not been cleared as a suspect. So, certainly, he is of interest, a person of interest in their investigation.

CHUNG: Have you been able to talk to any members of Laci Peterson's family or Scott Peterson's family?

LEE: We have talked to Laci Peterson's family. Over the weekend, they were very visible. Actually, they were very visible just before the indication by Kim Petersen of the Carole Sund/Carrington Foundation that the...

CHUNG: Who is not related to them.

LEE: Who is not related. She indicated that the family believes Scott Peterson might be lying. However, clearly, Scott's family is standing behind him.

CHUNG: Now, I understand Laci Peterson's family did not join with Scott Peterson in opening up that volunteer center in Los Angeles. Why not?

LEE: They have told me that they want to stay in the Modesto area, where their support base is. And, clearly, they might have some trepidation of -- if they were to be seen with Scott publicly, perhaps. They want to stay close to their home area in case any leads break or develop out of Modesto.

CHUNG: Has anyone been able to learn anything more about this girlfriend that Scott Peterson supposedly has?

LEE: All we know right now is that this girlfriend, reportedly -- it's unconfirmed -- may have called the Modesto police and said, why is Scott and his photo all over the media? He's my girlfriend -- or rather, he's my boyfriend.

So, we're trying to find out as much as we can about her. She's kept a low profile. This is very, very shocking, to hear allegations that Scott might have been having an affair with someone other than his wife, Laci Peterson.

CHUNG: All right, Henry Lee, thank you so much for being with us.

LEE: Thank you.

CHUNG: And joining us now is Denise Smart, whose daughter Kristin disappeared in 1996, when both she and Scott Peterson attended California Polytechnic State University. Police wanted to question Peterson about the case when it happened, but they are now saying they have found no connection.

Denise Smart joins us now from Los Angeles.

Denise, thank you for being with us.

DENISE SMART, DAUGHTER DISAPPEARED IN 1996: You're welcome.

CHUNG: Denise, did you ever hear your daughter talk about anyone named Scott Peterson, or did you ever meet him?

SMART: I have never met Scott. And Kristin never referred to him by name. So, I'm assuming there's not a connection through Kristin.

CHUNG: Do you know of any reason why he should have been questioned back then when your daughter became missing?

SMART: Well, I understand he and Laci were both students at Cal Poly with Kristin at the same time. And when my daughter disappeared, she had been at a fraternity party and then walked home with a group of people. I'm not sure if he was part of the group at the fraternity party. My understanding is, is that he refused to come forward when asked originally about Kristin's case to give information.

CHUNG: Do you have any idea why he refused to come forward? Was he a part of a pool of potential witnesses?

SMART: I really can't answer that question.

We, as Kristin's parents, would just say that it's just so hard for us to understand why anyone wouldn't cooperate and give any information they had regarding the disappearance, whether it's of our daughter Kristin or of any missing person, because the bottom line is, it's really finding out where the person is. And of secondary importance is finding out who did it.

With Kristin's case, we do have a primary suspect. And even though Paul Flores has not been charged with anything yet, he's the intense -- he is the suspect. So, we're not deviating from that. Now, whether Scott Peterson may have information or may have knowledge or may have seen something, I can't really address that.

CHUNG: Was this person that you just named, Paul Flores, was he the person who was last seen with your daughter?

SMART: Right.

As in most cases, they become the primary suspect. And Paul Flores was the last person who was with our daughter Kristin.

CHUNG: At this point, is there any reason to believe that police will proceed beyond what they have done now in terms of a suspect or other suspects?

SMART: I don't believe that they're looking for other suspects. What they're looking for and what is most important in all missing- persons cases is finding out that little piece of knowledge that will lead you to discover where these young women can be found.

There's always someone who knows. And with Laci's case, I'm sure as well there is someone who knows. And until that person understands that they really have the gift to ease the suffering and pain -- having a child kidnapped is every parent's worst nightmare. And even though you like to think of them as missing people, the reality of it is, when you're kidnapped, you're taken against your will.

And, in Kristin's case, we don't know whether she was alive or deceased when she was taken. But, in either case, she was taken from us. And we see it sort of as the ultimate crime of cowardice when someone is hiding. And we would just ask, whether it's Laci's case or Kristin's case, that anyone who has any information to step forward and understand that this is a pain that does not get better with time.

CHUNG: All right, Denise Smart, I thank you so much for being with us. I want to ask you just one more thing. Do you have any advice for Laci Peterson's family?

SMART: In her case, I would just say to remain optimistic and think positively and embrace the support of the community, because this is something that you can't do alone.

CHUNG: All right, thank you, Denise Smart.

And, still ahead, we'll meet the lawyer whose client says she ran over her cheating husband by accident -- three times.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: She's accused of running over her husband with her Mercedes. When it was over, she said it was an accident. It happened moments after a violent screaming match over his cheating. Her trial starts tomorrow.

We're about to meet the defense attorney to find out what kind of defense he thinks the jury will accept.

But first, CNN investigative correspondent Art Harris has the mind-blowing details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ART HARRIS, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was the $70,000 murder weapon, say police, when rage and passion collided on a hot Texas night last July. The charge: murder by Mercedes.

Clara Harris, a former Colombian beauty queen and mother of twins, was behind the wheel, now accused of killing her husband with the car. She stood as the murder indictment was read, then said softly, not guilty. Clara, a dentist, and her husband, David Harris, an orthodontist, were married a decade ago on Valentine's Day. The marriage turned sour when David had an affair with his receptionist.

Clara came here, to Blue Moon Investigations.

BOBBI BACHA, BLUE MOON INVESTIGATIONS: Clara Harris hired us to follow her husband.

HARRIS: A private eye tailed David Harris and his lover to this Houston hotel. Clara showed up and lured them to the lobby. There, witnesses say, Clara ripped the blouse off the other woman. David and his mistress fled into the parking lot. Prosecutors say...

(on camera): ... Mrs. Harris pointed her silver Mercedes at her husband. The impact knocked him 25 feet. Then, witnesses said, she wheeled around and ran over him on the ground and turned and ran over him again, then whipped around and ran over him a third time. Afterwards, Mrs. Harris said it was an accident. (voice-over): An accident at the same hotel where the Harrises hosted their wedding reception and where David Harris met his lover that night, a night when his wife's private eye was watching.

(on camera): What did your investigator tell you she saw?

BACHA: She said she saw the impact and she also saw the vehicle traveling over David Harris' body.

HARRIS: She filmed it?

BACHA: She filmed it.

HARRIS: What did Clara Harris say when she learned you had taped what happened?

BACHA: That's the first time I had ever heard shock in her voice.

HARRIS (voice-over): In that conversation, tape-recorded by the investigator, Mrs. Harris asked for a partial refund of the $1,300 fee she'd paid for three days surveillance. Her husband was dead after one day.

In pretrial hearings, the judge ordered that videotape and various audiotapes not be made public. But the public is expected to hear testimony from 16-year-old Lindsey Harris, on the left, seen here with her father and baby brothers. She was in the car when her father was run over.

BACHA: The little girl was trying to stop her stepmom, unsuccessfully. You can't stop a moving car.

HARRIS: In court last week, prosecutors said Lindsey told police that just before the car hit her father, her stepmother said, "I could kill him and get away with it, for all he's put me through." That statement last Thursday, released before jury selection, upset defense attorney George Parnham.

GEORGE PARNHAM, ATTORNEY FOR CLARA HARRIS: All I could hope is that a jury panel will wait until the evidence is presented in that courtroom to make a determination.

HARRIS: As for the other woman, Gail Bridges, her attorney made this claim.

VALERIE DAVENPORT, ATTORNEY FOR GAIL BRIDGES: David told Gail Bridges they had an open marriage and Clara had been having an affair.

HARRIS: Garbage, said Clara's lawyer.

PARNHAM: Of course, that trash can's getting filled up with all of these other allegations, but we'll make room for that one as well. That has no credibility at all.

HARRIS: Sources who've seen the videotape tell CNN, while it shows the alleged murder in progress, it is partially obscured, shot hastily through a car window, and may not prove as damaging as presumed.

Art Harris, CNN, Houston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG: Joining me now from Houston is Clara Harris' lawyer, George Parnham.

Thank you, Mr. Parnham, for being with us.

PARNHAM: You're welcome, Connie. Thank you.

CHUNG: Can you tell us what that videotape shows?

PARNHAM: Connie, we're precluded by the court's order from going into the content of audiotapes and videotapes. I can only ask, as I've done on a number of occasions, that the public withhold an opinion as to what that videotape shows, accurately, until all the evidence is in in this case, and along with withholding an opinion on the mind-set of Clara Harris when she's behind the wheel of that automobile at the time of David's death.

CHUNG: What are you going to suggest that...

(CROSSTALK)

CHUNG: Sorry.

What are you going to suggest that her mind-set was?

PARNHAM: Well, I think the evidence is going to be very clear that Clara was distraught emotionally. This was the last day of the worst week of her life. She was obviously very concerned, upset, wanted to bring her husband home. And I'm going to leave the rest of that story for the development in the courtroom.

CHUNG: Might you pursue a temporary-insanity defense?

PARNHAM: Well, we have no such animal in the state of Texas.

CHUNG: I see.

PARNHAM: But the government and the state still has to prove a sufficient level of rationale in order to document intent. Intent is a very, very key and critical element in the prosecution of this case. And we are contesting that issue.

CHUNG: Can you tell us whether or not she intended to seriously injure her husband?

PARNHAM: I think you will find, as a result of the evidence that has been produced or that will be produced in this case, that Clara, in no circumstance, had any intent whatsoever to hit her husband, be it injure or kill or maim or scare. And, again, I would just urge the community to withhold a judgment until all of the items of evidence that we've heard about, the videotapes, the audiotapes, the eyewitness testimonies, the statements that Clara said, all of this information is put into proper context in front of that jury. And I'm very confident the jury can do that and we'll have a successful result, hopefully, to this saga and this tragedy.

CHUNG: Would you say that she was in a state of rage?

PARNHAM: Rage is an artful word.

I think that any juror can put themselves in a position of a woman who believes that this affair is over and is absolutely shocked beyond belief when she discovers that, one more time, what she was told was not true. But, with that said, we'll develop it and we'll see what a jury of her peers will say about her actions and her mind- set that evening.

CHUNG: All right, George Parnham, thank you so much for being with us.

PARNHAM: Thank you, Connie.

CHUNG: So, what do we make of Mr. Parnham's legal strategy?

Well, joining us now: CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.

He mentioned the jury right at the end. What kind of jury, male or female, would be better for the defense?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I was always very surprised to hear from my friends who prosecuted sex crimes, for example. And they always said that women were tougher on women, that, when you had, say, a sex...

CHUNG: Oh, you didn't know that?

TOOBIN: I didn't know it. Well, see, I should have asked you, I guess.

Well, no, it's true, that, when you had a defense of, say, consent in a rape case, women would be more -- tend to acquit more than men. So, I think George is actually going to look for -- now, let me do it right here -- is going to look for men on the jury, because I think they're going to be tougher on the husband. They're going to say, this bum deserved it, whereas women might well be more of the prosecution view.

CHUNG: Yes. That is fascinating, though.

TOOBIN: Well, we'll see if I'm right. I don't know.

(LAUGHTER)

CHUNG: This is a tough one for this defense lawyer, isn't it? TOOBIN: It's tough. It's the three times. That's the issue.

If, in fact, the prosecution can prove that Clara not only hit him once with the car -- you can always explain once, in various ways, as an accident. But if, as Art Harris reported in his story, the prosecution can prove that she went after him twice, you can be the best lawyer in the world. I don't know what you do with that fact.

CHUNG: And what about that videotape? I mean, Art is reporting that it may not be as clear what was going on.

TOOBIN: It's interesting. Think back to the Rodney King case.

CHUNG: Oh, yes.

TOOBIN: We always thought that the Rodney King video was completely dispositive, end of story, you couldn't argue with it.

Lawyers can do a lot with videotapes. And, if you go inch by inch, minute by minute, and try to deconstruct exactly what might be going through the head of driver at that point, maybe you can do something with it. So, I don't think that necessarily will be the whole story. It's the three times.

CHUNG: All right, Jeffrey, thank you. Good to see you again. I haven't seen you in a long time.

TOOBIN: Nice to see you.

CHUNG: Right now, tonight's look at "The World in: 60."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): The U.S. has exhausted its nonmilitary options in efforts to disarm Iraq, that from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today in remarks after chief U.N. inspectors and Iraqi officials ended two days of talks in Baghdad. An agreement was reached on making the inspections more effective.

Britain is set to deploy 30,000 troops and personnel to the Persian Gulf, ahead of a possible war with Iraq. Britain has already sent about 15 warships to the region.

Also in Britain, police are questioning seven men after a raid on a London mosque as part of the investigation into the discovery of ricin, a deadly poison found earlier this month.

Former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic surrendered to the U.N. tribunal at The Hague, where he faces war crimes charges. He denies any role in the crackdown of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in 1999.

Across the country, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday was remembered with marches and memorials, including an appeal for world peace by his widow, Coretta Scott King.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Still ahead: All that glitters is gold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERYL STREEP, ACTRESS: Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Hollywood's finest shines as the Golden Globes light the fires of Oscar buzz.

CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: Last night the Golden Globe Awards gave top honors to lots of movies. And many of the big winners haven't even had a national release yet. "Chicago" was one of the top award getters, "The Hours" another big winner. And for his role in "About Schmidt," Jack Nicholson took the top acting award in a drama, though he didn't seem too sure about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK NICHOLSON, ACTOR: Well, I don't know whether to be happy or ashamed, because I thought we made a comedy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: Either way, we're pretty sure he took the award home with him, which might have something to do with how often the Golden Globes are seen as a preview of another awards show, the Oscars.

And right now, with us, we have got "Us Weekly" entertainment director Lori Majewski.

Thank you for being with us.

LORI MAJEWSKI, "US WEEKLY": Hi, Connie.

CHUNG: Appreciate it.

All right, I want to know, they always say this is a reflection of what will be coming in the Oscars in terms of the nominees and the winners. So, let's just go through them. You can go for it.

Best actress, who's going to be nominated?

MAJEWSKI: Best actress, first lock for a nomination is going to be Nicole Kidman. And it's because of the nose and she's going to win by a nose.

CHUNG: Because of the nose? What do you mean? I don't even know about this. MAJEWSKI: Well, she plays Virginia Woolf in the film. And she wears a fake nose. And it's so funny, because the first few minutes of the film, you're like, oh, my God, it's Nicole Kidman wearing a fake nose. But then she disappears into the role completely, completely. And she's just amazing in the film, absolutely amazing.

CHUNG: OK. Go ahead. Next.

MAJEWSKI: Next up is going to be Nicole's co-star from the film. But it's for "far From Heaven." And she actually plays the same role that she plays in "The Hours," which is a repressed '50s housewife. And I really think she's a lock for a nomination as well.

CHUNG: Julianne Moore?

MAJEWSKI: Yes, for her body of work. She's been around for the last couple of years, being nominated. And she really, really deserves it. She's a lock.

Next, I would have to say Renee Zellweger. Last night, she won best actress in a comedy or musical. And she's another one, the last couple of years -- "Bridget Jones's Diary," "Nurse Betty." This year, she's just fabulous. This is a girl who could not even make her high school production of "Hair." Yet she sings and dances her way through this film like you can't believe. Absolutely amazing.

CHUNG: Oh, she's great. Yes, she's great.

MAJEWSKI: Next, Meryl Streep.

CHUNG: Oh, yes.

MAJEWSKI: Now, when you say Meryl Streep, you think Oscar anyway, right? Well, here's the truth. She hasn't won an Oscar in 20 years. The last time, it was "Sophie's Choice." But I don't think this is her category for a win, although I think she's a lock for a nomination. Watch for her to win in best supporting actress.

CHUNG: OK, so who's going to win among the best actress award? Who's going to win?

MAJEWSKI: I think it's going to be Nicole Kidman.

CHUNG: Really?

OK, let's go to best actor.

MAJEWSKI: Jack Nicholson, "About Schmidt." We saw him win last night. You know what? He's going to win the Oscar. And, if anything, we just want to see him get up there and give another great speech. He's absolutely fabulous.

Next, Michael Caine, another lock for "The Quiet American," which I hope more people get out there to see as it opens wider and wider. Adrien Brody, "The Pianist," he's really a critical darling this year. He's the breakout star. And I think a lot of people are going to be pulling for him. Nicolas Cage. Why? He's playing two people in "Adaptation." And you actually believe that they're two different people.

So, I really think -- oh, and lastly, Daniel Day-Lewis for "Gangs of New York." This is a guy, he hasn't been in a film in five years. And you'd think we would forget about him. No. The best in the business. Absolutely fabulous.

CHUNG: Who's going to win?

MAJEWSKI: It's going to be Jack.

CHUNG: Oh, really? Again?

MAJEWSKI: It's going to be Jack.

CHUNG: Best picture?

MAJEWSKI: Best picture. My favorite movie of the year, "Lord of the Rings," here is a spectacle, stunning, gorgeous, amazing acting. And it's just a huge, huge film.

CHUNG: But didn't make a dent at the Golden Globes.

MAJEWSKI: No. And I think that, traditionally, star-studded films make a big run at the Golden Globes. And this isn't a star- studded film, but it has amazing heart. You know what?? People have been running out to see this, breaking box office records everywhere.

And it's not going to win. Why? Because "Chicago" is. And "Chicago," it's just like -- it's unlike anything else out there. And when you go to see it, you want to sing and dance like right along. Every single performance is dead on. What a fabulous film.

Next, I think it's going to be "Gangs of New York." And everyone's talking about Martin Scorsese and how he's been wanting to make this film for years and years. And it's the return of Leo DiCaprio. Daniel Day-lewis is fabulous. "Gangs of New York" is definitely going to get a nomination.

Next would be "The Hours," which three reasons: Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore, the three finest actresses we have out there today, a trio, an amazing trio to go see.

And then last I think would be "The Pianist," just because it's really the film that everyone is talking about this year. It's this year's "Life is Beautiful," this year's "Chocolat." It's the little film that could that everyone's really got to go see.

CHUNG: OK. Good job. Thank you so much. We'll see how you do.

MAJEWSKI: I hope so.

CHUNG: Lori, thank you.

So, where is the next generation of small films and big stars? A lot of them are at the Sundance Film Festival, which is where CNN's Anderson Cooper has been on the front lines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: You're not a virgin, are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the last time, give me my money and stay away from me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you're looking for movies with car chases and explosions, the Sundance Film Festival is not for you. The 10-day movie marathon showcases character driven, independent features and documentaries.

ROBERT REDFORD, SUNDANCE FOUNDER: There's an audience out there that's not being tapped and they want diversity. They don't want the same old medicine, the same old prescription.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to whip his holy ass.

COOPER: In recent years, Sundance has become a magnet for Hollywood headliners, and this year is no different. Morgan Freeman, Billy Bob Thornton, Holly Hunter and Kirsten Dunst all appear in the film "Levity." Matt Dillon unveils his directorial debut "City of Ghosts."

ROBERT DOWNEY JR., ACTOR: I've put my faith in cholesterol, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, President Bush.

COOPER: And that's Robert Downey Jr. under the makeup in "The Singing Detective." Believe it or not, that's Mel Gibson on the couch.

Stars know Sundance can be a ticket to the Oscars.

REDFORD: The Academy Awards, many of them, if not most of them, now going to these independent films came out of the festival.

COOPER: Remember "In the Bedroom," "Affliction" and "You Can Count on Me," they all claimed multiple Oscar nominations, all appeared at Sundance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When doctor told us he -- we are HIV positive, my boyfriend was ran away.

COOPER: The festival is not all about big stars and feature films, it's also about documentaries."State of Denial" explores the response to AIDS in South Africa."My Flesh and Blood" profiles some remarkable children and their foster mother. Unlike in past festivals, many of this year's feature films already have distribution deals, but not all are so fortunate. Actress Patricia Clarkson hopes someone at Sundance falls in love with her film "Pieces of April."

PATRICIA CLARKSON, ACTRESS, "PIECES OF APRIL": All the distributors are there and it really can make or break a film. The future of a film really can sometimes rest on Sundance.

COOPER: The producer of "The Cooler" is in the same boat, trying to sell that and other films at this year's festival.

JOHN SCHMIDT, PRESIDENT, CONTENTFILM: It hasn't lost its roots. It hasn't lost its ability to get an exciting young director, a very unexpected new film and bring it to the marketplace regardless of its commercial prospects.

COOPER: Despite all the hoopla in Park City, the stars, the parties, Sundance, they say, is still clinging to its soul.

Anderson Cooper, CNN, Park City, Utah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, Connie, Park City, Utah, is actually a very small town. It is bursting at the seam with Hollywood stars, Hollywood has- beens, Hollywood hotshots, deal-makers, deal-breakers. They are all here and will be all week -- Connie.

CHUNG: One of my favorite actors is William Macy. He's got something there, doesn't he?

COOPER: He does. He has a movie called "The Cooler." It's actually the first film that has been bought here by a distributor. Lion's Gate Film paid about a million and a half for it. William Macy plays a very unlucky man in Las Vegas whose luck sort of changes.

A lot of people are talking about that film. It's got a lot of buzz. That's what they say here, buzz. That's what everyone wants, buzz for that film. That is one that has a lot of buzz.

CHUNG: I was happy to see Robert Downey Jr. there.

COOPER: Yes. This is actually his first film since getting out of rehab, which, again, I'm not sure how many times that's been, but his first film since getting out of rehab. It's getting a lot of buzz here as well.

It's actually kind of a musical. And it's sort of a bizarre story. As you saw in that clip, he's really almost unrecognizable. He plays a man in a hospital bed with a skin condition who fantasizes that he's a brilliant detective. And it's kind of a musical. So go figure. But a lot of people are talking about that movie as well.

CHUNG: Anderson, I want you to keep up the hard work, all right?

We'll be right back.

ANNOUNCER: Still ahead: Who will be our "Person of the Day"?

CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT will continue in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: We're still trying to live up to the dreams of our "Person of the Day."

But, first, tonight's "Snapshot" begins with sad news for theater lovers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): He was the master of caricature. His first drawings were published in the 1920s. And his graceful caricatures immortalized performers, from Charlie Chaplin to Jerry Seinfeld. Al Hirschfeld died today. He was 99.

An "American Idol" wanna-be is suing the popular TV show for age discrimination. Drew Cummings says he was denied the chance to audition because of his age. He's 50.

The killer brushfire down under poses more threat to Australia's capital. Canberra is bracing for a fresh onslaught of fires bearing down on its northern suburbs.

It's a cargo ship with a 9,000-volt charge. The vessel in Southeast Asian waters is surrounded by an electric fence to protect the crew and cargo from pirates.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: Tonight, perhaps our most fitting "Person of the Day" yet: the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., assassinated in 1968 at the age of 39. The civil rights leader had won the Nobel Peace Prize, electrified the fight, the nonviolent fight, against segregation, and, especially with his speech at the 1963 march on Washington, shamed or inspired many American whites into helping make the dream of an unsegregated America part of the American dream.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: I have a dream that, one day, this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: By shining his light on the American dream and showing that the dream contains all colors, Martin Luther King Jr. became an icon of a struggle that continues to this day. And because he continues to inspire that struggle, he's today's "Person of the Day."

Tomorrow: Will Scott Peterson answer the questions his missing wife's family wants him to? We'll have the latest.

And "LARRY KING LIVE" has more on the case coming up next.

Thank you so much for joining us. And for all of us at CNN, good night and we'll see you tomorrow.

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





Accident?>


Aired January 20, 2003 - 20:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CONNIE CHUNG, HOST: Good evening. I'm Connie Chung.
Tonight: a nightmarish medical mixup: radical surgery on a patient for a disease she didn't have.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA MCDOUGAL, UNDERWENT MISTAKEN DOUBLE MASTECTOMY: I have a story that I think is important to a lot other women out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: A horrifying medical mistake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCDOUGAL: She told me I didn't have cancer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: How could doctors perform disfiguring surgery on the wrong woman? Could it happen to you?

Nearly a month after Laci Peterson vanished, police and her family are still searching for answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT PETERSON, HUSBAND OF LACI PETERSON: Well, we just all hope she's safe and she'll be back. What else is there to say?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: And asking her husband, Scott, did he lie?

She says she caught her husband with another woman. Murder by Mercedes caught on tape, an accident or jealousy?

Hollywood celebrates the Golden Globes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jack Nicholson, "About Schmidt."

(END VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: Now the race is on for the Oscars.

And our "Person of the Day": more than a dreamer.

This is CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT. Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York: Connie Chung.

CHUNG: Good evening.

This story would be a horrific nightmare for anyone. A woman is told she has breast cancer. She has a double mastectomy. And while she's recovering in her hospital room, her doctor tells her it was a mistake, a rather big mistake. She doesn't have cancer after all.

CNN's Kyra Phillips reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Linda McDougal was told she had cancer and needed to have both breasts removed, but 48 hours after surgery the results of her biopsy came as a surprise.

MCDOUGAL: The surgeon walked into my room and told my husband and I that she had some bad news and there was no way of telling me other than to tell me and that's that I didn't have cancer.

PHILLIPS: The doctors at United Hospital had mixed up Linda's results with those of another patient who really did have cancer. Linda is the victim of medical error and she is not alone.

In 1999, the Institute of Medicine reported that each year between 44,000 and 98,000 people die as a result of medical mistakes. Experts agree that many medical errors are caused not by the incompetence of doctors and nurses but by institutional problems.

For instance, medications often have very similar names and are stored next to each other so patients can be given the wrong drug or different doses of the same drug have similar packaging so a patient could receive an overdose. Companies now make stickers to apply to the limbs of patients to avoid the wrong part of the body being operated on.

In the case of Linda McDougal, the hospital identified how the mistake occurred and says it's taking steps to prevent similar errors.

DR. LAUREL KRAUSE, SENIOR PATHOLOGIST, UNITED HOSPITAL: We have now put additional safeguards of color coding the slides and paperwork. We also have only one patient case per tray of slides and we have a second pathologist completely review all aspects of the case.

PHILLIPS: Linda McDougal and her lawyer disagree with President Bush's proposal to limit malpractice awards to victims of medical errors.

CHRIS MESSERLY, ATTORNEY FOR MCDOUGAL: The president wants to tell them I don't care what you've been through, we're going to put a cap on your damages of $250,000.

PHILLIPS: Linda McDougal trusted the hospital with her life. Now she faces infections, many more surgeries, and a long battle to rebuild her life.

Kyra Phillips, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG: Linda McDougal is with us now, along with her attorney, Chris Messerly. And we have United Hospital's senior pathologist, Dr. Laurel Krause, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

And I thank you all for being with us.

Linda, last May, you were told that you have breast cancer. And that had to have been devastating and life-altering.

MCDOUGAL: It was.

CHUNG: How did you handle it?

MCDOUGAL: I shed a lot of tears. I was very depressed. How else do you deal with it? I had to -- I really withdrew and dealt with my husband, dealt with all the occurrences with my husband.

CHUNG: And your husband and your boys?

MCDOUGAL: And my boys. We didn't tell the boys initially. But right before surgery, we did.

CHUNG: And you were told it was an aggressive form of cancer. What were you told you should do?

MCDOUGAL: I was given options of a lumpectomy. And I was told that there was an occurrence -- there was a chance of reoccurrence. And they gave me statistics. The surgeon did.

I don't remember the exact one. But there was a great reoccurrence within five to six years, the same with the single breast removal. So we opted for the most aggressive form of treatment we could. I was looking at three months of chemotherapy, six weeks of radiation, and possibly medication after that.

CHUNG: Now, you went ahead and got the double mastectomy.

MCDOUGAL: That's correct.

CHUNG: Forty-eight hours later, you're in your hospital room with your husband and your doctor comes in and says what?

MCDOUGAL: She had bad news for me and that she didn't know quite how to tell us, other than to just put it on the table, and that we -- I did not have cancer. And, immediately, my reaction was, well, good.

CHUNG: Yes. MCDOUGAL: I hope you got it all after what I've just gone through. And she said: You don't understand. You never had cancer.

And she was very compassionate. But...

CHUNG: What you later learned was a mixup in the pathology report.

MCDOUGAL: That's correct.

CHUNG: Dr. Krause, is anyone -- or the pathologist who made this mistake, is this person being suspended, fired, any action taken against this person?

KRAUSE: This person, the pathologist who made the error is also the very first person who identified and reported the error. The pathologist has cooperated fully with investigations by both our practice and by the hospital at United in St. Paul.

CHUNG: So, is that person being punished?

KRAUSE: This person is not undergoing punishment, per se. This person has been instrumental in developing the new guidelines to help us ensure additional safeguards, so that such errors never occur again.

CHUNG: So, what you're saying is, nothing is happening to this pathologist, despite what happened to Linda.

Linda, how do you feel about that?

MCDOUGAL: Well, the explanation comes over seven months past the time when they told me I didn't have cancer. It's a little late. I have a feeling that they're coming out with this apology right now simply because I have brought this to the news.

CHUNG: You've stepped forward.

MCDOUGAL: I question the sincerity.

CHUNG: Has the hospital or have any of those responsible for what happened taken any action regarding the subsequent surgeries that you have to have? Are they saying, look, we'll pay for it or providing you with that kind of financial comfort?

MESSERLY: Well, I can say that they have offered to pay some of her medical expenses. The insurance, her own insurance company, paid the past medical expenses.

But they have not offered. And we don't know what the future holds for Linda with a lifetime of disability and scarring that she's going to have to live with. All we do know is that if, President Bush's plan goes through, the clear and unequivocal message to doctors is that: Malpractice, it's OK. I'll take care of it.

And it tells a veteran like Linda and a mother and a wife and a daughter that it's no big deal. And it is.

CHUNG: Dr. Krause, do you think that you or the hospital owe Linda an apology and, beyond that, some kind of financial reward for what she has gone through?

KRAUSE: Absolutely.

I believe that Linda has every reason to be angry and to be due an apology. I extend my sincerest sympathy and apology for the tragic error that has happened.

CHUNG: Why have you come forward now, Linda? It's been, what, seven months?

MCDOUGAL: It's been a little over seven months. I'm still infected. I can't continue with my reconstruction until they get a handle on the infections.

My message is twofold, though. I think, first, women need to know that they can take control of their own medical care. If you get a diagnosis such as cancer that could change your life, get a second opinion or a third, if need be.

CHUNG: Actually, everybody should do that, right?

MCDOUGAL: And it doesn't stop with your doctor. Go to the source. Go to the pathologist. That's very important. If one woman can hear me and do this and not go through what I've gone through, it's very important to me.

CHUNG: But the other is that you do have an objection to what President Bush supports, and that is to put a cap on medical malpractice.

MCDOUGAL: I certainly do.

President Bush intends to harm me more, and as well as other victims of medical malpractice. Rather, wouldn't it be a good idea to get to the source of the problem and stop the medical malpractice, make doctors accountable for their mistakes? If we can stop the medical malpractice, we wouldn't have need for medical malpractice insurance.

CHUNG: All right, Linda, thank you.

Chris, thank you.

And, Dr. Krause, I thank you so much for being with us as well.

So, when you go to the doctor, are you at the mercy of procedures and decisions made without your input or is there something you can do to avoid falling victim to malpractice?

Dr. Marc Siegel is the associate professor of medicine at New York University.

And I thank you, sir, for being with us.

DR. MARC SIEGEL, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: Good evening, Connie.

CHUNG: Dr. Siegel, what should we do as patients when we go get a diagnosis? Should we question it every time?

SIEGEL: Well, in the first case, Connie, I don't think that this -- what happened here with this patient is really excusable.

I think that there needs to be a system of hypervigilance and surveillance in place, especially if what the diagnosis turns out to be is a bad one. I think that it is up to the pathologist to rescrutinize everything and to go back over it and make sure, at the very least, that he has the right patient.

CHUNG: But, Doctor, in Linda's case, she did everything that she normally would do, that any of us would do. And that is just, believe the pathology report.

SIEGEL: Right. It's not her fault. It's really the hospital's fault.

But, in terms of patients learning from this, having said that I think the hospital should have more vigilance, you look at the situation with newborn babies that used to be an issue. But, if you have a baby now, you see that there's an armband. There's a leg band. There's a foot being stamped. You're checking the father and the mother. This type of vigilance should be done the same thing with a pathological diagnosis.

CHUNG: Yes, but are we to simply get a second opinion? Because, if that's what we're going to do, we'll take that same pathology report to the new doctor and we'll get the same results, won't we?

SIEGEL: Yes, that's a good point, Connie.

I think that the first thing you have to do -- my opinion is that, in a case like this, with a very sick patient and a bad diagnosis, you need a very regional medical center, something associated with a medical school. I advise my patients to go to the top place in the region. And that's -- that's not unimportant. I think that there's more scrutiny, there's more structure, there's more vigilance at the top medical centers.

CHUNG: How do you know what is the top medical center? Because it's very difficult to do all that kind of research when you're under the stress of receiving some terrible news about an illness.

SIEGEL: Well, for starters, you have to be able to trust your physician. You have to have a physician you can trust. And I believe that physicians know who the good people are, who the good hospitals are. They know the strengths and weaknesses of their own hospital.

Now, I also agree with something you said before. I think that it's very reasonable to get a second opinion from a pathologist, not just another surgeon or another doctor. I think, if the pathology is in question, there is nothing wrong with sending the sample to a different hospital.

CHUNG: All right, Dr. Siegel, I thank you so much. This is a difficult one, isn't it?

SIEGEL: Yes.

CHUNG: Up next: The search for Laci Peterson grows wider. And there are new questions for her husband.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: There is a growing rift tonight between the family of Laci Peterson, the missing woman who is pregnant, and the family of her husband, Scott Peterson. When Laci disappeared on Christmas Eve, her family stood by Scott.

Now, as CNN's Paul Vercammen reports, the family is not so sure.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another gray winter day in Modesto and still no sign of Laci Peterson. This morning, her husband, Scott Peterson, was seen, but not heard at the couple's home. He changed a broken lock after what police called -- quote -- "a bizarre burglary." Police report nothing significant was stolen and this is not a -- quote -- "smoking gun break" in the case.

Scott Peterson returned home to Modesto from Los Angeles, where his friends and family members set up a volunteer command center Sunday. They passed out flyers and asked for help finding Laci, but why L.A. and not Modesto, where Laci vanished Christmas Eve?

PETERSON: If you go to Modesto, you will see, in every store, on every corner, there's posters of her everywhere. We simply have to expand the geographical area. So, we'll do it here and we'll do it in San Diego next weekend. And we'll continue to expand until we find her.

VERCAMMEN (on camera): Other than that, Scott Peterson is not saying much, but Modesto is sure talking about him.

(voice-over): Because his wife's close friends say Modesto police showed Laci's parents a recent picture of a woman they called Scott's girlfriend.

KIM PETERSEN, FAMILY SPOKESPERSON: Approximately two weeks ago, Ron Grantski, Laci's stepfather, asked Scott if he had a girlfriend. Scott told him no and Ron believed him. Now, however, they believe that he has lied to them about this and possibly other things as well.

VERCAMMEN: While rumors swirl through Peterson's neighborhood like leaves, Scott's side of the family dismisses any talk of infidelity.

JANEY PETERSON, SISTER-IN-LAW OF SCOTT PETERSON: I have no knowledge of that. I haven't seen the pictures. I just -- our family and the Rocha family continues to believe that Scott in no way had anything to do with Laci's disappearance.

VERCAMMEN: A lot of innuendo surrounds the search for Laci Peterson. And there's one hard, agonizing fact. The radiant Laci Peterson, seen in this photograph, was expected, three weeks from today, to deliver a baby boy.

Paul Vercammen, CNN, Modesto, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG: Joining us now is Henry Lee, one of the reporters covering this story for "The San Francisco Chronicle."

Thank you so much, Henry.

What more can you tell us about this break-in at Scott and Laci's house?

HENRY LEE,"THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE": Right now, Modesto police are investigating a reported break-in overnight. They're not saying much, but it is of intense interest simply because of whose house it is, the Petersons in Modesto.

CHUNG: We're told that it was a bizarre break-in. Do you know anything about it?

LEE: The details are pretty slim right now. Modesto police have clamped down, basically, on any information relating to Scott Peterson and the course of their investigation. So, we will try to find out as much as we can as the day and the week progresses.

CHUNG: Henry, the investigation has expanded, thanks to Scott Peterson, to Los Angeles. But have police received any information that would lead them to believe that Laci Peterson or, God forbid, her body, is in that area of the state?

LEE: As of now, there are no public or viable leads that the police have indicated lie in Los Angeles. So, right now, everything is in Scott Peterson's court as far as why he has decided to take the search, at least for the day, to Los Angeles. He plans to go to San Diego next, he says. And that's where he's from.

CHUNG: Do you know if police are tailing him?

LEE: They won't comment on that. Right now, they're saying that Scott has not been cleared as a suspect. So, certainly, he is of interest, a person of interest in their investigation.

CHUNG: Have you been able to talk to any members of Laci Peterson's family or Scott Peterson's family?

LEE: We have talked to Laci Peterson's family. Over the weekend, they were very visible. Actually, they were very visible just before the indication by Kim Petersen of the Carole Sund/Carrington Foundation that the...

CHUNG: Who is not related to them.

LEE: Who is not related. She indicated that the family believes Scott Peterson might be lying. However, clearly, Scott's family is standing behind him.

CHUNG: Now, I understand Laci Peterson's family did not join with Scott Peterson in opening up that volunteer center in Los Angeles. Why not?

LEE: They have told me that they want to stay in the Modesto area, where their support base is. And, clearly, they might have some trepidation of -- if they were to be seen with Scott publicly, perhaps. They want to stay close to their home area in case any leads break or develop out of Modesto.

CHUNG: Has anyone been able to learn anything more about this girlfriend that Scott Peterson supposedly has?

LEE: All we know right now is that this girlfriend, reportedly -- it's unconfirmed -- may have called the Modesto police and said, why is Scott and his photo all over the media? He's my girlfriend -- or rather, he's my boyfriend.

So, we're trying to find out as much as we can about her. She's kept a low profile. This is very, very shocking, to hear allegations that Scott might have been having an affair with someone other than his wife, Laci Peterson.

CHUNG: All right, Henry Lee, thank you so much for being with us.

LEE: Thank you.

CHUNG: And joining us now is Denise Smart, whose daughter Kristin disappeared in 1996, when both she and Scott Peterson attended California Polytechnic State University. Police wanted to question Peterson about the case when it happened, but they are now saying they have found no connection.

Denise Smart joins us now from Los Angeles.

Denise, thank you for being with us.

DENISE SMART, DAUGHTER DISAPPEARED IN 1996: You're welcome.

CHUNG: Denise, did you ever hear your daughter talk about anyone named Scott Peterson, or did you ever meet him?

SMART: I have never met Scott. And Kristin never referred to him by name. So, I'm assuming there's not a connection through Kristin.

CHUNG: Do you know of any reason why he should have been questioned back then when your daughter became missing?

SMART: Well, I understand he and Laci were both students at Cal Poly with Kristin at the same time. And when my daughter disappeared, she had been at a fraternity party and then walked home with a group of people. I'm not sure if he was part of the group at the fraternity party. My understanding is, is that he refused to come forward when asked originally about Kristin's case to give information.

CHUNG: Do you have any idea why he refused to come forward? Was he a part of a pool of potential witnesses?

SMART: I really can't answer that question.

We, as Kristin's parents, would just say that it's just so hard for us to understand why anyone wouldn't cooperate and give any information they had regarding the disappearance, whether it's of our daughter Kristin or of any missing person, because the bottom line is, it's really finding out where the person is. And of secondary importance is finding out who did it.

With Kristin's case, we do have a primary suspect. And even though Paul Flores has not been charged with anything yet, he's the intense -- he is the suspect. So, we're not deviating from that. Now, whether Scott Peterson may have information or may have knowledge or may have seen something, I can't really address that.

CHUNG: Was this person that you just named, Paul Flores, was he the person who was last seen with your daughter?

SMART: Right.

As in most cases, they become the primary suspect. And Paul Flores was the last person who was with our daughter Kristin.

CHUNG: At this point, is there any reason to believe that police will proceed beyond what they have done now in terms of a suspect or other suspects?

SMART: I don't believe that they're looking for other suspects. What they're looking for and what is most important in all missing- persons cases is finding out that little piece of knowledge that will lead you to discover where these young women can be found.

There's always someone who knows. And with Laci's case, I'm sure as well there is someone who knows. And until that person understands that they really have the gift to ease the suffering and pain -- having a child kidnapped is every parent's worst nightmare. And even though you like to think of them as missing people, the reality of it is, when you're kidnapped, you're taken against your will.

And, in Kristin's case, we don't know whether she was alive or deceased when she was taken. But, in either case, she was taken from us. And we see it sort of as the ultimate crime of cowardice when someone is hiding. And we would just ask, whether it's Laci's case or Kristin's case, that anyone who has any information to step forward and understand that this is a pain that does not get better with time.

CHUNG: All right, Denise Smart, I thank you so much for being with us. I want to ask you just one more thing. Do you have any advice for Laci Peterson's family?

SMART: In her case, I would just say to remain optimistic and think positively and embrace the support of the community, because this is something that you can't do alone.

CHUNG: All right, thank you, Denise Smart.

And, still ahead, we'll meet the lawyer whose client says she ran over her cheating husband by accident -- three times.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: She's accused of running over her husband with her Mercedes. When it was over, she said it was an accident. It happened moments after a violent screaming match over his cheating. Her trial starts tomorrow.

We're about to meet the defense attorney to find out what kind of defense he thinks the jury will accept.

But first, CNN investigative correspondent Art Harris has the mind-blowing details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ART HARRIS, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was the $70,000 murder weapon, say police, when rage and passion collided on a hot Texas night last July. The charge: murder by Mercedes.

Clara Harris, a former Colombian beauty queen and mother of twins, was behind the wheel, now accused of killing her husband with the car. She stood as the murder indictment was read, then said softly, not guilty. Clara, a dentist, and her husband, David Harris, an orthodontist, were married a decade ago on Valentine's Day. The marriage turned sour when David had an affair with his receptionist.

Clara came here, to Blue Moon Investigations.

BOBBI BACHA, BLUE MOON INVESTIGATIONS: Clara Harris hired us to follow her husband.

HARRIS: A private eye tailed David Harris and his lover to this Houston hotel. Clara showed up and lured them to the lobby. There, witnesses say, Clara ripped the blouse off the other woman. David and his mistress fled into the parking lot. Prosecutors say...

(on camera): ... Mrs. Harris pointed her silver Mercedes at her husband. The impact knocked him 25 feet. Then, witnesses said, she wheeled around and ran over him on the ground and turned and ran over him again, then whipped around and ran over him a third time. Afterwards, Mrs. Harris said it was an accident. (voice-over): An accident at the same hotel where the Harrises hosted their wedding reception and where David Harris met his lover that night, a night when his wife's private eye was watching.

(on camera): What did your investigator tell you she saw?

BACHA: She said she saw the impact and she also saw the vehicle traveling over David Harris' body.

HARRIS: She filmed it?

BACHA: She filmed it.

HARRIS: What did Clara Harris say when she learned you had taped what happened?

BACHA: That's the first time I had ever heard shock in her voice.

HARRIS (voice-over): In that conversation, tape-recorded by the investigator, Mrs. Harris asked for a partial refund of the $1,300 fee she'd paid for three days surveillance. Her husband was dead after one day.

In pretrial hearings, the judge ordered that videotape and various audiotapes not be made public. But the public is expected to hear testimony from 16-year-old Lindsey Harris, on the left, seen here with her father and baby brothers. She was in the car when her father was run over.

BACHA: The little girl was trying to stop her stepmom, unsuccessfully. You can't stop a moving car.

HARRIS: In court last week, prosecutors said Lindsey told police that just before the car hit her father, her stepmother said, "I could kill him and get away with it, for all he's put me through." That statement last Thursday, released before jury selection, upset defense attorney George Parnham.

GEORGE PARNHAM, ATTORNEY FOR CLARA HARRIS: All I could hope is that a jury panel will wait until the evidence is presented in that courtroom to make a determination.

HARRIS: As for the other woman, Gail Bridges, her attorney made this claim.

VALERIE DAVENPORT, ATTORNEY FOR GAIL BRIDGES: David told Gail Bridges they had an open marriage and Clara had been having an affair.

HARRIS: Garbage, said Clara's lawyer.

PARNHAM: Of course, that trash can's getting filled up with all of these other allegations, but we'll make room for that one as well. That has no credibility at all.

HARRIS: Sources who've seen the videotape tell CNN, while it shows the alleged murder in progress, it is partially obscured, shot hastily through a car window, and may not prove as damaging as presumed.

Art Harris, CNN, Houston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG: Joining me now from Houston is Clara Harris' lawyer, George Parnham.

Thank you, Mr. Parnham, for being with us.

PARNHAM: You're welcome, Connie. Thank you.

CHUNG: Can you tell us what that videotape shows?

PARNHAM: Connie, we're precluded by the court's order from going into the content of audiotapes and videotapes. I can only ask, as I've done on a number of occasions, that the public withhold an opinion as to what that videotape shows, accurately, until all the evidence is in in this case, and along with withholding an opinion on the mind-set of Clara Harris when she's behind the wheel of that automobile at the time of David's death.

CHUNG: What are you going to suggest that...

(CROSSTALK)

CHUNG: Sorry.

What are you going to suggest that her mind-set was?

PARNHAM: Well, I think the evidence is going to be very clear that Clara was distraught emotionally. This was the last day of the worst week of her life. She was obviously very concerned, upset, wanted to bring her husband home. And I'm going to leave the rest of that story for the development in the courtroom.

CHUNG: Might you pursue a temporary-insanity defense?

PARNHAM: Well, we have no such animal in the state of Texas.

CHUNG: I see.

PARNHAM: But the government and the state still has to prove a sufficient level of rationale in order to document intent. Intent is a very, very key and critical element in the prosecution of this case. And we are contesting that issue.

CHUNG: Can you tell us whether or not she intended to seriously injure her husband?

PARNHAM: I think you will find, as a result of the evidence that has been produced or that will be produced in this case, that Clara, in no circumstance, had any intent whatsoever to hit her husband, be it injure or kill or maim or scare. And, again, I would just urge the community to withhold a judgment until all of the items of evidence that we've heard about, the videotapes, the audiotapes, the eyewitness testimonies, the statements that Clara said, all of this information is put into proper context in front of that jury. And I'm very confident the jury can do that and we'll have a successful result, hopefully, to this saga and this tragedy.

CHUNG: Would you say that she was in a state of rage?

PARNHAM: Rage is an artful word.

I think that any juror can put themselves in a position of a woman who believes that this affair is over and is absolutely shocked beyond belief when she discovers that, one more time, what she was told was not true. But, with that said, we'll develop it and we'll see what a jury of her peers will say about her actions and her mind- set that evening.

CHUNG: All right, George Parnham, thank you so much for being with us.

PARNHAM: Thank you, Connie.

CHUNG: So, what do we make of Mr. Parnham's legal strategy?

Well, joining us now: CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.

He mentioned the jury right at the end. What kind of jury, male or female, would be better for the defense?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I was always very surprised to hear from my friends who prosecuted sex crimes, for example. And they always said that women were tougher on women, that, when you had, say, a sex...

CHUNG: Oh, you didn't know that?

TOOBIN: I didn't know it. Well, see, I should have asked you, I guess.

Well, no, it's true, that, when you had a defense of, say, consent in a rape case, women would be more -- tend to acquit more than men. So, I think George is actually going to look for -- now, let me do it right here -- is going to look for men on the jury, because I think they're going to be tougher on the husband. They're going to say, this bum deserved it, whereas women might well be more of the prosecution view.

CHUNG: Yes. That is fascinating, though.

TOOBIN: Well, we'll see if I'm right. I don't know.

(LAUGHTER)

CHUNG: This is a tough one for this defense lawyer, isn't it? TOOBIN: It's tough. It's the three times. That's the issue.

If, in fact, the prosecution can prove that Clara not only hit him once with the car -- you can always explain once, in various ways, as an accident. But if, as Art Harris reported in his story, the prosecution can prove that she went after him twice, you can be the best lawyer in the world. I don't know what you do with that fact.

CHUNG: And what about that videotape? I mean, Art is reporting that it may not be as clear what was going on.

TOOBIN: It's interesting. Think back to the Rodney King case.

CHUNG: Oh, yes.

TOOBIN: We always thought that the Rodney King video was completely dispositive, end of story, you couldn't argue with it.

Lawyers can do a lot with videotapes. And, if you go inch by inch, minute by minute, and try to deconstruct exactly what might be going through the head of driver at that point, maybe you can do something with it. So, I don't think that necessarily will be the whole story. It's the three times.

CHUNG: All right, Jeffrey, thank you. Good to see you again. I haven't seen you in a long time.

TOOBIN: Nice to see you.

CHUNG: Right now, tonight's look at "The World in: 60."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): The U.S. has exhausted its nonmilitary options in efforts to disarm Iraq, that from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today in remarks after chief U.N. inspectors and Iraqi officials ended two days of talks in Baghdad. An agreement was reached on making the inspections more effective.

Britain is set to deploy 30,000 troops and personnel to the Persian Gulf, ahead of a possible war with Iraq. Britain has already sent about 15 warships to the region.

Also in Britain, police are questioning seven men after a raid on a London mosque as part of the investigation into the discovery of ricin, a deadly poison found earlier this month.

Former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic surrendered to the U.N. tribunal at The Hague, where he faces war crimes charges. He denies any role in the crackdown of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in 1999.

Across the country, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday was remembered with marches and memorials, including an appeal for world peace by his widow, Coretta Scott King.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Still ahead: All that glitters is gold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERYL STREEP, ACTRESS: Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Hollywood's finest shines as the Golden Globes light the fires of Oscar buzz.

CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: Last night the Golden Globe Awards gave top honors to lots of movies. And many of the big winners haven't even had a national release yet. "Chicago" was one of the top award getters, "The Hours" another big winner. And for his role in "About Schmidt," Jack Nicholson took the top acting award in a drama, though he didn't seem too sure about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK NICHOLSON, ACTOR: Well, I don't know whether to be happy or ashamed, because I thought we made a comedy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: Either way, we're pretty sure he took the award home with him, which might have something to do with how often the Golden Globes are seen as a preview of another awards show, the Oscars.

And right now, with us, we have got "Us Weekly" entertainment director Lori Majewski.

Thank you for being with us.

LORI MAJEWSKI, "US WEEKLY": Hi, Connie.

CHUNG: Appreciate it.

All right, I want to know, they always say this is a reflection of what will be coming in the Oscars in terms of the nominees and the winners. So, let's just go through them. You can go for it.

Best actress, who's going to be nominated?

MAJEWSKI: Best actress, first lock for a nomination is going to be Nicole Kidman. And it's because of the nose and she's going to win by a nose.

CHUNG: Because of the nose? What do you mean? I don't even know about this. MAJEWSKI: Well, she plays Virginia Woolf in the film. And she wears a fake nose. And it's so funny, because the first few minutes of the film, you're like, oh, my God, it's Nicole Kidman wearing a fake nose. But then she disappears into the role completely, completely. And she's just amazing in the film, absolutely amazing.

CHUNG: OK. Go ahead. Next.

MAJEWSKI: Next up is going to be Nicole's co-star from the film. But it's for "far From Heaven." And she actually plays the same role that she plays in "The Hours," which is a repressed '50s housewife. And I really think she's a lock for a nomination as well.

CHUNG: Julianne Moore?

MAJEWSKI: Yes, for her body of work. She's been around for the last couple of years, being nominated. And she really, really deserves it. She's a lock.

Next, I would have to say Renee Zellweger. Last night, she won best actress in a comedy or musical. And she's another one, the last couple of years -- "Bridget Jones's Diary," "Nurse Betty." This year, she's just fabulous. This is a girl who could not even make her high school production of "Hair." Yet she sings and dances her way through this film like you can't believe. Absolutely amazing.

CHUNG: Oh, she's great. Yes, she's great.

MAJEWSKI: Next, Meryl Streep.

CHUNG: Oh, yes.

MAJEWSKI: Now, when you say Meryl Streep, you think Oscar anyway, right? Well, here's the truth. She hasn't won an Oscar in 20 years. The last time, it was "Sophie's Choice." But I don't think this is her category for a win, although I think she's a lock for a nomination. Watch for her to win in best supporting actress.

CHUNG: OK, so who's going to win among the best actress award? Who's going to win?

MAJEWSKI: I think it's going to be Nicole Kidman.

CHUNG: Really?

OK, let's go to best actor.

MAJEWSKI: Jack Nicholson, "About Schmidt." We saw him win last night. You know what? He's going to win the Oscar. And, if anything, we just want to see him get up there and give another great speech. He's absolutely fabulous.

Next, Michael Caine, another lock for "The Quiet American," which I hope more people get out there to see as it opens wider and wider. Adrien Brody, "The Pianist," he's really a critical darling this year. He's the breakout star. And I think a lot of people are going to be pulling for him. Nicolas Cage. Why? He's playing two people in "Adaptation." And you actually believe that they're two different people.

So, I really think -- oh, and lastly, Daniel Day-Lewis for "Gangs of New York." This is a guy, he hasn't been in a film in five years. And you'd think we would forget about him. No. The best in the business. Absolutely fabulous.

CHUNG: Who's going to win?

MAJEWSKI: It's going to be Jack.

CHUNG: Oh, really? Again?

MAJEWSKI: It's going to be Jack.

CHUNG: Best picture?

MAJEWSKI: Best picture. My favorite movie of the year, "Lord of the Rings," here is a spectacle, stunning, gorgeous, amazing acting. And it's just a huge, huge film.

CHUNG: But didn't make a dent at the Golden Globes.

MAJEWSKI: No. And I think that, traditionally, star-studded films make a big run at the Golden Globes. And this isn't a star- studded film, but it has amazing heart. You know what?? People have been running out to see this, breaking box office records everywhere.

And it's not going to win. Why? Because "Chicago" is. And "Chicago," it's just like -- it's unlike anything else out there. And when you go to see it, you want to sing and dance like right along. Every single performance is dead on. What a fabulous film.

Next, I think it's going to be "Gangs of New York." And everyone's talking about Martin Scorsese and how he's been wanting to make this film for years and years. And it's the return of Leo DiCaprio. Daniel Day-lewis is fabulous. "Gangs of New York" is definitely going to get a nomination.

Next would be "The Hours," which three reasons: Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore, the three finest actresses we have out there today, a trio, an amazing trio to go see.

And then last I think would be "The Pianist," just because it's really the film that everyone is talking about this year. It's this year's "Life is Beautiful," this year's "Chocolat." It's the little film that could that everyone's really got to go see.

CHUNG: OK. Good job. Thank you so much. We'll see how you do.

MAJEWSKI: I hope so.

CHUNG: Lori, thank you.

So, where is the next generation of small films and big stars? A lot of them are at the Sundance Film Festival, which is where CNN's Anderson Cooper has been on the front lines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: You're not a virgin, are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the last time, give me my money and stay away from me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you're looking for movies with car chases and explosions, the Sundance Film Festival is not for you. The 10-day movie marathon showcases character driven, independent features and documentaries.

ROBERT REDFORD, SUNDANCE FOUNDER: There's an audience out there that's not being tapped and they want diversity. They don't want the same old medicine, the same old prescription.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to whip his holy ass.

COOPER: In recent years, Sundance has become a magnet for Hollywood headliners, and this year is no different. Morgan Freeman, Billy Bob Thornton, Holly Hunter and Kirsten Dunst all appear in the film "Levity." Matt Dillon unveils his directorial debut "City of Ghosts."

ROBERT DOWNEY JR., ACTOR: I've put my faith in cholesterol, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, President Bush.

COOPER: And that's Robert Downey Jr. under the makeup in "The Singing Detective." Believe it or not, that's Mel Gibson on the couch.

Stars know Sundance can be a ticket to the Oscars.

REDFORD: The Academy Awards, many of them, if not most of them, now going to these independent films came out of the festival.

COOPER: Remember "In the Bedroom," "Affliction" and "You Can Count on Me," they all claimed multiple Oscar nominations, all appeared at Sundance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When doctor told us he -- we are HIV positive, my boyfriend was ran away.

COOPER: The festival is not all about big stars and feature films, it's also about documentaries."State of Denial" explores the response to AIDS in South Africa."My Flesh and Blood" profiles some remarkable children and their foster mother. Unlike in past festivals, many of this year's feature films already have distribution deals, but not all are so fortunate. Actress Patricia Clarkson hopes someone at Sundance falls in love with her film "Pieces of April."

PATRICIA CLARKSON, ACTRESS, "PIECES OF APRIL": All the distributors are there and it really can make or break a film. The future of a film really can sometimes rest on Sundance.

COOPER: The producer of "The Cooler" is in the same boat, trying to sell that and other films at this year's festival.

JOHN SCHMIDT, PRESIDENT, CONTENTFILM: It hasn't lost its roots. It hasn't lost its ability to get an exciting young director, a very unexpected new film and bring it to the marketplace regardless of its commercial prospects.

COOPER: Despite all the hoopla in Park City, the stars, the parties, Sundance, they say, is still clinging to its soul.

Anderson Cooper, CNN, Park City, Utah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, Connie, Park City, Utah, is actually a very small town. It is bursting at the seam with Hollywood stars, Hollywood has- beens, Hollywood hotshots, deal-makers, deal-breakers. They are all here and will be all week -- Connie.

CHUNG: One of my favorite actors is William Macy. He's got something there, doesn't he?

COOPER: He does. He has a movie called "The Cooler." It's actually the first film that has been bought here by a distributor. Lion's Gate Film paid about a million and a half for it. William Macy plays a very unlucky man in Las Vegas whose luck sort of changes.

A lot of people are talking about that film. It's got a lot of buzz. That's what they say here, buzz. That's what everyone wants, buzz for that film. That is one that has a lot of buzz.

CHUNG: I was happy to see Robert Downey Jr. there.

COOPER: Yes. This is actually his first film since getting out of rehab, which, again, I'm not sure how many times that's been, but his first film since getting out of rehab. It's getting a lot of buzz here as well.

It's actually kind of a musical. And it's sort of a bizarre story. As you saw in that clip, he's really almost unrecognizable. He plays a man in a hospital bed with a skin condition who fantasizes that he's a brilliant detective. And it's kind of a musical. So go figure. But a lot of people are talking about that movie as well.

CHUNG: Anderson, I want you to keep up the hard work, all right?

We'll be right back.

ANNOUNCER: Still ahead: Who will be our "Person of the Day"?

CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT will continue in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: We're still trying to live up to the dreams of our "Person of the Day."

But, first, tonight's "Snapshot" begins with sad news for theater lovers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): He was the master of caricature. His first drawings were published in the 1920s. And his graceful caricatures immortalized performers, from Charlie Chaplin to Jerry Seinfeld. Al Hirschfeld died today. He was 99.

An "American Idol" wanna-be is suing the popular TV show for age discrimination. Drew Cummings says he was denied the chance to audition because of his age. He's 50.

The killer brushfire down under poses more threat to Australia's capital. Canberra is bracing for a fresh onslaught of fires bearing down on its northern suburbs.

It's a cargo ship with a 9,000-volt charge. The vessel in Southeast Asian waters is surrounded by an electric fence to protect the crew and cargo from pirates.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: Tonight, perhaps our most fitting "Person of the Day" yet: the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., assassinated in 1968 at the age of 39. The civil rights leader had won the Nobel Peace Prize, electrified the fight, the nonviolent fight, against segregation, and, especially with his speech at the 1963 march on Washington, shamed or inspired many American whites into helping make the dream of an unsegregated America part of the American dream.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: I have a dream that, one day, this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHUNG: By shining his light on the American dream and showing that the dream contains all colors, Martin Luther King Jr. became an icon of a struggle that continues to this day. And because he continues to inspire that struggle, he's today's "Person of the Day."

Tomorrow: Will Scott Peterson answer the questions his missing wife's family wants him to? We'll have the latest.

And "LARRY KING LIVE" has more on the case coming up next.

Thank you so much for joining us. And for all of us at CNN, good night and we'll see you tomorrow.

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





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